With just months to go ahead of the November midterms, Hollywood stars are flooding Democratic campaigns with cash, aiming to ward off Republican challengers and hold the evenly split Senate.
The campaigns of high-profile Democratic Senate candidates in fiercely competitive races — including Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in Pennsylvania and incumbent Sens. Raphael Warnock (Ga.) and Mark Kelly (Ariz.) — appear to be getting the biggest celeb paydays.
In Georgia, a top target for the GOP as it attempts to net a single seat in the upper chamber to recapture the majority, most polls have shown Warnock leading his Republican opponent, former football star Herschel Walker.
Warnock also appears to be a country mile ahead in the race to capture Hollywood dollars, according to recently released Federal Election Committee data analyzed by ITK.
Among Warnock’s biggest entertainment industry donors: musician and actor Steven Van Zandt, who maxed out with a $2,900 campaign donation in June, and former “Two and a Half Men” star Jon Cryer and actor Kate Capshaw, who both gave the same amount earlier this year. Danny DeVito, Jennifer Garner, “Nocturnal Animals” actor Michael Shannon, Mark Ruffalo, Jason Alexander, mega-producer Shonda Rhimes, director Rob Reiner and Connie Britton are also among some of Warnock’s campaign cash givers.
While the ex-Dallas Cowboys player is a public figure himself, Walker has railed against celebrity culture.
“I think some of the biggest problems going on in our country today, we have so many celebrities telling people that they can’t do it. Telling a lot of people, ‘Oh, well, you got to feel bad for yourself, feel sorry for yourself.’ Which is sad to me,” Walker, who’s backed by former President Trump, said in June.
Walker’s support among Hollywood donors has remained tepid. In October of last year, shortly after Walker entered the Senate race in the Peach State, his campaign received a boost from one notable name: Mehmet Oz.
The “Dr. Oz” personality has faced fierce fundraising competition in his own Senate bid against Fetterman in Pennsylvania.
Fetterman — whose campaign has strategically utilized famous faces such as “Jersey Shore” star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and E Street Band member Van Zandt to mock Oz and highlight the Republican candidate’s ties to New Jersey — has received donations from Christian Bale, Ruffalo, “Doctor My Eyes” singer Jackson Brown and “CSI’s” Marg Helgenberger. Barbra Streisand, a longtime and prominent Democratic donor, gave $2,500 to Fetterman for PA in June, while Rhea Pearlman shelled out $1,000.
The federal contribution limit is $2,900 for a primary and $2,900 for a general election, for a total of $5,800 per person per cycle.
Performers are also opening up their purses for Rep. Val Demings (D) as she takes on Sen. Marco Rubio (R) in Florida in another key race.
Susan Sarandon gave $500 to Demings’s campaign in April, while actors David Arquette and Felicity Huffman both donated $250. Streisand chipped in another $2,000 back in February, and Van Zandt gave $2,900 at the end of June.
Kelly has won some star support since first taking office in a November 2020 special election. It’s money that will likely help to try to fend off a challenge from the winner of Arizona’s GOP primary that was held on Tuesday. Kelly counts “Better Call Saul’s” Bob Odenkirk, musician Peter Frampton, songwriter Rosanne Cash, former TV talk show host Maury Povich, Mary Steenburgen and Marilu Henner among his 2022 donors.
A provision that limits the price of prescription drugs included in Democrats’ climate, health care and tax deal is the most popular piece of the legislation, according to a new Morning Consult-Politico poll.
The poll asked respondents to voice their opinion on 12 different aspects of the reconciliation bill. Fifty-one percent indicated they strongly supported caps on prescription drug prices, and 77 percent of voters said they at least somewhat supported the provision, which clocked in as the element with the highest level of support.
The legislation would require pharmaceutical companies to pay rebates if they hike the prices of existing drugs faster than inflation in either the Medicare or private markets.
Other health care provisions in the bill also polled favorably.
Forty-three percent of respondents strongly supported an element that would allow Medicare to negotiate the prices of certain drugs, and the element received some level of support from 73 percent of respondents.
Seventy-two percent of respondents indicated support for a provision that would cap Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs at $2,000 by 2025. Forty-four percent said they strongly supported the element.
All but two of the 12 provisions asked in the poll received majority support.
One element that seeks to raise revenue by increasing Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funding, so the agency to step up its enforcement of the nation’s tax law, received 43 percent support among respondents.
Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they opposed the measure, and 18 percent said they didn’t know or had no opinion.
Exactly half of respondents said they supported another element that would offer tax credits for individuals to buy electric vehicles. Thirty-three percent said the opposed the measure, and 17 percent said they didn’t know or had no opinion.
Democrats are hoping to pass the package through the Senate before the upper chamber leaves for its August recess.
But the package would require all 50 Senate Democrats’ support assuming all Republicans vote down the bill.
Democrats are closely watching Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who has not yet announced a position on the bill and previously expressed opposition to one of the package’s provisions that would close the carried interest loophole, which enables money managers to reduce their tax rates.
