Розділ: Політика
Congress Member Describes Continuing Mental Trauma From January 6 Riots
Images of the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol are seared into many Americans’ minds and remain especially vivid for members of Congress who witnessed the riot. One congressman has been especially forthcoming about the mental trauma he has been experiencing months after the riot. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti spoke with the lawmaker and filed this report. Camera: Saqib Ul Islam Produced by: Adam Greenbaum
…
By Polityk | 06/24/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Eric Adams Leads New York City Mayor Race
Former police officer Eric Adams was leading all candidates in Tuesday’s preliminary election to select the Democratic Party’s nominee for New York City mayor. With nearly 85% of all voting precincts reporting, Adams, the president of the city’s historic borough of Brooklyn, emerged in first place out of 13 candidates with nearly 32% of those who voted in person or during the early voting period. Maya Wiley, a former civil rights attorney and top aide to outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio, was in second place with 22% of the vote, followed by former city sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia with over 19%. Tuesday’s preliminary election was the first to be conducted under the ranked-choice voting system, which allows voters to choose up to five candidates in order of preference. With no candidate winning more than 50% of first-choice votes, the votes that went to the last-place candidate will be reallocated to the voters’ second choices.Supporters cheer during an election party for New York mayoral candidate Eric Adams, late Tuesday, June 22, 2021, in New York.The city’s Board of Elections will announce the first round of ranked-choice results on June 29, and will continue to release further results as absentee ballots are counted. The final results are expected to be announced sometime in mid-July. Adams, who could become the city’s second Black mayor, acknowledged late Tuesday night that it was too soon to declare outright victory. But he told a crowd of jubilant supporters “there’s something else we know — that New York City said our first choice is Eric Adams.” Adams campaigned on a platform of increasing police resources to combat the city’s surging crime rate as it begins its post-pandemic recovery period. Wiley gained support from the city’s more liberal elements when she proposed shifting some of the police department’s massive $6 billion budget to social services, while Garcia based her campaign on her previous experience in city government. Andrew Yang, the millionaire entrepreneur who attracted widespread support during his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and was considered a top contender in the mayoral race, conceded Tuesday after finishing in fourth place with nearly 12% of the vote. The eventual Democratic nominee will be the overwhelming favorite to win the November general election in the predominantly Democratic city. He or she will face Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels civilian patrol group and winner of Tuesday’s Republican nominating election.
…
By Polityk | 06/23/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Michigan Republicans Reject Trump Vote Fraud Claims
A Republican Party-led investigation in Michigan has concluded that, despite claims by former president Donald Trump and his allies, there was no widespread 2020 election fraud in the Midwestern political battleground state that Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.The Republican-controlled state Senate Oversight Committee said in a report released Wednesday that the state’s citizens should be confident that the ballot count in the state, which Biden won by about 155,000 votes, represented “true results.”Trump, who won the state in 2016 enroute to a four-year term in the White House, and some of his supporters had pushed debunked conspiracy theories that the 2020 vote count in Michigan was flawed. They pointed to the initial erroneous claim that Biden had won the vote in northern Michigan’s Antrim County, a Republican stronghold, but the human error was quickly caught and corrected. The investigative committee “strongly recommends citizens use a critical eye and ear toward those who have pushed demonstrably false theories for their own personal gain.”The panel urged the state attorney general to consider investigating people who had made false allegations about the Antrim vote count to raise money or publicity “for their own ends.”
…
By Polityk | 06/23/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Eric Adams Leads Race to Choose New York City Mayor
Former police officer Eric Adams was leading all candidates in Tuesday’s preliminary election to select the Democratic Party’s nominee for New York City mayor. With nearly 85% of all voting precincts reporting, Adams, the president of the city’s historic neighborhood of Brooklyn, emerged in first place out of 13 candidates with nearly 32% of those who voted in person or during the early voting period. Maya Wiley, a former civil rights attorney and top aide to outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio, was in second place with 22% of the vote, followed by former city sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia with over 19%. Tuesday’s preliminary election was the first to be conducted under the ranked-choice voting system, which allows voters to choose up to five candidates in order of preference. With no candidate winning more than 50% of first-choice votes, the votes that went to the last-place candidate will be reallocated to the voters’ second choices.Supporters cheer during an election party for New York mayoral candidate Eric Adams, late Tuesday, June 22, 2021, in New York.The city’s Board of Elections will announce the first round of ranked-choice results on June 29, and will continue to release further results as absentee ballots are counted. The final results are expected to be announced sometime in mid-July. Adams, who could become the city’s second Black mayor, acknowledged late Tuesday night that it was too soon to declare outright victory. But he told a crowd of jubilant supporters “there’s something else we know — that New York City said our first choice is Eric Adams.” Adams campaigned on a platform of increasing police resources to combat the city’s surging crime rate as it begins its post-pandemic recovery period. Wiley gained support from the city’s more liberal elements when she proposed shifting some of the police department’s massive $6 billion budget to social services, while Garcia based her campaign on her previous experience in city government. Andrew Yang, the millionaire entrepreneur who attracted widespread support during his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and was considered a top contender in the mayoral race, conceded Tuesday after finishing in fourth place with nearly 12% of the vote. The eventual Democratic nominee will be the overwhelming favorite to win the November general election in the predominantly Democratic city. He or she will face Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels civilian patrol group and winner of Tuesday’s Republican nominating election.
…
By Polityk | 06/23/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Senate Republicans Block US Voting Rights Bill
Republicans in the U.S. Senate blocked the advancement of a major voting rights bill Tuesday.The Senate’s top Democrat, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, set a procedural vote for the For the People Act, but with 60 votes required to advance the bill for debate and Republicans opposing the measure in the evenly split 100-member chamber, the bill stalled.Lindsey Graham, a prominent South Carolina Republican, called the measure “an insane idea” in a statement released shortly after he voted no. “Simply put, this is the biggest power-grab in modern American history. S.1 has nothing to do with making voting easier — it has everything to do with skewing the system in a fashion to benefit the liberal agenda,” Graham said. Simply put, this is the biggest power-grab in modern American history. S.1 has nothing to do with making voting easier – it has everything to do with skewing the system in a fashion to benefit the liberal agenda. I enthusiastically voted no.— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is followed by reporters after a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill with other Democrats in the bipartisan talks, in Washington, June 22, 2021.But his changes to the measure have drawn no Republican support.The Democratic push for election reform comes as Republican-controlled legislatures in many states enact new restrictions following the 2020 election that saw former president Donald Trump repeatedly make false claims of election fraud.The original Senate bill, which passed the Democrat-majority House in March, would make it easier for people to register to vote, require states to hold at least 15 days of early voting, allow people to cast absentee ballots without giving a reason, and put the redrawing of congressional districts in the hands of nonpartisan commissions and not state legislatures.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York speaks with reporters as the Senate prepares for a key test vote on the For the People Act, a sweeping bill that would overhaul the election system and voting rights, at the Capitol, June 22, 2021.Schumer said that voting rights are “under assault from one end of the country to the other,” and that the Republican-led efforts in the various states are an attempt to give Republicans “a partisan advantage at the polls by making it harder for Democratic-leaning voters to vote.”
…
By Polityk | 06/23/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden Supports Work to Address Problems around Big Tech, White House Says
U.S. President Joe Biden believes steps are needed to safeguard privacy, bolster innovation and deal with other problems created by big technology platforms, the White House said Tuesday, signaling his support for legislation concerning Big Tech.Biden is encouraged by bipartisan work under way in Congress to tackle these issues, the official said, a day before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee votes on a package of antitrust bills, some of which target the market power of large tech firms.”These platforms have transformed our daily lives, and showcase our country’s ingenuity and potential, but also create real problems for users, small businesses and tech startups,” said the White House official.”The president believes we need to address the problems these platforms create to protect privacy, generate more innovation and make sure the great tech companies of the future can emerge and grow right here in the U.S.,” the official said.The House Judiciary Committee will vote Wednesday on a package of six antitrust bills, including two that address the issue of giant companies, such as Amazon and Google, creating a platform for other businesses and then competing against those same businesses.The legislation drew fire Tuesday from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest U.S. business group, which warned it would have “dangerous consequences for America.”It said antitrust laws “should not be rigged against a small number of companies.”The White House hoped the bipartisan proposals would move forward in the legislative process and looked forward to working with Congress on the issue, the official added.In a separate development, the Federal Trade Commission, whose new chairperson has been critical of Amazon, has decided to review the company’s planned purchase of U.S. movie studio MGM, a source familiar with the matter said.Lina Khan was sworn in as FTC chair June 15 in what was broadly seen as a victory for progressives seeking tougher antitrust enforcement.
…
By Polityk | 06/23/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Senate Republicans Poised to Block US Voting Rights Bill
Republicans in the U.S. Senate are expected to block the advancement of a major voting rights bill Tuesday.
The Senate top’s Democrat, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, set a procedural vote for the so-called For the People Act, but with 60 votes required to advance the bill for debate and Republicans opposing the measure in the evenly split 100-member chamber, the bill as it stands is set to stall.
There are ongoing efforts to put forth a revised version, led by Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat. His proposed changes include adding a national voter ID requirement and cutting a public campaign financing provision from the original version.
The Democratic push for election reform comes as Republican-controlled legislatures in many states enact new restrictions following the 2020 election that saw President Donald Trump repeatedly make false claims of election fraud.
The Senate bill, which passed the Democrat-majority House of Representatives in March, would make it easier for people to register to vote, require states to hold at least 15 days of early voting, allow people to cast absentee ballots without giving a reason, and put the redrawing of congressional districts in the hands of nonpartisan commissions and not state legislatures.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said the bill is an attempt by Democrats to “rig the rules of American elections permanently” in their favor.
“Ever since Democrats got the election outcome they wanted last fall, we’ve watched our colleagues update the rationale for their partisan power-grab: states must be stopped from exercising control over their own election laws,” McConnell said Monday.
Schumer said Monday that voting rights are “under assault from one end of the country to the other,” and that the Republican-led efforts in the various states are an attempt to give Republicans “a partisan advantage at the polls by making it harder for Democratic-leaning voters to vote.” He urged Senate Republicans to allow debate on the voting rights bill.
…
By Polityk | 06/22/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Senate Republicans Set to Block US Voting Rights Bill
Republicans in the U.S. Senate are expected to block the advancement of a major voting rights bill Tuesday.
The Senate top’s Democrat, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, set a procedural vote for the so-called For the People Act, but with 60 votes required to advance the bill for debate and Republicans opposing the measure in the evenly split 100-member chamber, the bill as it stands is set to stall.
There are ongoing efforts to put forth a revised version, led by Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat. His proposed changes include adding a national voter ID requirement and cutting a public campaign financing provision from the original version.
The Democratic push for election reform comes as Republican-controlled legislatures in many states enact new restrictions following the 2020 election that saw President Donald Trump repeatedly make false claims of election fraud.
The Senate bill, which passed the Democrat-majority House of Representatives in March, would make it easier for people to register to vote, require states to hold at least 15 days of early voting, allow people to cast absentee ballots without giving a reason, and put the redrawing of congressional districts in the hands of nonpartisan commissions and not state legislatures.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said the bill is an attempt by Democrats to “rig the rules of American elections permanently” in their favor.
“Ever since Democrats got the election outcome they wanted last fall, we’ve watched our colleagues update the rationale for their partisan power-grab: states must be stopped from exercising control over their own election laws,” McConnell said Monday.
Schumer said Monday that voting rights are “under assault from one end of the country to the other,” and that the Republican-led efforts in the various states are an attempt to give Republicans “a partisan advantage at the polls by making it harder for Democratic-leaning voters to vote.” He urged Senate Republicans to allow debate on the voting rights bill.
…
By Polityk | 06/22/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
New Yorkers to Cast Votes in Mayoral Primary
This Tuesday, local voters will cast their ballots in a primary election on the path to selecting the next mayor of New York. Some experts call the country’s biggest city and its financial capital a bellwether, despite the city’s overwhelmingly liberal lean. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.
…
By Polityk | 06/21/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
11 US Mayors Say They are Committed to Paying Reparations for Slavery
Eleven U.S. mayors said Friday they are committed to paying reparations for slavery but gave few details on how they would accomplish the task.The group, led by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, announced a coalition to pursue reparations, Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity (MORE).“Our coalition stands on the belief that cities can — and should — act as laboratories for bold ideas that can be transformative for racial and economic justice on a larger scale,” the group said on its website.It said the 11 cities would create local commissions comprised of representatives from Black-led organizations that would determine how to implement the reparations. Questions that would need to be decided include who would qualify for reparations, how much money would be spent and who would pay for the reparations.The mayors said on their website that city programs would vary in “style and scope” but would “serve as high-profile demonstrations for how the country can more quickly move from conversation to actions” on the issue.They noted that the conversation “has hardly moved beyond theory since the end of the Civil War.”Garcetti said during a news conference Friday that “cities will never have the funds to pay for reparations on our own,” according to the Associated Press.“When we have the laboratories of cities show that there is much more to embrace than to fear, we know that we can inspire national action as well,” Garcetti said.The other mayors involved in the coalition are from St. Louis, Missouri; Tullahassee, Oklahoma; Providence, Rhode Island; Austin, Texas; Durham, North Carolina; Asheville, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri, Sacramento, California, and St. Paul, Minnesota.The formation of the coalition comes as the nation marks Juneteenth, a celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. President Joe Biden signed a bill this week creating a federal holiday on Juneteenth — June 19.
…
By Polityk | 06/19/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
US Supreme Court Again Rejects a Health Care Law Challenge
The U.S. Supreme Court for the third time rejected a challenge to the country’s chief health insurance law that provides millions of Americans with coverage to help pay their medical costs.The court, in a 7-2 decision, dismissed on Thursday a bid by 18 Republican-led states and the administration of former President Donald Trump to upend the 2010 Affordable Care Act.It was the signature legislative achievement of former President Barack Obama, Trump’s immediate predecessor, and is popularly known in the U.S. as Obamacare.The country’s highest court also rejected challenges to the law in 2012 and 2015, with all three decisions keeping in place such politically popular provisions as allowing young adults to remain on their parents’ insurance policies until they turn 26 and ensuring coverage for patients with preexisting health conditions. As originally approved by Congress, the law required people to pay a penalty if they chose to not buy health insurance. But Congress in 2017 set that penalty — the so-called individual mandate — at zero.Republican state attorneys general, and the Trump administration, contended that removing the penalty provision made the whole law unconstitutional.The court did not consider the validity of the claims made against the law but ruled that the states opposed to it did not have legal standing to make the challenge.The majority decision was written by liberal Justice Stephen Breyer and joined by two of the three conservative justices appointed to the court by Trump — Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. The third Trump appointee, Neil Gorsuch, joined Justice Samuel Alito in dissent.President Joe Biden has said he will attempt to add provisions to the Affordable Care Act, which was approved when he was Obama’s vice president.
Biden called the decision “a victory for more than 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions and millions more who were in immediate danger of losing their health care in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra praised the Supreme Court decision, saying it was “a victory for all Americans, especially people with a preexisting condition or anyone who was worried they could be forced to choose between their health and making ends meet. Health care should be a right — not a privilege — just for the healthy and wealthy.”
In a separate decision Thursday on religious rights, the court ruled that the eastern city of Philadelphia was wrong to terminate a foster care services contract with Catholic Social Services, which refuses to work with same-sex couples because of its religious beliefs.
All nine justices agreed with the outcome, but Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for a majority of six that Philadelphia violated the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of free exercise of religion in ending the contract with the Catholic organization.
Roberts said the organization only sought “an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs; it does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone else.”
“The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with [Catholic Social Services] for the provision of foster care services unless it agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny, and violates the First Amendment to the Constitution,” Roberts wrote.
…
By Polityk | 06/18/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
US House Votes to End 2002 Iraq War Authorization
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill Thursday that would repeal the authorization of use of military force in Iraq that has been in effect since 2002. Supporters of the measure say the repeal is necessary to restrict presidential war powers.The 268-161 House vote came one day after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced his support of the legislation, saying it would prevent acts of “military adventurism” like President Donald Trump’s authorization of a 2020 aerial attack on a Baghdad airport.
Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in the attack.
“The Iraq War has been over for nearly a decade,” Schumer said. “The authorization passed in 2002 is no longer necessary in 2021.”
Schumer said he planned a Senate vote on the repeal measure later this year, while the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said it would consider it at a meeting next week.
The White House said in a statement Monday it supported the legislation and emphasized that current military operations do not rely on the 2002 authorization.
Republican Congressman Michael McCaul indicated he would oppose the House bill. The lead Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee agreed reform “is needed” but added that a serious effort would have included talks with national security leaders and a new strategy to tackle the evolving war on terrorism.
The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the authority to declare war. That power has shifted to the president, however, as Congress approved “forever war” AUMFs (Authorization for Use of Military Force), which have not expired.
Examples include the 2002 Iraqi war and the fight against al-Qaida and affiliates after the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
Some legislators say the 2001 resolution to combat terrorism that was approved after the September 11 attacks, should also be reassessed.
…
By Polityk | 06/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
US Supreme Court Upholds Health Care Law Again
The U.S. Supreme Court for the third time on Thursday upheld the legality of the country’s chief health insurance law that provides millions of Americans with coverage to help pay their medical costs. The court, in a 7-to-2 decision, rejected a bid by 18 Republican-led states and the administration of former President Donald Trump to upend the 2010 Affordable Care Act. It was the signature legislative achievement of former President Barack Obama, Trump’s immediate predecessor, and is popularly known in the U.S. as Obamacare. The country’s highest court had also rejected legal challenges in 2012 and 2015, with all three decisions keeping in place such politically popular provisions as allowing young adults to remain on their parents’ insurance policies until they turn 26 and ensuring coverage for patients with preexisting health conditions. As originally approved by Congress, the law required people to pay a penalty if they chose to not buy health insurance. But Congress in 2017 set that penalty — the so-called individual mandate — at zero. Republican state attorneys general, and the Trump administration, contended that removing the penalty provision made the whole law unconstitutional. The court did not consider the validity of the claims made against the law but ruled that the states opposed to it did not have legal standing to make the challenge. The majority decision was written by liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, and joined by two of the three conservative justices appointed to the court by Trump, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. The third Trump appointee, Neil Gorsuch, joined Justice Samuel Alito in dissent. President Joe Biden has said he will attempt to add on provisions to the Affordable Care Act, which was approved when he was Obama’s vice president. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra praised the Supreme Court decision, saying it was “a victory for all Americans, especially people with a pre-existing condition or anyone who was worried they could be forced to choose between their health and making ends meet. Health care should be a right — not a privilege — just for the healthy and wealthy.”
