NEWS AND OPINION:
The Democratic Party just can’t kick the epic legislation habit, creating bills which are strategically lengthy, dense and unwieldy. This dubious art came into full flower when the 2,300-page Affordable Care Act — Obamacare — arrived at the U.S. Capitol in 2010. Those original hundreds of pages paved the eventual way for 20,000 more pages of regulations, according to several reports.
“We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what’s in it,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at the time.
The sentiment repeats itself. Mrs. Pelosi now introduces the HEROES ACT for coronavirus relief — a $3 trillion plan which includes bailouts for state and local governments, extended unemployment benefits, social justice measures, tax breaks and much more. It is a big chunk of legislation that exists in a vacuum, with no acknowledgment of the national debt, now set to reach $31.4 trillion in the next decade. That amount constitutes 98% of the gross domestic product and marks the highest percentage of this measurement since World War II.
So what are the implications here?
“At over 1,800 pages, the mammoth legislation is a cynical left-wing wish not rooted in reality. It demonstrates that the Democrats are irresponsible and unfit to govern at a time of crisis,” notes an editorial from the Washington Examiner.
That is something for Democratic voters in particular to remember when they step into the poll booth on Nov. 6.
IN THE RUNNING
Who is President Trump really running against in 2020? It’s not necessarily a solitary opponent. Yes, there’s Joseph R. Biden, along with an assortment of other aggressive competitors.
“I’m running against ’Sleepy Joe Biden.’But I’m also running against the Democrat machine,” President Trump tells Fox Business Network.
“I’m running against the Democrats and I’m running against the media. I’m running against the radical left. I’m running against some really stupid Republicans that don’t understand how good they had it. We have some people that claim to be Republicans and they have gone crazy — and the reason is, I’ve defeated them all,” Mr. Trump declared.
FOR THE LEXICON
“The post-pandemic presidency.”
This forward-thinking term was coined by National Review columnist Jim Geraghty, who tried to imagine what is in store in the very near future.
“Being president is going to stink for at least the next two years, and probably more — even by the historical standards of a job that appears to be powerful and glamorous but that tends to age its occupants about a decade for each term. The task of overcoming this virus and recovering from its enormous cost in human lives, human health, and economic ruin will rank among the greatest challenges in American history, and for a long while, the job of the president is going to be an endless series of hard choices, picking from menus with only bad options,’ Mr. Geraghty predicts.
IT’S CATCHING UP TO HIM
A massive new Morning Consult poll of 27,754 registered U.S. voters conducted May 4-10 has unsettling news for the aforementioned Joe Biden.
“Tara Reade’s allegation that Joe Biden sexually assaulted her when he was a senator in 1993 is one of the few non-coronavirus stories to have broken through to voters amid the pandemic, and it appears to be taking a toll on the former vice president’s popularity,” the pollster says.
The former vice president’s net favorability has dropped five percentage points since late April, when Mr. Biden denied Ms. Reade’s allegations. The survey reveals that 48% of voters now have an unfavorable opinion of the White House hopeful.
His rating among women ages 30-65 also fell by six percentage points to 46%. This is the voting bloc, the pollster said, “that strategists on either side of the aisle credit with fueling Democratic victories in 2018 House races.”
SANITIZING THE STORY
Broadcasters appear to selectively ignore certain stories. They also sanitize such reports by omitting pertinent details. Such is the case with CBS, ABC and NBC according to a new investigation by Scott Whitlock, associate editor of Newsbusters.org, a conservative press watchdog. He found that ABC, CBS and NBC are now reluctantly covering Tara Reade’s aforementioned claims of Mr. Biden’s sexual abuse. But the networks are now burying important facts that corroborate her claims.
Some examples: When a former neighbor recently spoke up to support Ms. Reade’s allegations, CBS offered 45 seconds of coverage while ABC and NBC skipped the development. ABC featured an exclusive interview with Mr. Biden this week; the assault case was discussed for a scant 39 seconds. The discovery of a 1996 court document that augmented Ms. Reade’s claims was ignored by ABC and NBC, though CBS gave it 39 seconds.
“Rather than just repeat the presumptive Democratic nominee’s denials, the networks should investigate each and every new detail. In fact, this is what the candidate says he wants,” writes Mr. Whitlock, citing Mr. Biden’s ABC appearance this week.
“It’s the responsibility of responsible journalists like you and everyone else to go out and investigate those. At the end of the day, the truth is the truth,” the White House hopeful told host George Stephanopoulos.
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POLL DU JOUR
• 33% of U.S. adults have a “very unfavorable” opinion of socialism; 65% of Republicans, 35% of independents and 7% of Democrats agree.
• 28% are “not sure” how to describe their opinion of socialism; 14% of Republicans, 32% of independents and 35% of Democrats agree.
• 18% have a “somewhat favorable” opinion; 9% of Republicans, 13% of independents and 30% of Democrats agree.
• 12% have a “somewhat unfavorable” opinion; 7% of Republicans, 15% of independents and 13% of Democrats agree.
• 8% have a “very favorable” opinion; 4% of Republicans, 6% of independents and 15% of Democrats agree.
Source: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted May 10-12.
• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @Harperbulletin.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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