Tag: Biden

What’s Left

Scroll down with the trackbar on the far-right to read these left-column news items and commentary:

•President Biden raises $25 million in Radio City Music Hall event starring ex-presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, plus Stephen Colbert, Mindy Kaling and hundreds of pro-Palestinian protestors. 

•Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), indicted on federal charges related to an international bribery scheme, says he is leaving the Democratic Party to run for re-election in November as an independent.

•Contributing Pundit Ken Zino comments on President Biden’s March 7 State of the Union address in “Biden’s Call to Arms.”

TIP> Use the trackbar in the left column to read the entire item or commentary.

Your civil comments are much welcome. Use the COMMENT section of this column, or the one on the right if you lean conservative. Or email editors@thehustings.news and indicate in the subject line whether you lean left or right.

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One Year In Moscow Jail for Reporter Doing His Job

[March 29 marks one year since Evan Gershkovich, reporter for The Wall Street Journal, was arrested in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and detained on allegations of espionage. Gershkovich, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny the charges.]

PASSOVER/EASTER 2024

Twenty-Five for SBF -- FTX cryptocurrency exchange king Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison Thursday for stealing billions of dollars from customers (per The New York Times). The sentence was about half of the 40 to 50 years sought by federal prosecutors, but also far longer than the six-and-a-half years his defense attorneys sought. But it could have been worse: The fraud, conspiracy and money laundering charges for which SBF, 32, was found guilty carry a maximum penalty of 110 years.

SBF apologized before being sentenced, but Judge Lewis Kaplan, handing down the sentence in Federal District Court in Manhattan said; "He knew it was wrong. He knew it was criminal."

Lessons learned?: Er, no. Cryptocurrency values have skyrocketed in recent weeks. The political connection is that many proponents see cryptocurrency as a libertarian alternative to government currencies.

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Ban NBC News? -- The Republican National Committee may ban NBC News from the GOP convention in Milwaukee this summer over its decision to drop former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor, Politico reports. "We are taking a hard look at what this means for NBC's participation at the convention," RNC and Trump campaign spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez said. Several prominent NBC News and MSNBC personalities objected to news last week that NBC had hired McDaniel as a paid pundit after Trump's party replaced her with Michael Whatley and Lara Trump.

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Joseph Lieberman – The moderate’s moderate who became the first Jewish candidate on a major-party presidential ticket, Joseph I. Lieberman, died Wednesday in Manhattan. He was 82. The cause was complications of a fall, according to a statement released by his family (per The New York Times). 

Lieberman served the U.S. Senate for Connecticut from 1989 to 2013 and was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000 presidential election, coming within a few hundred Florida ballot chads from becoming vice president. Lieberman had served his first three Senate terms as a Democrat but lost his party’s primary in 2006 and went on to win the general election as an independent. 

In 2008, Lieberman endorsed Republican Sen. John McCain (AZ) over Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (IL) for the presidential election and was vetted as a potential running mate for McCain. Pushed by Republican leaders, McCain instead chose Sarah Palin, the hard-right governor of Alaska and harbinger for the Tea Party movement on Capitol Hill two years later. Lieberman endorsed no one in the 2012 presidential race and he did not run for a fifth Senate term, instead retiring in 2013, but he supported Democrats Hilary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.

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How to Apply for an RNC Job -- Imagine you're a recent college grad with a poli sci major, or even a grizzled veteran of political campaigns and you're looking for a new job. Say you're a Reagan Republican, or if you're one of those freshly minted college grads, maybe a Bush or Romney or McCain Republican.

Apply to the Republican National Committee -- a potential plumb in a presidential election year. You had better lie if you want the job.

That's the word from "people familiar" with RNC interviews following Donald J. Trump's ordered purge of Ronna McDaniel (who can't keep a new job herself -- see right column) with North Carolina GOP Chairman Michael Whatley and daughter-in-law Lara Trump, have told The Washington Post.

"Those seeking employment" by the RNC "have been asked in job interviews if they believe the 2020 election was stolen," the sources said, "making the false claim a litmus test, of sorts, for hiring."

RNC spokesperson Danielle Alvarez would not deny the WaPo report, according to a follow-up by The Guardian. "We want experienced staff with meaningful views on how elections are won and lost and real experience-based opinions about what happens in the trenches.

Be sure to update your CV.

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Mifepristone Appears Safe -- A majority of Supreme Court justices appeared ready to throw out a challenge to the FDA's expansion of the availability of mifepristone, a drug used in medicated abortions. Justices, including Trump appointee Amy Coney Barrett challenged individual doctors and doctors' groups have "standing" in the case during about 90 minutes of oral arguments Tuesday, Amy Howe writes in SCOTUSblog. Elizabeth Prelogar, the U.S. solicitor general, argued that doctors must show they face "imminent harm" before their lawsuit could go forward. Beside potentially limiting access to mifepristone -- which the FDA expanded from 2016 to 2021 -- a finding for the plaintiffs would potentially limit the authority of such federal agencies as the FDA.

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Abortion Drug on Trial – The Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday in a case in which a group of doctors opposed to abortion are challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s approval more than 25 years ago of mifepristone, a drug used in medicated abortions, per SCOTUSblog. As NPR’s Nina Totenburg put it in Morning Edition, “You might call this ‘daughter of Dobbs.’”

The case’s outcome could determine women’s access to the abortion drug, even in states in which abortion is still legal after SCOTUS’ decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade nearly two years ago. 

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Netanyahu Cancels – The Biden administration made it clear to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week it would abstain, rather than vote for, a United Nations’ resolution passed Monday that calls for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. A single vote by the U.S. would have automatically vetoed the resolution. 

But Netanyahu immediately cancelled a high-level delegation’s trip to Washington the White House had specifically requested in a phone call between Biden and Netanyahu last week, according to The Washington Post. 

The Biden administration wants Israel to call off a planned military operation in Rafah, a high-density city whose citizens already are reported to be suffering severe starvation. 

