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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

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I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

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Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

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You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Thursday Morning Open Thread: We’ll Keep Fighting Back

Thursday Morning Open Thread: We’ll Keep Fighting Back

by Anne Laurie|  May 12, 20227:21 am| 124 Comments

This post is in: Biden Administration in Action, Open Threads, President Biden, Proud to Be A Democrat, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You, Women's Rights Are Human Rights

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During a visit to a family farm in Illinois, President Joe Biden said U.S. farmers have helped pull Americans through the COVID-19 pandemic and now the Ukraine crisis. ‘You are the backbone of freedom,’ he said https://t.co/f3LgSwah3l pic.twitter.com/GDzJNA86bD

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 12, 2022

Today's vote was disappointing, but reproductive rights advocates have made incremental progress.

Legislation to codify Roe had never even received a committee vote. In this Congress, it passed the House, and received near-unanimous Senate Dem support. https://t.co/kRZJWaT5ih

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen) May 11, 2022


To protect the right to choose, voters need to elect more pro-choice senators this November, and return a pro-choice majority to the House. If they do, Congress can pass this bill in January, and put it on my desk, so I can sign it into law.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 12, 2022

US draft abortion decision could implicate same-sex marriage, contraception, Biden says https://t.co/1zisiBETRL pic.twitter.com/iKSMgZBCyT

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 12, 2022

biden's continued and relentless support for and encouragement of labor is something that doesn't, imo, get nearly enough recognition, but should be the model for the entire party, all the way down https://t.co/v0RdCB2HlX

— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachi) May 11, 2022

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Reader Interactions

124Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 7:25 am

    To protect the right to choose, voters need to elect more pro-choice senators this November, and return a pro-choice majority to the House. If they do, Congress can pass this bill in January, and put it on my desk, so I can sign it into law.

    Isn’t this exactly the message we want Dems to make?

  2. 2.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 7:27 am

    biden’s continued and relentless support for and encouragement of labor is something that doesn’t, imo, get nearly enough recognition,

    Truth. I fear workers are going to blow this opportunity.

  3. 3.

    John S.

    May 12, 2022 at 7:28 am

    @Baud:

    Supporting hugely popular positions and delivering on them? Nah, that will never work.

  4. 4.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 7:30 am

    @John S.:

    It hasn’t worked in the past.  But maybe this time will be different.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 7:33 am

    We were talking about student loans yesterday. There’s a big story in PoliticoPro about what Biden is considering and the challenges.  It’s behind a paywall, but if you have access, it’s interesting.

  6. 6.

    germy

    May 12, 2022 at 7:45 am

    I’m going to put on my tinfoil hat and say what I believe:

    This nationwide baby formula shortage is a manufactured crisis.  Republicans and business alliesf are worried about losing the vote of suburban moms with the SCOTUS madness so this is an attempt to get voters blaming something else on Biden and Democrats.

    Biden himself has said there’s price gouging going on with the high gas prices.  And I remember the Texas gov. creating a supply chain bottleneck until he was prevented.

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    May 12, 2022 at 7:51 am

    Dems fighting back!

  8. 8.

    Kay

    May 12, 2022 at 7:53 am

    @germy:

    I understand why a lot of things they’re not directly responsible for get blamed on Biden and national Democrats, inflation, gas prices, but this one baffles me. Are people with Republican House members and senators and governors like “well, THEY can’t do anything, obviously”. Why can’t they, again?

  9. 9.

    Another Scott

    May 12, 2022 at 7:53 am

    ICYMI, nycsouthpaw – How do you solve a problem like Alito

    I had forgotten about his yearbook blurb, if I ever knew it. And the DOJ job application should have been disqualifying for any judge position, let alone associate justice.

    An excellent takedown and well worth a click.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 7:54 am

    @WaterGirl:

    Unpossible!

  11. 11.

    brantl

    May 12, 2022 at 7:55 am

    @WaterGirl: We never stopped fighting back, he’s just taking the gloves off.

  12. 12.

    Betty Cracker

    May 12, 2022 at 7:56 am

    I love that Biden said we need more pro-choice senators — that’s exactly the right message. I am also thrilled that he had such a warm meeting with Mr. Smalls. Biden truly is the most pro-labor POTUS we’ve had in a while, and the timing couldn’t be better since labor is having — no, demanding! — a moment.

  13. 13.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 7:56 am

    @Kay:

    Because Dems control Congress and the White House.  That’s how everything gets pitched, even in liberal circles.  No matter that if you’re in Florida, you representatives in the Senate are Republican, and those are the people you should hold accountable for not getting things done.  No one thinks like that anymore.  We pretend we have a parliamentary system, when we don’t.  And that hurts Dems because GOP voters understand how our system of power works.

  14. 14.

    WereBear

    May 12, 2022 at 7:57 am

    I’m hoping experience and cunning can beat criminal psychopathology.

  15. 15.

    WereBear

    May 12, 2022 at 8:00 am

    @Another Scott: it IS. Thanks

  16. 16.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 8:00 am

    Deleted

  17. 17.

    Argiope

    May 12, 2022 at 8:01 am

    @germy: Any country that has price gouging on baby formula has no business forcing people to stay pregnant and give birth.  Pro-life, my ass. Further proof it’s never been about the baybeeez.  Of course, they will just blame Biden and continue to manufacture crises and fail to address them through policy.  It’s the Republican way.

  18. 18.

    germy

    May 12, 2022 at 8:04 am

    @Kay:

    I put on the TV and I see the baby formula shortage all over the news. Interview with a young mom who can’t feed her baby and the one formula brand she found, the baby is allergic to.

