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[0] One of the nation's largest school districts has imposed some of the most severe COVID mandates in the country, resulting in the firing of nearly 500 unvaccinated staffers.
[1] Now, after pushback and legal challenges, the district will delay its student vaccine mandate.
[2] We'll take a closer look at the Los Angeles Unified School District and its restrictive COVID policies.
[3] I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
[4] It's Wednesday, December 15th, and this is Morning Wire.
[5] Elon Musk was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year.
[6] We'll take a look at some of the controversial past winners and how the magazine is explaining its choice of Musk, who's been a vocal critic of vaccine mandates in President Biden's agenda.
[7] And Senate Democrats have vowed to pass President Joe Biden's Build Back Better Act by Christmas.
[8] We'll take a look at how the bill seeks to transform the country and how it will impact taxpayers.
[9] Thanks for waking up with Morningwire.
[10] Stay tuned.
[11] We have the news you need to know.
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[19] The Los Angeles Unified School District, which has some of the strictest COVID policies in the nation, is set to delay enforcing its school vaccine mandate as a result of tens of thousands of students remaining not fully vaccinated.
[20] More than 30 ,000 students have not gotten the shot and will be barred from attending classes in person unless the deadline is pushed back.
[21] Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade, Alorty, has the details for us.
[22] So, Marade, what's going on here?
[23] Right, so there are still about 34 ,000 kids in the Los Angeles Unified School District who have not been vaccinated against COVID.
[24] The current deadline for enforcement is January 10, but it's now too late for kids who haven't gotten their first shot to get fully vaccinated on time.
[25] This puts the school district in the awkward position of having to bar those students from coming to school in person or delay enforcing their vaccine mandate.
[26] It looks like they're going with delaying the mandate.
[27] Interim Superintendent Megan Riley has proposed delaying the mandate deadline until fall of 2022.
[28] The school board is set to meet Tuesday to address the issue.
[29] The district's mandate is one of the strictest in the country and requires that all students 12 and up get two doses of the shot.
[30] So what's the plan for those 30 ,000 kids if the deadline isn't pushed back?
[31] Are they going to be barred from coming to campus?
[32] Well, yeah, they would be.
[33] If they want to stay enrolled in the public school district, they would have to sign up for the remote learning program.
[34] Here's the issue with that, though.
[35] Los Angeles is the second largest school system in the country, and since COVID, thousands of students have joined the district's online learning program.
[36] Now, the program is overwhelmed with a laundry list of problems, including staffing shortages, enrollment, delay.
[37] and poorly trained teachers.
[38] Some kids have missed weeks of school thanks to these issues.
[39] Now, beyond vaccine hesitancy, a lot of parents are concerned about the coercive nature of this mandate.
[40] It's a real departure from how we've typically approached public health.
[41] That's right.
[42] These families are feeling a lot of pressure, including children.
[43] A 10th grade boy told the local Fox outlet that he didn't want to get vaccinated, but he got the shot because he wanted to go to school.
[44] A mom told the outlet that she's glad enforcement of the mandate is being delayed because some parents are wary about what reaction their kids might have to the vaccine.
[45] She said that she felt forced to make her son get vaccinated.
[46] So you think the delay is a good idea?
[47] Well, yeah, I felt that I was forced to make my son get a shot.
[48] Now, Oakland, California is pursuing a similar program.
[49] Can you tell us about that?
[50] Yes, and they're having similar problems.
[51] But unlike Los Angeles, their response has been to double down.
[52] The Oakland Unified School District is actually planning to kick out on vaccinated students from public school enrollment completely or transfer them to independent study schools if they don't get the shot by January 1st.
[53] If a student refuses to be transferred, they will simply be dropped from public school enrollment.
[54] So it was zero tolerance policy from them.
[55] Right.
[56] Well, we're going to keep an eye on this.
[57] Mairee, thanks for reporting.
[58] Of course, thanks, Georgia.
[59] That's Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Allorty.
[60] Coming up, uproar over Time Magazine's choice for person of the year.
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[66] This week, Time magazine announced the 2021 person of the year.
[67] Here to discuss the news as Daily Wire's Ian Howarth.
[68] Ian, tell us about this announcement.
[69] Yeah, so Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, and the richest person in the world, has been named as Times Person of the Year for 2021.
[70] Time Magazine gives out this title to the one person who, according to them, has had the biggest influence over the past year.
[71] They described the title as, quote, the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives for good or ill and embodied what was important about the year for better or for worse.
[72] Times editor -in -chief described Musk as, quote, a person with extraordinary influence on life on earth and potentially off -earth too.
[73] During an interview with time, Musk was also asked whom he admires.
[74] I admire anyone who is making a positive contribution to humanity, whether that is in entertainment or in technology or, you know, I think anyone who's sort of doing things that are really useful to the rest of humanity is, I admire them greatly.
[75] Now, it's usually an overtly political person that has given this award.
[76] Right.
[77] For example, Joe Biden and Carmelah Harris for 2020, Donald Trump in 2016, Rudy Giuliani in 2001, and even Joseph Stalin in 1939 in 1942, and Adolf Hitler in 1938.
[78] But Musk also isn't the first tech giant to receive this award.
[79] Andrew Grove, the chairman and CEO of Intel, received the award in 1997.
[80] Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, was given the award in 1999, and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg was next in 2010.
[81] So we've been covering Elon Musk for a while now over at the day.
[82] Daily Wire, and it's become clear that he's, you know, becoming an increasingly polarizing character.
[83] How is his award received?
[84] Well, as anticipated, there has been backlash from the mainstream media and the radical left, largely because Musk is known for being a heterodox thinker who occasionally champions positions that can be characterizes right wing.
[85] For example, CNN ran an opinion piece titled, what Elon Musk as person of the year says about us.
[86] This op -ed argued that we, in terms of our culture, rejected the scientists who developed the COVID -19 vaccine and healthcare professionals who treated those with COVID because we're fixated on the wealthy, even when their actions are, quote, selfish and irresponsible.
[87] Then there's NBC News who went with an article titled, Elon Musk is Times 2021 person of the year.
[88] He doesn't deserve it.
[89] This article rejects the notion that Musk is one of a few Americans whose bold vision for the future can rescue the country from stagnation.
[90] Was this vision a big part of why he was given this award?
[91] Yeah, especially when we consider the objective impact of his accomplishments, which you think would be celebrated by the left generally, given the problems he's trying to solve.
[92] Tesla has redefined the entire electric car industry, for example, and SpaceX has gone from a widely mocked idea to an integral part of the U .S. space program.
[93] Right.
[94] But even though Musk is working on multiple projects which could help solve climate change, his wealth remains a focus for his critics.
[95] For example, here's what Occupy Democrats, and advocacy group, which promotes far -left Democrats, said on Twitter, quote, breaking.
[96] Elon Musk, who built his company with billions of dollars in government subsidies before going on to slam Biden's build -back better bill for increasing the deficit, is named Time Magazine's Person of the Year, retweet if you think frontline workers are more deserving.
[97] And this criticism has gained momentum, of course, given Musk's vocal opposition to mandatory vaccines.
[98] Yeah, I mean, I'm very pro -vaccination.
[99] I believe the science is unequivocal.
[100] Yeah, I treat it to that effect.
[101] But by the same time, I am against forcing people to be vaccinated.
[102] You know, I think this is just not something we should do in America.
[103] I think we should encourage people to be vaccinated, strongly try to convince them to be vaccinated, but not force them to be vaccinated, or, for example, force them to get vaccinated or get fired.
[104] Well, of course, it's that kind of directness that's also one musk, a lot of fans.
[105] Thanks for the update, Ian.
[106] You bet.
[107] Daily Wires, Ian Howarth.
[108] Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to vote on President Joe Biden's signature legislation, the Build Back Better Act, before Congress breaks for the Christmas holiday.
[109] What's in Build Back Better and how will it impact taxpayers and families?
[110] Here to tell us as Daily Wire reporter Ben Johnson.
[111] Welcome, Ben.
[112] Good to be with you, John.
[113] So the media cover the Build Back Better Act frequently, yet we rarely hear what's actually in the bill.
[114] So what is the Build Back Better Act?
[115] Well, although Democrats originally branded this legislation as human infrastructure, the Build Back Better Act is better described as a social spending initiative that the president has boasted will transform our nation's social fabric.
[116] It contains new government programs for taxpayer -funded daycare, government payments with no work requirement, even embeds a controversial immigration provision.