Fellow moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who cut the reconciliation deal with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) behind closed doors last week, spoke with Sinema on Tuesday to lobby her support for the package.
The poll was conducted between July 29-31 through online interviews with 2,006 registered voters. The data was weighted to approximate a target sample of registered voters, and the margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Almost a third of Americans consider abortion to be their greatest motivator to protest in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.
The survey found that 31 percent of respondents said they were most likely to protest in favor of or against abortion rights or Planned Parenthood, more than any other issue. By comparison, only 6 percent of respondents listed abortion in a 2018 poll on motivators for protesting.
Other top issues in the new survey were law enforcement or Black Lives Matter, listed by 22 percent of respondents, women’s rights, at 19 percent, and civil or equal rights, at 11 percent. Government or political issues were considered a motivator for 10 percent of those surveyed.
In 2018, no single issue was most significantly motivating protesters, but 17 percent of those surveyed said they would protest for women’s rights as the #MeToo movement spread throughout the country.
Immigration was listed by 13 percent at the time amid former President Trump’s updates to the country’s immigration policies and pushes to build a wall on the southern border, but only 1 percent of respondents listed it in this year’s poll. Thirteen percent listed gun control and the Second Amendment in 2018, but just 8 percent agreed this year.
Gallup’s latest analysis states that some respondents chose issues that currently upset them, but others chose issues from the past. It states that sharp changes that have occurred since 2018 indicate that recent events are the most influential in when someone chooses to protest.
The poll found that liberals are significantly more likely to protest than conservatives and moderates, with 62 percent of liberals saying they have felt the urge to organize or join a public protest. Only 36 percent of moderates and 26 percent of conservatives said the same.
Protesting is also more likely among wealthier individuals, with 52 percent of those making $100,000 annually or more saying they have felt the urge to protest. Fewer than 40 percent of those making $40,000 to $99,999 and about 20 percent of those making less than $40,000 said they considered it.
The poll was conducted from July 5 to 26 among 1,013 U.S. adults. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.
Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R), who offered dramatic public testimony to the House Jan. 6 select committee about his resistance to the pressure campaign on state officials waged by former President Trump to overturn the 2020 election results in the state, has lost his reelection bid.
State Sen. David Farnsworth, who was endorsed by the former president in late June, has been projected to win the race by The Associated Press and several other news outlets.
In June testimony before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, Bowers disputed the characterization of a conversation that he had with Trump following the 2020 election.
Bowers refuted a claim made by the former president that he told Trump that he had won Arizona and that the election was rigged, saying he never made either of those statements.
He also testified that Trump’s campaign lawyer Rudy Giuliani offered no concrete evidence of election fraud.
“My recollection, he said, ‘We’ve got lots of theories, we just don’t have the evidence,’” Bowers said.
“And I don’t know if that was a gaffe or maybe he didn’t think through what he said, but both myself and others in my group … both remember that specifically, and afterwards we kind of laughed about it,” he said.
Trump’s endorsement is part of a larger revenge tour against Republicans whom he believes have crossed him following the 2020 election and Capitol attack.
This is, and has been, a conversation I’ve had on and off the radio many times. It requires intellectual thought and personal beliefs to be properly placed whether in agreement or disagreement. Sometimes, there isn’t an answer. In my decades of talk radio, I found it almost cathartic to honestly say there isn’t an answer that will satisfy a personal belief. Some will read this article and assign a position to me. If so, you did not grasp my intent. I have deliberately not included any personal viewpoint. Can you, however you feel about the issue of abortion, do the same?
Now that Roe v. Wade has been decided by the Supreme Court, let’s not forget Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in Mississippi. The 2018 state law that banned abortion operations after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy was upheld by the Supreme Court. Abortion was not banned in the United States.
Religion, science and the Constitution are not necessarily exclusive of each other. There is a difference between “belief” and “system.” Belief is individual. The system should work for individual beliefs but not necessarily to the exclusion of others. In a properly functioning society, there are outer boundaries where belief cannot cross. In some cases, the red line, as it’s often referred to, is not so easy to define.
Religion
Those who believe, as many denominations prescribe, that life begins at conception have an absolute right to their belief. They have a right to act individually as they believe. Yet the imposition of this belief on others with divergent opinions is a contradiction if you believe in individual liberty.
Science
Science, as a principle of discovery, is not perfect and continues to evolve with the goal of providing better understanding.
Science has evolved significantly since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Since then, science, through a variety of methods including sonograms, various medical scans and advanced DNA technology, can identify viability and increase the possibility of a successful pregnancy at much earlier stages. Even problematic pregnancies can be successful. Many nations, because of scientific advancements, have a 12-week limit on abortions.
Similarly, scientific advancements also allow physicians to identify dangerous pregnancies that are not viable and may be a significant threat to the life of the mother.
The Constitution
Our individual rights as American citizens are sacrosanct. It is often difficult for one to disagree with another’s belief and at the same time respect that person’s right to their belief. In the case of abortion, this is often a conflict of religious belief, emotion, and logic. This is a point of disagreement and, to be fair one, that will not be fully reconciled.
Policy
Republican state legislatures can get it wrong. Policy is difficult because it cannot always be guided by a singular definitive point. Lawmakers who seek to remove abortion without any medical exceptions, or in such cases as rape or incest, are wrong in attempting to dictate another person’s situation as an absolute or what the individual may have to reconcile, religious or otherwise. This singular and intellectual point will anger some and not others.
There are always exceptions in life, and while the exception most often should not become the norm, exceptions exist. A pregnancy from rape or incest in any form is a controversial part of the policy discussion. It is not as simple as the life or potential life in the womb, however one defines it. There is another life to be considered, that of a woman who must face a life-altering reality on top of a horrific crime. An unanswerable question is, how do you protect the life of one and the life of the other? Both have value. Who decides?
There is a generational factor that must be included in this discussion. This is not just about abortion. It is not just about Republican voters. Policy must be respective of the issues within the entire constituency and a realistic look at their demands. This does not mean succumbing to others’ demands.
How religion, science, Constitution and policy must come together
There is a way to allow reality, not necessarily agreement, by the many facets, people and opinions, to be a better guide and still maintain a forward-looking, effective position. Most Americans favor limits on abortion and recognize that exceptions exist. It is important to reduce the rate of unwanted pregnancies and remove as many exceptions as possible to arrive at a more tenable position.
This article ends, but the conversation and the discussion from these and many other perspectives does not. There are many views to be considered and a population of more than 330 million to be governed.
Webb is host of “The David Webb Show” on SiriusXM Patriot 125, a Fox Nation host, Fox News contributor and a frequent television commentator. His column appears twice a month in The Hill.
At the press conference, Pelosi said she respected the “One China” policy and the Taiwan Relations Act, which commits the United States to supporting Taiwan without a promise of direct engagement if China invades.
“We want Taiwan to always have freedom with security,” Pelosi said. “And we’re not backing away from that.”
Her trip has prompted a flurry of U.S. military activity in the region, and China has reportedly responded by placing two of its own aircraft carriers in the South China Sea and flying its planes near the median line dividing the Taiwan Strait from the sea.
When asked about Beijing’s military activity surrounding her visit, Pelosi downplayed its importance.
“There are certain insecurities on the part of the President of China as to his own political situation that he’s rattling a saber, I don’t know,” Pelosi said.
“But it doesn’t really matter,” she continued. “What matters to us is that we salute the successes of Taiwan, we work together for the security of Taiwan and we just take great lessons from the democracy of Taiwan.”
“That’s one of the purposes of our trip: to show the world the success of the people of Taiwan,” Pelosi said. “Their courage to change their own country to become more democratic.”
Since it was adopted more than 50 years ago, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) has been described as the cornerstone of international efforts to limit the danger of nuclear war, its preservation a key, shared policy objective of the P5, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. In the lead-up to this year’s NPT Review Conference, which opened Monday in New York, Russia and NATO are putting the treaty at risk.
The NPT was conceived as a grand bargain between nations who did not have nuclear weapons and promised not to develop them and the P5, who did have them in 1968 and promised, in Article VI of the treaty, to undertake good faith negotiations to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
In the five decades since, these five nuclear-armed states have continued to insist that other signatories to the treaty honor their commitment not to build nuclear weapons, but they have never seriously considered meeting their obligations to disarm.
Tension over this blatant failure to uphold their end of the bargain has been growing for years and helped fuel the 2017 adoption by 121 non-nuclear-armed states of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a new treaty consistent with Article VI and intended to pressure the countries that have nuclear weapons to meet their obligations to get rid of them.
The gap between the promises of the P5 and their behavior has grown into a chasm since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia has made repeated threats to use nuclear weapons and NATO — representing France, the United Kingdom and the United States — has replied with nuclear threats of its own.
Responding to this escalating danger of nuclear war, 18 Nobel Peace Laureates issued a statement in April urging Russia and NATO to pledge publicly that they will not use nuclear weapons under any circumstances in the current war. The statement was endorsed by more than 1 million people after it was posted to the Avaaz website. The response from Russia and NATO was a thunderous silence.
It is now clear: Not only will they not begin negotiations to eliminate their nuclear arsenals, as they promised decades ago; they will not even pledge not to start World War III. The world cannot ignore the terrible danger of this moment. We are living through a potential planetary near-death experience where a few people have the power to destroy civilization and the rest of us are reduced to pleading with them not to do it. This is not normal, and it is not necessary.
The world must demand that Russia and NATO state unequivocally that they will not use nuclear weapons. And we must go beyond the immediate crisis in Ukraine and make sure we are never in this situation again.
Nuclear weapons are not a force of nature over which we have no control. They are machines that we have made with our own hands, and we know how to take them apart. We must take advantage of the increased awareness of the nuclear danger to bring about fundamental change in nuclear policy and eliminate these weapons before they eliminate us.
For decades, leaders of the nuclear-armed states have promoted the myth of “deterrence,” as though these weapons possess some magic power that assures they will never be used.
The current threats by Russia and NATO reveal the truth: Nuclear-armed states possess these weapons to threaten and bully the rest of the world — and they are prepared to use them. As former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara famously observed, we have not avoided nuclear war because of sound doctrine or wise leaders or infallible technology. “We lucked out,” he said. “It was luck that prevented nuclear war.”
It is hard to imagine how Russia and NATO imagine that they will convince the rest of the world to continue to abstain from acquiring nuclear weapons while they themselves threaten to use them. If they do destroy the NPT regime, the danger of nuclear war will become more acute.
But even if the rest of the world continues to act responsibly, the possession of these weapons by the current nuclear-armed states poses an unacceptable risk to humanity. Here in the United States, we need to support the Back from the Brink campaign’s call for the U.S. to commence negotiations with the other eight nuclear-armed states for a verifiable, enforceable, time-bound agreement to eliminate their nuclear weapons. We either get rid of them or accept that, sooner or later, our luck will run out and the weapons will get rid of us.
Ira Helfand, M.D., is immediate past president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which was a recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, and a member of the International Steering Group, ICAN, the recipient of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.
President Biden’s skill as commander in chief is dramatized again by the successful strike against Ayman al-Zawahiri, an architect of the attacks against America on Sept. 11, 2001, even as Biden unifies and lifts the NATO alliance in defense of Ukraine against the invasion by Russia.
The core vision of House and Senate Democrats, as President Kennedy once brilliantly said, to build a rising tide that lifts all boats is dramatized by congressional action to support lower prescription drug prices that will help more than 131 million Americans protect their health and lower their cost of living.
And to achieve dramatic, long overdue action to combat climate change.
And to enact the CHIPS bill to create American jobs by restoring American leadership in the semiconductor industry.
And to support our veteran heroes who endure preventable diseases from burning pits of trash on military bases and other illnesses resulting from their combat service.
And to fight like hell, before the midterm elections and thereafter, for the rights of women, working people, minorities and young people.
As these critical midterm elections approach, all political journalists should go to RealClearPolitics generic polling summaries and report on substantial gains made by Democrats from July into August. Count the Democratic leads. Count the Republican leads. Report the facts. Focus on Democratic Senate strength in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Georgia — just for starters.
There is no question that in the last month Biden and Democrats in Congress have gained strength. The question is whether this growing strength continues.
Regarding the CHIP bill, the president, congressional Democrats and Republicans who supported the bill deserve great credit; those Republicans who opposed or obstructed it will have to answer to voters. It will create jobs in America. It will strengthen American semiconductor companies and workers and all other companies and consumers that benefit from chips. It will strengthen national security and improve long-term American supply chains, lowering long-term inflation.
Regarding the bill to dramatically improve veterans’ health care, Biden, who has a passion for this cause, and congressional Democrats and Republicans who support it, all deserve great credit. Those Republicans who oppose or obstruct it for political reasons should be ashamed, as the great veterans advocate Jon Stewart and many veterans are saying; those Republicans will have to answer for this to veterans and military families back home.
Regarding the critical reconciliation bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) deserves great credit along with Biden for this effort, as will Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) if his support remains firm, as I believe it will. And Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) will receive national acclaim for her enormously important role in making these good things happen with a yes vote, if she votes that way.
According to Georgetown University, more than 131 million Americans use prescription drugs. Virtually every one of them will benefit personally and financially, as their families who love them will benefit if this becomes law. Those who oppose the measure , however, will pay a heavy price at the polls.
The landmark climate change proposals in this bill are critically important to the future of the Earth and humanity at a time of grave environmental danger. Major support for alternative energies, and support for those who make electric cars and the consumers who drive them, will reduce the need for Mideast oil, create good jobs for American workers, and reduce the cost of gas at the pumps.
As Biden and Democrats march to the midterms, they stand for these policies that create jobs, lower inflation, back vets, protect the Earth, and help more than 131 million Americans save money to stay healthy — to build a rising tide that lifts all American boats.
Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the House of Representatives.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his military forces in Donbas and Kherson are running on empty, and the Biden administration once again has entangled itself in escalation paralysis, unwilling to seize the initiative needed to deliver a knockout blow to Russian troops in Ukraine. Seemingly fearful of forcing the Kremlin into a decisive endgame, President Biden is playing for a European football-style of a tie: win if you can, but primarily focus on not losing. That kind of “wait and see” approach can work in a soccer match given a hard time limit; however, in Ukraine where there is no clock, it could be a recipe for turning the conflict into a “forever war.”
Strategic ambiguity is effective as a pre-war deterrence strategy, but it is not a winning war strategy. Biden’s illogical default to this as a primary tool of war could needlessly prolong the war in Ukraine, severely harm the United States and the global economy, and strain the NATO alliance. This also could weaken any global response that may be needed to confront an increasingly militant Beijing. According to China’s Foreign Ministry, President Xi Jinping, angered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) planned trip to Taiwan, warned Biden in their July 28 telephone call that “those who play with fire will perish by it.”
Biden’s unwillingness to deliver Putin a knockout blow opens him up to domestic criticism that his administration is following the maxim of Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, a former White House chief of staff: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” Key administration figures and supporters appear to embrace this tactic, coining such phrases as “the Putin gas tax,” “Putin’s war,” and the “Putin price hike,” to try to justify and cast blame for 9.1 percent inflation and gasoline costs of around $5 a gallon, while they and others push the progressive left’s green energy policies.
We are past the 90th minute of the soccer game and in overtime, and Biden, inexplicably, is refusing to take his shot on goal to win the match. Thus far, his only clearly stated objective is to weaken Russia. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, during his trip to Kyiv with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in mid-April, told reporters that the “U.S. wants to see Russia weakened and unable to quickly recover” — and after nearly six months of combat, Blinken confirmed in late July that the Pentagon believes NATO indeed has achieved Biden’s objective. So, Washington and Brussels had their cake and got to eat some too, but now Biden seemingly is unwilling to win the remainder of the cake for Ukraine.
Nonetheless, Putin appears to be desperate, and this war may come down to a matter of his personal survival. Over half his force — upwards of 75,000 — reportedly have been killed or wounded in Ukraine. Militarily, Putin is running out of substitutions. In a power play reminiscent of Joseph Stalin forcing Mao Zedong to wait 10 days in a Moscow dacha before meeting with him, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan kept Putin comically cooling his heels and waiting for his arrival in a video clip that got more than 100,000 views. In our soccer analogy, Erdoğan’s elbow hit Putin in a tactical foul — a purposeful, illegal tackle to take down your opponent before he can score. How the once mighty Russian bear has fallen!
Putin’s economy is reeling out of control. To continue financing his “special military operation,” Russia has discounted its oil by as much as $30 a barrel, selling it to India, China and whoever else wants it. Even former Soviet bloc members, once invaded and dominated by the Kremlin, appear willing to exploit Moscow’s devolving economy, including Hungary. Putin undoubtedly views this as a means of challenging the unity of NATO and the European Union; however, in reality, Hungary probably just views Russia as a discount gas station.
Militarily, Ukraine has benefited from the U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which has targeted and destroyed key supply depots and transport systems supporting Russia’s artillery dominance. Moreover, Ukraine recently initiated a counter-offensive in Kherson. But counter-offensives require manpower, preferably a ratio of three-to-one, and superior firepower. News that the U.S. will send four additional HIMARS and is considering the delivery of A-10 Warthogs to Ukraine is welcomed; however, continued piecemealing of weapons into Ukraine to avoid escalation in a war that Russia started defies reason. Let’s equip Ukraine with what it needs to win the war.
It’s time for Biden to start flexing U.S. muscle and stop cowering to Russian smokescreens of escalation. Instead of letting Erdoğan negotiate with Russia for the release of grain from Ukrainian storage facilities in Black Sea ports, the U.S. and NATO should be sending Navy ships into the Black Sea to escort the product out to the global market. A Russian signature on any document is worthless. The ink had not even dried on the agreement Turkey negotiated when Russian missiles began falling on Odessa. Washington should be dictating conditions from NATO’s position of strength, not acquiescing to Moscow.
There is an adage in American sports that dictates you close out your opponent when the opportunity presents itself, and not let them hang around until the second half or fourth quarter, when they can seize momentum and beat you. Great athletes such as Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Tom Brady played their best when the game was on the line — at the end of the game. The Biden administration is needlessly letting Putin hang around for a shot at the buzzer.
Biden must act immediately. He may have won the White House by playing it safe from his basement during the campaign, but wars are not won playing it safe from a bunker. They are won on the battlefield — through bold, decisive action. It’s something that Russia understands and would be forced to respect. Take the shot, Mr. President.
Jonathan Sweet, a retired Army colonel, served 30 years as a military intelligence officer. His background includes tours of duty with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and the Intelligence and Security Command. He led the U.S. European Command Intelligence Engagement Division from 2012-14, working with NATO partners in the Black Sea and Baltics. Follow him on Twitter @JESweet2022.
Mark Toth is a retired economist, historian and entrepreneur who has worked in banking, insurance, publishing and global commerce. He is a former board member of the World Trade Center, St. Louis, and has lived in U.S. diplomatic and military communities around the world, including London, Tel Aviv, Augsburg and Nagoya. Follow him on Twitter @MCTothSTL.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday spoke to Taiwan’s legislature, met with the country’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, and said her visit “honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant democracy” (CNN).
“We commend Taiwan for being one of the freest societies in the world, for your success in addressing [the COVID-19 pandemic], which is a health issue, a security issue, an economic issue, and a governance issue,” she said.
The speaker arrived in Taipei late on Tuesday with a congressional delegation to praise the independent island claimed by China. Beijing lost no time in announcing its ire, outlining a schedule of military maneuvers in protest.
Becoming the highest-ranking U.S. official in a quarter-century to visit Taiwan, Pelosi, a long-standing China critic, arrived aboard a U.S. Air Force passenger jet and posed for photos on the tarmac at Taipei’s international airport, greeted by Taiwan’s foreign minister and other U.S. and Taiwanese officials before being whisked to a hotel (The Associated Press). The Washington Post published a Pelosi op-ed as she arrived.
Pelosi said her visit, part of a multi-nation itinerary in the Asia-Pacific, is intended to show U.S. backing for Taiwan’s democracy and independence.
Beijing, which under President Xi Jinping views the island as a renegade territory, responded by announcing that live ammunition drills will take place around Taiwan from Thursday until Sunday. Pelosi has departed as of this writing and her next stops are South Korea and Japan (The South China Morning Post).
Beijing also displayed its displeasure by imposing an economic vise on exporting sand to Taiwan and barring imports of its citrus and certain types of fish (The New York Times).
The White House previously warned that China could use Pelosi’s visit as a rationale for provocation and prepared for various possible reactions by Beijing. After the Speaker’s arrival in Taipei, China’s official Xinhua News Agency released an announcement of “important military training operations” issued by the People’s Liberation Army (The Washington Post).
As Pelosi arrived in Taiwan, she became the first Speaker to visit since Newt Gingrich in 1997. At 82, and currently the most powerful woman in elective politics, she has built an unparalleled record, elected by her Democratic colleagues twice as Speaker. Many in Washington believe she may opt to retire following the November midterms. Her message that the “United States continues to oppose unilateral efforts to change the status quo” in Taiwan becomes part of her legacy, delivered with drama.
▪ Reuters: Pelosi’s visit caps a long history of confronting Beijing.
▪ Carl Hulse, The New York Times: Pelosi has spent more than three decades challenging China on human rights and other issues.
At least four U.S. warships, including an aircraft carrier carrying F-35 fighter jets, were positioned in waters east of Taiwan on Tuesday in what the U.S. Navy downplayed as a routine deployment (The Hill and Reuters). “Those who play with fire will perish by it. We believe that the U.S. side is fully aware of China’s strong and clear message,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters during a press conference on Monday (The Hill).
Meanwhile, drama in Washington continued on Tuesday as focus remains lasered on Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and whether she will jump on board with the budget deal struck between Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).
The West Virginia centrist attempted to do his part on Tuesday; as he was seen talking to Sinema for 15 minutes while she was presiding over the upper chamber in the afternoon. He told reporters that he is exchanging materials to help her understand the details of the agreement but was otherwise tight-lipped about their conversation.
“We had a nice time. We had a nice time. Next?” he said.
As for Schumer, he said that Sinema’s suggestions on possible alterations to the $739 billion package are welcome as Democrats push to pass a bill in the coming days. That work could potentially spill into the weekend, delaying the monthlong August recess for senators (The Hill). Sinema declined to comment once again on Tuesday.
The party in power also got some good news in the form of head counting on Tuesday as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) returned after testing positive for COVID-19. Democrats need all of their members present this week in order to pass the reconciliation bill, including Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who has been recovering from hip replacement surgery.
▪ NBC News: Sinema faces conflicting pressures in Arizona on Democrats’ big agenda bill.
▪ The Hill: GOP targets Sinema while going all out to block Democratic bill.
However, the Senate did get one bit of business complete on Tuesday, passing the PACT Act, which expands benefits for veterans suffering illnesses due to toxic exposures from burn pits. The move was the culmination of a wave of criticism against the GOP for blocking the bill on Wednesday in response to the announcement of the reconciliation deal.
The package passed 86-11, with senators voting against three amendments to the bill that helped hold up its final passage until Tuesday. Jon Stewart, who has been a vocal proponent of the bill and publicly lambasted Republicans for their tactics in recent days, watched the vote with veterans in the Senate gallery (The Hill).
All 11 “no” votes came on the GOP side: Mike Crapo (Idaho), James Lankford (Okla.), Mike Lee (Utah), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), Rand Paul (Ky.), James Risch (Idaho), Mitt Romney (Utah), Richard Shelby (Ala.), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Tommy Tuberville (Ala.).
The deal struck with GOP senators that allowed the failed amendments also allows a Friday vote on Finland and Sweden joining NATO (The Hill).
▪ The Hill: Manchin’s climate buy-in comes at a cost for environmental review.
▪ The Hill: Corporate lobbying could imperil sweeping data privacy bill.
LEADING THE DAY
➤ POLITICS
The clearest reverberations from the decision striking down Roe v. Wade were on display on Tuesday as Kansas voters rejected a ballot measure that would give the state legislature the authority to ban abortion. As of this morning, 58.8 percent voted “no” to only 41.2 percent for “yes” (The Hill).
The question would have created a constitutional amendment removing abortion protections from the Kansas constitution. President Biden hailed the move, which was viewed as one of the first political opportunities for the abortion rights advocates after the Supreme Court’s decision in late June.
“The Supreme Court’s extreme decision to overturn Roe v. Wade put women’s health and lives at risk. Tonight, the American people had something to say about it,” Biden said in a statement (The Hill).
Meanwhile, it’s too close to call in Arizona where Kari Lake, former President Trump’s preferred candidate, holds a slim lead over Karrin Taylor Robson in the Arizona governor’s GOP primary.
Lake overtook Taylor Robson’s lead, buoyed by early vote totals, in the wee hours of Wednesday as the votes cast on primary day rolled in. As of this morning, she leads by more than 8,000 votes (1.3 percent margin) and declared victory, though the race has yet to be called.
Taylor Robson, the former head of Arizona’s university system, had a major financial advantage, having flooded the airwaves in the final weeks by a 7-to-1 margin to close the gap. According to final polls of the race, Lake led by nearly double digits.
If the result holds, it would be a massive win for Trump against two of his bitter rivals, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) and former Vice President Mike Pence, both of whom had backed Taylor Robson.
The winner will face Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) in November.
▪ The Hill: Trump-backed Blake Masters to face Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) in Arizona Senate race.
▪ The Hill: Five takeaways from primaries in Arizona, Missouri and beyond.
In the Missouri Senate race, state Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R) won the battle of the Eric’s and took home the GOP nomination to replace retiring Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).
Schmitt defeated Reps. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), the only candidate in the race who Trump came out against, and former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R), taking home 45.9 percent — more than double the support of his challengers. Greitens, along with Schmitt, won Trump’s endorsement, but saw his support plummet in the weeks leading up to primary day after a barrage of ads centered on allegations of domestic violence against him (The Hill).
▪ Politico: Inside the secret, year-long campaign to torpedo Greitens’ attempted comeback.
▪ The Kansas City Star: Trudy Busch Valentine wins Missouri Democratic Senate primary, setting up showdown with Schmitt.
In Michigan, Tudor Dixon won the GOP gubernatorial primary and will face-off in November against incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D). Dixon, who was backed by Trump and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, won with 40.5 percent support, handily topping the five-candidate field (The Hill).
On the House side, three House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for his actions (or lack thereof) on Jan. 6, 2021 were on the ballot, and at least one of them was defeated. Rep. Peter Meijer (Mich.) lost to John Gibbs, the Trump-endorsed candidate, in the state’s 3rd congressional district. Gibbs won by a 3.6-percentage point margin, having been buoyed by outside Democratic groups who believe he would be an easier general election candidate than Meijer.
Two other races have not been called yet. Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.) and Dan Newhouse (Wash.) both sit in the top two of their jungle primaries, which would slot them into the general election if things hold.
▪ The Hill: Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) ousted by Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) in Michigan.
▪ The Hill: Trump endorses challenger to Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R), who said he was pressured over election.
The election news was not confined to primary contests on Tuesday. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the commonwealth’s universal mail-in voting law, rejecting a challenge from GOP legislators.
The decision creates electoral certainty heading into the midterm elections and cements the 2019 law, which was overwhelmingly passed by bipartisan majorities. However, it became a GOP target of derision due to opposition by Trump and the rise of COVID-19 (The Philadelphia Inquirer).
▪ The Hill: Judge refuses to delay Oath Keepers’ seditious conspiracy trial.
▪ Los Angeles Times: Biden, Vice President Harris back Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) in Los Angeles mayor’s race.
IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES
➤ ADMINISTRATION
Saturday’s U.S. Hellfire missile strikes via drone in Kabul, Afghanistan, which Biden said killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri without taking the lives of civilians, raises new questions about the Taliban’s decision to shelter the former Egyptian physician and his relatives and whether the exit a year ago of U.S. and Western military forces from Afghanistan created conditions for yet another chapter of refuge for extremists and terrorists (The Hill).
Abortion: In the first major action by the Justice Department challenging a state abortion trigger law since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, the government on Tuesday sued Idaho over its six-week abortion ban (The Associated Press). In its lawsuit, the federal government argued that Idaho’s law conflicts with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires a medical facility to provide emergency treatment to anyone who needs to be stabilized and treated. The government argues that requiring doctors to provide pregnant women medically necessary treatment could include abortion in some circumstances and supersedes Idaho’s trigger law. The federal government brought the lawsuit seeking to invalidate the state’s “criminal prohibition on providing abortions as applied to women suffering medical emergencies,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said. “Under the Idaho law, once effective, any state or local prosecutor can subject a physician to indictment, arrest, and prosecution merely by showing that an abortion has been performed, without regard to the circumstances,” the department objected. “The law then puts the burden on the physician to prove an ‘affirmative defense’ at trial.”
In a related development, the president is poised to instruct the Health and Human Services Department to consider using Medicaid benefits to support women seeking abortions across state lines. Medicaid is a shared health program between the federal government and participating states to help low-income people (The Hill).
The Treasury Department said Tuesday that the United States froze the visa of Alina Kabaeva, a former Olympic gymnast and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reported romantic interest who was once a member of the state Duma, and imposed other property restrictions. The department said Kabaeva is also head of a Russian national media company that promotes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (The Associated Press and The Hill).
Congress is debating legislation that would make it illegal to import or export domestic- or foreign-caught shark fins. At the same time, the government is cracking down on alleged violations of existing law by the U.S. seafood industry. A complaint filed last month in Miami federal court accused an exporter based in the Florida Keys, Elite Sky International, of falsely labeling some 5,666 pounds of China-bound shark fins as live Florida spiny lobsters. Another company, South Florida-based Aifa Seafood, is also under criminal investigation for similar violations, according to reporting by The Associated Press about an ongoing probe. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service inspectors seize thousands of shark fins annually for failure to declare such shipments while in transit to Asia.
When negative is better than positive: The president on Tuesday continued to work remotely at the White House with a rebound case of COVID-19 and the return of a “loose cough” he thought he conquered last week before again testing positive for the virus. The president’s doctor says Biden, 79, is feeling well other than the cough and intends to remain in isolation until he can test negative on an antigen test (The Hill).
■ A key 9/11 plotter is dead. He was already irrelevant, by Graeme Wood, staff writer, The Atlantic. https://bit.ly/3Jozgo2
■ Why I’m leading a congressional delegation to Taiwan, by Nancy Pelosi, contributing columnist, The Washington Post. https://wapo.st/3bpjo8t
WHERE AND WHEN
The House is out for the August recess and will return to Washington on Sept. 13. The lower chamber could convene later this month, pending Senate action.
TheSenate convenes at noon to resume consideration of a resolution supporting the accession to NATO of Finland and Sweden.
The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 9:30 a.m. Biden at 2 p.m. convenes the first meeting of the interagency Reproductive Healthcare Access task force virtually from the Treaty Room. Cabinet participants include the attorney general, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The vice president will also attend the afternoon meeting of the reproductive healthcare access task force.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, through the end of the week to participate in the U.S.-ASEAN ministerial meeting, the East Asia Summit foreign ministers’ meeting, and the ASEAN Regional Forum.
The White House daily briefing is scheduled at 12:45 p.m.
U.S. job openings in June were not as plentiful as in earlier months, a sign of a gradual slowdown. Openings fell to a still-high 10.7 million in June from 11.3 million in May, the Labor Department said on Tuesday. The government reported that the number of Americans quitting their jobs fell slightly but remained high at 4.2 million in June while layoffs fell to 1.3 million from 1.4 million in May (ABC News). The new information is closely watched by economists and analysts amid high prices, rising interest rates and recession fears.
Credit scores can make or break the costs of mortgages, auto loans and credit cards, so when a major credit company makes errors, the damage to borrowers, buyers and sellers is consequential. Equifax sent faulty credit scores to lenders for a three-week period this year, resulting in denied applications and higher interest rates (The Wall Street Journal).
U.S. property owners are able to shield themselves from legal consequences when they fail to pay property tax, a phenomenon that exacerbates a national housing crisis fueled by inflation and a shortage of low- and moderate-income homes for sale and rent (The Hill).
➤ PANDEMIC & POX
The monkeypox outbreak in the U.S. emerged in May, and since then, state and local officials and members of Congress have urged the White House and federal public health officials to better coordinate the distribution of monkeypox vaccine doses around the country, a task controlled by the federal government but carried out by state, county and city public health offices.
To supervise the U.S. monkeypox emergency, Biden on Tuesday named Robert Fenton, who currently leads the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s western region, as the White House national monkeypox response coordinator, and named Demetre Daskalakis as the White House deputy coordinator. Daskalakis manages the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention division that deals with HIV prevention, is a physician and previously was deputy commissioner of New York City’s health department (The Washington Post).
Legendary sports broadcaster Vin Scully died Tuesday at 94 at his home in Hidden Hills, Calif., the Los Angeles Dodgers announced. He had a career that spanned Dodgers history from Jackie Robinson to Clayton Kershaw and included network television stints covering football, tennis and golf. Scully presided over some of baseball’s greatest moments: Sandy Koufax’s perfect game, Kirk Gibson’s World Series heroics and Hank Aaron’s eclipse of the all-time home run record (Los Angeles Times).
Titan, a sea turtle, has endured a harrowing stretch. He was injured by a boat propeller and lost a portion of his front flipper to a shark.
But there’s more. The juvenile loggerhead was rescued by a pair of New Jersey fishermen while being attacked by another shark. The men promptly contacted Sea Turtle Recovery, an organization that does just that — rehabilitates rescued turtles so they can return to the ocean.
As The Associated Press reports, Titan was one of eight turtles on Tuesday who returned to the sea in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., after some healing human TLC.
