With the new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus detected in Colorado and California, scientists fear it has already gained a toehold in the U.S. The variant’s arrival also makes it all the more important that Americans receive vaccinations in great numbers, and more quickly, scientists said. [New York Times]
A year ago today, the first cases of a mystery virus that would come to be known as Covid-19 were reported in Wuhan, China. Since then, 1.8 million people across the world have lost their lives in the ensuing pandemic. The US set another Covid-19 daily death record yesterday, and by some estimates, another 80,000 people could die in the next three weeks as the consequences of holiday travel and gathering set in. Other countries like Germany are also reporting record deaths, and Japan is considering a state of emergency to counter rising case numbers. In the US, vaccine rollout is lagging behind some other countries, leading to frustration and confusion in places like Florida, where unclear policies have led to a scramble for limited doses. [CNN]
U.S. Jobless Claims Fell to 787,000 Last Week
New unemployment filings fell to 787,000 during a holiday week clouded with uncertainty around impending changes to benefit payments. Read more at Wall Street Journal
Donald Trump’s demand for $2,000 relief checks to Americans struggling financially with the pandemic was all but dead after Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday that a proposal from Democrats had “no realistic path to quickly pass the Senate”.
Declaring that he would not be “bullied” by Democrats into quickly approving the measure, McConnell effectively denied a final request for legislative action by the president in the waning days of his administration.
“We just approved almost a trillion dollars in aid a few days ago,” McConnell said, referring to the passage of a massive $900bn stimulus package that included $600 direct payments to most American adults. “It struck a balance between broad support for all kinds of households and a lot more targeted relief for those who need help most.”
Trump, who remained mostly on the sidelines during the negotiations, nearly derailed the agreement when he demanded Congress more than triple the size of the direct payments from $600 to $2,000. He ultimately relented and signed the bill into law on Sunday. But he has continued to press Congress to act, writing on Twitter that “$600 IS NOT ENOUGH”. He has also called Republicans “pathetic” for failing to act, and suggested their inaction amounted to a political “death wish”.
“$2000 ASAP!” Trump demanded again on Wednesday before McConnell appeared to extinguish the possibility.
Democrats have eagerly embraced Trump’s call to bolster the payments and on Monday, the House approved a bill that would send $2,000 stimulus checks to Americans. But on Tuesday, McConnell prevented Democrats from bringing the House bill to the floor for consideration, instead offering a vague assurance that Senate would “begin the process” of discussing the $2,000 checks.
He said the measure would be considered alongside with unrelated items that would almost certainly doom the legislation, including an investigation of election security to root out voter fraud, which Trump has baselessly claimed tainted the presidential vote count, and the removal of legal protections for social media platforms.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday called McConnell’s plan to tie the checks to the election security and social media provisions a “way to kill the bill”.
“There is no other game in town but the House bill,” Schumer said in a floor speech, imploring McConnell to allow a vote on the House bill. “The only way, the only way, to get the American people the $2,000 checks they need is to pass the House bill and to pass it now.”
When he finished, Schumer again attempted to bring the House bill to the floor for a vote on Wednesday, but McConnell again objected, dismissing it as a Democratic proposal led by the House.
But the effort is not only backed by Democrats. Weeks ago, progressive senator Bernie Sanders joined forces with conservative senator Josh Hawley to demand Congress include direct payments as part of any bipartisan stimulus agreement. After the checks were adopted, they continued to push Congress to dramatically increase the size of the checks.
Trump’s support has further shifted the calculus among Republicans, who previously demanded that Democrats pare back their coronavirus relief proposal to keep costs under $1tn. Loath to defy the president, many Republican senators are now dropping their initial concerns about the cost of the package and embracing his call for bigger payments.
Georgia senators Davide Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who are running in competitive re-election races next week that will determine control of the Senate, said they support increasing the size of the checks. And 44 Republicans joined the vast majority of the Democratic caucus to approve the House bill on Monday.
As lawmakers continued to spar over the payments, the treasury department said Americans should begin to receive $600 deposits in their bank accounts as early as Tuesday evening, while paper checks would be mailed out starting Wednesday. [The Guardian]
Sen. Josh Hawley on Wednesday pledged to challenge President-elect Joe Biden's victory in Pennsylvania and possibly other states on Jan. 6, when Congress is set to certify the results of the 2020 election.
The Missouri Republican's announcement guarantees that both chambers will be forced to debate the results of at least one state and vote on whether to accept Biden's victory, a process that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had urged Republicans to avoid, despite pressure from President Donald Trump, who is urging Republicans to overturn the democratic results.
Though Hawley's challenge will have no bearing on the ultimate outcome of the election — numerous GOP senators have accepted Biden as president-elect — it will delay the certification of Biden's victory and force every member of the House and Senate on the record affirming Biden's win. Hawley said Wednesday that other senators' offices had reached out to express interest in a challenge but he's not sure if any will join.
"I would think that there will be more but there may be not be," Hawley said.
Hawley, who said he alerted GOP leaders before announcing his intentions, also declined to say how many states he would challenge. "We'll see about that, we're working out the logistics of it," he said.
Senate Republican leaders, including McConnell, have sternly warned against challenging the election because it would split the party and be viewed as a referendum on Trump. Already, the president has come after Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) for his warnings that the effort would go down like a "shot dog" if a senator moves with House members to force votes.
Asked if he expected to be less popular in the conference, Hawley responded: "More than I already am?"
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), however, issued a sharp rejection of Hawley’s effort.
“I do not think that he will prevail in his quest. And I question why he is doing it when the courts have unanimously thrown out the suits that the president's team have filed for lack of credible evidence,” she said. “And Sen. Hawley's a smart attorney who clerked for the Supreme Court, so he clearly understands that. So I don't understand." Read more at POLITICO
WASHINGTON – The mammoth spending bill Congress approved Monday to curb the spiraling pandemic and prevent a government shutdown carries another description: a substantial step to confront climate change.
Environmental advocates are touting the $2.3 trillion bill as a potential game-changer thanks to tax breaks for renewable energy sources, initiatives to promote carbon capture storage and a significant phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that are a key culprit to the planet's warming.
In addition, the measure not only eliminates the Trump administration's proposed deep cuts to federal climate science programs but adds millions to those programs for 2021.
“Passage of this bill represents real forward progress on climate change and clean energy." said Lindsey Griffith, federal policy director at the Clean Air Task Force, who calls the package "the most significant U.S. federal climate legislation ever.”
While the sweeping bill has grabbed headlines for the billions it provides in direct payments to millions of Americans and its extension of a forgivable loan program for small businesses crippled by the pandemic, policy provisions that attempt to halt carbon emissions that contribute to climate change could prove far more lasting.
Among the most heralded is a bipartisan move to significantly curb the use of HFCs found in refrigeration, air conditioning, building insulation and fire extinguishing systems. The provision requires the Environmental Protection Agency to implement an 85% phasedown of the production and consumption so they reach about 15% of their 2011-2013 average annual levels by 2036.
The phasedown, part of an international effort to reduce harmful emissions, is projected to prevent the planet from warming half a degree Celsius over the coming decades, though some scientific studies say Earth may be on an irreversible course to warming and the environmental damage that will result.
“It is imperative that we take swift action on climate change if we’re going to have any chance of avoiding its worst impacts," said Matt Casale, director of U.S. Public Interest Research Group's Environment Campaigns. "Phasing out HFCs – known as ‘super greenhouse gases’ – will bring significant climate relief relatively quickly."
Other provisions include:
Expansion of carbon capture technology and deployment. Under the process, carbon emissions produced by power plants and other heavy industry are contained and injected deep into the ground, where saline rock formations can store the gas for centuries.
Reauthorization of an expiring program that provides industry with financial incentives to replace aging diesel engines with less polluting ones.
Extension and expansion of tax credits for clean energy, including wind, and a new incentive that encourages newly built power plants to be more efficient and cleaner.
Requirements that natural gas facilities deploy the latest technology to prevent, detect and address dangerous methane leaks, a significant contributor to climate change.
