On today’s BradCast: Trying to make sense of the Senate Democrats’ decision on Monday to vote in favor of re-opening the federal government, following Friday’s vote that resulted in a short shutdown over the weekend. Callers ring in on that today, the Women’s March over the weekend, and a number of other late breaking news items. [Audio link to show follows below.]
Democrats in the U.S. Senate appear to have folded in their demand that Republicans protect 800,000 “Dreamers” in a short-term spending bill. In the bargain, they voted to re-open the federal Government on Monday, after a nearly identical bill was blocked from passage on Friday, resulting in a two-day shutdown of the federal government. The difference between Monday’s vote and Friday’s? A three week Continuing Resolution to fund the government, instead of a four week extension, and a promise (of sorts) from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote on a measure to protect those 800,000 children of immigrants brought here years ago through no fault of their own, but who are now facing deportation beginning on March 5, following Donald Trump ending the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
On today’s show we discuss the politics around all of this, whether Democrats were right to give in for now, despite polls suggesting the public by and large blamed Republicans for the standoff, the angry progressives and immigration advocates who are furious about it, and whether there’s a chance in hell that Republicans will allow a real fix to DACA without being forced to do so through a full and extended government shutdown.
We take calls from listeners today on all of that, on the huge and absurdly under-covered Women’s Marches held over the weekend in hundreds of cities, where anywhere from 1.3 to 2.1 million turned out — not that you would know it from the lack of media coverage.
Also on today’s show: A natural gas rig explodes in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court orders the Republican-controlled state legislature to redraw gerrymandered U.S. House maps in time for the 2018 primaries which begin in weeks in the Keystone State. The PA ruling follows similar ones by courts in Wisconsin, Texas, North Carolina, Florida and elsewhere, finding Republicans unconstitutionally discriminated against non-Republican voters in U.S. House and state legislative maps drawn after the 2010 census. Most of the rulings in those states, to date, have been delayed by the Republican’s stolen U.S. Supreme Court, likely allowing the worst of the gerrymandering to continue into the crucial 2018 mid-term elections…
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[audio:http://bradblog.com/audio/BradCast_BradFriedman_DemsFoldShutdown_WomensMarch_PAGerrymander_Callers_012218.mp3]
(Snail mail support to “Brad Friedman, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594 Los Angeles, CA 90028” always welcome too!)
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Dear Brad and Desi,
The Grifter in chiefs’ White House message is a clear violation of the Hatch Act . That was a campaign message , paid for by taxpayer money; a
clear Federal violation. BUT, good luck finding a
U.S. attorney to bring charges.
Phil –
That seems clear to me as well. As mentioned on the show, hoping to have someone on *tomorrow’s* show who will have a more knowledgeable opinion on that and — who knows — may actually be able to file a complaint of some sort….
How the house was lost … according to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court