Republicans caught in California's recall trap  —  Even after California Gov. Gavin Newsom's blowout victory in the Tuesday's recall vote, Democrats are re-considering the Golden State's 110-year history with the direct democracy device.  Democrats have good reason for their concern …

What if Covid Were 10 Times Deadlier?  —  “I think I've come to believe that even if the Covid death toll was 10 times what it currently is,” the MSNBC host Chris Hayes wrote a few days ago on Twitter, “the politics of all of it wouldn't be appreciably different.”

Why I violated Texas's extreme abortion ban  —  Alan Braid is a physician who provides abortion care in San Antonio.  —  Newly graduated from the University of Texas medical school, I began my obstetrics and gynecology residency at a San Antonio hospital on July 1, 1972.

Abbott's right turn deflates GOP rivals but opens door for O'Rourke, McConaughey: News/UT-Tyler poll  —  Survey shows sharp drop for Texas governor among independents after summer of pushing to ban abortion and mandates on masks and vaccines.  —  WASHINGTON — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott …

Trump Looks for Challenger to Depose Mitch McConnell as Split Widens  —  GOP's most influential figure and its top elected official are divided on policy, politics and who should lead the party in the future  —  WASHINGTON— Mitch McConnell's record-long reign as Senate Republican leader …

Fox News Poll: Majorities favor mask and vaccine mandates as pandemic worries increase  —  Three-quarters of registered voters are ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ concerned about the pandemic  —  Fox News Flash top headlines for September 19  —  Majorities support mask and vaccine mandates advocated …

Trump's ‘Waning Influence’ Shown in ‘Very Small Crowd Size’ at ‘Justice for J6’ Rally: Ted Lieu  —  As a sparse crowd gathered in Washington D.C., to support the January 6 Capitol rioters on Saturday, Representative Ted Lieu said the “Justice for J6” rally's poor attendance shows …

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz Goes ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’ With Justice for J6 Protester Who Didn't Believe Cops Were Assaulted on Jan. 6 (Even After He Was Shown The Video)  —  CNN's Shimon Prokupecz went “down the rabbit hole” with a protester at the “Justice for J6” rally in D.C. …

How Accounting Giants Craft Favorable Tax Rules From Inside Government  —  Lawyers from top accounting firms do brief stints in the Treasury Department, with the expectation of big raises when they return.  —  For six years, Audrey Ellis and Adam Feuerstein worked together at PwC …

The ‘JusticeForJ6’ Rally Wasn't a Joke — It Was A Warning  —  Support for the Capitol insurrectionists has taken root firmly inside the GOP  —  After the nation's capital spent weeks girding for a repeat of the insurrection, the small crowd who came to the national mall in the shadow …

Former Joint Chiefs chair: Nothing unusual about Milley's contacts with China  —  Michael Mullen, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Sunday said there was nothing abnormal about the reported conversations between Gen. Mark Milley and his counterparts in China.

AOC's ‘Tax the Rich’ dress designer Aurora James owes debt in multiple states  —  Designer Aurora James called her “Tax the Rich” dress for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a “powerful message” — but it's not one she has taken to heart.  —  The 37-year-old fashionista who made waves at the Met Gala …

The Look of Gentrification  —  If you think of gentrification as coffee shops and bike lanes then you don't understand gentrification at all.  It's about what's inside, not outside.  —  My grandparents' house was located in a nice neighborhood in Berkeley, California filled with bungalows, Victorians and a few dingbat apartments.

Biden's big union bailout  —  A generation ago, labor unions actually tried to represent the financial interests of workers.  For all their other faults, they at least focused on higher wages, better working conditions, and tight labor markets for their members.  —  That era is long gone.

Sunday morning talking heads  —  It's booster week in the USA and no one's sure what's going on thanks to Joe Biden and his scientific brain trust having made a hash of the policy.  The Sunday shows will try to make sense of it with America's top two public-health bureaucrats, Anthony Fauci and his boss at NIH, Francis Collins.

Biden's Entire Presidential Agenda Rests on Expansive Spending Bill  —  A plan for the economy, education, immigration, climate and more binds disparate Democratic lawmakers, but the proposal risks sinking under its own weight.  —  WASHINGTON — No president has ever packed as much of his agenda …

Sparse Right-Wing Protest of Jan. 6 Arrests Draws Huge Police Response  —  Organizers said the police response had dampened turnout for the “Justice for J6” rally, which served as a platform for pro-Trump politicians seeking House seats next year.  —  WASHINGTON — Fewer than 100 right-wing demonstrators …