Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The war continues to move into a new phase: “A series of brazen attacks on Russian-occupied Crimea by Ukraine in recent days — the latest on Tuesday by an elite military unit operating behind enemy lines — come in defiance of dire warnings of retaliation from Moscow. A senior Russian official vowed last month that if Ukraine attacked Crimea, it would immediately face its ‘Judgment Day.’”
* A done deal: “President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed into law a major Democratic spending bill that seeks to fight climate change, raise taxes on corporations and expand health care coverage. The bill, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, is a major legislative achievement for Democrats ahead of the midterm elections. It passed both the House and Senate last week with the support of every Democrat and no Republicans.”
* I shudder to think how many more reports like these we’ll soon see: “A Pennsylvania man was arrested and charged with making threats against the FBI on the right-wing social media website Gab after special agents searched former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last week.”
* A great many Americans will benefit from this: “The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it is allowing hearing aids to be made available over the counter without the need for costly medical exams or prescriptions.”
* The latest on IG Cuffari: “The Democratic chairs of the House Committee on Oversight and the House Homeland Security Committee sharply criticized the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general on Tuesday for refusing to testify or share documents related to his office’s handling of missing Secret Service texts, according to a letter sent to DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari.”
* All is not well in Florida: “A pregnant and parentless 16-year-old in Florida may be forced to give birth after an appeals court ruled she was not ‘sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy.’”
* The latest former congressman to get indicted: “Former California Rep. TJ Cox is facing dozens of federal charges related to allegations the Democrat participated in multiple fraud schemes, including one involving his run for Congress.” * I love this: “When the NBA releases its highly anticipated 2022 game schedule, Election Day will be blank. The absence of games on that date is an attempt by the multi-billion dollar professional basketball league to increase voter participation in this year’s midterm elections.” * The policy isn’t dead just yet: “Iran on Monday said there were several issues with the nuclear-deal draft text that the U.S. needs to address before Tehran can agree to it, leaving the fate of the nuclear agreement’s revival still uncertain.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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