Categories Uncategorized

Murkowski on object shot down over Alaska: 'We need to be clear and unequivocable that we don't tolerate this'

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said the U.S. needs to send a “clear and unequivocable” message that it will not tolerate incursions into its airspace, after a second “high-altitude object” was shot down over Alaska on Friday.

“The first line of defense, again, is Alaska,” Murkowski said in an interview with NBC News on Friday. “If it comes into Alaska airspace, if it comes over Alaska waters, we need to act. We need to send the message and we need to be clear and unequivocable that we don’t tolerate this, period.”

The object was traveling over Alaska at around 40,000 feet and posed “a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. It was shot down on Friday afternoon and landed in U.S. waters, he added.

The government is still collecting information on the object and does not know whether it was operated by another country or if it was privately or commercially owned, Kirby also noted.

The “high-altitude object” is the second of its kind to travel into U.S. airspace in recent weeks, after a suspected Chinese spy balloon traversed the country earlier this month. 

The Chinese balloon, which Beijing has claimed was a weather balloon blown off course, crossed into U.S. airspace over Alaska on Jan. 28. After briefly crossing through Canadian airspace, the balloon reentered U.S. airspace through Idaho on Jan. 31.

Amid safety concerns about shooting the balloon down over land, the U.S. military waited until it reached open water off the coast of South Carolina last Saturday to take down the balloon.

Republicans, including Murkowski, have widely criticized President Biden’s handling of the original balloon incident, particularly the decision to wait to shoot it down.

“As an Alaskan, I am so angry. I want to use other words, but I’m not going to,” Murkowski said at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing with defense officials on Thursday. 

“The fact of the matter is, Alaska is the first line of defense for America, right?” she continued. “If you’re going to have Russia coming at you, if you’re going to have China coming at you, we know exactly how they come. They come up and they go over Alaska.”

“Seems to me the clear message to China is ‘we’ve got free range in Alaska, because they’re going to let us cruise over that,’” Murkowski added.

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden pledge to fix 'unfair' economy resonates with Americans

A populist undercurrent running through President Biden’s State of the Union address and churned up by turbulent conditions in the global economy is resonating with Americans.

It’s the feeling that people are “getting ripped off,” as Biden put it, by an economy that isn’t “fair” – a word that appeared in Biden’s prepared remarks nine different times.

From pesky fees charged by big retail banks to deep, structural imbalances in the U.S. tax system that favor wealthy people and large corporations, Biden’s speech hit on a perennial frustration in American economic life: how the deck feels stacked by big companies and institutions against ordinary taxpayers and consumers.

“If we – the poorer people, the middle class – pay tax, the big companies are supposed to do the same. This is right. So I think the President [said] something that is true. We need more tax to be paid by the big companies and then that money can go back to the poorer people to help people,” Jean-Michel Dossous, a New York City cab driver who watched the State of the Union on his phone, told The Hill.

Returning to the notion of economic fairness again and again, Biden touted numerous initiatives to bring down prices after a year of high inflation that has harassed American pocketbooks and that fiscal authorities, like Congress and the president, have limited powers to fight.

“Big Pharma has been unfairly charging people hundreds of dollars [for insulin] – and making record profits,” Biden said during his speech on Tuesday, praising the $35 insulin price cap for seniors who use Medicare that was passed as part of Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act last year. Price caps have only been used minimally so far in the government’s battle against high prices, which is mostly the responsibility of the Federal Reserve.

He also touted his administration’s effort to fight so-called “junk fees,” expensive penalties charged by banks, financial firms and other businesses for reasons such as late payments, insufficient funds or an attempt to cancel a service.

“I know how unfair it feels when a company overcharges you and gets away with it,” he said about the overdraft fees charged by banks, a commercial practice he called on Congress to curtail with new legislation.

The Biden administration also announced last week an effort to cap bank overdraft fees at $8 through a new rule to be issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Tatiana Nazario, an administrative assistant at the Newark, New Jersey, public library told The Hill she “absolutely” had the feeling she was getting ripped off by big banks and that she knew people who’d gotten locked into a cycle of debt due to overdraft fees.

While some major banks have already phased-out overdraft fees, bank lobbyists and advocates for the sector call those penalties a useful and popular way for consumers to smooth out expenses.

“If you get one overdraft fee and it stays in your account for a couple of days, they overdraft you again and again and again until you pay it. If you’re already broke and you’re waiting on that direct deposit to hit, by the time it hits you’re not going to have much left,” Nazario said in an interview.

“People are living off of payday loans, and now they’re promoting these apps … where you get payday loans rather than coming up with better solutions for us,” she added.

The CFPB describes payday loans as short-term, high-cost loans for small amounts of money and cautions that people’s “ability to repay the loan … is generally not considered by a payday lender.”

Of all the mentions of unfairness in the economy in Biden’s State of the Union, perhaps the point he hammered home the most was about unfairness in the tax code.

“I think a lot of you at home agree with me that our present tax system is simply unfair. The idea that in 2020, 55 of the biggest companies in America made $40 billion in profits and paid zero in federal income taxes? That’s simply not fair,” Biden said.

Steve Taylor, an adjunct English professor at the City University of New York, said he felt the same way, arguing that rich people and corporations need to be paying more.

“I think they should pay their fair share. They’re getting away with murder. These guys are not paying any taxes. I mean, come on. I pay taxes. What’s the median for working people, like 25 percent? Come on. What’s going on?” he said in an interview.

Critics of corporate tax hikes argue that big businesses still pay billions in other types of taxes outside of taxed income.

The views of Taylor and Jean-Michel Doussos on the tax system are held by a majority of Americans, according to a variety of public opinion polls. 

Fifty-two percent of Americans believe the government should “redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich,” according to one such poll published by Gallup last August, while 47 percent feel the opposite. Prior to the 2008 financial crisis, those preferences were by-and-large flipped, with more Americans disagreeing with the idea of redistributing rich people’s wealth with taxes than agreeing.

A 2020 poll by Reuters/Ipsos found that nearly two-thirds of respondents believed “the very rich should contribute an extra share of their total wealth each year to support public programs.” Support for that position was stronger among Democrats, at 77 percent, but 53 percent of Republicans also stood behind it.

The difference between how workers and wages are taxed and how profits and businesses are taxed has been coined the “two-tiered tax system” by other members of the Biden administration, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

“At the core of the problem is a discrepancy in the ways types of income are reported to the IRS: opaque income sources frequently avoid scrutiny while wages and federal benefits are typically subject to nearly full compliance. This two-tiered tax system is unfair and deprives the country of resources to fund core priorities,” she said in 2021.

Tom Ankner, a librarian in Newark, New Jersey, said he appreciated hearing the message during Biden’s speech that the economy could treat people more fairly.

“I liked the fact that he was taking that line,” Ankner told The Hill. “Because that’s where I’d like [to see changes]. That’s the direction I’d like to see the country go.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Republicans ramp up criticism over Chinese spy balloon

Republicans are ramping up their criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of the Chinese spy balloon, after receiving classified briefings on the incursion and learning the U.S. shot down a second object above Alaska.

While the Chinese balloon has obvious geopolitical significance, it also gave Republican lawmakers a political opening — and they’ve taken it.

Before news of the second object broke, classified that briefings members of both chambers received this week seemed to do little to allay GOP frustrations. 

Republicans are publicly pressing the Biden administration for answers about its decision to allow the balloon to traverse the continental United States before shooting it down, and questioning what will happen when China tests the U.S. again in a similar fashion. 

“China sent a spy balloon to fly all across America. The Biden administration had a chance to shoot it down over Alaska and they chose to let it spy all across America. End of story,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told reporters following an all-senators briefing on Thursday. 

“The administration doesn’t want to commit to anything because they want the flexibility to do what I’m sure they would have done here if some enterprising pilots and photographers hadn’t spotted this balloon over Montana, let it go on its merry way, not tell Congress, not tell the American people, and certainly not shoot it down,” Cotton added.

Republicans doubled down on that criticism Friday afternoon after the White House announced that the U.S. military shot down a “high-altitude object” flying over Alaskan airspace.

