Category: Joe Biden

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Joe Biden has signed an executive order giving farmers the right to repair their own tractors.

This is something that always seems to founder the rocks of the McConnell reef, and it is good policy, the right of people to what they own should be sacrosanct, and it shows the farmers, and the independent repair shops who serve those farmers, that it’s not all talk.

Tractors, with John Deere being a particularly egregious c%$# about it, have increasingly been locking farmers out of their own equipment, to the degree that older tractors actually have a higher resale value than newer models.

President Joe Biden will direct the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to draft new rules aimed at stopping manufacturers from limiting consumers’ ability to repair products at independent shops or on their own, a person familiar with the plan said.

While the agency will ultimately decide the size and scope of the order, the presidential right-to-repair directive is expected to mention mobile phone manufacturers and Department of Defense contractors as possible areas for regulation. Tech companies including Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have imposed limits on who can repair broken consumer electronics like game consoles and mobile phones, which consumer advocates say increases repair costs.

The order is also expected to benefit farmers, who face expensive repair costs from tractor manufacturers who use proprietary repair tools, software, and diagnostics to prevent third-parties from working on the equipment, according to the person, who requested anonymity to discuss the action ahead of its official announcement.

………

The Biden Administration effort comes as the European Commission has also announced plans for new right-to-repair rules that would govern smart phones, tablets, and laptops. Environmental activists have said that restrictions on repairs encourage waste by making consumers more likely to throw out damaged items because of the high cost of repair.

But tech companies and manufacturers have warned that opening access to underlying software and services could endanger Americans, from improperly installed batteries on tech devices to modifications on tractors and other heavy equipment that could bypass environmental and safety systems.

By, “Endanger Americans,” the tech and agricultural equipment companies mean, “Endanger our monopoly rents.”

Now get to work on laws that prevent manufacturers from doing this, though one would think that the anti tie-in sales provisions of the Magnuson—Moss Warranty Act should already cover this.

Biden’s Speech

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I didn’t watch it, I prefer to read the transcript.

The only thing close to the surprise was his pre-K childcare/education proposals, which are a good idea from both a policy and a political standpoint.

On the other hand, he is the first President who I can bear to listen to in at least 20 years.

About 18 Years Too Late

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Joe Biden has announced that he will be withdrawing all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11, roughly 19 years and 11 months since we invaded the small Asian nation nicknamed, “The Graveyard of Empires.”

I think that “all ” in the statement is likely narrowly defined, but he has specifically eschewed basing it on the conditions on the ground, which can be manufactured by both our own military, and Pakistan’s ISI for their own benefit.

Assuming that this stands, and the soldiers are not relabeled as “Freedom Constables” ore some-such, this is good news:

President Biden will withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan over the coming months, U.S. officials said, completing the military exit by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that drew the United States into its longest war.

The decision, which Biden is expected to announce Wednesday, will keep thousands of U.S. forces in the country beyond the May 1 exit deadline that the Trump administration negotiated last year with the Taliban, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters Tuesday under rules of anonymity set by the White House.

While the Taliban has promised to renew attacks on U.S. and NATO personnel if foreign troops are not out by the deadline — and said in a statement it would not continue to participate in “any conference” about Afghanistan’s future until all “foreign forces” have departed — it is not clear whether the militants will follow through with the earlier threats given Biden’s plan for a phased withdrawal between now and September. The Taliban has conducted sputtering talks with the Afghan government, begun under the Trump deal, since last fall. It was also invited to an additional high-level inter-Afghan discussion in Turkey later this month.

Officially, there are 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, although the number fluctuates and is currently about 1,000 more than that. There are also up to an additional 7,000 foreign forces in the coalition there, the majority of them NATO troops.

………

The goal is to move to “zero” troops by September, the senior administration official said. “This is not conditions-based. The president has judged that a conditions-based approach . . . is a recipe for staying in Afghanistan forever. He has reached the conclusion that the United States will complete its drawdown and will remove its forces from Afghanistan before September 11th.”

About damn time.

We lost, get over it, and get the f%$# out.

I Guess Nancy Wants those Donations from the Insurance Industry

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In yet another “Democrats in Disarray” story, the Washington Post notes that there friction between Nancy Pelosi and Bernie Sanders, because Pelosi wants to make Biden’s subsidies to Obamacare permanent, and Sanders wants to expand Medicare. 

This is really pretty simple, making the Obamacare subsidies permanent is a subsidy for the insurance companies, and not of people in need, while expanding Medicare helps everyone.

Pelosi wants to keep feeding money to the insurance companies because she wants to keep raising campaign donations from the insurance companies:

The White House is facing diverging pressure from two powerful allies — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — over whether to use an upcoming spending package to strengthen the Affordable Care Act or expand Medicare eligibility.

Pelosi’s office is pushing the White House to make permanent a temporary expansion of Affordable Care Act subsidies that were included in the $1.9 trillion stimulus legislation last month, according to a senior Democratic aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.

Sanders said in an interview that he is arguing for lowering the age of Medicare eligibility to 55 or 60 and expanding the program for seniors so it covers dental, vision and hearing care.

The contrasting visions for the next phase of President Biden’s legislative agenda reflect divisions within the Democratic Party about how Biden should further overhaul health insurance in the United States. Pelosi is looking to double down on the ACA, which has become more popular in recent years as it offers insurance subsidies to people well above the poverty line. Sanders, meanwhile, is looking for an opportunity to make progress on his longtime efforts to make government health insurance universal.

Lowering the Medicare age is better policy, because it puts more pressure on expanding the program in the future, while Obamacare, while better than what went before us, still sucks wet farts from dead pigeons.

Also, I would note that expanding Medicare is better policy, because older people vote in higher percentages than younger ones.

My prediction:  Biden goes with expanding subsidies to insurance companies, because, he’s always been a creature of the finance and insurance industries.

It’s like They Are Playing to Lose

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The headline in New York Magazine says it all, “Democrats Strip $1,400 Checks From 12 Million for No Reason.” 

That’s 12 million voters who know that the Democrats lied to them, and they were likely the margin of victory in at least one of the Georgia runoffs that gave Democrats Joe Manchin control of the US Senate.

This is horrible policy, about $8 billion in a $1.9 trillion stimulus package, 0.42%, and it is worse politics.


The official hat of the Biden Administration

The stimulus checks are the single most popular part of the bill, but the so-called moderates in the Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment) needed a scalp so that they could wave their dicks, and Biden caves.

To quote not-Tallyrand, (it is frequently misattributed to him) “It is worse than a crime, it is a mistake.

Democrats often wonder why they don’t get more votes, because their policies are popular.

They don’t get more votes because people do not believe that Democrats will actually follow through.

Took You Long Enough

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Workers in Alabama – and all across America – are voting on whether to organize a union in their workplace. It’s a vitally important choice – one that should be made without intimidation or threats by employers.

Every worker should have a free and fair choice to join a union. pic.twitter.com/2lzbyyii1g

— President Biden (@POTUS) March 1, 2021

He could have made this statement 2 weeks ago.

Amazon has been evil and brutal for months over the unionization effort, and Biden’s response now is late and inadequate.

Yeah, This Will Driver the Black Farmer Vote

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Former Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, who is (or should be) notorious for fighting against equity for black farmers and lying about it, is Secretary of Agriculture once again. (He’s also in the tank for large agribusiness, but that’s another story)

Right now, he’s my choice for worst member of the Biden administration, but the term is still young:

After a 92-7 vote, the former governor of Iowa will reprise his role heading up USDA.

Three weeks after a cakewalk of a confirmation hearing, Tom Vilsack was confirmed as President Biden’s Agriculture Secretary on Tuesday in a 92-7 vote, garnering support from both parties. Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders and Republicans Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul were among those voting against his confirmation. Senators had scheduled twenty minutes to debate the nomination but no one spoke out against Secretary Vilsack on the floor. Democrats voted unanimously in favor of the former governor of Iowa.

Vilsack’s nomination drew sharp criticism from civil rights advocates and various food safety and progressive farm groups, though he ultimately won support from major players including the Farm Bureau and the National Farmers Union.

………

Under Vilsack, USDA distorted data and concealed decades of discrimination against Black farmers.

Back in 2019, we published a two-year investigation exploring how USDA spun a fictional narrative about a renaissance in Black farming during the Obama years. Under Vilsack’s watch, USDA employees foreclosed on Black farmers with outstanding discrimination complaints, sent a lower share of loan dollars to Black farmers than it had under President Bush, and underrepresented the frequency of new discrimination complaints.

When Vilsack’s nomination was announced in December, Lawrence Lucas, president emeritus of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, told us his phone had been ringing off the hook with people telling him they did not support Biden’s nomination. “This brings tears to my eyes,” he said.

During his confirmation hearing, members of the Senate did not ask Vilsack about his record on civil rights, but he did say he anticipated forming an equity commission.

Yes, a f%$#ing commission.  That will solve the problem of bigotry and racism, a problem that Vilsac studiously avoided doing anything about, go away. 

It’s not, and if the past is prelude, Vilsack will continue to sacrifice family farms, regardless of color, on the altar of Big Ag.