7. Student loan forgiveness will make inflation worse

• Despite claims to fight inflation, President Joe Biden has proposed a student loan forgiveness program that would forgive $10,000 worth of student debt from those with a household income up to $300,000 per year, which would in turn make inflation worse.
• The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget reported that this policy would cost taxpayers about $250 billion while eliminating $380 billion in student debt with the federal government.

6. Alabama GOP congressmen sign onto letter to withdraw from the World Health Organization

• U.S. Representatives Jerry Carl (R-Mobile), Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) and Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) have all signed a letter, along with 86 other representatives, advocating for the United States to withdraw from the World Health Organization.
• The letter also requests the documented communication between the White House and WHO, while also taking issue with other decisions the White House has made regarding WHO. Carl said, “The American people deserve greater transparency from the World Health Organization after they failed to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for letting COVID-19 spread around the world when it could have been prevented.”

5. Texas teacher has rejected police timeline of shooting

• As if the story of the Uvalde shooting could not get worse, it appears that some of the police agencies involved in allowing this madman to stay in a room with children who were still alive are now refusing to cooperate with the investigation.
• ABC News is reporting that both the Uvalde Police Department and the Uvalde Independent School District police force have stopped talking to the Texas Department of Public Safety during the probe into the matter. A Texas DPS spokesperson said, “The Uvalde Police Department and Uvalde CISD Police have been cooperating with investigators. The chief of the Uvalde CISD Police provided an initial interview but has not responded to a request for a follow-up interview with the Texas Rangers that was made two days ago.”

4. One vote margin of victory in Lee County

• If proof was needed that showed that in any election every vote could count, we now have it with the results of a Lee County GOP primary for Alabama Senate. Auburn City Councilman Jay Hovey beat incumbent State Senator Tom Whatley (R-Auburn) by a single vote with a final tally of 8,373 to 8,372.
• Hovey said, “It’s obviously a little surreal,” adding, “[W]e certainly have highlighted the need for everyone to show up on voting day….that one extra makes all the difference.” ALGOP chairman John Wahl said that Whatley has 24 hours to file a challenge.

3. Majority of people don’t have a positive outlook on the economy

• In a recent poll from Gallup, a majority of Americans don’t have confidence in the U.S. economy and its future, showing the lowest level of confidence since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020. An inexplicable 1% of Americans believe the state of the economy is “excellent” right now.
• The Gallup Economic Confidence Index is currently at 45% for May 2022, while it was at 39% in April 2022. A statement released with the data says the confidence level “is likely the lowest it has been since the end of the Great Recession.” It adds, “Last year, as inflation began to increase, most other economic factors remained healthy…But economic growth contracted in the first quarter, and if the second quarter shows a similar decline in economic output, the U.S. will meet the usual definition of a recession used by economists.”

2. Michael Sussmann has been acquitted

• Former attorney for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, Michael Sussmann, has been found not guilty on charges that he lied to the FBI. Sussmann claimed that when he provided information on communications between Russia’s Alfa Bank and the Trump Organization he wasn’t working on behalf of a client.
• Special counsel John Durham said after the verdict that his office was “disappointed” in the decision. Durham’s office initially alleged that Sussmann had provided false statements and was acting on behalf of Clinton and her campaign in his previous actions. Sussmann has since claimed that he was “falsely accused.”

1. Preventing school shootings is a complicated issue

• While appearing on APT’s “Capitol Journal,” State Senate Majority Leader Clay Scofield (R-Guntersville) stated the obvious when noting, “We need to make sure that our schoolchildren know that they’re safe, parents know that they’re safe when they drop their child off at school.” In his role as a legislator, it sounds like hardening schools is on the table. He advised, “We need to definitely look and make sure that we are funding that appropriately with our school resource officers.”
• Strangely, when it comes to hardening the targets (schools, where kids are defenseless) President Joe Biden opposes the idea of hardening targets (schools, where parents leave their kids). White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre relayed Biden’s views, saying, “I know there’s been conversation about hardening schools, that is not something he believes in. He believes that we should be able to give teachers the resources to be able to do their job,” as if he thinks this is about providing better textbooks.