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Blueace Surrounded by weirdoes from The End Of the World Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Surrounded by weirdoes
#352551: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:21:32 AM

And the current one could stand to find his balls again, though.

Wake me up at your own risk.
nova92 Since: Apr, 2020
#352552: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:22:25 AM

Washington Post: President Biden to increase federal food benefits among executive actions aimed at stabilizing U.S. economy

Biden is asking the Department of Agriculture to allow states to increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits - commonly known as food stamps - and to increase by 15 percent benefits awarded through a school meals program for low-income students started during the pandemic, according to Biden administration officials. That could give a family of three children more than $100 in extra benefits every two months, officials said.

A separate unilateral move aims to help get previously approved stimulus checks into the hands of Americans who haven't received them yet. And another would ask the Labor Department to make clear that workers who refuse to return to working conditions that could expose them to the coronavirus should be eligible for unemployment insurance.

Perhaps the most significant change in this executive order is a reassessment of the USDA's Thrifty Food Plan, the basis for determining SNAP benefits. Lisa Davis, senior vice president of Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry campaign, said the metrics are out of date with the economic realities most struggling households face. The president will ask the USDA to consider beginning the process of revising the Thrifty Food Plan to better reflect the modern cost of a healthy basic diet
Biden will also restore collective bargaining power to federal workers and direct agencies to develop recommendations "directing his administration to start the work" of an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay a $15 per hour minimum wage and provide emergency paid leave. Biden endorsed similar commitments during the presidential campaign.

Edited by nova92 on Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:22:55 AM

TommyR01D Since: Feb, 2015
#352553: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:29:23 AM

On a lighter note, we can now see a bit more of Biden's oval office. [1][2]

Trump's patterned wallpaper is still there, as is most of the furniturenote , but there are fewer flagstands, the portraitsnote  and busts have been rearranged, and Clinton's blue carpet has been restored in place of Trump's beige one.

There may be a more substantial remodeling at a later date, who knows?

Edited by TommyR01D on Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:32:32 AM

PointMaid Since: Jun, 2014
#352554: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:32:53 AM

Yeah, I saw an article or two about the redecorating.

I actually thought about things like the wallpaper too, and imagined it would be hard to do something like a full re-wallpapering job in a few hours even if one wanted it.

Edited by PointMaid on Jan 22nd 2021 at 9:33:09 AM

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#352555: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:33:00 AM

It's only been like two days. Sheesh. I know we typically hold Presidents to a high work standard for the "first 100 days", and this one is a particularly stark transition from the last, but he's barely had time to warm up the seat.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Blueace Surrounded by weirdoes from The End Of the World Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Surrounded by weirdoes
#352556: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:35:15 AM

Biden was left with what amounts to a disaster area when he arrived and he knew it, so he'll have to use the 100 days to the max just to get things in order.

Edited by Blueace on Jan 22nd 2021 at 11:38:02 AM

Wake me up at your own risk.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#352557: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:36:53 AM

And on the 101st day, he rested.

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#352558: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:37:16 AM

Yeah, remodelling the White House will take a few months. And presumably they don't want to turn the Oval Office into a construction site on day one.

Though maybe he could apply for one of those overnight renovation shows.

Edited by Redmess on Jan 22nd 2021 at 3:38:10 PM

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
Wispy Since: Feb, 2017
#352559: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:38:30 AM

[up][up][up]They were suddenly complaining about the amount of Covid deaths that occurred after Biden came in. Its frustrating to me how now they suddenly care about the deaths that Trump's idiocy caused if only because they can own the libs for it

Edited by Wispy on Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:38:47 AM

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#352560: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:39:41 AM

You know, this speaks very strongly towards the value of Biden in particular over other candidates. He's been in the White House before. He knows how it works; he knows practically every person around it. When the Trump administration started, few people appreciated just how stark his culture of incompetence would be. Well, some predicted it, and they were absolutely right, but the point is that a huge amount of the initial effort of this new administration is going to have to be to restore fundamental competency to the executive branch.

Had an outsider like Klobuchar, Sanders, or even Warren gotten the vote instead, they'd have had to go through their own learning curve while also restoring normalcy, and this would have caused even more headaches and delays. Biden is literally the perfect person to have in there right now. Hillary Clinton might also have done the job, but she didn't run for obvious reasons.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#352561: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:40:56 AM

Even the people who were expecting Trump's incompetence were probably surprised by how bad it was.

DrunkenNordmann from Exile Since: May, 2015
#352562: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:43:34 AM

[up][up] A line I've seen flying around a lot regarding Trump's presidency after it ended was: "Even worse than we thoughr".

For example, the fact that not only was their vaccine distribution plan bad, it didn't even exist.

Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Jan 22nd 2021 at 3:44:07 PM

We learn from history that we do not learn from history
Blueace Surrounded by weirdoes from The End Of the World Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Surrounded by weirdoes
#352563: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:46:27 AM

It was pretty obvious that Trump wasn't even doing anything productive the immense majority of the time, but it was hard to imagine how damaging that would be.

Wake me up at your own risk.
miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#352564: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:47:15 AM

Trump golfed alot ...

I guess.

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
TommyR01D Since: Feb, 2015
#352565: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:47:46 AM

I recall that Trump had some changes immediately, but others waited until the house's major renovation that had been scheduled for August.
Obama didn't get his new style in place until well into 2010, essentially keeping Bush's office until then.

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#352566: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:48:14 AM

It is so bizarre to hear people talking about how absolutely boring Biden's press briefing was, and how refreshing that boredom is.

Like, it's kinda surreal to have people praise someone for being a boring bureaucrat. grin

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
nova92 Since: Apr, 2020
#352567: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:50:10 AM

It's very much a 'no news is good news' situation, I think.

PointMaid Since: Jun, 2014
#352568: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:51:23 AM

I hate red-tape bureaucracy.

But smooth and efficient bureaucracy that you barely notice because it's not causing an issue? Bring it on.

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#352569: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:51:55 AM

About Trump's incompetence, I think it was surprising because Trump wasn't just being incompetent, he was actively sabotaging the process. Remember how he basically threw out his campaign's preparations for their first day in office? That goes beyond incompetence, that is outright self-sabotage.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#352570: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:52:14 AM

That said, while it's refreshing right now, there's a danger in the boredom will cause people to stop paying attention once the collective goldfish attention span of humanity sets in.

Whatever else Trump was, he could keep your attention whether you liked it or not.

Edited by sgamer82 on Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:52:39 AM

nova92 Since: Apr, 2020
#352571: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:56:07 AM

[up] Though I think the press conferences themselves sliding into the background would be a good thing. They're supposed to be delivering information, and it would be nice to focus on the substance/policy coming from the White House over whether the Press Secretary was lying about crowd size.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#352572: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:56:55 AM

Or actively fleeing the press, yeah.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#352573: Jan 22nd 2021 at 6:59:59 AM

I want to point something else out. We keep acting terrified of the right in the U.S. because they're going to organize and overthrow the government and install a fascist dictatorship or something. We keep speculating on what a "competent Trump" might look like, on what kind of damage he could have done.

This is all missing the point. The U.S. right may be a bastion of intolerance, fearmongering, racism, and grift, but it is also a bastion of incompetence. It's fundamental to the very nature of the ideology.

  • People who are good at what they do must run into reality at some time or other, and this naturally disabuses them of the most extremist of views.
  • Competent people point out flaws and problems with conservative ideas, and since that is not tolerated, they get thrown out.
  • Most of who we think of as successful and powerful on the right got there through grift, not talent. They hang out on the right because its people are really easy to cheat via affinity fraud. They can indulge their base natures because nobody will call them out.
  • There has never been an efficiently run dictatorship. They can't run efficiently because they exist to service the ego of the leader, not get things done properly.

We don't need to worry about competent Trumpism. You can't become a Trumpist while being good at accomplishing things; it's oxymoronic. The danger of such a government is exactly its incompetence. We can't look forward to a worse case down the line and use it as a bogeyman: this is the worst case.

Those capital insurrectionists aren't the first wave of a frighteningly organized right-wing organization that's going to systematically tear down our democracy: they are the best the Right has to offer.

Edited by Fighteer on Jan 22nd 2021 at 10:05:26 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#352574: Jan 22nd 2021 at 7:04:34 AM

Reminds me of one of the big issues with the Evil Overlord List - people who want to be evil overlords in the first place don't have the necessary humility to actually follow most of it.

Disgusted, but not surprised
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#352575: Jan 22nd 2021 at 7:07:18 AM

When people worry about a "competent Trump", I don't think they mean in terms of implementing policy. They mean in terms of manipulating public opinion. There have been (and are) some very competent authoritarian PR managers out there.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.

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