#Dissatisfied with Biden

[vamptastic]

Genuinely what is wrong with this website that nobody understands what a third party is and that voting third party isn't the same as abstaining from voting

#Look I am 19 I have not lived through a lot of elections so perhaps I am missing context here #But thus far if there was an election where a third party vote may actually achieve something it's this one #And for some fucking reason far rightists seem to be doing it way more despite leftists being almost universally #Dissatisfied with Biden #Like. Wide scale reform happens at more of a local and state level (Fuck me if it'll happen in Florida but whatever) #But unless it starts to look like it's 100% swinging towards Trump I think a 3rd party vote is in fact a very reasonable #Expression of dissatisfaction with the Democratic party #It drives me crazy how often people point to voter supression as evidence that voting matters #And then not realize the MASSIVE bipartisan resistance to third parties #Is the exact same fucking situation. This could be one of the largest 3rd party votes since Debb imo #Just. Don't get it. Feel like there's something more going on here than straightforward strategy but idk what it is #Bc I probably wasn't alive for whatever cultural event is making this opinion popular

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Working class Dems who campaign on economics beat Trumpists in elections

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me FRIDAY NIGHT (Mar 22) in TORONTO, then SUNDAY (Mar 24) with LAURA POITRAS in NYC, then Anaheim, and more!

The Democratic Party Pizzaburger Theory of Electioneering is: half the electorate wants a pizza, the other half wants a burger, so we'll give them all a pizzaburger and make them all equally dissatisfied, thus winning the election:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/16/that-boy-aint-right/#dinos-rinos-and-dunnos

But no one wants a pizzaburger. The Biden administration's approach of letting the Warren/Sanders wing pick the antitrust enforcers while keeping judicial appointments in the Manchin-Synematic universe is a catastrophe in which progressive Dem regulators (who serve one term) are thwarted by corporatist Dem judges (who serve for life):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/14/making-good-trouble/#the-peoples-champion

The Democrats – like all parties in two-party systems – are a coalition; in this case, a "progressive" liberal-left coalition with liberals serving as senior partners, steering the party and setting its policies. These corporate dems like to color themselves as "neutral" technocrats with "realistic, apolitical" policies that represent what's best for the country:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/05/not-that-naomi/#if-the-naomi-be-klein-youre-doing-just-fine

This sets up the left wing of the party as the starry-eyed, unrealistic radicals whose policies are unpopular and will lose elections. But for a decade, grassroots-funded primary challenges have made it possible to test this theory, by putting leftist politicians on the ballot in front of voters, especially in tight races with far-right Republicans (that is, exactly the kinds of races that the corporate wing of the party says we can't afford to take chances on).

The 2022 midterms included enough races to start testing these theories – and, unlike traditional midterms, these races enjoyed high voter turnout, thanks to the unpopularity of GOP positions like abortion bans, book bans and anti-trans laws. Jacobin teamed up with the Center for Working-Class Politics, Yougov and the Center for Work and Democracy at ASU and analyzed those races:

https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/11134429/CWCP-Report-2024.pdf

Their conclusion: candidates from working-class backgrounds who campaigned on economic policies like high-quality jobs, higher minimum wages, a jobs guarantee, ending offshoring and outsourcing, building infrastructure and bringing manufacturing back to the US won with a 50% share of the vote in rural and working-class districts. Dems who didn't lost with a 35% share of the vote:

https://prospect.org/politics/2024-03-18-how-actually-existing-democrats-run-for-office/

In other words, in the kinds of districts where Trumpist politicians are beating Democrats, running on "left populist" policies beats Trumpist politicians.

That's the good news: if Dems recruit leftist, working class politicians and put them up for office on policies that address the material reality of voters' lives, they can beat fascist GOP candidates.

