Category Archives: Democrat

WESTWORLD 9 p.m. on HBO; stream on HBO platforms. This dystopian sci-fi thriller has been off the air for nearly two years. Now back for Season 3, it has undergone a partial reboot since the last season ended with Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and other robot hosts escaping from the titular theme park. Now, she is out in the human world and hungry for vengeance. She connects with a military veteran (played by a newcomer, Aaron Paul) and convinces him that humans and droids both live in cages, their lives predetermined. (This series is certainly not a pick-me-up.) Other new cast members include Vincent Cassel and Lena Waithe. The shows production remains sleek and eye-catching, Mike Hale wrote in his review for The New York Times. And the moment may be exactly right for a paranoid meditation on the possible end of the human race. The first season finale of AVENUE 5 follows at 10:15 p.m.

DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE 8 p.m. on CNN and Univision. Oh, how the world has changed since the last Democratic debate on Feb. 25. That night saw a crowded stage. Seven candidates vied to make their voices heard before Super Tuesday, and Senator Bernie Sanders was still the projected front-runner. Now two candidates remain, Sanders and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. And the nation is scrambling to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which is why this debate, originally planned for Phoenix, has been moved to Washington to be filmed in a studio with no audience. Biden has been endorsed by several former candidates and politicians, while Sanders has vowed to power through, despite recent losses in several states. On Sunday, they likely will attack President Trumps handling of the health crisis, and Sanders is expected to challenge Biden on his policies and ability to defeat the president.

BLACK MONDAY 10 p.m. on Showtime. This comedy series about the stock market crash of 1987 is darkly resonant after Wall Streets fall this week, its worst since then. The second season chronicles the fallout of the crash. Mo (Don Cheadle) is on the run after being framed for murder while his former colleagues (played by Regina Hall and Andrew Rannells) carry on with their conniving ways.

ALWAYS SHINE (2016) Stream on Amazon, Crackle or Vudu; rent on Google Play, iTunes, YouTube. The director Sophia Takal threads sharp social commentary through a story about two frenemies in this tense psychological thriller. Beth (Caitlin FitzGerald) and Anna (Mackenzie Davis) head to Big Sur for a weekend getaway. Both are actresses, but Beth has found some measure of success by taking what she can get mostly demeaning roles that require nudity while Anna is more talented yet intense and uncompromising. Her jealousy is clear from the get-go, and it makes way for a grim time in the woods.

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Whats on TV Sunday: Westworld and the Democratic Debate - The New York Times

The coronavirus pandemic could pose big problems for the two marquee political events before Election Day the Democratic and Republican national conventions this summer.

Party leaders are being forced to consider the possibility that the four-day gatherings may have to be dramatically scaled back or essentially cancelled, while the candidate nominating process and fundraising tens of millions of dollars for the events could be severely hampered, former convention officials told NBC News.

The economic impact on the host cities Milwaukee for the Democrats on July 13-16 and Charlotte for the Republicans on August 24-27 could be devastating. While the economic benefit for both 2016 conventions fell short of some projections, the GOP's Cleveland effort generated $142 million while in Philadelphia, the Democratic event brought about $231 million.

The conventions are still far enough down that both parties are still planning for them to start on time. But the unpredictability of the outbreak New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said his city's major arenas may be closed for months could leave organizers scrambling for alternatives in the not so distant future.

And the 2020 race has already become a non-contact campaign Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have switched into "virtual" campaign mode, forgoing large events and Sunday's Democratic debate will not have a live audience.

The first issue to pop up for the national conventions has been the postponement of some state party conventions, the process by which certain state parties choose the delegates who will represent their states at the national conventions.

In an email to state party chairs on Thursday, DNC chairman Tom Perez said the committee's delegate selection team has been in contact with states that are contemplating changes to their delegate selection process in light of the coronavirus outbreak to ensure the candidate nominating process "can continue without major interruptions."

But that's not the biggest worry on the horizon for organizers, who, should the crisis fail to pass by the summer, could be pressed with having to make major changes to their plans, such as shortening the four-day conventions, holding them with only delegates in attendance or even going as far to stage a virtual nominating process.

The gatherings are large. The 2016 Republican National Convention pulled in about 44,400 visitors, according to a Cleveland State University study. Meanwhile, estimates for that year's Democratic National Convention were similar, with about 50,000 estimated to have attended.

Past organizers said the biggest issue on the immediate horizon involves the vast fundraising of millions of dollars to stage the events.

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"A big part of what we did was raising money this puts a lot of that in limbo," said Mike Dino, who served as CEO of the Denver host committee that helped organize the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

"And if you still want to bring all the delegates together, but you don't want anybody else there, as we're seeing in a lot of our public venues at this point, you don't have the people to pay for that that usually pay for that the corporations that want to attend to be a part of that, too," Dino continued.

For the upcoming conventions, Democrats are slated to have 4,750 delegates present while Republicans will feature 2,550. Those totals do not include alternate delegates who would also be in attendance. Based on 2016 totals for both the Republicans and Democrats, there could be anywhere from 75 speakers to more than 250 delivering addresses at the nominating events.

"Raising the money, to at least do what they had envisioned, is only going to get tougher at this point," he added, noting that the committees may even have to ask Congress for funding in the range of $10 million to $20 million for each convention. Congress already approved $100 million late last year in security funding for the conventions, but any new ask would be in addition to that and for non-security purposes.

David Gilbert, president and CEO of the Cleveland host committee which helped organize the 2016 Republican National Convention, told NBC News that from a planning perspective "something like this really is uncharted territory."

Even if the conventions go forward but have to be downsized, a major impact will be felt by the local economies in Milwaukee and Charlotte, which would be unlikely to see the anticipated return on their investments.

"The communities go through what they do because of the significant return they get," Gilbert said. "In terms of visitors, media exposure, influencers coming to their community and they would lose every bit of it. I mean, my heart really goes out to Charlotte and to Milwaukee right now."

