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yehbru

Senate impeachment trial: The next step in the Trump impeachment process - CNNPolitics - 0 views

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impeachment

shared by yehbru on 13 Jan 21 - No Cached
  • President Donald Trump has been impeached again -- the first leader in US history to be impeached twice by the House.
  • The House introduces and passes the articles of impeachment, but the Senate is where the person being impeached faces a trial -- and potential punishment.
  • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated he will not bring senators back until the last day of Trump's term -- January 19 -- at the earliest.
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  • This will take some days or even weeks for the group of House lawmakers who will make the case against Trump and his lawyers to answer. So a trial can't practically happen until after President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on January 20.
  • While the main penalty for a guilty verdict in an impeachment trial is removal from office, senators could vote to bar Trump from holding office in the future -- remember, he has not ruled out running for president in 2024. He could also lose his six-figure pension and other post-presidential perks.
  • While McConnell sets the schedule as Senate majority leader now, he'll lose that status as soon as the results of Georgia's January 5 Senate runoff elections are certified and the two new Democratic senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, are seated. At that point, New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer will become Senate majority leader and will have more control over the proceedings.
  • This time, McConnell, rather than protecting Trump, is said to be happy about the effort as a way to excise Trump or purge him from the GOP.
yehbru

US Capitol secured after rioters stormed the halls of Congress to block Biden's win - C... - 0 views

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Politics US Capitol Biden Trump Protestors Election

shared by yehbru on 07 Jan 21 - No Cached
  • The US Capitol is once again secured but a woman is dead after supporters of President Donald Trump breached one of the most iconic American buildings
  • About 90 minutes later, police said demonstrators got into the building and the doors to the House and Senate were being locked. Shortly after, the House floor was evacuated by police. Vice President Mike Pence was also evacuated, where he was to perform his role in the counting of electoral votes.
  • "The D.C. Guard has been mobilized to provide support to federal law enforcement in the District," said Jonathan Hoffman, the chief Pentagon spokesman. "Acting Secretary Miller has been in contact with Congressional leadership, and Secretary McCarthy has been working with the D.C. government. The law enforcement response will be led by the Department of Justice."
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  • Multiple officers have been injured with at least one transported to the hospital, multiple sources tell CNN.
  • Smoke grenades were used on the Senate side of the Capitol, as police work to clear the building of rioters. Windows on the west side of the Senate have been broken, and hundreds of officers are amassing on the first floor of the building.
  • The stunning display of insurrection was the first time the US Capitol had been overrun since the British attacked and burned the building in August of 1814, during the War of 1812, according to Samuel Holliday, director of scholarship and operations with the US Capitol Historical Society.
  • The shocking scene was met with less police force than many of the Black Lives Matter protests that rolled across the country in the wake of George Floyd's killing at the hands of Minneapolis police officers last year.
  • Flash bangs could be heard near the steps of the Capitol as smoke filled the air. In some instances officers could be seen deploying pepper spray. Tear gas was deployed, but it's not clear whether by protesters or police, and people wiped tears from their eyes while coughing.
  • Congressional leaders were being evacuated from the Capitol complex just before 5 p.m. ET and were set to be taken to Fort McNair
  • A woman is dead after being shot in the chest on the Capitol grounds, DC police confirmed to CNN. More information on the shooting was not immediately available and a police spokesperson said additional details will come later.
  • The official said DC National Guard was not anticipating to be used to protect federal facilities, and the Trump administration had decided earlier this week that would be the task of civilian law enforcement, the official said.
  • Lawmakers began returning to the Capitol after the building was secured and made it clear that they intended to resume their intended business
  • "Today, a shameful assault was made on our democracy. It was anointed at the highest level of government. It cannot, however, deter us from our responsibility to validate the election of Joe Biden," Pelosi wrote.
  • "We love you. You are very special."
  • "I know your pain, I know you're hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it. Especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace."
  • "These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!"
  • Federal and local law enforcement responded to reports of possible pipe bombs in multiple locations in Washington, DC, according to a federal law enforcement official. It's unclear if the devices are real or a hoax, but they're being treated as real.
  • The Democratic National Committee was also evacuated after a suspicious package was being investigated nearby, a Democratic source familiar with the matter told CNN.
yehbru

Los Angeles County ambulance crews told not to transport Covid-19 patients with little ... - 0 views

