Whistleblowing can be used as a potent creative tool to help your bureaucracy evolve towards a more enlightened organization.
Phone: 1-603-209-4206 steamshovel2002@yahoo.com
Note: I constantly update my articles.
Comments at the bottom of the article are always welcome!!!
Mike Mulligan, Hinsdale, NH
Just got my second shot yesterday. My arm is just a little sore this morning. I heard once getting the first shot, the vaccine in 80% effective at preventing covid. But it doesn't last long. Anyways, in two weeks I will be fully protected. This site was run by the CDC and national guard. It was run flawlessly. You know, maybe government does works? There was lots of national guard's soldiers doing jobs right in front of us. Honestly, these kids made me proud. Honestly they were sober and alert, so freaking young...they made us proud to be Americans. My wife and I are ex military.
Update March 2, 2021
My wife put us on a list where they give out extra covid vaccines. They called us up yesterday saying show up this morning. Well, we got our shot this morning one and a half months early. The National Guard set this up. I mean, it was a CDC site manned by the NG.
***I am sixty seven years and feel like I am thirty five years old. I take three diabetes pills a day plus an injection, among a few others. I am 6 feet two inches tall and weight 175 pound.
My CDC appointment for the vaccine is at the end of April 2021. It is what it is :)
The Pentagon is taking a rare look at whether it is prepared to deal with the theft or compromise of the portable communications system nicknamed the “nuclear football,” which enables the president or a stand-in to order a nuclear attack.
In announcing the probe Tuesday, the Pentagon inspector general’s office did not disclose what precipitated it, but questions about security procedures arose in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Vice President Mike Pence was seen on security camera video being escorted to safety, along with a military aide carrying the backup “nuclear football,” as protesters entered the Capitol. A backup system always accompanies the vice president so that he is able to communicate in the event the president cannot. The “football,” officially called the Presidential Emergency Satchel, enables communication with the office inside the Pentagon that transmits nuclear attack orders
The inspector general’s office said its review began this month. It gave no timeline for completing it.
“The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent that DoD processes and procedures are in place and adequate to alert DoD officials in the event that the Presidential Emergency Satchel is lost, stolen, or compromised,” Randolph R. Stone, an assistant inspector general, wrote in a July 19 letter to the director of the White House military office and the director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. “This evaluation will also determine the adequacy of the procedures the DoD has developed to respond to such an event.”
Two Democrats who had asked the Pentagon inspector general to review the matter, Reps. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts and Jim Cooper of Tennessee, said in a joint statement that the Jan. 6 riot raised questions about whether the Pentagon was even aware that Pence’s “nuclear football” was potentially in danger of falling into the wrong hands.
“It is imperative that we fully understand the processes and procedures that are in place to protect the Presidential Emergency Satchel — especially when its custodians might be in danger — and we applaud the (inspector general) for accepting our request to initiate this evaluation,” they said.
Lynch and Cooper wrote the Pentagon inspector general’s office in March requesting a review.
“U.S. Strategic Command, which is responsible for U.S. strategic deterrence and nuclear operations, was reportedly unaware that Vice President Pence, his military aide, and the nuclear football were all potentially in danger and only came to understand the gravity of the incident several weeks later when security camera footage was played as a video exhibit during the Senate impeachment trial,” they wrote.
By the way, mike...remember when Pelosi talked to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's Mark Milley about our unhinged president having his fingers on our nuclear arsenal. At the ending of president Trump's presidency, I doubt he had full control of our football and our nuclear arsenal. I doubt he had any control at all. Or at least it secretly took crazy Trump and Pence to ok that nuclear strike. They both through the footballs would give a nuclear strike permission.
updated Feb 12
Had to get this Tuperville thing right. He means Pence and the nuclear football where leaving the Senate chamber.
USA-Tuberville's account would mean Trump was aware of the danger Vice President Mike Pence faced before he tweeted an attack on Pence. Asked about the allegation by reporters, Tuberville said he was not sure exactly what time Trump called, but reiterated he had talked to Trump by phone on Jan. 6 and had told the president Pence was evacuated from the Senate chamber.
Updated Feb 12
7:14 pm What a day. Seems some House republicans are breaking with Trump tonight. I wonder now if my grave national security issue with the control and reliable with our nuclear arsenal are turning the republican's against Trump. Is our defense establishment been turned against Trump...now are pressuring republicans to torpedo Trump tomorrow over the nuclear football scandal.
Remember the shouting match with Trump-McCarthy was going on exactly at the time VP Pence and the nuclear football was being evacuated from the Capital. The Insurrectionist were less than 100 feet from the VP and the nuclear football. McCarthy was right there in the thick of the insurrection with Pence and the nuclear football.
New details about Trump-McCarthy shouting match show Trump refused to call off the rioters
Washington (CNN)In an expletive-laced phone call with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy while the Capitol was under attack, then-President Donald Trump said the rioters cared more about the election results than McCarthy did.
"Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are," Trump said, according to lawmakers who were briefed on the call afterward by McCarthy.
McCarthy insisted that the rioters were Trump's supporters and begged Trump to call them off.
Trump's comment set off what Republican lawmakers familiar with the call described as a shouting match between the two men. A furious McCarthy told the President the rioters were breaking into his office through the windows, and asked Trump, "Who the f--k do you think you are talking to?" according to a Republican lawmaker familiar with the call.
CNN: shocking... Stunning...
Nuclear weapons sensitivity and security, this guy is probably at our highest US national security classification...this kind of wording is most often euphemism used for covering high military official's assess. Not protecting our grievous national security secrets.
"The Pentagon has declined to comment on the Pence video because of the sensitivity surrounding nuclear weapons issues. The National Security Council also declined to comment"
I wouldn't believe a word with US military command. That they discovered it on their own once they seen the Senate recording. That in itself is appalling. I believe they knew it on Jan 6. This is a coverup. This is a bs story they discovered when it came out at the senate hearing. I prompted them to look at it yesterday or when I made numerous comments on LinkedIn in the past few days. I got a special relationship with the Navy. There is a military document trail on this. I am sure they submitted or didn't submit reports to the chain of command on this. For all I know, the military command or DOJ is playing with me. Trying to get me to say I got a very highly classified tip from governmental or the military sources in which I wasn't qualified hear.
"The U.S. military’s top command was unaware that Vice President Mike Pence’s “nuclear football” was at risk of being captured by rioters during the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol—until they saw it on TV this week."
(7am)I just reformed how we manage the nuclear football from soup to nuts according to CNN!!! Found a huge hole in our national security!!!
Hmm, yea I seen it in my head before anyone else. But CNN had the credibility and access too the experts to put this in its proper context. I get 5% credit for this story and CNN gets 95% credit with them being able to portray the context and disperse this throughout the world. CNN TV is elevating this story by the minute hinting this just might be bigger than the Insurrection. The idea my story appeared in the news in a big way during the second impeachment of ex-president Trump at the ending stage of the Senate prosecution. It is utterly astonishing. The senate republicans are all so called defense and military people. Well, they get big campaign contributions from the defense establishment. I was praying last night this story would get elevated to the national and international level in the hopes of influencing the republicans to convict Trump!!! CNN gets it.
Here my tip to CNN and others! I am impressed how my story got distributed throughout the planet. Seems other nations are taking notice.
Automatic reply: Pence's Nuclear football during insurrection
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I submitted this story to CCN yesterday afternoon. The turnaround on the nuclear football story was impressive. I was hopping this would come out today for the conclusion of the impeachment. Actually I submitted this story to a host of outlets. The Strategic Command just found out about how close the insurrectionist where to Pence and football yesterday...what a national disgrace. As a fallout to my CNN story, they brought up when Trump was sick with Covid. Trump was direly sick with a blood oxygen level of 80%. He could hardly talk. The doctors debated if the president needed to go on ventilator. I believe at that time he couldn't manage our nuclear arsenal and a strike.
Collectively Trump mismanaged our national security...he severely impaired our ability to defend our nation in a crisis. We should have a deep government investigation with the failures in the Strategic Command. The idea the command was situationally unaware of the conditions surrounding the Vice President and the nuclear football. No doubt the presidential blue ribbon commission and Congressional investigations surrounding our handling Covid will cover this.
(CNN)Military officials overseeing the authorization process to launch nuclear weapons were unaware on January 6 that then-Vice President Mike Pence's military aide carrying the "nuclear football" was potentially in danger as rioters got close during the violent Capitol insurrection, according to a defense official.
US Strategic Command became aware of the gravity of the incident after seeing a video played at the Senate impeachment trial Wednesday showing Pence, his Secret Service agents and a military officer carrying the briefcase with classified nuclear launch information running down a flight of stairs inside the Capitol to get to safety, the official said.
"As the rioters reached the top of the stairs, they were within 100 feet of where the vice president was sheltering with his family, and they were just feet away from one of the doors to this chamber," Del. Stacey Plaskett, one of the impeachment managers, explained in the senate trial on Wednesday. In one video, the crowd can be heard chanting "Hang Mike Pence" as they stand in an open doorway of the Capitol.
It is not clear if other national security elements of the government such as the National Security Council or top officials at the Pentagon were aware of the gravity of Pence's position and those of his team.
On January 6 the military officer was able to maintain control of the backup "football" at all times and the President was inside the White House, the official said. Even if the rioters had gotten hold of it, they could not have used any of the information because of the security controls on the system, the official said.
Since they never lost control of the "football" and then-President Donald Trump was safe, they didn't have to deactivate Pence's system. But the incident raises the question of whether the "football's" status was sufficiently accounted for at all times.
"The risk associated with the insurrectionists getting their hands on Pence's football wasn't that they could have initiated an unauthorized launch. But had they stolen the football and acquired its contents, which include pre-planned nuclear strike options, they could have shared the contents with the world," Kingston Reif, an expert on nuclear weapons policy at the nonpartisan Arms Control Association, told CNN.
"Such an outcome would have been a security breach of almost incomprehensible proportions," Reif added. "And it ought to raise further questions about the rationale for the anachronism that is the football."
The Pentagon has declined to comment on the Pence video because of the sensitivity surrounding nuclear weapons issues. The National Security Council also declined to comment.
"I would not get into discussion about specific command and control over nuclear strategic forces," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters. The Defense Department inspector general has been conducting a review of the events on January 6, but it's not publicly known if the "football" is included in that probe.
The video of Pence and the aide in charge of the football was included in House impeachment managers' presentation Wednesday, which featured never-before-seen Capitol security camera footage, body camera footage from Washington police and police radio dispatches. The presentation provided the fullest view to date of how the Capitol had been overrun and the grave threat the rioters had posed to everyone in the Capitol, including the senators now acting as the jury in Trump's impeachment trial.
The videos included footage of police officers being beaten by the rioters as well as images depicting just how close the mob inside the Capitol had come to reaching lawmakers. The House managers showed security footage of senators fleeing their chamber, with Capitol Police officers between them and rioters just steps away.
This story has been updated with comments from nuclear weapons policy expert Kingston Reif.
CNN's Zachary Cohen, Jeremy Herb, Manu Raju and Lauren Fox contributed to this report.
***I was watching VP Mike Pence abandoning/escaping the capital during the insurrection. This came from the Capital's security camera. This was much worst than portrayed. Out with him went big men carrying very specialize large suitcases. Big burley guys. So what was in those suitcases? In the event of the death of the president and facing a war situation...Pence would emediately be able to call for a nuclear strike. In the black suitcases was the electronic devices he would use to give an order and permission to commit a nuclear strike anywhere in the world. What would happen if the insurrectionist got their hands on of one or more of these devices?
I have no doubt the boxes would be quickly disabled, so no strike could be called by the terrorist.
But what if these guys carried the boxes out of Washington DC? What if the Chinese or Russians got their hands on it?
Can you even imagine the US media fallout over this? We lost the nuclear football to the terrorist? What would the world think about this.
We as a nation should have a three day cerebration nationwide when this is over. A wicked party with free food paid by the state and feds all through nation. We heading for another holiday of remembrance?
A national monument...can you imagine the size of this? This is bigger than WWII and all our recent wars. Maybe the largest monument we got!
And it should describe in detail and stone all our failures for all of the future to ponder. The scale of this and all the lies, deceptions...this is so huge it is almost not understandable. Nobody is going to understand what happened here who didn't go through this. How do represent the size of this and its massive complexity is a few square miles of property? And how the covid war was finally won.
Maybe a area representing 750,000 dead...maybe a field with perfectly aligned and permanent flag representing the dead in a small area of the covid monument. All of them! We can never forget what happened here for all eternity!!!
Who is going to remember all the dead...who is going to honor dead besides their families!!!
Birx is in the same boat. You got to know, if this didn't come from our highly educated and elites, say regular person...they would be held accountable for political spinning surrounding a historic pandemic. Don't tell me our classes are treated similarly.
You know what is going on here? We as a nation are getting ready to set up a historic blue ribbon commission on how we handled the covid pandemic. Fauci and Birx are trying to buff up their image in anticipation of the commission. Their careers are going to be wrecked in the investigation.
***Fauci extensively talked positively to us about the about vaccine distribution plans. It was all lies. Remember telling the truth according to President Biden is his administration's prime directive. Fauci should now play no role in our covid problem as he can't be trusted. He should be kicked out of government.
CNN: "Biden inheriting nonexistent coronavirus vaccine distribution plan and must start 'from scratch,' sources say"
The culture of denial and the selective disclosure of information to protect us and serve selfish ends. We are all in a PTSD trance.
Coronavirus updates: World caught in ‘pandemic paradox,’ a race between virus variants and vaccines, WHO says.
I said this recently over and over again. The crux of the today's failed vaccination strategy goes like this. This is the greatest failure of a vaccination program in history. We just didn't go big enough. I don't know how many mega vaccine manufacturing facilities we have in the USA. This will give you the scale of this. Lets say we have five vaccination production facilities in the USA. We should have built 50 or more facilities. The vaccine production capabilities should have been sized to vaccinate everyone in the USA in one month. Big deal we had an excess of five facilities. In these unstable and crisis times, there is really no penalty for going too big. Big deal your are throwing a few pennies down the toilet. If you go too small, hundreds of thousand of human lives will be lost.
update Dec 20
This variant has been around for six months. We are deep into the culture of denial. It is all over the place including the USA, albeit at very low levels. Countries are beginning to close themselves off to each other over this mutant strain. The cat has long gone out of the bag!
Where is the call to stop all air flights from England and Europe? Trump will never do it on his own!
"COVID-19: Belgium joins Netherlands in halting air travel from UK following new virus strain discovery"
"Israel bans visitors from the UK, Denmark, S. Africa due to new strain"
"We need to close the whole world immediately," Netanyahu said in a cabinet meeting.
For some reason, Covid is beginning to mass mutate and it is going in the wrong way.
"Israelis may be infected with new coronavirus strain from Denmark minks"
*There are most likely a lot of mutations we don’t yet know about because most of the world doesn’t consistently survey and track the mutation,” he said. “We place the focus on Britain, because that’s where the reports are coming from, but this is probably a universal issue,” Moran-Gilad said.
It is almost like we got the virus of self defeating behavior?
"Londoners flee capital ahead of tougher Covid-19 restrictions that came into force on Sunday"
Italy banded fights.
Biden needs to publicly talk about this today if he knows what is good for us
We traditionally with Covid, have been two weeks to a month behind Europe.
How about the California covid spike, is this the new variant? I doubt we have been testing for the mutation?
BBC news is filled with the variant news.
Can you even imagine the air traffic from the mega-financial centers of London and New York City?
WHO: England’s new Covid-19 variant picked up in Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia
“It is of concern that the virus is spreading and that it has so many mutations,” she said.
Has the testing capabilities in the USA advanced enough to detect specific mutation and variants? Are we intentionally not testing in the USA.
Cuomo Calls for Testing or Ban on British Travelers as COVID Mutation Spreads in U.K.
***This is set to explode in the USA.
We should do widespread testing in the USA to see what the extent of this new strain is the USA.
This strain is seventy percent more infectious. The official have no idea if this will make vaccinations less effective.
The officials should put this in a Covid infection model to anticipate how this will effect the USA.
One has to ask if the covid virus collectively is mutating much more frequently and will it get much more fatal?
A paper about the new variant identified in England has been published by genomics researchers who say that the first two samples were recorded on September 20 in Kent...
We do not know if this is medical, pandemic or political response.
This response seen by this official seems way out of the bounds by these rest of the world: A member of the White House coronavirus task force questioned the danger of the coronavirus mutations that helped trigger the London lockdown and said vaccines should be effective against it.
“We don’t know that it’s more dangerous, and very importantly we have not seen a single mutation yet that would make it evade the vaccine,” Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brett Giroir said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Preliminary genomic characterisation of an emergent SARS-CoV-2 lineage in the UK defined by a novel set of spike mutations
Report written by: Andrew Rambaut1, Nick Loman2, Oliver Pybus3, Wendy Barclay4, Jeff Barrett5, Alesandro Carabelli6, Tom Connor7, Tom Peacock4, David L Robertson8, Erik Volz4, on behalf of COVID-19 Genomics Consortium UK (CoG-UK)9.
University of Edinburgh
University of Birmingham
University of Oxford
Imperial College London
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
University of Cambridge
Cardiff University
MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research
Recently a distinct phylogenetic cluster (named lineage B.1.1.7) was detected within the COG-UK surveillance dataset. This cluster has been growing rapidly over the past 4 weeks and since been observed in other UK locations, indicating further spread.
Several aspects of this cluster are noteworthy for epidemiological and biological reasons and we report preliminary findings below. In summary: The B.1.1.7 lineage accounts for an increasing proportion of cases in parts of England. The number of B.1.1.7 cases, and the number of regions reporting B.1.1.7 infections, are growing. B.1.1.7 has an unusually large number of genetic changes, particularly in the spike protein.
Three of these mutations have potential biological effects that have been described previously to varying extents:
Britain Sounds Alarm About Mutant Coronavirus Strain By Jamie Dettmer Updated December 19, 2020 03:11 PM
British scientists were scrambling Saturday to work out whether a mutant strain of the coronavirus, which has been spreading rapidly in England this month, may be resistant to the crop of newly developed vaccines.
The strain was first identified on December 13 in the county of Kent in southern England, and initial analysis by government scientists suggested it is “growing faster than the existing variants.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held an unscheduled meeting of ministers Friday amid mounting alarm about the threat posed by the mutant strain, which has been named VUI-202012/01. Johnson said at a press conference Saturday that there was no evidence so far to suggest vaccines would be any less effective against the new strain, but he added that “there is still much we don’t know.”
He noted the new strain was up to 70% more transmissible than prior strains.
The British leader announced a virtual lockdown for London and the southeast of England, with people urged to stay at home. All nonessential stores are now to close, and people should not enter or leave the British capital or large parts of southeast of England.
