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'What are you thinking?' MSNBC host calls out key Dems who will cancel stimulus checks for 12 million people
March 03, 2021
MSNBC host Chis Hayes blasted Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) for initiating a Senate compromise on the COVID stimulus bill that would remove 12 million Americans and children from getting checks.
While Fox News is blaming Democrats for destroying Dr. Seuss and Mr. Patato Head, which Democrats had no role in, Americans are desperate for the stimulus funds that they've wanted since it was announced last year. When the bill was first proposed, 72 percent of Americans said they supported the bill which would deliver $2,000 checks to Americans. That was then cut by Manchin and others for a "compromise" bill.
<p>"The public understands this bill will help a lot of people who really need it. all of this said, why on Earth would you take steps to make it less effective and less popular?" asked Hayes. "And yet today that is exactly what Senate Democrats were insisting on."</p><p>He cited a <em>Washington Pos</em>t describing the deal: "Under the plan, individuals earning up to $75,000 per year and couples making up to $150,000 a year would qualify for the full $1,400 payment."</p><p>The House bill said that the size of the payments would scale down before zeroing out for individuals making $100,000 per year and couples making $200,000. But the new change would zero out the payment for anyone making over $80,000 and couples making over $160,000. </p><p>So, "around 12 million fewer adults and 5 million fewer kids would get the stimulus payments under the new Biden Senate compromise, according to preliminary estimates," Hays explained. "A lot of those adults are voters who will now get less in direct cash assistance from President Biden than they did from Donald Trump. Why would Democratic Senators, like Joe Manchin, and Jean Shaheen push for this to happen? Cut Joe Manchin a ton of slack. The guy got re-elected in West Virginia, the Trumpiest state in the union."</p><p>"On top of that, on top of all of this, keep in mind that the big gains that were made with college-educated voters in metropolitan areas, particularly suburbs, a lot of those people are making the amount that are now going to get shut out of stimulus checks," Hayes said. "There is nothing more than a reflexive, almost neurotic, compulsive desire to signal moderation by making things worse both substantively and what on Earth are you thinking?"</p><p>See the introduction below: </p><p><br/></p><p><br/></p>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K_28xkx5ZQ" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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Republican mansplains the Great American Outdoors Act to Biden Interior Secretary nominee
March 03, 2021
On Wednesday Chris D'Angelo of the Huffington Post flagged that Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) tried to explain a key public lands law to Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM), President Joe Biden's nominee for Secretary of the Interior.
"Representative Haaland, The Great American Outdoors Act is a historic law that takes the revenue from energy development on public lands and uses it to reduce the backlog of maintenance on our parks and public lands," wrote Daines. "The program is estimated to reduce the backlog on parks by half over the next 5 years. Would you support extending the program, which means continuing energy development on public lands, in order to continue to reduce the backlog on public lands?"
<p>"I support the Great American Outdoors Act which permanently funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund and provides funds to address the maintenance backlog on federal lands," replied Haaland. "If confirmed, I will work with Interior staff to ensure that the Department implements the Act as Congress intended."</p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="" data-tweet-id="1367275695378939916" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1367275695378939916&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2Fr%2Fentryeditor%2F2650883138%23publish&theme=light&widgetsVersion=e1ffbdb%3A1614796141937&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 604px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="Twitter Tweet"></iframe></div> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p>Haaland, a climate activist who was first elected to Congress in 2018 and would be the <a href="https://nit.com.au/deb-haaland-one-step-closer-to-being-first-native-american-cabinet-secretary/" target="_blank">first Native American Cabinet secretary</a> if confirmed, has been a particular target from Republicans who have accused her of being <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/24/politics/what-matters-february-23/index.html" target="_blank">hostile to energy production</a>, due to her support of the Green New Deal and her opposition to fracking on public lands.</p>
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Greg Abbott didn't tell 3 of his 4 medical advisers before lifting Texas' mask mandate: report
March 03, 2021
On Wednesday, the Austin American-Statesman reported that Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) did not inform three of the four medical advisers on his pandemic task force, Strike Force to Open Texas, before lifting all COVID-19 restrictions in the state.
"Texas' top health official said Wednesday he did not speak with Gov. Greg Abbott before the governor announced Tuesday he would end his statewide mask order and '"open Texas 100%,'" reported Asher Price. "Dr. John Hellerstedt told state lawmakers he 'did not have a personal conversation' with Abbott ahead of the governor's announcement, which has been widely criticized by public health experts, the leaders of the state's biggest cities and counties, as well as federal officials, including President Joe Biden."
<p>Abbott has come under <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/dont-ever-let-a-republican-tell-you-theyre-pro-life-again-internet-stunned-as-texas-removes-all-restrictions/" target="_blank">heavy criticism</a> for his decision, given that Texas lags the nation at <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-gov-greg-abbott-ditches-mask-mandate-orders-businesses-to-reopen-despite-covid-19-vaccine-lag" target="_blank">48th in vaccine distribution</a>. And it seems some of Abbott's medical advisers agree it was premature.</p><p><span></span>"'Texas has been making some real progress, but it's too soon for full reopening and to stop masking around others,' one of the advisers, Dr. Mark McClellan, a Duke University professor of business, medicine, and policy, told the <em>American-Statesman,</em>" said the report. "Another adviser, Dr. Parker Hudson, a Dell Medical School assistant professor for infectious diseases, told the <em>Statesman</em>, 'I was not involved in this decision."</p><p>President Joe Biden has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/02/us/politics/merck-johnson-johnson-vaccine.html" target="_blank">projected</a> that there will be enough doses of vaccine for every U.S. adult by the end of May.</p>
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