Morning Headlines - Wednesday, Jul. 13, 2022

U.S. and World Headlines

The Democratic Electorate's Seismic Shift

Democrats now have a bigger advantage among white college graduates than they do with nonwhite voters, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll.

We're seeing a political realignment in real time.

• Democrats are becoming the party of upscale voters concerned more about issues like gun control and abortion rights.
• Republicans are quietly building a multiracial coalition of working-class voters, with inflation as an accelerant.

Sri Lanka In Crisis: What, Why And How?

Sri Lanka’s unprecedented economic crisis looks to have finally toppled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

• What happened?
• How serious is the crisis?
• How did it come to this?
• What did the government do?
• What happens next?

Here is what you should know about the ongoing political turmoil.

Biden Heads To Middle East Amid Faltering US Sway

Joe Biden might prefer not to have visited the Middle East this week, or any other week for that matter. His agenda is full.

The president's Democratic Party colleagues in the US Congress look to be heading for a bruising result in November's mid-term elections. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has touched off the most serious confrontation between the world's biggest nuclear-armed powers since the height of the Cold War. China is looking keenly for signs of American decline, as its own inexorable rise to global power moves forward.

Inflation Data To Be Released As US Faces Recession Risk

As U.S. policymakers walk a tightrope in an attempt to dial back sky-high prices while averting an economic recession, the release of new inflation data Wednesday is expected to show a continued acceleration of price hikes.

The consumer price index, or CPI, is expected to show an increase of 8.8% year-over-year in June, the highest recorded figure in four decades and an uptick from where the metric stood a month prior, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Photos: How Pictures From The Webb Telescope Compare To Hubble’s

The first images from the James Webb Space Telescope are just a preview of the impressive capabilities of NASA’s $10-billion, next-generation observatory. Billed as the successor to the iconic Hubble Space Telescope, which launched into orbit in 1990, Webb was designed to peer deeper into space than ever before, with powerful instruments that can capture previously undetectable details in the cosmos.

Here’s how the Webb telescope stacks up to its famous predecessor.

Wisconsin Headlines

Responding To New Walker, Kleefisch Attack Ad, Michels Defends Contrast Between Campaign Stances And How His Company Lobbied

Tim Michels maintained there's nothing unusual about his campaign platforms differing from how trade groups, which count his family's construction business as members, have lobbied on issues like gas taxes, right-to-work, and illegal immigration.

Michels responded to the criticism Tuesday during the launch of a statewide tour in Green Bay. This week, former lieutenant governor Rebecca Kleefisch launched a new ad with former governor Scott Walker, with whom she served for two terms between 2011-18.

Wisconsin Elections Commission Rejects Guidance For Clerks

Wisconsin’s bipartisan elections commission couldn’t agree Tuesday on what guidance, if any, to give the state’s more than 1,800 local clerks to help them understand how to implement a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling outlawing absentee ballot drop boxes.

The commission, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, repeatedly deadlocked on what to tell clerks about what the decision meant and how to interpret it ahead of the Aug. 9 primary. Commissioners said they may consider giving guidance later.

Ethics Commission Rejects Complaint Ramthun Staffer Filed Against Vos

The state Ethics Commission dismissed a complaint a former aide to Tim Ramthun filed against Speaker Robin Vos for moving him to another office, rejecting the accusation that the speaker gained anything personally from the decision.

Vos, R-Rochester, in January stripped Ramthun of his only full-time staffer, telling WisPolitics.com he disciplined the Campbellsport Republican for lying about fellow GOP members and using taxpayer resources to put out political screeds as he pushed a series of allegations about the 2020 election.

DOJ Joins Coalition Of 20 States Backing Important New Federal Rule To Regulate Ghost Guns

The Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) has joined a group of 20 states in filing an amicus brief supporting an important new federal rule regulating “ghost guns”: unserialized weapons that are often made at home from weapon parts kits or partially complete frames and receivers and can be purchased without background checks.

The rule would help ensure that buyers pass background checks before purchasing such kits and that law enforcement officers can trace any self-made guns that are later used in a crime. It would also limit gun traffickers’ ability to distribute these dangerous weapons.

Wisconsin Man Sentenced To 20 Years For Producing Child Pornography

Josiah Creasey, 35, Darlington, Wisconsin was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 20 years in federal prison for using minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing videos and pictures of the conduct. This prison term is to be followed by a life term of supervised release. Creasey pleaded guilty to this charge on April 20, 2022.

Between 2017 and 2019, Creasey sexually assaulted two girls, beginning when they were 9 and 10 years old, and took videos and pictures of the assaults. During this same time, Creasey placed a hidden camera in a bathroom to capture nude images of the girls, and another young girl. Creasey was arrested in March 2021, after law enforcement officers investigated a tip that Creasey uploaded to the internet over 40 images of child pornography. Creasey was found in possession of a significant amount of child pornography, including the images and videos that he produced.