Nobody wants to read good news, Matt Yglesias says today, and boy howdy is he right. The United States has been practically bursting with good news over the past couple of decades, but no one wants to hear it. We all hate each other so much that we can't stand the thought that lots of things are going right.
Not everything, of course. Climate change is broiling the planet. We lost lots of good paying manufacturing jobs in the aughts. Opioid overdoses are up.
But even if we restrict ourselves purely to politics, take a look at the past two years:
- Afghanistan withdrawal
- $1.9 trillion COVID stimulus
- Infrastructure bill
- Climate change bill
- Rallying the world to assist Ukraine
- More than 40 federal judges appointed—a near record rate
- CHIPS Act
- PACT Act
- Student loan forgiveness
And in the lame duck session:
- Respect for Marriage Act
- Railroad mediation.
- Electoral Count Reform Act (soon)
- Budget passed. (soon)
Matt adds to this list in a techno-explainer about the clean water act that was passed as part of the NDAA. David Dayen adds a few other good things here.
But overall? David's headline is "Democrats Frittered Away the Lame-Duck Session."
Damn. I'm not picking on David here, and there's nothing wrong with wanting more more more. Still, this was a decent lame duck session even if it didn't produce every last thing Democrats wanted. It's also pretty decent even if it's not the best one ever (Obama's legendary lame duck of 2010). I'd call it a B+ ending to a B+ term, and we should celebrate it while we can, since the next two years are likely to rate a D-.
If you're a straight-A student, a B+ would be a disappointing grade. If you're a B student, a B+ would be pretty good. For a C student it would be great.
I submit that the United States is basically a B student. Not a genius, so to speak, but a good worker who pumps out pretty good results along with a few boners here and there. I don't blame you if you think we should do better, but practically speaking there just aren't many A students among countries—and the very few who might be are a fraction our size. Among large-ish countries, we're arguably #1.
Bottom line: We do pretty well, all things considered, and over the past two years we did even a little better than that. Congratulations, citizens!
It takes a while for benefits of any policy to trickle down to the general public. And by the time we are seeing some benefits we are too busy bitching about other things.
The lame duck session is a failure because it guaranteed a debt ceiling standoff with the GOP house.
Blame that on the GOP, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy. Can't get anything passed in the Senate without 60 votes. If the GOP want all kinds of stupid ass stuff to hold the debt ceiling hostage next year, not a whole lot can be done about that now.
They could have used reconciliation and removed the cudgel from the maniacs. That was my whole criteria for a successful lame duck. Republicans already destroyed mandatory coronavirus vaccination in the military. Imagine the damage they'll do on a debt ceiling bill.
Republicans already destroyed mandatory coronavirus vaccination in the military.
You really think that's a big loss? I was as "pandemic hawk" as much as the next person in 2020-2021. But given the endemic presence of covid antibodies in the US population, it's hard to see how this is some kind of massive policy loss, especially if the former policy was having any kind of detrimental effect on recruitment.
I'm with Special Newb on this. Listening to Ron Klain [sp?] on Pod Save America, it sounded like he wanted a debt ceiling showdown. Crazy!
I think that they used up the Reconciliation capacity with the "Omnibus". They already had one with the IRA, leaving one for EITHER the debt limit or the funding bill. The funding bill is more immediately important.
But even more trenchantly, if the Republicans shut the government down -- especially if they force some sort of soft default that causes "free market" interest rates to rise sharply -- they are dead meat in 2024. Nancy has set a trap for them as her parting kiss of death to Kevin McClueless.
There was no path to using reconciliation - alas the senior senator from AZ was against using reconciliation to fix the debt ceiling issue so nope couldn't be done.
It isn't over yet.
Plus we beat a dictator at the ballot box! 3 times -- which is not even counting two huge wins in Georgia, of all places...
With a one-vote majority and two obstructionists in the Senate Democrats were never going to accomplish everything on everybody's agenda. Give pundits a D for carping about what was not done.
Like +10!
Being a genius has nothing to do with grades. The reason why we're a B student is due to class disruptions from the likes of J6 supporters.
The FBI recommends adblockers,
https://i.redd.it/juj9fackva7a1.png
The list of 9+4 items is a no-brainer, So why do we need to pass stuff like that by the skin of our teeth? That is the real downer. That and inaction on climate change which looms over all the short term stuff.
that's definitely a man's answer. women lost a whole constitutional right. so the highest grade the US can get is C. and we've made no progress on global warming, so D. and then the Democrats failure to correct any of the structural issues that give the GOP an advantage. so F.
That's definitely a nihilist's response ...
Not to mention the highest rate of lethal crime in the rich world, piss-poor public transport and rampant rent-seeking. Oh, and US democratic norms are hanging by a thread. You can't say that about Germany, France, Britain, Canada, Australia and other "largeish" countries. The US has also likely suffered the highest covid mortality of any rich country. Some record.
“You can't say that about Germany, France, Britain, Canada, Australia and other "largeish" countries.”
It’s difficult to tell if these are Fox News talking points against Biden or Leftist propaganda points against Democrats, capitalism, and/or the USA in general.
Either way, it’s hard not to poke fun at this kind of partisan hack job of an analysis.
Germany? Seriously? They’re not in great shape right now after their years/decades cozying up to Putin for energy supplies.
Great Britain? All I can say is OMG. It gives me no pleasure whatsoever to say that with their inflation problems, strikes, constant turnover in national leadership, and recessionary economy, they may very well be at genuine risk of falling apart.
France has obviously been flirting (as have so many other democracies) with their own right wing extremists/autocrats.
And neither Canada nor Australia are “large” countries other than in land mass. The population of both countries combined is probably less than that of California.
The point of Kevin’s blog post is that the USA has done surprisingly well, and a lot better than some of these other countries, at recovering from the pandemic.
But, of course, that’s only apparent to those who choose to live in reality.
I'm not sure why you bothered to respond to my comment, when you don't seem to have actually, uh, read it. I specifically mentioned "democracy hanging by a thread" in the US. That's not the case with any other large, high income democracy. There's an entirely real possibility that the GOP-dominated Congress, courts and state legislatures could engage in elections nullification. At least as of now, that's simply not a plausible outcome in any of the large democracies I cited (I mean, can you imagine Marcon, Trudeau or Sunak refusing to hand over power? The question answers itself!).
It's really amazing how many Americans are still in denial regarding the outlier-ish decrepitude of the country's political-constitutional order.
PS—There are 195 national economies in the world; Canada and Australia are number 8 and 13, respectively. By any reasonable measure that's "large."
PPS—Take your head out of your ass.
The performance of America's democratic institutions over the last 4-6 years has, almost across the board, been something to celebrate. Democracies across the globe, from India to Israel, have been either been unable or unwilling to fight back against or hold accountable their corrupt, right wing, and/or authoritarian leaders.
The USA has been put to a similar test in recent years, and we peacefully (without a war) booted out our wannabe authoritarian in four years. That may very well be a record for a democracy dealing with an authoritarian who has assumed power. We also booted his political party out of their majorities (except for the judicial) in all major branches of the Federal government.
We then proceeded to investigate that wannabe authoritarian at both the state and federal level. Despite years of resistance on the authoritarian's part, we've now revealed his financial information to the public. He's facing public scrutiny like never before in his entirely corrupt and entitled life, and, at either the state and/or federal level, he is certainly going to face charges.
And in the recent midterms of 2022, election deniers and other illiberal opponents of our open and democratic society were almost entirely swept away. The pro-Democracy party, even in a midterm election with a bad economy, increased its majority in the Senate and lost surprisingly few seats in the House (and even that was due largely to its own disorganization in NY).
On the whole, our large, populous, and very diverse country has fought and succeeded at preserving its democracy to an extent rarely seen in the history of humanity. We should be celebrating, and, indeed, there are a few commentators out there (see recent work by Fukuyama) acknowledging these and similar surprisingly positive developments.
And yet there are still nihilists out there who seem either willfully blind, stubbornly obstinate, or just intellectually deluded to an extent that prevents them from recognizing the astonishing resilience our democracy has shown over the last few years. So I encourage you to reconsider your narrow minded view of the situation. Because, if we are to continue defending our democracy, we have to recognize the value and the strength of what we're defending. Certainly, we must remain vigilant. But vigilance need not involve reductive extremism.
Also, when I point out that Great Britain may be at genuine risk of falling apart, and that France has been dangerously close to electing its own authoritarians, those were indeed direct responses to your initial comment. Was that over your head? sorry about that, I'll try to write in a more simple-minded manner in the future, but do at least try to follow along.
And the small populations of countries like Australia and Canada does (or should) in fact make them easier to manage than a behemoth like the USA. That's just a fact.
California = 39.24 million
Canada = 38.25 million
Australia = 25.74 million
California > (Canada or Australia)
California < (Canada and Australia)
“…We all hate each other so much that we can't stand the thought that lots of things are going right…”
I think news/social media have perfected the click bait game, we’re like lab mice hitting the cocaine button over and over. Add Trump and identity politics and everything is super simple, obvious, dumb and instantly polarizing.
“…Climate change is broiling the planet…”
Is it? I thought the last data narrowed the range of possible outcomes to 2-3 Celsius increase over 100 yrs. and it was (relatively) good news? More natural gas, more solar, less coal, and nothing horrible like permafrost carbon blowing it all up.
“…We lost lots of good paying manufacturing jobs in the aughts…”
Isn’t that always overstated? Like 16% manufacturing in 1970 to 10% now, from 1/6 to 1/10… Declines in union membership also overstated. Of course it’s true the middle class got squeezed, everyone but top 1% didn’t get nearly as fat and happy.
“…Afghanistan withdrawal?..”
It was good Biden was willing to pay the price and end the occupation. Of course less US funded killing is a good thing. But it *was* an illegal invasion (supported by Mr Drum and Yglesias, I would add). Same with Iraq war.
“…$1.9 trillion COVID stimulus…”
I guess that was good. The companies that made a billion dollars processing the PPP loans, that sucked, plus most of my rich acquaintances got grant money, which was weird. Overall good.
“…Rallying the world to assist Ukraine…”
This was a mistake in my opinion, but I know the liberal belligerencia has ruled, and no wrong-think is tolerated.
“…Student loan forgiveness…”
Disagree, give the money to poor people. Means test, at least. Take the political hit.
“…I'd call it a B+ ending to a B+ term, and we should celebrate it…”
I totally agree with Mr Drum’s overall point. Biden has been pretty damn good, much better than most alternatives could have gone, I would guess. Maybe Biden has good instincts or principles, or maybe just a good or lucky team. (Except for Ukraine, which is getting thousands of people killed for a strip of dirt. But even that could be worse).
I think Biden will get re-elected, even with the age working against him.
Bluegreysun:
“…Rallying the world to assist Ukraine…”
This was a mistake in my opinion, but I know the liberal belligerencia has ruled, and no wrong-think is tolerated. "
I've heard this stated elsewhere and yes, the MAJORITY of liberal opinion thinks this is a good thing but it's not like critics like John Mearsheimer and others haven't gotten their views out there in multiple venues let alone Tucker Carlson and members on the right spewing their nonsense. So can the aggrieved nonsense about "wrong think" and make a case for why we should have let Putin storm into Kiev, hopefully a better one than Mearsheimer's which I find very unpersuasive.
But it *was* an illegal invasion
Iraq, yes. Afghanistan no. The latter ended up being ludicrously overly long (we should've gotten in and out in the space of six months)—true! But it's a stretch to claim it was illegal given that the territory in question was used to mount an attack on the US. Was America supposed to have simply turned the other cheek? Maybe we should have done the same thing after Pearl Harbor?
I think Biden will get re-elected, even with the age working against him.
I've seen zero evidence age is a political handicap in US politics. Pundits like to say so. And the opponents of older candidates try to use this supposed "disadvantage" against their opponents. But it doesn't appear to be an actual thing. There are examples of the younger candidate prevailing, sure (FDR over Hoover, Kennedy over Nixon; Clinton over Bush; Carter over Ford; Obama over Bush). But also examples of the older candidate prevailing (Ike over Stevenson, Reagan over Carter; Reagan over Mondale; Bush over Dukakis; Biden over Trump).
Candidate quality isn't likely to matter much one way or another, I'm afraid, if the country is feeling the effects of a serious recession in 2024. On the other hand, if the economy is rebounding nicely in the first half of that year, and the overall peace and prosperity picture is favorable, Biden is likely to win no matter who the GOP puts up. That's how I see it.
Some of the best evidence that "candidate quality" is irrelevant was the 2016 presidential. An experienced, educated, woman with the best resume seen in many decades, maybe ever, was defeated by a loudmouth tax cheat, grifter, racist, misogynist ... (feel free to add more epithets).
Climate change is broiling the planet. The permafrost is melting and releasing methane now. And the warming weather has increased methane release from tropical wetlands. It's also possible the lower level of pollutants, e.g. NOx, means slower destruction of methane in the atmosphere
https://www.science.org/content/article/ominous-sign-global-warming-feedback-loop-may-be-accelerating-methane-emissions
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/05/global-heating-causes-methane-growth-four-times-faster-than-thought-study
"Damn. I'm not picking on David here"
Actually I think you should pick on him. Actually the world would be better served if he was wrapped in a blanket, strapped onto a rocket and launched to Mars. He's a snake. On top of being an impossible-to-please socialist he's same person that made a clerical error on a stock-transaction form by then Congresswoman Donna Shalala blow up into into some kind weird scandal that cost her her seat. In other words he is neither be trusted nor should importance should be given to what he has to say because it's meaningless Left-wing sectarianism.
I would say a B grade is exactly on point and Matty was right that it's just too easy to dwell on the negative when the evidence shows otherwise. It's also is in the opportunistic interests of the naysayers (like Dayen) to dwell on those negatives.
I’m an upper middle class professional making pretty good money and 5 - 10 years from retirement. None of that stuff matters one bit to my life. It’s good stuff, but not impactful. That’s why no one gives a crap about these so called accomplishments. Big nothing burgers. Thanks for playing though.
Except… the end of Afghanistan is awesome and destroying Russia would be even more awesome. There is no better use of the US military and its weapons than killing Russians.
It’s odd that they are killing crazy Muslims in Syria while the real threat is in Ukraine.
WASHINGTON — For the second time in just over a week, U.S. Special Operations forces carried out helicopter raids against the Islamic State in eastern Syria, capturing six operatives including a senior official who the military said was involved in plotting and enabling terrorist attacks.
Really?
Frittered away is indeed absurd. Magical thinking...
from,
Greenland's Glaciers Seem to Be Melting Much, Much Faster Than We Thought,
https://www.sciencealert.com/greenlands-glaciers-seem-to-be-melting-much-much-faster-than-we-thought
And a Happy New Year to YOU, cld!
More seriously, people have NO IDEA how severe the effects of climate change will be. We are whistling past the graveyard.
Kevin Kevin Kevin. Winter solstice short days have you in quite a mood. "Nobody" wants to hear the good news? Ahem. Democrats do. And many of us are constantly needling/cajoling/begging/shaming the press for not reporting it and instead reporting only the inflammatory (but ultimately meaningless) "culture wars" crap.
Given that all this was done with an evenly-divided Senate, including two recalcitrant Dem senators, and a razor-thin margin in the House, the Biden/Pelosi/Schumer record is nothing short of incredible imho. They could count votes and keep people in line and, most importantly, keep their eyes on the ball. There is only so much you can cram onto a legislative calendar, so you have to triage/prioritize and know what can get done and what can't. All three Dem leaders have been pretty masterful at that.
But "Democrats in Disarray" is pretty much a default dummy placeholder headline text (like "Lorem ipsum...") for any article on politics in every paper until they absolutely *have* to change it for some reason, so here we are.
Like +15!
Pass CHIPS Act, PACT Act --- Also increase our already INSANE military budget
Do Covid Stimulus --- But the Fed's goal is to throw people out of jobs
Out of Afghanistan --- Escalating in Eurasia against a nuclear state
I could go on, and not trying to be negative but so much of what goes on is zero sum
I remember when Obama argued that "today" (back then) was the best time to be alive in the history of humanity.
He was right, but also mocked.