Archive by Author

Trump says he's been told Cheney 'worse than any Democrat' on Jan. 6 panel

Former President Trump said in an interview published Tuesday that he has been told Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is “worse than any Democrat” serving on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Trump told The Washington Post that he has been informed by unnamed congressmen that Cheney, one of only two GOP lawmakers serving on the Jan. 6 panel, is a “crazed lunatic.”

“From what people tell me, from what I hear from other congressmen, she’s like a crazed lunatic, she’s worse than anyone else,” Trump said. “From what I’ve heard, she’s worse than any Democrat.”

Trump told the Post that he perceives Cheney as a larger opponent than Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who was the lead impeachment manager during Trump’s first impeachment trial and has been the target of the former president’s ire on a number of occasions.

The former president would not say if he will answer questions from the committee or agree to appear for a deposition. He did, however, assert a number of times that he requested that the military be prepared prior to the Jan. 6 riot.

Trump’s comments came in an article that said Cheney, who was ousted from House GOP leadership last year for refusing to support his unproven claims that the election was stolen, has been more aggressive in wanting the panel to target the former president.

The reporting comes less than a month before the panel is set to hold the first of eight public hearings that will present the its findings after holding more than 1,000 interviews and obtaining thousands of documents.

The panel made headlines last week when it issued subpoenas to five sitting Republican members of the House, including Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.).

None of the five members have said if they will comply with the probe.

Some individuals close to the former president, however, have met with the committee, including Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Kimberly Guilfoyle, Trump Jr.’s fiancee, who spoke at the rally in Washington that occurred just before the Capitol attack.

Source: TEST FEED1

What share of the Hispanic vote would give the GOP political dominance?

If Republicans were to consistently draw just over 30 percent of the Hispanic vote, they would likely dominate American politics in both presidential and congressional races.

Before I defend that claim, let me point to a similar statement made 30 years ago about the Black vote.

In the Spring 1992 issue of the academic journal Political Science Quarterly (PSQ), three political scientists published an article titled “Blacks and the Republican Party: The 20 Percent Solution.” 

The authors wrote, “Twenty percent [of Black voters] appears to be the threshold Republican strategists believe will establish GOP dominance in America politics — not only in presidential elections, which has been the pattern since 1968, but in congressional contests as well.”

While that assessment became generally accepted and often repeated, a lot has changed in the past 30 years. But one thing that hasn’t changed much is the Black vote. The last time the GOP exceeded that 20 percent threshold was in the 1960 presidential race, when Republican Richard Nixon received 32 percent of the Black vote versus Democrat John F. Kennedy’s 68 percent.

Since then, GOP presidential candidates have received a high of 15 percent of the Black vote (twice) and a low of 4 percent (in 2008 for Republican John McCain). Republican candidate Donald Trump received 8 percent in 2016 and 2020.

Similarly, Hispanic voters have long heavily favored the Democratic Party. But as many political analysts have recently noted, that may be changing. And that possibility raises the question: What threshold percentage of the Hispanic vote could effectively “establish GOP dominance in American politics — not only in presidential elections … but in congressional contests as well” (to use the PSQ’s wording)?

I suggest that it’s just over 30 percent.

Since 1980, five Republican presidential candidates have received 30 percent or more of the Hispanic vote: Reagan twice (35 percent and 37 percent); George H.W. Bush once in 1988 (30 percent); George W. Bush twice (35 percent and 40 percent); John McCain (31 percent); and Donald Trump once in 2020 (38 percent). Reagan and George W. Bush did very well with Hispanics in both of their elections. Trump did well in his second election but alienated a number of other voter groups (especially suburban women), and so he still lost.

Even so, the fact that Trump received 38 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2020, and that several long-held Hispanic Democratic strongholds saw a shift toward the GOP, has the political analysts talking — and Democrats worried.

Of course, there are caveats to any assessment of the “Hispanic vote.”

As the Pew Research Center notes, identifying Hispanics, or Latinos, is complicated by the fact that the federal government considers them an ethnicity, not a race, though a majority say it’s part of their racial background.

In addition, some Hispanic voting blocks, such as those of Cuban descent, tend to vote heavily Republican, while those from certain other countries are more Democratic.

And Hispanics tend to be more concentrated in certain areas (something that is also true of the Black vote), which might change the percentages necessary for Republican candidates in those areas.

To be sure, not everyone sees a shift in the Hispanic vote. Gallup posted an updated analysis in January, which shows a slight decrease in Hispanics who identified as Democratic or leaned Democratic last year (58 percent to 56 percent), and no change among those who identified as Republican or leaned Republican (26 percent). But Gallup also recognizes that a large percentage of Hispanics tend to identify as independent, which might make a difference in the actual vote.

Democrats recognize their lock on the Hispanic vote may be slipping, while Democratic strategist Ruy Teixeira even thinks Democrats are underappreciating the shift. And they know Republicans don’t have to win the Hispanic vote, just a sizable minority of it.

Is just over 30 percent the right number? While I think it’s defensible, I hope it spurs professional demographers, political scientists and voting experts to take up the challenge and make their own assessments.

Merrill Matthews is a resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas, Texas. Follow him on Twitter @MerrillMatthews.

Source: TEST FEED1

Schumer implores Fox News leaders to stop 'amplification' of 'replacement theory'

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is demanding ownership and executives at Fox News stop what he says is the “reckless amplification of the so-called ‘Great Replacement’ theory” on the network.

“Proponents of this white nationalist, far-right conspiracy theory believe that a complicit or cooperative class of elites are advancing a plot designed to undermine the political power and culture of white Americans,” Schumer wrote in a letter Tuesday to top news executives at Fox and the Murdoch family, which owns the cable news giant. “For years, these types of beliefs have existed at the fringes of American life. However, this pernicious theory, which has no basis in fact, has been injected into the mainstream thanks in large part to a dangerous level of amplification by your network and its anchors.”

Schumer’s letter comes just days after a white teenager shot and killed shoppers in a largely Black neighborhood in Buffalo in an attack authorities are calling a racist hate crime. The shooter had espoused white supremacist ideology and belief in replacement theory in a manifesto posted online before the attack.

Schumer cited a recent Associated Press poll that found nearly one-third of U.S. adults believe that a group of people is trying to replace native-born Americans with immigrants for electoral gains, and that viewers of Fox are nearly three times more likely to believe in the conspiracy theory than other networks.

“This should come as no surprise given the central role these themes have played in your network’s programming in recent years,” he wrote.

The Senate leader specifically called out Tucker Carlson, Fox’s top primetime host, mentioning a recent analysis conducted by The New York Times that said Carlson has mentioned variations on the replacement theory idea in more than 400 episodes of his show since 2016.

During his monologue on Monday evening, Carlson criticized the Buffalo shooter as “paranoid” and a “mental patient,” and denounced racism and “race politics” generally. A Fox News spokesperson on Monday pointed to instances before Saturday’s attack where Carlson has denounced political violence of any kind.

Carlson also on Monday predicted Democrats, including President Biden, would use the attack in Buffalo to crack down on free speech.

“So because a mentally ill teenager murdered strangers, you cannot be allowed to express your political views out loud. That’s what they’re telling you. That’s what they’ve wanted to tell you for a long time, but Saturday’s massacre gives them a pretext and a justification,” the host said.

Schumer in his letter noted a recent op-ed published in the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal which argued “Politicians and media figures have an obligation to condemn…such conspiratorial notions as ‘white replacement theory.’” Schumer said those condemnations are “hardly enough.”

“To this end,” the senate leader wrote. “I implore you to immediately cease all dissemination of false white nationalist, far-right conspiracy theories on your network.

Source: TEST FEED1

Maye Musk featured on SI swimsuit cover at 74

Model Maye Musk, the mother of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is being featured on a cover of Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue at the age of 74, making her the oldest model to ever be featured on the magazine cover.

Musk was photographed in Belize alongside Jasmine Sanders, Hunter McGrady, Kate Bock, Natalie Mariduena and Leyna Bloom, according to the magazine.

“I am so excited to be on the cover of @si_swimsuit at the age of 74,” Musk wrote on Twitter Monday. “It’s about time!”

