Friday August 14 top news briefs
It is Friday, August 14. Here are three top news briefs.
Trump, U.S. Postal Office, and election controversy
The first has to do with the postal office. President Trump said he is opposed to sending a $25 billion emergency bailout for the U.S. Postal Service, who is going through serious financial struggles, and is opposed to giving another $3.6 billion for local and state officials to handle the expected influx in mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump said it was because he is very concerned about fraud with mail ballots, which is something he has often talked about.
Joe Biden said this was “Pure Trump” and that Trump doesn’t want an election. Nancy Pelosi said the president is afraid of the American people. Former President Barack Obama said Trump is trying to kneecap and starve the postal service.
The Washington Post said the Trump team is now analyzing a strategy on how to sue and challenge mail-in ballots if they do not have postmarks on it, so there could be legal battles after Election Day.
In June, the Trump campaign sued 67 county election boards in Pennsylvania because of concerns about mail-in voting and election security. A federal judge has ordered the Trump campaign to provide evidence of voter fraud with mail-in ballots by today.
In separate but related news, a postal workers’ union that represents 300,000 current and former postal workers announced they are endorsing Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election because they consider him an ally and defender fo the U.S. Postal Service.
The Postal Service warned 46 states that they couldn’t guarantee all of the ballots that are sent through mail for the November 3 election will arrive in time to be counted. So there are major concerns all around.
5-year-old boy fatally shot
The second news brief: a 5-year-old boy from North Carolina, Cannon Hinnat, was shot in the head on Sunday when he was riding in a bicycle in his father’s front yard. He died in front of his two older sisters. The suspect is Darius Sessoms, who lived next door. He was arrested on Monday and charged with first-degree murder. The father, Austin, said he couldn’t understand why Sessoms would shoot his son, explaining that on the prior night, he invited Sessoms to his home for a dinner and a beer. The father said on Sunday, he heard a gunshot and ran outside, saw his son injured and picked him up, and then saw Sessoms pacing with a gun and driving off. The boy’s funeral took place today. There was controversy on social media in which people questioned why the mainstream media was not covering the story and why there was no national outrage or protests or marches for the boy. Some questioned whether it was because the boy was white and the suspect was black, and it didn’t fit with the “Black Lives Matter narrative.” I saw some responses to that question that went viral — others pointed out that the accused killer was quickly arrested and will face justice, which is the ideal process, while many Black people have been killed without justice. It’s a discussion going on out there.
No stimulus package
The third news brief: Democrats and Republicans have not been able to reach an agreement on a new round of a stimulus package.
The Senate adjourned today for the summer recess, and Senators won’t be back until September. There still could be a deal if the White House and the top Congressional Democrats reach an agreement, but an analyst from Forbes said the chances are slim because there are no active, ongoing meetings.
President Trump tweeted that he wants to send money to states and local governments but accused Democrats of holding it up. He also said he has directed Treasury Sec. Mnuchin to get ready to send direct payments to all Americans, such as a $3,400 payment for a family of four. However, analysts told Yahoo Money that the president does not have the legal authority to do that — that he can’t draw money out of the Treasury without Congressional appropriations.
So, it’s still confusing what will happen with a new round of a stimulus package. It’s something to keep an eye on in the next few weeks.
That’s all the news for this week. Check out our Deaf News videos. Stay with the light!
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-brother-hospitalized-york-sources/story?id=72374353
https://www.axios.com/postal-workers-union-endorses-biden-4d37e901-fc4e-4b33-848b-9d3f39a773ee.html
https://www.foxnews.com/us/north-carolina-boy-cannon-hinnant-murder
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2020/08/13/stimulus-update-no-deal-package/#2c1362237146
Yahoo: https://bit.ly/30UD7os