Menendez Won’t Run as Democrat

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) says he will not run for re-election this November as a Democrat, The New York Times reports. Menendez, indicted on federal charges as a central figure in an international bribery scheme, has until early June to decide whether he will run as an independent. Until then, Menendez can continue to raise money to pay for legal services for his wife, who is also charged in the scheme, and himself.

"I am hopeful that my exoneration will take place this summer and allow me to pursue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election," he said. Democrats running for the nomination include Rep. Andy Kim and Tammy Murphy, wife of Gov. Philip Murphy (D).

•••

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Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has no primary challengers in his bid for a fourth term this November. But there are three Republicans vying for the nomination in Tuesday’s Ohio primary, and a Democratic Party-aligned group, Duty and Country, is pulling for the most MAGA among them, according to The New York Times.

Duty and Country has put about $2.7 million into an Ohio ad campaign calling businessman Bernie Moreno “ultraconservative” and aligned with Donald J. Trump (see “Trump’s Latest Rally” in the center column) in the hopes the new Republican core will nominate him Tuesday, only to be set up for a loss against Brown in November. It has worked before.

Moreno also has the backing of Ohio’s junior senator, Republican J.D. Vance, although another of the three, Ohio Secretary of State Franklin LaRose, also is “aligned” with Trump. Ohio state Sen. Matt Dolan is considered a more “traditional” Republican, a moderate that could work with both sides of the aisle, as Brown often has done.

In addition to Ohio, primaries will be held in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Kansas Tuesday.

•••

Help us promote The Hustings as a safe, civil, no-echo chamber news site where left and right can disagree politely. Voice your opinion in the COMMENT section in this column or the column on the right, appropriate for your political leanings. Or you can email editors@thehustings.news and please indicate whether you consider yourself “red”/conservative, or “blue”/liberal, in the subject line so we post your comments in the appropriate column.

_____

IPO, meanwhile…

HOLD STEADY FED: The Federal Reserve will cut its interest rate, but not yet. Chairman Jerome Powell indicated there will be three cuts later this year. “Inflation is still too high,” Powell said Wednesday. “Ongoing progress on bringing it down is not assured, and the path forward is still uncertain.” For now, the Federal Open Market Committee “will keep the interest rate unchanged and continue to reduce our security holdings,” Powell said.

Terrorist Attack on Moscow -- Two to five gunmen attacked a concert hall outside Russia's capitol late Friday, with at least 40 dead and more than 100 injured, NPR reports. Fire has broken out in the hall with some attending a concert by the group Piknik trapped in the building. Kyiv is denying claims by some Russian officials of any complicity. "Ukraine certainly had nothing to do with the shooting in Crocus City Hall," an aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement. "It make no sense whatsoever." Kyiv Post has photos and video here.

•••

Sacrificial Speaker? -- After the House passed the 1,012-page, $1.2-trillion omnibus spending bill, 286-134 Friday afternoon, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a motion to vacate Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). At least he got as far as funding the federal government through September 30, though there is still no future aid for Ukraine's defense against Russia.

"This will be the fall of Mike Johnson for allowing this bill to happen and not fighting for and defending our southern border," MTG said Friday on Steve Bannon's War Room show (per CQ Roll Call).

In passage of the omnibus, 101 Republicans and all but 22 House Democrats voted for the bill, Roll Call reports, leaving the Senate scrambling to hold its vote before that part of the budget expires at midnight.

Majority minus one more: Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) announced he will resign from Congress on April 19, says Roll Call, leaving the GOP with just 217 House members, a one-seat margin over Democrats. The four-term congressman, who as chair of the Select Committee on China co-sponsored the bipartisan bill calling on ByteDance to sell or close down TikTok in the U.S., made his announcement on Rep. Ken Block's (R-CO) last day. While California and Ohio will hold special elections to replace their early House retirements later this year, and New York next month will hold a special election to replace ousted Republican Rep. George Santos (the GOP is expected to lose the seat), Wisconsin law leaves Gallagher's seat unfilled until the November 5 election.

•••

UPDATE -- Shareholders of a shell corporation have agreed to buy Donald J. Trump's Truth Social, The Guardian reports. Now it's up to Trump to work a deal to free $454 million to pay his fine in the New York civil fraud case, by Monday.

Trump Payday Friday? – Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp. will vote Friday on whether the shell company should acquire Donald J. Trump’s Truth Social and launch an initial public offering as early as next week and raise sufficient cash for the former president to pay his $454 million fine for his New York civil fraud case, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. Though apparently inspired by Reddit’s IPO this week, the “backdoor listing,” a much different sort of public offering. It would bring in an estimated $3 billion for Trump, who would be required to hold on to his share of more than 50% for at least six months. The stock listing would be “DJT.” Trump could potentially make a “side deal” to loosen enough cash to pay his fine by Monday, and we’ll go out on a limb here and say that you can count on that.

Truth Social earned just $3 million in the first nine months of 2023, according to the report, and lost nearly $50 million. 

•••

Cease-fire Efforts – The U.S. is expected to introduce a resolution before the United Nations late Friday calling for “an immediate and sustained cease-fire” in the Israeli-Hamas war, The New York Times reports, after Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Tel Aviv to urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from invading Rafah. Meanwhile, CIA Director William J. Burns met with mediators in Qatar in an endeavor to broker that elusive ceasefire.

•••

‘Round Midnight – Here’s what must happen to a $1.24 trillion spending package before midnight Friday if a partial government shutdown is to be avoided, according to The Washington Post: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) must try to suspend House rules requiring two-thirds vote to pass the omnibus package there and avoid blockage from the MAGA Freedom Caucus. If Johnson can pull that off early Friday, he’ll need “substantial” support from House Democrats. Then, the Senate must “hastily engineer” a full vote before midnight and schlep the bill to the White House, where President Biden will surely sign it. 

If Congress can’t meet the midnight deadline but can manage to pull themselves together before Monday, effects of a partial shutdown could be “minimal,” according to WaPo.

--TL

___________________________________________

THURSDAY 3/21/24

Plugging In – The Environmental Protection Agency called for 30% to 56% of new cars and light trucks to be battery-electric vehicles by model years 2030-32, in its final ruling on new emissions standards issued Wednesday. While this is by far the strictest clampdown on greenhouse gas emissions ever by the federal government, subject to a quick reversal if Donald J. Trump wins the November election, it is an easing of the Biden EPA’s initial proposal issued last April. 

That standard would have mandated about two-thirds of new vehicles sold in the U.S. be BEVs by 2032. This adjusted standard, which becomes law when it is published in the Federal Register allows automakers to tackle the “zero-emissions” mandate with a combination of BEVs, which they have coming in bigger numbers by the end of the decade anyway, and plug-in hybrid vehicles, which have become more popular as EV demand has leveled a bit. The ramp-up between model years 2027 and 2030 also is not as steep. Easing of the standard without giving in to Big Oil has the support of automakers and of the United Auto Workers, whose president, Shawn Fain, endorsed President Biden in January.

--TL

________________________________________

WEDNESDAY 3/20/24

Restrict Aid to Israel? – As Israeli troops prepare to invade Rafah in an effort to root out four Hamas battalions, some House Democrats is considering restricting military aid to Israel if it fails to protect Palestinian civilians in the offensive.

“We have existing restrictions and laws that say those to whom we give financial support must use them in accordance with international law,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), a close ally of President Biden, told NPR’s Steve Inskeep Wednesday on Morning Edition. 

Israeli military officials were on their way to the Pentagon Wednesday to meet with U.S. officials. Coons said that Israel has the right and responsibility to protect and defend its citizens against Hamas, which still has four battalions in Rafah, but “we have to balance that need with the obligation to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian aid going into Gaza.”

•••

DeLuxe Tuesday – Trump-endorsed businessman Bernie Moreno won Ohio’s Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate Tuesday, beating Frank LaRose and moderate Matt Dolan, who was endorsed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, after “some Democrat meddling” by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), per Semafor. Brown is himself a moderate who would rather run for re-election against the Maga-iest of GOP challengers. This is considered the biggest race for November 5 aside from Trump v. Biden.

President Biden won Tuesday’s five primary states with at least 83% of the vote and Donald J. Trump had at least 75% of the vote, according to The New York Times.

Arizona: Though out of the race, Nikki Haley grabbed 18.7%, her best showing Tuesday. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis got 1.6% in the GOP presidential race, leaving Trump with 77.9%. 

Ohio: Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who has dropped out of the Democratic race for president and has since endorsed Biden, got 13% of the vote here (NYT).

Kansas: More than 10% of Democratic primary voters chose “none of the names.”

Meanwhile, in California: No candidate reached the 50% threshold for an overall win to take former Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s seat Tuesday, though Republican state Assemblyman Vince Fong notches the primary win. The race for second was too close to call Wednesday morning. Fong will face either Republican Tulane County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux or teacher and Democrat Marisa Wood (NYT) November 5.

