The Morning Dispatch: House Powers Through Veto Threat on NDAA

Plus: The logistical headaches over who gets vaccinated when have arrived.

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Happy Wednesday! Unless, of course, you had lots of money riding on the Supreme Court intervening in the presidential election and overturning the results in Pennsylvania. Then it is a very sad Wednesday for you indeed.

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

  • The Food and Drug Administration released an analysis of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday that concluded the vaccine was 95 percent effective, “met the prespecified success criteria,” and raised “no specific safety concerns.” The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will meet tomorrow to discuss the analysis, and an emergency use authorization for the vaccine could follow within days.

  • Clinical trial data published yesterday show the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine to be 70 percent effective.

  • The Supreme Court yesterday denied a request by allies of President Trump to reverse the certification of the Pennsylvania presidential election. The order, issued without comment, featured no dissents.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Angie

    Just a hello and have a good rest of the day..

    Though, I agree with many here as far as McConnell and Schumer...remove both and pass the rest and discuss the others later..but that isn't very political, but based on my personal situation that if I don't get some help soon, I am going to lose everything

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  2. Pete Stoehr

    Even if each Georgia race were even, the chances of a Democratic sweep are one in four. Don't they need 60 percent anyway?
    Since both sides more or less agree on the money issue and the liability issue is pretty much philosophical, why not compromise on that part?
    Give the liability waiver for those employees willing to be vaccinated, otherwise they can't be called back. I'm sure Captain Marvel and Operation Warp Speed can handle the logistics.

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    Adam Bridge

    If you want more of the Foxconn - Wisconsin story check out the reports from TheVerge:

    https://www.theverge.com/21509874/behind-foxconn

    https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/23/21591366/foxconn-wisconsin-google-server-component-assembly-contract-report

    The whole project was goofy from the start.

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    Brian Ruff

    When I hear about the punditocracy putting on their "game theory hats" to determine how Mitch McConnell or Chuck Schumer will maneuver to strengthen their political positions, using a pandemic relief package as a playing field, I despair a little bit. Check that; I despair a lot. It's difficult not to be despondent from the view in ordinary America. COVID-19 has laid out in stark relief our government's over-complexity and subsequent inability to respond to the socioeconomic facts on the ground in a rapid or effective manner.

    The mind reels at the reflexive instincts of career politicians to inject into what should be emergency legislation priorities that are, in reality, utterly removed from their constituents. Democrats look for methods to bail out financially irresponsible state governments, while Republicans insist on protecting business interests. Both are predictable, yet neither are acceptable in the circumstances. One can argue whether or not these are important issues, but they are SEPARATE issues that can be dealt with at a later time. Yet political veterans make a habit of building into proposed actions a level of complication that allows for chances to score points against opposition. Our sclerotic institutions have even slowed down the logistical process of moving vital vaccinations into the American populace. While parts of Europe and Asia have already begun distribution, we still wade through a convoluted FDA approval process.

    Our culture has joked about "red tape" for generations, but it isn't funny anymore. Over-specialization, increasing costs and diminishing returns have brought down societies when enough citizens start to realize that they put far more into a social contract than they get from it. I don't think Americans are quite to that point, but this pandemic has moved them far closer.

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      Angie

      I have a small nit...I have a republican governor...and we are hurting financially due to the Covid, which is raging here, not being financially irresponsible, he runs the state pretty fiscally responsibly...don't throw the baby out with the bath water...everyone hurting isn't the "demon" blue states

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      1. Avatar photo
        Brian Ruff

        Sure. I'm more annoyed about anyone using any leverage right now. To me, it's akin to arguing who gets the bigger water bucket in front of a burning house.

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      JohnF

      The problem with taking apart a "deal" to remove the "contentious parts" is that those parts were likely the trade-offs given by both sides in order to get the deal done in the first place. That's the broad definition of a deal.

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        Brian Ruff

        I suppose part of my point is that actions to counter national emergencies should work outside of the normal deal-making process and have the narrowest possible scope. Pass an aid package sent directly to citizens. Targeted, timely and temporary.

