The Biden Presidency: Repairing America.....again

@kcblitzkrieg

 WOW!

Racism? That thought never entered my mind & I never knew that black people smoke predomintaely menthol.

When I was close to some brothers when serving, they all smoked Camel's or Lucky Strike. They were far from menthol.

The thought I did have was "wow,the government is trying to save lives." But then if that was the purpose, to save as many lives as possible, why not outlaw all cigarretes?

That won"t happen in my lifetime. Hope it does in yours.

It's a perceived misconception that predominantly blacks smoke menthols...same lie they tell on tv commercials that I've seen that they target black communities or areas to smoke menthols...although there is some truth to it, it's called advertising to the demographic...if you want to sell more goods then you target those who wish to partake or might partake...it's the god given right to advertise and spend your money how you would like...the whole point of business is to get your product information out to the masses....

what's next, Mc Donalds is no longer allowed to advertise to fat communities because of obesity...gimme a break with this shit...a bunch of clowns...you could arguably make the claim about any advertising...isn't that what cookies are doing to us on our computers???? No one is outlawing that but it's happening....do you think that the advertisement for the fleshlight magically appeared on your browser while you were searching for wholesome bible study classes....get real people...we are all being targeted for something and it has nothing to do with your color, sex, race, religion or what flavor of kool aid you like...

Here is the NPR article about menthols and black comminities:

 https://www.npr.org/2022/04/29/1095291808/tobacco-industry-targeted-black-americans-with-menthols

@ABooksNightmare

 Actually, it isn't a "perecived miscinception" that almost 60 t0 70% of black smokers start with menthol.

A simple Google will prove that as a fact.

Also, we are targeted for who we are. To say we are not is just ignorant.

It's all about our sex, our race, our religion etc.

I'd like to know who and where that study was done because it would be nearly impossible to sample the entire size....so a small sample size just doesn't get you there but does inflate the number if that's what you are going far...

aren't polls and surveys great....if I were to sample the people I know I would say that it would be down in the 0-3%....see what I did there...

@ABooksNightmare

 Look, I'm not looking for a smartass conversation. I was responding to kc on what I saw.

The subject really isn't important enough for me to argue.

DA BEARS -3.5/OVER 38

Over

Hope you win!

Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday travel rush, gas prices are tumbling fast. 

The national average price of regular gasoline is down by 55 cents a gallon over the past two months to $3.33, according to AAA. This exceeds the typical seasonal drop in gas prices during the fall and leaves the national average at a 10-month low.

If prices stay near current levels, this would be the cheapest gas price on Thanksgiving Day since 2020 when Covid-19 caused many Americans to stay off the roads altogether.

Kudos on another fine year to our President! 

ya     and the markets r continuing their upward trend again on monday !

  happy birthday joe !

Biden administration announces $2 billion to support community projects in pollution, clean energy and climate resiliency.  Environmental protection agency say this is the largest investment in environmental justice in US history.

The hill reports Biden administration investment of $50 million to support 10,000 small businesses and $50 billion in loans.  Record 4.6 million small businesses have been created in recent years.

@thirdperson

 Awesome!  Good news!  

@Zeus4par

Very good news indeed!

A true Patriot.....what would our Nation be without him....

 Donald Trump writing the Declaration of Independence - 1776, colorized

https://twitter.com/Trump_History45/status/1725923598676955283

  More needed over the coming years.

Speaker Mike Johnson visited Sarasota Bradenton Airport in FL this morning to visit its expansion project.

But what Speaker Johnson didn't mention was that it was the result of President Biden's infrastructure act, which Mike Johnson voted AGAINST.

206 Republicans voted AGAINST this bill, which has resulted in amazing infrastructure projects across America. They will pretend like they did & take credit, but this was all Democrats & President Biden.

This fact, not alternative facts, should be plastered on billboards all across the country.

@Midnight1

This is silly at best and completely disingenuous at worst.  This is an absurd tactic by the Left.  You can still 'support' the good in something that you think is 'bad' overall.  That is another reason they should not pile all of the nonsense in some of these bills that could actually handle needed things.

An example is this:

Republicans have pushed back on the characterizations of their votes, arguing that they had issues with Democrats' larger agenda that included the bipartisan package, called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

"Congresswoman Hinson opposed the infrastructure package because it was tied to trillions of other spending in the House. Since the bill was signed into law, this money was going to be spent regardless. If there's federal money on the table she is, of course, going to do everything she can to make sure it is reinvested in Iowa," a spokesperson for Hinson told ABC News.

And this:

A spokesperson for Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the No. 2 House Republican who touted a $1 billion investment in flood protection and hurricane repairs in his home state funded by the package he opposed, told ABC News that the GOP whip has "consistently supported these flood protection projects" and approved earlier legislation to pave the way for them.

"What he did not support is tying necessary infrastructure needs to unrelated, Green New Deal policies Democrats put in their $1.2 trillion dollar bill -- very little of which was dedicated to traditional infrastructure -- that would cripple Louisiana's energy economy and hurt workers and families in his state," the spokesperson said.

"You can see why the Obama administration insisted on signage" for projects funded by the American Recovery Act, Jeff Davis, a senior fellow with the Eno Center for Transportation, told ABC News.

"People will be claiming these things for years, and it's going to be hard to tell five years from now which projects were funded mostly or entirely with IIJA money or money out of the annual budget," he said.

@Raiders22

 We'll see how "silly" this is when people go to vote in 2024.

Are you expecting another "red wave" in 2024?

@Midnight1

 I was simply focusing on what these politicians do to try to point out 'hyprocisy'.  They could have easily separated these issues out in various bills to get things accomplished.  But the whole Congress is inept at concentrating on things that matter and too busy pushing agendas.

