memeorandum: ‘She was just doing her job’: Homeless vet loses service dog during arrest for panhandling (Rachel Nostrant/Army Times)

5:00 PM ET, October 28, 2021

Top Items:

Biden unveils revised spending plan, exhorts Democrats to back it — President Biden on Thursday unveiled a new $1.75 trillion package to overhaul the country's health-care, education, climate and tax laws, muscling through a slew of policy disagreements and internecine political feuds that had stalled his economic agenda for months.

Kate Sullivan / CNN:

Here's what's in the $1.75 trillion economic plan Biden will try to sell his party — (CNN)President Joe Biden on Thursday will make the case for a significantly scaled-back version of his massive economic plan to expand the social safety net hours before departing for his second major foreign trip as president.

Discussion: Washington Post, Insider, The Daily Wire, IJR and Mercury News

The White House:

President Biden Announces the Build Back Better Framework — Joe Biden believes that there's no greater economic engine in the world than the hard work and ingenuity of the American people. But for too long, the economy has worked great for those at the top, while working families continually get squeezed.

Politico:
Liberals weigh their options: Settle for half a loaf, or fight

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Roll Call and Talking Points Memo

Associated Press:
Biden, Dems get low marks on spending talks: AP-NORC poll

Discussion: New York Post, Breitbart, HotAir, The Hill and WPTA21

David Dayen / American Prospect:
What's in the Build Back Better Framework

Discussion: The White House, CoinDesk and The Daily Signal

Politico:
Fractious Dems struggle to unite around $1.75T megabill

Discussion: The Nation, HuffPost, The Atlantic, HotAir, Associated Press, Slate, Roll Call, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, One America News Network, Common Dreams, The 74, WTOP, IJR, National Review, Bloomberg, Florida Politics and Crooks and Liars

Washington Post:
Washington, we might have a reconciliation deal

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, CBS News, The Hill, Politico, USA Today, HotAir, New York Post, Bloomberg, Washington Times and The Daily Wire

Gwynne Hogan / Gothamist:

Misdemeanor Forcible Touching Charges Filed Against Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Officials Say — Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been charged with a misdemeanor count of forcible touching, a spokesperson the state courts confirmed Thursday afternoon.

Discussion: New York Focus and NBC New York

Brendan J. Lyons / Albany Times Union:

Criminal summons erroneously issued against former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo — ALBANY — A criminal summons charging former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo with forcible touching was erroneously issued by Albany City Court on Thursday after a sheriff's investigator shared paperwork with the court summarizing their investigation.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, RedState, Raw Story, CNBC and Associated Press

Washington Post:

Former New York governor Andrew M. Cuomo charged with a misdemeanor complaint for sex-crime-related offense, court says — Former New York governor Andrew M. Cuomo has been charged with a misdemeanor complaint for a sex-crime-related offense. — A spokesman for the New York courts …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Examiner, Fox News and Forbes

New York Post:

Ex-Gov. Cuomo to be charged over alleged groping of former aide: source — Disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to be arrested next week and charged with a misdemeanor in the alleged groping of a former aide, The Post has learned. — The anticipated charge is the result of a probe …

Discussion: Law & Crime and National Review

Robert Faturechi / ProPublica:

Burr's Brother-in-Law Called Stock Broker, One Minute After Getting Off Phone With Senator — According to the SEC, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, then chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, had material nonpublic information about coronavirus impact.

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Daily Kos, Forbes, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and Bloomberg

Wall Street Journal:

Biden Administration in Talks to Pay Hundreds of Millions to Immigrant Families Separated at Border — Government is considering payments of $450,000 per person affected by Trump administration's zero-tolerance policy in 2018 for asylum seekers illegally crossing border

Discussion: The Hill, National Review, Townhall, The Right Scoop, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Wire, Ace of Spades HQ and Twitchy

Kim Lyons / The Verge:

Facebook just revealed its new name: Meta — The company announced the rebranding during Facebook Connect — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Thursday at the company's Connect event that the company's new name will be Meta. “We are a company that builds technology to connect,” Zuckerberg said.

Discussion: VICE, New York Magazine, Meta, UPI, Al Jazeera, Metro.co.uk, Protocol, CBS Boston, Scary Mommy, Variety, TechCrunch, NPR, Mashable, The Wrap, Deseret News and One America News Network, more at Mediagazer »

Alexandra S. Levine / Politico:
Facebook changes its name to ‘Meta’ amid backlash to whistleblower revelations

Discussion: Jacobin and NBC10 Philadelphia

Washington Post: Facebook told the White House to focus on the ‘facts’ about vaccine misinformation. Internal documents show it wasn't sharing key data.

Emma Goldberg / New York Times:

The 37-Year-Olds Are Afraid of the 23-Year-Olds Who Work for Them — Twenty-somethings rolling their eyes at the habits of their elders is a longstanding trend, but many employers said there's a new boldness in the way Gen Z dictates taste. — As a millennial with a habit of lurking on TikTok …

Discussion: Gawker

Wall Street Journal:

The Facts on Trump's Fraud Letter — His 2020 monomania is news, and it reflects on his fitness for 2024. — By The Editorial Board — The progressive parsons of the press are aflutter that we published a letter to the editor Thursday from former President Trump, objecting …

Discussion: New Republic, Althouse, Political Wire, Daily Kos, CNN, Digby's Hullabaloo, Washington Post and The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »

Mark Niquette / Bloomberg:

Trump Plans Monday Tele-Rally for Youngkin in Virginia Race — Donald Trump plans to hold a tele-rally for Republican Glenn Youngkin on Monday night, a day before the Virginia gubernatorial election, according to a person familiar with his plans. — The former president on Wednesday teased …

Edward Luce / Financial Times:
Biden's strongest weapon is still Donald Trump

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Slate, The Gateway Pundit, WTOP, The Daily Wire and Associated Press

Politico:
Trump suggests he might drop a bomb on the Va. gov race. Then leaves.

U.S. Department of Justice:

Justice Department Announces Multi-Million Dollar Civil Settlement in Principle in Mother Emanuel Charleston Church Mass Shooting — Department Agrees to Settle Allegations Surrounding FBI Actions — Today, the Department of Justice announced that it has reached an agreement in principle …

Discussion: HuffPost, Associated Press, The Hill, USA Today, Law & Crime, IJR, Mediaite, Raw Story, NBC News and Insider

C. Ryan Barber / Insider:
How a Trump official got ‘canceled’ for backing the president's election conspiracy theories

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Politico and Alternet.org

Luke Barr / ABC News:
DOJ reaches settlements with victims' families in 2015 Charleston church shooting

Discussion: Fox News and CBS News

Carla K. Johnson / Associated Press:

Cheap antidepressant shows promise treating early COVID-19 — A cheap antidepressant reduced the need for hospitalization among high-risk adults with COVID-19 in a study hunting for existing drugs that could be repurposed to treat coronavirus. — Researchers tested the pill used for depression …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Children's Health Defense

Maria Izabel Campos Simplicio / The Lancet Global …:
Effect of early treatment with fluvoxamine on risk of emergency care and hospitalisation among patients with COVID-19: the TOGETHER randomised, platform clinical trial

Discussion: HotAir, New York Times, Washington Post, The Times of Israel, Metro.co.uk, Financial Times, TheBlaze, Marginal REVOLUTION, CNN, Deseret News, Forbes, The Daily Beast and UPI

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Geraldo Rivera criticizes his Fox News colleague Tucker Carlson. — Tucker Carlson, the top-rated Fox News host, faced criticism on Thursday — including from a prominent colleague at his own network — after he announced plans for a documentary series featuring debunked conspiracy theories …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Hill, Washington Post, Mediaite and Insider

Nicole Winfield / Associated Press:

Vatican cancels live broadcast of Biden greeting pope — ROME (AP) — The Vatican on Thursday abruptly canceled the planned live broadcast of U.S. President Joe Biden meeting Pope Francis, the latest restriction to media coverage of the Holy See. — The Vatican press office provided …

Discussion: HotAir, Mediaite, New York Times, Religion News Service, The Daily Register, RedState, The Hill and The Daily Caller

David P. Goldman / Asia Times:

US GDP data show stagflation — US looks dead in the water, inflation devouring demand stimulus the government poured into post-Covid economy — Net of inventory accumulation, real GDP for the third quarter was slightly negative, US government data released Thursday morning show.

Washington Post:
U.S. economy grew at annual rate of 2% in the third quarter, as delta variant pulled back progress

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Missy Ryan / Washington Post:

The U.S. is no longer setting the agenda in Afghanistan — Welcome to The Daily 202! Tell your friends to sign up here. I'm Missy Ryan, your host for the day, and I cover diplomacy and national security for The Post. Olivier will be back on Monday. — The big idea

Discussion: New York Times, RedState, Breitbart and Power Line

Wall Street Journal:
Four U.S. Intelligence Agencies Produced Extensive Reports on Afghanistan, but All Failed to Predict Kabul's Rapid Collapse

Discussion: New York Post, Human Events, NBC News and Forbes

Joe Skurzewski / KFYR-TV:

North Dakota lawmaker barred from flight following incident with Minot TSA agent — MINOT, N.D. - A North Dakota lawmaker was barred from boarding a flight at Minot International Airport Monday, following an incident with a TSA agent. — Rep. Jeff Hoverson, R-Minot, said he and his wife …

Discussion: The Hill

Terry Gross / NPR:

Trump's strategy to overturn the 2020 election didn't work. Next time it might — On the night before the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Washington Post reporter Robert Costa walked through the streets of D.C., surrounded by a throng of Trump supporters.

Discussion: Raw Story

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The GOP's many allusions to armed revolution and justified violence

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and Raw Story

Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:

Chief federal judge in D.C. assails ‘almost schizophrenic’ Jan. 6 prosecutions: ‘The rioters were not mere protesters’ — The chief judge presiding over the federal court in Washington on Thursday unleashed a blistering critique of the Justice Department's prosecution of Capitol rioters …

CNN:

January 6 committee is losing patience with Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows as it seeks his testimony — (CNN)Members of the House select committee investigating January 6 are losing patience with the pace of talks with former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Raw Story