Introduction

County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the chief executive of Harris County, Texas, worried about an undercount in the 2020 census long before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

The county, the largest in Texas, has about 4.7 million residents, about 1 million of whom Hidalgo says fall into categories that are considered hard to count: More than 60% are Latino or Black, almost half speak a language other than English at home, a quarter are immigrants, and many are renters. An estimated 61,500 residents werent counted in the 2010 census.

The census will impact their political power over the next decade, controlling how congressional districts are redrawn in 2021 and how many people will represent Texas in Congress. And it will determine what federal funding the county, which includes the city of Houston, will receive for critical public services, from health care to education. An undercount in the 2010 census cost the county $1,161 per person in a single year under just five federal programs, more than $71 million total, according to one estimate.

An undercount doesnt just affect politics and general funding: It impairs local communities ability to effectively respond to public health emergencies, like the current pandemic, by making it harder to track the spread of disease and who is suffering the most.

Harris County and Houston were determined to avoid being undercounted this year. They spent a combined $5.5 million, bringing together community groups, marketing and data specialists, and activists to build the smartest census campaign Harris County had seen, Hidalgo said.

But the Trump administration has repeatedly stood in the way of a complete count. President Donald Trump has pursued policies that make immigrants less likely to respond. The census officials he appointed, for example, decided to conclude operations weeks earlier than they had previously announced, leaving little time to reach the people who are hardest to count despite a pandemic that has made such people even more elusive.

The administration made these decisions against the advice of experts and its own career staff at the U.S. Census Bureau, sabotaging local officials efforts to improve response rates in Harris County and in many other communities across the U.S. that have long borne the costs of being undercounted.

Whats at stake here is a core function of democracy laid out in the Constitution, which directs the federal government to conduct an actual Enumeration every 10 years and to apportion representatives based on the whole number of persons in each State. Administrations controlled by both Democrats and Republicans have historically taken those words to mean that any person living in the U.S., regardless of immigration status, race, how wealthy they are or where they live, should be counted in the census.

But Trump has turned his back on that precedent, pursuing policies that suppress the count among hard-to-count communities including immigrants, people of color, low-income individuals and those in rural areas and effectively disenfranchise them. In addition to cutting counting efforts short, he tried to put a question about citizenship status on the census before the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately prevented him from doing so. And now, hes seeking to exclude immigrants from census population counts that will be used to apportion congressional representatives.

Its a transparent power grab from Trump laid bare in court filings and other documents on behalf of Republicans, who arent favored by most of those hard-to-count groups.

As a result, Harris Countys self-response rate stands at less than 63% as of Oct. 6, a few points below its 2010 rate. Nationally, the U.S. has met its 2010 self-response rate of 66.5%, but there are concerns that the Census Bureau doesnt have enough time to follow up with people who didnt respond.

Its not good for the country and its not good for democracy, Hidalgo said. Participation is what makes our democracy strong. If people are afraid to get counted in something as basic as the census, of course theyre going to be intimidated to make their voices heard more broadly.

Even without the Trump administrations intervention, there were an unusual number of complications that posed a threat to completing the count this year, from a raging pandemic to wildfires and hurricanes that have ripped through the South and the West Coast. But on top of that, Trump has sought to politicize the process more than ever before.

Everything is adding up to one of the most flawed censuses in history, said Rob Santos, vice president and chief methodologist at the Urban Institute and president-elect of the American Statistical Association.

The political power of any one voter is largely determined by the census, which is the basis for how states draw congressional districts and how the 435 seats in the House of Representatives are divided among the states. When new districts are drawn in 2021, it will have a lasting influence on who is likely to win elections, which communities will be represented and, ultimately, which laws will be passed.

It appears that, based on projections from 2019 Census Bureau population estimates, the states with the most to gain are Texas, which could pick up three seats in the U.S. House, and Florida, which could pick up two seats.

But there are more concrete issues at stake. Census population counts are frequently used to create statistical indicators, including poverty thresholds and the consumer price index, which are typically used to determine federal funding levels for 300 programs encompassing health care, food stamps, highways and transportation, education, public housing, unemployment insurance, and public safety, among others.

Funding for certain programs, including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, doesnt fluctuate drastically with census population counts. But funding for other programs including the Social Services Block Grant, which helps support tailored social services based on community need is predicated entirely on the states share of the national population recorded in the census.

Census population counts could also determine whether certain areas qualify for federal designations that are tied to benefits. They could dictate whether a rural town is designated as medically underserved, meaning that doctors could receive certain incentives for working there or whether an economically distressed community gets classified as an opportunity zone where new investors get preferential tax treatment.

The effects of an undercount can linger for decades. In March, census data dictated how a $150 billion federal COVID-19 relief fund was distributed to localities. Places that had been undercounted in 2010 werent getting all the resources they needed.

An inaccurate count can have further adverse implications for public health, particularly amid a pandemic. It could hinder efforts to plan for the populations health care needs and result in a shortage of available safety net services.

It could also make it harder to track demographic groups along the dimensions of race and ethnicity, income, and education in order to better protect those who experience worse health outcomes. And it could limit researchers ability to study and respond to disease, making it more difficult to predict its spread and estimate its prevalence in the population.

Going forward, funding for health care and public transportation is among Hidalgos biggest concerns in Harris County, where about 22% of the population under 65 is uninsured twice the national rate and it remains difficult to get around without a car due to a lack of investment in transit services.

Losing out on federal funds for Medicaid would be particularly devastating: Texas is one of 12 states that have yet to adopt the Affordable Care Acts Medicaid expansion, a joint state-federal program that has offered health care coverage to individuals with incomes below 138% of the poverty line (about $17,600 for a single adult) since 2016.

Texas Republicans had previously rejected calls to adopt the expansion on the grounds that it would raise health care costs across the state. Those calls have been renewed amid the pandemic, but an undercount in the census, which determines how much federal funding the state receives to administer Medicaid, could make the expansion prohibitively expensive.

Other cities like San Jose, California which also has a history of being undercounted in the census have different funding priorities.

