June 1, 2021: Texas Dems Walk Out to Block Bill; Biden Immigration Plans Leak; Colombia Protests Get Bloodier

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TODAY'S HEADLINES:


Texas Democrats staged a late-night walkout in the state’s
capitol to briefly block the local GOP’s sweeping voter
suppression bill, but the fight is far from over.


Meanwhile, the New York Times obtained documents showing how Joe
Biden is attempting to overhaul the country’s immigration system.


And lastly, Colombia’s government ramps up its attacks on
protesters and deploys thousands of troops to combat a social
movement against police brutality and income inequality, while
the U.N. calls for an end to the violence.


THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:


The battle for voting rights in America is boiling over in Texas.
The GOP there has passed one of the most restrictive voting bills
we’ve seen this far, and the state’s minority Democratic caucus
is doing everything in their power to stop it actually becoming a
law.


Texas’s embattled Democrats did everything they could to slow
down the bill in the State Senate, where it was eventually passed
on Sunday.


It then went to the House, with a looming legislative deadline
attached. At around 10:35 on Sunday evening, the leader of the
State House Democratic Caucus told all his members to just pick
up and leave the building. This move deprived the Republicans of
the minimum number of members needed to start a vote and forced
the House Speaker to adjourn the session around 11 p.m.


Even though the GOP would have won that vote on party lines, the
Democrats realized they could run out the clock by simply
refusing to play, and therefore throw a big wrench in the
Republican’s voter suppression plans.


Now, Governor Gregg Abbott says he’ll call a special legislative
session, which will give the GOP another chance to pass a similar
bill. They’ll have to start over, but could just cannibalize the
old bill or even make it worse.


But still, the Texas Democrats fight this weekend is an example
of how difficult the Democrats should be making this kind of
thing across the country. There are similar voter suppression
bills being voted on or already passed in over half a dozen other
states around the country already, and it’s going to take a lot
more political hardball to shut them down, especially as federal
efforts to ensure the right to vote are moving at a glacial pace.


Biden Immigration Plans Leak


The New York Times has obtained 46-page draft of President
Biden’s prospective plan to reform the United States’ immigration
system.


According to the Times’ the Clif notes version of this plan is
pretty promising. Biden wants to make everything simpler, with
shorter forms, fewer security hoops, and more chances for
families to join one another and secure work visas.


He wants to clear the Trump-era backlog of immigration
applications and generally expand the legal immigration process
in all the ways that Trump crushed it, particularly by letting in
more asylum seekers and granting more work visas.


The Times reports that most of Biden’s plans can be put in place
without going through Congress, which means they’ll skip the
chaotic gridlock that dominates our national legislature at the
moment. The White House didn’t comment on the Times story, but
hopefully they’ll have some public plans out soon.


All of this is good, and should be expected after the utter
barbarism of the Trump administration. But we’ve got to take it
with a grain of salt: this is still just reform of a system that
has failed so many needy people.


The Times story at least doesn’t mention some of the more
progressive immigration policies advocates have been pushing for
for years, like pathways to citizenship for currently
undocumented people. For that, Biden will likely have to navigate
the gauntlet on Capitol Hill.


Colombia Protests Get Bloodier


Protests in the Colombian city of Cali, and across the country,
have intensified in recent days, after President Ivan Duque
ordered 7,000 troops to the city.


The resulting violence has killed 14 protesters since May 28, and
injured 98, the majority of which were shot by the government’s
guns, according to the U.N.


The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights voiced “deep concern”
over the situation and called for an end to the violence, which
is about par for the course when a country starts shooting its
own citizens in the street.


The current protest movement in Colombia has been running for
most of May, after tensions over pandemic-era tax reforms
spiraled into mounting protests against police brutality. The New
York Times reports that Colombia’s police forces have been
heavily militarized for decades due to their clashes with
guerilla groups and drug cartels, but when domestic protests
broke out, those guns were turned on ordinary people.


At least 42 people have died since the protests began, including
the 14 that were killed just this weekend. The country’s
leadership under Duque, meanwhile, has denied that police
brutality is a widespread problem. The death tolls and grieving
families there make that kind of talk pretty hard to swallow.


AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:


Israel’s always confusing, often corrupt government appears to be
headed toward a parliamentary compromise that would oust Benjamin
Netanyahu from power. There only problem is his likely successor
would be either an ultra-nationalist who has boasted of killing
Arabs or a centrist former TV host. Not the greatest options
there.


China announced on Sunday that it would allow its citizens to
have up to three children, further relaxing the country’s long
standing restrictive child policies amid nationwide worries of
population decline. But the New York Times reports that experts
say the new policies don’t do enough to actually help people
raise families, noting the lack of child care and workplace
protections for mothers.


The Washington Post reports that finance ministers from each of
the G-7 countries are expected to back Biden’s push for a global
minimum tax on corporate products during a meeting in London on
Friday. This will be one to watch over the next few weeks, as
Biden’s facing an uphill fight to get corporations to pay even a
shred of what they owe to the people who create their riches.


And finally, the Biden administration announced on Monday that
Biden’s new direct cash payments for childcare benefits will
start hitting parents’ bank accounts as early as July 15, giving
a much-needed boost for many families as we emerge from the
pandemic.


AM QUICKIE - June 1, 2021


HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner


WRITER - Jack Crosbie


PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw


EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn