•Bells at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., rang out 700 times – for more than an hour – Tuesday in memoriam of 700,000 U.S. deaths recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic . Meanwhile, 700 white flags were planted on the grounds between the National Mall and the Lincoln Monument.
Reports Say Moderates, Progressives Closer on Budget Reconciliation – President Biden and Democratic leaders are ready to downsize the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better social infrastructure program to $2.3 trillion “or lower,” according to a report in The New York Times covering the president’s visit to Michigan Tuesday to promote the plan. Citing private meetings at the White House Monday with House Democrats, party leaders are looking at narrowing the reconciliation bill’s plans for free community college and child tax credits and universal pre-Kindergarten, for example.
Part of the discussion involves whether some programs should be scaled back or cut out of the budget reconciliation bill altogether.
Meanwhile, Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-WV, indicated to reporters Tuesday he is willing to consider a bill in the $1.9-trillion to $2.2-trillion range, up from his previous best offer of $1.5 trillion, according to The Hill.
“I’m not ruling anything out, but the bottom line is I want to make sure that we’re strategic,” Manchin said, “and we do the right job and we don’t basically add more to the concerns we have right now.” Reiterating the notion that the difference between the sticker price of $3.5 trillion and his best offers equals a shift from Reaganomics to more “socialism” in our economy, he added that he doesn’t “want to change our whole society to an entitlement mentality.”
Note: There has been talk, even among progressives, that the proposed programs could be scaled back in the number of years of coverage, rather than dollar amount, though that hasn’t come up here. As it stands during current intra-party negotiations, the range of $1.5 trillion to $3.5 trillion covers 10 years, and even at the top level would remain well below annual defense spending.
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With an Estimated 12 Days to Go on the Debt Ceiling – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, plans for the third time an attempt to pass cloture on the bill approved by the House of Representatives to suspend the debt ceiling through December 2022 . Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, has repeatedly said Democrats must go it alone on this matter, and voting down cloture would force Democrats to go through the arduous process of suspending or raising the debt limit via the budget reconciliation process. Schumer has urged Republicans to simply “get out of the way” and allow a simple majority vote on the debt limit.
They have until, maybe, October 18, the day Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin says the federal government would default on its debt. As a constant reminder: Raising or suspending the debt limit would simply allow the government to pay for programs it already has funded. Biden Tuesday night also floated the idea Tuesday the Senate could “nuke” the filibuster.
Note: Business groups, corporate interests, to the rescue? K Street lobbyists for such groups are “quietly weighing” whether to spend money to “urge Republicans to end the standoff with Democrats,” Roll Call says. Wall Street, like Democrats, fear what will happen to the economy if nothing moves forward before October 18.
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Haugen Unites Republicans and Democrats on Senate Panel – It took whistleblower Frances Haugen to testify that Facebook’s corporate culture promotes “growing at all costs” over user safety to bring together Republicans and Democrats, at least those on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Tuesday. Senators from both parties praised Haugen, a former data scientist for the social media monolith, for leaking internal Facebook documents to The Wall Street Journal and speaking out against its harmful effects.
Facebook consistently chooses “growth and virality over public safety,” Haugen told the committee.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-MA, went so far as to call Haugen a “hero.” Senators from both sides spoke of potential regulation against social media, with Facebook and its affiliated companies, including Instagram, the biggest target.
In an email to staff, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote that “many claims don’t make sense,” and said the company cares about safety and public health, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. Zuckerberg said he doesn’t recognize the company portrayed by Haugen.
Note: Haugen suggested regulation of social media begin with abolishing Section 230, which gives such platforms immunity from libel laws that can be imposed on the authors who post on the social media platform.
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New Student Debt Policy Targets Public Sector Relief – The Education Department will unveil a revised Public Service Loan Forgiveness program Wednesday that targets student debt relief for about 550,000 borrowers, The Wall Street Journal reports. The planned changes would help less than half the 1.3 million individuals enrolled in the program get closer to forgiveness.
--Edited by Todd Lassa and Charles Dervarics