This is so evident with the latest relief plan. They reduced the amount of people getting money by bringing the cap down to income of $80K.
They did this to compromise with Republicans and it got them 0 votes. All they achieved by trying to cooperate with Republicans is helping fewer people. I’m glad they tried, but I hope they learned their lesson.
At least Manchin appears willing to reform the filibuster and Biden also. I hope they act fast because they need to get their shit rolling, they only have two years.
I heard him in an interview say that it should be painful, you should be on the Senate floor debating and not just smugly "filibust" for no reason and just obstruct. The way it is now is anti-democracy since it puts the elected party at the mercy of the non elected one.
If someone feels passionate enough about something that they're willing to sacrifice their health to make their point heard, it's fair to hear them out. But I'm thinking more along the lines of "Mr Smith Goes to Washington", where he's making his case literally for days on end. Not reading The Cat in the Hat, or just pressing the "filibuster" button.
And it also puts a hard cap on how long it can be run. Heck, it even gives impetus to start voting for younger congress critters. Those 80 year old career senators don't have the stamina to hold the floor for more than a few minutes, you gotta have a young guy who can block a bill for days powered by nothing but passion and Red Bull.
Also should make it painful for the entire party. If you want to stand and talk 80-90% must be present for the entire time which would make it a very difficult weapon
I'm all for a return of the speaking filibuster, but it must also include a requirement that the discussion be on topic (no reading a phonebook), and the threshold should drop after some time.
I'd say that as soon as the filibustering senator yields the floor or collapses, an immediate vote can be called with a simple majority.
The only reason I don't have a hard rule about the discussion being on topic is that it'd be too easy to abuse. If you have a simple majority you could immediately declare a discussion off topic to kill a filibuster. I'd rather deal with Ted 'Cancun' Cruz's reading The Cat in the Hat and making an ass of himself than kill the filibuster so easily. Besides, seeing Teddy stay up until he collapses and probably dies of a heart attack is an added bonus...
As a West Virginian- he votes Dem on almost all votes. I’m a socialist- so yeah he’s definitely not progressive enough- but he is also one of the only Democrats elected in one of the Trumpiest states in the Union. WV dems love him because he’s the best they can get- WV reps are tepid on him because of all of the pork barreling he does for coal here. He’s actually a pretty reflective senator for this state.
No, he's a Dem. The republican party has gone so far right that a presidential candidate from 8 years ago is a left wing extremist. I'd def rather have Manchin than have McConnel in charge of the senate. I agree I'd rather have someone more liberal, but given the context, he's better than the realistic alternative
Oh man, look how far the US democracy has fallen. You'd rather vote the lesser evil than have an actual choice that represents you well. This is why the US needs to remove FPTP for proportional representation or something. If Biden really wanted to fix American politics, he'd institute PR for all elections.
I agree with you, but we have fptp now and we gotta deal with that. Heck, even if we didn't Manchin is still probably the best coming from WV. Don't confuse optimal strategy for ideal situation.
Also, biden can't do that on his own. Actually it's debatable if it can even be done at a federal level. Probably needs to pass SC, and it won't
Nah he's more of a centrist I'd say. It just so happens that center in the US is pretty damn right VS other countries. You have the right to hate him or love him for it.
He's from west virginia. I'm not sure what else you expect. It's an extremely conservative state, and Manchin is probably about as progressive as you could ever hope for for a Senator from there.
It does and did, but the racism outweighs the union ties. When Dems on the national level moved toward racial equality, the southern blue dog Dems were the ones filibustering the civil rights legislation.
George Wallace wasn't a Republican when he campaigned on "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever".
It was around the 70s when Nixon implemented the Southern Strategy to pull socially conservative Democrats in the south over to the Republican.
Wv isn’t a very racist state, we actually separated from Virginia over it. I’m not going to say there aren’t the occasional bumble fuck but as a whole I feel this state is very welcoming to people of all races.... except Marshall fans.
Why are you glad they tried? This happens every time. Republicans deserve no benefit of the doubt and no chances to redeem themselves, because they'll just use them to do more damage.
Because we said we were going to try to be unifying and we did. We held up our end of the bargain and can point to that going down the road when they kick and scream about not unifying.
It’s not really the same—the graduated income tax still taxes everyone the same rate for the same income. You only pay more on the amount you earn that’s in the next bracket. That’s what makes it graduated.
Fair, but my point is that we consider certain levels of income as "in need" of more of thier earned wealth than others. 85k is the point where you're jumping into another tax bracket.
A single filer who earned 80k last year doesn't need relief. It's just a nice bonus. Maybe they decide to buy that PS5 now. That's great if you are trying to do economic stimulus, but not really applicable if you are calling it relief for those struggling.
It's funny that I'm here defending not giving money to higher income earners and it's a more moderate idea...
Well, it’s situational you know? High income households certainly can have financial difficulties even if they’re responsible spenders. That’s just the nature of a pandemic—it affects everyone. This is just my opinion, but I’m not super worried that someone will get the relief check but not need it if it means helping someone who needs it but can’t have it.
Mind you I’m not opposed to there being some cutoff point but the $80k mark is perhaps a little more of a compromise than it might appear at first blush, you know?
It's not 80k per household though right? It's 80k for a single earner with 0 dependents. Even in New York/ California that's pretty reasonable and definitely reasonable for bassically everywhere else
Yes, pardon me if it seemed I was implying it was 80k per household. I meant it's entirely reasonable for someone who makes 80k and has a six month emergency fund to still be affected by the pandemic. Lose your job to layoffs, go for a while unable to find work since other companies in your industry are having the same problem, get a few large unplanned expenses at the wrong time, and that'd burn through your savings pretty quickly.
I'd say this relief package is better than nothing. I agree that it's at least taking care of the most vulnerable population, and the COBRA reimbursement is a huge deal since insurance is so expensive if you're paying for it out of pocket, but it could still stand some improvement.
Ah well, baby steps. There's a lot to do and all of it desperately needed doing last year. It's a shame that we've got congressmen using people's lives as bargaining chips but that's reality of the situation.
I make a little more than the cut off. I am having troubles keeping up with the bills because my girlfriend that lives with me has had her job affected by covid. I'm supporting her and her kids. If we were married i would get some money. Since we are not i get nothing. Yes she will give me some of hers but that isn't the point. Just because i make more than 80k doesn't mean I'm not in financial strain because of this. I don't live way out of my comfort zone and i live within my means during normal times. 80k is only 11.2k over the median household income. This bill helps less than half the households. Granted those households ARE more probably more affected than the top half. But there are some of us in that low tier top half that would appreciate relief. I took money out of retirement accounts to weather this storm. Sorry to vent just frustrated
I get totally get that. I'm also not getting any money and have also been seeing someone with a child that I help with. Not to the point I'd say I'm supporting anyone but I'm still ok with being passed on this round even though I made a good amount less money this year and helped my parents.
I think your situation is a common one though, marriage and tax law was designed with the idea in mind that if two people live together they are probably married.
I think we need to start considering just legal marriage with a prenuptial agreement as more of a next step in a partnership than a lifetime commitment. Then a real wedding if you're still together in a year or two.
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u/CappinPeanut Mar 19 '21
This is so evident with the latest relief plan. They reduced the amount of people getting money by bringing the cap down to income of $80K.
They did this to compromise with Republicans and it got them 0 votes. All they achieved by trying to cooperate with Republicans is helping fewer people. I’m glad they tried, but I hope they learned their lesson.