167 points
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Man I’m a progressive and even I can tell this is propaganda.

Also, missed a bunch of presidents? Bush 1 after Reagan. Lyndon B, Nixon, Ford and CARTER between Kennedy and Reagan.

I obviously agree with the overall message (that “both sides” is and always has been bullshit) but c’mon man.

Edit: like, you could put the actual campaign goals and summarized impacts and then it would be a real infographic. Like “passed tax cuts for top _% of income earning Americans” “repealed gun laws”. It’s still cherry picking and biased but that’s what moves something like this out of the realm of propaganda and into I dunno…something more like biased news? Bias isn’t inherently bad, obviously when you’re trying to have an argument you have a side and an agenda.

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53 points

Edit: like, you could put the actual campaign goals and summarized impacts and then it would be a real infographic.

The point of a meme is to be short and punchy, not academic.

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18 points

This like watching the trope of “Republicans are evil, and Democrats can’t govern” play out in realtime.

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-10 points

We’re here for memes, not to RaRa your campaign.

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8 points

Yes, yes, I’m well aware of the position of your kind. “Only memes that agree with me or empower fascism are allowed.”

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What were William Harrison’s goals for office? 🤔

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43 points
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You know I’m not sure if you’re joking but I’m genuinely curious now.

Edit: I looked it up and most of what I could find was, “Let’s finish killing all the Indians”. 😬

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11 points

lmao I’m glad that bitch died

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Lmao I was just joking because he died only a month after taking office, but I did not expect that!

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7 points

IIRC he was famous for being the guy that ended Tecumseh’s war, so yeah, he didn’t have the fondest opinions of indigenous rights

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5 points

William Harrison was a Whig, which was definitely the more progressive party at the time. His vice president, John Tyler, abandoned the Whig party and aligned himself more with Andrew Jackson and the Democrats, which were the conservative party at the time. It should be noted that the Whigs were much less destructive toward Indians than the Jackson and the Democrats, and Tyler was also strongly anti-Indian and anti-Mexican.

Here were the political positions of the Whig party:

The party was hostile toward manifest destiny, territorial expansion into Texas and the Southwest, and the Mexican–American War. It disliked strong presidential power as exhibited by Jackson and Polk, and preferred congressional dominance in lawmaking. Members advocated modernization, meritocracy, the rule of law, protections against majority tyranny, and vigilance against executive tyranny. They favored an economic program known as the American System, which called for a protective tariff, federal subsidies for the construction of infrastructure, and support for a national bank. The party was active in both the Northern United States and the Southern United States and did not take a strong stance on slavery, but Northern Whigs tended to be less supportive than their Democratic counterparts.

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4 points

I think he was just really happy to be included.

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2 points

This a meme, not an infographic.

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6 points

You’re right. It’s not an infographic. It’s also not a meme.

It’s a political cartoon. Definition from Brittanica: " a drawing (often including caricature) made for the purpose of conveying editorial commentary on politics, politicians, and current events. "

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-3 points

It’s just a joke.

Where have I heard that before?

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2 points

political memes are propaganda. all of them. always have been always will.

there are no exceptions, only examples which oppress and exploit more or less.

something this sublemmy needs to get into its head.

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1 point

It’s… a political meme. I wonder what sub this is…

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3 points

This feels more like boomer humour than a meme.

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-1 points

I would argue that you know it’s propaganda because you are progressive.

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1 point

What? I think a lot of non-progressives would call this propaganda.

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1 point

True but it probably helps not being of the party the propaganda was meant for. It would be an additional level of security.

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-35 points

Man I’m a progressive and even I can tell this is propaganda.

Aw man, you saw right through it!

I was told you progressives were smart but you caught this propaganda in no time! And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling progressives!!

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11 points

Ok how else would you word that I’m on the political “side” of the meme and still call it out for being kinda shitty by misrepresenting the ‘other side’ in a way that undermines the credibility of the message?

I did not expect this to blow up and made an offhand criticism that used a cliche literary device before heading out for the day. I apologize for getting tripped up when information is misleading or inaccurate, it’s a condition, and obviously I am long overdue at the gulag

Y’all take stuff way too seriously on the Internet.

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-7 points

It obviously has a point of view. Just like any text, image, or other media.

It’s fun because it’s pretty much true. If you want to make sure to include Johnson (hey - can we do the whole JFK thing here? Cause you know Johnson was . . . I guess that wouldn’t fit in this particular meme) or Carter (yeah a meme is probably not the place to re-litigate his administration, though that’s a good idea) one could, and apparently that would work towards being less “propaganda” like, but it wouldn’t be very brief.

