Libraries are citadels of knowledge and empathy—and they’ve played an extraordinarily important role in my life. I spoke with @SmithsonianSec Bunch about our shared love of books, A Promised Land, and the role storytelling plays in shaping our history. pic.twitter.com/jbWdAK7Zkp
Congrats, Gail! Joining you in relishing all the positive action the Obamas are taking. Their mentorship of young leaders around the world as well as here in the US will make a huge difference in our future. About to make my daily call to both my Senators pleading for the filibuster not to apply to the For The People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Frankly, I would vote to get rid of it entirely to get the Biden/Harris agenda passed without getting watered down.
At a time when the news is often one tragic report after another, here's a story that started out sad only to have a happy ending. https://t.co/SHYq1hxMrI
The Arizona Republic just published a six-month investigation into how Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, and high-level staffers, tried to help GOP megadonor G. Brint Ryan secure more than $100 million in tax refunds.https://t.co/SaJroaskOD
Since state leaders in Georgia have refused to expand Medicaid, two days ago I introduced a bill to provide health care to Georgians with low incomes. Now that idea is being included in the next recovery package.
This is major, and I'm going to keep pushing to get it done.
— Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (@SenatorWarnock) July 14, 2021
I gather cases are going back up in GQP states … not to mention deaths. Why are the Republicans anti-life?
I also wonder if Republicans (leaders) are trying to cull their herd 🤔.
If they are discouraging their supporters from getting vaccinated .. and if folks get sick and possibly die, what else to think?
Then again, those of the ‘superior jeans’ may have a propensity to follow sheepishly ☺
It's a striking contrast. Trump politicized everything and left the country more bitterly divided than ever. Biden has, despite that, actively worked to serve every state, every American, everyone in need, regardless of party and politics. It's a stunning and welcome shift.
The nation’s top military leaders discussed a plan to resign one by one rather than carry out dangerous orders in the event of an attempted coup by then-President Donald Trump and his allies after the November election, new book reveals https://t.co/epzvLdia08
Biden as president should have taken series of serious actions from day one against the traitorous thug and his treasonous minions and driven them to prison/oblivion . Now the thug is back driving the narrative that Jan 6th did not happen at all and the thugs party is emboldened to vote against the insurrection inquiry.
Gov. Cuomo continued to urge New Yorkers to get vaccinated against the deadly virus as COVID cases slowly increase in the state. https://t.co/JGBonnX4gW
A 44-year-old Trump-appointed judge ruled today that it’s unconstitutional to limit handgun sales to those at least 21 years old, overturning a repeatedly-upheld law that's been on the books for more than a half-century.https://t.co/DX5hULxDwt
Sens. Tammy Duckworth and John Cornyn have introduced bipartisan legislation to make it easier for servicemembers to vote.
The Reducing Barriers for Military Voters Act would establish a secure electronic voting system for active duty servicemembers in hazardous duty zones.
It's disturbing that this wasn't presented as testimony during Impeachment II. It could have disrupted Trump's narrative & spared the country much of it's current pain, as well as the prospect of having the still-unconvicted former president win a future election. https://t.co/j5qcsjAemH
The fact that military leaders saw an attempted Trump coup as a real threat, and we are depending on them to resist such threats is a) not a good sign for US democracy and b) a measure of how dangerous unfettered executive power is. https://t.co/x0DLqkFg4C
He was unfit. Dangerously unfit. And everyone who worked with him KNEW he was unfit. But they all kept their mouths shut. Shame on them. They had an obligation to tell the country in real time how unfit he was. Instead, they waited till he was gone & wrote books. Shame on them.
What's really fucked up is you didn't have to be on the inside to see how dangerous he was. It was right in front of us. We didn't /don't need an insider book to tell us.
— 🇺🇸 Mark Douglas 💪👊 (@dumpthattrump16) July 15, 2021
They all had a buy-in. And many still do. The totus thug 7 feet under is the only safest bet to return to normal.
I really wish corporate America would stop telling us how it feels about protecting voting rights and would start telling us what it is doing to protect voting rights.
If Mitch McConnell can eliminate filibuster to confirm 3 Trump Supreme Court justices, Dems can eliminate it to protect voting rights for all Americans
The House Oversight Committee is opening an investigation into the fake Republican-backed audit in Arizona — requesting information from the CEO of Cyber Ninjas about his role in running the fake audit.
OPINION | Biden could not have been more clear in describing high stakes of current battle to preserve voting rights
“We’re facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War.” Republican leaders dismissed the speech, writes @errollouishttps://t.co/y5KJEnkfvW
Artist Robin Eley is a master of painting illusions. Recently, he has created a series of mind-boggling canvases that appear to be wrapped in clear plastic film and tape—but in reality it's all expertly painted by Eley himself [read more: https://t.co/UO5t1Eak2W] pic.twitter.com/T47V9zKuVM
According to Biegert & Funk, life is busy enough, so Qlocktwo W offers the decelerating way of displaying the time in words. What it looks like a matrix with a seemingly random arrangement of letters, at your touch displays the time in a written sentence https://t.co/uphN31QXgHpic.twitter.com/IRyA3N87m7
Set a course for Ganymede: in June, our #JunoMission flew closer to Jupiter’s giant, icy moon than any spacecraft in more than two decades, then made its 34th flyby of Jupiter itself. For a “starship captain” point of view, enjoy this animation. Details: https://t.co/oZau5ZlrVQpic.twitter.com/T94hcUnBbr
— NASA Solar System (@NASASolarSystem) July 14, 2021
NOW: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has arrived at the Vice Presidents house in DC. VP Harris greeted the chancellor outside and stood for a photo-op before going inside for their working breakfast #2NewsAM#LiveDeskhttps://t.co/4UiahHm0aBpic.twitter.com/Jss7Lv2BN0
Vice President Harris hosts German Chancellor Angela Merkel at her Naval Observatory residence for a working breakfast this morning pic.twitter.com/pKpnKSe9hO
Today in Washington… • @POTUS, @VP mark first month of expanded #ChildTaxCredit payments. Biden & Harris will later meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at White House. • Senate resumes consideration of admin. nominees. pic.twitter.com/LDXEKb2fUf
NOW: @VP Harris hosts German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a working breakfast at the Vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory pic.twitter.com/kGQmSxSv9M
Wow…This is significant…VP Harris…meeting with a head of state…Wow….in prep for the meeting with Biden…is this a new process….has this always happened this way
Dunno. Pretty cool either way. This is Chancellor Merkel’s last state visit to the US before she leaves office. Clearly she wanted some time to get to know our VP on this trip and vice versa.
This is huge! This week, because Democrats delivered the American Rescue Plan, families will start getting monthly payments as a part of the expanded #BidenChildTaxCredit.
In a new Surgeon General’s Advisory, the Surgeon General is warning the American public about the urgent threat of health misinformation & calling for a whole-of-society approach to address health misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.https://t.co/fXVYtEAVBK
CONFIRMED: Seema Nanda to be Solicitor for @USDOL.
By a vote of 53-46.
— U.S. Senate Majority Floor Updates (@DSenFloor) July 14, 2021
Today:
The Senate has adjourned until 10AM tomorrow.
3 roll call votes are expected:
11AM: 1. Confirmation of J. Nellie Liang to be an Under Secretary of the Treasury 2. Confirmation of Donald Michael Remy to be Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs
(1/2)
— U.S. Senate Majority Floor Updates (@DSenFloor) July 15, 2021
1:45PM: 3. Cloture on the nomination of Tiffany P. Cunningham to be US Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit
(2/2)
— U.S. Senate Majority Floor Updates (@DSenFloor) July 15, 2021
One of the three Pennsylvania counties targeted by a state Republican for an Arizona-style fake election audit will not allow third-party access to its voting machines.
The three commissioners in rural Republican-controlled Tioga County made the decision. https://t.co/bIv1mog8LH
how just one thug could do this fraudit even? Don’t they have procedures and rules? Here in India, any recount has to be contested in court and they will order and monitor the recount, if they decide to do so, which is only in the rarest of rare cases.
2. Census Bureau director nominee @_Rob_Santos' confirmation hearing before the Senate @HSGAC is set to start at 10:15 a.m. ET. A live stream will be posted here:https://t.co/bM1Kp72fo1
Hervis Rogers, 62, faces 40 years in prison for mistakenly believing that he could vote in Texas while on parole. In 2007, the #txlege passed legislation to alert parolees of their voting eligibility. Then-Governor Rick Perry vetoed the bill. Read more on Rogers' case ⤵️ https://t.co/rYjhu9VfDI
Good morning! Today the families of 2 million Georgia children will start receiving monthly payments of up to $300 per child so we can come out of this pandemic stronger than ever.
— Reverend Raphael Warnock (@ReverendWarnock) July 15, 2021
TODAY: The families of over one million Georgia children will begin to see tax cut refunds hit their bank accounts & arrive in the mail.
