Category: Joe Biden

‘Loser’ Trump needled by Lincoln Project in brutal new ad highlighting Tom Brady snub

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On Friday, the anti-GOP conservative group the Lincoln Project launched a new online ad mocking former President Donald Trump over NFL star Tom Brady’s refusal to associate with him.

“Tom Brady, great, great friend of mine,” said Trump in the opening of the clip. “Unbelievable winner.”

“Part of being a winner is knowing when enough is enough,” said the narrator, echoing a former quote from Trump himself. “You know, winners just like being around other winners. Not just to talk about how great winning is, because it is great. But to make fun of the losers. Locker room talk. Perfect example? Tom Brady.” The ad then cut to Brady making fun of Trump’s election loss at the White House with President Joe Biden. Continue reading.

Senate GOP brags about poll showing Biden is more popular than they are

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A new Politico/Morning Consult shows President Joe Biden is faring much better than Republicans.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee circulated a poll on Wednesday, suggesting it was proof that Americans are unhappy with President Joe Biden. But that survey showed him with a majority approval rating — well above their own levels of support.

The committee, which is the official campaign arm of the Senate Republican minority, put out a press release titled, “NEW POLL: Majority of Americans Disapprove of Biden’s Amnesty and Open Borders Agenda.” Citing a Politico/Morning Consult survey released Wednesday, it observed that “only 39% of voters approve of Biden’s handling of immigration and a whopping 50% disapprove.”

“As the Biden administration continues to bungle the response to the crisis they created at the Southern Border, Joe Biden’s approval rating on immigration continues to free fall,” the press release claimed. “It takes a stunning level of incompetence to have numbers this bad.” Continue reading.

Voters Overwhelmingly Support Biden Infrastructure Plan As GOP Plots Obstruction

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A day after Senate Republicans blocked debate on a bipartisan infrastructure deal, a new poll shows about two-thirds of American voters back the framework.

On Thursday, Navigator Research released a survey of 1,000 registered voters, finding 66 percent supported the plan — agreed upon in June by President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of senators — which would invest $579 billion in transportation, broadband, and water system infrastructure. That framework was backed by 86 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of independents, and a 46 percent plurality of Republicans.

Although 11 Republican senators agreed on the outlines of a deal in June, every single one of them — and the entire GOP caucus — voted on Wednesday to filibuster a motion to start debate on the bill. Because the motion required a three-fifths supermajority vote, the Democratic majority was stymied in its attempt to even take the plan up for consideration. Attempts to salvage an agreement are ongoing. Continue reading.

Republicans invoke ‘policy secession’ to ‘nullify’ Biden’s victory in GOP states: analysis

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Republican-controlled state legislatures are going hard to the far right, explained Ron Brownstein on Thursday.

Brownstein, a senior editor at The Atlantic and CNN political analyst, was interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR’s “Fresh Air.”

Gross said, “you describe this pattern of red state, very conservative legislation as remaking the country? So can you expand on that? How do you think it’s remaking the country or trying to?” Continue reading.

Biden’s public lands nominee, once linked to eco-saboteurs, advances with key Senate vote

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Republicans say Tracy Stone-Manning’s past affiliation with eco-saboteurs makes her unqualified to run the Bureau of Land Management

Tracy Stone-Manning, President Biden’s pick to be the top public lands manager, moved one step closer to becoming director of the Bureau of Land Management on Thursday as the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced her nomination solely with Democratic support.

For weeks, Republicans have adamantly called on Biden to withdraw Stone-Manning’s nomination due to her decision as a University of Montana graduate student to send a letter on behalf of eco-saboteurs in 1989. The group drove metal spikes into trees in Idaho set to be cut down — an act designed to make it more dangerous for loggers to saw through the trunks.

“It is hard to imagine a nominee more disqualified than Tracy Stone-Manning,” said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the top Republican on the committee, at one point holding up a gray metal spike. He was among the 10 Republicans on the panel who voted against her nomination. Continue reading.

Biden administration imposes sanctions on Cuban officials following attacks on protesters

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The Biden administration on Thursday imposed sanctions against Cuba’s defense minister and a special forces unit of the Interior Ministry it said was directly involved in human rights abuses during a government crackdown on widespread protests on the island this month.

President Biden said in a statement that the measures were “just the beginning” of efforts to sanction “individuals responsible for the oppression of the Cuban people.”

The measures were unveiled as Biden faces increasing pressure from Congress, activist groups and Cuban Americans to take decisive action in support of protesters on the island. Continue reading.

COVID-19 recession: One of America’s deepest downturns was also its shortest after bailout-driven bounceback

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Thanks to a roaring economy, plunging joblessness and a consumer spending spree, it probably won’t come as a surprise that the COVID-19 recession is officially over.

We didn’t know this, formally, however, until July 19, 2021, when a group of America’s top economists determined that the pandemic recession ended two months after it began, making it the shortest downturn on record.

As an economist who has written a macroeconomics textbook, I was eagerly waiting to know the official dates. This is in part because I recently asked my Boston University MBA students to make guesses, and we all wanted to know who was closest to the mark. While many of my students ended up nailing it, I was off by a month. Continue reading.

Ted Cruz is blocking diplomats from being confirmed, and it has nothing to do with their qualifications

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WASHINGTON — An extraordinary effort by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas to block nominees from being confirmed to vital jobs in the State Department is creating hurdles for the Biden administration and hindering US diplomacy, according to Democrats and Republicans who spoke to CNN.

The Biden administration — with about 60 State Department nominees waiting to be confirmed — is encountering greater roadblocks in securing Senate confirmations at State than at any other agency. Administration officials and Democrats point to Republicans, who admit they’re playing a role. But sources from all three groups say the bulk of the blame should be placed on Cruz.

The junior senator from Texas has become the public face of the State Department’s difficulties, proudly claiming responsibility for blocks on a slew of senior officials. Cruz is trying to pressure the administration on a specific point of Russia policy, a campaign that other Republicans say is fruitless and that triggered a fiery shouting match with Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who’s the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

GOP blocks infrastructure debate as negotiators near deal

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Republicans on Wednesday blocked the Senate from debating a bipartisan infrastructure proposal as negotiators say they are near finalizing their agreement. 

The 49-51 vote fell short of the 60 needed to advance what is effectively stand-in legislation that senators will swap the bipartisan group’s text into once it is finished.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) changed his vote late in a procedural move that allows him to bring it back up for a second vote quickly. Continue reading.

Staffers in White House, Pelosi’s office test positive for coronavirus

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A White House staffer and an aide to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tested positive for the coronavirus this week, officials confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday.

Neither individual had close contact with President Biden or Pelosi, officials said, but the cases reflect the ongoing threat of the virus to lawmakers, administration officials and their staff as coronavirus cases spike across the country.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters there had been other positive tests among White House staffers, though she did not provide details on how many or when they happened. Continue reading.