January 1, Trump Offers Pelosi Skinny Bill Option for $1200 Checks

This Day in History | 2003

Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected governor of California, the most populous state in the nation with the world’s fifth-largest economy. Despite his inexperience, Schwarzenegger came out on top in the 11-week campaign to replace Gray Davis, who had earlier become the first United States governor to be recalled by the people since 1921.

Good morning middle Americans, 

If you got one of those $1200 stimulus checks you might be getting another one. President Trump, after blowing up the talks between House Speaker and Nancy Pelosi, offer up a new option late last night in a tweet storm. The move is seen as an attempt to buoy the stock market which started to crash yesterday after news of the stalled Congressional stimulus talks started to circulate.  Republicans are mobilizing thousands of volunteers to watch early voting sites and ballot drop boxes leading up to November’s election, part of an effort to find evidence to back up President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated complaints about widespread voter fraud. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity agency have issued a series of advisories in recent weeks aimed at warning voters about problems that could surface in the election — as well as steps Americans can take to counter the foreign interference threat. Hurricane Delta, a slightly weakened but still dangerous Category 3 storm, barreled toward Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula with winds of 115 mph (185 kph) for an expected landfall south of the Cancun resort before dawn Wednesday.  A Tyler County Grand Jury has indicted Netflix for promoting the “lewd exhibition” of children.

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-Fraser Dixon 

Trump Blinks on COVID Relief Talks Offers Signature for $1,200 Checks

(NBC News) – Trump reverses course on coronavirus relief talks, dangles new $1,200 stimulus checks

Earlier Tuesday, the president seemed to kill stimulus talks, tweeting that there would be no deal until “after I win” the election.

President Donald Trump reversed course Tuesday night and urged Congress to approve a series of coronavirus relief measures that he would sign, including a new round of $1,200 stimulus checks for Americans.

Earlier in the day, he had halted talks between top Democrats and Republicans until “after I win” the election, which appeared to have killed the chances of a new package. Both moves by the president, who was released Monday from the hospital where he was being treated for Covid-19, were made on Twitter.

“If I am sent a Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200), they will go out to our great people IMMEDIATELY. I am ready to sign right now. Are you listening Nancy?” Trump tweeted Tuesday night.

He said in another tweet that he would approve funding for specific struggling industries, such as airlines and small businesses, which is short of what House Democrats proposed.

“The House & Senate should IMMEDIATELY Approve 25 Billion Dollars for Airline Payroll Support, & 135 Billion Dollars for Paycheck Protection Program for Small Business. Both of these will be fully paid for with unused funds from the Cares Act. Have this money. I will sign now!” Trump said.

A senior administration official familiar with the president’s thinking said Tuesday that a “large-scale stimulus package is on the sidelines,” as Trump made clear earlier, saying the president felt it best not to string people along. But the White House appears to be planning to push a series of smaller, individual packages on mutually agreed-upon items.

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Cellphones in Hand, ‘Army for Trump’ Readies Poll Watching Operation

(Reuters) – Republicans are mobilizing thousands of volunteers to watch early voting sites and ballot drop boxes leading up to November’s election, part of an effort to find evidence to back up President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated complaints about widespread voter fraud.

Across key battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Florida and Wisconsin, Republican poll watchers will be searching for irregularities, especially with regard to mail-in ballots whose use is surging amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to more than 20 officials involved in the effort. They declined to say how many volunteers have signed up so far; the campaign earlier this year said its goal was to recruit 50,000 monitors nationwide.

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Voter Beware: US Tells Public How to Avoid Election Mischief

 (AP) — The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity agency have issued a series of advisories in recent weeks aimed at warning voters about problems that could surface in the election — as well as steps Americans can take to counter the foreign interference threat.

The issues identified in the public service announcements run the gamut from the spread of online disinformation about the electoral process to cyberattacks targeting election infrastructure. Taken together, the advisories make clear that American agencies are tracking a broad range of potential threats that they believe voters should know about — not just for transparency’s sake but also so voters can be prepared.

Category 3 Hurricane Delta Roars Toward Mexico’s Cancun Area

(AP) — Hurricane Delta, a slightly weakened but still dangerous Category 3 storm, barreled toward Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula with winds of 115 mph (185 kph) for an expected landfall south of the Cancun resort before dawn Wednesday.

Quintana Roo Gov. Carlos Joaquín said the state government had prepared, but warned residents and tourists that “it is a strong, powerful hurricane.” He considered it a good sign that Delta had weakened a bit late Tuesday, but said the area hadn’t seen a storm like it since Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

Delta increased in strength by 80 mph in just 24 hours, more than doubling from a 60 mph storm at 2 p.m. EDT Monday to 140 mph at 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday. Its top winds peaked at 145 mph (230 kph) before weakening slightly late Tuesday as it closed in on Yucatan.

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Netflix Indicted for ‘Lewd Exhibition’ of Children in ‘Cuties’ Film by Texas Grand Jury

(The Texan) – A Tyler County Grand Jury has indicted Netflix for promoting the “lewd exhibition” of children.

After speaking out alongside other Texas politicians against the French Netflix film Cuties and asking the state attorney general’s office to investigate the film for violations, Texas Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler) tweeted a photo of the indictment this morning.

“Netflix, Inc… knowingly promote[d] visual material which depicts the lewd exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of a clothed or partially clothed child who was younger than 18 years of age at the time the visual material was created, which appeals to the prurient interest in sex,” the indictment reads.

The Texas Rangers served the indictment to Netflix.

Tyler County Criminal District Attorney Lucas Babin, who presented the indictment, said the wide distribution of the film spurs “more, not less” legal action on the part of legal officials as local as Texas.Read more here