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☆ Republicans slam Defense Secretary Austin's 'unacceptable' handling of hospitalization
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Ryan Anastasio | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testifies before a House Armed Services Committee hearing about his failure to disclose his cancer diagnosis and subsequent hospitalizations, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 29, 2024. Republicans grilled U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at a hearing Thursday about the handling of his January hospitalization following his cancer diagnosis. Thursday's hearing centered around why the Deputy Defense Secretary and the White House were not immediately informed that Austin was hospitalized after complications arose from surgery to treat his prostate cancer. ... As you know, I've apologized, including directly to the president, and I take full responsibility," Austin said at Thursday's hearing. The Defense Department's inspector general is also conducting a review of the incident.

Persons: Lloyd Austin, Defense Lloyd Austin, Mike Rogers, Austin, Michael Waltz, she's, you've, I've, Joe Biden, Jim Banks, Adam Smith Organizations: Defense, Armed, Capitol, Pentagon, House Armed Service Committee, Deputy Defense, White, Republicans, Armed Services Committee Locations: Washington , U.S, United States, Ukraine

The House had already gone on the record in support of an Israel aid package. The vote for more Israel aid was 250-180, well short of the two-thirds threshold necessary for passage. “Leveraging Israel aid as it fights for survival is wrong,” Johnson said. Democrats said presidential politics played into the route House Republicans took in going ahead solely with aid for Israel. “Trump doesn't want to support Ukraine, and he also doesn't want a border deal because it hurts him politically.

Persons: Mike Johnson's, Alejandro Mayorkas, Johnson, Israel, Joe Biden's, Hakeem Jeffries, There’s, ” Johnson, “ Trump, Donald Trump's, Adam Smith, Lois Frankel of, embolden, ” Frankel, Trump, Donald Trump, ”, Chuck Schumer Organizations: WASHINGTON, House Republican, Homeland, Republicans, Internal Revenue Service, Democratic, Republican, White, House Republicans, Israel, House Armed Services Committee, Rep, Ukraine, Putin Locations: Israel, Ukraine, U.S, Mexico, Lois Frankel of Florida, Gaza

☆ Opinion: Nikki Haley is right about the Trump tariffs
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Opinion Edward J. Mccaffery | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Think about that for a second.”Second, Haley is almost certainly right: tariffs can be a regressive tax, borne largely, if not exclusively, by ordinary American workers. The moderate, non-partisan Tax Foundation found that the existing Trump tariffs will bring in a mere $74 billion in revenues over ten years, while costing jobs, lowering growth and depressing American wages. Haley is right. Who is likely to benefit most from any future Trump tax cuts? Haley is right; Trump wins.

Persons: Edward J, McCaffery, Robert C, Donald Trump’s, Nikki Haley, Haley, Trump, Adam Smith, Harris, Smoot, Hawley, Hood, Herbert Hoover, Ronald Reagan Organizations: CNN, Packard, University of Southern, McCaffery, Jobs, South Carolina Republican, Foundation, Tax Foundation, Biden, Trump, Tax, Walmart, Republican, Trump University Locations: University of Southern California, Washington, China

☆ Biden risks deepening Middle East conflict with pressure to respond to deadly troop attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

How each party proceeds in the coming days could significantly alter the trajectory of the Israel-Hamas war and the broader tensions it has sparked in the Middle East. The issues have been the subject of hours of intense Situation Room discussions and high-level talks between the leaders. Already, Biden was coming under pressure to ratchet up the scale of American counterattack. American officials have said they have used backchannels to convey to Iran and its proxies that the attacks on US troops must stop. American officials said they were cautiously optimistic that the talks were moving in the right direction, and that an agreement could soon be in reach.

Persons: Jordan —, ’, Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, We’ve, Adam Smith, ” Smith, ”, Smith, Biden, Sen, Lindsey Graham of, ” Sen, John Cornyn of, Lloyd Austin, Jake Sullivan, Bill Burns, Sunday’s, Burns, Elissa Slotkin Organizations: CNN, Hamas, United, ”, House Armed Services Committee, Iran, Sunday, “ Target, Defense, CIA, Michigan Democrat Locations: States, Gaza, Israel, France, Washington, Tehran, United States, Iran, Jordan, South Carolina, Iraq, Syria, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, “, “ Target Tehran, Paris, Qatar, Egypt, Michigan