•••

Texas Law Blocked Again – Some five hours after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed temporary application of Texas SB 4 while it makes its way through the judicial system, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth District blocked it, The Washington Post reports. SB 4 would give Texas officials the authority to deport immigrants caught crossing the border. The Mexican government has said it would not accept anyone sent back by Texas. Critics of SB 4 say it would encourage separation of families and spur racial profiling.

•••

I’ve Got an Omnibus Bill and I Want Funding Now – Lawmakers want the six-bill omnibus agreed upon by House and Senate leaders in both parties to come to the floor by Wednesday, but it is not likely to happen until Thursday, Punchbowl News. That means a partial government shutdown as Congress puts in some hours this weekend.

--TL

____________________________________________

TUESDAY 3/19/24

We Have a FY24 Budget – Almost. White House officials and the four congressional leaders reached a deal on Homeland Security funding Monday to finish off the budget for the current fiscal year. An omnibus bill to make its way through Congress and on to President Biden’s desk includes the remaining spending bills, for Defense, Labor-HHS, the Legislative Branch, Financial Services-General Government, and State Department-Foreign Operations, according to Punchbowl News. 

So the federal government will be funded right on up to September 30, when kick-the-can begins all over again. Except … CQ Roll Call notes that the voting process on these spending bills could go into the weekend, after their Friday deadline, and create a short shutdown before Biden can apply his John Hancock. 

•••

What’s That Golden Escalator Worth? – A court filling Monday by Donald J. Trump’s attorneys says the former president was unable to secure an appeal bond to cover his $454 million judgment in a civil fraud case, after “diligent efforts” to approach about 30 bond companies, The New York Times reports. As of Tuesday, Trump has six days to raise the cash before the New York attorney general could seize his New York properties and freeze his bank accounts. 

Trump will still have Mar-a-Lago. He assured the court during the civil trial he has the liquidity to pay the fine, but that statement now appears to be as questionable as the valuation of his New York properties over the years, which is what got him into this pickle in the first place. Perhaps a second production run of golden tennis shoes?

Trump did manage to post $91.6 million for E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case this month at “the eleventh hour,” with the money coming from a large insurance company, the NYT says.

‘Out of his control’… “He is really angry right now,” former Trump personal attorney/fixer Michael Cohen told CNN’s Kaitlyn Collins on The Source. “That’s what happens when Donald gets frustrated; he gets angry. When there’s a situation that is completely out of his control. And we do know that it is out of his control.”

While Trump appears to have the upper hand delaying his criminal cases, including Mar-a-Lagogate, the federal January 6thinsurrection case and the Fulton County election interference case, this civil case -- which could break up the former president’s real estate holdings -- arguably is his greatest fear.

Speaking of, uh, banks…Donald J. Trump is considering hiring his 2016 campaign manager, Paul Manafort, for a role in this year’s campaign – possibly in charge of fundraising, The Washington Post reports. During his administration, Trump pardoned Manafort for bank and tax fraud convictions, so at least he has some experience in this area. Manafort was also accused of hiding millions of dollars he made consulting for pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians.

•••

Censuring Socials? – A majority of Supreme Court justices appeared to back the Biden administration’s argument that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals went too far in blocking the White House, FBI, CDC and other federal agencies from asking social media outlets from removing certain content -- including “erroneous information” about COVID-19, foreign interference into elections or such election information as where to find a polling place -- for violating the First Amendment, NPR’s Nina Totenberg reported on All Things Considered. 

“I’ve experienced government press people throughout the federal government who regularly call up the media and berate them,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, said. 

“Like Justice Kavanaugh, I’ve had some experience encouraging press to suppress their own speech,” said Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee. “’You just wrote a story that’s filled with factual errors. Here are the 10 reasons you shouldn’t do that again.’ This happens literally thousands of times per day in the federal government.”

A government official contacting social media companies even to encourage suppression amounts to unconstitutional pressure, Louisiana Solicitor Gen. Benjamin Aguinaga countered. 

“Just plain vanilla encouragement, or does it have to be significant encouragement?” Justice Amy Coney Barrett said in response to Aguinaga. “Because encouragement would sweep in an awful lot.”

Aguinaga had no clear response for this, Totenberg reported.

--TL

____________________________________________

MONDAY 3/18/24

Putin 'Wins' Again -- Vladimir Putin grabbed another six-year term for president of Russia with 87.3% of the vote, Politico reports, though not without protests urged by the late dissident leader Alexei Navalny. 

Long lines of Russians formed Sunday, the third and final day of voting, in such cities as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Tomsk and Novosibirsk, to vote against the dictator, in support of Navalny’s call for “Noon Against Putin” demonstrations, The Washington Post reports. 

Navalny died in prison last month. His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, wrote in her late husband’s name on her ballot at the Russian embassy in Berlin, where she voted, according to the BBC. 

Putin’s campaign included promises of new homes and cars for Russians who voted for him (per NPR’s All Things Considered Weekend). As of late Sunday, 50% of the vote had been counted. Putin had three challengers, none of whom criticized him (which means they probably are still alive and not in jail).

•••

Trump’s Latest Rally – It was in Vandalia, Ohio, where Donald J. Trump, who on Super Tuesday clinched the GOP presidential nomination for a third time, repeated demonstrably scary language about what will happen if he does not “win” the November election.

“Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath. That’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country,” Trump (who again claimed he defeated Barrack Obama in 2016) said, per The Guardian,

Many news outlets note that Trump was referring to the domestic auto industry, which has several factories in Ohio and which the former president said he would protect with a 100% tariff on import vehicles, according to NPR. Domestic auto factories and their workers would suffer the “bloodbath,” according to this excuse. Both Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on NBC’s Meet the Press and ex-Vice President Mike Pence on CBS’ Face the Nation gave Trump that “gimme” Sunday.

Trump also said this, according to The Guardian’s report: “I don’t think you’re going to have another election in this country, if we don’t win this election … Certainly not an election that’s meaningful.”

Biden spokesman James Singer said, “He wants another January 6th, but the American people are going to give him another election defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge.”

In Ohio, Trump repeated his claim that foreign countries are “emptying” prisons and mental institutions into the U.S. and called some immigrants “animals.”

“I don’t know if you call them ‘people.’ They’re not ‘people’, in my opinion. But I’m not allowed to say that because the radical left say that’s a terrible thing to say.”

Clearly, at his own rallies at least, Trump has been given permission to say such things.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Pence Won’t Back Trump

[NOTE to readers of Vortex Books & Comics newsletter: Welcome! Please come back often (we update weekdays), and comment on political issues and news of interest, whether you lean right or left. Scroll down to read how you can safely join our civil political discourse.]

Former Vice President Mike Pence does not back Donald J. Trump’s third campaign for the presidency. 

“It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year,” Pence told Martha McCallum on Fox News’ The Story last Friday. He said he will not vote for President Biden, either, but will keep his choice this November between himself and his secret ballot. 

“Look, I’m incredibly proud of the record of our administration. It was a conservative record that made America more prosperous, more secure and saw conservatives appointed to our court in a more peaceful world,” he said. 

Pence told McCallum his differences go beyond Trump’s belief that his vice president should not have confirmed the Electoral College vote for Biden on January 6th, 2021. Pence’s disagreements include Trump’s latest positions on the national debt, the “sanctity of human life” and getting tough on China (see HR 7521, the House bill to force ByteDance to sell TikTok).

When McCallum asked whether Pence, who ran for the GOP presidential nomination at the beginning of primary season, whether he might run as a third-party candidate, Pence replied; “I’m a Republican.”

•••

Help us promote The Hustings as a safe, civil, no-echo chamber news site where right and left can disagree politely. Voice your opinion in the COMMENT section in this column or the column on the left, appropriate for your political leanings. Or you can email editors@thehustings.news and please indicate whether you consider yourself “red”/conservative, or “blue”/liberal, in the subject line so we post your comments in the appropriate column.

_____

More on SOTU

This week RJ Caster voices his opinion on President Biden’s State of the Union address, in the right column.

The scrollbars to the immediate right of each column will get you to the bottom of each of those columns, individually. The scrollbar on the far right of the page scrolls down to previous days’ posts. 

Use the far-right scrollbar (which in this case, has nothing to do with position on the political horseshoe) to read last week’s comments on Biden’s SOTU address. 

A thorough, detailed column on President Biden's State of the Union address, by left-column contributing pundit Ken Zino, may be found in The Gray Area.

Pundit-at-large Stephen Macaulay’s “Beautiful Bloviation” is in the right column. Zino’s “Biden’s Call to Arms” is in the left column.

We welcome your comments on the State of the Union address or any other political news and issues we’ve covered recently (and some which we may not have covered). Email editors@thehustings.news and please a.) keep it civil and b.) use the email subject line to indicate whether you consider yourself “right” or “left” politically, so we can run your comments in the appropriate column.

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Trump Legal Scorecard

[CPI at 3.2% -- As some economists (and the Biden campaign) eagerly anticipate an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve sometime this year, the Consumer Price Index has ticked up to 3.2% in February, from an annual rate of 3.1% in January, the Labor Department reports. That’s the wrong direction from the Fed’s target 2% rate. The month-over-month increase was 0.4%, with shelter and gas accounting for 60% of the increase. Energy was up 2.3%, while food, and food at home, was unchanged.]

IDES OF MARCH 2024

Fulton County, Georgia – Atlanta Judge Scott McAfee ruled Friday morning that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can remain on the election interference case against Donald J. Trump, but only if her former romantic partner, Nathan Wade, withdraws from the case …

Mar-a-Lagogate – U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon appears to have handed prosecutors in the confidential documents case against Trump a win by ruling against the ex-president’s attorneys’ motion that the Espionage Act behind the indictments are “unconstitutionally vague.” However, Newsweek notes that Trump appointee Cannon instructed his attorneys in the ruling that they should bring up the “unconstitutionally vague” argument in “connection with the jury instruction briefing” …

Hush Money Case – New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg says his office is willing to delay Trump’s hush money case after receiving late evidence from the U.S. attorney’s office, to give defense attorneys sufficient time for review. The trial was scheduled to begin March 25, and may now be delayed by 30 days.

--TL

•••

The Schumer-Netanyahu Split – After Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called for new Israeli elections on π day Thursday in frustration over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s intransigence on a ceasefire in Gaza, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took to the Senate floor to “remind” Schumer that Israel is not an American colony, calling his remarks “grotesque” and “unprecedented” (per Punchbowl News).

But just as Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition continues to consider Palestinians and their Hamas “leadership” in Gaza one and the same, so too do the staunchest U.S. supporters of Netanyahu refuse to distinguish between the Israeli government and the Jewish people. This despite the fact that even before the vicious, horrible Hamas attack October 7, Netanyahu was long-resistant to a two-state solution with Palestinians in Gaza.

Meanwhile ...

Gaza's health ministry has accused Israel's military of firing on Palestinians awaiting aid in Gaza, killing 20 and injuring 150, The Guardian reports. The Israeli military denies the reports.

Influencing our November election

In trying to save his own power, Netanyahu has helped to throw the November U.S. presidential election to Donald J. Trump, and he knows it. Biden has ceded substantial votes to “uncommitted” in the Michigan and Minnesota Democratic primaries as he tries to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza in vain. 

While Biden has known Netanyahu for a very long time, going back to his time in the Senate, Trump and Netanyahu had a closer relationship during the Trump administration – until Netanyahu congratulated Biden for his victory in 2020, which of course led Trump to criticize the Israeli prime minister for his “disloyalty.”

If Netanyahu continues to reject ceasefire in Gaza (it is necessary to note that Hamas has done very little to help, either) the Israeli prime minister might very well be able to make it up to Trump by congratulating him this November.

--Analysis by Todd Lassa

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THURSDAY π Day 2024

Schumer Calls for Israeli Elections -- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), wants Israel to hold new elections, saying its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has "lost his way" (per The Hill). "As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7," Schumer continued. "The world has changed -- radically -- since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past."

•••

VP to Abortion Clinic -- Vice President Kamala Harris visits a Twin Cities, Minnesota abortion clinic Thursday, Axios reports, a first-ever such appearance by a sitting veep according to the White House. 

•••

Meanwhile, in Ft. Pierce, Florida – Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon holds a hearing Thursday morning on two of the ex-president’s requests to dismiss his 40-count federal indictment in Mar-a-Lagogate. Donald J. Trump’s attorneys claim the section of the Espionage Act accusing him of mishandling classified documents and obstructing federal officials’ attempts to get them back to the National Archives Washington is “unconstitutionally vague as applied to President Trump,” The Washington Post reports. 

Meanwhile, in Fulton County, Georgia: Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee Wednesday dismissed three of 13 counts against Trump in the election interference case (per WaPo). Prosecutors may refile the charges, however.

•••

Schumer's Watch is Slow – The Senate may take its time in taking up the House bill passed Wednesday, 352-65, that would force ByteDance to sell its U.S. interest in TikTok, or face some sort of blockage or shutdown in the country. 

“The Senate will review the legislation when it comes over from the House,” CQ Roll Call quotes Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). 

This, despite obvious House urgency for the bill sponsored by Select China committee chair Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL). 

Not on Warner's watch: From its interview with Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), Semafor has a much different take on the upper-chamber's timing on the TikTok bill. "We're going into a 24-hour election cycle, where literally millions of Americans get a lot of their news from this site," said the chairman of the Senate Select committee. "And if that can be manipulated against American interests -- I don't care whether you're Democrat or Republican, that is not in America's interests."

The Trump factor: Politico reports of worry that billionaire Jeff Yass, who has a 15% stake in TikTok, has influenced Trump’s flip-flop on the issue, as he has since objected to removing the social media platform from the nation. Former Trump administration Senior Counselor Kellyanne Conway has signed on with Club for Growth to counter the push to ban TikTok on national security concerns. 

Our take: Two things. A.) It’s a notable shift if the Senate, and not the House, takes up Trump’s cause. But after all, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is now a solid Trump backer. B.) If ByteDance is forced to sell TikTok to an American entity or face shutdown, wouldn’t Yass be in the catbird seat to buy up the 85% he doesn’t already own?

--TL

____________________________________________

Tick...Tick...Tick...

WEDNESDAY 3/13/24

Rrrrring -- The House passed HR 7521 Wednesday morning, 352-65, (per The Hill) that would force ByteDance to divest U.S. interest in TikTok within 165 days. That clock doesn't start ticking until the Senate passes the bill. President Biden, whose re-election campaign has used the social media platform to reach young voters, is in favor of the bill and presumably will sign it.

How to Stop a Clock – The House is expected to pass HR 7521 Wednesday, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which would force China’s ByteDance to divest its U.S. interest in TikTok within 165 days over national security concerns, or face shut-down here. This, even though the House needs two-thirds majority to fast-track suspension of rules procedures that the Republican leadership plans to use, Punchbowl News reports, and even though the leader of the GOP, Donald J. Trump, has reversed his position calling for the social media phenomenon’s removal.

TikTok flip-flop: Much has been speculated about Trump’s reversal on TikTok. He proposed a ban in 2020, but more recently said that its shut-down here will give more power to Facebook, which a 2022 “documentary” blames for Trump’s 2020 re-election loss. One theory that sticks out more than most is that billionaire Jeff Yass, who has a “huge financial stake” in ByteDance according to Axios, has invited Trump to a retreat by Club for Growth, a conservative group that also opposes the ban. Yass has previously contributed $4.9 million to Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign.

Bonus social media gossip: Trump last summer asked The World’s Second-Richest Man Elon Musk whether he wanted to buy Truth Social, The Washington Post scoops Wednesday morning, citing two people “with knowledge” of the matter. Musk apparently demurred, but the conversation indicates an even closer relationship between the 91-times indicted ex-president and the owner of X than previously known.

•••

It’s … Trump v. Biden – In sports terms, the 2020 race would be Biden v. Trump, but however you put it, November’s presidential election is a rerun of the last. Ex-President Trump and President Biden both clinched their parties’ nominations Tuesday, winning primaries in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington. In addition, Donald J. Trump took the Hawaii Republican primary (Biden earlier won the state). 

Georgia on my mind: Pundits point to Georgia, the state where Trump begged for 11,780 extra votes in ’20. While Biden took 95.2% of the Democratic vote (Marianne Williamson, 3%, Rep. Dean Phillips, 1.8%) Trump took 84.2% of the Republican vote, with 13.2% going to Nikki Haley and 1.3% to Ron DeSantis. 

Democrats shouldn’t get too excited, though: Republican voter turnout in Georgia was more than twice that for the Democratic Party.

History: November will mark the seventh time in U.S. history that the two major party candidates will be the same as in the previous election. For those of you who are about to be contestants on Jeopardy! here are the previous six, according to Pew Research:

1952 and 1956: Dwight D. Eisenhower v. Adlai Stevenson.

1896 and 1900: William McKinley v. William Jennings Bryan.

1888 and 1892: Grover Cleveland v. Benjamin Harrison.

1836 and 1840: Martin Van Buren v. William Henry Harrison.

1824 and 1828: John Quincy Adams v. Andrew Jackson.

1796 and 1800: John Adams v. Thomas Jefferson.

•••

Not With Hur --  Perhaps it’s a sign of how well Robert K. Hur, special counsel on President Biden’s documents case, did his job that both Democrats and Republicans took shots at him in a congressional hearing Tuesday. Hur argued that he did not “exonerate” Biden in his report, and he defended his questioning of Biden’s memory, according to The Washington Post.

“I did not exonerate him. The word does not appear in the report, congresswoman,” he told Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).

Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) called him “part of the Praetorian Guard” preserving the Washington “swamp.”

Responding to a question by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) on the federal documents case against Donald J. Trump; “Sir, I’m not here to express any opinion with respect to a pending case against another defendant.”

You can read Hur's full report for the U.S. Department of Justice here.

--TL

____________________________________________

TUESDAY 3/12/24

Buck Out -- Rep. Ken Buck (D-CO) said last year he would not run for rr-election this November. On Tuesday, he told reporters he can't wait that long to leave.

"This place just keeps going down, and I don't want to spend my time here," Buck said (per The Hill). The 65-year-old congressman often breaks from his party on various issues, and has criticized Trumpian election denial. With his unexpected early departure, the GOP now has 218 members to 213 House Democrats.

•••

Tuesday’s Primaries – Georgia is the big one for both Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald J. Trump. There are also primaries in Mississippi, Washington and the Northern Mariana Islands, with Hawaii holding GOP caucuses, per U.S. News & World Report. The organization Democrats Abroad also hosts a primary.

•••

Biden Budget v. House GOP – The Biden administration proposes a $7.3 trillion budget for fiscal year 2025, up 4.7% from this year, but with tax raises on corporations and the wealthiest Americans to cut the deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade (per USA Today). The proposal would restore the child tax credit from the American Rescue Plan, launch a program for affordable, high-quality childcare available from birth to kindergarten and provide new mortgage relief for home buyers. 

The White House’s budget is a wish list that will get lots of attention by both the Biden campaign and the Trump campaign between now and November (as Congress likely extends this fiscal year’s budget past its September 30 end), as will an alternate proposal just passed by the GOP-led House Budget Committee, according to the Huffpost. That “budget blueprint” for 2025 would shrink the deficit by $14 trillion over the next decade while extending the Trump tax cuts, which expire next year. HuffPost says “vulnerable” congressional Republicans are balking at taking a full House vote on what would be the first such Republican alt-budget to hit the floor since 2014.

--TL

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MONDAY 3/11/24

Orban Explains All -- Fresh back in Budapest from his visit to Mar-a-Lago, Hungary's authoritarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, explained how Donald J. Trump will end the war in Ukraine if he is returned to the White House.

"He will not give a penny in the Ukraine-Russian war," Orban told Hungary's M1 TV channel, according to the BBC. "That is why the war will end. ... If the Americans don't give money and weapons, along with the Europeans, then this war is over. And if the Americans don't give money, the Europeans alone are unable to finance this war. And then the war is over."

We have been warned.

•••

Sweden became NATO's 31st member nation Monday morning, NPR reports, after decades resisting joining the Western military alliance. Sweden and Finland applied for membership in May 2022. Finland joined last year, but Sweden had faced opposition from Turkey and Hungary.

•••

Trump Mocks Biden’s Stutter – After generally favorable reviews of his State of the Union address last Thursday for its display of the president’s energy if nothing else, Joe Biden’s stutter has become the subject of Donald J. Trump’s ridicule beginning with a rally in Georgia Sunday. Trump infamously mocked a New York Times reporter for his upper-body disability back in 2015, but this is his first such attack on Biden’s lifelong speech impediment. 

What stands out about this to John Hendrickson, himself a stutterer, writes in The Atlantic is, “the sound of Trump’s supporters laughing right along with him. This is a building block of Trumpism. The man at the top gives his followers to be the worst version of themselves.”

•••

Oscar Speech – Mystyslav Chernov, one of three filmmakers of 20 Days in Mariupol to win the Academy Award for Documentary Feature Film Sunday night said in his acceptance speech he wishes he could exchange his Oscar statue for “Russia never Invading Ukraine.” At last year’s Academy Award ceremony Navalny took home the Oscar for the same category. Its subject, Aleksei Navalny, who died under suspicious circumstances at a Russian prison last month, led the Oscar broadcast “death reel.”

Pope chimes in on Ukraine: Pope Francis "sparked anger" last weekend after he said Ukraine should have the "courage of the white flag" and negotiate the end of the war with Russia, CNN reports. On X, Business Ukraine magazine responded with the post that the Pope "might want to consider the famous words of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu on, "neutrality"; "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."

•••

ICYMI – After all the hand wringing and folderol about the current fiscal year budget, its can having been kicked by continuing resolutions several times since last October, the Senate passed a $460 billion bill, 75-22 last Friday to avert a partial government shutdown (per The New York Times). Congress now has to March 22 to pass the other half of the federal budget. On Monday, President Biden unveiled his federal budget proposal for the coming fiscal year, which begins October 1.

•••

Up on the Hill – Both the full House and the full Senate are in session Monday through Wednesday. The Senate only is in session Thursday.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

SOTU Meets Low Expectations

By RJ Caster

To play on Michael Gerson’s turn of phrase President Biden seems to be assisted by the “soft bigotry of low expectations.” This plays into his favor so long as he is able to string together more than a half dozen polysyllabic words during a speech. As a result the X-verse (formerly Twitter-verse) was alive with a buzz from the “progressive but not that progressive coalition trying to carry President Biden through the convention and onto the general election.” One Democratic operative celebrated on X, “The danger they had in setting expectations so low for President Biden’s #SOTU is that he’s not only exceeding all expectations, he’s giving the best speech I’ve heard from him in 20 years.” I always joke that I set the bar low for myself, because then I can only succeed from there. That joke becomes a little more tragic when we’re using it to reference the leader of the free world… 

Truth be told, this was not a typical policy-laden State of The Union. There were head nods to policy advancements and policy goals. The Democratic Party of old tried to poke through with his tip of the hard-hat to America’s workers and unions; but that came about halfway into his speech. The majority of last week’s State of the Union wasn’t an update to Congress or Americans as a whole. This was President Biden’s convention speech, because there is a lingering worry in Biden-world that he may not get one in August. 

'My predecessor'
President Biden laid the groundwork for the general election rematch between himself and former-President Trump; referring to Trump over a dozen times as “my predecessor” without saying his name. The speech started out with Democracy being under assault, which is a top polling issue for core Democratic supporters. He then was sure to hit on abortion and the Dobbs decision, an issue the Democrats have successfully tied to the IVF ruling out of Alabama. After mocking the Supreme Court justices to their face over the Dobbs ruling (moments after decrying the assault on Democracy’s institutions, ironically), only then did President Biden pivot to the issue of jobs and the economy. 

President Biden worked down the checklist of issues that were important to Democrats, and in that order. But polling from Echelon Insights shows the huge disconnect between Biden’s staunch supporters, versus what is essentially everyone else -- including people who tepidly support Biden. Even CNN has found that people have come out of President Biden’s State of the Union addresses with less and less positive outlook year-over-year, with this year being the lowest positive rating yet. 

In the end President Biden was successful in making the people who already supported him breathe a sigh of relief that he didn’t embarrass himself, and them by extension. He gave his convention speech as though he was auditioning to give the convention in August. And speaking of conventions in Chicago… if the Israeli/Gaza situation doesn’t work towards a solution, the Democrats might be able to look forward to reliving 1968 if last night’s protests in the streets of DC are any indication.

Caster is CEO of Jacksonville, Florida-based Techne Media.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Biden’s Call to Arms

By Ken Zino

President Biden in his third State of the Union address invoked America’s previous victories in the Civil War and Word War II and in other times of crisis, notably the covid pandemic. What initially looked to be a call for democracy over plutocracy based on the White House fact sheet released earlier turned into an aggressive attack on the former president, “my predecessor,” more than a dozen times, repeatedly taking on the elephant insurrectionist not in the room -- Trump --  without saying his name. 

He instead referred to the “previous administration,” and the Republicans who enabled him in the campaign speech, during a surprisingly pugnacious and impassioned delivery.  This shouldn’t be, well, Greek, to the average voter. Biden wants to make American leadership great again, building from his demonstrably good policies.

(Read Zino’s exquisitely detailed column on the address in The Gray Area.)

He delivered a call to action for four more years that clearly channeled the ideas of the progressive wing of the Democratic party. My take here is that Republicans are in for the fight of their political lives based on their record. Biden also took on the Supreme Court -- staring directly at that Supremely Corrupt gang -- invoking the chaos overturning Roe v. Wade is causing. “My God, what freedoms will you take away next?” he asked. “Clearly, those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women in America.”. 

“Overseas, Putin of Russia is on the march, invading Ukraine and sowing chaos throughout Europe and beyond,” Biden said in his opening salvo. “If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you, he will not. But Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons it needs to defend itself. That is all Ukraine is asking … But now assistance for Ukraine is being blocked by those who want us to walk away from our leadership in the world. It wasn’t that long ago when a Republican President, Ronald Reagan, thundered, ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.’ Now, my predecessor, a former Republican president tells Putin, ‘Do whatever the hell you want.’ A former American president actually said that, bowing down to a Russian leader. … I say this to Congress: we must stand up to Putin. Send me the Bipartisan National Security Bill.”

In his 68-minute speech, Biden addressed:

•January 6th: “We all saw with our own eyes these insurrectionists were not patriots. They had come to stop the peaceful transfer of power and to overturn the will of the people. January 6th and the lies about the 2020 election, and the plots to steal the election, posed the gravest threat to our democracy since the Civil War. But they failed. …. My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth of January 6th. I will not do that. … And here’s the simplest truth. You can’t love your country only when you win. … Political violence has absolutely no place in America!”

•Reproductive rights: Latorya Beasley, a social worker from Birmingham, Alabama was in the audience. “Fourteen months ago tonight, she and her husband welcomed a baby girl thanks to the miracle of (in-vitro fertilization). She scheduled treatments to have a second child, but the Alabama Supreme Court shut down IVF … unleashed by the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. She was told her dream would have to wait. …To my friends across the aisle, don’t keep families waiting any longer. Guarantee the right to IVF nationwide.”

•The economy: “I came to office determined to get us through one of the toughest periods in our nation’s history. And we have. It doesn’t make the news but in thousands of cities and towns the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told. … America’s comeback is building a future of American possibilities, building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down, investing in all Americans to make sure everyone has a fair shot.”

•Infrastructure: “Thanks to our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 46,000 new projects have been announced across your communities -- modernizing our roads and bridges, ports and airports, and public transit systems.”

•Pandemic and public health: “The vaccines that saved us from COVID are now being used to help beat cancer. Turning setback into comeback. … With a law I proposed and signed and not one Republican voted for we finally beat Big Pharma. Instead of paying $400 a month for insulin seniors with diabetes only have to pay $35 a month.” 

•Tax reform: “I’m a capitalist. If you want to make a million bucks, great! Just pay your fair share in taxes. A fair tax code is how we invest in the things … that make a country great, health care, education, defense … The last administration enacted a $2 trillion tax cut that overwhelmingly benefits the very wealthy and the biggest corporations and exploded the federal deficit. They added more to the national debt than in any presidential term in American history. …. Do you really think the wealthy and big corporations need another $2 trillion in tax breaks? … Thanks to the law I wrote and signed big companies now have to pay a minimum of 15%. … It’s time to raise the corporate minimum tax to at least 21%.”

•Social Security: “If anyone here tries to cut Social Security or Medicare or raise the retirement age I will stop them. … Republicans will cut Social Security and give more tax cuts to the wealthy. I will protect and strengthen Social Security.”

•Border Security: “In November, my team began serious negotiations with a bipartisan group of Senators. … That bipartisan deal would hire 1,500 more border security agents and officers. One-hundred more immigration judges to help tackle a backload of 2 million cases. Forty-three hundred more asylum officers and new policies so they can resolve cases in six months instead of six years. One-hundred more high-tech drug detection machines to significantly increase the ability to screen and stop vehicles from smuggling fentanyl …  I’m told my predecessor called Republicans in Congress and demanded they block the bill. He feels it would be a political win for me and a political loser for him. It’s not about him or me. It’d be a winner for America. My Republican friends, you owe it to the American people to get this bill done. … We can fight about the border, or we can fix it. Send me the border bill now.”

•Climate Change: “I am cutting our carbon emissions in half by 2030. Creating tens of thousands of clean-energy jobs, like the (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) building and installing 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations.”

•Crime: “The year before I took office, murders went up 30% nationwide the biggest increase in history. Now, through my American Rescue Plan, which every Republican voted against, I’ve made the largest investment in public safety ever. Last year, the murder rate saw the sharpest decrease in history, and violent crime fell to one of the lowest levels in more than 50 years. But we have more to do. Help cities and towns invest in more community police officers, more mental health workers, and more community violence intervention.”

•Middle East: “I know the last five months have been gut-wrenching for so many people, for the Israeli people, the Palestinian people, and so many here in America … Tonight, I’m directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters. … As we look to the future, the only real solution is a two-state solution. There is no other path that guarantees Israel’s security and democracy. There is no other path that guarantees Palestinians can live with peace and dignity. … no other path that guarantees peace between Israel and all of its Arab neighbors, including Saudi Arabia.”

Inspiring Conclusion 

“The very idea of America, that we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. We’ve never fully lived up to that idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either. And I won’t walk away from it now. My fellow Americans the issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are it’s how old our ideas are. Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are among the oldest of ideas. But you can’t lead America with ancient ideas that only take us back. To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need a vision for the future of what America can and should be. ...

“I see a future where we defend democracy not diminish it. …

“I see a future where we restore the right to choose and protect other freedoms not take them away. …

“I see a future where the middle class finally has a fair shot and the wealthy finally have to pay their fair share in taxes. I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis and our country from gun violence. …

“Above all, I see a future for all Americans. I see a country for all Americans. And I will always be a president for all Americans. Because I believe in America. I believe in you, the American people. You’re the reason I’ve never been more optimistic about our future. … So let’s build that future together. Let’s remember who we are. We are the United States of America. There is nothing beyond our capacity when we act together. 

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Don’t Say His Name

(FRI 3/8/24)

By Todd Lassa

The State of the Union address did not begin with the economy and President Biden’s success with GDP, employment and lowering the Consumer Price Index from 9% to 3% (OK, that was Federal Reserve handling inflation by raising interest rates). Instead, Biden went straight to saving world democracy and saving our own.

Evoking FDR’s January 1941 State of the Union address, Biden said “my purpose tonight is to both wake up this Congress and alert the American people that this is no ordinary moment either.

“Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault here at home as they are today.

“What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack, both home and overseas, at the very same time.”

Reaganesque

In a speech in which he mentioned his predecessor many times, but never by name, he also recalled President Reagan’s demand that Mikhail Gorbachev “tear down this wall,” and connected that notorious predecessor with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), seated, as tradition, behind the president and next to the vice president gave relatively subtle facial clues throughout the address; frowning and shaking his head at Biden’s not-so-subtle suggestion that MAGA Republicans on the Hill are empowering the Russian dictator. 

“I say this to Congress,” Biden said, “we must stand up to Putin. Send me the Bipartisan National Security Bill. …

The Insurrection

Biden then made the easy pivot to January 6, 2021, saying political violence has “no place in America.”

“The insurrectionists were not patriots. They were here to stop the peaceful transfer of power. … Here’s the simple truth. You can’t love your country only when you win.”

Border Bill

The president touted the $118-billion border protection bill that Johnson refused to bring to the House floor. When heckled about it, Biden ad-libbed, “Oh, you don’t like that bill, do you? That conservatives got together and said was a good bill?”

Ramping up his re-election campaign, Biden warned of the power of women voters vs. the overturning of Roe v. Wade, ticked off his contributions to the improving economy, including “the lowest” inflation rate in the world, the CHIPS act shifting computer microprocessor production from China to the U.S. and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, which he said many Congressional Republicans voted against, but then touted money brought to their districts. 

“If any of you don’t want it in your district, just let me know.”

Gaza

With a large contingent of Gaza-Israel ceasefire protestors outside the Capitol and silent protests by Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), holding up “ceasefire now” signs inside, Biden announced an emergency military mission establishing a temporary pier on the Gaza coast of the Mediterranean “that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters” for Palestinians under siege from Israeli military forces. 

The White House had announced the plan earlier Thursday and late in his address. 

Generally, Biden came off as lively and relatively sharp, and only got tongue-tied a few times well into the address. He again spoke of chipping away at the federal deficit in part by raising taxes on billionaires (while raising salaries for public school teachers). His predecessor’s tax cuts, mostly for the rich, expire next year and if Biden loses in November, they certainly will be renewed under a Republican-controlled Congress and White House.

Other takeaways (via smartphone notifications): “Defiant Biden.” (AP). “Biden draws sharp contrasts with Trump in fiery State of the Union address.” (The Washington Post). “President Biden delivered a feisty, confrontational speech, engaging in a vigorous back-and-forth with Republicans.” (The New York Times). “Biden shifted into campaign mode, targeting Trump and the GOP on reproductive rights and immigration.” (The Wall Street Journal). “Biden didn’t mention Trump once. But his speech tonight was an open salvo ahead of a long, ugly match.” (Politico).

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Beautiful Bloviation

By Stephen Macaulay

Biden was boisterous, bold, bullish, and even brash, but. . .

 Pop quiz:

•Who made the following statements?

•When were they made?

“Jobs are booming, incomes are soaring, poverty is plummeting, crime is falling, confidence is surging.”

“U.S. stock markets have soared 70 percent, adding more than $12 trillion to our nation’s wealth.”  

“[W]e are restoring our nation’s manufacturing might. . . . America has now gained 12,000 new factories under my administration, with thousands upon thousands of plants and factories being planned or being built.  Companies are not leaving; they are coming back to the USA.”


Answers:

•President Donald J. Trump

•February 4, 2020; State of the Union Address

All of that sounds pretty good — and somewhat familiar — doesn’t it?

And, of course, Trump, the incumbent, lost the presidency to Joe Biden.

The State of the Union address is prescribed in Article 2, Section 3, of the Constitution:

“He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. . . .”

Odds are if you work for a large organization of any type you’ve been required to attend an all-hands address presented by the leader of the corporation or the charity.

And odds are the nicest thing you did when you got the advisory about attendance was to roll your eyes.

If there was any way to miss the bluster and the blah-blah-blah you did it. (“Erm. . .I have to get a root canal. . . .”)

Yet somehow we (yes, I guess this means me, too) expect that the American public is going to watch the address or, at the very least, been keen on catching up on the content delivered by the president.

Forget it. It didn’t happen.

Yes, those who are deeply involved in watching MSNBC or Fox News undoubtedly were jonesing for the speech.

But Biden partisans might only reconsider their support if, say, he had a 20-minute Mitch McConnell moment.

And Trump supporters wouldn’t change their mind about Biden even were he to lead the assembled in the House of Representatives’ chamber in a “Hang Mike Pence!” chant.

What really matters is what is said — by both Biden and Trump — between now and November 5.

The State of the Union is really not much more than obligatory smoke and mirrors.

I mean, Trump closed his last (and I hope it really is his last) State of the Union sounding, well, Bidenesque:

“America is the place where anything can happen.  America is the place where anyone can rise.  And here, on this land, on this soil, on this continent, the most incredible dreams come true.

“This nation is our canvas, and this country is our masterpiece.  We look at tomorrow and see unlimited frontiers just waiting to be explored.  Our brightest discoveries are not yet known.  Our most thrilling stories are not yet told.  Our grandest journeys are not yet made.  The American Age, the American Epic, the American adventure has only just begun.

“Our spirit is still young, the sun is still rising, God’s grace is still shining, and, my fellow Americans, the best is yet to come.”

Sounds like a guy with the sort of vision that we’d like to elect.

Right. . . ?

-30-

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Jason Palmer Wins American Samoa

Who? He is 51 years old, the first fact Jason Palmer wants voters to know from his campaign website. Palmer edged President Biden, who is 30 years his senior, 51 votes to 40 in the U.S. territory, the Associated Press reports. Each candidate won three delegates.

Further details on Palmer's site indicates he is an entrepreneur, "impact" investor and philanthropist who has "served in executive and leadership positions" at such organizations as Microsoft, Kaplan Education, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and New Markets Venture Partners.

____________________________________________

Porter or Garvey for Runoff?

MON-TUE 3/4-5/24

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has a “clear advantage” in California’s primary Super Tuesday to replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in a runoff this November, Politico reports. Schiff scores 24% in the primary race, according to the Public Policy Institute of California’s latest poll of the top-two race March 5.

Fellow California Democratic Rep. Katie Porter is running second at 19%, but with a margin-of-error margin over Republican Steve Garvey, at 18%. Garvey was a first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and later the San Diego Padres, retiring in 1987. 

Schiff would rather run against Garvey for the November 5 general election, though the assumption that California is “deep blue” is overblown, ignoring the inland districts like former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who served nine terms – er, eight-and-a-half – as congressman for the district that includes Bakersfield.

See the right column for a list of states’ primaries on Super Tuesday.

Comment on Super Tuesday, President Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday, March 7, or other recent political news and issues in the appropriate section this column or email editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

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A SOTU Tonight

By Todd Lassa (THU 3/7/24)

Policy and the political horse-race are inseparable in President Biden’s State of the Union address, where he must try to convince a sufficient number of voters the economy is good and his Republican rival does not want the “border crisis” solved, while proving he is not a “well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.” Pundits point to Biden’s ad-lib pushback on Republicans’ position on Social Security and Medicare cuts in last year’s address as an antidote to Special Counsel Robert K. Hur’s report on Biden’s document case in which he called the president “a well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”

But Biden is failing, so far, at his most important task, according to columnist Perry Bacon, Jr., in Thursday’s Washington Post; eliminating, or at least reducing the possibility there will be a second Trump term to threaten American democracy. With 38% approval rating, Biden is losing to an authoritarian ex-president who now has even the endorsement of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). 

The lone important holdout is former Trump challenger Nikki Haley, who as of this writing has not endorsed the former president. On NPR’s Morning Edition Firehouse Strategies founding partner Alex Conant, who served as communications director for Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) 2016 presidential campaign told co-host A Martinez that this November’s election will likely come down to whether Haley supporters vote for president or sit out the election or vote down-ballot only.

“Thirty to 40% of the party is still limited-government conservatives,” Conant said. Is there anything Biden can say Thursday night to those Republican voters?

____________________________________________

Garvey vs. Schiff in Runoff, Porter is Out

WEDNESDAY 3/6/24

Republican candidate for the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) seat Steve Garvey handily took second place in California's Senate primary Tuesday. He will face Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff in the November 5 election. With 48% of the votes in, Schiff took 33.17% to Garvey's 32.45%, according to The New York Times. Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), who was running a very close third to Garvey in the polls garnered just 13.81%, and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) had just 7.36% of the vote.

The Democratic Party would have had to spend a lot of campaign money in a Schiff-Porter runoff. But Schiff instead spent a lot of money on "anti-Garvey" ads calling him "pro-Trump", during the primary race in conservative media outlets to help make sure Garvey placed second. Now Schiff can simply run those same ads in the big coastal cities plus Sacramento. Garvey, a former Los Angeles Dodger and San Diego Padre, won San Diego and Orange Counties as well as the less-populous Inland Empire Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in Minnesota: President Biden won the primary there, with "uncommitted," bolstered by protest over Israel's war on Gaza, edging out Rep. Dean Phillips, who "didn't carry his home state," for second, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Bad news for Biden is that "uncommitted" took nearly 46,000 votes when the protest vote's goal was just 5,000 votes.

Meanwhile, in Texas: Sen. Ted Cruz handily won the Republican nomination for his re-election, but he will face Democrat Colin Allred, who beat state Sen. Roland Gutierrez 59% to 17%. This is "bad news" for Cruz, Newsweek reports, as Allred already is running even with him in some Texas polls. The Texas Tribune called Super Tuesday a "bad night for GOP incumbents," with Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, of San Antonio headed for a primary runoff with "gun rights advocate and social media influencer" Brandon Herrera and Republican state House Speaker Dade Phelan forced into a runoff against "hardline conservative" Republican challenger David Covey.

____________________________________________

Welcome to Super Tuesday

TUESDAY 3/5/24

January 6 Redux? – Yes, the Supreme Court’s ruling Monday to keep Donald J. Trump on Colorado’s ballot was unanimous. But conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined liberals Elana Kagen, Sonya Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson in criticizing the five other conservatives for going beyond the basic decision by determining the only way to enforce Section 3 of the 14thAmendment is by a statute passed by Congress (per The Hill). 

That majority ruling by Chief Justice John Roberts and justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavenaugh “prompts worries of another January 6th crisis,” screams a headline in Politico (insofar as Politico headlines can scream).

Enter Raskin: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD, above) responded to the SCOTUS ruling by announcing he would revive a 2022 bill he wrote with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) that would set up such a process. The legislation would establish a process by which the U.S. attorney general or a private citizen could petition the U.S. circuit court for the District of Columbia to remove a candidate like Donald J. Trump from the presidential ballot for participation in an insurrection, Raskin told NPR’s Steve Inskeep Tuesday on Morning Edition.

“Well, the supremacy clause of the Constitution says that the Constitution is binding on every other head of government, including the states,” Raskin told Inskeep. “To my mind, Colorado did the obvious thing. … The whole point of this provision in the Constitution was to keep people away from the oval office and other federal offices if they’ve proven themselves untrustworthy and willing to overthrow the governmental arrangements that gave them the office in the first place.”

Chances?: Not good. Raskin notes that 10 House Republicans voted for Trump’s second impeachment following January 6th and seven GOP senators voted to convict. But that was three years ago. Best Raskin and House Democrats can hope for is to provide a distraction to a wafer-thin, disorganized Republican House majority and Trump splitting time between campaigning and court appearances.

--TL

____________________________________________

Weekend's Over

MONDAY 3/4/24

UPDATE: You Can, Colorado -- The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 Monday to restore Donald J. Trump to the Colorado ballot, NPR reports.

