1/ House Democrats outlined their proposed tax increases on corporations and wealthy people to help offset the costs of Biden’s $3.5 trillion economic plan. The House Ways and Means Committee plan calls for raising the corporate tax rate to 26.5% from 21%, a 3-percentage-point surcharge on individual income above $5 million, and raising the capital gains tax from 20% to 25%. White House spokesman Andrew Bates said the proposal “meets two core goals the President laid out at the beginning of this process: it does not raise taxes on Americans earning under $400,000 and it repeals the core elements of the Trump tax giveaways for the wealthy and corporations that have done nothing to strengthen our country’s economic health.” (Wall Street Journal / Politico / CNBC / Bloomberg)

2/ Joe Manchin – again – said he will not support the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package to expand the nation’s social safety net, which includes investments in climate change, health care, taxes, and education. “I cannot support $3.5 trillion,” Manchin said, citing his opposition to the proposed increase in the corporate tax rate. Chuck Schumer “will not have my vote on the 3.5,” Manchin said, adding “there’s no way” Congress can meet the Sept. 27 deadline set by Nancy Pelosi for passage. Manchin added: “It’s going to be $1, $1.5 [trillion]. We don’t know where it’s going to be. It’s not going to be at $3.5 [trillion], I can assure you.” Democrats need all 50 votes to pass the budget reconciliation package. Kyrsten Sinema, another moderate Democrat, has also expressed concern over the cost of the bill. (CNN / ABC News / Associated Press / USA Today / Bloomberg / Politico / NBC News)

3/ A group of leading U.S. and international scientists suggested that Covid-19 vaccine booster shots are “not appropriate at this stage in the pandemic.” The international group of scientists, which include some at the FDA and the WHO, concluded that “boosting” the vaccinated population doesn’t outweigh the benefit of using those doses to immunize the billions of unvaccinated people worldwide. “None of the studies has provided credible evidence of substantially declining protection against severe disease,” the authors wrote, noting there could be side-effects if boosters are introduced too soon or too broadly. The group did, however, say that booster shots may eventually be needed for the general population if vaccine-induced immunity wanes or a new variant emerges that can evade the body’s immune response. Several recent studies published by the CDC suggest that the vaccines hold steady against sever...