President-elect Joe Biden's Cabinet and Staff Nominees

[Derec]

I don't like Tanden, but Manchin is an ass.

Fuck Manchin! Fuck Collins! Fuck Murkowski! All three put political correctness and identity politics over the good of the country.
$5 gas is not far off under Haaland hamstringing oil and gas industry and shutting down pipelines.

 

[Derec]

It was well that President Biden’s nominee mentioned that she was an Indigenous woman, as none of the Republican members on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee acknowledged the historic nature of Haaland’s nomination to oversee the federal agency that has responsibility for Indian Country. GOP senators Barrasso, Daines, Lankford, Murkowski and Hoeven are all past or present members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

Her identity is the beginning and end of her supposed qualifications for this position.
Her being an Indian should not matter one way or another. It's really a low-point in US politics when asking tough questions is considered "disrespect" just because the nominee is an Indian.

As expected, Haaland was repeatedly quizzed about extractive industry and what some GOP Members of Congress have called her “radical” and “extreme” views on renewable energy as part of her stated commitment to address climate change and transition from the present reliance on fossil fuels.

She is an extremist though.

Haaland repeatedly committed to support all forms of energy development in a “responsible manner” and that she would implement “President Biden’s agenda.”

Yeah, and I have some ocean property in Reno to sell you if you believe that!

“Yes, I did go to stand with the water protectors,” Haaland responded. “The reason I did that is because I agreed with the tribe that they felt they weren’t consulted in the best way,” she said of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and emphasized the importance of tribal consultation.

That has been refuted when we debated the issue back in 2016. The tribe has been consulted, but they refused to talk or consider any option other than abandonment of the project. Note that consultation does not mean veto power!
From this:
The Untold Story of the Dakota Access Pipeline: How Politics Almost Undermined the Rule of Law

On October 21, 2014, DAPL submitted an application to the Corps for
approval of over 200 river crossings, permission to lay pipe beneath seven
locations used by the Corps for navigation and flood control under the
Rivers and Harbors Act, and a real estate easement pursuant to Section 28
of the MLA31 to allow the pipe to traverse beneath Corps-owned flood
control lands at Lake Oahe.
During the more than two years of Corps consideration of this
application, Dakota Access and the Corps held 559 meetings with
potentially affected parties. In furtherance of obligations under the NHPA
and GC 20, they held 389 meetings with fifty-five potentially affected
Indian Tribes. DAPL also engaged dozens of cultural experts who worked
closely with State and Tribal historic preservation officers to ensure that
nothing of cultural significance was disturbed. As a result of their findings,
140 route changes were undertaken in North Dakota alone.32 DAPL also
accommodated the concerns of each of the fifty-five Tribes.33

What does Haaland want? Other than giving Standing Rock Sioux some sort of veto power of any pipeline project in the vicinity of their reservation?

Hoeven, until recently the chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, failed to mention the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) crisis in relation to the Bakken fracking fields that border the MHA Nation. MMIWG cases in the area rose 178% with the advent of man camps in the Bakken.

Obviously, any kidnapping or murder should be thoroughly investigated. But I do not see why Hoeven should be obligated to talk about this in the confirmation hearing.

Also, what is the actual number of missing or murdered women close to those camps? When you have a small number, random fluctuations can easily translate to large % swings, much to delight of those who want to misuse statistics. I would also like to know how the number of missing and murdered women relate to numbers of missing and murdered men in the same area and over the same time frame.

 

[Derec]

Why is everyone overlooking she is Indian which is a qualification.

What do you mean? Her supporters cannot shut up about it. Identity politics is all they have in her favor.

And that you consider her ethnicity "qualification" is a very good example of what's wrong with Democratic politics and supposedly liberal thought in this country.

If black, southern, conservative or flatulate, are qualifications

None of those are qualifications. Conservative/liberal is a set of political positions and is thus more relevant to nomination that ethnicity, but it is not qualification per se.

then certainly being a descendant of survivor of the American extinction event, otherwise known as Westward Ho, in the 1800s qualifies.

It does not.

