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From The Reporter’s Notebook
Minority leader-elect Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) released a defiant statement in response to reports that Congressional Republicans plan to shift Medicare towards a more privatized system now that the GOP controls both chambers of Congress and the White House, TPM’s Esme Cribb reported. “To our Republican colleagues considering this path, Democrats say: make our day,” Schumer said in the statement. “Your effort will fail, and this attack on our seniors will not stand.”
Agree or Disagree?
Josh Marshall: “This is a strong political message and it has the virtue of being what Democrats do believe in and have for decades. It is simple: Trumpism is a swindle. He said he was going to drain the swamp but he’s already partying in the swamp, prepping to phase out things like Medicare which Americans hold dear. Whether the Democrats can mobilize in just two weeks or get that message out effectively in such a short period of time is not clear. But you run elections not only to win them but to refine messages and build coalitions so you have a better shot at winning them the next time.”
Say What?!
“I think they would have to get a waiver.”
– Newt Gingrich said Wednesday he thought Trump would need a “waiver to the anti-nepotism law” in order to employ his son-in-law.
BUZZING: Today in the Hive
From a TPM Prime member: “I think the phrasing is beyond unfortunate. It buys into the notion that the only ‘real Americans’ are the ones who live in red states and vote Republican. That’s not even true within the Republican Party, even though they have succeeded — in no small part through the Southern Strategy and the export of union jobs to non-union state in the south — in making substantial inroads with working class voters. Those who complain about Democratic ‘identity politics,’ while saying nothing about the very long history of Republican identity politics — whatever we’re calling, in this or the next election cycle, the group of voters who brand themselves as the silent majority, moral majority, values voters, the Tea Party, or… whatever identity they choose to latch onto for an election or two, are identity voters.”
Related: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) doubled down on remarks that Democrats should shift their focus beyond “identity politics” after Donald Trump’s electoral victory.
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What We’re Reading
Tila Tequila’s descent into Nazism is a long time coming. (BuzzFeed)
Christine who fed the hungry. (The New Yorker)
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