Today's Liberal News
Dear Care and Feeding: My 5-Year-Old Is Desperate for a Sibling, but I Can’t Have Any More Kids
Parenting advice on sibling sadness, gift overload, and neighborhood bullying.
That New York Post Story Raises One Legitimate Question: Is Hunter Biden Hot?
The paper’s supposed “smoking gun” was smoking in a different way.
How the Pandemic Is Worsening America’s Racial Gaps
Covid isn’t just disproportionately killing people of color; it’s sticking them in a feedback loop that exacerbates economic and racial inequity, says Chicago economist Damon Jones.
Federal deficit triples to $3.1T, Treasury data shows
Government spending exceeded more than $6.5 trillion in the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, up from $4.4 trillion in fiscal 2019.
Hard-hit small businesses face long winter without lifeline
Some 60 percent of all U.S. businesses that have closed during the pandemic have not reopened.
‘We need to step forward’: Fed leaders call for new focus on race in the economy
The comments from the leading Fed officials were the latest evidence of the central bank’s growing attention to persistent inequality in the economy.
Dark Money & Barrett Nomination: The Link Between Big Polluters & the War on ACA, Roe & LGBT Rights
During confirmation hearings this week for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island opted not to ask the judge any questions. Instead, he gave a 30-minute presentation on how right-wing groups, including the Federalist Society and Judicial Crisis Network, use dark money to shape the nation’s judiciary.
Preserving Roe: West Virginia Mom Tells Abortion Story in Heartfelt Speech Against Amy Coney Barrett
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony this week from Crystal Good, who spoke about her experience of having an abortion and expressed concerns that Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court would limit access to safe, affordable care. During three days of hearings, Judge Barrett has repeatedly refused to answer questions about her views on abortion and the future of Roe v. Wade, despite her public record opposing reproductive rights.
Deeply Troubling: Kristen Clarke on How Rush to Confirm Barrett Endangers Voting & Civil Rights
The Senate confirmation hearing for President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett ended Thursday with Republicans on the Judiciary Committee scheduling a vote on her nomination for October 22, with a full Senate vote to follow shortly thereafter — less than two weeks before the presidential election, in which the Supreme Court could play a decisive role.
Amy Coney Barrett Won’t Say Climate Change Is Real; Forgets 1st Amendment Protects Right to Protest
We air highlights from the second day of questioning of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, who faced eight hours of questions on Wednesday about her views on issues ranging from climate change to voting rights to gay marriage and abortion, as Republicans race to confirm her ahead of the election and secure a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court for conservatives.
Chilling Training Videos Released Of Militia Men Charged In Michigan Gov. Kidnap Plot
“I’m sick of being robbed and enslaved by the state … they are the enemy. Period,” says one suspect in a video.
Saturday Night Owls: Millionaire Kudlow extols gains from wrecked economy, ignores damage to people
Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week
Jake Johnson at Common Dreams writes—Trump’s Millionaire Economic Adviser Celebrates ‘Gales of Creative Destruction’ as Millions Lose Their Jobs and Go Hungry:
With millions of Americans out of work, struggling to afford food for themselves and their children, and facing the possibility of losing their homes, President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser on Friday celebrated wh
A sign of the times: Republican district in Pennsylvania Trump easily won is now a Tossup
Daily Kos Elections is changing our race ratings in five more contests—four shift in the direction of the Democrats, while one moves to the right. We also now have a total of 10 GOP-held seats rated as Lean Republican or better for Democrats. You can find all our Senate, gubernatorial, and House ratings at each link.
• PA-10 (Lean R to Tossup): Republican Rep.
Michigan Gov. Lashes Trump For Endangering Her Life After Rally ‘Lock Her Up’ Chant
After driving the crowd into a frenzy, Trump smiled, repeated “Lock her up,” then chillingly added: “Lock ’em all up.
Michelle Obama, LeBron James team up for homestretch ‘Vote Together’ celebrations
The lengths that this nation’s most loved and famous people are going to get your behinds to the polls, America, cannot be overstated. You want Michelle Obama? You got it. You want LeBron James? He’s on it. Whatever it takes to drag voters to the polls, or at least to their mailboxes.
Jailed voters can swing elections if they know and can exercise their rights
A new report released by the Prison Policy Initiative outlines a different kind of voter suppression than has typically made headlines this election season: the de facto disenfranchisement of people incarcerated in local jails. According to PPI, an overwhelming majority of the 746,000 people detained in U.S. jails at any given day are legally eligible to vote but are often barred from casting their ballots due to structural obstacles and misinformation.
There’s a reason Republicans are pretending they don’t know how to say Kamala Harris’ name
“Comma-la.” That is how you say Sen. Kamala Harris’ name. She says it correctly every time she introduces herself. The media gets it right, mostly. Yet because she’s Black, because she’s Indian, because she’s a woman, and because she’s a Democrat about to be vice president, Republicans are making a point to mispronounce her name, all in the hopes of knocking her down a few pegs through the petty act of othering.
Dan Rather Explains How Actual Rats Are Better Than Trump-Supporting Republicans
It’s “just not fair to rats” to compare them to Republicans now attempting to escape the sinking ship of Donald Trump, the former CBS News anchor tweeted.
Trump Struggling To Keep Upper Midwest States In His Corner
The president is making late reelection pleas to voters in Michigan and Wisconsin, two states he won in 2016, but now could be out of his reach.
Extremists Don’t Belong in the Military
During my 40 years as a Marine officer, including nearly four years as commandant of the Marine Corps, I came to believe that one of the military’s most important missions is to lead the fight against hate, inequality, and injustice, both at home and overseas. The factors that divide Americans today pose a greater threat to the country than any foreign adversary does.
Trump Still Downplays COVID As He Steps Up Pitch For Second Term
The president is demonstrating new determination to minimize the threat of the virus that has killed more than 218,000 Americans.
What Democrats Don’t Understand About Latino Voters
For 30 years, political consultants have been predicting that in the next presidential election, a growing Latino electorate in the United States will finally awaken, sway the outcome, and usher in a new era of Latino political power.And for 30 years, they have been wrong. The 2020 election may prove no different. Again and again, political analysts have underestimated the diversity among American Latinos. Key segments of the community—specifically Cubans and younger U.S.
The Mad, Mad World of Niche Sports Among Ivy League–Obsessed Parents
Photo illustrations by Pelle CassTo make the images that appear in this story, the photographer Pelle Cass locked his camera onto a tripod for the duration of an event, capturing up to 1,000 photographs from one spot. The images were then layered and compiled into a single digital file to create a kind of time-lapse still photo.
Jacinda Ardern’s Job Will Only Get Harder
In February, Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party was down in the polls. Voters were expressing frustrations that her government had overpromised and underdelivered on major campaign issues such as inequality and housing. Some observers suggested that the New Zealand prime minister’s first term would be her last.Then the pandemic happened.
A Radically Different Way to Look at Incarceration
The prison abolitionist and scholar Ruth Wilson Gilmore once wrote, “Prison is not a building ‘over there,’ but a set of relationships that undermine rather than stabilize everyday lives everywhere.” This idea is the focus of the filmmaker Garrett Bradley’s Time, a gripping documentary that reframes the perception of mass incarceration and its far-reaching effects.