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In a ridiculous new campaign ad released this week, Jerone Davison, a Black Republican in Arizona whos running for Congress, scares off what he calls Ku Klux Klan Democrats by brandishing an assault-style rifle.

Anybody arguing that todays Klan and todays Democrats are simpatico doesnt have good walking-around sense.

A Black man claiming he needs an AR-15 to keep a dozen Ku Klux Dems from invading his home may believe hes being clever, but really, hes just making an argument for putting would-be gun owners through a battery of cognitive tests. Because anybody arguing that todays Klan and todays Democrats are simpatico doesnt have good walking-around sense, to say nothing of good walking-around-with-a-gun sense.

But Davison must know that nonsense is more likely to make him attractive to the voters he wants to send him to the House, especially the kind of nonsense that implies that Black people are fools to vote blue.

Democrats like to say that no one needs an AR-15 for self-defense, that no one could possibly need all 30 rounds, we hear a voice say as Davison stands in his window with an AR-15-style rifle watching a whole klavern of Klansmen approach with a barbed bat and, for some reason, an assortment of garden tools. But when this rifle is the only thing standing between your family and a dozen angry Democrats in Klan hoods, you just might need that semi-automatic. And all 30 rounds.

Before we get to the main point, lets pause to point out the ads assumption that a dozen Klansmen looking to invade this Black mans home would themselves eschew AR-15s in favor of garden rakes and hatchets. In what part of Arizona would a homeowner have 30 rounds and a dozen Klansmen not have 360?

But thats the reality that the GOPs gun fetishists consistently ignore as they promote a political philosophy based on old Westerns: Theres nothing about being a so-called good guy with a gun that provides an advantage over a bad guy with the same.

On one level, Davisons false charge against Democrats is as flippant and reflexively dishonest as the claims that the Jan. 6, 2021, invasion of the U.S. Capitol was carried out not by Trump loyalists but by those opposed to Donald Trump. It doubles as an iteration of an older Republican argument: Because the Emancipation Proclamation, the preservation of the Union and a constitutional amendment ending slavery were Republican victories, Black people are fools to vote for anybody but Republicans but especially foolish to vote for Democrats, given that many were on the wrong side of the war, made up the bulk of the opposition to emancipation and, yes, included people who belonged to the Ku Klux Klan.

If theres a politician caught up in some kind of, er, klandal, safe money is on its being a Republican.

Had Republicans remained devoted to championing Black causes over Democrats objections, then puzzlement over Black peoples voting habits would be warranted. But to repeat a point previously made in this space, white Americans began their great migration out of the Democratic Party when it embraced civil rights, voting rights and anti-poverty programs. No Democrat running for the White House has won the white vote since.

At the same time, if theres a politician caught up in some kind of, er, klandal, safe money is on it being a Republican. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., attended a white nationalist conference in Orlando, Florida, and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., with whom Davison would represent Arizona if hes elected, sent a recorded greeting to the same conference. Years ago, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, now the second-highest-ranking Republican in the House, accepted an invitation from David Dukes campaign manager and political adviser to address a meeting of the European American Rights Organization, or EURO. As for Duke, who founded the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan decades before he founded EURO, he says hes a Republican, and he has run for office as such, greatly embarrassing Louisianas Republican Party leadership. (Duke's political history is also emblematic of the political shift mentioned above, in that he first ran for office (in 1979) as a conservative Democrat.)

Then there's Trump. When a coalition of white supremacist groups followed the Ku Klux Klan to Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, Trump declared that there were good people among them even after a woman protesting their evil presence was run over and killed. If Trump had thought the Klan was made up of Democrats, hed have said so.

Davisons ad is a reminder that Republicans rarely try to attract Black voters to the party; they try to shame and insult them into it. How could you possibly vote for a party that fought for slavery, they ask? As if Black people would be better off choosing the party thats looking to finish off the Voting Rights Act.

Its past time that Republican candidates stop insulting Black peoples intelligence and acting as if we cant separate the past from the present. Arguing that every Ku Klux Klan member is a Democrat because of what happened in the past makes about as much sense as arguing that Davisons peering out of a window with a rifle pointed upward makes him Malcolm X.

