DCPetterson.bsky.social Profile picture
Aug 11, 2021 10 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Senate Dems deliver.

The Senate passed a $3.5 trillion budget resolution along party lines 50-49. It's is a blueprint to be fleshed out in committees for a spending bill.

It's a massive investment in the future, and much-needed repairs for today.

1/

npr.org/2021/07/14/101…
I'll steal text from the linked article, so you can read it here.

Your taxes will NOT be increased, if you make less than $400,000/year, but it IS paid for, and the sources of revenue are spelled out.

2/
The article not only tells us what's in the package, but which committees have to write which peices.

It contains massive investment in education, including paid community college tuition, universal pre-K, and spending for HBCU's.

Also a commitment for immigration reform.

3/
Paid family leave, ACA expansion, Medicare to include dental, vision and hearing and a lower eligibility age. Expanded child tax credit, long-term senior care. Paid for with corporate and international tax reform, more progressive tax rates, carbon polluter fees.

4/
Big investments in agriculture conservation, forestry and drought programs, climate research, Civilian Climate Corp (!), movements toward clean electricity and vast, agressive reductions in carbon emissions.

5/
Affordable housing initiatives, rental assistance, revitalization, public housing.

This budget proposal will reshape America in vast ways, a giant leap for the liberal programs Democratic president have been advocating for decades.

There's more...

6/
Investments in clean energy & climate (in addition to the agriculture stuff mentioned above): financing clean energy programs, climate research, energy efficient materials production, solar energy for low-income markets, clean water, energy efficient buildings and vehicles.

7/
Even the Homeland Security portions will include investments in green materials. (No border wall.)

Investments in education, house, energy, and language programs for Native Americans.

Expansions of small business and VA programs.

8/
During the four years of the Trump Reich, Republican struggled to get anything done at all. Other than approving fascist judges, the only major bill they enacted was the 2017 #TaxScam.

American languished and deteriorated. Federal programs became hollowed out.

9/
It's far easier to tear something down than to build. To break things, all you need is malicious neglect, and perhaps a few crowbars.

Democrats are rapidly moving an aggressive agenda to not merely repair America, but to rebuild anew.

10/
cnn.com/2021/08/11/pol…

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More from @dcpetterson

May 25
A factoid you may not have heard, and you may not fully appreciate its importance...

Musk created a company, xAI, which built the world's biggest supercomputer near Memphis, TN, to power Grok, his A.I. program.

He named the computer: Colossus.

1/13

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_…
Why does this matter?

We all know the name "Colossus" is related to the word "colossal," and means "big," and we likely all have some vague memory of something from Greek myth or something.

But so what?

It's teriffying.

Look, we all know Musk reads science fiction.

2/13
I read a lot of sci-fi. I'm a science-fiction writer. I love SF. I hate that Musk reads this stuff, too. It feels creepy that he does, like he's raping literature.

Lots of SF explores the dark side of technology, warning us what we shouldn't do (ex: Jurassic Park).

3/13
Read 13 tweets
May 24
On this memorial day, we should pause to remember those who died because Trump maliciously screwed up the response to Covid-19.

Below is a picture of the Michigan Stadium. It seats 100,000 people.

1/6 Image
You would need 11 Michigan Stadiums to seat all the corpses of the Americans who died because Trump worked so hard to make the Covid pandemic worse.

I'm not going to list all the things Trump did, knowing they would kill Americans, from tossing out the pandemic playbook ...

2/6 Image
... to forcing States to bid against each other for medical supplies that Trump intentionally made sure were in short supply (and then stealing those supplies from the winning State, to sell to his friends).

No, I won't list all the ways Trump purposely screwed us.

3/6
Read 6 tweets
May 11
The Trump Reich wants to end habeas corpus. (If you don't know what that is, go look it up. Now.) But Trump doesn't have the authority or power to do that.

The Constitution says habeas corpus can only be suspended by Congress.

1/8
The point of habeas corpus is specifically to prevent an executive or king from incarcerating people without due process.

Incarcerating people without due process is precisely what the Trump Reich wants to do, and is the reason they want to end habeas corpus.

2/8
The Constitution allows Congress (=not= the President) to temporarily suspend habeas corpus =IF=

A) the country is in an active war and has been invaded, and

B) suspending habeas corpus is =required= in order to ensure public safety.

Neither of those conditions exist.

3/8
Read 9 tweets
Dec 23, 2024
Note: The new Congress gets sworn in on Jan 3. That's when the officers of the House and Senate are supposed to be elected. There are rumbles about Republicans having another prolonged Speakership battle.

Congress has to count the Electoral Votes on Jan 6.

1/7
The Speaker of the House is supposed to preside over the Joint Session of Congress to count the Electoral Votes. If there is no Speaker yet, it's uncertain whether Congress can be convened to do that.

If Congress can't be convened until sometime after Jan 6, it gets weird.

2/7
On Jan 20, the terms of President Biden and VP Harris end. If the Votes haven't yet been counted, a new POTUS can't be sworn in.

Next in line after Pres and VP is Speaker of the House -- but if there isn't one, we go to President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

3/7
Read 7 tweets
Dec 21, 2024
The far-right Cato Institute is feeding its poison to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramasmarmy, giving them advice on how to disassemble America and sell it off for parts. Here is their manifesto.

I'll summarize what they threaten to do to Social Security.

1/9
cato.org/white-paper/ca…
1. Raise the retirement age by three years. Currently, you can take early retirement at 62, and full retirement at 67. Raise that to 65 and 70.

2. Reduce the annual Cost Of Living Adjustments. COLAs are now figured on Consumer Price Index. They want to use Chained CPI.

2/9
That second suggestions is really technical, but the upshot is that Cato is recommending that Cost of Living Adjustments should NOT be figured based on the actual cost of living, but on a different formula that, over time, moves seniors into poverty.

3/9
Read 10 tweets
Dec 15, 2024
Irony has died. Consider the following fact:

People who have guns in their house die from gunshot wounds at about ten times the rate as people who don't have guns in their house.

This makes sense in an obvious sort of way.

1/4
After all, you can't die from a gunshot wound unless there's a gun involved. If there are guns handy, it makes sense that you'd be more likely to die from a gunshot than if guns are not handy.

2/4
The most interesting aspect of this fact means people who own guns to protect themselves from people with guns are far more likely to die from guns as are people who don't own guns.

3/4
Read 5 tweets

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