RINGSIDE POLITICS – JULY 7, 2021

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Welcome to another edition of Ringside Politics with Jeff Crouere

Today’s Hot Topics:

1) As the debate over critical race theory and schools reaches a fever pitch, the two national teachers’ unions are entering the fray, vowing to defend their members against any backlash over how they teach about the nation’s complicated history with race and racism.

Both unions have presented a single underlying message: Teachers must be honest about racial injustices so that students learn to think critically about how the country’s problematic past has shaped its present. Any efforts to restrict those conversations in the classroom, the unions say, are akin to censorship.

“The backlash [to teaching about race] that you see in these radicalized circles is going to hurt kids,” said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten in an interview. “I felt the need to make it crystal clear to teachers … that I honor their professional responsibilities and that their union will have their back.”

2) Joe Biden has warned that the Delta variant of the coronavirus now makes up half of cases in many areas of the US and pledged to deploy federal “surge response teams” to help local officials stop the spread.

The president spoke on Tuesday after narrowly missing his self-imposed target of 70% of American adults receiving at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by Independence Day on 4 July.

Although he noted that coronavirus cases and deaths are down 90% since January, Biden urged younger adults in particular to get vaccinated as the Delta variant, already raging across the world, threatens to become the dominant one in America.

“Our fight against this virus is not over,” he said in public remarks after a briefing by the White House Covid-19 response team. “Right now, as I speak to you, millions of Americans are still unvaccinated and unprotected and because of that, their communities are at risk. Their friends are at risk, the people that they care about are at risk.”

3) President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that his administration would step up efforts to get Americans vaccinated against COVID-19 with a new program that would go “door to door, literally knocking on doors,” urging people to get the shots.

During his remarks the president said that “We need to go community by community, neighborhood by neighborhood, and oft times, door to door, literally knocking on doors” to encourage vaccination.

Those knocking on the doors will offer information about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.

The administration failed to reach its self imposed goal of having 70% of the nation’s eligible people at least partially vaccinated by July 4th. In a briefing earlier in the day, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that by the end of this week nearly 160 million Americans

4) The back-to-school shopping season may be weeks away, but parents may want to get ready to pay higher prices on everything from clothing to notebooks.

The average spending per student is expected to be as much as $270, according to a survey by accounting firm KPMG. That’s $20 more than last year.

Spending on preschool and college-bound students will go up the most, partially because more people are starting school in preschool and college after delaying plans last year.

Today’s Guests:

1) Dr. Andrew Myers, Co-Author; Simplifying the COVID Puzzle: How Two Essential Vitamins Fortify the Immune System

2) LA State Senator Beth Mizell (R-Franklinton)

3) Mimi Crouere, Author and Commentator; Ringside Politics All-Star