Category Archives: Democrats

2/26 Biden Promotes War in Syria, Chooses Legislation that Favors Wall Street Donors Over Raising the Fed Min Wage in a 5 year Period; Open Thread (updated with Bernie’s comment about Syria)

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

A $15 minimum wage would cost employers. Inequality costs all of us

n the 1960s, the federal government marshaled its resources to fight a “War on Poverty.” More recently, however, we’ve been fighting what amounts to a “War on the Poor” — a sustained campaign of denial and neglect that we can begin to end by raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The current figure of $7.25 — unchanged since 2009 — is so absurdly low that the country effectively has no federal minimum wage at all. As of May 1, when Virginia’s minimum wage rises, 29 states will mandate higher wage floors. Assuming a 40-hour workweek, a $7.25-per-hour rate adds up to $290 before taxes. Try stretching that to cover a week’s worth of food, housing, clothing and transportation for an individual, let alone a family. It can’t be done.

Nor is it realistic to expect workers to survive, much less thrive, on $10 an hour, as Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) proposes, or $11 an hour, which Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) would prefer. The richest country on Earth can surely afford to accept the following proposition: Anyone who works a full-time job should be able to afford at least a working-class life. At less than $15 an hour, that simply is not possible.

Republicans cite the principle of federalism in arguing that states and cities should be able to set their own minimum wage levels according to local conditions. Indeed, many states do impose higher minimum wages, and some cities, such as Seattle and D.C., are on a path to $15. But five states — Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana — have no minimum wage at all, meaning employers are bound only by the $7.25 federal standard. And Wyoming and Georgia bizarrely set their minimum wage at just $5.15; again, the federal rule applies to jobs covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Federal policy recognizes that the current minimum wage is not a living wage. We help low-wage workers survive with tax credits, food assistance, subsidized housing and other sorely needed programs. But why the reluctance to require employers to compensate an honest day’s work with an honest day’s pay?

Other important principles once championed by the Republican Party are being undermined by this hesitance: Self-reliance. Self-respect. The idea of work as its own reward. The notion of idleness as damaging to self and to society.

Setting a nationwide floor of $15 an hour would require many employers to fine-tune their business plans. The cost of a Big Mac might marginally rise.

Yes, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 1.4 million workers could lose their jobs, although many other economists argue that the impact on employment would be marginal or nonexistent. The CBO also estimates that the net impact would be to lift 900,000 Americans out of poverty.

Look beyond the fact that the federal poverty level — a family of four making a penny more than $26,500 annually is not considered poor — should really be called the federal penury level. And leave aside that a full-time, minimum-wage job would earn only $15,080 per year. Consider instead how seldom we even talk about poverty today, as though the poor have magically become invisible or ceased to exist.

Activists are trying to get us to pay attention. The Rev. William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, has been holding virtual and socially distanced events across the country — including in Manchin’s home state — to argue that a $15 minimum wage is a vital component of any effective covid-19 relief package. “The truth of the matter is it will lift millions of people out of low wages and poverty,” he says, taking a more realistic view of where the poverty line should be drawn than the federal government does.

President Biden included the $15 wage in his proposed relief legislation. But because the Senate parliamentarian has ruled that the boost cannot be approved through the arcane “reconciliation” process requiring only 51 votes, Democrats would have to pursue it independently.

But I fail to see the political downside of supporting the measure for any Democrats — or even for the few reasonable Republicans left in the Senate. Raising the minimum wage is a popular idea; a Vox poll this week showed that 62 percent of voters support the relief bill’s plan for a gradual increase to $15 by 2025. Some of the nation’s biggest employers have already made the move: Costco this week announced that it would raise its starting hourly wage to $16, outflanking major corporate rivals. Small-business owners would have four years to adjust and adapt.

And the moral calculus could not be clearer. A $15 minimum wage would cost employers. Growing inequality costs all of us even more.

Instead of having the VP overrule the Parliamentarian, or even fire her as Bush/GOP did in 2001 when the Parliamentarian Would Not Rule in Favor of Tax cuts, Biden Administration decides to cut the life line to workers in retail, home health care, and fast food. Yes, he can spend more money on useless COBRA, which doesn’t guarantee good health care to anyone. It’s just catastrophic insurance. People still will continue to go to emergency rooms. In 2020, health insurance profits continued to soar in the pandemic.