Now for the bad news: the Democratic establishment has no interest in getting these candidates onto the ballot. Working-class candidates, by definition, lack the networks of deep-pocketed cronies who can fund their primary campaigns. Only 2.3% of Dem candidates come from blue-collar backgrounds (if you include "pink-collar" professions like nursing and teaching, the number goes up to 5.9%):

https://jacobin.com/2024/03/left-populists-working-class-voters

All of this confirms the findings of Trump's Kryoptonite, an earlier Jacobin/CWCP research project that polled working-class voters on preferences for hypothetical candidates, finding that working-class candidates with economically progressive policies handily beat out Republicans, including MAGA Republicans:

https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/08125102/TrumpsKryptonite_Final_June2023.pdf

Since the Clinton-Blair years, "progressives" have abandoned economic populism ("It's not a burning ambition for me to make sure that David Beckham earns less money" -T. Blair) and pursued a "third way" that seeks to replace half the world's of supply white, male oligarchs with diverse oligarchs from a variety of backgrounds and genders. We were told that this was done in the name of winning elections with "modern" policies that replaced old-fashioned ideas about decent pay, decent jobs, and worker power.

These policies have delivered a genocide-riven world on the brink of several kinds of existential catastrophe. They're a failure. The pizzaburger party didn't deliver safety, nor prosperity – and it also can't deliver elections.

Name your price for 18 of my DRM-free ebooks and support the Electronic Frontier Foundation with the Humble Cory Doctorow Bundle.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/20/actual-material-conditions/#bread-and-butter

#pluralistic #elections #political science #democrats #democrats in disarray #class #class war #us politics #pizzaburger

[racefortheironthrone]

Sorry this is a silly question, but when US elections are around the corner I always see posts about like it’s either Trump or Biden and nothing else. Now I’m aware of the two-parties system, but I’ve also read there are other smaller parties as well. I guess I’m really baffled with how it always ends up with the same two people competing when the public seems generally dissatisfied with both. Aren’t they able to vote let’s say greens instead of democrats or republics? Or aren’t they able to vote for democratic leader A instead of B? (both in practice and theory). Again sorry if it’s a silly question, but I come from a country where the game is always in between 3-5 parties so I’m like ??? with America.

I mean, you've kind of answered your own question: the United States is a federal, presidential political system that uses first-past-the-post to run its elections and doesn't usually allow for electoral fusion. (With a very few exceptions.) In that context, a two-party system is the only logical method for doing electoral politics.

But even if a left-wing party or (let's be honest) it's way more likely to be a right-wing party, given that right-wing third parties have been far more successful in American political history (relatively speaking) did well in the polls and had a totally level playing field in terms of ballot access, campaign finance, etc. I still don't think people would actually prefer them to the main political parties.

Most third parties are not very popular, even among people supposedly of similar ideological views. Most supposedly left-wing third parties (cough cough Greens cough cough) are disliked by the main demographic constituencies they would need to win over in order to win elections. Likewise, lots of conservatives dislike the Libertarians because they like the idea of using the government to impose their views on their enemies, and they're not that big of a fan of a bunch of "woke capitalists" with disturbing ideas about age of consent laws. And so forth.

#u.s politics #political science #us politics

[queen-boudicca]

A heads up to my fellow americans on here that the democratic primaries in many states have an "uncommitted delegates" option that you can choose instead of Biden, and it's being used as a way to show the administration your opposition to the genocide in Palestine rn.

It's an excellent form of protest vote: it doesn't materially hand anything to Republicans, but it does make the Democrats fully fucking aware that a very large portion of their base is very dissatisfied, and may not vote for them in the future.

In Michigan, the "uncommitted delegates" got about 13% of the vote (as of rn, with not all precincts reporting) and it was such a big deal the Washington Post reported on it in the same headline as Biden's win, so it really does make a big fucking statement. If your state's primary is coming up and you're reluctant to vote for genocide Joe, I encourage you to, rather than sitting this one out, go to the polls and make your voice heard.

#uspol #American election #presidential election #us election #joe biden #free palestine

[catdotjpeg]

Vice President Kamala Harris’ push to rally voters in San José around support for reproductive rights ran headlong into protests Monday, demanding an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza.

At times, protest chants of “cease-fire now” broke out during the rally, interrupting Harris’ speech at least four times. Outside, dozens of protesters lined up along King Road and Alum Rock Avenue, waving signs outside Mexican Heritage Plaza.

