Mediaboss Marketing

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had threatened to block paychecks to state House Democrats who fled the state to block votes on new election laws. Enough Democrats have returned that Republicans can go back to the legislation. Eric Gay/AP hide caption

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had threatened to block paychecks to state House Democrats who fled the state to block votes on new election laws. Enough Democrats have returned that Republicans can go back to the legislation.

AUSTIN, Texas A standoff in Texas over new voting restrictions that gridlocked the state Capitol for 38 consecutive days ended Thursday when some Democrats who fled to Washington, D.C., dropped their holdout, paving the way for Republicans to resume pushing an elections overhaul.

It abruptly and messily drew to a close one of the few and lengthiest quorum breaks in modern Texas history.

Instead of a unified and celebratory return by Democrats, some members lashed out at their colleagues over what they criticized as breaking ranks. Many of the proposed changes to Texas voting that Democrats have railed against for months remain in a bill that already passed the state Senate, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott could now sign the legislation in a matter of weeks, if not sooner.

Only three new Democrats showed up Thursday, and the vast majority of the more than 50 Democrats who bolted for the nation's capital in July continue to stay away from the Texas Capitol. Still, Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan said enough were there to achieve a quorum, which in the House is normally 100 present legislators. Growing impatience among Republicans had led to escalating threats that missing lawmakers could face arrest, but officers never appeared to do more than leaving warrants at Democrats' homes.

"It's been a very long summer. Been through a lot. I appreciate you all being here," Phelan said. "It's time to get back to the business of the people of Texas."

Not all Democrats joined in the holdout, and the newest to come back to the Texas House defended their decision, saying they had successfully pushed Congress on voting rights legislation while pointing to the growing urgency of surging COVID-19 caseloads in Texas. One of them, Democrat Garnet Coleman of Houston, did not go to Washington because he was recovering from having a leg amputation brought on by an infection.

"One of the things in life is that we have to know what our responsibilities are and we have to work to move something in the direction we want it to be," Coleman said from a wheelchair while delivering the prayer on the House floor.

But other Democrats who remained absent did not hide their frustration.

"This is how Texas Democrats lose elections," state Rep. Michelle Beckley tweeted.

Abbott now has an opening to divert attention back to the Capitol and away from criticism and defiance by Texas' largest cities and school districts over his handling of worsening COVID-19 numbers. Abbott, who is up for reelection in 2022, had also jammed the agenda of this latest 30-day special session which is nearly half over with other hot-button conservative issues including border security and how race is taught in public schools.

Abbott this week tested positive for COVID-19, although his office had said the 63-year-old governor did not have symptoms.

It leaves Democrats much in the same position as when the holdout started: unable to permanently stop the GOP-controlled Legislature from putting new limits and rules over how more that 16 million registered voters can cast a ballot. And federal voting rights protections that Texas Democrats lobbied for while in Washington still face long odds of getting around GOP opposition in Congress.

For months, Texas Republicans have tried to pass measures that would prohibit 24-hour polling sites, ban drive-through voting and give partisan poll watchers more access. One version of the bill that was just hours from reaching Abbott's desk in May also would have banned Sunday morning early voting when many Black churchgoers go to the polls and made it easier for a judge to overturn an election. Democrats' first walkout wound up permanently scuttled those two provisions, but Republicans have kept intact other contested measures.

Abbott vetoed paychecks for about 2,100 legislative staffers after Democrats walked out the first time in a move that was aimed at pressuring Democrats to return in order to restore that funding.

The full House quickly adjourned Thursday, but Republicans worked fast to schedule a hearing on the elections bill for Saturday.

"People want to get to work. They're relieved that after all this time that we've been held hostage in Austin that we can finally get down to business," said state Rep. Jim Murphy, chairman of the House Republican Caucus.

Months of protests had put Texas Democrats at the center of a new national battle over voting. Republicans around the U.S. have rushed to enact new voting restrictions in response to former President Donald Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Republicans are now back on a path to pass new elections laws in Texas before the current special session ends on Sept. 5.

Link:
Texas Democrats Return, Ending A 38-Day Holdout That Blocked A Voting Bill - NPR

Four weeks from now, a right-wing Republican could win thegovernor's office in California. Somepollingindicates that Democrat Gavin Newsom is likely to lose his job via the recall election set for Sept. 14. When CBS News released apollon Sunday, Gov. Newsom's razor-thin edge among likely voters was within the margin of error. How this could be happening in a state where Republicans are only24 percentof registered voters is largely a tale of corporate-friendly elitism and tone-deaf egotism at the top of the California Democratic Party.