The simple truth is this. Sec. Clinton was right about a “vast right wing conspiracy.” There was and is. It is filled awful people, louses and hypocrites. It has done horrible damage to the country and out of it came the foundation for the fascist movement that imperils us all
Donald Trump inarguably committed multiple federal crimes. DOJ needs to make a move. If they fail to charge Trump, DOJ will be making a mockery of the rule of law AND ignoring the importance of a safe, healthy, stable democracy.#JusticeMatters
Thousands Of U.S. Afghan Allies Frantic For Way Out Ahead Of Deadly Taliban Advance
“Matt Zeller, co-founder of No One Left Behind,
talks with Rachel Maddow about the many unanswered questions Afghan allies are struggling to negotiate
with dwindling time ahead of a deadly Taliban advance as the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan.”
—Time is very short: “4 months ago we had all of the assets in place to evacuate people in the areas you`re talking about.’ (Zeller)
Operation Allies Refuge
has been launched at President Biden’s direction.
Major Matt Zeller, U.S. army veteran and Co-founder of No One Left Behind,
speaks with Rachel Maddow:
“I would only add the following, which is why didn’t we do this before we withdrew our forces? We have made it so much harder on ourselves by trying to do it it now at the 11th hour.
You know 4 months ago we had all of the assets in place to evacuate people in the areas you’re talking about.
Last night, I was interviewing a gentleman for our podcast “Wartime Allies” by the name of Sharif.
We’d spoken with him in a previous episode.
This gentleman has suffered everything.
His mom, dad, and siblings have all been murdered by the Taliban at some point in the last decade. It`s now down to him and his wife and his kids.
He fled from Kandahar to Kabul when he realized that he had left all of his documents back in Kandahar.
The reason he fled Kandahar is the Taliban two weeks ago murdered his dad at his doorstep and they just ran out of the house. So a couple of days ago he did the impossible. He flew back to Kandahar by bumming a ride on an Afghan military transport, which is the only flights flying in the country.
He gets into Kandahar, he gets back to his house, he gets his documents, he’s on a friend’s motorcycle yesterday trying to drive to the airport in Kandahar. When the Afghan military gets attacked by the Taliban on the road that connects the airport to the city. The Afghan military gets overrun and killed.
The Taliban then turn on him.
He flees on the motor bike. They shoot him off the motor bike.
He gets injured. And he’s calling me from a friend’s house telling me that at this point his only option was to hide and disguise himself like a woman. Hide in a burqa and hire a taxi and attempt to drive from Kandahar back to Kabul. Which you know there’s got to be what, 30 Taliban checkpoints at this potent between Kandahar and Kabul?
This guy had been an interpreter for the SEALs, for the Army Special Forces, the most elite levels.
He is absolutely a dead man if they catch him.
And he has already had his visa denied once in the past because somewhere in his file, it says that he has some derogatory information that he’s never been allowed to see. He can’t contest.
And he has no means of being able to effectively appeal his case.
So again we have no idea, is this guy going to be put on a plane if he somehow makes it back to Kabul? Why didn’t we pull these people out at the time when we had the means to do it, Rachel?
That’s the thing I keep asking myself about this.”
Maddow:
“How would you have them improve it? Given that it’s happening now, even though you say it should have happened before, what else would you have them do that they didn’t announce today?”
Major Zeller:
“I would first off tell people where exactly are folks going, right?
Why aren’t they first of all just bringing everybody to Guam is beyond me. I get that there’s some concern that they don’t want to have nefarious people somehow end up in the United States and then we couldn’t deport them. But you know at the end of the Vietnam War, we didn’t screen anybody, we just put them on boats. Put 130,000 people on boats and brought them to Guam…we have all the same legal authorities to do that which we did then now, but we don’t seem to be wanting to exercise them. The other thing I would be really concerned about is how are we going to communicate this message to the Afghans without inciting a panic?”
Major Zeller:
“Nobody knows where in the process they qualify.
You’ve raised it so well.
If you just applied for a visa this week. Are you going to get on a plane or is it some point later?
I had an individual who wrote me from Helmand. I don’t even know if this person’s still alive at this point. But a couple weeks ago he wrote me and said, “hey, I’ve been serving as an interpreter for 22 months”.
Currently the qualification to get a visa is 24 months…
And by the way, that standard was written by Stephen Miller when he was one of the staffers for Jeff Sessions. Before Jeff Sessions left to become Trump`s first AG. I
t was one of his (Miller’s) parting gifts on the way out of the Senate. He wrote it in 2015.
And the deal made was that everyone had to agree to this larger time increase.
Only if they agreed to that would he allow more visas to be passed that year.
