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By The Conversation

by Thomas Klassen, York University, Canada

The end of Donald Trump’s dysfunctional tenure in the White House means the start of a relatively normal presidency under Joe Biden. But what does normal even mean after four years of a presidency and a president that have been anything but?

Biden emphasized unity in his inaugural address in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dangerous scourge of misinformation and bitter partisan divisions in modern-day America:

“To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America, requires so much more than words and requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity.”

His success over his long political career, in fact, has come from seeking gradual reforms, building coalitions and aiming for bipartisan compromise rather than pursuing or leading a revolution.

That’s in stark contrast to political novice Trump, whose successes in his short-lived political career came from brazen actions that provoked intense reactions from both supporters and opponents.

Quieter politics

Partisan loyalties will continue to be rampant in Washington, but the flames of the divisions between Republicans and Democrats will not be fanned by Biden, who has signalled repeatedly that he’ll act with much more civility than his predecessor.

Executive orders will still be signed, but likely without the fanfare Trump courted and without partisan supporters surrounding the president in the Oval Office. Quieter politics are expected to be the hallmark of the early months.

Presidential tweets will probably emphasize unity rather than focus on airing petty presidential grievances. Biden will not use the presidency as a bully pulpit to foster division, but as a tool to nurture social cohesion. Vice-President Kamala Harris, cabinet members and White House officials will play a large role in communicating the Biden agenda, in contrast to the focus that Trump placed on himself.

Policy directions will likely be signalled well in advance of decisions being made, or at least ahead of decisions being announced. As a politician for more than half a century, Biden knows that preparing the groundwork is essential for successful policy implementation, while blindsiding stakeholders is a sure way to fire up the opposition. In practice, this entails slower and less centralized decision-making.

Working with Congress

Working closely with the Congress — the legislative branch of government comprised of the Senate and the House of Representatives — is a major objective of the new administration. Biden invited Mitch McConnell, now …read more

Source: ALTERNET

By Lydia DePillis

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

By Robert Reich’s Blog

We did it. We took control of the Senate from Mitch McConnell. Even so, Republicans may still be able to block key parts of Joe Biden’s agenda. But there are plenty of critical policies he can and must enact without them.

Biden’s first task is to undo Trump’s litany of cruel and disastrous executive orders. He has already announced he’ll rejoin the Paris Climate Accord, re-enter the World Health Organization, and repeal Trump’s discriminatory Muslim travel ban. And there are at least 48 other Trump policies that he can reverse on day one.

In addition, here are 10 critical policies Biden can implement without Congress:

FIRST: He can lower drug prices through Section 1498 of the federal code, which gives the government the power to revoke a company’s exclusive right to a drug and license the patent to a generic manufacturer instead.

SECOND: He can forgive federal student loans – thereby helping to close the racial wealth gap, giving a financial boost to millions, and delivering a major stimulus to the economy.

THIRD: He can use existing antitrust laws to break up monopolies and prevent mergers — especially in Big Tech and the largest Wall Street banks.

FOURTH: He can institute pro-worker policies for federal contractors – who are responsible for a fifth of the economy – such as requiring a $15 minimum wage and paid family leave, and refusing to contract with non-union companies.

FIFTH: He can empower the Labor Department to aggressively monitor and penalize companies that engage in wage theft and unpaid overtime, and who misclassify employees as independent contractors – as Uber and Lyft do.

SIXTH: He can make it easier for people to get health care by eliminating Medicaid work requirements, reinstating federal funding to Planned Parenthood, and expanding access to Affordable Care Act plans. Then it’ll be up to us to push him to enact Medicare for All.

SEVENTH: He can ban the sale of public lands and waters for oil and gas drilling. He can further tackle the climate crisis by reinstating the 125 environmental regulations rolled back by Trump and directing federal agencies to deny permits for new fossil …read more

Source: ALTERNET

By Alex Henderson

With the COVID-19 coronavirus having killed more than 2 million people worldwide and over 402,000 in the United States (according to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore), the distribution of new vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and others is very good news. Health experts, however, are worried about new COVID-19 variants that have emerged in different parts of the world, and science reporter Sarah Zhang examines some of the most troubling things about those variants in an article published by The Atlantic this week.

“For most of 2020,” Zhang explains, “the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 jumped from human to human, accumulating mutations at a steady rate of two per month — not especially impressive for a virus. These mutations have largely had little effect. But recently, three distinct versions of the virus seem to have independently converged on some of the same mutations, despite being thousands of miles apart in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.”

Zhang adds, “All three variants seem to be becoming more common. And all three are potentially more transmissible.”

