US CE Spring 2022: I'm convinced it's useless which is why I argue about it all day every day

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > US CE Spring 2022: I'm convinced it's useless which is why I argue about it all day every day

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Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Good rule about the war rumors but lol at trusting "official American sources" for anything beyond whether the sun arose today. :wink:

VorpalBunny posted:

No Let's Go Brandon or FJB shirts seen at Disneyland today. That's progress!

Who needs t-shirts when Brandon's ratings look like this?

Not even bipartisan furriner-hate & bloodlust have been ratings boons, and those are American traditions.

Willa Rogers fucked around with this message at 15:40 on Mar 21, 2022

# ¿ Mar 21, 2022 15:36

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# ¿ May 13, 2024 07:45

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Bookmark this; you'll need it every time someone blames the lack of legislation on co-Presidents Manchin & Sinema (or other rotating villains): a 7-page list of executive actions Biden could make all by his lonesome, compiled by the Congressional Progressive Caucus & submitted to the White House.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2022 15:44

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

The Georgia Dems ran & won based on "elect a Dem Senate & we'll give you $2000, a higher minimum wage, lowered Medicare age and student-debt relief," none of which happened once they were elected.

eta: Not sure if referencing the long-ago electoral history of 15 months ago is against the thread rules, but it seems relevant to discussing current events (rather, lack thereof). Let me know if I need to edit it.

Willa Rogers fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Mar 21, 2022

# ¿ Mar 21, 2022 16:10

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

BiggerBoat posted:

They can do both.

When the dems rightfully get destroyed next year, the insurrectionists will cite it as proof that getting rid of all the voter fraud was the reason and double down on it. When the pendulum swings back the other way in 4 or 6 years to give the democrats another shot at doing nothing and elections get close again or start going blue, it'll be more "voter fraud!" and take america back poo poo.

The Dems also are prone to irrational claims about election interference, as we saw after the 2016 general election.

I'll never forget how quickly the pre-election claim WHEN CLINTON WINS TRUMP WILL BLAME IT ON RUSSIA became the post-election claim TRUMP "WON" SO LET'S BLAME IT ON RUSSIA.

eta: It'd be funny as hell if Dem voters storm the capitol after losing the 2022 or 2024 elections.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2022 18:37

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Plek posted:

Sweet loving christ can we not try to primary him? Dems are gonna get curb-stomped at this rate of doing gently caress-all.

Who, Biden?

"We" (ie: some hapless soul) can primary him, but if he wants the nomination (and isn't talked out of running) then it's his, and the DNC, Congressional committees & state parties will line up behind him.

I think it's about 50-50 that Biden will stand for reelection; he's not getting any cognitively sharper, as time goes on, and those polls aren't dropping by themselves.

And the bench is pretty grim, anyway: Harris's approvals are even worse, and a ~~alt-med legislative sponsor~~ M4A advocate will be shut out before they begin to decide.

I could see a mushy (yet socially progressive) centrist like Polis possibly winning the nomination, but that's a stretch.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2022 18:50

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Solkanar512 posted:

Really? Which Dems did this, specifically? How many lawsuits were filed? How many concrete plans to try and subvert the vote totals or change electors were made by democratic operatives, much like the Eastman memo?

Because it really feels like you're setting up yet another equivalency fallacy between the actions of dems in 2016 and republicans in 2020. Not to just outright lying about what "blame it on Russia" actually means - complaints about Russian interference were of course about promoting misinformation online, not outright changing votes, despite how many claim otherwise.

I'm on my way out, but I'll be happy to respond later if someone hasn't done so first!

edit: Wait, are you splitting hairs between "Russian interference" & "blame it on Russia"? If so, I'm not sure if it warrants a reply. :raise:

Willa Rogers fucked around with this message at 19:04 on Mar 21, 2022

# ¿ Mar 21, 2022 19:01

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Oh yeah: Speaking of gas cards, likely Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson is holding a gas giveaway on Thursday across the city & suburbs.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2022 19:02

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

quote:

Almost a million people in the United States have died of Covid-19 in the past two years, but the full impact of the pandemic�s collateral damage is still being tallied. Now a new study reports that the number of Americans who died of alcohol-related causes increased precipitously during the first year of the pandemic, as routines were disrupted, support networks frayed and treatment was delayed.

The startling report comes amid a growing realization that Covid�s toll extends beyond the number of lives claimed directly by the disease to the excess deaths caused by illnesses left untreated and a surge in drug overdoses, as well as to social costs like educational setbacks and the loss of parents and caregivers.

Numerous reports have suggested that Americans drank more to cope with the stress of the pandemic. Binge drinking increased, as did emergency room visits for alcohol withdrawal. But the new report found that the number of alcohol-related deaths, including from liver disease and accidents, soared, rising to 99,017 in 2020, up from 78,927 the previous year � an increase of 25 percent in the number of deaths in one year.

That compares with an average annual increase of 3.6 percent in alcohol-related deaths between 1999 and 2019. Deaths started inching up in recent years, but increased only 5 percent between 2018 and 2019.

***

Among adults younger than 65, alcohol-related deaths actually outnumbered deaths from Covid-19 in 2020; some 74,408 Americans ages 16 to 64 died of alcohol-related causes, while 74,075 individuals under 65 died of Covid. And the rate of increase for alcohol-related deaths in 2020 � 25 percent � outpaced the rate of increase of deaths from all causes, which was 16.6 percent.

The alcohol-related deaths went up for everybody � men, women, as well as every ethnic and racial group. Deaths among men and women increased at about the same rate, but the absolute number of deaths among men was much higher.

Drug overdose deaths also reached record levels during the first year of the pandemic, with more than 100,000 Americans dying of overdoses during the 12-month period that ended in April 2021, a nearly 30 percent increase over the previous year, according to reports issued in November. The number of deaths from opioids in which alcohol played a role also increased.

Young adults ages 25 to 44 experienced the greatest increases in alcohol-related deaths in 2020, rising nearly 40 percent over the previous year, according to the new report.

I wonder whether anyone's done the math on the extent to which "excess deaths" were caused by pandemic-adjacent numbers like these.

# ¿ Mar 22, 2022 19:44

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

VitalSigns posted:

Every round of sanctions in my life has been introduced with the same two-faced talk
"We're only targeting the regime with precision sanctions against officials and oligarchs, of course we're not punishing ordinary people who didn't do anything wrong"
*5 seconds later*
"I'm pleased to announce we've crippled their economy, the regime can't hope to maintain stability for much longer, we're projecting millions starving within weeks and by god we can push that even higher"

that nbc story the other day about cuba's vaccination program going so well mentioned, as a context-free aside, how the country has problems obtaining syringes & antibiotics (and has still managed to inoculate 98 percent of its citizens).

oh, word? Would you care to elaborate on how that has come about, and who's responsible for such an outcome?

# ¿ Mar 23, 2022 00:13

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Someone (I think Leon) pointed out in the last CE thread that McAuliffe lost the Virginia race last year bc of olds' voting. Turns out that was bc youngs dropped off in voting:

quote:

Forgiving student debt may not be a panacea for Biden and Democrats� young voter woes, but it ranks high on the list of priorities for that voting bloc. Tom Bonier, chief executive of the Democratic data firm TargetSmart, said that last year�s elections in New Jersey, Virginia and polling all point toward depressed youth turnout come November.

In Virginia, Democrats were stunned by former Gov. Terry McAuliffe�s loss in the gubernatorial race last fall. In a new analysis, Bonier attributes it largely in part to a drop in young voters. In 2017 young voters made up some 9.7 percent of the electorate compared to 14.6 percent in 2020. But in 2021 that dropped to 9.1 percent.

�There wasn�t a scenario where Terry McAuliffe could have won with that level of youth turnout,� said Bonier, who said Democrats are unlikely to see a youth vote rivaling the last midterm that ushered the party into a commanding House majority. �For Democrats to hold on to control of the House and the Senate, we don�t have to hit exactly those 2018 highs but we do need to get close to them.�

From a story about Biden dicking around on forgiving student-loan debt, and how that might affect future elections.

Another story linked from that one, on the pressure from the loan industry to resume payments:

quote:

SoFi, one of the largest student refinance companies, told investors earlier this month that the Biden administration�s last extension of the payment freeze in December was expected to reduce the company�s profits by $20 million to $25 million in the first quarter of this year. [willa note: ]

The company is one of several private student lenders that, in recent months, have stepped up their fight to get the Biden administration to stop � or at least curtail � the unprecedented freeze on federal student loan payments that�s now entering its third year.

The companies argue that the sweeping payment pause is a wasteful and unfair subsidy to borrowers who don�t need it, and they�re warning it will further exacerbate rising inflation.