If you’re saying the overall message of the meme is wrong, well we’ll disagree there. But if you’re saying it’s just not properly balanced; I mean - Yeah. Obviously. Y’know what else isn’t properly balanced, though - actual news articles from the New York Times and Washington Post, every single day. “Biden is old, Biden fares poorly in some poll we found on the floor. Trump does outlandish bullshit again, people love it.” C’mon. We can take a look at the point of view of those articles and that would be propaganda in a more denotative sense.

So calling out a pro-Biden meme for being propaganda is, well, not wrong, but . . . kinda . . irrelevant? Hey, you wanna explore each of the listed presidential administrations and go through their accomplishments to see how true the meme is? Man, that’s a long thread but we can do that - and when we finish, guess what - it’ll be pretty close to this. But sure. Why not, Let’s go.

I guess we can, what, use JFK as a “gimme” and just allow that a defining accomplishment was to create the space program as we know it. Should we add anything in there about the Cuban Missle Crisis or - ? What even would that be? “Faced down communist aggression”? “Skillfully negotiated aggressive military . . something”? Yeah ok let’s just leave it at the moon thing. I mean, he only got three years, right.

Reagan. Why’d we jump to Reagan? We missed Nixon! Oh man, where are the Nixon memes amirite. Well, Regan - who as we know served two terms - really laid the foundation for the absolute mind-meltingly disastrous republican party politics that we know and love today. What was the defining element of his two administrations? (Should we split the two or just - I guess the format is for one line each so, no - ok) Well, he’s really most famous for taking money from federal programs and giving it to the military contractors or back to other people who have money, i.e. the rich. It’s actually pretty apt. But we can debate that one, everyone loves a good Reagan hullabaloo. We could also do the October Surprise, or Iran Contra, or invading El Salvador or a bunch of other shady shit, but let’s go on an "affects Americans daily lives’ bend. “Gave money to the rich” is correct.

Bush I - oops we skipped him, hm. Why’s that I wonder. (Oh, hey maybe it’s two term presidents only?) Eh, Let’s just put Iraq I and then I guess we’ll have to figure out why we went to war for oil. Oh - or we could just put “blood for oil” and hope that the economic implication is obvious enough. Anyway, moving on.

Clinton - well, we could talk about the whole healthcare reform thing that was a major component of the first term. Or in how he pulled the rug out from under Newt “contract with America” Gingrich by declaring big government “over” and adding a ton more cops. That’s . . y’know . . true but . . . not as . . pithy? as we’re going for here. His balancing the budget and actually leaving office with a surplus is, frankly, astonishing in retrospect though. It’s absolutely no small feat and no one thought it was even possible since Reagan just said it’s fine to blow all the money and hope future generations figure it out. Well, he figured it out. So that’s not nothing. That doesn’t seem like propaganda, that seems about right actually.

Okay the meme is getting really long at this point but I think you see the direction I’m going here. Is it misinterpreting “the other side”? Only in the sense that a meme is a single point of view and a deep discussion of the differences would be more balanced and nuanced but also take a long time and wouldnt ultimately be that far off from what we have.

So if you really feel like this meme is some horrible brainwashing propaganda of “the liberal left” or whatever? I dunno what to tell ya. Yeah? I guess? And it’s nice?

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150 points

Anyone that says Biden isn’t doing anything is blind.

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87 points

Or most likely not reading truthful news.

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27 points

Tbf, society used to have “news”, and many people are slow to realize that while the media still call themselves by that name, they no longer live up to that truth. i.e., not everyone who is blind is purposefully ignoring the truth - there is a whole spectrum of people in the middle.

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8 points
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As the New York Times’ coverage of the Israeli Genocide has made obvious to even the blindest most tribalist of people, the “liberal” media was and is just as hard spouting propaganda as the far-right one.

Personally I think that the decay from Journalism into “Opinion Forming” in the traditional more liberal Press long predates the Fox-News Age and their destruction of the trust in the Traditional Press for temporary political gains of “their side” created the prime conditions for the rise of the made-up-outrage “Press” that so well fits the modus operandi of far-right populism and hence fed and was fed by made-up-outrage far-right populist politicians like Trump.

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1 point

I mean… not equally though, unless you mean in the sense that both are incorrect. Liberal media in particular always tried to at least make their BS sound like it wasn’t nonsense, as opposed to e.g. MTG’s Jewish Space Laser rants. I appreciate the effort that goes into making a chart when I am lied to, rather than just some short pithy saying - it’s the effort that wins my heart! :-P (/s btw)

I have heard it said that the only true way to spot a counterfeit message is to know the real thing backwards and forwards so well that nobody can pull a fast one on you when they try to sell you short (or long). e.g. we know that 1+1=2, but if Democrats tell us it is =11 whereas old-school Republicans say that it is =-100000000000000000, newer ones say that it is the sqrt of stfu, and the most modern ones of all have already shot your mom and fucked your dog, and hold everything else you hold dear hostage until you tell them that you LIKED it… then who is to blame the most if you did not know the answer in the first place?

