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Author Topic: U.S. Politics  (Read 192258 times)

Offline Martin Weidmann

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1296 on: April 19, 2023, 02:55:49 PM »
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Even leftist publications see the writing on the wall:

Politico (April 15) headline:

Biden’s poll numbers look grim as he preps for reelection bid

Funny... Hope always dies last    :D

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1296 on: April 19, 2023, 02:55:49 PM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1297 on: April 19, 2023, 10:11:47 PM »
Even leftist publications see the writing on the wall:

Politico (April 15) headline:

Biden’s poll numbers look grim as he preps for reelection bid

 :D :D :D

Donald Trump's poll numbers are at 25%

Donald Trump's and the right wing media's favorite Republican pollster Rasmussen has Biden at 49% approval rating. That's nearly half the country that supports President Biden. It ticked up one point from 48% on Monday. Plus the overwhelming majority of Americans support all of his policies. 

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll, for Wednesday shows that 49% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Biden’s job performance.

https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/political_updates/prez_track_apr19

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1298 on: April 19, 2023, 10:47:04 PM »
'Assault on freedom’: Critics blast DeSantis for expanding ‘Don’t Say Gay’ to all grades after vowing it would be limited



Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, though his Department of Education and its chair, Manny Diaz, has officially expanded his "Don't Say Gay" law to include all public school grades, from kindergarten through 12th. DeSantis had promoted the highly-controversial and possibly unconstitutional law originally as applying only to children through third grade.

"DeSantis has not commented on the proposal. He previously directed questions to Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., who said it was meant to clarify confusion around the existing law and reinforce that teachers should not deviate from existing curriculums," according to the Associated Press, a claim that is in direct conflict with how DeSantis and Republicans in Florida and across the country framed the law last year.

"The board voted Wednesday to adopt a new rule that says Florida teachers in grades 4 through 12 'shall not intentionally provide classroom instruction … on sexual orientation or gender identity' unless this instruction is required by state academic standards — it is not — or the lessons form 'part of a reproductive health course' from which a student’s parent can opt out their child," The Washington Post reports.

Unlike the original law, DeSantis has made this an administrative change, requiring no vote from the people's elected representatives.

"Supporters of the rules," ABC News adds, "argue that 'there is no reason for instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity to be part of K-12 public education. Full stop,' according to a spokesperson for DeSantis, who has backed restrictions on education about race, gender identity and sexual orientation and more in his war on 'woke.'"

Outrage was swift.

Political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen described the move to ban any instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity, "barring the acknowledgment of the existence of LGBT people for all K-12 Florida students."

Jack Petocz, a political strategist for the group Gen-Z for Change who describes himself as a "Gay student activist living rent free in Ron DeSantis’ mind," did not hold back.

"As legislators try to erase queer people from public schools, a REMINDER that youth will never comply. We will never accept a world that deems bigotry the status quo and censors our classmates," Petocz said on Twitter. "They are f*****g around, and they’re gonna find out one day soon."

Artist, activist, and producer Barbara Malmet said: "Don’t say gay. Don’t say period. Don’t say racist history. Don’t say Disney. Don’t say abortion. Do say anyone can carry a gun without a permit. All of it in DeSantis’ Florida."

"Instead of winning young voters, Republicans plan to keep them ignorant," observed well-known political commentator and author Keith Boykin.

"The lust for government censorship is insatiable," said Equality Florida, the state's largest LGBTQ civil rights organization, in a Twitter thread.

"Let’s put it plainly," the group added, "this is part of the Governor’s assault on freedom. Free states do not ban books. Free states do not censor entire communities out of the classroom. Free states do not wage war on LGBTQ people to score cheap political points for a man desperate to be POTUS."

"This policy will escalate the government censorship sweeping our state, exacerbate our educator exodus, drive hardworking families from Florida, and further stigmatize and isolate a population of young people who need our support now more than ever."

https://www.rawstory.com/on-freedom-critics-blast-desantis-for-expanding-dont-say-gay-to-all-grades-after-vowing-it-would-be-limited/

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1298 on: April 19, 2023, 10:47:04 PM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1299 on: April 20, 2023, 04:08:02 AM »
Two very different agendas.


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1300 on: April 20, 2023, 06:41:05 AM »
The face of the Republican party, MAGA/Qanon conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene is a total embarrassment and an absolute disgrace. 

Marjorie Taylor Greene was so over the top at a hearing yesterday that even some Republicans are embarrassed and tired of her attention seeking antics.

CNN reports: "Republican Congressman Mark Green, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is furious about the outrageous behavior of Greene during today’s hearing and will ask Kevin McCarthy to remove her from the Committee if she does it again." He shouldn't have given her a pass and asked for it to be done now. Weak Kevin McCarthy will never do it because he is afraid of Marge. 

Marjorie Taylor Greene called Secretary Mayorkas "a liar" and informed that her infraction prohibits her from continuing, and she was fact checked by Rep. Dan Goldman:

Greene: "Point of personal inquiry."
Goldman: "There’s no such thing."

LEGEND.

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1648753941650210816



Watch: Eric Swalwell busts Marjorie Taylor Greene for 'anti-police rhetoric' to her face



Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) on Wednesday turned the tables on Republicans who are still accusing Democrats of wanting to "defund" police officers across the United States.

During a congressional hearing on Thursday, Swalwell highlighted recent attacks on the FBI launched by both former President Donald Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

"I'm disturbed about a recent tweet from the former president that says Republicans in Congress should defund the Department of Justice and the FBI," he began. "I'm also concerned about people on this committee and their own anti-police rhetoric."

He then pulled up a photo of Greene hawking "Defund the FBI" hats and shirts in the wake of the FBI search for top-secret government documents at former President Donald Trump's resort in Florida.

"Thousands of FBI agents work hard every day to take bad guys off the streets," he said. "In fact, after the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago, someone armed to the teeth went to an FBI field office and tried to kill FBI agents."

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1648718296852873221



You should be afraid': Marjorie Taylor Greene threatens Bud Light with the 'right mob'



Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) issued a veiled threat toward Anheuser-Busch – the parent company of Bud Light – on Wednesday's edition of her podcast, proclaiming that the "right mob" will seek its vengeance against the corporation for its culturally inclusionary policies.

"What, what is happening to Bud Light is every single red-blooded American, every single redneck across America, and I love them cuz they're my friends, are canceling Bud Light. And they're canceling Bud Light – one of their own – because they are so fed up and angry about it. You see, a lot of corporations are always worried about being attacked by the woke mob. The real huge group of consumers you should be afraid of is the right mob," Greene seethed.

"Those are conservative Americans that once they've had enough, they will cancel you so hard and they don't care who you donate your money to," Greene said. "They will cancel you so hard and they'll never come back."

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1648392336865370113



That's totally fallacious, ma'am': Witness shreds Marjorie Taylor Greene for misinformation



Dr. Mark Lowenthal accused Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) of misleading the public about the origins of Covid-19.

During a House hearing on Covid-19 Tuesday, Greene complained that the government could track down alleged military leaker Jack Teixeira but couldn't determine the origins of the virus.

"So, the intelligence community is able to figure out immediately who was leaking classified information in a Discord chat, but yet still doesn't want to say whether it came from the lab or didn't come from the lab," Greene said. "The intelligence communities seem to release or not release information based on how the information will affect the government that it seems to protect."

Lowenthal, a former intelligence agent, responded to Greene.

"May I respond to something else that you said in your comments, Ms. Greene?" he began. "There is a vast, vast difference between tracking a leak on a social media site and determining the origins of this disease. And to compare the two is entirely fallacious, ma'am."

"Dr. Lowenthal, you've said that you keep your intelligence claims and information nonpartisan," Greene shot back. "In 2018, Mr. Lowenthal, you were quoted in the New York Times saying that President Trump is the best president that Russia ever had. That sounds pretty political to me."

"I was no longer an intelligence officer at the time, ma'am," Lowenthal replied. "I'm a private citizen."

"Well, I think you have a difficult time keeping your political opinions out of your political [analysis]," Greene quipped.

Watch:


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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1300 on: April 20, 2023, 06:41:05 AM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1301 on: April 20, 2023, 06:55:04 AM »
The very first bill House Republicans passed – with 221 Republican votes – would make it easier for the super wealthy to cheat on their taxes.

Extreme MAGA House Republicans support repealing President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

This would raise costs for families, offshore manufacturing jobs, protect wealthy tax cheats, and hurt American energy independence.

The leading House Republican budget proposal would cut programs hardworking Americans rely on by 22%.

That would mean longer wait times for Social Security and Medicare benefits, higher costs for child care and education, cuts to Medicaid and food assistance, and more.

Republicans in Congress want to make the Trump tax cuts permanent – without paying for them.

This would give an average tax cut of $175,000 per year to families making more than $4 million a year.

