35,000 COVID-19 doses for seniors to be given at 100 Minnesota sites

Vaccines shifting toward clinics, pharmacies. 

State officials have earmarked 35,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses for senior citizens this week — the highest total so far — at more than 100 locations, including hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.

The move represents a shift away from reliance on nine state-sponsored community vaccination sites that opened two weeks ago toward established local providers, long the backbone for delivering influenza and other vaccinations.

“The goal here is to improve access closer to home with more COVID-19 vaccines being available,” said Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. Continue reading.

Judge throws out Trump rule limiting what science EPA can use

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Biden officials had asked the Montana federal judge to send back the Environmental Protection Agency rule limiting studies behind public health safeguards.

A federal judge on Monday vacated the Trump administration rule limiting which scientific studies the Environmental Protection Agency can use in crafting public health protections, overturning one of the last major actions taken by the agencybefore President Biden took office.

The ruling by Judge Brian Morris, chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, Great Falls, marked a victory for environmental groups and public health advocates. Just two weeks before Biden’s inauguration, EPA finalized a rule requiring researchers to disclose the raw data involved in their public health studies before the agency could rely upon their conclusions.

The rule, which was made effective immediately, would assign less weight to studies built on medical histories and other confidential data from human subjects where the underlying information was not revealed. That sort of research — including dose-response studies, which evaluate how much a person’s exposure to a substance increases the risk of harm — have been used for decades to justify EPA regulations. Continue reading.

Trump’s Sleight of Hand: Shouting Fraud, Pocketing Donors’ Cash for Future

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With breathless, often misleading appeals, the former president promised small donors that he was using the money to fight the election results, but in fact stored much of it for future use.

Former President Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party leveraged false claims of voter fraud and promises to overturn the election to raise more than a quarter-billion dollars in November and December as hundreds of thousands of trusting supporters listened and opened their wallets.

But the Trump campaign spent only a tiny fraction of its haul on lawyers and other legal bills related to those claims. Instead, Mr. Trump and the G.O.P. stored away much of the money — $175 million or so — even as they continued to issue breathless, aggressive and often misleading appeals for cash that promised it would help with recounts, the rooting out of election fraud and even the Republican candidates’ chances in the two Senate runoff races in Georgia.

What fraction of the money Mr. Trump did spend after the election was plowed mostly into a public-relations campaign and to keep his perpetual fund-raising machine whirring, with nearly $50 million going toward online advertising, text-message outreach and a small television ad campaign. Continue reading.

Mayor Pete becomes Secretary Pete, with a fan club and unusual celebrity status

Pete Buttigieg takes the reins at DOT and brings his Twitter army with him.

Pete Buttigieg will be the next Transportation secretary, bringing his political celebrity and legion of super fans to a mammoth agency that’s not used to headlines — unless they’re jokes about “Infrastructure Week.”

After four years of leadership under former President Donald Trump’s Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, a Washington, D.C., insider who was notoriously unavailable to reporters, DOT has a new leader who made near-daily appearances on cable TV even before the Senate confirmed him in an 86-13 vote Tuesday.

The one-time presidential candidate and former mayor of South Bend, Ind., has fielded questions during cable TV appearances on everything from impeachment to the former administration’s transgender military ban, serving as what amounts to a surrogate for President Joe Biden’s policies writ large. Continue reading.

Biden immigration orders include family unification task force

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President Biden will sign three executive orders on Tuesday focused on reforming the immigration system and undoing actions of the Trump administration, including establishing a family reunification task force and calling for a review of the public charge rule.

One of the orders will create a task force focused on identifying all of the minor children separated from their parents or guardians due to the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy in 2018, which a senior Biden administration official called a “moral failure and a national shame.”

The task force will be charged with reuniting the hundreds of migrant children who still have yet to be brought together with their families, and it will provide regular updates to the president on how to prevent future family separations. Continue reading.

Phillips Introduces Resolution to Honor Fallen Capitol Police Office

Office Brian Sicknick will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery today following a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) announced the introduction of a Congressional Resolution to honor Officer Brian D. Sicknick, a 12-year veteran of the Capitol Police who passed away as a result of injuries sustained defending the United States Capitol against rioters on Jan. 6th. Officer Sicknick was the fourth U.S. Capitol Police officer in history to be killed in the line of duty.  

“No honor can fully commemorate the valor shown by the Capitol Police and their defense of our democracy against insurrection,” Said Rep. Dean Phillips. “I mourn for Officer Brian D. Sicknick. He was a patriot. My heart goes out to the family, and to all who risk their lives every day to protect and serve our communities with dignity and principle. They are the best of America at a time we need them most, and they deserve to be recognized as such.” 

 Find the text of the resolution here. 

Continue reading “Phillips Introduces Resolution to Honor Fallen Capitol Police Office”

Trump Official’s Last-Day Deal With ICE Union Ties Biden’s Hands

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A whistle-blower accused Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II of an abuse of power in making sweeping concessions to pro-Trump Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

WASHINGTON — A whistle-blower complaint filed on Monday said a top Trump homeland security official sought to constrain the Biden administration’s immigration agenda by agreeing to hand policy controls to the pro-Trump union representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The complaint accuses Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II of “gross mismanagement, gross waste of government funds and abuse of authority” over the labor agreements he signed with the immigration agents’ union the day before President Biden’s inauguration.

Mr. Cuccinelli — an immigration hard-liner whose legal legitimacy to serve in senior positions at the Department of Homeland Security was contested — essentially sought to tie Mr. Biden’s hands, according to the complaint. Continue reading.

House Early Childhood Committee discusses economics of early care and learning and need for greater investment

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SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Yesterday, the House Early Childhood Finance and Policy Committee heard and discussed a presentation on the economics of child care and early learning, including the need for public investment in this essential resource for the youngest Minnesotans and their families and communities. 

“High-quality early care and learning is foundational to our economy and to our society,” said Rep. Dave Pinto (DFL – St. Paul), chair of the committee. “It allows parents to work, businesses to grow, and children to get the great start they need for success in school and life. Like other public infrastructure, including education and transportation, this critical sector needs public support.”  

Legislators at the hearing heard testimony on how the economics of early care and learning place an enormous squeeze on families and providers alike. An average family in Minnesota with one infant pays nearly 20 percent of its income for child care, with many families paying a much higher percentage.  

Meanwhile, child care is the lowest-paid occupation of any requiring a high school diploma; a third of workers in the profession are on public assistance. And their employers are doing no better; margins are razor-thin, with many subsidized by churches, nonprofits, and even individual donations. Low compensation and high turnover undermine the consistent relationships and enriching experiences that young children need.  

Presenters at the hearing included Christa Anders, Coordinator, Transforming Minnesota’s Early Childhood Workforce; Jamie Bonczyk, former Executive Director at the recently-closed Hopkins Early Learning Center; and Oriane Casale, Interim Labor Market Information Director, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. 

Video of the hearing is available on House Public Information Services’ YouTube channel. More information, including documents from the hearing, is available on the committee’s webpage.  

Opinion: Trumpism is American fascism

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It is revealing how a political movement that claims to be dedicated to the recovery of national greatness has so readily and completely abandoned many defining national ideals. Donald Trump’s promise of American strength has involved the betrayal of American identity.

One of the most important strands of our founding ideology is civic republicanism. In this tradition, the common good is not automatically produced by a clash of competing interests. A just society must be consciously constructed by citizens possessing certain virtues. A democracy in particular depends on people who take responsibility for their communities, show an active concern for the welfare of their neighbors, demand integrity from public officials, defend the rule of law, and respect the rights and dignity of others. Without these moral commitments, a majority is merely a mob.

What type of citizen has Trump — and his supportive partisan media — produced? Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) still holds her job in Congress because she is representative of ascendant MAGA radicalism. Those who reflect her overt racism, her unhinged conspiracy thinking and her endorsement of violence against public figures are now treated as a serious political constituency within the Republican Party. Trump has come down firmly on Greene’s side. One participant in the Jan. 6 attack sent a video to her children saying: “We broke into the Capitol. . . . We got inside, we did our part. We were looking for Nancy [Pelosi] to shoot her in the friggin’ brain, but we didn’t find her.” The detail that gets to me? She sent this to her children. She was living in a mental world where vile, shameful things are a parent’s boast. And she saw her actions as the expression of a public duty — an example of doing her part. Continue reading.