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Politics US Covid19 California LA Hospitals

shared by yehbru on 05 Jan 21 - No Cached
  • In a little more than a month, the county doubled its number of infections, climbing from about 400,000 cases on November 30 to more than 800,000 cases on January 2, health officials said Monday.
  • With no hospital beds available, ambulance crews in the county were given guidance not to transport patients with little chance of survival. And the patients who are transported often have to wait hours before a bed is available.
  • And a person is dying of the virus every 15 minutes, Los Angeles County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said.
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  • But Los Angeles hospitals are now at capacity and many medical facilities don't have the space to take in patients who do not have a chance of survival, the agency said. Patients whose hearts have stopped despite efforts of resuscitation, the county EMS said, should no longer be transported to hospitals.
  • "We're likely to experience the worst conditions in January that we've faced the entire pandemic, and that's hard to imagine."
  • "Given the acute need to conserve oxygen, effective immediately, EMS should only administer supplemental oxygen to patients with oxygen saturation below 90%," EMS said in a memo to ambulance crews Monday.
  • "We are waiting two to four hours minimum to a hospital and now we are having to drive even further... then wait another three hours," EMT Jimmy Webb told CNN affiliate KCAL.
yehbru

US coronavirus: California reports more than 45,000 new coronavirus cases as surge cont... - 0 views

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Politics US Trump Biden Covid19 California Vaccine

shared by yehbru on 03 Jan 21 - No Cached
  • California reported Sunday that 45,352 people newly tested positive for Covid-19, continuing a surge that has pushed hospitals and their exhausted staff to the brink.
  • Overall, at least 123,000 people nationwide were in the hospital with coronavirus on Sunday, marking more than a month that the number of hospitalizations has exceeded 100,000, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
  • As of Sunday, more than 20.4 million people have been infected with the virus in the US and at least 350,000 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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  • "This is about total collapse of the health care system if we have another spike," said Dr. Brad Spellberg
  • "And we, in the hospital, cannot stop that. We can only react to it. It is the public that has the power to put a stop to the spread of this virus by obeying the public health guidance that have been put out."
  • Dr. Leana Wen, former Baltimore Health Commissioner, told CNN the federal government needs to take a more active role in the mass vaccination efforts.
  • "If anything, this should serve as a very real reminder that the virus is widespread, and often without symptoms, and we must all be vigilant,
  • Federal government officials said they planned to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of 2020, but the results so far have fallen well short.
  • More than 13 million vaccine doses have been distributed by the federal government to states and local counties, the CDC Covid Data Tracker said. Of those, more than 4.2 million vaccine doses have been administered.
  • At Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center, 44 employees in the emergency department tested positive for the virus between December 27 and January 1, according to Irene Chavez, senior vice president and area manager.
  • So far, the vaccines approved in the US require two doses based a few weeks apart -- and the US will keep doing it that way, rather than follow the UK's decision to potentially delay second doses, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Friday.
yehbru

Dr. Jerome Adams: US surgeon general contradicts Trump on Covid-19 death toll - CNNPoli... - 0 views

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Politics US Trump Biden Covid19

shared by yehbru on 03 Jan 21 - No Cached
  • US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams on Sunday said he has "no reason to doubt" the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Covid-19 death toll, contradicting President Donald Trump's claim that the agency has "exaggerated" its numbers.
  • "From a public health perspective, I have no reason to doubt those numbers,
  • "In many areas of the country, the hospital beds are stretched. People are running out of beds, running out of trained personnel who are exhausted right now," Fauci said
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  • Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House's coronavirus task force, also pushed back against the President's claim on Sunday when asked about it, telling ABC News that "the deaths are real deaths.
  • "It's about the hospitalizations, the capacity. These cases are having an impact in an array of ways and people need to understand there's a finish line in sight, but we've got to keep running toward it."
  • Trump and Fauci have had an at-times rocky relationship during the pandemic, with the top infectious disease expert occasionally criticizing the President's actions related to the crisis and Trump openly trashing Fauci and suggesting in early November that he might fire him after the election.
  • "In 6% of the death certificates that list Covid-19, only one cause or condition is listed," the statement added. "The underlying cause of death is the condition that began the chain of events that ultimately led to the person's death. In 92% of all deaths that mention Covid-19, Covid-19 is listed as the underlying cause of death."
  • Cases have skyrocketed after the Thanksgiving holiday, and while impacts from Christmas and New Year's celebrations are still unfolding, at least 123,639 people nationwide were in the hospital with the virus on Saturday, marking 32 consecutive days that the number of hospitalizations has exceeded 100,000, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
  • Adams, when pressed Sunday about his projection in December that there would be 20 million Americans vaccinated by the end of 2020, defended the administration's handling of the rollout, even as just 4 million people in the US have been given a shot.
yehbru

Mitt Romney slams vaccine distribution roll out: 'As incomprehensible as it is inexcusa... - 0 views

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Politics US Trump Biden Mitt Romney

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  • "That comprehensive vaccination plans have not been developed at the federal level and sent to the states as models is as incomprehensible as it is inexcusable," Romney, who represents Utah, said in a statement Friday.
  • federal government's Operation Warp Speed had promised that 20 million doses would be administered before January 1. Yet data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from earlier this week shows that just over 12.4 million doses have been distributed, and only 2.79 million have actually been administered.
  • But unlike the development of the vaccines, the vaccination process itself is falling behind. It was unrealistic to assume that the health care workers already overburdened with Covid care could take on a massive vaccination program," Romeny said.
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  • "So too is the claim that CVS and Walgreens will save the day: they don't have excess personnel available to inoculate millions of Americans. Nor are they equipped to deal with the rare but serious reactions which may occur.
yehbru

US and Iran ratchet up military activity as concerns increase ahead of Soleimani killin... - 0 views

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US Politics Trump Biden Iran Military Soleimani

shared by yehbru on 03 Jan 21 - No Cached
  • The US and Iran charged each other with ratcheting up tensions in the Persian Gulf as concerns about potential conflict build days before Iran marks one year since the US assassinated its most powerful military figure and less than three weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
  • ran appealed to the UN Security Council on Thursday to stop the US from conducting what it called heightened "military adventurism" in the Gulf and the Oman Sea, including dispatching nuclear-capable bombers to the region, declaring that it did not want conflict but would defend itself if necessary.
  • Earlier this week, defense officials told CNN new intelligence showed Iran has been moving short range ballistic missiles into Iraq.
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  • President Donald Trump, who reportedly asked for military options to deal with Iran in November, tweeted last week that he will "hold Iran responsible" should any Americans be killed.
  • Those concerns come as some analysts in Washington speculate Trump could trigger a conflict with Iran to distract from his failing, baseless attempts to overturn his election loss and to complicate his successor's plans for the region.
  • "I'm genuinely concerned that the President could be thinking about saddling President-elect Biden with some kind of military operation on his way out the door," said Tom Nichols, an international affairs expert who teaches at the US Naval War College.
  • The President-elect wants to ease Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran, resume engagement and return to the Iran nuclear deal, all steps that hawks in the Trump administration vehemently oppose
  • Vinograd added, "I do think Iran will calibrate any attack associated with this anniversary because they do not want to box themselves in ahead of Biden coming into office and ostensibly restarting nuclear negotiations that would lead to the lifting of sanctions."
  • "those who took part in this assassination and crime will not be safe on earth. It's definite.
  • Nichols told CNN that tensions are climbing at a time when Trump has fired senior civilian leaders at the Pentagon, replacing them with acting officials "who really don't answer to anybody but Donald Trump."
  • "Iran is a real problem. I mean, the President may well have to do something. ... The problem here is that Donald Trump, given the way he's governed for four years, simply has not earned the benefit of the doubt on these kinds of actions."
  • The Iranian letter said that while "Iran does not seek conflict, our ability and resolute determination to protect our people, to defend our security, sovereignty, territorial integrity and vital interests as well as to respond decisively to any threat or use of force against Iran must not be underestimated."
yehbru

Fox News Poll: Voters say US failed to take coronavirus threat seriously enough | Fox News - 0 views

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US Politics Trump Biden Election Coronavirus Pandemic

shared by yehbru on 03 Jan 21 - No Cached
  • fewer than one in five says the virus is under control.  In addition, the number planning to get vaccinated is up to 61 percent
  • Fifty-six percent feel that the U.S. did not take the threat posed by coronavirus seriously enough.  That includes 34 percent of Republicans and 72 percent of Democrats.
  • Twenty-three percent say the country reacted appropriately, while almost as many there was an overreaction
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  • Half of voters, 50 percent, say coronavirus is “not at all” under control, up 17 points from 33 percent who felt that way six months ago (June 2020)
  • Far more favor how Dr. Anthony Fauci responded to the pandemic than President Donald Trump.  By a 50-point margin, voters approve of Fauci (73 percent approve vs. 23 percent disapprove).  By an 11-point margin, they disapprove of Trump (44-55 percent). 
  •   The increase toward inoculation comes mostly from women (+11), those ages 65 and over (+14), and Black voters (+25). 
  • More men (66 percent) than women (57 percent), more Whites (63 percent) than Blacks (52 percent), and more seniors (74 percent) than those under age 35 (49 percent) plan to get the shot. 
  • Democrats (75 percent) are much more likely than Republicans (49 percent) to report they will get vaccinated
  • the top reasons include that its development was rushed (23 percent), a lack of trust it will work (21 percent), opposition to vaccines generally (13 percent), distrust of the government (10 percent), and concern about side effects (9 percent).
  • Views are mixed on the $900 billion dollar coronavirus relief package being considered by Congress.  Twice as many think that is too little (35 percent) as say too much (19 percent).  One-third (33 percent) thinks the amount is “about right.” 
yehbru

Pence Backs Republican Lawmakers' Plan To Object To Electoral College Results : Biden T... - 0 views

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US Politics Trump Biden Election Voting Democrats Republicans Electoral College

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  • A group of Republicans has announced plans to reject presidential electors from states they consider disputed if Congress doesn't create a commission to investigate their claims of fraud.
  • The move will not alter Biden's path to assuming the presidency but will draw out a normally routine process.
  • Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Steve Daines of Montana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Mike Braun of Indiana issued a joint statement Saturday claiming "unprecedented allegations of voter fraud, violations and lax enforcement of election law, and other voting irregularities."
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  • They were joined by Sens.-elect Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
  • "Accordingly, we intend to vote on January 6 to reject the electors from disputed states as not 'regularly given' and 'lawfully certified' (the statutory requisite), unless and until that emergency 10-day audit is completed," the statement goes on to say.
  • President Trump and his legal team have targeted several states, including Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, in their attempts to overturn the election. But their legal efforts all failed because they couldn't provide clear evidence of fraud or misconduct in the 2020 election.
  • Brooks has said that more than 30 members of Congress plan to challenge the results.
  • None of the lawmakers has provided evidence to back up their concerns.
  • "The courts and state legislatures have all honored their duty to hear legal allegations and have found nothing to warrant overturning the results," Murkowski said.
  • And on Saturday evening, Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah harshly condemned the effort of fellow Republicans, calling it an "egregious ploy" that "dangerously threatens our Democratic Republic."
yehbru

Trump Pressured Georgia Official to 'Find' Enough Votes to Overturn Election - The New ... - 0 views

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US Politics Trump Biden Election Voting Democrats Republicans Georgia

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  • President Trump demanded that Georgia’s Republican secretary of state “find” him enough votes to overturn the presidential election, and vaguely threatened him with “a criminal offense,
  • “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Mr. Trump said on the call, a recording of which was obtained by The Washington Post, which published excerpts from the audio on its website Sunday. “Because we won the state.”
  • Mr. Raffensperger rejected the president’s efforts to get him to reverse the election results, which are set to be certified by Congress during a session on Wednesday.
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  • “Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong,” he said
  • During the call, the president offered several false conspiracy theories, including debunked charges that ballots in Fulton County were shredded and that voting machines operated by Dominion Voting Systems were tampered with and replaced.
  • Then the president suggested that Mr. Raffensperger could be prosecuted criminally.
  • “You know what they did and you’re not reporting it,” the president said. “You know, that’s a criminal — that’s a criminal offense. And you know, you can’t let that happen. That’s a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer. That’s a big risk.”
  • Mr. Raffensperger wrote: “Respectfully, President Trump: What you’re saying is not true. The truth will come out.”
yehbru

Republican efforts to undermine Biden victory expose growing anti-democratic streak - C... - 0 views

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US Politics Trump Biden Election Voting Democrats Republicans

shared by yehbru on 03 Jan 21 - No Cached
  • The scattershot efforts to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's election victory are coalescing into a movement led by top Republicans determined to exploit a manufactured crisis for broader political gains.
  • Nearly a dozen more GOP senators, a handful of whom will be sworn-in Sunday, have now announced they will challenge Biden's clear Electoral College win over President Donald Trump next week during what has traditionally been a ceremonial exercise on Capitol Hill.
  • The President is, predictably, cheering on the charade. And in a taped phone conversation on Saturday, reported by The Washington Post, encouraged Georgia's top elections official to "find" enough votes to overturn Biden's victory in the state.
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  • Vice President Mike Pence -- who has sought to keep a safe distance from the more inflammatory claims and behavior of fellow Republicans while subtly egging them on when it suits him -- has also welcomed congressional Republicans' challenge
  • "All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state."
  • "There's nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you've recalculated," Trump told Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger
  • The announcement Saturday from Republican senators and senators-elect cut deeper and, framed in a maddening circular logic, argued that Congress should commission an "emergency 10-day audit" of results from "disputed states" because of the volume of "allegations of voter fraud, violations and lax enforcement of election law, and other voting irregularities."
  • The group's citation of a poll that underscores voters' distrust in the election process ignores Trump's role in ginning up an increasingly paranoiac strain of conservatism
  • The process in his state, which the President won, had met a "high bar," he insisted, before suggesting that other states had a responsibility to "restore" the confidence that the leaders of his own party had spent so much time trying to break.
  • Notably, none of the officials who signed the Saturday statement, nor any of what could be as many as 140 allies in the House, have suggested that the election fraud that so concerns them might have also affected their own races.
  • Trump again attacked Raffensperger Sunday morning, before their phone call became public, complaining in a tweet that the Georgia Republican had not turned up evidence of nonexistent voter fraud.
  • Trump has called on Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, also a Republican, to resign after repeated recounts of the presidential vote there confirmed Biden's narrow win.
  • Kemp is one of a handful of Republicans to speak out against Trump's behavior. Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, who is retiring in 2022, has also been critical of his GOP colleagues' rhetoric and, on Saturday, responded to the new announcement with a sharp rebuke of the senators involved.
  • Biden's success in Pennsylvania, Toomey concluded, said little about the election process and could be "easily explained by the decline in suburban support for President Trump and the President's slightly smaller victory margins in most rural counties."
  • The vice president, through Justice Department lawyers, pushed back against a lawsuit filed by Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert and Arizona Republicans that sought to give Pence the power to effectively dump the electoral college results and hand reelection to Trump. The suit was dismissed, for a lack of standing, by a federal judge on Friday night.
  • "Vice President Pence shares the concerns of millions of Americans about voter fraud and irregularities in the last election," Pence chief of staff Marc Short said in a statement. "The Vice President welcomes the efforts of members of the House and Senate to use the authority they have under the law to raise objections and bring forward evidence before the Congress and the American people on January 6th."
  • "They could not and would not give credence to what they know is not true," Biden said. "They knew this election was overseen, it was honest, it was free and it was fair. They saw it with their own eyes, and they wouldn't be bullied into saying anything different."
  • Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with the Democrats and was Biden's toughest competition in the 2020 party primary, called the effort "pathetic" and its aims "unconstitutional."
  • "What all of this comes down to is that Donald Trump and right wing extremists are refusing to accept the will of the people and the fact that Trump lost the election," Sanders said in a statement. "In their contempt for democracy, they are using lies and conspiracy theories about 'voter fraud' in an attempt to overturn the election results."
yehbru

Georgia Senate runoffs: How Democrats may make history - CNNPolitics - 0 views

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US Politics Trump Senate Democrats Georgia Republicans Voters

shared by yehbru on 03 Jan 21 - No Cached
  • In the race for the full six-year term, Democrat Jon Ossoff is at 49% to Republican Sen. David Perdue's 48%.
  • In the special Senate election, Democrat Raphael Warnock is at 50% to Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler's 48%.
  • If Democrats win both runoffs in Georgia, they get 50 seats overall and a majority on January 20 with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris breaking a 50-50 tie. If Republicans win either seat, they will hold the Senate majority.
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  • Indeed, this election isn't just about Georgia and the Senate majority. It's about Trump's legacy. If Republicans lose in Georgia, Trump will be to blame
  • It's hard not to assign Perdue and Loeffler's troubles at least partially to Trump. He was the weak link for Republicans running statewide in Georgia this past year. He lost by 0.2 points and his margin was more than a point worse than the Republican candidates in both Senate races.
  • Meanwhile, turnout in the more White rural areas of the state has been lagging
  • As it turns out, the turnout level for these runoffs (over 3 million voters) has already exceeded that of any statewide Georgia runoff by about a million voters. Keep in mind, this has occurred with voting on the day of the election still to occur.
  • But so far, the turnout swing seems to be favoring Democrats. Black voters have consistently been making up 3 to 4 points more of voters through the early voting period than they did at the equivalent points in the general election.
  • He has attacked Georgia's November election as fraudulent without any proof and gone after the Republican governor and secretary of state. He elevated the issue of $2,000 stimulus checks and has allowed Ossoff and Warnock to point out that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made it hard for such a stimulus to pass through the Senate. (The stimulus is popular.)
  • If Republicans hold onto even one of their Senate seats in Georgia, Trump perhaps isn't as toxic to Republicans as some might assume. No doubt, you'd hear Trump trumpet a Republican win in Georgia for months to come.
yehbru

Senate Democrats push for $2,000 stimulus checks as clock winds down on 116th Congress ... - 0 views

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US Politics Trump House Senate Stimulus Checks Democrats Sanders Congress

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  • Senate Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont pushed, without success, for a Senate vote on $2,000 stimulus checks Friday as the clock winds down on the 116th Congress.
  • Senate Republicans, who have largely argued that increasing stimulus checks to $2,000 would not be the kind of "targeted relief" necessary to respond to the economic distress caused by the pandemic, despite the fact that President Donald Trump has called for that amount.
  • "The Senate can start off this new year by adding to that sense of hope by sending $2,000 checks to struggling American families."
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  • The legislation's approval in the House came after Trump signed a sweeping coronavirus relief bill into law Sunday evening. That measure, which was negotiated on a bipartisan basis, provides for $600 in direct payments, but after a deal was brokered and passed out of Congress
  • "This proposal is a shot-gun approach," the South Dakota Republican said, adding, "If you really want to help people who need this the most at a time when we are running a $26 trillion debt borrowing every penny that we're making available to do this, we ought to sit down and figure out the most efficient, effective, targeted way possible. This absolutely does not do that."
  • Sanders this time tried to convince Republicans not to object by also calling for a vote on McConnell's alternative bill, which would combine increased direct payments with a repeal of the online liability protections known as Section 230 and the establishment of a commission to study voter fraud, for which there has been no evidence.
  • Hawley reminded senators that Trump backs $2,000 checks, expressing frustration it hasn't come up for a vote. "The President of the United States said that's the level he supported ... this is the number he has asked for .. and yet we can't even seem to get a vote on it."
  • "A mother in Virginia wrote: $2,000 means I can afford to feed my three kids. Now maybe we should give her a long lecture on macroeconomics and how well the stock market is doing,"
  • "These are working people. ... and all that they ask for, as I have said many times on this floor before, is a chance to get back up on their feet and be able to provide for their families, and I can't for the life of me understand why we cannot get so much as a vote on these bills," Hawley said.
yehbru

How Trump made people care about politics again - CNNPolitics - 0 views

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US Politics Trump Voting Biden Donations House

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  • Record numbers of Americans felt strongly favorable or unfavorable toward Trump during his time in office. (The strongly favorable and unfavorable was 71% in a Fox News poll last month, for instance.)
  • Trump's presidency drove historic turnout and record donations to political campaigns in a country whose voters have often shown a disinterest in politics.
  • The 2020 campaign, by comparison, had a little less than 160 million voters participate
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  • Just 51.7% of the voting-eligible population cast a ballot, according to the US Elections Project. That was the lowest since 18-year-olds got the vote before the 1972 election. In raw numbers, a little more than 96 million voters decided to take part in that year's presidential election.
  • Half of the voter-eligible population turned out to vote in 2018. This 50.0% turnout rate was more than 13 points higher than in 2014 (36.7%). In raw numbers, nearly 120 million turned out in 2018 compared to only a little more than 80 million in 2014.
  • What's amazing is how far back you have to go to beat 66.7% for a turnout rate in a presidential election. There wasn't a higher turnout rate in either the 20th or 21st century.
  • the US Elections Project estimates a turnout rate of 66.7% of the voting-eligible population.
  • The strong feelings toward Trump also drove record donations to political candidates up and down the ballot.
  • Through November 30, 2020, the FEC reports that nearly $24 billion was raised by federal candidates, PACs and party committees during the 2020 election cycle. No other year comes anywhere close to that total. For comparison, a little more than $9 billion was raised by federal candidates, PACs and party committees during the 2016 election cycle.
  • Looking just at the presidential candidates, over $4 billion was taken in. Never before had more than $2 billion been raised.
  • In the House races, candidates raised $1.9 billion. Again, that's a record for any cycle. The next highest total was in 2018 with Trump in the White House. During the midterm cycle, $1.7 billion was raised by House candidates.
  • The interest in elections during the past four years isn't just about Trump the individual. It's about everything around Trump and everything that can strengthen or lessen the power he has.
yehbru

Senate Overrides Trump's Veto of Defense Bill, Dealing a Legislative Blow - The New Yor... - 0 views

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Senate Trump Politics US Veto Defense Bill

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  • The Senate on Friday voted overwhelmingly to override President Trump’s veto of the annual military policy bill as most Republicans joined Democrats to rebuke Mr. Trump in the final days of his presidency.
  • The vote ended a devastating legislative week for Mr. Trump, effectively denying him two of the last demands of his presidency. Senate Republican leaders on Wednesday had declared that there was “no realistic path” for a vote on increasing stimulus checks to $2,000 from the current $600, a measure Mr. Trump had pressed lawmakers to take up.
  • He called the legislation “a tremendous opportunity to direct our national security priorities to reflect the resolve of the American people.”
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  • “This year especially so, in light of all of the disruptions and problems that we’ve had,” Mr. Inhofe said.
  • He also demanded that the bill include the repeal of what is known as Section 230, a legal shield for social media companies that he has tangled with. Republicans and Democrats alike have said that the repeal, a significant legislative change, is irrelevant to a bill that dictates military policy.
  • Those objections, registered late in the legislative process, infuriated lawmakers, who had labored for months to put together a bipartisan bill
  • Republicans have also divided over supporting the president’s determination to make one last and futile attempt to overturn the 2020 election results in Congress next week.
  • Lawmakers over the past four years tried but failed to override Mr. Trump’s vetoes of legislation cutting off arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf nations, and to overturn his emergency declaration at the southwestern border.
  • But his attempt to derail the widely popular defense bill, seen by lawmakers in both parties as an opportunity to secure wins for their communities and support the military, proved to be a bridge too far.
  • Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, tried on Friday to take up Mr. Trump’s demand to increase the size of pandemic relief checks to $2,000.
  • The bill contains a 3 percent increase in pay for service members and a boost in hazardous duty incentive pay, new benefits for tens of thousands of Vietnam-era veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange and a landmark provision aimed at preventing the use of shell companies to evade anti-money-laundering rules.
  • The last time Congress overrode a presidential veto was in 2016, the final year of Barack Obama’s presidency, after he vetoed legislation allowing families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to sue the government of Saudi Arabia.
yehbru

Worker Visas: Trump Extends Freeze Until March : NPR - 0 views

www.npr.org/...ds-freeze-on-many-worker-visas

Covid19 US Politics Work Visa Trump Biden Labor

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  • President Trump is extending a freeze on new temporary work visas for tech and other highly skilled workers.
  • The extension means hundreds of thousands of foreigners looking to work in the United States will continue to have to wait until at least the end of March before having another chance to attain coveted visas to enter the country.
  • Trump signed the original proclamation in June, citing the need to protect the U.S. labor force during the coronavirus pandemic.
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  • The halt was set to expire Thursday, and there was a clash within the White House about what to do about the expiring moratorium.
  • It was aggressively opposed by business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Associations of Manufacturers, which filed lawsuits and argued it hurt U.S. economic interests.
  • RJ Hauman, head of government relations at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said Americans should take note if Biden tries to lift the moratorium prematurely.
  • "While the unemployment rate has fallen, too many Americans are still looking for work and the economic impact outlook remains bleak,"
yehbru

Florida Becomes 3rd U.S. State To Identify New Coronavirus Variant : Coronavirus Update... - 0 views

www.npr.org/...entify-new-coronavirus-variant

Covid19 US Pandemic Variation Florida

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  • Florida is the third U.S. state to announce it has a case of the more contagious coronavirus strain that first emerged in the United Kingdom.
  • The man's diagnosis follows a similar case identified in California on Wednesday in which a male patient, also in his 20s, had not spent any time outside of the U.S. in the weeks prior to his illness.
  • The first two cases in the U.S. also adhere to that pattern. Two male members of the Colorado National Guard tested positive for the new strain — referred to as B.1.1.7 or VUI-202012/01
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  • Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, on Wednesday said that he expected the new variant is likely present in multiple states.
  • Referring to reports of the mutation in California, Fauci said, "This is something that's expected."
  • There is no evidence to suggest the new strain is more deadly, nor is there research suggesting it is impervious to the effects of the vaccines that are being administered across the country.
  • Earlier this month, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis told Floridians they should not expect any additional lockdowns or mask mandates during the pandemic, saying such measures are "totally off the table."
  • Officials say Florida has had over 1,300,000 cases of the coronavirus and more than 21,000 deaths.
yehbru

U.S. Rings In New Year With Subdued Celebrations : NPR - 0 views

www.npr.org/...year-with-subdued-celebrations

Covid19 US Pandemic Politics Lockdown Restrictions New Years

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  • In the days leading up to New Year's Eve, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged people to find an alternative option for celebrating the holiday — with an aim to avoid large crowds and indoor gatherings
  • Many cities made it easy for residents to stay home by implementing lockdown measures. The restrictions left the normally bustling Times Square in New York City and the Las Vegas Strip nearly empty.
  • But this year just a few invited frontline health workers gathered in socially distanced pods. The city closed Times Square to the public and police patrolled the area to prevent any revelers from entering.
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  • "The restricted access decision was made out of an abundance of caution to protect the health and safety of our guests, employees and community," the Freemont Street Experience webpage read.
  • Meanwhile, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the city's existing midnight curfew would be extended to 1 a.m. on New Year's Eve, giving revelers the opportunity to visit bars and restaurants a bit later.
  • Event coordinator Corky Dozier told the paper: "No fireworks, nothing, not this year, which would have been our 35th anniversary. The orange even went up even after 9/11, but we just can't take the chance."
yehbru

Pharmacist Arrested, Accused Of Destroying More Than 500 Moderna Vaccine Doses : NPR - 0 views

www.npr.org/...than-500-moderna-vaccine-doses

vaccine pandemic

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  • A Milwaukee pharmacist was arrested Thursday and accused of "tampering with and causing the destruction" of more than 550 doses of the Moderna vaccine against the coronavirus last week, Grafton, Wis., police confirmed.
  • was arrested on recommended charges of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, adulterating a prescription drug and criminal damage to property.
  • The Moderna vials must be stored between 36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit. They can remain effective for up to 12 hours if left at room temperature. Beyond that, the drug is rendered useless.
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  • Officials said that in a written statement to Aurora Health public safety officials, the pharmacist responsible admitted "to intentionally removing the vaccine knowing that if not properly stored the vaccine would be ineffective."
  • Chief Aurora Medical Group Officer Jeff Bahr told reporters that the former employee deliberately removed the vials from refrigeration on two separate occasions — on Dec. 24 overnight, then returning them to proper storage, and then again on Dec. 25 into Saturday morning.
  • As a result, health care workers were forced to throw out about 570 doses of vaccine. However, some people were given the medicine that had been left out.
  • Grafton police detectives reported 57 patients received those injections. Bahr said those vaccines were rendered potentially less effective or altogether ineffective. The patients, who have been notified, are not at any risk of adverse health effects because the doses were left out, he noted.
  • The value of the spoiled doses is estimated to be between $8,000 and $11,000.
yehbru

Opinion: The one unforgivable thing about the Covid-19 response - CNN - 0 views

www.cnn.com/...index.html

Trump Biden Covid Pandemic Vaccine US Politics

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  • The first case of Covid-19 in the United States was reported 11 months ago, on January 20, 2020. Since that time, more than 18 million Americans have been diagnosed and more than 329,000 have died.
  • The trouble started first in the Northeast during the spring, and then spread in other major urban areas, quickly overwhelming hospitals and nursing homes. High death rates were due in part to a lack of knowledge on how to treat the infection.
  • This last upturn in cases, unlike the first two, has not waned. Instead, the spread of the virus has only accelerated, with the nation going into Covid-19 overdrive in the last month. The rate of new cases and deaths across the country makes it impossible now to attribute a single cause to the alarming surge.
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  • Covid-19 is crushing the healthcare system, with the California Department of Public Health reporting around 39,000 daily new cases and hundreds of deaths a day as of December 23
  • First and foremost, it is important to adhere to the key public health measures: masks, social distancing, avoidance of crowds. This approach remains effective, even if it has been adopted unevenly across the country. After 11 months, however, adhering to these measures can be extremely tedious and at times seemingly intolerable -- even for the most ardent public health fans, including myself.
  • Yes, it has given hope to the world, but it also may seduce people into thinking wrongly that it will be OK to ease up on preventative measures before the vaccine is widely available.
  • Forgoing masks and social distancing will only compound this national tragedy. We are currently seeing roughly 200,000 daily new cases and more than 2,500 deaths in the U.S. per day
  • Of the Trump administration's many Covid-19 failures, its inability to develop a modern, convenient and reliable national testing program is the most unforgivable.
  • Germany and South Korea have made this the cornerstone of their effective control programs, while Hong Kong has placed test kit vending machines in subway stations. And professional sport leagues have made testing several times a week a core approach to their containment strategy.
  • Yet we are only performing averages of less than 2 million tests per day in the U.S. While this is about double the rate in September, it still falls far short of what is necessary. In April, experts called for at least 5 million tests a day by early June to ensure a safe social opening, and 20 million tests a day by mid-summer to remobilize the economy. Others have hoped for even more aggressive goals to "test nearly everyone, nearly every day."
  • President-elect Joe Biden appears to understand the value of this strategy, which could bridge the many vulnerable months between now and the development of vaccine-induced herd immunity.
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