FDA says Pfizer vaccine is safe and effective
Pfizer is seeking authorization to use the vaccine in people 16 and older.
Today's Liberal News
Trump’s health nemesis gets a new starring role: Reversing Trump’s policies
Xavier Becerra, the California attorney general and former House lawmaker, would enter Biden’s HHS without traditional health or management experience – but with immense power to undo Trump’s actions.
States defer to health providers on who gets first vaccines
Governors will let providers sort out thorny questions over who should be first in line.
The 6-Year-Old Girl Whose Hair Caught Fire at Bill Clinton’s 1993 White House Hanukkah Party Remembers It All
Clinton put out the flames with his bare hands.
Are the Teachers Unions Really to Blame?
Their conditions for reopening schools are not unreasonable.
Cancel Holiday Cards This Year. Do This Instead.
In 2020, I couldn’t keep up my longtime tradition—but I did get a better idea.
Biden top economic adviser facing accusations of mismanagement, verbal abuse
A former high-level employee at Heather Boushey’s think tank publicly aired the accusations on Tuesday night.
Biden backs up Tanden as Republicans attack her tweets
“That disqualifies almost every Republican senator and 90 percent of the administration,” the president-elect said of GOP criticism.
How climate change could spark the next home mortgage disaster
Taxpayers are backing more than a trillion dollars in home mortgages, but the agencies buying them are neglecting to consider climate risks.
Deese to be Biden’s top White House economic adviser
Brian Deese is an executive at investment giant BlackRock.
Biden unveils diverse economic team as challenges to economy grow
The president-elect intends to name Cecilia Rouse, Neera Tanden and Wally Adeyemo to senior roles in his administration.
Thursday Night Owls: Backers of Haaland for Sec. of Interior irked she’s being called ‘unqualified’
Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week
41 DAYS UNTIL JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS TAKE THE OATH OF OFFICE
Julia Conley at Common Dreams writes—Climate Action, Indigenous Rights Groups Among Those Championing Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary:
The national women’s rights organization UltraViolet on Wednesday became the latest group to call on President-elect Joe Biden to appoint Rep.
Firings at Fort Hood are an important step, but advocates still demand #JusticeForVanessaGuillén
In a historic move Tuesday, the Army said it fired or suspended 14 officers and enlisted soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, and ordered policy changes to address chronic failures of leadership that contributed to a widespread pattern of violence, including murder, sexual assault, and harassment. A separate probe was also ordered into the base’s Criminal Investigation Command unit that is responsible for investigating crimes at Fort Hood.
ICE backpedals, says it won’t try to enforce subpoena against BuzzFeed News—for now
BuzzFeed News reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has backpedaled from its attack against the outlet for its egregious crime of factually reporting on the out-of-control agency’s policies, saying it won’t try to enforce its subpoena demanding it reveal its sources. For now.
Trump Administration Executes Brandon Bernard After Jurors Plead For His Life
Bernard was an accomplice to a crime at age 18. He is the ninth person to be executed as part of the Trump administration’s end-of-office killing spree.
This Week in Statehouse Action: Away In A Legislature edition
Happy December to all who observe!
I confess, I’m finding it a little difficult to get into the holiday spirit this year.
On one hand, we’re about to leave this crap year behind us.
But on the other, so many lousy things are still happening, like, all the time.
… including (but in no way limited to) Trump continuing to attempt to use GOP-controlled state legislatures to help him overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Terrorist threatens Spokane Democrats with fake bomb, tries to push his political manifesto
Peter Yeager, the man who walked into Democratic Party headquarters in Spokane, Washington, on Wednesday claimed he had a bomb, and the wires sticking out of his backpack seemed to substantiate that. He also had a manifesto that he was eager to see disseminated in the media.
CDC Official Says She Was Ordered To Delete Email: Probe
Dr. Charlotte Kent told congressional investigators she believes the deletion order came from CDC Director Robert Redfield.
This Is Only Going to Get Worse
By nearly all measures, it has been a horrible week, a horrible month (10 days in), and a horrible year. The United States this week set records in all three metrics that gauge the pandemic’s severity, with a total of 1.4 million new cases and 15,966 deaths.
The Vaccine Is Here. Now for the Hard Part.
In a historic moment during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, an FDA advisory committee voted today in favor of authorizing the first vaccine against COVID-19. The formal implementation of this recommendation, which would allow the vaccine to be given to anyone 16 or older, is expected to follow imminently.This marks the beginning of a new and hopeful phase in a crisis that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans and caused widespread economic collapse.
Ryan Zinke’s Official Portrait A Final Slap In The Face To Native American Tribes
The painting features the former interior secretary riding a horse through Bears Ears National Monument shortly before he and Trump trashed the protected site.
New Hampshire House Speaker Died From COVID-19, Ruling Finds
Dick Hinch, 71, became speaker just last week after Republicans won the House majority in November’s elections.
The GOP Abandons Democracy
When Donald Trump was granted a coat of arms for his Scottish golf courses in 2012 (after a lengthy court battle, of course), he chose as its motto “Numquam concedere”: Never concede. He has not, even as it has become clear that he lost the presidential election by a wide margin.In the first few weeks after the election, anonymous Republicans and White House officials insisted that Trump’s lack of a concession was no reason for alarm.
CNN Anchor Makes Bold Fashion Statement With Sweater Declaring ‘Facts First’
Kate Bolduan wore a custom sweater from Lingua Franca with the network’s tagline emblazoned across the chest.
2020 in Photos: Wrapping Up the Year
As the year comes to a close, it’s time to take a look at some of the most memorable events and images of 2020. Events covered in this essay (the last of a three-part photo summary of the year) include the devastating wildfires in California, the passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Nagorno-Karabakh War, the U.S. presidential election, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and much more.
Republicans Are Going Down a Dangerous Road
Republicans’ tolerance, if not active support, for President Donald Trump’s ongoing bid to overturn the 2020 election has crystallized a stark question: Does the GOP still qualify as a small-d democratic party—or is it morphing into something very different?
I’m Sorry, but We Shouldn’t Just Send Everyone Relief Checks
Congress should help Americans who really need it before helping those who don’t.
Ethiopia’s PM Won the Nobel Peace Prize A Year Ago; Now He Is Leading Nation Into Possible Civil War
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for ending the two-decade “state of war” between Ethiopia and Eritrea, with many hailing a new era of peace in the region. Just one year later, Ahmed’s military has displaced tens of thousands of civilians in an ongoing military campaign in the northern Tigray region.
Why Biden’s Pick of Tom Vilsack for Agriculture Secretary Is a Missed Opportunity for the USDA
Progressives and environmental and labor activists are objecting to President-elect Joe Biden’s selection of Tom Vilsack to be his agriculture secretary, reprising the role he held in the Obama administration. Those opposed to Vilsack’s nomination say he has a record of supporting corporate interests over those of farmers, loosening regulations and backing genetically modified, herbicide-resistant crops.
As Food Insecurity Surges, Leading Scientist Says Hunger Is a Deliberate Choice by Those in Power
As the World Food Programme accepts the Nobel Peace Prize, we look at the growing global hunger crisis amid the pandemic, the climate crisis and war. In the United States, as many as 50 million people could experience food insecurity before the end of the year — including one in four children.