memeorandum: Trump Sues His Niece and The New York Times Over Leaked Tax Documents (Benjamin Weiser/New York Times)

4:05 PM ET, September 22, 2021

Top Items:

Former GOP treasury secretaries tried defusing debt ceiling bomb in private talks with McConnell, Yellen — Paulson and Mnuchin have warned political leaders about the consequences of default, but the Biden administration and Senate Republicans don't appear close to a deal.

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Insider, DCCC, New York Times, POLITICUSUSA, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Hackwhackers, Detroit Metro Times, Forbes and HotAir

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Republicans usually lose shutdown fights. So why are they going there again? — Republicans are threatening to withhold the votes needed to raise the debt ceiling and keep the government funded ahead of a crucial deadline in two weeks, putting the country on course for yet another fiscal crisis and government shutdown.

Stephen Moore / The Hill:
Republicans have moral and financial reasons to oppose raising the debt ceiling

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, Associated Press, Washington Post, Crooks and Liars, ABC News and Press Watch

Adela Suliman / Washington Post:

Texas Gov. Abbott sends miles of cars along border to deter migrants — Abbott said this “steel wall” of vehicles was meant to stop migrants from crossing the dam. — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has sent a fleet of state-owned vehicles to line up for miles as a barricade along the border with Mexico …

Discussion: Fox News, BizPac Review, The Hill, Office of the Texas Governor and CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

Associated Press:

Officials: Many Haitian migrants are being released in US — DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — Many Haitian migrants camped in a small Texas border town are being released in the United States, two U.S. officials said, undercutting the Biden administration's public statements that the thousands in the camp faced immediate expulsion.

Politico:
Biden slips into political quicksand amid Haitian migrant buildup

Discussion: Washington Examiner, ABC News, Los Angeles Times, Townhall, Vanity Fair, Daily Kos, New York Times, The Guardian and Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Anna Giaritelli / Washington Examiner:
Del Rio congressman furious after call with Mayorkas: 'You can't bull**** me'

Discussion: The Daily Caller

The Daily Beast:

Trump Sues NYT and Niece—Who Calls Him ‘F*cking Loser’ — The ex-president claims there was an “insidious plot to obtain confidential and highly-sensitive records.” … Former President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against The New York Times, three of its reporters, and his niece …

Benjamin Weiser / New York Times:
Trump Sues His Niece and The New York Times Over Leaked Tax Documents

Discussion: Bloomberg, Raw Story, Human Events, Mid Hudson News, Crooks and Liars, Deadline, Daily Kos, The Root, Law & Crime, UPI, The Daily Caller, Right Side Broadcasting … and IJR

Wall Street Journal:

Bipartisan Police-Overhaul Talks End With No Deal — Lawmakers had sought to address abuses by law-enforcement in wake of protests over killings of Black Americans — WASHINGTON — Bipartisan talks aimed at overhauling police tactics and accountability have ended with no agreement …

Discussion: Insider, Associated Press, NPR, HotAir, The Hill, Forbes, Washington Times, POLITICUSUSA and CBS Philly

Politico:
Bipartisan police reform talks crumble

Discussion: USA Today and ABC News

Megan Brenan / Gallup:

Biden's Approval Rating Hits New Low of 43%; Harris' Is 49% — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Eight months after President Joe Biden's inauguration, his job approval rating has fallen six percentage points to 43%, the lowest of his presidency. For the first time, a majority, 53%, now disapproves of Biden's performance.

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Free Beacon, IJR, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, The Moderate Voice and Mediaite

Wall Street Journal:

Liz Cheney's Re-Election Bid Pits Trump Against Bush — George W. Bush to hold fundraiser for Wyoming congresswoman who has sparred with Donald Trump — WASHINGTON—The race for Wyoming's single U.S. House district has pitted two of the biggest names in Republican politics against one another …

Discussion: NBC News, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, New York Post, CNN, Forbes, Fox News, The Western Journal, The Hill and The Gateway Pundit

Jeff Asher / New York Times:

Murder Rose by Almost 30% in 2020. It's Rising at a Slower Rate in 2021. — The increase in murders this summer does not appear to be as large as the record spike last summer. — The United States in 2020 experienced the biggest rise in murder since the start of national record-keeping in 1960 …

New York Times:

Top Adviser to Ukrainian President Is Targeted in an Assassination Attempt — President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would return to Ukraine from New York immediately. The adviser, Serhiy Shefir, was unharmed, but his driver was shot and wounded in the attack.

Discussion: The Times of Israel, UPI and Associated Press

Reuters:
Aide to Ukraine's president survives assassination attempt

Discussion: Axios, Укр …, One America News Network, Bloomberg, Raw Story, Politico and Political Wire

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:

Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement — The Federal Reserve is committed to using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy in this challenging time, thereby promoting its maximum employment and price stability goals. — With progress on vaccinations and strong policy support …

Discussion: Insider, Politico, CBS News, CNBC and Forbes

Gabriella Borter / Reuters:

‘Critical race theory’ roils a Tennessee school district — Robin Steenman, an Air Force veteran and white mother of three, is fed up with the way public schools in her community of Franklin, Tennessee are teaching kids about race. — She believes that the reading materials and teachers' manuals …

Jay Willis / Balls and Strikes:

Book Review: ‘The Authority of the Court and the Peril of How Much I Love My Job,’ by Stephen Breyer — The 83-year-old leader of the Court's liberal wing is facing significant public pressure to step down from the bench. He decided to write a book instead.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Kevin Daley / Washington Free Beacon:
Cotton Predicts Supreme Court Will Overturn Roe v. Wade

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Reason

Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:

Tim Cook says employees who leak memos do not belong at Apple, according to leaked memo — The CEO says the company is doing everything in its power to track down workers — Tim Cook sent an email to Apple employees Tuesday evening about an all-hands meeting that leaked to The Verge last week.

Discussion: AppleInsider, more at Techmeme »

Matthew Chapman / Raw Story:

Michael Flynn: The ‘Deep State’ is plotting to spike your salad dressing with the COVID vaccine — Michael Flynn, the former National Security Adviser to the Trump administration who has embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory and advocated the violent military overthrow of the United States …

Discussion: Joe.My.God., Political Wire and Crooks and Liars

Mona Charen / The Bulwark:

Why I'm a Single-Issue Voter — I'll vote against the party threatening the republic—simple as that. — In a few weeks, Virginia will hold an election and I will have to make a decision. Both the Democratic and the Republican candidates for governor could be described as moderates.

Discussion: Raw Story

Uma Thurman / Washington Post:

The Texas abortion law is a human rights crisis for American women — Uma Thurman is an actress and mother. — I have followed the course of Texas's radical antiabortion law with great sadness, and something akin to horror. Now, in the hope of drawing the flames of controversy away …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CBS News, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Breitbart, The Guardian, Insider, HillReporter.com, The Wrap, d1994, Rolling Stone, New York Post and Hackwhackers

Elizabeth Findell / Wall Street Journal:
Texas Abortion Law Prompts Women to Seek Out-of-State Clinics

Discussion: The Hill and IJR

Erica Pandey / Axios:

Charter schools boomed during the pandemic — Charter schools picked off hundreds of thousands of public school students across the U.S. during the pandemic, according to a new analysis from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. — Why it matters: The pandemic …

Discussion: The 74, Reason, Eduwonk and Twitchy

Jim Tankersley / New York Times:

Podesta warns Democrats: Scale back the $3.5 trillion social policy bill or lose Congress. — John Podesta, a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and an influential figure among Democrats in Washington, called on lawmakers in his party on Wednesday to pare back a proposed $3.5 …

Discussion: The Hill and IJR

Susan Ferrechio / Washington Examiner:
Divided Democrats to meet with Biden on gridlocked spending deal

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, ABC News, CNBC, CNN, Washington Times, Forbes, NBC News, HotAir, Ace of Spades HQ, Arkansas Online, Reuters, Bloomberg and Erick Erickson's Confessions …

Reed Abelson / New York Times:

High Covid Hospitalizations Have Delayed Elective Surgeries — In areas inundated with coronavirus patients, hospitals have postponed treatments and surgeries for people with other serious conditions. — In chronic pain, Mary O'Donnell can't get around much.

Andrius Sytas / Reuters:

Lithuania says throw away Chinese phones due to censorship concerns — Lithuania's Defense Ministry recommended that consumers avoid buying Chinese mobile phones and advised people to throw away the ones they have now after a government report found the devices had built-in censorship capabilities.

Discussion: BBC, Breitbart, CBS News, Politico and Boing Boing, more at Techmeme »

Washington Post:

Biden and French President Macron set October meeting following unprecedented rift — President Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to meet in person next month when they spoke by phone Wednesday, French and U.S. officials said, as the two leaders seek to make peace …

Discussion: ABC News, Fox News, CNBC, Insider, Washington Examiner, NBC News, Politico, The Hill, New York Times, Associated Press, Breitbart, CNN, France 24 and Washington Times

Sylvie Kauffmann / New York Times:
Why France Is Angry About the U.S.'s Submarine Deal

Discussion: Al Jazeera, The Hill, European Council … and The Liberal Patriot

Bill Dentzer / Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Dean Heller won't acknowledge Biden's election win in RJ interview — RENO — Dean Heller says he knows who the president is. He just won't name that person — no matter how the question is asked. — “I still know who the president is, but I do believe we have a problem with elections …

Discussion: NBC News, Reuters and Joe.My.God.

Wall Street Journal:

In Kabul, a Former American Citizen Keeps Running the City Under Taliban Watch — Taliban decision to retain Kabul's mayor shows challenges facing a rural insurgency now governing big cities — KABUL—After attending the funeral of a fellow United Airlines pilot who was killed in the Sept. 11 …

Jonathan V. Last / The Triad:

Chaos Theory Is the Future of American Politics — A website changes its algorithm and a game show host becomes president. — 1. A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings in Peking . . . I've pointed you to the Margins before and I'm going to do it again with this essay from Ranjan Roy about Reddit.

Discussion: The Editorial Board, BizPac Review and Insider

Lili Loofbourow / Slate:

The Unbelievable Grimness of HermanCainAward, the Subreddit That Catalogs Anti-Vaxxer COVID Deaths — This is not a forum that attempts to change minds. It's much darker. — HermanCainAward, one of the fastest-growing subreddits on Reddit.com, is exactly what it sounds like …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Chauncey DeVega / Salon:

Hillary Clinton tried to warn us — and paid the price. Let's at least call Republicans what they are — Still, America's political class is unwilling to call the fascist, white supremacist Republicans what they are — During a speech in September 2016, Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: HuffPost

Thomas B. Edsall / New York Times:

'It's Become Increasingly Hard for Them to Feel Good About Themselves' — Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C., on politics, demographics and inequality. — Is there a whole class of men who no longer fit into the social order? — A decade ago, Marianne Bertrand …

Sarah Owermohle / Politico:

Pfizer CEO rallies staff to fight Democrats' drug price negotiation — Pfizer's CEO sent a video message to company employees urging them to fight proposed government drug price negotiations and expressing frustration with Congress, which is considering using the projected savings to help pay …

Mike Brest / Washington Examiner:

Biden administration ‘strongly opposes’ honorable discharge for service members who refuse COVID-19 vaccine — The Biden administration has come out against an amendment to the defense budget that would prevent the Pentagon from dishonorably discharging service members who refuse to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Discussion: Fox News, Insider and The Hill