No Dem Good Deed Goes Unpunished

David Horsey today gives us something to ponder in his op-ed No good deed … The Seattle Times:

But, in much of the commentary about the need for Democrats to focus their storytelling, there is an underlying assumption that may prove fallacious. That assumption is that voters will be receptive to a message about all the good stuff in the Democrats’ legislative product and will reward the party accordingly. Is that really true?

Republicans have achieved quite a bit of success by dispensing with any coherent legislative agenda. They run on red-meat issues like abortion, immigration fears, wars on Christmas, creeping socialism, antifa fantasies and stolen elections. The most pertinent current example is the success of the Republican gubernatorial campaign in Virginia, where suburban female voters were scared away from the Democrats by GOP rants about racial propaganda being foisted on schoolkids.

Elections are decided by about 10% of citizens in the middle of the political spectrum who do not pay a lot of attention to the details of legislation. Polls show that a disturbingly high number of Americans are unaware of the hundreds of billions of dollars the Biden administration pumped into the economy last year to keep businesses afloat and to keep solvent the many people who lost their jobs due to pandemic shutdowns. It is quite likely that, next year, Democrats will not get the credit they deserve for the important and possibly transforming legislation they are passing now, no matter how smart their messaging campaign may be.

The real lesson is this: Democrats need to accomplish as much as they can now while they control Congress, not because it will help them win in 2022, but because it is the right thing to do.

The Eaglet has Landed

Now it’s up to Momma Nancy to see it safely soar out the nest.

See the source image

House sets up Friday votes for Biden agenda | TheHill
House Democrats are now planning to vote Friday on their long-sought social spending package as well as the bipartisan infrastructure bill as they rush to deliver on President Biden’s agenda after disappointing state election results earlier this week.
The House Rules Committee met late Thursday night to advance the final text of the social spending legislation.
Next, according to Democratic sources familiar with the plan, the House will convene at 8 a.m. Friday to debate and vote on the package, titled the Build Back Better Act. A vote to clear the bipartisan infrastructure bill — which has stalled in the House since its Senate passage in August due to progressive resistance — will follow.

Contempt of Congress

Wiki:
Following a contempt citation, the presiding officer of the chamber is instructed to refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; according to the law it is the duty of the U.S. Attorney to refer the matter to a grand jury for action.

The criminal offense of contempt of Congress sets the penalty at not less than one month nor more than twelve months in jail and a fine of not more than $100,000 or less than $100