“Crisis averted.”

June 3, 2023

          I am sending a short note to kick off the weekend and to open the Comments section. As always, please be respectful and “like” deserving comments to highlight them for other readers.

          I include two opportunities for engagement below—one for a trivia night with Jon Lovett sponsored by Flip the Vote on Monday, June 5th at 5:30 PM Pacific / 8:30 PM Eastern and a second to help PostCardsToVoters urge Ohio voters to VOTE NO on Issue #1 on the August 8th ballot. (Issue #1 seeks to raise the threshold for ballot initiatives—a transparent effort to defeat a November ballot initiative to protect reproductive liberty in Ohio). Please take a moment to consider both opportunities.

What a difference a week makes!

          Last Friday evening, I sent a newsletter entitled “Take a Break.” I wrote:

        All signs point to a resolution of the debt ceiling dispute. The negotiators are too close to allow the deal to fall apart. But the road to a final resolution will be filled with reversals, retribution, and recrimination—all part of the GOP’s need to rationalize its hostage-taking.

          Emails and comments today have been filled with anxiety and anger. Set those feelings aside for now. There will be time to assess the outcome after President Biden has safely put the threat of default behind us. Until then, the situation is so fluid that there is little point in reacting to momentary changes that will be overtaken by new developments in minutes.

          The resolution was better than we hoped for or could have imagined. One week later, President Biden delivered a speech from the Oval Office—the first of his presidency—in which he celebrated the resolution of the debt crisis. He thanked leadership in the Democratic and Republican parties for their efforts and went out of his way to compliment Speaker Kevin McCarthy. See WaPo, Biden says bipartisan debt ceiling bill averted ‘economic collapse’.

          But Biden also made clear that achieving the deal required Democrats to defeat voices of extremism. Biden said,

There were extreme voices threatening to take America, for the first time in our 247-year history, into default on our national debt. Nothing — nothing — would have been more irresponsible. Nothing would have been more catastrophic.

Passing this budget agreement was critical. The stakes could not have been higher. No one got everything they wanted, but the American people got what they needed. We averted an economic crisis and an economic collapse.

          Biden accomplished more than averting a crisis. New data released on Friday underscores the unprecedented economic recovery presided over by President Biden. The historic nature of President Biden’s accomplishment is described by Simon Rosenberg in his Substack post on Hopium Chronicles, A Blistering June Jobs Report - The American Economy Remains Remarkably Strong.

          Per Rosenberg,

The June BLS jobs report is out and it’s another good one - 339,000 net new jobs, 432,000 with upward revisions from previous months. With this new data my monthly jobs tracker clocks in at:

33.8m jobs - 16 years of Clinton, Obama

13.1m jobs - 28 months of Biden

1.9m jobs - 16 years of Bush, Bush and Trump

Biden's 13.1m jobs is almost 7 times as many jobs as were created in the 16 years of the last 3 Republican Presidencies, combined. It is also millions more than were created in the entirety of any of their three individual Presidencies.

          There is more in Rosenberg’s article, which I highly recommend. Rosenberg is a newcomer to Substack but has quickly become the “go-to” source for data-rich explanations of Democratic achievements. If you do not already follow Rosenberg on Substack, you should! Check out Hopium Chronicles by Simon Rosenberg.

Join a “Trivia Night” with Jon Lovett and Flip the Vote!

          Join Flip the Vote for a lively political Trivia Night co-hosted by Jon Lovett, former Obama speechwriter, co-founder of Crooked Media, co-host of Pod Save America, and host of Lovett or Leave It. During the event, you'll answer fun trivia questions (don't worry, no one will see your score unless you ultimately win the game), hear Jon Lovett crack some jokes, and get a sneak peek at Flip the Vote’s fundraising plan for the 2024 presidential cycle.

          Register here—Meeting Registration - Zoom with Jon Lovett on June 5th at 5:30 PM Pacific / 8:30 PM Eastern.

Help PostCardsToVoters urge Ohio citizens to VOTE NO on Issue #1.

          Help write postcards to urge Ohio voters to VOTE NO on Issue #1 on the August 8th ballot. Issue #1 seeks to change the rules for citizen initiatives to amend the Ohio constitution. Issue #1 is a cynical ploy by Republicans to make it more difficult for Ohio citizens to amend their constitution to protect reproductive liberty.

          To help, go to Postcards To Voters, text “join” to Abby the text bot at 484-275-2229, or email join@TonytheDemocrat.org. If you have already joined PostCardsToVoters, just send a text to Abby the Bot. All you need are postcards and stamps!

Concluding Thoughts.

          In the early days of this newsletter, I asked readers NOT to share the newsletter on Facebook or Twitter because I was still practicing as a lawyer at a global law firm. I did not want my strong opinions in the newsletter to complicate relationships with clients. I am now retired and no longer need to worry about possibly offending clients.

          Today, for the first time, I am making a plea for readers to help amplify the work of this newsletter by recommending it to like-minded friends and acquaintances. A link and a QR code are in the footer of each newsletter to make it easy to subscribe.

          Why am I making a push for more readers and greater distribution of the newsletter? Do I want to become a “big fish” in the political commentary world? Nope! I am comfortable being a pollywog in the Substack pond. Indeed, I take a certain amount of pride every time I receive an email that says, “I started reading your newsletter. Don’t take this the wrong way, but who are you?”

          What matters is not me but the community of readers of this newsletter. Whether you know it or not, the readers of this newsletter form a collective force that matters in today’s fractious and divided politics. You are committed to democracy and motivated to do something to help defend it. While influencers on Twitter, Snap, Tik Tok and other social media platforms may have millions of followers, the readers of this newsletter care enough to take action in a way that makes a difference to grass roots organizations and politicians across America.

          I receive emails and calls weekly from groups asking me to promote their good work. I am happy to oblige because I know from experience that enough of you will respond to help those groups advance their work defending democracy. And we are about to head into another momentous election. Given the passion, reach, and willingness of readers to roll up their sleeves and pitch in, we should leverage our collective efforts by asking others to join our important work.

          So, is the mission of this newsletter changing? Nope! My goal each night is to talk about the news in way that brings perspective, hope, and calm to a news ecosystem that thrives on fear and spectacle. But if in achieving that modest goal we can also collectively help groups like Flip the Vote and PostCardsToVoters and dozens more, so much the better!

          So, recruit a friend or neighbor who may be turned off by the news media’s coverage but is still looking for a way to help. This newsletter may be a good way to achieve that goal. There are, of course, dozens of other newsletters and organizations that are equally effective. The point is to find community to leverage our voices. It’s “all hands on deck for 2024,” so we need to start asking people to join our crew.

          Readers sometimes ask how it is that I end up speaking to grass roots organizations. Simple: they ask. I am happy to join meetings of grassroots organizations if my presence can help promote the work of the organization. Email me at rbhubbell@gmail.com and include something in the subject line that will alert me to the nature of the request.

          Thanks to everyone who reads the newsletter. I am honored to be on this journey with you.

          Talk to you on Monday!