DL Open Thread Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024
The liberal sense of dread about this election isn’t just about the danger of Trump winning. As Dave Weigel argues, no matter who wins, the country is moving to the right.
The Democratic Party, after two decades of leftward post-Clinton drift, has jerked abruptly right. Facing Donald Trump for the third consecutive election, Democrats are making rhetorical and policy concessions that they didn’t want to, or think they needed to, in 2016 and 2020. They’ve adjusted to an electorate that’s shifted to the right, toward the Trump-led GOP, on issues that progressives once hoped were non-negotiable — immigrant rights, LGBTQ rights, climate change policies, and criminal justice reform.
The result is a center-left campaign with a smaller agenda than what Joe Biden won with, and more careful messaging than Hillary Clinton lost with. It’s a similar story down the ballot, as Democrats highlight their support for border security, law enforcement, and targeted tax cuts — against an onslaught of TV and digital ads accusing them of pro-crime neo-socialism. Out of power, and portraying the country he handed over to Biden as hopelessly lost, Donald Trump has watched voters move closer to his old positions.
Particularly annoying is the anti-immigrant attitude rampant in the land. Republicans used to understand the importance of immigration to the nation’s economy – their former patron saint, Reagan, surely did – but they’re too mush-brained to listen to reasoned arguments anymore.
An analysis of Trump’s economic proposals – in reality, just a bunch of wild promises of the sort he makes all the time – would would drain the Social Security trust fund in just six years. Kind of interesting, in a sick way, to watch the Russians use democracy to convince a nation of dolts to destroy itself.
The floor’s yours.
The real problem remains the electorate, neither Involved nor informed they tend to be gullible and an easy mark for the Reagan’s of this world. The ultimate being old people who hate “Socialism” while on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. As for being anti immigrant the truth is the Republicans love the migrants and employ them by the tens of thousands. As for politicians they remain a poor excuse as it is inherent in the breed.
The Great Recession and the subsequent extended “jobless recovery” was traumatic for working people. It was especially painful to hear Democrats advocate for illegal immigrants, while Americans were told there weren’t enough jobs, or that they had to accept ever lower wages, or that they weren’t working hard enough.
Employers exulted in having dozens of applicants for each job opening. Blue-collar workers were forced to comply with mercurial shift changes and unstable hourly schedules. Savings accounts were spent down, retirement savings were tapped, debt was taken on to survive. You didn’t dare quit because there were no other jobs.
If you kept your job and a comfortable income during this time, you probably were oblivious to the economic pain and mis-attributed some of the anti-immigrant feeling as straight-up racism (of course, much of it was).
All throughout this period politicians campaigned on promises to “create jobs.” But now the jobs are here in what is probably “full employment,” and the immigrants are actually needed to fill them.
Our Delaware beach communities and the state seem to be giving up on the idea of affordable housing in eastern Sussex and are now housing their slave labor and old ladies in tents on the former Troop 7 site on the highway. I’m so glad Code Purple is part of this so we know it’s being done ethically.
https://www.capegazette.com/article/temporary-tent-city-sprouts-former-troop-7-site/282680
But it’s just temporary. Until they build that affordable housing they’ve been discussing for over a decade. Sure. That’s it.
For balance several garden apartment complexes aimed at working folks have gone up and are going up along Rt 24 near long neck rd in reasonable commuting distance to the resorts, admittedly not enough but there is incremental progress .
$1,600 a month. If you make $15 an hour that means 61% of your income is going to rent. And that’s if you can manage to qualify over the thousands of people from NY and NJ moving into the rentals in that area. There’s also no reliable bus service, either. It’s a long walk or bike ride from a job serving the rich in Rehoboth to your rental in Long Neck at 2am.
Out of staters are buyers these are low amenity buildings not resort product. 1600 is about right for rent. The lack of transportation infrastructure and god awful public transit with minimum hours of operation are legit issues but builders at least are putting some units . But “thousands of out of staters” are not looking for walk up 12 unit to a building apartments they are buying and adding to the tax base and putting more and more pressure on infrastructure.
County Council could do a lot by requiring real affordable options in their constant sprawl approvals.
Drive through any apartment complex from the beach to Georgetown and it’s mostly out of state license plates.
But none of that changes the fact that Sussex County now has a state sponsored tent city. What a proud fucking day for Delaware.
There is a difference between a condo complex and a rental apartment complex . Condo’s rt 1 or closer, with amenities . The apartment complexes are nondescript buildings in open fields near places like the giant on the south side of 24 or the Wawa on the west side. It’s easy to tell the differance. I’ll grant a lot of PA and MD tags but on cars 10 plus in age and low end models owned by folks too strapped to worry about DMV niceties. As to how we got here the R’s have controlled County Council for over 30 years. The last “D” was a Dixiecrat from Seaford who ran a lumber business so there’s that and the fact that he’s now a Trumper and his progeny is one of the most despicable members of the General Assembly
https://spotlightdelaware.org/2024/10/22/delaware-opioid-fund-part-1/
Part One of a 3-part series on the Opioid Commission. Here is a notable quote:
“Legislators ultimately created the Prescription Opioid Settlement Distribution Commission (POSDC)….
Under the terms of the law, the POSDC would be chaired by Delaware’s attorney general and governor, or their designee. While Jennings served out her role, Gov. John Carney chose to appoint Hall-Long to take his place.
In a statement in response to why he didn’t take the seat, his office defended the decision and Hall-Long’s leadership.
‘She is a boots-on-the-ground leader,’ his office said. ‘Delawareans, particularly vulnerable Delawareans, are better off thanks to her leadership.'”