January 6, 2021

It Looks Like Democrats May Win the Senate After All

Stacey Abrams said she'd turn Georgia blue, and by God she did it. Congratulations, Stacey.Kevin Lowery/Biden via ZUMA

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How about that? It looks like Democrats are going to win both the Senate races in Georgia. This will split the Senate 50-50, with Kamala Harris providing the tiebreaking vote. I wonder if Lisa Murkowski could be persuaded to become an independent who caucuses with the Democrats? That would make things easier.

I see a lot of chatter about how Democrats should now nuke the filibuster and start passing Medicare for All and everything else on the progressive wish list. Well, forget it. Democrats don’t have 51 votes to get rid of the filibuster, so that’s not going to happen. In terms of passing legislation, then, the big question is what Chuck Schumer will put into the annual reconciliation bill, which only needs 50 votes (plus Kamala) to pass. In practice, you get to choose only one thing, and obviously it needs to be something that every single Democrat will vote for. I would be happy with doubling Obamacare subsidies, which would be pretty good for the working class and pretty popular with the middle class too. Could it attract every single Dem vote? Maybe. Maybe.

Perhaps you have a better idea. Remember, you get one thing only. That’s how the rules work. And it needs to be something that has a plausible chance of winning the votes of even the most conservative Democrats. Feel free to toss out your favorites in comments.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

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