« Back

Open Thread January 18 2024 Biden, the Oldest President Yet

Angry Bear | January 18, 2024 6:39 am

Hot Topics

Politics

US Economics

US/Global Economics

Who saved the US from a pandemic and delivered a good economy. The 2024 political cycle, a triumph of recycling. President Biden and former President Trump are preparing to star in a sequel most Americans do not care to see. That means that eyes will be on the vice-president, Kamala Harris, as well. Because Mr Biden is the oldest president ever, and would be 82 at his second inauguration, voters will scrutinize Ms. Harris with unusual care. The Economist

Open Thread January 11 2024 Trouble in the House, Angry Bear

24 Comments

Fred C. Dobbs says:

January 18, 2024 at 9:10 am

And Trump, if re-elected for Revenge Tour, will be all of three years younger.

Trump signals he’s out for revenge in second term | The Hill

Biden’s age means he shouldn’t be president again? What about Trump? (usatoday.com)

… Donald Trump, the far-and-away leading GOP primary candidate and Biden’s most likely opponent, is a mere three years younger than Biden. …
- Fred C. Dobbs says:
  
  January 18, 2024 at 9:40 am
  
  AOC! AOC! AOC!
  
  (Next time around.)
Ten Bears says:

January 18, 2024 at 9:44 am

Kamala Harris is why I voted for Joe, and why I’ll vote for him again
- Fred C. Dobbs says:
  
  January 18, 2024 at 9:52 am
  
  Oh, me too, in part.
  
  For an 80 year old fellow, he seems very spry.
Fred C. Dobbs says:

January 18, 2024 at 9:47 am

America’s gerontocracy is a contrast with the rest of the world

Boston Globe – just in

In classic stereotype, the ideal national leader is a graybeard rich in experience, a pillar of stable continuity. No more. The new prime minister of France is 34. He’s the latest in a crop of young leaders springing up around the world. Millennials are taking over.

The current prime ministers of Ireland and Georgia, the presidents of El Salvador and Turkmenistan, and the emir of Qatar all climbed the ranks of power while in their 30s. Saudi Arabia’s leader is one of the world’s most powerful men at 38. Montenegro hits the double: Its president is 37 and prime minister 36. The president of Chile was the world’s youngest leader when he took office in 2022 at the age of 35. Since then, leaders even younger than Boric have emerged in Ecuador and Burkina Faso. Now Prime Minister Gabriel Attal of France holds the title. …

Little of that confidence shows in the United States. President Biden, 81, is the ninth-oldest leader in the world and the oldest president in American history. His presumptive opponent in this year’s election, Donald Trump, is 77. The leader of the Democrats in the Senate is 73. His Republican counterpart is 81. While young leaders are emerging around the world, Washington remains frozen in time. …
- Fred C. Dobbs says:
  
  January 18, 2024 at 9:49 am
  
  … Today, however, turmoil and upheaval shape the world. Wars rage. Grotesque inequality distorts many societies. Anger poisons public discourse. Old rules, old ways, and the old world order seem to have failed. In such an uncertain climate, people seek profound and even radical change. That often leads them to young leaders who may be unproven but at least are not part of the ruling order that has produced so much injustice.
  
  Younger Americans, shaped not by the Cold War but by events of this century, are waiting impatiently for a chance for political power. Their elders are loath to step aside. One day — possibly in the presidential campaign of 2028 — the dam will break. Until then we may be doomed to gerontocracy.
  - Fred C. Dobbs says:
    
    January 18, 2024 at 10:04 am
    
    Note that in France, the prime minister is the 2nd most powerful figure in their guv’mint after their President. Who is Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron, President of France since 2017 (and still only 46.) The French president appoints but cannot dismiss the prime minister.
Ken Melvin says:

January 18, 2024 at 11:32 am

I think that Biden, with one exception, is one of the best decision makers to hold the office in years.
- Bill Haskell says:
  
  January 18, 2024 at 3:54 pm
  
  Ken:
  
  Agree . . . I believe we need his political knowledge and ability to push back on Repubs.
J. P. McJefferson says:

January 18, 2024 at 11:51 am

Seasoned & reasoned decision-making!
- Bill Haskell says:
  
  January 18, 2024 at 3:55 pm
  
  J. P.
  
  Yes, his politics appear to be for people which was not so apparent when he was a VP or in the Senate.
Cervantes says:

January 18, 2024 at 1:04 pm

They can’t all live forever. Right?

