I noted below how AP and WaPo completely ran with Senate Republicans’ absurd claim that Biden somehow double-crossed them. Politico Playbook did pretty much the same thing, though in Playbook argot. But Politico itself, or the regular edit team published the first account of what happened here that more or less captured what happened. Republicans woke up Friday angry about what they’d agreed to Thursday. And their best argument, to the extent they had one, is that Biden said too clearly what they knew and what they had just agreed to.
Here’s the flavor.
The Washington Post also has a story out this afternoon that closely follows the AP’s credulity, adding lengthy quotes about Republican outrage, shock, feelings of betrayal at Biden’s surprise announcement. But unlike the AP, it actually provides an example of something slightly different: the way the bigs can get the real information in there, sorta, but in a way that buries it so much as almost not to matter.
The article’s first ten paragraphs go on as I described: Republican shock and outrage over Biden’s switcheroo. And then down at the end you have three paragraphs, literally the last three paragraphs which basically tell the story: that this has all been completely known for weeks or even months. They even quote Mitch McConnnell saying as much. They feel the need to hang it on Sen. Brian Schatz. But still it does cover at least a significant statement of the reality of the situation.
Here’s one of those things that drive me to distraction but I at least enjoy flagging to everyone’s attention when it’s so egregious. Mitch McConnell is now claiming Republicans have somehow been hoodwinked, double-crossed, done dirty by Democrats springing ‘linkage’ on them: Basically, that the White House and the Democratic caucus will support the bipartisan mini-infrastructure bill as long as they can put the rest of their plan in a reconciliation bill.
Then I noticed an AP reporter, apparently new to the White House beat, flagged a new AP story with this: “This is the catch for the WH on the infrastructure deal right now: Senators who were part of the bipartisan group were never told of such an explicit linking of the two packages, the two people familiar with the discussions said.”
The article itself, by Lisa Mascaro, manages to be even more credulous.
The former president hid in his bunker when country-wide protests flared up in Washington, D.C. over the police killing of George Floyd last summer.
He was mocked with a variety of entertaining “bunker boy” related nicknames (not hard to get creative with that alliteration) and ultimately decided to show his strength by violently clearing out Lafayette Square and taking a picture in front of a historic church flinging around a Bible.
JoinHere’s another key question a lot of people are trying to figure out.
If Joe Biden gets most of his infrastructure agenda passed through combination of a mini-hard infrastructure bipartisan deal and the bulk of it through a 50 vote reconciliation bill that will be a big win on policy and politically.
So why did this deal – even if it falls apart – get to the White House press event level? Why did Mitch McConnell allow that to happen?
I’m still trying make sense of the ‘deal’ negotiated yesterday on infrastructure. But there are a few key issues I can share with you that are pretty interesting. Let me start with one about the so-called ‘payfors’.
A new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast is now live! This week, Josh and Kate discuss the Republican filibuster of even starting debate on Democrats’ major voting rights bill, and game out the path forward for democracy safeguards.
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Matt Shuham had a chat with the OAN host who said tens of thousands of election stealing Dems should be executed. Turns out it was just a big misunderstanding.
Does Biden trust GOP Senators to follow through? “They’ve given me their word. Where I come from, that’s good enough for me.”
More here from the press conference.
And from Senate progs, nope we’re not going to get hoodwinked here.