Welcome to Talking Feds, a round table that brings together prominent former federal officials

and special guests for a dynamic discussion of the most important political and legal topics

of the day.

I'm Harry Littman.

Three more mass shootings this week.

In Philadelphia, Virginia Beach and Boulder, Colorado left the country shell shocked.

But again, reviving discussion of the dozen compelling arguments for a series of reasonable

gun restrictions that the NRA and thus the Republican Party will yet again reject.

Where is the path out of this awfulness?

Joe Biden held his first press conference as president.

He called Republicans' wave of efforts to restrict voting rights un-American, laid the

groundwork for filibuster reform and suggested US troops would be out of Afghanistan within

a year.

His administration seems near to unveiling an ambitious progressive set of economic plans.

The wide-ranging proposals would rebuild infrastructure, tackle climate change, expand

Obamacare and narrow economic inequality.

The proposals would cost about $3 to $4 trillion over and above the $1.9 trillion American

Recovery Act that the administration pushed through on a straight-party line vote earlier

this month.

And all the while, the administration was rolling out an enormous vaccination campaign that

is running well ahead of schedule with more than 100 million shots having now been administered.

It appears as if the president, whom opponents assailed during the campaign as old school

...