how about the efficient/effective distribution of vaccines, even in the midst of supply chain bottlenecks. pulling troops out of Afghanistan passage of the build back better / infrastructure bill etc.
https://www.newschannel5.com/news/n...rpwzsmN-gwWpxWc7bdm07qCd8Y3611p9rnOrBAPtQM90Y #LetsGoBrandon #BidenPick6
When is the last time you heard a Dem campaigning or promoting how they were responsible for pulling troops out of Afghanistan? Or distribution of vaccines? BBB hasn't and may not pass, and the infighting turned the infrastructure bill into a political disaster. None of these things is a winning campaign issue. Keeping voters is not just about doing things that help them - in the GOP's case, it's even about helping them at all. It's about messaging. The GOP has done a phenomenal job of convincing people that they've got their back (while simultaneously killing them with dumb covid advice). The Dems just don't know how to do that. It's similar to 2008 vs 2010. Obama and Dems did LOTS of things to help people in 2009 and 2010, from Obamacare to tax cuts, etc. But they didn't ever message on any of them because they let the GOP dictate the terms. So when 2010 rolled around, Dems were literally running away from their Obamacare vote instead of talking about all the good things about it while the GOP messaged on "you can't keep your favorite doctor". Dems have already ceded the messaging on Afghanistan to the GOP as a disaster; vaccines have become a complex issue because the promise was normalcy and that hasn't happened for a variety of reasons. The economy should be one area Dems can dominate messaging, but instead they are running scared due to inflation. Other areas Dems can message on is how specific GOP reps and Senators are cowards; how they are putting Americans in danger for political reasons; how they are anti-Democratic and giving up on democracy for political reasons; etc. Dems aren't effectively doing any of that. If I were Dem leadership, I would make my signature spring 2022 bill a massive all-encompassing anti-corruption bill. I would make huge penalties and setup independent investigators for inappropriate communication between White House and DOJ; for politicial interference with science; for violations of the Hatch Act; require publishing of Presidential health data at all times; massive penaltiies for civil servants doing political work; take on insider Congressional trading; on and on. Tale all the ridiculous things Trump and his cronies have done to benefit themselves, talk about the specific stupid things, and make them illegal. Take super-popular political issues that are difficult to demonize and either pass them or make GOPers oppose them. Then either campaign on how the GOP loves corruption or how you passed the biggest anti-corruption laws in decades and are trying to make government work for the people. On voting rights, no one knows what's in any of these bills that are being killed. Instead of comprehensive voting reform, break down the bills into single issue voting rights bills. Force GOP Senators and Dems to oppose super-popular basic voting rights and reforms or, better yet, get them passed. There are so many things Dems can do and they consistently find themselves playing defense because they don't know to message and focus on winning issues.
Katie Porter is my Congress women, a Dem from Irvine, CA, she has been airing ads / sending out flyers praising the BBB, w emphasis on clear air which appeals to her suburban educated constituents
Katie Porter is phenomenal. She is an excellent example of someone who knows how to message and connect to voters. Also why she's been able to win in what is otherwise largely a red district. Dems as a whole, unfortunately, don't do this.
Her district is a mix of Richie Rich and a changing demographic that's leaking whites. I like that she's more consumerist and intent on chipping away at a broken system and whenever she's in the limelight she always sounds reliable and results driven rather than resorting to goober theatrics. I don't know if that district will swing back red (potentially from property or housing revolts at a state level) but I'd be crushed if she were voted out.
The right or wrong part here is somewhat relevant. It shouldn't be hard for Dems to counter this, but apparently it is. If I was Dems I'd go a bit hardcore negative on Reps, because there's so much that is so easy to attack there that is just true (Trump being a fat, diaper wearing, draft dodging slob; Jordan being ok with sexual assault among men; crazy number of pedophile action in their party, Cruz being a p***y about cold weather, etc, etc.). They're just generally so the opposite of macho it'd be an easy message to attack...nevermind the fact that the key republican "names" are just dumb as a bag of bricks just my opinion though... they've been reluctant to ever go hard core negative... which i get, but they are SO SO far behind on messaging at this point...
Inflation has taken it too far now. I just saw a sign outside a Popeyes that said their Tuesday Specials are now $2.49.
I agree. GOP in the modern era just seem to be more Machiavellian and ruthless. I wish the Dems had some of that. It’s always amusing to me watching these butterballs and 5’7” bros play the tough guy act but apparently it sells well with wannabe tough guys/misogynists.
