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PBC News & Comment, 12.20.19: Yang Surprises in Best DemPrez Debate So Far

With 7 candidates onstage, each got enough time to explain agendas, and Andrew Yang set himself apart on many issues…..PBS/Politico moderators did decent job, let candidates talk and debate

–moderates Biden and Klobuchar were strong and avoided mistakes

–Warren and Klobuchar ganged up on Buttigieg

–Sanders and Warren were strong on progressive issues, Bernie shouts too much

–Bernie had the best answer on beating Trump—with high turnout

–all of the candidates ignored the threat to Obamacare from court ruling

–Bloomberg unveils modest health plan, Obamacare + public option

–DNC escalates its terms for next debate January 14 in Des Moines

–Congress adjourns after passing ugly spending bills and approving NAFTA 2.0

–Ways & Means chair Richie Neal is blamed for killing budget amendment to end surprise hospital bills

–in first splintering of Trump’s evangelical base, Christianity Today calls for Trump’s removal for moral failure; he retorts with binary false choice

–Harvard law professors Feldman and Tribe argue over technicalities of impeachment

–Russiagate skeptic Aaron Maté says Dems’ impeachment strategy is “doomed and dangerous”

–unnamed sources say John Durham’s investigation into Russiagate is now looking at John Brennan

–at ConsortiumNews, John Kiriakou demands corrections from James Comey about FISA court and IG report

–Boris Johnson’s new Conservative majority delivers Brexit bill

–at MintPress, Alan Mcleod reports on courageous journalist Tareq Haddad, who quit Newsweek in protest over censorship of Syria chemical weapons

–Columbia Journalism Review exposes new network of “local news sites” that include conservative bias

–Washington state investigation reveals that legislator Matt Shea was central to Bundy occupations, tagged as “domestic terrorism

–in California, Conviction Integrity Unit tosses 3 cases linked to fired cop

–Boeing suffers another setback, as launch of space capsule ended up in wrong orbit

–satellite imagery now can identify major methane leaks