President Biden could have used his bully pulpit more effectively to name and shame the companies that exploited the Covid pandemic and the logistics crisis to massively increase their profit margins.
Moreover, Biden and Democrats could have highlighted data showing the percentage increases in CEO pay and compensat…
President Biden could have used his bully pulpit more effectively to name and shame the companies that exploited the Covid pandemic and the logistics crisis to massively increase their profit margins.
Moreover, Biden and Democrats could have highlighted data showing the percentage increases in CEO pay and compensation, contrasted with that of ordinary American workers. (Yes, for a president or top politician to do this would be "untraditional")
That would have placed the Biden Administration – and Democrats – squarely on the side of working families.
One more thing: Democrats could and should have enabled Medicare to negotiate ALL drugs, not just a very short list. (But, hey, the pharmaceutical industry and lobbyists are strong.)
Meanwhile, President Biden and Democrats could have published lists comparing American and European drug prices. That would have underscored how Americans are being fleeced by the price-gouging pharmaceutical industry. I have a really, really hard time seeing why Americans should have the questionable "privilege" of paying massively more for the same drugs.
We saw some dems attempt this very gently. I think if you have politicians or the government go after American companies aggressively I think that would turn off a lot of Americans. Idk it's a difficult thread to needle and ultimately i don't think it would have worked or been effective politically.
The obvious strategy is to concentrate on highlighting the most egregious examples. By underscoring that *most* companies are responsible and by avoiding a broad attack, you counteract the perception that you are anti-business.
But for the worst price-gougers you do it loudly, not gently!
The problem is our bark doesn’t have bite. It’d probably come off as whining while Trump comes off strong but he will fuck a company up. As pro-business as he truly is, he will make an example of someone. It’s the whole double standard where Dems rule with intelligence while the GOP rules with fear. We all know which one works better.
I firmly believe that billionaires and corporate CEOs *should* fear the government. That's the only way to prevent them from doing things that screw everybody else.
Mmmmhhhhhmmmm. That’s what makes Trump so troublesome bc he’ll cut corporate taxes while also saying to corporations, “If you fuck with me, I’ll cut you.” Dems are in quite a pickle with matching this energy. Overall, we aren’t assholes. And, we used to rely on unions for backing up our populist messaging and they increasingly don’t like us.
My dad got fed so much anti-green energy messaging in the “news” that matches up with auto union workers worrying about going too fast on electric cars. Then, it is also trans rights, which is a manufactured problem that we fall hook line and sinker for. Guilty as charged bc I also love arguing about something I know I’m right about. The GOP just ignores questions they’ll sound dumb answering and they pivot to something else they can win on. Dems could do that, too. Dems dont need to talk about prisoners getting sex change surgeries for crying out loud. It’s a gotcha question and we fall for it every time bc we just looooove being right. We don’t have to be wrong, we could just pivot like they do.
No it’s not. It’d be that everyone is saying pig fucking is fine and when the reporter asks you why you think fucking pigs is wrong, you change the subject to how we should feed and treat those pigs who get fucked in a more humane better so everyone at least gets the best squeal out of it.
Note: I didn’t choose the pig fucking analogy but I went with it.
Agreed with all that. And at the same time, Biden should've worked to increase the supply of products so that companies would be forced to lower prices on them. And he should've required anyone importing goods into America to sell them at a lower price here (especially if most of the importer's products go to America, which I suspect is the case for a lot of importers). That would've given Biden a lot of leverage over them, if only he had chosen to use it.
INFLATION AND MESSAGING:
President Biden could have used his bully pulpit more effectively to name and shame the companies that exploited the Covid pandemic and the logistics crisis to massively increase their profit margins.
Moreover, Biden and Democrats could have highlighted data showing the percentage increases in CEO pay and compensation, contrasted with that of ordinary American workers. (Yes, for a president or top politician to do this would be "untraditional")
That would have placed the Biden Administration – and Democrats – squarely on the side of working families.
One more thing: Democrats could and should have enabled Medicare to negotiate ALL drugs, not just a very short list. (But, hey, the pharmaceutical industry and lobbyists are strong.)
Meanwhile, President Biden and Democrats could have published lists comparing American and European drug prices. That would have underscored how Americans are being fleeced by the price-gouging pharmaceutical industry. I have a really, really hard time seeing why Americans should have the questionable "privilege" of paying massively more for the same drugs.
We saw some dems attempt this very gently. I think if you have politicians or the government go after American companies aggressively I think that would turn off a lot of Americans. Idk it's a difficult thread to needle and ultimately i don't think it would have worked or been effective politically.
The obvious strategy is to concentrate on highlighting the most egregious examples. By underscoring that *most* companies are responsible and by avoiding a broad attack, you counteract the perception that you are anti-business.
But for the worst price-gougers you do it loudly, not gently!
Disagree, especially if those companies are the same ones that have just dramatically increased their prices.
The problem is our bark doesn’t have bite. It’d probably come off as whining while Trump comes off strong but he will fuck a company up. As pro-business as he truly is, he will make an example of someone. It’s the whole double standard where Dems rule with intelligence while the GOP rules with fear. We all know which one works better.
Democrats could do something about that.
I firmly believe that billionaires and corporate CEOs *should* fear the government. That's the only way to prevent them from doing things that screw everybody else.
Mmmmhhhhhmmmm. That’s what makes Trump so troublesome bc he’ll cut corporate taxes while also saying to corporations, “If you fuck with me, I’ll cut you.” Dems are in quite a pickle with matching this energy. Overall, we aren’t assholes. And, we used to rely on unions for backing up our populist messaging and they increasingly don’t like us.
My dad got fed so much anti-green energy messaging in the “news” that matches up with auto union workers worrying about going too fast on electric cars. Then, it is also trans rights, which is a manufactured problem that we fall hook line and sinker for. Guilty as charged bc I also love arguing about something I know I’m right about. The GOP just ignores questions they’ll sound dumb answering and they pivot to something else they can win on. Dems could do that, too. Dems dont need to talk about prisoners getting sex change surgeries for crying out loud. It’s a gotcha question and we fall for it every time bc we just looooove being right. We don’t have to be wrong, we could just pivot like they do.
Oh shit, I didn’t even see the giant thread below about trans issues being too big a topic this election. Let’s go dive into that.
Answering such absurd gotcha questions are the equivalent of denying you’re a pig-fucker. Yes, you may be right, but the damage is done.
No it’s not. It’d be that everyone is saying pig fucking is fine and when the reporter asks you why you think fucking pigs is wrong, you change the subject to how we should feed and treat those pigs who get fucked in a more humane better so everyone at least gets the best squeal out of it.
Note: I didn’t choose the pig fucking analogy but I went with it.
No, that’s from LBJ.
Lmao, now I see your point. I was being too literal and didn’t like comparing trans rights to pig fucking. Still, I had fun crafting my response!
Thus, concludes our perfect example of how liberals jump to conclusions and immediately want to correct people. Thank you to my unwilling participant.
Agreed with all that. And at the same time, Biden should've worked to increase the supply of products so that companies would be forced to lower prices on them. And he should've required anyone importing goods into America to sell them at a lower price here (especially if most of the importer's products go to America, which I suspect is the case for a lot of importers). That would've given Biden a lot of leverage over them, if only he had chosen to use it.