I would love to see the Congress get rid of that standard.”
The conversation took me back to growing up on the South Side and made me think about what having the Obama Presidential Center in my backyard would've meant to me growing up. Thinking about the possibilities the Center can bring to these young people inspires me every day. (3/3)
I remember when we were on welfare running out of food before the next check. We would go to a church that handed out groceries to the poor in Venice, CA. We, willingly & enjoyed the service, for our bag of groceries. Hopefully these parents will do right by their children, feed, clothe, house and save for a rainy day.
Dr. Bernice King to GOP:
Do not take excerpts from my father, Dr. Martin Luther King
“Republicans quoting Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘content of their character’ speech excerpt out of context
to support their policies is slammed by his daughter Dr. Bernice King,
CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Dr. Bernice King tells them,
‘Do not take excerpts from my father. Study him holistically… For people to misappropriate him this way is beyond insulting.’”
New enrollment numbers from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: More than two million people have signed up for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act during the Biden-Harris 2021 Special Enrollment Period.
“I think the tragedy is that we have a Congress with a Senate that has a minority of misguided Senators
who will use the filibuster to keep the majority of people from even voting;
they won’t let the majority Senators vote.”
Chris Hayes:
‘And now, guess what, as places are opening back up, people are socializing and going to concerts and nightclubs and all this stuff we used to do, cases are going back up.
Now, a lot of that is being fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant. You`ve heard a lot about it.
Studies suggests it`s up to 60% more transmissible.
In the last couple of weeks, U.S. COVID cases have basically doubled.
We`ve seen this before also.
A seven-day average of more than 25,000 cases as of yesterday.
The numbers are increasingly bad in the American South.
The rate of COVID cases in Missouri has shot up 80% over the last two weeks.
A similar increase is taking place in Mississippi over the same period of time.
Right now Florida has the second-highest rate of COVID in the country, up more than 250%
over the last two weeks.
And the highest rate in the country belongs to Tennessee,
a state we talked about last night and we`ll talk about again tonight,
whose average daily case rate has increased more than 420% over the past two weeks.
All these places are relatively behind the vaccination curve,
so their rise in cases was not unforeseeable.”
These moments are magical. Today is Child Tax Credit day. This little Angel asked the President what his favorite ice cream was. Any guesses?! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/8nNAne0mbf
“The Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan provides the largest Child Tax Credit ever
and historic relief to the most working families ever – and as of July 15th, most families are automatically receiving monthly payments of $250 or $300 per child without having to take any action. The Child Tax Credit will help all families succeed.”
Jason Deparle has covered the child tax credit extensively for the New York Times.
Speaking to Chris Hayes:
“You started out by using the word remarkable. I don’t think I can top that.
It really is.
If you’ve been covering poverty in America for as long as I have, the idea that we would have essentially the equivalent of a European child allowance seemed unfathomable as recently as a couple of years ago. And suddenly it came to fruition.
You know, if there’s one thing I’d like your audience to know about the child tax credit.
It’s not really a child tax credit.
It doesn’t really have anything to do with taxes. It’s as you put it, a form of a guaranteed income for families with children. Every 9 out of 10 kids in the country, their families are going to get a check.”
Hayes:
“It’s a uniform amount of money for everyone. So you’re not doing all this kind of like, all these complicated equations where it’s well, if you make this, you get this. Everyone is basically getting the same thing. But it is highly progressive insofar as that $3,000 is massively more meaningful in the income of someone making $16K or $20K a year than someone is making 120K.”
DeParle:
“Right, there has been a child tax credit on the books for 20 years.
The problem with it is that it left out the lowest third,
the poorest third of American kids because there was an earnings threshold.
It WAS a tax credit.
You had to have enough earnings to owe taxes in order to get it.
What’s happened in the past year is we’ve gone from that program which was mostly aimed at the middle class, went up to families with annual incomes of $400,000 a year to both expand the tax credit, but more importantly focus it on the those poorest third of kids who weren’t getting the full amount. And by doing that we’re going to erase half the child poverty in the country overnight.”
Hayes:
“The political dynamics here are fascinating to me, too. And again as someone who’s covered this both from the policy standpoint and the politics, you can imagine a universe in which tomorrow was a day in which Republicans were all railing against this.
This was the top topic in conservative outlets. The Republican Party was very angry about it.
We saw that with the welfare fights of the 1990s.
We’ve seen politics like that across countries and not just in the U.S. right? ‘People are getting something for nothing, it will dis-incentivize work’.
Does it strike you the absence of that right now? Because it maybe I’m not paying attention, but it does seem different than this might have been played 20 years ago or more?”
DeParle:
“The opposition has been much more muted than I would have expected.
I think it’s in part because as again, you said it’s not solely a benefit for poor people. I mean, most of the people who will be getting this credit are not poor.
Two-thirds of middle or more will go to families that are not poor.
So I think you eliminate some of that resentment that you get around programs that are purely targeted for the poor. (e.g.) Somebody is standing in the grocery store and they see what they take to be somebody spending food stamps on an item that they think is too expensive.
You know, I think you’ll be getting less of that because it’s a benefit that everybody is going to get. You’re not going to be complaining ‘Why did my neighbor get this and why did I not?’
That’s part of it.”
Here are the facts. The gas industry leaks methane like crazy, and has ducked even fair reporting of its leakage. Satellites can now pick up the leakage so we know how bad it is. Leaking methane is free to them so they don’t care.
Here is the solution. Charge the leakers for the methane they leak. Experts who looked at our methane fee predict massive reduction in this dangerous greenhouse gas once the industry has to pay. This instantly becomes a top climate intervention.
And unless there’s a secret Methane Leakers Caucus I don’t know about, putting lots of people to work fixing methane leaks and protecting our air ought to be politically welcome across the board. Except by the leakers, of course.
Millions of Families Waking Up with More in the Bank Today
Thanks to the Biden Child Tax Credit
Starting today, the Biden Child Tax Credit will offer relief to working families when they need it most – despite every Republican voting NO
From the Speaker’s Press Office:
“Through the Biden Child Tax Credit, House Democrats and the President have delivered for America’s working families. While Congressional Republicans abandoned families, Congressional Democrats fought for them. The Biden Child Tax Credit will make historic strides in cutting child poverty, empowering millions of working families and bolstering local economies to Build Back Better. Outlets across the country are celebrating the impact of the Biden Child Tax Credit for families in their communities:”
FACT SHEET:
How the Build Back Better Framework Will Support Women’s Employment and Strengthen Family Economic Security
“Despite the progress our nation has made over the last four months, there remain two million fewer women in the workforce than there were before the pandemic struck – taking a toll on our economy and on millions of families across the country. Thirty years of progress in women’s labor force participation has been eroded; millions of women are still struggling to return to the workforce. And while the pandemic has exacerbated this reality, many of the challenges facing women aren’t new. Historically, women have typically held jobs with lower wages and fewer benefits and protections. Women of color are even more likely to work in jobs that have lower wages and few benefits and protections.”
The Obama Diary 
Good West Coast afternoon Nerdy and TOD family 💃🏾💖
Howdy-Do Partner! 🤠
Hey partner 🙋🏾♀️😎
Congrats, Gail! Joining you in relishing all the positive action the Obamas are taking. Their mentorship of young leaders around the world as well as here in the US will make a huge difference in our future. About to make my daily call to both my Senators pleading for the filibuster not to apply to the For The People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Frankly, I would vote to get rid of it entirely to get the Biden/Harris agenda passed without getting watered down.
I love the positive things PBO and FL Michelle post 🙋🏾♀️💝😘😎👏🏾👏🏾
🙋🏾♀️
🙋🏾♀️
🌘✨
Feel-good story right here.
SOON: President Biden discusses critical investments with bipartisan group of governors, mayors
https://abcnews.go.com/live/video/special-live-3
Shitty Governor of the year award… POS
Why? why so greedy?
Good evening Todville. Thank you NW.
It would be nice to live a life where one is not constantly battling for everything… but thank God for the 2 senators from GA.
I gather cases are going back up in GQP states … not to mention deaths. Why are the Republicans anti-life?
I also wonder if Republicans (leaders) are trying to cull their herd 🤔.
If they are discouraging their supporters from getting vaccinated .. and if folks get sick and possibly die, what else to think?
Then again, those of the ‘superior jeans’ may have a propensity to follow sheepishly ☺
YAY! Let Britney Live 🙋🏾♀️🥰
“Ask not what your Country can do for you, but what you can do for your Country”
The FBI needs your help
lol. duel also works fine in this case given the sickfcuks in congress.
Eggzacktly, works even better actually
Biden as president should have taken series of serious actions from day one against the traitorous thug and his treasonous minions and driven them to prison/oblivion . Now the thug is back driving the narrative that Jan 6th did not happen at all and the thugs party is emboldened to vote against the insurrection inquiry.
Dems are busy removing the statues of dead seditionists and traitors while ignoring the live ones.
and thug cornyn stands with thug govnor denying the same in his own state. anything for power and facetime in teevee.
everything is a war with this warmongering corrupt pos.
