“The crisis at Los Angeles County hospitals hit new levels as patients continued to stream in during the holiday weekend, and the medical system is bracing for a new wave of coronavirus spread arising from Christmas travel and gatherings,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“Hospitals are so inundated that they’ve resorted to placing patients in conference rooms and gift shops. But even so, many facilities are running out of space.”
President-elect Joe Biden once again warned Americans that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic — “maybe the toughest of this entire pandemic” — remained ahead of them, despite vaccinations that are underway, the Washington Post reports.
He said the pace of those vaccinations had fallen far behind what President Trump promised: “Turning this around is going to take time. We might not see improvement until well into March.”
U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt told the Associated Press that, “It’s not surprising that a criminal like Trump pardons other criminals.”
He added: “Apparently to get a pardon, one has to be either a Republican, a convicted child murderer or a turkey.”
NBC News: “More than 2.3 million voters have cast their ballots, with more than 800,000 voting absentee by mail and 1.5 million voting early, in person, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. The previous runoff turnout record was set in 2008, when Georgians cast 2.137 million total ballots in the entire election.”
“More than 78,000 Georgians who did not vote in the general election have already voted in the runoff race.”
“Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn is going all in on the QAnon conspiracy theory, promoting an online store to sell QAnon hats and T-shirts, the proceeds of which will benefit his partnership with a prominent QAnon booster,” the Daily Beast reports.
“Flynn’s drawn-out legal battle with former Special Counsel Robert Mueller turned him into a hero for QAnon believers. Many QAnon supporters, who rely on mysterious online clues to construct a worldview where the Democratic Party and other institutions are controlled by a cabal of pedophile-cannibals, claim that Flynn is Q, the anonymous figure behind the conspiracy theory.”
“I still hold that being a Republican in general means supporting national defense and smaller government. What does it mean today? I mean, in the state we’re in, I really don’t know.”
— Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), in an interview with the Chicago Tribune.
“His mood darkened as soon as he walked into his members-only club Mar-a-Lago, three days before Christmas, according to multiple sources. The changes to his private quarters, many of which were overseen by his wife, first lady Melania Trump, were not to President Trump’s liking, and he was mad about it,” CNN reports.
“Several weeks in the works, the renovations, undertaken to make the approximately 3,000-square-foot space feel larger and updated in preparation for the Trumps post-White House life, didn’t appeal to Trump’s aesthetics, according to his reaction. Trump was also displeased with other renovations at the property, the source said, not just in the living space.”
“The century-old tradition of the post-inauguration lunch is the latest pandemic casualty as COVID-19 continues to upend the ceremonies around the Jan. 20 swearing-in of President-elect Joe Biden,” Roll Call reports.
“The Inaugural Luncheon tradition, which has been around since the late 1800s, has evolved into a three-course meal and musical performance in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall for the new Cabinet, the Supreme Court and congressional leadership. The hall, however, will be quiet after this January’s scaled-back inauguration, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies announced Tuesday.”
“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday stymied Democrats’ long-shot bid to immediately increase direct stimulus payments to $2,000, leaving the fate of bigger checks in limbo as this Congress comes to a close at the end of the week,” Politico reports.
Bloomberg: “McConnell objected to a motion by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to approve by unanimous consent a stimulus-checks bill that passed the House on Monday. He also blocked a motion by Senator Bernie Sanders to vote on the stimulus checks immediately after the Senate votes on overriding Trump’s veto of a key defense policy bill.”
“Floor requests to immediately pass legislation are frequently criticized as stunts, but this episode highlights how unlikely it is that the Senate will pass a bill increasing the payments before Congress adjourns Sunday.”
Meanwhile, Trump slammed Republicans saying they had a “death wish” blocking the increased payments.
Christian Schneider: “In the course of his young political career, Marco Rubio has been a Tea Partier, a Reformicon, and a neoconservative. Now he’s auditioning for the role of MAGA FAN #7 by trying to paint Anthony Fauci as the real villain of the pandemic. His strategy seems to be: Dazzle the Trumpenproletariat so completely that they adopt him as their new king.”
“It’s adorable. The political equivalent of leaving your husband in hopes of catching the eye of pharma bro Martin Shkreli.”
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received her first dose of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine in D.C. Tuesday morning, Axios reports.
“The vice chairman of the Massachusetts Republican State Committee is battling COVID-19 after attending what he described as a largely maskless holiday party at the White House earlier this month,” the Boston Globe reports.
Said Tom Mountain: “I didn’t listen to the warnings of my own family, and now I’m paying the price.”
He told WJAR: “Lets put it this way: When I went down to Washington, D.C., for the White House Hanukkah event, I was perfectly fine. And three days later after that event, I was in the hospital… ready to be put on a lifesaving ventilator.”
Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA) on Tuesday both came out in favor of increasing direct payments in the coronavirus relief package from $600 to $2,000 per person, Axios reports.
Related for members: McConnell Doesn’t Appear Worried About Georgia
“Congress’ attending physician informed lawmakers Monday night that two staffers in every House member and senator’s personal offices are now eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine,” Politico reports.
“In addition, the Office of the Attending Physician is offering the vaccine to four staffers of every committee chair and every ranking committee member.”
“On the afternoon of October 21, seven Phoenix police officers gathered for a briefing in a Cave Creek station when the meeting diverged into a discussion about the defund-the-police movement,” the Arizona Republic reports.
When Officer Steven Poulos expressed his thoughts, the room went quiet: “If the mayor defunds the police, I’m going to shoot her.”
The sergeant broke the silence, saying: “You’re not going to shoot the mayor.”
Poulos doubled down: “That’s a promise.”
President Trump sharply criticized Republican leaders for allowing a vote to override his veto of a must-pass defense policy bill, calling them “weak” and “tired” and accusing them of a “disgraceful act of cowardice,” The Hill reports.
A new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds Democratic voters think President-elect Joe Biden should compromise to work with Republican lawmakers, 43% to 33%.
However, Republican voters think their party’s lawmakers should stick to their positions, 54% to 25%.
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.