Texas disaster puts Beto O’Rourke back in business
 
While Ted Cruz was getting clobbered for fleeing Texas amid its historic winter storm, the Democrat he defeated in 2018, Beto O’Rourke, was already deep into disaster relief mode — soliciting donations for storm victims, delivering pallets of water from his pickup truck and once again broadcasting his movements on Facebook Live.
 
It was part of an effort orchestrated by O’Rourke and his organization, Powered by People, in response to the crisis. It was also, to Texas Democrats, a sign that O’Rourke the politician is back.
 
The former congressman and onetime Democratic sensation acknowledged last month that he’s considering running for governor in 2022, and he has discussed the possibility with Democratic Party officials and other associates.
 
(...)
 
“He has basically done the work of Stacey Abrams in Texas, if you look at this record of raising money and volunteers,” said Eliot Shapleigh, a former Texas state senator and longtime friend of O’Rourke.
 
(...)
 
Still, that same poll put Abbott’s public approval rating 4 percentage points higher than O’Rourke’s. And even some Democrats fear that O’Rourke’s strident position on gun control during the presidential campaign could hamstring him in a general election in Texas, a culturally conservative state with a historic attachment to firearms.
 
(...)

More Than 150 Executives Back $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Plan
 
Senior executives from more than 150 companies are voicing support for President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package in a letter to congressional leaders urging them to pass coronavirus relief.
 
The letter is signed by leaders across industries, including David Solomon, chairman and chief executive officer at Goldman Sachs; Stephen Schwarzman, the chairman and CEO of Blackstone; Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google; and John Stankey the CEO of AT&T.
 
“We write to urge immediate and large-scale federal legislation to address the health and economic crises brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic,” the executives wrote in the letter, first reported by CNN.
 
(...)
 
The letter’s signatories included several past supporters of former President Donald Trump, including Schwarzman, one of the biggest contributors to Trump’s re-election bid from the world of high finance, and New York real estate magnate Richard LeFrak.
 
(...)

New poll --> 60% of Republicans back Biden's $1.9 trillion relief package
 
Between the lines: Chuck Schumer cited the poll on the Senate floor today and White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain retweeted it
 
https://www.axios.com/biden-relief- [...] 72a21.html

Politico-Morning Consult poll:
 
Donald Trump 37% favorable, 60% unfavorable (-23)
 
Mitch McConnell 17% favorable, 61% unfavorable (-44)
 
Ted Cruz 25% favorable, 55% unfavorable (-30)

Joe Biden is expected to call Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, as his administration prepares to release a declassified intelligence assessment that will reportedly name the royal’s son and heir as complicit in the grisly murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
 
The White House confirmed on Wednesday that Biden’s call to the 85-year-old ruler would take place “soon” and that the declassified report on Khashoggi’s murder was being readied for release. Biden, who said he has read the report, is insisting that he speak only to the king.
 
[...]
 
“I don’t think they can sanction MBS personally, but you could see steps against state-owned enterprises and perhaps limits on the PIF [Saudi sovereign wealth fund] investments in the US. They could also issue a statement that we will not deal with MBS as head of state, which has already been said,” said Kirsten Fontenrose, director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council.
 

"You know, with this Green New Deal, they're trying to get rid of all the cows. But I've got good news -- Chick-fil-A stock will go way up because we gonna be eating more chicken!"

"People eating dog food to survive. That's the path Democrats want to take us down."

"They want to take away your hamburgers. This is what Stalin dreamt about but never achieved."

"Our kids are having parties, they call them 'Skittles parties,' where they bring pills and put them into bowls and everybody picks a pill that they want and takes them. I mean, it's kind of shocking when I heard about this, randomly taking pills."

Stephen Miller: What we are seeing here is the cruelty and inhumanity of Joe Biden’s immigration policies...