Biden Presidency

[ulukinatme]

Ouch
[TWEET]https://twitter.com/ArtValley818_/status/1395055489793380360?s=19[/TWEET]

 

[Bishop2b5]

Yikes! That was sad/pathetic/funny!? Biden raises awkwardness and just generally being a witless dolt to new levels.

 

[NorthDakota]

Been another tough week on Grandpa Joe lol

 

[drayer54]

Been another tough week on Grandpa Joe lol

The Dems have hinted at shifts in their views towards Israel in the last few years. Iowa Democrat Axne speaking at the J Street group started a trend of more open anti-Israel sentiment. Obviously, Ilhan Omar and the likes have their opinions. Biden having to manage a party at odds over Israel in this conflict is interesting. I'm sure Netanyahu is going to grin at Biden and do what he wants, and he should.

 

[ulukinatme]

I think the anti-Israel sentiment among the Democrats has been going on longer than since the Squad came around. They weren't happy when Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and there was rumblings long before that. It honestly puzzles me that most Jewish voters are very blue...in fact they haven't supported a Conservative since 1920 and it hasn't been close since other than Reagan. It's honestly all puzzling when Israel is a big ally and Palestine allows Hamas to control the country and raise their kids with terrorist kid shows to push their propaganda.

 

[Irish#1]

“quiet, relentless diplomacy”.......Made me chuckle


A radical change’: America’s new generation of pro-Palestinian voices

Progressive coalition could be become counterweight to pro-Israeli traditions of Democratic party. It just so happened that Joe Biden was due to visit Detroit, home to the biggest Arab American community in the country, at the height of the latest upsurge in Israeli-Palestinian violence.

The sight of the presidential motorcade on Tuesday passing through a protest bedecked with Palestinian flags – and of Biden himself in heated discussion with Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian woman to be elected to Congress, on the Detroit airport tarmac – vividly illustrated the rapid shifts underway in US politics.

Welcoming Friday’s ceasefire, Biden said he would continue what he called his “quiet, relentless diplomacy”. But his emphasis through 11 days of bombs, rockets and bloodshed, on Israel’s right to self-defence, his refusal to demand a ceasefire or to join a UN security council statement to that effect, have exacted a political cost in the very constituency that was decisive in getting him elected.

Biden’s meek stance on Gaza ceasefire does little to quell progressive ire

Read more
In many ways, Biden was following a well-trodden path for US presidents, but the political downside of doing so is much greater now than it would have been just a few years ago, before a new generation of Democrats such as Tlaib arrived in Congress, and before the Black Lives Matter campaign made common cause with the Palestinians.

The same broad coalition that saved Biden’s primary campaign and helped get him across the line in November, could now become a powerful counterweight to the pro-Israeli traditions of the Democratic party.

“We’re in a moment of profound flux in society in general and things are moving very, very quickly and sometimes it takes moments like these to see how far things have shifted,” said Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist, formerly Detroit’s former health director and candidate for governor, who addressed the protesters in Michigan on Tuesday.

“Joe Biden has, throughout his political history, been very, very good at reading the changes in temperature that occur, and I hope that he registers the fact that the base has also moved on this issue.”

Also in the crowd on Tuesday was Reuben Telushkin, a Black Jewish activist who is national organiser for Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP). He said the Black Lives Matter movement has reinforced an alliance between Palestinians and African Americans.

“People were connecting in the streets, connecting online and so pre-existing solidarities were deepening, but also average, maybe more apathetic folks, were being politicised,” Telushkin said.

He pointed to the impact of protests in Ferguson in 2014, when it was discovered the same US-made tear gas canisters were being used on Black American demonstrators in Missouri and against Palestinians on the West Bank.

“Palestinians were demonstrating their solidarity by sending tweets to the protesters in Ferguson about how to treat tear gas,” Telushkin said. “So it was a really material link.”

A new vocabulary has entered the US debate on Israel and Palestine, particularly since Human Rights Watch published a report last month that described the status quo as apartheid, a description that echoed on the floor of the House of Representatives and on MSNBC by presenter Ali Velshi.

“That is a radical change. Normally you’d be at risk of losing your job if you spoke up for Palestinian human rights,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the deputy executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The models Bella and Gigi Hadid, whose father was born in Palestine, used their social media platforms, with a combined following of 108 million, to highlight the plight of the people of Gaza and the West Bank.

“This political activism has been building for decades,” said Salih Booker, president of the Center for International Policy. “It’s hard to point to exactly what grain of sand has now been added to this side of the scales, but I think we’re approaching a new tipping point where the entire debate is being reframed.”

Beth Miller, government affairs manager for JVP Action, the group’s political advocacy arm, said: “This idea that you could be ‘progressive except for Palestine’ is falling apart, and people understand that now there is no such thing as ‘progressive except for Palestine’.”

US public sympathies are still mostly with the Israelis rather than the Palestinians. The ratio was 58% to 25% in a Gallup poll in March, but that still reflected a steady swing towards the Palestinians over recent years and the survey was taken before the most recent eruption of violence.

Similarly the centre of gravity in the Democratic party is still sympathetic towards Biden’s approach, but the direction of change is away from the reflexive support for Israel that has been the president’s hallmark throughout his long political career.

As a sign of things to come, progressives point to the ouster of the formerly powerful, pro-Israel chair of the House foreign affairs committee, Eliot Engel, by a political newcomer, Jamaal Bowman, in a Democratic primary last July. Bowman has since supported a bill that would regulate US military aid to Israel.

“The conversation has to change before the policy can change,” Mitchell said. “And right now we are seeing a radical change in the conversation surrounding Palestine.”

 

[Wild Bill]

Does anyone have a quick rundown of the new tax credit policy? A good article or whatever.

 

[PerthDomer]

I think the anti-Israel sentiment among the Democrats has been going on longer than since the Squad came around. They weren't happy when Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and there was rumblings long before that. It honestly puzzles me that most Jewish voters are very blue...in fact they haven't supported a Conservative since 1920 and it hasn't been close since other than Reagan. It's honestly all puzzling when Israel is a big ally and Palestine allows Hamas to control the country and raise their kids with terrorist kid shows to push their propaganda.

Israel's not the outmanned country surrounded by foes. They have allies in the arabs, military superiority, and the Palestinian situation sucks. Culturally Jewish people tend to be secular, educated, liberal philosophically etc. It makes sense they'd back a liberal party as long as it isn't directly hostile to Israel.

 

[NorthDakota]

Israel's not the outmanned country surrounded by foes. They have allies in the arabs, military superiority, and the Palestinian situation sucks. Culturally Jewish people tend to be secular, educated, liberal philosophically etc. It makes sense they'd back a liberal party as long as it isn't directly hostile to Israel.

Uhhhh.... they don't have Arab allies.

 

[PerthDomer]

Uhhhh.... they don't have Arab allies.

Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia are all basically allied w them. Iran's the threat and no one is saber rattling on their border any more outside of Iranians assets in Syria/Lebanon.

 

[drayer54]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/joshdcaplan/status/1396107307872890887?s=21[/TWEET]

I was reliably informed America was now respected around the world again.

 

[NorthDakota]

Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia are all basically allied w them. Iran's the threat and no one is saber rattling on their border any more outside of Iranians assets in Syria/Lebanon.

TIL that a country without diplomatic relations with Israel is "basically allied" with them.

I get that Israel isn't at the same risk of some regional Arabic invasion anymore, but the whole "oh they are allies with their neighbors" is just not true.

 

[drayer54]

Spot on piece from the WSJ-
Did Biden Peak on Inauguration Day?

Covid confusion, Mideast chaos and the threat of inflation—he doesn’t have many victories to point to.

