WASHINGTON -- Wednesday, President Biden imposes new sanctions against Russia. ... Ukraine declares an emergency. NBC's Benjy Sailin explains why Sen. Rick Scott's economic policy proposals are so important. ... The DSCC has a radio ad responding directly to Scott. The GOP wins the Jacksonville City Council race, Fla.
First, it used to be the norm that partisan political must cease at the water's edge.
In these hyperpolarized times, however, the new norm is for the political opposition, especially as Russia enters Ukraine, to attack the incumbent president, regardless of how real or imagined any criticism.
"Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch an additional invasion of Ukraine is unacceptable. "Sadly, President Biden chose to appease and his tough talk about Russia was never followed up by strong action," Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader and other GOP leaders said.
The House Republicans followed up with a photograph of Biden on Tuesday as he left the White House podium: "This is how weakness looks on the global stage."
It doesn't matter if it's the House GOP's harsh criticism or the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s gentle statement yesterday ("I don’t believe Vladimir Putin would’ve couple hundred thousand troops on Ukraine's border if we hadn’t precipitously withdrawn Afghanistan last August") -- this lackluster unity doesn’t help an American president in an international crisis.
Surprisingly, the GOP's criticism of Biden is coming at a time when the Republican Party is more divided about Russia and Putin today than the Democrats.
A former president is a good example of this.
Talking Policy With Benjy: Rick Scott Edition
On Tuesday, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) made a big splash by introducing his own policy platform to the GOP to Polito. This is something party leaders have conspicuously avoided. Scott, who is also the head of NRSC (the Senate GOP's campaign arm), said that his document didn't speak for them.
This document covered a range of cultural wars. Scott stated that the party should focus on recognising "there are two types of genders", blocking "critical race theorists" in schools, building a border wall and naming the wall after Donald Trump, and stopping the government from collecting statistics about race.
These are all standard GOP themes, in varying degrees. The economic side raised eyebrows. It included a plank that "all Americans ought to pay some income tax" (roughly 61 percent of taxpayers didn't in 2020 because of low incomes or other tax credits) and a call for "prohibit increasing the debt ceiling without a declaration war." This would have meant that there would be financial crises that could lead to massive budget cuts. Other ideas included slashing non-disaster aid, local aid, and eliminating the Department of Education. Notably, there wasn't a health care section.
Many of these ideas are Tea Party ideas dating back to the early 2010s. Michele Bachmann ran on a minimum tax and Mitt Romney's famous remarks about "47 percent" Americans who depend on government referred to a conservative meme regarding the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay income taxes. Rick Perry campaigned to abolish the Department of Education. It was part of his famous moment. As a way to get an immediate balanced budget, the Freedom Caucus advocated for debt ceiling stands.
Scott stated that Scott's plan was not representative for the larger party. However, that's part of the point. It's not clear where the party stands right now on economic policy. Trump was close to the Freedom Caucus and helped the party move away from Scott's small government ideas.
Trump discarded Scott's Ayn Rand-style tax bracket of "makers" who are overtaxed and "takers," which Scott's plan is based on. He said that people who pay $0 in income taxes should receive a return that says "I win."It wasn’t just Trump, either. Romney was a top advocate for child tax benefits that would most benefit low-income families, an idea many social conservatives and populists embrace.
Trump famously promised not to cut spending on programs such as Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. Although his record wasn't perfect, the party moved away from promises of a balanced budget that would require massive entitlement cuts.
Senate Republicans have also increased their support for government spending under Trump and President Biden. The House and Senate are currently discussing a bipartisan bill that would invest hundreds of billions of USD in science research and domestic production. Under President Obama, this would have almost certainly been called "socialism".
This raises bigger questions about the future Republican president's governance. Is the business wing able to take over as if nothing ever happened? Or is there Trumpian resentment? Is the party returning to its Tea Party roots? Or, can populists use some Trump campaign themes not fitting into either camp to create a new policy agenda.
Roundup of the midterm
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has already begun a five figure radio buy seizing Scott's plan.
Meanwhile, in the Jacksonville, Fla. city council race that we reported yesterday, Republican Nick Howland defeated Tracye Polson Tuesday evening. He won an at-large seat on the city council that was unusually focused by both political parties, NBC's Shaquille Beerster reports.
