US Politics

Saudi executions are glossed over for oilImproved human rights | A chant for Putin | Dame Caroline Haslett | Boycotting P&O During his trip to Saudi Arabia, Boris Johnson praised the country’s improved human rights record (Boris Johnson upbeat on Saudi oil supply as kingdom executes three more, 16 March). As only three men were executed during his visit there, compared with 81 at the weekend, is that what Johnson means by an improving human rights record?Jim KingBirmingham During the Vietnam war, when Lyndon B Johnson was US president, demonstrators chanted daily outside the White House: “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?” The same question would no doubt be asked of Putin by Russians (Survivors leaving basement of Mariupol theatre after airstrike, say officials, 17 March), if they did not live yet again under a repressive dictatorship.David WinnickLondon Alas, Dame Caroline Haslett can’t quite claim Haslett Avenue, Crawley, in the name of balancing up memorials to women (Letters, 17 March). Crawley Development Corporation declared the new road in the name of her father, Robert, a popular railwayman, rather than the electrifying dame herself.John CoobanCrawley, West Sussex Can you publish a list of all companies owned by P&O and its parent firm DP World, so that we consumers can ensure we never use them again (‘Scandalous betrayal’: MPs condemn P&O Ferries for mass sacking of 800 staff, 17 March)?Michael Griffith-JonesLondonTopicsSaudi ArabiaBrief lettersBoris JohnsonHuman rightsMohammed bin SalmanOilUS politicsVladimir PutinlettersReuse this content More

The uphill battle to resurrect the US child tax credit that lifted millions from poverty Monthly payments became a lifeline for many families, and their lapse had a devastating effect, but the policy seems to have no path forward in the SenateIf the negotiations over Democrats’ Build Back Better Act had gone differently, tens of millions of American families would have received checks on Tuesday. Instead, for the third month in a row, the monthly payments from the expanded child tax credit were not distributed.The monthly checks, which were approved last year as part of Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief package, had become a lifeline for many families struggling to financially recover from the pandemic. But the payments came to an end in December, after Democrats failed to pass their Build Back Better Act, which would have extended the policy.Those monthly payments helped temporarily lift millions of American children out of poverty, and the policy’s lapse has had a devastating effect. According to a report from Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy, 3.7 million more American children were experiencing poverty in January, after the monthly payments ended. The increase was disproportionately high among Black and Latino children.Progressives have continued to advocate for the expanded credit, insisting an extension of the monthly payments should be included in any social spending package that Democrats can get through Congress.Progressive Democrats set out list of executive orders to push Biden agendaRead moreBut the policy appears to have no path forward in the evenly divided Senate, underscoring Democrats’ challenges in trying to advance Biden’s economic agenda. Some Democrats fear that failing to extend the expanded credit will further damage the party’s prospects in the midterm elections, making it more difficult for candidates to make a case for re-election to voters.The expanded tax credit was initially enacted through the American Rescue Plan, which Biden signed into law last March. The new policy increased the tax benefit from $2,000 a year to a maximum of $3,600 a year for children aged five or younger and a maximum of $3,000 a year for children between the ages of six and 17. The credit allowed families to collect half of the benefit through monthly checks, which were distributed between July and December of last year. The policy also made the tax credit fully refundable, meaning more low-income parents could access the funds. In December, the last month that the payments were sent out, more than 36 million American households received checks.“Talk about a program that has shown its worth in spades. So effective, so necessary. We’ve seen the results immediately,” Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on Thursday. Jayapal even invited a Seattle mother of three who benefited from the monthly payments, Leanne Do, as her “virtual guest” to the State of the Union earlier this month.Despite the clear impact of the payments and progressives’ passion for the policy, Democrats appear to be at an impasse when it comes to continuing the monthly checks. The version of the Build Back Better Act that passed the House in November included a one-year extension of the expanded child tax credit. But that bill has stalled in the Senate because of Senator Joe Manchin’s opposition to the proposal.