memeorandum: It's Hard to Deny It Was Elon Musk's Year (Lara Williams/Bloomberg)

9:30 AM ET, December 20, 2021

Top Items:

CNN:

How months of talks between Biden and Manchin over Build Back Better broke down — (CNN)President Joe Biden was at home in Delaware Sunday when Sen. Joe Manchin appeared on Fox News to abruptly declare he could not support his sweeping social and climate plan.

Alan Cole / Full Stack Economics:

Joe Manchin's friends aren't listening to him — The Senator has spoken plenty. They just don't want to hear him. — Yesterday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) once again threw cold water on President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan, a fiscal agenda that includes priorities in health, childcare, and climate.

Discussion: NBC News, Mediaite, The Daily Wire and Insider

HuffPost:

Joe Manchin Privately Told Colleagues Parents Use Child Tax Credit Money On Drugs — The West Virginia senator just killed Democrats' agenda. In private negotiations, he questioned whether the poorest Americans would spend financial aid wisely. — WASHINGTON — After months of haggling …

Discussion: CNN, Webb Chatham Report, Chris Pugh and Insider

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia:
Manchin Statement On Build Back Better Act

Discussion: Insider, The Jackal, NPR, CBS News, Today's Edition Newsletter, The American Spectator, Townhall, Vox, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Washington Post, National Review, Talking Points Memo, newdemocratcoalition.house.gov and New Republic

Axios:
Manchin's next move

Discussion: Insider, ABC News, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, BizPac Review, CBS News and Vox

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: The case for why BBB is dead — and for why it may not be

Discussion: CNN, Florida Politics, Associated Press and Bloomberg

New York Times:
Manchin Rejects Landmark Legislation, Putting Biden's Climate Goals at Risk

Discussion: NBC News, The Colorado Sun, Boston Herald and NBC Chicago

Politico:
How 14 policies could survive — or die — after Manchin's ‘no’

Discussion: Fox News, BizPac Review, Common Dreams, New York Post, Bloomberg, Menagerie, the Newsletter, The Atlantic, Blue Revolution Writings,, NPR and Washington Post

Washington Free Beacon:
Manchin Takes Dead Aim at Biden's Agenda

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Last Refuge, Ace of Spades HQ, The National, Robert Reich and Vox

Jim Tankersley / New York Times:
The Path Ahead for Biden: Overcome Manchin's Inflation Fears

Discussion: Insider and Washington Post

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
Sen. Joe Manchin's position on Build Back Better reflects the reality of West Virginia politics

Discussion: Townhall, Insider, The Hill, Fox News, Balloon Juice and Mother Jones

The White House:
Statement from Press Secretary Jen Psaki

Nicole Asbury / Washington Post:

D.C. third-graders were made to reenact episodes from the Holocaust — A Watkins Elementary School staff member told third-graders in library class to reenact scenes from the Holocaust, directing them to dig their classmates' mass graves and simulate shooting the victims, according to an email from the school's principal.

Discussion: BizPac Review, WTTG-TV, New York Times, Raw Story, KDFX-TV and The Hill

The Times of Israel:
DC 3rd graders made to reenact Holocaust ‘because Jews ruined Christmas’

Discussion: Instapundit

PBS NewsHour:

Biden's approval dips to new low as independents sour on his leadership — As President Joe Biden heads into the end of the year, he's facing a sour reality: The number of Americans who approve of his performance has hit a new low. Just 41 percent of Americans approve of the job he has been doing …

Susan Heavey / Reuters:
Schumer vows action on social policy, voting rights bills despite setback

Discussion: CBS News, Washington Times, New York Post, National Review, The Federalist, Dysfunction’s Newsletter, New Republic, Los Angeles Times and NBC New York

Jonathan Lemire / Politico:
Biden promised competence and order. Chaos and uncertainty are winning.

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding

Andrew Buncombe / The Independent:

Sarah Palin says ‘over my dead body’ will she have vaccine after contracting Covid — The 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate revealed in March she had tested positive for Covid — Sarah Palin says ‘over my dead body’ will authorities make her have a covid vaccine shot

CNN:
Outgoing NIH director says Trump and other Republicans pressured him to endorse unproven Covid-19 remedies and to fire Fauci

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo and Political Wire

Ken Meyer / Mediaite:
WATCH: Sarah Palin Proudly Tells Raucous Turning Point Rally Crowd She Will Get Vaccinated ‘Over My Dead Body’

Discussion: HuffPost, The Daily Caller, Mother Jones, Digby's Hullabaloo and Washington Examiner

Apoorva Mandavilli / New York Times:

Moderna says its booster significantly raises the level of antibodies to thwart Omicron. — A booster shot of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine significantly raises the level of antibodies that can thwart the Omicron variant, the company announced on Monday. — The news arrives …

Discussion: investors.modernatx.com, Politico, CBS News, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, UPI, New York Post, KDFX-TV, Contrarian Investor Premium, Reuters, Forbes and NPR

David Wildstein / New Jersey Globe:

Sires won't seek re-election to Congress; U.S. Senator's son emerges as likely successor — Hudson County Democrat will retire after 2022 election after 18 years in Congress and five years as N.J. Assembly Speaker — Rep. Albio Sires (D-West New York) will not seek re-election in 2022 …

Discussion: The Hill and Political Wire

Hugo Lowell / The Guardian:

Why Trump appears deeply unnerved as Capitol attack investigation closes in — Flurry of recent revelations raises the specter that the committee is swiftly heading towards an incriminating conclusion — Donald Trump is increasingly agitated by the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack …

Discussion: MSNBC, Just Security, Raw Story and Althouse

Wall Street Journal:

NYU Is Top-Ranked—In Loans That Alumni and Parents Struggle to Repay — By many measures, the elite Manhattan school is the worst or among the worst for leaving families and graduate students drowning in debt; 'It feels like I'm kind of trapped' — Five months after Kassandra Jones earned …

Discussion: The Morning Missive

Jill Lawrence / USA Today:

Oust Trump coup planners, enablers and provocateurs from public office. They betrayed us. — Expulsion is the most severe penalty in Congress. Its historic trigger has been disloyalty to America - a hallmark of Trump's Big Lie and failed coup. — The price of admission in a democracy is accepting that your side has lost.

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Brandon Just Wants to Drive His Racecar — “I have zero desire to be involved in politics,” says Brandon Brown, the NASCAR driver at the center of the “Let's Go, Brandon!” meme. — WOODFORD, Va. — “What actually keeps you from getting any nausea is that you're so zoned in on just doing this …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Mediaite and Insider

CNN:

Justice Breyer has Democrats even more worried about the midterm elections — (CNN)Senate Republicans are poised to deny President Joe Biden an appointment to the Supreme Court if they take the majority in the 2022 midterm elections. — Five Republican senators raised …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Beast and Reason

Matt Egan / CNN:

Goldman Sachs cuts US economic forecast after Joe Manchin rejects Build Back Better — (CNN Business)Senator Joe Manchin's opposition to the Build Back Better Act prompted Goldman Sachs to swiftly dim its US economic outlook. — The Wall Street firm told clients Sunday …

Discussion: CNBC, Insider, Bloomberg, KDFX-TV, Alternet.org, The Hill and The BondBeat

Greg Clary / CNN:

3 Democratic lawmakers announce positive Covid-19 tests — (CNN)Three Democratic members of Congress announced Sunday that they have breakthrough coronavirus infections. — Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey as well as Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado shared …