Thursday, December 24, 2020

The AM Confidential: Trump Vetoes Military Budget

Wall Street Journal 12/24/20


President Donald Trump yesterday vetoed the annual military budget, in part because it permits the removal of Confederate leaders' names on military bases. He also is demanding that Congress repeal a law that shields social media companies from being sued for false information posted on their sites.

Congress will be in session next week and may override the president's veto of the bill, which passed Congress by an overwhelming vote.

Earlier in the week, the president demanded revisions to the coronavirus relief package just passed by Congress, including an increase from $600 to $2,000 in relief payments to be sent to most Americans. Republicans in Congress are reportedly balking at that idea.

➤BIG ORDER FOR VACCINE DOSES: The federal government is buying another 100 million doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine to ensure that all Americans can be vaccinated by June 2021. Part of the initial order of 100 million has already been delivered to health care facilities to administer to their frontline people.



➤VOTING MACHINE COMPANY BOSS SUES TRUMP ALLIES: The Trump campaign and several of the president's allies are being sued for defamation by an executive of a company that makes voting machines. Among those named in the suit are Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, the conservative media channels One America News Network and Newsmax Media, and Colorado activist Joseph Oltmann. The suit by Eric Coomer, head of security for Dominion Voting Systems, says they falsely accused the company and him personally of deleting Trump votes in order to subvert the election. Trump has called the company "a disaster." Coomer said he has been driven from his home and is living in hiding due to threats related to the allegations, which the suit claims are baseless.



➤26 MORE PARDONS ISSUED: President Trump has pardoned 26 more people, including Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman, and Roger Stone, a longtime friend and adviser. Both declined to cooperate with prosecutors in the office of the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. Also pardoned was Charles Kushner, father of the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The elder Kushner served two years in prison for tax evasion and retaliating against a federal witness, his own brother-in-law.


➤HOLIDAY TRAVEL - NEARLY 85 MILLION IN U.S. EXPECTED TO DRIVE OR FLY OVER THE NEXT TWO WEEKS: Despite the pandemic, Americans began hitting the road yesterday for the holidays. The AAA says nearly 85 million Americans are expected to travel between yesterday and Sunday, January 3rd, 2021. About 81 million are expected to travel by airplane, and another half-million are expected to travel by other modes like bus and train. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said this week that more than four million people passed through security screening checkpoints at airports nationwide between last Friday (December 18th) and Monday (December 21st)—the most for a four-day period since travel restrictions were ordered back in March. Still, the AAA predicts at least 34 million fewer travelers this year compared to the same period in 2019, a drop of about 30 percent. They also say that a rise in coronavirus cases will likely lead some to cancel travel plans at the last minute, which also happened before Thanksgiving this year. If you’re on the fence about traveling you should know the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tweeted on Sunday (December 20th) ,”Postpone holiday travel and stay home to protect yourself and others from COVID-19 as cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to rise across the United States.”


➤USPS CRUSHED BY HOLIDAY VOLUME: The US Postal Service is struggling to deliver an unprecedented number of packages in time for Christmas. The huge volume, plus the absence of a number of postal workers quarantined for coronavirus, have caused a perfect storm of packages. They're stacked "up to the ceiling" in Philadelphia, a union official said. And Detroit processing facilities are "in gridlock," CNN reports.

➤STUDY - THE AVERAGE BRITISH PERSON WILL SPEND 57 HOURS OF THEIR CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS STARING AT SCREENS: Christmas isn’t enough to stop people from starting at their screens. A study of 2,000 British people who celebrate Christmas finds people will spend an average of 49 minutes a day during the week of the holiday “mindlessly scrolling” through stuff on their phones. They will also spend an hour per day looking at their computer or phone for work-related purposes, and another 34 minutes each day on video calls with friends or family. On top of this, people will spend 116 minutes per day watching TV, and 95 minutes watching movies (with Home Alone, Elf, and Love Actually topping the must-watch list.) Also, 37 percent said they are looking forward to spending the week between Christmas Eve (December 24th) and New Year’s Eve (December 31st) lying in front of the TV and “double screening.”

➤WATCH OUT FOR FALLING IGUANAS: Iguanas are funny creatures. They sleep in trees in warm climates, but when the weather gets chilly their lizard bodies go dormant and they fall off their branches and plop to the ground, where they just lie there like roadkill until the warm weather wakes them up. This is merely interesting unless you live in south Florida and it gets chilly one night and, bam, an iguana falls on your head. Iguanas can weigh up to 20 pounds, although most are much smaller. This is a warning: The National Weather Service in Miami warns of "falling iguanas" in its forecast for the holiday weekend.


🏀ROCKETS-THUNDER SEASON OPENER POSTPONED: Yesterday's season-opening game between the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder was postponed at the last minute after several Rockets players tested positive for the coronavirus. In fact, a headcount determined that the Rockets didn't have enough active players to play the game.

🏈PARTY'S OVER FOR DWAYNE HASKINS: Washington Football Team quarterback Dwayne Haskins has been stripped of his captaincy after attending a party without wearing a mask after his team's Sunday loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Haskin has apologized for the indiscretion.

🏈WILDCATS HIRES PATRIOTS COACH: The Arizona Wildcats have hired New England Patriots quarterbacks coach Jedd Fisch as their new head coach. Fisch will replace Kevin Sumlin, who was fired. The Wildcats are 0-5 so far this season.

🏈BILLS MIGHT PLAY IN FRONT OF FANS: It is, after all, the first Buffalo Bills home playoff game in a quarter of a century. New York State health officials are reviewing a plan that would allow 6,700 fans to attend a home playoff game next month. The plan is to test every one of those fans with a rapid-results COVID-19 test before they enter the stadium. The playoff game probably will be on Saturday, January 9th or Sunday, January 10th. The Bills clinched the AFC East title last Saturday.


🏈JUJU STOPS DANCING: JuJu Smith-Schuster's dancing days are over for now. The Pittsburgh Steelers told ESPN that he is giving up his ritual of dancing on opposing team logos before each game. Cincinnati Bengals safety Vonn Bell was offended by the dance routine and showed it during the game to devastating effect. Smith-Schuster says he was just having some fun for his fans on social media. Anyway, it was funnier when the Steelers were undefeated.

➤STORMY CHRISTMAS FOR MUCH OF NATION: A powerful storm is dumping heavy snow across much of the north-central U.S., and it's headed East and South. Blizzard warnings were in effect in the northern Plains, and a deep chill was expected in the Dakotas. The storm is expected to reach the eastern half of the nation today. Expect fluctuating temperatures, strong winds and a lot of rain.
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