Sinema leaves Democrats in suspense
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) has Democrats and Republicans on the edge of their seats. With the clock ticking down to the August recess, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) desperately wants to pass a bill that would tackle climate change and make significant changes to the tax code. But Schumer doesn’t have the votes — at least not yet. Schumer says he’s working on Sinema and hopes she’ll be a “yes” on the motion to proceed to the measure, but the Arizona centrist hasn’t said whether she backs it. “We’re in touch with Sen. Sinema, we’re in t
Read MoreGOP targets Sinema while going all out to block Democratic bill
Senate Republicans say they’re planning to pull out all the stops to deal some pain to Democrats as the majority party gets set to move a sweeping tax reform bill through the chamber and to the House and President Biden. Republicans are strategizing and laying the groundwork to make things as difficult for Democrats as possible, and they are reaching out to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who has yet to back the deal. Democrats are using a special budget process to get around a GOP filibuster, and cannot afford a single defection in their ranks. “This bill shoul
Read MoreStrike on 9/11 al Qaeda leader highlights fallout from Afghan withdrawal
A U.S. drone strike that killed al Qaeda’s leader has underscored both the capabilities and the consequences of ending the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan nearly one year ago.President Biden and his team hailed the drone strike that took out a key planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Ayman al-Zawahiri, as proof that the U.S. can conduct “over the horizon” strikes in Afghanistan and eliminate terrorists without having boots on the ground. But al-Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul — seemingly in plain sight in the country’s capital — also raises questions about whether al Qaeda l
Read MoreHow landlords are evading taxes and fueling the housing crisis
Opaque ownership laws that make it easier for property owners to avoid paying taxes are compounding a national housing crisis fueled by inflation and a shortage of low- and moderate-income homes. Limited liability companies — or LLCs — are a common way for landlords to own the real estate on which they can charge rents. But LLCs often hide the identities of the people that stand behind them, allowing property owners to be shielded from legal consequences when they fail to pay their property taxes. Properties can then go into tax foreclosure and be effective
Read MoreManchin’s climate buy-in comes at a cost for environmental review
In order to win Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) support for their climate legislation, Democrats are poised to carry out policy changes that might directly help one of the senator’s pet projects, but that activists say could hurt low-income voters and people of color. On Monday, Manchin revealed the details of a plan to speed up environmental reviews of potentially polluting projects that was part of the deal he made with Democratic leadership. The deal appears to pertain to both the environmental review process broadly and more immediately to a natural gas pipeline in West
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