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<title>Wednesday’s Forum</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/wednesdays-forum-248/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wednesdays-forum-248</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/wednesdays-forum-248/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Open Forum]]></category>
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<title>Checking in on The List</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/checking-in-on-the-list/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=checking-in-on-the-list</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/checking-in-on-the-list/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2025 14:30:14 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[In Front of Our Noses]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Presidency]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Afghanistan]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[democracy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Elon Musk]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[FEC]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Gaza]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Haiti]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Inflation]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Lebanon]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Libya]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Medicare]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[NATO]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Somalia]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Sudan]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Tax Cuts]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Guardian]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[torture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
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<category><![CDATA[West Bank]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Yemen]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=287316</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Where are we with my concerns about the Trump administration?]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-dominant-color="5d4244" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #5d4244;" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Trump-hats-desk-1024x683.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-287317 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Trump-hats-desk-1024x683.avif 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Trump-hats-desk-768x512.avif 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Trump-hats-desk-1536x1024.avif 1536w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Trump-hats-desk.avif 2048w" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: The White House</figcaption></figure>
<p class="has-drop-cap">Back in November, right after the election, I made <a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/the-list/">a list</a> of concerns I had going into the second Trump administration. We are a mere 162 days into the administration, and he has gotten a lot done on The List. Here’s a basic run-down.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-table"><table class="has-fixed-layout"><tbody><tr><td></td><td>7/1/25 Assessment</td></tr><tr><td>1. He initiates some version of<a href="https://protectdemocracy.org/work/trumps-schedule-f-plan-explained/"> his Schedule F proposal</a> to transform much of the civil service into partisan positions.</td><td>The DOGE firings and ongoing efforts fit this concern. Over 250,000 federal employees are gone. USAID was destroyed, and important agencies like FEMA and NOAA have been weakened, to name just two.</td></tr><tr><td>2. He orders the DOJ to cease all investigations into his behavior.</td><td>Yes. Further, lawyers and law enforcement who were linked to the investigations were fired.</td></tr><tr><td>3. He sells out Ukraine to Russia.</td><td>While at times he has been hostile toward Ukraine and often engages in pro-Putin talking points, he at least hasn’t sold Ukraine out.</td></tr><tr><td>4. He allows, indeed encourages, Israel to act with impunity in the West Bank, Gaza, and Lebanon.</td><td>He has definitely empowered Netanyahu as a general matter, and talking about actions that sound like ethnic cleansing of Gaza. Largely has done very little.</td></tr><tr><td>5. He raises tariffs in a significant way and causes substantial inflation as a result.</td><td>This has been an ongoing roller coaster.</td></tr><tr><td>6. He appoints utterly unqualified persons to his cabinet.</td><td>Yes. In some ways worse than I imagined.</td></tr><tr><td>7. Along the lines of #6, he really does empower people like Elon Musk and RFK, Jr.</td><td>100%. Musk was given, for a time, far more power than I thought likely. RFK., Jr. is HHS Secretary and is wreaking havoc on public health policy.</td></tr><tr><td>8. He uses the DOJ to go after his enemies and eliminates the norm of DOJ independence.</td><td>This is happening.</td></tr><tr><td>9. He allows things like child separation at the border.</td><td>Worse in some ways. Deporting US citizens instead.</td></tr><tr><td>10. He engages in deportations that catch up and victimize American citizens. This will manifest as breaking up families and will include Americans being deported. And, of course, victimized immigrants.</td><td>We have seen some of this.</td></tr><tr><td>11. He encourages violence by law enforcement.</td><td>Masked ICE agents tackling gardeners and the like certainly qualify. Sending people to CECOT and building “Alligator Alcatraz” fits as well.</td></tr><tr><td>12. Attacks on the media via the FEC.</td><td>Mostly using lawsuits as leverage.</td></tr><tr><td>13. Damage to the dollar as the global reserve currency.</td><td><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jun/30/us-dollar-first-half-trump-tariffs">Via the <em>Guardian</em>: US dollar has worst first half in more than 50 years amid Trump tariffs</a></td></tr><tr><td>14. Deeper alliances with autocratic governments.</td><td>He continues a trend of often being nicer to autocrats than democrats, but there has been no significant move here.</td></tr><tr><td>15. He abandons the US role as a global leader of liberal democracy. This ends an important element of the post-WWII order.</td><td>He keeps chipping away at this via tariffs and a general lack of understanding or respect for how much stability and prosperity the post-WWII order provided. Or, for that matter, long-term power for the US.</td></tr><tr><td>16. Repeal of the ACA.</td><td><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/06/30/medicaid-cuts-could-hit-20-million-americans/84417061007/">The ACA itself has not been under attack. Instead, his BBB will slash Medicare, and an estimated 12-20 million persons could lose health insurance as a result.</a></td></tr><tr><td>17. Some new version of the Muslim ban.</td><td><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/restricting-the-entry-of-foreign-nationals-to-protect-the-united-states-from-foreign-terrorists-and-other-national-security-and-public-safety-threats/">“I have determined to fully restrict and limit the entry of nationals of the following 12 countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. These restrictions distinguish between, but apply to both, the entry of immigrants and nonimmigrants.”</a></td></tr><tr><td>18. J6 and related pardons.</td><td>This was worse than expected: he pardoned <em>all</em> the J6ers.</td></tr><tr><td>19. Takes the US out of NATO.</td><td>While often hostile to NATO, they flattered him this week, so now he likes NATO.</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>
<p>So, in all, he has been pretty much the bad president I figured he would be.</p>
<p>Here are some additions to the list.</p>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Direct attacks on university leadership and curricula.</li>
<li>Attacks on the structure of scientific research in the United States.</li>
<li>On Immigration:
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/can-we-call-them-disappearances-now/">Disappearances</a>.</li>
<li>Revocation of TPS for 500,000 Haitians and 350,000 Venezuelans. </li>
<li>Deporting immigrants to torture prisons on purpose (CECOT). On that count, let’s not forget <a href="https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1891922058415603980">shackles ASRM</a>.</li>
<li>Deporting immigrants to terrible third-party locations (e.g., Libya and South Sudan).</li>
<li>Building camps (e.g., Alligator Alcatraz) and a token attempt to use Gitmo.</li>
<li>Unnecessarily sending in the National Guard and US Marines to deal with small-scale demonstrations in Los Angeles.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Risking involvement in a war in the Middle East by bombing Iran (and doing so without Congressional authorization or even fully briefing the Gang of Eight).</li>
<li>And, of course<a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/category/us-politics/in-front-of-our-noses/">,</a> all the things I have noted that are <a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/category/us-politics/in-front-of-our-noses/">Right in Front of Our Noses.</a></li>
</ul>
<p>I didn’t include tax cuts for the wealthy, since that comes with the Republican territory (but did note the massive cuts to healthcare in the table).</p>
<p>To quote Journey, “It goes on and on and on and on.”</p>
<p>I am, no doubt, forgetting something.</p>
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</item>
<item>
<title>Musk Threats Over Big Beautiful Bill</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/musk-threats-over-big-beautiful-bill/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=musk-threats-over-big-beautiful-bill</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/musk-threats-over-big-beautiful-bill/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[James Joyner]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2025 13:39:59 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[2026 Election]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[CNN]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[debt ceiling]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[elections]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Elon Musk]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Government Spending]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[House Freedom Caucus]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[House Republicans]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Illegal Immigration]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Kentucky]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Maryland]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Oklahoma]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Republican Party]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Slavery]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[South Africa]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[SpaceX]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Texas]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=287311</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Of course you realize this means war.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-dominant-color="654f51" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #654f51;" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/musk-maga-ap-1024x683.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-282632 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/musk-maga-ap-1024x683.avif 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/musk-maga-ap-768x512.avif 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/musk-maga-ap.avif 1440w" /></figure>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/07/01/musk-trump-big-beautiful-bill/">WaPo</a> (“<strong>Musk-Trump battle erupts anew over GOP spending bill</strong>“):</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>Elon Musk has renewed his assault on President Donald Trump’s signature budget bill, drawing new ire from the president and investors — and glee from some Democrats — with his threat to launch a new political party.</p>
<p>“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” Musk wrote Monday evening on X. “Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”</p>
<p>Trump fired back Tuesday in an early-morning barb on Truth Social as Senate Republicans wrangled over the bill overnight, taking aim at the federal subsidies Musk has received. Without them, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX would “probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” the president wrote, adding that cutting them would save the country a “FORTUNE.”</p>
<p>In an exchange with reporters on Tuesday morning, Trump was asked whether he would seek the deportation of Musk, who served his administration as the driving force of the Department of Government Efficiency.</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” he said. “We’ll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elon. … DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.”</p>
<p>In response to Trump’s comment, Musk wrote Tuesday morning that he would refrain from what he called the “tempting” urge to further escalate the back-and-forth.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/us/politics/elon-musk-trump-bill-republicans.html">NYT</a> (“<strong>A Saber-Rattling Musk Promises a New Political Party if the G.O.P. Bill Passes</strong>“):</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>The country’s biggest Republican donor called on Monday for the formation of a new political party and suggested he would back primary challengers against nearly every single Republican in Congress.</p>
<p>That was the saber-rattling declaration of Elon Musk, should Republicans on Capitol Hill pass President Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill.</p>
<p>While Mr. Musk’s words are often just that, he has dramatically escalated his anti-Republican rhetoric over the past few days. On Monday, he suggested that if the G.O.P. bill passed, he would swiftly form a new “America Party.”</p>
<p>“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” he wrote in one of several Monday posts to his 220 million followers on X. “Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”</p>
<p>By the evening, Mr. Musk was committing to specific action, saying that he would support Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, among the most prominent holdouts against Mr. Trump’s bill. Though various G.O.P. factions have voiced concerns about the legislative package, potentially imperiling its passage, almost every Republican member in Congress supports some version of it.</p>
<p>At one point in the evening, Mr. Musk wrote that nearly the entire House and Senate G.O.P. “will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth” — a tall task for even the world’s richest person, who donated nearly $300 million to Republican candidates in the 2024 election.</p>
<p>Mr. Musk went out of his way to call out two House Republicans who style themselves budget-cutters as leaders of the House Freedom Caucus: Representatives Andy Harris of Maryland and Chip Roy of Texas. He also squabbled with Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma.</p>
<p>As Mr. Musk campaigned against the bill, Mr. Trump appeared to threaten the subsidies Mr. Musk’s companies, including SpaceX, receive from the federal government.</p>
<p>“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media early Tuesday. “No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE.”</p>
<p>“Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this?” he added, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency, a group Mr. Musk formed.</p>
<p>Mr. Musk has had a tenuous, brief relationship with the Republican Party. A longtime Democrat, he began identifying with the G.O.P. only in 2022, and only began making heavy, public contributions to the party ahead of last November’s election. His extraordinary blowup with Mr. Trump in early June hastened his stated interest in the formation of a new party. He made a poll on X amid the feud asking: “Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?”</p>
<p>Forming a viable third party would be a herculean task, and there were no immediate signs on Monday that Mr. Musk or his advisers were preparing to do anything concrete.</p>
<p>Only five weeks ago, the tech billionaire was singing a very different tune, saying he would spend “a lot less” on elections in the 2026 cycle.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/30/media/elon-musk-bill-primary-threat">CNN</a> (“<strong>Elon Musk just made his starkest political threat since the election</strong>“):</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>After declaring he was stepping away from the political spotlight, Elon Musk got right back in it.</p>
<p>As the Senate debated President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” on Monday before a final vote, Musk issued a stark warning via his social media platform X.</p>
<p>“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame! And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,” he wrote.</p>
<p>A few hours later he went further, declaring on X that if the “insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day.”</p>
<p>“Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE,” he wrote.</p>
<p>[…]</p>
<p>For weeks, Musk has railed against Trump’s policy bill, leading to a very public and ugly fight with Trump earlier this month. In a flurry of X posts several weeks ago, Musk had proposed starting a new political party.</p>
<p>That proposal resurfaced on Monday, when Musk said: “It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!! Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people.”</p>
<p>Musk’s resolution to support candidates who plan to launch primary campaigns against members of Congress is one of Musk’s most concrete political threats since leaving his post as a White House adviser. Musk spent more than $275 million to support Trump and other Republican candidates in the 2024 election. In late May he said in an interview he was planning to cut back on political spending, saying he has “done enough.”</p>
<p>According to Federal Election Commission filings, Musk’s political action committee, America PAC, last gave money in March to support two Republican candidates running in special elections in Florida – Randy Fine and Jimmy Patronis.</p>
<p>Musk has long supported closed borders, deportations and stopping illegal immigration, in line with the Trump administration.</p>
<p>But the domestic policy bill has appeared to trigger a rift between the Tesla CEO and the White House. Musk has argued that the Republican policy bill will increase the debt, calling it “debt slavery.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s just insane that this level of immaturity has had this much power to steer the greatest superpower the world has ever seen. </p>
<p>For reasons we’ve discussed here many times, there is no realistic path to a viable third party without radical reforms to our governing institutions. Musk has the resources to fund such an enterprise, but there’s essentially no appetite for a third way in most states and congressional districts. All an America Party running on the platform Musk seems to advocate would achieve would be to take votes away from Republicans, pretty much assuring Democratic victories in places that aren’t deep red.</p>
<p>Musk’s pledge to fund primary opponents is more interesting. It’s basically the threat that President Trump has successfully leveraged to stifle resistance from the GOP ranks. Many who are going to vote for the BBB are doing so reluctantly, but see no path to retaining office and advancing their career ambitions if Trump turns against them. He’s the most powerful party leader in memory. </p>
<p>The whole thing is bizarre. It’s not at all clear how much of this is genuine ideological friction, personal pique, and narcissism. One suspects a combination of all three. </p>
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<title>Welcome to July Forum</title>
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<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/welcome-to-july-forum-4/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2025 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Open Forum]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=286892</guid>
<description><![CDATA[OTB relies on its readers to support it. Please consider helping by becoming a monthly contributor through Patreon or making a one-time contribution via PayPal. Thanks for your consideration.]]></description>
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<title>Site Update: Email Edition</title>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Bernius]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2025 16:43:44 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Site Update]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[A fix if you haven't been getting comment updates.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="570" height="379" sizes="(max-width: 570px) 100vw, 570px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/email-570x379.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-142697" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/email-570x379.jpg 570w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/email-768x510.jpg 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/email.jpg 1024w" /></figure>
<p class="has-drop-cap">As long-time readers know, we’ve been in an ongoing process to update the backend of Outside The Beltway. The good news is that we’re finally at the end of that process. Last year, we successfully moved the site to a new server. More recently, we’ve improved the site’s security and ability to withstand certain types of attacks*. We’ve also fixed our caching and load time issues.</p>
<p>Finally, last week, we dealt with an ongoing issue with our email configuration. As a result, if you subscribe to comments on a given post, you should be getting updates each time a comment is posted.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, due to previous issues, there is a strong chance that your email client may have incorrectly flagged those emails as spam. This is almost certainly the case if you use Gmail. This will require you to create a filter to correct this issue.</p>
<p>Here’s how to check:</p>
<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Post a comment on this page, being sure to click the “<em>Notify me of followup comments via e-mail</em><em>.</em>” box. Or if you normally subscribe to comments, you can just jump to step 3.</li>
<li>Post a second comment (to trigger a notification).</li>
<li>Check your email. If you see the update email, then you are fine.</li>
<li>If you don’t see an update email, check your spam folder to see if the notification was sent to spam. Alternatively, on Gmail, you can use this search string: <em>in:spam <a href="mailto:drjjoyner%<span
data-original-string='rbRBShdg670VrC+x+7ssuQ==64fqcyW87b28GgyD/yq8gKxOg=='
class='apbct-email-encoder'
title='This contact has been encoded by Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Click to decode. To finish the decoding make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.'>2B<span class="apbct-blur">***</span>@<span class="apbct-blur">***</span>il.com</span>” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>drjjoyner+<span
data-original-string='M3Bm31Kerr9SDmT2Gwxtww==64fP1JhG373HIe1+Km5VWhEjg=='
class='apbct-email-encoder'
title='This contact has been encoded by Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Click to decode. To finish the decoding make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.'>ot<span class="apbct-blur">*</span>@<span class="apbct-blur">***</span>il.com</span></a></em></li>
<li>If the email went to spam, follow your provider’s instructions for updating your spam filters. For Gmail that’s <a href="https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6579?hl=en">creating a new rule</a>.</li>
</ol>
<p>Hopefully this will the last of these site updates for a while. As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.</p>
<p><em>* – Gosh, I really hope this comment is NOT tempting fate.</em></p>
