Good Day, Gnusies — Happy Wednesday! I’’m running late tonight so let’s get straight to the news!
Biden administration to launch massive funeral assistance program for covid victims, Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post, April 6, 2021.
The Biden administration next week will launch a funeral assistance program that will provide up to $9,000 to cover the burial costs of each American who died of covid-19 — the largest program of its type ever offered by the federal government. The program is open to families regardless of their income, as long as they show documentation and have not already received similar benefits through another program. Because the number of people who will be eligible is not known, neither is the program’s ultimate cost — but it will easily be several billion dollars. FEMA is setting up a dedicated toll-free hotline — 1-844-684-6333 — and a call center to answer questions about the program and take applications starting Monday, April 12. “Although we cannot change what has happened, we affirm our commitment to help with funeral and burial expenses that many families did not anticipate,” acting FEMA administrator Bob Fenton said in a statement.
The Biden administration next week will launch a funeral assistance program that will provide up to $9,000 to cover the burial costs of each American who died of covid-19 — the largest program of its type ever offered by the federal government.
The program is open to families regardless of their income, as long as they show documentation and have not already received similar benefits through another program.
Because the number of people who will be eligible is not known, neither is the program’s ultimate cost — but it will easily be several billion dollars. FEMA is setting up a dedicated toll-free hotline — 1-844-684-6333 — and a call center to answer questions about the program and take applications starting Monday, April 12.
“Although we cannot change what has happened, we affirm our commitment to help with funeral and burial expenses that many families did not anticipate,” acting FEMA administrator Bob Fenton said in a statement.
Ignore the annoying title (“spending spree” 😏), there’s a lot of good truth being spoken here: The Meaning of the Democrats’ Spending Spree, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, The New Yorker, April 6, 2021.
Nearly a year after he pulled out a surprisingly decisive victory in the South Carolina primary, Biden has extinguished any fears that he would prioritize bipartisanship over the historic and multiplying needs of the public. The nearly two-trillion-dollar American Rescue Plan Act is, indisputably, one of the largest domestic-spending bills in U.S. history. (Consider that, from 1965 to 1968, during Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, the federal government increased aid to the poor by roughly six billion dollars—about forty-six billion dollars in 2021.) Biden’s bill includes the much discussed fourteen-hundred-dollar stimulus payments to individuals and three hundred dollars in supplemental weekly unemployment benefits. But it also includes tens of billions of dollars to help streamline vaccine-distribution efforts—which have been marred by infrastructural breakdowns and the same racial inequities that fostered the spread of covid-19 in Black communities—and more than thirty billion dollars in rental and homeowner assistance. It makes hundreds of billions of dollars available to state and local governments, after the Trump Administration starved the states of federal money in an attempt to coerce them to abandon public-health measures that were interfering with the economy but intended to preserve human life. And, after years of humiliating racist neglect of Puerto Rico and other U.S.-controlled territories, the bill grants them over three hundred million dollars in rental assistance. There are important changes to the Earned Income Tax Credit program, including raising the maximum credit to childless adults from roughly five hundred and thirty dollars to fifteen hundred dollars. But it is the modifications to the Child Tax Credit that have earned the A.R.P. comparisons to Roosevelt’s New Deal or Johnson’s Great Society. The adjustments include raising the Child Tax Credit from two thousand dollars per child to three thousand per child age six and above, and thirty-six hundred dollars per child under six. Previously, the credit counterintuitively excluded the poorest families, who were disqualified because they were experiencing unemployment or simply because their wages were too low. The measure will expand fully refundable tax benefits to twenty-seven million children, helping to dramatically reduce child poverty in the U.S., and cutting Black and Latinx child poverty by an estimated fifty-two and forty-five per cent, respectively. Most important, the legislation allows the credit to be paid out in monthly cash installments instead of in a single payment at the end of the year. In doing so, it brings the U.S. in line with peer countries that provide an “allowance” for families with children, and opens the door to guaranteed income from the federal government.
