1. Trump took his insult comedy routine to Montana and blasted Sen. Jon Tester while he groveled
— Trump was in Montana to stump for Matt Rosendale, but his speech touched on everything from Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), #MeToo, WTO, NAFTA, NATO, the NFL, Russia, North Korea, and the military.
— Tester took an ad out praising Trump for coming to Montana and touting his support for bills Trump signed, Don Jr. responded by saying “Jon Tester is no partner of President Trump.”
2. More Alabama voices continue telling Trump tariffs are not good for Alabama
— The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says Alabama will take a big blow if Trump’s tariffs continue. They reiterated that “tariffs are a tax on American consumers and businesses.”
— Gov. Kay Ivey already signaled Alabama would be hurt by these tariffs, now her Secretary of Commerce is warning this is already happening, saying, “We’ve seen a couple of projects that we’ve been actively working where their timeline has slipped.”
3. Smears of Attorney General Steve Marshall continue from Troy King’s allies at the Alabama Political Reporter
— A week after Marshall’s wife killed herself, the APR ran a piece implying there were major irregularities in the case mostly predicated on the fact that law enforcement would not comment on an open investigation.
— Now, they have posted a bizarre and unlikely innuendo-filled report alleging that random neighbors were told not to talk to the press. This is all going nowhere, but it will continue until the July 17th runoff.
4. The thug ripped that hat off of a 16-year-old Trump supporter has now been fired and is in hiding
— A man walked into a Whataburger restaurant at 2 a.m. on July 4th and ripped a “Make America Great Again” hat off a young man, threw a drink in his face, and it was all recorded.
— The attacker was Kino Jimenez. Thursday, he had been fired from his job, kicked out of the Green Party, identified by the police, and allegedly went into hiding.
5. The left and the media (I repeat myself) finally get Scott Pruitt. Surprisingly, the new head is disparaged as “Scott Pruitt’s ideological twin“
— The constantly assailed Environmental Protection Agency director Scott Pruitt has finally resigned,.Pruitt made for an easy target because he was constantly dancing along ethical lines.
— Pruitt’s real crime was being a constant critic of the organization he would helm. The drama will not stop because the interim director is a former energy industry lobbyist who will continue the President’s deregulation plans.
6. 57 Alabama schools are no longer eligible for Alabama Accountability Act tax credits, showing lawmakers were concerned about quality
— Alabama now has 151 private schools that allow students who receive AAA scholarship. The students enrolled in those schools do not want to go back to public schools.
— The change comes after a 2015 law closed a loophole that allowed unaccredited schools to receive students taking advantage of the program.
7. Fear not: After the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on online taxes, Alabama is coming for your money
— Last month, the court cleared the way for states to collect more tax dollars from Internet sales. Alabama is expected to pick up between ten to twenty million dollars, according to Sen. Trip Pittman.
— The Alabama Department of Revenue Tuesday put out guidelines to online retailers that said taxes will be collected starting October 1.
