ReportWire

Tag: Washington news

  • TSA is testing facial recognition at more airports, raising privacy concerns

    TSA is testing facial recognition at more airports, raising privacy concerns

    BALTIMORE — A passenger walks up to an airport security checkpoint, slips an ID card into a slot and looks into a camera atop a small screen. The screen flashes “Photo Complete” and the person walks through — all without having to hand over their identification to the TSA officer sitting behind the screen.

    It’s all part of a pilot project by the Transportation Security Administration to assess the use of facial recognition technology at a number of airports across the country.

    “What we are trying to do with this is aid the officers to actually determine that you are who you say who you are,” said Jason Lim, identity management capabilities manager, during a demonstration of the technology to reporters at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

    The effort comes at a time when the use of various forms of technology to enhance security and streamline procedures is only increasing. TSA says the pilot is voluntary and accurate, but critics have raised concerns about questions of bias in facial recognition technology and possible repercussions for passengers who want to opt out.

    The technology is currently in 16 airports. In addition to Baltimore, it’s being used at Reagan National near Washington, D.C., airports in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Jose, and Gulfport-Biloxi and Jackson in Mississippi. However, it’s not at every TSA checkpoint so not every traveler going through those airports would necessarily experience it.

    Travelers put their driver’s license into a slot that reads the card or place their passport photo against a card reader. Then they look at a camera on a screen about the size of an iPad, which captures their image and compares it to their ID. The technology is both checking to make sure the people at the airport match the ID they present and that the identification is in fact real. A TSA officer is still there and signs off on the screening.

    A small sign alerts travelers that their photo will be taken as part of the pilot and that they can opt out if they’d like. It also includes a QR code for them to get more information.

    Since it’s come out the pilot has come under scrutiny by some elected officials and privacy advocates. In a February letter to TSA, five senators — four Democrats and an Independent who is part of the Democratic caucus — demanded the agency stop the program, saying: “Increasing biometric surveillance of Americans by the government represents a risk to civil liberties and privacy rights.”

    As various forms of technology that use biometric information like face IDs, retina scans or fingerprint matches have become more pervasive in both the private sector and the federal government, it’s raised concerns among privacy advocates about how this data is collected, who has access to it and what happens if it gets hacked.

    Meg Foster, a justice fellow at Georgetown University’s Center on Privacy and Technology, said there are concerns about bias within the algorithms of various facial recognition technologies. Some have a harder time recognizing faces of minorities, for example. And there’s the concern of outside hackers figuring out ways to hack into government systems for nefarious aims.

    With regard to the TSA pilot, Foster said she has concerns that while the agency says it’s not currently storing the biometric data it collects, what if that changes in the future? And while people are allowed to opt out, she said it’s not fair to put the onus on harried passengers who might be worried about missing their flight if they do.

    “They might be concerned that if they object to face recognition, that they’re going to be under further suspicion,” Foster said.

    Jeramie Scott, with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said that while it’s voluntary now it might not be for long. He noted that David Pekoske, who heads TSA, said during a talk in April that eventually the use of biometrics would be required because they’re more effective and efficient, although he gave no timeline.

    Scott said he’d prefer TSA not use the technology at all. At the least, he’d like to see an outside audit to verify that the technology isn’t disproportionally affecting certain groups and that the images are deleted immediately.

    TSA says the goal of the pilot is to improve the accuracy of the identity verification without slowing down the speed at which passengers pass through the checkpoints — a key issue for an agency that sees 2.4 million passengers daily. The agency said early results are positive and have shown no discernable difference in the algorithm’s ability to recognize passengers based on things like age, gender, race and ethnicity.

    Lim said the images aren’t being compiled into a database, and that photos and IDs are deleted. Since this is an assessment, in limited circumstances some data is collected and shared with the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate. TSA says that data is deleted after 24 months.

    Lim said the camera only turns on when a person puts in their ID card — so it’s not randomly gathering images of people at the airport. That also gives passengers control over whether they want to use it, he said. And he said that research has shown that while some algorithms do perform worse with certain demographics, it also shows that higher-quality algorithms, like the one the agency uses, are much more accurate. He said using the best available cameras also is a factor.

    “We take these privacy concerns and civil rights concerns very seriously, because we touch so many people every day,” he said.

    Retired TSA official Keith Jeffries said the pandemic greatly accelerated the rollout of various types of this “touchless” technology, whereby a passenger isn’t handing over a document to an agent. And he envisioned a “checkpoint of the future” where a passenger’s face can be used to check their bags, go through the security checkpoints and board the plane — all with little to no need to pull out a boarding card or ID documents.

    He acknowledged the privacy concerns and lack of trust many people have when it comes to giving biometric data to the federal government, but said in many ways the use of biometrics is already deeply embedded in society through the use of privately owned technology.

    “Technology is here to stay,” he said.

    __

    Follow Santana on Twitter @ruskygal.

    Source link

  • Biden is just ‘pop’ at granddaughter Maisy Biden’s graduation from the University of Pennsylvania

    Biden is just ‘pop’ at granddaughter Maisy Biden’s graduation from the University of Pennsylvania

    Joe Biden took a break from being president on Monday to focus on just being “pop” at his granddaughter Maisy Biden’s graduation from the University of Pennsylvania

    ByCHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press

    PHILADELPHIA — Joe Biden took a brief break from being president on Monday to focus on being “pop,” attending his granddaughter Maisy Biden’s graduation from the University of Pennsylvania.

    Maisy is the youngest daughter of Hunter Biden and Kathleen Buhle, who both attended the ceremony. Also present were Maisy’s older sisters, Naomi and Finnegan, and first lady Jill Biden, and the Bidens’ daughter, Ashley Biden.

    Before the commencement, some students waved at the president and took photos. He waved back and pumped his fist. But other than that, Biden was just another face in the crowd, albeit a very recognizable one. The family sat stage left, apart from the rest of the audience.

    Idina Menzel, the actress and singer, gave the commencement address, even belting out a few lines of a song from the musical “Rent.”

    After the ceremony, Biden and his family went to a lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant.

    Source link

  • Stock market today: Wall Street is mixed ahead of updates on U.S. shoppers

    Stock market today: Wall Street is mixed ahead of updates on U.S. shoppers

    NEW YORK — Wall Street is drifting Monday ahead of reports that will show how much a slowing economy is hurting what’s prevented a recession so far: solid spending by U.S. households.

    The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in its first trading after closing out a second straight down week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was edging down 19 points, or 0.1%, to 33,280, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher.

    Some of the sharper moves came from companies announcing takeovers of rivals, including a 6.3% drop for energy company Oneok after it said it’s buying Magellan Midstream Partners. Magellan jumped 15.5%. But the larger market was relatively quiet as several concerns continue to drag on Wall Street.

    Chief among them is the fear of a recession hitting later this year, in large part because of high interest rates meant to knock down inflation. But concerns are also rising about cracks in the U.S. banking system and the U.S. government’s inching toward a possible default on its debt as soon as June 1, which economists warn could be catastrophic.

    So far, a resilient job market has helped U.S. households keep up their spending despite all the pressures. That in turn has offered a powerful pillar to prop up the economy. On Tuesday, the government will show how much sales at retailers across the country grew last month.

    Several big retailers will also show how much profit they made individually during the first three months of the year, including Home Depot on Tuesday, Target on Wednesday and Walmart on Thursday.

    They’re among the few companies left who have yet to report their results for the start of the year. The majority of companies in the S&P 500 have topped expectations so far, though the bar was set particularly low for them coming in.

    S&P 500 companies are still on track to report a drop of 2.5% in earnings per share from a year earlier. That would be the second straight quarter they’ve seen profit drop, according to FactSet.

    As earnings reports slide out of the spotlight, the U.S. government’s debt-ceiling negotiations are shoving in. The federal government is risking its first-ever default if Congress doesn’t raise the credit limit set for federal borrowing.

    Democrats and Republicans are arguing about whether an increase should be tied to cuts in government spending, and talks are continuing.

    Most of Wall Street expects the two sides to come to a deal after loudly complaining about it, simply because the alternative would be so disastrous for both sides. U.S. Treasurys form the bedrock of the global financial system because they’re seen as the safest possible investment on the planet.

    But one worry is that politicians may not feel much urgency to come to an agreement until financial markets shake sharply to convince them of the importance.

    “A debt default may not be the most likely scenario, but any prolonged debate or unexpected development has the potential to trigger higher volatility,” said Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.

    In the bond market, Treasury yields rose after taking a brief dip following another discouraging report on the U.S. manufacturing industry. A survey of manufacturers in New York state plunged by much more than economists expected.

    The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed back to 3.50%, up from 3.46% late Friday. It helps set rates for mortgages and other loans.

    The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, ticked up to 4.00% from 3.99%.

    High interest rates have meant particular pain for some smaller- and mid-sized banks. Customers are leaving to park their deposits in money-market funds and other options that are paying higher yields. High rates are meanwhile knocking down the value of investments that banks made when rates were lower.

    The pressures have already caused three high-profile bank failures since March, and Wall Street has been on the hunt for other potential weak links.

    Several were holding a bit steadier Monday after dropping sharply last week. PacWest Bancorp. rose 7.5% after losing 21% last week, for example.

    In markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.8% and is near its highest level since the early 1990s. It’s climbed on strong corporate earnings reports and signs that inflationary pressures might be easing.

    Over the weekend, finance ministers of the Group of Seven advanced economies wrapped up a meeting in Japan with a call for vigilance given many uncertainties for the global economy.

    However, they also said financial systems have shown resilience despite recent failures of several banks in the U.S. and Europe. No mention was made of the urgency of resolving the debt ceiling standoff between President Joe Biden and Republicans.

    ___

    AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed.

    Source link

  • Stock market today: Wall Street is mixed ahead of updates on U.S. shoppers

    Stock market today: Wall Street is mixed ahead of updates on U.S. shoppers

    NEW YORK — Wall Street is drifting Monday ahead of reports that will show how much a slowing economy is hurting what’s prevented a recession so far: solid spending by U.S. households.

    The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in its first trading after closing out a second straight down week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was edging down 19 points, or 0.1%, to 33,280, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher.

    Some of the sharper moves came from companies announcing takeovers of rivals, including a 6.3% drop for energy company Oneok after it said it’s buying Magellan Midstream Partners. Magellan jumped 15.5%. But the larger market was relatively quiet as several concerns continue to drag on Wall Street.

    Chief among them is the fear of a recession hitting later this year, in large part because of high interest rates meant to knock down inflation. But concerns are also rising about cracks in the U.S. banking system and the U.S. government’s inching toward a possible default on its debt as soon as June 1, which economists warn could be catastrophic.

    So far, a resilient job market has helped U.S. households keep up their spending despite all the pressures. That in turn has offered a powerful pillar to prop up the economy. On Tuesday, the government will show how much sales at retailers across the country grew last month.

    Several big retailers will also show how much profit they made individually during the first three months of the year, including Home Depot on Tuesday, Target on Wednesday and Walmart on Thursday.

    They’re among the few companies left who have yet to report their results for the start of the year. The majority of companies in the S&P 500 have topped expectations so far, though the bar was set particularly low for them coming in.

    S&P 500 companies are still on track to report a drop of 2.5% in earnings per share from a year earlier. That would be the second straight quarter they’ve seen profit drop, according to FactSet.

    As earnings reports slide out of the spotlight, the U.S. government’s debt-ceiling negotiations are shoving in. The federal government is risking its first-ever default if Congress doesn’t raise the credit limit set for federal borrowing.

    Democrats and Republicans are arguing about whether an increase should be tied to cuts in government spending, and talks are continuing.

    Most of Wall Street expects the two sides to come to a deal after loudly complaining about it, simply because the alternative would be so disastrous for both sides. U.S. Treasurys form the bedrock of the global financial system because they’re seen as the safest possible investment on the planet.

    But one worry is that politicians may not feel much urgency to come to an agreement until financial markets shake sharply to convince them of the importance.

    “A debt default may not be the most likely scenario, but any prolonged debate or unexpected development has the potential to trigger higher volatility,” said Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.

    In the bond market, Treasury yields rose after taking a brief dip following another discouraging report on the U.S. manufacturing industry. A survey of manufacturers in New York state plunged by much more than economists expected.

    The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed back to 3.50%, up from 3.46% late Friday. It helps set rates for mortgages and other loans.

    The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, ticked up to 4.00% from 3.99%.

    High interest rates have meant particular pain for some smaller- and mid-sized banks. Customers are leaving to park their deposits in money-market funds and other options that are paying higher yields. High rates are meanwhile knocking down the value of investments that banks made when rates were lower.

    The pressures have already caused three high-profile bank failures since March, and Wall Street has been on the hunt for other potential weak links.

    Several were holding a bit steadier Monday after dropping sharply last week. PacWest Bancorp. rose 7.5% after losing 21% last week, for example.

    In markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.8% and is near its highest level since the early 1990s. It’s climbed on strong corporate earnings reports and signs that inflationary pressures might be easing.

    Over the weekend, finance ministers of the Group of Seven advanced economies wrapped up a meeting in Japan with a call for vigilance given many uncertainties for the global economy.

    However, they also said financial systems have shown resilience despite recent failures of several banks in the U.S. and Europe. No mention was made of the urgency of resolving the debt ceiling standoff between President Joe Biden and Republicans.

    ___

    AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed.

    Source link

  • Portuguese chief vs. American deputy in race to lead UN migration agency

    Portuguese chief vs. American deputy in race to lead UN migration agency

    The 175 member countries of the U.N. migration agency are casting ballots to choose its leader for the next five years — an unusual contest between its European director-general and his American deputy, who is looking to oust him from the job

    ByJAMEY KEATEN Associated Press

    GENEVA — The 175 member countries of the U.N. migration agency were casting ballots on Monday to choose its leader for the next five years — an unusual contest between its European director-general and his American deputy who’s looking to oust him from the job.

    International Organization for Migration director-general Antonio Vitorino of Portugal was looking at a possibly tough contest against his Biden administration-backed deputy, Amy Pope.

    As the two candidates left a cavernous conference hall in Geneva one after the other to let member countries vote behind closed doors in their absence, Pope and Vitorino didn’t speak to each other — but she expressed confidence to a handful of reporters as she passed by.

    “Gonna be a great day!” she mused, tapping a journalist on the arm and replying “yes” when asked if she had enough votes to win.

    The Portuguese diplomatic mission in Geneva tweeted that the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, which counts nine members, was backing Vitorino, and the European Union — of which Portugal is a member — in recent days announced that he’s the 27-member bloc’s candidate.

    The face-off is unusual in that Pope, the IOM director-general for management and reform, is looking to unseat her boss in a contest between allies: The United States and Portugal are fellow NATO members.

    Eight of the 10 IOM directors-general since the agency was founded 72 years ago have been American. But Vitorino swept into the job in 2018 after IOM member countries rebuffed a candidate put up by the Trump administration, which pulled the U.S. out of the U.N.’s main human rights body, shunned globalism and espoused an “America First” policy that rankled many.

    The election comes as migrants have been on the move like never before, driven from their homes by factors including conflict, economic distress and the growing impacts of climate change.

    IOM has nearly 19,000 staffers in 171 countries who provide migrants with food, water, shelter and paperwork help, and is grappling with mass migration crises in places as diverse as the U.S.-Mexico border, the central Mediterranean, Bangladesh, Ukraine, and Sudan.

    To win under IOM rules, a candidate needs to garner votes from two-thirds of countries that cast ballots in the election.

    Source link

  • Are you who you say you are? TSA tests facial recognition technology to boost airport security

    Are you who you say you are? TSA tests facial recognition technology to boost airport security

    BALTIMORE — A passenger walks up to an airport security checkpoint, slips an ID card into a slot and looks into a camera atop a small screen. The screen flashes “Photo Complete” and the person walks through — all without having to hand over their identification to the TSA officer sitting behind the screen.

    It’s all part of a pilot project by the Transportation Security Administration to assess the use of facial recognition technology at a number of airports across the country.

    “What we are trying to do with this is aid the officers to actually determine that you are who you say who you are,” said Jason Lim, identity management capabilities manager, during a demonstration of the technology to reporters at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

    The effort comes at a time when the use of various forms of technology to enhance security and streamline procedures is only increasing. TSA says the pilot is voluntary and accurate, but critics have raised concerns about questions of bias in facial recognition technology and possible repercussions for passengers who want to opt out.

    The technology is currently in 16 airports. In addition to Baltimore, it’s being used at Reagan National near Washington, D.C., airports in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Jose, and Gulfport-Biloxi and Jackson in Mississippi. However, it’s not at every TSA checkpoint so not every traveler going through those airports would necessarily experience it.

    Travelers put their driver’s license into a slot that reads the card or place their passport photo against a card reader. Then they look at a camera on a screen about the size of an iPad, which captures their image and compares it to their ID. The technology is both checking to make sure the people at the airport match the ID they present and that the identification is in fact real. A TSA officer is still there and signs off on the screening.

    A small sign alerts travelers that their photo will be taken as part of the pilot and that they can opt out if they’d like. It also includes a QR code for them to get more information.

    Since it’s come out the pilot has come under scrutiny by some elected officials and privacy advocates. In a February letter to TSA, five senators — four Democrats and an Independent who is part of the Democratic caucus — demanded the agency stop the program, saying: “Increasing biometric surveillance of Americans by the government represents a risk to civil liberties and privacy rights.”

    As various forms of technology that use biometric information like face IDs, retina scans or fingerprint matches have become more pervasive in both the private sector and the federal government, it’s raised concerns among privacy advocates about how this data is collected, who has access to it and what happens if it gets hacked.

    Meg Foster, a justice fellow at Georgetown University’s Center on Privacy and Technology, said there are concerns about bias within the algorithms of various facial recognition technologies. Some have a harder time recognizing faces of minorities, for example. And there’s the concern of outside hackers figuring out ways to hack into government systems for nefarious aims.

    With regard to the TSA pilot, Foster said she has concerns that while the agency says it’s not currently storing the biometric data it collects, what if that changes in the future? And while people are allowed to opt out, she said it’s not fair to put the onus on harried passengers who might be worried about missing their flight if they do.

    “They might be concerned that if they object to face recognition, that they’re going to be under further suspicion,” Foster said.

    Jeramie Scott, with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said that while it’s voluntary now it might not be for long. He noted that David Pekoske, who heads TSA, said during a talk in April that eventually the use of biometrics would be required because they’re more effective and efficient, although he gave no timeline.

    Scott said he’d prefer TSA not use the technology at all. At the least, he’d like to see an outside audit to verify that the technology isn’t disproportionally affecting certain groups and that the images are deleted immediately.

    TSA says the goal of the pilot is to improve the accuracy of the identity verification without slowing down the speed at which passengers pass through the checkpoints — a key issue for an agency that sees 2.4 million passengers daily. The agency said early results are positive and have shown no discernable difference in the algorithm’s ability to recognize passengers based on things like age, gender, race and ethnicity.

    Lim said the images aren’t being compiled into a database, and that photos and IDs are deleted. Since this is an assessment, in limited circumstances some data is collected and shared with the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate. TSA says that data is deleted after 24 months.

    Lim said the camera only turns on when a person puts in their ID card — so it’s not randomly gathering images of people at the airport. That also gives passengers control over whether they want to use it, he said. And he said that research has shown that while some algorithms do perform worse with certain demographics, it also shows that higher-quality algorithms, like the one the agency uses, are much more accurate. He said using the best available cameras also is a factor.

    “We take these privacy concerns and civil rights concerns very seriously, because we touch so many people every day,” he said.

    Retired TSA official Keith Jeffries said the pandemic greatly accelerated the rollout of various types of this “touchless” technology, whereby a passenger isn’t handing over a document to an agent. And he envisioned a “checkpoint of the future” where a passenger’s face can be used to check their bags, go through the security checkpoints and board the plane — all with little to no need to pull out a boarding card or ID documents.

    He acknowledged the privacy concerns and lack of trust many people have when it comes to giving biometric data to the federal government, but said in many ways the use of biometrics is already deeply embedded in society through the use of privately owned technology.

    “Technology is here to stay,” he said.

    __

    Follow Santana on Twitter @ruskygal.

    Source link

  • Biden proposal would let conservationists lease public land much as drillers and ranchers do

    Biden proposal would let conservationists lease public land much as drillers and ranchers do

    BILLINGS, Mont. — The Biden administration wants to put conserving vast government-owned lands on equal footing with oil drilling, livestock grazing and other interests, according to a top administration official who defended the idea against criticism that it would interfere with industry.

    The proposal would allow conservationists and others to lease federally owned land to restore it, much the same way oil companies buy leases to drill and ranchers pay to graze cattle. Companies could also buy conservation leases, such as oil drillers who want to offset damage to public land by restoring acreage elsewhere.

    Tracy Stone-Manning, director of the Bureau of Land Management, said in an interview with The Associated Press that the proposed changes would address rising pressure from climate change and development. While the bureau previously issued leases for conservation in limited cases, it has never had a dedicated program for it, she said.

    “It makes conservation an equal among the multiple uses that we manage for,” Stone-Manning said. “There are rules around how we do solar development. There are rules around how we do oil and gas. There have not been rules around how we deliver on the portions of (federal law) that say, ‘Manage for fish and wildlife habitat, manage for clean water.’”

    The pending rule also would promote establishing more areas of “critical environmental concern” due to their historic or cultural significance, or their importance for wildlife conservation. More than 1,000 such sites covering about 33,000 square miles (85,000 square kilometers) have been designated previously.

    By comparison, about 242,00 square miles of bureau land are open to grazing livestock.

    But more than a century after the U.S, started selling oil and gas leases, the conservation idea is stirring debate over the best use of vast government-owned property, primarily in the West.

    Opponents including Republican lawmakers are blasting it as a backdoor way to exclude mining, energy development and agriculture from land controlled by the BLM.

    The bureau has a history of industry-friendly policies for the 380,000 square miles (990,000 square kilometers) it oversees, an area more than twice the size of California. It also regulates publicly owned underground minerals, including oil, coal and lithium for renewable energy across more than 1 million square miles.

    Those holdings put the 10,000-person agency at the center of arguments over how much development should be allowed.

    On Monday night, senior agency officials were scheduled to host the first virtual public meeting about the conservation proposal. Another virtual event is slated for June 5 and public meetings are planned for May 25 in Denver; May 30 in Reno, Nevada; and June 1 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

    U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican who tried to block Stone-Manning’s 2021 Senate confirmation, says the proposed rule is illegal.

    Earlier this month he berated Interior Secretary Deb Haaland over it during an Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, saying she was “giving radicals a new tool to shut out the public.”

    “The secretary wants to make non-use a use,” said Barrasso, the ranking Republican on the committee. “She is … turning federal law on its head.”

    Stone-Manning said critics are misreading the rule, and that conservation leases would not usurp existing ones. If grazing is now permitted on a parcel, it could continue. And people could still hunt on the leased property or use it for recreation, she said.

    Former President Donald Trump tried to ramp up fossil fuel development on bureau lands, but President Joe Biden suspended new oil and gas leasing when he entered office. Biden later revived the deals to win West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin’s support for last year’s climate law.

    Biden remains under intense pressure from Manchin and many Republicans to allow more drilling. Such companies currently hold leases across some 37,500 square miles of bureau land.

    Environmentalists have largely embraced the idea of conservation leases, characterizing the proposal as long overdue.

    Joel Webster with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, a coalition of conservation groups and hunting and fishing organizations, said the administration’s plan would set up a process to ensure landscapes are considered for conservation without forcing restrictions.

    He cautioned, however, that administration officials must ensure a final rule doesn’t have unintended consequences.

    Source link

  • Are you who you say you are? TSA tests facial recognition technology to boost airport security

    Are you who you say you are? TSA tests facial recognition technology to boost airport security

    BALTIMORE — A passenger walks up to an airport security checkpoint, slips an ID card into a slot and looks into a camera atop a small screen. The screen flashes “Photo Complete” and the person walks through — all without having to hand over their identification to the TSA officer sitting behind the screen.

    It’s all part of a pilot project by the Transportation Security Administration to assess the use of facial recognition technology at a number of airports across the country.

    “What we are trying to do with this is aid the officers to actually determine that you are who you say who you are,” said Jason Lim, identity management capabilities manager, during a demonstration of the technology to reporters at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

    The effort comes at a time when the use of various forms of technology to enhance security and streamline procedures is only increasing. TSA says the pilot is voluntary and accurate, but critics have raised concerns about questions of bias in facial recognition technology and possible repercussions for passengers who want to opt out.

    The technology is currently in 16 airports. In addition to Baltimore, it’s being used at Reagan National near Washington, D.C., airports in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Jose, and Gulfport-Biloxi and Jackson in Mississippi. However, it’s not at every TSA checkpoint so not every traveler going through those airports would necessarily experience it.

    Travelers put their driver’s license into a slot that reads the card or place their passport photo against a card reader. Then they look at a camera on a screen about the size of an iPad, which captures their image and compares it to their ID. The technology is both checking to make sure the people at the airport match the ID they present and that the identification is in fact real. A TSA officer is still there and signs off on the screening.

    A small sign alerts travelers that their photo will be taken as part of the pilot and that they can opt out if they’d like. It also includes a QR code for them to get more information.

    Since it’s come out the pilot has come under scrutiny by some elected officials and privacy advocates. In a February letter to TSA, five senators — four Democrats and an Independent who is part of the Democratic caucus — demanded the agency stop the program, saying: “Increasing biometric surveillance of Americans by the government represents a risk to civil liberties and privacy rights.”

    As various forms of technology that use biometric information like face IDs, retina scans or fingerprint matches have become more pervasive in both the private sector and the federal government, it’s raised concerns among privacy advocates about how this data is collected, who has access to it and what happens if it gets hacked.

    Meg Foster, a justice fellow at Georgetown University’s Center on Privacy and Technology, said there are concerns about bias within the algorithms of various facial recognition technologies. Some have a harder time recognizing faces of minorities, for example. And there’s the concern of outside hackers figuring out ways to hack into government systems for nefarious aims.

    With regard to the TSA pilot, Foster said she has concerns that while the agency says it’s not currently storing the biometric data it collects, what if that changes in the future? And while people are allowed to opt out, she said it’s not fair to put the onus on harried passengers who might be worried about missing their flight if they do.

    “They might be concerned that if they object to face recognition, that they’re going to be under further suspicion,” Foster said.

    Jeramie Scott, with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said that while it’s voluntary now it might not be for long. He noted that David Pekoske, who heads TSA, said during a talk in April that eventually the use of biometrics would be required because they’re more effective and efficient, although he gave no timeline.

    Scott said he’d prefer TSA not use the technology at all. At the least, he’d like to see an outside audit to verify that the technology isn’t disproportionally affecting certain groups and that the images are deleted immediately.

    TSA says the goal of the pilot is to improve the accuracy of the identity verification without slowing down the speed at which passengers pass through the checkpoints — a key issue for an agency that sees 2.4 million passengers daily. The agency said early results are positive and have shown no discernable difference in the algorithm’s ability to recognize passengers based on things like age, gender, race and ethnicity.

    Lim said the images aren’t being compiled into a database, and that photos and IDs are deleted. Since this is an assessment, in limited circumstances some data is collected and shared with the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate. TSA says that data is deleted after 24 months.

    Lim said the camera only turns on when a person puts in their ID card — so it’s not randomly gathering images of people at the airport. That also gives passengers control over whether they want to use it, he said. And he said that research has shown that while some algorithms do perform worse with certain demographics, it also shows that higher-quality algorithms, like the one the agency uses, are much more accurate. He said using the best available cameras also is a factor.

    “We take these privacy concerns and civil rights concerns very seriously, because we touch so many people every day,” he said.

    Retired TSA official Keith Jeffries said the pandemic greatly accelerated the rollout of various types of this “touchless” technology, whereby a passenger isn’t handing over a document to an agent. And he envisioned a “checkpoint of the future” where a passenger’s face can be used to check their bags, go through the security checkpoints and board the plane — all with little to no need to pull out a boarding card or ID documents.

    He acknowledged the privacy concerns and lack of trust many people have when it comes to giving biometric data to the federal government, but said in many ways the use of biometrics is already deeply embedded in society through the use of privately owned technology.

    “Technology is here to stay,” he said.

    __

    Follow Santana on Twitter @ruskygal.

    Source link

  • Biden, congressional leaders likely to meet Tuesday for talks on raising the debt limit

    Biden, congressional leaders likely to meet Tuesday for talks on raising the debt limit

    REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden and congressional leaders will likely resume talks on Tuesday at the White House over the debt limit, the president said Sunday, as the nation continues to edge closer to its legal borrowing authority with no agreement in sight.

    The meeting was initially supposed to be Friday, but was abruptly postponed so staff-level talks could continue before Biden and the four congressional leaders huddled for a second time. Administration and congressional officials said Sunday that a meeting has not been finalized, although Tuesday was the likeliest option as Biden returns to Washington on Monday and is scheduled to leave for the Group of 7 summit in Japan on Wednesday.

    Biden did not detail much progress in the talks, but said he remained hopeful that an agreement could be reached with Republicans to avoid what would be an unprecedented debt default, which could trigger a financial catastrophe.

    “I remain optimistic because I’m a congenital optimist,” Biden told reporters while out for a bike ride in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. “But I really think there’s a desire on their part as well as ours to reach an agreement. I think we’ll be able to do it.”

    Aides said talks had continued throughout the weekend. But at least publicly, there was little indication that either the White House or House Republicans had budged from their initial positions. Biden has called on lawmakers to lift the debt limit without preconditions, warning that the nation’s borrowing authority should not be used to impose deep spending cuts and other conservative policy demands.

    “We’ve not reached the crunch point yet,” Biden told reporters Saturday before flying to his beach home for the weekend. “There’s real discussion about some changes we all could make. We’re not there yet.”

    On Sunday, senior administration officials said the talks among staff had so far been productive after Biden and the leaders — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky — ended their first meeting last Tuesday without a breakthrough.

    The president described that Oval Office session as “productive” even though McCarthy said later he “didn’t see any new movement” toward resolving the stalemate. White House and congressional aides have been in talks since Wednesday.

    “The staff is very engaged. I would characterize the engagement as serious, as constructive,” Lael Brainard, head of the White House’s National Economic Council, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

    McCarthy has insisted on using the threat of defaulting on the nation’s debts to wrangle spending changes, arguing that the federal government can’t continue to spend money at the pace it is now. The national debt now stands at $31.4 trillion.

    An increase in the debt limit would not authorize new federal spending. It would only allow for borrowing to pay for what Congress has already approved.

    The Treasury Department has said the government could exhaust the ability to pay its bills as early as June 1. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office gave a similar warning Friday, saying there was a “significant risk” of default sometime in the first two weeks of next month.

    But federal estimates still remain in flux.

    The CBO noted Friday that if the cash flow at the Treasury and the “extraordinary measures” that the department is now using can continue to pay for bills through June 15, the government can probably finance its operations through the end of July. That’s because the expected tax revenues that will come in mid-June and other measures will give the federal government enough cash for at least a few more weeks.

    “Ultimately the stakes are, the United States has never defaulted on its debt,” Wally Adeyemo, the deputy treasury secretary, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “And we can’t.”

    And Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told ABC’s “This Week”: “I think defaulting is not the right path to go down. So I am an eternal optimist.”

    He added, “this is always a game we play, every Congress, you know, in daring each other to jump off the cliff. It’s a dangerous game.”

    Source link

  • Biden, congressional leaders likely to meet Tuesday for talks on raising the debt limit

    Biden, congressional leaders likely to meet Tuesday for talks on raising the debt limit

    REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden and congressional leaders will likely resume talks on Tuesday at the White House over the debt limit, the president said Sunday, as the nation continues to edge closer to its legal borrowing authority with no agreement in sight.

    The meeting was initially supposed to be Friday, but was abruptly postponed so staff-level talks could continue before Biden and the four congressional leaders huddled for a second time. Administration and congressional officials said Sunday that a meeting has not been finalized, although Tuesday was the likeliest option as Biden returns to Washington on Monday and is scheduled to leave for the Group of 7 summit in Japan on Wednesday.

    Biden did not detail much progress in the talks, but said he remained hopeful that an agreement could be reached with Republicans to avoid what would be an unprecedented debt default, which could trigger a financial catastrophe.

    “I remain optimistic because I’m a congenital optimist,” Biden told reporters while out for a bike ride in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. “But I really think there’s a desire on their part as well as ours to reach an agreement. I think we’ll be able to do it.”

    Aides said talks had continued throughout the weekend. But at least publicly, there was little indication that either the White House or House Republicans had budged from their initial positions. Biden has called on lawmakers to lift the debt limit without preconditions, warning that the nation’s borrowing authority should not be used to impose deep spending cuts and other conservative policy demands.

    “We’ve not reached the crunch point yet,” Biden told reporters Saturday before flying to his beach home for the weekend. “There’s real discussion about some changes we all could make. We’re not there yet.”

    On Sunday, senior administration officials said the talks among staff had so far been productive after Biden and the leaders — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky — ended their first meeting last Tuesday without a breakthrough.

    The president described that Oval Office session as “productive” even though McCarthy said later he “didn’t see any new movement” toward resolving the stalemate. White House and congressional aides have been in talks since Wednesday.

    “The staff is very engaged. I would characterize the engagement as serious, as constructive,” Lael Brainard, head of the White House’s National Economic Council, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

    McCarthy has insisted on using the threat of defaulting on the nation’s debts to wrangle spending changes, arguing that the federal government can’t continue to spend money at the pace it is now. The national debt now stands at $31.4 trillion.

    An increase in the debt limit would not authorize new federal spending. It would only allow for borrowing to pay for what Congress has already approved.

    The Treasury Department has said the government could exhaust the ability to pay its bills as early as June 1. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office gave a similar warning Friday, saying there was a “significant risk” of default sometime in the first two weeks of next month.

    But federal estimates still remain in flux.

    The CBO noted Friday that if the cash flow at the Treasury and the “extraordinary measures” that the department is now using can continue to pay for bills through June 15, the government can probably finance its operations through the end of July. That’s because the expected tax revenues that will come in mid-June and other measures will give the federal government enough cash for at least a few more weeks.

    “Ultimately the stakes are, the United States has never defaulted on its debt,” Wally Adeyemo, the deputy treasury secretary, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “And we can’t.”

    And Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told ABC’s “This Week”: “I think defaulting is not the right path to go down. So I am an eternal optimist.”

    He added, “this is always a game we play, every Congress, you know, in daring each other to jump off the cliff. It’s a dangerous game.”

    Source link

  • AI presents political peril for 2024 with threat to mislead voters

    AI presents political peril for 2024 with threat to mislead voters

    WASHINGTON — Computer engineers and tech-inclined political scientists have warned for years that cheap, powerful artificial intelligence tools would soon allow anyone to create fake images, video and audio that was realistic enough to fool voters and perhaps sway an election.

    The synthetic images that emerged were often crude, unconvincing and costly to produce, especially when other kinds of misinformation were so inexpensive and easy to spread on social media. The threat posed by AI and so-called deepfakes always seemed a year or two away.

    No more.

    Sophisticated generative AI tools can now create cloned human voices and hyper-realistic images, videos and audio in seconds, at minimal cost. When strapped to powerful social media algorithms, this fake and digitally created content can spread far and fast and target highly specific audiences, potentially taking campaign dirty tricks to a new low.

    The implications for the 2024 campaigns and elections are as large as they are troubling: Generative AI can not only rapidly produce targeted campaign emails, texts or videos, it also could be used to mislead voters, impersonate candidates and undermine elections on a scale and at a speed not yet seen.

    “We’re not prepared for this,” warned A.J. Nash, vice president of intelligence at the cybersecurity firm ZeroFox. ”To me, the big leap forward is the audio and video capabilities that have emerged. When you can do that on a large scale, and distribute it on social platforms, well, it’s going to have a major impact.”

    AI experts can quickly rattle off a number of alarming scenarios in which generative AI is used to create synthetic media for the purposes of confusing voters, slandering a candidate or even inciting violence.

    Here are a few: Automated robocall messages, in a candidate’s voice, instructing voters to cast ballots on the wrong date; audio recordings of a candidate supposedly confessing to a crime or expressing racist views; video footage showing someone giving a speech or interview they never gave. Fake images designed to look like local news reports, falsely claiming a candidate dropped out of the race.

    “What if Elon Musk personally calls you and tells you to vote for a certain candidate?” said Oren Etzioni, the founding CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, who stepped down last year to start the nonprofit AI2. “A lot of people would listen. But it’s not him.”

    Former President Donald Trump, who is running in 2024, has shared AI-generated content with his followers on social media. A manipulated video of CNN host Anderson Cooper that Trump shared on his Truth Social platform on Friday, which distorted Cooper’s reaction to the CNN town hall this past week with Trump, was created using an AI voice-cloning tool.

    A dystopian campaign ad released last month by the Republican National Committee offers another glimpse of this digitally manipulated future. The online ad, which came after President Joe Biden announced his reelection campaign, and starts with a strange, slightly warped image of Biden and the text “What if the weakest president we’ve ever had was re-elected?”

    A series of AI-generated images follows: Taiwan under attack; boarded up storefronts in the United States as the economy crumbles; soldiers and armored military vehicles patrolling local streets as tattooed criminals and waves of immigrants create panic.

    “An AI-generated look into the country’s possible future if Joe Biden is re-elected in 2024,” reads the ad’s description from the RNC.

    The RNC acknowledged its use of AI, but others, including nefarious political campaigns and foreign adversaries, will not, said Petko Stoyanov, global chief technology officer at Forcepoint, a cybersecurity company based in Austin, Texas. Stoyanov predicted that groups looking to meddle with U.S. democracy will employ AI and synthetic media as a way to erode trust.

    “What happens if an international entity — a cybercriminal or a nation state — impersonates someone. What is the impact? Do we have any recourse?” Stoyanov said. “We’re going to see a lot more misinformation from international sources.”

    AI-generated political disinformation already has gone viral online ahead of the 2024 election, from a doctored video of Biden appearing to give a speech attacking transgender people to AI-generated images of children supposedly learning satanism in libraries.

    AI images appearing to show Trump’s mug shot also fooled some social media users even though the former president didn’t take one when he was booked and arraigned in a Manhattan criminal court for falsifying business records. Other AI-generated images showed Trump resisting arrest, though their creator was quick to acknowledge their origin.

    Legislation that would require candidates to label campaign advertisements created with AI has been introduced in the House by Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., who has also sponsored legislation that would require anyone creating synthetic images to add a watermark indicating the fact.

    Some states have offered their own proposals for addressing concerns about deepfakes.

    Clarke said her greatest fear is that generative AI could be used before the 2024 election to create a video or audio that incites violence and turns Americans against each other.

    “It’s important that we keep up with the technology,” Clarke told The Associated Press. “We’ve got to set up some guardrails. People can be deceived, and it only takes a split second. People are busy with their lives and they don’t have the time to check every piece of information. AI being weaponized, in a political season, it could be extremely disruptive.”

    Earlier this month, a trade association for political consultants in Washington condemned the use of deepfakes in political advertising, calling them “a deception” with “no place in legitimate, ethical campaigns.”

    Other forms of artificial intelligence have for years been a feature of political campaigning, using data and algorithms to automate tasks such as targeting voters on social media or tracking down donors. Campaign strategists and tech entrepreneurs hope the most recent innovations will offer some positives in 2024, too.

    Mike Nellis, CEO of the progressive digital agency Authentic, said he uses ChatGPT “every single day” and encourages his staff to use it, too, as long as any content drafted with the tool is reviewed by human eyes afterward.

    Nellis’ newest project, in partnership with Higher Ground Labs, is an AI tool called Quiller. It will write, send and evaluate the effectiveness of fundraising emails –- all typically tedious tasks on campaigns.

    “The idea is every Democratic strategist, every Democratic candidate will have a copilot in their pocket,” he said.

    ___

    Swenson reported from New York.

    ___

    The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

    ___

    Follow the AP’s coverage of misinformation at https://apnews.com/hub/misinformation and coverage of artificial intelligence at https://apnews.com/hub/artificial-intelligence

    Source link

  • Ambitious agenda for Biden on upcoming three-nation Indo-Pacific trip as debt default looms at home

    Ambitious agenda for Biden on upcoming three-nation Indo-Pacific trip as debt default looms at home

    WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has an ambitious agenda when he sets off this week on an eight-day trip to the Indo-Pacific.

    He’s looking to tighten bonds with longtime allies, make history as the first sitting U.S. president to visit the tiny island state of Papua New Guinea and spotlight his administration’s commitment to the Pacific. The three-country trip also presents the 80-year-old Biden, who recently announced he’s running for reelection, with the opportunity to demonstrate that he still has enough in the tank to handle the grueling pace of the presidency.

    But as he prepares to head west, Biden finds himself in a stalemate with Republican lawmakers over raising America’s debt limit. If the matter is not resolved in the coming weeks, it threatens to spark an economic downturn.

    A look at what’s at stake in Biden’s upcoming trip:

    WHERE IS BIDEN GOING?

    Biden first heads to Hiroshima, Japan, for the Group of Seven summit. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is this year’s host for the annual gathering of leaders from seven of the world’s biggest economies. He picked his hometown of Hiroshima, where the U.S. dropped the world’s first atomic bomb in 1945.

    The bombing destroyed the city and killed 140,000 people. The United States dropped a second bomb three days later on Nagasaki, killing 70,000 more. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.

    The significance of Hiroshima resonates deeply today, given that Russia has made veiled threats of using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, North Korea has stepped up ballistic missile tests and Iran pushes forward with its nuclear weapons program.

    Biden will then make a brief and historic stopover in Papua New Guinea. Biden has sought to improve relations with Pacific Island nations amid growing U.S. concern about China’s growing military and economic influence in the region.

    Finally, Biden travels to Australia for a summit with his fellow Quad leaders: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kishida.

    The Quad partnership first formed during the response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 230,000 people. Since coming to office, Biden has tried to reinvigorate the Quad as part of his broader effort to put greater U.S. focus on the Pacific.

    THE BIG ISSUES

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and provocative actions by China in the South China Sea and in the Taiwan Strait are expected to be front and center throughout Biden’s trip.

    At last month’s G-7 ministers’ meeting, the alliance pledged a unified front against Chinese threats to Taiwan and Russia’s war. The G-7 includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

    Biden administration officials have been troubled by China’s increasing threats against and military maneuvers around Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as its own. The U.S.-China relationship has also been strained by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei last August. Those ties were further inflamed after the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon in February after it traversed the United States.

    The G-7 foreign ministers said in their communique that the alliance would look toward “intensifying sanctions” against Russia. How far the G-7 is willing to go remains to be seen.

    IS AMERICA BACK?

    The looming potential for a debt default by the U.S. government raises a difficult dynamic for Biden as he heads overseas for the first time since announcing his 2024 campaign.

    Since the start of his presidency, Biden has repeatedly told world leaders that “America is back.” That’s a short-handed way to assure allies that the United States was returning to its historic role as a leader on the international stage following the more inward-looking “America First” foreign policy of President Donald Trump.

    But Biden has also acknowledged that skeptical world leaders have asked him, “For how long?”

    To that end, top administration officials have said the looming debt limit crisis is a troubling sign.

