Garcia is bound to be ranked higher than Adams on many Wiley/Yang/Stringer ballots, but will it be enough? Wiley is currently ahead of Garcia by a small amount, but I think Garcia will probably pass her in upcoming rounds.
Also, the absentee ballots (up to 200,000) have not been counted yet and these disproportionately are from areas Garcia (and Wiley) won.
Thatâs the question of the mayoral race after the polls closed on Tuesday, showing him as the first choice of about 30 percent of voters in ranked-choice voting. Battling for second place, and a shot at Adams, are Maya Wiley and Kathryn Garcia. The previous front-runner, Andrew Yang, fell to fourth place and has already conceded. Scott Stringer is a distant fifth.
Adamsâs wide lead over his closest opponent makes him the favorite to win, though he still needs to earn enough voter preferences under the ranked-choice system to reach 50 percent plus one. (The next round of voting calculations will begin on June 29.) That could be a challenge for a candidate who spent much of the final weeks of campaign courting controversy. In theory, his polarizing personality could hold him back in later rounds if voters decided not to rank him at all. This ranked-choice element was behind the alliance between Garcia and Yang, with Yang urging his supporters over the weekend to rank her second on their ballots. The result of Yangâs endorsement will be borne out in following rounds, potentially boosting Garcia into position to take on Adams.
A progressive challenger running her first campaign was poised on Tuesday to beat Buffaloâs four-term Democratic mayor in a primary upset that would upend the political landscape in New Yorkâs second-biggest city and signal the strength of the partyâs left wing.
The challenger, India B. Walton, is a former nurse and community activist who ran with the support of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Families Party. She was leading Byron Brown, a longtime member of the Democratic establishment, by 7 percentage points, or about 1,500 votes, as of midnight with all of the in-person ballots counted, according to unofficial results.
Should Ms. Walton, 38, win the primary and then triumph in the general election November â a likely result in heavily Democratic Buffalo â she would be the first socialist mayor of a major American city since 1960, when Frank P. Zeidler stepped down as Milwaukeeâs mayor. She would also be the first female mayor in Buffaloâs history.
Ms. Walton celebrated her victory in a jubilant call to her mother that was captured on video, yelling, âMommy, I won. Mommy, Iâm the mayor of Buffalo. Well, not until January, but, yeah.â
Mr. Brown, who once led the stateâs Democratic Party and is a close ally of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, declined to concede despite the margin separating him from Ms. Walton.
âWeâre going to make sure every single vote is counted,â he said. (Ms. Waltonâs campaign estimated that there were about 1,500 absentee ballots outstanding.)
Ms. Walton showed no such hesitation in declaring victory, highlighting what she said were the raceâs national ramifications. She said the stunning outcome would âresound here in Buffalo and throughout the nation, showing that a progressive platform that puts people over profit is both viable and necessary.â
âTonightâs result proves that Buffalonians demand community-minded, people-focused government, and weâre ready to serve them,â Ms. Walton said in a statement. âFor too long, weâve seen our city work for politicians, for developers, for the police union, but not for ordinary working families. In our city, everyone will have a seat at the table.â
"This victory is ours.
It is the first of many.
If you are in an elected office right now, you are being put on notice.
jcb, in the OT that I posted earlier today and deleted, I bellyached over the fact that someone posted a Keith Obermann link yesterday. Obermann was reporting that Pelousy has buckled under, and will now mount an investigation into the 1.6 Capitol storming. Why did she do it? Cos the Liberal Progressives just like us here and in the House are raising h3ll, winning elections like this one, and slowly gaining power. Keithie never mentioned that imperative fact. Why not?!?đĄ
As progressives win races Pelousy is running out of fingers to plug the holes in the proverbial dam.. Inch by inch, day by day we progressives are coming.
Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent in charge of the powerful Senate Budget Committee, signaled on Tuesday an openness to adjusting the cap on how much taxpayers can deduct in state and local taxes as he seeks to secure the support of nearly every Democrat in Congress for a multitrillion-dollar economic package.
Some congressional Democrats have warned that they may not support any changes to the tax code that do not also address that provision, put in place during the Trump administration, because of the impact on their constituents.
A draft budget document circulated by staff members on Capitol Hill and obtained by The New York Times included money to address the cap, which primarily increases the tax bills of higher-income residents of high-tax states like New York and California. The funding was not included in Mr. Bidenâs original proposals and could amount to a partial repeal of the cap for some taxpayers.
âI have a problem with extremely wealthy people being able to get the complete deduction,â Mr. Sanders said in an interview, though he did not comment on specific details. âI think thatâs an issue weâll have to work on.â
After Senate Republicans unanimously blocked debate on a far-reaching and popular voting rights bill, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont late Tuesday joined the chorus demanding an end to the 60-vote legislative filibuster and slammed the GOP for remaining “loyal to the Big Lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 election.”
“It is a disgrace that at a time when authoritarianism, conspiracy theories, and political violence are on the rise, not a single Republican in the United States Senate has the courage to even debate whether we should protect American democracy or not,” Sanders said in a statement. “Meanwhile, in state houses and governor’s mansions across the country, Republicans are shamefully working overtime to make it harder for poor people, people of color, young people, and people with disabilities to participate in the American democratic system.”
Every member of the Senate Democratic caucusâincluding Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), the only Senate Democrat who has not co-sponsored the For the People Actâvoted in favor of moving forward with debate on the bill Tuesday. But under current Senate rules, which Manchin and other conservative Democrats have refused to touch, a 60-vote supermajority is required to overcome a filibuster, effectively giving the Republican minority veto power.
Further spotlighting the undemocratic nature of the upper chamber, data shows that the 50 members of the Senate Democratic caucus represent 43 million more people than the 50 Republicans in the Senate.
Following Tuesday’s vote, Sanders said that “there’s no issue in front of us right now that is more critical for the future of our country than protecting the fundamental right of every American to vote.”
“If we are serious about calling ourselves a democracy we must make it easier for people to participate, not harder,” the Vermont senator continued. “Now is the time for majority rule in the Senate. We must end the filibuster, pass sweeping voting rights legislation, and protect our democracy.”
When New York Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones was at the White House for the signing of the proclamation making Juneteenth a national holiday last week, he told President Joe Biden their party needed him more involved in passing voting legislation on the Hill.
In response? Biden âjust sort of stared at me,â Jones said, describing an âawkward silenceâ that passed between the two.
For Jones, the moment was emblematic of what he and a growing number of Democratic activists describe as a lackluster engagement from Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on an issue they consider urgent and necessary for the health of the democracy.
Although the White House has characterized the issue as âthe fight of his presidency,â Biden has prioritized his economic initiatives, measures more likely to win Republican support in the Senate. And heâs shown little interest thus far in diving into a messy debate over changing Senate rules to pass the legislation on Democratic votes alone.
But as Democratsâ massive election legislation was blocked by Republicans on Tuesday, progressives argued Biden could not avoid that fight much longer and must use all his leverage to find a path forward. The criticism suggested the voting debate may prove to be among Bidenâs first major, public rifts with the left of his presidency.
Ezra Levin, co-executive director of Indivisible, a progressive grassroots group, said itâs been nowhere near the level of advocacy the public has seen on the infrastructure bill.
âThe president has been on the sidelines. He has issued statements of support, heâs maybe included a line or two in a speech here or there, but there has been nothing on the scale of his public advocacy for recovery for COVID relief, for roads and bridges,â Levin said.
âWe think this is a crisis at the same level as crumbling roads and bridges, and if we agree on that, the question is, why is the president on the sidelines?â
White House aides push back against any suggestion the president and vice president havenât been engaged on the issue, and say his laissez-faire approach to the negotiations is based partly on his experience as a senator and his belief that his involvement risks undermining a deal before itâs cut.
But in private, White House advisers see infrastructure as the bigger political winner for Biden because itâs widely popular among voters of both parties, a White House official said. Passing a major infrastructure bill is seen within the White House as going further towards helping Democrats win in the 2022 midterms and beyond than taking on massive voting overhaul that had a slim chance of passage without a debate over filibuster rules, said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss internal talks.
Embracing filibuster changes, in particular, risks undermining Bidenâs profile as a bipartisan dealmaker and could poison the delicate negotiations around infrastructure, where the White House insists it still sees opportunity for bipartisan compromise.
âHe does have to preserve some negotiating power, and his brand probably does not compute with being at the tip of the spear on reforming the filibuster,â Payne acknowledged.
Still, other Democrats say itâs time for Biden to get out front on the issue. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, said the proposals Republicans are looking to pass in his home state are âmore explicit and more dangerous than anything Iâve ever come across.â
Allred said that the voting fight increases pressure on Biden to take the leadership on the filibuster fight.
âWe do need President Biden to make that a priority, because if youâre going to talk about supporting the underlying legislation, it really doesnât matter if we donât have way to get past the filibuster,â he said.
Rather than continuing to peddle a false optimism that bipartisanship on most major legislation is truly possible with this Republican Party, Democrats need to tell their voters some uncomfortable truths.
First, the obvious: Even though Democrats have control of the House and Senate, not everyone in this caucus is fully committed to a liberal policy agenda. That means that the moderates, like Manchin, are the de facto leaders of the Democratic majority. Nothing passes without their approval.
It is these very same moderates who stand in the way of eliminating the filibuster.
And it is precisely for those reasons that very little is likely to get passed through this Senate that liberals will find satisfying. Democrats must brace for massive disappointment.
Furthermore, we are barreling toward midterm elections in which Republicans are optimistic about winning back the House and possibly the Senate.
I say dispense with the phony, wish-driven narrative Democrats are selling. Go down screaming and fighting. Much of the Democratic agenda may be stalled, but never stop reminding voters why it is: not because Democrats havenât compromised enough, but because they could never compromise enough.
The current status quo is an unwinnable negotiation, because it isnât a negotiation. This is a war. And in it, all is fair. Republicans have embraced a liar and racist in Donald Trump because their voters embraced him. They have excused and multiplied, in fantastical ways, the insurrection at the Capitol. They are rushing to write voter restrictions that also give them more say over how results are verified.
In the face of all this, Democrats need to stop talking about reaching across the aisle, compromise and common ground.
They need to go on the record and speak plainly: The Republican Party has given up on the idea of a true and full democracy. They are attempting to tear it down and erect in its place a system that reduces voter rolls and skews the will of the American people.
For the Republican Party, the success of democracy â that growing numbers of people could participate â is its failure.
Wouldnât that be nice if the NYT suffered a tremendous brain fart and called yahoos like Manchin what they really are: bought off Raygun GOPukers. đŠ
âWithout ending the filibuster, we are not going to be able to pass what the majority of Americans want,â north Phoenix resident Bonnie Oakes told @jessica_swarner earlier this year. https://t.co/DTJnNg0McM
I will die laughing when the FRighties and their money grabbing paymasters get what they dread the most: actual liberal Progressives controlling Congress and the White House!đ
Senate Democrats plan to include a pathway to citizenship for certain immigrants in the country illegally as part of the sweeping infrastructure bill they hope to enact on a partisan basis this year. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose committee would start the process of crafting a bill, confirmed Tuesday that it would include a pathway to citizenship, but said Democrats are still determining who would be covered.
âWeâre working on that right now,â Sanders said.
An early draft would call for $150 billion to go toward immigration policies, including the path to citizenship and some border security, according to a document circulating on Capitol Hill.
Comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship, has bedeviled Congress and lawmakers of both parties for four decades. On several occasions, bipartisan groups have formed, stirring the hopes of immigrant populations, only to have those efforts fall apart. Immigration advocates are demanding that President Biden and Democrats â armed with majorities, albeit slim, in both houses of Congress â not waste the opportunity to enact meaningful change.
âDemocrats stand to gain a lot politically with Latinos in particular if they actually get this done,â said Sergio Gonzales, executive director of the advocacy group the Immigration Hub. âBut the inverse is true as well: If it doesnât actually get done this year, I think itâs going to be a major problem for Democrats going into the midterms.â
"The industryâs plan is to allow the emissions from aircraft not just to rebound after the pandemic but actually to continue growing, peaking in the mid 2030s.â#MindTheGaphttps://t.co/R6THbejk7g
Police unions âcondition their members to see themselves as soldiers at war with the public they are meant to serve, and above the laws they are meant to enforce,â @AdamSerwer writes. https://t.co/pdFJPL3wcV
So the US trained both the Khashoggi killers and the Pensacola terrorist and approved entry for all into the US, probably all after the Muslim ban prevented people from other majority Islamic countries to come to the US. https://t.co/oIzLe8Pi8n
More precisely itâs the argument that the former confederates made against the 15th amendment, and the same one their successors made against federal legislation to protect black male suffrage during the gilded age. https://t.co/vxWZ3BaS6gpic.twitter.com/ZLbYjU51oo
I'm proud to receive the backing of Congressman @tedlieu, a leader who has tirelessly stood up for bold changeâfighting for LGBTQ+ equality, climate justice and universal healthcare.
I look forward to joining him in Congress to fight for our Democracy and strengthen our party. pic.twitter.com/AIrPmDv7mz
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on Wednesday that he is “tired of talking about” Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), amid simmering frustrations within the party between progressives and centrists.
Sanders was asked during an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell about how Democrats get around the opposition from the two moderates on changing the 60-vote legislative filibuster, a significant hurdle to voting rights and other key Democratic priorities.
“I’m tired of talking about Mr. Manchin and Ms. Sinema. We have got to do what we can to bring people together. The American people,I think, all over this country understand now is the time to act,” Sanders said.
Sanders also acknowledged that the party’s ability to enact its priorities was “constrained” by only having a 50-seat majority in the Senate.
“We need a hell of a lot more Democrats in the Senate than we have right now,” Sanders said.
The interview comes as progressives have grown increasingly frustrated at the slow pace of the party’s agenda in the Senate, where they need 10 GOP senators to pass most legislation.
Sanders has pitched going up to $6 trillion for a massive infrastructure package and floated paying for roughly half of it, though the figure has drawn pushback from other members of the caucus who need to sign off.
“All that I’m saying … it’s time to have a budget that speaks to the needs of American working families and the climate crisis that we face, that’s what I’m trying to do,” Sanders said on Wednesday.
But in order to kick start reconciliationâthe budget process that allows Democrats to bypass the 60-vote filibusterâDemocrats need all 50 of their members.
“Now, the size of the bill or what’s going to be done â the scope of that, weâve got to find out,” Manchin said.
“First of all, we should be looking at: What do we do that we think that keeps us competitive and make some changes in the tax code? Once you find out what makes you competitive in the tax code, then you’ll find out how much money you have to invest in this human infrastructure,” he added.
Hmm so the new TYT-designated authority on Douma, Patrick Hilsman, just so happens to be the grandson of the State Dept official who led a coup against Diem, was the architect of a concentration camp program, and (the irony!) backed a chemical weapons campaign against Vietnam. pic.twitter.com/neauwUyAAo
— đđđđ˝đ (@gumby4christ) June 23, 2021
wpDiscuz
Garcia is bound to be ranked higher than Adams on many Wiley/Yang/Stringer ballots, but will it be enough? Wiley is currently ahead of Garcia by a small amount, but I think Garcia will probably pass her in upcoming rounds.
Also, the absentee ballots (up to 200,000) have not been counted yet and these disproportionately are from areas Garcia (and Wiley) won.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/06/nyc-mayoral-race-what-the-first-results-mean.html
Yang lost the race with his Israeli/ Palestinian comment a while ago– well he lost me for sure
Me2
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/23/nyregion/india-walton-buffalo-mayor-socialist.html
jcb, in the OT that I posted earlier today and deleted, I bellyached over the fact that someone posted a Keith Obermann link yesterday. Obermann was reporting that Pelousy has buckled under, and will now mount an investigation into the 1.6 Capitol storming. Why did she do it? Cos the Liberal Progressives just like us here and in the House are raising h3ll, winning elections like this one, and slowly gaining power. Keithie never mentioned that imperative fact. Why not?!?đĄ
Major congratulations and kudos to the Buffalo Progressives, too! đđđđđ
As progressives win races Pelousy is running out of fingers to plug the holes in the proverbial dam.. Inch by inch, day by day we progressives are coming.
woo and a hoooooooo!
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/22/us/politics/sanders-salt-cap-biden.html
Go get âem, Bernie! Man, I so hope he gets some company elected to the Senate next year!
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/06/23/sanders-rips-gop-remaining-loyal-big-lie-says-filibuster-must-be-abolished
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-voting-rights-bills-voting-government-and-politics-1437f58f83a17f207e931b586955c650
Charles Blow
Plenty of Dems are taking this path but too many arenât.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/20/opinion/republicans-democrats-manchin-filibuster.html
Wouldnât that be nice if the NYT suffered a tremendous brain fart and called yahoos like Manchin what they really are: bought off Raygun GOPukers. đŠ
At least 10 arrested
I will die laughing when the FRighties and their money grabbing paymasters get what they dread the most: actual liberal Progressives controlling Congress and the White House!đ
Gerrymandering and voter supression is all the GQP has left. But they are powerful tools and the fight must roll on.
T and R, jcb!! đŚđâŽď¸đđ I deleted my post when I saw yours. I am slowly learning my way in cyberspace. đ
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-06-22/democrats-to-seek-citizenship-pathway-for-immigrants-in-infrastructure-bill-sanders-says
https://twitter.com/blkahn/status/1407412552582172676?s=20
Maineâs disgrace
looks like FB is slow today, couldn’t load it.
got it.
ExcellentâA very out of the box endorsement
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/559853-sanders-says-hes-tired-of-talking-about-manchin-sinema
https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1407773546303180807?s=19
âWe need a hell of a lot more [PROGRESSIVE] Democrats in the Senate than we have right now,â Sanders said.
https://twitter.com/SollenbergerRC/status/1407772698042941449?s=19
idk