@Midnight1

 I could not agree with you more, my veteran-of-Nam friend!

And as you have pointed out at least once before, some scurrilous GOP members have already touted new projects in their states which THEY VOTED AGAINST!  Tuberville and the one in Coloraddo that MTG called a HO, come to mind....but I'll bet there are others...

MEANWHILE, they continue to bash & blame Biden relentlessly for virtually everything that's happening in the US and all over the world too.

@Raiders22

 I agree...hypocritical & ineptitude seems to be a requirement for a member of Congress.

So let's get real here....are you voting for Trump & are you expecting a red wave in 24?

@Midnight1

First off, it is sad that these are the presumptive guys that are going to be left standing.  There was FOUR years to get better candidates up to speed to run.

I think you first have to question if Trump even makes it to the finish line.  But assuming he does and these are the two guys.  I think you really do have to look at what was going on before the pandemic.  You have to question which guy you think would be best for the country long term.  By long term, I mean for the next 8-12 years.  Because either Trump or Biden will only have 4 years.  So, you want it to be a situation that people would be willing to stick with a party that is making things better.

Whether you think the USA is a leading indicator or not has to factor in, I think.  Sometimes this applies.  But I am not so sure if the USA will necessarily, follow other indicative countries.

For example, there is a lot of movement of Right candidates in Europe now -- like the recent Dutch election.  Then you look south and see Argentina, and you have to question if that is a Right movement or if it is a culmination of sorts of their vast Libertarian mindset.  For example, a majority of folks under 30 voted for Milei.

You cannot think of a country that has fallen so far, so fast, as Argentina has in the last century.  The expression “riche comme un argentin” – rich as an Argentine – was a commonly heard expression at the time.  This certainly does NOT apply now.

For example: 

Economically, Argentina’s history is one of inflation, hyperinflation, state bankruptcies and impoverishment. The country has experienced nine sovereign bankruptcies in its history, the most recent of which was in 2020. A tragic story for such a proud country that was once one of the richest in the world. Inflation has been in double digits every year since 1945 (except in the 1990s).

Argentina has been run down by statists for decades and is now one of the most economically unfree countries in the world. In the Heritage Foundation’s 2023 Index of Economic Freedom, Argentina ranks 144th out of 177 countries – and even in Latin America, only a few countries (especially Venezuela) are less economically free than Argentina. For comparison: Chile, although its position has worsened since the socialist Gabriel Boric came to power in March 2022, is still the 22nd most economically free country in the world and Uruguay is 27th (the United States is 25th).

Then if you look to the North, you will see that Pierre Poilievre is really seeming to gain traction in Canada.

If you take all of these things together it might seem as if the Right and some of their candidates have really made some inroads in some of the places that have been depressed for a long time.  They have also seemed to be doing well in places that actually have been doing okay -- BUT have not been doing as well as pre-pandemic levels.  I certainly think a bit of both are in play here.

But whether the youth in the USA would be as enthusiastic as when Obama was running is hard to say.  In a lot of countries voting is more or less required, whereas, in the USA it is very hard to get a good turnout.  

So, you have to look at the reasons that the people that are on the fence and the ones that normally stay home might do.  The Far Left and the Far Right are set and not much will change.

@Midnight1

 Like the guy said you do not want a headline reading, "Dewey Defeats Biden".  You never want to spike the football on the 5-yard line.

If you listen to all of these folks and polls they will tell you that everyone is beating Biden now.  His point is very valid.  We have seen these things over and over throughout the years.

This applies to the Congressional contests as well.  Sure right now it looks good for the Right.  If you look at some of the 538 polls, etc. -- it seems likely for the Right to have a good showing.

BUT THEN the question would always be would it be enough of a quorum to get anything worthwhile done.  

If you look at just something as superficial as S&P returns you see what happens when you have a split in the Congress or a split with the President and/or Congress with parties.

The best returns are nearly always when you have a split of some kind.  Yes, a Republican President and a Republican Congress is better than a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress, as far as returns.  BUT a Democratic President with a split or Republican Congress does better than a Republican President and a split or Democratic Congress.

The reason for this is if there is a lack of willingness to work with the opposite party if one party controls everything BUT does not have enough to 'force' radical things through.  BUT if there is a split, then they seem to work better together.

I do NOT see there being an overwhelming majority of Right candidates to 'force' through legislation.  BUT that is the ideal situation no matter the party of the President.

BUT if you have a Republican President and a split or Democratic Congress it usually stifles the economy.

As far as other economic issues -- I tend to hope enough 'on the fence' voters will realize the economy was better pre-pandemic.

I think another consideration is the conflicts going on around the World right now.  People intuitively think Republicans are better for national defense-type issues.

Another huge issue in Europe and Canada -- not really the Argentine situation (mostly Venezuelans) -- are the illegals and the immigrants.  That is driving some of the Far-Right sentiment.  Will that help the Republican candidates in the USA, it is hard to say.

People really do have very short memories about things.  IF IT IS NOT happening right now -- they sort of forget.

I think if the elections were soon and NOT a year away, the Right could very well win both Houses and the Presidency.

It is like I have always said about Trump though -- a lot of folks will never overlook his 'mean' tweets or his 'lack of diplomacy'.  So, folks do not always vote their own interests.

HOWEVER, if you say for sure it comes down to Biden and Trump -- only Trump could handle all of the above things I mentioned in a positive manner.  Even though he would NOT do some of the things I think he should do -- he would be far better than Biden.  I think all of those current issues have gotten worse under him.

But if Biden does get in again -- then the Republicans NEED to have solid control of at least ONE house of Congress.  But I would hope for a 'red wave' (for a solid majority) and Trump to win.

But a year is a long time.