POLITICO Nightly: California’s looming power outage

 

BY CHARLIE MAHTESIAN Presented by Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.) speaks to members of the media following a meeting with President Joe Biden on April 25, 2022. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo BRAIN DRAIN — Another day, another congressional retirement. Today, California Democratic Rep. Tony Cardenas announced he won’t be running for reelection, bringing the number of House members who are either retiring or seeking other office up to 30. In the battle for control of the House, his retirement doesn’t mean much: He represents a solidly blue San Fernando Valley-area district where three out of four voters cast ballots for Joe Biden in 2020. But his departure is symptomatic of a bigger problem facing California — it’s waning clout in Washington. The decade began with a significant blow to the state — for the first time since achieving statehood in 1849, California’s slowing growth led to the loss of one House seat in reapportionment. Even with 52 members, California still has the largest congressional delegation in the House — 40 Democrats and 12 Republicans. But the retirements of Cardenas and Rep. Grace Napolitano, and the departures of Reps. Katie Porter, Barbara Lee, and Adam Schiff, who are seeking the state’s open Senate seat, represent a collective loss of nearly 90 years of legislative experience. The brain drain — so far, all Democrats — isn’t likely to end there. We’re still not through prime retirement announcement season, which essentially runs until the end of January, after members spend time with their families over the holidays. And there are as many as 10 competitive seats in California next year, a handful of which are considered toss-ups. That means — at a bare minimum — roughly a tenth of the California House delegation in the next Congress will be first-termers who are learning the ropes in an institution where seniority matters. That’s not ideal for a big-state delegation that is already pretty green — 15 of the 52 current members were elected in 2018 and after. Under current Republican House rule, the blue state’s clout was already diminished — and that was before former Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield was ousted in October. Today, there are no Californians in GOP leadership and the state holds no committee chairmanships. While the power of committee chairs has been in decline for years, a chairmanship remains a powerful asset for protecting and advancing state interests — rank-and-file members alone can’t match their role in policymaking or the distribution of federal spending. California still fields the largest and most dominant bloc in the Democratic Caucus. That will come in handy in the event the House flips in 2024. But former Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in the twilight of her career and the top Californian currently in leadership, Rep. Pete Aguilar, only holds the third-ranking position. It’s true that California boasts the top ranking Democrat on three committees, but two of them are 75 years or older. Compare that circumstance to the beginning of the Obama era, when the Golden State was unquestionably the top dog in a Democratic-controlled Congress, led by then-House Speaker Pelosi and four House committee chairs. In the Senate, the state had two powerhouse senators who served for decades, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. At the moment, California has two relatively junior senators — Alex Padilla, who was appointed in 2021 and won his first full term last year, and Laphonza Butler, who was appointed last month. Since she has announced she is not running for a full term next year, she’ll be replaced by another Senate rookie. The recent spate of House retirements are part of a broader national phenomenon — Cardenas was the 10th member of the House or Senate this month to announce they’re hanging it up, the second-most in any one month going back at least as far as 2011. It’s welcome news to the legion of ambitious politicians back in California, who are typically piling up in a holding pattern awaiting the next big political opportunity. But it’s not so great for the nation’s most populous state to be a weakling in Washington. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at cmahtesian@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @PoliticoCharlie . Programming note: Nightly will be off for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, Nov. 23 and Friday, Nov. 24. We’ll be back in your inboxes on Monday, Nov. 27.   A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports: DCA is at capacity and can’t accommodate more flights. That’s why a bipartisan majority of House members voted against bringing more flights to the airport as part of the FAA Reauthorization bill. In the past, more flights at DCA have worsened noise, congestion, delays, and cancellations. Doing so again risks exacerbating these issues and severely overburdening DCA. Don’t be fooled – the evidence shows that DCA is at capacity and can’t handle any more flights.   WHAT'D I MISS? — Federal appeals court ruling threatens enforcement of the Voting Rights Act: A federal appeals court issued a ruling today that could gut the Voting Rights Act , saying only the federal government — not private citizens or civil rights groups — is allowed to sue under a key section of the landmark civil rights law. The decision out of the 8th Circuit will almost certainly be appealed and is likely headed to the Supreme Court. Should it stand, it would mark a dramatic rollback of the enforcement of the law that led to increased minority power and representation in American politics. — New York House GOP sees fundraising void without McCarthy cash: Kevin McCarthy made the campaign cash flow as House speaker. His successor Mike Johnson will be playing catch-up for a while. And for vulnerable New York Republicans with tough reelection battles, the difference is stark . More than $1.8 million had been raised by McCarthy-associated committees versus just $12,000 by Johnson-affiliated ones for Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Brandon Williams and Nick LaLota, according to federal filings reviewed by POLITICO. — Biden talks turkey — then pardons them: Joe Biden spent his 81st birthday the only way a president would want to, really: pardoning turkeys and telling jokes . “By the way, it’s my birthday today. I just want you to know, it’s difficult turning 60,” Biden said today at the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon. This year’s presidentially spared birds hail from Minnesota. In classic Biden fashion, however, there was a Pennsylvania connection, too. This year’s flock of turkeys were named Liberty and Bell.   Enter the “room where it happens”, where global power players shape policy and politics, with Power Play. POLITICO’s brand-new podcast will host conversations with the leaders and power players shaping the biggest ideas and driving the global conversations, moderated by award-winning journalist Anne McElvoy. Sign up today to be notified of new episodes – click here .     NIGHTLY ROAD TO 2024 DEBATE DATES — The nonpartisan, nonprofit group that has conducted debates for the past nine presidential elections is plowing ahead with four events next year , despite Republicans’ promises to boycott, reports POLITICO. The Commission on Presidential Debates announced the dates and venues for three presidential debates and one debate between the candidates’ running mates today, beginning on Sept. 16 and ending on Oct. 9. The presidential debates will take place in San Marcos, Texas; Petersburg, Virginia; and Salt Lake City, Utah; with the vice presidential debate in Easton, Pennsylvania. LOOSENING UP — A federal appeals court panel appeared poised to significantly narrow a gag order imposed against Donald Trump by the judge presiding over his Washington, D.C. criminal trial, reports POLITICO. The three-judge D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel raised concerns that the order — which bars Trump from targeting witnesses, prosecutors and courthouse staff in the criminal case related to his effort to subvert the 2020 election — created murky restrictions that stifled the former president’s right to push back against his detractors, particularly in the heat of a presidential campaign. Judge Patricia Millett, an appointee of President Barack Obama, suggested the gag order could amount to a straitjacket for Trump if his prosecution became the focus of attacks during a presidential debate. “He has to speak ‘Miss Manners’ while everyone else is throwing targets at him?” Millett said skeptically during a two-hour oral argument at the federal courthouse in Washington. “It would be really hard in a debate, when everyone else is going at you full bore. Your attorneys would have to have scripted little things you can say.”   