Just so everyone knows. Child poverty went down because Dems had enough power to expand the child tax credit as part of Bidens American rescue plan. The expanded credit then expired and Republicans have blocked passage of the renewed expansion. This is another thing where Republicans will do anything to harm Democrats including voting against extremely popular programs. I agree that it sucks the poverty went back up, but Dems reduced it and Republicans increased it.

I can’t find a solid confirmation but it looks like as part of the law killing the strike and enacting the recommendations of the emergency board, the attendance rules creating points was vacated without further agreements from the unions. So from what I can tell, your statement is incorrect. I looked up the emergency board’s recommendations but I didn’t do a deep dive into the law to confirm. Link to the recommendations below.

https://nmb.gov/NMB_Application/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/PEB-250-Report-and-Recommendations.pdf

If they did nothing then why did the IBEW thank them for the effort? Yea they didn’t get everything they asked for, that’s how negotions work. The people that were effected thanked the Biden admin, why don’t you believe them? Also according to Reuters, most get 5 paid sick days + 2 convertibles.

https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/most-unionized-us-rail-workers-now-have-new-sick-leave-2023-06-05/

I agree with you for the most part. That being said I have tried to explain this point to multiple people and they don’t care that the Biden admin got the rail workers what they asked for. They insist that stopping the strike means Biden was anti union full stop even after the IBEW put out releases thanking the Biden admin. they also said it was just propaganda. It’s just as much about people not wanting to listen.

I tried the purple cushion and it wasn’t worth it. But besides that I don’t have a recommendation.

You can also find steelcase chairs on eBay for reasonable prices. They have all the adjustments and a wide variety of material options.

What tactic should they have used to get those big things passed? Shutting down the government is pretty much the only thing they weren’t willing to do.

Again incremental change is the only thing that could get done with the power they were given. They still support major change but they don’t have enough power to get it done. Yes it sucks that one party is trying to improve things and they can’t get more done. But what else would you have them do with the amount of power they were given?

What policies changed when they courted Republicans? Because as far as I can tell nothing changed for that but they did say that even with our policy differences, Republicans advocated voting for Dems. Dems have lgbtq+ and black people and immigrants and unions and many other groups that don’t have a single unifying cause. Republicans have Christian white people for the most part.

I don’t disagree. Different parties have different makeups. Dems are big tent and Repubs are unified single issue voters.

Since when did Dems abandon those things? They have repeatedly had them in the platform or at least verbally supported them and have pushed bills in Congress to get them done. The complaint was that they weren’t done under Dems control not that Dems didn’t support the issues.

Dems will make compromises to get incremental change. I don’t fault them for that. They fight for every inch they can get. That’s not a flaw it’s a feature. Giving up something that is minor for bigger progress on something else can be worth it. Just like when Pelosi and Schumer gave up minor concessions to Trump for significant protection on the budget fight.

Few things here.

1. The war didn’t take Congressional action to start. Bush started it unilaterally and was later authorized in a bipartisan manner.
2. Republicans almost always act as a unified block regardless of what’s happening. There was one or two that acted like they might not vote with them but still had a 95%+ voting record. That’s why it was so amazing when John McCain prevented the killing of the ACA.
   3.The Senate heavily favors Republicans because of the number of small states so it’s much easier for them to get 50+ members and the house mildly favors the Republicans because of gerrymandering.
3. It’s easier to kill things and change the tax code than pass positive programs/laws. Because funding/tax bills have to originate from the House, the Senate historically just requires an up/down vote instead of requiring 60 votes like normal. This in association with 2 means programs can be starved of funding and tax changes are much easier for Republicans.
4. Democrats will vote for Republican sponsored things if it benefits the people. Like keeping the government open or the minor crime reform bill the was passed during Trump. The reverse largely isn’t true.

This isn’t defeatist. It’s a realistic understanding of how the systems work. The fact that we got so many major things passed with such a tiny amount of control and in such a small amount of time is amazing.

Again requires Congressional action and there have been multiple bills that have passed through a democratic controlled house or Senate but stalled in the other half of Congress because Republicans wouldn’t vote for it and there wasn’t a large enough majority of Dems to get it done. Go check out mpp.org for more info. It doesn’t take but 10-15 minutes of looking up information to find out Dems attempted to get it done but once again Republican obstruction (like has been happening since 2008) prevented real reforms.

How many of those could be done with the amount of control the Dems have had in the past 8 years? They had full control of the government with the barest of majorities for 2 years with 2 senators that were basically liberal Republicans. You got Gaza, but besides that the rest require Congressional action. While in control they did get the biggest investment in green energy ever, they did get substantial increases for infrastructure (including public transport), and they substantially increased the amount of tech that will be made in the US.

Why didn’t you get those things done? Because you didn’t have the power to do it, just like Dems didn’t.

Mint isn’t just a reseller of T-Mobile, T-Mobile owns mint.

Yep you’re wrong on 1. “The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters had asked railroads for seven days paid sick leave following the rejection of its contract earlier this month. Another union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, rejected its contract in September in respect of other unions negotiating for additional benefits, though eventually voted to ratify”

https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/second-union-rejects-freight-rail-labor-agreement-strike/635078/

I get what you are saying but it still isn’t the complete story. Yes he didn’t let them shut down a major pillar of our economy and at that time forced them to take an agreement that was basically everything they wanted except for off time. But his admin spent the months after getting those concessions from the railroads. The IBEW even thanked the admin for their work. He supported many other labor unions right to strike without interference.

https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid

I don’t think you need to worry about sizes (or pitch) everything I have gotten from them has been correct but material and strength (temper) are definitely something to be wary of. So yea if you need ansi strength out of a bolt don’t get it from Amazon, but if you are just using a 1/4"-20 to fasten something together you’re probably fine.

Surprisingly enough, Amazon has a wide selection of bolts/hardware at good prices and reasonable delivery times 2-4 days normally.

You might look into the “curly girl” method, don’t worry about the name it’s just what it started out being called in the 80-90s. It helps people with any texture besides stick straight hair tame the friz. It’s been pretty helpful for me to allow my actual curls out without being a puff ball. There’s a community driven Google doc that has the concepts and best products. It wouldn’t surprise me if you actually have all wavy hair, many people find that once they stop using products that weigh down hair, their hair texture increases.

https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1Q6Dj9WAZxlfBhJSyS5on2rw3-if5cOV3oV-dQ3B0AHA/mobilebasic?pli=1

Does the president have unilateral authority to make laws? How do you expect him to abolish that system without Congressional action?