Daily Archives: November 28, 2021

Long ago, in a United States that now seems far, far away, the coming-to-America story of Saule Omarova would be hailed as a stirring endorsement of our nation as a beacon for democracy seekers. Born in 1966 under the Communist dictatorship of the USSR, and raised under her Kazakh grandmother whod lost the rest of her family to Stalinist purges, she grew up with a passion for Pink Floyd and political dissent that caused her to stay here in the U.S. after the Soviet regime collapsed while she was a grad student in Wisconsin.

Not surprisingly, Omarovas work as an American academic hasnt focused on overthrowing capitalism but making it work better for everyday citizens. Inspired by the 2008 economic meltdown, shes most recently proposed a scheme that would allow the Federal Reserve to take on the big banks monopoly on private deposits that caused a credit crunch in the Great Recession. Her research and resum she even worked for a time in the administration of George W. Bush made Omarova seemingly an inspiring pick for President Biden, who tapped her to become the first woman and first nonwhite to oversee banking as comptroller of the currency.

But Omarovas feel-good saga was lost in translation when she hit the Senate for her confirmation process. Instead, the hearing became a public demonstration of everything thats wrong with American politics in 2021 beginning with Republicans who hid their unbridled support for the monopolistic power for Big Banking behind completely twisting Omarovas life story in the worst display of Red-baiting on Capitol Hill since Joe McCarthys liver failed. It started with Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey Wall Streets man in the Senate demanding a paper on Marxism required by her Moscow State University professors in the original Russian language, to kick off efforts to portray Omarova as some kind of Manchurian candidate for the job. It devolved into Louisiana GOP Sen. John Kennedy telling the nominee, I dont know whether to call you professor or comrade a no-sense-of-decency moment even for todays Republicans, at long last.

But what happened next is much more revealing about whats broken with American politics, and arguably matters a lot more as the nation backslides into 2022 midterms that could shake democracy to its core. Because if you think that Senate Democrats rose up to this shameful display of modern McCarthyism by rallying around President Bidens nominee or her ideas that banking should work for the middle class, then you dont know the soul of todays Democratic Party.

Instead, a so-called cadre of centrist Democrats really extremists in defense of their wealthy donors on Wall Street, Silicon Valley and elsewhere sneaked up from behind to put the dagger in Omarovas political fortunes. In a scenario where all 50 Democratic votes were needed, five of these so-called moderates including Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a flashpoint in the downsizing of Bidens progressive ambitions have reportedly told the White House they cant support Omarova, which will kill her nomination. One of the five Democrats, Montana Sen. Jon Tester, had grilled Omarova on a prior comment that seemed critical of Big Oil and Gas.

The torpedoing of Omarova by her own party is hardly an aberration. Instead, it felt like the exclamation point on a recurring theme in Year One of the Biden administration a new presidents determination to turn around the battleship of American politics to help the struggling middle class either slow-walked or increasingly blocked by an entrenched sliver of pro-Wall Street and pro-donor-class Democrats.

Weve watched this process writ large as the centerpiece of the Biden agenda the formerly $3.5 trillion social welfare and climate change package with the unfortunate name of Build Back Better has been stripped of popular items like free community college and seen other key features like paid family leave and lowered prescription drug costs sharply whittled down. The cuts happened not because of Republicans a hopeless bunch whose votes thankfully arent needed to pass this so-called reconciliation bill but because of conservative Democrats like West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, the Chamber of Commerce lackey who with his family literally owns a coal company, or New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer whose $450,000 in donations from private-equity firms last cycle is more than any House member, including any pro-business Republican. Even at a much lower $1.5 trillion price tag, its not even clear these divided Democrats can pass Build Back Better.

At the end of the day, it wasnt Republicans but much of this same cadre of ConservaDems including Sinema, whose sharp moves to the right on health-care issues have coincided with $750,000 in campaign contributions from Big Pharma and medical firms that nearly killed the provision aimed at lowering drug costs (which had reemerged in a much downsized form). And its been these same Democrats particularly Northeasterners like New Jerseys Gottheimer whove benefited as Democrats become the party of college-educated white suburbanites whove pared back politically popular new taxes on corporations and the wealthy but are bringing back a tax break for high-income homeowners, allowing Republicans to bash the partys seeming hypocrisy.

The gross irony here is that the pundit class especially the centrists who fantasized about replacing Trump with a somehow popular but essentially do-nothing version of Biden is now blaming the Squad of the furthest left Democrats and excessive wokeness for the sagging poll numbers of the Democrats and their president. But lets get real. On the wokeness front, gridlock in Washington hasnt happened because lawmakers are insisting on using the right pronouns or using the word Latinx.

But much more importantly, its been the left wing in Congress especially the House Progressive Caucus led by Washington state Rep. Pramila Jayapal that has worked most closely with Biden on formulating an actual social welfare policy for the middle class, and which has been willing to compromise again and again and again in order to get something, no matter how diminished and thus deflating, done for its voters. The representatives who dare to brand themselves as moderates have actually been the jihadists whove threatened to blow up the Biden presidency unless their demands to protect Big Banks, Big Pharma and the owners of big McMansions who attend their fund-raisers are met, time after time.

