Joe Money, Joe Problems: the November 2021 U.S. Politics Thread

optimum number is obviously zero considering climate change and our general impending doom etc., one for "jeez never doing that again" households, two or maaaaaybe three for reasons of having them be well-socialized, keeping each other busy, etc. (to be clear, i was the third and last my parents had, and intend on having no kids.)

trick question, dmac, nice try. it would depend entirely on how much milk you can carry home each day.

1 kid + 1 "old soul" is optimal

it's very tricky because 2 kids or 2 "old souls" is a nightmare

The sooner we instigate a one child policy that ends the suffering of the middle child forever, the better

optimum number is obviously zero considering climate change and our general impending doom etc., one for "jeez never doing that again" households, two or maaaaaybe three for reasons of having them be well-socialized, keeping each other busy, etc.

Actually the optimum number is negative, which is why I try to kill at least one child per year

I dunno about optimum number, but other things aside, probably not so many that you complain about the cost to buy them so much fucking milk.

I mean, the thought of 9 kids gives me waking nightmares even typing the phrase out, but they did mention that not all of them are biologically theirs, so it is possible that some of them might be kids they've taken in for other family members or something. Point being, sometimes it's not always an intentional plan to end up with that many kids.

You start out trying to balance the number of kids with the number of "old souls"

Or maybe they abducted them all, and it's just hiding in plain sight. If only they offered any suspicious clues to the outside world, like buying 12 gallons of milk a week.

Keep an eye on your mailboxes (while I gank all your milk)

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/11/04/politics/january-6-committee-subpoenas/index.html

If I was working the supermarket and somebody came in every week to buy 12 gallons of milk, I would probably call the SPCA or something. And then CPS next. And then whoever it is that makes Lactaid, with a hot lead for them.

Or maybe I would assume they were youtubers doing some sort of stupid hot chili challenge. Or maybe they keep getting sprayed by skunks. Or maybe they're trying to recreate the snare drum scene from the J. Geils Band's "Centerfold" video.
https://i0.wp.com/www.thenewdrummer.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Steven-Bladd-Milk-Drums.gif?ssl=1

Regardless, the last thing I would assume is that someone was drinking 12 gallons of milk a week.

They had two kids and then adopted a family group of two, and then a family group of 3, and then a single kid, and are fostering one more single. I watched at least that much of the video.

You know what's really expensive? ADOPTIONS.

Seriously, as I understand it adopting kids costs tens of thousands of dollar.

Cards on the table i was poking to see how far the "dont have kids you cant afford lady" line would be taken and lads idk idk i really didnt expect the poke to run that easily that far

https://theintercept.com/2021/11/04/build-back-better-billionaire-tobacco-taxes/

Free the vapes

lol you guys been talking milk all day

lol you guys been talking milk all day

What else would we be talking about, as we sit around our kitchen table with our paper and pencils, if not gabbing about the finer details of our monthly budget, just like all those legendary working folk invoked by every politician for the last half century?

This seems bad.

GOP rushing to pass extreme gerrymandered US House maps:

-Rs would hold 86% of seats in OH where Trump got 53%

-71-78% of seats in NC where Trump got 49.9%

-75% of seats in WI where Trump got 49%

-65% of seats in TX where Trump got 52%

Dems running out of time to stop it

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) November 4, 2021

maybe they can negotiate ohio down to like 84% of seats

How the fuck is that even allowed

how exactly can Dems 'stop it' other than challenging it in court, where ultimately, this SCOTUS (Even when it was only a 5-4 R majority) has set a precedent that it's not going to declare maps drawn by state governments as 'unconstitutional'? and often overrides lower court rulings in this regard.

just another example of Murc's law, it is fucked and a legit problem but Dems can't just magically make it go away.

i'm sure the "well they should do SOMETHING' is the current #1 suggestion rn.

https://thewhyaxis.substack.com/p/ugh-fine-lets-talk-about-milk

they get $2,500 in tax credits each month for those 9 kids, and inflation is 1/10 what they say it is. lol milk.

GOP has had the benefit for being a bunch of Teflon-dons and seemingly able to scheme through and obfuscate horrible policy decisions and results one after another for decades. They are that little shit 13 year old that sets the garbage can on fire and somehow gets away with screaming 'she did it' pointing at their sister and it works.

They have been pulling this BS off for like 30 years. Name anything and they have been on the wrong side of EVERYTHING except making the rich more f'n money. Democrats come into power and if they cannot wave a magic wand and try to act like an adult...my god they are such a failure. The people with money backing this crap and coming up with this critical race theory angle are laughing their ass off. But hey they be 'getting paid and gettin' laid' and screw all ya haters. Give the devil his due, they are evil mf'ers and good at their job all they got to do is buy a few Dems up in bad suits and jean jackets and blame the victim and the proles eat it up like Easter candy.

yea it's nice to see Manchin and Sinema get hassled everywhere they go but the reality is that all 50 GOP Senators are actually even worse, it's just that we **expect** them to be corrupt assholes who would set the entire planet on fire for a few bucks. idk it's kind of fucked up, senators like Flake and Murkowski and Collins got raked over the coals for certain votes even though every other GOP Senator deserves just as much shit and they didn't get it because it was those 3 hemming and hawing the whole time.

dow up big, way better then expected unemployment numbers and the likes of CNN are talking about the price of milk! Why aren't Dems hammering this point that the things they have put in place like the American rescue act are working, that the job market is recovering! fuck why not have Biden brag about the stupid stock market like Trump did every time it was up. Dems suck at this shit

lol who fucking cares about the dow and unemployment? the job market ... is recovering .. i don't even know what to say to that lol. a big pile of shit is growing, what wonderful news. the democrats should definitely be on that one.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/580156-nikki-haley-calls-for-a-cognitive-test-for-older-politicians

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley suggested in an interview on Thursday that leaders in the government who are of an advanced age should undergo a "cognitive test."

The Christian Broadcasting Network's David Brody questioned Haley about her thoughts on the mental health of 78-year-old President Biden, the oldest man to hold the office, asking if she had any concerns.

"Well what I'll tell you is, rather than making this about a person, we seriously need to have a conversation that if you're gonna have anyone above a certain age in a position of power — whether it's the House, whether it's the Senate, whether it's vice president, whether it's president — you should have some sort of cognitive test," Haley said, comparing it to how lawmakers disclose their tax returns.

"And right now, let's face it, we've got a lot of people in leadership positions that are old. And that's not being disrespectful. That's a fact," Haley, 49, added. "And when it comes to that, this shouldn't be partisan. We should seriously be looking at the ages of the people that are running our country and understand if that's what we want."

Haley said, comparing it to how lawmakers disclose their tax returns.

deepest sigh

Once again, ⁦@RepSpanberger⁩ sings the canary-in-the-coal-mine tune:

‘Nobody elected Biden to be FDR, they elected him to be normal and stop the chaos.’ https://t.co/i49n1Se74T

— Trip Gabriel (@tripgabriel) November 3, 2021

Given the lack of movement on the agenda, shouldn’t Biden be polling in the 60s then?

Of course the GOP is redistricting their way to a House majority, that's always been obvious and there really isn't anything that can stop them. My own state, which voted a bit over 40 percent for Biden, is probably going to be reduced to Democrats holding just 1 out of 9 congressional seats. GOP would most likely win the House next year even running with 2020 districts, with the new maps the only reasonable thing to expect is a blowout. The House is lost, any efforts at saving anything should be directed to the Senate.

I think we can assume articles of impeachment against Biden introduced by early '23, probably shot down in the Senate even if the GOP has control, though at this point I don't take anything for granted.

Also, I don't actually disagree with Haley about cognitive tests. I'd be in favor of an upper age limit to run for federal office period.

how quickly do we expect a GOP-controlled Senate to abolish the filibuster?

sorry, that may be a very dumb question. i don't think it's inevitable. it just seems like exactly what they would do (with mcconnell twisting the knife by saying that it's what the democrats wanted to do all along, of course), and then pass the fascism act of 2023

This NYT piece (from the Editorial Board!) really is unbelievably bad. Just meaningless appeals to bipartisanship and "getting things done" as though those aren't, in practice, mutually exclusive.

What a steaming pile.

The Times says Democrats are too far to the left without naming a single specific policy it considers too left.

Then it demands Democrats “work to implement policies to help the American people.”

So, you know, lefty things.

https://t.co/qYM6WsYBV8

— Kaili Joy Gray (@KailiJoy) November 5, 2021

lol who fucking cares about the dow and unemployment?

the fucking idiots that vote do! have we not leaned that a lot of people see this shit and think it means something.

xposts

Actually they may not impeach Biden outright until '24, but will spend '23 launching investigations of everything under the sun and then take the most promising of those and put them together in an impeachment package timed to the election.

I don't think a GOP Senate would nuke the filibuster until they have a Republican president. And even then it may be dicey because the Senate is likely to remain more in play than the House, last thing you want is to kill the filibuster and then have the Democrats take back the Senate.

(with mcconnell twisting the knife by saying that it's what the democrats wanted to do all along, of course),

Oh god, I can hear it now: "Now this is something I actually agree with my friends across the aisle about."

Veering into total speculation, if the midterms are as bad as they will probably be, or even leading up to them, I wonder if there won't be growing chatter (stoked by Politico et al) about Democrats thinking Biden should decide not to run for re-election for health reasons. Or even step down and let Harris run as an incumbent.

Harris would not have a chance

Yeah, the Dems won't do that, passing the baton to Harris guarantees the GOP win in '24.

Also, I don't actually disagree with Haley about cognitive tests. I'd be in favor of an upper age limit to run for federal office period.

so many political institutions are dominated by old corpses of overly bearded 1880s men, reclining in cobwebs. the next generation of american political leaders is 60 years old right now. do we expect them to vote against their own interests as soon-to-be Ancient Leaders? after waiting their turn all their lives, waiting to become so old that they no longer recognize anything that their constituents are doing, that they don't even understand how the economy works, or what kinds of jobs people do, harboring bitter resentments against people 50 years younger than them trying to moderate their language and accusing them of inherent racism? after doing all of that, they're not going to accept their rightful place at the top of the political system that rewards those who have the most faith in the ideas of the 1930s and 1980s?

no way. the only time a politician votes against their own interests is when they screw their own constituents. they don't do it to themselves. there's a whole class of politicians that are about to collect their reward for being a total dick for the past 60 years. they're not going to vote to put a limit on that, just before its their own time.

signed, the most ageist jerk on the internet, who will definitely die before he gets old, probably, please,

I don’t disagree and wish she weren’t the fallback. But man I really don’t know if another Biden run is going to be sustainable. It was held together with duct tape last time, and it won’t just be easy to paint him as doddering and incapacitated, it will be hard to paint him as anything but. At least if he were out of the picture it would open up the possibility for a Democratic primary. Not that there are great obvious options on the bench either.

(That was xpost to Harris posts)

Oh to be clear, I don't think Biden is going to be sustainable either. I'm hoping (most likely in vain, I know) they are working behind the scenes to have someone actually electable as a Plan B.

the Senate is likely to remain more in play than the House, last thing you want is to kill the filibuster and then have the Democrats take back the Senate

Show your work. It's always been my understanding that the Senate is not so slowly slipping out of Democrats' grasp and that once it's gone it'll be gone basically forever because the solid R states are wastelands with fewer people in 'em than the town I live in.

Thank god the important work is still getting done.

NEW: Biden is selling Saudi Arabia $650 million in missiles, calls the move "fully consistent" with ending the war in Yemen. pic.twitter.com/UPBwEpMYtz

— Akbar Shahid Ahmed (@AkbarSAhmed) November 4, 2021

i was worried