The cancelled visit is “surprising and unfortunate,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

--TL

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Big Day for DJT

MONDAY 3/25/24

UPDATE: Trump Wins One, Loses One -- On Monday, a five-judge appellate court gave Donald J. Trump 10 days to post $175 million in lieu of a $454 million bond heretofore due today while he appeals his civil fine in the New York state real estate fraud case, The New York Times reports. But Judge Juan Merchan refused to grant Trump a delay in his case involving hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels. That trial is scheduled to begin April 15. Still.

In Court – Donald J. Trump was to appear in a Manhattan courtroom Monday to try and put up yet another delay in yet another of his trials. This is the one in which Trump allegedly tried to cover up a sex scandal with porn star Stormy Daniels just prior to his 2016 Electoral College victory over Hilary Clinton with money funneled to her via his former fixer/personal attorney Michael Cohen. The Monday hearing is to finalize a trial date of April 15, The New York Times reports.

In Westchester County – The former president’s grace period to pay a $454 million fine for his New York state civil judgment in a fraud case over the valuation of Donald J. Trump’s properties ended Monday after his attorneys said posting a bond for that amount is “virtually impossible.” Attorney Gen. Letitia James has laid the groundwork for seizing assets, beginning with one of Trump’s properties in Westchester County, according to The Wall Street Journal. James also could go after Trump’s accounts at financial institutions, says the report. 

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Putin Propaganda – The Kremlin has continued to try and shift blame for a terrorist attack on a concert venue last Friday that has left at least 137 dead and 180 injured to Ukraine, despite ISIS-K – the Islamic State in Khorasan – having claimed responsibility. Kyiv has adamantly denied any connection. Photos are circulating of the four suspects arrested displaying signs they have been tortured. According to the NYT, ISIS-K is active in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, with sights set “on Europe and beyond.”

•••

Russian Hits on Ukraine -- With U.S. Congress continuing to put off renewed military aid to Ukraine in deference to the MAGA minorities in both chambers, Russian military dropped ballistic missiles on the Security Service (SBU), Ukraine’s main intelligence and security agency, the Kyiv Post reports. Overnight drone attacks hit two power substations in Ukraine’s southern region. 

Empty Hill: The Senate is out until Monday, April 8, and the House doesn’t return until the next day, April 9.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

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."

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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. 

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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-

_____

Debt Ceiling Crisis Averted

FRIDAY 6/2/23

It is Done – All but President Biden’s signature, coming with a weekend to spare before Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s deadline for averting economic catastrophe. Now all is left is for Fox News pundits to repeatedly declare Republican victory while MSNBC pundits do the same for Democrats and the White House. 

The vote: Perhaps closer than it needed to be, 63-36. The bill suspends the $31.4-trillion debt ceiling to January 1, 2025, and places a two-year cap on discretionary spending.

The quote: “It is so good for this country that both parties have come together at last to avoid default.” – Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

The irony?: After the Senate voted down 11 amendments for fear the bill would have to go back to the House for reconciliation, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell sought a commitment to take up a supplemental funding bill, according to Roll Call. A supplemental to increase funding for a bill Republicans sought to cut spending from the Biden agenda. 

This is, for Republicans, a matter of defense spending vs. domestic spending.

“We’ll be here ‘til Tuesday until I get commitments that we’re going to rectify some of these problems,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who wants to ensure more funding for the Pentagon, Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel.

Counting the oppo: Five Democratic senators and 31 Republicans voted against the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. Here is the list, from The Hill:

Democrats:

•John Fetterman, Pennsylvania

•Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts

•Jeff Merkley, Oregon

•Bernie Sanders, Vermont (Independent, but caucuses with the Democrats)

Republicans:

•John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming

•Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee

•Mike Braun, Indiana

•Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, Alabama

•Ted Budd, North Carolina

•Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, Louisiana

•Tom Cotton, Arkansas

•Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, Idaho

•Ted Cruz, Texas

•Steve Daines, Montana

•Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts, Nebraska

•Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, South Carolina

•Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt, Missouri

•Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker, Mississippi

•Ron Johnson, Wisconsin

•James Lankford, Oklahoma

•Mike Lee, Utah

•Roger Marshall, Kansas

•Rand Paul, Kentucky

•Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, Florida

•Dan Sullivan, Alaska

•J.D. Vance, Ohio

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_______________________________________________

...meanwhile...

THURSDAY 6/1/23

Debt Ceiling Bill Clears House – Democrats moved quickly to fill in when 29 hard-right Republican congressmembers voted against a procedure to advance the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 to the floor for a vote. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) held up a green card indicating to his caucus they should vote with the majority of Republicans in order to push the procedure past the 218 votes needed to pass. 

And with that, the House went on to pass the bill with a bipartisan 314-117 vote, The Hill reports. “Nay” votes break down to 71 Republicans and 46 Democrats. The bill covers the debt ceiling until January 1, 2025, when President Biden and staff will be writing his second inaugural address or preparing to turn over the White House keys to his Republican challenger.

Speaker McCarthy’s future might be far less certain, as dissenting Republicans are not tamping down talk of whether a single congressmember might move to vacate him.

But don’t tarry; on to the Senate: Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) expects to bring the bill to the Senate floor Friday, three days ahead of potential federal government default. 

•••

Republican Candidates on Deck – Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie plans to announce his candidacy for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination before the end of this week in New Hampshire, his 2016 campaign’s Waterloo. Former Vice President Mike Pence plans to announce next Wednesday, Axios reports.

•••

Lordy … There is a Tape – Federal prosecutors have obtained an audio tape recording of ex-President Trump acknowledging that he held on to a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran near the end of his presidency, multiple sources have told CNN. In the recording, sources said, Trump said he would like to share information about an attack on Iran, but he is aware of limitations on his ability, post-president, to declassify records, two of the sources told the cable news network. 

The recording reportedly was made at Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club by communications specialist Margo Martin between the former president and two people working on former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ book. 

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump allegedly holding on to classified documents he should have turned over to the National Archives when he left the White House in 2021 is said to be nearing its end. No indictments have been issued so far.

