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Above the Fold

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• “Senate Republicans announced Wednesday evening that they have ‘reached a fundamental agreement’ with White House negotiators on how to move forward with a coronavirus relief bill,” NBC News reports, adding, “The legislation remains fluid, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has indicated that he wants to keep the price tag at $1 trillion.” Unfortunately, The Hill further notes: “Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday indicated that a payroll tax cut won’t be in the coronavirus relief bill that Senate Republicans are expected to start unveiling shortly.”

• NBC News also reveals: “The House approved legislation Wednesday to rid the U.S. Capitol of statues of Confederates and a bust of Roger B. Taney, the chief justice who wrote the 1857 Dred Scott decision that said Black people couldn’t be citizens. The bill overwhelmingly passed on a vote of 305-113 .The legislation would direct the architect of the Capitol to remove the bust of Taney, which sits outside the Old Supreme Court Chamber at the Capitol, and replace it with one of Thurgood Marshall, the first Black justice on the high court. … The bill easily cleared the Democratic-controlled House, but it’s unclear whether Republicans will take it up in the Senate. Even if Congress passes the measure, President Donald Trump would have to sign it, and the president has repeatedly defended Confederate memorials.”

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Government & Politics

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• More than 280 Wall Street Journal cancel-culture warriors sign a letter protesting “misinformation” in the paper’s conservative opinion pieces (UK Daily Mail)

• Senator Tom Cotton — whose New York Times op-ed absurdly culminated in firings and reassignments — rips the Times for running China scientist’s op-ed slamming U.S. virus response (Fox News)

• House Democrats futilely vote to repeal Trump travel ban, as Senate is unlikely to vote on it (The Hill)

• Joe Biden either forgets or ignores history, says Trump is America’s first “racist” president (National Review)

• Joe Biden’s Bernie Sanders’s plans near $10 trillion price tag (Fox News)

• Is Kamala Harris planting evidence on her VP rivals? (The Washington Free Beacon)

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National Security

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• President Trump announces a federal “surge” against violent crime wave in blue cities (National Review)

• Houston, we have a problem: Chinese consulate closed by Trump administration was “a hot bed of spying” (UK Daily Mail)

• Meanwhile, China is harboring military-linked biologist fugitive at San Francisco consulate (Fox News)

• Taiwan fears growing threat of attack by China (Washington Examiner)

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The Latest on COVID-19

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• U.S. deaths surpass 1,000 for second straight day (USA Today)

• California, with 421,000 total cases, surpasses New York, though the latter has 24,000 more deaths (Reuters)

• For the record: The big surge in coronavirus deaths is a media-fed myth (Issues & Insights)

• Most major schools are heading toward online classes (USA Today)

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Business & Economy

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• Weekly jobless claims turn higher: 1.416 million file for unemployment benefits (CNBC)

• One-third of U.S. museums — which average 850 million visitors annually — may not survive the year, survey finds (NPR)

• Gun purchases are up an unprecedented 95%, ammo 139% (Washington Examiner)

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Culture & Heartland

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• Where’s the Leftmedia outrage? Charges pending for black man accused of kneeling on white two-year-old’s neck in social media photo (WHIO)

• Portland mayor joins protest only to get protested against (Fox News)

• Predictably, gender-confused woman sues Catholic hospital for refusing to remove her uterus (Washington Examiner)

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Other Notables

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• Patricia Mccloskey’s gun didn’t work, so a prosecutor ordered it reassembled and then declared it lethal (Hot Air)

• The Sierra Club is disowning its cofounder over racist comments he made over 100 years ago (The Daily Caller)

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Closing Arguments

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• Policy: Liberty, government, and the preservation of civil society: The state can properly do more to assist American voluntary associations — including struggling private schools (City Journal)

• Policy: The climate virus: Hysteria needs to shelter in place (Issues & Insights)

• Humor: Portland moms finally pick up their kids from their little antifa protest (Genesius Times)

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

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