A Trio of Groundhogs
There is no day like Groundhog Day.
Whether it is the Biden administration frozen in place by its biggest problems, MAGA-land ignoring its biggest problems, Senate reporters ignoring the House, or Mark Halperin asking his appreciative readers to lend financial support to his work on this newsletter, some stuff just never changes.
For instance:
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What got me thinking about the most cliched of organizing principles (the Groundhog Day meme)?
A Wall Street Journal exclusive on Team Biden’s student loan debt deliberations and the Proud Boys indictment.
First, from the Journal:
President Biden is likely to decide later this summer whether to partially forgive student-loan debt for millions of borrowers, according to administration officials and others familiar with the matter, after the president said more than a month ago that he would weigh in on the issue in the next couple of weeks.
The officials said Mr. Biden is likely to announce his plans in July or August, closer to when the pandemic-related pause in federal student loan payments is scheduled to lapse, as the president and his senior advisers continue to weigh the political and economic fallout of any such move. The Biden administration earlier this year extended the pause, which has been in effect since March 2020, until Sept. 1.
The delay means the roughly 40 million people who owe about $1.6 trillion in federal student debt may have to wait to find out whether they may see all or part of their loans erased.
The White House declined to comment on the internal discussions. “The administration is continuing to assess options for cancellation and no decision has been made,” a White House official said.
Mr. Biden has long been skeptical of using his executive authority to wipe away student loan debt. Officials said he remains concerned about the possible effects the move could have on record inflation, cautious about doing anything that could be perceived as contributing to high prices. Some people close to Mr. Biden said he had nonetheless warmed to the idea in recent months as advocates inside and outside the administration made impassioned pleas for him to take action.
Like so many stories in the Biden Era addressing the administration’s paralysis by analysis, a version of this piece could have be done pretty much at any point for the last 16 months on so many topics.
It goes something like this:
President Biden is likely to decide AT SOME POINT SOON-ISH whether TO PARTIALLY FORGIVE STUDENT-LOAN DEBT FOR MILLIONS OF BORROWERS/FORMULATE A COMPREHENSIVE CHINA POLICY/MAKE A CHANGE TO CONTROL THE MEXICAN BORDER/ADDRESS THE TECH MONOPOLIES/SEND A DIFFERENT SIGNAL ON VIOLENT CRIME/COME UP WITH A MINI-BBB STRATEGY/ANNOUNCE A PANDEMIC ENDGAME PLAN/REACH OUT TO TRUMP VOTERS, according to administration officials and others familiar with the matter, after the president said more than a month ago that he would weigh in on the issue in the next couple of weeks.
The officials said Mr. Biden is likely to announce his plans in MONTH, closer to when HE HAS TO, as the president and his senior advisers continue to weigh the political and economic fallout of any such move. The Biden administration earlier this year DID SOMETHING PLACEHOLDING AND WELL SHORT OF EVEN INTERMEDIATE ACTION.
The delay means NO ONE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT NOTHING.
The White House declined to comment on the internal discussions. “The administration is continuing to assess options for EVERYTHING and no decision has been made,” a White House official said.
Mr. Biden has long been skeptical of DOING ANYTHING RISKY SO APPARENTLY PREFERS PARALYSIS. Officials said he remains concerned about the possible effects the move could have on SOMETHING, cautious about doing anything that could be perceived as contributing to MORE PROBLEMS. Some people close to Mr. Biden said he had nonetheless warmed to the idea in recent months as advocates inside and outside the administration made impassioned pleas for him to take action.
As the Irish political strategist F. Scott Fitzgerald said in a slightly different context:
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
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In the Redlands, the story is different but remains the same.
The former top leader of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group and other members were charged with seditious conspiracy for what federal prosecutors say was a coordinated attack on the U.S. Capitol to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
The latest indictment against Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, the former Proud Boys chairman, and four others linked to the group comes as the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot prepares to begin public hearings this week to lay out its findings.
The indictment Monday alleges that the Proud Boys conspired to forcibly oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power. Tarrio and the others — Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola — were previously charged with different conspiracy counts.
A staffer for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign instructed Republicans planning to cast electoral college votes for Trump in Georgia despite Joe Biden’s victory to operate in “complete secrecy,” an email obtained by The Washington Post shows.
“I must ask for your complete discretion in this process,” wrote Robert Sinners, the campaign’s election operations director for Georgia, the day before the 16 Republicans gathered at the Georgia Capitol to sign certificates declaring themselves duly elected. “Your duties are imperative to ensure the end result — a win in Georgia for President Trump — but will be hampered unless we have complete secrecy and discretion.”
The Dec. 13, 2020, email went on to instruct the electors to tell security guards at the building that they had an appointment with one of two state senators. “Please, at no point should you mention anything to do with Presidential Electors or speak to the media,” Sinners continued in bold.
Former President Trump endorsed Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Saturday night, but the endorsement did little to increase support for the House minority leader among the MAGA crowd.
Driving the news: Trump sent out a statement on Truth Social, his social media platform, late Saturday night endorsing McCarthy and calling him "an outstanding Representative for the people of California."
“In Congress, Kevin is a tireless advocate for the people of Bakersfield and the Central Valley," Trump said. "He is working incredibly hard to Stop Inflation, Deliver Water Solutions, and Hold Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi Accountable for their catastrophic failures and dereliction of duty ... Kevin McCarthy has my Complete and Total Endorsement.”
The big picture: However, some Trump supporters were not happy with the former president's decision to back McCarthy.
On Twitter, one anonymous user said the endorsement showed how offbase Trump is, adding, "The people that supported Mr. Trump do not support McCarthy."
Kevin McCarthy is not MAGA enough for the MAGA crowd!
In California’s farm country, the GOP’s most electable candidate is under fire for his vote to impeach President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Primaries spread across California and six other states Tuesday will further shape Democrats and Republicans’ identities in the midterms, as established GOP candidates — some of whom have bucked Trump — try to fend off challengers from the right….
What are the Groundhog Day elements here?
While both parties are unduly controlled by their extreme political and media wings, the unique and grotesque manner in which Republican elected officials are afraid of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement and in which overwhelming numbers of voters either pretend to believe (bad) or actually believe (even worse) all sorts of false things about Democrats, our liberal-dominated institutions, and American society (in part, but only in part, because of some true -- and truly unfortunate -- things about Democrats, our liberal-dominated institutions, and American society) is an elephant of a different color.
Republican officeholders’ shameful every-excuse-and-diversion-red-herring reaction to legislative proposals to address gun safety foreshadows what is sure to be the same set of student-body-right talking points in reaction to the House hearings regarding January 6, an assault on our democracy so grave that you would think it would pierce the conscience of those who have a conscience.
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Shall we extend as a group The Presumption of Grace to the dithering Mr. Biden and the cynically manipulative Mr. Trump?
Democracy is messy and the final results won’t be known until the Gang of 500 convenes on Sunday at Lauriol Plaza brunch to dissect this week’s election results and Thursday’s 1/6 hearings.
But it is nice to be part of a group that would have me as a member and is willing to at least consider extending TPoG to both gentlemen.
Stay tuned as only time will tell.
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As for the Senate negotiations over a possible deal to address gun violence, once again a major DC press organ has done a strong look at the state of play in the bipartisan talks – but this Politico piece says absolutely nothing about what might happen in the House to anything the Senate produces.
So John Cornyn can be bullish, but to what ultimate end?
Stay tuned as only time will tell.
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ESSENTIAL READING
* It is very hard to even imagine how a presidential trip could get so f-ed up even before it starts:
President Joe Biden’s high-stakes Summit of the Americas was meant to reaffirm U.S. ties to its own neighborhood while tackling thorny issues of economic growth and migration. But one of the most important neighbors won’t be attending, raising substantial questions about the relevance of the gathering.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a key player in Biden’s plan, announced Monday that he will skip the summit, a boycott that could prompt other nations to follow suit. The move left White House officials scrambling to set the agenda, not to mention the guest list. And it cast doubt on the chances of success at a moment when a rise in migrants at the U.S. border has become a searing political flashpoint. (Politico)
China is secretly building a naval facility in Cambodia for the exclusive use of its military, with both countries denying that is the case and taking extraordinary measures to conceal the operation, Western officials said.
The military presence will be on the northern portion of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand, which is slated to be the site of a groundbreaking ceremony this week, according to the officials, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.
The establishment of a Chinese naval base in Cambodia — only its second such overseas outpost and its first in the strategically significant Indo-Pacific region — is part of Beijing’s strategy to build a network of military facilities around the world in support of its aspirations to become a true global power, the officials said.
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