Using the parting gift that McConnell left on Biden’s doorstep, $750B funded military, Syria draws the lucky number of hearing the echos of John McCain: Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran.

Biden administration conducts strike on Iranian-linked fighters in Syria

The Biden administration conducted an airstrike in Syria on Thursday that officials believe killed a number of alleged Iranian-linked fighters, signaling its intent to use targeted military action to push back against violence tied to Tehran.

The attack on a border-crossing station in eastern Syria, the first lethal operation ordered by the Biden administration against Iran’s network of armed proxies, was “authorized in response to recent attacks against American and coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

The facilities were used by Iranian-linked Iraqi militias, including Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, he said.

Bernie Sanders has no reason to support the OMB nominee. He should vote his conscience.

More news, tweets, videos in the comments.

GA Special Election Night and OT; Update: Warnock Projected to Win, Ossoff Leads but Too close to Call

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

The GA special election is being held today and the polls close at 7ET / 6CT / 5 MT / 4 PT.

The stakes are high for the election. Alex Seitz-Wald of NBC News writes:

The stakes are clear, but the outcome is a tossup in Georgia’s twin Senate runoff elections Tuesday that will determine control of the Senate and the launch trajectory of President-Elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration.

Both parties have pulled out all the stops in the monumental clash between Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. Almost half a billion dollars has been spent on TV, radio and digital advertising since the November general election alone, easily making these the most expensive Senate races in history, and both Biden and outgoing President Donald Trump campaigned in the state Monday.

Many pollsters sat out the race as they take stock of misses in November, but experts and limited polling all point to close contests that will come down which party can do a better job turning out its voters.

“Georgia, the whole nation is looking to you,” Biden, the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state in decades, said at an Atlanta rally Monday.

What are some things to be looking for? The Atlanta Constitution-Journal suggests the following:

The polls are set to close at 7 p.m. ET on Election Day, and that’s when ballot counting can begin. Absentee ballots must be received by the close of polls to be counted. Military and overseas ballots postmarked by Tuesday and received by Friday will be counted, and absentee voters also have until Friday to fix any problems so their votes can be counted.

No ballots, including absentee ballots received in advance of Election Day, can be counted until the polls close. But a state election board rule requires county election officials to begin processing absentee ballots — verifying signatures on the outer envelope, opening the envelopes and scanning the ballots — before Election Day. That should speed things up on Election Night. Still, some absentee ballots received by mail or in drop boxes up until 7 p.m. on Election Day will still need to be processed.

WILL WE KNOW THE WINNER ON ELECTION NIGHT?

Just like in November, it’s possible Americans will go to bed without knowing who won. All indicators point to the likelihood of very tight margins in both races.

Media organizations, including The Associated Press, often declare winners on Election Night based on the results that are in, voter surveys and other political data.

But in a close race, more of the vote may need to be counted before the AP can call a winner.

Additionally, folks will be looking at certain counties, and especially at African-American turnout. Targetsmart, a polling firm NBC News is partnering with to examine the early vote posted this tweet last night:

Politico reports that the Biden camp is skeptical of the Dems prevailing there.

Privately, Biden’s team does not expect to win the races, according to Democratic officials, but they are more optimistic about their chances than they were weeks ago. Though the president-elect narrowly won the state in November, they attribute that to a powerful anti-Trump sentiment that did not translate down the ballot. Perdue received about 88,000 more votes than Ossoff, and the top two Republicans combined got more than 636,000 votes than Warnock in the special election.

Makes one wonder what the internal polling for the campaigns looks like.

AJC Runoff Election Results will be posted beginning at 7:30 p.m. NYT will be following it (based on the AP). MSNBC (who will bring out Steve Kornacki), CNN, and TYT also will have special coverage.

https://youtu.be/y5srrSSXAY8

Let’s go Ossoff and Warnock!

Update: courtesy AP via NYT:

12/14 News Roundup & OT

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Bernie Sanders and Our Winter of Progressive Discontent

Bernie Sanders is not in a good political position right now. Yes, he continues to speak vital truths to—and about—power. His ability to reach a national audience with progressive wisdom and specific proposals is unmatched. And, during the last several decades, no one has done more to move the nation’s discourse leftward. But now, Sanders is in a political box.

After a summer and fall dominated by the imperative of defeating Donald Trump, progressive forces are entering a winter of discontent. Joe Biden has offered them little on the list of top personnel being named to his administration. While Sanders wants to maintain a cordial relationship with the incoming president, he doesn’t like what he’s seeing.

Sanders has tried to call in some political chits, but Biden—probably figuring that Sanders won’t really go to the mat—does not seem to care much.
“The progressive movement deserves a number of seats—important seats—in the Biden administration,” Sanders said last week. “Have I seen that at this point? I have not.”

Sanders foreshadowed the current situation back in mid-November, when he told The Associated Press: “It seems to me pretty clear that progressive views need to be expressed within a Biden administration. It would be, for example, enormously insulting if Biden put together a ‘team of rivals’—and there’s some discussion that that’s what he intends to do—which might include Republicans and conservative Democrats—but which ignored the progressive community. I think that would be very, very unfortunate.”

At this point, Sanders and avid supporters of the Bernie 2020 campaign have ample reasons to feel frustrated, even “enormously” insulted. It’s small comfort that Biden’s picks so far are purportedly “not as bad as Obama’s” were 12 years ago. That’s a low bar, especially to those who understand that Barack Obama heavily corporatized his presidency from the outset. And given the past decade’s leftward political migration among Democrats and independents at the grassroots, Biden’s selections have been even more out of step with the party’s base.

Reporting on Biden’s overall selections as this week began, the Washington Post found that “about 80 percent of the White House and agency officials he’s announced have the word ‘Obama’ on their resumé from previous White House or Obama campaign jobs.”

Biden conveyed notable disregard for Sanders by nominating an OMB director with a long record of publicly expressing antagonism toward him. The Post just reported that “the transition team never reached out to” Sanders about “Biden’s decision to tap Neera Tanden as director of the Office of Management and Budget, according to a person familiar with the lack of communication, despite Sanders’s role as the top Democrat on one of the committees that will hold Tanden’s confirmation hearings.”

Away from Capitol Hill, many progressive organizations are regrouping while “the Bernie movement” evaporates. Coalescing in its place are a range of resilient, overlapping movements that owe much of their emergent long-term power to his visionary leadership.

Nationally, Sanders became a shaper of history in unprecedented ways. Unlike almost every other major candidate for president in our lifetimes, he has always been part of social movements. For 30 years, Sanders not only continued to have one foot in the streets and one foot in the halls of Congress; somehow, he often seemed to be relentlessly in both places with both feet.

Bernie Sanders has fulfilled what the legendary progressive activist and theoretician Saul Alinsky described as a key goal of political organizers—to work themselves out of a job—so that other activists will become ready, willing and able to carry on.

At this juncture, while Sanders is ill-positioned and uninclined to push back very hard against the evident trajectory of Biden’s decisions, many progressives are starting to throw down gauntlets against the corporate and militaristic aspects of the incoming presidency. While the lunacy of the Trumpian GOP is nonstop and corporate Democrats have control of party top-down power levers, the broad democratic left is now stronger, better-funded and better-networked than it has been in many decades, with greatly enhanced electoral capacities as well as vitality of its social movements.

Those electoral capacities and social movements have long been intertwined with the tireless work of Bernie Sanders. But a crucial dynamic going forward into 2021 and beyond will be the resolve of progressives to methodically challenge the Biden administration. Senator Sanders is unlikely to have the leverage or inclination to lead the fight.

Sanders has tried to call in some political chits, but Biden—probably figuring that Sanders won’t really go to the mat—does not seem to care much. Days ago, Sanders said in an interview with Axios: “I’ve told the Biden people: The progressive movement is 35-40 percent of the Democratic coalition. Without a lot of other enormously hard work on the part of grassroots activists and progressives, Joe would not have won the election.”

Bernie Sanders was the catalyst for galvanizing the grassroots progressive power that propelled his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns. His deep analysis, tenacity, eloquence and bold actions created new pathways. As this century enters its third decade, the torch needs to be grasped by others to lead the way.

More news, views, videos, and tweets in the comments. See you there!

12/10 Hello Somebody! Nina Turner files paperwork for Ohio-11 & Open Thread

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

From Cleveland.comm:

Both Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Shontel Brown and former Cleveland City Councilman Jeff Johnson said they would run for Fudge’s seat if the Senate confirms Fudge as President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to oversee HUD. Another, former state Sen. Nina Turner, filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission on Wednesday, indicating she will also run.

snip

Following Sanders’ unsuccessful 2016 presidential bid, Turner ran Our Revolution – Sanders’ political group set up to back more liberal candidates who share the senator’s politics. She co-chaired Sanders’ 2020 presidential run as well.

Those connections give her a potential advantage in one of the most important assets a candidate can have: campaign cash. Access to Sanders’ and Our Revolution’s vast fundraising network means she has the resources to outraise and outspend competition.

Our Revolution already sent an email missive out to its members asking them to prepare to help Turner in a potential bid.

The Hill reports:

Nina Turner files paperwork for Ohio congressional run

Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator who served as national co-chair for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign, has filed to run for Congress.

Turner filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Wednesday for a committee titled “Nina Turner for US,” local NBC affiliate WKYC reported.

The outlet reported that Turner is expected to formally announce a bid soon for the seat currently held by Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio).

Fudge has reportedly been selected by President-elect Joe Biden to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The Hill has reached out to Turner for comment. A person listed as a campaign treasurer on Turner’s FEC forms did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shall we add Nina to our 2021 list of candidates?

Hello Somebody!

More news, tweets, videos, etc in comments section. See you there!

Special Election GA-Sen Debate Night: Warnock vs Loeffler

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Not often does one southern state other than FL has garnered so much attention for a senate race. In this case, it is Georgia. It determines whether or not Mitch McConnell continues to hold the American economy hostage.

Georgia has not seen a Democrat in the Senate since Sam Nunn, and that’s over 20 years ago. I don’t count Zell Miller since he became a turncoat.

CNN is televising the debate tonight between Rev Raphael Warnock and Sen Kelly Loeffler. What do they have in common? Both are from Georgia, the Peach state, and neither has previously run for the US senate. As you may recall, Kelly Loeffler took over the seat vacated by Johnny Isakson, who announced over a year ago that he would resign from the Senate effective December 31, 2019, due to his health. Gov Brian Kemp appointed Kelly Loeffler to fill the seat until November 2020 special election. Neither Warnock nor Loeffler garnered 50% or more of the popular vote; hence, there is a runoff.

According to CNN, Loeffler did not get a lot of support from Herr Drumpf, who continues to make the election all about him as he has exhausted most options in finding votes or hoping he can appeal to the SCOTUS.

On Saturday night, Trump stumped for Loeffler and Perdue at a Valdosta, Georgia, rally, but once again falsely claimed he won the state and warned without evidence that the runoffs in January could be rigged. CNN has previously reported that Republicans were concerned that Trump could depress turnout among his base if he continued to rail against Georgia’s election system. At one point, Trump welcomed Loeffler and Perdue to the stage for very brief remarks at the rally, but both senators were immediately interrupted with chants of “Stop the Steal” and “Fight for Trump.”

To watch:

C-Span and CNN will carry the debate live, along with GBT-TV. It will be livestreamed on CNN.com and the Atlanta Press Club’s Facebook page. According to CNN’s website:

CNN’s apps for iOS and Android with a log-in to a cable provider. It can also be viewed on CNNgo (at CNN.com/go on your desktop, smartphone, and iPad, and via CNNgo apps for Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV, Chromecast, Roku and Samsung Smart TV). The debates will also be available on demand to subscribers via cable/satellite systems, CNNgo platforms and CNN mobile apps.

Benny’s Bar will be open, and so will our comment thread.

Eggnog Screenshot 2020-12-03 175802.jpg

Eggnog Screenshot 2020-12-03 175802.jpg

Mocktail 2020-09-08 213703.jpg

Mocktail 2020-09-08 213703.jpg

Update: here’s the YT of the event.

