volkris @volkris@qoto.org
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
They are two separate questions.
But the president gave Congress this opportunity to at least make some progress on the one in exchange for expansion of power on the other.
The bill addresses cases of suspected "recurring pattern of problems with election administration or voter registration" and lists out six types of problem (A-E).
Those suspicions alone undermine faith in voting operations as we see pretty strikingly in the US, so this provides a system for addressing those concerns and hopefully finding that the worries were misplaced. Or adding additional oversight should they be confirmed.
And this is definitely a problem around the world. Different places address it differently, in their different circumstances.
It's not magic. It's official authority under the US system of government.
With executive authority constitutionally vested in the president, the president is the one setting such internal executive branch policy in the first place.
There are many reasons for this, including making sure presidents can be held responsible and impeached for the deeds of their branches, but it would be a tail wagging the dog situation for the president to be so constrained by his own underlings.
Well right, because this situation wasn't caused by tax cuts for the ultra rich. Financing for that stuff was already settled. Those books were closed.
THIS situation arose out of the appropriations bills from the last Congress and Biden that promised to spend money without actually authorizing financing.
The current situation was directly chosen by that legislation, not by tax cuts or whatever. They may have their own problems, but they're different problems.
@newsopinionsandviews@masto.ai
That's not how the #DebtCeiling works.
For #Biden to float debt that he doesn't have the authority to issue would be to create debt instruments that could not legally be enforced or collected on later.
That proposal gets the mechanism of US public debt exactly backwards.
Or to put it a different way, the debt ceiling is enforced by the Constitutional grant of authority to the Legislative Branch. The Executive can have no say in enforcing that since it's not his to enforce.
@undergrowthfeed@achrilock.social
Ha, yes, I don't really expect to ever see much non-poop on these platforms :)
Just everyone trading some ideas, not coming to agree on anything, but at least it's good to see that other ideas do exist, IMO.
@undergrowthfeed@achrilock.social
The problem is that he so often fails even minor fact checking.
Years and years ago I think he was more of an analyst, but it seemed like over a decade or two he decided it was more important to push his political preferences than just educate the public. I wouldn't be surprised if he does it because he honestly thinks it's for the best, but I just don't think that is prosocial.
There's always the other side of that coin: maybe we shouldn't be so quick to have Texas and Florida pushing food stamp policies for everyone else.
It's in part because of TX and FL that this funding is under threat right now.
That's one really good argument for returning issues like food stamp funding back to state and local levels, where there's more direct accountability and better ability to be flexible, to address particular needs of different communities.
Folks in DC will never see those stores. But your local councilmember might be right there on the corner with them.
I know, I know, it's not like that change can be made overnight, but it's nice to imaging choosing that different road.
On the competing part, I'd emphasize that we live in a real world of scarcity, so there absolutely is competition here.
There are limited numbers of processes that can run on our servers, there is competition for the electricity that powers them, and on over to the pure time commitments of sysadmins, moderators, and most importantly, users.
There is absolutely competition here. Heck, my writing this post is because this effort outcompeted my looking to do one of dozens of other things.
I think it's really worth acknowledging this.
Are you better off feeling good or not feeling good, even considering your investment in the service?
Sounds to me you came out better having done that, which is exactly a functional definition of profit, with your benefit outweighing the cost.
Your benefit in terms of feeling good - whatever resources you've put into doing it = profit
Congrats! It is exactly how profit drives Fediverse, right there in your own experience.
Your investment in the service is simply the capitalistic pursuit where resources are brought to bear to address some win-win enterprise.
So why do you personally provide that service? Maybe you feel good being part of the community?
There is something you are getting out of providing that service, that's your profit.
Like I said, doesn't have to be money.
OF COURSE server ops are trying to turn a profit. Remember, there's more to advantage than cold hard cash.
This is a great example of what I said above.
The person operating a server does so because they feel like they're better off doing it than not doing it, in whatever way the individual happens to judge that. Maybe they appreciate the community they're creating. Maybe they feel good having contributed to the world.
That is all profit. The server runner invests resources in his server because he judges that he's better off in the end.
And as we enjoy those servers too, that capitalistic drive is the core of what has made this work.
No capitalism, no instances.
Ha, pretty good examples.
People enjoy drama, team association, and other places where politics has some similarities to those.
I really think the public would remain quite interested in elections regardless of PACs.
No, that's not how either the legislative function or the executive branch works.
The Treasury brings in money throughout the fiscal year, and it spends money throughout the fiscal year.
Appropriations and borrowing authority are two separate processes because they address different part of Treasury operations.
So firstly that debt has not already occurred. That's an executive branch function, distinct from the legislative branch. Congress doesn't technically require funding; it doesn't have such authority. Wrong of the coequal branchs.
But more importantly, as head of the executive branch, Biden is largely responsible for setting up this position.
Reading the legislation, I don't see why there would be no opportunity for appeal.
The bill seems to go out of its way to make sure an accused election official gets to give their side of the story, and removal wouldn't be legal or valid without a record of there being a problem.
It sounds to me like a reasonable way to address a complicated issue.
Well, the numbers suggest an unsustainable trajectory as the Treasury looks to borrow more and more, with requires more and more sacrifices from other government programs to service those increasing debts as they come due.
And that's not even touching on specific issues like the Social Security Administration's yearly forecast of insolvency.
I wouldn't accuse Graves of being particularly bright, but he does reflect the longterm trendlines with this one.
Far too few people are seeing this side of the story.
And politicians are being let off the hook as they are pointing fingers at others for the choices they themselves made.
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
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