California, Coronavirus, Debt, Mexico's 'Fourth Transformation'
(1) California voters support Newsom in recall fight. (2) Biden asked intelligence agencies to investigate coronavirus’ origins. (3) Student debt forgiveness forgotten. (4) Mexico's midterm elections.
In this edition: (1) California voters support Newsom in recall fight. (2) Biden asked intelligence agencies to investigate coronavirus’ origins. (3) Student debt forgiveness forgotten. (4) Mexico’s midterm elections looming.
A brief edition this week. Here are some news items I found worth mentioning.
A new survey from the Public Policy Institute of California found that, if California’s gubernatorial recall vote were held this month, it would fail. Less than half of voters, about 40%, would vote to remove Governor Gavin Newsom from his position. About 57% would vote to keep him in. This vote isn’t all that much like the 2003 recall of Governor Gray Davis which led to the election of Republican Gover-nator Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to PPIC. Notably, voters surveyed at that time not only had a higher willingness to toss Davis on his ear, but a much higher percentage thought things would turn out better for the state if he weren't leading it. Governor Newsom is likely being protected by a strong partisanship that favors Democrats in the state, PPIC suggested. It also found a gender difference, with women less likely to want Newsom removed.
President Joe Biden asked the U.S. intelligence agencies, publicly, to look into the origins of COVID-19. Questions remain, experts say, as to the legitimacy of the WHO investigations as consultants have alleged that they were denied access to the data required to make a proper study of the virus’ origins.
Student debt cancellation gets cancelled. President Biden’s budget doesn’t include student debt forgiveness, which was also missing from his stimulus and infrastructure packages. Experts say he’s waiting on a report about his “authority” to do it through executive action.
Mexico is nearing what one analyst has described as the biggest election in its history, which will take place on June 6th. The midterm elections will determine both the strength of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) and the rest of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s term. López Obrador has pursued an aggressive shift from liberalized economies to economic nationalism with a strong emphasis on empowering the poor of Mexico in what he terms the “fourth transformation” of the country. Critics say he’s also threatening to dissolve checks and balances, as they say he has already over-centralized power in the presidency, run roughshod over the courts, and silenced the media and other channels of public information.