“We can’t continue with Christmas as planned,” said Johnson, noting that a previously announced relaxation of rules for the holidays would be reversed. In London and southern England, households now can’t mix to celebrate Christmas. Elsewhere in the country, up to three households can mix but only for Christmas Day itself.
“I must stress how complicated it is to work out, in a situation where things might be growing for other reasons, to really put your finger on that it’s actually the virus that is doing it, but the evidence is pointing in that direction,” Ewan Birney, deputy director of the European Molecular Biological Laboratory, told the BBC.
Midweek, Health Minister Matt Hancock said the new strain might be associated with the faster transmission of the virus in the southeast of England and London, but there was “nothing to suggest” it caused a worse disease, or that it might be resistant to vaccines that have only just received approval in Britain and the U.S.
England’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, said Britain had alerted the World Health Organization about the fast transmissibility of the variant strain.
“There is no current evidence to suggest the new strain causes a higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments, although urgent work is under way to confirm this,” he said in a statement.
Jeremy Farrar, a government adviser and director of the Wellcome Trust, Britain's largest medical research endowment, warned Saturday of his concern. He tweeted: “The new strain of COVID-19 is worrying & real cause for concern & extra caution. Research is ongoing to understand more but acting urgently now is critical. There is no part of the UK & globally that should not be concerned. As in many countries, the situation is fragile.”
Johnson also held emergency talks with the first ministers of Britain’s devolved governments in Scotland and Wales. “I attended a four-nation call earlier today to discuss serious concerns over the spread of a new COVID variant,” Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford tweeted.
Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said that she would be holding discussions with her cabinet following the four-nation talks and that “preventative action may be necessary” to curb the spread of the new strain.
The new variant includes up to 23 changes, including with the spike protein, which the virus uses to enter human cells that allow it to replicate. There have been many mutations in the virus since it emerged last year in Wuhan, China, with 4,000 mutations in the spike protein alone. Virologists say most mutations are insignificant and are part of the expected evolution of the virus, but some may lead to more efficient transmission.
According to the government’s scientific advisers, the new strain is fast becoming the dominant strain, and they said it might be present in other countries.
“Scientists are working extremely hard to work out what is going on,” Mark Walport, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, told The Times newspaper.
"But it does definitely seem possible that this transmits more easily. It will make the social distancing even more critical,” he added.
Government scientists said it could take two weeks to establish how the new strain reacts to vaccines, but virologists were hoping that the changes wouldn't diminish the efficacy of vaccines, which are designed to produce antibodies against many different parts of the spike protein. Hospitals in England are seeing a record number of patients suffering from COVID-19, the disease triggered by the coronavirus. About 38 million people in England already were under tough coronavirus restrictions before Saturday’s announcement. The new measures amount to a virtual lockdown, something Johnson had said just a few days ago he would do everything to avoid.
Johnson’s decision to cancel Christmas for much of England prompted the fury of some lawmakers from his ruling Conservative Party. Many have fulminated for weeks against what they see as heavy-handed government and a lack of parliamentary oversight.
“The changes must be put to a vote on the Commons at the earliest opportunity,” said Mark Harper, chairman of the COVID Recovery Group of Tory MPs who have criticized government handling of the pandemic.
Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition party, Labour, accused Johnson of indecisiveness. He had been calling for tougher restrictions for weeks and had warned against relaxing Christmas rules.
“Millions of families across the country are going to be heartbroken by this news — having their Christmas plans ripped up. And I'm really frustrated because I raised this with the prime minister on Wednesday and he dismissed that and went on to tell people to have a merry little Christmas, only three days later to rip up their plans,” Starmer told British broadcasters.
British health authorities announced a further 27,052 confirmed cases of infection across Britain on Saturday and 534 more fatalities.
In all, 66,541 Britons have died from COVID-19, just 4,500 short of the total British civilian death toll in the Second World War.
The Senate passed a $741 billion defense authorization bill on Friday, sending it to President Trump with veto-proof majorities in both chambers of Congress and effectively daring him to make good on his threat to scuttle the legislation.
The tally was 84 to 13.
In recent weeks, Trump has escalated his promises to veto the annual legislation, which directs funding for the Pentagon on everything from overseas operations to health care for civilian and uniformed personnel.
Trump’s threats began over the summer, when he vowed to stymie the legislation if it included a directive to the Defense Department to rename installations commemorating Confederate figures. More recently, he has demanded that the bill repeal an unrelated law granting technology companies liability protections against content that users post to their websites.
Trump has not sounded off about his pledged veto since the House passed the defense bill on Tuesday, by a vote of 335 to 78, a veto-proof majority. But should he still elect to veto the bill, he could complicate lawmakers’ efforts to complete the legislation, which has been signed into law for each of the last 59 years, before it expires at the end of the congressional session on Jan. 3.
