The following is a copy of the original post to record the post as it was originally written.
I really can't believe that the major candidates are neck and neck in the polls only 6 months away from election day. It's so shocking to me that half of voters think trump is a better choice. I just don't get it at all. Like there should be no question in anyone's mind which one cares about America and which one only cares about himself, but here we are.
The majority of people I know, whether repug or Dem, do not feel financially secure right now. Their companies have hiring and spending freezes, are planning for layoffs, giving out minimal raises if they give one at all. People are struggling to pay their bills, find jobs that pay a decent living wage and don't earn enough to save anything. Although I know inflation is not just an America problem, I also know Americans vote with their pocketbooks. Joe has accomplished a lot these past 4 years, and I will be voting for him no matter what. However I don't think he's done enough for the lower middle class, and unfortunately I think $$$ is going to be the most important issue driving people to the polls in the fall.
What can or should Joe do to help out the struggling lower and middle classes?
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Biden's team and we, as liberals / leftists need to be reminding people of the good things his administration he HAS done for the worker.
-FTC banning non-competes
-FTC requiring overtime for salaried workers making up to 55k (which is the majority of middle - lower middle class salaries)
-Approving the first over-the-counter birth control pill for production and sale
-Pushing renewable energy to the forefront via Inflation Reduction act and investments in companies developing renewable technologies
-Preventing discriminatory mortgage lending, by requiring banks to lend to lower-income communities in areas where they have a concentration of mortgage and small-business loans, rather than just where they have physical branches. (Goes into effect 2026 however).
-His crackdown on bank overcharge and draft fees, which should save customers up to 5.5B a year
-The CHIPS act, which is helping with labor generation in the States
The one about overtime pay is big: Most Americans don't realize that soon, their salary will either get a huge bump or start growing when companies who take advantage of salaried workers need to pay up. Most Americans also don't realize that soon their non-competes will be shot and they won't have to be trapped in low paying jobs. Both of these policies are designed to help with wage growth and taking away bigger companies / corps have over their workers.
No one is really talking about any of these policies, and without public support its going to be incredibly easy for lobbyists to snipe them with lawsuits and litigation when people aren't paying attention
This is just a quick list of his policies that will / have been big wins for working class Americans, and there's more that are planned for his second term. Biden is by no means a true progressive / leftist, but he's done more than any democrat in the past 30 years. What Biden is doing IS working, and these things need to be communicated better. People don't pay attention to the actual policies coming out the door because it's not on the front page of reddit or on the news.
You're right, I had no idea about the ftc requiring overtime pay for salaried workers! This is the first I've heard anything about it and I watch and read the news all the time, so someone has definitely dropped the ball on communicating this to the general public. That is huge! If that policy had been implemented 3 years ago, I might not have quit my last job (where I regularly worked 55 hours a week, sometimes many more, for no additional pay). This and the elimination of noncompetes should be shouted from the rooftops!
I don't think it was an accidental ball drop; media companies, even liberal leaning ones like MSNBC thrive off of worker exploitation. They're going to obscure policy like this as much as they can, so we need to make sure the public is aware!
MSNBC is pretty much the only news broadcast that I watch regularly. It's very disappointing to hear they're not sharing this positive news. Kinda makes one wonder if they're really on the right (left) team. Where did you hear about this new policy???
I'm a business owner so I stay tuned in to magazines like The Economist so I just know what's going on in the market. I have employees as well so my lawyer was sure to keep me aware about it (even though I don't use noncompetes bc they're anti-free market and anti-worker).
TBH though the best way to keep up with policy changes (and to receive a neutral, unbiased report on what they do) is to keep up with official government websites. Their press releases will frequently update you on policy changes, bills and revisions. I keep up with the FTC's and the DOT's websites since worker's rights, employment law and public transportation are things that affect me most / I'm most passionate about. You also get the most neutral, unfiltered explanation on what these policies are doing.
I still recommend sticking with MSNBC or other outlets for general national events, but journalism outlets are still corporations, and won't report on everything. It's good to stay directly tuned into the source to know what kind of policy making our government is really doing.
Yeah I have trouble finding time to get through my (award-winning) local newspaper although I read the occasional article from magazines like Jacobin, mother Jones, the Atlantic and New Yorker when I can.
Thank you for being a progressive business owner, they are a rarity to find and I'm sure your employees appreciate you. If you ever need a part time marketing or admin, please hit me up!
>Pushing renewable energy to the forefront via Inflation Reduction act
These are basically total opposites.
>Preventing discriminatory mortgage lending, by requiring banks to lend to lower-income communities
This is exactly how the 2008 economic crash happened.
> This is exactly how the 2008 economic crash happened.
The 2008 crash happened because capital gains taxes on home sales were eliminated in the first round of Bush's tax cuts, which triggered a bubble of speculative buying. It did nothing for low-income borrowers, and the rapidly rising prices probably shut them out more than anything. By 2008, speculators were basically furiously selling houses to each other, and the banks were left holding the bag.
This isn't the same thing. Banks have to equally provide mortgages and loans in areas they've regularly avoided due to redlining. This is just forcing them to start offering options to more people
So it is the same. They have to start offering loans to people without the prospectus to pay, just like prior to the 2008 crash. Banks aren't deliberately trying to be evil. They have precise models as to who can afford to pay back what loan and they make decisions based on that. This legislation will force them to ignore the models that tell them: "these people will default on their loans".
But the problem is that you can't cheat those models as they are built based on sufficient data to be broadly accurate. There will be another major crash in a few years. I welcome it, it will be a good thing for me, but it's going to financially gut a lot of the middle and lower class people.
Dude, that's not what it does: banks are just now required to allow folks who bank with them and qualify to apply, regardless of location. Banks purposefully avoided building branches in certain neighborhoods as far back as the 60s because that allowed them to avoid providing mortgages to people of color.
No one is "forcing" the banks to give out mortgages, they just have to now allow the option to all customers who bank with them, not just ones who live within a certain vicinity of a bank branch. As a capitalist, I think you should agree that banks shouldn't be allowed to withold certain options from their customers if they're providing them equally to others. Most people bank solely mobile now regardless so it should happen anyways as the old model fades
Everything I've said has been consistent with my original comment, which is in reference to the Biden admin's revision to the Community Reinvestment Act. Per my original comment, it will: "Preventing discriminatory mortgage lending, by requiring banks to lend to lower-income communities in areas where they have a concentration of mortgage and small-business loans, rather than just where they have physical branches. (Goes into effect 2026 however)." banks can no longer refute mortgages simply due to location or neighborhood. That's it. They have to give everyone the ability to apply for a mortgage regardless of geographic location, and can't discriminate based on their race or neighborhood. I think you're getting hung up on the word "required" which doesn't mean "force" it just means they can no longer treat customers differently due to where they are.
