All Things 🇺🇸 Politics: SCOTUS Officially Overturns Roe Vs Wade - Abortion Now Illegal

[MANiCURE1295 Pronounshe/him]

Updates to OP:

Tim Ryan announces US senate bid in OH...

Doug Collins announces he will not run in 2022...

 

[MANiCURE1295 Pronounshe/him]

Day 97 - 1 Executive Order Signed by President Biden

Union/Worker’s Rights

President Biden signed an executive order on Monday creating a White House task force to promote labor organizing, an attempt to use the power of the federal government to reverse a decades-long decline in union membership.

The task force, to be led by Vice President Kamala Harris and populated by cabinet officials and top White House advisers, will issue recommendations on how the government can use existing authority to help workers join labor unions and bargain collectively. It will also recommend new policies aimed at achieving these. 

Unions have lobbied for the passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, which would prohibit employers from holding mandatory anti-union meetings and impose financial penalties for violating workers’ labor rights. (Workers can currently receive only so-called make-whole remedies, like back pay.) The House passed the measure in March and Mr. Biden supports the legislation, but it faces long odds in the Senate.

The task force will focus on, among other things, helping the federal government encourage its own workers to join unions and bargain collectively, and finding ways to make it easier for workers, especially women and people of color, to organize and bargain in parts of the country and in industries that are hostile to unions.

Spoiler

 

@admin @Twitter@chailatte @NotDoctor @blankpaper @blue @WildAmerican @Joannesrats @Joesuda @NYNJ Nights @Starboy@Delusional@lavenderblondee

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by MANiCURE1295

[MANiCURE1295 Pronounshe/him]

Day 98 - 1 Executive Order Signed by President Biden

Federal Minimum Wage

Two months after his effort to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour ran into the Senate parliamentarian buzz saw, President Joe Bidenis set to use his executive powers to hike the pay of hundreds of thousands of federal contract workers.

The President is expected to issue an executive order on Tuesday that increases contract workers' hourly minimum wage to $15 in early 2022, up from the current $10.95. It eliminates the tipped minimum wage, now $7.65 an hour, by 2024 and ensures that federal contract workers with disabilities also receive a minimum of $15 an hour.

Agencies will need to incorporate the $15 minimum wage in new contract solicitations starting January 30 and to implement the threshold in new contracts by March 30. Agencies must implement the higher wage in existing contracts when they are extended, which often happens annually. The wage will be adjusted yearly based on the increase in inflation.

Tuesday's measure follows an executive order Biden signed days after taking office that set the stage for raising federal contract workers' pay, one of the President's campaign commitments. The order also directed agencies to determine which federal workers are earning less than that minimum and develop recommendations to promote bringing them up to $15 an hour.

Spoiler

@admin @Twitter@chailatte @NotDoctor @blankpaper @blue @WildAmerican @Joannesrats @Joesuda @NYNJ Nights @Starboy@Delusional@lavenderblondee

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by MANiCURE1295

[NotDoctor PronounsHe/they]

Saw this ad going around of republican senators and congressmen urging people to get vaccinated.  They're part of the reason we're so deep in this mess and their framing around "freedom" is gross but I bet it'll play right with the people that need to hear it.  I hope to see more stuff like this soon

 

[calmar Pronounsthey/them]

The state of California has ordered a cease and desist to Nestlé for using far more water than it is supposed to be using. The state of California is currently in a drought, and needs the water that Nestlé would otherwise sell as bottled water to provide water to its citizens. Source (The Guardian)

Edited April 27, 2021 by calmar

[nynj nights Pronounsshe/her]

This was so click-baity but fun 

Thought this crowd might enjoy this "who said it" as some lighter fare

https://www.delawareonline.com/in-depth/news/politics/joe-biden/2021/04/27/who-said-it-joe-biden-lady-gaga-can-you-tell-difference/7286295002/

Spoiler

I got 13/20 

Got the Gaga one right tho 

 

[MANiCURE1295 Pronounshe/him]

29 minutes ago, nynj nights said:

This was so click-baity but fun 

Thought this crowd might enjoy this "who said it" as some lighter fare

https://www.delawareonline.com/in-depth/news/politics/joe-biden/2021/04/27/who-said-it-joe-biden-lady-gaga-can-you-tell-difference/7286295002/

  Hide contents

I got 13/20 

Got the Gaga one right tho 

 

