“From the founding of the United States until long after the Civil War, hundreds of the elected leaders writing the nation’s laws were current or former slaveowners,” the Washington Post reports.
“More than 1,700 people who served in the U.S. Congress in the 18th, 19th and even 20th centuries owned human beings at some point in their lives.”
“Senate Democrats are expected to force another vote on elections and voting rights legislation as soon as this week, despite not having enough votes to pass the measure. If Republicans block the bill — which is expected — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has repeatedly vowed to launch an effort to change the Senate’s filibuster rules by Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 17,” Politico reports.
“Schumer’s message will get a boost Tuesday as President Joe Biden, a proud ‘Senate Guy,’ heads to Georgia for a speech and events related to voting rights and the filibuster.”
Big caveat: “There is not consensus within the 50-vote Democratic caucus on changing the filibuster and Democrats haven’t unveiled a proposal for how they plan to change Senate rules, despite Schumer’s promises to take the issue to the floor.”
“A series of messaging missteps is threatening the credibility of federal health agencies, and critics say the White House isn’t doing enough to manage the fallout,” Axios reports.
“While much of the unvaccinated population is unlikely to be persuaded by any messenger, large swaths of the public are still receptive to expert guidance, but federal health agencies, particularly the CDC, may be squandering their credibility with this population.”
“Chicago Public Schools canceled classes for the fourth school day in a row as Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Teachers Union continued negotiating on a potential reopening of city schools,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
“Russian and American officials met for a preliminary dinner on Sunday night to begin a high-stakes negotiation over threats to Ukraine and a widening gulf between Moscow and the West, but there was deep pessimism on both sides that a diplomatic solution was within reach,” the New York Times reports.
Financial Times: “Nato has warned Moscow to abandon its belligerent foreign policy and co-operate with the west or face a military alliance steeled for conflict on the eve of a week of intense diplomacy aimed at averting a Russian assault on Ukraine.”
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), a close confidante of former President Donald Trump, said he would not cooperate with a House committee investigating last year’s attack on the Capitol, Reuters reports.
Politico: “Jordan was among the House Republicans who worked most closely with Trump in the run-up to the Jan. 6 session of Congress meant to finalize the 2020 presidential election results. He also has acknowledged speaking with Trump at least once after rioters had overtaken the Capitol.
“COVID mandates are wrong. Schools have no right to force you to get your 5-year old vaccinated.”
— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), on Twitter, overlooking the current vaccine mandates for schools include: Chickenpox, Diphtheria, Hepatitis A & B, Flu, Measles, Mumps, Pertussis, Polio, Pneumococcal, Rotavirus, Rubella, and Tetanus.
“President Biden has begun his second year in office by lashing out at Republicans, embracing forceful new attacks meant to define a choice for voters between Mr. Biden’s Democrats and a Republican Party still under the thumb of former President Donald Trump,” the New York Times reports.
“The sharp tone comes as Mr. Biden seeks to jump-start his agenda, which has largely stalled in Congress. And with midterm elections looming at the end of the year, the president faces a challenge that he has largely avoided so far: drawing Mr. Trump and other Republican leaders into a more direct clash of ideas.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told CNN that former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham named “a lot of names” during their phone call about the Capitol riots.
Raskin said she also “identified some lines of inquiry that had never occurred to me.”
He added: “America is going to be shocked and surprised at what we all come to learn this year.”
David Graham: “Electoral-count reform is a narrow fix, insufficient for the many problems in the voting system—but it’s better than nothing at all.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) on Sunday said the Democratic Party has to be “radically practical” if it wants to win November’s midterm elections, The Hill reports.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) made it clear that he didn’t subscribe to Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being stolen from him, Politico reports.
Said Rounds: “As a part of our due diligence, we looked at over 60 different accusations made in multiple states. While there were some irregularities, there were none of the irregularities which would have risen to the point where they would have changed the vote outcome in a single state.”
“The Taliban have arrested a Kabul university professor who gained national fame for berating a senior official on live television, a sign of the intensifying crackdown on critics of Afghanistan’s new regime,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R), who parlayed anger over coronavirus pandemic rules and no-holds-barred support for former President Donald Trump into an extended political moment, opened his candidacy for Pennsylvania governor, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
“Ambulances in Kansas speed toward hospitals then suddenly change direction because hospitals are full. Employee shortages in New York City cause delays in trash and subway services and diminish the ranks of firefighters and emergency workers. Airport officials shut down security checkpoints at the biggest terminal in Phoenix and schools across the nation struggle to find teachers for their classrooms,” the Associated Press reports.
“The current explosion of omicron-fueled coronavirus infections in the U.S. is causing a breakdown in basic functions and services — the latest illustration of how COVID-19 keeps upending life more than two years into the pandemic.”
Washington Post. “The establishment candidate thought she was a shoo-in, but she hadn’t contended with the home-schooling, anti-masking member of the far-right Three Percent movement.”
“A year into his term, only 41 percent of the president’s nominees for Senate-confirmed posts have been approved, a new analysis finds, the worst rate in decades,” the New York Times reports.
“I am, as you know, a Black person, descended of people who were given the vote by the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The 15th amendment was not a bipartisan vote, it was a single party vote that gave Black people the right to vote. Manchin and others need to stop saying that because that gives me great pain for somebody to imply that the 15th Amendment of the United States Constitution is not legitimate because it did not have bipartisan buy-in.”
— Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), quoted by Politico.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.