CNBC’s worst-states-to-live-in list sent Republicans into a meltdown because every state in the bottom ten voted for Trump, but the raw data tells a more complicated story than the outrage machine wants. Red states often do have lower taxes and cheaper living costs, but the tradeoff shows up in lower median incomes, higher uninsured rates, higher poverty, and weaker public investment. Texas and Tennessee can be great for business, cheaper for rent, and still brutal when people need healthcare, schools, or a safety net.
"To attack library books, you're attacking the ability to learn, grow, think," said Missouri state Rep. Anthony Ealy (D), who introduced a bill this year to prohibit book bans in public libraries. It "has nothing to do with protecting kids."…
The 30.7% annual increase in ACA sign-ups comes as former President Trump's renewed calls for repeal have again raised doubts about the law's future...
It seems almost like a vast controlled experiment. Can enormous amounts of federal spending launched under President Biden, much of it destined for MAGA country, dampen the right-wing populist fervor unleashed by his predecessor Donald Trump?…
"Republicans seem to do a much better job of talking about stopping crime than stopping crime," said Jim Kessler, Third Way's EVP for policy, and an author of the report...
"The BBB would help Americans in every part of the country," Moller continued. "Some of these benefits go disproportionately to red states. Which means at the end of the day, Republicans are voting against helping families in these states."
... According to another attendee, it seemed "very clear" Kushner was less interested in finding a solution because, at the time, the virus was primarily ravaging cities in blue states: "We were flabbergasted. I basically had an out-of-body experience: Where am I, and what happened to America?"...
... "What you have going on here is smoke and mirrors," said Larry Hall, who retired last year as director of the Defense Production Act program division at FEMA. "You do not have a national strategy."...
... One attorney who worked at a private company that conferred with the government on procuring PPE described the Kushner team's interactions with colleagues as "off the books, completely irregular."...
... Despite Kushner's boasts, his more competent former roommate Boehler has been "super frustrated [with the] absolute ineptitude of the federal response," said a source in the private sector with whom he interacts frequently. "He's deeply troubled that it's such a mess."...