    “It sends a horrible message to nations like Russia and China, who would love nothing more than to be able to point at this and say, ‘See the United States is not a reliable partner. The United States is not a stable leader of peace and security around the world,” said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

    The Congressional Budget Office said on Friday that there was a “significant risk” that the federal government could run out of cash sometime in the first two weeks of June unless Congress agrees to raise the $31.4 trillion borrowing cap.

    PACIFIC ISLAND RESPECT

    With the brief stop in Papua New Guinea to meet with Pacific Island leaders, Biden gets the chance to show the United States is serious about remaining engaged for the long term in the Pacific Islands.

    The area has received diminished attention from the U.S. in the aftermath of the Cold War and China has increasingly filled the vacuum — through increased aid, development and security cooperation. Biden has said that he’s committed to changing that dynamic.

    Last September, Biden hosted leaders from more than a dozen Pacific Island countries at the White House, announcing a new strategy to help to assist the region on climate change and maritime security. His administration also recently opened embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga, and has plans to open one in Kiribati.

    He’ll be the first sitting U.S. president to visit the island nation of about 9 million people. Chinese President Xi Jinping made a visit to Papua New Guinea in 2018.

    QUALITY TIME WITH MODI

    Biden is going to be spending plenty of time with the Indian prime minister in the coming weeks.

    Modi is among eight leaders of non-G-7 countries who were invited by Kishida to join the meeting of major industrial nations in Hiroshima. He’ll also join Biden’s meeting with Pacific Island leaders in Papua New Guinea.

    Then Biden, Modi, and Kishida will all make their way to Australia for a meeting of the Quad to be hosted by Albanese in Sydney. Biden won’t have to wait long to see Modi again. The president is hosting Modi for a state visit on June 22.

    Source link

  • AI presents political peril for 2024 with threat to mislead voters: ‘We’re not prepared for this’

    AI presents political peril for 2024 with threat to mislead voters: ‘We’re not prepared for this’

    WASHINGTON — Computer engineers and tech-inclined political scientists have warned for years that cheap, powerful artificial intelligence tools would soon allow anyone to create fake images, video and audio that was realistic enough to fool voters and perhaps sway an election.

    The synthetic images that emerged were often crude, unconvincing and costly to produce, especially when other kinds of misinformation were so inexpensive and easy to spread on social media. The threat posed by AI and so-called deepfakes always seemed a year or two away.

    No more.

    Sophisticated generative AI tools can now create cloned human voices and hyper-realistic images, videos and audio in seconds, at minimal cost. When strapped to powerful social media algorithms, this fake and digitally created content can spread far and fast and target highly specific audiences, potentially taking campaign dirty tricks to a new low.

    The implications for the 2024 campaigns and elections are as large as they are troubling: Generative AI can not only rapidly produce targeted campaign emails, texts or videos, it also could be used to mislead voters, impersonate candidates and undermine elections on a scale and at a speed not yet seen.

    “We’re not prepared for this,” warned A.J. Nash, vice president of intelligence at the cybersecurity firm ZeroFox. ”To me, the big leap forward is the audio and video capabilities that have emerged. When you can do that on a large scale, and distribute it on social platforms, well, it’s going to have a major impact.”

    AI experts can quickly rattle off a number of alarming scenarios in which generative AI is used to create synthetic media for the purposes of confusing voters, slandering a candidate or even inciting violence.

    Here are a few: Automated robocall messages, in a candidate’s voice, instructing voters to cast ballots on the wrong date; audio recordings of a candidate supposedly confessing to a crime or expressing racist views; video footage showing someone giving a speech or interview they never gave. Fake images designed to look like local news reports, falsely claiming a candidate dropped out of the race.

    “What if Elon Musk personally calls you and tells you to vote for a certain candidate?” said Oren Etzioni, the founding CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, who stepped down last year to start the nonprofit AI2. “A lot of people would listen. But it’s not him.”

    Former President Donald Trump, who is running in 2024, has shared AI-generated content with his followers on social media. A manipulated video of CNN host Anderson Cooper that Trump shared on his Truth Social platform on Friday, which distorted Cooper’s reaction to the CNN town hall this past week with Trump, was created using an AI voice-cloning tool.

    A dystopian campaign ad released last month by the Republican National Committee offers another glimpse of this digitally manipulated future. The online ad, which came after President Joe Biden announced his reelection campaign, and starts with a strange, slightly warped image of Biden and the text “What if the weakest president we’ve ever had was re-elected?”

    A series of AI-generated images follows: Taiwan under attack; boarded up storefronts in the United States as the economy crumbles; soldiers and armored military vehicles patrolling local streets as tattooed criminals and waves of immigrants create panic.

    “An AI-generated look into the country’s possible future if Joe Biden is re-elected in 2024,” reads the ad’s description from the RNC.

    The RNC acknowledged its use of AI, but others, including nefarious political campaigns and foreign adversaries, will not, said Petko Stoyanov, global chief technology officer at Forcepoint, a cybersecurity company based in Austin, Texas. Stoyanov predicted that groups looking to meddle with U.S. democracy will employ AI and synthetic media as a way to erode trust.

    “What happens if an international entity — a cybercriminal or a nation state — impersonates someone. What is the impact? Do we have any recourse?” Stoyanov said. “We’re going to see a lot more misinformation from international sources.”

    AI-generated political disinformation already has gone viral online ahead of the 2024 election, from a doctored video of Biden appearing to give a speech attacking transgender people to AI-generated images of children supposedly learning satanism in libraries.

    AI images appearing to show Trump’s mug shot also fooled some social media users even though the former president didn’t take one when he was booked and arraigned in a Manhattan criminal court for falsifying business records. Other AI-generated images showed Trump resisting arrest, though their creator was quick to acknowledge their origin.

    Legislation that would require candidates to label campaign advertisements created with AI has been introduced in the House by Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., who has also sponsored legislation that would require anyone creating synthetic images to add a watermark indicating the fact.

    Some states have offered their own proposals for addressing concerns about deepfakes.

    Clarke said her greatest fear is that generative AI could be used before the 2024 election to create a video or audio that incites violence and turns Americans against each other.

    “It’s important that we keep up with the technology,” Clarke told The Associated Press. “We’ve got to set up some guardrails. People can be deceived, and it only takes a split second. People are busy with their lives and they don’t have the time to check every piece of information. AI being weaponized, in a political season, it could be extremely disruptive.”

    Earlier this month, a trade association for political consultants in Washington condemned the use of deepfakes in political advertising, calling them “a deception” with “no place in legitimate, ethical campaigns.”

    Other forms of artificial intelligence have for years been a feature of political campaigning, using data and algorithms to automate tasks such as targeting voters on social media or tracking down donors. Campaign strategists and tech entrepreneurs hope the most recent innovations will offer some positives in 2024, too.

    Mike Nellis, CEO of the progressive digital agency Authentic, said he uses ChatGPT “every single day” and encourages his staff to use it, too, as long as any content drafted with the tool is reviewed by human eyes afterward.

    Nellis’ newest project, in partnership with Higher Ground Labs, is an AI tool called Quiller. It will write, send and evaluate the effectiveness of fundraising emails –- all typically tedious tasks on campaigns.

    “The idea is every Democratic strategist, every Democratic candidate will have a copilot in their pocket,” he said.

    ___

    Swenson reported from New York.

    ___

    The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

    ___

    Follow the AP’s coverage of misinformation at https://apnews.com/hub/misinformation and coverage of artificial intelligence at https://apnews.com/hub/artificial-intelligence

    Source link

  • In debt ceiling standoff, COVID era of big spending gives way to new focus on deficit

    In debt ceiling standoff, COVID era of big spending gives way to new focus on deficit

    WASHINGTON — One outcome is clear as Washington reaches for a budget deal in the debt ceiling standoff: The ambitious COVID-19 era of government spending to cope with the pandemic and rebuild is giving way to a new focus on tailored investments and stemming deficits.

    President Joe Biden has said recouping unspent coronavirus money is “on the table” in budget talks with Congress. While the White House has threatened to veto Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling bill with its “devastating cuts” to federal programs, the administration has signaled a willingness to consider other budget caps.

    The end result is a turnaround from just a few years ago, when Congress passed and then-president Donald Trump signed the historic $2.2 trillion CARES Act at the start of the public health crisis in 2020. It’s a dramatic realignment even as Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act are now investing billions of dollars into paving streets, shoring up the federal safety net and restructuring the U.S. economy.

    “The appetite to throw a lot more money at major problems right now is significantly diminished, given what we’ve seen over the past several years,” said Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonpartisan organization in Washington.

    The Treasury Department has warned it will begin running out of money to pay the nation’s bills as soon as June 1, though an estimate Friday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget office put the deadline at the first two weeks of June, potentially buying the negotiators time.

    “We’ve not reached the crunch point yet,” Biden told reporters Saturday before flying to Delaware for the weekend. “There’s real discussion about some changes we all could make. We’re not there yet.”

    Staff-level negotiators resumed talks Saturday.

    The contours of an agreement between the White House and Congress are within reach even if the political will to end the standoff is uncertain. Negotiators are considering clawing back some $30 billion in unused COVID-19 funds, imposing spending caps over the next several years and approving permitting reforms to ease construction of energy projects and other developments, according to those familiar with the closed-door staff discussions. They were not authorized to discuss the private deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

    The White House has been hesitant to engage in talks, insisting it is only willing to negotiate over the annual budget, not the debt ceiling, and Biden’s team is skeptical that McCarthy can cut any deal with his far-right House majority.

    “There’s no deal to be had on the debt ceiling. There’s no negotiation to be had on the debt ceiling,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

    McCarthy’s allies say the White House has fundamentally underestimated what the new Republican leader has been able to accomplish — first in the grueling fight to become House speaker and now in having passed the House bill with $4.5 trillion in savings as an opening offer in negotiations. Both have emboldened McCarthy to push hard for a deal.

    “The White House has been wrong every single time with understanding where we are with the House,” said Russ Vought, president of Center for American Renewal and Trump’s former director of the Office of Management and Budget. “They’re dealing with a new animal.”

    The nation’s debt load has ballooned in recent years to $31 trillion. That’s virtually double what it was during the last major debt ceiling showdown a decade ago, when Biden, as vice president to President Barack Obama, faced the new class of tea party Republicans demanding spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt limit.

    While the politics of the debt limit have intensified, the nation’s debt is nothing new. The U.S. balance sheets have been operating in the red for much of its history, dating to before the Civil War. That’s because government expenditures are routinely more than tax revenues, helping to subsidize the comforts Americans depend on — national security, public works, a federal safety net and basic operations to keep a civil society running. In the U.S., individuals pay the bulk of the taxes, while corporations pay less than 10%.

    Much of the COVID-19 spending approved at the start of the pandemic has run its course and government spending is back to its typical levels, experts said. That includes the free vaccines, small business payroll funds, emergency payments to individuals, monthly child tax credits and supplemental food aid that protected Americans and the economy.

    “Most of the big things we did are done — and they did an enormous amount of good,” said Sharon Parrott, president of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.

    “We actually showed that we know how to drive down poverty and drive up health insurance amid what would have been rising hardship,” she said.

    Last year, Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law over Republican opposition, was largely paid for with savings and new revenues elsewhere.

    The popularity of some spending, particularly the child tax credits in the COVID-19 relief and the Inflation Reduction Act’s efforts to tackle climate change, shows the political hunger in the country for the kinds of investments that some Americans believe will help push the U.S. fully into a 21st century economy.

    A case in point: A core group of Midwestern Republican lawmakers prevented a rollback of the Inflation Reduction Act’s biofuel tax credits their colleagues wanted to scrap, persuading McCarthy to leave that out of the House bill. The federal money is propping up new investments in corn-heavy agriculture states.

    As McCarthy’s House Republicans now demand budget reductions in exchange for raising the debt limit, they have a harder time saying what government programs and services, in fact, they plan to cut.

    House Republicans pushed back strenuously against Biden’s claims their bill would slash veterans and other services.

    McCarthy, in his meeting with the president, went so far as to tell Biden that’s “a lie.”

    The Republicans promise they will exempt the Defense Department and veterans’ health care once they draft the actual spending bills to match up with the House debt ceiling proposal, but there are no written guarantees those programs would not face cuts.

    In fact, Democrats say if Republicans spare defense and veterans from reductions, the cuts on the other departments would be as high as 22%.

    Budget watchers often reiterate that the debt problem is not necessarily the amount of the debt load, approaching 100% of the nation’s gross domestic product, but whether the federal government can continue making the payments on the debt, especially as interest rates rise.

    From the White House on Friday, Mitch Landrieu, the infrastructure implementation coordinator, talked up the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill Biden signed into law 18 months ago. He said it is creating jobs, spurring private investment and showing what can happen when the sides comes together.

    “We say once in a generation because it hasn’t happened in our lifetimes, and quite frankly it may not happen again in the near future,” he said.

    __

    AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller and Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.

    Source link

  • DeSantis and Trump competing to sway Iowa GOP activists at dueling events

    DeSantis and Trump competing to sway Iowa GOP activists at dueling events

    SIOUX CENTER, Iowa — Warning of a Republican “culture of losing,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sought on Saturday to weaken former President Donald Trump‘s grip on the GOP as the party’s leading presidential prospects collided in battleground Iowa.

    DeSantis, expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign any day, waded into Iowa’s hand-to-hand politicking at a picnic fundraiser in Sioux Center where several hundred conservatives ate burgers while surrounded by classic Corvettes. DeSantis later planned to attend a state party fundraiser in Cedar Rapids, while Trump, a candidate since November, hoped to demonstrate his political strength with a large outdoor rally in Des Moines, the capital.

    DeSantis did not go after Trump by name, but sprinkled his remarks with indirect jabs while highlighting his own success in implementing conservative policies and winning elections.

    “Governing is not about entertaining. Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signaling,” said DeSantis, who was wearing a blue button-down shirt with no jacket. “It’s ultimately about winning and producing results.”

    Although Trump and DeSantis were scheduled to be hundreds of miles apart, the split-screen moment in the GOP’s leadoff primary state marked a first for the two Republican powerhouses. The day offered an early preview of the match-up between Trump, well ahead of his rivals in early national polls, and DeSantis, viewed widely as the strongest potential challenger.

    Trump, meanwhile, was returning to the comfort of the campaign stage after a tumultuous week.

    On Tuesday, a civil jury in New York found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming advice columnist E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million. A day later, during a contentious CNN town hall, he repeatedly insulted Carroll, reasserted lies about his 2020 election loss and minimized the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

    DeSantis has burnished his reputation as a conservative governor willing to push hard for conservative policies and even take on a political fight with Disney, which he highlighted in Sioux Center. But so far, he hasn’t shown the same zest for taking on Trump, who has been almost singularly focused on tearing down DeSantis for months.

    And even before DeSantis formally enters the race, he’s facing questions about his ability to court donors and woo voters.

    His visit to Iowa tested his personal appeal as he mingled with Republican officials, donors and volunteers, all under the glare of the national media.

    More than 600 people attended DeSantis’ afternoon appearance at the car museum. Billed as a family picnic for U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, the event was actually an indoor luncheon, although grills outside smoked with hundreds of hamburgers.

    Most of the action was inside, where a pro-DeSantis super political action committee had set up a table where prospective supporters for his yet-to-be-announced presidential campaign could sign up. The road outside the museum was flanked with DeSantis 2024 campaign signs.

    While on stage, DeSantis devoted much of his speech to divisive cultural issues, including his opposition to diversity and equity programs in public schools and laws aimed at curtailing transgender rights. But, in another indirect jab at Trump, he highlighted the GOP’s recent string of electoral losses.

    “We must reject the culture of losing that has impact our party in recent years. The time for excuses is over,” DeSantis said. “If we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again.”

    Trump was set to headline a, evening rally expected to draw several thousand people at an outdoor amphitheater in Des Moines’ Water Works Park.

    The former president’s aides said the Des Moines event was in the works before DeSantis’ plans were made public, and they hope a large crowd draws comparisons to the scale of their respective events.

    At least for Trump, their emerging rivalry has turned increasingly personal.

    DeSantis has largely ignored Trump’s jabs, which have included suggesting impropriety with young girls as a teacher decades ago, questioning his sexuality and calling him “Ron DeSanctimonious.”

    Trump’s campaign began airing an ad mocking DeSantis for yoking himself to the former president in 2018 when he ran for governor, even using some Trump catchphrases as a nod to his supporters in Florida.

    Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., also has aired spots highlighting DeSantis’ votes to cut Social Security and Medicare and raise the retirement age. The group even targeted DeSantis’ snacking habits, running an ad that called for him to keep his “pudding fingers” off those benefits. That was a reference to a report in The Daily Beast that the governor ate chocolate pudding with his fingers instead of a spoon on a plane several years ago.

    DeSantis has said he does not remember doing that.

    A pro-DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down, has hired Iowa staff and begun trying to organize support for the governor before a 2024 announcement. The group announced Thursday that state Senate President Amy Sinclair and state House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl would endorse DeSantis’ candidacy. On Friday, it rolled out roughly three dozen more state lawmakers who would endorse him.

    The super PAC also has been providing a more forceful response to Trump, suggesting that he should leave Florida if he’s unhappy with DeSantis’ governance, accusing Trump of not sufficiently supporting gun rights and siding with liberal Democrats.

    ___

    Price reported from Des Moines, Iowa. AP Political Writer Steve Peoples in New York contributed to this report.

    Source link

  • Housing advocates warn GOP spending plan would be ‘disastrous’

    Housing advocates warn GOP spending plan would be ‘disastrous’

    Housing advocates are raising the alarm about House Republicans’ plan to dramatically cut the federal deficit to raise the debt ceiling, warning rental aid would be stripped from hundreds of thousands of struggling families who could face eviction and possible homelessness at a time when rents remain high.

    House Republicans narrowly passed a sweeping measure last month that would roll back non-defense spending to 2022 levels — a proposal the National Low Income Housing Coalition said would slash housing and homelessness programs by 23%, a significant blow to the Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance program that around 2.3 million families rely on to cover rent.

    “House Republicans’ plan would have drastic negative impacts on communities’ abilities to address homelessness and the housing crisis,” Diane Yentel, the coalition’s CEO and president, told The Associated Press. “If these proposals were enacted, it would mean communities would have to take away housing assistance from people who already have it, and need it.”

    Though House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s legislation has virtually no chance of becoming law, Republicans hope it will force President Joe Biden to the negotiating table, where the GOP could seek concessions in return for lifting the debt ceiling and ensuring the U.S. Treasury can pay its bills.

    Yentel said she worries that Democrats will agree to painful cuts to housing funds in order to reach a compromise.

    In 2011, during a similar standoff over the debt ceiling, then-President Barack Obama and then-Speaker John Boehner agreed to automatic annual spending cuts — a deal Yentel said hamstrung the Department of Housing and Urban Development for years.

    “The Budget Control Act led to very tight spending caps over 10 years for HUD programs as well as many others,” Yentel said. “Even though we haven’t been under those tight spending caps over the past couple of years … we still haven’t made up for all of the cuts since 2011.”

    Due to high inflation and rising rents, voucher program funding needs to rise each year just to maintain the status quo, she said.

    It’s been over a year since rent increases hit a fever pitch, with median listings rising 16.4% from January 2021 to January 2022, according to realtor.com. Rents rose 0.6% from March to April, according to federal data. Though still high, that’s one of the smallest increases in the past year.

    “At a time where rents are so high, pandemic-era eviction resources have been all but depleted and homelessness is increasing in many communities — now, more than ever, we can’t afford any cuts to these programs,” Yentel said. “We need to be increasing funding for them.”

    Joel Griffith, a research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said HUD funding has gotten out of control and that housing aid needs to be a “temporary assistance program targeted towards those who are truly in need.”

    Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, agreed. “How much debt is too much?” Roy said of the national debt. “We have an obligation to actually limit spending, so we should get serious about doing it.”

    But in a statement to the AP, Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri called the House bill “egregiously offensive,” saying it “turns a blind eye to public housing and would further diminish our nation’s already short supply of affordable housing.”

    In December, during a congressional hearing on affordable housing shortly before Republicans took control of the House, GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry told committee members he would work to “prioritize housing” and “actually achieve some bipartisan results.”

    But over four months later, housing has received almost no attention in McHenry’s House Financial Services Committee, with not a single hearing addressing the pressing issue.

    It’s much the same at the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, helmed by Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio. Of 74 bills introduced by GOP members, just one was related to housing, though a subcommittee hearing was scheduled for Wednesday on mortgages and housing affordability.

    Laura Peavey, a spokesperson for McHenry, did not address whether the GOP spending plan would lead to significant housing cuts. But she said it’s “important to note that after two years of unified Democrat control and trillions in new congressional spending, housing is now less affordable.” A spokesperson for Davidson did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

    Cleaver, the ranking Democrat on Davidson’s subcommittee, said he has tried drawing attention to housing but the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has taken up most of the lawmakers’ time.

    Cleaver, who grew up in a two-room Texas home, has said he is “obsessed with housing because I don’t want a single kid to grow up like I did.” He told the AP he’d been pushing to get housing more at the forefront of Davidson’s subcommittee, but those hopes “went out the window” once SVB cratered.

    “Right now, I don’t see anything that’s going to move us to giving the kind of attention to housing that I think we need,” Cleaver said.

    Cleaver has pushed for expanding tax credits for builders who construct low-income housing, which he thinks could gain bipartisan support and help tackle the ever-widening housing supply gap — realtor.com recently estimated the country is short 6.5 million homes. But, he said, the partisan rancor in Congress presents a significant obstacle.

    “One of the reasons we have not been able to move with the magnitude and mercy that this housing issue requires is because of what is happening in the country all too often nowadays, and that’s a bold and short-sighted political need to divide people,” Cleaver said.

    Dennis Shea, executive director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy, said he’s still optimistic that Congress will take action, pointing to hearings on affordable housing held by the Democrat-controlled Senate finance and banking committees.

    “People from both political parties are hearing about housing affordability problems from their constituents,” Shea said. “This is not just an urban problem or coastal problem. It’s also a Midwestern problem, a rural problem … and I think Congress is aware of that.”

    The Bipartisan Policy Center has promoted a series of proposals aimed at increasing housing supply, preserving the existing stock and aiding families struggling with housing costs. Shea highlighted expanding low-income housing tax credits and creating tax credits for low-income families to revitalize homes in distressed communities, saying the measures would lead to 2.5 million new homes over the next decade.

    Shea said McHenry, the chair of the House Financial Services committee, is “very plugged in on the importance of affordable housing.”

    “It’s just incumbent on us to push housing efforts to the top of the priority list,” Shea said. “That’s our challenge.”

    ___

    Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed.

    Source link

  • In debt ceiling standoff, COVID era of big spending gives way to new focus on deficit

    In debt ceiling standoff, COVID era of big spending gives way to new focus on deficit

    WASHINGTON (AP) — One outcome is clear as Washington reaches for a budget deal in the debt ceiling standoff: The ambitious COVID-19 era of government spending to cope with the pandemic and rebuild is giving way to a new focus on tailored investments and stemming deficits.

    President Joe Biden has said recouping unspent coronavirus money is “on the table” in budget talks with Congress. While the White House has threatened to veto Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling bill with its “devastating cuts” to federal programs, the administration has signaled a willingness to consider other budget caps.

    The end result is a turnaround from just a few years ago, when Congress passed and then-president Donald Trump signed the historic $2.2 trillion CARES Act at the start of the public health crisis in 2020. It’s a dramatic realignment even as Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act are now investing billions of dollars into paving streets, shoring up the federal safety net and restructuring the U.S. economy.

    “The appetite to throw a lot more money at major problems right now is significantly diminished, given what we’ve seen over the past several years,” said Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonpartisan organization in Washington.

    The Treasury Department has warned it will begin running out of money to pay the nation’s bills as soon as June 1, though an estimate Friday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget office put the deadline at the first two weeks of June, potentially buying the negotiators time.

    “We’ve not reached the crunch point yet,” Biden told reporters Saturday before flying to Delaware for the weekend. “There’s real discussion about some changes we all could make. We’re not there yet.”

    Staff-level negotiators resumed talks Saturday.

    The contours of an agreement between the White House and Congress are within reach even if the political will to end the standoff is uncertain. Negotiators are considering clawing back some $30 billion in unused COVID-19 funds, imposing spending caps over the next several years and approving permitting reforms to ease construction of energy projects and other developments, according to those familiar with the closed-door staff discussions. They were not authorized to discuss the private deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

    The White House has been hesitant to engage in talks, insisting it is only willing to negotiate over the annual budget, not the debt ceiling, and Biden’s team is skeptical that McCarthy can cut any deal with his far-right House majority.

    “There’s no deal to be had on the debt ceiling. There’s no negotiation to be had on the debt ceiling,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

    McCarthy’s allies say the White House has fundamentally underestimated what the new Republican leader has been able to accomplish — first in the grueling fight to become House speaker and now in having passed the House bill with $4.5 trillion in savings as an opening offer in negotiations. Both have emboldened McCarthy to push hard for a deal.

    “The White House has been wrong every single time with understanding where we are with the House,” said Russ Vought, president of Center for American Renewal and Trump’s former director of the Office of Management and Budget. “They’re dealing with a new animal.”

    The nation’s debt load has ballooned in recent years to $31 trillion. That’s virtually double what it was during the last major debt ceiling showdown a decade ago, when Biden, as vice president to President Barack Obama, faced the new class of tea party Republicans demanding spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt limit.

    While the politics of the debt limit have intensified, the nation’s debt is nothing new. The U.S. balance sheets have been operating in the red for much of its history, dating to before the Civil War. That’s because government expenditures are routinely more than tax revenues, helping to subsidize the comforts Americans depend on — national security, public works, a federal safety net and basic operations to keep a civil society running. In the U.S., individuals pay the bulk of the taxes, while corporations pay less than 10%.

    Much of the COVID-19 spending approved at the start of the pandemic has run its course and government spending is back to its typical levels, experts said. That includes the free vaccines, small business payroll funds, emergency payments to individuals, monthly child tax credits and supplemental food aid that protected Americans and the economy.

    “Most of the big things we did are done — and they did an enormous amount of good,” said Sharon Parrott, president of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.

    “We actually showed that we know how to drive down poverty and drive up health insurance amid what would have been rising hardship,” she said.

    Last year, Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law over Republican opposition, was largely paid for with savings and new revenues elsewhere.

    The popularity of some spending, particularly the child tax credits in the COVID-19 relief and the Inflation Reduction Act’s efforts to tackle climate change, shows the political hunger in the country for the kinds of investments that some Americans believe will help push the U.S. fully into a 21st century economy.

    A case in point: A core group of Midwestern Republican lawmakers prevented a rollback of the Inflation Reduction Act’s biofuel tax credits their colleagues wanted to scrap, persuading McCarthy to leave that out of the House bill. The federal money is propping up new investments in corn-heavy agriculture states.

    As McCarthy’s House Republicans now demand budget reductions in exchange for raising the debt limit, they have a harder time saying what government programs and services, in fact, they plan to cut.

    House Republicans pushed back strenuously against Biden’s claims their bill would slash veterans and other services.

    McCarthy, in his meeting with the president, went so far as to tell Biden that’s “a lie.”

    The Republicans promise they will exempt the Defense Department and veterans’ health care once they draft the actual spending bills to match up with the House debt ceiling proposal, but there are no written guarantees those programs would not face cuts.

    In fact, Democrats say if Republicans spare defense and veterans from reductions, the cuts on the other departments would be as high as 22%.

    Budget watchers often reiterate that the debt problem is not necessarily the amount of the debt load, approaching 100% of the nation’s gross domestic product, but whether the federal government can continue making the payments on the debt, especially as interest rates rise.

    From the White House on Friday, Mitch Landrieu, the infrastructure implementation coordinator, talked up the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill Biden signed into law 18 months ago. He said it is creating jobs, spurring private investment and showing what can happen when the sides comes together.

    “We say once in a generation because it hasn’t happened in our lifetimes, and quite frankly it may not happen again in the near future,” he said.

    __

    AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller and Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.

    Source link

  • DeSantis in Iowa warns of GOP ‘culture of losing’ as weather sidelines Trump’s event in the state

    DeSantis in Iowa warns of GOP ‘culture of losing’ as weather sidelines Trump’s event in the state

    SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP) — Decrying a Republican “culture of losing,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sought Saturday to weaken former President Donald Trump’s grip on the GOP as tornado warnings interrupted a collision of leading presidential prospects in battleground Iowa.

    DeSantis, expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign any day, briefly flipped burgers and pork chops at an afternoon picnic fundraiser in Sioux Center that drew hundred of conservatives to the northwest corner of the state. From the podium, the 44-year-old governor highlighted his eagerness to embrace conservative cultural fights and sprinkled his remarks with indirect jabs at Trump.

    “Governing is not about entertaining. Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signaling,” said DeSantis, who wore a blue button-down shirt without a tie or jacket. “It’s ultimately about winning and producing results.”

    Trump, a candidate since November, had hoped to demonstrate his political strength with a large outdoor rally in Des Moines, the capital, later in the day. He canceled the appearance hours before its scheduled start time due to a tornado warning.

    Roughly 200 supporters had already gathered at the venue.

    “I feel like it’s still Trump’s time,” said Robert Bushard, 76, who said he drove about four hours from St. Paul, Minnesota to see the former president. Of DeSantis, he said, “He’d be a good president after Trump.”

    Republican primary voters across the nation are sizing up DeSantis and Trump, two Republican powerhouses who are among a half dozen GOP candidates already in the race or expected to announce imminently. Trump is well ahead of his rivals in early national polls, while DeSantis is viewed widely as the strongest potential challenger.

    Trump was hoping to return to the comfort of the campaign stage after a tumultuous week.

    On Tuesday, a civil jury in New York found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming advice columnist E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million. A day later, during a contentious CNN town hall, he repeatedly insulted Carroll, reasserted lies about his 2020 election loss and minimized the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

    DeSantis has burnished his reputation as a conservative governor willing to push hard for conservative policies and even take on a political fight with Disney, which he highlighted in Sioux Center. But so far, he hasn’t shown the same zest for taking on Trump, who has been almost singularly focused on tearing down DeSantis for months.

    On Saturday, DeSantis avoided Trump’s legal entanglements or his falsehoods about the 2020 election, instead highlighting the GOP’s recent string of electoral losses. The Republican Party has struggled in every national election since Trump’s 2016 victory.

    “We must reject the culture of losing that has impacted our party in recent years. The time for excuses is over,” DeSantis said. “If we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again.”

    It’s uncertain whether DeSantis’ political successes in Florida can be replicated on the national stage.

    Even before he formally enters the race, he’s already facing questions about his ability to court donors and woo voters.

    The Iowa visit, his second in two months, was expected to help address concerns about his sometimes awkward personal appeal as he met with Republican officials, donors and volunteers, all under the glare of the national media. But DeSantis devoted little time — at least compared with most of the GOP’s other White House contenders — for selfies or handshakes in Sioux Center, where more than 600 people had gathered to see him at an event billed as a family picnic for U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra.

    DeSantis left most of the politicking to his allied super political action committee, which had set up a table where prospective supporters for his yet-to-be-announced presidential campaign could sign up.

    The road outside the museum was flanked with DeSantis 2024 campaign signs.

    Trump’s team had expected more than 5,000 to attend the rally at an outdoor amphitheater in downtown Des Moines for the purpose of collecting information on would-be supporters and encouraging them to commit to Trump.

    Trump’s 2024 Iowa campaign, unlike his rag-tag 2016 second-place Iowa effort, is putting together a more disciplined, data-driven operation. The Saturday event was aimed at encouraging attendees to sign up with the campaign on a website so the campaign could maintain contact with them, keep them posted on how and where to caucus, and recruit campaign volunteers.

    In a social media post, Trump promised to reschedule the event. Shortly afterward, the campaign released a list of endorsements from more than 150 Iowa elected officials and activists across all of the state’s 99 counties.

    And as they compete for support, the emerging rivalry with DeSantis has turned increasingly personal.

    DeSantis has largely ignored Trump’s most egregious jabs, which have included suggesting impropriety with young girls as a teacher decades ago, questioning his sexuality and calling him “Ron DeSanctimonious.”

    Trump’s campaign began airing an ad mocking DeSantis for yoking himself to the former president in 2018 when he ran for governor, even using some Trump catchphrases as a nod to his supporters in Florida.

    Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., also has aired spots highlighting DeSantis’ votes to cut Social Security and Medicare and raise the retirement age. The group even targeted DeSantis’ snacking habits, running an ad that called for him to keep his “pudding fingers” off those benefits. That was a reference to a report in The Daily Beast that the governor ate chocolate pudding with his fingers instead of a spoon on a plane several years ago.

    DeSantis has said he does not remember doing that.

    At the same time, the pro-DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down, has hired Iowa staff and begun trying to organize support for the governor before a 2024 announcement. The group announced Thursday that state Senate President Amy Sinclair and state House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl would endorse DeSantis’ candidacy. On Friday, it rolled out roughly three dozen more state lawmakers who would endorse him.

    Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst attended DeSantis’ Sioux Center appearance.

    After his speech, he spent about 15 minutes shaking hands and making small talk with voters as he maneuvered through the large audience, trailed by reporters, TV cameras and a security detail. He then dashed outdoors to pose with Reynolds and Feenstra while tending to burgers and pork chops at the grill.

    Lyle and Sonia Remmerde of Rock Valley managed a handshake. She said DeSantis’ style comes across as “normal.”

    “One of the things when you compare Trump and DeSantis, I think DeSantis has — how do you say? — a much more smooth approach,” said Lyle Remmerde, 65. “He’s less abrasive.”

    ___

    Price reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Peoples reported from New York.

    Source link

  • Debt ceiling standoff shows how era of pandemic spending is giving way to focus on stemming deficits

    Debt ceiling standoff shows how era of pandemic spending is giving way to focus on stemming deficits

    WASHINGTON — One outcome is clear as Washington reaches for a budget deal to end the debt ceiling standoff: The ambitious COVID-19 era of government spending to cope with the pandemic and rebuild in its aftermath is giving way to a new fiscal focus on tailored investments and stemming deficits.

    President Joe Biden has said recouping unspent coronavirus money is “on the table” in budget talks with Congress. While the White House has threatened to veto Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling bill with its “devastating cuts” to federal programs, the administration has signaled a willingness to consider other budget caps.

    The end result is a turnaround from just a few years ago, when Congress passed and then-president Donald Trump signed the historic $2.2 trillion CARES Act at the start of the public health crisis in 2020. It’s a dramatic realignment even as Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act are now investing billions of dollars into paving streets, shoring up the federal safety net and restructuring the U.S. economy.

    “The appetite to throw a lot more money at major problems right now is significantly diminished, given what we’ve seen over the past several years,” said Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonpartisan organization in Washington.

    The Treasury Department has warned it will begin running out of money to pay the nation’s bills as soon as June 1, though an estimate Friday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget office put the deadline at the first two weeks of June, potentially buying the negotiators time.

    The contours of an agreement between the White House and Congress are within reach even if the political will to end the standoff is uncertain. Negotiators are considering clawing back some $30 billion in unused COVID-19 funds, imposing spending caps over the next several years and approving permitting reforms to ease construction of energy projects and other developments, according to those familiar with the closed-door staff discussions. They were not authorized to discuss the private deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

    The White House has been hesitant to engage in talks, insisting it is only willing to negotiate over the annual budget, not the debt ceiling, and Biden’s team is skeptical that McCarthy can cut any deal with his far-right House majority.

    “There’s no deal to be had on the debt ceiling. There’s no negotiation to be had on the debt ceiling,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

    McCarthy’s allies say the White House has fundamentally underestimated what the new Republican leader has been able to accomplish — first in the grueling fight to become House speaker and now in having passed the House bill with $4.5 trillion in savings as an opening offer in negotiations. Both have emboldened McCarthy to push hard for a deal.

    “The White House has been wrong every single time with understanding where we are with the House,” said Russ Vought, president of Center for American Renewal and Trump’s former director of the Office of Management and Budget. “They’re dealing with a new animal.”

    The nation’s debt load has ballooned in recent years to $31 trillion. That’s virtually double what it was during the last major debt ceiling showdown a decade ago, when Biden, as vice president to President Barack Obama, faced the new class of tea party Republicans demanding spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt limit.

    While the politics of the debt limit have intensified, the nation’s debt is nothing new. The U.S. balance sheets have been operating in the red for much of its history, dating to before the Civil War. That’s because government expenditures are routinely more than tax revenues, helping to subsidize the comforts Americans depend on — national security, public works, a federal safety net and basic operations to keep a civil society running. In the U.S., individuals pay the bulk of the taxes, while corporations pay less than 10%.

    Much of the COVID-19 spending approved at the start of the pandemic has run its course and government spending is back to its typical levels, experts said. That includes the free vaccines, small business payroll funds, emergency payments to individuals, monthly child tax credits and supplemental food aid that protected Americans and the economy.

    “Most of the big things we did are done — and they did an enormous amount of good,” said Sharon Parrott, president of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.

    “We actually showed that we know how to drive down poverty and drive up health insurance amid what would have been rising hardship,” she said.

    Last year, Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law over Republican opposition, was largely paid for with savings and new revenues elsewhere.

    The popularity of some spending, particularly the child tax credits in the COVID-19 relief and the Inflation Reduction Act’s efforts to tackle climate change, shows the political hunger in the country for the kinds of investments that some Americans believe will help push the U.S. fully into a 21st century economy.

    A case in point: A core group of Midwestern Republican lawmakers prevented a rollback of the Inflation Reduction Act’s biofuel tax credits their colleagues wanted to scrap, persuading McCarthy to leave that out of the House bill. The federal money is propping up new investments in corn-heavy agriculture states.

    As McCarthy’s House Republicans now demand budget reductions in exchange for raising the debt limit, they have a harder time saying what government programs and services, in fact, they plan to cut.

    House Republicans pushed back strenuously against Biden’s claims their bill would slash veterans and other services.

    McCarthy, in his meeting with the president, went so far as to tell Biden that’s “a lie.”

    The Republicans promise they will exempt the Defense Department and veterans’ health care once they draft the actual spending bills to match up with the House debt ceiling proposal, but there are no written guarantees those programs would not face cuts.

    In fact, Democrats say if Republicans spare defense and veterans from reductions, the cuts on the other departments would be as high as 22%.

    Budget watchers often reiterate that the debt problem is not necessarily the amount of the debt load, approaching 100% of the nation’s gross domestic product, but whether the federal government can continue making the payments on the debt, especially as interest rates rise.

    From the White House on Friday, Mitch Landrieu, the infrastructure implementation coordinator, talked up the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill Biden signed into law 18 months ago. He said it is creating jobs, spurring private investment and showing what can happen when the sides comes together.

    “We say once in a generation because it hasn’t happened in our lifetimes, and quite frankly it may not happen again in the near future,” he said.

    __

    AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller contributed to this report.

    Source link

  • G7 finance leaders vow to contain inflation, strengthen supply chains but avoid mention of China

    G7 finance leaders vow to contain inflation, strengthen supply chains but avoid mention of China

    NIIGATA, Japan — The Group of Seven’s top financial leaders united Saturday in their support for Ukraine and their determination to enforce sanctions against Russia for its aggression but stopped short of any overt mention of China.

    The finance ministers and central bank chiefs ended three days of talks in Niigata, Japan, with a joint statement pledging to bring inflation under control, help countries struggling with onerous debts and strengthen financial systems.

    They also committed to collaborating to build more stable, diversified supply chains for developing clean energy sources and to “enhance economic resilience globally against various shocks.”

    The statement did not include any specific mention of China or of “economic coercion” in pursuit of political objectives, such as penalizing the companies of countries whose governments take actions that anger another country.

    Talk this week of such moves by China had drawn outraged rebukes from Beijing. Officials attending the talks in this port city apparently balked at overtly condemning China, given the huge stake most countries have in good relations with the rising power and No. 2 economy.

    The finance leaders’ talks laid the groundwork for a summit of G-7 leaders in Hiroshima next week that President Joe Biden is expected to attend despite a crisis over the U.S. debt ceiling that could result in a national default if it is not resolved in the coming weeks.

    Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen mentioned the issue in a working dinner, but he refrained from saying anything more.

    While in Niigata, Yellen warned that a failure to raise the debt ceiling to enable the government to continue paying its bills would bring an economic catastrophe, destroying hundreds of thousands of jobs and potentially disrupting global financial systems. No mention of the issue was made in the finance leaders’ statement.

    The G-7’s devotion to protecting what it calls a “rules-based international order” got only a passing mention.

    The leaders pledge to work together both within the G-7 and with other countries to “enhance economic resilience globally against various shocks, stand firm to protect our shared values, and preserve economic efficiency by upholding the free, fair and rules-based multilateral system,” it said.

    G-7 economies comprise only a tenth of the world’s population but about 30% of economic activity, down from roughly half 40 years ago. Developing economies like China, India and Brazil have made huge gains, raising questions about the G-7’s relevance and role in leading a world economy increasingly reliant on growth in less wealthy nations.

    China had blasted as hypocrisy assertions by the U.S. and other G-7 countries that they are safeguarding a “rules-based international order” against “economic coercion” from Beijing and other threats.

    China itself is a victim of economic coercion, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Friday.

    “If any country should be criticized for economic coercion, it should be the United States. The U.S. has been overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export controls and taking discriminatory and unfair measures against foreign companies,” Wang said in a routine news briefing.

    China accuses Washington of hindering its rise as an increasingly affluent, modern nation through trade and investment restrictions. Yellen said they are “narrowly targeted” to protect American economic security.

    Despite recent turmoil in the banking industry, the G-7 statement said the financial system was “resilient” thanks to reforms implemented during the 2008 global financial crisis.

    “Nevertheless, we need to remain vigilant and stay agile and flexible in our macroeconomic policy amid heightened uncertainty about the global economic outlook,” it said.

    Meanwhile, inflation remains “elevated” and central banks are determined to bring it under control, it said.

    Since prices remain “sticky,” some countries may see continued rate hikes, said Kazuo Ueda, Japan’s central bank governor. “The impact of the rate hikes has not been fully realized,” he told reporters.

    Japan won support for its call for a “partnership” to strengthen supply chains to reduce the risk of disruptions similar to those seen during the pandemic, when supplies of items of all kinds, from medicines to toilet paper to high-tech computer chips, ran short in many countries.

    Suzuki said details of that plan would be worked out later.

    “Through the pandemic, we learned that supply chains tended to depend on a limited number of countries or one country,” he said, adding that economic security hinges on helping more countries develop their capacity to supply critical minerals and other products needed as the world switches to carbon-emissions-free energy.

    Tensions with China, and with Russia over its war on Ukraine, inevitably loomed large during the talks in Japan, the G-7’s only Asian member.

    “We call for an immediate end of Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine, which would clear one of the biggest uncertainties over the global economic outlook,” the joint statement said.

    The financial leaders took time to listen to ideas on how to focus more on welfare in policymaking, rather than just GDP and other numerical indicators that often drive decisions with profound impacts on people’s well being.

    “These efforts will help preserve confidence in democracy and a market-based economy, which are the core values of the G-7,” the finance leaders’ statement concluded.

    Suzuki said he and other leaders learned much from a seminar by Columbia University economist Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel prize winner who worked in the Clinton administration and who has championed what he calls “progressive capitalism.”

    It’s a “very interesting view,” Suzuki said, adding that “so far, we’ve been mostly focused on GDP and other numerical indicators.”

    ___

    Associated Press journalist Haruka Nuga contributed.

    Source link