“It’s a little too quiet” - US Politics February 2021

San Francisco had a big kerfluffle over a homeless drop-in center on the Embarcadero, also concerned about 'safety'

Looking at that thread, apparently the motel is on the edge of northeast Austin near the Cedar Park suburb, so this is all vmic.

Biden presidency endangered by scandal:

NEW FARA FILING: People registered as foreign agents through the firm @ArnoldPorter donated $13k to BIDEN's campaign committees from July-Dec. 2020.@ArnoldPorter engaged the BIDEN transition team on behalf of foreign gov'ts including Argentina & Korea. https://t.co/BBQgxY0dFJ

— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) February 2, 2021

Self-XP NORTHWEST SIDE OF AUSTIN

xpost Read that as Arnold Palmer and got thirsty.

if it's the Candlewood Suites I think it is, the neighbors should be more worried about the patrons of the nearby Baby Acapulco and their day-glo vomit that results from downing a ton of blue margaritas and queso and then getting mild concussions from fistfights in the parking lot over who has to take Brianna home because she lives in the fucking 04

i'm sure they will be standing there with signs that say BABY ACAPULCO WRONG LOCATION very soon

apparently it's the one up near Cedar Park so swap Olive Garden for Baby A's, house red for blue margaritas, and breadsticks for queso

so, lowering the phaseout threshold for the $1400 check to 50K a year?

fuck that

where was that idea floated publicly?

Dems considering lower income threshold to reduce number of people who get checks.

Last checks started phasing out at $75k for individuals; Dems looking at $50k, per source (confirming @JStein_WaPo reporting yesterday) w/ @igorbobic https://t.co/98q0Fb7p8U

— Arthur Delaney (@ArthurDelaneyHP) February 3, 2021

Yes yes, we know your schtick Aimless. All reporting is lies unless Joe Biden tells you directly.

that's so idiotic considering how many people lost their jobs and really need this money

yeah we might need to pump the brakes, this isn't even close to a certainty, but it's worded that way in the shitty Huff Po article.

from WaPo:

One proposal discussed by senior Democrats includes lowering the threshold for the payments to begin phasing out above $50,000 for single taxpayers, $75,000 for people who file as the heads of households, and $100,000 for married couples, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss internal planning. These people stress that the conversations are fluid and legislation has not been finalized.

AND

Still, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki added at her press briefing on Tuesday that Biden is wary of limiting the income thresholds on the payments too dramatically. For instance, she said Biden believes a nurse and a teacher jointly earning $120,000 a year in Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pa., still “should get a check.” Biden reiterated this commitment in a meeting with White House aides on Tuesday, she said.

also idk why the pile-on with Aimless, if asking for a source is to be met with ornery, idk maybe that says something about your own feelings about the quality of yr source

At least these are real reporters, but "Dems considering" and "Dems looking at" says very little other than the idea was discussed among Dems, not who backs it and how much power they have.

not sure who these senior Democrats are, but I can imanchin a few guesses

i know this thread is the "pre-emptively get angry at offended at rumors that are suggested in passing as if they are already incontrovertible fact", but it doesn't have to be.

Hmm but on another front (read back through the thread)

BREAKING: ICE is telling members of Congress this deportation flight to Africa, due to leave in a few minutes, has been CANCELLED.
Unclear if it has been permanently canceled and if this is new DHS sec @AliMayorkas stepping in to rein in ICE.

— Julian Borger (@julianborger) February 3, 2021

All reporting is lies unless Joe Biden tells you directly.

And there it is... your schtick. Distortions based on pure fantasy.

Who’s getting angry? Further means testing is being reported by multiple legit journalists. Dismissing it because they’re not giving a press conference about it is stupid.

did Aimless actually dismiss it or did he merely ask who was reporting it? did you actually get annoyed with him or do you just have long standing animus with him that you stoked because that's just a thing you usually do?

also further means testing is not being reported, the fact that 'some' Senior Democrats who have not been remained considering the idea while Biden being somewhat less receptive to it is what is being reporting.

remained = named

unless dems are publicly "floating" the idea of more money and no means testing, if for no reason other than to stick it in the GOP's eye, i think it's fine for people to register their irritation. whatever it takes to keep them from doing the dumb shit. we elected them to Not Do The Dumb Shit.

did Aimless actually dismiss it or did he merely ask who was reporting it?

His response yesterday after Stein’s initial report (that I linked) was ‘getting mad because someone on Twitter said it.’

So, yes. Or he’s willfully ignoring the reporting he doesn’t want to see, I guess.

xpost i don't mind people calling their Senators to beg them 'no means testing' or discussing that it would be a terrible idea, which we've all done (me included). just a little wary of reacting in a message board thread like it's already happened.

that's fair

course, my Senators are Rubio and Scott, so any time I contact them it's to tell them they're terrible and should consider stopping being people

BREAKING: ICE is telling members of Congress this deportation flight to Africa, due to leave in a few minutes, has been CANCELLED.

see, cancel culture is good

lol

course, my Senators are Rubio and Scott, so any time I contact them it's to tell them they're terrible and should consider stopping being people

― Wrong Screamed Barney (Neanderthal)

hey, at least Rick Scott has better constituent services than Rubio; they'll gladly and courteously tell where and when to drop dead.

for the first time in my life it will be nice finally having two senators with whom my interactions aren't just responding to their soc media posts with variations of 'gargle my ass and balls'

the POLITICO story:

President Joe Biden said he's open to refining key elements of his nearly $2 trillion coronavirus package during a call with House Democrats on Wednesday, but stressed the urgency of delivering the massive relief bill quickly to the pandemic-stricken nation.

Biden told the House Democratic Caucus that he was willing to compromise on who will be eligible for the next round stimulus checks — but remained firm on the size of the $1,400 check, according to multiple sources on the call.

“Let’s stick together, I have your back and I hope you’ll have mine,” Biden told House Democrats in his first meeting with the group since taking office, according to several people listening. He made an emotional case for quick action, citing the alarming rate of suicides and worsening drug addictions amid the pandemic.

“I am not going to start by breaking a promise to the American people,” he added about direct payments.

Biden’s message to the caucus comes as Democrats race to deliver the president’s first legislative priority, a sprawling coronavirus relief plan that so far lacks support from Republicans in Congress. One key sticking point so far has been over the stimulus checks, with some centrist Democrats — and many GOP lawmakers — calling for stricter income limits on the direct payments.

“We can better target the number, I’m OK with that,” Biden told House Democrats, according to multiple sources on the call.

But Biden also made clear that he would not shrink the overall size of his package to meet GOP demands. After a lengthy meeting Monday with GOP senators who pitched a $618 billion plan, Biden told Democrats that offer “was not even in the cards

My first response is, arrgggh. The second is, "I hope Biden's usual off-the-cuff garble is more ambiguous than usual."

a sliding scale better than preserving the full amount and then immediately dipping to $0 at a certain money threshold. if he's going to legitimately consider supporting the targeted approach, idk that he'd support immediately cutting it to $0 at that threshold, esp since that's not how it worked with the previous stim payments. people who made 75 or more didn't get nothing, it just decreased a little for every 1k over 75k.

i'd prefer no sliding scale at all but can't imagine he's gonna go right to "lol u get nothing 50kers"

THAT THIS CONVERSATION IS EVEN HAPPENING IS MAKING ME LOSE MY GODDAMN MIND

hi, tabes!

I don’t think anyone has suggested it would be a hard stop. But it means that someone making $60k gets less, and now someone making $80k gets none instead of some - which erodes overall support for government intervention.

On another note, in case I missed it, did we already discuss the Mother Jones report about the FB group MTG moderated?

i mean if I had my druthers, Americans would get 5k a month for the next 5 years in restitution for the last 30+ years of American economic history but..........

speaking as somebody whose payments would be curtailed if the cap was set at 50k, i can definitely tell you i don't want that to happen, but as of right now it's being floated as a "maybe" and more from Senior Democrats who frankly need to be taken into a room and flogged until they stfu about it.

The $1200 checks last year goosed the stock market. Bad to have govt funds basically just inflating stocks. Some kind of means testing or unemployment screen needed.

Stimulus goosed the stock market because our economy is built on people spending money on consumer goods. Which they don’t do if they’re scared of having no money. The line didn’t go up because rich people bought $1200 in stonks.

I FPed you, Bnad, because I've legit never read such absolute bootlicking bullshit

ah yes the famously rational stock market

yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, that's gonna be a "no" from me, Bnad

Anyway....

NEW: Marjorie Taylor Greene was the moderator of a Facebook group that featured death threats, racist memes, and shared a wide variety of conspiracy theories. @DavidCornDC reports: https://t.co/TS9eCSHoM1 pic.twitter.com/8ewcw3OZJY

— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) February 3, 2021

The stock market has been goosed far more by the Fed announcing it will keep interest rates near zero for at least another year.

Lord, please let this end with her being kicked the eff out of her seat.

so they're going to phase out payments for almost half of the recipients, and 25% of americans get $0?! sounds like a real winner!