Summary

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a memo prioritizing federal funding for communities with marriage and birth rates above the national average.

The directive, which applies to grants, loans, and contracts, also prioritizes projects benefiting families with young children.

A congressional aide criticized the policy, saying, “Considering fertility rates when prioritizing federal grants? We obviously have no idea what the full impact of that will be… It’s absolutely creepy. It’s a little ‘Chinese government.’”

The memo also blocks mask mandates and requires compliance with immigration enforcement.

  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Yep. Quite a few of them have gone quiet, I’ve noticed. Not one of them has apologized for their cloying sanctimony before the election, no matter how wrong it was.

    • Red Army Dog Cooper@lemmy.ml
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      3 hours ago

      Still here, not going to appologize, I stand by my statement, both of them are facist, and the only two difrences between them where trajectory into utter decay, and retoric. Both of them make libs sanctamonious and tell me that I cannot call a spade a spade because the spade is actualy a hoe (it is very much a spade).

      I never said they where congurent, or exactly the same, I said they where in the long run equivelent, and I stand by that statment. I said that Harris did nothing to earn my vote, and I stand by that, I said that running on “I am slightly less bad than the other guy and because there are only 2 parties that means you have to chose me” is not a sound or acceptable electoral stratagy, and I once agian stand by that. I said that her winding down her “they are wierd” and “Its neighborly not to hord wealth and be a rich ghool” tactics, that where working, and where austensably the reasons she chose Walz as her running mate because her brother in law, an Uber Exec did not like it was moronic and I stand by it.

      Why have I decided not to keep posting about this, because your lot has stopped screaming that I have to cast a vote to someone that if I did I would not be able to sleep at night because I made an afermitive choice to suport them, because i see no significant disagreement between your view that “trump is a facist and the US is NOW facist” and mine “Wow trump as expected really plunged at a steep slope, he took some of the plausable denyability out before I was expecting, but it does not change that the Previously Facist US that is still Facist is moving down the Facism railway” so there is no god damn reason for me to post about it all the time

      And before you ask, yes I know there are lives at stake and live are being torn apart, I am aware and not unsympethetic, no I do not think that it would have accelerated this fast with Harris, no I am not an accelerationis, no I did not “want” trump, yes if only 2 options exist harris would have been the slightly better one, but agian that is like saying eat dog shit, or eat dog shit coated in chocolate, I am not going to willingly chose either of those options.

      So no, I am not sorry, no I am not gone, and no I am not “quiet” I just see no significant disagreement on the basis that I feel the need to write a comment, let alone now that election season is over you see a whole lot less trying to tell me that one would be the greatest thing ever.

    • WhatYouNeed@lemmy.world
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      24 hours ago

      They have gone quiet because the project is now wound down. Dufus is in the white house, so they have been moved to a new task.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        23 hours ago

        Yep. Well, most of them. Some seem to still be sticking with, and even doubling down, on the stupid and immoral position, although they frame it as being morally superior to everyone else. 🤣

        • dx1@lemmy.world
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          15 hours ago

          You guys sound like the bots to me. Defending the genocidal politicians and the system that keeps them in power. That stain will never wash off, no matter what shit you try to sling at everyone else. Moral compromise like yours is why this world is broken.

          • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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            32 minutes ago

            Look around you. The oligarchs are feasting on my country right now. Palestine is fucked as Beni snuggles up tightly in Trump’s arm. The Chancellor has been given full access to our Treasury. The only high ground that will remain is the wall mound we build around our villages to repelled incoming invaders.

            • dx1@lemmy.world
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              18 minutes ago

              Biden introduced the “oligarchy” word again and now you’re all using it. Like the actual oligarchy wasn’t running this country under Biden. Like Biden didn’t just send, what, 40 billion dollars of arms to a genocide. Like Congress, who between them and the President completely control the Treasury (not just the information, mind you, but the FUNDS) weren’t completely on board with all of that. Like the federal government isn’t a frigging money laundering operation that hemmorhages 800B/yr into the black pit of military spending.

              You think I don’t see what’s happening? You think there’s been some huge shift because Trump comes into office and starts breaking everything like a gorilla? That’s because you’re getting led around by the nose instead of following through diligently on everything that’s happening. The same U.S. imperial policies are continuing uninterrupted. The “Israel” policy is proof incarnate of that. You’re focused on trying to demonstrate 1% of difference between “Israel” policy between Trump and Biden, completely ignoring the 99% of similarity which absolutely begs the question, why the fuck are the openly fascist party and the so-called “opposition” completely in agreement that they SHOULD support a genocide. None of you seem to have a coherent answer for that question! Or the ten thousand others like it that don’t make it onto CNN or MSNBC or even Reuters or AP News. Because you don’t analyze the economy, you don’t analyze the federal budget, you don’t look at the revolving door with all the federal agencies and Wall Street and military contractors and oil interests and so on - all you focus on is attention-grabbing headlines that make you completely miss the big picture. You don’t understand that the empire even exists. You don’t understand that they’re meddling with every single country on Earth to impose an economic superstructure. That’s the problem with you people. It’s never slow, careful analysis, it’s REACT, REACT, REACT. You’re armchair analysts - you react to headlines and you repeat the same theories you heard from everyone else. You’re not educated. You’re brainwashed. You’re the automatons running around the imperial core, panicking every time the TV tells you to - and worst of all, never concerned with how you affect the rest of the world, only selfishly with your own wellbeing. That’s how you move so effortlessly from “there’s not a genocide happening” to “so what if there’s a genocide happening, the genocide would be even worse under Trump.” Somehow the lightbulb never even went off in your head, “why the fuck are our politicians arming a genocide.”

            • dx1@lemmy.world
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              2 hours ago

              No, the fact that we had an election and the sum of you voted for a fascist and another fascist is why the country is disintegrating. See, when you make immoral choices, bad things happen as a result, that’s why the choices are immoral. You love to pretend that this logic only applies to third party voters, while ~140M of you vote for literal monsters and accept ZERO culpability. For some reason you’re all even more focused on third party voters than the literal Trump voters, despite them having 25-50x as much influence on the election.

            • dx1@lemmy.world
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              2 hours ago

              You have no idea what my situation is, and it’s irrelevant.

            • dx1@lemmy.world
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              2 hours ago

              The consequence of your moral compromises is that the world is broken. Did you read my very short message where I made a specific point to say that?

              • HalfSalesman@lemm.ee
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                2 hours ago

                No its not. That doesn’t even make any sense. Moral compromise has been a constant of human civilization.

                • dx1@lemmy.world
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                  37 minutes ago

                  Yes, it is. Moral compromise has been a near-constant, and also war and corruption. GO FIGURE.

          • confusedbytheBasics@lemmy.world
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            12 hours ago

            Palestinian leaders begged US citizens to vote for Kamala Harris. Sometimes the lesser of two evils is the correct choice.

    • Rhoeri@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I sincerely hope that each and every one of them is at least capable of feeling guilt. Because I so badly want them to suffer the guilt of having helped caused this. I don’t even care anymore that they refuse to admit it. They know it, I know it- them admitting it doesn’t make it better.

      Knowing they feel the full weight of guilt pressing on them for being partially responsible for everything that will happen as a result of their ignorance?

      Yeah… That does make it a little better.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        The trolls, etc., on places like Lemmy? I doubt many of them were even genuine in this kind of sentiment - I’m sure some were even foreign actors working to stir up division everywhere, most especially on the left. And if they really hold this position, I have no idea.

        It’s the people I know IRL that are the ones I’d like to see wake the fuck up. And apologize for their useless bullshit and their tiresome lectures about gEnOcIdE and “bothsides” and just let it all burn down so we can rebuild America in some wholesome perfect way kind of dorm room talk. Yes, American foreign policy is shit and has been for decades before I was even fucking born, and yes, Democrats are often complicit in this. Gaza is hardly anything new, as shocking as it is. Yes, the Democrats are not offering up a perfect pretty pony for them on every single issue.

        But now we are going to be blasted with fucking sewage for the next four years, with actual harm coming to at-risk people (which is going to be nearly everyone if it gets bad enough) HERE and foreign policy is going to be much worse, and we can point at people like this and thank them for their part in making it happen.

        • Quadhammer@lemmy.world
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          18 hours ago

          Muks had/has an actual team for disinformation for x just like im sure many other companies/countries do. Welcome to a post truth society where lies make money and the division is an added bonus.

      • dx1@lemmy.world
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        15 hours ago

        Because I so badly want them to suffer the guilt

        The fact that you’re focused on attacking leftists trying to make a better world instead of the literal fascists shows how wicked you really are. The fact that you show joy in the suffering of others, no less.

        • HalfSalesman@lemm.ee
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          4 hours ago

          “trying to make a better world”

          What the fuck are you talking about how is Trump winning enabling us to make a better world? Its done the fucking opposite. Are you actually this delusional?

            • HalfSalesman@lemm.ee
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              1 hour ago

              Yes you do. You support him via advocating for a completely ass backwards promotion of third party voting.

              If a third party is to be even remotely viable in FPTP, you don’t fucking start with the presidency.

              You can’t magically drum up sufficient support for a candidate to win the fucking presidency with zero/near zero seats in congress or the senate.

              • dx1@lemmy.world
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                31 minutes ago

                “In Congress or the Senate”? Congress INCLUDES the Senate. Congress is the combination of the House and the Senate.

                Yes you do. You support him via advocating for a completely ass backwards promotion of third party voting.

                This is the most fucking backwards logic I’ve ever seen. I talk about “leftists want to make a better world” by using a completely different approach than voting for fascists. You frame the false choice of “anyone but fascists is impossible” again. And then by your logic, not supporting fascists is equal to supporting fascists, because “it’s like voting for fascist B, because either fascist A or B has to win!” THIS LOGIC IS NOT SOUND.

                If you can’t actually add something that’s not completely fucking insane to the conversation, then DO. NOT. REPLY.

    • dx1@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      I’m not quiet, my comments just keep getting deleted, and only the comments pretending I said something else get to stay.

      As ever I will not take any lectures on morality from anyone who watched a politician arm a genocide and voted for them (or their VP) anyway. We had multiple non-Trump candidates, you all picked the biggest genocidal scumbag Nazi traitor out of all of them - both in the primaries and the general - and you lost. Blame yourselves for rallying behind a monster.

      P.S., nobody said “the exact same”. You all just love rolling that out, but at the same time can’t even acknowledge exactly WHAT similarity it implies, that two “opposing” politicians both UNQUESTIONINGLY PARTICIPATE IN A GENOCIDE. Really, finally, at long last here - take a minute out of your life and seriously ask yourself - HOW THE FUCK DID THAT HAPPEN? What in god’s name brought us to that situation? Because if you can’t explain that, you don’t understand anything about what’s happening.

      • HalfSalesman@lemm.ee
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        4 hours ago

        And now the genocide will get worse.

        We had multiple non-Trump candidates

        Do you understand how first past the post works?

        • dx1@lemmy.world
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          2 hours ago

          No, somehow in my 16 years of primary education and going to college for political science/pre-law, I somehow managed to come out not understanding the most basic principles about the U.S. elections. Thanks for coming along to share that vital piece of information with me. This is really so helpful and productive and not a complete derailment of the conversation and waste of everyone’s time, that you came along to say that.

          And now the genocide will get worse.

          Let’s back up. Did you actually read what I wrote SPECIFICALLY? Because all I’m hearing is the same talking points again. Here it is, one more time:

          P.S., nobody said “the exact same”. You all just love rolling that out, but at the same time can’t even acknowledge exactly WHAT similarity it implies, that two “opposing” politicians both UNQUESTIONINGLY PARTICIPATE IN A GENOCIDE. Really, finally, at long last here - take a minute out of your life and seriously ask yourself - HOW THE FUCK DID THAT HAPPEN? What in god’s name brought us to that situation? Because if you can’t explain that, you don’t understand anything about what’s happening.

          Or in one sentence. WHY. DO. BOTH. OF. THEM. SUPPORT. A. GENOCIDE. You want to pretend you have some grand strategy to shape this society in the future? OK - THEN EXPLAIN HOW THIS HAPPENED, AND EXPLAIN HOW VOTING FOR PEOPLE SO IMMORAL THAT THEY SUPPORT GENOCIDE CAN EVER POSSIBLY RESULT IN FIXING IT. You wanna pretend you’re strategic, then explain your understanding of the situation, and assuming it has any relation to reality, explain how you you think your approach will fix it.

          • HalfSalesman@lemm.ee
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            2 hours ago

            Having a strategy doesn’t guarantee ideal outcomes. It also clearly doesn’t guarantee you avoid the worst ones either. We were never inevitably going to the promised land. The key was to maximize good and minimize bad. We’ve maximized bad.

            It doesn’t matter that much anymore. I’m not advocating we continue any strategy because I think we’re doomed now. We’re on a sinking ship and you are arguing over whether we can swim across the entire ocean to safety.

            The new goal is to not die due to a fascist take over the United States. A lot of us are about to fail that. Maybe me, maybe you. We’ll see in 4 years.

            • dx1@lemmy.world
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              29 minutes ago

              So you don’t have a strategy then. Then sit the fuck down. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on and I guess we’ll just try whatever the fuck” is not a strategy.

    • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz
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      19 hours ago

      If you all are going to keep repeating these lazy narratives I demand you back them up with data.

      Further, I demand you hold leaders like Biden and Harris accountable for failing to listen to voters, just because you don’t like our opinions doesn’t mean you can simply ignore us and expect to form a functioning coalition.

      Centrism and neoliberalism are dead, everybody has abandoned this category of politician and politics, it is an extinct belief system that brought about an environment it could not survive in. People either want genuine hope and working class politics rooted in a proud sense of leftism/solidarity with the average worker or they want fascism and not the diet kind centrist liberals serve up, a very small amount of people want cowardly, spineless status quo managers who are unable to do anything but try to convince people they are less bad than the really bad guy.

