Politix

This week on Rubicon, Brian Beutler talks to FiveThirtyEight senior writer Perry Bacon about the wave of voter suppression laws that are hitting states like Georgia - and what President Biden and the Department of Justice can do about it. They also talk about the biggest threats to HR1 and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act - looking beyond the filibuster to other ways Republicans are preparing to fight those bills—in both the court of public opinion and the regular kind.

For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/rubicon.

This week on Rubicon, Brian Beutler talks to The Roosevelt Institute’s Mike Konczal about President Biden’s coming $3 trillion economic reform package, which would fund infrastructure, green jobs, child and elder care, and community college. They talk about the bill’s chances of passing Congress, whether it warrants comparisons to FDR’s New Deal, and whether and how it would cement Biden’s legacy.

For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/rubicon.

This week on Rubicon, Brian Beutler and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) discuss the child-migrant crisis and the ways it complicates efforts to pass immigration reform. They also explore why Democrats shouldn’t freak out over Donald Trump’s performance with Latino voters, why some of his Latino voters already regret their votes, and how Democrats can combat the scourge of disinformation in Latin communities.

For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/rubicon.

This week on Rubicon, Brian Beutler talks to Senator Brian Schatz about the passage of the American Rescue Plan, the provisions in it that address poverty and healthcare, and whether its passage will be the high-water mark of the Biden era, or just the beginning.

For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/rubicon.

This week on Rubicon, host Brian Beutler and education reporter Rachel Cohen discuss the origins of the contentious debate over school reopening, and how President Biden has navigated it. They then look ahead to how the looming COVID-relief bill will help modernize schools and whether those investments will allow students to resume normal, in-person education in the fall. 

For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/rubicon.

This week on Rubicon, host Brian Beutler talks to writer Matthew Yglesias about President Biden's pledge to forgive student loan debt, the debate over how much debt should be forgiven, what authority Biden has to do it -- and the political and economic risks and benefits. Beutler and Yglesias take different sides on the importance of loan forgiveness - and debate whether Biden should follow through on his promise quickly or wait until other Congressional scores are settled.

For a transcript of this episode, visit crooked.com/rubicon.

This week on Rubicon: Brian Beutler talks to John Dean, the former White House counsel for Richard Nixon who got swept up in the Watergate conspiracy before turning on his boss and helping end the Nixon presidency.

They discuss the fallout from the impeachment hearings, whether Democrats have the stomach to truly hold the Trump Administration accountable, and how commissions, select committees and subpoena power can be wielded without Republican votes.

For a transcript of this episode, visit crooked.com/rubicon.

This week on Rubicon, Brian Beutler looks beyond Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial to the broader question of what post-Trump accountability should look like across the federal government. He asks author, historian, and culture critic Ruth Ben-Ghiat about the common tactics modern authoritarian leaders use (and have used for the past century), how other countries have tried (and often failed) to stop them, and whether the early steps President Biden and his majorities in Congress have taken suggest they will do what needs to be done to stop resurgent authoritarianism in the U.S.

For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/rubicon

This week on Rubicon: Brian Beutler talks to climate science writer Emily Atkin about the predictable first steps President Biden has taken to fight climate change, and the exciting but under-the-radar ways that Biden has woven climate science into offices throughout his administration. They discuss the more difficult, lasting steps that have tripped up progressive officials and activists for decades (carbon tax, legislation, regulations, it's all here!) Learning from the Obama years, they survey the roadblocks Biden will likely encounter in the Senate and the courts, and hunt for ways around them.

Want to know more? Check out Emily's newsletter, Heated: https://heated.world/

And here are some related climate reads:

https://www.volts.wtf/p/biden-is-blitzing

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/climate-change-after-pandemic.html

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/27/fact-sheet-president-biden-takes-executive-actions-to-tackle-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad-create-jobs-and-restore-scientific-integrity-across-federal-governme

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/climate/trump-climate-change.html

For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/rubicon.

This week on Rubicon: Brian Beutler talks to MSNBC's Chris Hayes about Biden's COVID plan, the parts of the plan that will be hardest to execute (spoiler alert: vaccines!), and how to recalibrate our criticism for a president who finally takes the pandemic seriously.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, please visit crooked.com/rubicon. 

For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected].