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Friday, July 29, 2022

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US Economy Crosses Threshold to Qualify as a Recession

CNBC: The U.S. economy contracted for the second straight quarter from April to June, hitting a widely accepted rule of thumb for a recession, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday. Gross domestic product fell 0.9% at an annualized pace for the period, according to the advance estimate. That follows a 1.6% decline in the first quarter and was worse than the Dow Jones estimate for a gain of 0.3%. Officially, the National Bureau of Economic Research declares recessions and expansions, and likely won’t make a judgment on the period in question for months if not longer. But a second straight negative GDP reading meets a long-held basic view of recession, despite the unusual circumstances of the decline and regardless of what the NBER decides. GDP is the broadest measure of the economy and encompasses the total level of goods and services produced during the period (CNBC). Fox News: President Biden said the United States “is not in a recession,” despite Thursday’s GDP report, saying it is “no surprise that the economy is slowing down” amid inflation… Biden touted the job market, saying it “remains historically strong, with unemployment at 3.6% and more than 1 million jobs created in the second quarter alone.” “Consumer spending is continuing to grow,” he said. Biden’s comments came just days after he said the U.S. was “not coming into recession” (Fox News). RNC Research: Joe Biden continues to lie to the American people: “We’re not in a recession” (Twitter). Will Hild: As much as they try and deny it, the GDP numbers don’t lie, we are in a recession. Under the Biden Administration, we are “building back broker” (Twitter).

Los Angeles County Will Not Reinstate Mask Mandates

National Review: Los Angeles County officials announced Thursday that they would not impose a new indoor mask mandate, two weeks after a “watch period” was triggered by high levels of Covid transmission. “While hospitalizations and cases are still elevated, we’re relieved to see declines across these two metrics,” county health director Barbara Ferrer said Thursday. “There has been a fairly steady decline in cases since July 23, potentially signaling an end to this current surge.” Ferrer said two weeks ago that the county could once again reimpose a mask mandate after entering the CDC’s “high” level of community transmission. Now, Ferrer said, internal county data found that hospitalizations have fallen to 9.7 admissions per 100,000, under the CDC’s threshold between high and medium-level community transmission (National Review). Elex Michaelson: Los Angeles County will NOT re-impose the indoor mask mandate for now, citing improving hospitalization numbers. No county in California currently has an indoor mask mandate (Twitter). KTLA: The threat of returning to the mandate stirred up controversy. Several cities, including Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Long Beach, and most recently El Segundo, had announced this week they would not enforce any mandate. Additionally, two members of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors had indicated they opposed the reinstating of a the region-wide mask mandate. In an open letter, Supervisor Kathryn Barger said “masking mandates lack empirical evidence to back their effectiveness, are unenforceable, polarizing, and take a huge toll on the social-emotional well-being of children and youth” (KTLA).

Republicans Criticize Tax Hikes of Manchin-Schumer Deal

Fox News: Republicans in Congress are racing to characterize the new spending bill being pushed by Democrats as “out of touch” with the American people, as they work to try to defeat the more than $700 billion legislative package. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced they had reached a deal Wednesday evening to move forward with a vastly pared-back version of Build Back Better. The deal reached includes $433 billion in spending on climate change, drug pricing reform and health care provisions, over $300 billion in tax increases and an agreement between Schumer and Pelosi to vote on oil permitting reforms. Republicans immediately started criticizing the deal after the announcement, calling it a “desperate attempt” to distract voters as the midterm elections approach and dubbing it “Build Back Broke” (Fox News). Phil Kerpen: Manchin, a senator from WEST VIRGINIA, has included a COAL TAX HIKE in his bill. Section 13901 increases the tax per ton on underground mines from 50 cents to $1.10 and on surface mines from 25 cents to 55 cents (Twitter).Spencer Brown: Clearly, the Democrat agenda is more important to Schumer and Manchin than delivering solutions for the American people who are already suffering under Biden’s economic policies. Denying the reality of what tax and spend policies have already created while seeking to double down on new spending and tax hikes will only further alienate voters who are just months away from deciding who gets to control Congress (Townhall).

DC Mayor Calls for National Guard to Assist With Migrant Buses

Daily Wire: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) said Thursday that she has asked for the National Guard to be deployed to help handle the influx of illegal immigrants coming into the nation’s capital. (Daily Wire). Fox News: The mayor, who has championed accepting migrants entering the country illegally as a human rights issue, requested the D.C. National Guard be activated indefinitely to assist with what she called a “humanitarian crisis.” Bowser is asking that the D.C. Armory be used as a processing center and D.C. National Guard resources be used to help field migrants as they arrive by bus. Migrants by the busloads have been sent to the capital by GOP governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona as a political statement over President Biden’s handling of the immigration crisis at the southern border. Bowser has vocally complained about the migrant surge in her city, suggesting those entering the country are being “tricked” into coming to D.C. but stressed it is “a federal issue that demands a federal response” (Fox News). Washington Examiner: Once migrants are received at the armory, the mission would seek to help them on their “eventual movement to their final destinations,” Bowser wrote. “This mission would begin as soon as possible and continue indefinitely until the city relieves them,” she said. “To be clear, I recognize the magnitude of this request. But the Governors of Texas and Arizona are making a political statement to the federal government, and instead, their actions are having direct impacts on city and regional resources in ways that are unsustainable” (Washington Examiner).

Tensions Intensify as Xi Cautions Biden Over Taiwan

Axios: President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a contentious exchange on Taiwan in a two-hour and 17-minute call on Thursday, their fifth call since Biden became president (Axios). CNN: Xi offered an ominous warning to Biden, according to China’s version of events. “Public opinion shall not be violated, and if you play with fire you get burned. I hope the US side can see this clearly,” he told Biden, according to China’s state news agency. The issue has emerged as a serious point of contention, as US officials fear a more imminent Chinese move on the self-governing island and as a potential visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prompts warnings from Beijing and a concerted effort by the Biden administration to prevent tensions from spiraling into conflict The White House’s account of the call was less specific. “On Taiwan, President Biden underscored that the United States policy has not changed and that the United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” a US readout read (CNN). Politico: A source of tension in the background of the call was Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan, a diplomatic trip that the White House is not happy about. Xi is also facing a sensitive time with the 20th Communist Party Congress coming up later this year. Any perceived cracks in the United States’ commitment to the One China policy could weaken his own influence. Xi underscored the need for bilateral coordination on macroeconomic policies to keep global supply chains stable and to maintain food and energy security. The call also covered Covid-19 policies. Both presidents tasked their respective teams to continue following up on Thursday’s conversation, in particular, to address climate change and health security (Politico).

60 Percent of Abortion Clinics Close in 11 Pro-Life States

Townhall: About 60 percent of abortion clinics in 11 states with near-total or “heartbeat” abortion bans in place have shut down in the month since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade (Townhall). Axios: The 11 states that Guttmacher looked at — Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas — had a total of 71 clinics that provided abortion care before June 24. As of July 24, there were only 28 clinics offering abortions, all located in the states that have six-week abortion bans (Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee), Guttmacher found. Texas, where the state’s pre-Roe, near-total abortion ban is being enforced, had the most clinic closures, with 23 in total. It was followed by Alabama, which lost five clinics; Oklahoma, which also lost five; and Arkansas, which lost two. (Axios).

Ukraine Isolates Russians in Kherson, Prepares to Recapture City

NBC: Ukraine has been laying the groundwork for weeks, amassing forces and weaponry, and now it says it is making gains in the country’s south. Bolstered by newly acquired long-range weapons from the West, the country’s forces, which long vowed to launch a counteroffensive, have destroyed key Russian targets in the Ukrainian city of Kherson. Russian troops are “virtually cut off” by the counteroffensive, which is “gaining momentum,” the British Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence briefing Thursday. At least three bridges on the Dnipro River have been damaged, it said, adding that the strategic Antonivsky Bridge used to transport supplies to the southern city was likely “unusable.” As a result, Russia’s 49th Army stationed west of the river was “highly vulnerable,” it said. Retaking Kherson, which was seized by President Vladimir Putin’s forces early in the invasion, would be “a major blow to the Russian war effort,” Udi Greenberg, a professor of modern European history at Dartmouth College, told NBC News. As a port city, he said, “it has major strategic and economic values.” It would be the first time a major city had been retaken by Ukrainian forces since the conflict began Feb. 24 (NBC). Reuters: Ukraine has used Western-supplied long-range missile systems to badly damage three bridges across the River Dnipro in recent weeks, making it harder for Russia to supply its forces on the western bank. British intelligence said the strategy was starting to isolate Russian forces in the Kherson region. Kherson city was now virtually cut off from the other territories occupied by Russia. A Ukrainian strike on Wednesday on the Antonivskyi bridge, the sole span serving Kherson city, prompted its closure to traffic. That forced Russia to open a ferry service, the route of which it said would constantly change for security reasons. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, tweeted that Russia was concentrating “the maximum number of troops” in the direction of the Kherson region but gave no details (Reuters).

Sesame Street Theme Park Sued for $25 Million in Racial Discrimination Lawsuit

Daily Wire: A Baltimore family just filed a $25 million lawsuit against Sesame Place, a theme park in Pennsylvania, claiming their daughters were the targets of racial discrimination after being ignored by characters in costume. The filing comes not long after a video of a Sesame Place employee dressed as Rosita seemingly ignoring two black girls during a parade went viral online, sparking nationwide outrage and accusations of racism. Social media was flooded with examples of similar incidents that allegedly took place at the amusement park, which only helped fuel the fury (Daily Wire). Daily Mail: Their lawyer claimed the incident is not isolated and 25 to 30 other families have come forward with videos of similar incidents over the years. He is now calling for the theme park to pay for the girls’ mental health expenses – and claims as one is in isolation. Congressional Black Caucus members are reportedly seeking a meeting with leaders of the park (Daily Mail). Fox News reporter Chad Pergram: Congressional Black Caucus “is requesting an audience with Sesame Place Park President & General Manager Cathy Valeriano to discuss the changes, plans of action, and training the park plans to implement” (Twitter).

Mexico City Residents Annoyed With Influx of Americans, Gentrification

Daily Mail: Residents of Mexico City are getting fed up with Americans moving south from California to enjoy cheap real estate while working from home. One TikTok influencer even called it ‘modern day colonialism’ as Americans have brought upscale coffee shops and Pilates studios, according to the Los Angeles Times. They even reported seeing flyers around the city saying: ‘New to the city? Working remotely? You’re a f- plague and the locals f- hate you. Leave.’ The number of Americans moving to the Mexican capital has raised rents in the area and a noticeable shift in language from Spanish to English. The US State Department says that at least 1.6 million Americans currently reside in Mexico, but it’s unknown how many of those people are in Mexico City. Over 1.2 million foreign visitors came through Mexico City’s airport in the first four months of 2022. Fernando Bustos Gorozpe, a writer and university professor, said: ‘We’re the only brown people. We’re the only people speaking Spanish except the waiters’ (Daily Mail). Los Angeles Times: Clear financial incentives are drawing Americans to Mexico City — where the average local salary is $450 a month. For the cost of a $2,000 one-bedroom in Koreatown, an Angeleno can rent a penthouse here (Los Angeles Times).

10.

Coca-Cola Changing Sprite Bottles From Green to Clear, Citing Sustainability

Sprite will get a new logo, too. Wall Street Journal: Sprite’s signature bottles won’t be green anymore. Starting Aug. 1, Coca-Cola Co. said it would ditch the bottle color, which it has used to market its Sprite bottles for more than six decades, and would instead use clear bottles that are supposed to be more sustainable. The company said Wednesday that it is easier to reuse clear plastic than green plastic for new bottles. Sprite’s green plastic is recyclable, but green plastic is more often converted into single-use items such as carpets and clothing. Coke officials have said that Sprite’s green packaging was meant to communicate that the drink tasted refreshing. The packaging for the lemon-lime soft drink has been green ever since Sprite launched in the U.S. in 1961. The drink has been one of Coke’s bestselling products, according to the company (Wall Street Journal). Fox News: The color of the bottle is not the only change that will take effect beginning August 1. Coca-Cola said they will be launching “a new visual identity system featuring a revamped logo and packaging design.” Sprite is just one of Coca-Cola’s brands to change their look for environmental purposes. Fresca, Seagram’s and Mello Yello will ditch the green, and Dasani water will also switch to a clear plastic bottle (Fox News).

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