Right?
- Ten Bears says:
  
  January 19, 2024 at 4:12 am
  
  Comes for all of us
Fred C. Dobbs says:

January 18, 2024 at 5:08 pm

In other news…

Economy tops US priorities for government across racial groups, new poll shows

Boston Globe – January 10

(AP) – Americans of various racial backgrounds largely agree that the government should focus on the economy and foreign policy issues in 2024, but recent polling shows that views among racial groups diverge on some high-profile topics, including racism and immigration.

About 7 in 10 US adults across racial backgrounds — including white, Black, Hispanic and Asian adults — name issues related to the economy in an open-ended question that asks people to share up to five topics they would like the government to prioritize in 2024, making it the most commonly mentioned issue for each group, as well as for US adults overall at 76 percent.

Inflation specifically stood out as a major issue. About 3 in 10 adults who are white, AAPI or Hispanic list inflation as an important focus for 2024. About 2 in 10 Black adults also listed inflation as a top concern.

The data on US adults overall — including Black, Hispanic and white adults — comes from an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in December. The data on AAPI communities comes from an AAPI Data/AP-NORC poll that aims to improve the survey data available about Asian American communities in the US, which are often underrepresented in public opinion research. …
- Fred C. Dobbs says:
  
  January 18, 2024 at 5:18 pm
  
  US adults across racial groups agree the economy is a top priority, AP-NORC and AAPI Data polls show | AP News
  
  … The data on U.S. adults overall — including Black, Hispanic and white adults — comes from an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in December. The data on AAPI communities comes from an AAPI Data/AP-NORC poll that aims to improve the survey data available about Asian American communities in the U.S., which are often underrepresented in public opinion research. …
Fred C. Dobbs says:

January 18, 2024 at 5:26 pm

House, Senate pass short-term bill averting government shutdown until March (msn.com)

Washington Post (via MSN) – just in

Congress on Thursday passed legislation to keep the federal government open into March, approving the third stopgap spending bill in four months as lawmakers struggle to agree on long-term government funding plans.

The bill extends deadlines to March 1 and March 8. Money for roughly 20 percent of the government — including the Transportation Department, some veterans’ assistance and food and drug safety programs — had been set to expire just after midnight Saturday morning. The remainder — which funds the Defense and State departments, among other critical functions — would have expired on Feb. 2 without the new extension. …
- Fred C. Dobbs says:
  
  January 18, 2024 at 5:57 pm
  
  Speaker Johnson relied on House Democrats to avoid a shutdown again, so his job is in jeopardy, right? Wrong.
  
  Boston Globe – just in
  
  For the second time in two months, House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday committed the same fireable offense as his predecessor—relying on Democrats to pass a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown with no strings attached.
  
  But unlike Kevin McCarthy, who was booted as speaker in October by Republican rebels, Johnson’s job appears safe—at least for now.
  
  “Mike Johnson is only on day 85,” Representative Dusty Johnson, a South Dakota Republican and McCarthy ally, said Wednesday. “I think there’s an appreciation for the difficult hand of cards that he has to play.”
  
  House Republicans desperately want to avoid a repeat of last fall’s chaotic and embarrassing attempt to choose a new speaker, which sidelined the chamber for more than three weeks as they cycled through one failed candidate after another. So they’re giving Speaker Johnson more leeway to extend a two-tiered government funding deadline to early March under an agreement he reached with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat.
  
  The latest temporary spending bill headed to President Biden Thursday night after congressional passage before a partial government shutdown was set to start on Saturday. The Senate approved the measure 77-18 and the House followed suit 314-108, with nearly twice as many Democrats as Republicans voting for it. ,,,
Fred C. Dobbs says:

January 18, 2024 at 7:28 pm

China’s Economy Is in Serious Trouble

NY Times – Paul Krugman – just in

… in the world’s biggest economy (or second biggest— it depends on the measure). Some analysts expected the Chinese economy to boom after it lifted the draconian “zero Covid” measures it had adopted to contain the pandemic. Instead, China has underperformed by just about every economic indicator other than official G.D.P., which supposedly grew by 5.2 percent.

