•Opening ceremonies have begun sans spectators for the Tokyo Olympic games, but with “orderly” protests in opposition to holding the event during a severe outbreak of coronavirus cases in Japan. First Lady Jill Biden is representing the U.S. in the opening ceremonies.
•A private funeral today is held for slain Haitian president Jovenal Moise, with heavy security “following violent protests and fears of political volatility,” says the AP. Moise was assassinated two weeks ago.
•Former President Trump is screening potential 2024 running mates among other assumed GOP candidates, PoliticoFloridareports, and former Vice President Mike Pence is not among them.
U.S. Military Strikes Taliban in Afghanistan – The U.S. military conducted overnight strikes against the Taliban and on captured equipment in Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province, CNN reports. The Taliban has grabbed territory in the region since the U.S. and NATO announced plans to withdraw from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years, by the end of August. The Taliban claims it has seized 117 Afghani districts since May, a number the U.S. and NATO dispute.
Note: Read David Amaya and Stephen Macaulay’s debate on whether it’s time for the U.S. to leave Afghanistan at https://thehustings.news/center-column-on-bidens-plan-to-withdraw-from-afghanistan/. Amaya’s left column is at https://thehustings.news/left-columnist-argues-for-u-s-withdrawal-from-afghanistan/ and Macaulay’s right column is at https://thehustings.news/conservative-take-on-afghanistan-withdrawal/, or go to Page 6 of the home page.
•••
Bill Would Strip Social Media Protections for Health-Related Misinformation – Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-MN, has introduced a bill that would strip Section 230 protection that shields social media platforms from liability protections when they post misinformation related to public health-related emergencies, The Wall Street Journal reports. Section 230 is a provision in the 1996 Communications Decency Act that protects such platforms as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram from liability from lawsuits for content generated by their users.
Democrats have criticized such platforms for giving conspiracy theorists and political extremists outlets for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccinations and masking, while Republicans have criticized the platforms for squelching conservative opinion, including blocking former President Trump permanently from Twitter, and temporarily from Facebook.
Earlier this month, President Biden told reporters that Facebook and other social media outlets are “killing people” by spreading misinformation on the coronavirus.
•••
80/20 Highway/Transit Funding Threatens Bi-Partisan Infrastructure – Allocation of the federal gas and diesel tax mentioned in this space yesterday is the key sticking point between Republicans and Democrats in moving forward the $1.2-trillion bi-partisan infrastructure bill. On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, lost a procedural vote for cloture on the bill, which is still being written.
The issue is this, according to Roll Call: Democrats want the traditional split between gas and diesel tax revenues of 80% for highways and 20% for mass transit to apply to the entirety of tax revenues, not simply from revenues of post-1983 gas/diesel tax rate increases. Republicans argue that such a formula would provide an additional $48.5 billion for mass transit on top of the traditional 80/20 funding, for extra money to transit systems that are still struggling to return ridership to pre-coronavirus levels.
Transit across the country has received $70 billion in COVID-19 relief funds from the combination of Trump and Biden administrations’ emergency programs, Roll Call says https://www.rollcall.com/2021/07/22/bipartisan-infrastructure-talks-said-to-be-stuck-on-transit/
Note: So the threat to the bi-partisan infrastructure bill comes down to the classic rural vs. urban struggle. The Republicans argue the fuel taxes should go toward fixing the roads and bridges the vehicles that provide those tax revenues ride on, not things like things like subways and trains—which are found in places like New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Boston—not exactly hotbeds of Republicanism. It seems Republicans are likely to win this one if the bi-partisan infrastructure bill has any future.
•••
Florida Man Provides Pulmonology Advice — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, R, said at a news conference yesterday that Florida will have a “normal school year”—as in a maskless school year -- Politico reports. DeSantis is also quoted as saying, “We need our kids to breathe” and “Is it really healthy for them to be muzzled and having their breathing obstructed all day long in school? I don’t think it is.”
Note: According to the most-recent report from the Florida Department of Health, during the week July 9 there were 45,603 new cases of COVID-19 in Florida. That is up from 23,562 the week of July 2, which was up from the 15,998 the week of June 25, which was up from the 11,800 the week of June 18, which was up from the 10,459 the week of June 11. See a pattern here? Apparently DeSantis doesn’t.
The American Society of Pediatrics announced earlier this week that all people above age 2 — students, teachers, staff — wear masks, regardless of whether they’ve been vaccinated, NPR reported.
Of course, DeSantis is clearly some sort of medical genius.
One wonders about the types of masks that he is familiar with, however. “Muzzled”? “Obstructed” breathing? Sounds like what might be the case were one to wrap a beach towel around one’s head.
•••
Pelosi Considers Adding More Republicans to 1/6 Committee – After Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, angrily withdrew all five Republican members he appointed to the House of Representatives’ committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Hill riots, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, now is considering adding Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-IL, to the lineup, The New York Times reports. Pelosi also is considering bringing in former Rep. Denver Riggelman, R-VA, as an advisor to the committee.
According to The Hill, “Trump backed Riggelman in his primary before the congressman lost (in 2018) to Rep. Bob Good, R-VA. Riggelman is now an anti-Trump Republican.”
--Edited by Todd Lassa and Gary S. Vasilash