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Thune Accidentally Makes Case for Hiking Minimum Wage

February 25, 2021 at 2:47 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) announced his opposition to raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by tweeting a personal story:

I started working by busing tables at the Star Family Restaurant for $1 an hour and slowly moved up to cook — the big leagues for a kid like me — to earn $6/hour.

Businesses in small towns survive on narrow margins. Mandating a $15 minimum wage would put many of them out of business.

Of course, as Newsweek points out, Thune’s $6 an hour wage adjusted for inflation would be $24 an hour today.

McCarthy Jabs at Cheney

February 25, 2021 at 2:24 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) suggested on Fox & Friends that Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) was backing censorship when she said former President Donald Trump shouldn’t lead the Republican party.

Said McCarthy: “The idea that a Republican would join in with cancel culture is wrong, it’s beyond just having a difference of opinion.”

Playbook: “Such a jab doesn’t bode well for GOP unity in the leadership ranks. Typically, Republicans use this attack of ‘censorship’ on Democrats — not their own. Plus, Cheney has not called for Trump to be silenced, only said that he shouldn’t lead the party.”

Los Angeles Times: Will Kevin McCarthy’s cozying to Trump make him House speaker?

Security Will Remain High at U.S. Capitol

February 25, 2021 at 2:19 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Some extremists who joined the January 6 insurrection have discussed plans to attack the building during the State of the Union.”

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Democrats Brace for Competitive Senate Primaries

February 25, 2021 at 2:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “The early dynamic — driven by the belief that the old D.C. model of who runs for Senate has changed — means Democrats will not be wanting for candidates in next year’s most important states. But it also demonstrates there are not runaway Democratic frontrunners in those 2022 states, the way there were in many recent Senate battlegrounds. And it means there’s a strong likelihood the party will face competitive nomination fights next year.”

Said one campaign operative: “All signs in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina point to very active primaries of the likes the committee has almost completely been able to avoid until now.”

Kennedy Apologizes for Calling Tanden a ‘Whack Job’

February 25, 2021 at 1:50 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) apologized for calling President Joe Biden’s embattled budget chief pick, Neera Tanden, a “whack job,” Politico reports.

Kennedy explained that he was searching for another word before calling her “a neo-socialist, left-of-Lenin whack job.”

He added: “I apologize. I was searching for a word for extremist, which I think is more neutral. And I should have said extremist. I never should have said whack job.”

Are Republicans Taking a Risk Opposing Relief Package?

February 25, 2021 at 1:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Aaron Blake: “The tax cut package they pushed through in 2018, for instance, polled among the most unpopular bills passed — if not the most unpopular — in decades. Their 2017 push to replace Obamacare was even more historically unpopular, with support falling as low as in the teens in some polls (before John McCain killed it with his thumbs-down).”

“And it would seem to be happening again, with Republican leaders pushing for their party to unite against President Biden’s hugely popular coronavirus stimulus bill. Some are characterizing this as a huge risk.”

“The reality is more complex.”

Granholm Confirmed as Energy Secretary

February 25, 2021 at 1:08 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Senate confirmed Gov. Jennifer Granholm to lead the Energy Department, 64 to 35.

Biden Is Right to Prefer Politicians Over Experts

February 25, 2021 at 1:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Bernstein: “Senator Ted Cruz (AWOL-Cancun) is on a roll, criticizing Xavier Becerra, President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, for having what he sees as the wrong qualifications for the job: ‘If a Republican tried to nominate a trial lawyer like Xavier Becerra to lead HHS in the midst of a global pandemic, they would be laughed out of the room.’ He’s not alone; Cruz joined 10 other Republican senators in complaining that Becerra is unqualified for the position.”

“They’re wrong. In fact, Becerra, who spent 12 terms in the House before serving as California’s attorney general starting in 2017, couldn’t be a more typical nominee. And there are very good reasons why presidents keep picking nominees with similar backgrounds. The job of a cabinet secretary, whether at HHS or elsewhere, is more than anything a political job, so politicians are the ones with the right training for the position.”

Two Paths for Trump at CPAC

February 25, 2021 at 12:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Karl Rove: “One approach would be to devote the speech to his anger and grievances over losing the election. He could complain it was stolen and brag about winning more than 74 million votes. He could claim credit for every GOP victory, from flipping House seats to adding state legislative chambers, while blaming others—notably Minority Leader Mitch McConnell—for every GOP failure, including losing the Senate…”

“There’s a second approach Mr. Trump could take Sunday. He could emphasize his agenda and contrast it with Mr. Biden’s policies starting with the new administration’s immigration proposal. He could share an expanded vision of where he would be taking America if he were still in the Oval Office, something he failed to do during his re-election campaign. He could remind people of his pre-Covid economic achievements. He could finally express compassion about those who died or suffered from Covid and declare his pride in Operation Warp Speed…”

“Leaders who come out of the wilderness after defeat do so by changing their approach and re-creating themselves. It’s unclear whether Mr. Trump has the ability to change, especially after a defeat that left him embittered and isolated. What are the odds Mr. Trump takes the more constructive second tack?”

Associated Press: Conservative gathering to feature Trump’s false fraud claims.

35 Capitol Police Under Investigation, 6 Suspended

February 25, 2021 at 12:15 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Acting Capitol police chief Yogananda Pittman told a congressional hearing there are 35 officers under investigation for the January 6 insurrection “and we do have six police officers that have been suspended with their police powers being revoked, so those investigations are ongoing at this time.”

Sununu Would Be Strongest Against Hassan

February 25, 2021 at 12:09 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new University of New Hampshire poll finds Gov. Chris Sununu (R) just ahead of Sen. Maggie Hassan (D) in a possible U.S. Senate match up, 48% to 46%.

In another match up, Hassan leads former Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R), 48% to 43%.

A side note: Sununu blamed Donald Trump for the January 6 Capitol riots and could be denied the GOP nomination if Trump forces mobilize to block him.

The Republican Party Is Now in Its End Stages

February 25, 2021 at 12:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Tom Nichols: “We are living in a time of bad metaphors. Everything is fascism, or socialism; Hitler’s Germany, or Stalin’s Soviet Union. Republicans, especially, want their followers to believe that America is on the verge of a dramatic time, a moment of great conflict such as 1968—or perhaps, even worse, 1860. (The drama is the point, of course. No one ever says, ‘We’re living through 1955.’)”

“Ironically, the GOP is indeed replicating another political party in another time, but not as the heroes they imagine themselves to be. The Republican Party has become, in form if not in content, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union of the late 1970s.”

Senate Waits for Ruling From Parliamentarian

February 25, 2021 at 11:30 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Capitol Hill waited Thursday for the Senate parliamentarian to weigh in on whether the chamber’s rules would permit Democrats to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour as part of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The decision by Elizabeth MacDonough, the chief Senate parliamentarian, will set the stage for an intense debate among Democrats about how to proceed on the contentious provision. Democrats, who cannot afford to lose a single vote among their own ranks to pass the bill in an evenly divided Senate, have split over the push to raise the federal minimum wage, which would boost it to $15 an hour over four years.”

The Growing Problem of E-Waste

February 25, 2021 at 11:19 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Green That Life: “When you think of the main culprit in our global waste crisis, do you think of plastic? I do, but a fierce contender is now e-waste. As we grapple with the environmental issues related to handling humans’ ability to generate ever-increasing quantities of waste, we’ll need to add electrically-powered devices to the list.”

Are Democrats Winning or Losing on Taxes?

February 25, 2021 at 10:56 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece for members is by David T.S. Jonas.

Back in 2012, President Obama and Congressional Democrats held all the cards on tax policy in America. If they did nothing, the Bush tax cuts would expire at the end of the year, setting federal rates back largely to where they were under Bill Clinton. Their leverage over Republicans was absolute–a rarity in Congress.

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Becerra Looks Headed for Confirmation

February 25, 2021 at 10:51 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra appeared headed toward confirmation as the nation’s first Latino secretary of Health and Human Services after a pivotal hearing passed Wednesday with few fireworks and no serious blows inflicted by Republicans hoping to derail him,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

Democrats Will Allow Earmarks for Infrastructure Bill

February 25, 2021 at 10:49 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Punchbowl News: “We already knew that House Democrats were going to bring back earmarks for the 12 annual spending bills. But here’s something new: Democrats are moving toward allowing earmarks on the large-scale infrastructure bill they’re planning for this spring.”

“Allowing earmarks could make it easier to pass this bill. It could give lawmakers a chance to list the projects in their district that need federal cash, and give them more political buy in to the package. It will also push appropriations lobbying into overdrive. If you’re a state, municipality or local government and you need an infrastructure project funded, it’s time to get a lobbyist. Just like the old days in D.C.”

Neera Tanden’s Nomination Was Troubled From the Start

February 25, 2021 at 10:26 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “Sen. Bernie Sanders never got a heads up. There was no campaign to pressure Sen. Joe Manchin to change his mind. And the phones didn’t immediately ring in the offices of key Senate Republicans when it became clear the White House needed them…”

“Over the weekend, once it became obvious that Ms. Tanden’s nomination was in serious trouble, lawmakers and aides say they saw scant evidence of an intensive campaign to salvage the pick from a team that promised to bring Capitol Hill savvy back to the West Wing.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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