***Pelosi is oozing weakness and Trump and the Republicans are trying to split the democrats. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to get another speaker? The whole system of the speaker of the house and the senate magority leader doesn't work...it doesn't serve our nation and country. The whole deal is too secrecy driven. Both these leaders get way too much campaign money to influence their members. We need major reforms with the House and Senate. Too many secret agendas through black money.
Defund the police took away so much opportunity for the democrats.
Pelosi looks to lock down speaker's vote in shadow of coronavirus
The longtime Democratic leader faces tight margins, and Covid could complicate her math.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's thinner majority will require a near-perfect showing from rank-and-file Democrats to again lock down the speakership. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a blunt message for her junior members: I need your vote on Jan. 3.
That’s the opening day of the 117th Congress, and Pelosi was making her pitch ahead of the crucial floor vote for speaker. No one on Capitol Hill believes Pelosi is really at risk of losing the gavel. But the vote has become much more complicated with a shrunken Democratic majority and the coronavirus pandemic shadowing the proceedings.
“If someone votes for Colin Powell, it counts for the GOP,” Pelosi warned the group at a virtual breakfast Wednesday, adding: “We need people to vote with the nominee. That would be me.”
Pelosi and her allies have been ratcheting up their lobbying campaign in recent weeks to ensure House Democrats are in the Capitol that first Sunday in January. Pelosi has had help from her top deputies, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), according to several sources familiar with the effort. She and her supporters have also deployed former Obama administration alumni and big donors to help squeeze undecided Democrats, in addition to influential politicians and labor leaders in lawmakers’ home states.
House Democrats are expected to hold 222 seats on Jan. 3 versus 212 for Republicans, if all members are in attendance, say lawmakers and aides in both parties. Rep. Anthony Brindisi’s (D-N.Y.) tight race against Republican Claudia Tenney may not be called by then.
According to House rules, Pelosi must win a majority of votes cast “for a person by name” of the members who are in attendance and voting. So Pelosi can afford to allow a handful of her members to vote “present,” but a vote for anyone else is more problematic. In January 2019, some Democrats cast votes for Joe Biden, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), among others, as an alternative to Pelosi. With the narrower Democratic margin next year, that won’t work for the speaker.
“I think it’s a lot tougher for her this time,” said Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), a senior Democrat who opposed Pelosi as speaker in 2019. Schrader said in an interview he’s still undecided, but several top Democrats said they expect him to support Pelosi this time.
“It’s not all black and white. Everyone wants it to be all or none but that’s not the way it works,” he added.
Pelosi’s thinner majority will require a near-perfect showing from rank-and-file Democrats to again lock down the speakership, a far more difficult task in a year when the coronavirus has sidelined dozens of members over the course of the year.
One shift in Pelosi’s favor is that she will have far fewer Democrats to flip this time around compared with her 2019 bid, when she had to confront a whole group of disgruntled rebels. That negotiation ended with her agreeing to term limits, allowing her to return to the speaker’s chair after an eight-year absence with the upcoming two years in theory her last.
But with less room for error, Pelosi and her allies have begun applying pressure with hopes of winning over several of the defectors who opposed her in the past.
The lobbying blitz hasn’t gone without hiccups. House Rules Chair Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), a Pelosi ally, angered moderates after he wrote in a letter to the caucus that a vote for anyone other than Pelosi would be a vote for “the QAnon wing of the Republican Party.”
Still, Pelosi already has flipped several key Democrats, some without any direct outreach. Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, a senior Blue Dog, told POLITICO this month he would support her. Cooper voted “present” last time. Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado also plans to back Pelosi after voting for Duckworth in 2019. And Democratic sources predicted Schrader will likely vote “yes” as well. Schrader voted for Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio two years ago.
“I’m going to talk to anybody and everybody. I think it’s absolutely essential that we be able to elect our speaker,” Hoyer said in an interview. Asked about any floor issues, Hoyer said: “I think we’ll get there.”
At least two Democrats plan to vote against Pelosi on the floor: Reps. Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania and Jared Golden of Maine, according to several sources. A third, Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, could also vote “no,” though she declined to comment in a recent interview. All three voted for other candidates last time.
Pelosi does have one way to release the pressure valve with other swing-district moderates: Several Democrats can vote “present” instead of “no” on the floor, which would shore up her path to the speakership without putting vulnerable Democrats on the spot.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan confirmed Thursday that she plans to vote “present” on the floor, as she did in 2019.
“I made a pledge in the spring of 2019, before I was elected. I’ve discussed that personally with [Pelosi], one on one,” Slotkin said in an interview. “That, to me, is a commitment that I made to my district. It just doesn’t change based on the ups and downs here.”
Democrats are closely circling another national security freshman, Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, who could vote “present.” Reps. Kathleen Rice of New York and Ron Kind of Wisconsin, vocal Pelosi opponents in 2019, have also said they are undecided.
Of the 15 Democrats who voted against Pelosi on the floor in 2019, 10 survived reelection. An eleventh, Rep. Jeff Van Drew, has since switched to the Republican Party.
Making sure everyone is in attendance for several key early January votes is also on the minds of leaders of both parties. The Capitol physician has privately advised that members should be summoned back to Washington as early as Dec. 27 to ensure the House can safely hold its first vote on Jan. 3, although that is not official guidance, according to lawmakers and aides.
A single Democrat forced to stay home because of an infection or quarantine period — not to mention other health issues — could upset Pelosi’s careful balancing act. It could also complicate other key floor votes, such as the vote to certify the votes of the Electoral College for President-elect Joe Biden. That vote takes place on Jan. 6.
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Lawmakers heading into the Biden administration like Fudge or Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) shouldn’t affect the math; they are expected to remain in the House until Jan. 20, when Biden is sworn in.
“The only way she won’t win is — I’m always a little nervous about Covid. That’s the most frightening aspect of this. But it’s a problem for both sides,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) said.
Update Dec 7
Out of all of this, Trump is a given and there nothing new. The Democrats have behaved abysmally and this pretends a very difficult next for years.
I bet you Trump is going to precipitate a economic and market crash to weaken the Biden presidency years?
I guess for the democrats they think it is more important to win the Georgia election that fix widespread starvation in the USA. The mealy mouth Democrats we see today really worries me. This is all high a high stake situation and lives will be staved or died with the outcome. Will the democrats hold their tongues and always cave to win a few republicans votes next election for the next four years? Be afraid to use the full power we gave them. Right, the Democrat's are sitting the stage with the Republicans for the next. Will they use their full power to confront these republican psychopaths or will it just be a pat on the ass to punish these guys for the serious transgression against our way of life and our constitution. What about dum dum Biden hinting a stimulus check might still be in the cards? The crooked Republicans will only respond to a over whelming show of force. I still feel the republicans strategized with this weak covid response, to put the country into a terribly unstable condition so as to weaken Biden opening presidency. I guarantee you if it is seen Biden floundering around in the opening stages of the presidency, the public will turn against him. He will have a failed presidency in the worst crisis this nation ever had. God help us all if we have a failed presidency!
I never seen this coming. So the skinny bill is not happening. It will all be in the year end spending bill. The Republicans have all the cards. Like I said, now the dems need to blackmail the Republicans with shutting down the gov with the spending bill. We won't let you startup the government until we get that 3 or 4 trillion covid money. Even if we get the two senators, you know, the republicans will do nothing but obstruct Biden's government.
"The $908 billion aid package to be released Monday would be attached to a larger year-end spending bill needed to avert a government shutdown this coming weekend."
***Seems the $900 million dollar stimulus program is going to get passed. The much wider multi-trillion dollar program seems to going into the Dec 11 debt appropriation bill. Remember Trump threatened to not sign this bill.
I see this as a widespread ploy by the republicans to split the democrat's party. This is a far sighed strategy. Already the left-wing says they won't sign the skinny bill. The left is terribly upset about the skinny bill and they feel left out.
They are talking about getting $1500 dollars for getting a vaccination. That is just a mean spirited ploy. Most of them won't get a check to the end of March. The stimulus round 2 deal goes like this. The Republican won't go over one trillion dollars says the republicans. The democrats says a big stimulus will happen when they get into office. So the stimulus check would be coming out till Biden is in office. There are making a reckless speculation the democrats' will be able to pass the come February. There might be a deal made with passing the one trillion covid bill and then putting stimulus check on the national debt bill. I wonder on the national debt bill on Dec 11, putting the stimulus check on this, will this mode get the money to the peoples faster. Between these two bills, will the politician give the magority us the Christmas recue of our dreams?
The nation debt and military bill is coming up Dec 11. Can the democrats shutdown the government over the debt bill. That is what I do. I go with, if only a small proportion of people are getting relief, then its time to make everyone insecure by shutting down. You shutdown the government by not passing the national debt bill, the positive side of it is a lot more life's would be saved by not passing on Covid. So I wouldn't open up the government until the $4 billion comprehensive bill gets passed.
***Am I the only thinking here? There seems to be large proportion of people who won't take the covid vaccine. Our minorities and poor are a big proportion of this population. So why doesn't our US government pay people to take this vaccine? Pay them $100, $200 to $500 to take the shot. I believe on the second shot, you will have to boost the amount. What would be the ramification if some people got two vaccinations for money. Well, you would need identification to get the money and a comprehensive data base to prevent this.
You know what I say, screw ethics and morality at this point of the pandemic. Just get the god damn shots!
You should also on the spot, have a option to direct your covid reward to a charity. Maybe a list of charities have available.
On August 10, 2020, at 1246 CDT, while operating at 80% power, NextEra Energy Duane Arnold (DAEC)
experienced a generator load reject and subsequent reactor scram as a result of a loss of offsite power
(LOOP) due to extremely high winds. An Unusual Event was declared at 1258. All Safety Systems performed
as designed. As a result of the LOOP, the 'A' and 'B' Emergency Diesel Generators automatically started
and supplied power to the safety related busses. As a result, the High Pressure Coolant Injection (HPCI)
and Reactor Core Isolation Cooling (RCIC) automatically initiated and injected into the reactor. In addition,
containment isolations occurred, as expected for this event. This resulted in a 4-hour event report to the
NRC under 10 CFR 50.72 section 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(A) - ECCS Injection, 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS Actuation -
Critical, 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) - Valid Specific System Actuation (reference EN#54826). The NOUE by was exited at
1600 on August 11, 2020. The cause of the LOOP was an extremely severe storm (called a Derecho) with
heavy rains and very high winds. This event had no impact on public health or safety. There were no
systems, structures, or components inoperable at the time of the event that contributed to the event. This
event is reportable pursuant to 10 CFR 50.73(a)(2)(iv)(A) and 50.73(a)(2)(iii). There were no radiological
releases associated with this event.
On August 10, 2020, at 1246 CDT, while operating at 80% power, NextEra Energy Duane
Arnold (DAEC) experienced a Generator Load reject and subsequent reactor scram as a
result of a loss of offsite power (LOOP) due to extremely high winds. An Unusual Event was
declared at 1258. All Safety Systems performed as designed.
As a result of the LOOP, the 'A' and 'B' Emergency Diesel Generators (EDGs) automatically
started and supplied power to the safety related busses. In response to the expected Reactor
Pressure Vessel (RPV) level transient, the High Pressure Coolant Injection (HPCI) and
Reactor Core Isolation Cooling (RCIC) automatically started and injected. In addition,
containment isolations occurred, as expected for this event.
This resulted in a 4-hour event report to the NRC under 10 CFR 50.72 section
50.72(b)(2)(iv)(A) - ECCS Injection, 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B) - RPS Actuation - Critical,
50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) - Valid Specific System Actuation (reference EN#54826).
The cause of the LOOP was an extremely severe storm (called a Derecho) with heavy rains
and very high winds. This event had no impact on public health or safety. There were no
systems, structures, or components inoperable at the time of the event that contributed to the
event.
The Unusual Event was exited at 1600 on August 11, 2020.
II. Assessment of Safety Consequences:
In response to the LOOP, the plant experienced a Generator Lockout, Turbine Trip and
Reactor Scram. The operating crew entered the appropriate emergency procedures.
The EDG's quickly re-energized the safety-related electrical busses and restored
power. The Reactor Protection System (RPS) power was never lost as the EDG's were
able to recover power to the essential buses quickly. This prevented a Main Steam
Isolation Valve (MSIV) isolation signal and thus allowed the Main Condenser to remain
available post event.
As expected for this event, RPV level dropped below L2 setpoint (119.5") initiating the
HPCI and RCIC systems. Reactor level recovered quickly. The Low Low Set System
functioned as designed initially opening two primary system relief valves to control
reactor pressure.
Operators were quickly able to establish pressure control initially via Steam Line Drains
and RCIC and establish a cooldown rate.
Both recirculating pumps tripped when power was lost to their associated non-safety
related electrical busses. The operators followed procedures for cooldown with no
forced circulation in the core. When Shutdown Cooling was placed in service, forced
circulation was re-established which resulted in exceeding the bottom head cooldown
limits of 100 degrees per hour. This was anticipated and could not be avoided.
This event did not result in a Safety System Functional Failure.
Ill.
Cause of Event:
The cause of the LOOP was an extremely severe storm (called a Derecho) with heavy
rains and very high winds. Wind speeds exceeded 80 mph for over 20 minutes with
peaks on site at greater than 100 mph. The National Weather Service later estimated
wind speeds were likely near 130 mph. These winds resulted in all 6 off site power
sources (4 - 161 kV and 2 - 345 kV) coming into the DAEC switchyard being damaged
or downed. A separate offsite 69 kV line which feeds non-essential plant loads was
also damaged.
IV.
Corrective Actions:
REV
NO.
- 00
The high winds experienced on August 10, 2020 were not considered a beyond design basis
event. The systems and components responded as designed and the overall peak wind
speeds were within the Design Basis Tornado. The damage observed coincides with the
amount of damage expected for the event. Given this event was outside the control of the
station staff and that all components worked as designed, no additional corrective actions
beyond repair/recovery efforts related to the wind storm are needed.
V.
Additional Information:
Previous Similar Occurrences:
A review of NextEra Energy Duane Arnold LERs from the previous 5 years identified
the following event:
LER 2018-004 - Automatic Reactor Scram due to Feedwater Regulating Valve Failure
LER 2019-001 - Automatic Reactor Scram due to Loss of Feedwater.
