Written by Econintersect
Early Bird Headlines 11 July 2018
Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, published Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
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​Note: Part of this morning’s post was lost because of a technical malfunction.
Global
- Asian markets close sharply lower after US issues new list of Chinese products for potential tariffs (CNBC) Markets in Asia closed steeply lower on Wednesday, with most major indexes tumbling following the release of a list of an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods on which the U.S. is considering imposing tariffs. The dollar index was 0.1% higher at 94.209. Brent crude futures were down $1.10(1.4%) at $77.76 a barrel by 0112 GMT. U.S. crude was down $0.68, or 0.9%, at $73.43. Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,251.74 an ounce at 0102 GMT.
- Climate Summit (Twitter) Econintersect: This cartoon is actually asking a profound question.
U.S.
- Feds say 34 immigrant children to be reunited with parents; no timetable for others (USA Today) Federal officials said 34 young children taken from parents at the border under a “zero tolerance” policy will be reunited with parents Tuesday, but dozens of others will not be reunited in time to comply with a court deadline which specified 10 July.
- Questions about Kennedy connections abound after President Trump picks Brett Kavanaugh to fill Supreme Court vacancy (Daily News) A source close to Trump’s inner circle told the Daily News that Kennedy’s connections to Trump helped pave the way for Kavanaugh’s nomination. While there were no direct efforts to force Kennedy to step down, there were vague assertions made that should he retire, his seat would go to someone he knew and trusted. See also How a private meeting with Kennedy helped Trump get to ‘yes’ on Kavanaugh (Politico).
- Kavanaugh’s words on presidential probes come back to haunt him (Politico) Democrats are warning that Trump’s Supreme Court pick could be overly sympathetic to him in the Mueller probe. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh took an aggressive stance toward White House investigations as a top lieutenant to independent counsel Ken Starr as they sifted through President Bill Clinton’s dirty laundry during the 1990s. Back then, Kavanaugh played a pivotal role crafting legal arguments about how to gather evidence from a defensive White House and also in determining the best way to hand findings to Congress that could potentially lead to impeachment proceedings.
But it’s Kavanaugh’s more recent writings and comments warning about the dangers of such sprawling probes – including that sitting presidents should not be subjected to criminal investigations – that are already being weaponized by Democrats eager to protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s work and sink President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.
- Dems grasp for way to stop pick (The Hill) Democrats went on the attack Tuesday against President Trump’s new pick for the Supreme Court, but acknowledged they are unlikely to win the war. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has focused his party’s offensive on the risks that a conservative court could pose to abortion rights and affordable health care, while other Democrats labeled Brett Kavanaugh an “extreme” pick whom Trump was motivated to nominate as protection from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. See also Democrats build abortion case against Kavanaugh.
- Trump Administration Returns to ‘Catch and Release’ of Migrants (The New York Times) The government said on Tuesday that it would release hundreds of migrant families wearing ankle bracelet monitors into the United States, effectively returning to the “catch and release” policy that President Trump promised to eliminate.
Faced with a pair of court orders restricting immigration detentions, federal officials said they could not hold all of the migrant families who were apprehended at the southwestern border. They said their hands were tied by dueling requirements to release children from detention after 20 days and also keep them with their parents or other adult relatives.
- Days after Scott Pruitt resigned, several top aides are also calling it quits at EPA (The Washington Post) Several top aides to former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt are leaving the agency, less than a week after Pruitt resigned his post amid a slew of inquiries into his spending and management practices. The departures include Jahan Wilcox, who as Pruitt’s combative spokesman fiercely defended the embattled Cabinet member and found himself facing criticism for his sometimes antagonistic approach to reporters covering EPA; Lincoln Ferguson, a long-time aide and confidant who worked for Pruitt in Oklahoma and was nearly always by his side during his travels; Hayley Ford, deputy White House liaison; and Kelsi Daniels, an EPA spokeswoman. With the exception of Daniels, who had served notice before Pruitt resigned on Thursday, all of the appointees were close allies of the former administrator.
- One Million Missing: Undercount of Young Kids in 2020 Census Threatens Gains (The Anne E. Casey Foundation) The Annie E. Casey Foundation today warned policymakers and child advocates of troubling consequences for the nation’s kids with the likely undercount of about 1 million children under age 5 in the 2020 census. The Foundation released the 2018 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, its annual look at child well-being in the United States. About 4.5 million young children live in neighborhoods where there’s a high risk of missing kids in the count. An undercount of young children in the upcoming decennial census would short-change child well-being over the next decade by putting at risk hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funding for programs that are critical to family stability and opportunity. Children of color, low-income children and children in immigrant families stand to suffer the most if vital programs face reductions in funding. Research shows that by 2020 the majority of children in the United States will be children of color. Since the 2020 census will be largely completed online, that will also contribute to undercounting the under privieged who have less access to the internet. See also The 2020 census could undercount 1 million kids – which means less money for California schools (Los Angeles Times)
EU
- Trump launches tirade at NATO summit: ‘Germany is a captive of Russia’ (CNBC) President Donald Trump claimed Germany is “totally controlled” by Russia on Wednesday. Speaking in Brussels, Belgium on the first leg of his European trip, the U.S. president said a slew of “inappropriate” energy deals had given Moscow far too much influence over the continent’s largest economy.
- Fact check: President Trump and his mistold NATO tales (USA Today) Members of the alliance are not in arrears in their military spending. They are not in debt to the United States, or failing to meet a current standard, and Washington is not trying to collect anything, despite the president’s contention that they “owe massive amounts of money.”
- Trump’s neglect of Europe goes beyond angry tweets (Politico) Unfilled positions, truncated communications, lack of policy clarity combine to provoke anger across the continent.
- Senate votes to support NATO ahead of Trump summit (The Hill) Lawmakers on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted in favor of a motion supporting NATO, as President Trump continues to criticize the alliance ahead of his summit in Europe. The nonbinding motion, which came as the Senate voted to reconcile its version of the annual defense policy bill with that of the House, expresses the Senate’s support for NATO and calls on negotiators to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to it.
The 97-2 vote in the Senate comes as Trump heads to Brussels. He will also travel to the United Kingdom and meet one-on-one with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki during his trip.
UK
- Tory Vice Chairs Quit in Protest at PM’s Brexit Deal (Euro Guido) Two more resignations: Maria Caulfield and Ben Bradley have quit in protest at the Chequers deal. Their letters can be read by clicking the title link.
- Shifting UK Social Attitudes (Twitter) There has been a dramatic shift in public opinion regarding immigrants since the Brexit vote.
Thailand
- How Rescuers Pulled Off the Impossible in a Treacherous Thai Cave (The New York Times) A team of cave divers rescued the last of 12 boys and their coach on Tuesday from deep inside the warren of underground passages near Thailand’s border with Myanmar, one of Southeast Asia’s more remote regions. The group had been trapped by rising water for almost 3 weeks. See also The doctor who chose to stay in the cave (BBC News)
China
- U.S. Poised to Publish $200 Billion China Tariff List (Bloomberg) President Donald Trump is preparing to release a list of an additional $200 billion in Chinese products to be hit with tariffs, according to two people familiar with the matter. China has vowed to retaliate dollar-for-dollar to any further U.S. tariffs. But they will be hard pressed to do so with import tariffs because the U.S. imports far more from China than China imports from the U.S.. See also Dow futures drop 1% as Trump administration seeks tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods (CNBC) and The Full List (U.S. Government)
