Podcasts about congressional districts

John Solomon, award-winning investigative journalist and founder of "Just The News". Topic: Biden's press conference. Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, Representative for New York's 11th Congressional District. Topic: Subway attacker charged with 2nd-degree murder, Eric Adams fearful of the subway, Dems' push for a federal takeover of elections. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Congressman Ami Bera has represented California's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2013, and he serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and Nonproliferation for the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Before entering politics, Congressman Bera had a twenty-year medical career in the Sacramento area. He is a first-generation American, born and raised in California, and the longest-serving Indian American serving in Congress. On this episode, we discussed the prospects for U.S. legislation focused on competition with China, U.S.-China relations and Congress' role with regard to Taiwan, and the United States' role and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region.

Mike Collins, candidate in Georgia's 10th Congressional District, gives his insight on government regulations and his thoughts on the upcoming 2022 primary elections, saying that Georgia needs to return to paper ballots and ‘do away with Dominion machines all together', commenting that once ‘you lose the trust and the confidence of the people that are going to use them, then then it's time to change'. The candidate remarks that President Joe Biden's recent approval ratings are not surprising, considering ‘everything is skyrocketing due to the fact that that a that they have spent so much money and printed so much money, that today's dollar is only worth 60 cents as to what it was in 2000'. Collins comments that Joe Biden is just ‘turning everything' over to the bureaucrats, which is ‘one of the big reasons that people are so fed up with Washington and the swamp up there is the bureaucrats that are running this show.'See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week marked 20 years since the opening of Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, a military detention facility that has been controversial since its inception. We took the entire hour to understand what has happened there and why it matters. Guest 🎙: Wells Dixon, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights Earl Catagnus Jr., an adjunct professor in Security and Risk Analysis a Penn State University Brandywine Mansoor Adayfi, former Detainee at Guantanamo Bay and author of the book “Don't Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantanamo” Steve Wood,  former Guantanamo Bay Detention Center guard Carol Rosenberg, Guantanamo Bay Reporter for The New York Times Congressman Adam Schiff, (D-CA 28th District) Chairman of the House Intelligence committee Outgoing Congressman David Price of California

Photo: From the Inquisition on the Iberian Peninsula to Sante Fe, New Mexico.  Rep. Teresa Leger-Fernandez, @RepTeresaLF.   Malcolm Hoenlein @Conf_of_pres @mhoenlein1 ·         https://jewishinsider.com/2021/12/leger-fernandez-charts-uniquely-new-mexican-path-in-jewish-community-relations/ ·         https://www.jta.org/2021/10/14/ny/new-yorkers-with-sephardic-roots-say-spain-is-breaking-its-promise-of-citizenship ·         https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/barriers-arise-for-descendants-of-spanish-jews-seeking-right-of-return/article_5bf7757e-6731-11ec-88c0-7fbe03ae4367.html Congresswoman Teresa Leger-Fernández represents New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District. In Washington, she holds a leadership role with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as Freshman Representative. Congresswoman Leger Fernández serves as chair of the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States for the 117th Congress. She has also been appointed to the House Committee on Education and Labor, the House Committee on Natural Resources, and the Committee on House Administration. She is a 17th-generation Northern New Mexican.

LAWRENCE SELLIN, retired international businessman and medical researcher, Veteran, US Army Reserve, Guest Contributor, The Gateway Pundit, @LawrenceSellin Lawrence Sellin: New Pentagon Papers Show COVID Is Bioweapon Made in China Paid for and Developed by US Scientists Dr. Sellin's talks about Dr. Anthony Fauci's knowledge of the COVID-19 lab leak theory during the first few months of the outbreak DAVID MAXWELL, Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, former Special Forces Colonel, United States Army, former Instructor, National War College, @DavidMaxwell161 Maxwell: Regardless of what North Korea says, the regime continues to display a hostile attitude to the United States and South Korea Maxwell argues that the North Korea regime is conducting missile launches as a means of testing their war fighting capabilities What conditions would be necessary to achieve legitimate peace on the Korean peninsula? AMB. PETE HOEKSTRA, former Congressman (1993-2011), Michigan's 2nd Congressional District, former US Ambassador to the Netherlands (2017-2021), Fellow, Center for Security Policy, @Petehoekstra Predicting 2022 – China's Year of the Tiger Amb. Pete Hoekstra talks about U.S.-Chinese relations since the COVID-19 outbreak 

The St. Louis Democratic senators joins St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum and Sarah Kellogg to talk about the 2022 session — as well as what she would like to see in terms of redistricting for the 1st Congressional District. This episode also features an announcement at the end from Rosenbaum.

The current Congress is our country's 117th. They were elected in 2020 and will face voters in the midterms later this year. Today they are returning after their winter break to take up the many,...

This week, Kate talks with Andrés Bernal, fellow at The Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity, CUNY Lecturer, and a policy advisor formerly with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes, currently with Neal Walia, candidate for Colorado's 1st Congressional District. Please Note: due to technical issues during recording, in the first 01:06 (first minute) of Kate's interview with Andrés Bernal is using some less-than-ideal quality audio for Kate. We promise it's worth it. Follow Andrés on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andresintheory Julia and Kate can be found at @OhJuliaTweets and @KateWillett Hosts: Kate Willett and Julia Claire Producer: Genevieve Gearity Theme Song: Emily Frembgen and Kate Willett Artwork: Adrienne Lobl

On today's show: 00:43 Peter Szatmary from Lake Superior State University joins us to talk about their annual banished words list. Do you use some of these? I know I do: https://www.lssu.edu/traditions/banishedwords/ 11:00 Thanks to Fusion Marketing for sponsoring today's episode of Daily Detroit. https://tryfusionmarketing.com/ 11:30 Congressional district changes mean that lots of incumbents need to find new places to run, or will have to primary. Rashida Tlaib is going to run in a far less progressive 12th District that now includes Livonia and Westland; Shri Thanedar is looking at running in the 12th that's more moderate with the addition of the Grosse Pointes and lots of downriver; Plus, an Oakland County fight between two Democratic incumbents. And Brenda Lawrence just isn't gonna run in 2022. 13:20 A related issue is the question of state and other districts in Detroit and how they were drawn. A lawsuit has been filed by some Detroit elected officials and others that the new districts don't represent the city well. But some aren't buying that argument. Crossing political lines over 8 Mile is always going to be controversial in this region, and so is the trend of African Americans leaving the city to the suburbs, changing demographics everywhere. 16:12 COVID-19 cases are astronomical in Michigan. The city of Detroit is ramping up testing, and we share how to make an appointment. 17:04 A couple stories about Detroit City Council. There's a new president, Mary Sheffield; and pro tem, James Tate. Plus, some listeners have been finding some council agendas and supporting documents missing. Well, that's because the council changed vendors and at the end of the term the service was switched off in favor of a new one. We have details on the rollout, when, and if you're going to be able to access older docs online. Thanks to our members on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/dailydetroit Also check out our newsletter: https://dailydetroit.substack.com/  

Here's what we're discussing on Leid Stories today:   Rep. Brenda Lawrence, who represents Michigan's 14th Congressional District, announced Tuesday she'll be leaving at the end of her term. She'll be the 25th House Democrat and 36th member of that body to quit, although 11 of them have intentions to run for the U.S. Senate or for governor in their states.   It's a sign that they may be out but not down; they're just switching focus.   Just the same, the exodus from the House will have significant impact. In what ways will that impact likely manifest itself?  

In the first hour of the show, Pete checks in with the latest on the NC Redistricting Lawsuit as the Left tries to change the Congressional Districts to their benefit... Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/petekalinershow See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

State breaks 30,000 active COVID cases; Empower agrees to $8M false-claims settlement; State's general revenues rise from last year; Hodges announces plans to run for 1st Congressional District

The nonpartisan newsletter Cook Political Report with Amy Walter rated Montana's eastern district as solidly Republican, and the state's western district as competitive, but likely Republican. The publication based its analysis on past presidential election results.

Jack Lombardi is the Republican candidate running for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 14th Congressional District. Who Is Behind America's Crime Surge

The New Year brings new Congressional districts to California, along with new boundary lines for State Senate and Assembly seats, too The state's independent redistricting commission finalized those new maps last week, and officeholders and candidates are still scrambling to decide where they will run for office in 2022 For more, Host Doug Sovern along with KCBS News Anchors Patti Reising and Jeff Bell spoke with Attorney Darry Sragow.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adrian Hemond of Grassroots Midwest names the most politically competitive congressional district as part of his new map analysis. Jonathan Kinloch, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party's 13th Congressional District, says the new legislative maps are worse than the current maps for Blacks. University of Michigan Regent Sarah Hubbard talks football in Miami and COVID response.

It's not every day a member of Congress joins us on the pod, but that's exactly what we have in store for this week's episode! Join us as we chat with the remarkable and inspiring Congresswoman Cori Bush from the wonderful state of Missouri.  Congresswoman Cori Bush is a registered nurse, community activist, organizer, single mother, and ordained pastor for the people of St. Louis. She is currently serving her first term as the representative of Missouri's 1st Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.  In our conversation, we talk about the congresswoman's journey from activist to legislator, how she's adapted family life while working on the Hill and, how the U.S. can better maternal healthcare for Black moms. Last but not least, she shares what gives her hope as we build a brighter future for us all. Connect with us: @TheSugaberries  @TikaSumpter @ThaiRandolph TheSuga@Sugaberry.com  www.sugaberry.com Connect with our guest: @coribush https://coribush.org/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Guest today with Betsy Wurzel is Dan Glickman Author of, Laughing at Myself. Dan Glickman discusses why he wrote the book, how humor has helped him in his life and how we need to laugh at ourselves! Dan tells a funny story in this interview concerning a pork chop!  Dan Glickman also discusses how he became Chairman of the Motion Picture Board of America, Inc. A Congressman for 18 years representing the 4th Congressional District of Kansas, The first Jewish  Secretary of Agriculture, and Chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. Dan Glickman is also also a former Vice President of the Aspen Institute. A Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center and a board member of the World Food Program USAFor more information on Dan Glickman and more: https://bit.ly/3pNd5zK

Today on Colorado Edition, we hear what issues Latino voters in the state's new 8th Congressional District are thinking about. We also listen back to a conversation with teachers helping young students adjust to in-person school. And, we learn how long-term residents of mountain towns across the West are being priced out of their communities as home prices soar.

There are only two more days left in 2021, but there’s still so much to review and look back on. We’re in the strange time between the past and the future when the present seems like it is time to relax. But there’s no relaxing on Charlottesville Community Engagement, a program that seeks to bring you as much information as I can about what’s happening in local government with a pinch of whatever else seems to fit. I’m your host Sean Tubbs.Charlottesville Community Engagement seeks new readers and listeners. Sign up today for free, and decide later if you’d like to support the work financially!On today’s program:Virginia sets a one-day record for new COVID casesA lawsuit filed by former City Manager Tarron Richardson moves forwardThe Virginia Supreme Court approves new legislative and Congressional maps for the CommonwealthRepublicans continue to file bills that seek to undo measures passed under a Democratic General AssemblyAlbemarle Supervisors learn about the biggest increase in property assessments in county historyIn today’s first two Patreon fueled shout-outs:You’re listening to Charlottesville. Community Engagement. A long-time supporter wants you to know: "Today is a great day to spread good cheer: reach out to an old friend, compliment a stranger, or pause for a moment of gratitude to savor a delight."The second comes from a more recent supporter who wants you to go out and read a local news story written by a local journalist. Whether it be the Daily Progress, Charlottesville Tomorrow, C-Ville Weekly, NBC29, CBS19, WINA, or some other place I’ve not mentioned - the community depends on a network of people writing about the community. Go learn about this place today!Omicron surge continuesVirginia has set a one-day record for new COVID-19 cases with 12,112 reported today by the Department of Health. The previous number was 9,914 reported in mid-January. The percent positivity has increased to 17.4 percent. The Blue Ridge Health District reported 371 new cases, which is also a one-day record. Richardson suit against the city proceedsCharlottesville City Council and other parties have been served with a lawsuit by former City Manager Tarron Richardson. Richardson filed suit in the Western District of Virginia in mid-November alleging breach of contract and violation of his First Amendment rights. A summons was issued to City Council on Tuesday, as well as city attorney Lisa Robertson and former city attorney John Blair. The parties have 21 days to respond. (Former City Manager Sues Charlottesville, November 24, 2021)New legislative districts now in effectVirginia’s new Congressional and legislative districts are now in place for the next nine years, effective immediately. The state Supreme Court has approved new districts for the House of Delegates, state Senate, and the eleven members of the House of Representatives in Congress. These were drawn by two Special Masters after a bipartisan commission failed to reach consensus in October. Those maps were amended following public comments earlier this month. “Redistricting is a complex task, one that requires the balancing of multiple competing factors,” wrote Sean Trende and Bernard Groffman. “Unfortunately, it simply was not possible to incorporate every single request while remaining within the bounds of Virginia and federal law.”Albemarle and Charlottesville will remain in the 5th Congressional District, though Albemarle’s border with Greene and Orange counties will now be its northern edge. The 5th will continue to cover points south to North Carolina including the cities of Lynchburg and Danville, as well as the town of Farmville in Prince Edward County. Fluvanna, Louisa, and Nelson are also within the 5th. An earlier map drawn by the Special Masters had split Albemarle into two. “The existing congressional map splits 14 counties 16 times,” the masters continued. “The existing Senate of Virginia map splits 46 counties 78 times. The existing House of Delegates map splits 60 counties 138 times. By comparison, the submitted congressional map splits 10 counties a total of 11 times.”A small section of northwest Albemarle is within the 7th District. There’s even a Twitter account. The 5th District formerly extended up into northern Virginia, but the new districts tend not to split counties. Greene and Orange counties entirely within a redrawn 7th District along with Culpeper, Madison, Spotsylvania, and Stafford counties, as well as the city of Fredericksburg. Fauquier, Loudoun and Rappahannock counties are now in the 10th District as well as portions of Prince William County. In the Virginia Senate, Albemarle and Charlottesville are now within the new 11th District, as well as Amherst and Nelson counties, as well as a portion of western Louisa County. Fluvanna County and the rest of Louisa are in the 10th. Greene County is in the new 28th district along with Madison, Culpeper, and Orange counties. In the Virginia House of Representatives, the city of Charlottesville is now in the 54th House District as well as some of the urban ring of Albemarle. The rest of Albemarle is now within the 55th House District as well as portions of eastern Nelson County. The rest of Nelson is in the 53rd as well as all of Amherst County and the northern half of Bedford County.  Under the former system, Albemarle was split by four districts. Resources:Final Congressional Map dated December 27, 2021Final Senate Map dated December 27, 2021Final House of Delegates Map dated December 27, 2021Memo from the Special Masters detailing changes from the mapBill filed to revoke localities’ ability to ban firearms on public propertyThe General Assembly begins in less than two weeks and the slow trickle of prefiled legislation is picking up into more of a steady stream. Here are some highlights:Delegate Buddy Fowler (R-Glenn Allen) has submitted a bill to increase the age an infant can be surrendered to a hospital or emergency medical services agency from 14 days to 30 days. (HB16)Fowler has another bill that would exempt members of the military from being prosecuted for paramilitary activities unless there is malicious intent. (HB17)Another bill from Fowler would allow localities flexibility in paying school board members. Currently the law defines the salary for each locality. (HB18)Fowler also submitted a bill allowing public auctions to satisfy liens to be advertised online, whereas currently these must be printed in a newspaper of record. (HB21)Delegate Wendell Walker (R-Lynchburg) filed a bill allowing adults to become free from any medical mandate. (HB22)Walker has also filed a bill repealing a prohibition on firearms in places of worship (HB23)Walker submitted legislation requiring photo identification in order to vote (HB24)Incoming Delegate Tim Anderson (R-Virginia Beach) filed a bill that would exempt the first offense for possession of child pornography from a new program that allows for reduced sentences through credits. (HB25)Anderson also filed a bill that would revoke the ability for localities to adopt ordinances to ban firearms from public property. (HB26)In today’s second subscriber-supported shout-out:Algorithms know how to put songs and artists together based on genre or beats per minute. But only people can make connections that engage your mind and warm your heart. The music on WTJU 91.1 FM is chosen by dozens and dozens of volunteer hosts -- music lovers like you who live right here in the Charlottesville area. Listener donations keep WTJU alive and thriving. In this era of algorithm-driven everything, go against the grain. Support freeform community radio on WTJU. Consider a donation at wtju.net/donate.Albemarle Supervisor brief on reassessment, five-year financial plan, and surplusAs the calendar year concludes, localities in Virginia are just about to enter the third quarter of their fiscal year. Earlier this month, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors got an update on how the county’s finances look as the start of budget season approaches. First, they got an update on the county’s assessments for 2022, which were made available a month earlier than usual. Peter Lynch is Albemare’s assessor. “Because of the mail issues that we’ve had, I wanted to mail the ordinances earlier so we have a target date of January 14 to mail the notices this year,” Lynch said.Lynch said an unreliable mail system resulted in the land use revalidation process being difficult this year. There are 4,052 parcels that receive a lower tax rate due to some agricultural or open space use. Sales made after Lynch’s December 15 presentation are still factor into the official assessment which by law is made on January 1.“Any information up to that date that happens in the market can be used to contest the assessment,” Lynch said. Lynch said this year has seen the highest number of sales in Albemarle so far, with 2,311 sales recorded as of the date of his presentation. He said there would be at least another hundred before the end of the year. As of December 15, Albemarle is on track to have the highest average increase in property assessments at 8.32 percent. Within the county, the Scottsville Magisterial District saw the largest increase with 11.14 percent, and the lowest is in the Rivanna district with 7.17 percent. The assessment of properties with apartments increased by 11.8 percent, whereas commercial properties are flat. Hotel properties declined 22.9 percent in 2021, but recovered by just under a percentage point this year. “Shopping centers also went down a lot and they recovered some of what they lost,” Lynch said. Offices declined for a second year in a row with a 4.15 percent average decrease in worth. “People stopped going to their offices but they kept paying their rent,” Lynch said. “At this point those leases are turning over for lower amounts, lower rents, and we’re starting to see more effect on those offices.” Assessments are directly tied to next year’s budget and the amount of revenue that will be generated through the property tax. After Lynch’s presentation, supervisors had a work session on the five-year financial plan. Albemarle had $13.2 million in leftover funds from fiscal year 2021.Here’s how staff is recommending using that money:$4.1 million transfer to the Capital Improvements Plan$5 million to Albemarle’s Economic Development Fund to help attract new businesses through the Project Enable plan$3.1 million for the Albemarle Housing Fund, bringing the balance to $5 million$1 million for workforce stabilization Supervisor Diantha McKeel said she wanted some of the capital funding to go toward building more urban parks. Supervisor Donna Price agreed, and said she would like to see county investment in the Rivanna Trail. “I’d really love to see the trail around Charlottesville and Albemarle, the Rivanna river trail, because that provides relatively easy access to almost everyone in our urban ring and that really would improve the quality of life,” Price said. Based on the surplus and the assessments, staff is not anticipating any increase in the real estate property tax rate for the year. Staff asked Supervisors if they had any interest in increasing transient occupancy or the meals taxes and if they wanted to explore tax relief programs. Part of that is due to a trend towards property taxes making up a larger percentage of the budget. “It’s going from sixty percent back in FY07 coming closer to seventy percent in FY22 and FY23,” Birch said. “We need to try and diversity as best we can away from real estate taxes.” Planning staff will incorporate a plastic bag tax into the FY23 budget. Albemarle can increase the meals tax rate to six percent and can increase the transient occupancy tax if it chooses. One supervisor wants the county’s rates to be the same as the city’s. “I think anything that we do to match Charlottesville is appropriate,” said Supervisor Diantha McKeel. “If the sales tax in Charlottesville is something, it should be the same in Albemarle.” Supervisors took no formal actions and the budget will come back before the Board in the February. Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Rep. Jake Auchincloss is finishing his first year in Congress representing the state's 4th Congressional District. The Newton Democrat saw an insurrection at the Capitol and took an impeachment vote against the president in his first days in office. That set the tone for a year in which he said he's had to struggle to represent the values of his constituents -- Auchincloss won't co-sponsor legislation with any Republicans who voted against certifying the fairly conducted 2020 presidential election -- while also advancing their priorities through the give and take and often bipartisan cooperation and compromise needed to move legislation in Congress.