The U.K. variant is known as B.1.1.7., while the South Africa variant is sometimes called B.1.351 or 20C/501Y.V2 — and scientists are calling the Brazil variant P.1 and 20J/501Y.V3.

The South Africa and Brazil variants, according to Zhang, might have an “advantage” in that they could be “better at evading antibodies from the blood plasma of recovered COVID-19 patients.” Those variants have what it called the “E484K mutation” — and Zhang notes that “viruses with this mutation could become a little better at reinfecting people or even infecting vaccinated people.”

Scientists, Zhang observes, “now wonder whether the variants in South Africa and Brazil are spreading precisely because they have” a “slight advantage in overcoming previous immunity.”

“Both variants were originally found in parts of the countries that have had high levels of COVID-19 infection — especially in Manaus, Brazil, where an especially large proportion of people have already had the virus,” Zhang observes, noting that “there are already two documented cases of reinfection” in Brazil “with the new variant.”

The United States has had the highest COVID-19 death count in the world. And Brazil, according to Johns Hopkins, comes in at …read more

Source: ALTERNET

By Meaghan Ellis

Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), the first Republican lawmaker to publicly support efforts to impeach former President Donald Trump, is speaking out about the deadly Capitol riots that erupted on Jan. 6 as lawmakers worked to complete the Electoral College certification.

Although the American public watched in shock and dismay as the disturbing series of events unfolded, Katko insists the riots were far worse than reported on television. During an interview with Syracuse.com, Katko shared details about the day of the deadly U.S. Capitol riots.

While he could not offer specific details about the classified briefings he has received, he did reveal that the incident was far worse than reported.

“I’ve had a lot of classified briefings on it, and it’s deeply troubling,” Katko told Syracuse.com. “I was left with a profound sense that it was much worse than people realized.”

He went on to stress the importance of taking a full objective look at the situation, how the series of events unfolded, and who else should be held accountable.

“We need to have a full stem-to-stern look back on this to see what happened, how it happened, the sequence of events, who contributed to it, and how we make sure it never happens again,” he said.

Katko’s latest remarks come just weeks after he spoke out against Trump’s rhetoric and antics. He noted the president’s misinformation campaigns on social media and his speech during the “Save America” rally that provoked the Capitol siege as he stressed the importance of holding the president accountable for his actions, according to Newsweek.

He insisted that the former president “deliberately promoted baseless theories that created a combustible environment of misinformation and division.”

Katko added, “To allow the president of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy and to our security.”

While the former president has departed from Washington, D.C., he still has a number of legal investigations to contend with in the coming weeks.

…read more

Source: ALTERNET

By Tom Conway

When COVID-19 forced the 66-bed Maryhill Manor into lockdown, a resolute Veronica Dixon and her colleagues realized they had to make a choice: band together or fall apart.

So they put in longer hours, shouldered extra duties and leaned on each other to keep the Niagara, Wisconsin, nursing facility operating as the coronavirus swept through, sickening dozens of residents and staff members.

What saved Maryhill Manor also offers hope for a country convulsed by storms. Only by working together can Americans end the pandemic, create a more equitable society and build a just economic system.

Dixon, a cook at the nursing home and the financial secretary of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 3168, noted that COVID-19 exacerbated the inequality that mires millions in poverty and tears at the nation’s social fabric.

“How can you not come together and try to work it out?” she asked.

“The rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer,” observed Dixon, who’s seen more people in Niagara struggle since a local paper mill shut down, eliminating hundreds of family-sustaining jobs, more than a decade ago. “There has to be something in between so people can live a decent life and not worry about how to pay their bills.”

So many Americans see the nation at a crossroads that they came together in record numbers to elect Joe Biden, charting a course for healing and progress.

Then, in runoff elections for U.S. Senate in January, Georgia voters propelled the nation yet another step along the path of change by electing Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, inclusive candidates committed to progress.

“You can’t lie about the numbers,” Dixon said of the historic election results. “People want change.”

But it isn’t enough for Americans to band together at the ballot box. It’s just as important to rally behind the initiatives that build a fairer country, just as the solidarity of union workers yielded the 40-hour workweek, decent benefits and workplace safety in previous decades.

Right now, it’s essential that every citizen pitch in to arrest a pandemic that’s already stolen more than 398,000 lives and left the economy in tatters.

Scientists and researchers maintained a feverish pace during the months they spent developing the vaccines, and pharmaceutical manufacturing workers put in grueling hours producing millions of doses. USW members <a target=_blank href="http://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/t/0/0/alternet/~https://www.usw.org/blog/2020/never-again" …read more

Source: ALTERNET

By Alex Henderson

With President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony less than 24 hours away, reporters have been wondering who President Donald Trump will grant pardons to during his remaining time in the White House. And according to CNN’s sources, Trump has decided against granting them to GOP lawmakers who spoke at or helped put together his “Save America Rally” in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6.

