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**NOVEMBER 19, 2021**

Kuttner on TAP

The Unhinged Republican Congress as a Gift for 2022

Recent events give Democrats a powerful message for the
voters-positive and negative.

The House Democrats came together this morning and passed a
larger-than-expected Build Back Better bill valued at about $2.1
billion. This may be whittled down somewhat in the Senate, but it is
still one impressive achievement.

And even though Biden's own approval ratings are down, the provisions
of the bill are popular.

Polls show that 88 percent of Americans support Build Back Better's
measures to cut prescription drug prices; 84 percent support the
provisions to lower health insurance premiums; 73 percent favor the
funding for paid family leave; 72 percent back Build Back Better's
creation of clean-energy jobs to combat climate change; and 67 percent
of Americans support the funding for universal pre-K.

This will all serve Democrats well next November. And what will also
play to the Democratic advantage is the Republicans' increasingly
crackpot behavior in the days leading up to the House vote.

The week began with all but two Republicans voting to condone Arizona
Rep. Paul Gosar for circulating a video depicting him killing Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Gosar initially tried to claim he meant no
harm, but minutes after the vote he tweeted out the offending video
again.

Then, on the eve of the vote, the Republican House leader, Kevin
McCarthy, under fire from some Trumpers for not being abjectly
supportive enough, delayed the proceedings with a rambling eight-hour
filibuster in which he came across as unhinged.

All of this-the positive achievements of Build Back Better, and the
lunatic negativity of the Republicans-will be pure gold for Democrats
next November. It will serve to remind voters, who may have forgotten
what is at stake when they stayed home or voted Republican in the recent
off-off-year elections, that this is not a normal time or a normal
Republican Party.

Trump was not in evidence in the recent election, but he will be
ubiquitous next year, reminding non-hardcore MAGA voters why he was and
is such a menace. And the Republicans running for Congress will be
joined to Trump at the hip.

This kind of nationalized election may play well deep in Trump country,
but not in most of America. Memo to pundits who are counting Democrats
out a year in advance of November 2022: Reports of their death are
exaggerated.

~ 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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Amazon's Attack on Women's Health

A company that treats a common pelvic ailment will soon have all its
FDA-compliant medical devices listed on Amazon-in the 'adult'
category. BY DAVID DAYEN

Electric Cars and Union Workers
The
Build Back Better bill's support for both exemplifies the just
transition we need to save the planet. And-surprise-Joe Manchin
doesn't like it. BY HAROLD MEYERSON

Altercation: On the Media's Resurrection of Chris Christie

Who, he tells us, doesn't watch Fox News so can't comment on it. If
you believe that ... BY ERIC ALTERMAN

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