US Politics, January 2022 — a pro-God, pro-family, pro-bitcoin state

Just to ask a really dumb question: I guess the reason to talk about student loan forgiveness rather than "hand out cash to everyone whether they have a degree / some credits / are carrying loads of student debt or not" is simply that the President is empowered to do the former but not the latter? Is there an argument that it wouldn't be better to distribute a big financial benefit more broadly?

yeah, I think that's why Biden concentrated on extending the child tax credit rather than student loan forgiveness, but the latter doesn't need congressional approval (though Biden would like to pretend it does)

While I think it's a good policy, just watch this get spun by right-wing MAGAnauts as more money for college-educated elites at the expense of the (white) working class.

The spin will go: Loan forgiveness for preppy fratbois snubs honest (white) Joe Lunch-pail who didn't go to college. You know, all those (white) people working blue-collar jobs who are forgotten and left behind by the coastal elites, blah blah blah.

"I mean, What? So you're telling me that Trevor Fratboy McPrivilege, who drank his way through State U., gets a pass? Or Sandra McFeminist gets loan forgiveness for her Victimization Studies degree? Meanwhile, where's the handout for Joe The (White) Plumber?"

Never mind that in actual (non-Fox) reality, there are a whole bunch of people of color whose career paths might embrace trades, higher education, and a mix of both.

I don't have a solution but I know the current information landscape will be messy in the extreme.

Who cares what they think? They'll never vote for a Democrat so it makes zero sense to include them in any political calculation regarding student loan debt forgiveness. Biden is reluctant to do it because he's a lifelong and loyal collared pet of the banking industry.

It should be pretty easy to spin it the other way around that it will allow for millions of people to spend more on Main Street instead of having loads of cash just sitting idly in banks.

The bots had already carpet-bombed Reddit and FB with this message a month ago and gone on to other things.

fuuuuuuuuuuck i could use any amount of student loan forgiveness, any at all would go a long way

just do it and never, ever worry about what the GOP thinks of a POLICY issue, ever again. why worry about what they think about a policy? they have...ZERO policies! they have...ZERO platform! they really don't! they only exist to make money, stay in power, and troll you. there are only a couple years in this country before they turn it into a full christian fascist state, how about we just get some student loan foregiveness in the meantime and spend zero time worrying about how they'll react, because of course they'll say it's a socialist communist overstep and that biden is an old doof out of his mind, a marionette with the strings being pulled by the ultra violent left.

as if the GOP ever, EVER thinks about what anyone on the left thinks, EVER

google bitchute

that is how the GOP mind operates. just try to be on that website for 5 minutes straight

just watch this get spun by right-wing MAGAnauts as more money for college-educated elites at the expense of the (white) working class.

I think that spin is wrong but I think the spin that it's more money for college-educated people (who are not "elite" but are mostly wealthier than the median person of their age) not at the expense of the white working class, at the expense of rich people who will pay more taxes, but exclusive of the both-white-and-POC non-college working class, who are disproportionately likely to be in economic distress right now. But as I said, there are two pretty different questions here, "what would be best?" and "what would be best among things that can be done with the stroke of a pen?"

It should be pretty easy to spin it the other way around that it will allow for millions of people to spend more on Main Street instead of having loads of cash just sitting idly in banks.

I don't disagree, but wish to piggyback on it slightly to say: why can't this be the spun narrative for most government spending?

Conservatives act like government spending is essentially setting money on fire (except the spending they like; see note below). But most spending happens inside the economy. If you are a public-sector employee or contractor, the money "spent" by the government goes into your bank account. Mostly what you do with it is buy groceries and clothing and pay for housing.

The money isn't gone, it's alive and well and going into the economy. If you buy and sell goods and services to people who are employed by the government, guess what? You are getting that money that you thought was simply set on fire.

Note: defense, "homeland security," and police-state budgets are largely sacrosanct for the right. Sure, some of that money evaporates in waste/fraud/abuse, and in indiscriminately killing people of color in another part of the world. But a surprising amount of it just circulates right back into the same economies that right-wing voters inhabit. I recently drove through Quantico and Fort Belvoir and saw approximately 600 car dealerships, all of whom offer easy credit to military personnel.

So let's say a 20-year-old recruit gets his signing bonus and immediately buys a three-year-old mustard-colored Mustang, at an interest rate of something like 25% APR. Do you know what that is? Government spending that immediately returns to the local economy. But I'll bet the owner of that car dealership sits over beers with his buddies and rails against "government spending" like it's a problem.

meanwhile, they are stealing the election in 2024 in plain sight

Here's an unsettling thought:

If we don't revise the ECA, successfully overturning the 2024 election might only require a single corrupt GOP governor and a GOP-controlled House.

An important new paper spells out this nightmare scenario.

Details here:https://t.co/EhSRaBwtYQ

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) January 26, 2022

David Perdue is running for governor in Georgia on the explicit claim that he wouldn't have certified Biden's electors.

All it takes is one governor like him, plus House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who's tolerating rampant insurrectionism in his ranks:https://t.co/EhSRaBwtYQ pic.twitter.com/9L5hDRj65t

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) January 26, 2022

i feel like a madman

these policy discussions are nostalgic and remind me of a better time

weird how Republicans seem to believe that both 1) anyone making minimum wage should pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get a degree and 2) anyone who gets a degree should be in crippling debt for the next 15 years

money for college-educated people (who are not "elite" but are mostly wealthier than the median person of their age) not at the expense of the white working class, at the expense of rich people who will pay more taxes, but exclusive of the both-white-and-POC non-college working class, who are disproportionately likely to be in economic distress right now.

we're aware that someone can have student loan debt and not have a college degree, yeah? There are plenty of working class people (both white and POC) that have "some college" at a public school (where tuitions have skyrocketed over the past 20 years ...) or, even "worse" went to for-profits, took out loans, either didn't finish or got the worthless degree ... we know this, right? To say that cancelling student loan debt is a benefit for the elite is kinda ridiculous at this point in time ... it's definitely more of a benefit to working class people, as more elite people either didn't need loans, or their debt is manageable.

A discussion I found useful recently was re-examining the idea that people who get loan forgiveness are "getting something for free," ie getting more back than they put in, and contrasting with the reality of unethical loan practices and interest grabbing structures. We should talk more about how many people borrowed $75K and have already paid back $60k and now owe $120k ADDITIONALLY because of interest and penalties.

xp thank you, sarahel!

the loan officer apologized to me when she gave out my biggest loan (out of the 8) for $30K

and even *I* don't fucking care because they're stealing the election in plain sight

i am really losing my mind

So let's say a 20-year-old recruit gets his signing bonus and immediately buys a three-year-old mustard-colored Mustang, at an interest rate of something like 25% APR. Do you know what that is? Government spending that immediately returns to the local economy. But I'll bet the owner of that car dealership sits over beers with his buddies and rails against "government spending" like it's a problem.

― Emanuel Axolotl (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, January 26, 2022 11:19 AM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

100%. To answer your question: I personally just think half the nation (or more?) does not want to pay higher taxes because yuck taxes and also they don't want to share their wealth with BIPOCs. They might not even have to pay higher taxes, but it's an impression they have when the govt talks in terms of spending.

Someone who knows more about the economy than I do could answer this: how much does the current inflation situation influences Biden to not sign the forgiving of loans?

A discussion I found useful recently was re-examining the idea that people who get loan forgiveness are "getting something for free," ie getting more back than they put in, and contrasting with the reality of unethical loan practices and interest grabbing structures. We should talk more about how many people borrowed $75K and have already paid back $60k and now owe $120k ADDITIONALLY because of interest and penalties.

xp thank you, sarahel!

― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Wednesday, January 26, 2022 11:29 AM (eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'll add that a college educated person contributes so much more to the economy that really they should be paid to study like it's an investment the governement makes for society. The notion that 'they are getting something for free' is looking at it the wrong way.

the reality of unethical loan practices and interest grabbing structures.

exactly! ... it's also a lot like the mortgage bubble 15 years ago, where housing prices got hella stupid because of the availability of loans. Like the housing market, academic institutions can raise tuitions to absurdly expensive rates, because loans will cover it. If there was/had been less readily available loans or the amounts were more realistic, then the institutions would have to "make changes" ... do they actually want a diverse student population? Last week I looked up how much tuition is now at where I went for undergrad (over 25 years ago), and it's like $60k! The average amount paid by students (or their parents) is more like $30k ... now, this place is fairly well endowed (go bears) but still ...

the economic policy nerd in me would also argue, that another key is to improve funding to k-12 public education and community colleges so that families are less likely to spend savings on paying for private elementary education, and actually have savings to pay for college, as opposed to obligating teenagers to take out $100k or more of loans when they are considered too young to responsibly consume alcohol in some states.