That rally took place before a violent mob of far-right extremists and Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building. The U.S. House of Representatives has since indicted Trump on an article of impeachment for “incitement to insurrection.”

In an article published by CNN’s website the day before Biden’s inauguration, reporters Kaitlan Collins, Kevin Liptak and Pamela Brown explain:

“Several Republican lawmakers who are alleged to have been involved in the rally that preceded the deadly riot on the U.S. Capitol have sought clemency from Trump before he leaves office. But after meeting with his legal advisers for several hours on Saturday, the president decided he would not grant them, according to two people familiar with his plans.”

The CNN reporters add, “The fear of legal exposure is not limited to Republicans who promoted or spoke at the rally, including Reps. Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks and Paul Gosar. Those who participated, organized and fundraised for it are also concerned, sources told CNN, including his eldest son, Donald Trump, Jr., and his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, who both spoke at the rally.”

The report doesn’t explicitly specify which Republican lawmakers sought out the pardons. But it’s noteworthy that any feel pardons for their conduct would be necessary. Some Democrats have suggested that Republican members of Congress may have had even more insidious roles in the attack than organizing or speaking at the rally that helped fuel the attack; they have indicated that some Republicans may have even played a part in planning the invasion of the Capitol Building itself, though it’s not clear what evidence for these claims exists.

Collins, Liptak and Brown report that Trump allies associated with the GOP groups that promoted the “Save America Rally,” which included Women for America First and Turning Point Action, “have also voiced private concern about …read more

Source: ALTERNET

By Alex Henderson

The day before his inauguration, President-elect Joe Biden spoke at a send-off event in Delaware — and he was overcome with emotion when discussing his connection to his adopted state.

Biden, now 78, was only 29 when he was first elected to the U.S. Senate via Delaware back in 1972. After decades in the Senate, Biden was sworn in as vice president in January 2009 as part of President Barack Obama’s administration.

The president-elect, originally from Scranton, Pennsylvania, explained, “My colleagues in the Senate used to always kid me for quoting Irish poets. They thought I did it because I’m Irish. I didn’t do it for that reason; I did it because they’re the best poets in the world.”

Biden added, “(Irish novelist/poet) James Joyce was said to have told a friend that when it comes his time to pass — when he dies, he says, ‘Dublin will be written on my heart.’”

Overcome with emotion, Biden continued, “Well, excuse the emotion. But when I die, Delaware will be written on my heart and the hearts of all of us — all the Bidens.” At one point, he wiped way a tear from his eye.

…read more

Source: ALTERNET

By Alex Henderson

President Donald Trump has repeatedly railed against the “deep state,” which is his term for bureaucrats and career employees of the federal government. But according to Politico reporters Alice Miranda Ollstein and Megan Cassella, it is Trump who has arguably promoted a “deep state” in the U.S. — and it is former Vice President Joe Biden who will have to contend with it after he is sworn in as president this week.

“A higher-than-usual number of Trump administration political appointees — some with highly partisan backgrounds — are currently ‘burrowing’ into career positions throughout the federal government, moving from appointed positions into powerful career civil service roles, which come with job protections that will make it difficult for Biden to fire them,” Ollstein and Cassella explain. “While this happens to some degree in every presidential transition, and some political appointees make for perfectly capable public servants, Biden aides, lawmakers, labor groups and watchdog organizations are sounding the alarm — warning that in addition to standard burrowing, the Trump administration is leaning on a recent executive order to rush through dozens, if not hundreds, of these so-called ‘conversions.’”

The Politico reporters continue, “The fear is that, once entrenched in these posts, the Trump bureaucrats could work from the inside to stymie Biden’s agenda, much of which depends on agency action. The October executive order — which Biden is expected to swiftly rescind — has allowed federal agencies to help political appointees circumvent the usual merit-based application process for career civil service jobs, while moving career policymakers into a new job category with far fewer legal protections.”

Ollstein and Cassella note that although the Office of Personnel Management is “required to report any conversion of political appointees into career positions to Congress on a quarterly basis,” the federal government has “gaps in terms of which agencies must be included in the reports.”

A Biden “transition official,” quoted anonymously, told Politico, “The incoming Biden-Harris administration is keenly aware of last minute efforts by the outgoing administration to convert political appointees into civil service positions. We anticipate learning more in the weeks ahead as our work to restore trust and accountability across the federal government begins, including reviewing …read more

Source: ALTERNET