President Biden thread

1 hour ago, Beerman said:

The Pew Research poll that the Guardian uses as a reference to say that abortion is important to most voters (56%), also shows that crime is important to even a bigger % of voters (60%).  So, I wouldn't say that abortion is what is really on people's minds, over crime.

Of course, Democrats don't want crime, but some of their ideas and policies lead to, or common sense says will lead to more crime.  Fetterman, for example, is on record saying that 1/3 of the prison population could be released with any negative effects.

The Guardian article led me to others.  The theme was that Democrat run cities/states don't have crime rates any worse than Republican ones.  I found that the arguments were very subjective, and I found holes in their reasoning.  And, they werent using data past 2020.  

I think the Democrat attitudes on policing will show up in later stats.  As will the consequences of a increasing fentanyl problem.

I know in my area murder rates have gone up the past few years, and are ahead this year of last.  

I know I feel less safe out and about than I used to, including just driving on the freeways especially when coming home from work late at night.  I haven't watched a minute Tucker Carlson in months.  I feel this way because of the local news I read, and what I see with my own eyes.  Not because of what anyone on Fox says.

I'm not laying all the blame on Democrats.  I think there is a increasing blatant disregard for the value of life.  I'm not sure how we fix that.

 

 

Oz has mistepresented Fetterman's position on prison releases.  

It's unfortunate that there are so many conservatives who are forwarding the notion that we are on the edge of a violent civil war while believing that liberals and progressives, or anyone who acknowledges Trump's unprecedented corruption is their enemy. Besides, tax and economic policy that widens income and wealth inequality results in increased violence and societal unrest... and that kind of wealth redistribution to the wealthiest isn't a Democrat platform plank or policy ... that's the GOPs stance... think trickle down for context. 

Part of the way to fix it is to calm down the right wing noise machine that tells conservatives that liberals hate them so they should hate them back because that's not a message in mainstream media. 

I live in a "Dem run city" and feel generally as safe as I always have.   I guess crime being the number one concern would vary depending on where you live.  But it sure has been a major focus of right wing media along with immigration.  

Today's lead story is how unhappy Martha Vineyard residents are with the immigrants being sent to them.  There's an opposite article on CNN on how the residents welcomed them and they "enriched us".  LOL

Then again Democrats are harping on abortion, so I guess each side needs something to harp on.

But I might agree that generally there's a disregard for life.  Anyone anywhere anytime could be involved in a mass shooting.  

A kid just committed murder because someone cut them off in traffic.

Crime rates are complicated, tied to easy access to weapons, stress, the economy, and I suppose government policy to include "Dem Run Cities".  We solve the Oxycontin problem and now we have fentanyl. 

We have it within us to solve all of our problems, but we won't.  We hate each other too much.

Biden Calls Trump ‘Irresponsible’ Over Mar-a-Lago Documents https://nyti.ms/3DF99st

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Mr. Biden told Mr. Pelley that he had not been briefed on the documents that F.B.I. agents seized last month during their search of Mr. Trump’s home, Mar-a-Lago, and that he had not spoken to anyone about what national security secrets might have been revealed by the documents’ storage in Mr. Trump’s home. He also reiterated that he had not been notified of the search ahead of time.

Mr. Pelley asked Mr. Biden what he thought when he saw a photograph, released by the F.B.I., of the seized documents laid out by agents on the floor of Mar-a-Lago.

“How that could possibly happen?” Mr. Biden replied. “How one — anyone could be that irresponsible. And I thought, ‘What data was in there that may compromise sources and methods?’”

“Totally irresponsible,” he added.

Mr. Biden said he had not asked for specifics of the documents’ contents “because I don’t want to get myself in the middle of whether or not the Justice Department should move or not move on certain actions they could take. I agreed I would not tell them what to do and not, in fact, engage in telling them how to prosecute or not.”

Joe Biden respects the rule of law and the autonomy of the branches of government.  It's important to have that back in the executive branch. 

It does seem a strange choice of words to say "the pandemic is over".   

Certainly time for concern of covid wrecking the hospital system and killing a lot of people seems to have passed.  For us here in Florida behavior has been relatively normal most of year with large gatherings indoors (I went to see Elton John last April with 16,000 people).  The only thing I've noticed different is some businesses like my vet and dentist still requiring a mask, and hospitals in patient care areas (not in offices or meetings).  

Here in Florida cases are dropping by about 20% a week but still are about 22,000 cases a week with nearly 400 deaths.  Our rate of positivity while falling is still over 12%.   So "the pandemic is over" seems off.  Pandemics can last years.  

But concern over covid is on a scale of one to ten for the average person here in Florida is a 0.  It should be, young healthy and vaccinated people need to go on with lives free and maskless if they choose.  

I finally after being a dodger, got covid for the first time last month.  I was sick for a couple of days, mostly with fatigue but spiked a fever over 102.6 on day 3, then by day five was well, but I've certainly been sicker.   I was last vaccinated September 2021 and will get a booster soon before I travel in November.

We often say "flu season is over" and people get the flu.  Covid will most likely stay with us.

Florida has been really purple for a while with Republicans barely inching through, but we are definitely a red state at the moment.   So how much that republican influence has been in dropping crime here I don't know.  But it's a good point I suppose to consider.  Even Miami that used to be a top 10 violent city has seen a drop as time has gone on.   But like the rest of the country, things are changing.

Because major metropolitan areas tend to be "dem run cities" it's easy to blame democrats for rising crime and it's on their shoulders. Not to mention that one can't argue with statistics and they are bad in areas you mention and places like Seattle.  

It's all around the country, even here in Tampa Bay, so I'm not sure that policies in every city seeing a rise in crime is the whole picture.  But point taken.  

Quote

Crime has reappeared as a political issue across the country after a long period of deep reductions. From 1991 to 2014, the U.S. murder rate plummeted by more than half. Property crimes, which are more common, also dropped significantly over the same period. But violent crime is ticking up. The U.S. murder rate rose nearly 30 percent between 2019 and 2020, the largest single-year increase in decades. And figures show the murder rate increased again in 2021. Experts point to a variety of factors, from the proliferation of guns and pandemic-related stress to a pullback by law enforcement in the wake of the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2022/04/07/tampas-violent-crime-is-way-up-whats-the-new-police-chiefs-plan-editorial/

I do acknowledge that the article states "pullback by law enforcement in the wake of the 2020 police killing of George Floyd".   Sad to see that trying to stop cops from murdering people lead to higher crime rates.  

7 hours ago, Beerman said:

On the other hand, the state has had a strong Republican influence for quite sometime.  Even in Tampa, except for working,  I never had to wear a mask or could barely even tell covid existed.  Is that because it has a big conservative influence even in Dem cities?

To address this part...yes it's the influence of DeSantis that ruled Hillsborough (where Tampa is) and Pinellas (where I live) mask mandates unenforceable by the time you were.  

The good news is while, even today we act as if covid doesn't exist, when you were here there was a high rate of vaccination, especially among seniors.   Booster rates are low though.

Republicans hope to win majority in congress and are poised to investigate Biden, family and administration.

The administration doesn't seem worried.

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The GOP’s investigative wish list is long, and it runs the gamut. But members have made it clear they believe digging into the business dealings of the president’s son, Hunter Biden, is at the top of the agenda — hoping it may yield a smoking gun on President Joe Biden. Also ranking high, a coronavirus “origins” probe that would put Anthony Fauci in the hot seat and a multi-committee dive into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last year that sparked bipartisan criticism.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/03/biden-world-house-gop-investigations-00059888

2 hours ago, Tweety said:

Republicans hope to win majority in congress and are poised to investigate Biden, family and administration.

The administration doesn't seem worried.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/03/biden-world-house-gop-investigations-00059888

Republican have shown us before that they could and would use congressional hearings as partisan tools for campaign purposes.  If anything, they are less restrained by reality and evidence now. 

22 minutes ago, toomuchbaloney said:

Republican have shown us before that they could and would use congressional hearings as partisan tools for campaign purposes.  If anything, they are less restrained by reality and evidence now. 

Not to mention that Hunter Biden is already under federal investigation already, starting in 2018.   I guess not good enough and not enough dirt or smoking gun yet.  It is a bit maddening the pace.

But to be fair Democrats have had their fair share of congressional investigations.