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DON’T STOP BLEEDIN’ … "Election Security Institute Criticizes Newly Unveiled Nevada Caucus App After Iowa Disaster," via NEWSWEEK: [The Open Source Election Technology Institute] that studies election security criticized the Nevada Democratic Party for planning to use a digital tool for its caucuses, arguing that Nevada was likely to run into many of the same issues that Iowa did with its voting app last week …
"Deja Vu; this time in NV," OSET’s first tweet read. "Let's be clear from the start: theirs is an 'App' and no designation of 'tool' changes that. Let's stop playing word games here. The fact that its pre-loaded & may not use mobile connectivity is the only 'difference.'"
GOTTA BREAK A FEW EGGS! … "Sanders Calls Medicare for All ‘The Least Disruptive Approach," by WFB’s Collin Anderson: In a town hall speech at Franklin Pierce University, [Bernie Sanders] said, "Now, people say, ‘Medicare for All is gonna be so disruptive, it’s such a radical idea, oh my goodness.' Actually, it's the least disruptive approach to moving toward universal health care." …
Medicare for All is the leading policy proposal of Sanders’s 2020 campaign. It would effectively abolish private health insurance, setting up a single-payer government-run system and booting over 181 million Americans off their current health care plans.
BIDEN BASE DEATH RATTLE: SHOT … "Older Voters Are Getting Worried About Joe Biden," via HUFFPOST: "It’s so sad. I really feel sad," Laura Norris, 62, said as she watched the former vice president [Joe Biden] speak at a town hall here on the eve of the New Hampshire primary …
Biden’s edge with older voters has been his greatest asset so far in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. But with the New Hampshire primary only days away … elderly voters are reconsidering their support for the septuagenarian in favor of some younger blood: namely Pete Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
CHASER … "Quinnipiac: Nearly Half of Biden’s African-American Supporters Have Abandoned Him," via NRO: Biden has been counting on South Carolina as his firewall (where two-thirds of Democratic primary voters are black), but the new national Quinnipiac poll shows support for Biden among African Americans dropping from 52 percent to 27 percent since the Iowa caucuses.
WHY STOP THERE … "Tom Steyer vows to raise minimum wage to $22 per hour if elected," via FOX BUSINESS: Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer vowed to call for a $22 hourly minimum wage if he wins his longshot bid to unseat incumbent President Trump in November …
According to a Congressional Budget Office report published in July 2019, increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour could result in 1.3 million workers losing their jobs. (The report estimated there’s about a two-thirds chance that somewhere between zero and 3.7 million workers would lose their jobs).
SEND THE BOMBERS … "New Secretive Iranian Nuclear Sites Spark Concern in Congress," by WFB’s Adam Kredo: Sen. Jim Risch (R., Idaho) told the Washington Free Beacon in a wide-ranging interview on the Islamic Republic's continued nuclear subterfuge that he is worried by new reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that there are "possible undeclared Iranian nuclear sites" that remain active in Iran …
Recent reports indicate that particles of uranium, the key component in a nuclear weapon, were found at secretive Iranian sites. Risch said he would not contradict any recent reporting but could not go into specifics for classification reasons.
SEND THE BOMBERS THERE TOO … "It Was China Who Stole the Data of 150 Million Americans by Hacking Equifax, Says the DOJ," via DAILY BEAST: In total, the members of the Chinese military are accused of stealing personally identifiable information from 145 million Americans, as well as driving license numbers for ten million and the credit card numbers of around 200,000.
A nine-count indictment unveiled Monday accused four Chinese military members of hacking into the company’s computer networks, maintaining unauthorized access to them, and stealing the sensitive data.
AMERICA UNINTERESTED IN SUSTAINABILITY LECTURES FROM PRIVATE JET OWNERS … "TV Ratings: Oscars Fall to All-Time Lows," via THR: The three-hour-plus broadcast averaged about 23.6 million viewers and a 5.3 rating among adults 18-49, well below the 29.56 million and 7.7 for last year's awards …
The Oscars join the Emmy Awards in suffering steep ratings declines. The September 2019 Emmy broadcast on Fox fell by 32 percent in viewers and 29 percent in adults 18-49 from the previous year.
CHILL, GRETA, CHILL … "Greta Thunberg to make new documentary series for the BBC," via GUARDIAN: BBC Studios has announced a documentary series about the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg. The new show will follow Thunberg’s "international crusade" against the climate emergency, focusing on her campaign work as well as her "journey into adulthood". It will also see Thunberg meet with scientists, politicians, and businesspeople to explore the evidence around rising global temperatures.
OUR MAN IN MANCHESTER REPORTS … "BERN NOTICE: Sanders Poised to Seize Victory in New Hampshire," by WFB’s Andrew Stiles: [Pete] Buttigieg, meanwhile, is hoping that a strong performance here will boost his odds to emerge as the "not Bernie Sanders" alternative, assuming he can avoid embarrassment in South Carolina later this month, given his statistically insignificant level of support among black voters. Mayor Pete, who is far more popular in rich white "boat shoe" strongholds, such as Nantucket, Cape Cod, and Martha's Vineyard, has been taking shots at Sanders over the enormous costs of his proposed reforms, such as Medicare for All …
[Barack] Obama, for his part, continues to sit on the sidelines (and produce Oscar-winning documentaries) as the Democratic candidates duke it out. Not only has the former president refused to endorse his former running mate, he also tried to persuade [Joe] Biden not to run. "You don't have to do this, Joe," Obama reportedly told Biden before the former VP launched his campaign. Perhaps he should have listened.
DAYS SINCE JOE BIDEN DID A SUNDAY SHOW: 2. Welcome back, Joe!
"You know who really doesn’t have it? Joe Biden." —Former President Barack Obama
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