Some GOP lawmakers are arguing it shows the U.S. did, indeed, have the capabilities to down the Chinese balloon immediately. The object, according to White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, was smaller than the Chinese balloon and was flying at 40,000 feet, posing “a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight.” Officials do not yet know where it originated.

“So we can shoot down suspicious objects BEFORE they get over our border… Just as I suggested,” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) wrote on Twitter.

“I’m trying to understand why this much smaller — by their own admission, much less capable — balloon with a much smaller payload was deemed such a threat that the other one wasn’t,” Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN in an interview. “And it can’t just be the altitude.”

Biden administration officials briefed House and Senate lawmakers behind closed doors on Thursday, providing more information on the decision to shoot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean after it traveled from Alaska to Montana and all the way to South Carolina. 

Biden this week said he ordered the Pentagon to shoot down the balloon “as soon as possible,” but national security officials determined that “the best time to do that was when it got over water.” After the device was shot down, the U.S. military began a recovery effort to gather the debris.

Most Republicans weren’t convinced.

A number of GOP senators leaving Thursday’s briefing indicated they did not learn much from administration officials that they had not gleaned already from public news reports, and remained resolute that the balloon should have been taken out. 

“I have a lot of unanswered questions,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said after Thursday’s briefing, noting that the balloon hovered over a base housing intercontinental ballistic missiles in his state. “There will be more work to do in terms of what was in the sophistication in that Chinese spy balloon.” 

Pressed about his expectations for how the administration will handle a future balloon, Daines, who chairs the Senate GOP campaign arm, said he thought it would be “on a case-by-case basis.”

“It depends on where the balloon is, it depends on whether we want to collect intelligence on it, it depends on the capabilities of the balloon,” he added.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), appeared visibly angry at a separate subcommittee hearing Thursday while questioning defense officials.

“As an Alaskan, I am so angry. I want to use other words but I’m not going to,” she said. “The fact of the matter is, Alaska is the first line of defense for America, right? If you’re going to have Russia coming at you, if you’re going to have China coming at you, we know exactly how they come. They come up and they go over Alaska.”

One notable exception, however, was Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who defended the Biden administration’s handling of the situation.

“My questions were satisfactorily answered and I believe the administration, the president, our military and our intelligence agencies acted skillfully and with care. At the same time, their capabilities are extraordinarily impressive,” Romney told reporters after the briefing.  

The situation was even more fraught in the House briefing, after which Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) boasted about how she “chewed out” administration officials. According to multiple lawmakers, Greene shouted obscenities and said “I don’t believe you” at the briefers as they tried to explain why they waited for the balloon to reach the Atlantic coast. 

“I tore ‘em to pieces,” Greene said. 

The House unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday condemning the Chinese Communist Party for floating the spy balloon over continental U.S., arguing that the mission was “a brazen violation of United States sovereignty.”

Some Republicans, according to Politico, initially sought to write up a resolution that criticized President Biden’s handling of the situation, with the idea of potentially holding a vote hours before he was scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday. 

But Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said he pushed for the measure to be bipartisan, underscoring the importance of sending a united message of disapproval to Beijing rather than highlighting Washington’s division.

Despite the resolution easily passing 419-0, some Republicans still tore into the administration during debate on the House floor.

 “The lack of response from this administration in my opinion was negligent,” said Rep. Russell Fry (R-S.C.), who represents a district the balloon floated over. “This was a test by the Chinese Communist Party and it saddens me to say that the administration failed that test.”

“As this spy balloon approached Alaska, the response should have been crystal clear. It should have been shot down before it entered our skies. Instead the Biden administration waffled again,” Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said. “They knowingly allowed a foreign military aircraft equipped with spyware to invade the U.S. sovereignty and navigate itself unimpeded across the country. putting the privacy of countless Americans at risk.”

Adding another dimension to the partisan squabbling is the nascent 2024 presidential battle as former President Trump sought to make political hay out of the situation. In a number of Truth Social posts, Trump claimed that the “Chinese would never have floated the Blimp (“Balloon”) over the United States if I were President!!!”

But reports have indicated that China flew multiple balloons over the U.S. during Trump’s presidency, though they were not detected at the time. 

Across the aisle, Democrats have largely backed up the White House and the military’s response to the balloon, arguing Beijing did not garner much information from the gargantuan device and that most of what they did procure, the U.S. knows about because they was able to monitor it and retrieve the intelligence after it landed in the ocean.

Biden on Thursday tried to tame the growing controversy, telling Noticias Telemundo in an interview that the balloon was “not a major breach,” likening it to other intelligence-gathering efforts across the globe.

“Look, the total amount of intelligence gathering that’s going on by every country around the world is overwhelming,” he said.

However, some still have plenty of questions and concerns. Specifically, what concerns them is the question of what’s next. 

“This isn’t the first incursion of U.S. airspace and it won’t be the last by a balloon. There needs to be a plan moving forward,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), a top Democratic target for the GOP in 2024, told reporters on Thursday. “I think there’s a lot of lines that need to be connected on the dots. … What did [the Chinese] get? And where’d they get it? And what are we going to do when it happens again?”

Source: TEST FEED1

Santos blames 'embellished resume' on local GOP as scrutiny continues

Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) on Thursday blamed the local Nassau County GOP for his “embellished resume,” as the freshman lawmaker continues to face intense media scrutiny over his background.

“I would have never gotten the nomination from Nassau County GOP if I had not concluded college,” Santos said in an interview with Newsmax on Thursday.

“To say that I deceived, and it was a campaign of deceit and deception is just not fair. That’s just the political spin that the Nassau County GOP wants to create on this narrative,” he added.

Santos first admitted in December to lying about his education and work experience. Despite his claims on the campaign trail, Santos did not attend Baruch College or any other university, and never worked for Citigroup or Goldman Sachs.

After previously describing himself as a “proud American Jew” and claiming that his grandparents fled persecution in Europe during the Holocaust, Santos later clarified that he identifies as Catholic and only meant that he was “Jew-ish.” 

The New York Republican has also been accused of lying about a litany of other things, including that he attended a prestigious prep school in New York, that his mother died from 9/11-related causes and that he knew several victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting. His finances are also currently the subject of multiple investigations.

“I’m human; I’ve made mistakes,” Santos said in Thursday’s interview. “I’ve made peace with those mistakes, and I’ve come clean on those mistakes.”

“I want to be judged based on my actions,” he added. “If you look at my report card, I stand right now as one of the most conservative members of Congress, keeping to my word that I will vote conservatively for the people of New York’s 3rd Congressional District.”

His comments come as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for him to resign.

Source: TEST FEED1

Trump legal team turns over additional classified materials to federal prosecutors: reports

Former President Trump’s legal team has turned over additional classified materials to federal prosecutors in recent months, multiple outlets reported on Friday.

The additional materials, which included an empty folder with classified markings, were discovered by Trump’s attorneys at his Mar-a-Lago residence and subsequently handed over to the Department of Justice (DOJ), according to The Associated Press. 

A current Trump aide’s laptop was also reportedly turned over to federal prosecutors, after it was found that the classified materials had been electronically copied onto the laptop, according to ABC News. ABC News was the first to report on the new classified materials.

The discoveries are the latest in a yearlong effort by the Justice Department to recover classified materials and other records from the former president.

The DOJ first became involved when more than 100 classified documents were discovered among boxes of records that the National Archives and Records Administration retrieved from Mar-a-Lago last January.

Trump’s attorneys turned over several more classified documents last June, in response to a subpoena from the Justice Department. 

However, amid concerns that classified materials remained at Mar-a-Lago, the FBI obtained a search warrant for the former president’s Florida home in August and discovered about 100 additional classified documents.

Trump’s handling of classified materials remains the subject of an investigation by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed in November to oversee the DOJ’s probes into the former president. Smith is also leading the department’s investigation into Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Reports also emerged on Thursday that former Vice President Mike Pence and former national security advisor Robert O’Brien had both received subpoenas from Smith.

Classified documents have also been found in the private homes of President Biden and Pence — and those documents have been turned into DOJ and are under investigation.

Source: TEST FEED1

Scott announces new Social Security, Medicare bill amid Biden feud

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) announced a new bill on Friday to increase funding for Social Security and Medicare and institute a higher standard for making cuts to the entitlement programs, following President Biden’s pointed accusations during his annual address before Congress on Tuesday.

“I have been fighting since day one to protect and preserve programs like Social Security and Medicare for Florida’s seniors, and today I am proud to announce new legislation, my Protect Our Seniors Act, to safeguard the benefits of these critical entitlements,” Scott said in a press release.

The legislation aims to rescind the nearly $80 billion in funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that was approved in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act and redirect it towards Social Security and Medicare. The IRS funding has been a frequent target of Republicans, who have denounced it as creating an “army of 87,000 IRS agents.”

The bill would also require that any cuts to Social Security or Medicare be approved by a two-thirds vote in Congress and would block Medicare savings from being used for other spending initiatives.

It is unclear how this legislation fits in with Scott’s previous proposal, which has been at the center of the recent dispute with Biden and Democrats. 

In an 11-point plan released last February, Scott suggested that all federal legislation should sunset after five years, and “if a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.” This would mean that Social Security and Medicare, like other federal legislation, would need to be renewed by Congress every five years.

Biden earned a sharp response from Republicans during his annual State of the Union speech on Tuesday, when he suggested that some GOP lawmakers also wanted the entitlement programs to sunset. Although he declined to name specific individuals, Biden appeared to be pointing to Scott’s proposal.

“It is being proposed by individuals. I’m politely not naming them, but it’s being proposed by some of you,” Biden said.

After the speech, Scott doubled down on his original proposal and accused Biden of lying about his plan, calling it “a dishonest move … from a very confused president,” even inviting the president to debate him while he visited his home state.

The Florida Republican has received lukewarm support from his own party for the original proposal, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday calling it “the Rick Scott plan” and “not the Republican plan.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Trump touts Pence as 'honorable man' in light of special counsel subpoena

Former President Trump touted former Vice President Mike Pence as an “honorable man” on Friday, following reports that Pence had received a subpoena from the Department of Justice’s special counsel investigating Trump on multiple fronts.

“Mike Pence is an honorable man,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Digital on Friday.

Trump’s remarks come one day after reports emerged that Special Counsel Jack Smith had subpoenaed his former vice president. 

Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November to oversee the Justice Department’s investigations into the former president, including his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and his handling of classified materials.

According to CNN, the subpoena requested documents and testimony related to Smith’s probe into the events of Jan. 6.

Pence notably defied Trump’s request to block the certification of the 2020 election on Jan. 6, leading the former president to tweet that “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done,” as rioters stormed the Capitol.

Despite their rocky history, Trump has recently come to Pence’s defense after classified materials were also discovered at the former vice president’s home in Indiana.

“Mike Pence is an innocent man. He never did anything knowingly dishonest in his life. Leave him alone!!!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. 

Pence brought in outside counsel to check for classified documents last month, as President Biden faced his own scandal over misplaced classified materials.

Lawyers found “a small number of documents that could potentially contain sensitive or classified information” in Pence’s records that were promptly turned over to the FBI.

Another classified document was found by federal investigators who searched Pence’s home on Friday.

Source: TEST FEED1

Rep. Angie Craig releases new statement on attack: 'I was very, very lucky'

Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) released a new statement on Friday in the wake of the previous day’s assault, noting that she feels “very fortunate” to have escaped the attack with few injuries.

“My morning coffee really saved the day yesterday, but not exactly how I expected it to,” Craig said. “On a serious note, I will say that I was very, very lucky that I was not more injured — and I’ll have more to say about that soon.”

A man attacked Craig in the elevator of her apartment building in Washington, D.C., on Thursday morning, punching her in the chin and grabbing her by the neck, according to an initial police report of the incident.

The congresswoman then threw her hot coffee on the attacker to defend herself, and the assailant fled the scene.

Craig “suffered bruising, but is otherwise physically okay,” her chief of staff Nick Coe said Thursday after the attack. The incident does not appear to be politically motivated, Coe noted.

D.C. police arrested and charged 26-year-old Kendrick Hamlin, also known as Hamlin Khalil Hamlin, for the assault on Thursday night. 

“I remain deeply grateful to the law enforcement officers for their quick response and subsequent arrest of a suspect last night,” Craig said in Friday’s statement.

The congresswoman said she is currently home in Minnesota recovering from the attack and expressed gratitude for the “outpouring of support” she has received.

“I wanted to let everyone know that the outpouring of support from friends, constituents and colleagues has been overwhelming,” she said. “From myself, Cheryl and our entire family, thank you.”

Fellow Minnesotan, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D), touted Craig’s strength in handling the incident on Thursday.

“To give you a sense of how strong @AngieCraigMN is, she went straight to the Hill this morning and attended a meeting in the Senate with the Governor and me and several members of our delegation about legislation for the people of her district,” Klobuchar said in a tweet.

“No one messes with Angie,” she quipped.

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden has big plans for junk fees, a billionaire's tax and paid leave. But can he actually enact them?

President Joe Biden is pursuing an aggressive economic agenda aimed at boosting worker power, taxing the rich, reducing fees and taking on dominant corporations.

But with Republicans in control of the House — and eager to block the president’s wishlist — Biden doesn’t have a pathway to enact many of the economic reforms announced at his State of the Union address, including a four percent tax on stock buybacks, a wealth tax on billionaires and expanded paid leave for workers. 

That’s why the Biden administration is shifting its focus to regulations in an effort to secure economic wins without the help of Congress. Its recent proposals include a ban on all non-compete agreements and a high-profile campaign against so-called “junk fees.”

Here’s how likely it is that any of these proposals become law anytime soon.

What are ‘junk fees’?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), under the direction of Biden appointee Rohit Chopra, unveiled a proposed rule last week to cap credit card late fees at $8, which would save American consumers $9 billion annually, according to an agency estimate.  

It’s the latest effort by federal agencies to take on surprise fees that the administration sees as deceptive and unnecessary. The Department of Transportation has proposed a rule to require airlines to show all extra fees upfront, while the Federal Trade Commission is working on its own rule aimed at blocking surprise fees for customers purchasing concert tickets or booking a hotel room. 

Consumers have expressed frustration over fees charged by powerful companies like Ticketmaster, noting that they don’t have a choice if they don’t want to pay the fee and it typically isn’t shown upfront.

“Look, junk fees may not matter to the very wealthy, but they matter to most other folks in homes like the one I grew up in, like many of you did,” Biden told Congress on Tuesday. “I know how unfair it feels when a company overcharges you and gets away with it. Not anymore.”

Will junk fee regulations survive lawsuits?

The Biden administration will need to stave off legal challenges from business groups that represent some of the largest U.S. companies, which are preparing to counter the regulatory-centric strategy. 

“We definitely anticipate some of the policymaking energy, at least from Democrats, to be more focused on the regulatory front, given it’s more difficult if not impossible at this point for them to pass major legislation through Congress,” said Bill Hulse, vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness.

The Chamber, the nation’s largest corporate lobbying group, is “taking a very deep look” at challenging the credit card rule, Hulse said. He pointed to questions about whether the CFPB followed various legal obligations, such as examining the rule’s impact on small banks and credit unions or consulting with federal banking regulators. 

Anne Balcer, senior executive vice president of government relations at the Independent Community Bankers of America, said that her group will “consider all options to ensure our nation’s community banks are not disproportionately impacted by this proposed rule and are able to offer a full suite of products and services to small businesses and consumers.”

What law might target junk fees?

During his address, Biden called on Congress to pass the Junk Fee Prevention Act, which would codify many of the administration’s regulatory efforts, protecting them from legal action. 

But Republicans have pushed back on the proposals, arguing that the federal government shouldn’t dictate the business model of private companies.

“Any attempts by the CFPB or other financial regulators to stifle financial inclusion or consumer choice or undermine the safety and soundness of particular financial institutions or the financial system as a whole would be imprudent,” House Republicans wrote in an October letter to the CFPB opposing restrictions on bank overdraft and other fees.

What is a non-compete agreement and why does it matter to workers?

Biden’s FTC last month released a proposal to ban non-compete agreements, which aim to prevent workers from moving to a similar job in the same field or part of the country. 