Original post:
Campaign ad criticizing KKK Democrats is nonsensical and insulting - MSNBC

President Joe Bidens economic agenda might be back from the dead. If the original proposal was Build Back Better, this is more like Build Back a Bit.

Democrats this week took the first formal step toward reviving a stripped-down version of the nearly $2 trillion plan that Senator Joe Manchin killed late last year. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asked the Senate parliamentarian to review a proposed agreement that aims to reduce the cost of prescription drugs by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices directlya long-sought Democratic priority that Manchin supports. That is one major component of a deal Schumer and Manchin have been discussing that would include hundreds of billions of dollars to combat climate change along with deficit-slashing tax increases on the wealthy.

The deal could be ready for votes on the Senate floor by the end of this month, according to a Democrat familiar with the talks who described the development as major progress toward enacting a chunk of Bidens program before the midterm elections. Caveats abound: Schumer and Manchin have yet to complete either the tax or the climate portions of the bill, and the West Virginia centrist has abandoned negotiations before. With no Republican support, Democrats need the parliamentarian to determine whether their proposal can qualify for the process known as budget reconciliation, which would circumvent an expected filibuster and allow a bill to pass with a simple majority vote. A second Democratic aide, who like the first spoke anonymously to describe the delicate discussions, told me that a final deal would probably take several weeks and characterized the hopes for a vote before Congress breaks for its August recess as ambitious.

Read: Its not just Manchin

Yet the fact that the Schumer-Manchin talks have advanced even this far counts as a welcome surprise for Democrats, especially considering how acrimoniously the original Build Back Better negotiations collapsed in December. Manchin walked away after accusing the White House of putting his family at risk by singling him out in an otherwise anodyne statement describing the status of the discussions. In announcing his decision on Fox News, he further complained that the Democrats proposal was full of budget gimmicks and could worsen inflation. Because Manchin represented the crucial 50th vote in the evenly divided Senate, his departure ended Bidens hopes of delivering on a progressive agenda that initially included a federal paid-leave program, universal pre-kindergarten, free community college, and an extension of the presidents expanded child tax credit.

The negotiations remained dormant through the winter. There is no Build Back Better bill, Manchin told reporters in February. Its dead. But he and Schumer quietly began talking again in the spring, keeping their negotiations secret both to avoid the daily pestering of the Capitol Hill press corps and to prevent Democrats from getting their hopes up. Gone are many of the items on Bidens original wish list, as is the original $3.5 trillion price tag. The total revenue Schumer and Manchin now hope to generate through tax increases and drug-pricing reform is likely to be in the area of $1 trillion, with about $500 billion in new spending on climate and energy policies.

Any deal that Schumer and Manchin strike will probably win applause from the bulk of the Democratic Party, including progressives. A $1 trillion bill might seem paltry next to the dream of $3.5 trillion, but its a lot better than the nothing that most Democrats have expected to get for the past six months. The contours are fine, Adam Green, a co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, told me about the potential deal. He said the climate piece was by far the most important aspect of the package for progressives, especially in light of last months Supreme Court decision limiting the EPAs ability to fight climate change. We cant reverse the Trump tax cuts if the planet disintegrates. The other two [proposals] are political winners, Green said of the drug-pricing reforms and tax increases. Climate change is just existential for the planet, and this might be our last chance.

Robinson Meyer: The Supreme Courts EPA ruling is going to be very, very expensive

Another sign that the negotiations are serious is that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to torpedo them last week by threatening to pull GOP support from a bipartisan high-tech manufacturing bill if the Democrats moved forward with the one-party reconciliation progress. Schumers move today suggests that at least for now, McConnells warning hasnt scared off Manchin.

As I wrote last year, the political advantage of Bidens economic agenda was always its size and ambition, because that meant with slim margins in Congress, it could withstand plenty of cuts and still represent a significant legislative accomplishment. That remains true today, perhaps even more so. An agreement on drug pricing, climate spending, and tax increases, combined with Bidens $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the $1 trillion infrastructure law, and the recent bipartisan gun-safety compromise, would make the presidents legislative record look a lot more robust.

