President Biden's Infrastructure Plans

[Swammerdami]

The Left is actually very much opposed to Manchin's idea to have a work requirement on these new or expanded entitlement spending plans. "Working families" is just a marketing term. In reality, giving people more entitlements will discourage people from working, as they get money anyway. Plus, in some states/counties paying rent is still optional.

Because a work requirement is a lot of bureaucracy that it is best to do without. If people have very transient jobs, then their eligibility is off-and-on.

There is a reason that post offices use a flat rate for anything that is not very heavy. In the 1830's, inventor Charles Babbage got involved with investigations on how to make postal service more efficient. At the time, postal rates were by distance and weight, even for the lightest bits of mail. He discovered that doing the calculations necessary to get a rate had added quite a lot to postal rates, so he proposed skipping that and having a flat rate for the lighter sorts of mail. That led to the 4-penny post in 1839 and the 1-penny post in 1840, with postage stamps as a convenient form of prepayment.

Right-wingers claim that they dislike bureaucracy. Yet they seem fond of bureaucracy here.

In addition to unnecessary costs and inconveniences for both government and citizen, there are other reasons why means-testing or work-requirement can be detrimental. Some people have been forced to take a financial loss — with transit and baby-sitting costs exceeding wages, not to mention the wastage of time — to fulfill a work requirement. Means testing introduces the possibility of "cliffs." For example, if a $200 credit is available only for those earning less than $1000, a worker making $999 should turn down any raise of less than $200. Even if these cliffs are designed with a better slope, a person with TWO subsidies can still fall prey to a steep cliff.

What are the disadvantages of giving a credit to someone who "doesn't need it"? Very little, in fact! Conceptually the extra government outgo is recovered with higher income taxes. A person getting a $200 subsidy he doesn't need may, in effect, reimburse that unneeded money via his income tax. This has no bureaucratic cost, obviously: the detailed numbers in the tax tables were due to change anyway. (Yes, some folks with the ABILITY to pay but without the NEED — e.g. childless people on a subsidy for child-care — may lose a little, while middle-classers with children get a slight benefit. "The Horror! The Horror!")

It does seem odd that the QOP, who "hate red-tape," are eager to means-test, while progressives, who supposedly care only for the poor, are happy to help the middle-class. This is partly due to the left being fans of smart government, while the QOP has had a "Sabotage government! Starve the Beast!" agenda for decades. But another reason is that many on the right have an aversion to any hand-out that doesn't obviously benefit them personally. There are some on the right who would literally rather their own children go hungry, than see school food subsidies that help children in a different ethnic group.

 

[Swammerdami]

I just learned this morning that the Trump tax cut is still costing us 200 billion per year and we didn't get squat out of it. The Biden BBB plan will put real money into the hands of the people that will spend it and improve people's lives.

I read that the $3.5T progressive program will be whittled down to $2T ($200B per year) to appease Manchin and KS; QOPAnon is still whingeing about it! Did they whinge when the same amount ($200B annually) was given away to the rich in tax cuts?

Is the Right still pushing it's "Tricke-Down" lie? (Read the fine print: the "trickle-down" from taking a pee-leak in space! )

 

[ZiprHead]

I just learned this morning that the Trump tax cut is still costing us 200 billion per year and we didn't get squat out of it. The Biden BBB plan will put real money into the hands of the people that will spend it and improve people's lives.

I read that the $3.5T progressive program will be whittled down to $2T ($200B per year) to appease Manchin and KS; QOPAnon is still whingeing about it! Did they whinge when the same amount ($200B annually) was given away to the rich in tax cuts?

Is the Right still pushing it's "Tricke-Down" lie? (Read the fine print: the "trickle-down" from taking a pee-leak in space! )

Oh, yeah. I remember the lies. I remember I think it was AT&T laid off thousands right after getting that huge tax break and dozens of companies doing stock buy-backs.

 

[lpetrich]

AT&T got a giant tax cut but has laid off thousands, union says - CBS News - August 28, 2019 / 3:15 PM

All the capitalism groupies are curiously silent about tax breaks advertised as for creating jobs instead going for stock buybacks and the like. Why might that be?

-

In any case, workers are getting restless. Large numbers are quitting and not returning, especially in sectors like food service and tech, and more and more workers are organizing strike actions.

Companies Are Finally Fighting Burnout During the Pandemic | Time

So far, 2021 quit levels are about 10% to 15% higher than they were in record-setting 2019, by Klotz’s calculations.

Companies are clearly taking notice, particularly given the staffing shortages that are hamstringing many customer-facing industries and slowing the supply chain. “Just keeping people from quitting is not necessarily a good business strategy,” Klotz says. Increasingly, businesses are trying something more ambitious: actually making their workers happy.

For many, that means targeting burnout, a cocktail of work-related stress, exhaustion, cynicism and negativity that is surging during the pandemic. ...

For a long time, burnout was seen as the worker’s problem—something they needed to fix with self-care and yoga and sleep if they were going to make it in the rat race of life. ... But according to Christina Maslach, a social psychologist who is the U.S.’ preeminent burnout expert and co-creator of the most commonly used tool for assessing worker burnout, none of these strategies will ever be successful if they place all the onus on the worker. “Nobody is really pointing to the problem, which is that chronic job stresses have not been well managed” by employers, she says.

Now, with so many people turning in resignation letters, businesses are starting to get with the program. “There’s mass attrition and it’s very expensive for employers to keep up with the amount of people who are leaving,” says workplace well-being expert Jennifer Moss, author of the recent book The Burnout Epidemic. “Because it’s now a bottom-line issue, more organizations are jumping on board.”

...
There’s no one-size-fits-all burnout cure, but Maslach’s research suggests there are six key areas on which businesses should focus:

• creating manageable workloads
• giving employees control over their jobs, to the extent possible
• rewarding and acknowledging good work, either financially or verbally
• fostering community
• treating workers fairly and equitably
• helping workers find value in their work

FAQ: Why are people quitting and how will I know if it's time to leave my job? - The Washington Post

Whatever the cause, the rush of resignations is accelerating: A record 4.3 million people — about 2.9 percent of the nation’s workforce — quit in August, according to Labor Department data released Tuesday. In September, the nation’s jobless rate fell to a pandemic low of 4.8 percent, but the decline was largely driven by people leaving the labor force. What’s more, Gallup data shows, nearly half of American workers are actively searching for new opportunities.

 

[lpetrich]

100,000 workers take action as 'Striketober' hits the US - BBC News

On Thursday, 10,000 workers at farm equipment maker John Deere walked out over pay and conditions.

Some 60,000 TV and film crew workers are set to strike on Monday, while 24,000 nurses could also protest.

...
Thousands of other workers were already on strike in October, including 700 nurses in Massachusetts, 2,000 New York hospital workers and 1,400 Kellogg factory workers in Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Some 6,500 lecturers in California are also on the brink of a walkout.

Jonah Furman on Twitter: "John Deere strikers in Ottumwa, UAW Local 74, successfully convince a freight driver not to cross the picket line (vid link)" / Twitter
and
Jonah Furman on Twitter: "Similar stories coming out of Davenport Local 281 and Dubuque Local 94. Videos and photos to come." / Twitter

Then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "#Striketober coming in hot

After years of being underserved and taken for granted - & doubly so during the pandemic - workers are starting to authorize strikes across the country: from @IATSE production workers to @UAW John Deere & @BCTGM Kellogg workers, & many more.

Good." / Twitter

 

[lpetrich]

Back to the negotiations over the reconciliation bill.

Cori Bush on Twitter: "Are you freaking kidding me???" / Twitter

Responding to
Shane Goldmacher on Twitter: "NEW: As budget bill hangs in limbo, Kyrsten Sinema is in Europe this week. Her team had reached out for fund-raising meetings in London and Paris. (link)" / Twitter
noting
As Budget Bill Hangs in Limbo, Kyrsten Sinema Heads to Europe - The New York Times

With the Senate out of session, Ms. Sinema, the Democratic senator from Arizona, has been in Europe on a fund-raising trip.

...
A spokesman for Ms. Sinema said she had participated in fund-raising for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee but declined to say where or provide any additional details. One person briefed on the matter said an event had occurred in Paris. It was not clear whether her trip to Europe was at the urging of the party committee.

The chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, is also in Europe this week and headlined a dinner on Wednesday in London, with contribution levels as much as $36,500, according to a copy of an invitation. Ms. Sinema’s name does not appear on that invitation.

...
Although political campaigns and parties cannot raise money from foreign nationals, American citizens living abroad can and do regularly contribute.

KS's staffers did not supply any details of the trip. However, they did note:

So far this week, Senator Sinema has held several calls — including with President Biden, the White House team, Senator Schumer’s team, and other Senate and House colleagues — to continue discussions on the proposed budget reconciliation package,” Mr. LaBombard said. “Those conversations are ongoing.”

Senator Sinema rejects vote on big Biden package before infrastructure -source | Reuters

U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a key moderate, told fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives this week that she will not vote for a multitrillion-dollar package that is a top priority for President Joe Biden before Congress approves a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, according to a source briefed on the meeting.

KS's staffers did not comment on that one either.

 

[lpetrich]

Opinion | Don’t subject new Social Security benefits to means testing - The Washington Post
By Reps. Mondaire Jones D-NY and Katie Porter D-CA

"Universal programs are popular programs."

A lot has changed since 1935, but Social Security and Medicare remain popular and effective.

That is because they are universal. They don’t depend on income caps or eligibility verification; every American can start receiving these benefits in their 60s. And while some at the very top of our society need not rely on these programs, the majority of older Americans can and do.

They then get into means testing.

We can’t, as some have insisted, weaken the proposals by “means testing” them: restricting benefits only to those who meet arbitrary income requirements and who have the ability to prove they do.

Proponents of means testing propose it under the guise of “fiscal responsibility” — saving the government money by providing benefits only to individuals who actually need them.

The reality is not that simple. Means-tested programs cost more to administer, because complex systems, processes and entire offices must be created to determine who qualifies. A 2011 study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that administrative costs “would add substantially to the operating cost of the program” and “eliminate most, if not all, of the savings from a plausible means test.” Instead of wasting money on bloated bureaucracy, universal programs allow us to maximize our investment in the American people.

Right-wingers claim to be opposed to government bureaucracy, but what they support generates what they claim to oppose. Despite all of right-wingers' objections to the unintended consequences of policies that they dislike, they never complain about the unintended consequences of policies that they like. Never. At least as far as I can tell.

In theory, means testing excludes the undeserving rich; in practice, it often excludes the most vulnerable poor, who aren’t always able to jump through the required hoops to prove their eligibility. As a result, the people most in need — disproportionately low-income Americans and people of color — can’t access the programs at all, either because they can’t complete the application process or they’re too intimidated to try.

...
Universal programs are good policy and good politics. They build solidarity that helps them stand the test of time — when we all have a stake in the success of a public program, it can withstand changing political winds. Medicare and Social Security are so untouchable that Donald Trump ran on protecting them. Means-tested programs such as SNAP and TANF, in contrast, have been cut by Democrats and Republicans alike in the past decade.

 

[lpetrich]

I don't recall where I read about  Charles Babbage and postal rates, but I found  Uniform fourpenny post:

From 5 December 1839 until 9 January 1840, a uniform charge of 4d was levied for pre-paid letters up to half an ounce in weight instead of postage being calculated by distance and number of sheets of paper. One ounce letters were charged 8d and each additional ounce, up to 16 ounces, cost 8d. Unpaid was charged double the pre-paid rates.[5] For mail whose rates were already less than 4d, the existing lower rates applied to those letters.[1]

d = denarius, abbreviation for penny in British currency.

Prepayment was done with adhesive stamps, something that has been done ever since in many postal systems.

Penny Black - Wikipedia

In 1837, British postal rates were high, complex and anomalous. To simplify matters, Sir Rowland Hill proposed an adhesive stamp to indicate pre-payment of postage.[2] At the time it was normal for the recipient to pay postage on delivery, charged by the sheet and on distance travelled. By contrast, the Penny Black allowed letters of up to 1⁄2 ounce (14 grams) to be delivered at a flat rate of one penny, regardless of distance.[2]

They also created Two-Penny Blue and later created Penny Red stamps.

 Uniform Penny Post:

The Uniform Penny Post was a component of the comprehensive reform of the Royal Mail, the UK's official postal service, that took place in the 19th century. The reforms were a government initiative to eradicate the abuse and corruption of the existing service. Under the reforms, the postal service became a government monopoly, but it also became more accessible to the British population at large through setting a charge of one penny[nb 1] for carriage and delivery between any two places in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland irrespective of distance.[1][2][3]

What Charles Babbage did was to estimate how much it cost to weigh a letter and find a rate for its weight and distance, and that was an early example of  Operations research.

