NewsletterLatest NewsNational PoliticsMiscThe good, the bad, and the ugly of the COVID-19 relief bill.ShareThis report was written by David Sirota, Julia Rock, and Andrew Perez.When Joe Biden signs the American Rescue Plan (ARP) he will prove that the Democratic Party is finally willing — at least for a moment — to turn on the money hose and for once aim it not at Wall Street moguls, but instead at the raging wildfire of poverty and desperation incinerating the poor and middle class.That’s the very good news. The bad news is that the party’s COVID-19 relief bill also indicates that Biden...…NewsletterLatest NewsNational PoliticsMiscThe good, the bad, and the ugly of the COVID-19 relief bill.ShareThis report was written by David Sirota, Julia Rock, and Andrew Perez.When Joe Biden signs the American Rescue Plan (ARP) he will prove that the Democratic Party is finally willing — at least for a moment — to turn on the money hose and for once aim it not at Wall Street moguls, but instead at the raging wildfire of poverty and desperation incinerating the poor and middle class.That’s the very good news. The bad news is that the party’s COVID-19 relief bill also indicates that Biden...WW…

This article is more than 1 year oldThis article is more than 1 year oldIn US politics today, the conservative Democratic senator seems to have all the power and is more than happy to wield itLast modified on Tue 22 Jun 2021 04.49 EDTBut so far, they aren’t choosing to use their power – which is a huge structural problem not just now, but also for the foreseeable future.Some have argued that the way to fix this situation is by ending the filibuster, but that’s a catch-22: it is absolutely a necessary reform, but President Manchin is to veto it. Even if Democrats were to eliminate the...…This article is more than 1 year oldThis article is more than 1 year oldIn US politics today, the conservative Democratic senator seems to have all the power and is more than happy to wield itLast modified on Tue 22 Jun 2021 04.49 EDTBut so far, they aren’t choosing to use their power – which is a huge structural problem not just now, but also for the foreseeable future.Some have argued that the way to fix this situation is by ending the filibuster, but that’s a catch-22: it is absolutely a necessary reform, but President Manchin is to veto it. Even if Democrats were to eliminate the...WW…

NewsletterLatest NewsNational PoliticsMiscA culture of impunity led media to celebrate a governor who presided over a cover-up of nursing-home carnage and boost a GOP group now engulfed in scandal.ShareThis story was written by David Sirota and Andrew Perez.In the chaos of 2020, the national press corps used all of its magical mythmaking and storytelling powers to conjure two towering political heroes for a country in crisis. From the maw of the media machine, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Lincoln Project emerged as our alleged sentinels bravely battling a deadly pandemic and an...…NewsletterLatest NewsNational PoliticsMiscA culture of impunity led media to celebrate a governor who presided over a cover-up of nursing-home carnage and boost a GOP group now engulfed in scandal.ShareThis story was written by David Sirota and Andrew Perez.In the chaos of 2020, the national press corps used all of its magical mythmaking and storytelling powers to conjure two towering political heroes for a country in crisis. From the maw of the media machine, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Lincoln Project emerged as our alleged sentinels bravely battling a deadly pandemic and an...WW…

This article is more than 1 year oldThis article is more than 1 year oldDemocrats argue that it’s impossible to deliver a higher minimum wage, when there are plenty of ways to overcome this impasseLast modified on Tue 22 Jun 2021 04.49 EDTA tale from history proves this latter myth is complete garbage – and that tale is newly relevant in today’s supercharged debate over a $15 minimum wage.In that debate so far, we have seen Democratic senators prepare to surrender the $15 minimum wage their party by insisting they are powerless in the face of a non-binding advisory opinion of a...…This article is more than 1 year oldThis article is more than 1 year oldDemocrats argue that it’s impossible to deliver a higher minimum wage, when there are plenty of ways to overcome this impasseLast modified on Tue 22 Jun 2021 04.49 EDTA tale from history proves this latter myth is complete garbage – and that tale is newly relevant in today’s supercharged debate over a $15 minimum wage.In that debate so far, we have seen Democratic senators prepare to surrender the $15 minimum wage their party by insisting they are powerless in the face of a non-binding advisory opinion of a...WW…

This article is more than 1 year oldThis article is more than 1 year oldAmid for Cuomo to resign, the governor and his aides are frantically trying to cover up the facts of what happenedLast modified on Tue 22 Jun 2021 04.48 EDTIn the middle of a public health emergency, he used his office to help one of his largest political donors shield itself from legal consequences as died from Covid-19 – and then he and his administration underreported that death toll, helping the same donor.The Daily Poster and had been it . The scandal is a cautionary tale of hubris, megalomania and corruption that...…This article is more than 1 year oldThis article is more than 1 year oldAmid for Cuomo to resign, the governor and his aides are frantically trying to cover up the facts of what happenedLast modified on Tue 22 Jun 2021 04.48 EDTIn the middle of a public health emergency, he used his office to help one of his largest political donors shield itself from legal consequences as died from Covid-19 – and then he and his administration underreported that death toll, helping the same donor.The Daily Poster and had been it . The scandal is a cautionary tale of hubris, megalomania and corruption that...WW…

NewsletterLatest NewsNational PoliticsMiscNew research shows stay-at-home orders and eviction bans are key — but Gov. Gavin Newsom is reopening California with a weak eviction moratorium.ShareThis report was written by Walker Bragman and David Sirota.Facing a , California’s pandemic outbreak is so out of control that public officials have had to in order to accomodate a spike in cremations. Meanwhile, public opinion data shows for keeping businesses closed to halt the outbreak.In response to the emergency, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom stay-at-home restrictions, from the state’s vaccine...…NewsletterLatest NewsNational PoliticsMiscNew research shows stay-at-home orders and eviction bans are key — but Gov. Gavin Newsom is reopening California with a weak eviction moratorium.ShareThis report was written by Walker Bragman and David Sirota.Facing a , California’s pandemic outbreak is so out of control that public officials have had to in order to accomodate a spike in cremations. Meanwhile, public opinion data shows for keeping businesses closed to halt the outbreak.In response to the emergency, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom stay-at-home restrictions, from the state’s vaccine...WW…

ShareThis story is co-published with On January 4, made an unequivocal pledge,voters that by electing to Georgia's senate seats, "you can make an immediate difference in your own lives, the lives of people all across this country because their election will put an end to the block in Washington on that $2,000 stimulus check, that money that will go out the door immediately to people who are in real trouble."Less than four weeks later:Feel familiar? We've gotten into a flux-capacitor-powered DeLorean, flown back in time and dropped ourselves into 2009.Back then, and Biden had gotten...…ShareThis story is co-published with On January 4, made an unequivocal pledge,voters that by electing to Georgia's senate seats, "you can make an immediate difference in your own lives, the lives of people all across this country because their election will put an end to the block in Washington on that $2,000 stimulus check, that money that will go out the door immediately to people who are in real trouble."Less than four weeks later:Feel familiar? We've gotten into a flux-capacitor-powered DeLorean, flown back in time and dropped ourselves into 2009.Back then, and Biden had gotten...WW…

Sharepreys on low-income communitiesBut here we are, with Georgia and its Senate races poised to decide it all.If you were writing a Hollywood screenplay about the battle over direct aid to millions of Americans, you would almost certainly have its backdrop be the Peach State and its special election.One of the senate races features Republican Kelly Loeffler, who was and appointed to the Senate. There, she quickly made after a government briefing about the pandemic, and also got herself to the panel regulating the agency that polices her husband's business empire.The other senate race...…Sharepreys on low-income communitiesBut here we are, with Georgia and its Senate races poised to decide it all.If you were writing a Hollywood screenplay about the battle over direct aid to millions of Americans, you would almost certainly have its backdrop be the Peach State and its special election.One of the senate races features Republican Kelly Loeffler, who was and appointed to the Senate. There, she quickly made after a government briefing about the pandemic, and also got herself to the panel regulating the agency that polices her husband's business empire.The other senate race...WW…

NewsletterLatest NewsNational PoliticsMiscBillionaire Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman bragged about his firm’s big earnings off high rents — and he boasted that his firm “was a huge winner coming out of the global financial crisis” in 2008.ShareThis report was written by David Sirota and Andrew PerezThe world’s largest private equity firm has campaigns against rent control and been by the United Nations of fueling a global housing crisis. Now, as millions are threatened with eviction during the pandemic, Blackstone’s top executive is openly bragging that the firm is making huge profits off...…NewsletterLatest NewsNational PoliticsMiscBillionaire Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman bragged about his firm’s big earnings off high rents — and he boasted that his firm “was a huge winner coming out of the global financial crisis” in 2008.ShareThis report was written by David Sirota and Andrew PerezThe world’s largest private equity firm has campaigns against rent control and been by the United Nations of fueling a global housing crisis. Now, as millions are threatened with eviction during the pandemic, Blackstone’s top executive is openly bragging that the firm is making huge profits off...WW…

This article is more than 1 year oldThis article is more than 1 year oldOutdated filibuster rules allow a small minority of the US population to hold the rest of the country hostageLast modified on Tue 22 Jun 2021 04.50 EDTThose who make this case seem to love sounding like erudite constitutional scholars steeped in the grandeur of American history, and they purport to be pluralists worrying about minority rights.“Letting the majority do everything it wants to is not what the founders had in mind,” said the Senate Republican whip, John Thune, in a defending the filibuster this week. “The...…This article is more than 1 year oldThis article is more than 1 year oldOutdated filibuster rules allow a small minority of the US population to hold the rest of the country hostageLast modified on Tue 22 Jun 2021 04.50 EDTThose who make this case seem to love sounding like erudite constitutional scholars steeped in the grandeur of American history, and they purport to be pluralists worrying about minority rights.“Letting the majority do everything it wants to is not what the founders had in mind,” said the Senate Republican whip, John Thune, in a defending the filibuster this week. “The...WW…