Newsom has always been enmeshed with the power of big money."Gavin Newsom wasn't born to wealth and privilege but as a youngster he was enveloped in it as the surrogate son of billionaire Gordon Getty," longtime conservative California journalist Dan Walters haspointed out. "Later, Getty's personal trust fund managed by Newsom's father provided initial financing for business ventures that made Newsom wealthy enough to segue into a political career as a protg of San Francisco's fabled political mastermind, Willie Brown."In 1996, as mayor, Brownappointed Newsomto the city's Parking and Traffic Committee. Twenty-five years later, Newsom is chief executive of a state with the world's fifth-largest economy.

Last November, Newsom dramatized his upper-crust arrogance of "Do as I say, not as I do."Photos emergedthat showed him having dinner with acorporate lobbyist friendamong people from several households, all without masks, in a mostly enclosed dining room at anextremely expensiveNapa Valley restaurant, the French Laundry at a time when Newsom was urging Californians to stay away from public gatherings and to wear masks. The governor's self-inflicted political wound forhypocrisy badly damaged his image.

After deep-pocketed funders teamed up with the state's Republican Party to circulate petitions forcing a recall election, initial liberaloptimismassumed that the GOP was overplaying its hand. But the recall effort kept gaining momentum. Now there's every indication that Republicans will vote at a significantly higher rate than Democrats,a fact that speaks not only to conservative fervor but also to the chronic detachment of the state's Democratic Party from its base.

Newsom's most fervent boosters include corporate interests, mainline labor unions and the California Democratic Party. Just about every leader of the CDP, along with the vast majority of Democrats in the state legislature, is pleased to call themselves "progressive." But the label is often a thin veneer for corporate business as usual.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

For instance, the CDP's platform has long been on record calling for a single-payer health care system in California. Such measures passed the legislature during the time when Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor from 2003 to 2011, and he surprised no one byvetoing the bills. But the heavily Democratic legislature has obliged the latest two Democratic governors, Jerry Brown and Newsom, by bottling up single-payer legislation; it's been well understood that Brown and Newsom wanted to confine the state party's support for single-payer to lip service.

In the same vein, the CDP's current chair, Rusty Hicks, signed a pledge that the state party would not accept fossil-fuel money. But he went on to doexactly thatto the tune of several hundred thousand dollars.

As an elected member of the California Democratic Party's central committee during the last decade, I've often witnessed such top-down maneuvers. Frequently, the CDP's most powerful leaders are in a groove of thwarting the progressive aspirations of the party's bedrock supporters and blocking measures that would materially improve the lives of millions of Californians.

"This is what happens when the culture of high-priced consultants and cult of personality meets a corporate-controlled legislature and party," said Karen Bernal, a Sacramento-based activist who chaired the CDP'sProgressive Caucus for six years. She told me: "The campaign promises and vows of support for progressive policy are revealed to be nothing more than performative, while the hopes and dreams of the party's progressive base are sent to die in committee and behind closed doors. The end result is a noticeable lack of fight when it's most needed."

Now, with the recall election barreling down on the state, the routinely aloof orientation of the state party's structure is coming back to haunt it. Overall, the CDP's actual connections to grassroots activists and core constituencies are tenuous at best, while Newsom comes across as more Hollywood and Wall Street than neighborhood and Main Street. No wonder Democrats statewide are less energized about voting on the recall than Republicans are.

If Newsom loses the recall, his successor as governor will be determined by who gets the most votes on "part 2" of the same ballot. In that case, you might logically ask, isn't the "part 2" winner a safe bet to be a Democrat in such a heavily Democratic state? Actually, no.

On the theory that having any prominent Democrat in contention would harm his chances of surviving the yes/no recall vote on the ballot's "part 1," Newsom and party operatives conveyed to all of the state's prominent Democrats:Don't even think about it.

The intimidation was successful. Not a single Democrat with substantial name recognition is on "part 2" of the ballot, so no reasonable safety-net contender exists if the recall wins. As a result, Newsom's replacement looks as likely to be an ultra-right Republican as a Democrat. And even if the replacement is a Democrat, it would almost certainly be a highly problematic fellow financial adviser and YouTube starKevin Paffrath, whose grab bag of ideas includes a few that appeal to Democrats (marriage equality, higher teacher pay and promotion of solar and wind farms) but features a lot of pseudo-populist notions that would do tremendous damage if implemented.

