Bloomberg: “The Biden administration included Taiwan among the 110 invitees to its upcoming democracy summit, a move that’s intended to show solidarity with a key regional partner but risks angering China.”
Biden to Finally Nominate New Budget Director
“The White House will on Wednesday nominate Shalanda Young to the position of budget director after months in which the key administration position has gone unfilled,” the Washington Post reports.
“Young has served as the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget since this spring, but the White House will now tap her to officially lead the agency as the administration faces multiplying challenges in implementing its economic agenda, the people said. She must be confirmed by the Senate to serve in the role, but she was confirmed to her current role by a 63-to-37 vote in March with support from more than a dozen Republicans.”
The Big Victim from Redistricting Is Competition
Cook Political Report: “Heading into Thanksgiving, new congressional maps have either passed or are awaiting signature in 20 states — almost half of the 44 states with two or more seats. And although Republicans are poised for modest mapping gains, the most dramatic trend is anti-competitive.”
“So far, Democrats have passed new gerrymanders in Illinois, Nevada and Oregon. Republicans have passed new gerrymanders in Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah (though litigation could upend some of these). Status quo or neutral maps have passed, or are on track to pass, in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia.”
“The net shift across these 20 states? Republican-leaning seats (those that voted for Donald Trump by at least five points in 2020) are up 14%, from 88 to 100. Democratic-leaning seats (those that voted for President Biden by at least five points) are up 8%, from 60 to 65. But the most competitive seats — those that voted for either Biden or Trump by less than five points — have plummeted a staggering 58%, from 24 to 10.”
Kinzinger Mulls Bid for Illinois Governor
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said he sees himself as “the only candidate” capable of defeating Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) in next year’s election, The Hill reports.
Is Everything Okay?
Washington Post: “That is the question politicians, newspaper headline writers and much of social media were asking Tuesday, after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, lost his place in his notes for 20 seconds while delivering a speech to business leaders, then imitated the noise of a car engine and, perhaps most bizarre of all, spent an awkwardly long time declaring his love for the popular amusement park Peppa Pig World.”
McConaughey Says Decision Coming ‘Shortly’
With a filing deadline looming, Matthew McConaughey told the Hollywood Reporter that he’ll let the public know “shortly” whether he’ll enter the Texas gubernatorial race.
Majority Say Their Lives Have Returned to ‘Normal’
A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll finds that 74% of Americans say their lives have returned to “normal” since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Past Could Be the Future for Abortion
Reuters: “Large swathes of America could return to an era in which women who want to end a pregnancy face the choice of undergoing a potentially dangerous illegal abortion, traveling long distances to a state where the procedure remains legal and available or buying abortion pills online.”
Joe Biden Needs an Enemy
Molly Jong Fast: “To improve Biden’s popularity, earnest consultants might tell him to work on the fundamentals. But the fundamentals are actually good: The economy is getting better. Americans have both cash and jobs. Sure, inflation is an issue, but it’s a global phenomenon and not unexpected, because we’re coming out of a pandemic. The disconnect between the facts and the polls suggests that Biden’s true problem is a narrative one. Specifically, he doesn’t have an enemy, a punching bag to absorb Americans’ anger (rational or irrational).”
Said James Carville: “As of now the White House does not have good story tellers. Good stories need villains.”
Select Committee Subpoenas Proud Boys, Oath Keepers
“The Jan. 6 select committee on Tuesday subpoenaed the leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, extremist groups that responded to Donald Trump’s call to descend on Washington and played central roles in the attack on the Capitol,” Politico reports.
Biden Has Been a Disappointment on the Pandemic
Janan Ganesh: “Under the maladministration of Donald Trump, these numbers could be explained away as something aberrant and fleeting: the wages of populism. But Joe Biden has now been president for around half of the duration of the pandemic. He was elected in large part to contain it. His failure to do so is the central fact of his presidency.”
“It is also a curiously under-discussed one. The US does not have the atmosphere of a country that is still losing thousands to the illness each week.”
Oklahoma GOP Chief Demands Resignation of RNC Chair
“The head of the Oklahoma Republican Party on Tuesday called on Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to resign after she expressed the party’s commitment to the LGBTQ+ community at a gala earlier this month,” the Daily Beast reports.
Lawmakers Describe Roiling Animosity
Many members within the House of Representatives have told CNN “that they find themselves in a toxic work environment, wrought with bitter exchanges, threats and fears about what the erosion of decorum in the chamber will mean for a body that has still not recovered 10 months after the Capitol Hill riot.”
Trump’s Big Lie Tests Republican Candidates
“Former President Donald Trump’s yearlong campaign falsely claiming he won the 2020 election and demanding redress is turning voter fraud into a litmus test for Republicans seeking office as the party seeks to reclaim the House and Senate in 2022,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Mr. Trump has told advisers the issue will help the party win control of Congress next year and win back the White House in 2024. He has privately floated the possibility of an early presidential campaign announcement to underscore the message to conservative voters.”
“Many Republican candidates have fallen in line.”
An interesting side note is that Trump has privately said he doesn’t think Al Gore should have conceded in 2000.
5 Foods You Think Are Planet Friendly But Aren’t
Sara Goddard puts together a surprising list.
Judge Orders Hefty Fines for Frivolous Election Lawsuit
“A federal judge has ordered two Colorado lawyers who filed a lawsuit late last year challenging the 2020 election results to pay nearly $187,000 to defray the legal fees of groups they sued, arguing that the hefty penalty was proper to deter others from using frivolous suits to undermine the democratic system,” the Washington Post reports.
Infrastructure Deal Called for Selling Off Oil Reserves
An interesting note from Bloomberg: Part of the funding for the bipartisan infrastructure deal came from selling off some oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which President Biden announced earlier today.
Democrats Get Good Recruit to Hold North Carolina Seat
Erica Smith (D), a former North Carolina state senator who is running for U.S. Senate, announced in a video she’d switch races to attempt and hold the House seat occupied by Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), Politico reports.