      Also, I voted for Harris, all the leftists I know did. You are yelling at random people with intimate connections to Palestinians who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for someone who wouldn’t even let a Palestinian voice speak at the DNC. That is the fault of the DNC for failing to understand people won’t vote for them if they refuse to do ANYTHING of substance to stop a genocide that could have been stopped with a single damn phone call from Biden if he grew a spine or a heart. Leftists recognized the catastrophic consequences of this strategic blunder and attempted to steer the bus away from the cliff but centrists just completely and utterly ignored leftist and Palestinian voices and actively worked to discredit and silence them, often as jeering insults told in the company of Republicans as a way to try to get them to like them for being centrist, as if Republicans would ever vote for a Democrat in any significant number?

      1000 facepalms

      Centrism and neoliberalism failed, stop trying to pretend like y’all own the narrative, your strategy and description of how things would pan out failed miserably, and actually nobody else really cares about you whining and blaming others for not voting for a shitty candidate.

      Trump is worse than Biden or Harris would have been, we know. We knew that before. You aren’t listening if you think that is a big GATCHA to us?

      • HalfSalesman@lemm.ee
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        3 hours ago

        All leftists absolutely did not all vote for Harris. I’ve literally seen “A vote for Harris is a vote for genocide” propaganda spread around with posters/banners. And that shit almost certainly moved fence sitters.

        We can blame multiple groups at the same time. Its just left accelerationists and protest voters/non-voters are legitimately stupid and evil and yet are more likely to start arguments on Lemmy because they’re self righteous and think they actually have the big brains or whatever.

        Neolibs/Centrists think they’ll be fine and are going to get the bag regardless (thinking the fascists wont come for them) and the apolitical types don’t even want to engage because they’re not paying attention anyway nor want to. They don’t engage.

        The blame is equal. Its just it gets louder between left leaning people because of the frustration.

        • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz
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          2 hours ago

          Let me ask you a question, if you had family or personal connections to people in Gaza and had to watch them get brutally exterminated one by one by the IDF while Biden and Harris refused to address it, what exactly do you think kind of impact on that person is an annoying leftist going to have raising their voice?

          Our words were to warn the rest of y’all that you can’t ignore those people, and we were right. I am sorry this isn’t a pleasant thing for you to have to recognize about your own politics.

          • HalfSalesman@lemm.ee
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            2 hours ago

            They weren’t completely ignored by Harris. She could have done a lot more (in particular to distance herself from Biden), but she did try to appeal to them at least once.

            The problem is that even doing that wasn’t going to help much because the propaganda campaign to paint her as the pro-genocide candidate was already floating around enough that low information tik tok voters were likely nudged primarily against her.

            Regardless, if my family was being butchered in that situation IDK how I’d react but I know the rational decision was still to prevent the fascist that actively hates Palestinians from winning.

            But obviously voters are not rational.

    • Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      22 hours ago

      They just moved back into their underground slayers where naysayers are immediately banned.

      They will never apologize because they insist they are right and we’re wrong. Further they hold the actual left wing voters responsible and claim we are allowing this to happen, we are complicit and we need be held to account. I’ve been assured that liberals are The Enemy.

      For all intents and purposes they need to be placed among the cult of the right. They aren’t a logic based lovely. They are not progressives. They are a flavor or authoritarian. They literallly believe their flavor of idealism is the only valid flavor.

      They actually remind me of libertarians, where everyone has maximum freedoms for to as they wish so long as they don’t use that freedom to form a government. Neither has any doubt. They are 100% they are correct and as any inllectual has told us, that’s 100% nonsense.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        17 hours ago

        For all intents and purposes they need to be placed among the cult of the right. They aren’t a logic based lovely. They are not progressives. They are a flavor or authoritarian. They literallly believe their flavor of idealism is the only valid flavor.

        There is a reason that horseshoe theory is a thing. Though I don’t think these people were necessarily on the left, per se, but just maybe more attracted to giving hot takes on nearly everything, politics included, and maybe for a time were associating themselves with leftists.

        I can think of at least one person I know who was down for all things crunchy when it came to “health”, or getting chakras aligned and going to seminars on the latest guru pitching something about past lives or whatever and kind of generally supported the Green Party (they said, but I’m not sure if they actually voted? I remember asking if they went to the polls, decades ago, and they were like, what?? So I know they didn’t vote that time anyway).

        And ever since 2015, she has been a full-on, 100% maga zombie. Watching Faux, believing Qanon, all of that shit. She really does think that Hillary and Obama were sex trafficking little kids. She’s extended family, but ever since that - she’s been cut out of all events, because it’s all she wants to talk about. No one can deal with her, not even other Republicans - even if they voted for donvict, too. The irony? She is almost 100% reliant on government handouts.