The Biden Administration and All Things Politics

[fishonjazz]

Just left the gas station and damn near almost paid $5 a gallon for the first time in my life... By the middle of next week I'm sure I will.

Ya i got gas yesterday and it was just over 5 dollars per gallon. Cost 112 dollars to fill up.
Thank god im roding my electric bike to work nearly every day now so i only have to fill up my truck once every 2 months or so.


Sent from my iPad using JazzFanz mobile app

 

[LogGrad98]

Just left the gas station and damn near almost paid $5 a gallon for the first time in my life... By the middle of next week I'm sure I will.

Ya i got gas yesterday and it was just over 5 dollars per gallon. Cost 112 dollars to fill up.
Thank god im roding my electric bike to work nearly every day now so i only have to fill up my truck once every 2 months or so.


Sent from my iPad using JazzFanz mobile app

Baker California. $6.46 per gallon. Worst I've seen yet.

 

[LogGrad98]

Just left the gas station and damn near almost paid $5 a gallon for the first time in my life... By the middle of next week I'm sure I will.

Ya i got gas yesterday and it was just over 5 dollars per gallon. Cost 112 dollars to fill up.
Thank god im roding my electric bike to work nearly every day now so i only have to fill up my truck once every 2 months or so.


Sent from my iPad using JazzFanz mobile app

Baker California. $6.46 per gallon. Worst I've seen yet.

 

[The Thriller]

Yes. R's bad, D's good. More precisely, R's evil, D's saints, if not gods. Demigods maybe?

R's Thanos, D's, Odin

R's satan, D's Jesus

R's Hitler, D's...um....Jesus still I guess?

And not just a few of them. ALL of them. Literally every R is evil and every D is just short of god-hood, completely infallible.



Ok facetiousness aside, republicans are getting a pretty bad rap with the positions they are putting forth and the people they are supporting. The vocal elected officials on the R side seem to be completely delusional, if not straight on paranoid psychotic. And these are the people we put in office in various places. Disinformation is not just running rampant, it is taking over and completely suffocating anything remotely related to truth. It is a terrible time to be a republican, tbh. Even my died-in-the-wool and hyper-mormon super-republican brother-in-law is rethinking some of his positions based on the complete nuttery going on in the republican "leadership", if you can call it that.

But to bring this back to gun control, the problem is no one knows what the **** to do about it. No one. I certainly don't. We know, vaguely, what we think can have an impact. Repubs want schools to be prisons, essentially. Democrats want to completely eliminate any gun that makes them think about a video game and are hell-bent on using all of our resources to take out that one boogeyman and are content to ignore all the other primary and ancillary issues. No one knows what to do with the mental health side of all this. That is the most complex issue, and it involves de-stigmatizing mental health so people can get health care for both their body and mind and it is viewed as equally important. This ranks right up there with eliminating racial bias, in that there is no quick and easy fix.

Frankly it is terrifying. And the real problem is that we have sat basically idle and done nothing since Columbine that has had any effect at all on our mass shooting problem. We have made no progress, indeed we have slipped further down the slope, on health care in general, let alone mental health care. We have done a few token things for gun "control" that amount to basically nothing. If we had a congress and senate, and frankly two parties that could actually work together, we could have made some progress. Instead the repubs get all blustery about "mah freedums" about guns and vow to keep every gun in the hand of every citizen who wants one, so they can get re-elected by their rabid base, and the dems do the same thing about eliminating the terrifying "assault rifle" so they can appear to be doing something so they can also get re-elected by their base. It is all about re-election for the politicians. And that is why we will likely never get a handle on this gun violence. Those in power just want to stay in power, and they refuse to work together to accomplish anything meaningful, so people will continue to die.

It may take a true uprising of some sort to really get anywhere on this. Man we are so ****ed in 'Murrica right now.

So much hyperbole in here that it undermines one of the pts you're trying to make. This is disappointing coming from a normally more reasonable poster. You're whining about people letting emotions drive out any good sense and then write a post completely devoid of facts that relies on emotions, exaggerations, and bad data.

For those who actually want to learn about what Democrats have proposed, here's some informative reading:

House panel advances package of new gun bills after latest mass shootings jolt nation

The House Judiciary Committee considered the "Protecting Our Kids Act" as Senate negotiators work to find consensus on a package of new gun laws.

www.cbsnews.com

The legislation advanced by the House panel is a package of eight bills that, among other plans, would raise the minimum purchasing age for semiautomatic rifles from 18 to 21; bar large-capacity magazines; incentivize safe firearm storage and establish requirements regulating storage of guns on residential premises; and build on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' regulatory ban on bump stocks, which allow semiautomatic rifles to fire more rapidly.

