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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Friday Morning Open Thread: TGIF

Friday Morning Open Thread: TGIF

by Anne Laurie|  April 16, 20217:26 am| 154 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat

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Friday Morning Open Thread:  TGIF

(Clay Jones via GoComics.com)

This week’s been quite the month, yes?

MANCHIN isn't buying the $800 billion infrastructure price tag Sen. Capito floated y'day: "There's no number that should be set on at all."

"We're going to do whatever it takes. If it takes $4 trillion, I’d do $4 trillion but we have to pay for it,” he tells @alexanderbolton.

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) April 15, 2021


I wrote about why D's are unlikely to go for a moderate R offer on infrastructure.

Short answer: They're not only offering less money, but likely a much less popular way to pay for it that their own colleagues can't wait to run against in 2022. https://t.co/EpiFzzAz2E pic.twitter.com/5qusj7O8XX

— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) April 15, 2021

Friday Morning Open Thread:  TGIF 1

(Jeff Danziger via GoComics.com)
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Previous Post: « COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Thursday / Friday, April 15-16
Next Post: Administrative friction and administrative lubrication — Health insurance edition »

Reader Interactions

154Comments

  1. 1.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 7:27 am

    Friday has come

  2. 2.

    debbie

    April 16, 2021 at 7:30 am

    Biden should have kept the gas tax and messaged to voters that it is the GOP, with their many years of slashing budgets, who have necessitated it. “Blame us? No, blame the people and the governing philosophy who created this dire situation.”

  3. 3.

    Spanky

    April 16, 2021 at 7:30 am

    The more I hear from Manchin, the more I think that WVa elected an undercover liberal, and he’s trying to maintain his cover.

  4. 4.

    Cermet

    April 16, 2021 at 7:31 am

    And we will hear endless ‘thoughts and prayers’ by the thug party

  5. 5.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 16, 2021 at 7:35 am

    @Immanentize:

    Friday has come 

    Happens after every Thursday.  Now, as for pants…

  6. 6.

    Mousebumples

    April 16, 2021 at 7:36 am

    @Spanky: found this on Twitter last night but didn’t save it. It was this image though –

    “Reddit – neoliberal – The Joe Manchin Cycle” https://amp.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/lgjr6t/the_joe_manchin_cycle/

     

    Basically. Yup, i agree. Manchin lives to get press and attention but has there been a Dem priority where he was the deciding vote to kill it? Not that I can think of…

  7. 7.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 7:37 am

    It snowed 1-3 inches last night outside the Boston metro area.  Crazy weather.

    Here it is just rainy and raw.  But we so need a good soaking that even a dreary wet day is welcome.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 16, 2021 at 7:37 am

    @Immanentize: 18 hours and I go.

  9. 9.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    April 16, 2021 at 7:39 am

    We’re going to our son’s house tomorrow. It’s the first time we’ll have seen him in over a year.

  10. 10.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 7:39 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Happens after every Thursday.

    And I hope that continues to be true. But who really knows what will happen in seven minutes, let alone seven days!

  11. 11.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 16, 2021 at 7:39 am

    @Mousebumples: Voting to keep the filibuster is a vote that kills the new voting rights act. Jus’ sayin’…

  12. 12.

    WereBear

    April 16, 2021 at 7:40 am

    @Immanentize: That’s the kind we had yesterday. But it was good for the hanging basket of pansies I just installed by the back door.

  13. 13.

    Keith P.

    April 16, 2021 at 7:40 am

    It goes without saying that the reason Biden is in this position is that Trump boldly promised a ton of infrastructure improvements when he ran the first time, had 4 years to do *something* on it, and even had so many BS “Infrastructure Weeks” that the term became an actual punchline.   The GOP made their bed.

  14. 14.

    Danielx

    April 16, 2021 at 7:40 am

    Awake to news of another mass murder, this time in my fair city.

    Dammit.

  15. 15.

    raven

    April 16, 2021 at 7:41 am

    Every day is Saturday when you are a dog. . . or retired.

  16. 16.

    Mousebumples

    April 16, 2021 at 7:42 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: i agree, if that’s how it ends up. I think he’s setting up the vote to get rid of it. Eg Schumer gave him through the summer to work out a deal with 10 Republicans. And when that fails, I think he’ll vote to get rid of the filibuster. (or change to a talking filibuster)

    Also, Sinema is an issue there too. It’s not just Manchin holding things up.

  17. 17.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 7:43 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: At noon today, I’m having a discussion hour with my Con Law students about the Chauvin trial (and all similar events).  Preparing for it has made me so bone weary and sad.  I will need light entertainment for this whole weekend to pull me back from the crevasse.

    Oh, luckily, it is a three day weekend here in Massachusetts. Monday is Patriots Day!  Ride Paul, ride!

  18. 18.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 16, 2021 at 7:44 am

    @Keith P.:

    and even had so many BS “Infrastructure Weeks” that the term became an actual punchline 

    And next Biden can deliver tremendous healthcare at a fraction of the cost.  Oh, wait, new ACA subsidiaries are already here.

  19. 19.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 7:44 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: that is so good.  Enjoy your son and your new freedom!

  20. 20.

    Ken

    April 16, 2021 at 7:45 am

    @Immanentize: Does the Baud! 20XX! campaign have a secret calendar reform plank?

  21. 21.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 16, 2021 at 7:46 am

    @Immanentize: Obligatory

  22. 22.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 7:47 am

    @WereBear: Hello there!  I thought of you last night — do you have a link to a post on your blog that might explain cat head butting behavior?

    Thanks for being the go-to authority on such questions.

  23. 23.

    Punchy

    April 16, 2021 at 7:47 am

    FedEx shooting…..there’s the pre-pandemic normality we all pined for!

  24. 24.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 16, 2021 at 7:51 am

    @Immanentize:  It is currently snowing very heavily here in the smallest state.

  25. 25.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 7:53 am

    @Ken: I heard BAUD! is planning a return to the Julian calendar, giving everyone back the nine days stolen from their lives in 1752.

  26. 26.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 16, 2021 at 7:54 am

    Via commentor Teve over at Outside the Beltway:

    CNN graphic showing the 22 mass shootings in the past month:

  27. 27.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 7:54 am

    @mrmoshpotato: I saw Foghat at the Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton New York, like in ’75?  Take it easy.

  28. 28.

    WereBear

    April 16, 2021 at 7:55 am

    @Immanentize: explain cat head butting behavior

    Cats express affection with their head. They like to do a Vulcan Mind Meld or Head Bonk with their forehead. Some cats will mimic this without another being and rest their head against doorframes or the wall itself.

    Dear Pammy, How can I tell if my cat is sad

    It also lets them put their scent on their friends.

  29. 29.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 7:55 am

    @Gin & Tonic: And to think that I have been considering moving there.

  30. 30.

    Ken

    April 16, 2021 at 7:56 am

    @Immanentize: Think of it as daylight savings time on steroids.

  31. 31.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 7:57 am

    @Immanentize:

    Yeah ☺️

  32. 32.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 16, 2021 at 7:57 am

    @Mousebumples: I hope you’re right and that Sinema can be dragged across the line too, kicking and screaming if necessary.

  33. 33.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 7:57 am

    Good Morning Everyone ???

  34. 34.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 7:57 am

    @WereBear: Thank you. I know that he instantly gets me to pet him when he head butts my leg.  I am a well trained hoomin.

  35. 35.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 7:58 am

    @Mousebumples:

    Ain’t nobody playing with her. She better get on board

  36. 36.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 7:59 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Go where ??

  37. 37.

    eclare

    April 16, 2021 at 8:00 am

    @WereBear:  That is good to know!  One of my cats likes to sit in my lap with his forehead firmly placed against the arm of the couch.

  38. 38.

    dmsilev

    April 16, 2021 at 8:00 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Tomorrow, I’m heading off to visit my parents, also for the first time in over a year. Feels good, doesn’t it?

  39. 39.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 16, 2021 at 8:01 am

    @mrmoshpotato: You are going to pay for that. I had all but forgotten it’s existence but now that piece of trash is relentlessly playing in my head.

  40. 40.

    Baud

    April 16, 2021 at 8:01 am

    @Ken:

    Still working out where in the week to place Baudday.

     

    @rikyrah: Good morning.

  41. 41.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    April 16, 2021 at 8:01 am

    @Danielx: Gee, I wonder what the means of killing was/

  42. 42.

    Geminid

    April 16, 2021 at 8:03 am

    @Mousebumples: I recently heard Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) complain to Hew Hewitt that for all Manchin’s talk of bipartisanship, he was never there when Republicans needed him.

  43. 43.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 8:03 am

    As we're all reacting to Sean Hannity describing Adam Toledo as a "13 year old man", flashback to how Pam Bondi described then-17 year old Kyle Rittenhouse, who fatally shot two people, on Hannity's show: "You've got a little boy out there trying to protect his community…" pic.twitter.com/3m9o8pBwsR— Ethan Grey (@_EthanGrey) April 15, 2021

  44. 44.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 16, 2021 at 8:03 am

    @rikyrah: To NOLA and my newest GrandBabyGirl.

  45. 45.

    Spanky

    April 16, 2021 at 8:03 am

    @Immanentize:

    I saw Foghat

    And their hair was perfect

     

    ETA: OMG, they’re still touring.

  46. 46.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    April 16, 2021 at 8:04 am

    @dmsilev: Yes! I just hope they and their rather hostile rescue dog are as happy to see us as we are to see them.

  47. 47.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 8:05 am

    US police and public officials donated to Kyle Rittenhouse, data breach revealsOfficers and officials also donated to fundraisers for far-right activists and fellow officers accused of shooting black Americans https://t.co/r1CWQHKIsA— Nita World Peace (@BmoreLikeNita) April 16, 2021

  48. 48.

