Daily Archives: May 24, 2021

Former President Barack Obama is described as a parasite on the Democratic Party in a new tell-all book about the 2020 election saying the former president used the party as a host for his re-election campaign.

Writing in Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats Campaign to Defeat Trump, author Edward-Isaac Dovere said aides to the former president believe he abandoned Democrats after winning the White House in 2008, according to an excerpt obtained by Fox News.

Negligence might be more accurate, Dovere, a writer for The Atlantic, reveals in a chapter of the book titled Benign Neglect.

The numbers are hard to ignore: during his eight years in office, Obama oversaw a net loss of 947 state legislative seats, 63 House seats, 11 senators, and 13 governors,Dovere writes in the book, scheduled to be released Tuesday.

In 2008, when Obama was elected, Democrats boosted their majorities in the House and Senate gaining eight seats in the Senate and 21 in the House.

But Republicans roared back in the 2010 midterms thanks to the Tea Party wave of candidates and regained control of the House.

By 2014, Republicans controlled both the House and Senate.

Dovere said Obama carried himself with a self-assured self-regard and failed to look out for Democrats.

Obama never built a Democratic bench and never cared to, aside from a few scattered candidates who interested him, the book says.

Defenders of Obama, according to the book, claim he didnt want to taint his presidency by mucking around in fundraising and wanted to reflect that when faced with the choice to campaign or govern, he would pick govern.

Obamas abandonment of the Democratic Party structure is among the eyebrow-raising revelations in Doveres book that include how Jill Biden told supporters that Kamala Harris could go fk herself after attacking then-presidential candidate Joe Biden during a 2019 debate.

Another excerpt disclosed how the former president referred to his successor, Donald Trump, as a corrupt motherfker, a madman and a racist.

In his first term, Dovere writes, Obama used the Democratic Party as a host for his re-election campaign.

Obama selected Tim Kaine in 2009 to head the Democratic National Committee even though Kaine wasservingas governor of Virginia.

Kaine was commuting two days a week to oversee the pilfering of talent, money, resources, and purpose for the Obama reelection effort that was already under way, Dovere writes.

In his second term, he cared about what happened to the husk as much as any parasite does, Dovere writes about Obama.

The campaign then struck a deal with the DNC that exchanged $2.4 million in leftover debt from the 2012 election for the email list from Obama for America and guarantees that Obama would headline fundraisers, the book says.

Obamas pride hit its zenith in 2015 when the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act commonly referred to as ObamaCare and ruled that the 14th Amendment requires all states to allow same-sex marriages.

In hindsight its hard not to see delusion in the self-assurance and the celebration and the sense of moving forward of those two weeks in America, Dovere says.

He also writes that Obama believed he could have defeated Trump in 2016 if he had been allowed to seek a third term.

Ultimately Obamas math comes down to a simple calculation: he has suggested in conversations with people close to him that he thinks he would have won had he been able to be a candidate in 2016. The economy, the Democratic debris, Russia if he could have run for a third term, even confronted with all these issues, he believes, he would have figured out how to pull a victory off anyway, the book says.

The rest is here:

Obama called 'parasite' on Democratic Party in new 2020 election book - New York Post

Democrats are hammering Republicans over their opposition to a Jan. 6 commission as they look to retain control of Congress next year.

Hopes for a bipartisan panel to investigate the deadly riot at the Capitol earlier this year were dashed when Republican leadership came out against the idea, casting it as a partisan maneuver.

But some Democrats believe there may be a silver lining in the recent development, seeing the GOP's sharp reversal on the issue as a way to bolster support ahead of the midterm elections.

If you want to talk about where House majorities rise and fall, its in swing districts, and swing voters look at facts and reason, Jon Reinish, a New York-based Democratic strategist, said. They saw this happen. It is impossible for the American public to forget Jan. 6, because everybody watched it unfold in real time on TV in an unfiltered way.

Reinish accused Republicans of engaging in a kind of historical revisionism in an effort to appease former President TrumpDonald TrumpMichigan governor apologizes after photo shows her violating state's health order Cheney dodges on link between Trump election claims and GOP voting laws Biden adviser says reducing red meat isn't sole climate change solution MORE, who was impeached in January for his role in inciting the riot. He said that GOP lawmakers will have to be prepared to answer over and over again why your party is trying to block this investigation.

A commission seemed inevitable for a long time, he said. Republicans, I think to their determinant, have taken a short-term view of anything Donald Trump doesnt want, we dont want.

The creation of such a commission once looked promising, with some top Republicans expressing openness to the idea. That changed this week, however, when GOP leaders came out against the effort, fearing that it could drag scrutiny of the Capitol riot into 2022, when Republicans are hoping to recapture their majorities in the House and Senate.

Sen. John ThuneJohn Randolph ThuneDemocrats seize on GOP opposition to Jan. 6 commission GOP turns against Jan. 6 probe as midterm distraction Senate panels to release Jan. 6 Capitol security report in June MORE (S.D.), the No. 2 Republican in the upper chamber, hinted at the GOP concerns about a prolonged investigation into the events of Jan. 6, saying this week that Republicans want their midterm message to focus on jobs and wages and the economy and national security, safe streets ... not relitigating the 2020 elections.

A lot of our members, and I think it is true of a lot of the House Republicans, want to be moving forward," Thune said. "Anything that gets us rehashing the 2020 election, I think, is a day lost."

But Democrats have signaled they wont let Republicans shift the conversation away from Jan. 6. Party officials and lawmakers have sent out a flurry of fundraising emails in recent days, pledging to hold the GOP to account over their opposition to the commission.

Im not giving up Im going to do everything I can to ensure Congress establishes a January 6 Commission to determine the full facts of what happened on that fateful day, and take action to make sure it never happens again, one recent fundraising email from Sen. Cory BookerCory BookerDemocrats seize on GOP opposition to Jan. 6 commission Sunday shows - Infrastructure, Jan. 6 commission dominate Booker on police reform negotiations: 'We're making meaningful progress' MORE (D-N.J.) reads.

The legislation at hand would create a 10-person commission, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, to investigate the Jan. 6 riot and the circumstances surrounding it. The panel would report its findings by Dec. 31.

The House ultimately voted 252 to 175 on Wednesday to create the commission, with 35 Republicans crossing party lines to approve the measure.

But the effort is likely to face a difficult path in the Senate. A number of Republicans who once suggested that they could support the commission have walked back their remarks, making it unlikely that Democrats will win over the 10 GOP votes needed to break a filibuster.

Democrats have cast the sudden reversals by Republicans as a sign that they fear retribution from Trump, who has spoken out publicly in opposition to the commission something he described this week as a Democratic trap.

Rep. Elissa SlotkinElissa SlotkinDemocrats seize on GOP opposition to Jan. 6 commission Hillicon Valley: Democrats urge Facebook to abandon 'Instagram for kids' plan | 'Homework gap' likely to persist after pandemic Legislation to secure critical systems against cyberattacks moves forward in the House MORE (D-Mich.), who represents a competitive district that includes parts of Lansing, said that Republican opponents of the commission were only concerned that it would become weaponized in the midterms, describing GOP lawmakers as scared of their base of voters.

This is the time when you put on your big boy pants and you do what you need to do for the country, she told CNN on Thursday. The country needs to understand what happened on Jan. 6 so that it doesnt happen again.

Im sorry that the midterms are something that are prohibiting people from doing the right thing, she added. But I dont accept that as an excuse.

In many ways, Republicans are heading into 2022 with an advantage.

They need to flip only about a half-dozen seats in the House and just one in the Senate next year to recapture control of Congress. Decennial redistricting appears to favor the GOP. And history shows that the party of a new president in this case the Democrats tends to lose ground in the midterms.

But the GOP is also still racked by internal divisions stemming from the Jan. 6 riot and the continued influence of Trump over the party and its most loyal voters. In a move that was seen as symbolic of Trumps current way over the party, House Republicans voted last week to oust Rep. Liz CheneyElizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyCheney dodges on link between Trump election claims and GOP voting laws Democrats seize on GOP opposition to Jan. 6 commission Of martyrs and manipulators: Liz Cheney's pointless spectacle MORE (R-Wyo.) from her leadership position over her criticism of the former president.

Republicans facing potentially tough reelection bids next year have yet to agree on exactly how to proceed when it comes to the Jan. 6 riot and the current calls for a bipartisan investigation into the matter.

Of the 22 House Republicans currently on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committees target list for 2022, only nine voted in favor of the commission. Some of those who opposed the creation of the commission represent competitive districts that President BidenJoe BidenHarris to 2021 grads: Pandemic prepared you for 'pretty much anything' Senate Armed Services chair throws support behind changing roles of military commanders in sexual assault prosecutions Biden adviser says reducing red meat isn't sole climate change solution MORE won last year.

I think its a gamble. Do you stick with Trumps line on the riots or do you come at it head-on and say we need to keep looking into what happened? one veteran Republican strategist said, adding: Theres going to be ads from the Democrats showing people tearing apart the Capitol, no doubt about it.

Reinish, the Democratic strategist, echoed that prediction, saying that Democrats were poised to play offense over the Jan. 6 commission.

I think you have those ads ready, Reinish said. And I think that they write themselves.

Excerpt from:

Democrats seize on GOP opposition to Jan. 6 commission | TheHill - The Hill

Republican New York City Councilman Joe Borelli said Monday the Democrats defund the police "experiment" has failed and has resulted in nationwide rise in crime.

During an appearance on "America Reports" Borelli said cities with "entrenched progressive governments" who have defunded the police have made their cities more dangerous. "Not oneof these cities run byprogressives can say thattheir city is safer than itwas two years ago."

"You don't have to goin a time machine to think back far when a place likeNew York City was the model ofsafe and large global cities.It was literally two years ago. You can only look at thepolicy changes that progressiveDemocrats in Albany aremaking.We talk about hate crime.Democrats enacted bail reform.They had a choice of what theycould put on the bail reformlist or keep it with bail andthey chose not to havehate crimes."

27 PEOPLE SHOT IN NEW YORK CITY OVER WEEKEND

"There's no more taking politicsout of it.When you have a progressive Democratic government governingyour city it's likely going to beless safe.This is just the reality," Borelli added.

Host John Roberts noted St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones seems to be doubling down on the idea of defunding the police by proposing the city close a jail and divert police funds to social programs.

Borelli responded by criticizing New York Mayor Bill de Blasio for touting the lowest Rikers Island population since World War II.

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"If that corresponded to the lowestcrime rate since World War II,we would have a parade downBroadway, but that's not thecase."

"If we are going to continue downthis road, we already don't haveenough police officers to floodthe streets where all of these other shootingshappen. The majority of the shootingsand the ones that account forthe bulk of the volumeincreases, those are happeningon lesser-known intersectionsaround the five boroughs and wedon't have enough cops to floodthose streets.We need to, but we won'tbecause of progressive Democrats."

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NYC Councilman Joe Borelli says progressive Democrat policies are to blame for the rise in New York homicides - Fox News

Dogs have fared well this Texas legislative session.

While intensely partisan battles over voting rights, abortion and guns have demanded their attention for the last four months, lawmakers have found overwhelming unity when it comes to taking care of mans best friend.

A bill that bans the use of heavy chains to tether dogs, another requiring animal control and shelters to scan lost dogs for microchips and yet another to give tax breaks to pet rescue facilities have passed the House and Senate and are heading to Gov. Greg Abbott, a dog owner, for final approval.

It has been a good session, said Stacy Kerby, director of government relations at the Texas Humane Legislation Network, a nonprofit that promotes anti-cruelty legislation.

The biggest victory for those groups has been the tethering legislation, which has been bottled up for nearly a decade. State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., a Cameron County Democrat, has been fighting for years not only to ban the heavy chains but also to give law enforcement more power to save dogs that are in danger.

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His Senate Bill 474 would get rid of a notice requirement in state law requiring law enforcement to give a dog owner 24 hours to correct a situation before citing the owner or taking custody of the dog. During hearings, animal control experts testified that the 24-hour rule proved fatal for many dogs during the winter storm and extends the suffering of animals unnecessarily when an officer can see that unsafe conditions are causing harm.

Twenty-four hours can be the difference between life or death, said Jamey Cantrell, president of the Texas Animal Control Association.

The bill spells out that dog owners can have dogs outside but cannot restrain them with chains, short lines or anything that causes pain or injury to the dog.

A first offense is a class C misdemeanor, which can mean a penalty of up to $500. For people previously cited, the penalty can jump to a class B misdemeanor, meaning a fine of up to $2,000 and 180 days in jail.

Lucio has added changes to the bill to exempt dogs used for ranching and other agricultural purposes and for dogs kept in the backs of pickups key provisions that played a big role in keeping the bill from passing in previous legislative sessions.

Cities such as San Antonio already have ordinances that ban chains. Dog advocacy groups say heavy tow chains can cause great damage to a dogs neck, tangle easily and severely restrict a dogs movement.

Rural sheriffs have backed the bill, saying it allows them to now take action, rather than having to let dogs suffer up to 24 more hours before anything changes.

In the county world, we dont have the ability to have leash laws and other ordinances that they do in the cities, said Chambers County Sheriff Brian C. Hawthorne. So this is a tool for a sheriff or a county animal control service to have the ability to deal with these issues.

Its all about protecting the lives of animals, said Lucio, who has nine cats and five dogs.

This bill will make dogs safer, he said.

The bill passed the Senate 28-3 in April and cleared the House 83-32 this month.

Another bill is aimed at speeding up the process of getting lost dogs and cats back to their owners.

House Bill 604 by Rep. Candy Noble, a Collin County Republican, requires lost animals to be scanned for a microchip as soon as possible after being taken into custody by a shelter or law enforcement agency.

Noble said pet owners spend money on microchipping in hopes it will make the recovery of their animals easier if they get lost.

While all the best-practice shelters and rescues do scan animals on intake, some are not doing so, she said.

Noble said scanners can cost between $40 and $400, but she said the cost of having animals left in a shelter can be between $300 and $425, making her bill not just good for the animals but also a cost savings for shelters and animal control officials.

