memeorandum: Build Back Better Act Would Patch Holes in Health Coverage (New York Times)

12:10 PM ET, December 1, 2021

Top Items:

Martin Pengelly / The Guardian:

Trump tested positive for Covid few days before Biden debate, chief of staff says in new book — Mark Meadows makes stunning admission in new memoir obtained by Guardian, saying a second test returned negative — Donald Trump tested positive for Covid-19 three days before his first debate …

Discussion: Forbes, VICE, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Insider, Washington Examiner, CNN, Mediaite, NBC News, Breitbart, New York Post, Deadline, Mock Paper Scissors, The Hill, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, WHTM-TV, The Daily Caller, IJR, The Daily Beast, HuffPost, Twitchy and Gizmodo

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

The reckless timeline of Trump's positive coronavirus test — Donald Trump claimed more than a dozen times that he was the most transparent president in history. But according to a top aide and ally, when he tested positive for the coronavirus for the first time in the fall of 2020 …

Discussion: CNN, Insider, Washington Times, TMZ.com, Raw Story, Mediaite and POLITICUSUSA

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Scoop: Conservatives plot government shutdown over vaccine mandate — DRIVING THE DAY — FRIDAY'S SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN GETS REAL — Conservatives on both sides of the Capitol are privately plotting to force a government shutdown Friday in an effort to defund …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, Insider, Breitbart, CNN, Reason, Mock Paper Scissors, IJR and New Republic

CNN:

CNN suspends Chris Cuomo indefinitely — New York (CNN Business)CNN said Tuesday that it has suspended Chris Cuomo “indefinitely” after new documents released this week indicated that the anchor was more intimately involved than previously known in helping his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo …

Harvard University:

1. A majority (52%) of young Americans believe that our democracy is either “in trouble,” or “failing” — Only 7% of young Americans view the United States as a “healthy democracy”; 27% described the nation as a “somewhat functioning democracy,” 39% a “democracy in trouble,” …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, CNN and Political Wire

Axios:

Republicans threaten to shut down government over vaccine mandates — Conservative Republicans in the House and Senate are planning to force a government shutdown Friday to deny funding needed to enforce the Biden administration's vaccine mandates on the private sector, according to Politico.

Discussion: Politico and Washington Post

Washington Post:
Young Americans are really down on democracy and reeling from the pandemic

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Washington Examiner, HotAir and Breitbart

Olivia Beavers / Politico:
Mace and Greene keep feuding, despite McCarthy's effort to intervene

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Colorado Sun, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Political Wire and Raw Story

J.D. Capelouto / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
BREAKING: Dickens wins runoff election, will become Atlanta's 61st mayor

Discussion: The Root

New York Times:
A federal judge blocks Biden's vaccine mandate for U.S. health workers.

Discussion: UPI and CITIZEN STRINGER

CNN:
GOP feud simmers despite McCarthy's warning, causing concerns over 2022 prospects

Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Republican Recriminations Point to a Rocky Path to a House Majority

Discussion: The Hill, Democrats, The Colorado Sun, Washington Post, HotAir, Washington Examiner and Washington Times

Michelle Boorstein / Washington Post:

Marcus Lamb, head of Daystar, a large Christian network that discouraged vaccines, dies after getting covid-19 — Marcus Lamb, founder of the large Christian network Daystar, died Tuesday after contracting the coronavirus. Lamb's network during the pandemic has made the virus a huge focus …

Discussion: Religion News Service, The Daily Beast, The Hill and Daystar Television

Josephine Harvey / HuffPost:
Founder Of Anti-Vaccine Christian TV Network Dies After COVID-19 Fight

Discussion: CBS News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Insider, Alabama Political Reporter and Gizmodo

Tim Fitzsimons / NBC News:
Anti-vaccine Christian broadcaster Marcus Lamb dies at 64 after contracting Covid

Discussion: The Guardian, New York Post and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:

‘How will we survive?’ Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor sounds alarm in fight to overturn Roe v. Wade — Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Wednesday expressed fear that a bid to overturn decades-old abortion rights, if successful, would irreparably damage the court.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, The Dispatch and The Colorado Sun

Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Live Updates: Supreme Court Hears Mississippi Abortion Law Arguments

Discussion: Washington Post

Ellena Erskine / SCOTUSblog:
We read all the amicus briefs in Dobbs so you don't have to

Discussion: Washington Examiner, NPR, Digby's Hullabaloo, CNN, New Republic, Outside the Beltway and Althouse

Sarah Jones / New York Magazine:
There's No Such Thing As a Pro-Life Feminist

Discussion: New York Times

Tyler Olson / Fox News:
Pro-life, pro-choice lawmakers brace for historic Supreme Court abortion arguments

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Post, National Review, LifeNews.com and Portsmouth Herald

Emma Platoff / The Boston Globe:

Governor Charlie Baker telling allies he isn't running for reelection — Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, the Republican who maintained the enduring support of his blue state constituents through boom times, the Trump presidency, and in the face of mass death during the COVID-19 pandemic …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Associated Press, NBC News, The Hill and Boston.com

Lisa Kashinsky / Politico:

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker won't seek reelection — BOSTON — Republican Gov. Charlie Baker won't seek reelection next year, he announced Wednesday, in a move that surprised some in the state's political class and will ripple down the 2022 ballot in Massachusetts.

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, UPI, Boston Herald, wgbh.org and Boston.com

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Why the Discredited Dossier Does Not Undercut the Russia Investigation — Donald J. Trump and his backers say revelations about the Steele dossier show the Russia investigation was a “hoax.” That is not what the facts indicate. — WASHINGTON — Former President Donald J. Trump and his allies …

Discussion: Raw Story and Just Security

David Ignatius / Washington Post:

Why the CIA is so worried about Russia and Ukraine — The CIA discovered something scary in October: Russia was moving troops toward the Ukrainian border — and, unlike in previous border thrusts, was making secret plans about how to use them. — The agency also worried that the potential conflict zone …

Discussion: HotAir, Insider, New York Post and CBS News

Ann M. Simmons / Wall Street Journal:
Russia Expels Some U.S. Diplomats in Latest Tit-for-Tat Action

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Post, Al Jazeera and One America News Network

Reuters:
Ukraine urges NATO to be ready with sanctions in case of Russian invasion

Discussion: Politico, CNBC, New York Times, WTOP News, France 24, Bloomberg, New York Post, Associated Press, One America News Network and CNN

Mona Charen / The Bulwark:

Dr. Oz Quacks the Code of Republican Politics — Having peddled snake oil for years, he's found his true calling in the GOP. — Sean Parnell, the Trump-anointed candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania, dropped out of the race a week ago after a custody hearing that featured lurid details of his relationship with his ex-wife.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Western Journal and Tennessee Star

Wall Street Journal:

Racy Affair Saga Between Jeff Bezos and Enquirer Reaches Final Chapter — Probes by federal officials on phone-hack, extortion claims haven't led to public action — In 2019, Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos accused the National Enquirer of attempting to extort him with embarrassing texts and photos …

Axios:

Clinton Foundation donations plummet 75% — Donations to the Clinton Foundation plummeted to $16 million last year, down nearly 75% from the organization's peak when former secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was running for president, records reviewed by Axios show.

Discussion: Breitbart

Christopher Tremoglie / Washington Examiner:

Is Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer the new ‘Angel of Death’? — In August, Vanity Fair published an article labeling Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis the “Angel of Death” because of increased COVID-19 infections. The narrative was that DeSantis was an incompetent governor whose policies led to an “unnecessary” increase in deaths.

Discussion: The Hill

Anders Anglesey / Newsweek:

QAnon Followers Rush to Defend Donald Trump After Pilot Testifies He Was on Jeffrey Epstein's Jet — QAnon followers and commentators have rushed to defend Donald Trump after Jeffrey Epstein's former pilot testified in Ghislaine Maxwell's trial that the former president had traveled on one of the pedophile's private planes.

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Raw Story

Jerusalem Post:

COVID: First signs that vaccine protects against Omicron - health minister — So far, Israel has registered four cases infected with the new variant, while general morbidity remains low. — There are indications that individuals fully vaccinated against corona within six months …

Discussion: New York Post, The Times of Israel and HotAir

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Trump's Iran Policy Has Become a Disaster for the U.S. and Israel — The judges have voted and the results are in: President Donald Trump's decision to tear up the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 — a decision urged on by his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and Israel's prime minister …

Discussion: The Atlantic

John Wright / Raw Story:

Trump supporter arrested after allegedly casting multiple ballots in Florida — A registered Republican and apparent supporter of former president Donald Trump has been arrested and charged with casting more than one ballot in an election. — Joan Halstead, a 72-year-old resident of the Villages …

Discussion: Villages-News

New York Times:

Build Back Better Act Would Patch Holes in Health Coverage — Taken together, the provisions in the social policy bill represent the biggest step toward universal coverage since the passage of the Affordable Care Act. — WASHINGTON — Of all the “bitter disappointments” he had as president …