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    We hear Americans support gun control, but I know the truth is more complicated | Devika Bhat

    We hear Americans support gun control, but I know the truth is more complicatedDevika BhatIt was only when I moved to the US that I understood that this issue, more than any other, encapsulates our differences The last of Uvalde’s slaughtered children had been laid to rest for barely three weeks before the latest mass shooting to terrorise America unfolded. This time it was a suburb of Chicago, its Independence Day celebrations shattered by a hail of bullets from a gunman with an assault rifle on a rooftop, killing seven and injuring dozens more.The month before, it was Philadelphia and Tennessee; before that, Oklahoma and Michigan, alongside a string of other incidents that hardly registered on a national, let alone global level. Such is the bar for international outrage on American shooting deaths, rising with every Columbine, Virginia Tech and Las Vegas. The horrific killings at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde were a another reminder that 10 years after Sandy Hook, even the smallest children are not safe from the violence wrought by a young man wielding an assault rifle – which he was easily able to easily and legally obtain, thanks to the anachronisms of the hallowed constitution.Uvalde, at least, spurred what no previous shootings have managed: to get some gun reforms actually signed into law, even if US president Joe Biden admitted the measures fell short of what he had hoped for. It is a step beyond what usually happens: an insistence from Democrats that it will be this particular tragedy, finally, that will lead to gun control laws having their day, followed by despair as barriers built into the legislative system prevent even modest changes passing Congress.It was a narrative that was already set in Washington when I moved there from the UK, just a few weeks after Sandy Hook in 2012. At the time it really felt as if change might – amazingly – be afoot. There was a sense of grim momentum: Barack Obama, recently re-elected to his second term, pledged at a memorial service to the young victims to “use all the power of his office” to prevent another tragedy, with tears and faltering voice shootings were still a fresh memory. Within weeks though, it became clear that there was no hope.US mass shootings are getting deadlier and more common, analysis showsRead moreI have never felt more alien – as non-Americans are charmingly termed under the visa system than when I saw those fraught weeks play out and realised that the mass murder of tiny children just a few years out of nappies was not to be, after all, the eureka moment that forced US lawmakers to rethink. It was the first in a series of wake-up calls for me about the problematic side of American exceptionalism: one tied in with a particular worldview born the country’s unique history, which values a perceived notion of individual freedom against the tyranny of the state above all else.It is a mindset not just limited to intransigent Republicans in the Senate. A common frustration voiced recently is that congressional inaction has been particularly egregious, given that most Americans favour gun controls. But though polling shows a clear majority in favour of background checks, the gap narrows when people are asked to consider other measures like banning specific guns or accessories. This is hardly surprising when 40% of Americans live in a household with a gun. What’s more, national polls may themselves overstate the reality of support for gun control, recent analysis by the New York Times suggests.Other nations may shake their collective heads and mutter “only in America”, quietly thankful their own children do not have to endure traumatic shooting drills and bulletproof rucksacks as routine necessities for an education. But this is a price many are willing to pay to uphold what they see as rights ordained by their forefathers.American civilians are estimated to hold a staggering 40% of the world’s firearms, despite accounting for only 4% of its population. As unpalatable as it might be to the rest of the world, not all these gun owners will be virulent NRA superfans, and many have complex, possibly contradictory views on gun ownership and regulation. Moreover, according to a Pew survey from 2017, while most gun owners could not entertain the thought of never owning a gun, the opposite did not appear to hold true: 52% of non-gun owners said they could see themselves owning a gun in the future.It was after Sandy Hook that the NRA’s president, Wayne LaPierre infamously declared that “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun”. As ludicrous as such talk sounds, it is not limited to the most aggressive of the pro-gun lobby. Similar language is found in the very laws of US states: legislation in Colorado enabling gun owners to shoot an intruder in self-defence is known as the Make My Day law. A similar appeal to an idealised history of uniquely American heroes versus villains was invoked in May by a judge in California, who ruled that the state’s ban on the purchase of semi-automatic firearms by under 21-year-olds was unconstitutional, on the basis that “America would not exist without the heroism of the young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army”.Though we are familiar with this outlook, visible as it is in films, television, books and other behemoths of American soft power, it was only when I was living in the country that I was able to appreciate its reach. Guns may be at the extreme end of this particular brand of American exceptionalism, but it goes some way to explaining other matters too. There were echoes of something similar in the fraught debate over Obama’s other policy priority: the Affordable Care Act (2010), his signature healthcare reforms.The proposals were eviscerated by critics who held up the NHS as a warning of the ghastly horrors awaiting the US under Obamacare, never mind that the plan came nowhere close to being a fully nationalised health service. As if, scoffed those same critics, any other country could possibly have anything worthwhile to teach America.It was a dismaying wake-up call for a Brit who has deep ties to and a great admiration for the US, with its seductive promises of possibility and optimism. It is a promise that Obama himself has insisted he continues to believe in, even after the advent of Donald Trump’s presidency, and even after admitting that his failure to enact gun reforms were the greatest regret of his term in office. Others are less convinced: friends with the option to do so admit discussing whether to leave the country, as it rolls from one crisis to another. Each is a fresh reminder that its once-lauded system of government, with its supposedly unassailable checks and balances, may perhaps be failing the very democracy it was designed to protect.
    Devika Bhat is joint deputy head of International News at the Guardian
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    Michigan baby formula maker resumes production after safety shutdown

