Out d’Coup | Mueller Report Lite; No Abrams for Biden; Big Week for AOC & GND; Wackadoo Mike Lee; DNC Blacklist; PA Special Election; Jesus, Borowicz; Climate Denial Circus; #PAPromise; NASA; Beer

Mueller Report dropped and it's over 300 pages, but we just get to see the four-page Barr Report. Trump says he’s vindicated. Adam Schiff nearly explodes. And Rachel Maddow doubles down on Russia, Russia, Russia.

Stacy Abrams will not be Joe Biden's VP nominee because “who wants to run for second place”

AOC brings the wrecking ball to Republicans who are playing games with our climate.

AOC will be on Chris Hayes’s show on MSNBC at 8 pm tonight for a special on the Green New Deal. Live from the Bronx. And polls continue to show that the GND is super popular with people from coast to coast.

Just in time too. On Monday, a new report from the International Energy Agency shows that the world’s energy demands grew by 2.3 percent this past year and a fleet of relatively young coal plants located in Asia led the way toward a record for emissions from coal-fired power plants — exceeding 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide “for the first time,” according to the report.

Senator Mike Lee puts on a performance that may just win an award for all time stupid. And juvenile. And, well, pretty disgusting when you get down to it. When you start your show with a painting of Ronald Reagan on a velocirapter shooting a machine gun, you need to check yourself. Or at least quit your job.

The Center of Investigative Reporting gets its hands on an hour-long recording of oil executives celebrating and laughing after Trump appointed the lawyer from  American Petroleum Association of America to the Department of the Interior.

Trump admin is trying to shut down Obamacare.

Facebook says it’s going to ban white nationalists and white supremacists from the platform. We’ll see.

The DNC blacklists consultant groups who choose to work with primary challengers.

There’s a special election in the PA Senate’s 37th district this week.  Pam Iovino is running against the uber-rich Republican D. Raja. This seat was vacated by Guy Reschenthaler’s Congressional victory and Democrats are looking to pick this seat up.

Daryl Metcalfe invites climate deniers, I mean “skeptics,” from Das Heartland Institute to speak in front of the house environmental committee. Meanwhile, the biggest takeaways from the hearing were that 1) Leanne Krueger doesn't give a fuck about your self-published climate denial books; and, 2) that climate deniers find the term “climate deniers” derogatory.

State Rep Stephanie Borowicz was seconds away from seeing snakes coming from the capitol dome and speaking in tongues as she gave an extremely racist and Islamophobic opening prayer on the day that Pennsylvania's first Muslim woman, Movita Johnson-Harrell, was sworn into the house. We get some hate mail, too!

Minutes after that Rep Borowicz went off to the Health committee to vote on taking money from poor people because Jesus always said: “blessed are the rich, for they shall inherit every damn thing they want.” See Matthew 5:3-12, aka the Beatitudes

Fallout from the prayer has Democrats asking for a censure of Borowicz and her Islamophobic prayer while Metcalfe is asking to censure Democrats because of their censure.

Big rally in the state Capitol for the #PAPromise - tuition free college in PA.

Mike Pence tries to channel Kennedy’s moon landing speech, saying that NASA will speed up its plan to return Americans to the moon by 2024. Maddow briefly covers the announcement and misses a bigger picture.

Today NASA was supposed to make history with the first-ever all women space walk. They had to cancel because the didn’t the right sized space suits.

NASA will introduce a new mini-helicopter for its Mars 2020 mission.

Sean receives three and a half pound all-metal cylinder right before today’s podcast.

It’s another Sour Sunday this weekend at Free Will Brewing taproom in Perkasie. Get first access to their brand new bottle release - Flowers in the Desert. Both Tré Locally Sourced and Taza Truck will provide the eats.

Out d’Coup | NZ Assault Ban; #EggBoy; Climate Crisis; Deep Throat?; Bernie Union; Beto Bucks; Nunes’ Mom; PA Anti-Union Bill; Safe Patient Ratios; #PAPromise Rally; PABPC Summit; Space News; Beer!

New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern moves to ban all assault rifles and automatic or semi-automatic weapons. Just like that Vulcan and Moloch are thrown back to the underworld. #EggBoy becomes global hero for egging fascist Australian politician, Fraser Anning. And, predictably, liberal guardians of civility decide to discipline #EggBoy and “both-sides” the issue.

Wisconsin Republican’s plan to strip power of incoming Democratic governor shot down as unconstitutional.

The flooding in Nebraska, Missouri, and Iowa in the aftermath of the latest “Bomb Cyclone” should be shaking us awake about our climate future. We have less than 12 years now folks. Some union leaders from the AFL-CIO come out hard against the Green New Deal and right-wing and corporate media eats it up.

PA Auditor General Eugene DePasquale hosted a public hearing on Penn State’s campus on the impacts of climate change on the state. DePasquale said, “Every time there’s a disaster in Pennsylvania, it’s a hit to the state’s taxpayers, as opposed to if we were able to do something beforehand to mitigate this.” A report will be forthcoming.

Democratic Presidential hopeful former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper makes his primetime campaign debut by telling the world about the time he went to go see Deep Throat with this mom. Then in his recovery, he asks why women candidates aren’t asked if they plan on choosing a male running-mate.

Bernie’s campaign makes history as campaign staffers form a union! Wooo. Bernie goes public with his support and uses the moment to advocate for more unionization across the country.

Speaking of moms, Devin Nunes is not happy with his Twitter mom, so he’s going to sue her. And her cow. When Devin Nunes’ Cow tweeted, “Devin’s boots are full of manure. “He’s udder-ly worthless and it’s pasture time to mooove him to prison.”

Beto O’Rourke brings in some big fundraising numbers, $6.1 million. He’s a little vague on the details, though.

Pennsylvania House Republicans failed at fast-tracking an anti-union bill through the chamber this week and it was a call for a roll call vote that killed it, for now.

SEIU Healthcare PA, PASNAP and the Coalition of Nurses were in the capitol on Wednesday to lobby for safe patient ratios in hospitals across the state

PA Promise Rally in the Capitol next Wednesday. The PA Promise is legislation that would bring tuition-free college to the PA State System of Higher Education.

The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center held its annual Budget Summit this week.

Vice President’s baby, the National Space Council, will be pushing hard to make the June 2020 launch date to return humans to the moon. Better bring the Preparation H because NASA researchers finding that the longer astronauts spend in space, the more like they are to reactivate the herpes virus.

Galactic capitalists getting really excited about turning the eighth continent, the Moon, into a mining and rocket fuel operation. For real. Toyota is getting tapped by Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency to develop a big-ass, off-road lunar rover. As expected, Boeing is delaying the test launch of its crew capsule from April to August.

Known millennial hater, Mark Price, is popping up in some odd places doing some pithy subtweeting.

This Sunday, Free Will is hosting The March Meltdown 5K from 10 am - 1 pm. The Meltdown begins and ends at Free Will Brewing Company in Perkasie, PA. This unique 5k race takes place on the scenic trails in and around Perkasie and along the East Branch of the Perkiomen Creek. The Meltdown is open to runners and walkers of all ages, but you must be 21 or older (with a valid ID) to get your free craft brew from Free Will.

And Free Will releases Holographic Universe tomorrow, March 23 - Sour Ale with boysenberry, plum, sweet basil, and milk sugar (6.4%) is available in cans and on draft this Saturday, March 23rd in both Perkasie and Peddler’s Village taprooms!

Out d’Coup | Sanders Oppo; NZ White Supremacist Kills 49; Beto In; Impeachment; Youth Climate Strike; PA Special Elections; Lehigh U #MeToo; Nasa News; Anchor Union; Shipp Brews; Free Will Flicks

CNN releases oppo research dump on Bernie Sanders showing that he wanted to nationalize most industries in the 1970s, and that’s bad why?

The House votes 420 - 0 on a resolution to make Mueller’s final report public. But, Lindsay Graham wants to throw his body in front of that bus and block the resolution from being taken up in the Senate. Manafort gets more jail time and his lawyer keeps lying. New York State drops new pardon-proof charges against Manafort moments after he was sentenced in federal court.

49 people dead and 48 injured in New Zealand as white nationalist terrorist opened fire on two mosques in Christchurch, the country’s third most populous city. It was the worst mass shooting in New Zealand history. The self-proclaimed fascist left behind a white nationalist manifesto and live streamed part of the shooting.

And the breaking news this week that rich people are cheating the system to get their kids into top colleges and universities shocks...well, nobody really. Now we just have more concrete proof from the U.S. Department of Justice that the system is rigged. Big time.

Chances are that you already know that Beto O’Rourke announced he is running for president. He hit social media hard as he hit the campaign trail in Iowa yesterday. He seems to be hoping that by performing excitement and positivity, he can avoid taking progressive positions - or any positions - on key policy issues such as Medicare for All. Beto’s entry into the race brings the total number of candidates to 17 with Uncle Joe expected to announce next week. And, if you care, Corey Booker is officially dating Rosario Dawson.

Boeing grounded due to problems with their 737 Max that led the Ethiopian Airlines flight that killed the 157 people.

Nancy Pelosi says she’s against impeaching Trump, just like she was against impeaching Bush because it “divides the country.” I think she got impeachment confused with the Mississippi River.

Hundreds of thousands of students are walking out of school today as part of a global youth climate strike. They are taking to the streets to protest the failure of politicians to take the necessary actions to stave off a dystopian climate future. Organizing for coordinated strikes grew after the Swedish teenager, Greta Thunberg, held a solo protest outside the Swedish parliament last September.

And, holy crap is Tucker Carlson a racist, sexist, asshole. Again, not exactly shocking.

Democrats won two special elections on Tuesday night!  Larry Krasner staffer Movita Johnson-Harrell will become the first Muslim to ever serve in Pennsylvania and Bridget Malloy Kosierowski blew out the Old Forge Pizzagate loving Boomer Frank Scavo in a district that voted for Trump by 7%.  

Pennsylvania House has officially introduced legislation to bail out the nuclear industry, which is creating lots of strange bedfellows on both sides of the issue.

Lehigh University in Bethlehem is having its #MeToo moment as an associate professor files a federal lawsuit saying that she was used as a “sacrificial lamb to its own racial agenda” to appear more progressive than it was. “Lehigh sacrificed vulnerable young women, who they permitted to be abused because its image as an unbiased and racially diverse college was more important,” the suit alleges.

It’s Meek Mill Weekend! Philadelphia’s City Council honored Mill’s work on improving the criminal justice system and gave us all a reason to celebrate this weekend.

NASA’s huge Space Launch System (SLS) looks like it may be sidelined in favor of private space companies. The SLS was supposed to be the main launch vehicle for NASA’s Orion spacecraft - its main vehicle for getting to Mars and establishing a presence on the Moon. The SLS has missed several deadlines and with NASA’s goal of launching around the moon in June 2020, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that the agency is now looking to private industries like Space X - even though they do not yet have a launch vehicle able to carry Orion to its lunar mission.

New US/Russian Crew launches to the International Space Station from Kazakhstan on Pi Day! Two of the astronauts on this mission were on the aborted mid-flight launch last October.

Elon Musk took to the LiveStream last night to unveil the latest TESLA vehicle. It’s a mid-sized SUV called the Model Y.  They will run $47,000 to $60,000 and offer more battery range. Those will ship starting in 2020.

Workers at San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing vote to unionize! If all goes as planned, one of America’s first craft breweries could be members of the ILWU - the Longshoremen!

We’ve got a list of Irish Craft Brews for you this St. Patrick’s Day weekend...if you can find them of course.

Shippensburg University, with the help of a grant from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, launches courses to support and train the state’s craft beer industry. For real!

Tomorrow, Free Will releases Sexy Goodies once again. Sexy Goodies is a New England style Double IPA brewed with flaked oats, flaked barley, and milk sugar. Hopped with a collection of Calypso, Mosaic, Citra, and Apollo. This beer has a smooth, gentle mouthfeel with notes of Makrut Lime leaves, strawberry, and peach. 8.5% ABV

And big news for Free WIll: Free Will confirmed that it is opening up in Souderton, PA - joining forces with Broad Theater, the under-renovation historic movie venue in the center of town. Free Will will be operating a bar in the lobby! Look forward to a viewing-focused experience with beverages in-hand.

Sean does Lent his way.

Out d’Coup | HR1 For the People; Dems Fumble with Ilhan Omar; Manafort; Neoliberal Says Give Dem Socialists Their Turn; PA GOP; PA Dems Not Getting It; Space News; Free Will Releases; SNL on Feinstein

What? You haven’t heard of HR1 For the People Act? You know, the first major piece of legislation being put forward by the new Democratic House majority focused on anti-corruption and voting rights? Hmmm. I wonder why? Oh, that’s right, House Democrats decided to devote this week to going after Ilhan Omar for what some claimed to be anti-semitic comments.

But, as both Sam Seder from the Majority Report and Ben Ehrenreich writing in the New Republic argued this week, there is quite a gap between what people are accusing Omar of saying and what she actually said. After sparking internal party chaos, Pelosi and House Democrats decide on a resolution condemning all anti-semitism and hate, not directly censuring Omar. [resolution here]

HR1 voted on today (and passed!), but don’t expect to see much about it in the corporate media.

Paul Manafort doesn’t get 19-24 years in prison as called for in federal sentencing guidelines; he gets a slap on the wrist instead. Judge says Manafort has lived an “otherwise blameless life.”  AOC says the light sentence for Manafort only underscores what most Americans already suspect, that "In our current broken system, 'justice' isn't blind, it's bought."

Trump seems to be relishing in the idea of discrediting the 2020 elections well before the campaign shifts into high gear.

And Brad DeLong, a Clinton-era neoliberal centrist, says it’s time to turn over the reins of the part to democratic socialists. How about that.

PA GOP turns to Facebook to use the dust up over Ilhan Omar’s comments to attack Summer Lee.

How far left is too left?  Old white Pennsylvania Democrats are concerned that Trump may win 2020 if the party goes too far to the left.

Russ Diamond wants to end daylight savings as we know it.

In today’s Last Call, Space X Crew Dragon makes is successful on its first test mission. Crew Dragon has two passengers: Ripley and a little plushy Earth. Canada announces its space strategy. That will focus on the Lunar Gateway, AI, and deep-space robotics.  And, China set to build the world's first solar power station in space.

Free Will set to release the first in its new “brewers series” on Saturday. This week it’s a Cream Ale, highlighting a favorite recipe designed and brewed by Free Will’s own Hannah Gohde. Also on Saturday Free Will releases Tangerine Micromosa, a Mimosa inspired IPA with tangerines, hopped with Mosaic, Cascade, Centennial, and Ekuanot.

Out d’Coup | Cohen’s Mob Movie; Kim Jong Owned; Jayapal’s Medicare for All; Red Chicago; Climate Crisis; PA Charter Appeals Board; Strike in Erie; Space X Crew Dragon; Lunar Gateway; Free Will News

It was the best Mob movie I’ve seen in a long time. Michael Cohen testified before Congress and it was large-popcorn-bucket-worthy. Like we’ve been saying for a couple of years now, the best way to understand the Trump administration is to read it as an organized crime story. Now it looks like we’re going to get Trump’s accountant, Allen Weisselberg, to testify after all. Cohen’s closing statement warned that if Trump loses the 2020 election, he will not allow for a peaceful transfer of power.

Trump got Kim Jong Un-ed in Vietnam.

Pramila Jayapal drops a major Medicare for All bill that - wait for it - is better than the plan advocated for by Bernie Sanders. The bill was drafted with nurses, doctors, disability rights advocates, advocates for the elderly, and organizations such as Public Citizen and the Center for Popular Democracy.

This past Tuesday was a great day for Chicago socialists as 4 of the 5 DSA endorsed candidates won their election to Chicago’s city council. At least two other progressives also ousted established Democratic Party Machine candidates.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee enters the presidential race with an unabashed commitment to address the climate crisis. CPAC is underway just outside DC. All the tensions with Trump are nowhere to be found as the right-wing political conference fully embraces MAGA. And if you wanted to know if progressive/left policies are moving the needle, look no further than right-wing ex-Senator Rick Santorum who went to CPAC calling for paid family leave.

Charter Appeals Board??? Say what?  Imagine a state-controlled government panel that is specifically designed to overturn local school boards and favor charter schools.

About 1,700 workers are on strike in Erie, PA as Wabtec, the new owners of the former GE locomotive plant, demanded up to 38% reduction in wages, mandatory overtime, expanded use of temps, and arbitrary scheduling. Bernie Sanders weighed in on the strike saying, "The American people are sick and tired of corporate America and their wealthy CEOs ripping off the working families of this country.” In These Times has called this the “biggest U.S. manufacturing strike in the Trump era.”

Senator Bob Casey says he will be backing a $15/hour federal minimum wage bill, marking his continued political evolution. PA House GOP Candidate Frank Scavo is a Pizzagate conspiracy theorist who is running for an open house seat in Lackawanna County.  It’s been a Democratic stronghold for decades but voted for Trump in 2016.

Big Pharma, Big Greed. A PA woman used to be able to get for free medication for a rare neuromuscular disease. But thanks to BioMarin Pharmaceutical who recently gained exclusive rights to see the drug, she is facing a $375,000/year bill. Her case is one of the thousands like it that has been the subject of hearings in DC. Elections have consequences.

State Senator Vincent Hughes wants to "take a data-driven approach to public policy to ensure that lawmakers are fully informed of the potential impacts of legislation on people living in poverty before they vote."

In today’s Last Call, Space X set to test its first-ever Crew Dragon Spacecraft tomorrow if the weather continues to cooperate. The Crew Dragon is designed to bring astronauts to the International Space Station. If all goes well, this will be the first “crew-capable orbital spacecraft” to launch from the U.S. since the Obama administration scrapped the space shuttle program in 2011 in favor of contracting out missions to the ISS. Boeing, the other company tapped by NASA to fly crewed missions to the ISS has its own test launch set for April.

Canada is the first country to join up to support NASA’s lunar gateway project. The Lunar Orbital Platform Gateway program will be a human-tended facility in orbit around the moon, kind of like a sister station to the ISS.

This Sunday, Free Will Brewing will be celebrating the “Spirit of Mardi Gras” with a barrel aged tap takeover at the main brewery in Perkasie. Plus, a double can release tomorrow:

• Fresh King Cake  - a No Boil White Ale brewed with 120 pounds of fresh ground pecans, orange, cinnamon, and vanilla. 7% ABV. Saturday can and draft release, March 2nd!
• 7 Course Red - just in time for St Patty's Day prep, it's Free Will's traditional Irish Red Ale, malt forward with notes of toffee, toasted bread, and dried fruit. Brewed with a touch of roasted barley and carared for additional color and a beautiful tan head.

Out d’Coup | Run, Bernie, Run; More Teachers’ Strikes; Voter Fraud; Climate Change; White Terrorist; Metcalf’s Veggies; America Votes; Labor Notes; Union Caucuses; Space Force; Free Will; Pizza Boy

Run, Bernie, Run. Bernie Sanders officially threw his hat into the presidential race this week. His campaign raised $5.9 million from 223,047 individuals in its first 24 hours, millions of dollars more than any other Democratic party candidate thus far.

West Virginia teachers have another successful strike. They beat back attempts to introduce charter schools across the state. Oakland teachers walked out on Thursday demanding smaller classes, charter school oversight, more school nurses and guidance counselors. And they are demanding a 12% pay increase after years of austerity. Oakland is one of the epicenters of What’s going on? Well, rank-and-file, progressive caucuses have a lot to do with it.

North Carolina election board calls for a new vote in the congressional race in which the Republican candidate and his campaign committed what looks like to normal people as systemic voter fraud.

More conjecture on the status of the Mueller probe while Trump officials apparently tried to sell nuclear tech to Saudi Arabia. And as if to add insult to injury, Trump is preparing to launch a Presidential Committee on Climate Security to determine if climate change actually a national security threat like the Pentagon says it is. The Washington Post reports that Trump wants the committee to be led by climate denier, William Happer, who says CO2 is not a pollutant, it’s an asset. Back in 2014, Happer even compared CO2 to Jews in Nazi Germany, “demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler,” he said.

A self-described white-supremacist Coast Guard officer is arrested for planning a terrorist attack to kill prominent Democratic lawmakers including AOC, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and several high-profile television anchors from MSNBC and CNN.

Daryl Metcalfe loves his vegetables. Chris Rabb calls out Tom Wolf for doubling on Natural Gas exploitation.

Sean ended up driving through Wednesday’s snowstorm to get to the America Votes conference in DC and will recap some of the speakers who attended it.

Kevin went to an amazing Labor Notes workshop on Saturday in Kutztown. Great discussion on building power in the union. And yes, we talked quite a bit about caucuses.  

China’s moon landing on the dark side may just launch a new space race.  China’s future plans include a new space station, a lunar base and possible sample return missions from Mars. And China’s military space program “continues to mature rapidly,” according to the Department of Defense.  

Trump officially signs a directive to establish the Space Force.  Space Policy Directive - 4 calls for a commander of the Space Force who will “lead space warfighting through global space operations that may occur in the space domain, the terrestrial domains, or through the electromagnetic spectrum.”

NASA is planning to put astronauts back on the moon by 2028. That was Trump’s Space Policy Directive - 1 if you’re keeping score at home. Space race indeed.

And, Mattel is launching Astrophysicist and Astronaut Barbie this year. Barbie has a 50-year history of space exploration, actually.

Facebook told me that one year ago today, my daughter and I finished the first stage of the 1,969 piece Lego NASA Apollo Saturn V rocket.

Today is National Margarita Day and Free Will has got a double release for you. Not only do we get the 5th of May - a sour ale aged in tequila barrels with key limes and Himalayan salt; but, we also get one my all-time favorites, Safeword - an Imperial IPA with mangoes and habanero peppers, 10.4% ABV and burns so sweet.

Sean makes his legendary return to Pizza Boy.

Out d’Coup | Trump’s Emergency; Sen. Turtle Fails; Beto 4 Senate?; Amazon Boo Hoos; GOP Student Loan Plan; Fetterman Mary Jane Tour; Block Rants; PASSHE; Free Will; Star Trek; Untold Histories; more

Trump says he will declare a national emergency as we are recording today’s podcast.

Despite earlier warnings to the contrary, Mitch McConnell now seems to be on board with Trump in support of declaring a national emergency. Meanwhile, McConnell is going to force a vote on “Green New Deal” resolution introduced by AOC and Senator Markey. The Turtle thinks he’s playing political hardball, but we think it’s going to blow up in his face.

Beto O’Rourke meets with Schumer to discuss 2020 Senate run.  Denver teachers go on strike for the first time in 25 years. After three days they come away with a win. Amazon got its foo foos hurt by community protests and kills HQ2 plans for New York. You get a second chance, Gov. Wolf.

New GOP proposal calls for employers to take student loan payments directly out of employees paychecks. Atmospheric river dumps record rain on California. Fear of mudslides and flooding, given the summer of fire.

Lt. Governor John Fetterman’s marijuana legalization tour starts rolling through central Pennsylvania.  Hundreds of supporters showed up at the Dauphin and Cumberland Counties stops. House Democratic Labor and Industry Chair Pat Harkins is back on board with Governor Wolf’s minimum wage plan.

Post Gazette editor John Block went on an epically drunken rant in the Gazette’s news Saturday.  Block had his young daughter with him as he demanded to get a photo in front of a poster that read “Shame on the Blocks.”

PASSHE Chancellor Daniel Greenstein testifies at PA budget hearings. He seemed to give a shot across the bow to the faculty union, saying that unless the relationship changes and becomes more collaborative, saving PASSHE is a fool’s errand.

Labor Notes training at Kutztown tomorrow.

Double can release at Free Will this week. Sean can’t shake the sinus blues. Sean was gifted a book on socialist poems from a newsroom vet!

Star Trek: Discovery update. Sean’s watching Oliver Stone’s Untold Histories

Raging Chicken studios get a remodel. New writers on the horizon?

