3CD DFL

Today at noon: Frontline Worker Pay Working Group meets for the first time

Saint Paul, Minnesota — Members of the Frontline Worker Pay Working Group are scheduled to meet for the first time today at 12pm. An agenda and pre-submitted public testimony are available here. Live video will be available here.

The working group was established during the June 2021 special session to make recommendations to the Legislature on how to disburse $250,000,000 in direct financial support to frontline workers. In developing its recommendation, the working group must consider factors including a frontline worker’s increased financial burden and increased risk of virus exposure due to the nature of their work.

The working group must submit proposed legislative language implementing its recommendations to the Governor, Speaker of the House, and Senate Majority Leader by September 6, 2021. The Legislature would need to meet in a special session to pass and send a bill to Gov. Walz.

What: Frontline Worker Pay Working Group holds its first public hearing
When: Wednesday, July 28 at 12pm
Where: Minnesota Capitol, Room G-3
Who: Members of the Frontline Worker Pay Working Group

GOP sees debt ceiling as its leverage against Biden

Senate Republicans plan to demand big spending reforms in exchange for their support of legislation to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, seeking leverage to rein in President Biden’s plan to pump trillions of dollars into the economy.

GOP senators are reviving demands they made in 2011, the last time there was a political standoff over raising the debt limit, but it’s a risky move.

The 2011 debt limit was solved at the last moment, and a subsequent downgrading of the nation’s creditworthiness by S&P triggered a stock market crash. Continue reading.

Biden, pulling combat forces from Iraq, seeks to end the post-9/11 era

President Biden on Monday announced that the United States will wrap up its combat mission in Iraq by year’s end, his latest effort to push American diplomacy past a post-9/11 worldview and shift its focus away from terrorism and the Middle East and toward threats like China and cyberwarfare.

Welcoming Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to the Oval Office, Biden promised ongoing support for democracy in Iraq, including elections this fall, but he said the military mission there will change.

“Our role in Iraq will be . . . just to be available to continue to train, to assist and to help, and to deal with ISIS as it arrives, but we’re not going to be, by the end of the year, in a combat mission,” Biden said, referring to the Islamic State terrorist group. Continue reading.

Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Air Force veteran a ‘traitor’

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) attacked an Air Force Lt. Colonel on Sunday, telling him that he’s a “traitor.”

She made the comment after Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) agreed to join the Jan. 6 special select committee as one of the Republicans willing to examine the attack on the U.S. Capitol in a bipartisan way. Greene didn’t feel that Kinzinger was right for the job because he already voted to impeach Trump for the Jan. 6 attack.

Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) attempted to put two members on the committee who are the biggest firebrands in the caucus. One of the two may also have been involved in the attack. Continue reading.

Political Spending At Trump Properties Plunges Sharply

The number of federal political committees that have spent money in the first half of 2021 at Trump Organization properties has dropped dramatically from the same period two years ago, Federal Election Commission filings show. Those continuing to spend: a smaller circle of loyal supporters of former President Donald Trump and candidates jockeying for his favor in contested Republican primaries.

During the first six months of 2021, 27 federal committees have reported spending $348,000 at Trump Organization properties, with the Republican National Committee accounting for more than half the total. That’s a steep decline from the 177 committees that did so during the 2019-2020 election cycle or the 78 committees that spent more than $1.6 million at Mar-a-Lago, the Trump International Hotel in Washington and other company sites in the first half of 2019, filings show.

Of course, that spending came in the run-up to a presidential election in which Trump was the incumbent. The biggest spenders in 2019 were the RNC and Trump’s own political committees raising money to support his campaign. Continue reading,

The Delta Variant Is the Symptom of a Bigger Threat: Vaccine Refusal

There are almost as many reasons for vaccine hesitancy and refusal as there are unvaccinated Americans. But this problem, not the variant, lies at the root of rising infection rates.

After an all too brief respite, the United States is again at a crossroads in the pandemic. The number of infections has ticked up — slowly at first, then swiftly — to 51,000 cases per day, on average, more than four times the rate a month ago. The country may again see overflowing hospitals, exhausted health care workers and thousands of needless deaths.

The more contagious Delta variant may be getting the blame, but fueling its rise is an older, more familiar foe: vaccine hesitancy and refusal, long pervasive in the United States. Were a wider swath of the population vaccinated, there would be no resurgence — of the Delta variant, or Alpha variant, or any other version of the coronavirus.

While mild breakthrough infections may be more common than once thought, the vaccines effectively prevent severe illness and death. Yet nearly half of the population remains unvaccinated and unprotected. About 30 percent of adults have not received even a single dose, and the percentage is much higher in some parts of the country. Continue reading.

Trump whines for over 100 minutes at Arizona grievance festival — here are the 7 most absurd moments

Donald Trump spoke for over 100 minutes during a long-winded speech at a “Rally to Protect Our Elections” in Phoenix.

Much of Trump’s speech was focused on repeating his debunked lies that he won the 2020 presidential election, when in reality he was defeated by Joe Biden.

But he also found time to bash much of America while praising the local extremists behind Arizona’s audit of the vote in Maricopa County and listing his many perceived grievances. Continue reading.

White nationalist booted from US Air Force shortly after bombshell investigation

A well-known white nationalist has been booted from the U.S. military shortly after an investigation uncovered his enrollment in the U.S. Air Force and graduation from basic training.

An investigation conducted by The HuffPost revealed Shawn McCaffrey’s status. On Thursday, July 22, Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek released a statement confirming McCaffrey had been kicked out.

“Information brought to the attention of his command after Mr. McCaffrey’s enlistment led to an entry-level separation due to erroneous enlistment,” Stefanek said without disclosing any specific details. Continue reading.

New details revealed in Florida Republican’s plot to disrupt the 2020 election

New details have been released in the investigation of former Florida State Sen(.) Frank Artiles (R) over his involvement in running “scam” campaigns in an attempt to disrupt the 2020 election.

With his trial expected to begin August 30, prosecutors are firming up their case against the former GOP lawmaker in a political corruption case the Tampa Bay Times reports, “has roped in prominent players across Florida over the last several months, including a GOP-linked research firm in Gainesville, a top not-for-profit Miami hospital network and a veteran Republican operative who leads a Tallahassee-based political organization.”

According to the Miami Herald, new revelations show that Florida political operative Alex Alvarado — linked to Artiles — was funneling money to sham campaign officials in an effort to disrupt key 2020 state Senate elections. Continue reading.

Anti-Mask Protester Assaults Breast Cancer Patient At Los Angeles Hospital

Anti-mask protesters brawled with a breast-cancer patient outside a Los Angeles hospital Thursday, with one anti-masker shoving and punching the woman.

The right-wingers swarmed Cedars-Sinai Breast Health Services to protest the hospital’s mask policy, Vice reported. Patient Kate Burns told them to go away.

“I’ve just gone through f—ing breast cancer,” Burns said in footage captured by local videographer Vishal Singh. “And you motherf—— are here.” Continue reading.

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