[...]

The colliding forces at the Harris rally exposed a key election year challenge for Democrats: many of the younger, progressive voters who the party hopes to win over with a platform of protecting abortion rights are deeply dissatisfied with the Biden administration’s support of Israel.

Holding signs and banners bearing “Free Palestine” and “End U.S. Aid to Israel,” members from the Council on American-Islamic Relations joined a coalition of multi-faith, multiracial organizations with other supporters to demand a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. Allie Felker said she was invited to the Harris event for her work advocating for prenatal care to prevent stillbirths.

But less than three minutes into Harris’ on-stage conversation with actress and activist Sophia Bush, Felker stood up and joined in calls for a cease-fire. Felker told KQED she was motivated by the risks to pregnant women caused by the Israeli invasion. “I can’t come here and advocate for reproductive justice without also standing with Palestine, standing with the women and children of Gaza and saying that the reproductive justice we’re seeking in this country needs to also be equated with what’s happening in Gaza,” Felker told KQED.

[...]

...The ongoing war in Gaza has proven costly to the Biden administration among young voters. A Gallup poll from December found that 50% of Americans under 35 believe the U.S. is giving “too much” support to Israel — compared to 21% who believe the country is lending “too little” support to Israel. “So long as President Biden and Vice President Harris ignore that call [for a cease-fire], they are complicit in genocide, but they are also demonstrating their disconnect with the electorate,” said Zahra Billoo, executive director of CAIR’s San Francisco Bay Area office.

-- From "Protesters Demand Permanent Cease-Fire, Interrupting VP Harris' Stop in San José" by Guy Marzorati, 29 Jan 2024

#palestine #san jose #california

[spitblaze]

sorry idk what all that was about. sometimes you just see shit that really sticks in ur craw. like ppl saying biden is the most progressive president we've ever had for. [checks notes] standing with some people in a picket for an hour a few months after fucking over railroad workers and saying that ppl who disagree or are any sort of dissatisfied are discouraging people from voting, somehow

#spitblaze says things #im not saying the administration hasnt been progressive #just that some people are giving him waaaaaaay too much credit and being very weird abt criticism

[bulletsandbracelets]

If you want to protest Biden running, do it like they did it in Michigan. Seriously.

Voice your dissatisfaction in the primary.

This is entirely different than simply threatening not to vote in the General. When you vote for someone other than Biden in the primary, you are showing something extremely important: that you are an active democratic voter who is dissatisfied.

The Democratic Party doesn’t care about random twitter users whose affiliations they don’t know. Those people could be non voters every year. They could be republicans trying to sow chaos in the social media sphere. There’s no reason for them to really pay attention.

But active democrats voting in a primary and voting like Michigan did? Actually makes a statement. Actually means they might pay attention.

As the primaries keep going, do more of it please.

#politics #democrats #Biden #primaries #they still might not pay attention but this is about the only move we have outside of organizing #so make it count

[gender-void-partially-stars]

if you cant bring yourself to vote for biden thats fine i get it. but if youre debating if you should then whats the disadvantage. you can do all the same protesting and boycotting you would do otherwise and also vote.

if you dont want to vote though i suggest you go out to voting places and spoil your ballot in some manner. in that way politicians can tell you are dissatisfied with them and your lack of a proper vote isnt put up to voter apathy

[kp777]

By Jim McGee

Common Dreams

Jan. 30 2024

The time has come to go big and go bold and speak to the felt concerns of people who might actually vote for you. The Democratic presidential candidate needs to offer voters something to vote for. We are weary of fear-mongering.

Dear President Biden,

History will say that you have done more for working people than perhaps any president since FDR. You steered us through the pandemic, mitigating the economic disruption and we appear to be reaching the mythical “soft landing” in dealing with inflation. You have presided over a substantial restoration of many worker rights that had been lost or diluted through 40 years of neoliberalism. All this in the face of a hostile Congress and an indifferent Senate.

