Steven S Smith
@profstevensmith.bsky.social
2.1K followers 200 following 440 posts
Political scientist, ASU and Wash U. Congress, elections, public opinion, survey research. Husband, dad, granddad. RT ≠ endorsement. Personal views. https://stevesnotes.substack.com https://sites.wustl.edu/smith/
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Reposted by Steven S Smith
cambup-polsci.cambridge.org
"A masterpiece of Senate history, unearthing new information on the emergence of leadership institutions and the role of parties and showing their relevance for the Senate of today."

Steering the Senate by Gerald Gamm & Steven S. Smith, Coming Soon

#History #USPOL #PoliSci

cup.org/3Swl168
Steering the Senate
Cambridge Core - American Studies - Steering the Senate
www.cambridge.org
profstevensmith.bsky.social
A reasonable prediction: The Trump team's manic commitment to preaching about the coming economic Nirvana prevents them and Repubs from coming to grips the recession (and tech bust) they are bound to create. substack.com/home/post/p-...
Why Aren’t We Partying Like It’s 1999?
Fear, not hope, permeates today’s technology hype
substack.com
profstevensmith.bsky.social
Speaker Johnson fails to explain why his House failed to act on 9 of 12 appropriations bills by the Oct 1 start of the new fiscal year. He fails to explain why the House has not acted already on the healthcare tax credits. Everything else is distraction. It is his failure to get House Repubs to act.
profstevensmith.bsky.social
The commitment to democracy started with the president, who served as a model for his White House.
Reposted by Steven S Smith
sbagen.bsky.social
This is a really outstanding post. "That’s the point of the compact. .... It is about control. Specifically it is about turning existing federal law, over which the administration has limited control, into terms of a 'deal' that offers the government much more control."
fishkin.bsky.social
I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.
Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com
Reposted by Steven S Smith
billkristolbulwark.bsky.social
The Trump administration’s deployment of ICE and others in the mass deportation effort has led to more violence and turmoil, and less safety and security for all, including US citizens. But that’s a feature not a bug. The chaos justifies further authoritarian crackdowns. The chaos is the point.
profstevensmith.bsky.social
No jamming here. A confession that extending the shutdown for 10 days is inevitable so House Repubs might as well go home. The bet is that the tide of public opinion will turn against the Dems eventually. Trump's behavior is surely going to make that a bad bet.
jamiedupree.bsky.social
This GOP move does several things:
+ No votes in the House until at least October 14
+ No swearing-in for Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva D-AZ
+ No 218th signature from Grijalva on the Epstein Files discharge petition
+ Continues the House 'jam' of the Senate on the CR
jamiedupree.bsky.social
🚨🚨The House reading clerk just read a letter from House Speaker Mike Johnson where he declares a 'District Work Period' from October 7 to October 13.

That would mean no votes in the House until mid-month.
Reposted by Steven S Smith
jamiedupree.bsky.social
This GOP move does several things:
+ No votes in the House until at least October 14
+ No swearing-in for Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva D-AZ
+ No 218th signature from Grijalva on the Epstein Files discharge petition
+ Continues the House 'jam' of the Senate on the CR
jamiedupree.bsky.social
🚨🚨The House reading clerk just read a letter from House Speaker Mike Johnson where he declares a 'District Work Period' from October 7 to October 13.

That would mean no votes in the House until mid-month.
profstevensmith.bsky.social
The 9 were given until Nov 21 to respond. I hope they join together to refuse to sign on. In the meantime, let's hope the AAU and other president groups, with unanimous backing, oppose the compact.
profstevensmith.bsky.social
So....what are university presidents doing in response to the compact "offer" to 9 universities? Info please.
Reposted by Steven S Smith
drewharwell.com
drewharwell.com
I tested Sora's AI video "guardrails" and I'm honestly shocked how much OpenAI allows. Really, really bad

www.tiktok.com/@drewharwell
www.instagram.com/bydrewharwell/
Reposted by Steven S Smith
joshchafetz.bsky.social
If you've published a book, you should check to see if it was used by Anthropic and, if so, file a claim for your piece of the class-action settlement! www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
ANT Homepage | ANT
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
profstevensmith.bsky.social
”…the future of higher education in America requires that every university reject it. If any schools capitulate, the pressure will be enormous on all to fold. The only solution is solidarity and collective action against this effort at federal control over higher education.”
profstevensmith.bsky.social
Agreed on Vought. But don't underestimate the importance of political cover & rationalization. Politicians so need to explain themselves, even if it entails lies & deception. The media, unfortunately, feels obligated to tell us what politicians tell them. Correctives are there but lost in the noise.
profstevensmith.bsky.social
Who will be the first to sign the Trump compact? Will Vandy’s chancellor call for creation of TAU, the Trump Association of Universities?
Reposted by Steven S Smith
monaburns.bsky.social
Dem Senator Tim Kaine after the bipartisan gaggle on the Senate floor yesterday:
“There are Republicans telling us, ‘We agree with you. For our own interest, we have to fix this,’”
So ..
Thune wants Dems to acquiesce
As MAGA Repubs appear to be softening on extending ACA credits
Helluva standoff
profstevensmith.bsky.social
In the blame game, context matters. No one believes the Republicans want a fully functioning government. Trump reinforces the “kill agencies, fire the bastards“ theme every day.
Reposted by Steven S Smith
jordanonrecord.bsky.social
It's like a Choose Your Own Hatch Act Violation.
Reposted by Steven S Smith
pkcapitol.bsky.social
Don’t expect the shutdown to end soon with Dems caving. Not with polls like our WaPo version showing the public blames Trump and Rs for this by 17 points.
17!
(Caveat: let’s see over next couple days what other polls show.)

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...
We asked 1,000 Americans who is to blame for the shutdown. Here’s what they said.
More Americans blame Trump and Republicans than Democrats for shutdown, poll finds.
www.washingtonpost.com
Reposted by Steven S Smith
jamieson.bsky.social
Wild stuff. Furloughed employees within HHS got an email this morning telling them to set an out-of-office reply blaming Democrats for the shutdown.

"I take that email as coercing subordinates to engage in political activity," one worker told me.

www.huffpost.com/entry/out-of...
Trump Admin Tells Federal Employees To Set OOO Message Blaming Democrats For Shutdown
One health department employee said the directions seemed to be "coercing" subordinates into political activity.
www.huffpost.com
profstevensmith.bsky.social
Repubs may eventually nuke supermajority cloture on CRs or even on all appropriations bills. For now, they seem to like shutdown politics. That may not be true in 45 days.