“Minnesota’s congressional delegation is making a bipartisan attempt to posthumously give a Congressional Gold Medal to pop music legend Prince,” the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports.
Trump’s Decisions Led to Tens of Thousands More Deaths
“Dr. Deborah Birx, who helped run the coronavirus pandemic response for former President Donald Trump, told congressional investigators earlier this month that Mr. Trump’s White House failed to take steps that could have prevented tens of thousands of deaths,” the New York Times reports.
Said Birz: “I believe if we had fully implemented the mask mandates, the reduction in indoor dining, the getting friends and family to understand the risk of gathering in private homes, and we had increased testing, that we probably could have decreased fatalities into the 30 percent less to 40 percent less range.”
Manchin Spikes IRS Reporting Requirements
“Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) sharply criticized a proposal to force banks to report more account information to the IRS, making it much more likely that Democrats will have to drop a plan that could raise hundreds of billions of dollars for their social spending bill,” Politico reports.
Said Manchin: “Do you understand how messed up that is? This cannot happen. It’s screwed up. I think that one’s going to be gone.”
Virginia Governor’s Race Remains Very Tight
A new VCU poll in Virginia finds Terry McAuliffe (D) just ahead of Glenn Youngkin (R) in the race for governor, 43% to 40%.
For comparison, the FiveThirtyEight polling average has McAuliffe up by 1.7 percentage points.
How Facebook Facilitates Human Trafficking
Facebook has for years struggled to crack down on content related to what it calls domestic servitude: “a form of trafficking of people for the purpose of working inside private homes through the use of force, fraud, coercion or deception,” CNN reports.
At Least 5 Ex-Trump Staffers Have Testified
“At least five former Trump administration staffers have voluntarily spoken with the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol,” CNN reports.
House Republicans See Gains In Internal Polling
Internal polling for House Republicans in 85 potential battleground districts has them surging with independent voters and leading Democrats on a generic ballot for the first time this cycle, 43% to 40%, Politico reports.
“Republicans are carrying independent voters by 8 points in the survey and college-educated white voters by 3 points.“
The Pandemic Has Been a Political Non-Event
Janan Ganesh: “That history is ‘one damn thing after another’ is such a good line, it’s almost a shame it isn’t true. For the most part, history is the sum of all that does not happen. The failure of post-apartheid South Africa to succumb to race war is part of history. The failure of most viruses to shut the world down is part of history. The absence of a nuclear strike since 1945, the continuing non-collapse of the EU: each merits as much study as any actual occurrence.”
“The idea of a historic non-event matters, for we are living through a profound instance of one. By far the most striking thing about the pandemic is how little it has changed politics. Across the world, the state has reigned over excess deaths or curbs on freedom, or both. Few have been toppled in consequence. Few have even been made to sweat.”
Sanders Draws Red Lines for Reconciliation Bill
“Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said on Tuesday that a deal on President Biden’s spending bill must expand Medicare and include a plan to lower the cost of prescription drugs,” The Hill reports.
Said Sanders: “Bottom line is that any reconciliation bill must include serious negotiations on the part of Medicare with the pharmaceutical industry, lower the cost of prescription drugs. That’s what the American people want.”
Politico: Sanders take a hard line against Manchin and Sinema.
Redistricting Reform Backfired on Virginia Democrats
“When Virginia voters amended their state constitution to create a bipartisan redistricting commission, they thought they were ending the partisan squabbling that plagued the state’s redistricting process for centuries. Instead, they may have made it worse,” Slate reports.
“The Virginia commission—added to the state constitution by legislative approval followed by a referendum in 2020—was supposed to establish a fair, transparent process that discouraged politicking and incentivized compromise. It shifted power over the creation of new maps from the General Assembly (which Democrats now control) to a 16-member commission made up of eight legislative leaders and eight citizens. Both groups are evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. The commission must draw compact districts that do not favor any political party, and may adopt new maps only with supermajority support from both the legislators and citizens.”
“If the commissioners can’t reach an agreement, the Virginia Supreme Court—where conservative justices currently hold a majority—draws the maps.”
Idaho House to Vote on Censure of GOP Lawmaker
The Idaho House will vote on whether to censure Rep. Priscilla Giddings (R) “over her actions when a legislative intern accused a former legislator of sexual assault,” the Idaho Statesman reports.
“The ethics complaint, supported by 25 House members, alleged that Giddings defamed a 19-year-old who accused a former House Republican of sexual assault by sharing an article from a far-right website that identified her. It also said she misrepresented her actions to the ethics committee while under oath.”
Spending on New Jersey Governor’s Race Soared
“The campaigns and outside groups for Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and Republican rival Jack Ciattarelli have spent $45,871,086 in the general election, nearly twice as much as what was shelled out about this time four years ago,” NJ.com reports.
Brooks Would Be ‘Proud’ If Staff Involved In Jan. 6 Rally
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) denied he had any role in planning the rally before the Capitol riots on January 6, but said he would be “proud” if his staff was involved, AL.com reports.
Said Brooks: “Quite frankly, I’d be proud of them if they did help organize a First Amendment rally to protest voter fraud and election theft.”
Wyoming Considers Loosening All Vaccine Requirements
“Multiple bills proposed for a three-day special legislative session this week would allow students and their parents to forgo legally mandated vaccines to attend public or private K-12 schools in Wyoming. One of them is backed by a joint committee,” the Casper Star Tribune reports.
“The proposed legislation would… allow parents or legal guardians to request exemptions without any rationale beyond it being their personal choice.”
Quote of the Day
“Do you think by having a D or an I or an R is going to change who I am? I don’t think the Republicans would be any more happier with me than Democrats are right now.”
— Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), quoted by Punchbowl News.
Lockdowns Did Nothing to Slow Down the Climate Crisis
“Greenhouse gas levels reached a record high in 2020 despite much of the world spending at least part of the year under lockdown or working from home, a United Nations agency announced Monday,” Rolling Stone reports.
“The last time there was this much CO2 in the atmosphere, humans did not exist.”
Sara Goddard: What is carbon footprint and why should you care?
Nevertheless, Elizabeth Warren’s Wealth Tax Persisted
Washington Post: “It’s not exactly what Warren offered on the campaign trail, but as negotiations over President Biden’s legislative agenda have led to a potential revenue shortfall, Democratic leaders are taking another look at a wealth tax. They are weighing a levy targeted at the country’s billionaires — a concept similar to the one popularized by candidate Warren.”
“Her allies are relishing the moment and finding some degree of irony in the notion that the idea resembling the centerpiece of her platform might help seal the legislative legacy of her onetime rival Joe Biden.”
California Unemployment Fraud Reaches $20 Billion
“California has given away at least $20 billion to criminals in the form of fraudulent unemployment benefits, state officials said Monday, confirming a number smaller than originally feared but one that still accounts for more than 11% of all benefits paid since the start of the pandemic,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“State officials blamed nearly all of that fraud on a hastily approved expansion of unemployment benefits by Congress that let people who were self-employed get weekly checks from the government with few safeguards to stop people who were not eligible to receive them.”