But there’s widespread skepticism about that number. …

And in other ways, the Chinese economy seems to be stumbling. Even the official statistics say that China is experiencing Japan-style deflation and high youth unemployment. It’s not a full-blown crisis, at least not yet, but there’s reason to believe that China is entering an era of stagnation and disappointment. …

What China’s Economic Woes May Mean for the US

NY Times – August 26, 2023

… (China’s) growth has fallen from its usual brisk 8 percent annual pace to more like 3 percent. Real estate companies are imploding after a decade of overbuilding. And China’s citizens, frustrated by lengthy coronavirus lockdowns and losing confidence in the government, haven’t been able to consume their way out of the country’s pandemic-era malaise.

If the world’s second-largest economy is stumbling so badly, what does that mean for the biggest?

Short answer: At the moment, the implications for the United States are probably minor, given China’s limited role as a customer for American goods and the minor connections between the countries’ financial systems. …

For years, China’s leaders have said they want to rely more on the country’s households to drive economic growth. But they have taken few steps to support domestic consumption, such as shoring up safety net programs, which would persuade residents to spend more of the money they now save in case of emergencies.

That’s why some are concerned that China could again fall back on encouraging exports to foster growth. Such a strategy might succeed since the Chinese currency, the renminbi, is very weak against the dollar, and it’s possible to evade tariffs on most items by assembling Chinese parts in other countries — like Vietnam and Mexico.

An export surge would have countervailing effects. It could lower prices for consumer goods, which — along with falling Chinese demand for commodities like gasoline and iron ore — would help lower inflation in the United States. At the same time, it could counteract efforts to resuscitate American manufacturing, raising the political temperature as the presidential election approaches. …
Fred C. Dobbs says:

January 19, 2024 at 6:15 am

Why Wasn’t DeSantis the Guy?

NY Times – just in

Right before the blizzard conditions hit Iowa ahead of the caucus, in a barbecue place with arcade games and waiters in red T-shirts weaving through reporters with beers and baskets of fried food, Ron DeSantis came onstage, as he does, to Poison’s “Nothin’ but a Good Time.”

This is a fratty song, and the vibe of the place was retro, much like a T-shirt I saw a guy wearing at a DeSantis event in 2022. The back read “Can’t Miss DeSantis” and featured a cartoon drawing of Mr. DeSantis, flanked by palm trees, playing beer pong.

The existence of the T-shirt suggests that it once seemed possible, to someone anyway, to adopt the MAGA intellectual ethos of using the state to rebalance society and smash ideological enemies, and also be relaxed, normal, above it. Or maybe the intellectual part was never involved: There was a kind of conservative who liked the idea of a young governor making the libs cry from time to time, but whose fundamental premise was “the Free State of Florida” where a person could get back to living their lives, unbothered. And that’s where you’d find the theoretical Mr. DeSantis, ironically playing beer pong at a Bucs tailgate after church and a Home Depot run.

This is reading a lot into a T-shirt, but ideas and realities about who candidates are, and what voters really want, seem central to understanding the last few years in politics. And even in 2022 that T-shirt stood out for the way its relaxed, fun bro diverged from the harder, more lawyerly governor who promised an updated, aggressive social conservatism that would use most tools of the state to battle academics and bureaucrats. …
- Fred C. Dobbs says:
  
  January 19, 2024 at 5:09 pm
  
  … There’s one or 16 or 200 reasons a person can give for why a campaign doesn’t work. There’s the technical (Mr. DeSantis got in the race too late, Mr. DeSantis got bombarded with tens of millions in attack ads); the exogenous (the overpowering, almost mystical hold Donald Trump has on people); the personal (too intense, too impersonal); the policy (people’s animosity toward strict abortion bans, and perhaps their discomfort with restricting access to books). Maybe it all came down to being unable to withstand Mr. Trump’s attacks and return them in kind.
  
  Or maybe this is the down moment before a shocking turn of events, with a candidate humbled by events. Nobody can mathematically prove why one person wasn’t the guy; this is one of the mysteries of politics. But the difference between who some people thought Mr. DeSantis would be like and what he was like this past year does seem to be part of why it’s not working how he imagined it might.
Fred C. Dobbs says:

January 19, 2024 at 9:14 am

Thousands of miles from the southern border, immigration remains top issue for New Hampshire’s GOP voters

Boston Globe – this morning

Poll shows voters are less concerned about border with Canada.

(Many NH natives have French Candian roots.)

The campaign stop at a snow-covered country club could hardly have been further from the southern border. But when Donald Trump started to talk about immigration, the crowd of New Hampshire voters roared.

“We’re gonna strengthen up our border like we used to have,” Trump promised a full house here on Tuesday, winning whoops and cheers. “We had the safest border in history three years ago, and now we have the worst border probably in the history of the world . . . There’s never been a border like this.”

At Republican political events, it’s a reliable applause line. And in interviews with voters, it often comes up unprompted: Immigration is the biggest issue at play in the Jan. 23 primary, polls show, even in an overwhelmingly white area with a smaller percentage of immigrants than most states. …
- Fred C. Dobbs says:
  
  January 19, 2024 at 9:29 am
  
  Related …
  
  Do Haley Voters Really Think She Can Beat Trump?
  
  NY Times – this morning
  
  It’s New Hampshire time, baby! Time to dig out my “Live Free or Die” long underwear and head to the Granite State for the homestretch of its primary fight.
  
  That fight, it must be said, has been significantly depopulated in the past couple of weeks. With Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson, and — can I get a “hallelujah”!— Vivek Ramaswamy out, Haley vs. Trump will be the only game in town. Ron DeSantis is technically still in the mix, but he has effectively abandoned New Hampshire …
  
  (A lot of ‘independent’ voters up theah. No surprise. Nikki Haley has been urging NH voters to pick her over Trump, but you might guess she is mainly targeting unenrolled voters, who might otherwise vote for Joe Biden who is not on the Dem ballot in NH. Alas, this annoys NH Dems who are mounting a write-in campaign for Biden, which is expected to be very, very successful.)
  - Fred C. Dobbs says:
    
    January 19, 2024 at 5:25 pm
    
    President Biden’s shadow campaign: Senior administration figures have spent a lot of time in New Hampshire
    
    Boston Globe – just in
    
    President Biden (didn’t) campaign in New Hampshire ahead of the state’s Jan. 23 presidential primary. But his cabinet officials have made plenty of time to drop in and tout his administration’s accomplishments.
    
    … their mission was clear: to speak in glowing terms about what the administration has delivered to New Hampshire voters. …
    
    Biden’s name won’t appear on the Democratic ballot for New Hampshire’s primary, after he urged the Democratic National Committee to recognize South Carolina’s primary as first in the 2024 lineup. … So now Biden is skipping New Hampshire’s primary entirely.
    
    Or is he? Supporters here launched a write-in campaign, an effort that has drawn support from high-profile Democrats including Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, who is — as it so happens — also an official super-surrogate for Biden’s reelection campaign. This weekend, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and California Congressman Ro Khanna of California — a progressive star who is playing an active surrogate role for Biden — will also headline events for the write-in effort. …
    
    (Polls in NH suggest that Biden is expected to get about 60% of the Dem vote.)
rjs says:

January 19, 2024 at 9:06 pm

since i’m to the left of Bernie Sanders on most issues, i don’t imagine anyone would be surprised that i’d be a Jill Stein supporter….but if the election were held today and it came down to either Biden or Trump and no other choices, i would have to hope that the racist pig Trump wins, and pulls the plug on the Biden administration’s insane wars…it’s like Caitlin Johnson wrote last week: Biden has turned out to be everything we were warned Trump would be: a genocidal monster fueling racist violence and crimes against humanity while imperiling the world with insanely reckless foreign policy decisions…

nothing that a US president can do is worse than to instigate and encourage wars.. all the terrible things that Republicans might do if they were in charge, like cutting education, food stamps, social security and Medicaid, or enacting racist or sexist policies, pale in comparison to the damage to humanity being done by Biden’s wars…the social programs that Trump would cut could be brought back by the administration that follows him, but there is no way we can restore life to the thousands of children who have been blown apart by Biden’s bombs…