House Democrats Will Tank Biden’s BBB If Tax Cut For Rich Is Removed

Every time there’s a Republican president and GOP controlled congress, as well as GOP control of a general assembly and governor’s mansion, the media trots out stories, originating from Democratic party press releases and talking points memos, about how any and every tax cut is “for the rich”. Elected Democrats will demagogue about this. But, what about when Democrats are in control?

Some House Democrats warn they will tank Biden’s big bill if a hefty tax cut for the rich is dropped

Biden Brain SuckerNegotiations around the future of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better legislation is slipping behind closed doors. Resistance from Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has put the package on ice while Democrats make a renewed push to strengthen voting rights.

One part of the sprawling social and climate legislation left unresolved was the rollback of a $10,000 cap on the state and local taxes that taxpayers (WT note – primarily rich taxpayers) are able to deduct from their federal bill, known as SALT. Taxpayers used to have unlimited deductions before the new cap was introduced in the 2017 Trump tax law.

A group of Democrats from high-tax states like New Jersey and California added the rollback of the cap into the Build Back Better bill that passed the House in November, and they’re vocally standing behind the measure in the face of possible opposition from Manchin.

It’s caused angst among many Democrats, given that it hands wealthier households a hefty tax cut. Senate Democrats hadn’t settled on a compromise over the SALT deduction yet last month when Manchin came out against the economic plan, slamming it from advancing in the 50-50 Senate with Republicans lined up against it.

“If they’re passing Build Back Better legislation, it’s got to address SALT,” Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey told Insider on Wednesday, adding that it “remains” her position to oppose the package if it’s dropped.

Other House Democrats are also threatening to tank the bill over SALT, including Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Tom Suozzi of New York.

Well, looks like Democrats are the party of the rich, eh? And that Trump’s tax cuts were not benefiting The Rich. Perhaps some of these Democrats should consider why SALT is necessary in their high tax states?

Meanwhile

Biden supporters ‘apoplectic’ one year into his presidency

Just over a year ago, millions of energized young people, women, voters of color and independents joined forces to send Joe Biden to the White House. But 12 months into his presidency, many describe a coalition in crisis.

Leading voices across Biden’s diverse political base openly decry the slow pace of progress on key campaign promises. The frustration was especially pronounced this past week after Biden’s push for voting rights legislation effectively stalled, intensifying concerns in his party that fundamental democratic principles are at risk and reinforcing a broader sense that the president is faltering at a moment of historic consequence.

“People are feeling like they’re getting less than they bargained for when they put Biden in office. There’s a lot of emotions, and none of them are good,” said Quentin Wathum-Ocama, president of the Young Democrats of America. “I don’t know if the right word is ‘apoplectic’ or ‘demoralized.’ We’re down. We’re not seeing the results.”

What did they really expect? Biden did almost nothing during his decades in the Senate. He did little while vice president, and he was mostly elected because He Wasn’t Trump. A lot of people voted for him were expecting unity and kumbaya.

For now, virtually none of the groups that fueled Biden’s 2020 victory are happy.

Young people are frustrated that he hasn’t followed through on vows to combat climate change and student debt. Women are worried that his plans to expand family leave, child care and universal pre-K are stalled as abortion rights erode and schools struggle to stay open. Moderates in both parties who once cheered Biden’s centrist approach worry that he’s moved too far left. And voters of color, like those across Biden’s political base, are furious that he hasn’t done more to protect their voting rights.

A classic case of over-promise and under-produce, pretty much because there was almost no way to make those promises come true. It’ll be even more fun when the GOP takes control of the House and Senate, and starts pushing an agenda to get America moving again. Joe can either follow with or stall.

Read: House Democrats Will Tank Biden’s BBB If Tax Cut For Rich Is Removed »

If All You See…

…is an angry sky from carbon pollution from Evil beer, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Gen Z Conservative, with a post on Brandon’s approval rating with Hispanics.

Read: If All You See… »

The Kids Are Not Alright: Tonga Volcano And Tsunami Blamed On ‘Climate Change’

In case you weren’t aware, a volcano in Tonga blew it’s stack and created a tsunami. Lots of interesting videos at this link, like

https://twitter.com/WUTangKids/status/1482356965640744965

So, of course we get

and

Read More »

Read: The Kids Are Not Alright: Tonga Volcano And Tsunami Blamed On ‘Climate Change’ »

Bummer: Japan’s New Net Zero Project Uses More Energy Than It Produces

It’s totally ready for primetime, according to the climate cult

Japan’s new net-zero project will use more energy than it produces

The dream of a carbon-free fuel is driving an investment boom in hydrogen and ammonia projects. Japan, for example, has pledged to reduce its emissions in line with the Paris Agreement by 2050, and plans to generate 10% of its energy needs using hydrogen and ammonia by then.

