Because the MSM is part of the oligarchy.
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And Steven Breyer needs to retire…yesterday!
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Dissapointed in Virginia going Republican -
but sure nice to see Trump not there campaigning.
Other Republicans won’t have the luxury of keeping his toxin at arms length.
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And it’s much easier to create a narrative around the people who are championing a bill than it is to create one around the provisions in the bill.
So, the bill that Bernie, Jayapal, and AOC like? That’s the liberal socialist bill.
The bill that Sinema and Manchin like? That’s the moderate capitalist bill.
It’s an easy story to tell - you can create an emotion filled binary narrative with just those 2 sentences.
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All right, last post for today. I have mentioned this in the past, will do it again. People who say “Build Back Better and the progressive agenda poll well” … about that.
OK, take 10 progressive items. And put 100 people in a room. Have them vote on the 10 items and yes the individual items will all poll 50% to 60%. But here is the rub: it will not be the same 50 to 60 people for all items.
Small business owners who may support free community college might oppose a higher minimum wage.
Truck drivers and construction workers who may support a higher minimum wage and free community college may oppose green energy measures (because it will increase the price of fuel and may well put them out of work).
Single/divorced males who support green energy measures may oppose free daycare (it doesn’t benefit them) and family leave (ditto and they will have to work harder to cover for the people who miss work while still getting the same pay).
Most people will support increasing taxes on the rich, true. But most won’t necessarily agree on spending the revenue on what progressives want to spend it on. Some - indeed lots - would actually want more spending on the military, prisons and the police. Others would want to use it to pay down the national debt. But the idea of increasing taxes on the rich to create huge federal programs whose expenses will quickly outpace revenues and will require raising taxes again in 10 years? Yeah, not many people are going to line up for that.
So sure, if you try to pass the 10 measures individually, they will do fine. But bundle them together as a unit and market that unit as a fundamental change in the economy and society - this may shock you but like 80% of the population isn’t woke … they are people who like the system that we have and merely want to improve it instead of dismantling it and trying to become Norway, and yes this does include a most minority voters … this agenda is only popular with college educated white voters - and it will go down to crushing defeat every single time in 40 of our 50 states. See the link below. And no it is not a Fox News or Newsmax link: it is from noted progressive Kevin Drum.
https://jabberwocking.com/if-you-hate-the-culture-wars-blame-liberals/
Keep ignoring this “nuance” and you are going to keep banging your head against the wall.
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IWhy are they out next week, again? And then they go out for Thanksgiving and then Christmas and New Years and poor people should get paid leave of 5 days.
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BBB may not really solve a lot of those problems, or not provide actually good solutions.
The belief, consensus and data say it will. You may be right as to “good solutions” but family leave and ending child poverty is the direction we all want to go. The opportunity to do so is right in front of us today - as reality - not a wish list. And then there’s the question: “why can’t we do both?”
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In other news updates for the day - the process continues in New Jersey …
and as nauseating as it was Tuesday evening … the skies are getting a bit brighter and the picture a bit clearer …
Murphy now up by 2.3% … 56,000+ votes
… with approx 90% counted and estimated votes yet to be tabulated ball-parked at about 290K
now to dabble in projections …
say in the end there’s only 250K more votes … and modestly figure they split 55/45 to Murphy
(he has been doing better than that in the mail-in & outstanding localities since Tues eve )
this would potentially end things with…
Murphy with 51.1% vs Ciattarelli at 48.2% … a rounded 3% difference & a lead of approx 82K votes
A genuine mathematical MAJORITY of all votes cast … not a landslide … but by any standard - not an outcome that calls out for a recount.
and yet … Ciattarelli and his “win or destroy” pathetic no-integrity bad sports will attempt to scream that there was cheating and that the loser should be awarded the victory
FOR REFERENCE - NJ has had far closer elections where the participants behaved professionally after the results came in … NJ Gov races can be landslides - or rock fights … and in Truth - Murphy fared better than some other well known names …
1981 - Tom Kean beat Jim Florio by a whisker …
1993 -Christie Whitman beat Florio (incumbent) by just over 1%
1997 - Christie Whitman (incumbent) turned away McGreevy by just over 1%
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Democrats please message these things.
