He amplified his crackdown on soaring prescription drug costs, hidden fees for cable and air travel and corporate “price-gouging.” He also promised to “keep fighting to bring down costs.”
Following the links the above quote, the CNBC articles suggests we can expect progress on the first two items (prescription drug costs and hidden fees), but there’s nothing I read in the linked article about dealing with price gouging other than some stern words. Maybe something is indeed in the works, but it wasn’t obvious to me at the least.
Instead of taking a routine victory lap, the president doubled down on the war, pledging to do himself what the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes have not: Make things cheaper.
[…]
It is a marked tone shift from the president’s typical reactions to positive inflation data.
I do appreciate this narrative shift—transitioning from tone-deaf/gaslighting to acknowledging that key issues still aren’t addressed.
He’s trying to thread the needle, and to me it’s kinda working. He won’t be effective on most of it, I’m sure, but I’ve given up hope of effective government and just like it when it makes nice sounds.
I feel like the biggest reason he won’t be effective is that he’s against pure obstructionists in the GOP. They have no desire to govern and somehow won the House.
You are massively underestimating the role of Democrats in getting us where we are today. It’s not like industry consolidation slowed down when Democrats were in power.
Anti-trust is the real answer, at least within the scope of what neoliberalism will embrace. Biden has never been good on anti-trust. He’s made some noise on that front recently, but it doesn’t seem to have slowed down consolidation of every single industry.
The reason inflation and price gouging continues under Biden? Inflation got better. And 40 years of deregulation and corporate mergers that never should have happened… That’s pretty difficult to tackle in a 4 year term.
This is the same shit we heard before when Obama was president. Republicans somehow manage to pass a ton of their shitty legislation, so maybe it’s just that Democrats don’t really give as much of a shit about the people as they say.
Because not all Dem senators have the same electorate base whereas republicans (although lately we’re seeing a shift away from this) tend to fall lock step in line. Sinema and Munchin come from very purple states so their seats were never secure. It’s not enough to have a slight majority. Also, the Senate is being held hostage by republicans right now with ever more polarization. I don’t have an answer but to just pin it on the president is asinine. We need to show up to local elections and midterms.
Too bad we didn’t elect the guy with decades of Senate experience who.promised he’d be able to get Republican senators to vote for the Dem platform when a Dem Senate seemed impossible…
What’s that?
That guy did get elected? And then as soon as he took office he did a 180 and said as president there’s nothing he could do to change their mind and immediately gave up on the bulk of his campaign promises?
You might remember that because of the filibuster, 41 Senators can block a bill from advancing, and despite that, quite a lot of bills got passed 51-50. Mitch McConnell could have stopped any and all of those bills if he wanted. It’s probably not a coincidence that those passed and that Biden and McConnell have had a generally cordial relationship for decades.
The margin was so slim that he effectively didn’t. If one or two democrats held out (and there were a few specific people who always did) then the votes would fail.
If Biden hasn’t spent the entire primary expecting a Republican Senate and telling everyone he was the only one to get Republicans onboard and that’s why he should be president…
It’s four years later. He wouldn’t even try to get democrats onboard, he publicly said their choice is their choice and it would be wrong to try and change their mind.
So why is he running again?
Because he’s the incumbent? It doesn’t matter that as soon as he was elected, he said the reason he was elected just isn’t possible?
Like, maybe if he had tried I could see letting him keep trying. But he immediately gave up. Do people get nearly think he’ll start trying if he gets the second term? What’s the excuse for not trying now?
Let’s not forget how hard Biden worked to rehabilitate the anti-Trump Republicans. He has more Republican speakers at the DNC than progressives. All the worst shit Trump did had been Republican agenda items for decades. He should have hung Trump around their necks. Instead, he nearly handed them congresss.
Following the links the above quote, the CNBC articles suggests we can expect progress on the first two items (prescription drug costs and hidden fees), but there’s nothing I read in the linked article about dealing with price gouging other than some stern words. Maybe something is indeed in the works, but it wasn’t obvious to me at the least.
I do appreciate this narrative shift—transitioning from tone-deaf/gaslighting to acknowledging that key issues still aren’t addressed.
He’s trying to thread the needle, and to me it’s kinda working. He won’t be effective on most of it, I’m sure, but I’ve given up hope of effective government and just like it when it makes nice sounds.
I feel like the biggest reason he won’t be effective is that he’s against pure obstructionists in the GOP. They have no desire to govern and somehow won the House.
That and the biggest donors, on both political sides, have everything to lose from following through on stopping price gouging.
If they don’t, The golden goose will disappear forever
Time to cut the rot at its core then
Do you mean that in the second amendment way?
Do you?
You mean they won’t profit as much.
Nothing they lose will be so much that they have to change their lifestyles over it.
Unless they’ve taken on lots of liability with the assumption of profit
Oh yeah, it’s totally the GOP’s fault. 100%. Just like the last 40 something years since Reagan. Which is why I’ve given up hope.
Note: I am not being sarcastic. The GOP broke our government.
You are massively underestimating the role of Democrats in getting us where we are today. It’s not like industry consolidation slowed down when Democrats were in power.
Anti-trust is the real answer, at least within the scope of what neoliberalism will embrace. Biden has never been good on anti-trust. He’s made some noise on that front recently, but it doesn’t seem to have slowed down consolidation of every single industry.
What was the reason when Biden had the House and Senate?
Manchin and Sinema?
The reason inflation and price gouging continues under Biden? Inflation got better. And 40 years of deregulation and corporate mergers that never should have happened… That’s pretty difficult to tackle in a 4 year term.
You mean a super slim majority with two “moderate” democrats holding every vote hostage?
This is the same shit we heard before when Obama was president. Republicans somehow manage to pass a ton of their shitty legislation, so maybe it’s just that Democrats don’t really give as much of a shit about the people as they say.
Because not all Dem senators have the same electorate base whereas republicans (although lately we’re seeing a shift away from this) tend to fall lock step in line. Sinema and Munchin come from very purple states so their seats were never secure. It’s not enough to have a slight majority. Also, the Senate is being held hostage by republicans right now with ever more polarization. I don’t have an answer but to just pin it on the president is asinine. We need to show up to local elections and midterms.
Oh man that’s right…
Too bad we didn’t elect the guy with decades of Senate experience who.promised he’d be able to get Republican senators to vote for the Dem platform when a Dem Senate seemed impossible…
What’s that?
That guy did get elected? And then as soon as he took office he did a 180 and said as president there’s nothing he could do to change their mind and immediately gave up on the bulk of his campaign promises?
Huh…
You might remember that because of the filibuster, 41 Senators can block a bill from advancing, and despite that, quite a lot of bills got passed 51-50. Mitch McConnell could have stopped any and all of those bills if he wanted. It’s probably not a coincidence that those passed and that Biden and McConnell have had a generally cordial relationship for decades.
The margin was so slim that he effectively didn’t. If one or two democrats held out (and there were a few specific people who always did) then the votes would fail.
That would make sense…
If Biden hasn’t spent the entire primary expecting a Republican Senate and telling everyone he was the only one to get Republicans onboard and that’s why he should be president…
It’s four years later. He wouldn’t even try to get democrats onboard, he publicly said their choice is their choice and it would be wrong to try and change their mind.
So why is he running again?
Because he’s the incumbent? It doesn’t matter that as soon as he was elected, he said the reason he was elected just isn’t possible?
Like, maybe if he had tried I could see letting him keep trying. But he immediately gave up. Do people get nearly think he’ll start trying if he gets the second term? What’s the excuse for not trying now?
Let’s not forget how hard Biden worked to rehabilitate the anti-Trump Republicans. He has more Republican speakers at the DNC than progressives. All the worst shit Trump did had been Republican agenda items for decades. He should have hung Trump around their necks. Instead, he nearly handed them congresss.