Have You Called Your Senator?

I checked to see whether the main anti-filibuster group has done a list of which Democratic senators stand where on the issue. It turns out there’s a list. But it’s basically about a filibuster carve-out for voting rights legislation. And it measures just a generic openness to reforming the filibuster. As we know it has 48 Senators pro and 2 against. You can see it here.

But this isn’t really specific enough. It’s not about a Roe law or specifically what kind of reform they support. Have you called your senator? I’m curious how many senators are willing to commit specifically to passing a Roe bill in the next Congress (assuming Democrats hold the majority and they pick up an additional two Senate seats) and are ready to change the filibuster rules to allow that bill to come up to a clean majority vote. If you call your senator’s office let me know what they say.

Where Things Stand: In Milo’s Hiring As MTG’s Intern, Viral Cruelty Remains The Point

Yes, on its face, it is pathetic and entertaining that the once-relevant, 37-year-old far-right troll Milo Yiannopoulos has been hired as an UNPAID intern for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) several years after he was sort of but not really pushed out of his gig at Steve Bannon’s Breitbart for appearing to defend pedophilia.

Continue reading “Where Things Stand: In Milo’s Hiring As MTG’s Intern, Viral Cruelty Remains The Point”

Report: Biden Likely To Make Decision On Student Loan Forgiveness Later In Summer

President Biden will likely make his decision on partial student loan forgiveness for millions of borrowers later this summer, administration officials told the Wall Street Journal.

Continue reading “Report: Biden Likely To Make Decision On Student Loan Forgiveness Later In Summer”

Drifting Towards a Drubbing

This morning I dipped into the Times comments about the piece I wrote on abortion politics. They made me even more pessimistic about the Democrats’ electoral fate in November. Obviously comments at some level aren’t a good barometer of a larger population. But the level of self-defeating ignorance on display almost defied comprehension. I closed them up and decided to go about my day. The one critique that stood out to me was the argument that none of the abortion stuff matters because this midterm is really about the economy and especially inflation. So Democrats need to focus their message on that. And if possible, resolve those issues by election time.

It goes without saying that 1) inflation approaching 10% is not popular, 2) it is exceedingly unlikely that Joe Biden can materially reduce inflation in the next five months (in fact you probably need big shifts three months out from the election) and 3) taking stock of #1 and #2 if Democrats allow the midterms to be a referendum on inflation they will get soundly defeated since inflation is not popular.

Continue reading “Drifting Towards a Drubbing”

Mo Brooks Pleads For Trump To Re-Endorse Him Weeks Out From Alabama Senate Runoff

In a pitiful news, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) is begging for former President Trump to re-endorse him just over two weeks before the Alabama Senate GOP runoff.

Trump yanked his endorsement of the GOP congressman in March after complaining that Brooks made the “horrible mistake” of apparently becoming “woke” by daring to at one point suggest it was time to move on from the 2020 presidential election.

Continue reading “Mo Brooks Pleads For Trump To Re-Endorse Him Weeks Out From Alabama Senate Runoff”

Making a Campaign Issue of Oz’s Turkish Citizenship is 100% Legit

During Pennsylvania’s GOP Senate primary, Mehmet Oz first insisted that he would remain a dual U.S.-Turkish citizen while serving in the Senate. To avoid any conflict of interest he said he would simply recuse himself from any foreign policy issues with any connection to Turkey. Then after intense criticism he agreed that should he be elected to the Senate he would finally renounce his Turkish citizenship.

That appeared to partly settle the issue. It actually got less attention that the fact that Oz isn’t even a resident of Pennsylvania. He lives across the state line in New Jersey. But through the campaign there has also been an oft-repeated suggestion that raising this issue — Oz’s dual citizenship — amounts to a form of prejudice or Islamophobia. In fact, an early May ABC News report claimed that “Oz is not the first high-profile candidate to face accusations of a so-called ‘dual loyalty,’ a claim reminiscent of attacks against Catholics, Jews and members of other religious and ethnic groups in previous generations.”

Continue reading “Making a Campaign Issue of Oz’s Turkish Citizenship is 100% Legit”

Proud Boys Leader, Four Members Charged With Seditious Conspiracy

A federal grand jury on Monday returned a superseding indictment charging Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio with seditious conspiracy over his alleged involvement in the Capitol insurrection.

Continue reading “Proud Boys Leader, Four Members Charged With Seditious Conspiracy”

Raskin Previews What To Expect From Jan. 6 Hearings’ Debut This Week

Ahead of the Jan. 6 Select Committee’s first public hearing on Thursday, panel member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) offered a preview of what the public can expect the committee to share about the events surrounding the deadly Capitol insurrection last year as then-President Trump and his allies tried to subvert the election.

Continue reading “Raskin Previews What To Expect From Jan. 6 Hearings’ Debut This Week”

What We Know: Retired Judge’s Alleged Killer Reportedly Crafted Hit List Of Politicians

A retired Wisconsin judge was killed Friday in what the state’s attorney general said appeared to be a targeted attack. Not long after the attack, reports emerged of a list, seemingly authored by the alleged gunman, of elected officials. Here’s what we know so far. 

Continue reading “What We Know: Retired Judge’s Alleged Killer Reportedly Crafted Hit List Of Politicians”