Share this page!

Greg Sargent Profile picture
Twitter logo
28 Sep, 4 tweets, 3 min read
Dems hoped to "shame" McConnell on the debt limit. Instead they're sputtering with limp outrage while Mitch gets "savvy" points from the media. Time to nix the debt limit in reconciliation. Force Republicans to be the ones howling with ineffectual outrage:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Right now, Dems are searching for *another* procedural trick on the debt limit.

This is absurd! Kill it already! It can be done in reconciliation, by simply tying it to the debt.

This solves Dems' substantive *and* political problems. Here's how:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
The debt limit fiasco also destroys one of the biggest arguments for the filibuster: That it incentivizes bipartisanship.

This episode leaves no doubt: It incentivizes the weaponization of partisanship for the most cynical and destructive ends:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Dem outrage is met with savvy coverage that paints GOP depravity and recklessness as a dilemma *for Dems* while marveling at how politically shrewd Mitch is being.

No more. Time to put Republicans in the role of sputtering with outrage.

cc @jayrosen_nyu

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Greg Sargent

Greg Sargent Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @ThePlumLineGS

Greg Sargent Profile picture
29 Sep
Sinema's latest nonsense wrecks a key talking point: That the left is demanding "all or nothing." Progressives are asking her to say what concessions she wants *from them* on reconciliation. She won't say! The left is easily the more reasonable party here:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
At this point, the levels of bad faith coming from Kyrsten Sinema are genuinely hard to fathom. She seems to be insisting on passage of the infrastructure bill *entirely* on her own terms. That seems almost designed to make any accommodation impossible:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/… ImageImage
This shouldn't need explaining, but progressives are simply demanding that centrists stick to the original *process.*

This in no way means they're unwilling to make substantive concessions. The idea that they want "all or nothing" is pure invention:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/… ImageImage
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
24 Sep
Yes, the Arizona "audit" imploded on Trump. But people are missing a big part of the story: Its "findings" continue to push the lie that the 2020 outcome was dubious, and Republicans are gearing up to use this to fake-justify voter suppression. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
For months, we were told the "audit" was about restoring voter "confidence."

But even though it couldn't find the fraud it looked for, its "findings" still say we should lack confidence in our elections, and that more voting restrictions are needed!

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Many headlines are saying the Arizona audit "confirmed" Biden's win.

Don't do this! It implies that the audit was about empirical verification of the outcome, normalizing this practice. It was actually about undercutting the legitimacy of a Dem victory:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
23 Sep
A key tell from @RepJayapal: On NPR just now, she asked centrists to detail their demands for reconciliation and said she thinks it'll be done in 2-3 weeks. Still a brutal slog, but I think that cracks open the door for a way forward. It looks like this:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@RepJayapal It looks like @SpeakerPelosi has a strategy: She's hoping to get all sides to agree on general outlines for the reconciliation bill.

This may create a way forward. It clears space for centrists to be specific on what they want to see in reconciliation:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@RepJayapal @SpeakerPelosi On NPR this morning, @RepJayapal made some telling comments that open the door a crack to a way forward.

I concede this path is very difficult. But here's how it could work:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
22 Sep
Let's stop asking whether Trump and his cronies "believe" 2020 was stolen. The truth is worse: The *deliberate* manufacture of lies is the essential pretext to subverting our democratic order. Right wing media continues to play a key role here. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
The news that the Trump team knew they were lying about Dominion has larger significance:

It illustrates the role of *knowingly* manufactured propaganda in subverting election outcomes.

When we ask if they 'believe" the lies, it's the wrong question:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
The coin of the realm is *uncertainty.*

Trump Coup Memo called for saying outcomes in key states were *unknowable.*

That's meant to enable the main event: Technical legal arguments exploiting holes in our system to do the work of subverting elections:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
20 Sep
Stop screaming about "hypocrisy." Mitch McConnell understands only one language: Power. The only response to his latest BS is for Dems to use their power to defang the debt limit entirely. There's a way to do this via reconciliation. @paulwaldman1 and me:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@paulwaldman1 Georgetown law professor David Super offers a fascinating idea here:

He says Dems can use a separate, stand-alone reconciliation vote to effectively defang the debt limit once and for all.

Check it out:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@paulwaldman1 According to Georgetown's David Super, Dems could use reconciliation to, say, pass a bill essentially tying the debt limit to whatever is necessary to cover the national debt.

@LPDonovan floated something like this today. This would defang it entirely.

Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
20 Sep
Let's be clear: Keeping the filibuster makes a stolen 2024 election more likely. Awful new details about Trump's coup attempt, and a terrifying new paper calling for reform of the Electoral Count Act, make this unavoidable. Dems simply must act. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
In an urgent and important new paper, @rickhasen recommends reforming the Electoral Count Act as a key safeguard against a future stolen election.

The gaping holes in the ECA are what made Trump's coup attempt plausible.

Here's a brief explainer:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
@rickhasen Awful revelation from the Woodward and Costa book: The White House sent at least one GOP senator a detailed memo "explaining" how VP Pence could subvert the electoral count in Congress.

This would not have been possible, but for the big holes in the ECA:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @ThePlumLineGS has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @ThePlumLineGS!

Read all threads by @ThePlumLineGS

:(