READ MORE: From college to climate, Democrats are sealing their doom by selling out young voters | Will Bunch

Theres two big problems here. The obstructionism of centrist Democrats has mostly squandered what could have been a brief two-year window given the dysfunctional cycle of American politics to take meaningful action on climate change and enact the kind of policies around higher education or paid family leave that are routine in every other developed nation. Thats bad news both for the future of both a civil U.S. society and the health of the planet.

But the schizophrenia of todays Democrats watching Biden and his new progressive allies run full-speed at the football of change, only to watch the Democrat-in-name-only Lucys like Gottheimer and Sinema yank it away again and again has also left the average, not-on-Twitter, not-politics-obsessed voter utterly confused what the party really stands for. I dont blame them. Many days I wonder myself.

The irony is that while the Josh Gottheimers of the world think they are saving themselves by bringing back a big tax break for their rich but socially liberal college-educated districts, they are in reality trashing the Democratic brand, and the ensuing tsunami is going to swamp them as well. In calling their billionaire donors and bragging how that blocked Biden from becoming the new FDR, theyre too money-besotted to see they are creating a Jimmy Carter scenario for Democrats that could end with their party again in the wilderness for decades. In driving away young voters and the nonwhite working class, these political geniuses dont seem to understand that 37 the percentage of voters with a college degree is lower than 50.

Now, in failing to defend Saule Omarova against the brutal McCarthyism of her Republican critics, the Democrats centrist wing is hitting a moral low to coincide with their lack of political foresight as the party melts down and an opposing party that no longer believes in democracy is advancing on the capital, again. In the smoldering ruins of the near future, maybe the right question for these Quislings whod rather save JP Morgan Chase and Merck than the American Experiment is this: Are you now, or have you ever been, a centrist Democrat?

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The dangerous extremism thats killing the Democrats is extreme centrism | Will Bunch - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Inflation is rapidly becoming a problem for the Democratic party and President Joe Biden. They need to get a grip on it before it imperils their wider agenda and sinks their chances of keeping control of Congress in the midterm elections next year. As they think about how to address it, one thing is certain: what theyve been doing so far isnt working. A recent poll found that two-thirds of Americans disapprove of how Biden is handling inflation, and the same number consider the issue very important in their evaluations of his presidency. Among those Americans concerned about the state of the economy, nearly nine in 10 ranked inflation as a reason why. Clearly something has to change.

But inflation, a complicated product of economics and mass psychology, is also devilishly difficult to understand, and even more difficult to control. Presidents have few tools to tame it, and the ones they do have can backfire. The inflation of the 1970s crippled Gerald Fords presidency and was doing the same to Jimmy Carter until he opted for an extreme cure installing a chair of the Federal Reserve who dramatically raised interest rates, stopping inflation but also plunging the economy into a deep recession which handed the White House to Ronald Reagan. These experiences left inflation with a reputation as a presidency-killer, with either the disease itself or the medicine taken to combat it ultimately killing the patient.

Despite this, Democratic party elites have been slow to take the latest round of inflation as seriously as they should. American policymakers have not had to deal with levels of inflation as high as this for 30 years, and it shows. Many latched on to the message that inflation was transitory, a temporary consequence of the economy revving back into high gear as the country emerged from the coronavirus pandemic. Some liberals have even lashed out at those warning about rising prices, characterizing their concerns as an attempt to undermine support for Democrats plans to spend more to advance social welfare and combat climate change.

Whatever the economic merits of the argument and many economists still expect inflation to start falling soon this response has been politically toxic. Democrats risk appearing out of touch on an issue of profound concern to many Americans. In order to change tack, they need to communicate to voters that they feel their pain and that theyre fighting to make things better.

There are already signs that Democrats from the president on down are starting to get it. Biden recently gave a speech on the topic and announced the release of 50m barrels of oil from the US strategic petroleum reserve, an attempt to bring down gas prices at the pump. He also pointed the finger at oil companies for charging consumers high prices even as the wholesale price of oil has dropped over the past few weeks.

But Democrats should also be doing more to point the finger at the businesses who are helping to foment the problem. The Wall Street Journal reports that companies in many different sectors are using this inflationary spike as a cover to raise prices faster than their costs, essentially betting that consumers wont object when they already see prices rising all around them. According to the report, nearly two out of three big, publicly traded US companies have seen larger profit margins this year than in the same period in 2019. Inflation might be hurting consumers, but its a boom year for corporate America.

Democrats ought to use all the tools of government to highlight and combat these abuses. As Biden has been finding out, public anger over inflation tends to be directed towards the incumbent president and the only way to survive might be to redirect it at a more appropriate target. The presidential bully pulpit can be used to highlight corporate abuses and regulatory investigations, such as the one already announced by the FTC into the oil and gas sector, can hold industries to account and combat potentially illegal practices. Nor should Democrats stop there. They control both houses of Congress and should consider holding congressional hearings to name and shame particularly egregious price-gougers.

Whether any of these measures will actually serve to lower prices is an open question. But the only responsible thing to do is try. Corporate price rises risk kicking off an inflationary spiral in which the initial reasons for rising prices become secondary to a general feeding frenzy, and anything that can be done to discourage it is healthy. Administration actions might also serve to dampen consumers expectations of future inflation, which will reduce the risk of a spiral. Because the media narrative is driven by inflation that has already happened, reassurance remains important even after prices have begun to stabilize.

But even if we shouldnt hold our breath for these actions to actually slow the rate of price increases, its important to show leadership on this issue for the simple reason that its what worried voters want and deserve. To be seen to be acting and pointing a finger at those to blame is smart politics, especially if this bout of inflation does indeed prove to be transitory and prices begin to fall next year.

Meanwhile, corporate America has to decide if it really wants to undermine the Democrats and risk handing stewardship of the economy back to the party of Donald Trump. With the modern Republican party increasingly the party of incompetence and ignorance, self-restraint might be the better option. As Democrats should seek to remind the price-gougers, profiting less now will help everyone mightily down the road.

Read more here:

Democrats need to admit that inflation is real or voters will turn on them - The Guardian

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., argued that President Biden will not be reelected in 2024 because his administration is responsible for inflation, "chaos" at the southern border and the "crime wave" across the country.

Emmer made the argument during an exclusive interview with "Sunday Morning Futures" where he slammed the administration for "one incompetent move after another."

Emmer said he agreed with Wyoming Sen. John Barrassos comments on the program earlier this month when the Republican senator argued that the results of the "rejection election" on Nov. 2 revealed that voters across the country "overwhelmingly" rejected the Democrats' "radical policies," which caused inflation, open borders and the strong potential for highertaxes.

Barrasso made the comment five days after a good election night for Republicans in states including Virginia, where the GOPpulled off anelectionwin in the governor's race many would have believed impossible several months ago.

"Americans are smart," Emmer, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said on Sunday. "They are rejecting thissocialist big government agenda."

"They realize that Democrats inCongress right now arecompletely out of touch withMain Street America and middleclass Americans."

He then said that the job of Republicans over the next year "is tomake sure that its very clearevery day that their policies,their big government policies,are driving inflation, aredriving the crime wave acrossthis country, are responsiblefor the open border."

Emmer slammed the leadership under President Biden as "incompetent," which he said has been on display since the president took office in January.

President Bidens approval rating stands at 36%, with disapproval at 53% in a new Quinnipiac University national poll. Thats the presidents lowest level of public support in Quinnipiac polling since taking over in the White House in January.

Bidens approval edged down a point and his disapproval trickled up a point from Quinnipiacs October survey.

The president stood at 49% approval and 51% disapproval in a separate national poll fromMarquette University Law Schoolthat was released on the same day earlier this month. Bidens approval in the survey, conducted Nov. 1-10, was down nine points from Marquettes last poll, from July.

POLLS INDICATE BIDEN'S INFRASTRUCTURE AND SOCIAL SPENDING MEASURE ARE MORE POPULAR THAN THE PRESIDENT

Bidens approval rating hovered in the low to mid 50s during his first six months in the White House. But the presidents numbers started sagging in August inthe wake of Biden's much criticized handling of the turbulentU.S. exit from Afghanistanand following a surge in COVID cases this summer among mainly unvaccinated people due to the spread of the highly infectious delta variant as the nation continues to combat the coronavirus, the worst pandemic to strike the globe in a century.

The plunge in the presidents approval was also compounded by the most recent surge of migrants trying to cross into the U.S. along thesouthern borderwith Mexico. Alsofueling frustrations with the presidents performance has been the rise this summer and autumn in consumer prices.

Emmer argued on Sunday that the Trump administrations policies "were incrediblypopular," including Americas energyindependence, safety and security in the country, and asecure southern border.

He went on to say that when Democrats came into office they "basically tookit as a mandate" to "undo everything thelast administration did," which resulted in "terrible consequences tothe American people and thats why theyre going tolose next fall."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday thatPresident Bidenintends to run for reelection in 2024.

"Yes, that's his intention,"Psakitoldreporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where Biden and first lady Jill Biden held a "Friendsgiving" celebration with military service members and their families.

Psakis comment follows reports that Bidens allies are seeking to calm concerns about his age and plummeting poll numbers, which have been compounded by the devastating gubernatorial election loss for theDemocratsin Virginia that is being interpreted as a referendum on his presidency.

Emmer said on Sunday that Biden "can run againin 2024 if thats what he wantsto do, but hes going to lose."

He then stressed that the reason Democrats are going to lose is because "prices are up for everything andpaychecks are down" and "theyre responsible for thiscrime wave," but are "doing nothing to solveit."

Emmer also argued that Democrats are "responsible forchaos on our southern border" and the "incompetence" as it pertains to the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan the "ridiculous political ploy torelease 50 million barrels ofoil from the strategic petroleumoil reserve."

