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Oz stumbles fuel Democratic hopes in Pennsylvania

Democrats are salivating more than ever over a pickup opportunity in Pennsylvania’s closely watched Senate race as the Republican nominee and celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz grapples with increasingly negative headlines.

Democratic nominee John Fetterman has been battering Oz for months, but the Republican Senate nominee is going on offense, trying to turn around his campaign and keep the seat in GOP hands.

The latest war of words between the two candidates was over crudités, or raw vegetable trays. Fetterman’s campaign made fun of Oz for his French reference to the appetizer, prompting a senior communication adviser from Oz’s campaign to mock Fetterman for a stroke he suffered earlier this year.

For weeks, Fetterman’s campaign and Democrats have sought to amplify questions over Oz’s ties to Pennsylvania and his residency while painting a picture of an out-of-touch celebrity-turned-politician.

Recent polling suggests that Fetterman is benefitting from the race’s current dynamics, with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifting the contest from “toss-up” to “lean Democratic.”

“I think it presents an opportunity that nobody envisioned when the calendar turned to ’22,” said T.J. Rooney, the former chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. “But having said that, there’s still a lot of ground to cover.” 

Recent polls have varied, with an Emerson College poll released on Monday showing Fetterman leading Oz 48 percent to 44 percent, and a separate Franklin and Marshall College poll released last week showing Fetterman leading Oz 76 percent to 62 percent. 

Fetterman’s lead is likely lower than 13 points, with the Real Clear Politics polling average showing him leading Oz by 7.8 points. 

“They’ve got reason to be optimistic, but I wouldn’t put Fetterman in office just yet,” said Keith Naughton, a Republican consultant with experience working in Pennsylvania. 

“A lot of the Democratic optimism is based on a bunch of partisan polls that are just way out of line for some of the nonpartisan stuff,” he continued. 

The race has been unique in that, while both candidates have been on and off the trail, much of the battle has been fought in the media. Fetterman took a three-month hiatus from the campaign trail earlier this year after he suffered a stroke in May. But his campaign was able to garner a considerable amount of buzz online. 

In July, Fetterman’s campaign enlisted former “Jersey Shore” cast member Nicole “Snooki” LaValle to highlight the question of Oz’s residency in a campaign video. Fetterman also started a petition last month to add Oz to the New Jersey Hall of Fame. 

“They were very smart with the Cameo videos from Snooki and Little Steven and all of that, and it’s a good message,” said national Republican strategist Doug Heye. 

Fetterman’s campaign also garnered attention on Monday when he publicly urged President Biden to move toward decriminalizing marijuana ahead of Biden’s visit to the state next week. 

Additionally, Fetterman has led in the fundraising game, outraising Oz by $8.7 million during the second quarter. Many point out that Oz was still embroiled in a brutal GOP primary against David McCormick in May, which fell in the middle of the reporting period. And Republicans argue that Fetterman should have a better lead given his impressive fundraising numbers. 

“John Fetterman had a spending advantage over the summer over Dr. Oz, and the fact that he’s only up a couple of points is bad news for him,” said Peter Towey, a Republican strategist with deep ties to Pennsylvania politics.

Republicans also point out that there have been flaws in Fetterman’s approach, arguing that it is too online and does not do a good enough job of reaching Pennsylvania voters. 

“Ninety percent of people, everyday Pennsylvanians aren’t on Twitter,” Towey said. “John Fetterman’s Twitter campaign has done very little to improve his standing in the actual election results come November.” 

Oz’s allies also point to his presence on the campaign trail in person as a plus. The celebrity doctor-turned-politician has also made a number of recent appearances on Fox News in an effort to rally the conservative base. 

And Republican leadership seems to be seeking to boost Oz from the national level. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters in Kentucky on Monday that he believes Oz has “a great shot at winning.”

“I have great confidence. I think Oz has a great shot at winning,” McConnell said. “I don’t think I would have had him here if I didn’t think that.” 

However, Fetterman has been making more frequent campaign stops since his return to the trail earlier this month. On Monday, Fetterman’s campaign touted weekend visits to Venango and Mercer Counties in rural Pennsylvania. 

“Do you think Dr. Oz could get over 400 people out in Mercer County on a Sunday afternoon? Dr. Oz didn’t even know that Mercer County existed a year ago,” Fetterman said during one of the events. 

Democrats also say they feel enthusiastic in the wake of recent legislation wins, including the Inflation Reduction Act. 

“The good news is that because of some of the unprecedented victories that the president has achieved, we have stuff to talk about now,” Rooney said. 

Democrats also point to abortion access as a potentially galvanizing issue, citing Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejecting an anti-abortion ballot initiative and Democrats like Pat Ryan in New York’s 19th Congressional District using it to gin up the base. 

“Mehmet Oz supports banning abortion even in cases of rape or incest and has embraced other unpopular, toxic positions during his GOP primary,” said Patrick Burgwinkle, a senior communications strategist at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “Oz is a fraud and a scam artist who will do and say anything to help get rich or help himself, and that’s exactly why Pennsylvania voters will reject him in November.”

Oz said during the state’s Republican Senate primary that he is against abortion except in the cases of rape and incest or when the mother’s life is in jeopardy.

Republicans, on the other hand, say Fetterman is vulnerable due to the national mood, pointing to the state of the economy under Biden, as well as rising crime. 

“The Democrats are trying to distract from John Fetterman’s desire to be the 51st vote for every bad policy that has made gas cost more, a gallon of milk cost more, every other cost of living go up, inflation be unchecked,” Towey said. 

Looking ahead, questions have emerged about future debates between Oz and Fetterman. Oz has recently hit Fetterman for not committing to any future televised debate yet. 

“The reason he’s hiding is pretty obvious: he’s lying about his health. Fetterman is not capable of debating, and he is unlikely to be able to stand in front of a camera to answer questions for longer than 10 minutes,” said Lizzie Litzow, deputy communications director at the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. 

Fetterman’s campaign has said that the Democrat is not opposed to debating Oz, but does not want to do it solely on the Republican’s terms. 

“One candidate had a stroke 3 months ago, and the other is a professional television personality, so our eyes are wide open about whose strengths this plays to,” Fetterman’s spokesperson Joe Cavello, said last week. “Still, John is up for debating Oz — we’re not going to do this on Oz’s terms and timeline.” 

Source: TEST FEED1

Veterans battle 'moral injury' a year after US troops left Afghanistan

Scott Mann, a retired Green Beret, followed a strict code during his three combat tours in Afghanistan.

“We were taught in special operations, for example, that everything we do is by, with and through the indigenous populations of the places we work,” Mann told The Hill. “You do not abandon them, you do not leave them.

A year ago today, President Biden pulled the final United States soldiers out of Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war. Tens of thousands U.S. allies — Afghans who fought alongside or supported American troops or civilian programs — were left behind.

Mann said he feels a “moral injury” caused by “a violation of your own moral code by those in charge.” And he is among many veterans of the Afghan war who has made it his mission to continue helping Afghans who risked their lives for America’s war. 

He wrote a book out Tuesday about his experience organizing an escape route to help Nezam, an Afghan soldier he mentored, flee the country.

“There’s nothing that we wouldn’t have done for him, and when we realized that nobody else was coming. We just put our little team together,” Mann said.  “We didn’t go over there. We just used our relationships and Signal chat rooms and became his eyes and his ears.”

Veterans of the 20-year war are still grappling with mixed emotions of the chaotic evacuation. Regardless of whether they wanted the war to end, many agree it was traumatic watching two decades of effort fall within a matter of days, as the Taliban rapidly seized control of Kabul.

And a lack of accountability still has some infuriated.

“To add moral insult to moral injury, we abandoned tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of our allies who assisted us over the course of 20 years,” said Cole Lyle, who joined the Marine Corps in 2008 and deployed to the country in 2011. 

“And we lost 13 service members in the chaotic evacuation largely as a result of the conditions on the ground that existed because it was such a chaotic withdrawal, and the Taliban was able to advance to the country as quickly as they did, and it created a very untenable, chaotic situation,” he added.

Biden on Friday marked the anniversary of the “heinous” terrorist attack amid the U.S. withdrawal that killed 13 American service members and dozens of Afghan civilians.

Advocates estimate there are well over 100,000 Afghans deemed to be vulnerable due to their ties to the U.S or its democracy efforts, a figure that is far higher when adding former Afghan military members.

Despite the chaotic withdrawal and those left behind, veterans who spoke with The Hill say they’re proud of their contributions to the war.

“I’m very proud of it. And I’m very proud of what my brothers and sisters did over there. I’m very proud of what our families, our Gold Star family, sacrificed,” said Mann. 

There are two types of people that return to the U.S. after leaving Afghanistan, according to Matt Zeller, an Army veteran who served on an embedded combat advisory team while deployed to Afghanistan in 2008.

The first type is those who come back thinking the experience was interesting and move on with their lives. The second is those who return feeling like they “left a part of their soul” in the country.

Zeller is the latter, telling The Hill that despite being at war, he returned home “profoundly, deeply touched by my time there.”

Robert Couture, an Army veteran who served two different tours in Afghanistan doing public affairs work, felt similarly moved.

“It felt really good to see that in this part of the world where so many people were oppressed, that we can be able to liberate them and give them a sense of a future and some hope,” Couture said. “And that was, for me, just it just made my service all that much worthwhile. To know that we’re making that difference.”

Then President Trump set the U.S. withdrawal in motion, when his administration struck the ‘Doha agreement’ with the Taliban, which set the date for the U.S.’s withdrawal as May 1, 2021. 

A little more than a year later, in April 2021, President Biden announced that all troops would be withdrawn by Sept. 11, 2021 — marking the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attack that led to the war. Three months later, Biden moved that timeline up to Aug. 31.

The Afghan government collapsed on Aug. 15, and the last U.S. military forces were withdrawn on Aug. 30. The next day, in remarks from the State Dining Room, President Biden said he “refused to open another decade of war” after the cost of the prior twenty years.

“We’ve been a nation too long at war.  If you’re 20 years old today, you have never known an America at peace,” Biden said at the time. 

“So, when I hear that we could’ve, should’ve continued the so-called low-grade effort in Afghanistan, at low risk to our service members, at low cost, I don’t think enough people understand how much we have asked of the 1 percent of this country who put that uniform on, who are willing to put their lives on the line in defense of our nation,” he continued. 

Couture, who now serves as the national director of communications and public affairs for Veterans of Foreign Wars, described the watching withdrawal as an “awful pit in the stomach that seemed to get worse.”

“A year later, I’ve seen some commemorations on TV, but it’s — I don’t know. It still gives you an awful feeling when you look back at some of those photos and video,” he said.

Treating the “moral injury” has been a struggle for those who left part of themselves in Afghanistan. 

“That injury is the most insidious of all injuries because it’s the injury of the soul. It’s not something that you can treat with drugs or group therapy or individual therapy. It’s not even something that VA [the Department of Veterans Affairs] can address,” Zeller said.

“The most effective way I know, to heal from the moral injury that we’re all reeling from right now. From the abandonment of our Afghan allies, is to help get them to safety,” he added.

Still, Zeller said he’s proud of his service. “And I’m proud of everyone who served alongside me and all the things that we accomplished,” he added. “I don’t think any of it was squandered.” 

As of Aug. 22, the Department of Defense has recorded 2,461 total American casualties over the 20-year war. Another 69,000 Afghan national military and police were killed in the war, and more than 52,893 opposition forces were believed to have been killed, according to the Cost of War Project at Brown University. 

Multiple veterans advocacy groups are now advocating for passage of the Afghan Adjustment Act, bipartisan legislation that would streamline the immigration process for Afghan nationals who supported the U.S. mission.

“We really could not have done our job in Afghanistan or Iraq or Syria or anywhere without the local nationals,” said Christopher Purdy, director of Veterans for American Ideals. 

“And this support came in the role of interpreter, but it also came in the role of cooks and cleaners and, you know, engineers, you know, people throughout the entire ecosystem of the occupation.”

Lyle added that for veterans feeling their service in Afghanistan was meaningless, “it’s not for nothing.”

“At the very least,” he said, “the experiences that you had, and the relationships that you build and maintain, the sacrifices you made, helped build who you are today and molded the character and the person you are today — which is someone that has the capacity to continue serving.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Pregnant people exposed to cancer-linked chemicals in household items, dyes: study

Pregnant people are being exposed through various household products to toxic compounds that can increase the risk of cancer and harm child development, a new study has found.

Scientists identified two such compounds — the industrial chemical melamine and its byproduct cyanuric acid — in the urine of almost all the pregnant subjects they tested, with the highest levels occurring in women of color and in those with greater exposure to tobacco.

Four types of chemicals used in dyes, called aromatic amines, were also present in the urine of nearly all pregnant participants, according to the study, published in Chemosphere on Tuesday.

“These chemicals are of serious concern due to their links to cancer and developmental toxicity, yet they are not routinely monitored in the United States,” co-senior author Tracey Woodruff, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said in a statement.

Woodruff and her colleagues decided to investigate the presence of melamine, its derivative cyanuric acid and aromatic amines because they are all nitrogen-containing compounds with known toxicity and widespread commercial use.

People can be exposed to melamine and aromatic amines in a variety of way of ways: by breathing polluted air, consuming contaminated food or water, ingesting household dust and using products that contain plastic, dyes and pigments, the scientists explained.

The production of cyanuric acid and melamine exceeds 100 million pounds per year in the U.S. alone, according to the authors. Melamine is found in dishwater, plastics, flooring, kitchen counters and pesticides, while cyanuric acid is used as a disinfectant, plastic stabilizer and cleaning solvent in swimming pools, the scientists noted.

When exposure to melamine and cyanuric acid chemicals happens simultaneously, they can be more toxic than either one alone, the authors cautioned.

Aromatic amines, meanwhile, are present in hair dyes, mascara, tattoo ink, paint, tobacco smoke and diesel exhaust.

Despite the prevalence of these chemicals in household products, the authors stressed that biomonitoring of the chemicals is lacking, particularly during pregnancy.

Melamine was recognized as a kidney toxin after baby formula and pet food poisoning events in 2004, 2007 and 2008 left several individuals dead and caused kidney stones and urinary tract obstructions in others, according to the authors.

Additional research from animal experiments, they added, has suggested that melamine impedes brain function. 

To draw their conclusions in the Chemosphere study, the researchers measured 45 chemicals linked to cancer and other health risks in urine samples from a small but diverse group of 171 pregnant people.

The subjects had participated in the National Institutes of Health’s Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes Program between 2008 and 2020.

The 171 participants came from California, Georgia, Illinois, New Hampshire, New York and Puerto Rico, according to the study.

About 34 percent of them were white, 40 percent were Latina, 20 percent were Black, 4 percent were Asian and the remaining 3 percent were from other or multiple ethnicities.

Levels of one of the aromatic amines, 3,4-dichloroaniline, were more than 100-percent higher among Black and Hispanic women in comparison to white women, the study found.

“It’s disconcerting that we continue to find higher levels of many of these harmful chemicals in people of color,” study co-senior author Jessie Buckley, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a statement.

Giehae Choi, a postdoctoral fellow at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and first author of the study, stressed that their observations “raise concerns for the health of pregnant women and fetuses.”

“Some of these chemicals are known carcinogens and potential developmental toxicants,” Choi added. “Regulatory action is clearly needed to limit exposure.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Jill Biden tests negative for COVID after rebound case

First lady Jill Biden has tested negative for COVID-19 after a rebound case last week.

The White House confirmed on Monday the first lady’s negative test, adding that she plans to return to Washington on Tuesday after being in isolation, her communications director Elizabeth Alexander said in a statement.

The first lady tested negative last Tuesday before receiving the positive test result on an antigen test on Wednesday afternoon, her office said. She did not experience a reemergence of symptoms, the White House said.

