U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

Major US baby formula producer agrees with regulators on restarting production



Abbott warned that it will take six to eight weeks to get baby formula back on the shelves even afer it resumes production at its facility in Sturgis, Michigan

Washington (AFP) - Amid a US shortage of baby formula, officials announced Monday a previously closed manufacturer would re-open and encouraged foreign companies to apply to import their products -- although it will take weeks to see more stock back on store shelves.

A "consent decree" agreement between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and major formula manufacturer Abbott outlines steps needed to restart production at the company's plant in Michigan, which was shut down due to a recall, Abbott said in a statement.

"Once the FDA confirms the initial requirements for start-up have been met, Abbott could restart the site within two weeks," the statement said.

However, the company cautioned that "from the time Abbott restarts the site, it will take six to eight weeks before product is available on shelves."

Abbott, which produces the popular Similac brand used by millions of American families, announced a voluntary recall on February 17 after the death of two babies.

In a separate move, the FDA also said Monday it plans to accept applications from international baby formula manufacturers "who don't normally distribute their infant formula products in the US," FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said in a statement.

Currently, the United States produces about 98 percent of the formula it consumes.

Import applications

The FDA plans to work to quickly review such applications, especially ones that come from "countries that have health and safety inspection systems similar" to the United States, according to a senior White House official.

The process would also prioritize applications showing "clear quality and safety and nutritional adequacy," a different senior administration official added.

According to Califf, foreign-made baby formula could appear on US shelves within "weeks."

The Biden administration was also reaching out to US manufacturers to offer help with logistical challenges, such as shipping, the officials said.

US families have grown increasingly desperate for formula amid a perfect storm of supply chain issues and the massive recall.

The average out-of-stock rate for baby formula hit 43 percent earlier this month, according to Datasembly, which collected information from more than 11,000 retailers.

Abbott's agreement with the FDA to restart production at the plant in Sturgis, Michigan also needs to be reviewed by a federal court after the Justice Department filed a complaint on Monday.

The complaint says the facility "failed to comply with regulations designed to ensure the quality and safety of infant formula, including protection against the risk of contamination from bacteria."

"The actions we are announcing today will help to safely increase the supply of baby formula for families," US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

Robert Ford, chairman and chief executive officer of Abbott said he regretted the situation and that the company already had begun "working to implement improvements and take corrective action."

"We know millions of parents and caregivers depend on us and we're deeply sorry that our voluntary recall worsened the nationwide formula shortage," he said in the statement.

The FDA and White House officials reiterated Monday that parents who are concerned about running out of baby formula should talk to their child's doctor, and that it is not safe to water down existing formula or to make your own at home.

© Agence France-Presse

[Rick Plant]

President Biden's infrastructure plan has 4,300 projects

Six months after the signing of President Joe Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure package, the government said Monday there are 4,300 projects underway with more than $110 billion in funding announced — milestones the administration is publicly heralding as midterm politics intensify.

White House senior adviser Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans, said the roads, bridges and other projects are laying "a foundation for tremendous growth into the future." Landrieu said Biden and members of his administration have made more than 125 trips to highlight the bipartisan investments in infrastructure.

"I think that if Americans step back, we will all have to admit that for the last 50 years we've had the need to do this and we haven't found the will or the way to get it done," Landrieu told reporters. He added that this is a "wonderful down payment" on infrastructure needs in the country that total roughly $7 trillion.

The administration made a strategic calculation that delivering results would help Democrats retain control of the House and the Senate in this year's elections. Infrastructure was a rare source of bipartisan unity as Biden struck a deal that attracted several Republican senators. The law contains money to expand internet access and replace lead water pipes and for rail and public transit projects and investments to address climate change.

When Biden signed the law on Nov. 15, he pledged to voters that "America is moving again and your life is going to change for the better."

Of the $110 billion announced so far, $52.5 billion is for federal highway funding this fiscal year and $20.5 billion for public transit. There is another $27 billion over five years for bridges, as well as money for safety, rural highways, airports, ports, drought resilience and other programs.

The infrastructure spending is also one area where political leaders will have to share credit with each other. Governors and mayors are responsible for 90% of the expenditures in the law, while the federal government accounts for 10% of the spending. The administration has actively tried to help state and local governments compete for the money, with Landrieu noting that even Republican critics are generally eager to receive the funding.

"Some really smart person said, you know, even those people that voted no want the dough," he said. "This is as close to consensus in my political life that I have seen."

The Commerce Department last week called on states to begin the process of submitting their plans for universal access to high-speed internet. Biden has also taken steps to maximize the likelihood that construction materials are made domestically, as the money has started to go out.

Landrieu said the two biggest challenges of coordinating the spending have involved offering technical assistance to smaller governments and enabling workforce development to fill the jobs being created. There are 7.6 million construction jobs in the U.S., with employers advertising about 400,000 openings in the sector.

Landrieu said that those challenges are also "an unbelievable opportunity to get right something that we actually haven't been collectively very good at in the country."

If the government succeeds with coordination and future administrations follow suit, Landrieu said, "America is going to grow exponentially faster and winning the 21st century is not going to be a challenge for us."

AFP

[Rick Plant]

Backed by Murdoch and Koch, Pennsylvania Senate GOP campaigns spend over $55 million on primary ads

Data shows that the campaigns of former Bridgewater Associates CEO Dave McCormick and veteran physician Dr. Mehmet Oz spent more than $20 million, combined, on ads.

The stretch of ads during the final weeks of the election have been funded in part by a wide array of business leaders and special interests.

In April, News Corp Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch donated $200,000 to the pro-McCormick group Honor Pennsylvania.



The Pennsylvania Senate Republican primary on Tuesday could be one of the most expensive races in the 2022 election cycle, with candidates and political action committees spending more than $55 million on television and radio ads, according to ad tracker Medium Buying.

Data shows that the campaigns of former Bridgewater Associates CEO Dave McCormick and veteran physician Dr. Mehmet Oz spent more than $20 million, combined, on attack ads and other advertising. Honor Pennsylvania, a super PAC backing McCormick, has spent just over $17 million for its candidate, while the pro-Oz American Leadership Action PAC has invested over $3 million in the race. Oz, McCormick and their allied super PACs have combined to raise over $50 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Super PACs can accept and spend unlimited amounts of money backing a single candidate or issue so long as the funds aren’t directly controlled by the candidate.

Some of Wall Street’s billionaires have donated big money toward backing either McCormick or Oz, including Ken Griffin, the CEO of Chicago-based investment firm Citadel, and Nelson Peltz, the co-founder of investment firm Trian Partners.

Representatives for McCormick and Oz did not respond to requests for comment before publication.

Despite all that money, Kathy Barnette, a conservative political commentator running for the same Senate seat, has surged in recent polls to nearly tie Oz and McCormick. All three are among the candidates vying for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat that is being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey.

A Fox News poll of Pennsylvania Republican primary voters conducted May 3-7 shows Barnette with a 19% approval rating, just three points behind Oz, who leads that survey with 22% support. Her campaign has raised over $1.7 million, including over $180,000 in April, mainly from small-dollar donors, records show. The campaign has spent over $197,000 on ads throughout the entire election, according to AdImpact, which also tracks campaign spending.

That surge by Barnette has led to outside groups backing Oz and McCormick to run anti-Barnette spots in the final days of the election, Medium Buying said.

The stretch of ads during the final weeks of the election have been funded in part by a wide array of business leaders and special interests.

News Corp Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch donated $200,000 in April to the pro-McCormick group Honor Pennsylvania, according to FEC records. After raising over $2.8 million that month, the organization has gone on air to take aim at Barnette. A representative for News Corp did not respond to requests for comment.

News Corp owns newspapers around the world, including The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. Murdoch is also the chairman of Fox Corp., the controlling company of Fox News. Sean Hannity, a network anchor and ally of Trump’s, supported Oz’s candidacy. Laura Ingraham, a fellow conservative network host, called Trump’s endorsement of Oz a “mistake.”

Oz’s campaign saw a $5,800 donation from Julia Koch last month, the widow of the late billionaire David Koch. Julia Koch’s website says she’s on the board of the massive conglomerate Koch Industries, a company her husband ran with his brother Charles Koch. Julia Koch declined to comment, but a person familiar with the contribution said it was tied to her longtime friendship with Oz and his wife, Lisa.

McCormick’s campaign, meanwhile, saw donations from more Wall Street titans during the final weeks of the election, including $5,800 from Howard Lutnick, the chairman and CEO of financial advisory firm Cantor Fitzgerald, and $2,900 from Marc Rowan, the CEO of investment firm Apollo Global.

Representatives for Rowan and Lutnick did not respond to requests for comment.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/16/backed-by-murdoch-and-koch-pennsylvania-senate-gop-campaigns-spend-over-55-million-on-primary-ads.html

[Rick Plant]

This will be very interesting. Make sure to watch!

Watch Live: Pentagon officials testify on UFOs in rare House hearing

Washington — Congress is holding its first public hearing on unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in more than half a century on Tuesday.

Pentagon officials are testifying before a House Intelligence Committee subcommittee about how the Defense Department is organizing reports of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) — the military's term for UFOs — after a congressionally mandated report released last year found most of the incidents analyzed remain unidentified.

Rep. Andre Carson, a Democrat of Indiana and chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Counterintelligence, Counterterrorism, and Counterproliferation, opened the hearing by saying UAPs "are a potential national security threat, and they need to be treated that way."

"For too long, the stigma associated with UAPs has gotten in the way of good intelligence analysis. Pilots avoided reporting or were laughed at when they did. DOD officials relegated the issue to the backroom or swept it under the rug entirely, fearful of a skeptical national security community," Carson said. "Today, we know better. UAPs are unexplained, it's true. But they are real. They need to be investigated. And any threats they pose need to be mitigated."

The report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Pentagon's UAP Task Force found no evidence to suggest the objects are extraterrestrial or from a foreign adversary — but the report also could not explain most of the objects.

Investigators were able to identify one of the 144 reports analyzed in their study of unidentified objects "as a large, deflating balloon." But the other 143 reports of UAP from 2004 to 2021 remain a mystery.

There is little doubt that the unidentified objects are real objects, whatever they may be, because at least 80 of the 144 incidents were detected by multiple sensors, the report found.

The finding in the report that demonstrates the need for further study is the one stating, "UAP clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to U.S. national security."

Tuesday's hearing will have a session that's open to the public, followed by a closed classified session.

"We want to see footage that we can't find on open source materials like YouTube," Carson told reporters on Capitol Hill on Friday. "We want to see the footage and have it explained to us, and that's what we're going to accomplish." 

The Pentagon in recent years has confirmed the authenticity of several videos and images showing objects under investigation by the UAP Task Force. Last year, the Defense Department confirmed three images posted by MysteryWire and a video posted by a UFO filmmaker had been taken by Navy personnel.

In 2020, the Pentagon released three videos — FLIR, GOFAST, and GIMBAL — showing encounters military aviators had with unidentified objects. The fighter pilots who witnessed the object in the FLIR video from 2004 spoke to "60 Minutes" last year about their experience.

In November 2021, the Pentagon established the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG) to succeed the Navy's UAP Task Force, with the intention of better coordinating the reporting and investigating incidents.

Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie, whose office houses the AOIMSG, and Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray are testifying Tuesday.

"I know Mr. Moultrie is looking forward to walking members of Congress through how we're going to organize around this effort," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Monday.

The last public congressional hearing on UFOs was held in the 1960s before the disbandment of "Project Blue Book," a U.S. Air Force program that investigated and analyzed reports of UFOs. The project lasted from 1947 to 1969 and was disbanded in part because the objects were found to pose no threat to national security, according to an Air Force fact sheet.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ufo-hearing-congress-pentagon-watch-live-stream-today-2022-05-17/

[Rick Plant]

President Biden @POTUS

We are doing everything we can to make more infant formula available while the closed factory comes back online.

Last night, there was another breakthrough.

The FDA will allow formula from outside the US to be safely imported, which will quickly increase supply.

Watch: https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1526548254749560833

[Rick Plant]

President Biden @POTUS

Jill and I are in Buffalo to stand with the community and to grieve with the families. As a nation, we must find purpose to live a life worthy of those we lost. We must resolve that from tragedy will come hope and light and life.

We have to refuse to live in a country where Black people grocery shopping can be gunned down by weapons of war deployed in a racist cause.

We have to refuse to live in a country where fear and lies are packaged for power and for profit.

White supremacy is a poison running through our body politic.

We need to say as clearly and forcefully as we can that the ideology of white supremacy has no place in America.

Failure to do so will be complicity. Silence will be complicity. We cannot remain silent.

In America, evil will not win.

Hate will not prevail.

White supremacy will not have the last word.



https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1526641001091178498

[Rick Plant]

Cawthorn didn't lose because he was too extreme, supported the 1/6 insurrection, praised Hitler, tweeted violence towards Democrats, called Ukraine's President Zelenskyy a thug, assaulted multiple women. He lost because he squealed on unknown members of the Republican Party for attending wild cocaine parties. After he revealed that private information in an interview, the GOP establishment destroyed him by leaking photos of him dressed up in women's lingerie and in an intimate setting with another man. They were angry he broke their code of silence and they ruined him. Donald Trump begged voters in his district to give Cawthorn another chance but Donnie's plea fell on dead ears as insurrectionist Cawthorn was dumped from the party. So, the GOP couldn't have cared less about his previous despicable behavior because they totally ignored it, only when Cawthorn mentioned the "wild cocaine parties" they finally went after him personally to destroy him politically. Seems like the GOP wants these "wild cocaine parties" hidden from the public. Cawthorn should spill the beans about which GOP members attend these cocaine parties.

Trump-backed Rep. Cawthorn ousted in North Carolina



Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) was projected to lose his primary in North Carolina on Tuesday night, marking the end of a brief yet controversial tenure in the House that earned him critics on both sides of the aisle.

The Associated Press called the race for Cawthorn’s rival, state Sen. Chuck Edwards, at 11:09 p.m. ET.

Cawthorn’s campaign confirmed earlier Tuesday that the lawmaker had already conceded to Edwards.

Heading into the Tuesday primary, Cawthorn faced a crowded field of Republican rivals, though he remained the favorite to clinch the nomination in North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.

But the many controversies and missteps that haunted Cawthorn’s reelection bid appeared to catch up to him. 

Cawthorn drew a handful of GOP rivals last year after he said that he would change districts to run for a seat closer to Charlotte. He returned to his old district, however, after state courts struck down North Carolina’s new House map.

Since then, Cawthorn’s political difficulties only continued to mount.

He angered many of his fellow House Republicans earlier this year after he suggested in a podcast interview that his colleagues were attending orgies and snorting cocaine. He has also been the subject of a series of salacious revelations, including a leaked nude video that he dismissed as “blackmail.”

In two separate incidents this year he was cited for driving with a suspended license and attempting to take a gun through an airport security checkpoint. And he drew headlines for calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “thug.”

Cawthorn sought to cast the revelations and attacks as an effort by the so-called Washington establishment to oust him.

But Cawthorn also made powerful enemies within his home state. The top Republicans in the state General Assembly endorsed Edwards, as did Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).

“Republicans chose Chuck Edwards tonight because he is the embodiment of Mountain values who will fight for them every single day in Congress with honor and integrity,” Tillis said in a statement on Tuesday night after Cawthorn conceded the race.

Retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) called him an “embarrassment” during a March appearance on CNN.

Nevertheless, Cawthorn retained the backing of former President Trump, who endorsed him last year and doubled down on his support ahead of the primary, saying that the first-term congressman made some “foolish mistakes” but deserved a “second chance.”

That endorsement, however, wasn’t enough to save him from defeat on Tuesday.

https://thehill.com/news/campaign/3491377-cawthorn-concedes-in-north-carolina-house-gop-primary/     

[Rick Plant]

Well Kathy lost, so it looks like she won't be supporting the Pennsylvania GOP Senate nominee after all. She has the support of several far right wing social media "influencers", so we will see if they follow suit and not support the nominee as well. The GOP establishment went after her hard and destroyed her character in the final days of the campaign. That should anger her most ardent supporters into not casting a vote for the establishment nominee Oz or McCormick who both received millions from billionaires along with Rupert Murdoch and Charles Koch. As of this morning, the Pennsylvania GOP Senate race has not yet been officially called but Dr. Oz is slightly in the lead.   

Pennsylvania Sen. race: Kathy Barnette won’t support Republican nominee if she loses

GOP Pennsylvania Senate candidate Kathy Barnette said in an interview with Breitbart News she would not support the Republican nominee in the state’s race for the Senate if she does not win Tuesday’s primary.

“I have no intentions of supporting globalists,” Barnette said on “Breitbart News Daily” on SiriusXM Monday.

Barnette is running against celebrity surgeon Mehmet Oz, who has the support of former President Trump, and former hedge fund manager Dave McCormick. Barnette was far behind in the polls weeks ago but has shot up in the race and is seen as a real contender to win — despite some barbs from the former president.

"I believe we have ran out of room on this runway for this spaceship. I believe we have very little rope left to just roll the dice and we’ll see how it all works out on the other end. I believe our country is in trouble,” Barnette said in the interview, explaining why she would not vote for one of her primary rivals if they win the race.

“I don’t believe we have much longer and I believe what I have done is I have made it possible where Pennsylvanians do not have to hold their nose and vote for the lesser of two evils this time. I don’t think we have room to just vote for any old warm body with an R next to their name. I think we can do better than that,” she added.

Barnette has a much smaller budget for her campaign than her rivals, but has won support in the state through strong performances on the stump and debating the other candidates. Her personal story of how she was born after the rape of her mother has resonated with the anti-abortion community.

Barnette has been endorsed by the Club for Growth and Susan B. Anthony List, but has drawn ire from both Trump and more establishment Republicans, who believe she might lose a general election in the fall.

The battle for the Senate majority will run through Pennsylvania, where the contenders are racing to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey.

Other Republicans argue that Barnette is not electable in the swing state due to her hard-line stances and controversial background.

“My concern, whether it’s valid or not, is that I want to make sure that she’s been vetted so that we don’t nominate someone that the Democrats are going to dump a truckload of opposition research on right after the election,” Sam DeMarco, the chair of the Allegheny County GOP, said. “We know what politics is like today. You want to be comfortable that the person you nominate.”

https://www.abc27.com/2022-united-states-senate-election-in-pennsylvania/pa-sen-race-kathy-barnette-wont-support-republican-nominee-if-she-loses/


Kathy Barnette's Senate campaign fizzles out



Kathy Barnette's Senate candidacy fizzled out on Tuesday, appearing headed to a third place finish behind Trump-backed Dr. Oz and hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick.

Between the lines: The Oz-McCormick race was too close to call as of 11:00pm ET on Tuesday.

Why it matters: The longshot candidate surged in the last weeks of the campaign with her compelling life story — which still hasn't faced deep scrutiny — while winning accolades from some Trumpworld figures for her "ultra-MAGA" beliefs.

Barnette’s past bigoted statements have come to light in recent weeks, including attacks on gay people and Islam. She also refused to concede her 2020 U.S. House race, echoing baseless claims about fraud in her own election and the presidential contest and attended the rally on Jan. 6 in Washington D.C.

State of play: Barnette's sudden rise panicked Republican operatives, kicking off a wild scramble to destroy her chances in the final stretch of the campaign, as Axios' Jonathan Swan, Lachlan Markay and Andrew Solender reported.

The big picture: The race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey is one of the most closely watched in the nation and could decide control of the chamber.

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/18/kathy-barnette-trump-oz-pennsylvania-gop