Don't worry about it, everyone in this thread is getting heated. Rightfully so, these things are important.
doshin_the_giant
joined 1 year ago
Don't get me wrong, I don't support republicans and won't vote for a third party. But I completely empathize with disaffected youth voters and see where they're coming from.
I do vote in local elections, in fact my local party just won a special election to get one of those like-minded candidates to city council!
Thanks for your well researched and thoughtful response, I really do appreciate it.
What I hear from most young people on the ground is global emissions are still rising, and climate catastrophe is already happening.
People won't care about industrial energy efficiency when they don't have a place to live because a wildfire destroyed their house. A tax break for an electric vehicle means nothing to a young person who can't even afford a car loan. I can tell you of people I tried talking into getting their heating/ac/gas stove replaced with a heat pump/electric oven and tax-credit and were told they simply can't afford the up front cost of replacing their HVAC or gas stove.
Climate change is here and it's going to take a massive unified effort, democrats have to think bigger than tax breaks and loans.
People point the finger at democrats because they campaign on getting these things done, republicans don't.
They have had real opportunities to get these things done, like I noted about single-payer healthcare in 2008. There was a clear mandate from the voting populous, a filibuster-proof super majority in the senate and a 31 seat majority in the house and compromise was made because the house caucus of Blue Dog Coalition of democrats didn't want it, not republicans.
Biden just had a majority in the senate and house for two years and a mandate to act on student loans through filibuster-proof reconciliation. He was stopped by two democrats, not republicans.
They didn't even repeal the Trump tax cuts that he campaigned on, which also could have been passed through reconciliation. Again, stopped by two democrats.
Child tax care credits were taken away in the budget , not by republicans, but by a single democrat.
You can say "Well, NO republicans voted for any of those things" but that's exactly what the republicans were voted in to do.
His first two years he had a filibuster-proof super majority in the senate and a 31 seat majority in the house.
Honest questions, I would love to be wrong on all these.
What did they get done on guns? Mass shootings are almost double what they were in 2016, gun violence is still out of control.
Climate change? The Paris climate accord? The one that was non-binding and Trump just walked away from? Are you talking about tax credits and carbon taxes? We're still on a freight train to climate disaster. There isn't a lot of time for slow progress on this one.
Health care? Are you talking about Obamacare? I was actually ecstatic when this passed, I have pre-existing conditions that meant that I couldn't even get health care, so at least I could get a plan now. What ended up actually happening is I was forced to pay monthly for a plan that didn't actually cover anything short of getting hit by a bus, and that the insurance could deny any treatment my doctor suggested. I guess that's something?
Student loans? That just got struck down by the supreme court, which other democrats like AOC were sounding the alarm about happening when it was first announced.
I consider getting something done when the problem is solved, not half-measures that make little to no meaningful progress.
I say this as someone who actively organizes for democratic causes, I canvas, I phone bank, I give any time I can afford to this stuff. It's really hard to get people motivated when you can't point to any meaningful progress on these issues, and it's even harder to enact change when people who agree with you can't even see that meaningful change hasn't occurred.
This is the type of arrogant attitude that drives away young voters. The democrats have had 15 years to get ANYTHING done on guns, climate change, health care, and student loans and they didn't do jack shit. It's not they're "all of the sudden" pissed off, they've been pissed off.
The first democratic primary I voted in one of the main issues was a single-payer health care system supported by Hilary Clinton and single-payer public option supported by Obama. With a super majority in the senate and a majority in the house they still couldn't get shit done. Now they can't even endorse medicare for all as a party.
Obama was the candidate of tackling climate change, was in office for 8 years, still didn't get shit done.
Biden campaigned on student loan forgiveness, still didn't get shit done.
So what did 15 years of voting for democrats get me? A party that moved further to the right. Guess I just need to vote harder?
At some point, if you're Charlie Brown and Lucy keeps yanking the football away you have to be an idiot to keep trying to kick it.
Youth will begrudgingly vote for democrats because it's the least shit option they have, but don't pretend like they're actually voting for any meaningful change.
I think the important part here is in the last paragraph
Prior to his return to play, he will be required to formulate and fulfill a program with the league that directly addresses the circumstances that led him to repeat this destructive behavior.
Until he completes whatever program that is, it's pretty much an indefinite suspension. Who knows what that will be though, another couple days at a retreat?
What, you didn't know? The way to drive youth turnout is to constantly scold them for any criticism they have of the democratic party and blame them for any defeat.