Ask a Teacher: My Child’s Teacher Is All Alone This Christmas. Is It Weird to Invite Her Over?
I’d love to offer her some COVID-friendly holiday cheer.
Today's Liberal News
We’ll Be Stuck With Trump’s Postmaster General for a While
Louis DeJoy is likely to last well into the Biden administration.
Mitch McConnell’s Relief Offer Is Actually Worse Than Doing Nothing
The majority leader wants to send Americans a big lump of coal.
It’s OK if Democrats Fold on Stimulus Checks
There’s a good-enough relief proposal with support from some Republicans. Dems should seize it.
U.S. could face months of vaccine shortages amid global competition
Most Americans’ best hope of getting a shot by spring or early summer may rest on vaccines that have not yet been proven to work.
FDA says Pfizer vaccine is safe and effective
Pfizer is seeking authorization to use the vaccine in people 16 and older.
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.
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.
In Blow to Drug War, House Backs Decriminalizing Pot as Voters OK Legalization Ballot Initiatives
We look at how the House of Representative voted Friday to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and “address the devastating injustices caused by the War on Drugs,” as voters in Arizona and New Jersey approved ballot measures in November that legalize the possession and use of recreational marijuana for adults aged 21 and up.
After Prop 22 Win for Uber & Lyft, Advocates Fear New Wave of Anti-Worker Laws Pushed by Big Tech
Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft scored a major victory with the passage of Proposition 22 in California, and worker rights advocates fear they will push similar measures in other states. Prop 22 will exempt companies in the so-called gig economy from having to classify their workers in the state as employees rather than as independent contractors.
Wednesday Night Owls: Without aid, millions of renters are on the brink of eviction, financial ruin
Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week
42 DAYS UNTIL JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS TAKE THE OATH OF OFFICE
Despite the Centers for Disease Control’s nationwide eviction moratorium, tens of thousands of Americans have been evicted and more are being served notices every day, perhaps 150,000 households. As the piece below notes, without an extension of that moratorium—which expires Dec.
Christchurch commission: Myopia about far-right terror, YouTube radicalization led to massacre
Twenty months and 800 pages later, the royal commission examining the deadly March 2019 attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, by a white supremacist has issued its completed report—and it largely confirms what most of us already suspected about the event that claimed 51 people’s lives.
Shrinking GOP margins in a rock-ribbed Republican district helped power Biden’s Wisconsin win
Our project to calculate the 2020 presidential results for all 435 congressional districts nationwide goes on to Wisconsin. You can find our complete data set here, which we’re updating continuously as we crunch new numbers.
Four years after Wisconsin backed Donald Trump 47.2-46.5, the Badger State swung just enough to the left to deliver a 49.6-48.8 win for Joe Biden.
One Day, 3,000 Deaths
Editor’s Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here. Today states reported 3,054 deaths from COVID-19—the highest single-day total yet, according to the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic.The seven-day average of daily deaths was also at a record high, of 2,276 deaths. Since mid-October, the U.S.
‘We messed up. We let our guard down’: Former GOP senator’s last words warn Americans of COVID-19
As COVID-19 cases continue to increase nationwide, some state officials still refuse to wear masks and address the severity of the novel coronavirus pandemic. These individuals, alongside their followers, are pushing to end statewide mandates and other safety measures in place to stop the spread of COVID-19, failing to understand just how deadly the virus is.
As COVID-19 cases rise in New York, so does food insecurity
Depending on who you ask, this holiday season will represent something markedly different. For some, it’s a breaking point after a difficult year, where people are loosening their own social distancing protocols out of a desire to visit with family. For others, it will be one of the first holiday seasons they’ve chosen to spend alone as COVID-19 cases continue to spike.
The Atlantic Daily: America’s Only Real Quarantine
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.KENT NISHIMURA / LOS ANGELES TIMES / GETTYConditions are continuing to deteriorate in America’s hospitals and long-term-care facilities. Still the holidays loom.
Lindsey Graham Says Stacey Abrams Tricked Republicans Into Helping Biden Win
The GOP senator knows he’s spreading dangerous lies about voter fraud. But he’s staying in Trump’s good graces, so it’s worth it.
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.
GOP Senators And Democratic Defectors Save Donald Trump’s Biggest Arms Deal
Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly of Arizona helped quash motions to stop Trump from selling $13 billion in sophisticated weaponry to the United Arab Emirates.
The Vaccine Is Not Coming Soon Enough for Nursing Homes
A new COVID-19 spike in America’s long-term-care facilities emerged in the West and Northeast last week, with both regions reporting their highest numbers of new cases in the past six months. The Midwest and South saw a small downturn in new cases, which is promising, yet the week still saw the nation’s highest number of newly reported cases—51,574—in long-term-care facilities since we started collecting these data in May.
Florida Megachurch Pastor Tells Evangelical Congregants Not To Take COVID-19 Vaccine
“Believe in the blood of Jesus. Believe in divine immunity,” King Jesus International Ministry’s Guillermo Maldonado said in a sermon.
DOJ Is Investigating Hunter Biden Over Taxes, Biden Transition Announces
News of the investigation comes just as President-elect Joe Biden is set to announce his nominee for attorney general of the United States.
U.S. Government, States Bring Antitrust Action Against Facebook
The antitrust lawsuits were announced by the Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General Letitia James.