Economy Contracts, Manchin Makes a Deal

Sarah, Steve, Jonah, and David are back to discuss big pieces of legislation coming down ...

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Sarah, Steve, Jonah, and David are back to discuss big pieces of legislation coming down the pipeline. Will the Inflation Reduction Act find footing in the House? The White House’s stretched definition of a recession is digging the administration into a deeper hole of messaging problems. Plus, Is President Biden gunning for another term in 2024, and are ordinary Democrats distancing themselves from his leadership?

Show Notes:

–The Dispatch: Who Decides What a Recession Is?

–G-File: Merrick Garland’s Playing It Right

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  1. Avatar photo
    Rev Snow

    It was not, in fact, a toomah.

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  2. Vitaly

    There are 3 possible scenarios for Democrats in 2024: 1) Biden runs unopposed; 2) Biden doesn't run; 3) Biden runs but is challenged by another Democrat. The 3rd scenario is the most far-fetched. The sitting Democratic President can only be challenged from the left. The plausible Democratic candidates, in addition to Harris, are (in my opinion) Amy Klobuchar, Corey Booker, Gavin Newsom, Jared Polis, Roy Cooper, Gretchen Whitmer (if she wins re-election). Only Booker and Newsom are a little bit to the left of Biden, and their challenge won't make sense because they agree with him on so much. All others are basically where Biden is politically (Polis and Cooper are a bit to the right but not by much). Only AOC can plausibly challenge Biden (what are the odds of this happening?).
    On the other hand, I don't think Biden has to make a decision about endorsing Harris if he doesn't run. Obama did not endorse Hillary until she clinched the nomination. He did not endorsed Biden until much later. Biden can totally take a step back and say "I want her to run a competitive campaign; let the best candidate win").

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  3. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    The other reason Grover Cleveland v Benjamin Harrison wasn’t a lane duck election is that the duck hadn’t evolved from the Tyrannosaurus rex yet in 1892…

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  4. Avatar photo
    Occam's Razr

    I'm very confused by the 2024 political strategy, by both parties. If the red team fields a kinda normie candidate against Biden, or if the blue team fields a kinda normie not-Biden candidate against Trump, don't they probably win in a landslide? If you're a house member or a senator, it seems you'd want to ride on those coattails, and you'd plan and endorse accordingly.

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    1. Mathew A

      Republican problem is that Trump doesn't care about his team winning if they win without him that's a loss.

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  5. Payette

    So, if Biden doesn't get any credit for the Infrastructure Bill, the Gun Control legislation, the Electoral Count Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, does that mean that Congress is starting to do what they were elected to do? And isn't this what we were hoping for--- for our legislative branch to start legislating?

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    1. Mathew A

      Yes, I think it's clear that congress can in fact legislate when people realize that compromise doesn't mean "I get everything I want and the other side gets nothing."

      Infrastructure and gun control prime examples of this, and hopefully ECA reform as well

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  6. ExploreOK

    I'm writing this comment to point out that I disagree with claiming Presidents have 'legislative records' that we should judge them by.

    Even if you did -

    Substantively, Biden has done very little to accomplish anything from a legislative perspective. Unless you think wildly overpromising has enabled the legislative branch to massively under-deliver in the form of legislative compromise. Which seems to be something both sides of the aisle are amenable to, thankfully.

    I just doubt that failure to achieve progressive unicorn-land legislative objectives, as a means to enable actual legislative success, was Biden's master plan.

    We should instead give credit to the legislative branch and the elected officials who made the laws possible.

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  7. Joe

    Always listen. Sarah wrong twice on Streisand though. She was not from the 80s. 60s/70s.

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  8. Avatar photo
    Chany Ockert

    Serious question on David’s comment about several pieces of legislation passed this year and that for many the White House wasn’t involved. Over and over, each person on the Dispatch has said that Congress needs to do their job; that is, legislate.

    Is the weakness each Dispatcher says of the Biden administration allowing/forcing Congress to legislate?

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    1. Avatar photo
      JohnF

      I noticed that too. They don't seem to ever be happy. For years, they've been complaining about "pen and phone" governance and Executive overreach and demanding that Congress (the legislative body) do its job. Then, when some Senators actually do show some initiative and pass legislation, it's apparently a problem that the Executive Branch isn't steering the ship.

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    2. Avatar photocircle-angle-nib
      Sarah Isgur vertical-nib Author

      I actually think there’s some real evidence for this. Or at least that presidents getting out of the way publicly in terms of credit and publicizing the negotiation process has helped. Or Manchin is idiosyncratic.

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    Wbuese(BZ)

    I officially join the ranks of those who ardently wish that the BOSS (Steve), spring for new sound equipment! I seconded and thirded other commenters' calls for a new mic, and whatever other tech stuff that will improve Steve's sound quality. He fades to a muffled mumpleblthngerd.

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  10. Avatar photo
    Travis M

    DAVID FROM THE TOP ROPE PROVING HE KNOWS THE CONSTITUTION BETTER THAN SARAH!

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    1. Avatar photocircle-angle-nib
      Sarah Isgur vertical-nib Author

      It burns!!!!!!!!

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      1. Avatar photo
        Travis M

        Much like when Lafayette came to help the Americans, another Frenchman has helped the Dispatch!

        I have had that bad pun rattling around my head for a few weeks now and I think this is the closest I'll get to being able to use it.

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