"Its just one incompetent moveafter another," he continued.

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"The incompetence that weve seensince the beginning of the yearis causing serious problems formiddle class Americans, franklyfor the country as a whole," Emmer added.

Fox News Paul Steinhauser and Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.

Link:

Rep. Emmer on why Democrats will 'lose' in next elections: 'One incompetent move after another' - Fox News

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Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, the 85-year-old Texas Democrat, who recently announced that she will not seek reelection, said in an interview that party infighting over President Bidens social spending bill contributed to her decision.

Johnson told CBS DFW on Tuesday that the decision was not easy and some leaders were asking that she reconsider. But she told the station that she is getting older, and also pointed to the fight over Bidens social spending bill.

"You begin to question the why when you get to a point where our party is not as together as youd like it to be, like youve experienced," she said. Her office did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from Fox News.

CHAD PERGRAM: BIDEN'S SPENDING BILL IS A DRAMA IN 4 ACTS

Her decision not to run for reelection prompted representatives from both sides of the aisle to praise her service. Rep. Frank D. Lucas, R-Okla., served with her on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.

The Washington Post reported that he issued a statement that said there is no one hed "rather have as my counterpart across the aisle."

He called her a "true public servant" who cares deeply about supporting science in the U.S.

"Shes an old-school legislator who cares more about results than headlines, and I respect that deeply," he said.

House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson delivers remarks during an event honoring NASA's "Hidden Figures," African American women mathematicians who helped the United States' space program in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Getty)

Johnson is a political fixture in her hometown of Dallas, where early in her career she became the first Black woman to serve the city in the state Senate since Reconstruction.

Johnson on Wednesday endorsed Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Crockett to take her seat just days after announcing her intentions to retire.

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Crockett, a first-term state representative, made headlines in July as part of the group of Texas lawmakerswho fled to Washington, D.C., in an attempt to block a vote on the state Republicans elections integrity bill, which eventually passed and was signed into law in September.

Fox News' Jessica Chasmar and the Associated Press contributed to this report

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Democrat infighting over spending bill contributed to decision to retire, Texas Dem says - Fox News

Prentiss Smith| Shreveport Times

Today, the country is dealing with high inflation that can be seen at the gas pump, with prices almost $1.25 cents higher than it was at this time last year. Food prices are soaring, and prices on other essentials are as high as they have been in two decades. The Biden administration cant explain this away with simple answers and platitudes. This is happening on the Democrats watch, and whether it is fair or not, the party in charge gets the blame.

Inflation is a political death nail for the party in power, and it has to be acknowledged and tackled. Democrats have to acknowledge that they are not blameless in the increase in prices for almost everything. Yes, the supply chain delays are a problem, but too much money in the system is also a problem, and Democrats need to listen to its more moderate members who are concerned with inflation.

Back in the middle of the summer, which now seems like a lifetime ago, Joe Biden was riding high with decent approval ratings, and overall goodwill from the American people. Then, a perfect storm happened in the way of the Delta 3 Covid variant and the steady rise in prices for gas and food. Combine that with the intra-party fight among Democrats over the passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure bill in the house, and you end up with an angry electorate.

That bipartisan infrastructure bill was passed in the U.S. Senate with nineteen Republicans voting for it, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. It was a historic achievement just by virtue of the fact that Democrats and Republicans dont vote together on anything these days. The angst between the parties, especially in the House of Representatives is as toxic as it can be, and the toxicity is not expected to improve over the next year heading toward the midterm elections a year from now.

So, the point is that when you have 69 Republicans and Democrats agreeing on a policy issue, you immediately pass that bill and get it to the Presidents desk for signature, unless you are a group of Democratic progressives who want to hold that bill hostage for another bill. Those progressives decided in their caucus that the historic bipartisan infrastructure bill that had just passed in the Senate with 69 votes, should be held up until the other bill passed. Their actions or inaction proved to be a flawed strategy, and the cause of the voters rebuking them at the polls. Democrats were eating their own, and it was ugly. Their actions hurt the party, and it hurt the President politically.

The American people looked at all of the chaos in the Democrat Party, and they soured on the party, and on the man at the top, Joe Biden. In the middle of July, President Bidens approval rating was consistently in the low to middle fifties, and Americans were generally satisfied with his performance. But then Democrats started to fight among themselves over the two infrastructure bills, one being the just passed hard infrastructure bill for roads and bridges, and the other one being the social spending infrastructure bill. Voters are not interested in the process; they are interested in the results.

Initially, Democrats wanted to spend an exorbitant amount of money in the range of 6 trillion dollars, that is trillion with a t, and then they settled on 3.5 trillion, which was still too high for moderate Democrats, specifically Joe Manchin from West Virginia and Kristen Sinema from Arizona. They balked at the price tag, and let it be known to the progressive caucus. While all of this was happening, Democrats were losing their standing with the American people, and Joe Bidens approval ratings were taking a nosedive. Between mid-June and today, his approval ratings have dropped an average of 16 points, and it proved to be an anchor for candidates in the recent elections in New Jersey and Virginia.

The truth is that Joe Manchin, who is extremely close to President Biden, saved Democrats from themselves, but at a political cost to the party and to President Biden. The public fighting between Democrats turned voters off, and they responded with a rebuke of Democrats during the elections three weeks ago. Americans didnt like the sausage making that they were seeing, and that is evident in the negative standing of Democrats with the American electorate right now. Democrats are down double digits in the generic vote right now, and that forbodes of a difficult mid-term election for the party.

Finally, Democrats in the House did pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill, and it went to the Presidents desk, but not before their intramural and interparty fight had taken Joe Bidens approval rating to the lowest, they have been in his presidency, along with the approval ratings of his Vice-President, which are at a historical low right now.

In retrospect, there is no doubt that Democrats should have passed the bipartisan bill in the house, and sent it directly to the Presidents desk for signing. Progressives were fighting to keep the bills coupled, but in the end, they ended up being uncoupled anyway.

It was a strategic mistake that Democrats are surely to pay a political price for, despite all of the good things that have happened over the last ten months, with respect to vaccines, increased job creation, and wage hikes. They dont get the credit for the good things, but they do get the blame for bad things, and that is just the nature of politics in America today. Democrats tarnished their brand during ugly infrastructure fight, which will certainly be a factor in the 2022 and 2024 election cycles. And thats my take. smithpren@aol.com

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Democrats tarnished their brand during ugly infrastructure fight - Shreveport Times

In a year defined by media narratives portraying Democrats in disarray, it can be tempting to think that the party is defined solely by its work in Washington. And while pundits are keen to focus on President Bidens congressional setbacks, a myopic focus on the Beltway ignores the broader Democratic agenda unfolding in states and cities across the country.

Unfortunately for Biden and the Democratic Party, voters across the country are frustrated by what they view as a lack of progress by Congress on key elements of Bidens popular Build Back Better spending plan, not to mention the internal party frustrations around the Biden teams de-prioritization of criminal justice reform and voting rights earlier in the summer.

As we sit down for an increasingly politically polarized Thanksgiving with friends and family, lets break down five victories Democrats can be thankful for this holiday season.

Democrats put maternal health in the spotlight

Ask the average American about whats in Democrats sweeping $1.75-trillion-over-a-decade Build Back Better spending plan and theyre likely to paint a picture in the broadest strokes: free preschool, an expansion of the child tax credit and tax hikes on the wealthy. Lost in the bills details are Rep. Lauren UnderwoodLauren UnderwoodFive victories Democrats can be thankful for For Democrats it should be about votes, not megaphones Black Caucus emerges as winner in spending package MOREs (D-Ill.) historic investments for mothers, including critical funding for Black maternal health in a nation where Black moms die during pregnancy at nearly four times the rate of their white counterparts.

Im thankful that the Build Back Better Act includes historic investments in maternal health equity, Underwood told me. Extending mandatory Medicaid coverage to a full year postpartum and my Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act represent the largest-ever investment in advancing maternal health equity, and Im proud that the House passed this legislation to save moms lives.

Criminal justice reform is winning in the states

Despite largely falling off Democrats national agenda over the summer, criminal justice and prosecutorial reform has remained one of state and local Democrats most effective campaign issues. And despite some embarrassing electoral setbacks earlier this month in Virginia, progressive prosecutors have largely succeeded in running and winning in closely-divided red and blue states.

In Philadelphia, District Attorney Larry Krasner sailed to a second term by a two-to-one margin, running up the score against a GOP challenger who made tough on crime the centerpiece of his campaign. In ruby-red Norfolk, Va., voters elected a progressive who described crime as a symptom of structural racism and vowed to further separate drug offenses from prison sentences. Democrats should be heartened that a majority of Americans, including some Republicans, agree: A recent Gallup survey revealed that over 60 percent of Americans favored addressing social and economic problems to lower crime instead of stuffing our overburdened jails with minor offenders.

Congress gets it together to pass historic infrastructure spending

In case you didnt hear, Democrats and Republicans briefly called a truce in their no-holds-barred war against cooperation to pass a historic $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. The transformational package touches on nearly every piece of the aging infrastructure holding our country together, including $550 billion in new funding for roads, bridges, broadband internet and more efficient delivery of utilities.

The bill also represents public validation for Bidens dreams of bipartisan collaboration, which many in the Democratic Party considered out of touch and wishful thinking in an era of record high political tribalism. If Democrats can find their voices and sell the bipartisan plans expansive offerings to voters who will be immediately helped by them, they will enter a bruising 2022 midterm election cycle with a positive, results-driven message.

Congress provided the raw materials for that campaign now Democrats will need to package Bidens big reforms into a narrative more compelling than dryly reciting the bills big topline spending numbers.

COVID-19 mass vaccination efforts are succeeding

Despite politically polarized resistance to COVID-19 vaccination driven by an unprecedented wave of irresponsible fearmongering by leading GOP officials, the United States has made incredible progress deploying a safe and effective vaccine to tens of millions of people. Nearly 200 million Americans have been fully vaccinated, and nearly 70 percent of people have received at least one vaccine dose. With over 452 million vaccine doses administered, Biden and Democrats can lay claim to the fastest, largest vaccination rollout in human history. And the effects are real.