“It’s a question of what can get 50 votes. And unfortunately, we’re still coming up against that barrier,” Jayapal said. “I don’t know what to say other than it’s incredibly frustrating to a lot of us.”Democrats are now trying to resurrect components of the Build Back Better Act that can win Manchin’s approval, specifically the provisions aimed at combating climate change and lowering prescription drug costs. But as the party cautiously approaches negotiations again, there have been conspicuously few mentions of extending the expanded child tax credit.In his State of the Union speech, Biden emphasized the importance of enacting various pieces of his economic agenda, including strengthening domestic supply chains and investing in clean-energy sources. In the hour-long speech, Biden devoted only one half of one sentence to the expanded child tax credit.“Raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and extend the child tax credit, so no one has to raise a family in poverty,” Biden told lawmakers.On Monday, the president acknowledged the challenges he has faced in trying to extend the expanded credit. “It was something we should be doing again, but I’m having trouble getting it passed again,” Biden said at the National League of Cities Congressional City Conference.That trouble is largely thanks to one member of Biden’s own party. Manchin announced in December that he would not support the Build Back Better Act, saying the bill’s $1.7tn price tag was too much to stomach when US inflation has hit a 40-year high. Privately, Manchin also told colleagues that he feared parents would waste the money from the expanded child tax credit on drugs, according to HuffPost. (Surveys show parents report spending the extra money on food, rent and utilities.)Progressives in Congress are continuing to fight for the policy, but they are clear-eyed about the odds of passing an extension with the narrowest of majorities in the Senate.“As far as the path forward, I would love to say yes, but at this point, I don’t see it, and I haven’t heard a lot of conversations about how to get there,” said the progressive congresswoman Cori Bush, who noted that many of her constituents were “devastated” when the payments ended.If the policy is not reinstated, it could deal another blow to Democrats’ already bleak prospects in the midterm elections. Republicans are currently favored to retake control of the House, and the failure to pass the Build Back Better Act – and specifically the extension of the expanded child tax credit – may make voters even less inclined to re-elect Democrats.Party leaders have tried to frame Congress’s failure to extend the payments as a reflection on Republicans. Chris Taylor, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, noted that not a single Republican supported the American Rescue Plan, which initiated the monthly payment.“We are going to make sure the record is clear for voters: House Democrats delivered for families when things got tough,” Taylor said. “Every single Republican in Congress voted against helping your family.”With the Build Back Better Act stalled, progressives are also trying to find other avenues for helping families who are financially struggling. On Thursday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus released a list of executive orders that Biden should sign to advance Democrats’ policy agenda. The list includes demands to lower prescription drug costs, expand overtime eligibility and cancel federal student loan debt, among other suggestions.Jayapal pledged that progressives would continue to push for the passage of the Build Back Better Act, including an extension of the expanded child tax credit. But she argued the proposed executive orders represented a strong starting point for helping average Americans’ monthly budgets, which could in turn boost Democrats’ chances in the midterms.“We’ve got to make sure that we’re addressing the increase in housing costs, in childcare, in gas prices, and all the things that we’re seeing right now – and addressing that for people who are on the margins,” Jayapal said on Thursday. “Let’s deliver some relief quickly for people. And yes, anything we do between now and November helps us.”TopicsBiden administrationPovertyUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

Republican hopes to ride far-right rage into Idaho’s governor’s office Lieutenant governor Janice McGeachin is building a coalition including white nationalist and far-right militia backing, in what she tells supporters is ‘the fight of our lives’As the far right in America seeks to increase its political influence, including by seeking elected office, one figure is emerging as potentially its most powerful figure: Idaho’s lieutenant governor, Janice McGeachin.McGeachin is running for governor of the state and building a coalition including white nationalist and far-right militia backing, in what she tells her supporters is “the fight of our lives”.Last month at the America First Political Action Conference, a white nationalist conference, McGeachin praised attendees: “Keep up the good work fighting for our country,” she said in a pre-taped address.“I need fighters all over this country that are willing stand up and fight,” McGeachin continued, urging attendees to push out moderates in the Republican party. “Even when that means fighting amongst our own ranks because there are too many Republicans who do not exhibit the courage that is needed today for us to fight and protect our freedoms and our liberties. We are literally in the fight for our lives.”Three years after attending the the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, the far-right provocateur Nick Fuentes created the white nationalist conference AFPAC in the hopes of branding it a far-right alternative to the more mainstream conservative gathering CPAC. Fuentes is a well-known white nationalist and notorious antisemite who mocks how Jews were murdered in the Holocaust while also denying the Holocaust occurred.McGeachin has a history of giving speeches and mingling at far-right rallies, often riding the wave of the latest rightwing outrage. Last year at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, McGeachin gave a rousing speech at a mask-burning event on the Idaho capitol steps, where children burned masks in front of their parents.The Guardian reported last year on the growing civil war inside the Republican party in Idaho, when McGeachin imposed a ban on masks while the governor was out of state. McGeachin also created a taskforce to look into claims of “indoctrination” in schools in order to project children from “the scourge of Critical Race Theory, socialism, communism and Marxism” according to documents obtained by the Idaho Statesman newspaper.This month McGeachin also jumped on the cause of the trucker convoy protest, speaking at a locally planned convoy rally in Idaho. According to local TV station KTVB about 500 people showed up to protest against Covid-19 mandates, though Idaho has none. McGeachin told the crowd “Sometimes they refer to us as being ‘extreme’ for our views,” before reading out loud a quote from Barry Goldwater defending extremism in pursuit of liberty. “We are a free nation and it is so important that we stand now and continue to fight for that freedom and that liberty that makes this country so great,” she said.McGeachin has also attended a gathering where she was endorsed by a rightwing militia figure whom she had apparently made political promises too. In a video previously obtained by the Guardian Eric Parker – who was charged over his role in the standoff in 2014 at Bundy Ranch in Nevada where he was pictured pointing an assault rifle at federal agents – reminded McGeachin that she once told “if I get in, you’re going to have a friend in the governor’s office”.Experts who follow the far right in the US believe McGeachin represents a serious threat, especially as more militia-affiliated groups have started to enter local government in the US, such as in California’s Shasta county.“From her recent speech at AFPAC, continued embrace of white nationalism and endorsements from prominent antisemitic leaders to her longstanding ties with paramilitaries, it couldn’t be clearer that McGeachin is a danger to the rule of law, Idaho communities and democratic institutions,” said Amy Herzfeld-Copple, deputy director of programs at Western States Strategies, a non-profit that works for inclusive democracy through nonpartisan education and advocacy.A total of 31 faith leaders in Idaho recently signed an open letter calling for McGeachin to resign. Rabbis, reverends, pastors and others of different faiths across the state warned in the letter of the “staggering consequences of ignoring extremism” and describe a “rising tide of antisemitism here in Idaho”.The letter cited recent acts of vandalism including at the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial in Boise. It said: “By associating with alt-right actors and groups like AFPAC in addition to your ties to militia groups that advocate for political violence and harassment in Idaho, you have proven you are not fit to hold elected office, let alone serve a heartbeat away from becoming Idaho’s next governor.”Rabbi Dan Fink of Ahavath Beth Israel in Boise, who co-signed the letter, said in an interview with KTVB that he was courted by McGeachin earlier this year, to help with a campaign against antisemitism.“The dissonance was so extraordinary. I both hurt and at some level, had to laugh because it was surreal,” Fink said in the interview, appalled that McGeachin would share a stage with a Holocaust denier while trying to enlist a rabbi’s help. “That you have the chutzpah to reach out to me and say ‘help me on antisemitism’ while going out and glorying in the presence of antisemites is extraordinary,” Fink said.Herzfeld-Copple said it was not clear how deep McGeachin’s popular support was in Idaho.“McGeachin is a troubling anti-democracy figure in our region seeking to build a national profile with violent and bigoted social movements that increasingly see her as their access to power. But we know these extremists are a minority and Idahoans have routinely rejected those who court white nationalists,” said Herzfeld-Copple.But far-right controversy is never far away from McGeachin and this week she took the highly unusual step of intervening on behalf of a far-right group in a child welfare case involving a 10-month old baby who is the grandson of a campaign consultant for the militia leader Ammon Bundy, founder of the far-right group People’s Rights.The child had been taken away from the parents after officials determined the child was “suffering from severe malnourishment” and in imminent danger. But the Idaho Statesman obtained text messages between McGeachin and Governor Brad Little showing McGeachin seeking to intervene in the case. “Is this true? Call off this medical tyranny tell the hospital to release the baby to his parents,” she wrote.Bundy himself was subsequently arrested this week for trespassing at St Luke’s hospital, where he went to protest with scores of supporters over what he called a “medical kidnapping”.“Nearly every day, McGeachin’s actions become more dangerous. She contradicted pleas from law enforcement and hospital officials and used her government Facebook page to discuss a confidential child welfare case, contributing to a mob of Ammon Bundy supporters that caused a lockdown at Idaho’s largest hospital, compromising delivery of patient and emergency care,” said Herzfeld-Copple.Experts who monitor the far right note that while there is a growing number of far-right legislators at the state and federal level, such as the Arizona state sentator Wendy Rogers, who has admitted to being a member of the Oath Keepers militia, or the Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who spoke at the same white nationalist conference as McGeachin amid chants of support for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.If McGeachin were to win the race and become governor in Idaho it would be a major victory for far-right politics in America.“There are a lot of implications for having someone in the executive branch giving the stamp of approval to far-right paramilitary groups and white nationalists,” said Devin Burghart, executive director of Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights.“In recent years it is unprecedented to see a lieutenant governor doing things like participating in a white nationalist conference or weighing in on a far-right-driven child endangerment issue, we haven’t seen that high a level of support for the far right since the days of the Council of Conservative Citizens, the lineal descendants of the White Citizens Council in the south.” said Burghart.Burghart warned that state politics and far-right extremism in the sparsely populated west of the US is often forgotten in the national political conversation, but it can have major consequences.“What happens out here in the west becomes a model, a testing ground for far-right activism. And what happens out here in the west doesn’t stay in the west, it migrates around the country, said Burghart.TopicsIdahoUS politicsRepublicansThe far rightAntisemitismfeaturesReuse this content More

Are white Christians under attack in America? No, but the myth is winningAlvin ChangThe idea that the American way of life is under threat from a variety of ‘others’ is wildly overblown but widely believed Every evening, Fox News tells a story about America.It’s a story about how traditional American values are being undermined by radical leftists – how marginalized populations actually account for a huge portion of the country, and that they want to take America from white Christians. These radicals are atheists, Muslims, Jews. They are people of color, vegans, coastal city dwellers and, of course, Democrats.The real reason Republicans are so interested in the census | David DaleyRead moreAnd it turns out this story is winning.Earlier this year, YouGov asked Americans to estimate what percentage of American adults fall under a certain identity group. On average, respondents assumed that 30% of Americans are Jewish, 27% are Muslim, 21% are transgender and 20% earn more than a million dollars a year. In reality, each of those groups account for less than 2% of the population.YouGov pollThere is a clear story in the way Americans perceive our country.We assume there are far fewer white Christians than there actually are, and that there are far more of everyone else – people of color, immigrants, non-Christians, non-straight people and non-binary people. To be fair, Americans also overestimated the number of left-handed people (estimate was 32%; reality is 11%). But it’s hard to ignore the directionality of our misperceptions.These misperceptions have real political consequences.In 2014, researchers Maureen Craig and Jennifer Richeson surveyed hundreds of white Americans who identified as political independents. They told half of them that California had recently become a majority-minority state – that white people were no longer the majority. The other half (the control group) weren’t told anything about white people becoming a minority.Then they asked everyone the same question: do you lean toward Democrats or Republicans?Those who were told white people were now in the minority in California were significantly more likely to support Republicans. Among people who live in the American west, the control group favored Democrats 31% to 16%. The group that was told California was now minority-majority flipped their preference – 33% leaning toward Republicans, 19% leaning toward Democrats.In other words, white Americans lean toward Republicans when they think they’re becoming the minority.To be clear, America really is browning. In 2013, the majority of newborn Americans were people of color. In 2014, the majority of public school students were kids of color. And in the next 25 years, America will no longer be a majority white country – at least according to the US census’s racial categories.But conservatives have long known that stoking racial or faith-based fears works, and they’re leaning into this messaging.I spent much of my childhood attending white evangelical Christian churches in the midwest, and I remember sermon after sermon painting Christians as victims. It started with a story about how Christians were being persecuted in a foreign country, often China, and how that echoes the biblical stories about Christians being persecuted. Inevitably the sermon would turn to Jesus being executed by the Romans, and then extrapolate this persecution to our lives as American Christians. The message was clear: it’s us versus the world – and the purpose of everyone else is to squash the fire of our faith.It was immensely effective and often translated into policy positions, like being anti-abortion and pro-Iraq war. But more importantly, it painted white Christians as an aggrieved group – a belief that it’s not just you under attack, but people like you. This victim complex can be critical to political movements. That’s partially what drove thousands of people to Washington on 6 January 2021 to protest against the presidential election results. For an individual protester, it made no sense to call out from work, get on a bus and march on the Capitol; the outcome would have been the same regardless of whether or not you showed up. But if you tell yourself that you’re joining a group of “patriots” who are being erased from this country, and that you’re fighting for the soul of America?Well, that story makes sense – and even though it’s patently incorrect, it’s the story that’s winning.TopicsRaceOpinionCensusUS politicscommentReuse this content More

To continue listening to Jonathan Freedland’s analysis of what’s happening in Washington and beyond, be sure to like and subscribe to Politics Weekly America wherever you get your podcasts.
This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence of Michigan, who has chosen to not to run again this November. She shares her thoughts on the war in Ukraine, why she chose to leave office, and who in the Republican party worries her the most for 2024.

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This week, Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed Congress, thanking them for their support so far, but imploring them to do more. He spoke to Joe Biden directly, as it seems it’s the White House, not Congress, that is hesitant about provoking Russia further. How the US responds to the war in Ukraine will influence voters at home when midterm elections take place in November. It will be a tough campaign for Biden, and yet many Democrats are retiring from the House instead of fighting for their seat.
Jonathan Freedland speaks to one of the Democrats choosing to retire. Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence shares her thoughts on the war in Ukraine, why she chose to leave office, and who in the Republican party worries her the most for 2024.

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Progressive Democrats set out list of executive orders to push Biden agendaCongressional Progressive Caucus urges president to bypass legislative logjam and give Democrats record to campaign on The leftwing Congressional Progressive Caucus unveiled its highly anticipated list of suggested executive orders on Thursday, outlining a strategy for Joe Biden to advance Democrats’ policy priorities in the US while much of his legislative agenda has stalled on Capitol Hill.The move reflects pressure from the left of the Democratic party to try to keep Biden pushing an ambitious program of action, despite setbacks and as November’s midterm elections are widely expected to favor a resurgent Republican party.Manchin ‘very reluctant’ on electric cars in ominous sign for Biden’s climate fightRead moreThe list covers a wide range of progressive wishlist items, including lowering healthcare costs, canceling federal student loan debt and reducing America’s dependence on fossil fuels. The agenda also calls for raising wages by increasing the threshold to be eligible for overtime pay and reducing police violence by establishing national standards for law enforcement officers.“Taken together, these actions will have an immediate and meaningful impact on people’s lives: lowering costs and raising wages for working people to provide urgently needed economic relief, advancing racial and gender equity by investing in communities that have historically been neglected, and delivering on our promises,” said Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, chair of the CPC. The list was crafted in consultation with the 98 members of the CPC, as well as a number of progressive grassroots groups. Dozens of progressive organizations have endorsed the agenda, calling on Biden to act quickly to sign the suggested executive orders.“As we face a historic crossroad in the fight to protect democracy and defeat white supremacy, it’s beyond time for Biden to use the full powers of the presidency to deliver for the people who elected him and address the interlocking crises of our times,” said Lauren Maunus, advocacy director for the climate group Sunrise Movement. “If he doesn’t, Biden risks not only alienating his own base, but failing to stop the worst of the climate crisis while he had the chance.”Jayapal said the CPC and the White House have had many conversations over the past several months as the caucus worked to develop its list, with the hope of avoiding potential legal challenges to the orders. Jayapal told reporters she planned to discuss the newly released agenda with Biden as early as this week.“The reason it took us so long to put this together, from when we first started talking about it at the end of December, is because we did want to make sure that these are things that the White House can do,” Jayapal said on a press call on Thursday. If Biden takes the CPC’s advice and signs more executive orders in the coming months, they believe it could help Democrats’ prospects in the midterm elections this November.As of now, Republicans are heavily favored to retake control of the House and possibly the Senate as well. With the Build Back Better Act stalled in the Senate, executive action may be Democrats’ best hope of enacting meaningful change between now and November, making it easier for members to campaign for re-election.“If we cancel student debt, that would be a huge thing all across this country,” the progressive Congresswoman Cori Bush said on Thursday. “We keep saying that Democrats deliver, but people don’t know we’re delivering if they can’t feel that difference, and people need to feel the difference.”Jayapal emphasized progressives were not giving up on implementing portions of the Build Back Better Act, the $1.7tn spending package that includes significant investments in healthcare, childcare and climate-related initiatives. But she argued the executive orders proposed by the CPC could provide immediate aid to families struggling to financially recover from the coronavirus pandemic, while also boosting Democrats’ midterm prospects.“We’ve got to make sure that we’re addressing the increase in housing costs, in childcare, in gas prices, and all the things that we’re seeing right now – and addressing that for people who are on the margins,” Jayapal said. “Let’s deliver some relief quickly for people. And yes, anything we do between now and November helps us.”TopicsDemocratsBiden administrationUS CongressUS politicsUS domestic policynewsReuse this content More

Disney staff stage walkouts over Florida’s ‘don’t say gay’ billDisney and its CEO, Bob Chapek, spoke out against the bill in an internal staff email but refused to publicly condemn it Disney staff members this week and next are staging walkouts over Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.The Parental Rights in Education bill, which critics have dubbed as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, was recently passed by Florida Republicans but has not yet been signed into law. The controversial bill bans all discussion of sexuality and gender identity in schools.Disney and its CEO, Bob Chapek, spoke out against the bill last week in an internal staff email but refused to publicly condemn the bill, prompting the staged walkouts from employees.Chapek said Disney’s leadership “unequivocally stand” with LGBTQ+ employees but said that corporate statements “do very little to change outcomes or minds”, adding that “they are often weaponized by one side or the other to further divide and inflame”.Chapek’s statement sparked backlash within the company, which employs more than 75,000 staff members in Florida. Many condemned Chapek’s silence, to which he responded: “Speaking to you, reading your messages, and meeting with you have helped me better understand how painful our silence was.“You needed me to be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights and I let you down. I am sorry,” he said, adding that Disney will be “pausing all political donations in the state of Florida”.Since then, Disney employees have been organizing 15-minute daily walkouts and “sickouts”, according to the Twitter page @DisneyWalkout launched in response to the bill. Staff members will stage a full-day walkout on 22 March.In an open letter on the accompanying website, WhereIsChapek.com, Disney employees criticized Disney’s leadership, saying: “As a community, we have been forced into an impossible and unsustainable position. We must now take action to convince TWDC to protect employees and their families in the face of such open and unapologetic bigotry.”On Wednesday, Marvel Studios, which is owned by Disney, denounced the bill and said that it “proudly” stands with the community and pledged to continue its support and allyship.The bill requires the implementation of “procedures to reinforce fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding upbringing and control of their children”.In addition to allowing parents to launch legal actions against school boards if they believe policies overstep that “fundamental right”, the bill bans teachers from discussing in classrooms LGBTQ+ topics “not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students”.TopicsFloridaWalt Disney CompanyLGBT rightsUS politicsnewsReuse this content More