If anyone has the time and inclination, Neera Tanden’s hearing by the Budget Committee is at 10ET, and here’s the link:

https://www.budget.senate.gov/omb-nomination-hearing-of-ms-neera-tanden-

This is why the Dem’s need to tie Republicans to the insurrection at the impeachment trial. They are never going to convict. Even though it might help them in a Republican primary, make those Trump lackeys pay a political price in the general election.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/10/us/politics/republicans-leaving-party.html

Voting registration data indicates a stronger-than-usual flight from the G.O.P. since the Capitol riot, with an intensely fluid period in American politics now underway.

In the days after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the phone lines and websites of local election officials across the country were jumping: Tens of thousands of Republicans were calling or logging on to switch their party affiliations.

In California, more than 33,000 registered Republicans left the party during the three weeks after the Washington riot. In Pennsylvania, more than 12,000 voters left the G.O.P. in the past month, and more than 10,000 Republicans changed their registration in Arizona.

An analysis of January voting records by The New York Times found that nearly 140,000 Republicans had quit the party in 25 states that had readily available data (19 states do not have registration by party). Voting experts said the data indicated a stronger-than-usual flight from a political party after a presidential election, as well as the potential start of a damaging period for G.O.P. registrations as voters recoil from the Capitol violence and its fallout.

https://www.salon.com/2021/02/10/impeachment-trial-2-day-1-now-the-republicans-are-the-party-of-terrorism/

Senate Republicans have already signaled that they will not vote to convict Donald Trump for his crimes against the country. It is highly unlikely that there any amount of evidence could convince them otherwise.

Why? At this point, they have pledged their allegiance to Donald Trump. The Republican Party is now his. Trump’s voters view him as a demigod and shadow president who was “betrayed” by the deep state and other forces who unjustly stole the 2020 election from him (and them).

Trumpism, like today’s version of conservatism more generally, is a type of religious politics. As such, the Trumpists will punish any Republican officials who dare to criticize Trump in any way. Most importantly, the Republicans in Congress overwhelmingly agree with Donald Trump’s neofascist, anti-democratic politics. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley appeared to cheer on the Capitol attackers. Some Republicans may even have assisted Trump’s mob in their assault on Congress by providing information on the layout of the Capitol complex and the locations of Mike Pence, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other congresspeople who were in danger of kidnapping, assault and likely execution.

Trump may no longer be president but his hold over the Republican Party and its voters remains largely intact.

In voting to acquit Donald Trump for encouraging political violence and insurrection, with the evident goal of nullifying the 2020 presidential election and overthrowing democracy, Republicans in Congress are formally announcing their endorsement of right-wing terrorism as a legitimate means of gaining and securing political power.

The Democrats and President Biden must understand that “unity” and “compromise” and attempts at bipartisanship with today’s Republican Party are to be avoided. Any such efforts do the work of betraying democracy, the common good, the rule of law and the Constitution.

Democrats have the presidency and control both chambers of Congress — but only by tenuous margins. They have a public mandate for their agenda, and Biden’s efforts so far have been embraced by a large majority of Americans. After the horrors of the Age of Trump, the Democrats must use their power for the common good. More important still, they must accept that today’s Republicans view politics as a life-and-death struggle where winning is everything, not a give-and-take governed by shared values.
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As they will show by acquitting Donald Trump and continuing their full-on embrace of American fascism and white supremacy, today’s Republican Party considers the Democrats and their voters as existential enemies. It is long past time for the Democrats to respond in kind.

By @matthewjdowd: Trumpian conspiracy theories come from unresolved issues of the Civil War https://t.co/2hWpSgaTq6 via @usatoday @usatodayopinion

— Jill Lawrence (@JillDLawrence) February 9, 2021

Perhaps the biggest change is how the idea of a monthly child allowance treats children: not just as a private responsibility but as a societal good deserving public support. https://t.co/AjKFONKE40

— The Upshot (@UpshotNYT) February 10, 2021

Support for keeping the threshold at $75,000 or making it higher is at 59%. Support for lowering the threshold is at 28%. Support for lowering the threshold is actually highest among those with the lowest incomes, while support for raising the threshold is highest among those with the highest incomes, which shows that there is some self interest at work.

https://morningconsult.com/2021/02/10/covid-19-stimulus-checks-income-threshold-polling/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/09/dakota-access-pipeline-biden-harris-letter-celebrities-indigenous-leaders

A coalition of prominent celebrities, indigenous leaders and environmental groups have written to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris urging them to shut down the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) which is operating without a legal permit.

Actors, musicians and athletes including Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr, Don Cheadle, Cher, Cyndi Lauper, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Aaron Rodgers, Jane Fonda, Joaquin Phoenix and Orlando Bloom are calling on the White House to close down the oil pipeline which poses serious environmental risks to tribal lands, water and wildlife, as well as indigenous cultural and religious practices.

The president also faces pressure from a group of Lakota Native American youth who are today taking part in a 93-mile relay run across the Standing Rock Sioux Nation to the Cannonball River, the site of the #NoDAPL resistance camps in 2016.

The actions follow a wave of environmental justice and climate action policies announced by Biden since taking office which include cancelling the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline, rejoining the Paris agreement and halting construction of the southern border wall.

The letter, which is also signed by the Sunrise Movement, Indigenous Environmental Network, 350.org, Zero Hour and the Sierra Club, urges Biden and Harris to remedy what they refer to as a historic injustice.

“As your administration takes action to address the climate crisis and strengthen relationships with Indigenous communities, we respectfully urge you to reverse another harmful Trump administration decision and immediately shut down the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) during its court-ordered environmental review,” the letter states.