Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Republicans don’t trust women.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

As long as McCarthy is Speaker, the House will never be in order.

Everybody saw this coming.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

This blog will pay for itself.

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

You are here: Home / Civil Rights / LGBTQ Rights / LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights / Thursday Evening Open Thread: Because It’s the Right Thing to Do

Thursday Evening Open Thread: Because It’s the Right Thing to Do

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A possible explanation for MTG’s latest outbreak of public bigotry. Gonna be interesting, shall we say, for Sen. Krysten Sinema to reconcile her support for LGBTQ rights with her defense of the filibuster here…

The House voted Thursday to pass the Equality Act, a far-reaching measure that has been decades in the making and would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The legislation was passed by the House in 2019 but blocked in the Republican-led Senate. This time, Democrats control the White House, House and Senate. President Biden has signaled his support for the measure, but it still faces an uphill fight in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to break a legislative filibuster.

“The Civil Rights Act is a sacred pillar of freedom in our country. It is not amended lightly,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a House floor speech Thursday afternoon. She thanked members of the Congressional Black Caucus who “gave their imprimatur to the opening of the Civil Rights Act to end discrimination against LGBTQ Americans.”

After a tense and often personal debate, the House voted 224 to 206 for the measure, with three Republicans joining all Democrats to vote yes…

The Equality Act has been a pillar of the LGBTQ civil rights movement since similar legislation was first discussed after the Stonewall riots in 1969. Democratic Rep. Bella Abzug of New York was the main sponsor of the Equality Act in 1974; other prominent supporters of the legislation included Rep. Ed Koch (D-N.Y.).

In the ensuing decades, public opinion has shifted dramatically toward support of such protections. More than 8 in 10 Americans favor laws that would protect LGBTQ people against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations and housing, according to a 2020 Public Religion Research Institute American Values Survey…

(Rep. Abzug, along with Rep. Shirley Chisholm, was my adolescent legislative hero. I’m glad she gets the credit she earned here.)

Reader Interactions

213Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    Everyone who ever said there’s no difference between the parties should be thrown in a lake.

    ETA: 第二

  3. 3.

    Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    We would never in a million years dream of adopting the 60-vote supermajority requirement if it was a newly proposed idea. Why is it  any better when it’s a bad old idea?

    ETA: Thrid  ETAA: Dry!

  4. 4.

    germy

    Mitch McConnell tells Fox he'll support the Republican nominee in 2024, even if it's Trump.

    Just days ago, McConnell said Trump is "practically and morally responsible for provoking" the Capitol insurrection.

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 25, 2021

    Democrats fall in love. Republicans fall in line.

  8. 8.

    germy

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I’m so old I remember when Mitch said “Former President Trump’s actions preceding the riot were a disgraceful dereliction of duty.”

    And then Trump replied “Mitch is a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack.”

    Twin deplorables.

  9. 9.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @germy: McConnell also said he wouldn’t support a bipartisan inquiry into the January 6th insurrection. Let’s see if anyone holds him accountable for his multiple conflicting positions or if they just applaud his brilliant tap-dancing.

  10. 10.

    Brachiator

    @germy:

    Mitch McConnell tells Fox he’ll support the Republican nominee in 2024, even if it’s Trump.

    Just days ago, McConnell said Trump is “practically and morally responsible for provoking” the Capitol insurrection.

    McConnell has no morals. It is all about furthering his own power and GOP control of the government.

    Democrats fall in love. Republicans fall in line.

    I can’t respect the Republicans for their mindless “follow the leader” antics.

     

  11. 11.

    The Thin Black Duke

    Mitch circling the wagons let’s us know that as much as the GOP hates itself right now, they hate us even more. Mitch’s Last Stand sounds like a noble and worthwhile goal, though.

  15. 15.

    Jeffro

    @germy: just saw that on Twitter.

    This *is* the GQP playbook: say one thing, then the other, lather, rinse, repeat ad infinitum.  The ultimate in gaslighting.

    “We thank president* trumpov for all that he has done for our party…nevertheless, he is a danger to our democracy…and yet, we must thank him for unifying our party and giving voice to so many…however, we must move on, as he clearly has multiple lawsuits/indictments that do not speak well of his character…”

    On and on, until he either keels over, is hauled away in chains, or someone new scumbag rises to the top and takes up the cause.  Anything but accountability, anything but letting their base realize they’ve been suckered, anything but relinquishing power.

  17. 17.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Loving all the women and people of color on MSNBC these days. Even Michael Steele. He thought Trump was a funny antidote to liberals until Charlottesville then he had a come to Jesus moment.

  21. 21.

    Ned F.

    Other than naked bigotry, I cannot understand the argument that this bill is against “religious freedom”.

  24. 24.

    Jeffro

    @Baud: closing in on 2/3 of their party that feels that way, yup.

    Most Democrats say that they tend to view Republicans as political opponents. Most Republicans say that they tend to view Democrats as enemies.

    The gap between the two parties on this question is stark. There’s a 32-point difference on net between how Democrats view Republicans and vice versa, on a question positing that members of a political party might be viewed with overt hostility. It’s grim — and it is consistent with increasingly hostile partisan views over time.

  26. 26.

    Jeffro

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

     

    @Baud: quick scan says…yes, it’s conservative-leaning compared to the generations before and after it

    …pollsters who track the generations show Xers as more Republican than other groups. In the Morning Consult survey, for instance, Joe Biden has led consistently with baby boomers since the spring, while Generation X is the only generation with whom Trump occasionally pulls into a tie.

    Lovely.  My generation of Reagan Babies.

    Fortunately it’s just an average and there are plenty of us who didn’t buy into the nonsense…but plenty did.  =(

  31. 31.

    MomSense

    @Jeffro:

    My generation.  I watched it happen in real time.  They fell for the Reagan bullshit.  High school was hell with all the wannabe Alex P. Keatons.

  35. 35.

    Jay

    @Ned F.:

    certain Religious Groups ( cough cough) have enshrined the right to be a shithead to certain other people in their dogma, ( Dog is a made up SkyGod, Dogma is a bunch of hate and made up “rules” a real dog would never tolerate).

    So, not being allowed by law, to be a shithead, with out “sparkling consequences”, impinges on their “freedom to hate and act on it”.

    Back in the ‘80’s a bunch of shithead “Clubs”, “Cultural Communities” and so called “Religious Groups” hired a Nazi named Doug Christie to sue SHARP, because their “Public Safety Patrols” interfered with their “right” to go “wilding” in Downtown  Vancouver with out consequences*.

    Their Court Case did not go well.

    (* eg, one of many, 4 “dudes” out wilding, were interrupted in their assault of a guy leaving the Odyssey,  were badly beaten, broken bones and all, propped up against a wall and their jacked up pickup was torched. 9/11 was called and the EMT’s were told to look to the left of the burning truck.)

  36. 36.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Baud: Gen X splits about down the middle. You have the early Gen X who remember “morning in America” and then you have the later ones who remember the disaster of Bush followed by the calm pragmatism of Clinton.

    Most importantly, however, Gen X is motivated by a resentment of the coddled Boomer generation who (mostly) had the benefit of robust public programs and a single breadwinner with a parent at home. Gen X saw both parents go to work and basically raised themselves.

    So Gen X is particularly animated by the notion that government doesn’t work for them and they are naturally inclined to anyone who points that out. Even demagogues.

    Even more weirdly, Gen X is most likely to be those moderates you are always carrying on about until you suddenly decide they are all conservatives.

  41. 41.

    Jay

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    like so called “boomers”, Gen X splits between the economic and social consequences of public policy changes and their impacts.

    Older Gen X’ers tend to have a bunch of Alex P. Keaton embedded dogma. Younger, more Malcom X.

  43. 43.

    John S.

    @Just Some Fuckhead: I am one of those later GenXers. My wife too. Our first election we voted for Clinton in 1996. We have both been liberal Democrats ever since.

    My one brother on the other hand… early GenXer, total whack job Trump humper and conspiracy nut.

  44. 44.

    Alison Rose

    @Ned F.: In their mind, “religious freedom” means “I’m allowed to treat anyone as badly as I want because I think the Bible tells me to.” Never mind the fact that I’m pretty sure the word transgender doesn’t appear anywhere in the Bible.

    Plus, these fuckers act like right wing evangelical Christians have a monopoly on religion, and as though no queer or trans people are religious. Rawr.

  47. 47.

    Omnes Omnibus

    I suppose that the upside of the episode of generation bashing is that people are bashing a different generation.  Outside of that, it is just as stupid as every other one.

  49. 49.

    Jeffro

    @MomSense: they fell for the Reagan bullshit

    Yup, that and the Wall Street “greed is good” mentality, Gingrich’s “Contract (On) America”, and so on.  All the Ayn Rand revivalism too – my brother is one of those folks.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    @Jay:

    Minimum wage increase imperiled in covid relief bill by Senate official’s ruling

    Parliamentarian says the $15 hourly minimum wage, a liberal priority, not allowed in relief bill as written under Senate rules

  54. 54.

    Jay

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    lumpers, splitters or stereotypes?

    Technically a Boomer, but no boom for me, born too late.

    However, it was my “cohort” that did deliberately fuck up a lot of the safety nets they benefitted from for subsequent generations.

  55. 55.

    Jeffro

    @Baud:Parliamentarian rules against minimum wage [increase]

    …in this particular Covid relief bill, since it’s having to be done under reconciliation due to GQP obstruction.

    So move on, Dems, get the relief bill enacted without it, and get the checks flowing and claim credit loudly and widely, and take up a minimum wage increase bill separately a.s.a.p.

    And beat the RWNJs about the head and neck constantly with their opposition to the increase for the next 2/4/6/8 years.

  58. 58.

    Eolirin

    @Jeffro: Unless Manchin and Sinema change their positions on the filibuster, a minimum wage increase is not getting through the senate period.

  59. 59.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Regarding the US strikes on Iranian-backed groups in Syria, it is certainly a relief that we can once again bomb brown people without worrying that Armageddon is the end goal.

  61. 61.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Eolirin:

    Unless Manchin and Sinema change their positions on the filibuster, a minimum wage increase is not getting through the senate period.

    Not quite yet. They can choose to disregard the parliamentarian by a simple majority vote. Republicans have done it a couple of times.

  62. 62.

    Baud

    @Jay:

    the guidance from the parliamentarian, elizabeth macdonough, was communicated privately to key senate offices and confirmed by aides in both parties. it could be a major setback for liberals hoping to use biden’s $1.9 trillion relief bill as the vehicle for their long-sought goal of raising the federal minimum wage from its current level of $7.25 an hour.

    It’s pretty solid.

  63. 63.

    Eolirin

    I wish I could see some way to make the Republicans pay for not providing the necessary votes for cloture instead of the death this is likely to face in the senate becoming another line of attack on Democrats.

  65. 65.

    cain

    @Jeffro: Very disappointed in my people. On the other hand they are in that crazy 50s stage where they are all trying to save up for retirement or having a mid year crises –

  66. 66.

    Benw

    @Jeffro: phew. I was just startin to think “wow this trickle down stuff really makes some sense, lemme grab a copy of The Fountainhead.” Thanks for pulling me back from the brink

  67. 67.

    cain

    @MomSense:

    My generation.  I watched it happen in real time.  They fell for the Reagan bullshit.  High school was hell with all the wannabe Alex P. Keatons

    Right? I think a lot of my generation was in love with Reagan too.. I never fell for his bullshit.

  68. 68.

    Eolirin

    @Just Some Fuckhead: I’m skeptical we can get to 50 on that kind of vote, and I think Manchin is on record as not being super behind the minimum wage increase, and this is an effective way for him to kill it without killing important and popular legislation.

    We really needed 52 in the senate.

  69. 69.

