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Exxon Mobil, Chevron push back on Biden blaming industry for oil prices

ExxonMobil and Chevron released statements this week saying the Biden administration could be doing more to address oil prices as the president has gone after the companies for making large profits while gas prices spike. 

On Tuesday, President Biden slammed oil executives in a letter saying they had unacceptable high profit margins while regular Americans are suffering and calling on the industry to work with the administration to address increased prices from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

“We understand the significant concerns around higher fuel prices currently faced by consumers around the country, and the world. We share these concerns, and expect the Administration’s approach to energy policy will start to better reflect the importance of addressing them,” Chevron said in a statement targeting Biden. 

ExxonMobil offered short- and long-term solutions for high oil prices in response. 

The company said emergency measures “such as waivers of Jones Act provisions and some fuel specifications to increase supplies” could be used to address short term concerns. Long term policies could include “streamlined regulatory approval and support for infrastructure such as pipelines,” it suggested. 

Chevron said that since Biden got into office, the administration has relayed that it will “impose obstacles to our industry delivering energy resources the world needs.”

Both companies highlighted in statements measures they have taken during this time where Americans are seeing the highest gas prices in years. 

Chevron said it will be increasing Permian Basin production by more than 15 percent this year. ExxonMobil says it has increased refining capacity to process U.S. light crude by around 250,000 barrels a day.

After the pandemic, ExxonMobil also stressed it borrowed $30 billion to prepare for the post-pandemic increase in oil demand. 

In response to the oil price increases, Biden has released an unprecedented amount of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. 

However, the war in Ukraine put a further strain on the global energy supply which has added to the U.S.’s struggles with inflation and fuel prices in particular. 

“The crunch that families are facing deserves immediate action,” Biden said in the letter. “Your companies need to work with my Administration to bring forward concrete, near-term solutions that address the crisis and respect the critical equities of energy workers and fence-line communities.” 

Source: TEST FEED1

Pelosi: Social spending and climate package is 'alive'

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that negotiations on a massive social spending and climate package remain active despite the opposition from Senate centrists that stopped the legislation in its tracks last year.

The Speaker emphasized that House Democrats, who passed a roughly $2 trillion reconciliation package in November, are essentially sidelined as Senate leaders seek to continue the delicate talks with the centrist hold-outs.

But a day after meeting with President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) at the White House to discuss the economy, Pelosi said there’s still a chance of enacting some slimmed-down version of the House legislation this year.

“Reconciliation is a Senate matter. We passed our bill, we made our views known. And that is a closely-held negotiation on the Senate side,” Pelosi said during a press briefing in the Capitol. 

“Suffice to say that we expressed our interest in the timing, when it would happen. But we did not get into the details.”

“It’s alive,” she added. “I would say that.”

Pelosi declined to reveal any details about the White House talks, but expressed some hope that whatever proposal might emerge will extend enhanced premium subsidies for millions of patients under ObamaCare. Those subsidies, adopted last year under President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, are scheduled to expire at the end of 2022 — an occurrence that vulnerable House Democrats are scrambling to prevent. 

“There are certain concerns that we have about subsidies in the health care bill and the rest, which may or may not be in the negotiation,” Pelosi said. “But we shall see.” 

Pelosi and House Democrats had passed their version of the enormous reconciliation package late last year after months of tense talks between liberals and moderates over the particulars of the legislation. 

The social spending bill includes a host of policies designed to help working families that Democrats have sought, in some cases, for decades. The list includes child care subsidies, universal preschool, paid family leave, renewable energy tax incentives and extensions of both the expanded child tax credit and enhanced ObamaCare subsidies. 

The bill represented the core of Biden’s successful campaign message in 2020, but it hit  brick wall in the Senate, where centrist Democrats — most notably Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)  — balked at the size and scope of the benefits. Manchin said the new spending was particularly concerning amid the national spike in inflation, which he fears will be exacerbated by another round of federal stimulus. 

