# data[].attributes.body
Congress Must Act Now to Provide an Economic Bridge to the Coronavirus Vaccine

-The New Yorker 12/05/20
3. This is an example of the legislative because congress has passed four emergency bills
4. my opinion is that they really must act fast because people are dying fast, and the virus is spreading rapidly.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In a year when much of the U.S. government's response to the coronavirus pandemic has proved tragically inept, economic policy initially appeared to be a relatively bright spot. In March and April, Congress passed four emergency-spending bills, most notably the CARES Act, which together authorized close to three trillion dollars in financial support for the unemployed, stricken businesses, and state and local governments that faced massive additional demands at the same time that their tax revenues were falling. Although these spending bills were widely described as an economic stimulus, that term was a bit misleading. Enacted at a time when the first wave of coronavirus infections was raging, with no cure or vaccine in sight, the bills were really a form of disaster aid, intended to get the country through an unprecedented public-health crisis.

In some areas, such as providing protective equipment and bonus payments to the essential workers who were putting their lives at risk, more could have been done. But at greater than ten per cent of G.D.P., the over-all fiscal response was unrivalled in American peacetime. Importantly, the spending bills were accompanied by other supportive measures, such as moratoriums on eviction for renters and mandatory forbearance for people struggling to make mortgage or student-loan payments.

As stay-at-home orders spread across the country, this policy response didn't prevent an alarming increase in joblessness and income losses, particularly among minority and low-income groups. It did help avert a downward spiral into a Great Depression-type scenario. In terms of over-all declines in G.D.P., the coronavirus recession in the U.S. has been less steep than the downturns have been in many European countries. According to new estimates from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a Paris-based international research group, U.S. G.D.P. will shrink by about 3.7 per cent in 2020, compared to estimated declines of 5.5 per cent in Germany, 9.1 per cent in France, and 11.2 per cent in the United Kingdom.

That's the good news. Unfortunately, Congress and the Trump Administration failed to follow up on the initial spending measures, many of which were time-limited. Over the summer, as the number of virus cases picked up again, many economists warned that a failure to act could lead to a second economic downturn-a double dip. The weaker-than-expected employment report for November, which the Labor Department released on Friday, indicated that such an outcome is now looming, despite all the encouraging news on the vaccine front. To provide the economy with a bridge to the point at which a vaccine will be widely available, Congress needs to act immediately. If it doesn't, there could be much more needless damage and suffering during the next few months.

The headline figure from the jobs report was that payrolls rose by two hundred and forty-five thousand-a decent outcome in normal times, but these times are anything but normal. Despite a steady bounce back in hiring since April, when the official unemployment rate reached 14.7 per cent, the non-farm economy as a whole still had 9.8 million fewer jobs than it did in February, when the pandemic hit. And now, the pace of job creation has slowed a lot. According to revised figures contained in the employment report, the economy created seven hundred and eleven thousand jobs in September and six hundred and ten thousand in October. The payrolls figure for November, which is based on a survey of businesses and government agencies, suggests that hiring fell by nearly sixty per cent last month.

Even that estimate probably understates the economic toll that the relentless spread of the virus is taking. In calculating the jobs figures, the government carries out two surveys, and the second one-of households rather than businesses-indicated that total employment actually fell by seventy-four thousand in November. Even though the payrolls figure was positive, it is already out of date. The government did the household survey work on which the number is based during the period from November 8th to 14th. With the number of new coronavirus cases continuing to rise, economists expect a further slowdown in hiring and spending. If current trends continue, the jobs report for December, which will come out in early January, could be very ugly.

The onus is now on Congress. "This morning's jobs report indicates a clear slowdown in labor market momentum," the economics research team at Goldman Sachs said in a circular sent to the firm's clients on Friday. "And the near-term outlook continues to depend on the evolution of the virus and the outcome of fiscal negotiations." After the jobs report was released, investors bid up stock prices again in anticipation of a legislative deal, likely based on a spending package that a bipartisan group of senators put forward earlier this week.

The proposal would be worth about nine hundred billion dollars, or about four per cent of G.D.P.-a big chunk of change. Close to three hundred billion dollars would go to small businesses, including by extending the Paycheck Protection Program, which is designed to help companies retain their workers; about a hundred and eighty billion would go to extending unemployment benefits; a hundred and sixty billion dollars would be spent in additional aid to state, local, and tribal governments, which have seen their tax revenues fall sharply; and eighty-two billion would go toward helping schools. Democratic leaders in Congress have welcomed this proposal as the basis of a deal, and so has the President-elect, Joe Biden. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, and Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary, haven't gone that far, but McConnell did suggest on Thursday that a compromise was "within reach." The two sides are hoping to reach a consensus on a package that could be attached to an omnibus spending bill, which must be passed before the end of next week to keep the government funded and open.

On Friday, the Republican-leaning U.S. Chamber of Commerce added its voice to calls for immediate action. "Today's job report shows a slumping economic recovery," Neil Bradley, the organization's executive vice-president, said in a statement. "The fire alarm is sounding on our economy, and the only question is whether Congress will respond." To fail to do so would be inexcusable.

Read More About the Presidential Transition

Donald Trump has survived impeachment, twenty-six sexual-misconduct accusations, and thousands of lawsuits. His luck may well end now that Joe Biden is the next President.

With litigation unlikely to change the outcome of the election, Republicans are looking to strategies that might remain even after rebuffs both at the polls and in court.

With the Trump Presidency ending, we need to talk about how to prevent the moral injuries of the past four years from happening again.

If 2020 has demonstrated anything, it is the need to rebalance the economy to benefit the working class. There are many ways a Biden Administration can start.

Trump is being forced to give up his attempt to overturn the election. But his efforts to build an alternative reality around himself will continue.

Sign up for our daily newsletter for insight and analysis from our reporters and columnists.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Congress Must Act Now to Provide an Economic Bridge to the Coronavirus Vaccine

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In a year when much of the U.S. government's response to the coronavirus pandemic has proved tragically inept, economic policy initially appeared to be a relatively bright spot.

# data[].attributes.body
WHAT WAR POWERS DOES PRESIDENT TRUMP HAVE?- The New Yorker 1/7/20
3. This is a example of the Executive branch because congress is the only one who can declare war not the president or Vice President.
4.I think it is a good idea because if the president to Vice President could declare war I think they would be starting wars left and right.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What War Powers Does President Trump Have?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A legal expert on the killing of Qassem Suleimani, President Trump’s Iran policy, and the executive power of the Presidency.

# data[].attributes.headline
Supreme Court declines to fast-track election-related disputes- 1/11/2021

# data[].attributes.subject
Supreme Court declines to fast-track election-related disputes- 1/11/2021

# data[].attributes.body
3. this is an example because the supreme court rejected a dispute which they can do because it is a legal dispute.
4.they were right to reject it because Trump shouldn't be starting anything a week before biden is in office.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Washington - The Supreme Court on Monday rejected requests to fast-track a bevy of election-related disputes brought by President Trump and other Republicans, effectively foreclosing any action from the justices before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated next week.

The court declined to expedite consideration of the lawsuits brought by Mr. Trump and GOP allies, including lawyers Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, that targeted the election results from battleground states he lost: Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Georgia. There were no noted dissents.

In refusing to speed up review of the legal battles, the cases will effectively be moot by the time the justices consider them during its regular schedule. Mr. Biden will be sworn in January 20.

As litigation related to the election wound through the federal court system, the Supreme Court, now with a 6-3 conservative majority, rejected disputes that sought to reverse the outcome of the presidential election. Mr. Trump often took to his now-suspended Twitter account to express hope the high court would deliver him a second term, and when it did not do so, lashed out at the Supreme Court, to which he appointed three justices.

Last week, the president finally acknowledged he would be leaving office January 20, but only after a violent mob of his supporters mounted an assault on the U.S. Capitol. The attack, which occurred as the House and Senate were convened to count the electoral votes and reaffirm Mr. Biden's victory, led to the evacuation of lawmakers, while Vice President Mike Pence, who was in the Senate at the time, was whisked off the floor.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
united states presidential election 2020

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Supreme Court declines to fast-track election-related disputes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Washington - The Supreme Court on Monday rejected requests to fast-track a bevy of election-related disputes brought by President Trump and other Republicans, effectively foreclosing any action from the justices before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated next week.

# data[].attributes.headline
Sanders says Democrats should do the "same thing" as right-wing Federalist Society in nominating federal judges- 2/2/2020

# data[].attributes.subject
Sanders says Democrats should do the "same thing" as right-wing Federalist Society in nominating federal judges- 2/2/2020

# data[].attributes.body
3. a group of federalist say that abortion rights should be taken away
4. i think the federalist shouldn't have an opinion on what women do with their body, i don't think anyone but them should have an opinion

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
At a forum by abortion rights groups in New Hampshire on Saturday, Bernie Sanders urged the Democratic Party to take a note from Republicans with regards to nominating federal judges. Sanders said that conservatives have been successful at securing judges because they cultivate them from the ground up - and liberals should too.

When asked why Democrats aren't as successful as Republicans in nominating federal judges, Sanders pointed to the Federalist Society. The powerful right-wing legal organization has long-championed conservative judges, and was utilized by President Trump to nominate Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh's confirmation made him the fifth Justice with ties to the Federalist Society, out of just nine seats on the court, according to Politico.

Sanders said Mr. Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were "ready to go on day one" with Federalist Society-approved "right-wing" judges.

"They have thought this through," he said of Republicans.

At @NARAL forum in NH, @berniesanders says Rs & Federalist Society cultivate young, "right-wing" lawyers & judges.

Sanders says Democrats must do the same w/ young liberals.

"We can learn some lessons from the right-wing," he says.

Credits McConnell & DT for pushing judges.
- Cara Korte (@CaraKorte) February 8, 2020

Sanders asked the audience, "You know what we do every day in the Senate?" then answered his own question: "We nominate right-wing judges."

"You got the Federalist Society, an extremely well-funded right wing group who works with young lawyers, nurtures them, takes them along, nominates them and gets them to the Supreme Court and to the circuit courts and the district court," Sanders said.

The Federalist Society began as a student group at Yale University in 1982. A 2018 Politico article titled, " The Weekend at Yale That Changed American Politics," catalogs how three young law students created arguably the most influential conservative legal group in the country. Politico reporter Michael Kruse told CBS News in 2018 that the liberal equivalent, The American Constitution Society, founded in 2001, has never gained the same extent of influence.

Sanders on Saturday said Democrats have to start "taking a look at good young legal minds all over this country and cultivating them to the courts."

"We can learn some lessons from what the right wing is doing in this country," he said. "Republicans have been effective in politicizing the judiciary in a way Democrats have not."

Sanders also elaborated on concepts he's spoken about before regarding the highest court in the country. He said he's against packing the Supreme Court, and supports the idea of having a rotation of judges.

"What the Supreme Court says is that a federal judge has a lifetime appointment. Doesn't say that that lifetime appointment has got to be on the Supreme Court, it has to be on a federal court," Sanders said. "And there are some minds out there, legal scholars, who think you can rotate judges out of the Supreme Court to the circuit courts or the district courts, that is something I certainly will look at."

At Friday's Democratic debate, Sanders said he would have a litmus test on abortion for his Supreme Court picks.

"I will never nominate any person to the Supreme Court or the federal courts in general who is not 100% pro-Roe v. Wade," he said.

Saturday's forum was sponsored by abortion rights groups National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), Demand Justice, Center for Reproductive Rights, and the All Above All Action Fund.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
2020 united states presidential election

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sanders says Democrats should do the "same thing" as right-wing Federalist Society in nominating federal judges

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At a forum by abortion rights groups in New Hampshire on Saturday, Bernie Sanders urged the Democratic Party to take a note from Republicans with regards to nominating federal judges. Sanders said that conservatives have been successful at securing judges because they cultivate them from the ground up - and liberals should too.

# data[].attributes.headline
These House Republicans say they will vote to impeach Trump 1/13/2021

# data[].attributes.subject
These House Republicans say they will vote to impeach Trump 1/13/2021

# data[].attributes.body
the highest ranking republicans still stand on impeaching trump even  though he is out of office next week.
i think impeaching him is a great idea but he only has a week left so they should let him live it out,

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
At least three GOP members of the House so far, including one of its highest-ranking Republicans, will vote to impeach President Trump in light of the deadly attack on the Capitol last week by a violent mob of his supporters.

Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House, said in a statement that she would vote to impeach Mr. Trump after he whipped up his supporters Wednesday at a rally not far from the Capitol.

"The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President," Cheney said, referring to Mr. Trump's appearance at Wednesday's rally, when he told his supporters, "If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore." She also criticized his repeated calls for Republican lawmakers to try to overturn the election.

"The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution," Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, continued. "I will vote to impeach the President."

When President Trump was impeached in 2019 over his attempts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden, no House Republicans voted in favor of impeaching him. But this time, in his second impeachment, other Republicans, too, have signaled that they would consider voting to impeach him, and House GOP leaders are not expected to pressure their members to vote a certain way.

Congressman John Katko was the first Republican to say he'd vote to impeach Mr. Trump. Katko represents a district in upstate New York which leans Democratic, and he has faced significant challenges in his last two elections.

"To allow the president of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy," Katko said in a statement reported by Syracuse.com. "For that reason, I cannot sit by without taking action. I will vote to impeach this president."

Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a frequent critic of Mr. Trump, announced Tuesday in a tweet, "I will vote in favor of impeachment."

"There is no doubt in my mind that the President of the United States broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection. He used his position in the Executive to attack the Legislative ... If these actions - the Article II branch inciting a deadly insurrection against the Article I branch - are not worthy of impeachment, then what is an impeachable offense?"

