Today's Liberal News

Friday Night Owls: State revenue loss not as bad as expected. But, as with pandemic, worse is coming

Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week

At the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Micheal Leachman and Elizabeth McNichol write—Pandemic’s Impact on State Revenues Less Than Earlier Expected But Still Severe:

The pandemic’s impact on state revenues this spring was smaller than the historical record predicted. Nevertheless, states, localities, tribal nations, and U.S.

The fears we laugh about during Halloween say a lot about our politics

This year will see us celebrating a very different Halloween. In many places around the country, children will not be able to go trick-or-treating, and adults will not be able to dress up and make fools of themselves at the club, given the current pandemic. But what is Halloween without a scary story? And what is the nature of those spooky tales? Most of the time they are rooted in very real issues and very real threats.

Pennsylvania: The most important swing state in the final days

The election is almost over. And there’s only one state that’s literally keeping me up at night: Pennsylvania, a must-win battleground state for Joe Biden.

Here’s the problem: While states like Texas and Florida have had record early voting, the one swing state that noticeably did not turn in as many early ballots is Pennsylvania. Biden should win it, but if Pennsylvania slips through our fingers there’s a very real danger Trump could get reelected.

Twitter sends new Biden-Harris ad full of Black folks drumming and dancing straight to Peggy Noonan

Is a new ad posted to Twitter by Kamala Harris an epic 51 seconds of shade in response to the recent nasty diss of Harris by Republican columnist Peggy Noonan?

The Harris-supporting Twitterati seemed to think so, because as soon as the tweet dropped, it was being forwarded to Peggy Noonan, who, in a Wall Street Journal column, described Harris as “giddy,” “insubstantial,” and “frivolous.

The Atlantic Daily: Why the 2020s Are So Worrisome

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.Getty / The AtlanticAmerica’s political schisms are so profound that we risk a repeat of the 1850s, when the country was on the precipice of the Civil War.Two Atlantic writers warn that the 2020s could mark another dangerous decade for the American experiment.

When a White Republican Teen Invited a Black Pastor to Preach in His Hometown

Each installment of The Friendship Files features a conversation between The Atlantic’s Julie Beck and two or more friends, exploring the history and significance of their relationship.This week she talks with two men whose lives were altered by a chance encounter. When he was a teenager, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove heard Reverend William Barber II preach, and invited the Black pastor to speak at his majority-white, strongly Republican high school.

The Books Briefing: When Poets Write Novels

After the success of Ocean Vuong’s poetry collection Night Sky With Exit Wounds, some dismissively suggested that the poet explore themes other than “war, violence, queerness, and immigration,” Kat Chow reported in a 2019 Atlantic profile. But Vuong wasn’t done considering those topics. So he disregarded his critics and wrote a novel.

“Let the People Pick the President”: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College

As Donald Trump and Joe Biden make their final campaign pushes in battleground states that could decide the election, we speak with author and journalist Jesse Wegmen about the case for abolishing the Electoral College system altogether and moving toward a national popular vote for electing the president. Two of the last three presidents — George W. Bush and Donald Trump — came to office after losing the popular vote.

Native American Voters Could Decide Key Senate Races While Battling Intense Voter Suppression

Native American voters could sway key Senate races in next week’s election in Montana, North Carolina, Arizona and Maine. Investigative journalist Jenni Monet says that for many tribal citizens, the contest is not just about Democrats and Republicans. These voters “support those who understand their sovereignty,” says Monet, who writes the newsletter “Indigenously.” She is a tribal citizen of the Pueblo of Laguna.

The Simple Rule That Could Keep COVID-19 Deaths Down

Editor’s Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here. During the first COVID-19 surge of the spring, the mantra was “Flatten the curve”—to buy time, using every tool available.Seven months later, it’s possible to measure what that time has bought: The death rate for COVID-19 has fallen dramatically.

Donald Trump’s Reelection Campaign Is Total Camp

If Donald Trump loses this election, maybe he’ll join The Village People. The 1970s band famous for leather chaps and questionable headdresses has become a wacky touchstone of this dour campaign season, and it’s thanks to the president. At his rallies, crowds have been warming up to “Macho Man,” The Village People’s 1976 single about having pride in a “big, thick mustache.