President Joe Biden (photo via campaign) Economists at Goldman Sachs have forecast the unemployment rate dropping to as low as 4.1 percent by the end of the year. Via The Hill:
The research outlook suggests that as the virus recedes, many of the industries that have been stuck in limbo such as leisure and hospitality will spring back to life, and workers who have been on the sidelines will make their way back to the job market.
Ultimately, the bank forecasts that unemployment will drop to 3.2 percent by 2024. If that were to happen, it would surpass the 50-year record set in the Trump administration, notching a significant win for President Biden and boosting his chances for reelection.
But the research note also pointed out that generous unemployment benefits approved in the $1.9 trillion relief plan may play a role in pushing the recovery toward the end of the year.
Champ and Major have Oval Office walk-in privileges (photo: WhiteHouse/Flickr) Some news items you might have missed: • White House: It looks like Champ and Major Biden (above) have Oval Office walk-in privileges. Great to see dogs in the White House again 🙂 • BBC: Olympic champion figure skater Eric Radford tells BBC Sport that he felt as though “someone had taken invisible bricks off his shoulders” when he came out and that becoming the first openly gay male Winter Olympics champion in 2018 made him “explode with pride.” • NowThis News: Dr. Anthony Fauci reflects on the U.S. surpassing 500k COVID-19 deaths and how political polarization contributed to the tragic milestone.
• Edge Media: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg shares his thoughts on being a member of both the LGBTQ and faith communities, and essentially how the divide between the two can be bridged. • Gay City News: Check out this report on Black/queer-owned businesses, the obstacles they might face – plus 12 brands you can support right now. • Raw Story: It appears the notorious ‘eye-gouger’ who allegedly beat a Capitol Police officer with a pipe at the violent invasion of the U. S. Capitol building is a former NYPD cop. • Instagram: RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Ross Matthews announced today that he recently got engaged to his boyfriend, Dr. Wellington García. Congratulations to the happy couple!
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President Joe Biden Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau didn’t hold back during his first virtual meeting with President Joe Biden today. From the Washington Post:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greeted Biden like an old friend, took a tacit swipe at former president Donald Trump and said he was glad to have a partner on climate change again during the leaders’ first virtual bilateral meeting.
“U.S. leadership has been sorely missed over the past years,” Trudeau said, referring to his strained relationship with Trump.
This was Biden’s first bilateral meeting with a foreign leader, signaling the importance of America’s relationship with its neighbor to the north. “I look forward to seeing you in person in the future,” Biden told Trudeau. “The United States has no closer friend than Canada.”
Trudeau to POTUS in opening bilat comments: “We’ll also be talking about climate change. And thank you again for stepping up in such a big way on tacking climate change. U.S. leadership has been sorely missed over the past, uh, past years.”
The Trump-Trudeau relationship was a bitter one. Trump called him “weak” and “dishonest,” and after Trudeau was seen mocking him to others, “two-faced.” In the words of @Kevinliptakcnn, “that is not likely to occur” when Biden and Trudeau meet today.https://t.co/QVjH0rASRn
President Joe Biden (image via Twitter/POTUS) President Biden has issued a major disaster declaration for Texas unlocking more federal resources to assist the state. Biden also announced plans to visit the state next week. The president signaled he didn’t want a presidential arrival to interfere or burden the current rescue/repair efforts. From CNBC:
President Joe Biden has approved a major disaster declaration for Texas as the state grapples with widespread power outages and water shortages amid freezing winter conditions, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced on Saturday.
The action unlocks federal funding for individuals in Texas, grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses.
The declaration also provides funding for cost-sharing with state and local governments and some private nonprofit organizations for emergency protective measures and hazard mitigation measures. Dozens of counties will be able to access the aid.
After approving an emergency declaration several days ago, President Biden has now declared a “major disaster” exists in Texas and is sending more federal assistance, per WH. Assistance can include grants for temporary housing, home repairs & low-cost loans for uninsured property
Two questions: do supporters of Texas’ secession from the US oppose disaster aid from the US federal government?Does Texas AG Ken Paxton, who joined case to overturn the election, consider President Biden’s emergency declaration for the state illegitimate?
I applaud Congressman David Cicilline and the entire Congressional Equality Caucus for introducing the Equality Act in the House of Representatives yesterday, and I urge Congress to swiftly pass this historic legislation.
Every person should be treated with dignity and respect, and this bill represents a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all.
Full equality has been denied to LGBTQ+ Americans and their families for far too long. Despite the extraordinary progress the LGBTQ+ community has made to secure their basic civil rights, discrimination is still rampant in many areas of our society.
The Equality Act provides long overdue federal civil rights protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, locking in critical safeguards in our housing, education, public services, and lending systems — and codifying the courage and resilience of the LGBTQ+ movement into enduring law.
On my first day in office, I was proud to sign an Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation. I directed agencies to implement the Supreme Court’s Bostock ruling, and fully enforce Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.
Now, it’s time for Congress to secure these protections once and for all by passing the Equality Act — because no one should ever face discrimination or live in fear because of who they are or whom they love.
The Equality Act, formally reintroduced in the House on Thursday, would ban anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination throughout the nation. The act would amend existing civil rights laws to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The legislation passed in the House in 2019 with a bipartisan 236-173 vote but was never given a vote in the Senate. (via WhiteHouse.gov)
President Biden told reporters on Thursday the federal government has now purchased an additional 200 million doses of vaccine to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Biden said the U.S. is on track to have enough supply of the vaccine for 300 million Americans by the end of July which works out to approximately 600 million doses. “We need more people to get vaccinated to beat this pandemic,” Biden said Thursday. “We’ve now purchased enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all Americans, and now we’re working to get those vaccines into the arms of people.”
BREAKING—new Biden announcement, “Just this afternoon we signed final contracts for 100 million more Moderna & 100 million more Pfizer vaccines.”
President Joe Biden speaks with Norah O’Donnell of CBS News In a his first sit-down interview since taking office, President Biden shared with Norah O’Donnell of CBS News that his administration was disappointed to learn that the Trump administration had far fewer doses of COVID-19 vaccine available than previously thought. “One of the disappointments was, when we came office, is the circumstance relating to how the [previous] administration was handling COVID – it was even more dire than we thought,” said the president. “They indicated there was a lot more vaccine available and it didn’t turn out to be the case.” The president went on to say he has ordered vaccine makers to ramp up production, and he’s received the ok from National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell to use all NFL stadiums as mass vaccination sites.
President Joe Biden President Joe Biden issued a presidential memorandum on Thursday aimed at promoting and protecting LGBTQ rights abroad. From the White House, the memorandum reads, in part:
“All human beings should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear no matter who they are or whom they love. Around the globe, including here at home, brave lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) activists are fighting for equal protection under the law, freedom from violence, and recognition of their fundamental human rights.
“The United States belongs at the forefront of this struggle — speaking out and standing strong for our most dearly held values. It shall be the policy of the United States to pursue an end to violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics, and to lead by the power of our example in the cause of advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons around the world.
“Through this memorandum, I am directing all agencies engaged abroad to ensure that United States diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons.”
The memorandum goes on to list specific actions to be taken abroad: 1. Combating Criminalization of LGBTQI+ Status or Conduct Abroad. 2. Protecting Vulnerable LGBTQI+ Refugees and Asylum Seekers. 3. Foreign Assistance to Protect Human Rights and Advance Nondiscrimination. 4. Swift and Meaningful United States Responses to Human Rights Abuses of LGBTQI+ Persons Abroad. 5. Building Coalitions of Like-Minded Nations and Engaging International Organizations in the Fight Against LGBTQI+ Discrimination. 6. Rescinding Inconsistent Policies and Reporting on Progress. During the presidential campaign, Biden made promoting and protecting LGBTQ rights abroad a key issue in his LGBTQ platform. Read the full memorandum at WhiteHouse.gov.
President Biden issues a historic memorandum committing the US to promote LGBTQ rights on the international stage. https://t.co/BMkfxEwCcM
President Joe Biden (image via Twitter/POTUS) After meeting with Senate Republicans, President Biden’s signaled he’s considering targeting stimulus checks to Americans to only low- and middle-income families. From the Washington Post:
Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress argue a third round of stimulus checks is necessary to ensure people who have lost their jobs or taken a pay cut still have enough money to buy food, pay rent and get the medical care they need during a pandemic. But the White House has signaled the president is willing to narrow who gets them, sending checks only to low- and moderate-income families this time around.
Individuals with incomes up to $50,000 would get the full $1,400 payment. Heads of household earning up to $75,000 would also qualify, and married couples with earnings up to $100,000 would get a $2,800 payment. (Past stimulus checks were based off of “adjusted gross income,” and that is likely to be the same again).
(image via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Eles Quintero (above) snaps this relaxed selfie as we slide into the weekend. Follow him on Instagram here. • The Advocate: Sixty corporations, including Papa John’s and Chipotle, improved their LGBTQ policies in 2020 to a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s latest Corporate Equality Index. • Edge Media: An 8 year-old girl in Oklahoma was expelled from her Christian school for telling another girl she had a crush on her. • NowThis News: In his first major outing since his inauguration, President Joe Biden visited wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
• My Central Jersey: Frederick Gattuso, 43, was arrested and charged with one count of third-degree fraudulent voting. Gattuso, a Republican, was charged after an investigation by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office determined Gattuso allegedly voted twice in the 2020 election. • ABC News: More voter fraud – this time in Pennsylvania, and yes, he was a Republican. A criminal complaint alleges a South Park man submitted a mail-in ballot for November’s election in the name of his wife who had died seven years earlier. • Twitter: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on QAnon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) calling the Parkland shooting a ‘false flag’ event: “Anyone suggesting it was fake is either deranged or a sadist.”
I asked Senator Rubio for his thoughts on those like Greene who think Parkland really wasn’t a school shooting. He told me, “Parkland was a real tragedy in which real parents lost real children. Anyone suggesting it was fake is either deranged or a sadist https://t.co/l1L5XLBiFl
