Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Harris' Independence Day: Takeaways from her interview with Fox News
Axios | Zachary Basu | 10/17/24

Vice President Harris ventured into the lion's den Wednesday to deliver a message that many Americans - including anxious Democrats - have been waiting to hear:

"My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden's presidency," Harris told Fox News' Bret Baier.

Why it matters: In the highest-risk interview of her campaign, Harris took the rare step of distancing herself from the unpopular, aging president she serves - touting a "new generation of leadership" to millions of skeptical Fox News viewers.

Key takeaways
1. Turning the page. ...
2. The border albatross. ...
3. No "basket of deplorables." ...

Between the lines: Both campaigns saw the interview through their own predictable, partisan lenses: Trump's side called it a "train wreck"; Harris' saw it as a "masterclass. ..." Read more

Election Subversion 2024: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | 10/17/24 | 28:43

U.S. titans tighten supply chain grip
Axios | Hope King | 10/17/24

Driving the news: Amazon on Wednesday became the third Big Tech giant in recent weeks to announce ambitions to tap nuclear energy to power surging AI demand.

The company said that it's signed three new agreements to help develop nuclear energy projects: building at least four small modular nuclear reactors (SMR) in Washington state; exploring an SMR project in Virginia; and investing in fuel startup X-energy.

Separately, auto giant GM said today it's investing $625 million more in cash and credit into Canadian mining company Lithium Americas to help start a new joint venture in Nevada. ... Read more

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China controls the bulk of lithium refining, and that will pose a challenge to battery companies and car makers hoping to qualify for lucrative new tax credits.

Meet the billionaires funneling millions into the 2024 race
Axios | Ivana Saric | 10/16/24

A handful of powerful megadonors have played an outsized role in shaping the 2024 presidential race through mammoth donations toward their favored candidates.

Why it matters: The amount of money being injected into 2024 races means this election cycle is poised to become the most expensive federal election ever, according to a new analysis released by the research group OpenSecrets last week.

The big picture: President Biden's replacement on the Democratic ticket by Vice President Kamala Harris spurred "an enormous boost in fundraising" among Democrats, per OpenSecrets. ...

Elon Musk
Timothy Mellon
Miriam Adelson
Dick and Liz Uihlein
Mike Bloomberg
Reid Hoffman & Michelle Yee
Read more

Israel vows to improve Gaza conditions after U.S. threat to withhold weapons
Axios | Barak Ravid | 10/16/24

Israeli officials have been assuring their U.S. counterparts that Israel will act quickly to improve the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza following an ultimatum from the Biden administration, two Israeli officials tell Axios.

Driving the news: Secretary of State Blinken and Secretary of Defense Austin sent a letter to Israeli leaders on Monday warning that shipments of U.S. weapons to Israel could be affected if Israel does not take steps within 30 days to improve the conditions in Gaza, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Axios.

Senior U.S. officials emphasized that the letter was not intended as a pretext for withholding weapons but as an attempt to spur a change in direction from the Israeli government. ... Read more

In photos: Hurricane Milton's aftermath
Axios | Sareen Habeshian | 10/11/24

Hurricane Milton has resulted in at least eight deaths, as officials continued to survey damage from the storm on Thursday.

The big picture: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the death toll from Wednesday night's hurricane was expected to rise in coming days, and the state was working to restore power and replenish fuel supply. Over 2.6 million people remained without electricity as of 8:45pm ET Thursday. ... Lots of photos

Behind the Curtain: The Republican welfare state
Axios | Jim VandeHei,Mike Allen | 10/11/24

Republicans spent decades railing against welfare recipients. Now, they're deeply reliant on them to win elections.

Why it matters: The explosion of people getting 25% or more of their income from government aid - and Republican reliance on their votes - vividly explains the rise of former President Trump and the remaking of the Republican Party.

The big picture: Trump rose to power with the backing of the working class, then reoriented the party to focus on them as much as big business.

This helps explain the massive surge in government spending under Trump, his continued opposition to trade agreements, his scorn for GOP ideas to gut Social Security and Medicare, and his us-vs.-them rhetoric. ... Read more

In photos: Northern lights dazzle skies across the U.S. and world
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 10/11/24

The northern lights returned to skies across the U.S. and the world over Thursday night after a powerful solar storm triggered stunning celestial displays also known as aurora borealis.