Those agreements, which impact at least 30 million Americans, often limit employees’ ability to get a raise or start their own business. The FTC estimates that the clauses cost workers nearly $300 billion in wages each year.

Virginia-based veterinarian Lori Rios wrote in a comment to the FTC that a non-compete agreement forced her to work at a poorly-managed practice for five years. She was only able to escape the clause by moving 120 miles away and seeing her family only on the weekends for three years.

“This proposal would revolutionize my life and the life of so many bound employees. I sincerely hope this is not another proposal from the government that ends up going nowhere or takes decades to finally come to fruition. Many of us cannot afford to give away decades more of our work life,” Rios wrote.

The U.S. Chamber and other business groups are exploring legal action to defeat the rule, along with legislation in Congress to block its implementation. Employers are particularly concerned that the rule would upend existing agreements. Companies worry that it would lead to the transfer of trade secrets to their competitors.

Can the billionaire’s tax pass Congress?

Biden’s billionaire’s tax proposal, first unveiled last year, would enact a minimum 20 percent tax on households with a net worth of $100 million or more. The White House argues that billionaires pay less in taxes than most working families, as most of their wealth is in investments that are taxed at a lower rate.

“No billionaire should be paying a lower tax rate than a school teacher or a firefighter,” Biden said Tuesday. 

The tax would need to go through Congress, and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has promised that spending bills will not include any tax hikes. Meanwhile, a billionaire’s tax was supposed to be part of the Inflation Reduction Act, but Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) opposed it, arguing that the federal government shouldn’t tax unrealized gains. 

Can Biden quadruple the stock buyback tax?

Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act enacted a 1 percent tax on stock buybacks, which is when publicly traded companies repurchase their own shares from investors to boost their stock price and attract investors.

Democrats have criticized buybacks, arguing that companies should reinvest extra money into better pay and benefits for workers and stronger infrastructure. Many Democrats hoped that the 1 percent tax would discourage companies from repurchasing their shares, but Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and oil giant Chevron recently announced $40 billion and $75 billion in buybacks, respectively.

Biden called for quadrupling the tax, which would likely push companies away from the tactic, or at the very least bring in more revenue for the federal government.

Still, Biden’s proposal also stands no chance in a divided Congress. Republicans attacked the 1 percent tax, arguing that it would impact stock prices and hurt retirement accounts.

Can Biden extend paid leave for employees?

Only 25 percent of U.S. workers receive paid family leave and 41 percent get paid medical leave through their employer, according to Labor Department data.

The U.S. is the only developed country that doesn’t mandate paid leave for new parents.

Biden has called on Congress to expand paid leave, arguing that it would help alleviate the shortage of workers by enabling “millions of more people to go and stay at work.”

While lawmakers have discussed bipartisan paid leave legislation, ideological differences make for a difficult road ahead. Republicans want to provide tax credits to businesses that provide paid leave, while Democrats prefer a taxpayer-funded program. Both proposals would add to the deficit at a time when the GOP is trying to cut spending.

Source: TEST FEED1

Trump attacks Rihanna ahead of Super Bowl: 'Without her “Stylist” she’d be NOTHING'

Former President Trump criticized singer Rihanna on Thursday ahead of her planned performance at the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday. 

“Without her “Stylist” she’d be NOTHING. Bad everything, and NO TALENT!” Trump posted on his Truth Social account. 

Trump’s post came in response to a post on the social media platform from Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) saying that Rihanna should not be the performer. Jackson criticized the singer for spray-painting criticism of Trump on a car at a ranch in Amarillo, Texas, in 2020. 

Rihanna and Trump have clashed before. She won a legal victory over Trump in 2018 when her performing rights company, Broadcast Music Inc., informed the then-president that he could no longer use her music at his rallies. 

After a Washington Post reporter tweeted that her music was “blaring” at a rally in Tallahassee, Fla., Rihanna responded, “Not for much longer…me nor my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies.” 

Rihanna was vocal about her criticism of Trump during his presidency. 

Other musicians like Pharrell Williams, Elton John and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler have also requested that Trump not play their music at his rallies. 

Rihanna’s performance at the halftime show will be her first in years.

Source: TEST FEED1