WHAT'S BREWING
WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY VOTED BY MAIL 11 TIMES IN 10 YEARS Like her boss, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has been speaking out against letting Americans vote by mail in the next election. And like her boss, McEnany has protested against mail-in votes despite doing it numerous times in the past. Florida voting records show that McEnany, a native of Tampa, has voted by mail in 11 elections in the last 10 years. [HuffPost]
JENNIFER CARROLL FOY JUMPS INTO VIRGINIA GOVERNOR'S RACE Jennifer Carroll Foy is jumping into the 2021 gubernatorial race in Virginia, making her the first Black woman to run for the job in 30 years. If elected, she would be the first Black female governor anywhere in the country. “I look forward to being more bold in what we get done here in Virginia, especially dealing with everyday, kitchen table issues,” Carroll Foy, a 38-year-old state delegate, said in an interview with HuffPost. The election of Carroll Foy would be a dramatic move, cementing the new blue, diverse character of the state that once was the capital of the Confederacy. [HuffPost]
THE COMING BATTLE OVER THAT EXTRA $600 IN UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS When lawmakers added $600 per week to unemployment benefits in March, it was a lifeline to the millions of workers who had been laid off — and would be laid off — due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, with the extra money set to expire in July and the pandemic far from over, there are real questions whether Congress will extend those federal dollars — and how hard Democrats are willing to fight Republicans who are seemingly dead-set against it. “You cannot operate an economy when you’re going to pay people more to not work than to work,” Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) told HuffPost. [HuffPost]
THE SCHOOL DISTRICT COPING WITH COLLECTIVE POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS A year and a half after the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history, students are coping with the psychological consequences of living through a megadisaster that sent them running for their lives. Apathy, anxiety and depression are up, educators say, along with rates of parental alcoholism, drug abuse and divorce. Some kids still live in travel trailers and tents or make long commutes from towns 30 miles away. It’s a collective post-traumatic stress that has turned teachers into counselors and counselors into fire-trauma specialists. [HuffPost]
BORIS JOHNSON WON'T SACK HIS TOP AIDE FOR BREAKING LOCKDOWN British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s defense of the seemingly indefensible – his refusal to sack top aide Dominic Cummings after he traveled during lockdown – has left many people asking why a newly elected prime minister is burning through so much political capital to save one senior adviser. Johnson faces open revolt from members of Parliament, and insiders question whether Cummings, seen as one of those political figures who “gets” voters’ concerns, has in fact now “lost it” amid an extraordinary political backlash and tanking poll ratings. [HuffPost]
CRITICAL CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE MAY BE DELAYED BY A YEAR The 2020 United Nations Climate Change Conference, scheduled for November, is likely to be postponed by an entire year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Experts have warned that such a delay could have catastrophic consequences on the planet as nations continue to fall short of targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Dozens of world leaders were supposed to present detailed plans on how they intend to cut their nation’s emissions to ensure that global temperatures don’t rise more than 2 degrees Celsius, above preindustrial levels ― a limit countries agreed to in the Paris accord. [HuffPost] |