The big picture: Extreme G5 geomagnetic conditions were observed reaching the Earth for the first time in 21 years on Thursday and remained at G4 levels overnight, per NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, which warned the storm had the potential to disrupt communications and the electric power grid. ... Lots of pictures

What we couldn't prepare for with Hurricane Milton
Axios | Erica Pandey | 10/10/24

The big picture: It's nearly impossible to fully prepare for the projected scale of devastation of a storm like Milton.

There are still people and pets in the path of the storm who weren't able to - or didn't - evacuate in time.

FEMA - whose workers will be on the front lines helping people and managing the destruction - is already short-staffed, and is now spread even thinner due to the back-to-back hits from Helene and Milton.

The scale of the storm itself and the unpredictability of its precise path meant that it was impossible to gauge where the most help would be needed on Florida's coast. ... Read more

Trump White House Got in the Way of Brett Kavanaugh Sexual Assault Investigation
The Intercept | Shawn Musgrave | 10/08/24

Six years after Brett Kavanaugh joined the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority, a Democratic senator claims the FBI barely followed up on explosive sexual assault allegations that emerged during his nomination. A report released Tuesday lays out how White House officials kept a tight leash on the FBI’s inquiry, contrary to Trump’s claims at the time that the agency had “free rein” to investigate the claims. ... Read more

Investigation Into Sexual-Assault Allegations Against Justice Brett Kavanaugh

On July 9, 2018, President Donald Trump nominated then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to be an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Before his confrmation hearing, Kavanaugh was subject to a routine "full-feld" background investigation by the FBI, which is a standard part of the confrmation process for all judicial nominees.

On September 4, 2018, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, following the ordinary procedure for considering Supreme Court nominees, commenced four days of hearings on Kavanaugh's nomination. On September 12, allegations of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh, which had not been uncovered during the FBI's full-feld background investigation, began to surface. Over the next few days, Senators and the public learned of accusations by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University, that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her while the two were in high school. According to a letter Ford sent to Senator Dianne Feinstein, then the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, "Brett Kavanaugh physically and sexually assaulted [Ford] during High School in the early 1980's" by locking her in a bedroom, climbing on top of her, attempting to remove her clothes, and putting his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming.1 Kavanaugh publicly denied Ford's allegation.2

After Ford came forward, new allegations of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh emerged, most notably from Deborah Ramirez, a classmate of Kavanaugh's at Yale University. On September 23, 2018, Te New Yorker reported Ramirez's allegation that, while in college, Kavanaugh "exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party, thrust his penis in her face, and caused her to touch it without her consent as she pushed him away."3 Kavanaugh publicly denied this allegation as well.4

Logan Act: Why it could be illegal for Trump to call Putin
Axios | Ivana Saric | 10/01/24

Recent revelations about former President Trump's personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin have raised questions about whether Trump violated U.S. law.

Why it matters: With just weeks to go before the presidential election, the reports from journalist Bob Woodward's new book "War" have raised fresh questions about Trump's ties with leaders of one of the U.S.' greatest geopolitical adversaries.

Driving the news: News of Trump's reported phone calls with Putin have caught the attention of his opponents as a possible violation of the Logan Act, which restricts private citizens from engaging in diplomatic affairs with U.S. rivals. ... Read more

Milton to hit Florida as "dangerous major hurricane" Wednesday night
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magazine | author | date

Threat level: The storm track is looking more likely to slip just south of Tampa Bay, between there and Sarasota. Where the peak surge hits will cause widespread, potentially "catastrophic" destruction, the National Weather Service warned.

The National Hurricane Center has lowered Tampa Bay's storm surge projections slightly, to a still-record-setting 8- to 12-foot surge above ground level.

