ReportWire

Tag: Susan Carpenter

  • 8 takeaways from Trump’s State of the Union address

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — In his first State of the Union address of his second term, President Donald Trump on Tuesday night declared that “our nation is back — bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before.” He also proclaimed that the state of the nation is “strong.”

    Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress — at 108 minutes, a new record long for a State of the Union — touched on a wide range of topics, including the economy, immigration, foreign affairs and the country’s upcoming 250th anniversary. At times, he lashed out at congressional Democrats for not applauding his policies, while Republicans cheered on the president at every turn.

    Here are eight takeaways from the address. For an in-depth recap, visit Spectrum News’ live blog.

    Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., reacts as President Donald Trump gives his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

    Trump defends immigration crackdown, clashes with Dems in attendance

    The president took several opportunities to highlight what his administration has done to reduce illegal immigration. He contended that “zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States” over the past nine months through the border.  

    Trump later asked attendees to stand if they believed “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens” and condemned Democrats for not showing their approval for the statement.  

    “You should be ashamed of yourselves for not standing up,” Trump said. “That is why I’m also asking you to end deadly sanctuary cities that protect the criminals and enact serious penalties for public officials who block the removal of criminal aliens — in many cases, drug lords, murderers all over our country.” 

    Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was at one point shown pointing her finger back at Trump and appearing to say, “You should be ashamed” in response.  

    Trump blames Democrats for affordability concerns

    After blaming former President Joe Biden for inflation, Trump put the onus on Democrats for affordability concerns.

    “You caused that problem,” Trump said to Democrats, prompting Republican lawmakers to stand and applaud. 

     He called Democratic-led criticism about affordability a “dirty, rotten lie.” 

    The president touted his economic record over the last year. He said inflation has fallen to its lowest level in more than five years, dropping to 1.7% in the last quarter of 2025. He also said gas prices had fallen to below $2 per gallon in some parts of the country. 

     He took credit for declining mortgage rates and a rising stock market.  

    Trump calls Supreme Court tariff decision ‘very unfortunate,’ pledges to use alternatives to impose import duties

    Trump took a measured tone when talking about the Supreme Court ruling issued Friday that invalidated his use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose sweeping tariffs on most U.S. trading partners around the globe. 

     “Just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court. It just came down, very unfortunate ruling,” Trump said.  

    The language was strikingly different from how he described the decision, as well as the justices whom he had appointed and who ruled against his tariffs, in a news conference on the day the decision was announced. 

    Four justices were in attendance at the State of the Union: Chief Justice John Roberts, who authored Friday’s opinion, and Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett. Roberts and Barrett – along with Justice Neil Gorsuch – sided with liberal justices in ruling against Trump’s usage of IEEPA to levy the import duties.  

    Trump has said he plans to impose a 15% global tariff on top of existing import duties, and on Tuesday he contended that “congressional action will not be necessary.” One of the statutes that the Trump administration has said would be used to impose tariffs puts a 150-day cap on their implementation “unless extended by an Act of the Congress.” 

    President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

    President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

    Trump said tech companies will have to ‘provide for their own power needs’

    The president said his administration planned to address concerns over the amount of power used by data centers with a “unique strategy” to make tech companies construct their own electricity infrastructure.  

    “We’re telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs,” he said. “They can build their own power plants as part of their factory so that no one’s prices will go up, and in many cases, prices of electricity will go down for the community.”  

    The president noted that many Americans have been growing increasingly concerned about the power demands of companies involved in artificial intelligence.  

    Trump did not provide details about the logistics of the plan other than calling it a “new rate payer protection pledge.” 

    Trump says Iran has yet to say they will never have a nuclear weapon

    On Iran, Trump noted that his administration is currently in negotiations with the country’s leadership but said they have yet to say “those secret words” that they “will never have a nuclear weapon.” 

    Trump went on to say that his “preference” is to solve the situation with Iran through diplomacy but suggested other options are on the table if that doesn’t work. 

    “But one thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s No. 1 sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “Can’t let that happen.” 

    Trump has been urging Iran to make a nuclear deal with the U.S. and officials from both sides have been involved in talks in Geneva. The president responded to a reporter’s questions at an unrelated event last week by confirming that limited strikes against Iran were an option and has been sending U.S. resources to the area.  

    Trump’s comments on Iran came as he was talking about his efforts to end wars and usher in peace around the world. He started by touting his administration’s strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites this past summer. 

    Trump blames Democrats for partial shutdown of Department of Homeland Security

    As Democrats and Republicans continue to wrangle over immigration enforcement reform to restore funding to the Department of Homeland Security, Trump blamed Democrats for the partial government shutdown, which was in its 11th day. 

    “They have closed the agency responsible for protecting Americans from terrorists and murderers,” Trump said.  

    He demanded the “full and immediate restoration of all funding” for DHS, which oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and “for helping people clean up their snow. We have no money because of the Democrats.” 

    The Northeast has been hit with blizzard conditions in recent days. FEMA helps reimburse local governments for snow removal costs during designated periods of record snowfall. 

    Shortly before the speech Tuesday, legislation to fund the department failed to advance in the Senate yet again as every Democrat present except Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted against it. There has been little sign of movement toward an agreement to reopen DHS since it shut down 10 days ago.

    Trump again expresses voter fraud claims, calls for new requirements

    The president used his address to reiterate his long-held and frequently mentioned qualms with elections in America while pressing lawmakers to pass a Republican bill seeking to implement new proof of citizenship and photo identification requirements to vote.  

    Without citing evidence, Trump claimed that “cheating is rampant” in U.S. elections before going on to call for all voters to show a photo ID and proof of citizenship to vote and an end to most voting by mail.  

    “Why would anybody not want voter ID? One reason: because they want to cheat,” Trump claimed, again without citing evidence.  

    He asserted such a prospect was widely popular, which comes as the White House has been sharing polling on the voter ID issue. 

    Republicans and Trump have been pushing a bill called the SAVE America Act that would require a person to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote and “present an eligible photo identification document before voting.” It passed the House but faces a more difficult path in the Senate, where it would need some Democratic support to overcome the chamber’s filibuster rule.  

    Trump has long claimed there was fraud in the 2020 election despite audits, courts and the president’s former attorney general not finding evidence of widespread fraud. 

    President invokes America 250 to begin, conclude remarks

    In closing out his State of the Union, Trump returned to the theme that he focused on at the start of his remarks: the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary.  

    “Less than five months from now, our country will celebrate an epic milestone in American history,” Trump said during the first few minutes of his speech.  

    The U.S. has planned a number of events this year to mark the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. 

    “The revolution that began in 1776 has not ended,” Trump said in concluding his remarks. “It still continues because the flame of liberty and independence still burns in the heart of every American patriot, and our future will be bigger, better, brighter, bolder and more glorious than ever before.”

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Christina Santucci, Susan Carpenter, Maddie Gannon

    Source link

  • Jesse Jackson celebration of life scheduled for next week

    [ad_1]

    CHICAGO — A celebration of life for the late Rev. Jesse Jackson will take place next week in Chicago, his family announced Wednesday. His body will lie in state at the headquarters of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition he founded 30 years ago to advocate for civil rights and economic justice, followed by a church service and final celebration Feb. 28, the family said.

    What You Need To Know

    • A celebration of life for the late Rev. Jesse Jackson will take place next week in Chicago, his family announced Wednesday

    • His body will lie in state at the headquarters of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition he founded 30 years ago to advocate for civil rights and economic justice, followed by a church service and final celebration Feb. 28, the family said

    • “Dad’s homegoing services, which are difficult for all of us to accept, are just that: a national and international gathering and meeting of people most importantly from our community who uplifted him and put him on a perch that allowed him to share a vision with all people,” Jesse Jackson Jr. said at a news conference Wednesday with his siblings

    • Jackson Jr. said his father’s funeral is “not for those of you who have an opinion” but for “people who are coming to pay their respects”


    “Dad’s homegoing services, which are difficult for all of us to accept, are just that: a national and international gathering and meeting of people most importantly from our community who uplifted him and put him on a perch that allowed him to share a vision with all people,” Jesse Jackson Jr. said at a news conference Wednesday with his siblings.

    A two-time presidential candidate who fought for social justice in the decades following the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, Jackson died Tuesday at the age of 84.

    Jackson was a young community organizer in Chicago when he was called to meet with King at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, shortly before King was killed. From that point on, he positioned himself as King’s successor, advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues from voting rights and job opportunities to education and health care.

    On Wednesday, his children pledged to continue advocating for the same causes and encouraged younger generations to follow in their father’s footsteps.

    “Now this mantle of standing up for freedom, standing up for dignity, standing up for those that have been marginalized is now passed on — not to be inherited by a person, but to be taken over and taken up by another generation,” the reverend’s second oldest son, Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., said Wednesday. “It’s a continuous fight as we see the rollbacks of our rights that he’s fought so hard for are now being challenged.”

    As the Trump administration works to root out diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in government and the country, the congressman said, “DEI has been a major part of my father’s work. These are the guardrails to fight against racism and to bring about inclusion to make this a better country.”

    One week after President Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term in January 2025, Rep. Jackson said he formed the DEI Caucus with Rep. Cleo Fields, D-La.

