November 16—The great ideological feud between House Republicans and a Democrat-controlled Senate over the size and reach of the federal government—and how to fund it—was kicked down the road as Congress approves, and President Biden signs, a temporary spending measure until the new year.

November 17—Speaking at a rally in New Hampshire on Saturday Donald Trump referred to his perceived ideological enemies with words—"communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confimes of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections"—that the Biden campaign has rightly called out for echoing the language of another accomplished hate-monger, Adolf Hitler. Most recent polls show Donald Trump leading Biden in a two-way match-up for the presidency next autumn.

November 15—A new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds one-third of Americans racialized as "Asian" reporting experiences of verbal harrassment, racial slurs, physical threats or cyberbulling based on their perceived racialized category. The Social Democrat asks: "What's wrong with people?"

November 15—The U.S. government issued its multi-year National Climate Assessment on Tuesday, and it paints a sobering picture of a United States warming faster than the rest of the world, with warming-related difficulties affecting every part of the nation.

November 13—The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th District has givien the Louisiana legislature until January 15 to redraw the state's voting map, which a state court has determined unconstitutionally dilutes the influence of voters racialized as "black." The current map, drawn by a Republican legislature, results in five of six districts with majorities of voters racialized as "white," though voters racialized as "black" make up one third of the state's population. 

November 13—AP News offers a sobering assessment of some of Donald Trump's plans should he oust Joe Biden from the White House next fall. Most polls are currently showing Trump beating Biden in a head-to-head match-up, with the additional wildcard of potential third-party runs from the No Labels party, Joe Manchin, Robert Kennedy, Jr. and Jill Green.

November 10—This AP article explains the meaning of "From the river to the sea," a slogan being chanted around the world and across the U.S. by those taking the side of Hamas in the ongoing war.

November 10—Biden administration infrastructure czar and former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu is promoting the Biden administration's efforts to upgrade America's aging infrastructure, with $400 billion spent on 40,000 projects since passage of the Biden-supported Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. In spite of such concrete progress in meeting the nation's needs, most voters, subject to a toxic mix of infotainment, misinformation and heady culture-war disputes, disapprove of the President's performance in office.

November 10—The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked a Biden administration rule aimed at stopping the proliferation of so-called "Ghost guns," DIY weapons sold in kits without background checks. The Court's ruling, by a three-judge panel all appointed by Donald Trump, is a reminder that real change in America will require obtaining congressional majorities large enough to remake the federal judiciary; and possibly a national constituency large enough to amend the Constitution.

November 10—It was a good day for Labor in the United States, with 85,000 Kaiser Permanente workers celebrating a new and better contract just as Hollywood actors end their strike with significant gains. Kaiser Permanente workers will receive a 21% pay increase over four years, with Kaiser also agreeing to address staffing shortages in its facilities. Organized labor is a key component of a functioning social democracy, and The Social Democrat applauds the efforts that made these victories for working people possible.

November 10—Hollywood actors have ended their four-month strike against the major studios with a deal the chief provisions of which include significant pay hikes and the regulation of the use of an actor's AI image. With the news, the production industry is gearing up to begin churning out moving pictures again.

November—Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Senator who has often stood against initiatives championed by his own party, has announced that he will not seek reelection in 2024, and appears to be exploring a presidential third-party run on a centrist ticket. His retirement threatens the Democrats' bare Senate majority: Manchin's replacement, in a state that voted for Donald Trump by a 38% margin in 2020, is likely to be a Republican.

November 8—Democrats saw major successes in Tuesday's elections, with Red Kentucky's Democrat governor Andy Beshear holding off a challenge from Republican Daniel Cameron; Virginia flipping its lower chamber from Republican to Democratic control; and Wisconsin's Supreme Court flipping to a Left majority.

November 8—Ohio voters yesterday supported an amendment to the state's constitution which prohibits the Ohio legislature from enacting any law which interferes with access to abortion up to the time of fetal viability, defined as the point at which there is a "significant likelihood of survival." Since fetal viability is generally considered to occur between 20 and 28 weeks, with fetal hearbeat detectable at week 7, the measure will render unconstitutional the Ohio Human Rights and Heartbeat Act passed by the state's legislature and signed into law by Republican governor Mike DeWine in April of 2019. Roe vs Wade, overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States in 2022, disallowed restrictions on abortion up to the 27th week of pregnancy.

November 7—A new survey from the Pew Research Center finds that the U.S. is viewed increasingly favorably in other developed nations, and especially in comparison to views on China, since the start of the Biden administration. The Social Democrat take: the U.S. cannot afford to alienate its natural allies in the global war of ideas: our fellow democracies, where the rule of law and respect for basic human rights are cherished.