As of Wednesday morning, the National Hurricane Center forecast brings the full wrath of the storm ashore near or just north of Sarasota, Siesta Key and Punta Gorda, with a "catastrophic" 10- to 15-foot surge. This forecast may still be adjusted. ... Read more

Timeline of Gaza | 3500 BCE to October 7th, 2023 | UsefulCharts | 07/xx/24 | 36:19

Historical Origin of the 12 Tribes of Israel | UsefulCharts | 03/xx/24 | 32:26

With Hurricane Milton, climate change is a key factor
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 10/08/24

Hurricane Milton, which reached the top 5 list of most intense storms on record in the Atlantic Ocean, poses a dire threat to Tampa Bay and other highly populated areas on Florida's west coast.

The big picture: Human-caused climate change is among several factors that conspired to propel Hurricane Milton's rarely seen "explosive" intensification.

Sea level rise tied to climate change makes this storm potentially more destructive today than it would have been even a few decades ago.

Threat level: The storm, now a high-end Category 4, is on course for a calamitous encounter with the 17th-biggest metro area in the U.S. That area is unusually vulnerable to storm surge due to its coastline's shape and large population living near sea level. ... Read more

Kamala Harris: The 2024 60 Minutes Interview | 60Minutes | 10/07/24 | 20:49

Why voters won't hear directly from Donald Trump in the 60 Minutes election special | 60Minutes | 10/07/24 | 2:09

Woodward's "War" reveals new Biden backstory
Axios | Mike Allen | 10/08/24/span>

The backstory: "War" - from Simon & Schuster, Woodward's longtime publisher - is about the collision of three ongoing wars. It covers events from Jan. 6, 2021, to mid-August 2024:

It started as a book about the war in Ukraine, beginning with the Russian buildup.

After Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Woodward added the Middle East.

The struggle for the American presidency is at the center of it all.

Behind the scenes: Because Simon & Schuster pulls out all the stops for Woodward, he was able to make late changes to the manuscript after Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris on July 21. ... Read more

How Israel's war spread beyond Gaza
Axios | Dave Lawler,Jacque Schrag | 10/07/24

Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel sparked immediate fears of regional war. A year later, those fears are close to fruition.

The big picture: Israel is fighting on two fronts, against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, while engaging in an escalating tit-for-tat with Iran, a key patron of both militant groups.

Driving the news: While the war in Gaza is ongoing, the heaviest fighting has recently shifted to southern Lebanon.

More than 1,000 people have died in Lebanon since Israel began an intense bombing campaign on Oct. 1, followed by a ground invasion.

Israel says its goal is to clear out Hezbollah infrastructure to allow civilians who fled northern Israel after Oct. 8, 2023 - when Israel and Hezbollah began exchanging cross-border strikes - to safely return home. ... Read more

Hurricane Milton: Dire scenario looms for Florida
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 10/07/24

Evacuations are underway in the Tampa Bay area and other parts of the Florida Gulf Coast as Category 3 Hurricane Milton rapidly intensifies and is forecast to make landfall midweek.

Threat level: The storm poses a dire scenario of a direct hit on Tampa Bay from the west-southwest, which would push an unprecedented 8-to-12-foot storm surge into the Bay and other locations along and to the south of where the eye crosses the coast.

Hurricane and storm surge watches have been issued along the state's west coast.

For comparison, the peak surge in Tampa Bay during Hurricane Helene was at the range 4 to 8 feet. It proved extremely damaging, and raised awareness about the city's overall surge risk exposure. ... Read more

Jack Smith's endgame
Axios | Sam Baker | 10/04/24

Special counsel Jack Smith's latest account of Jan. 6 is full of vivid new details depicting then-President Trump inflaming a violent insurrection despite knowing he had lost.

Why it matters: Smith and his team are pulling out everything they can muster to persuade the courts that their case against Trump should go forward.

The special counsel's latest brief, unsealed Wednesday, is an effort to keep the case against Trump alive in the face of the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity.

Job No. 1 is to convince the courts that Trump's actions were the actions of a private person desperate to cling to power - not those of a president carrying out his official duties. And the additional evidence prosecutors put forward in their latest brief is designed to help make that arguments. ... Read more

Liz Cheney says at GOP birthplace it's "our duty" to reject Trump
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 10/04/24

ormer Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) at a campaign event with Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday urged voters to "reject the depraved cruelty" of former President Trump and vote for the Democratic presidential nominee.

The big picture: "In this election, putting patriotism ahead of partisanship is not an aspiration," said Cheney at the event in the birthplace of the Republican Party at Ripon, Wisconsin. "It is our duty."

"We cannot turn away from this truth," said Cheney in her first campaign event with Harris since she endorsed the Democrat last month. ... Read more

Federal Courts: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | 10/03/24 | 27:10

Read: New filing unveils additional evidence in Trump's 2020 election case
Axios | Sareen Habeshian | 10/03/24

A lengthy motion from special counsel Jack Smith was unsealed Wednesday, making public what prosecutors say is new evidence that former President Trump and his allies tried to subvert the 2020 presidential election results.

The big picture: U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan unsealed the 165-page redacted motion, despite Trump's opposition.

In response to a recent Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, Smith filed the motion seeking a determination Trump was acting as a private citizen and not as the president when he sought to overturn the 2020 election.... Read more

New filing unveils additional evidence in Trump's 2020 election case.pdf

Trump "resorted to crimes" to try to keep power in 2020, Jack Smith alleges
Axios | Erin Doherty,Sareen Habeshian | 10/03/24

Special counsel Jack Smith outlined in a motion unsealed by a judge on Wednesday what he called former President Trump's "increasingly desperate" efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election results.

Why it matters: Trump and his legal team had opposed the motion, arguing it would interfere with the November election results. The filing unveils new details in connection to the Republican presidential nominee's Jan. 6 case.

U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan unsealed the redacted motion on Wednesday.

State of play: Smith in the motion wrote that Trump's "scheme was a private criminal effort." He emphasized throughout the document that the former president was acting in his capacity as a candidate, not a president. ... ... ... Read more

How Israel's air defenses knocked down Iran's missiles
Axios | Colin Demarest | 10/03/24

Israel's air defenses, supported by the U.S., mostly neutralized the threat from Iran's approximately 180-ballistic missile attack on Tuesday.

The big picture: Only one civilian was killed, in the West Bank, in one of the most intense aerial attacks Israel has ever faced. Once again, Israel's vaunted air defense systems lived up to their reputation.

How it happened: Israel's Arrow, designed to take out long-range missiles like the ones Iran launched, played a key role.

The system "performed as expected" and produced "wonderful" results, Israel Aerospace Industries CEO Boaz Levy told Axios. State-owned IAI developed the system in partnership with the U.S.

The Arrow is one of the most sophisticated air defense systems in the world, with an advanced radar system to detect incoming projectiles and supersonic interceptors to knock them down. ... Read more

Israel plans massive Iran payback with Middle East on edge
Axios | Barak Ravid | 10/02/24

Israeli officials staring down all-out regional war tell Axios Israel will launch a "significant retaliation" to Tuesday's massive missile attack within days that could target oil production facilities inside Iran and other strategic sites.

Why it matters: Israel and Iran have never been closer to opening up a new and far more dangerous front in the war that has engulfed the Middle East.

Iran threatened on Tuesday that if Israel responds with force to the nearly 200 missiles it launched on Tuesday, it will attack again.

If that happens, Israeli officials say all options will be on the table - including strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. ... Read more

Midwestern nice debate: Vance and Walz find surprising common ground
Axios | Erin Doherty ... | 10/02/24

The lone vice presidential debate between Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) was substantive and unusually civil, with the candidates exchanging policy proposals on immigration, abortion and gun violence but not personal attacks.

The big picture: VP debates rarely change the trajectory of an election - but this one did appear to temper the tone, however fleetingly.

Vance stepped out of his role as former President Trump's campaign trail attack dog. He laid out a new, more nuanced approach to "mass deportations" under a Trump-Vance administration and seemed to concede that abortion bans - which he has supported - can be harmful to some women.

Walz, for his part, nodded along with several of Vance's answers. At one point Vance laid out a very different approach to paid family leave than the one Walz had just espoused, and the Minnesota governor said he actually agreed with many of Vance's ideas and thought they could be incorporated into Harris' plans. ... Read more

In VP Debate, JD Vance Downplays Jan. 6 Insurrection & Refuses to Admit Trump Lost 2020 Election | DN | 10/02/24 | 4:31

OpenAI speeds ahead as it shifts to for-profit
Axios | Ina Fried | 10/02/24

OpenAI used a developer event in San Francisco on Tuesday to announce several capabilities, the most provocative of which allows developers to make use of the same real-time speech capabilities recently added to ChatGPT.

In showing off the product to the press on Monday, OpenAI chose a demo of the capability paired with Twilio's cloud communications platform.

In the demo, OpenAI showed its Realtime API powering an AI agent to make a call on its own to a fictional candy store and order 400 chocolate-covered strawberries.

Asked about safeguards, OpenAI said it wasn't watermarking its AI voice to allow it to be detected, or mandating how people disclose their use of AI. ... Read more

Past wars loom over Israel's ground operation in Lebanon
Axios | Barak Ravid | 10/01/24

Israeli officials insist their ground operation in southern Lebanon will be limited in scope and length.

But Israeli officials said that twice before - in 1982 and 2006. Those invasions of their northern neighbor escalated into far wider, deadlier and more protracted conflicts.

Why it matters: That could happen again. The most dramatic possible consequence of a ground invasion would be if it convinces Iran to change course and get directly involved to save the militia it has built for decades.

But there's another scenario U.S. officials have been warning about for months: pro-Iranian militias in Syria, Iraq and Yemen could come to Hezbollah's help and either send their fighters to Lebanon or open another front through Syria. ... Read more

Professor John Mearsheimer: 'Israel is trying to drag the US and Iran into a shooting war' | The Spectator | 10/01/24 | 40:13

The stock market's astonishing returns
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Axios | Felix Salmon | 10/01/24

A year ago, the 30-year return for the S&P 500 was 834%, which is to say it rose just over ninefold between the end of Q3 1993 and the end of Q3 2023.

Today, the index's 30-year return is 1,135% - it's risen more than twelvefold in the past 30 years, and currently stands at an all-time high.

Why it matters: The stock market has been on a tear of late - up 34% over the past year and up 20% year to date.

That's the best stock-market performance in the first three quarters since 1997, and it's boosted total returns over pretty much any time horizon. ... Read more

Helene leaves "unimaginable" destruction in 5 states as death toll tops 100
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 09/30/24

aHurricane Helene has left officials in five Southeastern states grappling to respond to the widespread destruction it caused after hitting Florida as a Category 4 storm last week, with the death toll now entering the triple digits.

The big picture: Officials raised the death count in Georgia from 17 to 25 Monday, bringing the number of storm-related deaths across six states to at least 107, per AP.

Officials on Sunday confirmed 30 deaths in the flood-hit Buncombe County, western North Carolina, where Asheville saw historic water level rises.

Officials also confirmed storm-related deaths in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, as search and rescue teams continued to respond to the fallout from the hurricane that struck Florida late Thursday before moving into Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee. ... Read more

Climate Change's Breaking Points: We're Running Out of Time! | Thom Hartmann | 09/26/24 | 9:16

The Last Hours Part 1 | Thom Hartmann & Leonardo Dicaprio | -10yrs | 7:33

Nuclear power's AI renaissance
Axios | Ben Geman | 09/30/24

A new U.S. nuclear energy age may be dawning after years of false starts and dashed hopes.

Why it matters: The data centers powering the AI revolution have an insatiable thirst for energy. Major stakeholders - in Washington, Silicon Valley and beyond - see nuclear energy as one of the answers.

Driving the news: The Energy Department announced this morning it had finalized a $1.5 billion loan to stake the revival of the Holtec Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan. It'd be the first American nuclear plant to be restarted.

The news comes a week after tech giant Microsoft and Constellation Energy unveiled a $1.6 billion power purchase deal to restart a dormant reactor at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island plant in 2028. ... ... ... Read more

Historic and deadly Hurricane Helene slams Florida to the Carolinas
Axios | Andrew Freedman | 09/27/24

Hurricane Helene is one of the most expansive and damaging hurricanes on record for the Southeast, owing to its unusual size and rapid intensification.

The big picture: As of Friday morning, at least three people had died as a result of the massive storm, AP reports. More than 1 million customers were without power in Florida, with at least another 2.9 million in Georgia and the Carolinas, according to poweroutage.us.

Helene's effects extend across a wide area, causing record inland flooding in western North Carolina and unprecedented storm surge flooding in Tampa.

The storm spared Atlanta from its strongest winds, but the center of the storm made it within 100 miles of the city as a hurricane, with the most damage occurring to the east-southeast of the city.

One stunning stat: With 140 mph maximum sustained winds, Helene was the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida, where the peninsula curves into the panhandle. ... Read more

Jack Smith files evidence under seal against Trump in Jan. 6 case
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 09/27/24

Special counsel Jack Smith filed a sealed legal brief in former President Trump's federal Jan. 6 case Thursday, outlining legal arguments for criminally prosecuting the Republican presidential nominee over efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Why it matters: U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan will decide whether or not to publicly release the brief containing previously unseen evidence, or a redacted version of it, and it's possible this could occur before November's presidential election.

Context: Smith in August filed a slimmed-down, superseding indictment that Trump's legal team opposes, after the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court ruled that presidents have immunity for "official acts."

State of play: The Supreme Court left it for Chutkan to determine whether Trump's alleged conduct in this was protected under presidential immunity. ... Read more

U.S., France and key allies call for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon
Axios | Barak Ravid | 09/26/24

The U.S., France and key allies issued a joint statement on Wednesday calling on Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a 21-day ceasefire during which negotiations could take place on a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Israeli-Lebanese border.

Why it matters: The statement - released after 10 days of intense fighting that has killed more than 700 people in Lebanon - is aimed at stopping the escalation and particularly at preventing a possible Israeli ground invasion of southern Lebanon to push Hezbollah militants away from the border.

The joint statement was issued by the U.S., France, Australia, Canada, European Union, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. ... Read more

Israel's foreign minister rules out US-French ceasefire proposal saying 'There will be no ceasefire in the north'
The Guardian | Martin Belam | 09/27/24

In a message posted to social media, Katz said: "There will be no ceasefire in the north. We will continue to fight against the terrorist organization Hezbollah with all our might until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes.""

Benjamin Netanyahu's office also appeared dismissive of the proposal, saying "The news about a ceasefire - not true. This is an American-French proposal, to which the prime minister did not even respond." ... Read more

House passes bill to head off government shutdown until December
Axios | Andrew Solender | 09/26/24

The U.S. House on Wednesday passed a bill to fund the federal government through Dec. 20, punting a potential government shutdown until after the Nov. 5 election.

Why it matters: The Senate is poised to act quickly on the measure, which House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) embraced after trying and failing to rally Republicans around a six-month extension.

Former President Trump complicated the process by repeatedly demanding Republicans attach legislation, called the SAVE Act, requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. Ultimately, that language was left out of the bill so that Democrats would support it. ... Read more

Harris to make her case as champion of U.S. middle class in economic speech
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 09/25/24

Why it matters: The Harris campaign believes this speech could help define the Democratic presidential nominee as a champion of the middle class and Trump as being for billionaires, as she emphasizes her middle-class upbringing and his more prosperous start to life.

Polls show Harris is as trusted as Trump on the economy and one survey conducted after this month's presidential debate had her slightly ahead. A senior campaign official said they aim to further enhance this with her Pittsburgh speech.

State of play: Harris' speech will build on already-announced policy positions on the economy.

These include a $25,000 tax credit and other incentives for first-time homebuyers, banning price gouging on food and groceries, expanding a tax break for creating a small business, lowering health care costs and taxing long-term capital gains at 28% for wealthy Americans.

Trump briefed on "threats from Iran to assassinate him," his campaign says
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 09/25/24

U.S. officials see Iran as the biggest nation-state threat to November's elections. Last week, U.S. investigators said Iranian "malicious cyber actors" emailed associates of President Biden's re-election campaign with "non-public material" stolen from Trump's campaign over the summer.

Details: Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said in a Tuesday evening statement that officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) had briefed the ex-president "regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos" in the U.S.

"Intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference," Cheung said. ... Read more

Israel's MURDEROUS Rampage In Lebanon: Mass Slaughter Beckons | Owen Jones | 09/24/24 | 9:06

Israeli blitz obliterates Hezbollah rocket base hidden in 'civilian' home | The Sun | 09/24/24 | 13:43

Israel Bombed Lebanon Today, Killing Hundreds. The U.S. Is Sending More Bombs.
TheIntercept | Jonah Valdez | 09/23/24

The Israeli military has embarked upon a massive bombing campaign in Lebanon. Last week, it began with the remote detonation of thousands of personal electronic devices. On Friday, an Israeli strike leveled a building in the Beirut suburbs. On Sunday and into Monday, the bombings expanded into the largest attack on Lebanon since Israel's 2006 invasion. All told, the Israeli military bombed 1,300 targets, killing at least 490 people, including more than 90 children and women.

The death toll is already the highest since the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War, and certainly the worst since October 7, when Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia group backed by Iran, began exchanging strikes. The Israeli government continued its attacks over the course of the day Monday, hitting a Beirut suburb with three missiles, injuring at least six others. While Israel said it targeted Hezbollah's weapons supplies, Lebanon's health minister also said the strikes hit hospitals, medical centers, and ambulances. ... Read more

America's secret opinions
Axios | Erica Pandey | 09/24/24Click to enlarge

Why it matters: Politicians and institutions take cues and shape policies based on public opinion - but these stated opinions might not truly reflect what people want.

61% of Americans admit to "self-silencing" - keeping their true opinions on sensitive topics to themselves.

Zoom in: Populace, a Massachusetts think tank, and YouGov polled Americans to gauge their public and private views on topics like trust in government, gun control, higher education and the border.

How it works: Respondents were provided a mix of traditional polling questions and other questions using a list experiment method, or item-count technique, that provides them with a greater sense of anonymity. ... Read more

Israeli strikes kill 274 in southern Lebanon: Lebanese Health Ministry
Axios | Barak Ravid | 09/23/24

Lebanon's health ministry said at least 274 people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded in a massive wave of Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon on Monday.

Why it matters: The barrage of strikes come with Israel and Hezbollah staring down the possibility of all-out war. They were the most wide-ranging and deadliest the Israel Defense Forces have launched inside Lebanon since the 2006 war between Israel and the militant group.

The latest: Lebanon's health minister said there is a massive displacement of civilians from southern Lebanon after the Israeli airstrikes. Those killed in the attacks included women, children, and paramedics.

Israel Defense Forces said 150 rockets were fired from Lebanon after the Israeli airstrikes. Dozens of rockets were launched toward the Haifa area and farther south in Israel. Sirens went off in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank about 60 miles south of the border with Lebanon. ... Read more

Why Democratic super PACs aren't focused on attacking Trump
Politico | Jessica Piper | 09/23/24

Democratic super PACs are taking an unusual approach in this year's presidential race: They're not focusing on former President Donald Trump.

A significant majority of this cycle's spending by pro-Democratic outside groups - which typically function as attack dogs - is going to ads aiming to drive positive perceptions of Vice President Kamala Harris. It's a particularly striking shift after a majority of similar groups' spending in both 2016 and 2020 was focused on driving up Trump's negatives, a POLITICO analysis of ad spending found.

That stark contrast reflects a challenging reality: Harris began her abbreviated campaign comparatively unknown to many voters, setting off a frenzy to define her in the final weeks of the election. That's particularly pronounced because this is Trump's third presidential run in a row - and even after his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and his four indictments and conviction earlier this year, voters' views of him are largely set. ... Read more

Democrats are outspending Republicans nationwide
Axios | Alex Fitzpatrick,Kavya Beheraj | 09/23/24

Democrats are outspending Republicans on political ads by about a half-billion dollars since Aug. 1, according to data from analytics platform AdImpact.

By the numbers: As of Sept. 20, Democrats have spent $1.8 billion on ads booked for Aug. 1 through Nov. 5, compared to $1.3 billion for Republicans.

That includes spending by campaigns (from the presidential candidates down to lower-ballot hopefuls) as well as by outside groups.

Campaigns alone, Democrats have spent nearly $700 million, compared to almost $400 million by Republicans. ... Read more

Fentanyl fueling worst drug crisis in U.S. history, killing 70,000 a year | 60 Minutes| 09/22/24 | 13:21