Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson (R) admitted he turned off the fluoridation of the city’s water supply for around five hours before discovering that he wasn’t actually allowed to do that, Alaska Public Media reports.
Lie of the Year
Politifact says it’s the lies about the January 6 Capitol attack and its significance.
Capitol Rioters Still Being Arrested
Two Texas men accused of fighting with police at the U.S. Capitol building during the January riot and siege have been charged in federal court, the Dallas Morning News reports.
Insider: Capitol riot suspect identified and arrested after he was seen wearing same clothing he wore during insurrection.
Senator Fractures Shoulder in Rush to Vote
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) “slipped getting onto the subway and crashed to the floor, fracturing and dislocating his right shoulder, the side he writes with,” NJ.com reports.
Said Menendez afterwards: “It’s called being too responsible, all to get to the vote and to get to another hearing. The hearings will always be there and the votes will always be there. Good lesson.”
Quote of the Day
“I hope so. It’s going to be close.”
— President Biden, quoted by The Hill, on whether his Build Back Better bill will pass before the end of the year.
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Ex-Justice ‘Reviewing’ Election Attends GOP Fundraiser
“Michael Gableman talked up his review of the 2020 election at a Republican event over the weekend, telling the crowd he wouldn’t back down from Democrats and tipping his hand about his preferences in GOP primaries,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
“The former state Supreme Court justice at times has tried to portray himself as impartial and at others sought to stir up the Republican base. He’s on deck to speak at another Republican event later this month.”
Why Holding Mark Meadows In Contempt Is a Big Deal
Jonathan Bernstein: “Meadows may or may not wind up being convicted, but he’ll probably join Steve Bannon in being indicted. Depending on how we count them, there have been about 34 White House chiefs of staff, and I think Meadows would be only the second to be indicted after H.R. Haldeman, who served 18 months in prison for crimes committed during the Watergate scandal.”
“To be sure: As crimes go, refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena isn’t all that big a deal. But we already know that Meadows was involved in former President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn an election, and it’s quite possible that his legal jeopardy extends beyond the contempt situation.”
Biden Will Surpass Trump In First-Year Judicial Nominees
“President Joe Biden will soon announce his latest wave of nine judicial nominees, capping a year where the selections — and an effort to establish an imprint on the federal courts — served as a focal point for his administration,” CNN reports.
“Biden plans to announce his intent Wednesday to nominate nine district court nominees, bringing the administration’s total for the year to 73 — one more than former President Donald Trump nominated in his first year in office.”
5 Republican Governors Seek Vaccine Exemptions
“Governors from five states have written a joint letter to Lloyd Austin, the defense secretary, asking that their National Guard troops be exempted from a federal coronavirus vaccine mandate, greatly escalating what had been a single state conflict over inoculations,” the New York Times reports.
Vaccines Ineffective Against Omicron Without Booster
A new study finds that all three U.S.-authorized Covid-19 vaccines “appear to be significantly less protective against the newly-detected Omicron variant of the coronavirus in laboratory testing, but a booster dose likely restores most of the protection,” Reuters reports.
We got effective vaccines from a novel virus in record time, but scientists are still figuring out the dosing scheduling.
Scientists See ‘Really, Really Tough Winter’ with Omicron
Science: “Omicron has now been found in more than 70 countries and is rapidly gaining ground. As Science went to press, for example, Danish scientists estimated Omicron was just days away from replacing Delta as the most common variant.”
Said researcher Troels Lillebæk: “What we see is an extraordinary, rapid spread.”
“Despite very high vaccination rates, the country of 5 million is now seeing more than 6000 cases a day, roughly twice the number seen during the highest previous peak… Neighboring Norway, which has about the same population, is now projecting more than 100,000 cases a day in a matter of weeks, unless people drastically reduce social contacts.”
Partisans Standing By Biden and Trump
A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds 70% of Republican voters think Donald Trump should probably or definitely run for president again. That’s compared to a 63% of Democrats who think Joe Biden should seek reelection.
Bad news for both men: A majority of independent voters are hoping neither runs, with 59% saying no to Trump and 67% saying Biden shouldn’t seek a second term.
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A Look Ahead to the 2022 Midterms
Doug Sosnik: “With the Democrats in control of the federal government, the midterm elections will be a referendum on their leadership and stewardship.”
“While elections are about the future, views are formed by how people feel about the current direction of the country and their daily lives. In general, these feelings harden by the end of the summer in the runup to voting in the fall. This is increasingly the case as voting now starts long before Election Day in most states. While getting COVID under control is a prerequisite to having life return to normal, the condition of the economy will most likely determine the fate of Democrats in 2022.”
“The three key economic measurements to watch are inflation (the Consumer Price Index), employment and GDP growth. These three metrics most accurately gauge the strength of the economy and impact how voters think about the future. It is important to keep an eye on actions the Federal Reserve takes in response to these economic trends.”
That gives President Biden just about six to eight months to turn things around.
Vaccine Booster Gap Traps Millions of Americans
“Health officials are stressing the importance of coronavirus vaccine booster shots as the Omicron variant spreads around the world, but millions of Americans aren’t yet eligible for another dose,” Axios reports.
“Anyone 16 and older who got their second Pfizer or Moderna shot at least six months ago is eligible for a booster shot in the U.S… But 58 million Americans received their second shots within the last six months.”
“Children aged 5–11 just became eligible for vaccines last month, meaning none of them are yet eligible for a third shot.”
Democrats Clear Tricky Debt, Spending Bills
Playbook: “It took them a while, but Democrats have finally dealt with most of the tricky debt and spending issues that prevented them fully focusing on the Biden legislative agenda.”
“The Senate passed a debt limit increase of $2.5 trillion Tuesday afternoon, and the House followed suit just after midnight. Congress should be freed from addressing the issue again until 2023.”
“A final vote on the long-stalled NDAA is likely in the Senate today. Congress has funded the government through mid-February. It shouldn’t exactly get a big pat on the back for doing the basics, but the three issues were all cleared with some degree of bipartisanship and less brinkmanship and drama than expected.”
Build Back Better Unlikely to Get Vote This Year
Punchbowl News: “Schumer isn’t yet acknowledging that BBB can’t be done by Christmas, although it’s becoming clear that may be the case. Schumer is doing what he can to put the Senate in a position to pass the package, if everything were to fall into place. But it just may be a bridge too far.”
“Schumer will face a choice in the next few days. Does he keep the Senate in session, grinding through nominations on the floor — which needs to be done in the face of continued opposition from some Republicans — while pressing for a BBB deal behind-the-scenes? Or does he acknowledge that BBB isn’t happening right now, send his colleagues home for Christmas and come back Jan. 3 to try again?”
Pandemic Death Toll Keeps Climbing
“The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 topped 800,000 on Tuesday, a once-unimaginable figure seen as doubly tragic, given that more than 200,000 of those lives were lost after the vaccine became available practically for the asking last spring,” the AP reports.
