Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement It was another in an unrelenting procession of Zoom fundraisers — the script familiar, the donors determined not to be deterred by technical glitches, and the candidate about to go through the motions — when Joe Biden revealed an expression of shock.“Wow,” he said as the camera flicked to him on his side porch, blooming flowers in the background. The event’s hosts — California Sen. Kamala Harris and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis — had just revealed that the hourlong exchange Tuesday evening would net his campaign $3.5 million.It was a...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement It was another in an unrelenting procession of Zoom fundraisers — the script familiar, the donors determined not to be deterred by technical glitches, and the candidate about to go through the motions — when Joe Biden revealed an expression of shock.“Wow,” he said as the camera flicked to him on his side porch, blooming flowers in the background. The event’s hosts — California Sen. Kamala Harris and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis — had just revealed that the hourlong exchange Tuesday evening would net his campaign $3.5 million.It was a...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement It is a big promise from Silicon Valley to a nation looking for ways to be freed from home confinement: Smartphones could discreetly detect those who may have COVID-19 and nudge them to quarantine, blunting renewed outbreaks as Americans start to once again venture out.But as tech firms lay the foundation for a potentially massive digital contact-tracing infrastructure, Washington is grappling with whether such technology can work without becoming a hulking, invasive surveillance system.It is a vexing problem that could leave...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement It is a big promise from Silicon Valley to a nation looking for ways to be freed from home confinement: Smartphones could discreetly detect those who may have COVID-19 and nudge them to quarantine, blunting renewed outbreaks as Americans start to once again venture out.But as tech firms lay the foundation for a potentially massive digital contact-tracing infrastructure, Washington is grappling with whether such technology can work without becoming a hulking, invasive surveillance system.It is a vexing problem that could leave...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement As Democrats hastily rewrite their playbook for the pandemic era, targeting voter anxieties that now include medical testing, corporate bailouts and collapsing supply chains, one chapter is proving unexpectedly resonant. Its working title could be “Don’t Mess with USPS.”The financially imperiled post office — long a punching bag for the right — has become a surprisingly potent and resilient symbol for a anxious for unifying causes. President Trump’s persistent attacks on the institution amid the public health crisis, and his vows to...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement As Democrats hastily rewrite their playbook for the pandemic era, targeting voter anxieties that now include medical testing, corporate bailouts and collapsing supply chains, one chapter is proving unexpectedly resonant. Its working title could be “Don’t Mess with USPS.”The financially imperiled post office — long a punching bag for the right — has become a surprisingly potent and resilient symbol for a anxious for unifying causes. President Trump’s persistent attacks on the institution amid the public health crisis, and his vows to...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement As Joe Biden struggles to build on his narrow lead in the industrial Midwest states that favored Donald Trump four years ago, his campaign is increasingly focusing much farther west — on a former Republican stronghold that could prove crucial for Democrats in the fall.Arizona is fast becoming a central target of the Biden campaign as Trump . Its electorate is being reshaped, with suburban Republicans , Latinos poised to vote Democratic in record numbers and an influx of progressive newcomers from California.“We believe there will be...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement As Joe Biden struggles to build on his narrow lead in the industrial Midwest states that favored Donald Trump four years ago, his campaign is increasingly focusing much farther west — on a former Republican stronghold that could prove crucial for Democrats in the fall.Arizona is fast becoming a central target of the Biden campaign as Trump . Its electorate is being reshaped, with suburban Republicans , Latinos poised to vote Democratic in record numbers and an influx of progressive newcomers from California.“We believe there will be...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Solar panels, wind turbines and electric cars will go far in helping California and the Biden administration meet their — but not far enough. As time runs short, scientists and government officials say the moment to break out the giant vacuums has arrived.The art of industrial-scale carbon removal — sucking emissions from the atmosphere and storing them underground — has long been an circles: too expensive, too controversial, too unproven.But as the deadline to avert climate catastrophe barrels nearer, the Biden administration is making the...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Solar panels, wind turbines and electric cars will go far in helping California and the Biden administration meet their — but not far enough. As time runs short, scientists and government officials say the moment to break out the giant vacuums has arrived.The art of industrial-scale carbon removal — sucking emissions from the atmosphere and storing them underground — has long been an circles: too expensive, too controversial, too unproven.But as the deadline to avert climate catastrophe barrels nearer, the Biden administration is making the...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement It was tough enough for fossil fuel boosters in Texas to endure the spectacular , and with it all their claims of energy superiority over rival California.But now Congress is delivering a fresh indignity to the Lone Star State: The House Oversight Committee investigation into its power failures is being led by a . There may be nobody in Congress who more personifies the California ethos Texas Republicans so loathe than Rep. Ro Khanna of Fremont, a wonky green energy champion, ally of West Coast innovators and regular on...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement It was tough enough for fossil fuel boosters in Texas to endure the spectacular , and with it all their claims of energy superiority over rival California.But now Congress is delivering a fresh indignity to the Lone Star State: The House Oversight Committee investigation into its power failures is being led by a . There may be nobody in Congress who more personifies the California ethos Texas Republicans so loathe than Rep. Ro Khanna of Fremont, a wonky green energy champion, ally of West Coast innovators and regular on...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement As early this year, Republicans warned of a menace they feared would be unleashed on America if they lost power: Bernie Sanders would call the shots over the federal budget. The reality for them may be even worse than they anticipated.The longtime , and cantankerous gadfly is proving shrewd at playing the inside game from his powerful new perch atop the Senate Budget Committee. His fingerprints are all over the package The who once encapsulated his time in Congress by writing a book titled has now become the consummate insider in the...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement As early this year, Republicans warned of a menace they feared would be unleashed on America if they lost power: Bernie Sanders would call the shots over the federal budget. The reality for them may be even worse than they anticipated.The longtime , and cantankerous gadfly is proving shrewd at playing the inside game from his powerful new perch atop the Senate Budget Committee. His fingerprints are all over the package The who once encapsulated his time in Congress by writing a book titled has now become the consummate insider in the...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Breaking News Advertisement In an era when opposition lawmakers instinctively use confirmation hearings to hobble new presidencies, disqualifying at least one Cabinet nominee in the first 100 days of every administration since George H.W. Bush took office, Republicans are confident they have a ripe target in Xavier Becerra.The GOP is fixated on rejecting President Biden’s pick to helm the Department of Health and Human Services, but not for the type of personal failings that typically doom early nominees. It is Becerra’s perceived political and...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Breaking News Advertisement In an era when opposition lawmakers instinctively use confirmation hearings to hobble new presidencies, disqualifying at least one Cabinet nominee in the first 100 days of every administration since George H.W. Bush took office, Republicans are confident they have a ripe target in Xavier Becerra.The GOP is fixated on rejecting President Biden’s pick to helm the Department of Health and Human Services, but not for the type of personal failings that typically doom early nominees. It is Becerra’s perceived political and...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Breaking News Advertisement After four years of being who worked overtime to California and , the state is suddenly center stage again in Washington’s policy arena. California is emerging as the de facto policy think tank of the Biden-Harris administration and of a Congress soon to be under Democratic control. That’s rekindling past cliches about the state — , premier laboratory of democracy, land of big ideas — even as it struggles with surging COVID-19 infections, a safety net frayed by the pandemic’s toll, crushing housing costs and wildfires,...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Breaking News Advertisement After four years of being who worked overtime to California and , the state is suddenly center stage again in Washington’s policy arena. California is emerging as the de facto policy think tank of the Biden-Harris administration and of a Congress soon to be under Democratic control. That’s rekindling past cliches about the state — , premier laboratory of democracy, land of big ideas — even as it struggles with surging COVID-19 infections, a safety net frayed by the pandemic’s toll, crushing housing costs and wildfires,...WW…

Copyright © 2020, Los Angeles Times | | | |AdvertisementThe electoral college made official on Monday the victory that voters gave to Joe Biden weeks ago — with the California delegation’s 55 votes clinching it — after the typically little-noted event became a flashpoint for yet more anxiety and drama because of President Trump’s desperate efforts to cling to power.The president failed to hijack the in all 50 states’ capitals, which for more than a century stood out only for how little attention or controversy it drew. He could’t stop Hillary and Bill Clinton, designated electors in New...…Copyright © 2020, Los Angeles Times | | | |AdvertisementThe electoral college made official on Monday the victory that voters gave to Joe Biden weeks ago — with the California delegation’s 55 votes clinching it — after the typically little-noted event became a flashpoint for yet more anxiety and drama because of President Trump’s desperate efforts to cling to power.The president failed to hijack the in all 50 states’ capitals, which for more than a century stood out only for how little attention or controversy it drew. He could’t stop Hillary and Bill Clinton, designated electors in New...WW…