Left, Right & Center

The holidays are coming and so is the omicron wave. Well, that’s not great timing. Booster shots will help, and so many people have some immunity already from two doses of vaccine and/or prior infection. But we don’t have all the tools we might like to protect ourselves against a great deal of sickness and possible death. Josh Barro, Ross Douthat and Elizabeth Bruenig talk about living with the threat of illness and the different reactions at the extremes from right and left.

Then: Democrats’ spending plans have stalled and Senate Democrats are now saying they’re turning to voting rights, another legislative priority that’s also stalled. Are they just done with legislating for the year? Ross Douthat wrote a column this week on the New New Right: what they stand for, and whether voters will be attracted to their positions.

We’re in this for the long haul. As the omicron variant spreads throughout the country, one of the best tools we have in our arsenal are at-home rapid tests. But right now, they’re way too expensive and maybe out of stock at your local CVS. Is there a better way to do this? Probably, but it’ll require a lot more creativity from the Biden administration. Tests are free and plentiful elsewhere -- why shouldn’t tests be sent to every American?

From complaining about tests to complaining about Congress: the House passed a convoluted bill this week to raise the debt limit and hopefully prevent future government shutdowns, and the Build Back Better plan is still stuck in Congress because Joe Manchin wants fewer things done better, and it appears Mitch McConnell agrees with this too. Can Democrats find the middle ground between their welfare state goals and moderate policy objectives?

Our special guest this week is Paul D. Miller on the Summit For Democracy President Biden has convened, and what, if anything, can come out of a meeting of a global leaders on Zoom. What’s particularly striking about this summit is that it comes at a time where Russian troops are amassing at the Ukrainian border, and China is still in an aggressive posture toward Taiwan. What is the line the United States should draw that, if crossed, would trigger action?

Plus, Ross assails an assailing critique of the media, Liz is covered in puke and calling for family leave, and Josh says if you insist on using the term Latinx, you’re not doing your homework.

A new Greek letter is on the mind this week: Omicron. New cases of the variant have been popping up all over the world, prompting travel restrictions and renewed calls for eligible adults to get their COVID booster shots.

We’ve been through this at least a couple of times already with the Beta and Delta variants – so how should the Biden administration react to this latest variant? What’s in his power to change? Can he effectively work with a slow-moving FDA and CDC and return to the back-to-normal politics that made him popular at the beginning of the year? And is it really that big of a deal that we might have to get booster shots to be considered fully vaccinated? We discuss.

Next: the pandemic has a huge political cost, which Democrats are desperately trying to avoid in the midterms next year. How can they get to some semblance of normal without alienating people who prefer to be more cautious? Does the answer lie in extending pandemic safety measures or is it in quickly approving antiviral pills, which have lots of potential to reduce hospitalizations? And why does this pandemic feel like a really bad episode of House?

Emily Bazelon joins the panel this week to talk about oral argument at the Supreme Court on Mississippi’s ban on abortion after the fifteenth week of pregnancy. After this week, it looks like the court is likely to overturn Roe. What did we learn at oral argument and what’s the future of abortion law in the US?

And finally: why Fauci really should be talking to Fox News, the discovery of diseases needs to be separate from moral judgment, and why “affordable fourplexes” just mean zero housing.

Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted on all counts in a Kenosha courtroom this week, successfully asserting self-defense against two counts of murder. Whether Rittenhouse committed a crime and whether he acted in a morally acceptable manner are two separate questions. Are Americans separating them appropriately? Josh Barro, Elizabeth Bruenig and Ross Douthat discuss the discourse: why have conservatives been rallying around Rittenhouse? Is vigilante justice conservative? Have certain voices on the left come to regret defending rioting and property damage last summer?

Then: Serge Schmemann joins the panel to talk about Havana Syndrome, the mysterious illness affecting more than 200 U.S. service personnel, mostly posted abroad. Sufferers say they’re experiencing ringing in the ears and a feeling of pressure in the head, among various other symptoms. Could this be the product of some secret Russian microwave gun? Or is it actually just a mass psychogenic illness caused by stress? And is the political infighting around the illness just a distraction from finding a way to help the afflicted?