55 major companies paid $0 in federal income taxes in 2020 on $40 billion in profits.

Because of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, they now have to pay a 15% minimum tax.

House Republicans want to eliminate this and let those corporations go back to paying $0.


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1302 on: April 20, 2023, 09:02:05 AM »
The simple fact is, no other President in history has done more for job creation and manufacturing than President Biden and he's only a little over 2 years into his first term.

Nearly 13 million new jobs have been created including nearly 1 million new manufacturing jobs.

Thanks to President Biden's investment in America with the Inflation Reduction Act and Chips Act, tens of billions of dollars are being poured into new projects which is creating thousands of new jobs in small towns and suburbs all across America. 

Also because of President Biden's policies, new plants and factories are being built all across America, which is bringing an economic boom to local communities. One other important factor is that people are not having to relocate for work due to an abundance of new job openings and factories that are nearby.

Let's not forget that Republicans in Congress all voted against the Inflation Reduction Act and Chips Act. They spent their time trashing President Biden and Democrats for passing this historic legislation that's putting United States #1 in the world. They said it was "woke agenda" and "won't do anything for job creation". They were all wrong again. 

The people benefiting most from President Biden's policies are Republican voters in red districts who are getting the majority of these projects in their communities. Their own Republican congressmen and Senators voted against their own constituents' well being. These Republican voters should be thanking President Biden and Democrats for looking out for them by giving them good paying jobs and helping their communities flourish. Why on Earth would they ever be voting for a Republican when they don't do anything for them? 

If it was up to Republicans, we never would be having this record job creation or manufacturing boom. We still would be in the same economic disaster that Donald Trump put us in along with his manufacturing recession. But thanks to President Biden, those days are long gone, and even right wingers can no longer try to criticize President Biden's policies because their red districts are feeling the Biden manufacturing boom.                       

The fact is, Democrats are better at managing the economy and with job and manufacturing creation. History has proven it and we are seeing history being made in these last 2 years thanks to President Biden's policies.   


'Transformational change’: Biden’s industrial policy begins to bear fruit
FT research shows commitments of more than $200bn to US manufacturing since IRA and Chips Act



The US appears poised for a manufacturing boom as companies tap into Biden administration subsidies with pledges to spend tens of billions of dollars on new projects, according to Financial Times research.

The Chips Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, passed within days of each other last August, together include more than $400bn in tax credits, grants and loans designed to foster a domestic semiconductor industry and clean-tech manufacturing base. The package was aimed at countering China’s dominance in strategic sectors such as electric vehicles and recapturing jobs from abroad.

The FT identified more than 75 large-scale manufacturing announcements in the US since the passage of these two industrial policies. Here is what we learned.

Semiconductor and clean energy projects

Companies have committed roughly $204bn in large-scale projects to boost US semiconductor and clean-tech production as of April 14, promising to create at least 82,000 jobs. While not all these projects were a direct result of the passage of these bills, they will probably be eligible for the tax credits. The amount is almost double the capital spending commitments made in the same sectors in 2021 and nearly 20 times the amount in 2019. While the FT identified four projects worth at least $1bn each in the semiconductor and clean-technology sectors in 2019, we found 31 of that size after August 2022.

Semiconductors, electric vehicles and batteries captured the bulk of investment. The FT identified 21 semiconductor-related investments and more than three dozen projects aimed at boosting the US electric vehicle supply chain.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s $28bn expansion in Phoenix marks the largest investment to date, bringing the company’s total investment in its Arizona fabrication plants to $40bn, the biggest foreign direct investment project in US history.

The FT looked at projects involving capital investment of at least $100mn since the Chips Act and IRA were passed. We included projects aimed at boosting manufacturing in the semiconductor, electric-vehicle, battery and clean-energy sectors. Our analysis was based on company and government announcements and drew on data from fDi Markets, Rystad Energy, Wavteq and the Semiconductor Industry Association.

The IRA included $369bn worth of tax credits, grants and loans for clean-tech development, with bonus credits for projects paying prevailing wages or located in fossil-fuel communities. The credits can be accumulated, accounting for about 50 per cent of costs for some projects, say accountants. The Chips Act provides $39bn in funding for semiconductor manufacturing as well as $24bn worth of manufacturing tax credits.

“The industrial policy that’s being put into place hasn’t been seen for generations,” said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. “This is a generational, transformational change that we’re seeing in America and our productive capacity.”

Republican districts are winning projects

More than 75 per cent of all investment is headed to Republican-held Congressional districts, where it will create 58,000 jobs, according to FT data.

The surge in spending pledges in Republican areas comes despite the GOP’s votes against both the Chips Act and IRA in Congress. Some in the party remain critical of the legislation.

“I wish that we would be more specific and more calculated in our efforts,” said John Curtis, a Republican representative for Utah and founder of the Conservative Climate Caucus. Curtis declined to say whether he supported or opposed the legislation.

Republican congressional districts have secured far more investment

Senior Democrats are working to gain political credit for the jobs promised by the spending pledged since the industrial policies were passed last year.

Earlier this month, US vice-president Kamala Harris toured Hanwha Qcells’ solar factory in Dalton, Georgia, a district represented by the far-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene. Harris announced that the South Korean manufacturer would build the largest community solar project in the US, on top of its $2.5bn expansion announced in January.

“It’s going to be harder for Republican lawmakers to say these policies aren’t effective or aren’t worth it because they’re seeing jobs being produced in their communities,” Paul said.


Over $200bn in green tech and semiconductor investments have been announced since the passage of President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act & Chips Act.


Foreign investors want a stake — including China

About a third of all investments announced since August involve a foreign investor, with nearly two dozen projects coming from companies headquartered in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. This includes LG Energy Solution’s $5.5bn proposed project in Arizona, announced in March, the largest battery investment ever in the US.

Analysts say these investments from the US’s Asian allies are also attempts to diversify away from dependence on China’s supply chains.

“Their strategic calculations here are somewhat similar to the United States’, in that China is the largest economy in their region but it’s also an economy with which they have somewhat tense security relationships,” said Cullen Hendrix, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

But Chinese investors are also vying for a stake in the US supply chain. While the Chips Act and the IRA have anti-China clauses, the US government is yet to rule on the extent to which Chinese companies can participate in building US facilities.

Two other large deals announced since August, both in Michigan, are Ford’s $3.5bn battery plant using technology from CATL, China’s battery giant, and a $2.4bn battery plant being built by a subsidiary of China’s Gotion. Both Chinese companies have been accused by some Republicans of being fronts for the Chinese Communist party. Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin rejected a proposal for the Ford project to be based in his state, telling TV reporters that it was a “Trojan horse”.

“There is no Communist plot,” said Chuck Thelen, North American vice-president of Gotion at a local town meeting. “The fact is we already live in a global industry, and to bring a Chinese manufacturing or a multinational manufacturing site into North America is the onshoring that our past president really promoted.”

CATL did not respond to a request for comment.

'A race to the bottom’

The competition is fierce to win the largest manufacturing projects, with states doling out historic incentive packages to secure investments.

Of the spending commitments tracked by the FT, less than half — or about $80bn — disclosed the size of the subsidies they will receive from state and local authorities, on top of the credits available in the IRA and Chips Act. The total size of the subsidies for those that did disclose them amounted to $13.7bn.

The largest disclosed incentive package was $5.5bn given to Micron for its $20bn semiconductor fab in Clay, New York, helping the state beat Texas to the project.

“We gave every penny that we could give, and New York literally offered billions of dollars that we could not keep up with,” said Texas governor Greg Abbott in February.

The subsidy race has raised concerns among watchdogs over whether the projects will deliver economic benefits to the community.

Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, called the competition among states a “race to the bottom”. Because negotiations are rooted in secrecy, companies can convince states to give out larger packages even if they were intending to site in the state all along.

“We’re all in favour of green jobs. We’re all in favour of saving the planet. We’re not in favour of busting the budget to do that,” said LeRoy. Last year set an all-time record for billion-dollar subsidy packages, according to the research group.

https://www.ft.com/content/b6cd46de-52d6-4641-860b-5f2c1b0c5622

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1303 on: April 20, 2023, 09:13:26 AM »
Under the House GOP default ransom demand, here are the states that would see hundreds of billions in private sector investments and hundreds of thousands of jobs ripped away and sent overseas. Mostly red states.

Republicans want to destroy the progress and success President Biden has achieved these last two years by defaulting on the debt Republicans incurred during the 4 disastrous Trump years.



House Republican leaders are proposing repealing hundreds of billions of dollars in clean-energy subsidies in exchange for lifting the federal debt limit
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-19/gop-proposes-nixing-climate-bill-subsidies-in-debt-limit-debate

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Re: U.S. Politics
« Reply #1303 on: April 20, 2023, 09:13:26 AM »