Politics Plus

Yesterday I was kind of bleary, because my portable noise generator, though it worked, didn’t last all night. (However, I did learn valuable information about what to do differently – found out it does run on house power and how to make that happen.) And the new one should come before the weekend (and it will run on house power.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – USPS Board Won’t Quit DeJoy — Or His Disastrous Plan
Quote – The arrangement, amazingly, was cleared by ethics officials the Postal Service according to a previously unknown inspector general report requested by lawmakers. He filed all the right paperwork, according to the IG. That doesn’t mean there’s anything that doesn’t stink about this. (DeJoy, however, remains under investigation by the FBI for his political contributions and company activities involving XPO.)
Click through for probably more than you wanted to know. Very little is good about this. However, President Biden’s latest nominee to the Board was just confirmed yesterday and that should help,

The Hill – The 19 GOP senators who voted for the $1T infrastructure bill
Quote – The passage of the bill comes just before Democrats take up a budget resolution that greenlights their ability to pass a separate $3.5 trillion spending plan, packed with the party’s top priorities, later this year without GOP votes. No Republicans are expected to support the budget resolution or the subsequent spending package, which is unlikely to get voted on before late September.
Click through for complete list. Don’t forget there’s another infrastructure bill in the House, and that Reconciliation will be invoked. This $1T bill is not the one we want (and we may not get the one we want, but we can expect to get closer to what we want than this.) Also, as Lona pointed out, this vote is going to go to Manchin’s head. It shouldn’t. These Senators are voting for it because they know something good is going to pass and they want to be able to claim credit.

HuffPost – Pentagon Issues COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate For All U.S. Military Members
Quote – Austin’s decision reflects similar moves by governments and companies around the world, as nations struggle with the highly contagious delta variant that has sent new U.S. cases, hospitalizations and deaths surging to heights not seen since last winter. The concerns are especially acute in the military, where service members live and work closely together in barracks and on ships, increasing the risks of rapid spreading. Any large virus outbreak in the military could affect America’s ability to defend itself in any security crisis.
Click through for story. If, like me, you were wondering what they were waitin for – it was FDA approval. But they decided it was too important to wait any longer (with which I concur – for what that’s worth.)

Food for Thought –