Mike Pence skiing holiday at height of pandemic cost taxpayers $757,000
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mike-pence-ski-holiday-covid-b1837488.html
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/26/fact-sheet-executive-order-establishing-the-white-house-task-force-on-worker-organizing-and-empowerment/
FACT SHEET: Executive Order Establishing the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment
April 26, 2021 • Statements and Releases
Today, President Biden will sign an Executive Order establishing the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment. The Task Force will be dedicated to mobilizing the federal government's policies, programs, and practices to empower workers to organize and successfully bargain with their employers. Chaired by Vice-President Kamala Harris and Vice-Chaired by Secretary Marty Walsh, the Task Force will include more than twenty cabinet members and heads of other federal agencies who will take a whole-of-government approach to empower workers.
Background
President Biden and Vice-President Harris have long championed workers' rights. As the President has said: America was built by the middle class, and unions built the middle class. Throughout our country's history, unions have been the driving forces for advancements in workers' rights and improved living standards for union and non-union workers. They have fought for higher wages, greater job security, safety and health laws, essential benefits like health insurance and retirement plans, and protections from discrimination and sexual harassment for millions of workers across the country. Sixteen million workers in the United States are union members or in a job that provides them union representation. More than six in ten of those workers are women and/or people of color. Union workers earn roughly 13% more than non-union workers on a similar job site. They also experience drastically lower rates of labor standards violations, like employers wage theft or workplace safety and health hazards.
https://www.epi.org/publication/how-todays-unions-help-working-people-giving-workers-the-power-to-improve-their-jobs-and-unrig-the-economy/
Despite the importance of unions to our economy and democracy, and nearly 60 million workers today saying they would join a union if given the chance, American workers have faced increasing barriers to organizing and bargaining collectively with their employers. Economic change in the United States and globally, technological developments, and the failure to modernize federal organizing and labor-management relations laws so they respond appropriately to the reality found in American workplaces have made worker organizing exceedingly difficult. The result has been a steady decline in union membership in the United States over past decades. In 2020, union members made up just 10.8% of the U.S. workforce, down from more than 30% in the 1950s.
https://iwer.mit.edu/2018/08/30/who-wants-to-join-a-union-a-growing-number-of-americans/
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm
The President's and Vice-President's Commitment
The President and Vice President believe that the decline of union membership is contributing to serious societal and economic problems in our country. Widespread and deep economic inequality, stagnant real wages, and the shrinking of America's middle class are all associated with the declining percentage of workers represented by unions. In addition, lower union membership rates have exacerbated the pay gap for women and workers of color. The decline of union density has also weakened our democracy. Unions ensure workers' voices are heard in their workplaces, communities, and government.
https://www.epi.org/publication/ib342-unions-inequality-faltering-middle-class/
https://www.epi.org/blog/unions-help-narrow-the-gender-wage-gap/
The Administration has already taken a number of steps to empower workers to organize. It has endorsed the Protecting the Rights to Organize (PRO) Act and other labor law reform bills, issued Executive Orders restoring collective bargaining in the federal sector, and rescued the hard-earned pensions for millions of Americans through the American Rescue Plan. There is still much more the federal government can do to empower workers. The Task Force is the next step in these efforts.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/09/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-the-house-taking-up-the-pro-act/
Putting the Policy of the U.S. Government into Action: Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment
Since 1935, when the National Labor Relations Act was enacted, the policy of the federal government has been to encourage worker organizing and collective bargaining, not to merely allow or tolerate them. In the 86 years since the Act was passed, the federal government has never fully implemented this policy. While some administrations have taken selected actions to strengthen workers' rights, no previous administration has taken a comprehensive approach to determining how the executive branch can advance worker organizing and collective bargaining.
That is why, today, the President is establishing the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment ("Task Force"). The mission of the Task Force will be to mobilize the federal government's policies, programs, and practices to empower workers to organize and successfully bargain with their employers. This mission includes looking for ways to increase worker power in areas of the country with restrictive labor laws, for marginalized workers including women and people of color, and for workers in industries that are difficult to organize and lack labor protections.
The President's Executive Order directs the Task Force to make a set of recommendations within 180 days addressing two key issues. First, how can existing policies, programs, and practices be used to promote worker organizing and collective bargaining in the federal government? And second, where are new policies needed to achieve the Task Force's mission and what are the associated regulatory and statutory changes needed?
Vice President Kamala Harris will serve as the Task Force's Chair and Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh will serve as the Vice-Chair. The Task Force will be comprised of more than twenty cabinet members and heads of other federal agencies that have powerful levers to help the Task Force carry out its mission. The Task Force will engage with a diverse set of leaders in the labor movement, academia, advocacy groups, and beyond to seek ideas for potential federal action and feedback on initiatives under consideration.
The Task Force will be a historic effort to put the federal government's policy of encouraging worker organizing and collective bargaining into action. The Task Force will endeavor to achieve the following four goals:
1. Lead by example by ensuring that the federal government is a model employer with respect to encouraging worker organizing and collective bargaining among its workforce.
2. Facilitate worker organizing across the country by taking an all-of-government approach to mobilize the federal government's policies, programs, and practices to provide workers the opportunity to organize and bargain collectively.
3.Increase worker power in underserved communities by examining and seeking to address the particular challenges to worker organizing in jurisdictions with restrictive labor laws; the added challenges that marginalized workers in many communities encounter, including women and people of color; and the heightened barriers to organizing workers in certain industries.
4. Increase union membership across the United States to grow a more inclusive middle class and provide workers the opportunity to come together for the purpose of mutual advancement, the dignity of worker and workers, respect, and the fair compensation they deserve.
Appendix: List of Task Force Members
Vice President Kamala Harris, serving as the Chair of the Task Force
Secretary of Labor, Marty Walsh, serving as the Vice-Chair of the Task Force
Secretary of Treasury, Janet Yellen
Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin
Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland
Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack
Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo
Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Marcia Fudge
Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg
Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm
Secretary of Education, Dr. Miguel Cardona
Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Denis McDonough
Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas
The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Michael Regan
The Acting Administrator of General Services, Katy Kale
The Administrator of the Small Business Administration, Isabel Guzman
The United States Trade Representative, Katherine Tai
The Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Shalanda Young
The Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management, Kathleen McGettigan
The Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Dr. Cecilia Rouse
The Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Susan Rice
The Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the National Economic Council, Brian Deese
The Assistant to the President for Climate Policy and National Climate Advisor, Gina McCarthy
###
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Census releases House apportionment for next decade, Republican win big time. Under the 2020 presidential election results, President Joe Biden would have lost 6 electoral votes to former President Donald Trump, for a tally of 300-238. The closest state to missing a cutoff was New York, which narrowly lost a seat to Minnesota by 89 people, the narrowest margin in nearly a century. Other surprises include Rhode Island keeping its second seat, and both Florida and Texas missing the mark for a second and third additional seat respectively. The results today will only provide allocations for the states. More specific data for redistricting will be provided by the Census later this year so that states can begin the process of redrawing their lines. The results today will only provide allocations for the states. More specific data for redistricting will be provided by the Census later this year so that states can begin the process of redrawing their lines.
https://politico.com/news/2021/04/26/census-house-apportionment-for-next-decade-484653
https://dailykos.com/stories/2020/11/5/1992656/-The-2020-elections-were-a-disaster-for-a-decade-of-redistricting-further-securing-GOP-minority-rule
https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/data/apportionment/population-change-data-table.pdf
https://www.c-span.org/video/?511255-1/census-bureau-holds-news-conference-2020-count
Pfizer is testing a pill that, if successful, could become first-ever home cure for COVID-19
https://montrealgazette.com/news/world/pfizer-is-testing-a-pill-that-if-successful-could-become-first-ever-home-cure-for-covid-19
Executive Order on Worker Organizing and Empowerment
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/26/executive-order-on-worker-organizing-and-empowerment/
Rockets star guard John Wall will be sidelined for the remainder of the season due to a hamstring tweak. Wall being shut down also gives Houston opportunity to tinker with lineups for final 11 games of season.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/26/fact-sheet-urgent-relief-to-central-america/
FACT SHEET: Urgent Relief to Central America
April 26, 2021 • Statements and Releases
In light of the dire situation and acute suffering faced by millions of people in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, Vice President Harris announced an additional $310 million in U.S. government support for humanitarian relief and to address food insecurity.
Humanitarian Relief ($255M)
USAID will provide $125M to mitigate the impact of recurrent drought, food shortages, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. These funds will provide emergency food assistance, improve livelihoods, and provide protection for the most vulnerable persons.
The U.S. Department of State will provide $104M to meet the immediate safety and protection needs of refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, and other vulnerable populations in the region.
The U.S. Department of Defense will provide $26M to increase its partnership activities in the region to provide essential health, education, and disaster relief services to the people of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
Assistance to Address Food Insecurity ($55M)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide $25M to strengthen the Guatemalan agricultural sector and facilitate access to financing that will enable farmers to rebuild their livelihoods at home in Guatemala.
In Guatemala and Honduras, USDA will provide $30M to immediately expand access to daily meals and literacy activities to school children.
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Republicans in Florida, the state where the company is headquartered and the state synonymous with recounts and close elections for two decades, have never heard of the firm conducting the Arizona vote audit.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/26/republicans-arizona-vote-audit-florida-484737
Democratic elections lawyer Marc Elias says his group has filed lawsuits in Minnesota, Louisiana and Pennsylvania to "ensure fair and equal congressional redistricting."
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1387013660560674819
Sighhhh (this is career ending....): Eric Thames was seriously injured in the right Achilles tendon rupture in his debut
https://twitter.com/nikkan_giants/status/1387036369348747270
Sixers veteran Dwight Howard believes NBA officials are targeting him: "I want to win. I came from old school basketball so I like to talk trash. I like to hit people. I like to push people's hands down. It's not like I'm doing it to be malicious, but it's how I play. It's Philly basketball."
https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/2021/04/26/sixers-veteran-dwight-howard-believes-nba-officials-are-targeting-him/
Free agent F Moe Wagner is signing a deal with the Orlando Magic for the rest of the season. Wagner has played with Washington and Boston this season.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1387040900279201796?s=20
Kevin "I'm all out of" Love slaps the ball on the ground for the inbound, leading to a Raptors three. He wanted the ref to check up lmao. Since when do the refs pass to the inbounder from half court. Imagine if Love instead went to catch a wild pass from the ref, but flubbed it a little and the ball landed in? Is it live? The referee's bad throw gives the other team the win? The person out of bounds has to have possession of the ball before he/she could inbound. Love delayed the game, he did not inbound the ball.
https://streamable.com/9w1o1a
Context of the Kevin Love video currently making the rounds:
• Love hurts his knee with ~2 minutes remaining in the quarter
• Love frustrated with refs shortly after that he got pushed in the back and there was no call
• Love hustled back the next defensive possession
https://twitter.com/i/status/1386882893306372099
CP3 hits an insane circus shot late in the 4th to put the Suns up 5
https://streamable.com/m8tgzx
https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1386882893306372099
Gobert Leaves Russell wide open for the lay up to take the lead with 4 seconds left
https://streamable.com/6ljn6v
DeMarcus Cousins on why he says he's surprised that he's getting double teamed in the post: "I gotta be the first person in the history of the NBA to be a 3rd string big on a 10 day getting double teamed. I don't think that's ever happened before. It's pretty funny to me."
https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1386881492702228482
DeMarcus Cousins the first dude to get a 10 day the same season he started and dropped 28/5/17
DeMarcus almost wona title with Golden State, won one the next year with the LA Lakers, and now is with the LA Clippers
Bol Bol throws it down
https://streamable.com/ml1u9m
Andy Slavitt announces they will start holding Covid-19 briefings twice a week instead of three times a week as they have done since President Biden took office. "As we enter the next phase of our Covid-19 response, transparency with you is vital," Slavitt says.
https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1387079620424572928
CDC says fully vaccinated Americans don't need masks when walking, jogging, biking, or dining outdoors. Unvaccinated individuals can also shirk masks for these activities when doing them with household members.
https://twitter.com/WakeUp2Politics/status/1387079492598857730
Biden Administration Pushes 80% Clean Electricity Standard by 2030
https://www.ecowatch.com/biden-clean-energy-standard-2652793845.html
How to Watch the Livestream of President Biden's Address to the Joint Session of Congress
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/blog/2021/04/27/how-to-watch-the-livestream-of-president-bidens-address-to-the-joint-session-of-congress/
Kristaps Porzingis (ankle) and Josh Richardson (hamstring) are doubtful vs. Warriors tonight. It'd be the third straight game missed for the two Mavs starters. The rest of the regular starters and JJ Redick are all listed as questionable.
https://twitter.com/espn_macmahon/status/1387072171462307840
Good: Pres. Biden has nominated Harris County (TX) Sheriff Ed Gonzalez to lead ICE. Gonzalez made news back in 2017 when he had his agency stop cooperating with ICE through the controversial 287(g) program. He is a Democrat who just won reelection in November.
https://twitter.com/MLevineReports/status/1387125941911097349
Biden at 100 days:
- 11 bills signed into law;
- 42 executive orders;
- 62 reversed orders;
- 53% job approval;
- 6% unemployment;
- 140 million Americans vaccinated for Covid-19;
- 11 Judicial nominations;
- 589 Tweets
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/27/988822340/bidens-1st-100-days-a-look-by-the-numbers
Kicked off Twitter and YouTube after a clampdown on misinfo and hate speech, far-right influencers & QAnon members have congregated on Twitch, where they are making thousands of $$ broadcasting election and vaccine conspiracy theories.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/27/technology/twitch-livestream-extremists.html
Democrats, Sanders Demand Biden Release Secret Covid Vaccine Contracts Inked Under Trump. "The Trump administration gave Big Pharma billions but refused to disclose full terms of these deals."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/04/27/democrats-sanders-demand-biden-release-secret-covid-vaccine-contracts-inked-under
Biden will seek $80 billion for the IRS to use clawing back $780 billion in extra tax from the rich, report says
https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-wants-80b-for-irs-to-claim-780b-more-tax-from-rich-nyt-2021-4
Wayne LaPierre's botched elephant "hunt", the elephant suffered horrifically, his wife literally tore the elephant's limbs off, the LaPierre's need to be ripped apart alive limb-by-limb: after his guides brought him to the animal, he shot it four times -- three from point-blank range -- but was unable to kill it. No matter how much you may hate these people, it's never enough.
https://newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-secret-footage-of-nra-chief-wayne-lapierres-botched-elephant-hunt
Locking chickens and pigs in cramped cages is so cruel that it's considered criminal animal cruelty in several states. Yet, that's how @IHOP's bacon and eggs are made.
TAKE ACTION: https://hsus.link/eameip
https://twitter.com/HumaneSociety/status/1384575178403946497
Texas Set To Refuse Medicaid Expansion Again, Despite Highest Uninsured Rate In The Country
https://www.kut.org/politics/2021-04-26/texas-set-to-refuse-medicaid-expansion-again-despite-highest-uninsured-rate-in-the-country
Celebrate the cicadas, don't listen to the cic-haters
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https://www.vox.com/22338417/james-carville-democratic-party-biden-100-days
"Wokeness is a problem and we all know it"
James Carville on the state of Democratic politics.
By Sean Illing@seanillingsean.illing@vox.com Apr 27, 2021, 8:30am EDT
I called James Carville hoping to get his thoughts on President Joe Biden's first 100 days in office.
He obliged — then, one question in, brushed aside the exercise to talk instead about why the Democrats might be poised to squander their political advantage against a damaged GOP.
His failure to cooperate may have been for the best since the first 100 days ritual can sometimes lead to dull, dutiful analysis. What Carville offered up instead was a blunt critique of his own party even after a successful 2020 election cycle — a sequel of sorts to his fulminations during last year's Democratic primaries. The longtime Democratic strategist is mostly pleased with Biden, but it's where much of the party seems to be going that has him worried.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/7/21123518/trump-2020-election-democratic-party-james-carville
"Wokeness is a problem," he told me, "and we all know it." According to Carville, Democrats are in power for now, but they also only narrowly defeated Donald Trump, "a world-historical buffoon," and they lost congressional seats and failed to pick up state legislatures. The reason is simple: They've got a "messaging problem."
A lightly edited transcript of our conversation follows.
Sean Illing
What do you make of Biden's first 100 days?
James Carville
Honestly, if we're just talking about Biden, it's very difficult to find something to complain about. And to me his biggest attribute is that he's not into "faculty lounge" politics.
Sean Illing
"Faculty lounge" politics?
James Carville
You ever get the sense that people in faculty lounges in fancy colleges use a different language than ordinary people? They come up with a word like "Latinx" that no one else uses. Or they use a phrase like "communities of color." I don't know anyone who speaks like that. I don't know anyone who lives in a "community of color." I know lots of white and Black and brown people and they all live in ... neighborhoods.
There's nothing inherently wrong with these phrases. But this is not how people talk. This is not how voters talk. And doing it anyway is a signal that you're talking one language and the people you want to vote for you are speaking another language. This stuff is harmless in one sense, but in another sense it's not.
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/10/15/20914347/latin-latina-latino-latinx-means
Sean Illing
Is the problem the language or the fact that there are lots of voters who just don't want to hear about race and racial injustice?
James Carville
We have to talk about race. We should talk about racial injustice. What I'm saying is, we need to do it without using jargon-y language that's unrecognizable to most people — including most Black people, by the way — because it signals that you're trying to talk around them. This "too cool for school" shit doesn't work, and we have to stop it.
There may be a group within the Democratic Party that likes this, but it ain't the majority. And beyond that, if Democrats want power, they have to win in a country where 18 percent of the population controls 52 percent of the Senate seats. That's a fact. That's not changing. That's what this whole damn thing is about.
Sean Illing
Sounds like you got a problem with "wokeness," James.
https://www.vox.com/2019/3/22/18259865/great-awokening-white-liberals-race-polling-trump-2020
James Carville
Wokeness is a problem and everyone knows it. It's hard to talk to anybody today — and I talk to lots of people in the Democratic Party — who doesn't say this. But they don't want to say it out loud.
Sean Illing
Why not?
James Carville
Because they'll get clobbered or canceled. And look, part of the problem is that lots of Democrats will say that we have to listen to everybody and we have to include every perspective, or that we don't have to run a ruthless messaging campaign. Well, you kinda do. It really matters.
I always tell people that we've got to stop speaking Hebrew and start speaking Yiddish. We have to speak the way regular people speak, the way voters speak. It ain't complicated. That's how you connect and persuade. And we have to stop allowing ourselves to be defined from the outside.
Sean Illing
What does that mean?
James Carville
Take someone like Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She's obviously very bright. She knows how to draw a headline. In my opinion, some of her political aspirations are impractical and probably not going to happen. But that's probably the worst thing that you can say about her.
Now take someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene, the new Republican congresswoman from Georgia. She's absolutely loonier than a tune. We all know it. And yet, for some reason, the Democrats pay a bigger political price for AOC than Republicans pay for Greene. That's the problem in a nutshell. And it's ridiculous because AOC and Greene are not comparable in any way.
https://www.vox.com/2020/8/21/21395848/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-future-of-left-aoc-bernie-dsa-working-families-party
https://www.vox.com/22372051/marjorie-taylor-greene-campaign-donations-republican-primary-midterms
Sean Illing
I hear versions of this argument about language and perception all the time, James. It's an old problem. What's the solution?
James Carville
That's why I'm doing this interview. Lots of smart people are going to read it, and hopefully they can figure out that which I can't. But if you're asking me, I think it's because large parts of the country view us as an urban, coastal, arrogant party, and a lot gets passed through that filter. That's a real thing. I don't give a damn what anyone thinks about it — it's a real phenomenon, and it's damaging to the party brand.
Sean Illing
Part of the issue is that Republicans are going to paint the Dems as cop-hating, fetus-destroying Stalinists no matter what they say or do. So, yeah, I agree that Democrats should be smart and not say dumb, alienating things, but I'm also not sure how much control they have over how they're perceived by half the country, especially when that half lives in an alternate media reality.
James Carville
Right, but we can't say, "Republicans are going to call us socialists no matter what, so let's just run as out-and-out socialists." That's not the smartest thing to do. And maybe tweeting that we should abolish the police isn't the smartest thing to do because almost fucking no one wants to do that.
Here's the deal: No matter how you look at the map, the only way Democrats can hold power is to build on their coalition, and that will have to include more rural white voters from across the country. Democrats are never going to win a majority of these voters. That's the reality. But the difference between getting beat 80 to 20 and 72 to 28 is all the difference in the world.
https://twitter.com/rashidatlaib/status/1381745303997534216
https://news.gallup.com/poll/315962/americans-say-policing-needs-major-changes.aspx
So they just have to lose by less — that's all.
Sean Illing
So what do you want the Democrats to do differently besides not having people peddle politically toxic ideas like abolishing the police? How do they change the conversation so that Republicans aren't defining them by their least popular expressions?
You're a strategist, James. I want to know what you'd advise them to do. You don't have any complaints about Biden because he's getting stuff done. He's putting money in people's pockets. But the Democratic Party is a big coalition and you're always going to have people promoting unpopular ideas, right? Whereas the Republican Party is more homogenous, and that lends itself to a tighter, more controlled message.
James Carville
Tell me this: How is it we have all this talk about Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and we don't talk about Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican speaker of the House in Congress? If Hastert was a Democrat who we knew had a history of molesting kids and was actually sent to prison in 2016, he'd still be on Fox News every fucking night. The Republicans would never shut the hell up about it.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/7/7/17542878/jim-jordan-richard-strauss-ohio
https://www.vox.com/22367933/matt-gaetz-investigation-child-sex-trafficking
https://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11520156/dennis-hastert-child-molestation-explained
So when Jim Jordan was pulling all these stunts with Anthony Fauci [Fauci was speaking at a congressional hearing about ending coronavirus precautions], why didn't someone jump in and say, "Let me tell you something, Jim, if Fauci knew what you knew, if he knew that a doctor was molesting young people, he would've gone to the medical board yesterday. So you can go ahead and shut the fuck up." [Ed. note: Jordan denies knowing about the allegations of abuse when he was an assistant coach at Ohio State University.] I love that Congresswoman Maxine Waters told Jordan to "shut your mouth," but that's what I really wish a Democrat would say, and I wish they'd keep saying it over and over again.
https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/04/15/jim-jordan-dr-anthony-fauci-heated-exchange-hearing-vpx.cnn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSxGV3ntXUA
Can I step back for a second and give you an example of the broader problem?
Sean Illing
Sure.
James Carville
Look at Florida. You now have Democrats saying Florida is a lost cause. Really? In 2018 in Florida, giving felons the right to vote got 64 percent. In 2020, a $15 minimum wage, which we have no chance of passing [federally], got 67 percent. Has anyone in the Democratic Party said maybe there's nothing wrong with the state of Florida? Maybe the problem is the kind of campaigns we're running?
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/07/665031366/over-a-million-florida-ex-felons-win-right-to-vote-with-amendment-4
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/15/florida-polls-most-voters-support-15-minimum-wage-ballot-measure.html
If you gave me an environment in which the majority of voters wanted to expand the franchise to felons and raise the minimum wage, I should be able to win that. It's certainly not a political environment I'm destined to lose in. But in Miami-Dade, all they talked about was defunding the police and Kamala Harris being the most liberal senator in the US Senate. And if you look all across the Rio Grande Valley, we lost all kinds of solidly blue voters. And the faculty lounge bullshit is a big part of it.
https://www.vox.com/21549000/texas-election-results-trump-biden-hispanic-vote
Sean Illing
If you're a Democrat, you could look at the state of play and say, "We're winning. We won the White House. We won Congress. We have power. It ain't perfect, but it ain't a disaster either."
James Carville
We won the White House against a world-historical buffoon. And we came within 42,000 votes of losing. We lost congressional seats. We didn't pick up state legislatures. So let's not have an argument about whether or not we're off-key in our messaging. We are. And we're off because there's too much jargon and there's too much esoterica and it turns people off.
Sean Illing
Not to beat a dead horse, but Democrats and Republicans are dealing with very different constituencies. Democrats have a big tent, they have to win different kinds of voters and that means making different kinds of appeals. Republicans can get away with shit that Democrats cannot.
James Carville
Yeah, that's a problem. We can only do what we can do. People always say to me, "Why don't Democrats just lie like Republicans?" Because if they did, our voters wouldn't stand for it. But I'm not saying we need to lie like they do. I'm saying, why not go after Gaetz and Jordan and link them to Hastert and the Republican Party over and over and over again? We have to take these small opportunities to define ourselves and the other side every damn time. And we don't do it. We just don't do it.
Sean Illing
Republicans aren't just more comfortable lying, they're more comfortable with slogans and sound bites, and that's partly why they're more effective at defining themselves and the Democrats.
James Carville
Let me give you my favorite example of metropolitan, overeducated arrogance. Take the climate problem. Do you realize that climate is the only major social or political movement that I can think of that refuses to use emotion? Where's the identifiable song? Where's the bumper sticker? Where's the slogan? Where's the flag? Where's the logo?
We don't have it because with faculty politics what you do is appeal to reason. You don't need the sloganeering and sound bites. That's for simple people. All you need are those timetables and temperature charts, and from that, everyone will just get it.
That's not how the world works; that's not how people work. And Republicans are way more disciplined about taking a thing and branding it. Elites will roll their eyes at that, but I'd ask, "How's that working out for you?" Most people agree with us on health care and minimum wage and Roe v. Wade and even on the climate.
So why can't we leverage that?
Sean Illing
What would you have Biden do to counter some of these messaging problems?
James Carville
I'd have him pick up a phone. I'd have someone in the White House pick up the phone. And when someone in the party starts this jargon shit, I'd call them and say, "We're only a vote away. Our approval rating is 60 percent. We got a chance to pick up seats in 2022, and if you did this, it would be very helpful to us."
Sean Illing
Are you sure those calls aren't happening already?
James Carville
Maybe they are, but they need to be more effective. And we need more of them.
