Fox News’ Janice Dean Calls For Cuomo To Be Subpoenaed On Nursing Home Deaths

Fox News Senior Meteorologist Janice Dean spoke out on Thursday night to respond to a report by the New York Attorney General’s office that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s (D) administration undercounted COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.

Dean Calls For Cuomo To Be Subpoenaed

Dean, who had been saying this for months, called for both Cuomo and New York Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker to be subpoenaed for the nursing home deaths. She added that there should be a federal investigation into similar policies on coronavirus patients in nursing homes in other states.

“I hope, Liz, that we have an independent, bipartisan investigation with subpoena power to get the governor and his health commissioner on the stand to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and let us have our moment as well, to tell him what he’s done to our families,” Dean told Fox News.

“We want the answers, but we also want accountability from this governor, his administration, and his health department. … The report today, I’m hopeful, is the start of a bigger investigation into this governor and his administration,” she added.

She added that this investigation may need to be federal since Cuomo was not the only governor who forced nursing homes to take COVID-19 positive patients.

Related: Janice Dean Celebrates Report Slamming Cuomo For ‘Undercounting’ Nursing Home Deaths – ‘The Angels Won’

Both Of Dean’s In-Laws Died In New York Nursing Homes

Both of Dean’s in-laws died in nursing homes in New York from coronavirus last year. Earlier in the day yesterday, she became emotional when she learned that this report exposing Cuomo’s failures had come out.

“When I saw the report and knew it was coming probably an hour before it was released, I called my husband and I called my sister-in-law, and I said that maybe the angels won. Maybe the angels will have their day in court and maybe this governor will be held accountable,” a visibly emotional Dean said.

“I didn’t want to be in this position. I’m not a political person but my family was affected and I wasn’t seeing the coverage,” she added. “I wasn’t seeing the questions being asked of this governor. He continued to pass the blame on everyone else and everything else. And he still to this day will not accept any responsibility.”

Read Next: Janice Dean Demands Cuomo Be Held Accountable For COVID Deaths

This piece was written by James Samson on January 29, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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Marco Rubio attempts to attack American Federation of Teachers and is demolished on Twitter

After toeing the Republican line that COVID-19 wasn’t a big deal, questioning mask mandates, promoting the false narrative that Dr. Anthony Fauci lied to the American public, and questioning stay-at-home orders, Florida coward Marco Rubio stepped up in front of everyone else—teachers, first responders, and the elderly—to grab a vaccine for himself. Rubio is recently remembered for saying an impeachment trial for a president who helped create, fester, and enact an attempted coup d’etat on the United States is “stupid.” He’s also seemingly only been able to muster up the work ethic of a toddler during nap time, trying and failing to attack real legislator, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

On Wednesday, probably unable to read clearly from underneath the boots he’s been licking for the last four years, and unable to find his Bible Quote of the Day calendar, Rubio tried to attack public school teachers, and more specifically the “National Teachers Union” on Twitter. Rubio wrote, “National teachers’ union (not teachers) are saying they won’t go back to work until 2022. We should not send a single taxpayer dollar in Covid funds to schools that aren’t going to reopen.” Yup. Guy has very little to say about an insurrection from within his own political party, but he’s got serious grandstanding to do when it comes to promoting bad public health safety and our children.

It’s hard to know exactly what Rubio was talking about; perhaps he was referring to the impasse that the Chicago Teachers Union and the city has come to over COVID-19 resources and the safeguards being presented to teachers for reopening schools. Maybe he’s talking about the American Federation of Teachers? Not sure. Marco needs to go back to school. Badly. In the meantime, the internet learned him a little.

First, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten stepped in, to point out that Marco Rubio is a lying sack of shit.

Marco Rubio is lying. Our union has been talking about reopening since April, in fact I published an OpEd on it this week. The fact reopening safely costs money. Trying to withhold money from schools only slows down reopening. Stop lying Senator. https://t.co/PZnU7xxXGU

— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) January 27, 2021

Daily Kos’ own Mark Sumner called Rubio out as well.

Marco Rubio continuing the trend of using the Big Lie to spread hate and divisiveness. Tell me, Senator, is there an appropriate Bible verse for that?

— Mark Sumner (@Devilstower) January 27, 2021

Then a simple statement of facts.

