alternet--2020-12-10--41 days of pure hell: Donald Trump can't handle the emotions triggered by his defeat

Donald Trump has 41 days to go before his presidency is over .
Instead of assisting with the peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden , he has chosen to spend his final days exhibiting .
His rhetoric and his behavior are manifestations of his pathology .
He shows every day that he has no self-control , no insight and no capacity to function effectively at his job .
Trump lost the election fair and square .
But he can not handle the defeat because his narcissistic injury has triggered outrage , hostility , accusations and victimhood .
Despite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , there is absolutely no evidence of it .
Trump has been rejected by a majority of the American people , and now he is an angry , miserable and destructive loser .
Trump is not capable of experiencing true depression .
His psyche is not equipped for such a normal response .
Rather , he responds to loss or disappointment by becoming enraged and accusatory .
He feels and acts as if he were a victim .
Trump 's response is primitive and pathological .
It is pathognomonic of personality pathology .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ normalcy .
It is dangerous .
is being threatened by the reality of his election loss .
He is desperate to maintain the persona of being smart , superior , strong and almighty .
This is his `` false self , '' a fantasy created to cover up the truth : that he is not very smart , that he is lazy , that he is disinterested , that he is not as rich as he claims , that he does not care about people , that he is corrupt and that he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` true self . ''
He has spent his entire life spinning a fake web of grandiosity and superiority with enablers along the way to keep the ruse alive .
As president , he has convinced millions that his false persona is more true than observable reality .
That , my friends , is a skilled con man , an accomplished grifter , an unabashed criminal .
From all reports , Trump His days are filled with angry outbursts , watching television , promulgating conspiracy theories and playing golf .
He is incapacitated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abdicating his responsibility as president .
The idea that he is our ultimate public servant could not be further from the truth .
Trump is totally self-absorbed with his narcissistic injury and his grievances .
Governing others is beyond his psychic capacity .
In fact , it is his vindictiveness and his irrationality that have risen to the forefront .
So Trump 's mental pathology is not allowing him to tackle the existential challenge facing the American people : the deadly pandemic that is raging and the resulting economic fallout .
He has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has not mentioned it in months .
He has not attended a task force meeting in months .
He has not mentioned the 288,000 deaths under his watch — a number that will have grown by the time you read this .
He continues to oppose mask wearing and favor herd immunity , for no coherent or rational reasons .
He just endangered the lives of many other people a few nights ago at his pep rally in Georgia .
Trump 's lack of empathy , his inability to govern and his deep-seated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most naked form .
Part of Trump 's pathology is in response to his electoral defeat .
He is filing baseless and frivolous lawsuits to try to overturn our free election .
He is trying to subvert democracy by pressuring election officials to be dishonest and corrupt .
He is exacting his revenge on Americans for rebuffing him .
He is trying to undermine his successor so that he will be unsuccessful .
He wants to pardon everyone in sight so that the rule of law will not apply to them .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He is not allowing the Biden transition team to talk with our intelligence agencies .
Fascist sycophants are coming out of the woodwork to condone Trump 's anti-democratic and anti-American rants .
He is so angry , embarrassed and humiliated that he can not stand it .
His instinct is to lash out , blame others , hurt others , distort reality , claim victory and exhibit false bravado .
Nothing about his response is healthy , mature or normal .
He is out of control .
Our country is being forced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Forty-one more days of hell are ahead of us .
What could possibly save our country from this man 's decompensation before our eyes ?
His immediate removal from office would minimize his damage to America .
But , of course , congressional Republicans are enabling him and will not intervene in any way , let alone appropriately .
Short of that , we will just have to endure the angst of the next six weeks .
Historians will be critical of Republicans because of their complicity over the past four years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ irrational and destructive president right now will stand as their unforgivable legacy .
Almost to a person , they have been silent and absent .
They have been weak .
As of this week , only 27 congressional Republicans are willing to acknowledge publicly that Joe Biden is our president-elect .
Donald Trump could have been contained by a Republican Party that put country over party , good over evil , and courage over cowardice .
But it did not .
The moral of this nightmare is that we must never again elect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ require a psychological and psychiatric examination of all presidential candidates going forward , to be administered by a team of qualified experts .
We must have a process whereby dangerous psychopathology can be identified and specific recommendations for public service can be offered .
We could have saved our country from the past four years of anguish if we 'd had a such a process in place in 2016 .
Forty-one days to go to rid ourselves of this toxic and self-destructive man .
We will prevail .
But it will be hell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sure of that .
He wants it that way .
Seth D. Norrholm is an associate professor of psychiatry in the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit .

Donald Trump has 41 days to go before his presidency is over. Instead of assisting with the peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden, he has chosen to spend his final days exhibiting his psychiatric disorder . His rhetoric and his behavior are manifestations of his pathology. He shows every day that he has no self-control, no insight and no capacity to function effectively at his job.
Trump lost the election fair and square. But he cannot handle the defeat because his narcissistic injury has triggered outrage, hostility, accusations and victimhood. Despite his loud proclamations of a rigged election, there is absolutely no evidence of it. Trump has been rejected by a majority of the American people, and now he is an angry, miserable and destructive loser.
Trump is not capable of experiencing true depression. His psyche is not equipped for such a normal response. Rather, he responds to loss or disappointment by becoming enraged and accusatory. He feels and acts as if he were a victim. Trump's response is primitive and pathological. It is pathognomonic of personality pathology. It is entirely outside the realm of normalcy. It is dangerous.
Trump's "alternative universe" is being threatened by the reality of his election loss. He is desperate to maintain the persona of being smart, superior, strong and almighty. This is his "false self," a fantasy created to cover up the truth: that he is not very smart, that he is lazy, that he is disinterested, that he is not as rich as he claims, that he does not care about people, that he is corrupt and that he is cruel. That is Trump's "true self." He has spent his entire life spinning a fake web of grandiosity and superiority with enablers along the way to keep the ruse alive. As president, he has convinced millions that his false persona is more true than observable reality. That, my friends, is a skilled con man, an accomplished grifter, an unabashed criminal.
From all reports, Trump has stopped working. His days are filled with angry outbursts, watching television, promulgating conspiracy theories and playing golf. He is incapacitated by his psychiatric symptoms. He is abdicating his responsibility as president. The idea that he is our ultimate public servant could not be further from the truth. Trump is totally self-absorbed with his narcissistic injury and his grievances. Governing others is beyond his psychic capacity. In fact, it is his vindictiveness and his irrationality that have risen to the forefront.
So Trump's mental pathology is not allowing him to tackle the existential challenge facing the American people: the deadly pandemic that is raging and the resulting economic fallout. He has washed his hands of it. He has not mentioned it in months. He has not attended a task force meeting in months. He has not mentioned the 288,000 deaths under his watch — a number that will have grown by the time you read this. He continues to oppose mask wearing and favor herd immunity, for no coherent or rational reasons. He just endangered the lives of many other people a few nights ago at his pep rally in Georgia. Trump's lack of empathy, his inability to govern and his deep-seated cruelty are all on display in their most naked form.
Part of Trump's pathology is his scorched-earth mentality in response to his electoral defeat. He is filing baseless and frivolous lawsuits to try to overturn our free election. He is trying to subvert democracy by pressuring election officials to be dishonest and corrupt. He is exacting his revenge on Americans for rebuffing him. He is trying to undermine his successor so that he will be unsuccessful. He wants to pardon everyone in sight so that the rule of law will not apply to them. He wants to reinstitute executions by firing squad. He is not allowing the Biden transition team to talk with our intelligence agencies. Fascist sycophants are coming out of the woodwork to condone Trump's anti-democratic and anti-American rants.
He is so angry, embarrassed and humiliated that he cannot stand it. His instinct is to lash out, blame others, hurt others, distort reality, claim victory and exhibit false bravado. Nothing about his response is healthy, mature or normal. He is out of control. Our country is being forced to tolerate his crazed rhetoric and behavior.
Forty-one more days of hell are ahead of us. What could possibly save our country from this man's decompensation before our eyes? His immediate removal from office would minimize his damage to America. But, of course, congressional Republicans are enabling him and will not intervene in any way, let alone appropriately. Short of that, we will just have to endure the angst of the next six weeks.
Historians will be critical of Republicans because of their complicity over the past four years. Their unwillingness to deal with this irrational and destructive president right now will stand as their unforgivable legacy. Almost to a person, they have been silent and absent. They have been weak. As of this week, only 27 congressional Republicans are willing to acknowledge publicly that Joe Biden is our president-elect. Donald Trump could have been contained by a Republican Party that put country over party, good over evil, and courage over cowardice. But it did not.
The moral of this nightmare is that we must never again elect a mentally disordered president. We must require a psychological and psychiatric examination of all presidential candidates going forward, to be administered by a team of qualified experts. We must have a process whereby dangerous psychopathology can be identified and specific recommendations for public service can be offered. We could have saved our country from the past four years of anguish if we'd had a such a process in place in 2016.
Forty-one days to go to rid ourselves of this toxic and self-destructive man. We will prevail. But it will be hell getting there.
Donald Trump will make sure of that. He wants it that way.
ALAN D. BLOTCKY
Alan D. Blotcky, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist in Birmingham, Alabama.
MORE FROM ALAN D. BLOTCKY
SETH D. NORRHOLM
Seth D. Norrholm is an associate professor of psychiatry in the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit.
MORE FROM SETH D. NORRHOLM


alternet--2020-12-10--We may have been wrong about the fundamental building blocks of the universe all along

Matter is what makes up the universe , but what makes up matter ?
This question has long been tricky for those who think about it – especially for the physicists .
Reflecting recent trends in physics , my colleague Jeffrey Eischen and I have described an updated way to think about matter .
We propose that matter is not made of particles or waves , as was long thought , but – more fundamentally – that matter is made of fragments of energy .
From five to one The ancient Greeks conceived of five building blocks of matter – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ water , air , fire and aether .
Aether was the matter that filled the heavens and explained the rotation of the stars , as observed from the Earth vantage point .
These were the first most basic elements from which one could build up a world .
Their conceptions of the physical elements did not change dramatically for nearly 2,000 years .
Then , about 300 years ago , Sir Isaac Newton introduced the idea that all matter exists at points called particles .
One hundred fifty years after that , James @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the underlying and often invisible form of magnetism , electricity and light .
The particle served as the building block for mechanics and the wave for electromagnetism – and the public settled on the particle and the wave as the two building blocks of matter .
Together , the particles and waves became the building blocks of all kinds of matter .
This was a vast improvement over the ancient Greeks ' five elements , but was still flawed .
In a famous series of experiments , known as the double-slit experiments , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at other times acts like a wave .
And while the theories and math of waves and particles allow scientists to make incredibly accurate predictions about the universe , the rules break down at the largest and tiniest scales .
Einstein proposed a remedy in his theory of general relativity .
Using the mathematical tools available to him at the time , Einstein was able to better explain certain physical phenomena and also resolve a longstanding paradox relating to inertia and gravity .
But instead of improving on particles or waves , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of space and time .
Using newer mathematical tools , my colleague and I have demonstrated a new theory that may accurately describe the universe .
Instead of basing the theory on the warping of space and time , we considered that there could be a building block that is more fundamental than the particle and the wave .
Scientists understand that particles and waves are existential opposites : A particle is a source of matter that exists at a single point , and waves exist everywhere except at the points that create @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it made logical sense for there to be an underlying connection between them .
Our theory begins with a new fundamental idea – that energy always “ flows '' through regions of space and time .
Think of energy as made up of lines that fill up a region of space and time , flowing into and out of that region , never beginning , never ending and never crossing one another .
Working from the idea of a universe of flowing energy lines , we looked for a single building block for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ find and define such a thing , we hoped we could use it to accurately make predictions about the universe at the largest and tiniest scales .
There were many building blocks to choose from mathematically , but we sought one that had the features of both the particle and wave – concentrated like the particle but also spread out over space and time like the wave .
The answer was a building block that looks like a concentration of energy – kind of like a star – having energy that is highest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ farther away from the center .
Much to our surprise , we discovered that there were only a limited number of ways to describe a concentration of energy that flows .
Of those , we found just one that works in accordance with our mathematical definition of flow .
We named it a fragment of energy .
For the math and physics aficionados , it is defined as A = -⍺/r where ⍺ is intensity and r is the distance function .
Using the fragment of energy as a building block of matter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to solve physics problems .
The final step was to test it out .
More than 100 ago , Einstein had turned to two legendary problems in physics to validate general relativity : the ever-so-slight yearly shift – or precession – in Mercury 's orbit , and the tiny bending of light as it passes the Sun .
These problems were at the two extremes of the size spectrum .
Neither wave nor particle theories of matter could solve them , but general relativity did .
The theory of general relativity warped space @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cause the trajectory of Mercury to shift and light to bend in precisely the amounts seen in astronomical observations .
If our new theory was to have a chance at replacing the particle and the wave with the presumably more fundamental fragment , we would have to be able to solve these problems with our theory , too .
For the precession-of-Mercury problem , we modeled the Sun as an enormous stationary fragment of energy and Mercury as a smaller but still enormous slow-moving fragment of energy .
For the bending-of-light problem , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but the photon was modeled as a minuscule fragment of energy moving at the speed of light .
In both problems , we calculated the trajectories of the moving fragments and got the same answers as those predicted by the theory of general relativity .
We were stunned .
Our initial work demonstrated how a new building block is capable of accurately modeling bodies from the enormous to the minuscule .
Where particles and waves break down , the fragment of energy building block held strong .
The fragment could be a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to model reality mathematically – and update the way people think about the building blocks of the universe .
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license .
Read the original article .

by Larry M. Silverberg, North Carolina State University
Matter is what makes up the universe, but what makes up matter? This question has long been tricky for those who think about it – especially for the physicists. Reflecting recent trends in physics, my colleague Jeffrey Eischenand I have described an updated way to think about matter. We propose that matter is not made of particles or waves, as was long thought, but – more fundamentally – that matter is made of fragments of energy.
From five to one
The ancient Greeks conceived of five building blocks of matter – from bottom to top: earth, water, air, fire and aether. Aether was the matter that filled the heavens and explained the rotation of the stars, as observed from the Earth vantage point. These were the first most basic elements from which one could build up a world. Their conceptions of the physical elements did not change dramatically for nearly 2,000 years.
Then, about 300 years ago, Sir Isaac Newton introduced the idea that all matter exists at points called particles. One hundred fifty years after that, James Clerk Maxwell introduced the electromagnetic wave – the underlying and often invisible form of magnetism, electricity and light. The particle served as the building block for mechanics and the wave for electromagnetism – and the public settled on the particle and the wave as the two building blocks of matter. Together, the particles and waves became the building blocks of all kinds of matter.
This was a vast improvement over the ancient Greeks' five elements, but was still flawed. In a famous series of experiments, known as the double-slit experiments, light sometimes acts like a particle and at other times acts like a wave. And while the theories and math of waves and particles allow scientists to make incredibly accurate predictions about the universe, the rules break down at the largest and tiniest scales.
Einstein proposed a remedy in his theory of general relativity. Using the mathematical tools available to him at the time, Einstein was able to better explain certain physical phenomena and also resolve a longstanding paradox relating to inertia and gravity. But instead of improving on particles or waves, he eliminated them as he proposed the warping of space and time.
Using newer mathematical tools, my colleague and I have demonstrated a new theory that may accurately describe the universe. Instead of basing the theory on the warping of space and time, we considered that there could be a building block that is more fundamental than the particle and the wave. Scientists understand that particles and waves are existential opposites: A particle is a source of matter that exists at a single point, and waves exist everywhere except at the points that create them. My colleague and I thought it made logical sense for there to be an underlying connection between them.
Flow and fragments of energy
Our theory begins with a new fundamental idea – that energy always “flows" through regions of space and time.
Think of energy as made up of lines that fill up a region of space and time, flowing into and out of that region, never beginning, never ending and never crossing one another.
Working from the idea of a universe of flowing energy lines, we looked for a single building block for the flowing energy. If we could find and define such a thing, we hoped we could use it to accurately make predictions about the universe at the largest and tiniest scales.
There were many building blocks to choose from mathematically, but we sought one that had the features of both the particle and wave – concentrated like the particle but also spread out over space and time like the wave. The answer was a building block that looks like a concentration of energy – kind of like a star – having energy that is highest at the center and that gets smaller farther away from the center.
Much to our surprise, we discovered that there were only a limited number of ways to describe a concentration of energy that flows. Of those, we found just one that works in accordance with our mathematical definition of flow. We named it a fragment of energy. For the math and physics aficionados, it is defined as A = -⍺/r where ⍺ is intensity and r is the distance function.
Using the fragment of energy as a building block of matter, we then constructed the math necessary to solve physics problems. The final step was to test it out.
Back to Einstein, adding universality
More than 100 ago, Einstein had turned to two legendary problems in physics to validate general relativity: the ever-so-slight yearly shift – or precession – in Mercury's orbit, and the tiny bending of light as it passes the Sun.
These problems were at the two extremes of the size spectrum. Neither wave nor particle theories of matter could solve them, but general relativity did. The theory of general relativity warped space and time in such way as to cause the trajectory of Mercury to shift and light to bend in precisely the amounts seen in astronomical observations.
If our new theory was to have a chance at replacing the particle and the wave with the presumably more fundamental fragment, we would have to be able to solve these problems with our theory, too.
For the precession-of-Mercury problem, we modeled the Sun as an enormous stationary fragment of energy and Mercury as a smaller but still enormous slow-moving fragment of energy. For the bending-of-light problem, the Sun was modeled the same way, but the photon was modeled as a minuscule fragment of energy moving at the speed of light. In both problems, we calculated the trajectories of the moving fragments and got the same answers as those predicted by the theory of general relativity. We were stunned.
Our initial work demonstrated how a new building block is capable of accurately modeling bodies from the enormous to the minuscule. Where particles and waves break down, the fragment of energy building block held strong. The fragment could be a single potentially universal building block from which to model reality mathematically – and update the way people think about the building blocks of the universe.
Larry M. Silverberg, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.


alternet--2020-12-10--New report reveals unspoken concerns about top Democrat: 'It's time for Sen. Feinstein to step down'

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has been a fixture in Democratic Party politics , serving as mayor of San Francisco during the 1970s and 1980s and in the U.S. Senate since the early 1990s .
Feinstein has had a variety of leadership positions in the Senate and is presently a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee .
But journalist Jane Mayer , in an article published by The New Yorker this week , notes that some of Feinstein 's fellow Democrats have been questioning her performance recently and are wondering if it is time for Feinstein , now 87 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ why some Democrats have been concerned .
When Feinstein questioned Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey during a November 17 hearing , she asked him the same question twice .
Progressive groups , according to Mayer , have criticized Feinstein 's `` faltering management of Amy Coney Barrett 's Supreme Court confirmation hearing . ''
And Mayer notes that Brian Fallon , executive director of the progressive group Demand Justice , bluntly said , `` It 's time for Sen. Feinstein to step down from her leadership position on the Senate Judiciary Committee .
If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to intervene . ''
`` Some former Feinstein aides insist that rumors of her cognitive decline have been exaggerated , and that video clips taken out of context can make almost anyone look foolish , '' Mayer explains .
`` They also bridle at singling out her condition , because declining male senators , including Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and Robert Byrd of West Virginia , were widely known by the end of their careers to be non-compos mentis . ''
Of course , different people age differently .
Sen. Bernie Sanders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Anthony Fauci are n't young — Sanders and Fauci are both 79 , Pelosi is 80 — but they 're obviously quite sharp mentally .
Mayer 's article , however , raises the question of how politicians should respond if they believe that one of their colleagues is declining .
`` One former aide to Feinstein argues that , even if her faculties are diminished , 'she 's still smarter and quicker than at least a third of the other members , ' '' Mayer reporters .
`` But many others familiar with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ struggling , and say it has been evident for several years .
Speaking on background and with respect for her accomplished career , they say her short-term memory has grown so poor that she often forgets she has been briefed on a topic — accusing her staff of failing to do so just after they have .
They describe Feinstein as forgetting what she has said and getting upset when she ca n't keep up . ''
An aide to a Democratic senator , interviewed by Mayer on condition of anonymity , said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ incredibly effective human being , but there 's definitely been deterioration in the last year .
She 's in a very different mode now . ''
Mayer stresses , in her article , that aging members of the Senate and the House — Democrats as well as Republicans — do n't necessarily get voted out of office as they age .
Many of them , she notes , are reelected time and time again .
And Mayer concludes her piece by noting that older members of Congress are , if anything , become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problem shows no sign of abating , '' Mayer reports .
`` If Republicans hold the Senate majority next year after Georgia 's two runoff races , the likely chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee will be Chuck Grassley of Iowa .
Now 87 , he is just three months younger than Feinstein .
And he has said that he is considering running for reelection in 2022 . ''

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has been a fixture in Democratic Party politics, serving as mayor of San Francisco during the 1970s and 1980s and in the U.S. Senate since the early 1990s. Feinstein has had a variety of leadership positions in the Senate and is presently a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. But journalist Jane Mayer, in an article published by The New Yorker this week, notes that some of Feinstein's fellow Democrats have been questioning her performance recently and are wondering if it is time for Feinstein, now 87, to retire.
Mayer cites examples of why some Democrats have been concerned. When Feinstein questioned Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey during a November 17 hearing, she asked him the same question twice. Progressive groups, according to Mayer, have criticized Feinstein's "faltering management of Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court confirmation hearing." And Mayer notes that Brian Fallon, executive director of the progressive group Demand Justice, bluntly said, "It's time for Sen. Feinstein to step down from her leadership position on the Senate Judiciary Committee. If she won't, her colleagues need to intervene."
"Some former Feinstein aides insist that rumors of her cognitive decline have been exaggerated, and that video clips taken out of context can make almost anyone look foolish," Mayer explains. "They also bridle at singling out her condition, because declining male senators, including Strom Thurmond of South Carolina and Robert Byrd of West Virginia, were widely known by the end of their careers to be non-compos mentis."
Of course, different people age differently. Sen. Bernie Sanders, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Dr. Anthony Fauci aren't young — Sanders and Fauci are both 79, Pelosi is 80 — but they're obviously quite sharp mentally. Mayer's article, however, raises the question of how politicians should respond if they believe that one of their colleagues is declining.
"One former aide to Feinstein argues that, even if her faculties are diminished, 'she's still smarter and quicker than at least a third of the other members,'" Mayer reporters. "But many others familiar with Feinstein's situation describe her as seriously struggling, and say it has been evident for several years. Speaking on background and with respect for her accomplished career, they say her short-term memory has grown so poor that she often forgets she has been briefed on a topic — accusing her staff of failing to do so just after they have. They describe Feinstein as forgetting what she has said and getting upset when she can't keep up."
An aide to a Democratic senator, interviewed by Mayer on condition of anonymity, said of Feinstein, "She's an incredibly effective human being, but there's definitely been deterioration in the last year. She's in a very different mode now."
Mayer stresses, in her article, that aging members of the Senate and the House — Democrats as well as Republicans — don't necessarily get voted out of office as they age. Many of them, she notes, are reelected time and time again. And Mayer concludes her piece by noting that older members of Congress are, if anything, become more prominent.
"Congress' gerontocracy problem shows no sign of abating," Mayer reports. "If Republicans hold the Senate majority next year after Georgia's two runoff races, the likely chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee will be Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Now 87, he is just three months younger than Feinstein. And he has said that he is considering running for reelection in 2022."


alternet--2020-12-10--How Biden could pave the way for the next Trump

Since the 1970s , U.S. real wages have largely stagnated .
After a century of real wages rising every decade , that stagnation changed the lives of the U.S. working class in traumatic ways .
Likewise , since the 1970s , labor productivity grew steadily , aided sequentially by computers , robots , and artificial intelligence .
The combination of stagnant real wages and rising productivity lowered labor 's share of national income in favor of capital 's .
Profits consequently soared and took the stock markets with them .
Income and wealth were redistributed sharply upward .
The post-1970 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as traumas often are , by being minimally recognized and even less discussed in the media , among politicians , or in the academy .
Workers thus encountered the end of the century of rising real wages individually as a mysterious evaporation of the American Dream or loss of an earlier American Greatness .
They also reacted individually .
More members of households ( especially adult women ) undertook more hours of paid labor outside the home to compensate for stagnant real hourly wages .
Households also compensated by borrowing more heavily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ done .
Workers wanted so desperately to hold on to that American Dream .
Capital obliged : mortgage and auto debts spread more widely and deeply throughout the U.S. population .
Credit cards were newly promoted to consumers who filled millions of wallets with many of them .
Toward the end of the 20th century , capital added massive student lending that now exceeds total U.S. credit card debt .
Capital thereby supplemented its profits from production ( boosted by stagnant wages ) by adding interest on consumer and student debts ( undertaken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wonder the U.S. stock market boomed in the 1980s and 1990s .
No wonder that the Clintons and other centrist Democrats celebrated that debt boom for their political advantage instead of attending to its immense risks and disruptive social costs .
Late 20th-century U.S. capitalism boomed until it could no longer support rising debt levels .
Households stressed , families dissolved , and individuals exhausted by ever more hours of labor added severe anxieties to their burdens as rising debts exceeded capacities to service them .
Deepening loneliness , divorce , opioid and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the social costs .
Three crashes of U.S. capitalism in the 21st century ( 2000 , 2008 , and 2020 ) , each far worse than its predecessor , brought home to the U.S. working class how far its social situation had deteriorated .
Individual responses no longer sufficed for millions .
They were ready to participate in social movements to express their accumulated anger , bitterness , and rage .
They needed such populist movements to do something—or at least to support politicians—to reverse the downward economic and social spiral so many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump opportunistically tapped enough of the U.S. working class 's bitterness to swing the votes needed to win the presidency in 2016 .
However , the interconnected finances and ideologies of the centrist Democrats who had taken over the party after the 1970s shared with Republicans the responsibility for that bitterness .
They led the Democratic Party into increasing dependence on donations from the capitalist class .
They likewise drifted ever further from the working-class base that had rallied for the Democrats during the Great Depression of the 1930s .
The neoliberal turn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two key impacts on the U.S. working class .
First , neoliberalism endorsed capitalist globalization and the export of jobs—especially the better-paying , more-unionized jobs—after the 1970s .
Second , by accelerating the deregulation of industries and markets , neoliberalism facilitated automation and weakened or removed various labor protections .
In short , the neoliberal turn was and remains a major cause of the U.S. working class 's decline and its resulting bitterness and anger .
With progressive leaders , Democrats might have shown the working class that its distress followed from how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the profits are greatest ( where wages are far lower and regulations far fewer than in the United States , for example ) .
Capitalists fund politicians like Reagan to turn policies toward neoliberalism .
However , centrists in the Democratic Party shied away from such explanations .
The centrist leaders of the Democratic Party were those closest to the party 's capitalist donors ( and vice versa ) .
Centrist control of the party blocked it from offering a powerful voice to mobilize working-class opposition to neoliberal job exports , deregulations , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ centrists wanted and depended on capitalists ' donations ; that dependence only increased as the party 's working-class support ebbed .
Workers turned away first from activity in and for the Democratic Party ; eventually many stopped voting for its candidates .
For them , the Democratic Party had failed to advance beyond the New Deal 's achievements .
Worse , the party had failed even to protect workers against the multiple ways that neoliberalism undid the New Deal .
Many workers felt betrayed .
In protest , often unspoken , some began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Unions increasingly had to downplay or reduce their traditional links to the Democratic Party because growing portions of their members had shifted toward the GOP .
The Republicans , traditionally the employers ' party , had long tried to counter the Democratic Party 's appeal to workers as the traditional employees ' party .
Republicans dared not use economic issues , and so they used religion , regionalism , and racism .
They could pry portions of the working class away from the Democratic Party by appealing to such noneconomic concerns among workers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and other religious fundamentalists portrayed as victims of secularists , the South 's and other regions ' sense of unfair treatment by Washington and coastal elites , and white supremacists portrayed as threatened by rising Black and Brown populations including immigrants .
The centrist Democrats countered by trying to carve out other portions of the working class : women , Black and Brown people , immigrants , and various other minorities .
Trump went further than previous Republicans in prying workers away from the Democrats .
Joe Biden went further than previous Democrats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his campaign and his new administration on those portions of the working class Democrats prioritized .
In these ways , each party 's strategy provoked more extreme versions of the other party 's strategy .
Hence the increasingly harsh and rageful tones of major party discourse and behavior generally .
Both major parties , following the dictates of the Cold War , together eviscerated the class-based politics stressed from the 1930s to 1945 .
An integral part of the undoing of the New Deal was canceling a politics where Republicans confronted Democrats as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , class conflict quickly faded from both parties ' statements and thinking .
They focused instead on carving up the same working class into different , competing portions .
Employers are chief funders of both parties , who then limit themselves to minimal references to class issues except for occasional , fleeting campaign rhetoric .
However , the class silence of the major parties created the need and the opportunity for a revival of what they had repressed .
Progressives such as Bernie Sanders , Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , and a growing number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wave of protest against all that was lost when centrists took over the Democratic Party .
That takeover presumed the undoing of the New Deal , the repression of the strong communist and socialist parties built in the 1930s and early 1940s , and the neoliberal turn that came to dominate public policy .
Many ( not all ) of today 's progressives—inside and outside the Democratic Party—want to reconstruct U.S. politics as once again a class politics .
Both major parties are now stuck with their commitments to a system that has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were unprepared for and could not contain a deadly virus handled far more successfully in many other countries .
U.S. capitalism likewise failed to prepare for or contain the social damage from the latest in its regularly recurring cyclical crashes .
These new failures compounded earlier , ongoing failures to overcome global warming and the crisis of U.S. race relations .
These and other systemic failures are eroding mass support for those parties just as the mounting sufferings of the working class seek political expression and solutions .
Trump 's right-wing Republicanism solved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic problems ; it did worsen income and wealth inequalities .
Yet it spoke to millions of working-class people who feel betrayed by the Democrats and attracted by the usual Republican references to religion , region , and race .
Obama 's regime had likewise solved nothing in the United States ' basic economic problems while worsening income and wealth inequalities and barely overcoming the 2008 capitalist crash in ways that set up the next one .
Obama did speak to millions of working-class people gathered around issues of gender , race , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gives every sign—in conditions of even worse economic and political decline—of repeating these oscillating failures .
In so doing , he prepares the way for the next Trump .
The key question then revolves around progressives inside and outside the Democratic Party .
Do enough of them have the needed clarity of understanding , courage to act , and wisdom to see their deficit in terms of strong organization ?
Can those who do seize the opportunity to ride a return of class politics into U.S. society ?
Will they effectively resist both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ destroy them ?
Meanwhile , the establishment Democrats and Republicans will continue their oscillating failures as the U.S. system 's mode of decline .
Richard D. Wolff is professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts , Amherst , and a visiting professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University , in New York .
Wolff 's weekly show , `` Economic Update , '' is syndicated by more than 100 radio stations and goes to 55 million TV receivers via Free Speech TV .
His three @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Sickness Is the System : When Capitalism Fails to Save Us From Pandemics or Itself , Understanding Marxism , and Understanding Socialism .
This article was produced by Economy for All , a project of the Independent Media Institute .

Since the 1970s, U.S. real wages have largely stagnated. After a century of real wages rising every decade, that stagnation changed the lives of the U.S. working class in traumatic ways. Likewise, since the 1970s, labor productivity grew steadily, aided sequentially by computers, robots, and artificial intelligence. The combination of stagnant real wages and rising productivity lowered labor's share of national income in favor of capital's. Profits consequently soared and took the stock markets with them. Income and wealth were redistributed sharply upward.
The post-1970 trauma of the working class was worsened, as traumas often are, by being minimally recognized and even less discussed in the media, among politicians, or in the academy. Workers thus encountered the end of the century of rising real wages individually as a mysterious evaporation of the American Dream or loss of an earlier American Greatness. They also reacted individually. More members of households (especially adult women) undertook more hours of paid labor outside the home to compensate for stagnant real hourly wages. Households also compensated by borrowing more heavily than any working class anywhere had ever done. Workers wanted so desperately to hold on to that American Dream.
Capital obliged: mortgage and auto debts spread more widely and deeply throughout the U.S. population. Credit cards were newly promoted to consumers who filled millions of wallets with many of them. Toward the end of the 20th century, capital added massive student lending that now exceeds total U.S. credit card debt. Capital thereby supplemented its profits from production (boosted by stagnant wages) by adding interest on consumer and student debts (undertaken because of stagnant wages). No wonder the U.S. stock market boomed in the 1980s and 1990s. No wonder that the Clintons and other centrist Democrats celebrated that debt boom for their political advantage instead of attending to its immense risks and disruptive social costs.
Late 20th-century U.S. capitalism boomed until it could no longer support rising debt levels. Households stressed, families dissolved, and individuals exhausted by ever more hours of labor added severe anxieties to their burdens as rising debts exceeded capacities to service them. Deepening loneliness, divorce, opioid and other addictions, and suicides were among the social costs. Three crashes of U.S. capitalism in the 21st century (2000, 2008, and 2020), each far worse than its predecessor, brought home to the U.S. working class how far its social situation had deteriorated. Individual responses no longer sufficed for millions. They were ready to participate in social movements to express their accumulated anger, bitterness, and rage. They needed such populist movements to do something—or at least to support politicians—to reverse the downward economic and social spiral so many felt trapped in and by.
Donald Trump opportunistically tapped enough of the U.S. working class's bitterness to swing the votes needed to win the presidency in 2016. However, the interconnected finances and ideologies of the centrist Democrats who had taken over the party after the 1970s shared with Republicans the responsibility for that bitterness. They led the Democratic Party into increasing dependence on donations from the capitalist class. They likewise drifted ever further from the working-class base that had rallied for the Democrats during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The neoliberal turn in U.S. capitalism under Ronald Reagan had two key impacts on the U.S. working class. First, neoliberalism endorsed capitalist globalization and the export of jobs—especially the better-paying, more-unionized jobs—after the 1970s. Second, by accelerating the deregulation of industries and markets, neoliberalism facilitated automation and weakened or removed various labor protections. In short, the neoliberal turn was and remains a major cause of the U.S. working class's decline and its resulting bitterness and anger.
With progressive leaders, Democrats might have shown the working class that its distress followed from how capitalism functions. Capital flows to where the profits are greatest (where wages are far lower and regulations far fewer than in the United States, for example). Capitalists fund politicians like Reagan to turn policies toward neoliberalism. However, centrists in the Democratic Party shied away from such explanations. The centrist leaders of the Democratic Party were those closest to the party's capitalist donors (and vice versa). Centrist control of the party blocked it from offering a powerful voice to mobilize working-class opposition to neoliberal job exports, deregulations, attacks on unions, etc. The centrists wanted and depended on capitalists' donations; that dependence only increased as the party's working-class support ebbed.
Workers turned away first from activity in and for the Democratic Party; eventually many stopped voting for its candidates. For them, the Democratic Party had failed to advance beyond the New Deal's achievements. Worse, the party had failed even to protect workers against the multiple ways that neoliberalism undid the New Deal. Many workers felt betrayed. In protest, often unspoken, some began to cross over to vote Republican. Unions increasingly had to downplay or reduce their traditional links to the Democratic Party because growing portions of their members had shifted toward the GOP.
The Republicans, traditionally the employers' party, had long tried to counter the Democratic Party's appeal to workers as the traditional employees' party. Republicans dared not use economic issues, and so they used religion, regionalism, and racism. They could pry portions of the working class away from the Democratic Party by appealing to such noneconomic concerns among workers. Their prime targets included evangelical Christian and other religious fundamentalists portrayed as victims of secularists, the South's and other regions' sense of unfair treatment by Washington and coastal elites, and white supremacists portrayed as threatened by rising Black and Brown populations including immigrants.
The centrist Democrats countered by trying to carve out other portions of the working class: women, Black and Brown people, immigrants, and various other minorities. Trump went further than previous Republicans in prying workers away from the Democrats. Joe Biden went further than previous Democrats (including Barack Obama) in focusing his campaign and his new administration on those portions of the working class Democrats prioritized. In these ways, each party's strategy provoked more extreme versions of the other party's strategy. Hence the increasingly harsh and rageful tones of major party discourse and behavior generally.
Both major parties, following the dictates of the Cold War, together eviscerated the class-based politics stressed from the 1930s to 1945. An integral part of the undoing of the New Deal was canceling a politics where Republicans confronted Democrats as representatives of employers versus employees. Instead, class conflict quickly faded from both parties' statements and thinking. They focused instead on carving up the same working class into different, competing portions. Employers are chief funders of both parties, who then limit themselves to minimal references to class issues except for occasional, fleeting campaign rhetoric.
However, the class silence of the major parties created the need and the opportunity for a revival of what they had repressed. Progressives such as Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and a growing number of others across U.S. politics are riding the wave of protest against all that was lost when centrists took over the Democratic Party. That takeover presumed the undoing of the New Deal, the repression of the strong communist and socialist parties built in the 1930s and early 1940s, and the neoliberal turn that came to dominate public policy. Many (not all) of today's progressives—inside and outside the Democratic Party—want to reconstruct U.S. politics as once again a class politics.
Both major parties are now stuck with their commitments to a system that has failed spectacularly. Private and public sectors were unprepared for and could not contain a deadly virus handled far more successfully in many other countries. U.S. capitalism likewise failed to prepare for or contain the social damage from the latest in its regularly recurring cyclical crashes. These new failures compounded earlier, ongoing failures to overcome global warming and the crisis of U.S. race relations. These and other systemic failures are eroding mass support for those parties just as the mounting sufferings of the working class seek political expression and solutions.
Trump's right-wing Republicanism solved none of the United States' basic economic problems; it did worsen income and wealth inequalities. Yet it spoke to millions of working-class people who feel betrayed by the Democrats and attracted by the usual Republican references to religion, region, and race. Obama's regime had likewise solved nothing in the United States' basic economic problems while worsening income and wealth inequalities and barely overcoming the 2008 capitalist crash in ways that set up the next one. Obama did speak to millions of working-class people gathered around issues of gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Biden gives every sign—in conditions of even worse economic and political decline—of repeating these oscillating failures. In so doing, he prepares the way for the next Trump.
The key question then revolves around progressives inside and outside the Democratic Party. Do enough of them have the needed clarity of understanding, courage to act, and wisdom to see their deficit in terms of strong organization? Can those who do seize the opportunity to ride a return of class politics into U.S. society? Will they effectively resist both major parties' efforts to silence and destroy them? Meanwhile, the establishment Democrats and Republicans will continue their oscillating failures as the U.S. system's mode of decline.
Richard D. Wolff is professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a visiting professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University, in New York. Wolff's weekly show, "Economic Update," is syndicated by more than 100 radio stations and goes to 55 million TV receivers via Free Speech TV. His three recent books with Democracy at Work are The Sickness Is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us From Pandemics or Itself, Understanding Marxism, and Understanding Socialism.
This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.


