Progressives Every Day: The Election Officially Ends, the Next Fight Begins
Progressives Every Day: The Election Officially Ends, the Next Fight Begins
And healthcare shenanigans
Welcome to a Monday evening edition of Progressives Everywhere!
It’s been quite the day, capped by giant events that offer glimpses of a more hopeful (or at least less miserable) future: Pfizer’s began nationwide delivery of its COVID-19 vaccine this morning, while this evening, the Electoral College voted to officially make Joe Biden the next President of the United States.
As we’ve come to expect at this point, a handful of whiney psychopathic Republicans made a few pitiful last-gasp attempts to steal the election. But the ultimate snowflakes failed in their sad schemes, embarrassing themselves as they were run over by democracy.
The Donald Trump nightmare is over, though our work is just beginning. More than anything else, I’m so excited to begin pushing a president to be better, not trying to stop one from carrying out hate crimes and what amounts to mass murder. And I’ll be honest, we’re going to have to do a lot of fighting, because Democrats in DC are still being whipped and schooled by Republicans (including Biden himself — read this thread at the peril of your own mental health).
On the same day that Biden officially was named the winner, a bunch of centrist Democrats presented a stimulus plan that really couldn’t be worse. It’s got $300 unemployment extensions (half of the last plan), zero money for local and state governments, and zero direct payments to tens of millions of struggling Americans. A pitiful $160 billion in state and local money — which Politico laughably calls “controversial,” displaying just how dangerously out of touch much of the political media has become — is in an add-on bill alongside immunity for employers. The add-on bill won’t pass.
It’s an absolute joke, a sad capitulation in service of an alternate reality in which there are no actual consequences for anyone and the goal is to simply reach any kind of deal. This is high school Model UN shit, not actual governing and doing the work they were elected to do. And speaking of elections, the fact that a bunch of Democrats are agreeing to an absolutely horrible bill with zero direct payments while their best hope to win back the Senate next month relies on campaigning on those direct $1200 payments shows just how dumb and not savvy they are.
Thankfully, there are groups like Pennsylvania Stands Up, our featured organization last week, promising to push back hard:
OK, let’s get to other news!
Important News You Need to Know
Quickly, I’m working on another video for Wisconsin Senate candidate Tom Nelson, who is now going hard after Sen. Ron Johnson. There’s a real wealth of material to utilize and there will be even more after Johnson’s next bonkers hearing on Wednesday, which will feature freakin’ Ken Starr.
Missouri Republicans don’t want working people to have healthcare
This summer, voters in Missouri approved a ballot initiative to opt into the Medicaid expansion offered by the Affordable Care Act. Evidently, Republicans in the state legislature, opposed the expansion, don’t care what the voters decided, as they are looking for ways to either limit or avoid the expansion altogether.
But the Republican-dominated legislature opposed expanding the public health option for low-income Missourians, and lawmakers are expected to introduce measures to limit who can access coverage in an effort to keep costs lower.
State Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, said “everything is on the table” when considering how the program will look in Missouri. This includes whether expansion is funded at all.
A note on the finances: Medicaid expansion offers the healthcare program to people earning up to 133% of the poverty line, with the federal government covering 90% of the costs. It also saves participating states money over time by providing preventive healthcare that drives down overall costs.
Ironically, this puts Missouri’s Republicans at odds with healthcare companies, which tend to both support Republicans and act as prolific ballot initiative donors in favor of expanding spending. The healthcare industry’s spending on ballot initiatives in Missouri dwarfs what it has laid out in other states, with $27 million spent in Missouri alone. California, the state that has experienced the second-biggest outlay, has received less than $9 million.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis really doesn’t care if anyone survives COVID-19
A White House Task Force told Florida to start taking COVID-19 more seriously more than nine months and 19,000 deaths in the state into the pandemic’s reign of terror:
“Florida has seen stability in new cases, an increase in test positivity, and increasing hospitalizations and deaths, indicating unrelenting community spread and inadequate mitigation,” the Dec. 6 report said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has ruled out further business restrictions or a mask mandate aimed at stopping the virus’ spread.
DeSantis has been callous and untruthful throughout the pandemic, having refused to issue mask orders at any point, reopening the state far earlier than advised and subjecting it to the worst outbreak this summer, and reporting inaccurate COVID statistics before shutting down reporting altogether. Last week, he even sent a SWAT team to seize the personal computer of the former government employee trying to report accurate numbers.
Oh, and just this past Friday, DeSantis spread some more disinformation about COVID, suggesting that just one dose of the Pfizer vaccine would be enough. While one has some efficacy, people must get both, set about three weeks apart, to ensure immunity.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is accused of sexual harassment
The three-term Democrat was hit by allegations of rampant sexual harassment by Lindsey Boylan, who worked for Cuomo in Albany and is running for Manhattan Borough President in 2021. She ran a primary campaign against Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY-10) this year:
I’m looking forward to Cuomo getting a book deal and writing about his longtime support for feminism and touting how he saved women.
Georgia off to a flying start
Early voting started today in Georgia, where an incredible 1.2 million absentee ballots have already been requested and 200,000 already sent back. Democrats dominated early votes in November, which arguably won them their narrow 12,000-vote victory, and now Republicans are pushing hard to not make that same mistake again. Trump may not be helping, though.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, meanwhile, has ordered an audit on the signatures on absentee ballots from the general election, mostly to placate the psycho Republicans calling for his head.
Uber and Lyft Tossing Crumbs
After flooding California with $200 million-worth of misleading advertisements in order to win approval of the Prop 22 ballot initiative, Uber and Lyft announced the meager “benefits” they’ll be giving to drivers going forward.
Under Prop 22, gig workers — including ride-share drivers — will be paid 120 percent of California’s minimum wage of $13 per hour, which increases to $14 per hour in 2021. For ride-share drivers, this applies only during active hours: when they have a passenger in their vehicle or are en route to pick up a passenger. It requires workers with 15 active hours a week to receive a health care stipend.
Uber’s benefits program calls for drivers to be paid at least 20 percent more than the pickup city’s minimum wage plus 30 cents per mile for expenses. That 30 cents per mile doesn’t apply to delivery workers on foot or bicycle.
For health care, Lyft will provide a quarterly health care subsidy for drivers who drive an average of at least 15 hours per week. To qualify, drivers have to provide proof they are enrolled in a qualifying health care plan. Uber’s health care stipend also requires an average of 15 hours per week, and drivers have to prove they are the primary policyholder on a qualifying health insurance plan. Uber drivers receive 50 percent of the stipend — amount still TBD — if they average 15 active hours a week and 100 percent of the stipend when they average 25 active hours per week.
In response, Gig Workers Rising, the umbrella group that serves as a sort of “union” for these drivers and fought Prop 22, has released an app to help drivers understand their rights and collect the data that will prove just how skimpy and unlivable these wages and benefits will prove to be for them.
Wait, before you go!
Progressives Everywhere is a one-person operation funded by readers like you (and whatever spare change I have in my pocket after paying rent). Together, we’ve raised over $5.6 million for truly progressive candidates and causes since 2018, helping to flip seats, restore voting rights, expand healthcare, and much more.
Right now, I don’t have a full-time job. I do this because I love it, but I have to balance it against all the freelance work I do each month. I’d love to do this as a full-time job (or at least make it one of my full-time gigs), but I’ve got a long way to go. And because the Democratic Party has such a long way to go, I’m devoting myself to the cause.
To help me out (more than you already have! thank you!), you can make a donation to Progressives Everywhere’s GoFundMe campaign — doing so will earn you a shout-out in an upcoming edition of the big newsletter!