Last week, Kinzinger also called on Vice President Pence and Mr. Trump's Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.

Other House Republicans, too, are weighing a break with the president. Congressman Steve Stivers has said that he "would not oppose" the Cabinet invoking the 25th Amendment. Congressman Peter Meijer also said on Monday that he was "strongly considering" impeachment.

The majority of the House Republican conference - including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise - voted to overturn the Electoral College results last week. But dozens of other Republicans did not and may be open to considering impeachment.

Six Republican lawmakers introduced a resolution to censure Mr. Trump on Tuesday evening. Unlike impeachment, censuring does not have any practical consequences, but would only be a formal condemnation.

In the Senate a few senators have also signaled that they, too, may be willing to consider voting to remove Mr. Trump from office, though the bar is higher in the Senate. While it takes a simple majority to impeach the president in the House, two-thirds of the senators must vote for the president's conviction and removal.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
These House Republicans say they will vote to impeach Trump

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At least three GOP members of the House so far, including one of its highest-ranking Republicans, will vote to impeach President Trump in light of the deadly attack on the Capitol last week by a violent mob of his supporters.

# data[].attributes.headline
Exiled Hong Kong politician says U.S. "should be very concerned" about mass-arrest of democracy advocates- 1/6/2021

# data[].attributes.subject
Exiled Hong Kong politician says U.S. "should be very concerned" about mass-arrest of democracy advocates- 1/6/2021

# data[].attributes.body
3. a politician fled hong kong a year ago and is on his why to the US
4. i think that is terrible they should have kept a better eye on him. but it is great that they are warning the US.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
London - Hong Kong pro-democracy politician Nathan Law, who lives in exile in the U.K., told CBS News on Wednesday that, had he not fled the city last year, he would have been among dozens of politicians and activists arrested in China's latest, "utterly absurd" crackdown under the guises of a new "national security" law.

The arrests of 53 pro-democracy politicians and activists overnight was the biggest action under China's new national security law since its passage by Beijing last year. The new law was created to quash dissent in the semi-autonomous territory, which, despite being part of China, had a different system of government that guaranteed fundamental freedoms.

"It's definitely devastating for me. A lot of people who are arrested are my friends. I'm actually on the list. If I were to be in Hong Kong, I would be arrested just a couple hours ago," Law said.

The dozens of people arrested were accused of plotting the "mutual destruction" of China and Hong Kong via their participation in an unofficial primary election to narrow down pro-democracy opposition candidates to run for seats on the territory's legislative council (LegCo). If elected to the council, these candidates could potentially have influenced or blocked laws passed down from Beijing.

Law called the government's explanation that by trying to get elected the detainees were attempting to block the government's operations, "utterly absurd, because in any normal and democratic system, we've got checks and balances, and the council's duty is to hold the administrative branch accountable with the measures, including blocking their bills."

"That is actually part of the function and the power of the system," he said. "But the government sees it as a subversion act."

He said the world would have to "wait and see" whether all 53 individuals arrested on Wednesday would actually face prosecution.

"There's still pending questions whether this is a genuine prosecution to all... or just targeting a few of them" believed to be the masterminds of the political unrest Hong Kong has seen over the last year.

Among those who Law fears could face tougher penalties is prominent politician Joshua Wong, who, although he's been jailed since early December, could see his sentence increased.

The mass arrests were also the first time that a foreigner has been detained under the new national security law. American human rights lawyer John Clancey, who had had been involved in pro-democracy work in Hong Kong, was among those taken into custody.

"That is definitely a big blow," Law said. "I think the U.S. government should be very concerned with the case, and that it's possibly another variant of hostage diplomacy from Beijing."

Law urged the U.S. government and wider international community to hold China accountable, and he urged the European Union to halt an EU-China investment pact.

"None of us should take these freedoms for granted. Even in the U.S., around the world, if we are not vigilant enough, they will be taken away very, very quickly," Law said.

He said that for himself and other Hong Kongers, who for decades had "the taste of freedom... losing it is a huge blow, and its impact is larger than if you're pursuing something that you have never had."

"I think that really gives momentum to people who are still a diaspora community and have left Hong Kong, or even stayed in Hong Kong, to have that faith of fighting for it, even though the situation is getting more and more difficult."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Exiled Hong Kong politician says U.S. "should be very concerned" about mass-arrest of democracy advocates

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
London - Hong Kong pro-democracy politician Nathan Law, who lives in exile in the U.K., told CBS News on Wednesday that, had he not fled the city last year, he would have been among dozens of politicians and activists arrested in China's latest, "utterly absurd" crackdown under the guises of a new "national security" law.