Politics for Dummies North by Northwestern

Episode Notes
Note: Since the filming of this podcast, the stimulus package has been passed by the Senate, and now is going back to the House of Representatives for final approval.
[00:00] [Intro Music]
[00:11] Jimmy: Hello! Welcome back to NBN politics. For those of you that don’t want to scroll through 1,000 Google pages on the latest political news, we’re here to give you the Sparknotes version.
[00:25] I’m Jimmy.
[00:26] Ali: And I’m Ali.
[00:27] Jimmy: And we’re your co-hosts. This week we are diving into the third, and most recent stimulus package! Will we be getting the stimulus checks everyone’s been talking about?
[00:35] Ali: The House just passed a $1.9 trillion stimulus package called the American Rescue Plan to help families that are struggling because of COVID-19.
[00:45] The bill includes a child tax credit, which basically means families could receive over $3,000 from the IRS per child.
[00:50] It also includes housing assistance, where $30 billion is being invested in helping people pay their rent, and another $5 billion to prevent COVID outbreaks in homeless communities. But, it doesn’t extend the national eviction moratorium, which temporarily stopped landlords from evicting tenants during the pandemic. 
[01:08] The bill includes a third stimulus payment for $1,400, and this time adult dependents can get one too. College students? You get money! People with disabilities who are dependents? You get money! Elderly dependents? You too get money!
[01:24] But, it's not as much money as Biden promised. On the campaign trail, Biden was promising $2,000 dollar stimulus checks.
[01:30] In unveiling the plan, Biden said, “We will finish the job of getting a total of $2,000 in cash relief to people who need it the most.” Some argue that the $1,400 is a supplement to the $600 payments given out in January, but some congressional democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Cory Booker are calling Biden out on Twitter for not actually holding up his promises.
[01:55] The American Rescue plan also includes unemployment insurance, so unemployed people get $400 a week. And, it extends key unemployment programs until August 29. It includes $20 billion for a COVID vaccine program, and $50 billion for testing.
[02:09] Basically, you’re getting money. But, the amount of money you’re getting may vary based on your income. The good thing is, there’s a bunch of calculators and things online to help you find out how much you might be getting. It’s just a Google search away.
[02:20] Now the question is: when is the bill going to be enacted? What happens next? What exactly is the process for enacting a bill like this?
[2:27] Jimmy: The bill first went to the House of Representatives, where it passed by 219-212 votes. All Republicans, along with two Democrats, voted against the bill. 
[02:38] The Democrats also tried to include a minimum wage bill in the stimulus package. If this bill was passed, it would increase the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour, which is more than double the current minimum wage.
[02:52] Now, including the bill in the stimulus package would make it much easier to pass because it would only require a simple majority of votes, which is 50 or more senators of the 100 person Senate. The process that is usually required for passing legislation would’ve required 60 votes instead.
[03:08] However, this minimum wage bill was struck down before it could be voted on in the Senate. The Senate parliamentarian, whose job is to help interpret the rules and precedents in the Senate, ruled that the bill could not be included in the stimulus package because it does not have a big enough impact on the budget.
[03:23] Lawmakers will start the process of amending, or making changes to, the stimulus bill. They will debate about bill details before the bill moves to the Senate for a vote. 
[03:32] Now a key date in mind is March 14 because that’s the day federal unemployment benefits e

Episode Notes
[00:00] [Intro Music]
[00:09] Jimmy: Hello! Welcome back to NBN Politics. This year we’re changing it up and giving you only the essentials. For those of you that don’t want to scroll through 1,000 Google pages on the latest political news, we’re here to give you the SparkNotes version. 
[00:25] I’m Jimmy.
[00:27] Ali: And I’m Ali.
[00:28] Jimmy: And we’re your co-hosts. This week we are tackling the SECOND impeachment of Donald Trump. Yep, there’s two. So what exactly is impeachment?
[00:36] Ali: Well, impeachment in the constitution is actually really simple. If the president commits a high crime or misdemeanor, then the House has a huge vote to impeach, and then the Senate does a trial. 
[00:45] Now, the House only has power of impeachment. That means everyone in the House of Representatives votes on the Articles of Impeachment, and the trial gets passed onto the Senate, which can convict the president. 
[00:57] Impeachment has been used really rarely in the past and no president has ever been removed from office. But a lot of lawmakers are arguing that during the Trump administration, the process of impeachment has become a political strategy. 
[01:09] The tricky part of impeachment is the “high crime or misdemeanor.” So it’s on the burden of the Senate to prove whether or not a high crime or misdemeanor was actually committed by the president. 
[01:18] Now, the big question is, didn’t Trump already get impeached? 
[1:21] Jimmy: Well yes Ali, Trump already got impeached for a first time on December 18, 2019. The issue concerning the first impeachment started once a whistleblower accused Trump of withholding aid to Ukraine in order to pressure the Ukranian leader to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Trump was trying to get an advantage in his reelection, and further evidence included a phone call of Trump requesting the investigation. 
[01:45] Now, the House of Representatives voted on two Articles of Impeachment: Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress. And since at this time, the House was predominantly Democrats, both articles passed. The Abuse of Power article passed with a 230-197 vote while the Obstruction of Congress article passed with a 229-198 vote. Thus, Trump was impeached, making him the third president in history to get impeached. 
[02:09] Now, once the articles moved onto the Republican controlled Senate neither of them were able to be passed. You need a two thirds majority in order to convict and that capacity was not reached. The Abuse of Power article failed to pass by a 48-52 vote while the Obstruction of Congress article failed to pass by a 47-53 vote. 
[02:26] But now Donald Trump is on trial again. What does this mean? What's he on trial for? Can he even be impeached or convicted if he’s not president anymore?
[2:34] Ali: Well, these are all good questions. Trump is accused of treason for inciting violence against the federal government. This is all in reference to the riots that occured on January 6. After the presidential election, many Trump supporters didn’t believe the election results. They agreed to a mass protest at the capital and ended up turning violent. 
[02:55] Now, this became a huge issue of contention between the Democrats and the Republicans, with the Democrats saying that the denial of the results by Trump, him pressuring the Georgia Secretary of State to "find" additional votes and encouraging protesters, endangered the security of the government. 
[03:08] Thus, the Article of Impeachment that was introduced was based on Incitement of Insurrection. Now the exact Article of Impeachment reads, quote, “He reiterated false claims that we won this election and we won it by a landslide. He also willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged and foreseeably resulted in lawless action at the capital such as ‘If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.’” 
[03:33] Now, the Senate

Episode Notes
Coronavirus Updates
The WHO has now reported that more than 90,000 people have been infected by the COVID-19 virus, with the global death toll rising above 3,000. Cases have spread in recent days to Oman, India, Qatar, France, and Iran, where 77 people have died from the virus. After the first death was recorded in the U.S. in Washington state earlier this week, state officials have now confirmed six deaths, and the virus has spread to at least fifteen states. Federal employees who visited infected patients in California did not follow proper safety procedures, one whistleblower reports, as they took commercial flights and were not tested after leaving the quarantine sites. The CDC encountered problems developing diagnostic testing for the virus, and President Trump is facing backlash for appointing Mike Pence chief of a new coronavirus task force.

U.S.-Taliban Negotiations
The U.S. government signed a deal with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar this week to withdraw all U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan within 14 months, conditional upon the Taliban not allowing terrorist groups such as al Qaeda to operate under its control. The U.S. currently has around 12,000 troops in the country and will incrementally draw that count down over the next year. The Taliban also agreed to a prisoner exchange with the Afghan government, releasing Afghan security personnel while receiving Taliban government prisoners, but the Afghan president has rejected that exchange. Talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government are expected to begin this week.

Weinstein Verdict
Harvey Weinstein was convicted of criminal sexual assault and rape in the third degree, with an expected sentencing of five to twenty-nine years. He was acquitted of three other charges, but after five days of deliberation at the New York Supreme Court, the jurors rendered their verdict. A dozen victims of Weinstein’s conduct testified during the trial, and the verdict seen as progress in creating criminal accountability for acts of sexual misconduct and assault that have come to light over the past two years. Weinstein now waits in Rikers Island, but he also will face additional charges in Los Angeles, where prosecutors have filed charges for sexual battery and rape related to eight allegations.

