Beltway Insider: Biden/Recovery Readjusts, January 6, COVID/Vaccine Totals, Boston Bomber, Parkland, Durst

Details: Category: Beltway Insider; Published on Sunday, 17 October 2021 15:59; Written by Janet Walker

The Congressional Hearing investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, encouraged by former President Trump, has taken on new urgency after key members of former President Trump's cabinet refused to acknowledge subpoenas to testify before the House select committee.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com, for the period ending October 17, 2021, increased by 0.8% to 44.8% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness increased by 0.6% percentage points to 49.5%, Marking the first time in the Biden presidency that his disapproval rating has been higher than his approval rating. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

Beltway Insider: Biden/Inflation, ICE, COVID/Vaccine, Pfizer/Merck, Damian Williams, NBA/Varsity Blues

January 6 - Congressional Subpoenas

Congressional subpoenas, issued in September, for members of former President's Trump Administration in an effort to determine what or who caused the delay in deployment of additional security, and the National Guard to the Capitol, have been largely ignored by the four members of his team.

"The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has issued subpoenas to two top Trump White House officials, former chief of staff Mark Meadows and former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, as well as to Kash Patel, who was serving as chief of staff to the acting defense secretary that day. An additional subpoena targets longtime Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon," reported The Washington Post.

Bannon, who was not a member of the president's administration on January 6, has responded to the committee through his attorney who explained his client will not provide documents or testimony. He furthered explained his client was shielding himself through former President's Trump claim of executive privilege.

Former President Trump has invoked Executive privilege in refusing to provide documentation regarding his memos on the day or any conversation he had throughout the four hours of televised coverage in which members of the Proud Boys, a radical left-wing organization who acted upon "orders" from "their" president, repeatedly breeched secured barriers of the Capitol building in an effort to "stop the steal" or disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

Biden Reacts to Subpoena Snub

"I hope that the committee goes after them and holds them accountable criminally," Biden said when asked by reporters his message to those who defy the subpoenas.

"We are completely of one mind that if people refuse to respond to questions without justification that we will hold them in criminal contempt and refer them to the Justice Department," Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the panel, said in an interview Tuesday," reported The Washington Post.

False Assertion of Election Fraud

January 6, 2021, had been announced via social media in terms that denoted unrest, the possibility of riots, and a show of solidarity to a President who had propagated he was the victim of widespread voter fraud and the democrats, and especially Democratic Speaker of House of the House Nancy Pelosi, were responsible for furthering this agenda in order to replace President Trump whom they believed stole the election in 2016 from democratic challenger and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The House select committee is investigating the actions or inactions of the president to address the insurrection takeover of the Capitol building.

The subpoenaed members of Trump's Administration "were firsthand witnesses to the president's state of mind and hopes for his speech on the Ellipse, where he urged thousands of protesters to go up Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol and to "fight like hell" for their country," reported The Washington Post.

It was not until nearly four hours after rioting broke out, multiple barriers had been breached, offices ransacked, members of the senate and house of representatives evacuated, police officers injured, violence and death that the President finally urged his followers to leave the Capitol.

Bill Clinton Released from Hospital

Former President Bill Clinton, 75, was treated this week for a non-covid related infection. He has since been released.

"University of California Irvine Health Department of Medicine Executive Director Dr. Alpesh N. Amin, who had been overseeing Clinton's medical team, released a statement following Clinton's release. '"President Clinton was discharged from UC Irvine Medical Center today. His fever and white blood cell count are normalized, and he will return home to New York to finish his course of antibiotics,"' Amin wrote," CNN reported.

The Great Resignation

As Americans moves into post-pandemic isolation and permanent Covid management, workers who were forced to leave the office behind and begin the sojourn into remote employment, are now faced with the decision, as employers are calling them back into what was once a trade-off, long commutes, and long hours, for the commanding salaries.

Covid changed the dynamics of the modern office, and the explosion in remote opportunities fueled the freedom to remake employment according to the design and liking of the individual.

"Some 4.3 million people quit jobs in August, according to new data from the Labor Department — about 2.9 percent of the workforce. The phenomenon is being driven in part by workers who are less willing to endure inconvenient hours, poor compensation or bad conditions because they know there are ample opportunities elsewhere," The Washington Post reported.

Even as noticeable inflation continues to touch every area of consumer spending, employees, who were once at the mercy of the employer, have had to make living adjustments and now as the nation continues to reopen, they have simply decided to redesign what was once considered the normal progression.

World News: France and the Catholic Church - Forgiveness Will Not Be Enough

Friends, Lovers and Others Hunt for Homes

The Coronavirus pandemic drove many from dense urban cities to the suburbs, and for some the move to the countryside which only months before seemed like a fantasy become a reality as they decided along with their friends, lovers, roommates, or significant others to take the plunge, pool their expenses, and embark on the great American dream of homeownership.

"For millennials, many of whom are getting married later in life, swimming in student-loan debt and facing soaring home prices, homeownership can feel more like a fantasy than an achievable goal. So, some first-time home buyers are taking a more creative route to make it happen—by pooling their finances with partners, friends, or roommates," reported The Wall Street Journal.

Either forced by circumstances into decisions that would have been put off indefinitely or the confined isolation of the pandemic, which brought about new, bolder ideas, the concept of homeownership has been altered by the ever-changing time.

As the boundaries which have limited so many from homeownership shifting, many across all demographics are ready to test the homeownership market. Co-buying may be new to some, but it has become extremely popular as the rising costs of homeownership drive many away from even the thought, had made up the majority of new buyers.

"Legal experts advise buyers to consult a real-estate attorney to help write a co-ownership agreement that covers every possible scenario, from job loss to marriage to personal fallouts," reported The Wall Street Journal.

Social Security Recipients See Pay Raise

For more than 64million American who receive Social Security Benefits, the recent cost of living adjustment increase announcement by the Social Security Administration, couldn't arrive too soon.

With inflation consuming more of the dollar each day, the 5.9 percent cost of living adjustment increase is tied to the Consumer Price index as determined by the Bureau of Labor statistic.

"The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 64 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2022. Increased payments to approximately 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 30, 2021," the Social Security Administration wrote in a press release.

Vaccine Totals

Bloomberg.com has built a vaccine tracker which can be seen here. "In the U.S., 407 million doses have been given so far. In the last week, an average of 675,562 doses per day were administered," Bloomberg.com reported.

Coronavirus Totals

While the infection rates of the coronavirus have continued to decline around the world. A new strain, a mutation, has created global concern for leaders around the world are determining the best direction for the protection of the population. The importance of maintaining personal protective practices is imperative to controlling the spread.

For the week ending October 17, 2021, coronavirus cases globally increased by 2,816,867 new confirmed cases, bringing the total of confirmed cases worldwide to 240,303,797 people with a total worldwide death toll of 4,893,358 deaths, and a single-week death rate increase of 149,405. (Data from The New York Times).

COVID US Totals

Infections rates in the United States are also on the rise. For the week ending October 17, 2021, the total confirmed cases rose to 44,306,983 people with new confirmed cases increasing by 585,724 with a 7-day average of 83,674 cases per day. The coronavirus has claimed 724,317 total deaths, adding 10,992 more deaths to the total of lives lost due to the coronavirus. (Data from The New York Times).

Pentagon's Diary Gets Personal

Protecting for gain of function knowledge only aides those who initiated the constitutional violations. It does nothing to combat the homegrown terrorism or the narcissist above the law belief.

Justice Watch: And They Got Away With It (Part 4)

Boston Bomber

The United States Supreme Court, in a rare forecasting of a potential decision, appeared to be leaning in the direction of reinstating the death penalty overturned in a lower court decision of Boston Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Tsarnaev's guilt was not at question, his punishment, the death penalty, was successfully overturned in an appellate court. The decision by the presiding judge, to withhold information from potential jurors became the foundation in the appeal.

"U.S. District Judge George A. O'Toole Jr. erred in two ways during Tsarnaev's complicated and high-profile trial: there should have been more detailed questioning of potential jurors about what opinions they had formed because of the massive publicity about the act of terrorism," reported The Washington Post.

Tsarnaev, 28, remains in Colorado's Supermax prison.

Nikolas Cruz Pleads Guilty to Parkland Florida Shooting

Marjory Stoneman High School murderer Nikolas Cruz, 23, stated this week he would enter a guilty plea to the 17 counts of murder and various other charges stemming from the February 14, 2018, school shooting in Parkland Florida.

Entering a guilty plea, will led directly to the sentencing phase and will simply stop the parading of evidence, crime scene photos and other horrifying memories of that Valentine's Day massacre that destroyed so many lives.

"The shooting led thousands of students who had grown up in an era of school shooting drills and lockdowns to walk out of their classrooms and march for tougher gun control laws and an end to gun violence. Some of the marches were led by teenagers who had survived the Parkland shooting and who quickly emerged as leaders of a younger generation of activists," reported The New York Times.

Changing the plea, is what many legal strategists say an attempt to avert the death penalty.

Durst Sentenced to Life; Hospitalized with Covid

Convicted murder Robert Durst, 78, has been admitted to the LAC+USC medical facility and placed on a ventilator for Covid-19. He was in court when his sentence of life in prison was pronounced in the 2000 murder of his longtime friend Susan Berman.

Durst, an once heir to the New York Real Estate fortune, will now face a possible murder indictment in New York over the 1982 disappearance of his first wife, Kathi Durst.

"Miriam E. Rocah, the district attorney of Westchester County, N.Y., reopened the investigation earlier this year and planned to put numerous witnesses in front of a grand jury," reported The New York Times.

Medical Science: COVID-19 – Heading into the Holidays is it Safe to Fly

Postal Services Announces Package Deadlines

With the highest volume of packaging shipping right around the corner, each of the main carriers, the U.S. Post Office, Fed-Ex, UPS, have set December 15, 2021, as the absolute deadline date for December 24, 2021, package arrivals.

"UPS kept its ship-by dates the same as 2020. FedEx also kept its ground dates the same, while the Postal Service moved up its ship-by dates for first-class mail and priority mail by one day," The Wall Street Journal reported.

For more information on President Joe Biden w ww.whitehouse.gov.