memeorandum: The Disturbing Precedent for McConnell's Debt-Ceiling Brinksmanship (Lindsay M. Chervinsky/The Bulwark)

1:10 AM ET, October 2, 2021

Top Items:

Arizona Senator Returns Home as Spending Deal Remains Elusive — With Democrats pleading for a deal on a hard-fought social safety net bill, one of the key holdouts, Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, left Washington on Friday. The reason, her spokesman said, was a medical appointment for a foot injury.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, RedState, Mock Paper Scissors, Instapundit, National Review, Washington Examiner, New Republic, Daily Kos and OpenSecrets.org

Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

Dear Colleague Following President Biden's Visit with Our Democratic Caucus — Today, President Biden honored us with his first in-person visit to our Caucus. He received a hero's welcome! His presentation on the values of the Biden vision was warmly and enthusiastically received.

Discussion: The Hill, National Review, Raw Story, C-SPAN.org, Politico and NPR

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

The Democratic Civil War Has a Winner: Donald Trump — Biden's agenda is up against more than just the moderates-versus-progressives split. — First, the good news. The government did not shut down at midnight. New covid infections in the United States have fallen twenty-five per cent over the past couple weeks.

Discussion: Florida Politics, New York Post, The Daily Wire, Forbes, USA Today, POLITICUSUSA and Press Watch, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Progressives Flex Muscles on Biden Agenda, Adopting New Tactics — Their persistence forced Speaker Nancy Pelosi to delay a planned vote on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill. In the end, President Biden sided with their position. — Read in app

Discussion: The Hill, Reuters, New York Post, Press Watch, Townhall and IJR

Axios:

Biden floats roughly $2 trillion price tag for reconciliation — President Biden, meeting with House Democrats on Capitol Hill on Friday, indicated they must further delay a final vote on a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and scale back his $3.5 trillion social spending package …

Discussion: Washington Times, Forbes, New York Post, The National Interest, Raw Story and Political Wire

ABC News:

After 2 days of Democratic drama, fate of Biden's infrastructure agenda still unclear — The president went to Capitol Hill Friday amid party feuding. — After two days of Democratic infighting and drama, the fate of President Joe Biden's infrastructure agenda remained unclear Friday night …

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, Townhall, Politico, The Daily Wire, NBC News and The Guardian

Hans Nichols / Axios:
Cracking the Sinema code

Bloomberg:
Biden Says Infrastructure Can Wait, Spending Plan May Shrink

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The Biden agenda is in peril. Here's the hidden reason it might survive.

Discussion: CNN, Mediaite, Insider, Axios, Crooks and Liars and CNN

Allahpundit / HotAir:
Uh oh: No infrastructure vote today either?

Discussion: Mother Jones, Insider and Fox News

Emily Cochrane / New York Times:
Live Updates: ‘There Will Be a Vote Today’ on Infrastructure, Pelosi Says

Discussion: American Enterprise Institute, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, The Hill, AFP, BBC, Breitbart, 77 WABC, Mediaite, The Federalist, Politico, Digby's Hullabaloo, Newsy, CNBC, Washington Examiner and Common Dreams

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Ozy Media Says It Is Shutting Down — The digital media start-up had come under scrutiny for its business practices in recent days following articles in The Times. — Read in app — Ozy Media, the digital media company that came under scrutiny for its business practices in recent days …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, Axios, TVNewser, NPR, KVIA-TV, Washington Free Beacon, Forbes, Fortune, The Verge, The Hill, CBS News, Mediaite and Insider, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 700,000 Despite Wide Availability of Vaccines — The latest Covid-19 deaths were concentrated in the South, and included more younger people than before. Every age group under 55 saw its highest death toll of the pandemic this August. — Read in app

Discussion: ABC News, WWLP-TV, ABC7, Forbes and Deadline

Aja Romano / Vox:

Why I felt betrayed by Netflix's Midnight Mass — Horror is a natural refuge for atheists and sinners. But Netflix's Midnight Mass made me feel erased. — I've been trying to put my finger on why Midnight Mass, Netflix's new seven-part series from the creator of The Haunting of Hill House …

The Daily Beast:

Dershowitz, ‘Stop the Steal’ Lawyer Team Up for New Dominion Lawsuit — In a complaint reviewed on Friday, eight poll challengers in Michigan allege that the cease and desist letters they received from Dominion harmed and damaged them. — A key “Stop the Steal” attorney who tried …

Discussion: Insider, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

The Daily Beast:
‘Kraken Queen’ Sidney Powell Is Now on Trump's ‘No-Go List’

Discussion: Raw Story

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Wonking Out: Biden Should Ignore the Debt Limit and Mint a $1 Trillion Coin — Read in app — It's hard to believe now, but before Donald Trump became the G.O.P.'s presidential nominee in 2016, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida was widely seen as a champion of the “reformicons” …

Discussion: Associated Press, Who the Hell Is Jim Treacher?, Breitbart and New York Magazine

Lindsay M. Chervinsky / The Bulwark: The Disturbing Precedent for McConnell's Debt-Ceiling Brinksmanship

Washington Post:
Senior Biden aides privately explored whether payments could continue even if U.S. breached debt ceiling

Discussion: CNN and Balkinization

David Reaboi / Late Republic Nonsense:

National Divorce Is Expensive, But It's Worth Every Penny — The National Divorce discussion prepares the ground for crucial thinking about what comes next in America, as the country grows even more divided, bitter, and angry. — For the last several years, I've been among a handful of commentators …

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ

Colby Hall / Mediaite:

SHOCK POLL: Majority of Trump Voters Now in Favor of Seceding from the Union — A shocking new poll from the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia reveals that over half of Trump voters surveyed, and 41% of Biden voters, are in favor of blue and/or red states seceding from the union.

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Post, KTVX-TV, New York Post, HotAir, POLITICUSUSA, The Gateway Pundit, Insider, TheBlaze, Patterico's Pontifications, The Weekly Dish, BizPac Review and IJR

Morgan Phillips / Daily Mail:
America thinks the unthinkable: More than half of Trump voters and 41% of Biden supporters want red and blue states to SECEDE from one another and form two new countries, shock new poll finds

Discussion: RedState, Page Array and No More Mister Nice Blog

W. James Antle III / NBC News:
A federal government shutdown looms. Why Biden is struggling to get his house in order.

Discussion: New York Times

Aaron Keller / Law & Crime:

DOJ Accuses ‘Subversive’ Texas Legislature of Passing ‘Terrifying’ Anti-Abortion Law to ‘Outflank’ Supremacy of U.S. Constitution — A collection of thirteen attorneys from the U.S. government, the State of Texas, and a group of intervening parties on Friday argued zealously about the fate of a restrictive anti-abortion law.

Discussion: HuffPost, Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed News, Forbes, CBS Dallas / Fort Worth, New York Times and Raw Story

Paul J. Weber / Associated Press:
Biden administration urges judge to block Texas abortion law

Discussion: Washington Post, americamagazine.org, Politico, CNN, Reuters, One America News Network, Bloomberg, The Daily Wire, The Guardian, Associated Press and WGN-TV

BBC:

Taiwan says record 38 Chinese planes entered defence zone — Taiwan has reported 38 Chinese military jets flying into its air defence zone on Friday - the largest incursion by Beijing to date. — The defence ministry said the aircraft, including nuclear-capable bombers …

Discussion: KVIA-TV, Japan Times, Breitbart and The Daily Caller

New York Times:

Facebook Struggles to Quell Uproar Over Instagram's Effect on Teens — The social network has been all hands on deck as it grapples with revelations that it knew the harmful effects its Instagram photo-sharing app was having on teenagers. — Read in app

Discussion: OpenSecrets.org and Techdirt, more at Techmeme »

BuzzFeed News:

Hacked Oath Keepers Records Show Active Members Of Law Enforcement And The Military Tried To Join The Group After Jan. 6 — In the days after the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, the Oath Keepers gained notoriety almost overnight as a symbol of right-wing extremism in America.

Discussion: The Guardian, New York Post, Raw Story, The Hill and Daily Kos

Ally Mutnick / Politico:

Texas Dem seriously considering district swap — Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez is strongly considering vacating his newly competitive swing district in favor of a safe blue seat next door. — Gonzalez, a three-term incumbent representing the Rio Grande Valley, said Friday that he will likely run …

Discussion: The Texas Tribune

Jeff Goodell / Rolling Stone:

Joe Manchin Just Cooked the Planet — The senator won't quit fossil fuels and is going to neuter the reconciliation bill — and we're all going to pay the price — West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin just cooked the planet. I don't mean that in a metaphorical sense. I mean that literally.

Discussion: Newsweek, Raw Story, Common Dreams, RedState, New York Post, New York Times, Twitchy, National Review and Denver Post

New York Times:

How a Racist Scandal at the F.D.N.Y. Led to Its Biggest Suspensions Ever — The Fire Department has long faced allegations of discrimination. But after George Floyd's murder, a thread of racist messages renewed concerns about the department's racial climate. — Read in app

Discussion: New York Post and Raw Story

Bob Van Voris / Bloomberg:

TikTok Hero and Chevron Foe Donziger Gets Six Months in Jail — He won an $8.6 billion environmental award against oil giant — Award was scrapped but Donziger still has loyal supporters — Steven Donziger, the disbarred lawyer who once won an $8.6 billion judgment against Chevron Corp …

Discussion: The Hill and New Republic

New York Times:

Arizona Vote Review ‘Made Up the Numbers,’ Election Experts Say — An analysis found that a hand recount of votes by Republican investigators missed thousands of ballots, and possibly many more. — Read in app — The circuslike review of the 2020 vote commissioned …

Discussion: Las Vegas Review-Journal, Real-Audits, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

Rachel Olding / The Daily Beast:

Far-Right Boogaloo Admits Posing as BLM Supporter While Shooting Up Minneapolis Cop Station — MOLE — A member of the far-right Boogaloo Boys had admitted he traveled from Texas to Minneapolis in the wake of George Floyd's death and posed as a Black Lives Matter supporter while wreaking havoc on the city.

Discussion: Joe.My.God., MPR News, TheGrio, Mediaite, Raw Story and Digby's Hullabaloo

Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan / Financial Times:

Hackers stole cryptocurrencies from at least 6,000 Coinbase customers — Attackers exploited flaw in two-factor authentication system to access accounts — Hackers stole cryptocurrencies from at least 6,000 customers of the Nasdaq-listed digital asset exchange Coinbase by exploiting a flaw in its two-factor authentication system.

Discussion: Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »