Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

The Democrats are preparing to finally raise some taxes: setting their sights on big multinational companies as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen calls for a global minimum rate for corporations.

Meanwhile, the doctor who pronounced George Floyd dead testified that Floyd likely died of oxygen deprivation, striking a blow against alleged killer cop Derek Chauvin’s defense.

And lastly, the disparity between vaccinations in rich and poor countries is becoming more stark, as the U.S. vaccinates 4 million in one day while Haiti lacks even a single dose.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

You heard it here first: the Democrats are actually going to try to raise some taxes. Probably not your taxes, however, unless you happen to be a millionaire or a multinational corporation.

On Monday, a trio of Senators and the Biden Administration started unveiling plans to overhaul the U.S. corporate tax system, particularly focusing on multinational corporations and the highest earners in the economy.

Biden’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also jumped in, coming out in favor of an international global minimum tax, which would help cut down on corporations who stick their headquarters in some backwater tax haven to save money.

In the U.S., President Biden proposed raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent, a 7 point jump from where it was but still far shy of the 35 percent that it was at before Trump. And in Congress, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden and fellow tax writers Sherrod Brown and Mark Warner put out a proposal that mirrored most of Biden’s plan, but delved further into the details of international corporate taxes.

In other words, the details still have to be hammered out, but it appears that the Biden administration is serious about making at least some incremental gains on the laissez faire, tax cut happy system Donald Trump enabled. Biden said, “You have 51 or 52 corporations of the Fortune 500 that haven’t paid a single penny in taxes for three years. Come on, man. Let’s get real.”

The hope in all this, of course, is that a bump in tax revenue from big corporations could help finance Biden’s ambitious infrastructure bill, which is expected to cost around $2 trillion. And we know for sure that the bloated corporations that got even richer under Trump certainly have that to spare.

The emergency room physician who pronounced George Floyd dead testified in the murder trial for former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin today, saying that Floyd likely died of oxygen deprivation.

Doctor Bradford Langenfeld’s testimony puts a major hole in the core of Chauvin’s defense, which has sought to blame Floyd’s death on substances in his system, and not on the fact that Chauvin knelt on his neck for nine minutes.

Langenfeld testified that Floyd’s condition of heart failure was more consistent with a lack of oxygen to the body, rather than another acute cause like a heart attack.

Later that day, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo took the stand, and said unequivocally that Chauvin should have stopped pinning Floyd to the ground. Arradondo has previous called Floyd’s death murder, so it’s clear why the prosecution wanted him on the stand.

But despite the wealth of evidence against him, and the way that witness testimony is trending, prosecutors still have a tough task ahead to convict Chauvin.

Reporting from the Washington Post this week showed that only around 1,400 officers were arrested for a violent crime committed on duty between 2005 and 2015. And when they were arrested, the conviction rate was just around 50 percent, even for the most serious crimes like murder.

Let’s hope that the jury comes down on the right side of that coin toss this time.

As the vaccine rollout roars through America, the divide between rich nations and poor ones is getting even steeper. On Saturday, more than 4 million Americans received a dose of the coronavirus vaccine, breaking prior records and showing just how quickly the rollout is picking up steam.

But in Haiti, for instance, after a year of the pandemic the government doesn’t have a single dose of the vaccine available for its citizens.

The Associated Press reports that Haiti, which has a population of 11.26 million, is slated to receive only 756,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through a United Nations program. They were supposed to get those doses by May, but may see delays after missing paperwork deadlines.

Part of this is due to misappropriation of funds and corruption in the Haitian government, the sad result of a political crisis the U.S. had a large hand in creating. And AP also reported that current political violence supersedes the coronavirus on most Haitians’ list of worries, something that’s been reported in other unstable countries like Afghanistan.

The fact that Haiti and countries like it don’t have access to the vaccine or the infrastructure to distribute it properly is an international scandal, brought on as richer countries monopolized doses early on in the pandemic by simply out-bidding everyone else in the game.

As those countries, including our own, start to approach normal again, the inequality already present across the world is only going to get worse, as impoverished areas deal with the pandemic far longer than the developed world.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, of all people, offered a concurrent opinion in a court ruling on Monday that argued that social media companies should be treated and regulated like public utilities. Of course, part of his reasoning was that Donald Trump’s twitter ban was unfair, so you know what they say about broken clocks.

Arkansa Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, vetoed a bill on Monday that would make it illegal for transgender minors to receive gender-affirming medication or surgery, in a rare example of a conservative sticking up for the rights of trans people. But his GOP-heavy state legislature could override the veto.

Nina Turner, longtime surrogate for Bernie Sanders, posted a massive fundraising haul in her race for a Congressional seat in Ohio, raising $2.2 million total and a whopping $1.55 million in the first quarter of this year.

The Intercept reports on a surreal case of police hypocrisy, where officers in Thurston County Washington fundraised tens of thousands from the public for one of their police dogs medical bills, without admitting that their own cops were the one who shot the poor pooch.

APRIL 6 , 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

The Biden administration apprehended more than 170,000 immigrants at the southern border in March, the most in more than a year, as the government continues to let children and adults seeking refuge languish in prison-like conditions.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that the next housing bubble may be rapidly inflating, as major investors are snapping up single-family homes and even entire subdivisions, competing with normal people and driving prices way above their actual value.

And lastly, The New York Times reports that Donald Trump had one final humiliation in store for his deluded followers: many of them who thought they made one-time donations were instead milked for recurring payments to the campaign.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Government documents obtained by the New York Times show that the Biden administration apprehended more than 170,000 migrants at the southwest border last month.

The surge in migration is fueled by a number of factors: the perception that Biden will be less barbaric than Trump, the changing weather, the state of conflicts and crises in Central America.

Of those, the first factor appears to be only half true. While the Biden administration has abandoned some of Trump’s overtly evil policies, the conditions that children and families are subjected to in CBP and ICE custody are still abhorrent.

The current surge, the Times reports, is causing several problems. The number of unaccompanied minors is still high, making the government fall behind on transferring children to more comfortable facilities.

The other issue, the Times reports, is that there’s also been a surge of complete family units. For most of the beginning of his term, Biden was still using Trump ruling to turn away families and single adults, leaving them in Mexico and admitting only children. But Mexico doesn’t want to play by those rules anymore. Out of necessity, that’s made the Biden administration do something immigration hawks hate: just releasing people to go meet their other relatives instead of detaining them.

Of course, the GOP is busy trying to weaponize this against Biden as much as possible -- but there’s no situation on the border that they wouldn’t try to exploit. What progressives need to stay focused on is making sure that the people who arrive here seeking a better life get treated like the human beings they are.

The Wall Street Journal reports on a distressing new trend: big investors are gobbling up U.S. real estate, inflating prices far beyond the average consumer’s means and puffing up a bubble in the housing market.

If that sounds familiar to anyone, well, buckle up.

The Journal reports that big investors including pension funds and private equity vultures are snatching up whole subdivisions of single-family homes, attempting to capitalize on surging prices to rent them at a profit or flip them for more.

What this means is actual human home-buyers are competing with the offering power of Wall Street, and for the most part they can’t keep up. Those who do manage to buy, of course, are running the same risk that homeowners ran in the mid-2000s, where they got locked into mortgages that were worth far more than their house’s actual value.

And we saw what happens when millions of Americans are in that position.

In Houston, for example, 24% of new home purchases were by investors, not actual families, according to data from one consulting firm. They’re specifically targeting the kind of middle-class homes that got hit hard in the last crisis -- ones that aren’t too expensive and in good school districts, for example.

The Journal reports that this speculative bubble still has more room to fill -- but when it bursts, we know it’s not the fat cats on Wall Street who will be left in the lurch.

The Times has one more big scoop for us this morning. This time, we’re talking Trump again. Sure, the monster has been out of the big house for a few months, but considering his continued influence in the GOP it’s important to remember what he’s capable of.

This time, it’s some rudimentary scamming of his own supporters. The Times reports that many supporters who donated to the Trump campaign through the third-party service it used to process contributions were tricked into recurring payments instead of one-time gifts.

It’s the oldest trick in a scammers book, almost. The Times reports that in September of last year, as the Democrats were outspending and hammering Trump on every front, the campaign and its donation company made recurring payments the default for any contribution that came in, forcing people to read through fine print and opt-out to make a one-time payment.

You can imagine how many people that nabbed. And to make things worse, the campaign also introduced a second prechecked option online, known internally as a “money bomb,” that doubled a person’s contribution.

The Times investigation is expansive, and also shows that the Trump campaign was eventually forced to refund over 10 percent of the money it collected through these methods. But that’s certainly much less than it dishonestly took in -- and the only thing left to learn is whether the people in charge will face any actual consequences.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Amazon’s thoroughly-humiliated PR department apologized to Rep. Mark Pocan on Friday for lying about their track record of forcing employees to pee in bottles while on the clock after a Motherboard investigation caught them out. But their apology was, of course, insincere, as it ended with a list of articles about other companies who also work employees so hard they can’t find bathrooms easily. Nice deflection there!

With more than one in 10 households reporting that they lack enough to eat, the Times reports that the Biden administration is accelerating a vast campaign of hunger relief that will temporarily increase food assistance by tens of billions of dollars, hopefully setting the stage for further permanent expansions of federal aid programs.

The Intercept reports that oil pipeline giant Energy Transfer recently subpoenaed members of the nonprofit news organization Unicorn Riot, which was instrumental in covering the Standing Rock movement, seeking a wide range of documents, including newsgathering materials that would identify sources. If that sounds like a troubling act of retribution against the free press, well, that’s because it is.

The Associated Press reports that the U.S. military has closed the notorious Camp 7 facility at guantanamo bay, which housed prisoners who were straight from CIA black sites. Those prisoners were moved to another part of the facility, which is still holding 40 people overall, so while Biden says he wants to close the whole facility, it’s not happening any time soon.

April 5, 2021 - AM Quickie

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

A top Washington lobbying firm took up the cause of a powerful accused drug trafficker. With murder, cocaine, and bribery, it’s all a bit more than business as usual.

Meanwhile, it seems like nobody’s coming to the defense of Congressman Matt Gaetz, who is under investigation for illegally grooming a seventeen-year-old girl. Now, if the allegations are true, he stands to lose his committee assignments – and more.

And lastly, Democrats have been calling on Joe Biden to cancel student debt. Though he’s signaled reluctance before, there’s now some indication he might actually do it.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

The Washington Post brings us this story of exceptionally scummy Beltway lobbying. Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández’s government retained a powerhouse Washington law firm to lobby US prosecutors to call off a state-sponsored drug trafficking probe of his brother, who was sentenced this week for smuggling one hundred and eighty five tons of cocaine into the United States. Prosecutors cited the failed September 2019 influence campaign by Arnold and Porter Kaye Scholer LLP – along with the murder of four people linked to the investigation – in urging stiff punishment for Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández. US District Judge Kevin Castel of Manhattan sided with prosecutors, sentencing Hernández on Tuesday to life in prison plus thirty years and a $158 million fine.

According to the Post, Honduras in September 2019 retained a US law firm to lobby the prosecution team. Prosecutors did not name the firm, but Arnold and Porter separately disclosed the relationship. One of the most elite and prominent white-shoe firms in Washington, Arnold and Porter counts as alumni former Supreme Court nominee and current US Attorney General Merrick Garland and former CIA general counsel Jeffrey Smith. Assistant US Attorneys Amanda Houle, Matthew Laroche and Jason Richman said they gave out no information and did not alter their trial presentation because of the firm’s campaign.

Prosecutors also cited the lobbying campaign among alleged obstruction efforts, the Post reports. Those efforts included the murders of a suspected US informant in a Honduran maximum security prison. In a sentencing filing, prosecutors wrote that Juan Antonio Hernández reaped blood money and trafficked drugs on a monumental scale in his violence- ravaged country, and funneled millions of dollars in bribes to politicians. A spokeswoman said Arnold and Porter declined to comment. Gee, I wonder why.

Gaetz could face ethics investigation

Here’s an update on one of the creepiest guys in Congress. Representative Matt Gaetz, facing accusations of a sexual relationship with an underage girl, should at a minimum be removed from the House Judiciary Committee if the claims are true, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday, according to the Associated Press. Pelosi also said the House Ethics Committee should consider the allegations against the Florida Republican. Gaetz, thirty eight, who has been one of Donald Trump’s closest allies since coming to Congress in 2017, has said the accusations are false. The Justice Department has also been examining whether Gaetz has had relationships with other underage girls. Investigators are trying to determine whether Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws.

Gaetz has so far received little vocal support from his fellow Republicans, the AP reports. According to NBC News, Gaetz has found few people willing to defend him or lend credence to his claim that he's done nothing wrong but instead is being extorted and smeared. Trump has so far not spoken up. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he was surprised he hadn’t been able to reach Gaetz yet and that the allegations were serious. McCarthy said Gaetz will be removed from his committees if he is indicted, adding "He says this is not true. And we have a newspaper report that says something else. We'll find out."

Despite his high profile, Gaetz has few friends on Capitol Hill, NBC reports. His relentless self-promoting and near-daily appearances on Fox News stand out, even by the standards of Congress, where a generous ego and a hunger for the spotlight are practically job requirements. He criticized some of his Republican colleagues, accusing them of weakness and selling out the conservative cause. Big talk from a small, skeevy man with no friends.

Biden considers student debt cancellation

NBC brings us this update on a major issue for several generations of Americans, not to mention the wider economy. President Joe Biden has asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to prepare a memo on the president's legal authority to cancel student debt, White House chief of staff Ron Klain said yesterday, amid growing pressure for the administration to address the student loan crisis crippling millions of Americans. In an interview with Politico, Klain said Biden will make a decision on how to proceed once he reviews the memo, which could be sent to his desk within the next few weeks.

NBC reports that Klain's comments come as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, and other Democrats on Capitol Hill are pressuring Biden to cancel up to $50,000 in student debt via executive action. Lawmakers have conceded that they lacked the needed Republican support to pass a bill that would do the same. Biden has voiced support for canceling up to $10,000. But he has said he does not think he has the legal authority to unilaterally wipe out as much as $50,000 without congressional action.

The Department of Education memo is being conducted jointly with the Department of Justice, with the Department of Education taking the lead, NBC reports. More than forty million Americans are estimated to have student loan debt. The Federal Reserve estimates that in the third quarter of 2020, Americans owed more than $1.7 trillion in student loans. Studies show that students of color are more likely to take on student debt and disproportionately struggle to pay it back. Here’s hoping Biden will make the right decision and cancel a large amount of debt. Otherwise, it seems like a lot of trouble to go through just to announce he’ll be doing nothing.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The gunman who killed four people, including a nine-year-old boy, at an Orange, California office park locked the gates to the complex with bike cable locks, police said yesterday, according to the Los Angeles Times. They said the gunman, Aminadab Gonzalez, and the victims were connected through business and personal ties. And it appeared that the boy died in the arms of a woman who was trying to save him. Terrible.

Food banks around the US continue giving away far more canned, packaged and fresh provisions than they did before the coronavirus outbreak tossed millions of people out of work, the AP reports. Food banks collectively distributed far more food – about forty two percent more – during the last quarter of 2020 than in the same period of 2019. They expect to collectively distribute the equivalent of six billion meals this year. Quite something considering this is still the world’s wealthiest country.

A potential breakthrough in the apparently deadlocked efforts to bring the US back into the nuclear deal with Iran is on the horizon after secret diplomatic talks in Frankfurt this week, the Guardian reports. The private discussions have focused on agreeing a framework whereby the US could start to lift sanctions in return for specific and verifiable steps by Iran to come back into full compliance with the deal. This would be a welcome development!

The Supreme Court of Virginia has cleared the way for the city of Charlottesville to take down the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that was the focus of 2017's deadly Unite the Right rally, the Washington Post reports. And yesterday’s ruling appears to open the door for statue removals around the state. Honestly, who needs ’em?

APRIL 02, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

President Joe Biden wants to show what good the government can do with his new $2 trillion infrastructure plan. We’ve got the nitty gritty details in a digestible summary form.

Meanwhile, European regulators say there’s no evidence to support restricting the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine because of reported bloodclots. And, in the US, oopsie daisy – workers accidentally spoil fifteen million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

And lastly, New York becomes the fifteenth state to legalize recreational marijuana. Even better, the law puts racial equity at the forefront.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Now we’re getting down to business. The Washington Post reports that President Biden unveiled a $2 trillion jobs and infrastructure plan yesterday to address some of the country’s most pressing problems, including damaged bridges, unequal broadband access, and climate change. Biden’s proposal, the American Jobs Plan, would be paid for, in part, by raising the corporate tax rate and global minimum tax. Many of these measures would reverse the Trump administration’s 2017 tax cuts. Here’s some of what’s in the proposal, according to the Post:

- The plan would invest $115 billion to revamp highways and roads, including more than ten thousand bridges in need of reconstruction. It also includes $20 billion to improve road safety, including for cyclists and pedestrians.

- The plan calls for $85 billion to modernize existing transit systems. The investment would double federal funding for public transit.

- It would establish $174 billion to build a national network of five hundred thousand electric- vehicle chargers by 2030.

- Biden’s proposal would invest $213 billion to build and retrofit more than two million homes.

- It aims to deliver universal broadband, including to more than thirty five percent of rural Americans who lack access to high-speed internet.

- The plan would invest $111 billion for clean drinking water, $45 billion of which would be used to replace the country’s lead pipes and service lines.

- The proposal calls for $100 billion to upgrade and build new public schools.

- It would invest $180 billion in research and development.

- The plan would put $35 billion toward clean-energy technology.

- The proposal also places a heavy emphasis on creating union-backed jobs.

There you have it folks, the full smorgasbord. Today Biden will convene his first Cabinet meeting to promote the plan. Next, Congress gets a taste.

CDC Warns Coronavirus Cases Rising

Here’s all the latest on the pandemic. The head of the European Medicines Agency said yesterday that there is no evidence that would support restricting the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine in any population, as Germany has now done amid concerns over rare blood clots in people who got the shot, the Associated Press reports. On Tuesday, an independent vaccine expert panel in Germany said AstraZeneca shots should not routinely be given to people under sixty because of a rise in reported cases of unusual blood clots in the days after vaccination. The move put the spotlight back on the European Medicines Agency, which authorized the AstraZeneca vaccine in January and said earlier this month that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh the risks.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that workers at a Baltimore plant manufacturing two coronavirus vaccines accidentally conflated the vaccines’ ingredients several weeks ago, ruining about fifteen million doses of Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine. Federal officials attributed the mistake to human error. The mixup has halted future shipments of Johnson and Johnson doses in the United States while the Food and Drug Administration investigates.

Finally, Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, again urged Americans not to let their guard down as the pandemic wears on, according to the Washington Post. During a White House briefing, Walensky said the agency’s most recent data shows the seven-day average of new cases is just under sixty two thousand cases per day, which she said marked a nearly twelve percent spike from the prior seven-day period. Walensky called this a critical moment in our fight against the pandemic and added; "We are so close, so very close, to getting back to the everyday activities we all miss so much. But we’re not quite there yet"

New York Legalizes Recreational Marijuana

Hallelujah! After years of stalled attempts, that New York State has legalized the use of recreational marijuana, the New York Times reports. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the cannabis legislation yesterday, a day after the State Legislature passed the bill following hours of debate among lawmakers in Albany. New York became the fifteenth state to legalize the recreational use of cannabis, positioning itself to quickly become one of the largest markets of legal cannabis in the nation and one of the few states where legalization is directly tied to economic and racial equity.

The Times reports that forty percent of the tax revenue from pot sales will be steered to communities where Black and Latino people have been arrested on marijuana charges in disproportionate numbers. People convicted of marijuana-related offenses that are no longer criminalized will have their records automatically expunged. The law also seeks to allow people with past convictions to participate in the new legal market. Certain parts of the law went into effect immediately. Individuals are now allowed to possess up to three ounces of cannabis for recreational purposes or twenty four grams of concentrated forms of the drug, such as oils. New Yorkers are permitted to smoke cannabis in public wherever smoking tobacco is allowed. Smoking cannabis, however, is not permitted in schools, workplaces or inside a car.

Other changes will go into effect in the coming months when officials create a regulatory framework, the Times reports. People, for example, will eventually be able to have cannabis delivered to their homes, use cannabis products at lounge-like consumption sites and cultivate up to six plants at home for personal use. Dispensaries won’t open until more than a year from now. The recreational market is expected to eventually generate $350 million in yearly tax revenue. It’s a win-win-win.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Here’s an update from the Derek Chauvin trial, via the Washington Post. The third day of testimony in the trial of the former Minneapolis police officer brought more anguish from people who wished they could have kept George Floyd alive. For instance, store clerk Chris Martin said he thought Floyd didn’t know he was passing a counterfeit $20 bill. Tragedy upon tragedy.

The Guardian reports that two Capitol Police officers have filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump, saying he was responsible for physical and emotional injuries they suffered in the January 6th insurrection. James Blassingame, a seventeen-year veteran of the force, and Sidney Hemby, an eleven-year veteran, filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in US District Court for the District of Columbia. Each are seeking damages of at least $75,000. Good luck and godspeed.

The Pentagon yesterday scrapped restrictions on transgender troops imposed by the Trump administration, and unveiled new rules designed to end discrimination and provide medical care for those service members, according to NBC News. The Defense Department’s new policy will permit troops to serve openly under their self-identified gender and will offer access to medical treatments for gender transition. A return to fairness and decency at last.

A judge in Wyoming has sentenced a man to six months in prison for digging in a Yellowstone National Park cemetery in pursuit of a famous hidden treasure, the Associated Press reports. Rodrick Dow Craythorn, fifty two, of Syracuse, Utah, was seeking a treasure chest containing coins, gold and other valuables that art and antiquities dealer Forrest Fenn stashed in the Rocky Mountain backcountry. Fenn published a poem containing clues to where the treasure could be found. Craythorn said in a statement, "my obsession clouded my judgment." Happens to the best of us.

APRIL1 , 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Florida Republicans are considering a harsh new voting bill to accompany their protest crackdowns from earlier this week. This law would make it a crime to distribute water, food or any items or aid whatsoever to voters waiting in line at a polling place.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that the Justice Department is investigating Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for a possible relationship he had with a 17 year old girl.

And lastly, Joe Biden has started making his first Judicial appointments, nominating a diverse slate of judges to various federal benches in an attempt to slowly swing back Mitch McConnell’s great project to warp the nation’s courts.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Florida’s GOP is really swinging for the fences, enacting as many drastic and repressive laws as possible while they have full control of the governorship and state house. The latest injustice is a voting law introduced by House Republicans late last week which would make it a crime to distribute aid to voters waiting in line outside a polling place, echoing a similar law in Georgia.

The law, dubbed H.B. 7041, would expand Florida’s existing ban on offering voters so-called assistance within 100 feet of polling locations.

The new distance would be 150 feet, and to make matters worse, the new bill also adds a provision that specifically bans giving a voter quote “any item” or interacting with them in any way.

NBC reports that in committee meetings, Florida Republicans specifically mentioned that this would apply to food or water. When you combine that with the GOP’s voter suppression efforts that have resulted in massive, hours-long lines, the law starts to look even more dehumanizing.

President Biden torched the similar Georgia bill, calling it, “Jim Crow in the 21st Century."

While that’s certainly true, it’s going to take more than presidential rhetoric to take these bills down, which means they’re likely to get settled in a lengthy legal process once rights groups sue, like they have for other voter suppression and protest bills recently.

Matt Gaetz Investigated for Sex Trafficking

More news from the Sunshine State: Florida man and elected Representative Matt Gaetz is in hot water, as the New York Times reports that the Justice Department is investigating the possibility that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her to travel with him.

According to the Times, the DOJ is investigating whether or not Gaetz’s behavior constitutes sex trafficking, as many states make it illegal to transport someone over state lines to exchange sex for money or other items of value.

Gaetz was caught up by a broader investigation into another Florida politician, Joel Greenberg, who the Times reports was indicted last summer on an array of charges, including sex trafficking of a child and financially supporting people in exchange for sex.

But what makes this story truly wild is Gaetz’s response. On Twitter shortly after the Times’ story dropped, Gaetz offered a truly ludicrous story, claiming that his family was quote “victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25 million while threatening to smear my name,” endquote. Gaetz then claimed that his father had been wearing a wire in collaboration with the FBI to catch these so called criminals who were extorting him.

If that’s not a “huh?” response enough, Gaetz then went on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show and continued to spout off excuses, theories and denials. But he also told Axios this quote:

"I have definitely, in my single days, provided for women I've dated. You know, I've paid for flights, for hotel rooms. I’ve been, you know, generous as a partner."

Weird thing to say! It appears that Gaetz might have seen this coming, as Axios reported earlier Tuesday he had privately told friends that he was considering ditching Congress for a job at Newsmax. It certainly seems like he’ll have a change of employment one way or another soon!

Biden Names First Judicial Picks

Joe Biden is mounting his charge against Mitch McConnell’s conservative judiciary crusade, beginning a drive to reshape federal courts with a new slate of liberal, diverse, and even progressive judges.

He’s chasing a long, long lead, however. McConnell successfully confirmed 220 of Donald Trump’s appointees, meaning Federal courts are and will be stacked with Trump judges for years to come.

But Biden’s first appointments show some definite progress. His first 11 nominees include three black women, the first Muslim federal district judge, the first woman of color to serve as a federal judge in Maryland, and the first Asian-American woman to serve in D.C.’s district court circuit.

The biggest name in the bunch is Ketanji Brown Jackson, who if confirmed by the Senate will sit on the hugely influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She’ll be filling a big seat, one vacated by former Supreme Court nominee and current Attorney General Merrick Garland, which most politicos assume makes her first in line to be Biden’s Supreme Court nominee if a seat opens up during his first term.

And even better, Biden seems to be focusing on younger judges. The average age of his first nominees is 48, which means many of them could spend decades on the bench, preserving their seats from whatever ghoul the Republicans manage to sneak into the Oval Office in the future. Let’s hope that day doesn’t come anytime soon, though.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Biden’s dog Major was involved in a second so-called biting incident, according to CNN, this time getting his jaws on a National Park employee on the White House’s South Lawn. Clearly, someone isn’t adjusting to the pressures of the White House well!

Prosecutors in the Derek Chauvin trial called a series of witnesses who described in detail the killing of George Floyd last spring, while Chauvin’s defense attorneys continued to try to deflect the blame for Floyd’s death. The core of Chauvin’s defense is still to come, when the trial shifts to examine police tactics and Floyd’s medical cause of death.

A new analysis by the New York Daily News shows that embattled Governor Andrew Cuomo took almost $600,000 in campaign contributions from just 15 billionaires, while resisting his party’s calls to raise taxes on the rich. Sounds about right.

A judge on Tuesday ruled that New York state must immediately begin administering the COVID-19 vaccine to all incarcerated people in the state’s prisons and jails, saying that they had been directly excluded from the vaccine rollout. This is a major victory for activists who have been fighting for better treatment and conditions of prisoners during the pandemic.

