US US Politics General - Discussion of President Biden and other politicians

 

[Absolutego]

Joe Biden Tomorrow: "C'MON MAN GAS IS STILL RISING? CAN WE BUY FROM ADOLF HITLER?"

I've been thinking about it and am convinced that there's two guiding principles determining almost all the policy decisions in the White House atm:

1. The Iran Deal must be re-established as a foreign policy "win". They're deeply bitter that Trump axed Obama's only foreign policy accomplishment and this is their idea of how to sell an achievement to the people. This is why Europe and various tech firms are leading the response to the invasion of Ukraine and why Iranian/Russian diplomats are publicly gloating about how much they worked over his staffers in their recent meetings in Geneva, while the administration remains conspicuously silent about the details of the upcoming release. They know it'll piss off a lot of pundits.

2. Nothing can be done to risk pissing off the climate change doom cult that's rampant among their millennial base. There were staffers at the DNC screeching that the party had ensured everyone would die in 12 years when Hillary lost to Trump. They're the most fervent, consistent voting bloc for the party at the moment and that's why we're begging horrendous dictatorships to export more oil and refusing to boycott Russian oil, despite being asked to multiple times, because the (short-term) alternative is to ramp up domestic production and walk back their cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, which was Biden's 2nd or 3rd action in office.

I literally cannot wait for this administration to be completely voted out, the figurehead silent generation leadership finally dying off, and something, anything, to take over the party instead of this clique of bourgeois college-educated activists whose sole understanding of the world comes from Boomer memes about the late 1960's.

 

[Gehenna]

@Oxous
I appreciate the fact that the beans titled their network "Americano", not "Mexican-American", not "Latino"... Literally just American in spanish, one thing i noticed minorities do is they put themselves first, ala "what can this country do for me as a black/asian/gay/chopper person?" the tacos here are putting themselves as Americans first and foremost, and that's refreshing to me

It's also terrifying to the Democrats. Hispanics, regardless of origin, have always been a group that integrates very well... when they do integrate.

The thing is, over the last 3-4 decades all the open palms to help ease them in or convince them to do so have slowly closed. And thus, they have slowed down their integration to a crawl.

So why does the idea of then integrating terrify the Democrats?


Integrated Hispanics -overwhelmingly- vote Republican.


What this Americano station sets up is something utterly lacking in 4 decades and at least two entire generations. An open hand to integration.

 

[Stoneheart]

Oh hai, Lyle! Didn't know you had a KF account!

thats not me, but i maybe ride the monorail everytime im near Wuppertal. its fun and i like it.

 

[notafederalagent]

WaPo: Biden goes home a lot — but not as much as Trump went to Trump properties

On many Friday afternoons, the White House press pool releases a similar message: President Biden is on his way to Delaware.
When he was a senator, Biden generally opted not to stay in Washington, instead taking the train back to his home in Wilmington, Del. As president, it seems, he has the same impulse: get out of Washington and back to a private space as often as possible.

The stakes now are different. The president of the United States lives in the White House because the White House affords him access to safety and information and an ability to quickly respond to crises that’s unmatched elsewhere. What’s more, Biden’s predecessor was regularly criticized for how often he was away from the White House, a criticism that doesn’t seem to bother Biden much.

But of course, there are significant differences between Biden’s time away from the White House and Donald Trump’s. When Trump left the White House, he wasn’t going to his house but, almost always, to one of the properties his private company owned. His travel was a de facto advertisement for his private business, and the regularity with which he traveled to those quasi-public spaces afforded those seeking access to know where he might be found. Often, those trips included hours spent on the golf course, often partnering with other players who weren’t identified by the White House.

What’s more, Trump’s regular trips to properties owned by his private business yielded income for the Trump Organization, money that came from taxpayers. It’s unclear how much money was spent by the Secret Service and other government organizations at Trump properties while Trump was president, but it’s demonstrably in the millions.

It was also generally more expensive for the government to shuttle Trump to his properties than it is to get Biden to Delaware, since the properties Trump visited the most — his private clubs at Mar-a-Lago and in Bedminster, N.J. — are substantially further away. Trump did go to his hotel in Washington, a few blocks from the White House, and regularly to his golf club in Sterling, Va., about 20 miles away. But with the exception of a Thanksgiving trip to Nantucket, Biden has only gone to Wilmington and his house at Rehoboth Beach, both quite a bit closer.

Over Trump’s presidency, I tracked his visits to his private properties. While it does seem like Biden goes to Delaware a lot — because he does — a casual observer might be forgiven for forgetting how often Trump left Washington for rest and relaxation. Comparing the first 13-plus months of each man’s presidency, it’s clear that Biden is not obviously exceeding Trump’s total departures from the White House.


(For this analysis, I include any part of a day spent at Biden’s or Trump’s destinations. So days on which the president traveled to or returned from a property, even if they were at the White House for most of the day, are included as days that included a visit to the other property.)

We can put numbers to that graphic. Biden visited one of his properties in Delaware or went to Nantucket on all or part of 114 days over his first 13 months in office. Trump visited at least one Trump Organization property on 133 days in the same period.

Trump’s trips also involved a lot more travel. Considering only the trips to and from each location, Biden’s trips meant about 7,400 miles in travel.
Trump’s constituted more than 27,500 miles, nearly four times as many. (This includes his trips to New York City, which departed from his club in New Jersey and not from D.C.)

This analysis certainly risks using a bit of whataboutism to excuse Biden’s time away from the White House, which is certainly unusual for recent non-Trump presidents. But it is the case that the implications and costs of Biden’s travel have been quite different from that occurring during Trump’s presidency.

For example, it seems quite unlikely that Biden is profiting financially from his trips home. Trump did.

 

[Absolutego]

It's also terrifying to the Democrats. Hispanics, regardless of origin, have always been a group that integrates very well... when they do integrate.

The thing is, over the last 3-4 decades all the open palms to help ease them in or convince them to do so have slowly closed. And thus, they have slowed down their integration to a crawl.

So why does the idea of then integrating terrify the Democrats?

Integrated Hispanics -overwhelmingly- vote Republican.

What this Americano station sets up is something utterly lacking in 4 decades and at least two entire generations. An open hand to integration.

The one exception is Indios, they never really integrate. Castizos/Mestizos do fine, the overlap between their values and 'Murica patriotism is huge, and its why the funniest ongoing farce over the next few decades will be Democrats frantically scrambling to shepherd Latinos back onto the metaphorical hacienda as successive generations get further removed from immigration being such a huge motivating factor in their voting habits.

 

[Raoul_Duke]

WaPo: Biden goes home a lot — but not as much as Trump went to Trump properties

On many Friday afternoons, the White House press pool releases a similar message: President Biden is on his way to Delaware.
When he was a senator, Biden generally opted not to stay in Washington, instead taking the train back to his home in Wilmington, Del. As president, it seems, he has the same impulse: get out of Washington and back to a private space as often as possible.

The stakes now are different. The president of the United States lives in the White House because the White House affords him access to safety and information and an ability to quickly respond to crises that’s unmatched elsewhere. What’s more, Biden’s predecessor was regularly criticized for how often he was away from the White House, a criticism that doesn’t seem to bother Biden much.

But of course, there are significant differences between Biden’s time away from the White House and Donald Trump’s. When Trump left the White House, he wasn’t going to his house but, almost always, to one of the properties his private company owned. His travel was a de facto advertisement for his private business, and the regularity with which he traveled to those quasi-public spaces afforded those seeking access to know where he might be found. Often, those trips included hours spent on the golf course, often partnering with other players who weren’t identified by the White House.

What’s more, Trump’s regular trips to properties owned by his private business yielded income for the Trump Organization, money that came from taxpayers. It’s unclear how much money was spent by the Secret Service and other government organizations at Trump properties while Trump was president, but it’s demonstrably in the millions.

It was also generally more expensive for the government to shuttle Trump to his properties than it is to get Biden to Delaware, since the properties Trump visited the most — his private clubs at Mar-a-Lago and in Bedminster, N.J. — are substantially further away. Trump did go to his hotel in Washington, a few blocks from the White House, and regularly to his golf club in Sterling, Va., about 20 miles away. But with the exception of a Thanksgiving trip to Nantucket, Biden has only gone to Wilmington and his house at Rehoboth Beach, both quite a bit closer.

Over Trump’s presidency, I tracked his visits to his private properties. While it does seem like Biden goes to Delaware a lot — because he does — a casual observer might be forgiven for forgetting how often Trump left Washington for rest and relaxation. Comparing the first 13-plus months of each man’s presidency, it’s clear that Biden is not obviously exceeding Trump’s total departures from the White House.

View attachment 3052637
(For this analysis, I include any part of a day spent at Biden’s or Trump’s destinations. So days on which the president traveled to or returned from a property, even if they were at the White House for most of the day, are included as days that included a visit to the other property.)

We can put numbers to that graphic. Biden visited one of his properties in Delaware or went to Nantucket on all or part of 114 days over his first 13 months in office. Trump visited at least one Trump Organization property on 133 days in the same period.

Trump’s trips also involved a lot more travel. Considering only the trips to and from each location, Biden’s trips meant about 7,400 miles in travel.
Trump’s constituted more than 27,500 miles, nearly four times as many. (This includes his trips to New York City, which departed from his club in New Jersey and not from D.C.)

This analysis certainly risks using a bit of whataboutism to excuse Biden’s time away from the White House, which is certainly unusual for recent non-Trump presidents. But it is the case that the implications and costs of Biden’s travel have been quite different from that occurring during Trump’s presidency.

For example, it seems quite unlikely that Biden is profiting financially from his trips home. Trump did.

I swear to God, can we just grab Jeff Bezos and use his head to polish a donkey's sphincter?

 

[HandsomeDan]

Perfect timing! No, this wont impact the price of... absolutely everything

EPA rule would make heavy trucks cut smog, soot pollution​

https://apnews.com/article/climate-technology-business-smog-pollution-85ecfe920111f1f52a00b44dbc3439ad

 

[Absolutego]

I swear to God, can we just grab Jeff Bezos and use his head to polish a donkey's sphincter?

I'm grateful he funds this tripe, I was only half-ironically cracking jokes that Biden must be getting healthcare that leaves him bedridden to go back to his Wilmington basement so much, and the sheer retardation of this article reminded me that analyzing vacation time to such an extent, instead of the actions of the administration on their own, is deranged. They unironically acted as a deradicalization tool, though certainly that wasn't their intent.

 

[AGreatDipAtAFairPrice]

Obama had that technocrat blithering and patter down cold, the soothing corporatese "teachable moment" stuff and neoliberal boilerplate. Kamala Harris doesn't have the verbal IQ and glibness and fluency to do it even well and she's also got a voice like Marge Simpson. She sounds like the meanest grade school teacher you've ever had reciting the cheesy posters on the wall at you so you''ll quiet down and do the long division homework. That morning zoo appearance about Russia being big and bad and Ukraine being small and good is par for the course. That wasn't even tailored to the audience of big city peabrains that like morning zoo radio. She just talks like a cranky teacher and the whole world is 4th grade. There's a reason she bombed out before Iowa. Its impossible to not think she's talking down to you and doesn't really know or care about what is going on.

I think the lawyer thing and prosecutor thing also makes it off-putting. It feels like you're being blamed and grilled for her being bad at the job, like you're being badgered on a witness stand.

 

[Vyse Inglebard]

Perfect timing! No, this wont impact the price of... absolutely everything

EPA rule would make heavy trucks cut smog, soot pollution​

https://apnews.com/article/climate-technology-business-smog-pollution-85ecfe920111f1f52a00b44dbc3439ad

Entirely About
Pleb
Ass-Fucking

 

[Slappy McGherkin]

I swear to God, can we just grab Jeff Bezos and use his head to polish a donkey's sphincter?

Not gonna lie, you're gonna have to by me a vodka cuz the one I was drinking just got spit EVERYWHERE in laughter!

 

[tehpope]

Oh boy, just saw premium gas at 6.09 in California, screw me silly and call me Sally. Are we seriously going for a repeat of the 70s?

Yes. But at least Jimmy didn't have the fact that all he has to do to relieve the pressure is to restart oil in America. But they can't do that because they went all in on Importing oil.

 

[mandatorylurk]

I don't care if a President goes away for the weekend or when congress is on one of their many gaycations. I DO care when the person in the office is going places when the world is supposedly on fire or there are never ending restrictions and mandates that his party refuses to budge on for a year.

edit: and I think it would also be important to show the days Joepedo called a lid compared to Trump, that would be way off, I can't think of Trump doing it off the top of my head.

 

[King Dead]

WaPo: Biden goes home a lot — but not as much as Trump went to Trump properties

On many Friday afternoons, the White House press pool releases a similar message: President Biden is on his way to Delaware.
When he was a senator, Biden generally opted not to stay in Washington, instead taking the train back to his home in Wilmington, Del. As president, it seems, he has the same impulse: get out of Washington and back to a private space as often as possible.

The stakes now are different. The president of the United States lives in the White House because the White House affords him access to safety and information and an ability to quickly respond to crises that’s unmatched elsewhere. What’s more, Biden’s predecessor was regularly criticized for how often he was away from the White House, a criticism that doesn’t seem to bother Biden much.

But of course, there are significant differences between Biden’s time away from the White House and Donald Trump’s. When Trump left the White House, he wasn’t going to his house but, almost always, to one of the properties his private company owned. His travel was a de facto advertisement for his private business, and the regularity with which he traveled to those quasi-public spaces afforded those seeking access to know where he might be found. Often, those trips included hours spent on the golf course, often partnering with other players who weren’t identified by the White House.

What’s more, Trump’s regular trips to properties owned by his private business yielded income for the Trump Organization, money that came from taxpayers. It’s unclear how much money was spent by the Secret Service and other government organizations at Trump properties while Trump was president, but it’s demonstrably in the millions.

It was also generally more expensive for the government to shuttle Trump to his properties than it is to get Biden to Delaware, since the properties Trump visited the most — his private clubs at Mar-a-Lago and in Bedminster, N.J. — are substantially further away. Trump did go to his hotel in Washington, a few blocks from the White House, and regularly to his golf club in Sterling, Va., about 20 miles away. But with the exception of a Thanksgiving trip to Nantucket, Biden has only gone to Wilmington and his house at Rehoboth Beach, both quite a bit closer.

Over Trump’s presidency, I tracked his visits to his private properties. While it does seem like Biden goes to Delaware a lot — because he does — a casual observer might be forgiven for forgetting how often Trump left Washington for rest and relaxation. Comparing the first 13-plus months of each man’s presidency, it’s clear that Biden is not obviously exceeding Trump’s total departures from the White House.

View attachment 3052637
(For this analysis, I include any part of a day spent at Biden’s or Trump’s destinations. So days on which the president traveled to or returned from a property, even if they were at the White House for most of the day, are included as days that included a visit to the other property.)

We can put numbers to that graphic. Biden visited one of his properties in Delaware or went to Nantucket on all or part of 114 days over his first 13 months in office. Trump visited at least one Trump Organization property on 133 days in the same period.

Trump’s trips also involved a lot more travel. Considering only the trips to and from each location, Biden’s trips meant about 7,400 miles in travel.
Trump’s constituted more than 27,500 miles, nearly four times as many. (This includes his trips to New York City, which departed from his club in New Jersey and not from D.C.)

This analysis certainly risks using a bit of whataboutism to excuse Biden’s time away from the White House, which is certainly unusual for recent non-Trump presidents. But it is the case that the implications and costs of Biden’s travel have been quite different from that occurring during Trump’s presidency.

For example, it seems quite unlikely that Biden is profiting financially from his trips home. Trump did.

I don't remember who brought it up, might have been @Gehenna, but if memory serves, Trump was frequently conducting presidential business while at his properties, in particular on the golf course. I'm guessing that he felt more comfortable holding meetings in locations he was familiar with, plus he'd get to do his usual wealth flexing on whoever he was meeting with that day. The man never really seemed to ever take a personal day to my recollection, even on "vacation."

Biden, meanwhile, is shuffled off to Delaware every other day, with zero indication that anything's getting done. Certainly not a bunch of medical procedures meant to keep his corpse shambling for another day, no sirree! With how little we see of the man compared to Trump, there's a major fucking difference.

And I swear to God, if one more TDS-afflicted assclown tries to claim that Trump was enriching himself through the presidency while turning a blind eye to every fucking swamp creature making millions or billions off of their positions, I'm gonna scream.

 

[AGreatDipAtAFairPrice]

Donald Trump's schedule was a monster. At the rallies he kept saying things like, "Lid, what the hell is a lid? I'd never even heard of it until Sleepy Joe kept 'declaring' them every day to sleep in a basement in Delaware."

 

[Standardized Profile]

Biden's weekly trips home aren't exactly free to the government, either. Moving the President around is always very expensive. The Secret Service detail and support infrastructure at his house aren't free. His home SCIF (or T-SCIF, SWA, whatever) needs regular inspections, unless he's going to pull a Hillary and run classified national intelligence through a MacBook in his basement. (Pull a Deutch would also be acceptable.) I imagine some military and WHCA personnel must be kept on site or nearby; not just the football guy, but people to run the comms because Joe isn't logging in to those Teams meetings by himself. Maybe those people stay in the guest bedroom free of charge, maybe he charges them rent, or maybe they rented a property nearby. But these little vacays aren't free.

 

[soy_king]

Monorail! Cheap to build, very little need for buying up land, super cool and it doesnt take away roadspace.

You'd still need to deal with a lot of 5th Amendment eminent domain cases when developing a monorail, so yeah not going to happen. the most likely scenario would be vast metro networks connected by intercity rail lines.

 

[John McAfee]

Biden's weekly trips home aren't exactly free to the government, either. Moving the President around is always very expensive. The Secret Service detail and support infrastructure at his house aren't free. His home SCIF (or T-SCIF, SWA, whatever) needs regular inspections, unless he's going to pull a Hillary and run classified national intelligence through a MacBook in his basement. (Pull a Deutch would also be acceptable.) I imagine some military and WHCA personnel must be kept on site or nearby; not just the football guy, but people to run the comms because Joe isn't logging in to those Teams meetings by himself. Maybe those people stay in the guest bedroom free of charge, maybe he charges them rent, or maybe they rented a property nearby. But these little vacays aren't free.

I don't think Biden is using any computers....

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

I don't think Biden is using any computers....

Life support machine is a computer.

 

[Gehenna]

@King Dead

Correct, was me. Trump did take time off on his trips, but also paired them frequently with meetings with politicians both foreign and domestic.

It wasn't about flaunting wealth though. They were almost universally paired with golf trips which were calming, with light exercise, and most importantly away from the camera.

They existed as a time and place for Trump to drop his persona and have serious discussions in a mutually relaxing setting.