Below The Fold: The news that do not make the headlines but is important. By PL Hade
- For those on Twitter, worth a follow: @thedpledge
- The Democracy Pledge will be holding companies to account to see who is ‘democracy-compliant” and who is not.
- Trump’s chief of staff could face scrutiny in Georgia criminal probe https://www.reuters.com/…/us-usa-trump-georgia-meadows…
- The American Rescue Plan – Here are some of the more prominent false attacks against the American Rescue Plan being circulated and the actual facts:
- FALSE: There is a $25,000 bonus for state government employees
- FACT: Any money for State workers comes from the total amount allocated to a state. States can choose to allocate “premium” pay to essential state workers from their monetary allotment. Workers who are eligible are people “needed to maintain continuity of operations of essential critical infrastructure sectors and additional sectors … to protect the health and well-being of the residents of their State, territory, or Tribal government.” The numbers were pulled to make this false claim come from the maximum amount that can be paid to essential workers as premium pay. Each state will make a decision whether to pay premium wages to their state workers and which employees would qualify. State budgets will generally be revised before states’ make decisions on premium pay.
- FALSE: There is $21,000 for Federal Employees to stay at home.
- FACT: There is not $21,000 for Federal Employees to stay at home.
- FALSE: There is $270 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts which has nothing to do with Covid19.
- FACT: $270 million — split between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts — to provide grants “to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from the coronavirus. (Section 2021/2022)
- FALSE: $200 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services which has nothing to do with Covid19
- FACT: The $200 million in the bill bill will help 17,000 libraries across the country to implement health protocols and expand Wi-Fi access. (Section 2023)
- FALSE: It’s a Pelosi Payoff and $600 million is going to San Francisco.
- FACT: There is no mention of San Francisco in the Bill.
- FALSE: 1.5 Billion for Amtrak has nothing to do with Covid19
- FACT: Amtrak — to keep rail service running across the nation — to rehire 1,230 workers who have been involuntarily furloughed as a result of COVID, and to restore full long-distance service to remote communities. In April the Cares Act, which Trump signed and was approved by the GOP Senate, allocated $1 Billion for Amtrak in Response to COVID-19. The Heroes Act, which Trump signed and was approved by the GOP Senate allocated 2.4 Billion for Amtrak. (Title VII)
- FALSE: There is 50 million for Planned Parenthood in the bill which will go to provide abortions.
- FACT: There is no funding for Planned Parenthood in the American Rescue Act. There is $50 million for the Title X Family Planning Program; Title X funds are prohibited by law from going to abortion providers. (Sec 2605)
- FALSE: There is 12 Billion in the bill for Foreign Aid which has nothing to do with Covid19
- FACT: It is 10 Billion in International Aid. This is part of a global initiative to eradicate or contain Covid19 and provides funding for vaccinations and research and international disaster relief. It also funds the State Department providing help for Americans and diplomats abroad. Section 10003 – 100059.
- FALSE: There is 15 billion in the bill for “Illegal immigrant-eligible health benefits.”
- FACT: Usually we can figure out where they are taking a number from in the bill; we can’t on this one. They appear to have just made it up.
- FALSE: There’s 111 Billion for welfare without work requirements.
- FACT: 111 Billion for Welfare without work requirements isn’t in the bill.
- FALSE: There’s 350 billion to bail out blue states.
- FACT: The first category of state money will be evenly distributed among the states and the second category of money will be based on unemployment claims within each state. https://www.reuters.com/…/fact-check-whats-in-the-new-1… https://www.congress.gov/…/117th…/house-bill/1319/text
- The EPA put back up a revamped version of its climate change website that was taken down at the start of the Trump administration.Trump’s EPA had scrubbed the info from the site as part of an effort to downplay the risks of climate change. Geoff Bennett NBC https://www.epa.gov/climate-change
- North Jersey man arrested after being identified in Capitol riot surveillance photos. A former Montclair High School student is facing federal charges after he was identified in surveillance photos taken at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Elias Irizarry, a freshman at the Citadel, a military college in Charleston, South Carolina, is accused in a criminal complaint filed by the FBI of attending the riot. https://www.northjersey.com/…/capitol-riots…/4748011001/
- Covid19
- 543,300 Americans have died of Covid19
- 416,800 American military died in World War II
- NJ: 3738 new positives
- Rate of Transmission 1.06
- Hospitalizations 1926
- Counties with the highest positives: Bergen 453, Middlesex 400, Essex 354, Passaic 321, Monmouth 317
- Everything We Know About the Coronavirus Variant Spreading in New York City
- “In New York City, the portion of new cases caused by this variant strain is a whopping 45 percent.” https://nymag.com/…/new-york-city-coronavirus-variant-b…
- COVID-19 reinfection rare, but more common in older people, study finds https://www.reuters.com/…/covid-19-reinfection-rare-but…https://youtu.be/Qhr6wAOWTLI