 

[Shadowy Man]

I just learned this morning that the Trump tax cut is still costing us 200 billion per year and we didn't get squat out of it.

I don't think *you* were meant to get anything out of it. I think the people it was meant for are still getting plenty out of it.

 

[lpetrich]

Jessica Cisneros on Twitter: "“The poverty rate in Rep. Henry Cuellar’s district is 23.8%, more than twice the national average.” Rep. Cuellar knows the difference Pres. Biden’s Build Back Better bill would make for South Texas families but still won’t back it. We deserve better. (link)" / Twitter
noting
Democrats blocking Biden’s agenda represent some of nation’s poorest | Democrats | The Guardian - "Joe Manchin and Henry Cuellar’s districts have high rates of poverty and income inequality but they are holding up a crucial bill in Congress that would benefit working-class Americans"

This reminds me of some members of the Congressional Black Caucus whining that they have no choice but to accept corporate donations, this being because they could not afford to raise funds from their constituents because their constituents are so poor.

Conservative Dark-Money Groups Want to Tank Biden’s Agenda - "Corporate interest groups linked to the Koch brothers and the Trump administration seek to turn the public against the Build Back Better plan."


Jen Perelman on Twitter: "AOC wouldn’t be lobbying against tax hikes on the rich. #anybluewontdo" / Twitter
noting
Ryan Grim on Twitter: "Joe Crowley is lobbying against Biden’s tax hikes on the rich (link) by @SaraLSirota" / Twitter
noting
Joe Crowley Is Lobbying Against Biden’s Tax Hikes on the Rich

Yes, the Joe Crowley whom AOC primaried in 2018. Almost as if he is determined to prove that she was right about what she said about him back then.

Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, or SIFMA, has deployed Crowley to court his old colleagues as Democrats finalize legislation to implement President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better initiative, which seeks a fairer tax system and greater revenue to pay for expanded Medicare coverage, universal pre-K, and other domestic priorities. Starting in July, SIFMA, whose members range from BlackRock and J.P. Morgan to Amazon Web Services and IBM, hired Crowley and other lobbyists at law firm Squire Patton Boggs — including a former intern for Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. — for $30,000, per a document posted on the Senate’s disclosure site Thursday.

Senior lawmakers-turned-lobbyists like Crowley typically serve their special interest clients by convincing former allies to promote industry talking points to committee chairs or party leaders. On September 24, Texas Democratic Reps. Vicente González, Henry Cuellar, and Filemón Vela sent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer a letter criticizing the proposed tax increases on corporations’ foreign profits that Crowley is now targeting for SIFMA. Crowley’s former leadership PAC donated to all three congressmen’s campaigns over his time in Congress, and Vela was a vocal supporter of Crowley’s leadership ambitions.

 

[lpetrich]

Key to Biden's Climate Agenda Like to Be Cut Because of Manchin - The New York Times - "The West Virginia Democrat told the White House he is firmly against a clean electricity program that is the muscle behind the president’s plan to battle climate change."

Because it isn't coal.

The $150 billion clean electricity program was the muscle behind Mr. Biden’s ambitious climate agenda. It would reward utilities that switched from burning fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, and penalize those that do not.

Experts have said that the policy over the next decade would drastically reduce the greenhouse gases that are heating the planet and that it would be the strongest climate change policy ever enacted by the United States.

“This is absolutely the most important climate policy in the package,” said Leah Stokes, an expert on climate policy, who has been advising Senate Democrats on how to craft the program. “We fundamentally need it to meet our climate goals. That’s just the reality. And now we can’t. So this is pretty sad.”

Ryan Grim on Twitter: "Absolutely wild that a guy who literally owns a coal producing business that generates millions for him — currently — can make this kind of decision for the whole country and it’s not illegal" / Twitter
noting
Senator Joe Manchin on Twitter: "(pic link)" / Twitter

This isn't the first time an out-of-stater has tried to tell West Virginians what is best for them despite having no relationship to our state. Millions of jobs are open, supply chains are strained and unavoidable inflation taxes are draining workers' hard-earned wages as the price of gasoline and groceries continues to climb. Senator Sanders' answer is to throw more money on an already overheated economy while 52 other Senators have grave concerns about this approach. To be clear, again, Congress should proceed with caution on any additional spending and will not vote for a reckless expansion of government programs. No op-ed from self-declared Independent socialist is going to change that.

