@10:28, , 12/21/20

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1

A Brief Note on the New Covid “Stimulus” Bill

Ian Welsh, Ian Welsh - 53 minutes ago

So, the bill that looks likely to pass is 900 billion. One $600 check, $300/week in UI improvement (this is the real good thing in the bill) and some miscellaneous good stuff, along with a variety of pork. It’s a bad bill, totally inadequate to the circumstances. In the new year millions of Americans will […]

 

Biden will need to get a better bill quichly.

 

2

Fundraising Finale

Ian Welsh, Ian Welsh - 1 hour ago

We did, in the end, raise slightly more than $11,000. I am very grateful, this will make a significant difference. Thank you, all who gave.

 

Ian Welsh will eat for the next few months.

His mood will be better.

 

3

Treasury Department’s Senior Leaders Were Targeted by Hacking

David E. Sanger and Alan Rappeport, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 1 hour ago

The disclosure was the first acknowledgment of a specific intrusion in the vast cyberattack. At the White House, national security leaders met to assess how to deal with the situation.

 

The Hackers were surprised at their haul.   

I suspect the Daily Mail.

 

4 

Lockerbie Bombing of 1988: US Unseals Charges Against New Suspect

Adam Goldman and Katie Benner, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 1 hour ago

Attorney General William P. Barr said that investigators had obtained a confession in 2012 from a bomb expert admitting his role in the terrorist attack on a jetliner over Scotland.

 

The Trump administration is sure more pain fixes things.

 

5

Congress Rushes to Pass Huge Coronavirus Relief Bill

Emily Cochrane, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 2 hours ago

The House was set to approve a $900 billion pandemic aid bill on Monday night, with the Senate poised to follow later on. The bill provides a $600 payment for most Americans.

 

With luck the population lives through the next few weeks.

 

6

Financial Aid Is Restored for Prisoners in the Education Plan That’s Tucked Into the Stimulus Bill

Erica L. Green, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 2 hours ago

Reversing a ban on Pell grants for prisoners, begun in the 1994 crime bill, is just one of several higher-education equity provisions included in the huge funding bill.

 

A plumb among the poison pills.

7

 

Virus Hits Federal Death Row, Prompting Calls for Delays in Executions

Hailey Fuchs, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 2 hours ago

At least 14 of the roughly 50 men held in the secure facility at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., have tested positive. Staff members involved in executions have also gotten sick.

 

Prisoners must die on schedule and by the selected method.

 

8

Coronavirus Stimulus Bolsters Biden, Shows Potential Path for Agenda

Carl Hulse, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 3 hours ago

Working together with the president-elect, bipartisan groups in the Senate and House helped push feuding leaders to compromise. It could be a template for the future.

 

The lash was heavy enough.

9

1998 U.S. Embassy Bombing Victims Are Assured Equal Compensation in Deal With Sudan

Lara Jakes, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 3 hours ago

A new congressional agreement largely puts to rest months of furious negotiations over how to help Sudan’s fragile transitional government, which faces lawsuits accusing the country of harboring Al Qaeda.

The U.S. is paying compensation to the U.S. diplomats and their guards. 

Sudan is a failed sovereign state.

10

Senate Candidates Duel in Georgia Race as GOP Voters’ Anger Persists Over Presidential Election

Astead W. Herndon and Rick Rojas, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 3 hours ago

As the state’s Republican senators rallied with Ivanka Trump, and their Democratic challengers welcomed Kamala Harris, conservative voters were focused on the president’s election loss.

 

There is hope for a Democratic senate.

 

11

U.S. Unseals Charges Against New Suspect in 1988 Lockerbie Bombing

Adam Goldman and Katie Benner, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 3 hours ago

Attorney General William P. Barr said that investigators had obtained a confession in 2012 from a bomb expert admitting his role in the terrorist attack on a jetliner over Scotland.

 

The Republicans are true to the elephant.

 

12

Georgia Senate Race: Kelly Loeffler, a Wall Street Senator With a Hardscrabble Pitch

Danny Hakim, Jo Becker and Astead W. Herndon, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 3 hours ago

The hard right turn of Ms. Loeffler, one of two Republican candidates in Georgia’s pivotal Senate runoff elections, reflects the ideological gymnastics embraced by her party in the Trump era.

 

"If ignorance is bliss tis folly to be wise."

                                                  W.S.

 

13

Barr Sees ‘No Reason’ for Special Counsels for Hunter Biden, Election

Katie Benner, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 4 hours ago

The departing attorney general, William P. Barr, again broke with President Trump on his unsupported claims of widespread election fraud and the need to appoint a special counsel to investigate the president-elect’s son.

 

Barr finds some rags of courage.

 

14

5 Takeaways From the Mayor’s Race: A Subway Pledge and Police Scrutiny

Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Jeffery C. Mays, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 4 hours ago

Some New York City candidates vowed to reform the Police Department — or to ride the subway more often than Mayor Bill de Blasio.

 

Bill de Blasio would probably win reelection if he wants it.

 

15

Trump Makes Classical Style the Default for Federal Buildings in Executive Order

Zachary Small, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 4 hours ago

An executive order stopped short of banning modernist architecture, but states that “the preferred architecture” style for new buildings should be classical.

 

Trump would be a god.  He wants white marble temples.

16

Biden’s Choice of Vilsack for U.S.D.A. Raises Fears for Small Farmers

Alan Rappeport and Michael Corkery, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 8 hours ago

Democrats have struggled to win voters in rural America, and critics say the return of Tom Vilsack, a former agriculture secretary, won’t help.

 

Farmers know but do not understand the commodities market.

The city people are broke.  

Without the subsidies everybody starves and food rots in the fields.

 

Pay the urban population so they can buy food at a fair price.

 

17

Barr Sees ‘No Reason’ for Special Counsels for Hunter Biden or the Election

Katie Benner, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 10 hours ago

The outgoing attorney general, William Barr, again broke with President Trump on his unsupported claims of widespread election fraud and the need to appoint a special counsel to investigate the president-elect’s son.

 

Fake news should be known and prosecuted.

 

18

Surprise Medical Bills Cost Americans Millions. Congress Is Finally Set to Ban Most of Them.

Sarah Kliff and Margot Sanger-Katz, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 13 hours ago

Efforts to solve the common consumer problem had been stalled by lobbying pressure and legislative squabbles.

 

Single payer is a better fix.

Let us not be distracted.

 

19

Biden’s Choice of Vilsack for U.S.D.A. Raises Fears for Small Farmers

Alan Rappeport and Michael Corkery, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 17 hours ago

Democrats have struggled to win voters in rural America and critics say the return of Tom Vilsack, a former agriculture secretary, won’t help.

 

Pay the workers so they can buy food at a real price.

 

20

Not an Ideal Process or an Ideal Agreement, but, Finally, a Deal

Charlie Brennan, Rick Rojas and Sarah Maslin Nir, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 1 day ago

Americans nationwide are glad that Congress, after a painfully prolonged process, has agreed to a stimulus package, however imperfect.

 

The deal stinks like old cheese.

People will like it when they try it.

 

 

 

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