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          JohnF

          I don't disagree with your goal, but that only works in an environment in which a group of people are all working towards a common gal in a cooperative and ongoing fashion. Instead, we have two sides who agree that the government needs to help, but disagree as to what kind of help needs to be given and to whom. Both sides also know that while they currently have some leverage, that leverage evaporates once this particular deal is done. McConnell's proposal to "deal with the easy bits and then deal with the hard bits later" is disingenuous , because he (and everyone else involved) knows full well that the hard bits will never be dealt with.

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            Brian Ruff

            Yours is certainly the more realistic POV. I suppose politics is the art of the possible, but I can't help but marvel at just how much the instinct to dominate an opponent is occurring right now, at this moment in a crisis.

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        I Was a Crooked Lawyer

        Think you may have actually seen the sausages being made.

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          Brian Ruff

          Sure, but this isn't sausage-making time. It's holy-crap-we-have-to-stop-the-sausage-kitchen-from-burning-down time.

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          1. Avatar photo
            I Was a Crooked Lawyer

            My reply to John F. was an allusion to Bismark’s quip that the public is better off not knowing how law and sausages are made. Of course, the gravity of the situation cannot be overstated. John had a realistic handle on how competing interests contend and tradeoffs get assessed. The process is not for the squeamish. This is sometimes especially true of even the most momentous legislation, e.g., early civil rights laws. True measure of a legislative compromise or a settled lawsuit is nobody walks away completely happy. Maybe liability gets excused except for harder to prove “gross negligence”. Maybe states and locals get some aid but not enough to really bail out irresponsible pension plans.

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  5. Mark Holmlund

    On the game theory question, I would definitely roll the dice if I’m McConnell. Newsom just announced that California is expecting what is being called a tax windfall of $15 billion (down from the CA LAO‘s estimate of a couple weeks ago of $26 billion, but still). The range of the windfall is expected to be anywhere between $12 billion and $40 billion. This is due to the fact the California’s budget is almost totally dependent on high income tax payers, and they weren’t hurt as badly as originally projected when the state budget was set in July. All sorts of budget cuts were assumed, including to schools, that now don’t have to be made, though Toni Atkins, the California Senate pro tem, still wants federal money to be allocated to California. (Think about that: budget cuts that were made to schools that are closed can now be rescinded, and the schools are still closed!) Here’s my argument: I can’t imagine that approving a big bail out package for state and local governments that includes California, which is talking about “tax windfalls”, is going to be politically feasible. If the Democrats win the two Senate seats, Republicans will hammer them over this issue in front of the midterms, particularly with all the California connections in the Biden administration (e.g., Harris, Becerra). Sure, specific city and county budgets in California are hurting, but people will (rightly) ask why the California state government can’t take care of its own.

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    BrettH

    Game theory tells me both sides are going to try and hold the line. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the president elect won’t start pressuring Schumer behind the scenes to accept cocaine Mitch’s idea, because it puts Democrats in the bind of looking like they are the ones not willing to compromise to get some desperately needed aid out the door. If they get out in front of it they will come out clean instead of getting caught with their pants down if the GOP retains control of the Senate and are ultimately forced to accept McConnell’s terms.

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  7. CatoTheElder

    If I had been in McConnell’s shoes these past few months, this would be an entirely different “game”. Same w/r/t Schumer, frankly, though McConnell is, as best I can tell, the more obstreperous and obstinate obstruction to getting to a reasonable compromise on a new pandemic relief bill and getting it passed. That said, what would I do if I, a la some sort of bizarre Freaky Friday remake, I were to find myself at lunchtime suddenly in the role of Senate Majority Leader? Well....

    I would trade the desire for special liability protections for companies w/r/t the pandemic for whatever I could get for it, in a fairly expedient fashion. It should not be a high priority—indeed, there’s not really been a sound case made for it—and insistence upon it is costing both the GOP and the nation real opportunities to get necessary work done.

    I would then negotiate with Schumer and co. about the real needs of state/local govt. for more newly-printed federal money. At the same time, I’d look to GOP leaders in both houses to present a separate bill focusing on a key GOP desire, to be negotiated at the same time, though without being formally tied to pandemic relief. I’d make it clear to Schumer that I remain sitting at the table negotiating about state/local govt relief only as long as he and his party remain cooperative about the GOP proposal. In essence, another trade.

    Given that all this is happening in the immediate post-election hullabaloo of late 2020, I’d give only modest attention to short-term political (i.e., election) implications. The goal would be to get pandemic relief passed, even allowing a Democratic “win” on the matter to some modest extent, in turn for longer-term reward—the benefit of the nation, for one thing, and a clear return to “seriousness” in the eyes of just about everybody.

    I’d also sit down with Trump and make it clear to him that his time is effectively done. He will get nothing from the Senate that I don’t see as good for the nation, and, secondarily, the GOP, long term—with no calculus as to what its benefits and costs are for him personally. If he goes off the rails, I’ll be swift to disavow his efforts and counter with more rational, reasonable, and prudent proposals.

    Finally, I’d also make strong moves to address the needs of a group long neglected and too much ignored: Native Americans. I would look to meet with Congressional leaders of both houses with strong Native American ties and interests, and also with non-governmental leaders of Native American groups and tribes, with the aim of establishing priorities of needs and plans to meaningfully address them.

    There’d be much more to be done, of course, but these would be at/near the top of the list. Oh, and the NDAA? Done deal. It passes, with veto-proof majority, if I’ve got to break a couple arms to do it.

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    Ben

    "Put your game theory hat on: What would you do if you were in McConnell and/or Schumer’s shoes, knowing your position could be strengthened or weakened by the results of next month’s runoffs in Georgia?"

    I'd pass the legislation to help my constituents because I'm not a sociopath.

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    1. Jaybrown

      Great advice for Representatives, not so much for Senators. The constituency of every Senator is supposed to be "the Country."

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  9. Ingenero.lux

    Vaccines competing with cheese curds for dry ice?!? #SAVETHECHEESECURDS! Only half-joking...as a Cheesehead, that sounds like a terrible pickle. I miss those tasty curds...

    And now that Trump is on the way out...maybe we could rethink Kelo? That “redevelopment project” worked out about as well as the Foxconn factory, so maybe using imminent domain for economic development should go the same way as one of its most fervent supporters in January - in the “really bad ideas” pile.

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    1. CatoTheElder

      Oh, don’t get me going on the abuses of eminent domain. Kelo is just one of many examples of how ED has grown into a too frequently abused tool. [Important note: No puns, no double-entendre intended. I have no further comment.]

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        Dave Conant - MO

        It's apparently a double entendre sort of day, but, if we're going to leave eminent domain untouched do you want to take on civil asset forfeiture?

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        1. CatoTheElder

          Oh, geez, that’s even worse. One couldn’t have designed a program to be so horribly abused and inherently abusive to civil rights if one had tried. Perhaps we should call it civil rights forfeiture?

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            Dave Conant - MO

            I'll go with that. Maybe the Dispatchers will take up both topics.

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      2. Ingenero.lux

        Concur on eminent domain - the injustice of how that’s abused really gets my dander up. Especially when I see that it failed to get anywhere near the desired results AGAIN.

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  10. Mike Mattson

    Good Lord, pass something that helps affected businesses get back on their feet, unemployed in employment, continue help with struggling home owners & mortgages (another year of mortgage payment freezes), another year of student loan payment freezes, increased unemployment insurance payments, and some liability coverage & help to local/state governments, if that can be worked out at this time. If not, Republicans & Democrats take should take their heads out of their asses, compromise and pass something that will be of help to us. Following passage of the bill, Schumer should be neutered & put to sleep & McConnell should take an extended vacation to Kazakhstan or Romania to experience how others govern. Just a thought.

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