Background Briefing: September 29, 2021
DEA Warns Fentanyl-laced Counterfeit Drugs Sold on Sites Like SnapChat are Killing Thousands of American Teenagers We begin with the warning from the Drug Enforcement Administration that 2 out of 5 counterfeit pills of Oxycodone, Adderall and Percocet sold by...
Background Briefing: September 28, 2021
The Showdown Between Progressive and "Corporate" Democrats Over the Infrastructure Bills We begin with House and Senate progressives feeling angry at what some see as a betrayal of Speaker Pelosi's promise not to decouple the already-passed Senate...
Background Briefing: September 27, 2021
The Democrats Should Invoke the 14th Amendment to Raise the Debt Ceiling We begin with the brinkmanship underway as the Senate votes on raising the debt ceiling which has to be done by midnight on Thursday otherwise the government will run out of money by mid...
Background Briefing: September 26, 2021
Are the Quad and Aukus Deals Happening at the Expense of Ties to Our European Allies? We begin with an analysis of whether the moves in the Indo/Pacific with the Aukus deal and Friday's White House summit with the leaders of the Quad (India, Australia, Japan...
Background Briefing: September 23, 2021
Is McConnell Bluffing Over Not Raising the Debt Ceiling? We begin with Senator McConnell who is blocking Police reform, Tax reform, Immigration reform, Voting Rights, Economic stimulus and the January 6 Commission and is now vowing not to cooperate on raising...
Background Briefing: September 22, 2021
The January 6 Coup Almost Succeeded, Not by the Mob, But the Eastman Memo We begin with the revelations in the new book Peril by the Washington Post reporters Woodward and Costa that makes it alarmingly clear how close we came to a coup on January 6, not so...
Background Briefing: September 21, 2021
At the U.N. Biden Urges World Leaders to Face the Challenges of Climate Change and Pandemics We begin with President Biden's address today to the U.N. in which he declared the world is at an "inflection point" with climate change and pandemics threatening the...
Background Briefing: September 20, 2021
Could the Collapse of Evergrande Become China's Lehman Brothers Moment? We begin with the possibility that a huge Chinese property conglomerate Evergrande could default on its $300 billion in debt and trigger China's Lehman Brothers moment in the way the panic...
Background Briefing: September 19, 2021
We Need More Covid Booster Shots, Not Less We begin with the FDA's decision on Friday not to allow Pfizer to offer Covid booster shots for Americans 16 and older but instead to make them available to those 65 and older, as well as to front line medical workers...
Background Briefing: September 16, 2021
China's Reaction to the AUKUS Deal Between the U.S., U.K., and Australia We begin with the AUKUS deal announced by President Biden on Wednesday in a virtual meeting with UK Prime Minister Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Morrison which involves sharing...