Under the reconciliation rules, Republicans do not have the power to filibuster the legislation, meaning the bill would require only a simple majority to pass through the Senate. But in the 50-50 upper chamber, Democrats would need all their members — and the two Independents who caucus with them — to move it to Biden’s desk. Manchin, alone, can block it.  

Pelosi and House Democrats have long been resigned to the reality that their version of the reconciliation package is dead in the Senate. Still, the Speaker is holding out hope that some smaller version will move while Democrats control the two chambers. 

“Everything that was in the [House] reconciliation bill is great. So if we just have some of it, that’ll be very good, and we look forward to that,” Pelosi said.  

“But I just don’t know. As I think you know from the dynamic around here, the Senate negotiation is very close[ly] held.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Senate passes bill expanding care for veterans exposed to toxins

The Senate on Thursday voted 84-14 to pass legislation expanding benefits for veterans suffering health effects from toxic exposures during their military service.

The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act of 2022, among other things, expands the Department of Veterans Affairs’ healthcare eligibility to veterans who served after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The measure now heads back to the House, where it passed by a vote of 256-174 in March, with 34 Republicans joining Democrats to advance the measure. Thursday’s legislation includes several changes from the House version.

Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) — the top members on the Senate Veterans Affairs’ Committee — unveiled the bipartisan legislation in mid-May after a year of negotiations.

The bill is named for Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson, who deployed to Iraq and Kosovo with the Ohio National Guard. He died in 2020 of cancer that he developed as a result to exposure to burn pits during his deployment.

Servicemembers have been exposed to toxins throughout history, though Thursday’s legislation is largely aimed at helping veterans who were exposed to burn pits in the post-9/11 era.

Burn pits were open areas of land used for combustion of trash and other waste like chemicals, human waste, munitions, and food waste.

Exposures to the resulting chemicals has been found to cause health issues ranging from asthma, autoimmune disorders, and lung cancers, some of which can take years after exposure to develop.

In remarks on the Senate floor, Tester said that passing the bill was “righting a wrong that has been ignored for just way too damn long.” 

“Generations after generations of Americans have gone to war, backed by a promise that we made to them when they signed up that we would care from them when they got home,” Tester said. 

“Unfortunately, that didn’t happen in the case of toxic exposure. We failed them,” he added. 

In addition to expanding VA care eligibility to post-9/11 veterans, the bill creates a framework for the VA to establish presumptive service connections related to toxic exposures. It also adds 23 burn pit and toxic exposure-related conditions to the agency’s list of service presumptive service connections.

The legislation also expands presumptions related to Agent Orange — used largely during the Vietnam War — to veterans who served in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Guam, among other places.

The bill further strengthens federal research on toxic exposures and improves the VA’s resources and training for toxic-exposed veterans.

Source: TEST FEED1

Maine nursing home settles landmark transgender discrimination case

In a landmark settlement, a Maine nursing home has agreed to adopt a comprehensive transgender nondiscrimination policy and require its employees and administrators to undergo LGBTQ competency training after 79-year-old Marie King accused the facility of discrimination when she was allegedly denied a room because she is transgender.

Adult Family Care Homes of Maine (AFCH), which operates Sunrise Assisted Living, where King had been denied entry, has also agreed to prominently feature on its website its transgender nondiscrimination policy under the terms of the settlement.

“Discriminating against or turning away an applicant because they are transgender violates the law,” reads a portion of the new policy. “Gender identity, gender expression or transgender status will not be used to deny admission, programs, or services to any individual.”

Transgender residents in facilities run by AFCH will also be treated “in accordance with their gender identity in all aspects of admissions, placement, and programming,” according to the policy.

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“I’m thrilled to see this positive outcome,” King said Monday in a statement released by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), the nonprofit that had been representing her. “I believe the new policies will keep others from experiencing mistreatment and will help people understand that transgender people are only seeking to be treated with dignity and respect like anyone else.”

The settlement comes roughly a year after a first-of-its-kind discrimination claim was filed against Sunrise by GLAD on behalf of King, then 78, after she was allegedly denied a room because she is transgender. The claim is the first known discrimination complaint filed in the U.S. by a transgender older adult against a long-term care facility.

In March, the Maine Human Rights Commission said it had found reason to believe that Sunrise discriminated against King based on her sex, gender identity and transgender status – all of which are explicitly protected under the Maine Human Rights Act.

“I know I’m not the only person this has happened to and I hope my case leads to better understanding,” King said at the time.

On Monday, Chris Erchul, a staff attorney at GLAD, said the settlement with AFCH addresses the “profound harm Marie experienced in being turned away because of who she is.”

“Anyone who needs access to a long-term care facility, including transgender people, should be welcomed with dignity, compassion and respect,” he said. “The model transgender nondiscrimination policy and public statement embracing transgender residents set a clear example for how such facilities can and should operate with respect to transgender older adults.”

In a joint statement with GLAD, AFCH said it hopes the resolution of King’s case “will lead long-term care facilities across the country to adopt policies that ensure that transgender older adults, indeed all older adults, will be treated with dignity and respect.”

The settlement comes as an executive order signed Wednesday by President Biden expands protections for LGBTQ+ Americans, including for LGBTQ+ older adults in long-term care settings.

Source: TEST FEED1

Live coverage: Pence in spotlight during Jan. 6 committee hearing

The relationship between former President Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence will take center stage at the Jan. 6 committee’s third hearing on Thursday afternoon as it examines the “pressure campaign on Vice President Pence driven by the former president.”

“Tomorrow’s hearing is going to focus on former President Trump’s attempts to pressure former Vice President Pence to unilaterally change the results of the election in the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6,” a select committee aide told reporters.

Follow The Hill’s live coverage below:

Get caught up before hearing starts

12:00 p.m.

The hearing before the select House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Here is the latest coverage from The Hill while you’re waiting for it to begin.

Jan. 6 panel to focus on Trump pressure campaign on Pence

Who is Michael Luttig, who testifies Thursday before the Jan. 6 panel?

Who is Greg Jacob, Pence’s lawyer who testifies Thursday before Jan. 6 panel

Jan. 6 hearings archive

–The Hill staff

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Don’t believe the media hype about Gen Z

Do you know that Gen Z employees expect “open communications and diversity” from their employers? Yup, they do, according to a recent survey. They also desire “meaningful work.” Unfortunately, many of them are feeling “disconnected.” So disconnected, apparently, that 80 percent of them are napping on the job. Hey, who can blame them, it was a late night last night, am I right? 

Property management giant Coldwell Banker wants us to know that Gen Zers would take a pay cut to move to a cheaper part of the U.S. Gen Z investors are apparently shifting their focus from “meme-stocks” to the “metaverse,” so watch out Wall Street.

You’d think that with all this savvy and workplace knowledge, this generation would be crushing it. But, unfortunately, another report finds that almost half of Gen Zers are living paycheck to paycheck. But don’t worry, they’re still “making their mark” as entrepreneurs, according to a new report from Microsoft. Oh, and just so you know, their most popular social media site is YouTube, not TikTok, and thank God for that information.

The media love Gen Z. It seems not a day goes by without a survey, a poll, a report or an analysis telling us what we need to know about this generation. Why? It’s not hard to understand. People love youth, and Gen Zers, who were born after 1995 (which means the oldest of them are in their late 20s) are the epitome of cool, sexy, trendy and beautiful. You know, everything the rest of us are not. Societies since the time of Cleopatra have cherished the young, the hip and the attractive. And that’s what Gen Z is, for now.

We want to know more about them so we can be more like them, despite that most of us are old and boring and not very attractive at all. It makes sense for the media to leverage this generation to sell their products.

But the fact is that most small businesses don’t pay attention to Gen Z. They’re not getting caught up in the media’s relentless pursuit of clicks. Sure, if your company is selling products to this generation, then pay attention. But if not, then don’t, because most Gen Zers are still children. Very few of them are business owners, despite what Microsoft wants us to believe. (The majority of small business owners in this country are over 50, according to the Small Business Administration.)

A relatively small percentage of Gen Zers are in the corporate world, and most of them have just started in the past few years. They have little experience. Their minds aren’t fully formed. They’ve never seriously worked for a company. They don’t understand how to read a P&L or why it’s important to generate a profit so that a business can continue to grow and provide for its employees and communities. They’re just figuring out how to run their own lives. They want “meaningful work”? They want “open communications”? Hey, don’t we all. But a job is a job, and sometimes it’s not meaningful, open or even fun. It’s how you earn a paycheck so that you can pay for the things that are meaningful for you. Ask anyone who’s been in the workforce for 10 years and they’ll tell you that.

As a business owner, I would prefer not to employ Gen Zers. I don’t have the time to deal with them because my resources are limited. I realize that sometime in the next decade they’ll be a significant part of the workforce. But give me a Millennial any day. That generation – who were born before 1995 and after 1981 – are now in their 30s and 40s. I like this generation of workers. They’ve been employed for a while. Which means by now most of them have suffered through the lies, disappointments, frustrations, long hours, under appreciation and the unfairness of life in the business world.

They’ve lost jobs, lost money, lost patience and, yes, they’ve lost a lot of hair. They have learned by now that hard work really does pay off and showing up to work really does matter. They are more sympathetic to their managers and business owners because they are now managers and business owners themselves. They’re old enough to get it. Like the generation before them, Gen Z will one day be all of this.

At some point in the future – probably in five or 10 years – Gen Zers will be in decisionmaking roles. They will have responsibilities, families, mortgages, insurance and car payments that tie them to a workplace. They will offer opinions and suggestions based on their experience, instead of something they read on Buzzfeed. They will be heavier, beaten down and with less hair. Like me. Welcome to life.

But for now, let’s ignore all the media hype about Gen Z.

Gene Marks is founder of The Marks Group, a small-business consulting firm. He frequently appears on CNBC, Fox Business and MSNBC.

Source: TEST FEED1

Quarter of adult US Twitter users responsible for 99 percent of political tweets: study

A quarter of the adult Twitter users in the United States are responsible for 99 percent of political tweets, according to a Pew Research Center study released Thursday. 

The finding is in line with previous Pew surveys that found a minority of users post an overwhelming majority of tweets, political and in general. The report is based on a survey of U.S. adults on Twitter last May and an analysis of English-language tweets a portion of those users posted between May 2020 and May 2021. 

Americans ages 50 and older make up a quarter of all U.S. adult Twitter users but post 78 percent of all political tweets, the study found. It also found that older adults are much more likely to tweet about politics than younger adults. 

A third of all tweets from U.S. adults are political, the analysis found. 

Two-thirds of those who tweet about politics the most said they use the platform to share their opinions compared to 34 percent of other users. The report said 53 percent of those with more political posts discuss politics at least once weekly with others, compared to 33 percent of others, and 46 percent of the first group contributed to a political campaign in the past year, compared to only 21 percent of others. 

But those who tweet the most about politics are less likely to say Twitter is at least somewhat effective at changing people’s minds on political or social issues. Only 34 percent of respondents said they believe this, compared to 50 percent of users who tweet less about politics. 

The study also found a disparity between the amount of political posts that users see on Twitter and the amount that they post. More than 40 percent said “a lot” of what they see on the site is political or about political issues, but only 12 percent said a lot of their posts are on these topics. 

More than 40 percent of retweets and quote tweets in the analysis were found to involve politics, but only 26 percent of replies and 8 percent of original tweets did. 

The researchers also found that “Twitter-only” political engagement is relatively rare. The vast majority of respondents said they engaged in political activity outside of posting on Twitter, such as voting, signing a petition or buying or avoiding a company because of its political or social values. 

