• Krono@lemmy.today
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    8 months ago

    But how is Joe Biden saying “billionaires should pay more taxes” any different from when Obama said it?

    I hope I’m proved wrong, but I expect the same results: no legislation, no policy change, only rhetoric.

    • Num10ck@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Biden has drastically more experience working politics in DC than Obama, and has already gotten more done. If he can inspire more people to vote, he could do even more.

      • DancingBear@midwest.social
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        8 months ago

        I think you misspelled “old as heck”. Biden first got elected to the senate in 1972.

        I don’t think the “more experience” angle means what you think it means.

        It means Biden is a corporate crony in a room full of corporate cronies, who actively stifle progress so that “nothing will fundamentally change” which keeps the donor class happy.

          • DancingBear@midwest.social
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            8 months ago

            Yes. Which negates any ideas Biden has mentioned raising taxes on the wealthy.

            In the same speech he also told wealthy donors income inequality is not the fault of the wealthy. He was begging the donor class to support him.

            Nina Turner was right. I’m no longer going to choose between a bowl of 💩 and a half bowl of 💩

            3/4’s of US Americans believe taxes should be raised for the wealthiest Americans

            (Well, if you knew the context you would know that absolutely something fundamental needs to change)

            • kofe@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              …if you knew the context you wouldn’t be writing out disinformation. He said that wealthy people being taxed at higher rates would not fundamentally change their lifestyle, which is true. Someone making 500k and being taxed 20% would not see a substantial change if it raised to 30, 40, even 50%.

              So he agrees with you.

              Cheers.

    • Hominine@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      You’re woefully ignorant of how the legislative process works. Hint: it certainly isn’t by fiat.

      Also, Biden’s policy has long been lowering taxes on middle-class earners.

      • Krono@lemmy.today
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        8 months ago

        I understand the president is not a dictator, there’s no expectation of fiat rule here.

        I also understand that the SOTU is a sales pitch, not a serious legislative agenda.

        • Hominine@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          I do appreciate the tacit admission of his policy targets.
          Alas, even though you now claim to understand Biden’s hands are legislatively tied, he has since become unserious.

          You really are doing some work moving that target.

    • Minotaur@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Man, I guess we should look at the common factor of what’s opposing the tax raises for billionaires instead of saying “well, it hasn’t happened yet - I guess both sides are equally bad!!”

      • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
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        8 months ago

        Common factor of what’s opposing the tax raises for billionaires

        Billionaires is the answer. They donate pretty equally to each party but Republicans are affected by this while Democrats are not.

      • Krono@lemmy.today
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        8 months ago

        There is no “both sides are equal” argument here, Republicans are obviously worse.

        I agree that we should examine who is opposing tax raises for billionaires. And we agree Repubs are horrible, so just consider when Democrats had full control of Congress and the WH- what stopped them then?

        Democrats can’t pass economic populism, even when they have full control, due to their corporate donors, lobbyists, the DNC, etc. This Democratic establishment has prevented anything left-of-center from getting passed in my lifetime.

        • MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          so just consider when Democrats had full control of Congress and the WH- what stopped them then?

          They had control for ~70 days and in that period they passed the largest healthcare overhaul in a generation (that’s still incredibly popular). Seems to me like they got some serious shit done when we gave them a relatively small period of actual control. The idea that they didn’t get anything done is completely ahistorical.

          • Krono@lemmy.today
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            8 months ago

            Yes that is exactly my point, Dems had full control and they still passed a right wing healthcare plan.

            In that 70 days they abandoned a public option and quickly adopted Romneycare. Then they added even more corporate subsidies and giveaways for health insurance companies.

            • MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              The Democrats abandoned the public option? I seem to remember Senator Lieberman and the GOP being the ones that blocked that.

              So the Democrats propose legislation, the GOP fights tooth and nail to water down and make it worse at every possible step knowing the Democrats don’t have the seats needed to pass the original legislation, and your takeaway from that is that Democrats are passing right wing policy?

              I’m sorry you don’t like the ACA, but the solution to your problem is electing more progressive Democrats, the thing you seem to be advocating against. Do you have a solution or do you just want to say “Democrats bad” and act like the party of domestic terrorists across the aisle doesn’t exist?

              • Krono@lemmy.today
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                8 months ago

                We can agree that Republicans are horrible and make everything worse, but how is that applicable in the case of the ACA?

                The ACA got exactly 0 Republican votes. There was no reason to negotiate or even listen to Republicans in this case. It was Democrats doing it to themselves. And as I have already established, yes the ACA is a right wing bill.

                As for advocating for progressive ideals, I am doing that when I call out the hypocrisy and corruption of the corporate Dems. It’s becoming very difficult to tell the difference between a modern corporate Dem and a 90s-00s Republican, and that scares me.

                I think it’s a good thing to say “Democrats bad” when they are in fact bad. Whatever demons lurk on the other side of the aisle does not change this. Putting your fingers in your ears and yelling “vote blue no matter who” is not a solution.

                • MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  As for advocating for progressive ideals, I am doing that when I call out the hypocrisy and corruption of the corporate Dems

                  This is absolutely meaningless unless you put it in context and offer solutions. You aren’t offering anything of value to the discourse of how to improve the country or the Democratic Party.

                  I have absolutely no issue criticizing the Democratic Party, especially right wing Democrats. The Democratic party is incredibly diverse from an ideological perspective, there are plenty of good progressives pushing for the policies we both agree on. The only way we can get that shit done is by gaining more support. So instead of painting the entire party as a bunch of corporate goons with nothing to offer, why not advocate for the progressive wing and grow their influence by primarying conservative Democrats? You want to get rid of hypocrisy and corruption, there’s your road map.

                  • Krono@lemmy.today
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                    8 months ago

                    My original intention here was to try to convince people to think critically when hearing a politician’s stump speech, which I believe is adding value to the discourse.

                    I surely didn’t have lofty goals to “improve the country or the Democratic Party” when I opened Lemmy today lol.

                    And I do believe the DNC and the donor class are a bunch of corporate goons who have little to offer, and almost all Democratic politicians are subservient to this superstructure.

                    Let me ask you, how do you suggest we overcome the institutional hurdles when running a progressive primary challenge? The last 2 progressive primary challengers I volunteered for had extreme problems finding vendors to supply them with the basic supplies that they need to run a campaign. This is because the DNC has a policy of blacklisting any vendors that work with a progressive primary challenger.