This is not remotely accurate. The GOP has a second table for billionaires, bailouts, and the MIC piled high with cash.
Stop supporting genocide.
lmao
Coming from someone who has openly yearned for a Trump presidency?
The blame lies entirely with the party if Trump gets elected. Maybe another 4 years of that lunatic will make them learn. Doubtful.
Try selling this Biden or bust shit to the Muslim-American community who may not turn out in droves to vote for him. Are you going to insult their collective intelligence and question their integrity if Biden fails to get another term? Democrats just take their votes for granted and don’t think they have to earn them.
Coming from someone who has been on several weeks of mandatory leave from work because I started self harming in public after listening to yet another fucking horror show coming out of Gaza. I had to be sent home because I was crying and hitting myself.
How do you live with yourself? I’m genuinely curious, because I can barely do it. I’ve had to stop listening to news in the car or I’ll drive into traffic. I’m voting for Aaron Bushnell because they’re far braver than me. I hope Trump has a heart attack.
Coming from someone who has been on several weeks of mandatory leave from work because I started self harming in public after listening to yet another fucking horror show coming out of Gaza. I had to be sent home because I was crying and hitting myself.
Which makes it all the more insane that you’ve openly yearned for a Trump presidency.
How do you live with yourself? I’m genuinely curious, because I can barely do it. I’ve had to stop listening to news in the car or I’ll drive into traffic. I’m voting for Aaron Bushnell because they’re far braver than me. I hope Trump has a heart attack.
By doing what I can, and keeping in mind the historical perspective.
Tomorrow isn’t going to be a fucking utopia. Even an overwhelming, sudden, and ideologically ‘pure’ victory won’t bring a utopia tomorrow. But we fight day by day, and generation by generation, to make a better world.
By doing what I can,
By doing what you can without sacrificing an ounce of your own comfort. You’ve never fought for anything in your life.
Students are out there getting their heads bashed in for protesting genocide. That is what fighting for a better world looks like.
By doing what you can without sacrificing an ounce of your own comfort. You’ve never fought for anything in your life.
lmao
You keep thinking that, buddy. :)
Oh, goodness. I just considered - is this projection?
If that’s the case, there are alternatives to tormenting yourself over the fact that you aren’t ‘radical’ enough to do what you think you need to.
Get a grip, talk to a therapist or trusted friend. It’s OK to not be plugged in 24/7. “If it bleeds it leads” is true and being inundated with horror constantly absolutely wears you down.
I’m literally mandated to talk to a therapist to keep my job now.
But I don’t think it’s okay to tune out. I’m complicit. I deserve to suffer for that. People who tune out are rejecting the responsibility they have to their victims to hear their stories and learn their names. I can’t look away, I don’t have that right.
You have a terrible therapist.
Children dying under the rubble don’t get therapists. I’m lucky I can talk to someone, but I don’t deserved to feel better. I deserve to suffer.
But that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to. Maybe take a break for a bit.
Stop supporting Iran, Russia, China and North Korea
No. 😎
Continue supporting genocide comrade
The US committed genocide in Korea actually. If you think China is doing genocide, compare Xinjiang province to Gaza and see the fucking difference. Six times as many children have died in six months of war in Gaza compared to over two years of war in Ukraine, a country with 14 times the population size. Iran has done some executions, never something like this. None of the countries you’ve listed have committed a horror on this scale. This is unparalleled in the modern world.
Stop your whataboutism.
The US committed genocide in Korea actually.
Stop your whataboutism.
It’s like you aren’t even trying, lmao.
You missed my point. The U.S. dropped a total of 635,000 tons of bombs (including 32,557 tons of napalm) on Korea, more than during the entire Pacific War. 2-3 million Koreans died because of US involvement from one sided massacres, starvation, and disease. The only genocide that happened was done by our side. Why are they listing “North Korea” as a country that is guilty of genocide? It’s a fucking joke.
Why are they listing “North Korea” as a country that is guilty of genocide?
Because they are. But we all understand that you don’t care about queer folk in other countries, as long as you’re safe.
They love Russia, China, and North Korea’s stance on LGBT rights. I mean, what are a few murdered queer folk when you have important things like Anti-Imperialist Imperialism™ to support?
Do you think Israel’s bombs don’t blow up queer Palestinians?
Do you think Israel’s bombs don’t blow up queer Palestinians?
Did I say they didn’t? But whatever non-sequiturs you need to insert to continue worshipping the torture and execution of LGBT people by your favorite ‘anti-imperialist’ countries. :)
I’m just supporting the lesser of two evils.
These countries aren’t perfect, but I’m not going to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Isn’t that what you keep telling me to do?
They’re the same like a hockey team are the same.
R doesn’t even take legislative action that help their own voters. Meanwhile, all the shit they fight against Dems doing would help plenty of R voters, too. Their entire platform is taking things away from people, culture wars, vilification of education, and making voting as difficult as possible.
If you are voting R at this point, it can be for no reason other than one or more of these labels applies to you: Bigot, Unrepentant Misogynist, or can’t think any further than your own team winning.
Pic unrelated, because they didn’t just allow, they helped. They insisted.
1980 Biden: Kill their women and children if you have to.
2024 Biden: Vote for me or else they’ll kill more children than I allowed them to.
So he’s grown as a person, or is that now allowed?
Ok. Now do Trump…now do Trump!
crickets
My favorite part is where Hexbear decided this was worth brigading.
Really rent free in your head
lmao, sorry that it hurts your feelings.
Why do you think it impacted me?
“We brigaded a thread and someone noticed us! We’re living rent-free in their heads!”
Mostly in his head.
I love how you have to whatabout Biden to make him seem like an acceptable choice rather than the ‘just not the shitgibbon’ corporate despot that he is. I see a ton of middle ground here and licking the Biden boot’s pretty lame 😒
God they’re so dumb lol
Brigading is when people talk about stuff
Those are the best examples to reference their differences?
The infrastructure bill is ridiculously big, but also:
Make trans people illegal
Ban anything that’s not “choose one” voting
Absurd gerrymandering
Trying to overturn elections
Deficit inducing tax cuts for the mega-rich
Trying to kill social security
Dictator for a day
Arguing the president can have political rivals assassinated
Trying to kill the post office
Trying to kill the IRS
Intentionally putting in incompetent leaders
Giving state secrets to Russia
Trying to hand Ukraine over to RussiaDon’t worry - it’ll never be enough.
Right, there’s a much better pool of things for juxtaposition. Though most of that is stuff Republicans have done since long before MAGA. A couple are a little too bipartisan.
Nonetheless I am glad the reclassification of Marijuana was announced yesterday to complete the list.
I’m pretty happy about the passenger rail expansions myself.
The cap on overdraft fees is also nice.
Yeah, I get that. Captures the general vibe.
I wouldn’t be too excited about the passenger rail expansion without diving further into it. Basically, the bulk of the HSR funding is being given to a private company with a bad track record. It will be another Amtrak situation in a decade or less once again (also suggest diving into the history of Amtrak and why it came to be).
i think we need to dissolve amtrak honestly. Legally mandate that a rail company cannot own anything outside of state bounds.
Force them to cooperate, it’ll make them less miserable.
Amtrak is actually a government program that helped save passenger rail after it became unsustainable with the private companies. It’s a fascinating history that they simply don’t teach the general populace.
In October 1970, Congress passed, and President Richard Nixon signed into law, the Rail Passenger Service Act.[26] Proponents of the bill, led by the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP), sought government funding to ensure the continuation of passenger trains. They conceived the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (NRPC), a quasi-public corporation that would be managed as a for-profit organization, but which would receive taxpayer funding and assume operation of intercity passenger trains.[7][27][28]
There were several key provisions:[29]
- Any railroad operating intercity passenger service could contract with the NRPC, thereby joining the national system.
- The United States federal government, through the Secretary of Transportation, would own all of the NRPC’s issued and outstanding preferred stock.[30]
- Participating railroads bought into the NRPC using a formula based on their recent intercity passenger losses. The purchase price could be satisfied either by cash or rolling stock; in exchange, the railroads received NRPC common stock.
- Any participating railroad was freed of the obligation to operate intercity passenger service after May 1, 1971, except for those services chosen by the Department of Transportation (DOT) as part of a “basic system” of service and paid for by NRPC using its federal funds.
- Railroads that chose not to join the NRPC system were required to continue operating their existing passenger service until 1975, at which time they could pursue the customary ICC approval process for any discontinuance or alteration to the service.
Of the 26 railroads still offering intercity passenger service in 1970, only six declined to join the NRPC.[31]
The original working brand name for NRPC was Railpax, but less than two weeks before operations began, the official marketing name was changed to Amtrak, a portmanteau of the words America and trak, the latter itself a sensational spelling of track.
Nooooo :( if I were American dictator I would just say fuck it and build a mag-lev network that averaged 250 from station to station.
or just do any of the many examples that the rest of the world is successful with. HSR in America isn’t actually High speed rail anyways
Amtrak’s Acela is the United States’ only true high-speed rail service, reaching 150 mph (240 km/h) over 49.9 mi (80.3 km) of track along the Northeast Corridor.[2] Acela trains will reach top speeds of 160 mph (255 km/h) when new trainsets enter service in 2024.[3] Other services, like Amtrak’s Northeast Regional and Brightline, have a top speed of 125 mph (200 km/h) and are usually not considered high-speed rail.
Brightline, while marketing itself as high-speed rail, more closely meets the definition of higher-speed rail. Despite having a top speed of 125 mph (201 km/h) along 20 mi (32 km) of newly built track, most of the route is limited to a top speed of 110 mph (180 km/h) due to the presence of grade crossings.[4] link
Brightline is the company which received the funding for the California-Nevada HSR, it’s a public company that’s already coming under scrutiny for their practices and costs vs their projections. I guess I need to do a write-up to link to whenever the HSR comes up with the infrastructure bill.
edit: forgot to add link for the wiki I was referencing.
Yeah but a 250 average mag-lev is already possible from a technical standpoint. The Chinese and the Japanese have trains that can do it. Almost certainly the Chinese stole their design from the Japanese, but whatever. Plus, with that minimum it makes an overnight trip across the country extremely reasonable, and it makes a lot of medium day trips possible too. For example, Denver to Chicago would be only 4 hours.
Trying to hand Ukraine over to Russia
i like how this one is thrown in here like we bought ukraine or something.
Lol, bad phrasing, you know what I meant. If we stop supporting Ukraine Russia will be their owners.
yeah, it’s only a matter of time before they try buying back alaska anyway lol.
I explicitly remember saying “no backsies.”
WTF is the deal with US states banning masks? Are they going to ban washing your hands next?
US conservatives turn EVERYTHING into a culture war.
It gets their base riled up and to the poles. They would very much like it if non-conservatives would stay home or vote third party.
poles
That’s a funny typo because I wouldn’t put it past conservatives to lead the attendance at strip clubs, either.
The point is to inflict suffering. So yeah, I wouldn’t put it past Republicunts.
Are they going to ban washing your hands next?
Washing your hands removes vital oils used by forensics to identify you at a crime scene.
/s
It’s also bad for the children, somehow… I don’t need to explain how, because they won’t when they say this to convince everyone.
“if you haven’t committed a crime then you have nothing to worry about!”
-some republican who has committed a litany of crimes
They’re not banning masks for the KKK, if that helps understand their thinning…
“But, muh freedoms”
The mask ban is happening because of the Gaza protests
So it has bipartisan support, then?
The non quippy answer:
Wearing masks other than theatrical or things like Halloween masks was prohibited in many places prior to covid.
Some places were explicitly anti protest from the 1900s (unions), others anti hate crime (KKK). Some just had it as a thing that can be tacked on to other crimes. My state has a law that makes it a misdemeanor to wear a mask to conceal your identity while commiting a crime.
These laws are not unique to the US.When covid came along, most states that had restrictions passed laws adding exceptions for health related face coverings.
In response to people protesting Israeli actions in Palestine, North Carolina repealed their relaxation of the mask rules, and refused to add a health clause, arguing that even though it’s illegal, it was illegal before covid and just never enforced, so it’s fine.
They also included an exception that allows for secret societies to wear masks or hoods in a parade or demonstration if they have a permit. That’s the KKK in a nutshell.It’s preposterous bullshit intended to work as an election year headline grabber, since it’s anti mask, anti protester, and pro Israel all at once.
Not joking… There was a trend of “manly men” not washing their hands before they eat lunch… like after their manly work was done … Like hands covered in muck and they’re like “look how awesome I am.”. It’s fucking gross
They’ll ban toilet paper and cleaning up after you go. Touching your ass is so gay
And “bidet” sounds French.
My state has a bunch of people who would outright get aggressive with you in public over it. “What’s with that chin diaper? Take that shit off.”
Of course the people voted in by these aggressors are going to ban them.
It’s actually quite crazy to see the amount of change Biden could get done even with out control of the legislative branch. Adding to that, the Republicans are in disarray too yet things still got done.
