Calista241
Calista241's JournalSen. Kyrsten Sinema takes victory lap after Congress passes physical infrastructure bill
Source: Arizona Republic
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema took a victory lap Monday, saying the $1.2 trillion physical infrastructure bill passed by the House of Representatives is evidence her approach to bipartisan legislating is backed by the American public.
The package, which delivers key components of President Joe Biden’s agenda, makes historic investments in the nation’s deteriorating roads, bridges, airports, water systems and ports-of-entry, and will expand access to broadband internet in urban centers and far-flung areas of the state and across the nation left behind in the 21st century.
Sinema, D-Ariz., co-brokered the deal in the Senate with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, in a process that began more than eight months ago in the basement of the Capitol, where she, Portman and staffers huddled with what she called their “nerdy” spreadsheets and a long list of goals.
...
After the holidays, Sinema said she anticipates employing the same bipartisan across-the-aisle approach with the “Gang of 10” senators to move on other key issues, from immigration reform to hiking the federal minimum wage.
Read more: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2021/11/08/sem-kyrsten-sinema-takes-victory-lap-after-infrastructure-bill-passes/6342340001/
Bombshell report shows Colorado Gov. Jared Polis avoided paying taxes
Source: Axios
Colorado's Democratic Gov. Jared Polis is under fire after a new trove of documents revealed he used loopholes to avoid paying federal income taxes for years.
Driving the news: A ProPublica report published Thursday found Polis, a tech entrepreneur and former congressman, used donations and financial arrangements to get out of paying federal income taxes in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Of note: His wealth reached an estimated $306 million in 2017, and he was ranked the third-wealthiest member of the U.S. House.
From 2010 to 2018, Polis' tax rate was just 8.2% even though his income averaged $1.5 million during that period. The rate is far below the 19% level owed by an average worker, the investigative news outlet wrote.
Read more: https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2021/11/05/propublica-colorado-gov-jared-polis-avoided-paying-taxes
"Anti-CRT" school board candidates are winning
Source: Axios
A new PAC focused on electing conservative candidates to public school boards — by raising fears about how racism is taught — won three-fourths of its 58 races across seven states on Tuesday.
Why it matters: Those wins for the 1776 Project PAC, and Glenn Youngkin's gubernatorial victory in Virginia, underscore the political potency of culture wars and COVID-related issues in schools this year — and how GOP candidates are seeking to ride the trend to new majorities.
Founder Ryan Girdusky told Axios: "My PAC is campaigning on behalf of everyday moms and dads who want to have better access to their children's education."
But, but, but: School officials are concerned there's been intense hype and misinformation around the U.S. about what's actually being taught in most schools.
They also worry politicization of school boards is sometimes translating to violence against teachers, and poorly informed decision-making.
By the numbers: Thirteen Pennsylvania school board candidates backed by the group won their races, along with 11 in Colorado, nine in Kansas, four in New Jersey, three in Virginia and two each in Ohio and Minnesota.
Read more: https://www.axios.com/anti-crt-school-board-candidates-are-winning-6dea8064-0526-469e-96fc-08d68dee31fe.html
Russia will react to attempts to break 'strategic parity' -Putin
Source: Reuters
Russia will react to other countries' attempts to break "strategic parity," President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, referring to the global missile defence system being deployed by the United States and its allies.
Russia is concerned that an efficient missile defence will allow its Western adversaries to abandon the mutual assured defence doctrine that has for decades prevented nuclear superpowers from attacking each other.
"We know very well that some of our foreign counterparts will not stop trying to break this parity, including by means of deploying elements of global missile defence in close proximity to our borders," Putin said at a meeting with military leadership and defence contractors.
"We cannot ignore those threats to Russia's security and will adequately react to them," he said.
Putin also said the participation of U.S. navy command ship Mount Whitney in NATO drills in the Black Sea was part of a trend toward greater Western military activity near Russia's borders.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-will-react-attempts-break-strategic-parity-putin-2021-11-01/
Says the country that just put the Poseidon nuclear powered and nuclear armed autonomous torpedo into service. The Poseidon has a cobalt salted warhead designed to obliterate 200ish miles of coastline, and poison it for a hundred years. There is no real defense to this torpedo, which can function at very high speeds and in very, very deep water.
Cotton tells Garland: 'Thank God you're not on the Supreme Court'
Source: The Hill
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday clashed with Republican senators over the Justice Department's efforts to crack down on violent threats against school boards, with one GOP member telling the former judge, "Thank God you're not on the Supreme Court."
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) made the remark during a heated exchange in which the senator tried to tie the Justice Department's new school board policy to an incident in Loudoun County, Va., where a teenager was accused of sexually assaulting a fellow student in a school bathroom.
"This testimony, your directive, your performance is shameful," Cotton said. "Thank God, you're not on the Supreme Court. You should resign in disgrace, judge."
Cotton's remark came during an oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Garland faced repeated attacks from Republicans over the memo that was issued earlier this month offering federal assistance to schools and local law enforcement amid a rise in violent threats against education officials and teachers.
Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/578715-cotton-tells-garland-thank-god-youre-not-on-the-supreme-court
Exclusive: Company says it will put Trump back online
Source: Axios
RightForge, an internet infrastructure company that courts conservatives, will host former President Trump's new social media platform, CEO Martín Avila told Axios on Monday.
Why it matters: By relying on a web hosting service that won't cut ties over controversial comments, Trump's new platform could avoid the problems conservative network Parler faced when Amazon pulled its web services following the Capitol insurrection.
Yes, but: Representatives affiliated with the Trump network declined to comment on whether RightForge is their provider, and Trump's business deals are notoriously messy and full of reversals.
...
Avila said RightForge spent 2021 building a global network in response to the de-platforming of Trump and Parler, and the Trump team approached the company over the summer.
"If you believe that the president should be de-platformed, we believe that you're not really interested in living in a free country," Avila told Axios. "And that's really what we're all about is making sure that America stays true to its core ideas, and that the marketplace of ideas stays open."
Read more: https://www.axios.com/trump-social-network-host-rightforge-c5c83181-db9f-4936-854b-1bf8942dfe17.html
This is the best thing that could happen to us IMO. Trump is his own worst enemy, and the more he's out there, the more people will remember that they hate him.
Kemp takes a swing at MLB as Braves advance to World Series
Source: AJC
Moments after the Atlanta Braves advanced to the World Series for the first time in decades, Gov. Brian Kemp took a swing at Major League Baseball and his Democratic archrival for a snub earlier this year.
The first-term Republican fired off a tweet as Braves players were celebrating their victory over the hated Los Angeles Dodgers that invoked MLB’s decision to yank the All-Star game from Truist Park earlier this season – and again tried to blame Stacey Abrams for the controversial move.
“While Stacey Abrams and the MLB stole the All-Star Game from hardworking Georgians, the Braves earned their trip to the World Series this season and are bringing it home to Georgia,” he said.
...
The league yanked the game in April in protest of a new Georgia election law that imposes restrictions on voting. Though many state Democrats assailed the shift, it became a rallying cry for Republicans who claimed fearmongering from critics of the law deprived metro Atlanta of a premier event.
Read more: https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/kemp-takes-a-swing-at-mlb-as-braves-advance-to-world-series/7WWHCKB7PREXZK2RHN7QHH7EKU/
The World Series coming to Atlanta does kind of invalidate MLB and player protests of Georgia's new voting rights laws when they moved the All Star game to Colorado. Kemp is still a dick.
Scoop: "How about zero?" Manchin, Sanders get heated behind closed doors
Source: Axios
Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) squabbled behind closed doors Wednesday, with Manchin using a raised-fist goose egg to tell his colleague he can live without any of President Biden's social spending plan, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The disagreement, recounted to Axios by two senators in the room, underscores how far apart two key members remain as the Democratic Party tries to meet its deadline for reaching an agreement on a budget reconciliation framework by Friday.
It also shows that despite the "kumbaya meeting" between Manchin and Sanders on Monday — after which they posed together for photos — the two remain sharply divided.
Manchin's comfort level with zero as a final number — and his willingness to threaten Sanders with it publicly at Wednesday's lunch for Senate committee chairs — reveals a stark reality for Democratic negotiators: Manchin can control the final dollar amount.
...
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), chairman of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, described the incident as a "a difference in opinion."
Read more: https://www.axios.com/manchin-sanders-reconciliation-fight-789c8441-fa49-404f-9d36-4adaa8e1d908.html
There's more at the link, including comments from other Senators in attendance.
Qualified immunity: Supreme Court sides with police, overturns denial of immunity in two cases
Source: USA Today
The Supreme Court sided Monday with police in two cases in which plaintiffs claimed officers used excessive force, overturning separate lower court rulings that had allowed the officers to be sued for civil rights violations.
In two unsigned opinions, the court stressed police are entitled to be shielded from liability unless it is "clear to a reasonable officer" that their actions are unlawful. In both cases the court ruled that the officers were entitled to qualified immunity, the legal doctrine that protects police from liability for civil rights violations in many circumstances.
In one case, the Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that found an officer in California who placed his knee on a prone suspect could be sued. In another, it overturned a lower court ruling that two police officers in Oklahoma could be sued because their actions before a fatal shooting escalated the potential for violence.
...
There were no dissents from any justice in either case.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/18/supreme-court-sides-police-qualified-immunitysupreme-court-sides-police-qualified-immunity-two-cases/6040359001/
Netflix just fired the organizer of the trans employee walkout
Source: The Verge
Netflix has fired a leader of the trans employee resource group who was organizing the upcoming October 20th walkout. The employee, who is Black and currently pregnant, asked not to be named for fear of online harassment. They have been encouraging trans employees and allies to walk out of work in protest of Netflix’s handling of the Dave Chappelle special The Closer. The employee declined to speak to The Verge for this story.
“All these white people are going around talking to the press and speaking publicly on Twitter and the only person who gets fired is the Black person who was quiet the entire time,” says a former employee in an interview with The Verge. “That’s absurd, and just further shows that Black trans people are the ones being targeted in this conversation.”
The employee was terminated on suspicion of leaking metrics to the press related to the Dave Chappelle special. Those metrics — about how much Netflix paid for The Closer and how many people it reached — subsequently ended up in a report on Bloomberg. While the employee had shared the metrics internally, they spoke out against the leaks to colleagues, worried they might hurt the walkout movement.
...
A Netflix spokesperson confirmed the employees’ dismissal. “We have let go of an employee for sharing confidential, commercially sensitive information outside the company,” they said. “We understand this employee may have been motivated by disappointment and hurt with Netflix, but maintaining a culture of trust and transparency is core to our company.”
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/15/22728337/netflix-fires-organizer-trans-employee-walkout-dave-chappelle
Profile Information
Gender: Do not displayHometown: Atlanta
Home country: US
Member since: Sat Jun 1, 2013, 12:19 AM
Number of posts: 5,618