WASHINGTON (AP) — New Speaker Mike Johnson finds himself leading House Republicans with a majority in name only. Approaching his first 100 days on the job, Johnson faces daunting choices ahead. “The House Republicans have the second-smallest majority in history," he said. Johnson and Trump talk often, but some of Trump’s strongest allies in the House are those conservatives pushing the speaker rightward and denying him a governing majority. “Speaker Johnson is in a 24-hour survival mode," said Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a key Democratic negotiator on the border package.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Johnson, Joe Biden, ” Johnson, We're, He's, Donald Trump, Johnson's, Kevin McCarthy of, ”, Bob Good, Biden, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's, Adam Smith, “, ’ ” Smith, Smith, ” Smith, ‘, McCarthy, Trump, Sen, Chris Murphy of, “ He's, Jim Jordan Organizations: WASHINGTON, —, Republicans, Democratic, White House, Trump, Virginia, Caucus, House Republicans, U.S, Democrat, House Armed Services Committee, Rep, Ukraine, White, Ohio Locations: Washington, Louisiana, Kevin McCarthy of California, U.S, Ukraine, Gaza, “, United States, Mexico, That’s, Chris Murphy of Connecticut

☆ White House stands by Defense Secretary Austin as bipartisan furor grows over secret ICU stay
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-08 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said there are no plans other "than for Secretary Austin to stay in the job." He remains focused on conducting his duties as Secretary of Defense in defense of our nation." The Pentagon's lawyers were examining whether any laws were broken when Austin failed to report his medical condition. Austin's secret hospitalization came during a week when the U.S. was weighing several notable national security matters, including military action in the Middle East. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that Biden maintains "complete confidence" in Austin.

Persons: Defense Lloyd Austin, Lloyd Austin, John Kirby, Austin, Elise Stefanik, Pat Ryder, Kirby, Staff Kelly Magsamen, Jake Sullivan, Kathleen Hicks, Jan, Joe Biden, Biden, Mike Rogers, Adam Smith, Sen, Jack Reed, Reed, Karine Jean, Pierre, Monday Organizations: Defense, Ukraine Defense Contact, Ramstein Air Base, White, National Security, Walter Reed National Military Medical, Congressional, Republican, Republicans, Pentagon, Staff, NSC, National, House, House Armed Services, Armed Services, Department, Department of Defense Locations: Ukraine, Ramstein, Miesenbach, Germany, Austin, U.S, Baghdad, Iran

☆ Democrat denounces political intimidation and violence after home vandalized with call for ceasefire in Israel, Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Kaanita Iyer | Sara Smart | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Democratic Rep. Adam Smith on Friday condemned intimidation and violence pushed by political “extremes” after he said his Washington state home was vandalized by activists pushing for a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The administration has supported “humanitarian pauses” and pushed to extend the recent truce in the fighting. Smith told Phillip that to his “knowledge” as of Friday evening, authorities do not have any leads on who was responsible. The congressman pointed to the incident as part of a “very problematic” trend of threats against elected officials. “We need to have respect for civil society and representative democracy and know how to disagree with each other without going to this level of intimidation,” Smith said.

Persons: Adam Smith, ” Smith, CNN’s Abby Phillip, Biden, Joe Biden, Smith, Seth Tyler, Phillip, ”, “ Organizations: CNN — Democratic, Capitol police, Bellevue Police Department, CNN, Capitol, Pro Locations: Washington, Israel, Bellevue , Washington

In truth, negotiators have been working for months and hope to release the text of a final bill as soon as this week. The National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, is one of the few major pieces of legislation Congress passes every year, a practice started in 1961. The Democratic-led Senate's version of the bill, which passed with broad support from both parties, did not address such issues. "The House bill includes several provisions to require accountability from this administration and to end the 'woke' policies being forced on service members by left-wing bureaucrats," Rogers said. Representative Adam Smith, the top House Armed Services Democrat, called for compromise, saying, "Threatening the ability of DoD to function as we force our way to get what we want is a dangerous game to play."

Persons: Leah Millis, Mike Rogers, Rogers, Adam Smith, Patricia Zengerle, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: U.S . Capitol, REUTERS, Rights, House Armed Services Committee, National Defense, Ukraine, Republican, Democratic, Republicans, Armed Services Democrat, DoD, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S

☆ To Become a World-Class Chipmaker, America Might Need Help - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I’m going to decline a $2.25 order in almost every instance. L.A. SchwartzUnion, Ky.You quoted the great economist Frank Knight. Here is a story about Frank Knight and George Stigler you might find interesting. In 1962 I was a research assistant to George Stigler at the University of Chicago. I now have a copy of ‘The Wealth of Nations’ that I can prove was read by Frank Knight.”

Persons: Adam Ozimek, ”, I’m, L.A, Frank Knight, George Stigler, Adam Smith’s “, ” Knight, Stigler, Knight, George, “ Organizations: Economic Innovation, Schwartz Union, University of Chicago, Nations Locations: United States, Ky

☆ WSJ Opinion: A Troubling Trade With Iran of Money for American Hostages
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Wsj Opinion | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Review and Outlook by The Editorial BoardVideos that speak for free markets and free people, the principles, if you will, marked in the watershed year of 1776 by Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence and Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations."