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Monday, August 8, 2022

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Senate Passes Inflation Reduction Act, Bill Heads to House

Reuters: The U.S. Senate on Sunday passed a sweeping $430 billion bill intended to fight climate change, lower drug prices and raise some corporate taxes, a major victory for President Joe Biden that Democrats hope will aid their chances of keeping control of Congress in this year’s elections. After a marathon, 27-hour weekend session of debate and Republican efforts to derail the package, the Senate approved the legislation known as the Inflation Reduction Act by a 51-50 party line vote Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking ballot. The action sends the measure to the House of Representatives for a vote expected Friday that could forward it, in turn, to the White House for Biden’s signature. In a statement, Biden urged the House to act as soon as possible and said he looked forward to signing the bill into law (Reuters). Washington Post: The bill uses two main levers: major new incentives for private industry to produce far more renewable energy, and other incentives for households to transform their energy use and consumption. Democrats say this second set of incentives will also offer immediate consumer relief for the higher energy prices that have bedeviled the Biden administration. The agreement would also raise hundreds of billions in new revenue through new tax provisions — the biggest of which will fall on the country’s large corporations (Washington Post). Benny Johnson: Kamala Harris just cast the tie-breaking vote seconds ago to pass the Dem Senate bill to RAISE taxes on families and businesses while spending TRILLIONS more on leftist elitist pet projects during a RECESSION (Twitter).

Democrat Reconciliation Bill Adds 87,000 New IRS Workers

The IRS was weaponized against Republicans during the Obama administration. Now, Biden wants to make them even stronger. Daily Wire: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) blasted Democrats over details in a reconciliation bill that would add 87,000 more IRS workers. Cruz shared the remarks during a Senate floor speech this weekend that noted Americans are not looking for more IRS agents as an answer to the nation’s problems. “I guarantee you citizens in every one of our states, if you ask them, ‘What do they want?’ they don’t want 87,000 new IRS agents. And they’re not being created to audit billionaires or giant corporations. They’re being created to audit you,” he added (Daily Wire). Ted Cruz: Democrats want to make the IRS larger than the Pentagon, the State Department, the FBI, and the Border Patrol combined. That’s a terrible idea. We should abolish the IRS (Twitter)! Marco Rubio: Out of touch Senate democrats think electric cars, solar panels & hiring 87000 new IRS agents is more important than dealing with high prices, crime and an open border (Twitter).

Only 12 Percent of Americans Trust Manchin, Schumer’s “Inflation Reduction Act” Will Actually Reduce Inflation

Daily Wire: Only 12% of Americans believe the Democrats’ “Inflation Reduction Act” will accomplish what its name suggests, according to a YouGov poll released Wednesday. The survey asked nearly 1,500 Americans between July 30 and August 2 about their thoughts on the new spending package that Democrats are using to resurrect parts of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda. The results showed that most people don’t think the bill will reduce inflation (Daily Wire). Guy Benson: 12% believe the title of the bill (Twitter). Mike Pompeo: Does anyone besides Biden and Manchin honestly believe raising taxes on the middle and working class will reduce inflation (Twitter)?

Indiana is First State to Ban Abortion Since Overturn of Roe

Townhall: Indiana has become the first state to place a near total ban on abortion post the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Gov. Eric Holcomb (R-Ind) signed the bill late Friday evening which will ban the procedure except in cases of rape, incest and to protect the life and physical health of the mother. However the rape and incest exceptions only apply in the first 10 weeks post-fertilization. Victims would not be required to sign a notarized affidavit attesting to an attack, which had previously been proposed. The ban, which will take effect September 15, will eventually shut down all abortion clinics, since the procedure can only be done in hospitals or outpatient centers owned by a hospital (Townhall). Adam Wren: Eli Lilly and Co.—among Indiana’s largest employers—on the state’s new near-total abortion ban: “Given this new law, we will be forced to plan for more employment growth outside our home state” (Twitter).

Taiwan Scrambles Jets to Thwart Chinese Exercise Simulating Invasion of the Self-Governed Island

Wall Street Journal: A large number of Chinese military aircraft and ships crossed the halfway mark of the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, in a simulated land strike on the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own. The maneuvers came on the third day of a promised four-day series of military drills by China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army, following U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei earlier this week. Defense analysts said Saturday’s exercises build on China’s rehearsals in recent days to stage a potential attack on Taiwan, demonstrating and honing Beijing’s ability to impose an effective air and sea blockade that would precede an amphibious landing. The Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, People’s Daily, described the maneuvers as “simulated land strikes,” while Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said its military issued warnings from its defense radar system and deployed air reconnaissance patrols, naval ships and land-based missiles in response to what it also described as a simulated attack on the island. It said it detected 14 ships and 20 planes, 14 of which crossed the halfway mark of the Taiwan Strait (Wall Street Journal). Reuters: The ministry said later that Taiwan scrambled jets to warn away 20 Chinese aircraft, including 14 that crossed the median line. It also detected 14 Chinese military ships conducting activities around the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said in a statement. China’s Eastern Theater Command said it had continued to conduct sea and air joint exercises north, southwest and east of Taiwan. It said its focus was on testing the system’s land strike and sea assault capabilities (Reuters). CNBC: The controversial visit, which angered Beijing, saw Pelosi meet with TSMC Chairman Mark Liu, in a sign of how critically important semiconductors are to U.S. national security and the integral role that the company plays in making the most advanced chips. Semiconductors, which go into everything from our smartphones to cars and refrigerators, have become a key part of the U.S. and China’s rivalry over technology in the past few years. More recently, a shortage of semiconductors has spurred the U.S. to try to catch up with Asia and maintain a lead over China in the industry (CNBC).

Snickers Candy Bar Maker Apologizes to China for Suggesting Taiwan is Independent

Wall Street Journal: Mars Wrigley, the manufacturer of the Snickers candy bar, apologized Friday for promotional material that referred to Taiwan as its own country. The American candy-maker had been promoting what appeared to be an online event with the South Korean boy band BTS in a video on social media. The video, meant for audiences outside China, said attendance was restricted to people of certain countries, and included a flag of Taiwan. After several nationalistic influencers shared a screenshot of the Snickers promotional video on Weibo, a popular Chinese social media site, thousands of Chinese internet users slammed it for describing Taiwan as a country, and some threatened to boycott the brand. The social media firestorm prompted Mars Wrigley to issue two apologies on Friday. The company said it had reached out to its regional team in Asia to ask that the language be adjusted. A screenshot of a Snickers promotion taken on Friday that appears to refer to Taiwan as a country. “We are aware of the report about Snickers’ activities in some regions in Asia, and we take it very seriously and apologize for it,” Mars Wrigley said in its first apology. In its second apology issued about 2½ hours later, the company added: “There is #OnlyOneChina in the world, and Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory” (Wall Street Journal). Daily Wire: The apology from Mars Wrigley comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) visited Taiwan this week to show that China could not isolate the island from the rest of the world. Pelosi’s visit to the island came despite threats from Chinese government and military officials, including a Chinese propagandist at a state-run news organization who effectively threatened that China could shoot down Pelosi’s plane (Daily Wire).

Biden Admin Sued for Censorship of COVID Information on Social Media

Daily Caller: Several well-known doctors and scientists joined a lawsuit against the Biden administration Tuesday over social media censorship of COVID-19 information. Drs. Jayanta (Jay) Bhattacharya, Martin Kulldorff and Aaron Kheriaty joined the lawsuit filed by the states of Missouri and Louisiana, alleging that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) worked with Big Tech companies to censor Americans discussing the pandemic. The doctors alleged they were censored on social media platforms for expressing views in opposition to the positions of the federal government, their representation, the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), said in a Tuesday press release (Daily Caller). NCLA: Government-induced censorship is achieved through a wide variety of mechanisms, ranging from complete bans, temporary bans, “shadow bans” (where often neither the user nor his audience is notified of the suppression of speech), deboosting, de-platforming, de-monetizing, restricting access to content, requiring users to take down content, and imposing warning labels that require click-through to access content, among others. These methods also include temporary and permanent suspensions of disfavored speakers. This sort of censorship, which strikes at the heart of what the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was designed to protect—free speech, especially political speech—constitutes unlawful government action. The federal government is deciding whose voices and ideas may be heard, and whose voices and ideas must be silenced. Moreover, this state action deprives Americans of their right to hear the views of those who are being silenced, a First Amendment corollary of the right to free speech. The government’s policy of coercing social-media companies to censor Plaintiffs’ viewpoints should be declared unlawful and halted immediately (NCLA).

