East Palestine

 Josh Marshall, again, hits on the perfect strategy for dealing with the East Palestine rail accident. Republicans are trying to turn this into another culture war bullshit theater, and while we might live in a "post-truth" world, the facts here pretty straightforward.

- The GOP has consistently undermined efforts to regulate industry.
- Trump bragged about gutting regulations that might have prevented the accident.|
- Ohio's Republican governor has not asked for federal help.
- Legislation is needed to prevent future accidents and hold major corporation liable for the harm they cause communities.

As Marshall notes, having a piece of legislation in hand - now, not after hearings - allows for the Democrats to point to a specific bill. If the GOP won't vote for it, why not? In particular, this would give important leverage to Sherrod Brown in 2024. He's a left leaning populist and taking on the rail companies is a surefire winner for him.

Republicans don't want to rein in corporate greed. I think even most WWC voters grok this. Highlight it. Make them disgusted with the GOP. They may not vote for you in 2024, but they also might not vote at all. Also, the GOP is a post-legislative party. They simply don't have the capacity to write good legislation that wasn't churned out by ALEX or the Federalist Society. Rub it in their faces.