USA News and Discussions

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caltrek
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Here's the Message: No Climate, No Deal
by U.S. Senator Ed Markey (Democratic - Massachusetts)
October 19, 2021

https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/20 ... te-no-deal

Introduction:
(Data for Progress) President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda is a once-in-a-generation investment in our nation’s future that will strengthen our systems of care, rebuild our working class, and create millions of good union jobs to deploy clean energy and combat climate disaster. We cannot reduce the size of our investment nor roll back the impact of our goals. This package must match the scope and scale of the crises we face.

We will not compromise away the future of our young people and the planet they will inherit. We must keep climate action central to the budget reconciliation package. I was proud to stand with young changemakers last week before the steps of the U.S. Capitol to make it clear to those who want to weaken the President’s agenda: No climate, no deal.

New polling from Data for Progress* finds that equitable climate investments — the kind that deliver economic and environmental benefits to frontline communities — are overwhelmingly popular among voters. The support grows even stronger among younger voters under the age of forty five: four in five think these kinds of clean energy investments are important, especially in low-income communities, communities of color, and other communities that have borne the worst impacts of our climate crisis.
Conclusion:
Voters—and younger voters in particular—are calling on their leaders to support popular provisions of the Build Back Better plan. The time is now for Congress to deliver on climate action with equity and justice at the center. We must prove to the American people, and to the rest of the world, that we are serious about climate action.

This is the promise we make to the young people demanding such action and to our nation's workers whom we cannot and must not leave behind. No climate, no deal.

*https://www.filesforprogress.org/datase ... plines.pdf
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caltrek
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Manchin's Native Con
by Peter Bloom
October 18, 2021

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021 ... native-con

(Common Dreams) The legislative battle between progressives and moderates over the "Build Back Better" spending bill became increasingly personal this week. A West Virginia newspaper published an op-ed by Bernie Sanders in a not so veiled attack on Senator Joe Manchin's refusal to support the plan, declaring that its passage would "finally address the long-neglected crises facing working families and demand that the wealthiest people and largest corporations in the country start paying their fair share of taxes." In response...(Manchin) put out a public statement proclaiming that "this isn't the first time an out-of-stater has tried to tell West Virginians what is best for them despite having no relationship to our state."

It is not surprising that this struggle over the "soul" of the Democratic Party would follow its Senators home. Ultimately, even if mostly fought in the rarified air of Washington DC, a main concern for any lawmaker is ensuring that they are re-elected by their local constituents. Yet what was troubling was the language Manchin used in his counter-attack. The false conservative talking points about the bill are to be expected by a Centre-right Wall Street Democrat but Manchin went further, implying that the desire for a basic social safety net, economic justice, and environmental protection was non-native to West Virginia and merely the views of "outside" progressive agitators.

In making these absurd claims, Manchin was resorting to the same Far-Right populism of Trump. It shows his dangerous ignorance of West Virginia's important radical history of social and economic struggles up to the present. Just as significantly, it reveals the extremist lengths moderates will go to prevent progressive reform.
Further Extract:
The Inside Con

The charges by Manchin that somehow Sanders and other progressives who support greater spending on "human infrastructure" are foreign intruders to "real" West Virginian values is just another example of Democrats borrowing liberally from the Far-Right populist playbook. Not surprisingly, his objection to these policies has nothing to do with upholding mythical "West Virginian" values and everything to do with preserving the power of his corporate donors including from the Energy Industry….

This strategy is especially jarring given how actually popular these measures are even in supposedly deep red states like West Virginia.
caltrek's comment: Manchin's claim that Sanders has "no relationship to our state" is also highly dubious on other grounds. After all, Sanders did campaign in West Virginia for the nomination to be president. In doing so, he presumably reached out to a lot of activists in that state. So Manchin's rhetoric and stubbornness in negotiations risks further alienating a substantial number of folks who might otherwise be inclined to support him. Whether that danger will be enough to encourage more cooperation with Biden and his fellow Democrats remains to be seen.
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caltrek
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Latino Groups Sue Over Texas Redistricting
by Suzanne Gamboa
October 19, 2021

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... uxbndlbing

Introduction:
(NBC News via MSN) Several Latino people and groups filed a lawsuit Monday challenging redistricting maps drawn by the Texas Legislature, saying they dilute the voting rights of Latinos.

The lawsuit was filed Monday afternoon hours before the Texas Legislature approved redrawn U.S. House maps that shore up Republicans and do not add additional Latino majority districts, even though Latinos account for more than half of the state’s growth.

The Voting Rights Act protects minority voters' right to choose who represents them, whether or not that is a person of color.

Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, a Latino legal civil rights group, said the maps are typical of previous attempts by Texas’ GOP-controlled Legislature to dilute Latinos’ voting rights.

MALDEF* is representing the plaintiffs
caltrek's comment: I have written before how the Supreme Court partially gutted the Voting Rights Act by invalidating the so-called "pre-clearance" provisions of that legislation. What was left standing was the right to bring suits such as the one MALDEF is seeking to perfect. This may end up being a very important test case of the court's intention. That is to say, whether they still really and truly do support democracy, or are just acting as front men for a racist establishment. Alternatively, they may try to just split the difference. It is, after all, the American way.


*More about MALDEF: https://www.maldef.org/
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More on Manchin's claims to be the best representative of "local interests."

Joe Manchin’s 'Out-of-state' Contributions 'Dwarfed'- his West Virginia Contributions
by Alex Henderson
October 20, 2021

https://www.alternet.org/2021/10/joe-ma ... 655328156/

Introduction:
(Alternet) On October 15, the Charleston Gazette-Mail in West Virginia published an op-ed by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who argued that many of the things in the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act of 2021 would be great for West Virginia residents — from health care and child care programs to "fighting climate change." Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin is responding that Sanders is an "out of stater" who doesn't understand West Virginia's needs. However, the Gazette-Mail's Mike Tony is reporting that "a specific category of out-of-staters accounted for more than ten times as much in Manchin campaign contributions than in-state sources did from July 1 through September 30."

Tony explains, "Employees and political action committees for out-of-state oil and gas companies — most of which are based in Texas — dwarfed contributions from in-state individuals and political action committees by more than tenfold, according to the senator's newly filed quarterly campaign finance report."

Tony notes that Manchin's campaign committee, Manchin for West Virginia, "reported drawing just under $1.6 million in contributions in the quarter, leaving it with $5.38 million in cash on hand" — adding that "more than a quarter of that roughly $1.6 million came from the oil and gas industry. Just over $30,000 came from individuals and political action committees in West Virginia."
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https://www.newsweek.com/trump-truth-so ... nt-1641137
Trump's Truth Social Hacked Within Hours of Announcement

What a shame.
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Biden says he would 'absolutely' consider deploying National Guard to address supply-chain issues
Source: Washington Post
President Biden said he would “absolutely” consider calling on the National Guard to address supply-chain issues as he faced questions Thursday from a live studio audience at a town hall meeting in Baltimore.

During the broadcast on CNN, Biden expressed optimism about working out an agreement with Democrats on his multitrillion-dollar domestic policy agenda while he spelled out the elements of the package opposed by Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).

Biden was getting questions about both a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a recently scaled-back package that includes an array of Democratic priorities, including expansion of Medicare, introduction of universal prekindergarten and billions of dollars to address climate change. He confirmed that paid parental leave has been scaled back in the evolving package. “It is down to four weeks. The reason it’s down to four weeks is I can’t get 12 weeks,” Biden said.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... e-updates/
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Actually a good idea tbh. Too bad most workers are quitting because of low pay and bad worker rights. The solution is to give into worker demands. Natty guards will only be a bandaid on a wound.
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The Centerpiece of Biden’s Climate Agenda Is All But Dead. So Now What?
by Kara Voght
October 22, 2021

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/20 ... -now-what/

Introduction:
(Mother Jones) By the time a group of progressive lawmakers entered the Oval Office to meet with President Joe Biden on Tuesday, the centerpiece of his climate agenda was all but dead. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) refused to back the Clean Energy Payment Program, a $150 billion initiative that would incentivize utilities to transition to clean energy. Democrats had pinned their hopes for cutting the country’s carbon emissions in half by the end of the decade to that program, which would have contributed to a third of that goal.

So progressives came bearing a stark warning: Replace the program with measures that achieve the same carbon reductions or lose their votes. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) conveyed that point with “spirited but respectful” remarks to the president, in the words of a fellow lawmaker who was also present at the meeting. Huffman told the group he couldn’t support a deal that didn’t meet that target, and that some of the alternatives floated would be unacceptable. “It can’t just be throwing money at carbon capture and advanced nuclear and calling that a climate solution,” he told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday night. “It’s not.”

As Huffman warned, not all investments are created equal. On Friday, 60 Democratic lawmakers from the House and Senate sent a letter to the president demanding his “unwavering support for significant additional investments in climate priorities to close the resulting emissions gap” in the absence of the Clean Energy Payment Program. Now, the pressure is on Biden and Democratic congressional leaders to find a suitable replacement.
This wasn’t where things were supposed to stand roughly a week out from Biden’s appearance at the UN international climate summit in Glasgow. Had Democratic lawmakers lined up behind their initial $3.5 trillion domestic spending bill, Biden would be on the world stage touting the passage of a legacy-sealing domestic agenda that would reverse the toll climate change is expected to take in the absence of swift, bold, international action. But centrist Democratic lawmakers have insisted that the price tag drop significantly, down to roughly $2 trillion, and have voiced concerns over the climate provisions. So instead, he is left with what amounts to an aspirational vision as protracted negotiations over the details continue in Washington.
caltrek: Of course, finding a "suitable replacement" will be made all the more complicated by Senator Manchin. As you probably recall, Manchin represent the great state of West Virginia, a state whose economy is highly dependent upon the coal industry. As noted earlier in this thread, Manchin also receives a lot of out of state campaign contributions from other carbon-based fuel industry types. With the U.S. Senate split fifty-fifty, Manchin enjoys a position of leveraging his vote by potentially allying with the otherwise uncooperative Republican senators. In addition to campaign donations from the fossil fuels industry, Republicans also complain about increasing the tax burden on the rich and on corporate America, as well as possible effects on inflation. Gotta protect those bottom line quarterly profit margins (screw future generations).

In addition to climate action, slashing the budget will also gut a lot of social infrastructure type programs. Community college subsidies and student debt relief are likely to be casualties. Steps toward a Universal Basic Income (UBI) will also be slowed down. Better to keep the wage slaves on a near starvation diet to force them to work in all of those low-wage high-risk jobs.

Policies toward implementing a UBI are also complicated by the immigrant labor question. Would a UBI be available to immigrant workers? If so, how about the subset of undocumented immigrant workers? If no UBI for that subset, would that be just?

So, now, everybody is playing a game of chicken. Progressives to protect against the existential threat of climate change, Manchin to protect the West Virginia coal industry (including holdings which he is reported to hold in that industry), and Republicans to protect their God given right to pursue nihilistic policies that pose a long term existential threat to civilization as we know it. What could go wrong?
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Speaking of Senator Manchin.

Joe Manchin Called Mother Jones Report “Bullshit.” Now He’s Got a Different Story.
by David Corn
October 21, 2021

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/20 ... ent-story/

Introduction:
(Mother Jones) (Mother Jones) When Mother Jones reported on Wednesday that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) had told associates he was considering quitting the Democratic Party and had a specific plan on how to do so, he told Capitol Hill reporters the article was “bullshit.” He was wrong. The sourcing was impeccable. Now he has shifted his stance and come up with a cover story—and that, too, is inaccurate.

In an interview with The Hill‘s Steve Clemons, who is a personal friend of Manchin (and of mine, too), Manchin said of the Mother Jones article, “What he reported is simply untrue… I’m not threatening to leave. Why would I? I’m very secure in my positions and honestly, I’m not the one stressed out.” Clemons writes:

“What is true,” Manchin told The Hill, “is that I have told the president, Chuck Schumer, and even the whole Caucus that if it is ‘embarrassing’ to them to have a moderate, centrist Democrat in the mix and if it would help them publicly, I could become an Independent—like Bernie—and then they could explain some of this to the public saying it’s complicated to corral these two independents, Bernie and me.”

Manchin characterized his offer as an effort that would help Biden and Schumer better explain the different perspectives in their caucus to Democrats
Manchin made a similar statement to Fox reporter Kelly Phares on Thursday morning.
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