The Democrats vying in California’s already-heated 2024 Senate contest don’t disagree much on the response to Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse. Yet they’re still tussling over who’s taking the toughest line.

The three House Democrats running to succeed retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) next fall are jostling over the bank’s implosion — which has forced the Biden administration to take unprecedented steps in order to ward off a catastrophic run on deposits at other regional banks — in a bid to carve out differences between records that are otherwise generally aligned. And that effort is bound to put further pressure on red- and purple-state Democrats who still take a less progressive line on financial regulation.

The wonky world of Wall Street is comfortable territory for Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), an Elizabeth Warren protege who’s made the most of her high-profile role on the House Oversight Committee’s subpanel overseeing financial services. As Silicon Valley Bank hurtled to insolvency, the Orange County Democrat leaned on those bonafides to spotlight a bipartisan 2018 bill that, she argues, carved up landmark Wall Street reforms that were put in place after the last global financial crisis.

“What happened in the last financial crisis? Dodd-Frank was put in place to reflect those lessons,” Porter said in an interview, using the colloquial name for the 2010 law shaped to rein in the industry after the Great Recession of the Obama years. “Not even 10 years later, look what happens: The so-called pro-business Democrats and the Trump administration and Republicans voted to weaken the capital holding requirements.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/14/dem-senate-silicon-valley-bank-solutions-00086955

A Russian fighter jet forced down a US Air Force drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday after damaging the propeller of the American MQ-9 Reaper drone, according to a US official familiar with the incident.

The Reaper drone and two SU-27 Flanker jets were operating over international waters over the Black Sea when one of the Russian jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel in front of the unmanned drone, according to the official. One of the jets then damaged the propeller of the Reaper, which is mounted on the rear of the drone, the official said. The damage to the propeller forced the US to bring down the Reaper in international waters in the Black Sea.

The US Air Force issued a statement accusing the Russian aircraft of acting in a “reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner.”

“At approximately 7:03 AM (CET), one of the Russian Su-27 aircraft struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters. Several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner. This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional,” US Air Force Gen. James B.Hecker, commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa said in the statement.

Wake Up To Politics

“Three’s a trend,” journalists like to say. Well, Monday made four notable moves by President Joe Biden towards the ideological center, so it’s officially a pattern worth taking note of. They are:

1. His recent budget request, which proposed nearly $3 trillion in deficit reduction, not traditionally a liberal priority.
2. His endorsement of a Republican bill blocking a new D.C. criminal code, which blindsided congressional Democrats.
3. His “Trump-esque” changes to the immigration system, which will severely curtail access to asylum, and his consideration of restarting migrant family detention.
5. His approval on Monday of the Willow Project, a major oil drilling project in Alaska opposed by environmentalists.

Together, these moves suggest Biden is moving towards a re-election campaign — and preparing to target moderate and independent voters, seeking to remind them of his centrist roots.

Trump lashes out at DeSantis, says he regrets his endorsement of him

Former President Donald Trump is intensifying his attacks on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, calling him disloyal and saying that his political career would have been over had he not endorsed his ultimately successful 2018 campaign.

“He was dead as a dog, he was a dead politician. He would have been working perhaps for a law firm or doing something else,” Trump told a small group of reporters aboard his plane on Monday afternoon en route to Iowa, where he was to make an appearance that evening.


Asked if he regretted endorsing DeSantis for governor in 2018, Trump responded: “Yeah maybe, this guy was dead. He was dead as a doornail. … I might say that.”

Trump spent nearly 10 minutes going after DeSantis, who is widely viewed as his most formidable challenger for the Republican nomination. The Florida governor, who is expected to launch his campaign following the end of the state’s legislative session in May, has been embarking on a swing of early primary states to promote his newly released memoir — including in Iowa, where he appeared on Friday.

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/13/trump-lashes-out-desantis-regrets-endorsement-00086861

President Biden said Monday that former President Carter, who is in hospice care, has asked him to deliver his eulogy when he dies.

“I spent time with Jimmy Carter, and it’s finally caught up with him, but they found a way to keep him going for a lot longer than they anticipated because they found a breakthrough,” Biden said at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser.

“He asked me to do his eulogy,” he added.

The president then appeared to catch himself for sharing the information, saying, “Excuse me, I shouldn’t say that.”

Wall Street Journal: “A major unspoken problem for the president, according to political strategists, is that trying to force an outright ban on TikTok—as many Republicans are seeking—would sacrifice what is emerging as a vital campaign asset for Democrats with the 2024 election season looming.”

“TikTok’s audience is predominantly younger people, who typically favor Democrats by wide margins.”

“Turnout among younger voters surged in 2018, 2020 and 2022, helping the party deliver Republicans political setbacks. Unusually high turnout among younger voters in the 2022 midterm elections was credited with helping the party maintain control of the Senate and also limit its losses in the House.”

“For Democrats, a key to reaching those younger voters has been TikTok, according to consultants in both parties. That advantage has been sharpened by many Republicans’ refusal to use the platform because of its perceived security risks, Democratic strategists say.”

Tens of thousands of Scottish National party members will cast their votes from Monday to select their party leader and Scotland’s next first minister, after a snap election forced by Nicola Sturgeon’s shock resignation.

Polling began at noon on Monday with Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s health secretary, vying to become the country’s first minority ethnic first minister, against Kate Forbes, the finance secretary, and Ash Regan, a former community safety minister and the outlier candidate.

Yousaf, 37, is regarded as Sturgeon’s preferred candidate after winning endorsements from the party’s most senior figures, including John Swinney, the outgoing deputy first minister; Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader; and roughly half of Sturgeon’s cabinet.

The SNP’s first open leadership contest for nearly 20 years has been marked by an unprecedented level of infighting over the party’s track record and attacks on several of Sturgeon’s most cherished policies, particularly from Forbes and Regan.

Nearly all workers in the state of Illinois will soon officially be guaranteed at least one week of paid leave, under legislation signed Monday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

"Working families face so many challenges, and it's been my mission to alleviate all those burdens in every way that I can," Pritzker said at a bill signing ceremony. "Too many people can't afford to miss even a day's pay. But then crises arise, sometimes seemingly small, sometimes catastrophic, and they live in fear of losing income vital to their family's survival or other repercussions at work..."

The “Paid Leave for All Workers Act” states that employees will accrue one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked up to 40 hours total, although the employer may offer more. Employees can start using the time once they have worked for 90 days, the legislation says.

And, unlike similar bills in other states, the expansive paid leave legislation would require Illinois employers to give workers time off based on hours worked, to be used for any reason -- not just for health reasons.

The jury in the penalty phase of the trial of a terrorist convicted of committing a 2017 attack for ISIS that killed eight on a New York City bike path has told the judge it was unable to reach a unanimous decision.

A unanimous decision would be required to sentence Sayfullo Saipov to death in the first death penalty trial under the Biden administration.

A verdict that is not unanimous means Saipov will be sentenced to life in prison.

Saipov was convicted in January of all counts against him for the fatal terror attack he committed on Halloween in 2017, driving a rental truck down a New York City bike path killing eight and injuring several more.