The New York Post deleted a story that suggested copies of a book by Vice President Kamala Harris were given to migrant children who have crossed the border in “welcome kits,” CNN reports.
Why Roger Marshall Wore a Lab Coat In a Vaccine Ad
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), who is a physician, told the HuffPost that he wore a white lab coat in a public service announcement urging people to get vaccinated after being advised by GOP pollster Frank Luntz.
Said Marshall: “What we’ve found is if we put on our white coat, it literally moves the needle.”
Lawmaker Barricaded Himself In Bathroom with Sword
Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) hid on a toilet with a sword during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in January, the New York Times reports.
After being evacuated, Westerman and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy reportedly hid in McCarthy’s office. But when rioters began breaking into the building, McCarthy’s security detail had him leave Westerman behind.
For protection, Westerman said he “commandeered a Civil War sword from an office display, barricaded himself in Mr. McCarthy’s private bathroom and waited out the siege while crouched on the toilet.”
The Race To Watch This Decade
Join now to continue reading.
Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. Learn more.
Minnesota’s Response Rate May Have Saved House Seat
MinnPost: “Minnesota’s self-response rate for the 2020 Census was 75.1%, the highest in the country, while the national average for response rate was around two-thirds.”
“While the Census doesn’t rely entirely on self-reporting to tally population numbers, it’s worth nothing that if New York had counted just 89 more people, Minnesota would have lost a House seat instead. A higher response rate also helps if New York tries to sue to dispute the count.”
This was the smallest “lost seat” margin since 1940.
Iowa Moves 294K Registered Voters to ‘Inactive’ Status
Associated Press: “Being marked as inactive in the state’s voter registration database does not immediately affect anyone’s ability to vote in any way, according to the Iowa Secretary of State’s office. But under state law, it’s the first step in a process that would result in the cancellation of one’s registration after four more years of inactivity.”
John Boehner Didn’t Really Understand Power
Matthew Green reviews Former Speaker John Boehner’s new book On the House:
“This disdain for power, odd for someone who served in the third highest post in American government, may explain some of the more damaging errors Boehner made as Speaker. For instance, early in his speakership Boehner decided to eliminate earmarks in spending bills in the name of reducing corruption. This proved costly, as it robbed him of a valuable means of influencing his fellow partisans to stay loyal on difficult votes.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“I think we have a huge number of interesting candidates, but I think that we’re going to be in a good position to be able to take the White House. I do think that some of our candidates who led the charge, particularly the senators who led the unconstitutional charge, not to certify the election, you know, in my view, that’s disqualifying.”
— Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), in an interview with the New York Post.
Liz Cheney on Thin Ice
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was asked by Punchbowl News if Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) is still a good fit for his leadership team.
He responded that’s a “question for the conference” and added that if you’re at this retreat and talking about anything besides policy, “you’re not being productive.”
Jake Sherman: “This relationship — Cheney and the GOP leadership — is very near a breaking point. I’ve been focused on House leadership for a long time, and this is about as bad as it’s gotten.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Imagine there’s a car alarm that’s been going off for a long time and suddenly it’s quiet.”
— Former GOP operative Sarah Longwell, quoted by McClatchy, on the Trump-to-Biden voters she conducted interviews with, calling them “the most optimistic group in the history of focus groups I’ve done.”
Arizona Secretary of State Says GOP ‘Audit’ Is a Farce
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) slammed the efforts of Republicans in her state to lead an election audit of ballots cast during 2020, saying that it “seems like such a farce” and should end, The Hill reports.
Said Hobbs: “A group of Republicans are continuing to try to appease their base who refuse to accept that… Trump lost Arizona and that he’s not the president anymore.”
She added: “I kind of don’t want to call it an audit. I think that’s an insult to professional auditors everywhere because they’re making this stuff up as they go along.”
Ultra-Rich Fear Biden Will Close Favorite Tax Loopholes
Bloomberg: “The U.S. president is set to unveil a tax package on Wednesday that promises to raise revenues from those earning $400,000 or more a year. But executives and professionals making over $500,000 annually already pay relatively high tax rates.”
“What has potentially far greater ramifications is that Biden and Democrats in Congress are threatening to target a much wealthier group — the growing number of Americans with fortunes starting in the tens of millions of dollars — who often pay lower tax rates than many middle-class families.”
White House chief of staff Ron Klain tweets: “Umm…”
Murkowski Challenger Promoted Gay Conversion Therapy
Kelly Tshibaka (R), who is challenging Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in 2022, once wrote in support of an “ex-gay” Christian organization that promoted discredited “conversion therapy” and said that homosexuality was caused by “sexual molestation during childhood,” CNN reports.
Tshibaka also urged gay people to “not be controlled by the ‘once-gay-always-gay-rhetoric’ used to advance political agendas” and said that gay people can instead “come out of homosexuality” with the help of Jesus Christ.
GOP Offer on Infrastructure Is Smaller Than It Looks
Catherine Rampell: “See, the White House proposal had been framed as new infrastructure money, on top of whatever the government was already expected to spend on roads, bridges, airports, broadband, etc., if existing laws and programs continue without changes.”
“The Republican plan, by contrast, takes credit for all this already scheduled spending when calculating its total.”
“That’s significant because the ‘baseline’ spending (roughly $379 billion over the next five years) represents almost all of what Republicans have offered up. Once you strip out this already expected spending, the entire GOP plan is a mere $189 billion of new money.”
White House Drops Plan to Lower Drug Prices
Wall Street Journal: “The White House isn’t expected to include a measure aimed at lowering the price of prescription drugs in its coming antipoverty package… in an omission likely to disappoint top Democrats on Capitol Hill.”
“Negotiating the price of drugs would save the government roughly $456 billion over 10 years… But disagreements among Democrats about how to use the savings generated by drug-price negotiation has complicated its path forward.”
Right-Wing Dream To Rewrite the Constitution Is Close
HuffPost: “Between 1973 and 1979, 29 states called for a convention to consider a Balanced Budget Amendment, a proposal that economists have repeatedly warned would hamstring the federal government’s tax-and-spend authorities.”
“In addition to the states that have active Balanced Budget Amendment resolutions on the books, six states have passed calls for a plenary convention to consider general changes to the document.”
“Combine them, and the necessary two-thirds of states have filed petitions, meaning Congress has an obligation to call a convention.”
Well, you can’t really combine the two but the point is still worth considering.
Quote of the Day
“So when Jim Jordan was pulling all these stunts with Anthony Fauci, why didn’t someone jump in and say, ‘Let me tell you something, Jim, if Fauci knew what you knew, if he knew that a doctor was molesting young people, he would’ve gone to the medical board yesterday. So you can go ahead and shut the fuck up.'”
— James Carville, quoted by Vox, on Jordan sparring with Fauci at a congressional hearing on coronavirus precautions.
Trump’s Support Softens Now That He’s Out of Office
A new NBC News poll finds former President Donald Trump’s favorable rating has fallen to 32%, while 55% view him unfavorably.
Even Trump’s pull within his own party appears to have lessened, with 44% of Republicans saying they’re more supporters of Trump than the GOP, versus 50% who say they’re more supporters of the GOP than the former president.
A test of Trump’s influence will be his endorsement of Susan Wright in this weekend’s special election primary in Texas.
