Wednesday, December 23, 2020

The AM Confidential: President Demands Changes To Stimulus Bill


President Donald Trump is demanding big changes to the $900 billion stimulus bill passed by Congress on Monday. He wants the $600 payment to adults, which he calls "ridiculously low," upped to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple. He also is demanding that Congress "get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items" in the legislation. In a video address posted to Twitter that lasted for more than four minutes, he railed against many other items in the bill that he said had nothing to do with COVID-19 relief, including aid to a number of foreign countries. The items he objected to are actually routine government spending authorizations for the rest of the year, and were not coronavirus relief measures.


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, was thrilled at the demand for more money in the checks. "At last, the President has agreed to $2,000—Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent. Let's do it!" she tweeted. 


➤TRUMP ISSUES 15 PARDONS: President Trump yesterday issued pardons to 15 people, including two who were convicted of crimes as a result of the Mueller probe into Russian interference in the 2016 elections. The pardons related to the Mueller probe went to George Papadopoulous, a foreign policy advisor to the campaign, and Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer. Both pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.


Also pardoned:
  • Four Blackwater security contractors who were convicted on charges related to the killings of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007.
  • Former Republican congressman Duncan Hunter of California, who was about to start a prison sentence on a conviction for misusing campaign funds.
  • Former Republican congressman Steve Stockman of Texas, who was serving time for misuse of charitable funds.
  • Two Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting and wounding an unarmed undocumented immigrant and then covering it up.
  • Several people serving lengthy sentences for non-violent drug crimes.

➤2020 IS THE DEADLIEST YEAR: The year 2020 will be the deadliest ever in the United States, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Preliminary numbers indicate that there will be more than 3.2 million deaths this year, at least 400,000 more than in 2019. That is an increase of about 15 percent, the largest percentage increase since 1918, when American losses in World War I, combined with a global flu pandemic, caused mass death.

➤NO LAST STAND IN CONGRESS FOR TRUMP: Any effort to overturn the results of the Electoral College vote in favor of President-elect Joe Biden is "going down like a shot dog," the number 2-ranked Republican in the U.S. Senate told reporters this week. Senator John Thune says he knows of no senators who have committed to joining a call by several allies of President Donald Trump in the House of Representatives to overturn Biden's election. Congress will convene on January 6th for the normally ceremonial process of counting the certificates of electoral votes. Vice President Mike Pence will preside over the joint session of Congress.


➤AIRLINES ARE BRINGING BACK LAID-OFF WORKERS: With money on the way from the new COVID-19 economic relief bill, airlines are planning to bring back thousands of workers who have been laid off for months. The new law extends the airline industry's Payroll Support Program, which will underwrite the salaries of some 32,000 United and American Airlines employees until March 31.

➤CALIFORNIA GETS FIRST LATINO U.S. SENATOR: California Secretary of State Alex Padilla has been named to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Padilla is an MIT-educated engineer and the son of Mexican immigrants. He will be the first Latino senator in California history. One in three California residents is Latino. 


➤AHOY THERE, PIRATES: Buried somewhere in the 5,000-page COVID-19 stimulus bill is a new law that severely punishes people who stream copyrighted content without authorization. According to CNN Business the measure will punish perpetrators by up to 10 years in prison plus large fines. It's aimed at big for-profit pirates who purloin massive amounts of streaming content for resale.

USAToday 12/23/20

➤DR. BIRX IS RETIRING: Doctor Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House COVID-19 response, is retiring. Birx was widely derided publicly for celebrating Thanksgiving with family at her summer house in Delaware despite official guidance for Americans to stay home. She said she hoped to stay on to help the Biden administration get up to speed before leaving the job.

➤PASSENGERS OPEN CABIN DOOR, USE EMERGENCY SLIDE BEFORE FLIGHT FROM LA GUARDIA: This is never how you should exit a flight. Two passengers aboard a Delta flight on Monday forced open the cabin door and exited the plane via emergency slide at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The passengers were an unidentified man and woman on Flight 462, which was bound for Atlanta when they decided to exit the plane as it was taxiing. There are also reports that they took a service dog down the slide with them, and that the man may have said “If I sit down, I’ll freak out” just before exiting. The incident forced the plane to return to the gate, and passengers got off and were put on other flights. It’s not clear if the passengers were arrested.

➤WHY MILLIONS OF CHRISTMAS PACKAGES WILL BE LATE THIS YEAR: If you’re hoping your loved one will get your package by Christmas you might be out of luck. Just days before the big holiday, both public and private shippers are experiencing major delays, in large part because of the coronavirus pandemic. Aside from the usual influx of holiday packages, shippers are also dealing with increased online shopping due to the pandemic, and delivering vaccines safely. Add on top of that that many workers have called out sick, and it means packages are just very delayed. Between December 13th and 17th, UPS had the highest rate of on-time deliveries at almost 95%, while FedEx hovered just above 92%, and the Postal Service was just above 86%. A press release from the Postal Service released on December 14th, the service pleaded with Americans to send gifts early.

➤STUDY: SMARTPHONE FITNESS APPS AND WEARABLE ACTIVITY TRACKERS BOOST PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVELS:  Using an activity tracker might encourage you to move more. Australian researchers found that activity trackers such as FitBit and fitness apps on smartphones help boost physical activity levels by a small to moderate amount, but note that even a small improvement is better than nothing. They go so far as to write, “Interventions using smartphone apps or activity trackers seem promising from a clinical and public health perspective, promoting a significant step count increase of 1,850 steps a day. Given the wide and increasing reach of smartphones, even modest improvements in physical activity can produce large effects at the population level.”



🏀GATORS STAR LEAVES HOSPITAL: Florida Gators basketball star Keyontae Johnson has been released from the hospital after making a remarkable recovery. Johnson collapsed on the court 10 days ago during a timeout in a game and was taken to the hospital, where he was placed in a medically induced coma at one point. "We continue to be amazed at the pace of his recovery and look forward to spending Christmas together as a family," the Johnson family said in a statement. The cause of his illness is still being determined.

⚾SAM FULD GETS TOP PHILLIES JOB: The Philadelphia Phillies have promoted former major league outfielder Sam Fuld to be the team's general manager. Fuld played with the Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Oakland A's and the Minnesota Twins from 2007 to 2015. He has been in the Phillies front office since then.

🏈SNYDER'S MISCONDUCT COSTS WASHINGTON: The Washington Football Team paid $1.6 million to settle a sexual misconduct claim against team owner Dan Snyder, according to The Washington Post. The settlement was confidential. The misconduct was uncovered during an ongoing investigation of allegations of sexual harassment and other incidents against a number of current and former team employees.

🏈AUBURN WANTS BOISE STATE'S HARSIN: Auburn University hopes to hire Boise State University football coach Bryan Harsin to replace Gus Malzahn, according to Yahoo! Sports. Harsin has a 69-19 record at Boise with three conference titles and four top-25 finishes in seven seasons.
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