SubscribeThis 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 might have been serious when he promised a room full of wealthy donors that about the...…SubscribeThis 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 might have been serious when he promised a room full of wealthy donors that about the...WW…

In US politics today, the conservative Democratic senator seems to have all the power and is more than happy to wield itMon 8 Mar 2021 10.42 ESTLast modified on Mon 8 Mar 2021 10.43 ESTBut 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 filibuster, they would still need Manchin’s stamp of...…In US politics today, the conservative Democratic senator seems to have all the power and is more than happy to wield itMon 8 Mar 2021 10.42 ESTLast modified on Mon 8 Mar 2021 10.43 ESTBut 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 filibuster, they would still need Manchin’s stamp of...WW…

SubscribeThis 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 authoritarian president — and supposedly leading us with principles and morality into a new era of accountability and integrity. For millions of credulous liberals already , the twin tales conjured...…SubscribeThis 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 authoritarian president — and supposedly leading us with principles and morality into a new era of accountability and integrity. For millions of credulous liberals already , the twin tales conjured...WW…

Democrats argue that it’s impossible to deliver a higher minimum wage, when there are plenty of ways to overcome this impasseMon 1 Mar 2021 06.11 ESTLast modified on Mon 1 Mar 2021 08.21 ESTA 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 parliamentarian they can or .That explanation is and , so...…Democrats argue that it’s impossible to deliver a higher minimum wage, when there are plenty of ways to overcome this impasseMon 1 Mar 2021 06.11 ESTLast modified on Mon 1 Mar 2021 08.21 ESTA 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 parliamentarian they can or .That explanation is and , so...WW…

Amid for Cuomo to resign, the governor and his aides are frantically trying to cover up the facts of what happenedThu 18 Feb 2021 06.10 ESTLast modified on Thu 18 Feb 2021 08.14 ESTIn 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 left a literal of preventable Covid-19 deaths...…Amid for Cuomo to resign, the governor and his aides are frantically trying to cover up the facts of what happenedThu 18 Feb 2021 06.10 ESTLast modified on Thu 18 Feb 2021 08.14 ESTIn 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 left a literal of preventable Covid-19 deaths...WW…

Facing a virulent new strain of coronavirus, California’s pandemic outbreak is so out of control that public officials have had to lift air pollution regulations in order to accomodate a spike in cremations. Meanwhile, public opinion data shows widespread support for keeping businesses closed to halt the outbreak. In response to the emergency, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is lifting stay-at-home restrictions, removing essential workers from the state’s vaccine priority list, and championing a complex deal that extends the state’s expiring partial eviction moratorium but still allows...…Facing a virulent new strain of coronavirus, California’s pandemic outbreak is so out of control that public officials have had to lift air pollution regulations in order to accomodate a spike in cremations. Meanwhile, public opinion data shows widespread support for keeping businesses closed to halt the outbreak. In response to the emergency, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is lifting stay-at-home restrictions, removing essential workers from the state’s vaccine priority list, and championing a complex deal that extends the state’s expiring partial eviction moratorium but still allows...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…

Billionaire 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. The world’s largest private equity firm has bankrolled campaigns against rent control and been accused 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 of rent increases. At the Goldman Sachs’ Financial Services Conference on...…Billionaire 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. The world’s largest private equity firm has bankrolled campaigns against rent control and been accused 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 of rent increases. At the Goldman Sachs’ Financial Services Conference on...WW…

Outdated filibuster rules allow a small minority of the US population to hold the rest of the country hostageFri 26 Mar 2021 06.20 EDTLast modified on Fri 26 Mar 2021 06.37 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 founders recognized that it wasn’t just kings who...…Outdated filibuster rules allow a small minority of the US population to hold the rest of the country hostageFri 26 Mar 2021 06.20 EDTLast modified on Fri 26 Mar 2021 06.37 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 founders recognized that it wasn’t just kings who...WW…