it is okay to criticize joe biden. we're going to need to do a lot of it in the next four years, so might as well get into practice.

he has always said a lot of stupid shit, and I suspect he will continue to do that. he's always been bad on lots of issues, and I suspect that will continue as well.
he is susceptible to pressure though. which is a reason to pressure him.
he's sort of going to end up as one of the greatest presidents ever or as a disaster at this point, given the nightmare hole he's got to crawl out of. so...hopefully people will point out when he's fucking up or we're all fucked.
Clyburne and Schumer have already said his 10k student debt plan is weak tea and he should do better. and they're right! hopefully he will listen and not be a dope.
honestly Schumer has been a huge and pleasant surprise since the virus hit. he's been mostly way to the left of where I thought he'd be. sometimes to Pelosi's left, which is pretty weird if you know they're records.
he's also been working closely with sanders, it looks like.
and now he appears to be pushing Biden to toss the hope for getting republican help and just ram a bill through with reconciliation. a bigger bill, I think, since he wants to include a ton of money for infrastructure.
anyway; "we can't criticize biden because fascists" is a bad argument because one of the thing we need to hold him accountable for is fighting fascists!
lack of accountability doesn't in fact produce good government, and if you doubted that I'd take a look at the last four years.
as I've said, Biden's initial appointments and the aid package are better than I'd expected. but there's no reason not to talk about the ways it could be better!

More from Biden

Biden clearly should not do #1. The problem with #2 is that reconciliation delays the inevitable and creates a tiered system where issues that happen to be ineligible - like civil rights and democracy reform - are relegated to second-class status and left to die by filibuster.


This👇is the danger. By using reconciliation you’re conceding the point that major legislation deserves to pass by majority vote, but only certain kinds for arbitrary reasons. Plus the process itself is opaque and ugly. You risk laying a logistical & political trap for yourself.


All the “here’s what you can do through reconciliation” takes are correct but also look through the wrong end of the telescope. Any of the items mentioned, or a small number of them, would be relatively easy. But putting them all together in one leadership-driven mega package...

... with no committee involvement and no real oversight, enduring tough press for jamming a massive package through a close process and stories about lobbyist giveaways while dodging the adverse parliamentary rulings that are virtually inevitable and still maintaining 50 votes...

It’s possible! Maybe the mega-ness of the package ends up helping hold 50 votes. But the ugliness of the process is being underpriced. And to what end? You’re just delaying the inevitable since you can’t use it for civil rights nor can you allow civil rights to die by filibuster.
Today's Twitter threads (a Twitter thread).

Inside: 20 years a blogger; Will Biden bust trusts?; and more!

Archived at: https://t.co/8eRWqssqXf

#Pluralistic

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20 years a blogger: Reflections on a lifetime of reflecting.

https://t.co/XyvbPirvhE

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Will Biden bust trusts?: Obama's third term would be a disaster for antitrust.

https://t.co/FMc798VhI0

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#10yrsago Disney World’s awful Tiki Room catches fire https://t.co/exhhsaAnzD;

#10yrsago Disney World’s awful Tiki Room catches fire https://t.co/6t7jy4xIRt

#10yrsago Interview with hacker anthropologist Biella Coleman https://t.co/uf1wSr4X4L

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#5yrsago Income inequality makes the 1% sad, too https://t.co/DYzjE2uRFz

#1yrago The bubbles in VR, cryptocurrency and machine learning are all part of the parallel computing bubble https://t.co/qWZmB7u1sD

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