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**SEPTEMBER 20, 2021**

Kuttner on TAP

Some Hopeful News

****

Feeling down about Joe Manchin, the Kabul debacle, the lingering
pandemic, and Biden's sinking approval ratings? Here's a little good
news:

The Republican abortion laws in Texas, Mississippi, and elsewhere are
likely to drive independent voters, especially suburban women, into the
arms of Democrats. Likewise the games Republican governors are playing
with people's lives around masks.

With every passing day, as a larger fraction of Americans are vaccinated
and disgusted with those who aren't (and their Republican enablers),
the more the sane people's majority grows.

And even though the reconciliation process will be

**Perils of Pauline** right down to the wire, there is no way we won't
get a bill. It may be hundreds of billions less than we want and need,
but benefits will soon begin helping ordinary Americans. And we can come
back for more in the next budget reconciliation.

Also, FiveThirtyEight has been keeping track of the likely partisan
gains and losses from redistricting, which once looked as if it would
cost several Democratic House seats. According to their latest tally
, we are
almost at break-even, with four likely Republican pickups and two likely
Democratic pickups.

Feeling a little better?

Now, before you start feeling too good, it's still the case that
Biden's approval rating and the current generic support for the two
parties forecasts the Democratic loss of the House in 2022. So, to keep
our democracy, we will need all of these breaks and more.

~ ROBERT KUTTNER

Follow Robert Kuttner on Twitter

Robert Kuttner's latest book is
The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy
.

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Kathleen Rice's Questionable Rationale for Voting Down Drug Pricing
Reform

She says she voted against the measure because the reconciliation bill
won't become law. BY DAVID DAYEN

The Corruption of the Afghan Presidency

How Washington missed the nefarious practices of Ashraf Ghani BY ZACK
KOPPLIN

The Failure of Financialized Higher Ed

Big endowments and big money have made administrators more accountable
to financiers than their own universities. BY KELLY GROTKE

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