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

Wu, Tim Clan

Good morning!

The United States firmly opposes an @IntlCrimCourt investigation into the Palestinian Situation. We will continue to uphold our strong commitment to Israel and its security, including by opposing actions that seek to target Israel unfairly.

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) March 4, 2021

.@SecBlinken: Iran’s moving in the wrong direction. It continues to take steps that lift the various constraints of the agreement and is making its program more dangerous, not less dangerous. We want to see Iran come back into compliance with its obligations. pic.twitter.com/jX4XXVZrWd

— Department of State (@StateDept) March 7, 2021

The hits keep comin and they don’t stop comin

hmm.

Not something he remembers https://t.co/7G8TOMKjNf pic.twitter.com/nRXFbpPCc2

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) March 8, 2021

lol, college

I cradled lots of newborns shirtless and in my bare feet in college.

Meantime the Jan 6 arrests keep coming:

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/roger-stone-associate-with-oath-keepers-ties-arrested-on-capitol-riot-charges/2930533/

And as the thread points out this one's interesting:

BREAKING: Roger Stone-linked #OathKeepers member Roberto Minuta was just arrested by federal agents.

Minuta pulled security for Stone on the morning of January 6th...then participated in #Capitol siege. 1/

By: @jonathan4ny & @valiquettejoe
Link: https://t.co/lQRT4A9SGD pic.twitter.com/qPEOBkZzSt

— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) March 8, 2021

my favorite thing about the stimulus (apart from sneaking in what will hopefully become permanent cash child benefits) is $30bn for transit.

Here's a look from a month ago at what that $30 billion can do to help avert disaster in public transit.

So many things like this. So many crises of public institutions now easier to manage, and won't take place under threat of austerity, from the ARP. https://t.co/qQlzyywn7B

— Mike Konczal (@rortybomb) March 8, 2021

Roger Stone's face seems incomplete; I keep wanting to add a fist to it

His head is in the shape of Zippy the pinhead's.

He looks like a Dick Tracy villain

$30bn for transit

or enough to fix the stairs in at least one subway station in nyc

well tbf it's enough for 10 miles of NYC subway (or 70 miles of subway in the rest of the world https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-construction-costs.html)

this rules

The tide has turned at Amazon in Alabama completely in the union’s favor.

Biden’s support was a game changer - I’ve never seen anything like it

— Mike Elk (@MikeElk) March 8, 2021

(and the bully pulpit works and he should use it)

this was the "game-changer" btw, not sure if it was discussed here

Workers in Alabama – and all across America – are voting on whether to organize a union in their workplace. It’s a vitally important choice – one that should be made without intimidation or threats by employers.

Every worker should have a free and fair choice to join a union. pic.twitter.com/2lzbyyii1g

— President Biden (@POTUS) March 1, 2021

Robert Minuta owns a tattoo parlor in my county and made the local papers back in the spring for opening during lockdown. There was an Oath Keeper rally supporting him which made me me think uh there’s more going on here than the paper is reporting. He was also in the same newspaper a few years ago complaining about school vaccination requirements.

His shop got vandalized recently but the graffiti says ANTIFA DID THIS so I have my doubts.

(apart from sneaking in what will hopefully become permanent cash child benefits)

endorse this, but also there should be double the cash benefit for not having kids


His head is in the shape of Zippy the pinhead's.

are we having fun yet? pic.twitter.com/u76H2pXVVz

— Kit (@awardtour) May 25, 2018

How much do we get for kidnapped kids

5-20 years

is the west experiencing a left wing drift part n...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/08/opinion/romney-republicans-child-allowance.html

Somewhere along the line, American conservatism came to define itself — at least in its actions — as primarily about money. Taxes and G.D.P. got policy support; families and communities got lip service. That’s changing, at least with the Republican rank-and-file. A recent poll shows 68 percent of Americans, including 60 percent of Republicans, support a child allowance like the ones put forward by Mr. Biden and Mr. Romney.

As I’ve talked this over with friends and colleagues, I’ve found that there is quite a bit of support for the idea of a child allowance. At a gut level, people understand that it’s gotten objectively harder for the average person to afford children without working so much to make ends meet that they don’t have the time or energy to spend the time with their kids that they need.

I’ve observed two things in these discussions that also map directly onto the broader fault lines in right-of-center politics. The younger people I’ve spoken to are more likely to support a child allowance than the older. The dividing line seems to be around age 50, with support increasing among younger people, while opposition increases in frequency and vehemence with age.

One conservative friend in her late 20s, upon hearing about the Biden plan, told me, “What the heck, I guess I’m a Democrat now.” She was joking about switching parties, but not about her support for the child allowance. Other young Republicans might go the additional step, which would spell doom for Republicans who are already struggling with younger people. My friend is a frequent critic of Mitt Romney, but she likes his plan — a lot.

One conservative friend in her late 20s, upon hearing about the Biden plan, told me, “What the heck, I guess I’m a Democrat now.”

10:1 she's mormon

i don't like these people or their kids but warming them up to government money / programs can only be a good thing

10:1 she's mormon

"My friend is a frequent critic of Mitt Romney"

hmmm

still checks out!

I wouldn't read too much into his fascist veneration of mothers bit, 10:1 that friend doesn't actually exist.

Trying to pull conservatism back toward the blood and soil Pepes of 2016-17 instead of the deranged evangelicals of the QAnon era isn't likely to work.

Distinction w/o a difference surely

what if both are equally irrelevant?

I wouldn't read too much into his fascist veneration of mothers bit, 10:1 that friend doesn't actually exist.

― Joe Bombin (milo z), Monday, March 8, 2021 5:23 PM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

the imaginary friends aren't really the point. the point is that checks and cash benefits are incredibly popular with younger republican voters, but not with republican politicians. it doesn't require a volkisch bloc to explain that.

Do these young conservatives understand that government spending comes from taxes, or are we waiting to tell them until it's too late for them to turn back?

Meantime, remember when?

NEW: A deep dive on the Lincoln Project's finances and its handling of John Weaver's harassment of young men, from me, @dannyhakim, and @Jo_Becker. https://t.co/9I59f3OzWi

— Maggie Astor (@MaggieAstor) March 8, 2021

Do these young conservatives understand that government spending comes from taxes

no it doesn't.

the imaginary friends aren't really the point. the point is that checks and cash benefits are incredibly popular with younger republican voters, but not with republican politicians. it doesn't require a volkisch bloc to explain that.

What are we basing this "incredibly popular" on aside from one fascist and his imaginary friend, though? Conservatives slightly favored the child tax credit expansion as it passed - but who's to say self-identifying conservatives wouldn't have supported that before? It's not really something we can compare historically.

jfc

love to post on the milo message board

New board description.

You posted an article from a fascist as evidence of a swing in conservative opinion, sorry if I'm pushing back on it.

many xps

I saw a piece arguing that the increased support for Trump among nonwhite voters people were handwringing about was actually a pure class thing - his name was on checks that people needed. If true ...

xp to caek

right, the covid bill did not tie any aid to taxes. However, Boss Manchin was saying today that he'd like to see a big infrastructure bill that came with tax hikes for upper brackets AND got Republican support.

milo, a policy that is favored by 20 points is not "slightly favored". if you think the same policy could have polled the same with republicans in 1996 then sure, nothing has changed i guess.

i'm not saying these people are leftists. i'm saying that the set of people who favor government spending (which is something that can have leftist outcomes) has grown over the past few years, and that there's a disconnect between that group and republican policy and politicians that might be worth exploiting.

after the pandemic is over, will you promise me you'll join a book club or something so the rest of us get a chance to post?

*looks around*

JOE BIDEN RULES!!!!!!
*shotguns busch light*

The child care tax credits weren’t +20, though. They were supported by a slight majority of self-described conservatives.

The EITC has been relatively uncontroversial for 40 years now with multiple expansions and it’s not really new for conservatives to support children and families when polled. Their actions have never borne this out and there’s no reason to believe there’s been any change.

2012, for instance - https://everychildmatters.org/poll-voters-want-candidates-to-focus-more-on-kids/

I don't I can't

#AmericaFirst pic.twitter.com/cZRqzEcFSB

— Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) March 7, 2021

so lazy. Why not just put whatever political message you feel like in front of some softcore manga porn.

Hard to believe his entire family hates him.

Encouraging, I suppose.

🚨🚨Poorest 20% of Americans estimated to see ~20 percent boost in income from Biden relief plan, particularly due to stimulus payments & CTC, per new Tax Policy Center analysis

Richest 1% to receive income boost of 0%, analysis sayshttps://t.co/2WmwjszTSo

— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) March 8, 2021

u.s. politics trivia time

which state has had a trifecta govt (control all 3 branches by same party) for the longest time? it has been a trifecta for 10 years longer than the second and third longest.

and whatever you do, don't just go here and sort the "Trifecta Status by State" table

https://ballotpedia.org/State_government_trifectas