Beijing Demands U.S. End Flights Over China’s Illegally Occupied Islands

China has been expanding its maritime activity over the past few years. (Reuters/PHOTO)

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Pearson Sharp
China takes an aggressive approach to defending islands its occupying illegally, warning U.S. aircraft to stay away.
A pair of armed Chinese fighter jets swooped in to harass a U.S. Navy Reconnaissance plane flight over the East China Sea on Sunday.
U.S. officials say the dangerous behavior nearly caused a collision.
One of the Chinese jets dove under the American plane, then climbed suddenly and popped up just in front of the U.S. pilots.
China dismissed the claims saying it didn’t happen, and then rushed to scold the U.S. for flying over its annexed territory.
Both of the Chinese jets were carrying air-to-air missiles, posing a legitimate threat to the unarmed Navy plane.
The U.S., the UN, and numerous nations in the region—including Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam—have condemned China’s expansion.
Earlier this month, the U.S. sailed a destroyer near one of China’s annexed islands.

Amazon Political Cartoons

McCain to return to Senate on Tuesday ahead of crucial health care vote

Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., will return to the Senate on Tuesday -- the day of a crucial vote to open debate on legislation to repeal and replace ObamaCare, his office announced on Monday night. 

McCain, 80, has been recovering at home in Arizona following a brain tumor diagnosis.

“Senator McCain looks forward to returning to the United States Senate tomorrow to continue working on important legislation, including health care reform, the National Defense Authorization Act, and new sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea," his office said in a statement.
With McCain's return - and barring any other absences - there will now be a full complement of senators on hand for the health care test vote.
JOHN MCCAIN HAS BRAIN TUMOR, HOSPITAL SAYS
That includes 52 Republicans and 48 senators who caucus with the Democrats. Republicans can lose only two votes and have Vice President Pence vote to break the tie and start debate.
A tweet from McCain's account Monday night read: "Look forward to returning to Senate tomorrow to continue work on health care reform, defense bill & #RussiaSanctions."
McCain was diagnosed with a brain tumor following a July 14 craniotomy to remove a blood clot from above his left eye, the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix said last week.
The hospital's examination of the tissue revealed that a primary brain tumor, know as a glioblastoma, was associated with the blood clot.
TRUMP CALLS OBAMACARE 'BIG, FAT, UGLY LIE'
Earlier Monday, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, discussed plans to get McCain back to the Senate.
"They were trying to get approval [from his doctors] for his travel arrangements. I've personally volunteered to rent an RV," Cornyn said, according to Politico.
Fox News' Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Trump asks if The Washington Post is an Amazon 'lobbyist weapon'

President Trump took to Twitter late Monday to call out The Washington Post and asked if Amazon’s billionaire-owner Jeff Bezos is using the paper as a “lobbyist weapon against Congress.”

“Is Fake News Washington Post being used as a lobbyist weapon against Congress to keep Politicians from looking into Amazon no-tax monopoly?” Trump tweeted.

Bezos bought the paper in 2013. He made the purchase as an individual and Amazon.com Inc. was not involved.
Trump was apparently upset with the paper's report on Syria.
Amazon.com collects state sales taxes in all 45 states with a sales tax and the District of Columbia, according to their website. State governments have sought to capture sales taxes lost to internet retailers, though they have struggled with a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that retailers must have a physical presence in a state before officials can make them collect sales tax.
This is not the first time that Trump has taken aim at the website’s use of the tax system. In June, Trump took to Twitter and blasted the “#AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet takes (which they should).”
Both Amazon and The Post, in June, did not respond to Trump’s tweet.
Kim Ruebin, a senior fellow in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, told CBS’ MoneyWatch at the time, "They're (Amazon) being good citizens, and they're collecting the taxes and remitting it. … If you want more and more of your deliveries to be done in a day or two, you actually need warehouses and physical presence in places to get your goods to other places."
Bezos was one of a number of technology executives who visited the White House recently for a strategy session on modernizing government.
In 2015, he wrote that Bezos bought the Post “for purposes of keeping taxes down at his no profit company, @amazon.” He added that “If @amazon ever had to pay fair taxes, its stock would crash and it would crumble like a paper bag. The @washingtonpost scam is saving it!”

GOP Senators Are Expected to Hold Obamacare Repeal Vote This Week

In this July 18, 2017 photo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. There are many reasons why the Senate will probably reject Republicans’ crowning bill razing much of “Obamacare.” There are fewer why Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell might revive it and avert a GOP humiliation. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

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Senate Republicans are determined to make way on the repeal of Obamacare.
GOP senators are set to return to Washington Monday, and talk with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on which repeal bill to bring up for a procedural vote.
Ultimately, it will be up to McConnell to pick either the House’s partial repeal measure, or the Senate’s own repeal and replace bill.
If the House measure is chosen its unclear what the replacement will be.
President Trump has pushed Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare, but said he would accept its repeal if senators can’t come to an agreement.
The vote’s expected to come as early as Tuesday, and will allow senators to begin debate and make amendments.

Trump Administration to Roll Back Obama-Era Fracking Regulation

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The Trump administration is set to roll-back another Obama-era rule, making it easier to frack on public lands.
The Interior Department is sending a proposal in an effort to completely repeal the federal hydraulic fracturing rule implemented by former President Obama.
The administration claims the current regulation would cost the oil and gas industry around $45 million dollars annually.
The latest rollback keeps President Trump’s campaign promise to end regulations limiting fossil fuel production.

Common Sense or lack of it Cartoons

Republican health bill still a mystery before planned vote

The Senate will move forward with a key vote this week on a Republican health bill but it's a mystery what exactly they will be voting on.

It is not yet known whether the legislation will seek to replace President Obama's health care law or simply repeal it.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota said Sunday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will make a decision soon on which bill to bring up for a vote, depending on ongoing discussions with GOP senators. Thune sought to cast this week's initial vote as important but mostly procedural, allowing senators to begin debate and propose amendments.
But he acknowledged senators should be able to know beforehand what bill they will be considering.
Both versions encountered opposition from enough GOP senators to doom the effort, but McConnell, R-Ky., is making a last-gasp attempt this week after Trump insisted that senators not leave town for the August recess without sending him some kind of health overhaul bill to sign.
Some senators told The Wall Street Journal that McConnell told them that they would find out before any vote if they will be asked to repeal and replace.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who called the bill a “porkfest” in an interview said that the current legislation will not work.
“I think it keeps the fundamental flaw of ObamaCare, the death spiral will continue and we’re going to subsidize it,” Paul, the Kentucky Republican, told Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.”
McConnell, was making a last-gasp effort to resuscitate the legislation, cannot afford to lose any more than two Republican votes, The Journal reported.
President Trump tweeted on Sunday, "If Republicans don't Repeal and Replace the disastrous ObamaCare, the repercussions will be far greater than any of them understand!"
Trump has had a complicated relationship with the Republican Party, but GOP lawmakers have continued to be generally supportive of the president, even as his approval ratings slip.
“There’s less money from the government going to poor people, but there’s more money from the government going to rich people who run insurance companies,” Paul explained. “I think when voters find out that Republicans gave billions of dollars to rich insurance companies and took money away from poor people getting Medicaid, I think that’s a disaster.”
Still, at least two Republican senators Sunday appeared to reaffirm their intention to vote against the procedural motion if it involved the latest version of the GOP's repeal-and-replace bill.
Moderate Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she continued to have concerns about reductions to Medicaid and criticized the Republican process, saying lawmakers were being unfairly kept in the dark. Under McConnell's plan, 22 million more people would become uninsured by 2026, many of them Medicaid recipients. She wants to hold public hearings and work with Democrats.