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Friday, October 8, 2021

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Senate Approves Deal on Short-Term Debt Limit Increase

A 50-48 vote on party lines. But: The key moment came earlier in the evening, when 11 Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in a vote to break the 60-vote filibuster threshold and proceed to final passage of the measure, which cleared the Senate 50 to 48, with two Republican absences (WSJ). From The Hill: Under the agreement, the debt ceiling will increase by $480 billion. The Treasury Department, according to Senate aides, thinks that will set up the next deadline for Dec. 3, the same day government funding is set to expire (TheHill). Portions of the GOP caucus were critical, including Lindsey Graham (R-SC): “I’m upset with us because we had a strategy to make them pay a price to raise the debt ceiling,” Mr. Graham said. “And we blinked” (WashTimes). The bill now goes to the House.

Jen Psaki Dodges Question on Use of Patriot Act on Parents in School Board Meetings

… as criticism of the heavy-handed move grows. From the story: When White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was pressed Wednesday on the matter, specifically NSBA’s [National School Boards Association] appeal for use the PATRIOT Act, Psaki refused to give a straight answer (The Daily Wire). From RedState: One of the concerns raised was the terminology in the NSBA letter requesting that Joe Biden involve the federal government. They characterized the “threats” as something which “could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.” They also appealed to Biden to employ things like the PATRIOT Act in the response. Fox’s Peter Doocy asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki about the troubling aspects of that request (RedState). From Tom Elliot: Psaki defends the DoJ acquiescing to teachers unions who want parents treated like “domestic terrorists” (Twitter).

Virginia Governor’s Race Tightens to Dead Heat

Democrat Terry McAuliffe had a lead of four points in the last week of September. His GOP challenger Glenn Youngkin is now surging: The latest Emerson College/Nexstar Media poll of the Virginia gubernatorial election shows a tightening in the race, with Democrat Terry McAuliffe slightly leading Republican Glenn Youngkin 49% to 48% (Emerson). Fueling the rise of Youngkin was McAuliffe’s statement to his opponent in their debate: “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” McCauliffe said (NationalReview). The election is on November 2, 2021.

China Angry Over Revelation of U.S. Troops Training Taiwanese

From the story: U.S. forces have been secretly training Taiwan’s military forces in the country for at least a year amid concerns of Chinese aggression toward the self-ruled island. The report comes as China has stepped up its aggressive military activity near Taiwan, flying nearly 150 warplanes near the island in the past week in an attempt to intimidate a country that it has long viewed as part of its territory. Taiwan, for its part, is preparing for possible war against China (The Hill). From U.S. News: China has previously indicated it would retaliate swiftly and immediately to any indication the U.S. had deployed military forces to Taiwan. When Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, claimed without explanation in August that the U.S. had roughly 30,000 forces on Taiwan, state news in Beijing fired back that, if true, the Chinese military would “crush them by force” (U.S. News).

Airline Workers Protest Vaccine Mandates

Workers at several airlines, including AmericanAirlines (AA) and Southwest Airlines (SWA), have started protesting their companies’ COVID-19 vaccination mandates for workers. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), a union, has filed a lawsuit against SWA over its vaccine mandate. SWAPA has authorized its members to demonstrate against the mandate and strenuous working conditions during the pandemic. Hundreds of AA workers and allies protested outside the company’s Fort Worth, Texas headquarters on Thursday (Newsweek)

Amidst Resistance to Vaccine Mandates, Employers Begin to Question Sincerity of Religious Exemptions

World reports: employers are grappling with the unusually high number of religious objections—many of which might not be sincere—due to the prevalence of boilerplate objection forms available online. “If they can’t filter insincere claims, that will strengthen the impulse to refuse all religious exemptions,” he said. Despite court challenges, the situation may ultimately lead judges to narrow the scope of allowable religious exemptions (World). In New York, thousands of workers await the response of a federal judge on religious exemptions: Thousands of New York healthcare workers are in limbo as a federal judge considers whether the state’s vaccination mandate must accommodate requests for religious exemptions, in a case that could guide similar policies in other states (WSJ).

Nancy Pelosi’s Approval Ratings Drop to New Low

From the story: Of all of the leaders, Pelosi proved to be the least popular, with 60 percent indicating they view her unfavorably. Of those, 51 percent view her “very” unfavorably (Breitbart). From Rasmussen Reports: Only 35% of Likely U.S. Voters now have a favorable view of @SpeakerPelosi- her worst numbers ever (Twitter). These numbers come off the heels of a Quinnipiac Poll released Wednesday that had President Biden at a mere 38% approval. From the New York Post: The poll puts Biden underwater on his handling of every major issue (New York Post). From HotAir: What pollsters described as a momentary hiccup has in fact become a chronic decline. And Joe Biden’s job-approval crash has a particular inflection point. The one sure point in all of the data is that Biden’s rebound never materialized, and instead his numbers have gotten worse — even as the crises appear to recede (HotAir).

California Shortens Wait Time for Assisted Suicide

Governor Newsom signed the bill on Tuesday. Daily Wire: The bill will slash the current 15-day waiting period for patients to get the lethal drugs to a mere 48 hours. The law also requires health care providers to post their physician-assisted suicide policies on their websites (DailyWire).

Dramatic Growth of U.S. Adults Living Alone

… without a spouse or a partner. Pew: Americans’ marital and living arrangements have changed considerably over the past 30 years. The share of adults ages 25 to 54 who are currently married fell from 67% in 1990 to 53% in 2019, while the share cohabiting more than doubled over that same period (from 4% in 1990 to 9% in 2019).3 The share who have never been married has also grown – from 17% to 33%. All of this churn has resulted in a significant increase in the share who are unpartnered (PewResearch).

10.

Those We Left Behind: Afghanistan

Mindy Belz of World: This is one of the hardest stories I’ve had to report. Afghanistan has fallen out of the news, but the State Dept and US. Central Command are blocking Afghans with legitimate fears for their lives from leaving (Twitter). She reports: [Jennifer] Cervantes and others I spoke to attest to thousands on their lists awaiting evacuation. “I have dozens of citizens and permanent residents I’m working with, and that’s just my firm,” she said. In addition, the International Rescue Committee estimates 300,000 Afghan civilians worked alongside Americans during the 20-year conflict. Hundreds of top Afghan officials also remain—including police, judges, and others once involved in tracking, jailing, and sentencing Taliban members (WNG).