Monday, April 22, 2024

4/22 WAKE-UP CALL: Foreign Aid Bill Could Cost Speaker His Job


The House approved a set of long-awaited foreign aid bills on Saturday that would send funds to Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region after months of it being stalled by Republican infighting. Passage of the bills also could cost Speaker Mike Johnson his leadership position and status as second in line to the presidency. The bills mostly mirror an earlier foreign aid package the Senate passed earlier this year. But this one is broken up into pieces as an attempt by Johnson, R-La., to appease his conference by allowing GOP lawmakers to pick and choose what aspects of the bill they support.

Johnson’s foreign aid plan includes three bills that separately fund Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region, along with a fourth bill that includes various GOP-backed foreign policy priorities as a sweetener to entice Republicans to back the proposal. Those provisions would include seizing frozen Russian assets to fund the Ukrainian war effort along with legislation that could result in a nationwide ban on the popular social media app, TikTok.

➤UKRAINE GETS A LIFELINE:  The U.S. House's passage of $60 billion in funding for Ukraine comes at a desperate moment for the country’s beleaguered defenders and holds the prospect of helping them stave off a Russian onslaught at the last possible moment. If approved by the Senate, as is widely expected, and then signed into law by President Biden as soon as Tuesday, the bill will unleash a flood of American military equipment that U.S. forces have positioned for quick deployment. The bill also contains $26 billion for Israel as well as funding for Taiwan. 

➤PIVOT TOWARD ISRAEL EMBOLDENS PRO-PALESTINIANS: As tensions between Israel and Iran escalated in recent weeks, spurring Washington to rush to Israel’s aid, pro-Palestinian activists across the U.S. reacted with new urgency to refocus attention on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Last week, more than 100 people participating in a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University were arrested, while in downtown Scranton, Pa., pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered to protest President Biden’s visit there. And Google said it fired 28 employees who protested against the tech giant’s cloud-computing contract with the Israeli government. The events were yet another sign that the fierce debates around the Israel-Hamas war engulfing college campuses, U.S. businesses and the 2024 election are here to stay. 

➤RABBI URGES JEWISH STUDENTS TO LEAVE COLUMBIA: The Orthodox rabbi at Columbia University and Barnard College sent a message recommending Jewish students leave campus and go home, as anti-Israel agitators have continued an "encampment" on campus and participants were caught on camera espousing full-on support for terrorism and supporting violence towards Jewish students.

In a WhatsApp message sent to hundreds before the start of Passover, Rabbi Elie Buechler, director of OU-LJIC at Columbia/Barnard, told students to leave "as soon as possible" until the situation improves, noting that "what we are witnessing in and around campus is terrible and tragic."

"The events of the last few days, especially last night, have made it clear that Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy," Buechler wrote. "It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved." 

➤U-S, CHINA INTERNET WAR INTENSIFIES:  The Americans are poised to land a major punch in the yearslong technology fight between the U.S. and China. The U.S. House easily passed a bill this weekend that would force a sale or ban of TikTok. Its approval came days after China ordered Apple to remove WhatsApp and Threads from its app store in the country—a move indicative of China’s intentions to further push foreign companies out, according to some experts. If the trend continues, there could be little overlap between the technology allowed and used in each of the two countries. 


➤TESLA LOST DEMOCRATS: Tesla lost Democrats when it needed them most. For years, the biggest cohort of Tesla's buyers, politically speaking, has been Democrats. But when Elon Musk took a hard turn last fall, they didn’t follow him. The proportion of Democrats buying Teslas fell by more than 60%, according to car buyers surveyed in October and November by researcher Strategic Vision. Tesla has since made up ground with blue buyers, but the dramatic drop highlights the risk hanging over Tesla with an increasingly political CEO, writes the WSJ's Tim Higgins. All eyes will be on the carmaker's earnings report later this week, as investors scrutinize how it is contending with a slowing EV market.

➤DRUNK DIVER KILLS YOUNG SIBLINGS:  A suspected drunken driver killed two young siblings and injured over a dozen people when she drove into a birthday party at a boat club in Michigan on Saturday afternoon, according to the Monroe County Police Department. At around 3 p.m., emergency personnel were dispatched to the scene after a 66-year-old woman crashed 25 feet into the building where the party was being held, states the county's sheriff department in a press release posted to Facebook. BThe brother, 5, and sister, 8, were attending a birthday party at the Swan Boat Club in Monroe County, which is about 30 miles south of Detroit, according to the release.

🔥GOOD SAMARITAN PULL DRIVER FROM CAR FIRE: A group of good Samaritans saved a driver in Minnesota after he crashed and became trapped inside his car as the vehicle burst into flames along I-94 on Thursday. The crash happened when a Honda SUV went off the road and hit a light pole before catching fire, the Minnesota Highway Patrol said.

Kadir Tolla, one of the good Samaritans who ran toward the spurting flames to help, told FOX9 Minneapolis that he was on his way to meet clients when he passed the burning wreck. "He was awake," Tolla said of the driver. "He was saying pull me out, pull me out, pull me out."

⚾OHTANI SETS HOME RUN RECORD: The Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani set the major league home run record for players born in Japan when he went deep in the third inning of Sunday's 10-0 win against the visiting New York Mets. Ohtani's fifth home run of the season, well into the seats beyond right field, was the 176th of his career to break a tie with countryman Hideki Matsui.

The blast off Mets starter Adrian Houser came in Ohtani's 725th game over seven major league seasons, the first six of which were with the Los Angeles Angels. Matsui hit his 175 home runs over 1,236 games and 10 seasons, the first seven of which were with the New York Yankees.

⚾MLB SCORES: 

  • Yankees 5 Rays 4
  • Phillies 8 White Sox 2
  • Mariners 10 Rockies 2
  • Rangers 6 Braves 4
  • Dodgers 10 Mets 0
  • Padres 6 Blue Jays 3
  • D-Backs 5 Giants 3
  • Rockies 2 Mariners 1
  • Marlins 6 Cubs 3
  • Brewers 2 Cardinals 0
  • Orioles 5 Royals 0
  • Tigers 6 Twins 1
  • Guardians 6 Athletics 2
  • Reds 3 Angels 0
  • Nationals 6 Astros 0
  • Red Sox 6 Pirates 1

🏀HALF-COURT SHOT EARNS FAN $20K: An Oklahoma City Thunder fan swished a halfcourt shot and won $20,000 during an in-game promotion sponsored by MidFirst Bank. Jaylen O’Conner, a 23-year-old Oklahoma City resident, had 30 seconds to make one halfcourt shot, and he made his fifth shot to win the prize Sunday during Game 1 of the Thunder-Pelicans Western Conference first-round playoff series. O’Conner made the shot during a timeout with 11:47 left in the second quarter.

➤MONDAY'S WEATHER:


 

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