--TL

________________________________________________

WEDNESDAY 5/31/23

House Rules Moves Debt Ceiling Bill, But … The Rules Committee voted 7-6 to move the debt ceiling compromise bill to the full House, which is set to vote on it Wednesday. “Libertarian-minded” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) provided the crucial seventh vote, The Washington Post reports. But as many as 30 House Republicans on Wednesday could vote against the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 negotiated between President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). 

While the punditocracy debates which side won this fight to avoid economic disaster by averting government default, “roughly a dozen” members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus took to a Capitol Hill news conference to criticize the deal McCarthy made with Biden, according to the WaPo. Some progressive Democrats have slammed Biden for giving up too much, though the criticism is starting to look like sandbagging to cover for a very experienced negotiator. A sufficient number of House Democrats – perhaps all 213 – certainly will fill in for 30 or so Freedom Caucus members casting “nay” votes. 

Upshot: That doesn’t leave McCarthy off the Freedom Caucus hook. As we’ve all learned from his drawn-out 15-ballot election to become speaker last February, it takes only one House member to move to vacate him from that role, and MAGA-minded Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) has refused to rule out such a move.

•••

Ukraine to Negotiate Peace Without Putin – Ukraine and NATO allies are planning a peace summit without Russia, according to an exclusive by The Wall Street Journal. The summit will be aimed at Kyiv’s terms for ending the war and is to be held ahead of a meeting of NATO nations planned for July.

--TL

________________________________________

TUESDAY 5/30/23

House Takes Up Debt Ceiling Bill – Speaker Kevin McCarthy says the full House will take up the debt ceiling bill negotiated with the White House last week, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, on Wednesday. But first, the House Rules Committee, led by a 9-4 Republican majority must move the bill forward. Three members of the Freedom Caucus who sit on Rules could potentially stick up the bill: Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX), Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Thomas Massie (R-KY).

McCarthy wants the bill to advance as-is, but Norman told NPR the bill would have to go to the full House Wednesday with amendments.

“The bill as-is is unacceptable,” Norman told Morning Edition.

Upshot: McCarthy appointed the three Freedom Caucus members to the Rules Committee in exchange for their support to become speaker.

•••

Up on The Hill – Only the full Senate was scheduled to be in session Tuesday through Friday this week, but the House will be in session for part of the week to try and advance the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 ahead of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s June 5 federal default ETA.

•••

Drone Attack Hits Moscow – A drone attack hit Moscow Tuesday morning, “just hours” after a “barrage” of Russian airstrikes killed one and injured more than a dozen in Kyiv, The Washington Post reports, “a prelude to a major escalation in hostilities.” It also comes ahead of Ukraine’s anticipated offensive to push Russian troops back across the Dnipro River. Moscow Mayor Sergei Subyanin confirmed the attack, which damaged two residential buildings.

UPDATE -- Russia claims at least eight drone attacks by Ukraine, calling them "terrorist attacks." (Per NPR)

•••

Trump Attorney Says He Was Diverted from Classified Docs – Trump attorney Evan Corcoran said he was told classified documents taken by the former president would be found only in Mar-a-Lago’s storeroom, according to a scoop in The Guardian. Corcoran was waived off from searching elsewhere at the Florida compound, including Donald J. Trump’s office, where the FBI found the most sensitive material anywhere on the property in their search last summer. Thirty-eight classified documents were found in the storage room.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

___________________________________________

Memorial Day 2023

Who Won the Debt Ceiling Fight? -- Neither Republicans nor Democrats on Capitol Hill are likely to be terribly satisfied with the Biden-McCarthy deal to lift the $31.4-trillion federal debt ceiling through the next presidential election. Even before the 99-page bill was released late Sunday progressive Democrats expressed disappointment that the White House was willing to negotiate at all over its hard-fought agenda. 

Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told the eponymous host of MSNBC’s Inside with Jen Psaki there may not be enough Republican support to pass the bill, taking away the potential victory from the only clear winner, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Last week, Yellen eased up on her warning that the government could run out of money to pay its bills by June 1, by four days, to June 5. 

The deal raises the debt limit through January 2025, in time for either another default showdown with a re-elected President Biden or a new round of cuts with his Republican challenger if successful. In Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) bill narrowly passed in the House last April, HR 2811, the debt ceiling would have been covered to 2033.

The deal that now will go to the full House and Senate keeps non-defense spending essentially flat through fiscal year 2024, the Associated Press reports, and raises it by 1% in FY25. It would match Biden’s defense budget proposal for FY24 at $886 billion and fund non-defense spending at $704 billion. It aims to limit federal budgetary growth to 1% per year for the next six years, beginning in FY25.

Other provisions:

•Gives special treatment to West Virginia’s Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline, the subject of a fight with environmental groups for years. While this is not treated as the lead provision elsewhere, it demands mention at the top of our list as a concession to the state’s senators, especially moderate-right Democrat Joe Manchin (the junior senator is Republican Shelley Moore Caputo). 

•The above Robert Byrdian item is in conjunction with a provision that simplifies some requirements for environmental reviews. It would simplify environmental assessments and impact statements, giving environmental agencies one year to complete, or up to two years for “complex” impacts on the environment. Though a longtime item on Republicans’ wish lists, the GOP removed this item from the White House’s Inflation Reduction Act in retaliation against Manchin for supporting the IRA in the first place.

•Rescinds about $30 billion in unspent coronavirus relief funds.

•Rescinds $1.4 billion in new Internal Revenue Service funding targeted to tax fraud. In all, $21.4 billion of $80 billion in additional funding to the IRS would be rescinded. 

•Expands work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP – formerly food stamps).

•Fully funds medical care for veterans at levels included in Bidens FY24 blueprint, including $20.3 billion in funds for veterans exposed to toxic substances.

Left in-tact: No new work requirements for some Medicaid recipients, no repeal of the clean energy tax credit.

Biden: “Good news. The agreement prevents the worst possible crisis, a default, for the first time in our nation’s history.”

McCartby: “At the endo of the day, people can work together to be able to pass this.”

•••

Erdogan, 3, Liberal Democracy, 0 – Authoritarianism dealt liberal democracy another blow Sunday when Recep Tayyip Erdo¨gan won a third five-year term as president of Turkey in a runoff election Sunday. He beat Kiliçda Ro¨glu with 52.1% to the challenger’s 47.5%, with all but 0.57% of the vote counted, Al Jazeera reports. Erdo¨gan was Turkish prime minister, taking over in 2003 before running for president.