    Michigan baby formula maker resumes production after safety shutdownThe Abbott facility was closed in February after a recall involving bacterial infections in infants which led to a nationwide shortage The baby formula manufacturer Abbott announced that it would resume production at a key Sturgis, Michigan, plant on Saturday, months after a shutdown at the facility spurred a nationwide shortage. The company in February recalled baby formula made at that plant, after four infants who consumed products from there developed bacterial infections, with two of the babies dying.Food and Drug Administration officials said they had encountered Cronobacter sakazakii bacterium at this plant. FDA and Centers for Disease Control testing determined the genetic sequence of these Cronobacter did not match that of bacterium in these infants – meaning they did not find a connection to Sturgis, CNN reported.TopicsUS baby formula shortageMichiganChildren’s healthUS politicsNutritionChildrenReuse this content More

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    Baby formula shipment arrives from Europe, providing ‘some relief’ for US families

    Baby formula shipment arrives from Europe, providing ‘some relief’ for US families Biden economic adviser says US to see more baby formula on shelves as 70,000lb of product lands in Indianapolis on Sunday A top White House economic adviser on Sunday said he was hopeful there would be more baby formula on American store shelves this upcoming week, especially after a plane full of the product arrived from an airbase in Germany. Brian Deese, the director of the National Economic Council, told CNN State of the Union host Dana Bash that the plane carrying 70,000lb of baby formula – enough for half a million bottles – from Ramstein airbase in Germany which landed in Indianapolis on Sunday morning should cover about 15% of the product’s nationwide shortage. About 45% of baby formula products were out of stock across the US last week, according to figures that Bash cited during her interview of Deese, who didn’t dispute them.‘It’s a nightmare’: baby formula shortage leaves US parents desperateRead more“We’re going to see more formula … in stores starting as early as this week,” said Deese, adding that the incoming Nestlé product was “a specialty medical grade formula, the type that we most need in this market”.When asked how the US ended up needing to fly in baby formula from another country, Deese bluntly blamed the manufacturer Abbott, who apparently spent windfall profits on filling the pockets of investors and neglected to replace failing equipment which likely introduced dangerous bacteria to its infant nutritional products and set the stage for a recall that has wreaked havoc on the nationwide supply, according to financial records and whistleblower documents.“We had a manufacturer who wasn’t following the rules and that was making formula that had the risk of making babies sick,” Deese said. “So we have to take action on that front.”Deese suggested introducing more competition to the baby formula manufacturing industry so that the country’s supply doesn’t depend on just a handful of companies like Abbott.The country’s stock of baby formula was significantly curtailed after a February recall by Abbott worsened coronavirus pandemic-related supply chain issues among the product’s manufacturers, leaving parents with fewer options on store shelves to nourish their children.The recall resulted from illnesses and deaths among infants, and it hit poorer families hardest, because Abbott provides formula to about half the infants who receive benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or Wic, which primarily aims to help low-income women and their children.About half the infants who receive Wic benefits get their formula from Abbott, one of just four companies that produces 90% or so of US baby formula.Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials have launched an investigation into reported bacterial infections in four infants who consumed powdered formula produced in Abbott’s facility in Michigan. All four infants were hospitalized, and two died.Biden invokes Defense Production Act to tackle baby formula shortageRead moreDeese said Abbott has indicated it will need about a month to bring their facility back online, “but we’re not going to wait that long”.Joe Biden last week took the relatively drastic step of invoking the Defense Production Act to speed production of more baby formula supply and authorize its import from abroad. The flight arriving at Indianapolis’s airport on Sunday stemmed from the order, which enabled the US defense department to use commercial aircraft to fly in overseas formula meeting federal standards.Deese, however, acknowledged Sunday’s flight would only “provide some incremental relief in the coming days”, and he said more are being planned for the coming days.TopicsUS newsUS politicsChildrenFoodnewsReuse this content More