Then
Gazette-Mail on Twitter: "GAZETTE-MAIL EXCLUSIVE: @SenSanders says "We need every Democrat," calls for Manchin to support Build Back Better Bill. Read the op-ed (links)" / Twitter
noting
Sen. Bernie Sanders: Let's stand together to protect working families (Opinion) | Op-Ed Commentaries | wvgazettemail.com

In America today, the very rich are becoming richer while millions of working families are struggling to put food on the table or pay their bills. We now have the absurd situation in which two multi-billionaires own more wealth than the bottom 40% of Americans; the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 92%; and the gap between rich and poor is wider than at any time in the last 100 years.

The $3.5 trillion Build Back Better bill, supported by President Biden and almost all Democrats in Congress, is an unprecedented effort to finally address the long-neglected crises facing working families and demand that the wealthiest people and largest corporations in the country start paying their fair share of taxes. In fact, this legislation would be paid for by ending loopholes and raising taxes on the 1% and large profitable corporations.

 

[lpetrich]

No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen on Twitter: "JUST IN: Kyrsten Sinema raised $1.1 million in Q3 — 90% of donations came from outside of Arizona and she saw a 456% increase in donations from Big Pharma compared to Q2. Her biggest donors are executives from pharmaceutical companies and big banks. (per @politico)" / Twitter
then
Katie Hill on Twitter: "Ah, drug money." / Twitter
What KS herself would have called bribery before she got elected to Congress.


The New York Times on Twitter: "Breaking News: The heart of President Biden's climate agenda — a push to replace coal- and gas-fired power plants — is said to likely be cut from the budget bill because Senator Joe Manchin opposes it. (link)" / Twitter

Then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "We cannot advance legislation that makes the climate crisis worse. ..." / Twitter

We cannot advance legislation that makes the climate crisis worse.

The Exxon-designed “bipartisan” infrastructure plan worsens emissions, but pairing it w/clean energy in Build Back Better neutralizes BIF’s harm and lets us tackle the climate crisis.

We cannot afford to gut it.

The math we need to do is not just dollars and cents, but emissions reductions + projections.

Any negotiations on climate need to ensure that we will come out climate positive. And that emissions math cannot be informed by fossil fuel lobbyists, who don’t even count methane.

This issue is bigger than ideology. It is a moral imperative for humanity and our planet’s future to reduce and eventually eliminate emissions.

There are many ways to do it, but we can’t afford to give up. Biden admin is already backing too many pipelines - we need clean energy.

Shahid Buttar for Congress on Twitter: "@AOC The Build Back Better proposal is critical, and the absolute floor. ..." / Twitter

The Build Back Better proposal is critical, and the absolute floor.

Congress should be nationalizing the fossil fuel industry to stop the profit motive from encouraging resource plunder.

But instead corporate policymakers are still subsidizing corporate fossil fuel extraction!

For all the discussion of climate justice, we have made entirely too little progress in containing the fossil fuel industry.

Make no mistake: like slavery, this is a battle against both racism AND capitalism.

MLK described them as “intersecting evils” for good reasons.

Then from Extinction Rebellion:
XR Cambridge on Twitter: "There are more than 200 oil & gas companies in the world making trillions a year. ..." / Twitter

There are more than 200 oil & gas companies in the world making trillions a year. None have committed to ending extraction, no laws have been passed to make them stop, & their CEOs are best mates with world leaders. To believe we can hit zero emissions in this system is fantasy

Seriously, given this context, what's the plan? Relying on the same market forces that have driven CO2 to 23 million year highs? Companies voluntarily abandoning the most lucrative business ever invented? Companies that have been promising sustainability for 20 years?

The only way we get to zero emissions is to confront the power of the fossil fuel industry politically. This will mean fundamentally changing the system and the people who make the decisions that govern us. The longer we leave it, the more disruptive this confrontation will be

 

[none]

Well, Manchin might be looking at the bigger picture seeing how much more accessible the northern reserves will be if we all just chip in..

