As we continue our effort to keep you up-to-date on how money corrupts American government and politics, as well as other news of the day, we’re pleased to publish this daily digest compiled by BillMoyers.com’s Michael Winship.
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Greece stays in the Eurozone — for now –> After hours and hours of bare-knuckle negotiations, The New York Times reports that agreement has been reached on a deal “meant to resolve Greece’s debt crisis and avert a historic fracture in the Continent’s common currency project… The tough terms, demanded by Germany and others, are meant to balance Greece’s demands for a loan repayment system that will not keep it mired in recession and austerity budgets against creditors’ insistence that loans worth tens of billions of euros not be money wasted.”
The Washington Post describes the deal as “a punishing ultimatum from European leaders” and reminds that not only does it require approval by Greece and several other European parliaments but that, “Successful passage… would not [be] a guarantee that Greece would be saved. Rather, it would merely open the door to a final agreement later this week for a three-year bailout – Athens’ third in five years — worth as much as $96 billion and carrying far more onerous conditions than a deal rejected in a Greek referendum on July 5th.”
International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde said the deal was “a good step to rebuild confidence” but Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism calls it “simply vicious. This is far and away the most one-sided agreement I’ve even seen, by an insanely large margin. Even the language is shamelessly punitive.”
The BBC has this summary of the deal’s key points.
Those other negotiations –> The Guardian: “European and Chinese officials are pushing for a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme to be signed on Monday, but Washington and Tehran – the two main protagonists at the negotiations in Vienna – will not be rushed.” And, “Even after a deal is announced, it would take some hours for the text of the agreement, the English version of which stretches to more than 80 pages, including five annexes, to be ‘scrubbed’ or proofread and reviewed by lawyers. Translations would then have to be completed before the final text was sent to the relevant capitals for approval by national leaders.”
Juan Cole: “No, Mr. Netanyahu, Iran isn’t trying to take over the world & it isn’t ISIL.”
Tunnel king –> The man who Mexico’s president vowed would never again escape from prison… escaped. Over the weekend, top drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman made his way out through a mile-long tunnel. CNN: “The fear of an escape is one reason why U.S. officials had pushed the Mexican government, since his Guzman’s capture last year, to extradite him to face charges in the U.S., where multiple indictments are filed for his role in… trafficking schemes.” The news further fed the flames of Donald Trump’s anti-Mexico, anti-immigration demagoguing. “Mexico’s biggest drug lord escapes from jail,” he tweeted. “Unbelievable corruption and USA is paying the price. I told you so!”
Scott Walker’s in –> Mother Jones has a list of things you should know about the latest GOP presidential candidate.
The Right Fight to Vote –> That big federal trial begins in North Carolina this morning, challenging that state’s recent overhaul of election laws.
“This is not acceptable” –> Over the weekend, D.R. Tucker at the Washington Monthly “Political Animal” blog, told the story of Emma Murphy in Dublin, Ireland, and “the international injustice of domestic violence.” This is how “social media can save lives.”
US Military: The eyes of Texas are upon you –> As the website Talking Points Memo reports, Wednesday’s the big day: US special forces begin two months of military exercises in Texas and six other states known as Operation Jade Helm, maneuvers that have assorted right-wing tools and cranks in a tizzy over a secret coup d’etat or a declaration of martial law. You may recall that back in April, in response to these concerns, Governor Greg Abbott told the Texas State Guard to “monitor” the situation. Now, the Houston Chronicle says that a couple of hundred civilians have organized to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Theories have included “suspicions of shuttered Walmarts-turned-death camps, giant underground tunnels and century-old global conspiracies.”
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