;)
November 7, 2021
Finally! Infrastructure week! -- President Joe Biden, Saturday ~~~
~~~ David Sanger of the New York Times: "President Biden celebrated the passage of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill on Saturday, declaring ... that he had made good on two key promises of his campaign: reviving the economy and getting the nation vaccinated.... But for Mr. Biden on Saturday, there was a clear sense of regret that his victory did not come a few days earlier, when it might have made a difference in the off-year elections on Tuesday in which his party fared poorly, an outcome that he acknowledged reflected public frustration with a democratic process that seemed in perpetual gridlock.... Mr. Biden cast the victory -- which he achieved with the support of 13 House Republicans, who proved crucial because of key defections from his own party -- as critical to putting Americans to work on long-neglected projects. But he also described it as central to his strategy for competing with China, from the money for charging stations for electric vehicles -- an investment Beijing made years ago -- to bringing broadband internet service to remote and underserved communities." An NBC News story is here. NPR's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Video of the Q&A, which followed Biden's remarks, is here.
Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: President "Biden called the bill a 'once in a generation' investment that would create millions of jobs and improve the domestic economy. He said the measure included the most significant investment in roads and bridges in 70 years, the most significant investment in passenger rail in 50 years, and the most significant investment in public transit in history. Biden said he and Harris would have a formal signing ceremony for the bill soon, citing the desire for those who worked on the legislation to be able to attend.... Biden has now achieved milestones that his predecessors only reached for. He pulled U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, ending the longest U.S. war, which ... Donald Trump and President Barack Obama had hoped to do. He will soon sign an infrastructure package that Trump had promised but never built the political coalition to achieve.... Once he signs it into law, the infrastructure package would be the second major legislative achievement of Biden's presidency, following the March stimulus law."
How the Congressional Black Caucus Saved the Bill. Jonathan Weisman & Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Seeking to bridge the gap between a resolute clutch of balking Democratic moderates and a much larger group of liberals demanding that the president's $1 trillion infrastructure plan only pass concurrently with his $1.85 trillion social welfare and climate change bill, the Black lawmakers proposed a plan that initially seemed far too timid and convoluted: pass the infrastructure bill immediately, then hold a good-faith procedural vote on the larger bill that would have to suffice before its final vote in mid-November. [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi agreed to the deal and then, tellingly, sent the low-key chairwoman of the Black Caucus, Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, out to waiting reporters to tell the world. In effect, the speaker had harnessed one faction of her unruly Democrats to win over two others, and she understood that the soft-spoken African American lawmaker might have had more influence at that point than she did." ~~~
~~~ Marie: This is more evidence yet that Pelosi is the greatest speaker in modern history. That "P" in Pelosi stands for "pragmatism."
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "On Friday, 13 House Republicans delivered the decisive votes to rescue a key part of President Biden's agenda -- an agenda endangered by those in his own party.... And some Republicans are predictably furious -- with undersold questions about House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) future leadership of the party potentially in the offing.... The bill included lots of popular projects and, in another era, probably would've gotten significantly more GOP votes. But we live in this era in which delivering a political win for the other side -- however popular the bill and however much your constituents might want it -- is seen as apostasy." The loudest complaints came from the usual suspects: Matt Gaetz, Chip Roy, Madison Cawthorn, & Margie Greene. Margie accused the 13 of voting to "pass Joe Biden's Communist takeover of America." MB: The whine that gave me a chuckle when I saw it Saturday morning came from Philip Klein, now editor of the National Review online: "Disgraceful House Republicans Rescue Biden's Flailing Agenda." Blake also remarks on Klein's outrage.
Mary Jalonick of the AP: "The $1 trillion infrastructure plan that now goes to President Joe Biden to sign into law has money for roads, bridges, ports, rail transit, safe water, the power grid, broadband internet and more.... The new law promises to reach almost every corner of the country. It's a historic investment that the president has compared to the building of the transcontinental railroad and Interstate Highway System. The White House is projecting that the investments will add, on average, about 2 million jobs per year over the coming decade.... Here's a breakdown of the bill[.]"
Marie: Maureen Dowd of the New York Times reminds us of how important it is to "journalists" to slam Democrats when they accomplish something of historic proportions. No kudos to Democrats for passing a huge infrastucture bill that previous presidents and Congresses did not or could not do. And, as another for-instance, Terry McAuliffe said something stupid months ago. But no mention of Glenn Youngkin, who campaigned on education while his own son is so resistant to education that he tried to vote though surely he learned in school that he was too young to vote, and minutes after a poll worker "educated" him on the age requirement, the kid came right back and tried to vote again. Thanks, MoDo. If you want to know why Democrats have such a hard time legislating, it's because both-sides critics like you keep their majorities razor-thin.
Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "As the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot fights to extract testimony and documents from Donald J. Trump's White House, an Atlanta district attorney is moving toward convening a special grand jury in her criminal investigation of election interference by the former president and his allies.... The prosecutor, Fani Willis of Fulton County, opened her inquiry in February and her office has been consulting with the House committee, whose evidence could be of considerable value to her investigation.... Her inquiry is seen by legal experts as potentially perilous for the former president, given the myriad interactions he and his allies had with Georgia officials, most notably Mr. Trump's January call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, urging him to 'find 11,780 votes' -- enough to reverse the state's election result." The Raw Story has a summary report here.