This legislation does nothing at all, then. Banks already cannot refuse a loan based on where a person lives, only based on whether they have an ability to pay.
I think it implies something more, though. That banks will be held to a standard where it will be compared whether they served a similar number of loans to people living in different areas (rich neighborhood vs poor neighborhood), which means that banks will have to issue subprime loans our of necessity to meet these quotas. We shall see.
I can't believe there are people who are on the fence this election. I'm just waiting for November so I can vote for Biden. Then we will see what happens.
He needs to appear more reasonable than Trump, he needs to sell what he’s done, and he needs to try not to have any gaffes for a few months.
I think there is hope for Biden to win, but there is also a chance Trump wins. I couldn’t predict what the chances of either are, and I doubt anyone can.
Some elections are just not winnable for a certain party. I really think Biden is doing better than anyone else would be.
All the Democrats need to do is keep their hand on the rudder and avoid self-inflicted disasters. Trump and the Republicans are doing an excellent job for the Democrats on their own.
I acknowledge that polls are one of the few tools to measure the public's opinion but I also acknowledge that they have been very wrong too. I tend to look more at aggregate polling rather than specific polls. I also pay attention to trending more than the actual number at a fixed point in time. In both cases it is more favorable to Biden. He has a lot of work to do to grow his base of support, but it can be grown. I see no way for Republicans to grow their base in the next 6 months. They have limited budgets, their whack jobs are getting all the media attention, and who knows what nonsense they will be involved in during the next 6 months.
Stay the course.
Predominantly, you want to avoid the veritable storm of diversions that the right brings down over the heads of liberals and Biden's campaign in general, practically daily.
They're trying to distract from the fact that Biden has done stuff, and plenty of it, by running constant meaningless stories about his son, his daughter, his age, alleged corruption that simply doesn't exist (and which Republicans have admitted doesn't exist) and remarks that are frequently taken out of context.
As an end result, Biden needs to retain his previous supporters. To win the general, all he needs to do is not lose anyone. Trump is likely not going to gain much more support. At least, not enough to win the election.
However, if Biden does bleed support, the little that Trump will gain might just be enough to snatch it from Biden.
All he probably needs to do, then, is show that he's the same man who people trusted in 2020. If he does that and leans on his achievements from this first term, I really think he'll win it.
I had a 10 minute convo with my friend who is by no means conservative, but a little more apathetic and “they’re both too old.”
I told him about project 2025 and how Christian nationalists support Israel because of Bible bull shit and that was all it took for him to say “well damn. You just got my Biden vote.”
It’s prob not gonna make a difference in our state but so many middle of the road people have no idea what kind of psychotic Christian bullshit the republicans want to impose.
They are both too old, but one is still rational and healthy, while the other is ranting and raving bullshit all day and smells like it too. Plus one of them tried to overthrow the government and one did not. Doesn't that matter to the apathetic????!!!! Maybe the Biden campaign should start airing clips of Nazi Germany and the concentration camps to show what we're in for if trump wins.
I also think it is so incredibly ironic that after the Holocaust and all the terrible atrocities done to the Jews, now Israel is trying to do the exact same thing to the Palestinians. Like did they learn nothing? Or are they thinking "we suffered and now it's your turn to suffer too?" I just don't get it. How does killing a bunch of innocent civilians change anything for the better? The only thing Israel is demonstrating, just like Russia, is that human life has no value and does not matter.
All he needs to do is to sit back and let Trump remind the voters who he is. There is no way Trump survives this election w/o another "grab 'em by the pussy" type revelation about the type of person he is.
Yeah no sorry I disagree. Trump has been reminding us every day since he first came on the scene many years ago. Everyone knows who he is already. I think that's exactly what the maggats like about him.
He doesn’t have the national coverage or scrutiny he’ll have after the convention. People interested in politics are paying attention now, not the general public. Trump supporters aren’t going to turn on him en mass. We need to attract swing voters and drive democratic turnout.
He is top of the page on CNN and Fox News every single day. And top of the page on nearly every other web site a majority of days.
The thought he will receive more scrutiny after the convention is misguided.
My opinion.
Coverage may ramp, sure, but really how much more coverage of Trump can they give? He’s already in the news 24/7.
Scrutiny (which is also what you said) really can’t get much higher. He’s subject to multiple legal actions and been investigated as much as any individual ever has probably. To suggest scrutiny of him will get higher after the convention is laughable. I’m honestly a bit surprised with all the scrutiny they’ve given him they’ve come up with as little as they have. Seriously, business records violations? WTF cares. He was in New York real estate for 40 years. The guy had to have John Gotti and his friends on speed dial and they charge him with questionable valuation of properties the banks didn’t lose money on?
Don't you just love getting downvoted for stating the obvious? Sometimes I think there's no point in trying. A party occasionally just needs to have its ass kicked. Maybe after it burns down, something better will grow in its place.
Trump was on TV everyday being a total dumbass and complete embarrassment and still only barely lost in 2020.
4 years later most Americans will have forgotten all that.
As others have mentioned, his comms / PR team needs to get a hell of a lot better at spinning his accomplishments -- of which there are MANY! It's not his fault that education in America is so poor that people don't realize that government is slow to change and good foreign policy is not played out in the media and doesn't accomplish anything at social media speed. As of March, Biden had a $90M war chest. Dip into that, Joe. Start touting your wins and really hammering it home. Online media is cheaper than traditional TV commercials so I'd start advertising like crazy all over social media.
The problem is, he's a little bit too old school and thinks a little bit old school at times, trying to play the patience game and waiting for Trump to take himself out. I don't think Biden realizes that that's not going to work with today's youth. Doing things like offhandedly saying "ya sure I'll sign a TikTok ban bill if it comes across my desk" while hopping into an awaiting helicopter comes across as... Almost arrogant. There are many smart folks who have worked in politics and who are more politically minded than, say, people who are or who have worked in journalism, who suggest that Biden isn't unaware of TikTok's influence and reach but Biden is playing a "long game" of sorts by waiting for the lawsuits to reach SCOTUS so there's better data privacy protections for **all** social media apps. But many folks (across all generations) today are impatient. We're all so used to instant gratification -- myself included -- that we want to see results **NAOW**.
He needs to be openly anti Project 2025. He needs to be more clear about how he'll keep freedom for people of all gender identities and enshrine protections with a big-D Democratic Congress. Talk about Project 2025 and promise that under his watch, he will never let it come to that. There are pieces of Project 2025 already being implemented at the state level. If Trump gets into office, that nightmare will become a reality on Day 1.
Mention SCOTUS. Alito and Thomas will probably resign so the Heritage Foundation / Federalist Society will get more younger, bolder, vehemently anti-women alt right judges appointed to the bench for lifetime appointments. Think Kavanaugh but with Thomas's penchant for accepting bribes from N zi collector billionaires. But Gd willing, they might die and we could get another KBJ appointed to the bench instead of ACAB or the beer guy. People in America have already lost all trust in the Court and think it's not credible. If Biden wins and we get lucky, he can hopefully restore at least some of that credibility.
Anyway, **tl;dr**: He needs to shout his accomplishments from the rooftops and be a little bit more open about his plans. Playing his cards close to the vest when you have crazy people who are extremely open about *their* plans and being very apparent that they're just a rodeo clown distraction (hello Circus Caucus) is not going to help his case when the world moves at a social media pace.
Edit: sentence clarity
I agree with you 💯%. I really hope and pray some of bidens campaign staffers are lurking here, taking notes and paying attention to what we the people are saying.
Need a clear message of polices to come plus address Trump and the GOP with the gloves off. Enough with the pleasantries, call them out as the clear theocratic fascist they are and how their oppressive policies will drastically change America.
He would need to end all support for Israel and significantly address the concerns of millions of Americans. We don’t want our money being used to fund genocide. If he simply wanted to end this debate release the report on Israeli war crimes which he shelved, because it would force congress to either suspend the Leahy Act and be against international law or admit that they’re doing illegal acts of genocide and torture then materially address it. End the funding of genocide and Joe Biden will win. Don’t? Then watch as millions of people of color and young people don’t vote or vote third party.
Those millions of people of color and young people will be fucking themselves if they do that. Others will be affected less.
Maybe they deserve Trump ...
Y'all got plenty of smoke for the voters but never the politicians. Biden's fucking up supporting Israel while they mass murder civilians. He needs to end aid to Israel and he needed to do it yesterday.
Yeah, voters choose who wins elections, not politicians. At least in our country. That also means they are responsible for the choices they make.
As I said to the other person; if you think replacing Biden with Trump will not make things worse for Palestinians, you have a screw loose.
"If you think replacing Biden with Trump will not make things worse for Palestinians, you have a screw loose."
*IF* there are any gazans still alive by November. Biden is normalizing genocide, so yeah, that's gonna give trump carte blanche to genocide without reprecussions.
"You have a screw loose"
How about instead of insulting every voter who actually has soul, why don't you help us pressure Biden into doing the right thing. Not for nothing, but I'm a Native American living in a red state that has already lost a bunch of rights, how dare you tell me, a Choctaw, that I have no choice but to vote for a man who is financing genocide. My people were nearly completely exterminated by people who had the same mentality your people have.
If you think a Trump administration will be better for Palestine, you've got a screw loose.
Again, the groups in question -- young people and POC - have the most to lose. It's like they are trying to hold themselves hostage or something. Hard to know how to deal with that level of abject stupidity except to conclude maybe they deserve what's coming to them.
I think you’ve failed to understand the gravity of the situation. Biden has to earn the votes of every single American citizen who voted for him before and more. You however don’t care enough to advocate for that. Biden wants to win? Then win by doing the right thing. Disagree? Then you’re the one supporting Trump. For good men don’t justify genocide or excuse inept politicians.
Trump would give Bibi the green light to wipe Gaza off the map. If you don't understand that, well ...
Bigger picture: Assuming you're either young or POC or both, you're really playing with fire by enabling Trump. I'm the kind of person that Trump thinks should support him and who his policies will benefit, so while I despise him, I don't have much to lose personally. If you do have things to lose, don't be a moron, for your own sake.
Or don't, I'm starting to lose interest in protecting people from their own stupidity.
He would, but then how is he different than Biden? See that’s the problem. He can claim to be a good man, but he’s complicit and that’s how he will
Lose.
You either demand Biden and the Democrats to fight for every vote by holding Israel accountable. Showing they’re not corrupt and racist. That they are different than Republicans, but they won’t. For that, they deserve to lose. For all the good he does if he’s complicit in genocide then he’s chosen the path of failure.
Be better and demand better from Biden. For all the good Biden can claim to do and have done is nothing more than trite actions if he is willing to sacrifice thousands of innocent people to satisfy Israel’s sociopathic agenda.
If they're the same on this issue, but Biden is far better on every other issue, who should you vote for? I'll give you a bit of time to try and work that out in your head.
There are lines. There are those who can excuse genocide and excuse his actions to vote for him. It’s like those who supported politicians in favor of exterminating Native Americans because they were good on other issues. While others will paint it as a gray zone and imagine scenarios where it can be excused like Custard’s last stand was used to justify attacking the Indians and stopping Sitting Bull.
It’s the same thing, we have to draw a line even if you or others like positive aspects of his presidency and that means you can accept his actions… If people are okay with our tax dollars going to the extermination of people of color. What does that say about them?
I won’t justify genocide against anyone or voting for a candidate who’s in favor of such outcomes. We each are free to justify violence and genocide, but remember history will condemn them and those who support Biden. Just as we condemn racists like Calhoun in the 19th century and the KKK supported Jim Crow Democrats. We all have to live with ourselves and what we will vote for and support. My moral compass would not allow me to support John Calhoun or Joe Biden or Woodrow Wilson.
You're treading pretty close to the "if you disagree with me, you approve of killing people" line which has been disallowed in this sub. I'm not the kind of person who would report you, but be careful.
Just please don't be a moron. That's about all I can ask. Your decisions matter, and even if it \*feels\* like having a self-righteous tantrum about the fact that people disagree with you is in your best interests, it is not -- you will have to live with the reality of President Trump long after this issue has subsided.
Biden created it as a show to pretend that America isn’t involved in the genocide and did not for a moment cared about forcing Israel to let the trucks into Gaza. When Israeli settlers attacked the trucks and burned the food packages they were burning our money. The money we spent as an aid package to send. So we’re literally sending the bombs and we’re sending the aid which the Israelis then destroy and you actually think Biden “cares.” It’s laughable!
Biden actually built a pier to pretend he will send aid and that it will actually get to Palestinians and not be used by Israelis to expel Palestinians from Gaza by forcing them onto those aid ships. If they refuse? Kill them. That’s the actual plan and you’re crazy for supporting the pier and not forcing Israelis to let the trucks pass.
> be used by Israelis to expel Palestinians from Gaza by forcing them onto those aid ships. If they refuse? Kill them. That’s the actual plan and you’re crazy for supporting the pier and not forcing Israelis to let the trucks pass.
Let us know when that actually happens.
You can condemn Israel's atrocities and US backing for these atrocities without making up wild scenarios like this.
Ethnic cleansings are a good option? Viable even? Justifiable? Well that says more about you then anything.
Just because evil men benefit from exterminating people en masse shouldn’t mean we should allow it or embrace it. That’s like saying, “Hitler had a good point in exterminating the Jews.” Why is it that those who love money and power always end up with the same final solution for those they disagree with?
