Wait, Have Democrats Learned a Lesson?
Our flawed democracy + Republicans clap for QAnon lady + judge and DA block records about inmate's death + COVID vs. teachers + Durham cops don't catch many killers + Raleigh figures out Airbnb
Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021
Happy Thursday! … We’ll begin sunny and end cloudy. High around 52. Today’s newsletter is a nine-minute read.
Today’s Number: 8.4
Percentage of the world’s population that lives in a full democracy, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index.
Just 23 countries — 13.8% of the world’s 167 independent states and territories — are considered full democracies.
Another 52 countries, including the United States, are considered “flawed democracies.”
“The negatives [for the U.S.] include extremely low levels of trust in institutions and political parties, deep dysfunction in the functioning of government, increasing threats to freedom of expression, and a degree of societal polarisation that makes consensus almost impossible to achieve.”
The remaining half of the world’s population lives in either authoritarian or hybrid regimes.
On This Day
1787: Shays’ Rebellion — by debt-ridden Massachusetts farmers against the fledgling U.S. government — failed.
1789: The Electoral College named George Washington the first president.
1861: Jefferson Davis was elected the first (and only) president of the Confederacy.
1946: Cornelia Petty Jerman, a political activist who helped organize the Raleigh Equal Suffrage League and the Raleigh League of Women Voters and served as president of the North Carolina Suffrage League, died at age 47.
1971: The Nasdaq was founded.
1974: Patty Hearst was kidnapped.
1977: Fleetwood Mac released Rumours.
1987: Congress overrode Ronald Reagan’s veto of the Clean Water Act.
2004: Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook in his Harvard dorm room.
One Year Ago
The New York Times, A1: “Beijing Sees ‘Major Test’ as Doors to China Close and Coronavirus Deaths Surpass SARS”
+TODAY’S TOP 6
1. Biden Won’t Back Down (Mostly)
An unnamed Biden adviser seeded Politico’s gossipy Playbook yesterday with concern that chief of staff Ron Klain’s “partisan edge” is “prevailing over Biden’s preference for dealmaking.” The issue, as this adviser saw it, was that the White House had summarily rejected the “moderate” Republicans’ proposal for a $600 billion COVID relief package as a counter to Biden’s $1.9 trillion bill.
The adviser: “The GOP plan wasn’t a joke. I looked at it and said, ‘OK, the midpoint between $600 billion and $1.9 trillion is about 1.2 or 1.3.’ I was a little surprised we hit back that hard. It’s not like our plan is perfect and there’s nothing we can improve. Vintage Biden would not have been that harsh.”
The GOP plan was the Biden plan, just much, much smaller. It was cutting for the sake of cutting, not because it did anything better or more effectively. And it omitted desperately needed funds for state and local governments, a no-go for Democrats.
Enough of Biden’s team lived through the Obama years, when Republicans played Lucy-with-the-football on bipartisan negotiations.
Biden told House Democrats yesterday that cutting the amount of the promised $1,400 checks — technically, he promised $2,000, but okay — would be a broken promise.
“Biden signaled he wasn’t willing to reduce the standard $1,400 checks, which phase out based on income totals, that were outlined in his aid package, according to participants on the call.”
“Biden also told lawmakers he was more concerned that they would spend too little on a recovery package rather than too much, addressing reservations among some on Capitol Hill who say his proposal is too costly. He added that lawmakers should act quickly on his plan, which also includes billions for vaccine development and distribution along with a minimum wage hike.” (Bloomberg)
Biden said he’s willing to limit eligibility so the checks don’t go to rich people. He also said he wasn’t married to the $1.9 trillion figure. (WaPo, Yahoo/BI)
Democrats have fast-tracked the bill, making it more likely to move without Republican support. Whether that happens will probably come down to Sen. Joe Manchin, who’s a bit hard to read:
He voted to move forward with reconciliation, but he said he’ll insist on bipartisan “input.”
He said he’s okay with $1.9 trillion, but he’s not on board with $350 billion for state and local governments, and he wants to limit eligibility for the stimulus checks.
He said the smaller GOP deal is “not even in the cards,” but he’s against raising the minimum wage to $15/hour.
While Dems have to accommodate him to get a majority, there’s only so far they’re willing to go.
Chuck Schumer: “We want to do it bipartisan, but we must be strong. We cannot dawdle, we cannot delay, we cannot dilute.” (HuffPost)
When progressives worried that the White House was going to pull the minimum wage from the COVID bill, Biden reiterated his support on Twitter within the hour. (Axios)
—> OTHER POLITICAL NEWS
Mitch McConnell ended his filibuster of the Senate’s organizing resolution, enabling Democrats to take control of committees and move Biden’s agenda and Cabinet members. (WaPo)
Michael Regan, the head of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality and Biden’s choice to lead the EPA, told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that he would “‘restore’ science and transparency at the agency, focus on marginalized communities, and move ‘with a sense of urgency’ to combat climate change.” (WaPo)
After Republicans refused, Dems will force a vote today to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Jewish Space Lasers, from committees, making Republicans go on record about QAnon’s favorite congresswoman. About half of them — at least — are more likely to give her a standing ovation than denounce her. (NYT/WaPo)
—> OTHER EXTREMISM NEWS
Kyle Rittenhouse, the white teenager who gunned down Black Lives Matter protesters in Wisconsin this summer and was released on bail, has vanished. (AP via Orlando Sentinel)
Two prominent Proud Boys were charged with conspiracy to block Congress’s certification of the electoral vote in connection to the Capitol riot. (CNN)
Canada declared the Proud Boys a terrorist group. (WaPo)
2. Judge, DA Block Public Records Release
North Carolina’s public records laws aren’t great to begin with. This is especially true when it comes to anything involving law enforcement. The state, for instance, bars the public from seeing internal affairs records, which is why police review boards will inherently be toothless.
That fact makes this story all the more infuriating: Forsyth County prosecutors asked a judge to seal public records related to a man’s suspicious death in the county jail from the media. The judge agreed, though neither the DHHS (the custodian of the records) nor the N&O (which requested the records) was consulted.
The story:
John Neville died in the Forsyth County jail in December 2019.
Last summer, the N&O asked DHHS for records related to his death that law enforcement had given the agency’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
A week after that request, Republicans in the legislature passed a midnight bill to block law enforcement records in DHHS custody from being made public. Governor Cooper vetoed it. Cute timing, right?
“On July 7, 2020, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner released an autopsy report that confirmed Neville, 56, died from a brain injury caused by cardiac arrest from positional and compressional asphyxiation three days after officers placed him in a prone position while he was suffering from a medical issue at the jail. A day later, Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill charged five deputies and a nurse with involuntary manslaughter in Neville’s death.” (N&O)
Quick break here to remind you that O’Neill was running for attorney general at the time. Now back to our program, already in progress:
Late Monday, the N&O was informed that O’Neill had gone before Judge David Hall to get a temporary restraining order blocking DHHS from releasing records the N&O had asked for in June and July.
The office’s explanation: “Our office only recently became aware of the request for these records, and, as it appeared that at least some of them may be protected, we filed the objection and requested the temporary delay until a judge can sort out what is appropriate for release. … Given the fact that we were told we had one business day before items might be ready to be released, we proceeded in that manner.”
O’Neill says he wants to make sure there’s a fair trial.
The restraining order goes back to a judge on Monday.
—> OTHER NORTH CAROLINA NEWS
The state school board will vote on the (for some reason) controversial new social studies standards today. (Also, WRAL somehow managed to write about Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s Tuesday press conference without mentioning that he called that press conference to denounce a WRAL cartoon.) (WRAL)
A proposed deal between Alcoa and DEQ would allow the company to dump more cyanide into Badin Lake. (NC Policy Watch)
3. COVID vs. Teachers
Now that Cooper, the legislature, the CDC, and the Biden administration are all on board the open-schools-now train, the move looks inevitable. Even Durham Public Schools, which earlier voted to stay remote this year, seems open to reversing course. The only ones not quite sure about this thing? The teachers who worry their lives will be put at risk.
