• PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat
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    1 day ago

    That was his sales pitch, and one that I am totally behind, but those are promises, not a narrative.

    No, that was reality. That’s what happened. The promises were twice as big, but the reality was still enormous.

    “Biden caused inflation to go up” was a narrative, and it sold like Nintendo Switch. “Biden caused wages to go up” is not an equally compelling narrative… why? That is what happened. I mean, I know why that one wasn’t a narrative, but the reason has absolutely nothing to do with either reality or the inherent nature of the narrative.

    His “big raise” proposal wouldn’t even return rates to where they were before Trump slashed them.

    Most working people made way more even after adjusting for inflation after Biden was done than before.

    Democrats made a conscious decision to abandon working class Americans in favor of urban professionals. It wasn’t a slow devolution, it was a pivot.

    True that. It is the source of most of their troubles today, not only because of the history and people’s pattern recognition, but because they’re still doing it. And yet, one singular Democrat broke with that, and here you are shitting on him.

    Why?

    • Tinidril@midwest.social
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      1 day ago

      No, that was reality. That’s what happened. The promises were twice as big, but the reality was still enormous.

      Find me where Biden promised to raise the corporate tax rate back to where it was before Trump (35%) or higher and I’ll eat my words. I’m a little confused because the rate is still sitting where Trump put it (21%) and I thought we were talking about Biden’s promises for his 2024 administration. What do you mean by “happened”?

      “Biden caused inflation to go up” was a narrative

      Well yeah, but it was a narrative for Trump, not Biden. Also, the narratives I’m talking about are the ones going forward. I think you and I can be in perfect agreement that Biden did a lot that he could point to that should have made him more electable. I’m just saying that isn’t how most voters make their decisions. It absolutely should be, and if voters were that thoughtful then Democrats could probably win every election by pointing out that they are better than Republicans, even if it were only marginally. Campaigns need a dragon and a hero they believe can slay it. Corporate tax rates that are too low are never going to get the traction that “tranies” trying to shower with your kids will. The (perhaps theatrical) language of “taking on corporate criminals” might seem irrelevant, but it’s not.

      Most working people made way more even after adjusting for inflation after Biden was done than before.

      I really think we are failing to connect here. I absolutely agree that Biden was better than Trump in a myriad of ways. My issue of choice would be the NLRB and the great work they did in making it so much easier to start a union, and so much harder for corporations to union-bust. The problem isn’t what Biden did. I was always going to want him to go further than he did, but he far exceeded my predictions and in the world I want to live in he would have beaten Trump easily. (It’s a little late in the conversation to mention this, but I’m considering the Harris campaign to be a continuation of the Biden campaign to avoid getting lost in the weeds.)

      one singular Democrat broke with that, and here you are shitting on him.

      I disagree that this is what I’m doing. Also, as much of a positive surprise his presidency was, his rhetoric did not break with that. Even in policy, the flow of money from the bottom to the top was barely slowed.

      • PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat
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        1 day ago

        I’m just saying that isn’t how most voters make their decisions. It absolutely should be

        Correct, which is why the awful quality of our media and the prevalence of propaganda in our discourse should be a much bigger deal than it is considered as. If you and me want to talk about how important that is, instead of shitting on Biden for some random reason when Trump undoes some good thing that he did, we can do that, but you’re clearly not into that.

        I don’t even know what to say about all the rest of this stuff. The point is: Your thing about Biden being “most responsible” even for this very, very loosely connected bit of policy that impacted student loans was a deliberate lie. Whether you were lying, or just repeating some lie that you genuinely believe, is not as important to me anymore. I feel like our interaction here can conclude.

        • Tinidril@midwest.social
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          1 day ago

          Correct, which is why the awful quality of our media and the prevalence of propaganda in our discourse should be a much bigger deal than it is considered as.

          Agreed, with a note that the Democratic establishment and their propaganda arm at MSNBC are is as guilty as anyone of causing people to quit caring about facts. Just look at the circus that is the Democratic primary process if you need evidence of that.

          instead of shitting on Biden for some random reason

          I’m still not shitting on Biden, and I’ve given you my non-random reason. If the Democrats don’t get real about addressing the absolutely justified distrust Americans have in the Democratic party, we are all cooked.

          very loosely connected bit of policy that impacted student loans was a deliberate lie.

          Nope.