Nearly a year after he pulled out a surprisingly decisive victory in the South Carolina primary, Biden has extinguished any fears that he would prioritize bipartisanship over the historic and multiplying needs of the public. The nearly two-trillion-dollar American Rescue Plan Act is, indisputably, one of the largest domestic-spending bills in U.S. history. (Consider that, from 1965 to 1968, during Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, the federal government increased aid to the poor by roughly six billion dollars—about forty-six billion dollars in 2021.) Biden’s bill includes the much discussed fourteen-hundred-dollar stimulus payments to individuals and three hundred dollars in supplemental weekly unemployment benefits. But it also includes tens of billions of dollars to help streamline vaccine-distribution efforts—which have been marred by infrastructural breakdowns and the same racial inequities that fostered the spread of covid-19 in Black communities—and more than thirty billion dollars in rental and homeowner assistance. It makes hundreds of billions of dollars available to state and local governments, after the Trump Administration starved the states of federal money in an attempt to coerce them to abandon public-health measures that were interfering with the economy but intended to preserve human life. And, after years of humiliating racist neglect of Puerto Rico and other U.S.-controlled territories, the bill grants them over three hundred million dollars in rental assistance.
There are important changes to the Earned Income Tax Credit program, including raising the maximum credit to childless adults from roughly five hundred and thirty dollars to fifteen hundred dollars. But it is the modifications to the Child Tax Credit that have earned the A.R.P. comparisons to Roosevelt’s New Deal or Johnson’s Great Society. The adjustments include raising the Child Tax Credit from two thousand dollars per child to three thousand per child age six and above, and thirty-six hundred dollars per child under six. Previously, the credit counterintuitively excluded the poorest families, who were disqualified because they were experiencing unemployment or simply because their wages were too low. The measure will expand fully refundable tax benefits to twenty-seven million children, helping to dramatically reduce child poverty in the U.S., and cutting Black and Latinx child poverty by an estimated fifty-two and forty-five per cent, respectively. Most important, the legislation allows the credit to be paid out in monthly cash installments instead of in a single payment at the end of the year. In doing so, it brings the U.S. in line with peer countries that provide an “allowance” for families with children, and opens the door to guaranteed income from the federal government.
73 percent of US voters—including 57 percent of Republicans—back Biden's $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan, Common Dreams, Raw Story, April 6, 2021.
A new poll released Tuesday shows that a large, bipartisan majority of voters in the United States supports President Joe Biden's proposal to spend $2.25 trillion over eight years to upgrade the nation's physical and social infrastructure. The survey (pdf), conducted by Invest in America and Data for Progress, found that voters support Biden's American Job Plan by a 52 point margin, with 73% of all voters in favor and only 21% opposed. ✄ According to the poll, more than 60% of voters back every key provision of the plan, including investments in physical infrastructure, clean energy, manufacturing, housing, and the care economy. xNEW POLL with @InvestNowUSA: An overwhelming 73% of national likely voters — including 57% of Republicans — support President Biden's American Jobs Plan. Our poll also found that every major aspect of Biden's plan earns significant support with voters.https://t.co/FVD8B8s2Yt— Data for Progress (@DataProgress) April 6, 2021
A new poll released Tuesday shows that a large, bipartisan majority of voters in the United States supports President Joe Biden's proposal to spend $2.25 trillion over eight years to upgrade the nation's physical and social infrastructure.
The survey (pdf), conducted by Invest in America and Data for Progress, found that voters support Biden's American Job Plan by a 52 point margin, with 73% of all voters in favor and only 21% opposed. ✄
According to the poll, more than 60% of voters back every key provision of the plan, including investments in physical infrastructure, clean energy, manufacturing, housing, and the care economy.
NEW POLL with @InvestNowUSA: An overwhelming 73% of national likely voters — including 57% of Republicans — support President Biden's American Jobs Plan. Our poll also found that every major aspect of Biden's plan earns significant support with voters.https://t.co/FVD8B8s2Yt— Data for Progress (@DataProgress) April 6, 2021
NEW POLL with @InvestNowUSA: An overwhelming 73% of national likely voters — including 57% of Republicans — support President Biden's American Jobs Plan. Our poll also found that every major aspect of Biden's plan earns significant support with voters.https://t.co/FVD8B8s2Yt
Jeff Bezos says Amazon supports raising corporate tax rate, Orion Rummler, Axios, April 6, 2021.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday publicly backed using long-term corporate tax hikes to support President Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan. The big picture: Amazon, one of the world's most valuable companies, was singled out by Biden in a recent speech for not paying federal income tax for several years prior to 2019. What he's saying: "Both Democrats and Republicans have supported infrastructure in the past, and it's the right time to work together to make this happen," Bezos said in a statement.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday publicly backed using long-term corporate tax hikes to support President Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan.
The big picture: Amazon, one of the world's most valuable companies, was singled out by Biden in a recent speech for not paying federal income tax for several years prior to 2019.
What he's saying: "Both Democrats and Republicans have supported infrastructure in the past, and it's the right time to work together to make this happen," Bezos said in a statement.
Janet Yellen calls for a global minimum tax on companies. Could it happen? the Economist, April 6, 2021.
CORPORATE TAXATION is one of the thorniest issues in international economic policy. Janet Yellen, President Joe Biden’s treasury secretary, and a former head of the Federal Reserve, is duly weighing in. On April 5th she grabbed the attention of the occupants of corner offices worldwide with a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The headline was a call for countries to agree on a global minimum tax rate for large companies. Such a levy, Ms Yellen said, would help “make sure the global economy thrives based on a more level playing field”, and would help end a “30-year race to the bottom”. Though the idea of a minimum tax raises hackles in tax havens in the Caribbean, parts of Europe and farther afield, many other big economies will welcome America’s renewed commitment to multilateralism on tax after the prickly unilateralism of the Trump years.
CORPORATE TAXATION is one of the thorniest issues in international economic policy. Janet Yellen, President Joe Biden’s treasury secretary, and a former head of the Federal Reserve, is duly weighing in. On April 5th she grabbed the attention of the occupants of corner offices worldwide with a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The headline was a call for countries to agree on a global minimum tax rate for large companies.
Such a levy, Ms Yellen said, would help “make sure the global economy thrives based on a more level playing field”, and would help end a “30-year race to the bottom”. Though the idea of a minimum tax raises hackles in tax havens in the Caribbean, parts of Europe and farther afield, many other big economies will welcome America’s renewed commitment to multilateralism on tax after the prickly unilateralism of the Trump years.
“You Need Water to Live”: Pete Buttigieg Explains Infrastructure to Republicans, Becca Andrews, MotherJones, April 4, 2021.
To help explain the concept, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made the rounds on the Sunday political shows. “There’s a lot more than roads and bridges that are part of infrastructure,” he told George Stephanopoulos, who had asked him about the widely repeated Republican talking point that “only about 5 percent” of President Joe Biden’s new infrastructure proposal “goes for traditional roads and bridges.” “I heard the governor of South Dakota recently saying, ‘This isn’t infrastructure—it’s got money for pipes,'” Buttigieg said. “Well, we believe that pipes are infrastructure, because you need water to live, and too many families now live with the threat of lead poisoning.” Clean water for Americans! What a concept! He went on to note that broadband internet also counts as infrastructure, particularly in rural areas—makes sense, in the age of school and work via Zoom—as do electric vehicle charging stations.
To help explain the concept, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made the rounds on the Sunday political shows. “There’s a lot more than roads and bridges that are part of infrastructure,” he told George Stephanopoulos, who had asked him about the widely repeated Republican talking point that “only about 5 percent” of President Joe Biden’s new infrastructure proposal “goes for traditional roads and bridges.”
“I heard the governor of South Dakota recently saying, ‘This isn’t infrastructure—it’s got money for pipes,'” Buttigieg said. “Well, we believe that pipes are infrastructure, because you need water to live, and too many families now live with the threat of lead poisoning.”