“Teachers across the state are pushing back, though, arguing that until they can get COVID-19 vaccines, the risk of getting infected with a virus throwing more contagious variants at them outweighs the benefits of opening schools. They believe that’s the case, even if strict social distancing measures are followed.”
“Under North Carolina’s existing prioritization plan for vaccines, teachers who are under 65 are not eligible for a shot. Teachers, firefighters, grocery store workers, and other essential workers are in the group next up for vaccines, but it could be weeks before there is enough vaccine shipped to North Carolina to expand the eligibility for inoculation to those people.” (NC Health News)
—> OTHER COVID NEWS
The state has published a new triage plan to help hospitals figure out whom to care for when they have too many patients. (NC Policy Watch)
The COVID vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca could slow the transmission of the virus. (NYT)
4. DPD Can’t Catch Killers
Durham police cleared only eight of the city’s 33 gun homicides in 2020. That’s not a good percentage.
“The national average for murder clearance rates in recent years has been between 59% and 63%. It was just over 61% in 2019, according to the FBI. That includes cases cleared by arrest and those exceptionally cleared.”
“Durham police made arrests in an even smaller proportion of the total shooting incidents in 2020: less than 8.5% of the incidents in which a gun was initially reported to have been fired, an analysis of police data by The News & Observer shows.” (N&O)
The causes, according to the cops: The pandemic, mostly. Lack of witness cooperation. Deprioritization of non-fatal shootings. And fatal shootings are often solved months or even years after the fact.
“In 2019, Durham police cleared shooting homicides at closer to the national average. Of 33 shooting-related homicides, 14 were cleared by arrest.”
—> OTHER DURHAM NEWS
If the city wins the @Jack-funded guaranteed income grant I told you about last month, council member Mark-Anthony Middleton wants to give $500 a month to formerly incarcerated residents. (INDY)
5. Raleigh Finally Figures Out Airbnbs
It’s only been, like, what, seven years, but the Raleigh City Council has finally — finally! — figured out a legal framework for Airbnbs. Nothing says efficient like local government.
“The council voted 7-to-1 Tuesday night to approve the new rules which go into effect in 30 days.” (N&O)
Guess the no vote. I’ll wait.
“‘I think we are at a point where we are going to let the genie come out of the bottle,’ [David] Cox said. ‘People haven’t invested in short-term rentals in Raleigh because of a degree of uncertainty about our regulations. By passing this text change we are going to make it perfectly legal for people to begin running hotels in our neighborhoods.’”
People aren’t actually going to operate hotels in neighborhoods. Cox — who objects to whole-house rentals — was being a bit over the top.
—> OTHER RALEIGH NEWS
Kane Realty has partnered with Merge Capital on its Park City South project, an 11-story mixed-use development near Dix Park. (TBJ, sub. req.)
The Raleigh City Council has approved a rezoning request that will allow Turnbridge Equities to build up to 40 stories on the site of the Creamery building in Glenwood South. (TBJ, sub. req.)
6. What I’m Reading: “The Capitol Rioters Aren’t Like Other Extremists”
A closer look at the people suspected of taking part in the Capitol riot suggests a different and potentially far more dangerous problem: a new kind of violent mass movement in which more “normal” Trump supporters — middle-class and, in many cases, middle-aged people without obvious ties to the far right — joined with extremists in an attempt to overturn a presidential election. …
In recent weeks, our team of more than 20 researchers has been reviewing court documents and media coverage for information on the demographics, socioeconomic traits, and militant-group affiliations (if any) of everyone arrested by the FBI, Capitol Police, and Washington, D.C., police for offenses related to the January 6 insurrection. As of late last week, 235 people fell into that category, and the number is expected to grow.
Of these suspects, 193 have been charged with being inside the Capitol building or with breaking through barriers to enter the Capitol grounds. … 89 percent of the arrestees have no apparent affiliation with any known militant organization. … The demographic profile of the suspected Capitol rioters is different from that of past right-wing extremists. The average age of the arrestees we studied is 40. Two-thirds are 35 or older, and 40 percent are business owners or hold white-collar jobs. [Emphasis mine]
Source: Robert A. Pape, Keven Ruby | The Atlantic