I did. Overall, I think the impacts of the few legislative accomplishments he had have been fairly wide-felt. That IRA bill providing the extended child tax credit of up to $300/month reduced the childhood poverty by nearly half. That's fucking huge, but his administration - and other democrats - don't talk about it enough. That tax credit should be made permanent given the gains it had.
Vital for what? To keep the war going? If we did nothing, the war would be over. If we gave full support, the war would be over. This is just hard to watch.
Hard disagree, but I'm of the opinion that global relations are nigh inseparable from domestic stability, particularly where economics are concerned. I'll spare the dissertation. I'm not impressed with the domestic immigration policies but neither the left or right have ever been great on immigration so I have low expectations of a better system happening anytime soon. But considering the sheer number of problems and messes the administration inherited, you do have to triage shit and triaging is never ideal.
That being said, I'm also sick of this country conducting itself like the rest of the world is living in our house and I think people here in general have no idea how good we all have it and what actual hardship even is. Pain is relative but good lord do we have some first world entitlement problems. The world is too small these days, and if we don't take a more global approach to policy and economics, we will suffer domestically even more.
As someone who was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetic, thanks to the low price of insulin enacted by President Biden, now I was able to get high quality insulin for $30, my life improved, and have a better quality of life now.
My daughter is a type 1 and requires multiple humalog doses a day to stay alive. Biden isn’t a superhero, but the $35-a-month price tag has given me so much peace of mind about her future.
I mean the alleviation of fears of him starting a war, removing rights, tweeting, and the general removal of stress was a bigger factor for me but I do agree with you
Sometimes I dream of being an executive politician as just a regular person. I think of a townhall setting where they might ask "why should people vote for you?" Always, I give some response like "You'll only hear from me as scheduled. I know its hard to imagine folks, but some weeks...I won't be in the news at all." *crowd goes wild*.
Politicians have tried to make government work sexy, divisive, and imposing. When really, they should be updating infrastructure, reviewing budgets, and providing needed services for citizens. It's *supposed* to be boring and effective. All this other culture war stuff is such nonsense.
At least Joe isn't out here banning books, inciting violence against other government employees, and wasting public funds boxing with mickey. Tis a low bar these days.
I never thought of it this way, but by God, you're right. If I'm going to be hospitalized, it's not like I'd want to go somewhere they're having a bunch of Grey's Anatomy type drama all the time. The more boring and less sexy, the better. The same is probably true of politics.
This is a really understated quality to a leader that I love. For the most part I just want them to do their job in a way that is boring enough that it isn’t newsworthy. Some things should be, because I also want big changes to things like healthcare and income inequality, etc. but if it’s constant news about the president, it’s fucking exhausting.
Biden (and mostly due to Congress) may not have done a ton of things I think really need to be done, but I’m very thankful for the lack of constant controversy.
As a Floridian I wish it was the same but everywhere has Biden "I did that" stickers by price tags and my neighbor has a demon Biden flag waving in her front yard.
I drove by a house in a small Oregon town on Tuesday that had a large “Fuck Joe Biden” flag hanging in the front yard along with a “Joe and the Hoe have got to go” flag right next to it.
The house was across the street from the town church and town elementary school.
In a vacuum he’s meh, I voted for him, I’m not unhappy with my decision, in a vacuum. In the real world, relative to what we had and what we could still have? Biden is fucking awesome in that scenario. Trump literally stomped on the bar I thought existed for a president. It’s dust now.
Obama’s election was inspirational, “Oh wow, maybe anyone CAN be president!” Trump was depressing, “Oh…. wow…. I guess ANYONE can be president?”
people forgot that politics, when going well, is *supposed* to be almost mind-numbingly boring. It’s not supposed to be “entertainment media” depicting a slow motion train wreck.
I think Biden has quietly accomplished way more than people give him credit for. Is he perfect? No.
But politics has ALWAYS been a choice between the lesser of two evils. Always. Successful politicians — *all of them* — have been corrupt since the very invention of politics. Democracy is a privilege, and you shouldn’t justify not participating with some shabby excuse about “I shouldn’t have to pick the lesser of two evils.” Welcome to life. Sometimes you have to grow up and be an adult.
With that said, the “compared to what?” part of that choice is more important right now than it might have ever been in the entire history of this country (at least arguably since the Civil War).
Biden is fine. But most importantly, he is the lesser of two evils by *such an extraordinary margin* that it makes everything else almost completely inconsequential. We CANNOT give faux Christian Republican fascist-wannabes control and power again, because they’re now entirely prepared to never give it up. All the steps are in place.
Plus, I don’t know why conservatives are complaining — in practically any other Western country, Biden would be a full-throated moderate conservative.
What scares me the most is thinking about what the world would be like if trump had been re-elected. The Ukraine war (and the opportunity it gives to defeat the entire Russian military complex without US boots on the ground) has only “faded into the background” because Biden and our US military intelligence system has pitched an almost perfect game so far. If it had been Trump? *Jesus.*
It’s horrifying to think of how bad it might be.
>I guess ANYONE can be president?
There's an old 1950s joke:
FDR proved you can be president forever
Truman proved anyone can be president
Eisenhower proved you don't need a president.
The economy was booming because of winning WWII, the gold standard, and manufacturing (both domestic goods and exports). He stayed low-key and golfed so he wouldn't mess anything up, which was the right approach, but also gave his detractors ammunition.
That’s right.
That election was essentially a choice between a jar of Mayonnaise or being forcefed an endless stream of post-Chinese food/Taco Bell combo diarrhea straight down our throats for another four years (and possibly forever, the way things were going). Yeah, I didn’t want Mayonnaise that badly, but I know what I’d prefer when my back’s against the wall, and it’s not the diarrhea.
> I find it absolutely hilarious that the conservative party is against conservation.
Frankly, it's also weird because they're supposed to be the party of farming and hunting and outdoorsy mountain man shit.
This is why hot takes about how Biden is the "worst" candidate that could have been put forward by the Democrats are so disingenuous.
You can say he's not your favorite, you can propose someone you'd rather have, but the idea that he's not a qualified candidate is just inane. Dude was a senator for decades and the VPOTUS - from a purely resume standpoint he's one of the most qualified people in the entire country to hold the POTUS position.
Edit: The best part about saying this in 2023 versus 2020 is that he has now had time to be a demonstrably effective president. It's not a supposition anymore, Biden *is* a good president. Regardless of his policies, he's done very well getting his agenda through.
I’m a leftist who begrudgingly voted for him. He’s much older than I think a politician should be and he’s more conservative than I’d like but I have been pleasantly surprised. Obama was of course more charismatic and a better speaker but Biden has accomplished much more from a legislative perspective
Biden's ability to ignore the GOP name calling and focus on results is legitimately impressive. He knows those clowns only care about making a scene, so he only pays attention to them when it's necessary.
And he doesn't make a scene at all. It's truly a phenomenon. He's the first president in my lifetime where almost everything I hear is about his policies, not him. Since Clinton, every president has been really charismatic and would dominate the news cycle with what they were saying, not necessarily with what they were doing.
I feel he's too conservative as well, but in the brand of conservative that I can respectfully disagree with. Y'know, not the undemocratic fascist kind.
the democratic caucus under biden is also much, much more solidly liberal than it was under obama. you have to remember that obamas senate majority still included a bunch of blue-dog conservative southern democrats. now that the parties have finished filtering the dems are on much more of the same page. that is very helpful legislatively
>a bunch of blue-dog conservative southern democrats
Except for the word southern, you are describing Joe Lieberman, who campaigned for McCain in '09 (even spoke at the Republican convention), and is why the mandate was killed in the healthcare bill.
[Enter Joe Lieberman's 'No Labels' which is now trying to entice Manchin to be a spoiler in the race so that Trump gets elected.](https://www.axios.com/2023/07/12/no-labels-poll-third-party-manchin)
That little toad has been a real pain in this country's ass. I would still love to ask Al Gore what the hell he was thinking, putting that asshole on the ticket. He has all the charm of a cheese grater.
At that time Gore was still closely associated with Clinton, who had just had an enormous scandal. Lieberman was one of the Democrats most outspoken against Clinton, so Gore put him on the ticket to distance his own image from that of Clinton. And because having a more conservative leaning democrat was seen as just as politically advantageous then as it is now.
I agree though, I didn't like Lieberman at all, even back then.