A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports:     AROUND THE WORLD Now-president elect of Argentina Javier Milei of La Libertad Avanza during a rally at Movistar Arena on Oct. 18, 2023 in Buenos Aires. | Tomas Cuesta/Getty Images UNCHARTED TERRITORY — Right-wing populist Javier Milei resoundingly won Argentina’s presidency Sunday , swinging the country to the right following a fiercely polarized campaign, reports the Associated Press. The fiery freshman lawmaker’s victory has thrust the country into the unknown regarding how extreme his policies will be following a campaign in which he revved a chainsaw to symbolically cut the state down to size. With almost all votes tallied, Milei handily beat Economy Minister Sergio Massa, 55.7% to 44.3%. Milei won all but three of the nation’s 24 provinces, and Massa conceded even before the electoral authority began announcing the preliminary results. Milei, 53, a libertarian economist, started to outline some of his planned policies this morning. He said in a radio interview that would quickly move forward with plans to privatize state-run media outlets he received negative coverage from during his campaign and which he deemed “a covert ministry of propaganda.” A self-described anarcho-capitalist with a disheveled mop of hair, Milei made his name by furiously denouncing the “political caste” on television programs. His pledge for abrupt, severe change resonated with Argentines weary of annual inflation soaring above 140% and a poverty rate that reached 40%. Once in office, he has said he would slash government spending, dollarize the economy and eliminate the Central Bank as well as key ministries, including those of health and education.   GET A BACKSTAGE PASS TO COP28 WITH GLOBAL PLAYBOOK : Get insider access to the conference that sets the tone of the global climate agenda with POLITICO's Global Playbook newsletter. Authored by Suzanne Lynch, Global Playbook delivers exclusive, daily insights and comprehensive coverage that will keep you informed about the most crucial climate summit of the year. Dive deep into the critical discussions and developments at COP28 from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12. SUBSCRIBE NOW .     NIGHTLY NUMBER Over $1.2 million The amount of money that a new crypto-focused super PAC has pumped into television ads supporting House candidates over the last two months. The group, Fairshake, could become a key vehicle for the crypto industry to insert itself into the 2024 elections in the coming year and is backed in part by Brian Armstrong, the CEO of the largest U.S. crypto exchange, Coinbase. RADAR SWEEP HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU — What happens when a group of Philip Roth scholars and admirers descends on the American author’s birthplace of Newark, New Jersey, for what would’ve been his 90th birthday? It’s a particularly interesting scene in the wake of questions and recriminations about Roth’s legacy, in the wake of a 2021 biography that was pulled from a major publishing house after allegations of grooming and assault from Roth’s biographer. But the conference, chronicled by Hannah Gold in Harper’s Magazine, also has Gold wondering about questions far beyond news about Roth — what kind of person is drawn to Roth? Is it better to read him to an audience or can he only be properly understood in a hotel room or on a subway bench? What do his compulsions teach us about his fans, and vice versa? PARTING IMAGE On this date in 1984: Fans attend Michael Jackson's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. | Nick Ut/AP Did someone forward this email to you?  Sign up here .   A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Regional Airports: DCA is at capacity. Even so, reckless efforts to bring more flights to DCA may force the airport to accommodate 12.6 million passengers beyond what it was designed to handle, without any regard for the airport’s physical constraints, safety, and passenger convenience. The experts agree this is a bad idea – the Federal Aviation Administration estimates that just 20 more round-trip operations per day can increase delays by 25.9%. Keep travel safe and efficient for all – say NO to more flights at DCA.     Follow us on Twitter Charlie Mahtesian @PoliticoCharlie Calder McHugh @calder_mchugh   FOLLOW US

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RSN: Charles Pierce | The RNC Pulling Out of the Presidential Debates Is the Clearest Sign Yet That Trump Is Running

 

 

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Charles Pierce | The RNC Pulling Out of the Presidential Debates Is the Clearest Sign Yet That Trump Is Running
Charles Pierce, Esquire
Pierce writes: "The late Irish master, Flann O’Brien, warned us that truth was an odd number. And the Republican Party evidently has had just about enough of its eccentricities."

This turn of the tail shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, the Republicans had no platform in 2020, and they’ll have none in 2024.

The late Irish master, Flann O’Brien, warned us that truth was an odd number. And the Republican Party evidently has had just about enough of its eccentricities. It’s taking its big round ball of orange goo and going home. From the Washington Post:

In a statement Thursday, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said that her party is “committed to free and fair debates” but that they would be held through other platforms. She did not specify them. “Debates are an important part of the democratic process … We are going to find newer, better debate platforms to ensure that future nominees are not forced to go through the biased CPD in order to make their case to the American people,” she said.

Hannity? Monday Night Raw? An 800-seat grain elevator in North Carolina?

If there’s a bigger tool in American politics than Kevin McCarthy, it has to be Mitt’s apostate niece. She’s already disowned herself from the Romney name because it made El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago feel icky. Now, she’s running this line of chickenspeak because she and the rest of her party all know that the odds are that the former president* will be their candidate two years hence, and that at all costs, he must be prevented from thinking on his feet. This is the clearest indication yet that he’s running.

McDaniel said the commission had refused to make changes the RNC had requested, including hosting debates before early voting begins and “selecting moderators who have never worked for candidates on the debate stage.” The latter was a reference to would-be 2020 debate host Steve Scully of C-SPAN, who was an intern for Joe Biden for one month in 1978, when Biden was a senator from Delaware. The debate Scully was scheduled to moderate wound up being canceled after Trump objected to holding it virtually because of coronavirus concerns.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the entire GOP is apparently behind this embarrassing turn of the tail. After all, the Republicans had no platform in 2020, and they’ll have none in 2024. They have no real policies save shoving the nation’s wealth upwards and ginned-up moral panics for the rubes. Mitch McConnell is already on record saying that he has no intention of talking about what he plans to do with a Senate majority if the country happens to hand it to him next fall. Why should we know? We’re not the people to whom he’s sublet himself for his entire adult life. This is a party that has very few ideas, and the ones they have are massively unpopular and increasingly detached from the reality of the country’s problems. And even if that were not the case, their putative 2024 frontrunner thinks windmills cause cancer. What came first, the chicken or the…chicken?

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People help a woman, with an apartment building hit by shelling in the background in Mariupol, Ukraine. (photo: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

Mariupol Is ‘Wiped Off the Face of the Earth,’ Governor Says
Marisa Iati, Timothy Bella and Meryl Kornfield, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "As Russia appears poised to capture Mariupol more than six weeks into the invasion, the governor of Ukraine’s Donetsk region said Friday that while Ukrainian troops remain in control of the strategic port city, Mariupol 'has been wiped off the face of the earth' by Russian forces."
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Dead bodies of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha. (photo: Insider)

Chief ICC Prosecutor Declares Ukraine a ‘Crime Scene’ After Visiting Bucha
Rory Sullivan, The Independent
Sullivan writes: "The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has declared Ukraine a 'crime scene' and said there are 'reasonable grounds' to believe war crimes have been committed, after hundreds of bodies were recovered in Bucha following the retreat of Russian troops."
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Rep. Rashida Tlaib. (photo: Paul Sancya/AP)

Rashida Tlaib Slams 'Wrong, Cruel' Storming of Al Aqsa Mosque by Israeli Police
Sarah Ruiz-Grossman, HuffPost
Ruiz-Grossman writes: "Rep. Rashida Tlaib denounced Israeli police’s violent storming of Al Aqsa mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, calling the actions 'wrong' and 'cruel.'"

During Ramadan, Israeli police deployed tear gas and stun grenades at the holy site, injuring dozens and arresting hundreds of Palestinians.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) denounced Israeli police’s violent storming of Al Aqsa mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, calling the actions “wrong” and “cruel.”

Early Friday, as thousands of worshippers were gathered at the holy site for morning prayers, Israeli police fired tear gas and stun grenades on the mosque compound and entered the building and arrested hundreds of Palestinians, The Associated Press reported.

Israeli authorities said young Palestinians had thrown rocks toward a gate leading to the Western Wall, a sacred Jewish prayer space. Palestinian witnesses told the news outlet a small group had thrown rocks at Israeli police who then went on to attack the compound.

Medics with the Palestinian Red Crescent said over 150 Palestinians were injured, reports Al Jazeera. Israeli authorities said over 300 people were detained.

“It is simply wrong + cruel to attack a people in their sacred place of worship,” Tlaib, who is Palestinian, said in a tweet later on Friday. “I am tired of our country enabling violence … violations of int’l human rights w/ silence … unconditional aid.”

Almost a year ago, Israeli forces mounted a similar attack on worshippers at Al Aqsa during Ramadan. It sparked a deadly, 11-day conflict in which Hamas launched rockets into Israel, killing 12 people, and Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza, killing over 240 Palestinians.