I’m surprised OP didn’t include the largest climate legislation in world history
I want to see another country or region beat us, as this would be welcome competition.
All climate change bills are lipservice if we dont address the core problem, infinite growth capitalism.
If it’s not perfect we should do nothing you’re right. /S
You want to address big problems? We need more Democrats in control of the Congress and executive branch. Republicans will always push us back untill their platform changes.
The second part of your statement is the problem. We dont JUST need more Democrats. We need BETTER Democrats.
Like I said, these 1/300th steps ARE THE COMPROMISE.
The current trajectory, even with Democrats in charge, is certain death of Humanity due to Climate change. Republicans will just do it faster.
Which is why we should be working on both.
I agree, but I fear with the language people are already using towards progressives about lackluster Biden support that they’ve taken their ball and went home.
It seems like Neoliberals have decided that compromising with progressives is not on the table.
Better Democrats > more Democrats > Republicans
I’ll take a Manchin over a Republican, if it’s a hopelessly red district for example.
Well do you want it to happen faster?
You have to shift the Overton Window to democratic issues and then we’ll actually have a chance to vote in better ones
The overton window has moved right every election since FDR, even under Democrats. Its the ratchet effect. If they dont go left when in power, then the right gets to define what is normal or not.
If you have more Democrats in power you can start to filter out the conservative and moderate Democrats. When we have the thinest majority possible, you can’t be picky with what gets passed as you need agreement from the full spectrum of Democrats. Manchin sucked as a Democrat. But he was vital in getting legislation passed that a Republican in his position wouldn’t pass.
Bringing this back to your original response, you’re complaining that any progress is bad if it doesn’t address the core issue, and I still disagree with that. Any progress is better than none and isn’t “lip service”, this is just how US government in reality works, you keep making larger more incremental steps. Our current steps aren’t sufficient, in that I believe you and I agree, but there will hopefully be better, stronger legislation to address root problems.
If both paths are resulting in a radical shift in human life, if not its outright destruction, then now, there really is no point on debating which evil is lesser.
You neoliberals are actually insane on the climate issue.
So then why are you debating? You should accept your destiny that the world will end. The rest of us in reality understand that you need to work for change, be happy for our victories and continue to push for better.
You seem to think crying in Lemmy that both parties suck and shouldn’t be supported will actually do something.
I’m saying that neither party is working towards making that change, so we need to do something else. Ideally, we make the Democratic Party take it seriously. That seems like the only viable path out of this.
By accepting the status quo, you are accepting that nobody is working for the needed changes required.
You are straight to givings dems a pass on this issue.
I’m surprised OP didn’t include the largest climate legislation in world history
New Infrastructure Law to Provide Billions to Energy Technology Projects
The bill spends enormous amounts on carbon capture projects that have historically produced lackluster results. It throws even more good money after bad on “clean hydrogen”, an absolute sinkhole of R&D over the last two decades. And then there’s the large investment in battery technology that’s… definitely better than the first two, but still relies on the kind of enormous strip mining and chemical processing projects that got us in the fossil fuels mess to begin with.
$12B on various kinds of carbon capture and $9.5B on hydrogen and another $6.5B on battery advancements, relative to the $0.4B spent on new renewable energy projects. Even our deplorable bankrupt nuclear programs get $2.5B, relative to technologies that have seen some of the best ROI on energy production since the ICE was invented.
Like, sure. Blah blah Trump Worse. But the Infrastructure Reinvestment Act is not a good bill by any other standard than “Better than what Republicans wanted”. Its the same bad California Tech Sector pipe dream ideas we’ve been flushing money down the toilet on since Bill Clinton was President.
Without hydrogen or battery storage how exactly do you want to store energy?
Until renewable energy inputs approach the base load, there’s nothing to store.
After that, hydrogen is an awful storage medium because it’s so permiable. Even if you’re focused on long term energy storage needs, sodium and nickel batteries are proving far more efficient than hydrogen cells. We’ve known that since the 90s, but continue to invest wasted billion after wasted billion in a dead end technology.
You were also decrying them spending money on battery storage. Yes there will be batteries needed if you want to implement large scale renewables, which it seems is happening even without renewables. We need batteries for battery electric trains and cars too. Hydrogen isn’t necessarily good enough for grid storage, though maybe it could be one day. It seems it might be an option for vehicles in the cases where batteries don’t work such as in cold weather or for vehicles that need to travel great distances. Batteries also aren’t an option for planes yet and hydrogen could help here too.
You also complain about them spending money on advanced nuclear reactors. You need nuclear until you have sufficient grid storage. That’s an unfortunate fact.
I am against them using money on carbon capture from fossil fuel plants. Direct air carbon capture could actually be useful technology though. If not today then someday in the future. We won’t know if we don’t put money towards it.
Batteries on trains are not really needed if the rail is electrified. In Europe we have them everywhere. And better public transport reduces the need for cars. And ebikes can be the Appleton for many uses. It only takes thinking outside the car box.
Electrified rail is expensive and has safety issues. It’s the best option for long distances for sure, but here in the UK we are still trying to electrify the main rail lines, the branch lines and city lines aren’t even in the cards. Being able to recharge trains at stations with rapid charging is the best option for branch and commuter rail services not already on electrified rail (most of them). If we can do that using something other than lithium batteries that would be great. Sodium seems promising. Also I am in Europe you muppet. It also doesn’t solve grid scale storage, which is something we need. I am hoping iron oxide batteries work out for the grid scale storage tbh.
UK has a problem with rails since Thatcher (IIRC).I
PS: stop insulting people. Thank you.
It only takes thinking outside the car box.
I don’t even drive and even I know cars, lorries, tractors, and so on are all necessary in some parts of society. You can’t use public transport if you are miles away from the next house or the nearest town. Rural areas need transport too.
I know the problem in rural zones. I live in one. But if they can reduce the car dependency in cities and to some extend in big towns that’s a lot of car batteries that don’t have to be build.
And just as a note, there are electric tractors. Still small but…
You were also decrying them spending money on battery storage.
Relative to the volume spent on generation, yes.
You also complain about them spending money on advanced nuclear reactors.
Given the abject failure of Westinghouse to produce a reliable mass production model, it’s an enormous waste of investment.
If nothing else, we’d be better of someone buying existing designs from Areva. But we don’t do that, because we insist on “Buy American” legislation that doesn’t get us any actual product.
Direct air carbon capture could actually be useful technology though.
Not relative to simply reducing the volume of carbon produced, by shifting the composition of the grid.
Not relative to simply reducing the volume of carbon produced, by shifting the composition of the grid.
You understand that there are already too many greenhouse gases, right? By the time we do all of this there will be even more. It’s not like the grid is the only (or even the majority) of greenhouse gases. How do you account for both all the past emmisions and all the future emissions plus emissions from other sources?
Given the abject failure of Westinghouse to produce a reliable mass production model, it’s an enormous waste of investment.
If nothing else, we’d be better of someone buying existing designs from Areva. But we don’t do that, because we insist on “Buy American” legislation that doesn’t get us any actual product.
The main alternatives being French and Chinese reactor designs. I can understand why the USA doesn’t want to use Chinese reactors, we in the UK made a similar decision and went with French designs instead if I am remembering correctly. I wouldn’t be against the USA using French designs. The thing is though I can’t see how more research could possibly be a bad thing, we have much work to do in both fission and fusion technologies. Putting all our bets in China or France might not be the best idea.
You understand that there are already too many greenhouse gases, right?
The rate at which we produce green house has exceeded the rate at which it is absorbed and fixed.
Carbon capture attempts to accelerate the rate of carbon fixing at a very high per-ton economic cost. Meanwhile, turning off fossil plants and replacing them with renewable energy reduces the rate of per-ton generation at a comparably low cost.
If you’re on a sinking ship, there’s little point in bailing when you haven’t plugged the hole.
I can understand why the USA doesn’t want to use Chinese reactors
Pure reactionary xenophobia. Chinese thorium reactors are cutting edge, and we’re adding degree points to the global average by not adopting it ASAP.
Putting all our bets in China or France might not be the best idea.