Only 3 percent of respondents said they just post on Twitter and do not engage in other political activities, while 58 percent said they engage in political or civic activities on Twitter and in other spheres. 

Pew conducted the survey of 2,548 U.S. adult Twitter users from May 17 to 31, 2021. The margin of error was 3.4 percentage points. 

The analysis was based on respondents who agreed to share their handles who had their accounts set to publicly available.

Source: TEST FEED1

Baryshnikov: Putin 'trying to create a new history of Russia'

Mikhail Baryshnikov is blasting Vladimir Putin over the Russian president’s invasion of Ukraine, saying he “does not care about people at all.”

“He’s trying to create a new history of Russia,” said the acclaimed ballet dancer — who was born in Latvia when the country was part of the Soviet Union and famously defected to Canada in 1974 — in a preview clip released Thursday from an upcoming interview on “CBS Sunday Morning.”

The full interview with Baryshnikov airs this weekend.

“How’s it possible he has kids himself?” Baryshnikov asked CBS’s Anthony Mason of Putin. “How’s it possible?”

Baryshnikov, the son of Russian parents, said witnessing the horrors of Russia’s offensive against Ukraine since the conflict began in February compelled him to speak out.

“I couldn’t stay silent this time,” Baryshnikov said.

Earlier this year, the former “Sex and the City” star co-founded True Russia, an online fundraising campaign for Ukrainian refugees.  

When Mason noted that Russians who publicly criticize Putin have “a way of kind of disappearing,” Baryshnikov replied, “Listen, I will be 75-years-old.”

“What have I to lose?” he said.

Source: TEST FEED1

Arkansas governor says he's working to 'lay a foundation' for 2024 run

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) teased a presidential run on Wednesday while speaking to the Arkansas Bar Association’s annual meeting.

Arkansas Online reported that Hutchinson told the crowd of lawyers that he was “pretty concerned” about the direction of the country and the Republican Party.

“I want to be a voice of problem solving in government and not creating chaos, and so that is my mission,” Hutchinson said. “I am doing what is necessary to lay a foundation for 2024, but let me assure you my first priority through the remainder of my term is Arkansas.”

The two-term Arkansas governor is term limited and will leave the role in January.

“We are not going to go out into the next role in life quietly,” he said on Wednesday, according to Arkansas Online. “It’s going to be a very active finish to the term, and we got a lot to do. Stay tuned, and hope we can do some good things after my term as governor, and we will see where that leads.”

Hutchinson has kept the door open to a White House bid before but has said he won’t make a decision until after the midterms.

He made an appearance in New Hampshire in April at “Politics & Eggs,” an event considered a mainstay in the presidential campaign for politicians seeking a possible run.

Hutchinson also consistently appears on the Sunday morning talk shows, regularly challenging policies championed by many members of his own party.

He expressed willingness for a “conversation” on raising the minimum age to purchase a semiautomatic rifle from 18 to 21 following the mass shooting at an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school that left 19 kids and two teachers slain.

Arkansas Online reported that during his speech on Wednesday, Hutchinson applauded the Senate bipartisan framework on gun-related legislation — which did not include raising the minimum purchase age for any firearms — but said he wants to see the legislative text.

Following the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said a national abortion ban was “possible.”

The next day on ABC’s “This Week,” Hutchinson described McConnell’s potential proposal as “inconsistent with what we’ve been fighting for.”

Hutchinson has kept former President Trump at arm’s length, saying last year he would not support Trump if he runs in 2024 but recently adding that Trump’s plans won’t affect Hutchinson’s decision to run.

Hutchinson said on Sunday that Trump is “politically” and “morally” responsible for the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

“Republicans need to do a lot of soul searching as to what is the right thing here and what is the right thing for our democracy in the future,” he told “Fox News Sunday.”

Source: TEST FEED1