President Biden “urged people who are not yet eligible for coronavirus booster shots to be patient, while suggesting eligibility could expand rapidly,” the New York Times reports.
Kathy Hochul Purges Cuomo Loyalists
“New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has launched a purge of agency heads and other officials appointed by her disgraced predecessor Andrew Cuomo — with at least nine bureaucrats either resigning or being told they’ll be out of a job within the next few days,” the New York Post reports.
All Eyes Turn to Pennsylvania ‘Audit’
Pennsylvania now stands to become ground zero in the movement to “audit” the election after former President Donald Trump’s efforts to discredit the 2020 election results failed in Arizona, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Trump Says Only His Health Would Stop Him In 2024
Former President Trump suggested in an interview Friday night that only a “bad call from a doctor” would prevent him from seeking another White House bid, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “Things happen, through God, they happen. But I feel so good.”
FBI Had Informant at Capitol Riot
“As scores of Proud Boys made their way, chanting and shouting, toward the Capitol on Jan. 6, one member of the far-right group was busy texting a real-time account of the march,” the New York Times reports.
“The recipient was his FBI handler.”
“In the middle of an unfolding melee that shook a pillar of American democracy — the peaceful transfer of power — the bureau had an informant in the crowd, providing an inside glimpse of the action… In the informant’s version of events, the Proud Boys, famous for their street fights, were largely following a pro-Trump mob consumed by a herd mentality rather than carrying out any type of preplanned attack.”
China Declares Cryptocurrency Transactions Illegal
“China’s central bank said all cryptocurrency-related transactions are illegal, reinforcing the country’s tough stance against digital rivals to government-issued money,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Joe Manchin Still Pumping the Brakes
“Democratic leaders and President Joe Biden are speeding up their work on Biden’s massive jobs and families plan. Joe Manchin keeps throttling momentum back,” Politico reports.
“The president wants Manchin and other holdouts to find a top-line number they are comfortable with for the transformational spending bill that will run into the trillions of dollars, but Manchin isn’t yet ready to give one. His colleagues hope he will single out which provisions in the social spending program that he wants to ax so they can begin negotiating in earnest, but he’s in no rush to do so.”
‘Stop the Steal’ Movement Races Forward
“After all the scurrying, searching, sifting, speculating, hand-counting and bamboo-hunting had ended, Republicans’ post-mortem review of election results in Arizona’s largest county wound up only adding to President Biden’s margin of victory there,” the New York Times reports.
“But for those who have tried to undermine confidence in American elections and restrict voting, the actual findings of the Maricopa County review that were released on Friday did not appear to matter in the slightest. Former President Donald J. Trump and his loyalists redoubled their efforts to mount a full-scale relitigation of the 2020 election.”
“Any fleeting thought that the failure of the Arizona exercise to unearth some new trove of Trump votes or a smoking gun of election fraud might derail the so-called Stop the Steal movement dissipated abruptly.”
Politico: Trump whips up election falsehoods after flawed Arizona report.
Democrats Keep Playing the Trump Card
Mark Kelly: “Joe Biden and the Democratic Party won in 2020 by campaigning on two main issues: Donald Trump’s personality and his administration’s handling of Covid-19.”
“Today, Democrats are doubling down on that strategy. They realize that the specter of the former president will be more effective than any policy at turning out Democratic voters in next year’s midterm elections.”
Pelosi Plans Votes on Biden’s Spending Plans Next Week
Wall Street Journal: “But party lawmakers appeared no closer to reaching consensus, throwing leaders’ timeline into question. In part, leaders are announcing the vote to apply urgency to the party’s two competing wings to reach an agreement over the package’s contents.”
Politico: Pelosi goes all in with domestic agenda on the line.
Biden Says Social Spending Bill Will Cost ‘Nothing’
“President Biden promised Friday that his sweeping domestic agenda package will cost ‘nothing’ because Democrats will pay for it through tax hikes on the wealthy and corporations, a show of confidence despite the struggles of congressional Democrats to bridge internal divisions on myriad issues,” the Washington Post reports.
“The remarks were an attempt by Biden to assuage some of the cost concerns pointedly expressed by the moderate Democrats about the size of the legislation — composed of significant investments in health care, climate, education and the social safety net — as the bill’s fate teeters on Capitol Hill.”
Said Biden: “It is zero price tag on the debt we’re paying. We’re going to pay for everything we spend.”
Why Republicans Won’t Vote to Lift Debt Ceiling
NBC News: “They want Democrats to tackle the debt ceiling in a separate filibuster-proof package because, under Senate budget rules, that would require endorsing a dollar figure on how much the U.S. can borrow. It’d be high due to the accumulation of debt over generations — $30 trillion or more.”
“Republicans see that as fodder for attack ads in the 2022 elections, when they hope to regain control of Congress by telling voters that Democrats are on a reckless spending binge.”
How Democrats Could Shrink Their $3.5 Trillion Bill
“As Democratic leaders struggle to unite their caucus behind a sprawling domestic policy package, it is increasingly clear the $3.5 trillion in spending and tax increases will have to be pared back, possibly by a lot, to make it to President Biden’s desk,” the New York Times reports.
“That will involve difficult choices for a party fractured by mistrust and competing priorities. But in a package that is intended to shape every facet of American life, including public education, health care and the environment, there is room for agreement, even in a thinly divided Congress.”
Failed Arizona ‘Audit’ Raises Stakes for Trump Backers
“A GOP-commissioned report that did not find evidence fraud tainted Arizona’s 2020 election has intensified the fight over similar partisan ballot reviews in Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin, with former president Donald Trump pressing for such examinations and Democrats stepping up their efforts to block them,” the Washington Post reports.
“The outcome of the GOP-backed recount in Maricopa County, Ariz., which concluded that President Biden won the state’s largest county by even more votes than the certified results, raises the stakes for the Republican leaders who have gone along with Trump’s demands for ‘forensic audits’ in other states.”
Haitian Migrants Cleared from Encampment
“Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Friday that all migrants have been cleared from the encampment in Del Rio, Texas,” the Washington Post reports.
“Mayorkas made the announcement at the White House amid widespread criticism of the Biden administration for its handling of the migrants, most of them Haitians, at the U.S.-Mexico border.”
Greene Gets Into Shouting Match with Democrats
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) instigated a shouting match with a group of House Democrats who were holding an event outside the U.S. Capitol.
The Best Books About the Climate Crisis
Sara Goddard reviews the top ten — starting with a classic at the top of her list.
In Law School with Clarence Thomas
Robert Reich: “In those classroom discussions almost fifty years ago, Hillary’s hand was always first in the air. When she was called upon, she gave perfect answers – whole paragraphs, precisely phrased. She distinguished one case from another, using precedents and stare decisis to guide her thinking. I was awed.”
“My hand was in the air about half the time, and when called on, my answers were meh.”
“Clarence’s hand was never in the air. I don’t recall him saying anything, ever.”
“Bill was never in class.”
“Only one of us now sits on the Supreme Court. By all accounts, he and four of his colleagues — all appointed by Republican presidents, three by a president who instigated a coup against the United States — are getting ready to violate stare decisis, judicial precedent. I don’t expect them to give a clear and convincing argument for why. Do you?”
