Today's Liberal News

Stop Worrying About Budget Deficits

Ten years ago, the United States was clawing its way out of a miserable recession. Washington was running an annual deficit of $1.3 trillion, and the national debt had reached $9 trillion, roughly 60 percent of GDP. Those figures were frightening enough to spur the Obama White House and Congress to create a panel of experts to address the long-term budget and to kick-start several rounds of government austerity, making cuts to the defense budget and a wide range of domestic programs.

The Atlantic Daily: Welcome to Vaccine Purgatory

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.KATIE MARTIN / THE ATLANTICWelcome to vaccine purgatory.“We’ve spent 2020 adjusting to a pandemic normal, and now a strange, new period is upon us,” my colleague Sarah Zhang, who covers vaccines, notes in her latest.Thus the waiting begins.

Andrew Bacevich on Why Retired General and Raytheon Official Lloyd Austin Should Not Head Pentagon

Joe Biden’s nominee for defense secretary, retired four-star Army General Lloyd Austin, would make history as the first African American to lead the Pentagon if confirmed by the Senate. But Austin can only be confirmed if he secures a waiver from Congress due to laws designed to preserve the civilian control of the military, and several leading Democratic senators have indicated they would oppose granting a waiver.

Palestinian Official Hanan Ashrawi: Trump’s Morocco-Israel Deal Legitimizes Land Theft & Occupation

In a deal brokered by the Trump administration, Morocco and Israel have agreed to establish diplomatic relations. The United States has also agreed to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over occupied Western Sahara, the first country in the world to do so. Morocco has occupied much of the resource-rich territory since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community.

Joe Biden improved in a key district in the Seattle suburbs that House Democrats flipped in 2018

Our project to calculate the 2020 presidential results for all 435 congressional districts nationwide heads to Washington. You can find our complete data set here, which we’re updating continuously as the precinct-level election returns we need for our calculations become available.

Joe Biden carried Washington 58-39, which was an improvement over Hillary Clinton’s 54-38 showing four years ago, due at least in part to fewer voters choosing third-party options.

‘Our bad’: Orlando Sentinel apologizes for endorsing congressman who signed on to Trump coup attempt

Rep. Michael Waltz received the Orlando Sentinel’s endorsement in the 2020 general election for Congress. On Thursday, Waltz joined onto the traitorous Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the results in four states because they didn’t break for Donald Trump. On Friday, the paper’s Editorial Board formally apologized to their readers.

We had no idea, had no way of knowing at the time, that Waltz was not committed to democracy.

Three things unemployed people should know right now, this week in the war on workers

Unemployment claims just hit their highest level in months, Republicans are still refusing to negotiate a stimulus package that does half what the country needs, and people who have been unemployed for months are increasingly desperate. Only the government can truly help unemployed people, but the National Employment Law Project’s Michele Evermore has three pieces of advice for unemployed workers in the coming weeks. It’s not cheerful news, but it’s worth knowing.

Community Spotlight: Finding refuge from politics on Daily Kos is absolutely possible

Writing these blurbs for the 14 rescued stories was like reliving the week’s tension over our political turmoil, plus Trump’s wacky-yet-not-amusing alternate election reality, and other conspiracy theories. Two wildlife refuge stories with gorgeous photos offered me an escape from our national drama, a peaceful time to restore my energy, and motivated me to guide others to the nature havens of Daily Kos.