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<title>A Bigly Unpopular Bill</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/a-bigly-unpopular-bill/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-bigly-unpopular-bill</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/a-bigly-unpopular-bill/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2025 15:00:31 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Deficit and Debt]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Democratic Theory]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Social Safety Net]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Taxes]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Presidency]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[democracy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Fascism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Iowa]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Joni Ernst]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Kentucky]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Legislation]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Medicaid]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Mitch McConnell]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Senate]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=287276</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Have I ever noted the Congress is less responsive to the public than it should be?]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-dominant-color="83838b" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #83838b;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="579" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-33-1024x579.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-287285 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-33-1024x579.avif 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-33-768x434.avif 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-33.avif 1506w" /></figure>
<p class="has-drop-cap">In writing about the pending budget bill that is currently awaiting a vote in the US Senate, <a href="https://www.publicnotice.co/p/thom-tillis-retirement-trump-big-bill">Noah Berlatsky </a>makes an excellent point in a post at <em>Public Notice</em>.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>As Republicans have spiraled into fascism, they’ve become less and less concerned about popular opinion.</p>
<p>When confronted with constituents demanding she oppose a bill that would cause mass death, for instance, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sen-joni-ernst-we-all-are-going-to-die-im-very-compassionate/">responded</a> callously, “we all are going to die.” Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell argued that the GOP should just ignore public opinion; people who lose Medicaid, he said, would “get over it.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is little doubt that this bill is unpopular.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-bluesky-social wp-block-embed-bluesky-social"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsqqtgxruk2c" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreib4wbtey64u4dkk7tkckftp64l4vtaitazsbuuqcrzulbf3zhyk4u"><p lang="en">poll after poll shows that Trump's big bill is very unpopular</p>— <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc?ref_src=embed">Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3lsqqtgxruk2c?ref_src=embed">2025-06-29T13:15:00.402Z</a></blockquote><script async src="https://embed.bsky.app/static/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>
<p>See this clip of Harry Enten discussing these polls <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/29/politics/video/trump-big-beautiful-bill-agenda-approval-polling-harry-enten-digvid">here</a> (screenshot above taken from this clip).</p>
<p>I have argued for years that a core problem of American politics is the unresponsive and unrepresentative nature of Congress. (For example, <a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/there-is-something-fundamentally-wrong-with-congress/">here</a> I am griping about this general issue almost 14 years ago.)</p>
<p>If legislators do not feel the need to be responsive to broad electorates, the system cannot function appropriately. </p>
<p>The House is too small. Seats are not competitive. Single-seat competition distorts citizen preferences. Primaries are more important than generals.</p>
<p>Couple those House dysfunctions with a Senate that allows a minority of Americans to have massively disproportionate sway, and we get a Congress willing to pass a massive spending package that at best has a net support of -19%.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>Polls reflect the fact that this bill is a debacle. Democrats hate the bill; when its provisions are explained fully, they oppose it 91 percent to 6 percent. Independents don’t like it either; 80 percent oppose it to 8 percent who support it. But stunningly, <em>even Republicans dislike the massive giveaway to the rich</em>, and oppose the bill <em><a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/06/trump-big-beautiful-bill-polling-unpopular-republicans-yale-study/">61 percent to 23 percent</a></em>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That’s not how representative democracy is supposed to work.</p>
<p>I am not saying that a more representative system would automatically produce just, moral, and good legislation. I am just saying that a more representative legislature would have to better serve the collective needs of the country instead of brazenly cutting needed programs for the least advantaged, so as to help the wealthiest among us.</p>
<p>At a minimum, a more representative system would create a healthier incentive structure for politicians than what we continue to witness.</p>
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<title>American Patriotism at 250</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/american-patriotism-at-250/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=american-patriotism-at-250</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/american-patriotism-at-250/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[James Joyner]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2025 14:23:55 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Public Opinion Polls]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Society]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chicago]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Dallas]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Dallas Cowboys]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[data]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Gallup]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Inauguration]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[memeorandum]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Millennials]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[movies]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[patriotism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[polarization]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[television]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Unemployment]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Vietnam]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Vietnam War]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Watergate]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=287272</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This ain't 1976.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-dominant-color="3f332a" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #3f332a;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/light-night-texture-sparkler-firework-celebration-1071671-pxhere.com_.avif" alt="The free high-resolution photo of light, night, texture, sparkler, firework, celebration, sign, symbol, flag, usa, holiday, fire, freedom, black, festive, celebrate, explode, memorial, july, american, fun, patriot, gold, illustration, happy, year, stars, party, new, day, united, labor, 4th, independence, fourth, states, patriotic, sparkles , taken with an Canon EOS 5D Mark II 03/10 2017 The picture taken with 35.0mm, f/1.6s, 1/30s, ISO 400 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0." class="wp-image-287274 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/light-night-texture-sparkler-firework-celebration-1071671-pxhere.com_.avif 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/light-night-texture-sparkler-firework-celebration-1071671-pxhere.com_-768x512.avif 768w" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">CC0 Public Domain image from <a href="https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1071671?utm_content=clipUser&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pxhere">PxHere</a></figcaption></figure>
<p>Interesting juxtaposition at memeorandum this morning.</p>
<p>WSJ’s <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/let-americas-250-year-bash-begin-1c5d89c2?st=aAvKeh">Andy Kessler</a> (“<strong>Let America’s 250-Year Bash Begin</strong>“):</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>This week kicks off a yearlong celebration and hootenanny for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence—the semiquincentennial. That’s an awful name, a seven-syllable mouthful. Let’s change it now and instead call it the quarter-millennium. Even quarter-mill. Much better.</p>
<p>Expect a battle royale over what it means to be American. The “I’m more patriotic than you” contest has already begun. In May, the Chicago Tribune’s Laura Washington suggested that “waving the flag could turn the tables on <a href="https://www.wsj.com/topics/person/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Donald Trump</a> and the GOP.” Yes, beware of both progressives and populists in Uncle Sam clothing. While Donald Trump held a military parade, those attending the June 14 “No Kings” counterrallies were told to wave American flags. A few days later, two giant 80-foot flagpoles were erected on the White House lawn.</p>
<p>Just after his inauguration, Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring a “grand celebration” for our 250th anniversary. Woohoo! But beyond parades and fireworks and funnel cakes, defining the American identity is lost in the woods. It’s more than football or Beyoncé or Marvel movies or Caitlin Clark—let alone B-2 bombers and bunker busters.</p>
<p>For me, it starts with freedom. Individualism. A nation of builders (American for entrepreneur). A certain ruggedness and resilience with an extra-large dollop of dignity, caring and giving. Martin Luther King Jr. thought the American dream required “a tough mind and a tender heart.” I like that.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There’s more, but you get the drift.</p>
<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/patriotism-america-national-pride-decline-poll-gallup-0411dd2f28329a6b640d404db8626d3f">AP</a> (“<strong>National pride is declining in America. And it’s splitting by party lines, new Gallup polling shows</strong>“):</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>Only 36% of Democrats say they’re “extremely” or “very” proud to be American, according to <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/692150/american-pride-slips-new-low.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a new Gallup poll</a>, reflecting a dramatic decline in national pride that’s also clear among young people.</p>
<p>The findings are a stark illustration of how many — but not all — Americans have felt less of a sense of pride in their country over the past decade. The split between Democrats and Republicans, at 56 percentage points, is at its widest since 2001. That includes all four years of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fb2e92a47f054019a2589ace78d20836">Republican President Donald Trump’s first term</a>.</p>
<p>Only about 4 in 10 U.S. adults who are part of Generation Z, which is defined as those born from 1997 to 2012, expressed a high level of pride in being American in Gallup surveys conducted in the past five years, on average. That’s compared with about 6 in 10 Millennials — those born between 1980 and 1996 — and at least 7 in 10 U.S. adults in older generations.</p>
<p>“Each generation is less patriotic than the prior generation, and Gen Z is definitely much lower than anybody else,” said Jeffrey Jones, a senior editor at Gallup. “But even among the older generations, we see that they’re less patriotic than the ones before them, and they’ve become less patriotic over time. That’s primarily driven by Democrats within those generations.”</p>
<p>America’s decline in national pride has been a slow erosion, with a steady downtick in Gallup’s data since January 2001, when the question was first asked.</p>
<p>Even during the tumultuous early years of the Iraq War, the vast majority of U.S. adults, whether Republican or Democrat, said they were “extremely” or “very” proud to be American. At that point, about 9 in 10 were “extremely” or “very” proud to be American. That remained high in the aftermath of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/attacks-anniversary-world-trade-center-pentagon-pennsylvania-696e656f355a6ef55f37b29d2e90e648">the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks</a>, but the consensus around American pride slipped in the years that followed, dropping to about 8 in 10 in 2006 and continuing a gradual decline.</p>
<p>Now, 58% of U.S. adults say that, in a downward shift that’s been driven almost entirely by Democrats and independents. The vast majority of Republicans continue to say they’re proud to be American.</p>
<p>Independents’ pride in their national identity hit a new low in the most recent survey, at 53%, largely following that pattern of gradual decline.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I’m old enough to have pretty distinct memories of the long celebration that marked America’s Bicentennial in 1975-1976. Television programs were interspersed with “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicentennial_Minutes">Bicentennial Minutes</a>,” there was a Bicentennial quarter, a Bicentennial half dollar, a Bicentennial dollar coin, a Bicentennial $2 bill, and, well, Bicentennial pretty much everything. Hell, the Dallas Cowboys changed their helmet stripe for the season to red, white, and blue.</p>
<p>Granting the differences in perspective of a 9-year-old and a 59-year-old, I’m just not getting anything like the same sense of celebration this go-round. The 4th is later in the week, and there has thus far been no fanfare. By this time in 1975, Bicentennial Fever was in full swing. </p>
<p>While 1976 had the parallelism of 1776/1976, I can’t imagine that 200 is less worthy of celebration than 250. Yes, “Bicentennial” has more of a ring to it that “Semisequentenial,” but, as Kessler notes, better branding is available.</p>
<p>The AP report highlights the polarization around Trump, and that’s certainly a big part of it. Then again, at this point 50 years ago, we were still reeling from the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War loss. And things were objectively worse with the energy crisis, rampant stagflation, and massive unemployment.</p>
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<title>Some Additional Thoughts on Primaries and Competition</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/some-additional-thoughts-on-primaries-and-competition/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=some-additional-thoughts-on-primaries-and-competition</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/some-additional-thoughts-on-primaries-and-competition/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2025 14:22:03 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Electoral Rules]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Alabama]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[California]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[elections]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Michael Bloomberg]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=287270</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I have written many times about the ways in which using primaries discourages the formation of viable third parties. My operative hypothesis is that since the cost (in time and treasure) for a new entrant into electoral politics is far lower in trying to win a primary than it is to form a new party, […]]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/I-voted-photo-by-slt-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-271254" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/I-voted-photo-by-slt-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/I-voted-photo-by-slt-768x576.jpg 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/I-voted-photo-by-slt-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/I-voted-photo-by-slt.jpg 2048w" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo by SLT</figcaption></figure></div>
<p class="has-drop-cap">I have written many times about the ways in which using primaries discourages the formation of viable third parties. My operative hypothesis is that since the cost (in time and treasure) for a new entrant into electoral politics is far lower in trying to win a primary than it is to form a new party, office-seekers gravitate toward trying to win a primary of an existing party instead of gambling on a new party label. </p>
<p>There are a number of factors that create this context and further exacerbate the desire to stick with the established parties. These would include the socio-cultural importance of the two parties, the basic structure of US elections (usually single-seat plurality), and various legal parameters. Still, I think that my theory of cost has a lot of merit and is a major contributor to the individual choices made by politicians, with broader effects on the party system in terms of the number of parties competing.</p>
<p>But could primaries also help explain the anemic performance of one of the two parties in areas where one party dominates? The NYC mayoral contest does raise the question as to why no one of note is running in the GOP primary.</p>
<p>Put another way, why doesn’t the most moderate of the possible Democratic candidates run as a Republican? A similar set of questions could be asked about Republicans in California or Democrats in Alabama. Why don’t more local politicians try to take over the fallow franchises of second parties in these states? Why do the state-level (or, in the case of NYC, the city-level) parties dry up and blow away?</p>
<p>I think that a major reason is the same as I argue for the lack of third parties: the primaries.</p>
<p>If you are a politician who seeks office in a predominantly one-party (R or D) context, what makes more sense for you in terms of costs? Is it to win the primary, and effectively win the office, or is it to gamble on capturing the weaker of the two parties’ labels and then try and win in the general?</p>
<p>Primaries are lower turnout events than general elections, and the electorate tends to be narrower. By definition, it should take relatively less money and effort to just win that election than to have to compete in the general. </p>
<p>This is a thumbnail of a notion.</p>
<p>There are other factors as well. </p>
<p>Our parties, weak as they are, are highly nationalized, and this affects voters’ identity, and in our highly polarized environment, having a D or R by one’s name, regardless of how moderate one might be, can be death in a given context.</p>
<p>Even a moderate who might think there is strategic value in running as an R (which is arguably what Michael Bloomberg did in 2001 and 2005 before switching to “independent” in 2009) will not want to be associated with Trump in the current political environment.</p>
<p>More as I think about this…</p>
<p></p>
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<title>Some Thoughts on the NYC Democratic Primary</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/some-thoughts-on-the-nyt-democratic-primary/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=some-thoughts-on-the-nyt-democratic-primary</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/some-thoughts-on-the-nyt-democratic-primary/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[2025 Election]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Electoral Rules]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Andrew Cuomo]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Annie Lowrey]]></category>
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<category><![CDATA[democracy]]></category>
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<category><![CDATA[Ezra Klein]]></category>
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<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Michael Bloomberg]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nate Silver]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[New York City]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[polarization]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Rudy Giuliani]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Sexual Harassment]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Atlantic]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[unions]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=287204</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Thoughts on the election and on the electoral rules used.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img data-dominant-color="88726b" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #88726b;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Zohran-for-Mayor-1024x576.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-287238 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Zohran-for-Mayor-1024x576.avif 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Zohran-for-Mayor-768x432.avif 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Zohran-for-Mayor-1536x864.avif 1536w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Zohran-for-Mayor.avif 2048w" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><a href="https://flickr.com/photos/edenpictures/54547912695/in/photolist-2rdn4uo-2rasGXA-7PTh8w-7PThqW-2hF8wpA-2r7dj2n-6WZxYr-2hFbeG4-xudRpG-2pGAgmH-2pGERiB-2pGAgqF-xJeXa5-xGdMko" target="_blank">“Zohran for Mayor”</a> by <a>Eden, Janine and Jim</a> is licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0" target="_blank">CC BY 2.0</a></figcaption></figure></div>
<p class="has-drop-cap">As I am sure many of you noted, New York City held the Democratic Primary to nominate a candidate to run for mayor. In recent years, the primary winner has gone on to win the office. This year, the primary drew substantial attention because the disgraced governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, was running for the nomination, and his major rival ended up being an adherent to the Democratic Socialists of America, City Councilman Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani was also noteworthy for being a Muslim running to be mayor of a city with a substantial Jewish population (second in size in the world, only to Tel Aviv) in the context of the ongoing war in Gaza.</p>
<p>Add into the mix that the race was conducted using Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) and it being a prominent off-term election, and that means plenty of eyeballs.</p>
<p>Cuomo was expected to win, but here are the results of the first round via <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/24/us/elections/results-new-york-city-mayor-primary.html">the <em>NYT</em></a> that caused him to concede. The final results will not be out until Tuesday, but the gap between Mamdani and Cuomo even before the assessment of the rank-ordered preferences of voters, and knowing that a strategic alliance between Mamdani and the third-place finisher, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, means that Cuomo is mathematically toast, and he knows it.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-dominant-color="f4f4f4" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #f4f4f4;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="965" height="1024" sizes="auto, (max-width: 965px) 100vw, 965px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-32-965x1024.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-287205 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-32-965x1024.avif 965w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-32-768x815.avif 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-32-1447x1536.avif 1447w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-32.avif 1524w" /></figure>
<p>So, first let me provide some basic thoughts on this race, and then let me move on to talk a bit about primaries, fusion voting, and RCV.</p>
<p>First, some short takes.</p>
<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>I am just glad that Andrew Cuomo was repudiated by the voters. If the word “barrage” as linked to “sexual harassment allegations” is part of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/andrew-cuomo-resigns-17161f546bb83c32a337036ecf8d2a34">a story</a> about you, perhaps you ought not be given another leadership role in government. (And shame on anyone who was willing to give him a sideways pass–I’m looking at you, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/opinion/new-york-mayor-election-advice.html?ref=hellgatenyc.com"><em>NYT</em>‘s editorial board</a>).</li>
<li>It is nice for the now front-runner to be in his 30s rather than his late 70s, as so many prominent politicians have been of late. Even Cuomo at 67 is a marginal improvement, but as I noted in another post recently, retirement isn’t such a bad thing. Note that yet again, Gen X gets skipped.</li>
<li>People need to take a breath about the implications of the NYC mayoral races and their national implications. I am old enough to remember when people were carrying on about how Eric Adams and his pro-law-and-order stance were the future of the Democratic Party. Nate Silver, in particular, comes to mind.
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Can people stop and realize what tends to be the trend for NYC mayors and their popularity?</li>
<li>I know it sounds like the mayorality of NYC would be a good launching point for national political aspirants, but might I suggest you Google “Rudy Giuliani” and “Michael Bloomberg”?</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Mamdani’s DSAness is going to be a challenge, but it also is neither a reason to freak out, nor to assume that this is the future of the Democratic Party (see, again, Eric Adams, Harbinger of Democratic Centrism). Mamdani, should he win the general election, will have a hard time delivering on his promises (and, indeed, it will be interesting to see how he tries to manage expectations in the campaign.</li>
<li>Ezra Klein and Chris Hayes had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/28/opinion/ezra-klein-show-chris-hayes.html">an interesting conversation</a> about how Mamdani conducted this campaign that I think is worth a listen. When I first saw the description, I thought it was going to be a “Is the DSA is the future of the Democrats?” kind of thing, but it wasn’t. I am skeptical about drawing too many conclusions from one campaign, but the discussion of social media v. traditional media was really interesting.</li>
</ol>
<p>Some other thoughts about the structure of the race.</p>
<p>First, given New York state’s system of fusion voting (i.e., wherein a candidate can be nominated by multiple parties), it is quite possible for a candidate to lose the Democratic nomination and still be on the ballot in November. It was speculated, for example, that if Mamdani lost the Democratic nomination, he still would have been on the ballot as the candidate of the Working Families Party. Indeed, I suspect he may still be the WFP’s candidate as well as the Democratic Party’s (as was the case for Bill de Blasio in 2013 and 2017).</p>
<p>This also allows candidates to run as independents, even if they lost a bid for another party’s nomination. Hence, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/26/politics/cuomo-mamdani-mayor-november-ballot">Cuomo will stay on NYC mayor’s ballot after conceding Democratic primary to Mamdani, sources tell CNN</a>.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>Andrew Cuomo will not drop out of the New York City mayoral race by the Friday deadline to remove himself from the general election ballot, sources tell CNN. That leaves in place contingency plans he had established before the Democratic primary to challenge Zohran Mamdani and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams in November.</p>
<p>[…]</p>
<p>Cuomo is calculating that the full city’s electorate would be significantly different from Democratic primary voters who were energized by Mamdani’s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/25/politics/zohran-mamdani-viral-videos">focus on affordability and his campaign’s online videos</a>. His camp also believes Mamdani and his policy ideas, from a rent freeze to city-operated grocery stores, will receive increased scrutiny now that Mamdani is positioned to secure a Democratic primary win once ranked-choice votes are allocated next week.</p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p>It is not a terrible bet, but given that NYC is overwhelmingly Democratic, I would rather be in Mamdani’s shoes than Cuomo’s. Further, it is worth noting that Mayor Adams is running for re-election as an independent and that Curtis Sliwa of Guardian Angels fame is the Republican nominee. Unlike the Democratic primary, which uses RCV, the general election is won by plurality. As such, Mamdani does not need 50%+1 to win; he just needs to get the largest share of the vote. Having three significant anti-Mamdani choices to split his opposition works to his favor.</p>
<p>Speaking of the RCV of it all, let me turn to this piece from Annie Lowrey in <em>The Atlantic</em> from before the primary: <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/06/new-york-mayoral-race-cuomo-mamdani/683146/?gift=RsHHrMN1rwB-IvHsulacfGezdNXpBK1JWpjDAiLz1cE&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share">New York Is Not a Democracy</a>, with the subtitle, “Too few voters are choosing the next mayor.”</p>
<p>Let me first and foremost take issue with the article’s title. I will blame an editor and not Lowrey (I will get to her in a second), but this is a terrible title, especially at this moment in US history, wherein democracy is actually under assault. There are certainly legitimate areas of critique of elections in NYC, but none of them would lead anyone who understands the term to assert that it isn’t a democracy.</p>
<p>Really, the title and the tone of the article seem more born out of typical American prejudice against any voting system that slightly deviates from “normal” than it does anything else.</p>
<p>I will agree with the subtitle, at least in part, the story of NYC of late has been one of the primaries choosing the eventual winner because there is no serious two-party competition in NYC. This is a problem across the country, and I agree that primaries are a key component in the non-competitiveness of American politics. I wrote about this not that long ago for Protect Democracy (see <a href="https://protectdemocracy.org/work/trapped-in-a-two-party-system/">here</a>). I will note that I am really talking there about primaries for legislative elections and how they shape party systems.</p>
<p>The fact that the NYC Mayor has, since 2013, been determined by the Democratic primary does show a general lack of party competitiveness. It is also true that NYC partisan politics, like those across the country, have been increasingly driven by the nationalized nature of US party politics. In other words, since voters have very strong partisan voting behavior in federal elections, that has a clear tendency to then affect electoral behavior at the state and local levels. </p>
<p>Put another way: there is no particular reason why we in the US could not have party systems that operate at the state and local levels while different parties function at the national level. And, indeed, you do see, as noted above, some state-level parties in NY. But, they tend to do poorly relative to the Rs and the Ds. </p>
<p>This nationalization of party politics is long-standing and has deepened in recent decades as the parties have fully sorted ideologically and geographically, especially since the 1994 mid-terms. I have written about this phenomenon before (for example, <a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/us-party-system-evolution/">here</a>, <a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/more-on-the-evolution-of-us-party-politics/">here</a>, <a href="http://v">here</a>, and <a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/the-tip-oneill-era-and-why-governing-was-easier/">here</a>). Polarization and the way it tribalizes politics just makes it all worse.</p>
<p>Regardless, the reality is that the citizens of NYC will actually have at least three real options for mayor (Mamdani, Cuomo, and Adams), which is more than a lot of voters get. As such, concerns about NYC’s democracy and whether voters matter seem misplaced, in my view.</p>
<p>But let me get to Lowrey and RCV.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>They [Cuomo and Mamdani] are leading a field of a dozen mayoral candidates who will face off in a ranked-choice election for the Democratic primary on June 24. (Because the city has six times as many <a href="https://www.vote.nyc/page/voter-enrollment-totals">registered Democrats</a> as registered Republicans, the Democratic primary is generally the de facto mayoral election.) Instead of picking one person to lead the city, voters will rank up to five candidates. This process is wonkish and confusing. But it ensures that similar candidates do not split a constituency. This, proponents of ranked-choice voting say, is the most democratic form of democracy.</p>
<p>Cuomo is likely to get more first-choice votes than any other candidate. But he’s not projected to win an outright majority, meaning that the ranked-choice system would kick in. Candidate after candidate would get knocked out, and their supporters’ votes reapportioned. In the end, the political scion with a multimillion-dollar war chest and blanket name recognition could lose to the young Millennial whom few New Yorkers had heard of as of last year. One <a href="https://www.filesforprogress.org/datasets/2025/6/dfp_nyc_mayor_dem_primary_202506_tabs.pdf">new survey</a>, by Data for Progress, shows Cuomo ultimately defeating Mamdani by two points, within the margin of error. Another poll shows Mamdani with <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/11/zohran-mamdani-climbs-to-top-of-poll-leading-andrew-cuomo-00401594">more support than Cuomo</a>.</p>
<p>Seeing a no-name upstart attempt to upset a brand-name heavyweight is thrilling. But the system has warped the political calculus of the mayoral campaign. Candidates who might have dropped out are staying in. Candidates who might be attacking one another on their platforms or records are instead considering cross-endorsing. Voters used to choosing one contender are plotting out how to rank their choices. Moreover, they are doing so in a closed primary held in the June of an odd year, meaning most city residents will not show up at the polls anyway. If this is democracy, it’s a funny form of it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is just an odd critique. </p>
<p>To make a list of responses from the paragraph.</p>
<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Voters have more choices if more candidates are on the ballot (that is a good thing).</li>
<li>Coalition building, because the system rewards cooperation (that is a good thing).</li>
<li>That voters need to be strategic and having the think through their options is also a good thing</li>
<li>The fact that the primary likely picks the winner is a problem with primaries, especially in off-cycle years. I agree with this, but they have nothing to do with RCV.</li>
</ol>
<p>I am not a big proponent of RCV for legislative elections, because using it in single-seat districts ignores that the usage of single-seat districts is <em>the</em> major flaw in our system. I also am not convinced it produces more moderate outcomes, as proponents often claim. I am, however, fully in favor of RCV for single-office elections like we see here (for both primaries and the general election). It allows for the maximal number of votes to count, and I think that the encouragement of strategic alliances helps provide more information to voters who can then make even more well-informed decisions. Indeed, this is especially true in a primary wherein there are no party labels to help provide even basic signals to voters.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>Without ranked-choice voting, Cuomo would probably steamroll his competition. With ranked-choice voting, Mamdani could defeat him. In Data for Progress’s recent poll, 37 percent of voters ranked Cuomo first, and 31 percent ranked Mamdani first. But as the weakest candidates were knocked out and their votes redistributed, Mamdani <a href="https://www.filesforprogress.org/datasets/2025/6/dfp_nyc_mayor_dem_primary_202506_tabs.pdf">closed the gap</a>. Other simulations show Cuomo with a greater margin of victory, but the general pattern is the same.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Setting aside any questions of what the best outcome would be in terms of the candidates, this is a weird position for Lowrey to take. If she really is concerned, as the subtitle of the piece notes (again, probably written by an editor), that too few voters are choosing the mayor, then having the primary be decided by plurality would exacerbate that problem.</p>
<p>Again, this suggests a prejudice against even modest deviations from “normal” voting.</p>
<p>It also seems worth noting that Mamdani won a clear plurality in the first round, which undercuts the notion that only RCV voodoo gave him a chance (granted, RCV did influence how he campaigned).</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>Ranked-choice voting might better reflect voter preferences, but it is chaotic, requiring extra strategizing by both candidates and voters. To keep Cuomo out of Gracie Mansion, some candidates have said that they are contemplating cross-endorsing Mamdani, telling their supporters to rank them first and him second. Unions and political groups are endorsing multiple candidates; many are pushing a simple “Don’t rank Cuomo” message. (Ramos, an exception, has thrown her support behind Cuomo while remaining in the race, saying he has “experience, toughness, and the knowledge to lead New York.”)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is just a weird critique to me. If RCV better reflects voter preferences, then that strikes me as an unvarnished good. I also think that “chaotic” is simply the wrong word. It is definitely more <em>complex</em> than simple plurality voting, but it is not <em>chaotic</em>. Again, having candidates behave strategically and provide more information to voters is a <em>good</em> thing, not a <em>chaotic</em> one.</p>
<p>I am not unsympathetic to the following, at least to a point.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>The system demands more from voters. Instead of choosing a single candidate, voters have to figure out what they think about every candidate, then produce an ordinal ranking on the basis of their own feelings and calculations about who seems likeliest to win. It’s a lot of work, and not work that normal people seem to relish. Ranked-choice voting might also diminish somevoters’ influence. In 2021, Black, Latino, and Asian voters were less likely than non-Latino white voters to rank a full slate of candidates, in effect curtailing <a href="https://electionconfidence.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/FINAL-RCV-study-1-10-24.pdf">their electoral power</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I think that there is something to the idea that the more a system demands of voters, the more some voters get left behind. Time, in and of itself, is a resource that is not evenly distributed across the population, a point well made by political scientist Kevin J. Elliott in Democracy for Busy People (a book I would recommend). Having said that, I don’t think it is all that hard for people to learn which candidates they prefer, especially when RCV incentivizes candidates to make themselves known since they have a greater chance of winning than they would in a plurality-based contest as well as having the potential to have an effect on the racem even if they may lose in ways, again, that would not obtain if it was a straightforward plurality-based contest.</p>
<p>Lowrey and I agree on this, however, although the issue of the outsized role of the primaries should be the main focus of her article, not RCV.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>The fact that many elections are decided in primaries is its own problem, and a big one. In 2021, just one in 10 New York City residents voted in the June election. Eric Adams became mayor having been ranked first by only 289,403 people in a city of more than 8 million. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Although she missed the mark as it pertained to this election. And she fails to see how RCV changes the importance of the big name, at least in this case. </p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>The prominence of the primary helps big-name candidates and incumbents. Holding elections in off years skews races to the right, because conservative voters are more likely to show up at odd times.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Of course, the fact that the big name was tainted was part of the issue. And clearly, the electorate for the primary was not more conservative.</p>
<p>She concludes as follows, and she at least got this prediction (or, really, quasi-prediction) right.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>Whether Cuomo or Mamdani wins this month, New Yorkers might have another chance to decide between them. After this annoyingly chaotic primary, we could have an annoyingly chaotic election: If Mamdani loses, he might run in the general on the Working Families Party ticket. If Cuomo loses, he might run in the general as an independent, as will the disgraced incumbent, Eric Adams. At least, in that election, voters won’t be asked to rank their favorite, just to pick one. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But, man, she does like calling things “chaotic.” I will grant that I was not in NYC and maybe she was, but I have been watching elections near and far for a long time, and this one did not appear especially chaotic from my vantage point. It certainly was more dynamic with more moving parts, including actual competition between Mamdani and Cuomo. That’s a good thing!</p>
<p>I will end by noting that her happiness with only one choice in the general is misplaced. Why a system that would, in her own words as quoted above, “better reflect voter preferences,” be seen as inferior to a plurality winner is beyond me. Sure, it is simpler, but simpler is not always better.</p>
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<p>Journey back with us to the multiplex for the premiere of <em>Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan</em>, and learn why this film not only revived the Star Trek franchise, but also has stood the test of time as a great movie!</p>
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<category><![CDATA[white nationalism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[white supremacy]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[The linguistic stylings and white supremacy of Tommy Tuberville.]]></description>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-dominant-color="513b2f" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #513b2f;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tuberville-2025-1024x683.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-287224 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tuberville-2025-1024x683.avif 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tuberville-2025-768x512.avif 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tuberville-2025-1536x1025.avif 1536w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Tuberville-2025.avif 2048w" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><a href="https://flickr.com/photos/197152952@N02/54274101615/in/photolist-2kY4yBv-3V7xdr-3eThXZ-3eXHfu-3bnmcX-qnuut-2ndV1iV-2ndTW5A-2ndTCpt-2pirsH1-2oQ34LS-2kEJnww-2pivZdF-2pix4e1-2p1dcTb-8GvEJF-2oub7iV-6F3Vga-2n4LXER-5Gh3EW-2r17JeP-2mhDPD9-4M9nWL-2r17Jg2-gLPUm1-2qFYMXL-2qG1XwF" target="_blank">“U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). Senate Armed Services Committee Holds Confirmation Hearing for Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary”</a> by <a>Joshua Sukoff</a> is licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0" target="_blank">CC BY-NC-ND 2.0</a></figcaption></figure>
<p class="has-drop-cap">I have, from time to time, mentioned Senator Coach Tommy Tuberville (or is it Coach Senator?). I think the first time was just over five years ago when he was <a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/tuberville-and-sharia-law/">opining about “the cities” and Sharia law</a>. I also <a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/gridlock-is-not-a-feature-it-is-a-bug/">mentioned</a> his foray <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/11/13/alabama-senator-elect-tommy-tuberville-botches-historical-facts/6283806002/">into the branches of government</a>. I also noted his views on education (which also dealt with white nationalism in a way that is quite relevant to this post), which again found him speaking poorly of American cities (<a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/the-education-senator/">here</a> and <a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/the-education-senator-redux/">here</a>). I will quote myself, and be immodest in doing so, noting that this is a good line from one of those 2023 posts linked above:</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>Without hesitation, I can say that every time I hear Tuberville speak I am reminded of the importance of education.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I will confess that prior to my retirement, I was somewhat circumspect in direct criticisms of Tuberville, as I was aware that my position as dean might have caused some problems if my university needed funding or other legislative support from the federal government. In retirement, I can say that Tuberville may well be the dumbest member of Congress that I have observed in almost half a century of paying attention to American politics, at least based on his public pronouncements. In private, he may well be an erudite genius, capable of nuanced policy discussions and who deploys vocabulary and syntax with alacrity and precision.</p>
<p>But based on his public pronouncement, I think I am not exactly going out on an empirical limb to note that he doesn’t sound very smart. Worse, he sounds like a white nationalist, if not simply someone who uses and endorses fascist views.</p>
<p>To quote a certain fictional Alabamian, “Stupid is as stupid does,” I guess.</p>
<p>Have I mentioned that he may soon be governor of my state? Well, at least if he is working in Montgomery, he will be closer to<a href="https://www.alreporter.com/2025/04/24/tubervilles-travel-trail-points-to-home-in-florida-not-alabama/"> his home in Florida</a>. The only other positives I can conjure are that he will be out of Washington and that, since I am retired, my odds of having to be in the same room with him are quite small.</p>
<p>Quite frankly, I don’t know why the man doesn’t just retire. He has to have plenty of money in the bank, and Santa Rosa, Florida, is pretty nice. But I guess some people can’t live without the spotlight.</p>
<p>But I digress.</p>
<p>Here’s what started me down the pathway with ol’ Coach. I honestly got drawn in first by wondering, “Words, what do they mean?” (I mean, just parsing out his statements is a bit of challenge) and then got suck in by the white supremacy of it all.</p>
<p> From AL.com: <a href="https://www.al.com/politics/2025/06/tuberville-says-inner-city-rats-live-off-the-american-taxpayers-trump-should-send-them-back-home.html">Tuberville says ‘inner city rats’ live off the American taxpayers: Trump should send them ‘back home’.</a></p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p id="HBB4AH4SPNBBVBEU4Y5IEGC6XE">“You can stop the federal funding,” Tuberville said. “President Trump can do anything he wants when it comes to the federal. Again, these inner-city rats, they live off the federal government. And that’s one reason we’re $37 trillion in debt. </p>
<p id="O2SDNNAR4FBEZBAPKYYJZGGPZQ">“And it’s time we find these rats and we send them back home, that are living off the American taxpayers, that are working very hard every week to pay taxes.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I am drawn to the phrase “President Trump can do anything he wants when it comes to the federal” both because it is largely nonsensical (“the federal”?) and because it is yet another Republican politician who seems to love the notion of letting Trump do whatever he wants.</p>
<p>There is also the outright lie that there are all these people living for free off of, you know, “the federal” and that’s why we are in debt. This is just dishonest scapegoating with huge white nationalist/proto-fascist points for using the language of infestation to describe people he doesn’t like. (I suspect that reaching for “<a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/trump-calls-political-rivals-vermin-and-seeks-to-root-out-the-threat-from-within/">vermin</a>” taxes the Senator’s vocabulary a tad, so we just get “rats.”)</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>Tuberville drew fire for some comments about whether people from urban areas should come to Alabama.</p>
<p>“Well, don’t be expecting a free lunch, I promise you,” he said. “Bring your lunch with you because you’re not going to be welcomed if you’re going to bring that Communist, Islamic atmosphere with you. We’re not going to deal with it. I’m telling you right now…</p>
<p>“They are going to try and overwhelm us….We have got to fight back.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And what, pray tell, is “that Communist, Islamic atmosphere”? It is as if he knows that a lot of his voters probably don’t like communists or muslims, and so why not just fear-monger both? And in terms of fearmongering, please note that “they” are going to “overwhelm <strong>us</strong>” (emphasis mine).</p>
<p>Gee, I wonder who the “they” are and the “we” are in this scenario?</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p id="HXAQQP4DDBHBBCBKMU7GUQ3A4A">The comments came after Johnson asked Tuberville about Zohran Mamdani, a New York State assemblyman who won the Democratic primary for the New York City mayor’s race on Tuesday. </p>
<p id="NJIOS3ZNBVBE5KCAV5T6PKHPGU">Mamdani, a democratic socialist born in Uganda to Indian parents, became an American citizen in 2018, shortly after graduating college, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nyc-mayoral-democratic-primary-zohran-mamdani-f87ea9d5b649cea8335ca7df6399c1f0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to the AP. </a></p>
<p id="SV3TEFO5ANCOXPD64CGZ4FAINU">Johnson called Mamdani a “communist,” and said Democrats are encouraging illegal immigration to expand the party’s voting bloc. Tuberville said large cities, like New York and Los Angeles, are havens for undocumented immigrants. </p>
<p id="Y2BGPFP5IZEBNFFLGTFQW5LSCE">“That’s the easiest place to do it, Benny, in these big cities with all these government handouts, where they can hang out on the street, steal whatever they want to steal,” Tuberville said. </p>
<p id="NBEIRZKBBFC23NFDWOYNAWOSAA">“Chicago, Detroit, they’re all next. It’ll happen in the big cities, it’ll sweep across the country, and then they’ll try to start going into the medium-sized cities. But we can’t wait ‘til that point.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, we have the lie that illegal immigrants are voting for Democrats and that communism is about to sweep the nation. And, you know, especially in cities where you can “hang out on the street” and “steal whatever you want to steal.” </p>
<p>I also found the notion that our cities were once great, but now they’re not, to be noteworthy.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>“Our great cities of L.A. and New York have to be the spotlight for our country, but they’re gone,” Tuberville said.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I have heard conservatives complain about cities my whole life. But here we have the typical reactionary notion that in some mythical past, it was all better. I wonder when Tuberville thought cities were better?</p>
<p>It is actually worse to see the interchange, wherein Johnson cites the great replacement theory.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1937926615175987612
</div></figure>
<p>AL.com columnist <a href="https://www.al.com/news/2025/06/tommy-tubervilles-rat-talk-isnt-just-racist-its-a-warning.html">Kyle Whitmire</a> (Tommy Tuberville’s ‘rat’ talk isn’t just racist — it’s a warning) adds context.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>If you don’t know who Johnson is, a quick Google search will return important information — like <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/13/media/right-wing-media-influencers-tenet-russian-money" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">how his show was once secretly sponsored by the Kremlin</a> and how he <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-09-24/benny-johnson-podcast-youtube-show-undeterred-by-russian-influence-ties" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">helped spread the lie</a> that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people’s pets.</p>
<p id="KPEMRG4FUNB6BA6KP6UDM5OARU">These sorts of things might once have caused elected officials to stay away. Today, they’re an ideal forum for Alabama’s senior senator.</p>
<p id="DR5CAM3TPJBMDPX5JFYM4B6DAM">When Johnson started asking Tuberville what he thought of the Great Replacement — <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-is-great-replacement-theory-and-how-does-it-fuel-racist-violence" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a racist claim that white people are being purposefully replaced to steal control of America</a> — Tuberville didn’t seem fazed at all. He rolled with it, calling immigrants in major cities “rats.”</p>
<p>[…]</p>
<p id="NTTNX4D6GJGX7J6U3DAQAZSY3M">We’ve heard this sort of talk before — <a href="https://www.npr.org/2011/03/29/134956180/criminals-see-their-victims-as-less-than-human" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in Nazi Germany, and Rwanda, or the pre-Civil War South</a>. When powerful people refer to minorities as vermin, horrible things tend to follow.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Whitmire notes a few things about Tuberville’s vacuity on policy, and then notes this.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p id="7BZ6YTWRCZF63DYMVVVB2BJELM">“Poisonous ideologies like Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), which teach our kids to hate each other, should have no place in our government or our schools,” Tuberville says.</p>
