A Dallas party store is now selling Sen. Ted Cruz piñatas, depicting him on his way to Cancun, the Dallas Morning News reports.
Texas Electric Bills Were $28 Billion Higher
“Texas’s deregulated electricity market, which was supposed to provide reliable power at a lower price, left millions in the dark last week. For two decades, its customers have paid more for electricity than state residents who are served by traditional utilities,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why Neera Tanden’s Nomination Hasn’t Been Pulled Yet
The White House has not yet pulled Neera Tanden’s nomination to be budget director because officials are still not sure whether Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) will support her confirmation, CNN reports.
If Sinema won’t support Tanden, her nomination is dead. But if Sinema does support Tanden, then there’s still a chance Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) could be persuaded to back her too.
Progressives Urge Letitia James to Primary Cuomo
“New York Democratic strategists, operatives and progressives are viewing state Attorney General Letitia James (D) as an appealing primary challenger to Gov. Andrew Cuomo,” Axios reports.
“Her bombshell report about how the coronavirus rocked New York’s nursing homes focused on the issue Cuomo rode to a heightened national profile during the past year. James also has targeted Donald Trump with an investigation into his real estate empire, as well as Facebook, Google and the National Rifle Association.”
What Ted Cruz and Neera Tanden Have In Common
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Why Georgia Went Blue
A new NBC News analysis of presidential results in every county in the U.S. finds that “three Atlanta-area suburban Georgia counties — Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale — increased their Democratic vote share between 2008 and 2020 by more than any other counties in the country.”
- In Gwinnett, Barack Obama won 44.5% of the vote in 2008, while Biden won 58.4% in 2020.
- In Henry, Obama won 45.9% in 2008, while Biden won 59.7% in 2020.
- And in Rockdale, Obama won 54.4% in 2008, while Biden won 69.9% in 2020.
“What’s more, seven of the eight counties that saw the largest increase in Democratic vote share across the entire country just happen to be in Georgia. And all of Georgia’s 10 most populous counties saw an increase in Democratic vote share from 2008-2020.”
Sewell Considers Senate Bid In Alabama
Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) said she expects to make a decision “very soon” about whether she will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Richard Shelby in 2022, The 19th reports.
“Sewell is the first Black woman elected to Congress from Alabama and the only Democrat in the state’s House delegation.”
Virginia Republicans to Nominate Candidates by Drive Thru
“After months of disagreement, the Virginia Republican Party’s governing body agreed Tuesday night on a method to nominate statewide candidates for the November election. They’ll hold a drive-up convention May 8 on the campus of Liberty University,” the Richmond Times Dispatch reports.
“The decision followed feuds among members of the party’s State Central Committee, who had opted for a convention to nominate candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. But such a gathering would be illegal under Virginia’s COVID-19 rules.”
“They plan to use ranked-choice voting, so delegates would fill out one ballot and list their choices.”
Should Trump Sell His Businesses?
Washington Post: “Some of Trump’s businesses are now in crisis, facing sharp drops in revenue and an exodus of clients, lenders, lawyers and business partners. Now, sharks are circling.”
“The Washington Post spoke with four investors who said they are exploring efforts to buy Trump’s properties or the loans he has taken out on them. They believe Trump has fatally wounded his brand — a view shared by some independent analysts — and they are hoping he will cut his losses by selling them luxe properties for cheap.”
Said one investor: “The first thing you do is you take the Trump name off them — which, by the way, could be a multiple-week effort, because it’s on everything. Once it’s gone, it’s a competitive asset.”
Senate Committees Postpone Votes on Neera Tanden
“The Senate Homeland Security Committee is postponing a confirmation hearing scheduled Wednesday for Neera Tanden, a potential death knell for President Biden’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget,” Axios reports.
Meanwhile, Politico reports the Senate Budget Committee’s scheduled Wednesday vote on Tanden is also being delayed.
Censoring Fox News Is An Insanely Stupid Idea
Matt Taibbi: “The so-called media reporters at major organizations like CNN and the New York Times have mostly either been silent or have played cheerleading roles during the most eyebrow-raising recent developments: the decision by Facebook and Twitter to block access to a pre-election New York Post story about Hunter Biden, the stunning exercise in monopoly influence by Amazon and Apple in swallowing up the ‘free speech’ platform Parler, the banning of Socialist Worker Party accounts in England and the U.S., and the shutdown of livestream capability by alternative media outlets (and the removal of celebrated footage shot from the Capitol riot by people like Status Coup videographer Jon Farina), a story that amazingly only got major play at … Fox News.”
“All of these stories share the same theme: small, unelected groups of private executives making sweeping decisions about speech, cheered on by Democratic Party politicians. If it proceeds to its logical conclusion, it poses a much more serious problem for society than even Fox News at its worst.”
How Biden Barely Won the Presidency
A must-read: Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes.
One of the more interesting elevations is that Biden almost ended his campaign after the New Hampshire primary when his campaign’s treasury was down to $1.5 million — “less than some candidates were spending in a single day at that point.”
The Guardian: Key aide said the pandemic “was the best thing that ever happened to Biden.”
Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Allen, Jonathan (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 480 Pages - 03/02/2021 (Publication Date) - Crown (Publisher)
Biden to Call Saudi King Ahead of Damning Report
Axios: “President Biden plans to call Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday, ahead of the public release of a potentially damning intelligence report about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”
“The call, if it happens as scheduled, will be Biden’s first conversation as president with the Saudi king. While they are likely to discuss a range of issues, the conversation will be colored by the imminent release of the explosive report expected to involve one of the monarch’s sons.”
Cruz Buying His Own Books Through Mystery Company?
Salon: “One day before the Georgia Senate runoff elections — and two days before the Capitol insurrection — a leadership PAC attached to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a mystery company that had previously bought copies of Cruz’s book…”
“Over the course of 2020, the Cruz-affiliated Jobs, Freedom, and Security PAC paid $1.2 million — nearly 80% of its operating budget — to a company called Reagan Investments LLC for ‘sponsorship advertising.’ The only other committee to register any disbursements to that company was Trump Make America Great Again, for a fundraising promotion for Cruz’s books in December… However, the Trump group clearly marked the payment for ‘collateral: books.'”
Ex-Lawmaker Fined for Propping Up Ringer Candidate
“A federal judge ruled Tuesday that former Miami Republican Rep. David Rivera violated campaign finance law when he funneled $75,927 in campaign money to a novice political candidate running against Rivera’s likely Democratic challenger in Florida’s 26th Congressional District — and ordered Rivera to pay a $456,000 fine for devising a scheme he knew was illegal,” the Miami Herald reports.
“In a scathing order, Judge Marcia Cooke said Rivera’s violations were knowing, willful and injured the public. She said Rivera has the money to pay the fine and also issued a permanent injunction to further prevent Rivera from breaking campaign finance law in the future since he continued to run for office after losing the 2012 race for Florida’s 26th Congressional District to Democrat Joe Garcia.”
GOP Testing Ways to Attack Democrats on Relief Plan
“Republicans tasked with winning back the House majority in 2022 see an opportunity in the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that Democrats plan to push through Congress in the coming weeks, most likely without GOP support,” Roll Call reports.
“In an early indication of the attacks to come, the GOP is road-testing messages in battleground districts. A poll… focused on whether Congress should pass legislation encouraging schools to safely reopen and the possibility that aid payments could go to undocumented immigrants.”
Top Business Leaders Back Biden’s Relief Plan
“More than 150 senior executives from some of the largest American companies across several major industries have lined up behind President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package,” CNN reports.
“The group of executives includes the top executives representing some of the powerful business interests in the US, ranging from bank and investment firms like Goldman Sachs and Blackstone, to technology companies like Google, Intel and IBM, to hospitality companies like Loews Hotels & Co. and airlines including American and United Airlines. Top executives from real estate, insurance and utility firms also signed on to the letter.”
Biden and Trudeau Renew Bilateral Bond
“The president and the prime minister would like everyone to know that Canada and the U.S. are best friends again — though neither mentioned why the relationship had frayed,” Politico reports.
“So after four years of trade wars, name-calling and international gossiping, President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weren’t going to let a global pandemic get in the way of a public display of mutual affection, even if it had to happen over video link.”
