Monday on The Hustings
JUNE 7, 2021 -- RONALD REAGAN NOMINATED GOP CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR, 1966
Today begins the Week of Reckoning for Capitol Hill Democrats, whose majority isn’t really a majority. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-WV, will meet today with President Biden to try and reach a compromise over the Republican and White House proposals on an infrastructure bill, making today a sort of deadline for an agreement (though we’re dubious about that). Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-WV, has told Fox News he supports a bi-partisan compromise, though he also says he opposes the election overhaul bill, passed in the House of Representatives earlier this year as HR 1. Meanwhile, ex-President Trump spent last Saturday night gearing up for a run for a second term, again, in 2024.
It’s Dead, Chuck – Washington media are reporting of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s, D-NY, difficult month ahead in moving forward his party’s agenda under his vice presidential-tiebreaker-thin majority. The score, as of this morning, is that infrastructure is still alive, but election reform is dead, because Sen. Manchin says so.
He and fellow centrist Sen. Krysten Sinema, D-AZ, both oppose putting an end to the legislative filibuster in order to pass bills with a simple 51-vote majority.
Writing in his hometown Charlestown Gazette-Mail over the weekend, Manchin said; “Voting and election reform that is not done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen.”
Note: Even supporters of the Democratic effort to overhaul voting rights via S1, the Senate version of HR 1, were not happy with the 800-page legislation and its overly detailed reach into states’ rights [see https://thehustings.news/braver-angels-debate-voting-in-america/]. House Democrats may want to tee up HR 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, which has languished with all concentration on HR 1 this year. The narrower HR 4 was written to mitigate the effects of Shelby County v. Holder (2013), by restoring federal court oversight of the sorts of state voter rules emerging from Georgia and Texas, among other states.
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Here’s a Bi-Partisan Victory – The Senate is expected to pass the American Innovation and Competition Act, possibly on Tuesday, “by a large margin,” according to The New York Times. The bill, which has wide bi-partisan support, seeks to counter aggressive Chinese technological investment with nearly one-quarter a trillion dollars investment in semiconductor manufacturing, artificial intelligence research, robotics, quantum computing and other technologies in the U.S. The Times calls it the “most expansive industrial policy legislation in U.S. history.”
Note: No surprise this is about to become the high-point in post-Trump Democratic-Republican unity. Competing against China’s economic might is perhaps the only issue on which Trump and President Biden have agreed.
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He’s Back – Any lingering doubt about Donald J. Trump’s plans for 2024 – and whether he indeed still leads the GOP – should be gone after the former president gave North Carolina Republicans at their convention last weekend a preview of his upcoming rally revival. There was nothing new about Trump’s speech rhetoric, as he repeated grievances of a “stolen” November presidential election.
Of the many quotes repeated in myriad news broadcasts, NPR chose this one Monday morning: “I am not the one trying to undermine American democracy. I am the one trying to save it. Please remember that.”
Note: As Democrats flail over President Biden’s ambitious plans to recast the economy – often attacked as “socialist” by the opposing party – it seems to be up to the MAGA-resistance arm of the former Republican Party, as well as hardline conservatives led by Rep. Liz Cheney, R-WY, to counter Trump’s repeated lies about the election, and inevitably, whether he and his acolytes can take full control of the nation in over the next two to four years.
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G7 Nations Agree to 15% Global Tax – The G7 over the weekend agreed to set a global minimum tax of 15% to prevent multinational corporations from shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions, the AP reports. The agreement ensures that such corporations pay higher taxes in the countries in which they operate, and specifically targets “digital” commerce in which tech and internet companies can avoid local sales taxes altogether. The G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the U.S. In the U.S., Congress must first pass legislation in order to participate in the minimum global tax.
Note: It is considered unlikely that the U.S. Congress would pass even this tax increase anytime soon. What’s more, other industrialized countries (e.g., Ireland) would need to support this in order for it to have the effect it is intended to have.
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Amazon Prime to Major Jeff – Multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos will be aboard the first crewed spaceflight by his space rocket company, Blue Origin, July 20, The Washington Post reports. Bezos and his brother, Mark, will join the winner of an online auction for Blue Origin’s non-profit foundation on the 52nd anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s Moon landing, a couple of weeks after Bezos retires as Amazon’s CEO.
Note: Blue Origin in April 2020 lost a bid to supply the next NASA Moon lander to Bezos nemesis Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Bezos and his fans believe the contract awarded to SpaceX had something to do with the Trump Administration’s attitude toward The Washington Post, which Bezos owns. Though SpaceX has launched more space rockets than Blue Origin over the years, Musk has not been aboard any of them.
Japanese Citizens Against Holding the Summer Olympics — 71% of respondents to a Morning Consult survey taken May 27-June 1 in Japan indicated that they think the Summer Olympics scheduled for July 23 to August 8 in Tokyo should be either postponed (26%) or fully cancelled (45%). Only 17% think the games should be held as scheduled. Even 68% of people who self-identified as sports fans think the games should be postponed or canceled. The reason? According to reporting from Reuters, the level of COVID vaccination is on the order of 3%.
Note: It is expected that the G7 leaders, who are meeting this week, will draft a statement supporting the holding of the games. One wonders whether if the games were scheduled for, say, London rather than Tokyo whether there would be such support, as face saving isn't something that is characteristic of Boris Johnson while it is undoubtedly important for Yoshihide Suga. – Edited by Todd Lassa and Gary S. Vasilash
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