Quotes Of The Day -- November Outcomes

 

"... Will big spending distort outcomes in November? Yes. But will it achieve all it hopes to achieve? Outcomes like we have seen in elections this year (and frankly began to see years ago) suggest that the combination of revulsion at the corruption and abuses and self-dealing of the billionaire class and corporate giants and special interests, generational change, the rise of new media technologies and the emergence of new leaders with a timely voter-centric message can begin to undo the damage of the Roberts court and mainstream elites in both parties.

"It is not a sure thing. It is up to us. But results like we are seeing and seem likely to see suggest it is possible…and that should motivate all of us to try to make a difference, pushing the big money out of American politics every way we can." -- David Rothkopf, in his "Need To Know" Substack, concluding his essay on "How Voters Can Overrule Citizens United" and the Epstein class oligarch / special interest group money.  But relief may be / is on the way (see below), if we get it done.

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"Today’s the day we’ve all been waiting for. If you’re reading this, that means we finished dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s and just published our shiny, state-of-the-art 2026 congressional election forecast over at FiftyPlusOne. 🎉

"As of 6:00 AM Eastern on August 3, 2026, we give the Democrats an 85% chance to win the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and a 55% chance to win control of the Senate (which we define as 51 seats or more, unless an independent wins in Nebraska, Montana, Idaho, or South Dakota — unlikely, but not impossible).

"Because our forecast simulates elections for both chambers in one unified model, we can also calculate the probabilities of either party controlling both chambers after Nov. Democrats win control of both the House and Senate in just over 50% of simulations, whereas Republicans prevail in less than 12%.

"You can read more about the initial results of our forecast in my model launch post over at 50+1. The forecast itself lives here, and here’s an extremely detailed methodology write-up of how it works..." (our emphasis) -- G. Elliott Morris, in his "Strength In Numbers" Substack, on how Democrats are "strongly favored" to win the House and slightly favored to win the Senate in the mid-terms.

Billionaire Money Behind Graham-Cassidy

The shameful Graham- Cassidy Obamacare repeal bill that would wreck the U.S.'s health care system is opposed not only by every major health organization, but is very unpopular as more of its provisions are made known. The Rethuglicans' public rationale, as infamously expressed by withered Sen. Chuck "Ass Is Grass" Grassley, is that they made a promise to their ignorant, Obama-loathing base to "repeal and replace," so they have to fulfill it no matter the damage they'll do.

There's a more prosaic and cynical rationale, too: as we noted on Wednesday, mega-donor wallets will snap shut if they don't come up with a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. In June at the Koch Network conference, the Rethugs were told to get a repeal bill done this year, or their contributions would be cut off, a threat that has been repeated since then in numerous contacts. As Eric Levitz writes in today's New York Magazine:

"Graham-Cassidy would cut federal spending on insurance subsides and the Medicaid expansion by an estimated $243 billion between 2020 and 2026. That is neither what Republicans campaigned on, nor what their constituents want. But it is what their most affluent donors want — or at least they believe it moves the ball in their desired direction. While Republican voters are broadly supportive of Medicaid — and many GOP senators from Medicaid-expansion states have touted their support for the policy — the conservative donor network funded by the oil billionaires Charles and David Koch has been unequivocal in its opposition to the federal program."

The Koch's and their ilk seem to have found at least one visible bag man: the detestable bigot Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum, who, among other scams, runs a PAC -- "Patriot Voices" -- to collect dark money to spend on far-right causes. According to reports, Santorum had a pivotal hand in drafting the Graham- Cassidy bill, despite being out of the Senate since 2006. If you think Santorum was acting as an independent agent without the backing of that dark money, we have a jar of moonbeams to sell you.

The tell in all of this is that despite broad public and institutional opposition, the Rethugs are charging ahead, not so much to "keep a promise" as  to keep those big donor wallets open, and their miserable careers alive....for now.

BONUS: New York Times also reporting that Rethugs are glum that big donor money will dry up. Sad!

Sunday Funnies

(click to enlarge)

With the Citizens United decision clearing the way for dark money in political campaigns, wealthy individuals and corporations will spend to the limit to buy the government that will protect their interests and privilege.

(cartoon:  Tom Toles, via Gocomics.com)

Corporations Aren't People Quote of the Day

From a Philadelphia Daily News editorial, commenting on the Supreme Court's upholding of the vile Citizens United decision permitting unlimited corporate money in politics:

"We'll believe a corporation is a person when:

Arizona deports one.

Texas executes one.

Massachusetts marries two of them.

The U.S. government issues one a Social Security number.

The CIA extradites one to Guantanamo.

One sacrifices its life in military service."

It looks like they're channeling our favorite Senate candidate, Elizabeth Warren.