Several private student lenders and their lobbyists have reached out to Democratic and Republican offices on Capitol Hill to counter the high-profile calls from Democrats asking for another extension. And they�ve voiced concerns to the Biden administration, where a decision on the issue is once again pending among senior aides at the White House ahead of the May expiration of the existing relief.

And, of course, there's the bad optics of continuing forbearance:

quote:

Lobbyists for SoFi have separately circulated a two-page document to congressional offices titled, �Back to Normal Means Ending the Student Loan Payment Pause.�

That echoes some concerns that Biden administration officials have expressed internally in the past. Continuously extending the federal student loan payment pause, those officials have argued, undercuts the administration�s messaging about the economic recovery and efforts to return to normal amid rollbacks of pandemic restrictions.

The SoFi document argues that it would be �unnecessary� to again extend the payment pause and warns that it would contribute to sky-high levels of inflation. The company, at previous points throughout the pandemic, has also pitched lawmakers on legislative language that would have forced the Education Department to restrict the payment pause only to borrowers who were unemployed or otherwise economically distressed.

Hmm, who will have the upper hand here? Holders of the largest category of consumer debt in the country, or the FIRE lobbyists who are the lifeblood of our politicians' campaigns? :iiam:

# ¿ Mar 23, 2022 15:23

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Lib and let die posted:

If companies like Apple have no problem "soft sanctioning" Russia in a way that actually hurts the average Russian worker that has less power over their government than we do here in the US more than they hurt that maligned government itself, they should be willing to do the same in Texas and Florida until the trans panic and don't say gay bills are overturned.

Speaking of which, the Florida Dem Party, in its quest to maintain the title of worst Dem state party in the country (among some stiff competition, mind you), initially scheduled its main annual fundraiser at a Disney property & announced it on Monday, before the party's LGBTQ caucus convinced them otherwise.

And good old Charlie Crist, renowned for his strong stances & non-equivocating statements, had this to say:

quote:

Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) tweeted that �it�s prudent the party consider other options� while Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried called on others in the party to boycott the event.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2022 15:54

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Mellow Seas posted:

Could you give some examples of this pattern? I�m not familiar enough with Northam�s term to know exactly what you�re talking about. What did VA Dems promise young voters and how did they tell them to gently caress off? (Genuine question.)

I mean, it should be obvious that McAuliffe would've done better among young voters had he announced that his party was responsible for relieving student debt than he did campaigning alongside limp conservative noodle Bill Kristol.

The state parties, although it might appear otherwise, do not exist in a non-national vacuum, and touting what's going on in D.C. when the party holds the presidency and both houses of Congress would be a no-brainer under an effective majority, especially when it comes to executive actions for which the rotating-villain excuses can't be trotted out.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2022 16:02

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

VitalSigns posted:

It's also interesting in that I remember one of the arguments that Biden would extend the moratorium and/or do some forgiveness was that there's no lobby to make people pay federally owned loans because it's the government collecting the interest not the banks.

But turns out there is a lobby because you have all these predatory companies lurking around sucking money off the system from servicers to contractors to lenders and whoops can't suck out those sweet profits off the exploitation if the government puts the exploitation on pause

This quote from the story tickled me, bc it shows the irony of revolving-door politics:

quote:

The group is led by Garry Reeder, who was chief of staff to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rich Cordray during the Obama administration. Cordray, who is now the Biden administration�s student aid chief, is overseeing the Education Department�s plans to restart federal student loan payments.

�The American Fintech Council supports a targeted moratorium and targeted relief,� Reeder said in a statement to POLITICO. �The Executive Branch�s appropriate response from March 2020 needs to be tailored to maximize the support for the most vulnerable and minimize the subsidy for high-income borrowers.�

Reminds me of how Marilyn Tavenner, head of CMS under Obama, left that job to head the insurance lobby group America's Health Insurance Plans.

eta: And of course the lobbyists are using means-testing as a bargaining chip, secure in the knowledge that poorer debtors aren't their cup of tea since they're riskier for private-loan offerings, and savvily aiming toward the liberal sweet spot of providing relief for only the most "deserving."

