Propaganda, Lies and Fear-mongering

the obvious planned mob story of Rand Paul really was a fitting touch. The Teflon Don is back. Trump is the only one who can save us from Trumps America!

Ahhh the trifecta of repub influence.  They know full well what makes amerika tick. Fear will keep the systems in line.

Amerikan Democracy - Hell of a concept while it lasted.

Here's to all who manage to maneuver thru what the repubs have allowed it to become, and find happiness.

It won't be because the Dems nominated a centrist, but rather that the Reps have scared the shit out of the public.<<<

I tend to disagree. I see the Dems making the exact same mistakes as the last go-around. This should be theirs for the taking and it's comical that the election will even be close. 

Throwing policies and agendas out the door for a second, there is nothing authentic or remotely inspiring about Biden and Harris. You either got it or you don't.  Clinton had it. Obama had it. Hillary had none of it. Joe has maybe a smidge of it but he had way more of it 10-15 years ago. 

Trump, despite being a megastorm disaster from an intellectual and psychological perspective, has tons of it. The messenger might be somewhat of a devil incarnate but he has a platform and it's one he believes in. It resonates with many Americans. Biden and Harris will tell you what they think you want to hear and people (some people) see through their masks.

You could make the argument that in order to get things back on track, the Dems need another ass whipping, giving way to a new type of Democratic leader and party. It will require another 4 years of Trump, which is probably not good for the country short-term. Then again, maybe it's best outcome when viewed with a wider lens. 

 >>>>>It will require another 4 years of Trump, which is probably not good for the country short-term. Then again, maybe it's best outcome when viewed with a wider lens. 

Uh, no. Another Rump presidency will be the death knell for American democracy. It will produce a SCOTUS that is monolithically right-wing for several decades. How is that good for Americans, short or long term?

I think that if nominated, Bernie would have a massive groundswell of momentum right now. An authentic antidote. 

Net net, if the Dems can't up with a message that stands on it's own, they deserve to to lose and perhaps lose in roundhouse fashion.

Hoping I'm wrong but I got a bad feeling about this.

>>>>>>will be the death knell for American democracy.

It's a bigger place than you think with way more people. Capitalism will fix this. 

It's the perpetual machine of one party two faces.  It's pretty obvious.   America has always been a colony and then country of the rich that uses the poor to fight.   Why I ask would our flag be sewn in the same colours as the British enemy?

JP is saying the exact same thing I said some time ago and got infinite flack for. 4 more years of Trump just may be what the democratic party needs to actual get it's priorities straight. Or for them to rot sufficiently that a viable alternative emerges. Yes, the Repubs use fear, but so do the Dems. Fear of the Repubs. And what's even more sickening, they play you with hope and people buy it. Meantime:

Joe has already pretty much flat out stated they won't put any money into social programs of any sort. Do you think corporate bailouts will stop? Or war budgets?

I insist: voting for centrists (neolibs, more importantly) is what has created the radical polarization leading to the rise of right wing populism in the world today. If the dems ever actually stand for something they could stem that tide. But lol, no. They don't stand for anything except corporate money. Believe it.

>> Joe has already pretty much flat out stated they won't put any money into social programs of any sort. <<

Just one example:

The Biden Plan for Investing in Our Communities through Housing

Joe Biden is running for President to rebuild the middle class and ensure that this time everyone comes along. He believes the middle class isn’t a number, but a value set which includes the ability to own your own home and live in a safe community. Housing should be a right, not a privilege.

Today, however, far too many Americans lack access to affordable and quality housing. Nationwide, we have a shortage of available, affordable housing units for low-income individuals. Tens of millions of Americans spend more than 30% of their income on housing – leaving them with nowhere near enough money left over to meet other needs, from groceries to prescription drugs. And, tens of millions of Americans live in homes that endanger their health and safety.

Communities of color are disproportionately impacted by the failures in our housing markets, with homeownership rates for Black and Latino individuals falling far below the rate for white individuals. Because home ownership is how many families save and build wealth, these racial disparities in home ownership contribute to the racial wealth gap. It is far past time to put an end to systemic housing discrimination and other contributors to this disparity. 

As President, Joe Biden will invest $640 billion over 10 years so every American has access to housing that is affordable, stable, safe and healthy, accessible, energy efficient and resilient, and located near good schools and with a reasonable commute to their jobs. Biden will do this by:

Ending redlining and other discriminatory and unfair practices in the housing market.

Providing financial assistance to help hard-working Americans buy or rent safe, quality housing, including down payment assistance through a refundable and advanceable tax credit and fully funding federal rental assistance.

Increasing the supply, lowering the cost, and improving the quality of housing, including through investments in resilience, energy efficiency, and accessibility of homes.

Pursuing a comprehensive approach to ending homelessness.

Housing is an essential part of Biden’s broader strategy to grow strong, healthy communities in every zip code – from his plan to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure and revitalize local economies to his plan to invest in our public schools.

The Biden Principles for Housing

While the housing challenges Americans face in different rural and urban communities across the country may vary, every American in every zip code should have access to housing that is:

Affordable – taking up no more than 30% of income so they have money left over to meet other needs;

Stable – providing families with the consistency they need to maintain jobs, perform well in school, and develop social networks necessary for well-being; 

Safe and healthy – protecting families from environmental and social risks from polluted air to lead contamination to gun violence;

Accessible – meeting the needs of individuals with disabilities so they can live in their communities;

Energy efficient and resilient – reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and withstanding the impacts of climate change; and

Located near good schools and with a reasonable commute to their jobs.

END REDLINING AND OTHER DISCRIMINATORY AND UNFAIR PRACTICES IN THE HOUSING MARKET

Protect homeowners and renters from abusive lenders and landlords through a new Homeowner and Renter Bill of Rights. Modeled on the California Homeowner Bill of Rights, Biden will enact legislation to end many shortcomings in the mortgage and rental markets. This new Bill of Rights will prevent mortgage brokers from leading borrowers into loans that cost more than appropriate, prevent mortgage servicers from advancing a foreclosure when the homeowner is in the process of receiving a loan modification, give homeowners a private right of action to seek financial redress from mortgage lenders and servicers that violate these protections, and give borrowers the right to a timely notification on the status of their loan modifications and to be able to appeal modification denials. Building on the Obama-Biden Administration’s Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, the Bill of Rights will also expand protections for renters. For example, the Bill of Rights will include a law prohibiting landlords from discriminating against renters receiving federal housing benefits.  

Protect tenants from eviction. Housing evictions can have devastating consequences for families and often stem from relatively small shortfalls in rent. As a former public defender, Biden appreciates the difference legal representation can make for those facing eviction. As President, he will work to enact Majority Whip James E. Clyburn and Senator Michael Bennet’s Legal Assistance to Prevent Evictions Act of 2020, which will help tenants facing eviction access legal assistance. He also will encourage localities to create eviction diversion programs, including mediation, payment plans, and financial literacy education programs.

Eliminate local and state housing regulations that perpetuate discrimination. Exclusionary zoning has for decades been strategically used to keep people of color and low-income families out of certain communities. As President, Biden will enact legislation requiring any state receiving federal dollars through the Community Development Block Grants or Surface Transportation Block Grants to develop a strategy for inclusionary zoning, as proposed in the HOME Act of 2019 by Majority Whip Clyburn and Senator Cory Booker. Biden will also invest $300 million in Local Housing Policy Grants to give states and localities the technical assistance and planning support they need to eliminate exclusionary zoning policies and other local regulations that contribute to sprawl. 

Hold financial institutions accountable for discriminatory practices in the housing market. The Obama-Biden Administration held major national financial institutions accountable for discriminatory lending practices, securing hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements to help borrowers who had been harmed by their practices. And in 2013, the Obama-Biden Administration codified a long-standing, court-supported view that lending practices that have a discriminatory effect can be challenged even if discrimination was not explicit. But now the Trump Administration is seeking to gut this disparate impact standard by significantly increasing the burden of proof for those claiming discrimination. In the Biden Administration, this change will be reversed to ensure financial institutions are held accountable for serving all customers.

Strengthen and expand the Community Reinvestment Act to ensure that our nation’s bank and non-bank financial services institutions are serving all communities. The Community Reinvestment Act currently regulates banks, but does little to ensure that “fintechs” and non-bank lenders are providing responsible access to all members of the community. On top of that gap, the Trump Administration is proposing to weaken the law by allowing lenders to receive a passing rating even if the lenders are excluding many neighborhoods and borrowers. Biden will expand the Community Reinvestment Act to apply to mortgage and insurance companies, to add a requirement for financial services institutions to provide a statement outlining their commitment to the public interest, and, importantly, to close loopholes that would allow these institutions to avoid lending and investing in all of the communities they serve. 

Roll back Trump Administration policies gutting fair lending and fair housing protections for homeowners. Biden will implement the Obama-Biden Administration’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule requiring communities receiving certain federal funding to proactively examine housing patterns and identify and address policies that have a discriminatory effect. The Trump Administration suspended this rule in 2018. Biden will ensure effective and rigorous enforcement of the Fair Housing Act and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. And, he will reinstate the federal risk-sharing program which has helped secure financing for thousands of affordable rental housing units in partnership with housing finance agencies.   

Restore the federal government’s power to enforce settlements against discriminatory lenders. The Trump Administration has stripped the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity, a division of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, of its power to enforce settlements against lenders found to have discriminated against borrowers – for example by charging significantly higher interest rates for people of color than white individuals. Biden will return power to the division so it can protect consumers from discrimination.

Tackle racial bias that leads to homes in communities of color being assessed by appraisers below their fair value. Housing in communities primarily comprised of people of color is valued at tens of thousands of dollars below majority-white communities even when all other factors are the same, contributing to the racial wealth gap. To counteract this racial bias, Biden will establish a national standard for housing appraisals that ensures appraisers have adequate training and a full appreciation for neighborhoods and do not hold implicit biases because of a lack of community understanding. An objective national standard for appraisals will also make it harder for financial institutions to put pressure on appraisers to their benefit. 

PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO HELP HARD-WORKING AMERICANS BUY OR RENT QUALITY HOUSING

Help families buy their first homes and build wealth by creating a new refundable, advanceable tax credit of up to $15,000. Biden’s new First Down Payment Tax Credit will help families offset the costs of homebuying and help millions of families lay down roots for the first time. Building off of a temporary tax credit expanded as part of the Recovery Act, this tax credit will be permanent and advanceable, meaning that homebuyers receive the tax credit when they make the purchase instead of waiting to receive the assistance when they file taxes the following year.

Provide Section 8 housing vouchers to every eligible family so that no one has to pay more than 30% of their income for rental housing. Roughly three in four households eligible for Section 8 rental assistance do not receive housing assistance because the program is underfunded. Biden’s approach is straightforward: the Section 8 rental housing assistance program should be fully funded so that everyone eligible gets the assistance they need to pay their rent for a safe home. Biden will devote resources to both voucher-based rental assistance and the project-based program. Over time, this approach will provide assistance to at least 17 million low-income families. And, as part of the Homeowner and Renter Bill of Rights, Biden will enact a law prohibiting landlords from discriminating against renters receiving federal housing benefits.  

Create a new renter’s tax credit to help more low-income families. Biden will work with Congress to enact a new renter’s tax credit, designed to reduce rent and utilities to 30% of income for low-income individuals and families who may make too much money to qualify for a Section 8 voucher but still struggle to pay their rent. He will allocate $5 billion in federal funding for the tax credit every year.

Expand housing benefits for first-responders, public school educators, and other public and national service workers who commit to living in persistently impoverished communities or who work in neighborhoods with low affordable housing stock. Biden will expand the Good Neighbor Next Door program, which is designed to help strengthen communities that have experienced significant underinvestment and high rates of poverty while also providing opportunities for first responders, educators, and those engaged in national service to purchase homes in those same communities. Specifically, Biden will expand the program through additional down-payment assistance, partnering with state housing agencies, tribal governments, local governments, and state/local banks to offer the program’s existing significant discount on the price of a home on a larger pool of homes, and providing access to a low-interest loan to rehabilitate these homes. And, he will ensure these resources are also available to public servants who work in neighborhoods with low affordable housing stock.

Create the Public Credit Reporting Agency. Being able to obtain a credit report is a critical step for homeownership. But today credit reports, which are issued by just three large private companies, are rife with problems: they often contain errors, they leave many “credit invisible” due to the sources used to generate a credit score, and they contribute to racial disparities. Biden will create a new public credit reporting agency within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to provide consumers with a government option that seeks to minimize racial disparities, for example by ensuring the algorithms used for credit scoring don’t have a discriminatory impact, and by accepting non-traditional sources of data like rental history and utility bills to establish credit.

Reducing Greenhouse Gases and Lowering Working Families’ Electricity Bills

As Biden announced in his climate plan, he will set a target of reducing the carbon footprint of the U.S. building stock 50% by 2035, creating incentives for deep retrofits that combine appliance electrification, efficiency, and on-site clean power generation. In addition to the $10 billion retrofitting fund described below, other policies he will pursue to reduce the carbon footprint of residential buildings include:

Directing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to make housing for low-income communities more efficient. 

Directing the U.S. Department of Energy to redouble efforts to accelerate new efficiency standards for household appliances and equipment. 

Repairing and accelerating the building code process, and creating a new funding mechanism for states and cities to adopt strict building codes and train builders and inspectors.

Read Biden’s full plan to address the climate emergency at joebiden.com/climate.

INCREASE THE SUPPLY, LOWER THE COST, AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF HOUSING 

Establish a $100 billion Affordable Housing Fund to construct and upgrade affordable housing.

$65 billion in new incentives for state housing authorities and the Indian Housing Block Grant program to construct or rehabilitate low-cost, efficient, resilient, and accessible housing in areas where affordable housing is in short supply. These funds will be directed toward communities that are suffering from an affordability crisis and that are willing to implement new zoning laws that encourage more affordable housing. 

$10 billion to make homes more energy efficient. This retrofitting will lower families’ energy bills, create jobs for workers in the trades in every state in the nation, and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. 

$5 billion to increase the stock of affordable housing as part of larger community development efforts. Specifically, these funds will expand the HOME program, ensuring that the program’s requirements are more conducive to supporting first-time homebuyers, and the Capital Magnet Fund, which spurs private investment in affordable housing and economic development in distressed communities. Among other uses, localities can use these funds to purchase vacant, underdeveloped, or underutilized property and construct affordable housing.

Increase funding for the Housing Trust Fund by $20 billion. Biden will increase the availability of affordable housing through the Housing Trust Fund, paid for by an increase in the assessment on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These additional dollars will support the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing units. 

Provide tax incentives for the construction of more affordable housing in communities that need it most. As President, Biden will expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit – a tax provision designed to incentivize the construction or rehabilitation of affordable housing for low-income tenants that has created nearly 3 million affordable housing units since the mid-1980s – with a $10 billion investment. This investment will be designed to make the credit more efficient, dramatically increasing the number of new or rehabilitated affordable housing units. And, he will ensure that urban, suburban, and rural areas all benefit from the credit. Biden will also invest in the development and rehabilitation of single family homes across distressed urban, suburban, and rural neighborhoods through the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act. 

Invest in community development. In addition to the community development Biden is proposing as part of his infrastructure initiative, he will also expand flexible funding for the Community Development Block Grant by $10 billion over ten years. The Community Development Block Grant funds local efforts to expand affordable housing, improve infrastructure, and increase economic opportunities for low-income individuals and communities. These funds are flexible federal grants that localities receive to deal with their specific challenges and support stabilization and infrastructure.

Eliminate local and state housing regulations that limit affordable housing options and contribute to urban sprawl. Housing policy can be used as a tool to battle climate change. Many lower- and middle-income Americans are forced to live far away from job centers due to high housing costs, leading not only to workers being overburdened by long commutes and transportation costs, but also to higher greenhouse gas emissions. Biden will tie new federal investments in housing to a requirement that states and localities eliminate regulations that reduce the availability of affordable housing and contribute to sprawl. He will direct his Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development and Transportation to identify existing federal grant programs that can be amended by adding zoning reform as a requirement. And, Biden will expand investments in Local Housing Policy Grants to give states and localities the technical assistance and planning support they need to modernize housing regulations.

Ensure minority-owned businesses benefit from investment in housing construction and repair. To further support wealth creation among Black and Latino families, Biden will require his Administration to take all available steps to make sure minority-owned businesses are able to benefit from ongoing and new federal housing and infrastructure spending.

Use federal transit dollars to leverage local investment in transit and affordable housing

Smart transit and regional planning policies are essential for ensuring access to affordable housing, avoiding sprawl, improving quality of life by reducing the distance between living and leisure areas, and mitigating climate change. To meet these goals, Biden will ensure a portion of new federal transit dollars are designed to leverage local investment in both transit and affordable housing in transit corridors. Biden has proposed the following new transit investments:

Offer tens of millions of Americans new transportation options. Outside major cities, most Americans do not have access to high-quality, reliable public transportation; and within urban areas, it’s often in need of repair. As a result, workers and families rely on cars, which can be a big financial burden, clog roadways, and –  along with light-duty trucks – significantly increase U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. As President, Biden will aim to provide all Americans in municipalities of more than 100,000 people with quality public transportation by 2030. To that end, he’ll increase flexible federal investments, helping cities and towns to install light rail networks and to improve existing transit and bus lines. He’ll also help them to invest in infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists, and riders of e-scooters and other micro-mobility vehicles. And, Biden will work to make sure that new, fast-growing areas are designed and built with public transit in mind. Specifically, he will create a new program that gives rapidly expanding communities the resources to build in public transit options from the start.

