How Democrats hope to defeat Barrett: Health care, health care, health care . . . Immediately after paying their respects to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden huddled in the Capitol to make sure their party was united in the campaign against her successor. Amidthe GOP’s unprecedented push to fill a Supreme Court vacancy right before the election with conservative Amy Coney Barrett, the top
Democratic leaders agreed: The party'ssights would not shiftfrom health care. From senators on the Judiciary Committee to rank-and-file Democrats to the national debate stages, the relentless focus on health care has only become more intense with an election in three weeks and the high court set to consider a challenge for the Affordable Care Act. When Barrett sits down in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee for her confirmation hearings this week, expect to hear
the acronym “ACA” at least as much as you hear “ACB.” Politico
She's less afraid of the coronavirus than she is being stumped, so now aides will be able to speak responses and follow up questions into her ear.
Coronavirus
Coronavirus could survive for weeks on iPhones, money . . . The new coronavirus may remain infectious for weeks on banknotes, glass and other common surfaces, according to research by Australia’s top biosecurity laboratory that highlights risks from paper currency, touchscreen devices and grab handles and rails. Scientists at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness showed SARS-CoV-2 is “extremely robust,”
surviving for 28 days on smooth surfaces such as glass found on mobile phone screens and plastic banknotes at room temperature, or 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit). That compares with 17 days survival for the flu virus. Bloomberg
Politics
Trump claims he is negative for coronavirus . . . President Trump on Sunday said in a phone call to a group of supporters that he’s “tested totally negative” for the novel coronavirus, despite White House physician, Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley, releasing no new statements on the president’s health. “I’ve been tested totally negative,” Trump said in an audio message his campaign posted on YouTube. “I’m
going to be out in Florida tomorrow, working very hard because this is an election we have to win.” Fox News
Fauci says clip in Trump ad took him out of context . . . Anthony Fauci, the U.S.’s top infectious disease expert, told CNN on Sunday that he did not sign off on a clip of him being used in an ad by the Trump campaign, noting that the footage is out of context. "In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate. The ad, released last week shortly after the president
was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, touts the president’s response to the virus and includes a clip of Fauci saying, “I can’t imagine that anybody could be doing more.”
In context, Fauci is referring to himself and other members of the White House coronavirus task force. The Hill
Trump administration calls for stripped-down relief bill . . . The Trump administration on Sunday called on Congress to pass a stripped-down coronavirus relief bill using leftover funds from an expired small-business loan program, as negotiations on a broader package ran into resistance. The administration proposal, which Democrats dismissed as inadequate, was the latest twist in on-again, off-again talks. In a letter to
lawmakers, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of State Mark Meadows said they would continue to talk to Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to try to reach agreement on a comprehensive bill. Daily Mail
Pelosi has obviously made a calculation that it would be better not to give this to Trump, and BTW, screw the economy and the America people.
Members don't recall Biden attending black church as a teen . . . On the campaign trail, Joe Biden has talked frequently about his early years in the civil rights movement. As a teenager, he says, he regularly attended a black church in Wilmington, Del., where he was involved in organizing anti-segregation protests in the early 1960s. "I got raised in the black church," Biden said in a speech to Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH coalition last
year. "We would go sit in Rev. Herring's church, sit there before we'd go out, and try to change things when I was a kid in college and in high school." Now, interviews with long-time church members are raising questions about his story. Biden befriended Herring as an adult, they say, but they do not recall him attending the church as a teenager. Washington Free Beacon
Biden has fantasized a whole life for himself that he never lived.
Twitter flags Trump for violating its rules . . . Twitter on Sunday flagged a tweet by Donald Trump in which the U.S. President claimed he was immune to the coronavirus, saying it violated the social media platform’s rules about misleading information related to COVID-19. “A total and complete sign off from White House Doctors yesterday. That means I can’t get it (immune), and can’t give it. Very nice to know,” Trump said in the tweet. The
post was flagged by Twitter with a disclaimer. “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19,” Twitter’s disclaimer read, adding that it had determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the tweet to remain accessible. Reuters
Eric Trump: My father has lost a fortune . . .Responding to a story that reported that hundreds of corporations, special interest groups and foreign governments seeking benefits patronized Trump Organization properties in recent years, the president's son argued Sunday that the groups represent a small proportion of their business and that his father has not benefited monetarily from his office.
"We've lost a fortune. My father lost a fortune running for president. He doesn't care," Eric Trump said on ABC's "This Week." "He wanted to do what was right. The last thing I can tell you Donald Trump needs in the world is this job." ABC News
Lindsey Graham's opponent shatters fundraising records . . . South Carolina Senate candidate Jaime Harrison raised a record-breaking $57 million in the past three months, a possible cause for concern for his opponent, incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham. Harrison, a former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, surpassed the quarterly fundraising record for a Senate raised, almost tripling the $20 million raised by Beto O'Rourke in
2018. Harrison's campaign said it got 1.5 million donations from 994,000 donors, averaging at $37 each. Throughout the total campaign cycle, Harrison's camp has raised $86 million. Washington Examiner
I'm not sure you can spend this much money in South Carolina.
