Day: September 25, 2021

Democrats pushed a $3.5 trillion, 10-year bill strengthening social safety net and climate programs through the House Budget Committee on Saturday, but one Democrat opposed the measure in an illustration of the challenges party leaders face in winning the near unanimity they’ll need to carry the sprawling package through Congress.

The Democratic-dominated panel, meeting virtually, approved the measure on a near party-line vote, 20-17. Passage marked a necessary but minor step for Democrats by edging the bill closer to debate by the full House. Under budget rules, the committee wasn’t allowed to significantly amend the 2,465-page measure, the product of 13 other House committees.

The more important work has been happening in an opaque procession of mostly unannounced phone calls, meetings and other bargaining sessions among party leaders and rank-and-file lawmakers. President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have led a behind-the-scenes hunt for compromises to resolve internal divisions and, they hope, allow approval of the mammoth bill soon.

Pelosi told fellow Democrats in a letter Saturday that they must pass the social and environment bill this week, along with a separate infrastructure bill and a third measure preventing a government shutdown on Friday.

“The next few days will be a time of intensity,” she wrote.

Political vulnerability

Moderate Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., joined all 16 Republicans on the Budget Committee in opposing the legislation. His objections included one that troubles many Democrats: a reluctance to support a bill with provisions that would later be dropped by the Senate.

Many Democrats don’t want to become politically vulnerable by backing language that might be controversial back home, only to see it not become law. That preference for voting only on a social and environment bill that’s already a House-Senate compromise could complicate Pelosi’s effort for a House vote this week.

Peters was among three Democrats who earlier this month voted against a plan favored by most in his party to lower pharmaceutical costs by letting Medicare negotiate for the prescription drugs it buys.

Party leaders have tried for weeks to resolve differences among Democrats over the package’s final price tag, which seems sure to shrink. There are also disputes over which initiatives should be reshaped, among them expanded Medicare, tax breaks for children and health care, a push toward cleaner energy, and higher levies on the rich and corporations.

Democrats’ wafer-thin majorities in the House and Senate mean compromise is mandatory. Before the measure the Budget panel approved Saturday even reaches the House floor, it is expected to be changed to reflect whatever House-Senate accords have been reached, and additional revisions are likely.

‘Decades of disinvestment’

The overall bill embodies the crux of Biden’s top domestic goals. Budget panel Chairman John Yarmuth, D-Ky., cited “decades of disinvestment” on needs like health care, education, child care and the environment as the rationale for the legislation.

“The futures of millions of Americans and their families are at stake. We can no longer afford the costs of neglect and inaction. The time to act is now,” Yarmuth said.

Republicans say the proposal is unneeded, unaffordable amid accumulated federal debt exceeding $28 trillion and reflects Democrats’ drive to insert government into people’s lives. Its tax boosts will cost jobs and include credits for buying electric vehicles, purchases often made by people with comfortable incomes, they said.

“This bill is a disaster for working-class families,” said Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, the committee’s top Republican. “It’s a big giveaway to the wealthy, it’s a laundry list of agenda items pulled right out of the Bernie Sanders socialist playbook.”

The unusual weekend session occurred as top Democrats amp up efforts to end increasingly bitter disputes between the party’s centrist and progressive wings that threaten to undermine Biden’s agenda.

A collapse of the measure at his own party’s hands would be a wounding preview to the coming election year, in which House and Senate control are at stake.

Infrastructure bill

To nail down moderates’ support for an earlier budget blueprint, Pelosi promised to begin House consideration by Monday of another pillar of Biden’s domestic plans: a $1 trillion collection of roadway and other infrastructure projects. Pelosi reaffirmed this week that the infrastructure debate would begin Monday.

But many moderates who consider the infrastructure bill their top goal also want to cut the $3.5 trillion social and environment package and trim or reshape some of its programs. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., have been among the most visible centrists demanding a smaller price tag.

In response, progressives — their top priority is the $3.5 trillion measure — are threatening to vote against the infrastructure bill if it comes up for a vote first. Their opposition seems likely to be enough to scuttle it, and Pelosi hasn’t definitively said when a vote on final passage of the infrastructure measure will occur.

With each portion of the party threatening to upend the other’s most cherished goal — a political disaster in the making for Democrats — top Democrats are using the moment to accelerate talks on the massive social and climate legislation. Compromise is a requirement, because the party can lose no votes in the Senate and a maximum of three in the House to succeed in the narrowly split Congress.

Source: Voice of America

More than 6 billion COVID-19 shots have been administered worldwide since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.

Some 6.6 billion people had received at least one dose of a vaccine as of early Saturday afternoon, the center reported.

The milestone was reached one day after U.S. President Joe Biden said about 60 million Americans were eligible for booster shots against the coronavirus.

Biden urged eligible Americans to get the boosters and said he would get his own as soon as possible.

In comments Friday from the White House, Biden said, “Like your first and second shot, the booster shot is free and easily accessible.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday approved the Pfizer boosters for Americans 65 or older; frontline workers such as teachers, health care workers and others whose jobs place them at risk of contracting COVID-19; and those ages 50 to 64 with underlying conditions.

The booster shot will be available for those who received the Pfizer vaccine at least six months ago. The White House said Friday that 20 million Americans were eligible for the shot immediately, while a total of 60 million Pfizer-shot recipients would be eligible for boosters once they reached the six-month mark.

The European Union’s drug watchdog said Thursday that it planned to decide in early October whether to approve a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for those over age 16.

In related news:

— In the Netherlands on Saturday, hundreds of people protested a new pass required as proof of vaccination. The “corona pass” is required for entry into bars, eating establishments, theaters and other venues.

The introduction of the pass came after the lifting of nearly all social distancing measures in the country, where 72% of the population has received at least one dose.

Hours after the pass requirement was imposed, caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s government fired a cabinet minister who had publicly questioned it.

— Travelers arriving in Ireland are no longer subjected to a mandatory two-week quarantine in a hotel. The government ended the requirement Saturday.

Ireland’s health ministry said in a statement the decision was “based on the latest advice received from the chief medical officer.”

The requirement was imposed in late March.

— Two hosts of the popular U.S. ABC-TV daytime show The View were abruptly asked to leave the set Friday during a live broadcast, ahead of a much-anticipated interview with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. Show hosts Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro had tested positive for COVID-19.

Joy Behar, another host, said, “No matter how hard we try, these things happen. They probably have a breakthrough case. They’ll be OK, I’m sure, because they are both vaccinated up the wazoo.”

Harris had been scheduled to do an interview on the set with the four hosts, but after the positive tests, the first U.S. female vice president did a remote interview with the show’s remaining two hosts, Behar and Sara Haines. Whoopi Goldberg, also a show host, was not on the set Friday.

— The Guardian reported that schools in England were “struggling” to stay open in the face of student COVID-19 outbreaks.

Some schools have resorted to reinstating restrictions imposed last school year, such as social distancing and mask-wearing.

Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, told The Guardian, “We have seen a significant increase in the number of calls to our advice lines from school leaders asking for support and guidance about how best to manage COVID outbreaks.”

— Norway’s government said Friday that it would end all remaining coronavirus restrictions on Saturday.

“It is 561 days since we introduced the toughest measures in Norway in peacetime. … Now the time has come to return to a normal daily life,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg told a news conference.

— In Australia, health officials announced Friday that more than half the population had been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

A wave of coronavirus infections has led to lockdowns in Australia’s two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, as well as the capital, Canberra.

— Health officials in South Korea said Saturday that the number of new COVID-19 cases in the previous 24-hour period had passed 3,000. Authorities said they thought a three-day holiday this week might have been the source of the recent surge in cases.

Officials said that although cases were spiking, the mortality rate and the number of severe cases remained relatively low. They attributed that in large part to a vaccination campaign that prioritized older people and those who were at high risk for disease.

— In Singapore, the health ministry announced it was tightening restrictions to fight a wave of coronavirus infections. The new policies included limiting social gatherings to two people, down from five.

The ministry also reported 1,650 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest since the beginning of the pandemic.

Earlier this week, Singapore said 92% of the population had been fully vaccinated. Officials said about 98% of the confirmed coronavirus cases in the past four weeks were in people who had mild or no symptoms.

Source: Voice of America