    PST

    April 16, 2021 at 8:05 am

    @Immanentize:

    I heard BAUD! is planning a return to the Julian calendar, giving everyone back the nine days stolen from their lives in 1752.

    And four bonus days thrown in as interest for good measure.

  49. 49.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 8:06 am

    ???

    The Defund The Police movement, as outlined in the hashtag BreatheAct’s agenda, specifically opposes the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act. Abolishment advocates are actively trolling lawmakers who support the BidenHarris administration’s George Floyd Justice In Policing Act https://t.co/OI2KHzaARi— June of House Moderna Wearer of Masks (@JuneSummer1) April 16, 2021

  50. 50.

    Baud

    April 16, 2021 at 8:06 am

    The stock market is throwing a global party

    Thanks, Joe.

  51. 51.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 8:07 am

    It’s all going to come out ?

    D.C. police requested backup at least 17 times in 78 minutes during Capitol riot, Post examination finds. https://t.co/fiyuaICZVD— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 15, 2021

  52. 52.

    Baud

    April 16, 2021 at 8:08 am

    @rikyrah:

    Defund The Police movement,

    Is that separate from BLM?

  53. 53.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 8:08 am

    Compare Kyle Rittenhouse and Adam Toledo…it's stupid as hell but you asked for it: one is still alive because he's white-it's that simple and that's it.— Amee Vanderpool (@mamasreallyrule) April 16, 2021

  54. 54.

    WereBear

    April 16, 2021 at 8:10 am

    @Immanentize: LOL! Sounds like you are. I consider the Cat/Hooman relationship to be mutual training :)

    If you see him on a handy perch, you can try pressing foreheads in the Vulcan Mind Meld.

    I do think cats come from Vulcan. They are more logical than we are.

  55. 55.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 16, 2021 at 8:11 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Take it easy.

  56. 56.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 8:11 am

    Chelsea Clinton calls for release of photos of Trump getting vaccinated https://t.co/rK0J3Lm7b0 pic.twitter.com/pWBslybLN5— The Hill (@thehill) April 16, 2021

  57. 57.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 8:12 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Awe ???

  58. 58.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 8:12 am

    @dmsilev:

    ????

  59. 59.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 8:13 am

    @Spanky: Nooo9oooooo! It’s like they are a ghost train of badosity.

  60. 60.

    WereBear

    April 16, 2021 at 8:13 am

    @eclare: The mattress I use with a lap desk to write was chosen for how easily the cats share the space with me. Tristan likes to perch on the bolster when I lie down to read and be a Cat Hat.

  61. 61.

    Ken

    April 16, 2021 at 8:14 am

    @rikyrah: With such generosity within the force, why are cities always on the hook for those massive civil rights judgments?

  62. 62.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 16, 2021 at 8:14 am

    @PST:

    And four bonus days thrown in as interest for good measure. 

    But the days will be shortened. Mwhaha!

  63. 63.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 8:15 am

    " I just kind of threw that out as a talking point."This is why Republicans cannot be taken seriously when it comes to real policy discussions. It's all media pressers with empty slogans, catchphrases and talking points. https://t.co/PXQ1bJd0Uh— V'Shawn From Westview,NJ (@Kennymack1971) April 15, 2021

  64. 64.

    PAM Dirac

    April 16, 2021 at 8:15 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

     

    Sinema can be dragged across the line too, kicking and screaming if necessary.

    My guess is that it will be preening and vamping, but I’ll go with whatever works.

  65. 65.

    Ken

    April 16, 2021 at 8:15 am

    @WereBear: I do think cats come from Vulcan. They are more logical than we are.

    I think we’ve know different cats.  Now, if by logic you mean “I’m sleeping here, therefore you must walk around me”, or “I’m hungry, therefore you must feed me right now“…

  66. 66.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 8:16 am

    @Ken:

    I have long believed that the police misconduct settlements should come out of the Police PENSION FUND

  67. 67.

    Baud

    April 16, 2021 at 8:16 am

    For AL

    NFT prices are plummeting. What could this mean for the art world?

  68. 68.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 16, 2021 at 8:17 am

    @rikyrah: Yeah man!  Burn it all down!  Then Saint Wilmer can give everyone free healthcare, free college and a unicorn butler!

  69. 69.

    Baud

    April 16, 2021 at 8:17 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    It’s like how your lunch hour is only half an hour.

  70. 70.

    Kristine

    April 16, 2021 at 8:21 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:  Have a wonderful time!

  71. 71.

    Ken

    April 16, 2021 at 8:22 am

    @Baud: NFT prices are plummeting. What could this mean for the art world?

    I suppose we’ll have to go back to looking at paintings, instead of trading bit-streams that represent (somehow, and unenforcably) the right to make copies of JPG files of the paintings.

  72. 72.

    sab

    April 16, 2021 at 8:22 am

    @Baud: Whose isn’t .
    What world do you live in?

  73. 73.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 16, 2021 at 8:23 am

    @mrmoshpotato: Hell no. Revenge will be MINE!!!

    BWAhahahahahahahahahaha….

  74. 74.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 8:23 am

    Trump is gone, and Republican Senators are doing white genocide talking points. Trump was a symptom, not a cause. https://t.co/IOgkOVAZ2U— Adam Serwer ? (@AdamSerwer) April 16, 2021

  75. 75.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 8:23 am

    Hmmm. Suddenly it is “wintery mix” outside.  Rain plus snow all at once.  Throw in some thunder and I will be in weather purgatory.

  76. 76.

    John S.

    April 16, 2021 at 8:23 am

    @Baud: It should be. As Jim Clyburn has said many times, shitty slogans like ‘Defund the Police’ do not help the cause of social justice.

  77. 77.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 8:25 am

    13 years and not a single legislative accomplishment. Jim Jordan doesn't rake in big money support because he gets things done, but because he keeps the radical right radicalized.— Mike (@Antidote4BS) April 16, 2021

  78. 78.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 16, 2021 at 8:25 am

    @PAM Dirac: Preening and vamping is OK with me too as long as she gets there.

  79. 79.

    WereBear

    April 16, 2021 at 8:25 am

    @Ken: Now, if by logic you mean “I’m sleeping here, therefore you must walk around me”, or “I’m hungry, therefore you must feed me right now“…

    What’s not logical about that?

    Cats have not been domesticated. They have a full array of wild instincts they are intelligent enough to adapt to living in our home. Instinct tells them “sleep” or “eat” and of course they obey!

    And then, I obey the cat. When it comes to their needs. And appeal to their friendship when it comes to my needs.

  80. 80.

    sab

    April 16, 2021 at 8:26 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: That vaccine new  prehensile tail in his forehead will surprise you. Be kind.

  81. 81.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 16, 2021 at 8:27 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Just don’t wreck the margins.

  82. 82.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 16, 2021 at 8:28 am

    @Immanentize: Hail.  You need hail.

  83. 83.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 16, 2021 at 8:29 am

    @mrmoshpotato: That’s where I’ll start!

  84. 84.

    sab

    April 16, 2021 at 8:34 am

    @WereBear:  My dog dropped dead a couple of months ago. We are sad. I just realized that my cat, who loved her, is devaststed.

    I cannot believe that I didn’t know how my cat would feel. She is a rescued  wild girl. She does not trust the world, Delilah ( our dog)  was who/how she dealt with the world. Now she is alone and bereft. She lives in  big loving family, but she does not believe that we love her,

  85. 85.

    PST

    April 16, 2021 at 8:36 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    But the days will be shortened. Mwhaha

    I would never want to be pedantic, but the days we get back when we restore the Julian calendar will actually be just the tiniest bit longer than the ones we lost due to the slowing rotation of the earth. Which should make the prospect even more irresistible.

  86. 86.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    April 16, 2021 at 8:36 am

    @sab: How sad!

  87. 87.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 8:37 am

    One reason "bipartisan" is such a deranged term is that journalists have an undeclared preference for a political world in which two roughly similar parties with different philosophies batttle it out— with the press in the middle posing tough questions and checking fudged facts. https://t.co/0lLX4UN8rE— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) April 14, 2021

  88. 88.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 16, 2021 at 8:37 am

    @PST:

    I would never want to be pedantic 

    I don’t believe this for a second, and I didn’t know the rest.

  89. 89.

    Baud

    April 16, 2021 at 8:38 am

    @PST:

    But what if those days end up falling during winter. Then the Northern Hemisphere gets screwed.

  90. 90.

    PST

    April 16, 2021 at 8:41 am

    @Baud: You’re the candidate. Make ’em fall whenever you want them to.

  91. 91.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 16, 2021 at 8:42 am

    @rikyrah:

    two roughly similar parties with different philosophies 

    Nice idea, but “roughly similar?” Oh a good morning belly laugh.

    And the press can wake me when they’ve figured out current Rethuglican philosophy.

  92. 92.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 16, 2021 at 8:44 am

    @Baud: Baud!2024! – Screw you, southern hemisphere!

  93. 93.

    Baud

    April 16, 2021 at 8:44 am

    @PST:

    Oh, I like that.  I can use that power to engage in diurnal diplomacy.

  94. 94.

    WereBear

    April 16, 2021 at 8:47 am

    @sab: Awww, I’m sorry she lost her special friend. If you sit nearby and talk to her about it, perhaps both of you can be soothed in your grief.

    In the space of six months, we lost three cats; fully half of our total. Things can get gloomy around here, too.

  95. 95.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    April 16, 2021 at 8:49 am

    I really don’t understand why VMT and gas taxes are so unpopular. Or, for that matter, why a carbon tax is politically untenable as a way to address climate change. I feel like the U.S. psyche was permanently damaged by the 1970s oil shortages and whenever people hear a proposal to tax gas that image of lines at gas stations and paying way more than you planned to fill your tank is front and center in their minds. Like we haven’t seen gas price spikes since and weathered them fine.

