Beware the Ides of March -- U.S. Politics March 2021

harbl’s a goddamn legend and they’re not wrong

I’m sure overriding right to work laws nationwide will be a breeze when they can’t get a relief bill with 80% approval through without stripping it and cutting checks to donors.

but hey he will fight for sneera tandem. i'm pretty center-y "okay, joe" at times, but this is so fucking stupid. some things are worth really fighting for, and some promises have been made, and some optics are bigger than others, and means-testifying of all benefits, esp against this economic public disaster, is bad bad bad. it makes me think he really didn't learn jackshit from obama.

It just sucks. The people adversely affected economically by the pandemic have gotten little more than a middle finger from the government for the past year. Living up to the promise of a $1400 check is almost literally the least these dumbfucks could do, and a helluva lot less than they should do.

The people adversely affected economically by the pandemic

Are likely making less than $75,000 a year. Which means they'll get a check. What, exactly, is the problem here?

If you and your partner/spouse make less than $150,000 a year collectively, you'll be getting $2800 in the mail. Do you people even know what you're complaining about anymore?

Yes, we do.

If you individually make $81k you now get nothing instead of something. Further eroding confidence in and support for the government spending money to help anyone has consequences. Making any voter feel like they were promised something and received nothing certainly has political consequences. Like all the upper-middle white suburbanites who've been so valued by Democrats over the last four years.

Defending the cuts to the actual economic stimulus to give money to telecoms is just fucking braindead.

One obvious issue is that there will be people who got a check from Trump but not one from Biden.

yes, but if you made 160 you get nothing, which is not how it was before. Ill out myself as someone who will be impacted by this going by my 2019 income, which previously would have meant I'd get some but not the full amount. Now I don't know what I'll get; and do I "need" it? Well I banked on having it to pay part of our property taxes which are now over due, partly because my wife's income decreased drastically, so yeah, I'm not happy about this.

^^^ object lesson as to why this is very dumb and the dems look like shit

Yes historic tax data isn't v helpful during a crisis. Plus the inevitable problem with means testing is being just over the limit: why, ethically or morally speaking, does someone "deserve" a check at 74,999 but not at 75,001?

Yeah this is getting worse and more indefensible by the week. What a terrible own goal at this point.

Yeah. My income level is below the threshold so his doesn't affect me directly (although I still never got that last $600 check so who knows if I'll even get the $1400) and I'm still working so I'm fine but this sucks.

Maybe if we can smoke 100 cigarettes before the checks get cut we guarantee a slice.

Like the only save here would be 'well, this is what we need to do to get this particular stimulus payment out ASAP but then the plan is for maybe like smaller regular stimulus payouts for EVERYONE after this is taken care of' but lol, yeah right.

I've never made $75,000 a year in my life. I bet it's nice.

Are they getting out ahead of this at all? Because otherwise they're just full-on letting the obviously shitty action dictate the shitty message, to no constructive end that I can see.

man, neither have i, that’s not what this is about

xp

I've never made $75,000 a year in my life. I bet it's nice.

― but also fuck you (unperson), Wednesday, March 3, 2021 10:47 AM (forty-nine seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yeah, me neither, nowhere near. What's your point.

i'm still getting the whole check but i'm not complaining about me, i'll be fine. it's not the point at all. they knew the political value of giving people money, that's why they campaigned on it. then they acted like dumbasses.

you can tell this was a good idea because of the way it stirs up class antagonism

free idea for JB: raise the minimum wage to a level where no one is eligible for these checks

yeah imna get the check but this is stupid stuff for the dems

Yeah, me neither, nowhere near. What's your point.

To put it bluntly? If you're above that threshold you should shut the fuck up. If you make more than $75,000 a year, not only should you not get a stimulus check, the stimulus check you should have gotten should be re-routed to someone making less than $30,000 a year, so they get two.

That's not what's on the table, though. They're not increasing payments for people making $30k a year, they're routing that check to Verizon HQ.

is this still going to be based off 2019 tax numbers?

i think it's 2020 if you have filed this year and 2019 if you haven't

Not everyone wants to live in New Jersey, unperson

yeah i know plenty of people that were making good money in NYC that are now making a significant amount less due to the pandemic and are now struggling to pay rent and bills.

centrist class rage is new to me

Where do u teach your economics class, unperson, I still have so much left to learn

yeah, if you made 75k in an expensive area a year ago and then stopped making money, you need it. it's not necessarily an accurate picture of how well you're doing right now. it should be universal and just taxed back from rich people if we want to be more precise about who really deserves it.

centrist class rage is new to me

Reagan Democrats IIRC

plus it's called "stimulus" for the reason you are supposed to spend it to "stimulate" the economy. it's not food stamps (which should pay way more btw). people making $75k are still likely to spend it when those making twice as much are not. i know i will be spending it on home improvements i really need before my house falls down.

Where do u teach your economics class, unperson, I still have so much left to learn

It's really just about making good life choices.

1) Don't buy a house
2) Don't have kids
3) Spend your money on books and movies and CDs forever!!! :)

oh wow this is me

Ladies & Gentlemen, the GOP:

"Of the 23.8 million people whose 2019 wages would be lifted with a [minimum wage] hike, around 12.4 million reside in the 22 states with two Republican senators" via @ThePlumLineGS https://t.co/rAuiZghHWJ

— ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper) March 3, 2021

xxpost Yes, that's pretty much how I live, too, but expecting everyone else to live like I do and believing they deserve to suffer if they don't is a very...oh what's the word...conservative viewpoint.

The editor absolutely chose that McConnell photo to amuse himself

as if those people won't still vote for them xxp

"your wage should be only this big"

That's how I live and I've never broken $38k in a year IIRC but is also one reason why I support policies to make life easier for people not making $160k instead of reflexively explaining why better things aren't possible and to trust the process. Making $30k a year fucking sucks as a single dude, absolute nightmare for a single parent or person with more physical difficulties than me.

Yeah, the continuum of my working life has been barely scraping by check-to-check >>> comfortably living check-to-check but still without much wiggle room in the event of an emergency and certainly no room for a big lifestyle change eg having kids. I'm doing fine but this shit isn't aspirational.

good thing we have awesome pension plans and great safety nets when we retire!

what I dislike about this isn't so much the requirements; it's changing the requirements, particularly after changing the amount. If it had been $1400k all along with those as the requirements, sure. But don't say one thing then fucking change it in a way that will mostly impact your voting base. That's dumb politics for little apparent gain.

$1400 obv not $1400k. wow that would be nice

Wouldn't be totally shocked at this point if they were like 'no no, we said $14.00, did you not notice the decimal before?'

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