MAR 31, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

The trial for George Floyd’s killer Derek Chauvin began on Monday, as the former officer’s legal team mounted a victim-blaming, morally repugnant defense.

Meanwhile, President Biden begs states to reinstitute mask bans to curb surging coronavirus cases, although early studies show the vaccines are working well.

And lastly, Jeff Bezos personally told Amazon’s PR to push back against critics ahead of a historic union drive in Bessmer, Alabama, prompting a wave of tweets that were so ludicrous some staffers at the company thought they’d been hacked.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Derek Chauvin’s trial for the killing of George Floyd began monday, and the former Minneapolis police officer’s lawyers wasted no time in creating an alternative set of circumstances from the ones the entire country witnessed on video last summer.

Chauvin’s defense team claimed that Floyd died because he ingested drugs to conceal them from police, not because Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes while he struggled for air. His lawyers also blamed the crowd, painting the witnesses who did all they could and recorded the scene as a threat to the four heavily armed officers holding Floyd down.

These tactics are both sick and unnecessary: as we well know, many defenses have gotten cops off for murder with far less callous strategies. The prosecution, meanwhile, confronted Chauvin’s defenders with a lineup of witnesses who had been on the scene, testifying one by one that what they saw was a murder.

It seems that’s the way the trial will continue, as the New York Times reports that the case will center around Floyd’s specific cause of death. This in itself is an injustice: no matter what was in Floyd’s system when he died, anyone who has seen the video knows that the police’s conduct was immoral.

At around 4:30 p.m. on Monday, the Judge abruptly adjourned the trial for the day, as a so-called “major technical glitch” had disrupted the proceedings’ live stream. We’ll see what tone day two strikes today.

Biden Asks For More Masks

President Biden urged states to restore mask mandates on Monday, after several mostly GOP-led states had started dropping all their reluctant precautions at the first sight of relief.

This is basically the opposite of what disease experts want to happen, but it seems unlikely that Biden will be able to put this particular Republican cat back in the bag. Still, Biden tried, saying quote:

“People are letting up on precautions, which is a very bad thing. We are giving up hard-fought, hard-won gains.”

Endquote

Other national officials were even more dire. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said she felt a sense of quote “impending doom.”

As we reported yesterday, cases are still rising around the country. The only good news is that vaccines appear to be working well, and more and more people will be able to get them soon. New York announced on Monday that everyone over the age of 30 would be eligible starting today, and everyone over 16 would be eligible on April 6.

Additionally, a new CDC report confirmed the early promising numbers in early clinical trials of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which showed that they were highly effective against the disease. We had already been taking that for granted, but it’s nice to know that assumption has the official seal on it.

Bezos Bozo Amazon PR Plan

Recode reported on Sunday that Amazon’s bizarre, aggressive PR blitz last week was directly urged by CEO Jeff Bezos, who told his underlings that they weren’t pushing back hard enough on pressure from lawmakers like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

According to Recode, this was almost certainly timed to exert as much power as possible during the NLRB election currently going down in Bessemer, Alabama. In practice, it could explain Amazon Worldwide SVP Dave Clark’s extremely aggro tweets, where he smeared Bernie Sanders with old attack lines about the Senator’s staff and tried to do some Twitter dunks with tired corporate propaganda.

Following that, Amazon’s own public relations account started popping off, famously claiming quote “you don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you?” endquote. That was in response to House Rep. Mark Pocan’s criticism of the company, which has a well-documented history of workers being forced to relieve themselves in bottles while on the job.

These last tweets were so inflammatory and unprofessional that Amazon’s internal security team flagged them, thinking they had possibly been hacked, according to documents obtained

by the Intercept. The only good thing you can say about all this is that finally, Amazon isn’t pretending to be the nice guy anymore. And that means more people might see it for what it is.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

A collection of civil rights groups including the Atlanta NAACP filed suit on Sunday against Georgia’s new voter suppression laws, indicating their willingness to fight the anti-democratic law in court as hard as they can before the next election cycle.

The ship is free! In the early hours of Monday morning, tugboat and dredging crews successfully floated the massive cargo ship Ever Given, clearing the way for other ships to pass through the Suez Canal for the first time in days.

A new indictment for the first time charged Ghislane Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidant, with sex trafficking of a minor. The charges are the most serious pursued by federal prosecutors since Maxwell’s arrest last summer.

The Biden Administration announced a plan on Monday to designate a large swathe of coastline between New Jersey and New York as a priority offshore wind zone, hoping to dramatically expand the region’s production of wind power.

That’s it for the Majority Report’s AM Quickie today! Emma will be with you in the afternoon.

MAR 30, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

U.S. virus cases are once again on the rise, despite the growing vaccine rollout, as the Biden administration works to issue Americans a so-called vaccine passport.

Meanwhile, Florida’s state legislature passes a draconian anti-protest bill, alarming civil liberties advocates.

And lastly, Myanmar’s military repeatedly opens fire on demonstrators in one of the bloodiest days of the country’s recent protests, killing close to 100 civilians.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Coronavirus cases are once again on the rise in the United States, despite our continued vaccine rollout.

The good news is that deaths are still decreasing. But for the first time in weeks, the line of recorded cases started to creep up again, with an average of about 62,000 per week.

Scientists did predict we’d see a rise in the latter part of this month due to the spread of new variants of the disease. Many of these new strains are more infectious than the original versions we’ve been dealing with for a year, although vaccines are still effective at limiting their harm.

The bigger risk that we’re seeing is states reopening way too soon. Dr. Anthony Fauci pointed specifically to the ludicrous spring break gatherings in Florida as examples of states that aren’t doing it right.

The lesson here is clear: everyone wants to have a hot vax summer, but if we jump the gun too early it’s just going to cause more death.

The Biden Administration, meanwhile, is working with various private companies to consolidate credentials that prove someone has received a coronavirus vaccine. A number of organizations have said they’ll be restricting access to everything from cruise ships to sports stadiums to people who have been vaccinated, and there are more than 17 fledgling so-called passport programs underway worldwide.

So far, the Administration is being tight-lipped on exactly what these plans will look like, so we’ll have to keep a close eye on it as it develops, because there’s obviously a pretty big risk that such a system will further discriminate against groups who aren’t getting the doses they need.

Florida Passes Anti-Protest Law

Florida’s Republican-controlled State Legislature passed an aggressive, undemocratic anti-protest bill on Friday.

The bill, known as HB1 in the Florida house, also has a concurrent bill in the Florida Senate, and has been promoted by current Governor Ron DeSantis.

If it passes, it would further criminalize even mundane participation in protests, making it a felony to even be present at a protest that became violent and offering up prison sentences of up to 15 years for pulling down a Confederate statue or monument.