    It makes sense to make people who use the infrastructure (drivers) pay for the infrastructure. Obviously for a gas tax or VMT tax that only applies to roads, not other types of infrastructure, but I just don’t understand that people can’t grasp that if we don’t pay gas or VMT taxes, we’ll pay anyway, just with a different kind of tax. Tax corporations, and you pay more for the stuff they sell. Or they’ll tax your income – why is that better than a gas or VMT tax?

    As for a carbon tax – it could offset income or payroll taxes and quite frankly to me that sounds like a tradeoff worth making. And, it’s a less expensive way to get carbon emissions reductions than any other approach!. Anything else governments propose to reduce carbon emissions is at best going to be equally expensive and probably more expensive. It makes no sense that the cheapest option for addressing the crisis is the least popular option, but here we are.

  96. 96.

    MomSense

    April 16, 2021 at 8:50 am

    @Mousebumples:

    I go out in public without pants on a semi-regular basis.

    ??

  97. 97.

    MomSense

    April 16, 2021 at 8:51 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

     

    Oops meant to reply to this comment.

    I pantsed myself!

     

    @MomSense:

  98. 98.

    mrmoshpotato

    April 16, 2021 at 8:54 am

    @MomSense: Yes.  Yes you did. LOL

  99. 99.

    Benw

    April 16, 2021 at 8:56 am

    This afternoon I get to see a rehabbed seal pup released into the ocean! They named her Joan Jett.

    FREE JOAN JETT!

  100. 100.

    JMG

    April 16, 2021 at 9:07 am

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: The political problem with the gas tax is that people see the numbers spinning on the pump and see the tax and that the tax is paid like once a week, adding to the visibility. People in my McMansion crazed suburb will bitch about a gas tax while they accept their five-figure property tax bill without a murmur. It’s innumeracy at its finest.

  101. 101.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 16, 2021 at 9:09 am

    @PST:

    I would never want to be pedantic

    Rotating tag nominee.

  102. 102.

    germy

    April 16, 2021 at 9:09 am

    @Benw:

    And the real Joan Jett is a hero.  She saved a drowning boy back in 1985:

    https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/06/03/Rock-star-Joan-Jett-saves-drowning-boy/8848486619200/

  103. 103.

    Hoodie

    April 16, 2021 at 9:10 am

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: These taxes are unpopular because they’re often viewed as regressive and unfair in effect.  The genesis of the gilet juenes riots in France was ostensibly increases in gas taxes that were viewed as having a disparate impact on people outside of Paris and other cities with extensive mass transit.

  104. 104.

    burnspbesq

    April 16, 2021 at 9:14 am

    @Immanentize:

    Hmph. I’m old enough to remember when SUNY Bingo was Harpur College.

  105. 105.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    April 16, 2021 at 9:17 am

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:

    I really don’t understand why VMT and gas taxes are so unpopular.

    I do. I have worked with many, many people who live in far-flung suburbs necessitating long commutes and want the rest of us to subsidize their exurban / rural lifestyle.

  106. 106.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 9:19 am

    @burnspbesq: me too.  I went to SUNY, but the liberal arts college was still called Harper College.  And now, it’s not even SUNY Bingo. anymore, it is Binghamton University. If you know about Harper, you might be pleased to know I wrote for Looking Left and was a member of the J.C. Tenant’s Union…

  107. 107.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 16, 2021 at 9:19 am

    @JMG: People in my McMansion crazed suburb will bitch about a gas tax while filling up their 8 miles per gallon 4WD pickemup truck that’s never used to haul lumber or mulch or really anything at all except maybe the weekly groceries and will never ever go off the road because tree branches will scratch the paint.

    FTFY.

  108. 108.

    H.E.Wolf

    April 16, 2021 at 9:28 am

    @JMG: The political problem with the gas tax is that people see the numbers spinning on the pump and see the tax and that the tax is paid like once a week, adding to the visibility. People in my McMansion crazed suburb will bitch about a gas tax while they accept their five-figure property tax bill without a murmur. It’s innumeracy at its finest.

     
    Indeed! It’s similar to folks who pay high interest rates on large credit-card balances, while simultaneously directing a portion of their paycheck to a low-interest investment account.

    Also, as we know, the “household economy” problem with a gasoline tax is that it’s regressive.

    People who can afford a McMansion with 10,000-99,999 per year in property taxes contribute a smaller % of their net worth for gasoline than do lower-income motorists.

  109. 109.

    SFAW

    April 16, 2021 at 9:28 am

    @Immanentize:

    Still snowing out past 495, I think it’s supposed to continue until the afternoon.