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    Senate bill will help food aid recipients find baby formula amid shortage

    Senate bill will help food aid recipients find baby formula amid shortageWic voucher requirements are being waived to allow holders to purchase any brand of infant formula as it becomes available The Senate approved a bill Thursday aimed at easing the baby formula shortage for families participating in a government assistance program that accounts for about half of all formula purchased in the US.The House passed the bill the day before, so it now goes to Joe Biden to be signed into law.Biden uses Defense Production Act to tackle US baby formula crisisRead moreParticipants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as Wic, get vouchers that are redeemed for specific foods to supplement their diets. The vouchers usually can only be used to purchase one brand of infant formula, which encourages the manufacturer to offer big discounts to secure a state’s business.The bill makes it possible in extenuating circumstances for the Department of Agriculture to waive certain requirements so that Wic participants can purchase whatever brand is available.“Now, millions of parents will have an easier time finding the baby formula that they need,” said Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer after the bill was passed.Lawmakers are also considering boosting staffing at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with a $28m emergency spending bill. That legislation also passed the House this week, but faces uncertain prospects in the Senate.Baby formula supplies in the US have been severely curtailed in recent weeks after a February recall by Abbott exacerbated supply chain disruptions among formula makers, leaving fewer options on store shelves and anxious parents struggling to find nutrition for their children.Although baby formula has already been affected by pandemic-related supply chain problems, the nationwide shortage has worsened with Abbott’s recall, which stemmed from reported illnesses and deaths among infants.In March, the FDA released a warning to consumers, urging them to be aware of certain products branded Similac, Alimentum and EleCare that have been recalled.The FDA launched an investigation after complaints emerged of bacterial infections in four infants who consumed powdered infant formula produced in Abbott Nutrition’s facility in Michigan.According to the reports, all four infants were hospitalized and the bacterial infection may have contributed to the deaths of two of them.The head of the FDA told lawmakers Thursday that the factory could be up and running as soon as next week.TopicsUS baby formula shortageChildrenUS politicsUS SenatenewsReuse this content More

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    West Virginians scramble to get by after Manchin kills child tax credits

    West Virginians scramble to get by after Manchin kills child tax credits Without those monthly checks 50,000 children in the state the centrist senator represents could sink into deep povertyLast fall, Krista Greene missed a week of work after her sons were exposed to Covid and could not return to school. Greene, who manages a tutoring center and yoga studio in Charleston, West Virginia, does not receive any paid time off. Normally, she would have been worried about this loss of income. But the Greene family’s budget had recently become a little more flexible, thanks to the monthly child tax credit payments that began in July 2021.“The first thing I said to my husband was, ‘The Biden bucks are coming next week, so I won’t miss any bills,’” Greene said.It was nice while it lasted.Families probably received their final monthly payments in December after Congress failed to pass the Build Back Better Act. The legislation, the cornerstone of the Biden administration’s domestic policy, would have made the payments permanent. But one Democrat stood in the way – Greene’s senator, Joe Manchin.A week before Christmas, Manchin appeared on Fox & Friends and announced he would not vote for the Build Back Better Act, effectively poleaxing Biden’s plans in a Senate evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.“I have always said, ‘If I can’t go back home and explain it, I can’t vote for it,’” Manchin said in a press release after the television appearance. “Despite my best efforts, I cannot explain the sweeping Build Back Better Act in West Virginia and I cannot vote to move forward on this mammoth piece of legislation.”The announcement came after months of negotiations between Manchin and the White House, some of which involved the child tax credit. Manchin wanted to limit the credit to families making $60,000 or less annually. He has also said he will not support a permanent credit unless it includes a work requirement.The child tax credit was one of a number of Biden proposals that were surprisingly popular in the deeply Republican state of West Virginia – not least because Manchin’s constituents have benefited from it more than most.Ninety-three per cent of West Virginia children – about 346,000 in all – qualified for the credit payments. That extra $250 to $300 per child a month lifted about 50,000 of those children above the poverty line, according to the West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy (WVCBP).Now that the credits have vanished, so will those advancements. The timing could not be worse. Like the rest of the country, West Virginia is suffering a surge in inflation unseen in decades, a surge that disproportionately affects the poor.“The checks aren’t coming on,” said the WVCBP executive director, Kelly Allen. “Fifty thousand kids in West Virginia are at risk are dropping into deep poverty.”America got more expensive in 2021. Who is really paying the price? – a visual explainerRead moreQueentia Ellis is a single mother with three daughters, ages seven, three and two. For a while, she supported her family with a minimum wage job but found she was always coming up short. “It’s impossible to take care of three kids on a minimum wage job,” Ellis said.She decided to get a college education. The monthly child tax credit payments, along with child support and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), allowed her to stay home with her kids while taking classes full-time.“It helped me pay my bills and buy things for my kids that they needed,” said Ellis, who hopes to someday start her own business.With the monthly payments ended, Ellis said she will probably have to return to a minimum-wage job, which means it will take longer to complete her college degree. She will also have to find childcare for her daughters, which will cost up to $100 a month for each child, even with help from a state childcare assistance program.“That takes a toll on the income, especially if you’re working an hourly minimum wage job,” Ellis said. “I have to figure out what and how I’m going to go about making things possible. But where there’s a will there’s a way.”After announcing he would not support the Build Back Better Act, reports surfaced that Manchin was concerned parents were using the child tax credit to buy drugs.Bar chart showing most Child Tax Credit recipients spent their money on food, rent/mortgage and utilities.But the evidence shows that in West Virginia and across the country the money was spent on necessities – 91% of low-income families used the money for basic needs like rent, groceries, school supplies and medicine, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ analysis of US census data.“Families know what they need. In some cases, that’s putting food on the tables. In some cases, that’s paying rent. In some cases, it’s allowing mom to stay home for a few months, or paying for childcare because mom needs to go to work,” Allen of the West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy said.Hunter Starks is a single parent with a four-year-old daughter. Theypreviously worked as a social worker, while also working part-time as a political organizer, often logging more than 50 hours in a week.But things changed in 2021.“I’ve worked since I was 15, usually multiple jobs. And I’ve never had a hard time finding work like I did this year,” they said.Starks had difficulty finding employment because they could only take jobs with hours that aligned with their child’s daycare hours.“Service jobs and fast food don’t need folks during those hours,” they said.Starks said the $300 child tax credit payments were “the difference between getting by or not”.“And I still had to ask multiple folks for help,” Starks said.Starks said January’s budget will be tight without the tax credit payment, “but it’s been tight”.They will soon start a new full-time job as a paralegal, in addition to their part-time organizing work. While that will help their bank account, Starks said it will mean less time with their daughter.“I kind of hate the fact that I’m going to go back to working multiple jobs and spending less time with my daughter,” they said. “Even though I’ve struggled financially, I’ve appreciated having that time with her.”While Manchin has balked at the child tax credit’s price tag – about $100bn a year – the credits pumped $470m into West Virginia between July and December 2021 alone. Allen said that money was probably immediately reinvested in the state’s economy, since low- and middle-income families typically spend tax refunds as soon as they receive them.Yoga studio manager Krista Greene said that’s why it was so important the payments arrived monthly instead of once a year, at tax time.“It became part of your monthly income,” she said. “If a hospital bill comes around, I can’t say, ‘Can you wait four or five months until I get my income tax?’”Allen also said the money would have long-term positive effects on the state’s economy as well. Living in poverty has a deleterious impact on children’s health, education and future earnings.“If kids are lifted out of poverty and have access to more economic security, it pays for itself in the long term,” Allen said.Manchin’s office declined the Guardian’s request for comment.TopicsWest VirginiaJoe ManchinChildcareChildrenEconomicsUS politicsfeaturesReuse this content More

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    Fauci predicts Covid shots for kids five to 11 will be available by early November

    Anthony FauciFauci predicts Covid shots for kids five to 11 will be available by early November Government’s chief medical adviser makes prediction after FDA review panel finds that benefits for group outweighs risks Richard Luscombe@richluscSun 24 Oct 2021 16.16 EDTLast modified on Sun 24 Oct 2021 16.17 EDTVaccines to protect children ages five to 11 from Covid-19 will be available in the US in early to mid-November, Dr Anthony Fauci, the government’s chief medical adviser, predicted on Sunday.A review panel of the US food and drug administration (FDA) found last week that the benefits of Pfizer-BioNTech shots for the younger age group outweighed the risks, setting up an advisory meeting on Tuesday of outside FDA experts who are expected to recommend emergency use authorization.With final approval from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) likely to come the following week, Fauci said he believed pediatric vaccines would start going into arms in short order.“If all goes well, and we get the regulatory approval and the recommendation from the CDC, it’s entirely possible if not very likely that vaccines will be available for children from five to 11 within the first week or two of November,” Fauci told ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos.“You never want to get ahead of the FDA in their regulatory decisions, nor the CDC and their advisers on what the recommendation would be, but if you look at the data that’s been made public, the data look good.”Pfizer has claimed its coronavirus vaccine is 91% effective in the five-11 age group. The extension of vaccine availability to those younger than 12 is seen as a key step in getting a pandemic that has killed more than 735,000 in the US under control.Despite polls showing that more parents than previously are willing to allow their children to be vaccinated, there remains significant hesitance. Only one third of parents with children ages five to 11 say they will vaccinate their child right away, according to Kaiser, while one in four say they will not allow it under any circumstances.“We know we have a lot of work to do,” Dr Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.“Those survey data look very much consistent with where we were with adults last December, when we rolled out vaccines for adults. We have done a huge amount of hard work over the last 10 months, education, communication, providing information, getting vaccines to really convenient places.”Walensky said vaccines for children would be available nationwide in tens of thousands of venues from pediatrician and primary care offices, children’s hospitals, pharmacies, school clinics and community health centers.“We’re doing absolutely all of that hard work now,” she said. “As soon as we have both the FDA authorization and the CDC recommendations there will be vaccine out there so children can start rolling up their sleeves.”TopicsAnthony FauciUS politicsCoronavirusInfectious diseasesVaccines and immunisationChildrennewsReuse this content More