Pramila Jayapal is fantastic. Would love to see her in the Senate someday.

[Celerity]

The Build Back Better agenda that progressives are fighting for isn't some fringe wish list. It's the President’s agenda, the Democratic agenda, and what we promised the American people.

Don’t just take my word for it — hear it straight from
@POTUS

Link to tweet

[BlueIdaho]

1. Tell you what

I’m going to withhold judgement until I can see if she can help pass any part of the Biden agenda.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

24. Likewise

And since I'm from Washington State I'll have a vote if she decides to run.

[Deuxcents]

2. Maybe Speaker?

[Celerity]

4. THAT would be even better! (especially as it means we control the House)

[brooklynite]

12. So you're saying that the job of Speaker is to say things that progressives like?

I thought it was to manage a diverse caucus of Democratic House members and get Bills passed, but maybe I’m wrong?

[Celerity]

15. She would be capable of managing a diverse caucus.

[Autumn]

17. More than capable. I think she would excel at it.

[Celerity]

20. compromise number just came out from Biden himself (reconciliation) $2.2 trillion

that 2.2 trillion usd was laid out in the big meeting just now with Biden and the House and Senate leaders

Many House members also (earlier today) were talking about cutting the duration from 10 to 5 years or so on multiple programmes, to keep the per year spend roughly the same, which would be a MASSIVE win.

[Autumn]

21. I believe that the phrase, "this is a big fucking deal" applies to this

[Celerity]

25. it is far from a done deal, BUT it is great preliminary news

[George II]

23. +1

[Me.]

13. Yes She Helped

but nothing goes anywhere without Nancy so I hope you're not thinking the current speaker should be replaced.

[Celerity]

26. we dont know when Pelosi will retire, but I (cant speak for others) certainly want Pelosi as Speaker

until she does retire. Zero reason for anyone to challenge her.

[Me.]

31. ...

[BlueLucy]

29. Hard pass!

I would rather it be Hakeem Jeffries but it's not up to me. I'm happy to see progressives standing up to Manchin and Sinema. Sinema left DC early this morning.

[montanacowboy]

3. She is my Congresscritter

I would like to see her as Speaker, she is super fantastic.

[Celerity]

5. +1

[BeyondGeography]

6. I see and hear a leader when she speaks

Temperament and smarts. She wants us to get to a better place, and she is tough. I’m seeing more discipline than ever from progressives in this saga and I think she’s a big reason why.

[Trueblue1968]

7. I LOVE HER

[maxsolomon]

8. Patty Murray is 70; she's unlikely to go anywhere.

Maria Cantwell, who's only redeeming quality is that she isn't a Republican, is only 62. She's in her FOURTH term, through 2024. How much longer does she want to take up space with her mediocrity?

That's who I'd primary if I were Jayapal.

Sorry if you're a Cantwell fan; I don't know anyone who's enthused about her or the work she does as Senator.

[BlueCheeseAgain]

9. I guess I've never heard anything about Cantwell.

I figure any Dem senator I haven't heard of can't be too bad-- that means they're not out there voting against the party.

[Celerity]

10. Cantwell was the one who rammed in a $10 billion giveaway to Bezos in the Endless Frontier Act

Senators spar over the idea of giving billions to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin venture for lunar lander program

https://www.geekwire.com/2021/senators-spar-idea-giving-billions-jeff-bezos-blue-origin-venture-lunar-lander-program/

The tussle over NASA funding for lunar landing systems has touched down in the Senate — with one leading senator seeking additional funding that could go to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture, and another leading senator arguing against a “Bezos Bailout.”

The senator on the pro-funding side is Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Her amendment to the Endless Frontier Act could put Kent, Wash.-based Blue Origin and its space industry partners back in the running for billions of dollars of NASA support for their human landing system. Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., is on the anti-funding side: This week, he submitted an amendment that would “eliminate the multi-billion dollar Bezos Bailout.”

Link to tweet

[George II]

14. Cantwell is doing what her constituents elected her to do - advocate for them. There are more....

....people working for Amazon in Washington state than there are residents in the entire state of Vermont.

[George II]

11. If she's in her 4th term apparently she's doing what a good Senator does - serving her constituents.

[maxsolomon]

16. or she is simply better than the disagreeable alternative of a republican.

we have many long-time senators who could serve their constituents far better than they do, yet are impossible to dislodge.

Cantwell having to defeat a primary challenger from her left might force her to articulate exactly how she serves her constituents that aren't Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, etc.

[sheshe2]

19. "Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing,

her constituents?"

I know Romney once said that corporations are people, but that was just silly as is saying they are her constituents.

[maxsolomon]

28. See replies 10, 11, 14.

I am simply taking exception to the assertion that a 4th term is evidence that the constituency is the being served well by a Senator.

I am not a Cantwell fan; never have been, but I will vote for her over ANY republican in WA state. If Jayapal decides to take her on, I'm there. In the Primary.

[sheshe2]

30. #10 states that it was rammed through.

I see none of that in the article that was linked.

Cantwell’s amendment calls for NASA to receive more than $10 billion in additional funding for a second lunar lander contract and other infrastructure needs. Her language is part of the version of the bill cleared by her committee this month.

The fact that the extra money could benefit a space program that’s basically headed by the world’s richest individual drew the ire of Sanders, a longtime critic of Amazon, Bezos and other billionaires. Lobbyists for Blue Origin and SpaceX are also in the thick of the fray, as detailed by The Washington Post.

Determining the winner of this latest battle of the billionaires — pitting Bezos against SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, America’s second-richest individual — will probably take months. Both houses of Congress have to approve authorizing legislation as well as an actual appropriation. And it’s not likely that Congress will get all that done before the GAO’s ruling, which could reset the terms of the competition in August.

Space News’ Jeff Foust probably had it right when he tweeted that there’s been “a lot of drama about a bill unlikely to become law in anything like its current form.”

verb (used with object), rammed, ram·ming.
to drive or force by heavy blows.
to strike with great force; dash violently against:

--------------------------

He never has opposed the funding of F-35's stationed in VT.

After decades in development and hundreds of billions of dollars spent, the F-35 fighter jet has proven difficult to maintain, and its systems are plagued by inconsistencies, software deficiencies and cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Now some in the Air Force say it's time for the military to cut its losses and move on, possibly to a new aircraft. What does that mean for the Vermont Air Guard’s fleet of the jets?

snip

How expensive for taxpayers?

To buy a single F-35 cost about $100 million. To fly, it costs about $35,000 an hour. To put that into context, a new F-16 — that airplane is still in production after 40 years — cost millions of dollars less to buy, and about two-thirds as much, if not half as much to fly on an hourly basis.

[div class=""]

https://www.vpr.org/vpr-news/2021-03-07/reporter-debrief-is-the-air-force-turning-its-back-on-the-f-35s

--------------------------------

Back to Cantwell: Post 11 and 14

No where does either post state that Amazon, Microsoft and Boeing are her constituents. The post refer to the people, in the State of Washington, the employees of these corporations are her constituents and no where did either post say that Amazon and Bezo's could register and vote in that state.

Fact, corporations are not people, Romney was wrong...in fact he was silly and looked like a fool when he said that.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

18. I am very impressed with hertleadership as well as

The way handles an French very negative press.

[malaise]

22. Love her

[Patton French]

27. 100%

She is FINALLY leveraging progressive strength.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

32. We lost a good number of winnable races due to the Defund The Police stupidity she pushed

Link to tweet

[Celerity]

33. That article issued a correction. Why did you use Reddit to filter instead of directly linking

to the article?

I think because the Reddit tweet had an incorrect headline (the actual article does not have it) and that is the only thing you could find that linked her to the phrase defund the police, a phrase she didn't use and doesn't use. Yep.


https://www.kuow.org/stories/jayapal-supports-diverting-police-money-to-other-public-uses

*A previous version of this article stated that Rep. Jayapal favored defunding the police. According to a follow up with her office, she does not favor defunding police, rather, diverting money away from police departments and using that money to invest in needed public programs. Her office argues that "defunding the police and shifting some resources to things we need to be investing in are two very different things."

snip

Also, she helped introduce the George Floyd policing bill.

Keep up the fight: Help pass the Justice In Policing Act

By Pramila Jayapal
Special to The Times

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/keep-up-the-fight-help-pass-the-justice-in-policing-act/?amp=1

In the weeks following the killing of George Floyd, communities across Washington and throughout the country have stood up and powerfully spoken out — protesting, demanding accountability and fighting for justice. Thousands upon thousands have marched day after day not only to honor the lives of Rayshard Brooks, Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Manuel Ellis, Tony McDade, Charleena Lyles and so many others, but also to fight against police brutality, racism, anti-Blackness and white supremacy.

From the health-care workers making their voices heard outside Seattle City Hall to those who had tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and flash bangs unacceptably unleashed on them at Cal Anderson Park and outside the East Police Precinct, Seattleites have not just forced a necessary conversation but prompted necessary action. Early on, I joined many fellow Washingtonians in calling for the end to the use of curfews, National Guard troops and militarized law enforcement. Rather than this unnecessary show of force, I have insisted that we respond differently, focusing instead on concrete policies that take on institutionalized racism and anti-Blackness.

Last week, I led 10 elected officials of color who represent Seattle at the federal, state, county and city levels in urging Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Police Chief Carmen Best to immediately enact transformative changes. That includes ending law enforcement’s violent response to ongoing demonstrations, completely overhauling policing to create an entirely different model of public safety that protects all in our community, and implementing serious accountability and transparency measures into police contracts. But while transforming policing in Seattle is critical, it is not only our community or our police department that requires urgent reform. We need to re-imagine and rebuild law enforcement across the country in order to finally put an end to police brutality, militarization and anti-Blackness. We need accountability, we need oversight, we need transparency — and we need to ensure real justice.

As a member of the House Judiciary Committee — and with the leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights coalitions like the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights — I was proud to help introduce the Justice in Policing Act last week. This legislation puts forth the most aggressive intervention into policing by Congress in recent memory, and reflects long overdue changes to the way law enforcement is done across the United States. Many of the reforms we have proposed are widely supported across the ideological spectrum.

snip

[brooklynite]

34. Well, Party Murray is running again...

(She called me to talk about it last week).

And I don’t think folks are unhappy with Maria Cantrell.

FWIW - what has Jayapal actually done in her 4 years in the House?