    My kid went to Gillette this AM, supposed to get Vacc #1. Standing out in the snow or rain is going to suck. [I have no idea if they have shelter for those waiting in line, but they didn’t two months ago. Maybe they wised up?]

  110. 110.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    April 16, 2021 at 9:35 am

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: That explains the unpopularity amongst one segment of the population, but shouldn’t there be like 5 urban dwellers who no longer want to subsidize the exurban dweller’s commute on the other side of the equation, making the polling of the issue look reasonably popular? The thing I don’t understand is that these taxes are all broadly unpopular, not just unpopular with some sliver of the population that would be disproportionately affected. I mean, I’m all for taxing the rich and taxing corporations but user based taxes seem reasonable to me and, I guess, nobody else.

  111. 111.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 9:36 am

    @SFAW: i went up to a Beth Israel affiliated facility in Newburyport for my jabs. So simple!  Including wait time of 15 minutes — not 25 minutes from getting out of car to returning to car.

  112. 112.

    Immanentize

    April 16, 2021 at 9:38 am

    Oh damn. Snow on the ground is now sticking.  But it is 41 degrees out….

  113. 113.

    zhena gogolia

    April 16, 2021 at 9:40 am

    @burnspbesq:

    Me too!

  114. 114.

    SFAW

    April 16, 2021 at 9:46 am

    @Immanentize:

    Oh damn. Snow on the ground is now sticking.  But it is 41 degrees out….

    I got some snow tires from a now-sold Camry. Interested? They still have maybe-90 percent tread left.

  115. 115.

    Hoodie

    April 16, 2021 at 9:46 am

    @H.E.Wolf: Sure, there are McMansion owning exurbanites who want their lifestyle subsidized, but there are also a lot of people in the US who a forced by economics to live in areas far from where they work with no transportation options other than driving.   They can’t necessarily afford to move to a city with good mass transit or afford a house or apartment that can give them a shorter commute.  In our city, houses in the close in parts of the city are now running over $300/square foot and rents for 3-bedroom apartments are ridiculous.  The construction workers who build the nice, shiny urban developments generally can’t afford to live here, so they often drive an hour or more from outlying, cheaper areas that have no jobs or, at least, no good jobs.  They drive in trucks so they can carry their tools or old beaters that get crappy mileage.

  116. 116.

    SFAW

    April 16, 2021 at 9:49 am

    @PST:

    I would never want to be pedantic,

    Then why are you here?

  117. 117.

    Princess

    April 16, 2021 at 9:49 am

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Gas taxes, like all sales taxes are regressive. They hit the poor proportionally a lot harder than they hit the rich.

  118. 118.

    artem1s

    April 16, 2021 at 9:50 am

    @Baud:

    NFT prices are plummeting. What could this mean for the art world?

    Nothing.  It was never about the art.  It was all about creating another market for cryptocurrencies.  It was a scam to create a demand for a product that demands constant influx of new money to keep the price increase going. How many idiots opened up accounts on NFT sites, bought bitcoins to pay for account and are now paying monthly fees for ‘maintenance’ on the NFT’s attached to digital picts of their junk?

    Cryptocurrency is GREAT!  so much better than federal bank Jew Rothchild dollars! The $69M was dumped into a cryto account to bump up the value of that currency, not paid out in actual US dollars.  They effectively manipulated the market by selling $69M shares of their stock to bump up the price.  Question is, who dumped their crypto after the sale and who got stuck with now devalued currency.

  119. 119.

    catclub

    April 16, 2021 at 9:58 am

    @Immanentize: ​
     

    But we so need a good soaking that even a dreary wet day is welcome.

    We here by the Gulf Coast have had an intense and continuing soaking since the start of march.

  120. 120.

    OzarkHillbilly

    April 16, 2021 at 9:58 am

    I love my Spanish born wife, but listening to her argue with a phone menu that doesn’t quite get her accent is very frustrating. Add to that the fact that she is too stubborn to just hit the 0 and talk to an actual human being because by gawd and by golly it’s gonna listen to her if it’s the last thing she does!

    My entreaties that the phone menu is just another way to get us to do their work for free falls on deaf ears too.

  121. 121.

    jonas

    April 16, 2021 at 9:59 am

    @debbie: That’s essentially how Trump sold the China tariffs to farmers and manufacturers whose businesses got destroyed by them — Obama and previous administrations had coddled China for too long and now this is the only tool we had. And they totally bought it!

    On the other hand, with Trump, the tradeoff they agreed to was “raise taxes/tariffs” in exchange for “stomping on immigrants and other minorities and trolling libs 24/7”, which they were fine with. Higher taxes in exchange for better infrastructure, including a bunch of stuff that helps *those people* Go fuck yourself!

  122. 122.

    Benw

    April 16, 2021 at 10:03 am

    @germy: Joan Jett fucking slaps

  123. 123.

    catclub

    April 16, 2021 at 10:06 am

    @jonas: That’s essentially how Trump sold the China tariffs to farmers and manufacturers whose businesses got destroyed by them

     

    also payoffs from the government to those same farmers.

