Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
October 21, 2021
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Biden lowers price tag of spending bill from $3.5T to no more than $1.9T . . . President Biden told Democrats during a private meeting Tuesday that he believed they could secure a deal on a new tax-and-spending proposal between $1.75 trillion and $1.9 trillion, far less than some in the party initially sought, even as some lawmakers later maintained it still would allow them to accomplish broad swaths of their vast economic agenda. White House Dossier
The goal here — and it’s the way he is bringing along the left on this — is to establish basically the same bunch of new programs and just fund them for fewer years. Then they can renew them later. As everyone knows, the only thing on earth with eternal life is a federal program.
The $2 Trillion Is Phony Too . . . Biden is bowing to the left again by keeping new entitlements and disguising their cost. Democrats say they’re working hard to pare back their $3.5 trillion tax and spending bill to $2 trillion to please House and Senate dissenters, but don’t believe it. What they’re really doing is working hard to pack $4 trillion in new programs into a $2 trillion disguise that sounds less radical than it is. That’s
the message from news reports that the White House on Tuesday offered Congressional Democrats a plan that retains nearly all of the entitlement programs they originally proposed. Instead of reducing this vast expansion of the welfare state, Democrats are merely increasing their use of budget gimmicks to pretend to fit them into a 10-year budget window.
It’s still a mammoth fiscal confidence trick. The leaks are piecemeal and the talks are fluid. But so far it looks like the White House is continuing to accommodate progressive demands and then bludgeon swing-district Members to go along. Wall Street
Journal
POLL: Trump Beating Biden Among Independents . . . Former President Donald Trump holds a significant lead among independent voters over President Joe Biden, a Wednesday poll found. A Grinnell-Selzer poll found that Trump leads Biden with a 45% to 28% margin among Independent voters in a hypothetical 2024 presidential election. Exactly 20% of the Independent respondents surveyed said they would support another candidate and 7% would not
vote at all. The poll surveyed 745 adults between Oct.13-17 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6% percentage points. The poll discovered that Trump and Biden have an equal percentage of likely voters, 40%, that would vote for them in the next presidential election, while 14% said they would support a different candidate. Both candidates continue to hold firm support within their parties, with 80% of Republicans backing the former president and nearly 90% supporting Biden. Daily Caller
Durham unloads thousands of documents to Sussmann defense . . . Special counsel John Durham provided 81,000 pages of discovery to indicted Democratic lawyer Michael Sussmann in his criminal inquiry into the Russia investigation, court filings show. The reams of documents, which reveal details from grand jury subpoenas sent to 15 individuals and organizations likely including opposition research firm Fusion GPS, were produced this month
after lawyers representing Sussmann, who denies any wrongdoing, demanded more information while calling the allegations that he lied to the FBI five years ago vague and confusing. A grand jury returned an indictment last month that centers on a September 2016 meeting between Sussmann and then-FBI General Counsel James Baker in which the lawyer passed along information about suspicions of covert communications between Russia’s Alfa Bank and the business of former President Donald Trump,
who was the Republican presidential candidate at the time. Washington Examiner
Clear subversion of the democratic process. Question: are there laws on the books against subversion?
Garland expected to face intense questioning on controversial school board memo, other ongoing crises . . . Attorney General Merrick Garland is scheduled to testify in his first oversight hearing with the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday – offering both sides of the aisle opportunities to press him on key issues. Texas' abortion ban, voting rights, the border crisis and the Jan. 6 riots could all come up as big topics that have
caught attention during his brief time leading the Department of Justice (DOJ). Republicans will likely hone in on Garland's recent memo, announcing that the FBI would investigate threats or intimidation by parents against school boards across the U.S. Fox News
MS. PSAKI: Oh, sorry. Go ahead, Emerald. And then I’ll come back.
Q Thank you.
Q Thanks. I have follow-ups on a couple of topics. First off, Secretary Buttigieg: Given the seriousness of the — the supply chain crisis and the multiple issues that you outlined, wouldn’t it be wise for the Secretary to get back on the bicycle, so to speak, and come back to work? A new poll found that 65 percent of voters think that given what’s going on, he should come back to work.
MS. PSAKI: He’s at work.
Manchin on party switch: 'It's bull----' . . . Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Wednesday dismissed a report that he is actively thinking about dropping out of the Democratic Party as "bullshit" and "rumors." "It's bullshit," Manchin, a centrist, said bluntly after he was asked about a report published in Mother Jones that he has told "associates" he is actively thinking about leaving the Democratic Party. The Hill
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CISA, FBI, and NSA Release BlackMatter Ransomware Advisory . . . The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Security Agency (NSA) published a cybersecurity advisory today regarding BlackMatter ransomware cyber intrusions targeting multiple U.S. critical infrastructure entities, including two U.S. food and agriculture sector organizations. CISA
BlackMatter is a Russian-origin ransomware whose predecessor, DarkSide is responsible for the devastating cyber attacks on US gasoline reserves (Colonial Pipeline) and food supplies (JBS meat processing facility).
NATO Defense Ministers Meeting To Discuss 'Master Plan' To Deter Russian Threat . . . NATO defense ministers are set to discuss a so-called "master plan" to defend the alliance against any potential Russian attack following a showdown with Moscow that saw Kremlin envoys to the alliance stripped of accreditation. The dispute isn't on the agenda of the two-day meeting on October 21 in Brussels, but the ministers of the 30 allied countries
are to discuss other top concerns, including shared deterrence and defense strategy, investment in new technologies, and the process of evaluating the "lessons learned" in Afghanistan. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg noted that the ministers will discuss stepping up collective defense and protecting the territory of member states. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Space Force commander warns of China’s growing threat to U.S. in space . . . China is threatening to overtake the U.S. military as the most dominant force in space, says the second in command of the now 3-year-old U.S. Space Force, who warns that Washington must dramatically accelerate its rollout of critical new technologies if it wants to retain superiority over the futuristic war-fighting domain. The good news, said Vice Chief of Space
Operations Gen. David Thompson, is that the Pentagon’s newest branch is showing promise in speeding up the deployment of key assets to counter China’s rapidly advancing capacities, including its growing capability to attack U.S. satellites. Washington Times
It’ll Take More than American Military Might to Shore Up Taiwan . . . Analysis/Opinion. By John Bolton. China’s threat to Taiwan is real, not hypothetical, as recent incursions into the island’s air-defense zone demonstrate. To counter Beijing’s renewed belligerence, a successful strategy must go beyond eliminating the “strategic ambiguity” over whether the U.S. will come to the island’s defense. A successful strategy will require
clarifying Taiwan’s status, its critical place in Indo-Pacific politics, and its economic importance globally. The U.S. military contribution to Taiwan’s security is crucial, but it requires strong political support here and abroad. It begins by affirming that Taiwan is a sovereign, self-governing country, not a disputed Chinese province. It meets international law’s criteria of statehood, such as defined territory, stable population and the performance of normal governmental functions such
as viable currency and law enforcement. Washington, Tokyo and others would be entirely justified to extend diplomatic recognition, and its attendant legitimacy, to Taipei. Wall Street Journal
The CIA's next mission: Strategic competition with China and Russia . . . For the last 20 years the Central Intelligence Agency, like the entirety of America’s national security infrastructure, focused on the global war on terrorism. As that period concludes or at least fades from the central feature, the CIA, like the Department of Defense, is now pivoting to strategic competition with Russia and China. This presents new organizational
and operational challenges but is absolutely critical. As part of this pivot, in early October, William Burns, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, announced the creation of new mission centers to address China and transnational threats such as pandemics and climate change.
The changes announced by Burns follow just six years after his predecessor, John Brennan, announced a similar reorganization of the agency into 10 mission centers, and just four years after Director Mike Pompeo announced the creation of Iran and Korea mission centers, both of which will be absorbed by larger Near East and East Asia centers, according to reports. The goal of both organizational changes was to bring officers and analysts closer together and to streamline the agency’s
activities. The Hill
Always behind the curve. Both China and Russia made their plans to unbalance the U.S. clear more than a decade ago.
China conducted two hypersonic weapons tests this summer . . . The Chinese military conducted two hypersonic weapons tests over the summer, raising US concerns that Beijing is gaining ground in the race to develop a new generation of arms.
On July 27 the Chinese military launched a rocket that used a “fractional orbital bombardment” system to propel a nuclear-capable “hypersonic glide vehicle” around the earth for the first time, according to four people familiar with US intelligence assessments. China subsequently conducted a second hypersonic test on August 13, according to two people familiar with the matter. Three people familiar with the first test in July said it stunned the Pentagon and US intelligence
because China managed to demonstrate a brand new weapons capability, although they declined to elaborate on the details. Financial Times
China and Russia are creating capabilities to destroy us, while CIA is creating "centers" and the Pentagon is indoctrinating servicemen in the Marxists ideology. What could go wrong?
