Washington Monthly for recognizing that one part of the popular progressive narrative is not actually supported by the facts:
Whatever there is to say about Mitch McConnell’s soulless approach to politics, we cannot say that today he has organized his party to filibuster everything he can. In fact, McConnell has voted “Yea” on most of the 13 successful bills, including legislation to authorize $35 billion for water infrastructure, strengthen the Justice Department’s ability to prosecute hate crimes, extend a suspension of automatic Medicare cuts, extend the pandemic small business relief loan program and waive the law that would have prevented Lloyd Austin from becoming Defense Secretary. Neera Tanden’s nomination tanked, but no major presidential nomination has led to thermonuclear war.
How to Stop the Minority-Rule Doom Loop
The next two years might be America’s last chance to protect the basic democratic principle of majority rule.
April 12, 2021
Dan Calderwood / Unsplash / The Atlantic
President Joe Biden came into office facing four “converging crises”: COVID-19, climate change, racial justice, and the economy. But after a few weeks of fast action on a pandemic relief plan, a fifth crisis will determine the fate of the rest of his administration, and perhaps that of American democracy itself: the minority-rule doom loop, by which predominantly white conservatives gain more and more power, even as they represent fewer Americans.