|
With the American economy in record decline, President Trump could either start taking real steps to contain coronavirus and set the economy on a path to recovery, or double down on trying to invalidate the results of the election before it happens. Guess which one “the jobs president” picked.
- A frightened, floundering Trump has escalated his efforts to undermine the election he thinks he’ll lose by floating the idea of delaying it altogether. “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” Coronavirus: safe enough for your children and their teachers, but if there's an election, it might kill you.
- The good news is, it’s not up to him. The Constitution gives only Congress the power to alter the “time, place and manner” of general elections, and Congress isn’t interested. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other GOP senators quickly shot down Trump’s suggestion in no uncertain terms. In the both forceful and adorable words of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), “On November 3, 2020 democracy will prevail and your disastrous presidency will end. Bye-bye.”
- The chances of the election being delayed or canceled are vanishingly small, and while we would never presume to know what’s happening in Trump’s crumbling haunted house of a mind, he’s probably aware of that fact. The real goal is to sow doubt about the election’s legitimacy, and lay the groundwork to claim he was cheated. Trump has attacked mail-in voting nearly 70 times since late March, by the Washington Post’s count, and while Republicans aren’t on board with moving the election, they’ve cheerfully assisted his efforts to make it a trainwreck.
|
|
|
It’s no coincidence that Trump felt particularly desperate about his re-election prospects today.
- The Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy shrank at an annual rate of 32.9 percent (or a 9.5 percent actual drop) between April and June, the worst quarter in modern American history. That drop in consumer spending was cushioned somewhat by federal aid, like enhanced unemployment benefits, which expire tomorrow just as people lose their jobs again. New jobless claims rose for a second straight week, with 1.43 million workers filing for initial unemployment benefits. In other words, Trump whiffed his chance to ride the beginning of an economic recovery to reelection, and he knows it.
- It’s a little on the nose for one of Trump’s most ardent supporters to die of the virus he failed to contain on the same day, but here we are. Former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain has died of COVID-19 at age 74. He had been hospitalized since early July, and while it’s not entirely clear where he contracted the virus, his last public appearance was at Trump’s rally in Tulsa, where he didn’t wear a mask.
Trump may not have the power to cancel or delay the election, but there is a real danger here. The bleaker Trump’s election prospects become, the more frantically he’ll try to disenfranchise people and question the results, and he has considerable tools at his disposal. We can’t afford not to fight tooth and nail for every last vote.
|
|
|
The Every Last Vote week of action is still happening, and today we’re asking you to volunteer as a poll worker on Election Day if you’re able. Over half the poll workers in the last presidential election were over the age of 60, which is the group in the greatest danger from COVID-19. Even if you’re voting by mail, there will be a lot of people who will want to vote in-person, and that will require volunteers to keep lines moving and polling locations staffed. If you think you can help do the job, sign up on votesaveamerica.com/everylastvote.
|
|
|
John Lewis was laid to rest in Atlanta, GA, at a funeral attended by three former presidents and hundreds of mourners. Barack Obama delivered a powerful eulogy that drew parallels between the injustices Lewis stood against and the violent suppression of protests and voter disenfranchisement happening today. In a tribute to Lewis’s life’s work, Obama called for an expansion of the Voting Rights Act, decried efforts to close polling stations and gut the Postal Service ahead of a mail-in election, and called for abolishing the filibuster, “another Jim Crow relic,” if it stands in the way of voting reforms.
It's really worth taking the time to watch Obama’s remarks in full, and to read this extraordinary essay Lewis wrote shortly before his death: “Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.”
|
|
- The full DC Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to reconsider whether Judge Emmet Sullivan should be forced to dismiss a felony charge against President Trump's disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Sullivan himself took the unusual step of requesting an en banc review after the initial, insane ruling by a three-judge panel, led by two Trump loyalists.
- The U.S. has expanded charges against two former Twitter employees (and a third individual) accused of spying for Saudi Arabia, filing a superseding indictment with seven charges that include acting as agents of a foreign government, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud.
- Four Hong Kong student activists were arrested over “secessionist” social media posts under the city’s new national security law. It’s the first batch of arrests made under the new law outside of protests.
- The federal government has backed off its unconstitutional effort to prevent Michael Cohen from publishing his tell-all book about President Trump.
- Breonna Taylor is featured on the latest cover of O Magazine, the first ever issue without Oprah Winfrey on the cover. Taylor was killed by Louisville, KY, police in March, and still none of the three officers involved has been arrested.
- Vice President Mike Pence’s tour bus had a minor run-in with a dump truck, for those who keep track of vehicular omens.
- Archaeologists have finally figured out where the Stonehenge stones came from, and the answer will "rock" your world! Haha no they came from some woods nearby.
- Claudia Conway's back on Twitter and causing a ruckus. Archaeologists have not yet figured out where Claudia Conway came from.
|
|
|
The head of a union representing retail workers has called on companies to hire security to enforce mask rules, rather than let customers beat up their staff. Rank-and-file retail employees have been increasingly forced onto the front lines of enforcing store mask rules, at their own bodily risk. Two New York City men were arrested this week after assaulting Trader Joe’s workers who asked them to cover their faces. It’s a brutal chain of abdicated responsibility: The Trump administration left mask mandates up to the states (while setting a terrible example), many GOP-run states left the decision up to retailers, and retailers have in turn shunted the responsibility of enforcement onto their lowest-paid employees.
|
|
|
Ready to invest better? Then you’re ready for Motley Fool Stock Advisor. Stock Advisor is the destination for market-beating stock picks, investor reports, industry analysis, and a thriving, talkative community of investors ready to nerd out about stocks with you. Whether you’re looking to buy a new house, pay college tuitions, or retire early, Stock Advisor can help you on the road to financial freedom.
It's hard to believe, but 2020 marks the 27-year anniversary of the founding of The Motley Fool by those two legendary investors, David and Tom Gardner. And David and Tom have put together a heck of a run. They consistently lead investors to some of the most life-changing investment returns the market has ever seen. I’m talking, of course, about companies like:
Amazon (up 19,553%)
Netflix (up 28,119%)
Nvidia (up 2,544%)
Tesla (up 4,755%)
Shopify (up 2,868%)
Those are actual investment recommendations David and Tom have shared with The Motley Fool community over the years – and the list goes on!
You see, David and Tom Gardner independently research and pick their own stocks – what David picks has nothing to do with what Tom picks and vice versa.
However, every so often the two of them will land on the exact same stock. Many of us around the office have come to call this formal agreement between these two legendary investors the “All In” buy sign.
Invest better. Click To Learn More.
|
|
|
The Election Cyber Surge, a University of Chicago initiative, aims to connect local election officials with volunteer hackers to boost election cybersecurity.
The House approved a series of amendments to funding bills that would rein in the Trump administration’s deployment of federal forces.
A federal judge in New York ruled that the state must treat Lyft and Uber drivers like other workers, and pay them unemployment benefits promptly.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced an amendment to the House appropriations bill that would prevent the military from recruiting kids on Twitch.
|
|
|
|
|