12 out of 20

You are

Major Biden
 

 slay I guess...got the Gaga one wrong...totally thought it was here talking about her love of muscle cars...for some reason I totally thought she mentioned something like that during the promotion of Y&I 

[nynj nights Pronounsshe/her]

17 minutes ago, MANiCURE1295 said:

12 out of 20

You are

Major Biden
 

 slay I guess...got the Gaga one wrong...totally thought it was here talking about her love of muscle cars...for some reason I totally thought she mentioned something like that during the promotion of Y&I 

My score also gave me Mayor Biden: You are a good boy, but you need some training 

I know the Gaga one was deceiving. Because of the monster truck video before the election I had a feeling it was meant to trick the casual fan so I said Biden. I didn't even think of Y&I era though. I thought maybe it was a quote in 5F2

[MANiCURE1295 Pronounshe/him]

AMERICAN FAMILIES PLAN DETAILS

A month after he laid out a roughly $2 trillion infrastructure plan aimed at helping the nation recover from the coronavirus pandemic, President Joe Biden is set to unveil an additional $1.8 trillion federal investment in education, child care and paid family leave during his first address to Congress on Wednesday.

The massive package -- which Biden is calling the American Families Plan -- is the second half of his effort to revitalize the nation and ensure a more equitable recovery. The proposal would also extend or make permanent enhancements to several key tax credits that were contained in the Democrats' $1.9 trillion rescue bill, which Biden signed into law last month. The bill contains about $1 trillion in investments and $800 billion in enhanced tax credits. The tax increases contained in the two economic recovery packages would fully pay for the investments over the next 15 years, according to the White House.

It's unclear whether lawmakers will consider Biden's two plans together or separately -- or whether Democrats will try to push it through without Republican support, as they did the rescue bill. 
 

HERE IS WHAT IS IN THE BILL:

Spoiler

Helping families afford child care

Biden's proposal calls for having low- and middle-income families pay no more than 7% of their income on child care for kids younger than age 5. Parents earning up to 1.5 times the median income in their state would qualify.

The President also wants to invest more in the child care workforce to bring their wages up to $15 an hour, from the typical $12.24 hourly rate they earned in 2020.

Making community college free

Biden is proposing a $109 billion plan to make two years of community college free.

The federal government would cover about 75% of the average tuition cost in each state when the program is fully implemented, with states picking up the rest, another senior administration official said. States would also be expected to maintain their current contributions to their higher education systems.

If all states, territories, and tribes participate, about 5.5 million students would pay nothing in tuition and fees, according to the White House.

But Biden's free community college measure falls well short of plans from progressive Democrats, some of which also call for making four-year public colleges free for some students, as well as broadly canceling student loan debt. 

In addition to his community college measure, Biden would create a $39 billion program that provides two years of subsidized tuition for students from families earning less than $125,000 who are enrolled in four-year historically Black colleges and universities or other minority-serving institutions.

Enhancing Pell Grants

The President would provide up to approximately $1,400 in additional assistance to low-income students by increasing the Pell Grant award.

Nearly 7 million students, including many people of color, rely on Pell Grants, but their value has not kept up with the rising cost of college.

Students can receive up to $6,495 for the 2021-22 school year. Biden has promised to double the maximum award.

Providing paid family and medical leave

A limited federal paid family and sick leave measurewas included as part of the major pandemic rescue package passed by Congress in March 2020. It provided up to two weeks of paid sick days for workers who were ill or quarantined, as well as an additional 10 weeks of paid family leave if they needed to care for a child whose school or daycare was closed due to the pandemic. 

The American Families Plan would provide workers with a total of 12 weeks of guaranteed paid parental, family and personal illness/safe leave by the 10th year of the program, according to a White House fact sheet. The partial wage replacement would apply to individuals who wanted "to take time to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill loved one, deal with a loved one's military deployment, find safety from sexual assault, stalking or domestic violence, heal from their own serious illness or take time to deal with the death of a loved one." 

The plan would also ensure three days of bereavement leave annually starting in the first year of the plan's rollout. 

Workers would receive up to $4,000 a month through the national leave program, with a minimum of two-thirds of their wages replaced. The White House estimates the program will cost $225 billion over 10 years. 

About 30 million private sector workers, many of whom are low-income earners and part-time, did not have any paid sick leave before the pandemic.

Investing $200 billion in universal preschool

Biden is calling for the federal government to invest $200 billion in universal preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds through a national partnership with states. The administration estimates it would benefit 5 million children and save the average family $13,000 when fully implemented. 

The program would be accessible to families of all income levels, according to the White House. States would be required to foot about 50% of the cost when the measure is fully up and running. If a state were to opt out, the federal government would work with localities to implement the program, the second senior administration official said.

The proposal will be constructed to prioritize high-need areas. It will carry the pledge to ensure publicly funded preschool would include low student-to-teacher ratios and "developmentally appropriate curriculum."

Recruiting more teachers and strengthening the educator workforce

The American Families Plan aims to address teacher shortages and meet an anticipated increase in demand for universal pre-K educators by increasing funding for educator scholarships and specialty training, as well as raising wages for certain groups in federal programs. 

The plan calls on Congress to double its scholarships for prospective teachers from $4,000 to $8,000 per year and expand the program to early childhood educators. The plan would invest $2.8 billion in yearlong paid teacher residency programs, $900 million in special education teacher development and $400 million in teacher preparation programs at historically Black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities and minority serving institutions. 

The plan would also allocate $1.6 billion to help current teachers earn credentials for in-demand specialties, such as special education and bilingual education. An additional $2 billion in the plan would go toward educator leadership programs, like mentorships for new teachers and teachers of color. 

All employees participating in pre-k programs and Head Start, a longstanding federal health and education program for low-income children, would earn at least $15 per hour as part of the proposal, "and those with comparable qualifications will receive compensation commensurate with that of kindergarten teachers," according to a White House fact sheet.

Providing more nutrition assistance for children

Biden wants to invest $25 billion to make the summer Pandemic-EBT permanent and available to the 29 million children receiving free and reduced-price meals. Congress created the program last spring to provide funds to low-income families whose children could not receive meals in school because of pandemic closures.

The President would also expand the free meals program for children in the highest poverty districts so that an additional 9.3 million kids would qualify.

HERE ARE THE EXTENDED TAX CREDITS IN THE BILL:

Spoiler

THE EXTENDED TAX CREDITS

Keeping the expanded child tax credit through 2025

The American Families Plan would maintain the new enhanced child tax credit for another four years. And it would make it fully refundable permanently.

Democrats passed a one-year expansion of the child tax credit as part of the March relief bill. Families with children under the age of 6 will receive $3,600 per child, while those with kids between the ages of 6 and 17 will receive $3,000 for each child for 2021. That's up from a maximum of $2,000 per child under age 17. 

The enhanced portion of the credit is available for single parents with annual incomes up to $75,000, heads of households earning up to $112,500 and joint filers making up to $150,000 a year.

Under the relief bill, families can receive half their total credit on a monthly basis -- up to $300 per child up to age 6 and $250 per child ages 6 to 17 -- starting in July and running through the rest of the year. They could then claim the remaining half on their 2021 tax returns. The credit will also be fully refundable for 2021 so more low-income households can take advantage of it.

Researchers have found the benefit could reduce child poverty by nearly half -- a statistic Biden repeatedly cited when advocating for the rescue package.

Beefing up Affordable Care Act subsidies permanently

Biden's proposal would permanently extend the more generous subsidies contained in the rescue package, which are currently in effect for two years.

The boost in aid is part of Biden's effort to get more Americans covered by health insurance by making it more affordable, particularly for the middle class.

Under the rescue law, enrollees pay no more than 8.5% of their income toward coverage, down from nearly 10%. And lower-income policyholders receive subsidies that eliminate their premiums completely.

Providing more help to pay for child care permanently

The President is calling on Congress to make permanent the enhancements to the child and dependent care tax credit contained in the relief package. 

Under that plan, families can receive a tax credit for as much as half of their spending on qualified child care for children under age 13, up to a total of $4,000 for one child or $8,000 for two or more children. 

Parents making less than $125,000 annually are eligible for the full credit, while those earning between $125,000 and $400,000 will receive a partial credit.

Making the enhanced earned income tax credit permanent

The latest package would make permanent the expansion of the earned income tax credit for workers without children.

The relief law bolstered the credit by nearly tripling the maximum credit and extending eligibility to more childless workers. The minimum age to claim the credit will be reduced to 19, from 25, and the upper age limit will be eliminated.

This was the largest expansion to the earned income tax credit since 2009.

AND HERE ARE THE PAYFOR’S

Spoiler

Raising income taxes on the rich

Biden wants to reverse a key plank of the Republicans' 2017 tax cuts by returning the top marginal income tax rate to 39.6%, up from 37%. It would apply only to those in the top 1%. 

Raising the capital gains tax rate

The proposal would require households earning more than $1 million annually to pay higher taxes on capital gains, which typically make up the largest share of income for the wealthy.

The long-term capital gains of these taxpayers would be subject to the top marginal rate for income -- currently 37%, but rising to 39.6% under Biden's plan. 

Right now, investments held for at least one year are subject to a top federal capital gains rate of 20%. Individuals earning $200,000 a year and married couples making $250,000 a year pay an additional 3.8% tax on their capital gains to help fund the Affordable Care Act. 

Taxing unrealized capital gains at death

Currently, heirs of wealthy Americans enjoy a major tax break. Assets that pass directly to them receive a "step-up" in their cost basis, meaning they are valued as of the date of death. This can minimize the tax burden on the heirs when they eventually sell the assets. And it means the gains accrued during the lifetime of the parent who died are never taxed.

Biden would require estates to pay taxes on unrealized gains of more than $1 million, or $2.5 million per couple when combined with existing real estate exemptions. However, family-owned businesses and farms would not have to pay taxes when passed on to heirs who continue to run the business.

Ending breaks for hedge fund partners and real estate investors

Biden is asking Congress to close the carried interest loophole so that hedge fund partners would have to pay ordinary income rates on their income. Currently, the income is often treated as capital gains, which are subject to lower tax rates.

Also, he wants to end a tax break that allows real estate investors to defer taxation when they exchange property for gains greater than $500,000.

Enhancing IRS enforcement

Biden wants to send $80 billion to the Internal Revenue Service to fund enhanced enforcement of high earners. The administration believes the enhanced measures to crack down on tax evasion would increase revenue for the government by $700 billion, although some outside experts are skeptical and the Congressional Budget Office -- the accepted scorekeeper -- is unlikely to project that much revenue. 

His plan would also require financial institutions to report information on account flows so that earnings from investments and business activity are subject to the type of reporting that wages already are.

 

Spoiler

 

@admin @Twitter@chailatte @NotDoctor @blankpaper @blue @WildAmerican @Joannesrats @Joesuda @NYNJ Nights @Starboy@Delusional@lavenderblondee

 

[NotDoctor PronounsHe/they]

That all sounds fantastic, way beyond what I expected.  Hopefully it'll get through Manchin

[MANiCURE1295 Pronounshe/him]

2 hours ago, NotDoctor said:

That all sounds fantastic, way beyond what I expected.  Hopefully it'll get through Manchin

I don’t think a single progressive predicted Biden would attempt to inject over 6T dollars into the economy within his first 100 days lol.

LETS KEEP THIS PROGRESSIVE AGENDA UP BIDEN AND POSSIBLY EVEN GET MORE PROGRESSIVE 

Edited April 28, 2021 by MANiCURE1295

[Franch Toast PronounsShe/her/hers]

Wow, I didn’t think Uncle Joe had it in him. 

[MANiCURE1295 Pronounshe/him]

ICYMI:

 

Spoiler

@admin @Twitter@chailatte @NotDoctor @blankpaper @blue @WildAmerican @Joannesrats @Joesuda @NYNJ Nights @Starboy@Delusional@lavenderblondee

 

[nynj nights Pronounsshe/her]

19 minutes ago, MANiCURE1295 said:

ICYMI:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

@admin @Twitter@chailatte @NotDoctor @blankpaper @blue @WildAmerican @Joannesrats @Joesuda @NYNJ Nights @Starboy@Delusional@lavenderblondee

 

Thanks! I'm catching up on homework so missed it, any interesting highlights? When I clicked the link I just saw that Ted Cruz is trending....again 

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by nynj nights

[MANiCURE1295 Pronounshe/him]

13 minutes ago, nynj nights said:

Thanks! I'm catching up on homework so missed it, any interesting highlights? When I clicked the link I just saw that Ted Cruz is trending....again 

 

I caught Romney falling asleep too....

Recap: push for his economic plan AJP & AFP, pushed congress for passage of several bills that have no chance of getting 60 votes in the Senate: the PRO act, $15 minimum wage hike, expansion of background checks on gun purchases, assault weapons ban renewal in addition to the Equality Act
 

Also called on Congress to pass a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants - and HR 1.

None can get 60 as currently crafted..... but it was a good speech and had a funny moment flashing to Manchin right after Biden shits on people not compromising on guns by saying....”what do you think deers are wearing Kevlar vests” 

Edited April 29, 2021 by MANiCURE1295

[WildAmerican]

this was a nice moment 

[NotDoctor PronounsHe/they]

Seems like this administration is making headway, at least as far as children in custody at the border. Obviously there's still a ways to go but glad to see it 

 

[MANiCURE1295 Pronounshe/him]

1 hour ago, NotDoctor said:

Seems like this administration is making headway, at least as far as children in custody at the border. Obviously there's still a ways to go but glad to see it 

 

Weird, when you put your head down  and ignore the bullshit media circus about whether or not it’s a crisis and avoid tweeting at 3am like a crazed lunatic...you actually get work done 

ALSO...Somehow this happened without Kamala Harris going to the border or giving a press conference, the two things Fox News informed me were critical to solving the "Biden Border Crisis." 

Edited April 29, 2021 by MANiCURE1295

[MANiCURE1295 Pronounshe/him]

INFRASTRUCTURE TALKS UPDATE

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/551093-harris-senators-work-behind-scenes-on-jobs-package?amp=1&amp_recirculation=1
 

Congressional Democrats say they're waiting for Manchin, a pivotal centrist vote in the 50-50 Senate, to explore the possibility of a compromise with Republican senators, even though they expect the talks to fail eventually. 

"I don't think anybody thinks the bipartisan talks are going to lead to anything," said one Democratic senator who requested anonymity to comment on internal deliberations.

"There's not a single pay-for that they'll agree to that's meaningful," the lawmaker added, referring to the gulf between Democrats and Republicans over how to cover the cost of the package.

Republicans want to repurpose some of the $350 billion allocated to state and local governments in last month's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, an idea that many Democrats reject, and raise another big chunk of money through "user fees," which Democrats argue would provide too little revenue to transform the economy.

Biden has proposed raising taxes on corporations and high-income households to finance his infrastructure proposals. Republicans, such as Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), say raising the corporate tax rate is a "non-starter." 

Democratic senators and staff say they'll give the bipartisan talks a few weeks because they know they can't get Manchin, and maybe a few other centrist Democrats, to vote for the reconciliation package until it's clear a bipartisan deal won't materialize.

"If it got close, [Senate GOP leader] Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.] would shut it down because he doesn't want a successful outcome," said a second Democratic senator. 

"But you got to have 50 votes to do it, that's the challenge," the lawmaker added, referring to Manchin's insistence that he and other moderate Democrats be given a chance to craft a scaled-down infrastructure package with Republicans.

"In order to have the Democratic caucus together, he's got to make a good-faith effort," the source added, while noting that lengthy negotiations with Republicans on the Affordable Care Act in 2009 failed to yield a single GOP vote for former President Obama's signature domestic policy. 

"We'll see that again. You heard it last night with Tim Scott," the senator added on Thursday, referring to Sen. Tim Scott's (R-S.C.) rebuttal to Biden's first address to a joint session of Congress in which the president laid out his American Families Plan and other spending priorities. 

Scott suggested that Biden is delivering "empty platitudes" instead of fulfilling his promise to "unite a nation."

Democrats are taking that rhetoric as a sign they won't find the 10 Republican senators needed to overcome a filibuster on infrastructure. They have yet to decide whether to move Biden's infrastructure agenda in one or two packages under budget reconciliation, which would allow them to bypass a filibuster and pass legislation with simple-majority votes in both chambers. 

Some Democrats are now calling for combining the $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan and the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan into one massive omnibus package, passing it in one fell swoop. 

-  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/04/29/politics/infrastructure-joe-biden-shelley-moore-capito/index.html
 

"So I told (Capito) that you could do it in two ways; let's decide on infrastructure, what they think is infrastructure," Biden said Thursday. "Let's decide what is, what are they prepared to consider in terms of what constitutes infrastructure, how much of it, and then can talk about how to pay for it, if we get to the point that we actually have a real number."

The President also signaled he was willing to move forward without Republicans if they would not meet him halfway, alluding to his administration's Covid-relief package, which passed through budget reconciliation along strict party lines.

"But if it's like last time -- and I think she's serious -- but if it's like last time, they came in with one-fourth or one-fifth of what I'm asking, then it's a no-go for me."

[MANiCURE1295 Pronounshe/him]

HOLY sh!t, f-ING ROASTED...please yall watch this whole video, she torches him 

 

Edit: 50th in infrastructure you say Steph? Damn, would be nice be Biden had a bill to help WV with that that their Senators like Joe Manchin could support...oh...wait...he does 

Edited May 1, 2021 by MANiCURE1295