Sunday School 3/28/21: Extra Credit

For your Extra Credit this week, I spent time in the Fox News Sunday classroom. Chris Wallace had two guests: press secretary Jen Psaki, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-Trump), which is where we'll start.

Graham, who has called our current border policies "a magnet for illegal immigration," proposed the Secure and Protect Act (SPA). It would require asylum-seekers from the 'Northern Triangle' countries to file claims at home or in Mexico, not here - but it also allows families that cross illegally to stay here for 100 days, not 20. His bill ideas aren't an illegal immigration magnet, though. CBP folks told him that, with 100 days and additional judges, they could get decisions on asylum cases and "never let the families go."

You need to make sure nobody is released until their case is adjudicated in the United States, you should keep them in Mexico or their home country, and you should be turning every unaccompanied minor away after they've been tested for human trafficking abuse back to their home country and it will stop this. If you don't, we'll have 150,000 a month by this summer.

Wallace and Graham failed to mention that the SPA (great acronym, don't you think?) was submitted in May 2019, when illegal immigration was surging under the Trump regime - and that it had only one co-sponsor. 

While Graham says that HR 1, the massive bill passed by the House without Republican support, "is the biggest power grab in the history of the country," he doesn't accept that Georgia's voting reforms are "un-American" as President Biden said. And he suggested that saying it was amounts to racism. 

So, every time a Republican does anything, we're a racist. If you're a white conservative, you're a racist. If you're a black Republican, you're either a prop or Uncle Tom. They use the racism card to advance a liberalism agenda and we're tired of it. HR 1 is sick, not what they're doing in Georgia.

He didn't mention his own power grab - his alleged attempts to have ballots tossed in Georgia, but he does say that criminalizing giving water and snacks to voters standing in line "doesn't make a whole lot of sense" to him.

Wallace asked why having a debate on gun issues, including assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, would be a bad thing; Graham basically dared Chuck Schumer to bring an assault weapon bill to the floor, where "it won't get 50 votes, much less 60."  And then he added this, which made me giggle. 

I own an AR-15. If there's a natural disaster in South Carolina where the cops can't protect my neighborhood, my house will be the last one that the gang will come to because I can defend myself. You don't have to have an AR-15, but if you have one lawfully, I think you should be allowed to keep it.

Graham said most mass shootings "have a lot to do with mental health. Count me in for addressing that issue. Red flag laws exist in 19 states. There are some things we can do," but an assault weapons ban is not what we need. And even though he's on record saying that the left wants to take people's guns away, he's pushing a red flag law himself. Those bills are designed to take someone's guns away. I guess that's OK if a Republican suggests it? 

I'll eagerly await Graham's support for the bills that the House passed. I've added the emphasis in case Graham reads this post. Both address background checks. 

• One tackles the "so-called Charleston loophole," which give the FBI only three days to do the background check. That's how Dylann Roof, the Mother Emmanuel shooter, got a gun. The bill would give the FBI ten days to complete the background check. 
• And the other bill? That one would require private sellers to conduct background checks on Internet and gun-show sales. Those are already requirements for all federally-licensed firearms sellers.

"Count me in," Graham said.

So, count me in for dealing with the mental health aspects of this. Count me in for trying to have common sense background checks to get the best information into the system. And if you fail a background check, count me in for telling the local cops that the individual failed it. 

I love that he's in favor of that stuff - he's just like the rest of us Americans of every political stripe, who have long supported this kind of reasonable legislation. And I think there's some nice symmetry here - he's in favor of extending the time we have to investigate asylum claims, so hopefully he appreciates extending the time we have to investigate whether someone really should be able to purchase a gun. 

For her part, Psaki basically said a whole lot of "we're committed to transparency" and a whole lot of "we're committed to working with everyone" and a whole lot of "Democrats and Republicans working together" and a whole lot of "the Senate should be able to get stuff done" and a whole lot of "there's a whole lot of stuff going on" - and I'm not a whole lot of certain that she successfully handled any of the questions she was asked. 

See you around campus - be sure you can answer questions, with transparency, when I call on you. 

Wondering on Wednesday 2/17/21

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Colorado City, TX Mayor Tim Boyd doesn't seem to like his constituents very much. Or, I should say, his former constituents. The mayor has resigned after directing quite the rant at residents of his city, some of whom have no power, water, or heat while the region is stuck in a major winter storm.

"No one owes you or your family anything," he said - "nor is it the local governments responsibility to support you during trying times like this! Sink or swim, it's your choice! The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING!" Not only that, but

If you have no water you deal with out and think outside of the box to survive and supply water to your family. If you were sitting at home in the cold because you have no power and are sitting there waiting for someone to come rescue you because your lazy is direct result of your raising!

Am I sorry that you have been dealing without electricity and water; yes! But I'll be damned if I'm going to provide for anyone that is capable of doing it themselves! Bottom line, quit crying and looking for a handout! Get off your ass and take care of your own family! 

He clarified in his, um, 'apology,' that he meant "those folks that are too lazy to get up and fend for themselves"- they're the ones who shouldn't "be dealt a handout." I wonder, why did he ever get into public service in the first place? How many more Tim Boyds are out there? And how long before they're discovered?

President Biden said last night in a CNN Town Hall that he did not support cancelling $50,000 in student loan debt for everyone, doing that would wipe out the debt of around 80% of all borrowers, and nearly 70% of all federally-held debt. "I will not make that happen," he said, adding he thinks there's better ways to spend a trillion bucks on education. 

AOC, of course, chimed in. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren also entered the fray, saying in a joint statement that Biden had the power to do it, and adding

Cancelling $50,000 in federal student loan debt will help close the racial wealth gap, benefit the 40% of borrowers who don't have a college degree, and help stimulate the economy. It's time to act...

I wonder, will Papa Joe be able to stick to his guns?

A lot of attention was paid when President Biden spoke via video conference on Inauguration Day and advised his new team that they were to treat each other, and everyone they deal with, with respect - or else they'd be fired. It was a high - and welcomed - bar, after the low standards of the last four years. 

It didn't take long for that core principle to be challenged. Deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo was suspended for a week without pay for using "derogatory and abusive language" with a Politico reporter, while trying to get a story killed. Suspension was not enough, obviously, if the rule is that you're going to be fired. There were lots of complaints, both within the administration and from outside, and in the end, Ducklo resigned, preventing Press Secretary Jen Psaki or Chief of Staff Ron Klain from having to fire him. 

I think a lot of people wondered whether the Biden team would really stick to the 'respect or else' rule, and I don't think folks though it would be tested this quickly. I was a little disappointed to see that they sidestepped at the beginning, but I was happy that, in the end, they did what they said they would. 

What are you wondering about?

Sunday School 12/20/20

I'm focusing on incoming Biden team members who were making the rounds this morning:  Surgeon General pick Dr. Vivek Murthy; Transportation Secretary pick Pete Buttigieg; Energy Secretary nominee Gov Jennifer Granholm, and Jen Psaki, the new White House Press Secretary.

Dr. Murthy talked with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press, and noted it could be as early as late spring, but "it's more realistic" that it might be later before the vaccines hit the general population. He said the "100 million vaccinations in 100 days" is doable. They've been working with suppliers, and with the career officials in the Trump administration, many of whom he knows from working with them in the past.

On concerns about the UK - identified coronavirus mutation, Murthy cautioned that

While it seems to be more easily transmissible, we do not have evidence yet that this is a more deadly virus to an individual who acquires it. There's no reason to believe that the vaccines that have been developed will not be effective against this virus, as well. 

Todd asked about the "ethical dilemma" of whether to vaccinate older people before essential workers, and where the Biden team stood. Transparency will be key, Murthy said, and that the drivers of who gets the vaccines when "should be fact, should be ethical considerations, should be science and expertise." Regardless of the rollout,

...we have got to make sure that we've got enough supply. We've got to make sure that we have both the logistical systems in place as well as people and materials to be able to deliver that vaccine quickly. If we put these together, then we can rapidly get people in our country to the level of herd immunity. And that is ultimately what will let us get back to living our lives...

Pete Buttigieg chatted with Jake Tapper on CNN's State of the Union. They talked a bit about him being the first millennial cabinet member, and the first openly gay Cabinet Secretary to be confirmed by the Senate, if that in fact happens. Tapper asked him if he was confident that he's got enough experience for the role. He said yes and said Americans are "ready for us to finally do something about infrastructure."

We can't keep letting infrastructure week be a Washington punchline. This is a moment when we have a chance to answer to something that I think people in Republican and Democratic and purple communities, rural and urban, understand, which is that Americans shouldn't settle for less when it comes to our -- our roads and our bridges, our highways, our trains, all of the infrastructure that really powers our economy and creates so many livelihoods. 

Mayor Pete said that a "major infrastructure bill within Biden's first year in office" is not just "possible. It's necessary." There's no reason for us to settle for less than our peers around the world, he said, thinking about not only jobs, and the economy, and climate change, but also thinking about justice.

It's disproportionately black and brown neighborhoods that were divided by highway projects plowing through them because they didn't have the -- sometimes the political capital to resist, or sometimes nothing at all coming to the most low-income or minoritized neighborhoods. We have got a chance to get that right,

And they focus not just on traveler safety, he said, "how many people are indispensable to the vaccine supply chain and just to America's economy functioning. We have got to make sure that we're looking after their safety too, especially to get through this first year, which will really be a test of this country in conquering COVID."

Tapper asked about Hunter Biden, and any investigations, whether there should be a special prosecutor, things like that. I'm going to let Jen Psaki answer that question; she's the official spokesperson and it came up in her conversation with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.  So did a few other questions.

On the 'colorful language'  incoming Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O'Malley Dillon used to describe Republicans, Psaki suggested people read the full comments for context and not jump to conclusions. Her message was similar when asked about suggestions that some of the cabinet picks won't be confirmed. She said they "didn't expect that every nominee would be embraced by every corner of our political system," but they are "hopeful" that the Senate will move quickly to confirm the team. 

On whether Biden believes president Trump has engaged in an abuse of power, she said they're more interested in getting to and through the inauguration and "doing the work of the American people." Whether the current president attends the inauguration or not is "not on the top-ten list or even longer than that, of his focus or priorities at this point time." 

And, finally, the Hunter Biden questions: does Biden promise to let US attorney David Weiss (he's currently conducting the investigation) finish the job?  And second, what does Biden think about a special counsel possibly being appointed to investigate his son?

 Well, let me be crystal clear, Chris, and I appreciate you asking this question. He will not be discussing an investigation of his son with any attorney general candidates. He will not be discussing it with anyone he is considering for the role, and he will not be discussing it with the future attorney general. It will be up to the purview of a future attorney general and his administration to determine how to handle any investigation.

US attorneys are personnel decisions, she reminded him, and they've still got some cabinet secretaries to announce, including the AG. 

But we’re going to allow the process to work how it should, which is for a Justice Department to be run independently by the attorney general at the top. 

And, to end on a lighter note, Psaki allowed as how she was a little puzzled by the kerfuffle over Dr. Jill Biden's use of the title she earned.

It’s a bit perplexing to me, and I’m sure to millions of Americans, that with thousands of people dying every day of COVID, millions out of work, that anyone wake up in the morning and decide that the focus they need to have, the way they contribute to society that day is to question whether or not Dr. Jill Biden, someone who is still teaching, who has a PhD in education, should be called a doctor or not. Of course she should. 

 Gov. Granholm talked with George on This Week. He asked if she'd been briefed yet on the hack we're hearing so much about, as the Energy Department was hit. Noting that she'd been nominated a mere 16 hours ago, she said she hadn't briefed. She also said we don't fully know the extent, or for sure who was behind it, but that the Biden administration would have a robust response when the time comes. 

She sees combatting climate change as an economic opportunity, with "trillions of dollars spent globally" on it - and we can be producers of the goods that everyone else will need: solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, batteries, etc. and export them around the world. We should be leading, she said, or we'll lose to other countries, including China. Biden, she said, is focused

as well on making sure that the benefits of fighting climate change, the jobs, are focused on the communities that have been hardest hit by environmental pollution, for example, or that are the poorest communities. So, both environmental equity, the equity associated with energy opportunity, and creating jobs for Americans, that is going to be the mission of the Department of Energy, in addition to the great work that they already do.

On rejoining the Paris Accord and establishing an "enforcement mechanism" to ensure net zero emissions by 2050, she said it is a realistic goal, albeit an ambitious one. It's about accountability, and about working together with the rest of the Biden team, including Deb Haaland at Interior. There's going to be a significant 'hair on fire' attitude in order to ensure we meet the goals and to be leaders around the world as well as at home. 

This was something I focused on as governor of Michigan and a lot of governors and mayors are focusing on how they can contribute to make sure that they meet the Paris Climate Accord. So, we’re going to be working at the Department of Energy with the local and sub-national, as they call it units, the states and the cities, to help give them incentives -- little carrots, little sticks. The EPA often is the place that people turn to for sticks. But the Department of Energy is going to be working with all of this -- the whole of government effort to make sure we combat climate change in a fair and equitable way, and create jobs in the process.

Finally, on what she'd say to the progressives who say that the Paris Accord standards don't go far enough fast enough, Granholm said that the Green New Deal was "an important framework" for what Biden wants to accomplish, and that it's "going to be an effort that runs through the government." She mentioned here the importance of the Transportation Department. There's been "wonderful input on the part of AOC and Bernie Sanders." Not sure that's going to placate AOC or That Guy from Vermont; we'll see how that plays out. 

See you around campus. Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Bite the bullet, and stay home for the holidays.