    “We can’t say we’ve made enough progress on race and equity and racial justice,” he said, adding that U.S. DOGE Service cuts to federal agencies last year disproportionately affected African American women. “This is not one man or one woman’s work.”

    Jackson Jr. credited his father with opening the door to the 62 African Americans who currently serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and the five who serve in the Senate.

    Jackson Jr. called on his congressman brother to “find creative ways to do something” about unpaid home health care providers in the United States, saying he and his five siblings had each provided caregiving for their father, who lived with the rare brain disorder known as progressive supranuclear palsy for a decade before his death.

    Jackson Jr. said his father’s funeral is “not for those of you who have an opinion” but for “people who are coming to pay their respects.”

    “We expect a grand meeting of people who are beneficiaries of the life and the work of Jesse Jackson,” he said. “We expect it from the far right, and they are welcome if they come respectfully, and we expect it from the far left to honor Mrs. Jesse Jackson. This is her request.”

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Super Bowl LX will help celebrate America’s 250th anniversary

    [ad_1]

    SANTA CLARA, Calif. — With all the pomp and circumstance, it might not immediately register, but Super Bowl LX isn’t only the biggest annual sporting event in the United States — this year, it will also help commemorate America’s 250th anniversary.

    What You Need To Know

    • Super Bowl LX will help commemorate America’s 250th anniversary

    • The ball, the sidelines — even the coin that’s tossed to determine which team receives the ball first — will be emblazoned with the America250 logo to honor the country’s semiquincentennial

    • “This is a yearlong celebration tied to moments that bring communities together,” America250 Chair Rosie Rios told Spectrum News. “Football is something that’s very near and dear to many Americans”

    • After Super Bowl LX ends in a blizzard of confetti and the Vince Lombardi Trophy has been claimed, America250 will have a presence at another marquee moment in football: the NFL draft in Pittsburgh in April


    The ball, the sidelines — even the coin that’s tossed to determine which team receives the ball first — will be emblazoned with the America250 logo to honor the country’s semiquincentennial.

    “This is a yearlong celebration tied to moments that bring communities together,” America250 Chair Rosie Rios told Spectrum News. “Football is something that’s very near and dear to many Americans.”

    As they do every year, the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy will conduct a joint Super Bowl LX flyover with an eight-ship aircraft formation. For 2026, it will honor USA’s 250th anniversary when the American flag used in Flag Sojourn 250 — a single American flag that’s traveled to every state, territory and overseas military cemetery — will be in the cockpit of one of the formation’s aircraft.

    To help honor America’s 250th, the NFL said it plans to assemble care packages for the military community through its Salute to Service initiative that seeks to honor, empower and connect with active-duty service members, veterans and their families, the league said.

    America250’s partnership with the NFL kicked off during Week 18 of the 2025 season that was played in early January 2026, following its presence at college football’s “Iron Bowl” in Auburn, Alabama, in November and the Rose Bowl Parade on Jan. 1.

    “Sea to shining sea is what’s really important,” Rios said of the organization’s goal of engaging all 350 million Americans to celebrate the country’s big birthday.

    On Super Bowl Sunday, as the New England Patriots square off against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, it will get almost two-thirds of the way there, when a record 213.1 million U.S. adults are expected to tune in, according to the National Retail Federation.

    In the days leading up to the game, America250 has been part of the Super Bowl Experience fan event at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, where an Airstream trailer has been transformed into a recording studio for Americans to share their personal stories — some of which will be archived at the Library of Congress.

    “The semiquincentennial is about storytelling. It is about convenings. It’s about making people feel at home,” Rios said.

    Sporting events are a natural connector.

    After Super Bowl LX ends in a blizzard of confetti and the Vince Lombardi Trophy has been claimed, America250 will have a presence at another marquee moment in football: the NFL draft in Pittsburgh in April.

    “We are going to the Super Bowl and beyond to show those experiences with the fans and in these beautiful moments that we’re sharing together,” Rios said.

    America250’s collaboration with the NFL is one of several with sports organizations as the country prepares to celebrate its big day.

    The sports collaborations will continue with Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia and the FIFA World Cup games over the summer.

    One day after America’s 250th birthday is officially in the books, America250 will hand off its U.S. celebrations to LA28 — the organizing committee for the next summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The handoff will take place July 5, during the FIFA World Cup.

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • How tax write-off rules for charitable donations are changing

    [ad_1]

    With 2026 just a few days away, charities are engaged in the usual end-of-year push to get Americans to support their favorite causes.

    From food banks to pet rescues to disaster recovery organizations, charitable groups report giving is up this year and is likely to climb in the final days before new Internal Revenue Service rules kick in and change the incentives for taxpayers.

    What You Need To Know

    • The One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law in July made significant changes to how donors’ charitable contributions affect their taxes

    • The changes take effect Jan. 1, 2026

    • Starting next year, individual taxpayers who take the standard deduction and do not itemize will be able to claim a $1,000 write-off for charitable donations while couples filing jointly will be able to claim $2,000

    • For individuals who itemize their deductions, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act mposes a new floor on charitable contribution deductions — donations that are less than 0.5% of a taxpayer’s adjusted gross income are no longer deductible, but anything over that amount will be


    The One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law in July made significant changes to how donors’ charitable contributions affect their taxes. Here’s what you need to know about charitable giving deductions starting in 2026:

    What is changing for taxpayers who do not itemize their deductions

    Starting in 2026, individual taxpayers who take the standard deduction and do not itemize will be able to claim a $1,000 write-off for charitable donations. Couples filing jointly will be able to claim $2,000.

    While the 2020 CARES Act briefly allowed for a $300 deduction on charitable donations during the COVID-19 pandemic, non-itemizing taxpayers who take the standard deduction have not been able to write off charitable donations on their tax returns since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

    That change led to roughly $30 billion less in charitable giving, Charity Navigator CEO Michael Thatcher told Spectrum News.

    The new universal deduction for charitable donations, he said, “is really meant to give everyone a chance to support the causes they care about.”

    About 86% of taxpayers are expected to take the standard deduction in 2026, according to the nonpartisan nonprofit Tax Foundation.

    The Giving USA Foundation expects the change to reenergize donations among small- and mid-level givers who now have a financial incentive to contribute.

    What is changing for taxpayers who itemize deductions

    For individuals who itemize their deductions, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act imposes a new floor on charitable contribution deductions. Donations that are less than 0.5% of a taxpayer’s adjusted gross income are no longer deductible, but anything over that amount will be.

    “It incentivizes being more generous,” Thatcher said. “You can’t just give a little bit. You’ve got to give more.”

    The new law also limits the tax benefit of itemized charitable donation deductions for ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the highest tax bracket to 35 cents per dollar instead of the current rate of 37 cents per dollar.

    Giving USA expects the change to prompt some donors to lump multiple years’ worth of donations into a single year to claim a higher deduction and others to delay their gifts.

    What is changing for corporations’ charitable giving donations

    The law imposes a 1% floor on corporations’ charitable contributions. Like individual taxpayers who itemize, donations that are less than 1% of a corporation’s taxable income are no longer deductible, but anything over that amount will be. Previously, there was no minimum on corporate charitable giving to be able to claim a deduction.

    Like itemizing individual taxpayers, Giving USA said corporations that currently give less than 1% are also likely to scale back or lump their charitable gifts.

    The bottom line

    The Tax Foundation estimates the changes will increase giving from non-itemizing taxpayers but reduce it for high-income individuals and corporations, resulting in “a near wash in terms of the overall revenue effects,” it said in a statement.

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Leftover, discontinued cars offer best deals at end of year, experts say

    [ad_1]

    With average prices for new vehicles hovering around $52,000 and tariffs expected to nudge them even higher in the new year, it may behoove some shoppers to take advantage of car inventories that are piling up on dealers’ lots. The end of the year typically brings deals as some models are discontinued and others prove unpopular.

    What You Need To Know

    • With average prices for new vehicles hovering around $52,000 and tariffs expected to nudge them even higher in the new year, it may behoove some shoppers to take advantage of car inventories that are piling up on dealers’ lots

    • The end of the year typically brings deals as some models are discontinued and others prove unpopular

    • Interested in a Dodge Hornet plug-in hybrid compact crossover? How about a Jeep Grand Cherokee or Alfa Romeo Tonale SUV? The three models from parent company Stellantis top the list of vehicles with the highest levels of leftover 2024 inventory at 82.1%, 70.8% and 46.8% respectively, according to a new analysis from iSeeCars.com; while the overall average for 2024 model year inventory is 0.4%

    • Among all 2025 model year vehicles, the BMW i4 electric sedan tops the list with the most inventory (89.2%), followed by the Lexus GX 550 SUV (87.8%) and Subaru BRZ sports car (87.1%)


    Interested in a Dodge Hornet plug-in hybrid compact crossover? How about a Jeep Grand Cherokee or Alfa Romeo Tonale SUV? The three models from parent company Stellantis top the list of vehicles with the highest levels of leftover 2024 inventory at 82.1%, 70.8% and 46.8% respectively, according to a new analysis from iSeeCars.com, while the overall average for last year’s inventory is 0.4%.

    “If dealers are struggling to move an older, leftover 2024 or 2025 model, it can be an opportunity for buyers who want new car, peace of mind and warranty coverage at a reduced price,” iSeeCars.com executive analyst Karl Brauer said in a statement.