Clean water for Americans! What a concept! He went on to note that broadband internet also counts as infrastructure, particularly in rural areas—makes sense, in the age of school and work via Zoom—as do electric vehicle charging stations.
🎵 YOO-HOO! 🎵 msirt! This is your cue for another train picture!!
Expanded and improved passenger rail service has been a fond dream of mine for decades. It may finally become a reality, thanks to our Joe and the Democratic Infrastructure plan!
As Biden Pushes Major Rail Investments, Amtrak's 2035 Map Has People Talking, Laurel Wamsley, NPR News, April 6, 2021.
Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure package has two provisions involving passenger rail: $85 billion to modernize public transit (commuter rail, buses, stations, etc.) and $80 billion to improve and expand the nation's passenger and freight rail network.✄ But the idea isn't just nice family trips — it's to use improved rail infrastructure and service to alleviate problems such as traffic and air pollution as well as improve access to jobs. Transportation is the largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. ✄ The proposed transformation would mean some 30 new routes, and more trips on 20 existing ones. It projects 20 million more people served than the 32 million that rode Amtrak in the 2019 fiscal year. It shows an array of potential new service lines: new rail connecting all of Texas' biggest cities and new connections across the Midwest, including between Cincinnati, Columbus, Ohio, and Cleveland. In the Southeast, new routes would stretch from Atlanta to Chattanooga and Nashville, Tenn., Savannah, Ga., and Montgomery, Ala. Amtrak’s vision of a 2035 map.
Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure package has two provisions involving passenger rail: $85 billion to modernize public transit (commuter rail, buses, stations, etc.) and $80 billion to improve and expand the nation's passenger and freight rail network.✄
But the idea isn't just nice family trips — it's to use improved rail infrastructure and service to alleviate problems such as traffic and air pollution as well as improve access to jobs. Transportation is the largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. ✄
The proposed transformation would mean some 30 new routes, and more trips on 20 existing ones. It projects 20 million more people served than the 32 million that rode Amtrak in the 2019 fiscal year.
It shows an array of potential new service lines: new rail connecting all of Texas' biggest cities and new connections across the Midwest, including between Cincinnati, Columbus, Ohio, and Cleveland. In the Southeast, new routes would stretch from Atlanta to Chattanooga and Nashville, Tenn., Savannah, Ga., and Montgomery, Ala.
US Closer to Rejoining Iran Nuclear Deal as Talks Resume, Cain Burdeau, Courthouse News, April 6, 2021.
Top U.S. diplomats re-engaged with Tehran on Tuesday in indirect talks to save the Iran nuclear deal, an agreement that former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally put on life-support nearly three years earlier. Coordinated by the European Union, the summit in Vienna returns negotiators to the city where the historic deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, was signed in 2015. Though the talks today did not put American and Iranian diplomats in the same room, the hope is that they will bring about direct parley between Washington and Tehran and a thaw in relations. ✄ Biden’s new approach has earned accolades in Tehran. “We find this position realistic and promising. It could be the start of correcting the bad process that had taken diplomacy to a dead end,” said Ali Rabiei, the Iranian government spokesman, on the eve of Tuesday’s talks.
Top U.S. diplomats re-engaged with Tehran on Tuesday in indirect talks to save the Iran nuclear deal, an agreement that former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally put on life-support nearly three years earlier.
Coordinated by the European Union, the summit in Vienna returns negotiators to the city where the historic deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, was signed in 2015. Though the talks today did not put American and Iranian diplomats in the same room, the hope is that they will bring about direct parley between Washington and Tehran and a thaw in relations. ✄
Biden’s new approach has earned accolades in Tehran.
“We find this position realistic and promising. It could be the start of correcting the bad process that had taken diplomacy to a dead end,” said Ali Rabiei, the Iranian government spokesman, on the eve of Tuesday’s talks.
MAGA Riot Lawsuit Against Trump Keeps Getting Bigger, Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley, Daily Beast, April 6, 2021.
A federal lawsuit alleging that former President Donald Trump, his lawyer, and far-right extremists at the U.S. Capitol conspired to deprive Americans of their civil rights by disrupting the count of Joe Biden’s electoral college victory with the Jan. 6 riot is expanding this week. Lawyers for the NAACP, which brought the suit early this year on behalf of Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), are set to file an amended complaint on Wednesday adding 10 new plaintiffs, two people familiar with the matter saie. The new plaintiffs will include other members of Congress, and the amended complaint is said to include additional information about the deadly Jan. 6 riot in Washington, D.C., which then-President Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani are accused of inciting, the sources added. ✄ All of the suits are part of a growing parade of criminal investigations and lawsuits filed on a variety of matters that have dogged Trump, his family, his business empire, and his close associates in the months following the conclusion of his presidency. In recent weeks, the ex-president has privately griped that his enemies are going to be probing and “suing me for the rest of my life.”
A federal lawsuit alleging that former President Donald Trump, his lawyer, and far-right extremists at the U.S. Capitol conspired to deprive Americans of their civil rights by disrupting the count of Joe Biden’s electoral college victory with the Jan. 6 riot is expanding this week.
Lawyers for the NAACP, which brought the suit early this year on behalf of Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), are set to file an amended complaint on Wednesday adding 10 new plaintiffs, two people familiar with the matter saie. The new plaintiffs will include other members of Congress, and the amended complaint is said to include additional information about the deadly Jan. 6 riot in Washington, D.C., which then-President Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani are accused of inciting, the sources added. ✄
All of the suits are part of a growing parade of criminal investigations and lawsuits filed on a variety of matters that have dogged Trump, his family, his business empire, and his close associates in the months following the conclusion of his presidency. In recent weeks, the ex-president has privately griped that his enemies are going to be probing and “suing me for the rest of my life.”
Prosecutors Are Nearing A Cooperation Deal With A Man Accused Of Using Bear Spray Against Capitol Police, Zoe Tillman, Jessica Garrison and Ken Bensinger, BuzzFeed News, April 5, 2021.
Federal prosecutors are in “advanced plea negotiations” with an alleged Capitol rioter with Oath Keeper ties in exchange for his cooperation with the ongoing investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurgency, a new filing in federal court revealed Monday. ✄ The government had previously shared in public court filings and hearings that it is extending plea offers to some of the more than 350 people charged to date with participating in the Capitol insurrection. But prosecutors have been nonspecific about the timelines and terms of those plea negotiations and in this filing said its negotiations with Schaffer were “the first and most advanced” involving “any of the over 300 Capitol Riot defendants.” ✄ Schaffer hasn’t been indicted by a federal grand jury and Baset wrote that keeping Schaffer’s case in its current position would help move along the plea talks. If plea talks failed, Baset added in a footnote, “the government is in a position to rapidly obtain an indictment” against him.
Federal prosecutors are in “advanced plea negotiations” with an alleged Capitol rioter with Oath Keeper ties in exchange for his cooperation with the ongoing investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurgency, a new filing in federal court revealed Monday. ✄
The government had previously shared in public court filings and hearings that it is extending plea offers to some of the more than 350 people charged to date with participating in the Capitol insurrection. But prosecutors have been nonspecific about the timelines and terms of those plea negotiations and in this filing said its negotiations with Schaffer were “the first and most advanced” involving “any of the over 300 Capitol Riot defendants.” ✄
Schaffer hasn’t been indicted by a federal grand jury and Baset wrote that keeping Schaffer’s case in its current position would help move along the plea talks. If plea talks failed, Baset added in a footnote, “the government is in a position to rapidly obtain an indictment” against him.
Scientists Race To Develop Next Generation Of COVID Vaccines, Joe Palca, NPR News, April 6, 2021.
