In With the New

=09 =09=09 =09=09=09 =09=09 =09

=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09 =09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09 =09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

Midway

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09 =09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09=09 =09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

How much has American political li= fe changed since the end of the Trump era? Bill Scher on U= .S. public policy and political culture after two years of Democratic gover= nance.

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

Anastasia Fomina

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

For the first time in a ce= ntury, the U.S. House of Representatives failed Tuesday to el= ect a Speaker on the first ballot—adjourning with a divided Republica= n Party unable to unite around Representative Kevin McCarthy as the leader = of its new majority. It’s a chaotic start to a new era of divided gov= ernment in America, two years into the presidency of Joe Biden. At his inau= guration in 2021, Biden pledged “to restore the soul and to secure th= e future of America,” after Donald Trump’s tenure ended with hi= s supporters rioting at the U.S. Capitol as the former president continued = to claim that Biden had stolen the 2020 election. Since taking office, Bide= n has won legislation for pandemic-relief funding, infrastructure improveme= nts, limited gun-safety measures, and support for U.S. manufacturing; but&m= dash;with a Republican Party shaped by Trump back in power—how transf= ormative has it all been?
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

Bill Scher i= s an American journalist who contributes to The Washington Monthly, RealCle= arPolitics, and Politico Magazine. In Scher’s view, Biden’s leg= islative successes haven’t been as transformative as Barack Obama&rsq= uo;s reforms of America’s health-care and financial sectors, and most= Americans probably don’t recognize the tangible effects of most of h= is policies, which plausibly helps explain his low approval ratings. But tw= o years from now, Scher thinks, the president will have a story to tell vot= ers about how he’s made government function; and it’s a story t= hat could sound all the more compelling if, meanwhile—as early appear= ances suggest—the fractious Republican conference in the U.S. House o= f Representatives devolves into chronic dysfunction.

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

Graham Vyse: The = Trump administration was a dramatic time—but how did it actually chan= ge public policy in the U.S.?
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

Bill Scher: The t= ruth is, Trump’s administration was ineffective at changing public po= licy. He didn’t have many legislative accomplishments, and the courts= struck down much of what he tried to do through executive actions. At the = same time, he certainly set in motion the Supreme Court’s overturning= of Roe v. Wade, which ended the nationwide right to abo= rtion in America, as a result of his appointments to the Court. Those appoi= ntments may have more significant policy implications in the future.
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

Some of Trump’s influence on= U.S.-Mexico border policy also lingers. [The American government’s T= itle 42 policy, which Trump invoked in 2020 as an emergency public-health m= easure, has since been used more than two million times to expel migrants f= rom the country.] The tax cuts he signed into law haven’t been revers= ed, though U.S. tax policy has fluctuated a lot in recent decades: George H= .W. Bush raised taxes, then Bill Clinton raised taxes, then George W. Bush = cut taxes, then Barack Obama raised taxes. Changes to tax policy tend not t= o be significant legacies for presidents—in part because those change= s can be adjusted through Congress’ parliamentary procedure known as&= nbsp;budget reconciliation.
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

Another notable piece of Trump&rsq= uo;s legacy is the First Step Act, which built on the Obama administration&= rsquo;s criminal-justice policies and was a bipartisan, even mildly progres= sive accomplishment [that reformed federal prisons and sentencing laws]. If= bipartisan criminal-justice reform were to continue, history might regard = Trump’s law as a meaningful achievement, but reform appears to have s= talled under Biden. Republicans have shifted toward a more “law and o= rder” style of politics—accusing Democrats of being soft on cri= me—which diminishes bipartisan harmony on criminal-justice issues. =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

Vyse: Beyond poli= cy, how do you see the Trump years having changed America’s political= culture?

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

Scher: A lot of T= rump’s behavior isn’t really unprecedented in America’s p= olitical culture. He wasn’t the first president or presidential candi= date to lie. He wasn’t the first president or presidential candidate = to wage a culture war or campaign in a nasty way. This isn’t the firs= t era in American politics to be polarized or divisive.
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

He’s unique, however, in tha= t he lies, wages a culture war, and campaigns in a nasty way all at the= same time—and in such a blunt, brazen, and extreme fashion. Tru= mp changed America’s political culture by elevating the nationalist a= nd isolationist traditions in the Republican Party. Isolationism and intern= ationalism have existed in both major U.S. political parties over the last = century, but the internationalist forces have generally dominated, especial= ly in the party holding the White House.
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09Trump was really the first pre= sident who didn’t want to continue an internationalist foreign policy= . He boosted the Republican Party’s far-right, conspiratorial faction= s, and he’s raised questions about the party’s essential nature= . What are its defining characteristics? What are its abiding principles? =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

Vyse: I happened = to see a tweet last week= from the national Republican Party, which said, “Republicans believe= in limited government.” I found it somewhat surprising, because Trum= p really deemphasized limited-government rhetoric in favor of his right-win= g populist messaging.
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

Scher: It’s= definitely not a settled issue in the party. Many Republicans love Florida= Governor Ron DeSantis, who may be a candidate for the White House in 2024,= precisely because of his aggressive wielding of government power in an eff= ort to change American culture. [DeSantis attacked the Walt Disney Company = over its opposition to his Parental Rights in Education law, which critics = believed to be anti-gay. He also signed a law revoking the company’s = special tax status in Florida.]
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

Trump’s eagerness to instiga= te intra-party fights also greatly changed the internal culture of the Repu= blican Party. He did away with Reagan’s “11th Commandment,&rdqu= o; “Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican.” Reagan did= n’t actually follow that commandment, but Trump abandoned it entirely= . He pours gasoline on every fire.
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

The events of January 6th, and Tru= mp’s role in them, were unprecedented in American history. We’v= e never seen a president’s supporters rioting at the U.S. Capitol&mda= sh;and with his sympathy. Trump’s attempts to deny the results of the= 2020 election—and his efforts to elect other election deniers—= have deeply warped the politics of the Republican Party.
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09His efforts largely failed in = important races last year, but the country now has a majority of Republican= s in the House of Representatives who question or outright deny the 2020 re= sults. Their party is still living with this toxin Trump injected into its = bloodstream, even as most American voters—a coalition of Democrats, i= ndependents, and pro-democracy Republicans—reject it.

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

Darren Halstead

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

More from Billl Scher at The S= ignal:
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09“It’s stri= king how much Biden has done on a bipartisan basis. It was an= open question whether any bipartisanship was possible in the United States= in such polarized times—many thought Biden was simply naive to belie= ve it was possible. They thought he’d be humiliated if he pursued it.= I wouldn’t say that what Biden accomplished is revolutionary; U.S. i= ndustrial policy doesn’t have the scale and scope of Chinese industri= al policy, for instance—but it’s helping to prevent America fro= m being eclipsed by other nations.”
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09“Among Biden&rsq= uo;s policy accomplishments, there aren’t many the average U= .S. citizen will feel very acutely. His infrastructure law will produce a l= ot of infrastructure improvements, but those don’t happen overnight, = and Americans may not recognize that individual projects are the result of = the Biden administration’s work. I live in a town where there’s= an Amtrak train station as a result of Obama’s Recovery Act, but I d= on’t think most people connect those dots. Biden’s semiconducto= r law should produce more semiconductor manufacturing jobs in the U.S. than= would have existed without the law, but its effects will be limited.&rdquo= ;
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09“The biggest Oba= ma laws—the Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Wall S= treet Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the American Recovery and Rei= nvestment Act—are all more significant than Biden’s major laws.= Obama achieved more reform of the U.S. health-care industry than Biden has= , though Biden has extended and augmented Obama’s reform. Dodd–= Frank marked the end of a deregulatory era for the financial industry in Am= erica and the beginning of a new regulatory era.”

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

= Continue reading ...

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

The Signal explores urgent q= uestions in current events around the world—to support it and for ful= l access:

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

= Subscribe now

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

This email address is unmonitored;= please send questions or comments here.
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

To advertise with The Signal: = ;advertise@thesgnl.com.
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

Add us to your address book.
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09 Unsubscribe here.
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09
=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09© 2022 The Signal =09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09=09=09=09

=09=09=09