•At least 110 people have died from ‘devastating floods’ in parts of western Germany and Belgium the AP reports, another stark indicator of climate change’s effect on Earth’s ecosystem. Search operations are underway for hundreds still missing.
•A jury has found Jerrod Ramos criminally responsible in the deaths of five staff members of the Capitol Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, NPR reports. Ramos had pleaded guilty on 23 accounts against him, but said he was not responsible due to mental illness when he attacked the newsroom with a shotgun, smoke grenades and several rounds of ammunition on June 28, 2018. The verdict means Ramos will be sentenced to prison rather than a maximum-security health facility.
•Los Angeles County will re-instate Saturday night an indoor mask mandate, even for those who have been fully vaccinated, NPR reports, due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.
Manchin Signals He’s On-Board with $3.5t Reconciliation Package – Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-WV, told colleagues at a House of Representatives caucus luncheon attended by President Biden Wednesday that he will not derail a $3.5-trillion budget resolution containing many White House priorities, The Hill reports. If true, then this opens up a clearer future for the Biden administration’s agenda as the president also hopes to see a bi-partisan infrastructure bill passed with the support of 10 Republican senators this year.
Manchin did make note of concerns about the budget resolution, which would pay for programs with corporate tax increases and tax increases for those earning more than $400,000 per year.
“I’m concerned about inflation, I’m concerned about a competitive tax code, I’m concerned about environmental standards that basically leave people behind in all these things,” he told The Hill.
Note: As we noted yesterday, now it’s up to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, to decide whether its palatable to his caucus to support the $973-billion/$1.2-trillion bi-partisan infrastructure in light of the likely passage of the $3.5-trillion budget resolution that requires only all the Senate Democrats.
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Buckle-Up, it’s Budget Time – The House of Representatives will begin floor action on appropriations bills the week of July 26, to cover about 40% of federal spending for fiscal year 2022 before the August Congressional recess, Roll Call reports, citing a “Dear Colleague” letter sent by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-MD. The $617-billion package includes seven spending bills and will result in debates on federal funding for abortion, environmental policy and infrastructure.
The floor action will take up appropriations for Agriculture, Energy-Water, Financial Services, Interior-Environment, Labor-Health & Human Services and Education, Military Construction-VA and Transportation-Housing & Urban Development. Roll Call notes that the House also could take up four remaining budgets, but it is unlikely given the thin Democratic majority.
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Oh, Canada, When May We Visit Again? – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told provincial leaders in a phone call Thursday that immunized Americans may be allowed to cross the border into Canada by mid-August, with borders opened to all vaccinated travelers by early September The Washington Post says. Canada shut its borders to non-essential tourists in March 2020.
Note: Canada’s tourism industry and small businesses are suffering a lack of summer vacationers from the U.S. and have been lobbying for the re-opening of borders, but Ottawa’s concern is that the country has managed the coronavirus with high immunization rates much better than in the U.S., where the Delta variant of COVID-19 has reignited outbreak levels.
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Trump/O’Reilly Tour Tix Troubling — You might not be aware that twice-impeached Donald Trump and former Fox News commentator who allegedly lost his job under the cloud of sexual harassment settlements Bill O’Reilly are going out on what they’re calling “The History Tour,” in December, during which they will be making arena performances in Orlando, Dallas, Houston and Sunrise, Florida. According to Politico ticket sales are not what one might have expected, based on interviews with “ticketing officials” for the venues. For example, the Amway Center in Orlando has “a lot of tickets” open; yet according to reporter Daniel Lippman, a Bad Bunny concert, which will not occur until March 2022, sold out the arena within two days.
Note: This piece of the story is too good to try to interpret, so here it is:
“O’Reilly said he and Trump had sold $2 million worth of tickets for Dallas and that the Sunrise, Florida, event was almost 75% sold out. He noted that not all of the 19,000 seats at the Houston event will be available for purchase. And he also said that it was “bullshit” that ticket sales for Orlando have been lackluster. But when asked how many tickets have been sold at the venue, he said he didn’t know.
“’I don’t have that information,’ he said. ‘I do grosses. I’m not the ticket counter.’
“O’Reilly threatened to sue this reporter, saying, ‘You put one word in there that’s not true, I’ll sue your ass off and you can quote me on that. You’re just a hatchet man and that’s what you are.’”
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Trump Pushes Back at Milley — Donald Trump, the man who said “There’s nobody bigger or better at the military than I am,” reacted to narrative in a forthcoming book, I Alone Can Fix It by Carol Leonning and Philip Rucker that indicate Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was concerned that there might have been a coup led from the Oval Office, put out a statement saying that he’s “not into coups” and that “if I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with” would be Milley. So reports the AP.
Note: Milley became chairman of the Joint Chiefs on October 1, 2019, and, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, “has had multiple command and staff positions in eight divisions and Special Forces throughout the last 39 years to include command of the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division; the 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division; Deputy Commanding General, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault); Commanding General, 10th Mountain Division; Commanding General, III Corps; and Commanding General, U.S. Army Forces Command.”
What’s more, “General Milley’s operational deployments include the Multi-National Force and Observers, Sinai, Egypt; Operation Just Cause, Panama; Operation Uphold Democracy, Haiti; Operation Joint Endeavor, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Operation Iraqi Freedom, Iraq; and three tours during Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan. He also deployed to Somalia and Colombia.”
According to Military Times, “Trump received five deferments during the height of the Vietnam War. Four were for education, while the fifth was a medical waiver for bone spurs in his feet. Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified before Congress in February [2019] that the injury was made up so Trump could avoid the draft.”
Presumably Milley would also not be into coups.
--Edited by Todd Lassa and Gary S. Vasilash