    Buyers in the market for 2024 model year luxury SUVs ordinarily priced over $50,000 will have plenty of options, he added, noting excess inventories of the Land Rover Discovery Sport compact SUV (5.3%) and Maserati Grecale SUV (7.4%).

    Electric vehicles that weren’t purchased during the third-quarter buying frenzy prompted by the end of a $7,500 federal tax credit could also offer room for buyers to negotiate, Brauer said.

    The Genesis GV60 SUV topped the list of 2024 model year EVs with the most leftover inventory at 21.8%, followed by the Dodge Charger EV (20.9%), Chevrolet Silverado EV (11.9%) and GMC Hummer EV SUV (5.5%). Of 2025 model year EVs, the BMW i4 ranked first for most leftovers (89.2%), followed by the Porsche Macan (67.8%) and Volkswagen ID.4 (59.1%).

    “With the federal EV incentive gone, dealers have to be even more flexible on their electric vehicle pricing,” Brauer said. “This is particularly true for EVs that have a high percentage of 2025 model year inventory even as January 1, 2026, looms.”

    Among all 2025 model year vehicles, the BMW i4 electric sedan topped the list with the most inventory, followed by the Lexus GX 550 SUV (87.8%) and Subaru BRZ sports car (87.1%). Several hybrids also made the top 20, including the Toyota 4Runner (80.4%), Hyundai Elantra (73%) and Chevrolet Corvette (72.5%), according to the analysis.

    “For dealers, the pressure is on to move these 2025 models off the lot before their model year brands them as a ‘leftover’ new car,” Brauer said. “Combine this with every dealer’s desire to hit their numbers before the month, quarter and year come to a close on December 31st, and it’s likely buyers can negotiate a lower price on these vehicles.”

    Cox Automotive reported this month that new vehicle sales are expected to end lower in December compared with last year. Cox expects total new vehicle sales to finish the year at 16.3 million.

    “The fourth quarter is showing the expected slowdown, as headwinds from tariffs, inflation and reduced EV incentives weigh on the market after nine surprisingly strong months,” Cox Automotive Senior Economist Charlie Chesbrough said in a statement. “Still, consumer demand has kept the new-vehicle market healthy throughout 2025.”

    Most types of cars have seen year-over-year sales declines, with mid-size cars seeing the largest drop, followed by compact SUVs, full-size pickup trucks and compact cars. The only vehicle segment to see increases were mid-size SUVs, according to Cox Auto.

    The average suggested retail price for a new vehicle in December is $51,986, according to Kelley Blue Book.

    While languishing 2024 and 2025 model year vehicles offer good opportunities for discounting, discontinued models may offer the best deals of all because they are seen as both “leftover” by dealers and “abandoned” by their manufacturers, Brauer said.

    Twenty-three new cars have been discontinued for 2026, according to iSeeCars:

    Acura TLX

    Alfa Romeo Tonale Hybrid

    Audi A4

    Audi Q8 e-tron

    BMW X4

    Cadillac XT4

    Cadillac XT6

    Chevrolet Malibu

    Dodge Hornet

    Dodge Hornet plug-in hybrid

    Infiniti QX50

    Infiniti QX55

    Jeep Wagoneer

    Jeep Wagoneer L

    Kia Soul

    Lexus RC 350

    Mercedes-Benz EQB

    Polestar 2

    Porsche 718 Boxster

    Porsche 718 Cayman

    Subaru Legacy

    Volvo S60

    Volvo S90

    “The cold weather and holiday distractions generally make the end of the year a good time to buy a car,” Brauer said. “Combine those factors with leftover new 2024 or 2025 models that dealers can’t seem to unload, and a deal-making opportunity is likely for buyers looking to take advantage.”

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Options are narrowing to ship packages for Dec. 24 delivery

    [ad_1]

    With two shopping days left before Christmas, the rush is on to not only find the perfect present but get it to its destination on time. The options are narrowing.

    Individuals who need their packages to arrive by Dec. 24 are down to a handful of options.

    What You Need To Know

    • Individuals who need their holiday packages to arrive by Dec. 24 are down to a handful of options

    • People who ship packages Tuesday can still use UPS Next Day Air and FedEx First Overnight Services. The time cutoff for many UPS locations is between 6-8 p.m. For FedEx, time cutoffs vary by location but is often 4-5 p.m.

    • The only shipping service offering same-day delivery on Dec. 24 is FedEx SameDay, which provides door-to-door delivery on packages of up to 150 pounds for all 50 states

    • While the U.S. Post Office is delivering mail and post offices are open for service on Dec. 23 and 24, the deadline for shipping priority mail with a guaranteed Dec. 24 delivery was Dec. 20


    People who ship packages Tuesday can still use UPS Next Day Air and FedEx First Overnight Services. The time cutoff for many UPS locations is between 6-8 p.m. For FedEx, time cutoffs vary by location but are often between 4-5 p.m.

    The only shipping service offering same-day delivery on Dec. 24 is FedEx SameDay, which provides door-to-door delivery on packages of up to 150 pounds for all 50 states. Prices are determined by distance, weight and how the item is packed. 

    While the U.S. Post Office is delivering mail and post offices are open for service on Dec. 23 and 24, the deadline for shipping priority mail with a guaranteed Dec. 24 delivery was Dec. 20. On Christmas Eve, mail will be picked up as scheduled from blue collection boxes, and regular mail and Priority Mail Express items will be delivered.

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Trump asks DOJ to probe Epstein ties to Bill Clinton, others

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — Two days after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released emails in which late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein discussed President Donald Trump, Trump said he will ask the Department of Justice and FBI to investigate Epstein’s relationships with several other prominent men and institutions.

    In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump said former President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and JPMorgan Chase bank should be investigated.

    What You Need To Know

    • Two days after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released emails in which late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein discussed President Donald Trump, Trump said he will ask the Department of Justice and FBI to investigate Epstein’s relationships with several other prominent men and institutions

    • In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump former President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and JPMorgan Chase bank should be investigated

    • “This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats,” Trump wrote. “Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his ‘island.’ Stay tuned!!!”
    • While Trump has vociferously denied any implications that he knew about Epstein’s sexual predation, House Democrats say a trio of emails they released this week suggest otherwise


    “This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats,” Trump wrote. “Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his ‘island.’ Stay tuned!!!”

    In a 2019 statement, Clinton’s office denied that he traveled to Epstein’s island or knew anything about his crimes, though it acknowledged the former president traveled on the late financier’s plane accompanied by staff, supporters and his Secret Service detail. In statements to various media outlets, Hoffman, Summers and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon have all said they regret their association with Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 in a federal prison.

    Epstein served about a year in jail after pleading guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from someone under age 18 but went on to renew relationships with many influential figures in business, academics and politics.

    In response to Trump’s post, Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X, “As with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people.”

    She said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton will take the lead on the case, calling him “one of the most capable and trusted prosecutors in the country.”

    In July, the president said his relationship with Epstein ended after he “stole” some young female employees from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida. Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, was a teenager when she began working as a locker-room attendant at the club in the summer of 2000. She said she left Mar-a-Lago after being recruited by Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is now serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking minors.

    While Trump has vociferously denied any implications that he knew about Epstein’s sexual predation, House Democrats say a trio of emails they released this week suggest otherwise. A 2011 email said Trump had spent hours at Epstein’s house with a sex trafficking victim, who the White House later revealed was Guiffre. In a 2019 email with author Michael Wolff, Epstein said Trump “knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop,” and called Trump the “dog that hasn’t barked.”

    In an earlier Truth Social post on Friday, Trump said, “The Democrats are doing everything in their withering power to push the Epstein Hoax again, despite the DOJ releasing 50,000 pages of documents, in order to deflect from all of their bad policies and losses, especially the SHUTDOWN EMBARASSMENT, where their party is in total disarray, and has no idea what to do,” he wrote, two days after he signed legislation to end the government’s 43-day funding fight.

    Responding to the Democrats’ release of the Epstein emails, the GOP-led Oversight Committee made 23,000 pages of Epstein files available to the public Wednesday. The same day, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., swore in Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., who provided the final signature needed on a discharge petition that enables a House vote to compel the Justice Department’s release of the Epstein files. Johnson said that vote will take place next week. All 214 House Democrats and four Republicans signed on to the petition.

    “Some Weak Republicans have fallen into their clutches because they are soft and foolish,” Trump wrote Friday. “Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem! Ask Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, and Larry Summers about Epstein, they know all about him, don’t waste your time with Trump. I have a Country to run!”

    In an interview with MSNBC on Thursday night, California Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee said: “It’s clear that there’s a lot of questions about the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump, and those have got to be answered.”

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., one of the Republicans who signed the discharge petition, told “CBS Mornings” on Friday that the Epstein files have “needed to come out for a very long time, and the American people have demanded it.”

    “The American people deserve to see transparency from their government. Rich, powerful people should not be protected. And it’s a message to victims everywhere … that the government will not protect the predators,” said Greene, who added that she has talked to Epstein victims who said Trump did nothing wrong.

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Democrats demand meeting with Trump, who again calls for end to filibuster

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — As the government shutdown entered its 36th day and became the longest in U.S. history Wednesday, President Donald Trump dug in on his demand that Republican Senators end the filibuster while Democrats called for the president to meet with them.

    “It’s time for Republicans to do what they have to do, and that’s terminate the filibuster,” Trump said during a breakfast meeting with Republican senators Wednesday. “It’s time to have a really good talk. If I thought they weren’t going to pass the filibuster, I wouldn’t even bring it up.”

    What You Need To Know

    • The federal government shutdown entered its 36th day on Wednesday

    • It is now the longest shutdown in U.S. history

    • “It’s time for Republicans to do what they have to do and that’s terminate the filibuster,” President Trump said during a breakfast meeting with Republican Senators Wednesday

    • Jeffries wrote on X Wednesday: “Donald Trump and Republicans are meeting at the White House this morning. The extremists want to make your life more expensive, take away healthcare and keep the government shut down. Have they learned nothing from being wiped out last night? #BlueWave”


    Senate Democrats have repeatedly blocked a Republican bill to temporarily fund the government through Nov. 21 over demands that it includes an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that will otherwise expire at the end of the year. The bill failed for a 15th time in the Senate on Tuesday in a vote that requires 60 to pass.

    Since Friday, Trump has repeatedly urged Senate Republicans to end the filibuster, which would allow the stopgap funding bill and future Republican legislation to pass with a simple majority. Currently, legislation needs 60 votes to advance past a filibuster.

    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote on X on Wednesday: “Donald Trump and Republicans are meeting at the White House this morning. The extremists want to make your life more expensive, take away healthcare and keep the government shut down. Have they learned nothing from being wiped out last night? #BlueWave.”

    One day after an election that saw democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani win the New York City mayoral race, and Democratic governors claim victories in Virginia and New Jersey, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., dismissed the idea that it was a referendum on Republican leadership or Trump.

    “What happened last night was blue states and blue cities voted blue,” Johnson said during his daily briefing at the Capitol on Wednesday morning. “We all saw that coming, and no one should read too much into last night’s results.”

    Johnson said Tuesday’s election only proved what he has been saying for weeks: that Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are kowtowing to the most left-leaning elements of their party.

    “The old guard is desperately trying to use this shutdown to show the radical Marxist wing of their party that they look tough to President Trump,” he said. “That’s because the new power center of the left isn’t the moderates. It’s the activists who believe capitalism is evil, who disdain the founding principles of their own country.”

    At his breakfast meeting Wednesday, Trump said he would have a closed-door meeting with Senate Republicans “about what last night represented and what we should do about it and also about the shutdown and how that relates to last night.”

    Prior to his comments, Jeffries and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote a letter Wednesday “to demand a bipartisan meeting of legislative leaders to end the GOP shutdown of the federal government and decisively address the Republican health care crisis. Democrats stand ready to meet with you face to face, anytime and anyplace.”

    The White House did not immediately respond to a request for a comment about whether Trump will agree to a meeting.

    The worsening stalemate comes as 42 million low-income Americans miss their nutrition assistance payments and as hundreds of thousands of federal workers go without pay, including air traffic controllers, who are calling in sick and causing flight delays across the country.

    Trump, along with Republican leaders in the House and Senate, has insisted for weeks that GOP lawmakers will only negotiate with Democrats about health care subsidies once the shutdown has ended.

    But that remains out of reach, as both sides continue to dig in on their positions.

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Shutdown brinksmanship continues with SNAP benefits on the line

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — With 42 million Americans at risk of losing their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits starting Saturday, Democrats and Republicans are trying to leverage the crisis to their advantage.

    On Day 30 of a government shutdown marked by steely brinksmanship, Republicans continued their pleas for five moderate Democrats to support their bill to reopen the government, but Democrats remain resolved in their opposition.

    What You Need To Know

    • With 42 million Americans at risk of losing their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits starting this Saturday, Democrats and Republicans are trying to leverage the crisis to their advantage

    • On Day 30 of a government shutdown marked by steely brinksmanship, Republicans continued their pleas for five moderate Democrats to support their bill to reopen the government, but Democrats remain resolved in their opposition

    • The Senate won’t vote Thursday on the Republican stopgap funding bill to reopen the government

    • On Thursday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., called out some of the moderate Democratic senators he hopes will flip positions, including Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.; Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.; Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn.; Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.; and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.


    “TRUMP IS LYING AND MANUFACTURING A HUNGER CRISIS,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote on X on Thursday morning. “No president in history has cut off SNAP during a shutdown. Including Trump in his first term. His own Agriculture Department says they can fund SNAP. Trump is using Americans as hostages.”

    A stopgap funding bill to keep the government open through Nov. 21 has repeatedly failed in the Senate, as Democrats demand an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that will otherwise expire at the end of the year. The Senate may not vote on the measure again until next week, after federal funding for November’s SNAP benefits and tens of thousands of Head Start early childhood education programs has lapsed.

    On Thursday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., called out some of the moderate Democratic senators he hopes will flip positions, including Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.; Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.; Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn.; Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.; and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.

    During House Republicans’ daily news conference Thursday, Scalise cited the number of SNAP recipients and federal workers in each of their states, including Michigan, where 1.4 million residents rely on SNAP and 56,000 people work for the federal government.

    Peters, however, shows no signs of caving to Republican pressure.

    “I’ve unfortunately heard from thousands of Michiganders who are concerned or have already heard from their insurance providers, that their health care premiums will skyrocket next year,” Sen. Peters wrote on X Wednesday. “I will always fight to ensure Michiganders and their families have access to quality, affordable health care.”

    In Virginia, 825,000 residents receive SNAP benefits and 189,000 people work for the federal government, Scalise said.

    “Don’t give some speech about lamenting the hardships those people are facing when you’re the one voting to impose those hardships,” Scalise said of Warner.

    Warner, too, gave no public indication he will shift positions.

    “Democrats have a plan to prevent your costs from spiking — Republicans voted against it SEVEN TIMES,” Warner wrote on X on Wednesday.

    “Donald Trump won’t even face Democrats,” Warner wrote in a separate post in which he repeated the phrase five other times.

    Trump, along with Republican leaders in the House and Senate, has insisted for weeks that GOP lawmakers will only negotiate with Democrats about health care funding once the shutdown has ended.

    With SNAP benefits now on the line and ratcheting up tensions, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wrote on X on Thursday: “If there are any Democrats out there who care about the damage this shutdown is doing, then I have a bill at the desk: A clean, nonpartisan CR (continuing resolution) to fund WIC, SNAP, troop pay, air traffic controller pay, farm programs, housing assistance, national defense, and more.”

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Democrats and Republicans yield no ground as government shutdown continues

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — With several high-profile federal programs on the cusp of running out of money Saturday, Republicans and Democrats ratcheted up their blame game on Day 29 of the government shutdown with no clear end in sight. Neither side showed any signs of backing off their entrenched positions Wednesday, as hundreds of thousands of federal employees work without pay.

    What You Need To Know

    • The government shutdown is now in its 29th day

    • Democrats and Republicans seem no closer to achieving a resolution than they were when the shutdown began Oct. 1

    • “On Saturday, this gets very real,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on Wednesday, referencing the temporary halt of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits starting Nov. 1

    • “Republicans are using the government shutdown to illegally rip SNAP benefits away from 42 million Americans. 16 million children are at risk of going hungry. The extremists don’t give a damn,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote on X Wednesday. “You deserve better”


    “More air traffic controllers and TSA agents and park rangers are about to go without a paycheck. You’ve got families and children that rely on SNAP benefits that are going to go hungry at the end of the week,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during his daily news conference on Wednesday. “The Democrats own every one of these consequences.”

    The federal government has been closed since Oct. 1 when Democrats and Republicans in Congress failed to pass legislation that would fund it for the 2026 fiscal year. A stopgap funding bill to keep the government open through Nov. 21 has repeatedly failed in the Senate, as Democrats demand an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that will otherwise expire at the end of the year.

    “On Saturday, this gets very real,” Johnson said.

    On Nov. 1, the Agriculture Department’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that provides food assistance to 42 million low-income Americans will not pay benefits for the month. Federal funding will also stop flowing to the Head Start early childhood education program that helps at least 800,000 children under the age of six and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC.

    Nov. 1 also marks the start of open enrollment, when Americans across the country begin to sign up for their 2026 health insurance plans.

    “Republicans are using the government shutdown to illegally rip SNAP benefits away from 42 million Americans. 16 million children are at risk of going hungry,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote on X Wednesday morning. “The extremists don’t give a damn. You deserve better.”

    Republican leaders in the House and Senate, along with President Donald Trump, have insisted for weeks that they will only negotiate with Democrats about health care funding once the shutdown has ended.

    “Republicans are trying the same failed play that they’ve tried before: Get rid of health care for the American people. If you can’t afford health care, it’s your fault,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday at a news conference.

    Schumer reiterated what Democrats have been saying for weeks: that he and Jeffries are ready and willing to sit down and negotiate with Republicans.

    “The Republicans just keep saying, ‘later,’” Schumer said. “When the Republicans say later, they mean never. And that’s why we are pushing now to get this done.”

    With the clock ticking on the Nov. 21 funding deadline in the stopgap funding bill, Johnson acknowledged that time is running out for Congress to hammer out the details and pass the necessary appropriations bills for federal funding in the 2026 fiscal year. But crafting a new short-term funding bill with an extended timeline, he said, would be “a futile exercise” that “would meet the exact same fate with Chuck Schumer. He would mock it. They would spike it, and they would try to blame it on us.”

    Democratic senators have remained united in blocking the Republican stopgap funding bill all month, despite repeated pleas from Republicans for five moderate Democrats to join them and allow it to pass.

    On Wednesday, Johnson said he has given up on negotiating with Schumer and Jeffries in favor of appealing to Democratic moderates in the Senate who may come around to Republicans’ pleas.

    He pointed to multiple unions who urged passage of the Republican bill to reopen the government this week, including the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

    Johnson also cited new polling as evidence that Republicans are winning the blame game over the shutdown. On Tuesday, CNN reported that approval of congressional Republicans has increased eight points among independent voters since the shutdown began.

    One week ago, a Quinnipiac University poll found that 45% of registered voters thought Republicans were most responsible for the shutdown compared with 39% who blamed Democrats.

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Jeffries demands House Republicans return to Washington to negotiate

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — As hundreds of thousands of federal workers went unpaid Friday during the 24th day of an agonizing government shutdown, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called on House Republicans to return to Washington to negotiate a bipartisan agreement.

    “We need Republican support for a bipartisan path forward in order to get out of this situation,” Jeffries said Friday during a news conference at the Capitol.

    What You Need To Know

    • As hundreds of thousands of federal workers went unpaid Friday during the 24th day of an agonizing government shutdown, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called on House Republicans to come back to Washington, D.C. and negotiate a bipartisan agreement

    • House Republicans have been on recess since September 19 after passing a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open through Nov. 21

    • That bill has repeatedly failed in the Senate as Democrats demand an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that will otherwise expire at the end of the year

    • On Thursday, Senate Democrats blocked a Republican bill called the Shutdown Fairness Act that would have allowed pay for air traffic controllers, military troops and other essential federal workers the Office of Personnel Management has approved while the government is shut down


    “I said this directly to the president with (House Speaker Mike) Johnson and (Senate Majority Leader John) Thune right next to me,” Jeffries said, referencing a White House meeting in late September to avert the current shutdown. “This does not get resolved until you decide to give permission to Republicans on Capitol Hill to negotiate a bipartisan resolution.”

    House Republicans have been in recess since Sept. 19 after passing a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open through Nov. 21. That bill has repeatedly failed in the Senate as Democrats demand an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that will otherwise expire at the end of the year.

    The federal government has been closed since Oct. 1, when Democrats and Republicans in Congress failed to pass legislation that would fund it for the 2026 fiscal year. Hundreds of thousands of essential federal workers are now working without pay while others are furloughed.

    On Thursday, Senate Democrats blocked a Republican bill called the Shutdown Fairness Act that would have allowed pay for air traffic controllers, military troops and other essential federal workers the Office of Personnel Management has approved while the government is shut down.

    “Deranged Democrats just blocked our bill to pay essential workers who keep Americans safe. Why? They believe that forcing Americans to work without pay gives them leverage,” Senate Republicans wrote on X after the failed vote.

    On Friday, Jeffries reiterated a point he has made multiple times since the shutdown began.

    “We’re prepared to support any bipartisan legislation that comes out of the Senate that is designed to decisively address the Republican health care crisis, reopen the government and enact a bipartisan spending agreement that actually makes life better for the American people,” he said.

    Jeffries cited Friday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report that inflation rose at an annual rate of 3% in September as evidence that Republican policies are not working. He said the upcoming health care open enrollment season will make it “even more significant for Congress and the president to deal with” the protracted shutdown as Americans begin to see increased costs for health insurance premiums, co-pays and deductibles in 2026.

    He refuted the idea that Democrats bear responsibility for any lasting fallout from the shuttered government and pushed back on the Republican contention that their stalled funding bill continues spending levels approved during the Biden administration.

    He said the spending levels the Republicans would like to extend are based on the Republican stopgap funding bill Congress passed in March to keep the government running through the end of September. That bill cut $13 billion for domestic programs, including Medicaid.

    “That March spending bill wasn’t Biden-level spending. It was Trump partisan-level spending,” Jeffries said Friday.

    “We’ve made clear we will not support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of the American people. We’ve been saying that for six weeks. We have not moved off our position.”

    Neither have Republicans, who insist the govenrment must reopen before any negotiations can happen. 

    “It’s becoming clearer by the day that Democrats don’t want an outcome, they want a political issue,” Thune wrote on X on Friday. “They’ve refused to reopen the government – 12 times. They’ve refused my offer to discuss Obamacare’s failures. They’ve refused my offer to hold a vote on their own proposal to address a problem they created. They’ve refused to pay the troops and federal employees who are working without a paycheck. The only thing they’ve said yes to? The Schumer Shutdown and political ‘leverage.’”

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • As shutdown continues, House speaker calls Democratic priorities ‘absurd’

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — On the seventh day of the federal government shutdown, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he agrees with President Donald Trump about working with the Democrats to address health care funding but will only do so after the government reopens.

    Democrats have conditioned their support of Republicans’ short-term funding patch on a continuation of the Affordable Care Act subsidies that will otherwise expire at the end of 2025.

    What You Need To Know

    • On the seventh day of the federal government shutdown, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he agrees with President Donald Trump about working with the Democrats to address health care funding but will only do so after the government reopens

    • Democrats have conditioned their support of Republicans’ short-term funding patch on a continuation of the Affordable Care Act subsidies that will otherwise expire at the end of 2025

    • The federal government has been closed since Oct. 1 when Democrats and Republicans in Congress failed to pass legislation that would fund the government for the 2026 fiscal year

    • Johnson addressed a new legal analysis from the White House Office of Management and Budget that suggested the federal government might not need to provide back pay to furloughed civilian employees; he said he wasn’t read in on the details of the draft White House memo but said he and President Trump both support paying furloughed workers


    During a news conference Tuesday where he blamed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as “leading the Democrats to tell the government to shut down,” Johnson urged lawmakers on the other side of the aisle to “wake up and do the right thing and stop inflicting pain on the American people.”

    The federal government has been closed since Oct. 1 when Democrats and Republicans in Congress failed to pass legislation to fund the government for the 2026 fiscal year. Republicans have proposed funding the government at existing levels through Nov. 21, but Democrats have countered with funding through Oct. 31 that includes an extension of ACA subsidies.

    Johnson cited new statistics from House Republicans that detailed the cost of the government shutdown. He said for each week the shutdown continues, it reduces the country’s gross domestic product by $15 billion. A monthlong shutdown not only means that 750,000 federal civilian employees are furloughed but an additional 43,000 American will be unemployed as a ripple effect, he said.

    “That is the pain that is being wrung,” Johnson said. “We have troops, we have border patrol agents, TSA agents. They are all serving, protecting all of us, protecting the country without pay right now.”

    Johnson addressed a new legal analysis, according to multiple reports, from the White House Office of Management and Budget that suggested the federal government might not need to provide back pay to furloughed civilian employees.

    “If that’s true, that should turn up the urgency and the necessity of the Democrats doing the right thing here,” Johnson said.

    The House speaker said he wasn’t read in on the details of the draft White House memo but said he and Trump both support paying furloughed workers.

    Asked about the memo in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said: “For the most part, we’re going to take care of our people. There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way.”

    Johnson said he spoke to the president “at length” Monday about negotiating with Democrats on health care funding and that he and Trump are “100% consistent and united” on the need to reopen the government first.

    On Monday, Trump told reporters, “We have a negotiation going on right now with the Democrats that could lead to very good things. And I’m talking about good things with regard to health care.”

    Trump then followed up on his comments in a Truth Social post, writing, “I am happy to work with the Democrats on their Failed Healthcare Policies, or anything else, but first they must allow our Government to re-open.”

    Congressional Democratic leaders Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., both said Monday that they had not been in touch with the president.

    “I do not know of any Democrats who have spoken to President Trump or members of his administration on this issue of reopening the government and enacting a bipartisan spending agreement and addressing the Republican health care crisis,” Jeffries told reporters Monday.

    “Senate Democrats have consistently made clear that we will sit down with anyone at any time and at any place either here at the Capitol or over at the White House to reopen the government to enact a bipartisan spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people,” he said.  

    The blame game between Democrats and Republicans over the government shutdown continued Tuesday — one day after a fifth failed round of votes in the Senate on competing bills to fund the government. Neither the Republican measure nor the Democratic proposal came close to gaining the 60 votes needed to advance.

    “FIVE FAILED VOTES BY SENATE REPUBLICANS. FIVE,” Schumer wrote on X on Monday. “They should know: They can’t go forward unless we come to an agreement to address the healthcare crisis in America.”

    Jeffries also weighed in, writing on X on Monday, “House Republicans think protecting the healthcare of everyday Americans is less important than their vacation. We strongly disagree. Cancel the Cuts. Lower the Cost. Save Healthcare.”

    The House is not expected to be in session this week, as the Senate takes the lead on funding negotiations that could reopen the government in the Republican-led Congress.

    On Tuesday, Johnson condemned the Democrats’ latest counterproposal as “a list of absurd priorities” that included returning $500 million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that was cut from the program through legislation Congress passed in July.

    “It has nothing to do with the current proposal to keep the government in operation for seven more weeks so that we can continue the appropriations process,” he said.

    Johnson insisted that health care negotiations with Democrats are “a December 31 issue. There are lots of conversations and deliberations and discussions right now, even bipartisan amongst members about necessary changes,” he said. “The whole point is you keep the government open and then we have those discussions. We were always planning to have those discussions in the month of October.”

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Trump says he’s imposing 100% tariffs on movies made outside U.S.

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday he will impose a 100% tariff on movies made outside the United States.

    In a post on Truth Social, he said, “Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby.’”

    California has been especially hard hit, he said, singling out Gov. Gavin Newsom as “weak and incompetent.” He said the tariff was necessary “to solve this long time, never ending problem.”

    What You Need To Know

    • President Donald Trump said Monday he will impose a 100% tariff on movies made outside the United States

    • In a post on Truth Social, he said, “Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby’”

    • He said California had been particularly hard hit

    • President Trump first proposed the idea of a tariff on foreign-made films in May


    Trump did not say when or how the tariff could be enacted. It would be the first time he has essentially imposed a tariff on a service rather than a good.

    Newsom’s press office responded to Trump’s announcement on X, saying, “The Governor tried to explain this to Trump months ago — when this was initially proposed — that his actions will cause irreparable damage to the U.S. film industry. Today’s move is 100% stupid.”

    The post linked to a story from The Hill in May with the headline “Hollywood studios’ stocks fall after Trump foreign film tariff vow.”

    Parsing the data on how many global feature films are made in the United States is tricky, according to film industry data researcher Stephen Follows. Many films are produced in multiple countries, and there is no system in place to track it, Follows wrote on his website in May, after Trump first proposed the idea of a 100% tariff on foreign-made films. At that time, the president described such films as a national security threat.

    Like many manufactured goods, Follows said films are made with a global supply chain that is further convoluted by streamers such as Netflix, making a movie’s country of origin unclear. In addition, American studios routinely back films from foreign markets, Follows said.

    The major Hollywood studios made 87.3% of global feature films in 2024, according to StephenFollows.com, but crunching country-of-origin data from IMDb since 2000, the analyst found American films made up about a third of all international feature films.

    The U.S. ranks first for global movie productions, followed by India, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada, Follows said, adding that the 200 top-grossing movies filmed since 2000 were shot in 1.6 countries. According to Follows, 23.9% of films that listed the U.S. as the country of origin on IMDb had shot at least one day in the U.K. or Canada.

    Imposing a 100% tariff on foreign-made films would require a new system to define what makes a film “American,” he said.

    The Motion Picture Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s post, but the trade group has previously said that three times as many U.S. films are exported than foreign films are imported to the U.S.

    In July, California expanded its film and television tax credit program for projects that shoot in the state from $330 million to $750 million. Intended to stem the tide of TV and movie programs leaving Hollywood to shoot elsewhere, the expanded credit has so far lured 22 new television projects, Newsom’s office said last month.

    According to the nonprofit Los Angeles film permitting group FilmLA, just one in five TV shows and movies are currently filmed in Los Angeles — a city that is home to Hollywood and was long the center of the industry. But rising costs, incentives that failed to keep up with other states and countries, and the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes have created a perfect storm for productions to flee.

    A recent FilmLA report found that on-location filming in Los Angeles fell 6.2% in the second quarter of 2025 compared with the same period a year earlier.

    FilmLA noted that shooting days for feature films were down 21.4% compared with the same quarter in 2024 but were up 22.6% compared with the first quarter of 2025.

    The decline in productions has major economic consequences for California, which on its own is the fourth largest economy in the world.

    The California Production Coalition estimates the average location shoot adds $670,000 and 1,500 jobs per day to the local economy. There are about 10,500 entertainmeent-related businesses in the state, according to a report from Beacon Economics.

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Transportation Department tightens rules for foreign-born truck drivers

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday that the federal government is tightening its rules for foreign truck drivers and is pursuing enforcement actions against California for noncompliance in issuing commercial driver’s licenses. He called the process for granting licenses to foreign-born drivers “100% broken” and a threat to public safety.

    What You Need To Know

    • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday that the federal government is tightening its rules for foreign truck drivers and is pursuing enforcement actions against California for noncompliance in issuing commercial driver’s licenses

    • He called the process for granting licenses to foreign-born drivers “100% broken” and a threat to public safety

    • Effective Friday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will restrict so-called non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses to individuals who have lawfully entered the United States under a narrow set of employment-based visas

    • FMCSA announced on Friday a “preliminary determination of substantial noncompliance with the standards of issuing CDLs” in California and said the state risked losing federal highway funding or having its CDL program terminated if it doesn’t comply with federal rules


    “The current federal regulations are allowing dangerous, unqualified drivers on American roadways,” Duffy said after detailing several fatal crashes involving foreign-born truck drivers this year. “This means that even when the rules are being followed, dangerous individuals who shouldn’t be near a big rig are getting behind the wheel and causing crashes on our roadways.”

    Citing “deeply flawed” eligibility requirements for foreign-born truck drivers, Duffy announced two immediate actions. Effective Friday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will restrict non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses to individuals who have lawfully entered the United States under a narrow set of employment-based visas.

    Going forward, foreign-born drivers will only be eligible for a non-domiciled CDL if they have an H-2B, H-2A or E-2 visa, FMCSA Chief Counsel Jesse Elison said. H-2Bs and H-2As are issued for jobs that are seasonal or intermittent when there are not enough U.S.-born workers for the position. E-2s are issued to nationals of a country with which the U.S. has a treaty that involve substantial capital investments in the U.S.

    The new rule mandates that states issuing non-domiciled CDLs verify a driver’s immigration documents with the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, system. Under the new rule, Elison said non-domiciled CDLs will expire when the employment visa ends or in one year — whichever comes first. Drivers will need to renew their licenses in person, he said.

    The new rule stems from a nationwide audit the Transportation Department conducted into non-domiciled CDLs earlier this year that revealed a “systematic breakdown among states to follow the law and issue licenses properly,” Duffy said.

    He said the audit found states were not following basic procedures and had uncovered “a gross lack of oversight in the states that issue CDLs. This means that thousands of licenses that should never have been issued actually were issued.”

    The new rulemaking only applies to new non-domiciled CDLs, according to the FMCSA. It does not impact the 200,000 drivers who currently hold non-domiciled CDLs or the 20,000 drivers who have acquired learner’s permits in the U.S., Elison said, adding that about 5% of all CDLs issued for interstate commerce are to foreign-born drivers.

    He estimated that if the rule applied to current non-domiciled CDL holders, 95% would no longer be able to drive.

    Elison and Duffy singled out California for a new enforcement action. FMCSA announced on Friday a “preliminary determination of substantial noncompliance with the standards of issuing CDLs” in California and said the state risks losing federal highway funding or having its CDL program terminated if it doesn’t comply with federal rules.

    As part of the enforcement, the FMCSA will require California to immediately pause issuing non-domiciled CDLs and learner’s permits. The state must also identify all expired non-domiciled CDLs, conduct an internal audit and notify FMCSA of its audit findings, including the number of expired non-compliant CDLs.

    Elison said there are over 60,000 non-domiciled CDLs in California, 15% of which are in violation of federal regulations.

    “They need to avoid and rescind improperly issued non-domiciled CDLs and reissue them in compliance with the new federal regulations,” Elison said, adding that California has 30 days to respond to the FMCSA noncompliance letter sent Friday.

    The California Department of Motor Vehicles did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the FMCSA enforcement action.

    Duffy first suggested the DOT would pull federal highway funding from the state in August, following a fatal crash in Florida involving India-born driver Harjinder Singh. The California DMV told Spectrum News in August that its issuance of a non-domiciled CDL to Singh had followed all federal and state laws and that it confirmed Singh’s legal presence in the United States with the SAVE system before issuing him a REAL ID.  

    While the FMCSA enforcement action was only taken against California, Elison said the agency is asking all states to pause their issuance of non-domiciled CDLs to ensure compliance with the new federal rule.

    “We saw during COVID how important our truck drivers are to moving in supplies, goods, food throughout our country,” Duffy said. “This is not about the movement of goods. We have a lot of drivers who are U.S. citizens who are ready and willing and able to take these loads. This will not impact the flow of goods at all. We don’t need non-domiciled drivers to make sure our goods flow freely throughout the country.”

    The trade group representing the U.S. trucking industry “supports steps to strengthen credentialing standards and ensure that non-domiciled CDL holders have and maintain the proper authorization and qualifications required under federal law,” American Trucking Associations CEO Chris Spear said in a statement about the DOT’s new regulation.

    “Rules only work when they are consistently enforced, and it’s imperative that all state driver licensing agencies comply with federal regulations. We appreciate USDOT taking these steps to guarantee that happens, and we look forward to reviewing the rule in detail and providing specific feedback in our official comments.”

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • DHS: 475 detained in immigration raid at Georgia Hyundai plant

    [ad_1]

    SAVANNAH, Ga. — About 475 people were detained in an immigration enforcement action at a Hyundai factory in Georgia on Thursday, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

    In a press briefing Friday, the special agent in charge of the effort said the department executed a judicial search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful employment practices at the factory where the South Korean auto giant manufactures electric vehicles.

    What You Need To Know

    • About 475 people were detained in an immigration enforcement action at a Hyundai factory in Georgia on Thursday, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

    • In a press briefing Friday, the special agent in charge of the effort said the department executed a judicial search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful employment practices at the factory where the South Korean auto giant manufactures electric vehicles.

    • No criminal charges have been filed in what Homeland Security Special Agent in Charge Steven Schrank said was the largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of DHS investigations
    • A majority of the 475 people who were detained were South Korean nationals, and all were illegally present in the United States or working unlawfully in the country, Schrank said

    “This operation underscores our commitment to protecting jobs for Georgians and Americans, ensuring a level playing field for businesses that comply with the law, safeguarding the integrity of our economy and protecting workers from exploitation,” Homeland Security Special Agent in Charge Steven Schrank said Friday.

    No criminal charges have been filed in what Schrank said was the largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security investigations.

    A majority of the 475 people who were detained were South Korean nationals, and all were illegally present in the United States or working unlawfully in the country, Schrank said. He added that they had entered the country through a variety of means, including illegally crossing the border, entering through a visa waiver that prohibited them from working and overstaying visas. 

    “Each individual was questioned on their status,” Schrank said. “Their documents were checked.”

    Those determined to be illegally present have been turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for removal.

    The arrests were the result of a monthslong investigation conducted through a collaboration of agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security; ICE; the U.S. Labor Department; the FBI; the Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the IRS; the U.S. Marshals Service; and the Georgia State Patrol. 

    Thursday’s raid targeted one of Georgia’s largest and most high-profile manufacturing sites, touted by the governor and other officials as the largest economic development project in the state’s history. Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea’s biggest automaker, began manufacturing EVs a year ago at the $7.6 billion plant, which employs about 1,200 people, and has partnered with LG Energy Solution to build an adjacent battery plant, slated to open next year.

    ICE spokesman Lindsay Williams confirmed that federal authorities conducted an enforcement operation at the 3,000-acre site west of Savannah, Georgia. He said agents were focused on the construction site for the battery plant.

    In a televised statement, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jae Myung said the country is taking active measures to address the case, dispatching diplomats from its embassy in Washington and consulate in Atlanta to the site, and planning to form an on-site response team centered on the local mission.

    “The business activities of our investors and the rights of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed in the process of U.S. law enforcement,” he said.

    At an event with President Donald Trump earlier this year, Hyundai announced it would invest an additional $5 billion in the United States, on top of an already announced $21 billion it had committed for U.S. investments from 2025 to 2028. The company plans to build a new steel plant in Louisiana, expand its U.S. auto production and create a robotics innovation hub.

    Trump’s administration has undertaken sweeping ICE operations as part of a mass deportation agenda. Immigration officers have raided farms, construction sites, restaurants and auto repair shops.

    The Pew Research Center, citing preliminary Census Bureau data, says the U.S. labor force lost more than 1.2 million immigrants from January through July. That includes people who are in the country illegally as well as legal residents.

    Hyundai and LG’s battery joint venture, HL-GA Battery Company, said in a statement that it’s “cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities” and paused construction of the battery site to assist their work.

    Operations at Hyundai’s EV manufacturing plant weren’t interrupted, said plant spokesperson Bianca Johnson.

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter, Associated Press

    Source link

  • House speaker calls for more federal spending cuts in reconciliation package

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — With 27 days left for congressional lawmakers to agree on a spending bill to avert a federal government shutdown, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that the appropriations package needs to cut more spending.

    Citing the $37 trillion federal deficit, Johnson said the $1.6 trillion in cuts enacted through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July is “not enough.”

    What You Need To Know

    • House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that the appropriations package needs to cut more spending

    • Congressional lawmakers have 27 days left to agree on a spending bill to avert a federal government shutdown

    • “We have to continue to spend more responsibly,” Johnson, R-La., said during the first House GOP news conference since its monthlong summer recess

    • He encouraged House Democrats to work with the GOP majority “and think responsibly about how we can spend less than we did last year”


    “We have to continue to spend more responsibly,” Johnson, R-La., said during the first House GOP news conference since Congress’ monthlong summer recess. “If the government shuts down, it’ll be because congressional Democrats rejected commonsense solutions to fund the government and instead caved to their far-left base.”

    He encouraged House Democrats to work with the GOP majority “and think responsibly about how we can spend less than we did last year.”

    On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Democrats are seeking bipartisan common ground to pass the spending bill and avoid a government shutdown, but he insisted that the bill be bipartisan, a product of negotiation and in the best interests of the American people in terms of health, safety, national security and economic wellbeing.

    Jeffries said it’s up to the Trump administration and Republicans in the House and Senate to avoid a shutdown.

    “As we always are, the House Republicans are committed to keeping the government open,” Johnson said Wednesday. “Unfortunately, it seems like not all the Democrats agree with that, and they’ve begun to apply their government shutdown pressure.”

    During a rally on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to “fight for families, reject the cuts,” several Democratic Congress members spoke out against the $1.02 trillion in estimated cuts to federal Medicaid spending to states over the next 10 years through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

    “As we come up in this continuing resolution fight, all Democrats can’t just be a ‘no,’” Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., said at the rally. “You have to be a ‘hell no.’ You have to say that we’re not giving you one vote to continue to take away health care from our people. If you want a yes, you better get health care back to the 17 million people who are going to lose it.”

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Consumer confidence dipped in August, Conference Board says

    [ad_1]

    NEW YORK — Consumer confidence dipped in August as Americans continue to worry about tariffs and high prices, according to The Conference Board. The latest reading from the business think tank found confidence fell 1.3 points in August, from 98.7 to 97.4. Consumers’ assessments about present and near-term economic conditions also fell slightly.

    What You Need To Know

    • Consumer confidence dipped in August as Americans continue to worry about tariffs and inflation

    • The latest reading from the Conference Board found confidence fell 1.3 points in August from 98.7 to 97.4; consumers’ assessments about present and near-term economic conditions also fell slightly

    • While confidence this month is similar to the past three months, “consumers’ appraisal of current job availability declined for the eighth consecutive month,” Conference Board Senior Economist of Global Indicators Stephanie Guichard said in a statement Tuesday

    • Consumers under the age of 35 were least confident about the economy, but sentiment was stable for consumers aged 35 to 55 and increased for individuals 55 and older; among political groups, confidence fell for both Republicans and Democrats and was largely unchanged for independents


    While confidence this month is similar to the past three months, “consumers’ appraisal of current job availability declined for the eighth consecutive month,” Conference Board Senior Economist of Global Indicators Stephanie Guichard said in a statement Tuesday.  

    “Pessimism about future job availability inched up and optimism about future income faded slightly,” she said. “However, these were partly offset by stronger expectations for future business conditions.”

    Consumers under the age of 35 were least confident about the economy, but sentiment was stable for consumers aged 35 to 55 and increased for individuals 55 and older. Among political groups, confidence fell for both Republicans and Democrats and was largely unchanged for independents.

    Guichard said more consumers referenced tariffs as the cause of their concern about higher prices. A year from now, consumers expect inflation to increase to 6.2%. In July, they expected inflation in the year ahead to be 5.7%.

    In July, the inflation rate was 2.7%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor of Statistics.

    Consumers’ expectations of a recession over the next 12 months rose in August to its highlest level since April, when President Donald Trump first announced steep and sweeping tariffs on most U.S. trading partners.

    The Conference Board said more people planned to purchase new and used cars in August compared with July. Their plans to buy other big-ticket items fell slightly, with fewer people planning to purchase televisions and tablets but more people planning to buy washers and dryers.

    Fewer people said they plan to spend on discretionary items like dining out, entertainment and vacations.

    “It’s really no surprise that people are feeling a bit pessimistic about the economy and their place within it,” NerdWallet Senior Economist Elizabeth Renter said of the survey. “It’s difficult to find or upgrade a job, interest rates are relatively high, the threat of tariff effects remain and there seems to be a new impactful development to economic policy each week.

    “Negative consumer sentiment can impact the real economy through spending and saving behaviors,” she said. “Consumer spending has slowed, but not dramatically. We’ll get the latest spending data on Friday, which may indicate whether folks are holding their purse strings a bit more tightly amidst all of this economic uncertainty.”

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Gen Z activists work to get out the youth vote for Kamala Harris

    Gen Z activists work to get out the youth vote for Kamala Harris

    [ad_1]

    With young voters among the many constituencies that could turn the vote toward either presidential candidate, Democrats are leaning on some of its highest-profile youth advocates to get out the vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.

    What You Need To Know

    • With the election in its final days, Democrats are leaning on some of its highest-profile youth advocates to get out the vote for Vice President Kamala Harris

    • Four days before Election Day, the only Gen Z member of Congress, Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., is campaigning on college campuses and at concerts in his home state of Florida while reproductive rights advocate Deja Foxx is knocking on doors and generating content for social media in Arizona

    • A GenForward survey conducted by the University of Chicago in October found inflation was the most important issue among voters aged 18 to 26, followed by economic growth, reproductive rights, poverty, immigration and threat to American democracy

    • A Harvard Youth Poll released last week found Democratic candidate Kamala Harris leads GOP candidate Donald Trump among young voters 60% to 32%



    Four days before Election Day, the only Gen Z member of Congress, Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., is campaigning on college campuses and at concerts in his home state of Florida while reproductive rights advocate Deja Foxx is knocking on doors and generating content for social media in Arizona.

    “I always tell people Project 2025 is Florida 2024. Project 2025, we see some of this going on in the South right now,” Frost said during a press call with leading Gen Z activists Friday, including mass-shooting survivor and gun control activist David Hogg.

    Frost said a Florida law that allows people to carry concealed weapons without a permit is the reason two people were killed and another six were injured in Orlando on Halloween night.

    Hogg said Project 2025, which Democrats see as a template for a Trump presidency, would eliminate red flag laws that take guns out of the hands of those who could do harm and get rid of tools used by law enforcement that stop criminals from being able to purchase guns.

    “We need to do everything we can to prevent this Trump presidency,” Frost said, adding that the Biden-Harris administration has “been able to make big gains for young Americans from gun violence and many different issues and want to continue on that path of progress.”

    Frost is currently campaigning at the University of Central Florida, where he said students are waiting to be asked to organize, to volunteer and to vote.

    “It’s not about inviting people to your table but going to theirs,” he said. “We go to places of culture: concerts and different events to reach young people who might not care about politics.

    “At every event that we’ve been at, there’s been a pretty large contingent of students or people who have never been to a political event before,” he said. “When I speak with them about what issues brought them to the table, we hear about a lot of the issues that we hear about today: gun violence, reproductive justice, access to abortion, the climate crisis, the economy.”

    A GenForward survey conducted by the University of Chicago in October found inflation was the most important issue among voters aged 18 to 26, followed by economic growth, reproductive rights, poverty, immigration and threat to American democracy.

    A Harvard Youth Poll released last week found Democratic candidate Kamala Harris leads GOP candidate Donald Trump among young voters 60% to 32%. Harris’ support is strongest among young women, where she has a 30-point lead against Trump.

    Her lead against Trump among young voters shrinks to 9% across the seven key battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

    According to the Harvard poll, Harris is strongest on abortion rights and strengthening the working class, while Trump is perceived as stronger on the Israel-Hamas war.

    There are about 52.6 million people between the ages of 18 and 29 in the United States who make up almost 16% of the population. In 2020, about half of young voters cast ballots.

    According to the University of Florida Election Lab, of the 66.8 million voters who have cast ballots so far this election cycle, 7.6% have been 18- to 25-year-olds.

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Harris launches ad taking aim at Puerto Rico ‘garbage’ line

    Harris launches ad taking aim at Puerto Rico ‘garbage’ line

    [ad_1]

    Four days after a comedian at Donald Trump’s rally made a joke about Puerto Rico being an “island of garbage” and set off a political firestorm, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign seized on the racist comments in a digital ad targeting Latino voters.

    What You Need To Know

    • Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign launched a new ad targeting Latino voters after a comedian at Donald Trump’s rally made a joke about Puerto Rico being an “island of garbage”

    • The 30-second Spanish -language spot speaks directly to Puerto Ricans, saying: “We are not trash. We are more than that”
    • After showing Puerto Ricans proudly flying their flag and rallying for Harris, the ad cuts to Trump throwing paper towels to Puerto Ricans at a relief center in 2017, after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory, and closes with: “On Nov. 5, Trump will learn that some people’s trash is someone else’s treasure”

    • The ad is the latest in the fallout from the Madison Square Garden rally, which also featured crude and sexist remarks from Hinchcliffe and other speakers



    The 30-second, Spanish-language spot speaks directly to Puerto Ricans, saying, “It was supposed to be a joke. It doesn’t matter. We’ve been called worse,” the ad says as it flashes pictures of GOP candidate Donald Trump and his vice-presidential running mate, JD Vance.

    “What we really are is a group of scientists, poets, educators, stars and heroes,” the ad then says as it transitions to a montage of famous Puerto Ricans, including the global superstar Bad Bunny, who endorsed Harris following the comedian’s comment, and Major League Baseball hall-of-famer Roberto Clemente. “We are not trash. We are more than that.”

    After showing Puerto Ricans proudly flying their flag and rallying for Harris, the ad cuts to Trump throwing paper towels to Puerto Ricans at a relief center in 2017, after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory.

    “Get out,” the ad says about Trump, before cutting to various shots of Harris campaigning with Latinos — a coveted constituency she and Trump have both been targeting in their final days on the campaign trail.

    “On Nov. 5, Trump will learn that some people’s trash is someone else’s treasure,” it says before urging viewers to vote for Harris on or before Election Day.

    The ad is the latest in the fallout from the Madison Square Garden rally, which also featured crude and sexist remarks from Hinchcliffe and other speakers. 

    El Nuevo Día, the island territory’s largest newspaper, endorsed Harris in a scathing front page editorial calling the rally “a repugnant display of hate that evokes memories of the speeches of Nazism and Fascism, which aimed to eliminate minorities.” The paper’s longtime editor and parent company CEO María Luisa Ferré Rangel wrote Trump’s behavior is “erratic and narcissistic” and that the former president “suffers from psychopathic elements that he evidences by lying repeatedly.”

    “Today, the hearts of all of us who love this beautiful Garden of America, and of the world, clench with rage and pain. Puerto Ricans are a noble and peaceful people, who deeply love their island,” she wrote. “On Sunday, continuing a pattern of contempt and misinformation that Donald Trump has maintained for years against the eight million of us American citizens who are Puerto Ricans, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe insulted us during a Republican Party event by referring to Puerto Rico as” a floating island of garbage.

    “Is that what Trump and the Republican Party think about Puerto Ricans? Politics is not a joke and hiding behind a comedian is cowardly,” she added.

    Separately, in an open letter published on Monday, the Catholic archbishop of San Juan told Trump he was “dismayed and appalled” by Hinchcliffe’s remarks and said he wrote the letter demanding a personal apology from the former president after consulting with his fellow bishops in Puerto Rico. 

    “I enjoy a good joke. However, humor has its limits. It should not insult or denigrate the dignity and sacredness of people. Hinchcliffe’s remarks do not only provoke sinister laugher, but hatred,” Archbishop Roberto O. González Nieves wrote. “I call upon you, Mr. Trump, to disavow these comments as reflecting in any way your personal or political viewpoints.”

    Trump’s campaign and many Republicans disavowed the remark, but the candidate himself has yet to do so, claiming in remarks at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Tuesday that his Sunday rally was a “love fest.” At an event in the Philadelphia suburbs later on Tuesday, Trump boasted “no president has done more for Puerto Rico than I have.”

    A slew of Puerto Rican officials and celebrities have denounced Hinchcliffe and many have endorsed Harris in the days since the rally. Jennifer Lopez, one of the most famous Puerto Rican celebrities in the U.S. said she will campaign with Harris in Las Vegas Halloween night. 

    Reggaeton star Nicky Jam, who previously endorsed Trump and appeared with him at a rally, pulled his endorsement on Wednesday.

    “Never in my life did I think that one month later there would be a comedian who would criticize my country and speak poorly of my country,” Nicky Jam, whose real name is Nick Rivera Caminero, said in Spanish in a video posted to his Instagram page. “For that I withdraw my support of Donald Trump. Puerto Rico should be respected.”

    A number of other celebrities of Puerto Rican descent expressed support for Harris in the days after the rally, including music superstars Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin, former Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera and actor John Leguizamo.

    Spectrum News’ Joseph Konig and Justin Tasolides contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link

  • Robinhood launches presidential election trades

    Robinhood launches presidential election trades

    [ad_1]

    The stock-trading app Robinhood will allow customers to bet on the outcome of November’s election.

    The so-called presidential election event contracts are launching with a small group of customers Monday, allowing them to trade based on who they think will win the 2024 presidential election.

    What You Need To Know

    • The stock-trading app Robinhood will allow customers to bet on the outcome of November’s election

    • The so-called presidential election event contracts are launching with a small group of customers Monday, allowing them to trade based on who they think will win the 2024 presidential election

    • An event contract is a forecast contract, the value of which depends on a specific event happening by a specific time; they are based on yes or no answers to a question about the event

    • For the Robinhood presidential election contract, the questions are: Will Kamala Harris win the U.S. presidential election in 2024 and Will Donald Trump win the U.S. presidential election in 2024? 


    An event contract is a forecast contract, the value of which depends on a specific event happening by a specific time. They are based on “yes” or “no” answers to a question about the event. 

    For the Robinhood presidential election contracts, the questions are: “Will Kamala Harris win the U.S. presidential election in 2024?” and “Will Donald Trump win the U.S. presidential election in 2024?” Customers can only own “yes” contracts for one candidate.

    “We’ve heard from our customers that having access to the market in real time is essential,” the company said in a statement on its website announcing the new presidential event contracts. “We believe event contracts give people a tool to engage in real-time decision-making, unlocking a new asset class that democratizes access to events as they unfold.”

    Those who trade in the presidential election contracts will receive $1 for every contract they own if their candidate is certified in January and nothing if they are not. Robinhood charges one cent per contract. 

    The Robinhood announcement comes as the presidential campaign enters its final week, with Harris and Trump neck and neck in the polls.

    Last month, a federal appeals court allowed the prediction exchange platform Kalshi to offer Congressional Control Contracts, enabling buyers to bet on which political party will control the Senate and House following next month’s election. 

    [ad_2]

    Susan Carpenter

    Source link