Beto: We are nearing a failed state in Texas.

Tweet of the Day

Biden just drew a line in the sand re. student loan forgiveness.

Supports a $10k forgiveness program but does not support the $50k.

VA-GOV: Former think tank leader joins race for Virginia governor

RICHMOND — Peter Doran, a former Washington think tank executive and author, joined the crowded race for Virginia governor this week with a promise to phase out the state income tax.

“We’re going to zero percent,” Doran, 45, says in a campaign video. In an interview Wednesday, he said the state could wind up with more revenue without the tax because the change would fuel business and population growth.

Doran, who lives in Arlington County, is the sixth Republican to seek the party’s gubernatorial nomination. Five Democrats and an independent also are seeking to succeed Gov. Ralph Northam (D), who is prohibited by the state constitution from seeking back-to-back terms.

In addition to phasing out the income tax, Doran promises in the video to make Virginia the best state in the nation for schools, safety and jobs. In an interview, he described himself as a conservative on gun rights and abortion, but said he supports gay rights as long as there is no conflict with religious freedom.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/peter-doran-virginia-governor/2021/02/10/3ad1a326-6bbd-11eb-9ead-673168d5b874_story.html

Tension over election integrity erupts in Virginia House of Delegates

RICHMOND — Partisan tension over election integrity finally erupted in the House of Delegates on Friday after simmering for weeks in the background.

Del. Marcus B. Simon (D-Fairfax) touched it off with a simple but provocative message for Republicans who have raised questions about the security of Virginia’s elections laws: “Please cut it out.”

The impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump was winding down in Washington as he spoke, and Simon reminded other House members of the chaos and bloodshed that wracked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 over false charges that the presidential election was “stolen.”

“Stop pushing these false narratives. We’ve all seen how dangerous they are,” Simon said.

But House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), who has condemned the violence at the Capitol but tiptoed carefully around the comments of a handful of his caucus who echo Trump’s unfounded complaints of fraud, seemed to push back.

Citing a recent report in Time magazine claiming that political and corporate interests worked together behind the scenes to control how the election was conducted, Gilbert said “the narratives about a stolen election, I think, have given way to something much different.”

The story presents the alleged effort as being aimed at keeping the election “free and fair, credible and uncorrupted,” but it has been widely cited on the right as evidence of a conspiracy among tech firms, the media and Democrats to control the outcome.




https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-house-election-integrity/2021/02/12/8f780776-6d66-11eb-9ead-673168d5b874_story.html

Biden and the Fed Leave 1970s Inflation Fears Behind

WASHINGTON — Presidents who find themselves digging out of recessions have long heeded the warnings of inflation-obsessed economists, who fear that acting aggressively to stimulate a struggling economy will bring a return of the monstrous price increases that plagued the nation in the 1970s.

Now, as President Biden presses ahead with plans for a $1.9 trillion stimulus package, he and his top economic advisers are brushing those warnings aside, as is the Federal Reserve under Chair Jerome H. Powell.

After years of dire inflation predictions that failed to pan out, the people who run fiscal and monetary policy in Washington have decided the risk of “overheating” the economy is much lower than the risk of failing to heat it up enough.

Democrats in the House plan to spend this week finalizing Mr. Biden’s plan to pump nearly $2 trillion into the economy, including direct checks to Americans and more generous unemployment benefits, with the aim of holding a floor vote as early as next week. The Senate is expected to quickly take up the proposal as soon as it clears the House, in the hopes of sending a final bill to Mr. Biden’s desk early next month. Fed officials have signaled that they plan to keep holding rates near zero and buying government-backed debt at a brisk clip to stoke growth.

The Fed and the administration are staying the course despite a growing outcry from some economists across the political spectrum, including Lawrence Summers, a former Treasury secretary and top adviser in the Clinton and Obama administrations, who say Mr. Biden’s plans could stir up a whirlwind of rising prices.

No one better embodies the sudden break from decades of worry over inflation — in Washington and elite circles of economics — than Janet L. Yellen, the former Federal Reserve chair and current Treasury secretary. Ms. Yellen spent the bulk of her career fighting in a war against inflation that economists have been waging for more than a half century. But at a time when the American economy remains 10 million jobs short of its pre-pandemic levels, and millions of people face hunger and eviction, she appears to be ready to move on.





https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/15/business/economy/biden-fed-inflation-covid.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

Do you know this person?

Run for Something recruiting local candidates to challenge Jan. 6 insurrectionists.

Los Angeles County has officially reached the State's threshold for reopening elementary schools.

'2020 took a toll on me': Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson to resign

Republican Secretary of State Connie Lawson announced Monday that she is stepping down.

“Like many Hoosiers, 2020 took a toll on me," Lawson said in a statement. "I am resigning so I can focus on my health and my family. I will work with Governor Holcomb to ensure our next Secretary of State is up to the task and has the tools and resources to hit the ground running.”

She said she will submit a formal resignation once Gov. Eric Holcomb selects her successor and he or she is ready to serve.

Lawson is the longest-serving secretary of state in Indiana history.

Former Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed Lawson in 2012 after Secretary of State Charlie White was removed from office when he was convicted of six Class D felony charges, including voter fraud, perjury and theft.

Lawson was subsequently elected in 2014 by more than 17 percentage points and then reelected in 2018 by almost 16 percentage points. She would have been up for reelection again in 2022.




https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2021/02/15/indiana-secretary-state-connie-lawson-resign/4488316001/