Biden’s Huge New Bill Leaves Reaganomics on the Ash Heap of History
Get in, Jack—we’re transforming American infrastructure.
Today's Liberal News
The big hole in America’s plan to fight Covid-19 variants
Vaccine makers are studying whether booster shots or revised vaccines will be needed to fight new strains — but they don’t have an easy way to expand production.
Senior Trump and Biden officials knew for months about problems at vaccine plant
A new analysis raises questions about whether more could have been done to prevent a contamination that ruined more than 15 million vaccine doses.
Congress shoveled out billions to boost contact tracing. It may have come too late.
The public health effort has been stymied by a shortage of disease trackers.
Biden’s spending plans collide with a resurgent U.S. economy
The numbers signal the U.S. is well on its way toward a revival, one that’s widely expected to reach record levels of growth later this year.
‘Crazy things happen’: Biden’s next spending spree fuels a fight over risks
The president’s team is preparing a $3 trillion spending proposal to power through Congress. They’re betting markets and the economy will cooperate long enough to pass it.
Black workers, hammered by pandemic, now being left behind in recovery
Structural inequities in the U.S. labor market that have affected Black and Hispanic workers’ ability to advance out of low-paying jobs, as well as discrimination in hiring practices, are also likely having an effect.
Fed sees U.S. economic growth surging to 6.5 percent this year
Central bank officials now expect the unemployment rate to drop to 4.5 percent by the end of 2021.
Treasury secretary minimizes risk of inflation caused by Covid relief package
Janet Yellen said the greater risk was not strengthening the economy as it recovers from the impact of the pandemic.
“This Agreement Protects Jobs”: Four Unions at Rutgers University Reach Historic Deal to End Layoffs
After a year of layoffs, cuts and austerity, the faculty and staff of four unions at Rutgers University have voted in support of an unusual and pioneering agreement to protect jobs and guarantee raises after the school declared a fiscal emergency as a result of the pandemic. A key part of the deal is an agreement by the professors to do “work share” and take a slight cut in hours for a few months in order to save the jobs of other lower-paid workers.
Photos of the Week: Plastic Lake, Van Cat, Burning Judas
Ballet in an empty Syrian market, a forest fire in California, releasing turtles in Israel, a briefing by the Easter Bunny in the White House, riots in Northern Ireland, a giant sand dune in France, a wheat harvest in India, sunny weather in New York City, and much more.
Adam Kinzinger Becomes First Republican In Congress To Call On Matt Gaetz To Resign
Gaetz has so far resisted calls he step down over a sexual misconduct investigation, saying that would “absolutely” not happen.
Indicted Matt Gaetz Associate Likely Cooperating In Federal Investigation
Joel Greenberg, facing sex trafficking charges, is in talks to potentially strike a plea deal, putting heat on the GOP congressman accused of sexual misconduct.
News Roundup: Gaetz, guns, and the aftermath of Trump’s ‘misinformation’ campaign
In the news today: More trouble for Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, a planned Biden executive order on “ghost guns,” and a Georgia Republican acknowledges that the Georgia Republican drive to make voting harder was indeed based on Trump’s false “misinformation.
Republican congressman claims corporations standing up for voting rights is ‘fascism’
Wait, I’m confused. I thought we lived in a free-market democracy in which corporations are “people” with sacrosanct “opinions” (which, for some reason, usually come in the form of gobs and gobs of campaign cash).
So when corporations literally write their own legislation, it’s A-OK. That’s just what the Founding Fathers envisioned as they grew hemp and curated their expansive STD collections.
This Week in Statehouse Action: April Showers edition
We’re still a few weeks away from April showers bringing anything May-related, but as many state legislative sessions hurtle towards final adjournment for the year, the deluge of bad new policies and laws is right on top of us, like one of those little cartoon rainclouds hovering over an unhappy character.
Take, for instance, all those bills targeting transgender kids that are becoming law.
In a span of hours, Alabama Republican goes from denying an affair to apologizing for it
On Tuesday night, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill denied allegations that he carried on a “sordid” affair with a Montgomery woman named Cesaire McPherson. McPherson detailed “a number of sordid accusations” about an affair she and Merrill had that lasted at least 16 months. McPherson also accused the Alabama Secretary of State of making racist comments.
Watch LAPD cop admit he didn’t know who he was called to arrest. He settled for nearest Black man
The Los Angeles Police Department tried its best to keep officer body camera footage showing cops arresting a Black Hollywood music producer out of the public’s eye, and for good reason.
CDC declares racism ’a serious public health threat’
Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said the agency would take steps to address an issue affecting “the health of our entire nation.
Matt Gaetz’s Female Staffers Defend Him In Letter — With One Glaring Omission
A group calling itself the “Women of U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz’s office” released an unsigned statement in support of the Florida politician.
Florida GOP Wants To Take On ‘Cancel Culture’ By Secretly Recording Professors
The bill would also require faculty to complete annual surveys on their political beliefs.
For One Glorious Summer, Americans Will Vacation Like the French
Here’s a cool trick for blowing any American’s mind. Tell us that in France, so many boulangeries shut down for vacation every summer that it can be tough to snag a baguette. Bakers aren’t the only ones who get time off. In August, up to half of the country’s salaried employees have been known to take at least a full week off from work. Half!Americans are good at lots of different things, but going on vacation is not one of them.
“I’m Not Going to Take This Stuff From Anyone”: A Very New York Response to Anti-Asian Hate
Karlin Chan started the Chinatown Block Watch last February. He’s still at it.
The Government Is Helping People Pay Rent, but Something’s Gone Wrong
We gummed up a system that’s supposed to aid struggling Americans quickly.
Joe Manchin: Any Voting Rights Legislation Has To Make Trump Supporters Happy
It will be hard to “restore bipartisan faith” in elections with Trump out to destroy it.
My Face Is Suddenly Causing a Big Problem in Bed for My Wife
I will seek medical intervention if necessary.
Lack of vaccine capacity propels Canada into global race to attract drug companies
Canada has had to rely entirely on over-burdened foreign supply chains for a Covid vaccine rollout that has lagged international peers.
I Needed a Job. He Asked If I Was Proposing Marriage.
I was 8 when Patty Hearst was kidnapped. For several years, I was afraid to sit in a well-lit room after sundown, because I was next on the kidnappers’ list, and they were lurking in my backyard. I was sure of this.Was my fear justified? Of course not. Was it real? One hundred percent yes.Bill Clinton pardoned Hearst on his last day in office. When I heard the news, I cheered.
Elizabeth McCracken on the Mysteries of Married Life
Editor’s Note: Read Elizabeth McCracken’s new short story, “The Irish Wedding.” “The Irish Wedding” is taken from Elizabeth McCracken’s forthcoming collection of stories, The Souvenir Museum (available on April 13). To mark the story’s publication in The Atlantic, McCracken and Ena Alvarado, a former assistant editor of the magazine, discussed the story over email. Their conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.