9 votes

Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of March 1

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Tags: usa, politics, recurring.weekly

This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

14 comments

  1. [2]
    skybrian
    Link
    Opinion: The White House’s use of Zoom for meetings raises China-related security concerns They should use Signal :-)

    Opinion: The White House’s use of Zoom for meetings raises China-related security concerns

    The Biden White House is using the teleconference platform Zoom for most of its unclassified government-related virtual interactions, even as the Justice Department is prosecuting one of the company’s China-based executives for working with Beijing’s intelligence services to interfere in Zoom calls. Some lawmakers, former officials and experts are warning that the Biden administration may be ignoring the risks.

    They should use Signal :-)

    7 votes
    1. nukeman
      Link Parent
      Jesus, Zoom is banned where I work (government contractor). How ironic.

      Jesus, Zoom is banned where I work (government contractor). How ironic.

      7 votes
  2. [2]
    Kuromantis
    Link
    Alabama Senate votes to make hormone therapy and surgery for trans youth a felony

    Alabama Senate votes to make hormone therapy and surgery for trans youth a felony

    Under a new law, transgender youth in Alabama could not be treated with puberty-blockers, hormone therapy or surgery. The state Senate voted to make the treatment a felony on Tuesday.

    Senators voted 23-4 to approve the measure, dubbed the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, sponsored by Republican Senator Shay Shelnutt. The bill now heads to the state House of Representatives, which has already approved a companion bill.

    The two bills would make it a felony for medical professionals to treat transgender minors under the age of 19 with gender-affirming care. Violators could face up to 10 years in prison or a $15,000 fine.

    While similar measures have been considered across the country, Alabama would be the first state to pass such a bill.

    7 votes
    1. nukeman
      Link Parent
      Can you say, federal lawsuit?!

      Can you say, federal lawsuit?!

      2 votes
  3. [2]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. elcuello
      Link Parent
      What does this mean? Was is a bad idea that they regretted or was is a great idea that they backed out of?

      What does this mean? Was is a bad idea that they regretted or was is a great idea that they backed out of?

      2 votes
  4. [2]
    monarda
    Link
    Maine Sen. Susan Collins said Wednesday she will support New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland to be Interior secretary, the first Republican senator to publicly back a nominee set to become the first...

    Maine Sen. Susan Collins said Wednesday she will support New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland to be Interior secretary, the first Republican senator to publicly back a nominee set to become the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency.

    I don't think I've ever been more excited about a cabinet nomination. I'm hoping that Sen. Collins' vote combined with Sen. Manchin's, who said last week that he would be voting for her, will insure her confirmation.

    5 votes
  5. Kuromantis
    Link
    From Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Voting restrictions bill passes Georgia House over strong opposition And Voting protest leads to clash between police and Georgia lawmaker Video of this Some...

    From Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

    Voting restrictions bill passes Georgia House over strong opposition

    A bill to restrict ballot drop boxes, require more ID for absentee voting and limit weekend early voting days passed the Georgia House on Monday amid protests that the proposals would make it harder for voters to participate in democracy.

    The House voted along party lines, 97-72, on the sweeping elections bill supported by Republicans who want to impose new voting requirements after losing presidential and U.S. Senate races in Georgia.

    But Republican legislators said their proposals will build voters’ trust in elections after it was shaken by members of their own political party. Their policies would put new limits on absentee voting, used by a record 1.3 million Georgians in the presidential election, two-thirds of whom voted for Democrat Joe Biden.

    What’s in House Bill 531:

    • Limits Sunday voting to one optional Sunday in each county

    • Restricts the use of ballot drop boxes by requiring them to be located inside early voting locations

    • Requires a driver’s license number, state ID number or copy of photo ID to vote absentee

    -bSets a deadline to request absentee ballots 11 days before election day

    • Disqualifies provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct

    • Bans outside funding of elections from nonprofit organizations

    • Prohibits governments from mailing unsolicited absentee ballot applications

    • Creates instant-runoff voting for military and overseas voters

    • Schedules runoffs four weeks after election day rather than the current nine weeks

    • Prevents free food and drinks for voters waiting in line to vote

    • Restricts early voting buses to emergencies

    And

    Voting protest leads to clash between police and Georgia lawmaker

    A protest over Georgia voting bills led to a confrontation Friday between a state representative and a police officer who grabbed her arm to try to move her out of the way.

    State Rep. Park Cannon and fellow Democrats then started a sit-in on the stairs of the state Capitol until they received an apology, which the Georgia State Patrol didn’t publicly offer. No one was arrested, and the sit-in ended after over an hour and a half.

    Video of this

    Some right-winger comparing this to the Capitol storming of 1/6

    3 votes
  6. Kuromantis
    Link
    Senate rejects Bernie Sanders proposal for $15 minimum wage in coronavirus relief package: Eight Democrats join Republicans to reject attempt to add wage hike into $1.9 trillion relief bill

    Senate rejects Bernie Sanders proposal for $15 minimum wage in coronavirus relief package: Eight Democrats join Republicans to reject attempt to add wage hike into $1.9 trillion relief bill

    A proposal from Bernie Sanders to raise the federal hourly minimum wage to $15 from its current $7.25 failed in the Senate after the senator sought to include the measure in a White House-backed coronavirus relief package.

    After the Senate rules-advising parliamentarian shot down the inclusion of a wage increase in the bill, Senator Sanders vowed to introduce an amendment to put it into the legislation. The proposal would gradually raise the minimum wage by $2.25 each year through 2025.

    On Friday all Senate Republicans, seven Democrats and one Independent senator rejected the amendment for a vote of 42-58 against. It needed 60 votes to pass.

    “If any Senator believes this is the last time they will cast a vote on whether or not to give a raise to 32 million Americans, they are sorely mistaken,” he said in a statement. “We’re going to keep bringing it up.”

    The Democratic senators who opposed the amendment are: Joe Manchin, Jon Tester, Jeanne Shaheen, Maggie Hassan, Kyrsten Sinema, Tom Carper, and Chris Coons, along with Angus King, an independent who caucused with Democrats.

    2 votes
  7. [3]
    Comment removed by site admin
    Link
    1. petrichor
      Link Parent
      /offtopic Yeah, I don't know about that. Those are shoddy at best and pull away from actual, serious allegations of sexual assault at worst. "I completely and wholeheartedly denounce any kind of...

      /offtopic

      For those unaware, here is the Cawthorn Nazi connection. I feel like it should be emphasized whenever he is discussed.

      Yeah, I don't know about that. Those are shoddy at best and pull away from actual, serious allegations of sexual assault at worst.

      "I completely and wholeheartedly denounce any kind of white nationalism, any kind of Nazism. We fought a war where the American people went to war to end the scourge of Nazism across this country and I'm very thankful for that because it's evil and its vile" seems pretty cut and dry, as does calling Hitler a "supreme evil" and "one of the greatest evils in human history" in both of the social media posts he was criticized for.

      aside

      The name of his company -- SPQR -- which is a symbol associated with white nationalists

      It's the motto of ancient Rome. Most Millennials probably know it from Percy Jackson.

      6 votes
    2. LukeZaz
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      I feel like this is an important caveat to the story. Sad as it is that this has become noteworthy, I think it's important to recognize that he very clearly and unambiguously condemned nazism &...

      Cawthorn denounced white nationalism in a recent interview with WLOS News 13. "I completely and wholeheartedly denounce any kind of white nationalism, any kind of Nazism. We fought a war where the American people went to war to end the scourge of Nazism across this country and I'm very thankful for that because it's evil and its vile," he said.

      I feel like this is an important caveat to the story. Sad as it is that this has become noteworthy, I think it's important to recognize that he very clearly and unambiguously condemned nazism & white supremacy.

      Could it be that his private opinion is the opposite of this public one? Sure. Could it be that he's an asshole even if that's not the case? Absolutely, but it still feels to me that it rather takes weight off your words when you call someone a nazi despite their very explicit speaking against such. I don't support him, but perhaps it'd be better to wait for something more concrete before calling him a Nazi, lest the word lose it's meaning.

      5 votes
  8. [4]
    Comment removed by site admin
    Link
    1. [3]
      Kuromantis
      Link Parent
      Huh. I've always wondered when culturally conservative minorities would break with the Democrats, although I largely assumed it would be whenever significant progress on racism is made and an end...

      Huh. I've always wondered when culturally conservative minorities would break with the Democrats, although I largely assumed it would be whenever significant progress on racism is made and an end might actually be reachable or whenever the Republicans take the L and let minorities vote peacefully rather than literally right now because the Democrats coopted a leftist slogan instead of making a moderate one themselves. I think this should be a wakeup call that the Democrats need to pass pro-electoral legislation to stem the coming exodus of conservative minorities with young people.

      I wonder if income plays a part in this.

      2 votes
      1. [3]
        Comment removed by site admin
        Link Parent
        1. [2]
          Kuromantis
          Link Parent
          I agree with college education being a divisor line politically, but given people without college education tend to often be poorer, I wonder how are these minorities who are already...

          While the article does not discuss income, it does reference educational attainment as being a significant polarization factor (which is typically a predictor of wealth). Basically the author argues that those with college degrees are more likely to vote Democrat than those without.

          I agree with college education being a divisor line politically, but given people without college education tend to often be poorer, I wonder how are these minorities who are already disproportionately poor accepting Republican economics.

          1 vote
          1. frostycakes
            (edited )
            Link Parent
            This article from the Times yesterday on the swing of Latino men towards the Republicans seems to hit the nail on the head: So something I'd never thought I'd see, a literal example of the...

            This article from the Times yesterday on the swing of Latino men towards the Republicans seems to hit the nail on the head:

            Sergio Arellano of Phoenix, Ariz., said he had a story he liked to tell about the moment he registered as a Republican. When he was an 18-year-old Army infantryman on home leave, he went to a July 4 event and spotted the voter registration table. He asked the woman sitting there: What’s the difference between Republicans and Democrats?

            Democrats, he recalled her saying, are for the poor. Republicans are for the rich.

            “Well that made it easy — I didn’t want to be poor, I wanted to be rich, so I chose Republican,” Mr. Arellano said. “Obviously she figured I would identify with the poor. There’s an assumption that you’re starting out in this country, you don’t have any money, you will identify with the poor. But what I wanted was to make my own money.”

            So something I'd never thought I'd see, a literal example of the "temporarily embarrassed millionaires" quote. I hate calling people stupid, but I have a hard time seeing this as anything but a stupid take on the situation. "Oh, I wanna be rich so I'll vote for the people who only care about them?" I love the "oh, paying rent is more important than fighting social injustice in their minds" quote from a Rep strategist in it too. Real rich, coming from the party that's making it materially harder for people who aren't wealthy to do so.

            I 100% agree with that sentiment, which is why I vote for the Dems, even though they're not that great on that front either. I'm not so stupid that I would let my frustrations with that take me to the party that's objectively worse on the front of my material conditions.

            I don't get this impulse of, "Oh, the Dems haven't been great on improving our lives, so let's go to the party that's been actively trying to make it even worse instead."

            3 votes