Weekly Recap: Mar 31st - Apr 5th
Weekly Recap: Mar 31st - Apr 5th
A recap of the big political stories affecting the United States this past week.
Earthquakes happened around the world this week, with a 7.4-magnitude quake hitting Taiwan, which killed 13 people and caused severe damage to some buildings. Taiwan is an area known for earthquakes, which is why the death toll was low for such a major quake. Construction standards are strict, preventing large amounts of damage. There are also early warning systems, and the population is well educated, all factors in limiting casualties.
A 4.7 earthquake was felt in Brazil without any serious injuries or deaths. But the earthquake that caused the most commotion for the US was a 4.8 magnitude quake that happened in New Jersey and was felt from D.C. to Maine. While no damage or deaths were reported from the earthquake, earthquakes are uncommon, causing a mix of excitement and fear among people in New Jersey and New York City.
Donald Trump posted his reduced bond payment for his fraud penalty of $175 million, but the court rejected the paperwork later that same day due to missing information, including a current financial statement. Knight Specialty Insurance Company said they may have charged too low of a fee for Trump’s bond because they felt the risk was low. They also complained about receiving numerous phone calls and emails asking questions about the bond. Trump will be back in court on April 22 to discuss the bond with the court further.
This is after the jury selection begins on April 15th for the falsified records charges surrounding the hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels, the first of Trump’s criminal cases.
The US saw another impressive jobs report, beating expectations once again and bringing President Biden’s job creation total to over 15 million during his first term.
Despite these impressive numbers and America having the best economic recovery in the world, polling shows that people associate Biden with a bad economy. Interestingly, the same polls show that people feel they are doing well financially, and other polls show that people approve of Biden’s economic policies as long as his name isn’t associated with them. This will be an uphill battle that Biden will have to work on from now through November.
In other election-related news, Florida’s Supreme Court ruled that a six-week abortion ban could go into effect. At the same time, the court approved a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights up until fetal viability in Florida’s constitution. This, along with a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, is expected to increase voter turnout and make the elections harder for Republicans. Senator Rick Scott appears particularly vulnerable after winning his last campaign just 50.1 to 49.9.
Similar reproductive rights measures are popping up in states across the country both due to the strong desire to protect abortion rights and in an effort to bring Democrats to the polls. This is a strategy George W. Bush utilized in 2004 with state bills banning gay marriage at a time when those measures were popular with conservatives.
Israel caused global outrage this week as multiple drone strikes killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers who were helping get food to starving Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a mistake but also said that “these things happen,” which did little to quell the anger. Israel conducted an investigation that led to the dismissal of two officers and reprimands for three others.
President Biden has been increasingly critical of Israel’s strategies in their war with Hamas and has further stressed that Israel must avoid civilian casualties or there will be a shift in US policy towards Israel. After a reportedly tense phone call between the two leaders, Israel agreed to open up more pathways for aid to reach Gaza.
