Signs of Victory: I-95 Welcomes President Donald Trump Int'l Airport

Europe Has Replaced Most US Cuts Within NATO, Top Commander Says

European NATO allies have mostly replaced the assets that the US has cut from its rescue plans in case of a war in Europe, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe Sir John Stringer said in an interview.

Pay-to-play cycle behind GOP's corporate tax cuts exposed in new report

Major American corporations that benefited from tax cuts enacted last year by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are donating to the campaigns of GOP lawmakers who made the windfall possible.A report published Friday by Unrig Our Economy spotlights seven House Republicans who voted for the sprawling and unpopular GOP budget package, which extended tax breaks for corporations and wealthy Americans while inflicting unprecedented cuts on Medicaid and federal nutrition assistance—with disastrous consequences for millions of low-income families across the country.Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), one of the lawmakers featured in the new report, has received campaign donations from corporate PACs representing 3M, Amazon, Walmart, AT&T, and other companies that collectively received billions of dollars in tax breaks from the Republican law, which restored a provision allowing businesses to immediately write off new investments.Amazon saw its US income taxes fall by more than half last year due to the GOP law, even as the company’s profits grew. Unrig Our Economy noted that Amazon, whose PAC donated thousands to the Republicans spotlighted in the new report, has an effective federal tax rate of 1.37% following enactment of the budget law.Miller-Meeks, who has received at least $57,000 in donations from the PACs of companies that benefited from the 2025 law, issued a statement Thursday bragging about supporting “the largest tax cuts in American history,” not mentioning that the benefits will disproportionately flow to profitable corporations and the richest people in the country.“Thanks to the Republican tax law, corporations are receiving tax breaks, House Republicans are getting campaign cash, and working families are getting stuck with the bill,” the report states.Another Republican lawmaker featured in the report, Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania, received $2,500 in campaign donations from the PAC of FirstEnergy, which reaped $500 million in depreciation deductions thanks to the GOP tax law.“Bresnahan voted to give FirstEnergy hundreds of millions in tax breaks even after the company raised utility prices for his constituents,” Unrig Our Economy’s report observes.The report also points out that Bresnahan “owned stock in every single one” of the companies who contributed PAC money to his campaign following passage of the Republican budget package last summer.“This comes after Bresnahan has already faced scrutiny for dumping stock in Medicaid providers and selling off bonds in Pennsylvania hospitals before voting to slash Medicaid and put rural hospitals at risk,” the report notes.Leor Tal, Unrig Our Economy’s campaign director, said in a statement that “one year ago, House Republicans ripped away healthcare and food assistance from millions of Americans, so that corporations could get massive tax breaks.”“Now, many of those companies are dishing out PAC money to the Republicans listed in this report,” said Tal. “Republicans in Congress sold out many of their own constituents to help corporations get even richer. It’s time that House Republicans step up, do the right thing, and start fighting for working Americans—not giant corporations.”

Hegseth reportedly pulled plug on troop cuts in europe

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reportedly pulled the plug on plans to reduce U.S. troop counts in Europe, The Wall Street Journal reported. Hegseth’s plans were cancelled […]

Voters rage at White House 'corruption' as summer cooling bills surge

MS NOW reports voters appear to be mindful of President Donald Trump raking in millions of dollars this summer while their own air-conditioning bills are creeping out of reach of their monthly home budget.Across much of the country, the 4th of July weekend is bringing more than just fireworks. It's also bringing dangerous and potentially record-breaking heat from the Midwest all the way to the northeast with heat indexes potentially climbing well above 100 degrees.More than 160 million people in 30 states are currently under extreme heat warnings this holiday weekend, with little sign of relief from either Mother Nature or the Trump economy. In places like New York, for example, humidity can make a 100-degree day feels like 110, 115 degrees. And it is, of course, considerably more humid in many Southern red states.MS NOW reporter Moses Small marched out into the street and talked to voters fleeing high home utility bills at city cooling centers.“Yeah, it's stressful,” said New York resident Daniela Crespo. “I've been anticipating looking at the forecast, thinking about, how many days am I going to run the AC? What temperature am I going to set it at? What is this going to cost me? It definitely has been on my mind.”Crespa added, however, that even as her own monthly electric bill blows up in her face and she struggles to control it by adjusting her AC to the tip of tolerance she is markedly aware of the extreme wealth pooling out of the White House and the Trump family’s bank accounts.“I mean, I think it really distills the kind of moment we're in with the level of corruption that we're seeing at the very highest levels of government,” Crespa told Snow, speaking on Trump making $2 billion in White House related monetization schemes and crypto machinations since returning to the White House.“When it gets to this hot, families tell me they really do think about the utility bills and their bank accounts,” said Snow, “especially with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting inflation up 4.2 percent in the past year — but within that, a 23.5 percent jump on energy costs.”Snow added that a CNBC analysis claims Americans, on average, have spent an extra almost $450 in gas and electric prices alone since Trump unilaterally kicked off his war in Iraq. Meanwhile, the money the Trump family is making while occupying the White House appears to smell with enough corruption to make Democrats competitive even in some of the reddest farm states this November. - YouTube youtu.be

Mayor Mamdani Orders NYC to Sweat at 78 Degrees — While His Own City Hall Was HOW Cold?

To Reduce Electrical Grid Strain Amid Heat Wave, Data Centers Are Ordered to Use Backup Power

As triple-digit temperatures engulf much of the United States, the Trump administration wants grid managers to require the use of backup power that often goes unused.

This eerily quiet summer means Trump is finished — or he's about to unleash hell

This column grimly spent a spring predicting a dark summer of possible chaos and violence, an administration on the move, power grabs at every turn, one preparing for an unpredictable but authoritarian fall season. We would endure a lot of hot weather, late nights, some dangerous dynamics, and Kalshi had odds at 40% that Portland would be ashes by June 15th. This worry followed protests in Minnesota, the fear of troops coming to Chicago, and everything else you surely remember. Well, the heat came to the East Coast. But nothing else, not yet.Indeed, so far, if one had to pick a theme or feel for what's happening, it would be a catchy viral meme about what's not happening. "The summer that wasn't."We are passing through the nation's 250th birthday, the biggest annual summer holiday, made infinitely bigger by the incredible number, and yet it looks like it'll go by largely unnoticed, except for skipping work on Friday, maybe hearing some booms late at night Saturday. One would have expected baited anticipation, pride, and massive celebrations planned everywhere, or at least that would have been the expectation back 10 years ago, "normal America."I went to a big gathering in my city's central park to watch the U.S. play in the World Cup on big screens with a big crowd — nice weather. Yes, people supported the American team, but not with the passion, anticipation, or hypertension otherwise expected. Everyone's support seemed a bit muted, as if we weren't sure "which" America this team represented. They wore white, not red or blue. If one said, "It's actually the whole country's team," most would reply, "Right. But, again, which country?"Everyone knows the cause.Instead of a celebration of the good that this country has done in its years (while acknowledging the horrific), as per usual, the President of the United States made the entire thing, everything official, at least, not about America but about him. Yes, of course, your city park will still have the earnest city band or orchestra playing in the evening and then fireworks. But the tone is set by the institutions functioning as the nation's cerebellum: the White House, Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court, the Mall. Trump took it all over and made it a MAGA rally. About him.Well that will blow a tire for the 60% of the nation that is exhausted by this man, consumed with disdain and fury. Interestingly, though, there's some evidence that even Trump supporters don't like having the Fourth of July a personal celebration of Donald Trump, as if they, too, have actually found a line in the sand upon which even they won't cross. He cannot take over everything. Kinda like if he named every NFL team "Trump," like the Buffalo Trump, the Dallas Trump, Seattle Trump, all of them. That would be too far, guaranteed. Perhaps this is, too.No, no one is fooled. He damn sure can try to take over elections, has taken over the Department of Justice, the military, and planted his face on banners in a Stalinesque way throughout Washington. He can take over most things, and most of those things are the really important ones, as opposed to the "Great National State Fair" that invisibly passed us by and the big celebration planned for the actual Fourth of July — a rally, about him, always, his greatness, a nation relegated to nothing but a stage.Is it possible that even MAGAs never wanted at least this part?There are other factors. Yes, there is the heat. Yes, you better believe gas prices play a role. Lots more. And yet the number of artists who checked out after hearing the agenda, the lagging ticket requests before the weather report, the bizarre claw of the UFC fight on the White House lawn, a "Fair" no one asked for, and the fact that Washington is empty, all point to something deeper. Kind of like the U.S. soccer team, it's possible everyone agreed we'd have official "Safe Spots," areas relied on to rest from politics — a "timeout." Is it possible that people from the furthest left, to the most extreme 15% of MAGA muckers, all just want to eat a cheeseburger in a backyard, enjoy a day off, maybe even read in the AC? Sick of it all? Not sure which America we're celebrating, only knowing it's not Donald Trump personally?Well, something is happening because nothing is happening!It appears that our kids are out of school, mine seems to be home a lot — which normally indicates something "summery." That weirdly fascinating soccer stuff is on television, and we get to see some kinda cool costumes and customs from around the world. Hollywood released a handful of massive budget movies. Most people have Friday off. There is some evidence that it's summer's big holiday and a lot saying it's not supposed to be like this.All of this might be an important development; it is possible it is an important element, and it's certainly better than an extreme alternative. But there's also the chance that we're seeing a delay of the dangers to which this column previously pointed.