South Carolina Democratic gubernatorial nominee wants end of ‘geriatric’ politicians. Will it cost him help from Biden, Clyburn?
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Joe Cunningham made national headlines when he suggested an end to the “geriatric oligarchy” in political office and said on national television that President Joe Biden should step aside in 2024 and let someone younger run.
But the remarks could cost him any in-person campaign help for his Democratic governor run from two of the party’s biggest names: Biden, 79, and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, 82, the state’s highest-ranking Democrat considered a party kingmaker.
Cunningham, 40, in June called for older politicians to make way for a new generation, suggesting there should be a 72-year-old age limit for anyone who wants to hold elected office similar to the state’s cutoff for judges. Cunningham has used the remark to attack Gov. Henry McMaster’s long tenure in South Carolina politics, pointing to the poor conditions of the state’s roads and schools and high crime rates.
Some political observers said the suggestion could be part of an overall campaign strategy to motivate younger voters to head out to the polls in November. The White House declined to comment whether Biden would help Cunningham’s campaign for governor against McMaster, 75, who is seeking a second term.
—The State
Scores of scammers, including ‘Texas minister,’ vie for slice of Surfside settlement fund
MIAMI — An Oregon man claims he drove across the country to vacation in Miami Beach and met a kindly stranger named Luis at a bar who suggested that instead of sleeping in his car the man stay with a friend at Champlain Towers South in Surfside. They went to the condo and after just one minute of waiting outside, the man heard a loud boom, got hit in the head by a falling chunk of concrete and blacked out.
When he woke up, he was lying next to the rubble of the 12-story building that had collapsed. Shocked, and fearing he would be billed for any medical treatment of his bloody gash, the man left the scene where 98 people died and drove back to Oregon. He has never told anyone his terrifying story until now, as he seeks to collect $50,000 in personal injury damages.
The 33-year-old man from Tigard, Oregon — or so he says — is among more than 450 people who have filed what appear to be fake claims for their piece of the $1.1 billion settlement reached in the Surfside class-action case, according to attorney Michael Goldberg, receiver for the Champlain Towers South condo association.
Many of the bogus claimants learned about the massive settlement fund on a website called hustlermoneyblog.com that alerts people how to submit “no-proof” claims for lawsuits nationwide.
—Miami Herald
California lawmakers kill bill allowing suits against social media companies for addicting kids
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers will not advance a bill that would have allowed prosecutors to sue large social media companies for addicting children to online platforms. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday quietly killed Assembly Bill 2408, authored by Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, R-San Luis Obispo, and Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland.
Cunningham and Wicks originally wanted to empower parents to sue big social media companies for employing addictive algorithms and features to hook children and harm their mental health. But an amendment added in late June limited that ability to the Attorney General, district attorneys, county counsels or city attorneys.
Wicks also put forward a complementary measure, Assembly Bill 2273, which would create standards for companies that provide online platforms and content for children. AB 2273 made it through Appropriations, although it will no longer have the benefit of the legal liability Cunningham’s measure would have provided.
Social media companies like Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, came out strongly against AB 2408. Meta’s lobbying firm told CalMatters in July it “pursue every legislative avenue to try to stop the bill.”
—The Sacramento Bee
Putin’s war hurls his economy back four years in one quarter
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine set Russia’s economy back four years in the first full quarter after the attack, putting it on track for one of the longest downturns on record even if less sharply than initially feared.
In a bleak tally of the war for Russia, an economy that was picking up speed at the start of 2022 swung into a contraction during the second quarter. Data due on Friday will show gross domestic product shrank for the first time in over a year, dropping an annual 4.7%, according to the median forecast of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
The jolt of international sanctions over the war disrupted trade and threw industries like car manufacturing into paralysis while consumer spending seized up. Although the economy’s decline so far isn’t as precipitous as first anticipated, the central bank projects the slump will worsen in the quarters ahead and doesn’t expect a recovery until the second half of next year.
“The crisis is moving along a very smooth trajectory,” said Evgeny Suvorov, lead Russia economist at CentroCredit Bank. “The economy will reach its low point by mid-2023 at best.”
—Bloomberg News