Reduce congestion by working with metropolitan regions to plan smarter growth. Biden will empower city, county, regional, and state leaders to explore new, smarter, climate-friendly strategies to help reduce average commute times and build more vibrant main streets. Specifically, Biden will create a competitive grant program to help leaders rethink and redesign regional transportation systems, to get commuters where they are going safer, faster, and more efficiently. At the same time, Biden will boost highway funding by 10% and allocate the new funding to states that embrace smart climate design and pollution reduction, incentivizing them to invest in greenhouse gas reduction. States will also be free to use existing highway funding for alternative transportation options.

Connect workers to jobs. For too many low-income workers, the cost of transportation and time it takes them to commute to work every day are significant barriers. As President, Biden will dedicate an additional $10 billion over 10 years specifically for transit projects that serve high-poverty areas with limited transportation options, so that workers seeking a better life won’t have to spend as much getting to their jobs.

Read Biden’s full infrastructure plan at joebiden.com/infrastructure.

Ensure rural communities have access to affordable and accessible homes. The Biden Administration will increase funding for needed repairs of affordable rental housing properties and construction of new property through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service, including the Multi-Family Direct Loans and the Single Family Direct Loans programs, which support the construction of housing for low income, disabled, or elderly individuals in rural communities. Majority Whip Clyburn’s 10-20-30 plan has already been applied to a number of Rural Development programs in order to ensure a portion of funds are dedicated to serving families living in areas facing persistent poverty. As President, Biden will apply the 10-20-30 plan to all federal programs.

Expand funding for mission-driven, community-based financial institutions that invest in building new housing in underserved areas. As part of his plan to reinvest in communities across the country, including in rural areas, Biden will expand funding for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which supports local, “mission-driven” financial institutions in low-income areas around the U.S. – including those invested in building new housing in underserved areas.

Drive additional capital into low-income communities to spur the development of low-income housing. The New Markets Tax Credit has drawn in $8 of private investment for every $1 of federal investment in low-income communities by providing tax credits to investors in community development organizations that support everything from supermarkets to real estate projects to manufacturing plants. Biden will expand the program to provide $5 billion in support every year, and will make the program permanent so communities can take the credit into account in their long-term planning. 

For all of these new housing investments, those receiving assistance will be required to abide by Davis-Bacon Act wage requirements so that jobs created with these investments support family sustaining wages and benefits. And, the Biden Administration will encourage the use of resources and materials that are sourced domestically, as well as the use of project labor agreements.

Guarantee safe housing for our military families

The government has broken its trust with military families by providing sub-par housing. Now, we have to work twice as hard to rebuild this trust. That will require the utmost transparency and accountability from both the government and the private sector partners charged with housing the families of our service members. The Biden Administration will:

Enforce a comprehensive and standardized tenant Bill of Rights for all military families, and as advocates have rightly demanded, ensure U.S. Department of Defense senior leadership enforces compliance. We won’t be making more empty promises to military families. We will hold these landlords, and ourselves, accountable. 

Require regular, standardized, objective, and published reporting of military family satisfaction and concerns from all housing. 

Establish a public-facing document outlining expectations of quality and consequences for all housing providers and, when necessary, terminate long-term leases held by private companies. 

Read Biden’s full plan for military families at joebiden.com/militaryfamilies.

PURSUE A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO ENDING HOMELESSNESS

Develop a national strategy for making housing a right for all. Biden believes everyone should have the right to a safe roof over their head. On the first day of his Administration, he will direct his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to lead a task force of mayors and other local elected officials to put on his desk within 100 days a roadmap for making this right a reality nationwide. Mayors and local elected officials are on the front lines of tackling homelessness, so Biden will use their expertise to help the federal government identify best practices that should be replicated across the country.

Provide emergency funding designed to tackle the homelessness crisis. Biden will work with Congress to secure passage of Congresswoman Maxine Waters’ Ending Homelessness Act. This bill funds a comprehensive, holistic strategy to ending homelessness, including everything from case management to emergency shelters to additional housing vouchers for homeless individuals. In total, this law will invest $13 billion to tackle homelessness over five years, including $5 billion for McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants, and the law will create more than 400,000 additional housing units for homeless individuals. In addition, Biden will ensure part of this grant funding is specifically targeted to assist homeless children and young adults.

Reform federal housing programs to ensure they take a “housing first” approach to ending homelessness. The Trump Administration has demonstrated acceptance of a worldview that housing and food should be withheld until homeless individuals tackle challenges such as addiction and mental illness. This view isn’t just inhumane, it defies the evidence regarding what works. More and more evidence is making clear that a “housing first” approach – “guided by the belief that people need basic necessities like food and a place to live before attending to anything less critical, such as getting a job, budgeting properly, or attending to substance use issues” – is an effective strategy for reducing homelessness. So, while the Biden Administration will pursue a comprehensive strategy addressing homelessness’ underlying causes – from making sure everyone has access to quality mental health and addiction support, to increasing the minimum wage and expanding workforce training, to changing the culture so more LGBTQ teenagers are accepted in their homes – President Biden will make sure our country commits to a “housing first” approach to ending homelessness. In his first 100 days, Biden will direct his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to conduct a full review of federal housing policies to make sure they pursue and incentivize the “housing first” approach. The Secretary will identify all ways in which homelessness assistance grants can further support rapid re-housing and long-term supportive housing. Supportive housing has been found to have positive long-term impacts, and rapid re-housing has been shown to lead to quick exits from homelessness.

Reduce homelessness among veterans. The Obama-Biden Administration cut the population of homeless veterans by almost half. But with just over 23,000 veterans without shelter on any given night, we have much more work to do. Biden will work with Congress to continue to drive down veteran homelessness by permanently authorizing the Supportive Services for Veterans Families program, which provides critical funding for wrap-around services for those facing homelessness. President Biden will also work to ensure that we better understand the unique needs of women and LGBTQ veterans experiencing homelessness. And, he will create safe, modern, clean, and recovery-oriented housing for veterans being treated for substance use disorders and those who are homeless by refurbishing buildings condemned or not in use, such as the massive VA Los Angeles campus. Read Biden’s full plan to support our veterans at joebiden.com/veterans.

Protect LGBTQ individuals. The Obama-Biden Administration enforced the civil rights of the LGBTQ community, including by ensuring federally funded homeless shelters provide housing according to an individual’s gender identity and cannot refuse services based on gender identity or sexual orientation. The Trump Administration has since proposed allowing shelters to discriminate against transgender people when determining their accommodations, for example by forcing transgender women to sleep and use the bathroom in the same place as men. As President, Biden will secure the passage of the Equality Act, ensuring that no President can ever again single-handedly roll back civil rights protections for LGBTQ individuals, including in housing and homeless shelters. And, he will increase funding for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to ensure LGBTQ individuals have access to transitional living programs that provide essential services like job counseling and mental and physical health care.

Expand access to supportive housing and services for individuals with disabilities and the elderly. A Biden Administration will increase the availability of supportive and accessible housing for seniors and individuals with disabilities, including through the Supportive Housing for the Elderly (“Section 202”) and Supportive Housing for Individuals with Disabilities (“Section 811”) programs. Biden also will increase resources for mental health services and substance use disorder treatment, including through the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness program.

Set a national goal of ensuring 100% of formerly incarcerated individuals have housing upon reentry. If incarcerated individuals do not find housing upon reentry, that lack of housing can be completely destabilizing and limit their likelihood of successfully staying out of the criminal justice system and fulfilling their potential. Biden will work toward a goal of ensuring 100% of formerly incarcerated individuals – at the federal and state level – have housing upon release. He’ll start by eliminating barriers keeping formerly incarcerated individuals from accessing public assistance, including housing support. He’ll direct the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to only contract with entities that are open to housing individuals looking for a second chance. And, he’ll expand funding for transitional housing, which has been drastically cut under the Trump Administration.

Ensure survivors of domestic and sexual violence have safe, affordable housing

Biden has put forward a comprehensive plan to strengthen social supports for survivors of domestic and sexual violence and human trafficking, including helping victims secure housing, gain economic stability, and recover from the trauma of abuse. The U.S. Conference of Mayors has identified domestic violence as a top driver of family homelessness, and research points to domestic violence as a key cause of homelessness for many women. And, domestic violence survivors and their children often live in unstable housing conditions, such as with relatives or friends in crowded and potentially exploitative conditions or returning to abusive partners. Research demonstrates that providing flexibility in eligibility, services, and support helps survivors feel safer and rebuild their lives after violence.

The Biden plan will cut through the red tape that can slow down assistance and limit options for survivors. Specifically, Biden will:

Establish a new coordinated housing initiative. Current federal housing programs are insufficient for meeting the needs of domestic and sexual violence survivors. Biden will bring federal agencies together to create a comprehensive housing grant program tailored to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. This grant program will include flexible funding to support the practical needs of survivors; advocacy with landlords and housing agencies to keep victims in housing; supportive services including legal assistance, child care, and employment training; new permanent housing vouchers; increased funding for the VAWA transitional housing program; and home ownership opportunities.

Expand access to housing assistance. Biden will strengthen the VAWA housing provisions, for example by making it easier for victims to retain their federal housing subsidy when needed for safety reasons.

Protect survivors from housing discrimination. The Fair Housing Act protects women from gender discrimination in public and private housing, including survivors who may be unfairly evicted from housing because of domestic violence. The Trump Administration proposed rolling back Fair Housing protections by making it harder to prove disparate impact claims and allowing landlords and banks to use discriminatory practices. The Biden Administration will vigorously enforce the Fair Housing Act. VAWA also protects survivors from discrimination in subsidized housing and allows survivors to transfer to new units if necessary for safety. But red tape makes these provisions challenging to implement. The Biden plan will make it easier for survivors to transfer their housing assistance and move to a new home so that they can be safe. 

Read Biden’s full plan to end violence against women at joebiden.com/VAWA.

Investing In Our Housing to Grow the Middle Class, Paid for by Making Sure Corporations Pay Their Fair Share

Biden’s $640 billion investment in America’s housing is paid for by raising taxes on corporations and large financial institutions. Specifically, approximately $300 billion of the housing plan is devoted to new construction and is encompassed in the $1.3 trillion infrastructure plan. The remaining portion is paid for by instituting a financial fee on certain liabilities of firms with over $50 billion in assets. 

Maybe, and you still can't deliver any kind of argument claiming the contrary. But it has been cute to see how you fawn over Joe and the dems propaganda.

"Oh he looked strong!"

Lol

Trump to Robert Mueller: 'It Wasn't Me' (w/ Shaggy)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR3tZ5s70Mzy0pWhr9aD1K11kouX_pv56o9...

DICKtator Trump - Screw That POS !

lol, yeah jp says almost verbatim what javs has said and no flack...

i also have a terrible feeling about this.

what are they doing in the swing states, now?

 I think that Bernie would be crushed under Trump's onslaught. He isn't enigmatic enough to overcome it. Plus, he's a Democratic Socialist and Jew, which would be even more fodder for the freaks.<<<

I would normally tend to agree but the election of Trump has blown the doors off conventional political wisdom. Yet the Dems (at least the ones in power) don't seem to quite grasp this yet. So in turn they prop up Joe and away we go. I'm sure they've done comprehensive modeling behind the Biden/Harris ticket and who knows, maybe it's the best hand to play.

But again, this feels eerily similar the last election. The Trump personality powerhouse on one side and a human algorithm on the other end. 

Goebbels, may he rot in hell, would have been proud of last night's production.  

Ivanka praised "the president" for shutting down the economy in response to covid and the don attacks "liberal" governors and mayors for actually imposing life saving health orders in response to covid.  Kush with that constant smirk.  

Time to rise up and smash that shit in November.

Lol, I've posted a variety of academic research literature validating my point, yet it's all opinion. My thesis is the commonly accepted thesis in political science theory today, but it's only opinion.

And Ned posted Biden's policy statement, or whatever. Lol. That's cute. It's amazing how many words paper can hold.

And then his transition chief says on the sly to the press: "no social programs". Which one do you think is bullshitting?

"Oh Joe....you're soooooo stroooooong....." Haha, and Judah says the RNC is pure Goebbels. The DNC put on 4 days of the highest quality theatre filled with platitudes, but sure, it's a Republican problem.

oh, well the rethugs are doing something about swing states.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/26/politics/2020-election-voter-rolls-swing-...

you know the dems cannot win without fixing some shit stat, right?
 

Turtle - I don't know what "they" (Democratic party) are doing in the swing states, but progressive organizations are trying to flip swing states. I volunteered and started phone banking with SURJ (Stand Up for Racial Justice) to call Georgia voters and try to flip Georgia.  It's Repug governor, Kemp, won in 2018 by only about 55k votes or about 1.5%.   Trump must be defeated. Wanna help out and get active too? It's easy to make the calls. 

Javs - You asserted that, "voting for centrists (neolibs, more importantly) is what has created the radical polarization leading to the rise of right wing populism in the world today."  Can you explain that?  I don't understand, but am trying, how you reached that conclusion and, additionally, seem so adamant about it.   

For someone who claims to reject "black/white" viewpoints, aren't you saying that a candidate has to stand for everything you want or you won't vote for him?    

Bernie is not the candidate. Joe is the candidate and Bernie and AOC and all the other self labeled "progressives" are supporting Joe in this election.  The argument that Joe is too conservative to garner your vote appears, to me, naive and tone deaf in the current context.  This is not 2000.  

>> And then his transition chief says on the sly to the press: "no social programs". <<

Can you cite a source? I'm curious.

well good on you judah. hope it helps

having to point out that joe biden looks strong is like when you visit your dying uncle in the convalescent home and tell him it looks like he has the color back in his cheeks but you know hes probably not gonna make it thru the month

last night was the first time in forever that i can actually remember being viscerally scared about anything. like scared to the point of feeling it in my bones.  it all started after that Ivanka speech.  

she's so weird.

The GOP are like all the bullies in the last row of class, who spent their time cheating on tests and harassing the girls, destined to take over at their father's Chevy dealership right out of high-school.

The Dems are akin to the annoying kids who sat closest to the teacher, annoyingly raising their hands time and time again to even basic rhetorical questions, destined to be outlining corporate compliance policies at an international bio-med firm.

Stuck in the middle with you.

Some on this thread want the Don to win because that  just may be what the democratic party needs to actually get it's priorities straight. Gone are the days when a Jerry tour head said being on the Jerry bus led him to see the light that the Don offers. Are there any QAnon supporters out here? The Don & Co seem to believe that if they keep saying false stuff over and over that people will believe it. Anyone remember the Band song When You Awake?
When you believe
You will relieve the only soul that you were born with
To grow old and never know.
 Robbie Robertson has stated that the song "is the story about someone who passes something on to you, and you pass it on to someone else. But it's something you take to heart and carry with you your whole life."

>>>>Some on this thread want the Don to win because that  just may be what the democratic party needs to actually get it's priorities straight

History always repeats. In Germany in the 30's when the two left parties split the vote and the Nazi's won the election the more progressive left party said that now the people will see the truth and we will win the next election. I guess they were right in the long run. 

>>>>>now the people will see the truth and we will win the next election. I guess they were right in the long run. 

They only had to wait 16 years for that election to take place.

Most of the lies in 3 minutes, couldn't fit them all in

https://twitter.com/ryanstruyk/status/1299197966687842304

It's all the fame game now

you need a star bigger than Trump to go on the aggressive attack with no holds barred, whether he is running or not, that is the voice that seems to be carrying the longest distance at this moment in time. 
 

There is so much media material on Trump convicting himself in his own words about his stupidity and lies that it is amazing that it is not being used in a relentless attacking manner, Lincoln Project on steroids, style 

and why have the entertainent stars that have been so vocal in the past, on the democratic side, become so silent during this Trump era? hell they were all over the Bush during his tenure. 

Trump is drunk on power and using all the same tactics as autocrats have always used to take over our country, and it's sad that so many idiots just go along with him

Nut up, JR.

Trump has been following the Hitler playbook from day one. it's literally the only book he's ever read.

That very real photo comparison sends chills up my spine, Wngfan.  Wow. You are right, too, Nancy. 

This aint' poly sci class, Javs.  Lol. This is real life.  People are getting killed.  

DNC platitudes for Biden are not the same as Trump/RNC propaganda (lies).  False equivalency.  

We only have a little more than 2 months to make sure that this goes right and Biden gets elected in November.  The stakes are too fucking high.  

Chilling
Chills

But Obama has fewer flags and they're more classy 

Obama didn't use the White House 2 run a political convention. 

On the other hand, you ain't gonna learn what you don't want to know.

bernie would be up by 20 right now. 