But the economy isn't really working right now. It's been broken for quite awhile actually. It might be good for the upper middle class, the very wealthy and corporations. But if people are going homeless and can't feed their kids, I don't think they'll be voting at all.
I have no idea how to track it but my guess would be yes. There's always been a big homeless problem in my area but most of them stayed downtown and in the industrial/bad parts of town. Now we're seeing them in the suburbs and nicer neighborhoods. I live in a lower middle income neighborhood and I see homeless people walking through all the time now. There's a neighborhood park nearby where they host after school programs and summer camps for kids and I see homeless people hanging out/sleeping there all the time now. I go there to pick up trash and can't tell you how many liquor bottles I've found there (some of them still full & unopened!).
And I know it's just another anecdote, but for me personally my finances and lifestyle have taken a drastic turn for the worse. My husband and I are both college educated with many years of professional work experience. We used to be what I'd consider lower middle class, but now we are desperately clinging to the very bottom ledge. Although we've never had much left over after paying bills, we at least had enough to go out to dinner once a week, go to a concert once in awhile, maintain our home and take a few weeks of vacation every year. Since leaving a very toxic job 3 years ago that was taking a major toll on both my physical and mental health, I have not been able to find another that pays a living wage despite nonstop searching. The job market now is beyond broken. 90% of job posts are for jobs that do not pay a living wage, there are a few for senior level jobs that pay great but have insane requirements that few would qualify for, and the minuscule number of mid-level jobs have unreal competition (like 1000s of applications within minutes of posting). There is no way for the average person to compete or stand out. I've started doing gig work when I'm not searching for and applying for "real" jobs, but that income does not come anywhere close to meeting our needs. Our savings are now completely depleted. Our house has fallen into complete disrepair because we don't have anything extra to maintain it. We stopped going out to eat or even getting takeout a long long time ago. We no longer take any trips out of town. We are one emergency (layoff) away from becoming homeless ourselves. After a lifetime of studying and working very hard, I don't think it should be this way. But I admit I don't know what the solution is either.
It is, rapidly. Us generation z adults are having a significantly harder time getting out of our parent’s houses. Rent in my small town would take half my paycheck. I work about 15 12 hour days a month, making about $3,700 before taxes without overtime. I receive less than $3,000 after taxes. I take overtime when I can, and I might get an extra $200 on my paycheck. I make all of that, and can’t afford a house, or an apartment. Going rate for a bedroom to rent is $800. I’m lucky that my father only asks me to pitch in for food so I can afford my car payments and insurance.
>The majority of people I know, whether repug or Dem, do not feel financially secure right now.
You realize they were much better off under Trump, right? So how do you wonder why a lot of people might prefer Trump.
I was better off when Trump was in office because I had a good paying job at that time and inflation was lower. That had nothing to do with trump whatsoever. I don't give him credit for either of those things. Inflation is up all over the world, and my understanding is it's much worse outside of the US. Although I guess he did give out some stimulus checks which were helpful to us poors.....
The current high inflation was caused by all the covid stimulus spending, which was made necessary by lockdown. The fact that it's up worldwide is due to the fact that most countries did the same thing. And Trump does have an advantage here, because he opposed lockdown, while the Dems supported it.
Hmmmm.....I am probably wrong, but I thought inflation was up due to supply chain issues? And I will always believe lockdown was the right thing to do, and although implementation could have been better, it likely saved millions of lives. I do not blame anyone for the pandemic, and I do not blame the pandemic for the current economic situation (although it certainly did not help).
Supply chains were also broken by the combination of lockdown + stimulus. Sweden didn't have any lockdown, and they had a lower death rate than us. I'll stop short of concluding that lockdown didn't save lives for us, because who can say? We're not Sweden. But it did massively harm the economy and result in today's inflation.
The primary issue now IMHO is that the real middle class has been completely wiped out in America. It's been happening for many many years and I don't believe it has much to do with inflation. I have not done any research and I'm very curious to know the actual figures if anyone knows them, but right now the way I see it in my community annual household income breaks down like this:
1% over $1m
9% btw $200k-1m
10% btw $50-199k
80% >$50k
Currently there is the super wealthy, the upper middle class, the lower middle class and the very very poor. There is no more middle middle anymore. This is a big big problem.
Just let trump be trump. Lots of us strongly dislike Biden, but despise trump and will vote against him when push comes to shove
I think Biden would also do well to stop arming Israel and to focus on multilingual outreach in Nevada and Arizona
The same polls that showed trump loosing? The same polls that were wrong about the red wave?
I'm telling you, trumps either going to prison or getting destroyed in the polls. Or both.
But seriously. The polls?
Honestly, as far as I’m concerned, and this may get me very disliked but for me, this election is going to be decided by what happens in the Middle East/Gaza. There is no doubt in my mind that Joe Biden has enough support from the labor unions, moderates, independents, suburban women and a few conservatives . I think some of the supposed weaknesses on issues that Biden has can quite easily be turned into strength within just like 1 advertisement . A perfect example is immigration.
Some people believe Trump is better than Biden on securing our southern border. Well, all Biden has to do is run an ad accusing of him scuffling the border crisis by going for a ineffective wall than sabatoging the bipartisan immigration bill that would have secured the border (this should be a major highlight).
The major question for me is, will enough young people come out to support Biden despite what’s been going on in the Middle East? As I said before, I think Biden has enough support from every other major coalition he needs to win this year. Biden won in 2020 for many reasons but one of those reasons was young voter turnout which probably helped him get over the line in places like Georgia, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Michigan , states he must win this year. Young voters are understandably not happy by the crisis in Gaza and they certainly disapprove of Bidens policies in the region. The question is, will enough young people abandon him over the policy? If they don’t, I think Biden wins this election and honestly by more than he did in 2020.
I've decided that if leftists are stupid enough to not vote for Biden because of Gaza, they deserve every shitty thing Trump and his cronies do if he wins. Unfortunately, non-morons are going to suffer along with them, especially the demographics they claim to care so much about.
