Welcome to The Now

 

 When I think about the failed candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, as well as the attempts of the likes of JD Vance or Ron DeSantis to reach the White House, I'm left with a reoccurring question: why? Sure, the President of the United States can command the military and federal agencies. But other than using them to protect yourself, what good is that? How did Bill Clinton, GW Bush, Barack Obama Donald Trump or Joe Biden use their powers as president to help their citizens in a way that uplifted the country? Not individual people who already had the means or companies/corporations who already had access to power, but people in the 99%?  Who did the Crime Bill ultimately help? What about the Patriot Act? The Affordable Care Act? The Build Back Better Act? The Big Beautiful Bill? And that's just domestically. Not one of these presidents could resist the temptation to attack another nation under the guise of "protecting American interests" which is code for...

 

  The Francis Scott Key Bridge was apparently hit by a cargo ship .

 So Hillary Clinton was speaking at the Vital Voices conference (hey look: her Chief of Staff is on their Board of Directors !) and she was asked about how Joe Biden was handling being in the White House (in a way that suggested that she should be president, or course). In her response , she touted some of Biden's policies: building roads, broadband, the CHIPS bill, and clean energy. Now on the surface, these are safe issues that could possibly get a few on-the-fence Democrats to pull the lever in Biden's favor. But when you look at how these policies played out, you start to wonder why Biden didn't just do something that would help more average Americans, like cancel all student loan debt (ANSWER: his donors don't want that).  For example: Biden's infrastructure plan requires a lot of currently-sparse skilled labor, and has the unfortunate consequence of potentially splitting up black communities . And not everyone is elated that only nine bridges are being addres...

 Then Biden got elected, Bernie abandoned the issue (in addition to others) and the media told us to be happy because Donald Trump was no longer in the White House or the spotlight. Fast forward to now: the media still can't disconnect from Trump , and American infrastructure is getting worse state -by-state:

  The Jean-Luc Picard of the Democratic Party, who had no problem keeping the NBA from protesting or consolidating support around Joe Biden to help sink Bernie Sanders' chance of winning the 2020 primary, is noticeably absent as Joe Manchin has decided to decapitate Biden's (supposedly) signature legislation. Anything to the left of Democratic Party Leadership is a threat .

 That's what Democrats will have to say to their constituents if they don't hold the line . I can't imagine saying something along the lines of, "Well, we tried y'all" winning many votes.  They didn't Force the Vote. They couldn't get a Minimum Wage increase. The stimulus checks were less then promised. Kids are still in cages. Countries are still being bombed. People of color are still being brutalized by police. Journalists are still being punished for simply showing the world the dark underbelly of our governments. Medical bills, gasoline, rent and mortgages are high and rising. The Pandemic still reigns. Climate Change has not been successfully addressed. Those were just some of the expectations that didn't get addressed to satisfaction. The Left has all but abandoned the Democratic Party (there are still some holdouts) and if they don't pull out a substantial, legacy-level, New Deal-like win with these two bills, they may begin to lose som...

Here we go : (CNN)Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House Democrats on Thursday "don't embarrass" President Joe Biden by voting down a $1 trillion infrastructure bill amid Biden's trip overseas, a warning that underscores the high stakes of the moment for the divided party as the President's agenda hangs in the balance. House Democratic leaders are pushing for a vote on the infrastructure bill even as key progressives signal they plan to withhold their support, a dynamic that could force leadership to delay the vote for the second time in two months and deal a major blow to Biden on the world stage. [snip] Pelosi's admonition not to "embarrass" the President came during the closed-door meeting. She also said that she would put the infrastructure bill on the floor later Thursday and hold the vote open to get the bill through. In other words: the platform House members ran on and their politics mean little when their party leader's reputation/feelings are ...

It's possible that this story from David Corn is just Sen. Manchin trying to scare Sen. Chuck Schumer and President Joe Biden into capitulating on the infrastructure bill, but there are more good reasons to call his bluff and let him leave than back down like a scared little bunny: The Democrats will no longer have to listen to Manchin . Is there a chance that Manchin caucuses with the Republicans, giving them power over the Senate? Yep. But the Democrats still have the House of Representatives and the White House, so the GOP aren't going to be able to pass anything either. As powerful as Manchin will seem in the Senate, he will no longer be a factor in the overall process of lawmaking. The Democrats can now run someone against Manchin in West Virginia . It's doubtful that they'll run someone like Paula Jean Swearegin , but any candidate who is to the left of Manchin economically would be an improvement. And let's not forget that Manchin pushed a gubernatorial cand...

 Another day, another act of capitulation : WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned fellow Democrats on Thursday they “must put aside our differences” as the party struggles to coalesce around President Joe Biden’s huge but now-scaled-back package of social services and climate change strategies. Schumer’s letter to colleagues comes as progressive leaders in Congress are steering them away from what the progressives call a “false choice” over what to keep or cut as Democrats labor to trim what had been a $3.5 trillion proposal to about $2 trillion. I would say that I'm surprised if not for the fact that since the election, Democrats have consistently backed down from their promises, including a $2,000 stimulus (not $1,400) and $15 minimum wage.  Keep in mind that the original price tag was almost twice as much as the $3.5 trillion that Chuck Schumer now is willing to reduce. No on is pushing the Democratic Party to the left. The leadership won't allow it....

 In his latest attempt to play congressional gadfly, Joe Manchin has decided to make the more left-leaning Democrats in Congress choose which of the following three policies they want to keep : expanded child tax credit, paid family leave or subsidies for child care . While this may look like Manchin may finally be willing to negotiate, there's a reason to be suspicious. It's possible Manchin would just be against whichever option was picked, claiming that the other two are more reasonable. It's also possible that Manchin wants someone else to make the choice instead of him, which will take the anger and frustration off of him while splintering the people who want all three policies.  For the most part, the left-leaning Democrats aren't buying it , but time will tell. After all, the midterms are fast approaching and Manchin has just as much pull with Republicans in charge.   

 While President Joe Biden is apparently open to weakening the filibuster rules in order to get his legislation passed, the American media appears to be pushing the more left-leaning Democrats in Congress to compromise on a bill that already represents a compromise . 

  Sen. Kyrtsen Sinema doesn't like things in the bill that the House of Representatives are currently working on/debating, but she won't tell anyone what those things are . You can't negotiate with someone who won't tell you what they want to negotiate over. This reeks of a delaying tactic, designed to appease Sinema's donors. 

 According to a story from the Rolling Stone , there's one piece of legislation that has Biden willing to go after wayward Democrats: WASHINGTON — With a make-or-break vote looming in the Senate on a sweeping voting-rights and anti-corruption bill, President Joe Biden and his advisers have said in recent weeks that Biden will pressure wavering Democrats to support reforming the filibuster if necessary to pass the voting bill. According to three people briefed on the White House’s position and its recent communications with outside groups, Biden assured Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that he was ready to push for filibuster reform. Biden’s pressure would aim to help Schumer convince moderate Democrats to support a carveout to the filibuster, a must for the party if it’s going to pass new voting protections without Republican votes. According to a source briefed on the White House’s position, Biden told Schumer: “Chuck, you tell me when you need m...

Sad-yet-powerful stuff . After reading this, ask yourself why this isn't on the news 24-7.

When the GOP was struggling to find a message, a candidate and a reason for people to vote for them (despite eight years of Bush-led dumbfuckery), Karl Rove's brilliant idea was for Republicans to start talking about all the things they could do for America. Remember: this was the guy who had a job at the White House while Bush was dreaming about invading Mars. Fortunately for us, America realized two things: Republicans were already pretty much in charge already, and Karl Rove is a liar. Fast forward past the disturbingly entertaining Hillary "I Don't Wanna Quit the Primaries" Clinton, the debacle that was John McCain/Sarah Palin, and the joke know as "the mainstream media." We know have a president-elect who, by all appearance, plans to invoke a level of pragmatism into the White House that's sorely needed. This includes ideas...ideas, like, salvaging our crumbling infrastructure. This great country of ours has pipes, buildings and facilities that, whi...