Jesus Harold Christ, some of you all are too much. Every single leader of a nation state ever has at one point walked through a row of flags while facing an audience. Trump is a dirty trickster, no doubt, but the fact that you all don't see how the Dems manipulate symbolism and emotionality to appeal to you as well...Fuck. This is what politicians do, folks - use symbols! Anybody ever read any Foucault?

Judah, you seem actually interested in understanding but it's too long for me to explain in detail. In a summary:

- Neoliberal economic policies have created a gigantic gap between wealthy and not wealthy

- Neoliberal economics have privatized health care, education, mineral extraction and whole lot more, turning every essential commodity and service in every country into a machine designed to make money.

- This has created a gigantic resentment among different populations for different reasons In developed and more developed nations, the resentment comes from all production work being gone, an increasingly higher cost of life, and a slowly decaying quality of life. In third world nations, where the poverty and pollution are exported to, it creates massive amounts of poor and resentful. 

- When that sentiment is ripe, populist politics becomes a thing (see Germany post-World War I). Right wing politics are usually big on order, law, economics. They are also more prone to finding handy scapegoats like Jews, or Mexicans and turning sentiment against them. In short, Right Wing politics better address the anger and resentment felt by the multiple groups who have been isolated because of neoliberal economics.

Now the US is pretty much fucked. Either way, Joe or Trump, that gap is going to continue to grow and continue to foster resentment among working class middle America. As that resentment grows and grows, only a populist can grab that tide and do something with it. And if nothing else, Trump is a master populist.

Pyramid, totally agree. Bernie would've been up by 20. The difference is not left-right, Dem-Rep. It's neolib-nonneolib, lying politician-integrity.

In the 1950's a factory worker in the US could buy a house, support a family, buy a car, and put his kids through college (maybe on the last one).

Nowadays, first, are there factories in the US? I kid, but seriously, how much production of US goods is overseas? And a factory worker in the US today, can he or she, buy a house? Feed a family? Pay for college? Afford healthcare? How do you think those people feel about that? Who do you think best addresses the anger and frustration felt by those people?

Mind you - not who has the best policies that will actually help those people. Who best represents their emotionality? Because that's where the politicians go to get you. Not the policy, not the facts, not the ideas - the rhetoric and symbolism.

See: DNC 2020 (4 days of Rhetoric, 0 policy)

Bk will probably gladly tell you that the link I'm going to post is from a socialist rag. Just a fair warning. However, on Media Bias it has a high rating of truth. 

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/09/in-the-ruins-of-neoliberalism-wendy-b...

"By using markets and morals to erase the very notions of popular sovereignty, the social, and social justice, neoliberalism provoked the rise of an “enraged” form of majority rule, characterized by far-right nationalism and religious fundamentalism, freed from any form of civil norms, and fueled by resentment. Trump is thus not caused by neoliberalism, but was produced in the “ruins” of it. Out of its remains erupted these ferocious “social and political forces that the neoliberals once opposed, underestimated, and deformed with their de-democratizing project.”"

"the Left contributed to a shift in American thought in which traditional ideas of collective concerns and institutions were unhinged and replaced by a more fractured and individualized way of thinking about society that emphasized choice, agency, and performance, and came to rely on the metaphor of the market. Nancy Fraser has likewise pointed to the disappearance of New Deal–style social democracy and its replacement by a “progressive neoliberalism” that specifically “hollowed out working-class and middle-class living standards” while promoting, at the same time, the “mainstream currents of new social movements (feminism, anti-racism, multiculturalism, and LGBTQ rights) on the one side, and high-end ‘symbolic’ and service-based business sectors (Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood), on the other.” "

"Today, this idea is arguably widespread on the Left, too — not only because the Left failed to develop an alternative to neoliberalism, but also because it actively embraced and helped disseminate neoliberalism’s “progressive ideas,” such as applying consumer sovereignty to various societal contexts."

"In politics, center-left parties in the 1990s not only followed in the footsteps of their neoliberal predecessors by privatizing state-owned companies to further individual choice, but went a step further by reforming the public sector itself, modeling it after the market in portraying the citizen as its “customer,” thus recasting political democracy as a mechanism of choosing between available products or goods."

Brian, we seem to have a chronic communication issue, you and I, where I say one thing, then you say I said something else, then say that that is wrong.

I never said neoliberalism caused the sentiment in post-WWI Germany, I said the sentiment in that time and place was similar to the sentiment among the working class and poor of the USA and the world today. You did a great job of attacking one tiny part of three posts that I made. And you attacked it incorrectly, because if you go back and read what I wrote:

"- When that sentiment is ripe, populist politics becomes a thing (see Germany post-World War I). "

I didn't say what the causes were in Germany, just that the sentiment is similar, which it was/is. So, once again, you really haven't addressed anything I've said, just gone for what you perceived to be a crack in argumentation, and even there you were wrong.

To be clear, the first cornerstone for neoliberalism was laid in like 1947 by Milton Friedman and one or two of his chronies, if I'm not mistaken.

But all the dems have to do is keep on convincing you that they're not as bad as the Repubs, getting you to vote for them and in the process continuing the neoliberal economic policies that perpetuate the patterns that push people into the hands of populists, specifically right-wing populists.

And to negate another b.s. thing you've said that I've said: I've never said that the repubs and the dems are the same thing. But they both support neoliberal economic policies. That's a tried and tested fact. And that includes in the US neoliberal support of never ending war.

that biden housing plan is a joke -- a slap in the face to americans. 

and people like ned, neoliberals, actually fought against the only person running who really wanted to provide housing as a human right. 

sorry, but the neds of america's, fought against bernie in the primary, and will be the ones responsible for helping trump win, again. totally fucked up. 

biden's "plans for the middle class" has to be approved by his corporate masters and the dnc before he's allowed to insult the american public. sad. 

bernie was calling for more than 4x what biden is calling for. complete joke. 

(2nd request)

>> And then his transition chief says on the sly to the press: "no social programs". <<

Can you cite a source?

>> biden's "plans for the middle class" has to be approved by his corporate masters and the dnc before he's allowed to insult the american public. sad. <<

That is complete bullshit. Every POTUS pretty much determines policy for their party (except Bush 2, of course). Bernie tried to sell his housing plan and it was rejected (by Democrats!) twice. And you think he's be up 20% in the polls. Go smoke a bowl.

The Bankruptcy of 21st Century Socialism

By Jorge G. Castañeda - June 2, 2018

Mr. Castañeda was foreign minister of Mexico from 2000 to 2003.  

MEXICO CITY — It is difficult to say whether the Cubana de Aviación airliner’s crash in Havana a few weeks ago or the mock elections in Venezuela on May 20 are the best illustration of the utter bankruptcy of the 21st century socialism that Hugo Chávez and Raúl Castro have so loudly touted. They are both tragedies that have cost avoidable deaths and caricatures of what is to come in both countries.  Cuba paid a heavy price for the initial, and perhaps enduring, successes of its revolution: education, health and dignity. But from the very beginning — with the exception of a few years between the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of its subsidies to Cuba in 1992 and the advent of Venezuelan support in 1999 — it always found someone to pay the bills. The next option was meant to be the United States. That no longer seems possible.  Venezuela, for its part, embarked on a perilous course with the election of Hugo Chávez in 1998 that was spurred further after a failed national oil workers strike in late 2002 and early 2003: building socialism after the Cold War, with support from Cuba and practically no one else. Cuban intelligence and security backing for Caracas continues, but high oil prices disappeared in 2014, and so did the Venezuelan government’s Saudi Arabian-like generosity to Havana. The glory days have been over for a long time; all that matters today is survival.  Barely months after the beginning of a transfer of power from the Castro era to a different, if not entirely new, arrangement in Havana, the island once again faces enormous economic and social challenges. They stem from three problems with no solutions.  First is the fall of tourism from the United States and the new tough line on Cuba adopted by the Trump administration. Through March of this year, the number of visitors from the United States is down more than 40 percent compared with 2017. This is partly because of travel warnings over safety issued by Washington, partly because of new travel restrictions put in place by President Trump and because after the initial boom of nostalgic tourism, Cuba is now competing for normal travelers with the rest of the Caribbean. Its beauty and charm do not easily outweigh other destinations’ far superior services and infrastructure, and lower prices. Today myriad start-up businesses — always thought to be too small and numerous to survive — that sprang up for United States visitors are failing as a result of falling tourism.  Second, American sanctions and Cuban fear of economic reforms have rendered the push for greater foreign investment somewhat futile. After an initial rush of highly publicized announcements, some United States companies have proved reluctant to run risks, particularly given Mr. Trump’s hostility toward all things Obama, and his dependence on Florida for re-election.  The economy has stopped growing, scarcities have re-emerged and new opportunities for employment and hard-currency earnings are not appearing. If one adds to this the government’s decision to suspend new cuentapropista or private self-employment permits, it is no surprise to discover that economic prospects are dim. Hence the appropriateness of the metaphor regarding the crash outside Havana: like the Cuban economy, the plane was old, poorly maintained, leased by the national airline because it was the only one it could afford, and the rest of Cubana de Aviación’s domestic fleet had already been grounded.  Which brings us to the third source of concern. Venezuela is no longer able to subsidize Cuba’s transition to a Vietnam-style socialist economy the way it did before.  True, reports from Houston last month suggested that Petróleos de Venezuela, known as Pdvsa, the country’s state-owned oil firm, purchased $440 million of crude oil on the open market and delivered it to Cuba at below cost and on credit. Cuba consumes roughly 170,000 barrels of oil a day and produces about 50,000. The difference has been made up by Venezuela, which formerly dispatched enough crude to address all of Cuba’s needs, allowing it to re-export some at a profit and pay for it through highly subsidized mechanisms. The fact that Pdvsa had to shop on the open market for Cuba´s oil shows that Venezuela no longer has that capacity. The country’s hard currency shortfalls, because of collapsing oil production — down 28 percent over the last 12 months — has also cut its ability to pay top dollar for Cuban doctors, teachers and intelligence personnel.  The alternative for Cuba was thought to reside in normalization with the United States, which has stalled following the end of the Obama administration. Venezuela, however, means more to the island country than hard currency and oil. Despite ongoing flirtations with China and Russia, it is Cuba’s only unconditional ally in the world, which is why the Venezuelan debacle is so worrisome.  The international community has intensified sanctions against President Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship. But this will produce little effect in Caracas unless Washington imposes oil-related restrictions: expropriating Citgo, the Pdvsa-owned oil company, or forbidding oil exports and imports to and from Venezuela. But for this not to play into Mr. Maduro’s hands, the Latin Americans and the Europeans would be obliged to support the measures and adopt similar ones.  

Herein lies the central question involving Venezuela, and ultimately, Cuba itself. At its annual assembly on June 5, the Organization of American States might consider a motion to suspend Venezuela; it will probably fail, but a stand will have been taken by the region’s democracies.  In the ensuing confrontation, anything can occur. The international community can decide, cynically but not illogically, that the country’s crisis is too dangerous to be left to Venezuelans. In this case, the only way to press the Maduro government to change course seems to be oil-based sanctions, led by but not limited to Washington.  This outcome would hit Cuba especially hard. If the current severe economic downturn produces widespread discontent (as in 1994, for example, with the so-called Maleconazo), the island regime will face a social crisis lacking the two fundamental remedies it always enjoyed. First, of course, was the Castros: Miguel Díaz-Canel, the new president, will have to deal with a major predicament without Fidel or Raúl Castro’s prestige. Second, he cannot count on the safety valve used repeatedly by the ruling brothers: migration to Miami, because the end of the wet-feet-dry-feet era entails the end of sailing, smuggling or swimming to the United States. Cuba has not faced discontent without those factors since the revolution, in 1959.  It is anybody’s guess how the regime will fare if unrest flares. The only certainty is the utter failure of so-called 21st century socialism, in Venezuela as such, in Cuba by another name.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2018/06/02/opinion/cuba-ven...

By the way, my Dad has coffee every Monday with the Biden transition leader (old college buddies). I hope to have coffee with him next Monday when I'm back east visiting my folks. I will ask him about the "no social programs" myself.

Did you grow up near that old whipping post they just removed?

I agree 100%, BK.

"Progressives started to focus on transition personnel after 2008, when they felt Barack Obama hired too many people with close ties to industry and Wall Street.

“Too often, the teams crafting incoming administrations have been stacked with figures who work for corporate interests, undermining the frameworks that make way for collective prosperity,” the signees wrote. “Unsurprisingly, the resultant administrations overwhelmingly reflect this inherent conflict of interest.”

Some on the left were heartened when Biden appointed former Delaware senator and longtime Biden adviser Ted Kaufman to head the transition effort given his tough-on-Wall Street approach during the Great Recession. Last month, Kaufman released a statement that the transition’s core values included a “diversity of ideology and background,” “transparency” and “the highest ethical standards to serve the American people and not special interests.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/29/left-challenges-biden-on-transi...

Ned:

"The family fight spilled into public view earlier Thursday. Ted Kaufman — Biden’s longtime chief of staff in the Senate, now leading his transition team — made the case for a more moderate approach in a Wall Street Journal interview, arguing the swelling deficit will limit what the next administration can pursue.

“When we get in, the pantry is going to be bare,” said Kaufman, who served the two remaining years in Biden’s last Senate term when he became vice president. “When you see what Trump’s done to the deficit … forget about covid-19, all the deficits that he built with the incredible tax cuts. So we’re going to be limited.”"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/08/21/finance-202-biden-pre...

And above in the thread I put AOC Tweet reply to Stephanie Kelton's tweet of Kaufman's quote.

Same article:

"Liberal critics seized on Kaufman’s comments. But Biden himself and other aides indicate the nominee is still weighing how ambitious his agenda should be if he's installed in the White House and the scale of the spending that will accompany it.

There's room to interpret the statements from Sullivan and Bates and what they suggest about where Biden would emphasize between more spending and minding the deficit. They didn't reassure liberals. And Vox's Dylan Matthews recently concluded Biden's advisers “insist he's a deficit hawk at heart.” "

And Ned, the article you quoted, the entire thing is basically about how progressive groups have pressured every single dem candidate for the last 10, 15 years, only to get fuck-all in results from them. Your article states that several dozen groups wrote a letter to Biden asking that he not appoint anybody who has served in a position of power in a related industry in the last 5 years, and he hasn't been able to give an answer. 

So basically the entire article is about how the progressive left is skeptical of the transition team, and you put the one quote that says that some on the left are heartened by the guy. Now, I don't know him from Adam, just that his quote about bare pantries seems ominous to me, especially coming from the person who has the closest pulse to what the candidate is thinking about as to their first period in office.

OK thanks. I still don't see him saying "no social programs". He's saying that the Trump tax cuts along with badly needed COVID-19 aid the budget is already stretched. I don't see where he says "no social programs". (I couldn't open that Wash Post link...it's a paid subscription page). A link to a tweet to a tweet response isn't very credible.

That said, the Biden/Harris platform appears to promote investing in jobs via investment in infrastructure:

"Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan ensures that – coming out of this profound public health and economic crisis, and facing the persistent climate crisis – we are never caught flat-footed again. He will launch a national effort aimed at creating the jobs we need to build a modern, sustainable infrastructure now and deliver an equitable clean energy future.

The current coronavirus crisis destroyed millions of American jobs, including hundreds of thousands in clean energy. It has exacerbated historic environmental injustices. And all this comes at a moment when the science tells us there is no time for delay on climate change. Biden will immediately invest in engines of sustainable job creation – new industries and re-invigorated regional economies spurred by innovation from our national labs and universities; commercialized into new and better products that can be manufactured and built by American workers; and put together using feedstocks, materials, and parts supplied by small businesses, family farms, and job creators all across our country.

We need millions of construction, skilled trades, and engineering workers to build a new American infrastructure and clean energy economy. These jobs will create pathways for young people and for older workers shifting to new professions, and for people from all backgrounds and all communities. Their work will improve air quality for our children, increase the comfort of our homes, and make our businesses more competitive. The investments will make sure the communities who have suffered the most from pollution are first to benefit — including low-income rural and urban communities, communities of color, and Native communities. And, Biden’s plan will empower workers to organize unions and bargain collectively with their employers as they rebuild the middle class and a more sustainable future. Biden will make a $2 trillion accelerated investment, with a plan to deploy those resources over his first term, setting us on an irreversible course to meet the ambitious climate progress that science demands."

https://joebiden.com/clean-energy/#

>> There's room to interpret the statements from Sullivan and Bates and what they suggest about where Biden would emphasize between more spending and minding the deficit. They didn't reassure liberals. <<

That's a very slippery conclusion. Timing is everything. The Biden/Harris campaign is trying to capture the middle right now more than appease the far left. It's politics.

Like I've said before, Ned - choosing Kamala as VP was, to me, a more positive signal than Susan Rice because of her progressive voting record. Biden is sending many progressive-ish signals, but a policy platform document doesn't really mean all that much, as presidents notoriously don't live up to them.

If he wins his actions in the first 100 days will be very telling. Regardless of how progressive he gets, I have no doubt that certain things will continue: war budget, industrial subsidies (pharma, ag, oil) and a Wall Street friendly approach.

It's amazing to me how people can downplay the influence and power of a president. You can visibly see how Trump is shaking the United States at its very foundations, bringing the constitution into question, radicalizing old polarities, emboldening smaller politicians to take more extreme stance, snubbing and shaming politicians that don't walk the line with his views, etc. And that's just in the US! A president shapes policy massively, or at least has the power to in American democracy. The social influence is tremendous, as well. So yeah, if a neolib wins, you can bet your ass that neolib policies will be the law of the land.

<<<>>>>That is complete bullshit. Every POTUS pretty much determines policy for their party (except Bush 2, of course). Bernie tried to sell his housing plan and it was rejected (by Democrats!) twice. And you think he's be up 20% in the polls. Go smoke a bowl.

of course it was rejected by the corporate dems, lol. god damn man, just own it. you support republican policy, don't think healthcare or housing is a human right, think of bernie as the angry old man that would've sent the country into a downward spiral. 

corporations own biden. fact. you can turn your back to that and feel good about it. 

and i will smoke a homegrown bowl. you go ahead and smoke your curaleaf grown cancer pen. 

<<<<>>>>By the way, my Dad has coffee every Monday with the Biden transition leader (old college buddies). I hope to have coffee with him next Monday when I'm back east visiting my folks. I will ask him about the "no social programs" myself.

bwahahahah! 

my daddy. 

>> Biden is sending many progressive-ish signals, but a policy platform document doesn't really mean all that much, as presidents notoriously don't live up to them. <

Well, you projected an out of context misquote on to someone that didn't say it based on a tweet of a tweet, and then embellished even more. Sure, policy platforms are never completely fulfilled, but it's more substantiated, or documented, than what you spit out. I'd guess the first 100 days will be consumed with COVID-19 depending on where we are in January.

What's the problem, pheater? I've known Kaufman my whole life, and he ended up being a US Senator for two years (as a placeholder...he had no interest in running in 2010). Should I be ashamed of that? LOL you're a miserable person. 

i'm not miserable. 

and yes, you should be. 

but people like you are insufferable. neoliberal hacks travel together. 

>> god damn man, just own it. you support republican policy, don't think healthcare or housing is a human right, think of bernie as the angry old man that would've sent the country into a downward spiral.  <<

Wrong (again!). I support all those things. I just thought Bernie would get crushed by Trump. And, getting Trump OUT is my #1 goal.

justify any way you gotta man. 

>> i'm not miserable.  <<

LOL....."own it"

if calling out neoliberals (who are the one responsible for giving us trump) makes me miserable, so be it. haha. 

im fine w/ that. 

I didn't project anything, Ned. The man said something with very clear implications. A very intelligent political analyst and many others picked up on it and retransmitted. I brought it to the table and have been open and clear about the ambiguity behind it. However, as an English teacher, the indirect language is pretty direct. 

You can interpret my posts however you want, but at least read them and respond to what I've said, not what you think I said.

"Do you think that Biden will be better for America, Trump will be better, or that they'll both be the same?"

I think that Biden, like all Dems before, will take the slow-burner approach that dems do. You make light social concessions that really aren't very meaningful, while fomenting and exacerbating the economic conditions that will continue to create social unrest. Right now, the social unrest level is so high, that I don't think Biden can calm it and certainly not with the slow-burner approach, which works better when initial tensions are lower. In summary, 4 years of Biden would likely lead to high degress of social unrest, potentially unmanageable, followed by another right-wing populist, this time even crazier than Trump (or Trump himself back for more).

If Trump wins, he will continue to pour gas on the tire fire, exacerbating the social tensions in the country to a point where people just won't tolerate it anymore. NO, I'm not talking about civil war. I'm talking about protests, direct actions, local pressure, etc. This could potentially lead to a deep reevaluation of the structures of American government, the powers given to a president and a clarification on what the collective values of the American people are.

Can you dig?

Brian what other causes of modern far-right populism do you see in the US today (the last 50 years or so)?

Fair enough. But, I responded with official policy that contradicts your interpretation of "indirect language". Then you simply dismissed it (I will guess because it doesn't match your narrative). That isn't a very genuine, nor intellectual response.

>>>>>>For all of Trump's bluster, he's done jack shit, except to divide the nation even further.

While folks have been focussed on the bluster, Trump has (mostly quietly) eliminated dozens of environmental and financial regulations by executive order. These are issues that actually affect peoples'  lives. Yes, some of them have been overturned by the courts, but the Trump administration has been on a fast track to stuff the appellate courts with right-wing judges.

You didn't respond with official policy, Ned. You responded with an official policy statement. Do you understand the difference between the two?

Right now Biden is bogged down by a heavy neoliberal voting record, in a context of a party that has an overwhelming neoliberal tendency. Ergo, one can predict that his actions will be more aligned with neoliberal ideology than with a progressive platform designed to woo the 30% of the voters who wanted Bernie...

the neoliberals (obama, biden, clinton, harris, etc.) constantly turning their backs on the working class, poor, average american, only to show unwavered support for anything and everything corporations, has led us to trump. 

look at modern day west virginia -- a once democrat stronghold. 

the "good guy" constantly saying we got your back, but only to be proven lies over and over again, has resulted in giving the fake populist a chance. 

"Then you simply dismissed it (I will guess because it doesn't match your narrative). That isn't a very genuine, nor intellectual response."

You can keep on making snide comments if you want, but I'm here addressing your points politely without attacking you, right?

>> Right now, the social unrest level is so high, that I don't think Biden can calm it and certainly not with the slow-burner approach, which works better when initial tensions are lower. In summary, 4 years of Biden would likely lead to high degress of social unrest, potentially unmanageable, followed by another right-wing populist, this time even crazier than Trump (or Trump himself back for more). <<

I disagree. GOP Senators will be unchained if/when Trump is gone. Biden will walk right up to the Hill himself and start mending bridges. 

<<<>>>>> Right now, the social unrest level is so high, that I don't think Biden can calm it and certainly not with the slow-burner approach, which works better when initial tensions are lower. In summary, 4 years of Biden would likely lead to high degress of social unrest, potentially unmanageable, followed by another right-wing populist, this time even crazier than Trump (or Trump himself back for more). <<

exactly. 

that's why it was incredibly foolish to push through a neoliberal. 

so if defeating trumpism is your goal, but you also don't want anything to change, biden is your man. 

very risky, as we saw what happened in 2016. 

nothing will change. biden said this himself. 

It's not snide, it's observational. You said "The man said something with very clear implications. A very intelligent political analyst and many others picked up on it and retransmitted. I brought it to the table and have been open and clear about the ambiguity behind it. However, as an English teacher, the indirect language is pretty direct."

I don't agree with your conclusion, and provided support. You concluded the tweet of a tweet resulted in "very clear implications", and when I provided support for my disagreement you discarded it like it doesn't matter. If you want to have a honest and respectful exchange, you have to listen to what the other person is saying. Dig?

>>>>>In summary, 4 years of Biden would likely lead to high degress of social unrest, potentially unmanageable, followed by another right-wing populist, this time even crazier than Trump (or Trump himself back for more).

So voting Biden leads to Trump. Voting Trump leads to Trump. You have not presented a reason not to vote for Biden.

This is for the Ignorant Sluts here, you know who you are

https://www.keepamericagreat.com/

I didn't discard it, Ned - I recognized it for what it is: a set of politicians' promises. Are you really going to tell me that this is something concrete like actual policy? Concrete like 40 years of Dems pushing neolib policy?

And your statement was that my response wasn't very intellectual. I'm not sure why anyone would care about intellect levels on the zone but uh, my responses have been pretty well thought out. You presented a policy proposal statement (a series of promises from a politician trying to unite a party to win an election) and I countered with Joe and the dems track record. I'm sorry if that's not intellectual enough. Next time I'll quote some philosopher or article, ok?

You're being a little sensitive, Javs.

You stated "Joe has already pretty much flat out stated they won't put any money into social programs of any sort."

Pretty much flat out stated? When Joe didn't make any such statement? I'm countering your dishonest and, yes, intellectually lazy posts. I'm no scholar, but I try to be fair and open minded. You come across as being not open to anything that doesn't square up with your opinion. 

I think you're a good guy, Javs. I always appreciate reading your opinions, both as a foreigner's view on US current events, and because you're a good dude. However, I will always respond to dishonest statements or unsupported conclusions.

You're right, Ned, that was a good bit of hyperbole on my part. I'll take the foul call on that one. 

So many words talking to yourselves ....  conjecture?

not gonna move the anyone's needle

up by 20 is a markedly absurd statement

...dems and pubs are the same..

believe what you choose to

What, no Socrates? :)

The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world, is to be in reality what we would appear to be, all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice and experience of them.