She first tested positive Aug. 16 while on vacation with President Biden and their family in South Carolina. The first lady had mild symptoms and remained there until receiving a negative test, then joined the president in Delaware where he had continued his vacation.

Like the president, Biden experienced mild symptoms and was given the antiviral drug Paxlovid as treatment for her case.

The first lady’s first COVID-19 case came roughly two weeks after the president was able to leave isolation following his own rebound case of COVID-19. Rebound cases can happen in patients who take Paxlovid when a patient tests negative for the virus, only to test positive again a few days later.

Source: TEST FEED1

Madam CJ Walker, first female self-made millionaire, gets her own Barbie

Madam C.J. Walker, a Black pioneer and the first female self-made millionaire, is set to get her own Barbie doll. 

In a news release on Monday, Mattel announced that Walker, who lived from 1867 to 1919, is the latest national figure to join its Inspiring Women series. 

In a statement, Carlyle Nuera, the designer of the doll, said that Walker is an inspiration to many young Black girls and that Mattel is honored to include her in the series.

Walker, a daughter of formerly enslaved sharecroppers, became a self-made millionaire entrepreneur by selling her line of hair care products and cosmetics made specifically for Black women. 

“She’s been on my dream list of icons to add to our Inspiring Women series,” Nuera said. “She created opportunities for herself, and uplifted other Black women, making her truly an inspiring woman.”

She added said that Mattel worked closely with Walker’s great-great-granddaughter, author and journalist A’Lelia Bundles, on the project as well. 

“My research into what Walker wore, as well as what was typical of the early 1900s, was supplemented by access to the Walker family archives,” Nuera said. “A’Lelia sent us rare photos, as well as cultural insight for what was ideal for Black women at the time and insight to what Walker herself loved.”

Among those featured in Mattel’s Inspiring Women series are former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, civil rights activist Rosa Parks, jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, and poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou. 

“It was a joy to work with Barbie on the design and creation of an Inspiring Women doll made in the likeness of my great-great grandmother, Madam C.J. Walker,” Bundles, the official biographer for her great-great-grandmother, said in a statement. “Their design team graciously welcomed me throughout all steps of the process — from hair development to packaging — to capture and celebrate the legacy of this trailblazing Black businesswoman. I can’t wait for a new generation to be inspired by her story and to tell their own stories through a role model who came before them.” 

The Madam C.J. Walker Inspiring Women figure is set to retail at around $35.

Source: TEST FEED1

Secret Service's Tony Ornato who was at center of Jan. 6 hearing departs agency: reports

Tony Ornato, the Secret Service’s assistant director who became a central figure during a Jan. 6 committee hearing in which he reportedly described to a witness that former President Trump was “irate,” has left the agency, according to multiple reports.

Ornato, who at the time of the riot was serving as Trump’s deputy chief of staff, came into the spotlight during testimony by former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson who said Ornato told her that Trump was “irate” when Robert Engel, the special agent in charge for Secret Service on Jan. 6, told the former president when he got into the presidential SUV after a speech on the Ellipse that going to the Capitol would not be possible.

Hutchinson also testified that Trump lunged at his security detail and toward the steering wheel of the presidential vehicle demanding to head to Capitol Hill where a mob of his supporters would eventually breach the complex.

Politico reported that Ornato retired, citing a Secret Service spokesperson who indicated Ornato became eligible for retirement earlier this year.

Ornato is not the only senior Secret Service official to announce their departure in recent weeks. 

President Biden on Wednesday tapped Kimberly Cheatle to serve as the agency’s next director, taking over for retiring Director James Murray, who briefly delayed his exit as the Secret Service faced scrutiny over its agents’ actions regarding missing text messages just before and on Jan. 6.

The Hill has reached out to the Secret Service for comment.

Developing.

Source: TEST FEED1

Pregnant Texas woman says she's gotten second traffic ticket claiming fetus lets her use HOV lane

A pregnant Texas woman says she has received a second traffic ticket within a month after claiming that her unborn child allows her to drive in the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane. 

In an interview, Plano resident Brandy Bottone told The Dallas Morning News that authorities ticketed her for the same offense at the same location after a previous citation was dropped. 

Bottone gained massive attention last month after claiming that Texas’s new anti-abortion laws mean her fetus should count as a passenger in HOV lanes, according to the Morning News.

The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office decided to dismiss Bottone’s first ticket, agreeing that legally the situation is unclear. 

The Morning News reported that the Texas legislature is set to clarify the issue of when a fetus counts as a person in its next session.

“Nobody is answering whether it’s right or wrong,” Bottone, who has since given birth to a baby girl, told the Morning News. “They dismissed it. Why do I have to change my belief? … It doesn’t answer the question. Did I get it right or did I get it wrong?”

In a statement, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) spokesman Tony Hartzel told the newspaper that it doesn’t have the control to make decisions on “law enforcement or prosecution decisions.” 

“TxDOT has no role in law enforcement or prosecution decisions,” Hartzel added. “The dismissal of one citation has not affected the department’s relationship with law enforcement.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Defense & National Security — Struggles remain a year after end of Afghanistan War

It’s been one year since the U.S. withdrew its military from Afghanistan, ending its longest war. But for many — including Afghan refugees in the U.S., vulnerable Afghans who have been unable to escape the country and those refugees scattered across the globe — the struggles are far from over. 

This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Ellen Mitchell. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Subscribe here.

One year on, refugees find shelter but little security

Khalis Noori had one thing in common with the U.S. government: He never thought Kabul would fall so quickly. 

After years of living in the United Kingdom, he had returned to Afghanistan in April of 2021, prepared to take a job as an international aid adviser with the country’s Ministry of Finance. 

It was an important time to come home, he said, with the fledgling democracy in need of its best and brightest as the U.S. was set to end its 20-year partnership by withdrawing military forces that had been on the ground since 2001. 

But the rapid fall of the country altered that trajectory, changing his life forever. 

Rebuilding a life: Khalis is just one of roughly 85,000 Afghans who made it to the U.S. this year after they fled the country as the Taliban barreled across Afghanistan, capturing city after city until Kabul fell on Aug. 15, 2021. 

Since the last evacuation flight took off from Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 30, 2021, Afghan evacuees have been undertaking the arduous work of rebuilding their lives. 

Still struggling: Many spent months in military bases abroad only to then spend months in military bases on U.S. soil — meaning a year after the U.S. left Afghanistan, some evacuees are still in the early stages of getting settled into new jobs, homes, schools and lives.  

Many are still dealing with the heartache of leaving home while fearing for those left behind. 

Read the full story here, the first installment in a three-part series. 

Officials: Violence in Iraq ‘disturbing’ 

Biden administration officials on Monday expressed concern about the violence unfolding in Iraq but denied that personnel were being evacuated from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. 

John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, called reports of unrest throughout the country “disturbing” and expressed concern that “Iraqi institutions are not being allowed to function.” 

‘False’ reports: But, Kirby said, reports of the U.S. Embassy being under threat are “false.” 

“There’s no evacuation going on at the embassy and no indication that’s going to be required at this time,” Kirby told reporters on a call on Monday. 

Earlier reports: Media reports indicated that multiple people were killed and several were injured in clashes in the Green Zone in Baghdad after Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced he plans to withdraw from political life. 

The Pentagon’s response: Later on Monday, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters that “there is no change” to the status at the U.S. embassy.  

“We spend a great deal of time ensuring that we’re taking care of American overseas and we have ample security at the embassy in Baghdad to ensure that,” they said.  

Read the full story here 

Russian military recruitment ‘unlikely to succeed’: US

The U.S. government doesn’t think Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent effort to increase the size of his military by more than 130,000 troops will succeed, a senior U.S. defense official said Monday.  

Putin, who last week signed a decree to boost Russia’s combat personnel from
1.9 million to 2.04 million starting next year, is “unlikely to succeed, as Russia has historically not met personnel end strength targets,” the defense official told reporters. 

Lagging numbers: They added that prior to the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, the country “may have already been 150,000 personnel short of their million personnel goal,” and have been trying to expand recruitment efforts by eliminating the upper age limit for new recruits and recruiting prisoners.   

“Many of these new recruits have been observed as older, unfit and ill trained. So what this all suggests to us is that any additional personnel Russia is able to muster by the end of the year may not, in fact, increase overall Russian… combat power,” the official said.   

Limited information: Since the early days of its attack on Ukraine, Russia has not been forthcoming about how many of its service members have died in the conflict, only allowing that 1,351 of its soldiers had been killed.  

Western officials, however, estimate that at least 45,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded.  

Ukraine, meanwhile, has also kept guarded its information on how many of its troops have been killed in battle, but last week revealed that nearly 9,000 military personnel have died in the war.   

Read that story here 

FROM THE WEEKEND

Fears over Afghanistan threat simmer, despite White House assurances

When the United States pulled its troops from Afghanistan in a chaotic dash, the Biden administration and its critics traded fire over whether America could keep its borders safe from terrorist threats without boots on the ground.  

A year later, that debate is still raging. 

While the Biden administration has pointed to key wins from afar — in particular a Kabul drone strike earlier this month that killed longtime al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri — former and current defense officials and experts harbor doubts that the U.S. is safe from future threats with its troops gone from the region. 

Read that story here 

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will speak at the U.S. Special Operations Command change of command ceremony at 3:30 p.m.  

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Russia to hold sweeping joint war games with China, others 
• NASA pushing to retry Artemis launch Friday 
• Russian defense minister possibly sidelined: UK intel 
• IAEA inspection team to visit Ukraine nuclear plant 
• American, 24, reportedly killed fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region 
• US warships sail through Taiwan Strait for first time since Pelosi visit 
• The Hill: Opinion: The US must close the gap between ends and means in Ukraine 
• The Hill: Opinion: How will the war in Ukraine end? 

That’s it for today! Check out The Hill’s Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you tomorrow!

VIEW FULL VERSION HERE

Source: TEST FEED1

On The Money — Inflation fight hits Black Americans particularly hard

Experts say Black Americans are bearing the brunt of the federal government’s efforts to stanch inflation. We’ll also look at how Democrats are seizing the rising costs on the campaign trail, why officials say Virginia is bound by a new California rule phasing out gas-powered cars, and more.

But first, Megan Thee Stallion has been tapped for a new role — and it’s out of this world. 

Welcome to On The Money, your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. For The Hill, we’re Sylvan Lane and Aris Folley. Subscribe here.

Black Americans disproportionately hit by rate hikes

The federal government’s efforts to stanch inflation are disproportionately impacting Black Americans.

The Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates in the hopes of cooling off a red-hot economy, but its actions are hitting Black Americans — who have historically been squeezed out of home ownership and affordable loans — the hardest. 

• Fed interest rate hikes are meant to slow consumer and business spending by making debt more expensive, including mortgages.
• Mortgage rates rise as the Fed hikes its baseline interest rate higher, making monthly home payments more expensive for anyone seeking a new home or those who purchased one with an adjustable interest rate loan. 

“African Americans have the lowest homeownership rates among the four major racial groups in the country,” Romie Tribble, professor of economics at Spelman College and secretary of the National Economic Association, told The Hill.  

“It’s now going to be more difficult for them to acquire and to also keep a home,” Tribble said. 

We explain why here.

LEADING THE DAY

Democrats peg inflation to corporate greed on campaign trail 

Democrats are vowing to crack down on corporate greed and price gouging on the campaign trail as the party aims to quell voters’ concerns over decades-high inflation.

Economists widely view supply and demand as the driving force behind the cost of goods and services, not arbitrary price hikes. But Democrats point to the fact that big companies are profiting from surging inflation.   

• U.S. nonfinancial corporate profits soared to $2 trillion for the first time in the second quarter of 2022, while corporate profit margins as a share of the economy rose to the highest level in more than seven decades, according to newly released Bureau of Economic Analysis data.
• Following President Biden’s lead, Democrats are taking aim at energy giants and meatpacking companies that recently notched record-shattering earnings on the back of higher prices.
• Inflation remains the top issue on Americans’ minds in swing states like Arizona and Wisconsin, and the corporate greed argument appears to resonate with voters. Voters primarily blame “companies’ attempts to maximize profits” and supply chain issues for fueling red-hot inflation, according to a June Morning Consult poll. 

Karl has more details here.

CALIFORNIA LOVE

Virginia AG says state bound by California rule phasing out new gas-powered cars 

California’s newly-announced rule barring the sale of new gas-powered cars in 2035 will apply to Virginia as well under the terms of a 2021 state law, Attorney General Jason Miyares’s (R) office confirmed to The Hill on Monday.  

In 2021, the state General Assembly, where Democrats then held majorities in both chambers, passed a law requiring the state to adopt the same automobile standards as those adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Although Democrats lost their majority in the state House of Delegates in 2021, efforts to repeal the legislation in this year’s legislative session were unsuccessful.

• California’s new rule, passed last week, will also apply to Virginia, Miyares spokesperson Victoria LaCivita confirmed to The Hill. She added the state’s attorney general “is hopeful that the General Assembly repeals this law and discontinues any trend that makes Virginia more like California.” 
• Virginia is one of 15 states that have adopted an earlier CARB standard that imposes stricter tailpipe emissions standards than the federal rule. Under the terms of the 2021 law, the California rule would not take effect until 2024, giving Republicans in the legislature at least one more chance to attempt repeal, particularly if they take the state Senate in 2023.  

The Hill’s Zack Budryk has more info here. 

PRIVACY THREAT 

FTC alleges data broker exposes users to violent threats by selling location data

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleges data broker Kochava exposes people to threats of stalking, discrimination and violence by selling geolocation data revealing visits to sensitive locations, including reproductive health clinics, according to a complaint filed Monday.

• The data sold by Idaho-based Kochava can be used to identify specific places an individual visited by plotting latitude and longitude coordinates, the FTC alleged in its lawsuit.
• The location data is also not anonymized, meaning it is possible to identify a mobile device’s user or owner.  

The FTC alleged that the sale of geolocation data puts consumers at risk by revealing information about visits to sensitive locations. In addition to reproductive health clinics, the agency said the data can be used to track visits to places of worship, homeless or domestic violence shelters and addiction recovery centers.  

The Hill’s Rebecca Klar has more here. 

Good to Know

Teachers in the U.S. have seen their salaries decline over the past decade, with some educators paid anywhere from 5 to 18 percent less than the national average wage.  

A new analysis dives into the average teacher salaries from the National Center for Educational Statistics and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and it ranks the best and worst average teacher salaries in comparison to the average salary for all other occupations.  

These are some of the worst-paying states for teachers in the 2020-2021 academic year. 

Here’s what else we have our eye on: 

• AP: “Elon Musk’s legal team is demanding to hear from Twitter’s whistleblowing former security chief, who could help bolster Musk’s case for backing out of a $44 billion deal to buy the social media company.”
• Marijuana use reached a record high in new polling, as for the first time more Americans said they smoke marijuana than reported smoking cigarettes in the last week. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and check out The Hill’s Finance page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow. 

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Source: TEST FEED1

Florida's Seminole County GOP office vandalized

The office of Florida’s Seminole County Republican Party was vandalized on Sunday with the message scrawled on the outside that read “eat s**t fascists.”

GOP state committeeman Jesse Phillips told The Hill in an interview that the message also included an “A” with a circle around it, the symbol for anarchy. Phillips also said the locks were sealed shut. 

“We basically had to break into our own office,” he added.

Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel also addressed the incident in a Monday tweet, saying it “echoed Biden’s ‘fascists’ slander.'” 

“There is no place for violence in our political discourse, and the GOP will not be intimidated,” she added.

No suspects, including ones with any potential political leanings, have been identified by police so far. 

The Seminole County GOP is considering adopting additional safety measures for the office in light of the incident, Phillips said.

Source: TEST FEED1