Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
December 20, 2021
Good morning
Through the end of 2021, I will publish an executive summary version of Cut to the News. It will include top 5-7 news that you shouldn't miss. During this holiday season, I will be spending more time with my family, especially with my 85-year old Russian Dad (who is full of stories to share!). I will also be working on my consulting projects and getting my ducks in a row for the launch of my upcoming podcast. The Rebekah Koffler Show: Censored But Not Silenced will launch in January 2022.
Here are your top 7 news for today:
Pelosi eyes vote early next year after Manchin's major blow to Build Back Better . . . House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may have an ambitious New Year's resolution: revive President Biden’s Build Back Better plan that was dealt a
major blow on Sunday after Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced on "Fox News Sunday" that he is a "no" on the social spending bill. Democrats knew that they could not spare a single vote because of the 50-50
split in the Senate. Pelosi said she is "hopeful that we will soon reach an agreement so that this vital legislation can pass as soon as possible next year."
Fox News
Young voters abandon Biden . . . Younger people have become disenchanted with President Joe Biden, the septuagenarian rapidly losing support with the demographic that was wary of him during the 2020 Democratic primary. On average, fewer than 3 in 10 adults under the age of 30 approve of Biden's job performance as president, and a majority disapproves, according to online polling conducted by the Economist and YouGov. Biden's net negative
21 approval rating with the demographic is his worst among any age group, the organizations found. On top of that, Biden has a net negative 17 rating among people aged between 30 and 44.
Washington Examiner
Foreign-born population soars to new record under Biden . . . The U.S. has had a massive surge in immigration this year, with as many as 1.5 million newcomers and a record 46.2 million foreign-born people, according to a report for the Center for Immigration Studies. The flow of people rebounded around the time President Biden was elected. In numbers never seen before, they are coming legally through airports and land border crossings and
illegally across the Rio Grande and remote regions of Arizona and California. “There was pent-up demand for legal immigration, and illegal immigration has exploded in one of the greatest surges, if not the greatest, we’ve ever seen,” said Steven A. Camarota, the demographer who was the chief author of the report. As it stands, 14.2% of the U.S. population is foreign-born, or 1 out of every 7 people. That is the highest rate of immigrants in the population since 1910, when the number
was 14.7%.
Washington Times
Moderna says booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine appears protective vs. Omicron . . . Moderna said on Monday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine appeared to be protective against the fast-spreading Omicron variant in laboratory testing and that the current version of the vaccine would continue to be Moderna’s "first line of defense against Omicron." The vaccine maker said the decision to focus on the current vaccine,
mRNA-1273, was driven in part by how quickly the recently discovered variant is spreading. The company said it still plans to develop a vaccine to protect against Omicron and hopes to advance into clinical trials early next year.
Reuters
The Americans Stuck in Afghanistan . . . The White House would like to forget, but the Americans and Afghan allies still stranded in the country deserve more attention. “Since August 31, the United States has directly assisted 479 American Citizens and 450 lawful permanent residents” to leave Afghanistan and relocate to the U.S. with their immediate families, the State Department said last week. As the U.S. completed its retreat,
President Biden estimated there were only 100 to 200 Americans still there “with some intention to leave.” A source briefed on the situation told us that by the end of November State Department was tracking 126 Americans still in Afghanistan with five ready to depart.
Wall Street Journal
Trump demands China pay $60T in reparations for the coronavirus pandemic . . . Former President Donald Trump said Sunday that China should pay reparations for its role in the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that the communist regime should be held responsible for its role in helping spread the coronavirus. “China has to pay, they have to do something,” said Mr. Trump. “They have to pay reparations . .
.” The former president argued that if the worldwide damage of the coronavirus was properly estimated, China would likely owe upwards of $60 trillion.
Washington Times
Supply chains: companies shift from ‘just in time’ to ‘just in case’ . . . All over the world, companies have encountered snags in their supply chains during the pandemic and the shipping bottlenecks that have followed as economies restarted. Car production lines have been halted by a lack of semiconductors, liquor distillers have run out of bottles and department stores are short of Christmas stock. Such troubles are forcing a rethink of
corporate strategy. For decades, companies prioritised costs above all else when selecting suppliers, building factories and deciding how much stock to keep on hand. This philosophy was often dubbed “just in time.” Companies also moved production to low-wage locations, consolidated orders to maximize economies of scale, and tried to minimize their physical presence in high-tax jurisdictions.
During the pandemic, companies are revamping existing supply chain policies to build additional resilience. Some businesses are increasing the inventory they keep on hand and entering into longer term contracts with key suppliers. Others are diversifying their manufacturing to create regional hubs with local suppliers and investing in technology to give them greater advance warning of potential bottlenecks. Some companies are also investigating ways of working with their rivals to
share information to develop emergency back up facilities without falling foul of competition regulators.
Financial Times