Finally: we take a deep dive into Ross Douthat’s new book about his experience with chronic Lyme disease. Why has the disease become so controversial?

All that plus why turkeys are bad, why too-long blockbuster movies are even worse, and why it’s good Jerome Powell will stay at the Fed.

New infrastructure law just dropped. President Biden got to celebrate one of the biggest infrastructure spending bills of the past decade, while Republicans vented at each other about giving Democrats a (very expensive) win. Political showmanship aside, Biden’s poll numbers aren’t budging. Josh Barro, Elizabeth Bruenig and Tim Carney discuss the deal, if it will help Democrats, and how much will it help American households and the economy?

Next on the show: who should get COVID booster shots? Some states are doing away with eligibility requirements entirely and asking everybody past that six-month mark to get a booster. On the federal level, guidelines remain convoluted – for example, you qualify for one if you were ever a smoker, depressed, or work in education, among other factors. What makes sense for guidance on this and mask mandates, and how does Pfizer’s new antiviral pill change the pandemic response?

Our special guest this week is Ali Wyne, a senior analyst at Eurasia Group’s Global Macro Practice. He’s on the show to help us understand the implications of President Biden’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Monday (if you can call a Zoom meeting a summit). The meeting comes at a time of high tension between the two countries over human rights, trade and Taiwan – and also as they try to figure out how to work together on climate change.

Finally, a very special announcement from Josh.

Inflation is at its highest in nearly three decades and that has big potential costs, but how much is it really under his control? Josh Barro, Elizabeth Bruenig and Ross Douthat kick around some ideas the president could try, whether it’s a good idea to try them now, and how to fix the persistent weirdness in the American economy since the pandemic.

Next: already it seems Democrats are recalibrating some positions since Glenn Youngkin’s win in Virginia. The panel discusses voters’ skepticism for politics and politicians when it seems like they’re holding the ball on their true policy views, and if Republicans have picked a sustainable position on education.

Our special guest this week is Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who has a new book, “Integrity Counts,” about the now-famous phone call he received from President Trump about “finding” votes to put him ahead of Biden in Georgia. He tells the panel why he thinks the system isn’t as broken as the right and left claim. Secretary Raffensperger also talks about Georgia’s new voting law.

Finally: devastating conspiracy theories about an already devastating tragedy in Houston; a rant about reactions to the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial, and why you should leave your very personal aspects of your life in the private sphere...not in a national publication.

It’s been a rough week for Democrats. They lost a governor’s race in Virginia and just barely held on in New Jersey – and even in New York City, Democrats lost city council seats to Republicans. What does this national rejection mean for the midterm elections, and how did things go so wrong for them?

First, we discuss why Glenn Youngkin won in a remarkably high turnout election in Virginia, and what was behind his gains in the suburbs and in diverse, historically Democratic cities. Did Donald Trump’s endorsement play into it? Was it a bad strategic move for his Democratic opponent to compare him to the former president? Also on the show: why Youngkin’s more centrist than the media says he is, and how his campaign on education was about a lot more than critical race theory. 

The panel talks through local races across the country and what they say about the issues voters care about. Voters in Minneapolis and St. Paul voted to establish rent control, and Boston elected a progressive mayor. Are places that aren’t seeing a surge in crime and unrest actually more likely to want progressive policies? What does this mixed bag of results mean for the left?

Plus, your weekly infrastructure update: Congress is very, very close to passing this bill (again). There’s also a new (Liz says worse) resurrection of a paid leave program. But with the scores from this week’s election, how much are voters counting on Democrats and President Biden to “build back better”?

Finally: Sean Trende wants you to read Ulysses and if you’re incensed by “let’s go, Brandon,” Liz and Josh implore you to chill out.

President Biden returned to Capitol Hill one more time...with a framework of what’s supposed to be in the big spending package, for real this time.

What’s in: child care, universal pre-kindergarten and a tax credit for parents, big spending on climate change policies and more subsidies for people to buy health insurance.

What’s out: a heavily hacked-at paid leave program.

Is this the final-final-final deal? Will Democrats agree on it? And what about the pay-fors? Who’s rich enough to face a higher tax rate under this plan? And what about the cliffs and sunsets in this package? Many of these programs are currently temporary programs. Democrats are betting they’ll be popular and Republicans will have no choice but to extend them. Josh Barro, Tim Carney, Liz Bruenig and special guest Matt Bruenig (it’s Take Your Husband On LRC today) look at the big picture of this proposed social safety net.

Then: national attention has turned to the Virginia governor’s race next week, and much of that attention and local attention has revolved around schools: mask mandates, vaccine mandates, curriculum, assigned books and more.

Finally: subsidizing the wealthiest, which end-of-the-year holiday Liz considers a bump in the road, and $5 gas in West Hollywood.

For Democrats negotiating the Build Back Better plan, bad news is good news: because every disagreement means they’re a step closer to passage. But to get there, they’ll have to combine changes that satisfy both Joe Manchin and many Democrats’ least favorite Democrat, Kyrsten Sinema.

What’s driving their motivations to block the bill from passing? Where are the hard asks? Could Sinema just be trying to fill up her campaign coffers by protecting big business interests, and what happens if she gets primaried? We discuss.

Next: climate action policies are a major plank of Biden’s agenda and there’s a lot of agreement that it’s needed. Are these the right policies? Will they achieve the benchmarks in the Paris agreement, and Biden’s goals? This bill earmarks lots of money for green infrastructure like electric vehicle charging and renewable-friendly power grid upgrades.

But is it too ambitious a plan? Do voters care about an issue whose impacts are so long-term and diffuse? Are climate subsidies the right tool to make the most impact? Joseph Majkut joins the show to analyze the bill and what it could mean for the United States and the rest of the world.

Also in this bill: a child care plan, which has been under scrutiny this week. Does it have too many of the same features and pitfalls as the Affordable Care Act? Federal quality requirements add cost – and as with the ACA, many states are likely to be uncooperative in administering this Democrat-designed benefit. Should the government simply give money to families and let them decide how to spend it? And does the plan ignore parents who want to stay at home with their kids?

Finally: friendly reminder that vaccines make you safer, not immortal; when your pandemic hairdo is a don’t, and why you should consider the magic of radio if you’d rather be watching the game instead of driving Josh around LA.

The Port of Los Angeles will now be running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, under a new plan announced by President Biden. Right now his administration is juggling a lot of problems that are weighing down voter confidence in his presidency: supply chain logjams, rising inflation, a slowing job market and gridlock in Congress. The persistent list of problems now 10 months into Biden’s first term runs counter to the “return to normal” message he successfully ran on when he beat then-President Trump in 2020. But is the president being proactive, or is he opening himself up to blame for problems plaguing the entire global supply chain that are mostly out of his control?

This week, we bring on special guest Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report to talk about what voters want from the economy and the president right now. Some Americans are feeling a lingering sense of unease, as the country continues to face labor and goods shortages tied to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Congressional Democrats still can’t come to an agreement to pass Biden’s domestic agenda. How does political polarization affect the way voters think about the administration’s handling of the economy? We discuss.

Next on the show: Redistricting is underway as we head into next year’s midterm elections. As was the case 10 years ago, Republicans have an advantage because they control more state legislatures, while some Democratic states, like California, have put redistricting decisions in the hands of independent commissions. But how many seats could Republicans realistically pick up next year through redistricting alone, especially since demographic changes in some major swing states would seem to favor Democrats? A hotly contested gubernatorial election in Virginia next month could give us some clues. Also, what the heck is ‘bacon-mandering’?

Then: our panel discusses vaccine mandates and religious exemptions, specifically among Catholics. The Catholic Church’s official position is that getting vaccinated is morally permissible, but sincerely held religious beliefs should be honored as a valid basis for exemption. As vaccine mandates become more commonplace, how does society negotiate those tensions?

Finally: Why adults need to stop making Halloween sexy, and why the “woke” Fed is really just doing its job.