no i will be taking zero questions and every single democrat should claim this repeatedly
— a nosy archaeologist in a post-Roe world (@merovingians) November 25, 2021
The Biden administration on Monday announced $1.5 billion in funding to help eliminate the shortage of doctors and nurses in underserved communities by providing scholarships and repaying the student loans of providers who work in medically needy areas. https://t.co/mv0g1xFcao
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 23, 2021
A minimum wage of $15 per hour for federal contractors will take effect on Jan. 30, 2022, the Labor Department announced on Monday. The rule will provide a likely wage increase for over 300,000 workers, according to administration estimates. https://t.co/AkCjIeP4Im pic.twitter.com/GfinzZz9IZ
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 22, 2021
The Biden administration put a $100 fine on every container stuck in the ports, and like magic, corporations found a way to start moving them.
Funny how that works.
— Santiago Mayer?? (@santiagomayer_) November 23, 2021
Significant correction here.
Turns out Build Back Better will *raise* average taxes for incomes over $1 million by 3.2 percentage points.
JCT previously estimated BBB will *cut* average taxes for incomes over $1 million by 1.7 percentage points. https://t.co/WyZywfPwis pic.twitter.com/VHt0zfTZor
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) November 23, 2021
And since I couldn’t resist…
Very fined people https://t.co/2TM2Uhgkb2
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) November 23, 2021
BigJimSlade
Another version of C.R.E.A.M. is D.R.E.A.M.
Dopamine Rules Everything Around Me.
Chief Oshkosh
Raising taxes on incomes over a million? That’s unpossible! Both the NYT and WaPo told me SEVERAL TIMES IN MULTIPLE ARTICLES that BBB would cut taxes on millionaires and billionaires because both sides do it!!!
Wankers.
Jay C
I don’t know where in Texas “Lauren” found regular gas for $2.73.9; but I’m really sorry it’s probably more than a full tank’s distance from where I am (NYC)…
I made a rare car trip on Wednesday, so I got to see where pump prices were: at least in NY, CT and MA: regular was nowhere less than about $3.40, premium and Diesel usually hovering about the $4/gallon mark. I topped off my tank in MA ($3.90 for 13.4g, half) and it was $52.50. Not cheap by a long shot, but I have often seen it worse.
Another Scott
Relatedly, … GovExec:
Mandates work. Ultimately, tiny noisy minorities will refuse (and get over-sized attention) and the work will go on. Many of those refusing were going to leave anyway (retirement, other employment) and want to get attention before they do.
FedSmith:
So, an average turnover of 5-6% in the past was normal. 5-6% refusing to get vaccinated is probably to be expected.
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@Jay C:
It looks like most of TX and OK are under $2.75 at the moment.
(I last paid $3.60 for diesel here in NoVA a few weeks ago. But the days of diesel being cheaper than regular are long, long gone.)
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
OzarkHillbilly
I wonder how or if this will work for specialists. My local hospital brings specialists out here once a week which saves all who live here a ton of time and expenses that some residents could never afford. They can’t make a practice out here as their just aren’t enough people with renal problems or torn cartilages, or severe depression.
Brachiator
The Biden administration consistently governs with compassion and competence.
I like that.
OzarkHillbilly
@Jay C: $3.03 for regular here in outstate Misery the other day.
West of the Rockies
I wonder if Fox News will now pointedly celebrate the rise in taxes on well-off people… after all, they certainly made note when they thought their taxes would be lower.
trollhattan
JCT = Joint Committee on Taxation. I had to look it up. [was leaning towards “Jesus Christ, Texas!”]
The more you know ?
NotMax
Fairly sure the fines (which have been delayed and in any case would not be imposed until nine days of no container movement by truck or six days if scheduled to be moved by rail) were imposed by the ports, not by the administration.
See:
and also
Matt McIrvin
Taxing the rich?? That’s the only thing more heinous than not taxing the rich!
OGLiberal
Y’all see that video of the dude in Lubbock, Texas murdering somebody and then acting like it ain’t no thing. And he’s not arrested. And probably won’t be. Fuck this country. I just read that there are 120 guns in this country for every 100 Americans. 2nd is the Falkland Islands at 62. (of course, about 3,000 people live there) 3rd is Yemen at 53, a place where you’d be nuts not to own a gun. This nation is just insane.
O, and Happy belated Thanksgiving!
Villago Delenda Est
3.2 %? Not high enough. 90% marginals FTW, and Sahil Kapur can choke on it.
Brachiator
@OzarkHillbilly:
Good question. We need to look at how we deliver medical care. Specialist care is one issue. But there are also too many communities, urban and rural, where people have problems getting primary care, even if they have insurance.
Another problem. Human nature is sometimes perverse. Some years ago in the lower income areas of Los Angeles county, there was a big problem with dishonest doctors ripping off community health organizations and mistreating patients. The doctors hated poor people, especially nonwhite poor people. They fundamentally did not believe that these people deserved to be treated with dignity and respect.
Officials are still having a hard time rebuilding trust in the community.
Villago Delenda Est
@Brachiator: MAGAts hate those qualities.
different-church-lady
Thanks to government action a near complete collapse of the economy did not ruin me financially. If I gotta pay another five bucks per fill-up for a bit as a side effect, then so be it.
zhena gogolia
@different-church-lady: It’s so hilarious to me that no one REMEMBERS WHEN WE WERE EXPECTING SOMETHING WORSE THAN THE GREAT DEPRESSION and now they’re complaining about a dollar more for a turkey.
NotMax
Also too, regarding the cargo ships off the coast of California.
They’re not exactly benign while bobbing in the ocean.
Related, from earlier this month.
Brachiator
@Villago Delenda Est:
Yep. Stupid pundits also hate those qualities.
evinfuilt
Since it’s an Open Thread, I feel like doing the most American thing. Asking for help with medical bills. My wife had a stroke last year, now she’s doing better so she’s going to do an intensive speech therapy program in January.
https://gofund.me/650c2c09
Cameron
@Another Scott: Figures it would be the Ag people – they have easier access to ivermectin.
Ken
@Cameron: Traditionally the punchline is “access to sheep”, but your variation is acceptable.
oatler
So now there’s a storm warning, due to hit the UK called Arwen. If they’re driven to use Tolkienian names why not use a baddie like Morgoth?
NotMax
@oatler
If they forecast Shelob, hightail it for the hills. Double quick.
)
@Ken
“The sheep lies!”
A solid entrant for placement in the pantheon of punch lines.
;)
Matt McIrvin
@OGLiberal: Most people in the US don’t have a gun. It’s the minority who own A LOT OF GUNS.
FelonyGovt
@NotMax: Yes, the fines were imposed by the ports. The LA Port Executive Director said he hoped the fines would be “spectacularly unsuccessful”, in the sense that the intent was not to collect money, but to get the containers moving. Seems to be working.
James E Powell
@Matt McIrvin:
80/20 rule?
Paul T
@FelonyGovt: @Notmax:
The fines start at 100 a day. And go up in 100 dollar increments every day.
Beginning Nov. 1, the ports will charge ocean carriers with cargo in those two categories $100 per container, increasing in $100 increments per container per day.
https://mailchi.mp/polb/san-pedro-bay-ports-announce-new-measure-to-clear-cargo?e=5c932eafdf
Speak softly, and carry a big increasing increment stick.
Ruckus
@Jay C:
The Unocal station around the corner from me, in SoCal urban area is $4.68 for cash and $4.73 for credit. Regular. The Chevron down the street is higher, $4.80 cash, regular.
There is a station, Mobil, about 3 miles away that is $5.05 cash, regular.
I don’t notice any decline in driving or in driving behavior. IOW it seems few care here.
Ruckus
@Another Scott:
Diesel is cheaper here in SoCal at some places. Not by much for sure but there are places. But I also don’t notice a lot of diesel users either. But the prices are more consistent overall than gas.
Ruckus
@Villago Delenda Est:
Hate is such a kind word here, they don’t just hate the qualities, those are extremely toxic to conservatives.
If they get infected with compassion and competence they will die within seconds.
Miss Bianca
@Another Scott: I’ve never seen diesel be cheaper than regular gas until this year. It’s now 10 cents/gallon cheaper in my county than regular. But that’s not the case everywhere, even in Colorado.
John Revolta
Gas is cheap in Texas? Mercy me, stop the presses.
In other news, plenty of cranberry juice in Massachusetts, and I heard they got a blues band in Chicago.
brantl
@OGLiberal: I bet any amount of money that is going to turn into a stand-your-ground and castle-defense case, and that asshole is going to walk. The moral of this story? People with no more emotional control than 6-year-old children, should not have guns.
Sister Golden Bear
Apparently part of the port back-up problems are a shortage of carriers needed to transport the cargo containers from the dock to waiting area for trucks. Carriers are usually owned by the shipping lines, who’ve been hoarding them for their own cargo — a report from Port Hueneme (a secondary port north of LA) said there were 200 sitting on the lot. One would think the shipping lines would figure out a way to bring in some extra cash by renting them when they’re not in use, but….
OTOH, Amazon and other big retailers have gotten creative, working out deals with shippers who deal in fruits and vegetables, or bulk cargo, to piggyback their cargo containers of retails goods when there’s available space (and using their carriers in port), as well as using secondary ports. E.g. normally Port Hueneme primarily handles bananas and other produce, vehicles, and bulk cargo. Obviously, it only works for selected routes, but apparently it’s helped.
Primer Gray (formerly Yet Another Jeff)
@Another Scott: Where in NoVa? Annandale here.
Primer Gray (formerly Yet Another Jeff)
@Another Scott: It’s the end of the year, not sure this will even be a noticeable blip on retirements from at least the one agency IT I’m familiar with…
OGLiberal
@brantl: Well, he had to shoot him…he wouldn’t leave! I mean, the case couldn’t be clearer. He wouldn’t leave, therefore, he needs to be killed. The first rule of Fight Club is “leave”….the second rule of Fight Club is “leave”.
narya
@OzarkHillbilly: @Brachiator: Sorta-kinda. Basically, the funds are for the National Health Service Corps (remember “Northern Exposure”? NHSC, I believe.) Sites have to apply to be allowed to host/place an NHSC provider, and part of the site application process is demonstrating unmet need in the community you’re proposing to serve, typically based on HPSA (Health Professional Shortage Area) score. They distribute funding in part based on that HPSA score; in years when there isn’t a lot of funding for the program, sites need higher need scores. I haven’t dug further into the specifics yet, but my guess is that they’ll fund areas with lower need scores. That’s how it works for my end of it (FQHCs), anyway, but I suspect there’s also a rural version of it, because most of the health-related efforts I deal with have extra points or other accommodations for rural areas.
The Bureau of Primary Health Care does recognize that needs look somewhat different in urban and rural areas. Since I have access to all of the info from the site end, I can dig into it more if you’d like?
edited for clarity
Roger Moore
@Another Scott:
It seems to me that any government employee being fired for refusing to be vaccinated is addition by subtraction. These are the people we’ve wanted to get rid of for a long time.
J R in WV
@evinfuilt:
Thanks for the opportunity to help out — best of luck, those programs have done a world of good for people we know who have had major stroke injuries.
J R in WV
@Ruckus:
Me neither People at the big stores still sit in their cars with the engines running for warmth while someone else does the work of getting groceries for the lazy slobs waiting in in the car.
If gas was too high, those folks would be strolling around in the store to keep warm, not sitting out in the car. My last tank full of hi-test was $3.06 after a small discount on my Kroger’s card.
trollhattan
@NotMax:
Just how long are those anchor chains?
sab
@J R in WV: My stepson in his machine shop told off a co-worker Wednesday: If you were so worried about prices why did you get a 70k pickup truck that gets 12 mpg. Co-worker stomped off. Stepson drives a used Honda civic.
Primer Gray (formerly Yet Another Jeff)
@Roger Moore: There is that…
Ruckus
@sab:
If he’s got a late model $70K pickup it gets better than 12. Likely 15 to 20ish. Not very good but the modern pickups are better than 12. Of course the driver can lower that a lot and 12 isn’t that much lower than 15-18. A lot of the full sized pickups I see around here are rather newish and often driven like there is no tomorrow. IOW gas mileage is not a concern for the owners, even with fuel over/well over $4/gal.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
Here’s a map of the ships in and around LA/Long Beach Harbor.