Kevin McCarthy’s Main Debt-Ceiling Argument Is a Lie

[Daily Kos Morning Roundup]( A morning roundup of worthy pundit and news reads, brought to you by Daily Kos. [Click here to read the full web version.]( - [Kevin McCarthy’s Main Debt-Ceiling Argument Is a Lie]( Kevin McCarthy’s Main Debt-Ceiling Argument Is a Lie, Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine A clean hike can’t pass? Of course it can. So why are they doing this? Punchbowl, the Capitol Hill newsletter that is known for being very close with McCarthy, explains the stakes quite clearly: McCarthy simply wants to get to the negotiating table with President Joe Biden and top Democrats. To do that, it’s imperative that House Republicans pass this bill. Otherwise, the House could be forced to move a clean debt limit increase this summer. That’s exactly what Biden wants, but it would be devastating for McCarthy. Passing the bill means McCarthy keeps alive his hopes of extracting a ransom from Biden. Failing to pass the bill means he would be forced to give up the extortion scheme and simply raise the debt ceiling. That outcome would certainly be “devastating for McCarthy.” But should the rest of us care? - [Show your support for progressive, independent news with a Daily Kos t-shirt—they're union decorated and made in the USA! Click here to get yours]( - [Tucker Carlson was Fox News’s biggest star. Then he became its biggest liability]( Tucker Carlson was Fox News’s biggest star. Then he became its biggest liability, Margaret Sullivan, The Guardian Carlson has been far more than a cable-news host over the half-dozen years since he took that prominent evening slot and became Fox’s most-watched personality. He has been America’s chief fomenter of populist resentments, its go-to guy for the politics of grievance and – despite his smarmy demeanor, and aging prep-school appearance – he’s been a twisted kind of working-class hero. “Carlson has been uniquely dangerous and damaging – the leading figure in the right’s larger undertaking of making stuff up and inciting a hate-filled narrative against the educated, cosmopolitan elite,” said Linda Hirshman, an author and cultural historian who studies and writes about social movements. - [Daily Kos is $62,699 away from our monthly goal. Can you chip in $5 now to help us close the books on April?]( - [Here’s the Gutsy, Unprecedented Campaign Biden and the Democrats Need to Run]( Here’s the Gutsy, Unprecedented Campaign Biden and the Democrats Need to Run, Michael Tomasky, The New Republic The party needs a clear hold on power in Washington to deliver big economic boons to the American people. To do that, they need to make a big promise to voters. Democrats appreciate that he ran in 2020 and beat Trump and that he’s passed some impressive bills. Under normal circumstances, that would be enough. Incumbents usually run on some version of “stay the course”; we’ve moved things in the right direction, and this is no time to switch. But that won’t be enough this time. The “wrong track” number in this Morning Consult daily poll (69 percent last Monday) has been higher on average for the last year than it was during most of Trump’s presidency. And there could be a recession coming—one rather inconveniently timed, from the Democratic point of view. If additional economic headwinds start to blow, that wrong track number is likely to go even higher. So no—the circumstances don’t call for a stay the course campaign. Biden should do something bigger and bolder. He and the Democratic candidates for Senate and House should run a unified campaign. They should say to America: Elect us—give us the White House, 52 Senate seats, and a House majority—and we’ll reform the filibuster and, by Memorial Day 2025, we’ll pass a platter of bills all aimed at helping the middle class and fulfilling the Biden motto that the economy grows from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down. - [The Trump-Biden Rematch Is Inevitable]( The Trump-Biden Rematch Is Inevitable, Tom Nichols, The Atlantic The choices will be a traditional American politician or a de facto cult leader—again. But Trump and Biden are likely to be renominated for very different reasons. Obviously, Biden is the incumbent—and, as I have argued, has been a remarkably successful president under difficult circumstances. Whatever the grousing from Democratic faithful, parties do not torpedo their own president: The only sitting chief executive who was elected in his own right and then denied renomination for another term was Franklin Pierce, in 1856. (Four others were denied nomination after becoming president upon the death of the incumbent.) My colleague Mark Leibovich, however, has suggested that Biden’s age is too big a problem to ignore, and that the Democrats would benefit from a contested primary: The public silence around the president’s predicament has become tiresome and potentially catastrophic for the Democratic Party. Somebody should make a refreshing nuisance of themselves and involve the voters in this decision. I don’t quite agree. Biden, as the expression goes, has lost a step, but I kind of like the new Joe Biden. As a senator and a vice president, Biden was often a great source of Kinsley gaffes, the accidental truth-telling that made him a must-watch on the Sunday shows. Biden as president is different, and not just older. There’s a greater seriousness to him, a somberness, and an obvious weight on his shoulders. To me, that’s a better Biden. - [Tucker Carlson was doing something different — and darker — than most Fox hosts]( Tucker Carlson was doing something different — and darker — than most Fox hosts, Andrew Prokop, Vox And that’s why his departure really matters. It might sound odd to claim that a TV host losing his program is seismic news for American politics, but with Tucker Carlson’s exit from Fox News, that claim is justified. Like the rest of his Fox colleagues, Carlson’s main job was winning eyeballs to the network — and he was very successful at that. But he was also engaged in a different and more ambitious project from, say, Sean Hannity. Rather than just cheerleading for Trump or the Republican Party or the Fox News company line, Carlson was articulating an ideology. Some call it conservative populism, or national conservatism, while critics say it’s akin to white nationalism. It’s an ideology that panders to many Americans’ bigoted and xenophobic impulses, their resentments and their grievances. It welcomes in voices denounced by others as racist, and delights in mocking “woke” liberals. It promotes conspiracy theories. It admires foreign leaders denounced by others as authoritarians. It denounces “elites,” the traditional establishments of both parties, and the long-held commitments of US foreign policy. - [Alaska Supreme Court, in landmark ruling, says partisan gerrymandering violates state constitution]( Alaska Supreme Court, in landmark ruling, says partisan gerrymandering violates state constitution, Sean Maguire, Anchorage Daily News The decision follows a contentious recent reapportionment cycle: The Alaska Redistricting Board was twice found by the state’s highest court of having unconstitutionally gerrymandered the state’s political maps by attempting to give solidly Republican Eagle River more political representation with two Senate seats. Following a court order, the board approved an interim map last year for November’s general election that kept Eagle River intact in one Senate district. The court ruled Friday that the redistricting board would have 90 days to appear before a Superior Court judge and show cause why the interim political map should not be used until the 2032 general election. A board meeting hasn’t been scheduled yet to discuss the court’s decision, but that could happen as soon as next week. ICYMI: Popular stories from the past week you won't want to miss: - [Fox was fine with Tucker's hate-filled lies. So what changed?]( - [Reactions pour in now that Tucker Carlson is out]( - [Ukraine Update: The sad state of Russia's hilariously bad propaganda]( Want even more Daily Kos? Check out our podcasts: - [The Brief: A one-hour weekly political conversation hosted by Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld]( - [The Downballot: Daily Kos' podcast devoted to downballot elections. 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