11/16 News Roundup and Open Thread

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Washington Lobbyists Know Biden Well—as Their Former Boss

Scores of Mr. Biden’s former aides now on K Street represent hundreds of companies, trade groups and foreign companies. One person in the mix for a top White House role is Mr. Biden’s campaign chairman Steve Ricchetti, who co-owned a lobbying firm for more than a decade with his brother Jeffrey Ricchetti.

Mr. Biden, unlike the four most recent presidents, has deep ties to the Washington establishment from his 44 years in the Senate and as vice president. He named at least 40 current and former registered lobbyists to his transition team.

For much of his career, Mr. Biden has advocated for policies that he said would reduce the influence of lobbyists and special interests, including pushing for expanded government financing of political campaigns.

His campaign platform included seeking legislation that would require lawmakers to publicly disclose meetings and communications with any lobbyist or special interest trying to influence the passage or defeat of a specific bill.

“He will always place the public interest at the center of his decisions, because he is accountable to every American he serves as president,” said T.J. Ducklo, a spokesman for Mr. Biden.

It is common practice for aides to both Democratic and Republican elected officials to leave their positions in government for higher-paying jobs as corporate lobbyists. But the “revolving door” can pose a tricky balance for Democrats.

There are other folks on the transition team, such as Elizabeth Warren’s Chief of Staff, Anne Reid, who is now with a lobbying firm called Co-Equal, which is to beef up interests in Congress.

More news, tweets, videos, and jibber-jabber in the comments. See you there!

11/13 TGIF – Every Picture Tells a Story – Open Thread

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

TGIF from Benny’s Bar…Theme for Tonight: Songs and Images that Tell Us a Quick Moment or Story

Mocktail 2020-09-08 213703.jpg

Mocktail 2020-09-08 213703.jpg

WI Old Fashioned Brandy 2020-10-07 212822.jpg

WI Old Fashioned Brandy 2020-10-07 212822.jpg


(2nd drink is for @wi62, whom we celebrate in getting out of the COVID club this week)

Here’s a picture that has started a story…and with our help and words, craft more of our stories to bring to Capitol Hill, for economic, racial, and environmental justice.

I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over … No poor, rural, weak, or black person should ever have to bear the additional burden of being deprived of the opportunity of an education, a job or simple justice.

—James Earl Carter, new governor of GA in 1970.

I sent the organization a snack. Well done!

Another image, courtesy of the Atlanta Constitution-Journal:

Biden cleared the 300 EV mark. Congrats to his campaign. (I won’t congratulate the DNC though.)

And the chanson? Rod Stewart on the Video Jukebox:

https://youtu.be/lfkUg5OuxTM

Post your fav images, photos, videos appropriate for our place! News, tweets — keep them coming. Drinks are on the Nest! This serves as an evening open thread.

11/10 News Roundup and Open Thread

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Can Joe Biden avoid Obama’s mistakes? He must – for the future of the party

Recall that back in 2008, Barack Obama won the White House on a wave of anger at the incumbent president, and he took office under similar crisis conditions. And yet, despite Democrats winning large congressional majorities, Obama’s administration used its power to merely tweak the economic status quo, but not really change it.

From the get-go, the new White House brushed off progressives and championed a stimulus package that many economists said was far too small to quickly right the economy.

While Obama’s Affordable Care Act created some long-overdue consumer protections, it ultimately strengthened the power of private insurers. Despite Obama campaigning for a public insurance option, his administration dropped it, Democratic senators helped Republicans initially vote it down and then refused to ever bring it back up to force the issue, even though there was a good chance it would pass. The result: Millions have lost their health insurance and millions more are paying ever-higher premiums, while insurance companies have booked huge profits – and now support for the ACA is soft.

Similarly, Obama backed off his promise to pass new union protections for workers, and he reversed his promise to reform bad trade deals, instead pressing even more of those pacts that have become a symbol of a corrupt Washington more interested in enriching CEOs than helping workers.

Obama’s administration also refused to prosecute bankers and its Wall Street reform package was pathetically weak. Its Treasury Department helped kill an initiative to break up the banks, while it approved and defended big bonuses for Wall Street executives who engineered the crisis. The moves were a boon to a financial industry that bankrolled Obama’s campaign, but political poison.

More news, tweets, videos in the comments section. Sure Happy It’s Tuesday.