Thursday News Executive Summary

Above the Fold

In 1946, fresh off the victorious but financially draining conclusion of World World II, the national debt was equal to 118.4% of the nation’s GDP. Today, however, the national debt — now the equivalent of 120.5% of GDP — has officially breached a record that endured for nearly 75 years. Even more worryingly, James D. Agresti writes, “Today’s unprecedented debt-to-economy ratio … includes $2.5 trillion in new debt since the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it doesn’t account for the vast bulk of economic damage inflicted by government-mandated business shutdowns, which will soon make the debt ratio significantly larger by decreasing its denominator. Although this decline has already begun, most of it is not yet reflected in the official data on the size of the U.S. economy.” Agresti also points out that World War II debt “rapidly fell once the war ended,” whereas “the modern national debt has been on a steep upward path for decades.”
According to The Hill, “House Republicans are delaying legislation addressing police reforms after initially signaling that a GOP proposal would be introduced this week. … Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Republicans may want to wait and see if they can attach GOP amendments to a Democratic police reform package that will be marked up in his Judiciary panel next week.” Regarding the Senate, The Hill additionally reports, “Qualified immunity is emerging as a key sticking point in the congressional debate over reforming the police. … A Democratic proposal would make sweeping overhauls to the legal doctrine. But GOP senators, backed by the White House, say changes are largely a non-starter.”

Government & Politics

GOP expects to move its convention to Jacksonville after dispute with North Carolina over pandemic safeguards (The Washington Post)
New York Times Magazine’s partisan writer Nikole Hannah-Jones rips paper’s “both-sideism” over Tom Cotton op-ed: You “don’t just hand over your platform” to air “misinformation” (Mediaite)
Speaking of misinformation, The Washington Post hides 60% cut in police shootings from 2015 to 2019 (Breitbart)
Fox News host Tucker Carlson cuts ties with The Daily Caller (Forbes)

Revisionist History

NASCAR bans display of Confederate flag at all events and properties (The Washington Post)
Jefferson Davis statue torn down in Richmond, Virginia (AP)
Portsmouth, Virginia, crowd dismantles Confederate monument (Fox News)
“Homage to hate”: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls for removal of Confederate statues from Capitol (NBC News)

Culture & Heartland

Antifa-affiliated activists seize control of a Seattle neighborhood and declare an “autonomous zone” (City Journal)
A history of friction: George Floyd and Derek Chauvin “bumped heads” while working at nightclub, former coworker says (CBS News)
U.S. Soccer kneels to Colin Kaepernick protégé Megan Rapinoe, decides to allow protests during the national anthem (Breitbart)
Portland mayor gives government workers 40 hours off to mourn “400 years of African American oppression” (The Daily Wire)
Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez under fire for using LAPD as her “personal security” while she filed a motion to cut the police department’s budget by $150 million (UK Daily Mail)
Two cities — Camden, New Jersey, and Baltimore, Maryland — dismantled their police departments. The outcomes were not homogenous. (PJ Media)

Business & Economy

Unemployment claims totaled 1.5 million last week compared with the 1.6 million Dow Jones estimate and 355,000 fewer than the previous week (CNBC)
Fed sees interest rates staying near zero through 2022, GDP bouncing to 5% next year (CNBC)
Chinese propaganda outlet has paid U.S. newspapers $19 million for advertising, printing (The Daily Caller)
Governors reject new lockdowns as virus cases spike, because they understand that economic restoration comes with consequences (Politico)

Other Notables

These eight blue-state governors and mayors broke their own lockdown orders (The Federalist)
Coronavirus Task Force tells governors to prepare for spike in cases from George Floyd protests, says 70 testing sites have been destroyed (The Blaze)
Amazon suspends police use of facial recognition tool amid protests (Washington Examiner)

Closing Arguments

Policy: Yes, let’s defund the police … at the EPA (Issues & Insights)
Policy: The public-health establishment has diminished its credibility (National Review)
Humor: 911 will now require white callers to press 1 to check their privilege (The Babylon Bee)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights.

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