The COVID-19 vaccine that Vaxart is developing is similar to Johnson & Johnson's in that it uses a harmless virus to deliver instructions to cells to make proteins that will prompt an immune response to the coronavirus. But instead of putting the delivery virus in a liquid, Vaxart freeze-dries it, turning into a powder that can be formulated into a pill that can be stored at room temperature. Another vaccine that could be self-administered is a nasal spray vaccine… an intranasal vaccine induces two kinds of immunity, Lund says. You still get the systemic protection, she says, "but you will also get immunity directly at the site where you put that vaccine." That makes it harder for the coronavirus to sneak in through the nose. Researchers also are testing whether the tablet and nasal spray could be a single dose.
The COVID-19 vaccine that Vaxart is developing is similar to Johnson & Johnson's in that it uses a harmless virus to deliver instructions to cells to make proteins that will prompt an immune response to the coronavirus.
But instead of putting the delivery virus in a liquid, Vaxart freeze-dries it, turning into a powder that can be formulated into a pill that can be stored at room temperature.
Another vaccine that could be self-administered is a nasal spray vaccine…
an intranasal vaccine induces two kinds of immunity, Lund says. You still get the systemic protection, she says, "but you will also get immunity directly at the site where you put that vaccine."
That makes it harder for the coronavirus to sneak in through the nose.
Researchers also are testing whether the tablet and nasal spray could be a single dose.
Inflammation? Fever? What to expect after your second COVID-19 vaccine shot, Nicole Karlis, Salon, April 6, 2021,
Indeed, while it is certainly possible to experience side effects after dose one, there's a higher frequency of side effects after the second dose, according to clinical trial data for both vaccines. The vaccines that require two shots are the two from Pfizer and Moderna, which are both approved in the United States and are both made using messenger RNA, or mRNA. This mRNA technology delivers the genetic code of one of the virus's proteins to one's cells. The immune system learns recognize the spike protein on the SARS-2 coronavirus and develop antibodies to fight it. While both vaccines use the same technology, there are a few differences between the two. Some people have wondered, "if I'm not having any side effects is the vaccine working?" You can't make that kind of a claim. In general, when you do have those side effects it is the result of your immune system but the absence of those side effects doesn't mean that you're not getting a take, or we call say "the vaccine is not taking." We can't really say that some people have no symptoms at all with the vaccine and they have a perfectly appropriate response to it, immunologically.
Indeed, while it is certainly possible to experience side effects after dose one, there's a higher frequency of side effects after the second dose, according to clinical trial data for both vaccines.
The vaccines that require two shots are the two from Pfizer and Moderna, which are both approved in the United States and are both made using messenger RNA, or mRNA. This mRNA technology delivers the genetic code of one of the virus's proteins to one's cells. The immune system learns recognize the spike protein on the SARS-2 coronavirus and develop antibodies to fight it. While both vaccines use the same technology, there are a few differences between the two.
Some people have wondered, "if I'm not having any side effects is the vaccine working?"
You can't make that kind of a claim. In general, when you do have those side effects it is the result of your immune system but the absence of those side effects doesn't mean that you're not getting a take, or we call say "the vaccine is not taking." We can't really say that some people have no symptoms at all with the vaccine and they have a perfectly appropriate response to it, immunologically.
'Monumental miscalculation': Trump cost himself a fortune by refusing to divest when he became president, Brad Reed, Raw Story, April 6, 2021.
Even though former President Donald Trump tried to enrich himself at taxpayers' expense during his tenure with frequent trips to his own golf clubs, those apparently weren't enough to make up for the massive losses he incurred during his four years in the White House. Forbes reports that Trump made a "monumental miscalculation" when he refused to take ethicists' advice by divesting his assets upon assuming the presidency in 2017. "From the time he entered the White House in January 2017 to his departure a few months ago, Donald Trump's fortune fell by nearly a third, from $3.5 billion to $2.4 billion," Forbes writes. "If he had sold everything on Day 1, paid the maximum capital-gains taxes on the sales, then put the proceeds into a conflict-free fund tracking the S&P 500, Trump would have ended his presidency an estimated $1.6 billion richer than he is today."
Even though former President Donald Trump tried to enrich himself at taxpayers' expense during his tenure with frequent trips to his own golf clubs, those apparently weren't enough to make up for the massive losses he incurred during his four years in the White House.
