Why do you think - GOP and economy

[sent]

Nov 11, 2024 10:27:12 GMT -5 stuffandthings said:

Nov 11, 2024 10:23:47 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

Right? It's bird flu.  Maybe people should consider that having less regulation and a dismantled EPA and FDA would only make the price of eggs worse?

It was SO BAD last year (and this spring/summer, too). I didn't lose any birds but my friends a few streets away lost about 75% of their flock. The Wisconsin DNR was panic emailing us all last autumn reminding us to "enforce biosecurity standards." I feel like I took it for granted that people knew that there was/is a massive bird flu pandemic circulating but now I'm starting to think lots of people didn't know...

Whenever it was that the egg thing started, I saw a sign at one of our grocery stores hanging in front of the egg section that said the price of eggs had gone up + they had to limit what you could buy because "bird flu."

But in another state, there very well could have been either no sign or a sign that said "Do you think eggs are expensive? Don't forget to vote in November."

[neverfstop]

So basically the Dems clean up the mess, govern and make tangible progress & the GOP just claims credit and yells about fear mongering on a variety of topics?

[stuffandthings]

Nov 11, 2024 11:47:04 GMT -5 neverfstop said:

So basically the Dems clean up the mess, govern and make tangible progress & the GOP just claims credit and yells about fear mongering on a variety of topics?

This is why I think our problem is entirely in messaging and not actual policy. Progressive policies A) work, B) have a long history of working in the US, and C) are actually popular when people learn about them. We just don't do a good job of finding the people who don't already know about policy and talking to them about it, so those people only hear from people who are actively spreading disinformation.

[UMaineTeach]

Nov 11, 2024 10:43:12 GMT -5 Beeps (WOT?*) said:

Nov 10, 2024 14:43:26 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

Republicans Lies, Lies, Lies
(directed towards them, not you)

You know how much of our taxes go to the things Republicans support, like the military, police and prisons? Or $$$$ for Government Contractors - I bet we could cut some wasteful Gov’t spending out of that for administration and costs, although tariffs are going to make it more expensive!!!

Yup. This.
Do you know how many think the Trump tax cuts were GREAT for them? Without thinking/realizing that "Hey, for the first time in forever, I've actually PAID taxes instead of gotten a refund this year?" once the "tax cuts" went into effect? Folks were having this epiphany and discussing it across social media (that I saw) only *after* the election and Trump won. Because "the economy."

AND THE DEMOCRATS NEED TO DO BETTER MESSAGING, ESPECIALLY ON MILITARY AND VETERANS since that's what the Republicans care about. This is from AF Times, which is the Air Force (and therefore "conservative and acceptable") newspaper, widely available free of charge on Air Force bases (and by subscription to anyone.)

www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/homelessness-among-veterans-drops-to-record-low-levels/ar-AA1tSjfj?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=59f808ef16e64159a7ea06b584ef4528&ei=38

The number of homeless veterans in America dropped to its lowest level on record this year, down more than 55% over the last 14 years, according to data released by the Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday.

The improvement comes after three years of aggressive efforts by department leaders to quickly find permanent housing for veterans facing economic hardship and mental health challenges. Officials announced earlier this fall they had helped place nearly 48,000 veterans in stable housing in fiscal 2024 alone, and more than 133,000 over the last three years.

The estimate of veterans dealing with homelessness comes from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's annual point-in-time count, conducted each January. This year, face-to-face surveys across the country found 32,882 veterans living on the street without stable housing, a reduction of about 2,700 individuals from the 2023 count.

Homeless vets set to receive more housing help

In a statement, VA Secretary Denis McDonough called that estimate an encouraging sign.

"No veteran should experience homelessness in this country they swore to defend," he said. "This year's PIT Count shows that VA and the entire Biden-Harris administration are making real progress in the fight to end veteran homelessness. We still have a long way to go, but we will not stop until every veteran has a safe, stable place to call home."

In 2010, President Barack Obama announced a nationwide push to end homelessness among veterans, an ambitious goal that advocates hailed as a turning point in outreach efforts to struggling veterans. That included better tracking of the number of homeless veterans, since that data had not been monitored on a reliable basis.

And yet the Republicans are going to get credit for THIS too.

www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2024-11-11/maine-on-track-to-meet-goal-of-ending-veterans-homelessness-next-year-nonprofit-says

“The work is made possible through a federal grant that funds housing liaisons and incentives for landlords to participate. Landlords, for example, receive a $1,000 bonus if they agree to lease a veteran for a year or longer. They also have access to a risk mitigation fund to cover any damage to the unit or unpaid rent.”

They will get credit, and get be the ones to end the federal funding that has made it all possible.

Because if there are no homeless veterans then we can’t use them as a reason why we can’t help others experiencing homelessness.

No saving lazy drug addicted homeless immigrants until all the vets have housing!

Sir, there are no homeless veterans.

Don’t just stand there! Go make some! And don’t forget to blame the democrats social welfare programs for eating up all the money that could have housed these fine defenders of freedom!

[penguingineer]

Nov 11, 2024 10:20:38 GMT -5 sent said:

I filled my tank up on Thursday (Halloween) night before the election. The attendant handed me the receipt and I had to do a double take at the posted prices because the total seemed quite off than my usual total - gas prices had gone down!

But were there reels and TikToks being made to promote this point by the current administration? Yes I know the sitting president doesn’t control gas prices at my local station but the average person thinks it does.

The last few times I’ve filled up, it’s been practically on empty, and the total cost is $3-5 less than it has been. So yeah, get out of here complaining about gas prices (that the President doesn’t control anyway). 🙄

[ellipses84]

Nov 11, 2024 11:49:31 GMT -5 stuffandthings said:

Nov 11, 2024 11:47:04 GMT -5 neverfstop said:

So basically the Dems clean up the mess, govern and make tangible progress & the GOP just claims credit and yells about fear mongering on a variety of topics?

This is why I think our problem is entirely in messaging and not actual policy. Progressive policies A) work, B) have a long history of working in the US, and C) are actually popular when people learn about them. We just don't do a good job of finding the people who don't already know about policy and talking to them about it, so those people only hear from people who are actively spreading disinformation.

I think we get a little scared by the backlash too or bragging before we aren’t 💯 successful. Like Biden promised Student Loan forgiveness in 2020 and that didn’t happen for everyone. We know why and R’s complain about not wanting to pay for it (despite student loan payers interest and tax income probably fully covering the cost). Kamala could have revamped the policy to say, we are still going to fight, I’m going to cut interest rates AND they fixed PSLF so 1,000s of public servants had student loans forgiven. I don’t know how many thousands of people and millions of dollars, but it was a lot and life changing especially for POC. Drs and lawyers with $500k in student loan debt. Tons of teachers and nurses with $100k+. They even expanded it to Clergy but those people need to spend 10 years in the program so the religious are is screwing themselves by eliminating the DoE. I didn’t hear anything about Student Loan forgiveness success or reform in the campaign. I think Democrats ourselves got quiet because MAGA is so loud. The anti-DoE and Anti-Federal employee stuff from agenda 47 and project 2025 should have been screamed from the rooftops.

[neverfstop]

Nov 11, 2024 14:56:57 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

Nov 11, 2024 11:49:31 GMT -5 stuffandthings said:

This is why I think our problem is entirely in messaging and not actual policy. Progressive policies A) work, B) have a long history of working in the US, and C) are actually popular when people learn about them. We just don't do a good job of finding the people who don't already know about policy and talking to them about it, so those people only hear from people who are actively spreading disinformation.

I think we get a little scared by the backlash too or bragging before we aren’t 💯 successful. Like Biden promised Student Loan forgiveness in 2020 and that didn’t happen for everyone. We know why and R’s complain about not wanting to pay for it (despite student loan payers interest and tax income probably fully covering the cost). Kamala could have revamped the policy to say, we are still going to fight, I’m going to cut interest rates AND they fixed PSLF so 1,000s of public servants had student loans forgiven. I don’t know how many thousands of people and millions of dollars, but it was a lot and life changing especially for POC. Drs and lawyers with $500k in student loan debt. Tons of teachers and nurses with $100k+. They even expanded it to Clergy but those people need to spend 10 years in the program so the religious are is screwing themselves by eliminating the DoE. I didn’t hear anything about Student Loan forgiveness success or reform in the campaign. I think Democrats ourselves got quiet because MAGA is so loud. The anti-DoE and Anti-Federal employee stuff from agenda 47 and project 2025 should have been screamed from the rooftops.

I think this goes back to my "hand outs for me & not thee!"  regarding student loans (and also the 1st time home buyer credits). "I had to suffer and paid for it, so why should anybody else get help?"  

[stuffandthings]

Nov 11, 2024 14:56:57 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

Nov 11, 2024 11:49:31 GMT -5 stuffandthings said:

This is why I think our problem is entirely in messaging and not actual policy. Progressive policies A) work, B) have a long history of working in the US, and C) are actually popular when people learn about them. We just don't do a good job of finding the people who don't already know about policy and talking to them about it, so those people only hear from people who are actively spreading disinformation.

I think we get a little scared by the backlash too or bragging before we aren’t 💯 successful. Like Biden promised Student Loan forgiveness in 2020 and that didn’t happen for everyone. We know why and R’s complain about not wanting to pay for it (despite student loan payers interest and tax income probably fully covering the cost). Kamala could have revamped the policy to say, we are still going to fight, I’m going to cut interest rates AND they fixed PSLF so 1,000s of public servants had student loans forgiven. I don’t know how many thousands of people and millions of dollars, but it was a lot and life changing especially for POC. Drs and lawyers with $500k in student loan debt. Tons of teachers and nurses with $100k+. They even expanded it to Clergy but those people need to spend 10 years in the program so the religious are is screwing themselves by eliminating the DoE. I didn’t hear anything about Student Loan forgiveness success or reform in the campaign. I think Democrats ourselves got quiet because MAGA is so loud. The anti-DoE and Anti-Federal employee stuff from agenda 47 and project 2025 should have been screamed from the rooftops.

The clergy thing is killing me. My husband took at 60K in loans to become clergy and then the Obama administration disqualified clergy occupations from getting PSLF right after he finished his first year of seminary. He left the church but those 60K in loans are foreverrrrrrrrrr.

[To be clear, I actually agree that clergy shouldn't get PSLF as a general principle, but we were told he'd qualify for it when he started seminary and we made financial decisions on that basis, which...didn't work out well for us.]

[ellipses84]

[mention]stuffandthings [/mention] ETA: Are the loans paid off? They reinstated that clergy were eligible in 2020. There was a brief waiver where they were letting people backdate it too. You can still do it going forward, but IDK what happens if they eliminate DoE and that impacts college students with FAFSA too. The history of it all sucks. I know friends who consolidated to private for lower interest rates because they didn’t think forgiveness would ever happen.

ETA: Nevermind, I see he left the church and the waiver period expired. If the program continues and he still has the loans and ever gets any non-profit job, he could do it.