Welcome to The Now

 

  Huh. Well, according to this article : Presidents cannot do such a thing without congressional approval; It would cost over 1 trillion dollars;  The so-call "tariff revenues" wouldn't cover it. But not to bury the lead here: the POTUS told voters that he'll pay them if they keep his political party in power...the same political party whose actions (or inactions) have made a lot of voters either very frustrated or experiencing "buyer's remorse."  Keep in mind that Donald Trump has a history of not paying people , misusing charity money , and just generally being untrustworthy . Food recalls; higher gas prices and groceries; unresolved foreign wars and conflicts; using the office for personal financial gain; forcing colleges and museums to change or abandon their mission statements; promoting power-sucking, environmentally harmful, expensive, data centers; and more. There are plenty of reasons for voters to at the very least, provide government with a pr...

 

 

  Via C-SPAN .

 Noteworthy because C-SPAN usually holds the commentary for their call-in segments. Here's the video in question. That said, it makes it harder for Republicans to attack Joe Biden's (obvious) decline without acknowledging McConnell's. 

  C-SPAN clip here . In other words: "Don't debate or try to make this bill any better for the American worker. We need to screw them over to keep the status quo going." And notice how this is always about "solving the problem" just long enough to have another mid-term or presidential election; it's never about finding a permanent solution.  BONUS: Apparently, Chuck Schumer also lied about the Mountain Valley Pipeline being part of the "deal":

 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...

 People are all a flutter about President Biden's decision to send tanks to Ukraine ( especially after Germany promised to do the same ), but there's not much spotlight on the fact that the NSC is clarifying to say that this will take " many months " and require " extensive training ."  I'm sure Russia is just going to wait until the tanks show up to get serious.  Or, maybe twiddling your thumbs during winter against an opponent who EXCELLS in fighting in cold climates will blow up in your face:

 Reps. Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell and Ilhan Omar apparently aren't going to be serving on any committees in the new GOP-controlled House of Representatives , and they aren't happy about it. Instead of holding press conferences to complain, they should use their positions of power to make the GOP regret making that decision.

Senators were asked to vote by last name alphabetically. At 53-46 Yea-to-Nay, the Senate was waiting for Rand Paul. He came in about 10 minutes later to give his "No." Lindsey Graham did not vote when his name came up (he did after Jackson passed 50 "Yea" votes. The speeches from each party were more or less predictable. Republicans expressed skepticism that Jackson could avoid "legislating from the bench" while Democrats hyped up the fact that Jackson would be the first black female to the Supreme Court and talked about how inspirational that would be. Neither side talked much about Jackson's actual judicial record, let alone the political reality of her nomination . 

 So there's not one but two stories about how Representative Cori Bush (and then Senator Bernie Sanders ) are reviving Medicare for All legislatively.  While the usual response to this would be, "Why now, instead of when Force The Vote would have put the issue in the national spotlight?" I can't help but notice that C-SPAN doesn't seem to have any videos or clips of the hearing at all. According to them, there are only five clips/videos of note involving Cori Bush for March 2022 (3/2, 3/8, 3/11 and two on 3/18). The hearing was presumably on 3/29/22.  It's almost like they're fighting for something a majority of Americans want at a time when people are barely paying attention, with the knowledge that the leaders of their own party have dismissed implementing even the smallest of significant changes. 

Sen. Sanders talked about the history of Democratic Socialism in America, and why embracing it may be the best option for the country going forward .

A very clever person once said that getting Democrats together is like herding cats. Well, Joss Whedon must have been the producer for the DNC 2012 Convention, because this was more like "Avengers Assemble!" Let's (courtesy of C-SPAN) go over some highlights of the 3-day event: DAY ONE:  Deval Patrick got the ball rolling with calls for focusing on education and his call for Democrats to "get a spine." Castro brothers Joaquin and Julian reminded the crowd that America is at its best when it's inclusive. The Edward Kennedy video tribute included an epic smackdown of Mitt Romney when he tried to unseat Kennedy for Senator. Michelle Obama used her personal perspective to valid Barack Obama the person. DAY TWO: Sandra Fluke reminds everyone what exactly started the ridiculous "War on Women." Elizabeth Warren does the same, but in regards to financial regulation. Former President Bill Clinton summarized the political landscape since he left ...

You make 100K a year and can't buy a house .

...and boy, I think things would have been different had the Democrats just called the bill: "The Ronald Reagan Health Care Plan."

... and it obvious that one side wasn't really prepared . MSNBC covered the event as well .