The Massachusetts Democrat pointed out that the chamber has “become a place where trivial issues get debated passionately and important ones not at all.”
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Offering asides, recommended links, blogworthy quotations, and more, In Brief is the Northwest Progressive Institute's microblog of world, national, and local politics.
The Massachusetts Democrat pointed out that the chamber has “become a place where trivial issues get debated passionately and important ones not at all.”
LaunchThe New Yorker’s Jonathan Blitzer on how the Ohio Republican built an insurgent bid for Speaker on the lies of Donald Trump.
Launch“Growing population in America’s highly educated enclaves has led to huge gains for the Democratic Party. And Republicans are scrambling for answers,” Politico’s Charlie Mahtesian and Madi Alexander write.
Launch“If we do the basic blocking and tackling of great field and GOTV work, and focus on executing an effective strategy for working-class voters, all the elements are in place for a big Democratic victory in 2024,” Mike Lux and Celinda Lake write.
Launch“After the chaos of the first week of the 118th Congress, many Americans wondered: If it took them 15 ballots just to choose a speaker, how could Republicans possibly govern? Now we know. They are going to govern by fantasy and legislate on the basis of fiction,” Dana Milbank writes.
Launch“Tuesday’s results showed that money isn’t all that counts in elections,” Alexander Sammon writes. “Big spending matters, but the progressive policy vision continues to excite voters enough to overcome major fundraising deficits, and with just two major primary days in the books, the Squad already looks poised to add two members. Progressives look competitive both in open seats and in primaries, both of which will be critical to shaping the Democratic caucus for years to come.”
Launch“Dozens of voting members of the Democratic National Committee met Friday to organize a new voting bloc to push for changes to the internal governance of the national party and send more money to state party groups,” The Washington Post’s Michael Scherer reports.
Launch“According to statistics from the Brookings Institution and CQ Roll Call’s own calculations, the 116th Congress was actually the most productive since the 80th in 1947–48, the farthest back Brookings’ data goes,” Jim Saksa writes for CQ Roll Call.
LaunchDemocratic pollster Stanley Greenberg writes: “The Republican threat to America’s constitutional experiment has led me to ask: What is our plan to save it? Here’s mine.”
Launch“Republicans will claim they’re on the side of parents and family values, but they will do nothing for actual parents … nothing on child care, nothing on paid leave … they’ll ban books but do nothing about guns,” Clinton said.
Launch“According to the Miami Herald’s tally, 5,428 people’s party affiliation changed between the October and January registration files. Many of the changes were concentrated in multi-family residential buildings, often low-income housing, raising questions about whether the changes are part of a targeted effort,” reporters Bianca Padró Ocasio and Claudia Chacin write.
Launch“He clearly doesn’t care about being labeled a hypocrite. It just doesn’t bother him. He is brazen about it. That’s one of the cynical sides of Mitch. He doesn’t care. If it’s expedient, he’ll do it,” U.S. Representative John Yarmuth said.
Launch“The reality is that politics is complex and somewhat unpredictable — with a lot of voters who are regularly changing or just forming views on issues and also changing who they vote for or whether they vote in the first place,” Perry Bacon Jr. writes.
Launch“The neoliberal order seems to be collapsing. A generation of young activists is trying to insure that it’s replaced by progressive populism, not by the fascist right,” Andrew Marantz writes for The New Yorker.
LaunchMany in the Republican Party want public policy that is explicitly tied to fundamentalist Judeo-Christian religious beliefs. But they don’t even practice what they preach.
LaunchThe move signifies that Biden is a team player committed to the Democratic Party. In 2009, Barack Obama and his advisers chose to keep campaign data in the hands of a semi-separate outfit called Organizing For America.
LaunchSpeaking to The Washington Post, Amy Edmonds explained what has happened to her since she started questioning Donald Trump’s deep web of lies following the 2020 presidential election.
Launch“Increasingly the Democratic Party is divided into two camps: those who favor the ideas of Warren/AOC/Sanders now, versus those who will favor these same Warren/AOC/Sanders ideas in 3-4 years, when those ideas are more in the political consensus,” Perry Bacon Jr. writes.
Launch“Twenty-nine Democratic National Committee members have joined a call for structural reforms to increase transparency and ensure fairness in the nominating process,” David Moore writes.
LaunchWriter Edward-Issac Dovere takes a look at the Democratic Party’s plan to win the Wolverine State in 2020 after losing to Donald Trump by less than 11,000 votes in 2016, which emphasizes facets of big organizing and local control.
LaunchA Slate columnist says that Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is taking an increasing number of progressive positions, aligning himself with Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, and Ron Wyden, and going further than Joe Biden has in embracing policy directions we need.
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