http://twitter.com/PoliticsReid/status/1460970568304541696

Quote :

" Bureau of Labor Statistics says it underestimated June-Sept job growth by 626,000 jobs, the largest underestimate in BLS history - https://t.co/NhVL9aGg42"

whoops

11/17/2021 10:48:31 AM

Deep state at work?!

11/17/2021 12:25:23 PM

Probably hard to accurately estimate when people are quitting so often. Perhaps they undercounted 626k people quitting

11/17/2021 10:34:23 PM

Quote :

"Right now, 80% of Americans 12 and older and have received their 1st COVID shot. This is tremendous progress."

-Kamala


I didn't realize it was that high, that's pretty good!

11/23/2021 9:15:22 AM

Quote :

"This is a historic jobs recovery: 5.6 million jobs created since I took office and an unemployment rate of 4.6% two full years earlier than experts predicted was possible. https://t.co/s6O2qPMMHJ"

11/24/2021 2:48:13 PM

And how about that stock market, amirite, President Trump?!

My 409K is looking good!

11/24/2021 3:55:05 PM

Damn you got 8 extra Ks?

11/24/2021 5:10:15 PM

Not that theres anything wrong with that

11/24/2021 5:48:02 PM

^^You got that right!

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/477504-trump-points-to-stock-market-gains-how-are-your-409ks-doing

11/24/2021 6:36:25 PM

Lol i missed that one

11/24/2021 8:42:49 PM

^If you don't have a 409K, what are you doing wrong?!

11/25/2021 6:39:01 AM

Quote :

"Jen Psaki somewhat mockingly asks reporter at the White House Daily Press Briefing if the US should be sending out rapid #COVID19 tests to every household. In the UK you can order 1 pack (containing 7 tests) everyday. https://t.co/ErnSsiLxxl https://t.co/L7ruKWdy5n"

Imagine being this dismissive

12/6/2021 9:07:30 PM

To be fair, she does have red hair.

12/7/2021 12:57:42 AM

My brother-in-law required that we all get tested prior to Thanksgiving. It would have been really nice to get the tests delivered to our house rather than having to schedule 4 tests at the nearest drugstore.

It was either that or go spend about $50 on OTC tests.

12/7/2021 9:31:27 AM

if you live in NC, you can get tests delivered to your door for free

https://www.pixel.labcorp.com/nc

we’ve probably had 10 delivered to us since September

[Edited on December 7, 2021 at 10:31 AM. Reason : .]

12/7/2021 10:30:52 AM

Thanks TGL. I will definitely keep that link handy.

12/7/2021 4:49:03 PM

of course. just hope there’s a FedEx Drop Box somewhere near you.

having in-laws in a deep red state has made me appreciate having a governor who is making a real effort for the citizens in their state

there are no free testing sites in Arkansas and tests cost nearly $100

12/7/2021 5:01:52 PM

We've picked up OTC tests at Walgreens for $25.

12/8/2021 1:05:44 PM

those aren’t as reliable, though

12/8/2021 1:07:38 PM

The promise to cancel $10k in student loan debt seems pretty dead, a clear lie it seems

12/13/2021 10:58:02 PM

Yeah thats a lie i am pretty bummed about

12/13/2021 11:00:22 PM

sO sUrPrIsInG

12/14/2021 1:55:42 AM

How about this. Pay the debts you voluntarily incur. When is Biden gonna cancel muh credit card billz?! I shouldn't have to pay!

12/14/2021 7:43:17 AM

Who are you talking to

12/14/2021 7:47:29 AM

Whoever thinks they shouldn't be accountable for their student loans or other voluntarily incurred and agreed debts.

Failing to honor campaign commitments isn't a good look. But nor is failing to own your personal debts.

12/14/2021 9:41:44 AM

This isn't the "student loanee credibility watch" though.

12/14/2021 12:31:47 PM

Pretty glad we’re not forgiving student loans. + credibility in my book.

12/14/2021 12:44:11 PM

Seems like if your approval is shit and you promise to do something that would help real people, it's a good idea to follow through. Especially during a pandemic.

12/14/2021 1:14:25 PM

Quote :

"This isn't the "student loanee credibility watch" though."

LOL, true!

12/14/2021 3:02:51 PM

Turns out handing out free cash, while a short term improver of approval ratings (and a great way to stimulate the economy, and something I approved of earlier this year because it was drastically needed); can cause damaging effects to the economy that have longer term approval rating impacts.

Cancelling student loan debt would be the same thing, the longer term effects would be much worse than an approval rating that is meaningless because A) it’s 3 years from the next election, B) Biden probably doesn’t run anyway, C) it’s artificially low because of economic problems that 3 years from now will likely be better

12/14/2021 3:05:39 PM

It's 1 year from the next election.

What did PPP loans do the economy? How about stimulus checks? The military budget increase?

If the county doesn't want to see trumpees running congress in 2023 and Trump in the oval office in 2025, then Biden needs to take concrete efforts to help people suffering from the fallout of a global pandemic. It's worth doing ANYWAY imo, but the country is on a precipice of long term minority rule from a fascist party, how will the working class economy work in that scenario.


Moreover I'm tired of democracies acceptance of politicians promising to do popular things during an election and then giving it up without a fight. Biden said the floor so low and still disappoints.

[Edited on December 14, 2021 at 4:19 PM. Reason : E]

12/14/2021 4:12:50 PM

Quote :

"How about this. Pay the debts you voluntarily incur."

You know, it's funny. This used to be my answer to people wanting student loan forgiveness, back when I still had loans. Now it's been years since I finished paying them off, and I am 100% against to this line of thinking, which seems to take for granted that $1.8 trillion in student loan debt is, like, an opportunity to build character and teach lessons about hard work and the value of the dollar or some other Grandpa shit, instead of looking at it as a massive deadweight holding back an entire generation of Americans.

The comparison to credit card and other types of debt also rings hollow given the stark differences between them. There are a lot of these, most of which we all know and shouldn't have to rehash. But I think a key distinction is what drives large amounts of debt in each case. Credit card debt is built through poor budgeting and on consumables, for the most part. Even if you can't eat an iPhone, eventually you're going to need another iPhone. Student loan debt is built through investment on a permanent, fixed, unconsumable resource. If Jack maxed out his Visa on video games and bar tabs, paying his bill won't make him suddenly understand how to budget, and it won't set him up for life; he'll max it out again on the same shit eventually. If Jill racked up $60,000 in student loans getting a college education (which every adult in her life has consistently told her is the single most important investment she can make in her future), well, even if she's not any smarter than Jack, she's not going to need to go out and get another college education.

Quote :

"Turns out handing out free cash, while a short term improver of approval ratings (and a great way to stimulate the economy, and something I approved of earlier this year because it was drastically needed); can cause damaging effects to the economy that have longer term approval rating impacts."

And what are you drawing that conclusion from? Rather than wait, I'll go ahead and assume you're going to say something about inflation. To which I'll say that looking at the current inflation situation and blaming it on free cash is like looking at a house fire and blaming it on oxygen. True, if we got rid of all the oxygen, the fire would stop. But we'd have bigger problems.

I'd argue that our current period of inflation isn't "suddenly there's too much money around," it's "suddenly there's less to spend money on." Pandemic effects on the supply chain and the things consumers spend money on have fed price increases. True, if we didn't give anybody any money during the pandemic and let everyone get fired and be broke, they wouldn't have been able to buy anything and that would have countered the inflationary effect of the supply crunch. But I am 100% positive we'd be facing something much, much worse.

---

Increasingly I'm convinced that the only real argument against student loan forgiveness is that it is basically a gift to people who already have a lot going for them, while people who never even had a shot at college get squat. And I could decide that this flaw is outweighed by the good if, say, we also made structural changes to avoid having to do exactly the same thing all over again ten years down the road.

12/14/2021 5:09:23 PM

Hell yea

12/14/2021 8:41:20 PM

I wasn't sure where this would end up, but anywho...

 Age       US Citizens    Reported Voted    Percent
            (millions)      (millions)      of Votes
----------------------------------------------------
18 - 24       26.74            13.75          8.9%
25 - 34       39.96            24.09         15.6%
35 - 49       53.42            35.21         22.8%
50 - 61       46.45            33.03         21.4%
> 62          65.04            48.55         31.4%
Total        231.59           154.63        100.0%

 Age       US Citizens    Borrowers    Percent of
            (millions)    (millions)   Age Group
------------------------------------------------
18 - 24       26.74          7.16        26.8%
25 - 34       39.96         14.88        37.2%
35 - 49       53.42         14.31        26.8%
50 - 61       46.45          6.30        13.6%
> 62          65.04          2.37         3.6%
Total        231.59         45.02        19.4%

 Age      Reported Voted    Borrowers    Voting    Voting Loans    Percent
            (millions)      (millions)    Rate      (millions)     of Votes
-------------------------- ------------------------------------------------
18 - 24       13.75            7.16       64.8%        4.64          3.0%
25 - 34       24.09           14.88       71.4%       10.62          6.9%
35 - 49       35.21           14.31       71.4%       10.22          6.6%
50 - 61       33.03            6.30       78.5%        4.95          3.2%
> 62          48.55            2.37       80.3%        1.90          1.2%
Total        154.63           45.02       71.8%       32.33         20.9%

12/16/2021 5:53:25 PM

PWNT

12/16/2021 6:56:38 PM

Is your theory that only people with student loans would care if he does this or not?

12/16/2021 8:23:12 PM

No

12/16/2021 8:44:48 PM

It doesn't matter how people without loans feel about it. Student loans are causing an economically unhealthy burden on a societal level. It's bad, let alone how you feel about it on an ethical basis.

[Edited on December 17, 2021 at 1:08 PM. Reason : .]

12/17/2021 1:07:33 PM

Personally, I believe we need to decide if higher education is going to be free or not. If it is, then we have a long term solution to fix the problem of which student loans are a symptom.

If higher education isn't free, then we start to ask ourselves, so do we only clear student loans for people now, even though they'd continue to be an undue burden on future students? What about if a family refinanced their house to pay for their kids tuition, essentially taking on a loan. Do we not forgive that loan just because of the way they chose to finance? There's a lot of inconsistencies that open up.

I agree student debt is a problem. I am willing to agree that it could hurt the economy more than help it. But I believe we need to do something consistent that has lasting gains rather than a one time thing.

12/17/2021 1:31:53 PM

I'm not sure if I think it should be free, but it certainly shouldn't be expensive as it is.

12/17/2021 1:36:47 PM

I agree. I could get behind free tuition but room, board, meals, books, etc would need to be out of pocket.

When we talk the cost of student loans tuition is just one part of the costs incurred. Removing the cost of tuition lowers student loans for nearly everyone who has them and can eliminate them entirely for about half.

12/17/2021 2:01:00 PM

Quote :

"The Dept of Education did a report on Biden's ability to cancel student debt so Biden just redacted the entire thing, how is this real lmao https://t.co/bFIbf4nFmo"

12/18/2021 7:52:46 PM

Quote :

"People with student debt just aren't a large portion of the electorate, and this is with the unlikely assumption that debt is the major consideration for all student loans voters."

Sure, which is why it never gains enough traction to actually happen. As with so many massive problems (climate change, soaring home prices, stagnant wages) facing the country, it turns out they aren't nearly so massive if you're an old fart whose college education cost two bits, whose house has been paid off since 1999, and who happily collects social security and maybe a pension to boot. And as ever, it's the old farts who vote while the young people ... I don't actually know what young people do instead of voting. I've voted in every election available to me since turning 18* and am extremely enthusiastic about it every time. Everyone in my family and friend circle is the same way. Evidently we're weird.

*-OK, I didn't vote in 2012. I tried to vote, but either North Carolina or the Beninese postal service lost my absentee ballot. So I'm still counting it.

Quote :

"There's a lot of inconsistencies that open up."

I guess, but for the most part, I don't care. No problem on a national scale can be solved in a way that is 100% fair for every situation, and any effort to address these relatively unusual cases is either (a) going to bog down an otherwise possible solution, or (b) end up used to enable some new awful thing.

12/21/2021 2:42:17 PM

Quote :

"Today, my Administration is extending the pause on federal student loan repayments for an additional 90 days — through May 1, 2022 — as we manage the ongoing pandemic and further strengthen our economic recovery."

Better than nothing?

12/22/2021 10:50:14 PM

Doesn’t help with loans with cfnc anyways. Big whoopty do for me

12/22/2021 11:08:57 PM

Does the pause stop interest accrual?

12/22/2021 11:26:33 PM

Biden:

Quote :

""There is no federal solution. This gets solved at the state level"

lol

[Edited on December 28, 2021 at 6:42 AM. Reason : s]

12/28/2021 6:42:13 AM

LMAO

12/28/2021 7:41:41 AM

it was an out of context clip that was edited and posted by a GOP operative

12/28/2021 10:25:56 AM

I straddle the fence on student loans. I had scholarships, grants and worked full time going through school. When graduated I got a real job and kept my college job part time to pay off what little loans I had. But as a financial planner I see people so underwater in theirs it’s a major issue. So part of me wants to say give em a break and the other part of me says well if you are going to pay off theirs can I catch a check for working my ass off to not have any debt? I know my thinking isn’t “fair”. But it’s also not cool that I busted my ass to not put myself in that position to watch ppl with 100k of debt wiped clean that didn’t plan ahead. It’s hard to be fiscally responsible at 18 and college costs are overly inflated. There is a middle ground here. I don’t expect reparations. But those who just carried the debt and now just get it wiped learn nothing.

12/28/2021 12:20:58 PM