Politically, a scaled-down bill that passes close to the midterm elections, when it will be fresh in voters minds, might be just as beneficial to Democrats as a larger bill enacted months earlier. Each of the major components has clear constituencies. Lowering the cost of prescription drugs is a particular hit with seniors, a key voting bloc, and Democrats also plan to sell the change as a way to offset the impact of inflation. Combatting climate change is a priority of progressive and younger voters, whom Democrats need to turn out in November. And polls have long shown that tax increases on the wealthy are among the most broadly popular proposals in Bidens plan.

Members of Congress love their sports metaphors, and in that spirit, the emerging Schumer-Manchin proposal is less a Hail Mary pass than a long-field-goal attempt right before halftime. Substantively, none of the proposals would fully solve the problems they aim to address. The drug-pricing scheme is less ambitious than what Democrats initially wanted, and Manchin has already watered down some of the climate policies backed by progressives. Electorally, given persistent inflation and Bidens approval rating dipping into the 30s, maintaining the House majority may be impossible for Democrats (the Senate is another story). But taken as a whole, the package could help Democrats keep the score closeboth in their bid to deliver tangible results for their voters and in the battle for power in Congress this fall.

Link:
Democrats Try to Build Back (A Bit) Better - The Atlantic

Massachusetts leaders say they plan to dole out tax rebates of $250 to individual tax filers and $500 to married couples as part of a nationwide scramble by Democrats to ease the pain of inflation.

The commonwealth is expected to have a budget surplus, so leaders decided to join the ranks of states finding ways to spread cash around to families struggling with everyday costs.

Whether it is the rising price of gas, groceries, or summer clothes for kids, the Massachusetts legislature has heard loud and clear that increased costs due to inflation have cut into family budgets, said House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen E. Spilka, both Democrats.

Eligibility for the tax rebates will be determined using 2021 income. Persons must have earned a minimum of $38,000 while the maximum income for those eligible will be $100,000 for individual filers and $150,000 for joint filers.

California announced a similar tax rebate in a budget deal Gov. Gavin Newsom reached with lawmakers last month.

Persons earning less than $75,000 per year will receive $350 as part of tax refunds in the $17 billion agreement while couples making less than $150,000 who file jointly are eligible for $700. Families in those categories with a dependent can qualify for another $350, meaning some families could see up to $1,050.

Californias budget addresses the states most pressing needs, and prioritizes getting dollars back into the pockets of millions of Californians who are grappling with global inflation and rising prices of everything from gas to groceries, said Mr. Newsom, Senate President Pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon after striking the deal last month.

People across the nation are reeling from the high cost of gas and everyday goods, as supply chains shake off the pandemic doldrums and Russias invasion of Ukraine puts pressure on the global demand for fuel.

Critics say President Biden and Democratic allies fueled inflation with generous stimulus payments in early 2021, overheating the economy as supply struggled to keep up with demand. At the same time, state and national Democrats say the government has a role to play in alleviating the sting of high prices.

Many individuals and states have stockpiled stimulus money from Washington without spending it all. Economists warn that giving people more money and saying they can use it on things like gas may only exacerbate the problem by increasing demand without alleviating supply constraints.

Giving them money is how we got into this trouble, said Peter Morici, an economics professor at the University of Maryland who contributes columns to The Washington Times. If you just give people money and that was money that would have been spent on something else, its not terribly harmful. If you do it in a way that subsidizes gasoline, you really are just adding to price pressures on gasoline.

Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, said temporary tax rebates are gimmicks and might not amount to much in the real world.

Short-term fluctuations in peoples incomes dont have significant impacts on their consumption, he said. If the tax cuts were permanent, the story would be quite different. Indeed, when peoples permanent disposable income increases, they boost their consumption.

But state and national Democrats eyeing a difficult election cycle say the government has a role to play in alleviating the sting of high prices.

In Connecticut, families can apply by July 31 for a one-time child tax rebate of $250 per child, with a $750 maximum per household. State officials estimate that 350,000 families are eligible.

State Republicans say Gov. Ned Lamont and fellow Democrats are trying to boost their political fortunes in an election year while Mr. Lamont and allies contend families need the cash to deal with inflation and high gas prices.

New Mexico authorized tax rebates and economic relief rebates earlier this year. It is sending out the second round of payments this month.

Under the program, households of married couples or single individuals with one or more dependents can receive economic relief payments of $1,000, and households of single individuals without dependents can receive $500.

The Democrat-run legislature also set aside $20 million to give economic relief payments to non-tax filers on a first-come, first-served basis.

Were delivering hundreds of millions of dollars in relief to New Mexico families, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, said after the program was launched in mid-spring. As costs for gas, groceries and household expenses have risen across the country, we are taking immediate action to protect the paychecks of New Mexicans in every corner of our state.

In Washington, Mr. Biden is pushing a social-spending package that would extend super-sized Obamacare subsidies and let Medicare negotiate down the cost of certain prescription drugs. He says any savings on health services will alleviate the pressure on households pocketbooks.

He also proposed suspending the federal gas tax for 90 days to ease prices at the pump, though the GOP and Democratic leaders in Congress panned it as a gimmick.

View post:
Democrats from coast to coast dole out tax rebates to ease inflation, gas price woes - Washington Times

California Democratic candidates and officeholders have raised $141 million during the 2022 election cycle. Among California State Assembly candidates and officeholders, Phil Ting has raised more than any other Democrat.

Ting represents Assembly District 19 and is running for re-election in 2022. Ting raised $3,752,241 and spent $2,734,460 between Jan. 1, 2021, and May 21, 2022. According to California Secretary of State reports, the following individual donors and PACs gave the most money to Tings campaign accounts.

Of the $3.8 million in reported donations, $2.1 million came from these 10 donors.

The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active California candidate PACs submitted to the California Secretary of State. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.

See updates to Tings campaign finance data after the next reports are available.

This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.

View post:
Phil Ting raises more than any other Democrat in the California State Assembly Ballotpedia News - Ballotpedia News

WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI A Democratic candidate for Washtenaw County office is under fire for his past political contributions to Republican candidates, including a donation to former President Donald Trumps campaign.

Super PAC-funded mailers tucked into mailboxes of voters in his district paint Ann Arbor banker Stephen Lange Ranzini as a true Trump Republican, while his Democratic primary opponent has also seized upon them as a wedge issue.

Ranzini is competing with Crystal Lyte, a career adviser at Michigan Works Southeast, in the Aug. 2 Democratic primary election for Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners District 2, covering a piece of northern Ann Arbor and townships to the north and east.

Read more: 2 first-time primary candidates vie for northeastern Washtenaw County board seat

Since 2000, Ranzini has given almost $17,000 to state and federal GOP candidates and party causes, according to an analysis of public campaign finance records, which did not include local races.

During that same time, his Democratic cash contributions outpaced that sum, reaching at least close to $28,000 and dominating the records after 2010.

Theres one prominent exception, though: what appears to be a single $1,000 contribution to Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. in late 2016 after Trumps presidential election victory, according to Federal Election Commission records, where the donation is reported under Stephen L. Razini, a misspelling of the candidates last name, but with an Ann Arbor address matching his other donation.

The FEC records, reported by the Trump campaign, show three transactions involving Razini, though memos included with the documents indicate two of them reflect a redesignation of the initial contribution for use in subsequent elections, rather than multiple, separate donations.

In a statement to MLive/The Ann Arbor News, Ranzini did not address the Republican contributions, but pointed to a his record as a lifelong supporter of Democratic candidates and Democratic parties.

His campaign website states that includes campaigning for figures like state Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, among others.

Ranzini also referenced his service as a delegate at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, where he said he cast a historic vote to support the nomination of Hillary Clinton, who he also supported in 2016 with a $2,700 contribution, FEC records show.

Ranzini, president and CEO of University Bank in Ann Arbor, also took aim at Lyte, his opponent, who issued a news release that drew a contrast between Ranzinis contributions to Republican causes and what it said were Lytes years of Democratic Party activism.

The statement violated a commitment the candidates made to avoid negative campaigning, Ranzini said in his statement, calling it a broken promise and a pitch in the dirt.

Im not playing a game. Im running to represent over 30,000 people in District 2, Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. Providing high quality services is party-blind, he said.

In an interview, Lyte said there was nothing that could justify donations to Republican candidates, which records show includes contributions from Ranzini more than 20 years ago to George W. Bushs presidential campaign and 2010 donations to Rick Snyders Michigan gubernatorial campaign, among others.

I just want individuals and citizens to know that this is who wants to represent them, but hes not true to the Democratic Party, she said. Im afraid that he is not transparent and that he is not fighting to get all of the seats blue.

The Washtenaw County board has been all-Democrat since a blue wave swept candidates into office in 2018, flipping GOP seats. District 2 has been filled since then by Sue Shink, now the boards chair who is running for state Senate.

In the face of criticism, Ranzini has underscored his dedication to the Democratic political cause in campaign materials.

In one video, he recounts pulling an all-nighter distributing campaign materials door-to-door for Irwin, alongside a photo of the banker shaking hands with now-President Joe Biden.

Still, Ranzini did not respond to questions from MLive/The Ann Arbor News about why he gave to the Trump campaign in the aftermath of the 2016 election, or address his prior contributions to Republicans.

Mailer from super PAC with union ties attempts to link Ranzini with Trump

A Lansing-based political action committee wielding tens of thousands of dollars and tied to a labor organization that has endorsed Lyte has taken notice of Ranzinis political past.

Some residents within the district covering Ann Arbor, Northfield, Salem, Webster, most of Superior and part of Dexter townships have received a mailer from the super PAC, called Make Michigan Great, featuring the county board candidate.

The mailer urges residents to support Ranzini as the pro-Trump MAGA choice, featuring a photo of the former president and claims about GOP priorities it says Ranzini will support if elected.

A mailer from a Michigan super PAC called "Make Michigan Great" uses U.S. Federal Election Commission records of political donations from Stephen Lange Ranzini, a 2022 Democratic candidate for Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners District 2, to Republican candidates and campaigns in order to paint the candidate as a "true Trump Republican." Ranzini says the Michigan District Laborers Council, an affiliation of local unions that has endorsed his opponent, Crystal Lyte, is behind the mailer using "dark money" from a Democratic political action committee.MLive/The Ann Arbor News

But the group behind the leaflet shares an address and a treasurer with the Michigan Laborers District Council, according to campaign finance records. The group is an affiliation of Laborers International Union of North America local unions representing construction, energy and public workers in Michigan.

Michigan LiUNA has endorsed Lyte, according to her campaign website.

The organization and Make Michigan Great PAC Treasurer Alex Zurek did not return voicemails and an email from the MLive/The Ann Arbor News on Friday, July 1, asking about the mailer.

In a text to a reporter, Ranzini said the mailer came on behalf of Lyte through dark money from a Democratic Superfund PAC.

The term dark money usually refers to political spending meant to influence voters where donors and the true origins of the funds arent disclosed a practice that has affected even Ann Arbor-area local elections and ballot question drives in recent years.

The super PAC behind the mailers most recently reported roughly $68,000 in contributions from the MI Laborers Vacation Fund, a 501(c)(9) nonprofit that lists its purpose as paying vacation benefits, according to tax forms, but provides no more specifics on campaign finance reports.

I have heard from quite a few angry voters who have said the mailer is garbage and theyre voting for me, Ranzini said.

Meanwhile, Lyte said she was surprised to learn of the mailer from residents who had received it and wasnt aware any group that had endorsed her planned to send it out.

Lyte said she is focused on raising money to distribute her own campaign literature describing who she is and her platform to voters.

My campaign cannot afford to send out mailers that are concerning (Ranzinis) doings, she said, I need to get the information out for people to know who I am.

Both candidates have less than a month to do so, with early voting already underway ahead of the Aug. 2 primary. The winner will face a Republican, Salem Township Trustee David Trent, in the November general election.

Read more Washtenaw County election coverage here.

More from The Ann Arbor News:

How to watch Washtenaw County candidate forums ahead of Aug. 2 primary

3 Democrats vie for Ypsilanti, Augusta township seat on Washtenaw County board

Washtenaw County board race pits incumbent against Ypsilanti City Council member

Heres whos running for Washtenaw County board, township and city offices in 2022

See more here:
Democrat running for Washtenaw County board faces questions over Trump, GOP donations - MLive.com