About time.
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I saw a bit of analysis on ElectoralVote.com this morning that makes a lot of sense. It may also be giving Biden too much benefit of the doubt, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
As to Biden’s foot dragging, there may have been some method to his madness. FCC members get 5-year terms, and the counting starts on June 30 of their first year. Further, even once their term expires (as Rosenworcel’s did on June 30, 2020), they can serve up to 1½ years longer if no replacement has been appointed. So, having waited until June 30 of this year passed, Biden will be seating the two Democrats for terms that end on June 30, 2026, and that could last until Jan. 3, 2028. It has been customary in recent years for chairs to resign on the inauguration of a new president, such that Biden, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton were all afforded the opportunity to pick a new chair. However, it’s not legally required, and it cannot be demanded by the White House. The other Democratic commissioner (Geoffrey Starks) will be up for renewal/replacement next year, so it’s possible Biden is setting things up such that Democrats will control the FCC through the end of the next presidential term, even if the Democrats lose the White House in 2024.
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To address your example, that sounds like one “big problem” Democrats need to solve is making disability benefits systems function more like ACA benefits, Social Security retirement benefits, etc. A major part of solving any problem in the US is ensuring that the opposing party doesn’t make funding, structural, and leadership changes that undermine improvements. The current administration has the challenge of trying to undo a particularly damaging four years of destruction to those programs:
As long as we’re in a two party system with one side bent on delaying and/or destroying progress, I’m not going to frame this as a problem that’s purely on Democrats to solve. Changes made by the GOP/GQP also have to be considered, as well as the fact that after four years of major steps backward the promise of progress isn’t going to be delivered in nine months.
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That would require Democrats to actually think that was a good idea. Instead, we have a party that is packed with people who are obsessed with means-testing and fraud-prevention that costs so much more than just making those benefits universally available would. Kamala Harris’s proposal during the 2020 campaign for a student loan forgiveness program for people who run a small business in an economically disadvantaged area for at least 5 years didn’t become a gigantic overnight meme out of nowhere. Dems have been bureaucratizing the federal government for decades now, intentionally making things harder to access for absolutely zero good reason other than appeal to GOP voters who will never accept anything but total surrender in the first place. This isn’t 4 years of GOP damage to unwind, it’s 30-40 years of bipartisan work to dismantle the infrastructure of the welfare state (and the ability for the federal government to operate effectively at all) because of belief in the private sector’s ability to deliver services more efficiently (they don’t) and prevent services or products from being accessible to those who don’t “deserve” them (which is how basically every nonsensical single WIC program restriction came about, and why you have to keep re-proving to the government that you haven’t miraculously un-damaged your back enough to not be disabled anymore on the amount of money the government provides for disability benefits).
I have no problem with framing this as a problem that Democrats alone have to solve, because the GOP is solely dedicated to destroying the federal government and preventing it from doing anything besides wage war and let billionaires get richer. Their least-worst idea has always just been “tort reform”. There’s nothing of value in their entire platform, and they will universally oppose any attempt to improve the performance of the federal government, because the federal government being a pile of shit is part of their pitch for why they should get elected. As long as only one party is interested in doing anything beneficial, they’re the ones responsible for making it happen.
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I covered this in Just Plain Assholes:
Clamorous students participate in government — by suing it - ABC News
Students in Rhode Island are asking a federal appeals court to affirm that all public school students have a constitutional right to a civics education, saying that they aren’t taught how to meaningfully participate in a democratic and civil society and that the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a symptom of such ignorance.
To which the state responds:
The defendants include Rhode Island’s governor, education commissioner and other education authorities. Their lawyer, Anthony Cottone, told the appellate court in a brief that binding legal precedent has established there’s no fundamental right to education under the U.S. Constitution.
So yeah, there is that.
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Even 4 weeks of paid maternity/paternity leave was ultimately too much for Manchin and Sinema. Richest damn country in history and we can’t let people have a fucking month with their newborn children before being forced to throw themselves back into the grist mill for the benefit of the billionaires.
And people wonder why nobody wants to have kids these days…
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That two people from backasswards states can just screw us over like they are is just insane. It will be their fault and their fault only when the gQp takes control sooner than later. Will they care? No. They will both just ooze on over to the other side.
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They’re not from backwards states so much as openly corrupt but the Democrats won’t play dirty on corruption with all the ghouls still clinging to their seats desperately.
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“In an exceptional interaction Thursday, Pelosi walked into a strategic meeting of the CPC, only to leave a short time later…”
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Good. We’re all getting rolled by Manema.
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“… without speaking to the group.”
Things are going great, then.
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.
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They’re asking for the tiniest thing after Manema’s hard balling derailed Joe’s original plan. Just agree that you will vote for this and they go for a vote at the same time.
No goddamn Lucy with the football moments. They have no credibility- besides- trust but verify when dealing with the untrustworthy.
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Pelosi was holding back text on the final deal … yeah, building trust there Nance. Not.
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They need to be like Adrian Belew.
But the whole opera’s not over yet
And I aim to make the fat lady sweat
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Did you see the video he did with his daughter all grown up? Sweet.
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That song was 1989. Are you sure that’s her?
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You gotta point there, I didn’t remember the song being that old. Probably another daughter.
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