Author | Lightnews

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 9h

He had two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. That’s a recession, however mild.

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 20h

A quibble: he had a slight recession which. Clinton didn’t. And it didn’t feel that way for a couple of reasons: 1.) inflation. AND 2.) I suspect the bigger problem, he wasn’t able to message that the economy was good. The RW created social media vibes were that the economy was awful.

3 4

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 23h

We haven’t averaged 4% GDP growth since then. Everything was cheap. We balanced the budget. Clinton made government work. No one has been able to come close to matching his record on the big ticket economic and governmental efficiency issues.

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 23h

Several factors. 1.) times were good. This is the easy one. 2.) you had a highly competent and intellectual president who was in charge. 3.) we had just won the cold war and possibilities seem endless. We can’t ignore that the country hasn’t been right since Clinton left.

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 23h

Thays why I kept it short and finite. Limited changes are a lot easier than the expansive broad reaching changes someone like Bernie proposed. That stuff is also an electoral non-starter because it’s too much. Voters can’t focus on that much policy, and it allows R’s to cherry pick the proposals.

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 23h

So I’m open to the idea of a campaign based on income inequality, provided it’s focused and not a confusing grab bag of policy priorities. Something like: 1.) trust busting 2.) worker protections 3.) some form of excessive wealth tax. The end. That possibly works.

1 3

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 23h

I’m a bit torn on this, it’s a complex issue. Our politics IS incredibly shallow, which lends itself to the approach Matt is subscribing to. OTOH, I’m not a fan of squishy centrism either. So striking the right balance between appealing to the politics of the moment, but not looking extreme is hard.

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 1d

While I think this sort of stuff is fine for a midterm, I also think you need to address a few structural corruption issues and congressional stock trading is one component of that.

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 1d

This approach hasn’t really been tried in fairness, since the 90’s, and it worked great for Clinton back then. Obviously, the politics of today aren’t analogous, and you have to deliver when you promise piecemeal stuff like this.

3 9

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 1d

Trump: “we need to build the millennium falcon!”

Random right leaning writer the next day: “here’s why Trump is right and we need to build the millennium falcon!”

4

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 2d

You know what uranium is, right? This thing called nuclear weapons like lots of things are done with uranium including some bad things. - Donald J Trump

3

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 2d

Starting to get really worried about the economy. I remember you talking about the risk of tariffs and isolationism during the 1st term, and the parallels to the great depression, but those risks are even more acute now.

1

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 2d

I’m convinced there’s a solid element of the right that effectively considers government by anyone smarter than them to be tyranny. Only a kakistocratic government can be free, because it isn’t intellectually qualified to lead (AKA tell me to get a vaccine, etc).

1

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 3d

Interesting thing about how our current age compares to the gilded age: during the gilded age some of the ultra wealthy realized the outrage over their wealth & decided to become philanthropists. The wealthy today seem wholly tone deaf, and seem to have little interest in assimilating into society.

1

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 3d

Not sure either of you are wrong here. Biden is the one guy who could hold the old Dem coalition together. I’m not sure any other candidate could have achieved that. At the same time, I’m not sure he could’ve won with how voters perceived the aging issue.

1

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 3d

Here’s the problem with stuff like this. It’s a double whammy. You get whacked with the initial disapproval of the policy. R’s make hay of the policy. Make D’s look extreme. Then D’s awkwardly distance themselves, look inauthentic, and voters don’t believe the distancing anyways.

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 3d

Strange response but OK.

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 3d

The rural/suburban persons I’m speaking of generally tend to have a mindset of “anyone smarter than me telling me what to do is tyranny.” You saw this a lot during COVID. And yes, that viewpoint is propagated by the ultra-wealthy libertarian types like Peter Thiel.

1 1

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 4d

The epicenter of it seems to be in rural areas. And I suspect if you looked at the suburban people who feel this way, they are identifying as “rural.” Plenty of people in the burbs who own a semi-wooded acre or two and think they are “country.”

1 3

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 5d

Keep an eye on your neighbors, coworkers and friends. Most of us can spare a few bucks to help someone out like this. 👆🏼👆🏼

1

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 5d

I’m always fond of saying that ones wasteful government spending is someone else’s essential government program.

8

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 5d

One of the oddities of assistance programs is how many people who utilize the programs disparage others usage. I saw a social media comment the other day, by a person who admittedly collected SSI, decrying lazy people who subside on the government dole. Strange times we live in.

1 11

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 7d

Yes yes yes! Lean into the lazy message! A do nothing congress!

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 7d

I think people lose sight of incompetent and stupid Trump is. Totally valid to be concerned about how much he could wreck in the interim, but the more extreme doomsdaying is less valid.

3

mikeilikemike.bsky.social @mikeilikemike.bsky.social · 7d

Here’s some hope: Donald Trump, unqualified moron is POTUS. There’s going to be a backlash to his overreach, which he doesn’t realize because he has zero self awareness. And there’s no one to hold the R coalition together post-Trump. D’s just need to recalibrate their message for broader appeal.