Are you a have or have not? www.marketwatch.com /story/u-s-household-net-worth-increases-in-sixth-straight-quarter-fed-data-show-11639075876 U.S. household net worth increases in sixth straight quarter, Fed data show The numbers: Total U.S. household net worth rose $2.4 trillion to $144.7 trillion in the third quarter, the Federal Reserve said in its Q3 flow of funds report, released on Thursday. This is the sixth straight gain in net worth, which was boosted by government assistance during the pandemic. Household net worth stood at $116.8 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2019, prior to the onset of the coronavirus. The value of real estate rose $1.4 trillion in the third quarter, while the value of corporate equities fell by $300 million. What happened: On the liability side, household debt rose at a 6.2% annual rate in the third quarter, down from a 7.8% rate in the prior quarter. Consumer credit rose at a 5.3% rate in the third quarter, while mortgage debt grew at a 7.8% rate. Federal government debt fell at a 1.3% rate in the third quarter after jumping 9.6% in the prior quarter. Government debt soared 62.5% in the second quarter of 2020 as the government increased spending to battle the pandemic. Big picture: Economists are wondering how much money Americans salted away during the pandemic. The savings rate has fallen back to earth – just above 7% in the latest data through October – after spiking above 30% during the pandemic. The U.S. economy is going to slow next year as government pandemic assistance fades away. Many economists are counting on Americans having enough savings to continue spending to pick up the slack. Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.60% was clinging to small gains near 35,800 on Thursday. That is up sharply from its 52-week low of 29,755.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-ma...etter-joe-biden-11639171900?mod=hp_opin_pos_1 Joe Manchin’s Inflation Vindication Prices rise 6.8% in a year, ample reason to shelve the Biden tax and spending blowout. By The Editorial Board Dec. 10, 2021 6:06 pm ET Forget transitory. Inflation is now persistent, and very high. The Labor Department reported Friday that consumer prices in November rose 6.8% in the last 12 months, the most since 1982. This should be all the warning Democratic doubters need to shelve President Biden’s Build Back Better Act that could fuel more inflation. Mr. Biden on Friday attributed the 39-year inflation high to car and energy prices, but this doesn’t wash. The price increases are broad-based, as they’ve been in recent months. Meat prices are up 16% over 12 months, furniture 11.8% and clothing 5%. Even the “core” index, which doesn’t include volatile food and energy prices, increased 4.9%. *** The White House claim that inflation will soon subside would be more credible if it and the Federal Reserve hadn’t been saying this since the spring. Overall prices increased 0.8% in November while the core index climbed 0.5%. These monthly increases are double what they were from July through September. Democrats chalked up rising inflation in the spring to surging used-car prices, which they said would soon come down. But they’re still up 31.4% over the year and rose 2.5% in November. Inflation has increased because price increases have broadened. No worries—President Biden assures us price increases will slow as supply-chain pressures ease. Who knows when that will be? In any case, prices won’t decline. The rate of increase may moderate, but many business executives this fall said they planned to raise prices more next year to compensate for rising labor and material costs. Another White House inflation excuse: Demand for goods has surged during the pandemic as people cocoon and reduce spending on services. This was true earlier in the pandemic. But spending on services has exceeded pre-pandemic levels since June, and service prices excluding rents rose 3.6% in the last year. The headline CPI may even understate inflation because it low-balls soaring housing costs. It shows rents rose a mere 3% in the last year while owners’ equivalent rent rose 3.5%. Yet real-estate sites are reporting double-digit increases in rents and housing prices, exceeding 20% in many Sun Belt metro areas. For too many Americans, inflation is eroding wage gains. Average hourly earnings after inflation for all employees declined 0.4% in November and have fallen 2.7% so far this year. This hurts low-income workers more since they have less cushion to afford necessities that are rising in price. They also spend more of their incomes on energy, food and rent. Workers have noticed their wages aren’t keeping pace with inflation and are demanding more pay. See Deere & Co.’s recently ratified collective-bargaining agreement that provides generous wages that will be adjusted quarterly based on cost-of-living. Rising prices will fuel higher wage demands that will further embed a wage-price spiral. The budget implications are serious even without the BBB bill. The Congressional Budget Office’s baseline budget last month showed the U.S. will spend $5.9 trillion in fiscal 2022, which began Oct. 1. Entitlements get an automatic inflation increase, and the rest is adjusted under a “current services” baseline that includes inflation. Factor in 6.8% inflation and spending would rise by $400 billion even if Congress doesn’t pass BBB. According to CBO, the bill’s aggregate outlays will be spread over the course of the decade, with the 2022 deficit impact in the range of 0.6% of GDP. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says this “modest near-term net deficit impact should not lead to economic overheating.” But most spending in the bill that is set to phase out will ultimately be made permanent. The Joint Committee on Taxation and CBO estimate that the expanded $3,600 child tax credit, which lasts only one year in the bill, will alone cost $1.6 trillion over 10 years. That’s nearly all of the $1.75 trillion that Sen. Joe Manchin has said is his 10-year maximum. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated that making all the bill’s temporary provisions permanent would cost nearly $4.7 trillion. The expanded welfare state won’t be transitory. *** The causes of all this are clear: Democratic spending spurred a surge of demand at the same time supply was constricted by the pandemic and labor shortages caused by government incentives not to work. This will get worse with BBB’s taxes and regulation. Jerome Powell and the Fed contributed by cheering on this excessive spending and keeping an historically easy monetary policy long after the pandemic economic emergency had passed. This inflation is exactly what Mr. Manchin warned about this summer, and he’s been vindicated. He should follow his instincts and shelve BBB for now, and make clear that before any revival next year it has to be honestly scored for its real spending burden. This would also be better for the Democratic Party and Mr. Biden, who now own the inflation that has occurred on their watch. The Fed, which is behind the curve, will have to accelerate its bond buying and rate increases. Tighter money carries risks. But letting inflation gain more momentum will make the policy correction even more difficult and the squeeze on the American standard of living worse. Appeared in the December 11, 2021, print edition.
Is that really a bad thing? They did their best to prop up small biz and housing, which was distressed under 18 month quarantines and mass layoffs. I do think it was short sided to use monetary and fiscal policy, both demand side tools, in order to brunt a supply side constraint, but that's mostly in hindsight where interest rates have remained historically low for more than a decade. The other big factor was the generous trillions dollar fiscal policy (mo direct money, mo inflation), but these op/eds are all pretending we're at precovid growth paths whlle they clearly aren't. Conrtrarians are already pounding the table that a taper would be a big mistake, mostly for the same reasons that this demand side solution won't solve a supply side prob. Will be easy to tell within a couple quarters... Btw, gas prices seem to be easing, though Europe is starting to spike again w/ covid...
Without any liquidity injected into the economy, we are going into a recession, which will be just as bad if not worse than the inflation we are seeing. There has been a moratorium on student loan payments for the past two years, and money for those payments has instead been used for retail spending. Biden cannot allow that source of liquidity to be shut off, he will have to extend the moratorium.
