The Tour de German Hiding Places

Monday, June 28, 2021
BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA


** -AOC ([link removed]) , on Marjorie Taylor Greene calling her a "little communist"
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Senate Republicans have once again unfurled a big banner reading, “We Have No Legislative Goals Beyond Obstruction, Lmao,” and fortunately for the future of the republic, Democrats may no longer be in a position to pretend that it says anything else.

* On Saturday, President Biden released a statement ([link removed]) walking back his pledge to veto the bipartisan infrastructure bill if it isn’t accompanied by a broader reconciliation bill, in response to Republicans’ howls of feigned outrage ([link removed]) that Democrats would make a deal with them, and resolve to pass the rest of their priorities. Republican negotiators announced that Biden’s statement had sufficiently addressed their fake concerns ([link removed]) , and that they would move ahead with passing the bipartisan deal.

* It may be doomed anyhow. On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell—who, we’ve now learned, intentionally let Donald Trump’s election lies proliferate ([link removed]) in an attempt to save his Senate majority—demanded further assurances ([link removed]) that Democrats will tie their own hands and act like he’s still in charge. “Unless Leader Schumer and Speaker Pelosi walk back their threats...then President Biden’s walk-back of his veto threat would be a hollow gesture.” As Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) reiterated over the weekend ([link removed]) , progressives aren’t about to vote for a slim bipartisan bill without total confidence that Senate Democrats will pass climate and caregiving provisions, too: “No reconciliation bill, no deal.”

* Who could’ve guessed that the GOP leader who told reporters ([link removed]) that “100 percent of my focus is on stopping this new administration” would only be interested in a bipartisan deal as a tool for blocking the core of Biden’s agenda? If and when the roads-and-bridges agreement falls apart, Democrats can roll that spending into their reconciliation bill and pass the whole thing in a party-line vote. All they have to do is let go of the notion that Republicans are operating in good faith to get it done.

The sooner the better. While Democrats gamely try to prove that they can work together with a GOP that no longer exists, the real GOP’s most dangerous elements are becoming normalized.

* You might recall that in the wake of the January 6 insurrection, a slew of corporations halted their donations to Republican lawmakers who objected to certifying the 2020 election. A number of major companies have since resumed their political giving, or never stopped in the first place—Toyota alone has given $55,000 to 37 GOP objectors ([link removed]) this year. A Toyota spokesperson said that attempting to overturn the results of a presidential election simply wasn’t a dealbreaker ([link removed]) : “We do not believe it is appropriate to judge members of Congress solely based on their votes on the electoral certification.”

* A thorough House investigation into the insurrection could go a long way towards countering GOP efforts to normalize violent attacks on the democratic process—so long as Republicans aren’t invited to derail it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has introduced legislation to form a 13-member panel ([link removed]) , with eight members to be appointed by Pelosi, and five to be chosen “in consultation with” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Pelosi is also reportedly considering a Republican as one of her picks. The committee chair will have unilateral subpoena power, and the panel won’t have a hard deadline to finish its work.



The imaginary, reasonable Republican Party with which Democrats were negotiating an infrastructure compromise has fully vanished into the Kentucky mist. Democrats can now either vaporize their agenda along with it, or accept the real antidemocratic emergency in front of them, and confront it head-on.

This week on Takeline, hosts Jason Concepcion and Renee Montgomery are joined by award winning journalist LZ Granderson to discuss the coming out announcement of the Las Vegas Raiders' Carl Nassib. They also cover the recent wave of anti-trans youth legislation. Don't miss out, new episodes of Takeline every Tuesday. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts ([link removed]) .
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A federal judge has tossed out the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Facebook ([link removed]) , a major setback for regulators seeking to break up the company. The FTC had argued that Facebook systematically eliminated threats to its monopoly by buying up competitors, but District Judge James E. Boasberg ruled that the FTC hadn’t provided enough evidence that Facebook was, in fact, a monopoly. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle called for a rewrite of antitrust law ([link removed]) to address that prerequisite, which stands in the way of any Big Tech regulation. Boasberg chucked a similar lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of 46 states because too much time had elapsed since Facebook’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The FTC, now headed up by pre-eminent Big Tech Critic Lina Khan, will
have 30 days to refile its complaint.
* Engineers think that the Surfside, FL, condo complex likely collapsed due to a failure near the base of the building ([link removed]) . A consultant warned in 2018 ([link removed]) that there was evidence of “major structural damage” below the pool deck, but gave no indication that the damage constituted an emergency, and town officials assured residents the building was safe. The death toll has risen to 11, with 150 people still unaccounted for.

* The U.S. carried out airstrikes in Iran and Syria against two Iranian-backed militias early on Monday ([link removed]) , in response to recent drone strikes against U.S. forces in Iraq.

* The Pacific Northwest has been suffering through its worst-ever heat wave ([link removed]) , and because northwesterners very much did not sign up for this, large swaths of the population don’t have air conditioning in their homes.

* Prosecutors gave Trump Organization attorneys a Monday deadline ([link removed]) for arguments as to why the company shouldn’t face criminal charges over its apparent financial crimes. Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance will not bring charges against Trump himself ([link removed]) in this first indictment, according to one of Trump’s lawyers.

* An Australian virologist who was working at the Wuhan Institute of Virology when the pandemic began ([link removed]) said she hasn’t ruled out the lab leak hypothesis, but witnessed no evidence to support it.

* Donald Trump was singularly focused on upsetting the electoral count as the January 6 mob rioted through the Capitol ([link removed]) , according to Michael Wolff’s (grain-of-salt-worthy) reporting on what was happening in the Oval Office that day.

* Ivanka Trump appears to have lied under oath last year ([link removed]) when she testified that she had no involvement in planning Trump’s inauguration.

* The Tour de France intends to sue a spectator who held out a sign into the cyclists’ path and caused a huge pileup ([link removed]) , if authorities are able to track her down. She has already embarked on the Tour de German Hiding Places, according to one French outlet.

* Former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-AK), who famously read 4,100 pages of the Pentagon Papers into the congressional record after a court blocked its release, has died at 91 ([link removed]) .

Provisions in the Treasury’s “Green Book” proposal could disrupt wealthy Americans’ favorite methods of legally avoiding taxes ([link removed]) , making Biden’s proposed changes to the tax code all the more significant. The measures target dynasty trusts, which wealthy families use to pass wealth down from generation to generation without incurring transfer taxes. Under the proposal, those trusts would have to start paying capital-gains tax. The plan would also charge a capital-gains tax when assets are transferred into or out of certain kinds of trusts—specifically targeting popular tools to benefit heirs. Those measures are meant to eliminate loopholes in Biden’s plans to raise taxes for the richest Americans, and financial advisors sweatily agree that they would wipe out several tried-and-true avoidance strategies—if Democrats can summon the guts to pass them.
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Following record voter turnout in the 2020 election, politicians are drumming up false concerns and baseless conspiracies about widespread voter fraud to justify suppressing the right to vote. Nearly 400 voter suppression bills have been introduced across almost every state. These bills seek to make it more difficult for people to register to vote, vote by mail, or vote in person. The ACLU won’t stop fighting until every eligible voter can cast their ballot. Are you with us?Click here to add your name today. ([link removed])

Join the ACLU in demanding no excuse absentee voting, same day registration, automatic voter registration, and access to in-person early voting for every eligible voter. We won’t stop fighting until every eligible voter can cast their ballot.

The ACLU needs supporters like you to help us stop these voter suppression efforts.Click here to add your name today ([link removed]) to defend voting rights with the ACLU.

The Supreme Court ([link removed]) declined to consider a Virginia school board’s appeal to reinstate its transgender bathroom ban, a major victory for LGBTQ students.

Early results from a British study ([link removed]) suggested that mixing and matching doses of different vaccines provides strong protection.

In other very cool vaccine news, a new study ([link removed]) has produced more evidence that the immune response induced by the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines could last for years.

Philadelphia residents ([link removed]) set up more than 20 community fridges with free food for whoever needs it, part of a larger trend of mutual aid efforts gaining steam during the pandemic.
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