Biden’s economic point man draws praise — and pushback
Allies laud Brian Deese’s leadership on the stimulus negotiations, but he’s rubbed some the wrong way.
Today's Liberal News
Eric Metaxas Believes America Is Creeping Toward Nazi Germany
The PR pitch was brazen: Eric Metaxas, it declared, is “America’s #1 Bad Christian.” The Christian writer and radio host has been promoting doubts about the legitimacy of the 2020 election, including at a prayer rally he emceed on the National Mall in December. Metaxas has tweeted “martial rhetoric” in defense of former President Donald Trump, his publicist wrote cheerfully. He even appeared in a New York Times article about Christian extremism.
The Problem With Mandatory Patriotism in Sports
Playing the “The Star-Spangled Banner” at sporting events has become an empty gesture of patriotism—so empty that, when the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks quietly began skipping the ritual, 13 preseason and regular-season games passed before anyone noticed.On Tuesday, The Athletic reported that the Mavericks had abandoned the national anthem, making them the first team in the recent history of major professional sports to take such a stance.
Biden Wants to Give States $350 Billion. Do They Still Need It?
It turns out the pandemic may not have been the budget wrecker everyone feared.
If Rush Hour Dies, Does Mass Transit Die With It?
Downtowns won’t recover from the pandemic anytime soon. Public transportation must look elsewhere.
Even a Conservative Analysis Shows the $15 Minimum Wage Does More Good Than Harm
The Congressional Budget Office’s scoring of the proposed wage hike looks bad—because it was designed to be.
Forget Warm Weather and Low Taxes. Americans Are Moving to Be Near Family.
What happens if a pandemic-era trend sticks around?
When Piggly Wiggly Tried to Stick It to Wall Street
A century before GameStop, a stock market outsider took on short sellers. It was a spectacle and a disaster.
Moderna in talks with FDA to increase vaccine doses per vial
Doing so could alleviate limits on the final step of vaccine production.
Biden administration finalizes purchase of 200M additional vaccine doses
The 200 million doses just purchased will be available by May, rather than June as originally predicted.
Biden moving to withdraw Trump-approved Medicaid work rules
Democrats long complained the rules were illegal and aimed at shrinking health coverage for poor adults.
Lawmakers, local health officials decry California’s confusing Covid vaccination rules
Gov. Gavin Newsom last month abruptly announced the state would play a bigger role in California’s vaccination drive.
U.S. still falling short on basic tools to fight the virus
A year into the pandemic, the nation faces new challenges and new variants but could fall into an old replay.
I Have to Be Perfectly Honest About Jill Biden’s Garish Valentine’s Day Display
These hearts, I do not like them.
Dear Care and Feeding: I’m Working Overtime to Repair Finances My Husband Ruined, but Our Kids Hate Me
Parenting advice on financial strife, helicopter parents, and stubborn friends.
‘Clearly not healthy’: Markets are giddy about reopening — and that’s the problem
Investors are pumping up bubbles across markets, with excitement growing about more stimulus and widespread vaccinations.
‘The Democratic version of John McCain’
As the critical swing vote in a 50-50 Senate, Joe Manchin has emerged as the most powerful man in Washington.
U.S. backs Okonjo-Iweala, first woman and African, to head WTO
The decision breaks with the Trump administration’s opposition to Okonjo-Iweala and brings the U.S. in line with much of the rest of the world.
Economy will return to pre-pandemic level this year, CBO predicts
Employment levels, however, will not fully recover until 2024.
V-Day: Poet Aja Monet & V (Eve Ensler) on the Movement to End Violence Against Women & Girls
Amid a global rise in domestic violence during the pandemic, we speak with the founder of V-Day, a day of action to fight violence against women. V, the award-winning playwright of “The Vagina Monologues,” formerly known as Eve Ensler, says organizers around the globe are finding ways to fight back.
Ralph Nader on Corporate Crime, Holding Boeing Accountable for 737 MAX Deaths & Biden’s First Weeks
Legendary consumer advocate Ralph Nader says the U.S. is experiencing a “corporate crime wave,” and that the Trump administration’s $2.5 billion settlement with Boeing over the manufacturer’s faulty 737 MAX jets amounts to a “slap on the wrist.” Boeing’s faulty planes were involved in two fatal crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019, including Nader’s 24-year-old grandniece Samya Stumo.
Where Are the Witnesses? Ralph Nader Says Democrats’ Impeachment Case Is “Prescription for Defeat”
As the historic Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump continues, we speak with longtime consumer advocate, corporate critic and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who says Democrats have set themselves up for defeat by rushing proceedings and failing to call witnesses — including Trump himself. “The narrow approach of the articles of impeachment keep the Democrats from having a full hand,” says Nader.
Impeachment Trial: Democrats Warn That Trump Would Use Political Violence Again If Not Convicted
Democratic House impeachment managers have wrapped up their case against Donald Trump, saying the former president remains a threat and should be convicted of inciting the deadly January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. The trial now moves ahead to Trump’s legal team presenting their defense.
New York Investigating $280 Million In Loans To 4 Trump Manhattan Properties: Report
The son of the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer works at a real estate investment trust that made the loans, reports The Wall Street Journal.
You’ve seen the byline for a year. Now meet the 2021 Community Contributors Team!
I should have written this a year ago.
As 2020 began, I was stumbling into my new role in Daily Kos management, with eyes that were always damp after a devastating loss weeks earlier. I was building a new department even as my stomach never quite calmed, thanks to a looming pandemic. We’d finally impeached the motherfucker, to quote a certain Michigan congresswoman, and the primaries were raging.
Pelosi Bashes ‘Pathetic’ McConnell For Creating His Own Trump Acquittal Excuse
McConnell stalled the trial, then insisted it was too late to convict Trump, even though the senator declared him “responsible” for the Capitol attack.
Biden administration ends Republican war on Medicaid enrollees once and for all
The Biden administration is ending Medicaid work requirements the previous occupiers of the executive branch foisted on the nation’s working poor. Two weeks ago, President Joe Biden signed an executive order instructing officials at the Department of Health and Human Services to remove barriers to Medicaid, and that’s just what they are doing.
7 Republican Senators Explain Why They Voted To Convict Trump
“He is guilty,” Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said.
TJ Ducklo, Biden Press Aide, Resigns After Threatening Reporter
In a Saturday statement, the White House staffer admitted to using “abhorrent, disrespectful and unacceptable language.