Willa Rogers fucked around with this message at 16:15 on Mar 23, 2022

# ¿ Mar 23, 2022 16:10

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Class3KillStorm posted:

Madeline Albright has died.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/23/politics/madeleine-albright-obituary/index.html

The CNN obit only mentions a passing glance at her work "in the private sector for a time" but that's where she truly shone. Also, lmao:

quote:

In 2010, Albright began promoting the controversial multi-level marketing company Herbalife.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2022 22:22

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

some plague rats posted:

... some completely anonymous messages, sharing second-hand at best gossip, posted by someone who very publicly hates him? Can we at have some standards when sharing accusations like this?

No poo poo; it's way less proof than we had, say, for Hunter Biden's diary when it was probatable to mention it.

eta:

Yeowch!!! My Balls!!! posted:

I err on the side of believing women in these things,

Is there proof that a woman has alleged this, or only FOAF rumors?

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 02:26

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

^^^ You keep mentioning how baffled you are that "unions have dropped him" and you've been saying so for months. Have you delved into which particular unions, and their stated reasons? (His staff was the first to unionize in Virginia among pols, btw.)

Fritz the Horse posted:

Goon commentary on Lee Carter would mostly be here in the local politics thread which is largely dead: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3873661

Keep in mind the general D&D rule to avoid repeating discussions that have been thoroughly covered several times before. This thread started discussion of Lee Carter following Willa Rogers posting an article about how McAuliffe lost the Virginia gubernatorial race in part because of a drop in youth turnout: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=1&threadid=3997306&pagenumber=7&perpage=40&highlight=carter#post522322357

If we are going to continue to discuss Lee Carter's political career please make sure it is relevant to current events and/or is fresh information or analysis rather than just rehashing.

I'm not sure whether what I posted doesn't hew to your framework of current events (student-loan forbearance) or new information (a study about the VA drop in younger voters) or you're just mentioning it as an aside.

If it's the former, please clarify, since I've laid out why I think it was relevant to this thread & followed your framework.

Willa Rogers fucked around with this message at 14:25 on Mar 24, 2022

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 14:01

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Some highlights from the new Emerson national poll. I mentioned a few weeks ago that polls would gauge how effective Biden's blame-it-on-Russia strategy would be in tempering views on gas prices, and this was the first poll I've seen to directly ask that question:

quote:

As President Biden travels to the NATO summit this week, 59% of voters agree President Biden should go to Brussels and join NATO leaders, 20% think he should not go; 21% are unsure. While US voters are supportive of Biden�s travel to Brussels, 51% of voters think that President Biden should prioritize domestic affairs while 35% think he should prioritize the War in Ukraine. Fourteen percent (14%) are unsure.

Two issues voters overwhelmingly agree on are accepting Ukraine refugees and making Daylight Savings Time permanent. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of voters say the US should accept refugees from Ukraine, while 16% think the US should not. Seventy-four percent (74%) of voters are in consensus about the �Sunshine Protection Act� legislation that would make Daylight Savings Time permanent, while 26% oppose the measure.

Eighty-three percent (83%) of voters say they are experiencing some hardship due to increased prices on everyday items, with 40% reporting significant hardship, and another 43% reporting some hardship. Seventeen percent (17%) report experiencing no hardship. When asked about who they blame for an increase in gas prices, a plurality (39%) blame the Biden Administration, 21% blame the sanctions on Russia, and 18% blame gas and oil companies.

The most important issue for a plurality of voters is the economy (including jobs, inflation, and taxes) at 37%, followed by healthcare at 14%, and Ukraine-Russian war at 12%. No other issue reaches double digits.

President Joe Biden has a 43% approval rating, a one-point increase from February, while his disapproval dropped a point to 49%. Looking ahead to the midterm elections, the Republican party continues to hold an advantage: 47% say they will support the Republican congressional candidate, while 42% plan to support the Democratic congressional candidate, with 11% undecided.

Spencer Kimball, Executive Director of the Emerson College Poll said, �Biden struggles among Independent voters: just 28% approve of the job he is doing while 64% disapprove. When looking at the Midterm generic congressional ballot, Independents break 28% for Democrats, 42% with Republicans, and 31% are undecided.�

Former President Trump has a nearly 12-point favorability advantage over Biden: 59% of voters say they are somewhat or very favorable of Trump, compared with 47% who are somewhat or very favorable of Biden. In a hypothetical 2024 election against former President Trump, Biden trails 45% to 42%.

Kimball continued, �Notable demographic differences include region and education. Trump leads Biden among both suburban voters, 47% to 38%, and rural voters, 59% to 35%, while Biden holds 54% to 30% support among urban and city voters. Regarding education, Trump leads among those without a college degree, 51% to 33%, while Biden leads among those with a college degree or more 52% to 37%.�

When voters were asked about the potential for nuclear war, 33% say it is inevitable while 25% think it will never happen. Forty-two percent (42%) are unsure. When asked specifically about how concerned they were about Russia and nuclear conflict, 80% say they are somewhat or very concerned.

Voters think Covid-19 is less of a major threat than last month: 24% of voters say it is a major threat, 37% a moderate threat, 25% a minor threat and 14% not a threat at all. Compared to last month, the share of voters who say it is a major threat has decreased from 28% to 24%, while the share of voters who think it is a minor threat increased from 20% to 25%.

From the summary; I haven't looked at the crosstabs yet.

Jesus, those numbers on the probability of nuclear war are pretty startling. Also lol at Trump leading among suburbanites, who've been the Dems' holy grail & their ongoing excuse for their centrism.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 14:13

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Yeah, the lack of "access to affordable" treatment was a factor in the spike in alcohol-related deaths, as was the delay of treatment for alcohol-related conditions like liver disease & mental illness.

This would be a good time to use the study as a reason to deschedule cannabis, given other studies that I believe showed a drop in alcohol abuse in states that went legal, or to pass any legislation that allows legal states' dispensaries to operate within the federal banking system instead of continuing to operate as a criminal banking cartel & required to deal with cash.

eta: The NYT story also mentioned relapses from sober people who couldn't attend in-person 12-step meetings as a factor, which makes sense.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 15:38

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Josef bugman posted:

Yeah I don't want to backseat mod, but there are whole threads in multiple places for this stuff.

Alongside that I don't want to delve too deep into trying to tell the future, but have there been any indications of what might occur post loss of the houses under the democrats? Can things be done via executive order then?

Things can be done by executive order now.

DarkCrawler posted:

The American exceptionalism in believing that things possibly can't be worse anywhere else under anybody else is amazing.

Sincere question: Is there another country in the world with as bizarre of a "healthcare system" as ours?

Because I'm inclined to believe that an invasion by another country is the only way we'll get single-payer before the several decades from now that Dems have proclaimed to be a pragmatic & reasonable timeline.

eta: Yesterday was the 12th anniversary of the signing of the "Affordable" "Care" Act, yet premiums have doubled, out-of-pocket costs have tripled, and more people than ever before are avoiding seeking medical help (including pharmaceuticals) because of the prohibitive expenses of doing so.

Even a privatized "public option" is a bridge too far, as is lowering the eligibility age for Medicare.

vvv Yes; you can find a press release from the CPC stating that this is the case.

Willa Rogers fucked around with this message at 16:07 on Mar 24, 2022

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 16:03

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Bishyaler posted:

Invasion or revolution. You won't get single-payer decades from now either because the whole system was built to shut down things which adversely impact the capitalist class. Just like the Biden admin defending the Trump policy to allow predatory lending, except helping the wealthy ghouls is done quietly where Republicans would be advertising that people should be able to take their own risks.

Yeah; my favorite example of this is how Biden continued Trump's program of further privatizing Medicare with its direct-contracting experiment but Biden gave it a new name & branded it as an equity program, lol.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 16:34

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

BiggerBoat posted:

There's also the thing where if you need to see a shrink, go to rehab type visits or what have you that a LOT of employers will not work with you and any of these types of interruptions in building cogs for them count against you. I have psychiatrist and pain management doctors that I absolutely have to legally see every legally defined period of time or else I cannot refill my medication. And I can't usually pick and choose what times they have available.

oh yah, that pain-management bullshit is another reason people turn to the bottle these days: for pain relief. I think I read a nyt story recently about how even the government realizes that they overstepped on the regulations required now for pain management, such as restricting opioids for people dying of cancer.

and yes: you make a lot of sense about the vagaries of scheduling & trying to balance it with a special-needs child. Good thing the Democratic congressional majority & a Democratic president have now passed ~~12 weeks of paid parental leave~~ ~~4 weeks of paid parental leave~~ would you believe... a now-expired increase to the tax credit for parents?

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 20:00

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

From the last KFF survey about healthcare costs in the U.S.:

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 20:10

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Also, this chart for lols since I came across it while looking for the med-cost survey:

This is why I call out liberals when they're ventriloquizing conservatives "not wanting programs for those people."