New congressional districts map approved by the Citizens Redistricting Commission made a big change to San Diego County — a majority Latino district, one of 16 in California. Plus, Pfizer is considering increasing the doses for its children COVID-19 vaccine to three after a two-dose trial shows disappointing results. And, a closer look at renting in the San Diego area and the growing housing rights movement in the wake of the pandemic. Finally, a preview of Mystery Science Theater 3000's Live Time Bubble Tour coming to the Balboa Theatre.

The 38th Congressional District in the Houston area has been redrawn, and Republican Wesley Hunt has tossed his hat into the ring! Chris has Hunt on to talk about why he wants to serve the people of the 38th District in Congress.... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to Ilhan Omar, the Democratic Representative for Minnesota's 5th Congressional District, it is!? She's trying to pass a bill to combat ‘Islamophobia', but it is really a Trojan Horse, opening America to Jihad. So far, it has passed in the House over objections that it will disempower counterterrorism efforts. The key to understanding Ilhan Omar's agenda is herspeech at CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic Relations), claiming, “CAIR was founded after 9/11, because they recognized that ‘some people did something' and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.” 'Some people did something'?! Radical Islamists attacked America and killed over 3,000 of us! Her bill, called the Combating International Islamophobia Act, calls upon President Biden to appoint a “special envoy” to fight “Islamophobia.” It would record violence against and harassment of Muslims and vandalism of their mosques, schools and cemeteries worldwide. This would be understandable if there were similar calls to protect Christians, Jews, Hindus and others. The bill also targets so-called propaganda from media, which could be used to condemnreports on jihad activity and analysis of motives behind terrorism. While Ilhan Omar is passing bills that put America in danger, the Palestinian Authority is brainwashing fourth-grade girls to hate Israel. and teaching them it's their Islamic duty to work towards the destruction of Israel. According to Ilhan's bill, simply the reporting of this could be considered Islamophobic.Words like “Islamophobia” and “terrorism” and "domestic terrorism” are being used loosely these days - from school shooters to PTA parents. As an example, we look at an Instacart driver who drove over an elderly couple's groceriesbecause they had a yard sign thanking the police, and question whether the driver could even be called a lone wolf. President Biden, intent upon labeling people who disagree with himpolitically, may even start labeling 'the unvaccinated' as ‘domestic terrorists'.

Washington's 3rd Congressional District candidate, the Trump-endorsed Joe Kent talks to Raheem Kassam about holding China financially accountable for COVID-19, as well as his time in the military, and dealing with the "national security" apparatus in Washington, D.C.  Follow Joe: http://www.joekentforcongress.com Support The National Pulse: http://www.fundrealnews.com Get on GETTR: http://www.gettr.com

Today on the show, fellow political consultant Heather Weiner joins Crystal to preview the players in the upcoming state legislative session - who's stepping down, who's getting appointed, who's moving up in leadership positions - as well as a peek at next year's elections with announcements that several incumbents are resigning (and one who changed their mind). They discuss Inslee's supplemental budget announcement, an opportunity to address our upside-down tax system with a Wealth tax, and the need to fix the now-delayed WA Cares long-term care benefit system. Plus a reminder to get your booster! As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Find the host, Crystal on Twitter at @finchfrii, and find Heather at @hlweiner.   Resources “Historic vote: County Council appoints Lovick and Donaghy to state legislature” by Mario Lotmore from Lynnwood Times: https://lynnwoodtimes.com/2021/12/16/44th-legislative-district-211216/   “Yasmin Trudeau appointed to represent 27th LD in Senate” by Aaron Kunkler from Washington State Wire: https://washingtonstatewire.com/yasmin-trudeau-appointed-represent-27th-ld-in-senate/   “State Rep. Vicki Kraft announces run for 3rd Congressional District” by Lauren Ellenbecker from The Columbian: https://www.columbian.com/news/2021/dec/01/state-rep-vicki-kraft-announces-run-for-3rd-congressional-district/   “Washington state Sen. Ann Rivers changes course, plans to continue in politics” by Troy Brynelson from Oregon Public Broadcasting: https://www.opb.org/article/2021/12/14/washington-state-sen-ann-rivers-changes-course-plans-to-continue-in-politics/   “Marko Liias chosen to chair the Washington State Senate's Transportation Committee” by Andrew Villeneuve from The Cascadia Advocate: https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2021/12/marko-liias-chosen-to-chair-the-washington-state-senates-transportation-committee.html   “Inslee's 2022 budget highlights poverty, climate, salmon recovery and transportation investments” from the Governor's Office: https://www.governor.wa.gov/news-media/inslee%E2%80%99s-2022-budget-highlights-poverty-climate-salmon-recovery-and-transportation   “Q&A: Rep. Noel Frame on her Washington State Wealth Tax” by Michael Goldberg from Washington State Wire: https://washingtonstatewire.com/qa-rep-noel-frame-on-a-wealth-tax-for-washington-state/   DuckTales theme song: https://youtu.be/p1I2HqXIMRo   WA Cares Fund: https://wacaresfund.wa.gov/   “I didn't think I would ever need WA Cares: I was wrong” by Dani Rice in The Spokesman Review: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/dec/14/i-didnt-think-i-would-ever-need-wa-cares-i-was-wro/   “Inslee, Washington state Democrats discuss delaying WA Cares long-term care payroll tax” by Joseph O'Sullivan from The Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/inslee-washington-state-democrats-discuss-delaying-wa-cares-long-term-care-payroll-tax/   “As scientists race to gauge omicron threat, here's what's known and what isn't” by Emily Anthes from The New York Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/as-scientists-race-to-gauge-omicron-threat-heres-whats-known-and-what-isnt/   Seattle & King County Public Health - COVID-19 Vaccine - Getting vaccinated in King County: https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/vaccine/distribution.aspx   Washington State's Vaccine Locator: https://vaccinelocator.doh.wa.gov/   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at OfficialHacksAndWonks.com and in our episode notes. Today we're continuing our Friday almost-live shows where we review the news of the week. Welcome back to the program friend of the show and today's co-host, political consultant and urban farmer, Heather Weiner. [00:00:51] Heather Weiner: Crystal Fincher, I'm so glad to see you! Good morning and so happy to be here, or afternoon depending... [00:00:57] Crystal Fincher: So happy. Yeah, I mean, people hear this in the afternoon. It's early in the morning - it's quite early in the morning. I'm always fighting morning voice on these things, but I'm delighted to see you and have you back on the program. Welcome, welcome. [00:01:10] Heather Weiner: I'm so glad to be here, and what a year it's been, and what a year it's going to be. I'm really excited about what we're going to talk about today. About Leg Session - what's happening next, who's retiring, who's getting moved up. We've got a lot of great things to talk about today. [00:01:24] Crystal Fincher: We do have a lot of great things to talk about, so let's dive in. I mean, to your point, there's a lot of turnover. We have folks who were just appointed. We have Senator John Lovick in the 44th. We have new Representative Brandy Donaghy in the 44th. We also have Senator Yasmin Trudeau in the 27th. A number of appointments - I think people would generally be surprised about how frequently we actually do appoint legislators, who then go on to run for - to retain their seat after that. [00:02:00] Heather Weiner: This is why people - this is the only real benefit of being a PCO within the Democrat - I mean, not real benefit, there's lots of benefits to being a PCO. But one of the great benefits of being a PCO is being able to appoint someone to fill an open seat. And that's what they did in LD44 - is they appointed John Lovick from Representative to Senator to fill Steve Hobbs' position. And then they nominated someone to fill his position. And the Snohomish County Council actually went against what the PCOs recommended and appointed Brandy Donaghy - who by the way is fantastic - she's a US Navy vet, she's a woman of color, she's amazing. But I've only seen this happen a couple of times where County Council will go against the recommendations of the PCOs and the legislative district. I think the last time I saw this happen was down in SeaTac when Mia Gregerson was appointed over the recommendations of the LD - and she's been great by the way. [00:03:11] Crystal Fincher: She has been great and - [00:03:13] Heather Weiner: Super interesting. [00:03:13] Crystal Fincher: - that was in my legislative district, the 33rd. I remember - [00:03:17] Heather Weiner: Oh, so you remember that? [00:03:17] Crystal Fincher: Very well, yes, and was happy to support Mia in that meeting - and certainly was a contentious time in the 33rd legislative district. But PCOs, or Precinct Committee Officers - to your point - that is one of the most consequential and impactful duties that they have. In Seattle LDs, you frequently have 100+ active PCOs. In a number of the suburbs, you're talking about 30 people who are getting together to decide, just by a majority vote, who is going to be the next legislator when there is a vacancy. That's a very important role to play. I've been involved in efforts to recruit and increase the number of PCOs, and how representative those PCOs are of their communities - and this is one of the biggest benefits that I consistently talk about is - Hey, you actually get to choose. We talk about all these elections and how important it is, but wow, sometimes you are one of 35 people who gets to choose who your next Representative or Senator is going to be, and there are plenty of close votes in those situations. PCOs pick three people to send to the County Council, and the County Council gets to pick one of those three. And to your point - usually, they pick the number one choice, but they don't have to and sometimes they don't. [00:04:45] Heather Weiner: They don't have to. Sometimes they don't. [00:04:47] Crystal Fincher: And now the 44th has a legislative delegation that is 100% Black. [00:04:52] Heather Weiner: Which is fantastic. And we have a new person of color in our mostly white State Senate, which is also fantastic. [00:05:02] Crystal Fincher: Mm-hmm [affirmative]. [00:05:03] Heather Weiner: I mean, all of it is great. But it's very interesting to watch - again, I have not seen this happen very often. And I think it's a great - I don't know, it's a lot of internal politics going on - but again to your point, 90% of this is showing up, so if you're a PCO and you happen to show up for that meeting, you're one of 30 votes that is setting somebody into a seat that they may hold for decades. [00:05:29] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. That they may hold for decades. And these days, I mean, we're talking about the turnover of one to two Senators. A vote composition change of one to two within the Democratic delegation makes the difference between progressive revenue or not - or that can impact policy just by switching one, two votes, one, two changes - particularly in the Senate. These are very, very consequential - and certainly we'll be talking about these new appointments, these new legislators - as we head further into the session - [00:06:07] Heather Weiner: Well, welcome. [00:06:07] Crystal Fincher: - which starts on January 10th. [00:06:09] Heather Weiner: Yeah, welcome. [00:06:09] Crystal Fincher: So yeah - I'm excited. [00:06:10] Heather Weiner: Welcome Senator Trudeau, welcome Senator Lovick, welcome Representative Donaghy - you'll be hearing from us. And then - [00:06:16] Crystal Fincher: Yes, absolutely. [00:06:17] Heather Weiner: And then there's a bunch of people who are also retiring from the Senate. I mean, from the Legislature, right? Kirby just announced yesterday that he's not running. [00:06:27] Crystal Fincher: Mm-hmm [affirmative], and that's in the 27th legislative district. [00:06:29] Heather Weiner: Also in the 27th, which is - [00:06:31] Crystal Fincher: South Tacoma, Lakewood, Spanaway. Certainly a big opportunity for people to run there - I know a lot of people were looking at Sharlett [Mena], who ran last time, be going "Hey! Are you still interested?" [00:06:45] Heather Weiner: mm-hmm [ [00:06:45] Crystal Fincher: affirmative]. So that'll be interesting to follow and see who is interested in running for that open seat. Certainly David Frockt has announced that he's not running for re-election. Representative Javier Valdez has announced his intention to run for that seat, so he's running there leaving his seat open. And so Melissa Taylor is running for his seat, and she's got $50,000 in the bank and a number of endorsements. I'm working with her, full disclosure - but very excited about that race. And she is an absolute force to be reckoned with and has done so much work in the community that - I'm excited. We also have Vicki Kraft down in the 17th legislative district, down in southwestern Washington who - that has been a purple district, with her winning by one to two percentage points in her last few races. She has announced that she's running for Congress against Jaime Herrera Beutler, leaving that seat open. [00:07:52] Heather Weiner: So she basically - she is primarying - [00:07:54] Crystal Fincher: mm-hmm [affirmative]. [00:07:56] Heather Weiner: A Republican. [00:07:57] Crystal Fincher: Mm-hmm [affirmative]. [00:07:57] Heather Weiner: She's a very conservative Republican, who is primarying a conservative Republican, in my view. I think that's really interesting - it could actually end up flipping the seat, because if Kraft wins that primary, it really opens it up for a more moderate Democrat to take the seat. Because Kraft is much more aligned with the Trump right-wing of the Republican party. [00:08:19] Crystal Fincher: I mean, she is - the disgraced former Representative Matt Shea, literally an extremist - Vicki Kraft introduced legislation to jail women and their doctors for having abortions or providing abortion services, denied coronavirus was a thing, denied climate change was a thing - really, really troubling - just the most extreme that there is. And so that's going to be really interesting - both to see how that Congressional race plays out, because there were a few challengers to Jaime Herrera Beutler from her right. And to see what opportunities that leaves for Democrats in that legislative district. [00:09:10] Heather Weiner: Super interesting. [00:09:11] Crystal Fincher: And I think it might get a little bit more slightly - we'll have to see what the district looks like post-redistricting, and get beyond these challenges to the redistricting maps that currently exist - but it's going to be real interesting to see how that shapes up. Lots of change, lots of turnover, lots of opportunity. [00:09:35] Heather Weiner: But Crystal, what do you think it means that Ann Rivers just took back her resignation? So here's what she says - she said she was stepping down because she had a new job and that was going to take up most of her time in Longview. Now, all of a sudden she takes back - she goes "Oh, actually, I think I'll have enough time." What? Don't you think, I mean, let me just go ahead and project on here - did they take a look at the poll and realize that that seat would flip if it was open? And that as someone who's held the seat since 2010, as an incumbent, she's going to keep it? What happened? What really happened there? I don't think her job description changed. [00:10:12] Crystal Fincher: Her job description definitely didn't change. I don't know what the polling shows in that district. I mean, certainly in many areas across the state things have become less beneficial for Republicans, but I also think that also given some - I mean, Republicans can't be feeling great within the state - nationally is a different story. But within the state, they aren't feeling that great - and so, some certainly are going to be departing. I'm wondering if she saw opportunities for increased power just within her caucus. [00:10:50] Heather Weiner: Yeah, maybe somebody traded something to her. [00:10:52] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. [00:10:52] Heather Weiner: Well, she has three more years, right? She doesn't have to run. [00:10:55] Crystal Fincher: Mm-hmm [affirmative]. [00:10:55] Heather Weiner: She has three more years there, which also helps save the state Republican caucus quite a bit of money. I think - super interesting - I didn't know you could take back your resignation. It's not like you're breaking up with somebody and then say "Oh, I had a good sleep and I changed my mind." [00:11:12] Crystal Fincher: Well, if you remember Pat Sullivan in the 47th legislative district - did that last - [00:11:16] Heather Weiner: Well, that's true. [00:11:18] Crystal Fincher: - cycle. [00:11:18] Heather Weiner: But he stepped down because he was tired, and then I think he just realized he wasn't really that tired and came back. But here, her excuse was my job is going to take up too much time and then suddenly it's not taking up a lot of time. I don't know. [00:11:31] Crystal Fincher: Suddenly it's not. Yeah, I - [00:11:33] Heather Weiner: Seems fishy. [00:11:34] Crystal Fincher: It is fishy, and also - wow, there are so many people who could take over. Certainly on the Democratic side we have plenty of conversations about - Hey, there should be space for new leaders within the party. Although, on the Republican side, this is a really interesting conversation, especially from folks coming from a left perspective, because a new Republican is probably one who is more extreme than the one who currently exists. [00:12:06] Heather Weiner: Exactly, which is another reason why they didn't want Ann Rivers to - [00:12:09] Crystal Fincher: Right. [00:12:09] Heather Weiner: - right - step down? I mean, she represent - the 10th is a - right? That's where she's from? The 10th is a tough place for Republicans and it's another purple district. Huh, all right. Well, let's talk about - there's so many things - it's a short session and they're going to try to put a whole bunch of things in there. Leadership has been changing also, as we're talking about elections. What's happening with the Democratic leadership? [00:12:33] Crystal Fincher: Well, probably the headline leadership change is with the Chair of the Transportation Committee. Steve Hobbs, who had been the Chair and had been certainly a moderate, some would even say conservative Democratic member of the caucus, was appointed to be Secretary of State - which created an opening for, not just for someone taking his seat and Senator Lovick filling that role, but also a new Chair of the Senate Democratic Transportation Committee, which is a very consequential and very powerful position to be holding in the Legislature. Especially at this time, where there are a lot of resource coming in federally - probably the time where they're dealing with some of the biggest budget opportunities that are going to be coming their way, that have come their way - and as we talk about the vision for what our transportation focus should be looking forward. Are we going to focus on expanding highways and doing things that have a track record of not just increasing traffic, but also making our climate crisis worse? Or are we going to focus on really giving people choices about how they're able to navigate through our communities? Whether it's commuting to work, whether it's having an option to bike, whether it's having sidewalks in their neighborhoods so that they and their families can travel safely. [00:14:06] Heather Weiner: Mm-hmm [affirmative]. [00:14:07] Crystal Fincher: Right now there really is a crisis because there's a lack of choice in how people can get around. We default to making it very comfortable for folks and cars, which is going to continue to be necessary and I don't know that anyone is saying that it's not necessary, but up to a quarter of the people in this state rely, in some degree, on a non-car mode of transportation. Some don't have any choice on their ability to drive, be it because of disability or lack of mobility or just how their community is situated, and so what kinds of investments are we putting in that, what kinds of investments are we making in reducing the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions? These are all at stake, and so the new head of the Transportation Committee, Marko Liias, is now holding that seat. That was an appointment that was announced at the State Legislature. [00:15:06] Heather Weiner: It's great news. That's great news - I mean, Marko is younger. [00:15:13] Crystal Fincher: Mm-hmm [affirmative]. [00:15:15] Heather Weiner: Definitely more urban focused, and also definitely more transportation and future transit focused, so I think it's great news. And I think that transportation advocates are probably breathing a sigh of relief - and happy - [00:15:32] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. [00:15:32] Heather Weiner: - to move forward. Because I mean, bless Steve Hobbs, he's got a lot of great things about him, but one thing was that he was definitely a roadblock to some of the more progressive things that the transit advocates wanted. [00:15:44] Crystal Fincher: Yes. A roadblock and a road lover. [laughter] A road lover and expanding that - yeah. [00:15:50] Heather Weiner: All right, there's your quote for Twitter. Well, I'm very excited about that and I'm really excited about what Inslee came out with in his supplemental budget announcement yesterday. [00:16:01] Crystal Fincher: What did he come out with? [00:16:02] Heather Weiner: He said, Look, the state is not out of the Covid crisis yet and we need to put more money back into the economy, and we also need to make sure that we are proposing significant funding to address poverty that - which means the child tax credit. [00:16:21] Crystal Fincher: Mm-hmm [affirmative]. [00:16:21] Heather Weiner: Which means, as you said, investing well over $160 million into more housing and resources, expanding K-12 learning, investing in the green economy - which means more jobs, but also helping to combat climate change, and of course his