The dominant narrative about the Democratic sweep of the midterm elections has focused on President Donald Trump’s brash ineptitude and voters fed up with the costs of living amid reports of corruption emanating from the White House. The climate crisis appeared to take a backseat to concerns about rising energy prices driven by data center build-out and inflation linked to the U.S.
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After last week’s electoral blue wave, Democrats are seeking to slow the spread of MAGA-backed school voucher programs.
In Arizona, Democrats are looking to rein in public funding for the state’s voucher program — money that, in some cases, has being misused by parents to buy gaming consoles and amusement park tickets. Back in June, I wrote about how the state’s voucher program — which Republicans have portrayed as a model for the nation — seemed like it should be a prime target for Trump’s racist crusade against “fraud.”
And Arizona Democrats — having won control of the state House, state Senate and governorship for the first time since the 1960s — have made addressing the program a top priority.
There’s a similar movement underway in Texas. Asked about Texas’ voucher program, which has been lambasted for many of the same reasons as Arizona’s has, Democratic Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa told MS NOW’s Chris Hayes last week that she intends to do everything she can to “make sure that money stays in public schools.”
Hinojosa has sounded skeptical about completely eliminating the voucher program with Republicans still controlling the state Senate. Still, Texas Democrats’ newly won control of the state House and the State Board of Education was celebrated by education activists — including the state’s branch of the American Federation of Teachers, which specifically touted the prospect of curbing the vouchers.
And as The Hill noted, Iowa’s school voucher program could also face scrutiny, given the state’s new Democratic governor.
All of this means that Democrats are finally positioned in some key states to combat the GOP’s war on public education — and to expose more
During a creative and journalistic writing training program I joined in Gaza City to nurture the skills of emerging writers, one seat remained empty, session after session. It belonged to Sarah, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, and who never managed to escape the brunt of Israeli violence long enough to attend a single session. Sarah currently lives with her family in a…
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In a “60 Minutes” interview that aired on Sunday evening, President Donald Trump admitted that Republicans’ massive defeats in the midterm elections resulted from widespread frustration with the war on Iran, as well as his immigration policies. Reiterating that he “was not on the ballot” — as if to suggest that support would have been higher for him personally — Trump said that Americans…
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The Republican Party’s staggering losses in the November midterm elections have prompted speculation about the future of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, which is overwhelmingly unpopular with voters. Democratic leaders have portrayed President Donald Trump’s military offensive as an unconstitutional fiasco and an economic disaster driving inflation. But their choreographed outrage…
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On Tuesday night, as election results poured in, it became immediately clear: anti-transgender ads had failed to earn Republicans a victory in the year they relied on them the most. Despite $183 million spent on ads targeting transgender people and any Democratic politician who had ever expressed support for them, even Democrats who openly supported transgender people won in Republican strongholds.
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