2020 Primary
A chaotic debate took place on Tuesday. Joe Biden won big in South Carolina on Saturday. Amy Klobuchar and Mayor Pete dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden. Nonvoters in battleground states may actually prefer Trump over a Democratic candidate. For more on the 2020 primary, check out our 2020 Fever podcast.

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Episode Notes
Trump Pardons
President Trump granted clemency to 11 individuals on Tuesday, some of whom had been convicted of crimes ranging from tax fraud to obstructing an investigation to money laundering. The series of pardons and commutations was extended to several people who had historic ties to Trump, his business, and his family. However, those receiving clemency also included several people who had been serving long prison sentences for drug crimes, a seeming extension of Trump’s support for the First Step Act.

Trump in India
President Trump was in India this week, as he was welcomed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to messages of “Namaste Trump.” The president was greeted with enormous fanfare as he spoke at a cricket stadium in front of 100,000 people and posed with his wife in front of the majestic Taj Mahal. However, clashes between Hindus and Muslims took place during the president’s visit, and the violence has resulted in at least 20 confirmed dead. Trump was not able to secure any broad trade deals as the administration may have hoped, only committing to sell limited military equipment to India.

Democratic Primary
Democratic presidential candidates had a heated debate on Tuesday roiled by politicians talking over each other and moderators desperately trying to retain control of the room. Bernie Sanders faced confrontations about his record on socialist foreign leaders and the costs of his plans, while former Mayor Bloomberg heard continued criticism from Senator Elizabeth Warren about his nondisclosure agreements. Check on 2020 Fever for more information on the primary.

Negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan
The U.S. has been in continual talks with the Taliban, agreeing to a reduction of hostilities this week. Though a few violent episodes have occurred, the reduction has largely held. The Taliban and U.S. hope to reach an agreement that results in the Taliban denouncing al Qaeda while the U.S. draws down and eventually pulls out troops. However, this negotiation is complicated by the absence of the Afghan government, which is divided after recent election results.

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Episode Notes
Attorney General William Barr has faced escalating scrutiny this week as his Department of Justice lowered an initial sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone, who was convicted in November of witness tampering as well as lying to and obstructing Congress. The DOJ intervened after prosecutors initially recommended seven to nine years, saying they would seek a shorter sentence just hours after President Trump tweeted deriding the seven to nine year recommendation. Perceived DOJ interference prompted four prosecutors to leave the case and one to resign from his position as a federal prosecutor. Over 1,100 former prosecutors submitted a letter calling for Barr’s resignation in the wake of this event.

A public feud between Barr and Trump has drawn attention this week to the relationship between the president and his DOJ. Barr was criticized during the Mueller probe for not recusing himself from the Mueller special counsel investigation. While some see Barr as a staunch Trump ally, Barr lashing out at the president’s tweets has been alternately perceived as either real frustration at presidential interference or a mere attempt to preserve an image of DOJ independence.

The coronavirus death toll has risen to over 1,700 people, and over 70,000 have reportedly been infected. The virus has spread mostly within China, but other countries are seeing cases arise as well. A cruise ship with over 300 Americans on it had been quarantined off the coast of Japan for potential contamination, and the U.S. government decided to fly those Americans to the U.S. to military bases. Fourteen of these Americans tested positive for coronavirus, bringing confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. to 29.

The House passed a resolution on Thursday removing the deadline for states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The amendment, which originally passed the House and Senate in 1971 and 1972, respectively, asserts that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied… on account of sex.” In 1972, Congress set 1982 as the deadline for 38 states to ratify the amendment to put it into effect. Virginia only became the 38th state to ratify in January of this year. Thus, this House resolution seeks to retroactively eliminate the 1982 deadline so that the ERA can become law.

Russia and the Assad regime have escalated bombing in the last rebel enclave of Idlib in Syria, and the Syrian government has asserted near complete control over the region of Aleppo. This escalation comes after Syrian troops killed eight Turkish soldiers last week, pitting Russia and Turkey against each other in a proxy-style conflict. Negotiations are set to occur between Turkish and Russian leaders on Monday, with the deescalation of violence on the agenda.

Finally, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has gained momentum in the Democratic primary race. Several congressional candidates that he has previously given money to have come out in support of him, and he is using his vast personal wealth to fund a flurry of TV ads and even meme content. For more news and updates about the presidential primary and campaign season, check out the 2020 Fever podcast from NBN here.

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