Good Wednesday morning…trying a new headline thing for those of you who, like me, might lose track of the days now and again.
On this day in 1791, the Bill of Rights, which focuses on the rights of the individual (in the United States of America) and outlines what the government can and cannot do, was ratified.
Technically, speaking, the Bill of Rights encompasses the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantee the following:
Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, the right to petition the government, the right to bear arms, protection from unreasonable search and seizure, protection against cruel and unusual punishment, and the right to trial by the jury (among other guarantees).
Some of these, like the right to bear arms, continue to be hotly debated even to this very day.
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared Dec. 15 as Bill of Rights Day, and said it should be observed by “displaying the flag of the United States on public buildings and by meeting together for such prayers and such ceremonies as may seem to them appropriate.”
FDR’s declaration was issued to celebrate the document’s 150th anniversary, and the first Bill of Rights Day took place just eight days after the Pearl Harbor attack and America’s entry into World War II. In his proclamation, FDR stated:
“Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them. They come in time to take these rights for granted and to assume their protection is assured.”
“We, however, who have seen these privileges lost in other continents and other countries can now appreciate their meaning to those people who enjoyed them once and now no longer can.”
“We understand in some measure what their loss can mean. And by that realization we have come to a clearer conception of their worth to us, and to a stronger and more unalterable determination that here in our land they shall not be lost or weakened or curtailed.”
– FDR, Proclamation 2524 – Bill of Rights Day
President Harry Truman issued another proclamation five years later in 1946 after Congress requested to observe Bill of Rights Day again, but it wasn’t until 1962 that President Truman proclaimed this an annual observance.
By the way, if you think you know your American history and have a few minutes to spare, see how you fare on this quiz.
Also, in case you happen to find yourself in Washington, D.C. today, you can visit the Bill of Rights in The Rotunda of the National Archives Building.
President Joe Biden issued his own Bill of Rights Day proclamation yesterday, and in it referenced his democracy summit, which took place last week and got mixed reviews. FWIW, here’s what Biden had to say, in part:
“Just as our Founders overcame their differences to form the democracy we know today, our country continues to confront its problems head-on and work together to fix them, even in the face of disagreements. Respectful disagreement is healthy and American — indeed, it is protected by the Bill of Rights itself — but there is no place in a democracy for threats or violence.”
President Biden, A Proclamation on Bill of Rights Day, 2021
It’s going to be cloudy in the morning, with showers in the afternoon. Temperatures will be in the mid-40s.
In the headlines…
Congressional Democrats passed a debt ceiling increase and sent it to President Joe Biden’s desk early this morning, the deadline that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned could mark the start of the first-ever U.S. default.
Capping a marathon day, the House gave final approval to the legislation on a near-party-line 221-209 vote, defusing a volatile issue until after the 2022 midterm elections.
In a sign of the complicated politics of the debt limit vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer thanked Republicans for working with Democrats on the procedural agreement and avoiding the brinkmanship that marked the issue earlier this year.
But Schumer is threatening to keep the Senate in session and voting over the weekend and into the week of Christmas to break a Republican blockade of Biden’s nominees.
Biden spoke at the Democratic National Committee holiday party last night and expressed optimism that his party will prevail in next year’s midterm elections.
The Bidens will host ‘Holiday Open Houses’ instead of cocktail parties for the holiday season, so visitors can see the decorations in the White House in a COVID-friendly way.
The president will travel to Kentucky today to view damage from last week’s devastating tornadoes that killed at dozens of people and displaced thousands more.
Biden said he was working with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to make sure he is not in the way of recovery efforts during his visit.
The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 topped 800,000, a once-unimaginable figure seen as doubly tragic, given that more than 200,000 of those lives were lost after the vaccine became available practically for the asking last spring.
This milestone comes just two years after the first COVID-19 cluster was reported in Wuhan, China, and a year after vaccines were first rolled out.
The figure is greater than the approximately 700,000 Americans who’ve died from AIDS-related illnesses over the last four decades, and it’s higher than the total number of American troops who died in battle since 1900.
The number of fully vaccinated Americans surpassed 200 million — just over 60 percent of the population — earlier this month, but the road to that milestone was not straight or smooth.
Exactly a year ago, on Dec. 14, 2020, the United States watched as a nurse in Queens became the first person in the nation to receive a coronavirus vaccine outside a clinical trial.
If ever again given the opportunity to be the first person in the United States to receive a coronavirus vaccine, even while knowing what comes with being the first to do anything, the nurse, Sandra Lindsay, said she would do it all over.
The World Health Organization warned the new Covid-19 omicron variant is spreading faster than any previous strain, and it is probably present in most countries of the world.
Dr. Anthony Fauci warned the fast-spreading omicron variant of COVID-19 will soon become dominant in the U.S., but early reports give hope it is not as dangerous as initially feared.
Pfizer said final analysis of its antiviral Covid-19 pill still showed near 90% efficacy in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients, and recent lab data suggests the drug retains its effectiveness against the fast-spreading omicron variant.
Meanwhile, a separate, preliminary analysis provided signs the drug, called Paxlovid, may help people at low risk of severe Covid-19, such as vaccinated individuals who end up becoming sick.
If the FDA authorizes the drug, which could happen within days, then patients might begin receiving it by the end of the year. Supply will be limited at first, but public health experts are hopeful that the pills might curb the worst outcomes from the disease.
Google has told its employees that they will lose pay — and will eventually be fired — if they don’t comply with the company’s Covid-19 vaccination policy.
Kroger is eliminating some Covid-19 benefits for unvaccinated employees, a move to encourage inoculations as the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate faces legal challenges.
The radio broadcaster and anti-debt crusader Dave Ramsey has been accused of firing an employee for wearing masks at the office and for wanting to work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a federal lawsuit filed this week.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. told unvaccinated employees in New York that they must work from home starting yesterday.
COVID-19 cases in New York continued to rise after Thanksgiving amid growing warnings and new restrictions by the state.
Cornell University in Ithaca reported 903 cases of Covid-19 among students between December 7-13, and a “very high percentage” of them are Omicron variant cases in fully vaccinated individuals, according to university officials.
As a result, Cornell is shutting down its campus and all final exams for the fall semester will be moved online and all campus activities, including campus athletics, are canceled. The school’s libraries are also closed for students.
The school moved its alert level to “red,” signaling a high risk of spread among the school community.
New York University will require COVID-19 booster shots for all of its “community members” by Jan. 18 amid the fast-spreading Omicron strain.
Gov. Kathy Hochul all but admitted that the Big Apple doesn’t need her controversial mask mandate due to its success in batting the COVID-19 pandemic.
County officials called the governor’s mandate “silly,” “misguided” and “unenforceable”, with one rejecting it as “Gestapo tactics” and another saying “we’re not going to become the mask police.”
Hochul said her mask order, issued last Friday and implemented on Monday statewide, is supported by county leaders who represent 73% of the state’s population, she said.
“We’re not doing this to win any popularity contest. I’m not going to engage in a political discussion about this because this is too important. This is about getting us through the pandemic,” Hochul said.
“I support what the governor is doing. It is a non-invasive way of just telling New Yorkers that this is a serious moment,” NYC Mayor-elect Eric Adams said. “These spikes are coming and going, new variants, and from time to time, we have to adjust.”
Hochul said she’s “a little frustrated” by the rise in New York Covid cases.
Hochul plans to overhaul the state government’s ethics agency, JCOPE, as she runs for election and tries to distance herself from ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
JCOPE voted to order Cuomo to pay back earnings from the $5.1 million deal he received to write a book about his pandemic leadership, after previously finding that state resources were used in connection with the book’s creation.
Cuomo will have to return the money to the state by next month after the watchdog ethics panel concluded that the governor had violated pledges not to use state resources or government staff to prepare the project.
The resolution, drafted by commissioner David McNamara, a Senate Republican appointee, said Cuomo now “lacked the legal authority to engage in outside activity and receive compensation in regard to the book” since JCOPE rescinded its approval.
The resolution passed 12-1. The lone dissenter was William Fisher, a Cuomo appointee.
Richard Azzopardi, Cuomo’s spokesman, characterized the ethics board’s order as “political hypocrisy and duplicity at its worst.” He added: “Any staffer who assisted in this project did so on their own time.”
David Grandeau, the state’s former top lobbying regulator known for his aggressive tactics, suggested the board was overstepping its authority. “They have no more authority to do this than they do to issue an order removing Carl Heastie from office,” he said.
There are some potential complications: Cuomo placed $1 million from the book proceeds into a blind trust for his daughters. He also donated $500,000 to the United Way in New York state.
Michael Goodwin: “Now it’s official: Nobody in New York politics is afraid of Andrew Cuomo anymore. His era of dominance and fear is finished. Forever.”
Adams has tapped Nassau County Chief of Detectives Keechant Sewell as the first female police commissioner of the NYPD — a stunning, close-to-home pick from a field of seasoned top women cops across the country.
Adams will formally name Sewell today, and heaped praise on the 49-year-old Long Island cop, who’ll become the first female commissioner in the department’s 176-year history when she takes over early next year.
In a statement, the mayor-elect described Sewell, a Queens native, as a “proven crime fighter with the experience and emotional intelligence to deliver both the safety New Yorkers need and the justice they deserve.”
Chief Sewell comes from a department that has about 2,400 uniformed officers — less than a tenth of the size of the roughly 35,000 officers employed by the New York Police Department.
Sewell said she was mentored by the late John Wesley Pierce — who became a surrogate grandfather she called “Pop Pop” — while growing up in Jamaica.
Adams will hold his inauguration at Kings Theatre in East Flatbush on New Year’s Day instead of at City Hall in Lower Manhattan.
Two other Brooklyn natives, Brad Lander and Jumaane Williams, will hold their inaugurations at the theater as well. Lander is the city’s next comptroller, and Williams was re-elected as public advocate.
Due to his involvement in the speaker’s race, Adams has ended up at odds with key labor unions and Council members at a vital moment in his transition. The machinations threaten to create his first political headache as he seeks to fill out his administration.
City Council members Adrienne Adams and Francisco Moya both claimed victory in the race to become the next Council speaker — a bizarre twist in what’s so far proven to be the one of the most contentious battles for the job in recent memory.
Adams told reporters he won’t be doing much redecorating when he moves into Gracie Mansion, saying: “All I need is a mattress on the floor; that’s all I need.”
In the last two months of the mayoral election, Adams refunded more than $1 million to 653 donors, only a few of whom had already contributed the maximum amount to his campaign while others had donated nothing previously.
Adams ducked out early from a White House gathering yesterday, ditching a chance to greet Biden to get back to work on his Big Apple transition.
Incoming city schools chief David Banks isn’t going to be “the chancellor who is going to beat everybody over the head with race,” but will prioritize greater curricular diversity.
Since the start of the year, nearly six million jobs have been added in the United States. The unemployment rate has plummeted to 4.2 percent, close to where it stood before the pandemic. But in New York City, the economy appears to be in a rut.
Tenant and housing groups are seeking to force the state to start accepting applications for pandemic rent relief again, arguing that closing the program left many struggling renters vulnerable to eviction.
New York could soon redistribute more than $250 million in rent relief checks not yet claimed by landlords, state officials said.
Buses move slower than when Mayor Bill de Blasio first took office in 2014, a sorry statistic that highlights his administration’s failure to rein in New York City’s notoriously congested streets during eight years in office.
The NYPD simply can’t police itself, the New York Civil Liberties Union says in a new report that finds serious discipline was meted out in just 1% of cases investigated by a city watchdog agency over the past two decades.
Muhammad A. Aziz, who was exonerated in the murder of Malcolm X, has filed a claim against the state for at least $20 million, saying being “unjustly branded as a convicted murderer” took a toll on his mental well-being, reputation and personal relationships.
His lawyers have also notified New York City that he intends to file a $40 million civil rights lawsuit against the city in 90 days if an agreement is not reached before that date.
The head of the City of Albany’s police officers union is asking for changes to how the county sheriff’s deputies operate in the city after a crash Monday evening sent two people to the hospital and a dog through a windshield.
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan vetoed part of the Common Council’s budget ordinance that attempted to place limits on her use of federal rescue funds, setting up a probable veto override vote next week at the council’s final meeting of the year.
In a reversal, Schenectady will allow marijuana dispensaries and smoking lounges within city limits.
Longtime Syracuse-area NewsChannel 9 anchor Rod Wood died on Sunday after a brief illness surrounded by his five children. Wood, who retired in November 2020, turned 81 just before his death.
The Democratic-controlled House voted largely along party lines to hold ex-President Trump’s final chief of staff, Mark Meadows, in criminal contempt of Congress as lawmakers focused on his communications related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The vote of 222 to 208 sent the matter to the Justice Department to consider whether to prosecute Meadows, who would be the first former member of Congress to be held in contempt of the body he once served in nearly 200 years.
Trump lost his bid to shield his tax returns from the House Ways and Means Committee after a federal judge dismissed the case.
In a 45-page opinion, Judge Trevor McFadden of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia held that the Treasury Department can provide the tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee, which could vote to publish them.
As prosecutors in Manhattan weigh whether to charge Trump with fraud, they have zeroed in on financial documents that he used to obtain loans and boast about his wealth, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
A New York trial court judge issued a clarification in an order that has temporarily prevented The New York Times from seeking out or publishing certain documents related to the conservative group Project Veritas.
O.J. Simpson is no longer on parole. The former star football player was granted early release last week, according to a spokeswoman for the Nevada State Police.
COVID seems to be the only thing that can stop the drama on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” Production of the hit Bravo reality series has come to a halt after cast members Erika Girardi, Garcelle Beauvais and Lisa Rinna tested positive for COVID-19.
