No Organized Party: The comedian Will Rogers used to say he was not a member of any organized political party; he was a Democrat. He’s dead but the joke lives.

  Restrained by both moderates and progressives in the party from passing his ambitious social and economic agenda, Biden laid it all out yesterday, practically pleading with his party leaders for the life of his presidency.

  “I don’t think it’s hyperbole,” he said as he revealed a revised proposal before he left on a six-day trip to Europe.  “The House and Senate majorities and my presidency will be determined by what happens in the next week,” Biden told the lawmakers during an hourlong meeting, The NY Times reports according to someone who was at the meeting.

  Biden’s spending plans have been cut by half from his original proposals, but they still would still affect the lives of millions of Americans and be the basis of the Democratic argument for why they should retain control of the House and Senate and that Biden should be elected to a second term in 2024.

  The President  unveiled a new $1.75 trillion package to overhaul health-care, education, climate, and tax laws. He has a second bill, now reduced to $1.2 trillion, to improve the country’s roads, bridges, pipes, ports, and internet connections.

  In a public speech, also yesterday, Biden spoke as if his bills would pass. He said, “I’m pleased to announce that after months of tough and thoughtful negotiations, I think we have an historic, I know we have historic economic framework.” Acknowledging how tough the negotiations have been within his own party — the Republicans want nothing to do with any of it — Biden said, “No one got everything they wanted, including me. But that’s what compromise is.”

  But it remains to be seen whether Biden or anyone gets anything at all.

Identity Disorder: Facebook has abandoned the most recognizable and powerful name in social networking, re-branding itself as “Meta,” a soulless internet entity that lacks a face.

  They say they’re going to focus on virtual reality, the “metaverse.” Facebook will still exist, but under the umbrella of Meta. Comedian Stephen Colbert said, “But don’t you worry, the self-esteem of teenage girls will always be last.”

  Founder Mark Zuckerberg says the name signals his company’s entry into new territories of the digital frontier, merging the segments of virtual and digital communication into something he calls the “metaverse.” He says, “A lot of the metaverse experience is going to be around being able to teleport from one experience to another.” 

  Speaking at a virtual event on yesterday to unveiling the name change and ambitions for the future, Zuckerberg said, “Over time, I hope we’re seen as a metaverse company.”

  There’s also a possibility that Zuck re-named the company to escape the dark side of Facebook’s reputation, everything from teenagers abusing each other to the spread of hate and conspiracy theories. It’s similar to when the Blackwater private army changed its name to “Xe Services”  after its gunmen slaughtered 17 people and wounded 20 in the middle of Baghdad.

The Political Touch: Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was charged yesterday with a misdemeanor count of groping the breast of a woman staffer at the Executive Mansion “for the purposes of degrading and gratifying his sexual desires,” according to a criminal complaint filed in Albany. 

  The aide, Brittany Commisso, had previously and publicly accused Cuomo of groping her breast while they were alone in the mansion late last year. Cuomo denied it ever happened, but he resigned earlier this year amid accusations of sexual harassment.

Covid Nation: As the Covid-19 vaccination effort has turned into a culture war, the Iowa state legislature passed a bill that allows residents fired for refusing vaccine mandates to receive unemployment benefits, while also broadening religious and medical exemptions. 

  Just shy of 58 percent of the American population has been vaccinated.

  Banking giant Citigroup told its staff that US-based employees will be required to get fully vaccinated if they want to keep their jobs.  

  Vaccine resistance  runs high among cops and firefighters. In New York about 55 percent of firefighters are unvaccinated. About 25 percent of police department employees remain unvaccinated despite a city mandate, which means  about 20,000 cops, firefighters, and staff personnel will lose their paychecks after 5 pm today.

The Spin Rack: Amazon has slapped a $9.95 fee on delivery orders from Whole Foods placed through Amazon Prime. It used to be two-hour delivery, free. — NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who’s been with the paper for 37 years, announced that he’s leaving to run for Governor of Oregon. — The Biden administration is considering a settlement that would give $450,000 to each migrant family member affected by President trump’s border separation policy. — A Michigan man who claimed he was fired from a hospital system because he is white and male has been awarded $10 million by a North Carolina jury. David Duvall of Michigan sued Novant Health in 2019 after he was fired as a senior vice president, he said, “as part of an intentional campaign to promote diversity in its management ranks.” 

Dumb and Dumberer: One of the latest tweets from Georgia’s Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Republicans MUST vote AGAINST the Democrat Communist takeover via the so-called infrastructure bill and Biden’s budget!”

  Because in Georgia when government actually does something for its citizens, it’s communism.

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