'We need to be honest about the FBI and its ability to prevent these tragedies'

'Make mass school shootings a federal crime'

Paul Stern at The Washington Post

The FBI has "limited authority to take concrete preventive action when it receives tips about a potential shooting," says Paul Stern, because school shootings are "not inherently federal crimes." The "time has come for Congress to categorize mass school shootings as a federal crime," which will allow the FBI to "conduct investigations into whether an individual is planning to perpetrate one." It also "prevents law enforcement from having to shoehorn such offenses into imperfect federal paradigms."

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'Price-gouging is illegal in 37 US states. Let's make it 50'

Bob Casey at The Guardian

Americans "should not let powerful corporations use a crisis to jack up prices way beyond what is necessary to make a profit," says Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn.). Giving the "federal government the power to investigate and prosecute large companies that price-gouge" is a "way of ensuring that when corporations are using a crisis as an excuse to jack up prices on consumers, we will not surrender — instead, we will fight back."

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'Cheney's policies as VP caused immense human suffering on a global scale'

Ziyad Motala at Al Jazeera

Dick Cheney's endorsement of Kamala Harris "might appear as a principled defense of democracy from a longstanding Republican stalwart," but "beneath the surface lies a troubling irony," says Ziyad Motala. "Embracing a man whose policies left a trail of death and destabilization in their wake as a champion of American values lacks any semblance of moral clarity." Cheney "should not be celebrated, especially by someone seeking the mantle of progressive leadership."

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'You are way better off than you were four years ago'

Timothy Noah at The New Republic

Kamala Harris "lost an opportunity to inform viewers about the Biden administration's excellent record on economic policy," says Timothy Noah. It's "not nice to tell voters they're wrong," but "voters are wrong about the Biden-Harris record, and if Harris and her fellow Democrats don't give them the facts, they won't learn the truth." Problems remain, but "we're better off than we were four years ago," and "Harris mustn't flinch from explaining why."

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