Friday, January 29, 2021
The GOP Is Weak On Terrorism (Because They Vote Republican)
The Republican Party used to call themselves the party of "law and order". They're going to have to abandon that label, because they are very weak on controlling terrorism. The biggest terrorist threat for the last few years has been from right-wing groups -- especially racist and white supremacist groups. The Republicans have tried to hide that fact, and even after the insurrection by those groups at the Capitol, they don't want to clamp down on those groups. Why? Because those terrorist elements vote Republican, and the GOP doesn't want to alienate any part of their base.
The following is part of an op-ed by Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post:
The Republican attitude about the attack on the Capitol is entirely at odds with the reality of the threat we face. As the danger of domestic terrorism rises, Senate Republicans are still foot-dragging on the confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas to be homeland security secretary. . . .
This raises the question: Are Republicans comfortable with the moniker “weak on terror”? It seems so, at least when it is white supremacists who are the terrorists. Given the growing threat of domestic terrorists linked to the Jan. 6 action, Republicans’ indifference toward addressing domestic terrorism and punishing the former president for stoking a violent insurrection is as breathtaking as it is predictable. The Republican Party’s notion of “law and order” seems to have evaporated. . . .
Perhaps their excuse for acquitting the former president is not so much based on the argument that the Senate cannot convict a former president (a flimsy rationale easily rebutted by precedent and the text of the Constitution), but instead on their own aversion to tackling white supremacists. After courting the MAGA crowd, doing their bidding in seeking to overturn the election and taking offense at President Biden’s innocuous comments denouncing white supremacists who attacked the Capitol, perhaps Republicans are nervous that the impeachment trial hits a little too close to home. When Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) raises a fist in solidarity with the Confederate flag-waving, noose-carrying crowd, the problem goes well beyond the former president.
By averting their eyes from the former president who instigated an attempted violent coup, they are “putting themselves on the wrong side of the American people and also of history,” (Senator) Blumenthal says. Even if the Senate cannot convict the ex-president, “There is real virtue in a public trial regardless of the outcome.”
Indeed, one could make the case that it is not simply Trump who should be on trial. The Republican Party as a whole needs to be held responsible for feeding anti-immigrant sentiment, coddling armed white supremacists, perpetrating the Big Lie that the election was stolen and, yes, refusing to hold the instigator of a domestic terrorist attack responsible. They are not simply weak on domestic terrorism; their indifference makes us all less safe.
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Public Has An Overwhelmingly Negative Opinion Of QAnon
The chart above reflects the results of a new Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between January 24th and 26th of a national sample of 1,500 U.S. adults, with a 3.4 point margin of error.
The followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory are truly on the right-wing fringe. They believed Trump was the savior of this country, and would arrest leading Democrats (who they believed were cannibalistic pedophiles). They make up a large portion of Trump rally crowds, and of the rioters who broke into the Capitol.
They make a lot of noise, and that could give the impression they are a popular group with the American public. They are NOT! Only 17% have a favorable opinion of them (which I admit is far too many), while 71% have a negative opinion of them. And that is true of all groups -- with the negative opinion being much higher than the favorable one. It is even true among Republicans (where 23% approve and a majority of 53% disapprove).
Voters Approve Of Biden But Have Low Opinion Of Trump
The charts above reflect the results of a new Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between January 24th and 26th of a national sample of 1,245 registered voters, with a 3.7 point margin of error.
Senator Warren Calls For Forgiving Student Loan Debt
There's been a lot of talk about unity recently.
For me, unity is about doing the work that the American people want done.It's not about ideology. It's not about helping just the richest Americans or some interest group — unity is about doing things that the American people want to see us do.
And you know one thing that unites Americans? Canceling student loan debt.
It's a hugely popular proposal that would immediately put hundreds and thousands of dollars back in the pockets of millions of Americans, start to close the racial wealth gap, and boost our economy.
And the president can get it done without waiting for Congress.
I'm partnering with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley to set a bold plan for how Joe Biden can use his executive authority to deliver meaningful relief to struggling Americans and broadly cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt.
We need to take action because families need relief. Over 40 million Americans are being crushed by over $1.5 trillion in federal student loan debt.
In the middle of an economy that's been badly hit by the pandemic, the student debt crisis acts like an anchor, preventing a swift recovery and restricting opportunity and prosperity for millions of American families.
Canceling student loan debt as soon as possible would mean substantial and immediate relief for tens of millions of Americans, many of whom have suddenly been laid off or are worried that their jobs are next.
And communities of color, which have been hit hardest by the health and economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, disproportionately bear the burden of student debt.
Black students are on average nearly 20 percentage points more likely to take out federal student loans. Half of Black borrowers and a third of Latino borrowers default on their loans within 20 years. Canceling student loan debt would increase wealth for Black and Latino families, help them avoid default, and start to close the racial wealth gap.
Economists agree that canceling student loan debt would also help boost our struggling economy through a consumer-driven economic stimulus, greater home-buying rates and housing stability, expanded access to more affordable financial products including car loans and mortgages, higher college completion rates, and greater small business formation. This is a no brainer for our economy.
Look: we all saw what happened in 2008. After the financial crisis, young people were shoved into a weak job market and plunged even deeper into student debt. And today, as workers face layoffs and frozen wages in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, student loan borrowers who were barely staying afloat are now drowning. When Americans can't fully participate in our economy, we see a ripple effect across our entire economy and a slowdown in economic growth. This affects all of us, including those of us who don't have student loans or have already paid off their student debt.
We can do better than this. And Democrats will.
Elizabeth
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
The Senate Keeps The Filibuster - But That Could Change
It also means the Senate retains the right of members to filibuster legislation, and 60 votes are still required to end a filibuster.
McConnell had been holding out for a Democratic promise to retain the filibuster regardless of what happens. Majority Leader Schumer rejected that. He said the filibuster will remain for now, but Democrats reserve the right to eliminate it if it is misused -- if the Republicans use it to block all or most Democratic legislation instead of negotiating a compromise on legislation.
Currently, three Democratic senators are against eliminating the filibuster -- Sen. Manchin (West Virginia), Sen. Sinema (Arizona), and Sen. Tester (Wyoming). One of those senators (Tester) has already said he could change his mind if it is used to create gridlock in the Senate, and if that happens, the other two might change also.
If all 48 Democrats and the 2 Independents (who caucus with Democrats) vote to change the rules and eliminate the filibuster, it will happen -- even if all 50 Republicans vote against that. The 51st and deciding vote would come from Vice-President Harris.
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