Good morning! Here is your news briefing for Wednesday June 9, 2021
1.) THE DAILY SIGNAL
June 9 2021
Good morning from Washington, where conservatives worry that President Biden’s proposal to beef up the IRS could mean a return to the agency’s politicization during the Obama years, our Fred Lucas reports. On the podcast, the man who helped save Parler, Twitter’s competitor, tells why it was so important for free speech. Plus: Dennis Prager on retaking America; Lee Edwards on taking on the China threat; and Tony Perkins on the networks’ LGBT propaganda for kids. On this date in 1973, Secretariat wins the Belmont Stakes to become the first horse in 25 years to win America’s coveted Triple Crown, which also includes the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.
Given the Internal Revenue Service’s history of politicization, some are expressing concern about the potential for abuse from President Biden’s proposed doubling of the number of IRS agents.
The most frequent question people pose to me is: What can I do to fight back against the nihilistic anti-American destruction of virtually all the country’s major institutions?
Say goodbye to the regular plot lines of “Blue’s Clues” and “Scooby-Doo”—and say hello to a 21st-century lesson in transgenderism, sex, homosexuality, nonbinaries, and drag queens.
“Although Plaintiff supports equality … and finds racism despicable, she disagreed with the woke culture and critical race theory advocated and practiced by two of her coaches,” the lawsuit states.
The school system in Loudoun County, Virginia, must reinstate Byron “Tanner” Cross, who spoke out against requiring all teachers to refer to students by preferred personal pronouns.
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3.) DAYBREAK
Your First Look at Today’s Top Stories – Daybreak Insider
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Judge Lifts Suspension of Teacher Refusing to Use Transgender Pronouns
From the story: Judge James E. Plowman Jr. said Tuesday that Leesburg Elementary School teacher Byron “Tanner” Cross must be allowed to return to his job after the school’s principal suspended him in late May for objecting to a proposed policy on how to address transgender students. The policy would allow transgender students to use their chosen names and gender pronouns. Cross, who teaches physical education, said the policy violates his religious beliefs (Yahoo). The Alliance Defending Freedom, who represent Byron Cross, called it “A massive victory for freedom of speech” (Twitter).
2.
Labor Department Reports a Record 9.3 Million Job Openings in April
As the fed continues to pay people to stay home. From the story: Job openings increased 998,000 in April, including 391,000 in leisure and hospitality, 108,000 in trade and transportation and 102,000 in manufacturing as more states lifted Covid-19 restrictions. Yet new hires increased by a mere 69,000. Employers filled about one in 15 new positions.
NY Times Critical of VP Harris on Return from Mexico
The New York Times declared it “a high-stakes trip to Mexico and Guatemala during which she took on the politically volatile issue” but later noted “Ms. Harris’s team has tried to distance her from the U.S.-Mexico border issue, an acknowledgment of the political baggage it brings to any Democrat with aspirations for higher office. While she has shown a willingness to speak about the causes of migration, Ms. Harris has stumbled when discussing the border” (New York Times). Nikki Haley was less delicate, saying “Any leader knows you can’t fix what you can’t see. She hasn’t been on the ground, she hasn’t talked to Border Patrol—she doesn’t know what is happening there” (Fox News).
4.
Shrier: States are Taking Kids and Encouraging Them to Change Genders
In defiance of parents. Abigail Shrier tells some horrifying stories of parents who realized they had to play along just to get their children back. If you live in west coast state, you are at risk.
It was one more hyper-partisan bill the Democrats were planning to push through. Democrats used the myth that women earn 82 cents for every dollar a man makes.
Add them to the long list of things the far left seeks to cancel. From the story: As with the wider field of conservation, racism and colonialism are in ornithology’s DNA, indelibly linked to its origin story. The challenge of how to move forward is roiling White ornithologists as they debate whether to change as many as 150 eponyms, names of birds that honor people with connections to slavery and supremacy.
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Sunburn — The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics — 6.9.21
Florida politics and Sunburn — perfect together.
Former House Speaker Will Weatherford was elected Chair of the University of South Florida Board of Trustees on Tuesday in a unanimous vote.
The former Wesley Chapel lawmaker was appointed to the board by Gov. Ron DeSantis in January.
Weatherford is the managing partner of Weatherford Capital, a private investment firm he runs alongside his brothers. He served in the House from 2006-14, culminating in a term as House Speaker. Notably, he was the youngest lawmaker in the country to lead a legislative chamber when he took the gavel in 2013.
Go Bulls: Congratulations to former Speaker Will Weatherford, who now chairs the USF Board of Trustees.
“It’s an honor to be selected by my fellow trustees to serve in the role of board chair. I firmly believe that the University of South Florida is such a valuable asset to Tampa Bay that the region will only go as far as USF will take it in the future,” said Weatherford, who will take over as chair on July 1.
“In the coming years, we have an exciting opportunity at USF to reach even greater successes in pursuit of becoming a top-25 public university and positioning for membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities.”
Weatherford is a member of the Florida Council of 100, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and the Jacksonville University Board of Trustees. The Jacksonville University alumnus also recently served as co-chair of the Super Bowl LV Host Committee.
He succeeds Jordan Zimmerman, who recently announced he would not seek another term as chair.
In other notes:
️ — 70% support same-sex marriage, a record: A new Gallup poll shows record support for same-sex marriage, clocking in at 70%. That’s up 10 percentage points from 2015 when the U.S. Supreme Court rule that states must recognize same-sex marriages. It’s good news for Pride Month. Read more here.
— Fake news out, foreign policy in: An Axios analysis of spending on issues and political ads on Facebook finds more money is going toward messaging relating to foreign policy than to “fake news,” a shift from the Donald Trump presidency to Joe Biden’s. Spending is also going to issues surrounding the climate and voting rights. Read more here.
— Trump lost his megaphone when he was booted from social media, but does it really matter? A New York Times analysis of former President Trump’s social media comments before he was banned from Facebook and Twitter on Jan. 8th, and an accompanying interactive display, shows a pervasive echo chamber of support. After his ban, his reach shrunk significantly, yet through his many ardent supporters, comments from his website or other sources still managed to gain the median traction as pre-Jan. 8. Take a look at the report to learn how that happened.
Situational awareness
—@Swerdlick: Saying that infrastructure talks have broken down is a mischaracterization. These were never serious talks, to begin with, and it’s not likely there are more than 10 Republican votes to be had for anything that remotely resembles a genuine split-the-difference compromise.
—@LedgeKing: .@SenRickScott said he’s not surprised talks collapsed: “I never thought they (the negotiations) were real anyway. There was never going to be a deal. I mean, they want to raise taxes, and we’re never going to raise taxes. It’s not going to happen.”
Tweet, tweet:
—@Mdixon55: Y’all really thought she was running, huh?
—@willweatherford: It’s and honor to serve the @USouthFlorida and our community alongside such great leaders and fellow USF Trustees. Congrats to my fellow trustee @mikegriffinFL #GoBulls
Tweet, tweet:
Tweet, tweet:
Days until
E3 2021 begins — 3; Father’s Day — 11; Amazon Prime Day — 12; Microsoft reveals major Windows update — 15; F9 premieres in the U.S. — 16; Bruce Springsteen revives solo show, “Springsteen on Broadway” — 17; ‘Tax Freedom Holiday’ begins — 22; Fourth of July — 25; ‘Black Widow’ rescheduled premiere — 30; MLB All-Star Game — 34; Jeff Bezos travels into space on Blue Origin’s first passenger flight — 41; new start date for 2021 Olympics — 44; second season of ‘Ted Lasso’ premieres on Apple+ — 44; the NBA Draft — 54; ‘Jungle Cruise’ premieres — 56; ‘The Suicide Squad’ premieres — 62; St. Petersburg Primary Election — 76; Disney’s ‘Shang Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings’ premieres — 86; NFL regular season begins — 92; Broadway’s full-capacity reopening — 97; 2022 Legislative Session interim committee meetings begin — 103; ‘The Many Saints of Newark’ premieres (rescheduled) — 107; ‘Dune’ premieres — 114; MLB regular season ends — 116; ‘No Time to Die’ premieres (rescheduled) — 121; World Series Game 1 — 140; St. Petersburg Municipal Elections — 146; Florida’s 20th Congressional District primary — 146; Disney’s ‘Eternals’ premieres — 149; ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ rescheduled premiere — 163; San Diego Comic-Con begins — 170; Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ premieres — 184; ‘Spider-Man Far From Home’ sequel premieres — 194; NFL season ends — 214; 2022 Legislative Session starts — 216; Florida’s 20th Congressional District election — 216; NFL playoffs begin — 220; Super Bowl LVI — 249; ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ premieres — 289; ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ premieres — 331; ‘Platinum Jubilee’ for Queen Elizabeth II — 358; “Black Panther 2” premieres — 394; ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ sequel premieres — 485; “Captain Marvel 2” premieres — 520.
Top story
“Rebekah Jones announces run for Matt Gaetz congressional seat” via Haley Brown of Florida Politics — Jones announced on her brand-new Instagram account Tuesday that she intends to run for U.S. Congress against Gaetz in Florida’s 1st District. Jones, currently a Maryland resident, had not filed campaign paperwork as of Tuesday afternoon. “I had hoped that someone in the Republican Party would step up and Primary him, and I’ve yet to see that happen. And so, if it takes me going home to Florida to run against Matt Gaetz, then I will do it. If it means getting one child sex trafficker out of office, you’re damn right I’ll do it,” Jones said in the video.
Well, maybe — “Fired Florida data official yo-yos on congressional bid” via WFLX — Jones was recently banned from Twitter, criticized by the Governor’s office, and has said she is running for Congress. But it’s unclear if she will actually run for Congress. If you’re confused, you’re not alone. The former Floridian-turned-Washington, D.C.-area resident has since gained a large online following. And only hours before, she was de-platformed on Twitter and said she had little interest in running for Congress. Later that evening, amid the back and forth, Jones took to Instagram to announce she would be challenging U.S. Rep. Gaetz in 2022. Jones then softened in a subsequent statement, hours later. She said if a Republican or Democratic challenger does not appear, she would consider a run.
2022
“‘Roadblocks to democracy’: Charlie Crist kicks off ‘Voting Rights Tour’ in Tampa” via Kelly Hayes of Florida Politics — Crist kicked off his statewide Voting Rights Tour Tuesday morning in Tampa, surrounded by local elected officials and community leaders discussing efforts from Florida GOP leadership to implement stricter voting provisions. The group, which was hosted by Tampa’s St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, included fellow Congresswoman Kathy Castor, state Rep. Dianne Hart and former Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch, who is also a St. Petersburg mayoral candidate. The elected officials were joined by worker rights leaders, disability advocates and other community activists. The discussion centered around the impact new voting laws would have on minority communities. Specifically, members of the discussion focused on the effect of DeSantis’ recently signed elections bill (SB 90).
Charlie Crist kicks off his voting rights listening tour. Image via Twitter.
Assignment editors — Crist continues his voting rights tour: Gainesville voting rights conversation with college students, 10 a.m.; Tallahassee voting rights roundtable with Black leaders, 2 p.m. For locations, RSVP press@charliecrist.com.
“Wilton Simpson committee brings in $50,000” via News Service of Florida — A political committee chaired by Senate President Simpson raised $50,000 in May, with all of the money coming from Duke Energy, a newly filed finance report shows. The Jobs for Florida committee had about $1.5 million on hand as of May 31, the report posted on the state Division of Elections website shows. The committee spent $20,231 during the month, with most of the money going to consulting expenses.
“Kathleen Passidomo committee collects $350K” via News Service of Florida — With the money coming in three large chunks, a political committee linked to future Senate President Passidomo raised $350,000 in May. The Working Together for Florida PAC had about $2.35 million on hand as of May 31. Passidomo, chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, is slated to become Senate President after the 2022 elections. The PAC received $275,000 in May from another committee known as Floridians for Economic Advancement. It also received $50,000 from Duke Energy and $25,000 from a Florida Chamber of Commerce PAC. It spent $38,374 during the month.
“Shane Abbott rakes in $16K in May for HD 5 race” via Kelly Hayes of Florida Politics — DeFuniak Springs Republican Abbott raised more than $16,000 in May for his bid to succeed Rep. Brad Drake in House District 5, his campaign announced Tuesday. Abbott’s most recent fundraising haul brings his campaign’s total collection to $118,870. Abbott’s affiliated political committee, Prescription for Florida’s Prosperity, has also raised $7,500 since its launch, providing an overall bank of $126,370 since Abbott started his campaign four months ago. Abbott’s campaign provided the latest finance update. More information on expenditures and donors will be available when he releases the required campaign finance disclosure to the Florida Division of Elections, which is due Thursday.
“Paul Renner committee pulls in $65K” via The News Service of Florida — A political committee led by future House Speaker Renner raised $65,000 in May, with most of the money coming from Duke Energy, according to a newly filed finance report. The committee known as Conservatives for Principled Leadership had about $633,000 on hand as of May 31. State candidates and political committees face a Thursday deadline for filing reports showing May finance activity. Renner, chairman of the House Rules Committee, is slated to become speaker after the 2022 elections.
Save the date:
and
Personnel note: Anna Eskamani taps Shalla Solomon-Hollett as campaign manager — Rep. Eskamani added Solomon-Hollett as her campaign manager for the 2022 cycle. Solomon-Hollett is a UCF political science student who served as an intern on Eskamani’s 2020 campaign. “I am thrilled to be building a bench of talented young leaders and to welcome Shalla into the role as campaign manager,” Eskamani said. “We got a lot of work to do in Central Florida, and I am lucky to have such an amazing team.” The Eskamani campaign also announced it raised more than $10,000 and collected more than 300 candidate petitions since she officially filed for reelection on May 7. The campaign will be reopening its office later this summer.
“Judge asked to block new law that limits contributions to Florida amendment initiatives” via Jim Saunders of The News Service of Florida — The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and other supporters of three proposed constitutional amendments designed to expand voting want a federal judge to block a new state law that places a $3,000 limit on contributions to ballot-initiative drives. The ACLU and three political committees last week filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, arguing the contribution limit is unconstitutional and would prevent them from collecting enough petition signatures to put the proposed amendments on the November 2022 ballot. “If not enjoined, plaintiffs’ efforts to engage with voters, convince voters to support their initiatives, collect petitions and advance their initiatives will be severely impaired,” said the motion submitted by ACLU attorneys.
Dateline Tally
“VISIT FLORIDA CEO, staff get pay raises” via Jim Turner of News Service of Florida — VISIT FLORIDA President and CEO Dana Young got an 8% boost in pay and a $7,500 bonus Tuesday, as leaders of the tourism-marketing agency pointed to Florida being in a “position of strength” against other states trying to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic. The VISIT FLORIDA Board of Directors also directed Young to distribute up to $130,000 in performance raises among staff members. Young’s salary after July 1 will go from $175,000 a year to $189,000. Young’s salary currently comes from state and private money, with taxpayers covering $120,000. With the vote Tuesday, the board shifted her entire pay to private sources. Staff members haven’t seen raises since before 2019 when the agency cut one-third of its staff of 135.
Happening today — Aides to DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet will meet in advance of a June 15 Cabinet meeting, 9 a.m., Cabinet meeting room.
Happening today — The Florida Department of Education will continue a “listening tour” for public input on civics and English-language arts and new standards on a variety of subjects, 6 p.m., Macclenny Elementary School, 1 Wildkitten Dr., Macclenny.
“YouTube pundit decries Doug Broxson speech as indoctrination” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — Sen. Broxson spoke on Saturday at the commencement ceremony for Gulf Breeze High, touching on the particular challenges the Class of 2021 faced this school year, the pandemic chief among them. “I’m certain many times you went home saying, how stupid can government be, making you do the things you had to do,” he said. YouTube personality Farron Cousins, who boasts more than 137,000 subscribers, had a son graduating. The progressive pundit was displeased by Broxson’s remarks. “When Doug Broxson gave his little speech, he told the kids, No. 1, that the government is incompetent — the government that he works for and he helps run here in the state of Florida because Republicans control the state Legislature,” Cousins said.
“5 years after Pulse shooting, Florida has seen few gun reforms” via Steven Lemongello of the Orlando Sentinel — Gun reform advocates vowed action after 49 people were killed in the Pulse nightclub shootings in Orlando five years ago, but since then, state and federal leaders have accomplished little toward that goal. After years of repeated mass shootings, including the third in Miami in two weeks on Sunday, advocates worry the country is becoming numb to gun violence. Days after Pulse on June 12, 2016, Democrats held a sit-in on the floor of the U.S. House trying to force Republicans to vote on gun control. But the effort failed, as did Democratic calls for a special session of the Florida Legislature to address reforms. Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith has introduced bills to ban sales of assault-style rifles in Florida every year since his election in 2016. None has come to a vote in the GOP-controlled chamber.
“Lauren’s Kids launches new PSA for National Internet Safety Month” via Florida Politics staff reports — Lauren’s Kids, which offers help to childhood sexual abuse survivors, is launching a new PSA warning of the dangers of unmonitored online activity during National Internet Safety Month. The minute-long video plays out a worst-case scenario, where a young girl has met up with a stranger she connected with online. The PSA is another in a line of Lauren’s Kids productions cautioning parents about the dangers of the internet. Sen. Lauren Book, herself a survivor of child sexual abuse, founded Lauren’s Kids before joining the Legislature. “Unfortunately, where kids go, so too do those who wish to harm them,” Book explained.
New public-private coalition targets black market trade — A group of corporations and law enforcement agencies are teaming up on a public education initiative to raise awareness on illegal trade, such as counterfeit merchandise sales. The United to Safeguard America from Illegal Trade includes the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association, Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association and Florida Retail Federation, as well as international fashion and pharmaceutical companies. Former ICE Director Matt Albence said the sale of counterfeit goods — including vaccines — has jumped “nearly 40%” during the pandemic. “In today’s hyper-connected world — with growing worries about global security, the proliferation of criminal organizations, and a surge of new digital tools — concerted efforts and broad public-private cooperation are vital for implementing meaningful, long-term solutions against illegal trade,” he said.
“Personnel note: Cristal Cole joins Amazon” via Drew Wilson of Florida Politics — Amazon announced Tuesday that Cristal Cole had been hired on as the company’s regional policy manager for the Southeastern U.S. Cole comes to one of the world’s largest retailers from one of the world’s largest telecommunications company’s — she’s spent the past five years working as AT&T’s regional director of external and legislative affairs in South Florida. Cole is a graduate of the Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University, where she earned a degree in public relations. She first entered The Process as a press team member under former Gov. Jeb Bush. She later worked as the press secretary for the Agency of Health Care Administration.
Corona Florida
“COVID-19 vaccinations are dropping, and our return to normal life is at risk” via Cindy Krischer Goodman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — As Biden pushes a goal of 70% of Americans vaccinated by July Fourth, Florida is nowhere close to that target. Only about half the population in the state is vaccinated, and reaching the rest has proved almost insurmountable, especially among young people. Floridians have begun to travel, eat in restaurants, shop in stores, visit friends, and hug their family members. But those who have yet to get a vaccine aren’t rushing to get one, to the point where doctors sometimes toss out vaccines at the end of the day. Public health officials say stagnant vaccination rates could make masks a permanent fashion accessory and require a desperate scramble for a vaccine booster should cases rise again.
“How COVID-19 (almost) reshaped Florida agriculture, and why it still might” via Daniel Rivero of Health News Florida — When the COVID-19 pandemic first took hold in the United States, Florida was the only state that was in the middle of its primary harvest season. Sam Accursio, a longtime farmer of land in South Dade, destroyed much of his harvest. Paying workers to pick the produce didn’t make financial sense if there was nowhere to sell it to, and local food banks were already overwhelmed with the amount of local produce they were given. Then he had an idea. If Accursio couldn’t ship his produce hundreds of miles away, he decided to sell his produce locally. The idea took off, and long lines of cars started to line up at his farm.
COVID-19 devastated much of Florida’s agriculture, but there is a path to recovery.
“Norwegian threatens to defy Ron DeSantis with fully vaccinated cruises” via Ron Hurtibise of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings announced that it plans to resume cruising from Miami in August with fully vaccinated passengers, a plan that threatens to defy orders of DeSantis and creates yet more uncertainty about one of South Florida’s most important tourist draws. The cruise line’s announcement offered no indication that DeSantis has agreed to exempt cruise lines from his edict banning businesses from requiring vaccines, nor did it suggest that any compromise had been reached between Norwegian and the governor. Instead, it creates confusion about plans of cruise lines that in recent days have announced diverging strategies for resuming operations with some planning test voyages, some requiring vaccines, and some welcoming people on board with masks and social distancing.
“From ketchup to autos, U.S. supply chain stumbles leading to temporary shortages of items” via Antonio Fins of The Palm Beach Post — David Menachof, associate professor in Florida Atlantic University’s College of Business, counseled people to be patient in the coming months as the world works through shortages in supply chains caused by the pandemic. “It is more complex than it sounds on the surface. But I would predict we’re going to see a continuing of these cycles of random shortages. It’s hard to predict what’s going to pop up as the next problematic item.” At the heart of the problem was last year’s prolonged business shutdown to stem the spread of coronavirus. That brought the production of many goods to a halt and led manufacturers to fear that the economic freeze would profoundly cut into people’s buying power.
Corona local
“Homeless moving out of hotel as coronavirus cases plummet” via Susannah Bryan of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — It was a novel way to stop coronavirus spread: hotel rooms for the homeless. But with cases easing and masks coming off, Fort Lauderdale’s pandemic-era program will soon come to an end, city officials say. Now caseworkers scramble to find shelter beds and long-term housing for 86 people staying at a hotel in Fort Lauderdale. When they checked in, they were told they could stay through September. That was the plan: Offer hotel rooms to as many as 145 homeless people from April through September for $3.4 million. Federal grants tied to the coronavirus relief package were to pay for the $3.4 million program.
Now that COVID-19 is easing, the homeless may be back on the street. Image via Richard Tanton/Flickr.
“Bars, colleges and workplaces are new front line for vaccinating young adults” via Wells Dusenbury of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Palm Beach County is taking its most aggressive steps yet to get people vaccinated against COVID-19. The county’s mobile vans will go to bars, college campuses, and businesses to persuade holdouts — particularly young people — that they are critical to ending the coronavirus pandemic. Schools also remain a critical turning point, though it may be too late to send vans to high school graduations. The plan is to concentrate on three areas, according to Dr. Alina Alonso, the state health department director for Palm Beach County: Schoolchildren and their families; the entertainment areas such as Clematis Street in West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Lake Worth Beach, and hard-to-reach communities; businesses or locations that are requesting it.
Corona nation
“U.S. increasingly unlikely to meet Joe Biden’s July 4 vax goal” via The Associated Press — For months, Biden has laid out goal after goal for taming the coronavirus pandemic and then exceeded his own benchmarks. Now, though, the U.S. is unlikely to meet his target to have 70% of Americans at least partially vaccinated by July 4. The White House has launched a monthlong blitz to combat vaccine hesitancy and a lack of urgency to get shots, but it is increasingly resigned to missing the President’s vaccination target. The administration insists that even if the goal isn’t reached, it will have little effect on the overall U.S. recovery, which is already ahead of where Biden said it would be months ago. About 16 million unvaccinated adults need to receive at least one dose in the next four weeks for Biden to meet his goal. But the pace of new vaccinations in the U.S. has dropped to about 400,000 people per day.
It’s looking less likely that the U.S. will reach Joe Biden’s July 4 goal. Image via AP.
“U.S. report found it plausible COVID-19 leaked from Wuhan lab” via Michael R. Gordon and Warren P. Strobel of The Wall Street Journal — A report on the origins of COVID-19 by a U.S. government national laboratory concluded that the hypothesis claiming the virus leaked from a Chinese lab in Wuhan is plausible and deserves further investigation. The study was prepared in May 2020 by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and was drawn on by the State Department when it conducted an inquiry into the pandemic’s origins during the final months of the Trump administration. It is attracting fresh interest in Congress now that Biden has ordered that U.S. intelligence agencies report to him within weeks on how the virus emerged. Biden said that U.S. intelligence has focused on two scenarios, whether the coronavirus came from human contact with an infected animal or a laboratory accident.
“Millions of J&J COVID-19 vaccines are at risk of expiring in June” via Jared S. Hopkins and Julie Wernau of The Wall Street Journal — Hospitals, state health departments, and the federal government are racing to decide how to use up millions of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine doses that are set to expire this month. The prospect of so many doses going to waste in the U.S. when developing nations are desperate for shots would add pressure on the Biden administration to share stockpiled vaccines. But there are few practical solutions to administering them quickly in the U.S. or distributing them in time to foreign countries. The stockpile is, in part, an unintended consequence of the U.S.’s decision in April to temporarily suspend administration of J&J doses to assess a rare blood-clot risk.
Corona economics
“As PPP loan program ends, Tampa Bay small businesses’ haul nears $10 billion” via Jay Cridlin of the Tampa Bay Times — Since opening in the spring of 2020, the Paycheck Protection Program has shepherded about $800 billion in largely forgivable relief loans to 8.5 million small businesses and nonprofits. The program officially closed on May 31. And while the totals are incomplete as banks process the final loans, it’s clear that the aid to Florida’s economy was immense. Over 14 months, banks approved at least $51.2 billion in loans to more than 1 million Sunshine State businesses, according to data compiled by the Small Business Administration through June 1. In Tampa Bay, at least 161,000 loans worth more than $9.8 billion went to businesses in the eight counties around Tampa Bay.
“Four Doral police officers relieved of duty following federal investigation” via Eden Checkol of WPLG — Several officers from the Doral Police Department were taken off the street last month. A total of four Doral police officers were relieved of duty on May 13 following a federal investigation. Sources told Local 10 News those officers are accused of fraudulently applying for and receiving Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans in February and March. The officers were identified as Sgt. Pablo Rodriguez, Det. Jorge Gallardo, Ofc. Mauro Olivera and Reserve Ofc. Osvaldo Castillo.
More corona
“Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for younger kids on track, with shots to come in the fall, company says” via Karen Weintraub of USA Today — Pfizer released details Tuesday about the progress of its COVID-19 vaccination trials in children, showing that they have completed early testing and are moving forward with lower-dose trials in younger kids. Children are less likely than adults to have a serious case of COVID-19, so drug companies are trying to minimize vaccine side effects while maximizing benefits. For now, Pfizer, which collaborates with German biotech BioNTech, is testing its vaccine at lower doses in grade-schoolers than adolescents and still lower doses in younger children. Their vaccine trials showed that adolescents developed a strong antibody response to the virus. The vaccine prevented infections and did not lead to intolerable side effects.
The Pfizer vaccine is looking good for younger children.
“This man spent last year flushing hundreds of toilets. The new fear as the pandemic wanes: Legionnaires’ disease” via Elizabeth Weise of USA Today — “Every week, we go through the entire property and flush every toilet, run every hand sink, turn on every shower. You start at one end of the floor, and by the time you get back, you can turn them off,” Michael Hurtado said. Hurtado is the lead engineer for the Ahern Hotel, right off the Las Vegas Strip. It’s officially been closed during the pandemic, and Hurtado had the job of keeping the building systems safe despite the lack of guests. “It easily takes 60 hours a week every single week for my team,” he said. Keeping water moving is necessary to protect shutdown buildings against pathogens that can build up in their miles of pipes. The one that keeps safety experts up at night is Legionella pneumophila, the bacteria that causes 95% of Legionnaires’ disease cases. It kills at least 1,000 Americans a year.
Presidential
“Biden to shore up supply chains for four sectors after 100-day reviews” via Gavin Bade of POLITICO — Biden will direct federal agencies to shore up production and delivery of pharmaceuticals, computer chips, advanced batteries and critical minerals after completing reviews of their supply chains. The actions include a $60 million investment in research for advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing through the Department of Health and Human Services, and new domestic manufacturing rules and funding for batteries at the Energy Department, a senior administration official said. To prevent shortages of key medicines, HHS plans to establish an onshoring consortium with major drugmakers under the authority of the Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era law that allows the government to mandate domestic production of key products. That group’s first task will be to identify 50 to 100 drugs for an “enhanced onshoring effort.”
Joe Biden seeks to tackle supply lines that lead to empty warehouses. Image via AP.
“Biden ends infrastructure talks with Senate GOP group” via Andrew Duehren, Sabrina Siddiqui and Kristina Peterson of The Wall Street Journal — Biden called off an effort to reach an infrastructure compromise with several Senate Republicans after progress stalled, shifting his focus to a separate set of negotiations with a group of Republicans and Democrats to salvage a bipartisan deal on the issue. Weeks of discussions between Biden and a group of six Republicans had left the two sides still deeply divided on the size of an infrastructure package and how to pay for it. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden informed GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito that the latest offer from the Republican group didn’t meet his threshold. Republicans, meanwhile, said Biden hadn’t shown enough willingness to narrow the scope to more traditional infrastructure projects.
“Biden surprises Parkland graduates with a message: ‘This class lost a piece of its soul’” via Michael Wilner and Carli Teproff of the Miami Herald — Biden surprised graduates of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with a video address, celebrating the class for “turning pain into purpose and darkness to light” after surviving the deadliest high school shooting in American history, followed by the disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic. “Three years ago, your lives and the lives of this community changed in an instant,” Biden told the graduates in a video from the East Room of the White House. “This class lost a piece of its soul. You’ve been tested in ways no young person should ever have to face — from a freshman year, a year of unspeakable loss, to a junior and senior year upended by a pandemic.”
“Are we destined for a Donald Trump coup in 2024?” via Ross Douthat of The New York Times — Right now, alarmed progressives see preparations for a Republican coup in 2024 everywhere they look: in the jettisoning of Liz Cheney from House leadership, in provisions tucked into the voting regulations being passed in states like Georgia and Texas that they fear set up postelection power grabs, in exercises like the election audit in Arizona that both reflect and feed paranoia on the right. What I see, by contrast, is much more in continuity with the pre-Jan. 6 dynamic in Republican politics. The Republican leadership is still doing what it did throughout Trump’s presidency, trying to talk about anything other than his sins, excesses and potential crimes.
A Donald Trump coup in 2024? Many feel it could happen. Image via AP.
“‘We turned so far right we went crazy:’ How Fox News was radicalized by its own viewers” via Brian Stelter of CNN Business — When Trump lost the presidency last November, Fox News lost too. But unlike Trump, Fox was never in denial about its loss. The network’s executives and stars stared the ratings in the face every day and saw that their pro-Trump audience was reacting to the prospect of President Biden by switching channels or turning off the TV. To fix the problem, Fox ran even further to the right. It worked. The postelection changes at Fox happened one day at a time, one show at a time, but they are unmistakable and stark when viewed in totality. And because Fox News is the primary trusted source of information for millions of Americans, including Republican elected officials and party activists, the changes affect everyone.
Crisis
“Barack Obama criticizes Republicans for embracing 2020 falsehoods” via Dan Merica of CNN — Former President Obama said Republicans have been “cowed into accepting” a series of positions that “would be unrecognizable and unacceptable even five years ago or a decade ago,” telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper he is worried about the state of democracy in the United States in an exclusive interview that aired Monday. “We have to worry,” Obama said, “when one of our major political parties is willing to embrace a way of thinking about our democracy that would be unrecognizable and unacceptable even five years ago or a decade ago.” The clearest example of this, Obama said, was the January 6 insurrection.
Barack Obama feels democracy is on a slippery slope.
“Capitol Police had intelligence indicating an armed invasion weeks before Jan. 6 riot, Senate probe finds” via Karoun Demirjian of The Washington Post — The U.S. Capitol Police had specific intelligence that Trump supporters planned to mount an armed invasion of the Capitol at least two weeks before the Jan. 6 riot, according to new findings in a bipartisan Senate investigation released Tuesday, but omissions and miscommunications kept that information from reaching front-line officers targeted by the violence. It is the first such record of systemic deficiencies and leadership mistakes to have the endorsement of senior Democrats and Republicans — a rare bright spot in a Congress riven by partisan division as it debates how to investigate the riot’s genesis. But in a sign of the political pitfalls that remain, the report conspicuously steers clear of offering any assessments or conclusions regarding Trump’s responsibility.
D.C. matters
“Kamala Harris says she will visit the U.S.-Mexico border, calls GOP criticism ‘shortsighted’” via Felicia Sonmez, Eugene Scott, Colby Itkowitz and John Wagner of The Washington Post — Vice President Harris said she will visit the U.S.-Mexico border and rejected Republican criticism as “shortsighted” for failing to recognize the reason migrants are coming to the United States. Harris made the comments at a news conference after meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico City as part of the second leg of her trip focused on addressing the root causes behind a surge in migration from Central America to the U.S. southern border. Talks between Biden and Sen. Capito, the GOP point person on infrastructure spending, ended with no agreement as financing the plan with increased corporate taxes proved unacceptable to Republicans.
Kamala Harris meets with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to take on the migration crisis. Image via AP.
“Is it war? Rick Scott accuses China of ‘killing Americans,’ says it’s ‘intentional’” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics — Scott, appearing on the conservative-leaning Newsmax cable network, addressed a series of Sinophobic questions on the Grant Stinchfield program when the host asked if COVID-19 and imported fentanyl were tantamount to war being declared on Americans. “Whether it’s a war or not, they’re clearly killing Americans, and it’s intentional,” Scott said of the drugs coming in, measuring his words carefully in response to a seemingly unexpected question. “They’re not cracking down on this,” Scott added before pivoting into the more familiar terrain of economic nationalism. “Every time an American buys a product made in Communist China, just remember what they’re doing. They’re helping the government of Communist China sell fentanyl in this country,” Scott added.
“Senate approves sprawling $250 billion bill to curtail China’s economic and military ambitions” via Tony Romm of The Washington Post — The Senate voted to adopt an approximately $250 billion bill to counter China’s growing economic and military prowess, hoping that major investments in science might give the United States a lasting edge. In a chamber often racked by partisan division, Democrats and Republicans found rare accord over the sprawling measure. The proposal commits billions of dollars in federal funds across a wide array of research areas. It pours more than $50 billion in immediate funding into U.S. businesses that manufacture the sort of ultrasmall, in-demand computer chips that power consumer and military devices, which many companies source from China.
“Puerto Rico’s former Secretary of Education pleads guilty to fraud conspiracy in federal court” via Syra Ortiz-Blanes of the Miami Herald — Former Puerto Rico Secretary of Education Julia Keleher pleaded guilty to two federal fraud conspiracy charges Tuesday for crimes committed during her time as the island’s top education official, striking a felony plea bargain with prosecutors and potentially avoiding maximum jail time. Keleher agreed to admit guilt on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and another count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud at a hearing, in which she participated via video conference from Pennsylvania. Should the court agree to the sentencing recommendations, Keleher will spend six months in federal prison followed by a year of house confinement. Prosecutors also recommended a fine of $21,000.
“Many of the uber-rich pay next to no income tax” via Paul Wiseman and Marcy Gordon of The Associated Press — The rich really are different from you and me: They’re better at dodging the tax collector. Amazon founder Bezos paid no income tax in 2007 and 2011. Tesla founder Elon Musk’s income tax bill was zero in 2018. And financier George Soros went three straight years without paying federal income tax, according to a report from ProPublica. Overall, the richest 25 Americans pay less in tax, an average of 15.8% of adjusted gross income, than many ordinary workers do, once you include taxes for Social Security and Medicare. Its findings are likely to heighten a national debate over the vast and widening inequality between the very wealthiest Americans and everyone else.
“Personnel note: Robert Wexler named managing partner of Ballard Partners D.C. office” via Drew Wilson of Florida Politics — Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Wexler is now the managing partner at Ballard Partners’ Washington office, the firm announced Tuesday. “Robert’s exceptional reputation with his former congressional colleagues and the Biden administration make him the ideal choice to lead our Washington office,” firm founder Brian Ballard said. Wexler served in Congress from 1997 through 2010. He joined Ballard Partners in 2017. His elevation comes as Sylvester Lukis transitions from managing partner to senior partner. “It has been an honor to work with Brian and the exceptionally talented professionals at Ballard Partners for the past four years,” he said. “I am humbled by this new responsibility and look forward to building on the firm’s success and growing our firm’s reach and capabilities in Washington.”
Local notes
“No-party candidate in Florida Senate race agrees to ethics violations” via Samantha J. Gross of the Tampa Bay Times — As the high-profile public corruption case revolving around former state Sen. Frank Artiles continues to play out in court, the no-party candidate accused of being paid and recruited to run in the Senate District 37 election was slapped with a fine for his involvement in entering the race. In Miami District Court, Artiles’ defense team continues to squabble with the state attorney’s office over how much of a disc brimming with potential evidence should be made public related to an alleged scheme to recruit and pay Alexis Pedro Rodriguez to run as a no-party candidate in the state senate race. Rodriguez has agreed to pay a $6,500 fine for filing an inaccurate financial disclosure form and for accepting money with the understanding that he would change his party affiliation from Republican to no party affiliation.
“Miami-Dade County Commission unanimously passes Peace and Prosperity Plan to combat gun violence” via Ian Margol of WPLG — Miami-Dade County is pushing forward with its Peace and Prosperity Plan to combat gun violence. The multi-million-dollar endeavor aims to stem the recent rise in crime and violence with firearms in the county. “These tragic events over the last several days, especially just this past weekend, are reinforcing that we must take immediate action to help make our neighborhoods safer,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. On Tuesday, a Miami-Dade County Commission meeting took place in which the plan was discussed. Shortly after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, commissioners voted and unanimously approved the plan, which calls for nearly $8 million over the next two years on prevention, intervention, economic investment, and re-entry programs.
Daniella Levine Cava is making some major moves to curb Miami-Dade gun violence. Image via Twitter.
“Florida judge favors pre-dawn partying in rowdy South Beach” via The Associated Press — A South Florida judge has sided with the Clevelander hotel in a lawsuit over a new Miami Beach law that sets a 2 a.m. closing time in the South Beach entertainment district. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Circuit Judge Beatrice Butchko said in a hearing on Monday that the City Commission’s vote to approve the law wasn’t properly executed. The entertainment district had been serving alcohol until 5 a.m. The judge said the ordinance was presented as a general ordinance that requires a simple majority, but should have been pitched as a land-development regulation that requires broader commission support.
“This Miami apartment building is evicting all of its 200 tenants in 60 days” via Rene Rodriguez of the Miami Herald — Steven Leidner, who has lived in a one-bedroom corner unit at the Hamilton on the Bay apartment tower in Edgewater for 18 years, sensed something was up when his lease was up in November and noticed the building’s new owner had added a provision to their leases. “I noticed an early termination clause that wasn’t there before,” said Leidner, 66. “I was not in a position to go all over town looking for a new place. But I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop.” That shoe came in the form of a letter from Aimco/AIR, the Denver-based company that bought the 28-story bayfront building in Aug. 2020 for $80.9 million.
“A new Miami housing project could cost the Allapattah library branch its home” via Douglas Hanks of the Miami Herald — Plans for a new affordable-housing complex in Miami include bad news for the Allapattah library branch, which rents space from the city at the planned development site and has been ordered to clear out later this year. Last fall, Miami commissioners voted to terminate the rent-free Allapattah lease with Miami-Dade County’s library system, an agreement that dates back to the 1970s when the county agreed to take over all of Miami’s own libraries. The termination took effect in May, triggering a six-month window for the county to find a new location for the popular library branch. A county spokesperson said the city gave the Allapattah branch until Dec. 8 to vacate the premises.
“First Amendment arguments rejected in mansion fight” via Jim Saunders of News Service of Florida —The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals court on Tuesday rejected arguments that Palm Beach’s architectural review commission did not violate Donald Burns’ First Amendment rights when they rejected his plan to tear down a 10,063 square-foot oceanfront home and replace it with a larger mansion with a “mid-century modern design,” according to the ruling. In a 70-page majority opinion and a 66-page dissent, appellate judges Tuesday sparred about Burns’ claims and First Amendment issues ranging from tattoos to Jefferson’s Monticello home. In a majority opinion shared by Judge Ed Carnes, Judge Robert Luck wrote that the proposed mansion was not “expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment.”
“Coral Springs man accused of misusing millions of dollars raised from investors” via Ron Hurtbise of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Larry B. Brodman, the owner of Property Income Investors LLC, raised about $9.1 million from 156 investors through a series of unregistered securities offerings between January 2016 and September 2020, according to charges in a civil complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Brodman, who operated the scheme through 12 separate companies, told investors he was using their money to purchase “turnkey, multifamily properties” across South Florida, which would then be renovated and rented to tenants, the complaint states. The SEC’s complaint accuses Brodman of diverting about $1.12 million of the investors’ funds into his personal account.”
“Department of Health wants Delray Beach to pay $1.8 million fine for mismanaging reclaimed water” via Mike Diamond in the Palm Beach Post — The state Department of Health has called on the city to pay a fine of $1.8 million for mismanaging its reclaimed water program that resulted in some residents getting sick in Dec. 2018. And it also wants the city to publish a public notice acknowledging it “cannot assure utility customers that the drinking water produced and distributed met the standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act for the period from inception of the reclaimed water service beginning in 2007 to the time reclaimed water was deactivated on February 4, 2020.” Both the fine and the public-notice requirement were part of a consent order recently presented to the city.
“Should the Gables bury its power lines? City will engage voters on $350 million question” via Samantha J. Gross of the Miami Herald — Coral Gables Commissioners voted Tuesday unanimously to resume a robust campaign to educate residents about a roughly $350 million undertaking to bury the city’s utility lines before eventually asking voters to finance the project — a preemptive step cities across Florida are taking as a protection against storm damage. The proposal, put forward by Mayor Vince Lago, directs city staff to conduct an analysis, host educational community events, and create an expected timeline for workshops on burying utilities, an increasingly popular concept in Florida’s storm-prone regions. The final say on the project would come in the form of a question on the November 2022 midterm election ballot.
“FAU gets $10 million donation to boost biotech” via Scott Travis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Florida Atlantic University’s efforts to turn its Jupiter campus into a biotech hub got a boost Tuesday thanks to a $10 million donation. The gift from Jupiter philanthropist David J.S. Nicholson “will welcome an era of unprecedented research, education and discovery” to the northern Palm Beach County campus, FAU said in a release. The money will be used to help pay for a third floor on a neuroscience building now under construction, bringing the total space to 58,000 square feet. The state Legislature has also provided $35 million for the project, which is expected to be completed in the fall of 2022. The building will be called the Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute, named after the charitable organization Nicholson runs.
“Spirit Airlines expanding to Miami International Airport. Here’s where it will go from there.” via Ron Hurtbise of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Spirit Airlines will fly out of Miami International Airport beginning this October, giving the low-cost carrier a presence at all three of South Florida’s major airports for the first time. Spirit’s expansion to Miami will not result in any reduction of service at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, “which remains our primary gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean along with offering service to dozens of destinations,” Spirit spokesman Field Sutton said. “We are the largest airline at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, and we intend to stay that way,” he said. “In fact, we’ll reach 100 departures per day at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood for the first time in July. The demand is there to support growth throughout South Florida.”
“Judge tries to untangle ‘Grim Reaper’ lawyer case” via The News Service of Florida — A Northwest Florida judge is weighing how to handle an appellate court-fueled case against a lawyer who drew national headlines by donning a Grim Reaper costume to criticize DeSantis’ handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Prosecutors in March filed a motion to pursue sanctions against Daniel Uhlfelder at the behest of a three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal. The panel made the rare move of ordering State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden to ask a judge to consider penalties for “putatively unprofessional conduct” after Uhlfelder commented to a newspaper following a court decision. In the previous months, Uhlfelder appeared throughout Florida in the macabre Grim Reaper outfit to call attention to issues such as DeSantis’ refusal to close beaches amid the pandemic.
A judge tries to disentangle Daniel Uhlfelder’s twisted ‘Grim Reaper’ case.
“Sidewalk cafés won’t have to close early, but permit enforcement coming, official says” via Ryan Gillespie of the Orlando Sentinel — Sidewalk cafés in downtown Orlando won’t have to close by 10 p.m., after early shuttering was under consideration to combat nighttime violence. But those cafés will need permits to operate, and code enforcement is expected to ramp up monitoring restaurants that operate on the public right-of-way this summer, said Thomas Chatmon, the director of the Downtown Development Board. Only nine restaurants are currently permitted, though the city estimates more than 50 have been serving food outdoors. City officials had considered closing the outdoor seating at 10 p.m. as part of a policy package aimed at quieting noise downtown and putting a lid on the partylike atmosphere in the streets.
“Lack of nutrient criteria in Collier’s canals leaves gaps in water quality restoration” via Karl Schneider of the Naples Daily News — Collier County’s canals shuttle freshwater toward the area’s estuaries leading to the Gulf, but the state has yet to set a limit on how much nutrient pollution they can contain. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection identifies 57 different water bodies in the county, 21 of which are impaired since they don’t meet one or more water quality guidelines. No one knows how much nutrient pollution is too much in Collier’s canals. Experts say this could feed red tide in the Gulf, such as the 2018 bloom that devastated Southwest Florida.
Top opinion
“It’s Florida’s politicians, not teachers, who are trying to indoctrinate schoolchildren” via the Orlando Sentinel editorial board — DeSantis and Florida Republicans are about to pull off a whitewash for the ages. They are poised to implement a new rule this week that they say is designed to keep teachers from “indoctrinating” students. In other words, teachers are the enemy. “You have to police them on a daily basis” to prevent this insidious conspiracy, Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said. What Corcoran is referring to is a notion called “critical race theory,” the idea that the United States government and legal system were set up to favor white men and keep power away from others, particularly Blacks. This is gaslighting at its finest. Current-day ancestors of the powerful white men who founded America have started believing their own flimsy rhetoric, and now they want schoolchildren to believe it, too.
Opinions
“Cutting extra unemployment aid hurts Florida workers” via Anna Eskamani for the Orlando Sentinel — Since the beginning of COVID-19, our team has been working overtime to help Floridians navigate the state’s criminally broken unemployment system. This crisis isn’t over yet, either: On a single day last week, our office received 71 phone calls related to unemployment. And yet DeSantis recently announced that he plans to cut unemployed Floridians off from the extra $300 a week that the federal government has been providing through this pandemic. This is both cruel and stupid. In addition to providing a crucial lifeline for families, the enhanced unemployment benefits also keep our economy solvent because folks spend this money on necessities that they buy from local businesses and rent they pay to landlords.
“How America fractured into four parts” via George Packer of The Atlantic — The country has fragmented into four groups. These narratives overlap, morph into one another, attract and repel one another. The groups are 1. Free America: Libertarians who resent regulation in favor of individual freedom, tracing a through-line from Ronald Reagan to Newt Gingrich to Ted Cruz. 2. Smart America: A class of high earners and technocrats who attend competitive schools, embrace meritocracy, own MacBooks, and don’t intermingle with the rest of the country. 3. Real America: White Christian nationalists, as recently energized by Sarah Palin and Trump. 4. Just America: A young generation that believes injustice is at the heart of the country’s problems and speaks the language of identity politics.
“Farewell, Millennial Lifestyle Subsidy” via Kevin Roose of The New York Times — A few years ago, while on a work trip in Los Angeles, I hailed an Uber for a crosstown ride during rush hour. The app spit out a price that made my jaw drop: $16. Experiences like these were common during the golden era of the Millennial Lifestyle Subsidy, which I like to call the period from roughly 2012 through early 2020 when many of the daily activities of big-city 20- and 30-somethings were being quietly underwritten by Silicon Valley venture capitalists. These companies’ investors didn’t set out to bankroll our decadence. They were just trying to get traction for their start-ups. Now, users are noticing that for the first time, their luxury habits carry luxury price tags.
On today’s Sunrise
The union representing Florida teachers objects to a new rule that would force them to whitewash or ignore the unpleasant truths of U.S. history.
Also, on today’s Sunrise:
— Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar has more to say on that rule during the Sunrise interview.
— Gov. DeSantis joins in what’s described as an “Urgent Town Hall Meeting on Antisemitism.”
— A Florida group trying to prevent sexual abuse of children is warning parents to keep better track of what their kids are doing online. One out of five kids who touch a digital device will receive some sort of sexual come-on, and the number of reports of online enticements almost doubled last year during the pandemic.
— Congressman Greg Steube says delays at the Department of Veterans Affairs are killing veterans. He’s trying to rally support for a bill allowing veterans to ditch the VA and get health care elsewhere.
— And finally, the stories of two Florida Men: One gets 30 years in the federal pen for drugs and dogfighting; the other used a sword to settle a fight over the TV.
“Marvel’s Loki is the show that fans have been waiting for” via Stephen Kelly of BBC — The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s foray into television has been an intriguingly mixed bag so far. The wonderful WandaVision, for instance, set the bar high with a formally inventive and creatively risky riff on classic sitcoms — albeit one that felt more like a curio than MCU TV’s big bang. While The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, a far more conventionally fan-pleasing show on the surface, felt far too conventional, plodding and limp in its execution. However, the first two episodes of Loki suggest a show that has managed to skilfully bridge the gap between the inventive and the familiar, with a dazzling script full of weird ideas headlined by one of the most popular characters in the MCU.
“Loki being gender fluid confirmed in trailer” via Lisa Respers France of CNN — Blink, and you missed some info about Loki. The latest teaser for the new Disney+ series includes a quick shot of the Time Variance Authority on the Marvel character, and where his sex is listed, it says “fluid.” It’s a small bit of info about the God of Mischief that had been speculated about for a while, and it quickly sparked conversation on social media after the show’s official Twitter account shared the teaser on Sunday. Tom Hiddleston has portrayed the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film franchise and reprises the role in the Disney+ series.
“College Football Playoff could reportedly decide on future expansion soon” via Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel — The College Football Playoff could consider expansion in a series of meetings over the next several weeks, with some favoring a 12-team model, according to several reports. The management committee, which is comprised of the 10 conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick, is expected to hear back from a working group during a series of meetings on the subject of expansion. Any recommendation favored by the management committee would then be forwarded to the Playoff’s Board of Managers, comprised of 11 school presidents and chancellors from the 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame. It was after a series of virtual meetings in April that the Playoff group revealed that a working group had been considering 63 possibilities for change.
Happy birthday
Happy birthday to the Ambassador of Tallahassee, Jay Revell.
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Sunburn is authored and assembled by Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Renzo Downey and Drew Wilson.
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Good morning. A big new genetic study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry concludes that waking up just one hour earlier could reduce a person’s risk of major depression by nearly a quarter.
Markets: There’s a new meme stock in town. Clover Health, an insurance startup that went public through a SPAC created by Chamath Palihapitiya, shot up 86% after becoming the most talked-about stock on the Wall Street Bets subreddit. Bitcoin continued its tumble, falling to a three-week low.
Economy: Job openings in the US hit their highest level on record in April, while layoffs hit a record low. The accommodation and food services industry is really hurting for workers, adding 349,000 new unfilled jobs.
Infrastructure: President Biden called off infrastructure negotiations with GOP Senator Shelley Capito because they were hitting a “brick wall.” Now, he’ll try to nail a deal with another group of Republican lawmakers.
For almost three years, criminals used a network of encrypted devices to share the dirty details of their smuggling and money laundering operations. If their messages about stuffing cocaine into pineapples and cans of tuna ever fell into authorities’ hands, they believed, the incriminating information could be wiped from the encrypted devices they were using.
Well, they were duped.
The FBI was in cahoots with the developer of the device, called “Anom,” the whole time, and yesterday announced a series of successful busts and 800+ arrests under the code name Operation Trojan Shield. They also seized…
Eight tons of cocaine and 22 tons of cannabis
55 luxury vehicles
250 firearms
$48+ million worth of various currencies and cryptocurrencies
How it happened
In 2018, the FBI recruited a former distributor of a different encrypted network that had just gotten busted. The engineer was working on a new service, Anom, that stripped mobile phones of their normal functions and disguised a secure messaging app to look like a calculator.
In exchange for a reduced sentence and $120k, the engineer gave the FBI a master key to access and save Anom messages.
As the FBI took down other encrypted communication services, more criminals started to DM using Anom’s platform. The FBI also helped spread Anom by distributing devices to 300+ gangs across 100 countries through middlemen. One Australian fugitive, Hakan Ayik, aka the “Facebook gangster,” was given an Anom device by undercover agents and, after recommending it to many associates, unwittingly became the FBI’s top influencer.
Big picture: Europol officials called it “one of the largest and most sophisticated law enforcement operations to date in the fight against encrypted criminal activities.” Still, Anom represented just a fraction of criminal communications.
Okay, we knew that before…but now it’s backed up by 15+ years’ worth of IRS tax return data from thousands of America’s wealthiest individuals, made public yesterday by investigative journalism outlet ProPublica.
ProPublica estimates that America’s richest 25 people paid a cumulative $13.6 billion in income taxes between 2014 and 2018, a span during which their collective wealth increased $400+ billion, for a “true tax rate” that was just 3.4%. Paying the lowest rates were Warren Buffett (0.1%), Jeff Bezos (0.98%), Michael Bloomberg (1.3%), and Elon Musk (3.27%).
Reminder: Most billionaires’ wealth comes from assets like stock and property. Those gains aren’t taxed until they are sold.
Big picture: Compared to the broader population, billionaires’ tax bills have not kept pace with their growing bank accounts. For every $100 gained, Bezos paid just $1.09 while the typical US household paid $160.
ProPublica is still combing through the IRS data to explore how billionaires avoided those taxes. But it’ll have a magnifying glass on its own back after the IRS said it’s investigating the big leak.
Bottom line: These revelations will lead to louder calls to reform the US tax code.
If your AM routine includes listening to Spotify, reading the New York Times, and browsing Amazon…it certainly didn’t yesterday. For up to an hour Tuesday morning, all of those websites, plus CNN, the BBC, Hulu, HBO Max, and many more, were down.
Why? Because Fastly, those websites’ “content delivery network,” experienced a glitch. To get technical, Fastly tweeted that it identified “a service configuration that triggered disruptions across our POPs [points of presence] globally.”
Now, in English: If the internet were a play, Fastly would be one member of its stage crew. It helps keep websites running by facilitating page and file loading.
Fastly’s domino effect of destruction isn’t the first time an outage revealed the fragility of the internet’s infrastructure: In 2017, one coding error on Amazon’s cloud computing service caused Medium, Coursera, Slack, and other sites to temporarily shut down.
Bottom line: One hour offline may not sound like a lot, but it can translate to millions of dollars in advertising revenue and e-commerce losses for affected sites.
The Bombas Pride collection features specific representations of the LGBTQ+ community, like the colors of the Trans, Lesbian, and Bi flags, respectively.
Because Bombas makes tee shirts, underwear, and socks, you can rock that pride from head to toe.
Everything in the Bombas Pride collection is made from the highest quality materials with the highest consideration. We’re talkin’ plush Pima Cotton and little design adjustments like softer seams and no itchy tags. Aka Bombas as usual.
If anything happens to your new Pride items, just contact the Bombas Happiness Team. They’re standing by to get you a refund, send a replacement, or just have a chat. They’re super nice. We’ve called them like seven times for help writing this.
Stat: More than 25% of shoppers at Levi’s have a different size today than before the pandemic, according to CEO Chip Bergh. He called the number of people with new sizes “pretty staggering.”
Quote: “The stimmies have been fantastic for us in terms of getting into the communities.”
We did it! IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig used the word “stimmies” in place of the more IRS-sounding “stimulus checks” during his testimony on Capitol Hill yesterday.
Read: If you give a lobster enough THC, will it notice that it is boiling to death? (Jackie Bryant)
Just in time for Kanye West’s 44th birthday and summer, Gap and Yeezy unveiled the first product of their partnership yesterday: the jacket you see above. The specs…
Retails for $200
Self-described as “round”
Cannot be closed (no buttons, zippers, etc.)
Most of West’s reported $6.6 billion fortune comes from his Yeezy brand, whose partnerships with Adidas and Gap are worth up to a combined $4.7 billion, according to UBS. We’re still in the early innings of the 10-year deal with Gap, but it’s looking promising: Preorders for the jacket sold out within hours of its release.
+ Cool marketing: To promote the release, the jacket’s being projected old-school-cinema-style throughout NYC, LA, and Kanye’s own Chi City.
WHAT ELSE IS BREWING
The US Senate passed one of the largest industrial bills in history; its goal is to help the US tech industry compete with China.
Lordstown Motors, an electric vehicle startup, said it might not have enough cash to last the next 12 months if it doesn’t raise capital.
Chipotle hiked its menu prices by 4% to accommodate rising wages.
The CDC eased travel guidance on 110 countries and territories.
MoviePass reached a settlement with the FTC over accusations that it knowingly made its service harder to use.
The horror movie of Netflix’s nightmares. The Motley Fool cofounders, David and Tom Gardner, have discovered a stock that could be an extremely bad plot twist for Netflix. This is your chance to get in early. This potentially, horrifyingly lucrative insight is available exclusively to members of The Motley Fool Stock Advisor. Sign up today.
BREW’S BETS
SuperZuck: If you haven’t seen the video of Mark Zuckerberg throwing a spear, you need to.
Marketers, do you know where your ads end up? No, you don’t. Join us on June 16 as the cofounders of Check My Ads chat with our executive editor Josh Sternberg about how to make sure your ads don’t end up on the wrong websites. Register here.
Recipe of the week: A “fancy” salmon salad that looks impressive but is super easy to prepare.
Managing editor Neal Freyman requested an UberX from his Manhattan apartment to JFK yesterday around 2pm. How much does the ride cost? (Price Is Right rules apply…you can’t go over.)
The Innovation and Competition Act passed 68-to-32 after hours of behind-the-scene negotiations, a flurry of last-minute amendments and an all-nighter of negotiations. The legislation, spearheaded by Senate Majority Leader Schumer and GOP Sen. Todd Young, would pump more than $200 billion into U.S. scientific innovation over the next five years.
…
The expanded legislation would provide $52 billion in assistance to semiconductor manufacturing companies to make computer chips, which have been in a global shortage since last summer. Seventy-five percent of the world’s chips come from Asia, according to a September 2020 report from the Semiconductor Industry Association.
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The legislation would also shell out $81 billion in congressional spending to the National Science Foundation budget between fiscal years 2022 and 2026, aiming to energize innovation by revamping ongoing programs and starting the new directorate. In addition, it would establish tech hubs in places they have not traditionally existed.
Why is Biden’s Justice Department moving to defend former President Trump?
President Biden criticized Trump last year for using the Justice Department like his own “private law firm,” including in the case of E. Jean Carroll, who has accused Tr…
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Why are taxes paid by America’s wealthiest people being scrutinized?
We [ProPublica] compared how much in taxes the 25 richest Americans paid each year to how much Forbes estimated their wealth grew in that same time perio…
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Our daily poll feature is temporarily offline due to a software issue. Hence we weren’t able to tally votes on yesterday’s question “Should weight-loss drugs be covered by insurance?” We will fix and restart the daily polls shortly. Appreciate your understanding.
New text messages from Hunter Biden’s laptop, reported by the Daily Mail, show the First Son’s “repeated use of the n-word.” Very few outlets are even mentioning this latest disclosure which is odd when we constantly read stories of careers destroyed because of decade-old messages or comments. Why does Hunter Biden get a free pass with the Democrat-friendly media?
Yellen’s Excellent Adventure in Inflation Flip-Flops
Something political to ponder as you enjoy your morning coffee.
President Biden’s infrastructure plans may be dead in the water. With little movement from the apparently bipartisan negotiating team, the president has decided enough is enough and is looking to speak to another “bipartisan” group. If there were truly so many bipartisan folks available and willing to deal, why didn’t Biden include them all to begin with?
During an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt Kamala Harris gave the most tone deaf and disgusting answer possible when asked why she hadn’t visited the U.S. / Mexico border yet…. Read more…
A global sting in which organized crime gangs were sold encrypted phones that law enforcement officials could monitor has led to more than 800 arrests in 18 countries, officials said… Read more…
French President Emmanuel Macron was slapped in the face on Tuesday by a man in a crowd of onlookers while on a walkabout in southern France, video of the incident… Read more…
A Pennsylvania man who impersonated Donald Trump’s teenage son and other members of the former president’s family, and claimed to have once fooled Trump himself, has been charged in Manhattan… Read more…
In a major policy shift federal agents will be required to wear body cameras when serving search and arrest warrants. Previously state and local law enforcement officers were required to… Read more…
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11.) AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE
AEI’s daily publication of independent research, insightful analysis, and scholarly debate.
Here are five reasons why, despite tremendous pressure, having to mortgage your financial future to send your child to his or her dream college is not the right call.
Rwanda’s successful deployment in the Central African Republic provides a crucial lesson for the United States and a conflict-prevention model that the US should seek to replicate.
The argument that capitalism is nearing its terminal stage has a big problem. The data don’t support the notion of a top-heavy socioeconomic system that now works for only a few.
“Vice President Kamala Harris sought to assure poor and threatened populations of Latin America on Tuesday that the United States has ‘the capacity to give people a sense of hope’ in the region so they can make better lives without fleeing to the U.S. border… Harris engaged in two days of diplomacy in Guatemala and Mexico as part of the Biden administration’s effort to stem the flow of people into the U.S.” AP News
On Tuesday, Axios reported that “The number of migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border this fiscal year is already the most since 2006 — with four months left to go.” Axios
The left calls for a focus on the root causes of migration, and worries that Harris is not being set up for success.
“Years of reporting by journalists and research by nongovernmental experts reveal the factors pushing people north: powerful gangs conscripting teenage boys, sexually abusing young women, extorting local businesses and committing astonishing levels of murder; corrupt governments unable or unwilling to take control; broken economies; and climate-change-driven droughts in agricultural regions that have made subsistence farming impossible…
“The daily crises that lead so many people to decide that the dangerous trek to the border is a safer alternative to staying put will not be easy to solve. This will take patience, bold policy visions, and the support of an American public that sees the human tragedies at hand.” Editorial Board, Los Angeles Times
“Prospective migrants tell us that they aren’t chasing an American dream. It’s a Guatemalan dream they’re after, but they need to go to the United States to attain it… Given the chance, farmers in communities nestled around picturesque Lake Atitlán would build ecotourist lodges that showcase Maya traditions and environmental stewardship. Agricultural workers living in the lush volcanic highlands of Huehuetenango are tired of just picking coffee; they aspire to roast, package and ship their beans directly to hipster cafes in Guatemala City, San Salvador and Los Angeles…
“Getting results in Guatemala requires investing in the economic and commercial scaffolding that the country’s entrepreneurial farmers desperately need, including access to land, fertilizer, water, roads, credit, technical assistance, broadband internet and the ability to sell their products directly to consumers… the United States needs to break a pattern in which foreign assistance is channeled through government contractors with too little transparency, too much overhead and scant connection to community priorities. We should seize the opportunity to work directly with local communities to fund sustainable development projects.” Anita Isaacs and Jorge Morales Toj, New York Times
Critics note that “The current presidents of both Mexico and the U.S. came to office promising a safer world for migrants traversing this perilous landscape. So far, neither have delivered… April marked the deadliest month in Sonora in more than two decades. Just one day before the asylum-seekers marched [to protest Title 42], Mexican soldiers opened fire on suspected cartel members in Nogales in broad daylight…
“Two weeks before that, narco gunmen shot up a government helicopter with a .50 caliber sniper rifle near the municipality of Santa Ana. The following day saw reports of some 60 cartel fighters ambushing the Mexican military near the community of Cerro Cañedo; eight people were killed, including a Mexican soldier… the bottleneck caused by the Title 42 rule has fueled a rise in violence and extortion of migrants [in Mexico].” Ryan Devereaux, The Intercept
Regarding the VP’s portfolio, “Harris will likely become the public face of a doomed effort to enact major voting-rights legislation that cannot be enacted without the filibuster reform Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema (with a few other Senate Democrats probably quietly abetting them) have made impossible. And even if conditions on the border improve (which is a development hardly within the full control of the U.S. government), Harris will be identified with an exceptionally fraught issue that divides Democrats and energizes Republicans…
“Thus, through no fault of her own, she may suffer in public perceptions, particularly as Republicans focus their fire on her as a riper target (and as an obviously easier object for racist and sexist contempt) than the hard-to-demonize Uncle Joe.” Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine
“Fox News harangues [Harris] daily, in articles on its website and in tweets… She confronts the confines in which a vice president has to operate on top of the similar confines in which Black people and women in positions of power are often expected to operate. It’s a Goldilocks double or even triple whammy. Too strong a voice and you’re stepping outside of your place. Too soft a voice and you’re timidly failing to rise to the occasion…
“How sensitive to that is Biden, and how supportive? I don’t detect any carry-over of the tension between him and Harris in the Democratic presidential primary, but it’s important to remember that Biden’s model for the relationship between a vice president and a president is his with Barack Obama, and Obama didn’t nurture Biden’s political ambitions or set him up for a promotion. He did that for Hillary Clinton instead. This is one fraught, fascinating vice presidency.” Frank Bruni, New York Times
From the Right
The right is critical of Harris and the administration’s approach to the border, arguing that more enforcement is necessary.
“Biden, Harris, and the immigration- and foreign-policy team around them operated in denial on this issue throughout 2020 and into 2021, and it’s still not clear that they’re completely in touch with reality. When Candidate Biden and Candidate Harris promised to cease all border-wall construction, immediately end family separation, suspend all deportations for 100 days, ‘end prolonged detention,’ ‘end workplace raids,’ and create a path to citizenship for everyone currently living in the U.S. illegally, Central American migrants and the coyotes interpreted that as ‘The border is open.’…
“It doesn’t matter if they never spoke those specific words; this was the conclusion that the migrants came to because Biden and Harris never wanted to talk about enforcing immigration laws on the campaign trail. In 2019, then-candidate Harris declared her intent to use executive orders to end deportations and create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. How angry can you be at Central American migrants for believing Harris meant what she said?” Jim Geraghty, National Review
“When Biden announced he was appointing the veep as his immigration czar, he was effectively passing her a grenade whose pin he had already pulled. When Harris went to Guatemala, that country’s president flat-out blamed Biden’s policies for the surge north. He said the United States’ ‘message changed to, ‘We are going to reunite families and we are going to reunite children’ … The very next day the coyotes here were organizing groups of children to take them to the United States.’…
“‘Do not come,’ Harris said in Guatemala… ‘We will discourage illegal migration. The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border. … If you come to our border, you will be turned back.’ That’s not what Central Americans are hearing from their friends who are now comfortably ensconced in the US. Nearly half of those who show up at the border seeking asylum are being welcomed into the States, given orders to appear in court, and then set free…
“Harris can’t clean up the mess at the border unless her boss decides to clean up his policy mess — by reinstating some of Trump’s ideas.” Kyle Smith, New York Post
“Harris has repeatedly claimed that she is addressing the ‘root causes’ of the migrant crisis, or, in other words, the pull-factors that might drive people to migrate in the first place. The first problem with this approach is that we have been throwing billions of dollars to Central America for decades and haven’t seen a noticeable decline in crime and corruption, or an increase in economic security. The plan to nation-build our way out of a surge in illegal immigration calls to mind failed neoconservative projects to prevent terror by ‘spreading democracy’ throughout the Middle East…
“Second, even if such investment-driven solutions were effective, it would take years and years to see tangible returns. Meanwhile, migrants who falsely claim refugee status or political asylum (relatively narrowly defined categories) when their real motivation is a ‘better life’ will continue to flood the border…
“If Harris really had an interest in putting a stop to the migrant surge as soon as possible, she would visit the border and talk directly to these migrants, as well as local law enforcement and border patrol to ascertain what support they need to provide much-needed security for Americans living in border towns.” Amber Athey, Spectator World
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) writes, “There are solutions available to rid our nation of this border crisis. For starters, we must resume the border barrier system, which includes technology and wall construction, to reclaim our national security. We encountered a border wall gate in need of desperate repair during my visit but were told it couldn’t be fixed because of the current administration. Instead, a border patrol agent must be pulled away from other important duties to post guard to cover up the vulnerability. These ridiculous and grossly inefficient Band-Aids should be replaced with a strong wall system that works…
“Second, America must re-institute its ‘remain in Mexico’ policy. By having illegal immigrants remain outside of the U.S. while awaiting their asylum review, we not only save taxpayer money, but we respect the immigrants who are trying to enter our nation by dutifully following our laws and the standard process. That is the system that is fair for everyone. And third, America must work with its Central American partners to secure immigration agreements, much like the Trump administration accomplished. Only then, through a coordinated effort, can we reach stability at our border.” Rep. Vicky Hartzler, Washington Examiner
🐪 Happy Wednesday!Smart Brevity™ count: 1,167 words … 4½ minutes. Edited by Zachary Basu.
🚧 Please join Hans Nichols and me today at 12:30 p.m. ET for an Axios virtual event on President Biden’s infrastructure plan. Guests include National Economic Council director Brian Deese, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) and United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby. Register here.
On the verge of being replaced after 12 years in power, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is waging a desperate, Trump-style campaign to delegitimize the incoming government, Axios from Tel Aviv author Barak Ravid reports.
He’s accusing his likely successors of perpetrating “the fraud of the century” and “the biggest election fraud in history.”
Why it matters: The situation has become so tense — members of the Israeli Knesset face death threats and demonstrations from angry Netanyahu supporters outside their homes — that the director of Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency warned of potential political violence.
The backstory: Netanyahu failed to form a government after Israel’s fourth consecutive election in March. Then Naftali Bennett — a right-wing former Netanyahu protege — cut a power-sharing deal with the “anti-Netanyahu bloc” to become the next prime minister.
Netanyahu initially refused to condemn the incitement against Bennett and his allies. On Monday afternoon, he condemned the violent rhetoric on “every side” — and falsely claimed that the media had refused to cover similar incitement against his family.
He said the accusations of incitement were a biased attempt to silence the right, and complained that Facebook and Twitter had suspended the accounts of his son and several of his supporters.
The other side: Bennett responded with a speech of his own during the evening news, echoing the tone used by Joe Biden on Jan. 6 and calling on Netanyahu to commit to a peaceful transition of power.
While Bennett was speaking, Netanyahu appeared live on the Israeli equivalent of the right-wing One America News channel and called Bennett a “liar” and a “fraud.”
As COVID pushed consumers online in droves, companies from Fortune 500 firms to the corner coffee shop had to grapple with how to legally handle personal data, Axios’ Kim Hart writes.
Why it matters: The privacy-tech companies who know how to do it have been raking in the cash, turning what was once a cottage industry into a multibillion-dollar sector.
The average American household has 25 connected devices, ranging from laptops, smartphones and smart TVs to gaming consoles, smart home devices and connected fitness machines, according to a Deloitte connectivity survey out today.
The companies that help others process, maintain, and legally maximize use of all that consumer data are in high demand, according to a Future of Privacy Forum report shared first with Axios.
Some of the largest players — BigID and OneTrust — have multibillion-dollar market caps on their own.
Vice President Harris returned to Washington early today after her first foreign trip — a Latin America swing (Guatemala, then Mexico) aimed at building hope, so residents feel less compelled to flock to the U.S. border.
“I welcome showing anyone, whatever your race or gender, that you may be the first to do anything, but make sure you’re not the last,” she said in Guatemala. (AP)
This morning, President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden fly to England for his first overseas trip of the administration.
Biden’s eight days of diplomacy end with a summit with Vladimir Putin in Geneva. Biden aims to reassure European capitals that the U.S. will be a dependable partner in thwarting Moscow’s aggression on their eastern front, and on their internet battlefields. (AP)
4. “Macker” takes next step to mansion
Above, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) greets supporters in McLean last night after winning the Democratic primary for the job McAuliffe, known as the “Macker,” held from 2014-2018.
McAuliffe, who won every city and county in the commonwealth, now faces Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin, a former private equity executive chosen by a GOP convention last month. (WashPost)
5. Staggering cost of new Alzheimer’s drug
Biogen’s controversial new FDA-approved drugfor Alzheimer’s, a disease 500,000 Americans are diagnosed with each year, will cost $56,000 annually, Axios health care editor Tina Reed writes.
If half of the newly eligible Americans in a year began treatment with Aduhelm, the cost would be $14 billion — roughly equivalent to Medicare Part B spending in 2019 on the next 8 products combined, per a Bernstein analysis.
Why it matters: It’s experts’ nightmare drug-spending scenario — an extremely expensive product that millions of desperate patients could be eligible for. And it may not even work.
The numbers alone could give new ammunition to advocates who argue that drug prices are too high and should be limited.
Nursing homes and residential-care facilities lost 2,400 jobs last month, as employers struggle to hire caregivers, Axios’ Marisa Fernandez reports.
The big picture: The industry historically has grappled with high employee turnover for its lower-skilled jobs. Now, nursing facilities are facing reputational hits from the pandemic and a red hot market for minimum-wage workers.
As more than 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the home health and personal care aide workforce to grow more than 20% by 2029 — the highest in any industry.
Corporate boards are getting less white and male, but companies are “recycling” to achieve that, Axios Closer author Courtenay Brown writes.
In some cases, more diversity came “by recycling … existing Fortune 500 board members rather than bringing in new individuals with different skills, backgrounds, and perspectives,” according to a report by Deloitte and the Alliance for Board Diversity.
As the world grapples with the pandemic’s impact on globalization, Michael Bloomberg today is unveiling the inaugural members of a new group to focus on solving its biggest problems, Axios managing editor Aja Whitaker-Moore is first to report.
Members of the first Bloomberg New Economy Catalysts cohort span six continents, and will assemble virtually for a kick-off event on June 30 to discuss the future of climate, agriculture, bio-tech, e-commerce, space and digital money.
Bloomberg’s efforts take aim at turf previously dominated by Davos.
Bloomberg was named yesterday in an explosive ProPublica report, “The Secret IRS Files,” showing many of the richest Americans pay little income tax compared to their wealth.
In 2018, the report says, Bloomberg paid $70.7 million in income tax on almost $2 billion in income, which would be a 3.7% conventional income tax rate.
9. Le slap
Photo: BFM TV via AP
France President Emmanuel Macron (white shirt) was slapped by the man in the green T-shirt during a visit to Tain-l’Hermitage.
Someone can be heard shouting “Down with Macronism,” and a “medieval battle cry associated with fringe right-wingers who want France to return to being a monarchy,” Agence France-Presse reports.
The big picture: “The incident took place in a tense and increasingly polarised political climate in France, weeks ahead of regional elections and less than a year before presidential polls.”
10. 1 fun thing: Jimmy Buffett Inc.
Bloomberg Businessweek’s cover story dives deep into the post-pandemic dreams of Jimmy Buffett, who expands his empire this week with the opening of Margaritaville Resort Times Square — the latest and most ambitious in an “ever-increasing menu of savage-beast-soothing options”:
Buffett has always viewed Manhattan as the toughest nut to crack, or perhaps — per his 1973 classic, Peanut Butter Conspiracy — the toughest Jif jar to swipe. He found this true, first as a musician struggling to win gigs early in his career and now as a marketing tycoon betting his beachy cachet will captivate in one of the world’s largest cities. The risk reminds him of what an actor friend once told him: “If you don’t take New York, Buffett, you ain’t shit.”
This Father’s Day, give the gift of a good story. From a Gregg Hurwitz thriller to John Boehner’s memoir, there’s an audiobook for every dad in your life.
Hunter Biden went on a text tirade about his negative media coverage during his father’s presidential campaign, claiming to be “the most ethical man you will ever know” and saying he’s “never done a dishonest business transaction in my life,” according to screenshots from his laptop.
The Biden administration is putting little public pressure on China to investigate the possibility that COVID-19 escaped from a Wuhan laboratory, despite growing interest in investigating the origins of the pandemic.
Former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence keep telling people they’re maintaining a “good relationship.” Yet Republican insiders see their awkward peace ending if both launch 2024 presidential campaigns.
MCALLEN, Texas — The cartels responsible for smuggling migrants into the United States have become more violent in run-ins with local law enforcement north of the border and are operating in a more sophisticated fashion than sheriffs outside of Houston have seen.
The FBI said it was able to recover millions of dollars in Bitcoin paid as ransom during the attack against the Colonial Pipeline — a feat that is now generating more questions than answers.
KYIV, Ukraine — Hunter Biden doesn’t matter much to Ukrainians, but the controversy that surrounds him will make it difficult for President Joe Biden to reduce the amount of lethal military equipment former President Donald Trump sent to the country, defense experts here tell the Washington Examiner.
Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have emerged as the two most sought-after votes in the Senate, shoring up their centrist credentials at home and their power in Washington at a time when President Joe Biden is urgently seeking to pass his legislative agenda before the calendar switches to an election year.
A former New Jersey Assembly member is the projected winner of the GOP nomination in the governor’s race, defeating other candidates who campaigned as close allies of former President Donald Trump.
Former Florida Department of Health data analyst Rebekah Jones, a critic of Gov. Ron DeSantis, said on Tuesday she intends to see Rep. Matt Gaetz kicked out of office, even if it means she has to run herself.
Senate Republicans delivered their second major filibuster of the Democratic agenda Tuesday, blocking a House-passed bill aimed to ensure equal pay regardless of gender.
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18.) ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 9, 2021
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AP Morning Wire
Good morning. Here is today’s selection of top stories from The Associated Press at this hour to begin the U.S. day.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Set to embark on the first overseas trip of his term, President Joe Biden is eager to reassert the United States on the world stage, steadying European allies deeply shaken by his predecessor and pushing democracy as the only…Read More
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — In the global race to vaccinate people against COVID-19, Africa is tragically at the back of the pack. In fact, it has barely gotten out of the starting blocks. …Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate report examining the security failures surrounding the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol says missed intelligence, poor planning and multiple layers of bureaucracy led to the violent siege. …Read More
BUCARAMANGA, Colombia (AP) — An international monitoring group on Wednesday accused police officers in Colombia of responsibility for the deaths of 20 people and other violent actions against protesters during recent civil unrest, including se…Read More
To all the struggles of life in Lebanon — the pandemic, the power outages, the inflation, the punishing financial and political crises — add one more: shortages of crucial medications. But as residents struggle to find the medicines they need,…Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — For months, President Joe Biden has laid out goal after goal for taming the coronavirus pandemic and then exceeded his own benchmarks. Now, though, the…Read More
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Sex therapist Lisa Butterworth has long been willing to delve into sensitive sexuality questions with clients who belong to The Church of Jesus Chr…Read More
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — After years of Brazilians being battered by revelations of bribery and corruption, Rio de Janeiro’s huge Christ the Redeemer statue is trying to se…Read More
BEIJING (AP) — Already famous at home, China’s wandering elephants are now becoming international stars. Major global media are chronicling the herd’s more than yearlon…Read More
“There are only two forces that can carry light to all the corners of the globe … the sun in the heavens and The Associated Press down here.”
Mark Twain
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Good morning, Chicago. Yesterday, Illinois public health officials reported 365 new and probable cases of COVID-19 and 11 additional deaths. Officials also said there were 44,174 doses of the vaccine administered Monday, and the seven-day rolling average of daily doses is 42,852.
While Illinois officials say 68% of Illinois adults have received at least one vaccine dose, which is nearing President Joe Biden’s goal of having 70% of Americans at least partially vaccinated by July 4, the U.S. as a whole is now on pace to fall short of his aim.
Meanwhile, you asked us more coronavirus questions and we got you answers. Should people who have already been fully vaccinated with one vaccine get another? When we get a booster shot, will it have the same level of side effects? This is what science and health experts told us.
— Nicole Stock, audience editor
Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
With a sprawling political corruption investigation drawing ever closer to former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, the Tribune has learned that a Chicago alderman cooperating with the government secretly made audio and video recordings of the once-powerful politician on a variety of topics.
Most Illinois families won’t have a choice other than to send their children back to school full time in the fall. But Chicago Public Schools is still trying to determine what officials can do to make parents most comfortable about the return of in-person classes five days a week.
In August, the 127-year-old Vautravers Building, a three-story monument to Chicago’sresidential history, will be jacked up from its foundation and slid 30 feet to the west, sparing it from demolition as part of the CTA’s ambitious Brown Line flyover project.
For more than 18 months, the Chicago Cubs teamed up with Nike to develop and design a unique uniform to highlight the team’s connection to the city and fans.
Their mission centered on weaving the essence of the franchise with the culture and personality of Chicago and Cubs fans. It culminated yesterday morning with the official reveal of the Cubs’ Nike MLB City Connect uniforms, which will be worn for the first time Saturday at Wrigley Field against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Federal prosecutors have charged a man from a tony North Shore suburb who allegedly wore a Burberry coat and laughed as he participated in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Christian Kulas, 24, was arrested at 6:12 a.m. Tuesday and later participated in a remote hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes. Jon Seidel has the full story…
The Field and MacArthur foundations Tuesday announced the new cohort of 10 Chicagoans working to help communities impacted by structural racism, discrimination and disinvestment. Winners get $25,000, no-strings-attached, with another $25,000 for their organizations.
The Chicago Justice Project released a 20-year study portraying the committee as anemic over the last 20 years in hopes of pressuring the committee to approve four stalled police accountability ordinances.
Christian Kulas is at least the ninth person from Illinois to be charged in the Capitol breach, and the third from Cook County. Hundreds have been charged nationwide, and authorities have gathered a staggering amount of evidence.
House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, who supports an elected school board, has already predicted that a measure creating a 21-member board will pass the state’s lower legislative chamber.
Cathy Trunko had been about to enter Daley College in hopes of becoming an elementary school teacher when she was found dead in the 4900 block of South Paulina Street in January 1980.
Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. It is Wednesday! We get you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver are the co-creators. Readers can find us on Twitter @asimendinger and @alweaver22. Please recommend the Morning Report to friends and let us know what you think. CLICK HERE to subscribe!
Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported each morning this week: Monday, 597,628; Tuesday, 597,952; Wednesday, 598,326.
Senators from both parties on Tuesday described the status of infrastructure negotiations as “running into a brick wall,” hitting “a significant roadblock” and being just plain maddening. That was moments before President Biden declared weeks of discussions with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) and other Republicans as at an end, an outcome she described as disappointing (The Hill).
The White House immediately shifted its search for either 10 Senate Republican votes for a bill, or 50 Democratic votes for a reconciliation strategy to pursue Biden’s vision for federal infrastructure and job creation investments worth at least $1 trillion. What’s most likely? The latter, as we have been noting for months in The Morning Report.
The president will continue talking with a separate bipartisan group that includes Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), with whom Biden spoke on Tuesday. Biden will confer with those lawmakers while in Europe, a trip that will conclude on June 16 with a summit in Geneva with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The senators indicated they hope to release a compromise proposal by the end of the week. According to The Hill’s Jordain Carney, the group is preparing a bill worth roughly $880 billion. With a blessing from the White House, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday that a vote on infrastructure will happen one way or another by the end of the month.
“The president is committed to moving his economic legislation through Congress this summer, and is pursuing multiple paths to get this done,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement, indicating that passing it via reconciliation remains an option for the majority party.
News of a breakdown in talks between Biden and Capito came following a five-minute conversation between the two negotiators and a day after the West Virginia Republican lamented the downturn in talks in recent days.
“While I appreciate President Biden’s willingness to devote so much time and effort to these negotiations, he ultimately chose not to accept the very robust and targeted infrastructure package, and instead, end our discussions.” Capito said in a statement. “After negotiating in good faith and making significant progress to move closer to what the president wanted, I am disappointed by his decision.”
The Washington Post: White House infrastructure talks with Capito collapse, leading to finger pointing as Biden shifts strategy.
Bloomberg News: Democratic, GOP House members propose new, $761 billion infrastructure plan.
> Middle Manchin: What does Manchin want? That’s a question Senate Democrats are trying to answer this week as they move forward with the party’s agenda for the coming months and acknowledge that his vote cannot be taken for granted.
Instead of criticizing the moderate senator, his Democratic colleagues are meeting with him behind closed doors in a quest to figure out what his heart desires. However, some question whether the West Virginia Democrat even knows what he wants (The Hill).
Manchin held a meeting with civil rights leaders, which he said was “constructive” but left him unmoved from his opposition to the For the People Act (The Hill).
The Hill: In shot at Manchin, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) calls for the Senate to strengthen voting rights.
Matt K. Lewis, The Daily Beast: The problem isn’t Manchin. It’s Democrats’ delusions.
> Senate action: The Senate passed sweeping legislation aimed at combating China’s competitiveness on Tuesday, handing Schumer a big win after making the bill a top priority and overcoming several last-minute snags.
The measure, which passed 68-32, now goes to the House, where it faces uncertain prospects because House members have been backing their own measure. The vote divided Republican leaders while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was the only member who votes with the Democratic caucus who opposed it (The Hill).
The Hill: Senate crafts Pelosi alternative on drug prices.
– Protecting people’s privacy
– Enabling safe and easy data portability between platforms
– Preventing election interference
– Reforming Section 230
LEADING THE DAY
ADMINISTRATION: As the centerpiece of his domestic economic agenda teeters in Washington, Biden departs for the United Kingdom today, an inopportune moment to be away on his first foreign trip as president (The Hill).
The Associated Press: During Biden’s first trip abroad as president, he believes the West must publicly demonstrate it can compete economically with China as the world emerges from the coronavirus pandemic.
The New York Times: To fly to Europe today to accompany the president, White House correspondents found themselves unexpectedly delayed, eventually on a different plane and with a different pilot. Why? Because hordes of cicadas filled the engine of the first aircraft.
As Biden departs, Vice President Harris wrapped up the first foreign trip of her tenure, returning from Mexico and Guatemala after two days of meetings focused on Central American immigration during which her message to migrants was blunt — “Do not come” — and her press reviews were not good (The Hill).
The Hill: Impatient with an interview question from NBC anchor Lester Holt about why she has not visited the U.S. southern border to see migrant conditions for herself, Harris responded that she and the president are aware of what is taking place there. “At some point, you know, we are going to the border,” she said. “And I haven’t been to Europe,” she added, dismissing the question.
The Hill’s Niall Stanage writes that Harris, who has experience with immigration controversies from her years as a progressive San Francisco prosecutor and later a senator, was tasked by Biden with focusing U.S. attention on the “root causes” of Central American migration to the United States and with tamping down assertions of a border crisis, instead stirred controversy during her trip. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and some advocates for migrants and asylum-seekers assailed Harris for her “Don’t come” message to migrants who are fleeing their countries for a better life. Harris’s spokeswoman put out a statement Monday night that the vice president’s remarks were consistent with previous remarks by the president and Cabinet officials.
ABC News: A Biden administration task force finds (in a report not yet made public) that 3,900 migrant children were separated from their parents and relatives at the U.S. border by the Trump administration between 2017 and 2021, consistent with news media accounts. About 400 children were returned to their home countries. About 62 family reunifications are in the works.
> National Institutes of Health:Anthony Fauci is navigating escalating attacks coming from former President Trump and his GOP allies, who seized on a Washington Post report describing some of his official emails, as well as the global interest in the origins of the coronavirus. Fauci’s defenders say the conservative campaign is meant to divert attention from the Trump administration’s failures during the pandemic. Health experts warn attacks on Fauci stoke mistrust in science at a time when the government seeks to boost the national vaccination rate against COVID-19 and residents of red states evidence more vaccine hesitancy than populations in blue states (The Hill).
IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES
POLITICS: Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) overwhelmingly took home the state’s gubernatorial primary nod on Tuesday night, setting himself up for another crack at the governorship beginning next year.
McAuliffe won with 62 percent of the vote, topping the second place finisher by a whopping 43 percentage points, having immediately turned his attention to GOP nominee Glenn Youngkin during a victory event in Tysons Corner, Va.
“We cannot let Glenn Youngkin do to Virginia what Donald Trump has done to our country,” McAuliffe said, hitting Youngkin over social issues in particular. “We are a different state than we were eight years ago and we are not going back. … I can tell you this, folks. There is not one business that wants to move to Virginia where they have a governor who is putting a social agenda on us” (The Hill).
The Hill: Virginia set to elect first female lieutenant governor after Delegate Hala Ayala wins the Democratic nod.
In New Jersey, Republican Jack Ciattarelli won the GOP primary in the gubernatorial contest Tuesday, topping two other Republicans who had aligned themselves more closely with Trump.
Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman, won 49 percent, defeating Phil Rizzo, a Baptist minister, and businessman Hirsh Singh, who garnered 26.2 percent and 21.4 percent of the vote, respectively. Ciattarelli had called Trump a “charlatan” in 2015 and had looked to distance himself from the former president’s personality while embracing some of his policies (The Hill).
Nevertheless, Ciattarelli is facing daunting odds in November against Gov. Phil Murphy (D) in the deep blue state.
> AG two-step: Gazing at the primary season, a pair of key Trump allies are motoring toward a dual to serve as Texas attorney general. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush is challenging state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is expected to run for a third term in 2022.
The race is shaping up as the Lone Star State’s most intriguing primary of the 2020 cycle, with both men aggressively pursuing an endorsement from Trump, who could tip the scales in either candidate’s direction. Trump has teased making an endorsement “in the not-so-distant future” but has offered no hints as to which candidate he’s leaning toward (The Hill).
It’s hard to envision Trump endorsing a Bush, most notably the son of Jeb. But he’s not ruling it out. And remember, Trump endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for reelection after harshly criticizing in personal terms Cruz’s wife and father.
> Trump defense: Democrats are angered after the Justice Department announced this week that it will continue to defend Trump from rape allegations made by writer E. Jean Carroll (The Hill). House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and committee Democrats on Tuesday sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland urging the department to reverse its decision (The Hill).
*****
CORONAVIRUS: Americans eager to travel abroad are encouraged to consult the international advisories about COVID-19 put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But the CDC has eased its classifications of risk, and not because some countries are doing so much better with their virus infection rates, The New York Times reports. Among the 56 countries deemed to be the safest for travel, because they have the lowest levels of the coronavirus are Australia, New Zealand (pictured below), Israel, Vietnam, China, Rwanda, Liberia and Laos. The U.S. government still urges travelers to be fully vaccinated before traveling to those countries, and many impose restrictions on travelers.
More coronavirus news: COVID-19 vaccines for young children are moving ahead in testing (The Wall Street Journal). … Millions of Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine doses are at risk of expiring this month (The Wall Street Journal), and the government said on Tuesday that a “small fraction” of Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses will be unused in states. The administration is working on strategies to extend the shelf life of the doses (The Hill). … The Mastercard Foundation says it is donating $1.3 billion spread out over three years to boost Africa’s coronavirus response to COVID-19 (The Washington Post). … A Wisconsin hospital pharmacist who pleaded guilty to tampering late last year with COVID-19 vaccine doses was sentenced to three years in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $84,000 in restitution to the hospital where he had worked (The New York Times).
Pandemic history now: The Library of Congress recently acquired audio oral histories or diaries from more than 200 health care workers who cared for patients during the pandemic. The library says the collection, donated by The Nocturnists, a San Francisco-based independent medical storytelling community and podcast, offers “intimate, real-time stories from medical practitioners at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
OPINION
“Faucigate” emails show nothing about a COVID lab leak, by Faye Flam, Bloomberg opinion contributor. https://bloom.bg/3v5SqGw
Netanyahu’s likely departure is not easing the fears of Palestinians, by Raja Shehadeh, New Yorker Daily Comment. https://bit.ly/3x7Q3Vb
A MESSAGE FROM FACEBOOK
Why Facebook supports updated internet regulations
2021 is the 25th anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the last major update to internet regulation. It’s time for an update to set clear rules for addressing today’s toughest challenges.
The House meets at 11:30 a.m. for a pro forma session on Friday. Lawmakers resume legislative work in the Capitol next week.
TheSenate meets at 10:30 a.m. and will resume consideration of Zahid Quraishi to serve as U.S. district judge for the District of New Jersey.
The president and first lady Jill Biden will depart at 8:10 a.m. for the United Kingdom and the first leg of a weeklong overseas trip, arriving this evening in Cornwall, England.
The vice president returned to Washington from Mexico early this morning. She has no public events on her schedule this morning.
➔ NEWS MEDIA: Dozens of websites in the United States and Europe were offline for roughly an hour early Tuesday as a result of a software bug at Fastly Inc., a major cloud-services provider and operator of a content delivery network service. Sites including the British government’s main public services portal and several major U.S. and European news outlets, such as The New York Times and Le Monde, were inaccessible to at least some users for about an hour, beginning around 6 a.m. ET. Shortly before 7 a.m., Fastly said it repaired a service configuration problem and websites began to come back online (The Wall Street Journal). … Activists and shareholders of the Canadian tech and media giant Thomson Reuters (known for the Reuters news wire) want the company to end its contracts with the U.S. agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a matter of human rights. They will vote today on a nonbinding proposal to review the human rights impacts of U.S. immigration policies carried out by ICE (The Hill).
➔ COLONIAL PIPELINE: CEO Joseph Blount apologized to lawmakers and Americans during testimony before the Senate on Tuesday following May’s disruptions and resulting gasoline price hikes after the company opted to shut down 5,500 miles of pipeline operations because of a ransomware attack. Senators on both sides of the aisle criticized Blount, pointing out that the FBI and other agencies recommend against paying a ransom, as it can encourage criminals to carry out future attacks and the funds could be used for criminal activities. Blount said he did not consult the FBI before approving the ransom and believes it was “the right choice to make” (The Hill).
➔ INTERNATIONAL: A young man slappedFrench President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday along a rope line during the president’s visit to a small town in southeastern France and purportedly yelled, “Montjoie! Saint Denis!” an old royalist war cry, adding in French, “Down with Macron.” The president told reporters later, “I’m always going to meet people. … Some people express anger, sometimes disarray. … That’s legitimate anger, and we will continue to respond. Stupidity and violence, no, not in democracy” (The Associated Press). … In Canada, a Muslim family of four was slain in a hate-motivated attack this week in Ontario, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacted on Tuesday with vows to fight far-right extremist groups (Reuters).
THE CLOSER
And finally … 🐘 In China, a group of 15 wild elephants has been on a yearlong trek that has covered 300 miles from their home in a mountainous wildlife sanctuary in Yunnan province to the outskirts of the provincial capital of Kunming.
The reason for the migration, which has been widely chronicled by the news media in China and worldwide, is something of a mystery. Some scientists theorize that the Asian elephants may have felt the need to leave their home terrain because of habitat disruption or a quest for certain foods. Perhaps the elephants are lost, some suggest.
The current herd includes six female and three male adults, three juveniles, and three calves, and their movements and antics have captured a huge social media following (The Associated Press).
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A swarm of cicadas invaded (yes, invaded!) the press plane headed to Europe for President Biden’s trip, delaying the flight for six hours until a replacement aircraft arrived.
I’m sorry, WHAT happened?: The disgusting, giant bugs filled the plane’s engines.
What about the journalists on the plane?: “White House travel officials delivered news of the insect malfunction to reporters gathered at the airport hotel, along with assurances that a new plane was headed to Washington from New York. … Pizza was delivered, along with the option to grab a few winks in a room at the hotel. The bar extended its hours for those who decided to stay awake instead.” https://nyti.ms/3g4OotO
^Biden then told reporters: “Watch out for the cicadas. I just got one — it got me.” Watch Biden’s full reaction: https://bit.ly/3w7BjFN
REACTIONS FROM JOURNALISTS:
From NBC’s Andrea Mitchell: “Another reason to dislike cicadas: ‘cicada strike’ disabled White House press plane set to depart for G7 in Cornwall last night. Waiting to board replacement aircraft 6 hours later…” https://bit.ly/3gbZEVz
From The New York Times’s Michael D. Shear, “Not a good week for Biden administration planes. First mechanical issues with the @vp plane. Now, the press charter for @potus trip is delayed because the engines were invaded by cicadas, grounding it.” https://bit.ly/357LkGU
From CNN’s Kaitlan Collins: “No, [The Associated Press’s Jonathan Lemire] isn’t kidding, the White House press charter for the foreign trip is delayed several hours because of cicada-related mechanical issues.” https://bit.ly/3pzA6ol
It’s a cicada-filled Wednesday and no one is pleased about it. I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@thehill.com — and follow along on Twitter @CateMartel and Facebook.
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A MESSAGE FROM FACEBOOK
The internet has changed a lot since 1996 — internet regulations should too
Via The Hill’s Brett Samuels and Alex Gangitano, “President Biden is headed to Europe on Wednesday, an inopportune time for his first foreign trip as president as his domestic priorities hit the rocks.” https://bit.ly/3wbYWgn
WHAT BIDEN IS LEAVING AT HOME:
Well, there are the stalled infrastructure talks.
And then there’s Joe Manchin, because there’s always Joe Manchin: “Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) … sent a torpedo into the Democratic agenda by making it clear he has no intention of weakening the filibuster even if Republicans block Democratic legislation. He also announced his continued opposition to the … sweeping voting rights legislation that Biden has touted as a top priority.”
Via The Hill’s Brett Samuels, “President Biden on Tuesday cut off prolonged infrastructure negotiations with a GOP group led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and will instead move forward on discussions with a bipartisan group of senators.” https://bit.ly/3ivGDyK
Why: “The two remained far apart on a deal during that discussion despite weeks of talks. The White House as a result is shifting to talks with a bipartisan group that is crafting its own proposal, an administration official confirmed.”
SENATE DEMOCRATIC COLLEAGUES HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH MANCHIN:
Via The Hill’s Alexander Bolton, “Senate Democrats have been left confused and befuddled by Sen. Joe Manchin, and say they’re trying to figure out what their West Virginia colleague is thinking with his most recent moves in bucking his party.” https://bit.ly/3x44Tfe
Via The New York Times’s Jesus Jiménez, “The coronavirus might be receding in much of the United States, but it continues to spread in communities with low Covid-19 vaccination rates, where highly contagious virus variants pose a threat to those who have not had shots.” https://nyti.ms/3vbDbvQ
And hospitalizations are rising in areas with low vaccination rates: For example, “in Smith County, Tenn., where only 20 percent of people are fully vaccinated, there has been an almost 700 percent increase in hospitalizations for Covid-19 over the past two weeks, according to a New York Times database. In Trousdale, Tenn., where only 23 percent of people have had two vaccine doses, hospitalizations have also surged by 700 percent in the same period.”
“The United States is now averaging 427 deaths per day from coronavirus, the lowest seven-day average since the pandemic began in March 2020, according to data from @CNN and Johns Hopkins University.” (Tweet from CNN’s Ryan Struyk) https://bit.ly/3vbYFZn
Why Facebook supports updated internet regulations
2021 is the 25th anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the last major update to internet regulation. It’s time for an update to set clear rules for addressing today’s toughest challenges.
The Senate is in. The House is out. President Biden is on his way to the United Kingdom. Vice President Harris is back in Washington, D.C., from her Mexico trip.
8:10 a.m. EDT: President Biden and first lady Jill Biden left for The United Kingdom.
10:30 a.m. EDT: The Senate met.
WHAT TO WATCH:
10 a.m. EDT: The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on NCAA athlete compensation. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3pDuIjL
1 p.m. EDT: Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious diseases expert, appears on MSNBC’s “MTP Daily.” https://bit.ly/3w3TMD4
2 p.m. EDT: State Department spokesperson Ned Price holds a press briefing. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3v9z5Ex
NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF…:
Today is National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day!
And because you made it this far, here’s a dog who patiently waited for its owner who was in the hospital: https://nbcnews.to/3itS1eD
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On the eve of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, the Capitol Police’s riot control unit did not anticipate any mass arrests and viewed counterprotesters — rather than the pro-Trump mob itself — as a major threat, according to an internal planning document obtained by CQ Roll Call. Read more…
Dan Crenshaw expects to be back in Washington when the House reconvenes next week. But for the past two months, he’s been grounded in Texas after emergency surgery on his “half a good eye.” Surgery to save your vision would be a daunting prospect for anyone, but especially for Crenshaw, who had been through it before. Read more…
OPINION — Joe Manchin’s critics forget that his job is to represent the views of his constituents — not progressives in Queens or socialists in San Francisco and Seattle. Republicans may not agree with his views on many issues, but he appears to be a man of conscience trying to do what he believes is right for West Virginia and the country. Read more…
Click here to subscribe to Fintech Beat for the latest market and regulatory developmentsin finance and financial technology.
The Office of Management and Budget is tweaking what makes a city a city in the eyes of the federal government, and it could cost Wausau, Wis., and 143 other communities billions of dollars in housing assistance and other federal programs. Read more…
The collapse of negotiations between the White House and a group of Senate Republicans on an infrastructure spending package leaves President Joe Biden with two options to advance his ambitious public works vision: bipartisan agreements where possible and budget reconciliation rules where not. Read more…
Anyone who’s seen “Bill Nye the Science Guy” — everyone who attended grade school in the mid-’90s, and any student since who had their science teacher call in sick — knows from the show’s theme song that “inertia is a property of matter.” Inertia is also a property of Congress, as the Science Guy himself knows by now. Read more…
House and Senate Democrats are looking for the best way to address concerns about new state laws they believe put unfair restrictions on voting while dealing with a tight Senate margin and opposition to a sweeping overhaul package from one of their own, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin III. Read more…
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25.) POLITICO PLAYBOOK
POLITICO Playbook: Cassidy is the new Capito
Presented by
DRIVING THE DAY
In Washington, relationships come and go. In a quick succession of phone calls Tuesday, President JOE BIDEN exited infrastructure negotiations with Sen. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-W.Va.) and started them with Sen. BILL CASSIDY (R-La.).
As might be expected,the call ending things with Capito was short (less than five minutes).Biden emphasized they would remain friends, noting “his gratitude” for “her efforts and good faith conversations” despite his “disappointment” that they didn’t have the same goals, according to a statement. Capito expressed more recriminations, telling Fox News the relationship began with a massive “miscommunication” that they never overcame.
The call with Cassidy was longer and filled with the heightened expectations of a new relationship. They talked numbers. Biden liked the sound of some half a trillion dollars in new spending, and Cassidy opened up about how the way to his heart is “flood resiliency and energy provisions.” Biden explained that while it was an awkward time to be starting something new — he’s leaving for Europe today for eight days — he “would be in contact” “by phone.”
The big question is: Why does Biden think that this new infrastructure relationship will work out any better than his last one, especially since there are only five Republicans in this group, half the number needed to overcome a filibuster?
Here’s the optimistic case, per senior White House aides:
— A bipartisan deal could create a centripetal force in the Senate that pulls in other Republicans, including Capito herself.
— The model here is Endless Frontier,the industrial policy bill that passed the Senate on Tuesday. There were never large numbers of Republicans at the negotiating table, but it garnered 68 votes. (Incidentally, the bill includes $150 billion worth of spending that is similar to what Biden recently proposed in his American Jobs Plan, so it proves GOP opposition is not impenetrable.)
Needless to say, the most vocal progressives are not enthusiastic about this strategy. Rep. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-Wash.) blasted it as “foolish.” And CNN’s Manu Raju and Lauren Fox report that at the Senate Democrats’ lunch Tuesday, “one Democrat after another teed off on the strategy and expressed deep frustration at what they viewed as a fruitless effort to find consensus with Senate Republicans.”
A few other notes from our reporting:
— The Capito group was stacked with rankingcommittee members and senators who are part of Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL’S leadership team (JOHN BARRASSO, ROY BLUNT, Capito). Getting agreement from them is much more difficult than striking a deal with the more independent Republicans in the new group (Cassidy, MITT ROMNEY, ROB PORTMAN, LISA MURKOWSKI and SUSAN COLLINS). The flip side of this is that the new group of senators have less influence with their GOP colleagues.
— But this is not really about the Republicans in the group. It’s about two of the Democrats in it: JOE MANCHIN (W.Va.) and KYRSTEN SINEMA (Ariz.). There was no way Biden could go to them and explain he’s exhausted his bipartisan options without a real effort at negotiating with the very group they’re in.
— There are some internal tensions within this bipartisan group of 10 senators. Tuesday evening was the first time Manchin was present at one of the group’s meetings, and that fact was noted by his colleagues in the room. Portman has been the GOP workhorse of the group, and there was some head-scratching as to why Biden called Cassidy on Tuesday.
— The best explanation is that Cassidy has been engaged with Rep. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-N.J.) on a plan, and Gottheimer has been keeping the White House apprised of those talks. On Monday night, Gottheimer talked to White House aides BRIAN DEESE and LOUISA TERRELL. Late Tuesday night, Gottheimer’s House group, the Problem Solvers Caucus, which consists of 29 Democrats and 29 Republicans, unveiled its own proposal: $762 billion in new spending over eight years, though the pay-fors are not yet specified. We’re told the Cassidy group’s Senate plan will be “in the same ballpark.”
— A big reconciliation bill is happening no matter what. Both Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) and Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER made that clear Tuesday. The only question is whether a bipartisan infrastructure bill precedes it.
Good Wednesday morning, and thanks for reading Playbook. On Tuesday night, the White House press corps waited for five hours at Dulles airport after their first charter plane was seized by … cicadas. The AP’s Jonathan Lemire tweeted about the cicada strike, and our ANITA KUMAR reached out around midnight to say they were still waiting for a new plane and a new pilot to take them to the U.K. for Biden’s first foreign trip. Is it time to officially call this the Cicada Plague of 2021? Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza, Tara Palmeri.
TESTING A TRUMPIAN FANTASY — Last week it was reported that former President DONALD TRUMP believeshe’ll be reinstated as president after it’s proven that Biden cheated in the election. And lo and behold, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, three out of 10 Republican voters think that it’s going to happen, too.
The vast majority of Americans dismiss the Trumpian fantasy: 84% of Democrats, 70% of independents and 61% of Republicans. Yet a third of Republicans isn’t nothing: While Trump hasn’t said publicly he thinks he’ll be reinstated, the poll is another reflection of the grip he has on the GOP base. Speaking of which, 59% of GOP voters polled think Trump should play a major role in the party going forward. Toplines… Crosstabs
INFLATION WATCH — Former President HARRY TRUMAN once asked for a one-handed economist because he was sick of them answering his questions by saying, “on the one hand … but on the other.” The issue of how seriously to take inflation risks, which has recently become a major partisan issue, has divided the field in a way that would have infuriated Truman.
A new survey released Tuesday by the Initiative on Global Markets at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business asked its panel of 43 top economists for their views on the following statement: “The current combination of U.S. fiscal and monetary policy poses a serious risk of prolonged higher inflation.”
On the one hand 26% of the panel agreed, but on the other 21% of them disagreed. The biggest group (40%) was uncertain.
BIDEN’S WEDNESDAY:
— 8:10 a.m.: The president and first lady JILL BIDEN will depart the White House en route to the U.K.
— 8 p.m. British Summer Time: The Bidens will arrive at Royal Air Force Mildenhall.
— 8:45 p.m.: The president and first lady will deliver remarks to U.S. Air Force personnel and their families stationed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall.
— 9:30 p.m.: They will depart Royal Air Force Mildenhall en route to Cornwall Airport Newquay, where they are scheduled to arrive at 10:55 p.m. BST.
— 11:20 p.m.: The Bidens will depart for St. Ives, Cornwall, where they are scheduled to arrive at 11:40 p.m. BST.
THE HOUSE is out. Acting OMB Director SHALANDA YOUNG will testify before the Budget Committee at 11 a.m. and an Appropriations subcommittee at 3 p.m. Labor Secretary MARTY WALSH will testify before the Education and Labor Committee at noon. Colonial Pipeline CEO JOSEPH BLOUNT will testify before the Homeland Security Committee at noon.
THE SENATE is in. A.G. MERRICK GARLAND will testify before an Appropriations subcommittee at 2 p.m.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The first lady’s office is putting out her G-7 schedule today, including stops separate from the president that focus largely on military veterans:
— Jill Biden will meet with CARRIE JOHNSON on Thursday over tea and tour St. Michael’s Mount off the coast of Cornwall.
— On Friday and Saturday,she’ll participate in G-7 welcome events and the program for G-7 spouses.
— The first lady will meet Saturday with volunteers with Bude Surf Veterans, which helps British veterans heal through surfing.
— The Bidens will head to Windsor Castle on Sunday to meet with the queen. Then Jill Biden will meet with British veterans who took part in the 2018 expedition Walk of America.
PLAYBOOK READS
POLITICS ROUNDUP
VIRGINIA PRIMARY RESULTS — “McAuliffe wins big in Virginia,” by Zach Montellaro and Nick Niedzwiadek: “TERRY MCAULIFFE’S comeback bid aced its first test Tuesday, as the former Virginia governor cruised to victory in the state’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. He easily defeated his two main rivals, former state Del. JENNIFER CARROLL FOY and state Sen. JENNIFER MCCLELLAN, capturing about 60 percent of the vote in a five-candidate race in which he was the wire-to-wire favorite since entering last December.”
ALL ABOUT ADAMS — “Burning the midnight oil: Eric Adams’ mysterious whereabouts off the campaign trail,” by Sally Goldenberg and Joe Anuta: “The mayoral hopeful has been staying overnight and keeping late-night and early-morning hours in the government building where he and his staff work, according to POLITICO’s recent observations and those from several rival campaigns. When he is not laying his head in the taxpayer-owned building, the borough president has provided conflicting information on official documents about where he resides.
“Adams is leading the pack of Democratic candidates to become New York City’s next mayor, riding a wave of concern about crime that is bolstered by his 22-year career with the NYPD. Now as borough president, an examination of his government and political activity reveals blurred lines between the two, as well as a confusing account of his residential status for someone seeking one of the most visible jobs in the country.”
ARIZONA SENATE RACE HEATING UP —“Michael McGuire enters Arizona’s GOP US Senate primary race; hopes to challenge Sen. Mark Kelly,” by the Arizona Republic’s Yvonne Wingett Sanchez: “MICHAEL ‘MICK’ MCGUIRE, the retired adjutant general of the Arizona National Guard who was a familiar presence in televised briefings during the pandemic, formally began a U.S. Senate campaign Tuesday, hoping to challenge Sen. MARK KELLY.
“His long-expected entry to the race adds a measure of competition to the GOP field in a closely watched contest that could help decide the Senate’s majority. At least two more high-profile candidates are expected to step into the race.”
THE WHITE HOUSE
VACCINE DIPLOMACY — “Biden’s global vaccine strategy draws scrutiny ahead of G-7 pandemic talks,”by WaPo’s Dan Diamond and Emily Rauhala: “Biden’s surprise push to temporarily waive patent protections for coronavirus vaccines to bolster production in the developing worldcreated new tensions with the European Union, which criticized the idea as wrongheaded andinadequate because it would not boost vaccine production for months or even years. …
“Biden also is seeking to renew alliances damaged by President Donald Trump, with health experts lamenting that opportunities to address the global crisis were lost amid his predecessor’s clashes with the World Health Organization. And some health, diplomatic and global aid experts inside the Biden administration continue to voice frustrations that the U.S. strategy remains piecemeal compared with more-comprehensive proposals from global aid groups.”
WARINESS HAS REMAINED — “Not a love story: Biden has long been wary of Russia’s Putin,”by Nahal Toosi: “Biden will see [Russian President VLADIMIR] PUTIN after holding multiple summits with America’s European allies. ‘We are standing united to address Russia’s challenges to European security, starting with its aggression in Ukraine,’ Biden wrote in a weekend column in The Washington Post. ‘And there will be no doubt about the resolve of the United States to defend our democratic values, which we cannot separate from our interests.’
“One thing is unlikely to have changed since [former President GEORGE W.] BUSH met with the Russian leader back in 2001: Biden still does not trust Putin.”
PRESS CONFERENCE CRASHER — During a press conference in Mexico, VP KAMALA HARRIS took a question from a reporter who said it was an “honor” to ask a question and added, “I voted for you.” But it turns out the love fest was too good to be true. The reporter, who was identified as a correspondent for UniNoticias, does not actually work for the network. Univision Noticias President DANIEL CORONELL tweeted: “In Mexico an individual which has no association with @Univision claimed to be a reporter for @UniNoticias in order to ask the @VP a question and to compliment @KamalaHarris. Let it be clear to everyone that Ms. MARIA FERNANDA REYES is not part of this media organization.” The veep’s spokesperson SYMONE SANDERStweeted back that they were looking into it.
SWITCHING TEAMS — “Trump Impeachment Lawyers Are Now Representing Capitol Riot Defendants,” by NPR’s Tom Dreisbach: “Attorneys MICHAEL VAN DER VEEN and BRUCE CASTOR defended Trump at his Senate impeachment trial over allegedly inciting the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection. Even as van der Veen, Castor and the Trump defense team called the impeachment ‘political theater’ and ultimately secured Trump’s acquittal, they condemned the rioters for bringing ‘unprecedented havoc, mayhem and death’ to the Capitol. They argued in a legal brief that the rioters’ actions deserve ‘robust and swift investigation and prosecution.’
“Now, van der Veen and Castor find themselves on the other side of those prosecutions, defending at least three people charged in connection with the Capitol breach.”
MEDIAWATCH
THE MOST STRESSFUL JOB INTERVIEW EVER — We hear Amazon founder JEFF BEZOS, the owner of WaPo and a newcomer to town, played an integral role in the publication’s recent search for a new editor. Several sources said that while publisher FRED RYAN made the ultimate call to go with AP’s SALLY BUZBEE, Bezos interviewed candidates and had input as well, even hosting dinners or other meals with the finalists at his D.C. mansion. Candidates were invited to bring their spouses; Bezos, a recent divorcee, brought his girlfriend, LAUREN SANCHEZ, a former TV host.
WaPo declined to comment.
ON THE RISE — Morning Consult, the D.C. data and polling company that partners with POLITICO on political polls, reported Tuesday achieving “unicorn” status with a valuation of $1 billion. Read the press release here
TRUMP CARDS
KNIFE FIGHT —“The top Trump political fundraiser who helped plan his January 6 rally is out of Trumpworld,”by Insider’s Tom LoBianco: “Former President Donald Trump’s post-election political team has fired one of its top fundraisers who played a key role in organizing the January 6 ‘Save America Rally’ that preceded Trump supporters’ attack on the US Capitol, Republican strategists and Trump advisors told Insider.
“The Trump-approved group America Alliance fired veteran fundraiser CAROLINE WREN at the end of last month, according to the Trump advisors. Other Trump fundraising groups sent cease-and-desist letters to Wren demanding she not cite Trump in her own efforts to recruit high-dollar donors, they said.”
PLAYBOOKERS
LET THEM WEAR PRADA — “New Yorker Employees Stage Protest Outside Anna Wintour’s Townhouse,” NYT: “On Tuesday evening, the employees marched from the campus of New York University to the nearby Greenwich Village home of Anna Wintour, the fashion icon, magazine editor, publishing executive and Manhattan power player who has become a symbol of Condé Nast, the corporate home of The New Yorker.
“‘Bosses wear Prada, workers get nada!’ they chanted.”
ALSO, PIGS FLEW — “New York Times Publishes Then Deletes Article Claiming Watermelons Were Found on Mars,”Futurism: Well it turns out the lede — “The FBI declined to comment onreports (sic) of watermelons raining down, but confirmed that kiwis have been intercepted. This story is terribly boring” — and the byline, Joe Schmoe, were fake. But the mock article used for testing the website temporarily stopped the internet. Watermelons on Mars? Say it’s true!
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The fourth season of “Fiasco,” Leon Neyfakh’s popular podcast series, will tackle Benghazi and debut on June 17. We have an exclusive preview of the show’s three-minute trailer. Neyfakh, who also co-created the “Slow Burn” franchise, spent nearly a year immersed in reporting on the events that led to the tragedy in Libya and the convoluted aftermath. People told him he was a “masochist” for wanting to revisit this chapter of American scandal politics. Like all of Neyfakh’s recent podcasts, Benghazi aims to retell an episode from recent history to illuminate what’s happening today. He notes that Benghazi often brings to mind “conspiracy theory,” “bad-faith political warfare” and “bullshit,” so it sounds like an apt subject.
ROCKIN’ IN THE SEMI-FREE WORLD — “Antony Blinken’s Rock & Roll Heart,”by Rolling Stone’s David Browne: “It turns out he could play guitar reasonably well, wrote record reviews during his college days, and had penned his own songs (even making indie recordings of some of them, available on streaming services).
“Shortly before the latest flare-up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Blinken agreed to talk with Rolling Stone about his rock & roll jones. That crisis and other pressing issues delayed the conversation, but last week, Blinken finally found time to talk. ‘I tell you, it’s a pleasure to do,’ he says about carving out time for such an unusual conversation. ‘And it’s a nice change of pace from, say, Middle East peace.’”
GIRL TALK: Engage founder Rachel Pearson and First Five Years Fund Executive Director Sarah Rittling are hosting an Instagram Live on Thursday at 11 a.m. @EngageForWomen on “pre-K and childcare and the commonsense policy options on the table for women.”
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — STEFANIK BUILDS OUT HER NEW OPERATION: Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) is adding a slate of new hires to her House GOP Conference staff and political operation. Alex DeGrasse will be executive director for Team Elise and previously was a senior adviser for Stefanik. Cara Mason will be finance director for Team Elise and previously was RNC and Trump Victory finance director.
For the House Republican Conference: Stefanik’s longtime COS Patrick Hester will continue in that role and be chief for her leadership office; Ali Pardo, a Trump campaign alum, will move from campaign comms to comms director for the entire GOP Conference; Jake Vreeburg will be policy director and previously was deputy executive secretary for the NSC in the Trump White House; Courtney Butcher will be director of member services and previously was director of member services for the House Education and Labor Committee; Francis Brennan will be director of rapid response and previously was comms director for Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) and is a Trump campaign alum; and Houston Holdren will be director of operations and previously was director of scheduling and operations for Stefanik.
— Sally Aman and Teresa Chaurand are joining GPS Impact. Aman will be chief comms officer and previously was SVP of comms and public affairs at USTelecom and is an Al Gore alum. Chaurand will be principal and senior adviser and most recently was a volunteer on the Biden-Harris transition team and is currently working to advance representation of Latinos in the Biden administration.
TRANSITIONS — Gabrielle D’Adamo Singer is now a senior manager for cyber policy at Accenture North America government relations. She previously was staff director for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. … Ian Brekke is now a partner at Nichols Liu. He previously was acting general counsel at DHS. … Richard Carbo is joining S-3 Group as VP of comms. He previously was deputy chief of staff and campaign manager to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, and spent seven years on Capitol Hill. …
… Sally Chen is now a press assistant for the New Democrat Coalition. She previously worked for Rep. Madeleine Dean’s (D-Pa.) congressional office and campaign. … Alex Perkins and Victoria Flood are joining Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas as principals. Perkins previously was senior manager of international government affairs and stakeholder outreach at Stellantis NV. Flood previously was a senior policy adviser for Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).
BIRTHWEEK (was Monday): Amazon Web Services’ Kaitlin Kirshner
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) … Axios’ Margaret Talev … Liz Mair … Marvin Kalb (91) … Ray Salazar of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office … Zac Petkanas of Petkanas Strategies … Lori Lodes of Climate Power … Joe Curl … Candi Wolff of Citi … POLITICO’s Susannah Luthi … Newsweek’s Ramsen Shamon … Dante Atkins … Department of Energy’s Charisma Troiano … Yonathan Teclu of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) office (25) … Arkansas A.G. Leslie Rutledge … Jess O’Connell of NEWCO Strategies … Jeff Solnet of Precision Strategies … Vicki Shabo … Ken Adelman … Delve’s Jeff Berkowitz … Deloitte’s Alyson Chwatek … Ashley Lowerre of Opn Sesame … Google’s Ria Bailey-Galvis … Laura Matthews … Alexandra Toma … Anne Venzor … former Rep. Kendra Horn (D-Okla.) … Betsy Mullins … Ashley Bahnken
Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross.
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it,” (1 Corinthians 10:13, ESV).
Victoria Sinclair: We should all consider the power social media giants like Facebook have over our lives and the very content that we as a society discuss.
So there stands Joey Biden, so old and white that it appears his skin will crack if he moves too quickly, lecturing white Americans, as he squints at the teleprompter, for their skin color and their alleged attitude of superiority and privilege, while Joey himself is practicing privilege simply by …
With two weeks left until election day, Eric Adams is leading against the other candidates in the New York City mayoral race. A new NY1/Ipsos poll released Tuesday shows Adams besting his Democratic primary opponents in the new ranked-choice voting system, with early voting set to begin Saturday. In a …
Summary: President Joe Biden will travel to the United Kingdom on Wednesday in preparation for the G7 meeting being held from the 11th to the 13th. President Biden’s Itinerary for 6/9/21: All Times EDT 8:10 AM Depart White House en route to the United Kingdom All Times EDT // Local …
The Senate passed a bill intended to bolster America’s manufacturing and technological edge against China, advancing it with bipartisan support after earlier Republican objections to certain provisions stalled it for over a week. The legislation, dubbed the United States Competition and Investment Act, would inject $250 billion towards chip manufacturing, …
A Virginia judge ruled Tuesday that a public school teacher must be reinstated after he was placed on administrative leave for refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns, according to court documents. Tanner Cross, a physical education instructor at Leesburg Elementary School in Loudoun County, Virginia, was suspended after he …
Ohio’s attorney general filed a lawsuit Tuesday asking for a court declaration classifying tech giant Google as a public utility. The state’s attorney general, Dave Yost, argued Google’s size, complexity, and market dominance made the tech company a public utility or common carrier, similar to a railroad or electric company. …
So just what is it about this guy that drew millions upon millions of Americans to vote for him and who continues to support him? Well, it started when he announced his candidacy for President, and for the first time in our history, a candidate spoke of the swamp, the …
Emails, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, from Dr. Fraud, otherwise known as Anthony Fauci who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), were recently released. The emails purport to “expose” Dr. Fraud of indeed being a fraud, from face masks to …
Most of the time celebrities wade into political terrain these days, all they offer is cheap virtue-signaling or preening condescension. So it’s nice to see a Grammy-winning artist putting his money where his mouth is—and actually taking action to help children failed by the public school system. Popstar Pharrell Williams, …
The trial for a professor accused of concealing his relationship with China while receiving federal grant funding began Monday, the first following a slew of arrests of researchers and professors with ties to China. University of Tennessee associate professor Anming Hu, a Chinese native and naturalized Canadian citizen, plead not …
Progressives are openly criticizing West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Vice President Kamala Harris, blasting their stances on Democrats’ sweeping voting rights bill and the southern border respectively and highlighting deep divisions within the party. Manchin, a frequent target of his party’s progressive wing, found himself in its sights …
The Virginia Supreme Court will hear legal challenges Tuesday from fellow Virginians regarding Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s plan to take down the statue of Robert E. Lee. “Instead of choosing to heal the wounds of the American civil war, they [previous Virginian politicians] chose to keep them on display. They …
In response to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken signaling the U.S. will start to build a “framework” with Taiwan to establish trade relations, a Chinese Embassy spokesperson has demanded communications cease. “Stop all forms of official exchanges and contacts with Taiwan, stop elevating its relationship with the Taiwan region in …
Kamala Harris is in Guatemala this week to solve all of their social issues. Solving the core issues of the Northern Triangle countries is Biden’s solution to the flow of illegals across the Mexico / US Border. Her trip south is a perfect metaphor for her Vice Presidency. Shortly after …
An international drug sting operation resulted in more than 800 arrests and 32 tons of drugs seized, the FBI and other top law enforcement agencies announced Tuesday. The sting, titled Operation Trojan Shield, dates back to 2019 when the FBI and Australian Federal Police covertly developed the encrypted device company …
Tonya Smith and her husband, Dimitrios Patlias, went to a casino in Maryland a few years ago and struck luck. They took their winnings and headed for dinner at another casino in West Virginia, but they never made it. On their ride over, they were stopped by police and forced …
Vice President Kamala Harris reportedly gave out cookies resembling herself to people aboard Air Force Two on D-Day before arriving in Guatemala where she was heckled by protestors. Harris reportedly handed out cookies depicting her official White House portrait and Air Force Two to members of the press before protesters …
Press Secretary Jen Psaki, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Sameera Fazili, and Senior Director for International Economics and Competitiveness Peter Harrell hold a briefing Tuesday. The briefing is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. EDT. Content created by Conservative Daily News is available for re-publication without charge under the Creative …
Happy Wednesday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. I bet most serial killers are drawn to canneries.
Sure, we fought that war all those years ago to break free from the clutches of British royalty, but we’ve never completely shaken off the vibe. Just look at how many people here are obsessed with Prince Harry, his wife the Duchess of Sussudio, and their new baby daughter Niblet. I believe they have a son, too, the Grand Mage of Riverdale or something.
We also have a tendency to revere some of our politicians and their families a little too much for a representative republic. The most recent examples of that would be the Obamas and the Bidens.
The presidential family that occupied the White House in between those two didn’t fare so well with the media, obviously.
Every member of President Trump’s immediate family — even his young son — suffered unfair scrutiny from the mainstream media. They were routinely savaged for anything they did, even though most of it was benign.
The current occupier of the Oval Office has a straight-up sleazebag of a son running around out there whom the press keeps ignoring. The Democratic propagandists masquerading as journalists must all be suffering a host of orthopedic ills from turning so forcefully away from each new Hunter Biden exhibit of scumbaggery.
Hunter Biden is bad news all around. We’ve heard the stories, but only because the internet is forever and conservatives do occupy some of the media landscape here in the 21st century. He hooked up with his brother’s widow, then fooled around on her with her married sister. He also fathered a child out of wedlock and then tried to abandon his responsibility to the child. He’s got shady business dealings all over the globe, some of which the Justice Dept. has investigated.
The list goes on, but this isn’t a Lifetime movie script.
The latest Hunter Biden bombshell showed up yesterday — not in the U.S., but in the British press — and Matt wrote about it:
Hunter Biden used the n-word several times in text message conversations with his lawyer, according to the Daily Mail, which has reviewed the text messages that were discovered on his laptop.
The shocking text messages come in the wake of Joe Biden’s speech on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre, during which he vowed to end systemic racism.
According to the report, Hunter “joked in a January 2019 text to corporate attorney George Mesires about a ‘big penis’, and said to the lawyer: ‘I only love you because you’re black’ and ‘true dat n***a’.”
George Mesires, Hunter’s lawyer, is white.
In another text, Hunter tells Mesires, “how much money do I owe you. Becaause (sic) n***a you better not be charging me Hennessy rates.”
“That made me snarf my coffee,” Mesires replied.
“That’s what im saying ni…” Hunter responded, leaving the racial slur only partially written.
After that, Hunter texted a photo to Mesires, which was not described by the Daily Mail.
“Why are you so tan?”
“I’m sorry for sexting you accidentally that was meant for another friend named Georgia,” Hunter replied.
More accomplished people than Hunter Biden have had their lives ruined by the cancel crowd over much smaller transgressions, but he seems to have been granted a lifelong immunity pass.
I’m not so sure I agree with that, given what he’s already gotten a free pass on.
As soon as this news hit, this was the prevailing sentiment on the conservative side of things:
Yes, just imagine.
Donald Trump Jr. was routinely raked over the coals by the mainstream media because he would tweet things that offended the delicate sensibilities of the rabidly biased liberal journalists in America. He was not, however, talking about his junk or raining n-bombs down everywhere. Let’s be honest here — if Don Jr. had been the one caught doing what Hunter Biden did here we’d all be going deaf from the liberal shrieking.
Once again, the double standard is galling. The Bidens are not good people and the members of the American mainstream media are even worse for constantly pretending that they are.
Joe Biden’s “public servant” gig has made him extremely wealthy and Hunter’s only skill seems to be sucking at the teat of his father’s taxpayer-funded bounty.
PJ Media senior columnist and associate editor Stephen Kruiser is a professional stand-up comic, writer, and recovering political activist who edits and writes PJ’s Morning Briefing, aka The Greatest Political Newsletter in America. His latest book, Straight Outta Feelings, is a humorous exploration of how the 2016 election made him enjoy politics more than he ever had before. When not being a reclusive writer, Kruiser has had the honor of entertaining U.S. troops all over the world. Follow on: Gab, Parler, MeWe
The Single Best Thing Americans Can Do to Retake America . . . The most frequent question people pose to me is: What can I/we do to fight back against the nihilistic anti-American destruction of virtually all the country’s major institutions? There is an answer. The single best thing Americans can do to counter the left-wing attack on America—against its freedoms, its schools, its families, its children, its governmental institutions, its sports, its news and entertainment media, its medical establishment, the CIA, the FBI, the State Department, and the military—is to take their children out of America’s schools.
The vast majority of America’s elementary schools, high schools, colleges, and universities teach your child or grandchild race-centered hatred of whites, of America, and of America’s values. The schools prematurely sexualize your children, thereby robbing them of their innocence; and harm them intellectually and morally. In many elementary schools, your child is taught that gender is chosen and that there is no difference between boys and girls (in a growing number of schools, the teachers are told not to call their students “boys and girls”); they are taught about masturbation; and many children from first grade on attend “Drag Queen Story Hour,” wherein an obvious man wearing women’s clothing, garish makeup, and a wig entertains them. Given that all this is well-known, why do any non-left—meaning, liberal or conservative—parents send their children to an American school?
Patents cannot necessarily even rely on Christian or Jewish schools. Most of them are as “woke” as most secular schools. And if they do find a school that teaches rather than poisons, they may not be able to afford the tuition. The only other option, then, is to homeschool one’s child. Daily Signal
Love Dennis Prager. Sensible suggestion. In practice, how do we do this? It is a daunting task, especially for mothers — I assume this important task will fall on us, the “birthing persons,” ;-)) — who love their outside-of-home jobs and want to pursue meaningful professional careers. If you have specific viable recommendations, I am all ears.
Politics
More than 17,000 unaccompanied migrant children held in the US . . . More than 17,000 migrant children who have been sent alone by their parents to the United States are being kept in U.S. government facilities, according to NBC. “The surge has been nonstop,” says correspondent Gabe Gutierrez. “Some families taking a drastic step, choosing to separate, sending their children alone over the border, because they know the Biden administration will let them stay.” Below is the horrifying report from the border, by a liberal mainstream outlet, that would have provoked outrage on the left had this still been the Trump administration. But it would not have happened under Donald Trump, because his tough-love policies kept people from taking these steps and creating the nightmarish crisis we now have. White House Dossier
Meantime, shortly, Joe will be gallivanting Europe, to hold meaningless meetings with Putin, expressing his concerns about other countries’ sovereignty and human rights abuses.
Biden Heads to Europe to Restore Alliances and Counter Autocracy’s Rise . . . On his first foreign trip, President Biden will seek to rally European partners and other democratic nations against what he views as a threatening rise in authoritarianism. One of Biden’s chief tasks in the coming days in Europe will be advocating for the primacy of the U.S.-led western liberal order that has been in place since World War II. On his eight-day trip, Mr. Biden will meet with the bulwarks of that order, the Group of Seven nations, the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization defense alliance. The meetings come as the Chinese government seeks to extend its sphere of influence and eclipse the U.S. as the world’s most powerful nation. “We’re in a battle between democracies and autocracies,” Mr. Biden said last month during an address to troops at a military base in Hampton, Va. Wall Street Journal
How about fighting a budding autocracy, totalitarian socialism, and ever-expanding government control of citizens here at home, in America?
Biden ends talks on spending with Republicans after GOP refuses his tax plans . . . According to the Wall Street Journal, President Biden is proposing the biggest tax increase since the late 1960s. He abandoned bipartisan infrastructure talks with Senate Republicans on Tuesday over the party’s unwillingness to compromise on raising taxes. The White House said Mr. Biden decided to jettison talks because Republicans were not ready to “meet the essential needs of our country to restore our roads and bridges, prepare us for our clean energy future, and create jobs.”
