A lot of focus is on the Presidential election, and rightly so. The past four years have been nothing if not controversial, and the vote matters this year, maybe more than ever.

Unfortunately, it's providing cover for what has been (by far) the most feckless government institution for decades. That would be Congress, where the latest word is that there is a "near zero chance" there will be any additional stimulus payments for the 30M unemployed before the election. As rules preventing foreclosures and evictions expire, people are going to start getting booted. Many of these people literally don't have job opportunities due to COVID.

To be clear, I think both sides of the aisle are equally complicit here. Neither side is willing to compromise, and that is an absurd way to behave at a time like this. It suggests to me that they don't care about the people they represent at all, and they're more concerned with political grandstanding than doing their duty to the people who put them there.

Frankly, I think the $600/week was excessive, and it was probably a mistake with hindsight, because it set an unsustainable standard and paid most recipients more than they earned working. (Bad idea.) McConnell's $300 is a little low, but even that would help a lot more people stay afloat.

Anyway, like I say every election, vote them all out. Their performance has been pathetic for far too long.

Equally complicit?

No.

I think that has been obvious to many of us for a long time. They truly are after their own selfish interests. The people are just a distraction and a way to get votes.

Face it. They're exactly who we want them to be - and we have nobody to blame but ourselves.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be there.

Congress has an approval rating of 21 percent, yet 90+ percent of incumbents will be re-elected.

Americans are fuckin' stupid. What other explanation could there possibly be?

Yup, Danny and Arvid for the win....

I agree with flea that both parties are equally complicit. People seem to think their party is always the better party or the lesser of two evils. Both are horribly corrupt beyond imagination.

I also agree with Arvid’s post and Dan’s second post. I really agree with Dan’s second post and we have absolutely nobody to blame but ourselves.

I can honestly say, the only politican that I think I voted for that made it to office was Clinton, during his second term---- so don't blame me. I almost always vote for a third party or the challenger, as I have yet to see any incumbant stand up and make a true difference. Between Trump and Biden, I probably would lean towards Trump based off what has happened, and not what he has said. Biden had plenty of time to do things, and didn't.

That said, I might actually toss a vote to Kanye. It will make absolutely no difference in this state, but enough people do it maybe it will send a message that even an insane rapper is better than the choices they gave us.

Clinton was the only president in the past 40+ years to have a budget surplus. I kind of liked Reagan but couldn't vote in 1980. I voted for a Libertarian in 1984. Reagan ran up the deficit as his trickle down tax cuts didn't pan out in extra tax revenue. Same thing with Trump's tax cuts that went mostly to the wealthy. It seems that Republicans or those who support Trump no longer care for fiscal conservatism. Most likely those in Congress too. A $600 stimulus check isn't going to do much. Corona virus money could have came from Trump's tax cut of 1.5 Trillion. I blame Trump.

So what has Pence done to make a positive difference?
What has any fvcking Vice President done?
You do know the Vice President job is to be ready to step if if the President can't do his job.
So you should just stay home on election day and let other people do the voting,

Don't get me wrong; as regards damn near everything wrong with our country right now, I believe the GOP is largely complicit, but in this particular case, the refusal to compromise is on both sides, and it's particularly despicable, because real people are hurting real bad while Nancy and Mitchie play their little power game and pass the same, non-starter bills back and forth.

Pence is leading the Coronavirus task force which hasn't had a briefing since 3 or 4 months ago. He also was going to meet Rich Gee and the QAnon candidate but wised up and canceled. Anybody that supports Trump from the west coast is just throwing their vote away to morons like Kanye and Trump.

Remember this...

Biden was also in congress for 36 years. So, tossing aside rhetoric, what specific thing has he done that excites you or makes you think he will be a great president. Just saying he is not Trump doesn't work for me. I realize Trump is an idiot with his mouth, but the end result is something I can live with.
I am very conservative, but voted for Clinton for the same reason. The end result, after all the rhetoric, came out good.
Despite all his rhetoric, has Trump actually sent all illegals back? Has he started any wars? Has he brought back the troops? How does that compare to what Obama
achieved. Is the world safer or more unsafe at this time? How are our relations with North Korea and Iran at this time. Better or worse?
Tossing aside the Corona Virus, what would our economy look like?
How would the Democrats have dealt with the financial implications of the Virus.
When the Mortgage crisis and recession hit Obama, there was no unemployment for the self employed. There was no hold on evictions or foreclosures. In fact, the policies in place actually hurt many of the people I knew. At one point, the banks were calling performing loans so they could meet the feds regulations. This threatened to bankrupt someone I know, even though they were making their payments on time, continuing to employ people and contribute to the economy, and on schedule to pay off the loan early. Luckily they were able to pay off the loan before the bank could foreclose. The administration was also selling off foreclosed homes at discounted rates, excluding investors, which was resulting in a spiraling down of the market. At one point, almost every home being sold in the Tacoma area was a foreclosure. Anyone selling their home had to compete with homes that were being purposely sold at lower and lower rates. How do you offer a home at a lower than market rate, when all the homes are being offered for lower than market rates? Simple, by driving down the price each time. How do you keep it from being corrected? Limit the number of potential buyers and keep investors from coming in the market. In addition, they sold off bulk building sites to large investors & builders, at rates that were less than the cost of the improvements. This kept smaller builders and developers from being able to start back up.
Looking at where the country is economically and in terms of security, I believe it would be a lot worse if Biden was in office, especially if the way they Democrats dealt with the mortgage crisis was any indication.

Spot on krijack.

He's had plenty of time to develop a strong plan for Americans.
And he hasn't. Next.

So your voting Trump because he has a plan?
Which plan do you like best?
Is it the plan where we all just bite down hard and lean into the pandemic, or the plan to destroy our democracy?
If Joe only had a plan.

I do not need a plan, I can see the results.... Don't like the rhetoric, and am nervous about some of his talk, but in the end, the results put us in what I think is a better overall position.

It would be great to see a plan from Biden, but lacking one I will look at the results from him and his party during the past crisis. That is what I did above, which you chose to ignore.

It is obvious that "not Trump" is all you have. Given the current position of the US and the choice of Biden, that really is not enough for me. It still does not mean I am voting for Trump, but I most certainly can not see a reason to vote for Biden.

This.

I'm too much of a hothead to word it like this though.
I'll work on it. Lol

Congress?

More like Congless.

You get what you vote for.

Idiots.

I've seen Joe's plan. Put out during the DNC. Obviously the air pollution in T-town has gotten to you Krijack.

Trump has no plan or platform. Just wants to act like a strongman dictator.

The DNC had better ratings than the RNC.

Vote for whomever you want. I have little respect for those who vote for a Communist puppet.

Repubs= [Bleeeeep!] Libtards Dems = Just not Trump

It's a major problem. We aren't going to get good candidates,just lesser of 2 evils,depending upon what side of the fence you're on.