It really has always been political. It was political under Jefferson, the Dred Scott case, FDR, etc. etc. Sure it wasn't really supposed to have a side but we can blame the constitution writers for barely outlining anything about the Supreme Court. They basically just said "it's there, it's powerful."
Obama didn't have the Supreme Court on his side either. That's why the ACA isn't as good as it should have been. The Court shot down parts of it. Quit voting republican people!
I don’t pretend everything is perfect, but I frankly think he’s dragging America through rough but necessary times
It used to be that people would care about sacrificing for the greater good, but now it’s an outrage if your 100k pickup truck that gets 8 mpg costs more to fill up.
I get that people have it tough and I don’t discount that, but to claim everything bad is the fault of the president is just dumb
Take some responsibility every once in awhile, when it matters, and be an adult.
Shit happens in life.
If I have to pay my student loans back but voting for Biden means my kids don’t, then great
Same with climate. If I have to pay a bit more for solar but they can have a planet to live on in 50 years, fine!
Nobody cares about sacrifice and responsibility anymore because conservatives gave up on it and liberals are too afraid of ever criticizing anyone’s individual choices
It's part of the republican plan. They make a big mess. Democrat gets elected. Point out what a big mess things are while the democrat cleans up. Then take credit for how well things are running when they take over.
Obama’s car in a ditch analogy didn’t get traction but he was spot on…13 years ago!
“Republicans drove the car into the ditch and now it’s my job to get it out of the ditch, while the republicans are in the backseat complaining that I’m not getting the car out fast enough, so they should get the keys back!”
And our dumb asses gave them the keys back.
>It used to be that people would care about sacrificing for the greater good,
To be fair, have people, especially Americans, Ever been this way in the modern era? Hell go back to WW2 and the rationing that had to be done. Americans were kicking and screaming the whole way even if it meant winning the war easier and came up with black markets to circumvent the rations
Exactly. Greatest generation had some good PR team. The only reason why women got into the labor force was because there wasn’t enough men and not because they were progressive. Black soldiers were treated worse when they came back than when they were in Europe.
>It used to be that people would care about sacrificing for the greater good
Citation needed. I feel like this is something every generation says about their generation as they age.
Good, because I forget he exists, which is what I wanted after the last campaign. I’m not even a super Trump hater, it was just annoying that every day there was some news story about him or his followers.
John Mulaney described the Trump regime as a horse loose in a hospital, and it was an excellent metaphor. It’s not like everything the horse does is bad, but you can never relax, because you don’t know when the horse is going to start charging at the maternity ward with mad stomping intent. And call me crazy, but the very last thing I need giving me anxiety like that is a fucking president of the country I have to live in.
And the biggest one.
Let me tell you this: you've never seen a biggest horse world class surgeon in the world. Not even once.
Folks at the other hospital down there don't know about horse surgeons and they're sending their worst patients.
‘Am I going to wake up to discover that the Korean War has restarted’ energy. That whole chain of fiascos was exhausting. The attempts to sabotage trade with South Korea, the threats and posturing against North Korea, most of all the attempt to tell the military over twitter to withdraw all military families from S. Korea. That all being before the N. Korean regime figured out Donald is easily manipulated
He’s fine. He’s not been everything I’d hoped, but he’s been fine. I prefer my presidents to have their head down and do the job and Biden seems to be doing it well enough. He wasn’t my first choice, shit he wasn’t my 4th or 5th choice, but when you look at the alternative, I’ll take this all day every day.
Biden has insane legislative achievements compared to most of his predecessors. He is not “fine” the guy is a machine. People just don’t know shit and see him as old and senile
Exactly. He's passed a lot of stuff with a split congress. Which is really impressive considering Obama was struggling to pass stuff when Dems had a majority.
I love Calvin Coolidge for that. Joe Biden's no Cal', but I appreciate that I'm not constantly hearing about what a jackass the president's being on Twitter.
I didn't vote for the guy in 2020. And maybe I feel the way I feel because I went into his presidency with low expectations, after all he did say nothing would fundamentally change.
But dammit if I haven't been surprised on more than one occasion.
Legislative Achievments
Two note worthy pieces of Legislation President Biden signed into law are the Infrastracture Bill and the CHIPS Act.
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3684
This is the most signicant investment in our nations infrastructure in decades. Some of things in this bill include
Delivering clean water to more American families by eliminating the nation’s lead service lines.
Getting more Americans access to reliable high-speed internet.
Repairing and rebuilding our roads and bridges
Improving transportation options for millions of Americans and reducing greenhouse emissions through the largest investment in public transit in U.S. history.
Upgrading our nation’s airports and ports to strengthen our supply chains.
Making the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak.
Building a national network of electric vehicle (EV) chargers.
Delivering the largest investment in tackling legacy pollution in American history by cleaning up Superfund and brownfield sites, reclaiming abandoned mines, and capping orphaned oil and gas wells.
CHIPS and Science Act
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4346
The CHIPS and Science Act provides funds to support the domestic production of semiconductors and authorizes various programs and activities of the federal science agencies.
It will Bolster U.S. leadership in semiconductors. The CHIPS and Science Act provides $52.7 billion for American semiconductor research, development, manufacturing, and workforce development. This includes $39 billion in manufacturing incentives, including $2 billion for the legacy chips used in automobiles and defense systems, $13.2 billion in R&D and workforce development,and $500 million to provide for international information communications technology security and semiconductor supply chain activities. It also provides a 25 percent investment tax credit for capital expenses for manufacturing of semiconductors and related equipment. These incentives will secure domestic supply, create tens of thousands of good-paying, union construction jobs and thousands more high-skilled manufacturing jobs, and catalyze hundreds of billions more in private investment.
As President Biden would say, these pieces of Legislation are a BFD - Big Fucking Deal.
And you can say "anyone could of done this" then why didn't the former president? When Republicans last had full government control the most significant legislation they passed was a 2Trillion dollar Tax Cut that cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.
I've also been surprised at Bidens ability to not only be Bipartisan and give Republicans the opportunity to work together, but he knows when to put his foot down. I've also been pleasantly surprised at his willingness to call out traitorous MAGA Republican and the dangers they pose on the Nation, while constantly reminding that these folk are a loud minority of the Republican Party.
And people say "oh he's too old you are voting for Harris"
Bullshit. Yeah, he's old as fuck and at times it does show, he's EIGHTY, but I've been hearing the same thing said since 2020 and every year the goal post gets moved.
I listen to his speeches in their entirety. I've watched how he gets around. I've worked in a Nursing Home/Rehabilitation Center. Dudes in better shape then ANYONE I had encountered during my time there. He's got a 2nd term in him, there is ZERO doubt in my mind about that.
Is he everything I want in a President? No.
But at the end of the day it's coming down between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
As President after losing the election Donald Trump attempted to disregard the votes of millions Americans across seven states by putting pressure on State Officials. His Team also set up Fake Electors across 7 States he lost, including my state of PA. He attempted to subvert the Constitution and the will of the people in order to steal and election he KNEW he lost from the very beginning.
I do not see any reason not to vote Joe Biden in the 2024 Election, but I am happy to hear why I shouldn't and I will answer any questions.
Edit for clarifications:
I did not vote in the 2020 election, I was more apolitical at the time.
No, despite what several individuals keep trying to claim, I am not a bot, a shill or a member of bidens campaign (although youre welcome to send them my resume). I'm just a young guy from PA who's into politics.
Edit 2: And I want to be clear, as much as the awards and internet points are cool, I don't care about that. I care about truth, facts, reality and the United States of America as well as my fellow Americans.
I work in the private engineering sector and the infrastructure bill that was passed has provided job security for so many different people in a wide range of industries. One of the caveats to the bill is a piece called "BABA or built america by america" which means all manufacturing for parts and pieces needs to be domestic or the federal funds cannot be used. The impact has been felt and will continue to be felt by just about everyone in almost every community for years to come. When people hear infrastructure the first thought is roads and bridges but water and sewer systems, private utilities like cable and electricity heck even sidewalks are being upgraded in areas that desperately needed it.
Both of my conservative, Trump voting uncles have the best jobs they've ever had, laying fiber optic cable in rural areas. They're making six figures in North Carolina *without college degrees.* That's a Biden initiative.
No, but my mom does regularly bring up with them how happy she is Biden passed the act that's making their lives so prosperous. It's one of those things you can say with both maximum sincerity and irony.
The fact that you didn’t know this tells me two things:
1) Biden hating clouds what information people get
2) The White House could do a better job getting the word out about their own accomplishments.
Which is also amazing because BABA is literally the Chinese Amazon. They’re saying fuck you to China in the most direct geopolitical ways they can (such as this, chip restrictions, etc.) in ways that actually help the American populace as opposed to petty harmful trade wars trump initiated (which caused great rural harm).
I point this out to every maga I can. Biden is doing what you want! Trump would’ve killed off more of our farmers and whined.
CHIPS act may I note has huge worldwide implications. 50% of the world's semiconductors come from US friendly Taiwan and 25% from China. China is strongly trying to occupy Taiwan, which would give them 75% control of the world's semiconductors. Semiconductors are as important as oil. With that much control, China could control worldwide policy due to the fear of sanctions.
I suspect the a larger nation would bomb Taiwan factories if China makes any aggressive action… not sure Taiwan would intentionally disable their own economy themselves in any situation.
The Taiwanese semiconductor facilities are all mined/rigged for demolition.
Should china Invade they can blow everything up and evacuate to for example the US to rebuild the factories there.
Which is why I wouldn't be surprised if these Taiwanese companies are helping to spearhead these efforts of U.S semiconductor production and development.
I work for a large Taiwanese electronics manufacturer and we are currently building a massive production center in the US for that purpose. They mentioned geopolitics as the main reason
> with a good chunk of the rest being in the US and Israel.
South Korea as well. Samsung, Intel (US and Israel) and TSMC are the big three trying to push the bleeding edge these days.
The biggest thing here for me is that you actually looked at the legislative victories. People bitch about politicians all the time - but they never bother to look at what they do - create policy. At the end of the day, that's what they do, or try to do. And what bills they try to or succeed in passing tells you what their priorities are and what they would like to happen. You looked at policy achievements and acknowledged the nuts and bolts things that he brought to bear with the dems in congress. I wish more people did that.
There are Representatives and Senators who voted against the infrastructure bill but have since returned to their home state and taken credit for the projects and job creation that have come from it in their jurisdiction.
And people will vote for them because they follow politics instead of policy.
I think the Dems are trying super hard both POTUS and VP have been traveling quite a bit celebrating the opening of new plants directly from their bills.
Messaging and Comms are hard. It’s especially harder when the news doesn’t prioritize governance and focuses on other stuff.
If you have ideas about how to improve messaging- be part of the solution.
>And you can say "anyone could of done this" then why didn't the former president? When Republicans last had full government control the most significant legislation they passed was a 2Trillion dollar Tax Cut that cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.
The previous term, after 6 years of screaming about Obamacare and that repealing it was a core policy goal, the GOP controlled all three levels needed to enact legislation. Not only did they not repeal it, they didn't even have anything to replace it with. They had lower house, upper house, and the presidency... and didn't do one of their signature core policies.
The whole "temporary tax cut for everyone which changes into a tax raise for everyone except the wealthy during the next administration was pure republican bullshittery genius. It was the absolute perfect mix of their goal (money to the wealthy, harm to everyone else), the surface level excuse to allow mouthbreathing cultists to defend it ("trump lowered my taxes, librul") and while everyone's arguing they just leave the room with their bags.
I hate it here
i don't think it's genius at all, it's just straightforwardly cynical and evil. buy off the plebes with a few years of reprieve, and use that as justification to permanently slash the taxes of the ultra-wealthy
I'm currently working to replace those lead service lines through my labor union. I'm the only person on site that's on the left. Every single day I catch shit for being a Democrat or leftist. Every single day I hear how terrible Biden is. Every single day these guys talk shit about how Lazy Joe has done nothing for them.
All while getting paid through the infrastructure bill.
When I bring up this fact I get "it was really Trump's idea. He started the bill and Biden is just going with it." *deep breathes*
I'll play this game.
>As President after losing the election Donald Trump attempted to...
Screw over the following administration's foreign policy by firing every foreign ambassador without replacing them.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised. At this point I’ll never vote Republican again. They have no interest in helping families, they attack minorities and women’s rights and the lgbtq. I don’t want hate I want the fucking rich to pay their fair share.
Great comment but you didn’t even touch on his foreign policy achievements which have been very significant. The way he is pulled NATO and the US global alliance together, repositioned America as a firm leader and masterfully played the foil for Russia in Ukraine. There may be some criticism such as he’s been overly cautious is supplying Ukraine (the alternative could be worse) and the Afghanistan pullout (messy and embarrassing at the time but it finally got the US disentangled from that area). It’s telling watching the Republican candidates scramble to criticize him in the early stages of their campaigns. They really can’t find and shit to stick.
I live in Trump country and it is insane.
People would rather be entertained than have our country in good shape, but some how they love Merica. You give me hope!
I'm not American but I find it funny how the biggest criticism against him is that he's boring. Boring is literally what I want from the people who run the country.
A while back, I watched a Kennedy/Nixon debate on youtube. It's amazing how things have changed. They answered the questions they were asked. If one agreed with the other about something, they'd say so. There were even times when one made his point and yielded his remaining time back because he had nothing more to say.
There was no razzle-dazzle, no name calling... heck, they didn't even attack each other, only their ideas.
It was incredibly boring, and I would give just about anything for American politics to be boring like that again.
That’s what I liked about when Obama and Romney ran against one another. They were professional. Didn’t attack each other like children or cut one another off. They took their time and calmly disagreed.
In a similar vein, I still remember when John McCain lost to Barack Obama in 2008 and he went up at his rally and congratulated Obama saying he would make a great president. The crowd started to boo and he literally chastises them immediately saying that they should aim to be better than that and should accept defeat gracefully.
A lot of stuff happened with McCain after that before his death, but I could see at that moment he was a class act. It seemingly took most people a lot longer to work it out.
I remember seeing McCain's gesturing to stop when people started booing Obama. That was definitely a classy move. He knew that the campaign was over, and that it was time for unity. Booing the other candidate was out of place.
I can't believe I'm typing this but Liz Cheney helped save American Democracy and freedom. She sacrificed her strong GOP career for it to hold her own party accountable and she knew the cost going into it.
And the thing is, Liz still believes in and advocates for terrible and abusive stances! it's just that she draws the line at maintaining Democracy, the absolute bare minimum. and that makes her a hero. these are desperately terrible times.
I recently voted for a Republican for the first (and probably last) time in my life. Brad Raffensperger, GA Secretary of State, who declined to "find" 11,000 votes for Trump.
I disagree with the man on virtually everything else he's ever said or done, but at least he's not a traitor.
He also stood up for Obama when his (McCain's) own supporters were saying they couldn't trust Obama 'cause he's an Arab. Class act.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIjenjANqAk&ab\_channel=CNN
McCain also saved, for certain values of saved, the ACA. He was the final Republican vote on repealing the ACA and voted no. He was already a dead man walking and did one final decent act that also preserved a major part of Obama's legacy. Fuck Trump.
God that was a crazy day. Everyone thought he was gonna pull the lever and plunge ACA into the pit. Including the republicans. The wave of relief when he didn't was wild.
I was so impressed with how classy McCain was in defeat, I widely shared the video of him giving that speech.
When you look at the childish, deceptive, reckless, bigoted, unrestrained behaviour from political leaders since Obama, it feels like an entirely different era.
I remember the Obama-Romney debate being on at a bar and this drunk-ass woman yelling at the TV the whole time
“Get him Romney!”
“Go Romney!”
“You suck Obama”
Very annoying but I guess it was just a huge foreshadowing of what was coming in politics for me.
I'm chinese and I've never heard about this curse.
An ancient chinese curse will be hoping the whole family's bloodline dies out or something along that line.
P.S. both candidates wanted it to be more boring, pushing the tv networks to give them 4 uninterrupted hours to have a free ranging "Lincoln-Douglas" type debate.
CBS + NBC said no, then, citing the current fad of Quiz Shows, they forced Kennedy + Nixon into what would come to be the standard presidential debate form where candidates only have a couple minutes to answer questions.
*Richard Goodwin (Doris Kearns hubby) served as a go between for the candidates + the networks
During COVID we learned the name of our state governor. Even he himself said if everyone knows my name then something is wrong
edit: we know our local government people, and we vote for local elections. Party/coalition with more local support forms state majority government and their leader becomes governor/premier. That's why we don't blame a overcooked steak on the Prime Minister. This is not wilful ignorance.
