The Biden Administration and All Things Politics

[Surely]

There are people in government, or recently out of government, supporting behavior indicative of fascist regimes.

You mean like doubling the size of the IRS, and just willy nilly forgiving $300-$500 billion in student loans (does biden even have the authority to do this?).

 

[Red]

Interesting that she chose Jim Crow and the Progressive Era KKK as examples of fascism in America. Both were democrat. Woodrow Wilson was showing The Birth of a Nation in the White House. She also mentioned Henry Ford, who was asked by KKK-loving Woodrow Wilson to run for the Senate.

And? I know the history. What’s important to me today, in the here and now, is that I know how to recognize fascist trends today, 2022, and where to find them. I do.

Many of the same examples Sarah Churchwell relies upon are presented in this book:

Uh huh, and I didn’t buy it when DutchJazzer was pushing that same narrative, and it only looks more ridiculous today.

 

[gandalfe]

You mean like doubling the size of the IRS, and just willy nilly forgiving $300-$500 billion in student loans (does biden even have the authority to do this?).

Just because you'd don't like something doesn't make it fascism.

As for if he has the authority, well, there are differences of opinion about that. I am not an expert in constitutional law. Are you?

 

[LogGrad98]

You mean like doubling the size of the IRS, and just willy nilly forgiving $300-$500 billion in student loans (does biden even have the authority to do this?).

Willy nilly bringing us in line with most other developed nations. Now we just need a way to keep people from going bankrupt for getting needed medical care and maybe we can pass up like, Iran into 20th place or something. It's painful to bring a backward country out of the dark ages.

 

[The Thriller]

You mean like doubling the size of the IRS, and just willy nilly forgiving $300-$500 billion in student loans (does biden even have the authority to do this?).

What a weird comment. What’s fascist about adding enough tax agents and forgiving student loan debt?

Is this what counts as “conservative dialogue” these days? There’s plenty I think to criticize about student loan debt but I’ve never seen forgiving student loans be described as “fascist.”

Fascist isn’t code for “stuff I don’t like.” It actually is supposed to mean something. Words matter

 

[The Thriller]

There are people in government, or recently out of government, supporting behavior indicative of fascist regimes.

Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Kash Patel, and many Congressional Republicans. Not to mention the members of the media, like Ingraham and Tucker. This is textbook fascism:

View: https://youtu.be/iCXUfylGOGk


View: https://youtu.be/FJfUu1LKn44

https://youtu.be/gogCccQsum4

This guy is a regular on Fox News

View: https://twitter.com/kurtschlichter/status/1424162623545692161?s=21&t=Ph4IwKTpgKR2AuMldxwJwA


View: https://twitter.com/kurtschlichter/status/1424162626444021761?s=21&t=Ph4IwKTpgKR2AuMldxwJwA


View: https://twitter.com/kurtschlichter/status/1424162636367753216?s=21&t=Ph4IwKTpgKR2AuMldxwJwA


This is fascism. Not forgiving student loans. Using the state to crush labor unions, takeover public education, disenfranchise political enemies from voting, using the state to take over unfriendly media, emphasizing tradition and idolizing the military, etc is textbook fascism.

This is also fascism, and it’s one of the most influential writers in the right wing:

Let’s be blunt. The United States has become two nations occupying the same country. When pressed, or in private, many would now agree. Fewer are willing to take the next step and accept that most people living in the United States today—certainly more than half—are not Americans in any meaningful sense of the term…
Practically speaking, there is almost nothing left to conserve. What is actually required now is a recovery, or even a refounding, of America as it was long and originally understood but which now exists only in the hearts and minds of a minority of citizens…
What is needed, of course, is a statesman who understands both the disease afflicting the nation, and the revolutionary medicine required for the cure…
If you are a zombie or a human rodent who wants a shadow-life of timid conformity, then put away this essay and go memorize the poetry of Amanda Gorman. Real men and women who love honor and beauty, keep reading…

"Conservatism" is no Longer Enough

All hands on deck as we enter the counter-revolutionary moment.

americanmind.org

And this guy was a speaker at CPAC 3 weeks ago. This is textbook fascism:

https://twitter.com/klaus_arminius/status/1551947641365401601?s=21&t=8_t1YhUMbKiVB3Tl8fxtzw

 

[fishonjazz]

MSN

The White House Twitter account reminded Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a frequent Biden critic, that she was once a recipient of the Paycheck Protection Program, established by former President Donald Trump during the pandemic to help small businesses.

“Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had $183,504 in PPP loans forgiven,”

In additional posts on Twitter Thursday, the White House called out Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), who it says, had over $2.3 million in PPP loans forgiven; Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), who it says, had over $1.4 million in PPP loans forgiven; Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), who it says, had over $1 million in PPP loans forgiven; and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who it says, had $482,321 in PPP loans forgiven.

Each Republican the White House put on blast had criticized Biden’s student loan forgiveness.

LOL MTG you incredibly ugly idiot. You are hilarious.

 

[The Thriller]

“bUt SoCiAlIsM!”
“bUt FiScAl DiScIpLiNe!”


View: https://twitter.com/whitehouse/status/1562916200866267138?s=21&t=p_HBOdh3ZsCKP9quHCferQ

Loan forgiveness for me but not for thee!

I’m not tired from all this winning! Keep’em coming Brandon!

 

[One Brow]

You mean like doubling the size of the IRS,

The IRS has been underfunded for years, and it's allowed record tax cheating and tax evasion by the wealthy, resulted in hours-long waits on the customer service lines for middle Americans, and short-changed our government, forcing higher tax rates on the middle class or increasing government debt. Fascism is associated with easing the tax burden on the wealthy. Try again.

and just willy nilly forgiving $300-$500 billion in student loans (does biden even have the authority to do this?).

If Biden doesn't have the authority, there will be a couple of hundred Congresspeople that take this to court.

Again, I'm not aware of the historical association of fascism and the forgiveness of student debt. Can you provide a source for that?

 

[LogGrad98]

Practically speaking, there is almost nothing left to conserve. What is actually required now is a recovery, or even a refounding, of America as it was long and originally understood but which now exists only in the hearts and minds of a minority of citizens…

Almost all of that can be condensed into this sentence. Make things the way they were in the "good old days" of segregation, and white supremacy, when people knew their place and stayed there, but which now exists only in the hearts and minds of a MINORITY of citizens. Now the minority matters, when it is made of those who held the majority and the power for so so long. So now the majority rule, of white upper-class, is diminishing and they feel their power being threatened, and they see many others in their "class" are getting behind the wave of change. So the solution for the minority that are still fighting back against the social changes in motion is to forcibly go back to the days when the rich white man was king and ruler, and the minorities were all in their place. Very telling, and not without a modicum of irony and a huge dose of hypocrisy.

 

[LogGrad98]

The IRS has been underfunded for years, and it's allowed record tax cheating and tax evasion by the wealthy, resulted in hours-long waits on the customer service lines for middle Americans, and short-changed our government, forcing higher tax rates on the middle class or increasing government debt. Fascism is associated with easing the tax burden on the wealthy. Try again.


If Biden doesn't have the authority, there will be a couple of hundred Congresspeople that take this to court.

Again, I'm not aware of the historical association of fascism and the forgiveness of student debt. Can you provide a source for that?

Well the nazis were more than happy to "educate" you entirely for free!! In fact in most fascist regimes they have no problems issuing free curated education for everyone.

 

[Gameface]

Well the nazis were more than happy to "educate" you entirely for free!! In fact in most fascist regimes they have no problems issuing free curated education for everyone.

View attachment 12957

In before someone feels the need to tell you that's because Nazis were leftist socialists.

 

[LogGrad98]

MSN

The White House Twitter account reminded Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a frequent Biden critic, that she was once a recipient of the Paycheck Protection Program, established by former President Donald Trump during the pandemic to help small businesses.

“Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had $183,504 in PPP loans forgiven,”

In additional posts on Twitter Thursday, the White House called out Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), who it says, had over $2.3 million in PPP loans forgiven; Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), who it says, had over $1.4 million in PPP loans forgiven; Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), who it says, had over $1 million in PPP loans forgiven; and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who it says, had $482,321 in PPP loans forgiven.

Each Republican the White House put on blast had criticized Biden’s student loan forgiveness.

LOL MTG you incredibly ugly idiot. You are hilarious.

But you don't understand fishbro, those were loans for BUSINESSES for wealt....uh, I mean successful businesspeople who provided jobs and stability for maybe 10's of Americans. Those are what should be forgiven, not any student loans!! Those need to be paid back, unless they were for wealth....crap there I go again, SUCCESSFUL and important businesspeople who are providing the trickle down that allows them to live extravagant lifestyles off the public dime help people in need find jobs!!

 

[LogGrad98]

In before someone feels the need to tell you that's because Nazis were leftist socialists.

Is this one better?

 

[AlaskanAssassin]

The IRS has been underfunded for years, and it's allowed record tax cheating and tax evasion by the wealthy, resulted in hours-long waits on the customer service lines for middle Americans, and short-changed our government, forcing higher tax rates on the middle class or increasing government debt. Fascism is associated with easing the tax burden on the wealthy. Try again.

If Biden doesn't have the authority, there will be a couple of hundred Congresspeople that take this to court.

Again, I'm not aware of the historical association of fascism and the forgiveness of student debt. Can you provide a source for that?

They way people use the term fascism varies wildly. I wouldn't necessarily call any of this fascism, but there are elements of authoritarianism, anti-liberalism, and autocracy. Again, I'm not agreeing that it is fascism, but with such a broad term people are going to use it how they see fit.

I doubt there is going to be much of a legal battle here. I know conservative commentators are suggesting there will be, but that's just posturing. There is very little to gain and much to lose from a political perspective. Everyone loves Santa Clause, no one likes the Grinch.

Regarding the student loan situation, I think there is a lack of empathy across the board. On the right, there is a lack of empathy for the ridiculous costs of college they had to walk into. Many were told since a young age that they absolutely had to go to college, and to attend the best one they could, with little attention to the cost. Some of these people are genuinely struggling and facing challenges beginning and continuing their adult lives. They might not be able to afford a home, or to have a family. On the left, there is a lack of empathy for those that made different choices based on the education and economic landscape. Some chose not to go to college because of the cost. Some parents scrapped and saved and suffered to pay for college without taking loans. I myself worked a full-time night job throughout college. I didn't have time for parties, extra-curriculars, internships, etc. Every day felt like a double-shift. I was miserable for much of those five-ish years it took to graduate. For those who chose to endure their suffering before or durring college, instead of after, this might feel like a slap in the face. More empathy is needed across the board.

 

[Gameface]

They way people use the term fascism varies wildly. I wouldn't necessarily call any of this fascism, but there are elements of authoritarianism, anti-liberalism, and autocracy. Again, I'm not agreeing that it is fascism, but with such a broad term people are going to use it how they see fit.

I doubt there is going to be much of a legal battle here. I know conservative commentators are suggesting there will be, but that's just posturing. There is very little to gain and much to lose from a political perspective. Everyone loves Santa Clause, no one likes the Grinch.

Regarding the student loan situation, I think there is a lack of empathy across the board. On the right, there is a lack of empathy for the ridiculous costs of college they had to walk into. Many were told since a young age that they absolutely had to go to college, and to attend the best one they could, with little attention to the cost. Some of these people are genuinely struggling and facing challenges beginning and continuing their adult lives. They might not be able to afford a home, or to have a family. On the left, there is a lack of empathy for those that made different choices based on the education and economic landscape. Some chose not to go to college because of the cost. Some parents scrapped and saved and suffered to pay for college without taking loans. I myself worked a full-time night job throughout college. I didn't have time for parties, extra-curriculars, internships, etc. Every day felt like a double-shift. I was miserable for much of those five-ish years it took to graduate. For those who chose to endure their suffering before or durring college, instead of after, this might feel like a slap in the fact. More empathy is needed across the board.

I think the real solution starts with making it possible for anyone who wants to* can get a college education without either going into massive debt or having to work while going to school in order to pay for it.

I agree that this isn't really fair to people who have either paid back student loans early or who avoided student loans by paying out of pocket (by working or otherwise).

*anyone who wants to who also meets enrollment criteria and academic performance/participation standards.

 

[AlaskanAssassin]

View: https://twitter.com/whitehouse/status/1562916200866267138?s=21&t=p_HBOdh3ZsCKP9quHCferQ

Loan forgiveness for me but not for thee!

I’m not tired from all this winning! Keep’em coming Brandon!

Not sure of the comparison between an entity receiving a PPP loan (and it subsequently being forgiven), and student loan forgiveness for individuals.

When businesses or entities applied for PPP Loans, it was for the purpose of retaining employees during a period in which governments were requiring people to stay home (and possibly not work). While the title is misleading, the PPP was not really a loan, every entity expected to be eligible for forgiveness, which had to be stated in the application. So as long as you met the compliance requirements (mainly being that you didn't fire, lay-off, or furlough workers), you received forgiveness. In essence, it was more like a grant award than a loan.

Of course, there are/were a litany of entities that received these funds that ended up not really needing them (or outright lied on the application). However, at the commencement of the program, nobody really knew what the ultimate impact of the pandemic and government shut-downs would have on their organizations. So it's hard to fault many of them they received the award.

As someone who has audited quite a number of PPP recipients, I can confirm that at least for some organizations, the PPP loan was the only thing that kept employees on the payroll while the government forced business closures.

This situation is absolutly nothing like individuals voluntarily electing to take out a college loan, for their own benefit, with the expectation that they will someday have to repay the loan.

 

[One Brow]

They way people use the term fascism varies wildly. I wouldn't necessarily call any of this fascism, but there are elements of authoritarianism, anti-liberalism, and autocracy. Again, I'm not agreeing that it is fascism, but with such a broad term people are going to use it how they see fit.

Were you referring to the hiring of IRS agents and/or student loan forgiveness with this?

On the left, there is a lack of empathy for those that made different choices based on the education and economic landscape. Some chose not to go to college because of the cost. Some parents scrapped and saved and suffered to pay for college without taking loans. I myself worked a full-time night job throughout college. I didn't have time for parties, extra-curriculars, internships, etc. Every day felt like a double-shift. I was miserable for much of those five-ish years it took to graduate. For those who chose to endure their suffering before or durring college, instead of after, this might feel like a slap in the face. More empathy is needed across the board.

There may be some lack of empathy, but the responses in general from right-leaning people make me wonder if they even remember the parable of the vineyard workers.

 

[One Brow]

This situation is absolutly nothing like individuals voluntarily electing to take out a college loan, for their own benefit, with the expectation that they will someday have to repay the loan.

In both cases, they are taking government money to pay other individuals. The differences you mentioned are valid, but "absolutely nothing like" seems off. It's typical political spin.

 

[fishonjazz]

They way people use the term fascism varies wildly. I wouldn't necessarily call any of this fascism, but there are elements of authoritarianism, anti-liberalism, and autocracy. Again, I'm not agreeing that it is fascism, but with such a broad term people are going to use it how they see fit.

I doubt there is going to be much of a legal battle here. I know conservative commentators are suggesting there will be, but that's just posturing. There is very little to gain and much to lose from a political perspective. Everyone loves Santa Clause, no one likes the Grinch.

Regarding the student loan situation, I think there is a lack of empathy across the board. On the right, there is a lack of empathy for the ridiculous costs of college they had to walk into. Many were told since a young age that they absolutely had to go to college, and to attend the best one they could, with little attention to the cost. Some of these people are genuinely struggling and facing challenges beginning and continuing their adult lives. They might not be able to afford a home, or to have a family. On the left, there is a lack of empathy for those that made different choices based on the education and economic landscape. Some chose not to go to college because of the cost. Some parents scrapped and saved and suffered to pay for college without taking loans. I myself worked a full-time night job throughout college. I didn't have time for parties, extra-curriculars, internships, etc. Every day felt like a double-shift. I was miserable for much of those five-ish years it took to graduate. For those who chose to endure their suffering before or durring college, instead of after, this might feel like a slap in the face. More empathy is needed across the board.

Good post.
From looking at social media regarding the student loan forgiveness its seems that the prevailing attitude of those upset about it amounts to "hey, it sucked for me going through college broke and then struggling to pay my loans back after finishing college so I want it to suck for everyone else too. They should also have to struggle!"
I hate that attitude. I think we should root for our fellow americans. I want the next generation to have it better than I did.
I see the same piss poor attitude at work. Someone will get rewarded for good work performance (employee of the month bonus of a 100 dollar gift card for example) and I will just hear so many people bitching about how it isn't fair that they didn't get a gift card too. Or one shift boss will buy pizza for their shift and the next shift will complain. Im always happy for those who got pizza or a gift card even if I didn't get it. Its not like something was taken away from me.
Society has gotten so selfish and me first about everything. Its lame.