You are running against someone who, by all objective criteria, should not even be a candidate. He has perpetuated his own lie about the 2020 election results. He has fomented insurrection and should not be allowed to run. He has neither the intellect nor the temperament to be chief executive of the United States

Yet the Washington Post reports that despite the relatively good economic news, voters, including Democratic voters, don’t feel it. As one NPR correspondent recently stated, “Increasingly, reality doesn’t matter.”

Let’s face it, your campaign is in trouble. The polls tell us that. At best, it is a toss-up, and worst case, you could lose in key swing states. Even your former running mate, President Obama, seems to be worried.

This simply should not be. There is too much at stake.

While your presidency embraced a number of bold initiatives that would make life better for working-class Americans, your election strategy is not that different from your opponent’s—fear the other guy. Fear what he will do to our democracy, fear what he will do for what’s left of abortion rights. That is not a guaranteed winning strategy. Most of my adult voting life I seem to be voting for the “lesser of two evils” and look where it has landed our country.

This is not the game plan likely to inspire the passion and intensity needed to overcome the cynicism and indifference that seems to have infected vast swaths of the electorate. Young people, in particular, are not motivated to vote for a continued Biden presidency that speaks out of both sides of its policy mouth on existential issues like climate change. Recently, the Washington Post reported that almost half of Americans are dissatisfied with the likelihood of Biden-Trump choice. You certainly don’t need any openings for a third-party spoiler.

Most of my adult voting life I seem to be voting for the “lesser of two evils” and look where it has landed our country.

And then there is October 7th and its aftermath in Gaza. Your reluctance to speak out against the Netanyahu government’s brutal reprisals is a matter of deep concern among significant Democratic constituencies who need to be there for you on election day.

The time has come to go big and go bold and speak to the felt concerns of people who might actually vote for you. The Democratic presidential candidate needs to offer voters something to vote for. We are weary of fear-mongering.

You need to endorse Medicare for All.

Your base is already solidly in support of Medicare for All. By endorsing Medicare for All you will be delivering a message of hope, of aspiration.

I have spent my career working with union-management health care funds, both public sector and Taft-Hartley funds. After almost 50 years I can say emphatically that the system does not work. If the pandemic proved nothing else, it demonstrated the idiocy of a healthcare system that bases entry into that system on employment. Endorsing Medicare for All would energize union support for your candidacy.

I shouldn’t need to cite the well documented evidence that a single payer, Medicare for All system is both superior and more popular. Rather, in the spirit of the John Lennon song, Imagine, I challenge you to imagine a different world.

Imagine a world where we can take health care for granted, where health care is not part of decisions about where to work, how long to work, how many hours to work, or when to retire, or even who to stay married to. Imagine a world where small employers are not at a competitive disadvantage in the hiring marketplace by health care costs. Imagine a world where something as basic as health care is not subject to collective bargaining and is not a significant cause of strikes. Imagine a world where we only enroll in health care once and are not bombarded by confusing “choices”. Imagine a world where those paying for a health care and providing health care can take a lifetime perspective, instead of the current insurance contract year. Imagine a Medicare system that is comprehensive rather than being divided into “Parts.”

If the pandemic proved nothing else, it demonstrated the idiocy of a healthcare system that bases entry into that system on employment. Endorsing Medicare for All would energize union support for your candidacy.

To bring it down to a more practical level, imagine an election cycle where voters are genuinely motivated to vote FOR you and not just against your opponent. Bernie Sanders proved the appeal of the Medicare for All message, especially among young people.

Medicare for All is the message you need to bring voters to the election booth. It will penetrate the gloom and doom that permeates American politics, what the New York Times referred to as the “existential dread of American politics” and energize the electorate. It will pit a positive message against a negative one.

It’s time to move past the politics of fear and to imagine the politics of hope.

It’s time for Medicare for All.

#2024 presidential election #joe biden #medicare for all #democratic party #healthcare

[churchoflightcannon]

I know I’m just a fanfic blog and maybe this is a controversial opinion (spoilers: I don’t fucking care) but if you don’t want to vote for Biden or trump then fucking vote third party????

Claudia and Karina are a duo running for pres/vice pres, and they are the ONLY CANDIDATES IN 2024 CALLING FOR A CEASEFIRE IN GAZA. THEY HAVE BEEN AT THE MARCHES. THEY HAVE BEEN WITH THE FUCKING PEOPLE THAT THEY SUPPORT. THEY ARE ALSO CALLING FOR AN END TO CAPITALISM ‘BEFORE IT ENDS US.’

I’m so fucking tired of seeing doom and gloom posts about how ‘well we gotta vote for one of the senile genocidal fucks’ or ‘don’t vote at all!’ Because why the fUCK would we do that???? THERE ARE SO MANY OF US WHO ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE TWO PARTY SYSTEM THAT WE ACTUALLY COULD VOTE THIRD PARTY AND HAVE A VICTORIOUS CANDIDATE.

The power is with the people not the people in power. We have the opportunity to change things this year. Don’t fucking dare pretend you are powerless or that you have to vote for “the lesser of two evils” because if you think that trump will end the genocide in Gaza you’re fucking delusional.

Obviously do your own research and don’t just take my word for it, but Claudia and Karina are actually for the people and for peace. We have an opportunity to make a change, and if you squander that opportunity because you are unwilling to do the research or unwilling to make it to the polls (you can vote via mail so don’t give me that excuse) you are part of the problem.

#I’m just #so Fucking Sick of seeing y’all pretend that you can’t do anything #claudia and karina 2024 #just go out and vote #don’t waste your voice bitching and moaning instead of actually doing something

[qqueenofhades]

Question from a foreigner: do you have any idea where the brainbug that so many US voters seem to have that they should vote for congressmembers of the opposite party of the person they voted for president to 'balance things out' (as if that's anything but a recipe for legislative paralysis) comes from? Is it, like, suggested in school civics classes for some reason? Does it come from a flawed understanding of what the famous (and based on an external and possibly misinformed view of the last decade or so, seemingly overhyped) 'checks and balances' that we hear about in every piece of US media that even touches politics are? Sorry if this is a stupid question, but as someone from a country with a parliamentary system I just don't understand, and it seems a common enough thought it has to be coming from somewhere

There are a few reasons for this. First, the US very (in)famously has only a two-party system: if you don't vote for one, you're essentially voting for the other, since third parties have no legislative relevance and essentially only exist for people to make frivolous protests and/or siphon votes from Democrats. This is because Republican voters always vote for Republicans, while the Democratic voter base, assuming they vote at all (which can be difficult), is often tempted by third-party candidates (i.e. Ralph Nader) who have a history of then fucking things up for the actual Democrats. In a parliamentary or multi-party system, you have less expectation that one party will act as a direct leverage or counterbalance on the other; it's more fluid and coalitional, and you have more leverage to vote for the party that broadly represents your interests. Because the US is a presidential system, you are voting for the leader directly, rather than just the majority party in power who then vote to select the prime minister/head of state in a different process.

As such, American politics are often tied directly to the figure of the president and how people personally feel about him, the two-party system means that the inevitable discontent with the party presently in power usually gets channeled into voting for their opponents at the next election, Democrats have much more trouble consistently mustering their voter pool than Republicans, and the news media is OBSESSED with the idea that "both sides are bad!" This is because a) it's profitable, and b) the corporations that own them don't want the general public to actually get too interested backing in large-scale financial, economic, or legal reform. So instead of prioritizing any kind of balanced or honest coverage, or trying to accurately convey to the public which policies and/or politicians will or won't help them, they focus on creating a distorted false equivalency where "both parties do bad things." This undermines trust in government, creates voter apathy, likewise works against the Democrats who might challenge the established mega-monopoly, and otherwise makes sure that the status quo never changes too much. This is why they are currently bending over backward to drum up some kind of scandal for Biden, or compare his classified documents situation to Trump's, or otherwise act as if they are essentially equivalent.