Imagine if this whole response was being run by the same people who bungled everything in 2020 and are now leading the anti-vax pushes that are killing thousands, said Aaron Fritschner, deputy chief of staff and communications director for Virginia Rep. Don Beyer. [At Thanksgiving] a year ago, I couldnt see my family safely. It feels like such a blessing.

Senate Democrats are repairing Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellRepublicans seem set to win the midterms unless they defeat themselves Graham emerges as go-to ally for Biden's judicial picks Five reasons for Biden, GOP to be thankful this season MOREs GOP-packed judiciary

Senate Republicans packed a record number of hard-right conservative jurists onto the federal bench during Mitch McConnells (R-Ky.) tenure as Senate majority leader. Lefty pundits (including your columnist) urged Democrats to follow the McConnell playbook by rapidly accelerating the pace of judicial confirmations ahead of a possible 2022 Red Wave election cycle. To the surprise of many progressives, the Biden administration agreed, putting Democrats on pace to appoint federal judges even faster than President Trump, or any other president.

Part of Bidens seat-filling success comes from continuing the Trump-era tradition of largely ignoring the objections of senators from the states in which judges are being nominated. But that isnt the only reason: Biden has also made it a priority to fill the 108 Article III vacancies currently spread across the judiciary by nominating a record-number of candidates and fast-tracking almost every single one. The end result will be a judiciary still tilted to the right, but pulled back significantly from its far-right Trumpist extremes.

Republican obstruction is doing an excellent job of slowing long overdue national change. But that doesnt mean Democrats are empty-handed in this season of giving thanks. Even if the Congress-focused Beltway media rarely look beyond the East Coast, Democrats can raise a banner of thanks and celebration for rolling out signature victories in Washington and across the country.

MaxBurnsis a Democratic strategist and founder of Third Degree Strategies, a progressive communications firm. Follow him on Twitter @themaxburns.

Link:

Five victories Democrats can be thankful for | TheHill - The Hill

Democrats now assert theirbailout of multiemployer union pension plans in MarchsAmerican Rescue Plan Act was deeply flawed and are demanding the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) rescue multiemployer union pension plans from the acts botched rescue. Democrats admission this bailout will cost much more than advertised should raise concerns about thereal costs of the thirdmassivebill they are rushing to enact this year with newsocial spending schemes.

The American Rescue Plan Act provided an $86 billion taxpayer bailout to some multiemployer union pension plans, according to theCongressional Budget Office, but not enough to make them solvent. Eligible plans will only be given enough money intended to fully pay benefits through 2051, leaving them no assets to meet remaining pension promises (incurred both before and after the act). Even lasting until 2051 can only happen if the acts questionable assumptions hold true which is extremely unlikely as the senators who wrote the bill are now complaining.

This is because Democrats entangled themselves in the web of multiemployer union pension plans financial alchemy and based the bailout onoptimistic hypothetical investment returns, instead of the market value of liabilities. Plans use this sleight of hand to value pensions at less than half of cost and is a key reason multiemployer union pension plans, along withstate and local government pensions, are severely underfunded to begin with.

Majority Leader Charles SchumerChuck SchumerSchumer mourns death of 'amazing' father Feehery: The honest contrarian Biden administration to release oil from strategic reserve: reports MORE (D-N.Y.) is leading several Democratic senators in a letter demanding PBGC rewrite the flawed rescue to provide untold billions more in taxpayer handouts. Their primary grievance is that acts bailout is based on 5.5 percent annual investment returns, which PBGC is correctly insisting on. Democrats imposed this requirement in order to misleadingly claim they were saving multiemployer union pension plans through 2051, without providing enough taxpayer funds to do so. But, as Democrats now acknowledge, such returns are very unlikely given market conditions.

To prevent the pension plans from speculating with taxpayer funds, which even Democrats realized was especially unseemly, the act requires multiemployer union pension plans to invest taxpayer funds in investment-grade bonds unless PBGC allows other investments. The return on such bonds is only around 2-3 percent, which means the plans will need much higher returns on other investments in order to hit 5.5 percent and pay promises through 2051. Schumer wants PBGC to ignore the American Rescue Plan Act and lower the rate to take into account the lower returns on safe investments.

PBGC could arguably allow risky investments that may achieve higher returns and give plans a better chance at lasting until 2051, but that also increases the chance of running out of money much sooner. Even the letter effectively recognizes the fundamental financial principle that risky investments do not magically lower the cost of pensions, as it urges PBGC to use a rate lower than provided by the act, even if PBGC allows risky investments.

Forcing taxpayers to bailout plans using 5.5 percent is offensive given multiemployer union pension plans made promises based on 7 percent or 8 percent,thus collecting less than half the contributions needed from employers. The American Rescue Plan Act did nothing to protect workers, retirees and taxpayers by requiring plans to accurately measure promises going forward. Schumer demanding PBGC take more from taxpayers by lowering the acts rate while allowing multiemployer union pension plans to make new promises at less than half their cost is the height of chutzpah. The bailout creates atremendous moral hazard giving multiemployer union pension plans the upside of the severe risks they continue to take while subjecting taxpayers to the downside.

In July, PBGC estimated the cost of the bailoutat $8 billion more than CBO. In September, it increased the score yet again to$97.2 billion, while projecting that the final cost may be far higher. Absent fundamental reforms, future bailouts for American Rescue Plan Act plans past 2051, and for other plans, will be many times that. PBGC estimated that circumventing the 2051 limitation, as some are requesting,may multiply the score by four.

To limit the cost, the plans bailout only includes multiemployer union pension plans in the worst condition, but not other severely underfunded plans. Total multiemployer union pension plan underfunding skyrocketed to$757 billion in 2018 according to the latest PBGC data, withmore than 95 percent of the systems10.9 million participants in plans that are less than 60 percent funded.

The Democratic senators accuse PBGC of repeating the very mistakes that have undermined the pensions for decades by limiting the size of the bailout, but it is the statute written by Democrats and their Big Labor allies that doubles down on those mistakes instead of providing needed reforms. The letter accuses PBGC of wrongfully limiting bailout assistance based on a 5.5 percent assumption that has failure baked in the cake, but Democrats required that assumption. And Democrats refuse to stop multiemployer union pension plans andstate and local government plans from using 7 percent oreven 8 percent assumptions even more likely to fail, thus further endangering workers, retirees and taxpayers.

Aharon Friedman is a director and senior tax counsel at the Federal Policy Group and formerly served as senior adviser and senior tax counsel at the Treasury Department and the Committee on Ways & Means. Follow him on Twitter: @76redwhiteblue

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Democrats want to rescue union pensions from the party's failed bailout plan | TheHill - The Hill

The attention of the political world is beginning to shift to the midterm elections, now less than one year away.

President BidenJoe BidenGOP eyes booting Democrats from seats if House flips Five House members meet with Taiwanese president despite Chinese objections Sunday shows preview: New COVID-19 variant emerges; supply chain issues and inflation persist MORE and the Democrats face an uphill climb to hold on to their tiny majorities in Congress. The party that holds the White House usually loses seats in the first midterm elections and Bidens approval ratings are poor.

But a lot can happen in almost 12 months. Here are five big issues that will reverberate between now and Election Day 2022.

COVID-19

The pandemic is still the most important issue facing the nation, because of both its direct health effects and the way it ripples through other areas, notably the economy.

COVID-19 cases have begun to rise again but they are nowhere close to their all-time high, which occurred early this year.

During the worst of the pandemic in January, around 250,000 new cases of COVID-19 were being diagnosed every day. Now, the figure is closer to 90,000, according to New York Times data.

The Biden administration had made huge progress with vaccinations and the presidents handling of COVID-19 has consistently been the issue on which he polls most strongly.

In aWashington Post/ABC News poll earlier this month, 47 percent of Americans approved of Bidens conduct of the battle against COVID-19, by comparison with the 41 percent who approved of his overall job performance.

But the pandemic has been characterized by its unpredictability something that has been underlined yet again by the emergence of the omicron variant.

The U.S. will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other African nations starting Monday. The UK, the European Union, Canada and Israel are also imposing restrictions.

The electorate already appears frustrated by the sheer length of the battle against the pandemic and the massive disruptions it has caused to work, schooling and other aspects of daily life.

If the nation is definitively moving past the pandemic by spring, it would be great political news for Biden and his party. But serioussetbacks, from omicron or future variants, would likely spell doom.

Inflation

Inflation hit its highest level in more than 30 years in October, coming in at a startling 6.2 percent. Everything from gas prices to grocery costs has spiked and the rise has exacted a significant toll on Bidens popularity.

ACBS News/YouGov pollreleased last Sunday found that 67 percent of Americans disapprove of Bidens handling of inflation. Eighty-two percent report that the items they usually buy have grown more expensive.

Biden is at pains to avoid appearing detached from the issue.

His last public speech before the Thanksgiving break, on Tuesday, announced the largest-ever release from the nations Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a move intended to ease gas prices. In a Saturday tweet, the president highlighted action that has eased congestion at ports. Earlier in November, Biden declared that taming inflation was a top priority for him.

But the problem is at least twofold: First, inflation is an inherently difficult problem to tackle without undercutting the economic recovery; second, the main tool in the fight the capacity to adjust interest rates is in the hands of the Federal Reserve, not the White House.

Republicans are blaming Democratic-led spending for inflation, while the president and his party colleagues insist it is a temporary problem caused by supply chain disruptions and the unique circumstances of the pandemic.

Much will depend on which of those explanations gets traction with the American public in the months ahead and whether inflation comes down anytime soon.

