President Biden's Infrastructure Plans

[lpetrich]

Sinema Threat Followed Boost From Pharma Group - "A PhRMA-backed dark money group started running ads for Kyrsten Sinema just before she threatened to take down Democrats’ drug pricing plan."

AYMAN on Twitter: "“Arizona politics do not require Kyrsten Sinema to be as conservative and as obstructionist as she has been.” @MondaireJones to @AymanM on whether he supports a primary challenge of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. (vid link)" / Twitter

Raeli Savitt on Twitter: "@AymanMSNBC @MondaireJones @AymanM #SelloutSinema (vid link)" / Twitter
Satire of KS


NYT "Sinema Stars In Her Own Film"
then
Andrew Perez on Twitter: "My god (link)" / Twitter
then
francesca fiorentini on Twitter: "Make it stop" / Twitter

 

[Derec]

I like how McCarthy won't vote for the hard infrastructure bill because he says the other infrastructure bill is attached to it.

There is no "other infrastructure bill". The $3.5T bill is an entitlements bill, not an infrastructure bill.

It is the dumbest fucking complaint ever! I don't like Bill B, so I won't vote for Bill A. WTF?!

Yes, it is indeed stupid. The infrastructure bill passing with Republican votes while fauxgressives vote no would have effectively neutered the Fauxgressive Caucus as a power player and would have killed the $3.5T bill.

Meanwhile in the world of Politics and the 'soft infrastructure'.

Entitlements are not infrastructure. Not even "soft". "Soft infrastructure" is a made up Newspeak term.

A1) Bill applies to everyone - We need means testing!

It does not. By far the most money goes to people with kids - and the more kids you have the more money you get! But many of us are child free.

A2) Bill applies to those that don't pass the threshold established for means testing - It's just more welfare!

Well it is an entitlement with or without means testing. It has nothing to do with infrastructure.

 

[Derec]

[lefties picketing Machin's boat]

Given that Manchin is actually using that boat as his DC residence, it is inappropriate to picket a lawmaker's place of residence because you do not like a position he or she took. Should people picket AOC's or Jamila Praymal's DC residences too because these two (among others) are blocking the passage of the infrastructure bill?

 

[Derec]

statues of confederate heroes. What is wrong with you, you fucking traitor?

You are behind the times. The confederate statues are coming down. In their place are erected statues to such heroes as people who rob women at gunpoint (e.g. George Floyd) and people who murder FBI agents (e.g. Leonard Peltier).

 

[Derec]

Because governments should only spend tax money on bloated defense contracts and statues of confederate heroes. What is wrong with you, you fucking traitor?

Tax cuts are infrastructure. The border wall is infrastructure. Am I doing this right?

Nevada Ranches are infrastructure!

 

[Derec]

So criminals are not to be punished for committing crimes but gently persuaded not to commit crimes?

It is not a crime to vote against a particular bill. What are you talking about?

 

[Derec]

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "When legislators tell you that something is better than nothing (vid link)" / Twitter
AOC speaking at a rally with a banner that says "Pass Reconciliation First". Cori Bush was with her.

Why pass reconciliation first? The infrastructure bill is "gavel ready". The $3.5T bill is not even written yet.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "We are going to keep fighting for a pathway to citizenship in the reconciliation package

Citizenship for illegals is infrastructure? This shows what kind of twisted priorities the hard left has.
We need to fix our crumbling infrastructure. That should take precedence over things like new entitlements and giving citizenship to border jumpers.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s political allies have some free advice for anyone trying to bully the wine-drinking triathlete into supporting President Biden's $3.5 trillion budget bill: She doesn’t play by Washington’s rules — and she's prepared to walk away.

Don't mess with Gen Xers! The Millennials like AOC need to learn that.

"Woke politics"? Look at what positions she took earlier in her life. She was a Green Party activist and she was associated with Code Pink.

We all do dumb stuff when we're young. Some of us grow out of them, some become crotchety junior senators from Vermont.

 

[Derec]

trying to derail a moderate POTUS

Biden ran as a moderate. That helped him get elected. He did not run on spending $3.5T on new entitlement spending.

 

[Derec]

‘22 Defense Bill = $768 billion/yr
Build Back Better = $350B/yr

This is a dishonest comparison, but par for the course for the bartender from Queens.
She is comparing total defense spending with a bill that increases entitlement spending. Total entitlement spending is already much higher than defense. Medicare alone is more than defense!

Note also that unlike free pre-K, "common defense" is explicitly listed as a role of federal government in the US Constitution.

For Nancy Pelosi to twice postpone votes on the $1T bill. She doesn't want a vote on a major bill that's likely to be a defeat.

Pelosi should let the vote proceed. Call the fauxgressives' bluff. Let them go on record voting no on actual infrastructure.

Notice how the “progressive” Democrat position is simply advocating for the compromised agenda the Democratic president laid out.

These were policies pushed by the Left - for example Sanders. Biden did not run on $3.5T in new entitlement spending.

The entire political apparatus keeps moving further right.

That is bullshit. The Democratic Party moved quite a bit to the left over the last few years. A $3.5T entitlement package would have been out there under Obama and unthinkable under Clinton.
This is going back to LBJ/Carter years.

The progressives are forced to defend the agenda that was considered Biden’s moderate stance a year ago,

The $3.5T bill was never considered a "moderate stance".

America is one of the most far right, extremist governments in the world right now, certainly among western nations.

LMAO!

 

[Derec]

Matt Bruenig on Twitter: "@AOC In order to administer an income test, every person has to fill out often elaborate paperwork declaring what their income is. In practice, this paperwork burden makes it difficult for many eligible people to get the benefits

Almost all US residents already have to "fill out elaborate paperwork declaring what their income is". It's called the tax return.

, especially poor people or those with informal work."

You mean tax cheats who are being paid under the table in cash?
Why should they get any extra benefits?

 

[lpetrich]

Matt Bruenig on Twitter: "@AOC In order to administer an income test, every person has to fill out often elaborate paperwork declaring what their income is. In practice, this paperwork burden makes it difficult for many eligible people to get the benefits

Almost all US residents already have to "fill out elaborate paperwork declaring what their income is". It's called the tax return.

Except that they often outsource that work to a tax-preparation company.

, especially poor people or those with informal work."

You mean tax cheats who are being paid under the table in cash?
Why should they get any extra benefits?

They are the only people who should ever be punished for tax evasion, right?

 

[lpetrich]

The Mehdi Hasan Show on Twitter: "Should Kyrsten Sinema be worried about a primary challenge come 2024? “I think if you’re home in Arizona,” @AOC says of the senator, “it’s a question that you may want to raise.” (vid link)" / Twitter

AOC noted that she herself got into office by primarying a rather conservative sort of Democrat.

The next election for KS's seat is in 2024, so she may feel that she can ride it out.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The Mehdi Hasan Show on Twitter: "Should Kyrsten Sinema be worried about a primary challenge come 2024? “I think if you’re home in Arizona,” @AOC says of the senator, “it’s a question that you may want to raise.” (vid link)" / Twitter

The next election for KS's seat is in 2024, so she may feel that she can ride it out.

Yeah, even asking the question, I mean seriously?! This is Arizona, not AOC's district. These people seem to lack any serious amount of pragmatism.

 

[Harry Bosch]

The Mehdi Hasan Show on Twitter: "Should Kyrsten Sinema be worried about a primary challenge come 2024? “I think if you’re home in Arizona,” @AOC says of the senator, “it’s a question that you may want to raise.” (vid link)" / Twitter

The next election for KS's seat is in 2024, so she may feel that she can ride it out.

Yeah, even asking the question, I mean seriously?! This is Arizona, not AOC's district. These people seem to lack any serious amount of pragmatism.

Totally agree. It's unbelievable how many don't understand how the system works. The real reason why Dems are having a hard time passing their agenda is that their margin is so small! We have a 51 to 50 advantage in senate; 4 person margin in the house. If the left wants real democratic change in the country, they'd work to increase our tent, not deplete it.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Except that they often outsource that work to a tax-preparation company.

That should make it easier then.

The point is that one’s tax return is already being done and can provide a record of one’s income that the citizen and the government already have copies of. It’s not an extra burden on the system to use the tax return to assess income.

 

[Trausti]

That Arizona chic senator is crucial to passage of the Biden/Bat-Shit-Crazy agenda. And this is how they treat her. As Napoleon said, ...

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Less means testing means less bureaucracy, and that's what right-wingers claim to want. It seems like a lot of wasted effort to avoid getting even a tiny bit of money to someone who may not deserve it.

Seconded. I'd like to see means testing by the government limited to programs for the poor. Everything available to the middle class is available above the middle class, just raise taxes to balance. You eliminate an awful lot of effort and manipulation of the system. In the long enough term I would even apply that to much of what goes to the poor. (Taken to the limit this would be a UBI system which I think is a potentially dangerous trap that must be approached with great caution. However, so long as it is not enough to actually make not working a good plan I think it's reasonably safe.)

 

[Trausti]

This guy really has shit for brains.

Biden Downplays Sinema Bathroom Harassment: ‘Part of the Process’

 

[TV and credit cards]

Krysten is just trying to figure out what her character needs to represent in this moment. You look at this lady’s history and she has come a long way in her 45 years from the left to hunting in the center for what she needs to be.
What she missed along the way was, to be a politician, one must appear to have a set of values, take a position on the issues and then slowly and deftly adjust, redefine, or clarify as necessary. She thought being opaque was the way to go.
You’d think the Senate would cover this in the Welcome Aboard package.

 

[Shadowy Man]

That Arizona chic senator is crucial to passage of the Biden/Bat-Shit-Crazy agenda. And this is how they treat her.

Constituents of hers who actually knocked on doors to get their neighbors to vote for her are disappointed that she doesn't appear to be acting on her campaign promises. They want to talk to her, but since she doesn't hold town halls to talk to her constituents or even publicly state what her issues are with the bill or where she stands on it (and "in front of the elevator" doesn't count as a valid response), so they feel the only way is to track her down and tell her in person. Avoiding her constituents by running to the bathroom is not a good look. At least Manchin spoke to his constituents from the deck of his pleasure yacht.