National Security
Kim Jong Un "monster' missiles is designed to overwhelm US defenses . . . The missile Kim Jong Un rolled out this weekend could allow him to pack multiple atomic weapons in a single rocket and increase his chances of striking a U.S. city with a thermonuclear device. The size and likely engine configuration of the missile would allow it to carry several thousand pounds of payload anywhere in the U.S., according to
weapons experts who saw the new intercontinental ballistic missile Kim unveiled in a military parade on Saturday. Kim appears to have learned from the former Soviet Union that it’s more efficient to add warheads to a single system rather than to build more missiles and launchers, according to Ankit Panda, author of “Kim Jong Un and the Bomb: Survival and Deterrence in North Korea.” Bloomberg
International
Central Europe is buckling under coronavirus strain . . . Central Europe was barely touched in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, but it's doing much worse now — something that threatens to overwhelm the medical systems of many of the EU's poorer member countries. In the spring, countries like Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and others in the region clamped down hard and fast
— slamming shut borders, locking up their populations, shutting down schools, restaurants, bars and most shops. As a result, infections were significantly lower than in Western Europe. But a looser summer combined with a reopening of schools, plus some mixed messaging from politicians, has helped spark a huge surge in infections. Politico
Money
Bankruptcies show surprising decline . . . When the Covid-19 recession hit it seemed certain that a wave of bankruptcy filings would follow, swamping the court system and possibly even leading to a systemic collapse. Oddly, though, there hasn’t been any wave. By one key measure, bankruptcy filings have actually declined from last year. While Chapter 11 filings overall are up 21% from last year,
that number has been swelled by a sharp increase in filings by companies that have multiple affiliates, each of which files separately, says Ed Flynn, a consultant to the American Bankruptcy Institute. Counting just parent companies and those with no affiliates, Chapter 11 filings are 28% lower for March 1 through Sept. 30 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Flynn’s calculations. “It’s kind of amazing,” he says. Bloomberg
Yelp to flag "racist" businesses . . . Restaurant-rating powerhouse Yelp unveiled a new policy Thursday to flag businesses accused of racist behavior. The new feature will flag a business with a "Public Attention Alert" if someone associated with the business is accused of or a target of racism. The alert can escalate to a more serious "Business Accused of Racist Behavior Alert" in cases with more evidence backing accusations of
overt racism from a business. For this alert to be applied, there must be "resounding evidence of egregious, racist actions from a business owner or employee, such as using overtly racist slurs or symbols." Washington Free Beacon
A new way to destroy people's lives by calling them racist.
You should also know
Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt statues torn down in Portland . . . Statues of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt were torn down in Portland last night as rioting returned to the city on the eve of Columbus Day. In what organizers called an 'Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage', the two statues were torn down in the space of 10 minutes by protesters. Lincoln was condemned by protesters for the hangings of 38 Native American
warriors who were executed on Lincoln's orders after an uprising in 1862 - although he reprieved hundreds of others.
Theodore Roosevelt also made an enemy of Native Americans, once saying that 'I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of 10 are.' Daily Mail
I gather saving the nation and liberating the slaves is not enough of an achievement.
Lakers take 17th NBA title . . . On Sunday evening, the Lakers became champions for the 17th time with a 106-93 win over the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. At the end of a strange, heartbreaking season — the longest NBA season ever — Lebron James
won his fourth championship. He notched a triple-double in the clinching game — his first of the series — with 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. He earned Finals most valuable player honors for the fourth time in his career. Los Angeles Times
Security guard held on suspicion of murder in shooting at Denver rally . . . A security guard hired to protect a Denver television news crew covering opposing rallies of right-wing and left-wing political activists is being held in custody on suspicion of first-degree murder in the
fatal shooting of a protester, police said on Sunday. The deadly gunfire erupted on Saturday following a “verbal altercation” between the suspect and victim just as a “Patriot Rally” and a counter-demonstration dubbed a “BLM-Antifa Soup Drive” was drawing to a close. The suspected gunman, identified by police as Matthew Dolloff, 30, was arrested just after the shooting, which occurred in a courtyard outside an art museum, but he has not been formally charged, Montoya said. The man
shot to death was identified as Lee Keltner, 49, a Navy veteran who ran a hat-making business in the Denver area for many years. Reuters
Cowboys QB Prescott suffers gruesome compound fracture . . . Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was taken to hospital in tears on Sunday afternoon after a horrendous injury left his right foot swiveled around in its socket. The 27-year-old Prescott was tackled by New York
Giants' defensive back Logan Ryan after a nine-yard run, but could be seen twisting awkwardly as he hit the turf in Dallas.
Prescott immediately clutched at his ankle as medics ran onto the field. On Sunday night Prescott was in the hospital, from where his older brother Tad assured fans the star player was hopeful of a full recovery. Daily Mail
Guilty Pleasures
Loose emu sends authorities on wild goose chase . . . Police, animal control and state wildlife officers were summoned to a Florida neighborhood in which an emu was reported running loose and chasing locals on the street. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said the emu escaped on the west side of the city Thursday and led deputies, animal control officers and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers on
a chase through several neighborhoods. Witnesses said the emu was chasing pedestrians before authorities arrived. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Karen Parker said the emu was captured when it wandered to a local business, Nichols Truck Bodies, and basically entered a dead-end. UPI
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