The answer, I believe, is that MOST of the blame goes to the people who did the WORST attrocity(-ies), but at least part of it falls onto us, for letting it happen.

Therefore I do not blame older liberal media, or at least not nearly so much as I do what followed that got significantly worse. Though yeah, I do put some of the blame onto it as well, ofc.

More important is what we do in response to it all?

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6 points

I mean, public radio and tv exists.

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0 points

I do not know much about those, as I do not have any special-purpose devices that can receive those signals. Do they not also follow the “if it bleeds, then it leads” mantra? e.g. did they report when Biden “betrayed” the railway workers by preventing them from striking at the busiest time of year (Christmas 2022), and if so did they also report when Biden spent MONTHS of effort after that to get those workers basically every single thing that they had asked for from their employers if they had been allowed to go ahead with their strike? B/c the for-profit media definitely did the former, though conveniently forgot all about the latter, despite how crucial such info as “how the current President is doing” and “whether the current President lives up to his promises” are to the upcoming election this year.

But even if the only fact that I knew about public radio and TV at all was that they require special devices to access them, they still seem to me to be handicapped, even if differently than the for-profit media sources.

Anyway, what percentage market share are public sources compared to private ones? To use the Fediverse as a readily-accessible example since anyone who reads this is definitely here (hehe, by definition:-P), how many news stories shared in some community such as !PoliticalMemes@lemmy.world are from “public” sources? If all that needs to be done to save journalistic integrity would be to create a new Lemmy community, and put public journalism onto it, then I will definitely subscribe and be a big fan of it! Though I doubt it is anywhere close to being as easy as all that… :-(

Still, your point was worth mentioning.

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4 points

Now we have hate boner political infotainment. It’s disgusting.

We need a free press, but we need to figure out how to deal with those that take advantage of their status… In this case, all of them…

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2 points

Even my absolute favorites of all time - e.g. Jon Stewart - still does it. It is the nature of the game, which we hate rather than the playa. :-(

Though in his case, some of it he does b/c it is necessary, a lot is rather tongue-in-cheek, and anyway he seems to be aware and definitely tries to use his power as responsibly as he can. Also, it may be hate-boning to e.g. watch a politician say something like “never in my entire life have I held this position”, then 2s later watch a different video showing that same politician a few years before where they espouse precisely that position that they later claimed that they never had - like yeah, it produces a “reaction” in us, but like… shouldn’t it, to watch such a blatant and bold-faced lie?

The difference, imho, is that he doesn’t do such things purely for the sake of that reaction, and instead uses that reaction as the vehicle to convey his point, which is that that politician is a bad person, and should be replaced by someone who may perhaps be less bad. And, hate-engendering as it may be, it is also The Truth so… there’s that. Which stands in stark contrast to e.g. Alex Jones who also tries to engender hate, but not using Truth, and instead rather for the sake of personal profits.:-(

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24 points

He sure is sucking zionist dick really hard. Some would say too hard.

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3 points
*

Hey guys I found this book written by god that says trump tower is mine. Think the us government will back me?

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2 points

How much capital do you have?

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12 points

But… he’s old! And not perfect!!! So obviously, we should stay home and see how much better our lives will be under Trump when it’s his last (legal) term and literally what keeps him out of prison… Duh.

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7 points

Look, I know the opposition is worse in quite literally every conceivable sense, but BOTH SIDES! Ha, take that, LIBS!

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8 points
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“saving democracy” tho; lol. if he wanted to do that, why the fuck is he running again?

edit: that feels more like ‘dangling democracy over a trumpian abyss to jack off his own geriatric ego’.

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7 points

He’s certainly not destroying it.

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7 points

He’s certainly not destroying it

Oh, yes, the only two options. Death or life support. No way to improve it.

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-5 points
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he’s keeping anyone else from saving it. anyone whose chances are more than ’questionable’.

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4 points

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3 points

About as blind as Biden is to Palestine.

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2 points

They’re liars, they know full well what he’s accomplished, but they refuse to acknowledge it because their peers would ostracize them

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1 point

Right, he is totally supporting genocide of the Palestinian people.

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-2 points
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Deleted by creator
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4 points
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I notice the .ml communities are, how to say it, “I’m 14 and edgy”.

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0 points
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Deleted by creator
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-30 points

Mu’min wants to know if this is a pro-Biden or anti-Biden comment.

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4 points

Both!

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125 points

Okay, I get what you’re saying, but to call the Affordable Care Act “Universal Healthcare” is like calling one of those meal boxes from Taco Bell an all-you-can-eat buffet

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61 points
*

While I do agree with what you say, the post is about goals, not achievements. It’s an important distinction, and Obama did have universal healthcare as a goal.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jun/11/obama-administration-universal-healthcare-reform

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14 points

Gee, I wonder WHO was taking actions to prevent that from coming out as universal healthcare. And I wonder WHICH SIDE of the aisle they were on.

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4 points

Per usual - it was Biden, rushing to the aid of republicans to assist with their agenda. Which in this case was watering down their own healthcare proposal in order to remove the public option. In fact, he conceded this portion of the bill before any negotiations had even begun, as a “show of good faith” toward his Republican colleagues. Thanks Biden.

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38 points

Obama also campaigned that he would codify abortion into law, got elected, and then said it was not a priority. Then didn’t do anything to protect reproductive rights.

This image is complete propaganda.

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7 points

Obama goal: end FPTP so the 2000 election doesn’t happen again and again Short term easily reversible promises

Biden goal: what democracy, and how exactly

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10 points

what democracy, and how exactly

A democracy where someone can lose the popular vote and still get elected president, and where a minority can hold both chambers of Congress, clearly

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1 point

Ah yes, the old “it’s propaganda because it doesn’t include literally everything that has ever happened”.

Bush dodged that shoe like a fucking boss so how bad a president could he have been?!

Is it rosy colored? Sure. Does it still have a generally true premise? IMO yes.

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8 points

Really stupid that we beat down the people on the left that demand a better candidate than the one who said he would be a one term president. A man who is further left than Nixon in most aspects. Yet, we have all these people who will die on the hill of Biden and we continue to ratchet to the right.

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23 points

If he is to be believed (and that is certainly up to debate), Obama’s goal was universal healthcare, and his compromise was the ACA.

Personally I think as soon as the public option was gutted this compromise failed to meet what was sought out by the goal, so I don’t think it should be counted at all as achieving that goal, but I don’t think it’s inherently disingenuous to make the claim that Obama wanted universal healthcare… I guess he just didn’t want it enough.

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18 points

People hate finding out the ACA is the Republican plan based on Romney’s healthcare system from MA.

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0 points

Well we couldn’t know what it said til they passed it. “Call it the stupidity of the American voter”

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9 points

Obama supported the public option which would have been a form of universal healthcare. It was axed because Joe Lieberman spent months grandstanding and then Ted Kennedy died.

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1 point

Postal 2 was right to teach us all to hate that dude

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6 points

Lieberman threatened to join Republicans in filibuster to kill the public option and Obama’s response was “Okay, we’ll just pull that piece for you, no problem.”

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3 points

Gee, thanks, you jerk. Now I want one of those meal boxes from Taco Bell.

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86 points
*

To be fair, I don’t believe Trump’s goal is more money for rich people.

I believe it’s more money for himself but to do that he works towards more money for rich people because those rich people will in turn support and fund him further.

He’s too damn selfish to actually consider people, rich or not.

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23 points

Not even money, I have no doubt he just wants to be president to get out of all the rape and fraud accusations running against him.

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13 points

The Romans are said to have conquered the world in self defense. Trump’s plan is to ruin it instead. Easier.

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6 points

It’s funny to read this about self defense because I just wrote a letter to my representatives and NASA about funding for the Chandra X-ray telescope and pretty much used those terms too. We trade improvements to our shared existence in favor of “self defense” that just happens to bring us to other countries to bomb them all the time…

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-1 points

Rome is eternal. Glory to the Roman empire

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1 point

Before Trump, the Rich controlled America via the Politicians.

Trump just removed the middle man.

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2 points

Politicians have always been part of the wealthy owning class, its built into the system becsuse the system was created by a wealthy owning class

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68 points

A huge part of Clinton’s deficit reduction was eviscerating welfare with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act. He also made a lot of money for rich people by repealing the Glass-Steagall Act, which directly let to the 2008 financial collapse. Also, Obamacare is not Universal Healthcare; Obama would have needed to keep the Public Option for it to be considered universal coverage. He also made a lot of money for rich people through TARP.

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12 points

Also, the year gaps are a little disingenuous. Like, where are Nixon, or even Carter. Like, Carter is a good man at least.

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2 points

The public option was tanked by Senator Lieberman, who at that point became an independent. All we would have needed was a Republican to break ranks and we would have had a public option.

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2 points

A) Lieberman didn’t become an independent at that point, he’d been an independent since he lost his primary in 2006 B) no matter what the excuse, it doesn’t change the fact that saying the ACA is Universal Healthcare is a lie.

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-10 points

Define “huge”

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8 points

Why, would it be better if he gutted welfare for a small deficit reduction?

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Political Memes

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