Digital divide why is it a problem

The acting director of the Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday defended his agency’s decision to move its headquarters to Grand Junction in the face of criticisms that it will cause career employees to depart, will needlessly cost federal coffers and will harm tribal interests. “Nearly every Western state will realize significant benefits from this reorganization,” William Perry Pendley , a longtime Colorado resident and lawyer, told the House Natural Resources Committee. In mid-July, it was announced that BLM will move its headquarters and 27 top staffers to Grand Junction. Supporters of the plan, led by Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Yuma, say it moves decision-making closer to the federal lands that BLM oversees. Critics say the real goal is to cut the size of BLM, effectively weakening the public lands agency. “I don’t think it’s a question of distrust in the people of Grand Junction,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat who chairs the House Natural Resources … [Read more...] about Congress debates Bureau of Land Management move to Grand Junction

Herschel Walker with his buddy Donald Trump. Photo: Michael Reynolds/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock The last year in politics has been a living hell for Georgia Republicans. Comfortably ensconced as the Peach State’s dominant party since the early days of this century, the GOP managed to lose Georgia’s electoral votes for the first time since 1992, along with not one but two Senate seats and two House seats in their former suburban Atlanta stomping grounds. Worse yet, they emerged from the carnage deeply divided, with Donald Trump obsessed with vengeance against a Republican governor and secretary of state who did not facilitate his efforts to overturn Biden’s win. Could their salvation be in the familiar form of sports legend Herschel Walker? It’s now possible. Looking ahead to the 2022 midterms, Georgia Republicans face a very likely Trump-backed primary challenge to Governor Brian Kemp, with the winner then having to confront GOP nemesis Stacey Abrams, the voter-mobilization wizard … [Read more...] about Agonized Georgia Republicans Long for Herschel Walker

The conservative movement is keeping its mask off. Photo: Tom Brenner/REUTERS Less than two months after inciting an insurrection against the U.S. Congress, Donald Trump will reportedly declare himself the Republican Party’s “ presumptive 2024 nominee ” at this weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). And he won’t be wrong. Losing an election is typically enough to sour a party’s voters on its defeated standard-bearer. Fumbling a half-assed coup attempt is, in most countries, enough to get an ex-president imprisoned or even killed. But red America’s consummate “winner” has emerged from electoral and insurrectionary defeat with his grip on the GOP faithful intact. Last week, a Politico-Morning Consult poll found that 59 percent of Republican voters would like Trump to “play a major role” in their party going forward — up 18 points since January 7, the day after the Capitol Hill riot. The survey also found that a large plurality of GOP voters … [Read more...] about Trump’s Reconquest of the GOP May Have an Upside for Democracy

( CBS Detroit ) — A $1,400 third stimulus check is currently working its way through Congress as part of a $1.9 trillion relief package. The Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan, in its proposed form, also features better unemployment benefits, an improved child tax credit and a $15 minimum wage. These and other possible programs are meant to provide additional aid to millions of Americans dealing with economic hardship stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. How it evolves will determine how much money actually reaches people’s bank accounts in the coming months. President Biden and politicians from both sides of the aisle support giving Americans another stimulus check quickly. While Republicans have questioned other aspects of the plan — like the minimum wage hike — Democrats control both houses of Congress and are willing to pass stimulus legislation on a straight party-line vote. Budget reconciliation lets them sidestep the filibuster in the Senate and move the … [Read more...] about Stimulus Check Update: Why Your Next Relief Payment May Not Be $1,400

WASHINGTON - The United States must train its spies and intelligence analysts on the rising threat from China, U.S. President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the country’s premier spy agency told lawmakers Wednesday, calling competition from Beijing “the biggest geopolitical test that we face.” Former Ambassador William Burns, a career diplomat who served in Russia and the Middle East, shared the blunt assessment with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee during his confirmation hearing to lead the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), further warning that this new era of great power competition with Beijing may be like no other in U.S. history. “Competing China will be key to our national security in the decades ahead," Burns said, describing China’s leadership as both adversarial and predatory. "The evolution of [President] Xi Jinping's China over the last six or seven years has been a very sharp wake-up call,” he added. "It's the kind of aggressive, undisguised ambition and … [Read more...] about CIA Chief Nominee Warns of ‘Adversarial, Predatory’ China