Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, and to kick off the month, we have some very compelling stories to share with you today. Here’s what’s going on.
President Joe Biden wants to forgive even more student loans, a Republican senator dismisses Biden’s proposed changes to the nation’s high court, and a long-time national news anchor is stepping down. Also, thousands of marijuana shops are shut down in one major city, and a dangerous bacteria found in some deli meat has forced Boar’s Head to pull it off the market nationwide.
Biden Announces New Rules to Make Millions More Eligible for Student Debt Relief
Beginning today, the Department of Education (DOE) will send emails to all borrowers who have at least one outstanding federal student loan. The email will spell out the latest updates on potential debt relief and provide notice of the Aug. 30 deadline for folks to call and opt out if they’re not interested in the program. By the way, this particular email does not guarantee eligibility.DOE Secretary Miguel Cardona will finalize the rules this fall, as the administration works to provide $168 billion in student loan relief to nearly 4.8 million borrowers. If the rules are finalized as proposed, it would allow the agency to provide partial or full debt relief to the following people: borrowers who owe more than they did at the start of repayment, those who have been in repayment for more than 20 years, those eligible for loan forgiveness but have not yet applied, and those enrolled in low-financial value programs.
Cardona put out a statement this week saying the administration’s latest steps target millions of borrowers who are “buried under a mountain of student loan interest, or who took on debt to pay for college programs that left them worse off financially.”
Currently, the White House has already approved more than $69 billion for borrowers through fixes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness, $51 billion for more than a million borrowers through adjustments to income-driven repayment counts, and $28.7 billion for others.
You should also know that these numbers don’t factor in another $14 billion to borrowers with total and permanent disabilities and $5.5 billion to borrowers through the government’s SAVE Plan.
McConnell Responds to Biden’s Proposal for Supreme Court Term Limits
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that President Joe Biden’s proposed term limits for U.S. Supreme Court justices would be “dead on arrival” in Congress. He said the Constitution provides life appointments for justices and that Biden “absolutely knows” his proposal is unconstitutional.McConnell is not alone. Fellow Republican and House Speaker Mike Johnson also called the proposals “dead on arrival,” but Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), both Democrats, are welcoming the reforms.
Biden’s proposal on term limits would allow presidents to appoint a new justice every two years to the high court, with each justice’s term of “active service” ending after 18 years. Biden also cited the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States that he formed in 2021, which suggested a constitutional amendment setting up 18-year terms.
Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), described Biden’s reform effort as “a violation of the separation of powers“ that is also ”designed to undercut the highest Court in the land.”
You should know that constitutional amendments require state and national approval for ratification, and the Constitution has been amended only 27 times since its ratification in 1789.
Norah O'Donnell to Step Down From CBS Evening News
Norah O’Donnell says that after the November election, she is stepping down from her current role and will take on a new position at the network.O’Donnell expressed gratitude for her team in a letter she shared with colleagues earlier this week. She wrote about achieving many milestones with them, including earning Emmy, Murrow, and DuPont awards, anchoring through the challenges of the pandemic, and interviewing Pope Francis.
O’Donnell says, after having spent the last 12 years in the anchor chair at CBS News, “It’s time to do something different,” but she’ll continue contributing to CBS News.
O’Donnell, who’s 50, acknowledged the transformative period the journalism industry is going through and expressed optimism about its future opportunities.
She went on to thank CBS News’ co-president, Wendy McMahon, for enabling her new role, which she says will allow her to expand the reach of her work across various CBS platforms, including streaming, digital, primetime, and Paramount+.
By the way, O’Donnell’s move follows CBS News President Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews’s announcement last month that she would step down after less than a year in that role.
New York City Shutters Hundreds of Illegal Marijuana Shops
The New York City sheriff’s office says so far, it’s closed about 700 cannabis shops since new rules were enacted in April.You may not know that nearly 3,000 unlicensed marijuana shops and around 60 dispensaries opened in New York City just after the state legalized recreational use of the drug back in 2021. Those unsanctioned businesses were able to flourish because the city’s legal power in enforcing regulations was limited and the legal cannabis market was buried in red tape.
However, new state regulations are now allowing officials to crack down on illegal marijuana shops and dispensaries, which licensed operators say is a good thing for the cannabis industry. The new rules have also allowed local authorities to padlock stores immediately while administrative hearings play out, since the sheriff’s office no longer requires a court order to inspect businesses.
By the way, the New York City sheriff’s office says it has issued more than $57 million in violations since April, but it’s not clear how much money has actually been collected.
So you know, New York is not alone. It now has about 150 illegal dispensaries statewide compared to approximately 1,200 in California, which has also struggled to shut down its own unlicensed marijuana shops.
Roughly 7 Million Pounds of Boar’s Head Meat Products Recalled Over Listeria Fears
Millions of pounds of different deli meats are being pulled off the market by food manufacturer Boar’s Head Provisions over serious food safety issues.This actually began last Friday, when Boar’s Head recalled more than 207,000 pounds of liverwurst and deli meat products, citing concerns that the items could be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes bacteria.
The company expanded the recall on Tuesday, covering “approximately 7 million additional pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products,” according to the Food Safety and Inspection Service, a government agency whose mission is to protect public health by preventing illness from meat, poultry, and egg products. The recall includes 71 products manufactured between May 10 and July 29, which are sold under the brand names of Boar’s Head and Old Country.
You should know the listeria risk was discovered after the Maryland Department of Health tested a liverwurst product sample from the company, which came out positive for the bacteria.
You need to know that eating food contaminated with L. monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious infection, which primarily affects people who are pregnant, 65 or older, or with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions, which are sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms.
Officials are asking customers who bought the recalled items to either throw them out or return them to where they were purchased.
Just doing all we can to keep you safe and healthy.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Thursday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
During your travels today, it would sure mean a great deal to us if you could tell some folks you know about our program, and thank you in advance for helping us grow the News Brief family.
We heard from Bob and Rose Wood, and they’re checking in from the southern shore of Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes.
Nick Critelli sent over a note from his home base in Carlisle, Iowa, where he spends his days lawyering and oftentimes, holding court at Smokey Row Coffee. Best java in town.
And we also heard from Curly, who’s checking out the program in Northern Idaho.
*(Don’t forget the News Brief Motto): We’re portable, affordable, and always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote. This one comes to us from a brilliant talent, Olivia Newton John, who said: “Once you face your fear, nothing is ever as hard as you think.”
You’ll recall Olivia Newton John as a phenomenal singer and on the big screen, she was unbeatable in “Grease,” “Xanadu,” and “Two of a Kind.”
Before we go, and because today is the first day of August, you should also know that August is National Brownies at Brunch Month!
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.
Enjoy the remainder of your Thursday, and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief. Let’s all continue to watch out for one another, have a superb day today, and bye for now.
