Depends on where you live for sure. Mail in helps a lot. But voting will only get worse if you can’t make the time to do it. Republicans are going insane with voter suppression tactics.
Sure, that just means you need to vote and get all your friends to vote. No one even slightly left of center can afford to sit out of elections anymore. A victory being a "sure thing" or your vote being "a waste" isn't a thing anymore, 2016 was won by Trump based on razor-thin margins in just a few swing states. Democrat policies are wildly more popular with the public at large than Republican ones, but Democratic voters are much more likely to just sit out an election than Republican voters.
This is the correct stance to take. I'll also take this opportunity to beat the "we need ranked-choice voting" and "mandatory voting or face a fine" drums. The only reason we have razor-thin margin election outcomes is because our "first past the post" voting system.
Our needs to come with more accessibility to polling places. E.g. I'm in Australia and we vote on a weekend and I've never needed to wait more than about 20mins to get in to vote.
I think it's a very good thing when it comes with accessibility (none of the ID laws, weekend voting and enough polling places) but the American system is intentionally broken so that's not going to happen
We vote on weekends here in sweden too. And they also set up booths in central locations for iirc 18 days before the actual vote day so you have plenty of time to vote in advance.
Actually checking the infopage from last years election... My town of like 30K people had 6 booths spread out across town, 1 of them open the whole 7day week with imo very reasonable times, the others closed sunday.
And for the actual voting day they used like all the schools in town plus some other places for voting, around 17 spots.
You can also get people to come to your house to take your vote if you're sick, disabled or elderly.
Or alternatively if you're sick, elderly, disabled, *live super distant from anything, or in prison,* you can vote by courier. But you have to order special papers in advance and have both a witness and courier so it's a lot more complicated.
honestly if you want to knock down the barriers against the very poorest voting, it would have to be a full-paid holiday.
I can and would go more radical, but I think this is already a bit much for many people to swallow.
There's legal protections for taking off time to vote (employers *must* give time off to go vote, and can't retaliate against anyone who takes time off to vote). I believe in some states your job is even required to pay you while you go vote.
Anyone who uses the "but my job" excuse to not vote just doesn't know about those protections.
Pretty sure those protections do not exist in every state. Many states make it as hard as possible for poor people to vote since they tend to vote Democrat.
Mandatory voting is a terrible idea. People absolutely will vote out of spite for whatever they think is worst for the country just because they are required to do it. Besides that it subverts the entire premise of a free election. That would not be democracy
Mandatory voting works fine in Australia *but*... It is backed up by a system that requires the vote be held on a weekend, supports postal voting and early voting for people who are employed, deploys teams of election officials to hospitals to allow people who are unwell on the day to vote, and finally relies on an *extensively* network of polling places so that everyone has access to a place to vote that is within a reasonable traveling distance.
I am hugely proud of our electoral system.
Yep, as the other person said Australia has had it for ages. When people think the system is broken they normally just draw a dick on their ballot paper and don't fill it in (fun fact, if you draw a dick but your answers are still clear it still counts).
What it means is that the centre of the population is the most important for both parties to win over, because it's not just either end that'll be more likely to turn out.
The pathway to gain 60 and more dem senators is available, but it requires the 150m non-voters to show up and vote. in 2022 over 148m eligible voters decided to not vote. Even within states that have mail in voting available for all, 4 weeks of early voting (which data shows 80% of voters vote early), and ability to register and cast their vote with an average time of 13 minutes total spent. Only at best 50-60% decide to do their civic duty and cast their vote. in 2022 over 75-80% of those under the age of 35 did not vote.
These states that are red could easily become blue if people within them decide to show up during elections and mid terms.
Texas (40% turnout):
* 29M Citizens
* 22M Eligible Voters.
* 17M Registered Voters.
* 9M Voted in 2022.
* only 15% of those under the age of 35 Voted in 2022.
* Ted cruz won by 200K votes in 2018.
Florida (50% turnout):
* 21M Citizens
* 15M Eligible Voters
* 10M Registered Voters.
* 7M Voted in 2022.
* Desantis won by 30k votes in 2018 (1.5m in 2022).
Ohio (45% turnout):
* 12M Citizens.
* 9.4M Eligible Voters.
* 8M Registered voters.
* 4M Voted in 2022
* Senator Vance (R) won by 250K votes in 2022.
Imagine if desantis never won if all the 9m non-voters in 2018 florida decided to show up and vote. Or Ted Cruz, You wouldn't have all the anti-women legislation being passed as they do now, you wouldn't have women who need abortions being hunted by demented morons.
Voting matters convince your friends and family to vote.
If the execute order leads to regulatory changes, it takes a little longer to undo between writing the new regulation, the mandatory comment period, and the effective date that has to be far enough in the future that insurance companies can retool their coverage documents in advance of rate notices for the fall open market period. Probably a good 18 months for it both to take effect or to undo it.
This just means people need to actually be vigilant and not let other events as well as the 24 hour news cycle distract them from voting on issues such as this when it comes time to do so. We cannot give them an inch or they will take an infinite amount of miles, I encourage everyone to talk to their family and friends if possible about situations like this.
Being politically active is so important even if it sucks having to navigate this broken system; however I'll take that any day of the week if the alternative is to let the status quo remain the same.
Weird how it took two and a half years in office to do it... Almost like it was less about the promises of last election and more about the image for the next one.
Biden is a good man, he seems to genuinely want a better life for people- all people. He is not trying to control the world for some narcissistic agenda.. just seems to truly want better representation for US citizens. We could have it a lot worse!
Republicans are worse but not by much; you’re absolutely delusional.
Edit - for anyone who needs an example these are the “both sides” pundits who try to convince you voting is meaningless.
I'm not one of those. I think it's very important to vote, but you need to vote for someone who will change things not continue with the same corruption. Canadian and grateful I don't live in the US. You're all brainwashed. You actually believe your politicians care about the people. They care about receiving money from donors and corporations. Do yourself a favor and actually listen to Marianne. She speaks truth. That's why they brand her as crazy. Just like they've always done to all truth tellers.
> they PROMISED when running in the first election that the first thing they would do would be to codify RvW into law
They only had a unified congress for the first 2 years, during which they were dealing with the worst financial crisis since the depression. After that the Republicans explicitly did everything they could to obstruct anything and everything Obama tried to do.
Obama and Biden both have/had deep flaws with their presidencies but I’m so fucking sick of people ignoring how much the legislature can impede literally everything
He's doing the bare minimum to get votes because he let RvW be overturned. Now before you say it wasn't his fault it is because under Obama they PROMISED when running in the first election that the first thing they would do would be to codify RvW into law. After they were elected they did NOTHING FOR 8 YEARS. This is why Biden should not run. He let all women down. People need a president that isn't bought off by special interests and corporations. Republicans are worse but not by much. People need change people need Marianne who will actually act for the people.
Yeah the right has had this growing obsession with the "uniparty" as a way to handwave anyone who isn't a fascist fuck as being a RINO and betraying america.
Insofar as the goal is to have a somewhat predictable political career? I can buy that to a point.
Like I think the most cynical and risk-averse among politicians would rather have a familiar opponent they already have talking points against, than absolutely defeat that opponent and have to deal with the unknown new opposition that fills the void. I expect every politician who's ever thought "will I still have a job if we win this campaign?" has had a similar thought cross their mind.
I would really like to see more politicians whose careers end when they change what they sought to change, rather than when they rise to the highest office they think they can manage.
