Daily Archives: December 13, 2021

Democrats have a messaging problem. But, of course, they have always had a messaging problem. This hardly started with President Joe BidenJoe BidenJos Andrs to travel to Kentucky following devastating tornadoes Sunday shows preview: Officials, experts respond to omicron; Biden administration raises alarms about Russia, China Biden says he will visit area impacted by storms: 'We're going to get through this together' MORE, himself, a pathetic messenger.

Imagine if Democrats used the Child Tax Credit alone eligible families can receive up to $3,600 for each child under age six and up to $3,000 for each age 6 through 17 for 2021 this puts money in parents pockets for their children and yet few Democrats communicate this feat. Likewise, messaging Bidens Build Back Better package or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will provide much-needed improvement to marginalized communities such as reasonable broadband access to ensure that Americans receive reliable high-speed internet, are keys to a potential win in 2022.

The Democrats Build Back Better plan would ensure paid sick leave, home healthcare, another year of monthly child tax credits that have lifted millions out of poverty, universal prekindergarten, two years of community college, a cap on families child-care expenses, healthcare subsidies, Medicare hearing benefits, climate change programs and, to offset the costs, tax increases on corporations and the wealthiest individuals, as well as authorization for Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. All of these are popular with the American people and Republicans, who dismiss the entire plan simply as socialism or wasteful spending without being challenged to address its popular particulars.

Republicans have a far-reaching conservative media apparatus, dominated by Fox News and extending to right-wing websites, white evangelical churches, sources and local talk-show hosts to amplify their message, which is often how and why they are great at winning. Republicans have also directed the national political discourse with critical race theory.

Glenn YoungkinGlenn YoungkinTrump struggles to clear GOP field in North Carolina Senate race Democrats can win in 2022 here's how Do the media really treat Biden worse than Trump? MOREs (R) Virginia gubernatorial victory over Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffeTerry McAuliffeDemocrats can win in 2022 here's how Perilous Pennsylvania, Trump's non-strategy takes another hit Republicans eye gains with female voters after Virginia rout MORE, fueled by pandemic-era, schools-and education-related anguish that went well beyond the dog-whistle political buzzword of critical race theory, constituted a parental revolt. With a winning mix of rural Trump enthusiasts coupled suburbanites who voted for Biden the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election results forged unlikely alliances heading into next years midterms and even 2024 by spotlighting a potentially new COVID-created key constituency piqued moms and dads. Republicans see the Virginia campaign as a playbook in the big U.S. Senate races in 2022.

Traditionally, voters have trusted Democrats more on education, but Virginia undermined that. Its now a blueprint for Republicans. Outside of critical race theory, I believe Democrats underestimated how many voters and Democratswere mad at the school closures, especially metro-suburban white mothers. And Republicans have tapped into that anger, concern, crisis mode and fear.

Democrats have talked about raising the opportunity forallchildren, and where Republicans are winning the messaging war presently is they are focused on raising opportunities foryourchild. Republicans are betting that parents angst about educational issues ranging from the quality of curricula to mask mandates and culture wars will help them retake suburban independents in upcoming elections.

Following a string of wins on local school boards and a strong performance in the suburbs in recent gubernatorial races, Republicans say their message is resonating among parents, whose frustrations have boiled up during the coronavirus pandemic, and now include the quality of classwork, mask mandates and transgender rights.

Democrats can start messaging to voters directly. Every Democratic operative or strategist can stay on message and discuss how Build Back Better will invest over $3.385 billion in capital access investments for small employers and entrepreneurs with nearly $2 billion in a Small Business Association direct lending program for the smallest businesses and government contractors or $60 million to diversify and create equity within the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program.

Democrats could win by going on offense, running the record of successes, not playing defense responding to GOP attacks. The simple lesson lean into the Democratic success and communicate these wins, mainly how the triumphs aid American families and children, engage African Americans and Asian-Americans including Korean Americans and Chinese Americans communicate the talking points and how they improve these communities and others.

Democrats should also capitalize on another critical issue in the midterm elections the battle between traditional establishment Republicans versus Trump Republicans. Will the establishment fringe wing of the GOP gain control power from the Trump wing? As the GOP-civil war rages on, this allows Democrats further opportunity, in addition to touting the Houses successful passage of their social spending and tax passage as they try to ease voters concerns about inflation and shortages of goods.

The conservative-learning Supreme Court could also help Democrats maintain their House and Senate majorities and state legislatures in 2022 per their decision regarding reproductive rights by June of 2022 five months before the midterm contests. As such, Democrats and progressive activists could use the Mississippi case's threat to abortion rights and make the message hit closer to home for millions of women, including suburban women, potentially winning them back.

Ultimately, Democrats predict the ruling against Roe v. Wade will energize the base. But Republicans are already mobilizing their base even amongst the infighting. Will the Democrats?

Quardricos Bernard Driskell is an adjunct professor of legislative politics at The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. Follow him on Twitter @q_driskell4

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Democrats can win in 2022 here's how | TheHill - The Hill

Democrats are feeling an increased sense of urgency to quickly get President BidenJoe BidenJos Andrs to travel to Kentucky following devastating tornadoes Sunday shows preview: Officials, experts respond to omicron; Biden administration raises alarms about Russia, China Biden says he will visit area impacted by storms: 'We're going to get through this together' MOREs social spending and climate package across the finish line due to the pending expiration of the expanded child tax credit at the end of the year.

Absent congressional action, the IRS will make its last monthly child tax credit payment on Dec. 15. Democrats see the monthly payments as critical to reducing child poverty and want to prevent a lapse.

The key obstacle is Sen. Joe ManchinJoe ManchinMatt Taibbi: Mainstream media 'in sync' with Democratic Party The problem with our employment stats Manchin faces pressure from Gillibrand, other colleagues on paid family leave MORE (D-W.Va.), who has expressed a reluctance to passing the social spending package this year. Despite Manchins hesitancy, key Democrats are insistent that the expanded child tax credit wont expire.

We are not going to have a lapse in payments. Thats too important, said Sen. Sherrod BrownSherrod Campbell BrownBiden's pick for bank watchdog pulls out after GOP accusations of communism Senate race in Ohio poses crucial test for Democrats Powell says Fed will consider faster taper amid surging inflation MORE (D-Ohio).

The $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief law that Biden enacted in March expanded the child tax credit for 2021. The expansion included an increase in the credit amount and monthly advance payments of the credit andallowed the lowest-income families to be eligible for the full credit amount.

The Treasury Department and IRS in July started sending out monthly advance child tax credit payments of up to $300 for each child under age 6 and up to $250 for each child ages 6 to 17. The monthly payments, which allow families to receive funds in installments rather than in a lump sum when they file their tax returns, are currently set to end this month.

The social spending package includes a one-year extension of the expanded credit. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron WydenRonald (Ron) Lee WydenOn The Money Inflation hits nearly 40-year high It's time for Congress to close the carried interest loophole Dispute between Wyden, son on taxes becomes public MORE (D-Ore.) told reporters Thursday that the IRS has indicated that Congress should pass the social spending package by Dec. 28 in order to ensure that monthly payments are made on Jan. 15.

We've got to work very hard and move quickly because of some of the logistical challenges that the IRS has in terms of the process, and I'm committed to getting it done, he said. I'm pulling out all the stops to make sure that there is no interruption.

Democrats view the monthly child tax credit payments as a key way to help low- and middle-income families afford household expenses.

Our view is that the child tax credit is a really important, basic support for families and that we should extend it, National Economic Council Director Brian DeeseBrian DeeseThe Memo: Inflation delivers gut-punch as Biden tries to sell economic record Graham hopes to sway Manchin against Biden plan with new CBO report Economists call on Congress to 'swiftly' pass sweeping climate and social policy bill MORE said during Thursdays White House press briefing. And we should extend it because it's doing what we hoped it would do, which is dramatically reduce child poverty in America, dramatically reduce poverty in America, and give families some breathing room in a very strong but uncertain recovery.

Additionally, a lapse in the monthly payments could pose a political risk for Democrats ahead of the midterm elections.

Ethan Winter, lead pollster for the Fighting Chance for Families coalition focused on making the expanded child tax credit permanent, said that continuing to offer concrete benefits such as the child tax credit is one of the best ways for Democrats to counter Republican messaging on cultural issues targeted to parents, such as on critical race theory.

If you allow the benefits to lapse, I do think this would present a political liability for the Democratic Party, Winter said.

The House passed its version of the social spending bill last month. Senate Majority Leader Charles SchumerChuck SchumerTrump struggles to clear GOP field in North Carolina Senate race Coalition urges Senate to publish bills, amendments online while still under consideration Some good news in the battle to rebalance the courts MORE (D-N.Y.) has repeatedly said he wants the Senate to pass a version of the bill by Christmas.

Senate Democrats are using an arcane process known as budget reconciliation to pass the spending package. The process, which Democrats used earlier this year to pass the coronavirus relief law, will allow the party to pass the package with a simple majority in the upper chamber, bypassing a likely Republican filibuster. Still, every Senate Democrat will need to back the legislation for it to pass because the chamber is evenly divided between the two parties.

Getting all Senate Democrats to fall in line behind the plan has been an arduous task for the party this year as leadership works to meet competing demands from members.

The process over there can be agonizing in terms of its pace, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard NealRichard Edmund NealIt's time for Congress to close the carried interest loophole GOP fears boomerang as threat of government shutdown grows House passes giant social policy and climate measure MORE (D-Mass.) said about the Senate last week.

Manchin has repeatedly suggested that he thinks Congress should wait before voting on the spending package, citing concerns about inflation. Manchin has also suggested in the past that there be work requirements and lower income limits for the expanded child tax credit.

When asked Wednesday about whether he felt urgency to pass the spending package in time for the IRS to make child tax credit payments on Jan. 15, Manchin indicated that he thought that any missed payments could be made up for at a later date.

I've never seen a situation where we weren't able to make up whatever you thought time would be lost, he told reporters.

The spending package may be Democrats best option for passing an extension of the expanded child tax credit before the end of the year, given that lawmakers are using the reconciliation process. A stand-alone bill with a temporary extension could face challenges getting enough Republican support to bypass a filibuster.

Could you get 10 Republican votes for it? I don't know the answer to that, Sen. Tim KaineTimothy (Tim) Michael KaineManchin quietly discusses Senate rules changes with Republicans Liberty University professor charged with alleged sexual battery and abduction of student Senate parliamentarian looms over White House spending bill MORE (D-Va.) said.

No Republican in Congress voted for Bidens COVID-19 relief package including the expanded benefit. Republicans expanded the child tax credit themselves in their 2017 tax cut law, but they have criticized Democrats subsequent expansion, arguing that Democrats eliminated work incentives associated with the child tax credit. Republicans have also expressed concerns that the monthly payment structure would lead to an increase in improper payments and fraud.

Some Republicans have signaled interest in reaching a bipartisan agreement on a path forward for the tax credit but said the benefit would likely look much different from the expansion approved under Biden earlier this year.

Unfortunately, that went to very high income people. It was unlinked to work, and I would prefer we went back to the original formulation, said Sen. Susan CollinsSusan Margaret CollinsTransformational legislation should be bipartisan again The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Uber - Senate debt limit drama ends; Trump legal troubles rise On The Money Senate risks Trump's ire with debt ceiling deal MORE (R-Maine).

But Democrats are also committed to extending the current expansion to the benefit as it stands, with some insisting the party use the expansions current deadline later this month as an impetus to get Bidens larger spending plan passed.

Let's use this to finally make a decision to get Build Back Better done, Kaine said, calling the tax credit expansion the single best deadline that might get us finally to act.

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Child tax credit expiration adds pressure for Democrats | TheHill - The Hill

To understand the forces shaping American politics, one state will be impossible to overlook in 2022: Georgia.

The Peach State will offer the biggest litmus test yet of former US president Donald Trumps grip on the Republican party, and the persistence of his false claims of election fraud, as well as a guide to whether Democrats can expect the nation to move in their direction.

It will also offer something of a laboratory experiment for new voting restrictions and the threat they pose to democracy.

Georgia enters into the realm of Florida 2000, Ohio 2004, Pennsylvania 2020 as the pivotal state, said John Zogby, an author and pollster. Itll be a benchmark for 2024. Its important demographically because its in a state of balance right now. Its having its moment.

The southern, socially conservative state was a bulwark of the Confederacy during the civil war. But it is now home to a film industry dubbed the the Hollywood of the south. It produced Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights hero. But it also produced Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right conspiracy theorist.

Its outsized role came into focus last year when Joe Biden became the first Democratic presidential nominee to win it since Bill Clinton in 1992. Then, in January, Democrats won two Senate runoff elections, giving Biden an unexpected majority and dramatically scaling up his ambitions.

Now the plotlines that have dominated US politics for the past decade are set to converge in Georgia again. Trump supporters have turned out in force at local Republican meetings and sought to gain control of the state party apparatus, purging officials deemed insufficiently loyal.

The ex-president has also inspired a slate of devotees to seek statewide office including former senator David Perdue, who this week launched a challenge against incumbent Republican governor Brian Kemp.

Trump has fumed against Kemp over the governors refusal to overturn the election results last year, even after several recounts and audits affirmed Bidens victory.

Perdue has immediately grabbed on to the mantle of baseless election lies, telling Axios this week he would not have voted to certify the election, then joining a lawsuit seeking to prove he and Trump were cheated out of election victories. Kemp said last year he was required by law to certify the election.

The former president called Kemp a very weak governor in a statement endorsing Perdue on Monday, citing nothing specific in his opposition to the sitting governor apart from his position on election integrity. Most importantly, Trump said of Kemp, he cant win because the MAGA [Make America great again] base which is enormous will never vote for him.

If he is proven wrong and Kemp prevails, it would be a humiliating defeat for Trump, offering a sign his influence over the Republican party is slipping. Such a rebuke might even help dissuade him from running for president again in 2024.

Eric Erickson, a conservative writer and radio host based in Georgia, said: It certainly would impact his electoral college map in 2024 and it would definitely suggest that the voters are ready to move on. When you look at the polling, I think people are looking towards 2024 and maybe theyre ready to look at the future instead of the past.

The primary for governor is not the only battle here with wider implications. Trump is backing former football star Herschel Walker in a Republican primary against state agriculture commissioner Gary Black. The winner will go forward to challenge Warnock.

Lower down the ballot there is also a high stakes election for secretary of state, Georgias top election official. Trump has endorsed Jody Hice, a congressman, in his bid to oust fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger from the secretary of states office. Trump has attacked Raffensperger ever since he refused to go along with the then presidents request to find enough votes to overturn the election.

Robert P Jones, chief executive and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), said: Weve got basically a Maga versus chamber of commerce battle going on and what makes it particularly poignant is the role that governor Brian Kemp and secretary of state Brad Raffensperger played in the last presidential election.

They were two Republicans that stood on the side of democracy and resisted Donald Trumps request to overthrow the fair results of the election. In that way, theyve theyve been put in the crosshairs by Trump and are being challenged from the right by David Perdue on the one hand and Jody Hice on the other, both of whom have repeated this big lie that Trump actually won in Georgia.

Theyre essentially running on this Make America great again big lie, so itll be a real test to see how that plays out among Republicans in the primaries before you even get to the general election.

Which ever Republican candidate for governor emerges from months of infighting they will still have to face Democrat Stacey Abrams, a voting rights activist bidding to become the first Black female governor in American history.

Abrams narrowly lost to Kemp in 2018 in what proved a flashpoint election. It was a contest that encapsulated how Georgia is changing Abrams, vying to be the first female Black governor in US history, symbolized a new progressive Georgia, while Kemp represented the old conservative guard.

Such trends surfaced again in January when Democrats Raphael Warnock, who is African American, and Jon Ossoff, who is Jewish, defeated Kelly Loeffler and Perdue, both of whom are white.

Jones, who was born in Atlanta, Georgia, added: Whats also at play here is the changing face of the country and the kind of candidates that might represent the way the demographics are changing.

If you go back to right before the 2008 election, Georgia was 53% white and Christian. Today its 41% white and Christian. Just between the beginning when Barack Obama was running and today, things have changed quite dramatically. It also has this urban-rural divide that so many states, particularly southern and peripheral south states, have: Atlanta and its suburbs versus the rest of the more rural state.

Just as she did in 2018, Abrams is likely to make voting rights a central issue. During that campaign, she highlighted serious election issues in Georgia, including the way the state was disproportionately flagging Black voters for potential removal from the rolls and a surge in polling place closures in the state.

Now the stakes around voting rights are even higher.

In March, Georgia Republicans enacted sweeping new voting restrictions, even though there was no evidence of fraud in the 2020 election. The new law gives voters less time to request an absentee ballot and requires them to provide information from a state ID on both the ballot request and ballot itself.

It also limits the use of ballot drop boxes to one box per 100,000 voters, and only allows them to be in use during early voting hours. The boxes were used for the first time in 2020, when they proved popular and were available 24/7. The new law adds an additional day of Saturday early voting and makes Sunday early voting optional.

Kemp has staunchly defended the measure, even as the state faced enormous pressure from Major League Baseball and other companies. The justice department and several other civic action groups are currently suing Georgia over the law.

Helen Butler, a longtime organizer in Georgia, said she is already seeing the effects of the new voting law on the ground there. During municipal elections earlier this year, she said her group, the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples Agenda, had seen an uptick in people who wanted rides to the polls because they were wary of using an absentee ballot.

The new law also limited what kind of assistance her group could give voters with mail-in ballots, she said. Were tired of always seeing barriers put in place to us being able to exercise our right to vote.

Events in Georgia will be closely watched elsewhere. Trump has endorsed more than 60 midterm candidates across the country, including several running against Republican incumbents. Some strategists fear he could sabotage his own party as it seeks to regain the House and Senate. Democrats, meanwhile, have tried to learn from Abrams ability to generate enthusiasm.

Andra Gillespie, an associate professor of political science at Emory University in Atlanta, said: There is a very real story in Georgia about Stacey Abrams organising and finding the Democratic voters and getting what people to turn out and vote. It was a story that started well before the 2018 cycle.

Shes going to want to try to continue to build on that momentum but what shes facing is that Republicans know thats what shes doing. They are aware that shes probably the best in the business at being able to get people to turn out to vote and they are going to match those efforts with their own get-out-their-own effort.

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Its having its moment: Georgia to offer litmus test for Trump and Democrats - The Guardian

The race to chair the Texas Democratic Party is heating up early as the states Democrats contemplate their future after a disappointing 2020 election and ahead of a challenging 2022 election.

The current state party leader is Gilberto Hinojosa, who has held the job since 2012 and has indicated he is not going anywhere. But that has not stopped early interest in the race, which will be determined by delegates to the state partys biennial convention next summer.

Kim Olson, the former candidate for agriculture commissioner and Congress, has announced she is running to lead the party, saying the promise of a Blue Texas has so far fallen short of expectations. Meanwhile, Carroll G. Robinson, chair of the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats, is considering a campaign for the job and plans to make an announcement in January. And other names have been discussed as potential candidates with still several months to go before the election.

The stakes are considerable.

Texas Democrats have been regrouping after a 2020 election during which they thought they were poised for their biggest breakthrough in recent memory, but they came up woefully short. As they have been licking their wounds, they have had to stare down a daunting 2022 election, with a national environment that is not in their favor and state Republicans using the redistricting process to cement GOP majorities in Austin and Washington, D.C.

We need a course correction because what we are doing has not yielded a statewide win. Period, Olson said in an interview.

She launched her campaign with some 250 endorsements. The endorsers feature 35 county party chairs, including from some of the most populous counties in the state Tarrant, Denton, Fort Bend and Galveston. The list also includes several members of the State Democratic Executive Committee and a host of Democratic candidates from 2018 and 2020.

Hinojosa was on the hot seat after the 2020 election.

A group of State Democratic Executive Committee members wrote him to demand change at the party, and he assembled a committee to do a deep dive on what wrong that November. The party released an autopsy in February that concluded Republicans beat them in turnout and partly blamed Democrats underwhelming results on their decision to suspend in-person campaigning because of the coronavirus pandemic.

At the same time, the state party has been rebuilding its organization chart after the departure of its top two staffers in January.

Publicly, Hinojosa has not given any indication that he is ready to step aside.

While I sincerely respect anyone who seeks office inside or as a nominee of our Party, I believe I still have much to contribute towards our shared goal of turning Texas blue and I intend to accelerate my commitment to that goal in my role as the Texas Democratic Party Chairman, Hinojosa said in a statement. Ultimately the delegates will decide, but because we all share the same goal and stand united in this fight to win back the soul of our state, I believe I will continue to have their support.

Olson has been the most visible potential candidate for state party chair so far, announcing an exploratory effort in early October and traveling the state since then.

A retired Air Force colonel who broke barriers as a female pilot, Olson made a name for herself politically with her fiery 2018 challenge to Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, which she lost by 5 percentage points. She ran last year to flip the 24th Congressional District, which was being targeted by national Democrats, but lost in a primary runoff.

Olson is leaning on that experience to pitch improved infrastructure for candidates across the state, as well as more support for local party leaders like county chairs. Similarly, she said the state party should be more mindful of how messaging can vary in different parts of Texas. For example, she noted oil-and-gas jobs are often some of the best-paying jobs in the Rio Grande Valley, and Democrats need to be able to explain to voters there how their job fits into the transition to a more environmentally responsible future.

One of Olsons priorities is expanding the partys reach into rural Texas and helping narrow the gap with Republicans who have long run up the score in those areas. Olson, who is from rural Palo Pinto County, said Democrats need to release the GOP death grip on our rural areas.

Rural Texas has not been given the attention thats needed in order to win statewide or federal races, said Nancy Nichols, an SDEC member from East Texas who supports Olson. Col. Olson recognizes the power thats wielded in the rural counties, and shes going to the rural counties.

Robinson, meanwhile, has been credited with helping rebuild the state Coalition of Black Democrats in recent years. He has long been involved in Democratic politics and the legal community in the Houston area, where he has served as an at-large City Council member and Houston Community College trustee. He teaches law at Texas Southern University and once was general counsel to the state party.

Robinson said the state party needs to do a better job providing an overarching message for candidates to run under, particularly in places like East Texas and West Texas.

Democrats need to put together a multiracial, multigenerational, multiregional coalition across Texas to win statewide races and take back the Texas Legislature, and literally, weve got to do it in 2022, 2024, and weve also got to get ready for the 2030 census and redistricting cycle that follows, Robinson said.

In addition to Olson and Robinson, the speculation about the state party chair race has included the partys vice chair, Carla Brailey. However, Brailey has said she is not looking at running for state party chair at this time and instead is considering a run for lieutenant governor. The filing deadline for that race, which already includes at least three Democrats, is Monday.

Patsy Woods Martin, the former executive director of Annies List, which works to elect Democratic women in Texas who support abortion rights, said she thought about running for state party chair earlier this year but is dedicating herself to fundraising for gubernatorial candidate Beto ORourke.

Manuel Medina, state chair of the Tejano Democrats, acknowledged in an interview that there has been speculation about whether he would run for state party chair, but said he has not considered it and will support Hinojosa for another term.

Despite the discussion about replacing Hinojosa, he still has plenty of allies who appreciate how far the party has come under him.

I feel like the party is much better off than it was when he took over, that its grown in terms of resources and impact, said Rick Levy, president of the Texas AFL-CIO. While theres challenges, to be sure, hes had a clear vision, and for working people, hes really incorporated our voices into the vision.

Medina, a former chair of the Bexar County party, said Hinojosa has proven he can raise money and build infrastructure to help Democrats make more inroads in Texas.

At this point, I think its all in our best interest to stay on the path the chairman set, Medina said.

Medina suggested Democrats major shortcoming in 2020 eschewing in-person campaigning was because of a national strategy and not the fault of Hinojosa. While that strategy might have been enough to get Joe Biden elected president, Medina said, in states like ours, block walking wouldve made all the difference in the world and led to a Democratic majority in the state House.

Whoever runs, the race is bound to be shaped by questions about who is best positioned to lead a party that continues to see its future in young people and people of color. In the near term, that is especially relevant as Republicans make a serious push next year across predominantly Hispanic South Texas.We need to have a long and hard look at a leader who is going to recognize the issues of the present, the capabilities of the future, while still being respectful of the people whove been doing the work for a long time, said Jen Ramos, an SDEC member from Central Texas who helped organize the letter to Hinojosa after the 2020 election. For me, I think, with this chair race, its one, what is the definition of winning for our chair candidates, and two, how are we going to accept our weaknesses as much as our strengths as we move into the next election and post-redistricting.

Disclosure: Annies List and Houston Community College have been financial supporters of the Texas Tribune. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism.

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

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After Texas Democrats' woeful performance last year, the 2022 race to chair the party is already heating up - San Antonio Express-News

Senate Democrats have nixed the idea of imposing a new federal tax on nicotine vaping products, which would have disadvantaged a potentially lifesaving alternative to cigarettes and violated President Joe Biden's pledge to avoid raising taxes on American households that earn less than $400,000 a year.The Wall Street Journal reports thatSen. Catherine Cortez Masto (DNev.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, "pushed to remove the tax," which was included in the House version of the Build Back Better spending package, and "helped force its deletion."

House Democrats originally proposed a $100.66 excise tax per 1,810 milligrams of nicotine in e-liquids, which would have added about $60 to the cost of a high-strength 60-milliliter bottle containing 18 milligrams of nicotine per milliliter. For some products, retailers reported, the tax would have doubled or tripled the retail price. The same proposal also would have increased the federal excise tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products, yielding an estimated $96 billion in new revenue over a decade.

Last month that proposal was replaced by a plan to tax e-liquids at $50.33 per 1,810 milligrams of nicotine, still a hefty levy that would have substantially increased the cost of vaping. And unlike the earlier plan, this provision would not have boosted federal taxes on cigarettes, so it would have reduced the comparative economic appeal of vaping and raised only about $9 billion over a decade.

Supporters of the nicotine tax portrayed it as a "public health" measure, aimed largely at deterring underage consumption. But it would have discouraged current smokers from switching to a far less hazardous source of nicotine, resulting in more tobacco-related deaths. The increased cost also would have encouraged former smokers who are now vaping to switch back to a much deadlier habit.

"There is no valid reason to impose new taxes on tobacco-free nicotine products, particularly at a time when American families are feeling the impact of rising inflation," Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, said in response to the provision. He noted that House Democrats were perversely "aiming to make smoke-free alternatives more expensive than smoking."

Cortez Masto did not mention the public health implications of the tax, focusing instead on the provision's inconsistency with Biden's promise. Last month she described the proposed levy as "aregressive tax on the very people that we're trying to cut costs, cut taxes on." Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.), who in November said the nicotine tax "doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever," likewise did not mention the harm-reducing potential of vaping products. Neither did Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (DAriz.), who also opposed the tax.

Michelle Minton, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute who follows tobacco policy, welcomed the decision to eliminate the vaping tax. "By dropping the nicotine tax from the Build Back Better bill," Minton said in a press release, "Democrats have averted a public health disaster. Imposing a tax increase on safer nicotine products would have failed to meaningfully address youth vaping and, worse, would have discouraged adult smokers from switching to life-saving alternatives, particularly among lower-income Americans. Generating revenue off the increased misery and poverty of predominantly lower-income Americans is no way to build back better."

In an August American Journal of Public Healtharticle, David J.K. Balfour and 14 other leading tobacco researchers warned that "policies intended to reduce adolescent vaping," including taxes and flavor bans, "may also reduce adult smokers' use of e-cigarettes in quit attempts." They emphasized that "the potential lifesaving benefits of e-cigarettes for adult smokers deserve attention equal to the risks to youths."

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Senate Democrats Nix a Regressive, Unhealthy Vaping Tax Endorsed by the House - Reason

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., walks to a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021, in Washington.AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Dick Durbin apologized to Tom Cotton in order to confirm five US attorney nominees.

Cotton disliked that Durbin interrupted him during a hearing on a Department of Justice nominee.

While Durbin apologized to Cotton, he said Republicans attempted to block a vote on the nominee.

Last week, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., refused to confirm the Biden administration's US attorney nominees in Democratic states until Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., apologized for interrupting him during a committee hearing in March.

Durbin pointed out that Cotton's objection breaks with custom, stating that it has been nearly half a century since the Senate required a roll call vote on a US attorney nominee. He also recounted how Democrats never held up US attorney nominations during the Trump administration despite having the power to do so.

"Given the critical role that these US attorneys play in bringing justice to those who violate federal criminal laws, it is hard to imagine that any member of this body would obstruct efforts to confirm these law enforcement officials," Durbin said. "Doing so could threaten public safety and puts at risk millions of Americans' security. It's also a stark departure from what has happened before."

Still, Cotton said that "courtesy and collegiality and respect" need to be a "two-way street" in the Senate, reiterating that he has the right to object to nominees.

"If there are not consequences when rules and traditions are breached in this institution, we will soon not have rules and traditions," Cotton said. "I also said that if the senator from Illinois would simply express regret for what happened that day and pledge that it wouldn't happen again, I would be happy to let all these nominees move forward."

Cotton was referencing a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in March on Vanita Gupta, who was nominated by the Biden administration and later confirmed as an associate attorney general at the Department of Justice.

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Durbin, who chairs the committee, interrupted Republican attacks on Gupta in order to force a vote, which resulted in a deadlock, according to The Hill. She was narrowly confirmed by a bipartisan vote in the Senate, 51-49, with Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski casting the lone Republican vote of support.

While Durbin eventually acquiesced to Cotton's demand and apologized for interrupting him during the March hearing, he maintained that Republicans forced his hand by attempting to block a vote on Gupta's nomination by invoking an obscure Senate rule to prevent the Committee from meeting after midnight, The Hill reported.

"This outrageous obstruction of a nominee with broad support from across the political spectrum left Chair Durbin with no option but to call a roll call vote before the Committee meeting was terminated by Republicans' invocation of this rule," an account for Judiciary Committee Democrats tweeted following the vote.

Following Durbin's apology, the committee unanimously confirmed five nominees for US attorneys in Illinois, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New Jersey, according to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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Sen. Tom Cotton refused to confirm US attorney nominees in Democratic states until Sen. Dick Durbin apologized for interrupting him nine months ago -...