MOMocrats

Jared Kushner has no expertise in epidemiology. He hasn't any expertise in diplomacy, trade negotiations, or criminal justice, but that hasn't stopped Trump from putting his son-in-law in charge of administration policy on those topics. And we learned this week that Jared decided that the state of New York did not need the 30,000 ventilators requested by Governor Cuomo because Jared had his own projections. “I know how to make this government run now,” Jared said, according to Vanity Fair.

When historians study the Trump administration's bungling of this global pandemic, Jared Kushner will get a chapter all his own. Until then, MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills will talk about it. Other topics in this week's political discussion from the progressive point of view are the Navy's recall of a commander who committed the grave sin of trying to protect his crew from coronavirus, the deepening financial abyss the pandemic is causing Americans, and a general election that is still going to happen in November.

MOMocrats MOMochat is a member of the #Demcast family of podcasts.

Every day, the statistics on the nation's growing COVID-19 deaths and infections become grimmer, as the novel coronavirus continues its spread. The Trump administration's bungling of this crisis has resulted in an unprecedented economic crash: A record 3.2 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, and there will surely be more to come. 

The Senate's passage of a $2.2 trillion aid package is a start, but more is needed, and Nancy Pelosi vows that there will be another tranche of financial measures to help the American populace soon. But first, the House needs to pass the Senate bill (expected to occur today). 

Donald Trump is not to blame for the emergence of this deadly new virus - but his decision to dismantle the public health apparatus created by previous administrations and his refusal to follow the advice of experts is directly responsible for the situation we find ourselves in now... and his desire to "open the economy back up" while the pandemic continues to ramp up is going to result in many more sick and dead Americans. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills talk about this and the Democratic response (because we have an election looming in just 7 months, remember that?)

MOMocrats MOMochat is a part of the #Demcast family of podcasts.

This week, the president finally appeared to grasp the seriousness of the situation his administration put us all in by dithering away the time we needed to prepare for the coronavirus pandemic. His focus on the stock market, his poll numbers, and re-election has put the entire country in danger - and (ironically) has hastened an economic crash unlike anything we've ever experienced. And the health crisis keeps spiraling out of control as more Americans get sick - and die, while hospitals and their personnel struggle without adequate equipment and protection. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills discuss the crisis, the government's attempts to respond. 

They will also talk about the 2020 election: how the pandemic is affecting it and where the race stands.

MOMocrats MOMochat is part of the #DemCast family of podcasts.

MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills emerge from their social isolation to talk about the latest pandemic news...

...before turning attention back to our election, which is still happening even as presidential campaigns are cancelling in-person rallies and appearances. Their guest this week is Liuba Grechen Shirley, of VoteMama.org, a PAC that supports Democratic mothers running for office.

Mothers with young children make up 13% of the US population, but their representation in Congress is less than 5%. This lack of representation hurts us all, according to Liuba.

"We’re missing out on a critical voice," says Liuba. "We’re missing out on the voice of people who know at a visceral level what it’s like not to have access to paid family leave; who know what it’s like not to be able to find affordable, quality child care; who know what it’s like to rely on the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to cover their children’s healthcare."

Join the MOMocrats as they discuss ways to encourage more younger women with children to run for office in this week's political podcast from a progressive point of view, part of the #DemCast family

Election 2020 took a stunning turn in the last week, beginning with Jim Clyburn's pivotal endorsement of Joe Biden just before the South Carolina primary. Following Biden's huge win on Saturday, the other candidates dropped out of the race, beginning with Tom Steyer... then Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, who united in a "Stop Bernie" effort by supporting the Vice President - who went on to chalk up massive wins on Super Tuesday. Billionaire Mike Bloomberg bowed out on Wednesday and endorsed Biden. And Thursday came the announcement that the last woman in the race, Elizabeth Warren, was also ending her pursuit of the presidency - leaving us with a two-man race for the nomination. MOMocrats Karoli and Donna Schwartz Mills discuss the race, as well as the coronavirus panic and the administration's panicked response, and more political news from a progressive point of view. 

MOMocrats MOMochat is part of the Demcast family of podcasts.

CNN reports that 38% of Americans surveyed will not buy Corona beer out of fear of getting the coronavirus. However - the actual survey doesn't mention COVID19 at all. But this is the level of misinformation the public is dealing with, even from trusted media - and it does not help that the people at the very top level of our federal government are known to be anti-science liars. No wonder the stock market is reacting in the worst possible way: Investors like certainty and stability, and President Chaos has made that impossible in what appears to be the beginning of a pandemic. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills discuss the political implications of this developing crisis, including the naming of Mike Pence as "coronavirus czar" and his directive that ALL scientific statements be approved by him before they go public. And of course, they will also talk about this week's disaster of a Democratic debate, the South Carolina primary, and Super Tuesday.

MOMocrats MOMochat is part of the DemCast family of podcasts.

It may not be an actual Chinese curse, but "interesting times" is definitely what we are going through right now, and it's pretty awful. Since impeachment, Trump's worst impulses have been unleashed and there's NO BOTTOM. On the heels of the crisis in the Department of Justice, the president has upended the country's national security and intelligence apparatus - BECAUSE HE IS ANGRY THAT THEY BRIEFED CONGRESSIONAL INTEL COMMITTEES on the not unexpected news that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election, again on Trump's behalf. 

On top of that, our news media has seemingly learned no lessons from their mistakes of 2016. They continue to cover the election as a horse race, with dire consequences for campaigns that could be more viable. It doesn't help that Democratic voters are still traumatized from Trump's surprise Electoral College win that year. It's a heady combination that perplexes the MOMocrats in this week's look at politics from a progressive point of view - part of the DemCast family of podcasts.

It's Valentine's Day, and the MOMocrats hope you all have someone who looks at you the way Mike Pence looks at Trump - even if, as Elizabeth Warren said this week, you "already have a dog." 

It's been a little over a week since the end of the impeachment trial and an emboldened Donald Trump is already committing more impeachable offenses in public. The Department of Justice under Bill Barr is imploding. After one caucus and one primary, the media has already anointed winners and losers in the 2020 race towards the nomination. And all of Mike Bloomberg's money cannot erase his history as Mayor of New York City.

MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills try to have a little fun with all of this as they discuss the political events of the week from a progressive point of view in this DemCast podcast.

Donald Trump's impeachment ended just the way he and Mitch McConnell wanted: without damaging witnesses or documents, and an acquittal in the Senate. 

But just as in Mueller: HE WAS NOT EXONERATED. And - he not only could not peel off any vulnerable Democrats to support him, he lost one Republican Senator when Mitt Romney announced he could not proclaim him innocent. 

The president got away with his attempts to manipulate an ally into helping him smear one of his Democratic opponents. There's NOTHING TO STOP HIM continuing to cheat in the 2020 election. His State of the Union address was a glimpse of how his campaign will run, and it wasn't pretty. MOMocrats Karoli and Donna Schwartz Mills talk about the ramifications of that, as well as what to expect now that the primaries have begun. No one is happy about the way the Democrats managed the Iowa Caucus (except maybe Pete Buttigieg). New Hampshire is coming up and then Nevada and South Carolina - and Super Tuesday. 

It's ON.

MOMocrats MOMochat is part of the DemCast family of podcasts.

The MOMocrats have been watching the impeachment trial almost as intently as some of the Senators, and Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills will have a lot to say about it - whether, as everyone suspects, it ends without calling John Bolton or other witnesses... or all hell breaks loose and Mitch McConnell's plans for a quick acquittal are dashed. 

And in their Election 2020 coverage, the MOMocrats welcome Mike Larsen, Democratic congressional candidate in OH CD-4, currently represented by Jim Jordan.

MOMocrats MOMochat is a member of the DemCast family of podcasts.