    I go online and I see the baby formula shortage. It’s like a drumbeat they’re adding to high gas prices (in my opinion excessive profit taking), meat prices (more price gouging) and housing (ditto). They want it all blamed on Biden. It seems coordinated.

    Is it possible to be paranoid nowadays, with all the bullshit the RW is pulling?

    Next week is a school board vote in my town. We have three reasonable school board members being challenged by stealth nutjobs. The nutjobs portray themselves as reasonable but in their social media chats with each other they gripe about CRT and liberals and the BLM movement.

    My wife and I will be there bright and early to vote for the sane candidates. And we’re spreading the word to normies who don’t pay attention to these local races. I don’t know if the crazies will win, but I’m doing my best to fight back.

  19. 19.

    WereBear

    May 12, 2022 at 8:04 am

    @Baud: No one thinks like that anymore.  We pretend we have a parliamentary system, when we don’t.

     
    And I don’t understand the romance. It didn’t save Britain from Brexit and didn’t Belgium have months without a government?

    We must dance with the one who brings us.

  20. 20.

    Kay

    May 12, 2022 at 8:05 am

    @Baud:

    Right but this is a shortage of a specific product. Media and Republicans can’t use like “energy policy!” or “stimulus checks!” to assign blame. It’s nonpartisan. There’s no ideological angle at all, unless it’s “failure of markets” or “failure of company to reinvest huge profits in modernization and safety”. It’s another shitty, poorly managed company that can’t manage to perform its core function. Absolutely, 100% a market failure.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 8:08 am

    @Kay:

    The point is to create a general feeling of doom and associate it with the party in control.  The specific cause and effect are irrelevant.

    It’s the reverse of thanking Jesus every time you win a game or something else positive happens.

  22. 22.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 12, 2022 at 8:09 am

    @germy:  most likely baby formula is made in Chines factory that is in a COVID shut down.

  23. 23.

    Kay

    May 12, 2022 at 8:09 am

    @germy:

    Good for you. School boards are important. The most fun I ever had in local politics was a school levy campaign. So manageable and the margin can be tiny so it’s “we won! by 11 votes!”

    Human sized.

  24. 24.

    lowtechcyclist

    May 12, 2022 at 8:10 am

    biden’s continued and relentless support for and encouragement of labor is something that doesn’t, imo, get nearly enough recognition, but should be the model for the entire party, all the way down

    I agree. And just as a symbolic, make-them-vote-against-it act, I think the Dems should introduce a Constitutional amendment stating that the right of workers to organize for purposes of collective bargaining shall not be infringed.

    It would be voted down, of course, but it would remind workers of who is on which side. And younger workers are very pro-unionization.

  25. 25.

    germy

    May 12, 2022 at 8:10 am

    @Betty Cracker:  I love that Biden said we need more pro-choice senators

    I agree!

    WASHINGTON — Texas Democratic House candidate Jessica Cisneros is demanding her party’s congressional leaders drop their support of her primary opponent, Rep. Henry Cuellar, over his opposition to abortion.

  26. 26.

    JPL

    May 12, 2022 at 8:11 am

    @germy:  The news media is making the crisis worse and causing people to buy more than they need.
    The crisis is real though Abbott labs which makes Similac and prescription formulas had to close down a major plant because it was breeding bacteria. It could have caused the death of some infants. They knew they had a problem in 2019 but ignored it, and gave close to 6 billion in stock buyback. Abbott should be shut down permanently.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 8:11 am

    @WereBear:

    And I don’t understand the romance.

     

    I occasionally see lefties pining for a multiparty parliamentary system. I think it fits with their desire to identify as a member of a smaller, more cohesive party, rather than the Democratic coalition. Some also think it would make their position stronger. I don’t know whether I agree or disagree.

  28. 28.

    lowtechcyclist

    May 12, 2022 at 8:11 am

    @Baud:  And much more effective than not seeing the fnords.

  29. 29.

    Kay

    May 12, 2022 at 8:12 am

    @germy:

    Absolutely fair game and good for her. Timing is everything :)

  30. 30.

    debbie

    May 12, 2022 at 8:12 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    More so when contrasted with Scott’s plan to tax the middle class, etc.

  31. 31.

    germy

    May 12, 2022 at 8:12 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Lovely planning from our business betters.  “China is our greatest enemy and let’s make our economy dependent on them”

  32. 32.

    Anne Laurie

    May 12, 2022 at 8:14 am

    @germy: This nationwide baby formula shortage is a manufactured crisis.

    Apparently, it’s a manufacturing crisis, another failure of late-stage kleptocracy.  Four companies sell most of the formula made in America, and one of those four (Abbott) had to shut down its main midwestern manufactury because four babies ended up in the hospital after consuming contaminated formula.

    Which is a disgrace, and the GOP Death Cult is certainly happy to jump on the ‘blame Biden’ bandwagon, but it’s not *quite* as quid pro quo as you fear…

  33. 33.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 12, 2022 at 8:15 am

    The one I love is “It’s the Democrats fault because the company that makes this product is off shored to China, some disaster in China shut the entire industry down and China is run by Communists so therefor socialism caused it”  and the reason why it’s offshore is “because American workers are too coddled by the Democrats and aren’t hard working slave labor like in Communist China”

  34. 34.

    JPL

    May 12, 2022 at 8:19 am

    @Anne Laurie: Biden should use antitrust laws, because rather than modernize the plant they gave 6 billion in stock buybacks.   Abbott manufactures formula for babies with special digestive needs, and those parents don’t have another brand to buy.

     

    fyi Because my grandson is on formula, I’m aware of the crisis.

  35. 35.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 12, 2022 at 8:20 am

    @Anne Laurie: oh, but that is “the governments fault” in the conservative mind. It’s was the evil FDA that forced the manufacturer to shut down because it was poisoning babies.

  36. 36.

    Kay

    May 12, 2022 at 8:20 am

    @JPL:

    The owner of a key baby formula manufacturing plant said Wednesday it is looking to restart its plant in as little as two weeks — but said it would take between six to eight weeks to get formula products back on store shelves once production gets going again.The shutdown of the facility, owned by Abbott Laboratories and located in Sturgis, Michigan, has prompted a severe shortage of infant formulas including Similac, Alimentum and EleCare. The plant was shut down in February pending a federal investigation into the deaths of two infants and reports of illnesses among other children who consumed certain baby formula products. The plant remains closed.In a new statement Wednesday, Abbott said that, subject to Food and Drug Administration approval, it could restart the Sturgis site “within two weeks.” But from the time it brings the facility back online, it would take six to eight weeks before product makes it to store shelves, Abbott said.

    I think it takes a lot to close a plant. Must have been bad. Just gross how greedy and incompetent these people are.

  37. 37.

    Starfish

    May 12, 2022 at 8:22 am

    @Baud: Biden should chaotically bust down every door and deliver student loan money like in this video that is fake. Why is there a duck?

  38. 38.

    germy

    May 12, 2022 at 8:23 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Every once in a while the news media will buy a bunch of infant and child toys from various Dollar Stores and test them for safety.  Alarming amounts of lead and other things that toddlers end up chewing on.

    In my grocery store I see barbecue grill brushes on the shelves now. They’re manufactured in China so cheaply that bits of the wire brushes break off and stick to the grill.  The tiny wires then stick to hamburgers.  And several people now have these pieces lodged in their throats.  One woman was told by her surgeon it couldn’t be removed.

    I remember the Democratic presidential primary debates.  Bloomberg extolled the virtues of our system, all this wonderful and affordable product imported from China.  He lives in his own world.

  39. 39.

    JPL

    May 12, 2022 at 8:23 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: The factory is in the midwest and  Abbott Labs knew they had a problem in 2019.   The plant was shut down in January or February after several infants got sick.

  40. 40.

    JPL

    May 12, 2022 at 8:26 am

    @Kay: It’s time to regulate greed.   It’s difficult for me to understand why one company was allowed to produce formula that is required for some infants with digestive issues.   That’s a health issue.

    For similac users, they can switch formula over a few days, although that might cause some shortages.  Grand imp uses Happy Organics and there have been shortages because similac users have switched.

  41. 41.

    Betty Cracker

    May 12, 2022 at 8:26 am

    I was just drinking coffee on my porch and told a little gator in the lagoon to stay away from my birds or I’d shoot it!

    I don’t have a gun, so it was an idle threat. But it occurred to me I’d reached peak Florida Woman by threatening an alligator with gun violence!

    We try to follow the Prime Directive here in the swamp and not meddle with nature. But occasionally I will drop something to startle birds if I think they don’t see a gator.

  42. 42.

    Starfish

    May 12, 2022 at 8:31 am

    @JPL: It had already caused the death of two infants.

  43. 43.

    Ocotillo

    May 12, 2022 at 8:32 am

    I don’t know the things that will happen in the world today that potentially could end up on the evening news but I guarantee you, there will be at least one story where the reporter is interviewing some person pumping gas and commenting about how much it is.  Groundhog Day.

  44. 44.

    germy

    May 12, 2022 at 8:34 am

    @Ocotillo:

    Idiots in my town have been putting Biden stickers on the gas pumps.  As a lib, I guess I’m supposed to be owned by this.

  45. 45.

    Kay

    May 12, 2022 at 8:34 am

    @JPL:

    There will be a decade long paper trail of warnings and assurances fron the company in response to the warnings, because there always is. They didn’t want to spend the money to fix it, so they didn’t. It made more sense to them to keep it closed. Because when they want to keep one open they will move heaven and earth. My son once had to personally travel to Massachusetts to unbolt a piece of specialized equipment from one factory there, put it on a mover, and accompany it to another factory here. Another time he had to drive to an airport in Kentucky to pick up a specialized part from France- they were making plastic 2 liter pop bottles. They can move really fast if they want to.

  46. 46.

    Another Scott

    May 12, 2022 at 8:35 am

    @Starfish: I was expecting AFLAC.

    TikTok is weird.

    Thanks!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  47. 47.

    germy

    May 12, 2022 at 8:37 am

    @Starfish:

    I remember the sinking feeling I had when Reagan was first elected and he was giving a speech about excessive regulations on business.  He assured the audience “But this doesn’t mean we want to return to the days of the early 20th century and poisoned meat…” and I thought to myself “We’re gonna get poisoned food.”

    And sure enough, the salmonella outbreaks began in the 80s.  Kids dying from fast food hamburgers, eggs needing to be cooked well done rather than “over easy” or poached, etc.

    I trace these deaths back to Reagan and the men who controlled him.

  48. 48.

    Torrey

    May 12, 2022 at 8:38 am

    Chris Smalls is a phenomenon. I find myself wondering if he’s related to Robert Smalls of South Carolina. (And of course Hannah Jones Smalls, who understood the importance of bringing a tablecloth if you’re commandeering a ship.)

  49. 49.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 12, 2022 at 8:44 am

    @Baud: They will, the brainwashing from corporate management has been very effective.  “But the union will take my money in dues!

    ETA: I follow the Home of the Orange Apron’s redit.

  50. 50.

