President Joe Biden, about to take his show on the road
Bloomberg News reported yesterday that President Joe Biden will hold a celebration event for the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) on September 6 at the White House, followed by a tour across the country to tout the IRA’s benefits. Here is the tweet from Bloomberg White House reporter Jenny Leonard showing the memo from White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain which outlines the plans for the IRA celebration:
Per new WH memo: Biden will host a celebration event for the Inflation Reduction Act at the White House on September 6 and travel across the country to highlight its benefits. @POTUS will also attend the groundbreaking of @intel’s Ohio semiconductor fab. pic.twitter.com/SCXDZjWul9
The U.S. Senatepassed the Inflation Reduction Act on August 7. The U.S. Housepassed it last Friday. In both cases, the IRA received no Republican votes. Vice President Kamala Harris had to cast the tie-breaking 51st vote for the IRA in the Senate. President Biden is expected to sign the IRA later today.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC), the governing committee and voice of the Democratic Party, has a video up at its website, as well as on YouTube, which shows the party’s “mission” and “message.” Here is the video:
Not surprisingly, the DNC video stands in stark contrast to the mission and message expressed by Donald Trump and the Republicans:
Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson urges Republicans to act on climate change.
With the 2018 mid-term elections less than 100 days away, the Democratic Party is showing off a big tent that encompasses a diverse range of people and ideas. The same cannot be said of the Republican Party, which has developed into a Donald Trump protection cult.
In September 2015, we gave some recommendations on how to bypass the corporate mainstream media, which were doing an awful job reporting real news. We suggested that readers and viewers choose their own news sources, follow such sources on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, and share important stories. This way, you can act as your own news editor and broadcaster. Given the mainstream media’s abysmal 2016 election coverage, and with Donald Trump now in the White House, these efforts are more important than ever.
Here in a little corner of Southeast Florida, it’s Republican Land. You’ve got your gun-clinging rednecks, your Bible thumpers, and your One Percenters. The last group is something to behold. Their car of choice this year is the $200,000 Bentley convertible. Their home of choice is the Spanish style mansion behind the gates guarded by security personnel in starched uniforms. And their expression of choice is “I hate Obama.”
President Obama‘s inauguration speech for his second term called for an active, effective federal (as well as state and local) government that provides “security and dignity” for Americans. Among the things President Obama said that government should help do or be involved in are:
Multistate disasters like Hurricane Sandy, which is currently battering the Northeast, present a big problem for the Republican Party and its anti-government ideology. Here’s why:
It’s difficult to pinpoint the moment when the Republican Party began committing political suicide. It may have been when Republican Congressman Paul Ryan came up with a plan to end Medicare as we know it, and almost all Republicans in Congress signed onto the plan. Whatever that moment was, the Democrats have used the Republicans’ extremist overreaching to find their own voice, with considerable success. That Democratic narrative can be boiled down to the phrase “the Republicans don’t represent you, and we do.”
The Republicans’ well-known mechanized messaging discipline within their own party is one thing. But how about forcing the Democrats to follow the Republicans’ framing? That’s exactly what just happened in the GOP-run House of Representatives.
In the wake of numerous polls showing that American voters hate the Republicans’ plan to kill Medicare as we know it and replace it with a private voucher system, Republicans are doing the only sensible thing. No, they’re not backing off their Medicare-killing policy contained in GOP Rep. Paul Ryan‘s budget plan, they’re trying to change their messaging about it. In particular, Republican Party guru Karl Roverecently suggested that “Congressional Republicans—especially in the House—need a political war college that schools incumbents and challengers in the best way to explain, defend and attack on the issue of Medicare reform.”
You have to hand it to the Republicans — when they see their message failing, they often stick to their policy and simply make efforts to rewrite the message. Moreover, as Rove’s Wall Street Journal op-ed indicates, Republicans often treat political messaging as a “war”. It is, and at least the Republicans put up a fight rather than quickly caving.
Of course, there is a limit to the amount of lipstick that can be put on a pig, and it’s quite possible that no amount of ingenious messaging will save the Republicans from their highly unpopular Medicare-killing plan. Nevertheless, the Republicans are going to try, and a messaging “war college” sounds like a good idea. Once again, Democrats can take some tactical political messaging lessons from the Republicans.
