The Daily Brief
Today
Good morning. Lebanese banker Antoun Sehnaoui has assembled a network of business and media operatives and a fascist Christian goon squad in Beirut and Washington dedicated to doing Israel's dirty work as the deadly Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon continues.
Donald Trump walked away from a $100 million fine for tax fraud that the IRS has been trying to collect for over a decade, with all but two Republican senators voting to make Todd Blanche Attorney General; Blanche wrote up the settlement. Meanwhile, Trump responded to a MAGA media personality urging him to declare a national emergency to seize control of elections by saying that stranger things have happened and he would leave it at that.
In Tennessee, a businessman's juvenile prisons kept abuse under wraps, putting kids' lives at risk. Texas Democrats are urging mayors to abandon ties to ICE, warning cooperation damages public trust and strains budgets.
The government is set to release the consumer price index for July as Americans contend with a tight labor market and elevated energy costs, with wage growth slowing for workers. Insurance costs soar because markets fund rebuilding, not prevention, leaving households, governments and taxpayers paying more.