Orion

Former tobacco industry executive Stephen Sayle has been appointed to a senior leadership role at the CDC. Sayle was a lobbyist for Chevron before working for Big Tobacco.

HAPPENING NOW: Melania Trump is hosting the First Lady’s Luncheon in DC, where she’s bragging about “empowering” American children by partnering with Palantir, OpenAI, and others to usher kids into an AI surveillance state takeover, using the education system to do it.

The New York Times: In the months leading up to the midterm elections, hundreds of A.I.-generated pro-Trump influencer accounts have emerged on social media

Articles about Jared Kushner's diplomatic role with Iran that mention Kushner has received billions from the Saudi government (2/28-4/19): NYT: 5 of 58 WashPost: 1 of 43 WSJ: 0 of 40 AP: 0 of 26 CNN Wire: 0 of 18 NY Post: 0 of 17 Chicago Tribune: 0 of 4 LA Times: 0 of 4 Boston Globe: 0 of 2

Boating is not a luxury in South Carolina. It’s a way of life. Our state is home to more than 350,000 registered recreational boats and a marine industry supporting over 27,000 jobs and generating a $6.5 billion economic impact. Our No Tax on Boat Loan Interest Act extends the above-the-line loan interest deduction for cars to boats, allowing American families to deduct up to $10,000 annually in boat loan interest on American-made boats. More affordable boats mean more families recreating on the water, more marine manufacturing jobs in South Carolina, and more investment in an industry already generating billions in economic impact. South Carolina STRONG.

BREAKING: Trump announces plan to allow corporations to dump coal ash – which is TWICE as radioactive as *nuclear fuel* – into our drinking water! Yes, you read that right. Trump’s EPA is proposing to weaken rules for the safe disposal of super-mega-toxic ash produced by burning coal that contains hazardous heavy metals and contaminates groundwater. “The Trump administration proposed easing standards for monitoring and protecting groundwater near some coal ash sites, and rolling back rules that require the cleanup of entire coal properties rather than just the sites where ash was dumped. The revisions would also make it easier to reuse coal ash for other purposes,” reports the Associated Press. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the proposal reflects the agency’s “commitment to restoring American energy dominance, strengthening cooperative federalism, and accommodating unique circumstances at certain (coal) facilities.” The rules were strengthened by – you guessed it – the Biden administration a few years ago, and now Trump is trying to gut them on behalf of his cronies in Big Coal. It is shocking to see just how eagerly the Trump administration is gutting all the regulations that keep us safe. “The Trump administration just took a sledgehammer to the health protections in place for toxic coal pollution,” said Lisa Evans, senior counsel at environmental group Earthjustice. “This is yet another handout to the coal power industry at the expense of our health, water, and wallets.” He is more than willing to make us drink poison and develop terrible cancers, all so his donors can save a little bit of money on cleaning up the toxic byproducts of their carbon pollution. There is nothing sacred to these nihilistic scumbags, no respect for anything but their own bottom lines. Trump is willing to burn everything to the ground just so he can be king of the ashes – with not a care in the world for the millions of people who will suffer and die because of his decisions.