Welcome Back, Obama
We really missed this guy.
Barack Obama made a triumphant return to the White House yesterday, his first time since leaving office in 2017. We don’t need to dwell on what happened immediately after he left in 2017.
Obama spoke at an event Tuesday commemorating the 12th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. Look at that packed house. Republicans are going to be such jerks about this, especially if anyone present tests positive for COVID-19.
White House East Room is PACKED as crowd, including cabinet members and members of Congress, await @POTUS and @BarackObama. Event had been planned for Rose Garden initially.pic.twitter.com/hqkwIovycZ— Eli Stokols (@Eli Stokols) 1649179541
The visit wasn’t strictly nostalgic. The White House wants to fix what’s known as the “family glitch,” a loophole that has prevented more than five million people from accessing subsidized health plans on the ACA marketplaces.
President Joe Biden can make the fix without Congress, so Senator Joe Manchin doesn’t have to sign a permission slip. Katie Keith, director of the Health Policy and the Law Initiative at Georgetown Law’s O’Neill Institute, said the fix is a “huge deal.” (This was a missed opportunity to reference Biden’s “big fucking deal” exclamation when the ACA was signed.)
Obama rightly held up the ACA as an example of government actually doing something constructive.
OBAMA: I know how discouraged people can get with Washington. But what the Affordable Care Act shows is that if you are driven by the core idea that together we can improve the lives of this generation and the next, and if you’re persistent, if you stay with it, you’re willing to work through the obstacles and the criticism, and continually improve where you fall short, you can make America better.
Democrats can indeed achieve great things if they (briefly) have a filibuster-proof Senate majority. That’s 90 percent of the job. The rest is negotiation. Poor Biden had to make do with a reduced-for-quick-sale congressional majority. The meat smells a bit off, but it’s better than nothing.
Just look at these two together again.
It\u2019s an honor to welcome my friend President @BarackObama back to the White House. I look forward to discussing the big step we\u2019re announcing today that would expand coverage under the Affordable Care Act for families and lower health care costs for hardworking Americans.pic.twitter.com/FkLnkB96Jt— President Biden (@President Biden) 1649180446
OBAMA: Despite great odds, Joe and I were determined [to pass the ACA] because we met too many people on the campaign trail who shared their stories, and our own families had been touched by illness.
This wasn't just a “Glory Days” speech. Obama delivered a statement of purpose. Democrats shouldn’t focus so much on keeping power that they achieve nothing of consequence in the meantime. After the 2010 GOP rout, then-Democratic Senator Evan Bayh claimed Obama and Democratic leaders had “overreached by focusing on health care rather than job creation during a severe recession.” They should’ve fixed the previous Republican president’s mess, rather than try anything too bold. The centrist critics might change but the story remains the same.
Just 34 percent of Americans held a favorable view of the ACA in November 2011. That wasn’t good news for Obama’s re-election prospects the next year. Obama stressed Tuesday that he’d always intended "to get healthcare passed even if it cost me reelection, which looked for a while like it might.” Millions of Americans are alive today because Obama and Biden prioritized healthcare over their own political ambitions.
OBAMA: The ACA was an example of why you run for office in the first place. We are not supposed to do this just to occupy a seat or hang on to power. We are supposed to do this because it is making a difference in the lives of the people who sent us here.
Obama back at the White House reminded us of a more hopeful period for the nation. We didn’t realize yet that millions of Americans would lose their minds and start electing what Richard Pryor called "white folks that scare white folks.”
When Obama started speaking, he referred to Biden as “vice president.” That was a joke, of course. He hugged his former wingman and respectfully called him “my president, Joe Biden.” He’s certainly the first president Obama’s been able to respect since leaving office.
Obama also didn’t hold back from sharing the sparkling wit that lives on in YouTube talk show clips. He joked about wearing a tie again, even though he still looks as if he can fit into the same suits he wore in 2008. He even makes the gray hair work.
OBAMA: I heard some changes have been made by the current president since I was last here. Apparently Secret Service agents have to wear aviator glasses now. The Navy mess has been replaced by a Baskin Robbins. And there’s a cat running around. I guarantee you Bo and Sunny would have been very unhappy ...
FOR HISTORY BOOKS: The first Black US president, Barack Obama, hugs first Black US vice president, Kamala Harris. April 5, 2022. pic.twitter.com/jTcKc8NVyZ— Madam Vice President Harris is THEE GOAT! (@Madam Vice President Harris is THEE GOAT!) 1649184811
History was also made, as the first Black president was in the White House at the same time as the first Black woman vice president. That’s more Black people than were ever featured in your average episode of the "West Wing.”
President Biden spoke for most of us when he somewhat wistfully told his former boss and forever friend, "Welcome back to the White House, man. It feels like the good old days.”
For a few moments there, it really did. We miss you, brother.
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After Sacramento Mass Shooting, California Says F*ck Texas, Let's Sue Gun Manufacturers
Thoughts, prayers may not be entirely effective on their own.
Following a mass shooting that left six people dead and 12 people wounded early Sunday morning, California lawmakers are calling for passage of new gun restrictions. They include a measure, modeled on Texas's abortion ban, that would allow private citizens to sue makers and sellers of assault-style weapons and so-called "ghost guns." At this point in the investigation, authorities haven't specifically said what type of weapons were used in the Sacramento shooting, although witnesses reported hearing many shots in rapid succession. Police said more than 100 rounds were fired, apparently by multiple shooters.
The LA Times reports today that one stolen firearm used in the shooting had been illegally converted to fully automatic, allowing a continuous stream of fire with a single pull of the trigger. Most civilian firearms are semiautomatic, firing one bullet with each pull of the trigger.
Two suspects have been arrested so far; one of the men, Smiley Martin, 27, is still hospitalized, but when he's sufficiently recovered, authorities say he'll be charged with "possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a machine gun," according to the Associated Press. His brother, Dandrae Martin, 26, was arrested Monday and charged with assault with a deadly weapon and with being a convict carrying a loaded firearm. Neither man has yet been charged with homicide, and it's not clear yet whether additional suspects are being sought. Smiley Martin allegedly posted a picture of himself Saturday to social media, showing him holding the gun.
The Sacramento Fire Department said that of the dozen people wounded in the shooting, at least four had suffered critical injuries, while seven had been released from hospitals by Monday. The shooting happened around 2 a.m. Sunday morning as bars were closing. The AP reports police are investigating whether the shootings were related to a street fight that broke out in the area just before the shooting.
Following the shooting, President Joe Biden released a statement Sunday calling for Congress to take action to ban "ghost guns," which are assembled from parts that lack serial numbers, as well as banning assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines. Both of the latter are already illegal in California, which has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, but which also sees lots of weapons brought in illegally from Arizona and Nevada, where guns are easy to buy. The Justice Department has launched five "gun trafficking strike forces" aimed at cracking down on illegal firearms transfers.
At the state level, the Los Angeles Times reports, California lawmakers have already introduced several bills aimed at reducing the number of guns in circulation, including a ban on "ghost guns, a bill restricting firearm ads aimed at minors, and a bill that would prohibit firearms and ammunition from being sold on government property, which would effectively ban gun shows held at county fairgrounds." Previous attempts to stop gun shows at fairgrounds have failed.
The most aggressive proposal, however, is Assembly Bill 1594, which is modeled on Texas's abortion ban, only instead of allowing private citizens to sue nearly anyone involved in an abortion, it would allow a "private right of action" allowing plaintiffs to sue gun manufacturers, dealers, or importers. As a February press release from the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom explained, the bill would exploit a loophole in the federal law that bans liability lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers. The federal statute "allows gun makers or sellers to be sued for violations of state laws concerning the sale or marketing of firearms." Newsom said the bill would require
the gun industry to take reasonable steps to make sure their products are not used unlawfully. If the gun industry ignores this responsibility – one that is common for companies in nearly every industry in the country – this bill gives victims and their families an additional legal pathway for holding the firearm industry financially responsible.”
Newsom has said that "There is no principled way the US Supreme Court can’t uphold this law. It is quite literally modeled after the law they just upheld in Texas." So there, gun-humpers.
[AP / LAT / White House / LAT / Gov. Gavin Newsom / Cal Matters]
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Senate Agrees To $10 Billion In Extra COVID $$$, After GOP A Bunch Of Dicks About It
Mittens Romney not a jerkwad for severalth time this week.
The US Senate agreed yesterday on a $10 billion plan to fund coronavirus treatments, vaccinations, and vaccine research, heading off the possibility that the US might have to cut back on ongoing treatment and free vaccines in the next few months. The funding will also cover additional testing capacity in case a new wave of infections arrives.
The White House has been warning that a cutoff of COVID funding could be catastrophic for programs that have provided COVID vaccinations and treatment to Americans at no cost. Without the additional funds, the government would have had to stop reimbursing providers for testing and treatment, retroactive to March 22, and would have been unable to reimburse for vaccines starting today.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said yesterday that the White House will keep pushing Congress for additional funding, because the US and the world need every dollar of President Joe Biden's original $22.5 billion request, especially to help people get the second booster shots that were approved last week. But, yes, for Crom's sake, pass this deal now to make sure existing programs continue. Deals are good!
“We urge Congress to move promptly on this $10 billion package because it can begin to fund the most immediate needs, as we currently run the risk of not having some critical tools like treatments and tests starting in May and June,” Psaki said.
The funding deal, negotiated by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), is a bit less than half the $22.5 billion the White House had requested, and doesn't include any funding for one of President Joe Biden's top priorities, increased vaccinations in developing countries.
The package will include $5 billion to buy and develop COVID treatments like antiviral pills, as well as for those monoclonal antibody treatments that are effective against the Omicron variant. Another $750 million would go to developing new vaccines that can fight off a variety of variants, and also to ramp up vaccine manufacturing capacity.
Romney said the bill will be fully funded by reshuffling unspent COVID and stimulus funding that had gone to several federal agencies, including the Small Business Administration and the departments of Agriculture, Education, Transportation, and Treasury. He and the other Republican negotiators called attention to a Congressional Budget Office estimate that Romney declared shows the bill “will not cost the American people a single additional dollar," at least in the initial outlay.
The deal emerged after Democrats had been unable to get any Republican support for a $15 billion proposal that would have included $5 billion for international COVID aid. The Washington Post reports that
an earlier “agreement in principle” touted by Romney last Thursday would have included about $1 billion in global aid. But lawmakers were unable to agree on how to pay for that aid, said the people familiar with the deal.
Public health experts warned that the lack of funding for global vaccinations could come back to bite the US in its fiscally responsible ass, however. Zain Rizvi, research director at Public Citizen, told the Post that
Penny-pinching in a pandemic will have devastating consequences for vaccinating the world, for reducing the risk of variants, for all of us. … Abandoning the global covid response will put American lives at risk.
President Biden has also repeatedly made that point, saying in a speech last week that getting the world vaccinated is "critical to our ability to protect against new variants. There’s no wall that you can build high enough to keep out a virus."
The Senate should at least be able to get the current package of domestic COVID spending passed this week, after which it will go to the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi already said it should be passed quickly, noting that "While this agreement does not meet the Administration's full request, this package will fulfill immediate needs to secure more vaccines, boosters, testing and therapeutics to keep the pandemic at bay — and it must be enacted as quickly as possible."
Schumer also said in a statement that he believes a second spending bill including international aid can be passed with bipartisan support, particularly if it's part of a package for other urgent international needs such as "aid for Ukraine as well as funding to address COVID-19 and food insecurity globally."
Well yes, let's do that, and quickly, please.
[WaPo / CNBC / Reuters / Image: MaxPixel, Creative Commons license 1.0]
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LIVE: President Biden Talkin' Trucks
Today on WonkTV!
Unfortunately this will not be the president going VROOM around a track while he test drives a truck. Instead, according to the White House, it is Biden talking about "Remarks on Progress Made on his Administration’s Trucking Action Plan to Strengthen Our Nation’s Supply Chains." So that sounds nice!
We think Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is going to be there too.
Watch here live:
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