 

[Derec]

If she were a Republican, "congressman from a major oil state" would be trotted out as a point blank, unquestionable qualification for the role.

It would not. Something like a degree in geology or petroleum engineering or even physics or chemistry would be great qualifications. As would be history of work in the extractive industries.

And they would be just as happy to trot out her race, for that matter. They don't have as many minority representatives on the white nationalist side of the aisle, but when they have someone, they're all too happy to use their race as proof of the Party's liberal-mindedness. "You say we're racists, but if that's true, how come we have a Black on our side, answer me that" blah blah.

That is unfortunate, sure. But it is the result of identity politics pushed by the Left, where everything is seen through the lens of race and ethnicity.

 

[Derec]

I am concerned because it is the claim Ms. Haaland is a "clear and present danger in the here and now" is either hysterical rhetoric or fucking delusional. Please get a grip on reality.

My grip is fine.

Are you jealous? Or are you upset because the extract natural resources at all costs orgy at the Department of Interior may be over?

Our economy needs those resources. So yes, I am upset that extractive industries will be hamstrung by Haaland.

 

[Elixir]

So yes, I am upset that extractive industries will be hamstrung by Haaland.

All the extreme right wingers are. Fuckem.

 

[Elixir]

I don't like Tanden, but Manchin is an ass.

Fuck Manchin! Fuck Collins! Fuck Murkowski! All three put political correctness and identity politics over the good of the country.
$5 gas is not far off under Haaland hamstringing oil and gas industry and shutting down pipelines.
View attachment 32193

It's almost $6/gallon in Denmark.
Poor fuckers are going under - can't afford healthcare.
Oh wait - no, that's the US.

 

[laughing dog]

I am concerned because it is the claim Ms. Haaland is a "clear and present danger in the here and now" is either hysterical rhetoric or fucking delusional. Please get a grip on reality.

My grip is fine.

Not on reality if you really believe that Ms. Haaland is a "clear and present danger in the here and now" $5 gas is not far off under Haaland hamstringing oil and gas industry and shutting down pipelines. " Seriously, I worry about such anyone's grip on reality when I read such alarmist delusions.

Our economy needs those resources. So yes, I am upset that extractive industries will be hamstrung by Haaland.

So you are upset that the orgy at the DOI for natural resource extraction industries may be over. At worst, if those industries access to those resources is "hamstrung", then the price of those resources on the open market will rise which is a good thing, since their current prices do not reflect the marginal costs of their extraction and use.

 

[Swammerdami]

He's not a Cabinet official but why haven't turds like Fritz Berggren been fired yet?

 

[ZiprHead]

Merrick Garland has been confirmed 70-30.

 

[Politesse]

Guess all that lobby-standing back during the nomination fiasco wasn't in vain after all!

 

[TomC]

Merrick Garland has been confirmed 70-30.

I suppose McConnell and the Trumpistas from 2016 are hoping that Garland has better ethics than they demonstrated.
Tom

 

[Elixir]

Merrick Garland has been confirmed 70-30.

Another diaper-change moment for El Cheato.

 

[TomC]

Merrick Garland has been confirmed 70-30.

Another diaper-change moment for El Cheato.

Here's a fun bit.
Send Trump a gold engraved invitation to the swearing in ceremony for Garland.
Hold it up on YouTube for everyone to see before giving it a beautifully calligraphic address and mailing it.
Tom

 

[lpetrich]

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Schumer moves to bring Haaland nomination to final vote | Reuters

Republican Senators Steve Daines and Cynthia Lummis earlier in the day put holds on Biden’s nomination of U.S. Representative Deb Haaland to head the department, in a move that likely only delays her confirmation for a few days until next week.

Haaland is expected to be confirmed by the Senate as at least two Republicans, Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, support her nomination.

“Despite Republican obstruction, Representative Haaland will be confirmed by the Senate,” Schumer said. If approved, Haaland would become the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency.

She was recently confirmed by some Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee.


Becerra gets assist from several GOP state AGs as conservatives try to torpedo nomination | Fox News

President Biden’s pick for Health and Human Services secretary, Xavier Becerra, received praise from two GOP attorneys general he worked with during his time as California attorney general, as Republicans in the Senate push to torpedo his nomination.

Becerra, if confirmed, would be the nation’s first Latino secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. He is expected to face a final Senate vote on his nomination in the coming days after the Senate Finance Committee voted on his nomination last week, ending in a tie along party lines.

Who Are President Biden's Cabinet Members And Key Advisers? : NPR - 15 confirmed, 18 to go

 Jennifer Granholm was confirmed as Secretary of Energy. She was the first woman to serve as Michigan's governor, and she earlier served as attorney general of Michigan.

 

[Derec]

Not on reality if you really believe that Ms. Haaland is a "clear and present danger in the here and now" $5 gas is not far off under Haaland hamstringing oil and gas industry and shutting down pipelines. " Seriously, I worry about such anyone's grip on reality when I read such alarmist delusions.

She is a known opponent of the oil and gas industries. That is a fact. She even went to North Dakota to protest an oil pipeline in 2016. Nominating a cabinet secretary protesting against the very industry they are tasked at managing/regulating is stupid. It's like having an education secretary who was protesting against public schools!

So you are upset that the orgy at the DOI for natural resource extraction industries may be over. At worst, if those industries access to those resources is "hamstrung", then the price of those resources on the open market will rise which is a good thing, since their current prices do not reflect the marginal costs of their extraction and use.

If the domestic oil and gas production is hamstrung, as I predict will happen under Haaland, then the prices will rise not by recognizing external costs (not "marginal costs") of their extraction and use. Taxation would accomplish that. All hamstringing the industry will accomplish is to reduce supply, which means not only higher prices but US energy consumer having to use more imported oil and gas which in turn means more money funding jobs for people in Venezuela or Russia or Saudi Arabia and not in US. Which means fewer jobs, tax revenues and royalties in the US.

Better approach would be to support domestic energy production but to impose a carbon tax to account for externalities.

 

[Derec]

It's almost $6/gallon in Denmark.

Why is it always poor Denmark that has to stand in for flawed comparisons by American neosocialists?

Two main differences
- Denmark is a smaller country with a much greater population density and far fewer miles driven per person. So the impact of higher gas prices is not nearly as big as the impact that same price would have in the US
- The reason the gasoline price is so high in Denmark is taxes. So at least the government takes in some revenue through it. However, if prices in the US go up because we will produce less domesically and have to import more, than the additional money US drivers have to pay will not go into the Treasury but to oil companies abroad.

Poor fuckers are going under - can't afford healthcare.
Oh wait - no, that's the US.

Again, Denmark has high gas price due to taxation, which allows for more services. Not due to shunning oil and gas industry, which is counterproductive as it actually reduces government revenues. While US is #1 producer of oil worldwide, we do not produce orders of magnitude more oil on a per-capita basis than Denmark - 36 bbl/d/1000 for US vs. 24 for Denmark.

I am also not aware of Danes protesting every time a new oil or gas pipeline is being built. Maybe that's why we can't have as many nice things as the Danes - too many malcontents like AOC and Haaland going on barricades - literally! - against domestic industry.

 

[Derec]

Another bad choice by the Biden administration.

Kristen Clarke, while at Harvard (an affirmative action admission?) penned a black supremacist and racist screed.

Clarke Should Retract Statements

BSA President Kristen Clarke '97 wasn't here for the Jeffries lecture. But in a letter to the editors of The Crimson, Clarke made a series of assertions cerily reminiscent of the CUNY professor's racist theories. Among them, was the following: "Melanin endows Blacks with greater mental, physical and spiritual abilities--something which cannot be measured based on Eurocentric standards."

White people have been cancelled for far less outrageous statements.

As head of the Black Student Association, she also invited a anti-semite and racist Tony Martin to speak at Harvard .
My Kristen Clarke Problem

And, hardly surprising for a black supremacist, she is a big fan of cop-killer Wesley Cook (nom de guerre: Mumia Abu-Jamal). When she was in law school in 1999, she organized a conference supporting that lowlife murderer.

Much more recently, she suggested that it was bad for Chicago police to actually investigate the hate crime allegations by Jussie Smollett instead of just blindly believing him without evidence.

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/KristenClarkeJD/status/1091429550939127808[/TWEET]

Of course, those claims turned out to be bogus, but Clarke has (to my knowledge) not retracted her condemnation of Chicago police for having the temerity to do their jobs.
She has no job being anywhere near DOJ!

 

[ZiprHead]

Not on reality if you really believe that Ms. Haaland is a "clear and present danger in the here and now" $5 gas is not far off under Haaland hamstringing oil and gas industry and shutting down pipelines. " Seriously, I worry about such anyone's grip on reality when I read such alarmist delusions.

She is a known opponent of the oil and gas industries. That is a fact. She even went to North Dakota to protest an oil pipeline in 2016. Nominating a cabinet secretary protesting against the very industry they are tasked at managing/regulating is stupid. It's like having an education secretary who was protesting against public schools!

So you are upset that the orgy at the DOI for natural resource extraction industries may be over. At worst, if those industries access to those resources is "hamstrung", then the price of those resources on the open market will rise which is a good thing, since their current prices do not reflect the marginal costs of their extraction and use.

If the domestic oil and gas production is hamstrung, as I predict will happen under Haaland, then the prices will rise not by recognizing external costs (not "marginal costs") of their extraction and use. Taxation would accomplish that. All hamstringing the industry will accomplish is to reduce supply, which means not only higher prices but US energy consumer having to use more imported oil and gas which in turn means more money funding jobs for people in Venezuela or Russia or Saudi Arabia and not in US. Which means fewer jobs, tax revenues and royalties in the US.

Better approach would be to support domestic energy production but to impose a carbon tax to account for externalities.

[TWEET]<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A Big Oil exec told me I had a "misconception" about a special tax break polluters get that other businesses don't.<br><br>So, after explaining the deduction to him, I offered to write it out of the tax code if that what he wants. Just let me know! <a href="https://t.co/ML25PMnrg5">pic.twitter.com/ML25PMnrg5</a></p>— Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepKatiePorter/status/1369368725955244040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>[/TWEET]..

 

[lpetrich]

I looked at the most recent votes at senate.gov - U.S. Senate: Roll Call Votes 117th Congress - 1st Session (2021)

Many of Biden's nominations had cloture votes, though not all of them. Taste-of-Armageddon filibustering is just plain too easy.

• Avril Danica Haines - Dir of National Intelligence - 84-10
• Lloyd James Austin - Sec'y of Defense - 93-2
• Janet Louise Yellen - Sec'y of the Treasury - 84-15
• Antony John Blinken - Sec'y of State - 78-22
• Nicholas Mayorkas - Sec'y of Dept. of Homeland Security - 55-42, 56-43
• Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg - Sec'y of Transportation - 86-13
• Denis Richard McDonough - Sec'y of Veterans Affairs - 87-7
• Linda Thomas-Greenfield - UN Security Council - 75-20, 78-20
• Linda Thomas-Greenfield - UN General Assembly - 77-20, 78-21
• Thomas J. Vilsack - Sec'y of Agriculture - 92-7
• Jennifer Mulhern Granholm - Sec'y of Energy - 67-32, 64-35
• Miguel A. Cardona - Sec'y of Education - 66-32, 64-33
• Gina Marie Raimondo - Sec'y of Commerce - 84-15, 84-15
• Cecilia Elena Rouse - Chmn of the Council of Economic Advisers - 94-5, 95-4
• Marcia Louise Fudge - Sec'y of Housing and Urban Development - 69-30, 66-34
• Merrick Brian Garland - Attorney General - 70-29, 70-30
• Michael Stanley Regan - Admin of the Environmental Protection Agency - 65-35, 66-34
• Debra Anne Haaland - Sec'y of the Interior - 54-42, (conf. vote upcoming)

The closer votes are the ones that are filibustered.

The Republicans to vote for cloture for Deb Haaland's nomination are Susan Collins ME, Lindsey Graham SC, Lisa Murkowski AK, and Dan Sullivan AK. No Democrats voted against that cloture.