Panel advances Dems’ $3.5T bill, crunch time for Biden agenda
WASHINGTON — Democrats pushed a $3.5 trillion, 10-year bill strengthening social safety net and climate programs toward House Budget Committee approval 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 push 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 checking of a procedural box for Democrats by edging it a step 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-andfile lawmakers.
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 back 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.
President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., must resolve differences among Democrats over the package’s final price tag, which seems sure to shrink. There are also disputes over which of its 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.
Delta variant in South Africa:
The more infectious nature of the delta mutation of the coronavirus has seen it almost completely displace the beta variant in South Africa, the discovery of which led to widespread travel bans.
A study, released by two South African genomics institutes last week, showed that the delta variant, first identified in India, drove a third wave of infections in the country. Excess death data show that about a quarter of million people may have died from the virus.
The study will add fuel to a political standoff between South Africa and the U.K., which this month kept the African nation on its so-called red list that imposes costly and time consuming restrictions on travel between the countries. The U.K. is the biggest source of foreign tourists for South Africa.
The U.K. cited the beta variant as a reason for its decision, leading to accusations from scientists and politicians that it was failing to follow scientific data.
Italians rally for Afghanistan women:
Thousands of people demonstrated in cities across Italy on Saturday to support Afghan women and demand continued international pressure on the country’s Taliban leaders to let women participate in the educational and
political life of the country.
Among the groups organizing the protests were members of the Pangea Foundation, which had worked for 20 years on economic development projects for Afghan women before finding itself helping to evacuate them when the Taliban took over.
At the protest Saturday, Pangea supporters had a P drawn on their hand. It was the same P that Afghan women wrote on their hands to be recognized at the Kabul airport and evacuated during the chaotic weeks as Western nations ended their military missions.
The event with the slogan #Nonlasciamolesole (“Let’s not abandon them”) brought thousands out in several Italian cities, where speakers called for a permanent observatory on women’s rights in Afghanistan at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the United Nations.
Spanish volcano: The airport on the Spanish island
of La Palma shut down Saturday because of an ash cloud spewing out of a volcano that has been erupting for a week, and scientists said another volcanic vent opened up, exposing islanders to possible new dangers.
The intensity of the eruption that began Sept. 19 has increased in recent days, prompting the evacuation of three additional villages on the island. La Palma Airport operator Aena said the airport was “inoperative” due to the accumulation of ash. Other airports in the Canary Islands were still operating Saturday but some airlines were suspending flights, Aena said.
A more immediate concern for the residents of La Palma is the huge ash cloud that is rising from the volcano and being carried by the wind to other parts of the island. In addition to being a significant danger to aviation, he said volcanic ash can cause damage to people’s airways, lungs and eyes.
Hurricane Sam: Hurricane Sam strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane as it moved west across the Atlantic Ocean, forecasters said Saturday.
The hurricane was about 1,025 miles east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands as of Saturday evening, moving about 10 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The swells generated by the hurricane were forecast to reach the Lesser Antilles early next week and have the potential to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, the center said.
Tennessee masks: A third federal judge has blocked Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s order allowing families to opt out of school mask mandates.
The decision, handed down by U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw late Friday, is the latest development
in the ongoing legal battle over Lee’s order launched by parents and advocates alarmed over the spike in coronavirus cases in Tennessee’s schools.
Lee issued the order in August after a handful of Republican lawmakers demanded the governor call a special session so the GOP-dominant General Assembly could halt mask mandates in schools and other COVID-19 safety measures.
Many students have been attending classes without masks ever since as pediatric hospitalizations reached record highs.
Crenshaw’s order only applies to Williamson County, an affluent region just south of Nashville. Earlier that day, a separate judge halted Lee’s executive order in Knox County. A week prior, another judge indefinitely banned Lee’s order after families argued the governor’s executive order endangered their children.