Covid cases top 5.5m as Joe Biden prepares for big DNC night – US politics live

The country has done better for decades under Democrats, by nearly every major economic measure. From John Kennedy through Barack Obama — 56 years during which, as it happens, we had a Democratic president for 28 years and a Republican president for 28 — we saw more than 50 million jobs created under Democrats and just 24 million jobs created under Republicans. Even the stock market has performed better under Democratic presidents.

It’s true that just toting up numbers by the months each party had in power is imprecise. But there’s no better way to do it, and if all these numbers were reversed, Republicans would make sure Americans knew about it. They would also make sure Americans were well aware of such an important and consistent failure from the other party. But Democrats have largely failed to punch home just how destructive Republican economic stewardship has been.

Read it here: New York Times – Michael Tomasky: This is what I want to hear from Joe Biden

And talking of the economy, we should get the latest US jobless stats in about ten minutes or so…

It follows a clip of Joe Biden saying the same thing back in April 2015 that Pompeo posted last night.

It quotes Biden saying “There will be a clear procedure in the final deal that allows both the UN and unilateral sanctions to snap back without needing to cajole lots of other countries – including Russia or China – to support it. That will be written in the final deal.”

This morning’s video from Pompeo then also quotes president Donald Trump, saying that “We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violent, more terror, and the very real threat of Iran’s nuclear breakout.”

But therein lies the problem. A few months after those wrods, on 8 May 2018, president Trump announced that the US would be withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal. The US reinstated sanctions it had waived as part of the nuclear accord, effectively breaking US participation in it. The ‘snap back’ terms were part of that deal.

Earlier today Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov described statements by the United States on reimposing UN sanctions against Iran as “absurd”, adding that the country has no legal or political grounds to do so.

Our Sam Levine has got the definitive run-down for you though: Does mail-in voting lead to fraud – and does it help Democrats? The facts

The combination of Democrats’ reaction to Donald Trump’s presidency, the most diverse presidential field in history and years more of activism, however, made race impossible to ignore in the 2020 campaign. All the candidates felt compelled to talk about race, not just to appeal to voters of color but to make inroads with white liberals who have dramatically shifted their views in recent years.

Biden was a bit of an outlier in the primary as he did not incorporate as much of the social justice language into his campaign as other candidates but also managed to trounce them with voters of color. Even so, the dramatic shifts in public opinion in recent months seem to have ended any lingering caution about discussing race.

“I remember when president Obama gave his speech, saying that if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon Martin, and how world-stopping that was at the moment at that time,” said Alencia Johnson, a former senior campaign aide to Elizabeth Warren. But to hear Harris and others say the names of Floyd and other Black men and women killed by police, she said is “almost earth-shattering.”

Read it here: Politico – Democratic convention takes ‘earth-shattering’ turn with its focus on race

He’s curated the project for the magazine which “examines America’s oppressive past—and the potential for an equitable future” in a series of contributions from young Black musicians, activists, artists and athletes.

Williams himself has contributed an essay, alongside Michael Harriot, in which they write:

America was founded on a dream of a land where all men were created equal, that contained the promise of liberty and justice for all. But all has never meant Black people. Like most Black Americans, I understand that all exists only in the augmented-reality goggles available to shareholders, power brokers and those lucky enough to get in on the initial public offering. But the ongoing protests for equity and accountability that have overtaken cities across the nation have made me feel something new that I can only describe with one word: American.

The desperate longing for economic justice that spurred unrest in the streets of Minneapolis after George Floyd’s murder reminds me of the same fire that burned in the veins of the Sons of Liberty when they dumped 342 chests of tea into the sea at Griffin’s Wharf. When I see people tearing down the monuments to secessionist traitors who wanted to start their own white-supremacist nation, I see patriots acting in service of this country. It reminds me of the protesters who were inspired to tear down the statue of King George on July 9, 1776, after they heard Thomas Jefferson’s letter telling his oppressors to kick rocks. Those “thugs” would serve under the direction of George Washington in the American Revolution. But the Declaration of Independence makes it sound dignified: “In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms,” wrote our Founding Fathers. “Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.”

You can read the whole thing here: Pharrell Williams – America’s Past and Present Are Racist. We Deserve a Black Future

Details will be released later this week, according to an attorney who spoke to the AP. It is intended to resolve all legal actions against the state for its role in a disaster that made the impoverished, majority-Black city a nationwide symbol of governmental mismanagement.

The offices of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney general Dana Nessel have been negotiating for more than 18 months with lawyers for thousands of Flint residents. A spokesman for Nessel, declined to confirm the reports of a deal.

Flint switched its water source from the city of Detroit to the Flint River to save money in 2014, while under control of a state-appointed emergency manager. State environmental regulators advised Flint not to apply corrosion controls to the water, which was contaminated by lead from ageing pipes.

Residents of the city with a population of nearly 100,000 began complaining that the water was discolored and had a bad taste and smell. They blamed it for rashes, hair loss and other health concerns, but local and state officials insisted it was safe. Residents had to use bottled water for drinking and household needs for more than a year.

Researchers with Virginia Tech University finally reported in summer 2015 that samples of Flint water had abnormally high lead levels. Shortly afterward, a group of doctors announced that local children had high levels of lead in their blood.

The governor at the time, Rick Snyder eventually acknowledged the problem, accepted the resignation of his environmental chief and pledged to aid the city, which resumed using Detroit water.

Under the deal, the state would establish a $600 million fund and Flint residents could file claims for compensation. The amount awarded per applicant would be based on how badly they were harmed.

If approved, the settlement would push state spending on the Flint water crisis over $1 billion. Michigan already has pumped more than $400 million into replacing water pipes, purchasing filters and bottled water, children’s health care and other assistance.

In historically conservative states, the gas industry has convinced legislatures to pass laws prohibiting cities from following in Seattle’s footsteps and trying to ban new gas hookups. In the digital world, it has carefully cultivated the fuel’s image, paying Instagram influencers to cook with gas stoves. In the media, it has sought to be quoted in important stories in news outlets like Reuters, according to internal records. In Washington DC, where the industry has strong support from the Trump administration, it has lobbied the federal government on everything from environmental reviews to appliance standards.

“The gas utilities are facing an existential threat, and instead of approaching a decarbonizing economy as an opportunity to reinvent themselves, they’re digging their heels in and going back to the age-old tactics” said Charlie Spatz, a researcher at the Climate Investigations Center.

Read it here: Revealed – how the gas industry is waging war against climate action

Gov. John Bel Edwards laid out the state’s first goal for greenhouse gases in an order creating a climate initiatives task force to include members from state government, business, environmental justice, Indian tribes, academics and other areas.

At least 23 other states and the District of Columbia have set greenhouse gas targets, though specifics vary, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

The United States is among the world’s biggest carbon polluters. Louisiana’s ultimate and interim goals are in line with those in the Paris agreement of 2017 and those of many other states, Edwards said. He did not mention that Donald Trump had pulled the US out of the agreement.

“In many ways, Louisiana is the poster child for climate change, we are the canary in the coal mine,” Edwards said during a Coastal Protection and Restoration Agency meeting live-streamed from Baton Rouge.

“We want to be the gold standard. We cannot build our way out of this problem.”

But Edwards said there’s also tremendous development and jobs potential in renewable energy and such techniques as restoring wetlands, where green plants will take in carbon dioxide that is emitted into the air, and creating ways to capture the gas from refineries and factories and store it in underground formations rather than letting it into the air.

“We are not turning our back on our traditional energy here in Louisiana,” Edwards said. He noted that companies are setting their own emission goals and that Louisiana is well positioned to move from dirtier fuels to natural gas.

“The real unique part about it is this is a fossil fuel-driven state,” said Natalie Snider, senior director of coastal resilience for the Environmental Defense Fund.

In 2020, Obama was back in the city where the US constitution was drafted and signed. But this time he stood alone at a lectern in the Museum of the American Revolution. Usually presidents go into bat for their own legacy, but the message was that the legacy of George Washington and other founding fathers is now at stake.

Obama’s speeches are often lauded for their poetry but this time his language was cold and muscular, using the word “democracy” 18 times. The man who made famous the slogan “Hope and change” had found that the first of those is not always enough. “I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously,” he said. For a long time the 44th president has declined to use Trump’s name. No more.

Read it here: Obama’s stark message: America must save itself from Trump

The settlement calls for the city, 46 miles (74 kilometers) north of the US-Mexico border, to pay the family of Antonio Valenzuela within 30 days and promises the local government will embark on various police reforms. Financial terms of the settlement were not previously disclosed.

Under the settlement, Las Cruces police agreed to ban all chokeholds and fire any officer who violates the new policy something officials say the city already does. The city also must try to adopt a warning system involving officers who use excessive force and forge a policy so officers can undergo yearly mental health exams.

Valenzuela, 40, had a warrant out for his arrest because of a parole violation and fought with officers who tried to detain him after he fled from a traffic stop in February.

After a chase, then-Las Cruces Officer Christopher Smelser applied the chokehold. Smelser, who is Hispanic, can be heard on police video saying, “I’m going to (expletive) choke you out, bro.”

Valenzuela died at the scene. Smelser was later fired and faces a second-degree murder charge. He has not yet entered a plea.

Local media report that clashes came outside the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office in Southwest Portland. The ICE building was repeatedly tagged with graffiti and some windows were broken. Federal officers would then push protesters back from the building.

Officers reportedly used the stun grenades and gas around midnight to break up the crowd, though it was unclear which law enforcement agency used the gas and grenades.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov has described statements by the United States on reimposing UN sanctions against Iran as absurd, adding that it has no legal or political grounds to do so. Mike Pompeo is heading to the UN later today to try and get unified action against Iran.

And the Chinese commerce ministry has said China and the US have agreed to hold trade talks “in the coming days” to evaluate the progress of their Phase 1 trade deal six months after it took effect in February. That follows Tuesday’s remarks by White House chief of Staff Mark Meadows that no new high-level trade talks were scheduled. Donald Trump had told reporters he had postponed an 15 August review of the trade pact, in frustration over Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic

I’m Martin Belam, I’ll be here for a couple of hours, and you can in touch with me at [email protected]