AM Quickie

About AM Quickie

The political stories and election updates you need to know to start your day- all in five minutes or less. Co Hosted by Sam Seder and Lucie Steiner. Powered by Majority.FM

Publisher

Majority.FM

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

21 May 2021

Latest episode

28 Jun 2021

Latest episodes

24 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   28 Jun 2021

   June 28, 2021: AM Quickie On Hiatus

   Folks! The AM Quickie podcast is taking a break. Take a listen for some important updates from Sam and Lucie about what the AMQ team will be doing to bring you the news in the meantime. Thanks so much for listening and for all your support! #leftisbest AM QUICKIE HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner WRITERS - Jack Crosbie & Cory Pein PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

2. 

   25 Jun 2021

   June 25, 2021: Biden Strikes Infrastructure Deal; Cause Unknown In Florida Condo Collapse; Vaccines Drive Down Covid Fatalities

   Welcome to Majority.FM (https://majorityreportradio.com/)'s AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop (https://justcoffee.coop/) TODAY'S HEADLINES: The Biden administration strikes its first significant deal with Republican members of Congress, and it’s for an infrastructure package. But progressive Democrats say the deal doesn’t offer enough to win their support. Meanwhile, the search for answers begins after a terrifying and sudden residential building collapse in Surfside, Florida. The death toll is uncertain but as many as ninety nine people are missing. And lastly, a new analysis of government data shows that almost everyone who’s dying of the coronavirus in the United States now is unvaccinated. Which means those deaths don’t need to happen at all. THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW: This report from the political sausage factory comes from the Washington Post. President Joe Biden signed off yesterday on a bipartisan agreement crafted by ten senators that would pump hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending into infrastructure projects across the country. We have a deal, Biden said alongside the five Democrats and five Republicans who had negotiated for weeks on a package to revitalize the nation’s road and transit systems, while upgrading broadband and investing in other public-works projects. The proposal was crafted by Senators Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio; Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona; and eight others in the Senate. The new agreement is nowhere near as expansive as the $2.2 trillion American Jobs Plan, Biden’s own infrastructure measure that he detailed in April. But Democratic leaders have made it clear that they hope to push through a separate package encompassing priorities such as climate initiatives, paid leave and expanded education. The Post says the bipartisan agreement will spend $973 billion over five years, with $579 billion of that being new spending. That includes $312 billion for transportation projects, $55 billion for water infrastructure and $65 billion for broadband. The Congressional Progressive Caucus polled its ninety five members on the infrastructure package and found a strong majority prepared to vote against the bill without a separate package that moves simultaneously and includes key priorities, such as funding for eldercare, expanding Medicare, and affordable housing. Because bipartisanship for bipartisanship’s sake helps no one – except a few politicians. Cause Unknown In Florida Condo Collapse This report of crumbling infrastructure comes from the Miami Herald. Lightning streaked the skies yesterday afternoon as search-and-rescue teams picked their way through a pile of rubble nearly two stories high – the remains of a collapsed twelve-story condo – hoping to hear the cries of survivors. As many as ninety nine people are reported missing. The oceanfront Champlain Towers South Condo crumpled with a bang a little after 1:30 am, trapping an unknown number of sleeping residents inside the wreckage. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava called it, "a terrible, terrible nightmare." Footage of the sudden collapse looked eerily similar to a demolition, minus the flash of explosives. The cause is unknown, with one expert deeming it "an oddity of biblical proportions." According to the Herald, nearly twelve hours after the collapse, the death toll was uncertain. Officials confirmed at least one death, and said thirty five people were pulled from the wreckage, with ten injured people treated at the scene and two sent to a hospital. Officials estimated that fifty five units were involved in the collapse. Surfside Commissioner Eliana Salzhauer said the building was undergoing a required forty-year recertification to ensure its structural integrity, and that the building’s roof was being redone. It is unknown if any construction activity contributed to the disaster. President Biden said it’s up to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to declare a state of emergency so federal resources, including FEMA help, can be deployed. Here’s hoping they find more survivors. Vaccines Drive Down Covid Fatalities We’re in a new phase. The Associated Press reports that nearly all Covid-19 deaths in the US now are in people who weren’t vaccinated. It is a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been. It’s also an indication that deaths per day – now down to under three hundred – could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine. An AP analysis of government data from May shows that breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated people accounted for fewer than twelve hundred of more than eight hundred and fifty three thousand Covid-19 hospitalizations. That’s about zero point one percent. The AP analyzed figures provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC Director Doctor Rochelle Walensky said on Tuesday that the vaccine is so effective that nearly every death, especially among adults, is, at this point, entirely preventable. She called such deaths particularly tragic. About sixty three percent of all vaccine-eligible Americans – those twelve and older – have received at least one dose, and fifty three percent are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Experts predict the preventable deaths will continue, with unvaccinated pockets of the nation experiencing outbreaks in the fall and winter. In Arkansas, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation – with only thirty three percent of the population fully protected – hospitalizations and deaths are rising. To the extent that people aren’t getting vaccinated because they can’t get paid time off, that must be addressed, so we can beat Covid once and for all. AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES: The Guardian reports that a First Nation in Canada’s Saskatchewan province is treating a defunct residential school as a crime scene following the discovery of seven hundred and fifty one unmarked graves. The total of unmarked graves discovered in the past month is about one thousand, with experts predicting more will come as provincial governments announce funding to help Indigenous communities conduct their own searches. This reckoning is long overdue. Politico reports that the Biden administration unveiled a raft of measures to prevent people who lost income during the pandemic from losing their homes yesterday, including by extending nationwide eviction and foreclosure bans until July 31st. Maybe it’s time to commit to keeping everyone in their homes permanently – sound good? According to the Washington Post, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced yesterday that the House will form a select committee to investigate the January 6th attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, one month after Senate Republicans blocked an effort to form a bipartisan commission. The panel will provide recommendations to prevent similar attacks in the future. Keeping Donald Trump’s movement far from power should help. The New York Times reports that Rudy Giuliani faces the possibility of disbarment after a court ruled yesterday that he made demonstrably false statements while fighting the results of the 2020 election on behalf of Trump. The New York State appellate court suspended Giuliani’s law license after finding he had sought to mislead judges, lawmakers and the public. Better late than never! AM QUICKIE - JUNE 25, 2021 HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner WRITER - Corey Pein PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

3. 

   24 Jun 2021

   June 24, 2021: Insurrectionist Takes Plea Deal; U.S. Will Probe Native Schools Abuses; Socialist Victorious In NY

   Welcome to Majority.FM (https://majorityreportradio.com/)'s AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop (https://justcoffee.coop/) TODAY'S HEADLINES: The wheels of justice keep turning for those charged in the January 6th assault on the US Capitol. An Indiana woman has become the first to be sentenced, and a member of the Oath Keepers pleads guilty while agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors. Meanwhile, following the grim discovery of hundreds of buried Indigenous children at residential schools in Canada, the United States government will investigate what happened to Native American children in this country. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced the historical probe this week. And lastly, a socialist nurse has defeated an entrenched Democratic machine candidate in the race for mayor in Buffalo, New York. Don’t call it a miracle – it’s a sign of the times. THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW: This courtroom update comes from the Associated Press. An Indiana woman yesterday became the first of nearly five hundred defendants to be sentenced for the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol – and she avoided time behind bars. Anna Morgan Lloyd of Indiana was ordered by a federal judge to serve three years of probation, perform one hundred and twenty hours of community service and pay $500 in restitution after admitting to entering the Capitol. She pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge under a deal with prosecutors. Lloyd, forty nine, apologized to the court, the American people, and her family. At her sentencing, Lloyd said she was ashamed the day became "a savage display of violence." In seeking probation for Lloyd, prosecutors noted that she was not involved in any violence and destruction. Lloyd was invited by her hairdresser to drive to Washington to hear Donald Trump speak. US District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said he was giving her a break, but didn’t want others to think that probation – and not a stiffer sentence – would be the norm. Also yesterday, the AP reports, Graydon Young, a member of the Oath Keepers extremist group, pleaded guilty to charges in the insurrection and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in a major step forward for the massive investigation into the insurrection. It was also the first guilty plea in the major conspiracy case brought against members of the Oath Keepers. Something tells me their sentences will be a bit stiffer. U.S. Will Probe Native Schools Abuses This look at our national traumas comes from the New York Times. The United States will search federal boarding schools for possible burial sites of Native American children, hundreds of thousands of whom were forcibly taken from their communities to be culturally assimilated in the schools for more than a century, the interior secretary announced on Tuesday. The initiative is likely to resemble a recent effort in Canada, where the discovery of the remains of two hundred and fifteen children at the site of a defunct boarding school rekindled discussion of the traumatic history and treatment of Native populations. Addressing a virtual conference of the National Congress of American Indians, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said the program would "shed light on the unspoken traumas of the past, no matter how hard it will be." The forced removals were a result of the Civilization Fund Act of 1819. In the years after the law was enacted, residential boarding schools were established across the nation and used to house relocated Indigenous children, suppressing American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian cultures. The Times says the new program, called the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, will identify the facilities and sites where there may have been student burials. It will also mine records that were kept by the department, which had oversight of the facilities. A final report will be sent to Secretary Haaland by April 1. And there’s no question it will make for painful but necessary reading. Socialist Victorious In New York Amazing news here, in case you missed it on the Majority Report. NBC News reports that a socialist candidate in Buffalo, New York, defeated the city’s four-term mayor in a major upset in Tuesday's Democratic primary. India Walton beat Mayor Byron Brown, fifty two percent to forty five percent, with one hundred percent of precincts reporting. The Associated Press called the race late yesterday morning. Walton told MSNBC yesterday, "I believe we won because we organized. We have a message of care love and hope that is resonant with working class Buffalo." If Walton, thirty nine, wins the general election in November, she will become the first socialist mayor of a large American city since 1960, when Frank Zeidler left office in Milwaukee. Her chances of winning are high since Buffalo hasn’t had a Republican mayor since 1965. According to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Walton is a a nurse and community organizer. She had the backing of the Democratic Socialists of America as well as the Working Families Party. She campaigned on a platform of boosting affordable housing in the city and reforming the criminal-justice system. Brown, a former state senator, had been entrenched as Buffalo's mayor since he was first elected in 2005. A longtime ally of Governor Andrew Cuomo, Brown served a stint as the chairman of the state Democratic Party before relinquishing the post in 2019. Now that’s one hell of an upset – and a big win for the American left! AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES: The Guardian reports that the antivirus software entrepreneur John McAfee has been found dead in his cell in Spain, hours after the country’s national court approved his extradition to the United States. He was wanted on tax-related criminal charges that carry a prison sentence of up to thirty years. The Spanish authorities say it was suicide. The Tampa Bay Times reports that Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed legislation that will require public universities to survey students, faculty and staff about their beliefs. The measure does not specify what will be done with the survey results. But DeSantis suggested budget cuts could be looming if universities are found to be "indoctrinating" students. As if he needed an excuse to make cuts! NBC News reports that the US Supreme Court yesterday limited the ability of union organizers to enter the private property of growers in order to reach farmworkers in California. In a six-three decision, the court said unions violate the Constitution when they enter a grower's private property without paying. Which is outrageous, because California enacted its rules on this because farmworkers often live on their employer’s property. According to CBS News, dozens of cows escaped a slaughterhouse in Southern California and roamed free for over an hour on Tuesday, injuring four people. One of the animals was fatally shot by deputies after authorities said it charged at a family. That ending is sad and somehow predictable, but at least those cows went down fighting. AM QUICKIE - JUNE 24, 2021 HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner WRITER - Corey Pein PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

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