Today In Biden Land

[Kirkland Laing]

American debt changes by president:

https://twitter.com/JohnJHarwood/sta...47983910240256

and

https://twitter.com/JohnJHarwood/sta...50051924320256


After Clarence Thomas we now get:

https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/stat...29176616767496

good job Supreme Court justices don't have any ethics requirements at all or that would be two of them having to resign in two weeks. Any other federal level judge would be out.





And:

Justice Clarence Thomas said he was advised he didn’t have to disclose private jet flights and luxury vacations paid for by billionaire Harlan Crow because, although a close friend, Crow “did not have business before the court.”
But in at least one case, Crow did.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...&sref=yaJhKSOh



And John Roberts has just declined to testify to the Senate judiciary committee about all this.

[palmerq]

U.S. Economy Continues to Grow, but More Slowly https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/27/b...UkQ4kBLTYvO-LZ

Bidens recession still not going to plan, but this is maybe a good thing? Real GDP slightly up but nothing crazy after an assault by interest rates

[Kirkland Laing]

U.S. Economy Continues to Grow, but More Slowly https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/27/b...UkQ4kBLTYvO-LZ

Bidens recession still not going to plan, but this is maybe a good thing? Real GDP slightly up but nothing crazy after an assault by interest rates

It'll be amazing if the US economy avoids some level of recession. The interest rate rises that started last year won't have any effect on the real economy until this year so America could end up with a recession it didn't need to have seeing as inflation is abating by itself.

[Spicoli]

Not feeling the complete confidence for a repeat Biden-Harris ticket. Honestly between the tribes, both Biden and Trump this feels like a blurry dream you wake up in the middle of the night from. Shame on both factions for not cultivating and encouraging new blood knowing where we're heading. And it's not in the form of friggin AOC or a Tim Scott. They say Kennedy is polling in the 20 percent territory . All I see ahead are two very very fractured tickets and split vote. Anyone ever hear this Rep Katie Porter? Talk about sharp and pointed in a heated debate.

[TitoFan]

Not feeling the complete confidence for a repeat Biden-Harris ticket. Honestly between the tribes, both Biden and Trump this feels like a blurry dream you wake up in the middle of the night from. Shame on both factions for not cultivating and encouraging new blood knowing where we're heading. And it's not in the form of friggin AOC or a Tim Scott. They say Kennedy is polling in the 20 percent territory . All I see ahead are two very very fractured tickets and split vote. Anyone ever hear this Rep Katie Porter? Talk about sharp and pointed in a heated debate.

I hear ya. Been saying this for months now. I don't buy all the excuses for how there's absolutely nothing to choose from in 2024. There's been enough time. So here we are... with a POTUS who would be approaching 90 by the end of his next term, if elected. And a Pied Piper (and his Minions) who for all intents and purposes should be in prison. And if something happens to Biden between now and when he's given his gold watch and shown the door... you know who's next in line.

Meanwhile, you've got illustrious Congresspeople like AOC on one side of the aisle... and horseface... I mean... MTG... on the other. Get your popcorn and buy your tickets. The circus is only getting started.

[palmerq]

So I think this is bad news on the inflation front and could result in further action by the federal reserves maybe?

Wages Continue to Grow, Good for Workers but a Worry for the Fed https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/b...hm2KyQ6c9UGJig

The coming Biden recession could well be conveniently timed for trumpet, or maybe if it happens soon, the recovery will help sleepy Joe. What a time to be alive.

I don't get the anti Joe stuff, really looks like the old git knows what he's doing(besides his speaking bungles) and is pretty on the ball, he's handled a very difficult situation between the moderates, far left young democrats and the kamikaze debt defaulters, the old git is up against it and I think doing quite well.

[Kirkland Laing]

So I think this is bad news on the inflation front and could result in further action by the federal reserves maybe?

Wages Continue to Grow, Good for Workers but a Worry for the Fed https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/b...hm2KyQ6c9UGJig

The coming Biden recession could well be conveniently timed for trumpet, or maybe if it happens soon, the recovery will help sleepy Joe. What a time to be alive.

I don't get the anti Joe stuff, really looks like the old git knows what he's doing(besides his speaking bungles) and is pretty on the ball, he's handled a very difficult situation between the moderates, far left young democrats and the kamikaze debt defaulters, the old git is up against it and I think doing quite well.

They're going to keep raising rates. They're happy to make a mistake on the recession side rather than on the inflation side. Biden is doing the best he can given the circumstances. Best economic recovery and lowest inflation in the western world. It's just any significant inflation is a new thing to most people, hasn't been any since the eighties, so he's going to get the blame with voters. No point trying to explain economics or it's not my fault to voters in any country, the average voter doesn't understand anything about it other than it happened under Biden so it's his fault. Them's the breaks. It could end up getting Trump reelected.

[Kirkland Laing]

Not feeling the complete confidence for a repeat Biden-Harris ticket. Honestly between the tribes, both Biden and Trump this feels like a blurry dream you wake up in the middle of the night from. Shame on both factions for not cultivating and encouraging new blood knowing where we're heading. And it's not in the form of friggin AOC or a Tim Scott. They say Kennedy is polling in the 20 percent territory . All I see ahead are two very very fractured tickets and split vote. Anyone ever hear this Rep Katie Porter? Talk about sharp and pointed in a heated debate.

I hear ya. Been saying this for months now. I don't buy all the excuses for how there's absolutely nothing to choose from in 2024. There's been enough time. So here we are... with a POTUS who would be approaching 90 by the end of his next term, if elected. And a Pied Piper (and his Minions) who for all intents and purposes should be in prison. And if something happens to Biden between now and when he's given his gold watch and shown the door... you know who's next in line.

Meanwhile, you've got illustrious Congresspeople like AOC on one side of the aisle... and horseface... I mean... MTG... on the other. Get your popcorn and buy your tickets. The circus is only getting started.

The establishment people in parties would like a different leader but that's impossible for different reasons. In the case of the GOP the base, or at least a big enough chunk of them, are still in love with Trump. They're Trump voters first and GOP voters second. Trump is going to win the nomination probably while under multiple indictments and there's nothing anybody can do about it.


In the case of the Democrats Biden is the least worst option. And he's the incumbent. Very difficult to get rid of unless his health goes. The party are going to back him and that's that. If he did have to step down there'd be a primary and it would tear the party apart. Harris would claim it should be her but I'm not sure even all of the black caucus would vote for her as they're interested in winning and she's a loser. But she'd have enough black support to cause a split in the party.



A contested Democratic primary would be a gigantic clusterfuck and could cost the party any shot of winning the election. And there's just nobody on the bench in the party that's any good. Nobody with any kind of national profile who looks like a plausible candidate. Maybe Whitmer, the governor for Michigan I think would be a prospect in 2028. Can win in the midwest and is moderate (both go together). But loads of flaws, is a woman for starters. Amy Klobuchar was a similar type but sunk without trace in the 2020 primary. Voters weren't interested. The California governor is trying to set the stage for himself in the future but is a grandstanding tit. The Democratic version of Meatball Ron.



You can't manufacture candidates otherwise both parties would manufacture the perfect candidate for every election. You just have a bunch of flawed human beings who look in the mirror one day and see a future American president. Then these fuckers run in a quadrennial beauty contest. They have a bunch of image makers and advisors who try and sculpt them into the most electable version of themselves they can possibly be and a lot of them spend years and millions of dollars preparing to run but the majority just sink without trace. One thing about the endless bloody length of American election campaigns is they expose the people running in a lot of detail and the vast majority find they're not ready for primetime/garbage candidates stroke people/nobody likes them.


Which makes you wonder how Trump got elected. The reason is that the GOP voters are so radicalised by their bullshit media that they're basically domestic terrorists these days. And this isn't going away anytime soon, going to get worse in fact. The terrifying thing is they could actually elect Trump next year.



It's a fucking sorry choice America is facing. You have an outright crook on one side who will wreck the American democratic system and usher in an unknown length period of rampant criminality and corruption and significant economic damage if he's elected and he easily could be. On the other side you have an ancient old geezer who is past it and should not be running but there is unbelievably nobody better on the Democratic side. There wasn't four years ago and there isn't now.

[TitoFan]

The establishment people in parties would like a different leader but that's impossible for different reasons. In the case of the GOP the base, or at least a big enough chunk of them, are still in love with Trump. They're Trump voters first and GOP voters second. Trump is going to win the nomination probably while under multiple indictments and there's nothing anybody can do about it.

The ones that aren't in love with Trump are scared of him.

In the case of the Democrats Biden is the least worst option. And he's the incumbent. Very difficult to get rid of unless his health goes. The party are going to back him and that's that. If he did have to step down there'd be a primary and it would tear the party apart. Harris would claim it should be her but I'm not sure even all of the black caucus would vote for her as they're interested in winning and she's a loser. But she'd have enough black support to cause a split in the party.

Harris IS a loser. On that point, I think we all agree on. Yes... Biden being the incumbent gives him an automatic leg up on everybody else.

A contested Democratic primary would be a gigantic clusterfuck and could cost the party any shot of winning the election. And there's just nobody on the bench in the party that's any good. Nobody with any kind of national profile who looks like a plausible candidate. Maybe Whitmer, the governor for Michigan I think would be a prospect in 2028. Can win in the midwest and is moderate (both go together). But loads of flaws, is a woman for starters. Amy Klobuchar was a similar type but sunk without trace in the 2020 primary. Voters weren't interested. The California governor is trying to set the stage for himself in the future but is a grandstanding tit. The Democratic version of Meatball Ron.

Yes... some of the better (or least bad) potential Democratic candidates are women... and frankly (rightly or wrongly), the American public isn't YET going to elect a woman President. Some voters may still have nightmares about Hillary Clinton, and that doesn't help. Nobody else stands out.

You can't manufacture candidates otherwise both parties would manufacture the perfect candidate for every election. You just have a bunch of flawed human beings who look in the mirror one day and see a future American president. Then these fuckers run in a quadrennial beauty contest. They have a bunch of image makers and advisors who try and sculpt them into the most electable version of themselves they can possibly be and a lot of them spend years and millions of dollars preparing to run but the majority just sink without trace. One thing about the endless bloody length of American election campaigns is they expose the people running in a lot of detail and the vast majority find they're not ready for primetime/garbage candidates stroke people/nobody likes them.

This is where I see it another way. It isn't (and has never been) about "manufacturing" candidates. That's precisely the recipe to come up with an artificial, fake fascimile of what a Presidential candidate should be. Sort of like a Miss America beauty pageant. Better the natural, uncoached, un-liposuctioned, un-surgically altered woman... than the manufactured Barbie doll that has been preparing for the occasion with a slew of helpers.

I refuse to believe that somewhere within the 330 million people in the United States (minus the obvious qualification requirements)... there isn't at least a handful of decent, intelligent, decisive, wise, driven, personable, leader-type individuals who could be perfectly capable of developing a following. Nowadays exposure is easier than ever, thanks to the blessing (sometimes curse) of social media.

Yes... I realize that this is a process. No one is going to jump into the POTUS seat without first having scaled the necessary career progression. Although there are a few precedents of past Presidents without much of a prior political career. Others have come from prior careers that no one could have foreseen. My point is... it's not impossible.

Hollywood has produced its share of movies on this topic... one of the better ones being "The Candidate," a 50-year old movie with Robert Redford in the starring role.

If you're right and it is, in fact, impossible... then that's a pretty damning statement on the American public and the political system in general.

We go through similar issue here (in Puerto Rico) with our own candidates and elections. In our case, anyone wanting to become governor, let's say... has to be willing to enter into the dirty political system and choose a political party... which pretty much compromises a lot of the ideals that person may have had to begin with. So yeah... I get it.

Which makes you wonder how Trump got elected. The reason is that the GOP voters are so radicalised by their bullshit media that they're basically domestic terrorists these days. And this isn't going away anytime soon, going to get worse in fact. The terrifying thing is they could actually elect Trump next year.

Well... that's the reason why Trump could possibly be elected in 2024. The reason he got elected in 2016, IMO, was a perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances. I remember thinking (and probably stating it on this forum) that 2016 was a historically unfortunate choice between Trump and the tremendously unlikeable and untrustworthy Hillary Clinton. And here comes the bombastic narcissist... bouncing all over the debate stages and promising shit that resonated with the masses... like "draining the swamp." A huge portion of the American public swallowed all that shit up like newborn puppies at their mother's teat.

The "radical, bullshit media" may have always existed... but definitely grew bolder and much more visible once Trump took over the Presidency. Of course CNN and Fox News have been for a long time at opposite ends of the spectrum. But once Trump became President, these opposite ends grew infinitely more distant from each other.

It's a fucking sorry choice America is facing. You have an outright crook on one side who will wreck the American democratic system and usher in an unknown length period of rampant criminality and corruption and significant economic damage if he's elected and he easily could be. On the other side you have an ancient old geezer who is past it and should not be running but there is unbelievably nobody better on the Democratic side. There wasn't four years ago and there isn't now.

If Trump were only "an outright crook" it probably wouldn't be as bad. But Trump isn't JUST "an outright crook." He combines that with being the ultimate "Yes-man" collector of men... puppets if you will. Anyone with individual thoughts or conscience gets destroyed. He's the world's biggest narcissist, which is downright dangerous in a position like President. If there's ever a contest to see who can name the most negative qualities of Trump as a person and leader... let me know. I'd like to submit my application.

The old geezer thing with Biden... it is what it is. Nobody can brush away Biden's age. A sitting President at almost 90 years old is unfathomable. Regardless of whatever medical teams he may have around him 24/7... a 90-year old man shouldn't be anywhere near the position of being leader of a powerful nation. So if there's nobody better on the Democratic side... that's on us (society). Can't say there hasn't been ample warning.

Yes... it IS a sorry choice America is facing.

[Master]

I would take the old man over the corrupt one.

[Kirkland Laing]

This is where I see it another way. It isn't (and has never been) about "manufacturing" candidates. That's precisely the recipe to come up with an artificial, fake fascimile of what a Presidential candidate should be. Sort of like a Miss America beauty pageant. Better the natural, uncoached, un-liposuctioned, un-surgically altered woman... than the manufactured Barbie doll that has been preparing for the occasion with a slew of helpers.

I refuse to believe that somewhere within the 330 million people in the United States (minus the obvious qualification requirements)... there isn't at least a handful of decent, intelligent, decisive, wise, driven, personable, leader-type individuals who could be perfectly capable of developing a following. Nowadays exposure is easier than ever, thanks to the blessing (sometimes curse) of social media.

Yes... I realize that this is a process. No one is going to jump into the POTUS seat without first having scaled the necessary career progression. Although there are a few precedents of past Presidents without much of a prior political career. Others have come from prior careers that no one could have foreseen. My point is... it's not impossible.

Hollywood has produced its share of movies on this topic... one of the better ones being "The Candidate," a 50-year old movie with Robert Redford in the starring role.

If you're right and it is, in fact, impossible... then that's a pretty damning statement on the American public and the political system in general.

Well... that's the reason why Trump could possibly be elected in 2024. The reason he got elected in 2016, IMO, was a perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances. I remember thinking (and probably stating it on this forum) that 2016 was a historically unfortunate choice between Trump and the tremendously unlikeable and untrustworthy Hillary Clinton. And here comes the bombastic narcissist... bouncing all over the debate stages and promising shit that resonated with the masses... like "draining the swamp." A huge portion of the American public swallowed all that shit up like newborn puppies at their mother's teat.

The "radical, bullshit media" may have always existed... but definitely grew bolder and much more visible once Trump took over the Presidency. Of course CNN and Fox News have been for a long time at opposite ends of the spectrum. But once Trump became President, these opposite ends grew infinitely more distant from each other.

I'm also sure there are a bunch of people who would make exceptional candidates out there but the thing is they're not running. Exceptional potential candidates are constantly being scouted by both parties. They're offered a clear run at Governor or Senator in their home state with a glide path to a presidential campaign to try and get them to run. Very few decide to run and the ones that do often turn out to be duds as far as getting elected goes.

I looked and there's only one president who didn't have years of being a regular politician or military service before being elected prez and that's Trump. There were three generals who went straight to prez. Eisenhower was the last. Other than that everybody has had years of political office. Trump however brought a couple of well qualified individuals/gigantic egos out of the woodwork in 2020. The guy who built Starbucks and Michael Bloomberg. Both of them were poison with the voters. Even then Bloomberg had been New York mayor.

In the 2024 election you have an incumbent, which means it's impossible to remove him without a primary that would tear the party apart and result in a lot of incumbent fans staying at home on election day if the incumbent lost the primary or a lot of challenger fans staying at home if the incumbent beat the challenger. Currently Biden does have challengers but they're fringe/looney people. Kennedy is polling well but that's down to his name. Once people hear he's an antivax nutcase he'll become irrelevant. (That's what would normally happen, anything might be possible in this fucked up social media age.)

Here's that explained a little:

https://wapo.st/3Nug9gp



On the other side you have basically a cult and a bunch of cult followers who are going to vote for their leader no matter what. So unless health intervenes this is the contest we have.



I think Fox News basically went nuts when Obama got elected. It was overtly conservative before that but itbecame horrific under Obama. There was no shitty horrible racist angle of attack they wouldn't use. Trump just amped up the crazy. You mean MNBC rather than CNN right? They're the lefties. CNN have tried to play it down the middle and that's left them a poor third place in cable news because the market wants to hear what it wants to hear. CNN just sacked their chief political correspondent recently because he said this, which strikes me as uncontroversial:



https://twitter.com/JohnJHarwood/sta...18081378213891