Marie: This documentary is scheduled to air on MSNBC Sunday at 10 pm ET:
Michael Schmidt, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal authorities on Saturday searched the home of James O'Keefe, the founder of the conservative group Project Veritas ... a day after Mr. O'Keefe acknowledged that the group was under investigation by the Justice Department in connection with a diary reported to have been stolen from Ashley Biden, President Biden's daughter. The F.B.I. carried out a court-ordered search of Mr. O'Keefe's apartment in Mamaroneck, N.Y., early on Saturday morning, after having searched the homes of two associates of Mr. O'Keefe on Thursday as part of the investigation.... Brent Mickol, a teacher who lives across the hall from Mr. O'Keefe, said it was about 6 a.m. when agents arrived.... 'I ran to the door and looked out the peep hole and clearly saw an F.B.I. raid,' he said. 'You saw the jackets. Literally, it was just out of a movie.'" Mediaite has a summary story here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Since Donald Trump took office, we have from time to time been reading about FBI raids on the homes of his associates & fanboys. It seems the FBI are early risers. If I suspected I was under federal investigation, I would adapt my schedule to be dressed and ready for visitors before 6 am each day.
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Eli Rosenberg of the Washington Post: "A federal appeals court suspended the Biden administration's new vaccine requirement for private companies, delivering a major blow for one of the White House's signature attempts to increase the number of vaccinations to corral the pandemic. The decision was issued by a panel of three judges appointed by Republican presidents in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The judges wrote that there was 'cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the mandate,' staying the order while the court assesses it in more depth. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed Friday by a group of plaintiffs including Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R), part of a wave of lawsuits against the order from mostly Republican-aligned groups and politicians." The Texas Tribune report is here.
Way Beyond the Beltway
Iraq. Hamdi Alkhshali & Aqeel Najim of CNN: "Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi escaped an assassination attempt on Sunday after an explosive-laden drone targeted his residence in Baghdad, the country's military said.... Three drones were involved in the assassination attempt, according to Ministry of Interior Spokesman General Saad Maan.... Security forces were able to down two of the drones, Maan said."
News Lede
New York Times: "Stephen Karpiak, whose research into the lives of New Yorkers aging with H.I.V. revealed a scarcity of support networks and high rates of depression, leading to changes in the care of older people living with the virus, died on Oct. 16 at a hospital in Manhattan. He was 74.... Dr. Karpiak, who witnessed the AIDS crisis as a gay man in New York in the 1980s, became an impassioned advocate for those aging with the disease...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: There are all kinds of heroes that we never know about. Karpiak would seem to be one of them.
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A sermon:
Though few may remember the cartoons that inspired the phrase, most know that a Rube Goldberg device employs a complicated and silly series of mechanisms to accomplish a simple purpose (Wikipedia.org).
Recent news about redistricting plans being considered at the county, state, and national levels to adjust political boundaries after the 2020 census bring those Rube Goldberg cartoons to mind.
Ideally in a democracy, the redistricting ritual that occurs every ten years should support the goal of constructing a system in which all votes are counted, and each vote is given equal weight.
Unfortunately, because of the way in which voting districts are often created, that ideal is seldom achieved. Instead, state legislatures often design crazy-quilt patchwork maps that effectively disenfranchise those who vote for the opposing party.
In 1996 and 2012, though Democrats won the popular vote for House seats, the House remained in Republican hands. In 2020, despite another popular vote victory, the Democrats lost twelve House seats (fivethirtyeight.com; and ballotpedia.org).
But gerrymandered districts are not the only problem with House elections. The way the House seats are assigned creates massive inequities for both parties. A law passed in 1940 limited House seats to 435, required that each state have at least one seat and set up a complicated way to assign the rest. As a result, in 2016 South Dakota had one representative for 572,000 registered voters. Wyoming, one for 280,000; California, one for every 415,000. Simply put, the power of our votes in House races varies greatly state to state (Wikipedia.org).
Additionally, over the decades population growth since 1940 has effectively cut in half the impact of each vote for the 435-member House, the chamber initially intended to directly reflect the people’s wishes.
Even Rube Goldberg couldn’t have cartooned such a slipshod, inefficient, and inequitable democracy.
There she goes again––––I'd like to remind Ms. Dowd that Shakespeare's verdant world was "made up" unlike our own world that kicks you down even after you rise up from four years of hurricane seasons during the previous occupant "not in charge" in the White House. Perhaps Maureen could glean some advice from something else Ole Will wrote:
"The [partial] truth you speak doth lack some gentleness,
And time to speak it in:
You rub the sore,
when you should bring the plaster."
Legislation is a messy business and will always be thus. MB's comment that one of the reasons Dems have such a hard time legislating is because both-sides critics like Dowd keep majorities razor thin is spot on.
and by the way–––Obama did NOT sideline Biden for Clinton––Beau's death did that. Such a cheap shot and in my book a deplorable one!!!!!
@Ken: good sermon ––what in Sam Hill can we do to change that system? Oh, wait! Let's not call Saul but contact Ms. Dowd who no doubt could tell us exactly how to go about it, maybe even get advice from her right-wing relatives as to how to keep them down at the farm and out of harm's political way.
And let's remember, since it's Sunday, what God always told us after he had consumed a bigly amount of Wild Turkey:
"Be of good cheer and close thy eyes to the bright rays of the sun that reveals the true spirit of man. Ignorance is bliss and blessed are they that dwell in it.." Amen
Pig Pile! Dowd is clearly someone whose bona fide has been "blue collar" i.e. cops in her background. She will always want more and cares not who gets pushed down in the process: she is to Democrats as Orange Turd is to Republicans. Both equally pleasure creatures, Donny & Do.
Pleasant, not pleasure.
A Sunday joke brought to you by God?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal-workers-vaccines-exemptions/2021/11/07/761eb9d8-3da3-11ec-8ee9-4f14a26749d1_story.html
People who refuse to accept double-blind tested fact about a vaccine look to something or someOne for which/whom there is absolutely no proof whatsoever to excuse their irrationality.
Could we call them a study in the "double-blind?"
@Ken Winkes: When you put it that way -- and that way seems a good way to put it -- many a religious exemption or objection seems ludicrous.