A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.
Not Having It
Progressives are firing warning shots right back at Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who is demanding that Democrats put a “strategic pause” on the $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill.
- Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-VT) kept it blunt: “No infrastructure bill without the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill,” he tweeted.
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) offered an alternative to Manchin’s demand: “Or maybe we hit the ‘cancel’ button on this so-called ‘bipartisan’ charade of an Exxon lobbyist drafted infrastructure bill unless we actually pass a law that helps people’s lives with healthcare expansion, childcare, climate action, etc,” she tweeted.
Manchin has weekly huddles w/ Exxon & is one of many senators who gives lobbyists their pen to write so-called “bipartisan” fossil fuel bills.
It’s killing people. Our people. At least 12 last night. Sick of this “bipartisan” corruption that masquerades as clear-eyed moderation. https://t.co/KW8w7HUhvT
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 2, 2021
- House Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who’s been at the forefront of hammering out the sweeping $3.5 trillion proposal, declared “no more pauses. No more excuses.”
- Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) ripped Manchin for trying to throw a wrench into passing legislation that addresses climate change even as extreme weather events like Hurricane Ida wreak havoc across the country:
Instead of writing op-eds, why don't you look into the faces of my residents who have had their basements flooded with sewage multiple times and their power out for days, Senator Manchin. We deserve better. https://t.co/jSMlIB4SYa
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) September 2, 2021
Thar Be Showboats In These Waters
Manchin is trotting out the old centrist hobby horses – inflation! runaway public debt! – as his rationales for slowrolling the $3.5 trillion centerpiece of Democrats’ agenda.
- The West Virginia Democrat’s demand follows a failed attempt at a similar pressure campaign by nine centrist House Democrats to force House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to put the bipartisan legislation to a vote before reconciliation.
- Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) reportedly coached those Democrats behind closed doors before the gambit imploded, by the by.
The Jan. 6 Committee Included McCarthy’s Records After All
The House’s Jan. 6 select committee included House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in its request to telecommunication companies this week seeking to preserve lawmakers’ records, according to CNN and Politico.
- It had been previously reported that the GOP leader wasn’t on the list, but CNN’s new report states that his name was added in the final draft of the request that was sent out on Monday.
- Hmm, could that be why McCarthy put out that fire-and-brimstone threat the next day swearing that “a Republican majority will not forget” if the companies go along with the committee’s request?
- After Politico and CNN’s reports came out, McCarthy spokesperson Mark Bednar accused Jan, 6 committee chair Benny Thompson (D-MS) of making the investigation “unserious and political” with “an authoritarian unconstitutional attempt to rifle through individuals’ call logs.”
Red States Enthusiastically Take Their Cues From SCOTUS
Republicans in Florida, South Dakota, and Arkansas have already pounced on the conservative Supreme Court’s greenlighting of Texas’ Draconian anti-abortion law.
- Florida state Senate President Wilton Simpson (R) says the legislature will introduce a similar bill.
- South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) announced a plan to follow Texas’ lead.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to leave the pro-life TX law in place, I have directed the Unborn Child Advocate in my office to immediately review the new TX law and current South Dakota laws to make sure we have the strongest pro life laws on the books in SD.
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) September 2, 2021
- Arkansas state Senator Jason Rapert (R):
As the original sponsor of the first #HeartbeatBill to pass in America in 2013, today I have ordered a bill be filed in Arkansas to update our law to mirror the Texas SB8 bill which was just passed as a Model Bill at @ChristLawmakers & upheld by the US Supreme Court. #arpx 1/2 pic.twitter.com/cjoeTmCKdz
— Jason Rapert (@jasonrapert) September 2, 2021
Key Analysis
“Five Justices Did This Because They Could” – The Atlantic
Ida’s Death Toll Keeps Climbing
More than 60 people have died in eight states from Hurricane Ida and her aftermath, including the flash flooding unleashed in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
- President Biden is slated to visit New Orleans today to inspect the damage from the storm’s landfall.
War Hawks And Profiteers Go On TV To Tell Us It’s Bad We’re Doing Less War Now
The Washington Post lays out how most of the supposedly neutral military experts who show up on cable news to complain about the withdrawal from Afghanistan are ex-defense officials who were responsible for the U.S.’s disastrous operations in the first place or are otherwise just plain hungry for war.
- Those officials include ex-Trump National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, Gen. David Petraeus, ex-Obama Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and John Bolton, who Trump himself noted would have pushed the U.S. into “World War Six” if he had had his way.
- Even more grotesquely, some of the former officials and ex-lawmakers who’ve given hot takes on the withdrawal don’t mention during those interviews how they raked in some handy profits from the war after joining various defense industry companies, the Intercept notes.
*water rising to the ceiling in NY-based news studio
"How will we live down our national shame in Afghanistan? This ex-Raytheon board member will tell us next"— David Dayen (@ddayen) September 2, 2021
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