Wow! You can’t make this up!

March 21, 2024

It’s hard to believe that the dysfunction in the Republican Party could get worse, but Wednesday saw new heights (or depths?) of chaos in the GOP. You are undoubtedly interested in hearing how the GOP impeachment hearing directed at Joe Biden produced damning evidence—against Donald Trump! But first, let’s look away from the GOP car crash to view the important work that President Biden is doing on behalf of the American people. (You’re welcome!)

As Trump and the GOP were entering panic mode at warp speed, President Biden was delivering on his promises to the American people. The Biden administration began the day by announcing a rule that would accelerate the production of hybrid and all-electric cars. See NYTimes, Biden Administration Announces Rule Aimed at Expanding Electric Vehicles. (This article is accessible to all.)

Per the NYTimes,

The Biden administration on Wednesday issued one of the most significant climate regulations in the nation’s history, a rule designed to ensure that the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States are all-electric or hybrids by 2032.

Nearly three years in the making, the new tailpipe pollution limits from the Environmental Protection Agency would transform the American automobile market.

Accelerating the transition to hybrid and electric cars will deliver enormous economic and health benefits to the American people. Again, per the Times, the new regulation will

avoid more than seven billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 30 years . . . That’s the equivalent of removing a year’s worth of all the greenhouse gases generated by the United States . . . . The regulation would provide nearly $100 billion in annual net benefits to society [including] $13 billion of annual public health benefits thanks to improved air quality.

The standards would also save the average American driver about $6,000 in reduced fuel and maintenance over the life of a vehicle, the E.P.A. estimated.

As the new “tailpipe emissions” standard was being announced, President Biden announced a massive investment in an Intel chip fabricating facility in Arizona. See Politico, Biden boosts Intel with massive CHIPS payout in swing state Arizona.

Per Politico, Biden said

“We will enable advanced semiconductor manufacturing to make a comeback here in America after 40 years. It’s going to transform the semiconductor industry and create entirely new ecosystems.”

Biden said Intel would also invest “over $100 billion” across the country, in facilities in Arizona, Oregon, Ohio and New Mexico. Those investments should put the U.S. on track to produce roughly 20 percent of the world’s leading-edge chips by 2030, Biden said. He added that Intel’s new projects are expected to create 30,000 jobs nationwide in construction and manufacturing.

Beyond creating tens of thousands of jobs in the high-tech sector, the CHIPS and Science Act protects US national security. Recall that during the COVID pandemic, supply chain issues disrupted the flow of semiconductors into the US, hampering the manufacture and sale of hundreds of consumer products that rely on microprocessors. Manufacturing the chips in the US serves as a hedge against that future risk.

For most presidents, the Intel announcement and new tailpipe admissions standard would be the year's crowning achievements. For Joe Biden, those announcements were known as “Wednesday.” Biden gets stuff done. Tell a friend.

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House GOP reveals 2025 budget goals—and it’s bad. Very.

As President Biden was advancing the interests of the American people, a Republican caucus in the House revealed its “wish list” for the 2025 budget. House Republicans have proposed the following:

1.    Raise the age for retirement under Social Security and benefits for some beneficiaries.

2.    End Medicare as we know it by replacing it with a “premium support model” that would force Medicare to compete with private plans by giving beneficiaries a subsidy to buy private plans in lieu of Medicare. That approach would reduce funding for Medicare and weaken the program for Americans who cannot obtain private coverage.

3.    Weaken the Affordable Care Act by reducing subsidies and implementing limiting regulations.

4.    Declare that “life begins at conception” and extend the 14th Amendment to fertilized eggs, thereby giving them greater constitutional rights than women after the Dobbs decision. Such a policy would constitute a national ban on IVF and abortion alike.

See NBC News, Republican budget would raise the age of retirement for Social Security.

Based on the above priorities alone, no American should vote for any Republican. They are threatening the health and retirement security of all Americans and depriving women, their spouses, and families of the liberty that lies at the core of family decisions.

During another news day that did not feature the meltdown of the Republican impeachment effort and Trump's increasingly dire financial condition, the GOP 2025 budget priorities would dominate the news cycle for weeks. That is the evil genius of Trump's chaos strategy—“flood the zone” with so much corruption and depravity that news that threatens the health, safety, and liberty of all Americans is ignored.

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House Oversight Committee Impeachment hearing produces damning evidence—against Donald Trump.

It is difficult to describe how badly the House impeachment hearing went for Republicans on Wednesday. Republicans produced two witnesses who were supposed to damage President Biden. But the witnesses were jokes. The first—Tony Bobulinksi—famously met with Mark Meadows “under the bleachers” at a Trump rally while wearing a ski mask.  Who among us hasn’t done the same thing when chatting about innocent matters? The second witness testified from prison, where he is serving time for looting the retirement funds of a tribal entity of the Oglala Lakota Nation.

Both witnesses testified to brief meetings where Joe Biden talked about their families and backgrounds. Neither testified that Joe Biden—then a private citizen—was involved in any business dealings with Hunter Biden. And that was the highlight of the day for Republicans.  

Then Lev Parnas testified. If you don’t remember Lev Parnas, he is a Ukrainian American businessman tasked by Rudy Giuliani to “find dirt” on Joe Biden.

