Update 581 — The Fight to Vote, 2022:Whither the Defense of Democracy? The one-year anniversary party for the Biden presidency was crashed by last night’s Senate showdown, ending in failed attempts to pass voting rights legislation and to reform the Senate filibuster rule. Indeed, that failure, said to be impossible, dooms more than just the Freedom to Vote: …
Update 580 — Enough Sinema Verite:Rays of Hope in the Economic Picture Senators Manchin and Sinema doubled down yesterday on their opposition to Senate filibuster reform and in essence, the critical voting rights package adopted by the House yesterday, which needs a reform of the Senate filibuster rule’s 60-vote threshold to pass. You might be …
Update 579 — Powell Reappointment LikelyBut Progressive Fed Majority Could Follow This morning, the Consumer Price Index showed a flattening in inflation rate gains. Overall CPI is up 0.5 percent in December with year-over-year inflation coming to 7.0 percent compared to November’s numbers of 6.8 percent year-over-year. In his renomination hearing yesterday, Fed Chair Powell pointed …
Update 578 — Infamous AnniversaryCalls for Accountability and Reform If the GOP is right and there was an insurrection on November 3, 2020, it succeeded in removing incumbent President Trump decisively. In truth, the only (unsuccessful) insurrection attempted on January 6, 2021, perpetuated by Trump himself, the incumbent bent on staying in power. A year after an attack …
Update 577 — That a Byrd up in the Sky?Parliamentarian to Say What Flies or Dies Yesterday, the Senate Parliamentarian denied Senate Democrats’ most recent attempt to include immigration reform in Build Back Better via the Byrd Rule. In fairness, half of the current Senate will be disappointed with any Parliamentarian’s decision. Nevertheless, she will persist, applying the Byrd …
Update 576 — Restoration and Reform:Battles Ahead for American Democracy President Biden’s Summit for Democracy last week was a cause for introspection: is the United States perfecting, protecting, or peeling back democratic rights? Republican-controlled states, particularly swing states like Georgia and Arizona, continue to adopt laws suppressing the vote. Congress has yet to pass federal voting legislation. …
Update 574 — Debt Limit Agreement:Resolution for Now; Reform for Later? Late yesterday, House Democrats adopted legislation allowing the Senate to raise the debt ceiling without having to overcome a filibuster, this once. The Senate GOP is expected to cooperate to avoid a sovereign default that would otherwise have occurred within days or weeks. The fast-track process …
Update 573 — A Number of Anomalies:Takeaways from Nov. BLS Jobs Report You could get the wrong idea about the jobs picture in the U.S. from this morning’s top-line figure in the BLS jobs report for November. Despite an anomalous showing of just 210,000 jobs added and the service sector shedding jobs, unemployment dropped to 4.2 percent and …
Update 572 — December’s Disposition:What Will Get Done, What Might Wait? The dread month of December is now upon us. Congress faces a fuller slate of priorities prior to adjournment than the usual madcap year-end. But delay invites difficulty. Now Congress is poised to dispose of three critical policy issues bearing on the economy and, therefore, next …
Update 571 — Thanksgiving Props:People, Policies to Be Grateful For This past year has brought a tableful of major policy successes, served with significant delays and some disappointments. For progressives, the return of full Democratic government control in January offered a promising menu for 2021, as the country sought to move past the Trump presidency. The prospect …