The American media ecosystem also relies on making you as angry about everything as possible, which feeds into the zero-sum idea wherein if you are dissatisfied with the current administration for whatever reason, you should "vote for the other ones!" to "balance it out!" or "fix it!" Even though this never, ever works, not least because one half of that equation has abdicated all interest in governing whatsoever. So if you're mad because The Democrats Haven't Lowered Gas Prices, and you vote for the Republicans because you somehow think that doing so will fix the specific problem you're mad about, you're gonna end up with a lot of pointless investigations of Hunter Biden, giving January 6 footage to Tucker Carlson, and other totally useless performative-grievance politics. This is because the Republicans don't actually care about gas prices, or anything else. But the average American voter is so ingrained to do this, as if they expect any kind of change or really think the other guys will fix it, that they just keep pulling Charlie Brown and the football anyway.

#anonymous #ask #politics for ts

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Biden will but a firebreathing trustbuster like Lina Khan in charge of the FTC, but he’ll also life-appoint federal judges like Jacqueline Scott Corley, who will seize on any flimsy excuse to confound Khan’s attempts to protect the American people from predatory monopolies.

Most of Biden’s coalition wants pizza, but a powerful group of insiders wants hamburgers. Biden’s given us all a pizzaburger, and he views the fact that we are all equally dissatisfied with his solution as evidence that he’s struck a Solomonic compromise.The country is on fire. It’s baking. It’s drowning. We’re running out of time. Republican bosses don’t want the same thing as their base, but they’re delivering it anyway, because that base has jettisoned “my party right or wrong,” in favor of “we’d rather blow this whole thing up than back someone who sells us out.”

The Democrats have started to fear their base — a little. But they still mostly hate us. Until and unless they know that they have to earn our support, the best we can hope for is pizzaburgers — heavy on the burger.

- The Right's Hardliners Would Rather Lose Elections Than Culture Wars: and the finance wing knows it

#elections #leftism #swivel-eyed loons #republican party #gop #tories #two-party system #first past the post #turkeys voting for christmas #evangelicals #politics

[rlyehtaxidermist]

I do think that the biggest fallacy in American politics today is the idea that “more voters are registering as independent, which means the Silent Centrist Majority are dissatisfied with Both Parties Bad”. You see this coming up a lot, usually from centrist talking heads who think Biden could be blander if he worked at it, but if you look at the actual swing of counties with large growth in independent voters - the classic example being so-called “college town counties” - they tend to lean further left than the mainline Democratic Party, with turnout going to the Democrats from voters who pick the lesser evil.

#there was a similar trend in rightward swing before the Tea Party/Trumpists took over the GOP proper #with independent rightwingers and the capital-L Libertarians being a big part of the push #and it was also ignored in favour of the golden mean

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Wearing a Ukrainian flag is “virtue signalling” like using a Covid mask, Ted Cruz has said.

“For the Democrats, this has become a virtue signal,” the Texan Senator said on his podcast Verdict with Ted Cruz, pointing to lapel pins often donned by politicians to show solidarity with Ukraine.

“A Ukrainian flag has become like a Covid mask. It’s a sign to show your virtue,” he added.

Both Democrats and Republicans have been spotted wearing scarves, ties and blazers in the colours of Ukraine’s national flag since Russia’s invasion last year.

But Mr. Cruz said “leftists preening around with Ukrainian flags” are driving Americans away.

"As we see all these leftists preening around with Ukrainian flags, and you know almost dancing with their fealty to" Mr. Zelensky, he said, "it is driving millions of Americans away and saying, 'All right if they're for it, I ain't for it.'"

Many Republicans "want Putin to lose", but are dissatisfied with being on the same side as liberals, he added.

Mr. Cruz went on to double down on his criticism of Joe Biden, accusing the US President of missing a "strategic national objective" in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia.

Prominent Republicans are increasingly questioning Mr. Biden’s approach, with many calling for military and financial aid to cease.

“Congressional patience for an open-ended commitment to the Ukraine war is fading quickly, and with a Republican majority in the House, I think you’re going to see much more scrutiny on what funds are going,” he said.