- Socrates ;)

Pheater should listed to Socrates a little more.

stop with the lies, heater. ned never fought against bernie or his policies. plus, thought you and timpy had thrown bernie out with the bath water? y'all are confusing, especially for someone like me who voted for bernie in the primary.

"If Trump wins, he will continue to pour gas on the tire fire, exacerbating the social tensions in the country to a point where people just won't tolerate it anymore. NO, I'm not talking about civil war. I'm talking about protests, direct actions, local pressure, etc. This could potentially lead to a deep reevaluation of the structures of American government, the powers given to a president and a clarification on what the collective values of the American people are."

Yah, man, that's where we are at now.  Your post is 4 years too late. This is our reality now and the election is between Trump and Biden.  Bernie is not in it, except to support Biden. Wtf.  All your macro-level analysis really misses the mark for time and place.  

what other causes of modern far-right populism do you see in the US today (the last 50 years or so)?

Um - far right populism is the US did not start 50 years ago.  White supremacy, including anti-semitism, go a bit farther back, as I'm sure you know. Trump has made it "ok." 

In 2016, Russian trolls tried to convince the Sanders supporters that Clinton was no different from Trump.

Fact.

Javs -- What was false about the Dems' platitudes for Joe or other convention material?  I do agree that it was advertising, but it was not false and, therefore, propoganda, like RNC/Trump. 

Also, to disregard the similarities between Trump and Hitler/nazis and, then, additionally, to conflate the propaganda issue/discussion with that picture of Obama is either great trolling or another example of your arguments missing the mark by taking too macro of a view.  Yah, they are all the same. They were humans standing in front of flags.  Just like an elephant is the same as a lizard because they are both animals. And that's a Fact - not theory - because I say so. 

Exactly, Infinite one.  What the hell is the motivation to not support Biden/dems in the upcoming election? I'm not a democrat and agree that the DNC and the dems in my home state of California are a "machine" that I do not support or like.  However, it/they is/are the lesser or two evils, which is how I will vote, for the November 3, 2020 election.  I hope every other voter does too. 

>> If Trump wins, he will continue to pour gas on the tire fire, exacerbating the social tensions in the country to a point where people just won't tolerate it anymore. NO, I'm not talking about civil war. I'm talking about protests, direct actions, local pressure, etc. This could potentially lead to a deep reevaluation of the structures of American government, the powers given to a president and a clarification on what the collective values of the American people are.

This could potentially lead to a deep reevaluation?  The Don won four years ago.  How's that deep reevaluation working out so far?  If he's elected for another four years, he is the one who will redefine what American government will look like and not in a good way.  As for the collective values of the American people, they are varied and heterogeneous, not monolithic. Bloviating theorems that electing the Don will lead to better days ahead because people will then reject neo liberalism, may work in an alternate universe.  IMHO this approach has no validity on planet earth.  YMMV.

He could make America more like Manhattan. That's got to be good. 

Sean Hannity is a New Yorker. So is Tom Fitton.

Not propaganda, lies or fear-mongering: yes, Joe Biden is the lesser of two evils, but more importantly, he's a better human being. Vote for a better human being, or a mean-ass turkey dick scum wad?

All of the "he's a neolib, he's corporate, he's ____________" (you fill in the blank) are outside what may be most important, that Biden and Harris are better humans. Do you have kids or grandkids? Trump does not have the welfare of your kids in mind, nor of the planet. What are you thinking about?

So give Biden any designation you like, but he's a better human being.

And Biden is not a fascist. Right on, Judit.  Vote Biden. 

Bernie Bro's For Biden

"Because it's bigger than us"

When are we going to see those signs? 

Judit wise 

kind

caring

succinctly stated

care for humans and our planet   Or justify being a .......windbag whiner

Biden is definitely unquestionably a better person and not a fascist. I will vote for him and I still reserve the right to make fun of him. I think our people will be safer with sleepy joe sleeping in the White House.

“‘That’s the real issue this time’, he said, ‘Beating Nixon. It’s hard to even guess how much damage those bastards will do if they get in for another four years.’
“The argument was familiar, I had even made it myself, here and there, but I was beginning to sense something very depressing about it. How many more of these goddamn elections are we going to have to write off as lame, but ‘regrettably necessary’ holding actions? And how many more of these stinking double-downer sideshows will we have to go through before we can get ourselves straight enough to put together some kind of national election that will give me and the at least 20 million people I tend to agree with a chance to vote for something, instead of always being faced with that old familiar choice between the lesser of two evils?
“Now with another one of these big bogus showdowns looming down on us, I can already pick up the stench of another bummer. I understand, along with a lot of other people, that the big thing this year is Beating Nixon. But that was also the big thing, as I recall, twelve years ago in 1960 - and as far as I can tell, we’ve gone from bad to worse to rotten since then, and the outlook is for more of the same.”
Hunter S. Thompson 1972 

Nixon, Reagan, Bush, GW and now Trump all fucked up our county  and the Democrats came back to clean up their messes. Cleaning up after Trump is going to take years, and yeah Biden/Harris  can pick up where Obama left off, and if the Democrats take back the Senate it will be better for everyone. 
 

Progress is stalled each time the idealists have their tantrums that the candidates aren't  just exactly what they want or that change, the 'revolution' isn't  happening fast enough. But that's because it's 1 step forward and 2 steps backwards every fucking time a Republican is in office. And damn straight things would be better after 4 years of  President Hillary Clinton. 

*The damage Trump is doing to national security, civil rights  and election integrity may never be undone.

 If the Democrats do t start doing some serious damage control, and going on the offensive, we'll have another 4 years of Trump. 

I agree, Brian, but I don't think they'll do it. 

1. Cult of the Personality. This show was all about Trump. ( 3 years after the death of Stalin, Khrushchev's gave his secret speech in 1956, titled "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences." I wonder if a future GOP leader will give a similar speech someday?)

2. Administrative resources. Autocrats and semi-autocrats frequently use government resources for personal electoral gain. We have #HatchAct to prevent such behavior in the U.S. It's obviously not working.

3. Blatant disregard for the law. That Trump's team dared anyone to charge them with violating the #HatchAct is exactly what Putin and others autocrats do all the time. Laws don't apply to the king & his court, only to the subjects.

4. Blatant disregard for facts. As U.S. ambassador to Russia, I found this Putin regime trait most frustrating. We - the U.S. government- were constrained by facts. They were not. Trump obviously was not constrained by facts last night. He usually isn't:

5. Us versus Them populism. "Elites" versus "the people" nationalism. Autocratic populists use polarizing identity politics to divide societies all the time. Many populist leaders actually have little in common with the "masses." (Putin is very rich.)

6. The opposition is the "enemy of the people." Putin & other autocratic populists cast their opponents as radicals & revolutionaries. They don't focus on their own records - often there is little to celebrate - but the horrors that will happen if they lose power. Sound familiar?

6b. There is one difference between Putin and Trump so far. Putin also claims falsely that his political opponents are supported by foreign enemies, the U.S. & the West. Trump has not gone there full-throated yet. But my guess it's coming. "Beijing Biden" is a hint.

7. Law and Order. Autocratic populists all shout about it, even when the opposite is happening on their watch.

8. The good tsar versus the bad boyars. Kings and tsars always blamed bad provincial leaders for national ills. Putin blames the governors all the time... just like Trump.

9. Individual acts of royal kindness. Putin, like the tsars he emulates, does this all the time. Trump offering a pardon or "granting" citizenship (which of course he didnt & doesn't have the power to do) are typical, faux gestures of royal kindness toward his subjects.

10. Homage and fealty. Vassals must signal their complete loyalty and absolute devotion to kings and autocrats. Those that don't are banished from the royal court or the party. (Where were the Bushes last night?)

11. The royal family. In this dimension, Trump acts more like a monarch than even Putin. (but watch Lukashenko and his gun-toting teenage son in Belarus)The many Trump family members who performed this week - even a girlfriend got a slot - went beyond even what Putin does.

12. There's still one big difference. We still don't know who will win the November election. That uncertainty is a crucial difference between electoral democracies & electoral autocracies. Its also a difference that has no guarantee of lasting, depending on the outcome this year

https://twitter.com/McFaul

i haven't lied, jr. where's the lie? 

ned was screaming "bernie the socialist" along w/ thod and that razzmatazz guy. ned even stated unions don't like bernie b/c theywnant

to keep their employee based healthcare. haha. that one was classic. 

also. who is saying biden isn't a better human than trump? no shit. 

that doesn't say much tho lol. extremely low bar. 

how come biden won't/can't endorse a m4a bill? during the pandemic? 

you all refuse to acknowledge how fucked that is. 

whatever. 

lltd "all lives matter" psychobabble king -- good stuff.