(I realize that these sentiments were likely colored by the orange cheeto running things at the time.)

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 20:12

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Jaxyon posted:

I realize Medicaid is not Medicare, but you're aware that was at least part of the reason for limiting Medicare to olds right?

Same reason why SS was initially much more limited.

I meant liberals who say that single-payer will never ever happen bc those guys over there don't want people of color to get it, when liberals themselves are the emperors of means-testing and other gate-keeping that ends up hurting people of color. (See KFF charts above about who's impacted the most when it comes to medical costs.)

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 21:03

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

^^^ lol, ofc.

Jaxyon posted:

Historically it's true.

I'm not a liberal, but I am saying that single payer is hard to get passed because the white people over here(ie democrats and the liberals) also don't want people of color to get it.

lol, no; it's because the "stakeholders" in the industries who would stand to lose have made their views (and correlating dollars) known, and because politicians & corporate media have echoed the industries' propaganda (including how those others will oppose it bc those other others will benefit by it).

Willa Rogers fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Mar 24, 2022

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 23:41

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

This may be Eric Adams' weirdest and dumbest move yet.

A vaccine mandate exemption for celebrities and athletes.

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1507115038473166850

The Reuters story makes it seem as if police officers are the only ones left under a vaccine mandate in the city; is that correct?

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 23:46

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

^^^ "We starved some folks."

Jaxyon posted:

It's both of those things. Never underestimate the racism of white people as part of US politics.

I'll try to not do that (nor have I done that). But as someone who has tracked healthcare in this country & its political trajectory over the last four decades I can emphatically state that one of these things is the greater (and greatest) cause of single-payer derailment.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 23:48

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

I thought I made it clear that when I was talking about liberals channeling conservatives that single-payer will never ever happen bc of those people I meant that liberals were hiding behind it as a (well-worn) cliche to not examine their own biases about who deserves free healthcare (currently, around $19k/max for medicaid & 65 years+ for medicare).

If not, consider it clarified & let's move on.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 23:58

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

I meant on the business end in terms of paying/calculating the excise and sales tax and keeping sales records. For a while, they had to do it by hand because they didn't have access to business checking accounts and were operating primarily in cash (which also made them a huge target for crime).

Plus I'm pretty sure weed businesses aren't allowed to deduct business expenses from revenue for the purpose of federal taxes (at least as of a few years ago) and that's a bizarre accounting standard I've never seen levied on another business.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2022 16:29

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Bishyaler posted:

I'm still mad that as the only state with our own bank that we didn't pass a law to accept banking of cannabis related sales. Could've done a good thing and brought in an insane amount of revenue to do public works.

the state bank may have had to comply with fdic rules or lose protections like insurance on accounts up to $250k.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2022 16:31

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Bishyaler posted:

If you consider the amount of revenue we would've brought in from handling all the cannabis sales in the US, I think at that point $250k of insurance is a bit more trivial. Plus the people in our state would love nothing more than an opportunity to tell the Federal Government to gently caress off.

Sure, but there might be other services affected, like ach transfers.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2022 17:05

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Other surprising thing:

- People are least concerned about housing costs' impact on their budget. Only 40% say they are very concerned. They are mostly concerned about gas prices, which 68% are very concerned about.

Despite the fact that housing is the biggest chunk of everyone's spending and one of the sectors with the largest increases.

I don't think 40 percent of respondents is an "only" situation when it comes to concern about being able to afford shelter, a human right.

Plus it tracks almost identically with the percentage of 67 percent who own homes, instead of renting. I'd say it's a pretty dire stat as far as renters are concerned, and that's the group most likely to experience housing insecurity.

Plus another 24 percent are "somewhat concerned." Altogether, 64 percent of respondents are experiencing some level of concern while 35 percent are not, which I consider pretty alarming--it's two out of every three respondents, and includes a hefty chunk of homeowners, to boot.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2022 17:19

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

The swing to people thinking Biden is too soft on Russia is pretty interesting. It used to be about 55% said he was doing "about right" on Ukraine.

Also enjoying the 88% of Republicans who support direct military action against Russia in general, but oppose it if Biden is the one doing it.

