Highlights: Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans worked for more than a year to make Joe Manchin’s retirement announcement on Thursday a reality. And for good reason: The Democrat’s decision puts Republicans on the precipice of a majority that’s eluded them for two straight election cycles.

McConnell himself laid the groundwork last fall when he flew out to see the popular Gov. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), the GOP leader said in an interview. McConnell said Justice initially seemed like he had never considered it, but a few months later, Justice launched his bid.

“You can do the math. If we don’t lose any incumbent — and I don’t think we will — he’s No. 50. And one step closer to having a majority,” McConnell said of Justice. “I’ve been involved in a lot of recruiting over the years, some successfully, some not. But I think that’s the best recruiting job I ever did.”

    • Phlogiston@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’m worried about it AND I’m worried of the framing that holding one branch is at all enough. Look what Rs have done in states where they want to block governors.

      They really don’t care about anybody but their own tribe. They are not “conservatives” and have openly make constitution defying motions beyond the coup attempt.

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        They are not “conservatives”

        This is the one part of your comment where you’re wrong: Republicans are more genuinely conservative than they’ve ever been before. Conservatism is an unbroken line from Royalists to Confederates to NAZIs to MAGA, and pretenses towards it being about “cautious moderation” as opposed to “supporting hierarchical power” have always been lies.

        • Phlogiston@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          This is fair.

          I’m saying they are not acting according to the caricature of a “conservative” they hold out to get votes. And the video explains that this has been a core feature of “conservative” for a while and provides a definition of what it really is.

    • Salamendacious@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      My fear is this. Trump’s support appears to be building while Democrats are busy complaining to each other that Biden’s too old. I work with guys who say, “my 401k was doing better under Trump. He’s an ass but I think I’ll vote for him.” I’m legitimately nervous.

        • TheCoralReefsAreDying69@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Yes, the stock market did so much better under Trump. There are many many reasons underlying the performance of the market under each of them.

          For example most of the time trump was president was pre pandemic, but Biden was president through most of the pandemic. Trump was also president during the pandemic stimulus and enhanced unemployment payments, then Biden was president when all of that spending materialized into inflation which spooked the markets, and then caused interest rates to rise, prompting the tech layoffs

        • Salamendacious@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          My 401k did considerably better under Trump. If that growth continued for 5-10 years I’d be able to retire quite early. But there are things that are much more important than a 401k.

          (Saving for retirement is incredibly important if you haven’t started yet. Please. Please. Start now! The secret sauce is time. The younger you start the better off you’ll be - finger wagging PSA over)

          • Zorque@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            Personally I’ve started three times!

            Sadly retirement savings don’t last long when emergency expenditures keep knocking on the door.

        • Zorque@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          Considering 401ks are generally based on rich people getting more money, I wouldn’t be surprised.

          • Salamendacious@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            The stock market is one way the wealthy stay wealthy but that’s different than a 401k, which is different than a Roth IRA.

            • Zorque@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              Well of course there’s differences, no one’s saying it’s exactly the same way in all forms and fashions. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have the same root, numbers on bar charts only ever going up and never coming down (which makes investors sad… and litigious). 401ks are a little more insulated from direct Stock Market transactions (depending on how you disperse it, of course), but that doesn’t mean they’re completely unaffected by it.