June 3, 2021: Democrats Pressure Manchin On Voting Rights; Sri Lanka Faces Environmental Disaster; Stimulus Checks Reduced Hunger, Anxiety

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TODAY'S HEADLINES:


Democrats including President Joe Biden are losing patience with
Senator Joe Manchin. He’s waffling on supporting a nationwide
voting rights package that could be crucial to the party’s
electoral future.


Meanwhile, cleanup and containment efforts are
underway off the coast of Sri Lanka, where a sinking container
ship threatens environmental disaster. The beaches are suffocated
with tiny plastic pellets, and now there are worries about an oil
spill, as well.


And lastly, the evidence is in on the effects of
the stimulus checks that went out to Americans earlier this year,
and guess what – they really helped people! It looks like there’s
something to the old saying that the problem with poor people is
that they don’t have enough money.


THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:


This spotlight on a weak link in the ruling Congressional
coalition comes from the Washington Post. Democratic leaders and
activists are stepping up pressure on Senator Joe Manchin to
support legislation to fight Republican-led voting restrictions
across the country. Party officials are concluding that the
battle over voting rights could come down to what the centrist
Democrat from West Virginia does. In a rare show of public
frustration with his own party on Tuesday, President Biden
appeared to lash out at Manchin when he accused a pair of unnamed
senators of aligning too closely with Republicans and stalling
efforts to pass sweeping voting standards. Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer recently announced that his chamber would vote this
month on a House-passed elections bill co-sponsored by every
Democratic senator except Manchin – a move that would force
Manchin to pick a side. Even some of Manchin’s Democratic
colleagues are beginning to prod him more aggressively to join
their cause, while activists and civil rights leaders are loudly
decrying his hesitation.


According to the Post, Manchin has said his overriding concern is
a lack of bipartisan support for the measure. But Democrats
increasingly see an existential threat from Republican-led state
governments determined to place new limits on voting, which
critics say would disproportionately affect voters of color, a
core part of the Democratic coalition. One


Democratic congressional aide said panic is the right word to
describe the mood in the party. By all rights, though, Manchin is
the one who should be sweating.


Sri Lanka Faces Environmental Disaster


This is just tragic. NBC News reports that a cargo ship laden
with chemicals sank yesterday after nearly two weeks ablaze off
the west coast of Sri Lanka, worsening fears of a major
environmental disaster. The vessel has already left the country’s
coastline covered in tons of plastic pellets and now threatens to
spill oil into its rich fishing waters. The government has banned
fishing, a crucial industry, along fifty miles of coast in the
wake of the incident. Authorities have also deployed hundreds of
soldiers to clean affected beaches and warned residents not to
touch the debris because it could be contaminated with harmful
chemicals. Where there was once gold sand and coconut trees,
there is now a sea of plastic waste.


A Sri Lankan Navy spokesman told NBC News yesterday that an
effort to tow the ship into deeper waters was not successful and
had to be abandoned halfway through. Silva said there was water
inside the ship and their main concern was the possibility of an
oil spill, although they had not yet observed any oil slicks. The
fire-ravaged ship was transporting one thousand four hundred and
eight six containers, including twenty five tons of nitric acid,
along with other chemicals and cosmetics. As the fire was being
extinguished, flaming containers laden with chemicals had fallen
from the ship's deck or broken open on the deck, spilling their
cargo into the sea. It shows how our economic system sometimes
does damage that cannot be undone.


Stimulus Checks Reduced Hunger, Anxiety


This social science deep dive comes from the New York Times. In
offering Americans two rounds of stimulus checks in the past six
months, totaling $2,000 a person, the government effectively
conducted a huge experiment in safety net policy. A new analysis
of Census Bureau surveys argues that the two latest rounds of aid
significantly improved Americans’ ability to buy food and pay
household bills and reduced anxiety and depression. The largest
benefits went to the poorest households and those with children.
The analysis offers the fullest look at hardship reduction under
the stimulus aid. Among households with children, reports of food
shortages fell forty two percent from January through April. A
broader gauge of financial instability fell forty three percent.
Among all households, frequent anxiety and depression fell by
more than twenty percent. The largest declines in measures of
hardship coincided with the $600 checks that reached most people
in January and the $1,400 checks mostly distributed in April.


According to the Times, the aggressive use of stimulus checks
coincides with growing interest in broad cash payments as a tool
in social policy. The evidence that they can have an immediate
effect on the economic strains afflicting many households could
influence that debate. Starting in July, the government will mail
up to $300 a month per child to most families in a yearlong
expansion of the child tax credit that Democrats want to make
permanent. But this research raises another question: Why not two
grand for everyone, every month?


AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:


CNN reports that the US military has apologized after soldiers
accidentally stormed a factory in Bulgaria during a training
exercise last month. The factory produces machinery for making
olive oil. Luckily, no weapons were fired. Bulgarian President
Rumen Radev condemned the incident and said he expects there will
be an investigation. It’s like a Three Stooges routine about US
imperialism.


According to the Guardian, the climate crisis is causing a
widespread fall in oxygen levels in lakes across the world,
suffocating wildlife and threatening drinking water supplies. A
study, published in the journal Nature, analysed data collected
from nearly four hundred lakes worldwide. Humanity is really
doing a number on marine life, maybe we should ease up.


The Associated Press reports that the NFL yesterday pledged to
halt the use of race- norming – which assumed Black players
started out with lower cognitive function – in the $1 billion
settlement of brain injury claims. The league will also review
past scores for any potential race bias. More than two thousand
NFL retirees have filed dementia claims, but fewer than six
hundred have received awards. And this racist policy was one
reason why.


The Washington Post reports that Donald Trump’s blog, celebrated
by advisers as a beacon of freedom that would keep him relevant,
is dead. It was twenty nine days old. Upset by reports
highlighting its measly readership, Trump ordered his team
Tuesday to put the blog out of its misery. My kingdom for a
verified Twitter account!


AM QUICKIE - JUNE 3, 2021


HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner


WRITER - Corey Pein


PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw


EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn