Short Takes – 12-12-22

Behind-the-scenes hunt builds for McCarthy Speaker alternative. TheHill.com article. And the confusion builds. Pull quote: ““He’s brought the conference from the minority to the majority. He’s been to every single congressional district. He’s broken all fundraising records. He’s raised close to half a billion dollars,” Fitzpatrick said. “If you can put all that work and dedicate your life and sacrifice your time, yourself, your family, only in the 11th hour to have a knife in your back, nobody’s ever going to do that work again. It would set the worst precedent I can imagine politically.””

Successful End of NASA Moon Mission Shifts Attention to SpaceX. NYTimes.com article. What’s next? Pull quote: “Thus, SpaceX will first launch a Starship that will essentially serve as a gas station in orbit. Then, it will conduct a series of launches — Mr. Musk has said no more than eight will be needed — of a tanker version of Starship to carry propellant to the gas station Starship.”

Who Is Purposely Sabotaging Power Plants All Over America? ZeroHedge.com article. Other than mis equating substations with power generation facilities, interesting POV. Pull quote: “We are a nation that is absolutely teeming with “soft targets”, and I expect that we will see these attacks become even more frequent during the years to come.”

Good morning. Winters with Covid, the flu and R.S.V. may be our new normal. NYTimes.com article. Pull quote: “The spread of the viruses amounts to a mixed picture. The bad news is that the three pathogens will likely be a regular part of our lives, especially in the fall and winter. The good news is that we are not totally helpless against them.”

Lawmakers race toward Christmas deal on spending. TheHill.com article. A one-week CR seems certain. Pull quote: “A Senate Democratic aide told The Hill on early Monday that Senate Appropriations Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) felt that “sufficient progress in negotiations took place over the weekend to delay the introduction of the omnibus appropriations bill for the time being.””

King says he’d reluctantly support one-year continuing resolution: ‘That’s the second-worst outcome’. TheHill.com article. And then again….. Pull quote: “Congressional leaders are likely to push for a short-term extension of funding to allow negotiations to continue into next week, but some Republicans have called for a yearlong continuing resolution (CR), which would keep funding at current levels until after Republicans take control of the House.”