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1507081073074790400

That might be related to the same poll's results on not trusting him to handle much of anything else, either:

Although the results definitely are influenced by partisanship, the fact that slightly less than a majority of Democrats trust Biden to "effectively handle a crisis" is pretty dang :raise:

and shows the drawback of nominating & electing a barely sentient elder during the most-recent most important election ever.

eta: When I was parsing the results on housing insecurity from the same poll earlier I thought it was kind of notable that Biden's approval ratings on the economy have p. much flipped over the past year:

Willa Rogers fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Mar 25, 2022

# ¿ Mar 25, 2022 19:34

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

I love how nbc/msnbc analyses of their own polls always hang a hat on "NOW the tide will surely turn!"

quote:

The poll was conducted between March 18-22, before the president's overseas trip, where he was to meet with NATO allies, visit with U.S. troops in Poland and deliver a major speech on Russia's war in Ukraine.

Talk about framing; I'm p. sure they said the same about SOTU, the low official unemployment rates, the impact of the infrastructure bill's passage, and the kicking-in of the child tax credits--none of which had any appreciable positive effects on Biden's approvals.

Gumball Gumption posted:

Those polls on what people are concerned about is a good example of how nonsense voter concerns can be and how much media/politicians themselves lead those sentiments. There is no reasonable reason to be less concerned about the virus. We're still in a pandemic, it's going to require another booster, the biggest change recently is that we stopped talking about it. Politicians and the media have stopped worrying so voters stopped worrying. And really we saw this effect across the board. Republicans never worried because the people they trust told them to not worry. Everyone else has stopped worrying as the people they trust toss out the science and decide this is all over now.

I mean, the WH followed to a T that 2-page strategy memo last month about voters wanting an end to pandemic measures, rational or not, so it's kind of a chicken-egg thing.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2022 16:36

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

lol at this bit, too:

quote:

But what stands out in the poll is that the American public hasn�t yet rallied around Biden as a result of the war in Ukraine, said Horwitt, the Democratic pollster.

�One thing that has not happened � at least yet � is a rally around the flag reaction with Joe Biden�s job rating increasing. The potential for that to occur could still happen if America becomes more directly involved, but at this stage it is not there.�

Oh, word? After two decades of useless warmongering voters aren't standing & clapping bc as you're trying to use it as a diversion from the domestic trash heap?

# ¿ Mar 27, 2022 16:42

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Kalit posted:

Thank gently caress we have a president who seems committed to not send in troops for once!

Yep, this is one area in which I (so far) support Biden uncritically, in spite of his ad libs about removing Putin from his presidency.

And it's particularly notable given Biden's personal history of warmongering.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2022 17:39

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Main Paineframe posted:

The unemployment rate has actually returned to pre-pandemic levels, and wage growth in 2021 actually was well above pre-pandemic levels. By those metrics, the current situation is nothing like (for example) the 2008 recession. It's just that prices are also shooting upward at rates not seen in decades, especially the prices of basic goods like food and gas, with no particular policy response beyond "wait for the supply chain to untangle itself". And with the events happening in Ukraine, it's only going to get worse.

I'm p. sure more people left the workforce during the 2020-21 recession than in the 2008-09 recession. While some of it might be due to boomers retiring, a good chunk of it was younger-than-that women, iirc.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2022 20:29

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Sharkie posted:

The economy is doing fine. You must be ignorant how great the numbers are. Here, look at the numbers.

SOURCE: https://twitter.com/whitehouse/status/1486709480351952901

Here are some more numbers that show your feelings are wrong and things are doing good and getting better.

SOURCE: whitehouse.gov

As you can see, your concerns are unfounded. Things are good and getting better.

another chart:

# ¿ Mar 27, 2022 20:35

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

A big flaming stink posted:

https://twitter.com/anyalehr/status/1507831469439393807?t=jMmX4B4oXx2rv8nXB-8KQg&s=19

Thread from one of the Biden staffers that got drummed out for admitting to smoking weed.

I personally think that not only was he super dumb to actually admit that to his interviewers, he was even dumber to think a lifelong drug warrior like Biden would give a single whit about what happened to him and people like him

I wonder what happened to the Feinstein staffer who was fired for complaining about her office's racism & filmed himself smoking a blunt at her desk on his way out & then put the video up on youtube.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2022 20:37

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# ¿ May 13, 2024 07:45

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

This is kind of surprising: Biden's numbers are still less than Trump's were before the pandemic.

I guess that, along with wages not keeping up with inflation, could help explain Biden's polling on the economy.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2022 20:44

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > US CE Spring 2022: I'm convinced it's useless which is why I argue about it all day every day

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