Republicans Refuse Vaccines as Democrats Try to Pack the Court
The David Pakman Show - April 16, 2021
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43% of Republicans STILL Don't Want the Vaccine
A new Monmouth University poll found that Republicans are far less likely to want the COVID vaccine than Democrats or independents. The survey found that 43% of Republicans oppose getting the vaccine for themselves. Five percent of Democrats plan on refusing the vaccine and 22% of independents don’t want the vaccine. The big takeaway though, is that 80% of the country plans to get vaccinated (if they haven’t already). The consensus among medical scientists is that getting to 70% to 85% immunity in a population is necessary to achieve herd immunity. But in the United States, there will not be an equal distribution of that 80% of the population who have the antibodies. States like Massachusetts, for example, will be well off because 92% of its population plans on getting vaccinated. But in states like Mississippi, vaccine appointments are going unfilled and demand lags, so they may not get to herd immunity. States with high vaccine hesitancy are likely going to see COVID deaths continue for much longer than states with less vaccine skepticism.
Another interesting data point from this survey was that the gap between whites and people of color when it comes to interest in getting the vaccine has closed to the point where they are statistically equal. Twenty-two percent of white people and 20% of people of color don’t want the coronavirus vaccine. President Biden has a 62% approval rating when it comes to his handling of coronavirus and a 54% job approval rating overall. Those solid marks for Biden could very well grow, as soon the entire country becomes eligible for the vaccine.
BREAKING: House Bill Would Expand SCOTUS to 13 Justices
House Democrats are beginning the process of passing a bill that would expand the number of seats on the Supreme Court from nine to thirteen. Democrats are playing coy by saying thirteen is the right number because there are thirteen circuit courts around the country. The more honest take is that they are motivated by taking back power in the nation’s highest court and getting retaliation against Mitch McConnell and Republicans for stealing a Supreme Court seat. Adding four liberal justices would sway the majority on the court from being 6-3 conservative to being 7-6 liberal. The legislation is known as the Judiciary Act and it is being introduced by Ed Markey in the Senate and Jerry Nadler, Hank Johnson, and Mondaire Jones in the House. Recently, President Biden signed an executive order to look into potential reforms to the courts, with expansion being on the table.
Republicans crossed a line when they rushed through Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement after denying President Obama’s pick in 2016. Democrats are well within their rights to find ways to retaliate for that power grab operated by Mitch McConnell and Republicans. Possible expansion or “packing” of the court is one thing to consider but there are other reforms to think about as well. There should be term limits on Supreme Court justices. It might even make sense to rotate out judges up from and down to lower courts. Ultimately, this conversation is moot without abolishing or weakening the filibuster and at this point, it’s clear that Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema don’t want to do that.
From yesterday’s show:
Pandemic's Wrongest Man & Tucker Carlson Set Records
The coronavirus pandemic’s wrongest man, according to the Atlantic, is Alex Berenson, who has made countless false claims about the virus, containment guidelines, vaccination, and basically everything else. He went on Tucker Carlson’s daytime show to talk about marijuana. Berenson is anti-cannabis and laid out some dumb arguments as to why it should be avoided and kept illegal. He implied a connection between marijuana use and violent crime, which he says has gone up over the past five years. Violent crime over decades has gone down significantly, so Berenson is simply trying to cherry-pick the data here. But the bigger picture is that everyone knows cannabis mellows people out and doesn’t turn users into Reefer Madness maniacs. Berenson went on to suggest that marijuana is bad because of its possible side effects. Side effects exist with any recreational or prescription drug, so this argument as well doesn’t make much sense. In this interview, Berenson proved that he can be wrong about more than just one topic.
--More on the show:
--Caller talks about media literacy and fixing stupidity
--Caller debates David on the cost of Joe Biden's programs and the national debt
--Caller discusses reasonable gun control measures
--Caller talks about the police shooting of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
--Audience Question: Why is it wrong to discourage people you disagree with from voting?
--Audience Question: Why are vaccine passports controversial?
--Audience Question: Does "classical conservatism" still exist?
--On the Bonus Show: Both sides rest their case in Derek Chauvin trial, Pfizer CEO talks dose #3, independents aren't actually independent, and much more...
--Become a Supporter: http://www.davidpakman.com/membership