A census undercount would deliver a blow to the citys budget for affordable housing, which is sorely needed in an area with such a high cost of living: A couple making as much as $140,000 per year is in need of affordable housing. And in the middle of a pandemic and economic crisis that has left many people jobless and homeless, the affordable housing shortage has only become more dire.

We have been somewhat of a poster child for the affordable housing crisis as the largest city in Silicon Valley facing skyrocketing rents for much of the last decade and a large population with constrained income, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said.

The city stands to lose about $2,000 of federal money per year for every person who isnt counted, he said.

The country faces a pandemic that has made the most basic of in-person tasks more complex. Wildfires and hurricanes have displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. All of this has made it more difficult for the Census Bureau to go door to door to ensure an accurate count.

When the pandemic delayed operations in March, the censuss end date was pushed back from August 15 to Oct. 31. But in August, the Census Bureau announced that it would stop soliciting responses by mail, online or in person on Sept. 30. The agency argued this was necessary to meet the Dec. 31 deadline to provide census figures to Congress.

Internal Census Bureau emails and memos released in court filings showed that the administration decided to go forward with its plan despite warnings from career officials who worried that cutting short counting efforts would result in a census that has fatal data quality flaws that are unacceptable for a Constitutionally-mandated national activity. But those warnings fell on deaf ears at the U.S. Department of Commerce, which oversees the Census Bureau and is headed by Wilbur Ross, one of the longest-serving members of the presidents Cabinet who previously was at the front of the administrations push to put a citizenship question on the census.

The decision to cut the census short was also made despite advice from the Census Scientific Advisory Committee, which unanimously recommended in mid-September that the administration extend the deadline to complete counting efforts due to 2020s natural disasters.

The Census Bureau estimates that about 80,000 uncounted households in California and 17,500 in Oregon were impacted by the wildfires, and that 248,000 uncounted households in Alabama and Florida and 34,000 in Louisiana have been impacted by hurricanes over the past two months.

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The Census Bureau has redirected enumerators to temporary shelters for those displaced by the hurricanes. But on the Pacific Coast, it had already started laying off workers in areas affected by fire evacuations, road closures and smoke-filled air, KQED reported.

Imagine how hard it is to track somebody who is in a position where theyre not at their house, they are who knows where, and trying to complete a census with them, a census worker in California told Vox.

The mans experience demonstrates how fires affect census operations in other ways. Hes in his 60s, and said he has been concerned about going outside to enumerate people while the air quality is so poor due to the wildfires. On Sept. 9, when smoke turned the skies dark orange, he went out with two masks an N95 mask and a cloth mask layered on top of that but when he took them off briefly to drink some water, he started to get a headache.

The following day, he called his supervisor to say that he wouldnt be able to go out due to health concerns. Both during training and on the job, the Census Bureau made clear that his safety as an enumerator comes first, he said. But cases he had been assigned werent completed.

Dilemmas like this are playing out across the country as communities grapple with natural disasters.

I really cant project whether Mother Natures going to let us finish. Were going to do the best we can and see where we end up, the associate director of the census, Al Fontenot, said during the recent advisory committee meeting.

Santos, of the Urban Institute, said that to capture households that failed to self-report, the Census Bureau will have to rely heavily on reports from their neighbors, which are not as accurate. It could also lead to housing units getting categorized as vacant when there are people living there, but the census taker cannot reach them and does not have the opportunity to follow up.

The Census Bureau will also have to rely on administrative records, including Social Security and IRS data. That could be a problem hard-to-count households are precisely the kind of households for which the federal government lacks reliable administrative records. For instance, unauthorized immigrants do not have Social Security numbers and may rely on a cash economy without filing taxes with the IRS (though many of them do file taxes).

Imagine how hard it is to track somebody who is in a position where theyre not at their house, they are who knows where, and trying to complete a census with them.

Everything hinges on the quality of those data, Santos said.

As of Oct. 6, the Census Bureau reported that about 99.7% of households nationwide have been counted. As with any census, the agency is aiming to count 100% of households.

But that rate says little about the accuracy of the bureaus data, how it was collected, whether it has been checked for quality and how this census measures up to previous censuses, said Steven Romalewski, director of the CUNY Mapping Service, which tracks hard-to-count populations in the census. In the final days of September, there were still areas where census workers had yet to complete about 30% of their assigned workload, which includes conducting in-person follow-up visits to households. Those places included broad swaths of New Mexico, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama.

The concern is that the Census Bureau is trying to move as quickly as they can to make sure that, one way or another, all housing units are accounted for not necessarily by enumerating them in person, Romalewski said.

For now, the Census Bureau is still continuing to solicit responses. A federal judge in California has ordered the agency not to wind down its operations yet, as part of a lawsuit challenging the new deadline brought by civil rights groups, local governments and the Navajo Nation, among others. Temporarily blocking the Trump administration from ending counting efforts on Sept. 30, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh extended the deadline until Oct. 31 to give the Census Bureau more time to collect responses online, by mail and by door-knocking in undercounted areas.The Trump administration had asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to immediately suspend Kohs ruling, but the court told the administration that it had to keep counting. Unless the administration seeks expedited review at the Supreme Court, as it has threatened in court filings, it appears the Oct. 31 end date will remain.

The U.S. is on track to become a majority-nonwhite nation sometime in the 2040s, with Latinos accounting for a large portion of that growth. For Republicans who have relied on primarily non-Latino white, rural voters to stay in office, those demographic changes could spell their political doom.

But even before Trump, they had hatched a plan to maintain their grip on power for at least a little while longer: They would exclude noncitizens from the census population counts used to redraw congressional districts. The late Republican political strategist Thomas Hofeller was the mastermind behind the plan, which he believed could keep state legislatures in Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Florida from flipping blue in the near future. It would have the effect of diluting the political power of foreign-born people who have primarily settled in Democrat-run cities relative to more rural, Republican-run areas.

Trump, for his part, has embraced the strategy and taken it even further. Beyond attempting to cut short the process of collecting responses to the census, which will likely hit immigrants and communities of color the hardest, he has also tried to curb immigrant participation in the census.

Trump previously sought to put a question about citizenship status on the 2020 census. Several states, including California and New York, challenged the question in court on the basis that it would depress response rates among immigrant communities, leading to an undercount that would cost their governments critical federal funding. Their lawsuit came before the Supreme Court, which ruled in their favor in June 2019 on the basis that the Trump administration had lied about why it chose to include the question on the census.

Trump had argued that citizenship data would aid the Justice Departments enforcement of the prohibitions against racial discrimination in voting. But that rationale was just a pretext, introduced after the fact to justify the question and meant to obscure the administrations actual reasoning, the justices found.

Had the administration decided to continue pursuing the citizenship question, it would have had to race to support its decision with more valid reasoning in order to print the census forms on time.

Trump ultimately decided against doing so, instead issuing an executive order in July 2019 that instructed the Census Bureau to estimate citizenship data using enhanced state administrative records.

Trump has facilitated the creation of that data, though its not clear how accurate it is. The executive order authorized the Census Bureau to collect more data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and Citizenship and Immigration Services in an attempt to identify the citizenship status of more people. The agency eventually started asking states to voluntarily turn over drivers license records, which typically include citizenship data, to determine the citizenship status of the U.S. population.

In July, Trump revealed how he intended to use that data: He issued a memorandum excluding unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. from census population counts for purposes of redrawing congressional districts in 2021, as legislators in Texas, Arizona, Missouri and Nebraska had already sought.

The White House argued that, by law, the president has the final say over who must be counted in the census. And Trump has said that unauthorized immigrants should not be counted because it would undermine American representative democracy and create perverse incentives for those seeking to come to the U.S.

A federal court nevertheless struck down the memorandum last month, finding that the federal government has a constitutional obligation to count every person, no matter their immigration status, in the census every 10 years.

But the Trump administration appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to expedite the case such that they would hear oral arguments in December and issue a decision before Dec. 31, the federal deadline for sending the population counts to Congress for purposes of redistricting.

If Trumps Supreme Court pick to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Amy Coney Barrett, is confirmed before the end of the year, she could cast a deciding vote in the case.

Even though Trumps attempts to substantively alter the way immigrants are counted in the census have been thwarted by the courts so far, the chilling effect of those policies has been felt in places like Harris County and San Jose, which both have large immigrant communities and have joined the lawsuits challenging Trumps attempts to cut the census short and exclude unauthorized immigrants from the population counts.

Liccardo said that when the city began its census planning two and a half years ago, it prioritized engaging trusted community partners, including local churches and nonprofits. The aim of that was to allay fears about participating in the census among people who might be fearful of interacting with government officials, including immigrant communities from Latin America and Asia. Some 80,000 residents of the city dont have legal status.

Their fear only multiplies when they hear what comes out of the White House Twitter feed, he said. They have consequently become reluctant to engage not only in the census but also in the pursuit of basic services, such as immunizing their children and signing up for food stamps.

Every family has got someone whos worried about getting arrested by la migra, he said.

Hidalgo said that in Harris County, parents are similarly afraid to receive a backpack for their child as part of a government giveaway and to access free testing for COVID-19, potentially threatening their health outcomes.

Theres clearly a distrust of government, she said. Folks are just afraid to receive any kind of service, and that puts the entire community at risk.

Campaigns to get out the count have had to adjust to major hurdles, from the pandemic to unfavorable policies from the Trump administration. Starting in March, they had to largely abandon in-person outreach, the most effective way to reach hard-to-count households, in favor of strategies that allow for social distancing.

Texas Counts, a coalition of groups working to improve response rates in the state where about one in four residents qualifies as hard-to-count partnered with locations offering essential services amid the pandemic, including food banks, so that volunteers can encourage people to fill out the census questionnaire while they are waiting in line. It has also helped host census caravans in which people decorate their cars with advertisements for the census and drive through undercounted areas, honking their horns.

These kinds of canvassing efforts do appear to make a difference. Romalewski, who studied similar neighborhood campaigns in Tucson and Brooklyn, said that response levels in those census tracts did increase. (Though its not clear whether that increase was greater than it would have been otherwise or whether it could be directly attributed to the outreach efforts.)

Harris County pivoted to an almost entirely virtual campaign, which it funded in part with an additional $4 million the county received in funding from the coronavirus stimulus bill passed in March on top of the $5.5 million it had already spent.

Door-knocking morphed into texting and calling. Census workers conducted surveys about the opinions and attitudes of non-responsive populations and developed a digital advertising campaign on Facebook and Instagram. They placed billboards and ads with the aim of targeting communities with a less than 50% response rate.

Still, the response rate only budged a couple of percentage points. Hidalgo isnt expecting to be able to vastly improve response rates leading up to the deadline. Theyre doing their best, but the headwinds theyre facing are just too strong.

You can do everything right and still you will only see a couple percentage-point increase over what you have, she said. But its better than it could have been had we not been working aggressively to make up ground.

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Trump's obstruction of the 2020 census, explained Center for Public Integrity - Center for Public Integrity

Hospitality leaders in the North of England have hit out at the Government after a Cabinet member refused to rule out shutting pubs and restaurants in the region.

The Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said on Thursday that ministers are currently considering what steps we should take as he warned of a fast and serious situation in cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle, where coronavirus cases have risen.

Westminster has found itself under increasing pressure to act after Scotland announced a new wave of restrictions, with hospitality businesses set to close for an indeterminable amount of time at 6pm on Friday.

Dr Adam Kucharski, a scientist advising the Government, warned that there are pretty serious outbreaks in parts of England and medics warned of increasing hospital admissions if stricter measures arent taken to quell the spread.

It has left publicans and restaurateurs in limbo, unsure whether they will be able to pay staff, meet rent obligations, or even prepare for Christmas, one of the industrys busiest and most lucrative periods.

Its just getting ridiculous now, said Stosie Madi, who runs the Parkers Arms in Lancashire.

Nobody understands what the hell any of them [ministers] are on about. We need to know if were going to be able to pay our rent and pay our staff. Were already trying to deal with this senseless curfew.