…
By Polityk | 06/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Congress Approves Bill to Make Juneteenth a Federal Holiday
The United States will soon have a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the nation.The House voted 415-14 Wednesday to make Juneteenth, or June 19, the 12th federal holiday. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.Juneteenth commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans learned they were free. Confederate soldiers surrendered in April 1865, but word didn’t reach the last enslaved Black people until June 19, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to Galveston, Texas. That was also about 2½ years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the Southern states.It’s the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983.”Our federal holidays are purposely few in number and recognize the most important milestones,” said U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney. “I cannot think of a more important milestone to commemorate than the end of slavery in the United States.”Standing tallSpeaking next to a large poster of a Black man whose back bore massive scarring from being whipped, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat, said she would be in Galveston this Saturday to celebrate along with Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas.”Can you imagine?” said the rather short Jackson Lee. “I will be standing maybe taller than Senator Cornyn, forgive me for that, because it will be such an elevation of joy.”FILE – New Orleans baby dolls dance at the ancestor oak tree in Congo Square, in celebration of Juneteenth, a holiday that marks the end of U.S. slavery in 1865, in New Orleans, June 20, 2020. Juneteenth will soon be an official national holiday.The Senate passed the bill a day earlier under a unanimous consent agreement that expedites the process for considering legislation. It takes just one senator’s objection to block such agreements.”Please, let us do as the Senate. Vote unanimously for passage,” Representative David Scott of Georgia pleaded at one point with his colleagues.The bill was sponsored by Senator Edward Markey, a Democrat, and had 60 co-sponsors. Democratic leaders moved quickly to bring the bill to the House floor.Some Republican lawmakers opposed the effort. Representative Matt Rosendale of Montana said creating the federal holiday was an effort to celebrate “identity politics.””Since I believe in treating everyone equally, regardless of race, and that we should be focused on what unites us rather than our differences, I will vote no,” he said in a press release.Most states recognize Juneteenth as a holiday or have an official observance of the day, and most hold celebrations. Juneteenth is a paid holiday for state employees in Texas, New York, Virginia and Washington.Official nameUnder the legislation, the federal holiday would be known as Juneteenth National Independence Day.Republican Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana said that he would vote for the bill and that he supported the establishment of a federal holiday, but he was upset that the name of the holiday included the word “independence” rather than “emancipation.” “Why would the Democrats want to politicize this by co-opting the name of our sacred holiday of Independence Day?” Higgins said.”I want to say to my white colleagues on the other side: Getting your independence from being enslaved in a country is different from a country getting independence to rule themselves,” Representative Brenda Lawrence, a Michigan Democrat, replied, adding, “We have a responsibility to teach every generation of Black and white Americans the pride of a people who have survived, endured and succeeded in these United States of America despite slavery.”
…
By Polityk | 06/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden Administration, US Lawmakers Grapple With Domestic Extremism Threat
The United States faces a growing threat from domestic violent extremists, according to a strategy released this week by the Biden administration. The warning comes as U.S. lawmakers continue to investigate the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump seeking to derail the Electoral College vote count confirming Joe Biden’s presidential victory. VOA Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.Producer: Katherine Gypson.
…
By Polityk | 06/17/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Military Defends January 6 Response as House Steps Up Probes
A top Army leader defended the Pentagon’s response to the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, telling a House panel Tuesday that the National Guard was delayed for hours because they had to properly prepare for the deployment and that senior military leaders had determined beforehand that there was “no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of an American election.” Lieutenant General Walter Piatt, director of the Army staff, echoed comments from other senior military leaders about the perception of soldiers being used to secure the election process. He said the Pentagon wanted to be careful about their response in part because of concerns about military helicopters that had flown low over Washington streets during protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in the summer of 2020. It also took several hours for Guardsmen to be equipped and given a plan for how to secure a building overrun by hundreds of supporters of former president Donald Trump, Piatt said. “When people’s lives are on the line, two minutes is too long,” he said. “But we were not positioned to respond to that urgent request. We had to reprepare so we would send them in prepared for this new mission.” FILE – Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., walks to a news conference at the Capitol, Feb. 25, 2021.Piatt’s testimony comes as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will step up its investigations into the deadly insurrection. She said Tuesday that the House “can’t wait any longer” to do a comprehensive investigation after Senate Republicans blocked legislation to create an independent commission. “Whether we have a commission today, tomorrow or the next day over in the Senate or not, the work of the committees will be very important in what we’re seeking for the American people — the truth,” Pelosi said. One option under consideration is a select committee on the January 6 attack, a setup that would put majority Democrats in charge. More than three dozen Republicans in the House and seven Senate Republicans wanted to avoid a partisan probe and supported the legislation to create an independent, bipartisan commission outside Congress. But those numbers weren’t strong enough to overcome GOP opposition in the Senate, where support from 10 Republicans is needed to pass most bills. Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer has said he may hold a second vote after the legislation failed to advance last month, but there’s no indication that Democrats can win the necessary support from three additional Republicans. “We can’t wait any longer,” Pelosi said. “We will proceed.” Meanwhile, most Republicans are making clear they want to move on from the January 6 attack, brushing aside the many unanswered questions about the insurrection, including how the government and law enforcement missed intelligence leading up to the rioting, and the role of Trump before and during the attack. FILE – FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies on Capitol Hill, June 10, 2021.The hearing Tuesday in the House Oversight and Reform Committee was to examine “unexplained delays and unanswered questions” about the siege, with public testimony from FBI Director Christopher Wray, Piatt and General Charles E. Flynn, who was previously Army deputy chief of staff. All three men were involved that day as the Capitol Police begged for backup. The National Guard did not arrive for several hours, as police were overwhelmed and beaten by the rioters. Piatt insisted that he did not deny or have the authority to deny Guard help during a call with former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who has previously said he believed Piatt and other Army leaders were concerned about the optics of soldiers surrounding the building. According to the Defense Department, military leadership approved activation of the full D.C. National Guard at 3:04 p.m., about 40 minutes after the call with Sund. FILE – Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 11, 2020.Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who chairs the committee, criticized Wray for not providing documents her staff had requested and asked him if he believed the FBI should be blamed for the law enforcement failures on January 6. “Our goal is to bat 1.000, and any time there’s an attack, much less an attack as horrific and spectacular as what happened on January 6, we consider that to be unacceptable,” Wray replied. Seven people died during and after the rioting, including a Trump supporter who was shot and killed as she tried to break into the House chamber and two police officers who died by suicide in the days that followed. A third officer, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, collapsed and later died after engaging with the protesters, but a medical examiner determined he died of natural causes.
