January 6, 2021

It Looks Like Democrats May Win the Senate After All

Stacey Abrams said she'd turn Georgia blue, and by God she did it. Congratulations, Stacey.Kevin Lowery/Biden via ZUMA

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How about that? It looks like Democrats are going to win both the Senate races in Georgia. This will split the Senate 50-50, with Kamala Harris providing the tiebreaking vote. I wonder if Lisa Murkowski could be persuaded to become an independent who caucuses with the Democrats? That would make things easier.

I see a lot of chatter about how Democrats should now nuke the filibuster and start passing Medicare for All and everything else on the progressive wish list. Well, forget it. Democrats don’t have 51 votes to get rid of the filibuster, so that’s not going to happen. In terms of passing legislation, then, the big question is what Chuck Schumer will put into the annual reconciliation bill, which only needs 50 votes (plus Kamala) to pass. In practice, you get to choose only one thing, and obviously it needs to be something that every single Democrat will vote for. I would be happy with doubling Obamacare subsidies, which would be pretty good for the working class and pretty popular with the middle class too. Could it attract every single Dem vote? Maybe. Maybe.

Perhaps you have a better idea. Remember, you get one thing only. That’s how the rules work. And it needs to be something that has a plausible chance of winning the votes of even the most conservative Democrats. Feel free to toss out your favorites in comments.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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