favorite, which is protecting salmon habitat. He even went out and had a press conference a couple days ago - out by a salmon stream. That - he also is talking about rebuilding the rainy day fund, and of course what's happening is the conservatives are wanting to use an anti-tax message to both attack the governor and to also shore up some of their swing folks in the next coming election. We're going to see a lot of fighting over - do we have the money to do all of these things? Why don't we cut taxes for people instead? Why are we raising taxes? It's going to be a really interesting discussion for the budget geeks out there over the next couple of days. [00:17:30] Crystal Fincher: And I mean, next couple of days, weeks, months? [00:17:35] Heather Weiner: Through April. [00:17:35] Crystal Fincher: Yes, there's going to be a lot to continually talk about. One question I had, looking at a number of these proposals, are two issues in particular - the Wealth Tax, and might be most appropriate to say wealth taxes, and there're some different configurations of those. And then the longterm care payroll tax. [00:18:00] Heather Weiner: Mm-hmm [affirmative]. [00:18:01] Crystal Fincher: And that looking at a potential delay. What is happening with those? [00:18:05] Heather Weiner: Well, first on the Wealth Tax, last year, or this year, the Legislature passed a modest tax on extraordinary profits that people, extraordinarily wealthy people, make when they sell their stocks and bonds on the stock market. They passed a small tax on that. That was the first step in fixing our upside down regressive tax system, and also raising half a billion dollars a year for childcare, early learning, and other things that we need to invest in - in education - but that's just the first step. Our tax code is so regressive, and before we can start cutting sales taxes, cutting property taxes, providing more tax credits to people who are in the lower incomes - we have to make sure that we first know where that money's going to be coming from. And Noel Frame has been pushing for a Wealth Tax, which is on billionaires - people who have so much wealth that they're sitting on - that's sitting in bank accounts, it's sitting in third houses, it's sitting in off-shore accounts. People who are just hoarding this amount of money - it's not circulating through the economy - she is proposing to do a tax on that wealth. It's not an income tax, it's not a sales tax, it's a tax on the wealth that you're just sitting on - and to get it back into the economy, get it back into jobs, invest it back into businesses. Very excited about that - we know that Senator Warren, Senator Sanders have all been pushing on a Wealth Tax in Congress. I think we need to take the bull by the horns and do one here. [00:19:48] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely, and wow, the public support behind this has just been skyrocketing - north of 60%. [00:19:53] Heather Weiner: Yes, and it is bipartisan. Yeah, it is a bipartisan support. Everybody agrees that the super wealthy need to be paying what they owe in taxes, that we need to stop them from dodging their responsibilities, and get more money into the hands of working people - so that we can pay our bills. [00:20:14] Crystal Fincher: So we can pay our bills, and I think a lot of it has been - we used to hear a lot of rhetoric of, Well, we can't tax job creators. And then there was the recognition that wow, this money that's being hoarded isn't being used to create jobs. It isn't being used to do anything. These billionaires have so much money that they cannot spend this money. It is literally just sitting there collecting interest in amounts that are more than any of us are seeing in a lifetime. [00:20:46] Heather Weiner: In a lifetime! In a lifetime! They're collecting more interest in a minute than any of us will be seeing in a lifetime. And what are they wasting it on? They're wasting it on frivolous rocket trips into - 30 second trips into space. I mean, they're not putting it back into the economy. And of course they do - people point to when Bezos, or Gates particularly, fund couple hundred million dollars in philanthropy projects - but those are one offs, and they're things that they control. They control the outcomes of that. The public doesn't control the outcomes of that. They get to choose where the money goes to and who the money goes to. Often that's inequitable, and often it doesn't actually work. And what we need is the public to be controlling that money and deciding where it goes. We are still a democracy, last I checked. [00:21:36] Crystal Fincher: Particularly because the infrastructure that is funded by the public is what is enabling their wealth. It is not like they had nothing to do with it, but certainly it is not like they had everything to do with it. And that public investments, that subsidies - have not played a great role in their ability to grow and continue to profit in the amounts that they have been, while also creating challenges in communities. Seattle is a perfect example of the impact of massive growth and scale - from primarily Amazon, and that radically shifting the whole composition of our housing market, that completely directly impacting the homelessness and affordability problems that we're seeing. And then to not play a role, and to not pay their fair share in mitigating these issues, has been repeatedly found to be unacceptable. [00:22:38] Heather Weiner: It's like a cartoon. It's like a cartoon that we used to watch as kids, where there's this greedy duck sitting on top of a huge pile of money and jewels, and just laughing but not being able to do anything with it, right? And pointing at everybody else while they're just working in the mine. I mean, I just made up that cartoon - I don't know if it actually exists - but that's the image that I have in my mind. [00:22:58] Crystal Fincher: I mean, and now I'm picturing Scrooge McDuck, but - [00:23:01] Heather Weiner: It's probably Scrooge McDuck - that's probably where I got that image from. [00:23:04] Crystal Fincher: And also now I have the DuckTales theme song in my head, which - [00:23:07] Heather Weiner: Well, how's it go? [00:23:08] Crystal Fincher: It's one of the best theme songs ever created. Look, we do not need me singing - [00:23:13] Heather Weiner: No, please, will you just sing it for one second? [00:23:19] Crystal Fincher: Life is like a hurricane - what am I even doing? Okay, anyway - [00:23:25] Heather Weiner: Use that mic for good, Crystal. [00:23:27] Crystal Fincher: And it is not me singing, let's - let's put a period on that right now. [00:23:32] Heather Weiner: All right, we have a couple more minutes, but let's talk about this really controversial, but really important, Long-term care - Washington Cares - that this tax. So Inslee is expected to announce today, along with the House and Senate leadership, that they're going to delay implementation of the payroll tax for a year while they figure out how to make some improvements to it. For people who are listening - you're shaking your head, Crystal, I'm not really sure why - are you still, you still got the Duck... [00:24:04] Crystal Fincher: I'm just thinking about how the hell did I end up attempting to sing on my podcast. Anyway, go ahead, sorry. But yes, it's a very important issue. [00:24:18] Heather Weiner: Yeah, so let's remind people what Long-term care is. Long-term care - I'll give you a story - Dani, actual real woman, she's actually now Ms. Wheelchair USA of 2020 - 30 years old, has a son, goes in for a routine medical appointment, medical procedure - comes out paralyzed. Not expecting, of course, nobody expects to be paralyzed, but comes out paralyzed. She's going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Health insurance does not cover Long-term care, which is help around the house - so that she can pick up things, move, clean. Health insurance doesn't cover it. And Medicare, if she somehow was older, does not cover help around the house - or if you're elderly, if you're seriously injured, if you have long-term Covid - who's going to help make your meals? Who's going to help you get to appointments? Who is going to help you get dressed, go to the bathroom? Medicare and health insurance do not pay for that, so who does pay for it? Well, Medicaid does help with that in-home care, but in order to qualify for Medicaid, you have to sell everything - you have to have no assets. [00:25:37] Crystal Fincher: Yes. [00:25:37] Heather Weiner: Zero. You have to spend down. [00:25:38] Crystal Fincher: You have to live in poverty. Yes. [00:25:39] Heather Weiner: And at the age of 30, she and her husband don't have any - they're just starting to build a life, so she does not have access to this. WA Cares, the Long-term care payroll tax, would fund help for people like Dani, or people like - people's grandparents, me in 20 years - who need help around the house so that we don't have to go to a nursing home or rehab facility. Everybody pays into it, just like they do for Medicare, just like you do for Social Security - everybody pays a small amount from your paycheck. It goes into this fund, and then it's there when you need it. And 70% of us are going to need some kind of Long-term care at some point in our lives. 70% of us. Controversy is - number one, somebody added, I'm not going to name names - somebody added an opt-out provision to it last year or the year before. That then, the Long-term care insurance industry then swooped into Washington state and told everybody that they didn't want to pay a payroll tax, a small payroll tax, that ends when you retire. Instead they want to pay thousands a year into a Long-term care insurance, which is often a scam, and that they have to continue paying and cannot miss one payment for the rest of their lives. So Long-term care insurance companies are in there now - and people got really upset because number one, now they know that they're being taxed. And number two, they can't buy Long-term care insurance because a lot of people have pre-existing conditions and so now they're not being able to buy it. People are upset, there's a lot of confusion - the Democrats and the Republicans are upset about this. So now they're going to delay it and see if they can make some fixes to it, and then restart it in a year - is my understanding. Now, what do you have to say, Crystal? I know, you're not very happy with this program. [00:27:33] Crystal Fincher: I mean, I'm not very happy with how it ended up. I mean, it is absolutely a fact that we have a problem that has to be addressed. That the longer we do not address it, the more people are going to be needlessly suffering many of the same types of issues that we've been facing with healthcare. The private market has become predatory and is not serving peoples needs - it's not primarily concerned with taking care of people. It is primarily concerned with profit. And we have put safeguards in place for people during retirement - care in our state. We certainly have more healthcare choices, but we still don't have many options for people who find themselves unable to work because of a disability - who are in need of Long-term care, or who are not able to live independently for a variety of reasons. And especially, we're still in the middle of a pandemic - we have a lot of people suffering with long Covid. Disability is a fact of life for an increasing percentage of our population and we have to contend with that, but we make it - we basically tie disability to poverty. To your point - to be covered, someone has to basically have no assets and no income, and as soon as they do they stop qualifying for assistance. [00:29:04] Heather Weiner: Yup. [00:29:05] Crystal Fincher: And so what do we do? Are we allowing people to fall back into poverty? As we know and as we - [00:29:11] Heather Weiner: Forcing them. Forcing them into poverty. [00:29:14] Crystal Fincher: Yes, forcing them into poverty - and as we've seen, that hurts everyone. That doesn't just hurt the people who are directly involved - that weakens our communities, that affects our economy. [00:29:24] Heather Weiner: And it actually affects the tax payers, because the tax payers - we as tax payers are responsible through Medicaid. We pay Apple Health, DSHS - we pay for this support. Either we pay for it for others, or we pay for it for ourselves - and that is what we're trying to do - is to shift that from being a Medicaid burden where people have to go into poverty, to where people have access to this. [00:29:48] Crystal Fincher: Yes. [00:29:49] Heather Weiner: Now - [00:29:49] Crystal Fincher: So the need to fix it is there? [00:29:51] Heather Weiner: Yes. [00:29:51] Crystal Fincher: The challenge is as soon as they made this an opt-out situation. [00:29:55] Heather Weiner: Yeah. [00:29:56] Crystal Fincher: Insurance works because everyone pays in and then it takes care of the people who need it, but it takes everyone paying in in the first place. Otherwise it is untenable for a variety of situations. We went through this whole discussion with Obamacare - we understand how this works, we understand the necessity of it - and there are also a billion court challenges against it that were unsuccessful because this is how this works in society and it is beneficial for us all. [00:30:28] Heather Weiner: Right. You are 100% right. Everybody has to pay into it or else it doesn't work. [00:30:33] Crystal Fincher: Yes. And one, the policy choice to make it optional was a poor one, and really set this program up to fail - and all of the messaging against it that is disingenuous. And somehow as if it doesn't matter - and this messaging against it is, to be clear, funded by very conservative forces - big corporate forces who just want to maintain their ability to extract profits from people in healthcare crises. And in its current constitution, it's unworkable. It is a problem. [00:31:16] Heather Weiner: Yeah. [00:31:17] Crystal Fincher: And everyone has acknowledged that. There's a bipartisan acknowledgement that there is a problem. But I hope we also understand that there is an urgency to actually fix this problem and not just to sit there, as we heard so many people attempt to do in the healthcare conversations overall. Hey, everyone loves their insurance - when in fact no one loves dealing with insurance, right? And trying to paint the status quo as somehow okay, and that's why it's okay not to make any changes - when the status quo isn't working for anyone. We're having this conversation because the status quo is so incredibly broken. [00:31:54] Heather Weiner: And there's so many people who are going to be - we're going to see a 40% increase in 2025, 2026 - in our Medicaid rolls if we do not deal with this, because so many boomers are becoming older and are going to need help. And so that means they're going to be filing for Medicaid for Long-term care, and who's going to be paying for that? We the tax payers are, so this needs to be fixed quickly and not delayed too long, because those people are going to need help. [00:32:26] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. It has to be fixed. I just hope people see through all of the messaging of - everybody who is against everything just tries to call something a tax when - yes, we collectively pay for things that benefit us all, and it is much more expensive to not handle this in a way that reliably provides Long-term care for those who need it, and to try and place the burden on the individual. We've seen how poorly that has turned out with our healthcare system, we see how poorly it's turning out with the current way we handle Long-term care - and it's just unsustainable. That's the bottom line - what we're doing now is unsustainable. [00:33:07] Heather Weiner: Yeah. [00:33:07] Crystal Fincher: So I'm looking forward to a bipartisan fix to provide people with reliable, affordable Long-term care. [00:33:17] Heather Weiner: Me too. I am too, and I just think about this woman, Dani, who went in for routine surgery and came out paralyzed - and she and her husband have been financially really struggling to figure out how to get her some help. [00:33:30] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. Absolutely. [00:33:30] Heather Weiner: And it could happen to you. It could happen to me. [00:33:31] Crystal Fincher: It can happen. It can and will happen to many, if not most of us, so we better prepare for it. It's coming and we better make it possible for people to prepare for it, and not have it so expensive that it's inaccessible to people, and then we force people into poverty to access any kind of care. [00:33:55] Heather Weiner: Mm-hmm [affirmative]. [00:33:56] Crystal Fincher: It's bad. We've seen how bad that is in so many different scenarios. Let's not continue to go down this bad path. On a different subject, I just want to encourage everyone to get boosted, number one. But I also feel like we need to continue to have this conversation about the need for Paid Time Off for employees - especially wage based employees, service employees - to have time to deal with the side effects that are part of vaccinations. This is what happens. [00:34:28] Heather Weiner: Mm-hmm [affirmative]. [00:34:30] Crystal Fincher: And as we see that we are so reliant on community vaccination and people getting this - that we have to understand that this - people are going to need a day or two to deal with their flu-like symptoms that result from the flu shot, from the Coronavirus booster, from all of these. And that people, when they're forced to make a choice between being able to come in for a shift and pay their rent, and somehow maybe fit in something that's going to make them sick, they're going to say look, my rent is coming whether or not I get boosted. I have to earn this money to pay my rent, to pay my bills. And we need to make sure that there is a way for them to continue to pay their bills and be healthy. And so that there is a responsibility that we all have to not just get boosted ourselves, but also to hold companies in our community responsible and accountable for allowing their employees to have time off to get this and to deal with this. I am saying this because I personally know a number of people, there have been a number of stories about people who really are looking at the choice between being able to work and earn money versus fitting in a booster shot. And we need to make this not a hard decision for someone. People shouldn't have to chose between their bills or their health. [00:36:04] Heather Weiner: Mm-hmm [affirmative]. [00:36:07] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. It is a challenge. [00:36:12] Heather Weiner: Agreed. I'm looking at the time, my love. [00:36:14] Crystal Fincher: Yup, and we are there. I appreciate everyone listening today to Hacks & Wonks on this Friday, December 17th. The producer of Hacks & Wonks is Lisl Stadler with assistance from Shannon Cheng. And our wonderful co-host today is Seattle political consultant extraordinaire, Heather Weiner. You can find Heather on Twitter @hlweiner. That's H-L-W-E-I-N-E-R. You can find me on Twitter @finchfrii, spelled F-I-N-C-H-F-R-I-I. And now you can follow Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, wherever else you get your podcasts - just type "Hacks & Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to get our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. While you're there leave a review, it really helps us out. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced to the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the podcast episode notes. Thanks for tuning in. We'll talk to you next time.

Nick Huey stops by Inside Sources to talk about why he is running against fellow Republican and current incumbent Burgess Owens for Utah's 4th Congressional seat, his platform, and what he would do if he won.      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Congresswoman Kat Cammack joins this week's episode to talk about the increasing crisis at our southern border, what the “defund the police” movement has meant to communities across the country, and, finally, what it looks like to stand up for law enforcement in today's climate.   Congresswoman Kat Cammack proudly serves Florida's 3rd Congressional District […]

Orleans, formed in Woodstock, New York in the early Seventies, found success in the middle part of the decade with “Dance with Me” and “Still the One.” Founding member John Hall left in the late Seventies, scoring a Rock Radio hit with “Crazy (Keep on Falling)“ with his John Hall Band in 1981, while the rest of Orleans hit with “Love Takes Time” in 1979. Hall became a US Representative for New York's 19th Congressional District from 2007 to 2011. He documented all of this in Still the One: a Rock n' Roll Journey to Congress and Back. Now, Hall and his band mates in Orleans have put together their first-ever holiday album, called New Star Shining, which even features former lead vocalist Larry Hoppen on a couple of tracks.We chat with John Hall about piecing the album together over email while COVID was raging, and the origins of the songs, some of which date back over 20 years. He also talks about the story behind "Half Moon," a song he and his ex-wife, Johanna wrote for Janis Joplin.

Attorney Adam Schiff was in his 18th year as a California congressman in the summer of 2019 when President Donald Trump made a telephone call to the newly elected president of Ukraine. That phone call resulted in an abuse of power allegation against the President and Adam Schiff became the man charged with proving it. He served as a lead investigator for the December 18, 2019 House impeachment of President Trump and as manager of the unsuccessful 2020 Senate impeachment trial. Schiff writes about his experience in a new book that Kirkus Reviews describes as “a full-throated denunciation of Donald Trump and his congressional enablers.” Midnight in Washington Congressman Adam Schiff represents California's 28th Congressional District. Schiff currently serves as the Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which oversees the nation's intelligence agencies. Schiff is on a leave of absence from the House Appropriations Committee, where he remains an ex-officio member. After Schiff graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Law, he moved to Los Angeles to serve as a law clerk for Judge William Matthew Byrne, Jr. Schiff then joined the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles as a federal prosecutor, where he served for almost six years. Moderated by WACDFW President & CEO, Liz Brailsford. . . Do you believe in the importance of international education and connections? The nonprofit World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth is supported by gifts from people like you, who share our passion for engaging in dialogue on global affairs and building bridges of understanding. While the Council is not currently charging admission for virtual events, we ask you to please consider making a one-time or recurring gift to help us keep the conversation going through informative public programs and targeted events for students and teachers. Donate: https://www.dfwworld.org/donate

Missouri legislators are getting a late start on congressional redistricting. Much of the speculation centers around the future of Kansas City Congressman Emanuel Cleaver. The real conflict could be about how to change Congresswoman Ann Wagner's 2nd Congressional District.

Today on Colorado Edition: Colorado is getting a new congressional seat for the first time in years. We hear how it could dramatically change public policy here and around the country. We also speak with one of Northern Colorado's leading public health officials about the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine and the path of the pandemic over the last year. And we get a look at a new state effort to prepare more Coloradans for employment in STEM fields.

George welcomes Thornton Mayor and 8th Congressional District candidate Jan Kulmann to the show to discuss her candidacy and what she would do if elected, and takes listener calls on election integrity. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's "CBS Sunday Morning, Correspondent Rita Braver visits with First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden for a rare interview at Camp David, and travels with the first lady as she helps promote the administration's work. After more than five decades, California's parole board has recommended that Senator Robert F. Kennedy's assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, now 77, be granted parole from his life sentence. Correspondent Lee Cowan talks with Kerry and Chris Kennedy, who are adamantly opposed to giving their father's killer his freedom. The 15th Congressional District in New York's South Bronx -- the poorest district in the country -- is represented by Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres, for whom fighting to support the social safety net isn't partisan; it's personal. CBS's John Dickerson talks with Torres, the first Afro-Latino gay representative, about his journey -- from growing up in public housing to working the halls of Congress. Fran Lebowitz talk, The opinionated essayist and raconteur sits down with correspondent Mo Rocca to discuss the reaction of her parents to her outspoken manner; why she still smokes; and her thoughts on gay marriage.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Democratic criminal justice reform advocate Elisabeth Epps and former legislative staffer Katie March in primary for State House District 6 in Denver | UC-Leeds School of Business report projects strong economic growth | Colorado 8th Congressional District primary field grows with new candidates in both parties.