For Japan, the potential of using these fuels to generate electricity is appealing. As an island country, Japan has limited space for wind and solar farms, and is surrounded by deep waters that make importing electricity by cables difficult. Meanwhile, the 2011 earthquake that caused a nuclear plant meltdown in Japan forced a turn away from nuclear energy. The country currently depends on oil, gas, and coal imports to power its economy, contributing to it being the the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, according to the World Bank.

Two demonstration projects, which will scoop up $392 million of the funding from JERA and the Japanese government, plan to convert existing coal-fired power plants to using a combination of ammonia and coal, aiming for a 50% split between the two fuels by 2029.

In a post on LinkedIn, Paul Martin, a co-founder of the Hydrogen Science Coalition, which aims to inform public investments, called the ammonia-coal projects “wasteful greenwashing” that will squander the energy that goes into producing ammonia. Martin has been sounding the alarm about the hype around hydrogen as a fuel as more industries buy into the idea of a hydrogen economy that will make carbon emissions vanish for industries as wide-ranging as steel, aviation, and two-wheeled vehicles.

According to Recharge, a trade publication for the renewable energy industry, it takes 14.38 megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy to produce one metric ton of green ammonia. Burning that ton produces 5.16 MWh of electricity for consumption—a third of what it took to make it. Use the ton of ammonia in a coal-fired plant, and that drops even further, to 1.96 MWh, “making it an incredibly inefficient method to produce electricity,” writes Recharge.

They keep looking for all these pie in the sky “green” projects, which climate cultists will then call “greenwashing”. They might be viable at some point in the future, and are worth researching on a small scale, but, until they are actually workable, don’t deploy them. Don’t replace reliable, efficient, affordable, dependable energy with unproven, expensive, unreliable energy.

Read: Bummer: Japan’s New Net Zero Project Uses More Energy Than It Produces »

Vaccine Cult Seriously Losing Their Minds Over Supreme Court Mandate Decision

I’ll say it again: I think everyone should get vaccinated. Voluntarily. It’s basically like getting a flu shot at this point, but, if it can save you from getting really sick with Wuhan flu, isn’t that worth it? But, you do you. Your life is not mine to be concerned about. I’ll do me. You want to voluntarily wear a mask? Go for it. The federal government has no business forcing people to get a vaccine via a rule from OSHA, which deals with workplace safety. Now, had they passed a rule simply saying everyone must wear a mask at work and/or get tested so often, well, that might have flown. But, the vaccine cult, which was dead set against the vaccines when Trump announced them, is going bat guano insane

Thanks, Supreme Court. Now we’re free in Florida to work alongside unvaccinated dolts | Opinion

Thanks, U.S. Supreme Court, for a mixed-message coronavirus pandemic decision that, to humans with frail bodies in negligent states like Florida, may be a death sentence.

In a two-part ruling, the court decided Thursday that the Biden administration cannot enforce a COVID-19 vaccine-or-test mandate issued to large businesses who employ some 84 million Americans.

So we’re “free” in Florida to work alongside unvaccinated dolts.

It’s their right to go without — and our bad luck if we have to work near them. New cubicle wars, anyone?

But, wait, wasn’t and isn’t the vaccine supposed to protect us from getting COVID? That’s what they said, right? Realistically, you can catch the Chinese coronavirus almost as easily from the vaccinated as the unvaccinated, seemingly, because we keep seeing huge numbers of vaxxed and boosted people get it.

Supreme Court blow to Biden vaccine mandate means more suffering, deaths and overfilled hospitals, expert says, as U.S. sets fresh COVID record

The number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19 hit a new record of almost 150,000 on Thursday, as experts lamented the Supreme Court ruling striking down President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for big businesses.

There were 148,782 COVID patients in U.S. hospitals, according to a New York Times tracker, up 79% from two weeks ago and the most since the start of the pandemic as the highly transmissible omicron variant continues its rapid spread.

The seven-day average for new cases stood at 803,736, up 133% from two weeks ago, while deaths, which lag cases and hospitalizations, rose to 1,873, up 53% from two weeks ago.

Against that background, health experts expressed their disappointment at the Supreme Court ruling on vaccine mandates, with the court’s conservative majority concluding that the administration had overstepped its authority by seeking to impose an Occupational Safety and Health Administration vaccine-or-test rule on U.S. businesses with at least 100 employees, as the Associated Press reported. More than 80 million people would have been affected.

Try and pass a law in Congress, then. Because OSHA doesn’t have the authority, and it was even mentioned about Chief of Staff Ron Klain retweeting that this was a workaround for the law.

The radical right’s takeover of the Supreme Court is complete
With their ruling against Biden’s vaccine mandate, the conservative majority made clear that the law is political

They’re only mad when they lose. Had the court come out in favor they’d be cheering. It’s all about rule of Man, not rule of Law, for leftists.

Supreme Court’s Covid vaccine mandate rulings hurt Biden — and America

MSNBC really only cares about Biden. Meanwhile

If you told lifelong Dems in 2019 that by 2022 they’d become single-issue voters for the other side, they would’ve said you were nuts. They also would’ve said you were nuts if you told them that after 2019 their opinions would be considered “right wing”…

And yet, here we are! Did you question blue state covid policy? Poof! You’re now a Republican. Wanted your kids in school? Welcome to the other side! Said Florida wasn’t doing so bad and maybe we could lighten up a bit? Start putting up that DeSantis2024 yard sign!…

They called you an unhinged granny killer faster than you could say “let it rip.” But even after they cast you aside & told you to grab your guns & flee the coast with your fellow Rush Limbaugh-loving comrades, you weren’t ready to privatize healthcare & head to the ballots…

Make sure to read the rest.

Read: Vaccine Cult Seriously Losing Their Minds Over Supreme Court Mandate Decision »

2021 Was A Doomy Year For ‘Climate Change’ Or Something

Especially that winter storm in the Southwest

Weather events cost the US $145bn in 2021 as climate change took hold

Global temperatures in 2021 were the sixth-warmest on record while the US experienced its fourth-warmest year and suffered 20 severe natural disasters that inflicted damage costing more than $145bn, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Even though 2021 temperatures were slightly cooler than the previous two years, the western US was still devastated by a number of wildfires that caused damage costing more than $10bn.

Every single one of those wildfires were caused by people being stupid and starting the fires, intentionally or unintentionally.

Other severe weather events included the Texas winter storm in February, inflicting $24bn in damages, and Hurricane Ida in late August, that caused destruction costing $75bn.

“Unfortunately, we expect to see more of these extremes in a warmer world,” said Russell Vose, head of climate monitoring for NOAA. “And some of these events were made much worse by global warming, such as the heatwave in the Pacific Northwest.”

See? Harsh winter storms are caused by you driving a fossil fueled vehicle and releasing greenhouse gases. Here’s where it gets really interesting

Two factors contributed to make 2021 slightly cooler than the previous two years: the La Niña weather pattern across the Pacific as well as the resumption of economic activity that causes aerosols in the atmosphere.

Aerosols, which are small particles suspended in the atmosphere, can have a cooling effect as they reflect back some sunlight.

“In 2020, we estimated that lockdowns had increased the temperature of the planet slightly, due to the clearing out of nitrates and other aerosols,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. “So 2021 would have been a relatively cool year, even without La Niña.”

So, if La Nina was a big driver, why can’t nature be the primary driver, rather than “carbon pollution”? Further, there are other things that do drive localized temperatures from mankind. Certainly, in rural areas you don’t have this problem, but, in big cities you will. Urban heat island effect/land use from mankind has a localized effect. You should have had more radiative cooling with fewer particulates in the air. And those particulates are at lower levels than the greenhouse gases.

A similar study from Nasa, also released this week, found that 2021 was tied with 2018 for sixth-warmest year globally, due to a different baseline and methodology.

Why are we using different baselines and methodologies? Sounds like the climate cult is trying to get the outcome they want, rather than letting the science, data, and facts determine the outcome.

Read: 2021 Was A Doomy Year For ‘Climate Change’ Or Something »

If All You See…

…is an Evil fossil fueled vehicle, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Da Techguy’s Blog, with a post on who didn’t hide the effects of hydroxychloriquine.

Read: If All You See… »

Democrats Preparing New COVID Proposals To Make Up For “Biden Shortfalls”

We’re almost two years into the national freakout and Democrats have Ideas!

Dems try to make up for Biden COVID shortfalls with new proposals

Congressional Democrats are trying to backfill for perceived shortfalls in the Biden administration’s coronavirus response with a wave of new bill filings.

Why it matters: The legislative spurt is a reflection of the dread Democrats feel ahead of this fall’s midterm elections. Republicans are already trying to capitalize on the discontent.

Driving the news: Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.) and Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday introduced a bill that would require the federal government to provide universal free testing.

Khanna, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) also introduced a bill on Wednesday to provide three N95 masks to every American.

What they’re saying: “The rapid spread of the Omicron variant over the past weeks suggests that Americans are in a dramatically more vulnerable position than we had anticipated being just last month. There is no time to waste,” the letter said.

Yet, they didn’t do this when America was dealing with the rapid spread of the much more deadly Delta variant. They just kind let it ride, and looked to pass more legislation that empowered the federal government and helped elected Democrats, while also spending time on their silly January 6th witch hunt. What will testing do, other than let people know they have the Chinese coronavirus? Why send N95 masks now? Locking the barn door, you know.

Joe Biden Angry One Third of Americans Are Not Wearing Masks During Pandemic

President Joe Biden complained that Americans had stopped wearing masks during the coronavirus pandemic, promising to send better-fitting masks to Americans for free.

“About one-third of Americans report they don’t wear a mask at all,” Biden noted disappointedly.

The president spoke about masking during a speech on his video set across the street from the White House on the ongoing battle against the coronavirus.

“I think it’s part of your patriotic duty,” he said about mask-wearing although he admitted, “it’s not that comfortable” and “it’s a pain in the neck” to wear them.

It’s such a part of your “patriotic duty” that he failed to wear one during his little speech

Biden announced he was developing plans to send more free masks to Americans so they would be encouraged to wear masks more often.

If you send me a turtleneck, I won’t wear it. As for one third, it’s probably a heck of a lot more than that

Nine states — California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington — require most people to wear masks in indoor public places, whether or not they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico have similar orders in place.

Connecticut has an indoor mask mandate that extends only to the unvaccinated, and Rhode Island has a hybrid order that requires face-covering for all in large venues but gives smaller businesses leeway based on patrons’ vaccination status. Washington is the only state with an outdoor mask order, requiring face-covering at outside events attended by 500 or more people.

You know that once you get outside of the hardcore Democrat areas of Washington and NY, no one is wearing masks. You do have some individual cities and counties, like here in Raleigh and Wake County, that require masks. But, most people will not wear one if they are not required to, unless they are a crazy Democrat, who probably wears one when alone in the car, and maybe at home. Does Biden actually think people who don’t have to mask will mask? Think they will wear N95s that, by his own words, are uncomfortable? And aren’t made for small children? That have to be replaced, at the most, once a week? Especially when Biden seems to not wear a mask while he’s inside quite often, despite his own executive order?

Hey, I wonder if the masks will come with a message about being provided by Democrats or something?

Read: Democrats Preparing New COVID Proposals To Make Up For “Biden Shortfalls” »

People’s Republik Of California To Spend $37 Billion On Climate Crisis (scam)

Staying on the west coast, California will piss away the people’s money on a scam, all while unemployment claims skyrocket, inflation is rampant, housing prices are even higher than normal, homelessness is continuing to go up, and people are streaming out of the state, among other issues. All while still dealing with skyrocketing COVID infections and the issues from COVID

Here’s how California plans to spend $37 billion fighting climate change

When she first came to work in California during the Trump era, Lauren Sanchez says, the state’s climate budget was typically a few billion dollars a year, with much of that money automatically going to a couple of high-profile projects, including the bullet train through the Central Valley. That left climate policymakers and advocates fighting over a few hundred million dollars.

How times have changed. The latest budget proposal, unveiled this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom, includes $22 billion in new climate funding. It also allocates money from last year’s budget, for a total of $37 billion in climate spending over six years.

Sanchez, Newsom’s senior climate advisor, says it’s more than the large dollar figures that make this year’s budget different.

That leftover $15 billion sure could have helped California citizens, including those who the state is trying to take COVID relief payments back from, right? Those who lost their businesses from COVID restrictions?

She told me the proposed funding is laser-focused on equity, which means supporting the low-income communities and people of color hit hardest by extreme heat, shrinking water supplies and more extreme wildfires. She said the budget also reflects an “all of society, all of government response” to the climate crisis, with investments in education, healthcare and affordable housing.

Global warming is usually associated with despair, not hope. But with the right strategies and investments, Sanchez said, California can create sustainable jobs, unleash clean energy innovation and protect the most vulnerable from rising temperatures.

This really has nothing to do with Science, eh?

The governor proposed $6.1 billion in new funds to help Californians ditch gasoline, including $256 million in clean car rebates and other programs for low-income families, $900 million to build electric vehicle chargers in low-income neighborhoods and $419 million for “community-based transportation equity projects.” Those projects could include electric van pools for farmworkers, for instance, or infrastructure to support electric bikes or scooters — whatever local communities determine they most need.

Why would the “poor” need chargers in their neighborhoods when even middle class folks will have a tough time affording an EV? No chance they’ll be vandalized, eh?

Public schools would get $1.5 billion for green transportation, which state officials estimate is enough to convert about one-third of the bus fleet to electric. Passenger rail is another big winner, with Newsom proposing $4.2 billion for high-speed rail — aka the bullet train — and $3.25 billion for other transit and train projects, with some of that money carved out for Southern California.

The trains most people won’t take?

Half a billion dollars would go to “active transportation” projects that encourage walking and biking, along with $100 million for pedestrian and bicycle safety. Another $150 million would establish the Reconnecting Communities: Highways to Boulevards pilot program to convert underutilized highways into “multi-modal corridors” that could include walking paths and affordable housing — an effort to address the racist history of highway expansion that my colleague Liam Dillon has been writing about.

Good grief. “Active transportation”. That’s a new one. There’s a whole bunch of climate crazy, including

Sanchez was especially excited to talk about proposed investments that might not normally be considered part of a climate plan, but which she sees as critically important for helping Californians cope with — and work to prevent — rising temperatures.

One of those investments is $1 billion for new housing — and not just any housing, but “infill” housing within developed areas, rather than sprawling new subdivisions that create the need for long car trips. Newsom wants to spend $500 million building homes on “prime infill parcels in downtown-oriented areas.” Another $300 million would go to the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program, which funds “land-use, housing, transportation and land preservation projects.”

In other words, stuffing low cost housing and all the urban blight that comes with it into middle class areas. You can bet it won’t happen in the richer neighborhoods.

7. Maybe Tesla will come back

Doubtful. Anyhow, have fun, California citizens. You voted for this, don’t be surprised when the money is wasted, they force you out of your fossil fueled vehicle, and raise your taxes, which goes great with energy costs skyrocketing, making everything else skyrocket.

Read: People’s Republik Of California To Spend $37 Billion On Climate Crisis (scam) »

Moonbat Recommends California Ban Parenthood

I figured there was no point in a post on Biden losing on his employer vaccine mandate, you’ve surely already heard and read it at this point. I’m sure he’ll try something else. How about some true leftist insanity instead? I really was not sure about this, but

From the link (which I did first run into on Yahoo News)

If California is ever going to achieve true equity, the state must require parents to give away their children.

Today’s Californians often hold up equity — the goal of a just society completely free from bias — as our greatest value. Gov. Gavin Newsom makes decisions through “an equity lens.” Institutions from dance ensembles to tech companies have publicly pledged themselves to equity.

But their promises are no match for the power of parents.

Fathers and mothers with greater wealth and education are more likely to transfer these advantages to their children, compounding privilege over generations. As a result, children of less advantaged parents face an uphill struggle, social mobility has stalled, and democracy has been corrupted. More Californians are abandoning the dream; a recent Public Policy Institute of California poll found declining belief in the notion that you can get ahead through hard work.

My solution — making raising your own children illegal — is simple, and while we wait for the legislation to pass, we can act now: the rich and poor should trade kids, and homeowners might swap children with their homeless neighbors.

Now, I recognize that some naysayers will dismiss such a policy as ghastly, even totalitarian. But my proposal is quite modest, a fusion of traditional philosophy and today’s most common political obsessions.

You can see why I was unsure if this was satire or real. It is so over the top, that it’s hard to reconcile with reality, but, Modern Socialists are getting more and more bold in what they say and write, as we can see from their ‘climate change’ insanity.

The left’s introduction of anti-racism and gender identity in schools faces a bitter backlash from parents. Ending parenthood would end the backlash, helping dismantle white supremacy and outdated gender norms. Democrats also would have the opportunity to build a new pillar of the safety net — a child-raising system called “Foster Care for All.”

Again, that’s so crazy that you have to wonder if writer Joe Matthews was reading to much The Onion and Babylon Bee.

Over on the right, Republicans are happy to jettison parents’ rights in pursuit of their greatest passions, like violating migrant rights. Once you’ve gone so far as to take immigrant children from their parents and put them in border concentration camps, it’s a short walk to separating all Americans from their progeny.

Weird, because Obama did this first, and Biden still has them in camps.

Perhaps such coercion sounds dystopian. But just imagine the solidarity that universal orphanhood would create. Wouldn’t children, raised in one system, find it easier to collaborate on global problems?

Yikes! If I go through columns at various outlets and his twitter feed, this looks completely serious.

Read: Moonbat Recommends California Ban Parenthood »

Pirate's Cove