Republicans blamed the president for not backing off on his plan to raise taxes. White House Dossier
Dems Fight for Taxpayer Funding for Abortion . . . Democratic lawmakers are scrambling to overturn long-standing protections against taxpayer funding for abortion. Congressional Democrats on Tuesday reintroduced the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would significantly limit the ability of states to pass pro-life reforms. The act aims to create safeguards around access to abortion in states that have passed laws restricting or outright banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected or after a certain number of weeks in a pregnancy. The legislation comes as Democratic senators push more taxpayer funding into federal grant programs and family planning programs that funnel tens of millions of dollars to organizations such as Planned Parenthood. Washington Free Beacon
Tlaib, Democrats slam GOP calls for border oversight to fight opioid crisis . . . Rep. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and other Democrats on Tuesday slammed Republicans’ calls for oversight of the southern border in order to fight the opioid crisis. During a hearing on the Sackler family’s role in the epidemic, several Republicans on the House Oversight and Reform Committee called attention to concerns that drug trafficking at the U.S.-Mexico border is contributing to the opioid crisis and and fentanyl trafficking in the country. The Hill
Scottsdale residents furious as Biden admin converts hotel into ICE detention center . . . Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Scottsdale, Arizona residents are furious over the Biden administration converting a local hotel into an ICE detention center that will house hundreds of illegal immigrants. Brnovich castigated federal government leaders over the move that positions the facility near schools and a senior living facility. Two hundred angry residents protested Saturday against the development and no public input was requested. The Scottsdale Police Department didn’t even get a say in the matter and were only notified of the decision the day before migrants were transferred. “The President is using Arizona as an experiment with his reckless border policies,” the attorney general previously said. Business & Politics Review
“Yes, I will.” Harris caves and says she will visit the border . . . Now that she has solved the problem of corruption in Latin America, she’s ready to visit the border. Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday said she will visit the U.S.-Mexico border but did not say when, as she completed a two-day trip to Guatemala and Mexico. “Yes, I will and I have before,” Harris in response to a question about whether she would visit the border. White House Dossier
Kamala Harris Was Chosen ‘Due To Her Gender And Skin Color’: Leo Terrell . . . Fox News contributor Leo Terrell stated that he believes Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris as his Vice President due to her gender and skin color in a tweet Tuesday night. The tweet was in response to an on-air disagreement between Fox News contributors Katie Pavlich and Geraldo Rivera on Fox News’ “The Five,” in which Pavlich suggested President Biden chose Harris as his Vice President based solely on her gender and skin color. Daily Caller
Hunter Biden Facilitated Deal for Democratic Consultants Now Under Federal Investigation . . . Emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop show he was instrumental in setting up a consulting deal between a Ukrainian energy company and two Democratic consultants under investigation for violating foreign lobbying laws.
Biden and colleagues at the private equity firm Rosemont Seneca helped Burisma Holdings hire Blue Star Strategies, a firm owned by former Clinton administration officials. Biden’s emails show he played a bigger role than anyone had known in arranging Blue Star’s consulting work for Burisma. Neither Biden nor the Blue Star founders registered their work under the Lobbying Disclosure Act or the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Biden’s work as a middleman could also explain why federal prosecutors began scrutinizing Blue Star’s work for Burisma. Washington Free Beacon
National Security
IRS Leak Reveals ‘Thousands’ of Wealthy Americans’ Confidential Tax Data . . . As the Biden administration works to double the size of the IRS and institute new income reporting requirements, an apparent internal leak revealed the confidential tax data of some of the wealthiest Americans. The data—published Tuesday by ProPublica—covers more than 15 years of tax returns filed by “thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people.”cThe leak comes as the Biden administration pushes to hire nearly 87,000 new IRS staffers through an $80 billion budget increase. Washington Free Beacon
Shocking.
Someone leaked the IRS tax information of individuals to serve the left’s agenda . . . ProPublica, a website whose journalism promotes progressive causes, published information from what it said are 15 years of the tax returns of Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett and other rich Americans. Leaking such information is a crime, since under federal law tax returns are confidential. ProPublica says it received the files from “an anonymous source” and doesn’t know who provided them, how they were obtained, or what the source’s motives are. Allow us to fill in that last blank. The story arrives amid the Biden Administration’s effort to pass the largest tax increase as a share of the economy since 1968. The main Democratic argument for a tax hike is that the rich should pay their “fair share.” The ProPublica story is a long argument that somehow the rich don’t pay enough. The timing here is no coincidence, comrade. Opinion.Wall Street Journal
The leftists have weaponized practically every government institution to force their destructive agenda on America.
Meat supply at risk? After two major disruptions in a year, industry confronts vulnerabilities . . . The recent cyberattack on massive meat processing conglomerate JBS has highlighted, for the second time over the past year, the vulnerabilities of the heavily centralized and concentrated slaughterhouse industry in the U.S. and across the world. Meatpacking in the U.S. is largely controlled by just four megafirms: JBS, Cargill, Tyson, and National Beef. That kind of massive consolidation, although not foreign to other industries, poses significant risk by increasing the vulnerability of the meat processing industry to cyberattacks, in a world where cyberterrorists are growing increasingly refined and exacting. Just the News?
Gov. DeSantis seeks to shield Florida’s universities from Chinese espionage, theft . . . Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Tuesday to protect higher education institutions in the state from espionage and intellectual property theft carried out by China’s Communist Party. Known as HB 7017, the bill requires more transparency and disclosure from scientists, technicians and administrators on foreign support for postsecondary institutions. It also increases scrutiny for research grants. “Make no mistake — China is a hostile foreign power, and every Governor has the responsibility to protect their education system, and every other entity within their purview, from the espionage and commercial theft undertaken by the Chinese Communist Party,” DeSantis said in a statement. Fox Business
Former Trump aides want Beijing punished for pandemic . . .
China‘s government is continuing to stonewall the international community by hiding details and information related to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by a group of former Trump administration officials. In response, the ex-officials are urging that sanctions be imposed on China and say Congress should pass legislation to punish Beijing for mishandling the COVID-19 outbreak that has caused more than 3 million deaths and ravaged the global economy. “Whether one believes COVID-19 originated in a zoonotic host, a bat cave, a frozen food shipment, or a Wuhan lab’s dangerous ‘dual-use’ research supporting undeclared bioweapons programs, the world needs answers from the Chinese Communist Party,” the former officials said in a report published this week by the Hudson Institute, a think tank. Washington Times
To deter future COVID-like global crises, discharged by foreign adversaries, whether through negligence or by intentional bioweapons “leaks,” China must be punished. Severely.
International
Iran “a matter of weeks” from nuclear breakout: Blinken . . . US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Iran has given no indication of returning to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal and is meanwhile “galloping forward” with its nuclear program. “In some cases, enrichment is up to 20pc and even a small amount to 60pc.” with more advanced centrifuges. “If this goes on, [breakout] will get down to a matter of weeks.,” Secretary Blinken warned in a wide-ranging hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. DEBKAfile
Coronavirus
U.S. Report Found It Plausible Covid-19 Leaked From Wuhan Lab . . . A report on the origins of Covid-19 by a U.S. government national laboratory concluded that the hypothesis claiming the virus leaked from a Chinese lab in Wuhan is plausible and deserves further investigation, according to people familiar with the classified document. The study was prepared in May 2020 by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and was drawn on by the State Department when it conducted an inquiry into the pandemic’s origins during the final months of the Trump administration. Wall Street Journal
Lindsey Graham: Skeptics of Wuhan lab leak theory ‘were covering their ass’ . . . A February 2020 statement signed by more than two dozen scientists that claimed the coronavirus naturally jumped from humans to animals was “orchestrated” to hurt then-President Donald Trump politically, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) charged Tuesday night. “This is the Russia dossier all over again,” Graham told Fox News’ “Hannity.” “This stinks to high heaven. This is lab-gate, China-gate, call it whatever you want to call it.” Graham was referring to a message published in the British medical journal The Lancet that dismissed the theory that the virus accidentally leaked out of a virology lab in Wuhan, China, calling it a conspiracy theory. New York Post
Ah, those scientists and “experts,” again.
Money
Biden’s budget would turn America into a pizza dough republic . . . The president is borrowing to buy off a restive left with social programs. Joe Biden ran on a platform to Build Back Better — strengthen the economy and apply the dividend to social justice and equity issues — but it seems he’s given up on making America more competitive and adopted the Italian playbook — borrowing to buy off a restive left with social programs. The Biden budget would boost government spending by about one-third but by its own admission and slow economic growth. The president wants to spend generously on infrastructure, industrial policies and education, but his social agenda would worsen the inefficiencies imposed by unions and burdensome regulation. Analysis.Washington Times
You should also know
Justice Department Unveils Proposed Gun Restriction Rule . . . The Department of Justice (DOJ) unveiled on June 7 a proposed rule that would apply regulations for rifles to pistols equipped with certain stabilizing braces. The rule states that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives should determine on a case-by-case basis whether a particular gun, when configured with a stabilizing brace, “bears the objective features of a firearm designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder and is thus subject to the NFA [National Firearms Act].” “The use of a purported ‘stabilizing brace’ cannot be a tool to circumvent the NFA (or the GCA) and the prohibition on the unregistered possession of ‘short-barreled rifles,’” the proposed rule states, with GCA serving as an acronym for the Gun Control Act of 1968. Stabilizing braces are used to bolster the stability and accuracy of guns. Epoch Times
Teacher Quits, Blasts Prep School For ‘Damaging’ Students With CRT Ideology . . . A high school English teacher at an elite Englewood, New Jersey, prep school submitted her resignation letter on Tuesday in response to the school’s embrace of critical race theory. In her resignation letter, submitted to the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR), Dana Stangel-Plowe slammed the Dwight-Englewood School for engaging in activities such as segregating light skinned teachers by putting them in a “white caucus” group and threatening to replace white faculty members with people of color. Critical race theory holds that America is fundamentally racist. Daily Caller
Guilty Pleasures
Harry And Meghan Announce Birth Of Beautiful ‘Half-Oppressed, Half-Privileged Baby’ . . . Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have announced the arrival of a beautiful new baby. In the announcement, they described their new baby as “a beautiful, 7 pound, 11-ounce baby girl who is half-oppressed and half-privileged.” “Mother and baby are doing well,” said Prince Harry to reporters. “Even in these early days, we are making sure to teach our child that she carries the blood of white colonial oppressors, as well as oppressed people of color. Expert critical theorists also expressed worry that the child may grow up fighting a constant internal battle between her oppressor self and her oppressed self.
Professor Tawdro Dingletook of Yale University said, “She will never fully belong on either side. This is why we need to bring back racial segregation–to keep this kind of thing from happening.” Local non-college-educated electrician Joe Yoder disagrees. “Maybe Harry and Meghan are simply two precious human souls made in God’s image, and their baby is too, and all this ‘oppression’ stuff is nonsense.” It is unclear exactly where Mr. Yoder got his crazy ideas, but it’s probably safe to ignore them since he doesn’t have a college degree. Babylon Bee
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U.S. Central Command reported yesterday that the U.S. military has completed more than 50 percent of its withdrawal from Afghanistan ahead of President Joe Biden’s deadline of September 11. “The U.S. has officially handed over six facilities to the Afghan Ministry of Defense,” the update reads.
The Senate voted 68-32 on Tuesday to pass the $200 billion U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, which aims to bolster U.S. competitiveness with China. The measure will need to be approved by the House and President Biden to become law.
The Senate also voted on Tuesday to confirm Julien Xavier Neals and Regina Rodriguez as district court judges, 66-33 and 72-28, respectively. The pair are the first of President Biden’s federal judicial nominees to be confirmed.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told lawmakers this week the United States plans to enter into trade talks with Taiwan. The move is sure to increase tensions with the Chinese Communist Party. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said the U.S. should “stop elevating its relationship with the Taiwan region in any substantive way.”
The “delta” coronavirus variant first identified in India has driven a rise in new COVID-19 cases in the U.K., and it is also spreading—to a much lesser degree—in the United States. Two doses of an authorized mRNA COVID-19 vaccine appear to be effective against this strain.
The United States confirmed 13,062 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday per the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard, with 1.5 percent of the 855,248 tests reported coming back positive. An additional 377 deaths were attributed to the virus on Tuesday, bringing the pandemic’s American death toll to 598,323. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 16,835 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. Meanwhile, 1,071,750 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered yesterday, with 171,731,584 Americans having now received at least one dose.
Taliban On the Rise
Longtime Vital Interests readers may recall analysis from Thomas Joscelyn—prescient analysis, we might add—arguing a flawed deal with the Taliban and full American withdrawal from Afghanistan would spell disaster for the sitting Kabul government.
Writing in February 2020, Joscelyn highlighted two key features to look out for, 10 days before the Trump administration reached an agreement with Taliban representatives in Doha, Qatar. 1) An unconditional withdrawal by American and coalition forces from Afghanistan would inevitably yield swift and sweeping territorial losses by Afghan government forces. 2) As the Taliban’s holdings grow, so too does a safe haven for al-Qaeda leadership and fighters.
“The Taliban has steadfastly refused to recognize the Afghan government’s legitimacy. Instead, the Taliban consistently says it is fighting to resurrect its own ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ (IEA)—the same totalitarian regime the U.S. and its allies toppled in 2001. The Taliban-led insurgency has been acquiring rural territory and contesting security forces ever since then, but the insurgency is stronger today than ever, meaning the jihadists are positioning themselves to overthrow the Afghan government.”
“The State Department is reportedly still trying to sell Americans on the idea that the Taliban will somehow renounce al-Qaeda… The bottom line: The Taliban has lied about its partnership with al-Qaeda from the beginning, and there is no reason to believe whatever the Taliban’s negotiating team in Doha says now. The Taliban and al-Qaeda remain closely intertwined on the battlefield to this day.”
As these two warnings came to fruition amid the American and NATO troop draw-down, accelerating rapidly beginning with the U.S.’s original exit date of May 1, Joscelyn was again among the first to take note. According to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal, 17 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals and 95 of its more than 400 districts are now under Taliban control. Many others are contested and/or on the verge of falling.
With three months until the Biden administration’s withdrawal deadline of September 11 (although many analysts anticipate a full exit will come much sooner), the Taliban appears to be reverting to its time-tested strategy of occupying rural areas surrounding government-controlled urban centers before closing in. According to the Defense Intelligence Agency, the insurgent group is poised to conduct “large-scale offensives” into population centers as early as this summer.
When Colonial Pipeline announced last month it had restored full operation to its pipeline network, drivers across the east coast breathed a collective sigh of relief that the burgeoning gas shortage would soon be over. But that good news was soured somewhat when it was revealed how Colonial had been able to solve its problem: By capitulating to the ransom demands of the cybercrime group that had taken its computer systems hostage.
This week, the Justice Department announced it had managed to trace and claw back more than $2 million of the company’s $4.4 million payment—transacted in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin—to the hacking group DarkSide. (In fact, the government managed to recover 80 percent of the Bitcoin that Colonial sent. The loss in value was primarily attributable to a significant sag in the price of Bitcoin itself in the days since Colonial sent the payment.)
But the affair—along with a rash of other high-profile cyberattacks in recent months—came as a grim reminder that critical U.S. infrastructure is vulnerable to this sort of attack.
On Tuesday, Colonial Pipeline President and CEO Joseph Blount testified before a pair of congressional committees about what led to the hack and what can be done to prevent similar attacks in the future. Lawmakers were in general agreement that the security dangers of attacks like this in the future present a significant threat.
“Make no mistake: If we do not step up our cybersecurity readiness, the consequences will be severe,” Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said Tuesday.
In his latest New York Times column, Ross Douthat questions the conventional wisdom among many progressives about the possibility of a GOP coup following the 2024 elections. “Since Trump really is likely to be the Republican nominee in the next election, it’s worth taking alarmist scenarios seriously, in case next time turns out worse,” he writes. “But taking them seriously doesn’t mean treating them as some kind of certain doom.”
For The Atlantic, Emma Green sat down with former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, whose recently published book Faithful Presence addresses what he sees as an unfortunate conflation of politics and faith among Christians. “Haslam is willing to challenge his fellow Christians to be more Christ-like in the way they do politics, encouraging them to turn off Fox News and be more charitable toward their political opponents,” Green writes. “But he’s squishy about naming and blaming fellow Christian political leaders for the example they’ve set.”
For more on ransomware, check out Tuesday’s edition of The Daily, the New York Times’ weekday morning podcast. The problem, Times cybersecurity and digital espionage reporter Nicole Perlroth says, has been building for years. But it’s gone from isolated attacks holding individuals’ computers hostage to an emerging billion-dollar industry that has crippled entities in business and government.
In the latest Remnant, Jonah is joined by Jonathan Rauch, whose new book—The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth—explores our current epistemic crisis and how all Americans can defend free inquiry and objective reality.
We’re still 17 months away from November 2022, but there’s no shortage of news on the electoral politics front. Check out Sarah and Chris Stirewalt’s latest Sweep to learn about the Commonwealth of Virginia’s taxpayer-funded partisan primary system, the mapping of small-dollar donors’ 2020 contributions, the GOP’s turn toward low-propensity voters, and President Biden’s reputation as a liberal.
Members of Congress from both parties are calling for the Biden administration to conduct a mass evacuation of Afghan interpreters, others who helped U.S. forces, and their family members before American troops complete their withdrawal from the country. “Our Afghan friends and allies are at greater risk than ever before,” a bipartisan group of 21 House members wrote in a letter to Biden. They said applicants for the special visa program that allows allies to become lawful permanent citizens could be temporarily held in Guam while they are being processed. Read more in yesterday’s Uphill.
Leslie Eastman: “It is now transparently clear China does not follow the rules of shared civilization that do not suit its purposes.”
Stacey Matthews: “In completely non-political news, I was pleased to find out Tuesday that I am not the only one who is super-annoyed by iPhone’s “like/laugh/love” options for text messages, especially in the group text scenario!”
Vijeta Uniyal: “An Iranian operative, who was among the founders of the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, has died of coronavirus, the Iranian state-run media reported on Monday. Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour reportedly had a role in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut and had survived a book bombing allegedly carried out by the Israel intelligence agency Mossad in 1984.”
Legal Insurrection Foundation is a Rhode Island tax-exempt corporation established exclusively for charitable purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code to educate and inform the public on legal, historical, economic, academic, and cultural issues related to the Constitution, liberty, and world events.
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VP Harris Laughs Away Border Concerns
The Kamala laugh put in another cringeworthy appearance when the Vice President sat down for a friendly interview with NBC’s Lester Holt. When asked the entirely predictable question about whether Harris, who has been tasked with overseeing the border crisis by the President, had plans to visit U.S.-Mexico border, Harris responded “…and I haven’t been to Europe. I don’t understand the point you’re making.”
Understandably, the VP’s dismissal of mounting border concerns garnered considerable criticism from the right. More importantly, though, the Biden administration’s “root causes” talking point in response to the wave of migrants travelling to the U.S. border took a blow from none other than the President of Guatamala, Alejandro Giammatei.
“Vice President Kamala Harris claims the current crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border is largely the result of climate change and the economy. The president of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, disagrees.
In April, U.S.-Mexico border detentions reached a 21-year monthly high when over 178,000 migrants illegally crossed the border. A number of these unaccompanied minors and families who cross the U.S.-Mexico border come from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.
Giammattei argues that the region’s climate and economy aren’t the prime culprits for the unprecedented rise in illegal U.S.-Mexico border crossings, but that the Biden administration’s immigration policies are to blame.”
Manchin Shuts Down Democrat Dreams
Over the weekend, Joe Manchin reiterated his positions on the filibuster – against eliminating it – and Democratic dream voting bill HR 1 – against it – in an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail in West Virginia.
CNBC suggested that Manchin’s reluctance was due to the influence of “the Koch network,” and The Nation accused him of aiding “Jim Crow.”
May I suggest an alternative explanation? (Map from Wikipedia.)
“Joe Manchin is being pilloried for the offense of being consistent on the filibuster. Back in 2017, when Senate Democrats were desperate to stop Donald Trump’s agenda, 33 of them, including Manchin, signed a bipartisan letter backing the filibuster in ringing terms…
Manchin isn’t always as stalwart in standing up to his own party as he sounds, but he’s been remarkably firm so far. His role as a senatorial brake on Biden’s left-wing ambitions has certainly made him more popular back home, and the progressive slanders against him will only boost his political standing.
The Left will get nowhere if it tries to primary him in 2024 (assuming he decides to run again), and if he did lose to a more progressive Democrat, Republicans would easily win his seat.”
Fashion Moment of the Week
Longtime readers will know there is no one more in favor of the high heel than your humble correspondent. And after more than a year of lockdown and Zoom outfits, it appears I’m not the only one who is ready to retrain my feet in the art of the stiletto in service of a decidedly non-athleisure look.
“Ms. Monrose, a podcast marketer for Spotify, flicked the dust off her party clothes and the high-heeled lavender pumps she had been hoarding since just before lockdown.
Slipping the shoes on, she felt unsteady at first. ‘It was like a whole new role for my feet. We haven’t been here in a while,’ she said. She soon regained her bearings. ‘It’s kind of riding a bike,’ she said. ‘You get right back up.’…
Ileana Zambrano, hardly needed such a push. Prepping for dinner last week at Morandi, a popular West Village trattoria, Ms. Zambrano, who gave her age as ‘my business,’ broke out her Jimmy Choo sandals. ‘I couldn’t wait to dress up and wear them again,’ she said. ‘I don’t care if I can’t walk.’”
Three cheers for Ms. Zambrano and Ms. Monrose!
Podcast Update
My guest this week on High Noon was Spencer Klavan, of the Claremont Review of Books and The American Mind, and host of the Young Heretics classics podcast. If you’ve been reading along for a while, you’ll recognize that I often cite his articles in BRIGHT.
Spencer is a true intellectual in the highest possible sense – Latin, Greek, and ancient Hebrew, oh my – one I thought had really fallen out of style. We had a really lovely and humane conversation about the Western cannon, and how these great works of literature and philosophy bind us together, as well as how to apply some of their lessons to conundrums of modern life and politics, whether specific or eternal.
Basically, if you want to hear how God, death, and Kim Kardashian are related, find the pod at noon in all the usual places.
Wednesday Links
Hunter Biden reportedly used the n-word in text messages, forcing the left-wing media to choose between their two favorite pastimes: hunting down long-past allegations of racism and ignoring the existence of Hunter Biden. (Daily Mail)
Sen. Tom Cotton takes a victory lap on coronavirus lab leak possibility after being labeled a conspiracy theorist. (National Review)
WaPo columnist Megan McArdle raises an important red flag about how mass tax filings for corporations got leaked or hacked. (Twitter)
I gave a long interview on the state of race and e pluribus unum in America, in which I call Ibram X. Kendi a “woke Stalinist.” (Epoch Times)
If you missed Emily Jashinsky filling in on Hill TV’s Rising, this is a handy transcript of one of her best “radars” on how Hollywood got carveouts from California lockdowns and rising disgust among Americans for what seems like two sets of rules. (The Federalist)
Harsanyi: The 1619 Project comes for your guns. (National Review)
Massachusetts high school tells students to track how “systemic racism” held George Floyd back as school assignment. (The Federalist)
Cuomo’s book materials get swept into federal probe of his nursing home scandal. (The Federalist)
Just a member of the NYT editorial board havin’ a normal one, “disturbed” by trucks in Long Island flying the American flag. (The Federalist)
Inez Feltscher Stepman is a senior policy analyst at the Independent Women’s Forum and a senior contributor to The Federalist. She is a San Francisco Bay Area native with a BA in Philosophy from UCSD and a JD from the University of Virginia. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Jarrett Stepman, her puggle Thor, and her cat Thaddeus Kosciuszko. You can follow her on Twitter at @inezfeltscher and on Instagram (for #ootd, obvi) under the same handle. Opinions expressed on this website are her own and not those of her employers. Or her husband.
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Jun 09, 2021 01:00 am
COVID-19 took the lives of millions of people around the world and caused our nation to endure unprecedented socioeconomic turmoil. More investigational research is necessary to uncover the truth about the origin of the virus. Read More…
The cost of squelching normal discourse
Jun 09, 2021 01:00 am
If the politicians, media, and tech tyrants hadn’t acted so aggressively to silence discussions about COVID, the last year could have turned out very differently. Read more…
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By Kyle Kondik
Managing Editor, Sabato’s Crystal Ball
Dear Readers: The University of Virginia Center for Politics has released a trailer for its latest documentary, Common Grounds.Produced entirely by student interns at the Center for Politics, the documentary explores the political climate at UVA through the eyes of several students of differing political beliefs. A primary goal of the project was to foster an atmosphere at UVA that is conducive to constructive discourse.
The documentary features interviews with students who reflect on the importance of civility — or the absence of it — in today’s political climate. In another key part of the film, students sit down in a group to discuss the political issues and aim to find consensus.
As part of the project, the students painted the phrase “There is common ground on our Grounds” across the Beta Bridge. Located only a few blocks from the iconic Rotunda, the bridge is a focal point on Grounds.
The full documentary will premiere later this summer. For more information on the project and the students behind it, see the recent feature from UVA Today, “‘Common Ground on Our Grounds’: Bridging Political Differences.”
Virginia held its Democratic primary last night, setting up perhaps the marquee race of the 2021 calendar. Our look at the primary and the road ahead is below.
— The Editors
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE
— Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA) easily captured the Democratic nomination for governor on Tuesday night, setting up a matchup with businessman Glenn Youngkin (R).
— Virginia’s Democratic trend gives McAuliffe an early edge, but it’s common for Virginia gubernatorial races to look a lot different than the previous year’s presidential race.
— Matchups for the state’s down-ballot races were also set, but don’t expect a ton of ticket-splitting among the state’s three statewide elected offices.
The early line on McAuliffe v. Youngkin
So it’ll be former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) versus Glenn Youngkin (R) for the Virginia governorship this fall. We continue to rate the race to replace outgoing Gov. Ralph Northam (D-VA) as Leans Democratic. McAuliffe is favored, but not overwhelmingly so.
Youngkin has a path, although he’ll have to simultaneously appeal to hard-core Donald Trump voters as well as lapsed Republicans who have voted Democratic in recent years. A significant factor for the fall is one over which neither candidate has control: perceptions of President Joe Biden. If Biden’s modest honeymoon continues, and his approval rating remains over 50%, Youngkin may struggle to make the case against McAuliffe and continuing Democratic control of Richmond. But if there’s some downtick for Biden, that could threaten McAuliffe. The former governor won his first term in 2013 even amidst trouble for national Democrats — Barack Obama’s approval was underwater at the time of the election amid negative stories about the rollout of the website for Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act — but McAuliffe also only narrowly escaped against a hard-right challenger, then-state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R).
In picking McAuliffe and Youngkin, Virginians of both parties selected nominees that are within the mainstream of their respective parties. That’s another way of saying neither are really moderates, but voters also passed on more ideological options in the respective party nominating contests.
Youngkin, a wealthy former co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, won his party’s nomination a month ago at what party officials called an “unassembled convention.” About 30,000 delegates cast ranked-choice ballots at about 40 locations across the commonwealth, and Youngkin outlasted several other competitors.
Virginia Democrats opted for a traditional statewide primary, which McAuliffe was always clearly favored to win over a splintered group of lesser-known challengers.
Despite what turned out to be a predictable and uncompetitive primary, Democratic turnout on Tuesday was robust, at least by Virginia standards. Votes are still being counted, but it appears that around 485,000 votes were cast in the Democratic primary, not that too far shy of the 540,000 cast four years ago. The Democratic turnout four years ago was cited by many as a sign of the white-hot Democratic voter engagement in Virginia just months after Donald Trump had won the White House. While it’s not clear to us that primary turnout is predictive of future outcomes, if you do care about primary turnout as a barometer, the Democratic showing this time was still fairly strong in our estimation, particularly because this gubernatorial primary was sleepier than the one between Northam and former Rep. Tom Perriello (D, VA-5). Northam won that race by 12 points. McAuliffe won on Tuesday with 62%, more than 40 points ahead of his nearest competitor (the scattered polls of this race did a good job conveying McAuliffe’s dominant position).
The key question is whether Virginia has become so Democratic that a Republican can’t win here anymore. We don’t think that’s the case, but Republicans haven’t won a statewide contest in a dozen years, and Biden just posted the biggest presidential win in Virginia by a Democrat in the post-World War II era.
However, gubernatorial races don’t always fit a state’s overall partisanship — even in a time when federal partisanship is increasingly influential down the ballot.
There are just two senators who hold seats in states that the other party’s presidential candidate won by double digits in 2020: Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), who represent states that Donald Trump won by 16 and 39 points respectively. (As an aside, this fact likely has a lot to do with Manchin’s willingness to buck the leadership of his party on bills such as the Democrats’ election overhaul.) Meanwhile, there are six governors who lead states that the other party won by double digits for president: Govs. Charlie Baker (R-MA), Larry Hogan (R-MD), and Phil Scott (R-VT) on the Republican side, and Govs. Laura Kelly (D-KS), Andy Beshear (D-KY), and John Bel Edwards (D-LA) on the Democratic side. It’s not easy to buck the prevailing partisan trend in a statewide race these days, but it is more doable in a gubernatorial race than a Senate race.
Virginia gubernatorial races also often feature significant swings from the previous year’s presidential race. In order to win, Youngkin needs to do a little more than 10 points better statewide than Donald Trump did in 2020. A half-century’s worth of modern Virginia gubernatorial races show such an improvement is very much achievable, but there are important caveats to the history.
Modern two-party politics at the state level in Virginia dates back to 1969, when Linwood Holton (R) became the first Republican to win the state’s governorship since Reconstruction. Of the 13 modern gubernatorial races, the party that didn’t hold the White House won 10 of them. Holton is one of the exceptions, and he was followed four years later by former Gov. Mills Godwin (R), who performed the same feat that McAuliffe is attempting: winning two nonconsecutive terms as the Old Dominion’s chief executive. Godwin won his first term in 1965 as a conservative Democrat, and then won as a Republican in 1973 against then-Lt. Gov. Henry Howell, a liberal firebrand who ran as an independent Democrat (there was no formal Democratic nominee in that election). Richard Nixon was president during both Holton and Godwin’s victories. McAuliffe was the third and most recent presidential party candidate to break the Virginia governorship’s familiar White House jinx, and if he wins this fall, he’ll be the fourth.
Table 1 shows Virginia’s modern gubernatorial election results. In all 13 races, the president’s party lost ground compared to how that party’s presidential nominee performed in Virginia the prior November. So it’s reasonable to think that, at the very least, Youngkin should be able to perform better than Trump did. In 10 of these 13 contests, the non-presidential party gubernatorial nominee improved upon his presidential nominee’s showing by 10 points or more — the level of improvement Youngkin needs to win. The average improvement is 16 points. If Youngkin were to match that, he would win by six points in November.
Table 1: Virginia gubernatorial results compared to previous year’s presidential, 1969-2017
Source: Our Campaigns, Virginia Department of Elections, Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections
That said, the average may not be very useful. For one thing, we’re only talking about 13 elections here — a tiny sample size. For another, Virginia has changed dramatically in the course of this timeframe, going from a state that voted considerably to the right of the nation in presidential elections to one that votes to its left. Also, there were more blowout presidential elections in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s than there are now, which can skew these comparisons. For instance, Richard Nixon won Virginia by an astronomical margin in 1972, 37.7 points, and then Republicans only barely won the following year’s gubernatorial race. But we don’t see those kinds of presidential blowouts any more, which means one wouldn’t expect such a sharp change the following year. And, perhaps most importantly, partisanship is more predictable now than it was several decades ago.
But the overall point still stands: Just because Biden won the state by 10 points in 2020 doesn’t mean it can’t shift enough a year later for Youngkin to win.
What would a Youngkin victory look like? For one thing, Youngkin would be the first modern Republican gubernatorial nominee, in all likelihood, to win without carrying any of the fast-growing suburban/exurban enclaves of Henrico County in Greater Richmond and Loudoun and Prince William counties in Northern Virginia. These counties have all zoomed toward Democrats in recent years, each giving Ralph Northam victories of 20 points or more in 2017 (and Biden 25 or more in 2020). Even though Ed Gillespie (R) carried Loudoun in his narrow loss against Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) in 2014, this was before Donald Trump’s takeover of the GOP hastened the realignment of highly-educated and diverse suburban counties such as these. Youngkin will need to cut Democratic margins in these counties, but winning them is unrealistic, at least in a close race. Youngkin also will need GOP-friendly turnout and giant margins in sparsely-populated but now extremely Republican western Virginia.
Localities Youngkin almost certainly will have to flip back to Republicans after Biden carried them include Chesterfield (in Greater Richmond), Stafford (between Northern Virginia’s bigger population centers and Richmond along I-95), and — perhaps most importantly — the big Republican-leaning swing cities in Hampton Roads, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. Both voted for Trump in 2016, but flipped to Northam in 2017 and Biden in 2020. Many observers see Hampton Roads as a key not only to the statewide races but also to the battle over the state House of Delegates, where Democrats won a 55-45 majority two years ago. Because of census data delays, this year’s state House races will be contested on the same map as two years ago — which may mean another set of elections next year under the new maps and then another set of regularly-scheduled races in 2023 (the state Senate isn’t on the ballot again until 2023, so the Democrats’ 21-19 edge is safe). If Youngkin puts up a strong showing in the governor’s race, he could provide enough lift to down-ballot Republican candidates to flip the Virginia House even if he himself does not win.
Beyond the gubernatorial race, Virginia Democrats also chose their nominees for lieutenant governor and attorney general, which are the state’s other two statewide elected positions. Incumbent Attorney General Mark Herring (D) fended off a challenge from state Del. Jay Jones (D) as he seeks a third term (while Virginia governors cannot run for reelection to consecutive terms, there are no term limits for the other two statewide elected positions). State Del. Hala Ayala (D) defeated several other Democratic contenders for the lieutenant gubernatorial nod. Ayala will face former state Del. Winsome Sears (R) for the lieutenant governor post, and Herring will face state Del. Jason Miyares (R). Both Herring and Ayala are from Northern Virginia, as is McAuliffe; Miyares represents and Sears represented state House districts in Hampton Roads, while Youngkin lived in the area for a time as a teenager.
Perhaps the composition of the Republican ticket could help in that electorally-vital Tidewater region. Meanwhile, the Democrats are all from Northern Virginia, the vote-rich engine that powers Democratic statewide victories. Ultimately, we doubt there’s much significance to the geographic makeup of the tickets, but we suspect the all-NOVA composition of the Democratic ticket will get some attention.
The LG and AG races are likely to be tied to whatever happens in the gubernatorial race — or, at least, more tied to the top of the ticket now than in the past. Table 2 shows the modern election results for the three statewide offices. While there continues to be some differences among the races, in three of the last four statewide elections, there’s been a less than seven-point gap between the best Democratic and best Republican margins in these races. The differences in 2013 were mostly because of a weak Republican lieutenant gubernatorial candidate — the other two contests were quite close, especially the AG race, which Herring won by just 165 votes out of 2.2 million cast.
Table 2: Statewide results in Virginia, 1969-2017
Source: Our Campaigns, Virginia Department of Elections, Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections
While the margins in the three statewide races won’t be identical, they likely will track relatively closely with one another. So the best bet is a sweep for one side or the other, unless all the races are decided by slim margins. The same party has swept all three races in the last three elections.
Virginia appears likely to have the most competitive gubernatorial race of 2021. The only other regularly-scheduled contest is in New Jersey, where first-term incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) will face former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R), who won his party’s nomination on Tuesday night. New Jersey is more Democratic than Virginia, and Murphy is an incumbent who does not at this point appear to have major problems. The recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) will also take place at some point later this year, but the recall effort appears to be losing steam as opposed to gaining it.
Ultimately, Republicans would love to come out of 2021 with more governorships than they hold now (27), but it doesn’t necessarily mean trouble for them in 2022 if they don’t, given that these three races are happening in states that are more Democratic than the nation as a whole. Democrats can’t make up any ground this year, but they can try to use this year’s contests as a way to gauge how prepared they are for the challenges of the midterm.
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Social media users are vowing to stop watching CMT after it urged viewers to “Wear Orange” to support National Gun Violence Awareness Day. The ViacomCBS-owned network tweeted its plea on Friday, ahead of Wednesday’s annual CMT Music Awards in Nashville. What are the details? “Wear Orange,” an initiative from Everytown for Gun Safety — which i … Read more
A Virginia judge has reinstated a Christian elementary school teacher who was suspended by his school district after voicing opposition to the district’s new transgender-affirming policies. What are the details?In a … Read more
It took 15 months for a judge to finally apply the Constitution against the most severe and arbitrary violations of our most basic civil liberties, but it’s better late than never. On Tuesday, Boone County, Kentucky, Circuit Judge Richard A. Brueggemann … Read more
This could give the Supreme Court the opportunity to correct its errors in District of Columbia v. Heller, which otherwise could be the basis for effectively nullifying the right to keep and bear arms.
Western universities face the same problem: how to engage in a free exchange of ideas with China while keeping the CCP’s covert political influence at bay?
By presenting legislation that uses disabled or terminally ill children to expand abortion access, the pro-choice lobby exhibits how disturbing its goals are.
Christians face a choice: do they stay with the established church that’s comfortable, or do they join the dynamic church that threatens to set them apart from the rest of the world?
The Transom is a daily email newsletter written by publisher of The Federalist Ben Domenech for political and media insiders, which arrives in your inbox each morning, collecting news, notes, and thoughts from around the web.
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40.) REUTERS
The Reuters Daily Briefing
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
by Linda Noakes
Hello
Here’s what you need to know.
The U.S. eyes a return to global travel, socialist Castillo clings on to a tight lead in Peru, and a world first for bitcoin.
Today’s biggest stories
Police officers are seen in front of Carbis Bay Hotel ahead of the G7 summit in Cornwall, Britain, June 8, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson
U.S.
U.S. President Joe Biden departs for Britain today on his first trip abroad since taking office, an eight-day mission to rebuild trans-Atlantic ties strained during the Trump era and to reframe relations with Russia.
The Senate voted 68-32 to approve a sweeping package of legislation intended to boost the country’s ability to compete with Chinese technology.
The Treasury Department has asked law enforcement authorities to investigate the disclosure of tax records cited in a media report that showed that some of America’s richest people paid little to no income taxes.
The Biden administration is forming expert working groups with Canada, Mexico, the European Union and the United Kingdom to determine how best to safely restart travel after 15 months of pandemic restrictions.
A Pennsylvania man who impersonated Donald Trump’s teenage son and other members of the former president’s family, and claimed to have once fooled Trump himself, has been charged in Manhattan with defrauding hundreds of supporters of Trump’s re-election.
Peru’s presidential candidate Pedro Castillo addresses supporters from the headquarters of the ‘Free Peru’ party in Lima, June 8, 2021. REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda
WORLD
Peruvian socialist candidate Pedro Castillo held on to a narrow lead in the country’s runoff presidential election, as tensions rose over contested ballots and accusations of fraud, which sparked protests outside the elections office.
A Russian court is considering a request to declare organisations linked to jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny “extremist”, a move that if approved would ban his allies from a parliamentary election later this year too.
El Salvador has become the first country in the world to formally adopt bitcoin as legal tender after Congress approved President Nayib Bukele’s proposal to embrace the cryptocurrency.
Shares of Clover Health Investments have jumped 18% and are on course to hit an all-time high, with individual traders on online discussion forums pumping up the stock a day after they sent it soaring about 86%.
Global solar power developers are slowing down project installations because of a surge in costs for components, labor, and freight as the world economy bounces back from the coronavirus pandemic.
Ferrari has turned to technology industry leader Benedetto Vigna to navigate the luxury sports car maker known for its roaring, high-octane engines through a new era of silent, electric powertrains. Vigna, a 52-year-old Italian national, currently runs the biggest division of chip maker STMicroelectronics.
Quote of the day
“I am trapped in a bureaucratic maze that would even astonish Kafka, and there is no exit”
Speed controls slapped on Moscow’s rental scooters
Authorities are imposing speed limits for electric scooters that whiz across the city, often on pavements, as calls for action grow following a string of accidents.
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45.) CONSERVATIVE BRIEF
HOTTEST STORIES TODAY
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Republicans JOIN Dems – Senate Votes 68 to 32
A rare bipartisan bill.
Kamala’s Motorcade Chased By Motorcycles – Forced To Divert
How did anyone get this close to her?
Soros IRS Records LEAKED – Dark Money Exposed
Many have been warning about this for years.
They Want To ‘Cover This Up’ – Cruz Exposes Kamala Harris
He is not backing down.
Audit Blockbuster – 3 Battleground States Are IN
This is a game-changer.
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
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47.) ABC
June 9, 2021 – Having trouble viewing this email? Open it in your browser.
Morning Rundown
Biden preps for 1st foreign trip as president, summit with Putin: President Joe Biden will embark on his first overseas trip today, seeking to reaffirm the United States’ standing on the world stage with familiar allies and portray himself as the leader of the free world. Biden, who has spent five decades dealing with many world leaders, is traveling to the U.K. and Belgium to participate in the G-7 and NATO summits. There, he’ll address a gamut of issues from climate change to taxes, from defense to trade, and the push to recover equitably from the economic downturn of the pandemic. It will also give him the opportunity to prove to European allies that his agenda is a stark difference from former President Donald Trump’s “America First” approach. “This is an important opportunity for him to see them in person and there’s nothing like face-to-face engagement in diplomacy,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday previewing Biden’s trip. The climax of the trip will be his first face-to-face meeting as president with Russian President Vladimir Putin next Wednesday in Geneva. There, Biden will be forced to walk a fine line between delivering a strong warning that malign attacks in the cybersecurity, military and political spheres will no longer be tolerated, while avoiding any escalation in the already-tense relationship. Click here to see what else is in store for his trip.
Pfizer advances clinical trials for 5- to 11-year-olds at lower doses: Kids under 12 are one step closer to receiving COVID-19 vaccines. On Tuesday, Pfizer announced that it’s moving forward with the final phase of clinical trials for its COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 11 and under. In its next phase of trials, which will begin in the coming weeks, children will receive 10 micrograms of each vaccine dose, compared to the 30 micrograms in each dose that people ages 12 and older receive. The news comes as schools across the country are determining whether to keep or break away from masks this fall. Depending on what state Americans live in, mask requirements can ultimately come down to what each school district decides. But with the promise of vaccines, parents and students are hoping to return to school with far fewer rules. So far, 25% of children ages 12-17 have received one shot of the vaccine since it was authorized last month. Meanwhile, as coronavirus case rates continue to decline in the U.S., National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci is still urging people to combat COVID-19 and to get vaccinated if you haven’t done so already due to the threat of COVID-19 variants.
Longtime ‘Bachelor’ host Chris Harrison leaves franchise after 19 years: Chris Harrison’s time hosting “The Bachelor” and its various spin-offs, including “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise,” has come to an end. On Tuesday, the TV personality broke the news on Instagram saying he’s “excited to start a new chapter.” The news comes three months after Harrison announced he was “stepping aside” from the reality TV dating franchise after he came under fire for racially insensitive comments during season 25 of “The Bachelor,” which starred Matt James, the first Black bachelor. In an interview with “The Bachelorette” alum Rachel Lindsay, the first Black bachelorette, Harrison defended contestant — and eventual winner — Rachael Kirkconnell after photos of her attending an “Old South” antebellum-themed party in 2018 surfaced online. Harrison later apologized for his comments, and told “GMA” in March that he stood “against all forms of racism” and was seeking insight from experts to better understand issues of race. On the new season of “The Bachelorette,” which premiered Monday, former bachelorettes Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe stepped in as hosts.
12-year-old graduates high school and college in same week: Mike Wimmer is ahead of the game when it comes to schooling. Last month, the 12-year-old from Salisbury, North Carolina, graduated from Rowan-Cabarrus Community College with a 4.0 GPA and an associate degree, and a week later, he graduated from Concord Academy High School with a 5.45 GPA as valedictorian. “It’s a good feeling to be done,” Mike told “GMA.” So how’d he do it? During the pandemic, Mike, who was already taking dual enrollment classes, realized that he only needed a few more classes to complete an associate degree, so he decided to go for it. But he also credited his photographic memory and ability to process information at a faster rate. While Mike has received job offers and more higher education opportunities, and has goals of becoming a tech entrepreneur, he says he enjoys just being a kid. “To be honest with you, I probably spend the least amount of time on schooling and more time being a kid and playing video games with my friends online,” he said.
GMA Must-Watch
This morning on “GMA,” Emily Henry and Kiley Reid share their top picks for summer reads in all categories, from rom-coms, to thrillers, to young adult! Plus, Zooey Deschanel joins us to talk about ABC’s new show, “The Celebrity Dating Game.” And Tory Johnson joins us with great deals in celebration of Pride Month with LGBTQ+-owned small businesses! All this and more only on “GMA.”
President Joe Biden is heading to Europe for his first trip as diplomat-in-chief, Bill Gates’ role as one of the nation’s largest farmland owners comes under scrutiny and a new chocolate delight that is … flying off shelves.
Here’s what we’re watching this Wednesday morning.
President Joe Biden will touch down in Europe on Wednesday looking to repair relations with America’s closest allies in an effort to counter the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as growing threats from China and Russia, in his first big moment on the world stage since taking office.
The president is expected to get an overwhelmingly warm welcome from allies, who for four years tried to manage his predecessor’s often undiplomatic diplomacy style.
But Biden will still have to convince skeptical allies that the U.S. is a partner they can trust again amid concerns any international agreements they are able to reach with the U.S. over the next four years will only be undone by the next president, as the Paris climate agreement and Iran nuclear deal were upended by Trump.
Gates is deeply invested in American agriculture and owns more than a quarter of a million acres of farmland across 18 states. But the tech billionaire known for his philanthropic work does not see his farmland investments as part of his broader plans to save the planet.
The administration is using an under-the-radar approach to minimize political blowback and to try to make at least some progress in resolving a long-standing legal and human rights morass before the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
The report from ProPublica illustrates how wealthy people in the U.S. are able to avoid income taxes by keeping the bulk of their wealth in investments that have little or no taxes. It has reignited debate about the tax code.
The Democratic Party entertains a level of self-criticism and accountability that makes it more diverse, welcoming and stronger. Manchin is a vital part of that, writes the co-founder of The Welcome Party.
A federal judge whose ruling last week to strike down California’s three-decade-old assault weapons ban garnered swift backlash is drawing more criticism over his claims about Covid-19 vaccines, firearm injuries and other subjects.
Offering an alternative to watches and apps, a new form of wearable running technology — smart insoles — track metrics to help you reach your fitness goals.
One fun thing
As far as culinary treats go, this one might not be for the faint of heart.
Chocolatier Sarah Dwyer has introduced a new line of chocolate-covered cicadas at her store in Bethesda, Maryland, that she says is flying off the shelves.
From NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann
FIRST READ: In Virginia, another win for a Biden-style pol
Well, the experienced, familiar and more moderately-viewed candidate just won Virginia’s Democratic primary for governor. Convincingly.
And if that sounds familiar, it is: Terry McAuliffe won more than 60 percent of the primary vote Tuesday, following Ralph Northam (who got 56 percent in the state’s 2017 primary) and Joe Biden (who got 53 percent there in the 2020 presidential primary).
Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Also familiar: McAuliffe, like Biden, was as popular with Black voters (or even more so) than the Black candidates running.
Now the REAL comparison will come this fall, when McAuliffe faces off against Republican Glenn Youngkin in the marquee political race of 2021.
But McAuliffe’s success last night raises this question: Why aren’t more Democrats embracing Biden’s brand, especially during these first few months of his presidency? (After all, how many times have you heard the phrase, “I’m a Joe Biden Democrat.”)
We get it: Biden – and McAuliffe and Northam, to lesser degrees – doesn’t exactly mesh with younger, more progressive and more diverse congressional Democrats and Democratic candidates.
But consider:
In 2020, Biden ran ahead of most Democratic candidates in competitive states and districts.
Autopsy after autopsy has found that “socialism” and “defund the police” did hurt Democratic candidates.
And NBC’s Sahil Kapur reports on recent focus group findings that voters have trouble describing what the Democratic Party stands for.
Yet the Joe Biden Coalition – which spans from Abigail Spanberger and Conor Lamb, to Jim Clyburn and Val Demings (who formally announced her Senate bid this morning) – has been a potent and winning coalition for Democrats.
Why aren’t more Democrats embracing it?
Terry McAuliffe sure did.
Then again, there’s another question to ask: Is Biden’s brand even transferrable?
Or does it only apply to Dems like the president (and McAuliffe) who have one foot in the older Democratic Party, and another in the newer version?
Democratic turnout in Virginia exceeds expectations
With most (though not all) of the votes counted in last night’s Democratic gubernatorial primary in Virginia, turnout was more than 480,000.
That’s higher than the Dem gubernatorial primary of 2009 (319,168), but lower than the Dem primary of 2017 (542,858).
But that Democratic turnout yesterday even got close to what it was in the first year of Trump’s presidency is something Dem strategists are touting.
We didn’t see that coming in what was a relatively sleepy primary that was short on attacks and crazy twists and turns.
Data Download: The numbers you need to know today
About 62 percent: Terry McAuliffe’s level of support in the Virginia Democratic gubernatorial primary yesterday
68-32:The Senate vote yesterday to pass a new bill that would boost U.S. competitiveness against China.
33,555,385: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, per the most recent data from NBC News and health officials. (That’s 13,071 more than yesterday morning.)
601,598: The number of deaths in the United States from the virus so far, per the most recent data from NBC News.(That’s 371 more than yesterday morning.)
303,923,667: The number of vaccine doses administered in the U.S.
39.0 percent: The share of all Americans who are fully vaccinated, per NBC News.
53.1 percent: The share of all American adults over 18 who are fully vaccinated, per CDC.
“‘I spoke with the president this afternoon, and he ended our infrastructure negotiations,’ Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said in a statement.
“The end of the talks will increase pressure on Democrats to pass a sweeping package using a special process that doesn’t require any Republican votes in the Senate.”
Hundreds of criminals were tricked into using a messaging app that was being secretly run by the FBI, resulting in one of the largest criminal and drug busts. Also, President Biden is gearing up for his first trip abroad as commander-in-chief as he travels to the U.K. for the G7 summit. All that and all that matters in today’s Eye Opener. Your world in 90 seconds.
President Biden on Wednesday morning leaves for his first overseas trip while in office. The packed schedule will include summits with key allies, a visit with Queen Elizabeth and a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Weijia Jiang reports.
Newly revealed tax records shed light on just how little some of America’s richest are paying in taxes. Jesse Eisinger, the co-writer of the ProPublica report, joins “CBS This Morning.”
Cicadas light up weather radar as U.S. grapples with swarms
“Pretty much all the cicadas that exist are out of the ground and they are in the treetops,” U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist Sammy Ramsey said.
“Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first Broadway hit, “In the Heights,” is now a major motion picture directed by Jon M. Chu. Miranda sat down with CBS News contributor Leigh Scheps to talk about the evolution of the show, which has never been more timely — “a musical about Latino immigrants that is written by Latinos with joy and love.”
Plus: How Facebook killed blogging, the trouble with so-called common good originalism, and more…
Ohio is suing in an attempt to get Google declared a public utility or common carrier. A new lawsuit filed by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asks the Ohio Court of Common Pleas to order stricter regulation of the internet conglomerate, in the name of allegedly preventing discriminatory search results.
“Ohio has an interest in ensuring that Google, its users, and the entities whose information Google carries are aware that Google Search is a common carrier under Ohio law. Ohio also has an interest in ensuring that as a common carrier Google Search does not unfairly discriminate against third party websites; that Google carries all responsive search results on an equal basis; and that it provides the public with ready access to organic search results that the Google Search algorithms produce,” states the lawsuit.
Yost’s premise is absurd on many levels—not the least of which being that discrimination is literally the business of search engines. Their whole point is to sift through the vast expanses of internet content and determine which web pages most closely match what consumers are searching for and which offer the highest quality content, all while eschewing spam and scams.
Yost acts as if “organic search results” just happen. But the term simply means results that are the products of algorithms and not paid placement. Google and other search engines still have to develop the algorithms that deliver those non-paid results, and this still requires making decisions that will prioritize certain types of content over others. Without such algorithmic discrimination—if we were left to peruse web pages say, randomly or alphabetically—we would be left with much worse search results. Users would have to spend much more time finding worse and less relevant information.
Yost also argues that Google needs to be more highly regulated because search results sometimes steer Google users to the company’s own products. “Google uses its dominance of internet search to steer Ohioans to Google’s own products—that’s discriminatory and anti-competitive,” he said in a statement.
But there’s nothing illegal or nefarious about platforms—virtual or physical—promoting their own goods, or giving more prominent placement to others’ goods for a fee. Grocery stores give prominent placement to their own brands and to brands that pay for better placement. Newspapers and magazines lay out their own content more prominently than that of advertisers, and also prioritize ad placement based on who pays more. And so on.
This isn’t some uniquely dangerous Google phenomenon, it’s a common business practice. Yet no one’s declaring that grocery stores and magazines are public utilities.
“If someone searches for a flight and Google returns its own presentation of search results to steer the person to Google Flights, the person doesn’t see offers from competitors such as Orbitz and Travelocity,” complains Yost. Not only is this false—Orbitz and Travelocity results are still there, just not at the very top of the page—but it’s also no different than the situation we see in supermarkets. And yet Yost isn’t complaining that Kroger relegating certain cereal brands to a lower shelf somehow renders these brands invisible, nor is he saying that government must start micromanaging cereal product placement.
Besides, if Google’s search results start seeming too biased or irrelevant to consumers, there are other (free) search engines (such as Microsoft’s Bing or the privacy-focused DuckDuckGo) that they can switch to. In other words, there are market solutions to any potential problems here—no massive new regulatory schemes required.
In a statement, Google contended that “Ohioans simply don’t want the government to run Google like a gas or electric company. This lawsuit has no basis in fact or law and we’ll defend ourselves against it in court.”
Unfortunately, the idea that popular search engines and social media companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter should be treated as public utilities/common carriers has been gaining ground among both Democrats and Republicans as their bipartisan crusade against big technology companies heats up.
Conservatives—including Tucker Carlson of Fox News—have glommed onto the idea of regulating tech companies like public utilities to punish them for perceived political bias. But not only does this idea fly in the face of professed GOP attitudes toward free markets, deregulation, free speech, and freedom of association, it also wouldn’t work to solve the supposed problem in question (political bias). Instead, it would simply give more power to whatever partisan regulators were appointed by a particular political administration to punish companies for not biasing things in the way that they prefer.
“The idea that we correct for private corporate political bias by imposing a public utility model is simply foolish,” wrote Cameron Smith in The Hill back in 2017:
Google isn’t a monopoly and it isn’t offering a commodity good, like water or electricity. Treating it like a utility won’t remove political bias, but it will stifle innovation and create a powerful political tool, which can be up for grabs to the highest-paid lobbying firm. … I don’t want a federal regulator of political viewpoint bias for Google any more than I do for Fox News or MSNBC.
Meanwhile, in New York, Senate Democrats recently voted to broaden the state’s antitrust parameters. Under current law, a company is deemed a monopoly if it has a two-thirds share of the market; the new standard would say that cornering less than half of a particular market—40 percent—makes a company a “monopoly.”
It would also change the standard for illegally anti-competitive behavior. Under current state law, it turns on whether business conduct harms consumers. The new measure would deem conduct off-limits if it harms a business’ competitors—a standard that could bar practically any attempts by a popular company to improve products or attract new customers.
“We are essentially punishing success and we are prohibiting all kinds of ordinary pro-competitive conduct,” Lev Ginsburg of The Business Council of New York State told the Wall Street Journal.
The bill—which has yet to clear the New York Assembly—would make it easier for smaller business competitors to sue big companies, said lawyer Lauren Weinstein. She pointed out to the Journal that “certain aspects of Amazon’s business like lowering prices aren’t harmful to the consumer, but they can be pretty harmful to competitors.”
Yes, making products more affordable is now being sold as an evil monopolist behavior, while using government force to give more expensive rivals a leg up has somehow become a progressive position. This is how topsy-turvy the rhetoric around antitrust, competition, and monopoly has become.
FREE MINDS
The trouble with so-called common good originalism. “As far back as I can remember, conservatives have attacked liberal judges for substituting their policy preferences for the text of the Constitution, and for trying to cram the entire progressive agenda onto a handful of provisions (the Commerce Clause, the Necessary and Proper Clause) that were never meant to carry such weight,” writesReason‘s Damon Root. “But the times are changing. Now, a new conservative faction is aiming to beat the results-oriented liberal judges at their own game.”
Some, like lawyer and Newsweek opinion editor Josh Hammer, have dubbed this common good originalism. “But there is not so much that is recognizably originalist about it,” notes Root. At every turn, it ignores the meaning of the US Constitution and individual rights in favor of expanding government control and power. “In short, Hammer seeks conservative results by reading his preferred conservative agenda (‘our substantive goals’) into the constitutional text,” notes Root. “Hammer may call it ‘originalism,’ but it sure operates more like right-wing living constitutionalism.”
FREE MARKETS
“How Facebook killed blogging.” Timothy B. Lee’s new newsletter has been providing an interesting look at shifting media and technology landscapes. In one recent post, he explores how paywalls—once thought to be a non-starter—have turned out to work for big newspapers. Meanwhile, crowdfunding options (like Substack) have helped out independent and small publishers. But medium-sized news and publishing outlets that rely on advertising are stuck in a sort of purgatory.
In another recent post, Lee looks at “how Facebook killed blogging—and Twitter reinvented it“:
The online news landscape has been transformed in the last 15 years. Today, the blogging community that helped launch my journalism career barely exists. The 2000s-style blogs that still exist are nowhere near as central to the online conversation as they were in the George W. Bush years.
Social media plays a central role in this story. In the early 2010s, big tech platforms—especially Facebook, but also Google, Reddit, and Twitter—became the most common way many readers found news stories. That profoundly shaped the incentives of an emerging class of web-first professional journalists—many of whom were former bloggers.One big consequence: blogging became less social. It became much less common for writers to recommend and critique one another’s work. Twitter picked up much of the resulting slack; the kind of intellectual discussion that once happened on blogs now largely happens on Twitter.”
Lee’s post mostly explores how this has shaped media. But it’s also interesting to consider how it’s shaped online and/or political discourse overall. As Lee points out:
Most blogs were written primarily for a core group of loyal readers. The goal wasn’t necessarily to maximize the number of clicks on any given post. Rather, bloggers were trying to maximize the number of people who liked the blog enough to come back to the site regularly.
On social sites like Twitter, the incentives changed, from trying to get a loyal audience to trying to go viral on a post-by-post basis. In addition, the segmented communities that existed in the “blogosphere” got all jumbled together, leading to both context collapse (wherein conventions, jokes, memes, and concepts familiar to one community are taken out of context by another) and the sense that relatively small or niche groups of prolific but fringe opinion havers are more influential and numerous than they are. Both have had big ramifications for perceptions of politics and culture more generally.
QUICK HITS
HARRIS: “We’ve been to the border. So this whole thing about the border.”
Harris: “We’ve been to the border.”
Harris: “We’ve been to the border.”
HOLT: “You haven’t been to the border.”
Harris: “I… and I haven’t been to Europe.” https://t.co/dftSFsU88Fpic.twitter.com/Q6pIdXQqPs
• Global herd immunity isn’t happening, saysForeign Affairs magazine. “Rather than die out, the [COVID-19] virus will likely ping-pong back and forth across the globe for years to come.”
• Senate Republicans blocked a Democrat-backed effort to make companies justify pay gaps between employees, ban employers from inquiring about salary history, and “require public education regarding wage discrimination, among other things,” reportsPolitico.
• Illiberalism from both major parties—not partisanship—is fueling political divides, suggests Jay Caruso at the Washington Examiner.
Elizabeth Nolan Brown is a senior editor at Reason, where she writes regularly on the intersections of sex, speech, tech, crime, politics, panic, and civil liberties. She is also co-founder of the libertarian feminist group Feminists for Liberty.
Since starting at Reason in 2014, Brown has won multiple awards for her writing on the U.S. government’s war on sex. Brown’s writing has also appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, Buzzfeed, Playboy, Fox News, Politico, The Week, and numerous other publications. You can follow her on Twitter @ENBrown.
Reason is the magazine of “free minds and free markets,” offering a refreshing alternative to the left-wing and right-wing echo chambers for independent-minded readers who love liberty.
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55.) REALCLEARPOLITICS MORNING NOTE
06/09/2021
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Carl Cannon’s Morning Note
Merit Standards; Abrams’ Ambitions; McAuliffe’s Encore
By Carl M. Cannon on Jun 09, 2021 08:25 am
Good morning, it’s Wednesday, June 9, 2021. Virginia primary voters yesterday revealed how absurd they find the Old Dominion’s prohibition against governors succeeding themselves: Three and a half years after Terry McAuliffe was forced by the state constitution to step down after a single term in the governor’s mansion, he was back on the Democratic Party ballot — carrying every Virginia city and county while winning in a field of five primary contenders.
In the November general election, McAuliffe will face Glenn Youngkin, a sensible-sounding political novice whom Democrats will try to morph into a different businessman-turned-politician. McAuliffe didn’t wait long to start this process.
“We cannot let Glenn Youngkin do to Virginia what Donald Trump has done to our country,” he said last night.
Meanwhile, Youngkin’s team released its first ad of the general election campaign, this one a montage of clips from Jennifer Carroll Foy, one of McAuliffe’s primary rivals. “He failed the people of Virginia, so why does he deserve a second chance?” she says in the clip. “It’s the future versus the past,” she says later in it.
And so the nation’s most interesting off-year election campaign begins.
With that, I’d steer you to RealClearPolitics’ front page, which aggregates, as it does each day, an array of columns and stories spanning the political spectrum. Today’s lineup includes Tom Edsall on GOP efforts to control voting processes (New York Times); David Love taking aim at Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema (The Grio); and Hai Di Nguyen on who is to blame for anti-Asian hate crimes (Quillette). We also offer a complement of original material from RCP reporters and contributors, including the following:
* * *
Color-Blind Merit Standards Tumbling Across Society. A revolution is underway as standards traditionally used to provide opportunity are being rejected by schools, corporations, and governments, Richard Bernstein reports for RealClearInvestigations
Stacey Lies. Black Business Dies. Bruce LeVell accuses Abrams of inflicting pain on the African American community in Atlanta in order to advance her own political ambitions.
Under H.R. 3, Some Needed Prescriptions Would Go Unfilled. At RealClearHealth, Shane Dessell spotlights an unintended consequence of a bill designed to lower drug prices.
HHS Can Strengthen the Medical Supply Chain. Also as RCH, Matthew J. Rowan stresses the important role nominee Dawn O’Connell would play if confirmed as the agency’s assistant secretary for preparedness and response.
IRS Becomes America’s No. 1 Welfare Agency. Also at RCPolicy, Matt Weidinger details the coming outlay in “child allowance” payments authorized by the American Rescue Plan.
Tech Innovators Buoyed Small Businesses; Let’s Keep It That Way. At RealClearMarkets, former Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Kent Conrad warn Congress against policy changes that would harm tech’s role in our economic comeback.
Rural Families Need Educational Choice Too. At RealClearPolicy, Jason Edmonds urges states to enact education savings account programs that would enable school choice for all students, regardless of their location.
On June 7, the Commander of the U.S. Central Command General Kenneth McKenzie joined a virtual briefing with the U.S. Department of State’s Dubai Regional Media Hub to discuss a myriad of national security threats, including Russia, China, ISIS and Iran.
Several states are moving to reduce Chinese government influence targeting American institutions, particularly in the education, infrastructure, and economic fields.
Congressman Eric Swalwell of California is back in the news. It appears this inveterate practitioner of Saul Alinsky’s brand of radical leftist political warfare is complicit in an actually illegal act against Rep. Mo Brooks, a Republican colleague now running for an Alabama Senate seat.
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62.) 1440 DAILY DIGEST
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Good morning. It’s Wednesday, June 9, and we’re covering global crime networks duped by security agencies, a tax leak at the IRS, and much more. Have feedback? Let us know at hello@join1440.com.
Hundreds of suspects have been arrested in a global sting operation after crime networks were tricked into using an app used by police agencies around the world. The encrypted communications platform—known as ANOM—has been secretly run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Europol, and the Australian Federal Police since 2018.
The app was installed on stripped-back cell phones that were purchased on the black market, with the platform hidden within the calculator feature (see how it works). Criminals then divulged plans for drug trafficking, murder plots, money laundering, and more. Police in more than a dozen countries, in an operation dubbed Trojan Shield, were then able to access more the 27 million messages across 20,000 devices—leading to more than 800 arrested, 32 tons of drugs seized, and more than $148M in cash and cryptocurrencies recovered.
Read about the fugitive who inadvertently helped the operation get off the ground here.
Failure at the Edge
A number of major websites were knocked offline for hours yesterday morning after a technical glitch at a third-party internet services company. Analysts said the incident, which did not involve a cyberattack, reflected a weak point in an increasingly global and distributed internet infrastructure.
Parts of Amazon, Reddit, Twitch, The New York Times, and other major sites were affected. At the center of the problems was Fastly, which operates a content delivery network using what is known as edge computing. The approach refers to servers geographically placed near customers around the world in an effort to speed up access times. For example, the company says a European customer accessing a US-based site will see load times up to a half-second faster.
The consequence of the globally connected network means sites across the world could crash when such companies experience issues.
Tax Leak
Federal officials are investigating the release yesterday of a sweeping set of tax filings from some of the wealthiest Americans. Published by ProPublica, the leak included returns from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, and others.
The report claims the top 25 richest Americans saw their wealth increase by $401B between 2014 and 2018, while paying about $13.6B total, or 3.4%—a term the report refers to as a “true” tax rate. For comparison, households with a median average income of $70K pay about 14% in taxes.
Critics argued such individuals typically have large stakes in the companies they own, which rise in value—thereby increasing wealth—but generate no income. Known as unrealized gains, this rise in value is not taxable until shares are sold, a rule which applies to all Americans when their assets appreciate. Upon selling, this rise in value would become taxable.
Investigators are probing whether the confidential documents were leaked from inside the IRS, which would be a crime. ProPublica did not disclose who provided the returns, and said it would use the data to publish a series of articles covering specific tax mechanisms used by the ultrawealthy in the near future.
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We’ve all got them—gift cards, loyalty points, rewards programs, perhaps even some unaccounted-for Bitcoin—sitting unused in the void of the internet. But what if there were a place to bring them all together and unlock hidden value?
>Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic becomes sixth international player to be named NBA Most Valuable Player; Joel Embiid and Steph Curry finish second and third in voting (More)
>Host Chris Harrison to permanently depart “The Bachelor” franchise after nearly 20 years after racially insensitive comments (More) | See Bachelor alums react to the news (More)
>Meghan Markle releases her first children’s book, “The Bench”; story focuses on a mother’s perspective of a father-son relationship (More) | Western Michigan University receives $550M donation, the largest-ever donation to a US public university (More)
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Science & Technology
>Senate passes $200B bipartisan competitiveness bill, funding research and development in manufacturing technologies in bid to counter China; bill heads to House for consideration (More)
>Researchers identify gene that controls the circadian rhythm, or wake-sleep cycle, in mice; may lead to understanding of how similar genes work in humans (More)
>Oldest livestock genome yet sequenced suggests goat domestication began in western Iran roughly 10,000 years ago; study shifts timeline for when communities in the region began managing herds (More)
Business & Markets
>US job openings at record high 9.3 million in April, per Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey or JOLTS report (More)
>Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway invests $500M in Brazilian digital bank Nubank, valuing company at $30B (More)
>Shares of electric vehicle maker Lordstown Motors sink 16% after disclosing it doesn’t have sufficient cash to begin full commercial production (More) | Shares of Medicare insurance startup Clover Health become latest “meme stock” jumping 86% after chatter on Reddit forums (More)
Politics & World Affairs
>Infrastructure talks between White House and Senate GOP end without compromise, focus switches to proposal from bipartisan group of senators (More) | Senate report finds US Capitol Police intelligence found, but failed to adequately communicate, threats of the building’s Jan. 6 storming flagged as early as December (More)
>Middle East hit with blistering heatwave, with five countries topping 122 degrees; temperatures come more than month before average annual peak (More)
>Ex-Gov. Terry McAuliffe wins Virginia Democratic primary in bid for his former office; will face newcomer Glenn Youngkin (More) | Charlottesville, Virginia city council votes to remove statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson; statues were the focus of 2017 “Unite the Right” rally (More)
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Historybook: Roman emperor Nero commits suicide (68); RIP author Charles Dickens (1870); HBD Michael J. Fox (1961); Secretariat wins horse racing’s Triple Crown (1973); HBD Natalie Portman (1981).
“I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.”
– Michael J. Fox
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63.) AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH
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June 9, 2021
Support for Lockdowns: A ‘Bootleggers and Baptists’…
By David McGrogan | “This goes a long way toward explaining the behavior of white collar professionals during the pandemic: they have been acting out of a genuine sense of virtue, but they have also done rather well out of doing so, at least in…
Free Market Liberalism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
By Richard M. Ebeling | “The recent 11 days of warfare between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has once more raised the issue of one-state or two-state ‘solutions’ to the over seven decade Israel-Palestinian conflict. In the long run, neither is a viable…
By Vincent Geloso | “The work of Scott provides a powerful illustration of the importance of the qualification proposed by defenders of the super-rich. It is not wealth that is problematic, it is wealth generated by muting the forces of the market…
By Joakim Book | “The problem is that we don’t know what disasters are lurking on the horizon, and preparing for all the possible ones we can reasonably foresee is impossible and excessively costly. Even if we somehow managed to, individually or…
By Robert Hughes | The latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the total number of job openings in the economy rose to 9.286 million in April, up from 8.288 million in March. The number of open…
By Ethan Yang | “From the ancient Epic of Gilgamesh to the cutting-edge work of today’s scholars, liberty has shown itself to always be unfinished business. Every generation has stories of struggle and wisdom to share on the maintenance of a free…
Edward C. Harwood fought for sound money when few Americans seemed to care. He was the original gold standard man before that became cool. Now he is honored in this beautiful sewn silk tie in the richest possible color and greatest detail.
The red is not just red; it is darker and deeper, more distinctive and suggestive of seriousness of purpose.
The Harwood coin is carefully sewn (not stamped). Sporting this, others might miss that you are secretly supporting the revolution for freedom and sound money, but you will know, and that is what matters.
“The 1619 Project, it seemed, could serve as both an enduring long-term curriculum for high school and college classrooms and an activist manual for the 2020 campaign season. Unfortunately the blending of these two competing aims usually results in the sacrifice of scholarly standards in the service of the ideological objective.”
On the menu today: A long, deep look at why so many Americans no longer believe that those who politically disagree have any “legitimacy.”
The Collapse of the Consensus Understanding of Legitimacy
At the root of a lot of our most intense political divisions is an irrational and stubborn refusal to recognize that the opposition ever legitimately wins a dispute.
Before we go any further, let’s make sure we’re all clear on the definition of “legitimate.” In this circumstance, we mean, “accordant with law or with established legal forms and requirements” or “conforming to recognized principles or accepted rules and standards” — not necessarily “good” or “popular.” Lots of actions can be legitimate and also a bad idea. Prohibition was legitimate, in the sense that it was enacted within the existing rules under the U.S. Constitution. As you may have heard, it did not turn out well.
Far too many people cannot distinguish between “this is legitimate” and “I like this.” The words “illegal” and “bad” are also frequently … READ MORE
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) told the Washington Post that she’s unwilling to eliminate the Senate filibuster.
Said Rosen: “I think we just have to continue to talk and to be open and allow people to see that healthy debate on the floor and we’ll just go from there.”
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) issued a warning to Republican negotiators in the new bipartisan group seeking an infrastructure deal with President Biden, CNN reports.
Said Thune: “It’s hard for me to see a scenario where even 10 Republicans would vote for something that gets very far beyond where Shelley’s discussions were with the White House.”
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s negotiations with Biden were blessed by the Republican leadership. It’s clear these are not.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) “has moved his liquid assets into a qualified blind trust, making good on a campaign promise that relates to criticism of his predecessor,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) asked at a congressional hearing whether the National Forest System or the Bureau of Land Management could “change the course of the Moon’s orbit or the Earth’s orbit around the Sun.”
The official politely responded: “I would have to follow up with you on that one.”
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “Virginia’s Democratic trend gives Terry McAuliffe an early edge, but it’s common for Virginia gubernatorial races to look a lot different than the previous year’s presidential race.”
“Matchups for the state’s down-ballot races were also set, but don’t expect a ton of ticket-splitting among the state’s three statewide elected offices.”
“President Biden is revoking the Trump administration orders that sought to ban TikTok, WeChat and other Chinese apps and replacing it with a new security review that could prompt fresh steps to restrict those or other apps,” the Washington Post reports.
“Senate Democrats said they were considering changes to their election overhaul proposal, after pivotal centrist Sen. Joe Manchin made clear he opposed both the current bill and any imminent move to weaken Republicans’ power to block legislation,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Mr. Manchin promised to share a list of provisions that he would find acceptable.”
“The pledge came after Democrats complained that Mr. Manchin had declined to specify what changes he wanted.”
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) said that she was “frustrated” that the White House “kept moving the goalposts on us” after infrastructure negotiations with the Biden administration fell apart Tuesday, Politico reports.
Said Capito: “I’m a bit disappointed and frustrated that the White House really kept moving the ball on me and then just finally brought me negotiations that were untenable and then ended the negotiations altogether.”
“Kasim Reed, who fulfilled his lifelong goal by becoming mayor of Atlanta by the age of 40 and who then left City Hall eight years later under a cloud of controversy and investigation, has officially entered the wide-open mayor’s race,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Insider: “Senate Republican reelection chief Rick Scott is using an unorthodox playbook to reclaim the majority in 2022. It doesn’t involve talking up GOP lawmakers or have anything to do with mapping out what they’d do if they wrest back control of the 50-50 chamber.”
“Instead, the first-term junior senator from Florida has been incessantly promoting Donald Trump in emails theoretically designed to help GOP candidates win.”
The Guardian: “San Francisco is still recording a small number of coronavirus cases, about 13.7 per day… but they don’t appear to be gaining enough of a foothold in the population to trigger wider outbreaks.”
Said Dr. George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology at University of California: “That is what herd immunity looks like. You’re going to have single cases, but they’re not going to propagate out.”
Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) officially launched her campaign to unseat Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) next year, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
Rubio has tried to get ahead of Demings’ expected announcement by going on the attack: “None of them will admit to being a socialist. She probably won’t. But she certainly has voted for socialist things.”
Josh Kraushaar: “Former President Trump could have been an important asset for the GOP, turning out voters as it seeks to regain control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections. But, out of office, he’s continuing his destructive behavior, endorsing weaker candidates in contested primaries, squelching the campaigns of erstwhile allies, and elevating not-ready-for-prime-time contenders in must-win Senate contests.”
“His erratic behavior since losing the presidential election—exemplified by his conspiracy theorizing and suppression of the GOP vote in Georgia’s Senate runoffs in January, handing Democrats the majority—is only accelerating as the midterms draw closer. It’s leading to increasing Republican pessimism about their chances of retaking the Senate majority next year, even as the political environment is awfully favorable on paper to the party out of power.”
Gallup: “Americans are sharply divided in their abortion views, including on its morality, with an equal split between those who believe it is morally acceptable and those who say it is morally wrong.”
“The 47% who say it is acceptable is, by two percentage points, the highest Gallup has recorded in two decades of measurement. Just one point separates them from the 46% who think abortion is wrong from a moral perspective.”
Former President Donald Trump praised Nigeria for suspending Twitter after the social media company deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s post threatening mass violence against people he accused of attacking the nation’s infrastructure, the HuffPost reports.
Said Trump: “Congratulations to the county of Nigeria, who just banned Twitter because they banned their president. More countries should ban Twitter and Facebook for not allowing free open speech — all voices should be heard.”
Trump then hinted he’ll run again for president in 2024.
“The Justice Department in a court filing said it can ‘vigorously’ defend a religious exemption from federal civil rights law that allows federally funded religious schools to discriminate against LGBTQ students, a move that surprised some LGBTQ advocates who said the wording went further than just an obligation to defend an existing law,” the Washington Post reports.
Mitch McConnell must be wondering why he ever thought he needed to block Merrick Garland.
Nature: “For more than a week, an average of about 20 million people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 every day in China. At this rate, the nation would have fully vaccinated the entire UK population in little more than six days.”
“New cases of Covid-19 in Russia surged over 10,000 today to the highest in more than three months as widespread skepticism toward domestically-developed vaccines undermines attempts to corral the pandemic,” Bloomberg reports.
“The growing number of cases in Russia is unusual among countries that offer adults universal access to a vaccine, and belie official statements that the situation is nothing to worry about.”
“Federal authorities are investigating the release of wealthy Americans’ tax information, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig said Tuesday,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“ProPublica, a nonprofit news organization, published details about the reported income and tax payments of some of the richest Americans, including Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. CEO Warren Buffett.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence is viewed favorably by most Republican voters, but given a choice, nearly two-thirds still say their party should be more like Donald Trump.
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via Battlegrounds: International Perspectives On Crucial Challenges To Security
In this episode of Battlegrounds, H.R. McMaster and former Danish Prime Minister and former Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen discuss the upcoming NATO Summit, international security, and the future of democracy and free markets.
With this year’s release of Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women’s Rights, written by Hoover research fellow Ayaan Hirsi Ali, join the author in a discussion to explore the reconciliation of women’s rights on the international stage in Western countries, especially in cities experiencing mass immigration where several million migrants—most of them young men—come from Muslim-majority countries on Friday, June 11, 2021, at 12 NOON PDT.
The Hoover Institution Library & Archives and Hoover Institution Press Present the Fanning the Flames Speaker Series in Celebration of the Publication Fanning the Flames: Propaganda in Modern Japan edited by Kay Ueda.
The second session highlights “War Fever” as Fueled by the Media and Popular Culture: The Path Taken by Meiji Japan’s Policies of “Enrich the Country” and “Strengthen the Armed Forces” on Thursday, June 10, at 4:00 pm PDT.
Hoover Institution fellow Victor Davis Hanson discusses Biden, the Harris faction, new evidence on COVID and its cures, and whether America is slumping into cultural and political regression.
During an interview on Sunday’s “Face the Nation,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was asked by John Dickerson about how she reconciles the racism in America’s past with using her career to promote American cxceptionalism internationally.
quoting Andrew Grotto via Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
After a cyberattack linked to Russian hacker group REvil forced the world’s largest meat supplier JBS to shut down all of its systems, including plants in North America and Australia, the Brazil-based company has returned to full global operations. An expert said on Tuesday that attacked companies won’t tell whether they paid ransom.
Western universities face the same problem: how to engage in a free exchange of ideas with China while keeping the CCP’s covert political influence at bay?
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hoover Institution or Stanford University.
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71.) DAILY INTELLIGENCE BRIEF
Daily Intelligence Brief.
Good morning, it’s June 9, 2021. On this day in history, Bulgaria’s government was overthrown by the military (1923); the first ballistic missile-carrying submarine, the USS George Washington, was launched (1959); and NASA published its report on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster (1986).
TOP STORIES
Awkward … Naval Academy Commencement Speaker Kamala Harris Bombs Hard
Vice President Kamala Harris was invited to speak at the U.S. Naval Academy graduation ceremony in Annapolis, Maryland, May 28. Her speech didn’t land well.
Harris’attempt at humor fell flat as she cracked jokes about green investment policies. “Just ask any Marine today, would she rather carry 20 pounds of batteries or a rolled-up solar panel, and I am positive she would tell you a solar panel — and so would he.”
Crickets …
The vice president was more amused by her own gender-inclusive, environment-friendly jokes than the audience. As columnist Gerald Baker wisely pointed out, “You can’t be woke and funny.”
Baker does a great job painting the scene, “Picture … a roomful of the vice president’s finest young staffers all wielding their critical-theory degrees from Sarah Lawrence and Amherst, brainstorming lines for an unfamiliar audience of brave young fighters.”
He also points out President Biden’s awkwardly painful commencement speech at the Coast Guard Academy, where instead of sitting with the awkward silence, Biden told the audience they were “really dull.”
In contrast, Baker highlights Jimmy Dunne, a former principal of investment bank Sandler O’Neill, who spoke “movingly about what he had learned of service and duty that day when almost half of his staff were killed in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.”
Baker then went on to talk about Carla Harris, a top executive atMorgan Stanley and perhaps the most successful black woman on Wall Street, who gave a spellbinding oration on her receipt of University of Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal that was greeted with thunderous applause.
The columnist concluded by referring to another great speech, this time by Purdue University’s president, Mitch Daniels. Baker explains the former Indiana governor excoriated the timorous, risk-averse mindset that captured much of the elite in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In their caution and diffidence, he told the graduates, they failed this ‘fundamental test of leadership’ by refusing to balance risks and obligations. ‘Certainty is an illusion,’ stated Daniels. ‘Perfect safety is a mirage. Zero is always unattainable, except in the case of absolute zero where, as you remember, all motion and life itself stop.’”
People, especially graduates, want to be inspired, not lectured at further.
Michaela Kennedy Cuomo, Andrew Cuomo’s Daughter, Has Announced She’s Queer — Do We Care?
It seems like almost every day we see reports of celebrities and others in the public eye who want to proclaim their sexuality to the world.
Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo, 23, posted her announcement to Instagram last week.
Her post lectured readers on why it’s so important for people to support alternative identities.
It read, “To those who are contending with the compulsive heterosexuality our society force feeds us and innate attraction beyond cis het folks, please know that you are not alone,” she wrote. “To those who have yet to claim their sexual identity due to fear of physical, psychological, or financial safety, please know that you are unconditionally worthy of love and support.”
“To those who are questioning their sexuality but aren’t ready to come out,” she continued, “know that we all reserve the right to change our minds or evolve at any time. There is nothing wrong with you for not fitting into a limiting, socially constructed box. You will be loved and embraced by those whose hearts are inclusive enough to earn your expansive energy.”
Kennedy-Cuomo went on to caution her followers, “Please be mindful that we don’t know who around us is questioning or struggling to embrace their sexual identity,” then added that, “Being pro gay marriage is not enough to assure queer folks that we will not be ostracized for our sexuality. Support your friends by speaking up against homophobia and by actively reaching out to the members of your community who’s sexual expression may be isolating.”
ATP comment: How is this news? It has become trendy to proclaim one’s sexuality to the world, but in reality, this is an opportunity to lecture others on accepting their personal sexual preference.
People can use their social media profile to promote whatever they want — wait, that’s not true. Trump’s been banned until 2023. We digress.
It’s rather telling that the media picks up on these stories as if they are grand revelations worthy of some sort of bravery award. They’re not. They are self-absorbed, narcissistic proclamations intended to educate others on how they must think and believe.
The Daily Intelligence Brief, The DIB as we call it, is curated by a hard working team with a diverse background of experience including government intelligence, investigative journalism, high-risk missionary work and marketing.
From All Things Possible and the Victor Marx Group we aim to provide you with a daily intelligence brief collected from trusted sources and analysts.
Sources for the DIB include local and national media outlets, state and government websites, proprietary sources, in addition to social media networks. State reporting of COVID-19 deaths includes probable cases and probable deaths from COVID-19, in accordance with each state’s guidelines.
Thank you for joining us today. Be safe, be healthy and
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Welcome to the FEE Daily, your go-to newsletter for free-market news and analysis, authored by FEE.org Policy Correspondent Brad Polumbo. If you’re reading this online, click here to make sure you’re subscribed to the email list.
Good afternoon! I hope you’re all having a great day. But stay alert for yet another national crisis: Chipotle prices are up 4%! Maybe now millennials might finally be motivated to learn about the Federal Reserve. (Luckily, the price of iced coffee hasn’t changed.)
Another Alarming IRS Scandal, Exposed
Image Credit: PixaBay
Washington politicians are currently pushing to increase funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by a whopping $80 billion. But we just got yet another example of how the agency’s powers are routinely weaponized against Americans for political purposes.
On Tuesday, the progressive-leaning investigative journalism outlet ProPublicapublished a drove of leaked IRS files intended to “expose” how some of the wealthiest Americans, like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, exploit the tax code to pay less in taxes.
The “bombshell” itself was kind of a nothingburger. It confused gains in wealth with failures to pay more in income taxes. (We don’t have a wealth tax). And, the report also made a mountain out of something we already knew, that the labyrinth of exemptions, credits, deductions, and the like in our extensive tax code are used to limit tax liability.
As the Wall Street Journal editorial board notes, “There is no evidence of illegality in the ProPublica story… the rich can afford to hire lawyers and accountants to exploit every part of the tax code to pay the minimum amount of income tax the law allows.”
That’s literally why those provisions—and accountants!—exist. (We can debate the merits of them all another time.)
Of course, the ProPublica report did stir progressive “tax the rich” sentiment into a renewed fervor, which was clearly the point. But what’s more alarming than this political pandering is how confidential IRS files containing citizens’ private information wound up in the hands of journalists.
“There are only a few ways in which the information ProPublica examined could have made it onto the Internet,” National Review’s Charlie Cooke explains. “It could have been leaked by someone who works for — or with — the IRS. It could have been hacked by an outside group. Or it could have been surreptitiously released by a member of Congress or a Biden administration staffer. Whichever one of these happened, the conclusion must be the same: We cannot trust the IRS.”
The most likely source, I suspect, is one of the IRS’s thousands of bureaucratic staffers sympathetic to progressive causes leaking to the journalists.
The IRS has once again been weaponized for political purposes against American citizens. Remember that during the Obama administration, the IRS was enshrouded in scandal after it was revealed that the agency specifically targeted conservative nonprofits. (Of course, there was never any real accountability).
The takeaway here is bigger than just the injustice that has been visited upon a few American billionaires. (For whom I don’t shed too many tears). If the government can leak their confidential records, none of our privacy is safe. Once again, we are witnessing the inevitable abuse that occurs when we empower vast, unaccountable bureaucracies in Washington, DC to investigate and manage the minutiae of our private lives.
Two Big Problems Are Plaguing Our Economy, New Small Business Survey Reveals
Image Credit: Flickr
With pandemic restrictions finally being wound down around the country, the economy should be roaring back to life. But we’ve seen much more muted job growth than expected, and we have a record-breaking 9.3 million unfilled job openings while millions of Americans languish on unemployment welfare. What’s going on?
The National Federation of Independent Businesses regularly surveys the thousands of small businesses whose interests it represents. Released this week, its latest polling offers yet more proof that a labor shortage is restraining economic recovery. A record-high 48 percent of business owners said they had jobs they couldn’t fill.
“The labor shortage is holding back growth for small businesses across the country,” NFIB economist Bill Dunkelberg said. “If small business owners could hire more workers to take care of customers, sales would be higher and getting closer to pre-COVID levels.”
The source of this labor shortage, at least in large part, is the continued availability in dozens of states of unemployment welfare benefits that pay more than working a job.
Per Forbes, the average unemployed person can earn the equivalent of $17/hour staying on the welfare rolls under the current “temporary” expanded pandemic benefits (assuming a 40 hour work week). Thus, many workers are disincentivized to return to work, even for jobs that pay $15/hour!
That small businesses across the country are experiencing an acute labor shortage should be no surprise given such dysfunctional government policy. But it’s a huge issue for our economy.
Meanwhile, surging price inflation is also a key cause for concern.
In the new survey, small businesses report big increases in their supply costs. As a result, roughly 40 percent said they are increasing their prices—the highest response to this question since 1981. The rising prices are a major concern for business owners, and one reason why their optimism on the near future fell in this month’s survey.
“Inflation on Main Street is rampant and small business owners are uncertain about future business conditions,” Dunkelberg added.
Where’s the inflation coming from? It’s complicated, but here’s the short answering: reckless federal money-printing.
“Nearly one-quarter of the money in circulation has been created since January 2020,” FEE economist Peter Jacobsen recently explained. But printing more money doesn’t mean we actually have more stuff, and “if more dollars chase the exact same goods, prices will rise.”
From a labor shortage to inflation, our economic recovery faces some serious roadblocks. While the federal government may have intended to help along our resurgence, both hurdles can ultimately be traced back to failed policies in Washington, DC.
Data of the Day: Finally, some good news. The World Bank just projected that the global economy is set for the strongest post-recession recovery in 80 years. Here’s hoping that governments across the world don’t get in the way of the natural roaring revival awaiting economies once pandemic lockdowns and restrictions end.
P.S. I have a new podcast out today interviewing free-market economist Dan Mitchell. He explains the true villain of the COVID-19 pandemic—and what mistakes we should never make again. Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
You don’t always have time to read a full in-depth article. Thankfully, FEE Fellow Patrick Carroll is here to give you the key takeaways from one highlighted article each day.
On May 8, Bob Chitester passed away at the age of 83. Chitester is perhaps best known as the producer of Milton Friedman’s TV series Free to Choose. But as Dr. Rainer Zitelmann notes in his obituary on FEE.org, Chitester was just as passionate as Friedman about advancing the ideas of liberty.
As Friedman notes in his autobiography, he was not immediately thrilled when Chitester first proposed the TV series in January 1977. But fortunately, Friedman came around a few months later, and they embarked on a multi-year journey to teach the world about the importance of capitalism and freedom.
Free to Choose quickly became a massive success, garnering 15 million initial viewers in the US alone. The lectures, discussions, and case studies also resonated with people around the world, and they played a significant role in the collapse of Communism in central and Eastern Europe.
Dr. Zitelmann met with Chitester recently in Friedman’s old summer home, known as Capitaf. “He was full of energy and enthusiasm for the whole three days,” Zitelmann notes, “and we discussed how we could most effectively spread the message of capitalism in the modern world.”
An advocate for liberty until the end, Chitester will be remembered for his passion and dedication.
What Haidt found is that both conservatives and liberals recognize the Harm/Care and Fairness/Reciprocity values. Liberal-minded people, however, tend to reject the three remaining foundational values—Loyalty/betrayal, Authority/subversion, and Sanctity/degradation—while conservatives accept them. It’s an extraordinary difference, and it helps explain why many liberals and conservatives in America think “the other side” is bonkers.
10 Terrifying Facts about the East German Secret Police
by Laura Williams
To maintain power for 40 years while their people starved and plotted to escape, the Communist Party had to get very good at controlling people and undermining anti-state activists. But outright street violence and assassinations weren’t good for the Party image, so the Ministry for State Security got creative.
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What you’ve missed: Woman killed in Brampton park with her husband charged with her murder, and corporations change their logos to rainbows for Pride Month but not in areas where LGBT is forbidden.
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Teacher suspended for speaking out against compelled pronouns REINSTATED
A gym teacher who was suspended after refusing to use students’ preferred pronouns has been reinstated. He made the refusal due to his Christian beliefs.
GOP lawmakers demand that Biden’s AG take action to protect journalists from Antifa attacks in wake of brutal assault on Andy Ngo
GOP lawmakers are demanding that the Biden’s AG Merrick Garland take action to protect journalist Andy Ngo and other reporters from Antifa’s orchestrated campaign of violence and intimidation.
Habs fans celebrate series sweep over Jets by shooting off fireworks, attempting to flip over cop car
On Monday night, the Montreal Canadiens completed a four-game sweep of the Winnipeg Jets, winning 3-2. The Canadiens will now be heading to the Stanley Cup semifinals, and Habs fans flooded the streets around the Bell Centre to celebrate.
In this episode of Cancel This, Angelo dives into the nuances of being a conservative, while also belonging to one of the least conservative generations in history.
Hello! Every Wednesday, our internet culture staff discusses the world of streaming entertainment in this newsletter. In today’s Insider:
The resurgence of the movie musical
Review: Marvel’s Loki is an excellent showcase for Tom Hiddleston
‘Overtly racist’: Actor alleges conflicts behind the scenes of Kim’s Convenience
BREAK THE INTERNET
‘In The Heights’ kicks off Hot Musical Summer
For the past few months, I’ve been having a mini-debate with myself: When I was finally vaccinated and it’s safe, what’s the first movie I’d watch in a theater? Now that theatrical releases are starting to pick back up, the possibilities are endless, even with hybrid releases becoming more normalized. But it didn’t take long for me to settle on my first post-vaccine movie: In The Heights, Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first musical.
Earlier this week, Warner Bros. posted the first eight minutes of the film on YouTube, which mostly consists of the musical’s opening number, “In The Heights.” I’m mostly going into the film cold, not being all that familiar with the musical itself apart from that particular song. But it already contained so many of the markers that made musicals—and movie musicals at that—so much fun: A sprawling ensemble cast belting their hearts out with big and splashy dance moves. It made me a bit emotional watching it on a laptop, and I can only imagine what it’d be like seeing it on the big screen. (Because of Warner Bros.’ hybrid releases for 2021, I have the opportunity to see it both ways.)
We’re no stranger to the movie musical. For so many of us, it’s one of the few ways we’ll ever get to see the splendor of a Broadway musical for ourselves; it’s often too cost-prohibitive for most of us to get in the door. Broadway isn’t dead, but short of filmed productions like Hamilton and David Byrne’s American Utopia, it’s been a long wait for the return of musicals.
In The Heights, which debuts in theaters and on HBO Max on June 10, is far from the only movie musical we’re getting this year. Annette, an original musical with music from Sparks, is opening Cannes before its release on Amazon Prime in August. The film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen starring Ben Platt is coming in September. Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story will arrive in December. And Miranda’s directorial debut, an adaptation of Tick, Tick…Boom!, is coming later this year.
Depending on the type of CBD you’re using as well as how you’re consuming it, it can cause a false positive on routine drug tests. Read our guide to CBD to learn how you can avoid failing a drug test while still benefiting from the power of this mighty cannabinoid.
In a franchise full of mediocre villains, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki remains a standout star. Entertaining? Undoubtedly. Stylish? Absolutely. Sympathetic and misunderstood? Sometimes, until he reveals his true nature as a duplicitous little snake. Selfish, deceitful, and often played for laughs, he’s an incredibly versatile character. Hiddleston’s deep, purring voice and Shakespearean training also do wonders for Loki’s melodramatic speeches, flourishing in this new Disney+ miniseries. The rest of the show, however, is less impressive. Like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki takes far too long to get started.
Spearheaded by screenwriter Michael Waldron (Rick and Morty), Loki begins with our title character getting arrested by the TVA (Time Variance Authority), a secret organization of time cops. Governed by enigmatic gods known as the Time-Keepers, the TVA eliminates any “variants” that break away from the “sacred timeline”—an allegory, perhaps, for keeping Marvel canon on the straight and narrow. After fleeing the Avengers with the Tesseract in hand, this version of Loki became a variant that should be erased. But one TVA agent (Mobius, played by Owen Wilson) suggests another option: Loki might be useful as a kind of expert consultant.
‘Overtly racist’: Actor alleges conflicts behind the scenes of ‘Kim’s Convenience’
Actor Simu Liu—soon to star in Marvel‘s Shang-Chi—raised several criticisms in a now-deleted Facebook post, alleging (among other things) that Kim’s Convenience’s Asian-Canadian cast was underpaid, and that the writer’s room “lacked both East Asian and female representation.” His co-star Jean Yoon also spoke out in a series of tweets on Sunday, describing some of season five’s initial storylines as “overtly racist,” and stating that the lack of Korean writers made her experience on the show “very difficult” and “painful.” Premiering in 2016, Kim’s Convenience focuses on a Korean Canadian family that runs a convenience store in Toronto. It’s currently streaming on Netflix. —G.B.W.
RECS
Streaming White Whales: The Sopranos
Thanks to the pandemic, I’ve finally managed to get around to some of my streaming white whales. And The Sopranos—widely considered to be one of the best TV dramas of all time—is on that list. I’m only at the beginning of season 2, so I’m a long way from determining just how true that assessment is, but I’m enthralled. I know very little about what happens apart from the ending (how could you not?), so for now, I’m going along for the ride while wracking my brain about just how Silvio Dante and the E-Street Band exist in the same universe. —M.J.
“Heart disease CAN be reversed . . .
and I’m living proof”
Dear Reader,
Dr. Crandall, chief of the cardiac transplant program at the esteemed Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Florida, is not your typical heart doctor. He’s been on both sides of the examination table — as a heart doctor and as a heart patient.
With no family history of heart disease, and without warning, at age 48 Dr. Crandall had a massive heart attack.
To save his life, doctors performed emergency surgery and placed two stents in his heart.
And that’s when his life changed. He realized from this episode that if he wanted to continue to make a significant contribution to this world, he had to take better care of his own health, and particularly his heart.
At that moment, Dr. Crandall began his own fight with heart disease — a fight he won.
S adly, heart disease is STILL the #1 killer of Americans, responsible for nearly one-third of ALL deaths. It kills more men and women each year than all cancers combined, including breast cancer.
And shockingly, most Americans over age 35 already suffer from heart disease, whether they know it or not. Yes, heart disease often starts early in life, and then slowly progresses until one day it manifests as a very serious problem, even a fatal one.
But here’s the good news . . .
Heart disease is completely unnecessary because it can be prevented, and even reversed . . .
That’s why if you, or anyone you love, is suffering from heart disease, you need to see This Important Video and learn about the 4 warning signs you are about to have a heart attack.
According to Dr. Crandall, the reason silent heart attacks go untreated is that people don’t even notice the symptoms, so he created a special video presentation to show the four things to look for that may be a silent warning – before it’s too late to intervene and survive the damage.
Timing is the most critical factor for survival. Statistics show a clear link between delay in treatment and disability or death – the amount of time that elapses between the first sign of symptoms and receiving care.
That’s why knowing what to look for in terms of symptoms is critical, especially when they’re the kind that most people don’t think to associate with a heart attack – like the four things in Dr. Crandall’s video, 4 Things You’ll Feel Right Before a Heart Attack.
Here’s to good health,
Nancy Reynolds
For Newsmax HealthP.S. Click here now to get your FREE Special Report and FREE copy of The Simple Heart Cure. You will be so glad you did!
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As much as we have attempted to sound the alarm and save the lives of both Democrats and Republicans (and everyone else) across America, recent polls and surveys reveal that about 95% of Democrats have either already taken the covid vaccine or plan to. But nearly half of Republicans plan to avoid taking the vaccine. (See Gallup source here.)
This means about 19 out of 20 Democrats are getting vaccinated, while only about 1 out of 2 Republicans are getting vaccinated. Anyone who can do math can readily calculate the impact of this if the warnings about covid vaccine mass deaths turn out to be true. Far more Democrats would be impacted (injured, hospitalized or even killed) by the vaccine, compared to Republicans or even Independents.
Today’s detailed article and podcast take a look at what happens if the vaccine death wave kicks in over the next 1-3 years, and what this might mean for America, elections, economics and the collapse of blue cities and states.
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Suzi Voyles is no stranger to elections. And after monitoring voting in Atlanta-area Fulton County, Georgia, for two decades, Voyles said that the highly contentious 2020 election proved to be… Read more…
Former President Barack Obama mocked conservatives’ pushback on critical race theory on Monday night during a CNN interview, claiming “right-wing” outlets are promoting fear among white Americans in an increasingly… Read more…
Former President Donald Trump announced Monday that he plans to travel to Alaska to campaign against Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s re-election. One of the reasons Trump pointed to for this… Read more…
Donald Trump Jr. put speculation about his father’s 2024 plans into high gear Monday when he posted a video of his father with generous commentary about its implications. “Did My… Read more…
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(Scott Johnson)If our cyborg president malfunctions, the ludicrous Kamala Harris will try to step into its very small shoes. What a lightweight leftist hack she is. She can’t even handle a friendly interviewer without embarrassing herself (video below).
HARRIS: “We’ve been to the border. So this whole thing about the border.”
Harris: “We’ve been to the border.”
Harris: “We’ve been to the border.”
HOLT: “You haven’t been to the border.”
Harris: “I… and I haven’t been to Europe.” https://t.co/dftSFsU88Fpic.twitter.com/Q6pIdXQqPs
In her remarks to Lester Holt, she put me in mind of the Hoyt Axton number “Never Been To Spain.” Three Dog Night had a hit with it. My favorite version is by Elvis. With apologies to Axton:
Never been to our border —
More than a little out of order.
We got disorder
Coming toward her.
“What does it matter?” [inappropriate laughter]
(Paul Mirengoff)Donald Trump stormed to the Republican presidential nomination and won the presidency by articulating grievances shared by vast numbers of Americans — grievances about illegal immigration, the “exporting” of American job, the tyranny of political correctness, etc. Other conservative politicians shared these concerns, but I doubt that anyone could have galvanized the public around them as effectively as Trump did.
