Large Adult Legislative Accomplishment

Hello it’s the weekend. This is The Weekender ☕

If the beltway publications are to be believed, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) pulled off a stunning, totally unexpected legislative victory that will force President Joe Biden to shuffle up to the negotiating table, head hung, where Republicans have been waiting, patiently and maturely.

No.

McCarthy — by the barest of margins and after having feted undecided Republicans in the speaker suite for hours — passed a Republican wishlist that would repeal swaths of the Inflation Reduction Act, weaken federal agencies and make it harder for low-income people to get health care and food stamps.

Now Republicans are claiming — and many news outlets are helpfully echoing — that it’s on Democrats to negotiate, since Republicans have handed over a ransom note. These outlets tend to suggest less that perhaps Republicans should just help lift the debt ceiling (which is completely divorced from future spending), avert economic catastrophe, then fight with Democrats about government spending when it comes time to pass the budget. But that wouldn’t provide the breathless, kinetic coverage opportunities of throwing the onus from one party to the other.

Fundamentally, nothing has changed. Republicans still want to use the debt ceiling as leverage; Democrats still want to pass a clean extension/raise. If anything, Republicans have made it less likely that Democrats will bow to their will, given how replete with poison pills their wishlist is.

It’s a dangerous situation. As the Republican Party has marched to the right, it only makes it more likely that its members won’t do the responsible thing at the last minute, that they’ll drive the country off of a cliff. And Democrats have learned the lessons of administrations past, and are less likely than ever to keep rewarding Republicans for playing with fire.

But at the very least, we can be honest about what’s going on here. Republicans are willing to gamble the American, and global, economy. McCarthy did not end this week with a massive victory — he only pushed us closer to the brink.

More on other news below. Let’s dig in. 

— Kate Riga

Tuckered Out

A lot of the Tucker Carlson coverage this week read like an obituary; RIP to the Father Coughlin of Fox, farewell to the crown prince of the accelerationist right. What was the cause of his passing? Angering Rupert? Misogynistic text messages? Tanking the Dominion lawsuit?

I think that treatment is partly due to the nature of the beast — he was chained to his lucrative primetime time slot on Fox, and with that gone, so is he. But it’s also a function of the nature of what he produced. Tucker managed to get the followings that he did in a similar way to how social media platforms like YouTube once did: by feeding people ever-more shocking narratives, bringing them down an addictive rabbit hole.

It’s never boring, is one thing, and is often surprising. Maybe Tucker would make a feint towards aggressive anti-trust policy; maybe he would suggest that whites are slowly being replaced by immigrants as part of a global cabal. So in that way, his departure feels more pronounced because with him goes the shocks that he produced. But it makes me wonder how Fox News plugs the whole — and retrieves the audience — that his departure will leave behind.

— Josh Kovensky

‘Florida Laid A Trap For Its Citizens’

The League of Women Voters of Florida filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration for failing to update its voter registration process, which has become a minefield for formerly incarcerated residents. “Florida enacted a byzantine statutory scheme for the restoration of voting rights following felony convictions that made it ‘sometimes hard, sometimes impossible’ for returning citizens (Floridians with past felony convictions) to determine their eligibility to vote,” their complaint said.

The voter registration application requires formerly incarcerated applicants to check a box stating “I affirm that I am not a convicted felon, or if I am, my right to vote has been restored,” with the expectation that they’re familiar with the rules. The application does not, however, explain those rules: Former felons’ rights are automatically restored upon completion of their sentences, including probation, parole or payment of any court-ordered financial obligations, while those convicted of murder or sex crimes can have their rights restored through clemency. As a result, dozens of Floridians have been arrested for voting illegally, even though they thought their rights were restored.

Since voters passed Amendment 4, a ballot initiative reinstating former felons’ right to suffrage, back in 2018, Florida Republicans have actively sought to muck up the process by modifying the legislation to limit its reach. But they’ve used inaction to their advantage as well: The application hasn’t been updated since it was adopted in 2013 to account for the sea change in eligibility rules. As the Campaign Legal Center’s Blair Bowie told TPM: “Florida laid a trap for its citizens.”

— Kaila Philo

Don’t Bring An Off-The-Rack to A Bespoke Fight

I tend to believe much of contemporary conservative politics is predicated on misunderstanding something and then immediately getting very mad about it. There are serious examples of this sort of thing — like attempts to ban Critical Race Theory and Trans people. But there are also low stakes instances that don’t involve human rights abuses, which can be both entertaining and educational. Enter: Jackson Hinkle who seems to be the offspring of Grift and Performative Masculinity. His identity is a Gen Z MAGA guy who says things like “Gen Z is pro-gun.” Hinkle was recently the victim of some good ol’ fashion citizen journalism in which he was called out for either lying or not knowing what “bespoke” means.

One can never be sure.

You could say, who cares about Hinkle? And I’d say, yea, I hear you. But this really inane interaction is a good example of a cycle often used for more important issues: Make a claim, get called out for it, belittle the person calling you out as “making it political”, and then ride off into the sunset a victor. Fortunately, Hinkle can’t pull it off. But others can, and do.

— Joe Ragazzo

“People like you need to admit that you’re just a political activist. Not a teacher, not a mother and not a medical doctor.” 

That’s Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) attacking American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten during a congressional hearing on school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The MAGA-aligned conspiracy theorist congresswoman’s attacks are simply based on the fact that Weingarten is a “mother by marriage.”

Unsurprisingly, MTG has made similar comments before, claiming someone is not really considered a mother unless they give birth to the child in question.

Last summer she went on a bizarre rant, saying that children are in great danger because of “fake mom and fake dad(s).” In her definition that’s anyone who’s parenting a non-biological child.

Quite a stance to take for someone who claims to be pro-life.

— Emine Yücel