So, briefly: 1) we are way way past COVID jobs coming back 2) that argument though very present in our discourse is 100% bullshit. Jobs just dont come back after recessions. Our policies made sure they came back quickly, and our recovery from COVID is better than other G7 nation. The whole idea that a company layed off people during COVID and just hired them back is one of the most insane I've ever heard since I've been in politics.
I hate to bring it up Simon but it appears this “rampant illegal migrant” issue is flooding the media airwaves which then causes widespread fear of an out of control problem that eliminates any good economic impact ☹️
And the headlines is what is driving the NARRATIVE right now !!! I live for Simon’s newsletters, but I’m honestly surprised that he hasn’t addressed this as a real messaging concern....
Perhaps how can we turn this potential issue that could weigh us down into our advantage? All the positive economic news lately now tends to be overshadowed by how illegal migrants are “threatening” our neighborhoods which is extremely frustrating..... hell it suddenly got Fetterman to claim he wasn’t “progressive” (or was at least part of the reason)
I do not believe the border is overwhelming the positive economic news. We are getting lots of positive economic news, rising consumer sentiment, and we have work to do on the border. I wrote about how Biden and the Dems are going on offense here earlier this week here - https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/biden-campaign-ramps-up-optimism. We are negotiating a possible deal with Republicans. Let's hope this gets done in the coming days.
Could you provide $ figures on the deficit comparison? Also, could you briefly explain the difference between the deficit and debt. It was reported this week that U.S. national debt hit a record $34 trillion.
I really appreciate your take on things and we align on much but I'm really feeling the vibes of 2016 here (I'm a huge Hillary fan but let's face it, she screwed up) . The Dems are pandering to their base, I get a "deplorables" kind of vibe, the media is giving Trump all the press he needs, the economy can tank at any time giving the Republicans a secret server email kind of moment at the very end, we have serious third party candidates, MAGA is worked up to a frenzy, all the global chaos which no matter what Biden does, he's going to alienate someone, etc. I want to be optimistic but man, to me it's not looking good. Biden and the Dems need to do some outreach. I may be wrong but I haven't heard of Biden giving a speech at LSU, Georgia Tech., or Texas A&M. He gives speeches in Philly all the time. Those jobs he touts, where were they created? I was in rural PA a few weeks ago and I didn't see any evidence. The PA Turnpike was under construction but it's been under construction for years, way before Biden took office. Maybe that's what MAGA is seeing also. The Dems need to get out there, look these people in the eye, acknowledge what they're feeling and then make amends. There's nothing America likes more then a repentant sinner.
Ken, what in the world is this post? I will say this again, this is not going to be a place for people to come dump all their worries and concerns. People can do that, but not here. We talk about what we are going to do to win. Are you making calls in FL or NY? Have you given to Biden? This is nothing like 2016. Biden is in an incumbent; Trump has already lost an election and disgraced. Today was the first event of the campaign. If you are going to engage please try to read and respond to our materials, and be respectful of the community vibe. Thank you.
Maybe it's time for Simon to give a timely reminder that mobilize.us is the place to go for volunteer opportunities for Democrats - canvassing, phone and text banking, and postcarding. I posted it in the comments on a different website when someone was pouting that they had tried to volunteer for some unnamed political campaign and no one had replied. "Well I tried to volunteer..."
I think most longer-term activists know to check Mobilize first, but newbies like PN get frustrated when the campaign website doesn't have the answer and might give up. I am going to make more of an effort this year to forward Mobilize links for events for which I've signed up and I think might interest a friend.
Simon ... My apologies if my post was inconsistent with the guidelines of Hopium however, my opinion remains the same. Biden is vulnerable, and unless he reaches out to all Americans, including MAGA Americans, I see similarities to the 2016 election. Biden has to go deep into MAGA country and without bashing Trump, acknowledge these Americans' feelings of alienation. He has to convince them that he hears their fears, he "gets it," he has their backs and he won't leave them behind. If Biden can successfully reach out to MAGA (he'll definitely need new talent on his team, chutzpah, a THICK skin, grace, gaff immunity, etc), he'll be reaching out to the whole country. He needs a better strategy than resting on his laurels. One errant Houthi missile kills one American sailor/soldier, it's all over. Deja Vu Afghanistan, sunk, TKO, we have no plan B (The Economist, 1/5 or 1/13 edition).
I contribute to Democratic candidates all over the country (Dunn, Burrows (3X don't ask how that happened), Peltola, O'Brien, Vindman, Firsch, Martin, Ehr, Emily's List, Klee-Hood, multiple ActBlue tips, etc) and have phone banked for MoveOn. Phone banking wasn't a good fit, I'm more of an in-person kinda guy. I table for the ACLU of PA and have submitted volunteer applications to Common Cause but have not received a reply (can you help with that?). I haven't and won't contribute to Biden and/or the DNC.
