A call to do nothing and call that bipartisanship

Kerry Eleveld of Daily Kos looked at the census data released this week. What has been released so far are total populations for each state. This is enough to reapportion the House – redistribute seats based on which stated grew the fastest. Michigan is back above 10 million residents. Alas, it grew more slowly that most other states, so lost a seat. Political strategists expected Texas to gain three seats, Florida to gain two, and Arizona to pick up one. But Texas gained two, Florida one, and Arizona none. Why the difference? Demographic experts and statisticians think it is an undercount of Latino voters in all three states. That means in undercounting Latinx people the nasty guy and his minions prevented the GOP from getting three more seats. Knowing what happened for sure will have to wait until neighborhood data is released. Joe Biden gave a speech. At the top he noted behind him in the Vice President and Speaker seats were two women. I didn’t watch. Sen. Tim Scott gave the GOP response. Mark Sumner of Kos commented on what Scott had to say.

What was missing from the Republican response was a response. That is, anything that looked like a competing vision for America. Scott’s speech was devoid of alternatives. It was simply a call to do nothing and call that bipartisanship. It was a defense of playing defense from a party that doesn’t have a competing vision. ... Biden spent a large part of his speech calling for national unity and working together. Biden’s history in Washington shows that he means it—he won’t just extend an olive branch, he would accept a helping hand, even if that means compromise. But what Republicans are calling bipartisanship is really surrender. And neither Biden, nor the Democratic Party, are in a mood to give up.

Sumner wrote Scott left out the two issues that GOP legislators across the nation are embracing: torturing transgender youth and voter suppression. Actually, there is a third thing that gets GOP legislators excited – anti riot bills. David Neiwert of Kos described the law that was just signed in Florida. It seems to draw the definition of a riot very close to a peaceful protest. For example, one provision says it is illegal to block streets during a protest. That one is important because:

The most disturbing feature of the law is a section granting civil immunity to people who injure or kill people by driving their vehicles into protesting crowds, so long as they claim the protests made them concerned for their own well-being in the moment.

Neiwert described the history of how protecting vehicular homicide got to be a thing. Biden has proposed a $2 trillion American Jobs Plan (I think this used to be called the infrastructure plan). There was a lot of complaining by the GOP. But for quite a while, no counteroffer, so no way to negotiate. The GOP finally produced a plan, proposing a half trillion. But there still isn’t any negotiation because this sounds like their final offer. Eleveld then reviewed comments from Democrats. They’re now saying we tried for a bipartisan bill and that isn’t working. So we’ll do it ourselves. As for the big relief bill that Democrats did all on their own, Eleveld reported now that the money is hitting GOP districts, those GOP reps are showing their delight. That prompted Pelosi to say:

A number of them are trying to take credit for something they didn't vote for—that's not unusual. Vote no, take the dough—that's what the Republicans do.

Bill in Portland, Maine, in his Cheers and Jeers column for Kos, reported on some late night commentary.

Last night was President Biden's first address to Congress. And get this: 85 percent of people who watched Biden's speech approved of it. That's amazing. The only other things Americans like that much are Dolly Parton and cheese fries. —Jimmy Fallon Fun fact: for some GOP members of Congress, this is their first time back in the Capitol since those tours they gave to their friends on January 5th. —Trevor Noah