(FREE) PAINE IN THE MORNING: 10 things you need to know this Friday – September 3, 2021

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‘Defense of Our Nation Will Not Be Shortchanged by Congress’: House Dems Join Republicans to Increase Biden’s Military Budget – More than a dozen House Democrats on the Armed Services Committee joined with Republicans Wednesday to increase the military’s budget by over $20 billion from President Joe Biden’s initial request of $753 billion.

The new amendment — passed 42-17 — raises the total spending allotted for Fiscal Year 2022 fiscal year to just under $800 billion, similar to what was approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee. – READ MORE

Report: Cost of Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Other Deployments Exceeds $8T; Estimated 900,000 Dead – As the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, a study shows the massive cost of war in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other theaters in both dollars and lost lives.

Brown University’s Costs of War project reveals the cost since September 11, 2001 exceeds $8 trillion and that wars have directly killed an estimated 897,000 to 929,000 people. – READ MORE

‘Creepy’: Gold Star Family Had ‘Horrible Experience’ With Biden At Dover In 2016 – A Gold Star family recalled in 2019 their “horrible experience” with then-Vice President Joe Biden at Dover Air Force Base during the dignified transfer of their son’s remains in November 2016.

During the dignified transfer, Biden was pessimistic about the war and told the family he didn’t know why U.S. troops were in Afghanistan, where their son died fighting. Biden was also perceived by the family as “creepy” after he told the late service member’s wife she was “too pretty” to be a widow. – READ MORE

“Hit The Pause Button”: Manchin Throws Democrats’ $3.5 Trillion Plan Into Disarray –Moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (WV) has called on fellow Democrats to “hit the pause button” on their $3.5 trillion economic blueprint, throwing the tax-and-spending plan into disarray

According to Bloomberg, Manchin said this week that “runaway inflation” and uncertainty over Afghanistan-fueled national security risks warrants a ‘go-slow’ approach and a possible rethinking of the plan. – READ MORE

Harvard Epidemiologist Says The Case For COVID Vaccine Passports Was Just Demolished – A newly published medical study found that infection from COVID-19 confers considerably longer-lasting and stronger protection against the Delta variant of the virus than vaccines.

“The natural immune protection that develops after a SARS-CoV-2 infection offers considerably more of a shield against the Delta variant of the pandemic coronavirus than two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to a large Israeli study that some scientists wish came with a ‘Don’t try this at home’ label,” the Scientific American reported Thursday. “The newly released data show people who once had a SARS-CoV-2 infection were much less likely than vaccinated people to get Delta, develop symptoms from it, or become hospitalized with serious COVID-19.” – READ MORE

Cincinnati hospital poll on COVID vaccine shows a third of nurses would quit rather than be forced to take it – Ohio nurses are pushing back against hospitals requiring them to take the coronavirus vaccine, and a recent survey shows that about 30% of nurses at one Cincinnati medical center would quit before taking the vaccine.

One hundred thirty-six out of 456 nurses who responded to a union survey at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center said they would quit their job instead of following a mandate to get vaccinated, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. – READ MORE

Virginia Tech disenrolls students over COVID-19 vaccine mandate – More than 100 Virginia Tech students were removed from the fall semester roster after they failed to comply with the university’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, officials said.

The Blacksburg, Virginia, university disenrolled 134 students who didn’t submit their vaccination proof to attend fall classes, the Roanoke Times reported. – READ MORE

Just How Bad Is the Nation’s School Bus Driver Shortage? – According to a survey of conducted by the National School Transport Association, half of student transportation coordinators nationwide are reporting their bus driver shortages as “severe” or “desperate.”

“This back-to-school period is nothing like the previous periods we’ve seen,” Curt Macysyn, executive director of the National School Transportation Association, told NPR. “In previous years, we’ve seen regionalized driver shortages, but nothing to the extent that we’re seeing today.” – READ MORE

Australia Is ‘Testing the Limits’ Amid COVID, Testing ‘Orwellian’ New App To Track People: Report – One state in Australia is trying out a new way to curb the spread of COVID-19 by launching a new app designed to track residents to help enforce quarantine rules.

According to The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf, Australia was once “one of Earth’s freest societies” until the coronavirus spread around the world. Now, it has become a “hermit continent” in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus. – READ MORE

Lawyer Representing 17 Jan. 6 Defendants Has Mysteriously Gone Missing: Court Filings – An attorney who is representing 17 accused Jan. 6 Capitol breach defendants has disappeared, possibly suffering from COVID-19, according to a court filing on Monday.

Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips said in a court document (pdf) that nearly 20 cases related to the Jan. 6 incident are not proceeding after John Pierce, the lawyer, went missing. – READ MORE