No hard feelings if you want to unsubscribe me because I will continue to post if I believe I have something to say. If you do, I can assure you that any refund will go to a down ballot candidate.
Ken, below is a link to an article that lists all the links to Biden Bills and Investments that you can use to see what is happening local to you in rural PA.
The title of the show might seem counter to Hopium, but Ahmed is optimistic that if we get the message out about what the GOP plans to do, we should be able to motivate voters to reject the GOP vision and elect Biden. (He's very clear that Project 2025 is the exact opposite of what Democrats plan to do). I think it is a good digestible interview to share if you know anyone who is pooh poohing Trump's intentions or claiming both sides are equally bad.
But immigration and the national debt are two issues the R's will hammer on in 2024.
Can you do your magic with charts and graphs on these issues? For example deficits and total debt over time, shaded for R and D, and for recessions?
I am not sure what an immigration chart would look like, but I know we are going to get hammered over it, and Rs are going to do nothing constructive, as we have seen.
Biden has now overseen 10.4 million fewer layoffs than Trump at the same point of his presidency. In fact Biden is on pace to have the fewest layoffs of any president this century.
I so appreciate your columns. I’m back from an unexpected seven-week stay in Missoula, Montana and ready to write postcards once the laundry’s done. My kids are reading your posts and they have promised to keep me updated about The President Biden Bipartisan Infrastructure Project to improve beloved Cattail Corners as a wetland restoration,and-storm management program. When completed, it will also serve as a neighborhood park. It’s going to be beautiful and functional come spring and I can’t wait to see the results. Thanks for bringing us together on this one and so many other projects President Biden!
It is a real concern. I keep my calm by studiously not reading the headlines, but most people don’t. It’s difficult for people to think clearly if they’re always on high alert.
Text banking for Tom Keen today. 📲 Orange County Supervisor of Elections reports Dems have pulled ahead ( from -200 to 100+) in Vote By Mail ballots ! 👍 Early voting starts tomorrow.
Republicans have resorted ( no surprise! ) to dirty tricks with texts from a faux “progressive” PAC aligning Keen with DeSantis.
Any available hands 👐on deck appreciated. On-going phone bank opportunities +⬇️
Early voting starts tomorrow everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please take a shift this weekend or early next week. This is an important race and we need to win it!
I love the excellent work you’re doing and share your optimism. Your thoughts in this post concerning the reasons R’s have become so frustrated and transmogrified into extremists seems totally correct and should be shared widely by all of us. Thanks for all your efforts.
Below is a letter to the editor to the editor at the NYTs. The papers bias is getting worse and worse! Please write to the Times to call them out. Simon is the real reporting on Biden.
Young Voters Are Voicing Discontent: ‘I Don’t Want a Biden-Trump Rematch’
I appreciate the Times efforts to raise 2024 election issues by interviewing select groups of voters. I am one of the 81 million voters who voted for President Biden in 2020 and I'm excited and happy to vote for him again.
I'm really concerned that the Times' voter profile articles can't seem to find any Biden supporters. Voters who would happily talk about many of the greatly beneficial legislation Biden has delivered for the American people.
They might also talk about fabulous job Biden is doing supporting global democracy.
If the Times is at all interested in providing its readers a balanced view of our politics, it should start publishing some pro-Biden articles. The country owes him a BIG thank you, even at the doddering old age of 81.
So, briefly: 1) we are way way past COVID jobs coming back 2) that argument though very present in our discourse is 100% bullshit. Jobs just dont come back after recessions. Our policies made sure they came back quickly, and our recovery from COVID is better than other G7 nation. The whole idea that a company layed off people during COVID and just hired them back is one of the most insane I've ever heard since I've been in politics.
And all the data today.
I hate to bring it up Simon but it appears this “rampant illegal migrant” issue is flooding the media airwaves which then causes widespread fear of an out of control problem that eliminates any good economic impact ☹️
The Republicans could help this by doing the hard work of making good policies not just headlines, but they won’t.
And the headlines is what is driving the NARRATIVE right now !!! I live for Simon’s newsletters, but I’m honestly surprised that he hasn’t addressed this as a real messaging concern....
what do you want me to say about it?
