We’ve made it to August!
Here’s all the shit we couldn’t cover today:
- Considering that America is the only industrialized nation without federally mandated paid leave, one might think that any proposal is better than no proposal. But on Wednesday, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio proved us all wrong. With Ivanka Trump’s backing (of course!), Rubio has introduced a spectacularly horrible paid family leave plan that asks adults to pull from their own future Social Security benefits in “exchange for delaying their retirement by three to six months.” The Social Security program, by the way, only has about 16 good years left. [USAToday]
- Perhaps 2019 will be the year Democrats make history with the first black Speaker of the House. [Politico]
- It’s day two of the Paul Manafort trial, and we are learning a lot about his shopping habits! [Washington Post]
- Republicans are doing their best to repeal the 1997 Flores Settlement, which protects immigrant children from indefinite detention and requires the government to meet basic standards of care. [Talking Points Memo]
- Ivanka Trump’s store in Trump Tower is still open, despite last week’s announcement that the brand is shuttering. [Business Insider]
- Republicans are in a tricky situation, trying to resolve a fight between two warring factions: rich people who best known for their racism (e.g. Donald Trump) and racists who best known for their wealth (the Koch brothers). [Talking Points Memo]
- Sean Hannity said a lot of dumb shit in this interview, including that “the untold story about who I am … is that I am the forgotten man, the forgotten woman.” Thank you, Sean. [Talking Points Memo]
- In instances where the weapon could be traced, since 1999, guns from at least 80 percent of school shootings committed by children have come from relatives or friends. [Washington Post]
- The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office will stop prosecuting the majority of marijuana offenses. [Gothamist]
- Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones faces two defamation suits this week, including one by parents of a child killed in the Sandy Hook shooting who have not been able to visit their son’s grave because of death threats from Jones’s followers. Jones, who has peddled the theory that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax perpetration by gun control activists, seeks to dismiss the suit and wants $100,000 in damages from the parents. [New York Times]
- Barack Obama has endorsed 81 candidates running in the midterm elections. [CNN]
- This Trump Hotel spa ad conveniently fails to mention the spa is within a Trump Hotel. [The Washingtonian]
Here are some tweets the president was allowed to publish:
This has been Barf Bag.
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