Bodo Tasche1d ago
aburtch
If all the #Mamdani news seems too good to be true, it’s because politicians haven’t worked for the average person for decades and we’ve gotten so use to it a politician doing their job correctly seems completely foreign.
May 30 at 1:16pmWeb
Show threadFlash Mob Of One2d ago

@aburtch I'm so glad he's proving me wrong.

I expected he would be another Obama: young, charismatic, great media presence and speeches... and nothing else.

I only hope he works toward keeping the door open for when he moves on to higher office, as I'm absolutely sure he will. And I'm equally sure that bureaucrats are dreaming up extra hurdles for fringe candidates to have to clear in future races.

Show threadaburtch2d ago
@FlashMobOfOne he is creating a model for others to follow.
Show threadHakeemG2d ago

@aburtch @FlashMobOfOne

It is too good to be true, maybe stop spreading propaganda.

Mayor Mamdani's library budget that was widely celebrated by the Bernie cult as permanent funding is neither permanent nor equal to that of his predecessor Mayor Adams.

So why celebrate and pretend he didn't cut a billion dollars from education and housing? Because they would have to reconcile their criticisms of the #Democratic party with reality.

https://www.thecity.nyc/2026/05/26/mamdani-library-budget-eric-adams/

Librarians, Kids Throw the Book at Mamdani Over Broken Funding Promise

The mayor has allocated a smaller piece of the city budget to libraries than his predecessor, Eric Adams.

THE CITY - NYC News
Show threadEpic Null1d ago

@HakeemG @aburtch @FlashMobOfOne His results elsewhere have been good enough that I would like to know how those cuts are happening and what impact they are having.

One weird thing that is true: Sometimes you can improve outcomes by switching from an expensive investment to a cheaper one - for example moving from "Market rate subsidization" to "Offer more public housing".

That article you linked to brought up libraries, but I am not a fan of the measurement (rate of expense). It is my understanding that Mandami has also heen bringing in new funding sources. Given this, I would like to know how the final amount changed. 50/100 is a larger fraction than 70/150, even if the 70 is bigger.

Show threadHakeemG1d ago

@Epic_Null @aburtch @FlashMobOfOne

He's delaying a state mandate to cut class sizes which has been shown to be one of the biggest problems in education. As for the library funding it's pretty straightforward he cut funding by about 15% from his centrist predecessor Mayor Adams and then lied about it being permanent. It can easily be removed by any successor.

Show threadEpic Null1d ago

@HakeemG @aburtch @FlashMobOfOne In fairness, you cannot just cut class sizes. You have to source teachers first, and boy howdy is that system a disaster right now!

One thing you learn when getting involved with decision making (bonus if it's discussions about spending political money), it's that in the best case, conversations are still hard. You have to ask questions like "Would this additional funding reduce the need next year?" (for roads, the answer is usually yes, but on a longer timeline), and usually have to pick something you care about to give less than you want.

Also... you have not addressed the question of how the library funds come out when you consider increased funding sources. "Cut by 15%" when talking about percentage of the whole may be deceptive if the whole has grown.

Show threadHakeemG1d ago

@Epic_Null @aburtch @FlashMobOfOne

So now Mamdani's defenders are in support of cutting education funding? JFC!

Show threadEpic Null1d ago

@HakeemG @aburtch @FlashMobOfOne I am not "for cutting education funding", I am simply interested in hearing the reasoning and wanting to know how this plays out against multiple statistics rather than relying on one.

There's a reason for the phrase "Lies, damn lies, and statistics".

Show threadPaul Rietschka2d ago

@FlashMobOfOne @aburtch The thing about Obama is we were all warned about him. There's that famous Adolph Reed quote about the "Harvard-educated lawyer with impeccable do-gooder credentials and regressive ruling class politics."

That was from 1996, when a young Obama was being groomed for politics by a small group of wealthy people. 1996!

So we were warned that the guy was a sort of "Black Reagan," a sort of snake in the grass, very, very early.

We just didn't listen.

Show threadKargas2d ago
@prietschka @FlashMobOfOne @aburtch Obama wasn't hiding it either. He admitted he got the idea for the ACA from Mitt Romney.
Show threadPaul Rietschka2d ago

@kargas @FlashMobOfOne @aburtch The knee-jerk defense of Obamacare and Obama himself is so harmful to the broader left. The assumption, I think, is that any criticism is inherently the same as that levied by Maga types, but that’s not the case.

Obamacare is a failed project and must be replaced with actual national, government-provided healthcare. This is a statement of fact and not a criticism begat of the right. To the contrary, it’s a correct assessment that comes from the left.

Show threadEpic Null1d ago

@prietschka @kargas @FlashMobOfOne @aburtch Obamacare is an artifact from when bipartisanship was important. It was a republican led solution with democratic support to fix a larger problem.

We have forgotten what it means to be bipartisin because the republicans broke that idea by becomimg "the party of no"

Show threadFelis_Catus_Domesticus2d ago

@FlashMobOfOne @aburtch

I expected he would be another Obama: young, charismatic, great media presence and speeches... and nothing else.

Yes Obama was certainly an affable, over-hyped do-nothing.

I suppose in some sense he nurse-maided us psychologically into being able to pronounce the word "post-racial".

OTOH, he's the first "black*" president which means that to his critics he'll also be the "worst" "black*" president- at least until the USA sees fit to elect another for comparison

Show threadFelis_Catus_Domesticus2d ago

@FlashMobOfOne @aburtch

*black: for the record, the man was only half black.. 50% white, 50% black.. he had a white mother, after all. One parent from each skin color, but we like to act like because we elected an affable mulatto that in those 8 years, as a society, we somehow fast forwarded to 23rd century, as a nation, regarding our history and prevalent racial attitudes are concerned.

Show threadHakeemG2d ago

@Felis_Catus_Domesticus @FlashMobOfOne @aburtch

It is too good to be true, maybe stop spreading propaganda.

Mayor Mamdani's library budget that was widely celebrated by the Bernie cult as permanent funding is neither permanent nor equal to that of his predecessor Mayor Adams.

So why celebrate and pretend he didn't cut a billion dollars from education and housing? Because they would have to reconcile their criticisms of the #Democratic party with reality.

https://www.thecity.nyc/2026/05/26/mamdani-library-budget-eric-adams/

Librarians, Kids Throw the Book at Mamdani Over Broken Funding Promise

The mayor has allocated a smaller piece of the city budget to libraries than his predecessor, Eric Adams.

THE CITY - NYC News
Show threadFelis_Catus_Domesticus2d ago
@HakeemG @FlashMobOfOne @aburtch
Show threadHakeemG2d ago

@Felis_Catus_Domesticus @FlashMobOfOne @aburtch

Here's the socialists calling him out. They lying too?

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/03/28/aahk-m28.html

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will cut school and homeless programs to balance budget

Less than a year after his election, Mamdani is moving to implement austerity to meet the legal requirements of a budget “balanced” on behalf of the bond markets and the financial aristocracy.

World Socialist Web Site
Show threadFelis_Catus_Domesticus2d ago

@FlashMobOfOne @aburtch

and both political parties actively (cynically)
compete to be "first" in a long list of "historical" things which will be remembered forever in history class..

1. first "black*" president- point awarded to the dems

2. freeing the slaves- point awarded to Republicans

3. first woman president- oh that contest is still open.. dems thought they won that point- twice now! both times disappointed.

3. first non-white woman prez- that point is still up for grabs.

Show threadBytebro 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇬🇱2d ago

@aburtch

Makes me wonder what Starmer and the UK Labour Party could have done if they'd stuck with socialist principles instead of selling out to the suits and becoming 'Tory Light'...

Such a disappointment.

Show threadJestbill2d ago
@aburtch Is he a king who just says "Do that." and stuff gets done?
He couldn't do any of that without support from the rest of city government.
Do other Democrats get that kind of support?
Show threadaburtch2d ago
@Jestbill They do not. And therin lies the problem.
Show threadJestbill2d ago
@aburtch So the problem is not "Democrats" but WHICH Democrats.
Obama took forever to get the ACA because there were so many DINOs and Blue SOBs in Congress.
Show threadaburtch2d ago

@Jestbill Agreed, but I would still argue the problem is “Democrats” because their leadership and actions of the majority of them have been pro-capital, anti-working class and completely ineffective against rising fascism.

And yes, I know I’m painting with an overly broad brush.

Show threadJestbill2d ago
@aburtch You're sorta right, but I put the blame on the electorate.
Bunch of clowns tend to elect clowns.
Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐2d ago
@Jestbill @aburtch blaming the electorate is just a sign of brainwashing by the "personal responsibility" narrative of the neoliberals. Individuals cannot lone wolf their way out of an electoral duopoly of two rightwing parties, only the further right of which has democratic primaries in which the party doesn't always cheat on behalf of the rightmost candidate to the extent of running them against their own ticket when the voters revolt like with Lamont or Mamdani.
Show threadJestbill2d ago
@Emerson61 @aburtch I wish things were that easy.
Flat Earthers.
Pizza parlor basement child abuse.
Chem trails.
Mexico will pay for it.
Crypto.
Gold standard.
DEI
Book burnings.
Bunch of clowns.
Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐2d ago
@Jestbill @aburtch most of the MAGA voters you view with scorn were reliable DNC voters before Reagan and gettable through Obama. Offering them nothing, while demanding they just trust you about being on the "right side of history" while Rome visibly burns before their eyes for 50 years is a far bigger ask than the Blue MAGAs ever reckon with. The expertise caste lost the trust of the workers, not the other way around.
Show threadJestbill2d ago
@Emerson61 @aburtch LOL!
What did the RNC offer that turned out better?
You are MAGA and will soon be blocked.
Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐2d ago
@Jestbill @aburtch you seem unstable
Show threadPaul Rietschka2d ago

@aburtch "Incremental change," as proposed by Democrats in the US, is no change at all. It's a lie deployed to protect the status quo.

The best example of this is the failed Obamacare program: an utterly failed project today, but marketed initially as an incremental step toward a national system of government-provided health care.

I see no evidence, though, of the next "incremental step" happening.

And that, of course, is by design.

Show threadaburtch2d ago
@prietschka 💯💯💯
Show threadDuckbilled Plattypus.2d ago

@prietschka @aburtch

Obamacare is the reason millions of average working poor got health care during the pandemic that killed a million Americans.

Stop ass-kissing purity while dismissing the good created for millions MILLIONS of poor people because it wasn't M4A.

Maybe emergency snow removal means nothing to you because you've never been fired or docked by a shitty job because you couldn't get to the bus or station because of unmoved snow blocking the sidewalks and buses stops and train stations.

Your purity rhetoric does NOTHING for Americans who live in America. Most of us cannot afford to flee and live in France like you.

Show threadPaul Rietschka2d ago

@pattykimura @aburtch I don't even know where to start here, and I'm not going to speak to my class privilege, which is quite real and which I'm upfront about.

But the knee-jerk defense of Obamacare, which is a failed project, is harmful in the extreme. It can both be the case that a program helped people on the margins and was/is a failure. This is definitively the case with Obamacare.

Show threadDuckbilled Plattypus.2d ago

@prietschka

Really? Rich guy? I know people who are finally getting health care BECAUSE of Obamacare.

I work in public housing in the US you fled. Average income is HUD category of Extremely Low Income.

You live in France as a wealthy ex-pat and then have the gall to pontificate on what poor people want without living the life of US poor and working classes.

It's why poor people hate rich elites like you. And your obliviousness to the actual struggles for basic food, housing, and healthcare that simply oozes from your comments.

@aburtch

Show threadPaul Rietschka2d ago
@pattykimura @aburtch This isn’t really a fair criticism, and it’s not engaging with what I’m saying.
Show threadDuckbilled Plattypus.2d ago

@prietschka

Guys like you never reassess how you condescend to the actual folks you claim to care about but refuse to interact with. And THAT is privilege. It's all an intellectual game for you, and real messy poor people with real messy Obamacare needs who contradict your neat world view algorithm are where you both expose and cling to your class privilege.

Congratulations. Enjoy life in France. I'll enjoy my American French (fries). Bon appetit.

@aburtch

Show thread la_rosa 2d ago

@pattykimura

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/press-release/2026/new-international-report-despite-spending-most-health-care-us-has-among-lowest

@prietschka @aburtch

New International Report: Despite Spending Most on Health Care, U.S. Has Among the Lowest Life Expectancies and the Fewest Primary Care Doctors Per Capita Among Peer Nations | Commonwealth Fund

Show threadmillennial fulcrum2d ago

@aburtch the individuals who cast their vote for Mamdani are the individuals I want to see on the coaching circuit, the speaking circuit, and all over social media with instructions on how to elect a human being who knows how to do their fucking job to office.

I am serious about that, because I know for a fact that literally hundreds of millions of people in USA alone, and billions of people globally, are struggling to do even that.

Show threadToken Economy 🌈2d ago
@falcennial @aburtch 💯
Show threadRixer2d ago
@aburtch snow workers are not the economy. How much is your rent and how much is your pay? How much is your QUALITY PROGRESSIVE education? How much is your medical bill and the quality of your doctors (trumpsters “helping you”)? How many hours are you working? Those are quality life changes. Pot holes and childcare that was there before COVID, isn’t progress or meaningful change. Stop ass kissing bare minimum or politicians.
Show threadaburtch2d ago
@Rixer It’s way more than any past mayor has done and it’s a start. He’s working on a local level. What we need are politicians enacting policies on a national level to help the working class.
Show threadstonedonkey 🕹️🎮👾2d ago

@Rixer
@aburtch

 So your just ignoring the help for gig workers and the affects of holding land lords accountable?  Those aren't changes that directly affect people?

This is also less than half a year... I'm all for let's keep doing more but to be so dismissive feels like kicking goal posts.

Show threadRixer2d ago
@TheStoneDonkey @aburtch go ass kiss politicians so you dont have to do anything to change things. Better yet, lets keep infighting to prove superiority, intelligence and wit. Really helps build connection and community organization, strategy and plans to get real meaningful change.
Show threadstonedonkey 🕹️🎮👾2d ago
@Rixer
Show threadJimbo2d ago

@aburtch It helps that Eric Adams was such a piece of shit that all of his would be loyalists (who could’ve thrown monkey wrenches into Mamdani’s agenda) left before Adams did.

And since Cuomo was the voice of the establishment, all the establishment types joined his campaign and were out of the way.

I’m not saying Mamdani doesn’t deserve all the credit, he does, but he doesn’t have to worry about getting fragged by his own troops.

Show threadBecca2d ago

@aburtch move fast and fix things is an option

who knew?

mamdani is presidential material

mamdani is -actually- making america great again, unlike the fake MAGA pedo rapist traitor crowd

Show threadJeff Byrnes2d ago

@bweller @aburtch it’s awesome to see him actually improving NYCers lives.

For better or worse though, he’s ineligible to serve as President, as he wasn’t born here in the USA. I kinda like that, since it means his focus is entirely on NYC, instead of higher office.

Show threadHakeemG2d ago

@bweller @aburtch

Cutting education and housing by a billion dollars is fixing things?

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/03/28/aahk-m28.html

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will cut school and homeless programs to balance budget

Less than a year after his election, Mamdani is moving to implement austerity to meet the legal requirements of a budget “balanced” on behalf of the bond markets and the financial aristocracy.

World Socialist Web Site
Show threadRixer2d ago

@aburtch “way more than…”sounds like saying what you speculated in your original post. Idolizing bare minimum at a very slow pace and in none truely meaningful ways so they can get exactly what is happening, no push for real change, just hope that it will happen with this or that guy.

Carrot on the stick politics because people are too programmed to be comfy and not organize, cooperate/collaborate and strategize, and rather systematically out do each other and compete with one another in this antagonistic and superiority complexed social programming culture.

Show threadaburtch2d ago
@Rixer Agreed. But at least he’s trying. No one else is. Gotta call it out and celebrate it since it’s a shining light in the darkness.
Show threadRixer2d ago
@aburtch anyone that is okayed by a pedophile is questionable, and i believe its to slow down and pacify the public. I’m not celebrating any politician until there is some meaningful change and they actually listen to the demands of the people instead of throwing crumbs and waiting for people to drool over it. The guy is comparing himself to FDR, when he’s doing bare minimum. More narcissistic garbage.
Show threadBeggar Midas2d ago
@aburtch We shall see. The trick isnt policy changes. It's making them stick. I've seen many men & women deliver early promising reforms only to fall flat on their ass within two years.
Show threadaburtch2d ago
@Beggarmidas Looks to me like he’s getting results.
Show threadHakeemG2d ago

@aburtch @Beggarmidas

If by results you mean austerity, yes.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/03/28/aahk-m28.html

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will cut school and homeless programs to balance budget

Less than a year after his election, Mamdani is moving to implement austerity to meet the legal requirements of a budget “balanced” on behalf of the bond markets and the financial aristocracy.

World Socialist Web Site
Show threadBeggar Midas2d ago
@HakeemG @aburtch That's the rub, isn't it? People are willing to deeply capitalize a dream. Yet balk at the practical day to day expenses we have or do or will depend on to some degree. I've often thought there needed to be a department or assigned specialist providing impartial pragmatism that gave all other departments some reality checks before policy triggers were pulled or legislation drafted or passed.
Show threadHakeemG1d ago

@Beggarmidas @aburtch

What we need to do is get rid of the cult like politics. Progressives have literally spent thirty years worshipping a single senator from Vermont, and as a result thirty years later they still have a single senator from Vermont.

Mamdani and Platner look to be more of the same as national progressives coalesce around a single mayor and senator with grand delusions of things that didn't happen.

Show threadBeggar Midas1d ago
@HakeemG @aburtch Eh, about 15% of them have. Progressives haven't really had a common banner to rally around since Bobby Kennedy. As per the cult drift...Couldn't agree more. Politics has replaced religion as the faiths of the new millennia. A trend I see occurring worldwide. However I know of no viable means of countering it. I've looked. Best we can manage to do is ride out the waves of mania trying to keep the course & restore sanity around us while everyone else loses their shit.