Judge blocks Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors
The ruling came in response to a lawsuit from several contractors and seven states.
Today's Liberal News
Jen Psaki’s Rapid-Testing Gaffe Is Not as Simple as It Seems
At a White House press briefing yesterday, NPR’s national political correspondent Mara Liasson asked Press Secretary Jen Psaki a question that’s been on many people’s minds: “There are still a lot of countries, like Germany and the U.K. and South Korea, that basically have massive testing, free of charge or for a nominal fee,” she said.
Republicans Attack Child Care Funding As ‘Toddler Takeover’
Democrats believe it will be difficult for Republicans to oppose popular elements of Build Back Better, like new child care funding. But the GOP isn’t playing along.
Subpoena Of Pence Aide Shows How Jan. 6 Committee’s Work Remains Beneath The Radar
The committee has publicized 45 subpoenas to date, but has also quietly issued an unknown number of subpoenas and conducted nearly 300 interviews so far.
Jan. 6 Committee Threatens Mark Meadows With Pursuit Of Criminal Charges
The former Trump official declined to cooperate “despite his apparent willingness to provide details … in the book he is now promoting and selling,” the panel said.
Saule Omarova, Biden’s Bank Regulator Pick, Withdraws Nomination
The financial regulation lawyer withdrew after coming under fire from Democrats aligned with the banking sector and Republicans smearing her as a communist.
Lawmakers rush to avert looming Medicare cuts
“A pandemic is not the time to be cutting access to doctors for patients on Medicare,” Kim Schrier, (D-Wash.) who introduced the bill along with Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), said in a statement.
The Loss I Didn’t Have Words For
When you have a miscarriage, one thing that gets drilled into you fast is that miscarriage is common. According to the American Pregnancy Association, 10 to 25 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage. Those are just the ones we know about; many others happen too early to ever be detected. And the risk gets higher as you get older. Your friends, if you tell them about your miscarriage, will confirm how ordinary it is: “I had one,” someone will say.
Justice Kavanaugh’s Empty Democratic Promise
“The Constitution is neither pro-choice nor pro-life.” So said Justice Brett Kavanaugh, not once, not twice, but three times during last week’s oral argument in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. It’s the judicial equivalent of a poll-tested line, an attempt to message the overturning of Roe v. Wade as fundamentally pro-democratic, something for voters to decide.
NYC Opens Nation’s First Safe Drug Injection Sites; 15 Lives Saved in First Week of Operation
At least fifteen lives have been saved, so far, after the nation’s first supervised illegal drug injection sites opened in New York City about a week ago. The facilities provide clean needles and the opioid reversal medication Naloxone, as well as medical care and drug dependency treatment options. This comes as U.S. overdose deaths topped 100,000 during the first year of the pandemic.
Biden Restarts & Expands Trump-Era “Remain in Mexico” Policy Despite Widespread Abuse, Kidnappings
In a controversial move, the Biden administration has resumed and expanded the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy that forces non-Mexican asylum-seekers who arrive at the southern U.S. border to wait in Mexico while their cases are resolved in U.S. courts — a process that can take months or even years.
U.S. Vowed to Help Prevent New Variants by Closing Global Vaccine Gap, But Plan’s Funding Is Stalled
As the Biden administration faces increased pressure to address global vaccine inequity, USAID administrator Samantha Power announced a plan Monday for the United States to spend an additional $400 million to help increase vaccine access internationally. The move came days after Vanity Fair revealed a $2.5 billion plan to thwart Omicron-like variants has been stalled inside the Biden administration.
As World Confronts Omicron Variant, Top 8 Pfizer & Moderna Investors Make $10 Billion in a Week
The eight top Pfizer and Moderna shareholders made over $10 billion last week when their stock holdings skyrocketed after the discovery of the new Omicron variant. This comes as global public health advocates warn the world will keep seeing more coronavirus variants unless wealthy nations and vaccine manufacturers do more to address vaccine inequity.
As Noam Chomsky Turns 93, He Urges Young People to Create a “Much Better World” Through Activism
Today marks the 93rd birthday of world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author Noam Chomsky, who spoke with Democracy Now! from his home in Tucson, Arizona, and said he finds hope in the activism of young people “to create a much better world than the one we have.”
Chomsky is among the special guests for Democracy Now’s 25th anniversary event airing Tuesday evening, alongside Angela Davis, Arundhati Roy and many more. The virtual celebration begins at 8 p.m.
The Political Obituary of Aung San Suu Kyi
As Aung San Suu Kyi climbed the steps of the gargantuan parliamentary building into her first session as an elected lawmaker, I watched along with my colleagues in the offices of The Myanmar Times, where we crowded around and turned our heads upward to the boxy televisions that hung precariously above the newsroom.This was July 2012. Suu Kyi’s arrival had been delayed by a whirlwind 17-day lap around Europe.
Most voters back abortion rights but are not swayed by threat to Roe, poll finds
Justices are expected to decide whether to scrap the half-century-old decision underpinning abortion rights and let states chose if they want to ban the procedure early in pregnancy.
Fauci: U.S. reviewing its South African travel ban and hopes to lift it soon
“When the ban was put on, it was put to give us time to figure out just what is going on,” Biden’s chief medical adviser told CNN.
Ire over pharmacy middlemen fuels lobbying blitz
The effort to paint pharmacy benefit managers as villains has sparked a multimillion-dollar campaign to influence Democrats.
Omicron complicates puzzle over at-home Covid pill
Independent advisers to the FDA endorsed the pill, molnupiravir, in an unusually tight 13-10 vote this week after airing concerns about its low efficacy rate and potential safety risks to pregnant people.
Biden’s free at-home test promise could come with added costs
“We should not think for a minute that this is some sort of magic bullet that is going to get us to universally free and accessible testing,” said a Georgetown health policy expert.
Powell: Fed may pull back economic support more quickly as prices spike
Powell’s comment came after the Fed already announced earlier this month that it would slow the pace at which it buys U.S. government debt and mortgage-backed securities.
Why Biden picked Powell
In the end, President Joe Biden did what many close to him expected: He took a longer-than-anticipated amount of time to arrive at a reasonable, moderate decision that thrilled few but carried limited risk.
Raimondo: Commerce ‘war room’ seeing improvements on supply chain woes
The Commerce secretary said in an interview that the Biden administration sees trading partners in Asia as part of the solution.
Opinion | Don’t Learn the Wrong Lesson on Inflation
Aggressive action to deliver pandemic relief was the right call — and withdrawing support now would only hurt American workers.
Biden’s war on inflation is a battle to change human behavior
The president needs people to overcome a new set of fears and direct their purchases into the areas of the service economy hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The Facility”: Meet the Former Prisoner Who Details Fight for His Life Inside ICE Jail During COVID
We go inside a notorious ICE jail at the height of the pandemic to see how people held there spoke out against dangerous conditions, and faced retaliation before they were ultimately released with no notice. Their story is captured in a new documentary called “The Facility.
News Roundup: Nunes bails from Congress; pandemic deaths mount in Republican counties
In the news today: House Republican Devin Nunes has apparently decided he can do more to undermine the country as private citizen than he can in the House: Today he announced he’ll be retiring from his House seat to (cough) allegedly run a new startup pro-Trump media company. Allegedly.
Georgia Gov.
Educators in states without school mask mandates are concerned about the COVID-19 omicron variant
by Alexandra Martinez
This article was originally published at Prism
The World Health Organization has designated the new COVID-19 variant, omicron, as a variant of concern, with cases already being reported in California and Minnesota, adding another risk for educators in nine states where wearing a mask in the classroom is optional.
Evangelical anti-vaxx ‘rebel’ reveals father ended up in ER after whole family contracts COVID-19
The evangelical right in our country is not populated by people promoting long-term thinking. While most Christians believe that vaccinations are miraculous ways in which science has been able to help humanity fend off disease and death, evangelicals continue to promote an end-of-times eschatological Judeo-Christian view of the world that has been wrong about the coming apocalypse for about 2,100 years now. Never fear, at some point they’ll get it right.
Openly trans high schooler says school officials told him he can’t use boys’ bathroom anymore
As Daily Kos has continued to cover, Republicans are more than happy to push hateful agendas on vulnerable trans youth. We’ve covered the ongoing attempts to keep trans girls out of girls’ sports teams, for example, as well as the recent movement for schools to essentially “out” trans youth to their parents.