…
By Polityk | 06/16/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden Picks Israel, Mexico, NATO Ambassadors
President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced his nominees to be ambassadors to Israel, Mexico and NATO, as he moves to strengthen U.S. alliances in tough regions. Among a slate of names announced by the White House on Tuesday were Thomas Nides, a Morgan Stanley vice chairman who served as a deputy secretary of state under former President Barack Obama, to serve as the ambassador to Israel. The close U.S. ally is welcoming a new government after Israel’s parliament ended Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year run as prime minister on Sunday. Biden also picked Ken Salazar, a former U.S. senator from Colorado and interior secretary, as his ambassador to Mexico. The country is one of the United States’ biggest trading partners and the Biden administration is working to manage immigration across the U.S.-Mexican border. He also chose security expert Julianne Smith to represent the United States on the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a key Western bulwark against Russia. Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Geneva on Wednesday at a time of increased tensions between the two powers. The White House also said Biden picked C. B. “Sully” Sullenberger to be an ambassador and serve as the U.S. representative on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization. Sullenberger rose to fame in 2009 after gliding his Airbus A320 to a safe landing on the Hudson River after hitting a flock of geese shortly after takeoff, in what became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson.” He also joined Biden on the campaign trail when he was running for president. Biden also named his ambassador picks to Sri Lanka, Gambia, Guinea, Paraguay and Costa Rica.
…
By Polityk | 06/16/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Pressed Justice Department to Upend His Election Loss, Documents Show
In the last weeks of his administration, former U.S. President Donald Trump and his aides pressured the Justice Department to investigate his unfounded voting fraud complaints and upend his election loss, newly released documents Tuesday show. Nearly five months after leaving office, Trump still contends he was cheated out of another four-year term in the White House by voting irregularities. According to the House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Committee, before he left office, Trump, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and a private attorney, Kurt Olsen, all sought to enlist the Justice Department to pursue election irregularities that had already been rejected in dozens of court claims.However, the agency, which was being run by Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen in the last weeks of Trump’s presidency, rejected the Trump-led demands.FILE – Acting Assistant U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Clark speaks as he stands next to Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Oct. 21, 2020.”These documents show that President Trump tried to corrupt our nation’s chief law enforcement agency in a brazen attempt to overturn an election that he lost,” said Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat.Trump made the demands even after outgoing Attorney General William Barr had already concluded by December 1 that “to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.” Barr left office December 23 and was replaced by Rosen, who had been deputy attorney general.The documents released by the committee show that Trump, through an assistant, sent Rosen an email on December 14 with documents contending there was election fraud in northern Michigan — a debunked allegation that a federal judge had already rejected.Two weeks later, Trump also unsuccessfully sought to get Justice Department lawyers to file a draft legal brief written by Olsen with the U.S. Supreme Court contending that voting law changes made by the states of Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania to expand mail-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic were illegal.The new documents showing Trump pressing his election fraud claims occurred about the same time Meadows, the White House chief of staff, was asking Rosen to examine other baseless conspiracy theories about the election.Among them, according to The New York Times, was one that claimed people linked to an Italian defense contractor used satellite technology based in Europe to tamper with U.S. voting equipment from Europe to switch votes from Trump to Joe Biden, who won the election and was inaugurated January 20.
…
By Polityk | 06/15/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Rep. Greene Apologizes for Comparing Safety Masks, Holocaust
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene apologized Monday for affronting people with recent comments comparing the required wearing of safety masks in the House to the horrors of the Holocaust.
“I’m truly sorry for offending people with remarks about the Holocaust,” the Georgia Republican told reporters outside the Capitol, saying she had visited Washington’s U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum earlier in the day. “There’s no comparison and there never ever will be.”
Greene’s comments were a rare expression of regret by the conservative agitator, a freshman whose career has included the embrace of violent and offensive conspiracy theories and angry confrontations with progressive colleagues.
Her apology came more than three weeks after appearing on a conservative podcast and comparing COVID-19 safety requirements adopted by Democrats controlling the House to “a time and history where people were told to wear a gold star.” She said they were “put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany. This is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about.” Pelosi, D-Calif., is House speaker.
Greene’s comments were condemned by Republican leaders, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who called the comparison “appalling.”
GOP leaders have often been reluctant to castigate Greene, a close ally of former President Donald Trump. After social media posts were unearthed in which Greene suggested support for executing some Democratic leaders, McCarthy and most Republicans stood by her when the House took the unusual step of stripping her of her committee assignments in February.
But as House members returned to the Capitol on Monday after a three-week break, Greene was contrite.
“Anti-Semitism is true hate,” she said. “And I saw that today at the Holocaust Museum.”
In 2018, two years before her election to Congress, she speculated on Facebook that California wildfires may have been caused by “lasers or blue beams of light” controlled by a left-wing cabal tied to a powerful Jewish family.
On Monday, she told reporters that when she was 19, she visited the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in what during World War II was Nazi-occupied Poland. “It isn’t like I learned about it today,” she said of the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews and huge numbers of other people were killed. “I went today because I thought it was important,” she said, and wanted to talk about it as she apologized.
House leaders have recently said vaccinated people no longer must wear masks in the chamber.
Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., said he would introduce a resolution in the House this week to censure Greene.
In addition, Republicans may try forcing a vote to punish Rep. Ilhan Omar. The Minnesota Democrat recently made remarks criticized by top House Democrats and Jewish lawmakers for seeming to compare the U.S. and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban. Omar said she didn’t mean to draw that parallel.
…
By Polityk | 06/15/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Republican McConnell Says He Would Block a Biden Supreme Court Pick in 2024
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Monday that President Joe Biden would not get a Supreme Court nominee confirmed in 2024 if Republicans regain control of the chamber and a vacancy arises during that presidential election year. “It’s highly unlikely. In fact, no, I don’t think either party, if it were different from the president, would confirm a Supreme Court nominee in the middle of an election,” McConnell told syndicated conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. McConnell could return as majority leader if Republicans regain control of the Senate in the 2022 midterm elections. While serving as majority leader, McConnell blocked Democratic former President Barack Obama from filling a vacancy left by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016, saying it would be improper to confirm a Supreme Court nominee during a presidential election year. McConnell and his fellow Senate Republicans refused to consider Obama’s nominee — Merrick Garland, who now serves as Biden’s attorney general — in a move with little precedent in U.S. history. That enabled Donald Trump, the winner of the November 2016 election, to appoint conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017. Democrats accused McConnell of hypocrisy last year when he allowed the Senate to confirm Trump’s conservative Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett to replace liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in September about six weeks before the 2020 presidential election. Trump, a Republican, was defeated by Biden, a Democrat, in the election, and Democrats also took control of the Senate. McConnell signaled that a Biden nominee could have problems even outside an election year. When Hewitt asked if a Republican-controlled Senate would give “a normal mainstream liberal” nominee a fair shot at a confirmation hearing if a vacancy opened in 2023, McConnell replied: “Well, we’d have to wait and see what happens.” He described his decision to keep Scalia’s seat open until after Trump was elected as “the single most consequential thing I’ve done in my time as majority leader of the Senate.” McConnell made confirmation of Trump’s conservative judicial nominees a high priority. Trump appointed three justices, also including Brett Kavanaugh, to the Supreme Court, which now has a 6-3 conservative majority. Criticism from DemocratsDemocrats denounced McConnell’s comments, with some even using them to solicit campaign donations. “He would change the rules a third time if he could to make sure they (Republicans) would get the choice for the next Supreme Court justice. He’s not much for precedent and tradition when it doesn’t serve him politically,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat. FILE – U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) speaks at Logan Airport in Boston, Jan. 21, 2019.Democratic Senator Ed Markey wrote on Twitter: “Mitch McConnell is already foreshadowing that he’ll steal a 3rd Supreme Court seat if he gets the chance. He’s done it before, and he’ll do it again. We need to expand the Supreme Court.” Some Democrats have proposed expanding the number of justices in order to end the Supreme Court’s conservative majority. Some liberal activists have urged liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, at 82 the court’s oldest member, to retire now while the Senate remains in Democratic hands. Biden during the election campaign vowed to name a Black woman to the court, which would be a historic first. The Senate was due later on Monday to vote on the confirmation of Washington-based U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to an influential federal appellate court. Jackson, among the most prominent Black women in the federal judiciary, is considered a potential Supreme Court pick for Biden. The 100-seat Senate is currently split 50-50, with Democrats in control only because Vice President Kamala Harris wields a tie-breaking vote.
…
By Polityk | 06/15/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
US Attorney General Vows to Combat Efforts to Curb Voting Rights
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland warned Friday that the Justice Department would vigorously oppose state efforts to impose new curbs on voting rights for many Americans, particularly Blacks and other minorities.“We’re scrutinizing new laws that seek to curb access, and where we see violations, we will not hesitate to act,” Garland said in a speech at the Justice Department in which he announced his agency would double its voting rights enforcement staff over the next 30 days.“We’re also scrutinizing current laws and practices in order to determine whether they discriminate against Black voters and other voters of color,” Garland said, adding that of particular concern is research showing that nonwhite voters wait “substantially longer” than their white counterparts to cast their ballots.U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks about voting rights at the Justice Department in Washington, June 11, 2021.Garland blasted recent Republican audits of repeatedly counted and certified votes cast in the November 2020 election, saying they jeopardize the integrity of the voting process and undermine public confidence in elections.The Justice Department recently sent a letter to a top Republican lawmaker in Arizona expressing concern about the legality of a post-election audit in the state’s largest county, Garland said. In response, Republicans put on hold plans to canvass voters as part of the audit.The attorney general also expressed concern about a “dramatic increase in violent threats” against election administrators and workers, vowing that the Justice Department would investigate and prosecute any violations of federal law.Republican election officials and members of their families in Georgia, for example, have been targeted with threatening messages from supporters of former President Donald Trump months after Trump lost the state and the election.“Such threats undermine our electoral process and violate a myriad of federal laws,” Garland said.Garland’s speech signals the degree to which the Justice Department under President Joe Biden has elevated the importance of civil rights and voting rights after Trump for years denounced the election system as fraudulent and insisted the only way he could lose the election was if he were cheated out of it.Garland told lawmakers this week that the department’s budget request for fiscal year 2022 included the largest increase ever in funds for civil rights efforts: $177.2 million over the 2021 spending level, according to DOJ figures.The speech came as Republican legislators across the country have introduced hundreds of bills this year that critics say make it harder for many voters to cast ballots — especially minority voters and the elderly — and could adversely impact the Democrats’ prospects for retaining control of the House and Senate in 2022.Many of these provisions — designed to restrict voting by mail, early voting and other innovations that resulted in record turnouts during the coronavirus pandemic — were pushed by Republican lawmakers who echo Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen through widespread fraud.As of late May, lawmakers have introduced at least 389 restrictive bills in 48 states in the 2021 legislative sessions, with 14 states passing 22 new laws this year, according to the left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.Activists rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court ahead of arguments in a key voting rights case involving a challenge to Ohio’s policy of purging infrequent voters from voter registration rolls, in Washington, Jan. 10, 2018.With 61 bills making their way through state legislatures, the FILE – This Jan. 3, 2019 file photo shows Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., during a swearing-in ceremony of Congressional Black Caucus members of the 116th Congress in Washington.That provision required states with a history of discrimination against African Americans to get preapproval from the Justice Department or the federal court in Washington before changing their voting procedures. But the Supreme Court struck down the provision in 2013, leading to what Garland called a “dramatic rise in legislative efforts” that make it harder for millions of Americans to vote.Garland, a former federal judge whose 2016 nomination to the Supreme Court was blocked by Senate Republicans, said the 2013 high court decision eliminated “the department’s most effective tool to protect voting rights over the past half century.”He urged Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, saying it would give the department the tools it needs to enforce voting rights laws.The bill, named after Representative John Lewis, the late civil rights icon, would establish new criteria for determining which states must get approval from the Justice Department before changing their voting laws.But the legislation, like the For the People Act, remains stalled in the evenly split Senate, with only one Republican so far supporting the measure. To pass, the bill requires the support of at least 10 Republicans to end a filibuster.Last week, Biden, marking the 100th anniversary of a race massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, called on Congress to pass the voting rights measures, saying the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would provide “new legal tools to combat the new assault on the right to vote.”But this week Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell came out against the John Lewis bill, all but quashing hopes of its immediate passage.“There’s no threat to the Voting Rights Act. It’s against the law to discriminate in voting on the basis of race already, and so I think it’s unnecessary,” McConnell said Tuesday.
…
By Polityk | 06/12/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
US Department of Justice Probes Secret Seizure of House Democrats’ Data
The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General says it is beginning a review of the department’s use of subpoenas to obtain communication records of U.S. lawmakers and members of the media.House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 3, 2020.The review comes after Democratic Representatives Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell were informed that the Justice Department had taken their metadata from Apple in 2018 as part of a crackdown on leaks linked to the Russia probe and other national security issues, according to The Associated Press. The news agency attributed the information to three sources with knowledge of the seizures.“The review will examine the department’s compliance with applicable DOJ policies and procedures, and whether any such uses, or the investigations, were based upon improper considerations,” said DOJ Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz, in a Friday statement.“If circumstances warrant, the OIG will consider other issues that may arise during the review. The review will not substitute the OIG’s judgment for the legal and investigative judgments made in the matters under OIG review.”FILE – Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., pauses to speak with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 16, 2018.Senate Democratic leaders insisted Friday that the two attorneys general who served in the Trump administration testify about the covert seizure of data from House Democrats in 2018.In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said former Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr “must testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.” The Senate leaders described the seizures as “a gross abuse of power and an assault on the separation of powers.”The Democratic senators threatened to issue subpoenas if Sessions and Barr refused to testify.Swalwell and Schiff, the current chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, were members of the committee at the time of the seizures. The actions by the Trump-era Justice Department indicate that the executive branch was using its investigative prosecutorial powers to spy on the legislative branch, the AP said.
…
By Polityk | 06/12/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Oregon State Legislature Removes Republican Lawmaker for Helping Protesters Breach Capitol
The legislature in the western U.S. state of Oregon Thursday voted 59-1 to remove a Republican lawmaker from office for his role in allowing right-wing protesters to breach the capitol during a demonstration against COVID-19 lockdowns in December.On the floor of the state House of Representatives late Thursday, Republicans voted with the majority Democrats to remove Representative Mike Nearman, with the unapologetic Nearman the only dissenting vote. He is the first legislator expelled from office in the state’s 162-year history.A special bipartisan committee appointed by Democratic House Speaker Tina Kotek to consider the expulsion had also voted earlier in the day for Nearman’s removal and sent the measure the full House for consideration. Oregon State Police investigating the breach of the state capitol identified Nearman from a security video in which he can be seen leaving the capitol through a locked door near where protesters had gathered, allowing them to enter. The capitol was among the public buildings closed by the COVID-19 pandemic.Calls for Nearman’s resignation – many from his own party – began about a week ago after a second video surfaced showing Nearman advising potential protesters on how to get into the capitol and giving them his phone number. In comments to Oregon media after the vote, Speaker Kotek said expelling Nearman “was the only reasonable path forward.” She said, “The facts are clear that Mr. Nearman unapologetically coordinated and planned a breach of the Oregon State Capitol. His actions were blatant and deliberate, and he has shown no remorse for jeopardizing the safety of every person in the capitol that day.”Nearman, who argued he was only letting the public into a public building that should not have been closed, also faces two misdemeanor criminal charges and has said he will seek a trial by jury.
…
By Polityk | 06/11/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Officials Seized Apple Data of 2 Democratic Lawmakers, NY Times Says
Prosecutors in the U.S. Justice Department under former president Donald Trump seized data from Apple from two Democratic lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee, as well as that of their staff and family members, The New York Times reported Thursday.Subpoenas for the communications metadata targeted congressman Adam Schiff of California, a Trump foe who was then the panel’s top Democrat and now its chairman, the paper said.Congressman Eric Swalwell told CNN on Thursday he was the second Democratic lawmaker on the committee who was targeted.”I was notified… by Apple that they did seize my records. It’s wrong,” he said.According to the Times, prosecutors working under attorney general Jeff Sessions made unusual efforts in 2017 and early 2018 to find the source of leaks of classified information regarding contacts between Trump associates and Russia.The Justice Department officials targeted electronic data not only of the lawmakers, but that of their staff and families, including one minor, possibly because investigators thought the lawmakers were using their associates’ or children’s devices to hide contacts with journalists.Ultimately, none of the data or other evidence tied the lawmakers or the House Intelligence Committee to the leaks, the Times said.Schiff, while not confirming he was a target of the investigation, called for a probe by the Justice Department’s inspector general into “this and other cases that suggest the weaponization of law enforcement by a corrupt president.”Trump “tried to use the Department as a cudgel against his political opponents and members of the media. It is increasingly apparent that those demands did not fall on deaf ears,” Schiff said in a statement.Top Democrat Nancy Pelosi also called for an investigation, describing the New York Times report as “harrowing.””These actions appear to be yet another egregious assault on our democracy waged by the former president,” she said in a statement.
…
By Polityk | 06/11/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
IRS Data Leak Reveals How Little America’s Wealthiest Pay in Taxes
An unprecedented leak of the personal federal tax data of thousands of Americans has turbocharged a debate over wealth inequality in the United States and has tax reform advocates hopeful that a deeper public understanding of how the wealthy avoid taxes will lead to a restructuring of the U.S. tax code.The data, leaked to the nonprofit journalism organization ProPublica, includes detailed information on the tax filings of thousands of the wealthiest individuals in the country and extends over more than 15 years.This week, ProPublica used the data to give the nation its first detailed look at the extent to which the wealthiest in the United States are able to live lives of extraordinary privilege and luxury while simultaneously paying low rates of income tax or no income tax at all.FILE – Amazon founder Jeff Bezos speaks during the JFK Space Summit at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, June 19, 2019.Among the findings is that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes magazine, paid no federal income taxes in 2007 and 2011, and that other billionaires with household names — Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg, George Soros, Michael Bloomberg, Carl Icahn and others — managed to pay very small amounts of taxes to the federal government, or none at all, even in years when their wealth grew by billions of dollars.Income vs. wealthIt is important to note the difference between “income” and “wealth” for purposes of the tax code. When an individual files a tax return, it is income that the government is measuring — the proceeds of wages, interest and business activities. Wealth, by contrast, encompasses not just money saved from income from labor or interest, but capital holdings — stocks, bonds, real estate — that may appreciate significantly in value but do not produce income until they are sold.According to the FILE – Larry Ellison, co-founder and chief executive officer of Oracle Corp., waits to meet with then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo, Apr. 8, 2014.Monetizing unrealized gainsThe ProPublica data illustrate how the very wealthy are able to minimize income, even as they continue to spend lavishly.In brief, the strategy is to borrow money using their wealth as collateral. Oracle founder Larry Ellison, for example, has a $10 billion credit line collateralized by the same amount of Oracle stock in his possession. Because the money drawn from that credit line is considered a loan, not income, Ellison pays no tax on it.In theory — and probably in practice, experts say — Ellison and others can simply continue rolling over their debt throughout their lifetimes, absorbing the interest costs from the loans but never selling the underlying assets.Shocking, but not so shockingThe information uncovered by ProPublica was shocking insofar as individuals’ tax data are very closely held by the Treasury Department and are virtually never released publicly. However, the degree to which the very wealthy are able to avoid paying taxes and the methods they use to do so were not particularly surprising to those who study the tax code.“Tax scholars thought that this was the way it worked — that they have large assets, and they borrow because the incentives to do so are gigantic,” said Zachary D. Liscow, an associate professor at Yale Law School. “We already knew that. It’s public information when they sell [their shares], and they just haven’t sold that much. Yet they live these lavish lifestyles, which suggests that they are borrowing.”“I think it’s a big wake-up call,” said Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy for the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington.“It tells us things that tax experts have already known for a long time. But it’s the amount of detail, the specific names, that we don’t normally see,” Wamhoff said. “Even though we know really wealthy people have all kinds of ways to avoid taxes, there’s something about seeing actual names and actual numbers that brings that into sharper focus, and makes people think about what a problem that is, and what we can do to fix it.”Reason not to sellThere are very obvious reasons why the owners of large paper fortunes prefer not to realize their gains by selling their holdings. The appreciation of the stock would be subject to taxes, immediately wiping out a substantial amount of their wealth.FILE – Then-Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., campaigns in Exeter, N.H., Nov. 11, 2019. Warren proposed a wealth tax that put her at odds with some of Wall Street’s weathiest people.However, if a wealthy individual holds on to stocks until death, the person’s heirs are able to inherit the holdings at their present value — a practice known as a “step-up-in-basis” — that essentially erases any tax liability that the appreciated shares had come to represent for the deceased.In this scenario, the heirs can then sell some of the shares with little or no paper gain, use the proceeds to pay off the estate’s outstanding loans and whatever estate taxes are due, and start the whole process over again.Policy implicationsThe wealthiest Americans are sitting on $2.7 trillion in unrealized capital gains, according to Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, economists at the University of California-Berkeley.If there are $2.7 trillion in unrealized capital gains that could somehow be subject to income tax — particularly at the 39.6% marginal rate that President Joe Biden’s administration supports — that would translate into more than $1 trillion in revenue for the federal government.“That is a large share of the federal budget,” Liscow said. “The scope for what could be funded, or the taxes that could be reduced to middle-class families, is gigantic.”Tax proposalsExactly how to get at that money, though, is unclear. The kind of wealth tax that many on the left are interested in implementing has proven hopelessly complicated to administer in other advanced economies, like France.Another option — taxing the wealthy on the money they take in via loans against their holdings — would require substantial revision to the tax code.What advocates are most hopeful about is that the ProPublica revelations will add momentum to a push to do away with the stepped-up-basis enjoyed by the heirs of the ultrawealthy. The Biden administration has proposed just such a move alongside its budget request.FILE – The headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service in Washington.“So, at least all of that would be taxed, eventually, under the Biden proposal,” said Wamhoff, “which is the very minimum that we can do to crack down on this.”Pessimistic noteHowever, Liscow said he was doubtful that the revelations would spur any other major reforms in tax policy.In May, he and Edward G. Fox, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan Law School, released a draft of a paper documenting a survey of approximately 5,000 people, done to gauge support for how the United States taxes returns on investment. The results found broad support for a system that taxes gains only after they are realized.Even when presented with a scenario mirroring the ProPublica report, in which a wealthy individual borrows against large unrealized gains, a majority of respondents did not support the idea of levying a tax on the borrowed funds.While he said he personally thought the very wealthy should pay more, Liscow said, “Am I hopeful that this will substantially move the needle? No, I’m not.”
…
By Polityk | 06/11/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
China, Russia Military Budgets Combined Exceed US Spending, Top General Says
China and Russia’s combined military spending exceeds that of the United States when adjusted for purchasing power, which has allowed China to shorten capability gaps in its quest to become the top superpower by midcentury, the top U.S. military officer said Thursday.”Combined, the Russian and Chinese budgets exceed our budgets if all the cards are put on the table,” Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He called China’s increased spending trend “disturbing.”Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, left, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, arrive for a Senate Armed Services budget hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 10, 2021.China and Russia are the U.S. military’s two biggest competitors. Defense secretaries from Jim Mattis to Lloyd Austin have identified China as the “pacing challenge” for the U.S. military.Senator Jim Inhofe, the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, wrote in a FILE – Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., attends a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee markup at the Capitol in Washington, May 26, 2021.”It is our obligation to defend this nation, and this proposed budget does not do so,” added Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi. Other senators, including Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, pointed to funding gaps between what was requested by several military leaders for Pacific defense and what was in the administration’s current budget request.Milley and Austin said the defense budget, which amounts to $715 billion, required the department to make tough choices, but it was a means to provide the U.S. with “an adequate defense.””We’re going after the capabilities that can match the operational concepts that we’re putting into play and allow us to be not only competitive but actually dominant in this competition,” Austin said.Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, defended the budget, telling his Republican colleagues that while the Biden budget is $6 billion smaller than the proposed Trump administration budget for this year, Trump’s military budgets actually ended up being lower as he repeatedly took money out of the Pentagon budget for “nonmilitary emergencies” such as building a wall along the southern U.S. border.’Accidental conflict’With the U.S. focus on the growing Chinese threat, Senator Angus King of Maine said Thursday that “one of the most serious risks” was an “accidental conflict with China.” The registered independent pointed to tensions over Taiwan and in the South China Sea, saying the U.S. needed an effective communication line to prevent such a conflict.”There needs to be a direct line of communication between the military and also between government officials as well,” Austin agreed.”I’m concerned about something that could happen that could spark a crisis [with China], and I think we need the ability to be able to talk with both our allies and partners, but also our adversaries or potential adversaries,” he said.
…
By Polityk | 06/11/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
