Beware the Ides of March -- U.S. Politics March 2021

NO!

I just announced Texas is OPEN 100%.

EVERYTHING.

I also ended the statewide mask mandate.

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) March 2, 2021

Countdown to the first business owner getting shot for attempting to enforce a mask mandate in their store in 3...2...

maybe Neera gets in.

always very extremely cool to see what the Democratic Party will go to the mat for

cool to see what the Democratic Party will go to the mat for

Referring responsibility for this kind of stuff to "the Democratic Party" is a bad mental/verbal tic. However, if that deal gets made, you can reasonably pin it to Joe Biden, because it wouldn't happen without his endorsement.

Is there any evidence they are even considering allowing drilling ANWR? Not in the article linked. Just a (typical) throwaway line in a Politico piece:

What Biden could give Murkowski in terms of her home state's energy industry is unclear. Backtracking on early moves to pause drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and temporarily halt new lease sales for oil and gas drilling on federal lands would mean breaking major campaign promises for Biden.

IOW, that's one thing Murkowski wants, not that Biden is even considering giving it to her.

I don’t see anyone here saying Biden has made an offer, but rolling back environmental action is what she’s hoping to leverage.

CORNYN says Murkowski is using the Tanden nom to have a convo w/ Biden Admin on exec orders that have affected AK: “I know that Sen Murkowski feels like Alaska was targeted by the admin.”

“But I know she was interested in using this as an opportunity to have that convo,” he said

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) February 25, 2021

and?

Sorry.

Don't think anyone is invested in Tanden to the degree that would confer leverage of that scale. May be mistaken.

Cornyn just wants Murkowski to get a bit of good PR in AK.

and?

What the swing vote on a confirmation is seeking to vote yea is news?

tanden is not worth doing that, I'd be disappointed if they go for it.

is Tanden even good at all? or is it just because the GOP is opposing her

Tanden sucks from my limited exp with her. i was using her name as a verb to insult Dems I didn't like last year

this possible replacement director seems fine

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/02/shalanda-young-neera-tanden-omb-472753

(sorry to be dense but i don't really know the position)

but is it a big deal who it is? would they have independence to make calls on things that weren't basically dictated to them by biden anyway?

Houston's Mayor

Every time we start moving in the right direction the Governor steps in and sets us back and makes all of our jobs harder. He minimizes the sacrifices of people and businesses. I just don’t get it. st

— Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) March 2, 2021

yeah I don't think so which is why it's weird biden is so insistent on tanden. who gives a fuck, this is an administrative position.

I think the TX & FL governors have the same basic philosophy: you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, and if we want indoor Applebees again we're gonna have to sacrifice quite a few family members for the greater good

xp - Biden doesn't want to be seen as caving in when pushed. Tanden was his choice. It's just good politics to back your personal choice right up to the point where there is a scandal that disqualifies them, or it is obvious they'll lose confirmation. That's when the nominee withdraws, saying it was their own free choice, as a courtesy to the president, in order to avoid needless controversy and delay.

Tanden is politically whatever and as a person/manager bad (war crimes, harassment, outing victims). Presumably they’re so insistent because she’s a loyalist. She was on track to have a bigger role than this in the Clinton White House.

well I'm glad we avoided that

war crimes

neera tanden sucks, but when did she commit war crimes? she worked for health and human services during the obama era, no?

nomination withdrawn

we can all rest easy now

when did she commit war crimes

She wanted Libya to 'pay us back' with oil for the privilege of getting fucked up by NATO.

point taken, but i still think that there should be a distinction advocating for a terrible policy and actually enacting it.

if this is how it works from here out with posting then i don't think any of us are going to get cabinet positions.

I was thinking this

xxp - sure, but just wishing for it makes you a bad person, IMO - I was just doing the shorthand on why it's funny that she had to go through all this.

She's going to walk back into cashing checks from Bloomberg and Saudi Arabia though so I'm sure she'll be able to drown her sorrows.

And double down on posting. We're probably 12 hours away from her declaring holy war on the Manchin family.

there should be a distinction advocating for a terrible policy and actually enacting it

a brazen thoughtcrime

_when did she commit war crimes_


She wanted Libya to 'pay us back' with oil for the privilege of getting fucked up by NATO.

One of the contenders to replace Neera

Thanks for kind words on economic dignity wage @RoKhanna from my book.

The combo of $15 min wage, the type of EITC expansion you have proposed and major child care expansion - is a powerful policy threesome for a true economic dignity wage. https://t.co/ZRNNUE5Dsr

— Gene Sperling (@genebsperling) July 20, 2020

"Unfortunately, it now seems clear that there is no path forward to gain confirmation, and I do not want continued consideration of my nomination to be a distraction from your other priorities," Tanden said in the letter.

normal protocol observed down to the last detail

“powerful policy threesome”?!

Don’t kink shame.

You could call it a daisy-chain of mutually pleasing policies.

A real prosperity train

more like a policy human centipede

Orgy of Management and Budget

(OMB)

The U.S. Supreme Court seemed ready on Tuesday to uphold Arizona's restrictive voting laws, setting the stage for what happens in the coming months and years, as Republican-dominated state legislatures seek to make voting more difficult.
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/02/972935032/supreme-court-seems-ready-to-uphold-restrictive-voting-laws

Yep cool great.

All statutes unconstitutional except voter suppression and abortion bans, there’s our future.

pack the court

or use the CIA heart attack gun on 3-5 current Justices (leave Clarence Thomas for the lols)

The more the powers that be stamp all over the notion of democracy, the more it feels like we're heading/hurtling toward our own Gracchi Bros. tipping point. When you can't resolve shit at the ballot box, shit winds up getting resolved in much less healthy ways.

Chop chop

Today Venezuelan Interim President @jguaido and I discussed our unwavering support for democracy in Venezuela and our efforts to improve the lives of the Venezuelan people.

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) March 3, 2021