    Obvious Russian Troll

    @Omnes Omnibus: I kind of wish people would stick to the “your generation can’t drive a stick” nonsense. At least that’s easy to ignore.

    (And not being able to drive a stick is at least in part a function of age and class. As an upper middle class kid whose dad worked for one of the auto companies, I might never have learned how to drive a stick if my lower middle class girlfriend and eventual wife had not bought a 1985 Ford Escort.)

  71. 71.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Baud: Great, take the vote so everyone who has no idea what a parliamentarian is knows who blocked a minimum wage increase.

  72. 72.

    Suzanne

    I took the afternoon off work and took SuzMom for Fauci Ouchie Part Deux. Then we went and walked around a (nearly empty) Pottery Barn. I didn’t buy anything. It felt so nice to be normal, for just a few minutes.

  73. 73.

    cain

    @MomSense:

    My generation.  I watched it happen in real time.  They fell for the Reagan bullshit.  High school was hell with all the wannabe Alex P. Keatons

    Right? I think a lot of my generation was in love with Reagan too.. I never fell for his bullshit.

     

    @Jay:

    Older Gen X’ers tend to have a bunch of Alex P. Keaton embedded dogma. Younger, more Malcom X.

    I’m the same age as John G. Cole – so I think I’m on the early set of Gen Xers and I think most of the crowd I hang out with tend to be somewhat moderate. I know of us will vote for either party depending – certainly that was me until Bush the younger.

  75. 75.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Eolirin: No issues. Take the vote. Put Manchin and Sinema on the record as being more concerned with stupid rules specifically designed to thwart democracy than working families.

  76. 76.

    cain

    @Eolirin:

    @Jeffro: Unless Manchin and Sinema change their positions on the filibuster, a minimum wage increase is not getting through the senate period.

    Just put shit up there that Sinema cares about and promises her voters and watch it go up in smoke. It’ll be fun when she goes back and has nothing to show for it. You can always depend on GOP to piss people off – maybe Manchin is still buddy buddy with GOPs but they still view him as the enemy.

  77. 77.

    Jay

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    again YMMV by as little as a year. My older brother graduated with no debt, ( low tuition), money in the bank, ( co-ops), 3.4% mortgage rate and a 1.1% unemployment rate.

    I graduated a year later with $20k in debt, (300% tuition increases), no money in the bank, ( unpaid internships), 27% mortgage rates and 11.9% unemployment.

    While he made $100k to $1 million a year for decades, it wasn’t until I was in my 40’s that I broke the $50k barrier.

    One year can make a huge difference.

    The only “Boomer Benefits” I get are a breaking down body and a retail jerb.

  78. 78.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Obvious Russian Troll: I had an ’84 GTI; it had a five speed manual.  Pretty much any foreign performance car had a manual back in the ’80s.  I am not sure how much class comes into play here.  Age sure.

  81. 81.

    Ken

    More than 8 in 10 Americans favor laws that would protect LGBTQ people

    I’m really thinking the Crazification Factor has dropped.

  82. 82.

    Jay

    @Obvious Russian Troll:

    stick vs auto is like most things, more complex than that.

    I learned to drive a stick, ( on my own),  because my first car was a hot rodded, ex Ontario Rally Racing, Fiat 128. Also learned to rebuild a transaxel manual transmission because when I bought it, only 3rd and 4th worked.

  85. 85.

    Ohio Mom

    As a later baby-boomer who was an older first time mom, my mom peers have all been Gen Xers.

    The ones I’ve kept up with are fellow special needs moms and Democrats, and the interesting thing to me is, none of them can grok the social model of disability — the idea that systemic barriers and prejudice are in large part what makes a disability disabling.

    It is a social justice approach to thinking about disability and they just can’t see it. They can only see the medical model of disability.

    I think it is because they did not grow up witnessing all the mass social movements I did (Civil rights and Black Power, Women’s Liberation, anti-war, the first Earth Day, etc). It’s a hole they don’t even know they have.

  87. 87.

    James E Powell

    So, no minimum wage increase right now.

    How about we bring it up in a stand alone bill and force senators to vote on it?

  89. 89.

    Jay

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    70’s, 80’s and 90’s imports were manual heavy for reliability and mpg.

    ”Sport” models until the late ‘Aughts were mostly manuals until the advent of the Semi auto paddle shift.

  90. 90.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    I loved Family Ties but thought Alex was a  douche.  My sister had one of those “Greed is Good” pictures that I brought to college with me in 93 because I thought it was funny, not because I believed it.  The majority of my Gen X friends are ignorant political assholes

  91. 91.

    Brachiator

    @Baud:

    Parliamentarian rules against minimum wage.

    Too bad. The fight will have to continue.

    I think that a $15 minimum wage is necessary as part of a post-pandemic economic policy. The Democrats also need to increase the Earned Income Credit for lower income taxpayers who do not have children (and I think there is some of this in the Covid relief package).

  92. 92.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @James E Powell: If they’re just going to let this go now, the next best thing in the short term is the Romney/Cottonazi proposal for a $10/hour minimum wage. After that, the longer term play is to put the $15 hour minimum wage increase in a defense bill. That’s how they did it last time.

  94. 94.

    NotMax

    Oy vey. Which wiseacre is behind pulling the dust cover off and putting fresh batteries in the Whack-A-Gen™ machine?

  95. 95.

    Baud

    @NotMax:

    It’s not bashing. We’re just talking about the voting propensities of a particular age group.

    But it’s Dorothy Windsor’s fault at # 19 for confusing Gen X and Gen Z.

  96. 96.

    Jay

    @Ohio Mom:

    not sure. Dealing with disability takes a lot of time and focus. Not a lot of people manage to look outside their boxes to see the systemic “nature” of the various “systems”.

    SWMBO, who is coming up on 60, and is Metis, only discovered “colonialism” and “structural colonialism”, two years ago.

  101. 101.

    Ohio Mom

    Suzanne @ 72: Oh, how I miss window shopping! In a month when my second shot is two weeks in the rear window, I’m taking myself to IKEA and the big antique mall. Just to look at things I haven’t seen before.

  105. 105.

    Brachiator

    @Baud:

    The House bill’s provisions making the full Child Tax Credit available to all children… and expanded Earned Income Credit.

    Yeah, I usually track this stuff, but have been super busy lately.

    I wish we had postal banking or really cheap, reliable Internet banking to make it easier for lower income people to get access to these funds.

    But it is progress if they can get this bill done.  They also need to maintain the income thresholds for the stimulus payments.

  106. 106.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Good news: I’m buying worthless car repair insurance because Chris Berman and Ice-T told me to.

  110. 110.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @cain: I used to think Sinema was primarily  worried about winning reelection in AZ. Now, i think Sinema is trying to get her bonafides of being a bipartisan – meet you in the middle – moderate blah blah blah for a presidential run or veep pick. The AZ reelection is secondary.

  112. 112.

    Jay

    Military pwn of the Week.

    Confirmed reports that the Russian superweapon, Iskander was both deployed and used in the recent Azeri-Armenian conflict, ( by the Armenians) with roughly 10% of the missiles hitting their targets and exploding.

    To counter it, the Russian MOD released footage of “precision” strikes,

    which were geolocated by internet sleuths,

    to be in Syria,

    on Civilian Hospitals,

    that at the time, and still, Russia denies attacking.

  114. 114.

    rjnerd

    I have some good things to talk about for a change.  First, after a week of doing battle with a dozen inconsistent, and often overloaded web sites, I managed to secure an appointment for vaccination.   Its even soon, and close to home.  (First shot on Sunday)  I had been looking at mid march, and 30+ miles away…

     

    The second was something that popped up.  One of my favorite technology teaching shows, a BBC series called “The Secret Life of Machines” has a successor done by the earlier show’s creator, Tim Hunkin.  The new show is “The Secret Life of Components” and its mostly Tim trying to pass on some of his half century’s experience of building strange and wondrous things.    Anyhow, it will show up on YouTube starting next week.  There is a trailer out https://youtu.be/6JAgXz6xO0s

  115. 115.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @James E Powell:

    I’m preparing for a twitter explosion of Biden Betrayed Us! 

    To be fair, White House Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, got on the teevee machine and said the Biden administration didn’t want the parliamentarian to be overruled.

  125. 125.

    Jay

    @Gin & Tonic:

    came from the factory, already composting.

    hella a lot of fun though, with just 55 hp.

    competed in the West Coast Rally in her. Up to 80mph on twisty paved mountain roads, up to 70mph on logging roads, lots of airtime.

  127. 127.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Gin & Tonic: ​  But you are also one of those people who understands that that just because something is served in the same kind of stemware as a martini doesn’t make it one.​ IOW a distinct minority.

  134. 134.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @MomSense: i think Gen Xrs were influenced by first by the Carter Iran Hostage crisis, then hit with Reagan/Bush for 12 year making a majority of their first votes for the GOP. Add in not crazy student debt, AIDS(remember the homophobia), rah rah American wars, the beginning of the tech revolution and financial engineering which accelerated wealth concentration and top it off with the big dollop of a right wing evangelical movement spreading their poisonous message.

  138. 138.

    Obvious Russian Troll

    @Omnes Omnibus: I may be reading more into my own experience, but my experience in general has been that people in the middle class were more likely to drive manual transmissions. Working class people were more likely to have a stick, and upper middle class people were the ones driving foreign performance cars.

    Also, I’m originally from suburban Detroit so (at least back in the day) we had fewer foreign performance cars. If you worked for one of the automobile companies, at one point they literally made you park in a different section if you had a foreign car.

    Having said that, I’ve driven a manual transmission whenever I could since that ’85 Ford Escort.

  151. 151.

    Jay

    @Obvious Russian Troll:

    auto transmissions used to be a cost/convenience thing. They cost more to buy, used more fuel, sucked performance wise, ( remember shifter kits?), Two speeds, then three. Push button ones were a hoot.

  156. 156.

    James E Powell

    @Brachiator:

    I’m surprised it’s taken so long. I bet “Before Valentine’s Day” on the “When will they say Biden betrayed us?” line. Never been much of a success at gambling.

  159. 159.

    Percysowner

    Pelosi refuses to remove minimum wage hike from stimulus after parliamentarian rules it out of order

    And Bernie is working to get something that will pass muster with the Parliamentarian.
    Here is the Plan B to raise wages after $15 an hour move was killed by Senate parliamentarian

    “In the coming days, I will be working with my colleagues in the Senate to move forward with an amendment to take tax deductions away from large, profitable corporations that don’t pay workers at least $15 an hour and to provide small businesses with the incentives they need to raise wages. That amendment must be included in this reconciliation bill,” Sanders argued.

    I’m proud to be a Democrat

  163. 163.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @James E Powell:

    Oh that’s happened already on Twitter. WaPo tweeted an article about the completion of the first child detention center built under the Biden Admin which was probably already under construction before he took office and the usual suspects (more than likely RW trolls) in the replies were all, “Haha, hypocritical libs going ‘um actually it’s a child overflow center’ lol”

  164. 164.

    Fair EconomistI

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    To be fair, White House Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, got on the teevee machine and said the Biden administration didn’t want the parliamentarian to be overruled.

    I think that’s a mistake. The best response would be “we regret the parliamentarian is misinterpreting rules and forcing the deficit up by blocking a measure to reduce it.”

    And, then, *every* time somebody mentions the budget deficit, respond “the problem with the budget deficit is the Senate filibuster rules which are being used to block deficit reduction measures like the minimum wage”. Weaponize it. *Every* time.

  165. 165.

    Fair EconomistI

    @Percysowner:

    And Bernie is working to get something that will pass muster with the Parliamentarian.
    Here is the Plan B to raise wages after $15 an hour move was killed by Senate parliamentarian

    “In the coming days, I will be working with my colleagues in the Senate to move forward with an amendment to take tax deductions away from large, profitable corporations that don’t pay workers at least $15 an hour and to provide small businesses with the incentives they need to raise wages. That amendment must be included in this reconciliation bill,” Sanders argued.

