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1. Senate health bill
We’ll finally get to see what’s in the Senate health care bill, when Republicans release a “discussion draft” later today. Here are a few things we know so far:
The Senate bill would dramatically change Medicaid, just like the House version. Spending on the program would be reduced by $800 billion over 10 years, partially by eliminating Medicaid expansion funding.
The Senate bill also would offer more generous tax credits for lower-income and older Americans. The House bill replaces Obamacare’s subsidies with tax credits, but they’re considered inadequate to help those groups. The Senate’s fix, however, could tick off conservatives, who think the tax credits are too much like the subsidies they’re supposed to replace.
The Senate’s bill may not include the House bill’s prohibition on federal funding for Planned Parenthood, something else sure to make conservatives unhappy.
A vote is possible before Congress leaves town for the July 4 recess.
2. Flint airport attack
The FBI is investigating the stabbing of a police officer at Flint, Michigan’s airport as an act of terror. Police said Amor Ftouhi, a Canadian, yelled “Allahu akbar” (“God is greatest,” in Arabic) before he stabbed the officer in the neck with a knife with an 8-inch blade. The officer is in stable condition; Ftouhi, 50, is charged with carrying out violence at an international airport.
3. Tropical Storm Cindy
Tropical Storm Cindy will make landfall this morning over southeastern Texas or southwestern Louisiana. Tornadoes and as much as 15 inches of rain are possible along parts of the Gulf Coast. The storm has already killed one person, a 10-year-old boy who was struck at an Alabama beach by a log on a wave. Cindy is the second tropical storm to form during this year’s Atlantic hurricane season. You can track Cindy here.
4. Sylville Smith shooting
A former Milwaukee cop was acquitted in the shooting death of a man during a foot chase. Dominique Heaggan-Brown was found not guilty of first-degree reckless homicide in the August 2016 shooting of Sylville Smith. The shooting sparked days of protests. Heaggan-Brown was the third police officer in the past week to be tried for shooting a black man. Convictions are rare.
5. Teen sex survey
Teen sex habits and use of contraception haven’t changed much in the past decade. A new survey from the CDC says 42% of female teens and 44% of male teens reported having had sex at least once, a slight drop from the mid-2000s. Almost 90% of females and about 95% of males reported using contraception, again not much of a difference from a decade ago.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“1,000% false”
US officials’ response to the ISIS claim that the US blew up a historic mosque in Iraq
BREAKFAST BROWSE
People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.
False alarm
It was the big one that wasn’t. The USGS sent out an alert about a 6.8-magnitude quake striking Cali. But the alert was about 90 years too late.
Alternative facts
A couple claimed they can survive without food and instead use the universe’s “energy.” Some media outlets reported this, but we’ll call it what is: B.S.
Hat tip
The Queen wore a hat that looks a lot like the EU flag while giving a speech to Parliament, and the internet just couldn’t handle it.
Lie detector
Want to know if someone’s lying? Just watch the way they move a computer mouse, because scientists say that’s a dead giveaway.
AND FINALLY …
Internet spud
So a (seemingly) smart guy invents a self-driving potato that acts like a cat because, well, it’s the internet and that’s what it does. (Click to view)