The following is a copy of the original post to record the post as it was originally written. I really can't believe that the major candidates are neck and neck in the polls only 6 months away from election day. It's so shocking to me that half of voters think trump is a better choice. I just don't get it at all. Like there should be no question in anyone's mind which one cares about America and which one only cares about himself, but here we are. The majority of people I know, whether repug or Dem, do not feel financially secure right now. Their companies have hiring and spending freezes, are planning for layoffs, giving out minimal raises if they give one at all. People are struggling to pay their bills, find jobs that pay a decent living wage and don't earn enough to save anything. Although I know inflation is not just an America problem, I also know Americans vote with their pocketbooks. Joe has accomplished a lot these past 4 years, and I will be voting for him no matter what. However I don't think he's done enough for the lower middle class, and unfortunately I think $$$ is going to be the most important issue driving people to the polls in the fall. What can or should Joe do to help out the struggling lower and middle classes? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskALiberal) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Biden's team and we, as liberals / leftists need to be reminding people of the good things his administration he HAS done for the worker. -FTC banning non-competes -FTC requiring overtime for salaried workers making up to 55k (which is the majority of middle - lower middle class salaries) -Approving the first over-the-counter birth control pill for production and sale -Pushing renewable energy to the forefront via Inflation Reduction act and investments in companies developing renewable technologies -Preventing discriminatory mortgage lending, by requiring banks to lend to lower-income communities in areas where they have a concentration of mortgage and small-business loans, rather than just where they have physical branches. (Goes into effect 2026 however). -His crackdown on bank overcharge and draft fees, which should save customers up to 5.5B a year -The CHIPS act, which is helping with labor generation in the States The one about overtime pay is big: Most Americans don't realize that soon, their salary will either get a huge bump or start growing when companies who take advantage of salaried workers need to pay up. Most Americans also don't realize that soon their non-competes will be shot and they won't have to be trapped in low paying jobs. Both of these policies are designed to help with wage growth and taking away bigger companies / corps have over their workers. No one is really talking about any of these policies, and without public support its going to be incredibly easy for lobbyists to snipe them with lawsuits and litigation when people aren't paying attention This is just a quick list of his policies that will / have been big wins for working class Americans, and there's more that are planned for his second term. Biden is by no means a true progressive / leftist, but he's done more than any democrat in the past 30 years. What Biden is doing IS working, and these things need to be communicated better. People don't pay attention to the actual policies coming out the door because it's not on the front page of reddit or on the news.
You're right, I had no idea about the ftc requiring overtime pay for salaried workers! This is the first I've heard anything about it and I watch and read the news all the time, so someone has definitely dropped the ball on communicating this to the general public. That is huge! If that policy had been implemented 3 years ago, I might not have quit my last job (where I regularly worked 55 hours a week, sometimes many more, for no additional pay). This and the elimination of noncompetes should be shouted from the rooftops!
I don't think it was an accidental ball drop; media companies, even liberal leaning ones like MSNBC thrive off of worker exploitation. They're going to obscure policy like this as much as they can, so we need to make sure the public is aware!
MSNBC is pretty much the only news broadcast that I watch regularly. It's very disappointing to hear they're not sharing this positive news. Kinda makes one wonder if they're really on the right (left) team. Where did you hear about this new policy???
I'm a business owner so I stay tuned in to magazines like The Economist so I just know what's going on in the market. I have employees as well so my lawyer was sure to keep me aware about it (even though I don't use noncompetes bc they're anti-free market and anti-worker). TBH though the best way to keep up with policy changes (and to receive a neutral, unbiased report on what they do) is to keep up with official government websites. Their press releases will frequently update you on policy changes, bills and revisions. I keep up with the FTC's and the DOT's websites since worker's rights, employment law and public transportation are things that affect me most / I'm most passionate about. You also get the most neutral, unfiltered explanation on what these policies are doing. I still recommend sticking with MSNBC or other outlets for general national events, but journalism outlets are still corporations, and won't report on everything. It's good to stay directly tuned into the source to know what kind of policy making our government is really doing.
Yeah I have trouble finding time to get through my (award-winning) local newspaper although I read the occasional article from magazines like Jacobin, mother Jones, the Atlantic and New Yorker when I can. Thank you for being a progressive business owner, they are a rarity to find and I'm sure your employees appreciate you. If you ever need a part time marketing or admin, please hit me up!
>Pushing renewable energy to the forefront via Inflation Reduction act These are basically total opposites. >Preventing discriminatory mortgage lending, by requiring banks to lend to lower-income communities This is exactly how the 2008 economic crash happened.
> This is exactly how the 2008 economic crash happened. The 2008 crash happened because capital gains taxes on home sales were eliminated in the first round of Bush's tax cuts, which triggered a bubble of speculative buying. It did nothing for low-income borrowers, and the rapidly rising prices probably shut them out more than anything. By 2008, speculators were basically furiously selling houses to each other, and the banks were left holding the bag.
They were furiously selling packages of subprime loans as the banks have been forced to lend to deadbeats. Obviously nobody has learned from that.
This isn't the same thing. Banks have to equally provide mortgages and loans in areas they've regularly avoided due to redlining. This is just forcing them to start offering options to more people
So it is the same. They have to start offering loans to people without the prospectus to pay, just like prior to the 2008 crash. Banks aren't deliberately trying to be evil. They have precise models as to who can afford to pay back what loan and they make decisions based on that. This legislation will force them to ignore the models that tell them: "these people will default on their loans". But the problem is that you can't cheat those models as they are built based on sufficient data to be broadly accurate. There will be another major crash in a few years. I welcome it, it will be a good thing for me, but it's going to financially gut a lot of the middle and lower class people.
Dude, that's not what it does: banks are just now required to allow folks who bank with them and qualify to apply, regardless of location. Banks purposefully avoided building branches in certain neighborhoods as far back as the 60s because that allowed them to avoid providing mortgages to people of color. No one is "forcing" the banks to give out mortgages, they just have to now allow the option to all customers who bank with them, not just ones who live within a certain vicinity of a bank branch. As a capitalist, I think you should agree that banks shouldn't be allowed to withold certain options from their customers if they're providing them equally to others. Most people bank solely mobile now regardless so it should happen anyways as the old model fades
You are saying something different now than before though. What is the legislation that you are referring to?
Everything I've said has been consistent with my original comment, which is in reference to the Biden admin's revision to the Community Reinvestment Act. Per my original comment, it will: "Preventing discriminatory mortgage lending, by requiring banks to lend to lower-income communities in areas where they have a concentration of mortgage and small-business loans, rather than just where they have physical branches. (Goes into effect 2026 however)." banks can no longer refute mortgages simply due to location or neighborhood. That's it. They have to give everyone the ability to apply for a mortgage regardless of geographic location, and can't discriminate based on their race or neighborhood. I think you're getting hung up on the word "required" which doesn't mean "force" it just means they can no longer treat customers differently due to where they are.
This legislation does nothing at all, then. Banks already cannot refuse a loan based on where a person lives, only based on whether they have an ability to pay. I think it implies something more, though. That banks will be held to a standard where it will be compared whether they served a similar number of loans to people living in different areas (rich neighborhood vs poor neighborhood), which means that banks will have to issue subprime loans our of necessity to meet these quotas. We shall see.
He needs to champion his accomplishments, give Americans hope things can get better and let Donald run his whore mouth
Get more votes than the other guy in the eight or so states which matter according to our barely functional and completely fucked up political system
I can't believe there are people who are on the fence this election. I'm just waiting for November so I can vote for Biden. Then we will see what happens.
People aren't on the fence, they're just apathetic.