This week, we speak with US Representative Donald McEachin (D-VA) about the environmental justice measures contained within the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the Build Back Better Act. Rep. McEachin, representing the 4th Congressional District of Virginia, co-founded the United for Climate and Environmental Justice Task Force in the House and has been instrumental in raising awareness for environmental justice in Congress. Co-hosts Ty and Brock Benefiel also discuss the prevalence of climate change in popular art, Elon Musk's recent comments about government subsidies, and who topped their Spotify Wrapped for 2021. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter "The Climate Weekly": https://theclimateweekly.substack.com/ As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our new YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group. Check out our updated website!

Latino groups say Nevada's new political maps have diluted their influence, especially in Las Vegas' Congressional District 1; and strikes that erupted in what became known as "Striketober" aren't over yet.

Latino groups say Nevada's new political maps have diluted their influence, especially in Las Vegas' Congressional District 1; and strikes that erupted in what became known as "Striketober" aren't over yet.

Guests: Jack Fitzpatrick, Congressional Reporter with Bloomberg Government, Bill Hoagland, Senior Vice President at the Bipartisan Policy Institute, Congressman Warren Davidson, U.S. Representative for Ohio's 8th Congressional District, George Seay, Co-Founder and Chairman of Annandale Capital, Jeanne Sheehan Zaino, Professor at Iona College and Bloomberg Contributor, and Dr. Patrice Harris, former-President of the American Medical Association and CEO of eMed. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

No Agenda Episode 1404 - "Flub Meister" "Flub Meister" Executive Producers: Joe Weil Sir Mike of Axe Head Watchmakers, Liberator of Michigans 9th Congressional District Sir Realist of the Muddle Jon Nunley Lady Mountain Jay Chap Williams Associate Executive Producers: LanVy Nguyen Sir Sean, Black Knight of the Dudes Named Ben Joseph Salahshour Become a member of the 1405 Club, support the show here Boost us with with Podcasting 2.0 Certified apps: Podfriend - Breez - Sphinx - Podstation - Curiocaster - Fountain Knights & Dames Richard Altman -> Sir Realist of the Muddle Trevor -> Sir Captin' Trev Baron of the Dakota Territory Mike Saliba -> Sir Mike of Axe Head Watchmakers, Liberator of Michigans 9th Congressional District Art By: Darren O'Neill End of Show Mixes: Neal Jones (Clip Custodian) - Tom Starkweather - Mike Molaro - Sir Chris Wilson Engineering, Stream Management & Wizardry Mark van Dijk - Systems Master Ryan Bemrose - Program Director Back Office Aric Mackey Chapters: Dreb Scott Clip Custodian: Neal Jones NEW: and soon on Netflix: Animated No Agenda No Agenda Social Registration Sign Up for the newsletter No Agenda Peerage ShowNotes Archive of links and Assets (clips etc) 1404.noagendanotes.com New: Directory Archive of Shownotes (includes all audio and video assets used) archive.noagendanotes.com RSS Podcast Feed Full Summaries in PDF No Agenda Lite in opus format NoAgendaTorrents.com has an RSS feed or show torrents Last Modified 12/02/2021 14:45:51This page created with the FreedomController Last Modified 12/02/2021 14:45:51 by Freedom Controller  

Just as we thought we were turning the corner on Covid, a new variant is bringing travel restrictions and heightening anxiety about the future. Is Biden in a no-win situation? The Cook Political Report's Amy Walter joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast. Special Guest: Amy Walter.

Rohit Khanna, representative of California's 17th Congressional District joins the Chip Franklin Show. On this conversation, they will dive into vaccinations, supply chain shortages, rising prices, and how the Build Back Better Act will tackle inflation.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MARK SCHNEIDER, Senior Analyst, National Institute for Public Policy, Former Director, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Former Senior Foreign Service Officer, US Department of State What is the likelihood that China and/or Russia would use an EMP in a first strike? Mark Schneider: We are doing “very little” to counter the threats posed by China and Russia AMB. PETE HOEKSTRA, former Congressman (1993-2011), Michigan's 2nd Congressional District, former US Ambassador to the Netherlands (2017-2021), Fellow, Center for Security Policy, @Petehoekstra Amb. Pete Hoekstra: We are two and a half years into COVID and the Chinese are still not cooperating in helping the international community investigate the origins of the virus JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CEO and Partner, McLaughlin & Associates, @jmclghln John McLaughlin talks about McLaughlin & Associates' November 2021 National Survey and whether respondents felt that the United States is headed in the right direction McLaughlin: The mainstream media is under polling Republicans in their national surveys How aware are Americans to the fact that the U.S. is “subsidizing” the Chinese threat?

Even though it's Thanksgiving, it has not been a slow week for the Politically Georgia team. Our insiders Greg Bluestein and Patricia Murphy take a deep dive into the new matchup for the 7th Congressional District after redistricting maps were approved. Our team looks at why Lucy McBath and Carolyn Bourdeaux will not back down, at least not yet. Plus why parts of the GOP Congressional delegation are not happy with the new maps either. Listen and subscribe to our podcast at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or Spotify.

CHRISTINE BISH #CA06 - THE BISH IS BACK! Join Toots Sweet & The Lovely Jewels Jones  -Patriots In Tune Show - Ep. # 496 Tune In 2 In Tune Monday Night November 22nd & Find Out What The Buzz Is All About On The Patriots In Tune Show. Watch As Toots Sweet & The Lovely Jewels Jones Spend The First Half Of The Show Dissecting The Current News For ONE FULL HOUR Of Uninterrupted Commentary from 7pm to 8pm ET time on The Patriots In Tune - IT'S FREE! Then Stick Around For Congressional Candidate CHRISTINE BISH #CA06 See You All Soon On Patriots In Tune, Cause This Party's Just  Getting Started!  

Over on Crossing Division, Evelyn has covered redistricting in Tacoma, in particular the 27th legislative district. In this conversation, we were planning to look at the whole state, including a conversation about the Congressional District...

On this edition of Politically Speaking, St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum talks with STLPR's Eric Schmid and the Belleville News-Democrat's Kelsey Landis about how Illinois Democrats reshaped Metro East congressional districts.

Energy prices have become a major burden for both consumers and the Biden administration.  The soaring gas prices have even forced the President to recently urge OPEC to increase oil production.  Several lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, are encouraging the administration to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and reverse some of their policies they say have exacerbate the problem.  Earlier in the week, Republican Congressman John R. Curtis of Utah's 3rd Congressional District joined host Jessica Rosenthal to discuss the high energy prices Americans are facing and why he believes the Biden administration has been offering the wrong solutions.  The Congressman also explained why Republicans must have a seat at the table during discussions surrounding climate issues. The original interview was too long and we couldn't include all of it in our segment. On The FOX News Rundown EXTRA, you will hear our entire conversation with Rep. Curtis and hear not just his take on America's energy concerns, but also his views on America's political divisions and his thoughts on 2022's midterms. 

Energy prices have become a major headache for the Biden administration, with the soaring gas prices forcing the President to urge OPEC to increase oil production. Several lawmakers are encouraging the administration to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Republican Congressman John R. Curtis of Utah's 3rd Congressional District joins to discuss the high energy prices Americans are facing and why he believes the Biden administration has been offering the wrong solutions. He goes on to explain why Republicans must have a seat at the table during discussions surrounding energy and climate issues and his hope that the parties can come together on important issues.   The CDC is busy with much more than the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency is also tracking a serious drug problem in the U.S. For the first time ever the CDC  data shows that in a 12-month period more 100-thousand Americans have died due to drug overdoses -- an almost 29-percent increase from the year before. Authorities are also seeing an increase in lethal fentanyl laced drugs being distributed across the country. Many district attorneys in California including in Orange County, will now pursue murder charges against drug dealers, if someone dies as a result of using drugs linked to them. Former DC police detective, defense attorney and FOX News contributor, Ted Williams weighs in.   Plus, commentary by Guy Benson, host of The Guy Benson Show.