Congress

Introduction To Budget ‘Reconciliation’

January 27, 2021 Richard Kogan and David Reich, Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Educate! Budget Reconciliation, Congress, Democrats

With majorities in the House and Senate, Democratic leaders may well use a special legislative process called “reconciliation” to quickly advance high-priority fiscal legislation. Created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, reconciliation allows for expedited consideration of certain tax, spending, and debt limit legislation. In the Senate, reconciliation bills aren’t subject to filibuster and the scope of amendments is limited, giving this process real advantages for enacting controversial budget and tax measures. This paper addresses some frequently asked questions about reconciliation.

Senator Manchin’s Voters Aren’t Letting Him Stop $2,000 Checks

January 23, 2021 Jay Willis, The Appeal. Resist! Congress, COVID-19, Stimulus checks, West Virginia

On the same day President Joe Biden sketched out the first details of his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus proposal earlier this month, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a fellow Democrat, dunked its most important component in a bucket of cold water. “Absolutely not. No,” he told The Washington Post, when asked if the party’s top priority should be sending out $2,000 stimulus payments—a pledge that Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and a multitude of other Democratic politicians made repeatedly on the campaign trail. “Getting people vaccinated, that’s job No. 1.” When the interviewer pointed out that this position placed him directly at odds with party leadership, Manchin more or less shrugged.

Biden’s ‘American Rescue Plan’ And Its Opponents

January 19, 2021 Jack Rasmus, ZNet. Educate! Congress, COVID-19, Joe Biden, Recession

New filings for unemployment benefits have been rising rapidly. From a ‘low’ of about 1 million/week in December last week’s initial claims for benefits topped 1.4 million—when both benefit programs, State administered and the Federal PUA, are counted . Another red flag indicator is consumer spending (70% of the US economy) and retail sales, its largest component. The latter fell -1.4%% in November and another -0.7% in December, according to just released US Commerce data. These are typical months during which they rise the fastest. Another indicator of consumer spending in growing trouble, credit card spending fell an even larger -2.7% in December, according to Chase Bank’s database...

$2,000 Checks Now And Make Them Monthly

January 15, 2021 Sean Kline and Jim Pugh, In These Times. Create! Congress, Joe Biden, Recession, Universal Basic Income

“It’s not hyperbole, you can change America,” President-elect Joe Biden told Georgia voters ahead of the January 5 runoff Senate elections. And they have. Not only did Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff’s wins hand Democrats control of the Senate, but the election served as a clear referendum on voters’ demand for increased stimulus payments directly to the American people. Leading up to the Georgia election, Democrats — responding to demands by both progressives and President Trump — pushed to increase individual stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 but were blocked by Senate Republicans. Ossoff and Warnock campaigned on this cash assistance to aid struggling families during the pandemic...

History Teaches Us Three Critical Steps To Stopping Fascism

January 11, 2021 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. Podcast Capitol, Congress, Fascism, Trump

On January 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters rallied in Washington, DC at the White House with President Trump and then marched to the Capitol as the presidential election was being certified. Some of them entered the Capitol illegally, either with the assistance of police, as the police passively allowed them to enter or by breaking in through windows and doors. Some of them sought out and threatened lawmakers and ransacked offices. I speak with longtime DC organizer, Brian Becker, who is the national coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition about the events of January 6, the rising extreme right wing movement in the United States and what can be done to turn the current dangerous situation around.

Capitol Incident A Dress Rehearsal

January 10, 2021 Joe Lauria, Consortium News. Educate! Capitol, Congress, Trump, Violence

With the normalization of mass shootings in the United States it is more than understandable that members of Congress feared for their lives when they learned protestors had forced their way into the Capitol in unknown numbers and were roaming around at will. But by the time it was over we knew that: only five weapons were seized by police so most of the intruders were probably unarmed; the only shots fired were by police who killed an unarmed female protestor; video and photos showed the demonstrators taking pictures of chambers and art work like they were tourists; and the occupiers were peacefully led out of the Capitol six hours later.

The Pointless Putsch

January 9, 2021 Nathaniel St. Clair, Counterpunch. Educate! Capitol, Congress, Trump

If the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, and eventually overtook the Capitol, quite easily by the way, with police literally opening gates for them, snapping some selfies, and participating in a few friendly shoving matches before ceding the building completely. If those people stormed the Capitol because their government had abandoned them for nearly a year while an unprecedented pandemic ravaged the country. If they stormed the Capitol because the government shut down their jobs and asked them to stay home but didn’t provide stimulus to replace their lost income, didn’t provide rent relief, mortgage relief, debt relief during an unprecedented pandemic.

Violence In The Capitol, Dangers In The Aftermath

January 8, 2021 Glenn Greenwald, Substack. Educate! Capitol, Civil Liberties, Congress, Trump

In the days and weeks after the 9/11 attack, Americans were largely united in emotional horror at what had been done to their country as well as in their willingness to endorse repression and violence in response. As a result, there was little room to raise concerns about the possible excesses or dangers of the American reaction, let alone to dissent from what political leaders were proposing in the name of vengeance and security. The psychological trauma from the carnage and the wreckage at the country’s most cherished symbols swamped rational faculties and thus rendered futile any attempts to urge restraint or caution. Nonetheless, a few tried. Scorn and sometimes worse were universally heaped upon them.

Let The Black Caucus Be Black

January 8, 2021 Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Congress, Congressional Black Caucus, Nancy Pelosi

“Let Black Democrats Be Black!” was written by Glen Ford in the November 1, 2006 issue of Black Agenda Report. The title is evergreen and could be used again as the 117th Congress was sworn into office this week. The same issues of corporate control, austerity policies, imperialism, and Democratic Party corruption prevail and make these issues salient year after year. Ford’s piece appeared as the Democrats were poised to take control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994. Black people were supposed to be particularly happy because veteran Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members like Charles Rangel and John Conyers were slated to chair House committees.

This Is The Time To Push For National Improved Medicare For All

January 4, 2021 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. Podcast Congress, Force the Vote, Medicare for all, Nancy Pelosi

This past weekend, new members of Congress voted for the speaker of the House. Given the slim majority of Democrats, progressives urged members of Congress who ran on a platform of Medicare for All to negotiate a floor vote for the Medicare for All bill in exchange for their support for Nancy Pelosi. Given the recession, pandemic, the millions who have lost their health insurance, growing support for Medicare for All and this rare opportunity of holding political power, the floor vote was seen as an important demonstration that progressives in Congress would fight for the people's interests this year. The campaign went by the hashtag #ForceTheVote.

Leech Lake Homelands Returned

January 2, 2021 Dalton Walker, Indian Country Today. Create! Congress, Indigenous Rights, Land Ownership, Land Right

Nearly 12,000 acres taken from the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in the 1940s and 1950s will be returned. Legislation that called for the Chippewa National Forest to transfer 11,760 acres to the Interior Department to be held in trust for the northern Minnesota tribe is now law. The House unanimously passed the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act in early December, and the Senate approved the bill in 2019. The measure was then presented to President Donald Trump, who had 10 days to sign or veto it. On Wednesday, the president signed the bill into law, the tribe announced on Facebook. "Miigwech to everyone involved in getting this historic legislation passed!" the post said.

The DC Political Monopoly Just Doesn’t Get It

December 26, 2020 Richard D. Wolff, Counterpunch. Educate! Capitalism, Congress, COVID-19, Failed State

The spectacle of political “leaders” disconnected from basic social realities survived Trump’s defeat. He and his GOP had shown little grasp of the two great crises of 2020: the crash of capitalism and the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump’s resulting political defeat did not reconnect them. The Biden Democrats already show they learned little from Trump’s loss; disconnection governs them too. A basic social reality of the United States is its capitalist economic system that organizes enterprises internally into a small minority (employers) dominating the majority (employees), with markets to distribute resources and products. Like capitalisms everywhere, the U.S. version crashes recurringly.

Meet The Pseudo-Left Imperialists Fighting Against Universal Healthcare

December 25, 2020 Dan Cohen, The Grayzone. Resistance Report Congress, Media, Medicare for all, Pseudo-Left

It’s no coincidence that the pundits who are circling the wagons around AOC and seething at a comedian for pushing for a Medicare For All floor vote are also a bunch of pseudo-left imperialists. They’ve positioned themselves as guard dogs and gatekeepers of the Democratic Party, a pro-war, pro-Wall Street political cartel that fights the authentic anti-imperialist left harder than it takes on right-wing Republicans. If there’s anything positive to take away from this episode, it’s that we now know who’s part of the struggle to improve the lives of working people in this country and ends wars abroad – and who’s standing in the way.

Congress Passes $900 Billion Mitigation 2.0 Bill

December 23, 2020 Jack Rasmus, Counterpunch. Educate! Congress, COVID-19, Democrats, Recession

As the 2020 year closes, Congress is about to pass a $900B Covid Relief spending bill. But make no mistake. It’s Senate leader Mitch McConnell’s proposal. And it will hardly dent the rapidly slowing US economy this 4th quarter and the increasingly forecasted coming double dip recession early next year. The new spending shouldn’t be confused as a ‘stimulus’ bill. It won’t stimulate the economy much, if at all. A stimulus requires significant net new spending. Most of the deal is just a continuation of past spending levels, and in some notable examples it’s a reduction in spending levels. The same can be said for the companion legislation to keep the US federal government funded.

Regime-Change Policies Come Packed With US Pandemic Relief

December 23, 2020 Alexander Rubinstein and Jeb Sprague, The Grayzone. Educate! Congress, COVID-19, US Regime Change

The longest piece of legislation in United States history, containing both a coronavirus relief package and the annual omnibus spending package, quickly passed through Congress on December 22, with little opposition. While technically separate bills, the omnibus and stimulus were debated and passed together, at the same time. The massive piece of legislation — a staggering 5,593 pages in length — lays bare the priorities of the US government, prioritizing regime change in foreign nations and the imperatives of empire over the basic needs of Americans. In just a few hours, it passed through the House of Representatives by 359-53, and through the Senate by 92-6.

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