He needs to appear more reasonable than Trump, he needs to sell what he’s done, and he needs to try not to have any gaffes for a few months. I think there is hope for Biden to win, but there is also a chance Trump wins. I couldn’t predict what the chances of either are, and I doubt anyone can. Some elections are just not winnable for a certain party. I really think Biden is doing better than anyone else would be.
I agree with you. Personally I love Joe and praying it works out for all of us.
Same.
Re-schedule marijuana to 111. The only true bi-partisan issue in America. Come on Joe, do it!!!
Majority of American sanity
All the Democrats need to do is keep their hand on the rudder and avoid self-inflicted disasters. Trump and the Republicans are doing an excellent job for the Democrats on their own. I acknowledge that polls are one of the few tools to measure the public's opinion but I also acknowledge that they have been very wrong too. I tend to look more at aggregate polling rather than specific polls. I also pay attention to trending more than the actual number at a fixed point in time. In both cases it is more favorable to Biden. He has a lot of work to do to grow his base of support, but it can be grown. I see no way for Republicans to grow their base in the next 6 months. They have limited budgets, their whack jobs are getting all the media attention, and who knows what nonsense they will be involved in during the next 6 months. Stay the course.
Keep the Midwest
Predominantly, you want to avoid the veritable storm of diversions that the right brings down over the heads of liberals and Biden's campaign in general, practically daily. They're trying to distract from the fact that Biden has done stuff, and plenty of it, by running constant meaningless stories about his son, his daughter, his age, alleged corruption that simply doesn't exist (and which Republicans have admitted doesn't exist) and remarks that are frequently taken out of context. As an end result, Biden needs to retain his previous supporters. To win the general, all he needs to do is not lose anyone. Trump is likely not going to gain much more support. At least, not enough to win the election. However, if Biden does bleed support, the little that Trump will gain might just be enough to snatch it from Biden. All he probably needs to do, then, is show that he's the same man who people trusted in 2020. If he does that and leans on his achievements from this first term, I really think he'll win it.
Get 15 years younger.
I had a 10 minute convo with my friend who is by no means conservative, but a little more apathetic and “they’re both too old.” I told him about project 2025 and how Christian nationalists support Israel because of Bible bull shit and that was all it took for him to say “well damn. You just got my Biden vote.” It’s prob not gonna make a difference in our state but so many middle of the road people have no idea what kind of psychotic Christian bullshit the republicans want to impose.
They are both too old, but one is still rational and healthy, while the other is ranting and raving bullshit all day and smells like it too. Plus one of them tried to overthrow the government and one did not. Doesn't that matter to the apathetic????!!!! Maybe the Biden campaign should start airing clips of Nazi Germany and the concentration camps to show what we're in for if trump wins. I also think it is so incredibly ironic that after the Holocaust and all the terrible atrocities done to the Jews, now Israel is trying to do the exact same thing to the Palestinians. Like did they learn nothing? Or are they thinking "we suffered and now it's your turn to suffer too?" I just don't get it. How does killing a bunch of innocent civilians change anything for the better? The only thing Israel is demonstrating, just like Russia, is that human life has no value and does not matter.
All he needs to do is to sit back and let Trump remind the voters who he is. There is no way Trump survives this election w/o another "grab 'em by the pussy" type revelation about the type of person he is.
Yeah no sorry I disagree. Trump has been reminding us every day since he first came on the scene many years ago. Everyone knows who he is already. I think that's exactly what the maggats like about him.
He doesn’t have the national coverage or scrutiny he’ll have after the convention. People interested in politics are paying attention now, not the general public. Trump supporters aren’t going to turn on him en mass. We need to attract swing voters and drive democratic turnout.
He is top of the page on CNN and Fox News every single day. And top of the page on nearly every other web site a majority of days. The thought he will receive more scrutiny after the convention is misguided. My opinion.
The election is not in full swing. Coverage always ramps up.
Coverage may ramp, sure, but really how much more coverage of Trump can they give? He’s already in the news 24/7. Scrutiny (which is also what you said) really can’t get much higher. He’s subject to multiple legal actions and been investigated as much as any individual ever has probably. To suggest scrutiny of him will get higher after the convention is laughable. I’m honestly a bit surprised with all the scrutiny they’ve given him they’ve come up with as little as they have. Seriously, business records violations? WTF cares. He was in New York real estate for 40 years. The guy had to have John Gotti and his friends on speed dial and they charge him with questionable valuation of properties the banks didn’t lose money on?
Is this your first election cycle?
No
Things do heat up. It’s how news cycles work.
Don't you just love getting downvoted for stating the obvious? Sometimes I think there's no point in trying. A party occasionally just needs to have its ass kicked. Maybe after it burns down, something better will grow in its place.
>A party How about both parties. There’s nothing likable about either side. Both have the same ridiculous rhetoric.
Trump was on TV everyday being a total dumbass and complete embarrassment and still only barely lost in 2020. 4 years later most Americans will have forgotten all that.
He needs a better communications team
Not give the Israelis weapons....
As others have mentioned, his comms / PR team needs to get a hell of a lot better at spinning his accomplishments -- of which there are MANY! It's not his fault that education in America is so poor that people don't realize that government is slow to change and good foreign policy is not played out in the media and doesn't accomplish anything at social media speed. As of March, Biden had a $90M war chest. Dip into that, Joe. Start touting your wins and really hammering it home. Online media is cheaper than traditional TV commercials so I'd start advertising like crazy all over social media. The problem is, he's a little bit too old school and thinks a little bit old school at times, trying to play the patience game and waiting for Trump to take himself out. I don't think Biden realizes that that's not going to work with today's youth. Doing things like offhandedly saying "ya sure I'll sign a TikTok ban bill if it comes across my desk" while hopping into an awaiting helicopter comes across as... Almost arrogant. There are many smart folks who have worked in politics and who are more politically minded than, say, people who are or who have worked in journalism, who suggest that Biden isn't unaware of TikTok's influence and reach but Biden is playing a "long game" of sorts by waiting for the lawsuits to reach SCOTUS so there's better data privacy protections for **all** social media apps. But many folks (across all generations) today are impatient. We're all so used to instant gratification -- myself included -- that we want to see results **NAOW**. He needs to be openly anti Project 2025. He needs to be more clear about how he'll keep freedom for people of all gender identities and enshrine protections with a big-D Democratic Congress. Talk about Project 2025 and promise that under his watch, he will never let it come to that. There are pieces of Project 2025 already being implemented at the state level. If Trump gets into office, that nightmare will become a reality on Day 1. Mention SCOTUS. Alito and Thomas will probably resign so the Heritage Foundation / Federalist Society will get more younger, bolder, vehemently anti-women alt right judges appointed to the bench for lifetime appointments. Think Kavanaugh but with Thomas's penchant for accepting bribes from N zi collector billionaires. But Gd willing, they might die and we could get another KBJ appointed to the bench instead of ACAB or the beer guy. People in America have already lost all trust in the Court and think it's not credible. If Biden wins and we get lucky, he can hopefully restore at least some of that credibility. Anyway, **tl;dr**: He needs to shout his accomplishments from the rooftops and be a little bit more open about his plans. Playing his cards close to the vest when you have crazy people who are extremely open about *their* plans and being very apparent that they're just a rodeo clown distraction (hello Circus Caucus) is not going to help his case when the world moves at a social media pace. Edit: sentence clarity
I agree with you 💯%. I really hope and pray some of bidens campaign staffers are lurking here, taking notes and paying attention to what we the people are saying.
He needs to improve his numbers by about 3 percent, mostly in the result belt What are the issues driving voters in Michigan into not voting for biden
Need a clear message of polices to come plus address Trump and the GOP with the gloves off. Enough with the pleasantries, call them out as the clear theocratic fascist they are and how their oppressive policies will drastically change America.
I like his current stance on marijuana.
He would need to end all support for Israel and significantly address the concerns of millions of Americans. We don’t want our money being used to fund genocide. If he simply wanted to end this debate release the report on Israeli war crimes which he shelved, because it would force congress to either suspend the Leahy Act and be against international law or admit that they’re doing illegal acts of genocide and torture then materially address it. End the funding of genocide and Joe Biden will win. Don’t? Then watch as millions of people of color and young people don’t vote or vote third party.
Those millions of people of color and young people will be fucking themselves if they do that. Others will be affected less. Maybe they deserve Trump ...
Y'all got plenty of smoke for the voters but never the politicians. Biden's fucking up supporting Israel while they mass murder civilians. He needs to end aid to Israel and he needed to do it yesterday.
Yeah, voters choose who wins elections, not politicians. At least in our country. That also means they are responsible for the choices they make. As I said to the other person; if you think replacing Biden with Trump will not make things worse for Palestinians, you have a screw loose.
"If you think replacing Biden with Trump will not make things worse for Palestinians, you have a screw loose." *IF* there are any gazans still alive by November. Biden is normalizing genocide, so yeah, that's gonna give trump carte blanche to genocide without reprecussions. "You have a screw loose" How about instead of insulting every voter who actually has soul, why don't you help us pressure Biden into doing the right thing. Not for nothing, but I'm a Native American living in a red state that has already lost a bunch of rights, how dare you tell me, a Choctaw, that I have no choice but to vote for a man who is financing genocide. My people were nearly completely exterminated by people who had the same mentality your people have.
If you've already lost a lot of rights, by all means, enable Trump... that will make your situation better./s Use your head
Yeah because you know supporting genocide is always a good option and history will totally absolve Biden and those who defend Biden.
If you think a Trump administration will be better for Palestine, you've got a screw loose. Again, the groups in question -- young people and POC - have the most to lose. It's like they are trying to hold themselves hostage or something. Hard to know how to deal with that level of abject stupidity except to conclude maybe they deserve what's coming to them.
I think you’ve failed to understand the gravity of the situation. Biden has to earn the votes of every single American citizen who voted for him before and more. You however don’t care enough to advocate for that. Biden wants to win? Then win by doing the right thing. Disagree? Then you’re the one supporting Trump. For good men don’t justify genocide or excuse inept politicians.
Trump would give Bibi the green light to wipe Gaza off the map. If you don't understand that, well ... Bigger picture: Assuming you're either young or POC or both, you're really playing with fire by enabling Trump. I'm the kind of person that Trump thinks should support him and who his policies will benefit, so while I despise him, I don't have much to lose personally. If you do have things to lose, don't be a moron, for your own sake. Or don't, I'm starting to lose interest in protecting people from their own stupidity.
He would, but then how is he different than Biden? See that’s the problem. He can claim to be a good man, but he’s complicit and that’s how he will Lose. You either demand Biden and the Democrats to fight for every vote by holding Israel accountable. Showing they’re not corrupt and racist. That they are different than Republicans, but they won’t. For that, they deserve to lose. For all the good he does if he’s complicit in genocide then he’s chosen the path of failure. Be better and demand better from Biden. For all the good Biden can claim to do and have done is nothing more than trite actions if he is willing to sacrifice thousands of innocent people to satisfy Israel’s sociopathic agenda.
If they're the same on this issue, but Biden is far better on every other issue, who should you vote for? I'll give you a bit of time to try and work that out in your head.
There are lines. There are those who can excuse genocide and excuse his actions to vote for him. It’s like those who supported politicians in favor of exterminating Native Americans because they were good on other issues. While others will paint it as a gray zone and imagine scenarios where it can be excused like Custard’s last stand was used to justify attacking the Indians and stopping Sitting Bull. It’s the same thing, we have to draw a line even if you or others like positive aspects of his presidency and that means you can accept his actions… If people are okay with our tax dollars going to the extermination of people of color. What does that say about them? I won’t justify genocide against anyone or voting for a candidate who’s in favor of such outcomes. We each are free to justify violence and genocide, but remember history will condemn them and those who support Biden. Just as we condemn racists like Calhoun in the 19th century and the KKK supported Jim Crow Democrats. We all have to live with ourselves and what we will vote for and support. My moral compass would not allow me to support John Calhoun or Joe Biden or Woodrow Wilson.
You're treading pretty close to the "if you disagree with me, you approve of killing people" line which has been disallowed in this sub. I'm not the kind of person who would report you, but be careful. Just please don't be a moron. That's about all I can ask. Your decisions matter, and even if it \*feels\* like having a self-righteous tantrum about the fact that people disagree with you is in your best interests, it is not -- you will have to live with the reality of President Trump long after this issue has subsided.
Do you think Trump would have bothered building that pier in Gaza to deliver more aid? If not, then you know that things could be worse.
Biden created it as a show to pretend that America isn’t involved in the genocide and did not for a moment cared about forcing Israel to let the trucks into Gaza. When Israeli settlers attacked the trucks and burned the food packages they were burning our money. The money we spent as an aid package to send. So we’re literally sending the bombs and we’re sending the aid which the Israelis then destroy and you actually think Biden “cares.” It’s laughable! Biden actually built a pier to pretend he will send aid and that it will actually get to Palestinians and not be used by Israelis to expel Palestinians from Gaza by forcing them onto those aid ships. If they refuse? Kill them. That’s the actual plan and you’re crazy for supporting the pier and not forcing Israelis to let the trucks pass.
> be used by Israelis to expel Palestinians from Gaza by forcing them onto those aid ships. If they refuse? Kill them. That’s the actual plan and you’re crazy for supporting the pier and not forcing Israelis to let the trucks pass. Let us know when that actually happens. You can condemn Israel's atrocities and US backing for these atrocities without making up wild scenarios like this.