<p id="YVUYRGBHMBBLBPNABZWGM5ZHXY">That’s funny coming from a guy who just referred to human beings as rats.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Indeed.</p>
<p>All of this is part of a very ugly trend in American politics that too many people are ignoring and, worse, that too many people are actively embracing.</p>
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<title>Lazy Like Sunday Morning Tabs</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/lazy-like-sunday-morning-tabs/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lazy-like-sunday-morning-tabs</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/lazy-like-sunday-morning-tabs/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 29 Jun 2025 14:00:40 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Tab Clearing]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Arizona]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Fox News]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Justice Department]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[NBC]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[POLITICO]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ron DeSantis]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=287191</guid>
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<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-dominant-color="937c68" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #937c68;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Napping-tabby-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-285198 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Napping-tabby-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Napping-tabby-768x576.jpg 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Napping-tabby-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Napping-tabby.jpg 2048w" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo by SLT</figcaption></figure>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Via <em>Politico</em>: <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/28/dead-lawmakers-social-media-00429884">Dead members of Congress can’t stop posting.</a></li>
<li>Via the AP: <a href="https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-prosecutions-capitol-riot-trump-bondi-1107441a68cef171dfff4e680e438452">Justice Department abruptly fires 3 prosecutors involved in Jan. 6 criminal cases, AP sources say.</a></li>
<li>Via <em>Politico</em>: <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/06/27/congress/don-bacon-wont-seek-reelection-00430545">Key GOP centrist Rep. Don Bacon will not seek reelection</a>.</li>
<li>Via the <em>Arizona Republic</em>: <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/media/2025/06/26/trump-hegseth-media-iran/84371183007/">Why did Pete Hegseth attack Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin for being right? | Opinion</a>.</li>
<li>Via <em>Wired</em>: <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/big-balls-coristine-doge-resigned-us-government/">‘Big Balls’ No Longer Works for the US Government</a>.</li>
<li>Via <em>Politico</em>: <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/28/tps-haiti-terminated-trump-00431124">DHS terminates temporary protected status for Haitians in the US</a>. The cruel process of taking away legal status so they can be deported. Just more evidence that the goal was not deporting “the worst of the worst” but continues to be about xenophobia and ousting persons of the wrong hue.</li>
<li>Via NBC News: <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/alligator-alcatraz-ron-desantis-top-allies-rcna215647">‘Alligator Alcatraz’ provides a political ‘boon’ for Ron DeSantis and his top allies</a>. Gotta put all those dangerous Haitans and Venezuelans who have had their temporary protected status revoked! </li>
<li>We are governed by the cruel and unserious.</li>
</ul>
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Coming soon! <a href="https://t.co/v3DCJsrDwV">pic.twitter.com/v3DCJsrDwV</a></p>— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1939034194979455282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ron DeSantis on his new camp for migrants: "We've got showers. There you see the shower and bath facilities." <a href="https://t.co/JgBGde7qvD">pic.twitter.com/JgBGde7qvD</a></p>— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1938585594407334309?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Meanwhile.</li>
</ul>
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jobless claims have really climbed in June — we may start to see a slowdown in the next jobs report.<br><br>My <a href="https://twitter.com/Morning_Joe?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Morning_Joe</a> Chart <a href="https://t.co/Pls50FC1nT">pic.twitter.com/Pls50FC1nT</a></p>— Steven Rattner (@SteveRattner) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveRattner/status/1938185383378096341?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>
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<title>Sunday’s Forum</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/sundays-forum-245/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sundays-forum-245</link>
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<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 29 Jun 2025 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Open Forum]]></category>
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<title>In Front of Our Noses: Threatening the Press</title>
<link>https://outsidethebeltway.com/in-front-of-our-noses-threatening-the-press/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=in-front-of-our-noses-threatening-the-press</link>
<comments>https://outsidethebeltway.com/in-front-of-our-noses-threatening-the-press/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Steven L. Taylor]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sat, 28 Jun 2025 15:50:36 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[In Front of Our Noses]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Presidency]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[CNN]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[New York Times]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://outsidethebeltway.com/?p=287196</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Say what Trump wants or he'll threaten to sue!]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-dominant-color="7b7b7b" data-has-transparency="false" style="--dominant-color: #7b7b7b;" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Trump-pointing-1024x683.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-287197 not-transparent" srcset="https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Trump-pointing-1024x683.avif 1024w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Trump-pointing-768x512.avif 768w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Trump-pointing-1536x1024.avif 1536w, https://outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Trump-pointing.avif 2048w" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: The White House</figcaption></figure>
<p class="has-text-align-center">“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”-George Orwell.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-center has-small-font-size"><em>For previous entries, click <a href="https://outsidethebeltway.com/category/us-politics/in-front-of-our-noses/">here</a>.</em></p>
<p class="has-drop-cap">Amidst the continuing malestrom of news, let’s note this via the <em>NYT</em>: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/business/media/trump-iran-new-york-times-cnn.html?unlocked_article_code=1.SU8.JPGh.1xoDoR77nOj2&smid=url-share">Trump Threatens to Sue The Times and CNN Over Iran Reporting</a>.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>President Trump on Wednesday threatened to sue The New York Times and CNN for publishing articles about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/24/us/politics/iran-nuclear-sites.html">a preliminary intelligence report</a> that said the American attack on Iran had set back the country’s nuclear program by only a few months.</p>
<p>In a letter to The Times, a personal lawyer for the president said the newspaper’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/24/us/politics/iran-nuclear-sites.html">article</a> had damaged Mr. Trump’s reputation and demanded that the news organization “retract and apologize for” the piece, which the letter described as “false,” “defamatory” and “unpatriotic.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While I suspect that a suit will not be filed, this is not the action of a democratic, constitution-respecting politician. It is the action of an autocrat wannabe. It is, at a minimum, an attempt to intimidate news outlets for not reporting what Trump wants reported the way he wants it reported.</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>On social media, Mr. Trump has called for journalists at both news outlets to be fired; he has also claimed, without evidence, that the articles were intended to demean the military personnel who participated in the attacks.</p>
<p>[…]</p>
<p>The legal threat against The Times and CNN marked another escalation in Mr. Trump’s ongoing effort to demonize and delegitimize the independent news media that reports on his administration’s actions.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You know, exactly how the Founders intended!</p>
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Upload the image to your own server. (This step is important. Please do not link directly to the image on this server.)
Add this HTML to your page (change the image src
attribute if necessary):
If you would like to create a text link instead, here is the URL you can use:
http://www.feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url=http%3A//www.outsidethebeltway.com/wp-rss2.php