National Debate Escalates as Texas Man Attempts to Destroy a Confederate Statue

Tensions are blowing up: On Monday, Texas authorities arrested a man in Houston after he allegedly tried to plant a bomb on a Confederate statue of Southern Lieutenant Richard Dowling. The man, 25-year-old Andrew Cecil Schneck, was charged with attempting to maliciously damage or destroy property. The incident comes on the heels of the aftermath of the rally that turned deadly in Charlottesville, Virginia and the ongoing national debate on the removal of Confederate monuments.

Trump lays out vague plans for Afghanistan: The war in Afghanistan is America's longest running conflict, spanning nearly 16 years. President Obama had been winding down the numbers of troops towards the end of his presidency, but the uptick in Taliban activity nixed those plans.

After taking office, President Trump said that he was opposed to the war and flirted with the idea of privatizing it. On Monday, in a nationally televised address, he announced he was adding more troops to the conflict. But critics say that putting more boots on the ground won't end an unwinnable war.

Always pays his debts: Washington is becoming more and more like an episode of Game of Thrones (think Lannisters) now that Mitch McConnell has promised to raise the debt ceiling to avoid the government defaulting on its loans. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has asked Congress to take action on a bill that would increase the borrowing limit before September ends. According to CNBC, Mnuchin has called for a "clean debt-ceiling" increase, which means lawmakers can't attach spending cuts to the proposal. In the past, conservatives have tried to link raising the debt ceiling with spending cuts.

Liar, Liar: Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions praised Miami for cooperating with federal immigration policies and effectively ending their status as a sanctuary city. Immigration enforcement falls under federal jurisdiction, but localities don't always comply because it can hamper undocumented immigrants from helping law enforcement if there's a risk of deportation. During his speech, Sessions linked sanctuary city immigration policies to higher crime rates, but available data out there says a different story.

According to The Washington Post , there isn't much research on whether sanctuary cities have more crime as a result of their immigrant-related policies. Still, the research that is out there doesn't point to sanctuary policies having a significant impact on crime. To be fair though, immigrant-friendly policing did not significantly reduce crime either. By these statistics, Sessions' enforced crackdown on illegal immigration doesn't do much other than unfairly target undocumented immigrants.