Well, we made it to another Friday. Good morning!
Aside it from being the end of another week, it’s an important day in U.S. history, as on this day in 1787 members of the Constitutional Convention signed the final draft of the Constitution.
Whether that would actually happen was a little touch on go, because two days earlier, one of the members, Edmund Randolph called for another convention to carefully review the Constitution as it stood. The motion was supported by two other members, but ultimately did not pass.
And here we are.
The Constitution was the product of four months of intense and secret debate, and replaced the Articles of Confederation, calling for an entirely new form of government for the new nation.
For those of you who – like me – are a little fuzzy on the history they may (or may not) have learned ‘lo those many years ago, the Articles of Confederation created a loose affiliation of sovereign states and a weak central government.
The drawbacks of this system became apparent over time. The Continental Congress did not command much support or respect from the state governments, which were all very eager to retain their respective holds on power. Also, Congress couldn’t raise funds, regulate trade, or even engage in foreign policy without the states’ approval.
That’s no way to run a centralized government.
The Constitution, by contrast, calls for three branches of government, each with equal powers, creating a system of “checks and balances.” Each branch has power to keep the others in check, so to speak, and powers not assigned to one of the three branches are left to the individual states.
To alter the Constitution, a proposed amendment must be ratified by three-fourths of states. This is not an easy thing to do, as supporters of the ERA know all too well.
If you want to take a very deep dive on the history, click here.
This day known as Constitution Day, but is also sometimes referred to as Constitution and Citizenship Day. It’s also apparently Constitution Week, which I learned from the official White House proclamation issued yesterday.
It’s the 133rd anniversary of the birth of Japanese biochemist Michiyo Tsujimura, best known for her ground-breaking research on the nutritional benefits of green tea. I know this thanks to today’s Google Doodle.
There are still five more days of summer left, and the weekend is going to deliver – for once. We’re in for a lovely spate of sunshine and temperatures on the warm side – even flirting with 80 degrees tomorrow. So get out there and soak up all that Vitamin D while you still can. Today will be in the mid-70s, with mostly cloudy skies.
In the headlines…
China moved quickly to counter an effort by the U.S., U.K. and Australia to contain its ambitions in the Pacific, saying it would apply to join a regional economic pact the U.S. had eschewed.
President Biden’s deal to help Australia deploy nuclear-powered subs has strained the Western alliance, infuriating France and foreshadowing how the conflicting U.S. and European responses to confrontation with China may redraw the global strategic map.
Biden spoke at the White House about why Congress needs to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and corporations in order to fund his “Build Back Better” agenda.
He didn’t offer new policy proposals but repeated his preferences to raise taxes on corporations and incomes over $400,000 — after House Democrats on Monday unfurled a plan to raise taxes on higher incomes, certain businesses and tobacco products.
“The data is absolutely clear: Over the past 40 years, the wealthy have gotten wealthier and too many corporations have lost their sense of responsibility to their workers, their communities, and the country,” Biden said.
“I’m not out to punish anyone, I’m a capitalist. If you can make a million or a billion dollars, that’s great. God bless you. All I’m asking is you pay your fair share, pay your fair share, just like middle class folks do,” the president added.
Biden said the economy is at an “inflection point” and called for a once-in-a-generation investment in physical infrastructure. The bill would fund repair of roads, rails and bridges, as well as expansive new education and health guarantees to boost families.
Public approval of Biden has dropped to the lowest level of his presidency, with Americans appearing to be increasingly critical of his response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.
The national poll, conducted Sept. 15-16, found that 44% of U.S. adults approved of Biden’s performance in office, while 50% disapproved and the rest were not sure.
Democrats are taking their first concrete steps to avert a government shutdown in two weeks, even as they struggle to wrangle a master plan for handling multiple fiscal cliffs ahead.
A federal judge in Washington has ordered the Biden administration to stop using a public-health law to turn back families who enter the U.S. illegally from Mexico seeking asylum, that’s on hold for 14 days, to allow the government time to appeal.
Thousands of migrants are crowded under a bridge outside the border community of Del Rio, part of a massive surge in migration across the Rio Grande this week that has overwhelmed the authorities and caused significant delays in processing the arrivals.
The special counsel appointed by the Trump administration to scrutinize the Russia investigation obtained a grand jury indictment of a prominent cybersecurity lawyer, accusing him of lying to the F.B.I. during a meeting about Donald Trump and Russia.
Calling Trump “a cancer for the country,” Ohio Republican Rep. Anthony Gonzalez said he would not run for re-election in 2022, ceding his seat after just two terms in Congress rather than compete against a Trump-backed primary opponent.
In a letter to Biden, two dozen of the nation’s Republican attorneys general said they would seek legal action if the White House’s proposal to require vaccines for 100 million Americans is carried out.
Biden defended his administration’s new vaccine mandates and said Republican governors undermining the requirements are putting lives at risk.
The pace of new coronavirus infections in the U.S. is beginning to slow — a potential sign that the states hit hardest by the Delta wave may be starting to turn things around. But deaths are still rising, and school re-openings could drive cases back up.
There’s a new front in the ongoing battle between Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: Covid-19 antibody treatments.
It’s not clear if or when boosters doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be OK’d for fully vaccinated people in the United States, but state and local health departments across the United States are moving ahead with plans for a potential rollout next week.
Federal regulators haven’t authorized booster shots of the coronavirus vaccine yet — but NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is already laying the groundwork for administering them.
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration is likely to face difficulty enforcing Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate and may have to rely on publicly shaming companies, a tactic popularized during the Obama era.
Pfizer’s CEO, Dr. Albert Bourla, in an open letter, made the pitch for the Pfizer/BioNTech booster shot in advance of an FDA advisory committee meeting that will make a recommendation on the third jabs.
Customers at Seattle-area restaurants, gyms and other indoor venues will soon be required to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 under a new county health order issued yesterday.
The Idaho Department of Health and Wellness announced that the entire state is in a hospital resource crisis, permitting medical facilities to ration health care and triage patients.
Individual hospital systems in Alaska and Montana have enacted similar crisis standards amid a spike in the number of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization.
Roughly 300 volunteers are planting a crop of more than 660,000 white flags on the National Mall in a physical representation of the staggering death toll of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund said in a recent midyear report that Covid-19 is the leading cause of death for officers nationwide.
The White House tamped down concerns about Biden’s health after he repeatedly coughed during recent public remarks.
Biden coughed often, and apologized for doing so, during his remarks Wednesday and yesterday at the White House and Tuesday evening at an anti-recall campaign rally for Gov. Gavin Newsom in California.
Nursing home aides — the staff members who provide the most direct care to residents — were the least likely to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by mid-July, according to a new analysis of U.S. facilities.
Three women from Texas attacked a hostess at an Upper West Side Italian restaurant after being asked to prove they were vaccinated, police said.
The famed Grand Central Oyster Bar — a staple of the historic Midtown train terminal — will begin dishing out seafood once again next week, following a year-and-a-half shutdown due to coronavirus pandemic.
Just weeks into the new year, schools are struggling to fill jobs. Low pay, few benefits and erratic schedules are keeping workers away.
Jobless claims rose slightly last week but remained near a pandemic low, as layoffs stabilize amid an economic slowdown tied to rising coronavirus cases.
Initial unemployment claims rose to 332,000 from a pandemic low of 312,000 a week earlier, the DOL reported. Layoffs due to Hurricane Ida, which hit Louisiana at the end of August, appeared to contribute to the small claims increase, economists said.
The increase was small and may be temporary. The four-week average of jobless claims, which smooths out fluctuations in the weekly data, dropped for the fifth straight week to just below 336,000, the lowest since the pandemic began.
The latest report on jobless claims is the first since the extra federal benefits for the unemployed expired on Sept. 6. New jobless claims filed through the federal program sank to 28,456 from almost 100,000 in the previous week.
The hiring freeze in place for New York state government since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic is over.