[117] You've written an explainer for the Daily Wire about the Build Back Better Act.
[118] What was the hardest item to understand accurately?
[119] the cost.
[120] The Congressional Budget Office released a report that the bill would add $367 billion to the national debt over 10 years as it's written, but nobody believes it's going to be implemented as it's written.
[121] In order to whittle the cost of the original bill down to $1 .75 trillion, lawmakers instituted a series of budget gimmicks.
[122] For instance, the child tax credit, which gives families a government check of $250 to $300 a month per child, is set to expire in one year.
[123] The centerpiece of the bill, the universal pre -k and child care programs disappear after six years, even though lawmakers have said they want all these programs to be permanent.
[124] So at the request of Senator Lindsey Graham, the CBO scored the cost of the Build Back Better Act as if all of its provisions lasted all 10 years.
[125] All in all, the CBO estimates that without these budgetary slights of hand, the Build Back Better Act, quote, would increase the deficit by $3 trillion over 10 years.
[126] That adds almost $25 ,000 in new debt for each and every American household.
[127] You mentioned the bill's universal pre -K proposal.
[128] How would that affect child care?
[129] The Build Back Better Act would basically create the Obamacare of child care.
[130] It establishes a sliding scale of payments based on people's earnings.
[131] So people in the top 10 % of income earners would qualify for government subsidies.
[132] But mothers who want to stay at home and raise their own children get nothing under the bill, so those families are effectively penalized.
[133] These taxpayer subsidies are offered, quote, without regard to the immigration status of the recipient.
[134] Really?
[135] Yeah, and the Build Back Better Act would also substantially raise the cost of child care by forcing nearly every child care worker to earn a bachelor's degree, then forcing daycares to pay those workers the same as elementary school teachers.
[136] In other words, the cost will continue to go up every year, but the average person won't see the cost directly because it'll come out of his taxes.
[137] Sounds like some pretty steep hidden costs there.
[138] Yeah.
[139] The Build Back Better Act has focused on social spending, but you mentioned it contains provisions related to immigration, how would they affect immigration policy?
[140] The bill allows approximately 6 .5 million illegal immigrants to become lawful, permanent residents of the United States.
[141] That would broaden recipients' eligibility to receive such government programs as food stamps, Obamacare subsidies, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, child tax credits, and other government programs.
[142] The CBO estimates that will cost U .S. taxpayers nearly half a trillion dollars over the next 20 years, $483 .4 billion to be specific.
[143] The Senate parliamentarian has said this measure doesn't belong in a spending bill in the past, but proponents think this version overcomes those objections.
[144] This act covers so much ground we can't really cover at all.
[145] But can you touch on some of the other major provisions?
[146] Sure.
[147] The act will expand the Affordable Care Act, making people to earn up to 400 % of the poverty level.
[148] That would be $106 ,000 for a family of four eligible for government subsidies.
[149] It would essentially override states that chose not to expand Medicaid under the original Obama, Act by making those people eligible for no -pay insurance plans on Obamacare exchanges.
[150] There are green energy provisions.
[151] It makes Medicare recipients eligible for hearing benefits.
[152] It imposes a 15 % minimum tax on large corporations, but it also has tax provisions that raise taxes for those making well below $400 ,000 a year.
[153] Well, we'll watch Congress to see if it passes before the Christmas recess.
[154] Thanks, Ben.
[155] Thanks, John.
[156] That's a Daily Wire reporter, Ben Johnson.
[157] Other stories we're tracking this week.
[158] The January 6th committee voted to hold former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress this week and is demanding access to his personal communications.
[159] After initially handing over official communication records, Meadows has stopped cooperating with the committee.
[160] Republicans have generally dismissed the ongoing January 6 investigations as political theater.
[161] And the NFL is now requiring COVID booster shots for all coaches and staff in the league.
[162] The booster is required by December 27th for Tier 1 and Tier 2 personnel.
[163] Tier 1 contains coaches, physicians, and trainers.
[164] Tier 2 includes general managers and front office staff.
[165] Players are exempt from the booster for now, pending negotiations with the Players Association.
[166] If you like this episode and are interested in hearing more, subscribe to Morning Wire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening, and give us a five -star review.
[167] That's all the time we've got this morning.
[168] Thanks for waking up with us.
[169] be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
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