Kerby said studies show that once animals get into a shelter, the likelihood of being reunited with their owners drops.

Nobles bill passed the House 147-2 in mid-April and cleared the Senate 30-0 last week.

A third bill is aimed at extending tax breaks that many animal shelters already get. State Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, said that currently the tax code eliminates sales taxes for animals sold by nonprofit shelters. But that tax break doesnt apply to rescue groups that dont have shelters but use networks of foster homes until a dog or cat is adopted.

Passing SB 197 supports our local rescue groups and helps connect more animals to people who will love and care for them, Nelson said.

Nelsons bill passed 31-0 in early April and cleared the House 143-0 last week.

jeremy.wallace@chron.com

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Where do Texas Democrats and Republicans really come together? Dog bills. - Houston Chronicle

President Biden will be his own secretary of state, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who criticized Biden's sanctions waiver, said bluntly. I cant define what is the Biden view, but he has a global view. And I think hes going to call it as he sees it from his experiential factor and his [own] view.

That doesnt mean Menendez and other Democrats have to stay quiet they havent been shy about speaking up against their own party's president during a tough week. But unlike Donald Trump, whose breed of global bombast Democrats found far more objectionable but also more malleable, they've acknowledged that their complaints arent likely to make a difference with Biden. His years wielding the Senate gavel that Menendez now holds, as well as his vice presidency under Barack Obama, have built Biden a foreign policy identity thats more written in stone and resistant to shifting political winds.

Democratic lawmakers pressuring Biden over his handling of the conflict in Gaza have more than his legacy to think about, after all; their party is undergoing a real-time reckoning over its historically conditions-free approach to the U.S.-Israel relationship. Lawmakers have pushed Biden to adopt a more aggressive posture toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his initial resistance to the cease-fire that Netanyahu's government announced late Thursday. A contingent of progressives advancing the Palestinian cause is still pushing to block a new weapons sale to Israel.

Its been too little too late. Many of the things that he did were not helpful, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said of Bidens response to this month's 11 days of Middle East conflict. In fact, I think they may have emboldened Netanyahu to continue with even more aggressive attacks.

Underpinning Democrats' frustration with Biden is their insistence that he do more to break with the Trump administration's Israel policies, which revolved around the then-presidents unwavering support for Netanyahu and his government. Jayapal said Biden hasnt done enough to diverge from Trump's approach, describing the similarity as detrimental.

Bidens confidants brush off such intraparty criticism, insisting that the president who was a senator for 36 years and chaired the Foreign Relations Committee before his two terms as vice president should be trusted to make consequential global decisions.

When he ran, some on the left derided him as being too seasoned, too centrist, too moderate, said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Bidens closest ally and friend on the Hill.

In foreign policy in particular, he brought more practical, hands-on experience to the job than any other president in my lifetime, Coons added of Biden. I strongly doubt that just a few sharply worded cable TV interviews or resolutions by junior members of the House are going to pressure the president of the United States.

But liberals insist that they successfully nudged Biden to take a harder line with Netanyahu, pointing to the president's more vocal calls for a cease-fire as the week went on. I think hes listening to the statements being made by progressives, said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who was intensely critical of Bidens early approach to the shooting war.

Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) agreed that the outspokenness from congressional Democrats helped the Biden administration as it sought to convince the Israelis to pursue a cessation of hostilities.

It helped push him, but it also helped give him a much more credible argument with the principals this is not just my position, this is a growing position in the United States, Reed, who supported cease-fire efforts, said in a brief interview.

House Armed Services Chair Adam Smith (D-Wash.) also said Biden has been responsive to pressure from Congress. Indeed, the president grew increasingly supportive of a cease-fire in the Middle East though he never publicly pushed for one amid lockstep Democratic unity on the matter ahead of the mutual agreement by Hamas and Israel's Security Cabinet.

The cease-fire is expected to take effect in the wee hours of Friday, pausing fighting that killed more than 220 people in Gaza and a dozen in Israel.

While Biden remained quiet publicly about the fighting, the White House released routine readouts of the presidents phone calls with Netanyahu, and Bidens spokesperson has described the administrations efforts as quiet and intensive. Bidens allies have also thrown shade at Trump, who often practiced diplomacy-by-tweet, and even lawmakers who pushed the president early on for a cease-fire call challenged the idea that his behind-the-scenes work is less effective.

Weve become so used to foreign policy being conducted by Twitter that we sometimes mistake quiet, impactful diplomacy for inaction, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in a brief interview. Just because President Biden isnt conducting his relations with heads of state on Twitter doesnt mean he isnt doing really important diplomatic work.

An impassioned Coons insisted that "the most effective way to engage meaningfully with Israel is through private, deliberate, purposeful, instructive conversations. That is what [Biden] has been doing; that is what he is doing."

Top Democrats insist that despite the public criticism aimed at Biden, the party is united on the Israel-Palestine issue. They contend that it's Republicans who have abandoned a realistic two-state solution to the conflict as they hug Netanyahu, embracing counterproductive policies by the Israeli government that were also championed by Trump.

"We're talking about tactics, not policy. Broadly, were not having a policy disagreement," Murphy said of his party. "We support, as a party, a Palestinian state. We always have. And were talking about the mechanisms by which we effectuate that policy. Were always going to have tactical disagreements.

Yet it's not just the Gaza conflict that has Democrats at odds over tactics. The president again angered Democratic lawmakers when his administration decided not to impose mandatory sanctions on the company in charge of the controversial Russia-to-Germany pipeline known as Nord Stream 2. Despite U.S. efforts to stop the pipeline, its construction is entering the home stretch and its set to be a massive boon to Putin's government.

The German government supports the pipelines completion, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that while the U.S. opposes it, Wednesdays decision was consistent with the presidents pledge to rebuild relationships with our allies and partners in Europe.

Menendez warned that the Biden administration's sanctions waiver has created uncertainty in many corners of Europe. He and other Democrats are particularly concerned about the impacts on Ukraine, which is facing constant aggression from Moscow.

Despite the public disagreements, Bidens party is still behind his overarching foreign-policy agenda, such as realigning the U.S. with international organizations and the Paris climate accord. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who spoke out against the pipeline sanctions waiver, in addition to Bidens planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, described the majority of fellow Democrats as still in Biden's camp on global affairs.

Even before the outbreak of violence in the Middle East and the sanctions waiver, however, Biden was facing an increasingly confrontational posture from his congressional allies over his foreign-policy decisions.

Just six weeks into his presidency, Biden ordered airstrikes on Iran-backed militant groups in Syria without first seeking congressional approval. He later declined to punish Saudi Arabias crown prince over his role in the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Biden's Syria strikes decision led to a renewed push to rein in presidential war powers, with Democrats taking the lead and getting some GOP support. As early as next week, the Foreign Relations panel is expected to pass a measure to repeal outdated war authorizations initially adopted in 1991 and 2002.

On that issue, Biden has promised to work with Congress to rein in his own powers by revamping the 2001 bill that authorized military operations against the terrorists who attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11.

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Democrats struggle to influence Bidens foreign policy in the Mideast and beyond - POLITICO

As the Biden administrations infrastructure negotiations with Senate Republicans picked up with a $1.7 trillion counteroffer on Friday, some congressional Democrats are getting antsy.

We move as quickly as we can on going big, we move as quickly as we can on negotiations, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) told Vox on Wednesday. At some point, if they wont go where we believe the country needs to go and where the country seems to want to go, then we take off.

President Biden issued his opening bid last month the $2.25 trillion American Jobs Plan and the GOP responded with a $568 billion infrastructure counteroffer a few weeks ago. (Separately, the White House also introduced a $1.8 trillion American Families Plan, focusing on child care and education.)

The new $1.7 trillion White House counteroffer settles for the $65 billion Republicans floated for broadband funding, and pares back the amount of funding for roads and bridges from Bidens initial proposal of $159 billion to $120 billion in new investment. It also cuts research and development from a proposed package, vowing to put it in other congressional bills going forward. But the presidents counter keeps funding for clean energy, removing lead pipes from Americas drinking water systems, and boosting long-term care workers.

We recognize that still leaves us far apart, a White House memo to Republicans obtained by Vox reads. However, in service of trying to advance these negotiations, the President has asked us to respond with changes to his American Jobs Plan, in hopes that these changes will spur further bipartisan cooperation and progress.

For their part, Republicans dont seem all that happy. A statement released by a spokesperson for Senate Republicans Friday said, based on todays meeting, the groups seem further apart after two meetings with White House staff than they were after one meeting with President Biden.

Democrats on the Hill say they support the White House actively talking to Republicans. But some are also anxious that negotiating with Republicans just wont meet the needs of the moment whether its on climate change or jobs.

I dont think its our job to pass something just so that we can say, Well, that piece over there is bipartisan, and wait for the pat on the back, moderate Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) told reporters recently. I think people want us to get big things done.

Democrats other option is budget reconciliation, a mechanism that would allow them to pass a massive budget bill with just 51 votes rather than the required 60 mostly likely on party lines. This is what Democrats did for Bidens $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package, and they have at least one more opportunity to do it again before the 2022 midterms.

The Biden administration is caught between two promises: working with Republicans on Capitol Hill, and vowing to pass an ambitious economic agenda that reroutes the American economy toward clean energy and passes billions to make child care and long-term care more affordable.

Some progressive climate groups are arguing that a bipartisan deal could significantly hurt the presidents climate agenda. They argue Biden needs to invest heavily in electric charging stations, and to pass a clean electricity standard to get to his goal of 100 percent clean electricity by 2035. Bidens counteroffer largely leaves his environmental provisions intact but would forgo a $180 billion investment into research and development money that could be key for the Energy Departments development of new technology to combat climate change.

If you spend money on roads without making major investments in either mileage standards or deployment of EVs or investing in putting in new standards to ensure clean electricity by 2030 or 2035, youll be going backward on climate, said Jamal Raad, co-founder of the climate group Evergreen Action and a former top staffer for Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.

Still, as much as some Democrats worry that negotiating with Republicans wastes valuable time, some of Bidens closest allies on Capitol Hill say it is simply part of a process that could make moderate Democrats accept reconciliation, if and when that happens.

When the president announced a big and bold proposal, the American Jobs Plan, several Democrats promptly said, I will not vote for this for reconciliation, a Democrat-only bill unless there is a serious and determined effort first for bipartisanship, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told Vox. It seems to me the issue isnt the White House not going bold; the issue is one of order and timing.

The main Republican negotiator is Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. Capito is the ranking Republican member on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, which has purview over five-year reauthorization bills for surface and water infrastructure.

Capito and other Republicans who are ranking members on key committees had a nearly two-hour meeting with Biden at the White House earlier this month. The senators have also had subsequent conversations with members of Bidens Cabinet and senior staff including White House counselor Steve Ricchetti, director of legislative affairs Louisa Terrell, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

While the main difference between Republicans and Democrats is over proposed corporate tax hikes to pay for the projects, there are other areas of disagreement. In staff-level negotiations between Senate Democrats and Republicans on the five-year surface transportation bill, Republicans have been pushing back on climate resilience provisions, a Democratic Senate staffer told Vox. Democrats see infrastructure as a key way to make progress on cutting down on fossil fuel emissions in the transportation sector investing in 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations across the nations roadways to encourage more people to switch to cleaner cars.

Im wary of anything that has Capitos fingerprints, said Raad, the co-founder of Evergreen Action. It would not just hurt our ability to hit our NDC [the US target to limit its carbon emissions], it would take us backward.

Sen. Brown says he thinks the Biden administration should be trying to find common ground with Republicans at least to prove they tried. But Brown clearly believes that shouldnt entail significant concessions, especially on climate.

I assume theyll obstruct on climate, he told Vox. Well try to come to bipartisan agreement; I dont expect it [to happen]. We move forward in a big way.

Biden has said he wants to see significant progress on bipartisan talks by Memorial Day, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has outlined July 4 as when shed like to see an infrastructure bill get a vote in Congress, but that date could also be pushed if necessary.

Its possible that Democrats were padding extra time with those initial deadlines, expecting negotiations would move it back. Still, a razor-thin majority in the House and Senate makes the risk of taking additional time a high-stakes strategy. When they will introduce the first draft of a bill is still unclear.

I cant give you a specific answer because I dont know the answer, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told Vox, adding that appropriations work in the House will begin in earnest in July. Were going to have some time available to do the work of the Jobs Plan and the Families Plan in that time frame if, in fact, we can get agreement. And, if we cant get agreement, work with the administration on how well move forward.

House Budget Committee Chair John Yarmuth (D-KY), who will be overseeing the budget reconciliation process in the House if Democrats do indeed pursue budget reconciliation as an option to pass their infrastructure bill, told reporters, I think they want to give a reasonable chance for there to be a bipartisan bill. I think probably, sooner rather than later there will be a decision.

Even if Democrats do decide to do reconciliation rather than move a bipartisan bill through regular order, theres still a lot to be decided, including whether theyll move one massive bill containing both the American Jobs Plan and Bidens American Families Plan that deals with affordable child care and education, or split them into separate bills.

I think it would be difficult to do two. I know theres this idea about just doing physical infrastructure in one smaller bipartisan bill, but I dont like that idea, said Casey, who is shepherding the American Families Plan portion of Bidens package through the Senate and wants to see both planks of Bidens economic package passed through reconciliation.

The next week will be pivotal for Bidens big shot on the economy. But the clock is ticking.

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Bidens negotiations with Republicans on the American Jobs Plan are making some Democrats anxious - Vox.com

By Paul Mauney and Bill Moss

With no meaningful state law giving North Carolinians the right to see disciplinary records of those they employ in state and local government jobs, how will we ever know?

How will we know about the public school teacher who molested students in numerous mountain schools? About the superintendent of schools in the Piedmont who was fired and paid $250,000 to leave, without so much as a reason? Or about six city police officers who were suspended without pay, leaving the public with a vague explanation that then officers solicited prostitution?

We would know, if the Legislature enacts a law opening up personnel records. A bill filed in the North Carolina Senate this legislative session would result in the strongest improvement in decades in the peoples right to know in our state.

Theres plenty of room for positive strides in the category. North Carolina ranks near the bottom in the records citizens can access about the job performance their tax dollars fund. The Government Transparency Act of 2021, sponsored by Sen. Norman Sanderson and two other high-ranking Senate Republicans, would allow the public to see the reason for hirings, firings, demotions and promotions, opening a window into the management of public personnel and the decisions around their job performance.

Such an open records law sounds like unequivocally sound public policy, which is how its regarded in more than 35 states where that information is available. Opponents in their efforts to derail Senate Bill 355 have nonetheless mounted a campaign based on misinformation and alarmist scenarios.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina, the North Carolina Association of Educators, the Teamsters Union and the N.C. Justice Center have flooded senators inboxes with a letter declaring the bill unconstitutional and they persist in the false portrayal even after sponsors agreed to an amendment addressing their due process concerns.

The aggressive opposition raises several questions.

What is there to hide?

What is the public policy interest in keeping public employee performance records hidden from the public?

The NCAE asserts that SB 355 expands public access to personnel records of public employees to an inappropriate level far beyond what is expected in any other state. This too is baloney, given that 36 other states have codified access to employee records and in many cases require disclosure of personnel actions that go beyond the Government Transparency Act.

Fortunately, the Senate leadership has signaled that it wont be cowed by the drama from the teachers and state employee organizations.

The question that dogs us is where is the leadership of Gov. Roy Cooper and the Democratic senators? Cooper has always been a good-government advocate and a friend of the publics right to know. In fact, Senate Bill 355 is similar to a bill Cooper sponsored as a state senator in 1997 the Discipline Disclosure Act.

Everyone knows that the SEANC and the NCAE wield power in the Democratic Party but that is no reason for Democrats to choose secrecy over their constituents best interest.

Cooper should call out Democratic leaders and the partys rank and file for going AWOL on a significant public policy improvement for North Carolina, in support of principles of openness that ought to be more bipartisan than almost anything the Legislature will take up this year.

Cooper and the Democratic Party are welcome to support school teachers, state employees, law officers and other public sector employees when it comes to pay, benefits and other priorities. They ought to part ways with the SEANC and NCAE when public employees Raleigh lobbyists urge them to torpedo a bill that would immensely improve openness and transparency to the benefit of all North Carolinians.

Paul Mauney, president, APG Media of TN/NC/VA, is president of the North Carolina Press Association. Bill Moss, editor and publisher of the Hendersonville Lightning, is chairman of the NCPA Legislative Committee.

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GUEST VIEW: Why are Democrats AWOL on public's right to know? - The Stanly News & Press | The Stanly News & Press - Stanly News & Press

A $1.9 billion emergency funding bill to boost security at the US Capitol in the wake of the January 6 insurrection barely passed the House on Thursday. The measure, which would also provide additional personal security for lawmakers facing an intensifying wave of threats and harassment in Washington and their home districts, received no Republican support, and exposed fissures within the Democratic Party over the issue of increasing funding for any police force.

The bill ultimately passed on Thursday, following last-minute negotiations led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with 213 votes for the bill and 212 against.

Every voting Republican voted no on the bill, claiming that it cost too much money and that there was no guarantee the funding would be properly spent enhancing security. Those votes followed recent statements from Republicans that downplayed or outright fabricated facts about the violence that transpired at the Capitol on January 6.

More strikingly, Democrats were not unified among themselves. Left-wing members of the House, including the members of the so-called Squad, broke from the party out of what could be described as a defund-the-police rationale.

Democratic Reps. Cori Bush (MO), Ilhan Omar (MN), and Ayanna Pressley (MA) voted against the legislation; Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Jamaal Bowman (NY), and Rashida Tlaib (MI), voted present, which means they officially took no position.

The defection is a sign of fissures within the party over how to think about police reform and the use of force, a policy domain that has been a source of intense national debate since the protests that swept the nation last year following George Floyds death at the hands of Minneapolis police.

It also appears to be a carefully aimed warning shot by the Squad, illustrating that, when theyre unified, they have the ability to torpedo Democratic legislation. The Democratic Party relies on a narrow majority in the House to pass any one of its bills.

Bush, Omar, and Pressley released a joint statement, saying a package that pours $1.9 billion into increased police surveillance and force without addressing the underlying threats of organized and violent white supremacy, radicalization, and disinformation that led to this attack will not prevent it from happening again.

Bowman told reporters he voted present because there are some things about the bill that I support, like making sure our custodial staff and our cleaners have the resources they need to respond and deal with this trauma, but there are other parts of it that I dont support, like adding more funding to police budgets.

While Democrats have been unified on most major legislation during the opening months of the Biden administration, that unity may not hold as more complicated and polarizing policy issues come up for debate, throwing some Democratic bills into jeopardy.

Meanwhile, Republicans unified opposition to a nominally pro-law enforcement bill may signal once again a challenge to President Joe Bidens vision of being able to unify Congress around shared values.

The violence and security breaches by pro-Trump rioters seeking to shut down the certification of the 2020 election results on January 6 have raised big questions about what security should look like at the US Capitol going forward.

Capitol Police were unprepared for and slow to react to thousands of demonstrators some of whom were armed who stormed the Capitol, destroyed property, chanted death threats, searched the halls for lawmakers, and shut down the certification of the election results. Some 140 officers were injured and several people died. Experts say things couldve gone far worse, had lawmakers not narrowly avoided the mob in a few close encounters.

The crisis in turn has precipitated massive scrutiny of the Capitol Police and created a morale problem in its ranks, which appears to have caused an uptick in resignations and retirements among rank-and-file officers.

In spite of this, Republican leaders in both the House and the Senate have downplayed the threat that Capitol Police faced on January 6. This has served to both exonerate supporters of former President Donald Trump for their role in the violence on that day, and also underpinned arguments for maintaining the security status quo at the Capitol.

At a hearing last week, one House Republican from Georgia said that some of the people who broke into the Capitol on January 6 were behaving as if on a normal tourist visit to Washington. Another likened the rioters to a mob of misfits. And appearing on a Fox News program on Wednesday, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson called the incursion a peaceful protest.

A majority of Republicans also opposed the formation of an independent commission tasked with investigating the events of the day. While 35 House Republicans broke ranks with their party on Wednesday to support the investigation, top Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, opposed such an inquiry.

This disregard for the perils that Congress members faced on January 6 comes as threats and harassment against lawmakers have been increasing. Members of Congress report that theyre increasingly being confronted in public, receiving threats to their families, and having private details of their lives posted online. Compared to last year, threats against federal lawmakers have more than doubled so far this year.

The nearly $2 billion bill passed Thursday is meant to address a wide variety of issues, including: back pay for overtime hours, hazard pay, and retention bonuses; better equipment and training; a new quick-reaction team that would essentially create a standing force of the D.C. National Guard, according to Politico; fortifying the Capitol complex with movable fencing, surveillance equipment, and reinforced windows and doors; and extra security for lawmakers who have been threatened and typically are not eligible for publicly funded security.

Without any Republican support, Democrats were able to pass the spending package, but just barely. Pelosi and other top Dems had to scramble to try to assuage the Squads concerns about the bill, which included, according to Politico, considerations about allocating more money to a Capitol Police force in which some officers indirectly contributed to the days violence through lax enforcement.

I am tired of the fact that any time where there is a failure in our system of policing, the first response is for us to give them more money, rather than investigate the failings and hold those responsible accountable, Omar, who voted against the bill, told the Intercept. Ill continue to fight for structural change that actually centers peoples safety and humanity. That applies to us here in the Capitol, as well as my constituents in Minneapolis.

The joint statement from Omar, Bush, and Pressley expressed a broader set of concerns with the bill. Heres a key passage:

Increasing law enforcement funds does not inherently protect or safeguard the Capitol Hill or surrounding D.C. community. In fact, this bill is being passed before we have any real investigation into the events of January 6th and the failures involved because Republicans have steadfastly obstructed the creation of a January 6th commission.

The bill also does far too little to address the unspeakable trauma of the countless officers, staff, and support workers who were on site that day dedicating fifty times more money to the creation of a quick reaction force than it does to counseling. We cannot support this increased funding while many of our communities continue to face police brutality while marching in the streets, and while questions about the disparate response between insurrectionists and those protesting in defense of Black lives go unanswered.

Ultimately, Pelosis Democratic caucus emerged with the bill they wanted because three members of the Squad decided to vote present rather than oppose it.

But the entire episode showed the progressive wing of House Democrats flexing its muscle as a voting bloc, and likely foreshadows future legislative battles to come, whether on issues tied to criminal justice or other major points of policy disagreement.

Pelosis 11th-hour negotiations to save the bill also suggest that, with a narrow majority in the House, Democratic Party leadership cannot afford to alienate its most progressive members on any must-pass legislation potentially offering those farther-left members more leverage on their own priorities.

And while Biden and Democratic House leadership seem to have been able to satisfy the Squad on Bidens coronavirus relief bill and the administrations opening gambit on a massive infrastructure bill, some rifts between the establishment and the Squad may have further-reaching consequences. For example, in light of Israels airstrikes on Gaza, some members of the Squad introduced an unprecedented resolution to block Bidens $735 million arms sale to Israel this week; Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced a similar proposal in the Senate.

While these resolutions are unlikely to get traction, they can embolden others in the party to break from Biden as some briefly seemed to do on the weapons sale and serve as symbols of how the small left-wing bloc in Congress could become a thorn in the side of party leadership in the coming months and years.

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A bill to increase security at the US Capitol just barely passed the House - Vox.com