Congress reaches deal to fund government through February

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It is all too easy to believe or assume the worst about other political "tribes." Tribalism can even go so far as to make people believe those in the other political tribe are the enemy. This level of tribalism threatens our democracy and potentially our survival as a nation. Both political parties are to blame for pushing these narratives and assumptions. Political parties used to be moderating institutions. Now they both energize their primary bases by stoking division. So, is America doomed? Call me an optimist, but I don't think so. It will certainly take some steps to regain some semblance of unity. One of those steps may include leaving a tribe. When you no longer consider yourself a member in a tribe, it affords you the opportunity to think independently, critically, and with nuance. —Lynn Schmidt ([link removed]) , Renew
America Movement Fellow

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** In the nick of time
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The Senate passed a stopgap spending bill last night, 30 hours before the deadline. The continuing resolution prevents a short-term government shutdown and funds the federal government through Feb. 18. The measure now goes to President Biden to be signed into law. Earlier in the day, congressional leaders announced they had finally reached an agreement to keep the government running for 11 more weeks, generally at current spending levels, while adding $7 billion to aid Afghanistan evacuees. ([link removed])
* — The House passed the measure by a 221-212 vote. Republican leadership urged its members to vote no. The lone GOP vote in favor of the bill came from Rep. Adam Kinzinger. Once the House voted to approve the measure, senators soon announced an agreement that would allow them to vote on it quickly. The Senate approved the measure by a vote of 69-28. ([link removed])
*
* — Vaccine mandates nearly shut down the government. Some Republicans opposed to Biden's federal vaccine mandates wanted Congress to take a hard stand against mandated shots. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gave Republicans a vote with a simple majority threshold to defund federal vaccine mandates. The amendment failed by a vote of 48-50, and other Republicans blasted the demand as irresponsible and pointless. ([link removed])
*
* — Lawmakers bemoaned the short-term fix. And both blamed the opposing party for the lack of progress on this year's spending bills. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said the measure would, however, allow for negotiations on a package covering the full budget year through September 2022. "Make no mistake, a vote against this continuing resolution is a vote to shut government down," DeLauro said during the House debate. —Associated Press ([link removed])

MORE: McConnell: No legislative agenda for 2022 midterms —Axios ([link removed])


** Facebook faces its metaproblem
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Facebook announced this week that it has taken down disinformation networks tied to a broad swath of political actors and events, including the militant group Hamas, the immigration crisis along the Belarus-Poland border, and anti-vaccine groups that attacked doctors in Europe. The company's latest threat report demonstrates—again—how social media is used by governments and other parties to manipulate public opinion. Facebook, whose corporate name is now Meta, began developing strategies to fight disinfo campaigns after Russian actors exploited the platform during the 2016 election to influence the outcome. Since then, the company has engaged in hundreds of takedowns of political organizations, marketing firms, governments, and profit-motivated groups. —The Washington Post ([link removed])

MORE: Study shows how Russian, Chinese disinformation about COVID-19 evolved during the pandemic —Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty ([link removed])


** Braniff, Gustafson & Plenzler: Fighting disinfo is a national security imperative
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"We have seen hostile foreign influence operations successfully sow public doubt in the integrity of our elections, our free press, and our rule of law, and aggressively attack our democratic norms and institutions—especially our all-volunteer military. For example, a deliberate disinformation campaign about the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccine is likely to result in the separation of thousands of military members who are expected to refuse the vaccine, and these departures will degrade the readiness of the Department of Defense to the advantage of the Russians, Chinese, North Koreans, Iranians, and other state actors who are working against U.S. national security interests." —William Braniff, Ellen Gustafson & Joe Plenzler in ([link removed]) Military Times
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William Braniff is the director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, a professor of the practice at the University of Maryland, and a co-founder of We the Veterans. Ellen Gustafson is the co-director of the Summit Institute and a co-founder of We the Veterans. Joe Plenzler is a co-founder of Cassandra-Helenus Partners and a combat-decorated Marine Corps veteran.


** 'I couldn't have imagined the lies they would tell about me'
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Two Georgia election workers targeted in a vote-rigging conspiracy theory have sued the far-right website The Gateway Pundit for trumpeting the false story. The defamation suit was filed yesterday by Wandrea Moss, a voter registration officer in the Fulton County elections office, and her mother, Ruby Freeman, who was a temp worker for the 2020 election. The suit claims the Pundit repeatedly published demonstrably false stories that portrayed the women as "traitors" who conspired to "steal the presidential election in Georgia," instigating a "deluge of intimidation, harassment, and threats that has forced them to change their phone numbers, delete their online accounts, and fear for their physical safety." Freeman was forced into hiding after the stories "pushed people to harass me and my family and to threaten us with violence," she said in a statement. Stay tuned. —Reuters
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MORE: Colorado Secretary of State warns of 'slow motion' Jan. 6 happening now —Reuters ([link removed])
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** Klain: It's well past time to stand up to Putin
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"Whether it is poisoning opposition politicians or seizing territory by force for the first time in Europe since World War II, Putin's actions all hinge on the assumption that voices in the West will not be clear in their condemnation and ultimately will give him what he wants in order to de-escalate the crisis he instigated. If leaders are clear-eyed, Putin's outrageous acts fit into a pattern. If leaders are honest, they will admit the pattern shows the acts simply will not stop on their own. As President Biden reportedly plans another meeting with Putin, while warning Moscow not to escalate with Ukraine, it is essential that leaders in Washington stop treating the Kremlin's various aggressive acts as if they are unrelated." —Doug Klain in ([link removed]) The Hill ([link removed])

Doug Klain is a program assistant with the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.

MORE: U.S. warns Russia has plans for 'large scale' attack on Ukraine —The Guardian ([link removed])


** Focus on the Jan. 6 select committee
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The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol aims to hold public hearings next year detailing "in vivid color" the events of Jan. 6, according to Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the committee. She said yesterday that the panel aims to conduct "multiple weeks" of hearings sometime in 2022, a year of crucial midterm elections that could change the balance of power in Congress. The hearings will lay out "exactly what happened every minute of the day on Jan. 6 here at the Capitol and at the White House and what led to that violent attack," Cheney said in a House Rules Committee hearing. —CNBC ([link removed])
* — A warning to Trump. Cheney also promised Donald Trump that if he lies to the committee, there will be criminal penalties. "President Trump continues to make the same false claims about a stolen election, with which he has misled millions of Americans. These are the same claims he knows provoked violence in the past," she said. "Any communication Mr. Trump has with this committee will be under oath. And if he persists in lying then, he will be accountable under the laws of this great nation and subject to criminal penalties for every false word he speaks." —Washington Examiner ([link removed])
*
* — What comes next for Clark? On Wednesday night, the committee voted to hold Jeffrey Clark in contempt of Congress. Clark, a senior Justice Department appointee from the Trump era, advocated for throwing the full weight of the DOJ behind Trump's false claims of election fraud. Clark's lawyer has said his client would be willing to appear for a deposition where he'd assert his 5th Amendment rights to avoid self-incrimination, forestalling a full House vote on the charge. He's scheduled to appear before the panel tomorrow. —Insider ([link removed])
*
* — "Meadows was perpetually enabling this insane stuff and was too scared to stand up to Trump." According to multiple sources, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows reached out to some of the country's top national security officials to get them to investigate election conspiracy theories being espoused by Rudy Giuliani, Mike Flynn, and Sidney Powell. He also passed along conspiratorial materials himself, including YouTube videos and other information that alleged widespread evidence of voter fraud. Meadows is cooperating with the panel. —CNN ([link removed])

MORE: Georgia election official interviewed for four hours by Jan. 6 committee —Insider ([link removed])


** Warren: With the right approach, we can save democracy
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"Yes, democracy itself is at risk. But in cities around the world, citizens and governments are innovating and attempting to solve the vexing challenges of the moment. The Summit for Democracy can be a powerful, catalyzing event—if the U.S. sees itself as a learner and convener, rather than as a promoter." —Scott Warren in ([link removed]) Newsweek ([link removed])

Scott Warren is the founder of Generation Citizen, which engages young people in political activism to promote civic education, and is a visiting fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

MORE: Young Americans are raising alarms about the state of U.S. democracy in a new poll —NPR ([link removed])

One reads much about Republican gerrymandering of congressional districts, yet if one compares the Republican-gerrymandered congressional districts of North Carolina with the Democrat-gerrymandered districts of Maryland, one realizes neither party has any moral authority to accuse the other. Talking about gerrymandering is thus much like talking about fairness in taxation: invoking the concept of fairness is invariably about making somebody else pay more.

The fact that neither major party has any moral authority to talk about gerrymandering gives a movement like Stand Up Republic opportunities across most of the 50 states, excepting states with only one congressional representative, like Wyoming. Stand Up Republic can push for legal standards in perimeter-to-area ratios for congressional districts, and advocate for particular algorithms that reduce the possibility of a member of Congress having a safe general election, the condition that allows the representative the luxury of feeding the ideologues the red meat necessary to avoid being "primaried." —Stephen J. Pennsylvania
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** The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.
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