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 John Light.
BENGHAZI!!!! –> Michael D. Shear and Michael S. Schmidt at The NYT: “the long day of often-testy exchanges between committee members and their prominent witness revealed little new information about an episode that has been the subject of seven previous investigations, and that Republicans have long seen as a blemish on Mrs. Clinton’s record that could be exploited as she sought the presidency.” AND: Jamelle Bouie at Slate: “You don’t have to like Clinton to see that this is a coup for her campaign… Whether or not Republicans built the Benghazi committee to damage Clinton’s campaign, it’s clear they weren’t opposed to an outcome where Clinton was harmed. Instead, we have the opposite.”
Lawyers, on your mark, get set… –> Obama’s Climate Change law will be published in the Federal Register today, making it fair game for lawsuits. Fifteen conservative attorneys general stand with litigation at the ready, writes Timothy Cama for The Hill.
Billionaire tries to coerce Congress –> Paul Blumenthal at The Huffington Post: “Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn issued a $150 million threat to Congress on Wednesday: pass legislation slashing corporate tax rates or face the wrath of his new super PAC. …U.S. corporations are currently avoiding paying taxes on over $2 trillion stashed offshore. Icahn wants to let them bring that money home at a massive tax discount. Coincidentally, Icahn is one of the largest investors in Apple, which holds over $181 billion in profits overseas — more than any other U.S. multinational corporation.”
Paul Ryan, dad –> Ryan wants to be clear, as he runs for speaker, that he’s not going to let the job impede on the time he normally spends with his family. “Feminists should cheer,” writes Dara Lind at Vox: “If you believe parents in two-parent households should share the responsibility of raising a family, it is a good thing when high-profile men acknowledge it’s their responsibility, too — especially when those men represent groups that tend to favor traditional gender roles.” ALSO: At the Times’ Talking Note blog, Anna North writes that this discussion “raises the intriguing possibility that politicians might be able to tuck their kids into bed if they didn’t have to spend large portions of their time convincing wealthy people to donate vast sums of money to their campaigns.” ALSO TOO: Joe Hines at Demos’ Policy Shop blog: “Paul Ryan Demands the Work-Life Balance His Policies Crush.”
Racist school attack in Sweden –> David Crouch at The Guardian: “Sweden has reacted with shock and horror after a teacher and pupil were stabbed to death in a school with a high number of immigrants by a masked man who was reported to have far-right sympathies. The man, who posed with students before starting his killing spree, was shot dead by police.”
No more $14-a-minute phone calls –> Sam Gustin at Vice’s Motherboard: The FCC “voted Thursday to crack down on exorbitant prison phone rates, in a landmark victory for criminal justice reform advocates who have long criticized what they call abusive and predatory practices by phone companies.”
Suicide bombing in Pakistan –> Reuters, via The Guardian: “A suicide bombing at a Shia Muslim mosque has killed at least 10 … No claim of responsibility was made following the attack. Baluchistan, in eastern Pakistan, has been wracked by separatist violence and rising sectarianism for almost a decade.”
First American combat death since 2011 –> One US soldier was killed during an operation to rescue 70 hostages from ISIS, according to the Pentagon.
!!! –> “Asked on Fox Business Network if the United States should take action to close certain mosques as part of the fight against the Islamic State, as has happened in Britain, Mr. Trump said, ‘I would do that, absolutely.'”
#Longread –> John Upton in a three-part investigation at Climate Central: “As the world tries to shift away from fossil fuels, the energy industry is turning to what seems to be an endless supply of renewable energy: wood. In England and across Europe, wood has become the renewable of choice, with forests — many of them in the U.S. — being razed to help feed surging demand. But as this five-month Climate Central investigation reveals, renewable energy doesn’t necessarily mean clean energy. Burning trees as fuel in power plants is heating the atmosphere more quickly than coal.”
“We are living in an era of maximum productivity.” –> Dave Jamieson at The Huffington Post’s Highline: “The Life and Death of an Amazon Warehouse Temp: What the future of low-wage work really looks like.”
Satire? –> The Onion: “Benghazi Committee Instructs Hillary Clinton To Limit Answers To ‘I Failed The American People’”
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