But that was then, this is now. So the question becomes whether Trump remains the best public figure to articulate these grievances — and the new, related ones that have arisen since.
The question is especially pertinent because, unlike in 2015-16, Trump now has a new set of grievances — one that is personal to him. His main grievance, of course, is that his alleged landslide victory in 2020 was stolen. There are also his grievances about the two impeachments, about Anthony Fauci, and so forth.
To the extent that Trump, in his public appearances, fixates on the past and on the personal, he diminishes himself as a spokesman on the current problems that beset America and, in my view, as a viable nominee in 2024. To what extent does he so fixate?
For now, the question is best answered by considering the speech the former president delivered to North Carolina Republicans last week. This, after all, was his first major address in some time.
To hear the media tell it, Trump’s speech was largely a litany of personal grievances. For example, the Washington Post called its story on the speech “Republican leaders say they want to focus on the future, but Trump is far from done with the past.” The first paragraph states:
As Republicans gathered Saturday in two battleground Southern states to chart a course forward after losing the White House and both chambers of Congress, former president Donald Trump was partially fixated on the past as he aired grievances, repeated falsehoods and promoted culture war issues that have captured his imagination.
(Emphasis added)
Similarly, CNN’s headline was “Trump dwells on 2020 during North Carolina event aimed at helping Republicans in 2022.”
These reports aren’t exactly false, but they are misleading. Trump isn’t done with the past, but the focus of his speech was on the present. That’s clear, I think, from this transcript, especially the first half of it.
In addition to praising various North Carolina politicians and personalities, Trump talked about defending the border (first and foremost), combatting the cancel culture, rejecting critical race theory, supporting the police, the two pipelines (the American one Joe Biden nixed and the Russian one Biden went along with), the relatively poor job numbers under Biden, inflation, and so forth. Only late in the speech did Trump discuss the 2020 presidential election.
And what does the Post mean by “partially fixated on the past”? I always thought that one is either fixated on something or not. What the Post means is that Trump’s speech wasn’t really fixated on the past, but the paper wants to pretend it was.
To be clear, I don’t consider Donald Trump the best person to bear the standard against Joe Biden and the Democrats. I believe there are other strong Republican leaders who can forcefully present our conservative grievances. Maybe not as effectively as Trump aired them in 2016, but probably as effectively as he can now, and without all the baggage. And with better prospects for an effective presidency.
But there’s no excuse for the mainstream media’s misleading coverage of Trump’s North Carolina speech or, more generally, for its consistently dishonest coverage of the man himself.
(Steven Hayward)One of the many things the Biden Administration wants to do is increase the enforcement budget of the IRS, so it can hound tens or hundreds of thousands more taxpayers every year in their rapacious desire to punish the prosperous. (Remember: According to the new liberal dogma of “Modern Monetary Theory,” we can borrow and spend all we want without consequence, so there is no reason to raise any tax on anybody. “Punitive liberalism”—James Piereson’s great phrase—is the only explanation for this.)
Hence ProPublica’s blockbuster story out today on the taxes of the super rich ought to be raising not just eyebrows (for its economic illiteracy), but a major Department of Justice investigation as to how ProPublica came into possession of supposedly private and confidential IRS data on individual taxpayers.
Let’s review briefly what ProPublica is reporting:
ProPublica has obtained a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years. The data provides an unprecedented look inside the financial lives of America’s titans, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg. It shows not just their income and taxes, but also their investments, stock trades, gambling winnings and even the results of audits. . .
The confidential tax records obtained by ProPublica show that the ultrarich effectively sidestep this system. [Boldface added.]
Just how did ProPublica “obtain” this data? The only hint it this:
ProPublica is not disclosing how it obtained the data, which was given to us in raw form, with no conditions or conclusions.
The passive voice is telling here. There are two possibilities: someone in the IRS leaked the data (a felony), or the IRS was hacked (which is less than reassuring) and then the data was passed on to ProPublica. I go with possibility Number One. Will there be an investigation into who leaked it? Will anyone in the White House press corps ask Jen Psaki about it today (or tomorrow)? Will Democrats on Capitol Hill hold hearings and get IRS staff to testify about this breach of privacy? I’m not holding my breath for any of these outcomes.
Now on to the substance of the story. ProPublica confuses “income” with “wealth” in order to come up with this supposedly shocking table of the “real tax rate,” based on the risible premise that someone’s total wealth should be taxed every year, and not just their income:
Question: Any readers out there looking forward to paying taxes on the increased value of your home and other fixed assets? Because if you think any wealth tax would be limited to just the super rich, I have a history of the income tax I’d like to show you from back when it was first instituted, and estimated to affect only a tiny percentage of Americans (ProPublica actually reports this: “In 1918, only 15% of American families owed any tax”), and then at a rate that would never exceed 10 percent.
P.S. Also this from the story:
One of the billionaires mentioned in this article objected, arguing that publishing personal tax information is a violation of privacy. We have concluded that the public interest in knowing this information at this pivotal moment outweighs that legitimate concern.
I believe the public interest in knowing how private and confidential individual tax data was obtained by leftist hyenas outweighs the sensationalist and retributive motives of ProPublica.
(Paul Mirengoff)A new Pew Research poll finds that 60 percent of Americans favor the death penalty for people convicted of murder. This result is a stunning turnaround. Less than five years ago, Pew found that only 49 percent of Americans favored the death penalty for convicted murderers. This was the lowest level of support in more than four decades.
The October 2016 poll showed 42 percent opposed to the death penalty. The latest poll shows 39 percent opposed. So we have moved from a narrow 7 percentage point favorability margin to a margin of 21 percentage points.
What accounts for the difference? It must be the surge in violent crime, mustn’t it?
Why has public support for the death penalty increased so much when it had been falling for twenty years, or since the mid-Ninties? I can’t say for sure, but I’ll take an educated guess. Support has risen over the last five or six years because the number of murders annually has risen, dramatically, over that time.
Over the last 12 months in particular, murder has risen to levels not seen in decades. It’s now at the point that even a biased press can no longer pass it off as a blip or a momentary phenomenon.
In reporting on the Pew survey, The Hill provides this headline: “Poll: Majority of Americans favor death penalty despite some reservations.” The headline fails to inform readers that this majority, at 60 percent, is robust. And the story itself fails to mention that not long ago, a majority did not favor the death penalty.
I agree with Bill that a better headline for the story would be: “Support for the death penalty surges in less than five years.”
It’s true that most Americans have “some reservations” about the death penalty. Frankly, I wouldn’t want to live in a country that supports executions unreservedly. As Bill says, “The death penalty is strong medicine. No normal person relishes the prospect of executing a fellow creature.” Nor can we guarantee that no innocent person will ever be executed.
Thus, American public opinion is right where it should be — supporting the death penalty, but with reservations.
Support is likely to grow unless violent crime decreases. And with more and more criminals being released early from jail (or never being sent there) and with less and less policing of crime-riddled neighborhoods, it seems unlikely that violent crime will decrease.
“Law and order” should be a winning issue for Republicans going forward, if the party backs away from the soft-sentencing posture embraced by former president Trump and key GOP legislators.
(Scott Johnson)Last week I noted Robert Satloff’s analysis of the May 26 New York Times page-one feature on the Gaza war — “They were only children” As Satloff explained, the Times spread displayed thumbnail photos of “69 youths under 18 years old – 67 Palestinians and two Israelis, one Arab and one Jewish – killed in the 11 days of conflict between Israel and Gaza-based Palestinian terrorist groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.” Satloff exposed a basic problem with the page-one Times feature.
Following up on Satloff’s analysis, I want to note Jake Wallis Simons’s Spectator article “The problem with the New York Times’s Gaza coverage.” Subhead: “Every Israel-Gaza conflict sees fake images repackaged as Israeli aggression and circulated online.” Simons itemizes the post-publication disclosures regarding certain of the child victims depicted in the photo lineup on page one of the Times:
The first disclosure was that a charming photograph of a girl wrapped in a keffiyeh and smiling confidently in the first row of the collage was not, as the paper had claimed, 10-year-old Rahaf al-Masri. It was an unidentified picture from 2015.
How had the error occurred? Well, the fake image had simply been circulating on Twitter. This had apparently been enough for the New York Times to run with it — though it was not, of course, enough for the sleuths who followed their tracks, nor, one would have thought, for the public.
The unraveling gathered pace. It soon emerged that 17-year-old Khaled al-Qanoi, pictured in the fourth row of the Times’s heartrending montage, was in fact a fighter in the al-Mujahedeen Brigades, a terror group in Gaza.
A straightforward Facebook search brought up multiple images of al-Qanoi aiming rocket-propelled grenades, and posing in front of the militant group’s flag wearing a headband and brandishing an automatic weapon.
Had the Times journalists thought of checking Facebook, they may have found al-Qanoi’s eulogistic ‘martyr video’, put together by his terrorist comrades. Some social media posts carry more weight than others, it seems, where a certain 130 Pulitzer Prize-winning title is concerned.
Things were not looking good for the ill-fated front page. And they were only getting worse. It emerged that 15-year-old Mohammed Suleiman, on the second row of the montage, was the son of Saber Suleiman, a prominent Hamas commander.
Once again, it was unclear why the Times journalists had neglected to look at Facebook. If they had, they would have unearthed a video of Suleiman père et fils in matching combat fatigues, firing a heavy weapon together.
They would also have found photographs of young Mohammed brandishing an assault rifle at home, in the woods and while astride a horse, clad in a military uniform.
Initial reports claimed that father and son had been killed by an Israeli drone strike while ‘on their agricultural land outside the city of Jabalia’. Tending their crops, no doubt.
As the days ticked past, more holes began to appear in the already threadbare New York Times splash. There were suggestions that at least ten of the children pictured may have been killed by some of the 600-odd Hamas rockets that mistakenly landed in Gaza.
This is a classic case that inadvertently illuminates the trouble with the Times as a political actor and with the nature of Hamas, if only attention were to be paid. Whole thing here.
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Were Capitol Police Officers set up and then abandoned?
Mark Alexander
“I hate deception, even where the imagination only is concerned.” —George Washington (1779)
The Senate released its 127-page “bipartisan report” on the January 6th Capitol protest, some of which devolved into violent confrontations between U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) and rioters. The report lays most of the blame for unpreparedness on the USCP, which is not where most of the responsibility should be placed.
Until that report was released yesterday, here is what we have known to be the indisputable truth about that protest, and how Democrats did what they do best — used it as political fodder to advance their statist agenda.
On that unfortunate January day, after former President Donald Trump held a rally down the road, some outlying miscreants at that rally, spurred on by conspiracy theory luminaries, unlawfully entered the Capitol building to disrupt the Electoral College process. A few of those protesters tangled with police, but most trespassed in the building without causing harm or damage.
As I noted in my original analysis regarding this shameful incident, the reason Capitol Police were not prepared for that fringe mob is that all law enforcement agencies expected Trump rally attendees to act like they always had previously — with civility and respect. There was little reason to believe that some fraction of 1% of those attending the Trump rally would resort to the riotous thuggery that is otherwise associated with “peaceful” leftist protests. Heretofore, that has been the modus operandi of the leftist so-called “Black Lives Matter” Marxists and their like-minded “antifa” fascists.
Unlike the wake of murders from all the violent leftist protests across the nation in the last year, we know there was only one fatality connected with the Capitol riot — that of an unarmed Air Force veteran named Ashli Babbitt, who was shot dead by a Capitol Police officer. And unlike all police-involved shootings across the nation, there has been no further public investigation of what, arguably, appears to be a wholly unjustifiable shooting — yet. Babbitt’s family has filed suit to determine the identity of the officer who killed her, as well as the circumstances leading to that lethal use of force.
There was one other death of an officer who was at the Capitol building during the riot — that of Brian Sicknick, a Trump supporter. His death was widely claimed to be the result of the riot. It turns out those reports were fabricated by The New York Times and repeated by CNN and all their Leftmedia parrots downstream. In fact, we now know that Officer Sicknick died of “natural causes” a day after the riot.
But his autopsy report was not made public until three months after Officer Sicknick’s death, giving Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) plenty of time to fabricate their narrative for the post-presidential impeachment monkey trial of Trump. They desecrated Officer Sicknick’s service and death by using it as political fodder for their impeachment charade.
We know that the gross Pelosi/Schumer double standard demonstrated by their response to the Capitol riot versus the previous six months of riots across the nation was the height of hypocrisy. And that disparity includes the arrest and incarceration of Capitol protesters versus the Democrats’ disinterest in bringing to justice thousands of violent rioters across the nation — some of whom committed murders.
We know that to bolster their theatrical production, Demos turned our nation’s capital into what looked like a third-world dictatorial defense against a coup d’état, even activating the National Guard for no other reason than to serve as props for Demo theatrics. On their watch, however, a Capitol Police officer was murdered and another officer wounded — by a black Islamist assailant.
We know that the Republicans wisely blocked the formation of Pelosi’s “9/11 type commission,” which she was going to use to keep the Capitol riot front-and-center from now until the 2022 midterm elections. Her comparison of the Capitol incident to what actually happened as a result of the 9/11 Islamist attack on our country in 2001 is inexcusable.
Of course, we know that Joe Biden has used the Capitol riot as fodder for insisting, as he trumpeted in his joint address to Congress, that “the most lethal terrorist threat to the homeland today is from white supremacist terrorism.” He repeated that race-bait rhetoric again this week in Tulsa, where he used the anniversary of a racial attack 100 years ago to promote the Demos’ race-hustling agenda.
There has been a succession of administrative actions to bolster this phony “white supremacist” narrative.
Biden ordered Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to issue a 60-day stand down to search for extremists in the military. Attorney General Merrick Garland marked the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing by declaring, “The Department of Justice is pouring its resources into stopping domestic violent extremists before they can attack.” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines pushed out a “threat assessment” that was focused on “white extremism.” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ordered an internal review of “threats” within the department and parroted Biden’s line, saying, “Domestic violent extremism poses the most lethal and persistent terrorism-related threat to our country today.”
Astoundingly, no sooner had the CDC announced relaxed restrictions on Americans who had been vaccinated than Biden’s political puppets at DHS issued a report that absurdly asserted, “Violent extremists may seek to exploit the easing of COVID-19-related restrictions across the United States to conduct attacks against a broader range of targets after previous public capacity limits reduced opportunities for lethal attacks.” The warning added that extremists would “exploit constitutionally protected freedom of speech” in order to fuel violence based on “false narratives.”
Actually, the only redlining of freedom of speech, in violation of the First Amendment civil rights of all Americans, is being perpetrated by the Democrats.
So, all the theatrics aside, what have we learned from the Senate report?
Regarding preparedness, the report notes: “DOD’s response to January 6 was informed by criticism it received about its response to the civil unrest after the death of George Floyd during the summer of 2020. DOD was criticized for its heavy-handed response, particularly flying military helicopters over the protests in summer 2020.” The report adds, “DOD officials cited lessons learned from the summer 2020 as guiding its decision-making for January 6. DOD officials believed it needed ‘control measures’ and ‘rigor’ before deploying DCNG personnel, including a clear deployment plan to avoid the appearance of overmilitarization.”
In other words, the Demos’ protection of rioters in the months since George Floyd’s death — those burning, looting, and murdering ostensibly in support of the Demos’ fabricated “systemic racism” agenda — served to suppress riot preparations ahead of the January 6 protest.
Thus, there was no preparation despite this revelation from the report: “Through open-source collection, tips from the public and other sources, [police] knew about social media posts calling for violence at the Capitol on 6 January, including a plot to breach the Capitol, the online sharing of maps of the Capitol complex’s tunnel systems, and other specific threats of violence.”
We learned that leftist D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser refused federal assistance, insisting, “Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is prepared for this week’s First Amendment activities.” After the riot, she pulled a blame-shift maneuver, saying, “I think a more robust presence on the ground” would have maintained order.
The report determined that “USCP leadership never took control of the radio system to communicate orders to front-line officers.” Indeed, one officer who suffered injuries testified: “I was horrified that NO deputy chief or above was on the radio or helping us. For hours the screams on the radio were horrific, the sights were unimaginable and there was a complete loss of control. … For hours NO Chief or above took command and control. Officers were begging and pleading for help for medical triage.”
Another officer said: “We were ill prepared. We were NOT informed with intelligence. We were betrayed. We were abandoned by ALL the deputy chiefs and above that day. We still have not been told where exactly the chiefs were that day and what their [role] was on the sixth.”
Recall that in an April report by the Capitol Police Inspector General, it was determined that senior officials told the officers to restrain any use of force. Almost sounds like the officers were set up and then abandoned.
Capitol Police “acknowledged it must improve how it collects and shares intelligence with its own officers and stakeholders and has made significant changes since the attack on January 6,” the USCP said in a statement responding to the report. “Neither the USCP, nor the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, Metropolitan Police or our other law enforcement partners knew thousands of rioters were planning to attack the U.S. Capitol. The known intelligence simply didn’t support that conclusion.”
In other words, as I originally asserted back in January, “The reason Capitol Police were not prepared for that fringe mob is that all law enforcement agencies expected Trump rally attendees to act like they always had previously — with civility and respect.” And I provided that assessment for free!
So, what will we learn further from the report? That Democrats will use it as political fodder to advance Biden’s “extremists around every corner” agenda.
Of course, the real extremist threat is, as it has been, from the Left.
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87.) DECISION DESK HQ
NJ and VA Primary Results, The Democratic Primary Race For NYC Mayor Gets A Shake Up, Florida Senate Race Heats Up
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DDHQ News Round Up
Virginia Democrats held their primary elections yesterday for statewide offices. As expected, former Governor Terry McAuliffe easily won the party’s nomination for Governor.
Del. Hala Ayala will be the first Hispanic woman to run statewide in Virginia after winning her party’s nomination to be Lt. Governor. Virginia will have a female Lt. Governor after Republicans nominated Winsome Sears at a state party convention last month.
In New Jersey, Republicans nominated former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli as their candidate for Governor.
You can see full Virginia statewide and legislative results here, while the New Jersey results are here.
With the matchups set in the two states holding gubernatorial contests this year, attention turns to the question, will Democrats hold these two blue states or can Republicans pull an upset in one or both of them?
A new poll of the New York City mayoral race shows a change at the top with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams now leading the race with longtime front runner Andrew Yang slipping to second, and former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia surging to third. The poll was taken prior to news of allegations that Adams may actually live in New Jersey. Adams responded to the story by taking reporters on a tour of his Brooklyn home.
Florida Democratic Congresswoman Val Demings announced her campaign for the party’s nomination to the US Senate and the chance to take on two term incumbent Republican Marco Rubio. In addition to her early life and attacks on Rubio, the intro video highlights her long carrier in law enforcement and success in reducing crime while Chief of Police in Orlando.
Maya Wiley Is Trying To Lead Progressives To The NYC Mayor’s Office
By Nick Field
If the cities are the heart of the progressive movement, then the Mayor of New York City is supposed to serve as a beacon for progressives nationwide.
That liberal mantle was instead picked up by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after her surprise victory in the Democratic primary over Rep. Joe Crowley in 2018. Soon afterward there was speculation, and even encouragement, that AOC would run to be the next Mayor of New York City in 2021. She chose to pass on the opportunity, however, turning out to be one of the few to do so.
Among those uneasy about Wiley’s record are the editorial boards of the New York Times and the New York Daily News. Both papers instead endorsed Kathryn Garcia, a first-time candidate fresh off a well-regarded tenure as Commissioner of the Sanitation Department. The dual endorsements fueled a rise for Garcia in the polls and now present a direct threat to Wiley. After all, progressives voters are the most likely ones to be swayed by the support of the Times and Daily News.
Given that Andrew Yang and Eric Adams are splitting the moderate vote, a possible bifurcation of the progressive bloc between Wiley and Garcia would make this already turbulent contest even more disorganized. For their part, the National Organization of Women decided on Sunday to throw their support behind Wiley.
The other major question looming over Wiley’s ambitions is whether she will be able to draw enough support from Black and Hispanic voters. The numerous fights she picked with Adams during the debates make it clear she considers him to be her largest threat with these voters.
In the post-Obama Era, Democrats too often viewed voters of color as monolithic progressives. A core tenant of Adams’ strategy seems to be the exact opposite, that Black and Hispanic want a candidate strong on crime and not beholden to liberals. This sets up a critical question: Will more progressive, or moderate, voters of color show up on Election Day?
A new Ipsos poll suggests Wiley still faces an uphill climb. Only 9% rank her as their first choice, behind Adams (22%), Yang (16%), Garcia (15%) and even Stringer (10%). One crucial caveat, though, is that this survey was in the field from May 17th to the 31st. So we still don’t know what effect AOC’s endorsement and the second Stringer accusation will eventually have on the numbers.
After a 2020 presidential contest that saw moderate Democrats prevail over progressives, the party’s activist wing is desperate for a win. So much so that Elizabeth Warren is now formally backing Wiley’s candidacy. Winning the Mayoralty of NYC is a realistic goal for the left wing of the party, but it will require getting unified while the center stays splintered.
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President Biden departs for first overseas trip, Democrats to draft infrastructure legislation and more news to start your Wednesday.
It’s Hump Day, Daily Briefing readers. Happy Wednesday! President Joe Biden will begin a very important trip to Europe. Meanwhile, back at home, members of Congress will attempt to find some sort of bipartisan compromise on his $1 trillion infrastructure plan.
⚖ “Let history record that, at this moment, we stood united”: An expansive bill aimed at reinvigorating America’s technological footprint to counter China passed the Senate Tuesday.
👑 “Cancel culture” in the UK? British conservatives weren’t pleased after students at Oxford University voted to remove a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II as a symbol of “recent colonial history.”
💻 About that massive internet outage yesterday: Fastly, a major content delivery service, says an internal error – not hackers – caused delays in the system. Head here for a more detailed explanation.
Biden tries to rebuild diplomatic ties, confront Putin in European visit
President Joe Biden departs Wednesday on his first overseas trip in office , an eight-day blitz that will include meetings with key allies and one big adversary – Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Biden will attend the Group of Seven summit in Cornwall, England, then head to Brussels, Belgium, for a NATO summit and a meeting with European Union chiefs before sitting down with Putin in Geneva, Switzerland. The European leaders should find Biden more cordial than predecessor Donald Trump, who badgered NATO countries to increase their financial contributions and clashed with Europe on climate change, trade, and other issues.
House Democrats to begin drafting infrastructure legislation after Biden’s talks with GOP break down
House Democrats are poised to start drafting infrastructure legislation Wednesday, hours after President Joe Biden shifted negotiations on hisinfrastructure plan that would total about $1 trillion toward a bipartisan group of centrist senators after negotiations with six Republicans broke down. The legislation appears to be one of the “several paths” to Biden’s goal, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. As Biden reaches for a bipartisan deal, he has ramped up talks with a separate group of senators that includes moderate Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia as well as Republican Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Rob Portman of Ohio and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker and Southwest Airlines flight attendant JacqueRae Hill
JacqueRae Hill, Special to USA TODAY
Minnesota Supreme Court to hear arguments in Minneapolis police officer’s murder case
The Minnesota Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in the case of Mohamed Noor , a former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of third-degree murder in the 2017 shooting death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, who had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault behind her home. Noor’s attorneys argue that a divided Minnesota Court of Appeals failed to follow legal precedents defining third-degree murder when it affirmed Noor’s conviction. The court’s decision has repercussions for another high profile police killing case as former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin was also convicted of third-degree murder, as well as second-degree manslaughter, for killing George Floyd.
Newsmakers in their own words: Keira Knightley discusses harassment
CMT Music Awards to celebrate country’s biggest stars
Carrie Underwood, Gladys Knight, Chris Stapleton and Luke Bryan will perform at the CMT Music Awards Wednesday night (CMT, MTV, MTV2, Logo and Paramount Network, 8 p.m. ET.) Maren Morris and Miranda Lambert lead the field with four nominations apiece, including two each in top prize video of the year. Trailblazing country artist Linda Martell, 80, will be presented with the second annual CMT Equal Play Award, recognizing her legacy as one of country music’s first prominent Black female artists.
Also on Wednesday: A busy day in the world of sports
🎾 Shot at a rare feat: At the French Open, American Coco Gauff, 17, could become the youngest woman to reach the semifinals at any major tennis tournament since 2006 with a win over Barbora Krejcikova.
🥎 “No Quit Noles”: The Florida State softball team is one win away from a second national title in four years after beating No. 1 Oklahoma in Game 1 of the best-of-three series 8-4 Tuesday. Game 2 is Wednesday night.
Marvel mischief maker ‘Loki’ arrives on Disney+
Tom Hiddleston returns as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s troublemaking Loki in a new Disney+ series that premiered early Wednesday . “Loki” follows the mercurial Norse god after his escape via some time-shifting shenanigans in “Avengers: Endgame.” In the first episode, Loki is apprehended by the all-powerful Time Variance Authority, where employee Mobius (Owen Wilson) decides to use the antihero to help track down a dangerous fugitive. USA TODAY critic Kelly Lawler likes what she’s seen so far: “This is the first Marvel series on Disney+ to have a firm hold of its identity from the word go.”
Tom Hiddleston plays Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
📸 Photo of the day: Paris preps for its day in the Olympic spotlight 📸
June 8, 2021: Pictured from the elevated subway train, a giant flag flies at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The reason of the event was not immediately known.
Lewis Joly, AP
A large Paris 2024 flag was unveiled at the top of the Eiffel Tower as the French capital stepped up its preparations for the handover ceremony at the end of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo on Aug. 8.
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About 46% of the public says the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is at least somewhat untrustworthy. That’s according to a recent Invisibly online poll. Fifty-four percent (54%) said the CDC is slightly or completely trustworthy. The number of people who said CDC information is “completely untrustworthy” (33%) is up 10 percentage points over a […]
The following is an excerpt of an article appearing in GovExec.com. A link to the full story appears at the bottom of the excerpt. A pathologist at the Veterans Affairs Department operated for years with impunity despite suffering from alcoholism, which led to the significant misdiagnoses and the deaths of some patients. Robert Levy, a […]
The following is a news analysis. President Biden waited longer to make his first foreign trip than any other president in 58 years. He’s covering less ground and visiting fewer countries than did Trump and Obama on their first big foreign trips. The double standards in media reporting continue to be on display daily under […]
– June 8, 2021 – Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America Congratulations to the country of Nigeria, who just banned Twitter because they banned their President. More COUNTRIES should ban Twitter and Facebook for not allowing free and open speech—all voices should be heard. In the meantime, competitors […]
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These days, everyone wants brows that look naturally full, thick, and youthful. Now, one doctor says he’s found the secret — and it’s not micro-blading or makeup. According to Dr. John Layke — Beverly Hills beauty expert — thinning brows are one of the most noticeable signs of aging. Fortunately, this is a problem you can easily solve at home. Whether your brows have thinned out due to over-plucking, over-waxing, or as a natural effect of getting older, Dr. Layke says this do-it-yourself brow-boosting technique can give you a dramatically fuller, more youthful look.
Supervillain Loki will be “gender-fluid” in new Disney+ show that drops this week
With a polyamorous Star-Lord, a gay Captain America, and Jordan Peterson as a Hydra villain, it’s not going to be long before the new Big Bad in the MCU is a white Christian guy who’s faithfully married and has three kids.
US Coast Guard rescues 3 adults and 2 dogs floating on giant inflatable pink flamingo off Alaskan coast
Kodiak resident Hollie Spence was spending her 30th birthday just chillin on the Alaskan coast inside a giant inflatable flamingo with a few friends and their puppy dogs. Little did she know, the currents of Monashka Bay were about to pull the party out to sea.
Remember the Loudoun County teacher fired for saying he wouldn’t teach transgender ideology? A judge just reinstated him while his lawsuit continues.
P.E. teacher Tanner Cross gave a respectful but passionate speech to the woke Loudoun County school board last month, telling them that he loves his students but that his Christian faith prohibits him from teaching them transgender ideology.
Watch this video and tell me how on earth The Babylon Bee is supposed to compete with this
Our dear bros at The Babylon Bee must feel the weight of real life crushing them daily.
NBC’s Lester Holt called Kamala out for not visiting the border and she cackled that she hasn’t “been to Europe” either 🤡
You know the situation is bad when leftist media is calling out the politicians they love!
Why Christian higher education is one of the most important decisions you can make
Ladies and gentlemen, lend me your ears.
The FBI just carried out a massive global crime sting that led to 800 arrests in at least 18 nations, and they used an app to do it 👀
The FBI and Australian police came up with an ingenious operation in 2018 called “Trojan Shield” or “Ironside” that sold criminals phones with a messaging app called ANOM that they believed would keep them from being tracked.
Simone Biles doing a floor routine in ultra-slow motion might be one of the most jaw-dropping things you’ll see this week.
This gymnastic maneuver is mind-blowing, especially the last 45 seconds:
Watch this insanely buff police officer pick a guy up like a toddler and carry him out of a bar 💪
Check out this police officer who has literally no problem picking up an unruly dude and giving him a time-out like a toddler:
What do you think about this new Nickelodeon video where a drag queen teaches kids the colors of the LGBT flag?
This is what TV networks meant for little kids are featuring these days??
These shoppers in Cameroon used an escalator for the first time and it went exactly how you’d expect
Apparently, the city of Douala, Cameroon got its first shopping mall late last year and people had a hard time adjusting to the modern oddity known as escalators.
We need to talk about these cookies Kamala passed out to reporters
I’ve seen some cringeworthy stuff in my day, but handing out cookies with your face on them brings it to a new level:
Where are the panicked warnings over Christian support of Biden?
Though the mainstream press was always on the lookout for more, there was no shortage of prominent evangelical Christians who were always willing to condemn the Trumpian rise of so-called Christian nationalism.
Burger King is trying to dunk on Chick-fil-A by donating to LGBT causes for every chicken sandwich sold, “even on Sundays”
Burger King must not have gotten the message that it doesn’t usually go well for restaurant chains that try to throw shots at Chick-fil-A (ask Popeye’s).
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99.) MARK LEVIN
June 8, 2021
Posted on
On Tuesday’s Mark Levin Show, Barack Obama got a softball interview with Anderson Cooper and of course, he doesn’t get any hard questions. Instead, he reverts to demagoguery. Obama references changes in the Demographics of America and gets no pushback, yet this program receives hateful criticism for pointing out these same changes. Obama says some right-wing media outlets stoke fear and that White America is resentful of the changing population. Then, Obama cynically cites critical race theory as the biggest threat to the republic, the problem is that this is Marxism and Obama knows it. Herbert Marcuse is the ideological founding father of the new left movement and critical race theory. Later, President Biden and Antony Blinken have handed hundreds of millions of dollars to the Palestinians through intermediaries with no strings attached. Biden also ignores Rep. Ilhan Omar’s antisemitism. Afterward, Michael Farris from Alliance Defending Freedom calls in to explain the facts of the Tanner Cross case. Cross was silenced by the Loudon County School Board after voicing his objections to using coerced pronouns that are against his faith beliefs.
The podcast for this show can be streamed or downloaded from the Audio Rewind page.
Image used with permission of Getty Images / White House Pool
100.) WOLF DAILY
Wolf Daily Newsletter
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U.S. media outlet ProPublica said it obtained “a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years.”
The man alleged to have slapped French President Emmanuel Macron in the face ran a club for enthusiasts of medieval swordsmanship and had no previous criminal record, sources close to the investigation said on Wednesday.
A Wisconsin pharmacist who pleaded guilty to trying to spoil hundreds of doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine because he was skeptical about them has been jailed for three years, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar is a sick anti-America and antisemitic radical. That she is the face of the new Democrat Nazi party tells you everything you need to know about the American left.
The Biden Administration has renewed American “aid” to the Palestinian Authority. As such, we can expect that the Palestinian Authority’s “Pay to slay Jews” policy will intensify in the coming years. As for the Left, they will continue to defame, …
Who should control taxation in America? The American citizens who live and work here or politicians who live somewhere else? That question seemed to be settled in 1783 when Great…
The mission of the Media Research Center is to create a media culture in America where truth and liberty flourish. The MRC is a research and education organization operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and contributions to the MRC are tax-deductible.
GOP demand AG Garland protect journalist Andy NgoSeveral GOP lawmakers are demanding that the Biden administration’s Attorney General Merrick Garland take action to protect journalist Andy Ngo and other reporters from Antifa’s orchestrated campaign of violence and…
President Trump says “More countries should ban Twitter and Facebook”President Trump released a new statement praising the country of Nigeria for banning Twitter from their country after their ongoing censorship practices. They just censored the President of the country. He hinted…
Gangland mayor is ordered to explain her racist interview policyA Judge has ordered Mayor Lori Lightfoot to explain why she’s giving interviews only to non-white journalists The Daily Caller News Foundation and Judicial Watch sued Lightfoot for racial discrimination after reporter…
Woke Oxford college students cancel Queen ElizabethKing’s College recently apologized for mourning the death of Prince Philip and now we have Oxford college removing a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II because she “represents recent colonial history.” Queen Elizabeth…
Scottish woman faces jail time for offensive tweets“Nobody has the right to not be offended. That right doesn’t exist in any declaration I have ever read.” Millar added: “Police and politicians seem to have lost sight of…
Obama is back [did he leave?] trash-talking and sabotaging“Outside Independence Hall when the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ended, Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no…