Biden - his time

[Hot Pepsi]

I think the original idea was $2000 instead of $600. I don’t think anyone really had any hope for $2,600 all around.

[San Bernardhinault]

I think getting upset about something that nobody talked about feels like part of the desire to be upset about whatever Biden does. The talk was always about making the total $2000 (although the number is completely arbitrary, really). There isn't any short-changing going on here.

Also, as I noted upthread, the important stuff in this bill is the stuff like providing hundreds of billions in funding to the states who are running vaccinations, and providing hundreds of billions in subsidies to schools and universities, and the hundreds of billions in increasing unemployment benefits and extending them 6 months beyond the current March cut-off, and extending the federal eviction ban, and hundreds of billions in subsidies to small businesses. I think there's even finally some funding for paid sick leave.

The direct payment to almost everyone is nice, and will help people, and and the extra cash will definitely boost the economy, but it's among the least important things that this does because it's the least targeted at places that are really hurting.

[Incandenza]

I think getting upset about something that nobody talked about feels like part of the desire to be upset about whatever Biden does. The talk was always about making the total $2000 (although the number is completely arbitrary, really). There isn't any short-changing going on here.

I don't know how you can hear "$2,000 checks," which was repeated over and over again, and think that they actually meant $2,000 in total and not an actual direct payment of $2,000. Just look at the own language that they use. If they meant that the whole entire time, why did they stop talking about checks when discussing $2,000?

$2,000 checks probably did a whole lot to help them win in Georgia. They break peoples' trust immediately, and it's also bad politics and a watered down policy. People need the money! They haven't even started working on this in Congress and already they're negotiating themselves down, it's the worst Democratic party instincts condensed down.

This guy is by no means a leftist, and he gets it:

https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/1350089791400980480

[Incandenza]

Meanwhile, thanks to Harris' brother-in-law and one of Obama's transportation secretaries, here is how things are going in California under Prop 22:

Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash will benefit most from the new regime. But companies beyond the gig economy saw their opportunity to get in on the low-cost labor pool. In January, grocery giants Vons, Pavilions, and Albertsons announced that they’d be firing their full-time, benefits-receiving delivery staff, venerated just months ago as “essential workers,” and replacing them with subcontractors from DoorDash, which has secured a nationwide deal to take over the service. Only unionized staff was spared in the layoffs. That move is a startling sign of things to come, as companies realize that Prop 22 allows them to subcontract the same labor at a lower cost, making Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates, and Grubhub look more like traditional staffing agencies than innovative, high-tech products.

Meanwhile, health care stipends provided under the new Prop 22–devised “benefits” program are proving to be a pittance. Uber has offered no more than $400 a month toward health insurance for drivers who hit maximum hours standards, a small percentage of the overall cost (the average premium for the lowest level of coverage on the ACA exchanges for a family is $1,041 per month). To even qualify for the full stipend, workers must already be the primary policyholder on an existing plan and put in at least 25 “engaged” hours per week, excluding time spent waiting for jobs or driving to and from them. It takes about 40 hours of work to clock 25 hours of engaged time, according to the aforementioned Berkeley Labor Center study. DoorDash and Lyft have also added forced-arbitration clauses to workers’ contracts, which will make it functionally impossible for their workers to sue if those benefits are denied.

Remember, the companies want this replicated in every other state.

[San Bernardhinault]

I'm not going to disagree with you on the disastrous Prop 22. It's an appalling piece of legislation that the CA voters voted for, and hopefully it'll fall in a legal challenge.

But the "$2000 checks" was always "You aren't getting $2000 dollars in this relief check, thanks to the Republican Senate". Democrats wanted it to be $2000 and we're going to fix that.

I think it would be a stretch to have expected $2600 when the Democrats pushed for $2000 and were blaming the Republicans for it not being $2000.

[San Bernardhinault]

I'll add again - there'll be enough things to be angry with the Biden administration about. Don't perform as angry at things that don't deserve it.

If you're going to be angry at something in the $1.9tn COVID relief bill, be angry that they are talking about trying to get it through as bipartisan legislation without using reconciliation. Because that's not going to happen - there aren't 10 Republicans who would vote for it if it was helping a Republican president, and there sure as shit aren't at the start of the Biden adminsitration. It's just going to waste time when this money should be going out of the door on the 21st.

[S. aureus]

I'm not going to disagree with you on the disastrous Prop 22. It's an appalling piece of legislation that the CA voters voted for, and hopefully it'll fall in a legal challenge.

But the "$2000 checks" was always "You aren't getting $2000 dollars in this relief check, thanks to the Republican Senate". Democrats wanted it to be $2000 and we're going to fix that.

I think it would be a stretch to have expected $2600 when the Democrats pushed for $2000 and were blaming the Republicans for it not being $2000.

I'll just re-post Kamala's tweet from three days ago:

https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1349177374047428608

Your point appears to be that we're foolish for believing anything Kamala says.

[San Bernardhinault]

Well, I never read $2000 as $2600 given the context I always saw it in.

[S. aureus]

My kids' $600 stimulus checks were direct deposited over a week before that $2,000 check tweet.
If the tweet pre-dated the $600 payments then maybe you'd have a point, but it didn't, not even close.

[S. aureus]

Mostly this is just crap messaging, why even allow a misunderstanding to occur as it just makes you look bad when you have to retract it.

[Incandenza]

Well, I never read $2000 as $2600 given the context I always saw it in.

[Hot Pepsi]

Mostly this is just crap messaging, why even allow a misunderstanding to occur as it just makes you look bad when you have to retract it.

I would agree with that, but I don't think she was lying. I think she meant "These should have been $2000 checks."

But as mentioned above, the Oprah-style checks for everyone is not really what we need the most.

That Warnock ad is a bit on the nose for my taste and contributes to the common oversimplification that Democrats are all about "free stuff," but it worked in this case and it will help.

I'm not sure how much I'll be getting but I'll be giving most of it away anyway.

[Incandenza]

https://twitter.com/MaxMoranHi/status/1350086292378447873

She also advised and did PR for David Cameron

[Incandenza]

this one is just comical

https://twitter.com/ddayen/status/1350214806968561666

[Tactical Genius]

I see Joe Biden is planning a raft of executive orders when he takes office.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ate-iran-covid

The "Good Man" of politics is going to address the most pressing issues facing America:

Climate
Iran
Muslim travel to the US
Force people to wear masks
Restrict evictions

According to Biden's team, "These actions will change the course of Covid-19, combat climate change, promote racial equity and support other underserved communities, and rebuild our economy in ways that strengthen the backbone of this country: the working men and women who built our nation".

This is the bit where posters who told me a couple of weeks ago that Executive orders are not the best way of going about things and that passing Laws is how Biden will accomplish his goals etc etc might want to explain to me why the change of heart.

[San Bernardhinault]

Executive orders are the fastest way to do things. But they're limited in scope and can be reversed (hence Biden's ability to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal and rejoining the Paris Accords). You can do those things on day one. You can't pass laws on day one. In fact, Biden can't pass laws at all. Congress has to pass laws - and then Biden (really, his adminstration) gets to sign them onto the books and implement them. The most that Biden can do is tell Congress what he wants.

In the meantime, while he's waiting for Congress, he can issue a bunch of executive orders.

[Satchmo Distel]

I think Biden would need 60 votes in the Senate for most bills that would make any difference due to the filibuster.

I have a query on how you "reverse" an executive order. Do you not need a new text that restates the commitments that Trump withdrew from?

[caja-dglh]

These are mostly the reversal of existing executive orders, save for the COVID action which is probably the best way to do what ought to be a short term thing.

That said, as highlighted in your post, the big love for the first 100 days and especially week one Executive Orders is bullshit showboating.

[Nocturnal Submission]

So, what determines what can and can't be done via EO? Some of the actions seem quite far-reaching and the sort of things that would require legislative approval in a lot of other countries.

[Tactical Genius]

Yet no executive orders to go after the white supremacists who tried to overthrow the government and came close to killing most members of of congress................

[Tactical Genius]

Another thing I have not seen mentioned.
Far more white people have been murdered by White Supremacists during Trump's tenure than black people (when you take the White Supremecist mass shootings into account).

[Hot Pepsi]

https://twitter.com/MaxMoranHi/status/1350086292378447873

She also advised and did PR for David Cameron

You don’t get the big PR jobs by working for clients that don’t need a lot of help.

[Hot Pepsi]

this one is just comical

https://twitter.com/ddayen/status/1350214806968561666

I’m not concerned about that. If Biden wants to break up monopolies, they DoJ will go
after them. If not, they won’t. The personal philosophy of the lawyers involved doesn’t matter.

[ursus arctos]

I have a query on how you "reverse" an executive order. Do you not need a new text that restates the commitments that Trump withdrew from?

Not necessarily. They can effectively be incorporated by reference.

Nor did Trump expressly set forth the conditions of his withdrawal.

[Snake Plissken]

Mod note: Can we tone down the actual "wishing of death by rioter on people we don't like", please. Had a couple of reports on it, and I'm probably as guilty of getting close to the line as anyone. Public humiliation, financial ruin, those I'm happy with, but murder is murder whether it is a Republican senator or a British MP.