    Ken

    May 12, 2022 at 8:44 am

    @Anne Laurie: Clearly the solution is an executive order allowing Abbott to sell contaminated baby formula, while Congress works on the longer-term solution of eliminating the FDA so these plant shutdowns don’t happen again.

  51. 51.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 12, 2022 at 8:47 am

    @germy:

    And I remember the Texas gov. creating a supply chain bottleneck until he was prevented. 

    Didn’t Mexico go, “Fuck you, TexASS!  We’re using New Mexico‘s border crossings now.”?

  52. 52.

    Ocotillo

    May 12, 2022 at 8:48 am

    @germy:  I have seen those around here too, I personally peel them off and throw them in the trash.

  53. 53.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 12, 2022 at 8:50 am

    @Baud: On cue Red Rose Twitter is dissing the Ds for taking the Roe vote.

    Regarding baby food crisis. The economic illiteracy and innumeracy of the electorate is staggering.

    Economies of scale and scope make it possible to produce stuff cheaply, but then you end up depending on a tiny number of producers. You can’t have one without the other. It is not neoliberalism or late stage capitalism or whatever the buzzword today is.

  54. 54.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 8:53 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    They’re basically an arm of the RNC.

  55. 55.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 12, 2022 at 8:53 am

    @Starfish:

    Biden should chaotically bust down every door and deliver student loan money like in this video that is fake. Why is there a duck? 

    Would you prefer a video without a duck? ??

  56. 56.

    rikyrah

    May 12, 2022 at 8:54 am

    Good Morning Everyone ???

  57. 57.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 8:54 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Is there a union push right now?

  58. 58.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 8:55 am

    @rikyrah:

    Good morning.

  59. 59.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 12, 2022 at 8:55 am

    @Baud: They are. But many BJers has a sad if you point that out.

  60. 60.

    germy

    May 12, 2022 at 8:56 am

    Our dishwasher broke yesterday. Home Depot said they could not sell me a new one due to Critical Race Theory. I tried Lowe’s, but they said they no longer sell home appliances, just the book “Gender Queer.” This is President Biden’s America

    — Jason O. Gilbert (@gilbertjasono) May 11, 2022

     

    Our dishwasher broke yesterday. I was informed that a replacement will take over a year. I barely remember the Carter years. No one will ever forget the Biden years. A year to wait on a common appliance. Socialists have made building things in America a Green Nightmare.

    — Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) May 11, 2022

  61. 61.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 8:56 am

    @Starfish:

    You sure it’s fake?

  62. 62.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 8:57 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I think the debate here is more about their relevance than their goodness.

  63. 63.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 12, 2022 at 8:57 am

    @germy: Is this guy a comedian or an idiot?

  64. 64.

    lowtechcyclist

    May 12, 2022 at 8:58 am

    @Baud:

    I occasionally see lefties pining for a multiparty parliamentary system. I think it fits with their desire to identify as a member of a smaller, more cohesive party, rather than the Democratic coalition.

    I just believe our political system is constructed in a way that leaves it too little room to evolve.  You’re stuck with the same two parties forever, even if one of them is a disaster area.  There’s no way for something else to supplant it, nowhere else to go but to the ‘other side.’

    There are things our system could do to add some fluidity without becoming a parliamentary system.  Ranked-choice voting is one: if you can vote for a minor party as your first choice, but one of the majors as your second, then you aren’t sabotaging your own side by showing support for an alternative.  (That could have made the difference in both 2000 and 2016.)  That way support for alternative parties has the opportunity to grow.  So it’s good to see ranked choice becoming more popular.

    Another is simply allowing minor parties to have major party candidates as their nominees for offices where they don’t have their own.  Say you had a liberal Brown Party that was running candidates for some local or state legislative offices, but wanted to show the Democratic Party nominees for President, Senator, and Representative as their own nominees as well, that’s not allowed in all but a few states.  (I have no idea why.)

  65. 65.

    zhena gogolia

    May 12, 2022 at 8:58 am

    @mrmoshpotato: Looks like a parody to me.

  66. 66.

    germy

    May 12, 2022 at 8:59 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    The first one is a comedian.  The second one (schlapp) is an idiot.

  67. 67.

    debbie

    May 12, 2022 at 9:00 am

    Hakeem Jeffries is fucking done with Clarence & Ginni Thomas. pic.twitter.com/ta5GupxAEb
    — Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) May 12, 2022

  68. 68.

    zhena gogolia

    May 12, 2022 at 9:00 am

    @germy: Oh, it’s the Socialists who have made it hard to build things in America! Good to know!

  69. 69.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 9:01 am

    @lowtechcyclist:

    I’m intrigued by ranked choice voting as well.  Some here said FL GOP banned it, so they appreciate the threat.

  70. 70.

    Soprano2

    May 12, 2022 at 9:01 am

    @germy: And sure enough, the salmonella outbreaks began in the 80s.  Kids dying from fast food hamburgers, eggs needing to be cooked well done rather than “over easy” or poached, etc.

    It’s the way they produce food now, in confined space feeding operations. After reading “Fast Food Nation” and the chapters in there about slaughterhouses, you couldn’t pay me to eat hamburger cooked other than well-done. Same with eggs, they used to be safer because they were raised by smaller farmers, but now they’re in huge houses all crammed together, so anything but eggs cooked well aren’t safe unless you know the source.

  71. 71.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 12, 2022 at 9:01 am

    @Baud: Wages and working conditions stuck, so there’s a thread about once a week about unionizing.  It’s not all that serious, I’ve not seen any activity around my store.  The company, however, takes it very, very seriously and in the video we all have to watch about identity theft, they talk about not giving personal information to union organizers.  On the threads on redit, every time unionization is brought up, there’s always a few comments that crap on the idea…usually about unions taking dues(no mention of the that being offset by wage increases) or someone who once worked in a unionized shop that decertified the union and everything was better(higher wages).  My current wage is about $1.50 over the minimum wage here in CA.  I’ve heard that in some states, new employees are making more than employees(excuse me associates) that have been working there for years.

  72. 72.

    germy

    May 12, 2022 at 9:02 am

    @schrodingers_cat:  Economies of scale and scope make it possible to produce stuff cheaply, but then you end up depending on a tiny number of producers.

    that’s not late stage capitalism?

    Rather than modernize the plant they gave 6 billion in stock buybacks.  Sounds like late stage capitalism to me.

  73. 73.

    Soprano2

    May 12, 2022 at 9:03 am

    @germy: That thread is absolutely  hilarious, with many many people showing him that there are hundreds of dishwashers available for immediate delivery in his area. I guess they think people only read their tweet, and not the reaction to it.

  74. 74.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 12, 2022 at 9:03 am

    @debbie: Congressman Jeffries has had enough of this bullshit!

  75. 75.

    germy

    May 12, 2022 at 9:04 am

    @Soprano2:  you couldn’t pay me to eat hamburger cooked other than well-done

    Hamburgers, steaks… all meat.  Which is why I found the food snobs so irritating (the late Bourdain included) when they expressed contempt for people ordering their meat anything other than blood rare.

  76. 76.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 9:05 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    new employees are making more than employees(excuse me associates) that have been working there for years.

     
    Wow. That won’t end well.

  77. 77.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 12, 2022 at 9:08 am

    @Baud: Yeah, it’s a bit of a problem, I don’t think it happens here in CA, but it does in other states, especially those with lower minimum wages.  Wages have been bid up for new hires, but they don’t bump up those folk that are already working there.

  78. 78.

    debbie

    May 12, 2022 at 9:08 am

    @Soprano2:

    Yep, I’ve gotten sick about 10 times from eggs, meat, fruit, and vegetables. No one told me I needed to be careful. I remember eating steak tartare and soft boiled eggs, but now, I overcook everything. You could bounce my eggs off the wall!

  79. 79.

    germy

    May 12, 2022 at 9:13 am

    @debbie:

    I remember those little egg cups for eating poached eggs.  Does anyone do that anymore?  I haven’t since Reagan.

  80. 80.

    rikyrah

    May 12, 2022 at 9:14 am

    @Baud:

    Even when they control shyt, Republicans don’t get blamed. No phucking expectations that they will do anything for people

  81. 81.

    rikyrah

    May 12, 2022 at 9:15 am

    @Baud:  Truth

  82. 82.

    Starfish

    May 12, 2022 at 9:18 am

    @Baud: It’s as real as the Jerry Springer show.

  83. 83.

    New Deal democrat

    May 12, 2022 at 9:19 am

    @Baud:
    “[Supporting hugely popular positions and delivering on them] hasn’t worked in the past.  But maybe this time will be different.“

    OK I’m going to take slight issue with this.

    “And no man, when he hath lighted a lamp, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but putteth it on a stand, that they that enter in may see the light.”
    — Luke 8:16

    When FDR and the New Deal Congress passed Social Security, it went into effect immediately, and they made a big deal, with photographs, of the delivery of the first Social Security check.

    When Obamacare was passed, full implementation took 6 years, there was a bungled computer rollout of the applications system, there was *zero* publicity of the first beneficiaries getting their new health insurance, and *zero* coverage of the first payments made covering their next health care.

    With Social Security, Democrats took one of their crowning New Deal accomplishments, put it in a lighthouse, and showed its magnified light for miles around. With Obamacare, the Democrats took their biggest accomplishment in decades, covered it with a vessel, and hid it under a bed.

    The trick is (yes, I know this is horribly difficult to comprehend for some highly paid political consultants) “supporting popular programs, delivering on them, AND SHOUTING ABOUT THEM 24/7/365 LIKE THE EFFING EXPLOSION ON KRAKATOA UNTIL ELECTION DAY.”

    Josh Marshall has already laid out the (very simple) road map. Make a specific, unequivocal promise about abortion rights if we Hold the House and Seat 2 more Senators, make it the entire election theme, and then deliver on it if we win. The promise needs to be communicated 24/7/365 until Election Day.

  84. 84.

    Geminid

    May 12, 2022 at 9:21 am

    @debbie: Whoa! That clip of Jeffries was even better the second time I watched it.

    Hakeem Jeffries communicates effectively in many settings, and his short Judiciary Committee speeches can be really good. I thought his takedown of freshman Judiciary member Burgess Owens (R-Utah) was a work of art, and one of February’s high points.

  85. 85.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 12, 2022 at 9:21 am

    @germy: Can you define what you mean by late stage capitalism?

  86. 86.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 12, 2022 at 9:22 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I’ve heard that in some states, new employees are making more than employees(excuse me associates) that have been working there for years.

    That happened at my wife’s company. She (at the urging and with the full support of her agitator union husband) tore management a new one in a zoom meeting. I told her that if they didn’t straighten it out she and her coworkers should engage in rolling sickouts. She had about half her fellow workers signed up when management stopped the weaseling and raised all their wages.

  87. 87.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 12, 2022 at 9:23 am

    @germy: This is the poster child for conservative, entitled, white boi idiot;

    “I am small government, free market conservative; my dishwasher broke, their customer service sucks ass, so, I demand the government get involved and force that private company to get me a dishwasher NOW!.” 