Paffrath's proposals, asdescribedby the Southern California News Group, seek"to make all coronavirus safety measures optional, to ditch income tax for anyone making less than $250,000, to use the National Guard to get all unhoused Californians off the streets and to give trained gun owners more rights." As a clue to the inclusivity of the "centrist solutions" that Paffrath says heyearnsfor, he introduced himself to voters with a video that "features clips from Fox News and from conservative media host Ben Shapiro."Recent polling shows the 29-year-old Paffrath neck-and-neck with the frontrunning Republican on the ballot,bombastic Trumpist talk-show hostLarry Elder.

Whether Newsom will remain governor past mid-autumn now looks like a coin flip. And what's at stake in the recall goes far beyond California in fact, all the way to the nation's capital.

California's 88-year-old senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, is widely understood to be in poor health andsuffering from cognitive declineas she withincreasing difficultynavigates the U.S. Senate, now evenly split between the two parties. Under state law, if she dies or otherwise leaves her seat vacant, the governor gets to appoint the replacement. In a worst-case scenario, a Republican becomes governor when the recall election results are certified in October and thus, for at least the next14 months, would have the power to select Feinstein's replacement, thereby once again making Mitch McConnell the Senate majority leader.

Given the looming political dangers, Feinstein should resign so that Newsom could appoint a Democratic replacement. But such a selfless moveis highly unlikely. Despite all the talk about loyalty to their party and determination to defeat the extremism of the Republican Party, corporate Democrats like Newsom and Feinstein routinely look out for No. 1. That's how we got into this ominous recall mess in the first place.

Continue reading here:
California recall looks like a disaster and the state's top Democrats paved the way - Salon

The drama in Texas over election reform is drawing to a close.

A week ago last Monday, the Texas Senate held hearings on S.B.1 and opened debate Wednesday. Sen. Carol Alvarado, a respected Houston Democrat, then filibustered the bill with a 15-hour speech that began early Wednesday evening and ended Thursday at about 9 a.m. As she concluded her filibuster, Ms. Alvarado was surrounded by Democratic colleagues, then congratulated by some Republican senators for her grit. The Senate still passed the election-reform bill on a party-line vote, 18-11.

Meanwhile, Democratic state representatives are drifting back from Washington, where 56 of them had fled to deny the House a quorum to conduct business. They seem to have left Texas with a superspreader among them, as five later said theyd tested positive for Covid despite being vaccinated. Apparently bored by the nations capital, two Democrats also reportedly hit the Portugal beaches in secret before being discovered.

Rumors are that 95 or so of the 100 representatives needed for a quorum are in Austin. Other Democrats are reportedly looking for face-saving ways to show up for work so the special session can finish its business and go sine die.

Yet though it didnt stop S.B.1, Ms. Alvarados filibuster helped clarify what this disturbance is about. Its not the bills increase in the number of required hours for the states already-generous early-voting period, its mandate that more medium-size counties hold weekend early voting, the simplified procedures for verifying absentee ballots, or the requirement that mail-in voters be able to cure online, by phone, or in-person any mistakes in their ballot.

See more here:
Democrats Will Soon Play Texas Fold Em - The Wall Street Journal

The Indiana Democratic Party came to Lebanon Wednesday eveningas the last stop on the American Jobs Plan tour to show residents why Indiana needs a revitalized infrastructure.

What we believe is the once-in-a-generation investment in our infrastructure, Communications Director for the Indiana Democratic Party Drew Anderson said. We couldnt be more thrilled as a state party to end this tour in Boone County because we see such opportunity to build as a Democratic Party here.

Dist. 29 State Senator JD Ford, Zionsville Mayor Emily Styron, Indiana AFL-CIO president Brett Voorhies and former U.S. Dist. 5 candidate Christina Hale spoke before a group of 30 people who came out to Memorial Park to hear the message.

We are one of the fastest-growing counties in the state (according) to the 2020 Census, Boone County Democrats Chair Ericka Pickell told the attendees who applauded the 25% growth since 2010. I think that will put everybody on notice that we are here and we mean business.

Boone County is expected to see almost $28 million in federal funds as a result of the American Rescue Plan. The American Jobs Plan tour hit 20 locations and was a sequel to the June American Rescue Plan tour.

The breakdown of funds expected is $13.6 million for Boone County, $3.35 million for Lebanon, $5.91 for Zionsville, $330,000 for Thorntown and $4.42 million split up among the local school districts.

In a stop designed to invigorate the local Democratic organization, the speakers asked for continued support and recruitment of friends and neighbors.

What is Jan. 6, 2025, going to look like? Ford said. Is it going to be an opportunity for us to watch what we watched this past year? Or are we going to continue to keep moving forward and building upon the progress our country has made?

Ford said President Joe Biden came into office and started getting things done for Americans and for Hoosiers.

Democrats are delivering, he added. Republicans have played the obstruction game.

Ford said the party did not do a very good job promoting the Affordable Care Act passed under the Obama administration.

We were too busy governing, he said. We were too busy leading.

Voorhies said the plan is the first step in ridding the country and Indiana of right-to-work laws and the Protecting the Right To Organize Act.

Two-thirds of Americans approve of labor unions, he said. You all care and thats why youre here. You care about workers. You care about what youre doing. You care about dignity. You care about your neighbors, whether theyre Democrat, Republican, Black, white, gay, straight, whatever the case may be. You care. Thats why were Democrats and thats why were here today.

Styron said Zionsville is planning on using the money to fix some long-standing infrastructure and economic development problems.

We are targeting the funds to take some of the issues that weve had in what we call the Zionsville Gateway area and retool the public infrastructure here, she said. This focus that our president has right now is 100% spot on. Its not just about the jobs (although) jobs are really important. It is about transforming our small towns, our cities, our communities into healthier, stronger, safer communities across the board.

Indiana Democratic Party Chair for candidate recruitment Christina Hale asked for help in identifying candidates and raising funds to support the candidates.

See the rest here:
Boone County Democrats host American Jobs Plan Tour - Evening News and Tribune

A series of for-profit colleges have shut down in recent years amid accusations of fraud, mismanagement, and misleading students into taking on student debt they can't pay off. A top Democrat wants to make these schools' executives pay.

On Monday, House Education and Labor Committee Chair Bobby Scott wrote a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, urging him to hold owners, board members, and executives of now-defunct for-profit schools "individually responsible" for money the schools owe to the federal government.

"Given the substantial burden that is currently being borne by students and taxpayers when for-profit and converted for-profit institutions collapse, it is clear the Department has a responsibility to pursue any and all legal avenues available to recoup money that was allocated through financial aid programs," Scott wrote.

After major for-profit chains, notably including Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institutes, shut down, students and taxpayers had to pay the closure costs not the people who ran the school.

Scott highlighted actions the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken, like bringing ITT to court in 2015 for deceiving investors abouthigh rates of late payment and defaults on student loan, but he noted that SEC penalties have been narrow, and the Education Department can do more given its authority under the Higher Education Act including making them pay for the debt students had to take on.

Last year, Student Defense, which advocates for students' rights, released a reportdetailing how executives can be held accountable under the Higher Education Act, and Dan Zibel, author of the report and Vice President of Student Defense, wrote on Twitter on Thursday that "too many predatory colleges have profited from fleecing students & bilking taxpayers."

Since 2015, more than 200,000 defrauded students filed claims for a complete discharge of their loans in a process known as the "borrower defense to repayment." This methodology, approved by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, compared the median earnings of graduates with debt-relief claims to the median earnings of graduates in comparable programs. The bigger the difference, the more relief the applicant would receive.

But compared to a 99.2% approval rate for defrauded claims filed under President Barack Obama, DeVos had a 99.4% denial rate for borrowers and ran up a huge backlog of claims from eligible defrauded borrowers seeking student debt forgiveness, which is why Cardona reversed that policy to start giving borrowers defrauded by for-profit schools the relief they qualify for.

Scott's letter is the second asking the Education Department to hold for-profit education executives accountable. In October 2020, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren led five of her Democratic colleagues in pushing for the department to use all the legal tools at its disposal to hold executives of the for-profits that "defrauded students personally, financially accountable."

The lawmakers wrote the department's failure to enforce accountability "has also encouraged future lawbreaking by executives who feel confident they can enrich themselves at the expense of students and taxpayers without consequence."

See the article here:
A top Democrat wants to make them pay. All the executives behind defunct for-profit schools, that is. - Business Insider