Use the scrollbar to scroll past today’s News & Notes to read The Hustings debate, “Was January 6 a ‘Dress Rehearsal’?” with news and analysis on the issue in the middle column, and commentary in the left and right columns.

_____
Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news

THU 11/11/21

•The Tomb of the Unknowns marks its 100^th anniversary at Arlington National Cemetery and is open to the public for the first time in 96 years, for just two days, NPR says.

•President Biden will sign the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill Monday, The Hill reports.

•A federal judge has approved a $626 million settlement of civil claims regarding the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. Nearly 80% of the settlement is for children, but it does not settle all lawsuits over lead contamination in the city’s water, Michigan Public Radio reports.

•Scroll down to read a new comment in the right column regarding our ongoing debate, ‘Was January 6 a ‘Dress Rehearsal’?” It’s not too late to add your own comments to the left or right columns – email us at editors@thehustings.news.

Insurrection vs. Inflation – District Judge Tanya Chutkan refused to delay the Friday deadline for the National Archives to turn over Trump White House documents to the January 6 House select committee, while the former president appeals the judge’s decision of earlier in the week (The Hill). Meanwhile, President Biden spoke of easing up supply shipping bottlenecks with the passage of his $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, after the Labor Department yesterday released news of the highest annual Consumer Price Index in 30 years.

What do these two issues have to do with each other?

If Donald J. Trump’s attorneys can’t get the Supreme Court to stay the district judge’s decision before the White House documents are turned over to Rep. Bennie Thompson’s, D-MS, committee tomorrow, much will be revealed about the president and his advisers’ involvement in the Capitol insurrection. 

If, on the other hand, Trump manages more delay, the select committee will get stalled probably well into 2022. Next year, coincidentally, is when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin expects inflation to come down to normal levels while the White House holds out high hopes that bipartisan infrastructure will help fix the supply chain bottleneck and all those container ships stacked up off U.S. coasts. 

Known knowns: Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-WV, is highly unlikely to let the $1.8 trillion Build Back Better social safety net plan go anywhere, especially after the dire CPI numbers. 

Known unknowns: The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the safety net bill next week. But it’s unlikely to advance, at least in the Senate, until next year if at all, depending on how the inflation rate plays out in coming months. By the time that happens, the House select committee either will, or will not, have scrutinized Trump’s White House papers.

Unknown unknowns: House Republicans who support Trump want to strip the 13 moderate House Republicans who voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill of their committee assignments, even though the bill has widespread support across the country, as it fixes roads and bridges – and ports – while boosting employment levels. The Trumpists do not want to hand Biden any victories, especially as his poll numbers plummet -- a USA Today/Morning Consult poll released yesterday says Biden’s approval rating has dropped to a Trump-like low of 38%. 

They also want to root out moderate House Republicans (many of whom, including Illinois’ Adam Kinzinger, one of only two GOP members on the 1/6 committee, have already announced they will not run for re-election) on their way to a much-expected route of Democrats in next November’s mid-terms.

Known known II: If the 1/6 select committee struggles next year with Trump’s stall tactics, and the inflation rate and struggling economy hands the GOP a turnover of the House, its new speaker, Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, will dismantle the committee.

•••

House Dems Hope to Censure Gosar — A group of House Democrats will offer a resolution to censure Paul Gosar, R-AZ, which, if accepted, would have the consequence of Gosar having to stand in the well of the House as the censure is read out by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA. Gosar posted “an edited video on social media depicting himself as murdering Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Joe Biden,” according to Punchbowl News.

Note: Gosar is 62 and generally considered to be a grown-up. An edited anime with one of his colleagues being killed and the president of the United States being attacked is something that one might imagine a pimply-faced teen to post. Yes, this is what it comes to in the political entity formerly known as the “Grand Old Party.” There is nothing grand about it. Stupid, perhaps. Incidentally: Gosar’s former career was as a dentist. The mind boggles.

•••

There’s Always Chris – Former New Jersey governor, “friend” of Donald J. Trump, and likely 2024 presidential candidate Chris Christie told the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas last weekend that it’s time for the GOP to focus on future fights rather than rehash the 2020 election, Axios reports in a preview of an exclusive interview for an upcoming HBO show. 

Predictably, Trump put out a statement that Christie “was just absolutely massacred by his statements that Republicans have to move on from the past.” Christie left New Jersey with a record-low approval rating of just 9%, Trump continued, without explaining why he would have relied on such a disliked politician for his 2016 campaign. 

Note: Good news for never-Trump Republicans, Democrats and other defenders of democracy is that Christie’s almost inevitable ’24 run will make it hard for Trump to hold on to all but his most loyal acolytes over the next three years.

•••

Obituary: F.W. de Klerk, South Africa’s Last Apartheid President – The last president of South Africa’s Apartheid regime, F.W. de Klerk, has died after battling cancer at his home near Cape Town Thursday, age 85. De Klerk served as South Africa’s president from 1989 to 1994, when he lost re-election to the formerly imprisoned African National Congress leader, Nelson Mandela. The two men shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. While de Klerk apologized for Apartheid, the question remains of whether he sufficiently rejected its moral injustice.

--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Nic Woods

____________________________________

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2021

•Scroll down for our debate on whether the January 6 Capitol insurrection was a ‘dress rehearsal’ for Donald J. Trump’s return in 2024. Submit your comments to editors@thehustings.news.

Inflation Rate Hits 30-year High – Consumer Price Index was up 6.2% for the last 12 months, the highest annual inflation rate since 1991, the U.S. Labor Department reported Wednesday. The CPI rose 0.9% in October, versus 0.4% in September. The Labor Department cited price increases in a wide array of consumer goods, though energy, shelter, food, used and new cars and trucks “were among the larger contributors.”

•••

Judge Rejects Trump’s Lawsuit to Block 1/6 Papers – Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan has denied former President Trump’s lawsuit seeking to block the National Archives’ release of documents related to the January 6 Capitol insurrection to the House Select Committee investigating the riot. In her 39-page ruling, the judge said there is a public interest in releasing the documents (The Hill).

“Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not president,” Chutkan said.

Note: While the House Select Committee hopes to procure the documents as early as this Friday, Trump’s attorneys have promised to appeal, and the case is likely headed to the Supreme Court. If Trump’s lawyers can draw out the case well into 2022, a long delay could come after the midterm elections, when Republicans expect to retake the House majority and a new speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, would likely dissolve the 1/6 investigation.

•••

Meanwhile, 1/6 Committee Subpoenas 10 More Trump Associates – The House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection has issued 10 more subpoenas, to former Trump administration officials. They are, per The Wall Street Journal:

•Kayleigh McEnany: Trump White House press secretary.

•Stephen Miller: Senior advisor, and key advocate for administration’s immigration policy.

•Chris Liddell: Former White House deputy chief of staff.

•Nicholas Luna: Trump personal assistant (“luggage carrier”).

•John McEntee: Former White House personnel director.

•Ben Williamson: Trump assistant and senior advisor to ex-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

•Keith Kellogg: Ex-Vice President Pence’s security advisor.

•Cassidy Hutchinson: Special assistant to ex-President Trump for legislative affairs.

•Molly Michael: Special assistant to the ex-president, and former Oval Office operations co-ordinator.

•Kenneth Klukowski: Former senior council to ex-Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark.

•••

Sununu Rejects Senate Run – Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has rejected pleas by GOP Senate leadership to run against Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-NH, in next year’s midterms. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, and Sen. Rick Scott, R-FL, considered Sununu their best chance for retaking the chamber’s majority after November 2022, Politico notes. 

Sununu is the younger brother of former Sen. John Sununu, who lost re-election to Democrat Jeanne Shaheen in 2008. Shaheen, a former governor who lost her first run against John Sununu in 2002, became the first Democratic U.S. senator from New Hampshire since 1981 when she took the seat in 2009.

Note: The pols have it that Sununu finds it easier to be a Republican governor with a distant relationship to Donald J. Trump, like Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin, than to potentially run against a hand-picked Trump candidate for the Republican Senate primary next year.

•••

Obituary: Max Cleland – Former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland, D-GA, died Tuesday at the age of 79. As a U.S. Army captain who served during the Vietnam War, he lost both legs and an arm in a grenade accident in 1968. He served as administrator of the Veterans Administration under President Carter from 1977 to 1981, and ran for the Senate in 1996, where he served until January 2003. During his failed bid for a second term, Saxby Chambliss, his Republican opponent ran commercials claiming Cleland was “soft” on terrorism, picturing him side-by-side with a photo of Osama bin Laden. Republican Sens. John McCain, of Arizona and Chuck Hagel, of Nebraska expressed their outrage at their party’s smear campaign at the time.

“I publicly stated that I wanted it stopped,” Hagel later said. “To question Max Cleland’s patriotism was just astounding to me. And these are from people who had never served our country in uniform.” 

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Gary S. Vasilash

_____

Use the scrollbar to scroll past today’s News & Notes to read The Hustings debate, “Was January 6 a ‘Dress Rehearsal’?” with news and analysis on the issue in the middle column, and commentary in the left and right columns.

_____
Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news

You are invited to add your comments to the left or right column of this page on the question posed in the center column. Please submit your comments to editors@thehustings.news and let us know whether you consider yourself “left” or “right.”

Contributor comments:

America's muted reaction to the January 6th insurrection continues to baffle. Gonzalez's wise warnings should be heeded, unfortunately, we know that they are likely to fall on deaf ears. Congress needs to pass a bill to repair the 1964 Voting Rights Act immediately. 

-Jessica Gottlieb

•••

_____

You are invited to add your comments to the left or right column of this page on the question posed in the center column. Please submit your comments to editors@thehustings.news and let us know whether you consider yourself “left” or “right.”

Contributor comments:

Remember Jacob Chansley, the January 6 rioter, face painted, shirtless, and with a horned hat?  It is not a good look. “Evil clown” comes to mind, especially because of the spear. (Do you think he’d be admitted to Mar-a-Lago?) If 1/6 was a dress rehearsal, here’s hoping for better costumes.

--Stephen Macaulay

•••

Gonzalez is a fool doing nothing more than getting the anger to rise in his base. That is an outrageous and completely false claim and he has not the slightest evidence for it. It is merely one more step in the on-going demonization of Trump voters on the theory that we will be denied in the future and that they will somehow make Biden/Harris look like they have competence.

--David Iwinski

•••

_____

Stephen Macaulay discusses Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin’s, R, upset victory of Democrat Terry McAuliffe. Scroll down to our three-column debate.

Also in this column…

• Jim McCraw comments on whether the Build Back Better plan compromises will leave anyone satisfied by $1.75 trillion worth of social programs. 

•David Amaya on the future of nation building by the U.S. government.

Help us build a better social news media site. Send your civil comments on these and News & Notes issues to editors@thehustings.news

_____

11/9/21

•According to WaPo political reporter and Peril co-author Robert Costa; “Political reporters are on the democracy beat.” Coming later today in this space, we begin a three-column debate on whether January 6 was a ‘dress rehearsal’ for a potential pro-Trump coup in 2024. Join the conversation and send comments to editors@thehustings.news. Please be civil.

And the Latest 1/6 Select Committee Subpoenas Go To – The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection issued six more subpoenas Monday, as it awaits Attorney Gen. Merrick Garland’s next move on how to handle a contempt of Congress charge against Stephen K. Bannon. As with Bannon, this list of five men and one woman includes no one who was a federal employee, working for the Trump administration – and thus with no basic claim to executive privilege -- when allegedly planning on January 5-6 to overturn the November election in favor of Donald J. Trump. The list, per The New York Times:

•Michael Flynn: Former national security advisor to President Trump.

•John Eastman: Attorney who drafted the memo on how Trump could use Vice President Pence and Congress to try to invalidate election results.

•Bernard Kerik: Former New York City police commissioner who participated in a planning meeting at the Willard Hotel January 5. Then-President Trump in 2020 pardoned Kerik for ethics violation convictions.

•Bill Stepien: Trump campaign manager who supervised its conversion into the “stop the steal” campaign.

•Jason Miller: Senior advisor to the campaign who participated in the January 5 Willard Hotel meeting.

•Angela McCallum: Trump campaign national executive assistant, she reportedly left a voice mail message for an unknown Michigan state representative asking whether she could “count on” the rep to help appoint an alternative slate of electors.