If the conventions are dramatically scaled back or essentially canceled, Gilbert estimated the loss to the cities would be well into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

"A lot of the reasons these communities do it is also to have the eyes of the world on them," he added. "It's such a rare opportunity. When, otherwise, would cities, particularly cities like a Cleveland or a Milwaukee or a Charlotte that are great cities or mid-sized cities have 15,000 credentialed media in their community, and the byline is from that place? That's a hard pill to swallow if that's going to be lost."

At this point, Democratic and Republican officials said they closely monitoring the coronavirus outbreak but are focused on starting the conventions on time and holding them as long planned.

"We're still looking at planning a safe convention for everybody four months from now," a senior official on the Democratic National Convention committee told NBC News, adding they are "seriously monitoring" the crisis.

The outbreak, the official said, is being added to the "regular contingency planning that's part of planning for any convention."

Democratic convention CEO Joe Solmonese said his team is "in constant communication with the local, state, and federal officials responsible for protecting public health and security" as the "fluid" situation develops.

On the Republican side, Blair Ellis, the communications director for the GOP convention, said the organizers "prioritize the health and safety of delegates, media, community members, and staff and have full faith and confidence in the administration's aggressive actions to address COVID-19."

"As we move forward with planning, we remain in close contact with local, state and federal officials and we will continue to closely monitor the situation and work with all stakeholders and health authorities to ensure every necessary precaution is taken into account," she continued.

And what about the November election? If the outbreak doesn't abate, could it be postponed?

A 2004 Congressional Research Service report concluded that Congress has a better claim than the president when it comes to delaying the general election in the wake of a "sufficiently calamitous event." At the time of the report, the concerns were in the context of a possible terror attack.

"The power of Congress to protect the integrity of the presidential election, combined with its authority to set the time of election, would also seem to provide the Congress the power to postpone elections because of a national emergency," the report said.

Congress, the report said, could vote to "delegate" that power to the president.

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Un-conventional? Coronavirus could risk Democratic, GOP national party gatherings - NBCNews.com

President Trump in an early morning tweet on Monday accused the"Fake News Media" and Democrats of trying to inflame the coronavirus outbreak as thevirus spreads globally and across the U.S.

The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant, Trump tweeted.

Surgeon General, 'The risk is low to the average American, Trump added.

The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant. Surgeon General, The risk is low to the average American.

Its unclear exactly what prompted Trump's tweet.

Many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have issued calls for putting politics aside as the nation grapples with the outbreak.

More than 500 cases have been confirmed in the U.S., and multiple people have died from the virus, mostly in Washington state.

At least eight states have declared states of emergency due to the outbreak, including Oregon, which announced its state of emergency Sunday after its number of cases doubled to 14.

Trump administration officials sought to ease fearsin a series of appearances on Sunday morning talk shows, but some Democrats have questioned the administrations response.

Despite Trumps claim last week that anyone who needs a test can get one, Sen. Chris MurphyChristopher (Chris) Scott MurphyCoronavirus takes toll on Capitol Hill Graham warns of 'aggressive' response to Iran-backed rocket attack that killed US troops US paints murky picture of Russian disinformation on coronavirus MORE (D-Conn.) said thats not the case in his state.

Issues over available tests make it difficult to assess the scope of the epidemic, Murphy said Sunday on CBSs Face the Nation.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams said on CNNs State of the Union that the nation is entering a so-called mitigation phase and people should not panic even as more cases appear.

Trump in tweets later Monday praised Vice President Pence and others members of the White House coronavirus task force, saying his decision to restrict travel from virus-stricken nations saved many lives.

Great job being done by the @VP and the CoronaVirus Task Force. Thank you!

The BEST decision made was the toughest of them all - which saved many lives. Our VERY early decision to stop travel to and from certain parts of the world!

"So much FAKE NEWS!" he added in another post.

So much FAKE NEWS!

Updated at 9:27 a.m.

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Trump: 'Fake News Media,' Democrats working to 'inflame the CoronaVirus situation' | TheHill - The Hill

Confronted by the coronavirus menace, politicians and governments around the world are thrashing about wildly, trying to decide what to do for the best. Politics isnt working is a common refrain among disaffected citizens in the modern era. But at this uniquely stressful moment, it really does appear to be true. While they mean well, most leaders havent got a clue.

The dawning realisation that national politicians cannot be relied upon to do the right or sensible thing, whatever that may turn out to be, has serious long-term implications for democracy and the principle of democratic consent. If the crisis is protracted, a catastrophic loss of confidence in the way the pandemic is managed could lead to unpredictable social disruption across many countries.

As is the case with victims of the disease, underlying conditions and vulnerabilities in politics too are being painfully exposed.

Its becoming clear, for example, that healthcare systems, even in wealthy countries such as the US, are chronically under-resourced and unprepared. Confusion reigns widely, fuelled by conflicting official advice in different countries about public gatherings, travel, and self-isolation.

Some leaders may emerge with their reputations enhanced. For others, the opposite holds true. The virus has already made fools of the worlds two most powerful men. Xi Jinping, Chinas president, has faced unprecedented criticism over his handling of the first recorded outbreak in Wuhan. He initially steered well clear of the problem an early example of social distancing.

But Xi has struggled since to contain the political and human fallout. The death from Covid-19 of Li Wenliang, a young doctor who sounded the alarm in Wuhan in December but was gagged by Communist party officials, sparked an online revolt. Xi finally ventured to the city last week, lavishing praise on its beleaguered residents in what almost sounded like an apology.

Predictably, Donald Trumps reaction has been all about him. Among other inanities, he suggested the pandemic was a fake Democrat plot to harm his re-election chances. Ignoring the science and minimising the threat, he claimed his Mexican border wall had somehow immunised Americans, and likened the foreign virus to an alien invasion. Its embarrassingly obvious Trump is not up to the job.

Both Trump and Xi could pay a heavy price. The US leader may have survived impeachment, but come November many voters will not forget or forgive this failure of leadership in a crisis. Xis aura of paternal infallibility has shattered. Trust has gone. To restore his grip, it is suggested, he may resort to more intrusive social controls, surveillance and censorship. Yet increased repression could prompt a career-ending backlash.

Trumps knee-jerk reaction in pulling up the drawbridge and blaming others is not unique. Fear not facts has led European leaders such as Austrias Sebastian Kurz to act alone, hastily closing borders and barring people from specific countries. These divisions recall Europes chaotic response to the 2015 migrant crisis when governments failed to agree a collective approach.

For the European Union, the pandemic is turning into a political nightmare. The commission in Brussels is struggling to keep up, relaxing rules on deficit spending that have already been broken. Piecemeal, national-level policy-making is a gift to Eurosceptics, not least rightwing populists keen to exploit splits, and could have lasting consequences for European cohesion. Public confidence may take a big hit.

Theres no doubt politicians face genuine dilemmas. In Italy, Europes worst-affected state, the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, was initially attacked for doing too much, by ordering widespread testing in Lombardy, and subsequently for doing too little. What is certain is that Italy has received little help from the rest of Europe the subject of a bitter complaint last week.

Now that Italy is in total lockdown, it is being studied like a laboratory guinea pig. Boris Johnson, aware, like other leaders, that his reputation is at stake, treads a fine line between similarly drastic measures and keep calm and carry on stoicism. If it all goes wrong, his defence will be that he followed medical advice. Suddenly, experts are back on top in Britain if only as potential fall guys.

Many look for leadership to Angela Merkel, Germanys unflappable chancellor and Europes most respected politician. Yet her assessment last week, that Covid-19 would infect two out of three Germans and there was not a lot governments could do about it, was less than reassuring.

Merkel called for solidarity, common sense and open-heartedness. But her emphasis on Europe-wide cooperation carried a whiff of hypocrisy. Germany and France have limited exports of protective masks and equipment to safeguard domestic supply hardly an act of solidarity with the neighbours. Nor is Berlin rushing to bail out floundering eurozone partners.

Looked at globally, the politicians performance to date has been mostly unimpressive

The parallel absence of an effective, joined-up global strategy is also casting multilateral institutions in an unflattering light. The World Health Organization, the lead UN agency that might be expected to wield decisive influence, appears strangely diffident at times fearful, perhaps, of provoking a political backlash from heavy-hitters such as China.

Global financial institutions are not doing any better. The IMF has thrown $50bn at the problem. Interest rates have been randomly cut and emergency budgets announced. But compared with the 2008 financial crisis, when governments and central banks collaborated to stave off a banking collapse, international coordination to calm markets and reduce risk is lacking. Virus-related economic damage may thus be worse, and longer lasting, than might have been the case.

Despite all the angst, the WHOs chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, complained about alarming levels of inaction by politicians and it seems many governments remain in denial. That may be due to vanity (in the case of North Koreas defiantly face-mask-free Kim Jong-un) or incapacity (in the case of poorer countries). Iran repeatedly denied it had a problem, until its leaders started dying. Now it is reportedly digging mass graves.

Unscrupulous politicians stand accused of using the pandemic as cover for furtive power-grabs. The timing of last weeks high-level purge by Saudi Arabias crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and a constitutional coup by Russias president, Vladimir Putin, may be coincidental. Or maybe not.

In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu is manoeuvring to stay on as prime minister, despite his corruption trial and his lack of a parliamentary majority, in the face of what he now deems an exceptional national threat. Its conceivable Trump could use new clashes with militia in Iraq to revive his Iran vendetta and distract attention from his viral incompetence.

The crisis also raises the danger of governments taking so-called temporary emergency powers and imposing sweeping, illiberal constraints on citizens, journalists and social media that subsequently become permanent. Thats what happened after the 9/11 convulsion, when the US and allies decided to largely ignore international human rights protections in the name of fighting terrorism.

Looked at globally, the politicians performance to date has been mostly unimpressive. Yet the fundamental question raised by the pandemic is not one solely for them. It concerns each individual, community, and nation. Will the challenges posed by the virus be allowed to drive us further apart or used to help bring us closer together? The answer hangs in the balance. It could go either way.

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Covid-19 is exposing the frailty in autocrats and democrats alike - The Guardian

Bernie Sanders has placed democratic socialism at the center of his presidential campaign and his vision for a better America. For proof, he points to Scandinavian countries like Sweden.

Sanders argument takes as its starting point the perception that the Scandinavian third-way economic model of democratic socialism combining the wealth creation of capitalism with the safety net of socialism works well, and that the U.S. could reach the same socioeconomic outcomes and prosperity by expanding the role of government.

A prosperous economy was built before the welfare states we know today were established.

But as a Scandinavian political scientist who has studied Nordic politics, economy and history in depth, I do not feel the Bern. The Vermont senator has embraced an urban legend; his love affair with Scandinavian socialism gets it all wrong.

Contrary to the prevailing narrative, the success of Nordic countries like Sweden as measured by relatively high living standards accompanied by low poverty, with government-funded education through university, universal health coverage, generous parental-leave policies and long life spans precedes the contemporary welfare state.

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In fact, when we examine Nordic politics, economy and history as exemplified by Sweden, we find that the Northern European success story was not achieved thanks to a welfare model funded by high taxes, but perhaps despite it. It is high time Sanders stops misleading his followers on this score.

Research has suggested that the Northern European success story has its roots in cultural rather than economic factors. The Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, which have a combined population roughly comparable to the greater New York City area, historically developed remarkably high levels of social trust, a robust work ethic and considerable social cohesion, according to economic experts and scholars such as Assar Lindbeck and Nima Sanandaji.

These societal qualities predate and are independent from the formation of the modern welfare state. Indeed, on that foundation, a prosperous economy was built before the welfare states we know today were established.

Eleven years before Adam Smith published his classic book The Wealth of Nations in 1776, regarded as the foundation of contemporary economic thought, a Swedish parliamentarian had already published his own work advocating for the necessity of free markets in fostering economic prosperity.

During the following century, Sweden introduced extensive economic laissez-faire reforms deregulating the financial sector and promoting free enterprise, free competition and free trade. These reforms prompted Swedens transition to capitalism.

During the following 60 years of prosperity - during the first half of the 20th century - tax rates were generally lower than in other European countries and in the U.S. The fact that the country had participated in neither the First nor Second World War, which had devastated other European industrial nations, further contributed to Swedens development.

That economic freedom didnt last and neither did its economic growth. The 30 years to come were characterized by the expansion of the generous cradle-to-grave welfare state that Sanders admires, characterized by government intervention, an increase in tax rates and the re-regulation of previously free markets. The countrys total tax load peaked in 1990 at a rate of 52.3 percent, with a corresponding negative impact on business and job creation.

Talent and capital moved out of Sweden to escape the tax burden, with furniture giant IKEA leaving for the Netherlands and the worlds leading food packaging company, Tetra Pak, for Switzerland. In 1970 Sweden was the fourth-richest member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) club of industrial countries, but had dropped to 13th in 1993.

The hardship didnt end there. A subsequent financial crisis in the 1990s saw the growth of the gross domestic product sink and unemployment spike, while the government raised interest rates to a staggering 500 percent in an effort to avoid devaluing its currency. Swedens long-standing social democratic Minister of Finance KjellOlof Feldt concluded: That whole thing with democratic socialism was absolutely impossible. It just didnt work. There was no other way to go than market reform.

The true lesson to be learned from the Scandinavian experience is that the Nordic-style welfare-state models havent worked nearly as well as American democratic socialists like to pretend.

Since then, Sanders and his supporters should be aware, Sweden actually worked to revise its economic model based on lessons drawn from its recession. State-owned companies were sold and financial markets were deregulated; public monopolies were replaced with competition.

The Nordic country needed healthy companies and skilled workers, so top tax rates were rolled back while government welfare programs were redesigned. These reforms laid the ground for todays competitive market-oriented economy based on international openness and the promotion of global free trade.

Rather than persistently suggesting that the American Dream can be realized by expanding government or raising taxes, it is time for Sanders and his comrades to go back to school and study history. The true lesson to be learned from the Scandinavian experience is that the Nordic-style welfare-state models havent worked nearly as well as American democratic socialists like to pretend.

Daniel Schatz

Daniel Schatz is a visiting scholar at New York Universitys Center for European and Mediterranean Studies and an International Security Program fellow at New America. He has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard, Stanford and Columbia.

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Bernie Sanders is wrong on democratic socialism in Sweden, and everywhere else - NBC News

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

The Democrats, they do love their crises. And with coronavirus, its a match made in heaven: Democrats get a bogeyman with long-lasting legs to press everything from anti-President Donald Trump rhetoric to, unbelievably enough, climate change.

Fact is, if Democrats cared so much about the spread of the virus, theyd be on board with shutting borders, and shutting borders but quick.

Instead, theyre focused on calling out the Chinese or Wuhan coronavirus as a racist label, and painting anyone who dares call the coronavirus by its apt, factually-based Chinese tag as racist.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, weve seen not only the spreading of the virus but also a rapid spreading of racism and xenophobia, said Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Ayanna Pressley, in remarks delivered during a House hearing. This painful rhetoric has consequences. Restaurants across Bostons Chinatown have seen up to an 80 percent drop in business and I believe this has everything to do with the rapid spread of misinformation and paranoia.

That was after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Instagram Live called it straight up racism for people to avoid patroning that is, patronizing her districts Chinese restaurants, out of fears of coronavirus.

And that was right around the time Joe Biden, from the campaign trail, slammed Trump as a racist for calling the Wuhan virus a foreign virus that originated in China even though it did originate in China. In the Wuhan district of China, in fact. Thus the name: Wuhan coronavirus.

From Biden: Downplaying [this pandemic], being overly dismissive, or spreading misinformation is only going to hurt us but neither should we panic or fall back on xenophobia. Labeling COVID-19 a foreign virus does not displace accountability for the misjudgments that have been taken thus far by the Trump administration.

Well, one can dicker over this administrations response to coronavirus as one wishes. But what one cant dicker over is the obvious that labeling a foreign virus a foreign virus when it is indeed a virus that originated at a foreign spot seems a crucial step for the medical worlds investigations into the source, spread and containment process. It gives a starting point for tracking. And with coronavirus, the starting point is, drumroll please, the Wuhan district. In China. In the foreign country of China.

The only ones denying that are the Chinese.

Even The Washington Post admitted as much and in a story teaser on Google, wrote: Since the coronavirus outbreak began in China Click on the story, entitled Mapping the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. and worldwide, and that particular phrase is missing, no doubt because of the recent liberal panic to hide all traces of their own recent acknowledgements of truths theyre now trying to paint as racist and xenophobic.

But read further and theres this interesting bit:A majority of cases and deaths occurred in China, mostly in the Hubei province, where Chinese health officials said the new virus strain originated in wild animals sold at a market in the capital city of Wuhan.

Why is that so interesting? Because now the Chinese propaganda machine is in full swing, denying that the coronavirus originated in China.

Meanwhile, back on the liberal farm, Democrats are having a field day with Rahm Emanuels famous saying, You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. On that, the coronavirus is proving pure gold.

Universal health care is a must, Bernie Sanders wrote, in a USA Today opinion piece about the White Houses response to coronavirus.

We need to rejoin the Paris climate change treaty and prepare for future global health threats, Biden said, in his just-released plan to combat coronavirus.

Really?

Heres a thought to help control the spread of coronavirus as well as any other type of virus or disease that may come creeping into America in the future: Tighten borders. Test border crossers for diseases. Quarantine those who test positive or send em back from where they came.

328 Chinese nationals caught entering US illegally, one headline ran a few days ago.

328 Chinese Nationals Caught Trying To Illegally Enter U.S., another ran, also a few days ago.

DHS officials fear illegal border crossings may spread coronavirus, ran yet one more, in the same time frame.

You think?

The natural, logical response to a foreign virus is to tighten borders and control who enters.

But for Democrats its to toss race cards and sign a treaty on climate change.

Cheryl Chumley can be reached at [emailprotected] or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast Bold and Blunt by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE.

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Democrats see coronavirus as just another crisis to exploit - Washington Times

Are Colorado Democrats overreaching this legislative session?

And the hits just keep on coming from our Democratic masters!

Not content with the wreckage of the 2019 legislative session after Democrats won every statewide office along with big legislative majorities in 2018 for the first time since 1936, Gov. Jared Polis and the Democratic leadership are again on the march.

Remember a few of these greatest hits from a year ago:

They thumbed their nose (or more accurately gave the middle finger) to Colorado voters when they imposed draconian regulatory actions to cripple the oil and gas industry and destroy thousands of jobs despite the fact voters overwhelmingly rejected a similar 2018 ballot proposal by a 55 to 45 margin.

They gave away Colorados presidential elector votes to California and New York under the deceptively named national popular vote and denied Coloradans the right to vote on this diminishment of our role in electing a president. But despite this, voters will get their say after all after a successful petition campaign to put this issue on the 2020 ballot.

They imposed a red flag gun confiscation law that stomps on due process and penalizes law-abiding gun owners who are presumed guilty until proven innocent.

And now theyre back!

Despite the drubbing Colorado voters gave Democrats in November when their Proposition CC to destroy our taxpayer bill of rights, TABOR, and increase taxes was overwhelmingly defeated, the governor and his legislative majorities are trying to surpass their 2019 performance.

While there should be a legitimate debate about the future of the death penalty that would include a statewide vote by all Coloradans, Democrats rammed a death penalty repeal bill through the Legislature, and it will certainly be signed by Gov. Polis. Why are Colorado Democrats so repulsed by the notion of directly listening to the voters through a statewide vote on such a fundamentally profound issue affecting our society and state?

Gov. Polis and majority Democrats have introduced a bill to create a public option health care program that will undermine private health insurance and drive up the costs of health care. This is nothing more than a back-door way to achieve the long-held goal of many Colorado Democrats to create a Bernie Sanders-style single-payer health care system even though Colorado voters overwhelmingly rejected such a proposal just a few years ago.

In yet another blow to rural Colorado, ruling Democrats are hellbent to eliminate private prisons in Bent and Crowley Counties that would kill precious jobs, drastically undercut the counties tax base and undermine funding for local schools.

Although there is a split among majority Democrats that has at least temporarily halted the passage of a family leave proposal, make no mistake that there is substantial sentiment within the caucus to impose expensive bureaucratic requirements on small businesses.

Consistent with their legislation to give away Colorados presidential elector votes without a statewide vote, Democrats now want to take away the direct election of the nine members of the University of Colorado Board of Regents.

Two members of the board are elected statewide and the other seven are elected one each from Colorados seven congressional districts. Colorado is one of just four states nationwide that elects the governing board of its flagship university.

Rather than continuing to entrust nearly 3.5 million voters to elect CU regents as our state has done since gaining statehood in 1976, Democratic House Speaker KC Becker of Boulder doesnt trust the voters with this responsibility. Speaker Becker would replace Colorado voters with an all-knowing and obviously much smarter group of 13 people to determine who is qualified and then submit a list of candidates to the state Legislature to make the appointments to the board.

The common thread that runs through so many of these overreaching actions by Colorado Democrats over the past two years is an arrogance that runs roughshod over the ability of Colorado voters to make decisions for themselves.

And the 2020 legislative session still has two more months to continue its destruction under Democratic control.

Some people in our state are claiming Democratic overreach aka, too many changes, too much, too fast. I have heard these claims before, and my response is only to ask, Too much for whom? Too fast on which pressing issue facing Coloradans?

In 2018, we heard the pain, frustration, and impatience of our constituents and put forth a clear, bold vision for Colorado a vision that decreases the cost of health care, uplifts working people, addresses climate change, and insists upon accountability throughout industry and government.

Voters made it clear that the status quo was no longer tolerable and that they desired to see our platform realized. Business-as-usual was decidedly rejected, and the Democrats were given responsibility to govern with majorities in the House, Senate and governors office.

With the people of Colorados endorsement, we hit the ground running.

Last session we enhanced air quality regulations, set goals for renewable energy, addressed student debt, expanded full-day kindergarten, and made health care more affordable. We enacted community protections by passing reasonable gun safety measures that provide avenues for law enforcement to temporarily remove firearms from people who pose an imminent threat to themselves or others. We also passed equal pay for equal work and continued to implement common-sense justice reforms almost all with bipartisan support.

I successfully sponsored 36 bills in 2019 the vast majority of which had support from both sides of the aisle. Among them were bills to reduce the trend of mass incarceration, which disproportionately impacts communities of color and people suffering from behavioral health and drug addiction issues.

This is not overreach. This is sensible public policy, responsive to community needs.

Then, after a blockbuster year of meaningful change, a small but vocal fringe minority sought to undermine our progress by seeking to recall four legislators, including myself and Gov. Polis.

They made spurious claims, unsupported, inaccurate allegations, and professed that we no longer had the support of Coloradans. But after months of costly petition signature gathering accompanied by name-calling, fear-mongering, and sensationalism, not one recall succeeded. In fact, there was so little support, that none of the petitions could even get enough signatures to get on the ballot.

While our opponents were talking, we were listening. At doors, around kitchen tables, and in communities, we heard peoples concerns. The issues that kept coming up were reducing the costs of health care and housing, guaranteeing a quality education for every student, combating climate change, and ensuring economic justice and security for all hardworking Coloradans.

The reality is its still difficult for people to make ends meet and ensure the health of their families. Housing prices are still skyrocketing, health care is still simply unaffordable, and polluters are continuously poisoning our communities. Our schools and roads are still underfunded, and our residents still need clean air to breathe and water to drink. We still incarcerate and punish people rather than seek accountability of offenders and restoration for victims. And climate change is still an ever-present threat to our future.

At a time when federal policies, failures, and inaction threaten our livelihoods, institutions, and public health, Coloradans need more from their state elected officials, not less, and deserve decisive and collaborative action.

So, when I hear the question: Are Democrats overreaching?, my response is:

Where, how, and to whose disadvantage?

Because it is not the single mom who has to work two jobs to make ends meet. Its not the teacher who has to buy their own school supplies. Its not the student who quits college to help pay for family medical bills. It is not the hiker, biker, skier or river runner who watches the wild spaces they love deteriorate from abuse.

These Coloradans, and thousands like them, are tired of waiting. They are tired of gridlock. They are tired of excuses.

They need their leaders to come to the table to find bipartisan solutions to address the challenging issues and struggles they face every day. They need action and they need it urgently.

As Democrats, thats what weve done, and what well continue to do.

Dick Wadhams is a Republican political consultant and former Colorado Republican state chairman. Sen. Pete Lee, a Democrat, represents Senate District 11 in the Colorado General Assembly.

Originally posted here:

POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Are Colorado Democrats overreaching this legislative session? - Colorado Springs Gazette

Maryland state lawmakers on Sunday announced that its legislative session will end Wednesday dueto concerns aboutthe coronavirus, and resume the last week of May for a special session.

State Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones made the announcement during a Sunday afternoon news conference in the state's capital.

"We will remain working for Marylanders through Wednesday," he said.

The announcement came after Democrats in the Maryland Senate were plowing ahead withan effort to pass the "Blueprint for Maryland's Future,"a controversial and expensive education bill.But, uncertainly loomed following a declaration of a public health emergency Thursdayby Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

The bill wasbased on recommendations from the Kirwan Commission, a 26-member group which prescribedhuge increases in school spending. That spending, totaling upwards of $30 billion, would be mandatory forstate and local governments if the state Senate were to pass its amended version of the bill and the state's House of Delegates signed off on it.

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The bill then would go to Hogan's desk for his signature, but Democrats have had a veto-proof majority in both houses of the state legislature. It passedonsecond reading in the Senate Saturday and is expected to see a vote on a third reading Sunday, a step that would move the bill to a stage requiring either the House of Delegates to approveit as passed by the Senate or the two bodies to come up with a compromise bill. The state Senate Saturday also advanced two tax increases that would help fund the education bill.

The Historic Maryland State House In Annapolis Was Built In 1772. (iStock)

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The move to push forward on the "Blueprint for Maryland's Future" legislationcame after a statement Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne Joneslast week, reported by WTOP, emphasized the need for the legislature to focus on moving "critical bills in an expedited fashion."

Republican State Senator and Minority WhipStephen Hershey hasbeen critical of moves to push tax increases and the spending increases that come with the Kirwan bill.

"I think it's somewhat irresponsible because of the panic and economic uncertainty again not just in the state but nationally and globally," he told Fox News. "To go forward with a bill that requires $32 billion in spending is a bit irresponsible."

Maryland Senate Minority Whip Stephen Hershey, a Republican, has been critical of Democrats' efforts to move ahead with an expensive education bill during the coronavirus panic.

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The potentialhuge increasein spending hasroiled Republicans, and Hogan haspanned the plan as a harmful tax hike. The Washington Post, in an editorial, said the Kirwan plan that would be put into motion by the "Blueprint for Maryland's Future" is "just spending more without attacking the inherent problems or insisting on real accountability."

In a radio appearance on WBAL Friday, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat, warned legislators against passing measures that would put a crunch on Maryland taxpayers.

"Annapolis, for some reason, is in a bubble right now, and folks are stampeding in a rush to increase -- if you can believe it -- taxes by billions," Franchot said, "as if the House is not collapsing around us right now because of the coronavirus' impact on our state's economy."

Franchot said Thursday, according to the Baltimore Sun,that the coronavirus may have a "significant, if not historic," impact on the state's economy. Also according to the Sun, Andrew Schaufele, the director of the Bureau of Revenue Estimates, said the state could be headed for a "prolonged, full-blown recession."

Franchot continued in his radio appearance Friday: "I would like to knock, knock, knock on the bubble that currently sits over Annapolis and say, 'Look, the world has changed in the last few days. You may be the greatest supporters of education -- we all are -- in the world. But you've got to take a timeout. This is the worst possible time to vote for increased taxes.'"

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Hershey says the state should put on hold on any major tax or spending increases and come back to them once it is more clear what the real effects of the coronavirus will be.

"I think at this point in time we should take a complete pause on this, let's reevaluate the entire education proposal and see where we are from ... revenue estimates, and move forward from there. I can't believe that they would really consider even passing through any types of taxes during this time of uncertainty."

Fox News did not receive a response to a request for comment to Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Democrat. However, Ferguson has previously defended the spending increases under the Kirwan plan as necessary.

"Its going to cost more than we are spending today," Ferguson said, according to Maryland Matters, a website that covers Maryland politics."That is a fact and a reality and something we have to own up to. I believe that what we see in front of us is not only an investment in the short term, it is a long-term investment that will reap long-term rewards. Not just in our educational outcomes, but in our economic productivity moving forward."

One measure that was added to the education bill Saturday wouldreign in spending increases from the "Blueprint for Maryland's Future" bill if revenue estimates are 7.5 percent below the estimates from the previous year, instead indexing per-pupil spending increases to inflation.

'I would like to knock, knock, knock on the bubble that currently sits over Annapolis and say, 'Look, the world has changed in the last few days.''

Hogan said in a Friday statement that the legislature should solely focus on "measures immediately necessary to protect the public health and safety of Marylanders," including the budget, confirming a new state police superintendent and passing emergency legislation that directly addresses the coronavirus.

Both houses of the legislature have also moved on bills related to health care access during the coronavirus crisis.

"It is impossible at this time to know how long this public health emergency will continue," Hogan said,"and it is critical for legislators to take these actions immediately in the event that this rapidly evolving situation requires them to immediately adjourn.

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A joint statement from a group of largely liberal organizations also urged the legislatureto "swiftly go into recess" after it has "taken emergency-measures to address the public health crisis and the state budget."

Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

More here:

Maryland lawmakers to end legislative session early due to coronavirus - Fox News

Photo illustration: Soohee Cho/The Intercept, Getty Images

The insurgent wave that crested in the Bronx in June 2018, lifting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to victory, had begun with a rock thrown into the water in 1983 Chicago, with the election of Harold Washington. It would be only fitting that the same wave crashed back down in Chicago, in 2019, washing Mayor Rahm Emanuel out to sea.

One of Harold Washingtons lieutenants, Chuy Garcia, had challenged Emanuel in 2015, and gave the mayor a scare from his left. It would later emerge that Emanuels team had suppressed horrifying video of the cold-blooded police killing of Laquan McDonald. He had buried it long enough to win reelection (Emanuel was first elected in 2011, after stepping down as Obamas chief of staff). In 2016, the Cook County prosecutor who facilitated the cover-up was ousted by Kim Foxx, running on an aggressive reform agenda.

It can be painful to think what could have beenif Democratic leadership made different choices decades ago.

In 2018, insurgents took on the beating heart of Chicago politics: county tax assessor. The position may sound mundane, but it produced the lubricant that greased the machine. An insurgent candidate ran for the office in charge of assessing and collecting property taxes in Chicago, and won a startling upset, which came along with other leftist pickups on the city council. Five members of the Democratic Socialists of America won city council races, producing enough socialists on the citys legislative body to form an actual caucus. United Working Families, a sister to the Working Families Party that started in New York, backed an additional three successful leftist council candidates. Emanuel declined to run for a third term. Luis Gutirrez retired from Congress, and Garcia, who had given Harold Washingtons elegy, won the race to replace him.

Emma Tai, executive director of United Working Families, celebrated the progressive sweep of the city. Tonight, voters rejected Rahm Emanuels legacy, she declared. Chicago belongs to the people.

The people, however, have yet to claim control of the country as a whole, or even of the Democratic Party. It can be painful to think what could have been had Democratic leadership made different choices decades ago. What if Jesse Jacksons Rainbow Coalition had won that primary in Wisconsin and managed to clinch the nomination? Even if he had lost the general as Michael Dukakis did anyway it would have shown future candidates that people power provides a genuine path to the nomination. There would have been no room for Trump if we had democratized our economy, Jackson told me.

Instead, the notion of exciting the base and expanding the electorate was suppressed until it reemerged around Howard Dean in 2003 and 2004, then around Barack Obamas first presidential campaign. (We changed the rules in 88 which made [it] possible for Barack to win. Under the 84 rules, Hillary would have been the winner, because we went to proportionality rather than winner take all, Jackson reminded me.) And finally, in a dramatic expression, behind Bernie Sanders in 2016. The eventual recognition that power for Democrats lies in people, not big money, transformed the 2020 cycle. No longer do candidates boast about locking down the most high-dollar bundlers; the competition in fundraising is now who can raise the most money with the lowest average contribution.

Yet the party establishment cant be expected to simply hand over power. In 2019, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced that it would blacklist any consulting firm who did any work for a challenger to an incumbent. Nancy Pelosi has reserved some of her most forceful language for the squad of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley. Omar and Tlaib and Omar in particular have faced withering attacks from their Democratic colleagues; Ocasio-Cortez has been called by a colleague Nixonian, and much worse in private, where party honchos plot ways to bring her down. Thats all before the president and a billion-dollar right-wing spin machine have had their say.

The final obstacle comes down to the people themselves. Democratic primary voters fancy themselves pundits. Jackson surged in the polls until he came close to winning. To be sure, some voters turned on him simply because they didnt want a black man in the Oval Office. Many others, though, believed that other people would be unwilling to elect a black man president, which meant he wasnt electable, which meant he needed to be stopped. Bill Clinton emerged from a deeply competitive primary and persuaded Democrats that he and his Southern charm could put an end to 12 years of Republican rule. In 2004, Democrats preferred Howard Dean, but believed the military man, John Kerry, would be the smart pick to take on Bush in wartime. Like most strategic calculations made by Democratic primary voters, it was harebrained. The one risk primary voters took was going with their hearts and nominating Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton, perceived by the Democratic electorate to be electable, was everything but.

Headed into 2020, Sanders has a robust movement behind him, and Republicans I talk to in Washington believe hes one of the few Democrats who could give Trump fits in the key states: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. His organizing operation would be able to register and turn out far more black voters in crucial cities like Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Detroit, while he can also appeal to aggrieved working-class voters of all races who want someone to, well, drain the swamp. But the pundit-voter who thinks of Joe Biden knows one thing for sure: That man is electable.

The folksy Scranton man has managed to convince liberals that hes the guy who can talk to those white, working-class voters Democrats have been chasing since they took flight from the party half a century ago.

Biden was little more than a footnote in this books chapter on the 1988 campaign. His 2008 campaign didnt end in disgrace, but merely faded into obscurity; his career was revived by Obama. Bidens contribution to the party debate has been to put himself on the wrong side of the issues with a startling consistency. One would think that just by chance, given a career that spans a half-century, hed manage to get a few things right by accident. Even his most uncontroversial accomplishment, the Violence Against Women Act, was tucked into the Biden Crime Bill, which played a major role in juicing mass incarceration.

This book has been about how todays Democratic leaders, such as Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, or Rahm Emanuel, are scarred from the political wounds they suffered in the 1980s and 90s. Even after Democrats took control of the House in 2018, making repeal of the ACA impossible, the party leadership continued arguing that any effort to advance Medicare for All risked the destruction of Obamacare. In May 2019, Pelosi warned that Trump might resist leaving office if he loses in a close election; therefore, the House should pull back on impeachment hearings and run to the center.

But the old guard has company in their torment. Todays generation of young (and increasingly not-so-young) socialists recognizes the threat of fascism as real, but doesnt shrink from it, rallying behind the boldest possible platform. Their parents, haunted by Reagan and then the Gingrich wave of 94, worry that pushing for a progressive agenda will produce a backlash among the American public an electorate they fear like an alien species meant to be pacified with moderation rather than won over with something robust.

Biden is just the man for that pacification project. The folksy Scranton man has managed to convince liberals that hes the guy who can talk to those white, working-class voters Democrats have been chasing since they took flight from the party half a century ago. Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, similarly exploits liberals lack of familiarity with rural culture to sell himself as the guy who can win the Midwest. Gone unmentioned is that he won a small mayoral election with roughly 8,000 votes fewer than AOC won to beat Joe Crowley and is running for president because he doesnt think Midwest voters will send him to the House or Senate.

Still, for a fearful party electorate, moderate candidates feel safe in ways the wild-haired socialist and the woman from Harvard dont. Meanwhile, carbon concentration in the atmosphere rises, the oceans warm and acidify, the glaciers recede, the tundra warms, the rainforests shrink, coral reefs die off and, according to climate modeling, clouds themselves are at risk. In May 2019, the United Nations warned that the bottom was falling out. The health of the ecosystems on which we and other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide, said Robert Watson, chair of the U.N.s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. We have lost time. We must act now. If voters insist on being pundits, incorporating the climate crisis into their analysis ought to reorient their understanding of risk. [Update: It has only gotten worse.]

Trumps reelection isnt the only risk those people face, however. Indeed, its not even the only political danger on the horizon. In 1974, the Labour Party took power in the U.K., with the country at a crossroads. A robust social movement looked to curb the power of banks, capital, and captains of industry, while democratizing the workforce and attacking sources of economic inequality. John Medhurst covered what happened in the next two years in his short but essential book That Option No Longer Exists: Britain 1974-76. Finance fought back, and the moderate wing of the Labour Party won the internal struggle for power, implementing only meager reforms instead of the transformative ideas being pushed by a strong (but not-quite-strong-enough) left wing. Dissatisfied, the British public ushered in Margaret Thatcher, who had no such caution when it came to reshaping the country. Her dismantling of the welfare state and its working class was never inevitable.

If Democrats meet the publics demand for real change with something fake, the other side is willing to offer the real thing. The real risk of a Biden nomination might not be that he could lose to Trump though that is certainly plausible but that he will beat Trump, fail to deliver, and open the door for a fascist who actually knows what hes doing. Playing it safe is going to get us all killed.

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Democratic Voters Played Pundit in Picking Joe Biden. History Suggests They Are Bad at That Game - The Intercept

Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

By this point it has become nearly impossible for anybody but the presidents most fanatical supporters to maintain that he has actually handled the coronavirus appropriately. Instead they have turned in desperation to a kind of counterpunching argument: Anybody who criticizes Trumps behavior is rooting for him to fail.

It is unfortunate seeing some partisans use this for political purposes, scolds Senator Ted Cruz. You can see the media trying to turn it politically the media is gleeful to see see the president stumble in how he handled it. (Realizing that he had just admitted that Trump stumbled, Cruz then immediately segued into fulsome praise for his bold decision to stop travel from China.)

Trump himself has, for the moment, turned away from denying the problem, issuing false claims about his alleged success in preventing it, and spreading dangerous misinformation to earnestly proposing we all rally together and stop pointing fingers at anybody, especially him:

A longer version of this argument also appears in National Reviews editorial. The headline, President Trump Needs to Step Up on the Coronavirus, captures its chin-up, you-can-do-it-champ spirit. The conservative magazines editors concede that Trump has worsened the crisis with a series of errors, but wrap the criticism, praise-sandwich style, in an indictment of his critics. While every American should want Trump to succeed, they argue, Those who seem eager to see the president fail and to call every administration misstep a fiasco risk letting their partisanship blind them to the demands not only of civic responsibility but of basic decency.

Neither Cruz nor Trump nor National Review cites even a single example of a Trump critic actually rooting for him to fail. Its a big country, and probably somebody is rooting for Trump to fail at the job of containing a deadly pandemic. I strongly doubt more than a handful of even the most dedicated Trump haters are so dedicated to his downfall that they are eager to subject themselves or their loved ones to horrible pain or death.

The accusation of cheering for failure is doubly ironic. For one thing, House Democrats have behaved in a highly responsible fashion, rushing to compose and pass an emergency plan to stimulate the economy and help workers take needed steps to avoid spreading the virus. They have not demanded pay-fors, unlike the Republican opposition to President Obama, which stymied even popular measures by conditioning them on the impossible demand of locating mutually agreeable measures to cut spending or raise taxes. Democrats are acting like a party that is trying to prevent a social and economic crisis, even though such a crisis would play into their hands politically.

For another thing, Trump himself engaged in gleeful and irresponsible fearmongering when the shoe was on the other foot. When the Ebola crisis struck in 2014, Trump and right-wing media organs like Fox News fomented panic and charged the Obama administration with incompetence even though Obama handled the outbreak deftly and without any American deaths. Obama even bequeathed to Trump a high-functioning team of pandemic experts, which Trump in turn dissolved. Trump and his allies are, characteristically, projecting their own bad faith onto the opposition.

The charge that Democrats and the media are rooting for the virus is meant to force out of the public debate any connection between Trumps handling of the coronavirus and his general unfitness for office. Yes, ideally, he will grasp that his self-interest requires him to defer to his public-health experts (the ones he hasnt driven out of the administration), and ideally his allies will coax him into following their advice as closely as he is capable of. To direct all of our energy into rooting for him to knock it out of the park for America, though, is to ignore the obvious connections. Trump has bungled and lied his way through the crisis because he is a bungling liar.

Analysis and commentary on the latest political news from New York columnist Jonathan Chait.

See the article here:

Trump: If You Notice My Incompetence, Youre Rooting for the Coronavirus - New York Magazine