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| Presented By Facebook |
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| Axios AM |
| By Mike Allen · Aug 12, 2022 |
| Happy Friday. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,160 words ... 4½ mins. Edited by Noah Bressner. |
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| 🗳️ 1 big thing: Drug prices could be Dems' new lifeline |
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| Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios |
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| Vulnerable Democrats believe finally passing a law to let Medicare negotiate the prices it pays for some prescription drugs will give the party a lifeline in a brutal midterm cycle, Axios' Victoria Knight reports. - Why it matters: A relentless focus on health care helped Democrats seize control of the House in 2018. Now, they're hoping that delivering on this decades-long campaign promise will help keep their majorities.
💨 Catch up quick: The House is due to clear the massive health, tax and climate package containing the drug pricing provisions today. President Biden is expected to sign it quickly. 📊 What we're watching: Polling shows that inflation and gun violence remain at the top of voters' minds. Health care costs are close behind. - Republican votes against the drug-pricing provisions — particularly opposition to a cap on what patients pay for insulin — are a likely centerpiece of Democratic messaging and paid advertising.
PhRMA, the industry's leading trade group, hinted to Politico that it might run ads targeting vulnerable Democrats who voted for the bill. - "This is a very consequential vote," said Stephen Ubl, president and CEO of PhRMA. "Those members who vote for this bill will not get a free pass. We'll do whatever we can to hold them accountable."
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| 2. WaPo: FBI sought nuclear docs |
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| Graphic: MSNBC |
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| Classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the papers being sought by FBI agents in their search of former President Trump's home, The Washington Post reports. - 15 boxes the National Archives retrieved from Mar-a-Lago in January apparently included signals intelligence — intercepted electronic communications, such as foreign leaders' emails and phone calls, The Post adds.
"Former senior intelligence officials said in interviews that during the Trump administration, highly classified intelligence about sensitive topics, including about intelligence-gathering on Iran, was routinely mishandled," the story continues. - "One former official said the most highly classified information often ended up in the hands of personnel who didn't appear to have a need to possess it or weren't authorized to read it."
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| 3. Great bike glut of '22 |
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| Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios |
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| Bike dealers ordered as if pandemic demand would last, and now they have way too many bikes, The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription). - High-end bikes for enthusiasts — which typically cost $1,500+ — still have wait times.
Charlie McCorkell, owner of Bicycle Habitat in New York, has 2,000 bikes in stock — more than double what he'd like. - "We have a hundred black ones and no red ones," McCorkell told The Journal. "And they only want the red ones."
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| Facebook is taking action to keep its platform safe |
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| We have over 40,000 people working on safety and security across our platforms. That's more than the size of the FBI. And it's just one example of the work we're doing to create safer connections for our communities. Learn more about our work ahead. |
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| 4. ⛽ Mapped: Gas relief |
 Data: GasBuddy. Map: Thomas Oide/Axios Gas prices remain higher in the West but have fallen everywhere. Why it matters: July's "slowdown in overall inflation stemmed from falling prices for gas, airfares, used cars and hotel rooms, which canceled out increases in critical areas like food and rent." —N.Y. Times |
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| 5. Investors 💚 climate deal |
 Data: Energy Impact Partners. Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios Investors are acting confident that Democrats' climate deal will translate into expanded real-world deployment of low-carbon energy, Ben Geman writes for Axios Generate. - Above, you see a Climate Tech Index from the VC firm Energy Impact Partners, which tallies a basket of companies' performance against the wider market.
A recent note from Goldman Sachs analysts said the legislation is bullish for utilities "as the wind, solar and storage tax credits would reduce the costs of building new renewables in the U.S." |
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| 6. 😷 Time capsule: CDC loosens quarantines |
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| A sign at the COVID testing center for White House visitors on July 30. Photo: Joshua Roberts/Getty Images |
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| The CDC released new COVID guidance yesterday, loosening recommendations in place since the onset of the pandemic 2½ years ago. - Why it matters: The CDC is now putting more emphasis on personal choices to make informed decisions to protect yourself and others, including vaccination and masking, Axios' Sareen Habeshian writes.
The agency relaxed both quarantine and social distancing guidance. - Unvaccinated people who are exposed to COVID are no longer advised to quarantine for five days if they have not tested positive for the virus or are not showing symptoms.
- Instead, the CDC now suggests wearing a high-quality mask for 10 days, and getting tested on Day 5 — in line with the same rules for vaccinated individuals.
The agency is no longer emphasizing social distancing as a key method to reduce the risk of exposure. - Testing of asymptomatic people without known exposures is no longer recommended in most community settings.
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| 7. 🏀 An NBA first |
| In 1964, Boston Celtics star Bill Russell is congratulated at Boston Garden by coach Red Auerbach after scoring his 10,000th career point. Photo: Bill Chaplis/AP Bill Russell's No. 6 jersey is being retired across the NBA, a first for the league, AP's Tim Reynolds writes. - The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced that the number worn by the 11-time champion civil rights activist, who died last month, will be permanently retired by all 30 teams.
"Bill Russell's unparalleled success on the court and pioneering civil rights activism deserve to be honored in a unique and historic way," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. - Players who currently wear No. 6 — including the Lakers' LeBron James — may continue doing so. But the number cannot be issued again.
⚾ Major League Baseball permanently retired No. 42 — in honor of Jackie Robinson, who broke the big league's color barrier — with the understanding that those who were wearing that number could continue to do so. Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees was the last in the majors to wear No. 42, doing so through his final season in 2013. 🏒 The NHL, on Wayne Gretzky's retirement in 1999, said No. 99 would be retired league-wide in honor of the sport's all-time scoring leader. |
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| 8. 1 fun thing: Bachelor(ette) blowouts |
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| Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios |
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| There's an escalating arms race in bachelor and bachelorette parties, with brides and grooms throwing ever-more-elaborate blowouts, Jennifer A. Kingson writes for Axios What's Next. - Why it matters: Inflation and the pressure to stage Instagram-worthy celebrations are driving up the cost of pre-nuptial revelry.
The BACH, which helps people plan bachelorette parties, found the average range of spending on a trip planned through its app last year was $5,500-$7,000. - "Everything 'wedding' in our society is getting bigger and better and crazier," says Corie Wagner, an industry analyst at Savings.com.
⛳ The twist: While blowout bachelorette parties (with themes like "Bridgerton," "Mean Girls" and "Disney princesses") get lots of ink, men often spend more dough. - That's because the traditional activities — golf, casino nights and pro sports — can have higher price tags than club-hopping, spa retreats or gift-giving brunches.
Post-pandemic wanderlust has wedding parties jetting off to yoga retreats in Jamaica, pool parties in Tulum, and raunchy fun in tried-and-true Las Vegas. - Brides magazine's list of "Instagram-worthy bashes" includes a "Last Sail Before the Veil" in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and a stay in a "retro-glam" hotel in Miami that serves "boozy Popsicles" poolside.
Reality check: Post-pandemic wedding fever has translated into burnout for many guests. - Some couples are opting for modest hybrid weddings — with some people attending by Zoom.
That now seems so old-fashioned. |
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