Supporters of the legislation say the steps will not only help the planet but also expand a clean energy economy that hasn't always gotten as much support from Washington as they would like.
"We can ensure American workers lead the national transition to a clean economy," said Delaware Sen. Tom Carper, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee who wrote some of the provisions. "We can embrace the ingenuity and innovation of American industries while protecting vulnerable communities."
More:Joe Biden can work with conservatives on climate change. Many of them are ready to act.
The measures also had various degrees of support from Republicans representing fossil fuel states, such as Environment and Public Works Chairman John Barrasso of Wyoming, who represents the nation's largest coal producing state, and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, whose state is a leading oil producer.
For GOP lawmakers wary that a drastic transformation to clean energy would imperil their local economies, the legislation is a reasonable, incentive-driven approach.
"Free-market innovation is the key to addressing a changing climate," Barrasso said. "This bipartisan legislation proves we can protect our environment without punishing our economy."
Climate Point:President-elect Biden sets tone for direction on the environment
Efforts to address climate change at the federal level will get another boost in less than a month when Joe Biden is inaugurated as the nation's 46th president. The former vice president, who has called climate change "an existential threat to the health of our planet and to our very survival," has made it a focal point of his incoming administration.
President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly questioned his own administration's climate science, has signaled he might veto the massive bill after criticizing it for not providing Americans with bigger payments for American families hurt by the pandemic and because it includes billions in foreign aid. Even so, the measure has enough support to override a presidential veto. Read more at USA Today
The United Kingdom's long and divisive Brexit journey will finally be completed Thursday, after the nation voted in a June 2016 referendum to leave the European Union. The U.K. left the EU that it had joined in 1973 almost a year ago, but remained within the bloc’s economic embrace during a transition period that ends at midnight Brussels time (6 p.m. EST). Britain’s Parliament voted Wednesday to approve a trade deal with the EU , averting economic chaos with just one day to spare. Big changes are coming on New Year’s Day. The trade agreement, hammered out after more than nine months of negotiations and sealed on Christmas Eve, will ensure Britain and the 27-nation EU can continue to trade in goods without tariffs or quotas. That should help protect the $894 billion in annual trade between the two sides, and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that rely on it. But Brexit will still bring inconvenience and new expense for both individuals and businesses — from the need for tourists to have travel insurance to the millions of new customs declarations that firms will have to fill out. [USA Today]
The Christmas Day bombing in downtown Nashville led to phone and data service outages and disruptions over hundreds of miles in the southern U.S., raising new concerns about the vulnerability of U.S. communications.
The blast seriously damaged a key AT&T network facility, an important hub that provides local wireless, internet and video service and connects to regional networks. Backup generators went down, which took service out hours after the blast. A fire broke out and forced an evacuation. The building flooded, with more than three feet of water later pumped out of the basement; AT&T said there was still water on the second floor as of Monday.
The immediate repercussions were surprisingly widespread. AT&T customers lost service — phones, internet or video — across large parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. There were 911 centers in the region that couldn’t take calls; others didn’t receive crucial data associated with callers, such as their locations. The Nashville police department’s phones and internet failed. Stores went cash-only.
At some hospitals, electronic medical records, internet service or phones stopped working. The Nashville airport halted flights for about three hours on Christmas. Rival carrier T-Mobile also had service issues as far away as Atlanta, 250 miles away, because the company uses AT&T equipment for moving customer data from towers to the T-Mobile network. Read more at Associated Press
The Census Bureau will miss a year-end deadline for handing in numbers used for divvying up congressional seats, a delay that could undermine President Donald Trump’s efforts to exclude people in the country illegally from the count if the figures aren’t submitted before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
The Census Bureau plans to deliver a population count of each state in early 2021, as close to the missed deadline as possible, the statistical agency said in a statement late Wednesday.
“As issues that could affect the accuracy of the data are detected, they are corrected,” the statement said. “The schedule for reporting this data is not static. Projected dates are fluid.”
It will be the first time that the Dec. 31 target date is missed since the deadline was implemented more than four decades ago by Congress.
