Everybody Loves Lincoln: Recent Episodes
Everybody Loves Lincoln
Because he's the one guy everyone can agree on!
This podcast is the audio for the almost daily IG video series "Politics Explained Quickly." Almost everyday, host Jackie Koppell breaks down the biggest story and explains it from all sides while trying to inject a bit of humor as well.
These videos sometimes include longer form interviews with experts, politicians, and other awesome guests. And once a week there's a good news video focused solely on...good news. Because despite everything happening in the world, there are things to celebrate too!
Good News! Vaccines Galore, a Stowaway Owl, the Prairie & more!
Not 1 but 2 vaccines are showing amazing promise. We learned about Pfizer last week and this week we heard about Moderna’s vaccine. Both are around 95% effective which is incredibly impressive. Both require 2 shots spaced out by a few weeks but the Moderna one doesn’t need to be kept at super low temperatures which makes distribution easier. The fact that we have 2 potential vaccine candidates just 8 months after the pandemic started is nothing short of miraculous and is a testament to the scientists who are working so hard on this. We owe them, and Dolly Parton, our gratitude and our lives. Literally. Dolly donated $1 million to Nashville’s Vanderbilt University Medical Center which was an early trial site for the Moderna vaccine. So she helped too. Thanks Dolly, and all of the scientists.
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has raised about $2 billion from the European Commission, France, Spain, The Republic of Korea, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to reserve and access 1 billion doses for low- and middle-income economies. In addition, 94 higher-income countries have officially joined the COVAX Facility, which is a worldwide effort to make sure that the vaccines that are produced are able to be distributed equitably for the most vulnerable groups of people. Not only will it help people in those economies, it’ll also help end the pandemic overall. They still need to raise more but it’s comforting to know that hopefully anyone on the planet who needs a vaccine most will be able to get one.
Though there is a light at the end of the tunnel, we’re not out of the woods yet. Many of us won’t be able to be physically with our families on Thanksgiving to help stop the spread of the virus. So how do you connect with your family during the holiday? Zoom has the answer! All day on Thanksgiving, zoom is lifting their 40 minute time limit on free meetings. You can talk to those relatives in Timbuktu or Chicago or wherever you are for as long as you’d like that day. Thank you zoom for helping us all stay connected.
14,000 acres of land were added to the Montana Wildlife Reserve as part of the American Prairie Reserve. This was the 29th purchase of land for The American Prairie Reserve which is a project with the goal of buying enough privately owned land to connect 2 huge tracts of federally managed land and in doing so, it would create the single largest reserve in the lower 48 states. The reserve now has about 419,000 public and private acres with the goal of eventually acquiring 3.2 million acres. Once that happens, which is basically about 5000 square miles, scientists think that will allow for the grassland reserve to be big enough to preserve the full ecosystem and have enough resources for the wildlife living there. It’s a massive conservation project and one we certainly hope is successful.
And a worker who was helping set up the famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in New York discovered a tiny male saw-whet owl in the tree. They grow only to 8.3 inches. His wife called the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center and they treated him, ensuring he’s healthy. He’s now ready to go back to the wild but with a cool new name: Rockefeller.
Comment below w your good news!
Is it Possible Trump could Overturn Election Results? (Michigan & more)
Remember that Trump has lost the popular vote by close to 6 million votes. But we choose our presidents via the electoral college. In almost all states, the winner of the popular vote in that state wins all of the votes for the electoral college. The way our constitution is written, there are technically ways for the courts or a state to overturn the will of the people via that states’ legislature. But none of it is going well for Trump. Here’s what happened recently:
In Arizona, a state judge dismissed a case brought by the Arizona Republican Party wanting to expand a hand audit of votes. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Democratic Party pointed out that the state had just finished a hand-audit recount of a sampling of ballots that found zero discrepancies and therefore a full recount would do nothing but delay the results. Biden won by over 10K votes.
In Georgia, a judge appointed by Trump threw out a case that was trying to stop the certification of the state’s results over improper procedures by election officials. The judge did not find evidence of irregularities. And Georgia just finished a full hand count. Biden won again. Georgia has certified the results. Biden won by over 12K votes.
In Pennsylvania, a judge there rejected an attempt to invalidate 2,177 absentee ballots. Trump was claiming that these ballots were "legally insufficient" because of technical issues with their envelopes or were missing a handwritten date or address. The judge said the case was about language, not voter fraud and that it would be wrong to disenfranchise those voters because of this. Biden won by almost 82 thousand votes.
In Michigan, Trump tried to pull off something pretty wild. First, as I mentioned earlier this week, 2 GOP members of the Wayne County elections board voted against certifying the results. Remember, Wayne county includes Detroit, a city where voters are primarily black and democrats. They eventually voted to certify but then tried to rescind that. It didn’t happen. So Trump tried a different tactic: he invited members of the Michigan State House and Senate to the White House to make an appeal in person. He was hoping that doing so could help stall the state’s certification which is set for Monday. And he wanted to convince them to get the Republican controlled legislature to overturn the popular vote, where Biden is ahead by at least 154,000 votes, and instead appoint pro-Trump electors to the electoral college. But that would also require the Governor to sign off on this. The governor is a democrat so that’s not happening. And the GOP member who met with Trump said afterwards that “We have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders, we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan’s electors, just as we have said throughout this election.”
