Former President Barack Obama will campaign for Terry McAuliffe and Virginia Democrats ahead of the November elections, CNN reports.
Misinformation Cuts Both Ways
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Hunter Biden Isn’t Going Away
Politico: “So far, right-leaning outlets that devoted less attention to the ethical issues raised by the activities of Trump’s relatives have had a field day with the Hunter Biden story. Interest in his activities, meanwhile, has been relatively muted on the left.”
“That may be changing. Along with new evidence that at least some of the alleged laptop material is genuine — as well as other emerging evidence about the deals family members have sought or received from people with an interest in influencing Biden — the bipartisan outcry over the painting venture suggests that the Hunter Biden issue is not going away, and that liberals may increasingly tune in.”
China Carries Out Beach Landing Drills Near Taiwan
“China’s military said on Monday it had carried out beach landing and assault drills in the province directly across the sea from Taiwan, though it did not link the exercises to current tensions with Taipei,” Nikkei Asia reports.
Financial Times: The moment of truth over Taiwan is getting closer.
Justice Department Again Moves to Halt Abortion Law
“The Biden administration urged the courts again to step in and suspend a new Texas law that has banned most abortions since early September, as clinics hundreds of miles away remain busy with Texas patients making long journeys to get care,” the AP reports.
The Atlantic: The post-Roe Abortion option no one knows about.
Lawmakers Barrel Toward Fall Fights
Associated Press: “Though few doubt that Congress will again extend the government’s borrowing authority when it expires in December, no one seems certain of how they’ll do it. Democrats don’t have the votes yet to enact President Joe Biden’s top priorities into law. And Republicans are nervous that Democrats may weaken the filibuster rule that lets the Senate’s minority party derail legislation.”
“Miscalculate and there could be a calamitous federal default, a collapse of Biden’s domestic agenda and, for good measure, a damaging government shutdown. Stir in lawmakers whose nerves are already frayed and are looking to tee up issues for next year’s midterm elections, and it’s a recipe for confrontations that could damage each party if leaders aren’t careful.”
Georgia Election Workers Fired for Shredding Forms
“The elections office in Georgia’s heavily Democratic Fulton County said on Monday that two workers had been fired for shredding voter registration forms, most likely adding fuel to a Republican-led investigation of the office that critics call politically motivated,” the New York Times reports.
“The workers, at the Fulton County Board of Elections, were dismissed on Friday after other employees saw them destroying registration forms awaiting processing before local elections in November.”
Pelosi Signals Scaling Back Reconciliation Bill
Punchbowl News: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi has begun to address how she’ll handle some of the vexing decisions she will have to make in the coming days about the shape of the reconciliation bill.”
Said Pelosi in a letter: “Overwhelmingly, the guidance I am receiving from Members is to do fewer things well so that we can still have a transformative impact on families in the workplace and responsibly address the climate crisis: a Build Back Better agenda for jobs and the planet For The Children!”
“Democrats have several paths given the reality of having to shrink their reconciliation package from $3.5 trillion to the roughly $2 trillion level: more programs for less money, meaning shorter duration; fewer programs for more money; or just a mix and mash of both. Pelosi here is coming down in favor of the ‘do fewer things well’ argument, which means there will be programs on the cutting room floor.”
Playbook: “That might seem mundane, but it’s not. Progressives have been pushing for leaders to adopt their whole wishlist of proposals from universal Pre-K and free college to dental and vision for Medicare — and cut the price tag by having them expire in a few years’ time. The idea, they argue, is to set up a bunch of mini cliffs and dare Republicans to let popular programs expire.”
Biden’s ‘Tough Month’ Looms Over Democratic Races
“The federal headwinds against Democrats on the ballot this November have never been stronger,” CNN reports.
“Democrats who were once buoyant that a well-liked President Joe Biden and popular agenda moving through Congress could propel the party to wins in 2021 are now worried that a trying few months for the President and sluggish poll numbers could impact people like Terry McAuliffe, the party’s gubernatorial nominee in Virginia, and Phil Murphy, the incumbent governor running for reelection in New Jersey.”
Said one Democratic operative in Virginia: “If people don’t wake up, we are in trouble.”
The Trump Nightmare Looms Again
Michael Gerson: “It is increasingly evident that the nightmare prospect of American politics — unified Republican control of the federal government in the hands of a reelected, empowered Donald Trump in 2025 — is also the likely outcome.”
FiveThirtyEight: Why has Biden’s approval rating gotten so low so quickly?
Boosters Undermine Getting More People Vaccinated
A new Kaiser Family Foundation poll finds 71% of unvaccinated respondents said the need for boosters indicated that the Covid-19 vaccines were not working.
Biden Losing Trust on Handling Pandemic
“Americans’ trust in President Biden has eroded as they’ve slowed their expectations for how quickly they can get back to their pre-pandemic lives,” according to the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.
“Two trends we’ve been watching for a while — drawn-out timelines for returning to normal, and declining trust — are not a coincidence but cause-and-effect, these findings suggest. That’s hurting Biden with Democrats as well as independents.”
North Korea Blames U.S. for Increased Tensions
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared while attending a weapons exhibition that the country had “invincible” defense capabilities as he accused the U.S. of being the source of regional tensions, Axios reports.
Most Americans Haven’t Sent a Letter In Five Years
The majority of Americans polled in a new CBS News survey said they haven’t sent a handwritten letter in the mail in over five years.
Biden’s Proposal to Empower IRS Rattles Banks
“When the Biden administration looked for ways to pay for the president’s expansive social policy bill, it proposed raising revenue by cracking down on $7 trillion in unpaid taxes, mostly from wealthy Americans and businesses,” the New York Times reports.
“To help find those funds, the administration wants banks to give the Internal Revenue Service new details on their customers and provide data for accounts with total annual deposits or withdrawals worth more than $600. That has sparked an uproar among banks and Republican lawmakers, who say giving the I.R.S. such power would be an enormous breach of privacy and government overreach.”
Abbott Issues Mandate Against Vaccine Mandates
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) issued an executive order on Monday banning “any entity” in the state from enforcing a Covid-19 vaccine mandate, CBS News reports.
2020 Autopsy Sends Warning to Democrats
“Democrats shouldn’t expect the racially diverse coalition who helped defeat former President Donald Trump and win the Senate to automatically show up in the next nationwide election,” USA Today reports.
“Black, Hispanic and Asian voters may have loathed Republicans, according to a major review of the 2020 election cycle, but they still need to be convinced to show up to the polls, and Democrats lacked a core argument about the economy or returning the country to normal in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.”
Josh Shapiro Enters Race for Pennsylvania Governor
“Pennsylvania’s high-profile attorney general, Josh Shapiro, will formally announce his candidacy for governor on Wednesday, entering the 2022 race months after making his intentions known and effectively clearing the field of potential rivals for the Democratic nomination,” the AP reports.
Philadelphia Inquirer: How Josh Shapiro locked down the Democratic nomination for governor without even announcing he would run.