In a statement, Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, said:

“This bill is not intended to increase public safety. It is not intended to address any public need. Over 95% of protests across the state of Florida have been peaceful. HB1 and its companion bill, Senate Bill 484, represent a blatant attempt to silence and criminalize speech that runs counter to the political agendas of those currently in power in Florida."

The Intercept reported back in January that the right wing has been using bills like this to crack down on lawful protest by hypocritcally playing on fears of the January 6 insurrection. But the bills they pass, of course, will crack down on civil rights protests, not the white nationalist violence we saw early this year.

And even Florida’s swing-state voters aren’t convinced: a recent poll showed that 63 percent of the state’s voters don’t like the new bills. HB1 is through the house, so now it’s over to the State Senate. Unfortunately, the GOP there has an eight-seat majority, so things aren’t looking good.

Myanmar Military Shoots Dozens in Day of Shame

A brutal campaign of repression is unfolding in Myanmar, where the military siezed power from democratically-elected leaders in February.

On Saturday, protesters weathered the most deadly day of violence yet, as the military celebrated Armed Forces Day by killing over 100 civilians, according to local news sources. The Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, a rights group based in Myanmar and Thailand, said that the actual number of deaths is probably much higher than that.

Dr. Sasa, a spokesperson for a group of the elected officials who were ousted by the military called Saturday quote “a day of shame for the armed forces.” endquote.

The United Nations has called for a quote “unified international response” to the abuses going on in Myanmar, but is once again hamstrung by the five-member national security council. Two of those members, Russia and China, have lent their tacit support to the coup, and will veto any action the U.N. tries to take. Russia, for its part, is also a major supplier of weapons to the country’s military.

But while international organizations flounder, the people of Myanmar aren’t backing down. On Saturday, protestors defied an explicit order that said they could be shot in the head or back by military forces if they took to the streets. Some paid with their lives, but the protests continue.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

House Democrats introduced a new bill aiming to block Trump holdout Postmaster General Louis Dejoy from further sabotaging his own agency, while other leaders like Bernie Sanders resume calls for Biden to give Dejoy the boot. The House bill is literally called the DEJOY act, so there’s no question what it’s meant to do.

A quick update on the big boat stuck in the Suez Canal situation: the big boat is, yep, still stuck! Late on Saturday, however, it did move approximately 100 feet. So that’s progress, I guess!

The murder trial for Derek Chauvin, the officer who killed George Floyd last spring and sparked a nationwide uprising against police brutality, is expected to begin on Monday, as lawyers finished seating the jury on Sunday. The jury is comprised of two white men, four white women, three Black men, one Black woman and two women who identify as mixed race, according to the New York Times.

And finally, Ron Weiser, the chairman of the Michigan Republican party called Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Attorney General Dana Nessel a trio of quote “witches,” and implied that they should be assassinated. Just in case you forgot the level the Republian Party is playing on here!

That’s it for the Majority Report’s AM Quickie today. Sam’s off this week, so Emma and the rest of the gang will be with you this afternoon.

MAR 29, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

The Supreme Court ruled on two cases defending the right to sue large corporations and the police. Are they just buttering us up before dropping some major bad decisions?

Meanwhile, police attacked protesters in Los Angeles as the authorities attempted to clear out a large homeless encampment. Despite the coronavirus, some homeless say they feel safer in a tent of their own than in a hotel room where they might be surveiled.

And lastly, a United Nations report says the world’s forests are best protected by indigenous peoples. So they themselves need to be protected against slash-and-burn plunderers.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

In two decisions yesterday, the Supreme Court made it easier for people to sue large companies and to hold police accountable for excessive use of force, NBC News reports. In a unanimous ruling, the court said Ford Motor Company could be sued for allegedly defective vehicles involved in accidents in Montana and Michigan. One case was brought by family members of a Montana woman who died in the crash of a 1996 Explorer that her family members said had a design flaw. The second lawsuit was filed by a man claiming he was injured in the crash of a defective Crown Victoria in Minnesota. Ford said it could be sued only in states where the vehicles were actually designed, manufactured or sold. But the court ruled that because Ford markets, sells, and services its products nationwide, state courts can consider product liability lawsuits.

In the second case, NBC reports, the court ruled five to three that police can be sued for using excessive force, even when it fails to stop someone from fleeing. The case involved a New Mexico woman, Roxanne Torres, who drove away from a parking lot when police approached to question her. Thinking they might be carjackers, not police officers, she sped away. They fired thirteen shots, hitting her twice in the back. She sued, claiming they used excessive force, making the shooting unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable seizures. The police said it wasn't a seizure, since she wasn't stopped by their gunfire. But yesterday’s opinion said it was a seizure nonetheless.

Jeffrey Bellin, a professor at William and Mary Law School, said the decision will make it easier to sue for excessive force at a time when the country is increasingly concerned with police violence. Know your rights, folks.

Police attack protesters at LA homeless camp

It’s hard out there on the streets. Los Angeles officials said they intend to close a homeless encampment at Echo Park yesterday after a night of protests as workers erected fencing and authorities ordered residents of the camp to clear out, the LA Times reports. More than two hundred protesters gathered at the park Wednesday night and Thursday morning in a tense standoff with police over the future of the encampment, which has become a flash point in the city’s homelessness crisis. The camp has drawn the ire of neighbors, and the city has agreed to move those living in the park to hotels. But some residents say they prefer to stay in the park and argue they have the right to do so.

Los Angeles police Chief Michel Moore said Wednesday night that homeless residents inside the park would be allowed to remain overnight, but that no one else could enter, and the encampment’s residents must leave within twenty four hours, according to the Times. There was a huge police presence Wednesday night. As skirmishes erupted, police were seen shoving some protesters. Park rangers, flanked by LAPD officers, began taping notices of closure onto trees and light poles on the east side of the park, where homeless people have been camping throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Westside City Councilman Mike Bonin issued a statement yesterday criticizing the use of police to clear the park, the Times reports. Yesterday morning a small number of people woke up inside the fenced park, worrying about what was to come. Valerie Zeller likened it to a hostage situation. The homeless woman said she was reluctant to go to a hotel, saying she had heard that residents would be searched and subjected to curfews. Protests continued yesterday. Exactly what problems have the police solved here?

UN report: Indigenous people protect forests

File this one under common sense. The embattled indigenous peoples of Latin America are by far the best guardians of the regions’ forests, according to a UN report covered by the Guardian. Deforestation rates are up to fifty percent lower in their territories than elsewhere. Protecting the vast forests is vital to tackling the climate crisis and plummeting populations of wildlife, and the report found that recognising the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples to their land is one of the most cost-effective actions. The report also calls for the peoples to be paid for the environmental benefits their stewardship provides, and for funding for the revitalisation of their ancestral knowledge of living in harmony with nature.

However, the Guardian reports, the demand for beef, soy, timber, oil and minerals means the threats to indigenous peoples and their forest homes are rising. Hundreds of community leaders have been killed because of disputes over land in recent years. And the Covid-19 pandemic has added to the dangers forest peoples face. Demands by indigenous peoples for their rights have become increasingly visible in recent years, the report said, but this has come with increasing persecution, racism, and assassinations. Supporting these peoples to protect the forests is particularly crucial now with scientists warning that the Amazon is nearing a tipping point where it switches from rainforest to savannah, risking the release of billions of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere.

The report was produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the Fund for the Development of Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Guardian reports. It was based on a review of more than three hundred studies. The rigor is admirable, but the conclusions are obvious. People who depend on the land aren’t likely to destroy it for profit!

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

President Joe Biden answered reporters’ questions for a little over an hour yesterday at his first formal news conference, the Washington Post reports. He said he plans to seek reelection in 2024 with Vice President Harris as his running mate; indicated that he was open to revamping the filibuster to get his policy priorities, including voting rights, passed; and said that he does not picture US forces in Afghanistan next year. I guess we won the war!

A salvage company working on the operation warned yesterday that releasing the container vessel blocking traffic in the Suez Canal in Egypt could take days or even weeks, according to the New York Times. Dozens of ships laden with oil and goods destined for ports around the world are stranded in the canal. The stuck ship, the Ever Given, has been wedged in the canal since running aground on Tuesday. Have they tried greasing it up with olive oil?

New York State officials finalized a deal yesterday to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, the Times reports. The deal would allow delivery of the drug and permit club-like lounges or consumption sites where marijuana, but not alcohol, could be consumed. It would also allow a person to cultivate up to six plants at home for personal use. Legalize it already!

California State Assemblyman Phil Ting, a Democrat, yesterday unveiled the Freedom to Walk Act, which would decriminalize jaywalking across the state, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. A September report from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area found that Black and Latino Californians received a higher number of citations for minor offenses like jaywalking compared to whites. Legalize walking, too!

MAR 26, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Democrats are moving ahead with one of their top legislative priorities, a sweeping voting rights bill. Republicans call it a power grab, but of course they would, considering they’d prefer that only old white Republicans should be allowed to vote.

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors have established a conspiracy between the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys related to the January 6th Capitol insurrection. Court papers show they expected Donald Trump to declare martial law to stay in power.

And lastly, a federal moratorium on evictions expires next week. Fortunately, the Biden administration is looking at extending it at least through July.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

We’ve told you about Republican schemes to restrict the vote. Well, the New York Times reports that the Senate yesterday convened an opening hearing on a sweeping elections bill that would expand voting rights and blunt Republican state legislators’ efforts to restrict access to the ballot box. Chock-full of liberal priorities, the bill, called the For the People Act, would usher in landmark changes making it easier to vote, enact new campaign finance laws and end partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts. The legislation passed the House along party lines earlier this month. It faces solid opposition from Republicans who are working to clamp down on ballot access, and who argue that the bill is a power grab by Democrats.

Democrats on the Senate Rules Committee hope that testimony from former Attorney General Eric Holder, prominent voting experts and anti-corruption advocates will help build on a rising drumbeat of support from liberals, the Times reports. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that there is a concerted, nationwide effort to limit the rights of citizens to vote. He called the voting rollbacks in the states an existential threat to democracy reminiscent of Jim Crow segregationist laws, chanting Shame! Shame! Shame! at the Republicans promoting them.

So far, not a single Republican supports the nearly eight hundred-page bill, the Times reports. Democrats’ best hope for enacting the legislation increasingly appears to be to try to leverage its voting protections to justify triggering the Senate’s so-called nuclear option: the elimination of the filibuster rule requiring sixty votes, rather than a simple majority, to advance most bills. Increasingly it seems like Democrats will need to end the filibuster to get anything done at all.

Prosecutors find Proud Boys, Oath Keepers conspiracy:

A conspiracy was afoot! Leaders of the Oath Keepers militia and the Proud Boys were in communication in the weeks before the Capitol riot and appear to have coordinated some plans for the day of the attack, prosecutors said in court papers, according to the New York Times. The evidence presented in the papers connects the two most prominent targets of the federal government’s investigation into the storming of the Capitol on January 6th.

The new disclosure about the links between two extremist groups was contained in a motion filed by prosecutors seeking to keep Kelly Meggs, the leader of the Florida chapter of the Oath Keepers, in jail before his trial, the Times reports. Prosecutors cited several of Meggs’s private Facebook messages in which he told others that as many as one hundred Oath Keepers planned to be in Washington for a rally in January answering a call by Donald Trump. On Christmas Day, court papers say, Meggs wrote that his group of Oath Keepers would be serving as security guards during the days surrounding the pro-Trump event but had "orchestrated a plan with the Proud Boys" at night. On December 26th, the new court papers say, he wrote a message announcing that Trump planned to use the emergency broadcast system to invoke the Insurrection Act, effectively establishing martial law.

Even though the filing in the Meggs case was the first time that investigators have revealed evidence connecting the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, the Times says there is no indication that the government intends to merge the separate inquiries. Fifteen members of the Proud Boys are facing charges including conspiracy to resist law enforcement officers and disrupt the workings of the government. Tough break jabronis!

Evictions moratorium nears expiration:

The clock’s ticking on many renters. And the Washington Post reports that the Biden administration is weighing whether to extend a soon-expiring federal policy that prohibits landlords from evicting their cash-strapped tenants, as the US government seeks to buy more

time for an estimated ten million families who have fallen behind on their rent. The extension under discussion could run at least through July. Without it, the federal eviction ban is set to lapse in six days. The issue has taken on fresh urgency at a time when the federal government is racing to distribute roughly $47 billion in new coronavirus relief to families still struggling to pay off back-due rent and ever-mounting utility bills.

Lawmakers acknowledge the federal eviction moratorium isn’t perfect, the Post reports. Housing advocates fear fast-moving lawsuits could impede its future, and some Biden administration officials have even questioned whether the federal government has the authority to extend it. But there is nonetheless broad agreement that a continuation of the federal eviction ban is essential to prevent millions of people from being forced onto the streets as they await financial assistance. Rhode Island Democratic Senator Jack Reed, who has sponsored legislation protecting renters from eviction, called affordable housing the single most effective form of personal protective equipment one can have. He said, "If we suddenly threw people out of their homes, and onto the streets and into other people’s homes, it would accelerate covid."

The Biden administration is also discussing some additional policy tweaks to the moratorium, the Post reports. That includes a new education campaign to inform renters that the policy exists. The Biden administration also has weighed taking a greater role in enforcing the moratorium against landlords who refuse to honor it. Yeah, seems like a good idea, actually enforcing the policy.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

President Biden has asked Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the administration’s efforts to handle the increase in migrants on the southern border, the Los Angeles Times reports. Her responsibilities will involve diplomatic relations with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, where many of the migrants begin their journey. Time will tell if the US is really prepared to help improve the situation in those countries.

Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill yesterday banning the death penalty, making Virginia the first of the old Confederate states to do so, the Washington Post reports. Over the past four hundred years, Virginia has executed more prisoners than any other state. It is the second-most-prolific death-penalty state of the modern era, behind Texas. But that’s all in the past now.

The Senate yesterday voted fifty two to forty eight to confirm Rachel Levine as the nation’s assistant secretary for health, making her the highest-ranking openly transgender official in US history, according to the Post. The assistant secretary for health oversees a broad portfolio of public-health initiatives, and President Biden has said that Levine will play a key role in the nation’s coronavirus response. Which is sure to drive Republicans insane.

The Guardian reports that hundreds of people imprisoned for protesting last month’s coup in Myanmar have been released in the first apparent gesture by the military to try to placate the protest movement. Witnesses outside Insein (INSANE) Prison in Yangon saw busloads of mostly young people, looking happy with some flashing the three-finger gesture of defiance adopted by the protest movement. State-run TV said a total of six hundred and twenty eight were freed. At least fifty five remain in prison and will face charges. Solidarity.

MAR 25, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Democrats are once again pushing for stricter gun control after yet another mass shooting. President Joe Biden lowered the White House flags to half-staff in honor of the ten people killed in Boulder, Colorado.

Meanwhile, an oversight panel is accusing AstraZenica of cherry-picking data to make its coronavirus vaccine seem more effective. Experts worry the news will decrease public confidence in the vaccination effort – in which case the company must bear the blame.

And lastly, the Biden administration wants to fund its plans for infrastructure and social programs with new taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans. Trust us, they can afford it.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

President Biden yesterday called for tightening gun control laws in the wake of a mass shooting Monday at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, less than a week after eight people were killed during a shooting spree in Atlanta, NBC News reports. Speaking at the White House, Biden suggested that he may take executive action on gun violence. He called for a ban of assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines. And he called on the Senate to immediately pass two bills the House recently approved that change background check laws.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to hold votes on the House-passed measures, but does not appear to have the support of at least ten Republicans to avoid the filibuster, according to NBC. Without sixty votes in the Senate, gun control measures are likely to fuel calls by some Democrats to nix the filibuster. Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy noted the popularity of extending background checks, and said, "Democracy dies when things that have the majority of support in Congress, the support of the president and ninety percent public support can't become a law."

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that police identified Monday’s twenty one-year-old rifle-wielding suspect as Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa. He was shot in the leg during the attack and remained in the hospital yesterday morning. He was charged with ten counts of murder in the first degree, though officials offered no details on a suspected motive. What’s worse, according to the New York Times: the city of Boulder enacted bans on assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines in 2018, but a state district court judge ruled this month that Boulder could not enforce the bans. Police said the killer used an AR-15-type rifle, a kind of weapon that the city ordinances were intended to restrict.

AstraZenica Fudged Vaccine Data

Well this isn’t good. Federal health officials and an independent oversight board accused AstraZeneca of presenting the world with potentially misleading information about the effectiveness of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine, the New York Times reports. It is an extraordinary blow to the credibility of a company whose product has been seen as critical to the global fight against the pandemic. In a two-page letter to AstraZeneca and federal authorities on Monday, an independent panel of medical experts that was helping oversee the vaccine’s clinical trial in the United States said the company had essentially cherry-picked data that was, "most favorable for the study as opposed to the most recent and most complete."

Only hours earlier, the Times reports, AstraZeneca had issued a news release trumpeting the effectiveness and safety of its vaccine, whose low price has made it the leading vehicle to inoculate people worldwide. The company said that based on its US trial, the vaccine appeared to be seventy nine percent effective at preventing Covid-19. But the independent oversight board said in its letter that the vaccine’s efficacy may have been between sixty nine percent and seventy four percent. The letter reprimanded AstraZeneca for an overly rosy description of the trial data. The board wrote, "Decisions like this are what erode public trust in the scientific process."

The public airing of a conflict between a pharmaceutical company and a board overseeing a clinical trial is highly unusual, as the Times put it. It is almost certain to trigger extra scrutiny of the vaccine by regulators. Doctor Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said the news could, "unfortunately contribute to a lack of confidence in the process." At least there’s more than one brand of vaccine.

Biden Plans to Tax the Rich

It’s about time. White House officials are exploring tax increases on businesses, investors and rich Americans to fund the president’s multitrillion-dollar infrastructure and jobs package, according to the Washington Post. The centerpiece of the tax increases would probably be a higher corporate tax rate – reversing part of President Donald Trump’s steep corporate tax cut in 2017 – as well as higher levies on investment income and a higher top marginal tax rate. President Biden’s tax increases may prove among the most controversial elements of the administration’s coming Build Back Better agenda, setting up a major confrontation with business groups and congressional Republicans.

The president has said that his tax increases will not affect people earning less than $400,000 per year, according to the Post. He and his advisers have called for funding the next major domestic priority with higher levies on wealthy Americans, citing the relative success enjoyed by the affluent during a pandemic that has pummeled the economic fortunes of the working class. The White House’s legislative effort is expected to be broken up into two main components – one focused primarily on infrastructure and clean energy investments, and a second focused on domestic priorities including child care and prekindergarten that the administration has labeled part of the, "caring economy."

The tax increases in the plan are similarly divided between those two parts. The infrastructure section of the legislation is expected to be funded primarily by taxes on businesses. The part of the legislation focused on other domestic priorities, by contrast, is expected to be funded by taxes on rich people and investors. Both sets of tax increases mirror what Biden proposed in 2020 as a presidential candidate. It’s not the radical redistribution progressives want, but it’s not a bad place to start.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Rescuers recovered at least fifteen charred bodies from a Rohingya refugee camp in southern Bangladesh after a devastating fire, officials told the Associated Press yesterday. At least four hundred people were still missing and around five hundred and sixty were injured by the fire, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency. Around forty five thousand people were displaced. As if they weren’t suffering enough!

National Guardsmen transporting Covid-19 vaccines through Texas on Monday were held at gunpoint, NBC News reports. Larry Harris, sixty six, of Willcox, Arizona, turned his truck into oncoming traffic, stopping three National Guard vans. He then pointed a gun at a soldier, identified himself as a detective, ordered the guardsmen out of their vehicles and demanded to search their vans, according to police. Luckily nobody got hurt, and the vaccines reached their destination.

The New York Times reports that the jury for the murder trial of Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd has been seated, clearing the way for the opening arguments in the trial, set to begin on Monday. The twelve-member jury includes two white men, four white women, three Black men, one Black women and two women who identify as mixed race. Two white women and a white man are the alternates. We’ll be watching.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy yesterday announced plans to slow mail delivery standards and cut hours at some post offices, the AP reports. Details of the plan come at a time of intense scrutiny on DeJoy, a major GOP donor who took over the agency last summer. The plan also includes a proposal to consolidate underused post offices, and hinted at a potential postage rate increase. Paying more for less – sounds like DeJoy is really running the place like a business.

MAR 24, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn