Biden has the potential to be a transformative president. But a lot can go wrong -- especially if Biden and Dems blink on voting rights and the filibuster.
@rortybomb "A universal program can create a coalition that will come to defend it."
Fascinating stuff from @rortybomb comparing the Biden bill's child allowance to the eight-hour-day movement and World War II daycare for women who worked in defense production:
@rortybomb If Biden and Dems can successfully go big on the economy, covid and infrastructure, that could clear political space for pursuing big change on issues that Dems are supposed to see as "risky," like immigration and climate.
The story the GOP is telling about "Biden's border crisis" is nonsense, and the media has gone off the rails in echoing it. The reality is Biden is cleaning up Trump's disastrous mess, which was far worse for our country than the status quo. New piece: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
You can read endless headlines screaming about a "border crisis."
The assumption here is that under Trump, there wasn't a crisis.
But there was a crisis under Trump. It was worse for the migrants, worse for the rule of law and worse for our country:
No analysis of GOP strategy for the next two years is complete if it doesn't mention the central role of voter suppression and anti-majoritarian tactics. With Dems on the cusp of transformative victories, those tactics are key to GOP survival. New piece: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
It's very possible that Biden and Dems -- with the participation of zero Republicans -- will preside over the defeat of the pandemic that traumatized the nation for a year, while implementing the most transformative social policy since the Great Society:
The new voter suppression effort in Georgia is a horror. It's telling that this comes in the very state that made Biden's rescue bill possible. Indeed, that bill's popularity is itself making anti-majoritarian tactics more urgent for the GOP. My latest: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Biden’s bill could boost the income of the poorest fifth by 20%, help millions save on health care and cut child poverty in half. Yet Republicans are off spinning wild tales about checks going to terrorists.
How do GOP elites keep getting away with screwing their own constituents? A great new analysis from @Jacob_S_Hacker and colleagues bring deep context to this question. Cultural resentments/pro-rural electoral bias protect GOP lawmakers from accountability: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@Jacob_S_Hacker “Red America is falling farther behind, but politicians who represent it at all levels have gotten more unified on an economic agenda that hurts the people who live there."
@Jacob_S_Hacker. Great stuff tracing this regional divergence back over decades:
The Trumpified GOP's descent into anti-leftist delirium gives Biden and Dems a major opening. Going big on the economy and infrastructure could deal a crippling blow to authoritarian populism just as it devolves into a QAnon-ified Trump cult. New piece: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
This quote from Ron DeSantis perfectly captures the bankruptcy of Trumpism's hallucinatory anti-leftism:
“We can have academic debates about conservative policy. But the question is, when the left comes after you: Will you stay strong, or will you fold?”
Biden and Dems have an opening to create a new synthesis: Ambitious progressive economics (infrastructure!) combined with boldness on issues Dems often fear (immigration, climate).
Biden's comments on Amazon unionization fit into this:
The GOP opposition strategy is more radical than in 2009. This time they're betting they can win back power through voter suppression and countermajoritarian tactics, even if Biden succeeds. They don't need to be part of the conversation at all. New piece: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Republicans have entirely ceded the field in the debate over two of the biggest crises of modern times.
In 2009 at least you had people like Paul Ryan making BS arguments about deficits.
Now Rs are barely making a public case at all. Because they can't: