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Legislators Move to Strip Cuomo of Pandemic Powers

February 17, 2021 at 8:52 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Democratic leaders of the New York State Senate are moving to strip Gov. Andrew Cuomo of unilateral emergency powers granted during the pandemic, setting up a remarkable rebuke for the governor from members of his own party,” the New York Times reports.

“The Senate’s measures, which could be voted on as soon as next week, underscore the deepening division between Mr. Cuomo and state lawmakers since the governor admitted to intentionally withholding critical data on virus-related deaths from the Legislature.”

“The moves came even as it emerged that the F.B.I. and the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York had opened an inquiry into the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing homes during the pandemic.”

Trump-McConnell Rift Threatens GOP’s Senate Hopes

February 17, 2021 at 8:50 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Trump’s scathing attack on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Tuesday exposed rifts that could dash the GOP’s hopes of retaking the Senate in 2022 if they are allowed to fester. Some in McConnell’s orbit already blame Trump for losing the majority in Georgia last month. Now, the GOP leader has to hold together a fractured conference and guide Senate candidates through difficult primaries while holding onto seats in states Trump lost last year.”

“With McConnell castigating Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and Trump firing back in personal terms, Senate Republicans have reacted by trying to defuse the situation — a sign of recognition that they need Trump loyalists and more traditional Republican voters to stick together for future success.”

Washington Post: Trump-McConnell clash threatens to settle into a cold war as GOP eyes midterms.

Democrats Have a Backbone Now

February 17, 2021 at 8:38 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

E.J. Dionne: “Here’s the thing about President Biden and his party in 2021: They’re no longer scared.”

“They’re not defensive, or constantly looking over their shoulders, or making preemptive concessions to Republicans.”

“They have learned an essential lesson. Voters always say they like bipartisanship, because most Americans prefer people to be nice to each other and work together. But what they care more about is solving problems and getting things done. If the party in charge fails in that essential duty, endless bend-over-backwards negotiations and a big, inclusive ‘process’ won’t save them.”

FBI Probing Cuomo on Nursing Homes

February 17, 2021 at 7:50 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn have launched an investigation that is examining, at least in part, the actions of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s coronavirus task force in its handling of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities during the pandemic, the Albany Times Union reports.

What Rush Limbaugh Taught Republicans

February 17, 2021 at 5:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Chait: “His allies have praised his talents as a radio host, and he certainly possessed undeniable talent as a vocal entertainer. Yet his show was curiously devoid of any skill at argument. I am a big believer in listening to opposing arguments and attempting to understand them. I regularly read organs like National Review, the Wall Street Journal editorial page, and many others to understand how counterparts on the right see the world (and I do the same for those to my left).”

“Limbaugh’s program was useless in this regard. He could blather for hours without going from a premise to a conclusion. His only tools for processing opposing points of view were assertion, mockery, and resentment. Limbaugh liked to call himself smart, but he was a lifelong stranger to reason. He hid this weakness with a remarkable ability to gab smoothly and seamlessly.”

The Tragedy of Dianne Feinstein

February 17, 2021 at 5:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Los Angeles Times: “Deep into her ninth decade, Feinstein is no longer the politically revered figure she once was. There is talk of mental decline, of selfishly overstaying her time in office and calls for the Democrat to resign … The slow, sad fade is not simply a function of Feinstein’s age — she is 87 — but also the fact that times and the political world have changed and Feinstein, whether unwilling or unable, has failed to change along with them.”

“Bipartisanship, which is to say working with people with whom you may have deep and stark disagreements, is widely disdained these days as a form of retreat and surrender. It is, however, at the core of what Feinstein has always been: a believer in deliberation and political decorum, in practicality and legislative pragmatism… Today, Feinstein is a subject of scorn, considered by many a relic who is well past her prime, who refuses to yield to someone younger, more vibrant, more politically pugnacious and more reflective of California’s kaleidoscopic racial and ethnic diversity. History, with its long view, is likely to be much kinder.”

Biden Already Hitting the Battleground States

February 17, 2021 at 4:28 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Time: “The trips also reveal a longer-term strategy, advisers and strategists say. Presidential travel during the pandemic takes on greater meaning when large parts of the country have effectively been in lockdown for a year and public safety guidelines must be strictly adhered to. In selecting two of the most critical battleground states, he’s using his political capital to tell the voters that helped send him to the White House how he’s delivering on his campaign pledges — and why they should stick with Democrats in elections to come.”

Said Democratic Strategist Jim Margolis: “It’s no accident that Wisconsin and Michigan are the first two trips for Biden. They were must-win states in 2020, have big elections in 2022 and will undoubtedly be in the electoral bullseye again in 2024.”

Trump to Appear on Hannity Tonight

February 17, 2021 at 4:25 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former President Donald Trump will appear on Sean Hannity’s primetime Fox News show tonight, “just hours after breaking his media silence for the first time since leaving office,” The Hill reports.

Trump will “discuss the life and legacy of radio pioneer Rush Limbaugh.”

Trump is also scheduled to be interviewed on Newsmax tonight.

Insider: Fox hosts let Trump lie about election in first interview post-insurrection.

Today’s Campaigns Are Built to Profit, Not to Win

February 17, 2021 at 4:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

David Winston: “Today, our system of campaign politics rewards anger…and defines success by a model that produces money for campaign consultants, whether they win or lose. We can thank the combination of the McCain-Feingold law and the Citizens United decision for our current predicament.”

“Together, they minimized the role of the parties and candidate campaigns and made PACs and super PACs the dominant power in many campaigns for one simple reason: That’s where the money is. Many times, you won’t find top strategists or ad people working directly on major campaigns these days. They operate independently, legally restricted from any interaction with the candidates and campaigns they are supporting and often serving up background information for the media. But most importantly, they employ a circular model to attract donors by offering them a way to have a bigger impact on the election and its outcome.”

Can Marjorie Taylor Green Become the Face of the GOP?

February 17, 2021 at 3:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

McClatchy: “In the aftermath of last month’s deadly attack on the Capitol and resulting concern about once-fringe conservative movements gaining a foothold in the GOP, Democratic strategists are mulling a plan to make the freshman Georgia congresswoman and past supporter of QAnon conspiracy theories a central part of their 2022 midterm election strategy.”

“The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has already featured Greene in TV and digital ads tying the GOP to QAnon in a select group of battleground districts, a sign of what some Democratic leaders promise is only the beginning of a sustained effort to make her the face of the Republican Party.”

Unity Does Not Mean Bipartisan

February 17, 2021 at 3:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Joe Klein: “I rise to defend — defiantly, perhaps foolishly — the notion of unity. I know the concept has taken a bashing this past month. It has been ridiculed, dismissed, and rendered banal. It has been conflated with ‘bipartisanship,’ even though the two exist on separate metaphysical planes.”

“Unity has to do with principles; bipartisanship, with policies. Bipartisanship is a tactic, the product of compromise. But there is no bargaining over unity. It is a call to arms, a fighting word.”

Lawmaker Said Cuomo Threatened to ‘Destroy’ Him

February 17, 2021 at 2:45 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Assemblyman Ron Kim (D), one of the few Democratic lawmakers willing to criticize Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) for his handling of the state’s nursing homes during the pandemic, said the governor threatened to “destroy” him unless he took back his criticism, the New York Times reports.

Said Kim: “He goes off about how I hadn’t seen his wrath and anger, that he would destroy me and he would go out tomorrow and start telling how bad of a person I am and I would be finished and how he had bit his tongue about me for months. This was all yelling. It wasn’t a pleasant tone.”

“Mr. Cuomo made good on his threat on Wednesday afternoon. In a remarkable retort, the governor used his press briefing to lob allegations of impropriety at the assemblyman.”

Grassley Decision Coming In a Few Weeks

February 17, 2021 at 2:39 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Longtime Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said he may decide in a few weeks whether to seek another term in 2022, the DeWitt Observer reports.

Grassley, 87, would be 95 at the end of what would be his eighth term.

Millions of Jobs Probably Aren’t Coming Back

February 17, 2021 at 2:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “Businesses are planning for a future where more people are working from home, traveling less for business, or replacing workers with robots. All of these modifications mean many workers will not be able to do the same job they did before the pandemic.”

Kentucky GOP Leader Calls on McConnell to Resign

February 17, 2021 at 2:19 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Nelson County, KY Republican party chair Don Thrasher called on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to resign his leadership position, telling McConnell it was due to “complete and total disdain for the will of your constituents.”

Said Thrasher: “Your leadership in the US Senate does not represent the Republican voters that put our faith in you in the last primary election. Therefore I am formally requesting you resign your position as Republican Caucus Leader of the US Senate, forthwith and with all possible dispatch.”

Help Is On the Way!

February 17, 2021 at 2:16 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Actually, it’s here already.

I’m pleased to announce that David Jonas is now a senior contributor to Political Wire. He’ll be helping with the editorial side of the site, from creating news posts to writing analytical pieces for members.

Previously, David was a staffer for Sen. Al Franken and Gov. Terry McAuliffe and he’s also worked on more than two dozen political campaigns. That experience really helps inform his political writing.

Join me in welcoming David!

Absentee Balloting Was a Success in 2020

February 17, 2021 at 2:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Nathaniel Rakich: “From the 27 states, plus Washington, D.C., where we were able to obtain data, only 297,347 out of 47,999,299 absentee ballots cast in the 2020 general election were rejected — a rejection rate of 0.6 percent. And in 20 of the 23 jurisdictions that provided data for the last two presidential elections, the 2020 rejection rate was lower than 2016’s.”

“What’s behind this remarkable success? Election-administration experts cite several factors, but a big one was that voters submitted their absentee ballots early. That’s important because, in a normal election, the number-one reason that absentee ballots are not counted is that they arrive too late.”

Biden’s Promise Highlights Lack of Diversity on Courts

February 17, 2021 at 1:35 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

USA Today: “Biden repeatedly promised during his presidential campaign to name a Black woman to the nation’s highest court for the first time in history if a seat opens on his watch. But that commitment has drawn attention to a lack of Black women on U.S. appeals courts – the pool from which Supreme Court justices usually are drawn.”

“Four Black women serve as appeals court judges out of 179 judgeships – all of them older than 65… There are 35 Black female federal district court judges, according to the center’s data, just more than 5% of the total number of judges.”