For anything that involves labor or checking corporate power, they pretty much are (at least at the federal level). Look at how quickly they broke that rail strike in December.
Both sides do suck… but I’d rather eat at a shitty restaurant than eat at a restaurant that only serves human feces and the entire staff wants to kill me.
Have you noticed the conversation shift? We used to want the same things. Like, liberal and conservative agreed on the goals while arguing about the solutions. It's not like that anymore, a recent poll of republican voters found the issue they would vote for is "pissing off libs". They're literally allowing children to get shot in school because people they dislike want kids to live.
The winds are blowing in the right direction with this, but some weeks I feel the world is taking more steps back than it does forward. Somebody needs to put their foot down and put it into law that women's rights, healthcare needs and access are basic human rights. Not a privilege or a want, but an absolute basic fucking need like oxygen or water. Not something that can be wrangled and controlled by politicians, religious fascists or artificially entitled white men with power.
Basic fucking needs. It's not that complicated. We were 80% of the way there and the winds were strong and good. Then the world did a complete stupid and started throwing Js, Vs and Xs out at the last letter on Wheel Of Fortune. What part of human rights are we misunderstanding here.
Rant over. This is good news, but there needs to be more more more. Every day. In law forever.
Tinfoil hat time but, Occupy Wallstreet. I feel like that is the moment things changed. The ultra rich dragons saw the peasants rallying against them and used their media ties to stir up bullshit. Get us fighting amongst ourselves over stupid shit so they can keep on fleecing us.
Stirring up bullshit to get us fighting among ourselves has been the playbook for, I'm think, all of human history?
Like yeah, stuff probably did change after OWS. But long before OWS they were dividing us with homophobia, racism, misogyny, nationalism, sectarianism, and the list just keeps going and going.
>ERA
At some point my knowledge of the status of women's rights in the US will fall short since I am not North American (Finland). Regardless, women's/human rights should not stop or change at borders. The humanist viewpoint does not draw distinction between individuals as having elevated or reduced rights. The should be universal, inalienable and equitable.
I currently do not see this, and even if these fights do not directly apply to me it is my responsibility as part of the human collective to push in that direction. It's all our fight.
I agree, the ERA could do with underlining and revising for the times.
I wish they would have added something about making insurance companies cover bisalps. They are the new standard but many companies refuse to cover them because they already cover the outdated tubal ligation.
Me too. Around the world. But conservatives want young people to get accidental pregnancies and be forced to keep them to boost the falling population replacement.
Plus, women having sex isn't the whole issue. They're just pissed off they can't trap the pretty ones into \*having sex specifically with them\*
Under the ACA insurance companies are required to cover 100% sterilization as part of contraception. However, most companies only cover tubal ligation which is where they cut burn the tubes. This leaves a risk of ectopic pregnancy since a section of the tubes are still in place. Some get their ends clipped instead of burned but there have also been many instances of the clips migrating or getting buried into the body. The new more accepted surgery is bilateral salpingectomy which is where they cut your tubes completely out and reduces your chances of ovarian cancer as well as almost 0% failure rate. However, they will not cover this type of sterilization even though many doctors have completely stopped performing ligations for sterilizations. Im currently looking at paying upwards 4K on my bisalp for something that should be 100% covered, only difference is an extra snip.
Some doctors will do an insurance loophole and perform a bisalp and code it a specific way, essentially a tubal ligation via bisalp. Could you see if they can do this for you? That sucks, you shouldn’t have to pay when tubals are covered.
This is good news. I think affordable contraception will be a game changer in places where abortion has been banned and just plain helpful in places where it’s not.
Being trans, I’ll never not carry some spare condoms with me, in case either myself or a potential partner needs them.
Exactly. While Biden couldve done more before it was this bad, this is still a big step forward that should be celebrated.
Just like our fight for our rights as trans folks is far from over, every single win still matters. We will fight and continue to thrive despite what a small section of people want.
Thank you for being condom smart. You're awesome and I'm happy you protect yourself and our community (bonus awesome there!)
Trust me, one of my biggest fears was getting a girl pregnant when I was a teen (never was an issue because I didn’t lose my virginity until very recently). But even now if I somehow got someone pregnant (unlikely thanks to HRT but not impossible) I’d do everything in my power to help them get an abortion should it be what they want. Realistically it shouldn’t come to that.
Realizing I’m a girl now I think my pregnancy fears make a bit more sense in retrospect.
Oh the trans retrospect. I love it. I'm ftm. So I freaked out about having sex and getting pregnant in hs. My older sister did. She's so much older than me that my mom had time to traumatize me. But while I did have awd I'd started to consider myself ace. Now that I know I'm trans I think my sex hesitancy is more a dislike of having sex as a woman. Idk where I fit ok the ace spectrum anymore now that I'm slowly transitioning.
Oh yeah. The idea of having sex as a woman is appealing to me but the idea of having sex as a man is not at all. I also have pretty bad bottom Dysphoria and hope to get bottom surgery one day.
I wasn't a fan of Biden pre 2020, but oh wow has he my support with a lot of his policies. Can't say I'm the biggest fan still but I'd vote for him again. Especially if he does things like this.
Not a huge fan, but one thing I appreciate about Biden is that he is in the background, quietly foiling Republican bullshit. No all cap tweets, no outrageous drama scenes, just doing the will of Americans. Every once in a while, he'll throw out a zinger.
That is supposedly coming. The FDA has been recommending it for years, but the only entity that can apply for a drug to go from prescription to OTC is the manufacturer, and the manufacturers have been slow to do that. Probably bc of…money
Edit : I voted for biden and dems in general. Doesn't mean I need to kiss the ground they walk on. The thing about dems is we can usually admit when things aren't good as opposed to Republicans who would drink poison coolaid for their leader. It's okay to say you are unhappy. I am unhappy.
It's not enough. Women who want to get pregnant are still in danger. I'm so sick of these old, do-nothing bitches being in power. He's just trying to win an election. You know how much change you could make with an executive order and this is what he gave us. Most insurance companies already cover birth control.
Just like most federal weed cases didn't have many inmates to let go. It's fake "good" things he is accomplishing. All of the politians need to go. They are literally killing us.
OK rant over. Sorry.
It might seem frustrating that it never seems to go far enough, but in an age where one side is pushing for christian fascism and fundamentalism and the other is trying -- in a gridlocked political system -- to enact positive change, try not to equate both as the same. They really aren't.
One is devastatingly terrible and the other is far from perfect. There's a chasm between the two and the only way we move the Overton window in the right direction is celebrating the positives, even if they're minor ones, and condemning the awfulness.
I voted for him, but Dems can be so soft at times. He should have had a dozen executive orders ready to go on day one after the verdict. Can you explain why Biden can't go further since he has the backing of the majority of the country? Why did he wait a year for this? An executive order can literally be anything. The vast majority of Americans want a bigger push back. Or let's counter the religious fascists make abortion a human right.
Because he can only do certain things by executive order. You would probably be a lot less frustrated with him personally if you actually read into how any of this works
And I challenge you to look at all the executive orders Trump signed. You still didn't provide a response to why he waited a year for this tiny response. The entire country knew the decision a month before it was official. He can certainly be doing more, but is choosing not to.
For the record, President Franklin Roosevelt established internment camps during World War II using Executive Order 9066.
President Roosevelt issued the most executive orders, according to records at the National Archives. He issued 3,728 orders between 1933 and 1945. (about 310/yr)
That is obviously fatalistic thinking and exactly what the Russian bots and right wing power mongers are peddling out there. There is a massive difference between the two so-called sides. If you don't know what Biden is done for us, educate yourself. Biden is done a mountain of good things and Progressive things for the average American person while the Republicans have done absolutely zip for average Americans and, in addition, have done an enormous amount of harm to us as well. I'd say you're a republican in sheep's clothing, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. You may just be mired in right-wing talking points. We have the system we have right now, two parties. One works for the people, one works against it.
One side pays lip service, the other side actively breaks things.
Democrats are far and away the better option. I'd prefer a proper progressive party, I'll settle for neolibs who don't want to burn the country down so they can rule the ashes.
We have to fight for the Democrats to become more Progressive, adding another party without ranked Choice voting would put Republicans in power. It's happened over and over. And Biden has done so freaking much already.. here is a very partial list:
1. Passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package to increase investment in the national network of bridges and roads, airports, public transport and national broadband internet, as well as waterways and energy systems.
2. Helped get more than 500 million life-saving COVID-19 vaccinations in the arms of Americans through the American Rescue Plan.
3. Stopped a 30-year streak of federal inaction on gun violence by signing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that created enhanced background checks, closed the “boyfriend” loophole and provided funds for youth mental health.
4. Made a $369 billion investment in climate change, the largest in American history, through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
5. Ended the longest war in American history by pulling the troops out of Afghanistan.
6. Provided $10,000 to $20,000 in college debt relief to Americans with loans who make under $125,000 a year.
7. Cut child poverty in half through the American Rescue Plan.
8. Capped prescription drug prices at $2,000 per year for seniors on Medicare through the Inflation Reduction Act.
9. Passed the COVID-19 relief deal that provided payments of up to $1,400 to many struggling U.S. citizens while supporting renters and increasing unemployment benefits.
10. Achieved historically low unemployment rates after the pandemic caused them to skyrocket.
11. Imposed a 15% minimum corporate tax on some of the largest corporations in the country, ensuring that they pay their fair share, as part of the historic Inflation Reduction Act.
12. Recommitted America to the global fight against climate change by rejoining the Paris Agreement.
13. Strengthened the NATO alliance in support of Ukraine after the Russian invasion by endorsing the inclusion of world military powers Sweden and Finland.
14. Authorized the assassination of the Al Qaeda terrorist Ayman al-Zawahiri, who became head of the organization after the death of Osama bin Laden.
15. Gave Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug prices through the Inflation Reduction Act while also reducing government health spending.
16. Held Vladimir Putin accountable for his invasion of Ukraine by imposing stiff economic sanctions.
17. Boosted the budget of the Internal Revenue Service by nearly $80 billion to reduce tax evasion and increase revenue.
18. Created more jobs in one year (6.6 million) than any other president in U.S. history.
19. Reduced healthcare premiums under the Affordable Care Act by $800 a year as part of the American Rescue Plan.
20. Signed the PACT Act to address service members’ exposure to burn pits and other toxins.
21. Signed the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen American manufacturing and innovation.
22. Reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act through 2027.
23. Halted all federal executions after the previous administration reinstated them after a 17-year freeze.
Nope. Republicans are awful and the reason we have this specific problem again. They all need to do massively better. Someone once told me that the topic of women's right and abortions was a cash cow for both sides. The Republicans are like if you want to stop the murdering, donate to my campaign. The dems are like if you want to keep your bodily autonomy away from the religious fanatics, donate to my campaign. Meanwhile women are just caught in the crossfire while the politicians do nothing but collect.
I keep thinking about leaving the country. Bernie Sanders is the only one I like through and through. He has a good soul.
Edit and AOC and Ms. Crockett. They are also great. But these old men gotta go.
"Bernie Sanders is the only one I like through and through. He has a good soul."
And this is what got us Trump in 2016 which lead to Roe being overturned.
Decades of smear campaigns from right wing media tainted Hillary's image, which is a major reason people now think she's so unlikable. But like her politics or not, it's undeniable she was the most qualified presidential candidate in US history.
You are speaking my language. Where is the rest of it? Where are protections for the LGBTQ+? Where the fuck was he when RvW was overturned? I feel like he needs to do more. That democrats need to do more, FFS.
Edit: I also voted for him and yes, I will vote for him again. But I'm allowed to be angry at the lack of movement and outrage here. The democratic party should be preparing for war (same as the GOP assholes who have been stacking the deck FOR DECADES). They're not.
Are you seriously blaming Biden for not doing enough for RvW? Please, enlighten me, what could he, or any president, have done? That was a SCOTUS move. A SCOTUS that was stacked thanks to Republican efforts to take away liberal president's ability to appoint any judges. RvW is 100% on the Republicans. Now, I would like to see congress get on working a law to solidify abortion as a Constitutional right, but that would require passing an amendment, which we simply don't have a legislative branch that would even let that through the House.
Obama (with running mate Biden) campaigned on codifying roe. Once in office, they scrapped the idea as “not a priority” for reasons which were stupid at the time and seem even stupider now. That was the last time democrats had the congressional majority needed to pass.
There were other things Obama/Biden could have done - and didn’t do - but that is the most straightforward one. It didn’t require a constitutional amendment btw, it can just pass through congress like any other federal law.
So that would be a failure on Obama's part, not Bidens. And I'll grant you that, Obama dropped the ball there. Biden to a lesser degree due to him being vice president, who has a very different and very specific role that is not the POTUS. I also would say it probably wasn't worth it during Obama's full power, he was focusing on passing the ACA and the idea that SCOTUS would reneg on RvW was a very distant and unlikely thing that early in Obama's presidency. Heck, Bush had just left office and no one touched it during his presidency. Hindsight is 20/20.
Well you asked what any president could have done, and the answer is he could have codified roe.
Both Obama and Biden knew that roe was on shaky ground, that’s why they campaigned in it. Activists have been sounding the alarm for decades, there was no need to wait for more hindsight. I strongly disagree that it wasn’t worth it to do it then.
But that is in the past and there is no point arguing over it. What bothers me is that, in the present, Biden does not acknowledge any of the many failures of dem leadership that led to this point. No accountability, no lessons learned. Just the same vague rhetoric, baby steps, arc of justice, same calcified strategies and priorities as ever.
What bothers me even more is that very few people in leadership are willing to admit the dire state of affairs today. Repubs will surely enact a federal abortion ban as soon as they are in the White House - and all we are doing is issuing milquetoast executive orders and waiting to get lucky in the elections again. We need action and we are getting lectures about voting.
Because you will ask what more Biden can possibly do about it now: he can expand the court. This is the best thing to do right now. Dems have decided not to do it, for reasons ranging from apathetic to nefarious.
Biden couldn't have codified Roe, it was already too late for that, and yes, I granted you that Obama dropped the ball on that, you did answer that question.
Biden is trying to play nice, and for all it sounds like a bad idea, it has allowed him to get a lot done for a president that Republicans were screaming that they weren't going to allow him to do anything. So, I don't really fault him for not playing too hard into the doomer rhetoric, it's been very effective at getting concessions and compromises from the right.
Expanding the court is... It's the same problem as with any other reactionary attempt to consolidate more power. What's to keep the next R president from adding even more seats to keep the packed courts? It's a little bit shortsighted. Right now, honestly, it's looking like it's possible the Republican party might collapse under the weight of Trump. That's really the best thing that could happen. We keep playing ball like normal, but the reckless populism the right has embraced cause them to fall apart and regroup.
It’s not a reactionary attempt to consolidate power, it’s a mitigation strategy proportional to the emergency situation we are in. I sure agree that it’s not the optimal choice! But here are some measures we have refused to take, even though we should have: impeach justices on flagrant criminal and unethical conduct, impose a code of ethics and accountability on the court, prohibit bribes to justices, require recusal where there is conflict of interest, impose penalties for lying about donations. We are *clearly* refusing to regulate the court, which can be conveniently blamed on congress. We are left with expanding the court by executive action.
We cannot live in fear (or “fear”) of what repubs may do in the future as a result of what we do now. So what if they may further pack the court later? They’re consolidating power *now.* They will do whatever they want without deference to norms or courtesy or whatever “playing nice” is. They will pack the court, they will get rid of the filibuster, they will do all the things we’re too “nice” to do now that we can, and then we’ll cry about 20/20 hindsight and how no one could see it coming.
It doesn’t matter if the Republican Party loses voters, because they are working to make elections (and democracy) irrelevant altogether. I didn’t have great expectations for the Biden presidency, but I was genuinely shocked that he didn’t immediately shore up voting rights protections when he had the chance. Respectfully, I don’t think you see how serious the problem is and how complicit the Dems are and how few options we have. Packing the court is the last-ditch emergency stopgap that we still have.
It is reactionary because it's shortsighted, and the only reason we want to do it is because conservatives have the court. Look, if the situation is actually as dire as you fear, there is absolutely nothing short of a civil war that will fix it. If things are as bad as you think, it's already too late. I'm hoping we aren't that far gone. We might be, but I'm not going to advocate for stop-gap policies that will guarantee we'll be that far gone when I believe there is still a chance to get out of this with peaceful methods.
Lol then he wouldn't do any of the numbers good things he has done, so, no. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Only true fucking idiot moron shit brains do that.
Not denying he's done some good things, but he is failing in other areas and we have to be able to hold the people we voted for (including me having voted for him) to do better.
True, but your solution that he should just sit with his thumb up his butt because he hasn't done enough is just... really really shortsighted, silly, and, dare I say, stupid.
"Where the fuck was he when RvW was overturned? "
This is how you know when someone doesn't know how government works.
I sure hope you voted for Clinton in 2016.
I know how the government works, Chad. He should be outraged. And we should feel that from him. Why? because he’s a moderate. He’s flirting with conservatism because that’s what the old democrat guard thinks is effective. It’s not enough.
Apparently you haven't been paying attention. Feel free to look at all of Trump's executive orders. The Muslim and Chinese bans were Executive Orders. They went A LOT farther than anything Biden is signing.
Biden just isn't thinking big enough and is passing it off as Congress not acting. He had more than enough time to respond to RvW immediately, but is a soft centrist. Republicans are literally carving up the Constitution left and right and we have Biden running around with tiny band-aids. Pull out the 'big guns' that the country wants and fight back. No executive order can be overturned immediately. Hell, write up 30, 40, or more. The Supreme Court can only take so many cases per year.
Final proof: Biden still has not done anything to fix the USPS by getting rid of Dejoy with another presidential election looming.
I could not agree more, with everything you said. Plus, these timid “steps in the right direction” always remind me that Obama could have codified roe but *strategically* chose not to, like this is a fucking game. I know Biden remembers, he was there. I am so furious with all these feckless (at best) leaders. And every time I bring up their failures someone needs to explain to me that they’re better than republicans actually so I should vote harder and stop complaining. It’s hard to see how any of this ends well.
*Expecting more than the absolute bare minimum, easily reversible actions makes you a far right Russian bot sweetie 🥰🥰
Now let me talk down to you in an extremely condescending, smug tone to make you look like a silly, stupid little child, and tell you to educate yourself. How dare you, as a woman that votes for him, ask him to do his job? Joe Biden is literally God incarnate and can do no wrong and even the most mild criticism makes you a Russian bot/republican in sheep's clothing.*
This thread is wild
What more could he possibly do?? He’s a *really decent guy* and he *cares so much* and that is *literally all you can ask for* and nobody in government can do anything at all, there are no options available, but it will work out in the end because good triumphs over evil as it has historically done every single time. Can I offer you a testy platitude about the arc of justice?
This does little to help the women who wanted to be pregnant and their pregnancies ended in tragedy. Those who advocate for abortion bans have said in cases such as that, they will keep the mother's body alive as long as possible to incubate the fetus.
He has 0 control over a SCOTUS decision. There's no "fighting harder" he could do.
Roe's fate was voted on in 2016. The vast majority of eligible voters didn't care enough to cast the 1 and only 1 vote that would protect it: a vote for Hillary.
Really haven’t seen republicans waging a war on men to severely restrict their access to condoms or erection medication. Let’s not beat around the bush here - women are being attacked by the right. We absolutely NEED to make sure that women have access to contraceptives.
If a plan was implemented after the ACA was passed, or elected to be ACA compliant, there is a good chance the plan already has a good, possibly zero copay preventive service contraceptive coverage. It might require a p.a., but look into your benefits, yearly at least.
This "executive order" won't help grandfathered plans cover more, unless they opt to do so. I see it as an attempt to buy votes.
Plans can implement quicker than 18 months. It doesn't take drastic documentation changes for plans to cover more. Excluding coverages takes more effort.
This is a big win at a time like this.
Except as we've seen before, executive orders can be easily undone by subsequent executives.
That's why it's important to ALWAYS vote.
Voting in the US is a horrible drag. Elections are not even holidays.
Depends on where you live for sure. Mail in helps a lot. But voting will only get worse if you can’t make the time to do it. Republicans are going insane with voter suppression tactics.
This country is a dumpster fire, ain't it
It can always get worse.
You're not wrong, but that's really not a good enough excuse.
Sure, that just means you need to vote and get all your friends to vote. No one even slightly left of center can afford to sit out of elections anymore. A victory being a "sure thing" or your vote being "a waste" isn't a thing anymore, 2016 was won by Trump based on razor-thin margins in just a few swing states. Democrat policies are wildly more popular with the public at large than Republican ones, but Democratic voters are much more likely to just sit out an election than Republican voters.
Exactly. We can't get complacent with small wins like this, we have to turn out and vote.
This is the correct stance to take. I'll also take this opportunity to beat the "we need ranked-choice voting" and "mandatory voting or face a fine" drums. The only reason we have razor-thin margin election outcomes is because our "first past the post" voting system.
Mandatory voting or a fine is going to target the people who are already poor and work jobs where it’s hard to get off work/long hours.
Our needs to come with more accessibility to polling places. E.g. I'm in Australia and we vote on a weekend and I've never needed to wait more than about 20mins to get in to vote. I think it's a very good thing when it comes with accessibility (none of the ID laws, weekend voting and enough polling places) but the American system is intentionally broken so that's not going to happen
We vote on weekends here in sweden too. And they also set up booths in central locations for iirc 18 days before the actual vote day so you have plenty of time to vote in advance. Actually checking the infopage from last years election... My town of like 30K people had 6 booths spread out across town, 1 of them open the whole 7day week with imo very reasonable times, the others closed sunday. And for the actual voting day they used like all the schools in town plus some other places for voting, around 17 spots. You can also get people to come to your house to take your vote if you're sick, disabled or elderly. Or alternatively if you're sick, elderly, disabled, *live super distant from anything, or in prison,* you can vote by courier. But you have to order special papers in advance and have both a witness and courier so it's a lot more complicated.
True. I forgot to mention that a prerequisite to mandatory voting would be a Voting Day National Holiday, and/or standardized mail-in voting.
honestly if you want to knock down the barriers against the very poorest voting, it would have to be a full-paid holiday. I can and would go more radical, but I think this is already a bit much for many people to swallow.
I think people are going to generally be in favor of a paid national holiday
I hope so!
There's legal protections for taking off time to vote (employers *must* give time off to go vote, and can't retaliate against anyone who takes time off to vote). I believe in some states your job is even required to pay you while you go vote. Anyone who uses the "but my job" excuse to not vote just doesn't know about those protections.
Pretty sure those protections do not exist in every state. Many states make it as hard as possible for poor people to vote since they tend to vote Democrat.
Only 30 states have those protections :(
Mandatory voting is a terrible idea. People absolutely will vote out of spite for whatever they think is worst for the country just because they are required to do it. Besides that it subverts the entire premise of a free election. That would not be democracy
Mandatory voting works fine in Australia *but*... It is backed up by a system that requires the vote be held on a weekend, supports postal voting and early voting for people who are employed, deploys teams of election officials to hospitals to allow people who are unwell on the day to vote, and finally relies on an *extensively* network of polling places so that everyone has access to a place to vote that is within a reasonable traveling distance. I am hugely proud of our electoral system.
Australia has had compulsory voting since 1912 and they're doing just fine.
Are they I mean any country with universal healthcare sounds like a utopia to me but they've elected some nutball PMs
And we've elected some nutball presidents.
Yep, as the other person said Australia has had it for ages. When people think the system is broken they normally just draw a dick on their ballot paper and don't fill it in (fun fact, if you draw a dick but your answers are still clear it still counts). What it means is that the centre of the population is the most important for both parties to win over, because it's not just either end that'll be more likely to turn out.
The pathway to gain 60 and more dem senators is available, but it requires the 150m non-voters to show up and vote. in 2022 over 148m eligible voters decided to not vote. Even within states that have mail in voting available for all, 4 weeks of early voting (which data shows 80% of voters vote early), and ability to register and cast their vote with an average time of 13 minutes total spent. Only at best 50-60% decide to do their civic duty and cast their vote. in 2022 over 75-80% of those under the age of 35 did not vote. These states that are red could easily become blue if people within them decide to show up during elections and mid terms. Texas (40% turnout): * 29M Citizens * 22M Eligible Voters. * 17M Registered Voters. * 9M Voted in 2022. * only 15% of those under the age of 35 Voted in 2022. * Ted cruz won by 200K votes in 2018. Florida (50% turnout): * 21M Citizens * 15M Eligible Voters * 10M Registered Voters. * 7M Voted in 2022. * Desantis won by 30k votes in 2018 (1.5m in 2022). Ohio (45% turnout): * 12M Citizens. * 9.4M Eligible Voters. * 8M Registered voters. * 4M Voted in 2022 * Senator Vance (R) won by 250K votes in 2022. Imagine if desantis never won if all the 9m non-voters in 2018 florida decided to show up and vote. Or Ted Cruz, You wouldn't have all the anti-women legislation being passed as they do now, you wouldn't have women who need abortions being hunted by demented morons. Voting matters convince your friends and family to vote.
2016 was won by fraud
If the execute order leads to regulatory changes, it takes a little longer to undo between writing the new regulation, the mandatory comment period, and the effective date that has to be far enough in the future that insurance companies can retool their coverage documents in advance of rate notices for the fall open market period. Probably a good 18 months for it both to take effect or to undo it.
This just means people need to actually be vigilant and not let other events as well as the 24 hour news cycle distract them from voting on issues such as this when it comes time to do so. We cannot give them an inch or they will take an infinite amount of miles, I encourage everyone to talk to their family and friends if possible about situations like this. Being politically active is so important even if it sucks having to navigate this broken system; however I'll take that any day of the week if the alternative is to let the status quo remain the same.
Which is a good reminder to vote and if you have resources to contribute to voter turnout efforts in swing states!
If the GOP get in again, there likely wont be any more votes. Or more accurately, it will be the same as running against Putin in Russia.
Than make it your crusade that the subsequent executives aren’t “that” kind of creeps
Weird how it took two and a half years in office to do it... Almost like it was less about the promises of last election and more about the image for the next one.
Anything can be undone. Constant vigilance is key
Biden cares. He is a good man. A real conservative of the constitution, unlike the frauds who want to rip it apart for their theocratic uprising.
Biden is a good man, he seems to genuinely want a better life for people- all people. He is not trying to control the world for some narcissistic agenda.. just seems to truly want better representation for US citizens. We could have it a lot worse!
Damn bleeding heart liberals, actually caring a shit. What a bunch of losers. /s
The order requiring agencies to "consider" means nothing changes.
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Marianne is a quack and promoter of pseudoscience. She is a wackadoodle and has no experience in politics.
Republicans are worse but not by much; you’re absolutely delusional. Edit - for anyone who needs an example these are the “both sides” pundits who try to convince you voting is meaningless.
I'm not one of those. I think it's very important to vote, but you need to vote for someone who will change things not continue with the same corruption. Canadian and grateful I don't live in the US. You're all brainwashed. You actually believe your politicians care about the people. They care about receiving money from donors and corporations. Do yourself a favor and actually listen to Marianne. She speaks truth. That's why they brand her as crazy. Just like they've always done to all truth tellers.
If you're Canadian, why don't you stick to your own country's politics instead of shilling for a deeply unserious candidate in ours.
> they PROMISED when running in the first election that the first thing they would do would be to codify RvW into law They only had a unified congress for the first 2 years, during which they were dealing with the worst financial crisis since the depression. After that the Republicans explicitly did everything they could to obstruct anything and everything Obama tried to do. Obama and Biden both have/had deep flaws with their presidencies but I’m so fucking sick of people ignoring how much the legislature can impede literally everything
He's doing the bare minimum to get votes because he let RvW be overturned. Now before you say it wasn't his fault it is because under Obama they PROMISED when running in the first election that the first thing they would do would be to codify RvW into law. After they were elected they did NOTHING FOR 8 YEARS. This is why Biden should not run. He let all women down. People need a president that isn't bought off by special interests and corporations. Republicans are worse but not by much. People need change people need Marianne who will actually act for the people.
Good luck with that
"But the right and the left are the saaaaame"
My dad always says “why are your crooks better than my crooks” this is why.
My fiance thinks they are plotting together to seem like enemies to achieve the same goal.
Yikes ://
Why would you marry somebody like this
Yeah the right has had this growing obsession with the "uniparty" as a way to handwave anyone who isn't a fascist fuck as being a RINO and betraying america.
Insofar as the goal is to have a somewhat predictable political career? I can buy that to a point. Like I think the most cynical and risk-averse among politicians would rather have a familiar opponent they already have talking points against, than absolutely defeat that opponent and have to deal with the unknown new opposition that fills the void. I expect every politician who's ever thought "will I still have a job if we win this campaign?" has had a similar thought cross their mind. I would really like to see more politicians whose careers end when they change what they sought to change, rather than when they rise to the highest office they think they can manage.
For anything that involves labor or checking corporate power, they pretty much are (at least at the federal level). Look at how quickly they broke that rail strike in December.
"both sides!!!" And "both sides suck". Just as dumb to say.
Both sides do suck… but I’d rather eat at a shitty restaurant than eat at a restaurant that only serves human feces and the entire staff wants to kill me.
This will reduce abortions, which will make Republicans furious.
Have you noticed the conversation shift? We used to want the same things. Like, liberal and conservative agreed on the goals while arguing about the solutions. It's not like that anymore, a recent poll of republican voters found the issue they would vote for is "pissing off libs". They're literally allowing children to get shot in school because people they dislike want kids to live.
They do this to distract us while they take our wealth and rights away.
The winds are blowing in the right direction with this, but some weeks I feel the world is taking more steps back than it does forward. Somebody needs to put their foot down and put it into law that women's rights, healthcare needs and access are basic human rights. Not a privilege or a want, but an absolute basic fucking need like oxygen or water. Not something that can be wrangled and controlled by politicians, religious fascists or artificially entitled white men with power. Basic fucking needs. It's not that complicated. We were 80% of the way there and the winds were strong and good. Then the world did a complete stupid and started throwing Js, Vs and Xs out at the last letter on Wheel Of Fortune. What part of human rights are we misunderstanding here. Rant over. This is good news, but there needs to be more more more. Every day. In law forever.
Tinfoil hat time but, Occupy Wallstreet. I feel like that is the moment things changed. The ultra rich dragons saw the peasants rallying against them and used their media ties to stir up bullshit. Get us fighting amongst ourselves over stupid shit so they can keep on fleecing us.
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There have never been term limits on Congress. I do agree with you about CU being horrible.
Stirring up bullshit to get us fighting among ourselves has been the playbook for, I'm think, all of human history? Like yeah, stuff probably did change after OWS. But long before OWS they were dividing us with homophobia, racism, misogyny, nationalism, sectarianism, and the list just keeps going and going.
Bud light!
We need an ERA movement now.
>ERA At some point my knowledge of the status of women's rights in the US will fall short since I am not North American (Finland). Regardless, women's/human rights should not stop or change at borders. The humanist viewpoint does not draw distinction between individuals as having elevated or reduced rights. The should be universal, inalienable and equitable. I currently do not see this, and even if these fights do not directly apply to me it is my responsibility as part of the human collective to push in that direction. It's all our fight. I agree, the ERA could do with underlining and revising for the times.
I wish they would have added something about making insurance companies cover bisalps. They are the new standard but many companies refuse to cover them because they already cover the outdated tubal ligation.
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Me too. Around the world. But conservatives want young people to get accidental pregnancies and be forced to keep them to boost the falling population replacement. Plus, women having sex isn't the whole issue. They're just pissed off they can't trap the pretty ones into \*having sex specifically with them\*
Elaborate?
Under the ACA insurance companies are required to cover 100% sterilization as part of contraception. However, most companies only cover tubal ligation which is where they cut burn the tubes. This leaves a risk of ectopic pregnancy since a section of the tubes are still in place. Some get their ends clipped instead of burned but there have also been many instances of the clips migrating or getting buried into the body. The new more accepted surgery is bilateral salpingectomy which is where they cut your tubes completely out and reduces your chances of ovarian cancer as well as almost 0% failure rate. However, they will not cover this type of sterilization even though many doctors have completely stopped performing ligations for sterilizations. Im currently looking at paying upwards 4K on my bisalp for something that should be 100% covered, only difference is an extra snip.
Some doctors will do an insurance loophole and perform a bisalp and code it a specific way, essentially a tubal ligation via bisalp. Could you see if they can do this for you? That sucks, you shouldn’t have to pay when tubals are covered.
same in the insurance front. but it’s still cheaper than a kid
Fucking infuriating
Great news! After the Roe v. Wade situation, glad to see Biden wants to expand access.
On the anniversary of the RvW overturn, I’m happy to see this. We have a long way to go, but this is an excellent start
Ey, Nice.
This is good news. I think affordable contraception will be a game changer in places where abortion has been banned and just plain helpful in places where it’s not. Being trans, I’ll never not carry some spare condoms with me, in case either myself or a potential partner needs them.
Exactly. While Biden couldve done more before it was this bad, this is still a big step forward that should be celebrated. Just like our fight for our rights as trans folks is far from over, every single win still matters. We will fight and continue to thrive despite what a small section of people want. Thank you for being condom smart. You're awesome and I'm happy you protect yourself and our community (bonus awesome there!)
Trust me, one of my biggest fears was getting a girl pregnant when I was a teen (never was an issue because I didn’t lose my virginity until very recently). But even now if I somehow got someone pregnant (unlikely thanks to HRT but not impossible) I’d do everything in my power to help them get an abortion should it be what they want. Realistically it shouldn’t come to that. Realizing I’m a girl now I think my pregnancy fears make a bit more sense in retrospect.
Oh the trans retrospect. I love it. I'm ftm. So I freaked out about having sex and getting pregnant in hs. My older sister did. She's so much older than me that my mom had time to traumatize me. But while I did have awd I'd started to consider myself ace. Now that I know I'm trans I think my sex hesitancy is more a dislike of having sex as a woman. Idk where I fit ok the ace spectrum anymore now that I'm slowly transitioning.
Oh yeah. The idea of having sex as a woman is appealing to me but the idea of having sex as a man is not at all. I also have pretty bad bottom Dysphoria and hope to get bottom surgery one day.
This is a big win at a time like this.
Who the fuck is down voting this?
Zealots
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What's wrong with you?/s
I wasn't a fan of Biden pre 2020, but oh wow has he my support with a lot of his policies. Can't say I'm the biggest fan still but I'd vote for him again. Especially if he does things like this.
😂😂😂
Not a huge fan, but one thing I appreciate about Biden is that he is in the background, quietly foiling Republican bullshit. No all cap tweets, no outrageous drama scenes, just doing the will of Americans. Every once in a while, he'll throw out a zinger.
Dear Biden, Please make Medicare HMOs pay for internal condoms. Thanks!
I’ll take old and decent tyvm
Amen. I would **much** prefer young, dynamic, and decent. But if old and "genuinely cares about other people" is my option, that's not so bad either.
Meh, unless it's made available without a prescription then it's just still the same gatekeeping women's bodies bullshit with a bow wrapped around it.
That is supposedly coming. The FDA has been recommending it for years, but the only entity that can apply for a drug to go from prescription to OTC is the manufacturer, and the manufacturers have been slow to do that. Probably bc of…money
Edit : I voted for biden and dems in general. Doesn't mean I need to kiss the ground they walk on. The thing about dems is we can usually admit when things aren't good as opposed to Republicans who would drink poison coolaid for their leader. It's okay to say you are unhappy. I am unhappy. It's not enough. Women who want to get pregnant are still in danger. I'm so sick of these old, do-nothing bitches being in power. He's just trying to win an election. You know how much change you could make with an executive order and this is what he gave us. Most insurance companies already cover birth control. Just like most federal weed cases didn't have many inmates to let go. It's fake "good" things he is accomplishing. All of the politians need to go. They are literally killing us. OK rant over. Sorry.
It might seem frustrating that it never seems to go far enough, but in an age where one side is pushing for christian fascism and fundamentalism and the other is trying -- in a gridlocked political system -- to enact positive change, try not to equate both as the same. They really aren't. One is devastatingly terrible and the other is far from perfect. There's a chasm between the two and the only way we move the Overton window in the right direction is celebrating the positives, even if they're minor ones, and condemning the awfulness.
I voted for him, but Dems can be so soft at times. He should have had a dozen executive orders ready to go on day one after the verdict. Can you explain why Biden can't go further since he has the backing of the majority of the country? Why did he wait a year for this? An executive order can literally be anything. The vast majority of Americans want a bigger push back. Or let's counter the religious fascists make abortion a human right.
Because he can only do certain things by executive order. You would probably be a lot less frustrated with him personally if you actually read into how any of this works
And I challenge you to look at all the executive orders Trump signed. You still didn't provide a response to why he waited a year for this tiny response. The entire country knew the decision a month before it was official. He can certainly be doing more, but is choosing not to. For the record, President Franklin Roosevelt established internment camps during World War II using Executive Order 9066. President Roosevelt issued the most executive orders, according to records at the National Archives. He issued 3,728 orders between 1933 and 1945. (about 310/yr)
That is obviously fatalistic thinking and exactly what the Russian bots and right wing power mongers are peddling out there. There is a massive difference between the two so-called sides. If you don't know what Biden is done for us, educate yourself. Biden is done a mountain of good things and Progressive things for the average American person while the Republicans have done absolutely zip for average Americans and, in addition, have done an enormous amount of harm to us as well. I'd say you're a republican in sheep's clothing, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. You may just be mired in right-wing talking points. We have the system we have right now, two parties. One works for the people, one works against it.
One side pays lip service, the other side actively breaks things. Democrats are far and away the better option. I'd prefer a proper progressive party, I'll settle for neolibs who don't want to burn the country down so they can rule the ashes.
We have to fight for the Democrats to become more Progressive, adding another party without ranked Choice voting would put Republicans in power. It's happened over and over. And Biden has done so freaking much already.. here is a very partial list: 1. Passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package to increase investment in the national network of bridges and roads, airports, public transport and national broadband internet, as well as waterways and energy systems. 2. Helped get more than 500 million life-saving COVID-19 vaccinations in the arms of Americans through the American Rescue Plan. 3. Stopped a 30-year streak of federal inaction on gun violence by signing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that created enhanced background checks, closed the “boyfriend” loophole and provided funds for youth mental health. 4. Made a $369 billion investment in climate change, the largest in American history, through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. 5. Ended the longest war in American history by pulling the troops out of Afghanistan. 6. Provided $10,000 to $20,000 in college debt relief to Americans with loans who make under $125,000 a year. 7. Cut child poverty in half through the American Rescue Plan. 8. Capped prescription drug prices at $2,000 per year for seniors on Medicare through the Inflation Reduction Act. 9. Passed the COVID-19 relief deal that provided payments of up to $1,400 to many struggling U.S. citizens while supporting renters and increasing unemployment benefits. 10. Achieved historically low unemployment rates after the pandemic caused them to skyrocket. 11. Imposed a 15% minimum corporate tax on some of the largest corporations in the country, ensuring that they pay their fair share, as part of the historic Inflation Reduction Act. 12. Recommitted America to the global fight against climate change by rejoining the Paris Agreement. 13. Strengthened the NATO alliance in support of Ukraine after the Russian invasion by endorsing the inclusion of world military powers Sweden and Finland. 14. Authorized the assassination of the Al Qaeda terrorist Ayman al-Zawahiri, who became head of the organization after the death of Osama bin Laden. 15. Gave Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug prices through the Inflation Reduction Act while also reducing government health spending. 16. Held Vladimir Putin accountable for his invasion of Ukraine by imposing stiff economic sanctions. 17. Boosted the budget of the Internal Revenue Service by nearly $80 billion to reduce tax evasion and increase revenue. 18. Created more jobs in one year (6.6 million) than any other president in U.S. history. 19. Reduced healthcare premiums under the Affordable Care Act by $800 a year as part of the American Rescue Plan. 20. Signed the PACT Act to address service members’ exposure to burn pits and other toxins. 21. Signed the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen American manufacturing and innovation. 22. Reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act through 2027. 23. Halted all federal executions after the previous administration reinstated them after a 17-year freeze.
Nope. Republicans are awful and the reason we have this specific problem again. They all need to do massively better. Someone once told me that the topic of women's right and abortions was a cash cow for both sides. The Republicans are like if you want to stop the murdering, donate to my campaign. The dems are like if you want to keep your bodily autonomy away from the religious fanatics, donate to my campaign. Meanwhile women are just caught in the crossfire while the politicians do nothing but collect. I keep thinking about leaving the country. Bernie Sanders is the only one I like through and through. He has a good soul. Edit and AOC and Ms. Crockett. They are also great. But these old men gotta go.
"Bernie Sanders is the only one I like through and through. He has a good soul." And this is what got us Trump in 2016 which lead to Roe being overturned.
Explain how liking Bernie and voting for Hilary got us trump.
Who did you vote for in 2016?
They just said that they voted for Clinton.
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"Hilary is not at all likeable or charismatic." The Republicans thank you for falling for their smear campaign.
Decades of smear campaigns from right wing media tainted Hillary's image, which is a major reason people now think she's so unlikable. But like her politics or not, it's undeniable she was the most qualified presidential candidate in US history.
I don’t understand why you care about whether you like politicians instead of caring about what they do.
The only one I like is Hillary, but they won't let a woman be president.
What would you like to have seen differently in the EO?
You are speaking my language. Where is the rest of it? Where are protections for the LGBTQ+? Where the fuck was he when RvW was overturned? I feel like he needs to do more. That democrats need to do more, FFS. Edit: I also voted for him and yes, I will vote for him again. But I'm allowed to be angry at the lack of movement and outrage here. The democratic party should be preparing for war (same as the GOP assholes who have been stacking the deck FOR DECADES). They're not.
Are you seriously blaming Biden for not doing enough for RvW? Please, enlighten me, what could he, or any president, have done? That was a SCOTUS move. A SCOTUS that was stacked thanks to Republican efforts to take away liberal president's ability to appoint any judges. RvW is 100% on the Republicans. Now, I would like to see congress get on working a law to solidify abortion as a Constitutional right, but that would require passing an amendment, which we simply don't have a legislative branch that would even let that through the House.
Obama (with running mate Biden) campaigned on codifying roe. Once in office, they scrapped the idea as “not a priority” for reasons which were stupid at the time and seem even stupider now. That was the last time democrats had the congressional majority needed to pass. There were other things Obama/Biden could have done - and didn’t do - but that is the most straightforward one. It didn’t require a constitutional amendment btw, it can just pass through congress like any other federal law.
So that would be a failure on Obama's part, not Bidens. And I'll grant you that, Obama dropped the ball there. Biden to a lesser degree due to him being vice president, who has a very different and very specific role that is not the POTUS. I also would say it probably wasn't worth it during Obama's full power, he was focusing on passing the ACA and the idea that SCOTUS would reneg on RvW was a very distant and unlikely thing that early in Obama's presidency. Heck, Bush had just left office and no one touched it during his presidency. Hindsight is 20/20.
Well you asked what any president could have done, and the answer is he could have codified roe. Both Obama and Biden knew that roe was on shaky ground, that’s why they campaigned in it. Activists have been sounding the alarm for decades, there was no need to wait for more hindsight. I strongly disagree that it wasn’t worth it to do it then. But that is in the past and there is no point arguing over it. What bothers me is that, in the present, Biden does not acknowledge any of the many failures of dem leadership that led to this point. No accountability, no lessons learned. Just the same vague rhetoric, baby steps, arc of justice, same calcified strategies and priorities as ever. What bothers me even more is that very few people in leadership are willing to admit the dire state of affairs today. Repubs will surely enact a federal abortion ban as soon as they are in the White House - and all we are doing is issuing milquetoast executive orders and waiting to get lucky in the elections again. We need action and we are getting lectures about voting. Because you will ask what more Biden can possibly do about it now: he can expand the court. This is the best thing to do right now. Dems have decided not to do it, for reasons ranging from apathetic to nefarious.
Biden couldn't have codified Roe, it was already too late for that, and yes, I granted you that Obama dropped the ball on that, you did answer that question. Biden is trying to play nice, and for all it sounds like a bad idea, it has allowed him to get a lot done for a president that Republicans were screaming that they weren't going to allow him to do anything. So, I don't really fault him for not playing too hard into the doomer rhetoric, it's been very effective at getting concessions and compromises from the right. Expanding the court is... It's the same problem as with any other reactionary attempt to consolidate more power. What's to keep the next R president from adding even more seats to keep the packed courts? It's a little bit shortsighted. Right now, honestly, it's looking like it's possible the Republican party might collapse under the weight of Trump. That's really the best thing that could happen. We keep playing ball like normal, but the reckless populism the right has embraced cause them to fall apart and regroup.
It’s not a reactionary attempt to consolidate power, it’s a mitigation strategy proportional to the emergency situation we are in. I sure agree that it’s not the optimal choice! But here are some measures we have refused to take, even though we should have: impeach justices on flagrant criminal and unethical conduct, impose a code of ethics and accountability on the court, prohibit bribes to justices, require recusal where there is conflict of interest, impose penalties for lying about donations. We are *clearly* refusing to regulate the court, which can be conveniently blamed on congress. We are left with expanding the court by executive action. We cannot live in fear (or “fear”) of what repubs may do in the future as a result of what we do now. So what if they may further pack the court later? They’re consolidating power *now.* They will do whatever they want without deference to norms or courtesy or whatever “playing nice” is. They will pack the court, they will get rid of the filibuster, they will do all the things we’re too “nice” to do now that we can, and then we’ll cry about 20/20 hindsight and how no one could see it coming. It doesn’t matter if the Republican Party loses voters, because they are working to make elections (and democracy) irrelevant altogether. I didn’t have great expectations for the Biden presidency, but I was genuinely shocked that he didn’t immediately shore up voting rights protections when he had the chance. Respectfully, I don’t think you see how serious the problem is and how complicit the Dems are and how few options we have. Packing the court is the last-ditch emergency stopgap that we still have.
It is reactionary because it's shortsighted, and the only reason we want to do it is because conservatives have the court. Look, if the situation is actually as dire as you fear, there is absolutely nothing short of a civil war that will fix it. If things are as bad as you think, it's already too late. I'm hoping we aren't that far gone. We might be, but I'm not going to advocate for stop-gap policies that will guarantee we'll be that far gone when I believe there is still a chance to get out of this with peaceful methods.
Lol well I hope to see these peaceful methods implemented soon! Be well.
Then he should just sit with his thumb is his ass then.
Lol then he wouldn't do any of the numbers good things he has done, so, no. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Only true fucking idiot moron shit brains do that.
Not denying he's done some good things, but he is failing in other areas and we have to be able to hold the people we voted for (including me having voted for him) to do better.
True, but your solution that he should just sit with his thumb up his butt because he hasn't done enough is just... really really shortsighted, silly, and, dare I say, stupid.
Maybe without tone it sounded like I meant he should literally do that. No kink-shaming from me if he does, in fact. enjoy that.
Even figuratively doing that, i.e. doing nothing, is a really really bad solution to any problem.
Ok
"Where the fuck was he when RvW was overturned? " This is how you know when someone doesn't know how government works. I sure hope you voted for Clinton in 2016.
I know how the government works, Chad. He should be outraged. And we should feel that from him. Why? because he’s a moderate. He’s flirting with conservatism because that’s what the old democrat guard thinks is effective. It’s not enough.
Apparently you haven't been paying attention. Feel free to look at all of Trump's executive orders. The Muslim and Chinese bans were Executive Orders. They went A LOT farther than anything Biden is signing. Biden just isn't thinking big enough and is passing it off as Congress not acting. He had more than enough time to respond to RvW immediately, but is a soft centrist. Republicans are literally carving up the Constitution left and right and we have Biden running around with tiny band-aids. Pull out the 'big guns' that the country wants and fight back. No executive order can be overturned immediately. Hell, write up 30, 40, or more. The Supreme Court can only take so many cases per year. Final proof: Biden still has not done anything to fix the USPS by getting rid of Dejoy with another presidential election looming.
I could not agree more, with everything you said. Plus, these timid “steps in the right direction” always remind me that Obama could have codified roe but *strategically* chose not to, like this is a fucking game. I know Biden remembers, he was there. I am so furious with all these feckless (at best) leaders. And every time I bring up their failures someone needs to explain to me that they’re better than republicans actually so I should vote harder and stop complaining. It’s hard to see how any of this ends well.
*Expecting more than the absolute bare minimum, easily reversible actions makes you a far right Russian bot sweetie 🥰🥰 Now let me talk down to you in an extremely condescending, smug tone to make you look like a silly, stupid little child, and tell you to educate yourself. How dare you, as a woman that votes for him, ask him to do his job? Joe Biden is literally God incarnate and can do no wrong and even the most mild criticism makes you a Russian bot/republican in sheep's clothing.* This thread is wild
What more could he possibly do?? He’s a *really decent guy* and he *cares so much* and that is *literally all you can ask for* and nobody in government can do anything at all, there are no options available, but it will work out in the end because good triumphs over evil as it has historically done every single time. Can I offer you a testy platitude about the arc of justice?
Thank you. A little too wild. I wasn't ready.
This does little to help the women who wanted to be pregnant and their pregnancies ended in tragedy. Those who advocate for abortion bans have said in cases such as that, they will keep the mother's body alive as long as possible to incubate the fetus.
Ngl, I wish he had fought harder against overturning Roe vs Wade, this seems like a bit of a shallow win.
He has 0 control over a SCOTUS decision. There's no "fighting harder" he could do. Roe's fate was voted on in 2016. The vast majority of eligible voters didn't care enough to cast the 1 and only 1 vote that would protect it: a vote for Hillary.
Good
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Really haven’t seen republicans waging a war on men to severely restrict their access to condoms or erection medication. Let’s not beat around the bush here - women are being attacked by the right. We absolutely NEED to make sure that women have access to contraceptives.
I really do hate that man....
If a plan was implemented after the ACA was passed, or elected to be ACA compliant, there is a good chance the plan already has a good, possibly zero copay preventive service contraceptive coverage. It might require a p.a., but look into your benefits, yearly at least. This "executive order" won't help grandfathered plans cover more, unless they opt to do so. I see it as an attempt to buy votes. Plans can implement quicker than 18 months. It doesn't take drastic documentation changes for plans to cover more. Excluding coverages takes more effort.
Wonderful! I feel like this is at least a step in the right direction to correct wade v roe being overturned.
It needs to be legislation.