Axios PM: 🚨 Pistol-packing freshmen trigger debate — Million-dose milestone

1 big thing: How 2020 enters the history books | Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Facebook   Axios PM By Mike Allen ·Dec 23, 2020 Good afternoon: Today's PM — edited by Justin Green — is 499 words, a 2-minute read. 🚨Situational awareness: President Trump vetoed the $740 billion defense spending bill, which passed Congress by veto-proof majorities. The House will vote Monday on whether to override Trump's veto, Speaker Pelosi said.     1 big thing: How 2020 enters the history books Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   2020 could go down as the worst year since 1918 for the metric that counts most, even if it pales in comparison to pre-Industrial examples. The big picture: 400,000 more Americans are expected to die in 2020 than 2019, a 15% spike surpassed only by 1918's astounding 46%, writes Axios' Bryan Walsh. In 1918 it was the trenches of WWI and the Spanish flu. In 2020 it's COVID-19 and drug overdoses. Life expectancy dropped by nearly 12 years in 1918, compared to a likely three-year decline in 2020. By the numbers: The global economy is projected to contract by more than 4% this year, and as many as 115 million people could fall back into extreme poverty. That would still leave an economy twice as large as 30 years ago, when more than a third of the world's population was in extreme poverty. Today, even with COVID-19, that figure is closer to 9%. The big picture: 2020 will enter the history books among other anni horribili, which tended to concentrate disease and starvation. Take 1816, known as the "Year Without a Summer" thanks to a massive volcanic eruption in 1815, which caused what one historian called "the last great subsistence crisis in the Western world." Or 1349, perhaps the worst year of the Black Death pandemic, which would eventually kill a third or more of Europe's population alone. Don't forget 536, which the journal Science memorably called "the worst year to be alive." A volcanic eruption in Iceland early that year cast Europe and parts of the Middle East and Asia into a literal dark age. The bottom line: As 2020 has painfully demonstrated, just because life has been getting better all the time doesn't mean it will continue to do so. Industrialization enabled us to escape the Malthusian trap, but it also put us on the path to catastrophic climate change — likely the biggest headwind we'll face in the decades ahead.     2. Pic du jour Photo: Go Nakamura/Getty Images Staff members treat a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston.     A message from Facebook It's time to update internet regulations     The internet has changed a lot in 25 years. But the last time comprehensive internet regulations were passed was in 1996. We want updated internet regulations to set clear guidelines for addressing today's toughest challenges. Learn More     3. Catch up quick Mateo, a young lion, is pictured through a glass window at the Berlin Zoo as he receives a Christmas treat of his favorite food. Photo: Annegret Hilse/Reuters   Americans filed 803,000 initial unemployment claims last week, a drop of 89,000 from the week prior. Go deeper. Scoop: Several incoming House freshmen have inquired about carrying guns into the Capitol, reports Axios' Kadia Goba. The U.S. is considering quickly closing its embassy in Baghdad after a series of rocket attacks on Iraq's Green Zone by Iranian-backed militias, Jonathan Swan and Glen Johnson report. Go deeper. All U.K. travelers going to New York City will now be required to quarantine or face a daily $1,000 fine. Go deeper.     4. 1 smile to go: Million down, millions to go Photo: Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images   Help is here: More than a million Americans have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 10 million doses have been distributed, the CDC said today. Why it matters: Every shot gets us closer to normal, protecting people on the front lines and the most vulnerable. P.S. There' s more 💉 coming: The U.S. is buying another 100 million vaccine doses from Pfizer.     A message from Facebook Internet regulations need an update     It's been 25 years since lawmakers passed comprehensive internet regulations. But a lot has changed since 1996. We want updated regulations to set clear guidelines for protecting people's privacy, enabling safe and easy data portability between platforms and more. Learn More     Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: