MoJo: How America Finances the Destruction in Gaza—and the Cleanup

How America Finances the Destruction in Gaza—and the Cleanup

By David Corn

On Monday, Israeli warplanes fired 182 missiles into Gaza, Israeli ships launched 146 shells into the territory, and Israeli tanks shot 721 shells, with all these attacks striking 66 structures and killing 107 Palestinians (including 35 children), while Hamas launched 101 rockets toward Israel, and 13 Israeli soldiers were killed. That day, the State Department announced that the United States would be providing $47 million "to help address the humanitarian situation in Gaza." A third of these funds would go to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which is providing food, water, and shelter to tens of thousands of war-affected Palestinians in Gaza. So once again, US taxpayers are in an absurd place: They are partly paying for the Israeli military action in Gaza and funding the cleanup. [READ MORE]

 

 

Will an Ethics Scandal—and Jimmy Carter's Grandson—Bring Georgia's GOP Governor Down?

By Patrick Caldwell

Could a Carter from Georgia once again win because of a scandal-plagued Republican? Democrat Jason Carter—grandson of former President Jimmy Carter—is challenging first-term Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal this fall, and the incumbent Republican is facing an ethics controversy that could imperil his reelection chances.

Deal has been embroiled for years in a low-grade scandal regarding allegations that his staff smothered a state ethics investigation of his campaign finances. But the controversy has recently heated up. This spring, a former head of the state's ethics commission won a lawsuit in which she claimed that she was improperly pushed out of her job for digging into Deal's campaign. Her replacement—fearing that she might also be jettisoned from the commission—has now come forward and alleged that the governor's aides tried to interfere with the ethics commission. [READ MORE]

 

 

THIS WEEK'S NEWS ROUNDUP

The Child Migrant Surge Is Slowing Down, But Not Because America Freaked Out

It looks like the child migrant surge has slowed down, and hot summer weather in Southwestern deserts may be the cause. Meanwhile Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick gave an impassioned speech on the plight of the migrants.

In the aftermath of the MH17 crash, we looked at other commerical airliners that have been shot down.

Kevin Drum pondered the great rotisserie chicken mystery and yes, the almond milk wars raged on for another week.

Happy Friday! [READ MORE]