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THIS. For everything she’s done thus far, Pelosi gets the benefit of the doubt. Remember, she’s the one who pulled the ACA over the finish line. She has not given me reason to doubt her knowledge and skills.
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Sneaky Biden, getting 25k Soldiers to show up for his inauguration.
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Manchin’s '“good faith” is like Falwell’s"Moral Majority", neither good nor faithful.
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Which is why you bundle things and force compromises. The definition of compromise is that everyone walks away unhappy.
Some people will like some things and not others, others will like the latter things and not the former. Key is that people are getting at least some of the things that they do want, so that overall you’re improving things.
That the Dems have been able to get almost 100% of folks on board, with only a couple of holdouts who really aren’t objecting to anything except for the sake of objecting, it’s clearly not that horrific and an end to the empire if things pass.
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it is frustrating to see a pause in the “action” …
but - just like it isn’t right when some people take shots at teachers & say stuff like “Oh piece of cake job - work 8:30 to 3:00 for only 9 months a year …” - ignoring all of the out-of-classroom responsibility and other obligations …
to be fair, we have to look at virtually all occupations that are not strictly structured as 40 hours a week / 50 weeks a year - with consideration of ALL of the responsibilities and obligations - all the stuff that goes on “off stage”
If you are doing it right… if you are trying to serve your constituents to their satisfaction (and retain your position) you are not on ‘vacation’ when Congress is not formally in session … you are taking care of business … (yes, sometimes in really smarmy ways … but often in vital ways that are a part of your responsibility)
… if you are a successful Senator or Representative (even the ones I despise) , you are probably ‘working’ - in one way or another - approximately 330 days a year … or more
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Sure. Absolute coincidence that next week has a holiday in it or anything.
Or that every other Federal Holiday seems to involve Congress having to leave town for a week or two, despite the Holiday being one single day.
If they were really “working”, I’d think that you wouldn’t have such a strong correlation between them “needing to spend time with constituents” and Federal Holidays.
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A little OT, but not much…
I am absolutely livid about this dump truck of bullshit from CNN:
They interviewed a pro-Trump anti-Biden white Christian Texas family who have 8 foster kids, and are struggling so much financially that they had an in-ground swimming pool installed last year. They lie about what the price of milk was and is now (when was the last time you remember milk being $1.99 a gallon?) and five of the family are shown going shopping without wearing masks, while the mother talks about how The Lord will provide - all the time not mentioning the fact that they receive $2400+ for their 8 foster kids from the government - yes, from that Socialist Democrat Party motherfucker Joseph R. Biden, because of his actions since being elected as President.
If this was an African-American family with 8 foster kids living in NY or Chicago or L.A. (or anywhere, for that matter), every right-wing media outlet in America would be calling them “welfare cheats”, with Grand Wizard Tucker Carlson leading the charge.
Fuck you, CNN.
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When “Federal Holidays” involve a multitude of “home district” local public ceremonies, parades, convocations, and on and on … the office holders are going to make the pilgrimage back to their home district … just as sure as the buzzards return to Hinkley, Ohio
Motivations - are both good and bad - some feel a sense of duty to meet & interact with their constituents … others just an opportunity to grift
… but the reality is that - in the ideal - if these people are to truly be “representatives” for their constituents - and - actually do stuff in the area that sent them … the system assumes that they are not just “political soldiers of fortune” sent off to do a 2-year or 6-year tour of duty in Washington D.C. with occasional letters home - they do have to be periodically & significantly present in their home district - and the challenge is - and has always been - how to make that equitable for those serving remote states and districts.
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Only slightly OT—and a must read.
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So right now the f**king Mods are holding everything up waiting for a CBO score. They’re a bunch of disingenuous posers.
The CBO trashed the infra bill and said it would produce a deficit. Mods ignored and dismissed the CBO score and enthusiastically supported BIF anyway. There’s no reason to wait for a CBO score here. Pass the f**king bills today. Today’s economic and COVID news show how Biden’s efforts are bearing fruit for the country. We are substantially better off today than we were one year ago. Biden owns this economic recovery. It wouldn’t be happening but for him.
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Interesting read. Can’t actually disagree that most corporate-type “training” is garbage and needs to be tossed to the side, but would extend that way beyond the very narrow parameters they’ve set.
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