“Los Angeles campuses will not reopen for classes on Aug. 18, and the nation’s second-largest school system will continue with online learning until further notice, because of the worsening coronavirus surge,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Cuomo Will Fine Travelers Who Do Not Quarantine
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced that travelers to New York from states with high rates of COVID-19 cases must provide authorities with contact information or face a $2,000 fine and a court summons, The Hill reports.
Said Cuomo: “We’re serious about enforcing quarantine.”
How Trump Is Helping Tycoons Exploit the Pandemic
Jane Mayer: “The secretive titan behind one of America’s largest poultry companies, who is also one of the President’s top donors, is ruthlessly leveraging the coronavirus crisis—and his vast fortune—to strip workers of protections.”
Who Should Joe Biden Pick as His Running Mate?
Join now to continue reading.
Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. Learn more.
Why Joe Biden Has His Eye on Karen Bass
The Atlantic: “Now, much to Bass’s—and pretty much everyone else’s—surprise, Biden’s team is taking her seriously as a potential vice-presidential running mate… He’s the leader of the party now. Will he decide its future by anointing a successor, or pick someone, like Bass, who’s less likely to run for president?”
“Bass came up as a community organizer in Los Angeles and worked as a physician assistant in emergency rooms during the AIDS crisis. She was at the infamous intersection of Florence and Normandie as the sun set in 1992 during the Watts riots, and almost got hit by bricks. For the past month, she’s been shepherding a policing-reform bill through the House without losing a single progressive or moderate vote.”
Texas Court Will Not Allow In-Person GOP Convention
“The Texas Supreme Court on Monday rejected the state Republican Party’s appeal of a lower court’s decision regarding its in-person Houston convention, all but ensuring that Mayor Sylvester Turner’s move to cancel the event will stand,” the Houston Chronicle reports.
Trump Now Wants to Give Extra Aid to Schools
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Fox Business that President Trump is considering giving additional federal funding to public school districts that fully reopen for the 2020-2021 school year during the coronavirus pandemic.
Said Kudlow: “The president has said that he’s willing to consider additional aid in order to help reopen the schools.”
Just last week, Trump threatened to withhold funding from schools that do not fully reopen.
Low Turnout Was Factor In Postponing Trump Rally
By the time the Trump campaign announced that a planned New Hampshire rally “was off, citing ‘safety concerns’ over a tropical storm barreling toward the Northeast on Friday afternoon, people close to the campaign said fears over low turnout also motivated the decision to scrap the event,” NBC News reports.
Indiana GOP Taps Rokita to Run for Attorney General
Former Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN) won the Republican nomination for Indiana attorney general, “having convinced party delegates that sticking with embattled Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill (R) is too much of a risk,” the Indianapolis Star reports.
Hill’s defeat came after the Indiana Supreme Court suspended his law license for 30 days over allegations, which Hill has denied, that he groped four women in March 2018 at a legislative party.
Cooper Heffner Announced Bid in California
Cooper Hefner, the son of the late Playboy founder Hugh Heffner, announced that he’s launching an exploratory campaign to run as a Democrat for the California Senate in the state’s 30th District, which includes Los Angeles County, CNN reports.
17 States Sue to Block Rule on Foreign Students
“Seventeen states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration on Monday, seeking to block a new rule that would revoke the visas of foreign students who take classes entirely online in the fall,” the New York Times reports.
“The rule, issued a week ago, would upend months of careful planning by colleges and universities, the lawsuit says, and could force many students to return to their home countries during the pandemic, where their ability to study would be severely compromised.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“The stakes are very high this election, but you know why I know we’re going to win? Because people remember how good their lives were back in February.”
— Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), speaking at the virtual North Carolina Republican convention.
Trump Leads In Missouri
A new Saint Louis University/YouGov poll in Missouri finds Donald Trump leading Joe Biden in the presidential race by seven points, 50% to 43%.
Trump won Missouri by nearly 19 percentage points in 2016.
A Roadmap to Reaching Latinos
Chuck Rocha, a former senior adviser to Bernie Sanders’ failed presidential bid, “has a forthcoming book detailing the campaign’s strategy to win over Latino voters — and his own excruciating decision to turn down an offer to run the campaign,” Politico reports.
Writes Rocha: “I wrote this so there would be a road map for any politician or political organization to know how to reach out to our community and prove once and for all that if you invest in our community we will vote. I never, ever wanted to hear Latinos don’t vote again after reading this book.”
Sale
Tío Bernie: The Inside Story of How Bernie Sanders Brought Latinos Into the Political Revolution
- Rocha, Chuck (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 176 Pages - 08/19/2020 (Publication Date) - Strong Arm Press (Publisher)
A New Swing State on the Map
The consensus electoral map now shows Texas as a Toss Up.
Next Relief Bill Must Deal with Coronavirus
Mick Mulvaney: “If lawmakers still see the need to run the presses, they need to realize that the current economic crisis is public-health driven. As such, using ordinary fiscal tools might not be particularly efficacious. Put another way, the fact that people aren’t going on vacation probably has more to do with fear of getting sick than it does with their economic condition. Giving people a check, or some financial incentive to travel, won’t solve their problem. Make people feel safe to go back on an airplane or cruise ship, and they will of their own accord.”
“Any stimulus should be directed at the root cause of our recession: dealing with Covid. I know it isn’t popular to talk about in some Republican circles, but we still have a testing problem in this country.”
Bullock Leads In Montana Senate Race
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Montana finds Steve Bullock (D) leading Sen. Steve Daines (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 46% to 44%.
Bullock is the most popular politician in the state with a 50% to 38% approval.
In the presidential race, Donald Trump leads Joe Biden, 51% to 42%.
Quote of the Day
“The Silent Majority will reign!”
— President Trump, on Twitter.
