The unique perspective and provocative opinions of Joe O’Neill
Dem Notes
“We need to stop seeing each other as ”—President Joe Biden. It would also help, as the president was surely tempted to add, if the other side would quit acting like, well, enemies.
“There was an assault weapons ban at one time. It expired. Let’s renew it.”—VP Kamala Harris.
“We are prepared to compete, but we do not seek to ”—Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who led a recent congressional delegation to Shanghai, China.
The S. economy churned out 336,000 jobs in September, a sign of the job market’s strength. Unemployment is holding at 3.8 percent and wage growth is outpacing inflation. Normally these would be positive signs and assessed accordingly. Normally.
Now that the House Speaker chaos has played out, it’s up to the electorate to respond appropriately—and with enlightened democratic self-interest—in 2024. If so, the next House Speaker would be Hakeem Jeffries.
“My intention is to spoil (the election) for both of them.”—Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the likely impact of his independent presidential run on both President Biden and Donald Trump. Yes, he’s a conspiracist and an anti-vaxxer—but his name is Kennedy. He would have more effect on a Democratic candidate—not unlike Ralph Nader in 2000.
Team Biden-Harris recently announced that it had raised more than $71 million in the third quarter of 2023 and reported $91 million in cash on hand. The war chest is larger than that of the MAGA field combined.
Since announcing his Texas senate campaign, Democratic congressman Colin Allred, a former Tennessee Titans linebacker seen as Ted Cruz’s most likely opponent in 2024—has raised nearly $11 million since May. That was $2 million more than the incumbent Cruz reported in the same period. In 2018, Beto O’Rourke mounted a strong challenge to Cruz.
Where the Second Amendment and impeachment intersect. New Mexican Republicans are calling for the impeachment of Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishan. Her “impeachable” offense: She led the effort to suspend the right to carry guns at public parks and playgrounds, a suspension motivated by recent shooting around the state that have left children dead. Bottom line: Impeached for not allowing guns at public parks and playgrounds! Only an intentional misinterpretation of the 18th Century Second Amendment and a right-wing macho mindset “explains” this impeachment.
That was then: Early in his Congressional career, rabble-rousing GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio was not averse to crossing the political aisle and actually worked with JamieRaskin, the Maryland Democrat, on bipartisan legislation to protect press freedom. That was before Trump became his lodestar.