They might not even have to pay higher taxes, but it's an impression they have when the govt talks in terms of spending.

not to be a stereotypical coastal elite here, but, some of these people live places where the standard deduction is actually a reasonable estimate of the average cost of basic necessities (e.g. housing, food) for a single person. where I live, if your housing cost is less than $12,550 a year, you have an amazing deal.

BREAKING: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring, NBC News confirms.

— Stephen Sanchez (@SSanchezTV) January 26, 2022

oh boy

guess the scuttlebutt was right

I'm sure Manchin and Sinema won't abuse their positions for personal gain (in Manchin's case) and ...attention? (Sinema)

wow

but also

sarahell extremely OTM in recent postage

looking forward to hearing what lindseypaws has to say about supreme justice as well

Manchin's been cool with federal judges and was a no on ACB.

but he's my president.. :(

Ol' Mitchy's turtle neck working overtime this morning while he spins up a yarn about how unconscionable it is for Biden to get to name a new justice just a scant 33 months out from when the American people should get their voice heard.

holding out hope for a Todd Bonzalez nomination but knowing Biden it will be some completely flat, dippy "moderate" like Onson Sweemey or Willie Dustice. and even then of course Sinema will have "a lot of concerns."

If Biden makes good on his promise, Breyer’s replacement will be a Black woman ― a demographic that has never before been represented on the Supreme Court. If confirmed, she will be only the sixth woman and third Black justice to serve in the position.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a federal district judge in D.C. whom Biden nominated to serve on the D.C. Circuit federal court of appeals, is among those who have emerged as a potential front-runner for the role, as that appeals court has been a launching pad for many other Supreme Court justices.

Ol' Mitchy's turtle neck working overtime this morning while he spins up a yarn about how unconscionable it is for Biden to get to name a new justice just a scant 33 months out from when the American people should get their voice heard.

Why, I say, I say, we cannot allow an unprecedentedly unpopular president whose behavior is oh-so-shockingly unpresidential to nominate a socialist radical who will almost certainly attempt to legislate from the bench, I say I say it is just not something the American people will abide.

yeah, Ketanji Brown Jackson or Leondra Kruger

Jackson was a Breyer clerk

Other contenders:

Michelle Childs
Candace Jackson-Akiwumi
Tiffany Cunningham
Eunice Lee
Holly Thomas

Retire when? Is there a chance he retires and a new judge is nominated and OK'd before the '22 elections?

I would guess he retires upon confirmation of his replacement

Retire when? Is there a chance he retires and a new judge is nominated and OK'd before the '22 elections?

― Josh in Chicago,

that's the calculation. And no filibusters for SCOTUS nominees anymore

this was probably the best timing for Breyer as he presumably gets to finish out the term while the nomination process can kick into gear well before the election

Who is next oldest? Thomas? And then Alito? I doubt either of them will retire early, but I could imagine each getting sick. I'm sure they're rotting from the inside as we speak.

This age thing is serious. Both of Clinton's appointee's are going to be gone, yet Poppy Bush's pick is still there 30 years later and he's younger than the current President.

Straightforward from here.

June 30: Court overturns Roe.

July 1: Breyer resigns, says Court “needs aggressive progressive justices.”

July 4. Biden picks Harris for Court. Harris resigns as VP.

July 5. Biden picks Romney as VP, says national unity needed for the world crisis.

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) January 26, 2022

Kristol meth

*nods*

Was originally gonna say he's on drugs but I guess I know what my new display name is going to be

Kristol yearns for his brand of paternalistic neo-conservatism to return to relevance, but the best he can do is make a spectacle of his irrelevance and hope that people point and laugh.

Dana Loesch: "They're going to nominate some crazy multi-pronoun cat humanoid" for the Supreme Court pic.twitter.com/ZsL6hIqi38

— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) January 26, 2022

c'mon Joe make it happen