Parnas’s testimony was devastating. See CNN, Lev Parnas, ex-Giuliani associate, testified allegations against Bidens are false and 'spread by the Kremlin'

CNN described Parnas’s testimony as follows:

“The American people have been lied to, by Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and various cohorts of individuals in government and media positions. They created falsehoods to serve their own interests knowing it would undermine the strength of our nation."

“Congressman Pete Sessions [and] Senator Ron Johnson and many others understood they were pushing a false narrative. The same goes for John Solomon, Sean Hannity and media personnel, particularly with Fox News, who use this narrative to manipulate the public ahead of the 2020 elections. Sadly, they are still doing this today as we approach the 2024 elections.”

Parnas maintained during the hearing that there was no evidence of Biden family corruption involving Ukraine and that the baseless accusations against the president came from the Russian government.

"The only information ever pushed on the Bidens and Ukraine has come from one source and one source only: Russia and Russian agents.”

So, the guy who was hired to find dirt on Joe Biden anywhere in the world testified that there was none to be found—and that the false allegations came from Russian agents.

At this point, efforts by House Republicans to repeat the false allegations spread by Russian agents should be seen as promoting counter-intelligence and election interference efforts against the US.

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Update on Ohio race for US Senate.

Yesterday, I discussed the Senate race in Ohio between Sherrod Brown and Trump-endorsed Bernie Moreno (who won the GOP primary on Tuesday). David Pepper, the former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party has published an insightful analysis on his Substack platform, Pepperspectives, Last Night in Ohio….

Ohio will be critical in the 2024 election for many reasons, including the need to defend Sherrod Brown’s seat in the US Senate—a race that could determine control of the Senate. Republicans understand that dynamic and will spare no effort or expense to defeat Brown. We must be equally determined.

But we have reason to be hopeful. Although you should read his entire article for details and caveats, David Pepper concludes as follows:

“[I]f Vance’s 2022 underperformance is any indication, Moreno’s win just made Brown’s path to victory a little easier, especially if some of the bad blood from the GOP primary carries over into the general. And once again, Trump looks to have hand-picked a candidate who makes Democrats’ odds of a Senate majority just a little bit brighter.”

As usual, we have plenty of reason to be hopeful but no reason to be complacent!

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Trump lags in fundraising.

The presidential campaigns filed reports on fundraising and expenses through February. Trump is lagging behind Biden by about 50% and is lagging behind Trump's 2020 fundraising. See NYTimes, Biden Widens His Financial Lead Over Trump. (The article is accessible to all.) Biden has $71 million on hand, while Trump's campaign has $33 million.

The disparity has widened as Trump's fundraising pleas have become increasingly desperate. A fundraising appeal on Wednesday said “KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF TRUMP TOWER!” and asked for 1 million Trump followers to chip in one dollar to “end the witch hunt” against Trump.

Note that Trump is using his personal financial distress to raise money to save his office buildings when his political fundraising is lagging. That is because Trump's PAC, which is devoted to his legal defense fund, is spending money faster than Trump can raise it. At the current burn rate, Trump has about one month of coverage for his legal fees in Save America PAC. At that point, Trump must dig into his pockets to pay for his lawyers. And it not clear whether there is anything in Trump's pocket.

Which brings me to the point of this article: One escape hatch for Trump is to raise a half a billion dollars from a foreign source—like Saudi Arabia or Russia. When Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, was asked during an interview on Wednesday if Trump was seeking funds from foreign sources, she did not say “No.”

Borrowing money from a foreign source would exacerbate the massive national security risk already presented by Trump. See analysis by Frida Ghitis at CNN, Opinion: Trump can’t pay his bond in legal judgments. Why that’s dangerous.

In the next few days, we will learn if Trump can come up with a half-billion-dollar bond on his own, with the help of others, or receive relief from an appellate court in New York. But if Trump does raise the money from a foreign source, we will not know unless and until an enterprising member of the media follows the money to its source. That story—with its Watergate-style bragging rights—should keep the media interested.

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Concluding Thoughts

Yesterday, I promoted an event for BigTent USA. I received this note from a reader who attended the event:

I just participated in the BigTent Zoom call and was really taken by how they laid out the landscape regarding voter suppression and denial in 2024.

Their key points were that we must do the work to ensure that (a) people are registered and check their current voter status, (b) they vote, and (c) their vote counts.

It was truly mind-boggling to learn how the vote deniers and suppressors are organized and coordinated.

Thank you for alerting your readers to participate. This is yet another example of how important it is that all your readers take advantage of these opportunities and act based on the information shared.

What struck me about the email is that it was from a long-time reader and frequent commenter who was re-energized by attending an event promoting grassroots work. I include his comment because it reflects how I feel every time I speak at or attend an event sponsored by grassroots organizers. After seven years in the trenches, they are experienced, savvy, and inspiring.

If you feel yourself drifting, show up at a Zoom event promoted here or elsewhere. Joining a common cause with other like-minded citizens devoted to preserving democracy is always confidence-inspiring.

By happenstance, I don’t have an event to promote in this newsletter. So, I urge everyone to follow Jessica Craven at Chop Wood Carry Water on Substack. She has infectious enthusiasm and provides daily actions on current topics. If you have only ten minutes to spare on any given day, Jessica can provide you with a meaningful action that will take ten minutes!

Here's my point: Action is the antidote to anxiety. Attend a Zoom conference to plan for success in November, perform a daily action, and engage in small acts of democracy. That is all it will take to keep you grounded in reality and realistically hopeful about our prospects for victory!

Talk to you tomorrow!