Good news for anyone who has or plans to get Marketplace coverage: https://www.healthcare.gov/more-savings/

This goes into more detail about it: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/american-rescue-plan-and-marketplace

Thank you for that insight into US media coverage, most interesting!

Two mass shootings about a week apart.

One good thing about the pandemic was that 2020 saw less mass shooting events than usual. Especially in schools thanks to them mostly being empty.

This is probably a dark sign that things are getting back to "normal".

Politically I still doubt anything will be done to try to tackle this epidemic problem.

I still cannot conceive of a logical reason that civilians should possess military style assault weapons.

Such is life in America...

That's because I'm not here to argue. I would really like to get politics out of my life if possible. I've been trying really hard to do so. No matter where it's from it's a useless piece of shit manchild drama that people make it seem it is of high importance. People say you need to be involved. If I will be, this definitely won't be the place to spend my precious time on as nothing will change here. You and I are not gonna change each other's minds.

If you believe my statements were assumption, be my guest. Winning an argument over the internet is not something I can be proud of.

Doesn't stop the prices being stupidly high now. Before Biden got elected, I could get gas at Costco for $2.70-$2.80 per gallon at average. On worst seasons, I would see at max in the lower $2.90-$2.93. It got as low as $2.20-$2.30 when COVID hit. It appears to have normalized to $2.50-$2.75 for months. In just 4 months, it's $3.30 - $3.60 per gallon. These are just regular prices by the way. Not premium.

If you're wondering where I'm at, I'm from the proud state of Calorn-I-A. SoCal to be exact. So if you're telling me this is normal when during Trump's admin it never got up to $2.95 on my area, then I'll just laugh. We're not even at peak demand yet since so that's also gonna be interesting. Also, I believe Biden admin hasn't gone hard on their anti-fracking policies yet so, can't wait till he starts focusing on it. Regardless of what factors there are that caused this mess, the fact that there is little coverage of this issue is just laughable. Low income folks are going to be be fucked harder regardless of where you stand.

I should start advocating to these people to ditch entry level Toyotas and just stick to a hybrid or full electric and do the right thing and pay the fee and help save the world. Not unless they're bigots who deny climate change.

Using one small data point gets you bad data. I doubt that gas prices were consistently under $3.00 in your area, but even if that is true, it doesn't really say anything because it is one data point. 

As for the cause of the recent increase in gas prices, to sum it up, there are three main factors:

1) Supply is down - This is in large part from the pandemic decreasing demand and production capabilities, but the recent harsh weather in Texas also created supply chain issues similar to what is seen when hurricanes hit. There has also been decreased production in several other countries which affect global prices. Biden hasn't done anything that would decrease supply in the short term in a way which would affect prices.

2) Demand is up - This is a good thing as it indicates that things are getting back to normal. If you want to blame this on Biden, be my guest.

3) Switch to Summer Blends - The gasoline that you buy is different in the winter and the summer with the summer blend being more expensive. As we switch over from the winter blend to the summer blend, we often see an increase in gas prices independent of supply and demand. Obviously, blaming this on Biden is nonsense. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-lawmakers-reach-deal-to-legalize-marijuana-11616611018

Marijuana should be legal in my state next year. I am stocking up on snacks as we speak.

Hmm, you are not really doing a very good job of just dropping your opinion and then doing the peace out method.  Fight that urge to respond, I know you can do it.  No need to waste that precious energy when you are not vested in it.  If the US isn't the place you feel you can make a change then I totally agree you should not waste the time even to drop your frustration and peace out.  As you stated "Its a useless piece of shit manchild drama".  You need to keep that energy and keep it moving.

This dude is now an A-rated pollster according to FiveThirtyEight.

Rather interesting to see Trafalgar there but Rasmussen not.

Still can't afford M4A, but wait the US still has the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) to feed resources and tax payer contributions

Much of the MIC relies on the US having an enemy to continually justify it's spending, much of that justification is broadcast by mainstream media and the Political Establishment

Very unusually and intensely interesting, CNN host Fareed Zakaria dismantled on mainstream media what is actually going on with decades of military spending and it's incredible waste, all driven by interests in the Establishment at the expense of the wellbeing of the US people and country

On this episode of the right saying the quiet part out loud, buying deadly weapons should be easier than voting...