Political paralysis, Covid surge: problems pile up for Biden

Returning to the White House from a weekend at his family home in Delaware, the 79-year-old president, wearing a black face mask, headed straight from his Marine One helicopter to the Oval Office on Monday without a word or a glance at a scrum of waiting reporters.The president has not personally responded to the potentially fatal blow dealt this weekend by Senator Joe Manchin, a fellow Democrat, to his $1.75 trillion "Build Back Better" plan designed to equip the United States to face 21st Century challenges such as climate change and Chinese competition."We are going to vote on a revised version of the House-passed Build Back Better Act -- and we will keep voting on it until we get something done," Schumer said.Manchin announced on Sunday on Fox News, former Republican president Donald Trump's favorite TV network, that he was a "no" on the bill that proposes sweeping reforms to health care, immigration, climate and education.While Biden remained silent, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki issued a blistering statement blasting Manchin's "breach of his commitments to the president" and the "sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position."As a former veteran senator who considers himself a master of the legislative game, Biden personally invested in trying to get Manchin on board, to the chagrin of some members of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.- Omicron -Top US pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci warned on Sunday of a bleak winter ahead as the Omicron coronavirus variant spurs a new wave of infections globally.While a little more than 70 percent of the US population has had at least one shot, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, another 50 million eligible people remain unprotected, Fauci said.But getting the virus under control has proved difficult in a country where vaccination and mask-wearing have become divisive political issues, and federal mandates end up in protracted legal battles.He is to make a speech on Covid on Tuesday....

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December 21, 2021 at 12:10AM
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Returning to the White House from a weekend at his family home in Delaware, the 79-year-old president, wearing a black face mask, headed straight from his Marine One helicopter to the Oval Office on Monday without a word or a glance at a scrum of waiting reporters.The president has not personally responded to the potentially fatal blow dealt this weekend by Senator Joe Manchin, a fellow Democrat, to his $1.75 trillion "Build Back Better" plan designed to equip the United States to face 21st Century challenges such as climate change and Chinese competition."We are going to vote on a revised version of the House-passed Build Back Better Act -- and we will keep voting on it until we get something done," Schumer said.Manchin announced on Sunday on Fox News, former Republican president Donald Trump's favorite TV network, that he was a "no" on the bill that proposes sweeping reforms to health care, immigration, climate and education.While Biden remained silent, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki issued a blistering statement blasting Manchin's "breach of his commitments to the president" and the "sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position."As a former veteran senator who considers himself a master of the legislative game, Biden personally invested in trying to get Manchin on board, to the chagrin of some members of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.- Omicron -Top US pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci warned on Sunday of a bleak winter ahead as the Omicron coronavirus variant spurs a new wave of infections globally.While a little more than 70 percent of the US population has had at least one shot, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, another 50 million eligible people remain unprotected, Fauci said.But getting the virus under control has proved difficult in a country where vaccination and mask-wearing have become divisive political issues, and federal mandates end up in protracted legal battles.He is to make a speech on Covid on Tuesday....