Political Brief: Midterm updates, student loans, + the affidavit

A new nuclear deal with Iran?

Dear Friends,

I think it might be worth your time to listen to the latest episode of Wear We Are, as Melissa and I spent quite a bit of time breaking down President Biden’s student loan announcement, and the response to it. We cover some aspects of both the announcement and the response to it from Christians that you have likely not heard elsewhere. Listen and let us know what you think: Episode 31: To forgive or not to forgive student loans. And here’s today’s Morning Five.

You can subscribe to our re-launched, Apple-charting podcast via Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, and Stitcher.

Reclaim hope this week,

Michael & Melissa

The 3 things you should know:

1. Tomorrow, we’ll get data on consumer confidence (which shows us how much worries of a recession are still hanging around) and on the housing market (important for inflation). This Thursday, we’ll get the August jobs report. (YahooNews)

2. We continue to inch closer to a potential new nuclear deal between Iran and the US. Mossad director David Barnea is visiting DC this week to make his case to Washington officials. (Axios) The US is awaiting Iran’s response to the EU parameters submitted last week. Meanwhile, in Syria, US and Iranian forces clashed several times leaving four Iranians dead and three U.S. military members wounded. (Politico) Foreign Affairs has a good write-up on what’s different about current proposals vs the 2015 deal.

3. Federal Judge Aileen Cannon signals that she will grant a “special master” in response to President Trump’s motion filed last Monday. She hasn’t granted it yet, however, as she’s asked both Trump’s team and the DOJ to hand over information on how the special master will be utilized, along with other clarifications. (CBS)

4. Bonus: Omicron boosters are on their way for the fall. The Administration will be pushing the boosters, but uptake may be slow. (The Hill)

Student loan fallout

• The White House hit back at GOP criticisms of the student loan forgiveness plan on social media with some newer, more aggressive tactics that we haven’t really seen from this Administration. (NBC)

• In general, the White House has pivoted to a much more offensive messaging campaign ahead of the midterms, with President Biden getting more critical in his language. Last Thursday, he accused the GOP of “semi-fascism.” (WaPo) It’s a marked departure from the President’s usual tactics when talking about the Republicans, though not totally without precedent. Remember, Biden has referred to Republican actions on voting as “Jim Crow 2.0.” Even dating back to the Obama Administration, some Republicans bring up to this day Biden’s warning that the Republican Party wanted to put Black voters “back in chains.” (ABC)