Background Briefing: March 8, 2021

On By gram

 

Moderate Democratic Senators Now Consider Getting Rid of the Filibuster

We begin with the growing cry by Democrats to end the filibuster with moderate Senators Klobuchar, Smith and Tester joining in the call along with a signal from Senator Manchin that he is open to making the filibuster more like it is portrayed in the film classic “Mr Smith Goes to Washington”, commenting that “the filibuster should be painful.” Gregory Wawro, Professor of Political Science at Columbia University who specializes in American politics and is the co-author of Filibuster: Obstruction and Lawmaking in the United States Senate, joins us to discuss the possibility that the fact that no Republican senators voted for the urgently-needed stimulus bill, might have convinced Manchin that the Republicans are bent on obstruction no matter how great the need to pass a bill is. And although Manchin still insists the filibuster is needed to protect the rights of the minority, we will assess whether the Republicans have been using it as a tool to ensure a tyranny of the minority by denying majority rule on votes for any legislation put forward by Democrats which is not what the founding fathers intended.

 

A Leading Economist Assesses the $1.9 Trillion American Rescue Plan

Then we get an assessment of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that will likely pass in the house on Wednesday to be signed into law by President Biden who promised to do so, “as soon as I can get it.” James Galbraith, Chair of Government/Business Relations and a professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Inequality: What Everyone Needs to Know, joins us to discuss what Bernie Sanders is referring to “as the most significant piece of legislation to benefit working people in the modern history of the country.”

 

Harry and Meghan Use the Tabloids That Have Been Used Against Them

Then finally we go to London for the local reaction to the Oprah Winfrey interview with the demoted and defunded royals, Harry and Meghan, and speak with Toby Miller, one of the world’s leading analysts of popular culture, media, and their connection to the politics of everyday life. He joins us to discuss the British Royal Family’s relationship with the tabloids which have vilified Meghan, and the extent to which she and her husband are using tabloid journalism to get back at the palace and the British tabloids.