DML News Morning Briefing, May 17th

Today is May 17. Below are some of the stories grabbing headlines this morning. I hope you share this briefing as doing so will make you the smartest person in the room.

1. Voters elect Donna Deegan as new Jacksonville mayor:

News 4 Jax – JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Democrat Donna Deegan defeated Republican Daniel Davis — becoming Jacksonville’s first female mayor — in a runoff on Tuesday. Deegan addressed supporters and community members shortly before the final results came in.

“We made history tonight folks,” Deegan said. “It is a brand new day for Jacksonville, Florida.”

Deegan led in March with 39% of the vote to Davis’ 25% in a field of seven candidates, but the runoff race was expected to be close. In the end, Deegan’s victory was called less than 45 minutes after the polls closed on Tuesday, and she won by 9,027 votes.

Denny’s Insight: Not a great look for Jacksonville or Florida. I wonder what DeSantis’ take is. Jacksonville is traditionally Republican, it scares me to think what a liberal mayor will do to that city now that she’s in charge.

2. Elon Musk on Biden: ‘I Wish We Could Just Have a Normal Human Being as President’:

Breitbart – Twitter and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Last Call” that President Joe Biden was not a normal human being.

Musk said, “Do I believe Biden won? Yes, I believe he won.”

Host David Faber said, “You voted for him?”

Musk said, “I did.”

Faber said, “Do you regret that?”

Musk said, “I mean, man, I wish we could just have a normal human being as president. That’s what I want. If we, you know, there’s an old saying of, we’re better off being wronged by people picked at random from the phone book than the faculty of Harvard. I don’t know who said that, but it was somebody very wise. I would say, if we could do that for the president, that would be great.”

Faber said, “You think we could do that? Obviously, you’re not happy with Biden.”

Musk said, “Don’t we all just want a normal human being?”

Denny’s Insight: Well Elon, you and supposedly 81 million other people voted for this man, so now we must live with it. It looks like your vote didn’t guarantee a meeting with the White House, let alone them acknowledging the success of Tesla. Between this interview and his choice of Linda Yaccarino to lead Twitter, sometimes I wonder if Elon lives in fantasy land. It’s a shame, I do like him, but this is where I believe there will always be a disconnect between normal everyday Americans and someone with billions who names their son after an insensible math equation.

3. Jittery Democrats worried about Biden debt ceiling concessions:

Liberals are growing increasingly jittery about what concessions President Biden may make in debt ceiling negotiations with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

While the party has been largely unified behind the White House’s strategy in the talks, more Democrats are voicing worries about what could be on the chopping block in order to keep the nation from defaulting on its debt.

“I’m concerned because the president has, every now and then, moved to the right, if you will, to acquiesce to a so-called independent voter, and the American people want us to be bold and to stand firm,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) told reporters on Tuesday. “And to make sure we’re following through on our promises.”

His comments add to a growing chorus of Democrats who are showing uneasiness in recent days about where the bipartisan talks over the nation’s borrowing limit could be headed. Biden spooked many in his base over the weekend when he appeared to open the  door to stricter work requirements for certain federal assistance programs.

Pressed by reporters on whether he was open to the idea as part of bipartisan debt limit discussions, Biden acknowledged voting for “tougher aid programs that’s in the law now,” but said “for Medicaid, it’s a different story.”

“And so I’m waiting to hear what their exact proposal is,” Biden added.

Denny’s Insight: McCarthy is holding Biden’s feet to the fire, and of course that’s going to piss off liberal Dems like Jamaal Bowman. But June 1 is looming quick, and a deal needs to get done before defaulting. Hopefully McCarthy can make Biden compromise sooner than later.

4. Bud Light sales down 23.6% in first week of May as backlash continues into fifth week amid Mulvaney fallout:

Fox News – Bud Light continued to see a decline in sales during the month of May as consumers nationwide revolt against the nation’s top-selling beer brand over its controversial partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

This is Bud Light’s fifth straight week of plunging sales since Mulvaney first announced a collaboration with the brand, reigniting concern among distributors over whether the beer maker can successfully heal from the branding nightmare.

Compared to a year ago, retail sales of Bud Light in the U.S. were down by 23.6% in the week ending on May 6, surpassing the 23.3% decline the brand saw in the last week of April, according to data from Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ, cited by the New York Post.

Denny’s Insight: Keep it up, folks, keep it up! Only way they’ll ever listen is to hurt them in the wallet. I’m curious if Miller Lite will soon follow too after their own woke ad.

5. Feinstein Doesn’t Recall Being Absent From The Senate… She Was Gone For 10 Weeks:

Daily Wire – Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) appeared to have no recollection of her recent — and lengthy — absence from Washington, D.C., during a recent interview, scolding a reporter who mentioned her time away and claiming that she had been “here, voting.”

Feinstein, 89, was absent from the Senate for nearly three months while she recovered from a bout with the shingles virus — and since her return, she has been using a wheelchair and has kept a more limited schedule than she did prior to her absence.

She had just voted against a measure that would have nullified some D.C. criminal justice reforms and was nearing the elevator in her wheelchair when a reporter approached her, according to a report published Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times.

“Aren’t you an eager one?” Feinstein greeted the reporter.

The retiring senator — who announced earlier this year that she would not seek reelection in 2024 — mentioned a problem with one of her legs, but said that she had been feeling better. But when the reporter asked about her recent return to the Senate and whether her colleagues had offered much in the way of well-wishes, the interview took a turn.

“What have I heard about what?” Feinstein asked.

“About your return,” the reporter prompted.

“I haven’t been gone. You should … I haven’t been gone. I’ve been working,” Feinstein insisted.

“I’ve been here. I’ve been voting. Please, either know or don’t know,” Feinstein said, and brought the interview to an abrupt close.”

Denny’s Insight: TERM. LIMITS. NOW. Which brings me to my question to you, the reader: what would be your idea for term limits? If you were able to set the rules or enact policy, how would you want term limits designed to avoid scenarios like Feinsteins? Would it be based on an age limit imposition, or confined to the number of terms eligible to be served? Sound off your ideas in the comments!