  88. 88.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 9:23 am

    @New Deal democrat:

    The Dems won big in 1932. They did not pass Social Security in 1933-34.  The won big again in 1934. It still took them until August 1935 to pass Social Security. And that was with much larger majorities than we have now. If it were today, the Dems would never have been given the chance to enact Social Security.

     

    I agree with your last paragraph.

  89. 89.

    Starfish

    May 12, 2022 at 9:24 am

    @New Deal democrat: That’s not true. They made a big deal of the people who would be helped by the ACA. Isn’t that why the Republicans were inspecting that one family’s counter tops?

    At this point, the popular parts of the ACA (aka staying on your parents’ insurance until you are 26) feel like things that have always been there to the people that benefit.

    The negative parts of health care including unaffordable drug prices, medical care that people avoid due to unknown costs, and an entire medical system that has zero price transparency and regularly shocks people are still around though.

    Someone needs to come through and slap some hospitals and some pharmaceutical companies.

  90. 90.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 12, 2022 at 9:27 am

    May, Chicago, 80°

    Stop it, weather!  No to July in May!

  91. 91.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 12, 2022 at 9:30 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:. She had about half her fellow workers signed up when management stopped the weaseling and raised all their wages.

    That just happened this week at the place I work.  Well not quite, 40% of the staff quit in four months for industry standard and then the management broke down.

    Personally, I find that more effective than a union, because management being management, they would just blame the union for the humiliating indignity of paying industry standard.  This way they only can blame themselves when the look at the open positions on their org charts and weep.

  92. 92.

    geg6

    May 12, 2022 at 9:37 am

    @Baud:

    I do not have access and I’m not going to ever.  But can you summarize?

  93. 93.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 12, 2022 at 9:38 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Speaking as a union carpenter, I must disagree. When I finally retired my wage and benefit package was $50+/hr. At that time a nonunion carpenters wage and… Who am I kidding, there had no benefits… their wages were at $25-30. As far as blame goes, management being management, they are never to blame for anything. Never.

  94. 94.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 9:42 am

    @geg6:

    It’s detailed so hard to summarize based on memory.  But they are considering whether to means test and implementation hurdles that might affect timing.  The article said they expect an announcement in a few weeks.

  95. 95.

    Denali

    May 12, 2022 at 9:44 am

    I agree. Democrats should adapt the term “pro-choice” and make it heard from now through the election. It is positive and true. Unlike “defund” the police, which is misleading and needs to be explained. Simple slogans are powerful and make a difference. When Republicans latched on to pro-life, of course it was appealing. Who is anti-life?  But of course, beyond the surface, they are.

  96. 96.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    May 12, 2022 at 9:48 am

    @debbie: Holy cow. Mr. Jeffries is not having it

  97. 97.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    May 12, 2022 at 9:49 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: That actually happened to me in my first, very bad, job as a faculty member. That would be the job I left as soon as I could

  98. 98.

    Kay

    May 12, 2022 at 9:53 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Josh Eidelson
    @josheidelson
    ·2h
    In contract talks, workers asked why Starbucks was against putting a worker on its board given it brags about having an empty chair at meetings to represent them (“It’s real,” Schultz has said). Starbucks lawyer said “Haven’t you ever heard of a metaphor?

  99. 99.

    Tazj

    May 12, 2022 at 9:54 am

    A few days ago on NPR they interviewed someone from the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive institute. They were asked if corporations were price gouging during the pandemic. They said that before the pandemic companies usually had a 12% profit margin on the goods they produce. After the pandemic the average profit margin was 54% and the cost of labor accounted for about 8% of the cost.

    There’s a woman I follow on Twitter(Emily Singer) that has struggled to find special formula for her baby and has highlighted the problems with the Abbott plant. She thinks they should allow more formula imports from Europe.
    Conservative men yesterday on social media “why don’t all women just breast feed?”Sigh.

  100. 100.

    geg6

    May 12, 2022 at 9:56 am

    @debbie:

    A true thing of beauty.  Every Dem should be making the same point just as forcefully.

  101. 101.

    Bex

    May 12, 2022 at 9:59 am

    @Another Scott: Was he actually born on April Fool’s Day?

  102. 102.

    Kropacetic

    May 12, 2022 at 10:02 am

    @Kay: An empty chair doesn’t talk back and knows its place, ask Clint Eastwood.

  103. 103.

    New Deal democrat

    May 12, 2022 at 10:08 am

    @Baud: “ The Dems won big in 1932. They did not pass Social Security in 1933-34.  The won big again in 1934. It still took them until August 1935 to pass Social Security. And that was with much larger majorities than we have now. If it were today, the Dems would never have been given the chance to enact Social Security.”
     
    Together with my writing partner Hale Stewart, I wrote a four part series on the New Deal back in 2009 that was picked up by the Huffington Post.
     
    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-great-depression-pt-i_b_154730
     
    It started out with a quote from Walter Lippman about the “first 100 days” of the FDR Administration in 1933:
     
    “ ”At the end of February, we were a con-geries of disorderly panicstricken mobs and factions. In the hundred days from March to June we became again an organized nation confident of our power to provide for our own security and to control our own destiny.”
     
    Another swift action taken, with immediate effects, was the creation of the Civil Works Administration in November 1933, with jobs created over the winter of 1933-34. Here’s a quote on the effect of that program, from the third installment of our series:
     
    “I was laid off in ’31. I was out of work for over two years. I’d get up at six o’clock every morning and make the rounds. I’d go around looking for work until about eight thirty. The library would open at nine. I’d spend maybe five hours in the library.” …. “I can remember the first week of the CWA checks. It was on a Friday. That night everybody had gotten his check. The first check a lot of them had in three years. Everybody was out celebrating…. Everybody was so happy, you’d think they got a big dividend from Xerox.” “I never saw such a change of attitude. Instead of walking around feeling dreary and looking sorrowful, everybody was joyous. Like a feast day. They were toasting each other. They had money in their pockets for the first time. If Roosevelt had run for President the next day, he’d have gone in by a hundred percent.” – Hank Oettinger, as told to Studs Terkel, “Hard Times”
     
    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-great-depression-pt-i_b_155181
     
    Specific promises were made in 1932. Specific promises were kept in 1933. They were trumpeted from the rooftops. Democrats were rewarded with victories in 1934 and 1936, despite an overwhelmingly hostile Supreme Court and press.
     
    I repeat: 1. You make specific promises. 2. You keep them. 3. You crow about them constantly. 4. Voters reward you.

  104. 104.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 10:11 am

    @New Deal democrat:

    The solution, then, is to limit the promises we make in any particular election.  The nature of our coalition, however, doesn’t let us ignore some groups in favor of others.

    I repeat: 1. You make specific promises. 2. You keep them. 3. You crow about them constantly. 4. Voters reward you.

    That really didn’t work in 2010.

  105. 105.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 12, 2022 at 10:16 am

    @Kay: workers asked why Starbucks was against putting a worker on its board given it brags about having an empty chair at meetings to represent them

    Because empty chairs never bring up inconvenient facts, argue, or complain, they just sit there empty and quiet, like the ideal employee.

  106. 106.

    New Deal democrat

    May 12, 2022 at 10:19 am

    @Baud: Completely disagree.

    The Democrats completely forgot about the part where “you crowe about them constantly.” The stimulus package was passed and then barely mentioned. Obama was notorious for not crowing about his achievements.

    HAMP landed like a damp squid. Obamacare took 18 months, and Democrats started running away from it as fast as they could the moment the Tea Party was ginned up.

    I see we have reached the end of our illuminating discuss. Have a good day.

  107. 107.

    Kay

    May 12, 2022 at 10:21 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    “Employee empowerment!”

    Bettter than any contract. Some psychobabble :)

  108. 108.

    OzarkHillbilly

    May 12, 2022 at 10:23 am

    @Kay: ​We’re all one big family here.GRAAAAAKK AAAAAAAAKK AAAKK……
    Gag me with a spoon.​

  109. 109.

    MisterDancer

    May 12, 2022 at 10:27 am

    @New Deal democrat: Specific promises were made in 1932. Specific promises were kept in 1933.

    Two things:

    1. Your argument and quote says nothing about any promises. I’ve reviewed all four of the posts, and nowhere do you or Mr. Stewart actually say what was promised as part of FDR’s campaign in this forceful way — we know they ran on this, but I don’t see evidence on how they implemented this “promises made” approach in ways that you’d like to see replicated, today. I understand that wasn’t your point in your original post! However, pulling it in means we should be able to see not just effect, but cause, in your sourcing. And I submit that’s not the case.
    2. Your original point was about Social Security. Baud pointed out your thesis on it was incorrect, your timeline off. It raises concerns about your scholarship if your response does not acknowledge it. Esp. as you slide into to a wider “overall New Deal” approach that fails to acknowledge your error, provide a corrective context for those of us eager and willing to do our own reading, and makes the issues I noted in 1) above, as well.

    I 100% appreciate bringing a academic approach,. Yet if we’re going to hold to that, we need to accept and acknowledge peer review, as well.

    Update: I see you’ve dropped the discussion. I’m sorry for that; even as I disagree I didn’t see anyone being disagreeable. And I don’t mind discussing, at all, how history can inform policy and political approaches; it’s the “my gut says Do X” that tends to drive me…grumpy. :)

  110. 110.

    kalakal

    May 12, 2022 at 10:41 am

    Regarding poverty and a parlimentary system from across the pond I present

    a superb example of invective for your enjoyment from the wonderful Jack Monro

    https://twitter.com/BootstrapCook/status/1524486627594223624?s=20&t=CQ5iEmiR5sgLrAgbL7HX9w

    Backstory

    Across the pond a Tory MP reared up on his hind legs and brayed that the poors weren’t really poor, none of them are going hungry, food banks aren’t a thing. It’s all the silly poors fault, they just didn’t know how to cook and budget properly. Jack Monro is an anti poverty campaigner who wrote the book on food poverty out of necessity when she found herself penniless with a young child.

  111. 111.

    hueyplong

    May 12, 2022 at 11:01 am

    @Baud: And while we’re at it, Social Security didn’t go into effect immediately.  The act passed in Aug 1935, and was still not in effect at the time of the 1936 election campaign.  GOPers campaigned on the threat that workers would be pauperized by payroll deductions that had not yet begun.

    I think the first taxations were made, and first checks went out, in 1937.

    If New Deal democrat wants to argue that the perceived passage of time has been altered a lot since the 1930s in terms of what constitutes “right away,” I’ll agree with that.

  112. 112.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 12, 2022 at 11:06 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I can see that for that kind of work, contract work ends up a race to the bottom.  An artist I was dating was always getting screwed on her commissions.

  113. 113.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 12, 2022 at 11:36 am

    Not a parody as far as I can tell

    Why women who want to abort their babies should focus their attention on the real enemy: Big Tech and neoliberalism, who want to divide the working class

    They forgot late stage capitalism, whatever that means

    This account has over 1500 followers. Is MAGA. But speaks the language of the Red Rose Twitter. Misogyny is strong at both the ends of the horseshoe.

  114. 114.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 11:51 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I occasionally see comments on Reddit by people arguing for putting race and other social divisions aside and join together on fighting the wealthy elites.

