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☆ Federal Prosecutors Reject Trump’s Immunity Claims in Election Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Alan Feuer | More About Alan Feuer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The federal prosecutors who charged former President Donald J. Trump with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election pushed back on Thursday against one of his central defenses, rejecting his claims that he enjoyed “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution because his indictment arose from actions he took while in the White House. The prosecutors in the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith, said Mr. Trump’s expansive bid to claim immunity was unsupported by “the Constitution’s text and structure, history and tradition, or Supreme Court precedent.”“The defendant is not above the law,” they wrote in a 54-page filing. “He is subject to the federal criminal laws like more than 330 million other Americans, including members of Congress, federal judges, and everyday citizens.”The court papers, filed in Federal District Court in Washington, were a blunt rebuttal of Mr. Trump’s attempt to have Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is overseeing the case, dismiss the four counts he is facing before they go to trial. Though filled with technical jargon and arcane citations of the Federalist Papers, the government’s response to Mr. Trump boiled down to a simple argument: In the United States, the law equally applies to everyone.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Jack Smith, ”, Trump’s, Tanya S, Chutkan Organizations: Court Locations: Washington, United States

“We are in uncharted waters, but it’s also very clear that we do not want to have a speaker pro tem who is leading policy. “That's the goal,” McHenry said earlier Thursday when asked if he would put a vote for speaker on the House floor. House Republicans are gridlocked with no end in sight, a war is escalating in Israel and Palestine and the U.S. government is ticking closer to a shutdown. McHenry was named to the role of speaker pro tempore by McCarthy as part of a process established in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It's an argument that may catch on in the House as lawmakers grow restless with their inability to act.

Persons: Patrick McHenry, gavel, Kevin McCarthy, McHenry, it’s, That’s, ”, Zach Nunn, Steve Scalise, Marc Molinaro, “, ” McHenry, McCarthy, Israel —, Michael McCaul, shouldn't, David Joyce, Joyce, Jim McGovern, Josh Chafetz, Scalise, Jen Kiggans, Kevin Freking, Farnoush Amiri, Lisa Mascaro Organizations: WASHINGTON, North Carolina Republican, Republicans, U.S, Republican, House Foreign Relations, Israel, GOP, Ohio Republican, Capitol, Georgetown Law School, Virginia Republican, Associated Press Locations: McHenry, Iowa, Israel, Palestine, Virginia

Ruckel had to make a choice: Lower the price on Amazon or ask Chewy to raise the price of his product. The company also invests in tools to help sellers offer “competitive prices,” he said. Scott Needham, who sells on Amazon and runs a product-finder tool for other Amazon sellers, said he was “surprised by some of the points that the FTC selected.”watch now“I have over the years been very critical of Amazon,” Needham told CNBC. Competitors like Shopify and Walmart are increasingly viable alternatives for many categories of sellers, Needham said, not to mention rapidly growing Chinese e=commerce companies like Temu. Among those is a greater ability for Amazon sellers to communicate with buyers, offering select customers certain promotions.

Persons: Watchara, Fred Ruckel, Ruckel, Chewy, Fred Ruckel's, that’s, David Zapolsky, ”, ” Zapolsky, “, ” “, I'm, commenter, Scott Needham, ” Needham, “ I’ve, Needham, I’m, ” Scott Moller, Moller, ” Moller, ecommerce, he’s, Molson Hart, Hart Organizations: MediaNews, Riverside Press, Enterprise, Getty, Amazon, CNBC, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Walmart Locations: Eastvale , California, Amazon’s

Law Firms Michael R. Becker FollowNEW YORK, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried will likely defend himself at his fraud trial, due to begin on Tuesday, by arguing he did not think the use by his FTX cryptocurrency exchange of customer funds was improper and by challenging the credibility of those who say otherwise. He has long acknowledged failing to manage risk at FTX, but denied prosecutors' claims he stole billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits to plug Alameda's losses. In September court papers, Bankman-Fried's lawyers said he had a "good faith belief" that the manner in which FTX and Alameda handled customer funds was permissible. Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, arrives at court as lawyers push to persuade the judge overseeing his fraud case not to jail him ahead of trial, at a courthouse in New York, U.S., August 11, 2023. Prosecutors are seeking to play jurors a recording of an Alameda meeting in which Ellison told colleagues that Bankman-Fried approved the use of customer funds.

