Jon and Heather talk about how Biden’s next economic plan could be even more progressive and transformative than the last, the results from the latest Crooked Media/Change Research Pollercoaster series on voting rights in Arizona, and whether anything can get done on gun control. Then, they discuss their favorite under-the-radar headlines.

Show notes

Will Biden Build Back Bigger?

• NBC: Manchin calls for ‘enormous’ infrastructure package paid for with new taxes
• NPR: Building A Big Infrastructure Plan, Biden Starts With A Bridge To Republicans
• NYT: Biden Team Prepares $3 Trillion in New Spending for the Economy
• NYT: Infrastructure Plan Seeks to Address Climate and Equality as Well as Roads
• NYT: An Unusually Optimistic Conversation With Bernie Sanders
• The Hill: Manchin says Democrats should pay for infrastructure, raise corporate taxes
• NYT: How to Collect $1.4 Trillion in Unpaid Taxes
• ABC: Biden’s COVID relief package is ‘right size’: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen
• Vox: How much to worry — and not worry — about inflation
• NYT: How 10 Prominent Economists Think About Overheating
• USA Today: Polls find most Americans support Biden’s COVID-19 stimulus package

Pollercoaster Series: Arizona and Voting Rights

• Crooked Media: PollerCoaster: Voting Rights in Arizona
• NYT: Republicans Fear Flawed Candidates Could Imperil Key Senate Seats
• AZ Central: We didn’t help get Kyrsten Sinema elected so she could ensure Senate gridlock
• Daily Kos: Sinema’s schtick is wearing thin in Arizona
• AZ Family: New poll shows Kyrsten Sinema’s moderate approach has weakened democratic support
• Vox: Poll: 61 percent of Arizonans say passing major bills is more important than keeping the filibuster
• NYT: Democrats take their first steps in what they hope will be big changes to election law.
• WaPo: ‘Shame, shame, shame:’ Sens. Schumer, McConnell spar over GOP efforts to roll back voting access
• WSJ: Senate Lawmakers Spar Over Voting Rights Bill 
• Politico: Voting rights clash hurtles Senate toward nuclear breakdown
• Bloomberg: Manchin Says Any Overhaul of Voting Rights Must Have GOP Support
• NY Mag: Will Joe Manchin Save Voting Rights? 
• WaPo Opinion: H.R. 1 can’t pass the Senate. But here are some voting reforms that could.
• WaPo: Opinion: This is no time to compromise on democracy reform

Gun Violence

• NYT: Across States, a Checkerboard of Gun Laws Reflects Partisan Tilt
• NYT: A List of Recent Mass Shootings in the United States
• NYT: Nearly 40,000 People Died From Guns in U.S. Last Year, Highest in 50 Years (12/2018)
• NYT: Why Does the U.S. Have So Many Mass Shootings? Research Is Clear: Guns. (11/2017)
• NYT: How They Got Their Guns (2/2018)
• WaPo: Shootings never stopped during the pandemic: 2020 was the deadliest gun violence year in decades
• NYT: The latest mass shooting draws a familiar reaction in Washington, with lawmakers splintering along partisan lines.
• WaPo: A key gun-violence loophole: It’s easy for guns to cross state borders
• AP News: S. Carolina senator suggests everyone be made militia member
• Denver Post: Boulder shooting suspect’s gun would’ve been illegal under city’s now-void assault-weapon ban
• WaPo: ‘Ridiculous theater’: Sen. Cruz’s pushback on gun restrictions epitomizes high hurdles
• WaPo: What Ideas Are in Play in the Latest U.S. Gun Debate
• NYT: Biden has a long, frustrating history of pushing for gun control.
• NPR: Gun Violence Deaths: How The U.S. Compares To the Rest of the World 

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here.
For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.