The Biden Presidency is underway.

[Houngan]

No doubt, but I would think that would be 95% anti-gay with a 5% marriage kicker.

[Strollen]

@Alstein

I do remember the story of one Dem caucus goer in IA who tried to take back his vote for Buttigieg once he found out he was gay.

I do worry some black Dems in particular would be LGBT-hostile, particularly in the South, I saw it in the local party. (Though some are awesome on this!)

I remember that person also and I’m sure folks like him would make it harder for Pete to win the primary. But do you really think that a black Democratic primary voter is going to choose Donald Trump over Mayor Pete in the general?

[Timex]

@Alstein

Jobless rates at a 52-yr low.

Keep in mind that a huge number of people just dropped out of the labor market when covid hit, and didn’t rejoin it. You can see this when you look at the labor participation rate.

[KevinC]

Maybe they all died of COVID.

[scottagibson]

Well, it’s 1.6 million people. That’s twice the number who have died of COVID. Also, I’m pretty sure the COVID dead skew heavily older. There are at least a million people who have dropped out of the labor force, probably more.

[scottagibson]

Thanks, moderates!

Rob Blackwell

Five Democratic senators tell White House they oppose bank regulator pick

This is the woman who Kennedy attacked as a Marxist because she was born in the
Soviet Union.

[KevinC]

@scottagibson

Well, it’s 1.6 million people. That’s twice the number who have died of COVID. Also, I’m pretty sure the COVID dead skew heavily older. There are at least a million people who have dropped out of the labor force, probably more.

Yeah, it was a flippant comment made in bad taste. I wasn’t seriously thinking that had all died. :)

I wonder if some of those people that dropped out realized it just wasn’t worth it, particularly if they had to pay for child care so the second parent could work. I have friends who were right on that edge and having that debate before the pandemic hit.

[scottagibson]

@KevinC

I wonder if some of those people that dropped out realized it just wasn’t worth it, particularly if they had to pay for child care so the second parent could work. I have friends who were right on that edge and having that debate before the pandemic hit.

I’m sure this is the case. Of course, higher wages would change that calculation for a lot of them.

[Alstein]

Don’t be surprised if this sinks Powell for the fed, I could see Warren and the more left Senators doing a tit for tat in response to this.

(Powell deserves renomination IMO, but the left can’t just keep getting walked over)

[scottagibson]

@Alstein

…the left can’t just keep getting walked over…

I guess, to be fair, I have to say I don’t really know anything about Omarova, except that the idiot Republicans attacked her because of where she was born, and she held up under their lunacy very well. It just seems likely that the ‘moderates’ are nixing her for the same reason, that she was born in the USSR so must somehow be tainted.

[Alstein]

I just feel this sort of behavior from right-wing Dems needs to have consequences, even if they’re painful to implement. It cannot be tolerated.

Rejecting bigotry is a core Dem value that shouldn’t be compromised, especially within the party.

[Gordon_Cameron]

@KevinC

I wonder if some of those people that dropped out realized it just wasn’t worth it, particularly if they had to pay for child care so the second parent could work. I have friends who were right on that edge and having that debate before the pandemic hit.

I don’t know to what extent this is a constructed media narrative, but it’s certainly in the ether.

The ‘Anti-Work’ Movement Is A Sign Something’s Rotten In The Workplace

I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in a position where I can just decide not to work, but maybe someday.

[lordkosc]

Lots of people decide not to work, even if they do show up. ;)

[Alstein]

When you can get a job easily, you really don’t have to take too much shit.

[arrendek]

Most of the stories on Reddit are people deciding not to work at the job they are currently at, not all jobs forever.

I find it the least surprising thing ever that a subreddit has popped up where people bitch about work and post stories about quitting when their bosses are shit. A lot of the stories honestly look like they are fabricated. What is more surprising to me is that the media has decided to cover said subreddit like it is probably the reason that all these businesses can’t find employees. Still not too surprising though. It’s a bit missing the trees for the forest though because if they wanted to report on the subreddit they should instead focus on what the people are saying, which would probably help actually answer why businesses aren’t finding employees (or at least a part of it). The people posting the stories are not stuck in their jobs and they are usually underpaid and their bosses are hot garbage. If there’s a story there, it’s not what the headlines are tending to report.

[Enidigm]

It’s a bit like the 19th C Europe where the upper classes worried that the peasants were becoming uppity by reading Marx, not that there were any underlying problems Marx pointed out that needed addressing.

[rrmorton]

We’re in my sister’s bookstore in Nantucket and Joe’s about to visit! A couple dozen secret service vehicles and agents are scanning the perimeter. We’ll probably get kicked out soon but maybe we’ll see the President!

And now the press has invaded the store. Joe and Jill and fam are next door at the Jared Coffin house finishing lunch. The Bidens have shopped in this store for 35 years…Why stop now??

Now my daughters are mingling with the Biden grandkids and I’m freaking out.

And here we are with the President of the United States!

[Alstein]

Congrats!

[Charlatan]

Very cool!!!

[CraigM]

Man meeting the president in a bookstore, sounds like a very good day.