Daily Archives: April 21, 2021

Former President George W. Bush stepped back into the political fray on Tuesday with a pointed rebuke of the Trump-era Republican Party, putting aside his usual silence on politics to air his unhappiness with the partys direction on issues including immigration and trade.

I would describe it as isolationist, protectionist and, to a certain extent, nativist, Mr. Bush said in an interview on NBCs Today show on Tuesday, after he was asked to assess the state of the party.

Mr. Bush had been careful to keep a relatively low profile in recent years, but he has re-emerged to promote a new book of oil paintings and vignettes celebrating the contributions of prominent immigrants, in hopes, he said, of elevating the discourse.

The 43rd president, while aware of his limited ability to influence a party that long ago broke with many of his principles and came to distance itself from his record in office, is nonetheless intent, associates said, on making a case for reviving his more inclusive, pro-business brand of compassionate conservatism and supporting Republicans who want to move past former President Donald J. Trump.

I do feel that he recognizes that the party has drifted away from the core principles that he stood for, said Andrew H. Card Jr., his White House chief of staff from 2001 to 2006 and a longtime friend of the Bush family. I think he has maintained a lot of discipline not to opine on every little matter, but I think he now recognizes that this is a bruised nation, and he wants to help heal it.

For all the familiar flashes of self-deprecating humor, Mr. Bush is agitated and alarmed by the state of the nation. The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol represented something of a breaking point for him, Mr. Card said.

I cried, and the former president, he cried, too, Mr. Card said, speaking of that day.

In the interview on Tuesday, Mr. Bush expressed his disgust at the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol, but kept to his practice of not calling out Mr. Trump by name.

It kind of made me sick not kind of made me sick, it did make me sick, he said.

Mr. Bush, who left office in 2009 with low approval ratings stemming from the Iraq war and the financial crisis, has been a frequent target of Mr. Trump, who lashed out at him during the 2016 presidential campaign and suggested Mr. Bush should have been impeached for providing false intelligence in the lead-up to the conflict.

One of the factors that has kept Mr. Bush from weighing in more frequently during the Trump years, two people close to him said, was his concern that his statements could be used against his nephew George P. Bush, a Republican official in Texas, who has ambitions for seeking higher office in a state where Mr. Trump remains popular.

This would be a consequential year for Mr. Bush, whose youthful brashness has receded with his hairline, even without the chaos of the election and its aftermath.

Two weeks after the attack on Capitol, Mr. Bush quietly marked the 20th anniversary of his first inauguration, in which he called for bipartisanship after waging a bare-knuckles battle during the Florida recount to win the White House over his Democratic opponent, Al Gore.

Later this year comes a second, and more painful, moment: the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a date President Biden has chosen as his deadline for the complete withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

Mr. Biden consulted Mr. Bush and former President Barack Obama before announcing his decision to bring the American presence in the war to an end. It is not clear what counsel, if any, Mr. Bush offered Mr. Biden, but in the NBC interview, Mr. Bush expressed concerns about a full withdrawal, especially the potential effects on women and girls in Afghanistan, whose rights had been severely limited under Taliban rule before the American invasion.

My first reaction was wow, these girls are going to have real trouble with the Taliban, he said. I think the administration hopes that the girls are going to be OK through diplomacy. Well find out. All I know is the Taliban, when they had the run of the place, they were brutal. Brutal.

On immigration, Mr. Card said the former president still has the will to ensure that there is a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally.

Mr. Bushs own plan failed in Congress and has long been deeply unpopular with the partys conservative base.

Mr. Trump took full advantage of the backlash against Mr. Bushs plan by taking a much harder line. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in March found that 56 percent of Republicans do not favor a path to citizenship, up from 38 percent who held that position early in Mr. Trumps presidency.

But Mr. Bush continues to make the case, put forward by his allies in the business community, that a more welcoming immigration policy, including an expansion of some work visas, is needed to modernize the economy and expand prosperity for native-born workers.

Over the weekend, Mr. Bush called on congressional Republicans to tone down their harsh rhetoric about immigration and urged them to enact comprehensive changes.

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Bush Says Republican Party Is Isolationist and Protectionist - The New York Times

Republican senators may unveil their counteroffer to President Biden's infrastructure proposal by the end of this week, Senator Shelley Moore Capito said Tuesday, while the president continues to solicit bipartisan opinions on the massive package.

Republicans have concerns about Mr. Biden's $2 trillion proposal, arguing that it contains too many provisions that are unrelated to traditional forms of infrastructure, such as funding for home care for the elderly and disabled and electric cars. Republicans are also balking at Mr. Biden's proposed method of paying for the package a corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, as well as a new global minimum tax for multinational corporations.

Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, told reporters at the Capitol that Republicans would present their counter-proposal within "several days" and "hopefully by the end of the week." She said that "lines of communications are open" between Republican senators, and that she and a group of ten other Republicans would likely "settle on a conceptual sort of idea" for their proposal.

