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You Can Have “Bipartisanship,” or Transformation — But Not Both

"Because they’ve grown up in a society where “bipartisanship” is a social norm, a cultural ideal, Americans accept it. (...)

When a pundit, columnist, lobbyist, or even Senator invokes “bipartisanship,” what do they really mean? Something like this: that the Democrats should accept whatever offer the GOP makes them, if they’re lucky enough to even get one. While the GOP shouldn’t really offer the Democrats much at all. “Bipartisanship” like so many sociopolitical terms, is a kind of flimsily disguised code word. It doesn’t really mean “both parties,” it means “one party gives, and the other takes.”

Bipartisanship, in other words, is asymmetrical. It only goes one way. When the GOP’s in power, they’re not interested in the slightest about it — they ram through whatever they like, and they’ve done it from the time of Reagan and before. When the Democrats are in power, though, they’re to take seriously and consider carefully what the Republicans want, because, well, bipartisanship."

President Biden is expected to propose giving the Internal Revenue Service an extra $80 billion and more authority over the next 10 years as he looks for ways to raise money to pay for his economic agenda, according to two people familiar with the plan.

Mr. Biden is expected to propose beefing up the I.R.S. to crack down on individuals and corporations that evade paying federal taxes. He will use the recouped tax funds to help pay for the cost of his American Families Plan, which he will detail before addressing a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.

Mr. Biden’s plan, which comes on top of a $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal, is expected to cost at least $1.5 trillion and include funding for universal prekindergarten, federal paid leave, efforts to make child care more affordable, free community college and tax credits meant to fight poverty. (...)

The administration will portray these efforts, coupled with new taxes it is proposing on corporations and the rich, as a way to level the tax playing field between typical American workers and high earners who employ sophisticated efforts to minimize or evade taxation. (...)

"A key lesson of the past four years is how Republican officials view Trump’s base often drives their political responses. There’s little apparent appetite within that base for a thorough review of Jan. 6 and certainly no appetite for anything that would cast Trump or other Republicans as having erred in either promoting election conspiracy theories or trying to block the final election results. (...)

“I want people to understand the significance of January 6th,” Fanone told Lemon on Tuesday. “I want people to understand that, you know, thousands of rioters came to the Capitol, hellbent on violence and destruction and murder, and that 850 [Metropolitan Police Department] officers responded there and really saved the day.”

Without an accounting of what happened, it remains unlikely that this understanding will permeate the public consciousness."

The Sussexes are joining the high-profile lineup for Global Citizen's Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World.

Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan were named official campaign chairs for the upcoming live show, which is being produced to increase public confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine. Additional famous figures participating in the production include President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Ben Affleck, and Chrissy Teigen. Jennifer Lopez, J Balvin, H.E.R., and more will perform.

The livestreamed event, happening May 8, will be hosted by actress and musician Selena Gomez. The live audience will consist of vaccinated frontline and essential workers.

The Sussexes are expected to deliver a message on the importance of global vaccine equity, according to a press release. The pair have also been leading a coordinated effort to raise funds across the private sector for the vaccine-sharing program COVAX, which has wealthy governments share excess doses and encourages pharmaceutical companies like Moderna to make vaccines available at not-for-profit prices. (...)

"We're on track to cut childhood poverty in America in half this year. And with all this going on, the economy created 1,300,000 jobs in 100 days. IMF estimates our economic growth rate at 6% this year. We can't stop. We can't just build back, we have to build back better."

... and this fucker is now telling people that the don't need to take their second dose of vaccine. Fucking Elon Musk.

Bernardians are not Democrats...

Fascists or, as they call themselves, "Republicans", are making threats against the first constitutional amendment and extorting their favorite piggy banks: big corporations. Like any other organized crime syndicate would.