It wasn't the debate performance so much as what the President said.

[BlueTsunami2018]

I have no data to back this up, but this round of ferocious attacks on Biden's electability really started around the time he proposed the billionaire tax. And when he put that 25% number out there during the debate, the billionaire media machine went into overdrive in a way I haven't seen since they convinced all the suckers that Iraq had an active WMD program. And like then, it's those of you who fell for it I can NEVER forgive.

Think about it, billionaire tax, pro-union, cancel student debt, increase minimum wage, strengthen safety nets, etc. The media is owned by billionaires who donate to Piss Wig because he helps their bottom line. They're using their considerable power to continue improving shareholder profits at the expense of people's lives, health, safety, and economic security. I expect that. What I didn't expect was so many Democrats to be Judas Goats, helping them to kill us.

What’s happening here is disgraceful. We have the most successful progressive President in a generation and our own people are trying to destroy his candidacy. It’s unfathomable….or all too fathomable.

[BoRaGard]

1. Avaricious Plutocrats and their Pervo Pursestrings

[raccoon]

2. Excellent point.

[NoveltySocks]

3. I've had a similar thought.

Everything you mentioned and more. I think tax policy gave impetus to this donor freakout.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/03/07/fact-sheet-president-biden-is-fighting-to-reduce-the-deficit-cut-taxes-for-working-families-and-invest-in-america-by-making-big-corporations-and-the-wealthy-pay-their-fair-share/

https://www.kiplinger.com/taxes/biden-income-tax-on-death

[Walleye]

4. I guess the idea of an unrealized capital gains tax scared to piss out of them

[hvn_nbr_2]

5. The attack of the plutocrats

What's happening now is a plutocratic takeover. All media, all of government, all of society must give billionaires whatever they want and allow them to do whatever they want.

[CrispyQ]

7. It's their last chance to take everything of value before climate chaos really hits.

Trump will remove or overlook all safeguards. There will be looting & grifting galore.

[Brenda]

27. Nailed it, Q.

But I'm really fucking disappointed that Pelosi, Schiff, etc., even Clooney, for fuck's sake, would have the gall to do this right now.

I might have been swayed by them if they all put forward Kamala or Candidate X, but nooooo, we get all this Democrats in Disarray shit, proving Fox news is um, right.

[madibella]

6. And truthfully, that class wins either way.

A Trump presidency will affect the working class mostly, their finances remain unscathed.
And a New Democrat won’t go after their bottom line so hard I would imagine.

We suffer, they remain above it all in their insulated bubbles.

[Bettie]

8. That, added to the fact that

the IRS is chasing down tax cheats and collecting.

He forgave some stuident loans (bankers hate that)

He suggests that Bilionaires should maybe pay some taxes.

Then, on Morning Joe, he said he doesn't care what billiionaires think.

And all the time, he's been working to help US.

And we should have his back, he's working for us, not giving lip servie to it.

[SlimJimmy]

26. The student loan forgiveness

fell on us, the taxpayers. I repaid my loans, I have an issue with this. Ymmv

[Bettie]

28. I paid my student loans off as well

it was hard even though the interest wasn't ridiiculous as it is now.

But, I want to see poeole get ahead in life, it's better for our economy and better for our society.

Education is a net positive as well.

Predatory lending is not a postive in any way for society.

[LuvLoogie]

30. A lot of things are paid by the collective.

Are you expecting a line item veto for individuals?

[SlimJimmy]

34. I'm expecting them to repay their

own loans like many of us did. Is that too much to ask?

[LuvLoogie]

35. So do you agree with those red states

that refused Medicaid expansion money from the ACA? Do you think people with no kids should have to pay for public education?

You resent that any tax dollars are going to this loan forgiveness. Would you turn down the forgiveness if it was you. I doubt it. You put it in terms of your taxes.

[SlimJimmy]

37. Don't put words in my mouth.

We're only talking about loan repayment here. I repaid mine, they should repay theirs.

[orangecrush]

9. It's not the party doing this

It's the money

[BlueTsunami2018]

36. Members of the party are doing this seemingly because of the money.

Which makes those members Judas goats.

I don’t see any way around that fact.

[StarryNite]

10. That makes perfect sense.

And that's why the whole debate thing didn't fade away. It wasn't really how he said it after all, it was what he said.

[KPN]

12. Yup. They don't want him to win.

[Solomon]

29. My wife said the exact same thing as you and the OP. They don't want their taxes raised. I'm convinced.

The NBA doesn't have as fierce of a full court press and the NFL doesn't have such a full blown blitz as what is going on.

Its literally making me sick that he has already said several times that he's staying in the race yet every time I turn on the TV everybody keeps saying they will support whatever he decides to do!!!!

Its driving me nuts and making me extremely angry. I sent Biden $500 this morning and am about to send him more.

[KPN]

11. Yes, and some of us are finally getting it. Amercan style

capitalism is destroying America as we all know it. We are either in the end stage of American style capitalism or end stage of the greatest democracy in the history of mankind.

[hay rick]

13. Meanwhile, Trump fell asleep at least twice during the convention.

The media thoughtfully didn't make enough noise to wake him up.

[rurallib]

14. What you are saying is so true and so important. But the media

except for FreeSpeech TV is corporate (yes even NPR and PBS) and they are hell bent on destroying Biden to save their power.

Similar to what they did to Howard Dean when he threatened to break up the media

[misanthrope]

38. They aren't doing it to "save their power"

or the power of the guys at the very top. Not directly.

They are doing it because they see it as being good for their ratings, which results in ad revenue.

[DENVERPOPS]

15. Right on, BT

All of what you said is soooooo true

I have been wearing a button I wore during the 60's.......

IGNORANCE SHOULD BE PAINFUL


The perfect title for a book, covering the past 45+ years would be:

WHILE THE NATION SLEPT

[SayItLoud]

16. Let me ask this:

Switch the debaters. What would be said about tRUMP's performance if he delivered like POTUS Joe? (Just in that debate, nothing more, just the debate appearance of the candidate).

[Trust_Reality]

17. I think fascism occurs when corporations and oligarchs, with cooperation from religions,

get control of government. Surely some percentage of religious people could be peeled away from supporting a documented sexual predator, tax cheat, etc.

[jalan48]

18. The billionaires say, stick to identity politics only

[LiberalFighter]

19. That message needs to be counted with why do the rich need tax cuts or lower taxes?

[Frank D. Lincoln]

20. Biden is the new FDR.

He's the People's President.

We've got Biden's back.

The billionaires and the big corporations are going to find that out in November.

"government of the people, by the people, for the people"

[AllyCat]

21. Yup. The billionaires are peeved.

And willing to destroy our Democracy for money.

[myohmy2]

22. +1...

...

[lees1975]

23. Along with Supreme Court reform, campaign finance reform needs to be at the top of the agenda.

Not only getting rid of citizen's united, but also putting strict limits on donor money and enforcing what it can be used for. Candidates, for example, shouldn't be able to use it to pay legal fees....

[Abstractartist]

24. Agree

And why are some elected democrats jumping on the Dump Joe bandwagon? I believe their billionaire deep pocketed shitstains are telling them, no billionaire tax, cut Biden or we dry up.

I wonder if deep down, this is why Tester called for Joe to drop. Maybe his pockets are full of lint.

[lpbk2713]

25. Judas goats indeed.

I didn't expect that but there it is. Plain as the nose on your face.

[Lifeafter70]

31. I have posted this same thing. You articulated it better

I will go a step further. If they succeed it won't be Harris on top of our ticket. It will be someone who is more corporate friendly.
They have accomplished their first step of getting some of the voters to accept Joe stepping down. Just look at the OP's speculating on who will be Harris VP pick.
It's the Biden policy and agenda that scares the money donors and nothing else.

[jaxexpat]

32. Perfectly stated and way too true. I salute you. It's what I'd say if I were a cogent sort.

The slavery of our precious 4th estate to the monied few is the hallmark of our era*. A situation so suicidally stupid that I fear we may not be survived by any generation if it stands.

*It's been a hallmark of all the troubled and ferocious eras, truth be told. Who here recalls being taught that Thomas Paine was some kind of a revolutionary hero?.....All right......Raise your wrinkly old hands. You in the back. wake up, I'm polling your old asses.....aha, just as I thought, propaganda in the DNA........perfectly normal, can't be helped. Future? That's on your heads, youngsters. It is your hour, really. I couldn't blame you if you sent us all out on a small iceberg into an ever-warming ocean.

[LonePirate]

33. I'm not sure I fully agree.

The discussion and news of the billionaire tax picked up steam during the second week of March 2024 after a much quieter opening salvo for it about a year earlier.

During the first week of March before the billionaire tax become prominent a week later, Biden was down a little over 2 points in the 538 polling average, a margin that was fairly constant throughout the month.

Biden had been suffering from age related concerns since maybe 2022 or even early 2023, something that really bubbled to the surface with the Israel-Gaza mess back on October 7 of last year. Younger voters have had concerns about his age since then, if not earlier. There have been numerous polls saying this for quite a while with Trump also polling negatively because of his age. Except Republicans lined up to support their nominee. For Dems, various coalitions in our party have been in search of the mythical perfect candidate as they seek someone to overcome the courts and their hamstringing and impeding of much of Biden’s agenda.

While the majority of the billionaire class probably do not like the proposed tax, Democratic voter unease with Biden has been happening since last year. No doubt the plutocrats have piled on but I take them to be more of the followers rather than the instigators here. The debate cemented the concerns for a lot of people and that opened the floodgates to bring us where we are now.

Biden is a good man. He has been a great President and honorable lifelong public servant. We are all better off because of him. I just don’t think there is a Dem alive who could have handled the mess of the past few years any better. It’s sad that a restless party preferring major change over a steady hand may be his downfall despite all that he has done. Priorities and people change whether we like it or not.