Posted by dahsdebater on 9/1/2022 3:24:00 PM (view original):
Posted by tangplay on 8/31/2022 1:24:00 AM (view original):
Posted by dahsdebater on 8/30/2022 7:33:00 PM (view original):
Posted by tangplay on 8/26/2022 6:21:00 PM (view original):
It was so obvious that that's DeSantis and not Newsome that I guessed it before I even found the original article.
What is DeSantis doing for working people? Does he support unions? Does he support BBB? What pro-worker policies has DeSantis passed?
Gotta love the implicit assumption that Build Back Better is good for working people. Way to start out on neutral ground there, bud.
We can debate about whether it would be, but the point is that DeSantis doesn't even pretend to be actually in favor of policies that he thinks would economically benefit working people or reduce inequality; it's just culture war bullshit.
The best thing he can claim is that he kept the state open during COVID, which was arguably good, but that wasn't really to help workers, it was to own the libs.
The idea that the Republican party has all of these ideas and plans to help workers specifically is really silly imo.
But yes, BBB would be good for workers and most Americans. I'll defend that.
Here are some facts we can probably agree on.
1. Employment is not a big problem right now
2. Many of the infrastructure and environmental initiatives included in BBB have been being kicked on down the road for decades at this point.
You think these initiatives are suddenly so urgent that injecting literally trillions of new government dollars into the economy in the midst of the worst inflation in 2 generations is going to be good for the people who may already be struggling to make ends meet? That's honestly such a stupid position I don't even know how to appropriately make fun of you for it.
It is undeniable that especially in the short term, BBB would have increased inflation. HOWEVER, there is also evidence that in the long run, it would have led to a better economy and LESS inflation.
I'm not an economist, but from what I've read, the main policy Biden passed that increases inflation was the stimulus checks, not because "government was gonna spend a lot," but because it was an injection of money directly into people's pockets. Spending on social programs like childcare, energy, housing, healthcare, etc wouldn't lead to the same level of inflationary pressure because while it does make a material impact on working people's lives, it doesn't necessarily put money directly in their pockets. Obviously the exception to this is the CTC, which doesn't even exist anymore.
I think that the argument, "it's not the right time for this stuff" is a fair one, but it's undeniable that the provisions within BBB would have had a positive impact on most Americans in the long run, especially in a neutral economic environment that doesn't currently exist.
You can argue about the inflationary stuff but the reality is that it's more complicated than "government spending bad" and there is broad disagreement among economists on the issue. Most stuff that I've read has shown positive long term impacts of the policy, even in the inflationary environment we're in now. The idea that "BBB good" is "stupid" on it's face goes against most economic research on the issue.
I'll admit to not being a natural expert in the field so I generally differ to what the economic research shows.