带走里克·克莱因
这是2021年的一个主题:民主党人对他们的民主党同僚感到沮丧，甚至认为他们自己政党的成员是进步的障碍。
眼下，拜登议程因政治数学问题而停滞不前，这些问题分为两大类:有些事情民主党人不能做，即使他们有50个参议院的选票，以及他们不能做的事情，因为他们不能达到50票。
前一类是为什么围绕债务上限的争论仍在继续，为什么现在达成的任何协议只会推迟即将到来的艰难决定。这也是投票权改革停滞不前的原因，仅举一个例子，它推动了进步，甚至一些温和的呼吁来限制或消除阻挠议事。
后一类是为什么基础设施和社会支出法案进展缓慢且令人沮丧。参议员伯尼·桑德斯可以再次抱怨两名参议员拥有超过48票的否决权，我们甚至可以看到这一论点的影子进入乔·拜登总统所说的话，但只要这些选票需要达到50票，这就是现实。
民主党的数字也反映了另一个问题。距离基础设施法案和社会支出法案的最后期限还有三周时间，拜登的民调无助于民主党的团结。
昆尼皮亚克大学本周三进行的一项民意调查发现，55%的公众认为拜登没有能力管理政府——没错，这个政府是由华盛顿的民主党人控制的。这将把拜登的支持率推至20世纪90年代的新低538个投票跟踪器。
最近几个月被危机所支配-在阿富汗，在边境，关于新冠肺炎和在战斗中-这削弱了冷静能力的形象，这是拜登的标志。
党派分歧已经在所有这些领域和更多领域出现。但是民主党人在如何进行的问题上仍然有分歧。
与...的关系阿维·哈珀
教育部宣布了对公共服务贷款减免计划这将影响约22，000名借款人。
此次改革将免除数千名以前没有资格的借款人的学生贷款。这些变化包括扩大包括该计划在内的支付种类，以及审查过去拒绝的上诉程序。随着新的修改，该计划预计将免除17亿美元的贷款。
这些变化发生之际，拜登政府正在努力解决党内的争论，以通过“重建更好”计划，该计划包括对高等教育的数十亿美元投资，至少以目前的形式。
该计划包括免费社区学院、增加佩尔助学金以及对哈佛商学院和其他少数族裔服务机构的投资。
3.5万亿美元支出计划的初始价格可能会失望而归让乔曼钦和辛尼玛这样的人加入。这是连拜登总统都承认的现实。
但目前还不清楚上述高等教育投资是否会削减，或者这些想法在缩减后的计划中是否可行。
小费亚里沙·维尔塞马
州长格雷格·艾伯特对遇难者表示哀悼Timberview高中枪击案他和其他九名共和党州长周三在边境举行新闻发布会，就移民政策向拜登政府提出警告。
亚利桑那州、佐治亚州、爱达荷州、爱荷华州、蒙大拿州、内布拉斯加州、俄亥俄州、俄克拉荷马州和怀俄明州的州长也加入了阿博特的行列，其中一些人拿起话筒指责总统在他们声称源于激增的无证移民的州挑战犯罪。亚利桑那州州长道格·杜西(Doug Ducey)是上个月签署一封信要求在本周与总统会面的25名州高管之一，他说，乔·拜登总统正在远离共和党州长。
“我们试图与总统会面，成为解决方案的一部分，但他拒绝了。不，更糟糕的是——他无视我们，就像他无视边境和美国人民的福祉一样，”杜西告诉记者。
共和党州长和白宫能否就其中一个议题展开工作对话还有待观察国家最棘手的问题，但移民问题继续笼罩着总统的遗产。据昆尼皮亚克说，67%的美国成年人不赞成他对移民和墨西哥边境局势的处理。
Democrats still confronting limits of narrow majorities: The Note
The TAKE withRick Klein
It's been a theme of 2021: Democrats frustrated with their fellow Democrats -- and even seeing members of their own party as impediments to progress.
Right now, the Biden agenda is stalling because of political math problems that fall into two main buckets:There are things Democrats can't do even though they have 50votes in the Senate, and things they can't do because they can't get to 50.
The former category is why wrangling continues around the debt ceiling and why any agreement now will only delay difficult decisions still to come. It's also why voting-rights reform is stalled, to cite just one example that's fueling progressive and even some moderate calls to limit or eliminate the filibuster.
The latter category is why progress is slow and frustrating on the infrastructure and social-spending bills. Sen. Bernie Sanders can complain anew about two senators holding a veto power over 48 -- and we can even see shades of that argument make its way into what President Joe Biden is saying -- but as long as those votes are needed to get to 50, that's the reality.
There's another problem reflected in numbers for Democrats, too. With three weeks left before the latest deadlines for the infrastructure bill and the social spending bill, Biden's polling isn't helping Democratic unity.
A Quinnipiac University poll out this Wednesday found 55% of the public thinks Biden has not been competent in running the government -- a government that, yes, is controlled by Democrats in Washington. It's pushing Biden's approval rating to new lows in theFiveThirtyEight poll tracker.
Recent months have beendominated by crises-- in Afghanistan, at the border, about COVID-19 and in spending fights -- that undercut the image of calm competence that's a Biden hallmark.
Partisan divides have come out in all those areas and more. But Democrats continue to get in their own way with disagreements about how to proceed.
The RUNDOWN withAveri Harper
The Department of Education announced changes to thePublic Service Loan Forgiveness Programthat will affect about 22,000 borrowers.
The overhaul will grant thousands of previously ineligible borrowers student loan forgiveness. The changes include an expansion of kinds of payments included the program and an appeals process to review past denials. With the new modifications, the program is expected to forgive $1.7 billion in loans.
The changes come as the Biden administration works through intraparty squabbles to pass the Build Back Better plan, which includes a multi-billion dollar investment in higher education -- in its current form at least.
The plan includes free community college, an increase in Pell grants and investments in HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions.
The initial price tag of the $3.5 trillion spending plan is likely tocome down in hopesof getting the likes of Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema on board. It's a reality even President Joe Biden has acknowledged.
But it's unclear if the aforementioned investments in higher education will make the cut or if the ideas will be feasible in a pared-down plan.
The TIP withAlisa Wiersema
Gov. Greg Abbott expressed condolences for the victims of theTimberview High School shootingfrom the border, where he and nine other Republican governors held a press conference Wednesday to admonish the Biden administration over immigration policy.
Abbott was joined by governors from Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma and Wyoming, some of whom took to the microphone to blame the president for challenges with crime in their states that they claim stem from surging undocumented immigration. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey -- who was among 25 other state executives to sign a letter last month asking to meet with the president by this week -- said President Joe Biden is turning away from Republican governors.
"We've tried to meet with the president and be part of the solution, but he refuses. No, worse -- he ignores us, just like he's ignoring the border and the well-being of the American people," Ducey told reporters.
It remains to be seen whether the Republican governors and the White House can open a working dialogue over one of thenation's thorniest issues, but immigration continues to loom over the president's legacy. According to Quinnipiac, 67% of U.S. adults disapprove of his handling of immigration and the situation at the Mexican border.
