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

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?'

Voucher for a vial of CBD oil, one month free HBO Max and 50% off an epi-pen

And you'll like it.

how do you fuck this up worse than Trump and GOP majority in senate?

they really do hate the people who vote for them. it’s bizarre.

anyway, glad I’m rich and probably won’t ever vote D* in a national election again and all they can do is trip over themselves to make my life easier. cool cool cool.


(*unless you come out 100%, no ifs and buts on M4A, free college, living wage, etc)

*coughs* I told you so *coughs*

Warnock going to be there less time than Douggie Jones

And look, I don't want to hear any more shit about it, I remember the timeline and the way things unfolded and the dems absolutely initially said $2000, none of this 'well but of course they always only meant an additional $1400' because no they didn't, that was the fucking narrative they wove after they'd bandied the $2000 figure around a bit. And a lot of people bought and regurgitated, and I'm sure a lot of those people will buy whatever fuckin' line they're handed this time. 'Well, there was always gonna be some degree of means testing on distributing the $1400, which is again the figure they'd always said, I have no idea where you got $2000'

'bought and regurgitated that line'

This is really the equivalent of shitting your running shorts thirty seconds after the starter pistol fires.

This is really the equivalent of shitting your running shorts thirty seconds after the starter pistol fires.
― Stefan Twerkelle (Old Lunch), Wednesday, March 3, 2021 6:02 PM (twenty seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

... while standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.

not my favorite Primitive Radio Gods song.

Small update here: Limiting the benefit results in roughly ~$12 billion in savings, per Dem aide. Whole bill is ~$1.9 trillion

— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) March 3, 2021

well good thing!

fucking infuriating

i know where they can shove that $12 billion in savings: my wallet

12 million fewer adults and 5 million fewer children getting checks, in order to reallocate .00001 percent of the bill to something people will never see or notice (or into the pockets of an ISP they hate)

Well, hey, Biden found something that could bring unity to the ilx politics threads (mostly). So, yay?

a true bridge builder

The Manchin giveth (torturing Neera) and the Manchin taketh away (torturing constituents who don't own coal mines).

Tim Kaine reintroducing his bill to end the post-9/11 military force blank check is good.

I wonder if his leftist son is still cool?

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

More proof, if any were needed, that means-testing government benefits turns that benefit program into a wedge issue that creates a political fissure right at the income point and sorts citizens into opposing groups based on an arbitrary measure of 'deserving'.

There are a lot of things to be mad at the Dems about, but those of you convinced that this whole $1400 vs $2000 thing is a big deal are just ... wrong. It's not. The Republicans are NEVER going to run ads anywhere talking about $2,000 checks (have you ever even met a Republican?), and people will be glad to get money just like they were glad to get money last year. Also the Dems tried to pass a $1,400 add-on to the $600 in December, so this isn't new, it's a continuation of what they just tried two months ago. I don't think phasing out faster above $75k matters politically either.

There's lots of things to be mad about! Don't waste time on this.

Well if you don't think it matters I guess it won't to those 12 million people.

Um, who gives a fuck about what ads might get run. It's absolutely fair to be mad that the Dems are lowering the threshold on this. People need money now, not better ad campaigns in 2022.

i really don't agree with you Tipsy. Did we forget 2010 or something?

more angry that the Dems negotiated themselves down. The Republicans were never going to try a reasonable bargain, so this is more the fault of Manchin, Sinema and other more cowardly centrist Dems that took cover