this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2024
240 points (98.4% liked)

News

23311 readers
3429 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

The House on Saturday passed a $95 billion aid package that includes two long-awaited bills with $60.8 billion of Ukraine aid and $26 billion in aid to Israel.

The Ukraine bill, which passed with 311 votes in favor, 112 votes against, and one present, will now head to the Senate alongside the Israel aid bill and two others — one with aid for Taiwan and another that forces Tiktok's parent company to sell it.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 46 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (7 children)

We really need laws against these laws where they just bundle a bunch of good things with a bunch of fucking terrible things, just to get it passed.

Tiktok and Ukraine Aid are entirely different issues, and they really shouldn't be in the same fucking bill.

Further, "banning" Tiktok is going to just about as well as those "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics" did in the fucking 90's. A lot of time, effort, and wasted money for barely any real-world impact.

Tiktok is already becoming unpopular, because just like with Facebook, everyone's parents want to stay cool and hip and know what the youth are up to. Now its filled with millennials like myself who are pushing out Gen Z because they don't want us shitting up their spaces. Just like we didn't want our parents/adults invading our spaces and why millennials bailed on Facebook when it became Boomer central.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I agree on keeping bills separate, but you seem to be confused. Tiktok wasn't in the same bill, the help for Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel was bundled together.

The reason for it was that the current speaker actually wanted help for Israel and Taiwan but was holding the bill because of Ukraine, which his orange friend doesn't support.

This is why it was held. Why the speaker had a sudden change of heart?

It was because two Republicans threatened to resign, leaving Democrats in majority and getting speakership (I wish that outcome would actually happened).

So he brought those bills to vote, but he split the bills. Because of it, now they have to go back to Senate, adding another unnecessary delay.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

This is why it was held. Why the speaker had a sudden change of heart?

nah, it was:

Mr. Johnson attributed his turnabout in part to the intelligence briefings he received, a striking assertion from a leader of a party that has embraced former President Donald J. Trump’s deep mistrust of the intelligence community. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/21/us/politics/mike-johnson-turnaround.html

In some ways, a bit scary that what they told him really convinced him so readily. On the other hand I'm glad he was able to turn down local US politics (something I don't feel Republicans have been doing recently) and focus on external politics.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

If it was so urgent, why did he split it so it now the bill has to go through the Senate again?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

There was one bill that included help for Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel. Republicans only had problems with the former.

If Ukraine was so important why did Mike split the bill. By splitting it, he made a change and because of that the bill needs to be voted on yet again in the Senate. If he didn't split it, Biden could just sign it immediately.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I'm confused where the aspect of urgency is coming from. I never asserted that Johnson was doing things urgently.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Sorry, I saw similar comments and people saying that finally understands how urgent it is based on CIA briefing (as he said).

The thing is that I don't buy it. If he really thought it was as important and urgent, he would not split the bill and Biden likely would sign it on the same day, but instead it went back to the Senate.

My belief is that his position was threatened, and if he get replaced (especially if it is true that two Republicans threatened to resign) he won't be able to block other bills for Biden, because Democrats would control the house.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

You've got many good points, and I'm not defending the Tiktok ban (or whatever technical thing it is), but counterpoint your last one:

Look what Facebook did to the boomers. Do we want to go through that again but with Millennials and Tiktok? Our generation has more experience with social media, granted. Still, that's part joke and part something I think about as an older, non-Tiktok millennial.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Do we want to go through that again but with Millennials and Tiktok?

No, but I don’t think banning an app will solve the problem, just like banning drugs doesn’t solve that issue. We need good education so people have critical thinking skills and can make good decisions for themselves. Even if a legal method was used to address the issue, banning a specific app will do little. I think you’d have to address the algorithmic delivery of content altogether to do this.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Can I ask what the problem is? I was of the understanding that the problem with TikTok was that they basically lied under oath to congress and were actively sending personal user data to China. Not sure anything but an outright ban will achieve any sort of remedy.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Yes, Tik Tok is as bad as any other social media PLUS it’s directly controlled by a hostile nation state to the US. It should absolutely be banned and/or completely divested from China.

Anyone saying this is unfair, go to China and see what their blocks look like for Western companies.

Tik Tok is a terrible platform allowing such direct access to US citizens to a foreign government.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

I think the US government is worth being hostile towards.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago

TikTok is banned in China too. lol

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Again, wasn't defending the ban. Just addressing the other elephant in the room. :)

But yes, agreed. Critical thinking and media literacy skills are key.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago

While I agree with you in general, this is not what happened in this case.

The House voted on the four bills in succession, one day after a rare and extraordinary bipartisan coalition teed up the votes, with more Democrats (165) than Republicans (151) voting for the “rule” to proceed to the measures.

There was roughly speaking the Ukraine bill, the Israel bill, the Taiwan and other aid bill, and the tik tok bill. All separately passed. Ukraine funding was not on the same bill passed as the TikTok thing today.

Combining issues in bills isn't always bad and can be a vehicle toward compromise too. Separating things can even be a way of killing a bill. There are pros and cons, really depends on the situation.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago (2 children)

While I do agree on including “unrelated” things together, these all sound like they are separate bills in this case.

Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan are all separate bills for “foreign aid”. The article isn’t 100% clear, but TikTok sounds like there is some separation. The reason I think they’re separate is that the article mentioned that they voted on each item, meaning that there’s at least 3-4 different votes.

It’s all the game of politics. “Shake my hand and I’ll shake yours” stuff, and Johnson, regardless of his overall beliefs, seems like he’s well-versed in the game.

If banning TikTok, as inane as that is, ensures we continue to aid Ukraine, then fine, ban it. eye roll

Israel, however, is the matter of getting enough of Rs to vote Yea to outweigh the Maggots. I don’t like it, but the feds spend billions of dollars on tons of stuff I dislike. If allowing a continued genocide in one country means that the same won’t happen in two others…(sigh)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Israel, however, is the matter of getting enough of Rs to vote Yea to outweigh the Maggots. I don’t like it, but the feds spend billions of dollars on tons of stuff I dislike. If allowing a continued genocide in one country means that the same won’t happen in two others…(sigh)

Thank you for actually understanding that there is nuance to all of this. The people screeching about it are rightfully upset, but they seem to completely miss the point that all of these aid packages have to make it through a highly dysfunctional congress.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

They just do not understand political capital. Very common problem with populists.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

This passed the Senate weeks ago and stalled in the House. The only reason this is even passing is because republicans began drafting an independent bill to fund Israel after the Iran attack, and Biden said he’d veto it if it didn’t include funding for Ukraine and Taiwan.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Israel, however, is the matter of getting enough of Rs to vote Yea to outweigh the Maggots. I don’t like it, but the feds spend billions of dollars on tons of stuff I dislike. If allowing a continued genocide in one country means that the same won’t happen in two others…(sigh)

And it's not as if a lack of funding would stop them anyway. It's largely symbolic and to ensure Israel keeps buying American.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

This is how politics gets done at this level. I give you something, you give me something.

Even if bills were separated, there’d just be back room agreements to combine them informally.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

To your last point, the bill is targeted at any app owned by a foreign adversary, so whether or not kids move away from tiktok, it will accomplish the same objective.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 7 months ago

It will cause TikTok to be sold, not banned