“I think there will still be a willingness to provide actual weaponry, to provide ammunition or weapons that the Ukrainians can use to defend themselves," he continued.

“I think there will be very little interest in unrestrained checks going to the government of Ukraine.”

Mr. Biden’s visit to Ukraine last week was denounced by prominent Republicans, who suggested he should have instead visited the US-Mexico border or East Palestine, Ohio, where a train derailment caused a chemical leak.

During his meeting with Mr. Zelensky, Mr. Biden pledged an additional $500m in military aid.

#us politics #news #the telegraph #2023 #sen. ted cruz #ukrainian crisis #ukriane #stand with ukraine #covidー19 #coronavirus #coronavirus pandemic #wear a mask #trust the science #Verdict with Ted Cruz #virtue signaling #gop #conservatives #republicans

[tomorrowusa]

NO great outcome was possible in the debt limit negotiations with Republicans. But Biden ended up with one which was far less bad than many people had feared.

Even though this crisis was provoked by House Republicans, many voters would have blamed Biden if the US had defaulted. As it turned out, Biden ended up with just a little dust on his jacket while McCarthy ends up with a self-made shit sandwich. 💩

Dan Pfeiffer was an aide to President Obama and has witnessed GOP blackmail close up. He writes...

Let’s be clear, this is shitty public policy foisted on the nation by a radical Republican House willing to blow up the economy and cause millions of jobs to vanish. Efforts to deal with deficits that do not include asking the wealthy and corporations to pay what they owe are cruel and wholly unserious. The tightening of access to aid for the most vulnerable Americans serves no purpose other than performative cruelty to appease the MAGA base.

But this could have been way worse in so many ways. The devil is very much in the details, but it seems like President Biden and his team outplayed McCarthy.

Republicans like to portray Joe Biden as doddering and totally out of it; never mind that Trump is only slightly younger and shows obvious signs of hysteria. But even if you don't grade Biden on a curve, he still comes out ahead of the GOP.

The far right MAGA fanatics absolutely hate the deal.

Jordan Weissmann at Semafor writes...

Afterwards, a quick consensus formed among much of the right and left: Republicans got blanked.

The agreement would temporarily freeze a portion of non-defense spending, while temporarily tightening the food stamp program’s work requireme​​nts for childless adults, and enacting modest changes to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

The early details prompted furious reactions from members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, who’d hoped to extract vastly more sweeping budget cuts and changes to the federal safety net in return for hiking the borrowing limit.

[ ... ]

As Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo put it, it’s a bit like they walked into a Denny’s with a gun, demanded all the money in the cash register, and left with a breakfast instead. Extraordinary threats at the start, an ordinary transaction at the finish.

While this was not a great deal for anybody, Speaker McCarthy will likely suffer the most because of it.

Timothy Noah at The New Republic writes...

When this debt ceiling mess is concluded, Biden will stay president at least until January 20, 2025. McCarthy, I predict, will be gone by Christmas, and possibly before Labor Day. Should he somehow hang on to his speakership, he’ll be so diminished that you’ll barely notice he’s still there. He won’t be able to get anything done. So either way, McCarthy is toast.

McCarthy will probably have to rely on Democratic votes for the debt deal to pass. That will infuriate the far right even more.

Let's remember that one of McCarthy's concessions to the far right during the marathon election for Speaker in January was to make it possible for any member to introduce a motion to "vacate the chair". So any GOP members dissatisfied with the debt ceiling agreement could theoretically topple McCarthy – if Democrats decided to go along.

So while Republicans make a public spectacle of themselves, Dems can stock up on popcorn and collect crazy soundbites from Republicans who are more interested in nihilism than in governance.

#debt ceiling agreement #joe biden #kevin mccarthy #mccarthy is toast #us house of representatives #republican blackmail #house freedom caucus #republicans #biden outmaneuvers the gop #dan pfeiffer #jordan weissmann #josh marshall #timothy noah #election 2024

[the-sayuri-rin]

Inflation and abortion are top voter concerns, edging out crime despite Republicans' hammering the issue