A Crowded Moment
In Jon Meacham’s book, “The Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels,” he wrote “It was a crowded moment” in reference to the time in American history after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The country was in shock over the assassination, Kennedy’s civil rights bill was pending in Congress, and there was debate over voting rights. Today, America is facing another “crowded moment.” A landmark climate report is being described as code red for humanity, the Western Region of the United States is literally on fire, the country’s infrastructure is falling apart, and COVID-19 is surging across the U.S. with new cases averaging over 115,000 per day. This is a defining moment for America, and we are not pulling together as a country to meet these pressing challenges. The well-being of our health, economy, and land are all on the line. There is no time to waste. The country is literally and figuratively burning. What will it take to get the country to come together? It’s anyone’s guess. If we do not come together as one - E Pluribis Unum - the fires that are burning in so many aspects of our society will spin more out of control and threaten all of our futures.
Quick Facts
Infrastructure & Reconciliation: The U.S. Senate passed a landmark $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill by a bipartisan vote of 69-30. Nineteen Republican senators, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined all 50 Democrats in passing the legislation. The Senate also passed a $3.5 trillion budget resolution on a party-line vote of 50-49. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., issued reconciliation instructions to Senate committees to write their sections of the bill by September 15. The final reconciliation package, according to Schumer, will include “Every part of Biden’s [human infrastructure] proposal…in a big and robust way.” He did acknowledge, however, that there is still a long road to travel to succeed in his two-track strategy of moving both a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a Democratic-only reconciliation package through Congress.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is being pulled by all sides on infrastructure and reconciliation. The progressive members of the House Democratic caucus do not want to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill until reconciliation has passed, and several moderate House Democrats are insisting on voting on the bipartisan bill right away. The House of Representatives was scheduled to be out of session until mid-September, but it will reconvene the week of August 23 to vote on the budget resolution.
For the People Act: Majority Leader Schumer filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the voting rights bill, the For the People Act. Schumer announced that voting rights would be the first matter of legislative business when the Senate returns from its recess in September. The final bill language is still being negotiated.
Code Red: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), comprised of leading climate scientists, issued a report warning the world that aggressive action is needed now to slow down the warming of the planet. The report concluded that the 1.5C limit for global temperature set by the Paris climate agreement will be exceeded within 20 years unless greenhouse gas emissions are drastically reduced. The report also found that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land at an unprecedented rate, and that climate change is affecting every inhabited region around the globe. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the IPCC report “a code red for humanity.”
He’s Out: New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, who announced earlier this week that he was resigning his office after the release of a report finding that he had sexually harassed several women, will not face impeachment in the state legislature. The speaker of the New York State Assembly announced yesterday that the investigation into the governor would end when his resignation becomes effective later this month.
Afghanistan: As the security situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate with the Taliban seizing more cities, including Kandahar, the administration is deploying 3,000 troops to the country to assist in the removal of U.S. civilian personnel. A reserve force of around 3,500 troops will be deployed to Kuwait in case it is needed. Just a few days ago, President Biden stated that he did not regret his decision to drawdown U.S. troops from Afghanistan, which is slated to be completed by the end of August. Since then, the Taliban has seized even more territory in the country. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement stating that “Afghanistan is careening toward a massive, predictable, and preventable disaster. And the Administration’s surreal efforts to defend President Biden’s reckless policy are frankly humiliating.” He went on to say, “al Qaeda and the Taliban may celebrate the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks by burning down our Embassy in Kabul.”
Summit for Democracy: In December, President Biden will hold a virtual Summit for Democracy followed by an in-person summit next year. The goals of the summit are to obtain commitments from leaders of a group of the world’s democracies to defend against authoritarianism, fight corruption, and promote respect for human rights.
COVID-19:
Delta Variant & Vaccines: A new study by the Mayo Clinic conducted from January - July 2021 found that in July, when the delta variant was dominant in the United States, the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines had reduced effectiveness in preventing infection for fully vaccinated individuals. The effectiveness of the Moderna vaccine was 76% and 42% for the Pfizer vaccine. The study found that the mRNA vaccines “strongly protect” against severe disease. The study has not yet been peer reviewed.
Booster Shots: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the emergency use authorizations for the mRNA Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to authorize a third dose for a limited number of people who are immunocompromised. The FDA specifically mentioned solid organ transplant recipients and those “diagnosed with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent level of immunocompromise.” Yesterday, the head of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, signed the CDC advisory committee’s recommendation for an additional dose of a mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for “people with moderately to severely compromised immune systems.” Included in this category are people being treated for cancer tumors and blood cancer, organ transplant recipients, and people on immunosuppressive drugs, among others. At Thursday’s White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House chief COVID-19 medical advisor, said in reference to the general population that “We believe sooner or later you will need a booster for durability of protection.”
Pregnant Women: The CDC now recommends that pregnant women get a COVID-19 vaccine citing the safety of the vaccine and the fact that pregnant women are at increased risk for severe illness from the virus.
Transmission: Over 93% of counties in the U.S. have a high or substantial rate of COVID-19 community transmission. Over 97% of the new COVID-19 cases in the country are the delta variant strain.
College Vaccine Mandate: In a challenge to Indiana University’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all students, faculty, and staff, the Supreme Court declined a request from some students to block the mandate.
Chutzpah: Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who banned mask mandates in his state, has requested more than 2,500 medical personnel from other states to help with the growing COVID-19 crisis in Texas. Maybe the governor would not need help from other states if he had let the local authorities institute mask requirements.
Global cases: 206,200,504
Global deaths: 4,345,435
U.S. cases: 36,596,499
U.S. deaths: 621,011