Persons: Michael R, Becker, Sam Bankman, Fried, FTX, Alameda, Jordan Estes, Estes, Kramer Levin, Eduardo Munoz, District Judge Lewis Kaplan, Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, Tim Howard, Freshfields, Ellison, Wang, Kaplan, Luc Cohen, Amy Stevens, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Alameda Research, New York Times, REUTERS, U.S, Attorney's, District, Alameda, Prosecutors, Thomson Locations: Brooklyn, Bankman, FTX, Alameda, New York, U.S, Manhattan

☆ China's new trading rules target more oversight, not killing 'flash boys', says lobby group
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, Sept 26 (Reuters) - China's securities regulators have told market participants that tighter rules for programme trading were not designed to kill the business, but were a response to calls for more oversight, according Asia's largest financial lobby group ASIFMA. "There's no intent to be prejudiced against high frequency trading firms," said Lyndon Chao, ASIFMA managing director and head of equities and post trade. Quant funds in China include global players such as Winton, Two Sigma and D.E.Shaw though these three aren't members of ASIFMA. The rules "came out all of a sudden because the regulators might be facing pressure from investors suffering from recent poor stock market performance," he said. There are a lot of quant funds out there that do a great job of injecting liquidity when needed.

Persons: Lyndon Chao, They're, ASIFMA, Chao, Ren Zeping, Liu Yuhui, ASIFMA's Chao, Samuel Shen, Jason Xue, Tom Westbrook, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: Sigma, Reuters, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, SINGAPORE, China, Winton, Shanghai, Shenzhen

☆ Republican Party infighting is driving America toward a government shutdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

More broadly, it could raise fresh doubts about the capacity of a polarized nation – featuring an ever more extreme and performative Republican Party in ex-President Donald Trump’s image – to govern itself. But the Republican majority is so thin – the speaker can lose only four votes with its current margin – and the party is so bitterly divided, that past experience may be a poor predictor of outcomes. So handing a win to the critical Republicans on whom the GOP majority depends may be a poor strategy. Rep. Mike Lawler talks on his way to a House Republican Conference meeting at the US Capitol on September 19, 2023 in Washington, DC. Rep. Matt Gaetz talks on his way to a House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol on September 19, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden, Donald Trump’s, Nancy Mace, McCarthy, Mike Simpson, it’s, ” Simpson, ”, Trump, Mike Lawler, ” Lawler, Chip Somodevilla, Hakeem Jeffries, they’ve, Matt Gaetz, “ It’ll, Mike Garcia, CNN’s Manu Raju, Don Bacon, Ukraine –, Biden, “, ” McCarthy Organizations: CNN, Republican, Chinese Communist Party, Capitol, GOP, Senate, Republicans, ” South Carolina GOP Rep, Trump, Democrats, Democrat, House Republican, Democratic Party, Congressional Progressive Caucus, ”, Democratic, ex, Navy, Nebraska Rep, Biden, United Nations Locations: America, ”, Idaho, Ukraine, New York, Washington ,, ” Florida, California, Nebraska, Washington

☆ Trump faces another 14th Amendment candidacy challenge, this time in Minnesota
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The new Minnesota lawsuit was filed in state court by Free Speech For People, one week after another group initiated a similar challenge in Colorado. The Republican primary in Minnesota is on March 5, which is Super Tuesday. The new lawsuit seeks to block Trump’s name from the primary ballot as well as the general election if he wins the nomination. Last year, the bipartisan House committee that investigated the January 6 attack recommended that Trump be barred from holding future office under the 14th Amendment. Since then, Trump has been indicted on separate federal and state charges stemming from his schemes to overturn the 2020 election.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, “ Donald J, Steve Simon, ” Simon, disqualifying Trump, “, hasn’t, ” Ron Fein, ”, ” Trump, Steven Cheung Organizations: CNN, Trump, GOP, Democratic, Iraq, Republican, Republicans, House Locations: Minnesota, Colorado, insurrectionists, United States, North Carolina , Arizona, Georgia, New Mexico

☆ Flexport rescinds dozens of job offers amid messy executive shakeup
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Flexport founder Ryan Petersen said his supply chain management firm would rescind dozens of job offers just days before many applicants were scheduled to start work — a move that followed a dramatic leadership shakeup this week. “I am deeply sorry to those people who were expecting to join our company and won’t be able to at this time,” Petersen wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday. Can’t just give out cash tho.”A Flexport spokesperson said the company didn’t have additional comment beyond Petersen’s tweets. The rescinded offers came at the end of a wild week for the San Francisco-based firm, which Petersen founded in 2013. In a 2023 company post, he explained his interest in angel investing and in joining Thiel’s Founders Fund as a partner.

Persons: New York CNN — Flexport, Ryan Petersen, “, won’t, ” Petersen, “ It’s, ”, Flexport, Can’t, Petersen, Andreessen Horowitz, Sofbank, Peter Thiel’s, Donald Trump, he’s, Dave Clark, Clark Organizations: New, New York CNN, San, Bay Area, Thiel’s, Fund, Carta, Amazon, Flexport Locations: New York, San Francisco, Silicon, Bay

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indexes, at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China October 25, 2022. "It's pretty weak," said Sat Duhra, a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson who devises a macro score for countries by tracking seven factors including PMI surveys, real exchange rates, current accounts, growth estimates and liquidity. Even in Japan, the stock market success story of the year so far, portfolio manager Zuhair Khan at UBP Investments says he's shorting or avoiding companies reliant on China sales. However, I think more importantly, it has fallen short of initial expectations," said Jagdeep Ghuman, a portfolio manager for U.S. asset manager Nuveen. Reporting by Tom Westbrook and Rae Wee in Singapore, Dhara Ranasinghe in London and Summer Zhen and Xie Yu in Hong Kong.

Persons: Aly, Janus Henderson, Seema Shah, Zuhair Khan, Prashant Bhayani, it's, Jagdeep Ghuman, Nuveen, Tom Westbrook, Rae Wee, Dhara, Zhen, Xie Yu, Sam Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, BHP, PMI, Global Investors, UBP Investments, Vegas Sands, Wealth Management, U.S, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, Shenzhen, China, Rights SINGAPORE, London, Bangkok, Zealand, Europe, Thailand, Asia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong

☆ Fact Check-Trump not facing death penalty in Jan. 6 federal indictment
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Elizabeth Moore, VP of PR and Communications at Breitbart, told Reuters, “We never indicated that the DOJ is seeking or will seek the death penalty. “The Eighth Amendment rules out the death penalty unless the defendant intended or had a high degree of culpability with respect to the death of the victim. “Nor does it plead any of the aggravating factors -- from a list in the federal death penalty statute --that need to be specified. When seeking the death penalty, the indictment must include special findings as detailed in the DOJ’s Justice Manual (here). Donald Trump is not facing the death penalty in the federal indictment brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith on overturning the 2020 election.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Jack Smith, Fani Willis, “, Breitbart, Smith, Jack Smith’s, Elizabeth Moore, ” Moore, Joel Pollak, ” Daniel Richman, Paul J, Kellner, ”, Jack Beermann, Philip S, Beck, Peter Carr, Read Organizations: U.S, U.S . Department of Justice, U.S . Capitol, TRUMP, “ TRUMP, “ Trump, Communications, Breitbart, Reuters, DOJ, Trump, U.S ., Capitol, USC, Columbia Law School, Justice Department, Boston University School of Law Locations: Washington, Georgia, Fulton County, GEORGIA, Prison, U.S

☆ The Artist and Mystic Who Collected the World
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Dwight Garner | More About Dwight Garner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Who is Harry Smith? Facts about his life, especially his early life, are hard to come by. He was one of the great downtown New York figures of the second half of the 20th century. He wandered the world as if it were his personal shoreline. Smith was an ambassador from the territory Greil Marcus has delineated as the “old, weird America.”

