Today’s Edition: Biden makes it personal.

October 29, 2021

          Despite appearances to the contrary, Democrats made significant progress toward a final reconciliation deal on Thursday. The development is welcome news as we head into the weekend after weeks of seemingly futile negotiations. The unwelcome news is that the progress came at the cost of major cutbacks in social programs that have nearly universal support in the Democratic caucus—except for Senators Manchin and Sinema. The breakthrough is attributable to the personal intervention of President Biden, who appeared at a Democratic caucus meeting on Thursday and said that the success of his presidency and majorities in the House and Senate “will be determined by what happens in the next week.”

          Biden’s pitch tying his success to that reconciliation bill is risky because the prospects for passage of the bill are good but not certain. The uncertainty arises primarily from the continuing evasive and cryptic statements from Manchin and Sinema. Progressives demonstrated that they don’t trust Manchin and Sinema, once again forcing Speaker Pelosi to delay the stand-alone vote on the infrastructure bill.

          The messy process is overshadowing the good that will flow from the “framework” proposed by Biden on Thursday. As it stands on Thursday, the bill will make the nation’s largest ever investment in the fight against climate change. Other programs and benefits (as detailed in the NYTimes) include:

• Universal prekindergarten to 3- and 4-year-olds.

• Build one million affordable housing units

• Extended tax credit for parents through 2022

• Reduction in health care premiums for people covered through the Affordable Care Act

• Provide insurance for an additional four million people through Medicaid

• Increase in-home care for seniors and disabled Americans

• Improve wages for home health care workers

• Expand worker training

• Increase annual Pell grants.

          That is a big list. As Chief of Staff Ron Klain said, “The bill is twice as large, in real dollars, as the New Deal.” So, although the bill will not include many Democratic priorities originally proposed by Biden, we should not overlook the historic accomplishments outlined in Biden’s $1.75 trillion framework. There will be much to celebrate in any final bill that resembles the framework released by Biden on Thursday. Stay tuned and keep the faith!

Federal Judge criticizes light sentences given to insurrectionists.

          It is a rare event for a federal judge to harshly criticize prosecutors for being too lenient on a criminal defendant. That is what happened on Thursday in Washington D.C. when Judge Beryl A. Howell issued her first sentence against a January 6th insurrectionist. See Washington Post, “Federal judge in D.C. says Jan. 6 "rioters were not mere protesters". Prosecutors asked for a three-month jail sentence for a defendant charged with parading without a permit on Capitol grounds. Judge Howell said, in part,

          No wonder parts of the public in the U.S. are confused about whether what happened on January 6 at the Capitol was simply a petty offense of trespassing with some disorderliness, or shocking criminal conduct that represented a grave threat to our democratic norms. Let me make my view clear: The rioters were not mere protesters.

          Other federal judges have criticized the leniency of plea deals with insurrectionists. To date, the vast majority of the insurrectionists have been charged with parading without a permit—i.e., as “mere trespassers.” The clock is running out on Merrick Garland’s ability to restore the confidence of the American people that insurrection will be treated seriously by the Department of Justice.

          On a related note, Rep. Adam Schiff told the Harvard Gazette that

          We cannot have a system where a current president can’t be prosecuted, and then, because “we don’t want to look backward,” the former president can’t be prosecuted . . . Because, if we get to that point, then the president really does become above the law.

          Let’s hope that Merrick Garland sees the logic and urgency of Adam Schiff’s statement. Again, time is running out.

Nicholas Kristof to run for Governor of Oregon

          Nicholas Kristof has been a columnist for the New York Times for 37 years. He is resigning to run for Governor of Oregon. See Nicholas Kristof in NYTimes, “A Farewell to Readers, With Hope.” During his time as a journalist and essayist, Kristof learned that “[s]ide by side with the worst of humanity, you find the best.” Kristof explains that he has not lost his faith in the decency and promise of humanity:

[W]hile I’ve spent my career on the front lines of human suffering and depravity, covering genocide, war, poverty and injustice, I’ve emerged firmly believing that we can make real progress by summoning the political will. We are an amazing species, and we can do better. 

          Kristof’s farewell to his readers is worth your attention. I have learned over the last five years that following the news closely takes a toll on a person. But doing so hasn’t diminished my confidence that the decency and humanity of Americans will prevail over the long term. Kristof has been in the thick of the news for 37 years, covering some of the most disturbing stories of the last half-century. If he can remain positive in the face of such news, so can we. We shouldn’t pretend that it is easy, and we should be willing to give ourselves a break from the news on occasion.  

          The most important lesson from Kristof’s farewell is that covering the news has convinced him that action is the antithesis to anxiety. That is a valuable lesson, one that must be re-learned and internalized at regular intervals. Check out Kristof’s farewell to his readers. It might restore some of your faith in the prospects for humanity.

Concluding Thoughts.

          As the reconciliation bill continued to shrink over the last several months, readers sent emails bemoaning the fact “Democrats” failed to deliver on promises made in 2020. I understand the frustration, but the Democratic caucus in Congress did everything it could to deliver on their campaign promises. We should not attribute the obstinate, corrupt, and bizarre objections of Senator Manchin and Sinema to the Democratic Party writ large.

          In truth, Sinema and Manchin have disproportionate influence because we collectively failed to defeat Susan Collins, Joni Ernst, and Lindsey Graham in 2020. Each was vulnerable and within our grasp. We cannot repeat that mistake in 2022.

          The mid-term Senate battle will be hard-fought—but we can win. Five Republican Senators are not running in 2022 and other GOP Senators are vulnerable (Ron Johnson, Marco Rubio, Chuck Grassley). True, some Democratic seats are vulnerable, notably Senator Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire). But given everything we have seen from the GOP Senate caucus, Democrats and Independents should be motivated as never before to oust Republican incumbents—many of whom went from “respected moderate” to “sedition caucus member” during their current term as a Senator.

          The last several months have been unnecessarily difficult for congressional Democrats as they labored under the burden of razor-thin majorities in both chambers of Congress. If you are frustrated or upset by the process, direct that emotion into expanding the Democratic majorities in Congress. It is worth remembering that in January 2020, no respected forecaster predicted that Democrats would gain control of the Senate in 2020. But we did so, defying the odds. Let’s defy the odds in 2022. We can do that!

          Talk to you on Monday!