Dan Diamond just prior to yesterday's terrific jobs report:
Barring an asteroid or the biggest economic surprise in recent history, Friday’s jobs report will be the 60th straight month that America’s private sector has gained jobs.
That’s a new record — but another milestone this month arguably looms larger.
March marks five years since the Affordable Care Act was passed … amid Republican cries that the ACA was a job-killer.
To put that more plainly: The private sector hasn’t lost jobs since Obamacare was officially created.
Were Republicans wrong?
Yes. Yes, they were.
More politics and policy below the fold.
Monkey Cage:
House Republican leaders have had a rough time lately getting bills through the legislative process. Most recently, they watched as their proposed three-week funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was unexpectedly defeated, forcing them to enact a one-week funding bill just hours before the agency would have run out of money.
As Jeff Jenkins rightly notes, the defeat of the measure was unusual: The House majority party almost never brings bills to the floor if it doesn’t have the votes to pass them. When such measures do lose, these “disappointment” votes usually make the majority look bad.
After votes like these, the finger of blame usually points toward either the leaders of the majority party or defectors within it. But another essential player is responsible for majority party losses that people sometimes forget: the minority party.
In the case of the DHS funding bill, only a dozen House Democrats voted for the measure, nowhere near enough to counter the 52 Republicans who voted no.
Sean Sullivan:
Nancy Pelosi had a plan. Democrats were outnumbered, obviously, and she no longer had the power to impose her will the way she did when she was speaker of the House. But neither did the current speaker, John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).
With a partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown looming, Pelosi saw a way to torpedo Boehner, and get exactly what she and other Democrats wanted for President Obama. The plan was simple: when Boehner needed her the most, she would not be there for him.
United Democrats give Nancy Pelosi significant power in this Congress. But that's nothing new for her.
Brian Beutler:
How Conservative Supreme Court Justices Harmed Their Own Anti-Obamacare
CauseWednesday’s Supreme Court oral arguments made it evident that at least some conservative justices are worried about the disruption they’ll create if they rule for the challengers in King v. Burwell and void Affordable Care Act subsidies in 34 states.
The justices and lawyers themselves didn’t dwell on humanitarian costs, but those most hostile to the law repeatedly sought to downplay the consequences of an adverse ruling
Politico:
Scott Walker takes on unions again
Washington Examiner:
Conservative news media outlets and personalities may find it tough to participate in the upcoming Republican presidential primary debates, which will be fewer and more tightly organized than the sprawling debates of the 2012 campaign. And many prominent conservatives are unsure they want to participate at all.
Final decisions on conservative participants are up to the Republican National Committee, an RNC spokesman told the Washington ExaminerThursday. In 2013 the RNC announced it would be taking more control of the GOP presidential primary debate process, mandating fewer debates and a requirement that mainstream TV news outlets hosting them include a "conservative element," such as a conservative panelist.
But fewer debates this election cycle — there are 12 on the RNC's schedule — means there is scarce opportunity for conservative news outlets to participate, should they want to.
Take a look at those two stories. The WI GOP legislature is aiding Walker, but so is the RNC by using the most conservative pundits asking questions at the debates. So how is the 'establishment' aiding Jeb Bush? Jeb should win, except
the base doesn't like him. This is going to be very interesting.
Politico:
What Obama's trip to Selma means
He’s more publicly embracing his role as America’s first black president
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