US Military Needs More Might to Fight 2 Major Conflicts: Heritage Foundation . . . The U.S. military is in need of more resources if it’s to continue the goal of being capable of fighting two major conflicts simultaneously, according to The Heritage Foundation’s 2022 Index of U.S. Military Strength. The Heritage Foundation’s annual military index, which was first released in 2015, provides a sweeping overview of U.S. national security
issues, as well as the military’s capacity to meet those challenges. The index’s benchmark is the forces required for the United States to be able to fight two major wars simultaneously—a strategy held by successive administrations for decades. Epoch Times
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Taliban Commander Who Launched Bombings in Kabul Is Now a Police Chief in Charge of Security . . . Mawlawi Zubair Mutmaeen used to run Taliban suicide-bombing squads in Kabul. On a recent day, in his new role as police chief for one of the Afghan capital’s districts, he was busy mediating a marital dispute. His face framed by a black turban and black beard, Mr. Mutmaeen didn’t see the jarring change from his previous occupation as
remarkable. In the past, Americans and locals who worked with them were legitimate targets as the Taliban sought to create a true Islamic order, he said. Today, he reasoned, community policing serves the same goal. “Previously I was serving Islam, and now I’m also serving Islam. There is no difference,” Mr. Mutmaeen, 39, said. Wall Street Journal
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NIH confirms it funded Wuhan experiment that made bat coronavirus more dangerous . . . Two weeks after National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins announced his retirement, his agency has complicated congressional testimony by Collins and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci about alleged gain-of-function virus research sponsored by the U.S. Both officials have denied approving
grants for such research through the EcoHealth Alliance and Wuhan Institute of Virology, but a letter Wednesday from NIH Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak to House Oversight Committee ranking Republican James Comer describes an unforeseen experimental result that calls the denials into question. The letter shows that "NIH — and specifically, Collins, Fauci, and Tabak — lied to Congress, lied to the press, and lied to the public," Richard Ebright, lab director at Rutgers University's
Waskman Institute of Microbiology, tweeted Wednesday night when sharing the letter. "Knowingly. Willfully. Brazenly." Just the News
Federal employees can submit claims for 'adverse reactions' to vaccine . . . Government workers can file compensation claims should they have an “adverse reaction” to the COVID-19 vaccine or are hurt while getting vaccinated, according to the Department of Labor. A Federal Employees' Compensation Act bulletin clarifies that, while preventive measures such as inoculations don’t typically fall within the scope of claims because the Biden
administration has mandated the vaccine as a requisite for most government employees, those who receive the shot after the mandate was announced “may be afforded coverage under the FECA for any adverse reactions to the vaccine itself, and for any injuries sustained while obtaining the vaccination.”Examples of injuries sustained while getting the vaccine include accidents while traveling to and from the vaccination site or if the employee slips and falls in the process of getting the shot at the
vaccination site. Washington Examiner
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Biden Ditches Alaska Oil Drilling Project That Would’ve Created Thousands Of Jobs . . . The Biden administration abandoned an oil and gas drilling project in Alaska approved by former President Donald Trump, which it had previously defended. The Department of the Interior failed to file an appeal to a federal judge’s August decision blocking the multi-billion dollar Willow Project being developed by the Texas-based oil
and gas firm ConocoPhillips. Judge Sharon Gleason of the U.S. District Court of the District of Alaska ruled that the federal government hadn’t adequately reviewed the emissions profile of the project, which she said would ultimately harm the environment and wildlife. Daily Caller
Jen Psaki Could Fit Multiple Treadmills in Her $2 Million House . . . Commentary. White House press secretary Jen Psaki thinks the U.S. supply chain crisis, which could ruin Christmas for millions of hardworking Americans, amounts to little more than "the tragedy of the treadmill that's delayed." Psaki cracked the "joke" on Tuesday in response to a serious question from New York Times reporter Michael Shear, even as experts warn
that rising prices and supply shortages are likely to wreak havoc on the upcoming holiday season. Psaki routinely scolds reporters for asking questions that, in her estimation, do not reflect the concerns of the American people. Most Americans, for example, can't afford a personal treadmill and probably couldn't find the space to fit one in their residence. Psaki, however, can easily afford multiple treadmills and has more than enough room for them in her massive house, a Washington Free
Beacon analysis has determined. Public records show that Psaki and her husband, Greg Mecher, purchased the posh Northern Virginia property in 2019 for $1.64 million. The house is currently estimated to be worth almost $2 million, or more than five times the median home price in the United States. Washington Free Beacon
Hunter Biden pitched himself as expert in Russian oligarch targeted by FBI . . . Commentary. By Miranda Devine. Hunter Biden boasted he could provide intelligence on the shady Russian oligarch whose Greenwich Village townhouse was raided by the FBI on Tuesday. The president’s son said he could provide Alcoa, a giant US aluminium firm, with knowledge about the “elite networks” connected to Oleg Deripaska in a proposal from
his company Rosemont Seneca, emails on Hunter’s laptop show. Federal agents carried out “law enforcement activity” on Tuesday at the Gay Street townhouse and a Washington mansion tied to Deripaska, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Deripaska was investigated for money laundering and extortion and sanctioned by the US in 2018.
Hunter Biden in 2011 offered to “provide Alcoa with statistical analysis of political and corporate risks, elite networks associated with Oleg Deripaska (OD), Russian CEO of Basic Element company and United company RUSAL,” reveal documents on the laptop he abandoned at a MacBook repair shop in Delaware in April 2019. RUSAL is a Russian aluminum company. New York Post
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Trump announces social media company, mobile app, merger deal . . . Former President Donald Trump will helm a social media start-up apparently aimed at supplanting Facebook and Twitter, the new Trump Media & Technology Group announced Wednesday evening. The move could put the 45th president back in the online arena from which he’s been banned since leaving office Jan. 20. Facebook and Twitter have blocked Mr.
Trump’s accounts. The new venture also said it would offer a subscription video service featuring “non-woke” programming. The new firm said its “mission is to create a rival to the liberal media consortium and fight back against the ‘Big Tech’ companies of Silicon Valley, which have used their unilateral power to silence opposing voices in America.” Washington Times
Police recommend charges against four over Sinema bathroom protest . . . Police are recommending charges for four people who followed Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) into a bathroom on an Arizona college campus earlier this month to demand her support of the Democrats’ reconciliation bill. Police from Arizona State University, where Sinema teaches, are recommending that four people involved in the incident receive misdemeanor charges
related to disruption of an educational institution and disorderly conduct, the Arizona Republic reported.
Adam Wolfe, a spokesperson for the university’s police, said the investigation concluded this past week, but declined to name the individuals referred for charged. The Hill
Megyn Kelly Says Son’s School Told Third Grade Boys About Taking Puberty Blockers So They Can Have Genitals ‘Chopped Off’ . . . Megyn Kelly said her son’s school told third grade boys about how they could “take a pill to prevent puberty” so they can later have genitals “chopped off.” “Okay, so they unleashed a three-week experimental transgender education program on our boys,” Kelly shared during “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast Tuesday
with her guest Ramona Bessinger, a middle school teacher in Providence, Rhode Island. Bessinger said she’s faced retaliation from her district after she called out her school over race-based and transgender projects. She argued it was eroding “parental rights. Daily Caller
School Enrollment Across US Dropped by Almost 3 Million From 2019 to 2020: Report . . . School enrollment across the United States dropped by 2.9 million from 2019 to 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to new data released on Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. This marks the lowest level—52.4 percent of the learning-aged population—of school enrollment for those under 35 years of age in over 20 years, as per the bureau’s
data. College enrollment also fell to its lowest level since 2007, with the majority of the decline occurring in colleges with two-year courses, which had their lowest enrollment levels in 20 years. Epoch Times
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Bear wanders into house, breaks computer monitor . . . An Alberta man captured photos when a bear wandered into his family's home and made a mess of his son's gaming computer. Sean Reddy said the bear encounter at his Fort McMurray-area home began when his dogs cornered the bear in the family's garage. Reddy said he got his dogs to safety and the bear was gone when he checked the garage, leading him to assume the animal had left the
area.
The father said he soon discovered he was wrong when his 10-year-old son reported hearing scratching sounds inside the house. The bear had climbed in through a window and Reddy saw the animal cross a hallway into his son's bedroom.
The resident used a bookshelf and other furniture to create a barricade before reopening the bedroom door to allow the bear to leave through the same window it used to enter the home. Reddy said the damage to the house was minimal, but the bear smashed his son's computer monitor and ate some cereal that had been left out. UPI
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