Vials of Pfizer's lower-dose Covid-19 vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds show an orange label, versus the purple one used for the vaccine for those 12 and up.
“FDA vaccine advisers voted yesterday to recommend emergency use authorization of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine in children 5 to 11. Members agreed the benefits of vaccinating younger kids appear to outweigh risks, and some were reassured by the fact that the dose for younger kids is much lower -- one-third the amount -- than an adult dose. Now, the FDA itself must decide whether to authorize it before the question goes to CDC advisers next week and finally the CDC director. That agency separately has suggested that some immunocompromised people may benefit from a fourth Covid-19 mRNA vaccine shot at least six months after a third one. But there are no hard guidelines, so the CDC says people should consult their doctors.” Read more at CNN
“New coronavirus infections in the United States have dropped nearly 60 percent since a September spike brought on by the more contagious delta variant, according to data compiled by The Washington Post.
The seven-day average of infections stood at about 69,000 this week, figures show, reflecting a 58 percent drop from the latest surge’s peak around Sept. 13, when the average for that week was 164,475.
The impact of vaccinations is clear in regions with the highest uptake. Puerto Rico recorded a seven-day average of 1,121 new cases on Aug. 23 as it wrestled with delta; that figure had declined to 105 as of Tuesday. About 73 percent of Puerto Ricans are immunized.
But a handful of states are still struggling to turn the tide, especially as colder weather brings more people indoors again. In Montana, 45 out of every 100,000 people are hospitalized due to covid-19 — the highest rate in the country. Just over half the state’s population is fully vaccinated — below the national rate of 57.5 percent. Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, Utah and Vermont have not yet stemmed the initial increases in cases and deaths triggered by the delta variant surge.
The United States has recorded more than 45 million coronavirus infections during the pandemic, the most in the world. More than 737,000 people have died.” Read more at Washington Post
“Bolsonaro’s Brazil. A Brazilian Senate investigative committee recommended President Jair Bolsonaro be indicted on a number of criminal charges, including crimes against humanity, for his role in the country’s COVID-19 epidemic. The committee voted 7-to-4 in approving the move, although it’s unlikely Bolsonaro’s hand-picked prosecutor will bring charges against him. As Bolsonaro’s approval ratings continue to slide, he received a vote of confidence from former U.S. President Donald Trump, who endorsed the president ahead of Brazil’s election in 2022.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Democrats are close to hammering out the language in their spending bill, which would allow it and the bipartisan infrastructure bill to move forward. President Biden has been clear that universal preschool and subsidized child care components need to stay, even as other priorities have been pared down. Paid family leave will also stay in the bill, though it has been stripped to four weeks from a proposed 12. The party really wants an infrastructure vote this week because key highway funding runs out Sunday. But progressives say they need more than just a framework for the spending bill to vote on the infrastructure bill. That sets up a potential clash with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Dems that could thwart Biden's broad domestic agenda.” Read more at CNN
Graphic: CNN
“In a last-second scramble to pay for President Biden's legacy-defining plans, Senate Democrats yesterday unveiled:
A billionaires' tax — an entirely new entry in the tax code — that would affect roughly 700 taxpayers with over $1 billion in assets or $100 million in annual income for three consecutive years.
A 15% corporate minimum tax on corporations with more than $1 billion in annual income.
Details: The billionaire tax "would impose the capital gains tax — 23.8 percent — on the gain in value of billionaires' tradable assets, such as stocks, bonds and cash, based on the original price of those assets," the N.Y. Times' Jonathan Weisman writes.
For startup tycoons, ‘that hit would be enormous, since the initial value of their horde of stocks was zero. They would have five years to pay.’” Read more at Axios
“Even as Democrats put the final touches on a billionaire tax proposal to fund President Joe Biden’s expansion of the social safety net, the plan is facing skepticism from some in the party.” [Vox] Read more at Reuters / Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw
“Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden has drafted a proposal that would tax increases in the value of assets (like stocks) for billionaires. But it may be swapped for a different measure, targeting those earning more than $5 million per year. Democrats may also set a tax minimum for large corporations to raise revenues.” [Vox] Read more at Washington Post / Andrew Van Dam, Jeff Stein and Tony Romm
“The last-minute addition of the billionaire tax was the result of Sen. Krysten Sinema’s opposition to a more traditional tax increase for those earning more than $500,000 per year. It isn’t clear whether Sinema is entirely on board with the plan, but fellow moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, appears to be: ‘I’m open to any type of thing that makes people pay, that’s not paying now,’ Manchin said. Read more at The Hill / Jordain Carney
“The billionaire tax is more targeted than Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s blanket wealth tax of 3 percent, which she unveiled during the 2020 presidential primary, but it is unclear whether Wyden’s proposal can stand up to legal scrutiny.” [Vox] Read more at New York Times / Neil Irwin
“In recent months, reporting from ProPublica has revealed that US billionaires are paying taxes at a lower rate than the average American; Democrats’ new tax hopes to ensure that the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg pay their fair share.” [Vox] Read more at Bloomberg / Ben Steverman, Sophie Alexander, and Scott Carpenter
“Not everyone is on board with raising taxes on only the ultra-rich — some House Democrats maintain the best way to raise revenue is to increase the tax rate on corporations and individuals earning more than $400,000. That seems unlikely to happen, however, given Sinema's opposition.” [Vox] Read more at AP / Lisa Mascaro, Darlene Superville, and Alan Fram
“The scope and impact of the cache of internal documents known as the Facebook Papers is growing as more records are released and more news outlets join the consortium reporting on them. Among claims that Facebook knew its platform was being used to sow violence, extremism and political discord, some documents reveal it struggled with its campaign to battle Covid-19 misinformation. While publicly Facebook touted its efforts, some within the company questioned whether its systems could adequately handle the task. The whole issue has heightened calls for more regulation of the platform and social media in general. To that end, executives from TikTok, Snap and YouTube were grilled by senators yesterday about the steps their platforms are taking to protect their young users, weeks after a Facebook executive faced questions on the same issue.” Read more at CNN
“Social-media companies defended their child-safety records at a Senate hearing. Senators raised concerns about children’s use of social-media platforms TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube at a hearing Tuesday, aiming to build a case for new legislation to protect children online. The companies say they are taking steps to keep youngsters away from potentially harmful content.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“World leaders are preparing for the COP26 climate summit that kicks off this weekend in Glasgow. Biden wants some sort of US climate measures in place to back up his pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but negotiations in Congress -- and rising gas prices -- are complicating things. Australia's Prime Minister unveiled a new climate plan yesterday, announcing that his country would aim to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. But it could be too little, too late. The plan comes after months of pressure from international allies and is arguably the weakest climate plan among the G20's developed nations. In fact, a group of Torres Strait Islanders living off Australia's north coast filed a court claim against the Australian government yesterday, saying it has failed to protect them from climate change.” Read more at CNN
“Top executives from ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and Shell will be grilled on Capitol Hill tomorrow about evidence that their companies knew for years that their products were driving climate change — but chose to downplay or deny it, Axios' Andrew Freedman writes.
Why it matters: The hearing before the House Oversight Committee will be the first time the executives have been brought together for sworn testimony on the topic.
Lawmakers want to know to what extent these top officials and their colleagues sought to mislead the public about the existence and severity of human-caused climate change, such as by funding groups that promoted climate denial.
The hearing was prompted in part by two ExxonMobil lobbyists who — caught in a Greenpeace sting operation revealed last summer — discussed tactics for evading regulation and public accountability.
What we're watching: Oversight Committee chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who heads the panel's environment subcommittee, have both compared this week's hearing to the famous 1994 tobacco hearings.
Khanna plans to investigate the companies for at least the next year.
What the companies say: Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said the company is working with the committee to produce the requested information.” Read more at Axios
“WASHINGTON — Immigration arrests in the interior of the United States fell in fiscal 2021 to the lowest level in more than a decade , roughly half the annual totals recorded during the Trump administration, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data obtained by The Washington Post.
Officers working for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations made about 72,000 administrative arrests during the fiscal year that ended in September, down from 104,000 during the 2020 fiscal year and an average of 148,000 annually from 2017 through 2019.
This administrative arrest data is considered one of the best gauges of ICE activity because interior enforcement is entirely under the agency’s control, unlike deportations and other metrics that rise and fall with migration trends at the Mexico border.” Read more at Boston Globe
“The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is expected to subpoena John Eastman, the pro-Trump legal scholar who outlined scenarios for denying Joe Biden the presidency, according to the panel’s chairman.” Read more at Washington Post
“The men shot by Kyle Rittenhouse can't be called ‘victims’ at his trial for shooting three people, two fatally, but may be called ‘looters,’ a Wisconsin judge said.” Read more at USA Today
“The district attorney and sheriff in Sante Fe, New Mexico, will hold a news conference Wednesday to discuss the investigation into the fatal shooting on the set of the movie ‘Rust.’ On Thursday, a prop gun fired during rehearsal by Alec Baldwin, star and producer of the period Western, killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, and injured director Joel Souza, 48. No criminal charges have been filed and production remains on hold. Not long into filming, ‘Rust’ was facing crew complaints about working conditions, and one camera crew eventually walked out. Also, assistant director Dave Halls, who had declared the gun safe before Baldwin took possession, had faced safety complaints in previous productions, the Associated Press reported.” Read more at USA Today
“Wild weather is expected to continue to affect several large swaths of the U.S. Wednesday as the bomb cyclone that slammed the West Coast over the weekend heads east. The heaviest rainfall, totals of 4-8 inches, was forecast for parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut into Wednesday, AccuWeather reported. Gusty winds as a nor'easter will be confined to Long Island, New York, Massachusetts' Cape Cod and north to coastal New Hampshire. The storm is forecast to complete a loop near the Northeast coast into Wednesday night, which will prolong adverse conditions, Accuweather reported. Farther south, storms will move through the eastern parts of Oklahoma and Texas Wednesday morning, Accuweather said. Severe weather risks will persist and continue to shift eastward across part of South Central states and along the Gulf Coast.” Read more at USA Today
“Young adults with colon cancer are just as likely to die from the disease as older people — in some cases, maybe even more likely — Axios health care editor Tina Reed writes from a study to be published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Why it matters: Colorectal cancer is among the fastest-growing cancers among people younger than 50, and researchers aren't sure why.
The big picture: In May, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force lowered the recommended age Americans should start getting screened for colon cancer, from age 50 to age 45.
The task force said the recommendation reflected the fact that colon cancer — the third-leading cause of cancer death for both men and women in the U.S. — is increasingly striking adults younger than 50.” Read more at Axios
“HOUSTON — Everybody in baseball loves Charlie Morton. He used to pitch for the Houston Astros, and José Altuve called him the best teammate ‘you can ever have.’ He now pitches for the Atlanta Braves, and his teammates say they treasure him, his humility, and his thoughtfulness, too. He began this World Series as universally respected as a baseball player can be. He will end it as a legend.
Because no one on either side will forget what Morton did in the Braves’ 6-2 win in Game 1 on Tuesday night. After a comebacker hit his right leg in the second inning, Morton jogged over to cover first base. He struck out a batter. He got another to ground out. He sat for a whole half-inning, returned to the mound and struck out Altuve. Then he walked off the mound with a trainer and out of the World Series, no longer able to put weight on a leg that X-rays would soon reveal had a broken fibula.” Read more at Washington Post
“A year after the coronavirus pandemic hammered undergraduate enrollment, many colleges and universities are still reporting a decline in people pursuing degrees this semester, especially schools serving large populations of low-income students.
A snapshot of fall head counts released Tuesday by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows undergraduate enrollment down 3.2 percent since fall 2020, largely mirroring last fall’s drop of 3.5 percent. The data capture head counts through Sept. 23 at half of the institutions that report to the Clearinghouse, roughly 1,800 schools, and are a closely watched indicator of sector-wide trends.
Continued erosion of enrollment could have significant impacts on college completion rates in the coming years and raises questions about the economic trajectory of a generation of students. Some higher education experts had hoped last year’s dire enrollment data reflected a temporary blip, but the enduring trend has some worried about whether the most vulnerable students will return to the educational pipeline.
‘It seems like a lot of young people are going to work instead of college, especially ... students from low-income families who’ve been lured away by this temporary hitch in the labor market where wages are increasing,’ said Doug Shapiro, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.” Read more at Boston Globe
“Nine months before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin did the same. At 82, Colvin is fighting to have her arrest record expunged.” Read more at New York Times
“Lives Lived: Mort Sahl revolutionized stand-up comedy, taking an acerbic look at society when other comics were delivering joke-book punch lines. He died at 94.” Read more at New York Times
“Myanmar's ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi testified in court yesterday for the first time since she and the rest of the country’s leadership were overthrown in a military coup this year. If she is found guilty of the raft of charges against her, she could spend years in prison. A gag order on her legal team, imposed by the junta, has prevented her testimony from being made public. Meanwhile, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders summit in Brunei began yesterday -- without a representative from Myanmar. The group has refused to recognize junta leader Gen. Min Aung Hlaing because of the military’s failure to end the coup-related violence in the country and allow humanitarian aid.” Read more at CNN
“Sudan’s coup. Sudan’s coup leader General Abdel-Fattah Burhan defended the military takeover of the country on Tuesday, saying it was necessary to prevent civil war as he placed blame on political leaders for stalling the country’s political transition. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok returned to his home in Khartoum on Tuesday after being detained for two days in the home of Burhan. Hamdok is under ‘heavy security,’ according to a Sudanese military official, but it’s not yet confirmed whether he is under house arrest.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on the phone with Hamdok on Tuesday, according to a State Department readout, which called for the release of all civilian officials detained by Sudan’s military.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Israel’s new settlements. Israel prepares to move forward with plans to approve 3,000 new homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank today, a move that has drawn a rare rebuke from Washington. Speaking on Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the Biden administration was ‘deeply concerned’ with potential settlement expansion, a policy the administration “strongly” opposed.
Price’s comments, taken with his admission Monday that the administration had not been informed prior to Israel’s recent decision to designate six Palestinian civil society organizations as terrorist groups, signal increasing frustration with Naftali Bennett’s government, which faces its own internal divisions over the issues.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Iran talks. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani meets EU senior diplomat Enrique Mora today in Brussels as U.S. officials continue to push for a return to the nuclear negotiating table in Vienna.
On Monday, U.S. Iran envoy Robert Malley said efforts to return to the talks were entering a ‘critical phase’ and that ‘shared impatience’ was beginning to creep in to the thinking of the United States and its allies. Speaking on Tuesday, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said President Joe Biden would huddle with French, German, and British leaders (the so-called E3 countries) during his upcoming European travel to seek a ‘united front’ in approaching Iran.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“The Justice Department is moving more cautiously on a Trump-era initiative that accused Chinese and Chinese-American researchers of stealing U.S. secrets after a number of cases fizzled in court.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Environmental group Greenpeace called on the European Union to ban short flights on routes where a train journey under six hours is available.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Hong Kong is expected to prohibit films that run contrary to the interests of a Beijing-drafted national security law, the latest crackdown on freedom of expression. The opposition-free legislature amended the Film Censorship Bill, turning movie censors into gatekeepers with penalties as high as $130,000 and three years in prison for those who screen non-approved content. Questions hang over how the changes would impact streaming services like Netflix, which offers a documentary on student activist Joshua Wong.” Read more at Bloomberg