You might be asking: if there’s no way for Trump to actually overturn the Michigan results, why try? Because it sows the seeds of doubt. It keeps his supporters angry and feeling like something wrong must have happened even though the only thing that happened was that Trump lost. It keeps him front and center in the news and gives him more power once he’s out of office. Perhaps most importantly for him, it keeps the possibility of a run in 2024 very real.
Firing & Fraud: What happened at DHS & in Michigan?!
Everyone was concerned that if defeated Trump would act out. And he has. The most recent firing came today. Chris Krebs served as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is a branch of the Department of Homeland Security. Their job is to ensure that our elections are protected from hackers. And he and several other committees had declared this election to be the most secure in American history. Krebs had also continued to debunk claims, especially via the CISA blog “Rumor Control,” where he publicly denounced the false claims by the president and his allies around election security and voting procedures. CISA also released a statement saying, “there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised. While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too. When you have questions, turn to elections officials as trusted voices as they administer elections.”
Obviously Trump didn’t like any of that. Remember that according to Trump, the only way he could lose and election was through fraud. But that’s not what happened. He lost because people voted against him. There was no mass fraud. Even his own lawyers haven’t been able to find any. But that hasn’t stopped him from making these false claims. For those who pick and choose instances of fraud, small examples are found in every election. But we’re talking at most .0025% aka none. Did a few dead people vote? Probably. But a few probably voted for Trump and a few for Biden. But again, no mass fraud that would flip tens of thousands of votes. Interestingly, now that Chris Krebs has been fired, something he expected would happen, he’s now available to talk to Biden’s team. That was being prevented because the administration still hasn’t acknowledged that Biden won and the official transition hasn’t begun. Hopefully Biden has already made the call.
As for additional shenanigans and more examples where it seems Republicans are politicizing the elections process in ways not done before, in Michigan 2 GOP members of the Wayne County elections board at first refused to certify the results. Wayne County includes Detroit which is a heavily democratic district with a lot of black voters. While they eventually did reverse themselves after hours of angry voters calling them out as racist, this was an effort to disenfranchise voters, and especially black voters. One of the Republican board members, Monica Palmer, made a motion to “certify the results in the communities other than the city of Detroit.” The republicans claimed that many precincts in the county had conflicting figures for the numbers of votes cast and the number of voters they recorded as having participated. But it involved a small number of ballots and that’s normal. Sometimes people leave the line, or an absentee ballot is kicked out of a tabulator. But again, these are small numbers and discrepancies like this have never held things up in the past.
For Democrats concerned that Trump wanted to force Michigan and other states to miss their certification deadlines so that Republican-controlled legislatures could appoint their own pro-Trump delegates to the Electoral College, there is some hope. The GOP majority leader in the Michigan State Senate, said that won’t happen.
For those who might say, well Jackie, this just seems so anti-Trump. To that I say, no, it’s just pro-fact. I’m not here to tell you things you just want to hear. I’m here to explain accurate info so you know what’s really going on. In court case after court case, Trump is losing. Why? Because he lost the election, more people voted against him and for Biden, and even his people can’t find mass fraud. The election is over. Someone just
What’s going on w Penn, dead voters & more?!
Joe Biden won and he’ll be sworn in as president.
But there will be a bit of chaos beforehand.
Trump refuses to concede but even his team can’t find proof of voter fraud.
And a few dead voters voted in PA. Some voted for Biden but apparently some for Trump.
Watch to find out more!🇺🇸
In the midst of everything, there’s actually some really good news including:
-Eliminating hepatitis
-Best Dad Ever
-Santa is an Essential Worker!
-A polar bear livestream!
Check out more GOOD NEWS! Share YOUR good news too!
Where’d all those votes come from?!
I assure you, no new votes have been cast. They are just counting votes. Mail in ballots were always expected to take longer and come in last. They did in Michigan, Wisconsin & Pennsylvania.
Why? Bc GOP state legislatures in all 3 prevented ballots from being counted in advance.
The red mirage happened: Trump was up in Election Day votes. They got counted first so it looked like he was winning. But once all ballots are counted, it looks like Biden wins all 3.
Also, Biden on track to win AZ and Nevada but it’s #2020 so let’s make sure all votes are counted!
Election Update as of 12am pst!
This election is not over!
There are key votes that are still not in. While Democrats are bullish and feel confident that when all votes are counted, #Biden will win, #Trump will not back down easily.
Trump declared that he won which is not true.
Biden seems to have flipped #Arizona and #Nebraska’s 2nd district.
Ballots in blue areas of Michigan, Wisconsin & Pennsylvania haven’t come in yet.
As of filling, #Georgia is still in play because ballots from Fulton & Dekalb county still haven’t been counted and they’ll skew for Biden. It’ll be very close here.
*In the video I said Wisconsin was won by Trump in 2016 by about 10k votes. That was actually Michigan. Wisconsin went to Trump by 22k.
Comment below with questions!🇺🇸😀
The Red Mirage: Explained
You may have heard the term “the red mirage.” No, it’s not a Star Wars Jedi Challenge. Although to Democrats it’s the nightmare equivalent of a battle with Kylo Ren.
What is it really? It’s the impression on election night that Donald Trump is winning, when in reality the votes of many Democrats won’t have been counted yet.
Here’s why: In Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, all swing states, mail in ballots can’t be counted until election day. Due to COVID precautions, there are millions of mail in ballots and it looks like the majority of those are from Democrats. This is because Trump has discouraged voting by mail so it seems many republicans are voting in person.
Mail in ballots take longer to count than ballots that are cast in person. So the in person ballots, which will skew heavily republican, will be counted first. Which means they could be reported first. Leading to what looks like a Trump victory, the red mirage, when in reality it could turn blue once all of the votes are counted.
Moral of the story? Vote in person or drop off your ballot at this point no matter who you support! And prepare yourself: don’t expect to know the winner of the election on election night. It could take these states a few days to process all of the votes!
Want me to explain something else? Let me know in the comments below! Thanks for watching.
Good News! Voting Records, Solar Savings, Mountain Lions & More!
Happy Halloween! Which means...It’s time for some good news, good news. It’s my favorite video of the week. Normally I give you politics explained quickly. But once a week I like to make a good news video because despite everything happening in the world, and especially election anxiety, there really are good people and good news too. Please like this account and share the good news with your friends via the paper airplane aka triangle below.
More than 80 million Americans have voted and some counties have surpassed their 2016 vote totals already. America has some opinions and we’re going to hear about them!
Batesville High School in Arkansas decided to go solar after an energy audit in 2017. That was a very good move. They installed 1400 solar panels and with the savings, they were able to give raises between $2000 and $3000 a year to each teacher. On top of that, the energy consumption for the school district decreased so much over a 3 year period they were able to turn a $250,000 budget deficit into a $1.8 million surplus. Apparently over 7,300 schools in the nation now use solar as a way to save money, and introduce kids to renewable energy. Helping the environment can help your pocketbook too.
Liem Kaplan may only be 13 years old, but he’s already spent the past seven years of his life serving his community through coat drives and other philanthropic activities. Since COVID-19 hit the Seattle area, he’s been applying his generous nature tenfold: getting more than 5,000 masks, as well as sanitizer, food, clothing, and shelter. It’s just a little more remarkable because Liem was born with arms that are a little different. Clearly that hasn’t stopped him from being amazing.
Gordon Wayne, who at one point had been homeless, has walked over 500 miles from Central Virginia to Boston college in Massachusetts to raise money for the National Alliance to End Homelessness. He raised over $136,000. I’m happy to report he’ll be a sophomore at Boston College with a full scholarship. He said “Many homeless people have great skill, work ethic, and heart, but simply need the resources to have a realistic chance at success. Please consider donating, as your generosity could truly save someone’s life.”
Los Angeles has a lot of mountain lions. But as the city has continued to spread, freeways have impacted these animals’ ability to travel freely, not to mention it’s dangerous for them to cross over these freeways. So, money is being raised to create a 165 foot overpass over the 101 freeway in an area between thousand oaks and calabasas. It’ll be covered in extra-dense trees and other vegetation. The goal is to make the overpass as silent and shaded as possible, so the mountain lions will feel comfortable and safe using it. Save LA Cougars and the National Wildlife Federation, have raised $15 million so far. If you’d like to contribute, look those organizations up!
Thanks for watching. Remember to vote! And wear a mask. Share your good news below!😀🇺🇸
And the Polls Say...
It’s the end of the world as we know it…no matter who you vote for, you probably think it’ll be the end of the world if the other side wins. Which guarantees it’s the end of the world either way. But if SOMEHOW it’s not the end of the world on November 4th, or whatever day we find out who won the election, you might be wondering where the race stands. So I thought I’d explain it to you…quickly. Because that’s what I do.
After the final debate where most people felt that Trump helped himself and Biden did well too, the question was: did the race change? I’m going to explain some of the weird polls and share some important info on voting so stick with me. First, while the race has tightened a bit as expected, it’s remained fairly steady overall with Biden currently favored to win.
As I’m sure you’ve heard, because of the electoral college, our election hinges on a few key swing states. That means the vote is going to be close and therefore could “swing” either way. The main ones this year are Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina. Although there are other states that, based on polling averages could also be close, including Ohio, Georgia, Arizona and even Texas. Yes, Biden is polling well in Texas and the race is now considered a toss up. So much so that Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire who briefly ran for president, is spending millions of dollars in a last minute attempt to convince some additional voters to support Biden.
If you’re like me, each day you refresh your feed to see if any new polls have come out. And they’re coming! Some of them seem a bit ridiculous but if you remove those outliers, you’ll start to see a pretty clear picture of where things stand today. It’s the polling averages that tend to provide us with a more realistic picture. Remember, polls are a snapshot and reflection of where things stand but they’re no magic eight ball. Although those magic eight balls say things like “Cannot predict now” and “ask again later” so maybe they’re exactly like polls! Either way, both candidates have a pathway to victory.
Trump’s most definitely runs through Florida. If he loses to Biden in Florida, and we should know that on election night because Florida processes ballots as it receives them, he’ll lose the election. This is because there likely won’t be enough other states to make up for those 29 electoral college votes. Right now, the polls are showing the race virtually tied with a slight edge to Biden. But when polls are this close, it could swing either way. In North Carolina, the race is a dead heat as well.
In Pennsylvania, the race has tightened. Biden has a polling advantage of 3.8 percent in real clear politic’s average of polls. But that’s just in the margin of error meaning it could be close there too. Both candidates have spent quite a bit of time in Pennsylvania because of this.
Michigan is polling pretty steadily in Biden’s favor, up 8.6 on average. In Wisconsin, the average is 5 to 6 points. Please ignore the one poll that said he’s up 17 points. He’s not.
Now for those of you with PTSD from 2016 saying well, Hillary was ahead in the polls but she lost. So far, it looks like 2020 is going differently. First, the polling numbers were more volatile and though Hillary polled ahead in a lot of the states, Biden is polling ahead by a greater amount. In addition, data geniuses have studied not just state polls but district polls, which are even more detailed, to compare 2016 and 2020. Apparently in 2016, the district polls should have raised red flags for the Clinton campaign. And in the final week, the momentum was not shifting in her favor. This time, district polls are showing a fairly stable race with Biden ahead.
What does this mean? VOTE. Because it’s going to be close either way so this year more than ever, your vote really matters. But at this point, only vote early in person, drop off your ballot or vote in person on election day. DO NOT ma
High voter Turnout vs High Voter Registration: who is winning?
Thanks to Politico’s Charlie Mahtesian for lending his expertise. This is part 2!
Voter #registration is up big for #Republicans (in some swing states) who will vote in large numbers on election day. That could mean a shift in swing states like Florida. But does it spell doom for Dems?
There’s been massive early voting for #Dems. Does that spell doom for the #GOP? Not necessarily.
The red mirage...on election night, it might look like Trump won because his supporters will mostly vote in person and those votes will be counted first. Trump and others declare victory but it turns out that Biden wins. This is a huge fear of #democrats.
Comment below w questions or your thoughts on how it’ll turn out!
The Pathway to Victory for Trump & Biden
A huge thank you to Charlie Mahtesian for joining me and sharing his insight on the election.
Joe Biden is up in the polls, both nationally and in most swing states. But does that mean he has this in the bag? No. Trump still has a pathway to victory and it’s due to the electoral college and the math that goes with it.
Regarding polls, remember to look at the averages of polls, not just the individual polls.
Example of why the map looks so good for Biden. He’s competitive in Georgia and in the slight lead in Arizona. That opens up the Rust Belt and the Sun Belt. And there’s always that weird Nebraska electoral vote due to the way they allocate electoral votes (which is different from the rest of the country aside from Maine).
Trump is trailing in the swing states but some are in the margin of error. If luck goes his way, we could be in for a surprise. That said, Trump is in a defensive position. So much so that he’s trying to find votes in Minnesota and New Hampshire late in the game just to see if they could create some unexpected luck elsewhere.
Also, voter registration is up big for Republicans because they’ve been willing to go door to door. Democrats decided not to as a way to protect people from COVID. What does that mean for voting?
As for turnout, it’s huge for Dems so far, but Republicans aren’t too worried, especially in Florida, because they’re confident so many people will vote on election day.
The red mirage: that on election night, it looks like Trump won because his supporters will mostly vote in person and those votes will be counted first. Trump and others declare victory but it turns out that Biden wins. This is a huge fear of democrats.
Plus, how did the candidates perform in the final debate? HINT: They both did better. Watch to find out if it’ll have an impact.
Comment below with questions or thoughts!
For a debate with possibly the lowest bar set in the history of presidential debates, I’m happy to report the candidates exceeded that very low bar. The winner of the debate? The mute button! Due to the pressure and fear of being muted, interruptions were kept to somewhat of a minimum, and we heard a little policy. So, a win for the viewers. But who actually won?
First I’m Jackie and I explain politics quickly. Please like this account and share this video with your friends via the triangle below. Thanks for your support.
The moderator, Kristen Welker was tonight’s big winner because she did a good job of asking good questions and things didn’t go off the rails. But did you want to know about the candidates? Turns out, both candidates can claim a win. Although strategically speaking, a tie tends to go to the one in the lead. Here’s why: Biden’s goal tonight was “do no harm.” He gave a solid performance with a lot of meme-able quotes that could stick in people’s heads. He’s ahead in almost all of the polls and as long as Trump didn’t knock it out of the park and Biden didn’t have a major gaffe, Biden wins. Which is basically what happened.
But Trump can claim a win, which his team is most certainly doing. He was more toned down, especially in the first half and he landed some good lines. Those in the GOP and some voters who were leaning Trump but just needed a reason to feel a bit more comfortable voting for him likely feel they got what they needed.
One of Trump’s best line against Biden was when he said he ran for president because Obama and Biden didn’t do a good job in his opinion. He said “If I thought you did a good job I would have never run.” Trump brought up the 1994 crime bill that Biden had supported. But the main line you’ll hear from this debate was Biden’s comment on the oil and gas industry saying we have to move toward renewable energy. He wants to get rid of subsidies for the oil industry. Trump asked Texas and other states to remember that on election day. This is something the GOP will pounce on.
One of Biden’s best lines was after Trump said we’re learning to live with COVID. Biden said people are learning to die with it. Brutal, as it highlights that on Trump’s watch, over 220,000 Americans have died. Once again, Biden had solid hits against Trump on the issues of healthcare. Biden claimed that Trump wants to get rid of Obamacare, even during a pandemic, and Trump agreed saying he wants to terminate it. Trump keeps saying a plan is a couple weeks away…but he’s been saying that for almost 4 years and we’re still waiting.
On immigration, Trump said the kids in cages are well taken care of. Biden called tearing kids away from their parents criminal. Biden also called for unity saying he’ll be a president for all Americans.
A Trump line that continues to irritate people, is when Trump again claims he’s been the best president for black Americans since Abraham Lincoln. Apparently we’re forgetting Lyndon Johnson and his signing the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
According to fact checkers, both candidates stretched the truth but Trump was the greater offender. Although I don’t think that’ll sway anyone from either party.
In short: Both candidates made shots that landed. Which in essence cancels out any gains one might have gotten. I don’t think the state of the race changes all that much. And the current prediction is that we’ll have forgotten about this debate in 24-48 hours.
But more importantly, what did you think? Tell me in the comments below!
The state of the race regarding polls, an update on the Supreme court and also the new NY Times report on Trump’s banking connection to China.
Now, if you’re like me, you check polling websites every 5 minutes or so to see if there’s anything new to report. Fortunately for us junkies, today was a telling day! Something to remember: polls are not mirror balls or magic wands. They don’t actually know who will win. They are imperfect as we saw in 2016. But polls are designed to give us the best guess as to how people are feeling. For those who are super distrustful because of 2016, fear not, pollsters have tried to learn the lessons and are weighting polls accordingly. But again, they are imperfect. All pollsters agree that Trump has a path to 270 electoral college votes, and therefore winning, even if it’s a small one. For what it’s worth, I check five thirty eight dot com and real clear politics dot com for my polling info.
In short, polling is either tied or the margin is statistically insignificant in the following states: Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, Georgia and Ohio.
Biden is up by significant enough margins, aka outside the margin of error, in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to assume he would win those states if the vote were held today.
Trump is up in Texas by 4 points which is likely outside the margin of error too.
Interesting things to note: Biden getting more support among white voters than Hillary Clinton did. This is being driven by white women, older white voters, and he’s even making inroads with white voters without college degrees.
So you may be asking, how are so many states still so close? Turns out that Trump has made small gains with white voters WITH college degrees as well as Latino voters and younger black voters. It’s said that younger black voters feel democrats have taken the black community’s support for granted.
While Biden is polling 9 points ahead of trump nationally, as I discussed a couple weeks ago, national polls are virtually useless when it comes to the electoral college. The presidency is won and lost state by state.
Tonight the New York Times reported that Donald Trump has foreign bank accounts in Britain, Ireland, and China. He had apparently also opened an office in China and was hoping to do deals there as recently as 2015 when he was running for President. So why does this information matter if that office is no longer operating? Because China is a huge issue in this election. Trump has tried to paint Biden as soft on China and has tried to connect Biden’s son Hunter with business dealings there. That Trump has a bank account there, had an office, and was trying to pursue business dealings would imply that Trump has a financial stake in the United States’ relationship with the country and that he could be influenced accordingly. It certainly cuts into Trump’s attempts to hurt Biden on this front.
Finally, on the Supreme Court. Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination is expected to be voted on by the Judiciary committee on Thursday and then fully confirmed by the Senate on Monday. It’s expected the vote will fall on party lines. Can democrats do anything to stop this? No. They don’t have the votes and current senate rules dictate they only need a majority which it seems they have.
Please let me know if you have any questions and I’ll answer them in the comments or a future video! Stay safe and thanks for watching.
Depending on who you ask, these supreme court hearings have either been riveting TV or a snooze fest. But what Amy Coney Barrett did and didn’t say reveals a lot about what we can expect for the next few decades. Yes, decades because these are lifetime appointments and she’s 48 years old. Here are answers to your questions about the hearings!
Amy Coney Barrett was questioned by Senators for 3 days and generally speaking didn’t offer much. When asked how she might rule on cases, especially those regarding healthcare and abortion she basically invoked what’s known as the Ginsburg rule named after Ruth Bader Ginsburg who said no hints and no previews of how she would rule given that the case is not currently in front of her. However Barrett is an acolyte of Justice Scalia who was very conservative and Barrett considers herself an originalist. Meaning she sticks to the original meaning of the constitution at the time it was ratified. Aka 1788.
Barrett did provide a little insight that will prove upsetting to those in favor of a woman’s right to choose. When asked if she believed that Roe v Wade, the landmark case that protected a woman’s right to choose, is a super-precedent, she said no. Super-precedent means it’s set in stone and there are no attempts at overturning it. If Roe is not considered super-precedent then that leaves the door open for it to be overturruled.
On healthcare, Barrett gave a bit. Remember, the Trump administration is looking to have Obamacare overturned because Congress repealed the individual mandate which said people had to get healthcare or pay a penalty. Barrett said that “judges’ should “always” presume that the rest of a law can still exist even when a key portion is repealed. This idea is known as “severability.” Aka you can sever one part of the law from the rest and still have most of the law stick. That said, Barrett has been critical of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Obamacare so just because she understands severability, it’s not clear she would apply it here.
Other statements that were concerning to Democrats include her declining to discuss a peaceful transfer of power, whether Trump has the ability to pardon himself, whether Trump has the authority to move the election, whether she believes voter discrimination is still active in America and whether Medicare is constitutional.
Plus I answer more questions about gay marriage, how long until she’s confirmed, and more!
Remember, elections have consequences. Republicans are using their current power to install another justice even though they wouldn’t let Obama do so in an election year. Democrats are taking notes trying to determine how to rectify this.
Comment w your thoughts/questions!
In the midst of everything, there’s actually some really good news including:
Voting!
Tasmanian Devils
Organ donation
Real Life Heroes!
Check out more GOOD NEWS! Share YOUR good news too!
And the winner of the Vice Presidential debate is…the fly! It reportedly stood on Mike Pence’s head for 2 minutes and 3 seconds and it was the highlight of the night. Truly. The debate itself was refreshingly normal, dare I say boring in the best way possible.
So who won? This may be controversial but I’m calling it a draw.
The reason I call it a draw? Because both candidates did what they needed to do. Harris needed to make the case against Trump and focus primarily on his poor handling of coronavirus in this country. She did that well. Her best answers were on COVID, social justice, and healthcare, pointing out that Trump still has no plan and is looking to cancel the Affordable care act including pre-existing conditions. I think she met expectations and her team is pleased with her performance. Fundraising has been through the roof during and after the debate so it seems supporters were very happy.
Pence needed to show that there is a calm voice amidst the chaos of the Trump campaign. He landed some good lines on foreign policy and he ably delivered conservative talking points on taxes and regulation. My guess is republicans and those leaning republican breathed a sigh of relief. Make no mistake, Pence agrees and owns Trump’s positions. He just delivers the message better. He also invokes patriotism as a tool that is appealing to people open to the GOP message.
So where did each candidate miss? First, there were questions that each didn’t answer although Pence dodged questions more. Furthermore, Pence interrupted both Harris and the moderator a lot, something that women are used to and that frustrates them to no end. This likely didn’t play well with women whose votes both campaigns are after. Pence also didn’t have an answer for a healthcare plan, how they’d keep coverage for pre existing conditions or why our death rates from COVID are higher than other countries. These won’t sit well with voters. But the question that will likely be most remembered is Pence’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if they lose…just like Trump.
For Kamala, the question that will reverberate most and that she didn’t directly answer is the one on packing the courts. Generally moderate voters don’t like the idea of packing the courts and you can expect that this question will come up again at the next Presidential debate. I actually think she also could have gone even harder on COVID pointing out that there was no national mobilization effort, governors were begging for help, and doctors had to wear garbage bags because we didn’t have enough PPE.
In the end, it was a fairly civil debate that likely won’t change the state of the race. Harris can claim a win because she did a good job promoting Biden and proved she would be a competent and strong Vice President. Pence can claim a win because he exceeded expectations and likely reassured some GOP voters that someone on the campaign can deliver a controlled message.
Both of them had plenty of looks and rolling of the eyes. Each claimed the other was lying. Both were the cheerleaders they needed to be. Tomorrow there will be another crisis and we’ll all move on.
What were your thoughts? Who do you think won? Let me know in the comments!
It’s the curious case of Donald Trump’s re-election strategy. Pull out of stimulus negotiations 1 month before the election therefore definitely depriving millions of Americans support and almost guaranteeing that the economy will dip more. A curious case indeed. But the overall blame can be spread around.
A bit of background. We’re going through a global pandemic, in case you hadn’t heard. Every aspect of our lives has been impacted. Over 210,000 Americans have died from COVID 19. The economy, which went into a recession, had a decent recovery at first. That’s due to the stimulus that Congress passed. Because they were aggressive, providing businesses with support and providing generous unemployment benefits, the economy didn’t fall off the cliff. The unemployment rate had improved however recently job growth is sputtering. The head of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell said that if there’s no additional stimulus, the economy could see tragic results.
Hours after Powell’s speech, Trump tweeted that he was pulling out of stimulus negotiations until after the election. Stocks fell, Trump blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Pelosi blamed Trump.
So how far apart were the 2 parties, who is to blame, and who will get blamed?
House Democrats were offering a $2.2 trillion package. The White House wanted a $1.6 trillion dollar package and the GOP in Congress didn’t seem to want much but were willing to do something between 800 billion and 1.5 trillion. Some of the major issues were aid to state and local governments – democrats wanted more, republicans wanted less. Legal liability protections for schools and businesses that reopened- republicans wanted more, democrats wanted less; federal unemployment benefits; democrats wanted more, republicans wanted less. There were other issues but overall there was still much more negotiating to do.
So is to blame? On this, you could argue everyone deserves some of the blame. Republicans don’t really want to pass another stimulus bill at all so Dems argue their offer is way too low. Democrats want to spend 2 trillion so Republicans think that’s too much. (Although their initial offer was a 3 trillion dollar bill but they’ve come down in an attempt to strike a deal.) Some of the Congressional democrats who are in tight re-election races wanted Pelosi to give in more to get something done. But Pelosi felt that she had the upper hand and as the economy sputters and Americans suffer.
Politically, Trump’s move to pull out of negotiations makes little to no sense. Sure, his base likes when he has something they think he can blame Nancy Pelosi for. But Americans don’t like it when politicians stop doing their jobs. And the economy, the 1 area where polling shows that more Americans approve of Trump’s economic policies, is suffering. No stimulus bill means the economy is expected to do worse over the next month, not better. As such, Trump’s re-election argument, that he’s the best guy on the economy, literally disappears. But even more than that, passing a huge stimulus bill would have actually looked GREAT for Trump. It would have helped his re-election. Walking away just sends the message that he gave up and doesn’t care. Not the electoral message you want to send. Not to mention, he’s now given Democrats an easy target in races down the ballot…they can now argue that Trump and the republicans walked away from helping Americans who are suffering.
Potentially seeing the political fallout, Trump tweeted that he’d be open to signing piecemeal legislation like a bill to help the airline industry. But last week Pelosi had suggested just that and Republicans said no.
Again, from a political standpoint, this moves just makes no sense. Some question whether the intense steroids he’s taking to fight his COVID virus can explain this erratic behavior. But either way, it’s likely he’ll ultimately get most of the blame, something that could hurt not only his re-election but Senate and Congressional re
So Trump has COVID. So do about 30 people in his orbit. We know he got sick last week. But details from the White House are murky as to when he knew he was COVID positive. That timeline matters. Not just because people should know if he kept that a secret and put others in danger but also because it affects the timeline of the disease for him as well as others who have contracted it. His doctor painted a rosy picture for days but he’s been put on a lot of medication, some of which is only supposed to be prescribed in serious cases. Trump had needed oxygen and was sent to Walter Reed Hospital because his condition was serious enough. So where does this all leave Trump, Biden, the Supreme Court nomination and the election? Let me explain.
Here’s what else we know so far: Trump is now back in the White House despite still having COVID. This has concerned many people because that means that White House staff could contract the virus. At least 2 already have.
Trump is taking at least 3 drugs…2 are experimental but he obviously has special access. One is called a monoclonal antibody cocktail that mimics the body’s natural antibodies, which are proteins that help fight off infection. It’s believed that it works best when given at the beginning of the disease. He’s also being given the experimental anti viral drug remdesivir. It has been shown to decrease the length of the disease and is typically administered in the hospital. Finally, Trump is also on dexamethasone, which is a steroid that’s typically given to patients with a serious case of COVID. And that’s why people are concerned that Trump’s case is more serious than doctor’s are letting on. Depending on how things go in the next few days, we’ll see if the meds worked or not.
In his return to the White House, Trump said people shouldn’t fear COVID. Now I do my absolute best to be as non partisan as possible. Science should be non partisan. And the science says Trump’s message is just false. You should fear the virus because it’s killed over 210,000 Americans so far leaving thousands more with serious complications. It IS dominating the lives of the people who died as well as their family and friends. The President has the finest health care in the world and he’s on 3 types of strong drugs to keep him alive. Wear a mask. Stay socially distant and be smart about this. No need to tempt fate.
So what does this mean for the Supreme Court? Well, 3 GOP senators have recently tested positive for COVID and are quarantining. 2 of them sit on the judiciary committee. However, hearings will still begin on October 12th as planned and senators can attend virtually.
The GOP is even more determined to push this nomination through given that the lives of the senators are on the line. They can’t afford for someone to unexpectedly die or be sick enough that they can’t vote because of COVID and lose the chance to put their nominee, Amy Coney Barrett on the bench.
How will Trump’s diagnosis impact the election? That’s TBD. His campaign has released video and imagery that’s supposed to show that Trump is strong because he says he’s on the mend. But he’s going to be unable to attend rallies for at least several more days. You can expect a lot of twitter communication and likely more videos. But it certainly highlights the COVID disaster which is something Trump didn’t want to happen. Meanwhile, Joe Biden is out there, sunglasses and mask on, able to continue campaigning in swing states that are key to winning the election. He’s promoting more mask wearing and is hoping that if he stays focused, he might be able to generate enough momentum for a big win which would make it harder for Trump to contest the election.
Obviously this story is changing rapidly so stick with me and I’ll keep you informed. Comment below with questions and thanks for watching!
In the midst of everything, there’s actually some really good news including:
-Saving Earth!
-A Hero Rat! (Yes, you read that right.)
-Paying it forward
-104 year old student 🙂
Check out more GOOD NEWS! Share YOUR good news too!
Unless you live under a very big rock, you’ve heard that President Trump has tested positive for COVID 19. The first lady, Melania Trump has also tested positive. The President has fatigue, a fever, congestion, a cough, and is now at Walter Reed Hospital getting tests.
I’ve gotten a bunch of questions on Instagram which I’ll answer throughout this video. If you have more questions, leave them in the comments and I’ll be sure to answer them!
Who else in Trump’s orbit tested positive? As of Saturday morning, October 3, Trump, Melania, Campaign Manager Bill Stepien, Advisor Hope Hicks, 1 White House staffer, 3 journalists who work at the White House, GOP Chair Ronna McDaniel, and GOP Senators Mike Lee, Thom Tillis and Ron Johnson, and former advisor Kellyanne Conway have all tested positive.
Where did they all get it? While nothing is certain, it seems there may in fact have been a super spreader event that many of them attended: the ceremony where Trump introduced Amy Coney Barrett, his nominee to the supreme court. It happened last Saturday in the Rose Garden. Few masks were worn and there was essentially no social distancing.
The Trump campaign announced that all events were being postponed or made virtual. Events that involve members of the first family are temporarily postponed and all others will be considered on a case by case basis.
Vice President Pence has tested negative and has resumed campaigning.
What’s the order of succession should Trump not be able to carry out duties?
It goes Vice President Pence, then House speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen Chuck Grassley, who is president pro tempore of the senate, Sec of state mike Pompeo, Treasury sec Steve Mnichin.
Who is in charge of the country right now?
It’s still Trump as far as we know. There was actually a West Wing episode about this. For a transfer of power and Pence to take over, Trump would have to declare in writing to Pelosi & Grassley that he is incapacitated. He has not done so yet. If Trump can’t write that letter because he’s too sick, then Pence, along with a majority of Cabinet secretaries, would inform Pelosi and Grassley that Trump cannot serve as president. Pence would then take over, and Trump would be able to resume the presidency once he could declare in writing that he’s capable again.
Is Trump faking it?
There are a lot of conspiracy theorists out there saying they don’t trust Trump and that he’s faking it. Maybe because he doesn’t want to go to the next debate after performing poorly at the first debate.
You’ve got to remember who Trump is. He lives off the energy of these rallies and the TV coverage that comes with them. No one likes a televised event more than Trump. They’re part of how he won in 2016 and he believes that they’re his best chance to drum up attention and support. Now, it’s likely all rallies will be cancelled for the foreseeable future AND he’s off the campaign trail for at least a few days in the hospital. Plus, he can’t attend fundraisers right now to raise money. As for the debate, remember that he’s behind in the polls and the debates are some of the few opportunities left to tell voters why they should stick with him. I believe no debate would further harm his campaign.
Will there even be more debates?
That’s still to be determined and likely will depend on everyone’s health. But the VP debate is still scheduled for next week.
Could Trump gain sympathy and support and his election chances improve?
I think that’s unlikely. Often in times of crisis, people rally around the President. But this will probably be different. Though over 207,000 Americans have died from COVID, Trump has spent months downplaying the virus, making fun of people, especially Biden, for wearing masks, and questioning scientists when they confirmed how easily it can spread. Trump has ignored almost all of that information and masks are still not required. Part of Trump’s message has been that he’s strong and Biden is weak and foolish for being so
Well, that was depressing as shit. There are not enough ways to describe the dumpster fire inside of a shit show that was that debate. If you can even call it a debate. Here’s the winner, and losers of the debate.
I try really hard to present both sides of any story fairly and honestlyfor sure I will give you plenty of analysis here as to how the debate might impact voter’s opinions. But as an overall statement, the biggest loser in this debate was America. Let me explain…
First, Biden. He did fine. He had a couple of lines and moments that really stood out and he spoke directly to the American people through the camera. That will play well with Americans. Biden said people should vote for him because under Trump we are weaker, sicker and poorer. Biden’s defense of and pride in his sons was evident. He pointed out that his son Beau, a veteran, was no loser for having served. A direct reference to Trump’s reported comments that vets are suckers and losers. Biden also defended his son Hunter from attacks from Trump saying that while Hunter had a drug problem, he’s overcome it and he’s proud of his son. Something that probably played well to the moms in this country who have kids that struggle with addiction. Biden told the American people he doesn’t trust Trump on the vaccine, that Trump is a fool regarding masks, that Trump still has no plan on COVID and healthcare overall. Biden did a good job reiterating that over 200,000 people have died due to Trump’s inadequate action and that Trump wants to take away healthcare for Americans by gutting the Affordable Care Act, something that may happen if Trump’s Supreme Court nominee gets approved. Biden’s answer on race, working together to bring this nation back, was one of his best. As was his appeal to voters to make a plan. Biden also called Trump Putin’s Puppy.
In short, Biden did fine. His energy was lower toward the beginning and he clearly got frustrated at various points. He called Trump a clown, a racist and the worst president ever. These comments would seem pretty aggressive and dramatic. Except for the fact that the actual President’s behavior was terrible. And even many Republicans have acknowledged as much.
Trump yelled, he fought with the moderator, Chris Wallace, he interrupted Biden and talked over him so often that Biden couldn’t answer many questions. Biden finally told Trump to shut up. Trump tried to personally attack Biden’s son Hunter on debunked business claims. He tried to say that Biden was too tough on crime when talking about the 1994 crime bill, but then tried to say that Biden doesn’t support law enforcement. Trump said that the sheriff of Portland supports him but that’s a lie. The sheriff tweeted it was a lie after the debate. I thought Trump’s best moment came at the beginning when he defended and praised his choice of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. That was something that would play well with suburban women. But any points gained there were quickly lost in the chaos that he created on the stage the rest of the time. For people who respond to his law and order message, there was plenty that they liked hearing. However the 2 points that will stick out most are the lies he told about mail-in-voting leading to his refusal to say if he would accept the results of the election. For what it’s worth, Trump’s own FBI director acknowledged that there’s no evidence of widespread voter fraud. And his refusal to condemn white supremacists and militia groups, instead telling them to stand back and stand by. Well, that’s a message telling them to get ready for something. Which could mean violence.
So what does this all mean? Because Trump is behind in polls and he didn’t do anything to change people’s opinion, in effect, that means Biden won. I thought this analysis by Yasha Mounk on twitter really nailed it. Trump needed to make Biden look senile and truly associate him with the far left. He failed on both fronts. So again, Biden gets the W.
How