The political week saw new leadership in Congress, laws on same-sex marriage, and Senate passage of a bill to prevent nationwide rail strikes. Axios’ Margaret Talev rounds up the big political news for the weekly State of Play.
- Additionally, the United Nations warns of a global food crisis.
- And the post-pandemic decline of Six Flags.
The guests: Margaret Tarev of Axios, Michael Mooney and Sarah Menker of Glo Intelligence.
credit: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehausani Goo, Alexandra Botti, Lydia McMullen-Laird, Amy Pedulla, Fonda Mwangi and Alex Sugiura. Music by Evan Viola.you can contact us [email protected]You can send Niala questions, comments, and story ideas as text or voice notes to 202-918-4893.
Deeper:
transcript
NIALA: Good morning! Welcome to Axios!
It’s Friday, December 2nd.
My name is Nyala Voodoo.
The United Nations warns of a global food crisis. Plus the post-pandemic decline of Six Flags. But first, another legal setback for Donald Trump. Our weekly political State of Play is today’s One Big Thing.
Nyala: Politics this week has seen new leadership in Congress, laws on same-sex marriage, and Senate passage of a bill to prevent railroad strikes across the country.Here we break it down for all of us in Friday Politics state of play Margaret Tarev, Political Editor of Axios. Hello Margaret.
Margaret Tarev: Hi, Nyala.
Niara: First, Margaret, breaking news from last night regarding the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into Donald Trump. Another ruling stumbling block for the former president?
Margaret: Well, Nyala, this is an important ruling. This is the Court of Appeals, the 11th Circuit, the Court of Appeals, the Conservative Circuit. An appeals court overturned a judge’s ruling that originally allowed the appointment of a special personal letter. The judge says the law is clear. You can’t write a rule that allows the subject of a search warrant to block a government investigation after execution of that warrant, and you can’t write a rule that only allows former presidents to do so. Left unchecked, they say, it would be a fundamental reorganization of case law, violating separation of powers restrictions. So this is clearly a setback for Donald Trump and a win for the Justice Department.
Niara: Another big story this week is that Oath Keepers founder Stuart Rose and deputy chief of staff Kelly Meggs have been accused of seditious conspiracy for their role in planning the January 6 attacks. was convicted of What is the significance of this judgment?
Margaret: It’s clearly a judicial system, and the American people have a lot of respect for the First Amendment and protests when they have limits and when people act violently outside the law and try to change the political process. says there are limits. This is the American justice system saying “No, you are guilty.”
Nyara: Let’s turn to Congress. On Wednesday, the Democratic caucuses of the House of Representatives elected Hakeem Jeffries from New York as the new minority leader. How will this affect the Democratic Party’s political strategy in the House?
Margaret: Yes, the generational change of guards. As you know, Nancy Pelosi, stepping away from leadership, cleared the field and allowed promotion not only to Hakeem Jeffries, but also to his leadership team, Katherine Clarke, Pete Aguilar. Hakeem Jeffries is from a different generation than Nancy Pelosi. This allows the new generation to earn his own new space in leadership that he has been trying to find. I think it’s definitely easier when you’re in the minority because the Democrats start in January and give him and his team time to find a foothold. If you look at how the Democrats seem to be united at this point, it’s just a day and night comparison, and now all Democrats believe that the Democrats’ ability to stay united as Republicans is not. Recognize and rally in the moment. As a minority starting in January, turns that turn against each other could give them a real boost.
Niara: This week the Senate passed the Respect Marriage Act. what does this achieve?
Margaret: This was the Congress that codified the federal right to same-sex marriage. Which the Supreme Court made it now. It has been a right for many years, but with the conclusion of Roe v. Wade, Judge Clarence Thomas not only eliminated Roe v. Wade, but also paved the way for same-sex marriage in that privacy space. A real concern among gay Americans and many Democrats across the country was whether the Supreme Court could revoke gay marriage rights. Passed the Defensive Marriage Act, which prohibited the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage. And that cultural ocean shift has driven political imperatives. You saw a dozen Republicans sign the initiative in the Senate. Once upon a time, gay marriage was a wedge problem for Democrats. It is now a wedge problem for Republicans.
Nyala: The Senate yesterday passed a bill to prevent nationwide rail strikes. Many railroad workers rejected the contract from the outset, as it did not include paid sick leave. How could Congress force railroad workers to accept this deal they didn’t vote for?
Margaret: It’s all about interstate commerce, isn’t it? There’s the Railroad Labor Act, almost a century old, which gives the president powers to intervene in interstate commerce matters, and Congress says the Supreme Court has said it’s going to affect trade. It also has powers to regulate interstate commerce, including issues of railroad labor disputes, if it is decided to grant across state lines. But as long as the Supreme Court continues to say Congress has the power to regulate these matters, Congress and the President have the power to intervene.
NIALA: Margaret Talev is the Political Editor of Axios. Thank you Margaret.
Margaret: Thank you, Nyala.
UN warns of global food crisis
Niara: As food prices continue to weigh on consumers here in the United States, the United Nations just recently asked international donors for $51.5 billion to avert a global food crisis.
This is all because the war in Ukraine, the looming economic crisis and ongoing climate-related disasters have significantly disrupted food and fertilizer shipments.
Sarah Menker: If you look at the 2-2.5 year window of price increases around the world, you’re looking at places like Syria where food prices have increased by over 700% in the last 2.5 years. year, or Turkey’s 400% of him, or, as you know, Ethiopia’s over his 170%. “
NIALA: It’s Sara Menker, founder and CEO of Gro Intelligence, a company that uses data and AI to forecast climate change and food security. I interviewed her at an Axios event yesterday.
Sarah Menker: I’m afraid that while some of the inflation problem is beginning to be resolved, issues related to the larger society as a whole remain unsolved.
Nyala: A UN appeal warns that this is the “greatest global food crisis in modern history”. End of citation. I will include a link to the full conversation with Sarah in the show notes.
Quickly – why one major regional theme park company is struggling.
[AD SPOT]
The decline of Six Flags after the pandemic
NIALA: Welcome to Axios! I’m Nyala Voodoo.
Amusement parks were hit hard during the pandemic, and when Covid restrictions eased in 2021, attendance began to rise again.
But… not all parks. Six Flags is in trouble this year, and Axios’ Michael Mooney details it from not far from their Arlington headquarters in Dallas, Texas.
Hey Michael, how is this huge regional theme park company struggling?
Michael Mooney: According to the latest quarterly earnings call, their attendance is down 33% from last year. And last year was 2021, just after the pandemic. So they’re really, really struggling.
NIALA: What’s going wrong here?
Michael: It’s a combination of things. But in the case of Six Flags, it’s a bit of a surprise to see the company’s hits and incredibly rapid decline. Their new CEO is looking to implement a new strategy that involves raising ticket prices. This theoretically reduces attendance a bit, shortens wait times, and increases overall enjoyment for all customers. It doesn’t have to be there, but it doesn’t seem to work so far because revenue is down so much.
Niara: What about competition?
MICHAEL: Yes. The largest convention in the nation is probably Cedar Fair Entertainment. Cedar Fair is doing very well. Their profits have risen significantly. As you know, Disney has recovered at least a little bit, but there have been new changes at the top as well. So it’s hard to say if there’s a way to fix this ship or if this is the new normal for Six Flags going forward.
NIALA: If this is the new normal for Six Flags going forward, what does that mean for the North Texas region?
MICHAEL: Six Flags has been a North Texas entertainment staple for a very long time. Six Flags of Texas is where the company got its name. In Arlington, the entire entertainment district is built around Six Flags. Losing Six Flags would be a devastating blow to the entire North Texas entertainment industry.
NIALA: Michael Mooney, Dallas Reporter for Axios. Thank you Michael.
Michael: Thank you very much.
NIALA: That’s it for this week. Axios Today is produced by Fonda Mwangi, Amy Pedulla, Robin Linn and Lydia McMullen-Laird. Sound engineers are Alex Sugiura and Ben O’Brien. Alexandra Botti is the supervising producer. Sara Kehausani Goo is Editor in Chief of Axios. And she’s always grateful to Mike Allen, co-founder of Axios.
My name is Nyala Voodoo. Stay safe and enjoy your weekend. See you on Monday.