The previous bill HR 8 passed by the House in 2019 that has sat in the Senate bc of a Republican filibuster does this:

Yes, a bill that would require stricter background check rules to buy a gun has been stalled in the Senate

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr called on U.S. senators to pass H.R. 8 after the deadly school shooting in Texas. Here’s where the bill stands right now.

www.abc10.com

Background checks are currently not federally required for people who buy guns from unlicensed sellers online or at gun shows, something that H.R. 8 would change. The bill “prohibits a firearm transfer between private parties unless a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer, or importer first takes possession of the firearm to conduct a background check,” according to its summary.
Some states have passed their own, more comprehensive background check laws. According to Brady United Against Gun Violence, 22 states and Washington, D.C. have expanded background checks to include “at least some private sales.”

 

[The Thriller]

Baker California. $6.46 per gallon. Worst I've seen yet.

Weird. It's almost like one of the world's largest oil producers is at war with another country and Europe and America have engaged in economic warfare to try and end this war. Those fighting in this war might die but we might actually pay a few bucks more in gas.

Wish we could hurry and pass more legislation to incentivize alternative forms of energy. This is a good reminder that as long as we're dependent on oil, we're going to rely on the world's worst dictators to "play nice." I mean, I guess we could just go ahead and buy up all the cheap Russian oil and subsidize Putin's European conquests.

 

[Avery]

Every time I make a SoCal trip, I gas up at Costco in St. George and Victorville. Both can be a madhouse, but still worth it to save $0.20-0.25 a gallon.

 

[The Thriller]

Every time I make a SoCal trip, I gas up at Costco in St. George and Victorville. Both can be a madhouse, but still worth it to save $0.20-0.25 a gallon.

I remember doing similar things in 1998. Gas has always been cheaper in St George than SoCal. The American obsession with cheap gas has always been weird to me. We chose to build out instead of building up (influenced by cheap gas and short term racist thinking). When you visit other countries you see how the suburbs don’t really exist. There’s a city center and everything builds on top of it. People aren’t commuting hours to work on freeways. They use public transportation or work locally. The cars they own are smaller and more fuel efficient. I literally never saw a suburban in Brazil. A few times I saw some Ford trucks, but they were used for construction, not to compensate for one’s small appendage as so many Americans do.

Now that former third world countries are now industrialized and competing with us for gas, we act like lash out. As if we’re entitled to live in the burbs and always have cheap *** gas for our larger than life trucks and suburbans. Did we think that South America, Africa, and Asia would remain using horses and camels forever?

True, prices are elevated now due to inflation and the Russian war against Ukraine. So I’d expect prices to drop sometime in the near future. But the days of $2.00-$3.00 gas are over. It’s time to embrace EVs and heavily invest in our electrical grid. Between ACs running more due to climate change and the stress put on by EVs, we’ll need to make sure our state and country can handle the increased demand for electricity.

 

[Al-O-Meter]

 

[LogGrad98]

heavily invest in our electrical grid. Between ACs running more due to climate change and the stress put on by EVs, we’ll need to make sure our state and country can handle the increased demand for electricity.

I am really excited for the deep sea generator Japan is setting up. That could be a substantial player in the renewables game. Not much more steady and powerful than ocean currents. Could be true limitless energy if we figure out how to harvest it and, more importantly, transport it where it is needed. For an island country like Japan it is a no-brainer and just a few of these could potentially provide them with most if not all of their power needs.

Giant deep-ocean turbine trial offers hope of endless green power

Power-hungry, fossil-fuel-dependent Japan has successfully tested a system that could provide a constant, steady form of renewable energy.

www.seattletimes.com

Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization estimates the Kuroshio Current could potentially generate as much as 200 gigawatts — about 60% of Japan’s present generating capacity.

 

[fishonjazz]

Tobacco companies will be forced to reduce nicotine in U.S. cigarettes until they’re non-addictive, if the Biden administration has its way: report

Nicotine keeps smokers hooked on tobacco, which kills up to half of those who use it.

finance.yahoo.com

Now Biden is taking away my freedom to be addicted to a horrible, expensive, worthless product that might kill me!!! My freedoms!!!

Tobacco companies will be forced to reduce nicotine in cigarettes sold in the U.S. to nonaddictive, or minimally addictive, levels, if the Biden administration has its way.

I want tobacco products to be more addictive damn it!!!

 

[idiot]

Now Biden is taking away my freedom to be addicted to a horrible, expensive, worthless product that might kill me!!! My freedoms!!!

When I saw this first sentence of yours before seeing the stuff surrounding it, I thought you were continuing the discussion about oil prices.

Maybe it would be wiser to see more comparisons between oil and nicotine. In our worries about gas prices, at least, we show how hopelessly addicted our society is to cheap oil. This is not to say that the solutions should be largely parallel (that's something that's worth discussing, I suppose), but it might be a good first step to use the language of "addiction" when we're talking about gas prices.

 

[fishonjazz]

When I saw this first sentence of yours before seeing the stuff surrounding it, I thought you were continuing the discussion about oil prices.

Maybe it would be wiser to see more comparisons between oil and nicotine. In our worries about gas prices, at least, we show how hopelessly addicted our society is to cheap oil. This is not to say that the solutions should be largely parallel (that's something that's worth discussing, I suppose), but it might be a good first step to use the language of "addiction" when we're talking about gas prices.

I kind of think of it like this: People want the Biden administration to drill drill drill and get them gas prices lower regardless of the negative consequences. Its like a parent giving their child chocolate and ice cream for every meal. Ya the child will be happy in the short term but in the long term they will be fat and unhealthy.
Giving us lots of cheap oil is destroying our soil, air, water, etc but hey, for the time being its all good. Maybe we have to unhappily eat fruits and veggies right now but 30 years from now we might be better off and glad we weren't getting the chocolate and ice cream we wanted.

 

[fishonjazz]

When I saw this first sentence of yours before seeing the stuff surrounding it, I thought you were continuing the discussion about oil prices.

Maybe it would be wiser to see more comparisons between oil and nicotine. In our worries about gas prices, at least, we show how hopelessly addicted our society is to cheap oil. This is not to say that the solutions should be largely parallel (that's something that's worth discussing, I suppose), but it might be a good first step to use the language of "addiction" when we're talking about gas prices.

Another comparison: cigarrette prices have gone WAY up over the years. Smoking cigarrettes became even more expensive than it already was. Many people quit smoking due to the higher costs. If cigarrette prices remained low i bet there would be more smokers now. The high prices helped some people beat the addiction.

 

[gandalfe]

Another comparison: cigarrette prices have gone WAY up over the years. Smoking cigarrettes became even more expensive than it already was. Many people quit smoking due to the higher costs. If cigarrette prices remained low i bet there would be more smokers now. The high prices helped some people beat the addiction.

Can confirm.

 

[Gameface]

I kind of think of it like this: People want the Biden administration to drill drill drill and get them gas prices lower regardless of the negative consequences. Its like a parent giving their child chocolate and ice cream for every meal. Ya the child will be happy in the short term but in the long term they will be fat and unhealthy.
Giving us lots of cheap oil is destroying our soil, air, water, etc but hey, for the time being its all good. Maybe we have to unhappily eat fruits and veggies right now but 30 years from now we might be better off and glad we weren't getting the chocolate and ice cream we wanted.

 

[fishonjazz]

Can confirm.

You watch Letterkenny?

 

[LogGrad98]

I'll take 2 please.

 

[Rubashov]

I'll take 2 please.

 

[RandyForRubio]

Google “Senate filibuster.”

This isn’t an attack on you bc you’re not the only person on the internet today who has asked the same thing, but it’s amazing how many ****ing Americans have no idea how her **** their government actually works. They’re ALWAYS angry at something but they can’t be bothered to understand why.

I thought during Obama and trump, when politics became such a “in your face” thing with social media and Trump’s personality that people would learn why major legislation always died in The Senate. Yet apparently, that’s just too hard for many Americans to understand. I still see ppl bitching about how Obamacare doesn’t contain a government (Medicare) option. Pssss, filibuster.

I’ve even see fellow Democrats bitch about Biden not using an executive order to ban AR15s. LOL. Again, people can’t be bothered to learn the basics about the government they live in. We just always assume that our democracy has always been and always will be rather than learning how it actually functions (or should function).

The filibuster didn’t exist in the 18th century. The Senate is supposed to be ruled by the majority. The minority was given representation in the form of having equal # of senators from every state. But it’s been morphed from southern slaveholders, to Woodrow Wilson desiring WWI aid, to segregationists, to Republicans today. Want to learn this history? This book is a great starting place:
Amazon product ASIN 1631497774View: https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Switch-Crippling-American-Democracy/dp/1631497774


View: https://www.npr.org/2021/01/12/955970922/kill-switch-examines-the-racist-history-of-the-senate-filibuster


Get rid of the filibuster? You potentially get:

Single payer health care
Women’s riches (codify Roe)
Campaign finance reform
Immigration reform
Voting rights
Gun control

You get a senate that might actually be responsive to the country’s needs.

Keep the filibuster? Nothing of significance will pass. And republicans will merely pass tax cuts under reconciliation (only requires a majority) and confirm judges (also only requires a majority) when they’re in charge. And that’s all they care about. But will your life improve with tax cuts and conservative corporate judges? Probably not.

People were complaining about the filibuster when the votes were 51-49. Last I checked, that’s a majority.

 

[One Brow]

People were complaining about the filibuster when the votes were 51-49. Last I checked, that’s a majority.

So is 51-50.