    I’m proud to be a Democrat

    Go Bernie! Good tactic.

  169. 169.

    J R in WV

    @Just Some Fuckhead: ​
     

    @Jay: Every social security “reform” plan protects Boomers, fucks over Gen X.

    Jay isn’t eligible for Social Security, he’s Canadian. I disagree with your premise, anyway. No reform plan for Social Security screws later participants. Just stopping the limit on income being charged into SS payments would make Social Security a done deal for generations to come.

  172. 172.

    Chetan Murthy

    @J R in WV:

    No reform plan for Social Security screws later participants.

    Perhaps your disagreement with Jay is just about the word “reform”.  I remember very well that a number of GrOPer “reform” plans over the years, have had a cutoff at 55, where people older got the current plan, and people younger got something much less, while still paying the same taxes as before.

    It’s true that no Democratic plan is that …. blisteringly evil.  And for instance, “raise the income cap for FICA taxes” is a Dem plan I’ve heard before.

  173. 173.

    Jay

    @J R in WV:

    we have OAP here, ( Old Age Pension), a different but also similar system. Decades of Reganism/Thatcherism up here has done similar damage.

    With OAP, a part time job, a paid for house, coupon clipping and  the occasional foray to a foodbank, one can survive, if you live long enough to collect it.

  174. 174.

    J R in WV

    @Baud:

    But it’s Dorothy Windsor’s fault at # 19 for confusing Gen X and Gen Z.

    We Boomers aren’t sure which alphabetic letter goes with which decade of birth, so cut Dorothy Winsor some slack, OK?~!!!~

  177. 177.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Fair EconomistI: I wish they would stop saying $15/ hr..in this case I think its better to say $30,000 a year. Even $28K after you take out Medicare. Lots of people who make $50-$75K salaries may not realize $15 works out to $30K not some high on the hog income. I  also wish they would include that its gradual to 15 not right off the bat. 

  187. 187.

    Subsole

    @Eolirin: Neither is voting rights. Which is pretty much game, set, match.

    Maybe Sinema and Manchin can go have a nice kumbaya bipartisan negotiation with the GOP over how much Red State Democrats’ votes should be worth.

    Six tenths sound good? I like six tenths. Pretty sure those two pudding-brained clowndicks would go for that.

  188. 188.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @J R in WV: politically i think thats bad for Dems because I think it’ll affect more highish income Dems(college educated high tech) unless you do break between 100-125ish and start again at 125.   I would like to at least see a discussion on a  transaction tax which may help stabilize markets .

  189. 189.

    Jay

    to simplify: If the vice president says, "parliamentarian is wrong," you need 60 votes to overrule her. So 40 votes to keep minimum wage increase in the bill and 50+1 to pass it. If Sinema or Manchin sink the whole thing over it there's literally no hope for passing anything.— 'Weird Alex' Pareene (@pareene) February 26, 2021

  190. 190.

    Subsole

    @Mai Naem mobile: Then she’s dumber than I thought.

    The GOP already broke democracy in my state. They’ll break it in hers, too. They stole our votes, they’ll steal her constituents’ as well.

  193. 193.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    @Jay: I don’t know if Sinema is smart or lucky.  I don’t know if she won against McSally because McSally was a crappy candidate or because Sinema ran a smart campaign or because 2018. I know McSally looks like a big loser after Kelly  but she had a damn good resume and Sinema barely beat her. The AZ state leg. is passing some pretty tough voter suppression stuff in committee which will make it harder for her(forget GA,PA and NC) to win reelection.  BTW she’s made a big deal being a John Lewis admirer for several years. I cannot believe she thinks she can shame GOP senators into supporting the John Lewis VRA.

  196. 196.

    James E Powell

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    Now, i think Sinema is trying to get her bonafides of being a bipartisan – meet you in the middle – moderate blah blah blah for a presidential run or veep pick

    That will never work. Democratic primary voters don’t like people who go against Democratic presidents on important issues.

  197. 197.

    Mary G

    @Suzanne:  Housemate and I had second shots this afternoon also, and I had my first restaurant meal out in over a year. We sat in the patio at P. F. Chang’s four or five tables away from the closest other customers. The prices were horrifying, but the food was delicious. I know a lot of Juicers like to look down at these corporate chains, but it’s been my lived experience that they are much easier to navigate in a wheelchair.

    There is a small storefront Mom and Pop place at the top of my street and both the patio and inside seating was full of people cheek by jowl. Their food is also expensive, but not good at all, so I was happy with our choice.

    This email was waiting when we got home:

    Congratulations! You have completed the entire vaccination process and are immunized against COVID-19. This is not only an important step in your personal health journey, but vital to our entire community as we work together to beat the COVID-19 pandemic.

    It goes on about side effects, staying masked, etc. I haven’t had any side effects yet. Maybe fatigue.

  198. 198.

    Jay

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    “we”, thats the collective “we”, the Jackaltariate, reached in 2020 universal concenus (sp) on what the ReThugs are.

    Some have always known that. Some only “recently” have realized that.

    Some elected Democratic Party members are still not there yet.

  200. 200.

    Cameron

    @Jay: So the vice president could ignore/overrule the parliamentarian and the minimum wage increase could be included in the reconciliation bill.  That’s not what I thought was going on.  Wonder what the next move is; I hope it’s to push for the increase.  Wouldn’t affect me – I’m retired – but there are a lot of people who could really use it.

  201. 201.

    James E Powell

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    Politically, I think the best thing is to be honest and make it so that the cut-off gets phased out over ten years. It’s at 142,800 for this year, have it go up 10K/year then get rid of it. It’s only fair.

  202. 202.

    Jay

    @Cameron:

    it all depends on “hardball”. Who want’s to play what, when and how hard. The Democratic Party Senators only need 50+1 votes to fire the Parliamentarian.

    Same low majority to just ignore the ruling.

  203. 203.

    Cameron

    @Jay: If they don’t ignore the ruling, I can’t see any way the minimum wage would be increased.  Time is running short if this bill has to be in effect in the next couple of weeks; while Sanders’ idea is interesting, it may be too late for a rewrite.  We really could use a diamond-shitting unicorn about now.

  204. 204.

    Subsole

     

     

    @Cameron: The next move is we negotiate for 11 because if you overrule the parliamentarian, dipshit 1 and dipshit 2 bail.

    Buy those two off.

    Or take 11.

    Or take 10 from Romneybot.

    Or let it sit at 7.50 for the next 4 years.

    That’s it.

    We only get anything – ANYTHING-  with a united front.

  206. 206.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Subsole:

    Or we (Dems who live in their states) could try calling into Manchin and Sinema’s offices to pressure them. Just like what was done to the GOP to save the ACA back in late 2017. Make it clear that an Orban-style dictatorship is right around the corner if we don’t get a Voting Rights Act passed by killing the legislative filibuster because that’s what it will take. Neither of them will be safe from a GOP dictatorship where the rule of law doesn’t matter.

  209. 209.

    Subsole

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Hell, call ’em if you don’t live there.

    If they refuse to give a fuck about my rights out of some peabrained desire to be buddies with folks who literally whipped up a mob to kill them, I feel perfectly justified wasting their staff’s time.

    Granted, I might need to take some deep breaths before I call…

  210. 210.

    Peale

    @Jay: So its capable of taking out large buildings that don’t move around much and don’t make much effort to evade detection. Hits those 100% of the time. Also, when the side that had your superweapon loses. Badly. I’m sure sales will be through the roof.

  213. 213.

    Geminid

    @J R in WV: Passage of Comprehensive Immigration Reform would change the financial basis of Social Security for the better. Ten million or more relatively younger workers would start paying into the system. Reasons of justice and equity alone justify such reform, but this another practical point in its favor. Also, immigration reform is a big wedge issue for Republicans, perhaps the biggest

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