Elon Musk Says Twitter Acquisition Moves Forward With Disclosing Number of Bots, Challenges CEO to Debate

Associated Press: Elon Musk said Saturday his planned $44 billion takeover of Twitter should move forward if the company can confirm some details about how it measures whether user accounts are ‘spam bots’ or real people. The billionaire and Tesla CEO has been trying to back out of his April agreement to buy the social media company, leading Twitter to sue him last month to complete the acquisition. Musk countersued, accusing Twitter of misleading his team about the true size of its user base and other problems he said amounted to fraud and breach of contract. Both sides are headed toward an October trial in a Delaware court (Associated Press). CNBC: Centi-billionaire Elon Musk provoked Twitter and challenged the company’s CEO Parag Agrawal to a “public debate” about fake accounts and spam in the midst of a contentious legal battle over a $44 billion acquisition (CNBC). Elon Musk: I hereby challenge @paraga to a public debate about the Twitter bot percentage. Let him prove to the public that Twitter has <5% fake or spam daily users (Twitter)!

Israel, Palestinian Islamic Jihad Agree to Cease-Fire

CBS: A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants took effect late Sunday in a bid to end nearly three days of violence that killed dozens of Palestinians and disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israelis. The flare-up was the worst fighting between Israel and Gaza militant groups since Israel and Hamas fought an 11-day war last year, and adds to the destruction and misery that have plagued blockaded Gaza for years. The Egyptian-brokered cease-fire took effect at 11:30 p.m. Israeli strikes and militant rockets continued in the minutes leading up to the beginning of the truce, and Israel said it would “respond strongly” if the cease-fire was violated (CBS). Washington Post: The cease-fire ended more than two days of intense cross-border violence that started Friday, when Israel killed Islamic Jihad’s Tayseer Jabari, the group’s chief of operations in the northern Gaza Strip. On Saturday, Israel killed Khaled Mansour, the head of the Islamic Jihad’s operations in southern Gaza, in an airstrike that demolished a house in Rafah near the border with Egypt (Washington Post). Avi Mayer: Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system has intercepted more than 95% of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad rockets fired at Israeli cities and towns, saving countless lives. 420 Democratic and Republican members of Congress voted to help fund it. 11 didn’t. Remember their names (Twitter).

10.

Kevin McCarthy Looks to Question Those Who Denied the Hunter Biden Laptop Story

New York Post: The House probe of Hunter Biden will expand to US intelligence agencies and chiefs who were almost certainly aware of his shady foreign activities while his father was vice president, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy told The Post. “They should come in and talk to us,” McCarthy said in an exclusive sitdown with The Post. “You’d want to ask these individuals what did they know and when. “People can come in and talk to us and answer the questions. If that’s not the case there are times we will use the subpoena as well,” he added. In October 2020 — just days after The Post published the first stories documenting Hunter Biden’s potentially criminal overseas business dealings found on his abandoned laptop — 51 former intelligence agency officials released a public letter denouncing the story as “disinformation pushed by Russia” (New York Post). National Review: McCarthy said House Republicans want to ask the signatories if they would still sign the letter today, as well as who asked them to sign the letter, why they did so and what information they had prior. However, House investigators have not made contact with any of the signatories yet. The report notes that even if an investigation proves that intel chiefs knew about the younger Biden’s illicit activity and did not act or even lied about it, they are not expected to face legal consequences (National Review).

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