Background Briefing: August 17, 2021
$2 Trillion Blindly Spent on Afghanistan While a Half is Hotly Debated in the Senate Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill We begin with the assurances coming from the Taliban that they will not engage in reprisal killings now that they have taken over Afghanistan but...
Background Briefing: August 16, 2021
Is What We are Seeing in Afghanistan an Intelligence Failure? We begin with the U.S.'s ignominious exit from Afghanistan underway at the Kabul airport where 6,000 U.S. troops are protecting diplomats, contractors and Afghans who worked for the American...
Background Briefing: August 15, 2021
The Democrats Are Running Out of Time to Stop Massive GOP Voter Suppression We begin with the possibility that time will run out for the Democrats before they pass laws to stop the enormous and comprehensive campaign of voter suppression underway by the...
Background Briefing: August 12, 2021
The U.S. Asks the Taliban Not to Sack Our Embassy in Kabul We begin with the U.S. asking the Taliban for assurances they will not sack the American Embassy in Kabul and slaughter our diplomats and Marines as it becomes more and more apparent that the Taliban...
Background Briefing: August 11, 2021
Now That Cuomo is Gone, Time to Save Newsom We begin with the end of a problem in New York and the beginning of one in California and speak with Harold Meyerson, a contributor to The Los Angeles Times and editor-at-large with The American Prospect where he has...
Background Briefing: August 10, 2021
19 Senate Republicans Vote For an Infrastructure Bill the House Will Put on Hold We begin with the bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed the senate today with 19 Republicans joining all the Democrats and speak with David Dayen, the Executive Editor of The...
Background Briefing: August 8, 2021
The Latest U.N. Climate Report is Beyond Alarming We begin with today's alarming report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which finds that within the next two decades temperatures are likely to rise by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above...
Background Briefing: August 8, 2021
Our Broken Senate's Pyrrhic Victory Today We begin with the Senate back in session on Sunday after overcoming the filibuster threshold handily, with amendments being debated and pressure on Republicans from McConnell not to pass what he calls a far-left...
Background Briefing: August 5, 2021
The DOJ and Senators Stop a Saudi Lawsuit That Would Expose State Secrets We begin with the fear that states secrets will be exposed in a lawsuit the Saudis have brought against a former top Saudi intelligence official Saad Aljabri and speak with Dr. Ben...
Background Briefing: August 4, 2021
Biden Revives the Eviction Moratorium with Unspent Money For Tenants and Landlords Already in the Pipeline We begin with a revival of the CDC's eviction moratorium via a Presidential Executive Order which apparently was in response to demonstrations on the...