Trump

For all the tumult that former President TrumpDonald TrumpStowaway found in landing gear of plane after flight from Guatemala to Miami Kushner looking to Middle East for investors in new firm: report GOP eyes booting Democrats from seats if House flips MORE causes, the public view of him retains a remarkably consistent shape the Republican base adores him and much of the rest of the population detests him.

In a recentEconomist/YouGov poll, 84 percent of Republicans had a favorable view of Trump. Among the general population, that figure cratered to 39 percent, with 56 percent holding an unfavorable view.

The disapproval of Trump appears to be even more fervent than his support. In the Economist poll, 47 percent of the population said they had a very unfavorable view of him, more than twice as many as the 23 percent who had a very favorable perception.

The former president has stayed central to the political landscape, despite his incitement of the Jan. 6 insurrection an action that made him the only president in history to be twice impeached.

He is far and away the most popular politician in the country with Republican voters, and he would be the prohibitive favorite to become the 2024 GOP presidential nominee if he enters the race.

Trump also revels in using his muscle in internal GOP politics, backing primary candidates who have displayed their loyalty to him and these days disparaging Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellRepublicans seem set to win the midterms unless they defeat themselves Graham emerges as go-to ally for Biden's judicial picks Five reasons for Biden, GOP to be thankful this season MORE (R-Ky.) as an old crow on a regular basis.

Democrats believe Trumps prominence helps them, given that he is so broadly unpopular.

But there is a large question mark over whether fear of Trump is potent enough to motivate voters to turn out for Democrats especially when the former president is not on the ballot.

The strategy ostentatiously failed for Democrat Terry McAuliffeTerry McAuliffeFive reasons for Biden, GOP to be thankful this season BBB threatens the role of parents in raising and educating children Virginia's urgent lesson: Democrats' down-ballot enthusiasm gap MORE, who tried to get his old job back as governor of Virginia in November only to lose to GOP nominee Glenn YoungkinGlenn YoungkinFive reasons for Biden, GOP to be thankful this season Parnell exit threatens to hurt Trump's political clout Virginia's urgent lesson: Democrats' down-ballot enthusiasm gap MORE.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezAlexandria Ocasio-CortezGOP eyes booting Democrats from seats if House flips Greene: McCarthy 'doesn't have the full support to be Speaker' Omar calls out Boebert over anti-Muslim remarks, denies Capitol incident took place MORE (D-N.Y.) told The New York Times in an interview published last weekend: This notion that saying 'We're not Trump' is enough this is such a deeply demoralizing message.

Immigration

The nation and its partisan media landscape increasingly appears cleaved into different universes, and immigration is one of the clearest examples.

The topic receives only passing mentions on liberal-leaning cable news channels, where the chief concern is often whether enough is being done to help unauthorized immigrants who are already here.

Meanwhile, in conservative media, immigration controls are portrayed as hopelessly lax, and the issue more broadly is seen as an ongoing, frightening crisis.

Liberals may be being too complacent, politically and substantively.

Encounters between unauthorized migrants and border patrol agentsat the southern border reached their highest level in 21 years in July, when there were more than 213,000 such interactions. The numbers have dropped slightly but only slightly since then. In September, they stood at roughly 192,000.

The perception that the administration is not in control of the borders is deepened by high-profile episodes like the chaos seen in southern Texas in September, when thousands of mostly Haitian migrants amassed under a bridge in squalid conditions.

On the other side of the coin, progressives within the Democratic Party are eager to preserve a legislative measure within Bidens Build Back Better plan that would give about seven million unauthorized immigrants the right to live and work in the United States for two five-year periods.

The progressives argue that Latino voters, in particular, will be demoralized if the Democrats dont do enough to help others in their community acquire legal status.

One way or another, Bidens performance on immigration is another weak spot. AnAssociated Press/NORC pollreleased at the start of October found just 35 percent of the overall population and an unusually low 60 percent of Democrats approving of how he is handling the topic.

The upshot: Its likely that the more salient immigration is to next years campaign, the worse for Democrats.

Wokeness

What does it even mean? Lots of people vehemently disagree about the answer and therein lies part of the problem.

Conservatives, in particular, have thrown together a loose collection of divisive social issues under the label.

Broadly, wokeness has come to represent a set of attitudes that include a view of racism as systemic in the United States; strong backing for transgender rights; a hypersensitivity about language, especially as it pertains to minority groups; and a desire to fundamentally reform the police.

There are reasons conservatives like to fight on this battlefield.

The slogan Defund the Police polls catastrophically.

A backlash from conservative-minded parents over the perceived radicalism of school curricula helped Youngkin to win his gubernatorial race last month.

An Atlantic magazine/Leger surveyin October found 56 percent of Americans agreeing that the country is becoming too politically correct and only 15 percent disagreeing.

Democrats protest that the vast majority of their elected officials, including Biden, are staunchly opposed to defunding the police, and that the ultra-controversial critical race theory is rarely taught to anyone until college.

But the degree to which Democrats can rebut conservative attacks, and at least battle to a stalemate in the new culture wars, will be politically vital next November.

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Five issues that will define the months until the midterms | TheHill - The Hill