Putting money on Westinghouse has consistently cost us enormously.
enormous amounts on carbon capture projects that have historically produced lackluster results. It throws even more good money after bad on “clean hydrogen”, an absolute sinkhole of R&D
And yet both are desperately needed
- we’re already zooming past our climate goals for carbon emission, and rapidly approaching all the dangers that entails. While not putting fossilized carbon in the atmosphere to begin with is far better, it’s naive to think that will be enough. If there’s a practical way to recover some of that atmospheric carbon, we need to find it and scale up fast
- while we’ve found better technologies than hydrogen for personal transportation and power generation, there are still too many places we still need energy, where wires can’t go, batteries aren’t sufficient. Think of industrial uses like metal refining or concrete manufacturing, flying, shipping, construction, long distance trains, etc, that we don’t yet have a good solution for. Yes, even for storage: current storage technology is fantastic, but it’s not clear that it can scale. We do also need a hydrogen economy
And yet both are desperately needed
If you want to benefit climate change from the perspective of new technology, cancel the battery technology patents horded by fossil fuel companies.
For sure another Big Question TM is whether intellectual property protections have gone beyond any reasonable justification, and obstruct innovation rather than the stated goal of stimulating it. Patents aren’t as bad as Copyright, but yeah.
whether intellectual property protections have gone beyond any reasonable justification
That’s been an easy Yes since at least Amazon one click patent was a thing
My state removed permits for conceal carry, just became the first state to put the 10 Commandments in all public schools K through 12, and is about to ban THC seltzers and all of that stuff because of lobbying by liquor distributors.
We have a fuck wit Republican governor and a super majority of Republicans controlling the legislature. It is absolute cowboy y’all Qaeda bullshit down here.
Lemme guess - the state’s representation is gerrymandered six ways from Sunday, all the people who could possibly be Democratic voters were tossed off the rolls about 30 minutes before the vote, and there’s only one ballot drop off point in the biggest urban area. Right?
Did they also outlaw giving out water in long voting lines too? Cause that one’s extra special.
We have 1 dem rep and 6 GOP. What do you think lol
How is abortion helping society? Can’t afford a baby? Don’t have intercourses. Masturbate, porn, tantra, condoms, pill contraceptives
How is abortion helping society?
It provides a safe and effective means for women to terminate unwanted pregnancies.
Unwanted pregnancies comes from volountary actions as i already stated. Being less bitchy contributes to society. Giving away unwanted children through foster helps society. Not killing babies and selling the parts to military and pharmaceutical complexes so they can research ethnobioweapons. Safe, dig more you will discover it is not safe as many using abortion practices become sterile, effective, dig more and you will discover that many of the cancers now women fights stems from abortion practices.
So, next time someone starts with bOtH sIdEs or says the dems don’t do anything: They are talking out of their ass.
The dems are much better at rolling out the republican agenda tbh, it just takes a splash of blue paint and their diehards will go along with full on border walls, immigrant concentration camps, unlimited support for Israel, riot cops beating down protestors.
Biden even “ended covid” and did what Trump recommended - just stop testing!
Biden handling of COVID and the acceptance of it is wild. He just swept COVID under the rug, cut monitoring and said it was over when it’s not over at all. It was a shitty move and Dems ate it for lunch when they not months before and been wild with anger over Trump’s handling of COVID which wasn’t good but better than Bidens.
*terms and conditions apply, must be an election year to redeem.
Two of the three of these feel like nothing in the face of our broken healthcare industry. Mind you these 1/300th steps ARE THE COMPROMISE.
Id like to see meaningful change before I die pls. This rate wont cut it.
Then fucking vote. Convince your friends to vote. Voting is what changes this.
There’s a bit of a pattern of half-measures here.
Like, the last time democrats had the executive and legislature, we got the Affordable Healthcare Act – which, yeah did help some people. But didn’t change any of the underlying rot in our healthcare - 12 years on, we’re still having the same conversations about the same problems.
Vote, it’s the least that can be done. But don’t kid yourself about what that does. Our problems require far more, far more citizen participation and far more work than merely voting.
Yeah it did help some people? It still continues to help a bunch of people and was change so impactful that now, Even republican voters don’t want it repealed.
Half measures is the only thing Democrats can pass with the limited power that they have. That didn’t even have a full 2 years in control of the executive and legislative branch when the ACA was passed, with some Democrats being very conservative. the only way to get the law passed was by getting all members to agree, including the most conservative Members. The public option in particular was one of the things removed from the ACA because of conservative dissent.
Yeah it did help some people?
It helped insurance companies. The uninsured rate is super low these days but tons of people still can’t afford premiums and our of pocket costs and skip healthcare anyway
with some Democrats being very conservative
And whenever people try to call out conservative Democratic party members for screwing things up they get shouted down in comment threads just like these
You can’t do something radical when there’s a very real chance of losing the next election. C’mon, this is easy.
So how do you convince them they have leeway? By them consistently winning.
Are you certain of that? In a country where half of the population consistently, chronically, for decades, doesn’t vote?
Every election brings with it the chance of loosing. Seems to me that something radical is what tips the scales. What gets that checked out population to sit up and take notice. Play too conservatively (with a lowercase ‘c’), and they stay checked out.
Am I certain that consistent, overwhelming victories for say 20 years will mean that they can implement policies that are further left? Fucking yes. Come the fuck on.
You win elections from the center. The center (the Overton window) moves by who wins elections over time. This is why we’re having idiotic right wing discussions about disbanding the EPA - because Trump won an election. He won one, so the whole spectrum moved right. If he hadn’t won, we wouldn’t be having these discussions. C’mon this is so fucking easy.
The Overton window is a cultural measurement, not a tally of recent political victories. It is a range determined by our media and our history, the sum of what people talk and think about, what they experience in the political economic and artistic worlds. It is a crude way of describing what is collectively believed to be possible. The spectrum doesn’t just shift to the right because “conservatives won”, it shifted to the right before Trump won – that’s how he was able to win. And the preceding administration played a big role in that shift.
After the recession, people felt like they had been left behind. The banks and the auto manufactures got a huge bailout, but there was very little help for the individuals and families caught in the downturn. Nearly all the economic growth through the recovery was happening for top earners, not median households. People’s lived experiences didn’t match the story of recovery that was described in the news and by politicians…
…which is why Trump’s victory caught so many established Democrats off guard. They didn’t notice the window shift, they thought it was still the same place it was four years ago when Obama won his second term.
…with everything that has happened recently, I have this dreadful sense of the familiar. Young people see lives being taken in Palestine and are angry. Old people see us lurching toward another conflict in the Middle East and are weary. Everyone is grumbling about the price of groceries. Democratic leadership keeps insisting that things are fine and actually getting better. Does that seem like a recipe for consistent, overwhelming victory?
Dude this is so simple. Where is the Overton window because of Trump’s victory? It’s fucking off the cliff right because of Trump’s victory. There are conversations taking place now that would have been unimaginable before Trump won. And they are taking place because Trump won.
We can even play the hypothetical. Where would it be if Hillary Clinton won? Fucking easy, it would be further left. Or the hypothetical what it Trump won a second term? Fucking easy again, it would be even further right - because all his rhetoric would be backed up with wins that this is what the people want.
To talk like the Overton window is not affected by election wins is sticking your head in the sand. It’s literally a referendum on what is and what is not acceptable policy and talking points be it social, economic, thinly belief racism, everything. This is so fucking easy to see.
No, no, I have been assured that 90% of the American electorate is secretly super far-left and just waiting for someone who is Radical Enough for their tastes.
Definitely it’s not that when you speak to average American voters, even the leftmost 20% looks like a fucking conservative compared to the Fediverse.
No, it’s that they’re Just Waiting.
Who do I vote to end the suffering of the people in Palestine? Get universal healthcare? Decriminalize cannabis at the federal level? Ban new oil and gas leases? Revoke fossil fuel subsidies and tax breaks?
Always being willing to hold your nose and vote for the lesser of two evils ensures that nothing will change. You’ll always have the choice of bad and worse, and the best you’ll ever be able to hope for is table scraps instead of transformative, positive change. That’s not a system I’m going to prolong with my participation.
Lol playing dumb. Nice. Just for a setup of getting that lesser evil BS stuff in. If you want things to move left, then give Dems overwhelming and consistent wins. And there is it, just so you can excuse yourself for not voting.
But but but Biden had control for two whole years! And we don’t have the Jetsons’ lifestyle! Why can’t they get their act together and do something??? (/s)
I know it’s sarcasm, but I think people would have been a lot more cool with Biden if the accomplishments were more spread out. Yeah, a lot of really great stuff has happened in the last three months, but now it looks like pandering instead of a culmination of effort. Not to mention, most of it is being buried under Israel’s genocide, making it easy for disconnected voters to miss the recent good news and just remember all the old nothing that happened for the past 3 years.
Are you of the opinion that these things happen really quickly? Because they don’t. That they’re all coming due is about right.
Pandering? GTFO.
I know it’s the culmination of a lot of hard work, in some cases decades of hard work, but I’m an informed voter who keeps track of the news. I guess I’m mostly just decrying the Democrats complete inability to market themselves and get their base excited about their wins.
I guess I’m mostly just decrying the Democrats complete inability to market themselves and get their base excited about their wins.
While Democrat incompetence is incredible, a lot of it is, as people in this comment section are showing, active attempts to denigrate any success the Democrats have.
Because a lot of what the claim as success is a half measure at best and actually makes things worse in a lot of instances. For example, thanks to the ACA we now have more people giving health insurance companies more money than ever before, money they use to lobby and lock in their political advantages, but meanwhile lots of insured people are still being crushed by healthcare costs because the insurance they get is crap.
But, just to prove I’m not just a Democratic party/Biden hater - Biden appointee Lina Khan has been outstanding at the FTC and more people ought to talk about her. She’s someone I would love to see run for office.
For example, thanks to the ACA we now have more people giving health insurance companies more money than ever before
I know you’re not a trumper or a troll, your history is solid left and I get it, we probably agree on just about everything. But if the first thing you’re on about with the ACA is money to the insurance companies, in the context of this thread, I’d suggest you’re missing what an enormous win it was.
I know more than two people - real life people, now - who had chronic conditions that they were just miserably living with. The ACA actually got them to a doctor and a dentist for the first time in a long, long time. And it made them better. They became happier people. They did more good in the world.
Is the ACA a republican band-aid to a horribly crooked system? Of course. Single-payer must happen. But the people I know will likely die before it does. We’re in more danger of becoming a fascist dictatorship than we are of getting single-payer.
But the only reason these people got anything at all was because the Democrats made something happen. And it was huge. For them, for me, and thousands of others. So while I’m all onboard for keeping pushing, we’re on the clock here with regards to averting disaster and that has to come first.
If we survive November, we’ll meet back up and hassle the newly-electeds together.
Thank you for the sincere and thought out reply, that was honestly really refreshing.
I’m really, truly, glad for your people and that they’re doing better and doing more good in the world, and very much believe that’s exactly what healthcare can and should do for people and society. However, I know one person who spent years dealing with medical debt because their insurance basically did a bait and switch (hospital was in network but the doctor wasn’t), probably a dozen who spent years at jobs they hated because they needed the insurance, and one person who worked in healthcare and basically had to switch jobs and move to a different specialty because having to fight insurance companies for her patients and losing those fights was destroying her mental health.
Also - and this feels kinda petty and I’m sorry if it comes off as disrespecting your story but I’ve just gotta say - I’m pretty certain dental coverage isn’t mandated for employers under the ACA, or for adults on state Medicaid plans. So, though the ACA certainly may have helped or played a role in the people you know getting dental care (like, some states do provide dental, and there’s probably matching money or a grant or some other mechanism somewhere in the ACA to support that), it didn’t do it alone, and there’s all too many people who don’t get that treatment because they have a lousy employer plan and/or live in a red state.
And my problem with the ACA is that it really serves to lock a lot of these problems in and just completely neutralize any political will to change them. Beyond shoveling money at health insurance companies, it’s made them a central player in healthcare policy, both through their lobbying work and through the kinds of influence they’re more able to exercise over healthcare providers (e.g. what health insurance will and won’t cover determines what departments get what kind of staffing, let alone the impact it has on what individual providers can and can’t do). The deeper these things set in to our various bureaucratic and political systems the harder it becomes to even imagine another way to do things because the administrative and intellectual resources to do all the nifty gritty detail work of healthcare are owned outright or deeply intertwined with this inefficient and unjust market system.
Also, there’s a deeper historical conversation to be had about how the politics of 2008-10 played out, and how bank bailouts and the ACA both gave Tea Party assholes material to work with, but frankly I don’t have the mental energy to disentangle that from the fact that straight up racism and lies did a lot to propel them. Like, to discuss that 2 year period properly really would take a whole book, but the harm that was done to this country by the 2010 election and the census and gerrymanderings that came after it is really hard to overstate, and I really think that the mishandling of policy and messaging around the foreclosure crisis and healthcare reform by Democratic lawmakers really set the stage for that disaster.
That all being said,
If we survive November, we’ll meet back up and hassle the newly-electeds together
Hear hear, that’s something I’ll look forward to while holding my nose and filling out my ballot. Good luck to you and your people, whatever may come.
Okay, the ACA has a lot of problems, but I want to make sure this isn’t a motte-and-bailey I’m dealing with here - your position is then, that the ACA is worse than the situation was before?
