Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

I really should read my own blog.

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

We are aware of all internet traditions.

The lights are all blinking red.

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

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

Peak wingnut was a lie.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

The willow is too close to the house.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

You are here: Home / Open Threads / President Biden Signs the BFD Bill! (LIVE)

Reader Interactions

79Comments

  3. 3.

    Bupalos

    It’s absolutely the biggest thing that has happened this year. On the positive side of the ledger I think it’s the biggest thing that’s happened this decade.

    And per my own highly unscientific survey, most Dems (and all R’s) just basically don’t know what’s in this bill or what a BFD it actually is.

  4. 4.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    But climate change IS something that evil people did to us. There is an active conspiracy to prevent the decarbonization of our energy sources by those who profit from it and their political allies. Still going on…

  5. 5.

    Ken

    I suppose since I whined about getting this thread, I should comment on it. But everyone’s already said BFD, and what more is there to say? Thanks for the video.

  9. 9.

    Fake Irishman

    What green investments got through in The CHIPS act?  (Hank mentioned it in his thread.)

  10. 10.

    Fake Irishman

    This is a great day. I so wanted this day in 2010, but today is far better than 2032 or never.

  13. 13.

    Leto

    The US Food and Drug Administration announced on Tuesday it has finalized a rule allowing people over the age of 18 with mild to moderate hearing impairment to be able to purchase hearing aids over the counter.

    The rule will become effective in October, the FDA said in a news release, and is expected to reduce the cost of hearing aids.

    “Reducing health care costs in America has been a priority of mine since Day One and this rule is expected to help us achieve quality, affordable health care access for millions of Americans in need,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement. “Today’s action by the FDA represents a significant milestone in making hearing aids more cost-effective and accessible.”

  14. 14.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Bupalos:

     

    It’s absolutely the biggest thing that has happened this year.

    Maybe, if you aren’t counting my visit to Panama City back in April.

    (For those of you worried about my brand, it was a work trip, not personal!)

  19. 19.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Glad to hear Biden hammer home the point that every single Republican voted against the BFF Bill. Will the MSM see fit to mention it?

  20. 20.

    JoyceH

    He’s feisty today! “No Republicans! Not one!”

    Heck, if this is COVID aftermath, he should catch it more often.

  21. 21.

    J.

    Neither the NYT nor the WAPO has this on their front pages. Instead, the Times has a breaking story about the conflict between tennis and pickleball players in Seattle. I guess that’s their definition of hard-hitting news.

    (I am so disgusted with the Times’s coverage of Biden and the Democrats and their incredible accomplishments, or lack thereof. Though I am not surprised. The Washington Post is a bit better, but I hate that they give Hewitt and McArdle and other liars space on the front page or anywhere.)

  22. 22.

    cain

    @Leto: That’s good news for me – since I really do need to get my hearing improved. It’s gotten worse over the past year or so.

  25. 25.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Baud: he signed it, but the flag had a gold fringe so the signing is invalid.  Also, I don’t have to pay my taxes!

  27. 27.

    Immanentize

    Can’t help but think Biden is channelling one of my favorites:

    I have lived my life, and I have fought my battles, not against the weak and the poor – anybody can do that – but against power, against injustice, against oppression, and I have asked no odds from them, and I never shall.

    — Clarence Darrow (the Good Clarence)

  28. 28.

    JoyceH

    Who’s the guy who was standing next to Pelosi  when the bill was signed? I’m not used to not recognizing someone at these events.

  33. 33.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Immanentize:

    How many Republicans?

    EVERY SINGLE ONE!!

    “All of them, Katie!”

    This is a moment worth celebrating!

    I think I’ll celebrate by working on my list of which Dem Senate candidates to contribute to.

  37. 37.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud: If it’s her, she’s put on some weight and had plastic surgery. I don’t know who the tall guy next to her is either.

  38. 38.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Immanentize: OT:  What do know/think about Paul Tucker for Essex County DA?   A fraternity brother from college is talking him up and volunteering for his campaign.

  40. 40.

    Immanentize

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Tucker’s a bog standard 63 y.o. white guy ex-police Chief, legislator candidate

    Tucker, 63, argues that his background as a former Salem police detective and chief and eight years as a Beacon Hill lawmaker has prepared him to take over as the region’s top state prosecutor.

    O’Shea is more to my liking:

    O’Shea, 50, argues that his background as a criminal defense lawyer who has argued cases before federal and state judges — including the Supreme Judicial Court — on behalf of thousands of clients has prepared him to take over the DA’s office.

    I really make it a point to never vote for white ex-LEOs in Massachusetts if I can avoid it.

  41. 41.

    Roger Moore

    @J.:

    Neither the NYT nor the WAPO has this on their front pages.

    I just checked, and NYT has it as their top article now.  WaPo has a “breaking news” header for it at the top of their web page and will presumably have it up in the near future.  This is fairly common.  They need a little bit of time after the event to write their article.

  42. 42.

    dmsilev

    @J.: They’ve both updated. The Post has “Biden signs sweeping bill to tackle climate change, lower health-care costs”
    (2nd story on their homepage, just below their big “behind the scenes of the buildup to the Russian invasion” story)
    FTNYT has “Biden Signs Sweeping Health, Climate and Tax Law” as the lead story.

  47. 47.

    Another Scott

    @JoyceH: TheHill says:

    Biden was introduced by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who negotiated with Schumer to move the package forward, sat in the front row at the signing and was the only other senator in attendance. He received a round of applause when Schumer credited him with getting the legislation across the finish line.

    Biden said he looked forward to signing the bill for 18 months and was flanked by lawmakers when he signed it, handing the first pen dramatically off to Manchin.

    Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, deputy national climate adviser Ali Zaidi, and Reps Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), among others, attended the event at the White House.

    [eta:] So my guess it was Pallone and Castor as the relative unknowns up there at the desk.

    HTH!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  50. 50.

    Roger Moore

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    On a vaguely related note, I am greatly relieved the petition to recall George Gascon as DA of LA County has failed.  The petition backers turned in more than enough signatures, but enough of them were invalidated to defeat the recall effort.  FWIW, the “signatures” invalidated were really names on the petition.  They could be invalidated because the signature itself didn’t match, but many more were invalid because the signer wasn’t registered to vote, the name was a duplicate, or the address didn’t match the one on file.  Curiously enough, the same kind of people who demand voter ID are furious the county registrar actually checked the names.

  51. 51.

    Elizabelle

    Interesting take from the LA Times:

    Biden signs climate, drug prices bill into law, another legislative triumph in a moment of democratic peril

    WASHINGTON — At a moment when American democracy looks increasingly vulnerable, President Biden and Democrats pointed to their third landmark bill, a capstone on two years of significant legislative progress, as evidence that American government is working once again.
    A nearly $400-billion investment in clean energy subsidies will mark the United States’ most serious effort ever to combat climate change. A cap on prescription drug costs will ensure that seniors on Medicare pay no more than $2,000 a year for their medications. And an extension on subsidies provided during the COVID-19 pandemic will lower healthcare costs for 13 million Americans.

    None of these long-sought changes to U.S. law appeared likely a month ago, when last-ditch negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin, (D-W.Va.), his party’s critical 50th vote in the evenly divided Senate, appeared to break down. But those talks quickly resumed, leading, finally, to a breakthrough.

    On Tuesday, President Biden sat down at a small desk in the White House State Dining Room to scrawl his name in ink on the $700-billion package, which Manchin and Schumer dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, and made all those changes a reality.

    “We are in a season of substance,” Biden said before signing the bill into law. “Today offers further proof that the soul of America is vibrant; the future of America is bright and the promise of America is real and just beginning.”

    The legislation, the president added, “is about showing the American people that the democracy still works in America — notwithstanding all that all the talk of its demise.”

    And, two more paragraphs down, we get to this:

    The final compromise sailed through the Senate and then the House, even without a single Republican vote. The House approved the measure Friday, 220 to 207, just days after it squeaked through the Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking a 50-50 tie.

    It’s a good article. Gets more into the differences between the parties and the “peril to democracy” — even with some GOP crossovers on other Biden legislative successes. Give it a click.

    I am glad for the LA Times seeing the big picture, and incorporating it into this story. Well done.

  53. 53.

    Almost Retired

    @Roger Moore:  It looks like the proponents of the recall were gathering signatures by mail.  How lazy is that?  And, evidently, completely ineffective.  These stupid recalls, and the occasional evil ballot initiative, are pretty much all bling the California Republican can muster.

  62. 62.

    Fake Irishman

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Come on. You’ve earned the right to preen a lot more than one “I told you so.” Those of here who backed you up want it, and those who disagreed with you are eating small portions of exquisitely braised and seasoned crow topped with fine Caviar and washed down with champagne because they are so damn happy to be wrong.

    It’s all good.

  64. 64.

    Geminid

    @Fake Irishman: I don’t know about the CHIPS Bill, but there were  a lot of climate friendly provisions in the Infrastructure bill. Plus some that were just environmentally friendly,  like the money for replacing lead pipes and renewing industry funding for Superfund clean ups.

  65. 65.

    Fake Irishman

    Anyone remember when the Republicans threw a raging kegger at the White House when they succeeded in getting Obamacare repeal through the House on the second try?

    I’m enjoying that memory a lot today. Karma is a ….well, she’s got a refined sense of humor.with a nasty streak.

  67. 67.

    JoyceH

    Okay, the Post has a photo helpfully captioned and indeed that was Rep Pallone beside Rep Castor. Hah – I saw a female in bright red and just assumed it was Pelosi. (But BTW, where was Pelosi?)

  68. 68.

    Fake Irishman

    @Geminid:

    he just had a chart that noted several billion in spending for the CHIPS bill — he also noted the infra bill as you mentioned (methane leak plugs, electric buses, electric vehicle infrastructure etc). And you are right about general pollution cleanup: the lead provisions alone would have been a major public health law in their own right.

  69. 69.

    Xantar

    Looks like Biden forgot to use multiple pens for the signing and therefore only had one to give away (Manchin got it). I guess that makes sense. It’s ultimately Manchin’s bill.

  71. 71.

    Geminid

    @Fake Irishman: And $60 billion for AMTRAK. The head of AMTRAK said that this would exceed investment since the system was founded. A service map that was static while the country gained 125 million residents will finally be expanded.

    The Infrastrucure bill also includes funding for local mass transit, $10 billion for NYC’s Metropolitan Transit Authority alone. We need more investment in these areas, but the Infrastructure bill was a good start.

  75. 75.

    Geminid

    @Fake Irishman: Kathy Castor was made head of the select climate change commitee a couple years ago. She represents a Florida district that is especially at risk for sea level rise.

  78. 78.

    Jackie

    Anyone beside me think Biden put his mask on afterwards, specifically so he could say “This is a BIG FUCKING DEAL!” to Schumer? Whatever he said made Schumer laugh and grin ear to ear! LOL

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