Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) baselessly blamed Dr. Anthony Fauci for being entirely “responsible” for the coronavirus pandemic.
Said Greene: “We have so many serious problems and we can point them all at one man. That is Dr. Fauci.”
She added: “Dr. Fauci is responsible for all of this. He created the gain-of-function. He gave it to China. They created the bioweapon, which is Covid-19, and it broke the world.”
“The Republican National Committee is preparing to change its rules to require presidential candidates seeking the party’s nomination to sign a pledge to not participate in any debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates,” the New York Times reports.
Right-wing talk radio personality Glenn Beck said he has contracted Covid-19 for the second time after refusing the vaccine, The Independent reports.
Said Beck: “It’s starting to go into my lungs today and a little disturbing. I’m on all the medications and treatments and everything else, so… it’s all good.”
“Beck said the antibody treatment ‘doesn’t seem to be working’ in his case, but he added that he is taking Ivermectin, an anti parasite drug popular in right-wing, anti-vaccine circles that has no proven effect against Covid-19.”
Mississippi lawmakers took the first steps towards eliminating the state income tax, the Jackson Clarion Ledger reports.
Nate Cohn: “Neither of the voting rights bills, nor the emerging bipartisan effort to reform the Electoral Count Act, is sure to close off some of the most probable avenues for election subversion.”
“While the various legislative paths might protect access to voting or hold the promise of clarifying how Congress counts electoral votes, the proposals are largely silent on a crucial time frame — the period between the polls closing in November to January, when Congress gathers to count electoral votes. This is when election administrators go about the once routine business of counting and certifying election results.”
Before President Biden arrives on Capitol Hill to meet with Senate Democrats and push voting rights, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) is mulling a Senate floor speech at noon to argue against changing the filibuster in order to pass the legislation, Politico reports.
As one Senate source said: “Sinema is having Joe Biden for lunch.”
A cyberattack against Albuquerque Public Schools prompted the city to cancel all classes districtwide on Thursday and possibly Friday, the Albuquerque Journal reports.
The attack was discovered Wednesday morning “when teachers tried to log onto our student information system and were unable to gain access to the site.”
“Extreme Republicans loyal to Donald Trump and his ‘big lie’ that the 2020 election was rigged have formed a nationwide alliance aiming to take control of the presidential election process in key battleground states that could determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential race,” The Guardian reports.
“At least eight Republicans who are currently running to serve as chief election officials in crucial swing states have come together to form the coalition.”
Nevada gubernatorial candidate Michele Fiore (R) spent $6,270 to broadcast 62 television spots on Fox News in the West Palm Beach media market over the Thanksgiving weekend, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports.
When Fiore’s ads aired, former President Donald Trump and his family were at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach.
“The voting rights group Stacey Abrams founded after losing the 2018 gubernatorial election to Brian Kemp reported this week that it ended 2021 with $19.5 million in the bank as she prepares to seek a rematch with the governor,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
“The Fair Fight PAC could continue using its money to support Democratic Party efforts and promote voting issues. But it also could get more directly involved in supporting Abrams in her run for governor.”
“Under a law that Kemp signed last year, if Abrams, as expected, wins the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, Fair Fight’s PAC could legally funnel money to her bid to oust the incumbent.”
Florida lawmakers revived a proposal to create a $1 billion fund that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) could use at his discretion during emergencies he declares, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
“In the weeks after the 2020 election, then-President Donald Trump’s allies sent fake certificates to the National Archives declaring that Trump won seven states that he actually lost. The documents had no impact on the outcome of the election, but they are yet another example of how Team Trump tried to subvert the Electoral College — a key line of inquiry for the January 6 committee,” CNN reports.
“The fake certificates were created by Trump allies in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada and New Mexico, who sought to replace valid presidential electors from their states with a pro-Trump slate.”
Michigan Live: Republicans who falsified Michigan electoral college vote under scrutiny from Congress.
The surging Omicron variant appears to have peaked in parts of the Northeast, the New York Times reports.
“A huge surge in cases that lasts for about one month, followed by a rapid decline, would be consistent with the experience in some places where Omicron arrived earlier than in the U.S.”
However: “In much of the country, cases are still soaring.”
Fox News used an 11-year old photo of empty store shelves in Japan to slam who they now call “Bare Shelves Biden,” Mediaite reports.
“Boris Johnson defied calls last night for his resignation over lockdown parties in Downing Street as the Tories fell to their lowest poll rating against Labour in almost a decade,” the Times of London reports.
Russia has rejected NATO’s offer of measures to de-escalate the Ukraine crisis, saying it made no sense to discuss incremental steps with a “hostile” alliance, the Telegraph reports.
Times of London: “NATO is ready to send troop reinforcements to eastern Europe if Russia invades Ukraine, the alliance’s secretary-general warned after talks with Moscow broke up without resolution.”
New York Times: “The Winter Olympics are three weeks away, but tickets have yet to go on sale. Airlines are shifting schedules, creating travel confusion. Now, a spate of coronavirus outbreaks around China — including some locally transmitted cases of the fast-spreading Omicron variant — is adding to the uncertainty ahead of the Games in Beijing.”
Punchbowl News: “Please pause for a moment and consider just how much political capital President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are spending right now on voting rights and scrapping the filibuster. Biden went to Atlanta on Tuesday to make a major speech on this, and now he’s coming to Capitol Hill today to lobby Democratic senators during a closed-door party meeting.”
“Let’s leave aside for a second the substance of the voting rights bill. We all understand that it’s unlikely to pass, right? And there are plenty of Senate Democrats – and many on the House side too – that wonder why the White House is pressing so hard on this. And why is Schumer forcing vulnerable lawmakers to do away with the filibuster? The vast majority of Democratic senators are ready to scrap the 60-vote threshold – if they can win. They can’t right now. And worse than that, Senate Democrats don’t have a graceful way out this political jam.”
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.