Price spikes threaten to ground Biden’s big-spending plans
The government reported Wednesday that the consumer price index, the most widely watched gauge of inflation, hit a four-decade high in December compared to the previous year.
Today's Liberal News
U.S. consumer prices soared 7 percent in past year, most since 1982
The jump is the latest evidence that rising costs for food, rent and other necessities are heightening the financial pressures on America’s households.
Powell’s warning to Congress: Inflation a ‘severe threat’ to jobs
The potential clash over the Fed’s plans to tighten monetary policy could be a harbinger of conflicts to come with Democrats and even some Republicans.
Fed’s Powell pumped trillions into the economy. Now, he may be the party killer.
Heightened frustration among Americans about soaring prices is fueling congressional pressure on the Fed chief over how the Fed will respond.
U.S. unemployment claims drop to 198,000
The four-week average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, fell to just above 199,000, the lowest level since October 1969.
“Who We Are”: New Film Chronicles History of Racism in America Amid Growing Attack on Voting Rights
As the United States heads into the Martin Luther King Day holiday weekend, attempts by Democrats to pass major new voting rights legislation appear to have stalled. We examine the new award-winning documentary “Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America,” which follows civil rights attorney Jeffery Robinson as he confronts the enduring legacy of anti-Black racism in the United States, weaving together examples from the U.S. Constitution, education system and policing.
Afghanistan in Freefall: Deadly U.S. Sanctions Blamed for Shocking Humanitarian Crisis
As Afghanistan faces a dire humanitarian crisis, we look at how more Afghans may die from U.S. sanctions than at the hands of the Taliban. The U.S.’s attempts to block support for the new de facto government have prevented vital funding from flowing to the nation’s civil servants, particularly in education and the health sector. Dr.
John Nichols on How “Coronavirus Criminals & Pandemic Profiteers” Hurt World’s Response to COVID-19
We speak with The Nation’s national affairs correspondent John Nichols on the occasion of his new book, “Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers: Accountability for Those Who Caused the Crisis,” which takes aim at the CEOs and political figures who put profits over people during the coronavirus pandemic. The chapters cover notorious figures such as former President Trump, Mike Pompeo, Jared Kushner and Jeff Bezos.
Confessions of a “Human Guinea Pig”: Professor Quits Vaccine Trial over Moderna’s Corporate Greed
Jeremy Menchik, a self-described “human guinea pig” who volunteered for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine trials, dropped out to protest the company’s greed in reaping profits from the ongoing pandemic while doing little to resolve global vaccine inequity. Menchik is launching a new website — mrna4all.org — where other vaccine trial participants can join the effort to pressure vaccine makers to scale up production to vaccinate the world.
Trump Is Reportedly Very Nervous About 1 Potential 2024 Republican Rival
The former president is angry that one possible candidate hasn’t deferred to him.
The Bloody, Brutal Business of Being a Teenage Girl
Yellowjackets, the Showtime series about a high-school girls’ soccer team stranded in the wilderness after a plane crash, can be extremely stressful to watch. The drama, which ended its first season tonight and has been renewed for a second, is relentlessly violent, and the writers seem to delight in attacking or killing off the most lovable characters.
Trump surfaces with a new racist hoax—and a new attack on our elections
It has been refreshing, this past year, to not have to listen to the crap-filled ramblings of Republicanism’s treasonous Dear Leader, but Donald Trump has begun to resume his rallies and continues to hold the Republican Party entirely in the palm of his stubby-fingered hand.
As employers expand pool of workers, formerly incarcerated people see opportunities and risks
by Ray Levy Uyeda
This article was originally published at Prism.
“Help Wanted” signs have gone up and stayed up in storefront windows around the country as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread loss of life and fueled the Great Resignation. Still, criminal justice advocates say the worker shortage could be turned around if employers hired those most willing to work in a pandemic and in need of a job: formerly incarcerated people.
2 Teens Arrested In UK In Connection With Hostage Taking At Texas Synagogue
Police in Britain arrested two teenagers in connection with the hostage taking at a Texas synagogue that left an armed captor dead.
Mike Lindell Rages At ‘Disgusting’ Fox News For Not Talking About 2020 Election
“When was the last time you’ve seen anybody on Fox talk about the 2020 election?” the pillow magnate complained at a Trump rally.
Abortion care mutual aid funds see spike in calls as omicron surges
This article was originally published at Prism
At a time when abortion care providers are already overburdened, clinics across the country are struggling to operate amid staffing shortages caused by COVID-19 outbreaks among staff. Simultaneously, abortion funds are reporting that more people are seeking financial support for their procedures than they did last year, and patients who test positive for COVID-19 are having to push procedures back in order to quarantine.
Billionaire Wealth Has Soared As Millions Fell Into Poverty During Pandemic: Oxfam
The 10 richest people in the world — all white men — have more than doubled their wealth during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Kevin McCarthy promises to keep his district’s undocumented farmworkers vulnerable to deportation
Kevin McCarthy is campaigning for speaker on a pro-mass deportation platform, vowing to refuse to take up any immigration legislation putting undocumented immigrants on a path to citizenship should Republicans take the House and install him as leader.
McCarthy made the promise to white supremacist rag Breitbart, and “reiterated” that pledge to Axios, a report said.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says ‘COVID Was No Joke,’ Shares Photos After Recovery
“For a while I’ve noted the term ‘mild’ is misleading when the bar is hospitalization and death,” the congresswoman said.
Early reports say Florida Republican shot and killed during road rage incident
John Kuczwanski, the 53-year-old Legislative Affairs Director for the State Board of Administration, died on Jan. 6, 2022 after a road rage shooting incident. The other person involved in the incident was taken into custody but subsequently released.
‘The Timeline You’re All Living in Is About to Collapse’
Saturday Night Live’s first episode of 2022 attempted to make up for the strange, empty show that ended 2021 amid the rise of the coronavirus’s Omicron variant. The cast was back, the masked audience was back, and the show, as they say, went on. But it couldn’t escape the world outside of 30 Rock’s doors.
Surgeon general on Omicron: Next few weeks will be tough
“The challenge is that the entire country is not moving at the same pace,” Vivek Murthy said.
Requiem With Remission
— for L After the last surgery. After
hearing you wake within the breached levee of your whole life. After water-hymn,
as I washed your body’s sutured beauty, the stone doubt in both our faces whetted
by cancer.
Chinese city Xi’an lifts some restrictions after 3-week lockdown
The city went into strict lockdown on Dec. 22.
Congress Should Step Up on Pandemic Policy
In November, when the Biden administration imposed a federal coronavirus-vaccine mandate on all employers with 100 or more workers, it did so through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a federal agency that Congress created in the early 1970s to ensure safe working conditions. Now the Supreme Court has blocked OSHA’s action, ruling that the agency lacked the authority to order large employers to require all workers to be vaccinated or frequently tested.
How Encanto Explains America
In Disney’s latest blockbuster, Encanto, a magical family called the Madrigals have escaped the violence and chaos of their homeland by crossing a river into an enchanted paradise that endows each with wondrous gifts that they use to protect and enhance their community. As the generations go by, however, the magic of the new world starts to fade and the family buckles under the pressure of their responsibilities while struggling to maintain the illusion that everything is fine.
Biden admin to start offering free at-home Covid tests on Jan. 19
A senior administration official told reporters the government has 420 million tests under contract and tens of millions already in its possession.
Senate panel advances Biden’s FDA pick in 13-8 vote
Two senators on the panel who caucus with Democrats and six Republicans opposed the nomination.
China locks down third city, raising affected to 20 million
The approach of the Winter Olympics and the emergence of Omicron have brought back citywide lockdowns.
Decoding what Biden health officials told Congress about Omicron
In contrast to previous oversight hearings on the administration’s Covid-19 response, Dems raised sharp questions and complaints on the state of the resurging pandemic.