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When theyre victorious, it will have such a huge impact for so many reasons, said Maurice Mitchell, national director of the progressive Working Families Party. Every week it becomes more and more plausible that the Democrats maintain governing majorities in both houses, and might even expand the governing majority in the Senate. That will mean that we get another bite at the apple of governing. It means that we will no longer be subject to the Sinema or the Manchin veto.

Republicans, meanwhile, see the ascension of Barnes and Fetterman as an opening to pick off independent and suburban voters. During their primaries, many GOP operatives thought they were likely to be less formidable general election candidates than their more moderate opponents.

Democrats nominated the most liberal candidates they could find in states that are struggling because of Joe Biden and the Democrats agenda thats resulted in record gas prices, skyrocketing inflation, crime raging, and a border crisis, said Chris Hartline, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. We look forward to watching Mandela Barnes defend his embrace of defunding law enforcement and John Fetterman defend his support for banning fracking.

Pennsylvania is widely considered to be the best chance for Democrats to flip a seat in the evenly divided Senate, while Sen. Ron Johnson in Wisconsin, Barnes opponent, is viewed as the most vulnerable Republican incumbent in the chamber.

The fact that Democrats are rallying behind Barnes and Fetterman represents a departure from past election cycles, when they typically selected centrist candidates to be their standard bearers in battleground Senate races. That has worried some moderates in the Democratic Party who believe the candidates have baggage that could alienate swing voters.

When Barnes touted Sanders endorsement last month, Matt Bennett, a co-founder of the center-left group Third Way, tweeted, Why would you do this? WHY???

In an interview, Bennett said that Barnes is a very appealing candidate in many, many ways for both wings of the party. Hes dynamic and smart and young and he could be great. But we were nervous we are nervous that some of the things hes done and said are going to make it tough to win in a swing state like Wisconsin.

Senate candidate Mehmet Oz speaks at a rally at the Westmoreland County Fairgrounds on May 6, 2022 in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.|Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

At the beginning of the year, Bennett said he was also concerned that Fettermans progressive bona fides would hurt him in the general election. But in recent months he has been impressed as Fetterman has outpolled and outraised his Republican opponent, celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz: Fetterman offers a pretty good roadmap for Barnes, which is, after he wrapped up the nomination, he has made very clear that hes his own guy. Hes a different kind of Democrat.

The early polling in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin has excited liberals, particularly after suffering losses in several House primaries this year. A Fox News survey found Fetterman leading Oz by 11 percentage points. A Marquette Law School poll put Barnes ahead of Johnson by two points, which was within the margin of error.

Both Barnes and Fetterman are extraordinary candidates who are showing that you can be for progressive policies like Medicare for All and win in battleground states, said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a former co-chair of Sanders 2020 presidential campaign.

Republicans have argued that neither candidate was seriously tested during their primaries, and that voters are just beginning to learn about them. Ozs first TV ad in the general election tied Fetterman to Biden and Sanders and cast his record as soft on crime. The GOP has pointed to Barnes support of the Green New Deal as well as his late payment of property taxes in 2019 as vulnerabilities.

Ben Voelkel, a senior adviser to Johnsons campaign, said Barnes is campaigning on a socialists wish list of the Green New Deal, defunding the police and abolishing ICE.

Brittany Yanick, a spokesperson for Oz, said Fetterman is the most radical candidate in the country.

Democrats have likewise sought to portray Oz and Johnson as too conservative. They note that Oz, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump in the primary, said we cannot move on from the 2020 election, and Johnson echoed Trumps false claims of voter fraud.

Its Ozs support for banning abortion that is radical here in Pennsylvania, said Fetterman spokesperson Joe Calvello. Oz aides say that their candidate opposes abortion but supports exceptions for rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.

Lauren Chou, a spokeswoman for Barnes, said, When Ron Johnsons priorities are repealing the Affordable Care Act, slashing Social Security, and shipping American jobs overseas, the only thing he and his allies can do is make up lies about Mandela Barnes.

Barnes and Fetterman have made efforts to appeal to a broad electorate ahead of November. They have declined to make Medicare for All the centerpiece of their campaigns and distanced themselves from some progressive positions. Fetterman has even said recently that he doesnt consider himself a progressive, while Barnes has argued its not about labels.

John Fetterman campaigns for U.S. Senate at a meet and greet at Joseph A. Hardy Connellsville Airport on May 10, 2022 in Lemont Furnace, Pennsylvania.|Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

In his first run for the Senate in 2016, Fetterman backed a moratorium on new fracking. He now opposes a ban on fracking, a controversial method for extracting natural gas. Tens of thousands of Pennsylvania jobs are dependent on fracking. For his part, Barnes, who was once photographed holding an Abolish ICE T-shirt, said he does not support eliminating Immigration and Customs Enforcement or defunding police.

Barnes campaign has been careful to also point out that, along with a nod from Sanders, he has won endorsements from more establishment Democrats, such as House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn. Fettermans team has likewise noted that while he endorsed Sanders in 2016 and Sanders campaigned for him in his 2018 bid for lieutenant governor, he did not support him in the 2020 primary.

Max Berger, former director of progressive outreach for Elizabeth Warrens 2020 presidential campaign, said he doesnt mind that Fetterman and Barnes have put space between themselves and the progressive label.

Its smart for progressives to not limit themselves to being a slice of the party but to claim to speak on behalf of the party as a whole, he said. I think its one of my favorite things about both these guys is that they dont want to be small. Theyre like, I represent the entire Democratic Party.

If either is successful, Berger said he will still consider it a major victory for the left: Its a huge opportunity for progressives to show that we can be part of making sure Democrats are in the majority.

See the article here:
Democrats betting on progressives to keep control of Senate - POLITICO

OPINION:

On his third day in the White House, President Biden stopped a Trump-era plan to lower the price of insulin for low-income and uninsured Americans. It was part of the new administrations blitz to unravel anything and everything related to former President Donald Trump. That blind hatred came at a cost, though. In this case, it was a higher price for life-saving treatments paid by Americans in need.

More than a year later, the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress have still not delivered on their promise to lower insulin prices for our countrys most vulnerable. In fact, they are actively voting against Republican-led efforts to do just that.

On a sleepy Sunday morning, every single Democrat rejected a Republican amendment to provide insulin at $10 per prescription for anyone who is low-income (below 350% of the federal poverty level), including the uninsured. I voted yes because it was common sense. So did every single Senate Republican. Yet the Democrats unanimously rejected the provision.

Later that day, Democrats and their media enablers proclaimed, GOP senators blocked a $35 insulin price cap.

Republicans have just gone on the record in favor of expensive insulin, declared Sen. Ron Wyden. Those lines are factually untrue and totally misleading. Republicans blocked a Democrat counter-amendment, all right, but in doing so they ensured that insulin will become more affordable, not less.

The Democrats grand proposal was to cap the price of insulin at $35. Thats not much of a bargain its more than 300% what low-income Americans would have paid under the Republican amendment. Whats more, that arbitrary price cap would have only applied to the already insured, leaving some of the most vulnerable out in the cold. Most importantly, however, the Democrats plan would have actually made insulin more expensive in the long term.

Though still too high for many Americans, the price of insulin is falling. The annual net cost per insulin treatment decreased by 20% between 2007 and 2021. In Florida, some Medicare enrollees pay as little as $24 for a monthlong supply of the drug. Meanwhile, under private insurance, last years average insulin cost was only $23.19, more than $6 below 2018 levels.

This is happening because of economic competition. Pharmaceutical companies and insurance agencies are jockeying for the lowest price to attract more buyers. Competition will continue to lower the price of insulin as time goes on unless, that is, the federal government implements heavy-handed interventions like price controls.

If Congress mandated $35 insulin, do we really think pharmaceutical companies would keep competing for the lowest price? More likely they would play it safe and congregate around $35. That would raise insulin costs for most Americans, not lower them.

The Democrats price controls would also have stifled innovation in insulin production. In 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the development of generic insulin drugs. Over time, that will bring down the cost of insulin even further. But companies would invest less in the research and development of new drugs under price controls because there would be less incentive to innovate.

In contrast, the Republican plan would have preserved market competition while ensuring people with the greatest need get the treatment they require. That the Democrats rejected it shows they care more about maintaining support from their radical base and scoring partisan points on Twitter than helping real Americans.

If the Democrats have a serious proposal to lower drug prices, Republicans like me will come to the table. But we will not indulge in political gamesmanship or impose medicines that are worse than the disease on the American people.

Marco Rubio is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011.

See the rest here:
Democrats reject cheap insulin for the uninsured - Washington Times

Heading into November, look for Republicans to hammer Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on crime and police funding.

Indeed, they already have been.

As Republicans were still picking Tim Michels as their nominee to face Evers, the Republican Governors Association sent an email blast to Wisconsin reporters on July 29, 2022 that contained this quote from spokeswoman Maddie Anderson:

"Wisconsin families are desperate for a leader whose top priority is keeping their communities safe. Instead, Governor Tony Evers gave counties the green light to defund Wisconsin's police departments. Elections have consequences, and Evers will come to find that out very soon."

The email came after a violent week in Milwaukee left a 6-year-old girl dead.

The defund the police angle is an echo of attacks on Democrats that began after the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer sparked protests across the nation. Many protests called for police budgets to be dramatically cut or, in some cases, the departments eliminated and replaced.

We rated False a previous claim by Republican gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Kleefisch that Evers is "a big proponent of this defund the police movement." In fact, Evers has said slashing police budgets "goes too far" and directed $100 million in COVID relief money toward enhancing law enforcement.

So, lets look at the RGA claim that Evers gave cities and counties "the green light" to defund police departments.

A veto and a message

When asked for backup, Anderson pointed to an Aug. 6, 2021, veto by Evers of a bill that would have cut state aid to cities and counties that reduced any part of their police budgets and given that money instead to cities that didnt cut police spending.

He vetoed it on the same day he signed a separate Republican bill to set use of force standards for police departments.

In an Aug. 1, 2022 email, Anderson argued: "He vetoed a bill that would have dissuaded counties from defunding police departments. Sent a clear message to counties that there is no penalty for defunding or reallocating resources from police departments. Hence the green light."

Lets dig deeper.

First, we should note that the veto means there is something behind the claim, even if its now being misrepresented. Despite how Anderson framed it, the Evers veto leaves the status quo in place. In that respect, nothing changes. And, as we know, state aid and local governments, particularly as it relates to police spending, can get sticky.

In his veto message, Evers said he killed the bill because it placed "onerous restrictions" on the ability of local governments to set their budgets.

The bill would have reduced shared revenue payments to municipalities that decreased spending on police, fire and emergency services or reduced the number of people employed in those areas. The legislation specifically targeted municipalities employing at least 30 people in those areas and only applied to portions of the emergency service budget for hiring, training and retaining employees.

The nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum issued reports in June 2020 and August 2021 on police funding trends in Wisconsin. The reports found spending on policing n Wisconsin peaked in 2013 and was trending downward well before the rise of the "defund the police" approach captured national attention.

Even as funding has fallen, spending on police remains the largest piece of municipal spending in the state. The forum concluded those declines in funding are more related to counties and municipalities struggling under state-imposed limits on how much they can collect in the property tax levy and flat state aid. Local governments have largely shielded police and fire services from budget cuts in the past decade, the report found.

Andersons argument that the veto gives a green light on cutting budgets runs counter to the governors own statements and actions.

Just days after the Floyd case, Evers specifically opposed cutting spending on law enforcement in a meeting with Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters and editors.

In a June 4, 2020 article, Evers was quoted as saying: "We're always going to need police service" and that "to completely defund police departments ... that isn't going to work."

Later, as noted, Evers provided more than $100 million to law enforcement through federal relief funds.

Our ruling

The Republican Governors Association claimed Evers gave Wisconsin counties "the green light" to defund the police.

A spokesperson for the association pointed to a veto of a Republican bill that would penalize counties and municipalities that reduce police budgets regardless of context. So, its not like there is nothing there. But that veto simply kept the status quo it was not a proactive step by Evers to force or encourage cities and counties to cut law enforcement.

Whats more, Evers has flatly stated he does not support defunding the police, and directed $100 million in pandemic aid to law enforcement.

So, the statement "contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression."

Thats what we call Mostly False.

Excerpt from:
Democrat Evers didnt give Wisconsin counties 'the green light' to defund police - PolitiFact

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President Obama's former senior adviser David Axelrod said that "fear and panic" over their midterm election chances were driving Democrats to grumble about President Biden.

Axelrod told CNN's "New Day" on Friday that the complaints from within his own party were partly from Democrats in Congress worried about losing to Republicans in the upcoming elections.

"Well, fear and panic iswhat's driving it, John [Berman].People are worried about themidterm elections, much of theclamor is coming from Capitol Hill, where, you know, manymembers are up for re-electionin November.So that's part of it," he stated.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 18: David Axelrod, former advisor to President Barack Obama, asks Democratic presidential candidate South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg questions during an event at the University of Chicago on October 18, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. The event was hosted by the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

DAVID AXELROD SEES BAD NEWS FOR BIDEN: THINGS LOOK OUT OF CONTROL AND HES NOT IN COMMAND'

The senior political commentator for the network went on to defend Democrats who wanted "vigorous" action from Biden over the "shocking" Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, while also defending Biden for having a tough job to handle.

"I have great sympathy forthe people in the White House.I was in the White House duringa similarly freighted time back in2010, it is not pleasant to beon the receiving end of all of these very helpful suggestions," Axelrod said. But he claimed Democrats were faulting Biden for not being politically aggressive when he ran on an opposing platform as a candidate.

"But, when Democrats choseJoe Biden, when Joe Biden waselected, he was elected for thevery things he's beingcriticized for.He was elected because he was considered a calm, conciliatoryfigure after the tumultuous years of Donald Trump," he argued.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the recent mass shootings from the White House on June 02, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

DAVID AXELROD URGES BIDEN TO SHOW HUMILITY AHEAD OF SOTU ADDRESS: PROCEED WITH CAUTION IF YOU BOAST RECORD

Axelrod went on to say that Biden's "done better than his numbers reflect" and that criticism from Democrats is mostly a result of Biden not acting quickly or aggressively enough.

But Axelrod himself has contributed to the negativity coming from within the Democratic Party.

Just last week, he told CNN's Jake Tapper that the economy was making Biden look weak. Last month, he earned the ire of "The View" co-host Joy Behar for telling the Times that the president's age was a "major" stumbling block to running in 2024. In response, Behar scolded the former White House adviser to "keep his mouth shut."

President Biden announces a ban on Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia's economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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According to that Times report published in June, Democrats outside the White House are questioning if President Biden run again in the 2024 election, citing his age and ineffective leadership reasons why he shouldn't.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drew headlines when she dodged answering whether she'd support Biden running again, during a CNN interview.

A Fox News poll in June found 57% of voters view the president negatively.

Kristine Parks is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to kristine.parks@fox.com.

Continue reading here:
David Axelrod tells CNN 'fear and panic' over midterms driving Democrat grumbling about Biden - Fox News

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