Diabolical…trump aspires to and is an admirer of Hitler and dictators in general.
–reverse finger pointing m.o.
Thank you NW, for keeping the strength, we all need to share it..
Goodnight TOD, big hugs all around, keep us all the heart 🕊💞🕯💞🕊
never thought I would agree with this punk.
They’re all trying to save their own arse
They all had a buy-in. And many still do. The totus thug 7 feet under is the only safest bet to return to normal.
Barn, bolt, door and all that.
Even snails move faster, sheesh.
And what are they doing about other fraudits in PA, MI, et al? Wait for another 6 months?
Go on the offensive, ffs.
Goooood Morning Everyone!
I wonder…
What time is it?
🤯🤯🤯
Wilkommen Angela Merkel!
Busy day in Washington
Greeting at the Naval Observatory
Wow…This is significant…VP Harris…meeting with a head of state…Wow….in prep for the meeting with Biden…is this a new process….has this always happened this way
Dunno. Pretty cool either way. This is Chancellor Merkel’s last state visit to the US before she leaves office. Clearly she wanted some time to get to know our VP on this trip and vice versa.
💵💵💵
🗣🗣🗣
Today:
how just one thug could do this fraudit even? Don’t they have procedures and rules? Here in India, any recount has to be contested in court and they will order and monitor the recount, if they decide to do so, which is only in the rarest of rare cases.
Listen up! Get vaccinated! Tell your friends and family.
🤬Texas 🤬
GA’ian better double their turnout in 2022, 2024, 2026, so on to keep these two.
Yep
It was your party that demonised her for decades and you played a role in it, you mofo.
Yup. Going after the idiot base minions is NOT a BFD.
Soon – President Biden delivers remarks on first monthly Child Tax Credit payment
https://abcnews.go.com/live/video/special-live-3
Thanks jer!
Thousands Of U.S. Afghan Allies Frantic For Way Out Ahead Of Deadly Taliban Advance
“Matt Zeller, co-founder of No One Left Behind,
talks with Rachel Maddow about the many unanswered questions Afghan allies are struggling to negotiate
with dwindling time ahead of a deadly Taliban advance as the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan.”
—Time is very short: “4 months ago we had all of the assets in place to evacuate people in the areas you`re talking about.’ (Zeller)
Operation Allies Refuge
has been launched at President Biden’s direction.
Major Matt Zeller, U.S. army veteran and Co-founder of No One Left Behind,
speaks with Rachel Maddow:
“I would only add the following, which is why didn’t we do this before we withdrew our forces? We have made it so much harder on ourselves by trying to do it it now at the 11th hour.
You know 4 months ago we had all of the assets in place to evacuate people in the areas you’re talking about.
Last night, I was interviewing a gentleman for our podcast “Wartime Allies” by the name of Sharif.
We’d spoken with him in a previous episode.
This gentleman has suffered everything.
His mom, dad, and siblings have all been murdered by the Taliban at some point in the last decade. It`s now down to him and his wife and his kids.
He fled from Kandahar to Kabul when he realized that he had left all of his documents back in Kandahar.
The reason he fled Kandahar is the Taliban two weeks ago murdered his dad at his doorstep and they just ran out of the house. So a couple of days ago he did the impossible. He flew back to Kandahar by bumming a ride on an Afghan military transport, which is the only flights flying in the country.
He gets into Kandahar, he gets back to his house, he gets his documents, he’s on a friend’s motorcycle yesterday trying to drive to the airport in Kandahar. When the Afghan military gets attacked by the Taliban on the road that connects the airport to the city. The Afghan military gets overrun and killed.
The Taliban then turn on him.
He flees on the motor bike. They shoot him off the motor bike.
He gets injured. And he’s calling me from a friend’s house telling me that at this point his only option was to hide and disguise himself like a woman. Hide in a burqa and hire a taxi and attempt to drive from Kandahar back to Kabul. Which you know there’s got to be what, 30 Taliban checkpoints at this potent between Kandahar and Kabul?
This guy had been an interpreter for the SEALs, for the Army Special Forces, the most elite levels.
He is absolutely a dead man if they catch him.
And he has already had his visa denied once in the past because somewhere in his file, it says that he has some derogatory information that he’s never been allowed to see. He can’t contest.
And he has no means of being able to effectively appeal his case.
So again we have no idea, is this guy going to be put on a plane if he somehow makes it back to Kabul? Why didn’t we pull these people out at the time when we had the means to do it, Rachel?
That’s the thing I keep asking myself about this.”
Maddow:
“How would you have them improve it? Given that it’s happening now, even though you say it should have happened before, what else would you have them do that they didn’t announce today?”
Major Zeller:
“I would first off tell people where exactly are folks going, right?
Why aren’t they first of all just bringing everybody to Guam is beyond me. I get that there’s some concern that they don’t want to have nefarious people somehow end up in the United States and then we couldn’t deport them. But you know at the end of the Vietnam War, we didn’t screen anybody, we just put them on boats. Put 130,000 people on boats and brought them to Guam…we have all the same legal authorities to do that which we did then now, but we don’t seem to be wanting to exercise them. The other thing I would be really concerned about is how are we going to communicate this message to the Afghans without inciting a panic?”
Major Zeller:
“Nobody knows where in the process they qualify.
You’ve raised it so well.
If you just applied for a visa this week. Are you going to get on a plane or is it some point later?
I had an individual who wrote me from Helmand. I don’t even know if this person’s still alive at this point. But a couple weeks ago he wrote me and said, “hey, I’ve been serving as an interpreter for 22 months”.
Currently the qualification to get a visa is 24 months…
And by the way, that standard was written by Stephen Miller when he was one of the staffers for Jeff Sessions. Before Jeff Sessions left to become Trump`s first AG. I
t was one of his (Miller’s) parting gifts on the way out of the Senate. He wrote it in 2015.
And the deal made was that everyone had to agree to this larger time increase.
Only if they agreed to that would he allow more visas to be passed that year.
I would love to see the Congress get rid of that standard.”
Only 15 for me. I’ve got some work to do. ☺️
“If the struggle to make ends meet is monthly, the solution has to be also.” – Vice President Kamala Harris
I remember when we were on welfare running out of food before the next check. We would go to a church that handed out groceries to the poor in Venice, CA. We, willingly & enjoyed the service, for our bag of groceries. Hopefully these parents will do right by their children, feed, clothe, house and save for a rainy day.
Dr. Bernice King to GOP:
Do not take excerpts from my father, Dr. Martin Luther King
“Republicans quoting Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘content of their character’ speech excerpt out of context
to support their policies is slammed by his daughter Dr. Bernice King,
CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Dr. Bernice King tells them,
‘Do not take excerpts from my father. Study him holistically… For people to misappropriate him this way is beyond insulting.’”
Did I post this already? Oh well! 😁
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR, 1963:
“I think the tragedy is that we have a Congress with a Senate that has a minority of misguided Senators
who will use the filibuster to keep the majority of people from even voting;
they won’t let the majority Senators vote.”
Happy Anniversary MSNBC
CONGRATS on your remarkable and true work.
—thanks for everything.
On the Delta variant.
Chris Hayes:
‘And now, guess what, as places are opening back up, people are socializing and going to concerts and nightclubs and all this stuff we used to do, cases are going back up.
Now, a lot of that is being fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant. You`ve heard a lot about it.
Studies suggests it`s up to 60% more transmissible.
In the last couple of weeks, U.S. COVID cases have basically doubled.
We`ve seen this before also.
A seven-day average of more than 25,000 cases as of yesterday.
The numbers are increasingly bad in the American South.
The rate of COVID cases in Missouri has shot up 80% over the last two weeks.
A similar increase is taking place in Mississippi over the same period of time.
Right now Florida has the second-highest rate of COVID in the country, up more than 250%
over the last two weeks.
And the highest rate in the country belongs to Tennessee,
a state we talked about last night and we`ll talk about again tonight,
whose average daily case rate has increased more than 420% over the past two weeks.
All these places are relatively behind the vaccination curve,
so their rise in cases was not unforeseeable.”
Could this be any cuter. 😍😍😍
Cuteness, Part Deux
A topic our President will never shy away from 😎👍
True 😄
White House: The Child Tax Credit
“The Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan provides the largest Child Tax Credit ever
and historic relief to the most working families ever – and as of July 15th, most families are automatically receiving monthly payments of $250 or $300 per child without having to take any action. The Child Tax Credit will help all families succeed.”
Details: (https://www.whitehouse.gov/child-tax-credit/)
Jason Deparle has covered the child tax credit extensively for the New York Times.
Speaking to Chris Hayes:
“You started out by using the word remarkable. I don’t think I can top that.
It really is.
If you’ve been covering poverty in America for as long as I have, the idea that we would have essentially the equivalent of a European child allowance seemed unfathomable as recently as a couple of years ago. And suddenly it came to fruition.
