March 2021 - Newshacker

Biden to Unveil Major Infrastructure, Jobs Plan

President Joe Biden is preparing to announce Wednesday the first half of his major infrastructure and jobs proposal during a visit to Pittsburgh. This bill, which includes major investments in utilities, transportation, and green energy, is expected to cost at least $2 trillion and will complement another bill (to be announced at a later date) on welfare and social issues, an area which the administration calls “human infrastructure.”

George Floyd Case Trial Begins in Minneapolis

One of the most closely-watched and important trials in a very long time began on Monday in Minneapolis, in the Hennepin County District Court, as the murder trial for former police officer Derek Chauvin, who is being charged with murder in the death of George Floyd last summer, started. The death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, resulted in nationwide protests against police brutality and calls for equal treatment of Black people, igniting the Black Lives Matter protest movement.

Georgia GOP Passes Sweeping Voter Suppression Bill

Georgia Republicans, who currently hold a majority in that state’s legislature and the governorship (despite Democrats winning statewide on the presidential level and having both U.S. Senate seats), passed a disgraceful bill Thursday which would substantially restrict voting rights and make it far more difficult for people to vote, especially to those living in cities and for communities of color (both groups which vote overwhelmingly Democratic).

The Liberalization of America: Liberal Policies Increasingly Popular in Washington

Policies even the far-left couldn’t even dream of two decades ago is now becoming mainstream in Washington, and President Joe Biden is turning in favor of many of them too. From eliminating the filibuster, to investing big in green energy, to overhauling voting rights, to spending big in America’s infrastructure, and to admitting Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico as states, liberal ideals are now starting to gain footholds in Congress.

Boulder Shootings Reignite Gun Control Debate

On March 22, 2021, a 21-year-old man opened fire inside a King Soopers supermarket in the town of Boulder, Colo., a suburb of Denver, killing 10 people, including a police officer. This is the second major mass shooting in a week. Last Tuesday, a gunman opened fire in three spas in the Atlanta area, killing a total of eight people. The shootings have once again brought the issue of gun control front and center onto the national stage.

GOP Opposition On COVID-19 Relief May Backfire

There is no doubt that the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill is popular among Americans. Among the bill’s many provisions include a provision that sends most Americans $1,400 in stimulus money, extends unemployment benefits, and provides many poverty-reducing measures, including a tax credit that could cut child poverty in half. However, the Republican Party has been completely united on opposing the bill, a decision which may come back to bite the GOP in the foot come the 2022 midterms.

Atlanta Shootings Bring Attention to Anti-Asian Racism

Last Tuesday, on March 16, eight people were killed in a series of shootings which took place at three spas in the Greater Atlanta area. Of the eight that died, six were Asian American and two were white. All of them, except for one, were women. The shootings fueled fear that the shooting may have singled out Asians, and draws attention to the longstanding racism many Asians have faced in America, which has sadly become more exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo Facing Major Scandals

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York’s three-term Democratic governor, was once one of the most popular governors in the country. Many had hailed him for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, in an ugly turn of events for Cuomo, multiple scandals are now plaguing him. Not only was it discovered that Cuomo had underestimated the number of COVID-19 deaths in the state’s nursing homes by as much as 50 percent, but at least six women have also accused the governor of sexual harassment and misconduct.

SCOTUS: The Worst Decision Ever (Dred Scott v. Sandford)

In 1857, the Supreme Court likely made one of the worst, if not the worst, decisions in its entire history in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford, now commonly known as the Dred Scott case. It ruled that not only was slavery legal, but Black Americans were also not entitled to U.S. citizenship, regardless of whether or not they were enslaved. This court case is considered to be one of the major factors which caused the Civil War.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom Faces a Recall Effort

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing a major recall effort organized in part by the state GOP after outrage began last year over coronavirus-related restrictions. It is the largest and likeliest-to-succeed recall effort of a California governor every since then-Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, was recalled in 2003, with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger succeeding him.

It’s Time to Abolish Daylight Saving Time

On Sunday, millions of Americans (except Arizonans, Hawaii residents, and residents of most U.S. territories) “sprang forward” one hour in order to observe daylight saving time for the next eight months, until the first Sunday in November, when everyone “falls back” again onto standard time. Daylight saving time is, however, an old, antiquated concept and it is well past time that America—and the rest of the world—rids itself of.

Why So Many GOP Senators Are Retiring in 2022

Midterm elections are generally seen as being unfavorable to the incumbent president’s party. For example, Republicans made large gains during the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections during the Obama administration, while Democrats won back the House in the 2018 midterms during the Trump administration. So to see five Republicans (and counting) announcing retirement in the 2022 election cycle is extremely unusual and surprising.

Congress Passes $1.9T COVID-19 Relief Package

Both the House and Senate have now passed President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, 49 days after he took office on Jan. 20. The package passed both houses of Congress with zero Republican support, and the approval from Congress comes as U.S. COVID-19 cases and deaths are on a sharp decline and vaccine rollout occurs at one of the fastest rates in the entire world. The bill now proceeds to Biden’s desk, awaiting his signature in order for the bill to become law.

SCOTUS: Why Presidents Aren’t Immune From Court (US v. Nixon)

The 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon, was very, very popular. He had won the 1972 presidential election against Democratic opponent Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota with 520 electoral votes, with McGovern only carrying Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Unfortunately, it was later revealed that Nixon’s campaign had conducted a number of illegal activities against McGovern’s campaign. The case United States v. Nixon, decided in 1974, involved whether Nixon, as president, was required to deliver subpoenaed materials to a federal court, and it serves as one of the most crucial cases limiting a president’s executive power to this day.

Manchin Signals Openness to Filibuster Reform

Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate West Virginia Democrat, signaled on Sunday that he is open to modifying the filibuster to make it more “painful” for the minority party to invoke, while maintaining that he does not support removing the filibuster altogether. The comments come as progressive and liberal Democrats call to eliminate the filibuster altogether to allow the Democratic Party to pass substantial reforms.

Senate Passes Biden’s $1.9T COVID-19 Stimulus Bill

The U.S. Senate passed President Joe Biden’s historic $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill after an all-night “vote-a-rama” session and a daylong struggle to convince one key senator, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to get on board with the bill. The bill passed 50-49 by a party-line vote and the House will vote on the bill again Tuesday before it is sent to the president to be signed into law.

House Passes Landmark Sweeping Voting Rights Bill

The Democratic-controlled House passed the For the People Act of 2021 on Wednesday, also known as H.R. 1. This is a major, sweeping election reform bill that will expand voting rights, limit gerrymandering, change campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of financial lobbying, create a public financing option for congressional campaigns and create new ethics rules for officeholders. Unfortunately, it faces an uphill battle in the Senate.

Biden Supports Amazon Workers’ Push to Unionize in Alabama

On Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, Amazon, the e-commerce giant, lost a major push to suspend a closely-watched unionization vote at a major warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., allowing over 5,800 workers to decide whether or not to form a union in the first major unionization effort at Amazon since 2014. On Sunday, President Biden issued a video statement on Twitter showing his support for the unionization bid.

SCOTUS: Guaranteeing Criminal Rights (Miranda v. Arizona)

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time.”

This is the now-famous “Miranda warning,” dramatized in movies, which must be read off to all people in police custody to alert them of their rights. Miranda warnings were derived from the landmark Supreme Court case ruling of Miranda v. Arizona in 1966, which required police to advise suspects of their rights, especially the right to remain silent.

Trump Dominates CPAC, Showing the Future of the GOP

In his first major public appearance since leaving office, former President Donald Trump used a lie-filled speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla., to vilify President Biden’s administration, showed no remorse for the Jan. 6 insurrection, repeated his lies about election fraud, and signaled that he would run for president again in 2024. His comments at CPAC demonstrates that the Republican Party is still very much a party centered around Trump.