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A Deeply Fractured US

So Team 🐘 is saying border controls under the current administration are working if the terrorist watchlist folks are getting caught, right? :)

In all seriousness, the whack-jobs blowing up the concrete plinth-thing represent a tiny bit of "the right" - just like I don't paint the whole Christian community with the same brush because of the Westboro splinters ....
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Worth keeping an eye on for the worst crazies? Yup - just like any other group where only a handful can do a lot of bad stuff. All like this? Nope.
It's amazing how much press and how much they are mentioned/talked about for 70 people out of 332 million. They certainly know how to play the media game.
 

Seven year sentence.
Stiffest sentence yet, and I think one of the first sentences resulting from conviction at trial. Notably he wasn’t charged with assault police. This doesn’t bode well for anyone who takes charges for violent offences to trial and gets convicted.
 
Passed after the Republicans blocked it:




Initially:




 
Passed after the Republicans blocked it:




Initially:




Let's see how that goes over in the midterms.

Lots of wins in the last week for team Biden.
 
Let's see how that goes over in the midterms.

Lots of wins in the last week for team Biden.

This one:

The state is a Republican stronghold, but in Tuesday's referendum, a bid to remove abortion rights from the Kansas constitution was rejected by 59 to 41 percent, with unusually heavy turnout.

Given this was the first time Americans had an opportunity to vote on the issue since the conservative-dominated Supreme Court ruled to overturn the half-century-old Roe v. Wade decision enshrining abortion rights, Democrats are rejoicing -- and say the backlash is only beginning.

"Tonight's overwhelming defeat of the ballot referendum in Kansas shows the massive support for abortion rights among voters, and serves as a clear warning to anti-abortion politicians across the country: their time is up," said Planned Parenthood, which lobbies for abortion access.

 
This one:



Not sure that's a win for Team Biden though. Because it's an example of Americans getting what they want wrt to a more left-wing agenda, despite being in a "Republican stronghold" as the article states.

Some might see it as a demonstration that voting Red is still viable despite certain misgivings.

Definitely, if it translates into more sustained political engagement for team Blue, then that's good for them.
 
Republicans wanted to block PACT because it contains a fiscal manoeuvre that can create a $400B slush fund.

Explanation from Ramesh Ponnuru.

Same old story. Objection to a discreditable provision in legislation was presented by shills and rubes as an objection to the creditable part of the legislation.
 
Republicans wanted to block PACT because it contains a fiscal manoeuvre that can create a $400B slush fund.

Explanation from Ramesh Ponnuru.

Same old story. Objection to a discreditable provision in legislation was presented by shills and rubes as an objection to the creditable part of the legislation.
My understanding was that said fund is not a slush fund at all but just a distinction between discretionary and mandatory spending.

Dems wanted it mandatory so that it could never be defunded to balance the budget.

Anyway, IRA passed, big win for everyday Americans:
 
Dems wanted it mandatory so that it could never be defunded to balance the budget.

They wanted it mandatory because there it has no strings attached - it can be spent anywhere.

I doubt the IRA will be a "big win" for ordinary Americans. All the estimates I've read for its short-term effect on inflation (and if inflation is more than short-term, they're going to have much bigger problems than this bill solves) are near zero; even the White House doesn't dispute that.

The CBO estimates that about three-quarters of corporate income tax increases will be borne by shareholders, and one-quarter by workers. Many ordinary Americans are shareholders via their 401Ks and Roth IRAs, so increased corporate taxes are just more losses on top of the current inflationary erosion of the value of their savings. Corporations pay taxes that amount to less than the new 15% minimum because they get tax credits for useful things. Some of those will go away.

I'm skeptical that many ordinary Americans have a pot of cash handy to take advantage of rebates to buy improved appliances and cars and whatnot, unless driven by need (the old one is broken or nearly so). That can't simultaneously be true alongside the oft-stated claim that there, as well as here, most people are carrying substantial debt and living approximately paycheque to paycheque. Besides, giving people money to chase goods already in short supply is...inflationary.

Some people under the magic $400K line will see tax increases, Biden's promise notwithstanding.

File under: malinvestments, opportunity costs.
 
They wanted it mandatory because there it has no strings attached - it can be spent anywhere.

I doubt the IRA will be a "big win" for ordinary Americans. All the estimates I've read for its short-term effect on inflation (and if inflation is more than short-term, they're going to have much bigger problems than this bill solves) are near zero; even the White House doesn't dispute that.

The CBO estimates that about three-quarters of corporate income tax increases will be borne by shareholders, and one-quarter by workers. Many ordinary Americans are shareholders via their 401Ks and Roth IRAs, so increased corporate taxes are just more losses on top of the current inflationary erosion of the value of their savings. Corporations pay taxes that amount to less than the new 15% minimum because they get tax credits for useful things. Some of those will go away.

I'm skeptical that many ordinary Americans have a pot of cash handy to take advantage of rebates to buy improved appliances and cars and whatnot, unless driven by need (the old one is broken or nearly so). That can't simultaneously be true alongside the oft-stated claim that there, as well as here, most people are carrying substantial debt and living approximately paycheque to paycheque. Besides, giving people money to chase goods already in short supply is...inflationary.

Some people under the magic $400K line will see tax increases, Biden's promise notwithstanding.

File under: malinvestments, opportunity costs.
Not a crazy assessment indeed.

I'm more interested by the greater medical coverage that it brings to millions and lowered pharmaceutical expenses.
 
Bottom line with the IRA is that it's not policy legislation; it's political legislation. Democrats wanted to mark something "done" before the midterms, and gave it a name they hoped would resonate with voters.
 
Bottom line with the IRA is that it's not policy legislation; it's political legislation. Democrats wanted to mark something "done" before the midterms, and gave it a name they hoped would resonate with voters.
Just unfortunate it's such a misnomer. Doesn't help the fight against cynicism and division.

Some Rs presented seemingly great amendments too, it's sad they were rejected outright.
 
The pendulum is about to swing the other way. Hiding Joe in the basement during the run up worked, so maybe they're doing the same again. Hiding him and using his back to back covid infections as the reason. Jabbed to the max and he's a coronavirus magnet. I see the dems burying themselves so deep, no bill or law passed between now and Jan will even slow the slide they're on.
 
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