Blaming us [hospitality] is stupid. Theres no proof were spreading anything weve not had one case reported in the pub. And yet were constantly in limbo. We need something that makes sense its all just complete bollocks. I dont even know if well be open for Christmas.

Sacha Lord, the Night Time Economy Advisor for Greater Manchester, said there had been a lack of communication from London, and said closing businesses in parts of the North would only widen the gap with the South.

He told i: Theres been absolutely no communication whatsoever. Its frustrating. As far as I can see, theyve leaked considerations to the press with no consultation or discussion with who will feel the impact.

As far as we can see, theyre making the North-South divide wider. Ive talked to a lot of operators who are considering shutting completely. Theyve had enough.

Almost half a million people work in the night time economy in Greater Manchester. What now? Theyre scared for their jobs and theyre worried they wont be able to pay their rent or put food on the table.

This is the 11th hour. It feels like the final blow.

With numerous ministers claiming fresh lockdowns are the only option in order to curb the spread of Covid-19 in areas where transmission rates of infection have risen, many in hospitality deem the Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the architect of the popular Eat Out to Help Out scheme, as their only hope for greater pragmatism.

In Liverpool, chef Paul Askew, from the Art School restaurant, called on the Chancellor to promise to introduce new financial support packages in the region if it finds itself tightly locked down again.

Another lockdown of hospitality businesses is the last thing we want, having only just got back up and running, he said.

Its been feeling like a gradual dismantling process since curfew and consumer confidence has been knocked.

What we need is Westminster to follow the lead of Liverpool in announcing support packages that match the sanctions were facing.

The uncertainty has not only left hospitality professionals worried, but local people too, who had started to get used to being allowed out to pubs and restaurants again.

Daniel Callaghan, from Newcastle, said: Young people are being blamed for going out when only last month they were encouraged to do so.

The hospitality sector is being thrown under a bus. Shutting everything down again doesnt seem viable. Thousands of people have already lost their jobs.

What are people supposed to do? We cant repeat the same cycle. Therell be nothing left.

Read more:
Pubs and restaurants in North of England face '11th hour' with talk of second lockdown closures - iNews

But its a step towards actual policy-driven discussion to tackle the climate crisis.

Austin Price

October 7, 2020

President Donald Trump came out arms flailing during the first presidential debate last Tuesday and thought he landed a punch when former Vice President Joe Biden said he did not support the Green New Deal. You just lost the radical left, Trump quipped.

No matter that Trump has shrugged his shoulders as farms flood and communities burn, his goal is to deflect and drive a wedge in an opposition that has already promised to do something about the climate crisis. The missing detail of Trumps infantile jab, however, was that Biden had never endorsed the Green New Deal (GND) at face value.

Weve known for years that Donald Trump denies the science of climate change, Kate Aronoff, a climate reporter for The New Republic, told Democracy Now! after the debate. And we know that Joe Biden doesnt support the Green New Deal. Neither of those details should be a surprise to voters in the homestretch of this election, Aronoff explained.

Trumps stance on climate change is easily characterized by his relentless push for unchecked development by his buddies in the fossil fuel industry. Biden, meanwhile, has vowed to tackle the climate crisis through a $2 trillion, four-year plan he announced last July a plan that Sam Ricketts, a coauthor of Washington Governor Jay Inslees aggressive climate plan, in The Washington Post, called the single most comprehensive and ambitious climate plan ever advanced by a major presidential nominee. And no, its not the Green New Deal, but like the GND, its a far cry from the current presidents oil-bought denialism.

But its difficult to draw a clean line between the Biden climate plan and the Green New Deal. For one, the Green New Deal isnt a plan but a broad resolution. Its not exactly a x-trillion-dollar scheme aimed at outlawing cows and airplanes like its opponents say. Rather, its a set of goals and principles for a radical shift in climate policy one that would create millions of living-wage green industry jobs, decarbonize the energy sector, and address racial and economic inequalities.

The Green New Deal serves as a framework for the rapid, far reaching, and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society urged by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes October 2018 assessment on limiting global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius. The GND also recognizes the duty of the federal government to avert ecological collapse while building an altogether fairer, more leisurely, and more democratic world, as Noami Klein wrote in the introduction to A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal. The goal is staving off disaster, while also making the world a better place for both human and nonhuman life.

When Biden unveiled his climate plan in a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, last July, it was clear that his plan was not the Green New Deal. But at its core, it sounds similar: It would focus on transitioning to a carbon-free power sector by 2035, building modern infrastructure like high-speed electric rail, addressing climate injustices, diversifying the agricultural sector, and creating millions of jobs. In the debate last week, he vowed to reenter the Paris Climate Agreement and put an end to coal-fired power plants. His plan would also mobilize a Civilian Climate Corps to manage forests, plant trees, repair irrigation systems, improve wildlife habitat, and restore wetlands and coastal ecosystems.

These are the most critical investments we can make for the long term health and vitality of both the US economy and the physical health and safety of the American people, Biden said in July.

The similarities with the Green New Deals framework is no coincidence. Thats because the Biden campaign worked with some of the authors of the Green New Deal to put the Biden climate plan together.

Before Bidens official nomination, the Democratic Party formed the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force on Climate Change, comprised of members like US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sunrise Movement cofounder Varshini Prakash. In other words, Bidens climate plan is a product of discussion, with evidence of influence from the task force, and from the Green New Deal.

One example is the Biden plans timeline. Task force members helped boost it from $1.7 trillion over 10 years to the current $2 trillion over four years. The task force also helped shift the plans focus to include environmental justice. According to the plan, frontline and fenceline communities will receive 40 percent of all clean energy and infrastructure benefits proposed in an attempt to correct historic racial and environmental injustices. The plan also borrows a proposal from Inslees plan to establish an Environmental and Climate Justice Division within the Department of Justice to hold polluters accountable.

Of course, there are major differences between Bidens plan and the Green New Deal, mainly when it comes to scale. For example, Bidens plan to build 1.5 million new sustainable housing units falls far short of the Green New Deals call to provide all people with affordable housing.

Another point of contention is fracking. Natural gas extraction isnt explicitly addressed in the Green New Deal, but many progressive Democrats have called for a fracking ban on both private and public land a stance that Biden has refused to take. This is no surprise. Biden, who was born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, has his sights on the Pennsylvania vote. Last year, the natural gas industry employed 32,000 people in Bidens home state.

But according to some Democrats, the differences between Bidens plan and a radical Green New Deal arent as much a cause for division as they are points for future discussion especially on this side of Election Day. Bidens climate plan isnt the Green New Deal, but its a step towards actual policy-driven discussion of the climate crisis.

A Biden administration is not a guarantee of climate success, just as wearing a mask is not a guarantee of avoiding coronavirus, wrote climate journalist Emily Atkin in her newsletter HEATED. But when youre facing a life-threatening illness, you choose a course of treatment not based on whether you know it will work, but based on the likelihood of success versus failure.

Climate action will require work no matter whos elected. If Biden wins in November, there will assuredly be a time to critique his administrations position on climate. Time will tell how the Biden plan would be phased out, which promises are kept and which are broken which policies would be tossed around the legislature as hurricanes continue to batter one coast while wildfires spread across the other. There would be time to hold Biden accountable to his promise to ban fossil fuel lobbyists from his cabinet, and there would certainly be time to interrogate Bidens informal advisors from the Obama periods all of the above approach to energy development.

As Naomi Klein wrote, We have a hell of a lot of work to do. But the unanswered question now is what that work will look like come January.

Read the original:
Biden's Climate Plan Isn't the Green New Deal - Earth Island Journal

Do you smell what The Rock is cooking? Political outlets certainly do, as former WWE Superstar and current Hollywood Superstar Dwayne The Rock Johnson has recently made headlines after releasing a video in which he endorses Joe Biden for President of the United States.

Previously, Johnson has remained mute on the topic of politics, though he did appear at the Republican National Convention on behalf of WWE back in 2000. The times, they are a-changin, however, and, like most of us, the former WWE champion simply cannot stay silent anymore.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris to talk about a number of important issues that were facing as a country, Johnson said in a video uploaded to his social media channels. I thought it was a great, and extremely productive conversation that we had and, as a registered Independent for years now, with centrist ideologies, I do feel that Vice President Biden and Senator Harris are the best choice to lead our country, and I am endorsing them to become President and Vice President of our United States.

Johnson then went on to share a conversation he had with Biden and Harris, and the first question he asked the pair was, What will you do to earn the respect of the American people once youre in the White House?

It was a good question, and a fair question, as our current president lacks respect from many voters- celebrities and non-celebrities alike. Trump, for his part, must be fuming because of his own history with WWE. He has appeared on multiple WWE-produced shows, is known friends with the CEO of WWE, Vince McMahon, and he even brought Vinces wife, Linda McMahon, on as part of his cabinet. Luckily, The Rock is no longer under the thumb of McMahon and is free to make his own decisions and his own choices. The biggest of which is his endorsement of Biden and Harris.

Johnson has, self-admittedly, never publicly endorsed a presidential candidate (as one has to be careful in how they present themselves to the court of public opinion), and that just goes to show how pivotal this election actually is. The Rock is currently the hardest working man in Hollywood, so he earns our admiration. But, more importantly than that, in every interview he has done, every social media post he has offered, he comes across as an intelligent, kind, genuine human being. In short, he is somebody whose endorsement the general public would, and should, highly consider.

No word yet on how Paper and Scissors are voting but, in this case, The Rock trumps them both.

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Long-Time Republican The Rock Endorses Biden-Harris Campaign, Trump Says Hell Await Word From The Paper and The Scissors (Half of Which Beat Rock) -...

Join us for the final two programs in the "DEEDS NOT WORDS: 100 Years of the Vote for Women" series.

Final programs provided and funded by the Avon Free Public Library, Avon Historical Society and Avon Senior Center to commemorate the 100th anniversary of suffrage in America.

From the Hidden Women Series: The Black Suffragists

Tuesday, October 13, 2020, 6:30 pm

Virtual Presentation via Zoom

From the Hidden Women Series: The Black Suffragists, presented by Tammy Deneasewww.hiddenwomen.org. The very definition of Women's suffrage is the right for women to vote. So one could conclude that the Suffrage Movement should have included women from all walks of life But did it? This is a pre-recorded lecture; live Q&A will follow.

"Deeds Not Words" Series Finale: Meet Susan B Anthony, "Failure is Impossible"

A virtual dramatic event by Sheryl Faye

Wednesday, 10/14/20, 7pm. Program is 45 minutes; all ages welcome.

Please register and a link to view the performance will be sent to you on the day of this event.

Register here: https://www.avonctlibrary.info/event/meet-susan-b-anthony-failure-is-impossible/

Susan B. Anthony was a women's rights activist, and she devoted her life to racial, gender, and educational equality. She is one of the most famous women in American history, playing a prominent role in the women's suffrage movement; the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote and she also was in support of women's labor organizations and for a woman's right to own property. In 2020 we celebrate not only 100 years since the ratification of the 19th Amendment, we're also celebrating Susan B. Anthony's 200th birthday!

Sheryl Faye is a full-time actress, a goal she has worked her whole live to achieve. Besides performing a variety of historical women for schools, libraries, historical societies, senior centers, and others, she also writes and performs with StageCoach Improv. She has been the voice of several characters for Sony Play Station games and for a variety of medical CD ROMS. She recently shot a national print ad for Vicks cold/flu and continues to keep busy working on films, television and theater throughout Boston and New York.

This press release was produced by the Avon Public Library. The views expressed here are the author's own.

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Avon Library To Host Final Two Programs For Deeds Not Words: 100 Years Of The Vote For Women - Patch.com

The Climate Cabinet 40

SAN FRANCISCO (PRWEB) September 17, 2020

Climate Cabinet Action Fund, a group that helps candidates run, win, and legislate on the climate crisis, announces their first annual Climate Cabinet 40. These 40 state legislative races in 10 key battleground states (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin) feature the countrys most ardent supporters and opponents of policy tackling climate change.

The announcement is accompanied by the launch of the Climate Cabinet Score Database. This database contains a 100-point score that reflects the voting record on climate and environmental bills for every sitting state legislator in the 10 battleground states.