--TL

__________________________________________

FRIDAY 5/26/23

Two Years of Debt Ceiling Relief? – Republicans and the White House are inching toward a debt ceiling deal late Thursday that would lift borrowing caps to some-time in 2025 and freeze spending to current levels, rather than impose the 8% cut imposed by HR 2811, the House imposed in its bill passed in late April, according to CQ Roll Call. HR 2811 also would impose discretionary caps to 2033.

President Biden stands firm… on work requirements for certain safety-net programs, which may be the biggest sticking point. If negotiators can reach a deal here, the full House would likely vote on the debt relief bill this weekend and hand it over to the Senate in time for June 1. 

Upshot: Assuming some version of the above is passed and signed in time – before next Thursday – the debt ceiling issue will become a big issue in the 2024 elections, both presidential and congressional as Biden seeks to continue his work to dismantle Reaganomics, while a Republican president and control of Congress would give conservatives the chance to restore spending cuts imposed by the House bill.

•••

Rhodes Gets 18 Years – Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy for his role in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. An attorney himself, Rhodes said he “felt like a character in a Franz Kafka novel” and compared himself to a Soviet dissident sentenced to years in a prison camp, according to NPR’s All Things Considered. 

Current lead Republican candidate for president in 2024, Donald J. Trump, has said he would pardon some of those convicted of participating in the January 6th insurrection, though he has not singled out individuals who rioted.

•••

Texas House to Impeach AG – Texas’ majority Republican House has adopted 20 articles of impeachment against the state’s Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, Texas Public Radio reports. Articles of impeachment includes allegations Paxton disregarded official duties, misappropriated public resources and committed constitutional bribery and obstruction of justice. 

This stems from four employees of the AG’s office turned whistle-blowers who made and reported accusations about Paxton’s misdeeds. Most relate to a $25,000 contribution to Paxton by Austin real estate investor Nate Paul, TPM’s The Texas Newsroomreports. 

Paxton denies all articles of impeachment and says they are an effort to overturn his win in the 2022 elections. He is on the hook for $3.3-million paid to the whistleblowers. After the House votes to impeach, the case would go to the Texas senate, where Paxton’s wife is a member.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

…meanwhile…

FRIDAY 5/19/23

Haley Welcomes DeSantis – From Des Moines, where Decision ’24 already is heating up, former North Carolina governor and UN ambassador Nikki Haley grabbed a bit of spotlight from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (above), who is expected to announce his presidential candidacy next week.

“Welcome to the race. We’ve been waiting,” Haley said in an exclusive interview with The Hill. “I’m glad that he’s going to be out there because I want the American public to see who they’re choosing from.”

Haley was the second GOP candidate to announce, after Donald J. Trump, in February.

Meanwhile, back in Florida: Disney has cancelled plans for a $900 million Florida campus in Orlando’s Lake Nona and will close one of its most expensive attractions, the “Star Wars” adventure hotel, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Lake Nona, where more than 2,000 new employees were to work, is dead, Josh D’Amaro, head of Disney’s Parks, Experiences and Products division said.

“Given the considerable changes that have occurred since the announcement of this project, including new leadership and changing business conditions, we have decided not to move forward.”

Though “changing conditions” include Disney’s “significant” job and budget cuts, they also include a governor, DeSantis, who is not acting a Republican when it comes to his treatment of big business.

•••

Feinstein Resists Early Retirement – “Early” for the 89-year-old senator from California means before her current term is up in January 2025. Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) already has announced she will not run again, and Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee, Adam Schiff and Katie Porter each have announced their intention to fill her shoes. 

Feinstein appeared “shockingly diminished” upon her return to the Senate last week after she was out more than two months for complications from shingles. Key among them was the revelation of a previously unreported case of encephalitis, The New York Times reports. The shingles also spread to Feinstein’s face and neck, resulting in Ramsey Hunt syndrome. 

While the drumbeats for her early retirement continue and she continues to resist, Feinstein only needs to remain in office to the March 5, 2024 primary, when Democratic voters in the state will choose from Lee, Porter and Schiff. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has stated his intention of choosing California’s first female senator, which could set up Lee as the catbird seat candidate for next year.

--TL

_______________________________________________

THURSDAY 5/18/23

Santosland Diaries -- House Republicans defeated a symbolic House Democrat resolution to expel truth-challenged Rep. George Santos by referring the resolution to the Ethics Committee, by a 221-204 party line vote. Democrats on the Ethics Committee voted “present” to avoid conflict of interest, according to NPR. The unsuccessful expulsion resolution was introduced by Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA).

Garcia raised the question of privilege, which allows members to force a vote on certain resolutions without support of House leadership. House leaders then have two days to bring the resolution to the floor.

Santos was indicted last week on federal criminal charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to the House.

Doing the math: It takes two-thirds majority to expel a congress member for what would be only the fourth time in U.S. history, Roll Call reports. If successful, it would reduce Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s four-vote majority to just three. McCarthy said the Justice Department’s investigation of Santos should proceed as the congress member continues to participate in floor votes. 

On MSNBC’s All in With Chris Hayes, Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) said other House Republicans “cheer” Santos’ vote as he helps them make laws. 

“They are certainly interested in protecting him,” Balint said. 

--TL

______________________________________________

WEDNESDAY 5/17/23

Deal or No Deal? – Anyone who ever has been involved in labor negotiations from either side will recognize the pattern of the dance between President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) over raising the debt ceiling in time to avoid economic disaster. For weeks, months even, each side stands firm while blaming the other for not negotiating in good faith. 

Biden will not give up hard-fought programs like the Inflation Reduction Act to assure the federal government will pay its debts incurred over the last fiscal year. McCarthy and his thin House majority will not pay those debts unless the White House cuts back on its spending. The two sides get closer, closer, closer, though they never seem to be close to a deal until the last possible minute. Then suddenly, a breakthrough. Or not, though Congress and the president have always come through in the past. 