•••

House GOP Blowback on Infrastructure Vote – Punchbowl News says rank-and-file Republican members of the House of Representatives are pushing leadership to strip of their committee posts 13 GOP colleagues who voted for President Biden’s $1.2-trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill last Friday. The acrimony is reportedly roiling House GOP leadership, all the way up to Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California.

Much of the anger is directed at Rep. John Katko, R-NY, who joined 12 other Republicans in the 228-206 passage of the bill and is ranking member on the Homeland Security Committee. Katko also was one of 10 House Republicans to vote for Donald J. Trump’s second impeachment.

Several other Republicans who voted for the bipartisan bill hold ranking committee posts, according to Punchbowl News, and three of the 13 have already announced they will not run for re-election next year.

Note: This is all political, of course. Republican House members are angry that members of their party handed Biden his first major legislative victory, even on a bill that has widespread support across the country. The 13 Republicans gave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, who lost six progressives on infrastructure, a cushion on the vote. 

•••

Two for SCOTUS Today – In Ramirez v. Collier, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule definitively on the rights of a convict on death row to receive spiritual comfort and advice prior to execution, per SCOTUSblog. The case involves a Texas policy that has excluded all spiritual advisors from the state’s execution chambers.

Also today, in United States v. Vaello-Madero, the court will consider equal protection challenging Puerto Rico’s exclusion from federal safety net programs (SCOTUSblog). The case involves Jose Luis Vaello-Madero, a Puerto Rican-born U.S. citizen who was living in New York City in 2012 when he became seriously ill and began receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI). When he returned to Puerto Rico to be closer to family, the SSI stopped. While Puerto Rico is U.S. territory, its citizens are excluded from such safety net programs.

•••

Going in the Wrong Direction? — Sixty-two percent of Americans polled by Morning Consult say that the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction. Since early May, when the number was 50%, those thinking that things aren’t going where they are supposed to be has been heading upward. If there is any satisfaction in the numbers, which are compiled each week, it is that on January 15, 2021, those who said “wrong track” was at 79%, a peak.

Note: One of the primary problems of the Biden Administration is a remarkable inability to message. Until that gets fixed the wrong-way perception will not change. It isn’t going to happen by having Biden stand in front of a White House podium intoning a script, but by having enthusiastic people out there talking about things that are going right, whether on Wall Street (how often did Trump take credit for a rising stock market?) or Main Street (the jobs numbers improved, but no Democrats are beating a drum about it).

--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Charles Dervarics

---

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2021

•Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testifies before the European Parliament in Brussels today, and before French lawmakers in Paris Wednesday; both groups are expected to air their own proposals for changes to the EU’s content moderation rules, called the Digital Services Act (Politico).

•The U.S. reopens international borders today to travelers from 33 countries, mostly in Europe, plus Canada and Mexico, who have been vaccinated for COVID-19, and have proof of a recent coronavirus test (WaPo).

Court Blocks Vax Mandate -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in response to a lawsuit filed by a group including Louisiana’s attorney general, ruled that the Biden administration’s vaccine requirement that companies with 100 or more employees (who must be vaccinated or show regular negative COVID tests), which is to go into effect January 4, 2022, is suspended.

Note: The Biden rule is to be implemented through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which was put into existence in 1970 under Richard M. Nixon, who, as you may recall was a Republican. And it is worth noting that the 91^stCongress (1969-1971) included 243 Democrats and 192 Republicans. Who knew that there could be things done on a bipartisan basis?

While there seems to be glee in Baton Rouge — The Washington Post quotes Jeff Landry, the Republican attorney general of Louisiana saying the court’s action is “a major win for the liberty of job creators and their employees” — there is something to keep in mind.

Presently there are 754,000 deaths in the U.S. attributed to COVID-19. The Biden plan is meant to help mitigate the addition of more people to that role.

And there is something that is Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, known as the “General Duty Clause.”

According to the General Duty Clause employers are required to provide employees:

"employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees...."

Presumably COVID-19 is recognized. The 754,000 deaths were certainly not all workplace related, but it is a known cause of death and physical harm to those who don’t die.

And that is a “major win for the liberty of job creators and their employees”?

•••

Granholm: “All Options on Table,” Including Strategic Energy Reserve – President Biden has not ruled out tapping the Strategic Energy Reserve as petroleum prices spike under pressure from demand and of supply bottlenecks, according to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. “All options are on the table,” Granholm told CNN’s Dana Bash on State of the Union Sunday.

Note: More critical to the Biden administration’s first-year success as bipartisan infrastructure bill spending begins is the price of gasoline, which sits at an average of $3.422 per gallon according to AAA, and of home heating oil, which also is spiking. The problem is related to fears of continued high inflation even as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin tries to reassure Americans that this is not likely to be the case  next year as employment returns to normal levels and supply chains open up. For now, high energy cost concerns will create more fodder by moderate Democrats and Republicans against the White House’s $2 trillion Build Back Better social safety net package.

•••

And So Infrastructure Has Come to Pass – It seems to have taken the Democratic loss in last week’s Virginia gubernatorial election and a much closer call than polls predicted in the New Jersey governor’s race to finally get the bipartisan infrastructure (BIP) bill passed in the House of Representatives, 228-206, and sent to President Biden’s desk for signing into law. Biden cancelled his usual, short, weekend trip home to Wilmington, Delaware, in order to sign it. 

The House vote included 13 Republicans in favor and six progressive Democrats who voted “nay.” (See The List.)

To keep things straight, this infrastructure bill is the one for which Congress members can go home and tell constituents that roads will be built and bridges fixed; lead water pipes replaced; Amtrak enhanced; and wi-fi installed in rural America. It’s $1.2 trillion, of which $550 billion is new spending and the rest reauthorizes surface transportation and water programs for five years, according to Roll Call.

Note: For months moderate Democrats and some Republicans have urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, to allow separate votes on BIP and on Biden’s approximately $2-trillion social safety net Build Back Better (BBB) program set to pass via the reconciliation process. Blockage came from Sens. Joe Manchin III, D-WV, who has already negotiated the package down from $3.5 trillion, and Krysten Sinema, D-AZ. 

But on Friday, when Pelosi had scheduled a vote on both bills, six moderate House Democrats blocked it, Roll Call reports, saying they couldn’t vote for it without a Congressional Budget Office score detailing its costs. Five of the Democrats, Ed Case of Hawaii, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Stephanie Murphy of Florida, Kathleen Rice of New York and Kurt Schrader of Oregon, said if the package remains un-modded “other than technical changes,” they will help forward the package the week of November 15.

But there remain several moving parts, and we’d bet this will get punted into early next year. At least Biden has infrastructure.

The List: (Per The New York Times.)

The “Squad” of progressive Democrats who voted against the BIP Friday:

•Jamaal Bowman, New York.

•Cori Bush, Missouri.

•Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York.

•Ilhan Omar, Minnesota.

•Ayanna S. Pressley, Massachusetts.

•Rashida Tlaib, Michigan.

Eight Republicans in the Problem Solvers Caucus who voted for the BIP Friday:

•Don Bacon, Nebraska.

•Brian Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania.

•Andrew Garbarino, New York.

•Anthony Gonzalez, Ohio.

•John Katko, New York.

•Tom Reed, New York.

•Christopher H. Smith, New Jersey.

• Fred Upton, Michigan.

Five additional Republicans who voted for the bill:

•Adam Kinzinger, Illinois.

•Don Young, Alaska.

•Nicole Malliotakis, New York.

•David B. McKinley, West Virginia.

•Jeff Van Drew, New Jersey.

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Gary S. Vasilash

_____________________________________

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2021

•Pfizer says its experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 treatment has cut hospitalization and death rates in trials of high-risk adults by nearly 90%. 

•The trial in the death of Ahmaud Arbery begins today in a Georgia court.

•Funeral for former Secretary of State Colin Powell is held today at Washington National Cathedral.

•Scroll down for our debate on the meaning of Republican Glenn Youngkin’s victory in Tuesday’s Virginia gubernatorial race.

Good October Jobs Numbers – Nonfarm payroll in the U.S. increased by 531,000 jobs in October, a return to an employment boom from about 1 million per month in June and July, before stumbling in August and September. The unemployment rate dropped by 0.1 points to 4.6%, according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Leisure and hospitality employment continues its recovery, and the BLS also cites gains in professional and business services, manufacturing and transportation and warehousing, while public education lost jobs.

•••

Is Today Really the Day? – Democrats in the House of Representatives are planning to vote today on the $1.75-trillion budget reconciliation bill and, oh yeah, pass the $1.2-trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill ($550 billion in new spending) the latter of which would head straight for President Biden’s desk.

Questions remained Thursday over process and policy, including how the social spending bill would provide relief to undocumented immigrants, and how to raise the cap on state and local tax deductions without additional benefit to the wealthiest homeowners, Roll Call says. Prescription drug price provisions were also being negotiated so that bill matches an agreement that House and Senate Democrats reached earlier this week. 

New Jersey Democrats also negotiated a deal late Thursday to raise the limit on state and local tax deductions (SALT) to $80,000, according to Roll Call. It was lowered to $10,000 in 2017.

Note: Would this have saved Terry McAuliffe’s failed Virginia gubernatorial candidacy if it happened last week? Probably not. The bipartisan infrastructure bill should give Democrats some hope for their prospects in Senate and House races in next year’s midterm elections, though.

•••

Meanwhile, the Republican Message – Progressive Democrats are hopeful that Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-WV, will come through and support the $1.75-trillion social infrastructure budget reconciliation bill after the House (probably) passes it today along party lines. Sen. Krysten Sinema, D-AZ, the other swing-voter, appears MIA on the issue the last couple of days. 

But Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-SC, put out this warning on Fox News Thursday: “Any Democrat who claims to be a moderate if you vote for the socialist spending package, you will get your ass beat and you deserve it.”

Note:  Graham’s warning isn’t for Manchin nor Sinema, both of whom are not up for re-election to the Senate until 2024, but to moderate House Democrats who must support the social infrastructure bill for it to pass today. 

•••

From the Newspaper that Gave Us ‘Headless Body in Topless Bar’ – The New York Post reports climate change activists “Swarm Joe Manchin’s Maserati as he Tries to Leave Parking Garage.” 

“A gaggle of far-left environmentalists” chased Manchin from his Washington houseboat on the Potomac as he tried to leave a parking garage Thursday. 

Note: The Murdoch-owned New York tabloid says both Manchin and Sinema have been the target of radical environmentalists angry about their balking at the budget reconciliation bill, which contains $550 billion worth of climate change mitigation policy. 

•••

U.S. Justice Dept. Files Suit Against Texas S1 — The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against both the State of Texas and the Texas Secretary of State (John B. Scott) “over certain restrictive voting procedures” in Texas Senate Bill 1, claiming that they violate part of Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act [i.e., restricting assistance to voters in the polling booth who are disabled or illiterate] and Section 101 of the Civil Right Act of 1964 [i.e., rejecting mail-in ballots and request forms because of form-filling errors or omissions “that are not material to establishing a voter’s eligibility to cast a ballot].” This essentially means, in the words of Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Dept.’s Civil Rights Division: “Laws that impair eligible citizens’ access to the ballot box have no place in our democracy. Texas Senate Bill 1’s restrictions on voter assistance at the polls and on which absentee ballots cast by eligible voters can be accepted by election officials are unlawful and indefensible.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tweeted, in part, “It’s a great and much-needed bill. Ensuring Texas has safe, secure, and transparent elections is a top priority of mine. I will see you in court, Biden!”, according to Politico.

Note: Arguably, there are “safe, secure, and transparent elections” in Texas. As KVUE (Austin, Texas ABC affiliate) reports, “According to records from the Texas Attorney General's Office, there were a total of 534 offenses charged to 154 people (some had multiple offenses)for either mail ballot fraud, assistance fraud or illegal voting since 2004. Among those 534 offenses, 310 were for mail-in ballot fraud, 159 were for assistance fraud and 189 were for illegal voting. A total of 272 charges of the 534 offenses resolved were from 2015 to March 2021. There are also 510 total counts pending prosecution, according to the report.”

According to the most recent figure from the Texas Secretary of State, there are 16,676,353, registered voters, which puts those numbers into context.

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Gary S. Vasilash

_____
Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news

Bryan Williams discusses Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin’s, R, upset victory of Democrat Terry McAuliffe. Scroll down to our three-column debate.

Also in this column…

• Stephen Macaulay comments on whether the Build Back Better plan compromises will leave anyone satisfied by $1.75 trillion worth of social programs. 

•David Iwinski on the future of nation building by the U.S. government.

Help us build a better social news media site. Send your civil comments on these and News & Notes issues to editors@thehustings.news

_____

By Stephen Macaulay

Glenn Youngkin held Donald Trump at arm’s length during his run for a seat that Thomas Jefferson once occupied. More or less. (It is hard to imagine Jefferson suffering a fool gladly or otherwise.)

It seems that Trump was more interested in Youngkin than vice versa. Trump probably saw that Youngkin was a contender, and if that resulted in a victory, then he could take credit for it.

Youngkin isn’t dumb. He knew that there was more downside to being against Trump than being rather non-committal about the whole thing (relatively speaking: various other Republican candidates have shown embarrassing subservience to their defeated leader).

Youngkin, who points out on his website that he started his working career “washing dishes and frying eggs at a diner in Virginia Beach,” spent his career at The Carlyle Group. The Carlyle Group? “We manage $293 billion in assets. . . .” It is probably as far away from cooking two eggs over with a side of ham as you can get.

Again, according to youngkinforgovernor.com, while at the investment firm “His efforts have helped fund the retirements of teachers, police officers, firefighters and other frontline public servants and supported hundreds of thousands of American jobs.” One also assumes that his efforts helped pad the coffers of those who never ate eggs in a diner, people whose names are conceivably in the Pandora Papers.

Under the headline “Why I’m Running,” Youngkin’s first sentence is telling: “I’m not a politician.” Somehow that is laudable. Would you go to a dentist who was running to head the local dentist’s association who wasn’t a dentist him-or herself? There is a certain Trumpyness now associated with the “I’m not a politician” stance, but it is far from being definitive. (When Rick Snyder ran for the governorship of Michigan in 2010 the non-politician venture capitalist presented himself as “One Tough Nerd.” That’s separating oneself from being a politician.)

He goes on to point out, “I’m guided by my faith, values, and an unshakeable belief that Virginia should be the best.” Perhaps the last was inspired by Melania Trump’s anti-bullying campaign, just said somewhat more coherently.

Youngkin notes the ways he has answered when he “heard a call to service”: “ Glenn volunteered to coach multiple youth basketball teams, and he served on the boards of many non-profit organizations, including the Virginia Ready Initiative, Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus Advisory Board, the Museum of the Bible, and the Meadowkirk Retreat Center.” The man clearly was in the trenches of “service to others.”

This is an interesting humble brag: “When COVID-19 hit Virginia, Glenn and Suzanne founded the Virginia Ready Initiative, a nonprofit, public-private partnership dedicated to helping Virginians who are out-of-work get the training they need to secure in-demand jobs.” When COVID-19 hit Virginia, Glenn didn’t come out in favor of masks and name-checked one of Trump’s former faves, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, when it comes to anti-masking for school children. Perhaps there wouldn’t be so many Virginians out of work were the pandemic under control.

The question of whether other Republicans will follow Youngkin’s playbook is perhaps simply not one that is particularly germane, outside of making claims like “I’m not a politician” and “I’m guided by my faith” and not stepping on Trump. These are tactics, not strategy. That’s the bigger issue.

_____
Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news

By Todd Lassa

Political observers have seen for weeks Republican Glenn Youngkin’s victory in last Tuesday’s Virginia gubernatorial race, and yet Democrats are scrambling to figure out what, exactly, happened to their candidate, Terry McAuliffe, and who is to blame for his defeat. The race had been seen as a harbinger of the GOP’s future, a canary in the Trumpian coal mine, or at least a good indication of where the party is 10 months after insurrectionists stormed the Capitol to support the ex-president’s Big Lie about November 2020 election fraud. 

The answer is not so obvious. While Donald Trump endorsed Youngkin, a former executive of The Carlyle Group who spent much of his own money from a career in hedge fund management on his first-ever campaign, few consider Youngkin a Trump acolyte. The Wednesday morning pundit reassessment has shifted from considering Virginia a blue state – commonwealth, rather -- for the past 12 years to one that has long been a purple, swing state. 

McAuliffe is an old-guard moderate who did little to explain his platform other than accuse his opponent of Trumpism, and some of his fellow Democrats now lament they did not choose a more progressive candidate in the primary. However, the Viriginia election had high turnout, NPR reports, in which independents gave Youngkin a nine-point margin over McAuliffe. (Biden won independents over Trump in Virginia by a 19-point margin.) A more progressive Democratic candidate probably would not have turned that around.

In the past few weeks, Youngkin’s campaign emphasized education and hit hard against McAuliffe’s debate misstep in which he said that parents shouldn’t be allowed to tell schools what to teach their children. Youngkin hit McAuliffe for acceding to left-wing Democrats, suggesting his opponent supports critical race theory taught in Virginia public schools (it’s not – CRT is college-level study. See our debate on Page 7, with Nic Woods’ center column, “Critical Race Theory: Facts Don’t Matter”).

CRT is a rather Trumpian issue made of nothing. Youngkin’s campaign managed to brush shoulders with the issue without going all-in on Trump and earned the vote of a majority of suburban women as a result.  

Youngkin also campaigned on his fiscal conservatism and plans for tax cuts, including eliminating Virginia’s grocery tax. McAuliffe’s campaign did not respond, instead continuing to try and connect Youngkin closely to Trump.

What does Glenn Youngkin’s victory in the Virginia gubernatorial race tell us about the direction of the GOP? We asked Stephen Macaulay (left column) and Bryan Williams (right column) for their comments.

Please tell us what you think: email editors@thehustings.news

_____
Help make The Hustings a new kind of social news media site. Send us your comments on this debate.

By Bryan Williams

There are so many possible reasons to help explain why Glenn Youngkin won the governor's race in Virginia. It is natural for humans to attach some wider meaning to the results of elections. The old cliched adage, "All politics is local," still rings true.

First, let's not underestimate the fact that Terry McAuliffe is an old hat in Virginia by now. He's already had the job before. I don't think McAuliffe, a Clintonite who's been in the game seemingly forever didn't move the needle much in Old Dominion from 2014-18, so why would he now?