You do realize that remote and hybrid learning require infrastructure, implementation costs, curriculum costs & personnel, right? Instead of threatening to make education MORE difficult, maybe you should listen to what educators say they need to meet the needs of their students.

— doesnotexist (@BrianFiddle) January 27, 2021

Those are big ideas for Rubio. This might be more his speed.

That's smart: They don't have the resources to get open, so the natural thing to do is: Cut their resources more. Thinking like this is proof of why kids need to be (safely) back in school. We've turned out too many stupid people already.

— Virgil Simpson (@HorseyDC) January 27, 2021

Maybe this approach will be easier for him to understand.

I’m of the opinion that we don’t pay legislators until they start focusing on Americans instead of trying to tear each other apart based on party politics.

— Elysabeth Britt (@ElysabethBritt) January 27, 2021

Maybe we can appeal to his Santa Claus-level understanding of Christianity and Catholicism?

does your jesus tell you to lie

— Atrios 🟨🟥 (@Atrios) January 27, 2021

But let’s be clear what is going on here.

Shame the National Teachers' Union dissolved the National Security Council's Pandemic Response Team in 2017 and then ignored their federal intelligence regarding an impending pandemic and then got on air to tell us 15 cases were going to zero and then told us to shoot up bleach.

— Gen X Army Brat (@GenXArmyBrat) January 27, 2021

The depths of Marco Rubio’s crapitude are just staggering.

Gretchen Whitmer Claims She ‘Can’t Stand People Who Have One Rule For Others, Different One For Themselves’

Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer spoke out this week to defend her decision to attend Joe Biden’s inauguration last Wednesday. She went so far as to claim that she “can’t stand people that have one rule for others, and a different one for themselves.”

Whitmer Defends Attending Biden Inauguration

WOOD TV host Rick Albin pointed out that many felt it was hypocritical for Whitmer to travel to Washington D.C. for the inauguration when she has been urging people to not travel or gather amidst COVID-19. Whitmer, however, disagreed.

“Anyone who would have watched would have seen that we were spaced out, we were outside, and we were masked up,” she said. “So that is how we can live and enjoy some important aspects to life and stay safe. I have been following the same directives I have asked everyone else to. I can’t stand those people that have one rule for others and a different one for themselves.”

You might recall that back in May, Whitmer’s husband Marc Mallory was accused of trying to use his connection with her to get his boat back in the water faster after his wife’s lockdown closed that industry, which led to a backup.

“This morning, I was out working when the office called me, there was a gentleman on hold who wanted his boat in the water before the weekend,” company owner Tad Dowker said at the time. “Being Memorial weekend and the fact that we started working three weeks late means there is no chance this is going to happen.”

“Well our office personnel had explained this to the man and he replied, ‘I am the husband to the governor, will this make a difference?’” he added.

Related: Michigan Governor Whitmer’s Husband Reportedly Ignored Her Own Guidelines With Boat Request

Whitmer Doubles Down

Whitmer, however, appeared to have forgotten all this in her latest interview.

“I have abided by these precautions but also recognize as the governor of a state — an important state — that played an important role in this inauguration having been invited and having made a decision very close to one when I had to come out here I know that this is a moment that is really important for our state,” she said.

Whitmer went on to say that she had to go to the inauguration to foster a close relationship with Joe Biden and his administration.

“This was something it was an honor to be [at], and I followed all the protocols and I encourage people to do so, as well,” she said.

Read Next: Gretchen Whitmer Finally Relaxes Restaurant Restrictions After Biden Is Inaugurated

This piece was written by James Samson on January 26, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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Meghan McCain Unleashes On Biden, Fauci, And Amazon Over Hypocrisy – ‘I Was Lied To’
Democratic Senator Hirono Reveals Real Goal Behind Trump Impeachment Effort

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Democrats ditch Republicans on COVID-19 relief, start budget reconciliation process

House Democrats are moving forward on a COVID-19 relief bill, preparing to ditch the Senate Republicans and provide critical relief to the American people without them. Initial votes could come as soon as next week, and President Joe Biden has signed off on using the procedure—budget reconciliation—to get his relief package through as Republicans in the Senate continue to obstruct.

"Reconciliation is a means of getting a bill passed. There are a number of means of getting bills passed. That does not mean, regardless of how the bill is passed, that Democrats and Republicans cannot both vote for it," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. "So the president obviously wants to make this bipartisan, hence he's engaging with members of both parties and he remains committed to that." House Budget Chairman John Yarmuth said Monday that he is preparing the reconciliation instructions for the package, and is even going to include Biden's $15/hour minimum wage increase, even though that's a "stretch" in his words to qualify under the rules for the procedure.

Budget reconciliation became a thing as an optional procedure under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. That act requires Congress to come up with a budget resolution every year, and that resolution can instruct the committees to craft bills that would reconcile current law with the decided-upon budget plan. The main advantage of legislation developed with it is that it is considered under expedited procedures on both the House and Senate, and it is not subject to the 60-vote threshold in the Senate that has killed everything good any Democratic president has tried to do since 2008. It begins with a resolution that instructs the relevant committees in both the House and Senate to draw up legislation to meet a budget specified within the resolution—the bill that the committees finalize must either reduce or increase the federal deficit by no less or no more than the resolution determines. Anything included in the legislation after it is combined, or reconciled, by the House and Senate has to thus change either spending or revenue. Sort of. Budge reconciliations can't touch Social Security, they can't increase the deficit in a 10-year window, and they are limited to federal spending or revenue. Mostly.

The "sort of" and "mostly" as a limit in the Senate's rather expansive power to decide what it wants, one has a simple majority. The Congressional Budget Office and the Senate parliamentarian act as the referees for the process, the CBO making the budget projections and the parliamentarian ruling what provisions can be included depending on the degree to which a provisions budget impact is "incidental"—does it impact spending or revenue—or not. If the Parliamentarian rules it incidental under the Byrd rules (a tightening up of the process spearheaded by then-Sen. Robert Byrd in 1958), then it comes out. That is unless the president of the Senate, the person sitting in the chair who in this case would be Vice President Kamala Harris, overrules the parliamentarian. That hasn't happened frequently, but we also haven't been in a global pandemic that's crippling the economy frequently.

One authority on the federal budget and Senate rules believes that even the minimum wage increase could be passed in reconciliation, along with the rest of the provisions—including another round of direct $1,400 payments, increasing and extending emergency unemployment benefits, hundreds of billions in aid to state and local government and schools, funding for vaccine production and distribution, expanding testing and tracing, as well as other proposals. Bill Dauster, who served as deputy chief of staff to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, "said in a guest op-ed column for CQ Roll Call that a minimum wage boost has enough budgetary impact to be considered under the Byrd rule."

Now that McConnell has caved to allow the Senate to organize, the committees can start the work of drafting their components of the reconciliation bill. There's a hard deadline for them to get it accomplished—another unemployment cliff in March, because that's as long as Senate Republicans would let that go. There's also that matter of an impeachment hearing that begins in a couple of weeks. The House, Yarmuth said Monday, is on it: "we will be prepared to go to the floor as early as next week."

Democratic Senator Hirono Reveals Real Goal Behind Trump Impeachment Effort

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke out on Saturday to reveal what the real goal behind the impeachment effort against former President Donald Trump.

Hirono Reveals Real Goal Of Impeachment 

While appearing on MSNBC, Hirono said that the true goal of the impeachment push against Trump is to hold him accountable for the “violent insurrection” and prevent him from running for office again.

“It’s very clear, Tiffany, that we need to not only hold the president accountable through an impeachment trial but to get on with passing a COVID relief bill,” she said.

“And we can do both. Much of this depends on Mitch McConnell’s willingness to do the right thing for the American people,” she continued. “So, that’s where we are, Tiffany. I know we can do both. All it takes is will on the parts of the Republicans at this point.”

“Whether 17 of them will go along to convict this president of what we all experienced as a violent insurrection at the Capitol remains to be seen,” Hirono added. “I think a few of them will, but I don’t know that we’re going to get 17. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t proceed to hold this president accountable, and that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop him from ever seeking elected office again, and that just takes a majority vote.”

Related: Pelosi Sending Impeachment Article to Senate Monday, GOP Senators Warn McConnell Against Vote To Convict

Klobuchar Chimes In

This comes as Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) also spoke out to claim that Americans are “going to get more and more evidence over the next few weeks” about Trump’s alleged insurrection.

“I thoroughly believe that we can handle this impeachment trial and just as the American people are doing, juggle what we need to get done,” Klobuchar said. “Get the homeland security secretary through. We just had the insurrection at the Capitol. Get people confirmed for Joe Biden’s cabinet. And yes, get people the help that they need. That’s what this next month is going to be about.”

“I think we’re going to get more and more evidence over the next few weeks as if it’s not enough that he’s sent an angry mob down The Mall to invade the Capitol, didn’t try to stop it, and a police officer was killed. I don’t really know what else you need to know,” she added.

“The facts were there,” Klobuchar continued. “We saw it right there on the platform during the inauguration, as you could still see the spray paint at the bottom of many of the columns.”

Related: Freshman GOP Rep Admits Voting To Impeach Trump May Have Destroyed His Career

This piece was written by James Samson on January 24, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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Reprogramming “Cultists” and Protecting Dignitaries of the Opposite Political Party

The post Democratic Senator Hirono Reveals Real Goal Behind Trump Impeachment Effort appeared first on The Political Insider.

Meghan McCain Unleashes On Biden, Fauci, And Amazon Over Hypocrisy – ‘I Was Lied To’

On Friday’s episode of “The View,” Meghan McCain unloaded on Joe Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Amazon for their hypocrisy when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic.

McCain Goes Off 

McCain kicked off her rant by blasting Fauci for previously telling Americans that masks “didn’t work” in an effort to preserve them for first responders during a time when they were in short supply.

“Look, I think the great horror of living in America right now is the absolute, complete and total breakdown of trust in our institutions,” McCain said, adding that she had been pregnant when Fauci said this and gave her masks away because of him.

“Just say to me, ‘First responders need them more than average American. Please donate them for the good of your heart.’ I would have done the same thing, but I was lied to,” she added.

Related: Meghan McCain Demands Ivanka And Jared ‘Be Held Accountable’ After Capitol Riots

McCain went on to call out Biden and his family for not wearing masks on federal property immediately after he signed an executive order mandating that masks had to be worn there.

“So again, I think the ‘Rules for thee, but not for me’ that have been going on for a long time in the Trump Administration and now you’re seeing with President Biden, I was really disappointed he wasn’t wearing a mask,” she said.

McCain Doubles Down

Not stopping there, McCain went after Amazon for suddenly volunteering to help with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout after Donald Trump left office.

“That seems political as well,” she said. “So why does Jeff Bezos all of a sudden want to help with vaccine distribution, but he didn’t during the Trump Administration?”

“There is a lot of blame to go around everywhere,” McCain concluded. “Yes, President Trump was integral in spreading false information, but I’m not about to give Dr. Fauci a profile in courage award this morning.”

Related: Meghan McCain Blasts Capitol Rioters As ‘Domestic Terrorists’ Who Should Be Sent To Guantanamo

McCain hits the nail on the head here, as the hypocrisy from the left has been truly staggering on these issues.

This piece was written by James Samson on January 24, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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The post Meghan McCain Unleashes On Biden, Fauci, And Amazon Over Hypocrisy – ‘I Was Lied To’ appeared first on The Political Insider.

Dr. Fauci says this new administration’s belief in actual science and evidence is ‘liberating’

On Thursday, the Biden administration started its second day of work, signing a series of executive actions and holding press conferences. Dr. Anthony Fauci, arguably the only person who technically served during the Trump administration, has aptitude for his job, and wasn’t a morally bankrupt monster, held a press conference in the White house briefing room, all by himself, to discuss what new mutations of COVID-19 mean and to answer (mostly Trump-related questions) from the press corps. After acknowledging the 400,000-plus dead Americans, and explaining the need to get COVID-19 under control because the less infection spread means the less chance of mutations, Fauci was asked about differences between the Trump administration and the Biden administration.

These questions were asked in various oblique ways, like the first one—a seeming attempt to promote a right-wing apologetics BS story that tries to blame vaccine distribution problems not on the Trump administration but on Amazon. The question came from Fox News’ newest White House correspondent, Peter Doocy, Fox News logic contortionist Steve Doocy’s son. The argument is that the new announcement that the online retailer has offered help to the Biden administration in order to distribute vaccines more robustly is something that was purposefully held back from Trump and therefore, Trump’s bungling of everything he’s ever done is once again someone else’s fault. The question ended with whether or not Fauci knew of any talks about this kind of thing during the Trump administration. Fauci explained that he didn’t know what the difference might have been but that “One of the new things in this administration is that if you don’t know the answer, don’t guess. Just say you don’t know the answer.” 

Dr. Fauci said that so far, based on the information our government has right at this moment (remember, the Biden administration began about 24 hours ago), some of the mutations of the viruses seen around the world have not touched down in the U.S., Ffngers crossed. Fauci also explained that the new president is looking to really “amplify” the breadth of the distribution efforts—arguably the single most important thing our country needs right now to get back to some kind of baseline healthy stasis.

He also said he was optimistic we can get to a 70- or 80% vaccination level of the American population by the end of the summer, saying that in so doing we will be able to see a “degree of normalcy” reappear in our lives. Not a perfect normalcy, but not the current shitty 1990s action film we have all been extras in during the past 10 months. Dr. Fauci said his main concern was making sure Americans understand how important it is to get the vaccine—that fighting “hesitancy” will be the biggest hurdle as the year progresses. 

Again, Facui was asked what he thought of the new team the Biden administration has put together and whether or not things would have been different had they been in charge back in January when this first began. Fauci very diplomatically explained that he could tell you what he felt about the team but would not “extrapolate” beyond that. “One of the things that was very clear, as recently as about 15 minutes ago, when I was with the president, is that one of the things that we’re going to do is that we’re going to be completely transparent, open, and honest. If things go wrong, not point fingers, but to correct them, and to make everything we do based on science and evidence.”

Kaboom.

Finally, asked about the difference Fauci felt being in front of the press under a Biden administration after “joking” today about the previous administration, Fauci did make a joke—a dead serious one. “You said I was joking but I was very serious about it. I wasn’t joking.” He went on to finish by explaining that everybody there saw that there were times under the Trump administration when non-scientific things like hydroxychloroquine and other things were pushed by the orange guy, and that it was a bad place to be. “The idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know what the evidence is, what the science is, and know that’s it. Let the science speak. It is somewhat liberating.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Dr. Fauci would be back again. Sounds good to me. I like this version of Fauci the best.

News Wrap: U.S. surpasses 400,000 deaths from COVID-19

In our news wrap Tuesday, the U.S. reached 400,000 deaths from COVID nearly equaling the number of Americans killed in World War II, President-elect Biden had an emotional departure from his home state of Delaware on the eve of inauguration, Biden will offer a sweeping immigration bill once in office, and the incoming Senate majority leader says President Trump's impeachment trial is a priority.

Kristi Noem Defiantly Doubles Down On Lockdown Stance – ‘South Dakota Is Open’

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) gave an address on Tuesday in which she defiantly doubled down on her state’s relaxed lockdown measures amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

Noem Declares That ‘South Dakota Is Open’ 

Noem is one of the few governors who has not imposed statewide stay-at-home orders, mask mandates, or business restrictions. In her address, she vowed that South Dakota will remain open as the nation deals with a second wave of COVID-19 cases.

“For those who have spent the last nine months shut down or locked up in other states, South Dakota is open,” Noem said. “We have stayed open the entire time, and that’s how we will operate for as long as I am governor.”

She went on to promote the thriving economy in South Dakota.

“We’re in a much stronger financial position than other states across the country. States that shut down their economies are now looking at tax increases or drastic spending cuts to make ends meet,” she said, later writing on social media that “businesses are flocking to South Dakota”

Related: Kristi Noem Issues Brutal Warning About ‘Consequences’ Of Potential Democrat Wins In Georgia

“We made different choices than virtually any other state over the past year. … But other states based a lot of their decisions on fear and emotion, and now they’re seeing the results of that,” Noem continued. “In South Dakota, we do not make policy out of fear. We prepare for the worst but always remain optimistic that the best is yet to come.”

Noem Defends Her Lockdown Plan

Last month, Noem defended her relaxed lockdown plans in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, criticizing other states like New York and Illinois for taking their measures way too far and destroying lives in the process.

“Even amid a pandemic, public policy ought to be holistic,” Noem wrote. “Daily needs must still be met. People need to eat and keep a roof over their heads. And they still need purpose. That means policy makers cannot have tunnel vision.”

“They must balance public-health concerns with people’s mental and emotional needs, their economic livelihoods and social connections, and liberty, among many other important factors,” she added. 

Read Next: South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem Slaps Down Obama For ‘Ridiculous’ Anti-Trump Memoir

This piece was written by James Samson on January 13, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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The post Kristi Noem Defiantly Doubles Down On Lockdown Stance – ‘South Dakota Is Open’ appeared first on The Political Insider.

This week on The Brief: Impeachment round two, more COVID-19 relief, ending the filibuster

This week, hosts Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld were joined on The Brief by two guests: Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, who talked about the attempted terrorist coup at the Capitol, another economic stimulus package for coronavirus relief, and priorities under the Biden administration; and Adam Jentleson, former Deputy Chief of Staff to former Sen. Harry Reid and author of the new book “Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate,” who shared his thoughts on the shifting makeup of the Senate, the emergence of a new centrist Republican contingent in Congress, and ending the filibuster.

Sen. Schatz kicked off the episode by reflecting on last week’s attempted violent coup by Trump supporters and discussing what’s at stake as Democrats move forward with impeachment proceedings and welcome Joe Biden as the new president. In the aftermath of last week’s violence in the Capitol, Schatz emerged with an even stronger resolve to ensure that democratic processes would continue as normal in the face of threats and other acts of intimidation, saying, “We weren’t going to allow an attempted insurrection to intimidate us or to prevent us from discharging our constitutional duties.”

On priorities, Schatz is passionate about climate action, but he believes a COVID-19 relief package is the most crucial priority at this time—which is especially important for the millions of Americans who are jobless and struggling to make ends meet. He also believes that it is not contradictory for Congress to work on impeachment and also help the Biden administration carry out its policy goals within the first few months of his presidency:

I guess I just want to reject as publicly as I can this premise that the Senate can or should only do one thing at a time. The amount of damage that has been done to American institutions, and to Americans, is just too vast for to say, ‘Well, I mean, can we just fit that into a reconciliation bill? I don’t know.’ And the framing, even among liberals, has always been sort of that Rahm Emanuel conversation with Barack Obama: Do you want to do healthcare, or do you want to do immigration, or do you want to do climate, and in what order, because you know, you’ve only have so much political capital you can spend? … I really do think that we should reject that thinking.

In thinking about the impeachment process and passing legislation during the next four years under the Biden administration, Schatz also criticized another roadblock that has been normalized, which is the slow pace of passing legislation — making Congress less efficient: “Our inability to process legislation quickly is a huge part of the problem in the United State Senate.”

Next, the pair welcomed Jentleson onto the show, a veteran U.S. Senate staffer who weighed in on what the new chamber dynamic will like be now that Democrats have regained the majority after last week’s victories in the Georgia runoffs. But even with the majority, Democrats could find themselves obstructed due to the filibuster. To Markos’ question about whether or not Republicans might join in to help bring an end to the filibuster, Jentleson said:

You can sort of see this centrist party taking shape before our eyes, and mainly taking shape in the Senate, where you have Murkowski, Collins … Romney, and on our side, Manchin and King, and the thing about majority rule is that it would actually dramatically empower that group of centrist Republicans. That’s, you know, not my goal here. But it is still a fact that in a majority-rule Senate, those people, like Murkowski, are far more powerful than they would be in a sixty-vote Senate. In a sixty-vote Senate, they’re just one faction among many that you’d have to assemble to get to sixty. In a majority-vote Senate, they are the ones straddling that threshold, and they’ll be the kingmakers on every single bill.

When a minority of the Senate represents as little as 11% of the U.S. population, Jentleson emphasized, the filibuster process can result in particularly skewed policy results. Even the framers of the Constitution understood this:

Fundamentally, the problem that we face, and the reason Democrats are going to face obstruction from Republicans—and the reason that Biden’s agenda is likely to be blocked—is that Republicans will simply use this power to force a sixty-vote hurdle and block everything the Democrats want to do. And so reforming all the hours, and all that stuff, I don’t oppose it. But it doesn’t fix the fundamental problem—which is taking away the power from the minority to block the majority from doing anything … The reason that is such an important dynamic is that we live in such a polarized environment where … once side succeeds by making the other fail.

Ironically, this is exactly what the framers foresaw when they argued vehemently against imposing a supermajority threshold in the Senate. They wrote in the Federalist Papers that you can’t give what they called a ‘pertinacious minority’ the ability to block the majority, because if you did, they would be unable to resist that temptation, and they would use it to embarrass the majority repeatedly. So they knew exactly what was going to happen—they foresaw Mitch McConnell, they saw him coming … We have to take the option away from the minority to just block the majority for the purposes of making them look bad, and then the minority rides voter discontent back to power in the next election.

You can watch the full episode below: