I’ve had one of those days and I’m running late, so let’s knock this out. First and foremost, Joe Biden’s stimulus bill has passed all the Congressional hurdles and he’ll probably sign it Friday. As we discussed Monday, the stimulus bill will pump some desperately needed cash into the economy to the tune of $1.9 trillion, one of the largest social welfare bills since Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society.
Monday’s piece went into more detail, but the bill is going to do a lot of good for folks who’ve got their backs against the wall because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with the much-ballyhooed $1,400 stimulus checks, the bill will also pump hundreds of billions of dollars to both schools as well as state and local governments. It will also do some helpful things for the child tax credit and student loan forgiveness.
It should be noted that the bill enjoys almost 70% popularity among the voters and that’s across the board. Republican and Democrat voters both are digging on it. However, not one Republican in Congress voted for the bill. Not one. It passed 50-49 in the Senate with on GOP abstention and 220-211 in the House with one Democrat switching sides, Maine’s Jared Golden for reasons I’m sure he thinks were a good idea at the time. He claims he’s doing so because he disagrees with how the funding will be directed but he’s been known to break ranks with the party – he split his vote on the initial impeachment charge – so who the hell knows.
Moving on, Biden’s new Attorney General passed the Senate today, granting former President Obama a small measure of revenge. Merrick Garland first entered the public consciousness when Obama nominated him for the Supreme Court and the Mitch McConnell-led Senate sat on the vote. They said it wasn’t fair that a lame-duck president got to put a Justice in a seat. This is the same McConnell-led Senate that pushed Amy Coney Bennett’s nomination through like grease through a goose after Trump lost his re-election.
In any event, the Senate passed Garland with a fairly heavy vote of 70-30. There were some hurt feelings though, notably Florida’s snake-human hybrid Rick Scott who yowled about Biden’s “radical agenda” on Twitter. That’s probably more a sign he’s worried the new AG will come after him for the multitude of shenanigans performed by the former Florida governor.
Garland not only takes over a Justice Department that was made into Trump’s personal attack squad, but he also faces a number of rather thorny problems. This includes whether there’s anything to the Hunter Biden business, changes to the Russia probe, and just how much a role Trump played in the January 6 Insurrection of the Dunces, if any. Apart from Scott and his ilk, Garland is fairly well-liked and respected by the Senators even drawing praise for his legal acuity from McConnell. Much has been made about Biden’s promise to try to make Washington more “bi-partisan” and no doubt whatever Garland does will be used as an excuse by the GOP to not even try.
Okay for now. Supper’s done and that takes precedent. Hopefully, the weather stays nice.
Dear Y'all 