Forbes reports that Trump made a "monumental miscalculation" when he refused to take ethicists' advice by divesting his assets upon assuming the presidency in 2017.
"From the time he entered the White House in January 2017 to his departure a few months ago, Donald Trump's fortune fell by nearly a third, from $3.5 billion to $2.4 billion," Forbes writes. "If he had sold everything on Day 1, paid the maximum capital-gains taxes on the sales, then put the proceeds into a conflict-free fund tracking the S&P 500, Trump would have ended his presidency an estimated $1.6 billion richer than he is today."
First reported in NYT, but this link is not behind a paywall:
Matt Gaetz Reportedly Sought Blanket Pardon From Trump In Final Days Of Administration, Nick Visser, HuffPost, April 6, 2021.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) reportedly asked former President Donald Trump for a blanket, pre-emptive pardon during the final days of Trump’s administration, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Gaetz is under investigation for alleged sex trafficking and reportedly having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. The congressman, a staunch ally and vocal defender of Trump, has also faced criticism amid allegations last week that he had shown colleagues photos of naked women he claimed to have slept with. The Times hadn’t determined if the White House or Gaetz knew about the investigation prior to Gaetz’s request (the lawmaker had publicly called for broad pardons for Trump allies, warning of “bloodlust” from the left). The publication added, however, that some Trump allies have wondered if Gaetz’s public calls were an attempt to mask his own political vulnerabilities.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) reportedly asked former President Donald Trump for a blanket, pre-emptive pardon during the final days of Trump’s administration, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
Gaetz is under investigation for alleged sex trafficking and reportedly having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. The congressman, a staunch ally and vocal defender of Trump, has also faced criticism amid allegations last week that he had shown colleagues photos of naked women he claimed to have slept with.
The Times hadn’t determined if the White House or Gaetz knew about the investigation prior to Gaetz’s request (the lawmaker had publicly called for broad pardons for Trump allies, warning of “bloodlust” from the left). The publication added, however, that some Trump allies have wondered if Gaetz’s public calls were an attempt to mask his own political vulnerabilities.
Matt Gaetz Said His ‘Travel Records’ Would Exonerate Him. Not So Fast, Roger Sollenberger, Daily Beast, April 6, 2021.
“The spending surrounding the Gaetz campaign simply doesn’t say what he wants it to say,” Jordan Libowitz, communications director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a campaign-finance watchdog, told The Daily Beast. “One, the reports don’t offer specific information; and two, it’s not clear whether he’s even saying that his campaign filings will exonerate him. If he’s paying out of pocket, we won’t know the answers without a subpoena.” As Gaetz knows, his campaign filings don’t have any sort of information that would prove he never participated in a sex ring or paid for the travel of an underage minor. What his filings do show, though, is that Gaetz had a close relationship with Joel Greenberg—the Seminole County tax collector indicted on sex-trafficking charges.
“The spending surrounding the Gaetz campaign simply doesn’t say what he wants it to say,” Jordan Libowitz, communications director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a campaign-finance watchdog, told The Daily Beast. “One, the reports don’t offer specific information; and two, it’s not clear whether he’s even saying that his campaign filings will exonerate him. If he’s paying out of pocket, we won’t know the answers without a subpoena.”
As Gaetz knows, his campaign filings don’t have any sort of information that would prove he never participated in a sex ring or paid for the travel of an underage minor. What his filings do show, though, is that Gaetz had a close relationship with Joel Greenberg—the Seminole County tax collector indicted on sex-trafficking charges.
'A complete rip-off': Campaign-finance experts puzzled and stunned by Trump camp's reported 'money-bomb' ploy, Grace Panetta, Insider, April 6, 2021.
"Groups do this all the time in a nontoxic way, and, of course, Trump, being Trump, did this 72 million times in the wrong direction, and it started to look like fraud," Beth Rotman, the national director of money in politics and ethics at the advocacy group Common Cause, told Insider. The payments, according to The Times, essentially functioned as an "interest-free loan" from Trump's donors to his campaign, which faced upheaval and financial turmoil in the months leading up to the November 3 election. Eventually, tens of millions of donations were refunded over the course of 2020, with WinRed pocketing the transaction fees, The Times said. ✄ The Trump campaign's recurring-donation ploy both perplexed and shocked even the most seasoned campaign-finance professionals interviewed by Insider.
"Groups do this all the time in a nontoxic way, and, of course, Trump, being Trump, did this 72 million times in the wrong direction, and it started to look like fraud," Beth Rotman, the national director of money in politics and ethics at the advocacy group Common Cause, told Insider.
The payments, according to The Times, essentially functioned as an "interest-free loan" from Trump's donors to his campaign, which faced upheaval and financial turmoil in the months leading up to the November 3 election. Eventually, tens of millions of donations were refunded over the course of 2020, with WinRed pocketing the transaction fees, The Times said. ✄
The Trump campaign's recurring-donation ploy both perplexed and shocked even the most seasoned campaign-finance professionals interviewed by Insider.
⚡️ Good Riddance: Biden’s Huge New Bill Leaves Reaganomics on the Ash Heap of History, Mary Harris, Slate, April 6, 2021.
⚡️ Exquisite — check out this visual delight: What a Tiny Masterpiece Reveals About Power and Beauty, Jason Farago, New York Times, April 2, 2021.
⚡️ lollerforks: The Viral TikTok That Explains Vaccine Science — And Makes You Laugh, Joe Palca, NPR, April 1, 2021.
⚡️ Pandemic habits: How to hang on to the good ones and get rid of the bad, Sunny Fitzgerald, Washington Post, April 5, 2021.
⚡️ Interesting, long(ish) read: You Won’t Remember the Pandemic the Way You Think You Will, Melissa Fay Greene, The Atlantic, April 6, 2021.
⚡️ Research Proves It: There’s No Such Thing as Noblesse Oblige, Michael Mechanic, The Atlantic, April 4, 2021.
⚡️ More detail on that parliamentarian decision: Senate gives Biden a big tool to work around GOP filibuster, Lisa Mascaro, AP News, April 6, 2021.
⚡️ Slightly g&d demsdisarray-ish, but worth reading: Democrats Are Short on Votes and Long on Irony, David A Graham, The Atlantic, April 6, 2021.
⚡️ GOP's Trump obsession is giving Biden an opening, Stephen Collinson and Maeve Reston, CNN, April 6. 2021.
⚡️ “Taxpayer Dollars”: The Origins of Austerity’s Racist Catchphrase, Camille Walsh, MotherJones, April 5, 2021.
⚡️ The Best of the Oscar-Nominated Documentary Shorts, Richard Brody, The New Yorker, April 6, 2021.
Put your beautiful bleeding heart into it!
Democratic litigation hero, Marc Elias was the legal eagle behind the 60 Big Lie losses after the election. Here’s his website, Democracy Docket. You can find information about current cases he is fighting to defend voting rights around the country, as well as actions you can take to help fight voter suppression at the link!
Write to voters around the country with Postcards to Voters. Progressive Muse usually posts an update on current campaigns in the comments and you can also check out the website. It’s easy, fun and it really works to GOTV!
🎩 Also, Goody posted a great list of links and I am going to borrow it because it’s great! 🎩
The only way they can win is by keeping people from voting. They are working like heck to make that happen and we need to do all we can to keep 2022 from being a year when they grab the Senate and House back from us.
How do we do that? Fight voter suppression!
What can you do?
U.S. House of Representatives:* Telephone: 202-225-3121 * Website: http://www.house.gov/
U.S. Senate:* Telephone: 202-224-3121 * Website: http://www.senate.gov/
Find your member of Congress and contact him or her: Contact your Representative Contact your Senator
That’s it from me and the Curlygirl for another Wednesday. Take good care of yourself and those you love, Gnusies. We still have a lot of work to do, so pace yourself. Take a break when you need it, eat nutritious food, get some rest and try to get outdoors each day.
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