With barely two weeks to go until a very likely economic meltdown as early as June 1, if the government doesn’t pay its bills, we’re in that amorphous period where the union is determined not to strike and the employer truly does not want the down-time, but progress is not obvious.

Tuesday, Biden said he would cut short a diplomatic trip to Asia, which begins with a G7 summit in Hiroshima. But Biden has cancelled a planned trip afterward to Australia, next week in order to concentrate on the debt ceiling. Both Biden and McCarthy “showed signs of optimism” after an hour-long meeting in the Oval Office Tuesday afternoon (labor negotiations are never that short), The New York Times reports.

“We just finished another good, productive meeting with congressional leadership about a path forward to make sure America does not default on its debt,” Biden said.

McCarthy told reporters that he could see a deal reached “by the end of the week.”

Apparently the White House sees the Republican light on calling back unspent COVID relief bills.

We predict a spoiled Memorial Day weekend for one or both of the chambers.

--TL

_______________________________________________

TUESDAY 5/16/23

Durham Reports on Trump Investigation – John Durham, a special counsel appointed in 2019 by then-Attorney Gen. William Barr to investigate the investigators in alleged Russian tampering into the 2016 Trump campaign, released more than 300 pages of criticism for the way the FBI handled the probe, The Washington Post reports. 

According to Durham’s report, the FBI’s investigation of Trump’s first presidential campaign – codenamed ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ was based on “raw, unanalyzed and uncorroborated intelligence.” 

Conversely, the FBI “proceeded cautiously” on alleged influence by a foreign actor in the 2016 Clinton campaign, WaPo says. The FBI’s conduct in Crossfire Hurricane previously came under fire in a 2019 report by the Justice Department’s inspector general, which did not find “documentary or testimonial evidence of intentional misconduct” on the part of the Trump campaign. 

Democrats have denounced the Durham report, which comes after an investigation from which no one was sent to jail.

Trump, who predicted four years ago the special counsel would uncover the “crime of the century” on Monday claimed victory, writing in social medial; “the American Public was scammed, just as it is being scammed right now by those who don’t want to see GREATNESS for AMERICA!”

--TL

_______________________________________________

Meanwhile This Week

MONDAY MAY 15, 2023

More UK Arms to Ukraine – The United Kingdom will send “hundreds” more missiles and attack drones to the Ukraine, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in a meeting with President Volodomyr Zelinskyy in England, Monday, Time reports. Sunak told Zelinskyy, who landed at Sunak’s Chequers country retreat; “your leadership, your country’s bravery and fortitude are an inspiration to us all.”

On Sunday for the third stop on a whirlwind European tour that also included Paris and Rome, Zelinskyy told reporters in Berlin he is not interested in negotiating a peace deal with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, whom he called “insane.” 

“It’s a joke for him. He does not understand what is happening. He is an insane human,” Zelinskyy said, according to a Ukrainian government readout of a press conference following his talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as reported by Newsweek. 

“Putin started the war. Russia took lives. The war is on our land. …

“We have not proposed an artificial plan,” Zelinskyy continued. “We have proposed how to get out of this situation, to end the war, according to the law, respecting the UN Charter, international law, people, values.” Ukraine’s Peace Formula is a 10-point plan that outlines Kyiv’s conditions for peace, and Zelinskyy says he is “not interested” in meeting with Putin for peace talks.

•••

Erdogan Beats Earthquake – Incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdo¨gan pulled out an upset, but not quite a victory, against Republican People’s Party (CHP) challenger Kiliçda Ro¨glu in Turkey’s presidential election Sunday. Erdogan received 49.51% of the vote, not enough to avoid a runoff, but well ahead of Ro¨glu’s 44.88%, a “bitter disappointment” for the challenger who had led in many polls. 

Third-party candidate Sinan Og¨an took 5.17% of the vote, indicating the potential to flip Sunday’s vote in the runoff.

Erdo¨gan, Turkey’s president for 20 years, took his hit in the polls over a slow government response February’s earthquake, which claimed 50,000 lives, and his low interest rates to revive the economy that resulted in 85% inflation, according to The Guardian.

The bigger picture: Though his nation is a NATO member, Erdo¨gan has cozied up to Vladimir Putin, in part by refusing to enforce Western sanctions against Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and buying heavily discounted Russian oil, The New York Times reports. Erdo¨gan opposes Sweden’s application for NATO membership unless Stockholm first hands over Kurdish refugees, particularly those from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Erdo¨gan during his tenure also has jailed dissidents and suppressed independent media.

Though Western officials assiduously avoid being accused of interfering in Turkish politics, “it is an open secret that European leaders, not to speak of the Biden administration, would be delighted if Erdo¨gan were to lose,” the NYT says.

•••

More Debt-Ceiling Tuesday – President Biden is scheduled to resume talks with Congressional leaders over the debt ceiling Tuesday, NBC News and Bloomberg News reported Sunday, after a weekend of talks between Congressional and White House staffers. Biden was quoted from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Sunday as being “optimistic” over reaching a deal by a potential June 1 deadline for the federal government running out of money to pay its bills. 

“I think they’re moving along, hard to tell,” Biden said. “We have not reached the crunch point yet.”

•••

Up On The Hill – Both chambers are in session Monday through Thursday. The Senate only is in session Friday.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Biden to Announce

President Biden is expected to make a formal announcement by next Tuesday he will seek re-election in 2024, The New York Times reports. Biden’s team is said to be in the final stages of planning, with a video in production and donors being mobilized.

He would be the third announced Democratic candidate for president in 2024. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threw his hat in the ring earlier in the week. While RFK Jr. will reportedly emphasize family history instead of his anti-vax positions, most of the Kennedy family are said to be staunch Biden supporters, People magazine reports. 

But RFK Jr. does have his wife, actress Cheryl Hines (she plays Larry David’s ex-wife on Curb Your Enthusiasm): 

“My husband, RFK Jr., announced today he will be running for president and I support his decision,” Hines said in a statement obtained by People.

First candidate to announce for the Democratic nomination was Marianne Williamson, the author and “spiritual leader” (Wikipedia’s description) who first ran in 2020.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

…meanwhile…

TUESDAY 2/28/23

(Rupert Murdoch said some Fox News commentators endorsed false allegations of the Big Lie pushed by Donald J. Trump and allies that the 2020 election was stolen, and did not stop the personalities from promoting these claims, according to excerpts of a deposition in the Dominion Systems’ $1.6-billion lawsuit against the network, AP reports.)

House Committee Challenges China – The newly formed House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party holds its first hearing in prime time, 7 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday night, with four witnesses expected. They are former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and former Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger, both from the Trump administration, and human rights activist Tong Yi and Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul. 

Chairman is Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) vice-chair of the refreshingly bi-partisan committee. Ahead of the hearing, Gallagher told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition; “A Chinese spy balloon drifting over the country and circling our nuclear ICBM facilities has a way of sort of bringing the threat close to home.”

•••

SCOTUS Takes Up Student Loan Forgiveness – Can six Republican-led states put the kibosh on President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program? The Supreme Court hears arguments for two hours Tuesday over whether the Education Department under Biden has authority to eliminate college student debt. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the White House program will cost $300 billion, NPR’s Nina Totenburg reports on Morning Edition. 

Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, South Carolina and Iowa have challenged the loan forgiveness program, which would offer up to $10,000 relief for students with family income of up to $125,000 annually, and up to $20,000 for low-income students. 

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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...meanwhile...

DOE Says COVID Likely from a Chinese Lab – The U.S. Energy Department now agrees with an FBI assessment that the COVID-19 pandemic was likely the result of a leak from a Chinese laboratory, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing an update to a 2021 document by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. The classified report was provided to the White House and key members of Congress (the latter of which explains how the WSJ got it).

•••

NATO Deal to Offer Kyiv Arms for Peace Talks? – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has outlined a plan to give Ukraine “much broader access” to advanced military equipment, weapons and ammunition as an incentive for Kyiv reaching out to Moscow to begin peace talks, The Wall Street Journal reports. Germany and France have joined Britain in supporting the deal, which falls short of full-on NATO membership for Ukraine. 

Sunak last Friday said such arms would give Ukraine a “decisive advantage,” including war planes, on the battlefield. But according to the WSJ, the developing deal masks growing private doubts among political leaders in the United Kingdom, France and Germany that Ukraine will be able to push Russian aggressors out of its eastern regions and Crimea, which Russia has controlled since 2014.

Upshot: This is a decidedly sober attitude from Europe’s lead NATO members, coming after a year in which Ukraine has fought a Russian army many thought would have captured Kyiv by March 2022, and deposed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who last week said his country will prevail and push out Russia by the end of this year.

This Week – Both the House and Senate are in session Monday through Wednesday. The Senate only is in session Thursday and Friday.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Hope for George Floyd Policing Bill?

Vice President Kamala Harris and Rowvaughn Wells, mother of Tyre Nichols, called for passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act Wednesday at Nichols’ funeral in Memphis, and now Black congressional leaders are talking about “jumpstarting” negotiations over the bill on Capitol Hill. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus told theGrio he met with Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) Monday to discuss police reform and that he plans to reach out to other Republican leaders on the issue.

The House passed the bill after President Biden made it a priority last year, but it stalled in the Senate where 10 Republicans were needed to break a filibuster. Better GOP support will be needed because of the new Republican majority in the House. 

What do you think? Go to the Comments section in this column, or the one in the right column if that’s how you lean, or email editors@thehustings.news and type “for the left column” or “for the right column” in the subject line.

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…meanwhile…

(Funeral for Tyre Nichols is Wednesday, with eulogy by National Action Network founder Rev. Al Sharpton and a call to action by Ben Crump, national civil rights attorney representing the Nichols family. (AP) About 2,500 are expected to attend.)

WEDNESDAY 2/1/23

UPDATE ON REHOBOTH – No classified documents were found in the FBI’s search of the president’s vacation home in Rehoboth, Delaware, Biden’s attorney said (AP). Federal agents did take some handwritten notes and other materials related to Biden’s time as vice president, however. 

•••

UPDATE ON THE FED – The Federal Reserve boosted its interest rate by 0.25% Wednesday afternoon, as expected, but warned that ongoing increases are warranted (per The New York Times).

•••

FBI Searches Biden’s Beach Home – The FBI began a search of President Biden’s beach home in Rehoboth, Delaware, for possible classified documents Wednesday morning, weeks after discovering classified documents in Biden’s former Washington, D.C. office and his primary home in Wilmington, Delaware, The Hill reports. Unlike his longtime home in Wilmington, Biden purchased the Rehoboth home after he left office as vice president in 2017.

•••

Debt Ceiling Confab – President Biden is scheduled to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) over raising the debt ceiling and avoid U.S. government default this June. House Republicans want to make cuts in the federal budget already passed, though McCarthy has said Medicare and Social Security cuts some House Republicans have favored are “off the table,” The Hillsays.

•••

The Fed’s Next Move – The Federal Reserve is expected to announce its eighth consecutive interest rate hike Wednesday. Last year’s increases were at a steep 0.75% as the Consumer Price Index peaked at 9.1% in June, except for December’s hike of 0.5%, when the CPI eased to 6.5%. An 0.25% hike is expected for Wednesday, The Washington Post says, which would put the prime rate at 4.5%-4.75%. Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds a news conference at 2:30 p.m.

--TL

_______________

...meanwhile...

TUESDAY 1/31/23

(Two more Memphis police officers were disciplined and three emergency responders were fired, officials said late Monday, over the death of Tyre Nichols –AP. See “Will Nichols’ Death Force Policing Change?” below.)

“Distracting” Santos Steps Down from Committees – Rep. George Santos (R-NY) told House Republicans he will step down temporarily from his assignments on the Small Business, and Science, Space & Technology committees “because he’s a distraction,” an unnamed Republican colleague tells The Washington Post. Santos, who faces “multiple investigations” into his 2022 campaign finances and has lied about key aspects of his education, employment and religious history, met privately with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Monday.

•••

Criminal Charges for Trump? – Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Briggs (D) is showing a grand jury evidence that about $130,000 in hush money paid by Donald J. Trump to adult film star Stormy Daniels just prior to the 2016 presidential election, a “clear sign” the D.A. is nearing a decision on whether to bring criminal charges against the former president. According to The New York Times, the charges could hinge on whether prosecutors can show that Trump and his company falsified records to hide the hush money payment from voters. 

--TL

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Will Nichols' Death Force Policing Change?

MONDAY 1/30/23

After a weekend of peaceful protests in Memphis, Washington, D.C. and other cities following the late-Friday release of video depicting the brutal beating and pepper-spraying by police of Tyre Nichols (above), debate on the danger young Black men face from local police departments seems to be shifting to the need for systemic change. 

Nichols is the 29-year-old Black man who died three days after Memphis police pulled him over for erratic driving and dragged him out of his car and according to body camera and remote footage, chased him down and beat him as he called out for his mother. Five officers involved in the beating first were fired, then were charged last week with murder, and their special unit, Scorpion – Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods – was disbanded, all within three weeks of Nichols’ traffic stop. Charges against other officers may be forthcoming.

All Scorpion officers who attacked Nichols according to the four videos released last week are Black. As The New York Timesnoted over the weekend, “It took 13 months and an order from a judge for the authorities in Chicago to relase videos showing a police officer firing 16 bullets into Laquan McDonald, a Black teenager on a busy roadway in 2014.” Until the swift actions taken by Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, a Black woman in the job since 2021, it was typical for local police departments to delay for months or even refuse to take action against white officers involved in such cases. 

But Ben Crump, attorney for the Daniels family in the Memphis case says these cases are about intstutionalized racism in police departments, no matter the racial makeup of police officers involved.

“We have to talk about this institutionalized police culture that has the unwritten law, you can engage in the excessive use of force against Black and brown people,” Crump told ABC News’ This Week.

•••

This Week On the Hill – The Senate and the House are in session Monday through Thursday. The Senate only is in session Friday.

President Biden is scheduled to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) at the White House Wednesday to discuss the debt ceiling, MSNBC’s Morning Joe reports.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

…meanwhile…

(WED 11/16/22)

It’s Official: GOP Wins House – Republican Mike Garcia defeated Democratic challenger Christy Smith to win California’s 27th District House seat Wednesday, the AP reports, to finally give the GOP the majority in the lower chamber it had expected to come much more easily a week earlier. Garcia’s victory puts the House count at 218 Republicans and 211 Democrats, per The New York Times, with six more seats to call. 

Reddish Trickle: The GOP House margin, which will be anywhere from one to 14 seats -- though more likely between five and seven -- is good enough for the party’s first declared 2024 presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump. The jury was still out 24 hours after Trump’s Mar-a-Lago announcement on whether his fall from party leadership finally is over. Rupert Murdoch’s news empire is sticking to its guns so far – Sean Hannity even broke away from the drone of Trump’s “low energy” speech, and ABC News’ Jonathan Karl reported that Mar-a-Lago security had to keep several in the gaga-for-MAGA crowd from leaving his speech early. 

Why would GOP leadership break up with Donald J. Trump this time, and not after three election losses – the House in 2018, the presidency and Senate in 2020 and essentially both chambers this year (and his only win was by electoral count, not popular vote) – as well as two impeachments, one insurrection, and an FBI seizure of top secret documents? 

Consider that when Mitt Romney lost, miserably, in his bid to unseat President Obama in 2012, the GOP conducted an “autopsy” on the party’s apparent lack of popularity.

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in Florida’s winds, where Gov. Ron DeSantis offers the party sanctuary, and he won’t fly you on a chartered airplane to get there.

Meanwhile, McConnell Holds: SCOTUS- and federal court-crusher Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) won over his party’s caucus to remain minority leader, with 37 votes to Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) 10 votes. One Republican voted “present” in the secret ballot held in the Old Senate Chamber according to Politico, which adds that Scott sent out a memo during the vote accusing the outgoing National Republican Senatorial Committee, led by Indiana’s Todd Young, for distributing “hundreds of thousands of dollars of unauthorized and improper bonuses to staff.”

McConnell has been GOP leader for nearly 16 years, and when asked whether he might soon consider stepping down, he told reporters “I’m not going anywhere” (Politico again). 

•••

Senate Moves to Codify Same-Sex Marriage – The Senate Wednesday passed a procedural provision, 62-37, to advance a same-sex marriage bill that could reach its final vote this week, per Roll Call. The bill would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which was ruled largely unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in a 2013 decision. The bill “will not take away or alter any religious liberty,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), chief negotiator and the first openly gay U.S. senator. 

Among the 12 Republican senators voting to advance the bill was its primary GOP sponsor, Susan Collins, of Maine. It is the first among several bills the lame duck Congress will take up in a rush to beat the end of its 117th session.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____________________________________

Trump Trumps, Again

(WED 11/16/22)

It’s 2015 again, with the fabulosity of Mar-a-Lago – where FBI agents seized top secret government documents just three months ago -- substituting for Trump Tower’s Golden Elevator. Some 20 minutes after beginning his speech – which came off sounding like a low-key MAGA-hat rally in which he described the magnificent success of his administration and the dismal failures of his successor -- Donald J. Trump announced his third bid for president of the United States. 

“In order to make America great and glorious again tonight I am announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.” Though Trump did not conjure up his Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him, he did suggest China had somehow meddled in the 2022 midterms. And the GOP did win the midterms thanks to Trump’s involvement, he suggested, but Republican leaders had overblown expectations they would win 40 House seats. 

Trump threw in this statement, devoid of any irony or self-awareness: “This will not be my campaign. This will be our campaign.”

Biden on Strike on Poland: Before Trump in his very big announcement could blame on the current president a missile that struck Poland – he perversely suggested that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine had he still been in office – Biden spoke at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, telling reporters “there is preliminary information that contests that … it’s unlikely given the trajectory that it was launched from Russia.“ It has been identified as a Russian missile, however, and it killed two people in rural Poland. In discussions with Polish President Andrej Duda and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Biden says the U.S. has offered support to Poland’s investigation “and we need to determine exactly what happened.”

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Lettuce Wins

(THU 10/20/22)

British PM Resigns – Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced her resignation just 44 days into her term, the BBC reports. Her conservative party is to choose a successor by Friday, October 28. London’s Daily Star claimed victory for its 60-pence head of lettuce for outlasting the PM with the shortest term in British history.

--TL

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Biden Ups Midterm Ante on Abortion Issue (WED 10/19/22)

Codifying Roe v. Wade – President Biden announces Tuesday the first and foremost issue on his agenda for the second half of his term, if Democrats manage to hold majorities in both the House and Senate, will be a bill codifying Roe v. Wade, The Hill reports. Yes, that is a big “if”. With three weeks to go to the November 8 midterm elections, most polls show that intended voters rank inflation and the economy as their top issue, ahead of abortion rights.

The Hill helpfully notes that if Democrats do hold off the GOP in the House and Senate, such legislation could appear on or near the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe decision, January 23, 1973 which was overturned last summer by SCOTUS’ ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Upshot: The White House’s gambit will only work for Democrats if it boosts turnout by pro-abortion rights voters in the midterms, rather than counts on changing minds among those who will vote by November 8 anyway.

•••

Record Early Voting in Georgia – The state’s first day of in-person early voting broke the midterm election record by Tuesday morning, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, with nearly 123,000 voters turning out. If Georgia is any indication of the turnout nationally, its likely polls on individual races across the states will prove to be way off the mark.

Meanwhile: Numerous news reports indicate independent and moderate Republican and Democratic voters in Georgia are willing to split their tickets. That would be good news for both incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, whose Democratic challenger is Stacey Abrams, and incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is in a statistical tie in recent polls with Trumpian Republican challenger Herschel Walker.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

_____________________________________

Codifying Roe v. Wade – President Biden announces Tuesday the first and foremost issue on his agenda for the second half of his term, if Democrats manage to hold majorities in both the House and Senate, will be a bill codifying Roe v. Wade, The Hill reports. Yes, that is a big “if”. With three weeks to go to the November 8 midterm elections, most polls show that intended voters rank inflation and the economy as their top issue, ahead of abortion rights.

The Hill helpfully notes that if Democrats do hold off the GOP in the House and Senate, such legislation could appear on or near the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe decision, January 23, 1973 which was overturned last summer by SCOTUS’ ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Upshot: The White House’s gambit will only work for Democrats if it boosts turnout by pro-abortion rights voters in the midterms, rather than counting on changing minds among those who will vote by November 8 anyway.

•••

Record Early Voting in Georgia – The state’s first day of in-person early voting broke the midterm election record by Tuesday morning, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, with nearly 123,000 voters turning out. If Georgia is any indication of the turnout nationally, its likely polls on individual races across the states will prove to be way off the mark.

Meanwhile: Numerous news reports indicate independent and moderate Republican and Democratic voters in Georgia are willing to split their tickets. That would be good news for both incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, whose Democratic challenger is Stacey Abrams, and incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is in a statistical tie in recent polls with Trumpian Republican challenger Herschel Walker.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

Latest on the Midterms (MON 10/17/22)

Hill v. Point: A news alert Monday evening, October 17, from The Hill says Republicans are “growing more optimistic” that they will grab majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate after the November 8 midterms. Pollsters say the GOP is gaining momentum from the “stubborn” inflation rate being blamed on President Biden and the Democrats.

That alert was followed by The Point! by CNN’s Chris Cilizza who writes of a surprising poll by J. Ann Selzer for the Des Moines Register, placing Democrat Mike Franken in a statistical tie with Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who seeks his eighth term at age 89. Grassley, who hasn’t been seriously challenged in several terms, has 46% in Selzer’s poll to Franken’s 43%. 

Upshot: Selzer’s polls have been the most reliable since polls in general went south with the 2016 presidential race, Cilizza notes, and FiveThirtyEight rates her with a grade of A+.

•••

Early and mail-in voting are underway in many states as the November 8 midterm elections loom. While there is much new attention this year being paid on down-ballot races where elected state and county officials could potentially determine how future elections are conducted and counted, U.S. Senate races are in the national media spotlight. 

Specifically, three key Senate races are considered most likely to determine whether Democrats maintain power in the upper chamber or whether the GOP regains its control in January. 

Ohio: While Republican challenger, venture capitalist and Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance holds the double-edge sword of Donald J. Trump’s endorsement, Democratic candidate Rep. Tim Ryan says he disagrees with his party’s leader, President Biden, on such issues as immigration policy. Vance and Ryan were scheduled to face off in their second of two debates Tuesday, October 18. The two candidates are in a statistical tie according to FiveThirtyEight, with Ryan polling an average of 45.1% to Vance’s 44.8% as of October 14.

Georgia: Republican challenger, football hero and Trump endorsee Herschel Walker has lost some support in the week or so since the Daily Beast reported a woman claims he paid for her abortion. Incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock leads Walker 48% to 44.2% according to FiveThirtyEight averaging. Warnock would need at least 50% of the vote to win outright, however, to avoid a runoff likely against Walker. A third-party candidate, Libertarian Chase Oliver, is currently polling about 4% according to Fox News. Much of his November 8 votes would likely go to Walker in a runoff.

Nevada: Republican challenger Adam Laxalt leads incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto 45.1% to 44.5%, another statistical tie, according to FiveThirtyEight averaging. This despite 14 members of the Laxalt family, long politically prominent Republicans in Nevada, endorsed Cortez Masto over Laxalt’s embrace of his Trump-MAGA endorsement. Cortez Masto is losing Hispanic support over inflation and the economy, Newsweek reports, citing a USA Today/Suffolk University poll.

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania: Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D), endorsed by The Philadelphia Inquirer October 17, leads erstwhile Jersey guy and MAGA Republican Mehmet Oz by 48% to 42.4%, according to FiveThirtyEight, which means the GOP would have to win at least one challenge against a Democratic incumbent just to retain the 50-50 Senate split, a tie broken by Vice President Kamala Harris. This race is for a replacement to retiring Sen. Pat Toomey, a not-at-all-Trumper Republican.

--Compiled by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news