  115. 115.

    Kay

    May 12, 2022 at 12:09 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I’m vulnerable to workplace rallies/cheerleading. For 5 or 10 minutes “it’s GREAT to work here!” then I forget about it. I read a long history/biography of Lee Harvey Oswald once and the only thing I recall about it is his co-workers at various low status, low wage jobs said he was weirdly devoted to the jobs- like with contempt.

    So he’d be a gas station attendant and be really gung ho multinational gas company. One of those.

  116. 116.

    Ruckus ??

    May 12, 2022 at 12:12 pm

    @Kay:

    The concept in most business is of course that you need to be profitable. Because otherwise you are paying people to buy your product or service. And really that is true. But today, with the idea that a company needs to make maximum profit rather than a reasonable profit, small business is being driven out and bigger business can crush them leading to a larger profit. It isn’t about the business staying in business and supplying a reasonable product at a reasonable price it is only about the profit margin. And this leads to a basis where people relate profit percentage to the value of the product, not it’s actual value or need or supply. (I’m not talking about the buyer but the business people who run/own/screw the customer and country.) Some get rich, everyone else suffers and some will always suffer far more. It’s like SFB claiming he’s worth 5-6 times more than he is, it’s bragging rights for how badly he fucked everyone else. This is current day conservative policy. Lie out your asses as to your goals of fucking everyone else and that makes you better. Fundamentalist religions are this way, conservative business people are this way, conservative politicians are this way. They think sharing is inhuman, that suffering is mandatory for everyone but them. A better world is them rich and comfortable and everyone else suffering and hopefully suffering massively. They don’t want good or even good enough, they want more, they want it all – and don’t care who they fuck over getting there, as long as they get to fuck over someone. Conservatism is selfishness.

  117. 117.

    taumaturgo

    May 12, 2022 at 12:15 pm

    This is for the 2022 cycle. Abbott is following the true and tried formula of keeping both $ide$ happy.
    $406,000
    Total contributions from Abbott Laboratories PAC to federal candidates, 2021-2022

    $205,500
    (50.62%)
    To Democrats

    $200,500
    (49.38%)
    To Republicans
    (Excuse the font size, unable to resize)

  118. 118.

    Kay

    May 12, 2022 at 12:22 pm

    @Ruckus ??:

    The only part I disagree with is I don’t think it’s new. I read Empire of Pain, about Purdue Pharma. The Sackler family have been deliberately hooking people on dangerous drugs for 40 years. They had a different huge scandal IN that 40 years, where they were before Congress. A horrible company. Always.

  119. 119.

    taumaturgo

    May 12, 2022 at 12:23 pm

    @Baud: There is a word for that: Solidarity

  120. 120.

    Baud

    May 12, 2022 at 12:26 pm

    @taumaturgo:

    The racists can put aside their racism to join us.  Otherwise, the appropriate word for it is racism.

  121. 121.

    Soprano2

    May 12, 2022 at 1:34 pm

    @germy: No, steaks are different because they’re produced differently and the bacteria that’s a problem is on the surface of the meat. As long as the surface of a steak is cooked enough, the inside can be rare and it’s not dangerous. The problem with ground meat is that if one cow is contaminated with fecal matter, and they grind it together with 10 other cows, then all of it is contaminated, and has to be cooked well-done in order to kill the bacteria that causes illness. The way they make ground beef has changed with the advent of fast food – before it was made in grocery stores by butchers from the scraps of meat from cutting up carcasses.

    Oh, and well-done is a terrible thing to do to a steak IMHO.

  122. 122.

    Soprano2

    May 12, 2022 at 1:38 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: It’s supposed to be 90° here today! That’s crazy for this time in May.

  123. 123.

    Ruckus ??

    May 12, 2022 at 2:23 pm

    @Kay:

    I fully agree that it’s been here for a very long time and levels of this go back to the beginning of humanity. But it wasn’t as noticeable not that many decades back because there wasn’t the population density of today and there wasn’t as much crap to sell nor as much money to purchase it. My father started his business 61 yrs ago and that’s when I started to see what business is about and what it could be like. My father expected a lot but he paid very well for talent and effort. I got to see what realistic employment looked like. I’ve owned 2 businesses and seen first hand what happens if there is no profit. And living in this country/world I’ve also seen what happens when scams are in vogue. I’ve also seen that while there was big business even then there wasn’t close to the level of shitty business that there is today because there wasn’t the volume of purchasing and the asinine level of communication of crap no one or very few need but is sold as if breathing will stop if you don’t purchase these $200 each bed sheets or whatever crap is the crap of the day. The Epi pen debacle, what was it $200 each or some such crap? The concept of fucking the consumers went from crap no one needs to medication, to food, to transportation to basically everything. It’s profitable business and wealth gone insane. Yes it was always bad that we had the SFB people in our midst, but enough of the public at large seems to think that SFB is the shits, as opposed to just his being actual shit.

  124. 124.

    JR in WV

    May 12, 2022 at 7:58 pm

    @Ruckus ??: ​
     

    Regarding the EpiPen the price history is amazing. According to the Insider:

    In 2016, the EpiPen became a symbol of the drug-pricing problem in the US.

    Over a decade, the price for a two-pack has gone up from $93.88 to $608.61, an increase of more than 500%.

    This was while the company, Mylan Pharmaceutical, was controlled and managed by Senator Joe Manchin’s daughter, Heather Bresch. The actual injection device was developed by the Army in the 1970s.

    Heather looks a lot like her dad… same extreme level of greed, apparently. Their large pharma facility in Morgantown is now closed, after Mylan was bought out by a giant pharma company.

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