Sean Illing
There's a philosophy on the left right now, which says the Democrats should pass everything they possibly can, no matter the costs, and trust that the voters will reward them on the back end.
Where do you land on that?
James Carville
First of all, the Democratic Party can't be more liberal than Sen. Joe Manchin. That's the fact. We don't have the votes. But I'll say this, two of the most consequential political events in recent memory happened on the same day in January: the insurrection at the US Capitol and the Democrats winning those two seats in Georgia. Can't overstate that.
https://www.vox.com/2021/3/17/22336181/joe-manchin-filibuster-reform-41-votes-talking-jeff-merkley-senate-rules
But the Democrats can't fuck it up. They have to make the Republicans own that insurrection every day. They have to pound it. They have to call bookers on cable news shows. They have to get people to write op-eds. There will be all kinds of investigations and stories dripping out for G-d knows how long, and the Democrats should spend every day tying all of it to the Republican Party. They can't sit back and wait for it to happen.
Hell, just imagine if it was a bunch of nonwhite people who stormed the Capitol. Imagine how Republicans would exploit that and make every news cycle about how the Dems are responsible for it. Every political debate would be about that. The Republicans would bludgeon the Democrats with it forever.
So whatever you think Republicans would do to us in that scenario, that's exactly what the hell we need to do them.
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Yikes MLB Commission, YOU MADE THE 7 INNING RULE FFS: For now Madison Bumgarner's 7-inning no-hitter will be listed in the record books under "notable achievements," not no-hitters
https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1387174820908085252
Yankees have traded Mike Tauchman to the SF Giants for Wandy Peralta, a lefty reliever
http://twitter.com/JackCurryYES/status/1387172254681808899
Drought-hit California moves to halt Nestlé from taking millions of gallons of water. Nestlé, accused of taking millions more gallons than it is entitled to, receives draft cease-and-desist order from state officials
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/27/california-nestle-water-san-bernardino-forest-drought
Good: Biden to Omit Estate-Tax Expansion From Coming Economic Plan | The estates of just 1,900 of the people who died in 2020 are liable for the estate tax -- less than 0.1% of those who passed away -- according to estimates from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy center.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-27/biden-to-omit-estate-tax-expansion-from-coming-economic-package
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/27/a-proclamation-on-workers-memorial-day-2021/
A Proclamation on Workers Memorial Day, 2021
April 27, 2021 • Presidential Actions
America's workers are the backbone of our economy. In every State, territory, and Tribal land, they leave their homes and families and head to work — applying their grit and skill to create, serve, and service all those things that make our world turn. Even during our Nation's most difficult periods, American workers have always persevered, ensuring that our communities remain resilient and that our Nation stands ready to confront the unforeseen challenges of each new generation. Though workers make tremendous sacrifices — especially essential workers who selflessly serve their communities during times of crisis — none of them should have to risk injury, illness, or death in order to provide for themselves and their families. Tragically, thousands of workers are killed and millions more are hurt or fall ill every year in the workplace — incidents that are often preventable. On the 50th anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, we reflect on the workers who have tragically lost their lives or have been harmed in the workplace, and we reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that every American worker has a safe and healthy work environment.
Over the past century, labor unions have fought hard — very often successfully — to draw attention to unsafe workplace environments and organize for safer work conditions and protections from the Federal Government. In 1935, the National Labor Relations Act codified private-sector workers' right to organize, collectively bargain, and strike. Decades later, the passage of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act in 1969 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970 enshrined a promise that the wanton indifference to workers' lives — the days of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the Farmington Mine explosion — would no longer be tolerated. Establishing and enforcing Federal workplace safety and health standards has undoubtedly saved lives.
Despite the progress we have made cementing workplace protections into law, many workers still fear retaliation and retribution from management when they are asked to perform unsafe tasks or work in unsanitary conditions. This fear forces many workers to remain silent, putting their lives and the lives of their colleagues at risk. Alone, a single worker is often at the mercy of their boss, with little chance of rectifying an unsafe working environment created by employers who cut corners in the name of profit. United, and protected by law from intimidation and coercion from their employers, workers can collectively demand improved working conditions.
In an economic system that puts too much power in the hands of wealthy corporations and Wall Street, unions give workers a way to band together, wield their full power, and stand on equal footing with management. Unions not only protect the physical wellbeing of workers, but they also protect their financial security; they protect workers' equity, too, helping ensure that workplaces are free from harassment and discrimination. Over the past half century, we have seen the percentage of American workers represented by unions decline dramatically. It is no surprise that during this same period, the average incomes of the bottom 90 percent of households in America have only risen by about 1 percent. The decades-long assault we've seen on union organizing is a direct assault on the health and incomes of American workers.
My Administration is committed to protecting the lives, rights, and livelihoods of workers and reducing workplace accidents, injuries, and fatalities. That is why I strongly encourage the Congress to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act of 2021 — and why I included the PRO Act as part of my American Jobs Plan. The decision to form a union should belong to workers alone — free from coercion, interference, or intimidation — and this important legislation would empower workers to exercise their right to organize, hold management accountable for violating the rights of their workers, and promote union elections that are free from interference from employers.
It is clear that we have not completely fulfilled our obligation to protect our Nation's workers. We must always remain vigilant against the notion that worker endangerment is simply a necessary cost of doing business. And we must always protect the right of workers to unite and bargain for their own mutual aid or protection.
Today, we mourn each treasured life taken away on the job. Those stricken by disease and fatal injuries as they keep America running deserve a dedicated day of grateful prayer and remembrance from the living. Workers Memorial Day impels us to work for a future where no one should have to risk their life for a paycheck. When our Nation fully recovers from the challenges we face today, it will be in large part because of the sacrifice and perseverance of our workers. We commit to holding close their memory and investing in the health and safety of the colleagues they have left behind.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 28, 2021, as Workers Memorial Day. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate service, community, and education programs and ceremonies in memory of those killed or injured due to unsafe working conditions.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day of April, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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Secretary Mayorkas Announces Domestic Violent Extremism Review at DHS | "Domestic violent extremism poses the most lethal and persistent terrorism-related threat to our country today," said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. "As we work to safeguard our Nation, we must be vigilant in our efforts to identify and combat domestic violent extremism within both the broader community and our own organization. Hateful acts and violent extremism will not be tolerated within our Department." |
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/04/26/secretary-mayorkas-announces-domestic-violent-extremism-review-dhs
https://www.dhs.gov/ntas/advisory/national-terrorism-advisory-system-bulletin-january-27-2021
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/02/25/dhs-announces-funding-opportunity-187-billion-preparedness-grants
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/27/fact-sheet-biden-administration-advances-expansion-modernization-of-the-electric-grid/
FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Advances Expansion & Modernization of the Electric Grid
April 27, 2021 • Statements and Releases
Departments of Energy and Transportation Announce New Actions to Upgrade America's Power Infrastructure — Creating Jobs, Increasing Reliability, and Combating Climate Change
Today, the White House is making announcements that underscore the Administration's commitment to accelerating the needed expansion and modernization of America's power infrastructure to build a more reliable electric grid, create good-paying, union jobs, and deliver clean American energy to American businesses and homeowners. In particular, the Department of Energy is announcing new financial tools to help build high-voltage electric transmission lines, and the Department of Transportation is issuing new guidance that will enable the use of existing rights-of-way to facilitate the siting of transmission lines. An independent analysis, also released today, confirms the importance of investing in our electricity grid. It identifies more than 20 major transmission projects that are poised to move forward, potentially creating more than 600,000 new transmission-related jobs, and an additional 640,000 jobs from new clean energy generation projects enabled by the new transmission lines.
The announcements reflect the Administration's ongoing commitment to building a more sustainable and resilient future while tackling the climate crisis and creating jobs. As National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy noted: "After the Texas transmission debacle this winter, no one can doubt the need to invest in our electric grid. The steps that the Departments of Energy and Transportation are taking today, when combined with the grid investments outlined in the American Jobs Plan, will turbocharge the building of major new electricity transmission lines that will generate new jobs and power our economy for years to come."
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/
ENHANCING AMERICA'S GRID NETWORK AND UNLOCKING OUR NATION'S CLEAN ENERGY RESOURCES
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is announcing the availability of two critical financing tools that can facilitate the construction of high-voltage transmission lines to enhance the reach, reliability, and resilience of our electricity and unlock more of our nation's clean energy resources.
- The Western Area Power Administration Transmission Infrastructure Program's $3.25 billion fund is open for business and accepting applications that applicants can leverage for project development support and access to low-cost capital for transmission projects that will unlock renewable energy in the West.
- DOE's Loan Programs Office is seeking applications for up to $5 billion in loan guarantees to support innovative transmission projects along with transmission projects owned by federally recognized tribal nations or Alaska Native Corporations. This includes high-voltage direct current (HVDC) systems, transmission to connect offshore wind, and facilities sited along rail and highway routes.
"DOE is making financing available for projects that improve resilience and expand transmission capacity across the electrical grid, so we can reliably move clean energy from places where it's produced to places where it's needed most," said Energy Secretary Granholm. "This is a down payment on our efforts to modernize our transmission nationwide—but we need the American Jobs Plan to complete them. These investments will make our power system more resilient against threats and more reliable as we increase our clean energy capacity, creating thousands of jobs in the process."
LEVERAGING TRANSPORTATION TO CREATE REVENUE, LOWER COSTS, AND SUPPORT LOCAL ECONOMIES
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is announcing the Department of Transportation's commitment to facilitate the use of public highways and other transportation rights-of-way to speed the siting and permitting of transmission lines. To advance this new opportunity, the Department of Transportation is issuing guidance that will help State DOTs host transmission lines, build renewable energy projects, deploy broadband, and support electric vehicle charging along highway rights-of-way. In addition to accelerating the expansion and modernization of the electric grid and other important services, leveraging these public lands adjacent to our transportation systems can create revenue opportunities that will lower state costs, reduce transportation maintenance expenses, cut greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions, promote energy security and diversity, and foster the creation of good-paying local jobs.
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/real_estate/right-of-way/corridor_management/alternative_uses_guidance.cfm
"This announcement reflects the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to use resources across the government to combat climate change," said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "Our new guidance will help states use their rights-of-way to expand clean energy, lower costs, and create good-paying jobs in their communities. Today's actions can provide a model for our private partners, like railroads, to do the same."
STAKEHOLDER REACTIONS
INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS ON BUILDING TRANSMISSION LINES AND CREATING JOBS
Today, independent analysts, the Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, issued a report entitled: "Transmission Projects Ready to Go: Plugging into America's Untapped Renewable Resources." The report estimates that with financing and siting tools such as those advanced by the American Jobs Plan, more than 20 transmission projects are positioned to move from an advanced planning stage into construction, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and potentially unlocking around 60,000 megawatts of new clean energy capacity in the U.S.
https://cleanenergygrid.org/transmission-time-transmission-projects-ready-to-go/
- The "Ready to Go" report estimates that advancing the 22 high-voltage transmission projects identified in the report would trigger $33 billion in investment and create around 600,000 new jobs, including 240,000 direct jobs plus 38,000 indirect and induced jobs. The wind and solar deployment enabled by this investment could create an additional 640,000 jobs, bringing the total job creation benefit to around 1,240,000 jobs.
BROAD STAKEHOLDER COALITION BACKS INVESTMENT IN AMERICA'S GRID
A broad group of states, companies and advocates also announced today the formation of a Grid Investments Advisory Council that is backing the expansion and modernization of the grid, with a special focus on the large-scale deployment of smart grid technologies that will increase capacity while building flexibility and resilience into our national grid. Chaired by the President of the New York Power Authority, the Advisory Council includes leaders from the private and public sectors, drawn from all part of the country and representing the electric utility industry, environmental groups, vendors, labor unions and other key stakeholders.
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US Navy fired warning shots at Iranian vessels Monday evening
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/550567-us-navy-fired-warning-shots-at-iranian-vessels-monday-evening
Hello retirement. Goodbye baseball.
https://twitter.com/jerryblevins/status/1387183305154514953
Pfizer's experimental oral drug to treat Covid-19 at the first sign of illness could be available by the end of the year, CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC | The drug is part of a class of medicines called protease inhibitors and works by inhibiting an enzyme that the virus needs to replicate in human cells. | Protease inhibitors are used to treat other viral pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis C.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/27/pfizer-at-home-covid-pill-could-be-available-by-year-end-ceo-albert-bourla-says.html
Given how much was written about a relatively modest increase in COVID cases in the US a month or so ago, there should probably be more coverage of the ~20% decline over the past two weeks, which reflects the power of the vaccines among other things.
https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/united-states
Joe Biden is finalizing his first slate of political ambassadors. Some of the delay in announcing ambassadors lies in sensitivity to naming candidates other than the coterie of well-connected white people, most of them men, who have been the mainstay of Biden's political circle. Here are some of the expected appointments:
-David Cohen: Canada
-Denise Bauer: France
-Tom Nides: Israel
-Michael Adler: Belgium
-Rahm Emanuel: Japan
-Mark Gitenstein: European Union
-Julie Smith: NATO
-Cindy McCain: UN Food Programme
-Ken Salazar: Mexico
-Chris Dodd and Jeff Flake also expected to get postings during Biden tenure
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-donors-friends-and-former-aides-expected-on-first-slate-of-high-profile-ambassadors/2021/04/27/4810d3c2-a6c8-11eb-8d25-7b30e74923ea_story.html
All Timberwolves players (other than Malik Beasley) are active to play in tonight's second game of a back-to-back. No rest shenanigans from the Wolves against a tanking Rockets team, who just shut down John Wall for the season and only had 8 active players in their last game.
https://twitter.com/DaneMooreNBA/status/1387102024685166595
Beyond Meat just unveiled the third iteration of their plant-based meat product, it's cheaper for consumers, has better nutritional profile, and meatier than ever.
https://www.cnet.com/health/new-beyond-burger-3-0-debuts-as-questions-arise-about-alt-meat-research/
U.S. farm subsidies disproportionately favor animal feed, beef, dairy, and pork production. There's no need for meat-eaters to hyperventilate over imaginary meat bans when we can lobby the USDA to simply level the playing field in subsidies, and help farmers transition to growing eco-friendly crops.
https://i.redd.it/bj23lrw4psv61.png
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs says the Republican election audit is a "farce" that should end. "A group of Republicans are continuing to try to appease their base who refuse to accept that ... Trump lost Arizona and that he's not the president anymore." | After hearing from Arizonans troubled by the endeavor, Hobbs said, her office has been working "with a lawsuit that's been filed to try to address the security's concerns at a minimum, but at this point, this seems like such a farce that it would be a good idea to stop it." The review, which is being overseen by a company whose chief executive supported former Trump and shared election conspiracy theories in since-deleted tweets, will be broadcast live by the right-wing One American News Network.The audit's Republican organizers have been cagey about who will do the ballot counting and whether the teams will be bipartisan. They have ignored requests from election integrity groups to allow nonpartisan election administration experts to observe the process. And journalists who want to report on the endeavor are allowed to do so only if they agree to participate as election observers, and will be barred from taking notes or video.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/26/politics/arizona-secretary-of-state-gop-election-audit-cnntv/index.html
NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had assaulted several women. Today he admitted to slapping and other unwanted contact and will have his law license suspended for a year. Decision below, original story here: https://newyorker.com/news/news-desk/four-women-accuse-new-yorks-attorney-general-of-physical-abuse
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the US withdrawing military from Afghanistan: "We are not disengaging from Afghanistan. We're remaining deeply engaged in the diplomacy... development, economic assistance, humanitarian assistance, support for the security forces."
https://twitter.com/i/status/1387159721317122051
Sunday's Academy Awards came after nearly 14 months in which most people haven't gone to a movie theater. But only one star at the scaled down ceremony at a Los Angeles train station mentioned the industry's biggest challenge. "Please watch our movie on the largest screen possible," Frances McDormand said after "Nomadland" won best picture, "and one day soon take everyone you know into a theater, shoulder-to-shoulder in that dark space, and watch every film that is represented here tonight." This is a make-or-break moment for movie theaters. Box office receipts plummeted 72% world-wide and 80% in the U.S. last year, according to the Motion Picture Association trade group. AMC Entertainment Inc., the world's biggest theater chain, almost went bankrupt. And many small theaters without AMC's resources have teetered on the edge of survival or shut down entirely, including Los Angeles' beloved ArcLight Cinemas. As theaters re-open this year nobody is sure whether audiences will go as frequently as they did a year-and-a-half ago, or whether many will prefer to keep streaming at home. Ms. McDormand's message was addressed to a televised audience that was the smallest in Oscars history, but still the biggest collective moment for people who care about film.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-the-oscars-frances-mcdormand-raises-hollywoods-most-existential-question-11619464606
Census data leaves Latinos wondering: Were we counted? | Three of the states with large Latino populations — Arizona, Texas, Florida — who underperformed in the apportionment gains, were also three states that virtually invested nothing in outreach to complement what the Census Bureau was doing.
https://politico.com/news/2021/04/27/census-latinos-count-484846
Ninth Circuit Illegally And Unconstitutionally Lifts Ban On 3D-Printed Gun Blueprints (3D Printers Have DRM)
https://www.courthousenews.com/ninth-circuit-lifts-ban-on-3d-printed-gun-blueprints/
The low point of session undoubtedly came today when Rep. Ray Garofalo said Louisiana schools need to teach the good of slavery.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1387129763035242504
https://twitter.com/KevinMKruse/status/1387376453898096641
Fifteen House Committee hearings are scheduled.
https://congress.gov/committee-schedule/daily/2021/04/28/
Joint Meetings, Joint Sessions, & Inaugurations
https://history.house.gov/Institution/Joint-Sessions/Joint-Sessions/
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/28/fact-sheet-the-american-families-plan/
Fact Sheet: The American Families Plan
April 28, 2021 • Statements and Releases
Today, President Biden announced the American Families Plan, an investment in our kids, our families, and our economic future.
In March, the President signed into law the American Rescue Plan, which continues to provide immediate relief to American families and communities. Approximately 161 million payments of up to $1,400 per person have gone out to households, schools are reopening, and 100 percent of Americans ages 16 and older are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. The Rescue Plan is projected to lift more than five million children out of poverty this year, cutting child poverty by more than half. While too many Americans are still out of work, we are seeing encouraging signs in the labor market, as businesses begin to rehire and some of the hardest hit sectors begin to reopen.
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/two-million-more-economic-impact-payments-disbursed-under-the-american-rescue-plan-total-reaches-approximately-161-million-as-payments-continue
But the President knows that we need to do more. It is not enough to restore where we were prior to the pandemic. We need to build a stronger economy that does not leave anyone behind – we need to build back better. President Biden knows a strong middle class is the backbone of America. He knows it should be easier for American families to break into the middle class, and easier to stay in the middle class. He knows that we need to continue to enable those who dropped out of the workforce – particularly the approximately two million women who left due to COVID – to rejoin and stay in the workforce. And, he knows that, unlike in past decades, policies to make life easier for American families must focus on bringing everyone along: inclusive of gender, race, or place of residence – urban, suburban, or rural.
The American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan are once-in-a-generation investments in our nation's future. The American Jobs Plan will create millions of good jobs, rebuild our country's physical infrastructure and workforce, and spark innovation and manufacturing here at home. The American Families Plan is an investment in our children and our families—helping families cover the basic expenses that so many struggle with now, lowering health insurance premiums, and continuing the American Rescue Plan's historic reductions in child poverty. Together, these plans reinvest in the future of the American economy and American workers, and will help us out-compete China and other countries around the world.
To grow the middle class, expand the benefits of economic growth to all Americans, and leave the United States more competitive, President Biden's American Families Plan will:
- Add at least four years of free education. Investing in education is a down payment on the future of America. As access to high school became more widely available at the turn of the 20th Century, it made us the best-educated and best-prepared nation in the world. But everyone knows that 12 years is not enough today. The American Families Plan will make transformational investments from early childhood to postsecondary education so that all children and young people are able to grow, learn, and gain the skills they need to succeed. It will provide universal, quality-preschool to all three- and four- year-olds. It will provide Americans two years of free community college. It will invest in making college more affordable for low- and middle-income students, including students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and institutions such as Hispanic-serving institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions, and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs). And, it will invest in our teachers as well as our students, improving teacher training and support so that our schools become engines of growth at every level.
- Provide direct support to children and families. Our nation is strongest when everyone has the opportunity to join the workforce and contribute to the economy. But many workers struggle to both hold a full-time job and care for themselves and their families. The American Families Plan will provide direct support to families to ensure that low- and middle-income families spend no more than seven percent of their income on child care, and that the child care they access is of high-quality. It will also provide direct support to workers and families by creating a national comprehensive paid family and medical leave program that will bring the American system in line with competitor nations that offer paid leave programs. The system will also allow people to manage their health and the health of their families. And, it will provide critical nutrition assistance to families who need it most and expand access to healthy meals to our nation's students – dramatically reducing childhood hunger.
- Extend tax cuts for families with children and American workers. While the American Rescue Plan provided meaningful relief for hundreds of millions of Americans, too many families and workers feel the squeeze of too-low wages and the high costs of meeting their basic needs and their aspirations. At the same time, the wealthiest Americans continue to get further and further ahead. The American Families Plan will extend key tax cuts in the American Rescue Plan that benefit lower- and middle-income workers and families, including the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. In addition to making it easier for families to make ends meet, tax credits for working families have been shown to boost child academic and economic performance over time. The American Families Plan will also extend the expanded health insurance tax credits in the American Rescue Plan. These credits are providing premium relief that is lowering health insurance costs by an average of $50 per person per month for nine million people, and will enable four million uninsured people to gain coverage.
Leading economic research has shown that the investments proposed in the American Families Plan will yield significant economic returns – boosting productivity and economic growth, producing a larger, more productive, and healthier workforce on a sustained basis, and generating savings to states and the federal government. Evidence shows that a dollar invested in high-quality early childhood programs for low-income children will result in up to $7.30 in benefits, including increased wages, improved health, and reduced crime. Parental paid leave has been shown to keep mothers in the workforce, increasing labor force participation and boosting economic growth. And, sustained tax credits for families with children have been found to yield a lifetime of benefits, ranging from higher educational attainment to higher lifetime earnings
https://www.nber.org/papers/w22993
In all, the American Families Plan includes $1.8 trillion in investments and tax credits for American families and children over ten years. It consists of about $1 trillion in investments and $800 billion in tax cuts for American families and workers. Alongside the American Families Plan, the President will be proposing a set of measures to make sure that the wealthiest Americans pay their share in taxes, while ensuring that no one making $400,000 per year or less will see their taxes go up. When combined with President Biden's American Jobs Plan, this legislation will be fully paid for over 15 years, and will reduce deficits over the long term.
ADD AT LEAST FOUR YEARS OF FREE PUBLIC EDUCATION, CLOSE EQUITY GAPS, AND MAKE COLLEGE MORE AFFORDABLE
Early in the 20th century, the United States set a new global standard by expanding access to free public education through high school. Direct public investment in our children's future propelled U.S. economic growth and enhanced our global competitiveness. Now, mounting evidence suggests that 12 years of school is no longer sufficient to prepare our students for success in today's economy. Research tells us that we must invest early to support our children's development and readiness for academic success; our transforming economy requires that we provide every student the opportunity to obtain a postsecondary degree or certificate.
That is why the American Families Plan calls for an additional four years of free, public education for our nation's children. Specifically, President Biden is calling for $200 billion for free universal pre-school for all three- and four-year-olds and $109 billion for two years of free community college so that every student has the ability to obtain a degree or certificate. In addition, he is calling for an over $80 billion investment in Pell Grants, which would help students seeking a certificate or a two- or four-year degree. Recognizing that access to postsecondary education is not enough, the American Families Plan includes $62 billion to invest in evidence-based strategies to strengthen completion and retention rates at community colleges and institutions that serve students from our most disadvantaged communities. This is alongside a $46 billion investment in HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs. President Biden is also calling for $9 billion to train, equip and diversify American teachers in order to ensure that our high school graduates are ready for success. These investments, combined with those laid out in the President's American Jobs Plan, will boost earnings, expand employment opportunities, and enable the U.S. to win the 21st century.
UNIVERSAL PRE-SCHOOL FOR ALL THREE- AND FOUR-YEAR-OLDS
Preschool is critical to ensuring that children start kindergarten with the skills and supports that set them up for success in school. In fact, research shows that kids who attend universal pre-K are more likely to take honors classes and less likely to repeat a grade, and another study finds low-income children who attend universal programs do better in math and reading as late as eighth grade. Unfortunately, many children, but especially children of color and low-income children, do not have access to the full range of high-quality pre-school programs available to their more affluent peers. In addition to providing critical benefits for children, preschool has also been shown to increase labor force participation among parents – especially women — boosting family earnings and driving economic growth. By some estimates, the benefits of a universal pre-K system to U.S. GDP are more than three times greater than the investment needed to provide this service.
https://www.future-ed.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Gormley_et_al-2017-Journal_of_Policy_Analysis_and_Management.pdf
https://www.brookings.edu/bpea-articles/the-impacts-of-expanding-access-to-high-quality-preschool-education/
https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/edtrustmain/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/05162154/Young-Learners-Missed-Opportunities.pdf
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/reports/2018/09/26/458208/effects-universal-preschool-washington-d-c/
https://equitablegrowth.org/research-paper/public-investments-in-education-can-spur-equitable-growth-pay-for-themselves-and-create-jobs-for-a-stronger-economic-recovery/
- President Biden is calling for a national partnership with states to offer free, high-quality, accessible, and inclusive preschool to all three-and four-year-olds, benefitting five million children and saving the average family $13,000, when fully implemented. This historic $200 billion investment in America's future will prioritize high-need areas and enable communities and families to choose the settings that work best for them. The President's plan will also ensure that all publicly-funded preschool is high-quality, with low student-to-teacher ratios, high-quality and developmentally appropriate curriculum, and supportive classroom environments that are inclusive for all students. The President's plan will leverage investments in tuition-free community college and teacher scholarships to support those who wish to earn a bachelor's degree or another credential that supports their work as an educator, or to become an early childhood educator. And, educators will receive job-embedded coaching, professional development, and wages that reflect the importance of their work. All employees in participating pre-K programs and Head Start will earn at least $15 per hour, and those with comparable qualifications will receive compensation commensurate with that of kindergarten teachers. These investments will give American children a head start and pave the way for the best-educated generation in U.S. history.
FREE COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND OTHER POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION INVESTMENTS
For much of the 20th century, graduating from high school was a gateway to a stable job and a living wage. But over the last 40 years, we have seen the most growth in jobs requiring higher levels of job preparation, including education and training. Today, 70 percent of jobs are held by people with more than a high school degree. American workers need and deserve additional support to build their skills, increase their earnings, remain competitive, and share in the benefits of the new economy. President Biden's plan will expand access to affordable postsecondary education, laying the groundwork for innovation and inclusive economic growth for all Americans. Specifically, President Biden's plan will:
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2016/10/06/the-state-of-american-jobs/
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm
- Offer two years of free community college to all Americans, including DREAMers. The current crisis has led to a steep college enrollment decline, particularly for low-income students and students of color. As of Fall 2020, high-minority and high-poverty high schools saw a 9.4 percent and 11.4 percent decline in college enrollment, respectively. But even before the pandemic, cost remained a barrier to attending and graduating from community college for many Americans. President Biden's $109 billion plan will ensure that first-time students and workers wanting to reskill can enroll in a community college to earn a degree or credential for free. Students can use the benefit over three years and, if circumstances warrant, up to four years, recognizing that many students' lives and other responsibilities can make full-time enrollment difficult. If all states, territories, and Tribes participate, about 5.5 million students would pay $0 in tuition and fees.
https://nscresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021_HSBenchmarksCovidReport.pdf
https://nscresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021_HSBenchmarksCovidReport.pdf
- Provide up to approximately $1,400 in additional assistance to low-income students by increasing the Pell Grant award. While nearly 7 million students depend on Pell Grants, the grant has not kept up with the rising cost of college. Over the last 50 years, the value of Pell Grants has plummeted. The maximum grant went from covering nearly 80 percent of the cost of a four-year college degree to under 30 percent — leading millions of low-income students to take out debt to finance their education. One in three community college students receive Pell Grants to pay for their education. Among students of color, nearly 60 percent of Black, half of American Indian or Alaska Native, almost half of Latino, and over one-third of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students rely on Pell Grants to pay for college. The American Families Plan will increase the maximum Pell Grant award by approximately $1,400, a down payment on President Biden's commitment to double the maximum award. The plan also allows DREAMers to access Pell Grants.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/235372/recipients-of-federal-pell-grants-in-the-us/
https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/pell-grants-a-key-tool-for-expanding-college-access-and-economic
- Increase college retention and completion rates. An education beyond high school can lead to higher pay, financial stability, social mobility, and better health outcomes. It also has public benefits such as a reduction in crime rates and higher civic engagement. However, far too many students enter college but do not graduate. Research shows that only approximately three out of five students finish any type of degree or certificate program within six years. To complete, students need additional support. The President is proposing a bold $62 billion grant program to invest in completion and retention activities at colleges and universities that serve high numbers of low-income students, particularly community colleges. States, territories, and Tribes will receive grants to provide funding to colleges that adopt innovative, proven solutions for student success, including wraparound services ranging from child care and mental health services to faculty and peer mentoring; emergency basic needs grants; practices that recruit and retain diverse faculty; transfer agreements between colleges; and evidence-based remediation programs.
https://research.collegeboard.org/pdf/education-pays-2019-full-report.pdf
https://all4ed.org/take-action/action-academy/the-economic-case-for-reducing-the-high-school-dropout-rate/
https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=40
- Provide two years of subsidized tuition and expand programs in high-demand fields at HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs. Research has found that HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs are vital to helping underrepresented students move to the top of the income ladder. For example, while HBCUs are only three percent of four-year universities, their graduates make up approximately 80 percent of Black judges, half of Black lawyers and doctors, and 25 percent of Black undergraduates earning STEM degrees. Yet, these institutions have significantly less resources than other top colleges and universities, undermining their ability to grow and support more students. President Biden is calling on Congress to make a historic investment in HBCU, TCU, and MSI affordability. Specifically, he is calling for a new $39 billion program that provides two years of subsidized tuition for students from families earning less than $125,000 enrolled in a four-year HBCU, TCU, or MSI. The President is also calling for $5 billion to expand existing institutional aid grants to HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs, which can be used by these institutions to strengthen their academic, administrative, and fiscal capabilities, including by creating or expanding educational programs in high-demand fields (e.g., STEM, computer sciences, nursing, and allied health), with an additional $2 billion directed towards building a pipeline of skilled health care workers with graduate degrees. These investments, combined with the $45 billion proposed in the American Jobs Plan targeted to these institutions, will enable America's HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs to tackle longstanding inequities in postsecondary education and make the U.S. more competitive on the global stage.
https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/MSIs-as-Engines-of-Upward-Mobility.pdf
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/05/howard-universitys-president-why-america-needs-hbcus/589582/
https://edlabor.house.gov/download/investing-in-economic-mobility-the-important-role-of-hbcus-tcus-and-msis-in-closing-racial-and-wealth-gaps-in-higher-education
EDUCATION AND PREPARATION FOR TEACHERS
Few people can have a bigger impact on a child's life than a great teacher. Unfortunately, the U.S. faces a large and growing teacher shortage. Before the pandemic, schools across the nation needed an estimated additional 100,000 certified teachers, resulting in key positions going unfilled. Shortages of certified teachers disproportionately impact schools with higher percentages of students of color, which have a higher proportion of teachers that are uncertified and in their first or second year, exacerbating educational disparities. At the same time, while teachers of color can have a particularly strong impact on students of color, around one in five teachers are people of color, compared to more than half of K-12 public school students. President Biden is calling on Congress to invest $9 billion in American teachers, addressing shortages, improving training and supports for teachers, and boosting teacher diversity.
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/A_Coming_Crisis_in_Teaching_REPORT.pdf
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/understanding-teacher-shortages-interactive?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlZbktfGP8AIVg-DICh10CQyXEAAYAiAAEgJgV_D_BwE
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/Diversifying_Teaching_Profession_REPORT_0.pdf
https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cge.asp
These investments will improve the quality of new teachers entering the profession, increase retention rates and increase the number of teachers of color, all of which will improve student outcomes like academic achievement and high school graduation rates, resulting in higher long-term earnings, job creation and a boost to the economy. In addition, as more teachers stay in the profession, a virtuous cycle is created, wherein districts save money on recruiting and training new teachers and can invest those funds back into programs that directly impact students.
https://mrbartonmaths.com/resourcesnew/8.%20Research/Improving%20Teaching/Teaching%20Experience.pdf
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/Diversifying_Teaching_Profession_REPORT_0.pdf
https://all4ed.org/take-action/action-academy/the-economic-case-for-reducing-the-high-school-dropout-rate/
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/the-cost-of-teacher-turnover
Specifically, President Biden's plan will:
- Address teacher shortages, improve teacher preparation, and strengthen pipelines for teachers of color. President Biden is calling on Congress to double scholarships for future teachers from $4,000 to $8,000 per year while earning their degree, strengthening the program, and expanding it to early childhood educators. The President's plan also invests $2.8 billion in Grow Your Own programs and year-long, paid teacher residency programs, which have a greater impact on student outcomes, teacher retention, and are more likely to enroll teacher candidates of color. His plan targets $400 million for teacher preparation at HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs and $900 million for the development of special education teachers.
- Help current teachers earn in-demand credentials. Many teachers are eager to answer the call to get certified in areas their schools need, like special education, but are deterred due to the high cost of professional programs. President Biden is calling on Congress to invest $1.6 billion to provide educators with opportunities to obtain additional certifications in high-demand areas like special education, bilingual education, and certifications that improve teacher performance. This funding will support over 100,000 educators, with priority for public school teachers with at least two years of experience at schools with a significant portion of low-income students or significant teacher shortages. All funds will be available immediately, flowing through the states, and available until expended.
- Invest in educator leadership. Millions of teachers – and the students they educate – would stand to benefit from greater mentorship and leadership opportunities. President Biden is calling on Congress to invest $2 billion to support programs that leverage teachers as leaders, such as high-quality mentorship programs for new teachers and teachers of color. These programs are proven tools to improve both student outcomes and teacher retention by providing new teachers with the support they need. The President's plan will also leverage teachers as leaders of other key priorities within their school buildings, and compensate teachers for this work, recognizing the incredible expertise of our veteran educators, and their value in supporting the next generation of great teachers.
https://www.sri.com/education-learning/case-studies/new-teachers-training/
https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1134&context=gse_pubs
PROVIDE DIRECT SUPPORT TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
The hope of a middle-class life has gotten further and further out of reach for too many American families, as the costs of raising children – from child care to taking paid leave time to care for a new child or when a child is ill – have grown. Middle-class families and those trying to break into the middle class increasingly feel the strain of these rising costs, while wage growth has failed to keep up. These rising costs impact our economy as a whole as well. In part due to the lack of family friendly policies, the United States has fallen behind its competitors in female labor force participation. One study found that a lack of child care options costs the United States economy $57 billion per year in lost earnings, productivity, and revenue. Another study found that lack of paid leave options cost workers $22.5 billion each year in lost wages.
https://www.nber.org/papers/w18702
https://www.strongnation.org/articles/780-want-to-grow-the-economy-fix-the-child-care-crisis
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/news/2020/01/21/479555/rising-cost-inaction-work-family-policies/
CHILD CARE
The high cost of child care continues to make it hard for parents – especially women — to work outside the home and provide for their families. Difficulty in finding high-quality, affordable child care leads some parents to drop out of the labor force entirely, some to reduce their work hours, and others to turn down a promotion. When a parent drops out of the workforce, reduces hours, or takes a lower-paying job early in their careers—even temporarily—there are lifetime consequences on earnings, savings, and retirement. These costs are especially significant for mothers and people of color, exacerbating inequality and harming the economic security of their families, as 91 percent of the income gains experienced by middle-class families over the last forty years were driven by women's earnings.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/01/women-more-than-men-adjust-their-careers-for-family-life/
https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/A-Lifetimes-Worth-of-Benefits-_FD.pdf
https://www.brookings.edu/essay/womens-work-boosts-middle-class-incomes-but-creates-a-family-time-squeeze-that-needs-to-be-eased/
High-quality early care and education lay a strong foundation so that children can take full advantage of education and training opportunities later in life. The evidence is clear: for early years, quality care is education. This especially important for children from low-income families, who too often start school without access to high-quality educational opportunities. A study by Nobel Laureate James Heckman found that every dollar invested in a high-quality, birth to five program for the most economically disadvantaged children resulted in $7.30 in benefits as children grew up healthier, were more likely to graduate high school and college, were less likely to be involved in crime, and earned more as adults.
https://www.nber.org/papers/w22993
Building on the American Jobs Plan's investments in school and child care infrastructure and workforce training, President Biden's American Families Plan will ensure low and middle-income families pay no more than 7 percent of their income on high-quality child care, saving the average family $14,800 per year on child care expenses, while also generating lifetime benefits for three million children, supporting hundreds of thousands of child care providers and workers, allowing roughly one million parents, primarily mothers, to enter the labor force, and significantly bolstering inclusive and equitable economic growth. Specifically, President Biden's plan will invest $225 billion to:
- Make care affordable. Families will pay only a portion of their income based on a sliding scale. For the most hard-pressed working families, child care costs for their young children would be fully covered and families earning 1.5 times their state median income will pay no more than 7 percent of their income. The plan will also provide families with a range of options to choose from for their child, from child care centers to family child care providers, Early Head Start, and public schools that are inclusive and accessible to all children.
- Invest in high-quality care. Child care providers will receive funding to cover the true cost of quality early childhood care and education–including a developmentally appropriate curriculum, small class sizes, and culturally and linguistically responsive environments that are inclusive of children with disabilities. These investments support positive interactions that promote children's social-emotional and cognitive development.
- Invest in the care workforce. More investment is needed to support early childhood care providers and educators, more than nine in ten of whom are women and more than four and ten of whom are women of color. They are among the most underpaid workers in the country and nearly half receive public income support programs. The typical child care worker earned $12.24 per hour in 2020—while receiving few, if any, benefits, leading to high turnover and lower quality of care. This investment will mean a $15 minimum wage for early childhood staff and ensure that those with similar qualifications as kindergarten teachers receive comparable compensation and benefits. And, it will ensure child care workers receive job-embedded coaching and professional development, along with additional training opportunities funded by the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan. These investments will lead to better quality care, while also enabling these workers to care for their own families, reducing government spending on income support programs and increasing tax revenues. The Families Plan will also invest in maternal health and support the families of veterans receiving health care services.
https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ChildCareWorkersFS.pdf
https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ChildCareWorkersFS.pdf
https://cscce.berkeley.edu/workforce-index-2020/the-early-educator-workforce/early-educator-pay-economic-insecurity-across-the-states/
https://cscce.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/ReportFINAL.pdf
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/childcare-workers.htm
PAID LEAVE
The United States has fallen behind our economic competitors in the number of women participating in the labor force. The pandemic has exacerbated this problem, pushing millions of people—especially women—out of the workforce, eroding more than 30 years of progress in women's labor force participation and resulting in a $64 billion loss in wages and economic activity per year. A lack of family-friendly policies, such as paid family and medical leave for when a worker need time to care for a new child, a seriously ill family member, or recover from their own serious illness, has been identified as a key reason for the U.S. decline in competitiveness. The United States is one of the only countries in the world that doesn't guarantee paid leave. Nearly one in four mothers return to work within two weeks of giving birth and one in five retirees left or were forced to leave the workforce earlier than planned to care for an ill family member. Further, today nearly four of five private sector workers have no access to paid leave. 95 percent of the lowest wage workers, mostly women and workers of color, lack any access to paid family leave.
https://tcf.org/content/report/how-covid-19-sent-womens-workforce-progress-backward-congress-64-5-billion-mistake/
https://inthesetimes.com/article/the-real-war-on-families
https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/public_policy_institute/ltc/2012/understanding-impact-family-caregiving-work-AARP-ppi-ltc.pdf
https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/benefits/2020/employee-benefits-in-the-united-states-march-2020.pdf
https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OASP/evaluation/pdf/WHD_FMLAGenderShortPaper_January2021.pdf
https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/economic-justice/paid-leave/paid-family-and-medical-leave-racial-justice-issue-and-opportunity.pdf
Paid family and medical leave supports workers and families and is a critical investment in the strength and equity of our economy. President Biden's American Families Plan will:
- Create a national comprehensive paid family and medical leave program. The program will ensure workers receive partial wage replacement to take time to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill loved one, deal with a loved one's military deployment, find safety from sexual assault, stalking, or domestic violence, heal from their own serious illness, or take time to deal with the death of a loved one. It will guarantee twelve weeks of paid parental, family, and personal illness/safe leave by year 10 of the program, and also ensure workers get three days of bereavement leave per year starting in year one. The program will provide workers up to $4,000 a month, with a minimum of two-thirds of average weekly wages replaced, rising to 80 percent for the lowest wage workers. We estimate this program will cost $225 billion over a decade.
President Biden's paid leave plan has broad benefits for working families and the economy as a whole. Studies have shown that, under state paid leave laws, new mothers are 18 percentage points more likely to be working a year after the birth of their child. In addition, paid leave can reduce racial disparities in wage loss between workers of color and white workers, improve child health and well-being, support employers by improving employee retention and reducing turnover costs, and increase women's labor force participation. Over 30 million workers, including 67 percent of low-wage workers, do not have access to a single paid sick day. Low-wage and part-time workers, a majority of whom are women, are less likely to have access to paid sick days.
https://equitablegrowth.org/factsheet-what-does-the-research-say-about-the-economics-of-paid-leave/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13668803.2019.1704398
https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/benefits/2020/employee-benefits-in-the-united-states-march-2020.pdf
https://shift.hks.harvard.edu/essential-and-vulnerable-service-sector-workers-and-paid-sick-leave/
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/news/2018/08/30/457309/uneven-expansion-access-paid-sick-days/
The COVID pandemic has highlighted the need for a national paid sick leave policy, to help workers and their loved ones quickly recover from short-term illness and prevent the spread of disease. Therefore, the President calls upon Congress to pass the Healthy Families Act which will require employers to allow workers to accrue seven days paid sick leave per year to seek preventative care for them or their family– such as getting a flu shot, recovering from short-term illness, or caring for a sick child or family member or a family member with disability-related needs.
NUTRITION
The pandemic has added urgency to the issue of nutrition insecurity, which disproportionately affects low-income families and families of color. No one should have to worry about whether they can provide nutritious food for themselves or their children. A poor diet jeopardizes a child's ability to learn and succeed in school. Nutrition insecurity can also have long-lasting negative impact on overall health and put children at higher risk for diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Today, one-fifth of American children are obese, and research shows that childhood obesity increases the likelihood of obesity in adulthood. In addition to the incredible financial burden on the health care system, diet-related diseases carry significant economic and national security implications by decreasing work productivity, increasing job absenteeism, and threatening military readiness. A recent study found that U.S. children are getting their healthiest meals at school, demonstrating that school meals are one of the federal government's most powerful tools for delivering nutrition security to children. To ensure the nutritional needs of families are met, President Biden's plan will invest $45 billion to:
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20035278/
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2778453
- Expand summer EBT to all eligible children nationwide. The Summer EBT Demonstrations helps low-income families with children eligible for free and reduced-price meals during the school year purchase food during the summer. Research shows that this program decreases food insecurity among children and has led to positive changes in nutritional outcomes. The American Families Plan builds on the American Rescue Plan's support for Summer Pandemic-EBT by investing more than $25 billion to make the successful program permanent and available to all 29 million children receiving free and reduced-price meals.
https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/ops/sebtcfinalreport.pdf
- Expand school meal programs. The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) allows high-poverty schools to provide meals free of charge to all of their students. It is currently available to individual schools, groups of schools within a district, or an entire district with at least 40 percent of students participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The program is particularly important because some families whose children would be eligible for free meals may not apply for them due to stigma or not fully understanding the application process. In addition, other families in high-poverty schools may still be facing food insecurity but make just enough to not qualify for free school meals. However, only 70 percent of eligible schools have adopted CEP, because some schools would receive reimbursement below the free meal rate. The President's plan will fund $17 billion to expand free meals for children in the highest poverty districts (those with at least 40 percent of students participating in SNAP) by reimbursing a higher percentage of meals at the free reimbursement rate through CEP. Additionally, the plan will expand free meals for children in elementary schools by reimbursing an even higher percentage of meals at the free reimbursement through CEP and lowering the threshold for CEP eligibility for elementary schools to 25 percent of students participating in SNAP. Targeting elementary students will drive better long-term health outcomes by ensuring low-income children are receiving nutritious meals at an early age. The plan will also expand direct certification to automatically enroll more students for school means based on Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income data. This proposal will provide free meals to an additional 9.3 million children, with about 70 percent in elementary schools.
- Launch a healthy foods incentive demonstration. To build on progress made during the Obama Administration to improve the nutrition standards of school meals, this new $1 billion demonstration will support schools that are further expanding healthy food offerings. For example, schools adopting specified measures that exceed current school meal standards will receive an enhanced reimbursement as an incentive.
- Facilitate re-entry for formerly incarcerated individuals through SNAP eligibility. Individuals convicted of a drug-related felony are currently ineligible to receive SNAP benefits unless a state has taken the option to eliminate or modify this restriction. Denying these individuals—many of whom are parents of young children—SNAP benefits jeopardizes nutrition security and poses a barrier to re-entry into the community in a population that already faces significant hurdles to obtaining employment and stability. SNAP is a critical safety net for many individuals as they search for employment to support themselves and their families. This restriction disproportionately impacts African Americans, who are convicted of drug offenses at much higher rates than white Americans.
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE REFORM
The unemployment insurance (UI) system is a critical lifeline to workers at the hardest times. During the pandemic, it saved millions from poverty and helped people put food on the table. But, the system is in desperate need of reform and strengthening. Too often Americans found themselves waiting weeks to get the benefits they deserved. Too often the benefits Americans would automatically receive would've been too low and would not have gone long enough absent Congress stepping in. Too often the safeguards to prevent fraud in the system have been insufficient. And it has been unemployed people of color who have borne the brunt of the UI system's weaknesses. President Biden is committed to strengthening and reforming the system for the long term. That's why he won $2 billion in the American Rescue Plan to put toward UI system modernization, equitable access, and fraud prevention. And, that's why he wants to work with Congress to automatically adjust the length and amount of UI benefits unemployed workers receive depending on economic conditions. This will ensure future legislative delay doesn't undermine economic recovery and it will enable permanent reform of the system to provide the safety net that workers deserve in the hardest times.TAX CUTS FOR AMERICA'S FAMILIES AND WORKERS
While the American Rescue Plan provided meaningful relief for hundreds of millions of Americans, that is just a first step. Now is the time to build back better, to help families and workers who for too long have felt the squeeze of stagnating wages and an ever-increasing cost-of-living. Direct assistance to families in the form of tax credits paid on a regular basis lifts children and families out of poverty, makes it easier for families to make ends meet, and boosts the academic and economic performance of children over time. But if Congress does not act, millions of American families and workers will see their taxes go up at the end of the year.
President Biden believes we must extend the American Rescue Plan's expanded tax credits that lifted millions of children out of poverty, made it easier for families to afford child care, and ensured that low-income workers without children would not continue to be taxed into poverty.
Specifically, President Biden's plan will:
- Extend expanded ACA premiums tax credits in the American Rescue Plan. Health care should be a right, not a privilege, and Americans facing illness should never have to worry about how they are going to pay for their treatment. No one should face a choice between buying life-saving medications or putting food on the table. President Biden has a plan to build on the Affordable Care Act and lower prescription drug costs for everyone by letting Medicare negotiate prices, reducing health insurance premiums and deductibles for those who buy coverage on their own, creating a public option and the option for people to enroll in Medicare at age 60, and closing the Medicaid coverage gap to help millions of Americans gain health insurance. The American Families Plan will build on the American Rescue Plan and continue our work to make health care more affordable. The American Rescue Plan included a historic investment in reducing Americans' health care costs. The biggest improvement in health care affordability since the Affordable Care Act, the American Rescue Plan provided two years of lower health insurance premiums for those who buy coverage on their own, saving families an average of $50 per person per month. The American Families Plan will make those premium reductions permanent, a $200 billion investment. As a result, nine million people will save hundreds of dollars per year on their premiums, and four million uninsured people will gain coverage. The Families Plan will also invest in maternal health and support the families of veterans receiving health care services.
https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2021/03/12/fact-sheet-american-rescue-plan-reduces-health-care-costs-expands-access-insurance-coverage.html
https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2021/03/12/fact-sheet-american-rescue-plan-reduces-health-care-costs-expands-access-insurance-coverage.html
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/what-if-american-rescue-plans-enhanced-marketplace-subsidies-were-made-permanent-estimates-2022
- Extend the Child Tax Credit increases in the American Rescue Plan through 2025 and make the Child Tax Credit permanently fully refundable. The President is calling for the Child Tax Credit expansion, first enacted in the American Rescue Plan, to be extended. This legislation expands the Child Tax Credit from $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child for six-years old and above, and $3,600 per child for children under six. It also makes 17-year-olds eligible for the first time and makes the credit fully refundable on a permanent basis, so that low-income families—the families that need the credit the most—can benefit from the full tax credit. The expanded Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan benefited nearly 66 million children, and it was the single largest contributor to the plan's historic reductions in child poverty.
For a family with two parents earning a combined $100,000 per year and two children under six, the Child Tax Credit expansion means an additional $3,200 per year in tax relief. For a family with two parents earning a combined $24,000 per year and two children under six, the expansion means even more, with a credit increase of than $4,400 because the full credit was not previously fully available to them.
The credit would also be delivered regularly. This means that families will not need to wait until tax season to receive a refund. Instead, they will receive regular payments that allow them to cover household expenses as they arise.
The American Families Plan will make permanent the full refundability of the Child Tax Credit, while extending the other expansions to the Child Tax Credit through 2025—when the 2017 law's individual provisions expire. The President is committed to working with Congress to achieve his ultimate goal of making permanent the Child Tax Credit as well as all of the expansions he signed into law in the American Rescue Plan.
- Permanently increase tax credits to support families with child care needs. To help families afford child care, President Biden is calling on Congress to make permanent the temporary Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) expansion enacted in the American Rescue Plan. Families will receive a tax credit for as much as half of their spending on qualified child care for children under age 13, up to a total of $4,000 for one child or $8,000 for two or more children. A 50 percent reimbursement will be available to families making less than $125,000 a year, while families making between $125,000 and $400,000 will receive a partial credit with benefits at least as generous as those they receive today. The credit can be used for expenses ranging from full-time care to after school care to summer care.
This is a dramatic expansion of support to low- and middle-income families. In 2019, a family claiming a CDCTC for the previous year got less than $600 on average towards the cost of care, and many low-income families got nothing. If Congress fails extend the CDCTC expansion, more than 6 million families could see their taxes go up at the end of the year – many by thousands of dollars – making obtaining affordable child care more difficult. Importantly, this tax credit works in tandem with the American Families Plan's direct investments in childcare affordability for families with young children.
https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-individual-statistical-tables-by-size-of-adjusted-gross-income
- Make the Earned Income Tax Credit Expansion for childless workers permanent. Before this year, the federal tax code taxed low-wage childless workers into poverty or deeper into poverty — the only group of workers it treated this way. The American Rescue Plan addressed this problem by roughly tripling the EITC for childless workers, benefitting 17 million low-wage workers, many of whom are essential workers including cashiers, cooks, delivery drivers, food preparation workers, and childcare providers. For example, a childless worker who works 30 hours per week at $9 per hour earns income that, after taxes, leaves them below the federal poverty line. By increasing her EITC to more than $1,100, this EITC expansion helps pull such workers out of poverty.
https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/american-rescue-plan-act-includes-critical-expansions-of-child-tax-credit-and
The President is calling on Congress to make this expansion permanent. President Biden believes our tax code should reward work and not wealth. And that means rewarding workers who work hard every day at modest wages to provide their communities with essential services.
- Give IRS the authority to regulate paid tax preparers. Tax returns prepared by certain types of preparers have high error rates. These preparers charge taxpayers large fees while exposing them to costly audits. As preparers play a crucial role in tax administration, and will be key to helping many taxpayers claim the newly-expanded credits, IRS oversight of tax preparers is needed. The President is calling on Congress to pass bipartisan legislation that will give the IRS that authority.
TAX REFORM THAT REWARDS WORK – NOT WEALTH
The President's tax agenda will not only reverse the biggest 2017 tax law giveaways, but reform the tax code so that the wealthy have to play by the same rules as everyone else. It will ensure that high-income Americans pay the tax they owe under the law—ending the unfair system of enforcement that collects almost all taxes due on wages, while regularly collecting a smaller share of business and capital income. The plan will also eliminate long-standing loopholes, including lower taxes on capital gains and dividends for the wealthy, that reward wealth over work. Importantly, these reforms will also rein in the ways that the tax code widens racial disparities in income and wealth.
President Biden's plan uses the resulting revenue to rebuild the middle class, investing in education and boosting wages. It will also give tax relief to middle-class families, dramatically reducing child poverty and cutting the cost of child care in half for many families. The result of the President's individual tax reforms will be a tax code with fewer loopholes for the wealthy and more opportunity for low- and middle-income Americans.
Altogether, these tax reforms focused on the highest income Americans would raise about $1.5 trillion across the decade. In combination with the American Jobs Plan, which produces long-term deficit reduction through corporate tax reform, all of the investments would be fully paid for over the next 15 years.
President Biden's plan will:
- Revitalize enforcement to make the wealthy pay what they owe. We have a two-tiered system of tax administration in this country: regular workers pay the taxes they owe on wages and salaries while some wealthy taxpayers aggressively plan to avoid the tax laws. Those with the highest incomes generate income in opaque categories where misreporting rates can reach 55 percent. A recent study found that the top one percent failed to report 20 percent of their income and failed to pay over $175 billion in taxes that they owed. But today, the IRS does not even have the resources to fully investigate this evasion. As a result of budget cuts, audit rates on those making over $1 million per year fell by 80 percent between 2011-2018.
https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w26475/w26475.pdf
https://www.nber.org/papers/w28542
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/p55b--2019.pdf
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/11databk.pdf
The President's proposal would change the game—by making sure the wealthiest Americans play by the same set of rules as all other Americans.It would require financial institutions to report information on account flows so that earnings from investments and business activity are subject to reporting more like wages already are.It would also increase investment in the IRS, while ensuring that the additional resources go toward enforcement against those with the highest incomes, rather than Americans with actual income less than $400,000. Additional resources would focus on large corporations, businesses, and estates, and higher-income individuals. Altogether, this plan would raise $700 billion over 10 years.
- Increase the top tax rate on the wealthiest Americans to 39.6 percent. One of the 2017 tax cut's clearest giveaways to the wealthy was cutting the top income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 37 percent, exclusively benefitting the wealthiest households—those in the top one percent. This rate cut alone gives a couple with $2 million in taxable an annual tax cut of more than $36,400. The President's plan restores the top tax bracket to what it was before the 2017 law, returning the rate to 39.6 percent, applying only to those within the top one percent.
https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/new-tax-law-is-fundamentally-flawed-and-will-require-basic-restructuring
- End capital income tax breaks and other loopholes for the very top. The President's tax reform will end one of the most unfair aspects of our tax system: that the tax rate the wealthy pay on capital gains and dividends is less than the tax rate that many middle-class families pay on their wages. Households making over $1 million—the top 0.3 percent of all households—will pay the same 39.6 percent rate on all their income, equalizing the rate paid on investment returns and wages. Moreover, the President would eliminate the loophole that allows the wealthiest Americans to entirely escape tax on their wealth by passing it down to heirs. Today, our tax laws allow these accumulated gains to be passed down across generations untaxed, exacerbating inequality. The President's plan will close this loophole, ending the practice of "stepping-up" the basis for gains in excess of $1 million ($2.5 million per couple when combined with existing real estate exemptions) and making sure the gains are taxed if the property is not donated to charity. The reform will be designed with protections so that family-owned businesses and farms will not have to pay taxes when given to heirs who continue to run the business. Without these changes, billions in capital income would continue to escape taxation entirely.
The President is also calling on Congress to close the carried interest loophole so that hedge fund partners will pay ordinary income rates on their income just like every other worker. While equalizing tax rates on wages and capital gains will address this disparity, permanently eliminating carried interest is an important structural change that is necessary to ensure that we have a tax code that treats all workers fairly. The President would also end the special real estate tax break—that allows real estate investors to defer taxation when they exchange property—for gains greater than $500,000, and the President would also permanently extend the current limitation in place that restricts large, excess business losses, 80 percent of which benefits those making over $1 million.
Finally, high-income workers and investors generally pay a 3.8 percent Medicare tax on their earnings, but the application is inconsistent across taxpayers due to holes in the law. The President's tax reform would apply the taxes consistently to those making over $400,000, ensuring that all high-income Americans pay the same Medicare taxes.
To view this fact sheet in your browser, click here.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/American-Families-Plan-Fact-Sheet-FINAL.pdf
______________________________________
Federal Investigators Execute Search Warrant At Rudy Giuliani's Apartment. Executing a search warrant is an extraordinary move for prosecutors to tak. The federal authorities have been largely focused on whether Mr. Giuliani illegally lobbied the Trump administration in 2019 on behalf of Ukrainian officials and oligarchs, who at the same time were helping Mr. Giuliani search for dirt on Trump's political rivals, including President Biden, who was then a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/28/nyregion/rudy-giuliani-trump-ukraine-warrant.html
There was also a warrant executed against Victoria Toensing, a former Justice Department official who represented a Ukranian oligarch named Dmitry Firtash who is currently under indictment in the US and whose help Giuliani sought.
https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1387477505150525451
U.S. Interior Dept. moves to restore Native American land
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1N2MK1T2
Senate panel approves Biden nominees to Postal Service board. DeJoy could be gone by the end of the year or next week....This is the first step in getting rid of DeJoy. Biden can't just fire DeJoy. Dejoy is protected by the Republican-controlled Postal Service Board.
https://apnews.com/article/politics-business-postal-service-government-and-politics-70b8723638fc35151e69007bbec35e2e
Federal Grand Jury Returns a Superseding Indictment Adding New Charges in the Conspiracy to Kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer | Three Defendants Charged with Conspiracy to Use a Weapon of Mass Destruction and Two Defendants Charged with Federal Firearms Violations
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-grand-jury-returns-superseding-indictment-adding-new-charges-conspiracy-kidnap
I really think too little attention gets paid to the strange flip-flops and inconsistencies in Joe Manchin's public statements. The comments on the left are from just two weeks ago, and this is far from the only example
https://twitter.com/DavidNir/status/1387479453920546817
Yes, Manchin is saying he wants an infrastructure bill to be paid for (i.e., taxes raised) in both cases. But it's very strange to say, on one hand, that we need to "do whatever it takes," and then on the other say it "makes me very uncomfortable"
https://twitter.com/DavidNir/status/1387481774050193409
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakhi_Kavsadze
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Collins_(astronaut)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Lane
Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. has been fined $50,000 for violating the league's Health and Safety Protocols when he was in Miami club on April 19.
https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1387508081672740867
Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been suspended one game without pay for directing threatening language toward a game official.
https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1387519941025349637
Republican precinct chair in Texas arrested in US Capitol riot
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/28/politics/gop-precinct-chair-in-texas-arrested-in-us-capitol-riot/index.html
To date about One-Third of MLB teams (10 of 30) have hit the 85 percent vaccinated threshold and have had team-wide restrictions lifted. Players plus Tier 1 staff members are all figured in the count.
https://twitter.com/jonheyman/status/1387391038034223105
Bystanders prevent others from helping Chinese student, saying it's "his problem" after being assaulted and stabbed at the University of Alberta
https://news.yahoo.com/international-student-stabbed-arm-while-213554446.html
World's glaciers melting at accelerating rate
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56921164.amp
Kevin Love in the first half against the Orlando Magic: 0 points, 1 technical foul on 0-7 from the floor, 0-6 from 3
It disturbs me how much Joe Biden is saying isn't normalized in Amercia yet. We need lead free water and broad band
Idaho House rejects $40.3 million in COVID-19 testing funds for schools
https://www.ktvb.com/mobile/article/news/local/208/idaho-house-rejects-40-million-covid-19-testing-funds-schools/277-c3b8544f-3820-46d4-b4e9-27a03d3d95bf
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by President Biden — Address to a Joint Session of Congress
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/04/28/remarks-as-prepared-for-delivery-by-president-biden-address-to-a-joint-session-of-congress/
Bryce Harper hit in face with pitch. Leaves game under own power.
https://twitter.com/JSalisburyNBCS/status/1387582391561097217
The Phoenix Suns have clinched a playoff spot for the first time in over a decade
Jokic with the clutch block on Zion to seal the win
https://streamable.com/b5gd8y
The Washington Wizards (28-34) defeat the Los Angeles Lakers (36-26), 116 - 107
The Philadelphia 76ers have clinched a playoff spot with a 127-83 win over the Hawks
Nikola Jokic in win vs the Pelicans: 32/7/8/3/3 on 60/50/75 splits
Jokic makes a ridiculous pass and then scores
https://streamable.com/l7yulb
Denver's excellent ball movement leads to a Jokic triple
https://streamable.com/qjxwl6
Julius Randle tonight: 34/7/3 shooting 12/23 from the field, 4/7 from deep, and 6/6 from the line
Lonzo Ball 16/11/13 with 4 steals
In a 1-point game with half a quarter remaining, Chris Paul goes on an 8-2 run all by himself to extend the Suns lead to 7 in the final minutes
https://streamable.com/8aciyy
Really wish the camera had cut to Romney on this line… just for old time's sake: "Wall Street didn't build this country. The middle class built this country. And unions build the middle class."
"And by the way, while you're thinking about sending things to my desk, let's raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour"
"America is moving forward, but we can't stop now. We're in competition with China and other countries to win the 21st century," President Biden says in explaining the motivation for the American Jobs Plan. "We're at a great inflection point in history."
"Madam Vice President," President Biden says in introducing VP Harris during his address to a joint session of Congress. "No president has ever said those words from this podium — no president — and it's about time."
Biden, in what feels like a line from his pitch during the Democratic primary: "American tax dollars are going to be used to buy American products made in America that create American jobs. That's the way it is supposed to be and it will be in this administration."
______________________________________
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/biden-promises-100-days/
At the 100-day mark, has Biden kept his campaign promises?
By Daniela Santamariña, Matt Viser and Ashlyn Still
April 27, 2021
During the 2020 presidential campaign, Joe Biden's advisers often tracked the promises made in his speeches as a way to formulate their early agenda. As he entered office, they viewed the coronavirus as the issue on which his presidency would be most judged, which has guided many of their early decisions and promises — around vaccinations, school reopenings and mask mandates. But President Biden also has a long list of other promises, including climate change, gun control, tax policy and ending foreign wars.
Critics say that some of his early estimates appear to have been set low, so he can over-deliver on key issues early in his presidency. Here's a look at which promises Biden has met, which he has started to address and which he has altered or abandoned.
Jump to:Coronavirus Economy Environmental actions Foreign policies Immigration Other
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/biden-promises-100-days/?tid=ss_tw#on-the-coronavirus-response
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/biden-promises-100-days/?tid=ss_tw#on-the-economy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/biden-promises-100-days/?tid=ss_tw#on-environmental-actions
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/biden-promises-100-days/?tid=ss_tw#on-foreign-policy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/biden-promises-100-days/?tid=ss_tw#on-immigration
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/biden-promises-100-days/?tid=ss_tw#on-other-topics
On the coronavirus response
Administer 200 million shots Complete
200 million shots
Biden's promise: "My team will be able to get at least 100 million vaccinations done in my first 100 days," he said on Dec. 8. After that goal was met, he raised the promise on March 25 to 200 million doses in his first 100 days, saying: "I'm setting a second goal, and that is: We will, by my 100th day in office, have administered 200 million shots in people's arms."
Biden set his initial goal — 100 million shots in his first 100 days — before taking office and before vaccinations began. Once vaccine distribution began to accelerate, some said his goal was not ambitious enough. After meeting that initial goal on his 58th day in office, Biden raised the promise to 200 million doses. That goal was met on his 92nd day in office. Still, Biden faces hurdles persuading the vaccine-hesitant and reaching herd immunity as new variants have emerged.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/23/biden-vaccine-timeline/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/health/covid-vaccine-states-distribution-doses/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2021/vaccination-pace-herd-immunity/
Reopen schools Complete
Biden's promise: "My team will work to say that a majority of our schools can be opened by the end of my first 100 days," Biden said Dec. 8.
Before taking office, Biden said a majority of schools would be open by the end of his first 100 days. He later clarified that goal to state that a majority of elementary and middle schools would be open for in-person learning five days a week. Some considered it a modest goal, because federal data shows that the country was mostly there in January. But Biden has been on pace to surpass a goal he said on March 25 he had almost met, and in February, 47 percent of schools serving fourth-graders and 46 percent of schools for eighth-graders already offered full-time, in-person classes. Read more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/04/23/biden-reopening-schools-100-days/
Enact a mask mandate Completed in part
Biden's promise: During his campaign, his plan promised to "implement mask mandates nationwide by working with governors and mayors and by asking the American people to do what they do best: step up in a time of crisis."
Biden issued an executive order that said people "in Federal buildings and on Federal lands should all wear masks, maintain physical distance, and adhere to other public health measures." His team concluded, however, that it would be difficult to order states to also have mask mandates, and some governors have resisted implementing mandates in their states. Read more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/01/22/coronavirus-biden-mask-mandate/
On the economy
Pass a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package Complete
$465B Direct payments
$350B Unemployment insurance
$160B Direct pandemic response
$120B Child tax credit
$350B Aid to local governments
$170B Schools reopening
$146B Nutrition, veterans and other
$129B Other
Sources: Post analysis of relief proposals and Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
Biden's promise: "We need more action, more bipartisanship, and we need to move quickly, we need to move fast," Biden said in a Jan. 14 speech outlining the American Rescue Plan.
About a week before taking office, Biden outlined a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that included funding for state and local governments, money for vaccinations and school reopenings, and $1,400 in direct payments to individuals. Biden said he was open to compromising with Republicans — and met with 10 GOP senators in his second week in office — but ultimately, the proposal was largely unchanged and was approved without any Republican votes.
Repeal Trump tax cuts In progress
Biden's promise: "And folks, on Day One, I will move to eliminate Trump's tax cuts," Biden said in June 2019.
Several times during the campaign, Biden said he would immediately move to eliminate the tax cuts Republicans passed in 2017 under President Donald Trump. Biden's initial $1.9 trillion package, which was approved by Congress, did not include a repeal of the tax cuts. Another proposal Biden unveiled to pay for an infrastructure plan includes a corporate tax increase to 28 percent, which is above the 21 percent currently but lower than the 35 percent before Trump's tax cuts.
Change taxes on overseas profits In progress
Biden's promise: "Right now, the president gives advantage to companies that go overseas and invest overseas by reducing the taxes they have to pay on foreign profits. I'd double that tax and do that on Day One," Biden said in a July 9 interview with WNEP.
Biden did not do this on Day One. But as part of a new proposal that he's outlined to help offset the costs for infrastructure spending, he has included several changes to how U.S. businesses would be taxed on overseas profits. His plan would tax foreign profits at a rate of 21 percent, an increase over the current 10.5 percent, and eliminate several loopholes. Read more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/04/20/corporate-tax-loopholes-biden/
On environmental actions
Reverse Trump's environmental rollbacks In progress
Policies:
29 overturned
71 targeted
127 not yet targeted
Biden's promise: "We're going to reverse Trump's rollbacks of 100 public health and environmental rules and then forge a path to greater ambition," Biden said in a July 14 campaign speech.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/biden-proposes-overhauling-nations-energy-sector-by-2035/2020/07/14/a25ac648-c5e7-11ea-a825-8722004e4150_story.html
Biden has made a range of changes to energy and environmental policy, and, according to a Washington Post analysis, has overturned 29 of Trump's policies and finalized 19 of his own. There are dozens of other policies that remain works in progress. The administration has targeted 71 Trump-era regulatory rollbacks, according to the analysis, and has proposed eight new environmental initiatives that have yet to be finalized.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2021/climate-environment/biden-climate-environment-actions/
Rejoin the Paris climate accord Complete
Biden's promise: "We have to rally the rest of the world to act and act now, [and] rejoin the Paris climate accord on Day One," Biden said during a campaign event in March 2020.
Just after being sworn in on Jan. 20, Biden signed an executive order rejoining the Paris climate accord, a global agreement that the United States had left under Trump. Read more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/02/19/climate-paris-accord/
Convene a world climate summit Complete
Biden's promise: "The first thing I'd do as president of the United States is call a meeting of all the nations who sign onto the accord, in Washington D.C., to up the ante. Because we've learned so much just in the last three years about the science, about what has to happen quicker," Biden said at a Sept. 4, 2019, CNN town hall.
Biden convened a virtual summit on April 22 and 23, where the United States made new commitments to combat climate change and meet some of the goals in the Paris climate accord. The White House has also been pressing other countries to set higher standards ahead of a critical United Nations climate summit in November in Scotland. Read more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/04/22/biden-climate-summit/
Revoke the Keystone XL permit Complete
Biden's promise: "Biden strongly opposed the Keystone pipeline in the last administration, stood alongside President Obama and Secretary [John F.] Kerry to reject it in 2015, and will proudly stand in the Roosevelt Room again as President and stop it for good by rescinding the Keystone XL pipeline permit," Stef Feldman, the Biden campaign's policy director, said in a statement in May.
Biden signed an executive order rescinding a permit that would build a multibillion-dollar pipeline to carry tar sands, or heavy bitumen, from northern Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Read more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/01/20/biden-climate-change-inauguration/
On foreign policy
Bring troops home from Afghanistan In progress
6,118 approximate war deaths in Afghanistan after 9/11
Number of U.S. military, DOD civilians and contractors killed directly in the Afghanistan war.
Source: Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University
Biden's promise: "It's long past time we end the forever wars, which have cost us untold blood and treasure. I have long argued that we should bring home the vast majority of our combat troops from the wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East," Biden said in a July 11, 2019, speech.
Biden announced on April 14 that all American military forces would withdraw from Afghanistan. He said the process would be completed by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the attacks that drew troops to the region and began the longest war in U.S. history, which is beyond the May 1 exit deadline negotiated by the Trump administration.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-us-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan/2021/04/13/918c3cae-9beb-11eb-8a83-3bc1fa69c2e8_story.html
Rejoin the World Health Organization Complete
Biden's promise: "On my first day as President, I will rejoin the @WHO and restore our leadership on the world stage," Biden wrote in a July 7 tweet.
On Jan. 20, Biden reversed the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization. Trump in May announced that the United States would withdraw from the WHO because of what he viewed as the global health organization's mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. The withdrawal would have been effective on July 6, 2021. Read more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/biden-administration-who-covax/2021/01/20/3ddc25ce-5a8c-11eb-aaad-93988621dd28_story.html
Rejoin the Iran nuclear deal In progress
Biden's promise: "I would rejoin the agreement and work with our allies to strengthen and extend it," Biden said in a July 11, 2019, speech.
Under President Barack Obama, the United States joined and helped negotiate a deal in which Iran would curb its nuclear ambitions in return for international sanctions relief. Trump withdrew from the deal, and Biden has vowed to rejoin it. Talks have been ongoing among several world powers about the deal, but no resolution appears imminent. Read more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/us-iran-nuclear-deal-sanctions/2021/04/21/f6e70b26-a2e2-11eb-a774-7b47ceb36ee8_story.html
On immigration
Create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants In progress
Undocumented immigrants 11M
U.S. population 326M
Source: Migration Policy Institute, Pew Research Center and Census Bureau (2018)
Biden's promise: "On Day One, I'm sending, no matter what the state of this is, to the United States Congress a bill to provide for a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented people, number one, in the United States," Biden said on MSNBC on May 14. ". . . It's a gigantic objective of mine to see to it that we make a — that we have an immigration system that's consistent with our values and who we say we are."
Biden did unveil a proposal just after taking office, which included many of the priorities he outlined during his campaign. House and Senate Democrats filed more detailed legislation in February, but comprehensive immigration overhaul has been a divisive issue for years, and its prospects remain in doubt. House Democrats in March passed two separate proposals to open a path to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants and to give undocumented agricultural workers a chance to earn legal status. Biden's immigration focus in his early months as president has been the sharp increase in migrants at the southern border.
Rescind the ban on travel from majority-Muslim countries Complete
Biden's promise: "Joe will rescind Trump's 'Muslim ban' on day one and reverse the determental asylum policies that are causing chaos and a humanitarian crisis at our border," a June fact sheet from his campaign said.
On his first day in office, Biden signed an executive order revoking Trump's actions related to the travel ban. He also directed the State Department to resume processing visas for those who were affected by it, although many of those whose applications were denied under Trump have to reapply.
Raise the refugee cap In progress
Biden's promise: "I will take decisive steps to renew our core values ... and set our annual refugee admissions at 125,000, and seek to raise it over time, commensurate with our responsibility and our values," Biden wrote in the magazine Foreign Affairs in January 2020.
Biden's administration in February said it would raise the cap to 62,500 refugees during this fiscal year, but announced on April 16 that it would keep in place the Trump-era cap of 15,000 refugees. After significant criticism, the White House said Biden would announce a new cap by May 15 that would increase the number of refugees admitted to the country but would "unlikely" meet the initial goal of 62,500. Their aim is to raise the cap to 125,000 people for the 2022 fiscal year. Read more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-administration-to-keep-refugee-cap-at-trumps-level-far-less-than-what-it-proposed-to-congress/2021/04/16/02c099da-9ece-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_story.html
On other topics
Appoint a Cabinet that 'looks like America' Complete
Biden's promise: "From the beginning, Vice President-elect Harris and I have sought to build an administration that looks like America," Biden said on Dec. 30. "Building a diverse team will lead to better outcomes and more effective solutions to address the urgent crises facing our nation."
Biden achieved a number of historic firsts in his running mate and Cabinet picks, including the first female vice president and treasury secretary, the first openly gay Cabinet secretary confirmed by the Senate, and the first Native American secretary. Half of his Cabinet members are non-White, and 46 percent are women, according to Inclusive America, which tracks diversity in government. Among the 315 administration positions tracked by the group, 42 percent are people of color and 59 percent are women. He has faced criticism from Asian American and Pacific Islander groups for not appointing an Asian American Cabinet secretary.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/03/24/white-house-add-aapi-liaison-after-ultimatum-sens-duckworth-hirono/
Reverse the transgender military ban Complete
Biden's promise: "Biden will direct the U.S. Department of Defense to allow transgender service members to serve openly, receive needed medical treatment, and be free from discrimination," his campaign website said
Several days into his presidency, Biden signed an executive order that overturned policies from the Trump administration that barred transgender people from serving in the military. Read more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-reverses-transgender-military-ban-trump/2021/01/25/38960998-5f1b-11eb-ac8f-4ae05557196e_story.html
Create a commission on changing the court system Completed in part
Biden's promise: "If elected, what I will do is I'll put together a bipartisan commission of scholars, constitutional scholars, Democrats, Republicans, liberal, conservative. And I will ask them to ... come back to me with recommendations as to how to reform the court system, because it's getting out of whack, the way in which it's being handled," Biden told CBS's "60 Minutes" in October.
Biden on April 9 created a 36-member commisison to study changes to the Supreme Court, giving the group 180 days to produce a report on topics including court expansion and term limits. But the group's work will be focused on the high court — not the entire judiciary — and they are expected to produce a report to Biden, rather than make specific recommendations. Read more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-to-unveil-commission-to-study-possible-expansion-of-supreme-court/2021/04/09/f644552c-9944-11eb-962b-78c1d8228819_story.html
Enact the Equality Act In progress
Biden's promise: "The Equality Act is the best vehicle for ensuring equal rights under the law for LGBTQ+ Americans, and will guarantee that LGBTQ+ individuals are protected under existing civil rights laws," Biden's campaign had on its website. "... Biden will also direct his Cabinet to ensure immediate and full enforcement of the Equality Act across all federal departments and agencies."
The House passed the legislation in February, but it has not yet been put to a vote in the Senate. The legislation would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act and enhance federal civil rights protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Read more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/congress-sexual-orientation-civil-rights-gender/2021/02/25/1351bea4-7779-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html
Pass the Voting Rights Act In progress
Biden's promise: "As President, Biden will strengthen our democracy by guaranteeing that every American's vote is protected," Biden's campaign website stated. "He will start by passing the Voting Rights Advancement Act to update section 4 of the Voting Rights Act and develop a new process for pre-clearing election changes."
The House in March passed legislation to expand voting rights, called H.R. 1 or the For the People Act. The legislation deals with a wide range of voter access issues, including same-day registration, absentee voting and campaign finance changes. Biden supports the proposal and has publicly pushed for it, but it faces a tougher battle in the Senate. Read more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-elections-voting-pelosi-/2021/03/03/e434df58-7c22-11eb-a976-c028a4215c78_story.html
Empower unions In progress
Biden's promise: Biden promised to be "the most pro-union president," with a plan that stated: "On Biden's first day in office, he will restore federal employees' rights to organize and bargain collectively, and will direct his agencies to bargain with federal employee unions over non-mandatory subjects of bargaining."
In his first few days in office, Biden signed several executive orders that strengthened federal unions, and he overturned several of Trump's policies that were viewed as anti-union. He made a prominent push in favor of 6,000 Amazon workers in Alabama attempting to unionize, a vote that ultimatley failed resoundingly. Biden has also pressed for legislation that would strenghten workers' rights, which has passed the House but will probably meet stiff opposition in the Senate.
Send legislation on gun control to Congress No action
Biden's promise: "My first day of office, I'm going to send a bill to the Congress repealing the liability protection for gun manufacturers, closing the background check loopholes and waiting period … that now let too many people slip through the cracks," Biden said on Feb. 20, 2020.
Biden in April took several executive actions — including cracking down on "ghost guns," which are homemade and lack a serial number — but those fall well short of the sweeping changes that advocates have called for and that Biden promises to address. Biden has called on Congress to pass legislation, but some advocates have been frustrated when he said at a March news conference that such legislation was "a matter of timing" and that his next major priority was an infrastructure package.
Create a national commission on police restructuring No action
Biden's promise: "In the first 100 days of my presidency, I've committed to creating a national police oversight commission," Biden said on June 2 in the wake of George Floyd's death. "I've long believed we need real community policing. We need each and every police department in the country to ... undertake a comprehensive review of their hiring, their training, their de-escalation."
On April 11, the Biden administration scrapped plans for a commission and said it would instead push for congressional legislation. Some civil rights groups preferred that route, believing a commission would take longer.
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Kevin Durant has his Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award Trophy on top of his Finals MVP trophies on his display case.
https://twitter.com/subliners/status/1387448833240674309
GOOD: Biden administration announces it intends to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/menthol-cigarettes-biden-fda-ban/
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/29/991973192/fda-moves-to-ban-menthol-cigarettes-and-flavored-cigars?origin=NOTIFY
Looking more possible that Democrats will lock themselves out of #TX06 runoff, despite Biden getting 48% of the vote in the district. 2018 nominee Jana Lynne Sanchez has the most local support, but two other candidates stayed in and raised $, and Latino Dem turnout has been weak.
https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1387813585875718144
Trump's supporters want him to get credit for the vaccine which many of them refuse to get as a way of "owning" Democrats
.075 hitter Matt Carpenter hits a pinch-hit 3R HR off Aaron Nola to take a 3-1 lead
https://bdata-producedclips.mlb.com/7a8c2b97-37e1-47e6-81be-3c532e3116ad.mp4
Kris Kobach files paperwork to run for Kansas AG. The guy who was ordered by a judge to take remedial law classes wants to be the top lawyer for the state of Kansas. That's very on brand for Republicans currently.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/550951-kris-kobach-files-paperwork-to-run-for-kansas-ag
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/29/fact-sheet-the-american-families-plan-advances-equity-and-racial-justice/
FACT SHEET: The American Families Plan Advances Equity and Racial Justice
April 29, 2021 • Statements and Releases
On his first day in office, President Biden signed an Executive Order directing the whole of the federal government to advance equity and racial justice. Today, the President announced a historic new set of investments to deliver on his vision of a more equitable America through the American Families Plan. The American Families Plan will help restore the promise of America for communities who have been left behind and locked out of opportunity—investing in teachers and students, empowering workers and their families, and reimagining a tax code that rewards work over wealth. By extending and building upon the provisions of the American Rescue Plan, the American Families Plan would lift more than 10 million people out of poverty in 2022. This means a 29 percent reduction in Black poverty, a 31 percent reduction in Latino poverty, and a 15 percent reduction in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander poverty, relative to the projected poverty rate for 2022. Among children, it would reduce poverty by more than 47 percent.
https://www.povertycenter.columbia.edu/news-internal/2021/presidential-policy/american-family-plan-poverty-impact
President Biden's American Families Plan will deliver a fairer and more equitable America by:
- Closing opportunity gaps for low-income children and children of color by providing universal access to preschool, and making quality, affordable child care more accessible across the nation.
- Investing in educational opportunity for underserved communities by providing two years of free community college for Americans, including DREAMers; making Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and institutions such as Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions (AANAPISIs), and other Minority-serving Institutions (MSIs) more affordable; increasing the value of Pell Grants to help more low-income students attend college; and ensuring more students are supported through completion.
- Empowering teachers by investing in the training and support they need and ensuring more teachers of color can reach the classroom.
- Creating a right to paid family and medical leave to ensure working parents and caregivers, including workers of color and low-wage workers, can equitably access the time off they need to support their families.
- Closing gaps in our social safety net to ensure that kids have the nutritious food they need to be healthy and succeed in school.
- Extending the American Rescue Plan's historic expansions of the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to provide income support and cut poverty among families and workers.
Together, these investments will give millions of children across the country a fair shot at the American dream.
UNIVERSAL PRE-SCHOOL FOR ALL 3- AND 4-YEAR-OLDS
Preschool is critical to ensuring that children start kindergarten with the skills and supports that set them up for success in school. In fact, research shows that kids who attend universal Pre-K are more likely to take honors classes and less likely to repeat a grade, and another study finds low-income children who attend universal programs do better in math and reading as late as eighth grade. Unfortunately, most children, and especially children of color and low-income children, do not have access to the full range of high-quality pre-school programs available to their peers. In addition, children with disabilities benefit from inclusive, accessible pre-school programs with their peers, and all children benefit when we create socio-economically diverse Pre-K classrooms where all students thrive.
https://www.future-ed.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Gormley_et_al-2017-Journal_of_Policy_Analysis_and_Management.pdf
https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w19735/w19735.pdf
https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/edtrustmain/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/05162154/Young-Learners-Missed-Opportunities.pdf
https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/earlylearning/joint-statement-full-text.pdf
https://tcf.org/content/report/together-from-the-start/?agreed=1
President Biden's American Families Plan will:
- Close opportunity gaps by providing universal pre-school to all 3- and 4-year-olds. President Biden is calling for a national partnership with states to offer free, high-quality, accessible, and inclusive preschool to all 3-and 4-year-olds—benefitting 5 million children. This historic investment in America's future will first prioritize high-need areas and enable communities and families to choose the setting that works best for them, whether that's a preschool classroom in a public school, a center, or a Head Start program. The President's plan will also ensure that all publicly-funded preschool is high-quality with low student-to-teacher ratios, a high-quality and developmentally appropriate curriculum, and supportive classroom environments that are inclusive for all students. The President's plan will leverage investments in tuition-free community college and teacher scholarships to support those who wish to earn a bachelor's degree or other credential that supports their work as an educator or their work to become an early childhood educator. And, educators will receive job-embedded coaching, professional development, and wages that reflect the importance of their work. All employees in participating Pre-K programs and Head Start will earn at least $15 per hour, and those with comparable qualifications will receive compensation commensurate with that of kindergarten teachers. These investments will give American children a head start and pave the way for the best-educated generation in U.S. history
FREE COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND OTHER POSTSECONDARY INVESTMENTS
For much of the 20th century, graduating from high school was a gateway to a stable job and a living wage. But over the last 40 years, we have seen the most growth in jobs requiring higher levels of job preparation, including education and training. Today, 70 percent of jobs are held by people with more than a high school degree. American workers, and especially workers of color, need support to build their skills, increase their earnings, remain competitive, and share in the benefits of the new economy. President Biden's American Families Plan will:
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2016/10/06/the-state-of-american-jobs/
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm
- Offer two years of free community college to all Americans, including DREAMers. Community colleges provide educational opportunities for students who are often underserved by four-year universities, including first-generation students, students of color, low-income students, and adult learners. President Biden's proposal creates a federal-state, -territory, and -tribal partnership that allows first-time college students and workers wanting to reskill to enroll in a community college to earn a degree or credential for free. Students can use the benefit for up to three years and, if circumstances warrant, up to four years, recognizing that many students' lives and other responsibilities can make full-time enrollment difficult. If all states, territories, and tribes participate, about 5.5 million students would pay $0 in tuition and fees.
- Provide up to approximately $1,400 in additional assistance to low-income students by increasing the Pell Grant award. Nearly 60 percent of Black, almost half of Latino, half of American Indian or Alaska Native, and more than one-third of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students depend on Pell Grants to help pay for college. But the grant has not kept up with the rising cost of postsecondary education; over the last 50 years, the maximum Pell Grant value has plummeted from nearly 80 percent of the cost of a four-year college degree to just 30 percent — leading millions of low-income students to take out debt to finance their education. The American Families Plan would increase the maximum Pell Grant award by approximately $1,400 and allow DREAMers to access the funding.
https://ticas.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Pell-Grants-Help-Keep-College-Affordable-for-Millions-of-Americans-logo.pdf
https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/pell-grants-a-key-tool-for-expanding-college-access-and-economic
- Increase college retention and completion rates. Just 40 percent and 54 percent of first-time Black and Latino students at four-year colleges and universities, respectively, go on to earn their degree, compared to 64 percent of white students. And overall, just 40 percent of community college students, who are disproportionately low-income and people of color, graduate within 6 years. The President is proposing a $62 billion formula grant program that will provide funding to states, territories, and Tribes to support retention and completion activities at colleges and universities that serve high numbers of low-income students, including wraparound services ranging from child care and mental health services to faculty and peer mentoring; emergency basic needs grants; practices that recruit and retain faculty; transfer agreements between colleges; and evidence-based remediation programs.
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/raceindicators/indicator_red.asp#info
https://www.brookings.edu/research/community-college-completion-rates-structural-and-motivational-barriers/#:~:text=and%20minority%20students.-,Fewer%20than%2040%20percent%20of%20community%20college%20students%20earn%20a,post%2Dsecondary%20certificate%20or%20degree.
- Provide two years of subsidized tuition and expand programs in high-demand fields at HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs. Research has found that HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs are vital to helping underrepresented students move to the top of the income ladder. But despite their record of success, these institutions have significantly fewer resources than other top colleges and universities, undermining their ability to grow and support more students. The President is calling for $39 billion to provide tuition subsidies to low- and middle-income students attending HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs. The President is also calling for $5 billion to expand existing institutional aid grants to HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs, which can be used by these institutions to strengthen their academic, administrative, and fiscal capabilities, including by creating or expanding educational programs in high-demand fields (e.g., STEM, computer sciences, nursing, and allied health), with an additional $2 billion funding directed towards building a pipeline of skilled health care workers with graduate degrees. These proposed investments, combined with the $45 billion proposed in the American Jobs Plan targeted to these institutions, will enable America's HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs to help advance underrepresented students and make the U.S. more competitive on the global stage.
https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/MSIs-as-Engines-of-Upward-Mobility.pdf
EDUCATION AND PREPARATION FOR TEACHERS
Few people have a bigger impact on a child's life than a great teacher. Unfortunately, the U.S. faces a large and growing teacher shortage. Before the pandemic, schools across the nation needed an estimated additional 100,000 certified teachers, resulting in key positions going unfilled, granting of emergency certifications, or teachers teaching out of their certification area. Shortages of certified teachers disproportionately impact schools with higher percentages of students of color, which have a higher proportion of teachers that are uncertified and higher shares of inexperienced teachers, exacerbating educational disparities. President Biden is calling for investments to improve the impact of new teachers entering the profession, increase retention rates, and increase the number of teachers of color, all of which will improve student outcomes.
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/A_Coming_Crisis_in_Teaching_REPORT.pdf
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/understanding-teacher-shortages-interactive?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlZbktfGP8AIVg-DICh10CQyXEAAYAiAAEgJgV_D_BwE
President Biden's American Families Plan will:
- Address teacher shortages, improve teacher preparation, and strengthen pipelines for underrepresented teachers, including teachers of color. Our country faces a serious teacher shortage problem, which disproportionately impacts students of color. The percentage of teachers in their first or second year of teaching in schools with the highest percentage of students of color is 7 percentage points higher than schools with the lowest percentage of students of color (17 percent vs. 10 percent). The percentage of teachers who are uncertified is more than three times as large (4.8 percent vs. 1.3 percent). At the same time, while teachers of color can have a particularly strong impact on students of color, around one in five teachers are people of color, compared to more than half of K-12 public school students. These disparities help drive gaps in student outcomes. Strengthening the teacher pipeline and improving teacher preparation, supporting teachers so they stay in the classroom, and investing in the recruitment and preparation of underrepresented teachers will help narrow persistent educational disparities. President Biden is calling on Congress to invest in America's teachers, including by doubling scholarships for future teachers from $4,000 to $8,000 per year, which would help underrepresented teachers, including teachers of color, access high-quality teacher preparation programs that best prepare them for the work ahead. The plan also will invest $2.8 billion in Grow Your Own programs and year-long, paid teacher residency programs, which have a greater impact on student outcomes, teacher retention, and are more likely to enroll underrepresented teacher candidates, including candidates of color; and invest $400 million in teacher preparation programs at HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs.
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/understanding-teacher-shortages-interactive?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlZbktfGP8AIVg-DICh10CQyXEAAYAiAAEgJgV_D_BwE
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/Diversifying_Teaching_Profession_REPORT_0.pdf
https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cge.asp
- Support the development of special education teachers. There has been a 17 percent decline in the number of special educators
over the last decade. Additionally, while only about half of the students receiving special education services are white, approximately 82 percent of special education teachers are white. The American Families Plan will invest $900 million in personnel preparation funds under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), funding pathways to additional certifications, and strengthening existing teacher preparation programs for special educators.
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/shortage-of-special-educators-adds-to-classroom-pressures/2018/12
https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/the-push-to-get-more-teachers-of-color-in-special-education-classrooms/2019/09
- Help current teachers earn in-demand credentials. Many teachers are eager to answer the call to get certified in areas their schools need, like bilingual education, but are deterred due to the high cost of getting an additional certification. President Biden is calling on Congress to create a new fund to provide more than 100,000 educators with the opportunity to obtain additional certifications in high-demand areas like special education, bilingual education, and certifications that improve teacher performance. This will particularly benefit students with disabilities and English learners.
- Invest in educator leadership. Millions of teachers – and the students they educate – would stand to benefit from greater mentorship and leadership opportunities. President Biden is calling on Congress to invest $2 billion to support programs that leverage teachers as leaders, such as high-quality mentorship programs for new teachers and underrepresented teachers, including teachers of color.
CHILD CARE
High-quality early care and education helps ensure that children can take full advantage of education and training opportunities later in life, especially for children from low-income families, who face learning disparities before they even can go to preschool. One study by Nobel Laureate James Heckman found that every dollar invested in a high-quality, comprehensive birth to five program for the most economically disadvantaged children resulted in $7.30 in benefits as children grew up healthier, were more likely to graduate high school and college, and earned more as adults. But we have grave disparities when it comes to child care in our country. One analysis finds that more than half of Latino and Native American families live in child care deserts. Difficulty finding high-quality, affordable child care leads some parents, especially mothers, to drop out of the labor force entirely, some to reduce their work hours, and others to turn down a promotion – leading to lifetime consequences in terms of earnings, savings, and retirement. Lack of affordable child care can be especially challenging for the families of the nearly 7 in 10 Black women who are their families' primary or sole breadwinners.
https://rhyclearinghouse.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/docs/18755-Disparities_in_Early_Learning_and_Development%5Bfull%5D.pdf
https://www.nber.org/papers/w22993
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/reports/2018/12/06/461643/americas-child-care-deserts-2018/
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/01/women-more-than-men-adjust-their-careers-for-family-life/
https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/A-Lifetimes-Worth-of-Benefits-_FD.pdf
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2019/05/10/469739/breadwinning-mothers-continue-u-s-norm/
President Biden's American Families Plan will:
- Ensure low- and middle-income families can access affordable child care for children under the age of five. Under the President's plan, families will pay only a portion of their income based on a sliding scale. For the most hard-pressed working families, child care costs for their young children would be fully covered and families earning 1.5 times their state median income will spend no more than 7 percent of their income on child care for their young children. The plan will also provide families with a range of inclusive and accessible options to choose from for their child, from child care centers to family child care providers to Early Head Start programs.
- Invest in high-quality care. The last time the U.S. prioritized major, long-term investments in child care was when President Roosevelt signed the Lanham Act to provide free, high-quality child care in an effort to support women going to work during World War II. Not only did it enable women to work, but children who participated experienced long-lasting economic benefits, proving most beneficial for the most disadvantaged children. Under the President's plan, child care providers will receive funding to support the true cost of quality early childhood education–including a developmentally appropriate curriculum, small class sizes, and culturally and linguistically responsive environments that are accessible and inclusive of children with disabilities. These investments support positive interactions between educators and children that promote children's social-emotional and cognitive development.
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/689478?af=R&mobileUi=0&
- Invest in the care workforce, including the women of color who make up a substantial percentage of the field. More investment is needed to support early childhood providers and educators, more than nine in ten of whom are women and more than four and ten of whom are women of color. They are among the most underpaid workers in the country. The typical child care worker earned $12.24 per hour in 2020, and one report found nearly half rely on public income support programs. The American Families Plan includes a $15 minimum wage for early childhood educators and ensures that those with similar qualifications as kindergarten teachers receive comparable compensation and benefits.
https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ChildCareWorkersFS.pdf
https://cscce.berkeley.edu/workforce-index-2020/the-early-educator-workforce/early-educator-pay-economic-insecurity-across-the-states/
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/childcare-workers.htm
https://cscce.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/ReportFINAL.pdf
When fully implemented, the President's plan will provide 3 million children from low- and middle-income families with high quality care, saving the average family $14,800 a year on child care expenses.
PAID LEAVE
Paid family and medical leave supports workers and families and is a critical investment in the strength and equity of our economy. Paid leave has been found to reduce racial disparities in wage loss between workers of color and white workers, improve child health and well-being, support employers by improving employee retention and reducing turnover costs, and increase women's labor force participation. However, currently, 95 percent of the lowest wage workers, mostly women and workers of color, lack access to any paid family leave. Sixty-two percent of Black adults and 73 percent of Latino adults are either ineligible for or cannot afford to take unpaid leave, compared to 60 percent of white adults. Additionally, Black and Latina mothers are more likely than white women to report being let go by an employer or quitting their jobs after giving birth in order to have some leave.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13668803.2019.1704398
https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/benefits/2020/employee-benefits-in-the-united-states-march-2020.pdf
https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/economic-justice/paid-leave/paid-family-and-medical-leave-racial-justice-issue-and-opportunity.pdf
https://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p70-128.pdf
President Biden's American Families Plan will:
- Create a national comprehensive paid family and medical leave program. Paid family and medical leave can help reduce racial disparities in wage loss between workers of color and white workers. People with disabilities may also have less access to paid leave due to higher rates of part time and low wage employment. The program will ensure workers receive partial wage replacement to take time to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill loved one, deal with a loved one's military deployment, find safety from sexual assault, stalking, or domestic violence, heal from their own serious illness, or take time to deal with the death of a loved one. It will guarantee twelve weeks of paid parental, family, and personal illness/safe leave by year 10 of the program, and also ensure workers get three days of bereavement leave per year starting in year one. The program will provide workers up to $4,000 a month, with a minimum of two-thirds of average weekly wages replaced, rising to 80 percent for the lowest wage workers. The plan has an inclusive definition of family, ensuring workers can care for and be cared by a loved one who is not related by blood, which will greatly impact LGBTQ individuals and people with disabilities. We estimate this program will cost $225 billion over a decade.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13668803.2019.1704398
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/disability/news/2020/10/27/492351/disability-community-needs-paid-family-medical-leave/
https://thearc.org/wp-content/uploads/forchapters/Paid-Leave-Report.pdf
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbtq-rights/news/2021/02/16/495680/making-case-chosen-family-paid-family-medical-leave-policies/
https://thearc.org/wp-content/uploads/forchapters/Paid-Leave-Report.pdf
NUTRITION
The pandemic has added urgency to the moral travesty of nutrition insecurity among children, which disproportionately affects low-income families and children of color. No one should have to worry about whether they can provide nutritious food for themselves or their children. A poor diet jeopardizes a child's ability to learn and succeed in school. Nutrition insecurity can also have long-lasting negative impact on overall health and put children at higher risk for diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.
President Biden's American Families Plan will:
- Expand summer EBT to all eligible children nationwide. The Summer EBT Demonstrations help low-income families with children eligible for free- and reduced-price meals during the school year purchase food during the summer. The American Families Plan builds on the American Rescue Plan's support for Summer Pandemic-EBT by making the successful program permanent and available to all 29 million children receiving free- and reduced-price meals. Research shows that this program decreases food insecurity among children and led to positive changes in nutritional outcomes.
- Expand school meal programs. Currently, just 70 percent of eligible schools have adopted Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which allows high-poverty schools to provide meals free of charge to all of their students—breaking down barriers for students who may be eligible for school meals but may not apply for them due to stigma or not fully understanding the application process. The President's plan will allow more schools in high poverty districts to offer meals free of charge to all of their students by reimbursing a higher percentage of meals at the free reimbursement rate through CEP. Additionally, the plan will target elementary schools by reimbursing an even higher percentage of meals at the free reimbursement through CEP and lowering the threshold for CEP eligibility for elementary schools. The plan will also expand direct certification to automatically enroll more students for school meals based on Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income data.
- Facilitate re-entry for formerly incarcerated individuals through SNAP eligibility. Individuals convicted of a drug-related felony are currently ineligible to receive SNAP benefits unless a state has taken the option to eliminate or modify this restriction. Denying these individuals—many of whom are parents of young children—SNAP benefits jeopardizes nutrition security and poses a barrier to re-entry into the community in a population that already faces significant hurdles to obtaining employment and stability. SNAP is a critical safety net for many individuals as they search for employment to support themselves and their families. This restriction disproportionately impacts African Americans, who are convicted of drug offenses at much higher rates than white Americans.
TAX CUTS FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES AND WORKERS
While the American Rescue Plan provided meaningful relief for hundreds of millions of Americans, that is just a first step. Now is the time to build back better, to help families and workers who for too long have felt the squeeze of stagnating wages and an ever-increasing cost-of-living. Direct assistance to families in the form of tax credits paid on a regular basis lifts children and families out of poverty, makes it easier for families to make ends meet, and boosts the academic and economic performance of children over time.
President Biden's American Families Plan will:
- Extend expanded ACA premiums tax credits in the American Rescue Plan. Health care should be a right, not a privilege, and Americans facing illness should never have to worry about how they are going to pay for their treatment. No one should face a choice between buying life-saving medications or putting food on the table. President Biden has a plan to build on the Affordable Care Act and lower prescription drug costs for everyone by letting Medicare negotiate prices, reducing health insurance premiums and deductibles for those who buy coverage on their own, creating a public option and the option for people to enroll in Medicare at age 60, and closing the Medicaid coverage gap to help millions of Americans gain health insurance. The American Families Plan will build on the American Rescue Plan and continue our work to make health care more affordable. The biggest improvement in health care affordability since the Affordable Care Act, the American Rescue Plan provided two years of lower health insurance premiums for those who buy coverage on their own. With these changes, about three in four uninsured Black adults and nearly four in five uninsured Hispanic or Latino adults are now eligible for low-cost health care. The American Families Plan will make those premium reductions permanent, a $200 billion investment. As a result, nine million people will save hundreds of dollars per year on their premiums, and four million uninsured people will gain coverage. The Families Plan will also invest in maternal health and support the families of veterans receiving health care services.
https://aspe.hhs.gov/system/files/pdf/265321/ASPE%20ACA%20Low%20Premium%20Plans%20Issue%20Brief%20II.pdf
https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2021/03/12/fact-sheet-american-rescue-plan-reduces-health-care-costs-expands-access-insurance-coverage.html
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/what-if-american-rescue-plans-enhanced-marketplace-subsidies-were-made-permanent-estimates-2022
- Extend the Child Tax Credit (CTC) increases in the American Rescue Plan through 2025 and make the CTC permanently fully refundable. The President is calling for the Child Tax Credit expansion, first enacted in the American Rescue Plan, to be extended. This legislation expands the Child Tax Credit from $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child six-years old and above, and $3,600 per child for children under six. It also makes 17-year-olds eligible for the first time and makes the credit fully refundable on a permanent basis, so that low-income families—the families that need the credit the most—can benefit from the full tax credit. The expanded Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan will benefit nearly 66 million children, and is the single largest contributor to the plan's historic reductions in child poverty, including by 52 percent for Black children, 45 percent for Latino children, 37 percent for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander children, and 61 percent for Native American children.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5743308460b5e922a25a6dc7/t/600f2123fdfa730101a4426a/1611604260458/Poverty-Reduction-Analysis-American-Family-Act-CPSP-2020.pdf
- Permanently increase tax credits to support families with child care needs. To help even more low- and middle-income families, President Biden is calling on Congress to make permanent the temporary Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) expansion enacted in the American Rescue Plan. Families will get back as a tax credit as much as half of their spending on child care for children under age 13, so that they can receive a total of up to $4,000 for one child or $8,000 for two or more children. The CDCTC will be fully refundable, making the credit more equitable by allowing low-income working families to receive the full value of the credit towards their eligible child care expenses regardless of how much they owe in taxes. This is a dramatic expansion of support to low- and middle-income families. In 2019, a family claiming a CDCTC for the previous year got less than $600 on average towards the cost of care, and many low-income families got nothing.
https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-individual-statistical-tables-by-size-of-adjusted-gross-income
- Make the Earned Income Tax Credit expansion for childless workers permanent. President Biden believes our tax code should reward work and not wealth. And that means rewarding workers who work hard every day at modest wages to provide their communities with essential services. Before this year, the federal tax code taxed low-wage childless workers into poverty or deeper into poverty — the only group of workers it treated this way. The American Rescue Plan addressed this problem by roughly tripling the EITC for childless workers, benefitting 17 million low-wage workers, many of whom are essential workers including cashiers, cooks, delivery drivers, food preparation workers, and childcare providers. For example, a childless worker who works 30 hours per week at $9 per hour earns income that, after taxes, leaves them below the federal poverty line. By increasing her EITC to more than $1,100, this EITC expansion helps pull such workers out of poverty. The President is calling on Congress to make this expansion permanent. Extending these changes will give a critical boost in earnings of an estimated 2.8 billion Black, 2.8 million Latino, and 678,000 Asian American workers.
https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/american-rescue-plan-act-includes-critical-expansions-of-child-tax-credit-and
To view this fact sheet in your browser, click here.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AFP-Fact-Sheet-Racial-Equity.pdf
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/29/fact-sheet-the-american-families-plan-will-support-children-teachers-and-working-families-in-rural-america/
FACT SHEET: The American Families Plan Will Support Children, Teachers, and Working Families in Rural America
April 29, 2021 • Statements and Releases
President Biden knows a strong middle-class is the backbone of America and that rural and tribal communities are essential to the economic growth of our country. Rural communities require targeted investments that meet the needs of their children and families, along with workforce development for those providing childcare and education. The American Families Plan represents a generation-defining investment in rural America, and a commitment to grow the middle-class and expand the benefits of economic growth to all Americans. All told, by extending and building upon the provisions of the American Rescue Plan, the American Families Plan would cut the rural poverty rate by more than 21 percent and the rural child poverty rate by 50 percent, relative to the projected poverty rate for 2022.
https://www.povertycenter.columbia.edu/news-internal/2021/presidential-policy/american-family-plan-poverty-impact
UNIVERSAL PRE-SCHOOL FOR 3- AND 4-YEAR OLDS
Low population density, physical isolation, and broad spatial distribution make access to preschool more challenging for low-income families in rural areas. President Biden's American Families Plan will:
- Provide free universal pre-school to all 3- and 4-year-olds, benefitting 5 million children. This historic investment in America's future will first prioritize high-need areas and enable communities and families to choose the settings that work best for them, whether that's a preschool classroom in a public school, a center, or a Head Start program. The President's plan will invest in tuition-free community college and teacher scholarships to support those who wish to earn a bachelor's degree or other credential that supports their work as an educator or their work to become an early childhood educator. And educators will receive job-embedded coaching, professional development, and wages that reflect the importance of their work. All employees in participating Pre-K programs and Head Start will earn at least $15 per hour, and those with comparable qualifications will receive compensation and benefits similar to elementary school teachers.
FREE COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND OTHER POSTSECONDARY INVESTMENTS
There are approximately 250 rural community colleges across the U.S., with an even greater number of community colleges that serve a primarily rural student population. Colleges and universities are important anchor institutions in rural communities, providing jobs to residents, attracting businesses, and boosting local economies.
https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/
President Biden's American Families Plan will:
- Provide two years of free community college so that first-time students and workers wanting to reskill can enroll in a community college without paying tuition and fees.
- Increase the maximum Pell Grant award by approximately $1,400 to provide additional assistance to low-income students and also allow DREAMers to access the grant.
- Provide grants to increase college retention and completion, allowing states, territories, and Tribes to support the adoption and expansion of evidence-based practices and promising solutions that help students complete their degrees.
- Increase funding to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and institutions such as Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions (AANAPISIs), and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), and the students they serve. This will provide two years of subsidized tuition, as well as funding to support institutional development and the strengthening of the health care workforce, which will benefit rural areas where the need for physicians, nurses, and other providers continues to limit access to care.
Education and Preparation for Teachers
More than 9 million students—nearly one in five students—attend a rural school in the U.S. But these schools face challenges in hiring and retaining teachers, particularly in special education and specialized instruction.
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED604580.pdf
President Biden's American Families Plan will:
- Address teacher shortages, improve teacher preparation, and strengthen pipelines for teachers of color. President Biden is calling on Congress to double scholarships for future teachers from $4,000 to $8,000 per year while earning their degree and expand it to early childhood educators. The President's plan would also invest $3.2 billion to cultivate and recruit teachers from the communities that schools serve, provide year-long, paid residency programs, and invest in teacher preparation at HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs.
- Support the development of special education teachers. There has been a 17 percent decline in the number of special educators over the last decade. Additionally, while only about half of the students receiving special education services are white, approximately 82 percent of special education teachers are white. The American Families Plan will invest $900 million in personnel preparation funds under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), funding pathways to additional certifications and strengthening existing teacher preparation programs for special educators.
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/shortage-of-special-educators-adds-to-classroom-pressures/2018/12
https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/the-push-to-get-more-teachers-of-color-in-special-education-classrooms/2019/09
- Help current teachers earn in-demand credentials. President Biden is calling on Congress to create a new fund to provide educators with opportunities to obtain additional certifications in high-demand areas like special education, bilingual education, and certifications that improve teacher performance. This fund will support over 100,000 educators, with priority for public school teachers with at least two years of experience at schools with a significant number of low-income students or significant teacher shortages.
Invest in educator leadership. President Biden is calling on Congress to invest $2 billion in programs that leverage teachers as leaders to multiply their impact within their school, such as high-quality mentoring programs that leverage current teachers as mentors for new teachers, which improve student outcomes and increase teacher retention rates while keeping great teachers in the classroom.
Child Care
Lack of access to affordable, high-quality child care is making it hard for parents to work and provide for their families. Many rural families have to go without care, and without sufficient demand, it can be challenging for centers to afford to operate. Over half of rural families live in a child care desert, meaning there are few or no child care options. In particular, rural families disproportionately lack access to child care centers serving infants and toddlers.
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/reports/2018/12/06/461643/americas-child-care-deserts-2018/
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/early-care-and-education-rural-communities
The American Families Plan builds on investments in President Biden's American Jobs Plan and will further expand access to high-quality child care in rural areas.
President Biden's American Families Plan will:
- Make child care more affordable. Families will pay only a portion of their income on child care based on a sliding scale. For the most-hard pressed working families, child care costs for their young children would be fully covered and families earning up to 1.5 times their state median income will spend no more than 7% of their income on child care for young children.
- Ensure this child care is high quality. The American Families plan will ensure child care providers, including centers and home-based providers, receive funding to provide the true cost of quality early childhood education—including a developmentally appropriate curriculum, small class sizes, and culturally and linguistically responsive environments that are inclusive of children with disabilities.
- Invest in the care workforce across rural America. Early childhood educators are among the most underpaid workers in the country and nearly half rely on public income support programs. The typical child care worker earned $12.24 per hour in 2020—while receiving few, if any, benefits, leading to high turnover and lower quality of care. The American Families Plan will ensure a $15 minimum wage for early childhood educators. Those with comparable qualifications to elementary school teachers will receive comparable compensation and benefits. And, the American Families Plan will ensure educators receive job-embedded coaching and professional development, along with additional training opportunities.
https://cscce.berkeley.edu/workforce-index-2020/the-early-educator-workforce/early-educator-pay-economic-insecurity-across-the-states/
https://cscce.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/ReportFINAL.pdf
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/childcare-workers.htm
Paid Leave
Paid family and medical leave supports workers and families and is a critical investment in the strength and equity of our economy. However, many rural workers lack access to paid family and medical leave programs, particularly low-wage workers. According to one nation-wide survey, over fifty percent of non-metro (including rural) workers said they would very likely face hardship if they had to take a few months of unpaid time off work, compared to 40 percent of metro area workers. Furthermore, many small rural businesses struggle to compete for and retain talent compared to urban areas. These businesses often cannot afford to provide workplace supports like paid family and medical leave. Rural areas are also more likely to have older populations, increasing the need for both medical and caregiving leave. One study found that California's paid leave program accounted for an 11-percent relative decline in elderly nursing home usage, saving costs for both the state and families.
https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/economic-justice/paid-leave/voters-views-on-paid-family-medical-leave-survey-findings-august-2018.pdf
http://paidleavemn.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/WGPP-Rural-Brief-1.19-Pages-1.pdf
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/10/older-population-in-rural-america.html
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pam.22038/full
President Biden's American Families Plan will:
- Create a national comprehensive paid family and medical leave program. The program will ensure workers receive partial wage replacement to take time to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill loved one, deal with a loved one's military deployment, find safety from sexual assault, stalking, or domestic violence, heal from their own serious illness, or take time to deal with the death of a loved one. It will guarantee twelve weeks of paid parental, family, and personal illness/safe leave by year 10 of the program, and also ensure workers get three days of bereavement leave per year starting in year one. The program will provide workers up to $4,000 a month, with a minimum of two-thirds of average weekly wages replaced, rising to 80 percent for the lowest wage workers. We estimate this program will cost $225 billion over a decade.
Nutrition
With higher child poverty rates and longer distances to grocery stores, accessing nutritious food can be challenging for families in rural areas. Eighty-six percent of counties with high child food insecurity are rural, and children in rural areas are 25 percent more likely to be obese than those in urban areas. To foster positive long-term health outcomes through nutrition security, President Biden's American Families Plan will:
https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2020-06/Map%20the%20Meal%20Gap%202020%20Combined%20Modules.pdf
https://www.ashaweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Childhood-Obesity-Prevention-Strategies-for-Rural-Communities.pdf
- Expand summer EBT to all eligible children nationwide. The Summer EBT Demonstrations help low-income families with children eligible for free- and reduced-price meals during the school year purchase food during the summer. The American Families Plan builds on the American Rescue Plan's support for Summer Pandemic-EBT by making the successful program permanent and available to all 29 million children receiving free- and reduced-price meals. Research shows that this program decreases food insecurity among children and leads to positive changes in nutritional outcomes.
- Expand school meal programs. Currently, just 70 percent of eligible schools have adopted Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which allows high-poverty schools to provide meals free of charge to all of their students—breaking down barriers for students who may be eligible for school meals but may not apply for them due to stigma or not fully understanding the application process. The President's plan will allow more schools in high poverty districts to offer meals free of charge to all of their students by reimbursing a higher percentage of meals at the free reimbursement rate through CEP. Additionally, the plan will target elementary schools by lowering the threshold for CEP eligibility for elementary schools. The plan will also expand direct certification to automatically enroll more students for school meals based on Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income data. This will especially help rural schools, which often have limited administrative capacity for food purchasing and accounting.
- Launch a healthy foods incentive demonstration to further improve the nutrition standards of school meals and support the development of healthy lifestyles throughout the school environment.
Tax Cuts for America's Families and Workers
While the American Rescue Plan provided meaningful relief to hundreds of millions of Americans, that was just a first step. Now is the time to build back better, to help families and workers who for too long have felt the squeeze of stagnating wages and an ever-increasing cost-of-living. Direct assistance to families in the form of tax credits paid on a regular basis lifts children and families out of poverty, makes it easier for families to make ends meet, and boosts the academic and economic performance of children over time. President Biden's American Families Plan will:
- Extend expanded ACA premiums tax credits in the American Rescue Plan. Health care should be a right, not a privilege, and Americans facing illness should never have to worry about how they are going to pay for their treatment. No one should face a choice between buying life-saving medications or putting food on the table. President Biden has a plan to build on the Affordable Care Act and lower prescription drug costs for everyone by letting Medicare negotiate prices, reducing health insurance premiums and deductibles for those who buy coverage on their own, creating a public option and the option for people to enroll in Medicare at age 60, and closing the Medicaid coverage gap to help millions of Americans gain health insurance. The American Families Plan will build on the American Rescue Plan and continue our work to make health care more affordable. The biggest improvement in health care affordability since the Affordable Care Act, the American Rescue Plan provided two years of lower health insurance premiums for those who buy coverage on their own. With those changes, more than three in four uninsured people living in rural areas are now eligible for low-cost health care, and more than four in five current HealthCare.gov enrollees in rural counties are eligible for low-cost health care. The American Families Plan will make a $200 billion investment to make those premium reductions permanent. As a result, nine million people will save hundreds of dollars per year on their premiums, and four million uninsured people will gain coverage. The Families Plan will also invest in maternal health and support the families of veterans receiving health care services.
https://aspe.hhs.gov/system/files/pdf/265321/ASPE%20ACA%20Low%20Premium%20Plans%20Issue%20Brief%20II.pdf
https://aspe.hhs.gov/system/files/pdf/265361/low-premium-plans-ib-part-iii.pdf
https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2021/03/12/fact-sheet-american-rescue-plan-reduces-health-care-costs-expands-access-insurance-coverage.html
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/what-if-american-rescue-plans-enhanced-marketplace-subsidies-were-made-permanent-estimates-2022
- Extend the Child Tax Credit (CTC) increases in the American Rescue Plan through 2025 and make the CTC permanently fully refundable. Rural child poverty rates are higher than the national average, and more than 200 rural counties qualify as "persistent-poverty counties," meaning they have experienced poverty rates of 20 percent or higher for at least 30 years. The President is calling for extending the Child Tax Credit expansion first enacted in the American Rescue Plan, which increases the Child Tax Credit from $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child for 6-year-olds and above and $3,600 per child for children under 6. It also makes 17-year-olds eligible for the first time and makes the credit fully refundable, meaning that the nearly half of low-income rural families that historically did not qualify for the full credit because they earned too little, can now receive the same credit as middle-income families. If extended, this would be the single largest contributor to this plan's historic impact of lifting a projected 620,000 children in non-metro areas out of poverty in 2022 and cutting rural child poverty in half.
https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-518.pdf
https://www.povertycenter.columbia.edu/news-internal/2021/presidential-policy/american-family-plan-poverty-impact
- Permanently increase tax credits to support families with child care needs. To help even more families, President Biden is calling on Congress to make permanent the temporary expansion of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) enacted in the American Rescue Plan. Families will get back as a tax credit as much as half of their spending on child care for children under age 13, so that they can receive a total of up to $4,000 for one child or $8,000 for two or more children. Making the American Rescue Plan expansion of CDCTC permanent will also ensure the credit will continue to be fully refundable, making it more equitable by allowing low-income working families to receive the full value of the credit towards their eligible child care expenses regardless of how much they owe in taxes.
- Make the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) expansion for childless workers permanent. President Biden believes our tax code should reward work and not wealth. And that means rewarding people who work hard every day at modest wages to provide their communities with essential services. Before this year, the federal tax code taxed low-wage childless workers into poverty or deeper into poverty — the only group of workers treated this way. The American Rescue Plan addressed this problem by roughly tripling the EITC for childless workers, benefitting 17 million low-wage workers, many of whom are essential workers including cashiers, cooks, delivery drivers, food preparation workers, and childcare providers. For example, a childless worker who works 30 hours per week at $9 per hour earns income that, after taxes, leaves them below the federal poverty line. By increasing her credit to more than $1,100, EITC expansion helps pull such workers out of poverty. The President is calling on Congress to make this expansion permanent. All told, the expansion will directly benefit more than one in five rural workers without children.
https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/american-rescue-plan-act-includes-critical-expansions-of-child-tax-credit-and
https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/rescue-plans-expansions-of-earned-income-tax-credit-child-tax-credit-will
To view this fact sheet in your browser, click here.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AFP-Fact-Sheet-Rural.pdf
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The Denver Nuggets are planning to sign guard Austin Rivers for the rest of the season. He's averaged 24 minutes in five games on a 10-day deal. Nuggets lost guard Jamal Murray for year and are playing without Will Barton now.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1387836267749072898
Yusei Kikuchi vs the Astros: 7IP, 2BB, 1H, 0ER, and 7K on 95 pitches
https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401227428
A senior WH official confirms that Andy Slavitt, advisor for the COVID-19 response, will be departing in about a month. His role was always meant to be temporary - he'll work to find a good transition point, but expect it to be in about 30-45 days.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/29/politics/next-100-days-of-covid/index.html
Permanently banning its most famous user, Donald Trump, and cracking down on the postings of right-wing figures does not appear to have hurt Twitter's financial performance. The company's revenue jumped by 28% in the first quarter of the year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/business/twitter-growth-trump-ban.html
Hawaii to become the first state to declare climate emergency
https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/climate-change/550916-hawaii-to-become-the-first-state-to-declare
Joe Biden Marks First 100 Days With Better Job Approval Rating Than Donald Trump Ever Achieved
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-marks-first-100-days-better-job-approval-rating-donald-trump-ever-achieved-1587266
Cedric Mullins walks off the Yankees
https://bdata-producedclips.mlb.com/3a7b6f48-9b9d-467a-8bc7-ec8c19e61c4f.mp4
Phillies plunked Nolan Arenado in 9th inning, Mike Shildt ejected.
https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2021/2021-04/29/ff215bf3-2a6815b8-15db5e5c-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4
In another clip, Taşpınar explains one of the reasons Turkey has feared U.S. recognition of the Armenian genocide: the legal fallout.
ICYMI: More on this week's episode of my podcast "Objections."
https://lawandcrime.com/objections-podcast/on-this-weeks-objections-podcast-historical-reckonings-with-the-66-year-old-lynching-of-emmett-till-and-the-106-year-old-armenian-genocide
A legislative ethics committee in Idaho said Thursday that Republican state Representative Aaron von Ehlinger should be formally censured and suspended from office as an investigation into allegations of rape continues, the Associated Press reported.
https://www.newsweek.com/aaron-von-ehlinger-idaho-rep-accused-rape-should-suspended-office-ethics-panel-1587555
GOOD: The number of unaccompanied migrant children held in jail-like conditions by US Customs and Border Protection dropped nearly 84% in the span of a month, according to a White House official, underscoring the significant progress made by the administration after reaching record high custody figures. As of Wednesday, there were 954 children in CBP facilities, down from a peak of 5,767 on March 28, the official told CNN, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak on the record.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/29/politics/border-patrol-unaccompanied-minors/index.html
Senate votes to open floodgates, passes bipartisan $35 billion water infrastructure bill | The Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 89-2. The only two senators to vote against the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act were Republicans Mike Lee of Utah and Ted Cruz of Texas. The legislation includes nearly $30 billion in funding for clean water and drinking water revolving loan funds and an additional $6 billion in grant funding. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, where it's unclear when it will be considered. Lawmakers there have been focused on a larger infrastructure package.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-votes-open-floodgates-passes-bipartisan-35-billion-water-infrastructure-n1265896
https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/6/8/6857cd91-5f82-454a-958a-b2f1e6fa01f9/5EAE0E5D4CAC678DCADA85E8FB0252A1.dwwia-one-pager-general.pdf
https://twitter.com/SenatorCarper/status/1387838721723183105
Missouri Senate Illegally And Unconstitutionally Rejects Funding For Voter-Approved Medicaid Expansion
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/government-politics-issues/2021-04-29/missouri-senate-rejects-funding-for-voter-approved-medicaid-expansion
Things going to get hard for Biden agenda in Congress with Democrats not on same page and most Republicans opposed. Policing legislation has the most momentum for now but tough slog ahead for his economic agenda as some Dems push to go-it alone and Manchin pushes back
Jazz announce that both Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell will miss tomorrow's battle with the Suns. Not an easy matchup without your All-Star backcourt. Major seeding implications on the line.
https://twitter.com/larsen_espn/status/1387922757363675136
Tim Hardaway Jr. tonight: 42 points on 13/23 shooting, 6/10 from 3, 3 assists, a rebound and a steal
Steph Curry didn't see the ball coming, but immediately shoots the 3 and doesn't even look
https://streamable.com/a9nqe0
Kevin Durant Tonight: 42/3/10 on 16/24 shooting, 2/4 from three and 8/8 from the line
FIRE HIM FFS:
https://nj.com/cumberland/2021/04/police-chief-who-asked-to-sleep-with-officers-wife-and-daughter-should-be-demoted-hearing-officer-rules.html
Giannis Antetokounmpo has a right ankle sprain and will not return to tonight's game in Houston.
https://twitter.com/eric_nehm/status/1387928982293827586
"Steph said he and Draymond talked to the team postgame about what they all must do, but the words will stay in the lockerroom. Steph said this is not a dysfunctional team, but they need to work to prevent bad energy from night to night."
https://twitter.com/kerithburke/status/1387970897860980738
Kerr said his team's lack of awareness was like "staring up at butterflies" with guys going right by them. He said the guys are not tired, they just didn't box out. He said the lack of boxing out is "a disease rampant in the NBA." https://twitter.com/kerithburke/status/1387963571498147841
Matt Gaetz associate admits both men engaged in pedophilia. Both men raped an underage female.
https://nypost.com/2021/04/29/matt-gaetz-associate-admits-both-men-had-sex-with-teen-girl/
The US Embassy in Russia stops issuing visas to US citizens. If you are a U.S. citizen present in Russia and your visa has expired, we strongly urge you to depart Russia before the June 15 deadline set by the Russian government. If you plan to remain in Russia past this deadline, please visit your local Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) office to start the necessary paperwork as recently suggested by MVD. Embassy Moscow is unable to answer any specific questions about Russian residency or Russian visas, as this process is managed entirely by the Russian government.
https://ru.usembassy.gov/message-to-u-s-citizens-u-s-mission-russia-reduction-of-consular-services/
44+ People Killed And 150+ People Injured In Stampede During Religious Celebration In Israel. An estimated 100,000 people had gathered on Mount Meron to celebrate a religious holiday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a "terrible disaster."
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/world/middleeast/israel-mount-meron-stampede.html
"Demand is so high that Seemapuri crematorium has expanded into its parking lot, where dozens of workers construct new cremation platforms. There is so little space and so many bodies that families have to get a ticket and wait in line for their turn."
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/29/india/india-covid-deaths-crematoriums-intl-hnk-dst/index.html
"Based on the science and the CDC, they should probably all be open. There's not overwhelming evidence that there is much of a transmission among young people," Biden said of K-12 schools being open this fall for 5-day-a-week, in-person learning, even though kids not vaccinated.
https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/1388100873906237440
The first Black woman to serve as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court wants to make history again — as the first Black U.S. senator from North Carolina. Cheri Beasley has announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1388100826258808833
40% Percent of U.S. Marines Refusing Vaccine, DISCHARGE THEM ALREADY
https://thevaccinereaction.org/2021/04/40-percent-of-u-s-marines-opting-out-of-covid-19-vaccination/
Damages from hailstorms in Texas, Oklahoma estimated to total $3.5B
https://www.accuweather.com/en/severe-weather/monster-hail-clobbers-texas-oklahoma-3-5-billion-damages/940035
Yikes: MLB putting Roberto Alomar on its ineligible list after reviewing allegation of sexual misconduct, per multiple sources
https://twitter.com/ShiDavidi/status/1388165075979186178
Roberto Alomar is a freaking baseball legend.....
You know you're bad when you pissed off the Canadians. Arguably the most important player in franchise history (Toronto Blue Jays) and they're quick to make a decision like this. They also were very quick to cut ties with Osuna and trade him.
https://imgur.com/l1vggkN
The discipline comes after an external law firm hired by MLB investigated the allegation and presented its findings to commissioner Rob Manfred, who determined a violation of league policies occurred. It is a stunning fall from grace for an industry giant, beloved both in his native Puerto Rico and in Toronto, where his No. 12 was retired and his name interwoven into the fabric of the franchise. The Blue Jays announced they would be removing him from the Level of Excellence and taking down his banner at Rogers Centre.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/mlb-puts-roberto-alomar-ineligible-list-reviewing-sexual-misconduct-allegation/
Biden's new moonshot: An offshore wind industry to rival Europe's. Having fallen a decade behind in developing the renewable energy, the U.S. is priming itself for a space race-style comeback.
https://grist.org/energy/bidens-new-moonshot-an-offshore-wind-industry-to-rival-europes/
Biden has not declared war on meat. But maybe that's what the world needs. American conservatives are outraged at the latest 'threat' to their burger-loving way of life. But let's face it: it's unsustainable.
Judge Slaps Down Election Recount Firm Hired By Arizona Republican Senate
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cyber-ninjas-arizona-recount-2020-election_n_608b8120e4b05af50dc1a226
Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), House Democrats' former campaign chief, announced Friday she would retire from Congress after this term. Bustos represents a district in northwestern Illinois that has shifted to the right. Former President Donald Trump won her district twice, and she won reelection by a narrower margin than expected in 2020.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/30/cheri-bustos-announces-retirement-485109
MLB announces that four teams have reached 85 percent threshold of Tier 1 people being fully vaccinated. Five others have reached 85 percent with second shot, are in the two-week waiting period. Overall, 81 percent of tier 1 folks are partially or fully vaccinated, league says.
https://twitter.com/chelsea_janes/status/1388178127566872576
The "Boy in the Box" is the name given to an unidentified murder victim, a 4-to 6-year-old boy, whose naked, battered body was found in a bassinet box in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 25, 1957. He is also commonly called "America's Unknown Child." His identity has never been discovered, and the case remains open. Apparently his remains were exhumed two years ago and his DNA sent off to a lab in Europe. Police now have a DNA profile they hope leads them to family members of the little boy. Investigators say this gives them a new direction. These detectives are on the doorstep of what can only be hoped to be the break that's kept them up at night wondering what the name of The Boy in the Box is. A DNA profile of an unknown dead child from the 50s is an amazing accomplishment, considering LE could have left this case in the archives. Like Somerton man (and all the other historic cases) this case is a mystery.
https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2021/04/29/the-boy-in-the-box-ivy-hill-cemetery-unsolved-murder-philadelphia/
Yikes he's guilty
https://twitter.com/Robbiealomar/status/1388181908027330561
Roberto Alomar, what a fucking disgrace
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/30/a-proclamation-on-asian-american-and-native-hawaiian-pacific-islander-heritage-month-2021/
A Proclamation on Asian American and Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander Heritage Month, 2021
April 30, 2021 • Presidential Actions
This May, during Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we recognize the history and achievements of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) across our Nation. In the midst of a difficult year of pain and fear, we reflect on the tradition of leadership, resilience, and courage shown by AANHPI communities, and recommit to the struggle for AANHPI equity.
Asian Americans, and Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders make our Nation more vibrant through diversity of cultures, languages, and religions. There is no single story of the AANHPI experience, but rather a diversity of contributions that enrich America's culture and society and strengthen the United States' role as a global leader. The American story as we know it would be impossible without the strength, contributions, and legacies of AANHPIs who have helped build and unite this country in each successive generation. From laying railroad tracks, tilling fields, and starting businesses, to caring for our loved ones and honorably serving our Nation in uniform, AANHPI communities are deeply rooted in the history of the United States.
We also celebrate and honor the invaluable contributions the AANHPI communities have made to our Nation's culture and the arts, law, science and technology, sports and public service — including the courageous AANHPIs who have served on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic as health care providers, first responders, teachers, and other essential workers.
During this year's Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, our Nation celebrates the achievements of Vice President Harris, the first person of South Asian descent to hold the Office of the Vice President. Vice President Harris has blazed a trail and set an example for young people across the country to aspire to follow, including members of AANHPI communities and AANHPI women in particular.
In spite of the strength shown and successes achieved, the American dream remains out of reach for far too many AANHPI families. AANHPI communities face systemic barriers to economic justice, health equity, educational attainment, and personal safety. These challenges are compounded by stark gaps in Federal data, which too often fails to reflect the diversity of AANHPI communities and the particular barriers that Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Southeast Asian, and South Asian communities in the United States continue to face.
My Administration also recognizes the heightened fear felt by many Asian American communities in the wake of increasing rates of anti-Asian harassment and violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the increasingly observable layers of hate now directed toward women and elders of Asian descent in particular. Our Nation continues to grieve the senseless killings of six women of Asian descent in Atlanta, and the unconscionable acts of violence victimizing our beloved Asian American seniors in cities across the country.
Acts of anti-Asian bias are wrong, they are un-American, and they must stop. My Administration will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with AANHPI communities in condemning, denouncing, and preventing these acts of violence. We will continue to look for opportunities to heal together and fight against the racism and xenophobia that still exists in this country.
Present-day inequities faced by AANHPI communities are rooted in our Nation's history of exclusion, discrimination, racism, and xenophobia against Asian Americans. Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have endured a long history of injustice — including the Page Act of 1875, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the incarceration of Japanese American citizens during World War II, the murder of Vincent Chin, the mass shooting of Southeast Asian refugee children in 1989, and the targeting of South Asian Americans, especially those who are Muslim, Hindu, or Sikh, after the national tragedy of 9/11. It is long past time for Federal leadership to advance inclusion, belonging, and acceptance for all AANHPI communities. My Administration is committed to a whole-of-government effort to advance equity, root out racial injustices in our Federal institutions, and finally deliver the promise of America for all Americans.
Vice President Harris and I affirm that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders make our Nation stronger. I urge my fellow Americans to join us this month in celebrating AANHPI history, people, and cultures.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2021 as Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month. I call upon the people of the United States to learn more about the history of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, and to observe this month with appropriate programs and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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The White House has completed a review of its policy on North Korea, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Friday, saying that while the aim of the U.S. remains denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, the Biden administration is open to diplomatic talks to boost security for the region. "Our policy will not focus on achieving a grand bargain nor will it rely on strategic patience," Psaki said. "Our policy calls for a calibrated practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy with the DPRK and to make practical progress that increases the security of the United States, our allies, and deployed forces."
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/30/992507517/white-house-says-it-is-open-to-diplomatic-talks-with-north-korea
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/30/a-proclamation-on-national-mental-health-awareness-month-2021/
A Proclamation on National Mental Health Awareness Month, 2021
April 30, 2021 • Presidential Actions
Mental health is essential to our overall health, and the importance of attending to mental health has become even more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has not only negatively impacted many people's mental health but has also created barriers to treatment.
Millions of adults and children across America experience mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Nearly one in five Americans lives with a mental health condition. Those living with mental health conditions are our family, friends, classmates, neighbors, and coworkers. Before the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies could discriminate against people based on pre-existing conditions, including mental health conditions, and mental health and substance use services were not covered by insurance. Still discrimination against those with mental health conditions in our society remains, and can make it difficult to find and reach out for help. While our Nation has made progress in promoting mental health services, many communities face pervasive barriers in accessing mental health care.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic crisis has impacted the mental health of millions of Americans. Isolation, sickness, grief, job loss, food instability, and loss of routines has increased the need for mental health services. At the same time, the need to protect people from COVID-19 has made it more challenging for people to access mental health services, and harder for providers to deliver this care.
Even before COVID-19, the prevalence of mental health conditions in our Nation was on the rise. In 2019, nearly 52 million adults experienced some form of mental illness. Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that one in four adults reported experiencing symptoms of an anxiety or depressive disorder in February 2021 — a significant increase from the prior year. Youth mental health is also worsening, with nearly 10 percent of America's youth reporting severe depression. We must treat this as the public health crisis that it is and reverse this trend.
Too many people with mental health needs feel they have nowhere to turn. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States and the second leading cause of death for our Nation's youth today. Suicide rates are disproportionately high among Black youth, and LGBTQI+ persons are at disproportionate risk of death by suicide as well as suicidal ideation, planning, and attempts. My Administration is committed to advancing suicide prevention best practices and improving non-punitive crisis response. Even as we build and enhance existing systems for prevention and response within communities, immediate assistance is available for those in need of help by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK or by calling 1-800-662-HELP.
My Administration is committed to ensuring that people living with mental health conditions are treated with compassion, respect, and understanding. We must also address the disparities that underserved communities, especially communities of color, face and work to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, quality, and evidence-based mental health care.
As President, I know that we can and must address these critical issues, especially for those who have shouldered the burden of standing on the front lines in responding to the pandemic. That is why the American Rescue Plan includes substantial investments to promote mental health among the health care workforce. We are also building on the progress made through the 21st Century Cures Act by integrating mental health and addiction treatment into primary care settings, schools, and homes.
My Administration is focused on building an improved, expanded system of care for the mental health needs of adults and children. This will require an increase in the number of mental health professionals. Building on a program in the American Rescue Plan, I have requested $1 billion in funding to expand the number of school-based mental health professionals, including school psychologists and counselors to address the mental health needs of students. The American Rescue Plan also delivered $3 billion for substance use and mental health care block grants. These funds also ensure that States provide pathways to prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery services — especially for underserved communities. The American Rescue Plan also included $420 million in funding to support Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics to expand access to high-quality, evidence-based behavioral health services. Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics are also committed to involving peers and families, who are essential to mental health recovery.
My Administration is committed to ensuring that everyone knows that they are not alone, that help exists, and that we will provide the mental health support needed to heal, recover, and thrive.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2021 as National Mental Health Awareness Month. I call upon citizens, government agencies, organizations, healthcare providers, and research institutions to raise mental health awareness and continue helping Americans live longer, healthier lives.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/30/a-proclamation-on-public-service-recognition-week-2021/
A Proclamation on Public Service Recognition Week, 2021
April 30, 2021 • Presidential Actions
In the face of unprecedented challenges this past year, America's dedicated public servants have risen to the moment — bringing strength, healing, and hope to their communities and to our Nation. Our public servants are a living reminder that, here in America, we take care of one another and leave no one behind. As we work to defeat the pandemic and rebuild our economy, it is more important than ever to recognize and reflect upon both our collective loss and our collective resilience. During Public Service Recognition Week, we celebrate and thank our public servants at the local, State, and Federal levels who exemplify dedication to the common good.
Public servants are the lifeblood of our democracy. They are our researchers and scientists, our front-line workers, our educators, our first responders, our election officials, and our military service members — among countless others. They are ordinary Americans who answer the call to do extraordinary things, giving their time — and, in some cases, risking or giving their lives — to make life better for all of us.
Throughout this week and beyond, my Administration will be shining a light on the individual and collective efforts of public servants at the local, State, Tribal, and Federal levels who unite us and help lead us through challenging times. In the toughest of circumstances and often at great personal sacrifice, our public servants tackle the most complex problems facing our communities. Whether developing public health guidance and working across agencies to safely reopen schools during the pandemic, partnering with the private sector to develop and distribute vaccines, keeping small businesses dreams alive, or combating natural disasters in their hometowns, public servants demonstrate their commitment to our Nation every day. It is our responsibility, in turn, to ensure that they are honored and protected.
Since taking office earlier this year, I have made it the policy of the United States to protect, empower, and rebuild the career Federal workforce. My Administration made employee safety a priority — directing agencies to create COVID-19 workplace safety plans and require mask-wearing, physical distancing, and other public health measures in Federal buildings and on Federal lands. I revoked several Executive Orders that undermined the foundations of civil service, worked to ensure the right of Federal employees to engage in collective bargaining, and created a new interagency task force to ensure that Federal employees engaged in scientific research and data collection are never subjected to political interference.
In addition, I have strengthened protections against discrimination for Federal employees, including discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. I have also asked the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to provide me with recommendations to promote a $15 per hour minimum wage for Federal employees, as well as recommendations for expanding the Federal Government's policy of providing employees time off to vote. And this week, I signed an Executive Order that will increase the minimum wage for employees working on Federal contracts to $15 per hour.
Together, as we strive to build, support, and continuously improve our public workforce, we recognize and celebrate the indispensable contributions our public servants make while protecting our communities, taking care of our neighbors, and helping us heal and build back better. It is the honor of my lifetime to serve our Nation alongside our public servants, who work tirelessly to improve the lives of Americans and people around the globe.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2 through May 8, 2021, as Public Service Recognition Week. I call upon all Americans to celebrate public servants and their contributions this week and throughout the year.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/30/a-proclamation-on-jewish-american-heritage-month-2021/
A Proclamation on Jewish American Heritage Month, 2021
April 30, 2021 • Presidential Actions
The Jewish American experience is a story of faith, fortitude, and progress. It is a quintessential American experience — one that is connected to key tenets of American identity, including our Nation's commitment to freedom of religion and conscience. This month, we honor Jewish Americans — past and present — who have inextricably woven their experience and their accomplishments into the fabric of our national identity.
Generations of Jewish people have come to this Nation fleeing oppression, discrimination, and persecution in search of a better life for themselves and their children. These Jewish Americans have created lives for themselves and their families and played indispensable roles in our Nation's civic and community life, making invaluable contributions to our Nation through their leadership and achievements.
And this year, we also recognize two historic firsts, as America saw the Vice President take the oath of office alongside her Jewish spouse, and a Jewish American became the first Majority Leader of the United States Senate and the highest-ranking Jewish American elected official in our Nation's history.
Alongside this narrative of achievement and opportunity, there is also a history — far older than the Nation itself — of racism, bigotry, and other forms of injustice. This includes the scourge of anti-Semitism. In recent years, Jewish Americans have increasingly been the target of white nationalism and the antisemitic violence it fuels.
As our Nation strives to heal these wounds and overcome these challenges, let us acknowledge and celebrate the crucial contributions that Jewish Americans have made to our collective struggle for a more just and fair society; leading movements for social justice, working to ensure that the opportunities they have secured are extended to others, and heeding the words of the Torah, "Justice, justice shall you pursue."
A central concept in Judaism, "l'dor v'dor", or "from generation to generation," recognizes both the continuity of the Jewish people and the intergenerational responsibility we have to heal the world for our children. During Jewish American Heritage Month, we honor Jewish Americans, who, inspired by Jewish values and American ideals, have engaged in the ongoing work of forming a more perfect union.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2021 as Jewish American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to visit www.JewishHeritageMonth.gov to learn more about the heritage and contributions of Jewish Americans and to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities, and ceremonies.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, in the year two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/30/a-proclamation-on-national-foster-care-month-2021/
A Proclamation on National Foster Care Month, 2021
April 30, 2021 • Presidential Actions
Every child deserves to grow up in a supportive, loving home where they can thrive and prosper. During those unfortunate times when children cannot remain safely in their own homes, the individuals and families who open their hearts and homes to foster children provide a vital service to their communities. During this National Foster Care Month, we share our gratitude for those who support youth and families by being a resource to children in need and supporting birth parents so that they may safely reunite with their families whenever possible. We also recognize that it takes collaboration and community effort — from local organizations to Federal agencies — to support children, birth parents, and resource and kin families during challenging times.
Young people in foster care have been particularly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. They are navigating circumstances that are already tough, and those challenges are compounded by a public health crisis that made housing, employment and educational opportunities even harder to access.
To support the immediate needs of youth in foster care, my Administration is implementing Federal programs authorized by the Supporting Foster Youth and Families through the Pandemic Act. This law provides additional flexibility and support for youth aging out of foster care, and allows them to access critical services to help them stay in school or participate in a job training program, pay the bills, and better make the difficult transition to adulthood. We have an expression in the Biden family, "If you have to ask for help, it's too late." As a Nation, we can proactively help children by advancing a holistic approach to child and family well-being across the country — before it's too late.
As we work to address immediate needs, we must be clear about long-standing challenges in child welfare and commit to advancing child and family well-being in every way we can. Our children, birth parents, and resource and kin families deserve nothing less. So this National Foster Care Month, we also recognize the histories of injustice in our Nation's foster care system. Throughout our history and persisting today, too many communities of color, especially Black and Native American communities, have been treated unequally and often unfairly by the child welfare system. Black and Native American children are far more likely than white children to be removed from their homes, even when the circumstances surrounding the removal are similar. Once removed, Black and Native American children stay in care longer and are less likely to either reunite with their birth parents or be adopted. Too many children are removed from loving homes because poverty is often conflated with neglect, and the enduring effects of systemic racism and economic barriers mean that families of color are disproportionately affected by this as well. Children with disabilities are over-represented among youth in care and may be inappropriately placed in group settings instead of provided the individualized support they need. Children in foster care — particularly youth of color and LGBTQ+ children who are already subject to disproportionate rates of school discipline and criminalization — are also at an increased risk of becoming involved in the juvenile justice system. And for LGBTQ+ foster youth, foster care systems are not always equipped to safely meet their needs.
My Administration is committed to addressing these entrenched problems in our Nation's child welfare system, advancing equity and racial justice for every child and family who is touched by the foster care and child welfare system, and focusing on policies that improve child and family well-being. This is why my Administration's discretionary funding request for 2022 includes $100 million in competitive grants for State and local child welfare systems to advance racial equity and prevent unnecessary child removals.
National Foster Care Month is an opportunity for us to celebrate the resource and kin families who are supporting children by opening their homes and sharing their love. Crucially, it is also an opportunity to celebrate foster youth and all of their accomplishments, and to celebrate and encourage the many biological parents who are working hard to safely reunite with their children. And it provides an opportunity for us to fulfill our responsibility as a Nation to take care of each other and provide our vulnerable youth and families with the support they need.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2021 as National Foster Care Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month by reaching out in their neighborhoods and communities to the children and youth in foster care and their families, those at risk of entering foster care, and resource and kin families and other caregivers.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/30/a-proclamation-on-national-building-safety-month-2021/
A Proclamation on National Building Safety Month, 2021
April 30, 2021 • Presidential Actions
Throughout this past year, we have come to appreciate the contributions and complexity of our building and built environment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people saw their homes become more than a place of dwelling, evolving into a comprehensive space for education, work, childcare, and entertainment. During National Building Safety Month, we recognize the importance of strengthening our buildings and infrastructure to serve the needs and ensure the safety of every American. We also honor the building safety professionals dedicated to creating safe, sustainable, and resilient communities.
We also recognize that now is the time to repair and modernize our buildings and infrastructure, not only to meet the needs of today, but to address the challenges of tomorrow, especially the existential threat of climate change. The unrelenting impact of climate change affects every one of us, but too often the brunt falls disproportionately on vulnerable communities — especially low-income communities and people of color — who are facing new and worsening natural hazards like hurricanes, floods, extreme heat, and wildfires due to climate change. These communities are less likely to have the means to prepare for and recover from these hazards, which have increased in frequency, duration, and intensity. The buildings where we live and work provide an important line of defense against these growing hazards. Investing in our infrastructure and adopting and implementing modern building codes are the most effective mitigation measures communities can undertake.
This is why I have issued several Executive Orders related to buildings and resiliency as part of a Government-wide approach to the climate emergency. My Administration has also put the climate crisis at the center of U.S. foreign and national security policy, and established the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy and the National Climate Task Force. We are committed to creating climate-friendly and environmentally conscious communities that not only protect the people who live and work in them, but also will boost our economy in the long-term.
In order for us to safeguard the health, safety, and economic future of our Nation's people, we must also invest in our infrastructure more broadly. From upgrading homes in disadvantaged communities, to modernizing our Nation's schools, to replacing lead water pipes, to securing affordable, high-speed broadband, the American Jobs Plan is an investment for all Americans. It will create millions of good jobs, rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, and promote access to opportunity for all.
To support these efforts, my Administration is also calling for broad input and collaboration from all levels of government and our partners in the non-profit and private sectors. We must all share the responsibility for ensuring that our communities are safe and resilient against the growing threat of climate change. In America and around the globe, initiatives such as the Global Resiliency Dialogue aim to increase building and climate-based science into the solution. This important work is underway, but we recognize that there is much more to do.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2021 as National Building Safety Month. I encourage citizens, government agencies, businesses, nonprofits, and other interested groups to join in activities that raise awareness about building safety. I also call on all Americans to learn more about how they can contribute to building safety at home and in their communities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/30/a-proclamation-on-national-physical-fitness-and-sports-month-2021/
A Proclamation on National Physical Fitness And Sports Month, 2021
April 30, 2021 • Presidential Actions
Despite the unprecedented challenges and disruptions of the past year, we continue to see examples of Americans finding innovative ways to stay active and healthy. Some have moved their workouts into their living rooms or garages. Others have taken up new sports. Many have simply rediscovered the satisfaction of a walk through their neighborhood. Despite this creativity, far too many people struggle to incorporate regular physical activity into their daily lives. Socioeconomic disparities, lack of opportunities for safe play, and limited access to programs for increased activity are just a few of the inequities that many Americans face — inequities that have been further exacerbated by the pandemic. During this National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, we encourage all Americans to stay active for their health and wellbeing. Whether by pursuing a more active lifestyle, making physical activity a priority and an essential part of everyday living, or supporting efforts in local communities that increase access to sports and physical fitness opportunities for all, participating in physical activities leads to a healthier lifestyle.
Physical activity is one of the best tools we have to help combat chronic diseases experienced by over half of all Americans. Even a single session of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity can boost your mood, sharpen your focus, reduce your stress, and improve your sleep. More regular physical activity — over months or years — can contribute to a reduced risk of depression, heart disease, several types of cancer, dementia, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.
No matter our age or ability, the more that we can make regular physical activity and participation in sports a part of our lives, the better off both we and our Nation will be. Greater amounts of physical activity can have positive effects in every stage of life and lead to better overall health outcomes for both children and adults, including those with disabilities. The Department of Health and Human Services' Move Your Way campaign provides helpful tips to encourage children and adults to meet the recommendations from the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Active People, Healthy Nation initiative provides a blueprint for building active communities to make it easier for all Americans to attain the physical activity they need, with a goal of getting 27 million more Americans physically active by 2027.
By transcending differences and uniting in celebration of physical activity, healthy competition, and shared enjoyment, sports are a fun and engaging way to stay active and keep fit for people of all ages. For our Nation's youth, playing sports can also help to build confidence on and off the field, while team sports foster the added virtues of service to common causes and communal responsibility — win or lose, every game offers the opportunity to learn something new or hone your skills. Every athletic challenge is an avenue to greater mental and physical resilience. While social distancing has made participation in organized sports challenging, we can use this time to renew our focus on fundamental skills and training in preparation for a return to play, especially for young athletes.
Our Nation can and must do more to make sure that every child has the opportunity to play sports and obtain the benefits that come with play, including greater physical fitness and better health. As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever that we ensure equal access to sports and fitness activities for everyone. To that end, my Administration continues to promote programs that provide opportunities for all of our young people to play sports — regardless of their race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, or neighborhood — in support of the National Youth Sports Strategy.
I encourage every American to discover an enjoyable exercise activity that fits into their daily routine. It does not matter how you choose to be active — whether you are trying your hand at a new sport, exploring a local park, or going for a walk or a jog in your own neighborhood, physical activity holds the key to better health and wellness. During National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, let us all strive to be more active together.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2021 as National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. I call upon the people of the United States to make daily physical activity a priority, to support efforts to increase access to sports opportunities in their communities, and to pursue physical fitness as an essential part of healthy living.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
___________________________________
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/30/a-proclamation-on-national-teacher-appreciation-day-and-national-teacher-appreciation-week-2021/
A Proclamation on National Teacher Appreciation Day and National Teacher Appreciation Week, 2021
April 30, 2021 • Presidential Actions
As the proud husband of an educator who continues, as First Lady, to teach writing at a community college, I have seen firsthand the dedication, selflessness, and vision of our Nation's educators. They play so many different roles: They are mentors who guide with creativity and care; advocates who fight for students' needs; role models who help students dream and dare more boldly; and leaders who tirelessly support the families and communities that depend on them. Every day, with every student they reach, educators build the future of our country, and we are grateful for their commitment to our shared future. This National Teacher Appreciation Day and National Teacher Appreciation Week, we honor the service and passion and celebrate the immeasurable contributions of our Nation's educators in schools from coast to coast.
Throughout history, America's educators have risen to unprecedented challenges. Over the past year, with our country facing a cascade of crises, educators have risen to this challenge with care and creativity: overcoming disruptions in their own lives while offering unwavering support for their students' wellbeing and academic progress.
Educators served both as facilitators of learning and as the technology support for their students, getting them up and running with access to fully remote learning. They often worked late into the day to support hard-to-reach children, and took the extracurriculars their students love and adapted them for remote and hybrid learning. Our teachers even found new ways to leverage technology platforms to coordinate with parents as partners in learning, keep a close eye on the development of their students, and build community by moving music rehearsals and sports practices online.
As this pandemic has shined a bright light on the inequities that persist in our schools, educators have also fought for the tools and resources their schools need to bridge gaps and ensure all children have what they need to succeed. Other school staff and administrators have also stepped up in our time of need, with bus drivers bringing hotspots to areas with no wireless internet, food service staff preparing meals for students who might otherwise go hungry, and counselors helping students and parents cope with trauma.
When I took office, I vowed to support our educators by giving them the pay and dignity they deserve. I made a promise that they would not only have a voice as we work to rebuild and reimagine our education system, they would help us lead this effort. That is why my Administration is partnering with State and local leaders, educators and their unions, and families to ensure high-quality instruction, overcome the challenges of the instructional time we lost in the pandemic, address educational inequities, and meet students' physical, social, and emotional needs.
In early March, I prioritized early childhood through 12th grade educators and staff for vaccination, and I set a goal of getting all of these frontline essential workers at least one shot by the end of the month. On April 2nd, I announced that 80 percent of all teachers, school staff, and childcare workers across the country had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Since then, we have made even more progress in protecting our educators.
The American Rescue Plan is providing critical relief, including $122 billion in relief for K-12 schools to get students back in the classroom quickly and safely and address the needs of students. In addition, the American Rescue Plan includes $7.6 billion for special education, children and youth experiencing homelessness, Tribal educational agencies, Native Hawaiians, and Alaska Natives, emergency assistance to non-public schools, and the outlying areas of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as $40 billion for higher education.
Education is the one field that makes all others possible. Every one of us has been shaped by someone who inspired our curiosity and helped us find our confidence, who guided us to think more clearly and pushed us to strive for better. On National Teacher Appreciation Day and during National Teacher Appreciation Week, we remember the tremendous debt of gratitude owed to educators everywhere who helped define us as individuals and as a country, and to all that they are doing to light the way forward for our families and our communities.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 4, 2021, as National Teacher Appreciation Day and May 2 through May 8, 2021, as National Teacher Appreciation Week. I call upon all Americans to recognize the hard work and dedication of our Nation's teachers and to observe this day and this week by supporting teachers through appropriate activities, events, and programs.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
___________________________________
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/30/a-proclamation-on-loyalty-day-2021/
A Proclamation on Loyalty Day, 2021
April 30, 2021 • Presidential Actions
On Loyalty Day, we celebrate our allegiance to the project of this great Nation and the democratic ideals woven into the fabric of our Constitution. As Americans, we do not command loyalty, but seek to earn it through our actions — including by living up to the principles enshrined in our Constitution and respecting the will of the people as reflected in the democratic process. Drawn together by the promise of equality, freedom, and justice, we are a Nation of shared ideals and strong, resilient people. Here in America, loyalty does not mean fealty to any one leader or political party, nor does it mean unthinking praise or willful ignorance of our shortcomings — it means loyalty to our common ideals, and to one another. It means standing united as one people, even as we cherish our differences and respect dissent.
Our country is a diverse tapestry of many cultures, heritages, religions, and languages, brought together around the values and ideals we all share as Americans. Together, we celebrate our differences and draw strength from our common commitment to perfecting our Union. No matter what challenges come our way, our Nation holds strong together — bound by our Constitution and the rule of law, uplifted by individual liberties and promises of justice we have worked hard in each generation to secure and expand, and consecrated by those who have sacrificed to preserve, defend, and care for our Nation.
We see loyalty in the members of our Armed Forces, who selflessly serve in harm's way; in their families, who, in the timeless words of the poet John Milton, "also serve who only stand and wait;" in our educators, who dedicate their lives to nurturing young minds; in our first responders, who put their lives on the line to save others; in all those who have the courage to call out our Nation's imperfections when we fall short, and who continue to push our society to live up to its founding promise of freedom, justice, and equality for all. May 1 is also International Workers' Day, and we honor the workers whose service and sacrifice has helped turn the tide against the COVID-19 pandemic. On this day, we show our gratitude to our essential workers — and to all of the workers who have organized and fought to improve our Nation and create a fairer and more just society for all.
To acknowledge the American ethos of patriotism and the sacrifices so many of our fellow citizens have made, the Congress, by Public Law 85-529, as amended, has designated the 1st day of May each year as Loyalty Day. On this day, let us reaffirm our commitment to the values that bind us together and honor all those who have defended our freedom.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 1, 2021, as Loyalty Day. This Loyalty Day, I call upon the people of the United States to join in this national observance, display the United States flag and pledge allegiance to the Republic for which it stands.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
___________________________________
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/30/a-proclamation-on-law-day-u-s-a-2021/
A Proclamation on Law Day, U.S.A, 2021
April 30, 2021 • Presidential Actions
In the many years I spent as a United States Senator and as Vice President, I logged hundreds of thousands of miles of travel, and had the opportunity to meet with foreign officials all over the world. Those experiences impressed upon me a truth about America: that what makes our Nation unique is the depth of our devotion to the rule of law.
Unlike so many of the Nations of the world, the United States wasn't built around an ethnicity, religion, or tribe — it was built around common ideals. The rule of law is central to those ideals. It is what limits the abuse of power in our Nation, whether by an individual or a mob. It reflects President John Adams' desire to establish "a government of laws and not of men." It is how Thomas Paine distinguished us from the rest of the world — declaring that, while in other Nations, the king is law, "in America, the law is king."
Many Nations around the world still struggle to capture what we have captured here in America — not only in the text of our founding documents, but in the character of our people: reverence for the law. That reverence is essential to our democracy. Without it, equality and justice cannot be advanced, human rights cannot be protected, democratic norms and values cannot be secured, and disagreements cannot be peaceably resolved. The rule of law has also been a critical vehicle for delivering the full promise of American democracy to all of our people, particularly those excluded in our Nation's founding. Today, on Law Day, we rededicate ourselves to furthering that promise and strengthening those ideals, and we renew our commitment to ensure that every American's constitutional rights are protected.
The theme of this year's Law Day, "Advancing the Rule of Law Now," is particularly fitting at this moment in our Nation's history. Recently, we were again called to recognize that democracy is precious and fragile. We have witnessed grave threats to our democratic institutions and to the rule of law itself. These tragic events have taught us once again that when we are united, we can overcome the greatest challenges and move our country forward — but it takes a commitment to law over demagoguery, and the enforcement of law free from political interference, to do so.
Previous generations of Americans have lived through civil war, economic depressions, the rise of fascism, and world wars — and today, too many Americans continue to face pervasive racism, xenophobia, nativism, and other forms of intolerance. This year, the United States marks the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa, Oklahoma, race massacre, in which a mob of white residents attacked and killed between 100 and 300 Black residents and destroyed more than 1,000 homes and businesses in a thriving community known as Black Wall Street. Today, a century later, we still face chilling echoes of those threats to equality, justice, and the rule of law in the form of rising political extremism, white supremacy, and domestic terrorism.
My Administration is committed to advancing the rule of law within the United States so that everyone is ensured equal justice under the law, an equal place in our democracy, and the opportunity to fulfill their potential free from abuses of power. On my first day in office, I signed an historic Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, to advance equity and racial justice and redress systemic racism across a comprehensive sweep of Federal policies, laws, and programs. I also signed a memorandum on Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States, stating that the Federal Government has a responsibility to prevent racism, xenophobia, and intolerance against anyone in the United States — particularly, today, against Asian Americans who have spent the last year enduring unconscionable and un-American harassment and attacks — as well as an additional Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation. I have directed Federal agencies to facilitate access to voting using their existing legal authority, and my Administration supports further legislation to protect the sacred right to vote and make it more equitable and accessible for all Americans to exercise that right.
We are also working to advance the rule of law across the world by rebuilding global alliances; confronting authoritarianism; and reengaging with other governments, civil society organizations, and multilateral organizations, such as the United Nations. We must ensure that we are able to lead not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. As I have said on many occasions, our diplomacy must be rooted in America's most cherished democratic values: defending freedom, championing opportunity, upholding universal rights, respecting the rule of law, and treating every person with dignity.
On this Law Day, U.S.A., I urge my fellow Americans to join me in recommitting ourselves to promoting and advancing the rule of law and delivering freedom and equality for all.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, in accordance with Public Law 87-20, as amended, do hereby proclaim May 1, 2021, as Law Day, U.S.A. I call upon all Americans to acknowledge the importance of our Nation's legal and judicial systems with appropriate ceremonies and activities, and to display the flag of the United States in support of this national observance.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
___________________________________
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/30/a-proclamation-on-the-suspension-of-entry-as-nonimmigrants-of-certain-additional-persons-who-pose-a-risk-of-transmitting-coronavirus-disease-2019/
A Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Nonimmigrants of Certain Additional Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting Coronavirus Disease 2019
April 30, 2021 • Presidential Actions
The national emergency caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in the United States continues to pose a grave threat to our health and security. As of April 29, 2021, the United States had experienced more than 32 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 570,000 COVID-19 deaths. It is the policy of my Administration to implement science-based public health measures, across all areas of the Federal Government, to act swiftly and aggressively to prevent further spread of the disease.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), within the Department of Health and Human Services, working in close coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, has determined that the Republic of India is experiencing widespread, ongoing person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The World Health Organization has reported that the Republic of India has had more than 18,375,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The magnitude and scope of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of India is surging; the Republic of India accounts for over one-third of new global cases, and the number of new cases in the Republic of India is accelerating at a rapid rate. There have been more than 300,000 average new daily cases in the Republic of India over the past week. A variant strain of the virus, known as B.1.617, is also circulating in the Republic of India, along with other variant strains, including B.1.1.7, first detected in the United Kingdom, and B.1.351, first detected in the Republic of South Africa. The CDC advises, based on work by public health and scientific experts, that these variants have characteristics of concern, which may make them more easily transmitted and have the potential for reduced protection afforded by some vaccines.
After reviewing the public health situation within the Republic of India, CDC has concluded that proactive measures are required to protect the Nation's public health from travelers entering the United States from that jurisdiction.
Given the determination of CDC, working in close coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, described above, I have determined that it is in the interests of the United States to take action to restrict and suspend the entry into the United States, as nonimmigrants, of noncitizens of the United States ("noncitizens") who were physically present within the Republic of India during the 14‑day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, hereby find that the unrestricted entry into the United States of persons described in section 1 of this proclamation would, except as provided for in section 2 of this proclamation, be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and that their entry should be subject to certain restrictions, limitations, and exceptions. I therefore hereby proclaim the following:
Section 1. Suspension and Limitation on Entry. The entry into the United States, as nonimmigrants, of noncitizens who were physically present within the Republic of India during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States is hereby suspended and limited subject to section 2 of this proclamation.
Sec. 2. Scope of Suspension and Limitation on Entry.
(a) Section 1 of this proclamation shall not apply to:
(i) any lawful permanent resident of the United States;
(ii) any noncitizen national of the United States;
(iii) any noncitizen who is the spouse of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident;
(iv) any noncitizen who is the parent or legal guardian of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, provided that the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident is unmarried and under the age of 21;
(v) any noncitizen who is the sibling of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, provided that both are unmarried and under the age of 21;
(vi) any noncitizen who is the child, foster child, or ward of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, or who is a prospective adoptee seeking to enter the United States pursuant to the IR-4 or IH-4 visa classifications;
(vii) any noncitizen traveling at the invitation of the United States Government for a purpose related to containment or mitigation of the virus;
(viii) any noncitizen traveling as a nonimmigrant pursuant to a C-1, D, or C-1/D nonimmigrant visa as a crewmember or any noncitizen otherwise traveling to the United States as air or sea crew;
(ix) any noncitizen
(A) seeking entry into or transiting the United States pursuant to one of the following visas: A-1, A-2, C-2, C-3 (as a foreign government official or immediate family member of an official), E-1 (as an employee of TECRO or TECO or the employee's immediate family members), G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, NATO-1 through NATO-4, or NATO-6 (or seeking to enter as a nonimmigrant in one of those NATO categories); or
(B) whose travel falls within the scope of section 11 of the United Nations Headquarters Agreement;
(x) any noncitizen who is a member of the U.S. Armed Forces or who is a spouse or child of a member of the U.S. Armed Forces;
(xi) any noncitizen whose entry would further important United States law enforcement objectives, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or their respective designees, based on a recommendation of the Attorney General or his designee; or
(xii) any noncitizen whose entry would be in the national interest, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or their designees.
(b) Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to affect any individual's eligibility for asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the regulations issued pursuant to the legislation implementing the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, consistent with the laws and regulations of the United States.
Sec. 3. Implementation and Enforcement.
(a) The Secretary of State shall implement this proclamation as it applies to visas pursuant to such procedures as the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, may establish. The Secretary of Homeland Security shall implement this proclamation as it applies to the entry of noncitizens pursuant to such procedures as the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may establish.
(b) The Secretary of State, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall endeavor to ensure that any noncitizen subject to this proclamation does not board an aircraft traveling to the United States, to the extent permitted by law.
(c) The Secretary of Homeland Security may establish standards and procedures to ensure the application of this proclamation at and between all United States ports of entry.
(d) Where a noncitizen circumvents the application of this proclamation through fraud, willful misrepresentation of a material fact, or illegal entry, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider prioritizing such noncitizen for removal.
Sec. 4. Termination. This proclamation shall remain in effect until terminated by the President. The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, as circumstances warrant and no more than 30 days after the date of this proclamation and by the final day of each calendar month thereafter, recommend whether the President should continue, modify, or terminate this proclamation.
Sec. 5. Effective Date. This proclamation is effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 4, 2021. This proclamation does not apply to persons aboard a flight scheduled to arrive in the United States that departed prior to 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on May 4, 2021.
Sec. 6. Severability. It is the policy of the United States to enforce this proclamation to the maximum extent possible to advance the national security, public safety, and foreign policy interests of the United States. Accordingly:
(a) if any provision of this proclamation, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation and the application of its provisions to any other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby; and
(b) if any provision of this proclamation, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid because of the lack of certain procedural requirements, the relevant executive branch officials shall implement those procedural requirements to conform with existing law and with any applicable court orders.
Sec. 7. General Provisions.
(a) Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This proclamation shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This proclamation is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
___________________________________
Shitstain Terrorist Senator Joe Manchin said Friday that he opposes the D.C. statehood bill, dealing a blow to the bill's chances in the Senate
https://dcist.com/story/21/04/30/manchin-opposes-dc-statehood-bill-filibuster-constitution-amendment/
The Working Families Party anointed Stringer as comptroller in 2013 by nudging Dan Garodnick out of the primary, and now the Working Families Party is helping end him
https://nytimes.com/2021/04/30/nyregion/scott-stringer-sexual-harassment-endorsement.html
Antarctic doomsday glacier melting faster than was thought
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/30/antarctic-doomsday-glacier-may-be-melting-faster-than-was-thought
Jayson Tatum at halftime vs San Antonio: 24 points, 9/17 FG; Boston's other starters, combined: 9 points, 1/13 FG
Derozan with a beautiful behind the back pass to Eubanks, who lays it in. The Spurs are up 32 in Boston in the first half
https://streamable.com/z5tez1
Domestic Terrorist Former Rep. Anthony Kern, Who Was At Capitol Riot, Illegally And Unconstitutionally Counting Ballots In Arizona Audit
https://www.newsweek.com/ex-state-rep-anthony-kern-who-was-capitol-riot-seen-counting-ballots-arizona-audit-1588010
Jayson Tatum in tonight's comeback W: 60/8/5 shooting 20/37 from the field, 5/7 from deep, and 15/17 from the line
With their won over the Utah Jazz, the Phoenix Suns have taken over first place in the West
The Celtics came back from a 32 point deficit against the Spurs to win, making it the third largest comeback in NBA history
Booker crosses up Gobert and gets the long stepback two to fall
https://streamable.com/eefzul
Logo Lillard and Logo RoCo hit three deep threes in a row
https://streamable.com/igl1bj
Kansas House Republican Arrested For Attacking Student
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kansas-republican-mark-samsel-arrested_n_608d3f1de4b05af50dc3c519
A self-described "numbers guy," Yang left the group's budget depleted, tax filings show. In 2017, when he left to run for president, the nonprofit spent $2.6 million more than it raised, ending the year with only about a month's worth of cash. | Andrew Yang Promised to Create 100,000 Jobs. He Ended Up With 150.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/01/nyregion/andrew-yang-venture-for-america-jobs.html
76 years ago today, Germany tells the world Hitler is dead
10 years ago today, America tells the world bin Laden is dead
Donovan Mitchell was re-evaluated today for his sprained ankle and will be out at least another week.
https://twitter.com/tribjazz/status/1388569082031603713
No, a quarter million fraudulent votes weren't uncovered in an Arizona election audit
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/apr/27/facebook-posts/no-quarter-million-fraudulent-votes-werent-uncover/
Man Pleads Guilty to Illegal Vote for Trump
https://www.newsweek.com/man-pleads-guilty-illegal-vote-trump-blames-stupid-mistake-too-much-propaganda-1588079
Fire Chief Resigns After Telling Local Police 'Stop Responding to Black Neighborhoods'
https://www.newsweek.com/fire-chief-resigns-after-telling-local-police-stop-responding-black-neighborhoods-1588066
Cave Deposits Reveal Permafrost Thawed 400,000 Years Ago, When Temperatures Were Not Much Higher Than Today
https://scitechdaily.com/cave-deposits-reveal-permafrost-thawed-400000-years-ago-when-temperatures-were-not-much-higher-than-today/
Nic Claxton is available to return against the Bucks on Sunday, the team says. Claxton missed the last seven games in the league's coronavirus health and safety protocols.
https://twitter.com/malika_andrews/status/1388601380705820673
The Hornets say both LaMelo Ball and Malik Monk are available to play tonight against Detroit.
https://twitter.com/TimBontemps/status/1388602282460262407
Donald Trump's flagship international resort claimed up to half a million pounds in UK taxpayers' money via a Covid-19 job fund - despite making scores of redundancies during the pandemic. Union officials are demanding a govt investigation.
https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/donald-trumps-firm-claims-up-to-ps500000-via-covid-19-job-fund-despite-axing-staff-3221186
Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).
3:58 PM · May 1, 2011
https://twitter.com/ReallyVirtual/status/64780730286358528
CBSNews confirmed the US is investigating 2 possible directed-energy attacks on US soil, including one last November on the Ellipse—steps from the White House. Law enforcement agencies are investigating two possible directed energy attacks on government employees on U.S. soil. One of the suspected energy attacks occurred on the south side of the White House in November, and is believed to have sickened a White House aide. That incident followed a similar one in 2019 in a Virginia suburb which reportedly injured an aide walking her dog. Energy attacks were suspected in Cuba and China in the past few years as U.S. personnel reported symptoms of ear popping, pounding headaches and nausea. The symptoms have been referred to as the "Havana Syndrome." Sources tell CBS News there have been energy-directed attacks on U.S. personnel on multiple continents. While Russia is considered a main suspect, U.S. officials are currently skeptical that Moscow would have carried out an attack just steps from the White House.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/energy-attack-suspected-near-white-house/
We welcome news of the move of the CITGO 6 to house arrest. We look forward to the day when they and all U.S. citizens held in Venezuela are reunited with their families.
https://twitter.com/StateSPEHA/status/1388503460698591238
https://www.npr.org/2020/11/27/939418623/six-u-s-citgo-executives-convicted-and-sentenced-in-venezuela
Caitlyn Jenner says transgender girls shouldn't get to participate on girls' sports teams because it 'just isn't fair'
https://www.businessinsider.com/caitlyn-jenner-trans-girls-shouldnt-participate-in-girls-sports-2021-5
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympia_Dukakis
LaMelo with the full court pass to Miles Bridges for the easy layup
https://streamable.com/ckhikm
Sigh.......Warriors' Kelly Oubre Jr. has a torn ligament in his left wrist and a fracture on the palm. Oubre reaggravated his wrist on April 9, missed 11 days and returned for five games, attempting to play through the injury and compete on the floor.
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1388657265666789379
Since Jamal Murray tore his ACL, the Denver Nuggets have went 9-1 and overtaken the Clippers for the 3rd seed in the West.
Luka "Magic" Doncic tonight: 31/12/20 shooting 12/23 from the fieldPlease no more nicknames
The league is straight up letting OKC tank in broad daylight but god forbid other teams rest a starter...
The Indiana Pacers (30-33) demolish the Oklahoma City Thunder (21-43) 152-95 and set the record for the largest margin of victory in an NBA game since 2018Post Game Thread
Luka Dončić has recorded the fourth game in NBA history with 30+ points, 10+ rebounds and 20+ assists.
Denver Nuggets (43-21) defeat Los Angeles Clippers (43-22) by 110 - 104 with 30/14/7 from Nikola Jokic
Curry just out scored the Rockets 23 to 12 in the 3rd quarter
Luka tosses a no look lob to Cauley-Stein, forcing a Wizards timeoutHighlight
https://streamable.com/j14r02
Luka Doncic on joining Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson and Russell Westbrook as the only players to ever have a 30-point, 20-assist triple double: "I'm more impressed by having only one turnover. That never happens, so I think I'm more impressed by that."
https://streamable.com/cwg0zh
Michael Porter Jr (25/7/5 on 10/16 shooting) and PJ Dozier(16/5/1 on 7/15 shooting) win the battle of the scoring wings by outplaying both Kawhi Leonard(16/5/6 on 7/12 shooting) and Paul George (20/7/2 on 5/21 shooting)
Lonzo and Zion duo tonight: 70 points, 20 Rebounds, 16 Assists, 4 Steals on 24-38 FG, 8-17 3pt, 14-21 FTs in Win vs the Wolves
Paul George gets called for a flagrant after viciously shoving Campazzo to the ground
https://streamable.com/1qxfxp
Beal dribbles the ball off his foot and then can't drain the game-winner
https://streamable.com/10o17r
Juan Toscano Anderson nearly had a 5x5 game
Juan Toscano-Anderson reacts to Memphis Grizzles losing against the Orlando Magic. The Warriors are now half a game behind the Grizzlies for the 8th seed
https://streamable.com/i1hxkf
Trae Young was fantastic tonight. 53 PTS, 18 AST, 10 REB, and 4 STL on highly efficient shooting numbers of 4/8 from 3 and 19/26 from the field
Doug McDermott tonight : 31 points on 11/14 FG 6/8 3PT in 27 min
Major-Majority Democratic Austin voters reinstate city's ban on public homeless encampments in one of several local Texas elections. DEMOCRATS voted for this.
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/01/texas-local-election-results/
Republican Susan Wright will advance to a runoff in the special election for Texas' 6th Congressional District, CNN projects, in a race that has been an early window into the fight over the future of the Republican Party in the aftermath of Trump's and Republicans' attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election and the attack on the US Capitol. Republican Jake Ellzey and Democrat Jana Lynne Sanchez are locked in a tight race for the second spot. Sanchez advancing would set up a potentially competitive contest and give Democrats a chance to give their narrow House majority a bit more breathing room. Ellzey coming in second would ensure Republicans hold the seat.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/01/us/elections/results-texas-house-district-6-special-election.html
Yikes I missed this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lonsdale
Republicans still try to claim Abe Lincoln's heritage — that's offensive and absurd
https://www.salon.com/2021/05/02/republicans-still-try-to-claim-abe-lincolns-heritage--thats-offensive-and-absurd/
62 % R vs 37 % D in a district Trump carried by only 3 points. Midterms are going to be a disaster for Democrats.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/01/us/elections/results-texas-house-district-6-special-election.html
Jesus Luzardo has a hairline fracture in his pinky finger. Broke it while playing a video game, bumped it accidentally on a table
https://twitter.com/BrodieNBCS/status/1388927743048314880
MLB has suspended Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jose Alvarado for three games. He is appealing.
https://twitter.com/byrobertmurray/status/1388933373528268800
Kris Bryant is having an unreal start to the season. After an RBI double and two home runs today, he is slashing .330/.413/.723 with a 1.136 OPS and 200 wRC+ with 9 homers, 19 XBH, and a 1.9 WAR.
Shohei Ohtani got hit by a pitch on his right elbow and looked to be in pain. Seems like the ball got the pad. Looks like he's staying in the game but obviously that's his pitching elbow, so stay tuned.
https://twitter.com/FabianArdaya/status/1388950124974403585
No DeMar DeRozan, no Dejounte Murray, no Jakob Poeltl tonight for San Antonio against Philly
https://twitter.com/RealTomPetrini/status/1388951947659579393
A torn thumb ligament threatens to end d'Arnaud's season.
https://twitter.com/mlbtraderumors/status/1388958252961083402
Michael Flynn this afternoon was called up to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at Lin Wood's rally AND HE FORGOT THE WORDS!!! What kind of "Patriot" General doesn't know the Pledge!
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1388931637170352138
Major here, to present to you my pawdorable friends! These orphan floofs of joy are waiting for their furever hoomans at the @OCAS_Orlando shelter in FL. I purrsonaly guarantee they are the bestest boys and girls, please spread the woof, save their lives! : @Alby88a
https://twitter.com/TheOvalPawffice/status/1388973103905222660
In our first #100days we did raise a total of 9,448 for animal welfare orgs we love, even though April was not a great month. We want to thank all our friends here for their suppawrt. #AdoptDontShop
https://twitter.com/TheOvalPawffice/status/1388972492073709598
Woof! Friends, we are continuing to raise funds for @HumaneSociety, they help so many suffering animals through their pawgrams, not only pets, wildlife too. Pls read #HowWeHelp section on the site.
https://twitter.com/TheOvalPawffice/status/1388972445818892288
The Democratic National Committee raised $15.4 million online during President Biden's first 100 days, beating its fundraising during either President Obama or Trump's first 100 days. The haul suggests the Democrats' stellar small-dollar numbers last year weren't solely dependent on opposition to Trump, as many in the party feared. The average donation was $23. Two of the DNC's top 10 fundraising days came last week when Biden gave his address to a joint session of Congress and when he campaigned in Georgia.
https://www.axios.com/dnc-fundraising-100-days-biden-7f64fc64-e950-4176-afee-fdaf31c668d8.html
The Republican National Committee raised $22 million from contributions of under $200 from January to the end of March, according to its filings with the Federal Election Commission, blowing past Democrats in fundraising.
https://www.axios.com/dnc-fundraising-100-days-biden-7f64fc64-e950-4176-afee-fdaf31c668d8.html
A new group dedicated to promoting President Biden's agenda is beginning a multimillion-dollar ad campaign trumpeting his COVID recovery package and infrastructure proposal in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin. Building Back Together will highlight the president's coronavirus response and his economic plan and will contrast his measured approach to his bombastic predecessor's.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/30/us/politics/pro-biden-ads-swing-states.html
The Milwaukee Bucks (40-24) defeat the Brooklyn Nets (43-22), 117 - 114 behind Giannis Antetokounmpo's 49 points
Kevin Durant against the Bucks: 42/7/2 on 16-33 shooting
Khris Middleton in a win against the Nets: 26/11/6 on 11-21 shooting with a +12
Craig Kimbrel now has his first loss of the season but he still has a 0.00 ERA. He's charged with the loss even though the runner is not his. The runner is forced by the MLB Commission's rule change.
Giannis scores 16 straight points to open the second halfHighlight
https://streamable.com/8i598l
German police bust darknet child pornography platform: After months of investigation, German police have busted the "Boystown" child sex abuse platform with over 400,000 members. Four German men have been arrested
https://dw.com/en/german-police-shut-down-major-darknet-child-pornography-platform/a-57408253
Lowry with his 8th three of the game, now giving him 37 points
https://streamable.com/r9913z
Ben Simmons tips it in to win the game at the buzzer
https://streamable.com/b3cwrp
With a loss to the Raptors today, LeBron has still not managed to beat the Raptors since his move to Los Angeles
The Lakers have lost 6 of their last 7 games — including tonight at home to the Raptors playing without Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr and OG Anunoby. They are now 7th in the West. Their next 5 games: Nuggets, Clippers, Blazers, Suns, Knicks.
The New York Knicks have won 11 of their last 12 games and have clinched at least a .500 record for the first time since the 2012 season
Kyle Lowry with a heatcheck triple with 18 seconds left on the shot clock, putting the Raptors up 19 in LA i the 3rd quarter
https://streamable.com/95x1c4
Rondo comes from the baseline to double Jokic, Jokic spots Rondo and realizes what's happening, flings a no look pass to Rondo's man for an open 3
https://streamable.com/vujxdy
LeBron stating today that whoever created the idea of the play-in tournament "should be fired" is strange, as last year, he advocated for the play-in tournament and having teams battle it out: LeBron James on the play-in tournament: "Whoever came up with that shit needs to be fired."
https://streamable.com/2hxa5q
The Sacramento Kings (27-37) defeat the Dallas Mavericks (36-28), 111 - 99
Kyle Lowry blows by all of the Lakers defenders to get the layup in time to beat the 2nd quarter buzzer
https://streamable.com/3j56bc
The Lakers say LeBron James has a sore right ankle and will not return to the game.
https://twitter.com/jovanbuha/status/1389074531562622978
MRI set for Monday morning on the left knee of Sacramento's outstanding rookie guard Tyrese Haliburton, but there's initial optimism he may have avoided a serious injury
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1389039058354118658
Luka gets his 15th tech and gets ejected
https://streamable.com/28j47t
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum collide and both head to the locker room.
https://streamable.com/dfqpm0
Tristan Thompson gets erroneously called for offensive goaltending
https://streamable.com/po6iz6
Pascal Siakam vs Lakers tonight: 39 points & 13 rebounds shooting 15-26 from the field
And with this Lakers loss, the Clippers will finally clinch a playoff berth. Ninth time in ten seasons.
https://twitter.com/sabreenajm/status/1389075910628831233
X-rays on sprained left ankle of Knicks center Nerlens Noel were negative and he'll be evaluated again on Monday
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1389051441160073221
Powell slaps Marcus Smart
https://streamable.com/bkn51h
The Miami Heat (35-30) defeat the Charlotte Hornets (31-33), 121-111
These were remarkable postgame media sessions with LeBron, AD and Kuz. They vented a season's worth of frustration in 30 minutes. Feels like a broken team with very little time to get right.
Melo hits a big triple
https://streamable.com/pozcti
Andre Drummond scored 19 points on 8-14 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 11 boards (4 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal and 4 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +3.
CJ and Melo splash in back to back threes + some Nurk lob Defense
https://streamable.com/nryw0g
