Former President Donald Trump teased a possible visit to Virginia in a cryptic statement.
House Democrats to Meet Tomorrow Morning
House Democrats have scheduled an in-person meeting at 9 am ET tomorrow, presumably to discuss the budget reconciliation and bipartisan infrastructure negotiations.
Letitia James Poised to Run for New York Governor
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) is planning to soon announce she’s running for governor of New York, The City reports.
Perdue Mulls Challenging Brian Kemp In Primary
“Former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) is seriously considering mounting a Republican primary challenge against Gov. Brian Kemp (R), which would set up a divisive showdown between two of Georgia’s biggest political figures in the 2022 election,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
“In recent weeks, Perdue has called donors and other allies to float the idea… Several of them said he’s ‘conflicted’ about a run, while others say he’s leaning toward a challenge.”
Jayapal Rebuffs Effort to Decouple Bills
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) told reporters that at least “three dozen” members of the progressive caucus want to see a vote on the reconciliation package — not just a framework agreement — before voting on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, Politico reports.
Said Jayapal: “And that number is only increasing.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is reportedly trying to get a vote on the infrastructure bill ahead of the bigger bill.
Paid Family Leave Dropped from Reconciliation Bill
“Senate Democrats are dropping paid family and medical leave from their emerging reconciliation package,” Politico reports.
Explained Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV): “I’m talking to everybody, but I’ve been very clear: to expand social programs, when you have trust funds that aren’t solvent — they’re going insolvent — I can’t explain that… It doesn’t make sense to me… I just can’t do it.”
“The U.S. is the only wealthy nation without a national paid leave policy.”
Top Democrat Spikes Billionaire Tax
House Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal (D-MA) said “a proposal to put a levy on the assets of billionaires has been dropped in negotiations over revenue measures to pay for President Joe Biden’s social-spending bill,” Bloomberg reports.
“The House is discussing with the Senate instead inclusion of a 3% surtax, on top of the top income rate, for those earning more than $10 million.”
Facebook Tells Employees to Preserve Records
“Facebook has told employees to ‘preserve internal documents and communications since 2016’ that pertain to its businesses because governments and legislative bodies have started inquiries into its operations,” the New York Times reports.
“The move, known as a ‘legal hold,’ follows intense media, legal and regulatory scrutiny over the social network’s harms.”
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Cybercriminals Claim to Have Hacked the NRA
“A notorious Russian cybercriminal group has posted what appear to be National Rifle Association files to the dark web,” NBC News reports.
“The group, known as Grief, posted 13 files to its website Wednesday and claimed to have hacked the NRA. It is threatening to release more of the files if not paid, though it did not publicly state how much.”
Pelosi Tries to ‘Decouple’ the Bills
Punchbowl News: “Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill and in the White House are making progress on a framework agreement for the reconciliation package, although they don’t have a deal yet. A framework agreement could come in the ‘next several hours,’ a Democratic source said. We’ve heard that before, but this time it seems a bit more real.”
“This progress doesn’t mean the reconciliation package is ready to pass, though. It may take some time to finalize the legislative text.”
“In the meantime, Pelosi is trying to get House progressives to go along with a floor vote on the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. The deadline for the infrastructure vote is Oct. 31.”
“This a big deal. Pelosi is trying to ‘decouple’ the infrastructure bill from the reconciliation package. For months, she said they were part of a ‘two-track process’ and had to be voted on together. Now Pelosi is essentially saying ‘Let’s pass the infrastructure bill and trust us on the rest.'”
Democrats need to take the win.
Nunes Ordered to Disclose How He’s Paying for Lawsuit
“A federal judge this week ordered Rep. Devin Nunes’ family members to disclose how they are paying for their defamation lawsuit against a reporter and magazine publisher over a 2018 story about their Iowa farm,” the Sacramento Bee reports.
Avoiding Overcrowded Ballots
F
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This issue includes a study on the relationship between ballot access and crowded ballots, a review of Andrew Yang’s new book, the final tally from of California’s recall election and much more news from around the country.
If you’re not yet a member, check out our membership options for instant access.
Sanders Not as Hopeful on Spending Deal Today
A “very irritated” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), when asked if there would be a budget reconciliation agreement told Politico: “I don’t know. But I don’t think so.”
He went on: “I’m not quite clear in terms of the revenue package. Every sensible revenue option seems to be destroyed. Should we raise corporate tax rates, personal income taxes for the very wealthy? Of course, we should. But at least one person in the caucus doesn’t want to do that. Should we demand that the billionaires have to pay their fair share of taxes? Yes. There’s another person who doesn’t want to do that. So it seems to me almost every sensible progressive revenue option that the president wants and the American people want, and that I want, seems to be sabotaged.”
It’s Time to Break Up Facebook
Dan Pfeiffer: “It is hard to conjure another private citizen or company who has hurt more people in recent memory than Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. This is not my view. Or the view of reporters and anti-Facebook activists. According to the documents, the most dire warnings about the dangers of Facebook are coming from Facebook employees concerned about their inability to control the monster they helped create.”
“While reading these stories, I can’t help but worry that despite the furor against Facebook, the moment will pass and little to no action will be taken; and while Facebook is weakened by this public outrage, Mark Zuckerberg and his minions will continue to make gobs of money destroying American democracy and sowing anger and dissent across the planet.”
John Eastman Returns to Defending His Memo
John Eastman, the lawyer who wrote the infamous memo on how Donald Trump could overturn the 2020 election, was caught on video saying that Vice President Mike Pence didn’t take his solid legal advice because Pence is “an establishment guy.”
Just last week, Eastman walked back the memo in an interview saying it would have been “crazy” to pursue.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“This testimony, your directive, your performance is shameful. Thank god, you’re not on the Supreme Court. You should resign in disgrace, Judge.”
— Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), quoted by The Hill, to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Trump-Backed Candidates Seek to ‘Control the Elections’
“A coalition of right-wing MAGA candidates, including multiple Trump-backed candidates, are seeking to take control of elections in states across the U.S.—and one says they’re formally working with a group of conspiracy theorists, as well as with a QAnon influencer who some in the conspiracy movement believe is John F. Kennedy Jr. in disguise,” Vice News reports.
“The group consists of five GOP candidates running for the key election position of secretary of state in Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Georgia, and California, as well as one Pennsylvania lawmaker who may run for governor, which in Pennsylvania appoints the secretary of state.”
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