The Biden Presidency Thread

[El Guapo]

No modern President is ever going to say they aren't going to run again 2 months into a new administration. For a lot of reasons. If they were going to do that it would almost certainly would have been part of the campaign. Why would they want to tie their hands that way without any real gain?

Yeah, saying that he's planning to run again doesn't mean that he's planning to run again. I don't think he will, but he needs to keep that prospect open (while quietly grooming Harris for the job).

He's running again! 99%, unless he suffers some major health setback over the next four years. Not sure why everyone seems convinced otherwise.

[hepcat]

The only way I could see Trump not running again in 2024 is if he becomes the head of a media empire within the next two to three years. Another facebook or twitter, for example. For him, it's about power and money...and being heard...period. And that would give him all those things.

[Holman]

I don't think Trump will run. It carries the risk of losing, and he can't face that again.

Playing kingmaker will be much more satisfying because it makes the whole GOP primary a contest of flattering him. Plus he can expect all necessary pardons to appear on Day One without any drama over self-dealing.

[Carpet_pissr]

No modern President is ever going to say they aren't going to run again 2 months into a new administration. For a lot of reasons.

Top 2? If any of the top reasons are "because the Republicans would try REALLY hard to obstruct anything he does"....uhhhh, we're already there!

It's one thing to say you AREN'T going to run...that does seem silly. But just don't answer the silly question. "We are JUST getting started here...we are barely three months in...it's WAY too early to think about re-election, and frankly, it's a distraction that none of us can afford at this critical time. Ask me again in 2 years after I've had time to accomplish some things."

[El Guapo]

No modern President is ever going to say they aren't going to run again 2 months into a new administration. For a lot of reasons.

Top 2? If any of the top reasons are "because the Republicans would try REALLY hard to obstruct anything he does"....uhhhh, we're already there!

It's one thing to say you AREN'T going to run...that does seem silly. But just don't answer the silly question. "We are JUST getting started here...we are barely three months in...it's WAY too early to think about re-election, and frankly, it's a distraction that none of us can afford at this critical time. Ask me again in 2 years after I've had time to accomplish some things."

Sure, if you want a bunch of "BIDEN UNSURE WHETHER HE WILL RUN AGAIN" headlines.

[Paingod]

I don't think Trump will run. It carries the risk of losing, and he can't face that again.

... but he had the whole world hanging on his every word, tense and tuning in at 11:00 to see what he was doing.

For a man like that, the spotlight is too compelling to miss. I expect to see him in the 2024 race. The question is if his party will let him.

[Carpet_pissr]

Was Trump a good President? Not really. Did he blow up the world? No.
Some things he did were good. Some not so good. Welcome to politics.

Assuming you are serious (and that is a BIG assumption), he might not have physically blown up the world (kudos? ), but he came damn close to metaphorically blowing up America with his bs.

What he DID accomplish was to harvest the seeds of the anti-knowledge, anti-science and anti-facts movement in this country. Harvest, coat with super fertilizer and replant in very fertile soil.

Too soon to tell if that will result in "blowing up our country", but I put the odds at 50%. If you can't see the damage that that mindset has caused already, and the even more horrific future potential of such, then we can't have a decent argument here. It's as close to "blowing up" something as you can get in my opinion.

[El Guapo]

I don't think Trump will run. It carries the risk of losing, and he can't face that again.

... but he had the whole world hanging on his every word, tense and tuning in at 11:00 to see what he was doing.

For a man like that, the spotlight is too compelling to miss. I expect to see him in the 2024 race. The question is if his party will let him.

Look, the pitch that people like DeSantis will be (probably already are) making to Trump is this: endorse me, and if I win I'll protect you and let you engage in all of the corruption that you want. You can make pronouncements, do rallies, etc., so basically you get all of the good parts of being president without having to do any of the work.

I could see that being a compelling pitch for Trump. I think it's kind of a 50/50 chance as to whether Trump runs again or winds up doing something like that.

[Carpet_pissr]

For a man like that, the spotlight is too compelling to miss. I expect to see him in the 2024 race. The question is if his party will let him.

??! He IS his party. There is no other.

[El Guapo]

For a man like that, the spotlight is too compelling to miss. I expect to see him in the 2024 race. The question is if his party will let him.

??! He IS his party. There is no other.

Yeah, if he runs then he'll definitely get the GOP nomination. The tougher question would be whether anyone runs against him. I assume that someone like Hogan / Baker / Romney / etc. would make some type of noble effort, but get immediately crushed.

[hepcat]

Trump has remade the GOP in his image and I don't see that changing any time soon. McConnell pretty much openly tried to break that hold, but he failed. Trump IS the GOP for the foreseeable future.

[Carpet_pissr]

Trump has remade the GOP in his image and I don't see that changing any time soon. McConnell pretty much openly tried to break that hold, but he failed. Trump IS the GOP for the foreseeable future.

Yeah, with just a LITTLE more time having passed since McConnell made that post-trial speech, it seems that that was him putting his turtle claw in the wind and testing. This dude is smart. Evil as shit, but Machiavellian smart.

He wanted to see if there was a viable path to booting Trump completely. If he got massive support from ALL his people, then Trump is toast (to the GOP). Massive backlash from the Trumpsters, and crickets from the old GOP'ers? Trump is still in the picture.

While it was somewhat risky for him, he probably assumed it had to be done. As usual, he had cover for every scenario:
1. Massive blowback against his screed? "Well, if you noticed, I did not vote to impeach. That tells you all you need to know about my position."
2. 50/50. Stay the course, no need to say anything. STFU.
3. Massive support? "Even though I voted to not impeach, there were technical reasons I was not comfortable with." Then go on and double down on the speech stuff.

[Jaymann]

Florida Man will run again, but he is a proven loser. The difference is he won't be able to wield the power of the office to further his bogus claims. Lost Cause II.

[El Guapo]

Florida Man will run again, but he is a proven loser. The difference is he won't be able to wield the power of the office to further his bogus claims. Lost Cause II.

I'd give Biden a 70% chance or so in Biden v. Trump II: Electric Boogaloo. BUT: (1) Trump's odds would be high enough to be extremely alarming; and (2) the GOP will likely be in a better position in 2024 to overturn the results in key states and/or in Congress.

[malchior]

No modern President is ever going to say they aren't going to run again 2 months into a new administration. For a lot of reasons.

Top 2? If any of the top reasons are "because the Republicans would try REALLY hard to obstruct anything he does"....uhhhh, we're already there!

It's one thing to say you AREN'T going to run...that does seem silly. But just don't answer the silly question. "We are JUST getting started here...we are barely three months in...it's WAY too early to think about re-election, and frankly, it's a distraction that none of us can afford at this critical time. Ask me again in 2 years after I've had time to accomplish some things."

Sure, if you want a bunch of "BIDEN UNSURE WHETHER HE WILL RUN AGAIN" headlines.

This. The most important straightforward answer is he just won an election. He loses nothing by saying, 'I'm running again'. It's a insipidly dumb question in the first place but it has the benefit of having a simple and obvious answer. No need for games. The alternatives are a no go. If he refuses to answer you run into the above scenario. Saying he won't run again is basically setting his political capital on fire at his first press conference. This was a no brainer. That's the bare simple comparative case.

Beyond that base case, we have the geopolitical concerns. The United States is probably in the worst position it has been in the modern era foreign policy-wise. Trump damaged alliances and American power projection all over the world and Biden represents shoring that up to some extent. Him throwing up his hands and saying anything but - I'm in it for the long-haul - adds in a ton of future uncertainty for absolutely no reason. You could argue that foreign leaders might reason they can't trust us except in 4 year increments anyway but still appearance of stability is its own currency.

Beyond geopolitics, he has the economic and pandemic recovery efforts and again some certainty over the future is important here. Incumbent President's have an advantage in an election that is priced in to all efforts and even the financial markets. He'd be pouring chaos in there.

Anyway, this is a long form way of saying Biden wants to be a force of 'stability' so he has to appear stable. Turning over the apple cart and surrendering options for no return would be malpractice of the sort we'd ascribe to someone like Trump.

