AUDIO:

POSSIBLE TOPICS: VOTETEXAS.GOV—Voter Information; How people, pets and infrastructure can respond to extreme heat; UPDATE: Larry Millican resigns from League City City Council to ‘explore other opportunities’; Cities of Tomball, Magnolia target overcrowding with lot sizes, impact fees; [Fort Bend] ISD: Tax rate, bond under consideration ahead of Nov. election; How two Texas megadonors have turbocharged the state’s far-right shift; Texas librarians face harassment as they navigate book bans; OSHA is years away from issuing a federal heat standard that would protect workers. Advocates say it is dire now; Rand Paul is blocking a quick vote on NATO admission for Finland and Sweden, adding to the Senate’s time crunch.; ‘No more feebleness’: Pelosi in showdown with Beijing over potential Taiwan visit; More.

 

Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio) is now on Wednesdays at 11AM (CT) on KPFT-HD2, Houston’s Community Station. You can also hear the show:

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Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig where we discuss local, state, national, and international stories. My co-host and show editor is Andrew Ferguson.

• An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy.
• You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/EwrSlzZC31w

1. Make sure you are registered to vote! VoteTexas.GOV – Texas Voter InformationTEXAS SoS VOTE-BY-MAIL BALLOT APPLICATION (ALL TEXAS COUNTIES) HarrisVotes.com­ – Countywide Voting Centers, (Election Information Line (713) 755-6965), Harris County Clerk
   1. Harris County “Vote-By-Mail’ Application for 2022
      1. Fort bend County Elections/Voter Registration Machine takes you to the proper link
      2. GalvestonVotes.org (Galveston County, TX)
      3. Liberty County Elections (Liberty County, TX)
      4. Montgomery County (TX) Elections
      5. Brazoria County (TX) Clerk Election Information
      6. Waller County (TX) Elections
      7. Chambers County (TX) Elections
      8. For personalized, nonpartisan voter guides and information, Consider visiting Vote.ORG.   Ballotpedia.com and Texas League of Women Voters are also good places to get election info.
      9. If you are denied your right to vote any place at any time at any polling place for any reason, ask for (or demand) a provisional ballot rather than lose your vote.
      10. HarrisVotes.com – Countywide Voting Centers, HARRIS COUNTY – IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR VOTING: Do not possess and cannot reasonably obtain one of these IDs?
          1. Fill out a declaration at the polls describing a reasonable impediment to obtaining it, and show a copy or original of one of the following supporting forms of ID:
          2. A government document that shows your name and an address, including your voter registration certificate
          3. Current utility bill
          4. Bank statement
          5. Government check
          6. Paycheck
          7. A certified domestic (from a U.S. state or territory) birth certificate or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes your identity (which may include a foreign birth document)
          8. You may vote early by-mail if:You are registered to vote and meet one of the following criteria:
             1. Away from the county of residence on Election Day and during the early voting period;
             2. Sick or disabled;
             3. 65 years of age or older on Election Day; or
             4. Confined in jail, but eligible to vote.
             5. Make sure you are registered:
             6. Ann Harris Bennett, Tax Assessor-Collector & Voter Registrar
             7. CHECK REGISTRATION STATUS HERE
             8. CLICK How to register to vote in Texas
             9. Outside Texas, try Vote.org.
2. BE REGISTERED TO VOTE, and if eligible, REMEMBER TO FILL OUT AND MAIL YOUR MAIL-IN BALLOT APPLICATIONS FOR 2022
   1. You can track your Mail Ballot Activity from our website with direct link provided here https://www.harrisvotes.com/Tracking
   2. NEXT ELECTION: 2022 November General Election – November 8, 2022
3. How people, pets and infrastructure can respond to extreme heat; By Rachel Treisman | NPR.ORG | July 22, 2022, 11:20 AM ET
   1. … NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered spoke with experts in various fields about what you can do to protect yourself and your … furry friends… .
   2. Heat waves don’t make for great dog-walking weather: You may not want to go outside when the temperatures are verging on 100 degrees. … But [dogs] still have to take walks and bathroom breaks.
   3. So what can dog and cat owners do to keep their pets safe during bouts of extreme heat?
   4. All Things Considered’s Juana Summers posed that question to Sy Woon, the Florida representative for the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association.
   5. Woon says it’s important to choose the right time of day to venture out, and avoid doing so in the midday hours when the sun is at its highest and hottest point (its rays are typically strongest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.).
   6. She also recommends feeling the pavement with the back of your hand to see whether it’s too hot for your dog’s paws to tolerate. …
   7. And what if Fido loves … laying out in the sun?
   8. Woon suggests bribing dogs inside the house with treats during those especially hot times of day, since they can be susceptible to sunburn and even skin cancer.
   9. As for cats, Woon says the key is making sure they have options. That means ensuring there are different shady areas that they can retreat to as well as multiple available sources of water, since it can evaporate in extreme temperatures.
   10. [Also …]
   11. “When you notice that your dog [or cat] is panting excessively, you really want to take that as a warning sign that they may be overheating,” she says. “Even things like being somewhat disoriented or maybe their expression, their eyes are a bit glazed over, those can be signs that they’re just not compensating with the heat conditions. And it’s always important to just encourage them to remain inside during those really hot, sunny periods.” …
   12. MIKE: This is part of a longer article that also discusses how humans can better protect themselves from the heat and sun. I’ve excerpted the part of caring for pets since they are totally dependent on how much we know about how to protect them.
   13. ANDREW: A useful PSA. I like how cats are included. I think cats should never be outside off of a leash, but they definitely need to be kept inside in extreme heat. By the way, cats pant too!
4. UPDATE: Larry Millican resigns from League City City Council to ‘explore other opportunities’; By Jake Magee | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 10:01 AM Jul 22, 2022 CDT, Updated 10:13 AM Jul 25, 2022 CDT
   1. On July 15, League City City Council Member Larry Millican resigned from his Position 3 chair.
   2. Millican told Community Impact Newspaper his departure is not related to health or anything negative but did not specify why he resigned.
   3. “It’s time for me to explore other opportunities,” he said. “I will talk later, but I don’t think right now is the right time to do that.”
   4. On July 26, City Council will consider and take action on an item to order a special election to fill the remaining two years on Millican’s term. The election would be held Nov. 8 with other elections in the Bay Area and across the nation, and a runoff election would be held Dec. 6, if necessary, according to a League City news release. …
   5. Not including Millican’s open seat, five City Council positions are up for election Nov. 8, including the mayor position filled by Pat Hallisey, who will not run for re-election; …
   6. League City residents can file to run for these positions beginning at 7:30 a.m. July 25.
   7. ANDREW: We haven’t always agreed with him. Not sad to see him go, curious why he’s leaving.
5. Cities of Tomball, Magnolia target overcrowding with lot sizes, impact fees; By Kayli Thompson | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 4:38 PM Jul 22, 2022 CDT, Updated 4:38 PM Jul 22, 2022 CDT
   1. The cities of Tomball and Magnolia are working to maintain managed, controlled growth with larger lot sizes and increased impact fees, policies that could also affect housing affordability for future prospective homeowners.
   2. Tomball City Council voted unanimously April 18 to oppose an ordinance change that would have allowed 4,950-square-foot single-family lots in a David Weekley Homes proposed development on 70 acres at FM 2920 and FM 2978.
   3. [Council Member Dane Dunagin said in an interview,] “I would like council to consider making it larger lots … even larger than the 6,000 [square feet]. … I think that putting that many lots in that small of area, we’re going to have overcrowding.”
   4. This development’s request for smaller lot sizes is among a growing trend nationwide and in the Southern United States, where minimum lot sizes are shrinking. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction showed homeowners across the country are increasingly purchasing homes on smaller lots—those less than 7,000 square feet.
   5. Data shows 33% of homes sold in 2011 across the country were on lots spanning less than 7,000 square feet compared to 45% of homes sold in 2021.
   6. “The market demand dictates what builders and developers are going to make available in order to stay in business; that’s a smaller-lot product,” said Matthew Reibenstein, owner of AR Homes-Rural Design Build and secretary of the Greater Houston Builders Association.
   7. He said he believes a larger lot size causes home prices to increase, and therefore fewer people to be able to afford a home.
   8. “We’re just making it harder for people to own a home, and all that’s really going to do is push people into an apartment or a rental situation,” he said.
   9. Tomball Mayor Lori Klein Quinn said in a phone interview the minimum lot size in the city is 6,000 square feet. Magnolia City Administrator Don Doering said in an email the minimum lot size for semiurban residential in the city of Magnolia is 5,000 square feet.
   10. “From my conversation with council, they’re not against smaller lot sizes,” Tomball City Manager David Esquivel said in a phone interview. “They’re wanting to be sure on what impact a more dense development is going to do to our ability to provide those services, whether it’s infrastructure or public safety.”
   11. Meanwhile, the city of Magnolia raised its impact fees May 10, which could also affect the affordability of homes as developers sustain higher costs.
   12. Esquivel said he does not see the city changing its minimum lot size, partially because the market changes constantly.
   13. “It’s the location, the market and product they are building. The size of the lot does play a part [in price] if you look at the [difference] of a 7,000-, 6,000-square-foot lot or an acreage lot. Then obviously that’s a big price difference, but when looking at regular single-family homes that you see, there are other factors that determine that,” Esquivel said.
   14. This was seen with the increase of average market value of properties in Harris and Montgomery counties from 2021 to 2022, which increased by 21% and 29.8%, respectively, according to data from the counties.
   15. [Mayor] Klein Quinn said council members are not opposed to smaller lot sizes. She said they want to ensure there is not overcrowding and there are still parks and trees.
   16. “It is providing infrastructure to all of those developments,” [the mayor] said. “Whenever you look at times of rapid growth, you also have to make sure that you can provide all of the city’s [services], that the schools are ready to take on more students, that the infrastructure is there, that we’re not destroying someone else’s quality of life to do this.”
   17. MIKE: This was also a story in Conroe a few weeks ago, so it’s becoming a regional story. House profit margin is gross 20% or more; smaller lots equals more houses per parcel/acre; impact fees are a perfectly reasonable thing for helping city cover new infrastructure in advance of new property taxes; Overcrowding and sufficient greenspace, etc. are perfectly reasonable concerns, but they can be planned for; city can require set-asides from builders for green space, detention ponds, and other necessary infrastructure and quality-of life issues.
   18. ANDREW: I treat business arguments with suspicion, but the housing cost argument resonates with me. City’s concerns on providing services make sense, and density impact on environment is of concern. Plus, with housing development comes St Augustine grass to destroy biodiversity. Issues can and should be planned for, and smaller lots should be available.
6. [Fort Bend] ISD: Tax rate, bond under consideration ahead of Nov. election; By Hunter Marrow | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 9:43 AM Jul 26, 2022 CDT, Updated 10:28 AM Jul 26, 2022 CDT
   1. Fort Bend ISD is considering a tax rate election to address its financial woes while evaluating the need of a bond for the district’s capital needs. The district is contemplating up to an $0.11 Voter-Approved Tax Ratification Election alongside a proposed more than $1.1 billion bond in the upcoming Nov. 8 election, though both would require to be called by the board of trustees during its Aug. 22 meeting, according to district documents. Voters would then need to approve each initiative in November before either went into effect. …
   2. Included in that budget was a 2%-3% salary increase for teachers and other staff and a $47 million budget shortfall that was offset using the district’s existing reserve and $27 million in one-time federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief [ESSER] funds.
   3. “A lot of factors impact our budget,” FBISD Deputy Superintendent Steve Bassett said during the meeting. “Property value growth, inflation, lower student growth. We adopted a budget that had a $47 million deficit if you’re not counting using ESSER funds.” …
   4. In [the 2021-2022] budget cycle, teachers received a 6% pay bump on average, while nonteaching staff received a 4% bump. …
   5. An $0.11 tax rate increase would be the highest the district could increase its tax rate, according to the district’s July 25 finance report. That new rate, at $1.2646 per $100 of assessed value, would bring in an additional $62.6 million in revenue to the district. For residents with a property with an average taxable value of $291,266, the new rate would raise their annual tax bill by $337, according to the financial report. …
   6. A bond, meanwhile—if called by the board of trustees, may target $505 million in major building projects, such as rebuilds of Dulles High School, Briargate Elementary School and Mission Bend Elementary School, in addition to $558.9 million in addressing facility deficiencies and life cycle needs. The district is also targeting $5.6 million in safety and security upgrades, $6.7 million in transportation updates, $100 million in technology updates and $3.2 million in property acquisition.
   7. ANDREW: Wonder how much of this is going to policing and militarization of school police instead of school supplies and real food. Glad to see pay increase, but IMO should be more. Alternatively, tax breaks for edu workers.
7. How two Texas megadonors have turbocharged the state’s far-right shift; By Casey Tolan, Matthew Reynard, Will Simon and Ed Lavandera, CNN | Published 5:02 PM EDT, Sun July 24, 2022
   1. … While the Lone Star State has long been a bastion of Republican politics, new laws and policies have taken Texas further to the right in recent years than it has been in decades.
   2. Elected officials and political observers in the state say a major factor in the transformation can be traced back to West Texas. Two billionaire oil and fracking magnates from the region, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, have quietly bankrolled some of Texas’ most far-right political candidates – helping reshape the state’s Republican Party in their worldview.
   3. Over the last decade, Dunn and his wife, Terri, have contributed more than $18 million to state candidates and political action committees, while Wilks and his wife, Jo Ann, have given more than $11 million, putting them among the top donors in the state.
   4. The beneficiaries of the energy tycoons’ combined spending include the farthest-right members of the legislature and authors of the most high-profile conservative bills passed in recent years, according to a CNN analysis of Texas Ethics Commission data. Dunn and Wilks also hold sway over the state’s legislative agenda through a network of non-profits and advocacy groups that push conservative policy issues. …
   5. Kel Seliger, a longtime Republican state senator from Amarillo who has clashed with the billionaires, said their influence has made Austin feel a little like Moscow.
   6. “It is a Russian-style oligarchy, pure and simple,” Seliger said. “Really, really wealthy people who are willing to spend a lot of money to get policy made the way they want it – and they get it.”
   7. Dunn and Wilks did not respond to repeated requests for comment. In past interviews and opinion pieces, Dunn has argued that his political spending is focused on making Texas’ state government more accountable to its voters, while Wilks has described his donations as aimed at electing principled conservative leaders.
   8. Former associates of Dunn and Wilks who spoke to CNN said the billionaires are both especially focused on education issues, and their ultimate goal is to replace public education with private, Christian schooling. Wilks is a pastor at the church his father founded, and Dunn preaches at the church his family attends. In their sermons, they paint a picture of a nation under siege from liberal ideas. …
   9. MIKE: Again, this is an excerpt of a much longer article that I strongly recommend reading. It’s both eye-opening and blood-curdling.
   10. REFERENCE: Here’s how much Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke have raised in the race for Texas governor; Democratic gubernatorial candidate O’Rourke is taking on incumbent Abbott in the November general election. Both have raised millions of dollars so far. by By Carla Astudillo and Eric Lau | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | July 19, 2022 (ALSO SEE ThinkwingRadio 2022-7-20)
   11. REFERENCE: KEL SELIGER CAMPAIGN
   12. REFERENCE: Texas state Sen. Kel Seliger, a Republican willing to buck his party leadership, will not seek reelection; by James Barragán| TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | Oct. 20, 2021, 4 PM Central
   13. MIKE: This is part of a much longer article that should scare any democratically-minded Texan and American. Last week, we discussed the lack of political spending limits in Texas, so YES … Texas needs to — somehow! — establish strict donor limits to candidates and campaigns, but that still leaves the yawning loophole of super-PACs and the SCOTUS Citizens United decision making money equal to speech. I’ve been saying on this show that the US is now close to being a true Russian-style oligarchy of the super-wealthy, if we aren’t already. We just don’t use that term for our domestic politics.
   14. MIKE: Now I have a Texas Republican, Texas state senator Kel Seliger from Amarillo, who on this at least agrees with me.
   15. MIKE: Out of curiosity, I looked up Seliger’s campaign page. He’s no Liberal and I wouldn’t necessarily support him over a Democrat. But on the political Ven diagram of things, he should be able to work with the Democratic Caucus on some things, if he chose to do so.
   16. ANDREW: Russia’s oligarchy is US-style. I support changing these rules, especially because it’ll knock some corporate and capitalist-backed Democrats out of politics too. Principled left-wingers can’t beat the far-right at this game because it’s corruption. Both liberals and socialists need to find another method that works with our varied principles. Making money no longer speech will be instrumental in that.
8. Texas librarians face harassment as they navigate book bans; As communities and school districts push for book bans, some Texas librarians are nearing their breaking point. by Brooke Park | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | May 17, 20225 AM Central
   1. Librarian Suzette Baker said she faced a hard choice last year when her boss asked her to hide a book on critical race theory behind the counter.
   2. “OK, I’ll look into it,” Baker recalled telling her boss at the time.
   3. But eventually, Baker — a librarian at the Llano County Public Library’s Kingsland Branch — decided to ignore the request. And she continued to vocally protest other decisions, like the ban on ordering new books. She spoke up, telling her supervisors that the library was facing a censorship
   4. By February, the pressure to keep new or donated books from the shelves increased, she said. After waiting weeks for a local library board to approve the books Baker wanted to add to her library, Baker’s boss would tell her that even donated books could not reach the shelves.
   5. On March 9, Baker was fired for insubordination, creating a disturbance and failure to follow instructions.
   6. “This change is inevitable and you are allowing your personal biases, opinions and preferences to unduly influence your actions and judgment,” her dismissal documents stated.
   7. Baker’s experience represents one of many new conflicts facing Texas librarians as book challenges continue to multiply. …
   8. The Texas Tribune spoke to librarians in two independent school districts that have been at the center of book challenges and bans: Keller, northeast of Fort Worth, and Katy, west of Houston. One from each district spoke to the Tribune, but both asked that their names not be published because they feared harassment.
   9. In Keller, local Facebook group pages and Twitter accounts have included pointed comments about librarians being “heretical” and portrayed them as pedophile “groomers” who order pornographic books. After a particular book challenge failed, one commenter included the phrase “pass the millstones,” a biblical reference to execution by drowning. …
   10. Parents and community members have challenged more than 30 books in Keller ISD since October, including the Bible and Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer.” The district has so far removed at least 10 from circulation, and librarians have not been able to order new books since that time, the Keller ISD librarian said.
   11. Several successful Keller ISD board candidates ran this month on campaign promises that they would increase parent involvement in education, including looking harder at school library books. …
   12. A librarian In Katy ISD said the wave of book bans has left her less confident about what new books to order for her school library.
   13. She considered ordering a collection of short stories called “Growing Up Trans: In Our Own Words” but worried the book may be targeted for removal. … She worries that librarians will soon be able to fill shelves with only books included on pre-approved lists. …
   14. Just north of Austin, at Round Rock Independent School District, the pressure on librarians has been intense, says Ami Uselman, the director of library services for the district. Some of her librarians are reaching breaking points. One came to her in tears, worried about what their church would think about social media accounts calling them groomers. Another quit.
   15. Uselman said parents are walking into schools and grilling librarians with questions about books. Some demanded records for all books purchased in the library, some 30,000 titles. Surprisingly, there’s not been one formal book challenge, she said in late April. …
   16. Uselman’s work phone still lights up with calls, some from people outside of the district, accusing her of stocking inappropriate material in libraries. The pressure to remove books has been easing, but she worries about the next event that could ignite community anger.
   17. … “There’s just a lot of misunderstandings,” Uselman said. For example, some parents mistake graphic novels as sexually explicit when instead they are picture and comic books. …
   18. MIKE: This trend toward book banning is only a hop, skip and jump from book burning. Maybe we should just put burn barrels in front of schools and libraries so it can look like what it is.
   19. ANDREW: Parents are so used to treating kids like objects, they think they ought to be able to choose what kind of information they learn and what beliefs they hold as an adult. Not to mention far-right anti-intellectualism. This is a symptom, not a disease, and it’s fuelled by far-righters and their enablers.
9. OSHA is years away from issuing a federal heat standard that would protect workers. Advocates say it is dire now; The agency is early into its rule-making process, which can take many years and sometimes decades. Advocates say there is no time to wait as heat intensifies. By Melissa Chan | NBCNEWS.COM | July 22, 2022, 4:38 PM UTC
   1. [OSHA — Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration —] is likely many years away from issuing a federal rule that would protect workers from dangerously high temperatures, experts and a former agency official said.
   2. [They] began the process of creating such a regulation in October but [are] bogged down by a lack of resources, strong industry opposition and bureaucratic procedures that can span decades, Jordan Barab, a former OSHA official, said. 
   3. “All of those create huge barriers to getting things done in a reasonable time frame,” said Barab, who was OSHA’s deputy assistant secretary of labor in the Obama administration. 
   4. The agency is early into its rule-making process, which can take 15 months to 19 years from start to finish and averages more than seven years, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
   5. The report published in 2012 cited procedural requirements, shifting priorities and a rigorous standard of judicial review as the major roadblocks. 
   6. “Rulemaking takes time, and it’s critical that we get it right,” OSHA Assistant Secretary of Labor Doug Parker said in a statement.
   7. But advocates say outdoor workers — many of whom are people of color — cannot wait as climate change makes extreme temperatures more likely. …
   8. From 2011 to 2019, scorching temperatures led to an average of 38 worker deaths a year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2019 alone, 43 workers died from heat exposure, and more than 2,400 others suffered serious injuries and illnesses, OSHA said. 
   9. But [Juley Fulcher, who works with Public Citizen, a nonprofit group that advocates for consumers and workers,] said the figures are likely significantly higher because of reporting discrepancies. A recent Public Citizen report found that heat exposure is likely responsible for 170,000 work-related injuries and around 600 to 2,000 deaths each year.
   10. Farmworkers, the vast majority of whom are migrants, are the most vulnerable to heat-related injuries and illnesses, the report said, while construction workers are more likely to die.
   11. Construction workers, who make up 6% of the total U.S. workforce, accounted for 36% of all occupational heat‐related deaths from 1992 to 2016, according to a 2019 report by the Center for Construction Research and Training, an organization that works with OSHA to address construction hazards. 
   12. And nearly 90% of landscaping and groundskeeping workers in 2020 were required to spend more than two-thirds of their working time outside, compared to 4% of all civilian workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
   13. “A lot more workers are dying in the heat, and it’s not getting recorded that way,” Fulcher said.  …
   14. Last year, Public Citizen petitioned OSHA to issue an emergency temporary standard, which the group said would carry the same force as a permanent standard for at least six months.
   15. The petition is still outstanding. But that route is legally fraught and tends to be overturned by the courts, Barab said. …
   16. Workers are currently covered by OSHA’s “general duty clause” protections, which require employers to keep workplaces “free from recognized hazards,” including heat.
   17. But a specific federal standard would significantly increase employer compliance, said Chris Cain, executive director of the Center for Construction Research and Training. …
   18. If OSHA does not finalize a federal heat rule by 2024, advocates worry it will be completely dropped if the GOP wins the presidency. Under the Trump administration, the number of OSHA inspectors declined as hiring stalled.
   19. “If we get a Republican in office, in all likelihood, it’ll be stopped in its tracks,” Fulcher said. …
   20. MIKE: Just a few minutes ago, I ran across this: A new law would require breaks for outside workers. Its sponsor says it’s long overdue; By Ariel Worthy | HOUSTONPUBLICMEDIA.ORG | | Posted on July 26, 2022, 3:45 PM (Last Updated: July 26, 2022, 5:00 PM)
   21. Democratic congresswoman from Houston Sylvia Garcia [TX-29] is sponsoring a new bill that would require those who work outdoors to receive at least 15-minute paid breaks for every four hours.
   22. [Garcia said that the motivation behind this bill was the fact that so many workers have died of heat exhaustion, or heat-related illnesses.]
   23. MIKE: Unfortunately, this is a good idea that is unlikely to get past the US Senate. Bureaucracy and the legal system cause enforceable rule-making to be very slow, but how many people will be sickened and killed by extreme heat in the meantime?
   24. MIKE: And while we’re at it, why doesn’t the government also mandate heat-health requirements for people who are institutionalized? In prisons, for example, which can reach sweltering temperatures, especially in the US South and Southwest?
   25. ANDREW: Unions demonstrating over this already. Standards sorely needed. Rep would disregard, I worry Dem would stall. I like Garcia’s bill, but I think it should be every two hours minimum. No heat regs for incarcerated because they’re not seen as human. “We the People” need to change that.
10. Rand Paul is blocking a quick vote on NATO admission for Finland and Sweden, adding to the Senate’s time crunch.; By Andrew Desiderio | POLITICO.COM | 7/26/2022, 1:38 PM CDT
    1. Rand Paul is pushing to amend the Senate’s treaty approving Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to NATO, delaying the measure despite his own party leader’s desire to pass it swiftly.
    2. The Kentucky Republican wants the Senate to vote on an amendment stating that the U.S. Constitution trumps Article 5 of the NATO charter when it comes to a declaration of war. Article 5 stipulates that an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all, and the entire alliance will militarily defend that territory.
    3. In English: Paul’s amendment would mean Congress still has to approve declarations of war, even ones triggered by the NATO treaty.
    4. A similar amendment Paul introduced was already overwhelmingly rejected at the committee level. It would likely have a similar fate on the Senate floor.
    5. Paul’s posture is rankling GOP leaders, all of whom support the two countries’ swift admission into the alliance. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been particularly vocal on the subject, telling POLITICO last week that the Senate should finish the process before leaving town for the August recess in less than two weeks. But the only way to fast-track the bill is to get buy-in from all 100 senators. …
    6. Paul’s maneuver makes things a lot harder for Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who’s trying to shepherd a herd of bills through the chamber before the summer recess.
    7. [The Kentucky Republican’s own party leaders have called for the Senate to pass the measure quickly.]
    8. The Senate still needs to wrap up the semiconductor manufacturing bill, and is expected to take up legislation supporting veterans. Democrats also want to pass their party-line health care bill and potentially vote on legislation codifying same-sex marriage.
    9. Senators on both sides, though, want to approve the NATO treaty for Finland and Sweden as soon as possible as the West aims to push back against Russia’s war in Ukraine.
    10. MIKE: I have no love for Rand Paul, and I suspect that after Ted Cruz, he’s at least the second most disliked member of the Senate. But he raises an interesting question, even though at the risk of damaging a key US alliance.
    11. MIKE: Does Article 5 of the NATO treaty commit us to a declaration of war? Does Article 5 commit the PRESIDENT to commit forces to war while waiting for Congress to make a decision; after all, an attack on one is an attack on all, so it’s comparable to the US being attacked directly insofar as the legal treaty obligation.
    12. MIKE: Which obligation supersedes the other?
    13. ANDREW: Maybe surprisingly, I agree with Mike. Additional reason is I believe NATO expansion is poking every bear possible and I support preventing that even temporarily, but still, the question is a valid one. Better to resolve it now than during an attack.
    14. ‘No more feebleness’: Pelosi in showdown with Beijing over potential Taiwan visit; By Stephen Collinson, Caitlin Hu and Shelby Rose | CNN.COM | Updated 4:34 AM EDT, Tue July 26, 2022
        1. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not easily intimidated. And she has a long record of taking on China. So her current showdown with Beijing over a proposed visit to Taiwan is long in the making.
        2. The proposed trip is causing a commotion in China – and has the Pentagon and the White House concerned too. US President Joe Biden delicately said that the US military thinks that a visit to Taipei by the 82-year-old speaker was “not a good idea right now.” …
        3. Now that news of the potential trip has spread, the US will look like it’s caving to China if Pelosi doesn’t go. And hawks warn Beijing shouldn’t have a say in who visits, anyway.
        4. “Speaker Pelosi should go to Taiwan and President Biden should make it abundantly clear to Chairman Xi that there’s not a damn thing the Chinese Communist Party can do about it,” said Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican who hardly ever lines up alongside the Democratic speaker. “No more feebleness and self-deterrence.”
        5. But officials who spend their lives trying to keep US-China tensions from boiling over might disagree. A visit by Pelosi, a global figure with a long record of criticizing Beijing on human rights, would create extraordinary political pressure on President Xi Jinping to respond. And now might not be the wisest time to trigger a confrontation between superpowers, as the White House is already locked in a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine and assailed by multiple other challenges.
        6. Pelosi must weigh all this as she plots her next move. For decades to come, US officials will probably be mulling versions of the same two questions: how far the US is willing to push China – and how might Beijing respond?
        7. ANDREW: I can see both sides, though I don’t share Sasse’s “stick it to China” attitude. Perhaps if Pelosi went but encouraged cooperation between the US, the mainland, and the island in a speech? Spitballing. Personally I think PRC and ROC should get a divorce. Abandon claims to each other’s territory and recognize each other’s sovereignty. Call it China’s gift to the world of settling something peacefully and letting us all breathe a little easier.

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