Today's Liberal News
If We Want to Defeat Covid, We Need to Boost Medicaid
States often reduce Medicaid benefits during economic downturns. Doing that now could prolong the pandemic.
Larry Summers Has Some Weird Fears About the Biden Relief Plan
He doesn’t fully spell out why he thinks Congress shouldn’t spend too much, because that would undermine his weird point.
Is Biden’s Relief Plan Too Big? Maybe. Is the Republican Plan Too Small? Definitely.
But if you’re still not convinced, look at these charts.
Everything Is Gambling Now
The GameStop surge was just one of the ways Americans have renewed their love of betting.
So, When Are the New Stimulus Checks Coming?
There are a lot of bizarre, self-imposed congressional limits that may delay final passage until March.
Republicans seek to pin California’s Covid-19 problem on Biden’s HHS pick
Becerra provided legal muscle for the state’s pandemic restrictions.
Biden administration deploys more than 1,000 active-duty troops to aid vaccination efforts
Some of the military members will arrive for deployment in California within the next 10 days.
Help! I’m Terrified of My New Neighbor.
He screams threats and obscenities every time I walk my dogs past his house.
Dear Care and Feeding: Our In-Home Therapists Are Refusing Vaccination. What Should We Do?
Parenting advice on vaccine refusal, college funds, and Beetlejuice.
When I Got Laid Off at 62, I Knew I Would Never Work in Journalism Again
I spent more than two decades at my newspaper. Now it’s gone.
U.S. backs Okonjo-Iweala, first woman and African, to head WTO
The decision breaks with the Trump administration’s opposition to Okonjo-Iweala and brings the U.S. in line with much of the rest of the world.
Economy will return to pre-pandemic level this year, CBO predicts
Employment levels, however, will not fully recover until 2024.
Biden confronts the limits of his executive power
Without help from Congress, he has few options to turn the U.S. economy around.
Fed’s Powell warns U.S. economy ‘long way from a full recovery’
“There’s nothing more important to the economy now than people getting vaccinated,” Jerome Powell said.
Will Biden Admin Reverse Trump’s “Dangerous” Recognition of Morocco’s Occupation of Western Sahara?
President Donald Trump broke with decades of U.S. foreign policy in the waning days of his administration and recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, a territory the country has occupied since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. U.S.
Yemen: Biden to End U.S. Offensive Support for Saudi-Led Assault, But Will the War Actually End?
President Joe Biden has pledged to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, supported by both the Obama and Trump administrations, describing it as a “humanitarian and strategic catastrophe.” The six-year war in Yemen has devastated the country, killing at least 100,000 people and pushing 80% of the country into instability requiring some form of aid or protection, according to the United Nations. Biden’s remarks on Yemen come amid a freeze of U.S.
We Can’t Just “Move On”: AOC & Rashida Tlaib Demand Accountability for Deadly Capitol Attack
As the U.S Senate prepares its impeachment trial of President Trump for inciting the January 6 insurrection, House lawmakers took to the floor Thursday to detail their experiences and demand accountability. We air excerpts from dramatic speeches by Democratic Congressmembers Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
“A Moral Catastrophe”: Africa CDC Head Says Lack of Vaccines for the Continent Will Imperil World
Countries across the African continent are facing a second COVID-19 outbreak, linked to a variant first found in South Africa that has been detected in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Comoros and Zambia and more than 20 non-African countries so far. There is concern new variants, which scientists believe are more infectious, could spread the virus further before widespread vaccination begins.
Sunday Night Owls: Replacing the gasoline tax with something that makes 21st Century sense
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Gabrielle Gurley at The American Prospect writes—The Long and Winding Road to Replacing the Gas Tax. Can Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg convince Congress that road user fees are the next big revenue thing?
Pete Buttigieg has parachuted in for a soft landing at the Department of Transportation. There were no Betsy DeVos-esque moments at the Rhodes Scholar’s confirmation hearing.
Peter Navarro Says Trump’s AG Bill Barr Was Part Of ‘Deep State Coup’ Against Him
Navarro claimed Barr was essentially Joe Biden’s “first attorney general.” (He wasn’t.
U.S. To Rejoin U.N. Human Rights Council, Reversing Trump’s Withdrawal
The Biden administration is set to reengage with the agency three years after the Trump administration dropped out due to its disproportionate focus on Israel.
‘Princess Bride’ actor unleashes his inner Dread Pirate Roberts on Sen. Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz and I share exactly two things in common. We both convert oxygen to carbon dioxide and we both love The Princess Bride. I’m not happy about it, and more than once it’s forced me to question my life choices. If I share that with Cruz, what else might we have in common? Did my dad help kill JFK, too? I shudder to think.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley Describes Image That Still Haunts Her From Capitol Siege
“We have been cleaning up after violent, white supremacist mobs for generations and it must end,” the Massachusetts lawmaker said.
One month after Capitol police officer killed in riot, and still no named suspects
While Black Lives Matter protesters experienced a downpour of immediate arrests in Minnesota following the death of George Floyd, the mostly white crowd that ascended on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 experienced something more akin to a sprinkle.
Nuts & Bolts inside the Democratic Party: You don’t have to be the big game in town
It’s another Sunday, so for those who tune in, welcome to another discussion of the Nuts & Bolts of a Democratic campaign. If you’ve missed out, you can catch up any time: Just visit our group or follow the Nuts & Bolts Guide. Every week I try to tackle issues I’ve been asked about. With the help of other campaign workers and notes, we address how to improve and build better campaigns, or explain issues that impact our party.
Lindsey Graham Says Trump Will Get ‘Blame’ For Capitol Riot, Dismisses Impeachment
The Republican senator said Trump will “get his share of blame in history” for the Jan. 6 insurrection, but stopped short of supporting his impeachment trial.
The consequences of an absence of trust with the COVID-19 vaccine
Why can’t we get some people to believe in universal healthcare, a Green New Deal, or the power of communities working together to effect change? We can’t even a good number of the population to trust their government to deliver a vaccine to help them. I work in healthcare, and when the COVID-19 vaccine rollout was announced under the Trump administration last year, I absolutely debated whether or not to get it, at first.