Can You Vote for Trump? – Not “will you,” but can you? The Supreme Court is expected to rule on at least one case seeking to keep former President Trump off the ballot as early as 10 a.m. Monday, the Associated Press reports. SCOTUS is expected to rule on at least one case, Colorado’s, which cites the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment for disallowing Trump because of an ongoing federal case charging him for taking part in the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol.

SCOTUS’ decision will affect similar challenges in other states, as well. Last week a Cook County judge also cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment in ordering Trump off the Illinois ballot.

•••

On ‘Bloody Sunday’ – Vice President Kamala Harris called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Israel’s war on Gaza, in remarks from the Edmund Pettis Bridge on the 49th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama (per NPR’s Morning Edition). Harris was scheduled to meet with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Ganz in Washington Monday, which is sure to irritate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose hard line on a ceasefire with Hamas has endangered President Biden’s re-election bid.

Harris said: “What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating. We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed, women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”

Too little, too late?: Whether Harris’ meeting with Ganz after those remarks in Selma can do anything for Arab American support for Biden remains to be seen.

•••

(Nearly) Halfway to September 30 – House and Senate leaders released a $467.5 billion package for the “easy” appropriations bills Sunday afternoon with a “slim spending boost” and elimination of most Republican-backed riders, CQ Roll Call reports. The package raises spending by 0.3%, or $1.5 billion over fiscal year 2023, with small increases for Energy-Water and Transportation-HUD, while Agriculture is flat. 

The House is expected to take up a vote Wednesday afternoon, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will need Democratic support to supplement Republican House members who are not MAGA. 

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Haley Wins Vermont, Ends Campaign

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wasn't going to do anything for Nikki Haley's campaign, anyway. Haley won Vermont on Super Tuesday, beating Donald J. Trump 50% to 46%, but lost in the Big Day's 14 other GOP primary states and will end, or "suspend" her campaign for the presidential nomination NPR has confirmed Wednesday morning. She will not endorse ex-President Trump ... yet.

The former South Carolina governor was scheduled to make "brief remarks" about 10 a.m. in Charleston, The Wall Street Journal reports, and will encourage Trump to "earn the support" of Republicans and independents who backed her. As of Wednesday Trump has 995 of 1,215 GOP delegates needed to win the nomination, 722 from Tuesday, according to The New York Times, to Haley's 89, of which 46 were earned Tuesday.

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Haley's Waterloo?

MON-TUE 3/4-5/24

Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) endorsed former North Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for the GOP presidential nomination late last week, The Hill reports, as frontrunner Donald J. Trump tries to push on to the general election.

Collins told the Bangor Daily News she voted for Haley in Maine’s primary. “She has the energy, intellect, and temperament that we need to lead our country in these very tumultuous times,” the senator said. 

On this week’s Super Tuesday 874 of 2,429 GOP delegates, or 36% will be up for grabs, according to The New York Times, and ex-President Trump could pretty much put his one-time UN ambassador away. The March 5 Super Tuesday primaries are in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia, as well as the territory of American Samoa.

Comment on Super Tuesday, President Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday, March 7, or other recent political news and issues in the appropriate section this column or email editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

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What’s Left

Some relief for Democrats came recently when retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced he will not run for president as a third-party candidate. Manchin had flirted with the upstart No Labels party, which claims it will not run any spoilers. If Manchin had chosen to run as the No Labels party candidate, he almost certainly would have helped hand the November election to former President Trump.

Scroll down with the trackbar on the far right to read more.

Scroll down further to read in the left column the potential tactic by Arab Americans in Dearborn to vote “uncommitted” rather than for President Biden in Tuesday’s Michigan Democratic primary.

Further down the left column, contributing pundit Ken Zino weighs in on Nikki Haley's tilt at the windmill in the New Hampshire primary.

Comments on these and other recent news and political issues are welcome. Email us at editors@thehustings.news and please let us know whether your political leanings land you in the left or right column.

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…meanwhile…

McConnell to Step Down – "Three Johns" are lining up to replace Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who this week announced he will step down as Senate leader of the GOP (per NPR’s All Things Considered). Donald J. Trump prefers Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), so of course, Daines it is. While Democrats will forever be angry with McConnell for blocking President Obama’s SCOTUS pick in 2016, he also remains part of the shrinking anti-MAGA Republican bulwark on Capitol Hill. McConnell says he will finish the remainder of his Senate term, at least, to 2027. 

FRIDAY 3/1/24

Right Column -- Headline in Friday's New York Times reads "Trump May Find Success With Strategy of Trial Delays." A pull-quote reads "The former president may face only one or two trials this year." Don't miss Stephen Macaulay's right-column commentary, "Book 'em."

•••

Next Week -- Super Tuesday is, well, Tuesday. President Biden's State of the Union address is Thursday.

•••

Navalny's Funeral -- Despite heavy state police presence thousands attended the funeral of Putin opposition leader Alexei Navalny Friday, two weeks after his unexplained death at a Russian prison in the Arctic Circle, the Associated Press reports. Funeral crowds chanted "You weren't afraid, neither are we," reports WAMU's The 1A.

Meanwhile, in the Kremlin ... Vladimir Putin, who obviously did not attend Navalny's funeral, warned of nuclear attacks on the West if it intervenes more directly in Russia's war on Ukraine, Thursday (per The New York Times). Speaking at his annual state-of-the-nation address, Putin said NATO countries helping Ukraine strike Russian territories or potentially planning to deploy their own troops "must, in the end, understand (that) all this truly threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, and therefore the destruction of civilization."

•••

Meanwhile, on Our Own Southern Border -- Thursday was, of course, the Big Day of dueling presidential candidates on the southern border with Mexico. In one corner, incumbent President Biden said from Brownsville, Texas, the U.S. needs a "new, efficient and fair process for the government to consider asylum claims."

In the other corner, incumbent President Biden-denier Donald J. Trump -- who infamously scuttled the bipartisan border agreement recently via House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) -- said from Eagle Pass a "vicious violation of our country" is already underway. (Reporting by The Washington Post.)

•••

War Casualties -- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week conceded that 31,000 of his fellow Ukrainians have been killed by Russian troops since its invasion two years ago, a lower number than U.S. military estimates, according to The 1A. Since Hamas' bloody attack on Israel last October 7, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the health ministry there (multiple news sources).

Latest was that "scores" were killed when the IDF opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians near a convoy of food aid trucks Thursday (per NYT). The Gaza health ministry issued a statement that more than 100 were killed and more than 700 injured as they waited for food from the convoy. Israel says its forces were firing in defense, and that most casualties were the result of a stampede for supplies. Meanwhile, chances are growing dim for a ceasefire negotiated between Hamas and Israel and the Biden State Department before Ramadan.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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LEAP DAY 2024

Border Lines – President Biden visits the Tex-Mex border in Brownsville Thursday where he will try to turn the tables on the narrative he is responsible for a “crisis” there and point out that Donald J. Trump conspired with MAGA Congress members to block a bill that would have tackled said crisis while funding Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan defense and the whole damn federal government (per NPR’s Morning Edition).

Trump, meanwhile … goes to Eagle Pass where Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is in a sort of “states’ rights” fight, having kicked out U.S. Border Patrol and replacing them with the Texas National Guard. 

Expect plenty of quotables Thursday.

•••

Wasting Away Again in SCOTUSville – The Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to rule on Donald J. Trump’s immunity claim from prosecution over criminal charges he conspired to overturn the 2020 presidential election, SCOTUSblog reports. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan had initially set March 4 as the trial date but tossed that idea when it became clear the SCOTUS ruling would push timing back toward the November 5 election, when Trump will have the chance to win back the White House and throw out the charges along with Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Meanwhile, in the Windy City: Citing the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection ban” Cook County Judge Tracie Porter ordered Donald J. Trump removed from the Illinois ballot, but put her decision on-hold to Friday, as she is expecting an appeal by the former president’s attorneys, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Meanwhile, on CNN: Asked by Kaitlan Collins whether he would vote for Donald J. Trump over President Biden, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), who leaves the Senate when his term ends next year said on The Source “No, no, no … absolutely not.” A Trump re-election would end the United States’ status as the Arsenal of Democracy and Reaganesque “shining city on a hill” Romney said, and while he prefers Trump’s domestic policy, especially at the southern border, the lame-duck senator believes Trump lacks the character necessary for the job.

•••

Two-Tiered Can Kicked – With at least 36 hours to go before partial government shutdown, congressional leaders reached an agreement Thursday to get the funding can down the road on the way to full federal funding. The deal extends Agriculture, Energy-Water, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs and Transportation-HUD one week to March 8, according to CQ Roll Call, when it would join Interior-Environment and Commerce-Justice-Science in a continuing resolution to March 22, at which point Congress will theoretically have time to finish a bill to fund the government for the current fiscal year. Which means it comes up again at the end of September for FY2025.

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 2/28/24

Michigan Primary Results -- President Biden garnered 81.3% of the Democratic primary vote in Michigan, to the Palestinian protest vote of 12.8% for "uncommitted," per CNN. But the raw number for that uncommitted vote was 75,768, far above the 10,000-vote margin Donald J. Trump scored there against Hilary Clinton in 2016, the goal for the Arab American protest. And in Dearborn, where nearly half the population is ethnically Arab, Biden's margin of victory was only 56% to 41%, according to MSNBC's Steve Kornacki.

Meanwhile, Donald J. Trump trounced Nikki Haley in Michigan, 68% to 26.7% (CNN).

•••

TUESDAY 2/27/24

Ramadan Ceasefire? – Israel could reach a temporary ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan next week if a hostage release deal is reached, President Biden announced Monday, according to The Washington Post. Biden said on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers his advisors were still working out the details and could have an announcement by Monday.  

However, Israel says it will continue fighting in Gaza after such a pause.

Meanwhile, the U.S. senior airman who self-immolated Monday at the Israeli embassy in Washington shouting “free Palestine,” has been identified as Aaron Bushnell, 25. According to the WaPo, Bushnell grew up on a religious compound and had an anarchist past.

•••

Michigan’s Primary is Tuesday – President Biden faces challenger “uncommitted” as the state’s large Arab American population is expected to express anger at the White House’s support for Israel’s occupation of Gaza. If at least 10,000 voters chose “uncommitted” it will equal the margin by which Donald J. Trump beat Hilary Clinton in Michigan in 2016 (per NPR’s Morning Edition). 

Meanwhile, Trump faces not so much Nikki Haley, but rather a Michigan GOP structure split in two.

•••

It’s Back – Senators returned to Washington Monday to quickly begin working a spending bill in order to avoid a government shutdown that could begin in some federal departments Saturday and extend through eight others a week later. President Biden was scheduled to hold a White House meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Appropriators appear ready to pass Agriculture, Energy-Water, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development before the Friday midnight deadline, CQ Roll Call reports, and Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) says these four are “close to being completed,” though lawmakers are working on a stopgap funding resolution just in case. 

The remaining spending bills due March 8 are said to be a “heavier lift” according to Roll Call’s report, and a continuing resolution kicking this can to March 22 is being considered. It would be Congress’ fourth CR for this year’s budget.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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The Day After Super Tuesday

By Todd Lassa (MON 2/26/24)

The New York Times might have come up with a less-predictable headline than “Haley Is Dealt Stinging Loss in Home State,” at the top of its front page Sunday. The “stinging loss” had been predicted for weeks following her second-place finish to None of These Candidates February 6th in Nevada, and her 43% to Donald J. Trump’s 55% in New Hampshire two weeks earlier.

To be fair to Haley, who knew as well as anyone she would lose the primary in her home state, the 59.8% of the South Carolina vote Trump took (for 47 delegates), to the former governor and UN ambassador’s 39.5% (four delegates) is a better result for her than the 64% to 33% result an average of state polls had predicted, as counted by 538 last Friday. 

Then there’s Haley’s political history in the state. As several outlets including the NYT recalled, Nikki Haley won her first South Carolina gubernatorial election in 2010 as an alt-Republican Tea Party candidate in 2010. 

The Tea Party gave Haley her political life. Now it has taken it away. 

Haley would seem to have a better chance in a purple state – perhaps Michigan, which holds its primary Tuesday. In Michigan, pundits’ eyes will be diverted – somewhat – to the Democratic ticket where President Biden faces the highest concentration of Arab Americans in the country, many of them angry over his support of Israel’s war in Gaza. 

Nikki Haley says she will stick it out at least until Super Tuesday, which comes a week after Michigan, on March 5.

Now along comes another NYT news report late Sunday saying that the Koch brothers’ political action group, Americans for Prosperity Action has suspended its support of Haley, after spending millions on her with hopes of driving a stake through the heart of MAGA politics. If you need to be truly startled by a specific stinging loss suffered by Haley, this would be the one.

Elsewhere Sunday, Politico Playbook ran its own Reader's Digest take on The Atlantic’s entire January/February issue warning of the ramifications of a Trump victory in November.

“A wide range of our Politico colleagues have a thorough examination of how Donald Trump’s return to the White House would blow the policy agenda from his first go-around out of the water,” including abortion bans in blue as well as red states, climate science denial, expanded trade fights against allies as well as rivals, expanded classroom culture wars, attempts to kill the electric vehicle movement (MAGA-friendly Elon Musk notwithstanding), neutering the federal election watchdog, deploying U.S. troops on Americans, loosening controls on crypto … oh, and abandoning NATO and maybe even bombing Mexico. 

The last GOP candidate standing between a repeat of the Biden v. Trump showdown, Nikki Haley, is now abandoned by the Koch brothers PAC so they can try to beat the MAGA faction on Capitol Hill. How much good will that do when MAGA congressmembers, already a minority, are running the House?

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Book ‘em

By Stephen Macaulay

The Supreme Court consists of one chief justice and eight associate justices. According to the Supreme Court Historical Society, “For all judicial matters, the Clerk. … and his staff of 31 are the link between the Justices and the legal world.”

So that brings us to 41 people.

Then there are, according to that society, more than 500 people who “work regularly in the Supreme Court building.”

Even if there are custodial personnel counted, the number is still a non-trivial one.

Of late, the Supreme Court hears about 60 cases per term. And while the number submitted is in the thousands, according to the Court itself, “The vast majority of cases filed in the Supreme Court are disposed of summarily by unsigned orders.”

SCOTUS says that it receives 7,000 to 8,000 petitions annually.

Presumably, the Justices are not burning the midnight oil going through piles of paper each and every day, though their clerks undoubtedly are.

While not a perfect comparison by any means but simply a way of putting these piles into context:

“Penguin Random House is the international home to more than 300 … independent publishing imprints. Together, our imprints publish over 70,000 digital and 15,000 print titles annually.”

Know that odds of getting a manuscript published by any publisher is no better than 2%.

So if Penguin Random House publishes 85,000 manuscripts and if the take rate is 2%, then this means it is receiving 4,250,000 manuscripts per year.

Penguin Random House has 12,330 employees.

If each of them reads manuscripts (of course, they don’t), then that’s about 345 titles per year.

If each of the 500 people at the Supreme Court reads her or his share of the 8,000 petitions, then that’s 16.

To be fair to the Supreme Court, deciding whether to publish a cowboy-vampire-bodice-ripper is not as critical as deciding on a case that will have profound consequences on someone’s future.

Still, there seems to be a bit of a productivity problem here.

This is underscored by its decision about taking up the case of whether Donald Trump can be prosecuted in relation to the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol or whether he has immunity.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia had done the homework on the case, and on February 6 rejected Trump’s claim.

Trump’s people came to the Supreme Court with their appeal on February 12 (the day of the deadline set by the D.C. Circuit).

Special Counsel Jack Smith was given until February 20 by the Supreme Court to respond. The response came on February 14 — two days after the Trump’s brief.

On February 28 the Supreme Court announced that it is taking up Trump’s appeal.

That’s two weeks from when Smith’s team got their work done.

The Supreme Court wrote in an unsigned order, “The case will be set for oral argument during the week of April 22, 2024.”

That is more than nine weeks from February 14, when they had the paperwork for both sides.

They couldn’t have adjusted the calendar a bit?

Odds are, if you suddenly have a toothache your dentist will get you in ASAP and if your water heater bursts the plumber isn’t going to tell you that (s)he’ll come week-after-next.

There are some people who think that there need to be more justices on the Supreme Court.

I’d argue that there needs to be more productivity from all of the people involved on the Supreme Court.

Consider: the Supreme Court hears arguments during two periods of the year: October through December and January through April.

And for the first session the oral arguments are heard during the first two weeks of the month and it is the last two weeks for the second session. In both cases it is on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

While they are unquestionably working on the remaining two days of the week, there is still a whole lot more downtime than that available to the employees of, to stick with the comparison, Penguin Random House, who are probably working 48 weeks per year.

Again, a fuzzy comparison, but still, there is clearly evidence that there is not a whole lot of efficiency in the performance of the Supreme Court.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.

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More Macaulay ...

What does the Truman-era Supreme Court decision in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer have to do with the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in United States of America v. Donald J. Trump that ruled the former president does not have executive immunity in his indictment for allegedly inciting the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol? Read pundit-at-large Stephen Macaulay’s “History Lesson” in this column. Scroll down using the trackbar on the far right to read his commentary.

Then scroll further down the page to read Macaulay’s right-column take on Trump’s decisive win in the New Hampshire primary.

Comments on these and other recent news and political issues are welcome. Email us at editors@thehustings.news and please let us know whether your political leanings land you in the right or left column.

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