During the Chicago Cubs’ long century of futility, the old joke was that every year they peaked on Opening Day. Is it too early to wonder if Joe Biden’s presidency did the same thing?

The inauguration promise to bring healing to a fractured nation didn’t last the short ride back down Pennsylvania Avenue on Jan. 20. But what of the real Biden project that was revealed once the festivities ended: the transformation of America into a land of equity and inclusion, one that Michelle Obama could finally be proud of, that Bernie Sanders could count as Cuba’s equal, and where LeBron James could feel safe and fairly rewarded

True, it’s no longer Opening Day, but we haven’t reached the All-Star break and already reality has bitten the geniuses in this White House harder than old Major the German shepherd did. Unlike Major, this fickle beast can’t be safely dispatched from the executive mansion and forgotten about. It has a painful way of telling you what happens when you construct an ideological dreamscape made up of impossible promises, implausible assertions and dishonest propositions.

Last week reminded us on multiple fronts that trying to govern on a prospectus of large claims at odds with the defiant reality is a perilous mission.

The sudden change in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s mask advice has undermined the administration’s claim to be governed at all times by data and facts. It has revealed to a wider audience what some of us knew all along: that pious claims about “following the science” were as flimsy as a cloth face covering. We’d been told for four months that vaccinations don’t necessarily protect against viral transmission. The CDC’s director warned a few weeks ago about “impending doom.” The president said “neanderthal thinking” drove governors to lift mandates. Suddenly, everything has changed—except for federal mask mandates, which officials began to ease only on Monday.

But with the Biden administration leading from behind, many states and businesses relaxed or abolished their mask rules. That prompted dismay by many of the president’s most loyal supporters. They took to TV studios and social media to bewail the betrayal. The mask had been the most joylessly visible way of signaling one’s virtue since sackcloth and ashes. Now it will be easier to tell the righteous from the deplorable, but millions will stray from the path of redemption.

The crisis in the Middle East is another unwelcome intrusion of reality into the wonder world of Democratic progressivism.

Leftist Democrats, whose demands the president has so dutifully followed so far, don’t like Israel. They see the Palestinian cause as an extension of the equity and racial-justice objectives they’re busy pursuing at home.

The dwindling reality-based community inside the Biden administration knows better and can’t yet abandon the logic that Israel has a right to defend itself from Hamas rockets. But with a progressive wing to please, an Iran deal back at the heart of their foreign-policy objectives, and an Israel-hostile international “community” to appease, they’re in a deepening hole that threatens their wider Middle East aspirations.

The most explosive collision with reality is in economics. It’s hard to recall a week of official data that more directly challenged the entire governing premise of a fledgling administration than what arrived in early May.

The sharp slowdown in job growth, uptick in unemployment, and biggest leap in retail prices in more than a decade was a reminder about the immutability of certain economic truths.

It was only a month’s worth of data; we’d need more evidence before declaring an emergency. But plenty of intelligent people have been warning that this could happen if you committed to multiple spending binges in an economy as unpredictably disrupted as the post-pandemic one.

Supply bottlenecks have been driving up prices, and with the economy reopening employers are desperate for workers. Being paid to stay home is proving to have predictable consequences for the availability of labor. All this may or may not be “transitory” as the Fed insists it is.

But perhaps most worrying and suggestive of stagflation is a growing mismatch between the pool of available labor and the demand for it. Companies have shed millions of jobs in the last year—and many improved their profitability. They will be slow to return to their old payrolls if they ever do. Demographic trends are also stagflationary—with fewer working-age Americans available to support the growing proportion of the population less likely to work.

 

[ulukinatme]

Spot on piece from the WSJ-
Did Biden Peak on Inauguration Day?

Covid confusion, Mideast chaos and the threat of inflation—he doesn’t have many victories to point to.

Inflation is a nothing burger! I have it on good authority by "Circle Back" Jen and our Canadian friend that there is nothing to fear from inflation, despite left leaning WaPo and NYT both posting a number of articles saying otherwise recently.

 

[Irish#1]

Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia are all basically allied w them. Iran's the threat and no one is saber rattling on their border any more outside of Iranians assets in Syria/Lebanon.

No, they just tolerate each other because they don't want a war.

 

[Irish#1]

Spot on piece from the WSJ-
Did Biden Peak on Inauguration Day?

Covid confusion, Mideast chaos and the threat of inflation—he doesn’t have many victories to point to.

Didn't expect anything like that from the WSJ. Everything will be fine. After all, CNN did write an article supporting Mrs. Biden and her style of clothes.

 

[drayer54]

Didn't expect anything like that from the WSJ. Everything will be fine. After all, CNN did write an article supporting Mrs. Biden and her style of clothes.

Journalists are busy right now. Half are still fawning over the Bidens and writing admiration stories while the other half is 15 months behind Sen. Tom Cotton on the Wuhan Lab origins and shifting from "Fact-Checking" Republicans to "suddenly" recognizing they may have been right.

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/GlennKesslerWP/status/1256267931220049920?s=20[/TWEET] Journalism. Is. Dead.

 

[Wild Bill]

No, they just tolerate each other because they don't want a war.

Maybe it has something to do with the billions of dollars in aid and weapons we give them. It's almost like our tax dollars are being used to bribe the ruling class of these ME nations so they agree to play nice with Israel. Meanwhile, we're broke.

 

[Irish#1]

Maybe it has something to do with the billions of dollars in aid and weapons we give them. It's almost like our tax dollars are being used to bribe the ruling class of these ME nations so they agree to play nice with Israel. Meanwhile, we're broke.

That's pretty much what I meant by tolerate each other. lol We can't be broke. Joe wants to spend over a trillion.

 

[ulukinatme]

Oops. This goes in the bucket with the promise recently walked back on student loan debt. Vote for me!

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/BidenLs/status/1397172744983355395[/TWEET]

 

[ulukinatme]

Journalists are busy right now. Half are still fawning over the Bidens and writing admiration stories while the other half is 15 months behind Sen. Tom Cotton on the Wuhan Lab origins and shifting from "Fact-Checking" Republicans to "suddenly" recognizing they may have been right.

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/GlennKesslerWP/status/1256267931220049920?s=20[/TWEET] Journalism. Is. Dead.

Remember when Romney was asked who our greatest geopolitical foe was, he replied Russia, and the left all laughed? Always two steps behind on the important stuff. Turns out Trump was right on a lot of stuff too like border security, but damn those mean Tweets!

 

[drayer54]

Oops. This goes in the bucket with the promise recently walked back on student loan debt. Vote for me!

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/BidenLs/status/1397172744983355395[/TWEET]

That reminds me of the Pipefitter Union that spent money pushing Biden and then turned around and shed members week 1 after his Exec Orders. Whoops.



Demand for homes has prices soaring across sizzling U.S. market

America’s housing market has grown so overheated as demand outpaces supply that prices keep hitting record highs — and roughly half of all U.S. houses are now selling above their list price.

Two years ago, before the pandemic struck, just a quarter of homes were selling above the sellers’ asking price, according to data from the real estate brokerage Redfin.

On Tuesday, new data further illuminated the red-hot nature of the housing market: Prices rose in March at the fastest pace in more than seven years. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index jumped 13.3% that month compared with a year earlier — the biggest such gain since December 2013. That price surge followed a 12% year-over-year jump in February.

While I do like watching my neighbors get 50k over ask on the first day with waived inspections and guaranteed cash over appraisal, this isn't sustainable. We're going to need those basic income checks from J-Powell and Joe soon just to maintain our standard of living. I've been looking at summer vacations lately too and that sure isn't going to be cheap.

 

[Irish#1]

While I do like watching my neighbors get 50k over ask on the first day with waived inspections and guaranteed cash over appraisal, this isn't sustainable. We're going to need those basic income checks from J-Powell and Joe soon just to maintain our standard of living. I've been looking at summer vacations lately too and that sure isn't going to be cheap.

It has to crash eventually. The price of lumber has driven up the costs of new homes that even paying over market value for an existing home is still better than building new. I stopped at Lowes to grab a 2 X 4 the other day. The price was over $5 for a single board.

 

[PerthDomer]

It has to crash eventually. The price of lumber has driven up the costs of new homes that even paying over market value for an existing home is still better than building new. I stopped at Lowes to grab a 2 X 4 the other day. The price was over $5 for a single board.

You have a lot of millenial renters trying to become home owners. The demand for renting has gone down as the demand for housing has gone up. This has led to increased home building and such. At some point the market will rebalance.

 

[Wild Bill]

You have a lot of millenial renters trying to become home owners. The demand for renting has gone down as the demand for housing has gone up. This has led to increased home building and such. At some point the market will rebalance.

This may be true in some areas but I've seen an increase in demand, a decrease in supply, or maybe both, with respect to rentals. I've rented three places out within the past year - I rented a one bedroom and I had a line of 20 people or so waiting to see the place. I rented it for 15% more than I originally anticipated. I increased rent on a 4 bed by a little more than 15% and a three bed by 20% without an issue. Prices have been stagnant for years so the increases are relatively dramatic.

I would wait to buy a vacation house. Prices tank as soon as there is any downward pressure on the market/economy.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

You have a lot of millenial renters trying to become home owners. The demand for renting has gone down as the demand for housing has gone up. This has led to increased home building and such. At some point the market will rebalance.

My fiance and I are in that group. Been actively looking for 6 months and there's a lot of stupid money being thrown around for homes. We only offered on one house, offered $20k over asking and it sold for $35k over asking. House wasn't worth that number but it's happening every day. Not sure what's worse...burning money in rent every month or grossly overspending on the house/ mortgage.

 

[ulukinatme]

 

[GowerND11]

My fiance and I are in that group. Been actively looking for 6 months and there's a lot of stupid money being thrown around for homes. We only offered on one house, offered $20k over asking and it sold for $35k over asking. House wasn't worth that number but it's happening every day. Not sure what's worse...burning money in rent every month or grossly overspending on the house/ mortgage.

I keep telling my fiance how lucky we were to buy our house in the summer of '19 because of what's going on. My best friend's brother just told me about how much of a struggle it is for him and his wife. They've bid on about 4/5 houses so far in the Lehigh Valley here in PA. Houses that are 300K+, very beautiful affluent area. They've been outbid each time by 20-40K with CASH offers. Apparently, a lot of people are coming to that area from NY and NJ, selling their houses for 500-600K and moving to the "less expensive" Pennsylvania.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

I keep telling my fiance how lucky we were to buy our house in the summer of '19 because of what's going on. My best friend's brother just told me about how much of a struggle it is for him and his wife. They've bid on about 4/5 houses so far in the Lehigh Valley here in PA. Houses that are 300K+, very beautiful affluent area. They've been outbid each time by 20-40K with CASH offers. Apparently, a lot of people are coming to that area from NY and NJ, selling their houses for 500-600K and moving to the "less expensive" Pennsylvania.

Spot on. New Yorkers ruin everything, even other states they go to haha

 

[Irish#1]

You have a lot of millenial renters trying to become home owners. The demand for renting has gone down as the demand for housing has gone up. This has led to increased home building and such. At some point the market will rebalance.

In Indy it's both. They're building apartment buildings downtown like crazy. Within two miles from my house five subdivisions (1,100 homes) are going up. The streets out here are still narrow country roads with telephone poles right up against the road. The schools and infrastructure aren't ready for it. Zoning commission recommended the plans be denied, but the city county approved them. Said it was going to happen sooner or later so it might as well be now. Tax revenue baby.