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I wrote about criticism on the left of Biden's $1,400 supplemental payments. I explain what these critics get wrong, what they might get right, what they're responding to, and the broader tactical challenges for the left in the Biden era: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/covid-relief-checks-progressives-joe-biden_n_600a25c6c5b6a46978cfae09
As I noted here, to lawmakers as deeply involved in the process of pushing higher cash payments as Reps. Tlaib and AOC, it was certainly clear that a $1,400 supplement -- and $2k total -- was what was being discussed.
https://twitter.com/danielmarans/status/1349919390641369093
https://twitter.com/danielmarans/status/1349919390641369093
There is an argument to be made though that Democrats deliberately blurred the lines between $1,400 and $2,000 in pitching it to Georgia voters. Therefore, critics say, they should just gross it up to $2k to save themselves political headaches.
“It’s inevitable that a significant number of Americans will feel like a promise was broken if they get a $1,400 check in the mail instead of a $2,000 check," @clairesandberg.
Not worth it, says @TheDuhalde.
"Jumping on a misunderstanding to make it look like we, the left, are losing, is a self-own,” he wrote.
"Jumping on a misunderstanding to make it look like we, the left, are losing, is a self-own,” he wrote.
Biden, Warnock and Ossoff didn't respond to me.
Reps. Bush, Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez are not walking back their criticism; they either didn't respond to my outreach or declined comment.
Reps. Bush, Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez are not walking back their criticism; they either didn't respond to my outreach or declined comment.
Most progressive lawmakers are moving forward with calls for recurring checks.
I got a hold of @ilhanmn's letter to Biden that she's circulating to colleagues.
“One more check is not enough during this public health and economic crisis." https://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/athena/files/2021/01/22/600a2500c5b6a46978cfacdf.pdf
I got a hold of @ilhanmn's letter to Biden that she's circulating to colleagues.
“One more check is not enough during this public health and economic crisis." https://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/athena/files/2021/01/22/600a2500c5b6a46978cfacdf.pdf
Five years after Bernie's first presidential run, the left is still coming to grips with the limits of its power.
It lost the presidential primary. And slim margins in Congress give them more veto power on a party-line vote in the House, but less room to push in the Senate.
It lost the presidential primary. And slim margins in Congress give them more veto power on a party-line vote in the House, but less room to push in the Senate.
But one lasting legacy of this period is what might be called the Jimmy Dore effect: The flourishing of a vibrant, impatient left-wing media ecosystem.
The benefits are clear: It can serve as a left-wing analog to right-wing talk radio. (MSNBC is partisan but not lefty.)
The benefits are clear: It can serve as a left-wing analog to right-wing talk radio. (MSNBC is partisan but not lefty.)
The disadvantages are debates about policymaking and legislative strategy driven, at least partly, by some personalities' hopes to increase their hold on the "nothing is good enough and everything is always broken" share of the left audience.
Dore and his peers capitalize on legitimate frustrations with Democratic leadership ...
... Their "force the vote" initiative might have been better called a "dump Pelosi" initiative.
And contra the "there is no alternative to Pelosi" consensus, I've heard smart arguments that a Jeffries speakership enabled by the left would be superior to the status quo.
And contra the "there is no alternative to Pelosi" consensus, I've heard smart arguments that a Jeffries speakership enabled by the left would be superior to the status quo.
But the standard for activists and media personalities is one thing, and the standard for lawmakers is another.
. @SeanMcElwee warns progressive lawmakers, many of whom he helped elect, against indulging the whims of the former.
“Progressives who ... have a policy platform really shouldn’t be allowing the message to be overtaken by people who don’t have strategic instincts."
“Progressives who ... have a policy platform really shouldn’t be allowing the message to be overtaken by people who don’t have strategic instincts."
From the cutting-room floor: McElwee shares some of the concerns outlined by @NathanTankus.
Tankus noted that cash fever on the left may be siphoning energy from less sexy, but substantively more important causes like aid to state and local governments: https://nathantankus.substack.com/p/much-ado-about-checks
Tankus noted that cash fever on the left may be siphoning energy from less sexy, but substantively more important causes like aid to state and local governments: https://nathantankus.substack.com/p/much-ado-about-checks
Another consideration via @matthewstoller: Objecting to a Biden proposal on dubious (false?) grounds could eventually just lead Biden to ignore the left. https://twitter.com/matthewstoller/status/1350094891183964165
