At first glance, if it holds, it does appear to capture how a mature, shrewd President who's been to the rodeo more than once mostly held his own against a screaming drooling mob fumbling around with open cans of gasoline and cigarette lighters.
Debt ceiling deal reached in principle by Biden and McCarthy to avoid default:
https://www.npr.org/2023/05/27/1177688226/debt-ceiling-deal-biden-mccarthy-latest
Earlier this evening, Speaker McCarthy and I reached a budget agreement in principle. It is an important step forward that reduces spending while protecting critical programs for working people and growing the economy for everyone. And, the agreement protects my and Congressional Democrats’ key priorities and legislative accomplishments. The agreement represents a compromise, which means…
@GreenFire Numerous social media users prefer not to live in reality. I’m glad Biden does.
Nobody lives a life of zero compromise and it’s ridiculous for anyone to see zero compromise as a good thing. He’s averting a world financial disaster and getting many concessions we all want along with it. Chip Roy is losing his mind about it. If anyone else is complaining in a zero fact manner, they’re helping out Chip Roy.
@GreenFire @silverhorseman Same. I really think naysayers are Freedom Caucus fans or people who didn’t think Biden was up to the job and are now wrong and would rather burn the country down than admit they were wrong.
He wasn’t even in my top 10 picks in the primary. I’ve admitted he’s exceeded my expectations. Others can do the same.
@TonyStark @GreenFire Permanently compromising our way into fascism, but realistically.
Realistically forcing 43 million USians to throw half of their paycheck away monthly. Realistically forcing hungry people out of the supermarket because they're too young to eat.
Fuck this shitty president and his awful deals.
@municipaladhesives @TonyStark @GreenFire
Our founders designed the American government to require compromise. I grant you, this is problematic now that one of our two major parties has gone insane. Biden is doing the best anyone could under the circumstances, in my opinion.
This is horribly frustrating, but the Left isn't helping by pissing and moaning. They need to win races and stop railing against compromise (you want a dictator?).
@municipaladhesives @TonyStark @GreenFire
How many voted for Jill Stein or not at all in 2016? Talk about pushing us into fascism...the GOP is doing that. Don't help them!
@juca @TonyStark @GreenFire You have a well-organised fascist movement to enact cruel measures on the most marginalized and enforcing absolute minority rule in one party, and a second party hell-bent on nothing except appeasing that first party.
Democrats are playing the role of the Washington Generals: hapless and helpless, always playing the hand dealt to them rather than dealing themselves.
Give people something to vote for and they'll do it. Shackle them with student debt and shove them off food stamps and they won't turn out for you BECAUSE THEY'RE TOO BUSY WORKING FOR CRUMBS
Compromise is one of those complicated by-products of democracy. Zero compromise really just means you're a dictator.
(Which an awful lot of conservatives seem to want - to be the dictator who says "let it be done" and that's that, no argument, no moderation, no options or lenience for the other side.)
Humans - the ordinary kind, living cheek by jowl with others who don't necessarily precisely agree with them on the details - give and take, and sometimes have to live with the lesser evil.
Compromise doesn't feel great, but it's actually good for us as people to give way and not just 100% get our own way.
(That said, I watched Beau of the 5th Column this morning, and he said something about 'work requirements (for welfare)' and OH AMERICA NO. Go look up Australia's "robodebt" if you want details: this does not end anywhere good.)
@seldear @GreenFire I personally wish there were no work requirements for it. Intrinsically, to get it in the first place, you have to already do a bunch of work. Or you’re doing a bunch of work for someone else who can’t.
However, this country isn’t progressive. At least not yet. Most voting power is in the center. Won’t change until that does. And interestingly, I’ve only received negative comments about this deal from self-described left people. A mess of wrong.
Beau's careful and considered note was that it looks like Biden got the better deal out of the negotiations, but without seeing the text of the legislation, he couldn't make the definitive call on what was good and what was bad.
Which seems reasonable enough.
@seldear @GreenFire @TonyStark
Unless your party controls every part of the government with big majorities, you either compromise or you get nothing done.
Want to get your way every time? Then win far, far more elections.
@TonyStark @seldear @GreenFire
I get the impression that very few people actually realize what Biden pulled off, so once again he is not going to get the credit he deserves. It's just as well I suppose, since the success of his efforts relies on being low-key about it.
Biden is dealing with horrible people. If he came across as a macho chest-beater, if he tried to humiliate McCarthy, if he provoked the toddler caucus, we would still not have a deal.
@SteveRogers @TonyStark @seldear @GreenFire
True there'd be no deal but many in the Maga crowd who idolize chest thumping braggarts would probably change their party affiliation
@seldear @GreenFire @SteveRogers
“At first glance, if it holds” is the opening of the original post I made.
@TonyStark @seldear @SteveRogers
I wasn't critiquing y'all just kind of reminding myself and others for what it's worth.
I think maybe I came out too strongly promoting it a few times as a win as I was responding to other people's typical attempt to use it to paint Democrats in a bad light.
I need to try harder to not get triggered by my "allies" efforts that help my opponents.
@GreenFire @SteveRogers @TonyStark @seldear
As you imply, the more loudly House progressives complain about the deal, the more likely it is to pick up Republican votes. So, I'm looking at this as mostly theater on all sides at this point.
Politics has always been politics though somewhat tbf. Here we're dealing with such a narrow margin that social media zeitgeist might have a noticeable effect idk.
Speaking of narrow margins did you see the "rumor" @sltrib printed today about Chris Stewart resigning?
@SteveRogers @TonyStark @seldear @GreenFire
He's dealing with Joe Manchin , but you don't see it. The bill allows the WV gas and oil pipeline to move ahead and allows access to more drilling.
The carbon from this one bill erases the efforts already in the works to save us from global nightmare already in progress.
@TonyStark @GreenFire I saw Pete Buttigieg explain that in his state many vote #GOP because “that’s what respectable people do” in those communities. It’s their virtue signaling.
Blasting Biden from the Left feels like it serves a similar purpose: broadcasting virtue/purity to a progressive community.
Biden is flawed - but he hampers the chaos agents, preserves rule of law & gives us chances to #vote for a better world next round. That’s winning right now.
@TonyStark @GreenFire
If you look at virtually any human endeavor, we imagine and seek perfection and settle for what we can achieve at the time and circumstance, be it a political, athletic, engineering, scientific, or any other endeavor.
Perfection is a worthy ideal that makes us better if we can seek it, but we can never make it reality. Being unable to reach perfection just makes us humble, but not even seeking perfection is failure.
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