The number one question prospective donors ask us is where their donation will have the most impact, states Caroline Spears, Cabinet Cabinet Action Funds Executive Director. We created The Climate Cabinet 40 to help anyone identify the races where their contributions can make the biggest difference.

To see the Climate Cabinet 40 list, access the full database, and learn more, visit: http://www.climatecabinetaction.org.

Local Races, Big ImpactWhile discussions about climate change usually focus on policy decisions made at the national level, much of the decision-making power lies within the state legislatures. It is these governing bodies that make the call on the most critical climate-related decisions, including carbon pollution, illegal air emissions, increasing renewable energy, clean cars, and environmental justice.

These state races afford every citizen a chance to substantively support pro-climate candidates given their smaller scale. For instance, a highly competitive state house race might only cost $75K, compared with larger federal races that often require millions of dollars in contributions. This means that a few hundred $20 donations go further in supporting pro-climate legislators on the state level than it does in federal and national elections.

The Climate Cabinet 40To determine which races could have the most significant impact, Climate Cabinet Action Fund compiled a list of over 1,500 state legislators in 10 key battleground states. We analyzed data from climate change-related votes in the last legislative sessions to assign every incumbent a Climate Cabinet Score, and overlaid these Scores with each incumbents political vulnerability.

Combining this data with the Climate Cabinet Score enabled Climate Cabinet Action Fund to identify the 40 highest stakes state legislative races for climate. Half of these are climate champions who received a perfect Climate Cabinet Score. These 20 officials need support from the climate change community as theyre facing tough re-election campaigns. The other half of the list are the biggest climate change obstructionists whom weve identified as the worst on climate in the nation.

Climate Cabinet Score DatabaseClimate Cabinet is making its database on state legislature voting records available to the public. The trove of information will allow journalists, PACs, and others to conduct detailed analysis on the voting records of individual legislators, as well as states.

About Climate Cabinet Action FundThe Climate Cabinet Action Fund exists to help candidates run, win, and legislate on the climate crisis. America faces record-breaking hurricanes and fires - but also the opportunity to create millions of jobs in clean energy that solve this existential threat. We have no time to waste - every elected official should have a plan to solve climate change the day they step into office. We help them create one.

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Climate Cabinet Action Fund Announces The Climate Cabinet 40 - PR Web

September 15, 2020

The Farmington Valley Health District (FVHD) in collaboration with the Farmington Valley Visiting Nurses' Association (FVVNA) are hosting two separate drive thru influenza vaccination clinics this fall. Both agencies are actively engaged in COVID-19 response activities and wish to ensure the residents of the FVHD are prepared this fall to safely receive their annual flu shot. A drive-thru clinic provides a safe alternative to public clinics and ensures adequate social distancing. Interested residents ages 9 years old and up are eligible to receive the flu shot. The dates of the two clinic options are:

Pre-registration is required for all residents who wish to be vaccinated. A link to the pre-registration survey can be located on both the FVHD and FVVNA websites. Additionally, once you complete the pre-registration form, you MUST also complete the online medical screening questionnaire. Once completed, you MUST print this page and bring it with you. Pre-registration will close approximately two weeks before each clinic. No Walk-ins (or drive-ins) will be allowed. Vaccine is limited to 200 persons per clinic. Bring the following items with you on vaccination day:

Additional clinics will be set up and publicized at a later date. Click here for the FVHD website: http://www.fvhd.org/ Click here for the FVVNA website: https://www.farmingtonvalleyvna.org/

This press release was produced by the City of Avon . The views expressed here are the author's own.

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Safe Drive-Thru Flu Clinics Scheduled For The Town Of Avon - Patch.com

The faithful lieutenant has against initial expectations taken a major step toward the pinnacle of his political career.

Yoshihide Suga, the chief Cabinet secretary, won by a landslide in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election Monday, becoming the presumptive successor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Suga is expected to take the helm at a critical moment when the country has been hit by a pandemic and economic slump and is grappling with national security issues.

Of 534 votes 393 LDP lawmakers and 141 party representatives from across the country Suga won by a wide margin, capturing 377 votes, or 70 percent. Policy Council Chairman Fumio Kishida secured 89 votes, and former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba received 68. The LDP has a comfortable majority in the Lower House, essentially guaranteeing that Suga will become the prime minister Wednesday.

The result is the culmination of a mere weeklong campaign to choose the countrys next leader, who Abe himself imagined would be Kishida and the public initially wanted to be Ishiba.

Instead, the victor was Abes loyal right-hand man, even though he had trailed behind in the polls a few months ago. But Suga shot to the top of the pack after mainstream LDP factions quickly formed a consensus and the public, shocked by Abes announcement of his departure, apparently had second thoughts about the current administration and preferred continuity over an abrupt policy shift, according to recent polls.

Suga, clad in a navy blue suit with a yellow tie, showed his appreciation for Abes work as the prime minister after the vote at a joint plenary meeting of LDP members at a Tokyo hotel.

We need to inherit and facilitate policies promoted by Prime Minister Abe in order for us to overcome this crisis and for each and every individual to have a safe and stable life, Suga said. I recognize that I carry that mission.

Suga, who is the son of a strawberry farmer from Akita Prefecture and started his career in politics as a secretary of a Lower House member, has had plenty of media exposure throughout his tenure as the chief government spokesman, which sees him give a media briefing twice a day, five days a week and on emergency occasions. His big break came last year when he unveiled the name of Japans new imperial era, earning him the nickname Uncle Reiwa.

Still, he was not previously considered to be a viable successor to Abe. The prime minister was attached to Kishida and lauded him in public to lay the groundwork for his ascension to the countrys top job. Even when pestered by the media, Abes No. 2 stubbornly brushed off speculation that he had any desire to be prime minister. Polls from earlier this year showed Suga only had single-digit support from the public.

Liberal Democratic Partys policy chief Fumio Kishida (from left to right), Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, and former LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba hold hands after the partys presidential election held in Tokyo on Monday. Suga beat Kishida and Ishiba for the partys top post. | KYODO

The tide changed this summer when Abe visited a hospital twice and a resulting rumor about his deteriorating health condition caught Nagatacho, Japans political center, off guard.

