Good morning. It's Saturday, Feb. 10, and we're covering a major Senate hurdle, the flagrant violation of Americans' privacy, truth about Warriors' NBA championship fate, and much more. First time reading? Sign up here. | | American Fact of the Day! | Wyoming: The high altitude of Wyoming makes it an excellent source of wind power. This state has one of the largest sources of industrial wind production in the entire US. |
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| | Breaking Updates | | $96 Billion Ukraine-Israel Assistance Bill Clears Major Senate Hurdle | The Senate voted for cloture on a $95 billion military assistance bill supporting Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and continued US military operations in the Red Sea. The 67-32 vote sets up a final vote by Wednesday, sending the bill to the House. This vote cleared the 60-vote filibuster threshold on the strength of 17 Republican votes.
This bill includes $60 million for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel, among other expenses. It was originally attached to the disastrous "border security" bill that cratered on Monday.
Next week's vote will require another cloture vote, which is almost a given. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised to open the bill to amendment. That will give some senators the opportunity to object to parts of the bill and rant about the absence of any border security measures.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has signaled the bill would face a tough road in the House, where many Republicans have drawn a hard line on no more Ukraine funding. He said this week he prefers to deal with the national security priorities "independently and separately," meaning Israel and Ukraine aid would not be bundled together. | Read more updates here |
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| | Treasury Dept. Admits to Using Political Search Terms to Surveil Citizens' Bank Transactions | On Friday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury confirmed, in a letter to Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), that the Treasury has been using political watchwords in searches during surveillance of the financial transactions of American citizens. Senator Scott is the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee.
The Biden administration has confirmed that terms like "MAGA," "Trump" and "Kamala" were included in the push by federal investigators for banks to surveil private financial transactions following the Jan. 6, 2021 protests at the U.S. Capitol, a letter obtained by Fox News Digital reveals.
The letter, sent Friday from the Treasury Department to Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, notes that "Exchange events" convened by its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, "began shortly after January 6 under the prior Administration," and "included terms such as 'antifa,' 'MAGA,' 'Trump,' 'Biden,' 'Kamala,' 'Schumer,' and 'Pelosi.'"
The letter, signed by Acting Assistant Secretary Corey Tellez, comes in response to a letter sent by Scott to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen demanding answers from the Department and FinCEN after revelations of the surveillance using "politically charged search terms" to flag customer profiles to federal law enforcement surfaced.
In his letter, Scott wrote that the surveillance "represents a flagrant violation of Americans' privacy and the improper targeting of U.S. citizens for exercising their constitutional rights without due process." | Read more updates here |
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| | American Sports & Culture
|  | Ex-Mets GM Billy Eppler placed on MLB's ineligible list for improper use of injured list | Eppler is banned from the league for the 2024 season |
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|  | Amazon's Prime Video lands exclusive NFL playoff game next season | Amazon is going deeper into the NFL after agreeing in 2021 to pay about $1 billion a year for the exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football. |
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|  | Dunleavy acknowledges truth about Warriors' NBA championship fate - Yahoo Sports | Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy shared an honest assessment of where Golden State's championship hopes stand. |
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| | American Business & Markets
|  | Grammarly lays off 230 employees as part of a 'business restructuring' | TechCrunch | Grammarly is laying off 230 employees as part of a "business restructuring," the company announced this week. |
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|  | Fresh Take: Business Lessons From The Family Behind King's Hawaiian | Forbes' latest edition of its Fresh Take newsletter highlights Mark Taira and his family business; billionaire families; expensive groceries; Super Bowl food and more. |
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|  | 11 Easy Online Business Ideas to Make Money From Home in 2024 | You don't have to trade in-person to be a successful entrepreneur. Here are some of the best business ideas to make money online this year. |
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|  | More Buffalo entrepreneurs to benefit from $3 million coming to East Side | With the help of $3 million, The Foundry, in collaboration with entrepreneur service organization The Exchange at Beverly Gray, will be able to serve even more small businesses on the East Side |
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| | American Politics | |  | The Supreme Court Can Help Fix Social Media Governance With NetChoice Ruling | TechPolicy.Press | An amicus brief filed by Francis Fukuyama describes an alternative technical approach to managing online speech, writes Richard Reisman. |
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|  | 2024 wild card: A banner year for third-party candidates | With the potential for an unusually long presidential ballot, Democrats are worried and analysts say the only certainty is uncertainty. |
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|  | Over Three Decades, Tech Obliterated Media | Kara Swisher's front-row seat to a slow-moving catastrophe. |
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