https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/08/politics/bernie-sanders-covid-payments-kamala-harris/index.html

In response to the worsening economic crisis facing the country, Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Bernie Sanders of Vermont along with Ed Markey of Massachusetts will introduce a bill aimed at establishing a rebate payment program that would deliver $2,000 dollars to US residents including children until the Covid-19 pandemic has ended.

The bill has a tall hill to climb in the Republican-controlled senate as few GOP lawmakers have voiced support for continued monthly payments. The one-time payment of $1,200, which was what passed in the Cares Act in late March, was a sticking point at the time. In addition to being more expensive and on a recurring basis, these payments would be available to US residents no matter if they have a social security number, which includes undocumented immigrants who pay taxes but don’t have a SSN.

This bill would grant married couples who file together $4,000 and $2,000 for each child up to three — per month. It would also block debt collectors access to seize payments from individuals who owe money.

“The coronavirus pandemic has caused millions to struggle to pay the bills or feed their families,” said Harris in a statement. She cited the stimulus package as important step but added it’s not enough.

“Bills will continue to come in every single month during the pandemic and so should help from government. The Monthly Economic Crisis Support Act will ensure families have the resources they need to make ends meet. I am eager to continue working with Senators Sanders and Markey as we push to pass this bill immediately.”
Sanders echoed Harris’ same sentiment in a written statement.

“As a result of this horrific pandemic, tens of millions of Americans are living in economic desperation not knowing where their next meal or paycheck will come from,” said Sanders.

“The one-time $1,200 check that many Americans recently received is not nearly enough to pay the rent, put food on the table and make ends meet. During this unprecedented crisis, Congress has a responsibility to make sure that every working-class household in America receives a $2,000 emergency payment a month for each family member.”

The monthly check would be available to every person with an annual income less than $120,000 dollars during the pandemic and for three months after, according to a one-sheet provided by Harris’ senate office. It’s also retroactive to March.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/05/08/youth-climate-activists-joe-biden-survey-241068

It was just five months ago that Sunrise Movement—the progressive climate group behind the Green New Deal—gave an F rating to Joe Biden’s climate plan, saying it lacked ambition and has “lots of room for improvement!” As with much of the progressive left, climate activists face a much more acute question now that Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. “The Sunrise Movement is really struggling to live with Joe Biden,” read a mid-April headline in VICE.

Is the youth climate movement, which includes Sunrise and other groups that have coordinated protests and strikes around the country, going to get behind the nominee? Or will its members be part of the “Never Biden” contingent in November? Research shows that young people are less likely to vote, though Biden could really use their support to win the election.

New results from a survey conducted at the end of April show that the vast majority of climate activists will vote for Biden. But the data also suggest that they won’t support him blindly—and are prepared to cause trouble if he dismisses their concerns.

This doesn’t mean it will be smooth sailing for the nominee, either as candidate or as president. After Sanders dropped out of the race, a coalition of leaders from progressive youth groups, including Sunrise, put out an open letter to Biden, with a set of demands of the nominee “to earn the trust of the vast majority of the #YouthVote.” More starkly, U.S. Youth Climate Strike, which was one of the first groups to organize climate strikes in the U.S., publicly announced on April 10th that it does not endorse Biden. But not endorsing Biden is a far cry from choosing to sit out the election or voting for Trump. Nevertheless, it’s also hard to imagine that these groups will encourage their members to labor in support of Biden’s campaign. Earning these activists’ votes is just the first step in earning their support.

Without climate activists’ help organizing other left-leaning young people to turn out, the Biden campaign will have a tough time winning the youth vote in the 2020 election. Although there is no question that these highly engaged activists will vote, rallying their social networks will be crucial to overcoming Biden’s well-documented lack of appeal with young voters.

Even if he’s elected, the consequences of failing to connect with voters increasingly versed in confrontational tactics could be a big drag on Biden’s agenda. If candidate Biden becomes President Biden, his administration and the Democratic Party would be wise to take the concerns of these progressive activists seriously, or they will find themselves in rough and rising waters with younger members of the Democratic base.

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/joe-biden-tara-reade-due-process/

If Democrats hope to hold themselves up as principled defenders of survivors’ rights and fair process in the post-Kavanaugh era, they must establish a formal, unbiased investigation into Tara Reade’s allegations against the presumptive Democratic nominee.

So far, they’ve fallen far short of this standard. When asked on April 30 about Reade’s allegations against Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi responded, “There is also due process and the fact that Joe Biden is Joe Biden.” In so doing, Speaker Pelosi joins a long line of powerful individuals who have invoked “due process” and “he’s a good good guy” arguments to ensure that their political allies will avoid accountability and scrutiny.

When politicians and other powerful people strategically call for “due process” to defend their political allies, what they tend to mean is “no process.” This strategy has been wielded by liberals and conservatives alike—in schools, in workplaces, and in the media—to avoid confronting the possibility that someone they know, trust, or believe in may have perpetrated violence. It has also been used by powerful men themselves, like Harvey Weinstein, to try to avoid public criticism. Until Pelosi supports a framework through which Reade’s allegations can be given a fair hearing, it is hard to read her statements as anything but a disingenuous attempt to boost an ally, particularly as the evidence corroborating Reade’s claim mounts.

The hypocrisy of the Democratic leadership poses a serious threat to the efforts of student survivors and other feminist advocates to create processes that are fair for survivors and accused persons alike. Despite Pelosi’s deflections, Democrats have an important choice ahead of them: They can either replicate the harmful dismissal of allegations of abuse often attributed to Republicans, or they can show that their values do not bow to partisanship and call for a meaningful investigation into Reade’s accusations. Just as Brett Kavanaugh was not entitled to a nomination process without critical examination, Joe Biden is not entitled to be the democratic presidential nominee without answering to Tara Reade’s allegations of abuse.

Speaking of hypocrites

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/08/republicans-ready-supreme-court-vacancy-243574?cid=apn

Senate Republicans are quietly beginning to contemplate the possibility of an election-year confirmation battle for the Supreme Court.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s hospitalization this week and the looming end of the Supreme Court’s term raise the prospect of yet another prized vacancy for President Donald Trump. And if there is a surprise opening or retirement in the months before the presidential election, GOP senators plan to act on it, despite denying President Barack Obama a Supreme Court seat in an election year.

Republicans say they wish Ginsburg a swift recovery and have no inside knowledge of a retirement but are prepared to move if a vacancy presents itself.

“We’re going to fill it” if there is one, said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 GOP leader. “With Justice Scalia … people might not have thought he was the one, because he wasn’t the oldest at the time. You just never know.”

While no one says they expect a Supreme Court vacancy, GOP senators also acknowledge it’s plausible that Trump could find himself with a third nominee. And one thing is clear: Most Republicans have no qualms about approving a Supreme Court pick from a president in their own party, even if it is an election year.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/opinion/michael-flynn-charges-dropped.html

To review: Mr. Barr is now saying he cannot prove charges to which Mr. Flynn has twice pleaded guilty in court — and for which there is ample evidence.

As for legitimacy and materiality, the F.B.I. was in the middle of a monthslong counterintelligence investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Mr. Flynn was a top aide to that campaign, and he lied about speaking with the Russian ambassador in a way that undermined the Obama administration, which was still in charge at the time.

He had the constitutional right to remain silent, but he chose not to, and then he lied. Defense lawyers across the country will surely leap at the chance to seek similar concessions on behalf of their clients, and we are eager to see Mr. Barr apply this standard in thousands of other cases where the defendant is not a friend of the president’s.

It is, of course, entirely in character for Mr. Trump, who lavishes praise on autocrats and dictators around the world. He is now emulating them, using the Justice Department to protect his friends, in the belief that he can do so with impunity. As long as Mr. Barr leads the Justice Department, he can.

The attorney general is supposed to work for the American people, not as a personal fixer for the president. Instead, from the day he took the job, Mr. Barr has worked to provide cover for Mr. Trump.

https://vtdigger.org/2020/05/07/sanders-names-longtime-aide-as-state-director/

Sen. Bernie Sanders has promoted longtime aide Kathryn Becker Van Haste to the position of state director. It’s a low-visibility, high-importance position; her 15-member team is the interface between Vermonters and Sanders’ Washington office. That includes five staff who handle constituents’ issues with the federal government, and 10 field representatives who travel the state representing Sanders.

Her office also coordinates social media and email communications within Vermont.

Van Haste assumed the job at the most challenging of moments. “During the pandemic, we’ve had a record-breaking number of contacts with constituents,” she said in a phone interview. “We want to let people know that Bernie is really, truly there to help.”

Van Haste began working for Sanders in 2013 in his Washington, D.C., office. She also worked for then-Sen. Jim Jeffords from 2002 to 2006.

“I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time in D.C. on policy work, but some of the most rewarding work is to take the experiences of real people and translate them into policy actions,” Van Haste said when asked why she was interested in the state director job.

Sanders praised Van Haste in a press release announcing the hire. “Kathryn has been an outstanding member of my office for the last 7 years where she has focused on health care, the high cost of prescription drugs and the needs of veterans,” Sanders said. “I am delighted to have her as our new state director where I am confident she’ll do an outstanding job for all Vermonters.”

Van Haste, like Sanders, is a native of New York City. She came to Vermont to attend the University of Vermont, where she earned a bachelor’s degree. She has also received master’s degrees from Norwich University and Dartmouth College.

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