A Global Strategy Group memo finds that in eight Senate battleground states there are “key Senate races can be won or lost on paid leave.”
How Inflation Could Take Down Joe Biden
Jeff Greenfield: “Left unspoken was a chilling reminder from history: Inflation has a unique power to kneecap a presidency. Incumbent presidents and their parties do not do well at all when inflation (and attempts to cure it) are on voters’ minds come election time. The gas pump, the supermarket check-out counter, the heating bill, the sticker on the windshield, provide — or seem to provide — powerful indictments against the party in charge.”
“If that’s not enough to unsettle the White House and its allies, consider this: Presidents have almost no power to ease the pain of inflation, and the voting public cuts presidents no slack at all because of that impotence. Look into the toolbox of our country’s chief executive and you’ll find it empty of effective tools, filled instead with devices now obsolete or laughable or meaningless or politically destructive.”
Politico: “Tight congressional races across the nation are quickly turning into battlegrounds over a key economic question: whether President Joe Biden’s spending agenda is the chief culprit for inflation concerns gripping the country.”
Wealthy Already Looking for Tax Loopholes
Reuters: “The package would be the biggest expansion of the U.S. safety net since the 1960s, and Democrats propose paying for it by levying a 5% surtax on individuals with more than $10 million in annual income and an additional 3% tax on individuals with more than $25 million in annual income.”
“While the White House says the new surtax could generate $230 billion to pay for the spending bill, experts and bankers say that many individuals will find ways to avoid it and that it will raise less than an earlier proposal for a billionaires tax.”
Judge to Hear House Bid to Get Trump Tax Returns
“A U.S. judge on Tuesday will hear arguments in a long-running lawsuit over whether Congress can obtain former President Donald Trump’s tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service,” Reuters reports.
Biden and Xi Pledge More Cooperation
“President Biden and China’s leader, Xi Jinping, pledged at a virtual summit to improve cooperation, but offered no concrete action after three and a half hours of talks,” the New York Times reports.
“In separate statements after the talks ended, each side emphasized the points of contention that mattered most: lists of mutual grievances that underscored the depth of the divisions between them.”
Americans Broadly Support Abortion Rights
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds Americans say by a roughly 2-to-1 margin that the Supreme Court should uphold its landmark abortion decision in Roe v. Wade, and by a similar margin the public opposes a Texas law banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
Mayor Arrested Over ‘Revenge Porn’
“Andrew Bradshaw, the mayor of Cambridge on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, has been charged with 50 counts of distributing explicit images of a former romantic partner without her consent on social media site Reddit,” the Baltimore Sun reports.
Europe Cracks Down on the Unvaccinated
“As temperatures drop and coronavirus infections spike across Europe, some countries are introducing increasingly targeted restrictions against the unvaccinated who are driving another wave of contagion and putting economic recoveries, public health and an eventual return to prepandemic freedoms at risk,” the New York Times reports.
“The World Health Organization warned recently that Europe was once again the epicenter of the pandemic and that half a million people on the continent could die from Covid in the next few months.”
Proud Boys Leader Seeks Release from Jail
“A national leader of the Proud Boys, a far-right group with a history of violence, asked a judge on Monday to release him from the D.C. jail and place him on home confinement, citing what he described as inhumane conditions in the facility,” the Washington Post reports.
Trump Takes Sides In Member vs. Member Race
“Former President Donald Trump is endorsing Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) in the member-vs.-member primary in West Virginia over Rep. David McKinley (R-WV), who recently voted for the new infrastructure law,” Politico reports.
“His decision does not come as a surprise. McKinley, first elected in 2010, has defied the former president in a few key votes over the last year. He voted against objections to the 2020 election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania and backed an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.”
Peter Welch Preparing to Run for Senate
Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) is indicating to colleagues he’s preparing to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Axios reports.
Biden’s and Manchin’s Approval Rates Are Mirror Images
A new MBE Research poll in West Virginia finds President Biden’s approval rate upside down at 33% to 65%.
For comparison, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has an approval rate of 61% to 37%.
Pelosi Says House Will Stay Until Spending Bill Passes
Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her colleagues that House isn’t leaving for Thanksgiving recess until the Build Back Better Act is passed, CNN reports.
Wyoming GOP Will No Longer Recognize Liz Cheney
“The Wyoming Republican Party will no longer recognize Liz Cheney as a member of the GOP in its second formal rebuke for her criticism of former President Donald Trump,” the AP reports.
“Cheney is now facing at least four Republican opponents in the 2022 primary.”
Trump Backs Primary Challenge to Peter Meijer
Former President Donald Trump endorsed a Republican challenger to Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI), who was one of the 10 House of Representatives Republicans to vote to impeach Trump earlier this year, Reuters reports.
Trump said he was backing John Gibbs (R), who was a housing official in Trump’s administration, over Meijer.
Biden Signs $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Deal
“President Biden on Monday signed into law a sweeping $1.2 trillion infrastructure measure, notching an achievement that had long eluded his predecessor in the White House, Donald Trump,” the Washington Post reports.
“Republicans and Democrats gathered at the White House on Monday as Biden signed the legislation, which is aimed at improving the country’s roads, bridges, pipes, ports and Internet connections.”
“Trump had repeatedly tried and failed to secure a bipartisan infrastructure deal.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“We were wondering when you were gonna stop for a moment. We damn near froze to death.”
— Rep. Don Young (R-AK), speaking to President Biden as he prepared to sign the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Bannon Vows to Fight Contempt Charges
“A defiant Steve Bannon vowed Monday to challenge federal contempt charges for refusing to cooperate with a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol,” USA Today reports.
Bannon asserted that the Justice Department had taken on the “wrong guy this time.”
He added: “I’m telling you right now, this is going to be the misdemeanor from hell for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden.”