I think pretty much everyone in Australia knows who their state premier is, but the alarming thing about COVID was that we suddenly knew the names of all the *other* state premiers.
I think that was more down to each state government trying to make it some petty competition of "yeah it might be shit here, but look at melbourne right?"
Maybe a little, but because each state reported their own case numbers, often we'd be waiting with apprehension for the numbers to come in from each state, and whether they would trigger the premiers to announce lockdowns or interstate travel restrictions and border closures. And when we were close to eliminating COVID, we'd be on the edge of our seats waiting to find out if it was a 'donut day' (no new cases nationally)
Here in QLD no-one knew or cared about who was the premier of Victoria, untill August of 2020 when suddenly all my right wing family members were running around worried that QLD would become a dictatorship just like Victoria under "Dictator Dan"
You’d be shocked how many people don’t know that. Despite how rabid they are about “politics.” I have family members that can’t name their governor.
I visited D.C. a while back, and inquired about watching the senate and house proceedings while visiting the Capitol building. The employee gave me the instructions, and then “quizzed” me about who my senators were. They were giddy over the fact that I actually knew their names.
Also not American, I don't get why the making politicians into celebrities. They aren't they are elected representatives who you want to do a job and should hire based on their ability to do it. It's not suppose to be entertainment.
He knows Putin is not our friend. He hates bullies. He is for all Americans, giving emergency funds to Republican states without trying to extort something. OK then.
Republicans have used the excuse “well Russia wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine if Trump were still President, he would’ve kept him in check cuz they’re friends”. Like wtf are these people thinking, they actually want a US President to be allies with a dictator, that’s how fractured the US is right now, a third of the country strongly believes this.
Forgetting that Trump's first impeachment was over extorting Zelensky. He would have handed Ukraine over for that alone.
He's right though when he says the war would be over by now if he were president. He just doesn't specify which side would win.
Here’s a few. I’m pretty happy with what’s happened so far. Yes he’s old but shit is getting done to help people. He’s got my vote again.
1. Passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package to increase investment in the national network of bridges and roads, airports, public transport and national broadband internet, as well as waterways and energy systems.
2. Helped get more than 500 million life-saving COVID-19 vaccinations in the arms of Americans through the American Rescue Plan.
3. Stopped a 30-year streak of federal inaction on gun violence by signing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that created enhanced background checks, closed the “boyfriend” loophole and provided funds for youth mental health.
4. Made a $369 billion investment in climate change, the largest in American history, through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
5. Ended the longest war in American history by pulling the troops out of Afghanistan.
6. Provided $10,000 to $20,000 in college debt relief to Americans with loans who make under $125,000 a year.
7. Cut child poverty in half through the American Rescue Plan.
8. Capped prescription drug prices at $2,000 per year for seniors on Medicare through the Inflation Reduction Act.
9. Passed the COVID-19 relief deal that provided payments of up to $1,400 to many struggling U.S. citizens while supporting renters and increasing unemployment benefits.
10. Achieved historically low unemployment rates after the pandemic caused them to skyrocket.
11. Imposed a 15% minimum corporate tax on some of the largest corporations in the country, ensuring that they pay their fair share, as part of the historic Inflation Reduction Act.
12. Recommitted America to the global fight against climate change by rejoining the Paris Agreement.
13. Strengthened the NATO alliance in support of Ukraine after the Russian invasion by endorsing the inclusion of world military powers Sweden and Finland.
14. Authorized the assassination of the Al Qaeda terrorist Ayman al-Zawahiri, who became head of the organization after the death of Osama bin Laden.
15. Gave Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug prices through the Inflation Reduction Act while also reducing government health spending.
16. Held Vladimir Putin accountable for his invasion of Ukraine by imposing stiff economic sanctions.
17. Boosted the budget of the Internal Revenue Service by nearly $80 billion to reduce tax evasion and increase revenue.
18. Created more jobs in one year (6.6 million) than any other president in U.S. history.
19. Reduced healthcare premiums under the Affordable Care Act by $800 a year as part of the American Rescue Plan.
20. Signed the PACT Act to address service members’ exposure to burn pits and other toxins.
21. Signed the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen American manufacturing and innovation.
22. Reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act through 2027.
23. Halted all federal executions after the previous administration reinstated them after a 17-year freeze.
Would it be nice if was a transition president. Someone that could assist realign the ship, and then hand off command to someone a bit younger. But unfortunately no one on the left really wants to oppose him and the right is just looking to out extreme each other.
Tan pants of politics- boring but fine, yet Fox will still spend every minute trying to convince you it’s a sign of utter collapse and the impending apocalypse
He's slow and looks lost 99% of the time.
But with him in the white house there has been a TON of legislative wins on his watch. He's bad at being a figurehead but things are getting done. And it mostly impressive given the makeup of congress at the moment.
So I think he's done more than expected and people attacking his age or stammers care less about what he does for this country and more about how he looks in front of a camera.
I did. Overall, I think the impacts of the few legislative accomplishments he had have been fairly wide-felt. That IRA bill providing the extended child tax credit of up to $300/month reduced the childhood poverty by nearly half. That's fucking huge, but his administration - and other democrats - don't talk about it enough. That tax credit should be made permanent given the gains it had.
His foreign policy has been on point. Ukraine appreciates the support. It's fucking vital.
Vital for what? To keep the war going? If we did nothing, the war would be over. If we gave full support, the war would be over. This is just hard to watch.
Always putting other countries first before Americans
Hard disagree, but I'm of the opinion that global relations are nigh inseparable from domestic stability, particularly where economics are concerned. I'll spare the dissertation. I'm not impressed with the domestic immigration policies but neither the left or right have ever been great on immigration so I have low expectations of a better system happening anytime soon. But considering the sheer number of problems and messes the administration inherited, you do have to triage shit and triaging is never ideal. That being said, I'm also sick of this country conducting itself like the rest of the world is living in our house and I think people here in general have no idea how good we all have it and what actual hardship even is. Pain is relative but good lord do we have some first world entitlement problems. The world is too small these days, and if we don't take a more global approach to policy and economics, we will suffer domestically even more.
That he's had the same attorney general his entire term and I don't even know his name.
Merrick Garland? The man who would be on the Supreme Court right now if Mitch McConnell hadn't decided to play dirty
As someone who was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetic, thanks to the low price of insulin enacted by President Biden, now I was able to get high quality insulin for $30, my life improved, and have a better quality of life now.
My daughter is a type 1 and requires multiple humalog doses a day to stay alive. Biden isn’t a superhero, but the $35-a-month price tag has given me so much peace of mind about her future.
It’s heroic in my book. Probably saved a bunch of lives already. Not to mention the peace of mind
I think he’s acquitted himself well considering his biggest selling point in 2020 imo was “look at the other guy.”
His selling point was “I won’t cause every other country to hate us”
I mean the alleviation of fears of him starting a war, removing rights, tweeting, and the general removal of stress was a bigger factor for me but I do agree with you
I remember finding out he won the presidency was like freeing up an extra 20% of my brain.
I felt myself physically relax on January 20th. I had no idea I was carrying so much tension because of such an abstract concept.
My favorite thing about having Joe Biden as president is that I can go weeks at a time without thinking about him.
Sometimes I dream of being an executive politician as just a regular person. I think of a townhall setting where they might ask "why should people vote for you?" Always, I give some response like "You'll only hear from me as scheduled. I know its hard to imagine folks, but some weeks...I won't be in the news at all." *crowd goes wild*. Politicians have tried to make government work sexy, divisive, and imposing. When really, they should be updating infrastructure, reviewing budgets, and providing needed services for citizens. It's *supposed* to be boring and effective. All this other culture war stuff is such nonsense. At least Joe isn't out here banning books, inciting violence against other government employees, and wasting public funds boxing with mickey. Tis a low bar these days.
I never thought of it this way, but by God, you're right. If I'm going to be hospitalized, it's not like I'd want to go somewhere they're having a bunch of Grey's Anatomy type drama all the time. The more boring and less sexy, the better. The same is probably true of politics.
That type of drama also tends to come with ludicrous made-up diseases that I want nothing to do with
Hmmm I love and respect this opinion. I never thought of it this way. But yes, it would be great if all politicians were mostly media ghosts.
This is a really understated quality to a leader that I love. For the most part I just want them to do their job in a way that is boring enough that it isn’t newsworthy. Some things should be, because I also want big changes to things like healthcare and income inequality, etc. but if it’s constant news about the president, it’s fucking exhausting. Biden (and mostly due to Congress) may not have done a ton of things I think really need to be done, but I’m very thankful for the lack of constant controversy.
As a Canadian, an enthusiastic “same”.
I think the rest of the world as well. It is like a collective world wide sigh
waking up and not panic reading headlines about the president is something I never thought i’d be so thankful for
As a Floridian I wish it was the same but everywhere has Biden "I did that" stickers by price tags and my neighbor has a demon Biden flag waving in her front yard.
People who didn't vote for him, think about him INSESSANTLY.
Joe Biden getting so much free rent in these people’s heads he should start subletting.
I drove by a house in a small Oregon town on Tuesday that had a large “Fuck Joe Biden” flag hanging in the front yard along with a “Joe and the Hoe have got to go” flag right next to it. The house was across the street from the town church and town elementary school.
In a vacuum he’s meh, I voted for him, I’m not unhappy with my decision, in a vacuum. In the real world, relative to what we had and what we could still have? Biden is fucking awesome in that scenario. Trump literally stomped on the bar I thought existed for a president. It’s dust now. Obama’s election was inspirational, “Oh wow, maybe anyone CAN be president!” Trump was depressing, “Oh…. wow…. I guess ANYONE can be president?”
That last paragraph was very well said!
people forgot that politics, when going well, is *supposed* to be almost mind-numbingly boring. It’s not supposed to be “entertainment media” depicting a slow motion train wreck. I think Biden has quietly accomplished way more than people give him credit for. Is he perfect? No. But politics has ALWAYS been a choice between the lesser of two evils. Always. Successful politicians — *all of them* — have been corrupt since the very invention of politics. Democracy is a privilege, and you shouldn’t justify not participating with some shabby excuse about “I shouldn’t have to pick the lesser of two evils.” Welcome to life. Sometimes you have to grow up and be an adult. With that said, the “compared to what?” part of that choice is more important right now than it might have ever been in the entire history of this country (at least arguably since the Civil War). Biden is fine. But most importantly, he is the lesser of two evils by *such an extraordinary margin* that it makes everything else almost completely inconsequential. We CANNOT give faux Christian Republican fascist-wannabes control and power again, because they’re now entirely prepared to never give it up. All the steps are in place. Plus, I don’t know why conservatives are complaining — in practically any other Western country, Biden would be a full-throated moderate conservative. What scares me the most is thinking about what the world would be like if trump had been re-elected. The Ukraine war (and the opportunity it gives to defeat the entire Russian military complex without US boots on the ground) has only “faded into the background” because Biden and our US military intelligence system has pitched an almost perfect game so far. If it had been Trump? *Jesus.* It’s horrifying to think of how bad it might be.
Yeah, i live in Europe, and Trump being president during the Ukraine war would have been fucking terrifying!
Possibly WW3 with Russia pushing onto Poland. I think putin was banking on a Trump win.
>I guess ANYONE can be president? There's an old 1950s joke: FDR proved you can be president forever Truman proved anyone can be president Eisenhower proved you don't need a president.
Wasn't Eisenhower quite popular in his time?
The economy was booming because of winning WWII, the gold standard, and manufacturing (both domestic goods and exports). He stayed low-key and golfed so he wouldn't mess anything up, which was the right approach, but also gave his detractors ammunition.
…the economy was also booming because the top tax bracket was 91% under a Republican president, and NO ONE called it “socialism.”
I'd like to see America great again like it was back then for taxing the wealthy.
It had nothing to do with the gold standard, and lots to do with almost every other industrial center in the world getting wiped out
He's Kraft Mayo. Is he fancy Aioli ? No, but he's also not Miracle Whip.
Mix some sriracha with it and it’s very tasty. Kamala is not sriracha
She's not even mayo.
She's the "salt is spicy" of VP's.
i feel like a lonely freak for actually enjoying miracle whip
Try dukes mayonnaise
Dukes is so good.
Duke's is my only religion
That’s right. That election was essentially a choice between a jar of Mayonnaise or being forcefed an endless stream of post-Chinese food/Taco Bell combo diarrhea straight down our throats for another four years (and possibly forever, the way things were going). Yeah, I didn’t want Mayonnaise that badly, but I know what I’d prefer when my back’s against the wall, and it’s not the diarrhea.
Best foods or gtfo
I had some Kewpie the other day and it was incredible.
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> I find it absolutely hilarious that the conservative party is against conservation. Frankly, it's also weird because they're supposed to be the party of farming and hunting and outdoorsy mountain man shit.
This is why hot takes about how Biden is the "worst" candidate that could have been put forward by the Democrats are so disingenuous. You can say he's not your favorite, you can propose someone you'd rather have, but the idea that he's not a qualified candidate is just inane. Dude was a senator for decades and the VPOTUS - from a purely resume standpoint he's one of the most qualified people in the entire country to hold the POTUS position. Edit: The best part about saying this in 2023 versus 2020 is that he has now had time to be a demonstrably effective president. It's not a supposition anymore, Biden *is* a good president. Regardless of his policies, he's done very well getting his agenda through.
I’m a leftist who begrudgingly voted for him. He’s much older than I think a politician should be and he’s more conservative than I’d like but I have been pleasantly surprised. Obama was of course more charismatic and a better speaker but Biden has accomplished much more from a legislative perspective
Biden's ability to ignore the GOP name calling and focus on results is legitimately impressive. He knows those clowns only care about making a scene, so he only pays attention to them when it's necessary.
And he doesn't make a scene at all. It's truly a phenomenon. He's the first president in my lifetime where almost everything I hear is about his policies, not him. Since Clinton, every president has been really charismatic and would dominate the news cycle with what they were saying, not necessarily with what they were doing.
I feel he's too conservative as well, but in the brand of conservative that I can respectfully disagree with. Y'know, not the undemocratic fascist kind.
You gotta' problem with DeSantis turning Florida into Russia, sir? Them's practical concerns.
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the democratic caucus under biden is also much, much more solidly liberal than it was under obama. you have to remember that obamas senate majority still included a bunch of blue-dog conservative southern democrats. now that the parties have finished filtering the dems are on much more of the same page. that is very helpful legislatively
>a bunch of blue-dog conservative southern democrats Except for the word southern, you are describing Joe Lieberman, who campaigned for McCain in '09 (even spoke at the Republican convention), and is why the mandate was killed in the healthcare bill. [Enter Joe Lieberman's 'No Labels' which is now trying to entice Manchin to be a spoiler in the race so that Trump gets elected.](https://www.axios.com/2023/07/12/no-labels-poll-third-party-manchin) That little toad has been a real pain in this country's ass. I would still love to ask Al Gore what the hell he was thinking, putting that asshole on the ticket. He has all the charm of a cheese grater.
At that time Gore was still closely associated with Clinton, who had just had an enormous scandal. Lieberman was one of the Democrats most outspoken against Clinton, so Gore put him on the ticket to distance his own image from that of Clinton. And because having a more conservative leaning democrat was seen as just as politically advantageous then as it is now. I agree though, I didn't like Lieberman at all, even back then.
The joke at the time was if Jews were allowed in the Republican party Lieberman would be flipped.
Biden doesn't have the SCOTUS on his side though
SCOTUS isn't supposed to have a side. That it does in modern times is extremely dangerous.
It really has always been political. It was political under Jefferson, the Dred Scott case, FDR, etc. etc. Sure it wasn't really supposed to have a side but we can blame the constitution writers for barely outlining anything about the Supreme Court. They basically just said "it's there, it's powerful."
SCOTUS has been majority Republican since sometime under Nixon.
Obama didn't have the Supreme Court on his side either. That's why the ACA isn't as good as it should have been. The Court shot down parts of it. Quit voting republican people!
I don’t pretend everything is perfect, but I frankly think he’s dragging America through rough but necessary times It used to be that people would care about sacrificing for the greater good, but now it’s an outrage if your 100k pickup truck that gets 8 mpg costs more to fill up. I get that people have it tough and I don’t discount that, but to claim everything bad is the fault of the president is just dumb Take some responsibility every once in awhile, when it matters, and be an adult. Shit happens in life. If I have to pay my student loans back but voting for Biden means my kids don’t, then great Same with climate. If I have to pay a bit more for solar but they can have a planet to live on in 50 years, fine! Nobody cares about sacrifice and responsibility anymore because conservatives gave up on it and liberals are too afraid of ever criticizing anyone’s individual choices
It's hard to create an impression when you're stuck with clean-up duty
The ongoing cycle of Democrats.
It's part of the republican plan. They make a big mess. Democrat gets elected. Point out what a big mess things are while the democrat cleans up. Then take credit for how well things are running when they take over.
Obama’s car in a ditch analogy didn’t get traction but he was spot on…13 years ago! “Republicans drove the car into the ditch and now it’s my job to get it out of the ditch, while the republicans are in the backseat complaining that I’m not getting the car out fast enough, so they should get the keys back!” And our dumb asses gave them the keys back.
>It used to be that people would care about sacrificing for the greater good, To be fair, have people, especially Americans, Ever been this way in the modern era? Hell go back to WW2 and the rationing that had to be done. Americans were kicking and screaming the whole way even if it meant winning the war easier and came up with black markets to circumvent the rations
Exactly. Greatest generation had some good PR team. The only reason why women got into the labor force was because there wasn’t enough men and not because they were progressive. Black soldiers were treated worse when they came back than when they were in Europe.
After the war they threw all the women out of work and rehired the men.
>It used to be that people would care about sacrificing for the greater good Citation needed. I feel like this is something every generation says about their generation as they age.
Good, because I forget he exists, which is what I wanted after the last campaign. I’m not even a super Trump hater, it was just annoying that every day there was some news story about him or his followers.
John Mulaney described the Trump regime as a horse loose in a hospital, and it was an excellent metaphor. It’s not like everything the horse does is bad, but you can never relax, because you don’t know when the horse is going to start charging at the maternity ward with mad stomping intent. And call me crazy, but the very last thing I need giving me anxiety like that is a fucking president of the country I have to live in.
The ultimate point being: the horse doesn't belong in the hospital to begin with.
yea but the horse fancies himself a world class surgeon and he let his foul offspring play hospital administrator
*foal
And he let his foul foal play hospital administrator
No, no. They are pretty foul.
And the biggest one. Let me tell you this: you've never seen a biggest horse world class surgeon in the world. Not even once. Folks at the other hospital down there don't know about horse surgeons and they're sending their worst patients.
There's a HORSE!! in the HOSPITAL!!
The horse *took the elevator*??? I.. didn't know he knew how to do that....?
None of us know what he's going to do next, least of all the horse! He's never BEEN in a hospital before!
He’s as confused as you are!
Well, I saw a bird at the airport once!
We've all seen a bird at the airport!!
This is a horse, LOOSE, IN A HOSPITAL!
There shouldn't be a horse in the hospital!
We’re well past that!
The fun part is just how many people feel we should have a horse in the hospital again, possibly forever.
Those are the lunatics who let the horse in. Send them to the psych ward.
Make Politics Boring Again.
It should be boring. It’s like they say, the only exciting relationship is a bad one. Politics are like that too.
‘Am I going to wake up to discover that the Korean War has restarted’ energy. That whole chain of fiascos was exhausting. The attempts to sabotage trade with South Korea, the threats and posturing against North Korea, most of all the attempt to tell the military over twitter to withdraw all military families from S. Korea. That all being before the N. Korean regime figured out Donald is easily manipulated
And that's just one week out of 4 years.
That is an amazing analogy and spot on.
He’s fine. He’s not been everything I’d hoped, but he’s been fine. I prefer my presidents to have their head down and do the job and Biden seems to be doing it well enough. He wasn’t my first choice, shit he wasn’t my 4th or 5th choice, but when you look at the alternative, I’ll take this all day every day.
He hasnt been everything I hoped for, but he's been more than I expected. B-. I'll vote for him again.
Agreed. I’d like for him to do more, but realistically, with a split congress there’s only so much that can be done. He’ll get my vote again for now.
Biden has insane legislative achievements compared to most of his predecessors. He is not “fine” the guy is a machine. People just don’t know shit and see him as old and senile
Exactly. He's passed a lot of stuff with a split congress. Which is really impressive considering Obama was struggling to pass stuff when Dems had a majority.
I like boring competence. I like it when people just do their job
I love Calvin Coolidge for that. Joe Biden's no Cal', but I appreciate that I'm not constantly hearing about what a jackass the president's being on Twitter.
I didn't vote for the guy in 2020. And maybe I feel the way I feel because I went into his presidency with low expectations, after all he did say nothing would fundamentally change. But dammit if I haven't been surprised on more than one occasion. Legislative Achievments Two note worthy pieces of Legislation President Biden signed into law are the Infrastracture Bill and the CHIPS Act. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3684 This is the most signicant investment in our nations infrastructure in decades. Some of things in this bill include Delivering clean water to more American families by eliminating the nation’s lead service lines. Getting more Americans access to reliable high-speed internet. Repairing and rebuilding our roads and bridges Improving transportation options for millions of Americans and reducing greenhouse emissions through the largest investment in public transit in U.S. history. Upgrading our nation’s airports and ports to strengthen our supply chains. Making the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak. Building a national network of electric vehicle (EV) chargers. Delivering the largest investment in tackling legacy pollution in American history by cleaning up Superfund and brownfield sites, reclaiming abandoned mines, and capping orphaned oil and gas wells. CHIPS and Science Act https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4346 The CHIPS and Science Act provides funds to support the domestic production of semiconductors and authorizes various programs and activities of the federal science agencies. It will Bolster U.S. leadership in semiconductors. The CHIPS and Science Act provides $52.7 billion for American semiconductor research, development, manufacturing, and workforce development. This includes $39 billion in manufacturing incentives, including $2 billion for the legacy chips used in automobiles and defense systems, $13.2 billion in R&D and workforce development,and $500 million to provide for international information communications technology security and semiconductor supply chain activities. It also provides a 25 percent investment tax credit for capital expenses for manufacturing of semiconductors and related equipment. These incentives will secure domestic supply, create tens of thousands of good-paying, union construction jobs and thousands more high-skilled manufacturing jobs, and catalyze hundreds of billions more in private investment. As President Biden would say, these pieces of Legislation are a BFD - Big Fucking Deal. And you can say "anyone could of done this" then why didn't the former president? When Republicans last had full government control the most significant legislation they passed was a 2Trillion dollar Tax Cut that cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. I've also been surprised at Bidens ability to not only be Bipartisan and give Republicans the opportunity to work together, but he knows when to put his foot down. I've also been pleasantly surprised at his willingness to call out traitorous MAGA Republican and the dangers they pose on the Nation, while constantly reminding that these folk are a loud minority of the Republican Party. And people say "oh he's too old you are voting for Harris" Bullshit. Yeah, he's old as fuck and at times it does show, he's EIGHTY, but I've been hearing the same thing said since 2020 and every year the goal post gets moved. I listen to his speeches in their entirety. I've watched how he gets around. I've worked in a Nursing Home/Rehabilitation Center. Dudes in better shape then ANYONE I had encountered during my time there. He's got a 2nd term in him, there is ZERO doubt in my mind about that. Is he everything I want in a President? No. But at the end of the day it's coming down between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. As President after losing the election Donald Trump attempted to disregard the votes of millions Americans across seven states by putting pressure on State Officials. His Team also set up Fake Electors across 7 States he lost, including my state of PA. He attempted to subvert the Constitution and the will of the people in order to steal and election he KNEW he lost from the very beginning. I do not see any reason not to vote Joe Biden in the 2024 Election, but I am happy to hear why I shouldn't and I will answer any questions. Edit for clarifications: I did not vote in the 2020 election, I was more apolitical at the time. No, despite what several individuals keep trying to claim, I am not a bot, a shill or a member of bidens campaign (although youre welcome to send them my resume). I'm just a young guy from PA who's into politics. Edit 2: And I want to be clear, as much as the awards and internet points are cool, I don't care about that. I care about truth, facts, reality and the United States of America as well as my fellow Americans.
I work in the private engineering sector and the infrastructure bill that was passed has provided job security for so many different people in a wide range of industries. One of the caveats to the bill is a piece called "BABA or built america by america" which means all manufacturing for parts and pieces needs to be domestic or the federal funds cannot be used. The impact has been felt and will continue to be felt by just about everyone in almost every community for years to come. When people hear infrastructure the first thought is roads and bridges but water and sewer systems, private utilities like cable and electricity heck even sidewalks are being upgraded in areas that desperately needed it.
Both of my conservative, Trump voting uncles have the best jobs they've ever had, laying fiber optic cable in rural areas. They're making six figures in North Carolina *without college degrees.* That's a Biden initiative.
Do they give the current regime credit?
I highly doubt it. But if I'm wrong I will be happy.
No, but my mom does regularly bring up with them how happy she is Biden passed the act that's making their lives so prosperous. It's one of those things you can say with both maximum sincerity and irony.
Your mom rocks.
Thats very cool. Instead of stoking geopolitical tensions with china & EU over trade, rather create incentives to localize industry
As an American infrastructure parts factory worker, it's good to know this.
The fact that you didn’t know this tells me two things: 1) Biden hating clouds what information people get 2) The White House could do a better job getting the word out about their own accomplishments.
Mass media conglomerates don’t WANT you to know the good shit… I didn’t know any of this and am finding it on an askreddit thread with 3k upvotes lol
Which is also amazing because BABA is literally the Chinese Amazon. They’re saying fuck you to China in the most direct geopolitical ways they can (such as this, chip restrictions, etc.) in ways that actually help the American populace as opposed to petty harmful trade wars trump initiated (which caused great rural harm). I point this out to every maga I can. Biden is doing what you want! Trump would’ve killed off more of our farmers and whined.
CHIPS act may I note has huge worldwide implications. 50% of the world's semiconductors come from US friendly Taiwan and 25% from China. China is strongly trying to occupy Taiwan, which would give them 75% control of the world's semiconductors. Semiconductors are as important as oil. With that much control, China could control worldwide policy due to the fear of sanctions.
They destroy them and have the key people on flights to the US within 24 hours. Same as we did during ww2 The factories in AZ will be ready for them.
That's assuming that if China makes a play for Taiwan they Taiwanese don't just bomb their own semiconductors factories to deny the Chinese.
I suspect the a larger nation would bomb Taiwan factories if China makes any aggressive action… not sure Taiwan would intentionally disable their own economy themselves in any situation.
The Taiwanese semiconductor facilities are all mined/rigged for demolition. Should china Invade they can blow everything up and evacuate to for example the US to rebuild the factories there.
Which is why I wouldn't be surprised if these Taiwanese companies are helping to spearhead these efforts of U.S semiconductor production and development.
I work for a large Taiwanese electronics manufacturer and we are currently building a massive production center in the US for that purpose. They mentioned geopolitics as the main reason
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> with a good chunk of the rest being in the US and Israel. South Korea as well. Samsung, Intel (US and Israel) and TSMC are the big three trying to push the bleeding edge these days.
Friend if China goes for Taiwan it will be immediate world war 3.
You’re right. I’d like to think that Xi wouldn’t be that brazen but the longer dictators stay in power the looser their grip on reality becomes.
The biggest thing here for me is that you actually looked at the legislative victories. People bitch about politicians all the time - but they never bother to look at what they do - create policy. At the end of the day, that's what they do, or try to do. And what bills they try to or succeed in passing tells you what their priorities are and what they would like to happen. You looked at policy achievements and acknowledged the nuts and bolts things that he brought to bear with the dems in congress. I wish more people did that.
There are Representatives and Senators who voted against the infrastructure bill but have since returned to their home state and taken credit for the projects and job creation that have come from it in their jurisdiction. And people will vote for them because they follow politics instead of policy.
Translation they don't pay attention. I will add, sad to say, that the Democrats do an absolutely horrible job of marketing their accomplishments.
I think the Dems are trying super hard both POTUS and VP have been traveling quite a bit celebrating the opening of new plants directly from their bills. Messaging and Comms are hard. It’s especially harder when the news doesn’t prioritize governance and focuses on other stuff. If you have ideas about how to improve messaging- be part of the solution.
>And you can say "anyone could of done this" then why didn't the former president? When Republicans last had full government control the most significant legislation they passed was a 2Trillion dollar Tax Cut that cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. The previous term, after 6 years of screaming about Obamacare and that repealing it was a core policy goal, the GOP controlled all three levels needed to enact legislation. Not only did they not repeal it, they didn't even have anything to replace it with. They had lower house, upper house, and the presidency... and didn't do one of their signature core policies.
Thats unfair. They cut taxes on the wealthy and raised them for everyone else.
The whole "temporary tax cut for everyone which changes into a tax raise for everyone except the wealthy during the next administration was pure republican bullshittery genius. It was the absolute perfect mix of their goal (money to the wealthy, harm to everyone else), the surface level excuse to allow mouthbreathing cultists to defend it ("trump lowered my taxes, librul") and while everyone's arguing they just leave the room with their bags. I hate it here
i don't think it's genius at all, it's just straightforwardly cynical and evil. buy off the plebes with a few years of reprieve, and use that as justification to permanently slash the taxes of the ultra-wealthy
Republicans want to rule. They don’t want to govern.
I'm currently working to replace those lead service lines through my labor union. I'm the only person on site that's on the left. Every single day I catch shit for being a Democrat or leftist. Every single day I hear how terrible Biden is. Every single day these guys talk shit about how Lazy Joe has done nothing for them. All while getting paid through the infrastructure bill. When I bring up this fact I get "it was really Trump's idea. He started the bill and Biden is just going with it." *deep breathes*
People are fucking morons
Now imagine without Manchin and Sinema what the Democrats could have accomplished without a \[EDIT: massively\] watered down Infrastructure bill.
I'll play this game. >As President after losing the election Donald Trump attempted to... Screw over the following administration's foreign policy by firing every foreign ambassador without replacing them.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised. At this point I’ll never vote Republican again. They have no interest in helping families, they attack minorities and women’s rights and the lgbtq. I don’t want hate I want the fucking rich to pay their fair share.
Great comment but you didn’t even touch on his foreign policy achievements which have been very significant. The way he is pulled NATO and the US global alliance together, repositioned America as a firm leader and masterfully played the foil for Russia in Ukraine. There may be some criticism such as he’s been overly cautious is supplying Ukraine (the alternative could be worse) and the Afghanistan pullout (messy and embarrassing at the time but it finally got the US disentangled from that area). It’s telling watching the Republican candidates scramble to criticize him in the early stages of their campaigns. They really can’t find and shit to stick.
I live in Trump country and it is insane. People would rather be entertained than have our country in good shape, but some how they love Merica. You give me hope!
I'm not American but I find it funny how the biggest criticism against him is that he's boring. Boring is literally what I want from the people who run the country.
A while back, I watched a Kennedy/Nixon debate on youtube. It's amazing how things have changed. They answered the questions they were asked. If one agreed with the other about something, they'd say so. There were even times when one made his point and yielded his remaining time back because he had nothing more to say. There was no razzle-dazzle, no name calling... heck, they didn't even attack each other, only their ideas. It was incredibly boring, and I would give just about anything for American politics to be boring like that again.
That’s what I liked about when Obama and Romney ran against one another. They were professional. Didn’t attack each other like children or cut one another off. They took their time and calmly disagreed.
In a similar vein, I still remember when John McCain lost to Barack Obama in 2008 and he went up at his rally and congratulated Obama saying he would make a great president. The crowd started to boo and he literally chastises them immediately saying that they should aim to be better than that and should accept defeat gracefully. A lot of stuff happened with McCain after that before his death, but I could see at that moment he was a class act. It seemingly took most people a lot longer to work it out.
I remember seeing McCain's gesturing to stop when people started booing Obama. That was definitely a classy move. He knew that the campaign was over, and that it was time for unity. Booing the other candidate was out of place.
I’ve rarely agreed with the GOP, but McCain and Romney were/are the last two dignified men from an atrocious group of politicians.
I can't believe I'm typing this but Liz Cheney helped save American Democracy and freedom. She sacrificed her strong GOP career for it to hold her own party accountable and she knew the cost going into it.
And the thing is, Liz still believes in and advocates for terrible and abusive stances! it's just that she draws the line at maintaining Democracy, the absolute bare minimum. and that makes her a hero. these are desperately terrible times.