Edit: Also just thinking about the context. The rest of the world sees a deeply unserious American political system that just saw the seat of Government invaded by Trumpist morons. Then the next President waltzes out and does anything but project stability? I can't even imagine the scenarios where he doesn't banish it as the deeply stupid question it was.

[Defiant]

The Senate parliamentarian ruled Monday that Democrats can use special budgetary rules to avoid a GOP filibuster on two more pieces of legislation, setting the stage for President Biden's infrastructure agenda to pass in two packages with simple-majority votes.

It's a win for Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) that allows him to pass Biden's $2.25 trillion package by revising the fiscal 2021 Budget Resolution.

Schumer could pass a budget resolution for fiscal 2022 to do a third reconciliation package for the second half of the Biden infrastructure agenda. Or the fiscal 2021 budget could be revised a third time to set up a third reconciliation package.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/546 ... third-bill

[Jaymann]

Governor Christie
@GovChristie
President Biden needs to level with the American people about the fact that his “infrastructure” package is a $2.25 trillion liberal wish list with only about 25% being spent on traditional infrastructure like roads, bridges, tunnels and rails. Be honest with us Mr. President.

Christie himself comprises about 25% of New Jersey infrastructure.

[Unagi]

What’s the liberal wishlist infrastructure items that make up the 75% ?
Serious question.

I imagine anything ‘modern’ isn’t included in ‘traditional’, but I don’t know what would make it liberal.

[El Guapo]

What’s the liberal wishlist infrastructure items that make up the 75% ?
Serious question.

I imagine anything ‘modern’ isn’t included in ‘traditional’, but I don’t know what would make it liberal.

I think it's mainly getting spent on seizing the means of production.

[Smoove_B]

Chris Christie should be spending every waking second of his days traveling around the United States and convincing members of the GOP why they should be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Infrastructure? Liberal wish lists? He can STFU about any of it and perhaps receive forgiveness through communicating his COVID contrition.

[Isgrimnur]

Since it's the bill targeted for reconciliation , I imagine it's got everything to which a price tag can be attached.

[Defiant]

What’s the liberal wishlist infrastructure items that make up the 75% ?
Serious question.

I imagine anything ‘modern’ isn’t included in ‘traditional’, but I don’t know what would make it liberal.

Here's a breakdown of the entire bill:

https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is ... lan-2021-3

[malchior]

Since it's the bill targeted for reconciliation , I imagine it's got everything to which a price tag can be attached.

Yep - it seems the Democrats have (probably correctly) calculated that this is their last best chance at getting anything done in the near-term and maybe long-term.

Chris Christie should be spending every waking second of his days traveling around the United States and convincing members of the GOP why they should be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Infrastructure? Liberal wish lists? He can STFU about any of it and perhaps receive forgiveness through communicating his COVID contrition.

Seriously. He is one to talk. He stopped several important major infrastructure projects to bolster his image for his Presidential ambitions. He can go fuck himself.

[El Guapo]

Let's also not forget that Christie was one of the first 'mainstream' Republicans to endorse Trump in 2016, giving him some much needed legitimacy in the primary.

[Smoove_B]

Which is why I don't ever want to hear a goddamn thing from him ever again. Unless he's reminding everyone he almost died after getting Covid (likely from Trump) and is probably only alive because the care he was given was related to him being the former Governor of NJ and not Chris Christie, VP of HR in your local accounting firm.

After endorsing Trump and refusing to admit any culpability in our political trajectory over the last 5 years, I legitimately don't want to give him any oxygen on anything political; he's bankrupt. Also a perfect example of why I'll never (SEE: Never) vote for any member of the GOP ever again in any capacity, filling any role. He needs to be reminded of his Trump-stink nonstop.

[LawBeefaroni]

Which is why I don't ever want to hear a goddamn thing from him ever again. Unless he's reminding everyone he almost died after getting Covid (likely from Trump) and is probably only alive because the care he was given was related to him being the former Governor of NJ and not Chris Christie, VP of HR in your local accounting firm.