At his Tuesday night victory party, Howland stated that "This is the model of how we're gonna win the midterms" and "How we're gonna win the local elections next year--we have it figured out." Howland made public support for law enforcement, and public safety the central focus of his campaign.
According to AdImpact, three Senate candidates are on the airwaves. Ex-Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel secured $443,000 worth airtime during the GOP Senate Primary. He launched this ad which highlights his military service. Former GOP state attorney general Adam Laxalt of Nevada reserved $95,000 for cable. Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly purchased $282,000 worth of airtime and focused his first TV advertisement on his history and the economy.
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) hasn't yet stated if he's running for reelection. He was drawn into a district with fellow GOP Rep. Bill Huizinga. But his campaign spent $193,000 on television airtime yesterday in the race to the 4th District. AdImpact reports. Here's the ad.
Texas' 35th district has Justice Democrats and Working Families Party on the airwaves. Both groups support Greg Casar, former Austin City Councilmember. The race for the deep blue district is an example of the ongoing debate between Democrats in Washington about how to best advance their priorities.
Gov. Governor Kim Reynolds, R.Iowa, will be taking her place in the national spotlight when she runs for reelection. She was selected to deliver the Republican response to Biden’s first State of the Union address.
Two Missouri Senate candidates made headlines yesterday when they filed to be elected. Republican Billy Long told reporters that Trump offered his support if Long decided to run for the House. Vicky Hartzler, a GOP Rep., stated that she would not vote to elect the former governor. According to the Springfield News-Leader, Eric Greitens will be elected Republican Senate candidate if he wins.
Alabama's NBC's Jessica Nix asks the question: Trump lost his endorsed Senate candidate in 2017. It could happen again in 2022.
Royce West , a former college basketball star, announced a bid to be a Congress candidate against Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Democratic Rep.
Ad watch: "What's a Pennsylvania?"
Honor Pennsylvania has teamed up with another television ad to support the state in its race for the Republican nomination for Senate. The group attacks Mehmet Oz, claiming that he is not from Pennsylvania and is an "Hollywood outsider".
The new ad features a group that is supposed to be Californian voters. They compliment Oz by saying, "Mehmet Oz is Oprah's bestie?" or "Oz's family hired illegal immigrants." It was so brave. Near the end, one person said, "Oz isn’t running in California?" while another replied, "What’s a Pennsylvania?" Before the narration concluded, "This sounds right for Hollywood but wrong for Pennsylvania."
This is the fifth anti-Oz ad in Pennsylvania that has been funded by the group.
Data Download: The number for the day is... $50,000,000
This is the amount that Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott had in his bank account as of Feb. 19, according to the a >Texas Tribune's Patrick Svitek. According to Patrick Svitek of the Texas Tribune, Greg Abbott had $3.8 million in his bank account at February 19, which is a remarkable figure that was aided by the governor's fundraising efforts of $3.8 millions between Jan. 21-February 19. Abbott had $62.6 million in his bank account at the beginning of that period, which indicates that he has spent large sums in the weeks leading up to his primary election.
Svitek reports that Abbott's most likely rival for general election, former Democratic Rep. Beto, has claimed that he raised nearly $3 million during that time. He'll still trail Abbott in cash reserves as O'Rourke began the current period with only $6 million.
You need to be familiar with the following numbers:
13 The number of Trump-backed congressional candidate headed to Mar-a-Lago today to participate in a fundraiser hosted by Trump's super-PAC.
1 The number of Democratic contributors who donated more than $25,000 for the Democratic Association of Secretaries of States. Politico reports.
36 Percent: This is the percentage of people surveyed in the most recent Gallup poll who voted for Biden's handling "the situation with Russia". The poll was taken between February 1-17.
700 The number National Guard soldiers who have been authorized to help Washington D.C. with traffic control amid concerns about truck convoy demonstrations becoming disruptive.
ICYMI: What other happenings around the world
President Biden interviewed three candidates to the Supreme Court -- federal judges Ketanji Brown Jack and J. Michelle Childs as well as California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kriger.
A case involving a web designer who refuses to offer her services for wedding websites to the same-sex couple will be heard by the Supreme Court.
The federal jury found Ahmaud Abery's three accomplices guilty of hate crime.