alternet--2020-12-10--MSNBC's Chris Hayes fumes at Trump's 'depraved indifference' as COVID becomes deadlier than ever bef

MSNBC's Chris Hayes fumes at Trump's 'depraved indifference' as COVID becomes deadlier than ever before

The United States reached yet another grim milestone on Wednesday when more than 3,000 people died from COVID-19 in the U.S. — which was the country 's highest number of coronavirus-related deaths on a single day since the pandemic began .
MSNBC 's Chris Hayes has been stressing that because of President Donald Trump 's woefully inadequate response , the pandemic has been much deadlier in the U.S. than it had to be .
And during an angry commentary on Wednesday night , Hayes argued that `` depraved indifference '' was costing thousands of Americans their lives .
On his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' the liberal host told viewers , `` As the coronavirus continues to devastate this country , I am just finding it hard to hold my rage and my anguish together .
We are watching a lack of action by the federal leadership in this country that feels almost criminal .
It is depraved indifference at a level I can not quite articulate . ''
Hayes added that on Wednesday , the death count from COVID-19 in the U.S. was even higher than the death count from the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lost more Americans today than we lost in 9/11 , an event that transformed our country and our government in the world , '' Hayes explained .
And he went on to say that the federal government is n't doing nearly enough to combat the pandemic .
`` We are now at a point where the nation 's COVID response has descended into chaos — just chaos , catastrophe and calamity , '' Hayes lamented .
`` And everyone is mad at everyone else .
People are mad at each other .
People @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the store who was n't wearing the mask properly and the person on Instagram with a big party and big group on Thanksgiving… .
All the while , a record number of people in the U.S. remain hospitalized with COVID . ''
Hayes added , `` More than 3000 deaths were recorded today for the first time ever .
That 's a record here , and a record for the world . ''
Here are some responses to Hayes ' commentary posted on Twitter :

The United States reached yet another grim milestone on Wednesday when more than 3,000 people died from COVID-19 in the U.S. — which was the country's highest number of coronavirus-related deaths on a single day since the pandemic began. MSNBC's Chris Hayes has been stressing that because of President Donald Trump's woefully inadequate response, the pandemic has been much deadlier in the U.S. than it had to be. And during an angry commentary on Wednesday night, Hayes argued that "depraved indifference" was costing thousands of Americans their lives.
On his show "All In with Chris Hayes," the liberal host told viewers, "As the coronavirus continues to devastate this country, I am just finding it hard to hold my rage and my anguish together. We are watching a lack of action by the federal leadership in this country that feels almost criminal. It is depraved indifference at a level I cannot quite articulate."
Hayes added that on Wednesday, the death count from COVID-19 in the U.S. was even higher than the death count from the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
"We lost more Americans today than we lost in 9/11, an event that transformed our country and our government in the world," Hayes explained. And he went on to say that the federal government isn't doing nearly enough to combat the pandemic.
"We are now at a point where the nation's COVID response has descended into chaos — just chaos, catastrophe and calamity," Hayes lamented. "And everyone is mad at everyone else. People are mad at each other. People are texting each other about the jerk at the store who wasn't wearing the mask properly and the person on Instagram with a big party and big group on Thanksgiving…. All the while, a record number of people in the U.S. remain hospitalized with COVID."
Hayes added, "More than 3000 deaths were recorded today for the first time ever. That's a record here, and a record for the world."
Here are some responses to Hayes' commentary posted on Twitter:


alternet--2020-12-10--South Dakota lawmaker now battling COVID after dinner at governor's mansion

A Republican lawmaker in South Dakota has tested positive for coronavirus after attending Gov .
Kristi Noem 's ( R ) budget address .
According to the Angus Leader , Sen. Helene Duhamel ( R-S.D ) on Wednesday evening notified the state 's Senate majority leader of her COVID positive status .
It has been reported that Duhamel began experiencing symptoms of the virus after she returned home from the state capitol .
The day before she began experiencing symptoms , she had also met with other lawmakers .
Lee Schoenbeck , '' When I learned ( this morning ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this morning — I asked the senator for permission to notify senators that were in Pierre yesterday , '' said Schoenbeck .
Schoenbeck 's announcement came just days after the dinner Duhamel and dozens of other lawmakers dined together .
Noem also took to Twitter with a photo of the South Dakota legislature from that night .
The photo captured Noem , Duhamel , and the rest of the group of Republican women huddled close together with no masks .
Despite being in close proximity to Duhamel over the last couple of days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Noem , released a statement on behalf of the governor as she dismissed the possibility of her possibly being exposed to the virus .
`` The governor was not a close contact and continues to take the necessary precautions to protect herself and others against the coronavirus , '' Seidel said .
The latest news about Duhamel 's positive COVID diagnosis comes just days after Noem was criticized for her handling of the coronavirus pandemic .
A grieving son recently penned a letter to Noem following his father 's death from complications @ @ @ @ @ @ @ face alarming upticks in COVID cases and hospitalizations .
The state of South Dakota also holds one of the highest COVID positivity rates in the world at 51.5 % .

A Republican lawmaker in South Dakota has tested positive for coronavirus after attending Gov. Kristi Noem's (R) budget address. According to the Angus Leader, Sen. Helene Duhamel (R-S.D) on Wednesday evening notified the state's Senate majority leader of her COVID positive status.
It has been reported that Duhamel began experiencing symptoms of the virus after she returned home from the state capitol. The day before she began experiencing symptoms, she had also met with other lawmakers. Lee Schoenbeck,
"When I learned (this morning) about the positive test — which was this morning — I asked the senator for permission to notify senators that were in Pierre yesterday," said Schoenbeck.
Schoenbeck's announcement came just days after the dinner Duhamel and dozens of other lawmakers dined together. Noem also took to Twitter with a photo of the South Dakota legislature from that night. The photo captured Noem, Duhamel, and the rest of the group of Republican women huddled close together with no masks.
Despite being in close proximity to Duhamel over the last couple of days, Maggie Seidel, a senior advisor for Noem, released a statement on behalf of the governor as she dismissed the possibility of her possibly being exposed to the virus.
"The governor was not a close contact and continues to take the necessary precautions to protect herself and others against the coronavirus," Seidel said.
The latest news about Duhamel's positive COVID diagnosis comes just days after Noem was criticized for her handling of the coronavirus pandemic. A grieving son recently penned a letter to Noem following his father's death from complications of COVID as the state continues to face alarming upticks in COVID cases and hospitalizations. The state of South Dakota also holds one of the highest COVID positivity rates in the world at 51.5%.


alternet--2020-12-10--Living people fire back at Republican fraud claims in error-ridden list of 'dead voters'

Conservative advocate Meshawn Maddock found herself at the center of controversy after highlighting a bogus voter fraud claim alleging that deceased voters had cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election .
Like an overwhelming number of other Trump supporters , instead of verifying the validity of her claims , she aired her grievances on social media and left the public to do their own research .
According to the local news outlet Bridge Michigan , Maddock released a list of more than 150 names of voters .
It also publicized the addresses of the voters Maddock claimed were dead .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ from a larger file that contained more than 2,000 names of people she claimed `` voted in Wayne County by absentee ballot that are CONFIRMED deceased , '' It did not take long for social media users to fire back at Maddock .
The outcome is no different than the frivolous post-election lawsuits being filed in courts across the country .
Social media users quickly realized the problem with the list of names she released : many of the voters were , in fact , alive .
Viewers also noted that some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wayne County were actually in Oakland County .
To make matters worse , she had also made those voters ' private information visible .
In fact , some of the listed voters even chimed in with critical remarks .
`` I am certainly not dead ! ''
wrote one woman .
Another man also verified that two of the people on the list are actually people he knows personally who live in his neighborhood .
`` Two people in my neighborhood are on this list , '' he wrote .
`` They 're @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boys play baseball with my sons . ''
Although Maddock deleted the post after receiving a warning from Facebook , she still opted to pivot from the obvious point which proves that her claim was baseless .
In a text message to the publication , Maddock offered a delusional defense of her actions despite having no proof of voter fraud .
`` This is n't about overturning the 2020 election , '' Maddock texted .
`` This is about never letting this happen again , and punishing those who have committed fraud .
@

Conservative advocate Meshawn Maddock found herself at the center of controversy after highlighting a bogus voter fraud claim alleging that deceased voters had cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election. Like an overwhelming number of other Trump supporters, instead of verifying the validity of her claims, she aired her grievances on social media and left the public to do their own research.
According to the local news outlet Bridge Michigan, Maddock released a list of more than 150 names of voters. It also publicized the addresses of the voters Maddock claimed were dead. According to Maddock, her list derived from a larger file that contained more than 2,000 names of people she claimed "voted in Wayne County by absentee ballot that are CONFIRMED deceased,"
It did not take long for social media users to fire back at Maddock. The outcome is no different than the frivolous post-election lawsuits being filed in courts across the country. Social media users quickly realized the problem with the list of names she released: many of the voters were, in fact, alive. Viewers also noted that some of the residential locations Maddock claimed were in Wayne County were actually in Oakland County.
To make matters worse, she had also made those voters' private information visible. In fact, some of the listed voters even chimed in with critical remarks.
"I am certainly not dead!" wrote one woman. Another man also verified that two of the people on the list are actually people he knows personally who live in his neighborhood. "Two people in my neighborhood are on this list," he wrote. "They're very much alive. Hell, their boys play baseball with my sons."
Although Maddock deleted the post after receiving a warning from Facebook, she still opted to pivot from the obvious point which proves that her claim was baseless. In a text message to the publication, Maddock offered a delusional defense of her actions despite having no proof of voter fraud.
"This isn't about overturning the 2020 election," Maddock texted. "This is about never letting this happen again, and punishing those who have committed fraud."


alternet--2020-12-10--Utah's AG added state to Texas' election lawsuit — but the GOP governor and governor-elect want no p

Utah's AG added state to Texas' election lawsuit — but the GOP governor and governor-elect want no part of it

Utah is among the red states that signed onto a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in four states .
But according to KUTV-TV 2 ( the CBS affiliate in Salt Lake City ) , Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes signed Utah onto the lawsuit without consulting either Gov .
Gary Herbert or Governor-elect Spencer Cox — both of whom consider the lawsuit `` an unwise use of taxpayers ' money . ''
The lawsuit , which was filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton , is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joe Biden won : Pennsylvania , Michigan , Wisconsin and Georgia — claiming , without evidence , that President Donald Trump was the victim of widespread voter fraud .
That lawsuit has been widely criticized by legal experts , including conservative law professor Kimberly Wehle — who slammed it as `` insane '' and devoid of merit in a blistering article for The Bulwark .
Nonetheless , a long list of Republican attorneys general joined the lawsuit .
In a joint official statement about Reyes and the Texas lawsuit , Herbert and Cox @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The attorney general did not consult us before signing on to this brief ; so , we do n't know what his motivation is .
Just as we would not want other states challenging Utah 's election results , we do not think we should intervene in other states ' elections .
Candidates who wish to challenge election results have access to the courts without our involvement .
This is an unwise use of taxpayers ' money . ''
Reyes , in a statement on Wednesday , December 9 , discussed his reasons @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Utah attorney general stated , `` If the election was fair , the Supreme Court should say so .
If not , it should say that .
Either way , it should say something and not avoid the question .
That is the only way to settle the constitutional question facing us today and for future generations and elections… .
Because all Americans need clarity and confidence in our national elections , I have joined the amicus brief supporting the petition of Texas and urge the Supreme Court to address this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Collectively , Pennsylvania , Michigan , Wisconsin and Georgia have 62 electoral votes — and Paxton , in the Texas lawsuit , argues that they should n't go to Biden .
Paxton 's critics , including Wehle , have slammed him as an authoritarian who does n't value the rule of law and stressed that Biden won all of those states fair and square .
A total of 17 states that Trump won have joined the Texas lawsuit .

Utah is among the red states that signed onto a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in four states. But according to KUTV-TV 2 (the CBS affiliate in Salt Lake City), Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes signed Utah onto the lawsuit without consulting either Gov. Gary Herbert or Governor-elect Spencer Cox — both of whom consider the lawsuit "an unwise use of taxpayers' money."
The lawsuit, which was filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out the election results in four states that President-elect Joe Biden won: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia — claiming, without evidence, that President Donald Trump was the victim of widespread voter fraud. That lawsuit has been widely criticized by legal experts, including conservative law professor Kimberly Wehle — who slammed it as "insane" and devoid of merit in a blistering article for The Bulwark. Nonetheless, a long list of Republican attorneys general joined the lawsuit.
In a joint official statement about Reyes and the Texas lawsuit, Herbert and Cox, both Republicans, said, "The attorney general did not consult us before signing on to this brief; so, we don't know what his motivation is. Just as we would not want other states challenging Utah's election results, we do not think we should intervene in other states' elections. Candidates who wish to challenge election results have access to the courts without our involvement. This is an unwise use of taxpayers' money."
Reyes, in a statement on Wednesday, December 9, discussed his reasons for signing Utah onto the Texas lawsuit. The Utah attorney general stated, "If the election was fair, the Supreme Court should say so. If not, it should say that. Either way, it should say something and not avoid the question. That is the only way to settle the constitutional question facing us today and for future generations and elections…. Because all Americans need clarity and confidence in our national elections, I have joined the amicus brief supporting the petition of Texas and urge the Supreme Court to address this issue once and for all."
Collectively, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia have 62 electoral votes — and Paxton, in the Texas lawsuit, argues that they shouldn't go to Biden. Paxton's critics, including Wehle, have slammed him as an authoritarian who doesn't value the rule of law and stressed that Biden won all of those states fair and square.
A total of 17 states that Trump won have joined the Texas lawsuit.


alternet--2020-12-10--'Danger to American democracy': Ex-Nancy Reagan speechwriter says GOP has been overtaken by 'abject

'Danger to American democracy': Ex-Nancy Reagan speechwriter says GOP has been overtaken by 'abject lunacy'

Former Nancy Reagan speechwriter Mona Charen , now 63 , has spent plenty of time bashing liberals and progressives .
But Charen is a blistering critic of President Donald Trump , and she was glad to see former Vice President Joe Biden defeat him in the 2020 presidential election .
Many Never Trumpers hoped that the Republican Party would throw Trump under the bus after his loss ; instead , countless Republicans have rallied around him .
And Charen , in an article published by The Bulwark on December 9 , warns that the GOP has been taken over by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that people have rallied to Trump and alternative news sources because they feel disrespected by the mainstream , liberal-leaning press , '' Charen explains .
`` They bristle at the condescension of liberals who , they believe , despise country music , guns and Cracker Barrel .
There is some truth in this , but my experience with conservatives makes me skeptical of that as a complete explanation . ''
Charen goes on to say that the `` abject lunacy '' she is observing in the post-election GOP of 2020 goes way beyond @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elites . ''
According to Charen , `` The resentment motive ca n't account for our volume of crazy… .
With an enormous turbo-charge from Trump , the conspiracists are in the driver 's seat of the Republican Party .
Today , the glazed-eyed Hillary-murdered-Vince-Foster Republicans are , if not the majority , at least a plurality of the Republican Party .
This is profoundly worrying because , let 's face it , they 've suspended their critical faculties . ''
Biden enjoyed a decisive victory in the 2020 presidential election , winning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over 7 million in the popular vote .
Yet Trump supporters in the GOP have filed countless lawsuits in the hope of overturning the election results , baselessly claiming widespread voter fraud and insisting that Trump really won by the landslide .
`` Trump spent months saying mail-in ballots were ripe for fraud , '' Charen observes .
`` He openly declared that he would not accept the legitimacy of any election he lost .
He pressured friendly state legislatures , like Pennsylvania 's , not to count mail ballots until Election Day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of victory if he did well with in-person voting on Election Night , knowing that the count for mail ballots would take longer . ''
Charen notes that the Arizona Republican Party `` is actually asking Republicans to 'fight and die ' for Trump 's stolen election lie '' and that author/radio host Eric Metaxas has `` released a video testament telling Trump , ' I 'd be happy to die in this fight .
This is a fight for everything .
God is with us . '
'' `` Former National Security @ @ @ @ @ @ @ military coup , '' Charen observes .
`` One of the president 's lawyers called for an official who oversaw election cybersecurity to be shot at dawn . ''
Charen wraps up her column on a pessimistic note , warning that the 2020 GOP is blatantly authoritarian .
`` We have now reached the stage where it is n't just that Republicans fail to rebuke Trump , '' Charen laments .
`` It is n't just that Republicans are frightened into silence by fear of the base .
We are now at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican Party has adopted Trump 's disordered personality for its own .
The Republican Party is , in this iteration , a danger to American democracy . ''

Former Nancy Reagan speechwriter Mona Charen, now 63, has spent plenty of time bashing liberals and progressives. But Charen is a blistering critic of President Donald Trump, and she was glad to see former Vice President Joe Biden defeat him in the 2020 presidential election. Many Never Trumpers hoped that the Republican Party would throw Trump under the bus after his loss; instead, countless Republicans have rallied around him. And Charen, in an article published by The Bulwark on December 9, warns that the GOP has been taken over by extremists.
"There's a theory that people have rallied to Trump and alternative news sources because they feel disrespected by the mainstream, liberal-leaning press," Charen explains. "They bristle at the condescension of liberals who, they believe, despise country music, guns and Cracker Barrel. There is some truth in this, but my experience with conservatives makes me skeptical of that as a complete explanation."
Charen goes on to say that the "abject lunacy" she is observing in the post-election GOP of 2020 goes way beyond the usual conservative disdain for "coastal elites."
According to Charen, "The resentment motive can't account for our volume of crazy…. With an enormous turbo-charge from Trump, the conspiracists are in the driver's seat of the Republican Party. Today, the glazed-eyed Hillary-murdered-Vince-Foster Republicans are, if not the majority, at least a plurality of the Republican Party. This is profoundly worrying because, let's face it, they've suspended their critical faculties."
Biden enjoyed a decisive victory in the 2020 presidential election, winning 306 electoral votes and defeating Trump by over 7 million in the popular vote. Yet Trump supporters in the GOP have filed countless lawsuits in the hope of overturning the election results, baselessly claiming widespread voter fraud and insisting that Trump really won by the landslide.
"Trump spent months saying mail-in ballots were ripe for fraud," Charen observes. "He openly declared that he would not accept the legitimacy of any election he lost. He pressured friendly state legislatures, like Pennsylvania's, not to count mail ballots until Election Day so that he could weave a story of victory if he did well with in-person voting on Election Night, knowing that the count for mail ballots would take longer."
Charen notes that the Arizona Republican Party "is actually asking Republicans to 'fight and die' for Trump's stolen election lie" and that author/radio host Eric Metaxas has "released a video testament telling Trump, 'I'd be happy to die in this fight. This is a fight for everything. God is with us.'"
"Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn is calling for a military coup," Charen observes. "One of the president's lawyers called for an official who oversaw election cybersecurity to be shot at dawn."
Charen wraps up her column on a pessimistic note, warning that the 2020 GOP is blatantly authoritarian.
"We have now reached the stage where it isn't just that Republicans fail to rebuke Trump," Charen laments. "It isn't just that Republicans are frightened into silence by fear of the base. We are now at the stage when a critical mass of the Republican Party has adopted Trump's disordered personality for its own. The Republican Party is, in this iteration, a danger to American democracy."


alternet--2020-12-10--CDC director accused of potentially destroying evidence to hide Trump administration meddling: repor

CDC director accused of potentially destroying evidence to hide Trump administration meddling: report

Dr. Robert Redfield , director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) , asked members of his staff to discard an email from a Trump-appointed political figure seeking to manage the public health agency 's COVID-19 reports , according to a senior official .
During a private interview on Monday , Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report ( MMWR ) editor Charlotte Kent spoke with investigators as she shared details about the email she received from Paul Alexander , the former scientific adviser to Health and Human Services ( HHS ) representative Michael Caputo .
According to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was an attempt by Alexander to dilute the publication 's report and manipulate it to align with President Donald Trump 's downplaying of the pandemic .
She also confirmed she was told to delete that particular email .
`` I was instructed to delete the email , '' Kent told investigators .
`` I went to look for it after I had been told to delete it , and it was already gone . ''
In response to the claim , Rep. Jim Clyburn ( D-S.C. ) , chairman of the House Subcommittee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ letter addressed to Redfield and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar as he warned about the illegalities and legal consequences of destroying federal records .
`` Federal employees have affirmative obligations to preserve documents , and destruction of federal records is potentially illegal , '' Clyburn warned in a letter to Redfield and Azar .
`` Federal law also provides for up to three years of imprisonment for willful destruction of federal records . ''
Despite heightened scrutiny from House Democrats , Redfield previously waved off speculation of political interference in his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` I just want to assure you and the other senators and the American public , that the scientific integrity of the MMWR has not been compromised , '' Redfield told a Senate committee on Sept. 16 .
`` It will not be compromised on my watch . ''

Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), asked members of his staff to discard an email from a Trump-appointed political figure seeking to manage the public health agency's COVID-19 reports, according to a senior official.
During a private interview on Monday, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) editor Charlotte Kent spoke with investigators as she shared details about the email she received from Paul Alexander, the former scientific adviser to Health and Human Services (HHS) representative Michael Caputo.
According to Kent, that the Aug. 8 email was an attempt by Alexander to dilute the publication's report and manipulate it to align with President Donald Trump's downplaying of the pandemic. She also confirmed she was told to delete that particular email.
"I was instructed to delete the email," Kent told investigators. "I went to look for it after I had been told to delete it, and it was already gone."
In response to the claim, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, penned a letter addressed to Redfield and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar as he warned about the illegalities and legal consequences of destroying federal records.
"Federal employees have affirmative obligations to preserve documents, and destruction of federal records is potentially illegal," Clyburn warned in a letter to Redfield and Azar. "Federal law also provides for up to three years of imprisonment for willful destruction of federal records."
Despite heightened scrutiny from House Democrats, Redfield previously waved off speculation of political interference in his agency's handling of the pandemic.
"I just want to assure you and the other senators and the American public, that the scientific integrity of the MMWR has not been compromised," Redfield told a Senate committee on Sept. 16. "It will not be compromised on my watch."


alternet--2020-12-10--Pro-Kremlin Russian media pundits urge ‘Comrade Trump’ to seek asylum in Russia after leaving the Wh

Pro-Kremlin Russian media pundits urge ‘Comrade Trump’ to seek asylum in Russia after leaving the White House

Although many leaders in Europe have congratulated President-elect Joe Biden on his victory and made it clear that they are anxious to work with him in 2021 — including U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson , German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron — Russian President Vladimir Putin still refuses to recognize Biden as the winner of the presidential election .
And in the pro-Kremlin Russian media , the Daily Beast reports , some pundits are saying that Russia should offer Trump political asylum if he faces prosecutions after leaving the White House .
One of those pundits is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` 60 Minutes '' ( not to be confused with the CBS News program in the U.S. ) on the Russia-1 network .
Skabeeva has said that Trump 's legal situation is `` very serious '' in the United States and that he should consider seeking asylum in Russia .
And Igor Korotchenko , who is on the Russia Defense Ministry 's public council , agrees .
During a `` 60 Minutes '' appearance , Korotchenko said , `` Russia can offer political asylum to the persecuted former president of the United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not simply arrive to Rostov or elsewhere , but also , transfer his capital here and finally build his famous Trump City somewhere in our New Moscow . ''
Dmitry Kiselyov , a prominent Russian media figure , has been urging Trump to give himself a preemptive pardon before leaving the White House in January .
However , Trump 's power to grant presidential pardons only exists at the federal level .
None of the pardons he has granted to his allies offer any protection from possible prosecutions at the state level .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigating Trump is Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr .
Although Trump has had a great deal of negative publicity in media outlets in Western Europe — from Spain to the Netherlands to Sweden — it 's a very different picture in Russia .
Trump , the Daily Beast notes , has a lot of supporters in the Russian media , where he is affectionately referred to as `` Trumpusha , '' `` Our Donald '' or `` Comrade Trump . ''
Kremlin officials have said that Putin will not congratulate Biden until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 2020 election results have been exhausted .

Although many leaders in Europe have congratulated President-elect Joe Biden on his victory and made it clear that they are anxious to work with him in 2021 — including U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron — Russian President Vladimir Putin still refuses to recognize Biden as the winner of the presidential election. And in the pro-Kremlin Russian media, the Daily Beast reports, some pundits are saying that Russia should offer Trump political asylum if he faces prosecutions after leaving the White House.
One of those pundits is Olga Skabeeva, who hosts the program "60 Minutes" (not to be confused with the CBS News program in the U.S.) on the Russia-1 network. Skabeeva has said that Trump's legal situation is "very serious" in the United States and that he should consider seeking asylum in Russia. And Igor Korotchenko, who is on the Russia Defense Ministry's public council, agrees. During a "60 Minutes" appearance, Korotchenko said, "Russia can offer political asylum to the persecuted former president of the United States, Donald Trump. But let him not simply arrive to Rostov or elsewhere, but also, transfer his capital here and finally build his famous Trump City somewhere in our New Moscow."
Dmitry Kiselyov, a prominent Russian media figure, has been urging Trump to give himself a preemptive pardon before leaving the White House in January. However, Trump's power to grant presidential pardons only exists at the federal level. None of the pardons he has granted to his allies offer any protection from possible prosecutions at the state level. And one non-federal prosecutor who has been investigating Trump is Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.
Although Trump has had a great deal of negative publicity in media outlets in Western Europe — from Spain to the Netherlands to Sweden — it's a very different picture in Russia. Trump, the Daily Beast notes, has a lot of supporters in the Russian media, where he is affectionately referred to as "Trumpusha," "Our Donald" or "Comrade Trump."
Kremlin officials have said that Putin will not congratulate Biden until all of Trump's legal challenges to the 2020 election results have been exhausted.


alternet--2020-12-10--'Deeply disturbing': Surge in layoffs spotlights cruelty of Trump-GOP refusal to boost unemployment

'Deeply disturbing': Surge in layoffs spotlights cruelty of Trump-GOP refusal to boost unemployment benefits

Hours after the U.S. reported a staggering 3,000 coronavirus deaths in just 24 hours , the Department of Labor announced Thursday that an additional 1.3 million Americans filed jobless claims last week , further bolstering the case for a bold relief package and spotlighting the cruelty of the Republican leadership 's continued opposition to boosting unemployment benefits .
According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics , nearly 20 million Americans are currently receiving jobless benefits just over two weeks before funding is set to expire for a pair of key emergency unemployment insurance ( UI ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people off a `` benefit cliff . ''
`` The 1.3 million who applied for UI last week was an increase of 276,000 from the prior week , bringing initial claims back to their highest point since September , '' Heidi Shierholz , senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute , wrote in a blog post Thursday .
`` Further , last week 's increase was not just due to week-to-week volatility in the data .
The four-week moving average of total initial claims is now at its highest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other words , '' Shierholz added , `` layoffs appear to be rising , consistent with the resurgent virus . ''
Faced with worsening economic metrics and widespread suffering—evidenced by miles-long food lines , overwhelmed unemployment systems , and a looming `` tsunami '' of evictions—the Trump administration and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-Ky. ) are hawking relief plans that would not increase weekly unemployment benefits at all .
Additionally , according to the Washington Post , the White House plan `` does not appear to extend the number of weeks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ programs , '' an omission that would leave the millions of Americans who have already exhausted their benefits with no lifeline .
Rep. Don Beyer ( D-Va. ) , incoming chair of the congressional Joint Economic Committee , called the latest layoff figures `` deeply disturbing '' and slammed Republican lawmakers for attempting to `` penny-pinch the American people during a pandemic . ''
`` If Republicans refusing to extend unemployment benefits and other forms of relief are not convinced by the most recent unemployment numbers—19 million drawing unemployment benefits , 3.9 million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weekly unemployment claims greater than the worst week of the Great Recession—then nothing will convince them , '' said Beyer .
`` The nation 's health and economy are going backwards , not forwards , '' Beyer continued , `` because Republicans and the leader of their party have spent months doing the very opposite of what is needed to contain the coronavirus and responsibly rebuild and recover from this recession . ''
In the place of a weekly UI boost , the White House has offered direct stimulus payments of $ 600 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ short of the progressive call for $ 1,200 per adult and $ 500 per child on top of extra unemployment benefits .
McConnell 's plan would not provide any direct payments or aid to state and local governments , which economists say is desperately needed .
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday as relief talks appeared on the verge of collapsing once again , Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin—the administration 's lead negotiator—insisted the White House 's stimulus checks would be more beneficial than an increase in weekly unemployment payments .
But as the Post @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , compared to the White House 's call for one-time payments of $ 600 per person , `` jobless Americans would receive at least an additional $ 4,800 for each unemployed worker '' if weekly UI payments are increased by $ 300 , as proposed by a bipartisan relief measure .
Jeremy Funk , spokesperson for government watchdog group Accountable.US , said in a statement Thursday that `` with rising levels of food insecurity and a new wave of evictions in less than one month , the Trump administration should be working around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ' pockets . ''
`` Instead , Mnuchin and the White House think now is a good time to propose gutting jobless benefits and cutting stimulus checks in half—the last thing vulnerable Americans need in this recession , '' Funk added .
`` Congress and the Trump administration 's priorities must be on containing the virus and getting relief into the hands of the millions of workers and thousands of small businesses that desperately need help . ''
Unlike the plans offered by McConnell and Trump , the bipartisan coronavirus relief proposal currently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extend pandemic unemployment programs , add 16 weeks of benefits , and provide a $ 300 boost to weekly UI payments .
But that proposal would not provide any direct stimulus payments , a popular form of relief that progressives are demanding as an essential component of any relief package , in addition to a weekly UI supplement .
In a statement Thursday , People 's Action executive director George Goehl said it is `` unconscionable that we have Covid relief proposals on the table that deny people direct cash assistance and offer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of forcing employees to work in dangerous conditions . ''
`` Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans blocked relief bills for months as 284,000 people died and millions suffered under an economic crisis , '' said Goehl .
`` A bill that does n't include cash assistance fails to deliver on the most simple and direct means of providing short-term relief . ''

Hours after the U.S. reported a staggering 3,000 coronavirus deaths in just 24 hours, the Department of Labor announced Thursday that an additional 1.3 million Americans filed jobless claims last week, further bolstering the case for a bold relief package and spotlighting the cruelty of the Republican leadership's continued opposition to boosting unemployment benefits.
According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 20 million Americans are currently receiving jobless benefits just over two weeks before funding is set to expire for a pair of key emergency unemployment insurance (UI) programs—a lapse that would hurl millions of people off a "benefit cliff."
"The 1.3 million who applied for UI last week was an increase of 276,000 from the prior week, bringing initial claims back to their highest point since September," Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute, wrote in a blog post Thursday. "Further, last week's increase was not just due to week-to-week volatility in the data. The four-week moving average of total initial claims is now at its highest point since October."
"In other words," Shierholz added, "layoffs appear to be rising, consistent with the resurgent virus."
Faced with worsening economic metrics and widespread suffering—evidenced by miles-long food lines, overwhelmed unemployment systems, and a looming "tsunami" of evictions—the Trump administration and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are hawking relief plans that would not increase weekly unemployment benefits at all.
Additionally, according to the Washington Post, the White House plan "does not appear to extend the number of weeks people are eligible to be on unemployment programs," an omission that would leave the millions of Americans who have already exhausted their benefits with no lifeline.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), incoming chair of the congressional Joint Economic Committee, called the latest layoff figures "deeply disturbing" and slammed Republican lawmakers for attempting to "penny-pinch the American people during a pandemic."
"If Republicans refusing to extend unemployment benefits and other forms of relief are not convinced by the most recent unemployment numbers—19 million drawing unemployment benefits, 3.9 million long-term unemployed, 38 straight weeks of weekly unemployment claims greater than the worst week of the Great Recession—then nothing will convince them," said Beyer.
"The nation's health and economy are going backwards, not forwards," Beyer continued, "because Republicans and the leader of their party have spent months doing the very opposite of what is needed to contain the coronavirus and responsibly rebuild and recover from this recession."
In the place of a weekly UI boost, the White House has offered direct stimulus payments of $600 per adult and $600 per child—well short of the progressive call for $1,200 per adult and $500 per child on top of extra unemployment benefits. McConnell's plan would not provide any direct payments or aid to state and local governments, which economists say is desperately needed.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday as relief talks appeared on the verge of collapsing once again, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin—the administration's lead negotiator—insisted the White House's stimulus checks would be more beneficial than an increase in weekly unemployment payments.
But as the Post's Jeff Stein and Mike DeBonis noted, compared to the White House's call for one-time payments of $600 per person, "jobless Americans would receive at least an additional $4,800 for each unemployed worker" if weekly UI payments are increased by $300, as proposed by a bipartisan relief measure.
Jeremy Funk, spokesperson for government watchdog group Accountable.US, said in a statement Thursday that "with rising levels of food insecurity and a new wave of evictions in less than one month, the Trump administration should be working around the clock to get relief into Americans' pockets."
"Instead, Mnuchin and the White House think now is a good time to propose gutting jobless benefits and cutting stimulus checks in half—the last thing vulnerable Americans need in this recession," Funk added. "Congress and the Trump administration's priorities must be on containing the virus and getting relief into the hands of the millions of workers and thousands of small businesses that desperately need help."
Unlike the plans offered by McConnell and Trump, the bipartisan coronavirus relief proposal currently being fleshed out on Capitol Hill would extend pandemic unemployment programs, add 16 weeks of benefits, and provide a $300 boost to weekly UI payments.
But that proposal would not provide any direct stimulus payments, a popular form of relief that progressives are demanding as an essential component of any relief package, in addition to a weekly UI supplement.
In a statement Thursday, People's Action executive director George Goehl said it is "unconscionable that we have Covid relief proposals on the table that deny people direct cash assistance and offer corporations a get-out-of-jail-free card for the consequences of forcing employees to work in dangerous conditions."
"Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans blocked relief bills for months as 284,000 people died and millions suffered under an economic crisis," said Goehl. "A bill that doesn't include cash assistance fails to deliver on the most simple and direct means of providing short-term relief."