Partisan defense bill slashes abortion, gender-affirming care funding, Hollywood goes on strike

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• Today, Tucker Carlson is hosting 2024 GOP presidential candidates at a forum in Iowa (former President Donald Trump is not in attendance). Things are … a little tense.
  
• One major payday lender, Payday America, is closing up shop in Minnesota after lawmakers capped outrageous short-term interest rates.
  
• Bizarre Iowa mailer claims Donald Trump is a “trailblazer” for LGBTQ rights.

Defense bill would slash spending on abortions, transgender medical care for military personnel

Today, House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R) and congressional Republicans passed a defense spending bill via the annual reauthorization of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that will prevent military service members from accessing abortion and gender-affirming care. The defense bill will also eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs (DEI) in the armed forces.

The updated NDAA passed with a 219-210 vote; despite four Republicans crossing partisan lines to oppose it, four Democrats allowed it to pass by supporting it.

“Radical programs that are forced [on] our troops at the expense of readiness are now eliminated,” McCarthy said. “Cutting-edge technology that is essential for the future of this country and to keep freedom around the world in the rise of China and Russia, will receive more investment than we’ve watched in the past.”

This year’s NDAA, if it passes the Senate, would result in $886 billion worth of spending. It’s unclear if the right’s obtuse priorities will sink in the bill in the upper chamber or force Biden to veto.

"Extreme MAGA Republicans have chosen to hijack the historically bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act to continue attacking reproductive freedom and jamming their right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people," wrote House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, alongside two of his colleagues in a statement.

"House Republicans have turned what should be a meaningful investment in our men and women in uniform into an extreme and reckless legislative joyride."

Actors join prolonged Hollywood writers strike

President of the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) Fran Drescher said yesterday that over 160,000 actors and entertainment workers will join the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in a work stoppage. The WGA has been on strike since May 2.

The declaration comes after close to 98% of SAG members voted in favor of the strike. The conflict between those who finance multimedia projects and the workers who actually create it has been brewing — especially with the ubiquity of streaming — for years now.

Both unions are hoping to garner streaming residuals for performers and writers, protect employees from being replaced with AI technology and create a more stable, worker-friendly contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

The work stoppage will impact productions like “Gladiator 2,” a new “Mission: Impossible” sequel, and the movie adaptation of the musical “Wicked.” The cast of the new Christopher Nolan movie “Oppenheimer” decided to cancel its U.S. red carpet premiere event in response to the strike. Neither SAG nor the WGA has called for a consumer boycott, however.

"I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us. I cannot believe it, quite frankly, how far apart we are on so many things, how they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right while giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs," Drescher proclaimed at the press conference declaring SAG-AFTRA’s intentions.

"It is disgusting. Shame on them. They stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment.”

Such dramatic labor action is historical: It’s the first time the guild has gone on a strike since 1980, and the last time both the SAG and WGA were simultaneously on the picket line was all the way back in 1960.

Just before the strike was announced, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated in an interview yesterday morning that he found the potential conflict to be a “very disturbing” development.

“We managed, as an industry, to negotiate a very good deal with the directors guild that reflects the value that the directors contribute to this great business. We wanted to do the same thing with the writers, and we’d like to do the same thing with the actors,” Iger, whose billion-dollar company has only grown in recent years and rewarded him handsomely with a $25 million annual salary, said.

“There’s a level of expectation that they have, that is just not realistic. And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive.”

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

• Eight GOP presidential candidates have notched a national poll needed to qualify them from the Aug. 23 Republican debate in Milwaukee, Wis. (they polled above 1%!) Now, they have to meet the donor requirement of 40,000 unique donors, including 200 unique donors from 20 states.