After endorsing Trump and refusing to admit any culpability in our political trajectory over the last 5 years, I legitimately don't want to give him any oxygen on anything political; he's bankrupt. Also a perfect example of why I'll never (SEE: Never) vote for any member of the GOP ever again in any capacity, filling any role. He needs to be reminded of his Trump-stink nonstop.

Come on, everyone deserves a 62nd chance!

[Defiant]

I legitimately don't want to give him any oxygen on anything political

Ditto for me, but without being as specific. Make him pay for it.

[Zaxxon]

Which is why I don't ever want to hear a goddamn thing from him ever again. Unless he's reminding everyone he almost died after getting Covid (likely from Trump) and is probably only alive because the care he was given was related to him being the former Governor of NJ and not Chris Christie, VP of HR in your local accounting firm.

After endorsing Trump and refusing to admit any culpability in our political trajectory over the last 5 years, I legitimately don't want to give him any oxygen on anything political; he's bankrupt. Also a perfect example of why I'll never (SEE: Never) vote for any member of the GOP ever again in any capacity, filling any role. He needs to be reminded of his Trump-stink nonstop.

Come on, everyone deserves a 62nd chance!

Or even the same chance, 62 times...

[malchior]

https://mobile.twitter.com/maggieNYT/st ... 7655455747

[Unagi]

Proving, yet again, that Republicans have no sense of irony.

[YellowKing]

Watching Biden's address and I've now seen Mitch McConnell sit and not clap through both the idea of cutting child poverty in half, and the idea of eradicating cancer. That guy really is the devil incarnate.

[malchior]

They all sat on their hands when Biden said they'd replace lead pipes. I mean who is against replacing lead pipes? These people are just rotten.

[Smoove_B]

I can only imagine how they're going to try and spin this - how they're realistically going to try and come out against supporting a reduction in child poverty, hunger and lead contamination. Mitch had been able to block it from ever coming up for a vote, but now that they can start getting everyone on the record about this maybe (just maybe) something can actually change. I'm sure they were sitting there tonight seeing the writing on the wall and not knowing how to react - because they're cornered.

Hope.

[malchior]

They aren't cornered. They're going to block almost everything he is talking about. They can get the infrastructure bill across the line but...everything else is not happening most likely.

Meanwhile in Ted-town - savage.

https://twitter.com/mmpadellan/status/1 ... 7269084162

[Combustible Lemur]

Drink evety time he says "look"



I'm appreciating the speech and his delivery. I really struggle with his ghosting of consonants and syllables. But he is peak performance tonight. Much better tham during the campaign.

Im only talking about his public speaking because I Mostly agree with everything he's said.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

[Smoove_B]

If they have to go on the record and vote to block food or aid for children or to block programs specifically for children, they're cornered as far as I'm concerned. Mitch has been running interference for them for 6 years. That's why this filibuster BS needs to end as well.

[malchior]

If they have to go on the record and vote to block food or aid for children or to block programs specifically for children, they're cornered as far as I'm concerned. Mitch has been running interference for them for 6 years. That's why this filibuster BS needs to end as well.

Yeah I get that point. The trouble is most of these folks just need to win their primary. They act this way because the deplorables want them to.

[malchior]

The right as usual is beginning to have their tantrum.

https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status ... 6934005765

[Kurth]

If they have to go on the record and vote to block food or aid for children or to block programs specifically for children, they're cornered as far as I'm concerned. Mitch has been running interference for them for 6 years. That's why this filibuster BS needs to end as well.

I honestly don’t get this take. Why are they cornered? They may appear cornered to you, Smoove, but they don’t answer to you.

The people they answer to just want to see them stick it to the libs. Or they swallow the Fox echo-chamber BS so much that they honestly believe Joe Biden is the most radical left-wing socialist that’s ever sat in the Oval Office.

McConnell and his cronies are not at all cornered because they’ll vote against all this stuff with pride and tell their constituents back home that they held the line against the Democrat party. And in the end, that’s really all that matters.

[malchior]

Scott really is struggling here to land anything beyond Fox News talking points. His 'rebuttal' is mostly Trump-y airing of grievances without the word salad bluster. I also heard pretty much no real policy proposals.