The Thread of Democrats

[Sean Hayden]

You forgot to mention their race.

[JimC]

You forgot to mention their race.

I would say the human race, but that probably unfairly rules out an intelligent cocker spaniel...

[Sean Hayden]

I guess it's just politics, and I hate everything about it.

[laklak]

His "communications team" is all female. They won't tell us anything, because we should already know.

[JimC]

[Sean Hayden]

Joe From Scranton Didn’t Win Back the Working Class

An economic analysis of the counties that Joe Biden won and lost shows how the two parties are continuing to realign.

For years, Democrats have preached the gospel of changing demographics.

As the country grew more diverse, they argued, the electorate would inevitably tilt in their favor and give their party an unbeatable edge.

Well, the country is more racially diverse than ever before. But exit polls suggest that Joe Biden lost ground among Latino, Black and Asian-American voters in 2020 compared with Hillary Clinton’s performance in 2016.

Demographics, it turns out, are not political destiny.

...

“The big-picture problem is that the Democratic Party is increasingly reflecting the cultural values and political preferences of educated white people,” said David Shor, a data scientist who advises Democratic campaigns and organizations. “Culturally, working-class nonwhite people have more in common with working-class white people.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/us/p ... oters.html

[Tero]

Yeahbut the unedicated black and white people ard never going to be in the same party.

(Insert confederate flag here)

[Sean Hayden]

Perhaps, somewhat counterintuitively for the older Democrats, I think this may be telling us that the solution is to become more progressive.

[Tero]

Them black and white working people are all still church goers. So maybe we just shut up about abortions and MAGA. Concentrate on health and minimum wage.

[Sean Hayden]

I meant legislation, not rhetoric. If the Democrats can't pass progressive legislation, then yeah, they might have to consider a less progressive campaigning approach until they can. It's bad for the brand for things to stay the same while promising the world.

[JimC]

I meant legislation, not rhetoric. If the Democrats can't pass progressive legislation, then yeah, they might have to consider a less progressive campaigning approach until they can. It's bad for the brand for things to stay the same while promising the world.

Fairly standard for religions...

[Seabass]

Remember this when this corporate douche inevitably runs for president. And then end up having to vote for him anyway because his Republican opponent will be a thousand times worse...

Companies part of group founded by CA governor collectively get nearly $3 million in PPP loans, data shows


SAN FRANCISCO -- At least eight companies partially owned by Gov. Gavin Newsom collectively received millions of dollars from the Paycheck Protection Program, according to an ABC7 analysis.

While data released by the Small Business Administration earlier this year showed the PlumpJack Group received up to $350,000 worth of PPP loans, newly-released data by the SBA indicated PlumpJack businesses - including wineries, bars, and restaurants - received more than eight times that amount at nearly $3 million altogether.

In 2018, Gov. Newsom placed his ownership interests in the PlumpJack Group into a blind trust. This means he would have no knowledge or role in the company's business decisions made during his time in office.

The ABC7 I-Team discovered discrepancies between that company's SBA data and publicly available records that appear to raise questions about how much money some companies received under the program.

ABC7's analysis found at least nine companies affiliated with the PlumpJack Group received PPP loans.

One of the companies on the list is Villa Encinal Partners Limited Partnership. State records indicate the name is traced back to the PlumpJack winery in Napa. San Francisco billionaire Gordon Getty is an investor.

According to SBA data, the company received a loan for $918,720 on April 14, 2020.

In order for the loan to be forgiven, the SBA requires at least 60 percent be used to cover their wages. Based on SBA's data, Villa Encinal Partners LP retained 14 employees. Hypothetically, if divided equally, each of them would've received around $40,000 to cover their payroll over a period of three months - that would amount to an annual salary of around $160,000 per employee.

"It's unexpected for a 14 employee organization to get nearly $1 million," said Sean Moulton, a senior policy analyst with Project on Government Oversight (POGO). He specializes in tracking PPP funds. "The purpose behind this program was to save entry-level jobs, people going in and working on that paycheck. That was what we put this out there for, to stop unemployment."

The average small business loan for California companies retaining 14 employees was roughly $128,000. Yet, the PlumpJack entity Villa Encinal Partners LP - that according to SBA data also retained 14 employees - received more than seven times that amount at $918,720.

ABC7's analysis found the only other California winery that received close to the same loan amount as Villa Encinal Partners LP is Oak Knoll Farming Corp, which retained 79 employees - more than five times as many as Villa.

The average number of employees retained for every California winery that received more than $900,000 worth of PPP funding is 148.

The Millbrae Pancake House received a $431,400 loan and retained 53 employees. As a comparison, that's less than half of what Villa received and Burke retained nearly four times as many employees.

"That seems unfair because there are small family businesses like ours that need that money," owner of the restaurant Erin Burke said.

After 60 years of operating, Burke was forced to shut down her family-owned business on Nov. 29.

"We're just trying to do the best that we can and survive," she said. "That money wasn't enough."

The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce reports a majority of small businesses that struggled to get PPP loans say the loan size wasn't enough or the owner misunderstood the application.

"I think it's heartbreaking," said Jay Cheng, the organization's public policy director. "We see huge discrepancies between small business and the kind of loans they got and their ability to get loans and larger companies that are well-resourced and well-staffed and had strong relationships with their banks."

Another company affiliated with the PlumpJack Group is Balboa Cafe Partners LP that received a $506,799 loan on April 29, 2020. A commercial data firm estimated in June 2020 that Balboa Café Partners employed seven individuals, but SBA data associated with their loan application states they retained 55 employees.

https://abc7.com/finance/companies-news ... s/8618229/

[L'Emmerdeur]

Yeah, Newsom has repeatedly shown his true affiliation (noted upthread). Ivanka will beat him.

[Sean Hayden]

edit: there's not a problem with the video, she repeats herself.

[L'Emmerdeur]

Those goddam Democrats are going to ruin everything!

'"Yes, Exactly," Say Progressives After Pence Warns Democrats Will "Make Rich Poorer and Poor More Comfortable"'

The grassroots organization People for Bernie on Tuesday advised the Democratic Party to take a page from an unlikely source—right-wing Vice President Mike Pence—after Pence told a rally crowd in Florida that progressives and Democrats "want to make rich people poorer, and poor people more comfortable."

"Good message," tweeted the group, alerting the Democratic National Committee to adopt the vice president's simple, straightforward description of how the party can prioritize working people over corporations and the rich.

Suggesting that a progressive approach to the economy will harm the country—despite the fact that other wealthy nations already invest heavily in making low- and middle-income "more comfortable" by taxing corporations and very high earners—Pence touted the Republicans' aim to "cut taxes" and "roll back regulations."

The vice president didn't mention how the Trump administration's 2017 tax cuts overwhelmingly benefited wealthy households and powerful corporations, with corporate income tax rates slashed from 35% to 21%, corporate tax revenues plummeting, and a surge in stock buybacks while workers saw "no discernible wage increase" according to a report released last year by the Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Popular Democracy.

Similarly, the Republican Party's recent attempts to roll back regulations include measures that have actively harmed working families, including the administration's termination of overtime protections for workers—resulting in an estimated $1.2 billion in lost earnings—and of requirements that federal contractors meet labor and wage standards.