Yeah, if people could eat Democrats' excuses no one in this country would go hungry.

I don't think Pelosi personally cares if the min-wage is $7 or $15. But its not something she's willing to fight for. It's a concession she's willing to make in exchange for something else.

As to Biden's veto threat, its hard to express how much folks already on Medicare hate and fear the idea of Medicare for All. They see it (not incorrectly) as a policy that would involve diluting a pool of money that only ever seems to get smaller for them over time. The veto threat guarantees Biden keeps the elderly votes, in large part because so many old-heads are poisoned against the idea of a broader social safety net.

Obama also made the deliberate choice to bow to Big Pharma and Big Insurance by killing single payer.

The military budget's interesting, though. We spend more and more every year, trillions, but if you look at the war budget as a percentage of our GDP, it's actually lower than it's been in the past.

(Which still pisses me off, but it's an interesting fact.)