The Republican plan will be focused on toplines, Capito said, but would not necessarily be detailed. However, it will include specific projects and methods of paying for them.

Capito responded to Mr. Biden's comments that he would want Congress to settle on a proposal by mid-May, calling it "a good signal that he's he's ready to start to engage."

"I'm already engaged with Senator Carper on the water bill and also on the highway bill so you know these engagements are not just they've been ongoing, in some areas," Capito said, referring to a bipartisan water infrastructure bill with Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Tom Carper. Carper has also previously said that he would like to approve a new highway funding measure by Memorial Day. The committee approved a bill to invest nearly $300 billion in highways in 2019, but it never went further on the Senate floor.

"So hopefully we can use our committee process to work through that and do it the old fashioned way. Give and take," Capito said. She added that she believed there would be bipartisan support for including broadband expansion in the final bill.

Capito said last week that the "sweet spot" for an infrastructure proposal would be between $600 and $800 billion and would focus on "roads, bridges, ports, airports including broadband into that, [and] water infrastructure." However, she later told reporters that the $600 to $800 billion number was "just a ballpark figure." Both numbers are less than half the cost of the president's proposal.

Senator Roger Wicker told reporters on Tuesday that he expected the counteroffer to be in the $600 billion range, although he said it could be less. "If we want bipartisanship, it's on us to make a good faith effort," Wicker said.

Mr. Biden has been meeting with bipartisan groups of lawmakers in recent days. On Monday, he met with several senators and representatives who had previously served as governors and mayors, to get their opinions on how an infrastructure bill could be implemented at a state and local level.

"I am prepared to compromise," Biden said at the meeting. "It's a big package, but there are a lot of needs."

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who was not at the meeting on Monday, told reporters that she believed Mr. Biden was still engaged in outreach with Republicans.

"I'd like to think that when he invites leaders over, for that kind of conversation, that he is leaving the door open for their input," she said.

Democratic Senator Chris Coons, a close ally of the president, said last week that he would be open to passing a package that cost $800 billion to $1 trillion. He later told reporters that Capito's proposal to do one bipartisan bill, and then a second infrastructure package containing Democratic priorities, was a "strong approach."

"Out of the whole, more than $2 trillion worth of things proposed in the jobs and infrastructure plan, that means we would take, let's say $800 billion of it out, move that is a bipartisan bill, partly paid for with fees. And then several weeks later passed by reconciliation, a Democrat-only bill that would do the rest of that agenda," Coons said.

Budget reconciliation allows for bills to pass with a simple majority, instead of the 60-vote threshold typically needed to advance legislation, meaning that the second infrastructure package could pass without any Republican votes. Congress used the complicated and arduous reconciliation process to pass Mr. Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan last month.

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GOP senator says Republicans will have infrastructure counteroffer by the end of week - CBS News

EXTON. Pa., April 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Republican US Senate Candidate, Everett Stern will launch a series of statewide speaking engagements in Pennsylvania with an address to the Huntingdon County Republican Committee Spring Dinner on April 22, 2021 at Smithfield Fire Hall. The event is expected to attract 21 County chairs and an estimated 300 attendees, with follow up events at the Lake Raystown Resort in Entriken, PA.

On Monday, April 26, Stern will speak at the Berks County Republican Committee Spring/Dinner Kick Off at Stokesay Castle, in Reading PA. This year's event is slated by the organizers as "the largest and most attended Berks GOP Spring Dinner/Kickoff event ever remembered; certainly, in the last 20 years."

Stern, who is running as a Common-Sense Conservative says "It is a great chance for people to hear what I have to offer and for me to listen to what they have to say."

For further information on Everett Stern US Senate 2022:

http://www.everettstern.com

Contact: Everett Stern [emailprotected]

SOURCE Everett Stern US Senate Campaign

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Everett Stern to address the Huntingdon and Berks County Republican Committees - PRNewswire

One of the biggest challenges in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic over the last year has been political polarization on public health measures whether its the shuttering of stores, physical distancing or mask wearing and vaccines are no exception.

Some groups with initial vaccine hesitancy such as Black Americans and Latinos have shown clear declines in hesitancy as vaccination rates have increased. But partisan identity is now the biggest predictor of vaccine hesitancy 44% of Republicans say they do not intend to get vaccinated while 92% of Democrats have been vaccinated or intend to be.

These vaccine-hesitant Republicans may be the biggest barrier to eventual herd immunity in America, which could require 70% to 85% of the population to be vaccinated or immune to the coronavirus. In other words, effective outreach to this subgroup is critically important to ending the pandemic.

What are the best ways to persuade Republicans to get the vaccine? Research suggests three approaches: improving public health messaging in general, getting trusted political voices (GOP leaders) to promote vaccination, and getting positive vaccination messages out through nonpolitical messengers. What does not seem to help is having Democratic leaders ask Republicans to get their shot.

New research finds that people are more likely to accept vaccination if they believe that doing so is normal. Americans tend to underestimate public levels of vaccine receptivity, which is relatively high. Informing Americans about that fact can increase vaccine receptivity. But general public health messaging alone is unlikely to motivate large numbers of Republicans who are skeptical.

Another approach is having trusted sources put out strong, consistent pro-vaccination messages. For example, partnering with local faith leaders was considered crucial to effectively promoting public health behaviors during the Ebola crisis in West Africa.

Could Republican leaders and community members serve a similar function, driving uptake among their vaccine-hesitant base? So far, that has not happened. The GOP leadership has not made the pro-vaccination message a priority with its base. However, Donald Trump, who was vaccinated in January, did praise the vaccines at the Conservative Political Action Conference in early March, calling them a modern miracle and encouraging the audience to get vaccinated: Everybody, go get your shot.

Could Trumps support of the vaccine help? A new experiment found that it could with some people. Republicans who were told that Trump and other Republicans supported vaccination reported 7% higher vaccination intentions than if they were told that President Biden and other Democrats supported vaccination. At the same time, Republicans who viewed the Democrats endorsement said they would be less likely to encourage others to get vaccinated.

This new study and others show that there is a movable middle of Republicans who are persuadable. But there was no real movement among Republicans who had previously said they were extremely unlikely to get vaccinated.

This finding reveals a neglected feature of political polarization around vaccination: Republicans are themselves deeply divided on the issue. Although many have already been vaccinated or plan to be, there are substantial numbers that remain solidly resistant even with support from Trump, and reaching that hard core will be a struggle.

Another strategy to reach these Republicans is through trusted nonpolitical figures and organizations. Religious leaders, athletes, entertainers and organizations with appeal among Republicans all could be persuasive if equipped with ways to communicate effectively. For example, religious leaders and some NASCAR drivers have promoted vaccination. Research suggests that military figures could also be persuasive.

Biden recently said that increasing vaccine receptivity would best be achieved through one-on-one interactions with doctors and medical health professionals, a claim supported by polling research. This fits with research on political persuasion in general, where deep canvassing in-depth, empathetic, one-on-one conversations has emerged as an effective technique for persuading conservatives on political issues.

Although engaging in individual conversations about the vaccine may seem inefficient during a crisis that demands swift action, a concerted effort to promote such conversations by healthcare professionals, and giving them the tools to do so, could be one of the few ways to move Republicans who are vaccine-resistant.

No single strategy can turn around vaccine hesitancy that so deeply reflects the nations political polarization. Public health officials will need to draw on several tactics simultaneously targeting Republicans who are on the fence as well as those who are resistant if we are to build vaccine confidence across political divides. Public health and a return to our pre-pandemic world will depend on it.

Robb Willer is a professor of sociology, psychology and organizational behavior at Stanford University. Jay Van Bavel is an associate professor of psychology and neural science at New York University.

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How we can convince Republicans to get the COVID vaccine - Los Angeles Times

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The administration again looked at its list of Sensible Policies to Make the Crazy People Crazier and checked off another box. From the Washington Post:

That DC statehood is only fair and just is beyond question at that point, and one of the ways you know that is by looking at the arguments mustered against it. You may recall a little while back at the end of March, at a House hearing on the topic, Republicans in Congress marshaled as evidence against the proposition this rather overly nuanced objection from Rep. Jody Hice of Georgia.

(At the moment, Hice is an announced Republican candidate for Secretary of State in the next Georgia Republican primary, so we should all feel really good about that, right?)

The arguments have not become more refined in the ensuing months. For example, Rep. Nancy Mace held a press conference at which she said that D.C. wouldnt even qualify to be a congressional district. More than one person noted that Mace said this while standing in front of Rep. Liz Cheney, who is the sole member of the House from Wyoming, which makes her the person who represents an entire state with fewer people than live in the District, and that has one more senator than it has representatives.

The fascinating element of this controversy for me always has been the sub rosa acknowledgement by the Republicans that two new Senate seats for the District are two new Senate seats that they cannot possibly win. And they know that to be true because they know in the darkest part of their political hearts that to compete for those two seats would obligate them to abandon all the cotton-candy illusions, and the angry, bigoted fictions, on which theyve based their politics for four decades. They would have to cut white supremacy loose in all its forms. They would have to cease interpreting poverty as a moral failing. They would have to detach themselves from the crackpot notion of a tax-less economy. They see all that as political suicide. Its easier not to confront it at all but, rather, to ignore the mirror that the District is, and what it shows them about themselves.

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The Real Republican Argument Against D.C. Having Senate Seats Is That They Can't Compete for Them - Esquire