Out d’Coup | Green New Deal; SOU; More 2020 Dems Announce; SCOTUS; VA House Cleaning; Bezos; Wolf’s Budget; Raise the Wage; KP Summit; Daylin Sues; Free Will

AOC and Ed Markey roll out the Green New Deal! It’s the first big, bold initiatives the Democrats have had since I’ve been around. It’s got many Democrats, environmental activists, and people who want to avoid a dystopian future super pumped. Nancy Pelosi message tests dismissive “Green Dream” talking point...AOC does some jujitsu with that message.

Trump does Dr. Seuss during the state of the union. “If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation.” Nancy Pelosi lights up the internet, becoming the “Queen of Condescending Applause”

Ryan Grim reports that less than a month after the 2018 midterms, a top health care aide to Nancy Pelosi told executives from Blue Cross Blue Shield not to worry about calls for Medicare for All. He assured them that Democratic leadership will side with the insurance companies and campaign against Medicare for All .

Supreme Court halts Louisiana anti-abortion bill.

Cory Booker is the latest to announce that he’s running for president. Elizabeth Warren set to officially launch her campaign tomorrow in Lawrence Massachusetts. Amy Klobuchar set to announce whether she’ll run in an event on Sunday in Minneapolis. And old school Democrats on pins and needles to see if Uncle Joe will swoop in and Make the Democratic Party Neoliberal Again.

And what the hell Virginia. One hell of a house-cleaning coming up.

Bezos and National Enquirer.

Tom Wolf releases a no-frills budget and GOP Leadership is eager to work with him on his proposed tax cuts. Dems gonna Dem. Tom Wolf released his minimum wage proposal to raise the wage to $12/hr and work its way up to $15 by 2024, but Pat Harkins, the Dem chair of House Labor and Industry committee, wants to find a less ambitious plan. 

Speaking about raising the wage, House Republicans invited two libertarian economists to speak in front of the Labor and Industry committee and they advocated for eliminating the minimum wage and claimed that minimum wage laws are “racist.”

Scumbag Daylin Leach sues three #metoo activists for bringing his allegations to light. He’s gone as far as sending a private investigator to try and harm one of the defendants living arrangements.

Sean gives us his take on this year’s Keystone Progress Summit in Pittsburgh.

Free Will Brewing is hosting a Pre-Valentine Beer Pairing with Tre' Locally Sourced on Wednesday, February 13th at the Perkasie Brewery. 5-course beer & food pairing in the heart of our brewery, the Sour Cellar. Tomorrow, Free Will is releasing  Orange Colored Malcontent – Double IPA with Cara Cara Oranges & Milk Sugar – 9.5% ABV.

Sean crashes Pittsburgh fundraiser.

Out d’Coup | Shutdown Day 35; Stone to the Pokey; Kamala 2020; AOC Shatters Overton Window; LA Teachers Win Big; Sexual Misconduct Scandals Rock H’Burg’; Red Moon; Frye Fest; Ozark; and, Free Will

Day 35 of the Government Shutdown. We’ll do a rundown of some of the major impacts while workers face their second missed paychecks today. Flights out of LaGuardia, Newark and Philly airports halt over lack of air traffic controllers, a result of Trump's government shutdown. [Breaking as this episode gets posted: Trump announces a deal has been reached to re-open government].

The U.S. is getting ready to ship back asylum seekers to Mexico. Roger Stone goes to the pokey. It was a6 am early morning wake up call the Trump consigliere.

Kamala Harris enters the 2020 presidential race. Tulsi Gabbard effectively ends her presidential bid, joining the Both Siders Party instead. A majority of the country support AOC’s to raise the top marginal tax rate to 70 percent, and Elizabeth Warren is proposing a “wealth tax” on the rich.  Will AOC’s proposal to tax the rich force Democrats to add “taxing the rich” to their 2020 platform. 

Striking LA teachers took on the billionaires and won big. Smaller class sizes, a nurse in every school, more counselors and librarians, steps against charter schools, and a slew of “common good” demands regarding social justice issues like immigrant rights, racial profiling, and green spaces at schools. This was not a spontaneous uprising...Sarah Jaffe’s piece in The Nation this week shows that this strike has its roots in a 2014 take over of the LA teachers union by the progressive Union Power caucus. Is everybody watching? Teachers in Denver, Oakland, and Virginia certainly are. 

The U.S. government is trying to return to its Cold War sweet spot by backing coup in Venezuela. China taking the spotlight at Davos, announcing the arrival of a new world political geography. 

And Catholic Young MAGA Red Hats decide harassing a Native elder is a great way to cap off their visit to the nation’s Capital. 

Sexual harassment scandals are once again ripping through the Pennsylvania Capitol.  State Representative Brian Ellis is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Dauphin County DA’s office that is looking into potential rape allegations from 2015. 

State Senator Daylin Leach is once again the center of controversy.  A survivor who has been trying to tell her story for almost a year hand-delivered complaint about her incident to every Senate member last week.  The allegations go back to 1991 when the survivor was 17 and Senator Leach was representing her and her mother in an attempted murder case. 

State Senator Rich Alloway shocked everyone last week when he up and quit out of nowhere.  He said that he was “tired of politics as usual” in Harrisburg, but is seeking to take on a job as a lobbyist. 

Lt Gov John Fetterman will be barnstorming all 67 counties to talk about marijuana legalization! 

Two Chinese companies prepare for their first orbital launch, bringing Kim Stanley Robinson’s vision in Red Moon one step closer. 

Sean gives a rundown on the competing Fyre Festival documentaries from Netflix and Hulu. Kevin finishes season two of Ozark. Laura Linney rocks. Just sayin’. 

Free Will has it’s first Sour Sunday of 2019 this weekend. On Saturday, Free Will releases Angel. Angel was created specifically for BeerAdvocate Extreme Beer Fest (Boston 2019) on February 1st & 2nd. New Age “No Boil” IPA w/Galaxy, Vic Secret, & Mosaic – 6.3%.  Brewed with Local Malt from Deer Creek Malthouse and bloody butcher heirloom corn meal from Castle Valley Mill.

Out d’Coup | Shutdown; 2020 Heats Up; Nancy/Donny Show; Rep. Steve KKK_King; AOC Social Media U; Impeachment?; Capital-Star Launch; Gov. Inauguration; Space Force; Star Trek; Free Will Release

The government shutdown now in day 28. Dems flood into the 2020 presidential race. So far it’s Elizabeth Warren, Richard Ojeda, Julian Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Gillibrand, and a couple of guys named John Delany and Andrew Yang.

Nancy and Donny play hard nose politics with the State of the Union and a planned Congressional visit to Afghanistan to visit troops and to Brussels to reaffirm American commitments to NATO.

Republican representative Steve KKK_King of Iowa, stripped of his committee assignments after he complains to the New York Times that you can’t even say you're a white supremacist anymore. Conservatives freak out as AOC gets on the House Financial Services Committee. Aaand AOC gives social media and twitter lessons to her Democratic Colleagues during her first week in office.

Will be this the straw that broke the camel's back?  Will Trump finally be impeached after Buzzfeed’s latest story reporting that Trump instructed Cohen to lie to Congress about Trump Moscow? That’s after the Wall Street Journal broke the story yesterday that during the early days of the 2016 campaign, Cohen hired an IT firm to manipulate polls to show that Trump was a real contender. And, yes, Cohen claims that he did so at the request of Trump. 

The Pennsylvania Capital Star will be a new progressive, investigative online news source in Harrisburg. Let’s hope the little social media fails they had with their launch doesn’t trip them up too much. 

It was inauguration day in Harrisburg. Let’s see what the Wolf/Fetterman team can get done as they were fawning over “bi-partisanship.” We’ll have some completely unsolicited advice for them. 

Brendan Boyle and Dwight Evans get seated to the House Ways and Means committee. Right before that, Brendan Boyle came out in support of Medicare for All.

Steve Carell will star in a new Netflix series called...wait for it...Space Force. Star Trek Discovery Season 2 launched last night...and it was freaking awesome. 

A team of NASA scientists is proposing to land a drone called “Dragonfly” on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, following research from the Cassini probe found that Titan has an atmosphere that rains organic compounds on the surface of the moon. 

Free Will is going all blueberries with this week’s can release. Blueberry Mash is a Kettle Sour Ale with Blueberry, Vanilla, and Milk Sugar – 7.5% ABV.