Internal documents obtained earlier this month by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform show that Census Bureau officials don’t expect the apportionment numbers to be ready until days after Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. Read more at Associated Press
Lives Lived: Dawn Wells radiated all-American wholesomeness as Mary Ann on the 1960s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island.” She stuck with the role even after the show went off the air, appearing as Mary Ann on several other programs including “Alf” and “Baywatch.” Wells died, of complications from Covid, at 82. [New York Times]
At least 22 people were killed when a series of explosions hit Yemen's Aden airport. The attack happened as members of a new power-sharing government arrived from Saudi Arabia. It is unclear if the explosions were caused by missiles, but Saudi Arabia has blamed the attack on Iran-backed Houthi rebels. A spokesman for the Saudi-backed coalition in Yemen said the coalition intercepted and downed an explosives-laden Houthi drone that was targeting the presidential palace in the city of Aden. Yemen has been plagued by a years-long civil war, and the newly arrived government members are part of a new Cabinet formed to end a power struggle between a Yemeni separatist group and its current Saudi-backed government. [CNN]
Biden will nominate two former Obama administration officials to senior positions at the Defense Department. One of them, Kathleen Hicks, would be the first woman confirmed as deputy secretary of defense. [New York Times]
Since the start of early voting on Dec. 14, more than 2.5 million Georgians have cast ballots in next week’s Senate runoff elections. Polls suggest that the races are too close to call, but Republicans are worried about strong turnout in Democratic areas and mixed messages from Trump. [New York Times]
The gap in trust between Democrats and Republicans in mass media reached an all-time high during the Trump administration, Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer writes from a Gallup annual poll.
Why it matters: The divide represents one of the most profound elements of President Trump's legacy.
Over the past four years, Democrats' trust in mass media has grown to a near-record high, while Republicans' has sunk to an all-time low.
Just 10% of Republicans polled this year said they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media. By comparison, nearly 30% and 36% of Republicans answered the same on average during eight years of the Obama and Bush administrations, respectively.
By the end of 2020, there was a 63-point gap between the two parties — the biggest divide since Gallup started conducting the poll in the late 1970s. [Axios]
Today's the last day to contribute to some retirement accounts
If you want to end up with the largest nest egg possible, knowing when to contribute to your retirement account is almost as important as contributing in the first place. You must make your 401(k) contributions by Dec. 31, 2020, if you want to write them off on this year's taxes. That might sound obvious, but other savings accounts – like an IRA or health savings account (HSA) – allow you to do so up until the tax filing deadline, which is April 15, 2021. For your 401(k), you usually cannot make lump-sum contributions, but instead need to change the amount of money your employer withholds from each paycheck.
•As painful 2020 ends, it's time to set yourself up for financial success in 2021 [USA Today]
President Donald Trump will cut his annual holiday trip to Florida shortand return to Washington on New Year’s Eve, the White House said. The announcement Wednesday came hours after media reports indicated Trump would go forward with an annual New Year’s Eve celebration at his Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago, amid the coronavirus pandemic. White House officials did not disclose the reason for Trump’s decision to return Thursday. Trump has kept a low profile in Florida since arriving on Dec. 23 and has rarely been seen outside the golf course. Instead of providing a detailed schedule, the White House said only that he was working “tirelessly for the American people” and would take “many meetings and calls.” The president’s return date had long been somewhat in the air, but he has in the past attended the annual black-tie New Year’s Eve celebration at Mar-a-Lago. [USA Today]
Most Notorious Serial Killer in U.S. History Is Dead
The man who murdered more people in the U.S. than any other serial killer in history died on Wednesday. Samuel Little confessed to 93 murders between 1970 and 2005, and officials have confirmed about 60 of those. Officials say there’s little reason to doubt the other 33 killings since Little has a photographic memory and has been able to draw some of his victims and provide obscure details about them and their murder locations. California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed that Little died at a hospital on Wednesday. He suffered from a slew of health problems, including diabetes and heart trouble. Little was 80 years old and serving a life sentence. Read it at Associated Press
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