Time to stop trashing Biden over the Hyde Amendment

[Honeycombe8]

41. Is that an order?

What one considers valid criticism, another considers "trashing."

I think it's valid to voice criticism over what is an unusual move by Biden. Changing in a few days the 40-year-stance about something, when he's in a Presidential race and finds out his stance would cost him votes among the base.

It's not that it's Biden. It's that a candidate actually did that. I've been around for a while and never seen such an obvious move before. Such a thing is going to be noticed and commented on and criticized or praised.

As for me, I take what politicians say with a grain of salt, when they're in the throes of a tough election process and trying to get support, votes, and donations. They're politicians. Their job is first and foremost to get votes. Without that, they're not in the game. Just look at the general thrust of their beliefs and stances overall, is what I do. Even if they state a firm stance on something, I know there may come a time when he finds an exception to it.

Example: While campaigning, Obama voiced a stance on attacking high drug prices. He attacked directly the provision in Medicare Part D that prohibits the federal govt from even negotiating drug prices. After Part D was passed, one of the sponsors of that provision/Part D quit Congress and went to work as a lobbyist for Big Pharma at a cushy salary. After getting elected, Obama ended up cutting a deal with that Senator, according to Huffington Post, that Pharma would cut $80B in costs on its own, and contribute $150M in tv ads that supported the ACA, in return for protecting the industry from Congressional efforts to cut drug prices. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/flashback-obama-promises_n_254833?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANRStP_v9Fz9uDBrXKgM8XKMwwMYYDpvE1W3kNo7LtO9G0J4ic4T_jU5YcUYmHD5J-lkwgW40r6oSQoTYmwY4Qjza16MN4Jtfj8a9FP_ZWt5GKrWxAFIBUl6NxjtNACUqWG7l65EcHW2SUymgWGP6i1ygRgI7J-uu0DLHfZyY2Ol

I don't give that example as a criticism of Obama. I loved Obama and think he was one of the best Presidents America has ever had. But I use it to show that you can't hinge your approval of a candidate on a voiced position on one particular issue. Just a general direction. He wanted, generally, prices to go down, and he got some sort of promise from the industry to do that. He did not go after that provision that he railed against during his campaign. That's politics.