 

[Shadowy Man]

Ryan Grim on Twitter: "Absolutely wild that a guy who literally owns a coal producing business that generates millions for him — currently — can make this kind of decision for the whole country and it’s not illegal" / Twitter
noting
Senator Joe Manchin on Twitter: "(pic link)" / Twitter

Sometimes it feels like those on the left want authoritarianism too. One guy isn’t making the decision. If the Democrats had won one more senate seat then Manchin would have no power in this decision. Maybe they should focus on convincing the rest of America of the virtues of fighting climate change and not just one Senator.
This guy wants it illegal for a Senator to choose to vote the way he wants? Now who is against democracy?

 

[Harry Bosch]

Ryan Grim on Twitter: "Absolutely wild that a guy who literally owns a coal producing business that generates millions for him — currently — can make this kind of decision for the whole country and it’s not illegal" / Twitter
noting
Senator Joe Manchin on Twitter: "(pic link)" / Twitter

Sometimes it feels like those on the left want authoritarianism too. One guy isn’t making the decision. If the Democrats had won one more senate seat then Manchin would have no power in this decision. Maybe they should focus on convincing the rest of America of the virtues of fighting climate change and not just one Senator.
This guy wants it illegal for a Senator to choose to vote the way he wants? Now who is against democracy?

Totally agree. If the dems are disappointed in not getting everything that they want, fine. Get mad. Get motivated. Get off your lazy ass and vote 2022. Be accepting of those slightly to your right and be willing to expand your base. That's all it takes. The real reason why the left has less power than the right despite the fact that we are greater in number is that we don't always vote, and we often split our party.

 

[Elixir]

Totally agree. If the dems are disappointed in not getting everything that they want, fine. Get mad. Get motivated. Get off your lazy ass and vote 2022. Be accepting of those slightly to your right and be willing to expand your base. That's all it takes. The real reason why the left has less power than the right despite the fact that we are greater in number is that we don't always vote, and we often split our party.

Hear here! Mostly that bolded part. It's going to be a LOT more difficult on average for a Democrat to vote in 2022 than for a Republican. Only if Dems realize that they have much more to lose than do the 'Pugs, is there any hope of gaining actual control of Congress and restoring voting rights.

 

[Derec]

Hear here! Mostly that bolded part. It's going to be a LOT more difficult on average for a Democrat to vote in 2022 than for a Republican.

How do you figure that? Laws like the one recently enacted in Georgia apply to everyone. Do you think Dems are particularly susceptible to dehydration or something?

 

[Derec]

Maybe they should focus on convincing the rest of America of the virtues of fighting climate change and not just one Senator.

I wonder what subsidizing people to have more children has to do with fighting climate change? Because majority of the $3.5T Spendapalooza is about that. Only a small part has to do with climate, and some of that is silly stuff like the "civilian climate corps".

 

[Derec]

No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen on Twitter: "JUST IN: Kyrsten Sinema raised $1.1 million in Q3 — 90% of donations came from outside of Arizona and she saw a 456% increase in donations from Big Pharma compared to Q2. Her biggest donors are executives from pharmaceutical companies and big banks. (per @politico)" / Twitter

Funny, when leftist senators like Warnock raise millions for their campaigns, the coverage is entirely different.

The New York Times on Twitter: "Breaking News: The heart of President Biden's climate agenda — a push to replace coal- and gas-fired power plants — is said to likely be cut from the budget bill because Senator Joe Manchin opposes it. (link)" / Twitter

Coal-fired power plants need to go. They are not only very carbon intensive, but also emit pollutants such as mercury.
Gas turbine plants - especially modern combined cycle ones - on the other hand are efficient, clean and less carbon intensive. There is no need to get rid of them quickly. And no way to feasibly do it even if it we wanted to.

The Build Back Better proposal is critical, and the absolute floor.

On the contrary, at this time when inflation is surging and trillions have been spent already, we do not have money to be giving subsidies for having children etc.

Congress should be nationalizing the fossil fuel industry to stop the profit motive from encouraging resource plunder.

Ah yes, government taking over industries. Because Soviet Union and the rest of the Communist Block were such paragons of environmental virtue.

But instead corporate policymakers are still subsidizing corporate fossil fuel extraction!

What do these supposed subsidies consist of and how do they compare to subsidies to the other parts of the energy sector?

Make no mistake: like slavery, this is a battle against both racism AND capitalism.

Sigh, this is really about pushing socialism, not environment. People like Battar are watermelons - green on the outside, red on the inside.
And the slavery thing does not even make any sense. It is in labor-intensive agrarian societies that slavery flourishes. Industrial revolution made production more capital-intensive, and birthed capitalism, which made it possible to abolish slavery. It was the more capitalist, industrialized North that abolished slavery first, while the more agrarian, pre-capitalist South fought to preserve it.

MLK described them as “intersecting evils” for good reasons.

Well, he was dead wrong there.

There are more than 200 oil & gas companies in the world making trillions a year.

Because companies making money == teh evulz.

None have committed to ending extraction, no laws have been passed to make them stop,

Of course. We still need fossil fuels, and we will need them for decades. You can't snap fingers and give everybody a Tesla tomorrow, not to mention the required charging infrastructure.
Even if we ban sales of new gasoline and diesel cars/light trucks by 2030 (very optimistic/ambitious target and unlikely to happen) modern cars can last 15-20 years easily, with many lasting much longer than 20 years. Example: quick search on Autotrader reveals that there are 430 vehicles currently on sale that are between 20-30 years old - many in good shape and reasonably low miles. So you will have some fossil fuel cars/light trucks on the road even in 2050 and beyond. And then you have heavy vehicles, ships, planes, industrial plants, power plants, many of which are designed to last decades.

& their CEOs are best mates with world leaders. To believe we can hit zero emissions in this system is fantasy

Eventually we will. But it will take time. All big thing do, and this is one of the biggest! It is childish to demand unrealistic timetables. XR is a bunch of children in the backseat of our economy, kicking the seats and asking "are we there yet?" every five minutes. They are the annoying preadolescents of the activist world.

Seriously, given this context, what's the plan? Relying on the same market forces that have driven CO2 to 23 million year highs? Companies voluntarily abandoning the most lucrative business ever invented? Companies that have been promising sustainability for 20 years?

Sigh. Of course companies do not want to give up profits. But other companies seek opportunities to make profits with new energy technologies. The reason we have Teslas and why companies from BMW to Hyundai are coming out with electric cars is the market forces. Government action can steer these forces (for example with purchase incentives for electric cars, which contra Biden should not discriminate against companies like Tesla!) but government action is no substitute for private enterprise initiative and innovation, not to mention the profit motive.

The only way we get to zero emissions is to confront the power of the fossil fuel industry politically. This will mean fundamentally changing the system and the people who make the decisions that govern us. The longer we leave it, the more disruptive this confrontation will be.

More watermelons?

n America today, the very rich are becoming richer while millions of working families are struggling to put food on the table or pay their bills. We now have the absurd situation in which two multi-billionaires own more wealth than the bottom 40% of Americans; the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 92%;

Maybe then those supposedly "working families" should rethink the "great resignation". And the shtick with "x% own more than y%" is just an accounting trick. You have somebody with a $100k net worth and a recent college grad with $100k in student loans and, bingo, you have two people with zero dollars on average. Ok, so two billionaires own more than 40% of Americans. A guy who has a penny in his pocket (with no other assets but also no debts) owns more than 10.5% of Americans put together. Not to shabby for a centionaire!

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Ryan Grim on Twitter: "Absolutely wild that a guy who literally owns a coal producing business that generates millions for him — currently — can make this kind of decision for the whole country and it’s not illegal" / Twitter
noting
Senator Joe Manchin on Twitter: "(pic link)" / Twitter

Sometimes it feels like those on the left want authoritarianism too. One guy isn’t making the decision. If the Democrats had won one more senate seat then Manchin would have no power in this decision. Maybe they should focus on convincing the rest of America of the virtues of fighting climate change and not just one Senator.
This guy wants it illegal for a Senator to choose to vote the way he wants? Now who is against democracy?

Totally agree. If the dems are disappointed in not getting everything that they want, fine. Get mad. Get motivated. Get off your lazy ass and vote 2022. Be accepting of those slightly to your right and be willing to expand your base. That's all it takes. The real reason why the left has less power than the right despite the fact that we are greater in number is that we don't always vote, and we often split our party.

Yes, the trouble is, their solution might be primaries, not the General Election. A new $1.5 trillion bill would be good, not everything (and Manchin is asking for a lot), but it is a step in the right direction. I knew if Clinton won in 2016, we weren't going to have public college being no out of pocket immediately. These changes do take time, but the "progs" don't seem to be getting how the game works at times.