You know, if there’s one thing I’d like your audience to know about the child tax credit.
It’s not really a child tax credit.
It doesn’t really have anything to do with taxes. It’s as you put it, a form of a guaranteed income for families with children. Every 9 out of 10 kids in the country, their families are going to get a check.”
Hayes:
“It’s a uniform amount of money for everyone. So you’re not doing all this kind of like, all these complicated equations where it’s well, if you make this, you get this. Everyone is basically getting the same thing. But it is highly progressive insofar as that $3,000 is massively more meaningful in the income of someone making $16K or $20K a year than someone is making 120K.”
DeParle:
“Right, there has been a child tax credit on the books for 20 years.
The problem with it is that it left out the lowest third,
the poorest third of American kids because there was an earnings threshold.
It WAS a tax credit.
You had to have enough earnings to owe taxes in order to get it.
What’s happened in the past year is we’ve gone from that program which was mostly aimed at the middle class, went up to families with annual incomes of $400,000 a year to both expand the tax credit, but more importantly focus it on the those poorest third of kids who weren’t getting the full amount. And by doing that we’re going to erase half the child poverty in the country overnight.”
Hayes:
“The political dynamics here are fascinating to me, too. And again as someone who’s covered this both from the policy standpoint and the politics, you can imagine a universe in which tomorrow was a day in which Republicans were all railing against this.
This was the top topic in conservative outlets. The Republican Party was very angry about it.
We saw that with the welfare fights of the 1990s.
We’ve seen politics like that across countries and not just in the U.S. right? ‘People are getting something for nothing, it will dis-incentivize work’.
Does it strike you the absence of that right now? Because it maybe I’m not paying attention, but it does seem different than this might have been played 20 years ago or more?”
DeParle:
“The opposition has been much more muted than I would have expected.
I think it’s in part because as again, you said it’s not solely a benefit for poor people. I mean, most of the people who will be getting this credit are not poor.
Two-thirds of middle or more will go to families that are not poor.
So I think you eliminate some of that resentment that you get around programs that are purely targeted for the poor. (e.g.) Somebody is standing in the grocery store and they see what they take to be somebody spending food stamps on an item that they think is too expensive.
You know, I think you’ll be getting less of that because it’s a benefit that everybody is going to get. You’re not going to be complaining ‘Why did my neighbor get this and why did I not?’
That’s part of it.”
Another good idea that Rethugs will vote down.
Millions of Families Waking Up with More in the Bank Today
Thanks to the Biden Child Tax Credit
Starting today, the Biden Child Tax Credit will offer relief to working families when they need it most – despite every Republican voting NO
From the Speaker’s Press Office:
“Through the Biden Child Tax Credit, House Democrats and the President have delivered for America’s working families. While Congressional Republicans abandoned families, Congressional Democrats fought for them. The Biden Child Tax Credit will make historic strides in cutting child poverty, empowering millions of working families and bolstering local economies to Build Back Better. Outlets across the country are celebrating the impact of the Biden Child Tax Credit for families in their communities:”
More: (https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/71521)
“Recognizing the dignity of the working class in America”
(President Biden)
CONGRATS TO ALL
ON THIS HISTORIC DAY !!!!!
FACT SHEET:
How the Build Back Better Framework Will Support Women’s Employment and Strengthen Family Economic Security
“Despite the progress our nation has made over the last four months, there remain two million fewer women in the workforce than there were before the pandemic struck – taking a toll on our economy and on millions of families across the country. Thirty years of progress in women’s labor force participation has been eroded; millions of women are still struggling to return to the workforce. And while the pandemic has exacerbated this reality, many of the challenges facing women aren’t new. Historically, women have typically held jobs with lower wages and fewer benefits and protections. Women of color are even more likely to work in jobs that have lower wages and few benefits and protections.”
Details: (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/15/fact-sheet-how-the-build-back-better-framework-will-support-womens-employment-and-strengthen-family-economic-security/)
This is gonna be good!
(per PBO ‘s tweet…)
THE CHILD TAX CREDIT
$3,000 TO $3,600 per child
for nearly all working families
Automatic monthly payments
for nearly all working families
CHILDTAXCREDIT.GOV
Victory Inches Closer As All 50 Senate Democrats Support Protecting Voting Rights
“Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA)
said that all 50 Senate Democrats support the John Lewis Voting Rights Act
and key provisions of the For The People Act.”
(Easley: https://www.politicususa.com/2021/07/15/voting-rights-tim-kaine.html)
SOON…
Also here: https://abcnews.go.com/live/video/special-live-1
New post.