The former Cuomo administration claimed the freeze was ending in May. But Gov. Kathy Hochul moved to formalize the end of that months later with a formal bulletin posted by the executive branch’s top budget official to state agencies.
Hochul announced that the U.S. State Department is sending up to 1,100 Afghan nationals to the Empire State. They could be resettled in New York communities throughout the next 6 months.
“The heart-wrenching images and stories of people fleeing their homeland was a call to action that New York State is more than willing to answer,” Hochul said. “We welcome our new Afghan friends with open arms and pledge to provide them the assistance they can rely on to rebuild anew.”
Hochul unveiled designs for a new connector that will link New York City’s High Line seamlessly to Moynihan Train Hall.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has been talking with her advisors and supporters about potentially running for governor next year, according to people familiar with the matter.
James’ longtime campaign strategist Luis Miranda Jr. — father of Broadway star Lin Manuel Miranda — has been making calls to donors gauging their support should the powerful pol opt to launch her own 2022 gubernatorial bid.
James and her allies have been weighing the pros and cons of running in a Democratic primary for governor. One drawback would be giving up the powerful attorney general job, another is primarying the first sitting woman governor, Hochul.
Apple has quietly hired Andrew Cuomo’s former communications chief, Peter Ajemian, who helped the disgraced ex-governor fight the allegations of sexual harassment that ultimately led to his downfall.
Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams dined at the high end Upper East Side Chinese restaurant last night where a man was shot in a robbery the night before.
“This is not a restaurant where crime problems are happening, but for someone to come by and attempt a robbery while you sit down and enjoy a meal is just unacceptable,” Adams told reporters before enjoying a vegan meal with owner Abraham Merchant.
Dramatic footage shows the moment panicked diners flee Philippe Chow in Manhattan amid a shooting over a Rolex watch — an attack that police are now probing as a part of a string of luxury-watch robberies in the Big Apple.
Add botched vendor contract negotiations to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s list of excuses for not implementing a City Council law designed to impound cars owned by dangerous drivers such as one blamed for killing a 3-month-old baby girl last week in Brooklyn.
New York City’s Education Department is headed for a “fiscal cliff” when billions in federal stimulus funds dry up in 2025, state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warned in a new report.
Department of Correction brass haven’t been able to implement reforms at Rikers Island because inmates are too violent and there’s not enough space to house them safely with the jail complex’s looming closure, according to internal documents.
The family of a missing Florida woman pleaded with the parents of her fiancé to tell them where she is, as the police expressed “frustration” in their efforts to speak with the man, who has been declared “a person of interest” in her disappearance.
The Long Island woman, Gabby Petito, 22, and her longtime boyfriend were fighting before Utah police pulled the couple’s van over last month, with body-cam video released capturing the aftermath of their angry dispute.
Police arrested a 43-year-old Albany man who they said defaced the Black Lives Matter pavement mural on Lark Street when he spray-painted it with letters and a symbol associated with a white supremacist hate group.
The City of Watervliet will hold its 39th Arsenal City Run on Sunday after skipping the race in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Patrick Patricelli said.
Steve Baboulis, the vice president and general manager of WNYT, is retiring after a 44-year career at the station.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown suffered two losses in court in his attempt to get his name on the November ballot, as he seeks a fifth term at City Hall after losing the Democratic primary to India Walton.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was hit with another ethics complaint over her attendance at Monday night’s Met Gala, with a second conservative watchdog group claiming she violated House rules on accepting gifts.
New Jersey has become the latest state to announce plans to divest from the company that owns Ben & Jerry’s over its decision to stop selling ice cream in Israeli-occupied territories.
Piers Morgan is joining the New York Post as a columnist in a global deal with News Corp and FOX News Media.
The first all-civilian crew to orbit the Earth traveled nearly six times around the planet during the mission of Elon Musk ‘s company, SpaceX.
The Inspiration4 crew is as far as 366 miles above Earth – more than 100 miles higher than the International Space Station. They are farther from the planet than most astronauts who have gone to space since the end of NASA’s Apollo program in the 1970s.