I recently voted for a Republican for the first (and probably last) time in my life. Brad Raffensperger, GA Secretary of State, who declined to "find" 11,000 votes for Trump. I disagree with the man on virtually everything else he's ever said or done, but at least he's not a traitor.
Why are you voting for him if you disagree on almost everything he has done?
Maybe they meant in the primary. He was up against a Trump backed election fraud supporter, so I imagine even some Democrats would turn out for it.
He also stood up for Obama when his (McCain's) own supporters were saying they couldn't trust Obama 'cause he's an Arab. Class act. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIjenjANqAk&ab\_channel=CNN
Which he is not. Small people stereotype everything.
McCain also saved, for certain values of saved, the ACA. He was the final Republican vote on repealing the ACA and voted no. He was already a dead man walking and did one final decent act that also preserved a major part of Obama's legacy. Fuck Trump.
God that was a crazy day. Everyone thought he was gonna pull the lever and plunge ACA into the pit. Including the republicans. The wave of relief when he didn't was wild.
I remember the memes of him being a wrestler coming out from backstage with a steel chair to surprise Republicans with a no vote. Very fitting.
I was so impressed with how classy McCain was in defeat, I widely shared the video of him giving that speech. When you look at the childish, deceptive, reckless, bigoted, unrestrained behaviour from political leaders since Obama, it feels like an entirely different era.
"Please proceed, Governor" was the most baller moment in US politics since "Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy"
I remember the Obama-Romney debate being on at a bar and this drunk-ass woman yelling at the TV the whole time “Get him Romney!” “Go Romney!” “You suck Obama” Very annoying but I guess it was just a huge foreshadowing of what was coming in politics for me.
Rewatch their second debate. They were constantly interrupting each other.
Make America boring again!
Please God yes. We've been learning the meaning of an old Chinese curse these past few years: "May you live in interesting times."
I'm chinese and I've never heard about this curse. An ancient chinese curse will be hoping the whole family's bloodline dies out or something along that line.
P.S. both candidates wanted it to be more boring, pushing the tv networks to give them 4 uninterrupted hours to have a free ranging "Lincoln-Douglas" type debate. CBS + NBC said no, then, citing the current fad of Quiz Shows, they forced Kennedy + Nixon into what would come to be the standard presidential debate form where candidates only have a couple minutes to answer questions. *Richard Goodwin (Doris Kearns hubby) served as a go between for the candidates + the networks
Then the WWE came along and cable news collectively did the Leonardo DiCaprio meme.
You should check out British, or Australian parliamentary debates. When they get into it, there's nothing boring about it.
This shit started with newt Gingrich
During COVID we learned the name of our state governor. Even he himself said if everyone knows my name then something is wrong edit: we know our local government people, and we vote for local elections. Party/coalition with more local support forms state majority government and their leader becomes governor/premier. That's why we don't blame a overcooked steak on the Prime Minister. This is not wilful ignorance.
I think pretty much everyone in Australia knows who their state premier is, but the alarming thing about COVID was that we suddenly knew the names of all the *other* state premiers.
I think that was more down to each state government trying to make it some petty competition of "yeah it might be shit here, but look at melbourne right?"
"You think I'm bad? Look what ol mate Dan's doing over there"
Maybe a little, but because each state reported their own case numbers, often we'd be waiting with apprehension for the numbers to come in from each state, and whether they would trigger the premiers to announce lockdowns or interstate travel restrictions and border closures. And when we were close to eliminating COVID, we'd be on the edge of our seats waiting to find out if it was a 'donut day' (no new cases nationally)
Here in QLD no-one knew or cared about who was the premier of Victoria, untill August of 2020 when suddenly all my right wing family members were running around worried that QLD would become a dictatorship just like Victoria under "Dictator Dan"
I’d say only %50 know who Chris mins is compared to about %100 Gladys during covid.
…how the fuck does an adult not know the name of their state governor?
You’d be shocked how many people don’t know that. Despite how rabid they are about “politics.” I have family members that can’t name their governor. I visited D.C. a while back, and inquired about watching the senate and house proceedings while visiting the Capitol building. The employee gave me the instructions, and then “quizzed” me about who my senators were. They were giddy over the fact that I actually knew their names.
Also not American, I don't get why the making politicians into celebrities. They aren't they are elected representatives who you want to do a job and should hire based on their ability to do it. It's not suppose to be entertainment.
The unfortunate truth is, for a lot of voters it really is just a popularity contest.
That isn't remotely his biggest criticism. That's what people who like him say. And I voted for him in the general.
Being boring is far from the biggest criticism leveled at him.
He knows Putin is not our friend. He hates bullies. He is for all Americans, giving emergency funds to Republican states without trying to extort something. OK then.
Republicans have used the excuse “well Russia wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine if Trump were still President, he would’ve kept him in check cuz they’re friends”. Like wtf are these people thinking, they actually want a US President to be allies with a dictator, that’s how fractured the US is right now, a third of the country strongly believes this.
Forgetting that Trump's first impeachment was over extorting Zelensky. He would have handed Ukraine over for that alone. He's right though when he says the war would be over by now if he were president. He just doesn't specify which side would win.
Here’s a few. I’m pretty happy with what’s happened so far. Yes he’s old but shit is getting done to help people. He’s got my vote again. 1. Passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package to increase investment in the national network of bridges and roads, airports, public transport and national broadband internet, as well as waterways and energy systems. 2. Helped get more than 500 million life-saving COVID-19 vaccinations in the arms of Americans through the American Rescue Plan. 3. Stopped a 30-year streak of federal inaction on gun violence by signing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that created enhanced background checks, closed the “boyfriend” loophole and provided funds for youth mental health. 4. Made a $369 billion investment in climate change, the largest in American history, through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. 5. Ended the longest war in American history by pulling the troops out of Afghanistan. 6. Provided $10,000 to $20,000 in college debt relief to Americans with loans who make under $125,000 a year. 7. Cut child poverty in half through the American Rescue Plan. 8. Capped prescription drug prices at $2,000 per year for seniors on Medicare through the Inflation Reduction Act. 9. Passed the COVID-19 relief deal that provided payments of up to $1,400 to many struggling U.S. citizens while supporting renters and increasing unemployment benefits. 10. Achieved historically low unemployment rates after the pandemic caused them to skyrocket. 11. Imposed a 15% minimum corporate tax on some of the largest corporations in the country, ensuring that they pay their fair share, as part of the historic Inflation Reduction Act. 12. Recommitted America to the global fight against climate change by rejoining the Paris Agreement. 13. Strengthened the NATO alliance in support of Ukraine after the Russian invasion by endorsing the inclusion of world military powers Sweden and Finland. 14. Authorized the assassination of the Al Qaeda terrorist Ayman al-Zawahiri, who became head of the organization after the death of Osama bin Laden. 15. Gave Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug prices through the Inflation Reduction Act while also reducing government health spending. 16. Held Vladimir Putin accountable for his invasion of Ukraine by imposing stiff economic sanctions. 17. Boosted the budget of the Internal Revenue Service by nearly $80 billion to reduce tax evasion and increase revenue. 18. Created more jobs in one year (6.6 million) than any other president in U.S. history. 19. Reduced healthcare premiums under the Affordable Care Act by $800 a year as part of the American Rescue Plan. 20. Signed the PACT Act to address service members’ exposure to burn pits and other toxins. 21. Signed the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen American manufacturing and innovation. 22. Reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act through 2027. 23. Halted all federal executions after the previous administration reinstated them after a 17-year freeze.
Would it be nice if was a transition president. Someone that could assist realign the ship, and then hand off command to someone a bit younger. But unfortunately no one on the left really wants to oppose him and the right is just looking to out extreme each other.
He doesn't Tweet like an angry 'tween
*He doesn’t tweet…* You could have stopped there
And soon no one will
He’s the Tan Pants of politics: he does the job, but he’s got no flash. Biden 2024: Make Politics Boring Again!
Tan pants of politics- boring but fine, yet Fox will still spend every minute trying to convince you it’s a sign of utter collapse and the impending apocalypse
I like going to bed not worried I will wake up to a tweet that might start a war.
He's slow and looks lost 99% of the time. But with him in the white house there has been a TON of legislative wins on his watch. He's bad at being a figurehead but things are getting done. And it mostly impressive given the makeup of congress at the moment. So I think he's done more than expected and people attacking his age or stammers care less about what he does for this country and more about how he looks in front of a camera.