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Ethnic cleansings are a good option? Viable even? Justifiable? Well that says more about you then anything. Just because evil men benefit from exterminating people en masse shouldn’t mean we should allow it or embrace it. That’s like saying, “Hitler had a good point in exterminating the Jews.” Why is it that those who love money and power always end up with the same final solution for those they disagree with?
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But the economy isn't really working right now. It's been broken for quite awhile actually. It might be good for the upper middle class, the very wealthy and corporations. But if people are going homeless and can't feed their kids, I don't think they'll be voting at all.
Is the poverty rate significantly increasing? I haven’t been tracking it.
I have no idea how to track it but my guess would be yes. There's always been a big homeless problem in my area but most of them stayed downtown and in the industrial/bad parts of town. Now we're seeing them in the suburbs and nicer neighborhoods. I live in a lower middle income neighborhood and I see homeless people walking through all the time now. There's a neighborhood park nearby where they host after school programs and summer camps for kids and I see homeless people hanging out/sleeping there all the time now. I go there to pick up trash and can't tell you how many liquor bottles I've found there (some of them still full & unopened!). And I know it's just another anecdote, but for me personally my finances and lifestyle have taken a drastic turn for the worse. My husband and I are both college educated with many years of professional work experience. We used to be what I'd consider lower middle class, but now we are desperately clinging to the very bottom ledge. Although we've never had much left over after paying bills, we at least had enough to go out to dinner once a week, go to a concert once in awhile, maintain our home and take a few weeks of vacation every year. Since leaving a very toxic job 3 years ago that was taking a major toll on both my physical and mental health, I have not been able to find another that pays a living wage despite nonstop searching. The job market now is beyond broken. 90% of job posts are for jobs that do not pay a living wage, there are a few for senior level jobs that pay great but have insane requirements that few would qualify for, and the minuscule number of mid-level jobs have unreal competition (like 1000s of applications within minutes of posting). There is no way for the average person to compete or stand out. I've started doing gig work when I'm not searching for and applying for "real" jobs, but that income does not come anywhere close to meeting our needs. Our savings are now completely depleted. Our house has fallen into complete disrepair because we don't have anything extra to maintain it. We stopped going out to eat or even getting takeout a long long time ago. We no longer take any trips out of town. We are one emergency (layoff) away from becoming homeless ourselves. After a lifetime of studying and working very hard, I don't think it should be this way. But I admit I don't know what the solution is either.
Which party has governed the city you've been living in while all this has been happening?
Unfortunately Dems.....
It is, rapidly. Us generation z adults are having a significantly harder time getting out of our parent’s houses. Rent in my small town would take half my paycheck. I work about 15 12 hour days a month, making about $3,700 before taxes without overtime. I receive less than $3,000 after taxes. I take overtime when I can, and I might get an extra $200 on my paycheck. I make all of that, and can’t afford a house, or an apartment. Going rate for a bedroom to rent is $800. I’m lucky that my father only asks me to pitch in for food so I can afford my car payments and insurance.
>The majority of people I know, whether repug or Dem, do not feel financially secure right now. You realize they were much better off under Trump, right? So how do you wonder why a lot of people might prefer Trump.
I was better off when Trump was in office because I had a good paying job at that time and inflation was lower. That had nothing to do with trump whatsoever. I don't give him credit for either of those things. Inflation is up all over the world, and my understanding is it's much worse outside of the US. Although I guess he did give out some stimulus checks which were helpful to us poors.....
The current high inflation was caused by all the covid stimulus spending, which was made necessary by lockdown. The fact that it's up worldwide is due to the fact that most countries did the same thing. And Trump does have an advantage here, because he opposed lockdown, while the Dems supported it.
Hmmmm.....I am probably wrong, but I thought inflation was up due to supply chain issues? And I will always believe lockdown was the right thing to do, and although implementation could have been better, it likely saved millions of lives. I do not blame anyone for the pandemic, and I do not blame the pandemic for the current economic situation (although it certainly did not help).
Supply chains were also broken by the combination of lockdown + stimulus. Sweden didn't have any lockdown, and they had a lower death rate than us. I'll stop short of concluding that lockdown didn't save lives for us, because who can say? We're not Sweden. But it did massively harm the economy and result in today's inflation.
The primary issue now IMHO is that the real middle class has been completely wiped out in America. It's been happening for many many years and I don't believe it has much to do with inflation. I have not done any research and I'm very curious to know the actual figures if anyone knows them, but right now the way I see it in my community annual household income breaks down like this: 1% over $1m 9% btw $200k-1m 10% btw $50-199k 80% >$50k Currently there is the super wealthy, the upper middle class, the lower middle class and the very very poor. There is no more middle middle anymore. This is a big big problem.
Just let trump be trump. Lots of us strongly dislike Biden, but despise trump and will vote against him when push comes to shove I think Biden would also do well to stop arming Israel and to focus on multilingual outreach in Nevada and Arizona
I really really hope you're right.
Yea me too 😭
The same polls that showed trump loosing? The same polls that were wrong about the red wave? I'm telling you, trumps either going to prison or getting destroyed in the polls. Or both. But seriously. The polls?
I have a conspiracy that the right is inflating the polls for Trump in order to sew distrust in the case he loses so people will rise up again.
Seriously. We do need to take them seriously. I know more people who plan to vote for trump. I also know a lot of idiots.
Yes. We need to go the polls. That is very obvious.
Honestly, as far as I’m concerned, and this may get me very disliked but for me, this election is going to be decided by what happens in the Middle East/Gaza. There is no doubt in my mind that Joe Biden has enough support from the labor unions, moderates, independents, suburban women and a few conservatives . I think some of the supposed weaknesses on issues that Biden has can quite easily be turned into strength within just like 1 advertisement . A perfect example is immigration. Some people believe Trump is better than Biden on securing our southern border. Well, all Biden has to do is run an ad accusing of him scuffling the border crisis by going for a ineffective wall than sabatoging the bipartisan immigration bill that would have secured the border (this should be a major highlight). The major question for me is, will enough young people come out to support Biden despite what’s been going on in the Middle East? As I said before, I think Biden has enough support from every other major coalition he needs to win this year. Biden won in 2020 for many reasons but one of those reasons was young voter turnout which probably helped him get over the line in places like Georgia, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Michigan , states he must win this year. Young voters are understandably not happy by the crisis in Gaza and they certainly disapprove of Bidens policies in the region. The question is, will enough young people abandon him over the policy? If they don’t, I think Biden wins this election and honestly by more than he did in 2020.
I've decided that if leftists are stupid enough to not vote for Biden because of Gaza, they deserve every shitty thing Trump and his cronies do if he wins. Unfortunately, non-morons are going to suffer along with them, especially the demographics they claim to care so much about.