Suga, known for his sullen manner and penchant for sticking to the script, began frequently taking interview requests, and Abe characterized Suga as one of the hopefuls (as a successor) in an interview with a right-wing monthly magazine. The prime minister was believed to be disappointed with Kishida for dropping the ball in coordinating the LDP and its coalition partner Komeito on the issue of a cash handout in April as part of a coronavirus economic rescue package.

After Abe announced he would be stepping down, citing a chronic illness, on Aug. 28, LDP factions rushed to find a successor. Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, who was tasked with deciding procedures on the LDP presidential election, backed Suga and decided to carry out a downscaled contest, bypassing rank-and-file votes in a crushing blow to Ishiba.

Following the move, party factions one after another jumped on the bandwagon to preserve their influence over Cabinet posts and agenda-setting authority. Suga himself does not belong to a faction, something he touts as an advantage but which raises the concern that he might be dragged into a factional power struggle.

In picking Suga, I think Nikai may be using the time-honored LDP tradition of choosing someone with a relatively weak independent power base in the party who can be trusted to do ones bidding when the time comes to decide who gets which prestigious post in the party and parliament, said Amy Catalinac, an assistant professor of politics at New York University.

Because a leader with a relatively weak power base would have only gotten to this position because of the votes supplied by the powerful (factions), he will do their bidding, knowing that if he doesnt, theyll withdraw their support and hell be replaced.

Sugas amicable bond with Nikai as well as Komeito further cemented his support. Besides, Sugas popularity among the public soared following Abes resignation announcement.

In one poll by the left-leaning Asahi Shimbun from earlier this month, 38 percent of respondents supported Suga, followed by 25 percent for Ishiba and 5 percent for Kishida. In a separate Asahi poll from June, Ishiba was the front-runner with 31 percent, whereas Suga had the support of a mere 3 percent of respondents.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga arrives at the prime ministers official residence in Tokyo on Monday. | REUTERS

He represents a continuation of the Abe administrations managerial stability, but also simultaneously represents a stark contrast from Abe himself, in that he doesnt come from the privileged dynastic background typical among so many LDP politicians, said Daniel M. Smith, an associate professor of comparative politics at Harvard University. And (he) has so far largely avoided the kinds of controversial actions and statements that might pin him as a right-wing nationalist and distract from his governing priorities.

Suga is set to enter the Prime Ministers Office and form a new Cabinet on Wednesday with the expectation that he will deliver on his promise to double down on policies inherited by his predecessor, such as Abenomics.

At the same time, Suga has made clear he will bring to the forefront his own ambitions, some of which have been seen under the Abe administration, including tightening his grip on the bureaucracy, pressing on with digitalization and reinforcing initiatives to spread resources to areas outside major metropolitan areas through tourism and agriculture.

He has already expressed interest in expanding the national health insurance system to cover the cost of infertility treatments, as well as furthering his aspiration to bring down cell phone bills among the three carriers that dominate the domestic market or slash the radio spectrum user fee altogether.

Much focus will be on the new Cabinets lineup whether to keep critical posts such as finance, foreign, defense and internal affairs the same as in the Abe administration and who the new chief Cabinet secretary will be as well as the prospect of a snap election, which would be the first major test for Suga to demonstrate his aptitude as a long-term, trustworthy LDP leader capable of filling Abes shoes.

The prime minister will be leaving in the middle of his tenure due to illness. However, were facing a national crisis due to the spread of the coronavirus and we cant condone a political vacuum being created, Suga said. I pledge to dedicate everything I have to working for Japan and for the people.

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Japan's next leader: How Yoshihide Suga beat the odds to succeed Shinzo Abe - The Japan Times

Chris Truax, Opinion columnist Published 3:15 a.m. ET Sept. 15, 2020

The 3 rules of crisis communications are: Be first. Be right. Be credible. Trump has been tested and condemned, by events and out of his own mouth.

Its been said that you should never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity. So I will take President Donald Trump at his word when he says he played down the threat of the coronavirus because he didn't want to "create a panic. Unfortunately, that makes Trump look worse, not better.

This isnt leadership. Its not even a parody of leadership. The three rules of crisis communications are: Be first. Be right. Be credible. In a crisis, a good leader lays out the facts, follows that up with a comprehensive plan, and then reassures everyone that, while it isnt going to be easy, we are going to pull together and beat this. Thats not the way President Trump does things though. In his mind, leadership is just like selling over-priced condos and calls for smoke and happy talk rather than honesty:"What we're doing is we're leading, and we're leading in a proper way." Trumps idea of leadership in a crisis is pretending that no crisis exists.

Is he right? How good has Trumps pandemic leadership been? Put aside all the arguments about travel bans and testing. Ignore all the charges and counter-charges about lockdowns and masks. There is a single chart that tells you everything you need to know about the pandemic for the presidential election.

Trumps press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, defended Trumps insistence on minimizing the threat of the pandemic by claiming, At a time when youre facing insurmountable challenges, its important to express confidence, its important to express calm. Except the coronavirus isnt an insurmountable challenge. Plenty of countries have surmounted it just fine, including Italy where chaos and inefficiency are so ingrained in the political culture that it is almost a point of national pride. And yes, schools will be opening all across Italy this month. The Italiansmanaged to get a handle on the coronavirus. We did not. And that is entirely down to a lack of effective leadership.

If youre forced to choose between an evil leader and a stupid one, pick the evil leader every time. Evil leaders might ignore your interests but theyll always look after their own. And sometimes, those interests might coincide with yours just by accident. Plus, you know an evil leader isnt going to blow himself up and you along with him through sheer incompetence.

'Deadly stuff': Donald Trump spills to Bob Woodward and strengthens the case against his reelection

Unfortunately, stupid is what were left with when we give Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt. Whatever you might think of his policies, hes just not up to leading the country in a crisis. Not only does he have awful judgment his decision to minimize the threat of the pandemic is estimated to have cost at least 54,000 lives he cannot comprehend the leadership skills necessary to communicate a plan and get the country behind it and pulling together. Hes been tested and condemned, not just by events, but out of his own mouth. Whatever you might think of his policies, hes the wrong man for the job.

President Donald Trump holds a 5-minute test for Covid-19 from Abbott Laboratories on March 30, 2020, at the White House in Washington, DC.(Photo: MANDEL NGAN, AFP via Getty Images)

When the chips are down, being president isnt about policies, its about good judgment and leadership. Fighting a pandemic ought to spark a moment of national unity. Just as in any natural disaster, there is a single goal whether you are a liberal or a conservative. That it has been allowed to devolve into a partisan food fight is entirely the responsibility of the man at the top and his inability to lead the country rather than divide it.

Credit where credit is due. Joe Biden gets this and he has no intention of turning the pandemic into a political football. Hes already spent six months quietly developing a comprehensive plan he can start implementing on Jan. 20. Perhaps best of all, to put this plan into action, hes assembled a pandemic war cabinet consisting of heavy hitters from both Republican and Democratic administrations.

Joe Biden: Trump is worst possible leader to deal with coronavirus outbreak

American presidents have a tradition of rising to meet their times. At the height of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt toldus that The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. He rose to the occasion again after the attack on Pearl Harbor with his A date which will live in infamy address to Congress. On 9/11, George W. Bush reassured a troubled nation that, Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. And how did Trump rally the country in the face of a deadly pandemic? Fake news!

If Trump were the CEO of a company that he didnt own outright, he would have been summarily fired for just a small fraction of the very bad judgment he has displayed in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Whether Trumps policies are good or bad, the country cant stand another four years of his ineptitude.Its time he spent more time with his family.

Republican Chris Truax, an appellate lawyer in San Diego, isCEO ofCertifiedVoter.com and a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors.

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Trump 'leads' like he's still selling over-priced condos. And his happy talk is killing us. - USA TODAY

COVID-19's enormous impact on Australia's aviation and tourism industries has been brought back into focus with Qantas reporting a $2 billion loss and issuing another warning about the resumption of international travel.

The Federal Government is also stepping up pressure on premiers over problems caused by state border closures, an issue that will be on the agenda at today's National Cabinet meeting.

So what's the latest and what can we expect today?

State border closures are becoming an increasingly heated national debate, with Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and business groups suggesting some are being driven by local politics.

They want National Cabinet to develop consistent guidelines on when borders should be opened or shut, arguing both travellers and the industry need more certainty.

It's not yet clear whether that will be raised in today's meeting but leaders will discuss problems experienced by border communities, such as difficulty accessing medical treatment and farmers being told to put their sheep on planes.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud warned the meeting will be a "flashpoint for the future of Australia's federation".

"Unless premiers commit to work with one another to find workable solutions to state border issues for regional Australians then they risk states becoming irrelevant to modern Australia," he said.

The Federal Government warns the rates of coronavirus overseas mean it's still too dangerous to allow widespread travel in and out of Australia.

"We are taking a very cautious approach," Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said.

"From where we are here today, we can't foresee the timetable by which international borders will be able to open."

Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham is still hopeful a travel bubble with New Zealand could be in place by the end of the year, despite the Auckland outbreak.

But New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has made it clear she won't be opening up corridors with other countries until they've had 28 days without any community transmission.

Mr Joyce said he was not expecting Qantas to start international flights again until mid-next year, while its United States routes may not resume until a coronavirus vaccine is found.

"The medical advice we have, a lot of the medical advice I think governments around the world are having, is that we potentially could see a vaccine by the middle, the end of next year and countries like the US may be the first country to have widespread use of that vaccine," he said.

"So that could mean that the US is seen as a market by the end of '21, hopefully that we could, dependent on a vaccine, start seeing flights again."

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), there are still nearly 19,000 Australians overseas who want to come home.

They're mostly in countries such as India, the Philippines and South Africa and several thousand are considered "vulnerable" because they're facing medical or financial difficulties.

Pressure on hotel quarantine systems has led to caps on overseas arrivals and DFAT said that has made it more difficult for Australians to get seats on limited flights.

It has provided emergency loans to help nearly 400 people book tickets but said it has "limited leverage" with airlines when it comes to getting people onto planes.

After almost six months living in the shadow of COVID-19, many Australians were hoping they'd be able to reunite with loved ones and take a much-needed break over summer.

With international travel highly unlikely by that point, and state borders still uncertain, the Government and tourism operators are urging people to holiday closer to home.

Mr Joyce said some domestic routes, such as Brisbane to Cairns and Perth to Broome, were booming compared to pre-COVID-19 levels.

But some in the industry warn many businesses will collapse if intrastate travel is the only thing trying to prop them up.

"Australians will not spend like interstate or even international visitors in their own backyard," John Hart from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry told a Senate committee this week.

Breaking down the latest news and research to understand how the world is living through an epidemic, this is the ABC's Coronacast podcast.

Margy Osmond from the Tourism and Transport Forum said many regional towns were still missing out or weren't prepared.

"Nobody seems prepared to drive more than four hours out of a capital city and in the main, it's only two to four hours out of a capital city," she said.

"Many of those places in the two- to four-hour zone don't normally see this volume of tourists, they haven't got anywhere near the kind of infrastructure to support it. Some of these places have got one public toilet."

Senator Birmingham conceded Christmas plans for many were unclear but said people should still turn their mind to where they'd like to go.

"I understand the hesitation that people have, but if you're not willing to book at this point in time, at least do some planning," he said.

"If you're fortunate enough to be able to afford that holiday and to undertake it safely, then you're not only going to have a great time but you will be helping to save the jobs of fellow Australians."

Aside from border issues, one of the main topics will be the impact COVID-19 is having on aged care facilities.

Leaders are expected to discuss the lessons learned from outbreaks in Victoria's aged care sector as well as their own response plans.

There'll also be an update on Australia's efforts to secure a coronavirus vaccine and briefings from Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe and Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy.

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Travel and coronavirus border closures on the agenda at National Cabinet after Qantas chief Alan Joyce's criticism - ABC News