Mitch McConnell agrees to stimulus checks because he’s worried about losing Georgia, Covid relief nears the finish line, and Democrats ponder why they lost the Senate race in Maine. Then, in an excerpt of his interview on this week’s Pod Save the World, Barack Obama talks to Tommy and Ben about his tensions with the Pentagon over Afghanistan and his thoughts about the rise of right-wing nationalism.

Listen and subscribe to Gaining Ground: The New Georgia at gaininggroundpodcast.com.

Show notes

COVID Relief

• AP: Negotiators near agreement on long-delayed COVID-19 aid bill 
•  WaPo: Congressional leaders add stimulus checks to $900 billion relief package as they near deal
•  Politico: Hill leaders close in on Covid stimulus deal
•  NYT: Leaders in Congress Meet in Search of Spending and Stimulus Deals
•  Vox: A new $748 billion bill could be Congress’s best hope for more stimulus this year 
• The Hill: Sanders, Hawley embrace odd couple status in push for stimulus checks 
• Reuters: ‘Not leaving here without a COVID package’: McConnell 
• NYT: Moderates Pare Back Stimulus Plan in Hopes of Breaking Stalemate
• WSJ: Second Stimulus Checks and Other Covid-19 Aid—What’s Likely in Relief Deal
• NBC News: Direct cash payments likely as lawmakers near Covid aid deal 
•  CNN: Hill leaders eye new round of stimulus checks as part of $900 billion Covid relief deal
• CNBC: Bipartisan Covid-19 relief bill provides ‘essential’ protections for tenants behind on rent
•  CNBC: Almost 19 million people are getting unemployment benefits. Here’s how the Covid relief bill would help them
•  WaPo – Analysis: A new stimulus deal is emerging. But it heralds a grueling new normal.  
• The Hill: Biden says approaching coronavirus relief deal would be a ‘down payment’
• CNBC: Without more jobless benefits, almost 5 million people will fall into poverty, including 1.3 million kids
•  WaPo: Nearly 8 million Americans have fallen into poverty since the summer 
•  Vox: Whatever Congress does on stimulus, millions of workers are already screwed
•  Politico: ‘We’re already too late’: Unemployment lifeline to lapse even with an aid deal
•  Vox: The government’s failure to provide economic relief is killing people
• NPR: Bernie Sanders On Coronavirus Relief Bill 
• Politico: Sanders urges Democrats to reject bipartisan stimulus bill
• Politico: Hill leaders close in on Covid stimulus deal 
• CNN: Hill leaders eye new round of stimulus checks as part of $900 billion Covid relief deal
• Bloomberg – McConnell Tied Deal to Georgia Runoff Races 
• WaPo Opinion: Mitch McConnell gives away the game: ‘Kelly and David are getting hammered’
• NY Mag – The Georgia Runoffs Are a Referendum on a Large Stimulus
• The Atlantic – White Suburbanites Won’t Be Enough in Georgia
• The Hill – Democrats see stimulus checks as winning issue in Georgia runoffs 
• Reuters – Biden hits campaign trail in Georgia after top Republicans acknowledge his win
• NYT: Campaigning in Georgia, Biden Presses for the Senate Majority He Will Need 
• AP: Democratic push on COVID-19 aid welcomed by some in Georgia
• Politico: Biden puts skin in the game in Georgia
• New Yorker – The High Stakes of Georgia’s Loeffler-Warnock Senate Race
• WaPo: New poll is a warning sign for the GOP in Georgia 
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution – With latest coronavirus surge, Georgia job market struggling 
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution – Georgia surpasses 10,000 coronavirus deaths
• Slate: Georgia Democrats Promise to Give People Money in Big Test of Whether Giving People Money Is Good Politics
• Mother Jones – What Biden Can Do to Boost the Economy Without Any Help From Congress 
• Vox: Whatever Congress does on stimulus, millions of workers are already screwed 
• WaPo: The Trailer: Two electoral college contests for two Americas
• NY Mag – It Sucks to Be Kelly Loeffler
• AP: Loeffler campaign: She had ‘no idea’ she posed with neo-Nazi

WTF happened in Maine

• NYT: Maine Election Results 
• Slate: Why Susan Collins Won
• FiveThirtyEight: There Wasn’t That Much Split-Ticket Voting in 2020 
• Bangor Daily News: The story behind Susan Collins’ comeback to win a historic 5th term
• FiveThirtyEight: Gideon is slightly favored to win in Maine Senate election
• CNN: Polls show Susan Collins below 50% support in Maine
• WaPo- Analysis: The Senate seats most likely to flip in November 
• Inside Climate News: In Maine, Many Voters Defied the Polls and Split Their Tickets 
• WaPo- Plum Line: Ticket-splitting is for fools 
• Maine Public Radio: Why Joe Biden’s Maine Victory Didn’t Translate Down the Ballot to Sara Gideon 
• Business Insider: Susan Collins’ failed challenger Sara Gideon still has more than $14 million in unused campaign funds
• WaPo- Opinion: Money didn’t buy love in the 2020 election
• NYT: The Democrats Went All Out Against Susan Collins. Rural Maine Grimaced. 
• NYT-Opinion: Susan Collins Was Never Going to Lose
• NYT: In Maine, a Race About the Issues Has Become a Referendum on Susan Collins 
• AP: Collins vote against Barrett, heads home to save Senate job 
• Inside Climate News: In Maine, Many Voters Defied the Polls and Split Their Tickets
• NYT- Upshot: The Places That Had the Biggest Swings Toward and Against Trump 
• Bangor Daily News: Maine’s US Senate race is the most negative one in the country