  124. 124.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 10:09 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

     

    yes!!!

  125. 125.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    April 16, 2021 at 10:16 am

    @Princess: Yeah but I’m not sure that explains their unpopularity either. Sales taxes…many States over the past few decades have lowered income tax rates and simultaneously raised sales taxes. Other States have just flat out raised sales taxes over time. That’s a tax that people see immediately, and it’s regressive but when it comes to State tax revenue it seems like a regressive tax that is immediately visible at point of sale is the most popular – or least unpopular – tax to increase.

  126. 126.

    Kropacetic

    April 16, 2021 at 10:19 am

    @catclub: @jonas: That’s essentially how Trump sold the China tariffs to farmers and manufacturers whose businesses got destroyed by them

    also payoffs from the government to those same farmers.

    So what if we gave everyone a monthly payment just to cover typical commuter behavior. The bulk of the tax would then fall on fleets of massive vehicles, not most of us

    ETA: Some who conserve may even come out ahead.

  127. 127.

    VOR

    April 16, 2021 at 10:33 am

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:I really don’t understand why VMT and gas taxes are so unpopular.

    Other people have addressed why the gas tax is so unpopular. My take is that Republican politicians are against raising ANY tax, even something which could reasonably be positioned as a user fee. Plus, as noted, rural and exurban people trend Republican while all the Dems live in urban environments and take public transport (snark, people!).

    Also, electric car drivers are viewed as skewing liberal. Raising gas taxes would punish salt of the earth Americans driving V8-powered SUVs, as God intended, while those prissy liberals and their Teslas get away clean. (Note: try a survey of actual Tesla owners, will ya?) So that’s out and a VMT applying to electric vehicles is the only way to punish them, I mean make sure they pay their fair share of infrastructure costs. So Republican politicians like VMTs as they call it a user fee, not a tax, and can sell it as a way to punish the libs.

    However, VMT is unpopular with the Republican base because it requires an intrusive collection process. One proposal was a mechanism installed in every car, like the ones you install to get a break on your insurance, which would transmit miles driven. This is viewed as the Deep State monitoring movements and hence violating liberties and freedoms. Also, the voters aren’t fooled, a VMT is a tax. And again, rural and exurban voters drive longer distances so would be hit harder by a VMT.

  128. 128.

    Amir Khalid

    April 16, 2021 at 10:33 am

    @WereBear:
    I have many happy memories of mutual head rubs with Bianca.

  129. 129.

    Amir Khalid

    April 16, 2021 at 10:39 am

    @Baud:
    The bursting of the bubble?

  130. 130.

    zhena gogolia

    April 16, 2021 at 10:41 am

    Great dentist visit today. I informed him that I was fully vaccinated. He said, “Then why are you wearing a mask?” It went downhill from there.

    Twenty-three years with the same dentist, and Trump has turned him into a raging lunatic. I guess it’s time to switch. Very painful.

  131. 131.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    April 16, 2021 at 10:44 am

    @VOR: Everyone keeps bringing up rural/exurban people…they’re a distinct minority of the US population. If such taxes were just unpopular with them, they wouldn’t be unpopular writ large. Yet they poll atrociously, which means a lot of urbanites must be against them too even though they could in theory avoid paying them, or at least would pay them at much lower rates than rural folks.

  132. 132.

    Shakti

    April 16, 2021 at 10:44 am

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:  In response to a sales tax you can (theoretically) limit your consumption. With gasoline, most of your commuting is baked in.

    I can’t make my commute to work or to get groceries any shorter in response to a jump in gas prices.   Public transport is not a realistic option in my area. As you know, my current senator and former governor turned down federal government money to build a high speed rail route from Orlando to Tampa.  This is true in most of the US.

     

    Also the NIMBYs and the redliners oppose public transportation because it makes it easier for “those people” to come to their neighborhoods.

  133. 133.

    Baud

    April 16, 2021 at 10:50 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    To be fair, it’s kind of hard to him to do dental work if you’ve got a mask on.

    In all seriousness, he obviously watches Tucker Carlson.  Cancel him.

  134. 134.

    zhena gogolia

    April 16, 2021 at 10:51 am

    @Baud: It was very upsetting. Kind of a Marathon Man situation.

  135. 135.

    Soprano2

    April 16, 2021 at 11:03 am

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: I really don’t understand why VMT and gas taxes are so unpopular.

    Come work with me, where the parking lot is full of large pickups driven to work 30 o 40 miles one way by people who don’t want any other kind of vehicle. I have a co-worker who bought a big ass SUV to replace her Jeep; now she’s complaining about how much it costs to fill it up. I guess she thought gas was going to stay super-cheap forever.  To these people, raising the gas tax is one of the most terrible things you could do to them.

  136. 136.

    VOR

    April 16, 2021 at 11:06 am

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:  But the rural/exurban people vote in Republican primaries, which distorts their importance to Republican politicians. It seems a lot of Republican politicians worry more about winning their primary than their general.

    And even urban people drive a fair amount. And drive long distances on occasion. Which means they see themselves as subject to a gas tax too.

    My theory is people just don’t see a linkage between gas taxes paid and road infrastructure built.

  137. 137.

    Doc Sardonic

    April 16, 2021 at 11:11 am

    @WereBear: My vet is convinced that cats are aliens. Come to think of it my former vet who retired and was a cat specialist did as well.

  138. 138.

    Soprano2

    April 16, 2021 at 11:27 am

    @artem1s: It was a scam

    When talking about NFT’s, you could just stop here. Hubby & I watched a thing about them last week. He turned to me and said “it’s a scam”.

  139. 139.

    Amir Khalid

    April 16, 2021 at 11:28 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    I suggest a dick-substitute tax on big pickups and SUVs that aren’t needed for work. And a tax on the fuel they waste.

  140. 140.

    Soprano2

    April 16, 2021 at 11:28 am

    @artem1s: It was a scam

    When talking about NFT’s, you could just stop here. Hubby & I watched a thing about them last week. He turned to me and said “it’s a scam”.

  141. 141.

    rikyrah

    April 16, 2021 at 11:29 am

    @jonas:

     

    That’s essentially how Trump sold the China tariffs to farmers and manufacturers whose businesses got destroyed by them — Obama and previous administrations had coddled China for too long and now this is the only tool we had. And they totally bought it!

     

    Don’t forget all the welfare he gave them to soften the blow of the tariffs destroying their work.

  142. 142.

    WereBear

    April 16, 2021 at 12:17 pm

    @Amir Khalid: 
    I have a little SUV, for the 4 wheel drive. In the mountains, it’s a safety necessity. Especially with our shared driveway, which is quite steep.

    I loved your memory of Bianca. I know she spoiled you :)

  143. 143.

    Amir Khalid

    April 16, 2021 at 12:37 pm

    @WereBear:
    My dick-substitute tax idea would of course not apply to those like you, who actually need the SUVs and pickups they have.

    I may be at that stage Joe Biden speaks of, where the memories make me smile before they make me cry.

  144. 144.

    Ruckus

    April 16, 2021 at 12:40 pm

    @raven:

    9 weeks left to sweet retirement.

  145. 145.

    Ruckus

    April 16, 2021 at 12:51 pm

    @sab:

    Mine.

    My lunch hour is, strangely enough, an hour. The boss doesn’t call it lunch hour, it’s just lunch. He’s likely the best boss I’ve ever had, including myself. OK, I was a pretty decent boss, I think…. or at least I tried to be. My current boss is damn good at boss. I’ve had far, far worse.

  146. 146.

    Ruckus

    April 16, 2021 at 12:58 pm

    @VOR:

    When you pay a tax regularly and see that the money doesn’t seem to be going anywhere positive and the cost basis of that tax keeps increasing, while what it pays for gets worse, It becomes easy to not see the point of the tax in the first place. What we seldom find out is that people in many other places pay a lot more for fuel tax.

  147. 147.

    James E Powell

    April 16, 2021 at 1:41 pm

    @Immanentize:

    I loved Foghat when they were still most of Savoy Brown.

  148. 148.

    James E Powell

    April 16, 2021 at 1:46 pm

    @rikyrah:

    That article has a general tone of “mistakes were made” – I want names!

  149. 149.

    Anotherlurker

    April 16, 2021 at 1:53 pm

    I graduated from Harper College. 1975. @burnspbesq:

  150. 150.

    Anotherlurker

    April 16, 2021 at 1:57 pm

    @Immanentize: Do you remember The Straight Country and Blues Committee ?  They put on some wonderful concerts.  For example: Sunny Terry and Brownie McGee, Ry Cooder, U.Utah Phillips, Michael Cooney and other amazing coffeehouse artists.

  151. 151.

    Gvg

    April 16, 2021 at 3:32 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: Sometimes people live outside of town because they are paid too little to afford convenient homes. They pay with time wasted in commutes too. Not really our idea.

    Also when I had a truck I hauled manure and mulch and furniture a lot. I got rid of it when we started fostering then adopted because a truck is less safe and doesn’t hold car seats like a car. I miss the useful parts, but like the inside room of the minivan I have now.

  152. 152.

    J R in WV

    April 16, 2021 at 5:38 pm

    @James E Powell:

    Savoy Brown…

    Oh, yeh, Savoy Brown. A great band in the  long ago~!!~ But we date ourselves, don’t we.~?

  153. 153.

    LiminalOwl (formerly The Fat White Duchess)

    April 16, 2021 at 11:09 pm

    @WereBear:  I got your book (and recommended it a friend) a while ago, but somehow didn’t know it was you!

  154. 154.

    Chris T.

    April 17, 2021 at 12:46 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Scottish accent vs voice-activated elevator

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAz_UvnUeuU

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