Police said the mosque was reopened in time for Friday midday prayers, according to the AP. Thousands more worshippers were expected. It is the start of a holy week in Jerusalem, with Ramadan for Muslims coinciding with the start of Pesach for Jews and upcoming Easter for Christians.

Tlaib’s tweet specifically denounced “unconditional aid” from the U.S. to Israeli forces. Last year, just days after the deadly conflict, Biden approved over $700 million in arms sales to Israel.

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Starbucks Keeps Failing at Union-Busting, While Workers Keep Winning
Jake Johnson, In These Times
Johnson writes: "Starbucks workers at four U.S. locations voted unanimously to form a union this week, scoring the latest in a string of victories for a burgeoning organizing movement that has spread to coffee shops in dozens of states nationwide even as management ramps up its anti-union activity."
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People who’ve been taken into custody related to cases of illegal entry into the United States, sit in one of the cages at a detention facility. (photo: AP)

Immigrant Groups Sue ICE for Information on Alternative Detention Programs
Chris Mills Rodrigo, The Hill
Excerpt: "A coalition of immigrant rights groups filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking information from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement about the agency’s Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, a so-called alternative to detention program that has ballooned during the Biden administration."
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Scientist Rebellion protesters in Berlin, Germany. (photo: Scientist Rebellion)

Scientists Stage Worldwide Climate Change Protests After IPCC Report
Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine
Osborne writes: "Over 1,000 scientists from 25 different countries staged protests last week following the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s new report. The report warned that rapid and deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions are necessary by 2025 to avoid catastrophic climate effects."
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Special Coverage: Ukraine, A Historic Resistance
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RNC pulls cowardly ploy to shield Trump from Biden

 

BREAKING NEWS


Republican National Committee votes to withdraw from Presidential Debate Commission
The Republican National Committee is withdrawing from presidential debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates, concluding that the group has been unresponsive to its concerns over the next events in 2024.… [more]

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Republicans' "groomer" attacks BACKFIRE spectacularly
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: WOW.

RSN: William Boardman | Here's a Thought: Have Presidential Candidates Debate Serious Issues

 

 

06 October 20

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RSN: William Boardman | Here's a Thought: Have Presidential Candidates Debate Serious Issues

William Boardman, Reader Supported News
Boardman writes: "The first thing to be said about the 'presidential debate' on September 29 is that there was no Presidential Debate on September 29."

 We don’t have Presidential Debates in the United States any more and haven’t for years. We have TV quiz shows of a sort that are demeaning to any serious candidate, who is forced to put up with the more or less uninformed preening of news performers with no persuasive credentials for questioning much of anyone. Thoughtful discussions, according to the reigning conventional wisdom, make for “bad television,” meaning lower ratings, meaning less income, so the TV industry that exists only because it uses public airwaves avoids substantive, reliable discussion at the expense of the public good. This sham political theatre is all the result of the 1987 takeover of the debate franchise by the country’s two major parties under the guise of the Potemkin leadership of the Commission on Presidential Debates. But that’s a long, sordid story for another day. It’s enough for now to see how calamitously the process has devolved.

The TV show starring Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Chris Wallace was an out-of-control mud fight from the start and never got better. We had orange-faced Trump blustering and acting “strong.” We had pale-faced Biden speaking meekly and trying to act “reasonable.” And we had Wallace, apparently surprised by the play, caught in an untenable position of being expected to control the top two contenders for “leader of the free world.” Realistically, it’s a wonder anything coherent at all crept out of that 90-minute fiasco, not that much did. Do we have any clearer understanding of the candidates’ true intentions with regard to health care, race relations, police violence, poverty, or climate change, among other major issues? I don’t think so.

The intellectual barrenness of the event can also be measured by what was omitted, such as our participation in a genocidal war or our criminal treatment of immigrants.

Since March 2015, the US has supported Saudi Arabia and its allies in their unmitigated bombing of Yemen, killing civilians with disregard for the laws of war and creating the world’s most devastating humanitarian crisis. Worthy of mention in a US Presidential TV show? No.

For most of the past decade, the US government has visited cruelties and horrors upon immigrants along our southern border – men, women, and especially children fleeing frighteningly violent conditions in their home countries that the US was instrumental in creating in the first place. We’ve known for years that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is particularly cruel to children, even denying girls sanitary products for their menstrual periods. Now we’re learning that ICE has been carrying out US policy of forcibly sterilizing immigrant women against their will. Forced sterilization is what the Nazis did. Forced sterilization is what the US did in the early 20th century. Forced sterilization is a crime against humanity. Isn’t it worth a mention in a US Presidential TV show? No.

For all that Chris Wallace floundered and failed to raise important issues, it’s really not up to the moderator to make the candidates perform. Trump and Biden both claim to be worthy of being President, so it’s up to them to demonstrate their worth. Trump performed predictably, consistent with past performance going back years. Biden and his handlers could and should have known Trump’s capabilities and prepared to meet them effectively. Did Biden demonstrate the kind of strength we want in a President facing an obnoxious foreign leader? Not so much.

Some say the September 29 performance was “unlike anything we have seen before.” That’s nonsense. If you haven’t seen it before, then you haven’t been looking. When Trump was allowed to prowl the stage behind Hillary Clinton and no one even made an effort to challenge him, we knew he was capable of doing whatever he felt like. He might as well have grabbed her pussy – the theatrical effect was the same. Maybe then she would have reacted.

American debates have not always been like carnival sideshows. The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 offer a stark contrast to the clownery of our time. Abraham Lincoln was challenging Stephen Douglas for his seat in the US Senate. They agreed to hold seven joint debates in different Illinois counties. The format was simple: one candidate would speak for 60 minutes, the other would speak for 90 minutes, then the first would close for 30 minutes. They alternated going first at different locations. There was no moderator. The candidates performed unmediated. These debates were immensely popular and received national coverage. Douglas won re-election, but the debates helped Lincoln win the Presidency two years later. The main subject of the Lincoln-Douglas debates was slavery, the most pressing issue facing the nation.

It is all but impossible to imagine such a series of debates today, on race relations or any other crucial issue. What politician can we imagine speaking coherently for an hour or ninety minutes? There are a few. But what audience can we imagine sitting attentively for three hours? That is a sad measure of American culture today, where too much of the public is distracted by shiny irrelevancies while the party in power loots the government and rescinds the laws that protect us.

Serious as the coronavirus pandemic is, it’s also been the source of shiny irrelevancies of all kinds. Currently, there are those who claim that Trump is not sick and his Covid-19 hospitalization is an elaborate hoax. On the other side, the candidate who challenged Nancy Pelosi for her House seat and came out with 2% of the vote has now claimed that Democrats gave Trump the virus. DeAnna Lorraine, a QAnon-promoting Infowars personality, tweeted on October 2:

I’m just going to say what we’re all thinking. Trump was fine until the debate, where they set up microphones & podiums for him. Incubation period is usually 2-3 days. He tests positive a couple of days after the debate. I put nothing past the left. NOTHING….

Does anyone else find it odd that no prominent Democrats have had the virus but the list of Republicans goes on and on?

That’s a thought to feed paranoia, but there may be another explanation. Lorraine herself elsewhere offered a possible reason for Republican vulnerability:

Biblically, God does not want us wearing masks… If you have a mask on, it means you actually don’t trust God. You don’t have faith.

Given the level and variety of discourse in this country, even at its best, one may be tempted just to trust God. But it’s probably still a good idea to wear a mask around others, especially around all those unmasked believers. And it’s also probably a good idea to vote, based on your best guess of what’s real at the moment.

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William M. Boardman has over 40 years experience in theatre, radio, TV, print journalism, and non-fiction, including 20 years in the Vermont judiciary. He has received honors from Writers Guild of America, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Vermont Life magazine, and an Emmy Award nomination from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.

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