Also, McAuliffe did the one thing that any politician should not do: he angered parents all over the state by saying they don't know what's best for their children's education, and school boards and other elected and non-elected school bureaucrats do. Uh-oh. He practically handed that one to Youngkin. After nearly a year and a half of the disastrous distance learning via Zoom and other pandemic related school shut downs that truly upended the lives of Americans more so than a toilet paper shortage or mask mandates, telling parents they need to butt out of what is taught to their children was just plain dumb miscalculation. But then again, maybe this is truly what Democrats believe?

I imagine that when Virginians heard McAuliffe say that, they gladly shifted their support to the guy who respects a parent’s right to control what is taught to their children. Kudos to Youngkin for running a calm, adult, and finger-on-the-pulse campaign.

_____
Please email your comments to editors@thehustings.news

Help us build a new kind of social media. Send your comments on our debates and News & Notes, to editors@thehustings.news…

Up next:

• Jim McCraw comments on whether the Build Back Better plan compromises will leave anyone satisfied by $1.75 trillion worth of social programs. 

•David Amaya on the future of nation building by the U.S. government.

_____

THU 11/4/21

•Death toll from the coronavirus has surpassed 750,000 in the U.S., WaPo reports. The majority of fatalities were unvaccinated, though Mayor-elect Eric Adams, says he plans to “revisit’ New York City’s controversial vaccine mandate. Meanwhile, the vaccine mandate for companies with at least 100 employees is set to take effect on January 4.

•Incumbent Phil Murphy narrowly edged Republican challenger Jack Ciatterelli in Tuesday’s New Jersey gubernatorial race, with the count going well into Wednesday. Murphy, who becomes the first Democrat to win re-election for the state’s governor since 1977, won by about 19,000 out of 2.4 million votes (WSJ).

•What does Glenn Youngkin’s victory in the Virginia governor’s race mean for the Democratic Party and Trump’s GOP? Read our debate with Stephen Macaulay and Bryan Williams, later today on this page.

•How about an anti-trust investigation of the entertainment industry? Read Jim McCraw’s commentary in Inquiry.

House Vote on Social Safety Net Bill by End of Week (Again?) – Speaker Nancy Pelosi has restored a provision for four weeks of paid family leave to the social infrastructure/safety net bill, based on President Biden’s Build Back Better plan – the big, $1.75-trillion bill. The full bill could be brought for a vote by the House of Representatives as early as today. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-WA, said on NPR’s Morning Edition that the House’s progressive caucus she leads is ready to forward the bill along with the $1.2-trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. 

This means bipartisan infrastructure would move to Biden’s desk for signing while the social infrastructure bill moves to the Senate without assurance from Sens. Joe Manchin III, D-WV, and Krysten Sinema, D-AZ, that they will provide the necessary votes to pass it. More likely the bill will linger in the Senate for mark-up until it is returned to the House for final approval.

Note: The wake-up buzzer has been ringing on delivering the bipartisan infrastructure bill for weeks now, but Tuesday’s statewide Virginia election victories for Republicans seems to have alerted Democrats that they have to make progress. If bipartisan infrastructure moves forward this month, it would bode well for raising the debt ceiling by its December 3 deadline and then Democrats have until next year’s midterm primaries, at least, to figure out Build Back Better.

How quickly would Build Back Better move forward after a House vote? Manchin provided a preview Wednesday, saying the “unbelievable” GOP victories in Virginia’s elections validates his concerns about inflation and pushing the $1.75-trillion in federal spending bill too quickly through Congress (The Hill). One wonders, of course, whether inflation had anything to do with the Republicans’ victories in Virginia or if this is simply Manchin making claims about things that may not be, um, accurate.

•••

Israel Passes Budget — After Three Years — As The Washington Post reports: “Exhausted lawmakers whooped and hugged following the final passage of massive funding plan by a two-vote margin at 5:30 a.m.” It is the first budget that the Israeli government has agreed to since 2018. What made the passage all the more important to Naftali Bennet, prime minister, is that there was a plan in place that would have dissolved the coalition government he heads on November 14 were this not to occur.

Note: This can’t make former PM Benjamin Netanyahu happy, as he was undoubtedly hoping he’d have a chance to get back into office.

And one thinks that perhaps something like the dissolution clause might be helpful for Democrats in Washington. . . .

•••

Federal Reserve Dials Down Economy Stimulus – The Federal Reserve is phasing out a bond buyback program launched at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic last year to stimulate the economy during the shutdown, The Wall Street Journalreports. The Fed has gone from buying back $120 billion in bonds per month during the pandemic to $15 billion per month for November and December. 

Note: The bond buyback “tapering” sets up the Fed to begin raising interest rates early next year in order to cool down inflation, which is expected to heat up as supply chains get un-stuck and in case the $17.5-trillion social infrastructure bill gets passed and does what Sen. Manchin fears. 

“We need to act in case it becomes necessary to do so,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell (who is expected to be reappointed by President Biden when his current term expires in February) said in a press conference.

•••

SCOTUS Majority Spells Trouble for New York Gun Law – The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority appears sympathetic to plaintiffs in a case that would strike down a New York State law that requires citizens who want to carry a concealed firearm to show “proper cause” for a license, according to SCOTUSblog.

“But the justices’ eventual ruling might be a narrow one focused on New York law (and others like it),” Amy Howe writes in her analysis of two hours of oral arguments before SCOTUS, Wednesday, in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The court, Howe continues, would save questions of the right to carry a concealed firearm by the Second Amendment for a later case. In requiring “proper cause,” the New York law requires applicants to prove the need to defend themselves, rather than simply to protect themselves or property. 

•••

Single Black Juror in Arbery Murder Trial – A single Black man is in the jury of 16 in the trial of Greg McMichael, Travis McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia. “Sparks flew” when prosecutors accused defense attorneys of striking a disproportionate number of jurors because of their race, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The three defendants, all white men, are accused of shooting Arbery, who was Black, as he was out for a jog in their suburban neighborhood.

The 16-person jury panel includes 15 white jurors and one Black man. Twelve will serve on the trial, with the four others as alternatives. The initial pool consisted of 36 white, and 12 Black individuals. Prosecutors accused defense attorneys of using their allotted strikes to eliminate 11 of the 12 Black pool members. 

Note: Black people make up one-quarter of Glynn County’s population, where the shooting occurred and the trial is being held, NPR says. That’s equal to the percentage of Black people in the initial jury pool, though the trial jury and alternatives selected is only 1/16 Black. 

•••

No Laws Broken in Drone Attack – No laws were broken in an August 29 drone attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed 10 civilians, seven of them children, the U.S. Air Force’s inspector general said, according to Roll Call. 

“I didn’t find violations of the law or of the law of war,” Lt. Gen. Sami Said told reporters Wednesday. The Defense Department’s classified investigation of the drone attack, which occurred days after a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport where U.S. troops were evacuating Americans and Afghanis who helped in the 20-year war effort as the Taliban was re-taking the country reviewed data and intelligence used by the Air Force team that conducted the strike. 

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Gary S. Vasilash

_____________________________________

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2021

•The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11.

•Russia has left 90,000 troops deployed near the Ukrainian border, Ukraine’s defense ministry says, after having completed military exercises (The Hill).

•The Supreme Court hears arguments today in a major Second Amendment case. The question is to what extent Americans have the right to carry and conceal loaded firearms restricted by New York City laws (WaPo).

Off-Year Elections Lean Red – In a likely harbinger for the November 2022 midterm elections, conservative Republicans won the most closely watched elections, including Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin. A roundup of the major elections:

•Virginia: Republican Glenn Youngkin won 50.7% of the vote to Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s 48.6%. Republican Winsome Sears won the lieutenant governor’s seat and will serve as the tie-breaking vote in the state’s House of Delegates, where the GOP gained two seats for a 45-45 split. Republican Jason Miyares will be the next attorney general in a state that had gone deep blue the last decade. (The Washington Post)

Note: Youngkin already was gaining in the polls on McAuliffe, former governor in the commonwealth where incumbents cannot run for a second consecutive term, when the Democrat said in a debate, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” Youngkin’s campaign pounded McAuliffe on the statement and tied it to the issue of critical race theory, a college-level study not taught in Virginia schools. The Youngkin campaign also was successful in portraying the former executive for The Carlyle Group as a fiscal conservative in line with Donald Trump on tax cut issues.

•New Jersey: The New York Times is calling the New Jersey gubernatorial race “too close to call.” By late morning Wednesday, incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy took a thin lead over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former state legislator, with 90% of the vote counted. 

Note: This could be another disappointment for Democrats, who were expecting Murphy to become the party’s first incumbent Democratic New Jersey governor [CD1] to win re-election since 1977.

•Minneapolis: Voters rejected by a 12-point margin a proposal to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a public safety agency to be determined by the city council (Star Tribune). Mayor Jacob Frey had a “commanding lead” in his re-election, and another charter amendment shifting certain powers to the mayor from the city council also was approved.

Note: This is the latest victim of the misguidedly named “defund the police” movement. The vote came nearly 18 months after Derek Chauvin was video-recorded choking George Floyd to death. 

•Ohio: Shontel Brown easily won a special election for the 11^th Congressional District seat vacated by President Biden’s Housing secretary, Marcia Fudge, Newsweek reports. She defeated Republican Laverne Gore for the seat covering deep-blue Cleveland but must run for re-election next November and already has several challengers for the Democratic primary. In the race to replace 15^th District Rep. Steve Sivers, a Republican who retired in May to run the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, coal lobbyist and Trump acolyte Mike Carey defeated Democratic state Rep. Allison Russo, 59-41, Roll Call reports.

•New York Mayor: Former police captain Eric Adams, Democrat, defeated Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, Republican, for New York City mayor 57% to 28%, according to the New York Post. Adams becomes only the second Black mayor in the city’s history.

•Boston Mayor: Michelle Wu, the 36-year-old daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, becomes Boston’s first elected mayor who is not a white male, The Boston Globe reports. With an “unabashedly progressive agenda,” Wu easily defeated the more moderate Annissa Essaibi George.

•••

Trump Being Sued by Pennsylvania Voting Machine Custodian — Donald Trump, Rudolph Giuliani and other Trump advisors are being sued in Philadelphia County court by James Savage, the voting machine warehouse custodian in Delaware County for slandering him, Politico reports. It cites J. Conor Corcoran, Savage’s attorney, as saying, “Simply put, Mr. Savage’s physical safety, and his reputation, were acceptable collateral damage for the wicked intentions of the Defendants herein, executed during their lubricious attempt to question the legitimacy of President Joseph Biden’s win in Pennsylvania.” The charges in the suit include defamation and civil conspiracy.

Note: Seems like Team Trump will be facing an ever-increasing number of lawsuits.

--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Charles Dervarics

---

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2021

•Beside the closely watched Virginia state elections, in particular the gubernatorial contest between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin, we’re keeping an eye on the New Jersey gubernatorial race, Pennsylvania Supreme Court and mayoral elections in New York City, Atlanta, Boston, Minneapolis, Seattle and Buffalo, New York.

UN COP26 Climate Change Progress? – Nations participating in the United Nations COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland, have agreed to “end deforestation” by 2030, including in Brazil, China, Colombia, the Congo, Indonesia and the U.S., with more than $19 billion in public and private funds pledged for the plan, the Associated Press reports. It should be noted, AP says, that similar promises have been broken in the past. 

Speaking at COP26 today, President Biden unveiled a plan to reduce methane emissions globally 30% by 2030. His plan targets existing oil and gas wells in the U.S. rather than concentrate on new ones. 

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson called global warming “a doomsday device” strapped to humanity.

India Prime Minister Narenda Modi on Monday set his country’s zero carbon emissions target date at 2070, which is 20 years later than the target set by most other countries. But Modi asserted that India is the only nation delivering on the “letter and spirit” of the UN summit tackling climate change, Business Standard, an English language Indian newspaper reports. 

Note: As world leaders – notably with China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin having been absent – fly home from Glasgow Tuesday, climate change activists have criticized COP26 as yet another set of promises to be unkept, as global warming has gone from “it’s almost here, we must do something,” to “it is here, let’s do something.”

•••

Details: EPA’s Proposed Methane Cuts — The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its proposal for new restrictions on the reduction of methane emissions, in connection with President Biden’s speech at the COP26 UN climate change summit. These emissions are largely related to leaks in the oil and natural gas industry. Michael S. Regan, EPA administrator, said of the plan which would be a rule within the Clean Air Act, “With this historic action, EPA is addressing existing sources from the oil and natural gas industry nationwide, in addition to updating rules for new sources, to ensure robust and lasting cuts in pollution across the country.”

Note: While Regan’s pronouncement sounds bold and such a reduction in methane emissions is beneficial, there are a few things to keep in mind, not the least of which is that this is a proposal, not a done deal.

Second, according to the EPA, “The proposed rule would reduce 41 million tons of methane emissions from 2023 to 2035, the equivalent of 920 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. That’s more than the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from all U.S. passenger cars and commercial aircraft in 2019.” In other words, the reduction over a 12-year period would be approximately equal to the amount of carbon dioxide (the gas associated with the “zero carbon” claims you often hear from companies and countries) produced in a year.

•••

Census May Have Missed 1.5 Million, Study Finds – The 2020 U.S. Census may have missed more than 1.5 million citizens, the Urban Institute estimates in a new study, enough to cost New York State a congressional seat that went to Minnesota (per Roll Call). The report by the non-partisan research organization says the U.S. Census Bureau double-counted some white people and missed people of color, renters and young children. It was hampered by the coronavirus pandemic and the Trump administration, whose decisions include shutting off the count early, without follow-up. 

The resulting Census count lost seats in the House of Representatives in California, the Northeast and the Midwest. Roll Callnotes that Texas may have lost $247 million and Florida $88 million in 2021 Medicaid funds.

Note: This report opens at least two questions. 1.) How much of this was intentional from the Trump administration’s Census count restrictions? 2.) Can anything be done, short of waiting for 2030? Expect lawsuits from states.

•••

Manchin Balks on Social Infrastructure Again; Progs Hopeful – If anyone believed Joe Manchin III would hand President Biden a much-needed victory on climate change while in Glasgow yesterday and today, the West Virginia senator brought everyone back to Earth with his vow to not vote on the $1.75-trillion Build Back Better social infrastructure reconciliation bill he helped craft until progressives pass the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Manchin said Monday he would not bow to his party’s pressure to support the social spending bill and its “shell games” and “budget gimmicks,” and criticized the House of Representatives’ delay on the bipartisan infrastructure bill; “it’s time to vote.” (Politico)

Other Democrats put happy faces on Manchin’s latest evocation of his demands. “We intend to pass both bills,” Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal said Monday night. (RealClear Politics).

Note: It has been long too late for Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe to build enthusiasm from the Democrats’ budget bill, as he has lost a lot of momentum to his Republican opponent and Trump-endorsed candidate Glenn Youngkin. But Jayapal is trying to call Manchin’s latest bluff. Is she ready to foster both bills through the House without commitment for social infrastructure from the Senate? Uh, nah. 

--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Charles Dervarics

____________________________________

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2021

•The Supreme Court hears arguments today from the Biden administration and by abortion providers in their effort to strike down Texas S.B. 8, which relies on private individuals to enforce the law. It restricts most abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy.

•The United Nations’ two-day COP26 climate conference has begun in Glasgow, Scotland, without China and Russia. World leaders from the G-20 industrialized nations met over the weekend without a specific deal on emission cuts, WSJ reports.

•Jury selection begins today in Kenosha, Wisconsin, for the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, who is accused of shooting three protesters after police shot a Black resident last summer. Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time and drove to Kenosha from nearby Antioch, Illinois, will claim self-defense, according to his attorneys.

Closing in on Budget Reconciliation Deal? – Democrats in the Senate and the House of Representatives came close to a deal with the White House last weekend on prescription drug prices that would allow some Medicare negotiations with pharmaceutical companies, Politico reports. But passage of the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better budget reconciliation bill is not likely to happen in time for Tuesday’s Virginia gubernatorial election. 

Note: By now it seems Democrats may be resolved to Republican Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin being just about even in the polls with Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe, and that the BBB and bipartisan infrastructure bills won’t help. We’re also betting none of this will get a vote until after Thanksgiving break, just in time to take up the debt limit as well.

•••

Kinzinger Won’t Seek Re-Election – One of only two Republicans on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, said Friday he would not seek re-election after Democrats in his state’s legislature paired up three sets of incumbents in their gerrymandering. Kinzinger would face fellow Republican Darin LaHood for Illinois’ new 16^th District seat. Kinzinger also faced a primary challenge from a supporter of Donald Trump, as the congressman was one of 10 Republicans to vote for the 45^th president’s second impeachment last January.

Referring to his 2010 campaign for his first term in the House, Kinzinger says he remembers “saying that if I ever thought it was time to move on from Congress, I would. And I think that time is now.”

•••

U.S. ‘Rarely’ Enforced Conditions on Aid to Afghanistan, Report Says – The U.S. failed to enforce its own conditions on the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces in exchange for nearly $89 billion in aid during the nearly 20 years of the Afghanistan war against the Taliban, according to a special inspector general’s report released to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The U.S. military assistance didn’t hold the ANDSF “to account by enforcing the conditions it established to create a stronger, more professional and self-reliant ANDSF,” the inspector general, John Sopko, wrote in an October 6 letter to Austin and other military leaders that has just surfaced publicly, Roll Call reports.

Note: For those following U.S. military efforts to train the ANDSF to be self-reliant since the early 2000s, this isn’t much of a revelation. The inspector general’s audit was completed and circulated for comment inside the Defense Department two months ago, according to Roll Call, which would have been just after the 11-day takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, and the country’s president, Ashraf Ghani, reportedly fled with a helicopter full of cash.

•••

COVID-19 Death Toll Tops 5 Million Globally -- The global death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic has topped 5 million, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tracker. The U.S., the UK, the European Union and Brazil account for nearly half that number, although those nations have about one-eighth of the world’s population combined.

The U.S. leads the death toll among all nations, at more than 745,000 to date.

--Edited by Todd Lassa and Nic Woods

_____

Help us build a new kind of social media. Send your comments on our debates and News & Notes, to editors@thehustings.news…

Up next: 

• Stephen Macaulay comments on whether the Build Back Better plan compromises will leave anyone satisfied by $1.75 trillion worth of social programs. 

•David Iwinski on the future of nation building by the U.S. government.

_____