“I’ve been modeling for 50 years, and I wasn’t considered a ‘swimsuit model,’” she told the New York Post. “But now Sports Illustrated has let me know that they have a wide diversity of swimsuit models. I think it’s wonderful.” 

She revealed that she “strictly” wore one pieces and that it took some convincing to put on a bikini.

“Fortunately, there was no mirror, so I couldn’t see what I looked like, but when I came out of the dressing room, they all went, ‘whoa,’ ” Musk told the Post. “It’s a high waist, so it tucked me in nicely. I look quite curvy. I just walked around like I’m a teenager.” 

She said she kept the photoshoot secret from her three children, quipping that Elon Musk might have broken the news on Twitter.

Musk said she is setting an example for women who are concerned about aging, saying they should be confident.

“I think woman of all ages … they’re scared of aging, and they’re scared they won’t look good in a swimsuit,” she said. “So now you know that I’m setting an example so women can walk freely in swimsuits and not worry about it.”

Source: TEST FEED1

New Yorkers advised to wear masks indoors as city's COVID alert level raised to high

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is now advising residents to wear masks when indoors, citing the rise in community infections and the high COVID-19 alert level the city transitioned to on Tuesday.

The advisory issued by the city advises that all residents, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks when indoors and in public settings. These include offices and stores as well as common areas such as elevators and hallways.

High-risk groups including people over 65 and individuals who are still unvaccinated or cannot get the shot — such as children under 5 — are advised to take additional precautions. The department advised that people in these high-risk groups wear masks at all times when in public indoor settings and crowded outdoor settings and also advised that nonessential gatherings be avoided.

The advisory is not the same as a mask mandate. The department added that the advisory does not apply in situations where an activity cannot be done while wearing a mask, such as eating, playing a sport or delivering a speech.

Ashwin Vasan, commissioner of the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said on Twitter Tuesday, “New York City has transitioned to a high COVID alert level, meaning now is the time to double down on protecting ourselves and each other by making choices that can keep our friends, neighbors, relatives and coworkers from getting sick.”

“Getting back to Low Risk depends on everyone doing their part and if we follow guidance, our forecasts anticipate this wave’s peak will not last long. What we do now can make all the difference,” Vasan added.

Source: TEST FEED1

Congress: No fossil-fuel bailouts

The Guardian, a British newspaper, reports the world’s biggest fossil energy companies are planning scores of oil and gas projects that would push global carbon emissions beyond the limits of the Paris climate accord. The UnitedNations concurs, saying the world’s governments plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels by 2030 than would be consistent with limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above preindustrial temperatures.

“These firms are in effect placing multi-billion-dollar bets against humanity halting global warming,” The Guardian says. “…The lure of colossal payouts in the years to come appears to be irresistible to the oil companies.”

The International Energy Agency (IEA) says the path to net-zero carbon by 2050 depends on no new oil and gas fields or coal mines beyond those already committed last year. So, most of the world’s underground reserves of fossil fuels must stay there.

If oil companies can’t resist big new bets on fossil fuels, the world’s governments and investors must insist. Economic security is also at risk. Analysts have warned for some time that the fossil energy sector is creating a “carbon bubble” not unlike the real estate bubble that triggered the Great Recession.

As governments put more constraints on carbon pollution and as the use of cost-competitive renewable energy surges, today’s supply-side investments in fossil energy will be stranded. In other words, the industry will have to abandon new wells, pipelines and other infrastructure long before investors recover their capital and expected profits.

When the bubble bursts, fossil-energy companies are likely to appeal for rescue like those the federal government gave financial institutions during the Great Recession. U.S. taxpayers spent nearly $500 billion to bail out the financial industry. The principal beneficiaries were large institutional investors.

It’s not too soon for Congress to prevent a similar bail-out of fossil-energy investors.

Acute risks

Oil companies and investors are well aware of the risks involved in new supply-side spending. HSBC, one of the world’s largest banking and financial-service institutions, warned clients in 2015 about “growing risks of their fossil fuel assets becoming useless.” It recommended that investors divest from fossil fuels.

Carbon Tracker, a British think tank, warns that current high oil prices encourage over-investment in production. It estimates significant investments in fossil fuels this decade could waste $530 billion in capital expenditures. “The oil industry has a $500 billion bubble problem,” says the science and technology website Gizmodo. “Prices are soaring. But if Big Oil takes the bait in pursuit of profits, it could end up screwed.”

Like other public officials, members of Congress have a broad fiduciary duty to manage the nation’s tax revenues “in a manner that is faithful to the public trust.” They would fail in that duty if they approved another massive bailout to save an industry that took irresponsible risks. Instead, Congress could do a few things immediately.

First, it should pass a law that forbids the use of public funds to bail out fossil energy companies and investors when their assets become worthless. Private industries should not count on the American people to be a safety net for reckless corporate behavior.

The same is true globally. Carbon Tracker estimated two years ago that the world’s fossil-energy supply chain — power plants, vehicles, steel, cement and other fossil-dependent industries — was worth $32 trillion. It concluded that further investments in the supply chain are not worthwhile. The study’s co-author recommended instead that nations conduct a “regulated exit from fossil capital” and prevent any further investments in fossil fuels to “preserve the unsustainable.”

No more subsidies

Next, Congress should finally stop subsidizing fossil fuels. Taxpayers have subsidized oil for more than a century. Today, fossil energy subsidies cost the nation more than $20 billion a year, or $662 billion annually when we count social and environmental costs. That’s more than $2,000 annually for every American. Taxpayer subsidies make us all accessories to climate change.

Third, as the IEA points out, “Governments need to provide credible step-by-step plans to reach their net-zero goals, building confidence among investors, industry, citizens and other countries.” So, Congress should direct the Department of Energy and the federal Global Change Research Program to lead the development of a U.S. roadmap to net-zero carbon no later than 2050, drawing on the many transition plans already proposed by the IEA, think tanks, universities, advocacy organizations, national laboratories and the National Academies, plus the regulatory approaches of other nations.

The roadmap should rely on carbon-free and cost-effective energy resources ready for rapid deployment now. It should identify near-term research priorities for technologies that allow markets to deploy clean energy quickly and widely. Examples might include:

• More effective energy storage
• High-voltage DC power
• Advanced nuclear power
• Substitutes for rare-earth minerals
• Grid security from hackers, saboteurs and electromagnetic pulses
• Renewable energy to produce green hydrogen, concrete and steel

Importantly, the roadmap should include a detailed exit ramp for fossil fuels based on the limits identified by science and including a moratorium on new supply-side investments.

If we don’t control greenhouse gas pollution, it will control us. If traditional energy companies won’t join the transition to carbon-free energy voluntarily, lawmakers, investors and regulators should make them an offer they can’t refuse. This time, it’s the planet that’s too big to fail.

William S. Becker is a former U.S. Department of Energy central regional director who administered energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies programs, and he also served as special assistant to the department’s assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy. Becker is also executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project, a nonpartisan initiative founded in 2007 that works with national thought leaders to develop recommendations for the White House as well as House and Senate committees on climate and energy policies. The project is not affiliated with the White House.

Source: TEST FEED1

DeLauro files legislation to address baby formula shortage

House Appropriations Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) on Tuesday filed supplemental funding legislation to address the nationwide baby formula shortage.

If passed, the legislation would greenlight $28 million in emergency funds to help the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) address the shortage and prevents future shortages, the congresswoman’s office said.  

“The stories of mothers and fathers struggling to find formula and the images of empty store shelves are heartbreaking,” De Lauro said in a statement. “Parents and caretakers across the country cannot wait—they need our support now. This bill takes important steps to restore supply in a safe and secure manner.”

“Additionally, with these funds, FDA will be able to help to prevent this issue from occurring again. While we know we have more work to do to get to the bottom of serious safety concerns at an Abbott facility and the FDA’s failure to address them with any sense of urgency, this bill is the first step to help restock shelves and end this shortage,” she said.

Additionally, DeLauro’s office said the bill also seeks to “prevent fraudulent products from being placed on shelves and to help acquire better data on the infant formula marketplace,” bolster the FDA inspection staff, and “strengthen the workforce focused on formula issues.”

The legislation comes as the House Oversight and Reform Committee has launched an investigation into the shortage. The shortage has dominated public attention in recent days, putting pressure on lawmakers to act.

As part of the effort, lawmakers sent letters to four top baby formula manufacturers, including Abbott Nutrition, asking companies for more information about their plans to address the shortage. Lawmakers say they are also seeking documents from Abbott pertaining to conditions at its Sturgis, Mich., plant that led to recalls found to have contributed to the shortages, along with supply chain issues.

“This is an all-hands-on-deck emergency situation. This legislation gets needed resources into the field to ensure that the existing baby formula supply is safe and back on supermarket shelves,” Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), who chairs ​​the subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, said. 

“I am eager for this week’s hearing to find answers as to how this food safety failure occurred and identify ways to prevent it from happening again. In the meantime, today’s legislation is an important step forward in helping American families get safe and reliable infant formula to feed their children,” he added in a statement.

Source: TEST FEED1

DC Metro general manager, COO announce immediate resignations

Washington, D.C.’s Metro general manager on Monday announced that he and the Metro’s chief operating officer would be resigning immediately, just one day after the city transit said that close to half of its rail operators had not been recertified.

Metro General Manager and CEO Paul Wiedefeld, who was set to step down next month, accelerated his resignation “to provide a more timely transition to Interim General Manager Andy Off,” he said in a statement.

“I believe conveying all authority of the General Manager’s office to Mr. Off better positions him to address the challenges that came to light this week, while preparing for the transition to the next CEO,” he said. “Stepping aside a few weeks ahead of schedule is in the best interest of the agency and its workforce, whom I have been deeply proud to lead over the last six years.”

Wiedefeld said that Metro COO Joe Leader was also stepping down immediately.

The development came one day after Metro announced that close to half of its 500 rail operators were noncompliant for failing to take the supervising testing and classroom instruction necessary to be recertified. Metro is removing 72 rail operators.

As a consequence of fewer rail operators, Metro said that Green and Yellow lines would have longer wait times, circulating every 20 minutes instead of 15.

“The Board finds this unacceptable and extremely disappointing. We support Metro management’s decision to immediately remove from service operators who became out of compliance more than a year ago as a first step,” Metro Board Chair Paul Smedberg said in a statement. “The Board directed Metro management to provide a full accounting of how and why this occurred and develop a plan to ensure it is remedied as fast as possible.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden meets with families of Buffalo shooting victims

President Biden on Tuesday met with the families of those who died in a racist shooting inside a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket over the weekend and paid his respects to the victims near the site of the massacre.

The president and first lady Jill Biden traveled to Buffalo in the wake of the shooting at a Tops grocery store on Saturday that left 10 dead.

Before meeting with families, the president and first lady stopped at a makeshift memorial that formed just outside the grocery store. The first lady laid a bouquet of flowers at the memorial, and the two stood silently and paid their respects.

Biden met with state and local officials while in Buffalo, including Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Kirsten Gilibrand (D-N.Y.).

The Bidens were expected to meet with family members of the victims and first responders for a couple of hours.

“He’s going to listen to them, he’s going to talk to them, he’s going to be there for them as their president,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said en route to Buffalo.

An 18-year-old gunman, identified by police as Payton Gendron, opened fire on patrons at a Tops Friendly Market on Saturday, killing 10 and wounding three. The supermarket was in a primarily Black neighborhood, and authorities are investigating the shooting as a hate crime given writings by the suspect that suggest he was influenced be a racist conspiracy theory about white people being replaced by minorities. Eleven of the 13 people shot were Black.  

The president later Tuesday will give remarks decrying the shooting as an act of racist violence, and he will renew his calls for Congress to pass tougher gun laws.

But those calls in the wake of previous shootings in Colorado, Indianapolis, Texas, California and elsewhere have failed to break the gridlock in the Senate, where legislation strengthening background checks has struggled to garner the votes needed to break the 60-vote filibuster.

Source: TEST FEED1