Persons: Harry Smith, John Szwed, ” John Szwed, “, Smith, Walker Evans, James Agee, Evans, billy, Patti Smith, Szwed, Greil Marcus, ” Organizations: Folk, Chelsea Hotel Locations: New York, flophouses

☆ Why Remedios Varo, one of the ‘three witches’ of surrealism, continues to fascinate today
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Jacqui Palumbo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Like many of her contemporaries, Varo fled Europe as war bore down on the continent, arriving in Mexico in 1941. It took more than a decade for her to exhibit her work there, but when she did, she left her mark. Alchemy and artistryDuring her life in Mexico City, Varo bonded with fellow artist Carrington and photographer Kati Horna. Remedios Varo/ARS, New York/VEGAP, Madrid/Art Institute of ChicagoVaro’s sense of humor periodically cuts through in her work. You see that on the surface of her work, with story and material coming together into one unified composition.

Persons: CNN —, Remedios Varo —, —, los Remedios Alicia y Rodriga, Uranga —, André Breton, Varo, Juliana, Remedios Varo, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Max Ernst, ”, Varo’s, “ Remedios Varo, Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, Caitlin Haskell, Tere Arcq, El Juglar, “, ” Haskell, Walter Gruen, Carrington, Kati Horna, George Gurdjieff, El, Rodrigo Chapa, Katrina Rush Organizations: CNN, Mexico City, Artists Rights Society, Art Institute of Chicago, Arte Moderno, York’s Museum of Modern, Art Institute Locations: Mexico, Spanish, Paris, Europe, New York, Madrid, Varo’s, Mexico —, United States, El, Mexico City, Venice, Ciencia

☆ Ohio Vote Shows Abortion’s Potency to Reshape Elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Lisa Lerer | More About Lisa Lerer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mike DeWine of Ohio, a Republican, argued that Tuesday’s vote over how to amend the State Constitution was about protecting the state from a flood of special interest money. Secretary of State Frank LaRose, another Republican, urged voters to protect the “very foundational rules” of their constitution. But Ohio voters clearly didn’t buy it. But the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade has shifted the political intensity on the issue, reshaping a once mostly-silent coalition of liberal, swing and moderate Republican voters into a political force. “We’ve taken it on the chin since Dobbs,” said Michael Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life in Columbus, Ohio, who helped organize efforts supporting the proposal on Tuesday.

Persons: Mike DeWine of, Frank LaRose, Court’s Dobbs, Roe, Wade, “, Dobbs, ”, Michael Gonidakis, you’ll Organizations: Republican, Republicans Locations: Mike DeWine of Ohio, Ohio, Columbus , Ohio, “

A defendant's right to a public trial is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution's Sixth Amendment. "She ignored the public trial right entirely. A public trial also has been found to implicate First Amendment rights of freedom of assembly, speech and press. Scott Berry, a federal public defender representing Spearman, declined to comment, as did a Justice Department spokesperson. LIMITED EXPERIENCEAs a judge, Cannon so far has presided over four criminal trials that resulted in jury verdicts.

Persons: Aileen Cannon, Donald Trump's, Cannon, Trump, William Spearman, Stephen Smith, Jeremy Fogel, Fogel, Mark Bennett, It's, Scott Berry, Spearman, Paul Grimm, Grimm, Berry, Greg Schiller, Schiller, Spearman's, Clara's Smith, Jacqueline Thomsen, Sarah N, Lynch, Will Dunham, Scott Malone Organizations: U.S ., Dirksen, Trump, WASHINGTON, Reuters, Constitution's, Santa Clara School of Law, U.S, Supreme, Democratic, Republican, Berkeley Judicial, Chief U.S, Northern, Northern District of, Senate, Circuit, Appeals, FBI, Trump's Mar, Duke Law School, Thomson Locations: Florida, Washington , U.S, Alabama, U.S, California, Fort Pierce , Florida, Northern District, Northern District of Iowa, Atlanta, Trump's, Lago, Maryland, North Carolina

☆ How Did We Do? A Review of 2022 Before Our First Poll of 2023.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Nate Cohn | More About Nate Cohn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

With the data from 2022 in and final, we’ve been poring over the data — including our experiment in Wisconsin — to identify opportunities for improvement. The big Wisconsin mail experiment — where we paid voters up to $25 dollars to take a mail survey — didn’t reveal anything especially alarming about our typical Times/Siena polls. On many measures — gun ownership, evangelical Christianity, vaccination status — the Times/Siena poll looked more conservative than the mail poll. The Wisconsin study did offer ambiguous evidence that Times/Siena phone respondents lean a bit farther to the left than the respondents to the mail survey. We’re reordering our questionnaires to let us look at and potentially use respondents who drop out of a survey early.

Persons: we’ve, we’ll, Donald J, Trump, MAGA, That’s, they’ve, We’re, Ron DeSantis Organizations: Times, Kansas, Democratic, Democrats, Republican Locations: Wisconsin, Siena

☆ Electric cars aren’t just for the wealthy anymore
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Thanks to a combination of new models, more production and new tax laws, electric vehicles are no longer just for the wealthy. Currently the “days supply” of electric vehicles – a measure of the number units on dealer lots relative to how quickly they sell – is now twice that of new vehicles overall. The biggest bargain among electric vehicles currently, whether you lease or buy, happens to be one that’s going away soon. A Chevrolet Bolt EV sits parked at a charging station at Stewart Chevrolet on April 25, 2023 in Colma, California. For almost $10,000 less, in terms of sticker price, Hyundai offers the soon-to-be redesigned Kona Electric.

Persons: Kia, Erik Pendzich, it’s, Mark Luxcombe, Wolters, “ There’s, ” Luxcombe, Brian Moody, Moody, ”, Stewart, Justin Sullivan, Kia EV6, Josh Lefkowitz, Tony Quiroga, Bing Guan, Quiroga, Chevrolet Bolt Organizations: CNN, General Motors, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, GT, New York, Wolters Kluwer, Cox Automotive, Chevrolet Bolt, Stewart Chevrolet, GM, Angeles, Kona, EV, Chevrolet Locations: America, Colma , California, Los Angeles , California

At thrift stores, vintage Barbie dolls have become a treasured find, prices in the collectibles market have soared, and antiques appraisers have been flooded by calls from new collectors. Not all longtime collectors of the iconic doll are as delighted as Keith by the recent interest in Barbie collecting. "I've largely stopped collecting dolls themselves and invest in clothing and accessories instead," wrote one user. Florida-based veteran Barbie doll dealer Marl Davidson said prices have climbed about 25% in recent months. "Barbie appraisals don't normally come the way they've been coming," she said.

Persons: Matthew Keith, Barbie, Keith, I've, Marl Davidson, It's, Davidson, Lori Verderame, they've, Verderame, Julia Harte, Rachel Nostrant, Paul Thomasch, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Retailers, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles, Florida

☆ A historic settlement could bring environmental justice to a Chicago neighborhood that's been filled with polluting industries
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

"If you take away our health, you take away our wealth," Sanchez, a community planning manager at the Southeast Environmental Task Force, told Insider. The first-of-its-kind settlement with HUD could be a model for environmental justice advocates in other cities. If the city didn't agree to address environmental harms, it risked losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal housing money. "Now all levels of city government have to listen to us and develop policies that are protective of public health." Sanchez said the case underscored the importance of updating city policies, because administrations come and go.

Persons: Oscar Sanchez, Sanchez, polluters, Robert Weinstock, who's, he's, Cheryl Johnson, Johnson, Jamie Kelter Davis, Weinstock, Brandon Johnson, Charles Rex Arbogast, Angela Tovar Organizations: Service, Environmental, Force, US Department of Housing, Urban Development, Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law, Urban, Community, Factories, Washington, Getty, Chicago AP Locations: Chicago's, Chicago, Lincoln Park, Black, Calumet

☆ Opinion: I’m a conservative who’s waiting for Republicans to come to their senses
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Yaffa Fredrick | Opinion Adam Kinzinger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Traditionally committed to national security, global stability and law and order, my Republican Party — yes, I am still a Republican — is now weakening on all three fronts. And House members who cling to his message in an effort to win primary voters may very well suffer defeat in a general election. And then there’s the hostility these GOP extremists are directing at law enforcement, traditionally a wellspring of Republican support. Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and several equally exercised Republicans members attacked a “weaponized” bureau for serving as an anti-conservative attack dog. On this evidence, I’d say that the extremists are hurting, not helping, the national Republican Party.

Persons: Adam Kinzinger, Kinzinger, Adam Kinzinger CNN That’s, Joe Biden, Let’s, Ron DeSantis, Republican Sen, Tommy Tuberville, Tuberville, Tuberville’s grandstanding won’t, It’s, it’s, Vladimir Putin, Christopher Wray, Jim Jordan of, Jordan, —, Wray, Donald Trump’s, Hunter, Matt Gaetz, FBI “, defund, Trump Organizations: CNN, Republican, Air National Guard, Republican Party, Adam Kinzinger CNN, GOP, National Defense, Defense Department, Pentagon, Pew Research Center, Republicans, Florida Gov, Senate, Defense, Reuters, Committee, FBI, Twitter, Trump Locations: Illinois, America, Washington ,, Georgia, Alabama, Ukraine, Russian, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Florida

☆ Tuberville Blockade Over Abortion Policy Threatens Top Military Promotions
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Karoun Demirjian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

But their efforts have thus far failed to dissuade Mr. Tuberville, who has dismissed his critics by arguing that Senate leaders have options to resolve the impasse. He has dared Senate leaders to circumvent his blockade by voting on the promotions individually, arguing that he would be ready to approve some promotions if forced to take a vote. In the meantime, Mr. Tuberville has steadily rejected the compromises that Senate leaders have offered him. Challenges to the Pentagon’s abortion access policy are expected to figure in the House debate on the defense authorization bill. But they hope that such a public referendum on the Pentagon’s policy would back Mr. Tuberville into a corner, creating public pressure on him to give up his quest.

Persons: Tuberville, Charles Q, Brown, Biden’s, Milley, Randy A, George, Mr, Biden Organizations: Armed Services Committee, Air Force, Joint Chiefs, Army, Republican, Democratic, Republicans, Defense Department, House Democrats Locations: Alabama

☆ Is a U.S. Wealth Tax Constitutional?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Wonder Land: Inspired by China and Saudi Arabia, Team Biden's vision for U.S. industrial policy is one in which the government explicitly leads; everyone else follows. Images: AP/AFP/Getty Images Composite: Mark KellyProgressives have long dreamed of imposing a tax on wealth, and it looks as if an arcane corner of the 2017 tax reform might give them a legal opening. The Supreme Court can shut this constitutional door if it takes up a bad ruling on appeal from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Persons: Mark Kelly Organizations: Getty, Mark Kelly Progressives, Ninth Circuit Locations: China, Saudi Arabia

☆ Supreme Court Gives the Voting Rights Act a Tenuous New Lease on Life
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Michael Wines | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Supreme Court’s surprising decision on Thursday to effectively reaffirm the remaining powers of the 1965 Voting Rights Act has halted, at least for the foreseeable future, the slide toward irrelevance of a landmark civil rights law that reshaped American politics. In 2013, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote an opinion that effectively gutted the heart of the act, a provision that gave the Justice Department a veto over changes in election procedures in states with histories of racial bias in elections. Two years ago, an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito greatly weakened the law’s authority over polling rules that reduced the clout of minority voters. Supporters of the act expected the court to take an ax to the law’s chief remaining authority, over political maps, in the latest case, Allen v. Milligan — a suit charging that Alabama had drawn its seven congressional districts to illegally limit Black voters’ influence to a single House seat. Instead, Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority in a 5-to-4 ruling, reaffirmed the law’s authority over racially biased maps and the arcane structure of legal precedents and court tests that underpin it.

Persons: John G, Roberts, Samuel Alito, Allen, Milligan —, Justice Roberts Organizations: Justice Department, Alabama

☆ Stock market scales steep wall of worry to approach one-year high
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Michael Santoli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

.SPX YTD mountain S & P 500 this year Yet with it all, the S & P 500 managed three closes in a week above the 4200 level deemed by most to be the top of its range, before jumping 1.5% Friday to finish at 4282 – just half a percent below its August peak closing value. S & P 500 poised to break out The trip to 4300 today comes under quite different, and less malign, conditions. Back then there was still nearly 300 basis points of Fed tightening ahead of us and earnings forecasts were dropping fast. Even at the August stock-index highs, the CBOE S & P 500 Volatility Index was scarcely able to drop below 20 – typically a floor during bear markets. In the near term, the S & P 500 looks a bit stretched, the index pushing well above its trend channel – a sign both of respectable strength and temporary overheating.

Persons: –, Jerome Powell, Russell, Jeff DeGraaf, it's, Let's Organizations: Federal, Treasury, Fed, Renaissance Macro Locations: U.S

REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstWASHINGTON, June 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate will stay in session until it passes a bill to lift the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday. Schumer said on Wednesday that the Senate would not make any amendments on the bill, which would send it back to the House for re-approval. The Republican-controlled House passed the bill on Wednesday evening in a 314-117 vote. His counterpart, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, also signaled on Wednesday that he would work for fast passage, saying, "I'll be proud to support it without delay." Chastising House Republican negotiators for agreeing to what he sees as a weak compromise with Democrats, Lee lamented, "With Republicans like these, who needs Democrats?"

Persons: Chuck Schumer, Jonathan Ernst WASHINGTON, Joe Biden, Schumer, Biden, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, McConnell, John Thune, “ There’ll, ”, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Lee, surrogates, Richard Cowan, David Morgan, Scott Malone, Alistair Bell Organizations: U.S, Democratic, Capitol, REUTERS, Senate, Republican, Republicans, House, Treasury Department, CBS News, Biden, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, United States

"Once this bill reaches the Senate, I will move to bring it to the floor as soon as possible," Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday. His counterpart, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, also signaled that he would work for fast passage, saying, "I'll be proud to support it without delay." The chamber's rules require 60 votes to advance most legislation, meaning at least nine Republican votes are needed to pass most bills, including the debt ceiling deal. On Wednesday he vowed to vote against the bill, but did not reiterate his threat to try to delay it. Chastising House Republican negotiators for agreeing to what he sees as a weak compromise with Democrats, Lee lamented, "With Republicans like these, who needs Democrats?"

Persons: Chuck Schumer, Jonathan Ernst WASHINGTON, Joe Biden, Biden, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, Schumer, McConnell, John Thune, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Lee, surrogates, Richard Cowan, David Morgan, Scott Malone, Lincoln Organizations: U.S, Democratic, Capitol, REUTERS, Senate, Republican, Republicans, Treasury Department, CBS News, Biden, Social, Wall, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, United States

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