🤫 Sinema's new hurdle

Plus: Unmasking Greene's fines | Tuesday, November 02, 2021

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Ripple   Axios Sneak Peek By the Axios Politics team ·Nov 02, 2021 Welcome back to Sneak. One year later, another Election Day. 📅 Join Axios' Dave Lawler and Ben Geman tomorrow at 3:30pm ET for a News Shapers event discussing the COP26 United Nations Climate Conference. Guests include UN Foundation president and CEO Elizabeth Cousens and UN Development Program administrator Achim Steiner. Register. Smart Brevity™ count: 876 words ... 3.5 minutes. Edited by Glen Johnson.     1 big thing: Sinema has new hurdle Sen. Kyrsten Sinema leaves the Democratic Policy Luncheon today. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images   Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is privately questioning a proposed fee on methane emissions targeting oil and gas companies, people familiar with the matter tell Axios' Hans Nichols. Why it matters: Sinema's potential opposition will aggravate environmental groups, as well as lawmakers like Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.). Both have been fighting to include a fee in President Biden's $1.75 trillion climate and social spending package. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and a trio of Texas Democrats also have been resisting it, and some have hinted they'll vote against the package if it's included in the final deal. "I will have a big problem with the Build Back Better bill if the methane fee is included," Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) told Axios. "I know of at least two senators who are against it," he added, while declining to identify them. Manchin's opposition is well-known; Sinema's concerns were less so. Sinema is asking questions to understand the size and scope of the problem. She hasn't made a final decision on her position, according to a person familiar with her thinking. Keep reading.     2. Greene's fines unmasked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene yesterday. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images   Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has already been fined a quarter of her congressional salary for not wearing a mask on the House floor, yet she tells Axios' Andrew Solender that pales in comparison to the price paid by other public employees. Why it matters: Republicans have defied a slate of measures put in place by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to mitigate the spread of coronavirus and bolster security following the Jan. 6 attack. And Greene has the personal wealth to withstand fines aimed at enforcing them. Greene compared herself to firefighters, police officers, nurses and other workers fired for refusing to comply with mask mandates. She attended a news conference on their behalf outside the Capitol yesterday. "What kind of representative would I be if I am unwilling to give up my salary?" she told Axios today. "And I don't get fired! Like, it's a horrible thing that's happening in our country." "The Senate side [of the Capitol] is not forced to wear a mask. And it's crazy, is insanity to walk through that Dome, and then there's some kind of magical barrier that separates who wears mask and who doesn't." Greene, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) are suing Pelosi under the 27th Amendment to try to eliminate the mask fines. In addition to several other House Republicans being hit with mask fines, numerous House members — mostly Republicans — also have faced fines for evading metal detectors at entrances to the House chamber. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) joked during a recent rally about blowing up the metal detectors with explosives. Go deeper: Read the sergeant-at-arms letter. Keep reading.     3. By the numbers: Why GOP turns to culture wars Data: PRRI 2021 American Values Survey; Chart: Jared Whalen/Axios Here's one potential reason the GOP elevates so-called culture wars in elections: Republicans and white Christians largely think things were better for Americans in the 1950s than now, Axios' Alexi McCammond writes. Driving the news: New data from a wide-ranging report released by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and Brookings Institution gives insight into the country's partisan fault lines around identity and culture. The findings crystallize the "competing visions of America," the report says. 80% of Republicans feel "America is in danger of losing its culture and identity" — compared to just 33% of Democrats. Between the lines: The Virginia governor's race has drawn attention even from former President Obama for the presence of what he called "phony culture wars" and "fake outrage" from the right-wing political and media sphere. Only 29% of Republicans currently think American culture has changed for the better since the 1950s — a noticeable decline from 46% in 2020, but closer to the 31% who felt similarly in 2016 just before Donald Trump was elected president. He ran on the theme, "Make America Great Again."     A message from Ripple What's real about crypto?     See for yourself. The real business efficiencies it provides. The real transparency for financial institutions. The real advances in sustainability. And the real new wave of financial services it's creating. Take a look and learn more now.     4. Biden's blunt talk President Biden speaks during his news conference today in Glasgow, Scotland. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images   This White House's buttoned-up communications operation still has one big leak: President Biden, writes Axios' Glen Johnson. Driving the news: Earlier today, on the world stage in Glasgow, Scotland, he bluntly chastised Russia and China for skipping the COP26 climate change conference. It wasn't an isolated instance. The big picture: While Biden administration staffers work overtime to control their message both domestically and abroad, the president has given an unvarnished view of his thoughts by letting fly during recent public appearances. Two weeks before, during a CNN town hall event in Baltimore, the U.S. president had accused Saudi Arabia of keeping oil prices high in a bid for his attention diplomatically. He also speculated on the duration of elevated gas prices — and freely shared details of private negotiations with key lawmakers over his proposed $1.75 trillion social safety net expansion. "Spent 72 hours on endless calls digging out detail after detail based on private meetings and it turns out Biden was just going to lay them all out in the A Block of the town hall," CNN senior White House correspondent Phil Mattingly tweeted in response. Why it matters: Throughout his career, Biden has been reliably vociferous. The equally long debate has been about whether this helps or hurts his cause. A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Keep reading.     5. Pic du jour Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images   A toddler manages a snack as a mother manages her ballot in Virginia's statewide election.     A message from Ripple The real power of cryptocurrency     Crypto helps drive: Real efficiencies for business. Real transparency for financial institutions. Real advancements in sustainability. Real innovations for consumers, both today and tomorrow. See for yourself how crypto helps move business forward — in the U.S. and around the world.   📬 Thanks for reading. A reminder your family, friends and colleagues can subscribe to Sneak or any of Axios' other free local and national newsletters through this link. Like this email style and format? Learn more about Axios HQ. 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