Today's Liberal News
Fed sees less severe recession this year but warns of tough winter
Officials said they expect the U.S. economy to shrink by 2.4 percent this year, a brighter forecast than they offered just three months ago.
Biden faces a massive boom ahead — or maybe another recession first
Vaccine euphoria is giving economic forecasters hope for a blockbuster 2021 and stretching stock market valuations to historic highs. It’s a setup that leaves no room for error.
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.
Friday Night Owls: ‘Trump’s most vicious cultists aren’t done with America’
Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week
33 DAYS UNTIL JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS TAKE THE OATH OF OFFICE
Felipe de la Hoz at The New Republic writes—Trump’s Most Vicious Cultists Aren’t Done With America. They gleefully enabled a corrupt president for years.
Defense bill Trump is threatening to veto contains cyber security to protect against Russian hacks
A Friday briefing on the Russian hack into “SolarWinds” networking software on government sites left members of Congress frustrated as officials shared less information than what was already available from public sources. Meanwhile Donald Trump has finally mentioned Russia on Twitter, except it wasn’t to admit to Russia’s massive hack into federal systems, or even to finally condemn Russia’s paying bounties for the murder of American soldiers. Nope.
Biden picks two women with strong environmental credentials for Energy and domestic climate adviser
As widely reported earlier this week, President-elect Joe Biden has chosen former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to run the Department of Energy (DOE) and former Environmental Protection Administration Chief Gina McCarthy to run a new White House office on climate change. Both women have strong environmental records and can be expected to be assertive key figures in the Biden administration, which is making the climate crisis a top priority.
A (kind of) farewell to the best friend this community has ever had
Neeta Lind, aka Navajo, is retiring at the the end of the year.
She is our beloved Director of Community. I don’t know when she actually started working here and I can’t bother to look it up because to me, Neeta has been tirelessly organizing this community from the very beginning. There is no Daily Kos without her. And I don’t know how you bid farewell to a friend, coworker, and resident diva.
Grateful grandma delivers 800 tamales to hospital staff who saved her life during COVID-19 struggle
A grandmother of 12 contracted COVID-19 in April and spent 20 days in the hospital at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. KTLA reports that Margarita Montañez was unable to see her family during this time, which included almost two weeks spent on a ventilator. On Thursday, Montañez tried to give a little back to the many medical staff, because she says she “appreciated the doctors and the nurses that helped me.
Kushner Helped Launch Shell Company That Paid Campaign Funds To Trump Family: Report
A complaint to the Federal Election Commission claims American Made Media Consultants shields the identities of fund recipients.
Why Congress Is Suddenly Fighting About the Federal Reserve
GOP Senators are holding a relief deal hostage in order to kneecap the Fed—and the Biden administration—in a crisis.
FDA authorizes Moderna vaccine for emergency use
On Thursday, an independent FDA advisory panel endorsed use of the shot for people over 18.
Pharmacies’ starring role in vaccine push could create unequal access
Public health experts say a broader mix of vaccination sites is needed to reach as many people as possible.
The Ticket: Jim Clyburn
The Electoral College’s Monday vote to formally make Joe Biden the 46th president caps a weeks-long process of the former vice president having his victory affirmed again and again. But a Biden win, even in the primaries, didn’t always seem like a sure thing.After Biden came in fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire, his hopes rested on South Carolina. And key to his victory there—and to his ultimately successful candidacy—was an endorsement from Jim Clyburn.
Twitter Users Can’t Believe What Space Force Members Will Be Called
The chosen name reminded many people of both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and “The Handmaid’s Tale.
Fauci, NIH yet to get Covid vaccine despite role developing it
Top infectious disease doctor waits on shot despite being “ready to go.
The Atlantic Daily: 8 Ideas for a Socially Distant Holiday
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.This holiday season, there is reason for hope: The development of vaccines means the end of this pandemic is in sight. But in the meantime, travel and social gatherings remain ill-advised, and many Americans are spending the final days of 2020 without the comfort of loved ones.
COVID-19 Relief Talks Hit An 11th-Hour Snag
Coronavirus relief negotiations remain fragile and uncertain.
The Election Didn’t Defeat the U.S. Postal Service. Christmas Might.
The mail system is buckling right now. Here’s why.
Trump Failed to Protect America
As he accepted the Republican nomination for president in summer 2016, Donald Trump promised, “We will make America safe again.”“The most basic duty of government is to defend the lives of its citizens,” he said. “Any government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead.
Joe Biden Says Lindsey Graham Has Been A ‘Personal Disappointment’
Despite belonging to different parties, the two men used to be good friends. Then the senator became one of Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters.
Republicans Are Fighting Hard to Bankrupt States
Apparently no one’s showed them the analysis saying it could hurt red states the most.
What Tom Cruise’s COVID-19 Rant Really Means
In the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder, Tom Cruise stole scenes by mocking Hollywood’s entitlement. As the cocksure, foulmouthed studio exec Les Grossman, Cruise put on a fat suit, wore heavy prosthetics, and peppered his lines with profanity. When a gang holding his cast hostage demands ransom, he doesn’t bother to listen to the specifics. Instead, he threatens the kidnappers by promising to “rain down an ungodly fucking firestorm.”Cruise’s outburst on the U.K.
Supreme Court Rules Challenge To Trump’s Census Plan Is Premature
The decision is not a final ruling on the legality of Trump’s plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census.
Dear Care and Feeding: My Mom Will Only Buy Me Clothes in Her Style
Parenting advice on style disagreements, father figures, and stomach troubles.
The Books Briefing: The Novel Life of Jesus Christ
Countless writers, with varying degrees of success, have reimagined the life of Jesus Christ. As my colleague Cullen Murphy wrote in a 1986 essay, “It is hard to think of any other figure who, over the years, has been claimed by so many and in so many different ways and for so many different purposes, who yet has never been identified exclusively with any single cause, and who has remained perpetually available for use.
We Analyzed the Comments on the Atrocious “Dr. Jill Biden” Op-Ed
Men and women saw something very different.
CIA-Backed Afghan Death Squads Massacred Children Inside Religious Schools in Campaign of Terror
A shocking exposé in The Intercept reveals CIA-backed death squads in Afghanistan have killed children as young as 8 years old in a series of night raids, many targeting madrassas, Islamic religious schools. In December 2018, one of the death squads attacked a madrassa in Wardak province, killing 12 boys, of whom the youngest was 9 years old.