Perhaps how can we turn this potential issue that could weigh us down into our advantage? All the positive economic news lately now tends to be overshadowed by how illegal migrants are “threatening” our neighborhoods which is extremely frustrating..... hell it suddenly got Fetterman to claim he wasn’t “progressive” (or was at least part of the reason)
I do not believe the border is overwhelming the positive economic news. We are getting lots of positive economic news, rising consumer sentiment, and we have work to do on the border. I wrote about how Biden and the Dems are going on offense here earlier this week here - https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/biden-campaign-ramps-up-optimism. We are negotiating a possible deal with Republicans. Let's hope this gets done in the coming days.
Thanks Simon - fingers crossed 🤞🏻and I continue to donate to my neighboring district here in the interim! Let’s get this done Suozzi!
Could you provide $ figures on the deficit comparison? Also, could you briefly explain the difference between the deficit and debt. It was reported this week that U.S. national debt hit a record $34 trillion.
I will do a deeper dive on debt and deficits soon. Under the last 3 Dem Presidents the deficit went down, under the last Rs it went up. Period.
Defect = one years difference between income and outgo.
Debt = total cumulative built up debt.
Reducing the defect means the debt grows more slowly.
I always feel more optimistic after reading your posts, Simon. Thank you!
I really appreciate your take on things and we align on much but I'm really feeling the vibes of 2016 here (I'm a huge Hillary fan but let's face it, she screwed up) . The Dems are pandering to their base, I get a "deplorables" kind of vibe, the media is giving Trump all the press he needs, the economy can tank at any time giving the Republicans a secret server email kind of moment at the very end, we have serious third party candidates, MAGA is worked up to a frenzy, all the global chaos which no matter what Biden does, he's going to alienate someone, etc. I want to be optimistic but man, to me it's not looking good. Biden and the Dems need to do some outreach. I may be wrong but I haven't heard of Biden giving a speech at LSU, Georgia Tech., or Texas A&M. He gives speeches in Philly all the time. Those jobs he touts, where were they created? I was in rural PA a few weeks ago and I didn't see any evidence. The PA Turnpike was under construction but it's been under construction for years, way before Biden took office. Maybe that's what MAGA is seeing also. The Dems need to get out there, look these people in the eye, acknowledge what they're feeling and then make amends. There's nothing America likes more then a repentant sinner.
Ken, what in the world is this post? I will say this again, this is not going to be a place for people to come dump all their worries and concerns. People can do that, but not here. We talk about what we are going to do to win. Are you making calls in FL or NY? Have you given to Biden? This is nothing like 2016. Biden is in an incumbent; Trump has already lost an election and disgraced. Today was the first event of the campaign. If you are going to engage please try to read and respond to our materials, and be respectful of the community vibe. Thank you.
PN, Here’s a group phone bank tomorrow that should be able to guide you!
Thank you !💙
https://www.mobilize.us/osceolacountydec/event/597910/
I'm signed up for a different phone bank for Tom Keen tomorrow:
https://www.mobilize.us/frostforcongress/event/562634/
Maybe it's time for Simon to give a timely reminder that mobilize.us is the place to go for volunteer opportunities for Democrats - canvassing, phone and text banking, and postcarding. I posted it in the comments on a different website when someone was pouting that they had tried to volunteer for some unnamed political campaign and no one had replied. "Well I tried to volunteer..."
I think most longer-term activists know to check Mobilize first, but newbies like PN get frustrated when the campaign website doesn't have the answer and might give up. I am going to make more of an effort this year to forward Mobilize links for events for which I've signed up and I think might interest a friend.
Simon ... My apologies if my post was inconsistent with the guidelines of Hopium however, my opinion remains the same. Biden is vulnerable, and unless he reaches out to all Americans, including MAGA Americans, I see similarities to the 2016 election. Biden has to go deep into MAGA country and without bashing Trump, acknowledge these Americans' feelings of alienation. He has to convince them that he hears their fears, he "gets it," he has their backs and he won't leave them behind. If Biden can successfully reach out to MAGA (he'll definitely need new talent on his team, chutzpah, a THICK skin, grace, gaff immunity, etc), he'll be reaching out to the whole country. He needs a better strategy than resting on his laurels. One errant Houthi missile kills one American sailor/soldier, it's all over. Deja Vu Afghanistan, sunk, TKO, we have no plan B (The Economist, 1/5 or 1/13 edition).
I contribute to Democratic candidates all over the country (Dunn, Burrows (3X don't ask how that happened), Peltola, O'Brien, Vindman, Firsch, Martin, Ehr, Emily's List, Klee-Hood, multiple ActBlue tips, etc) and have phone banked for MoveOn. Phone banking wasn't a good fit, I'm more of an in-person kinda guy. I table for the ACLU of PA and have submitted volunteer applications to Common Cause but have not received a reply (can you help with that?). I haven't and won't contribute to Biden and/or the DNC.
No hard feelings if you want to unsubscribe me because I will continue to post if I believe I have something to say. If you do, I can assure you that any refund will go to a down ballot candidate.
There are a lot of infrastructure projects out there but there seems to be very little reporting on them. That’s a shame.
Ken, below is a link to an article that lists all the links to Biden Bills and Investments that you can use to see what is happening local to you in rural PA.
https://rooseveltinstitute.org/2023/10/10/tracking-the-trackers/
So great. Simon, how do we get you out there, and others who can explain this so simply, in the media?
You were fabulous on MSNBC but we need you on CNN, morning ABC tv, and sadly, Tik Tok! 😀
If you want to work in the United States of America, vote a straight Democratic ticket.
I highly recommend this week's episode of Politics Girl. She interviews Ahmed Baba about the GOP's Project 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPgeg_Jij8c
The title of the show might seem counter to Hopium, but Ahmed is optimistic that if we get the message out about what the GOP plans to do, we should be able to motivate voters to reject the GOP vision and elect Biden. (He's very clear that Project 2025 is the exact opposite of what Democrats plan to do). I think it is a good digestible interview to share if you know anyone who is pooh poohing Trump's intentions or claiming both sides are equally bad.
Simon, thanks for these reminders.
But immigration and the national debt are two issues the R's will hammer on in 2024.
Can you do your magic with charts and graphs on these issues? For example deficits and total debt over time, shaded for R and D, and for recessions?
I am not sure what an immigration chart would look like, but I know we are going to get hammered over it, and Rs are going to do nothing constructive, as we have seen.
Biden has now overseen 10.4 million fewer layoffs than Trump at the same point of his presidency. In fact Biden is on pace to have the fewest layoffs of any president this century.
I so appreciate your columns. I’m back from an unexpected seven-week stay in Missoula, Montana and ready to write postcards once the laundry’s done. My kids are reading your posts and they have promised to keep me updated about The President Biden Bipartisan Infrastructure Project to improve beloved Cattail Corners as a wetland restoration,and-storm management program. When completed, it will also serve as a neighborhood park. It’s going to be beautiful and functional come spring and I can’t wait to see the results. Thanks for bringing us together on this one and so many other projects President Biden!
thank you Susan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is a real concern. I keep my calm by studiously not reading the headlines, but most people don’t. It’s difficult for people to think clearly if they’re always on high alert.
Hi Simon. Big turnout at the HD-35 Text Bank. Early voting starts tomorrow! People on the ground says it looks promising. Keep working folks!
Text banking for Tom Keen today. 📲 Orange County Supervisor of Elections reports Dems have pulled ahead ( from -200 to 100+) in Vote By Mail ballots ! 👍 Early voting starts tomorrow.
Republicans have resorted ( no surprise! ) to dirty tricks with texts from a faux “progressive” PAC aligning Keen with DeSantis.
Any available hands 👐on deck appreciated. On-going phone bank opportunities +⬇️
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vz-DGKmGkqumWR9c-DVCqgasxOuMxmSBBwZI7qKLfR0/edit#gid=18227111
https://www.mobilize.us/tomkeenforflorida/
Early voting starts tomorrow everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please take a shift this weekend or early next week. This is an important race and we need to win it!
I love the excellent work you’re doing and share your optimism. Your thoughts in this post concerning the reasons R’s have become so frustrated and transmogrified into extremists seems totally correct and should be shared widely by all of us. Thanks for all your efforts.
thank you, and I agree. I think it is much central to what has happened than is understood. Best, S
Below is a letter to the editor to the editor at the NYTs. The papers bias is getting worse and worse! Please write to the Times to call them out. Simon is the real reporting on Biden.
Young Voters Are Voicing Discontent: ‘I Don’t Want a Biden-Trump Rematch’
I appreciate the Times efforts to raise 2024 election issues by interviewing select groups of voters. I am one of the 81 million voters who voted for President Biden in 2020 and I'm excited and happy to vote for him again.
I'm really concerned that the Times' voter profile articles can't seem to find any Biden supporters. Voters who would happily talk about many of the greatly beneficial legislation Biden has delivered for the American people.
They might also talk about fabulous job Biden is doing supporting global democracy.
If the Times is at all interested in providing its readers a balanced view of our politics, it should start publishing some pro-Biden articles. The country owes him a BIG thank you, even at the doddering old age of 81.
Thanks
Merrill Weingrod
Rhode Island
401-480-8003
POTUS gave a speech today that will be referenced by historians a century from now. Let’s kick these guys asses this year.....#GameOn 🇺🇸