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☆ Texas Senate ends deliberations in AG Paxton's impeachment trial; Vote imminent
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Brad Brooks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

He's said he is innocent and that the impeachment trial is a political witchhunt. Paxton faces 16 articles of impeachment in the Senate trial. Paxton was overwhelmingly impeached by the Republican-dominated Texas House in May. The Texas Senate has 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats. The last impeachment trial of a statewide officeholder in Texas was in 1917.

Persons: Ken Paxton, Joe Biden's, Elizabeth Frantz, Governor Dan Patrick, Paxton, Donald Trump, He's, George P, Bush, Rochelle Garza, Paxton's, Nate Paul, Paul, Tony Buzbee, Angela, Brad Brooks, Donna Bryson, Mark Porter, Diane Craft Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Trump, REUTERS, The Texas Senate, Republican, Texas Republican Party, Texas House, FBI, Texas Senate, Republicans, Thomson Locations: Texas, Mexico, Washington , U.S, Longmont , Colorado

☆ Impeachment trial of Texas AG Paxton nears end, could see him removed
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Brad Brooks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 15 (Reuters) - Closing arguments were set for Friday in the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, following eight days of testimony from whistle blowers alleging corruption and defenders saying he did nothing wrong. Paxton, a conservative Republican firebrand who is strongly aligned with former U.S. President Donald Trump, faces 16 articles of impeachment in the trial, in which the Republican-dominated Texas Senate serves as the jury. It is the first impeachment proceeding against a statewide office holder in Texas in over a century. As attorney general, Paxton backed powerful oil and gas interests and pursued restrictions on abortion and transgender rights. He has led Republican state opposition to the policies of Democratic presidents, and filed an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to overturn Trump's 2020 election defeat.

Persons: Ken Paxton, Joe Biden's, Elizabeth Frantz, Paxton, Donald Trump, George P, Bush, Trump's, Brad Brooks, Donna Bryson, Leslie Adler Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Trump, REUTERS, Texas, Republican firebrand, Republican, Texas Senate, Texas Republican Party, Texas House, FBI, Democrat, Democratic, Thomson Locations: Texas, Mexico, Washington , U.S, Longmont , Colorado

☆ Why Are Democrats Losing Ground Among Nonwhite Voters? 5 Theories.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Nate Cohn | More About Nate Cohn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On the other hand, 63 percent of white voters say abortion should be at least mostly legal, a tally greatly exceeding the usual Democratic support among white voters. Democrats showed similar — if less acute — weaknesses with these voters in 2018 and during most Trump-era special elections. Many hold conservative views on issues, like opposition to same-sex marriage. These moderate or conservative nonwhite voters consider themselves Democrats because they see the party as representing them and their interests, not because they have party-line views on every issue. If so, Republican gains among nonwhite voters might naturally result from Democrats’ leftward shift over the last few years.

Persons: they’re, Mr, Biden, Democratic centrists, it’s, ’, Trump’s, Sanders, “, ” Organizations: Democratic, Trump, Republicans

☆ Republican feud over 'root canal' spending cuts raises US government shutdown risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The result is a major headache for centrist Republicans from swing districts that Biden won in 2020 and others with constituents in the firing line of hardline spending targets. One significant source of frustration is hardline demands for cuts to bills that have already been vetted by the 61-member House Appropriations Committee. SHUTDOWN RISKHouse Freedom Caucus members say a shutdown could be necessary to achieve their objectives. This time, the slim 222-212 House Republican majority could pay a political price. Would the House Freedom Caucus end McCarthy's reign over a CR?

Persons: Scott Perry, Andy Biggs, Jonathan Ernst, Joe Biden, Kevin McCarthy, Goldman Sachs, Centrists, McCarthy, Biden, Don Bacon, Ben Cline, We're, willy, nilly, David Joyce, William Hoagland, Donald Trump's, Dusty Johnson, Chuck Schumer, McCarthy's, Perry, Kevin, David Morgan, Scott Malone, Daniel Wallis, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: U.S, Capitol, REUTERS, Rights, Republicans, U.S . House, Caucus, Monday, White, Republican, Social Security, Freedom Caucus, Committee, Republican Governance Group, Center, Senate, Justice Department, Ukraine, Main Street Caucus, Reuters, Office, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, U.S, Nebraska, Washington

☆ Republican feud over 'root canal' spending cuts raises US gov't shutdown risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The result is a major headache for centrist Republicans from swing districts that Biden won in 2020 and others with constituents in the firing line of hardline spending targets. "I do not know how they get themselves out of this jam," said William Hoagland, a former Senate Republican budget director now at the Bipartisan Policy Center think tank. SHUTDOWN RISKHouse Freedom Caucus members say a shutdown could be necessary to achieve their objectives. This time, the slim 222-212 House Republican majority could pay a political price. Would the House Freedom Caucus end McCarthy's reign over a CR?

Persons: Scott Perry, Andy Biggs, Jonathan Ernst, Joe Biden, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, Biden, Don Bacon, Ben Cline, We're, willy, nilly, David Joyce, William Hoagland, Donald Trump's, Dusty Johnson, Chuck Schumer, McCarthy's, Perry, Kevin, David Morgan, Scott Malone, Daniel Wallis Organizations: U.S, Capitol, REUTERS, Rights, Republicans, U.S . House, Caucus, White, Republican, Social Security, Freedom Caucus, Committee, Republican Governance Group, Center, Senate, Main Street Caucus, Reuters, Office, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, U.S, Nebraska, Washington

☆ How to save San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

But treating San Francisco as some sort of outlier, a sui generis example of urban decay, is wrong, too. After I washed out back there I washed up on the Embarcadero, a typical San Francisco story. Because here's my one crazy trick to fix San Francisco: homes. Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty ImagesThis is just a matter of good old-fashioned supply and demand. To revive the city, San Francisco needs to get back to its freak-flag-flying roots.

Persons: Nobody's, I've, It's, it's, who'd, Paul Chinn, nix, aren't, rafter, Tayfun, Francis Wood, fixable, Berkeley, Adam Rogers Organizations: Liberal, Homelessness, Bay Area, Pride, Black Panthers, Washington Monthly, San Francisco, Getty, SF, Supervisors, Crafts, Planners, Foods, Anadolu Agency, Walgreens, Nordstrom, Unit Locations: San Francisco, Bay, Francisco, California, Black, Los Angeles, Boston , New York, Washington, United States, Barcelona, Paris, St, Barbary, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Angeles, Houston, Helsinki, East, Treasure, Emeryville

☆ San Francisco’s ‘doom loop’ is a warning for every American city. Here’s how we can fix it — before it’s too late.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

If you want to rile up a San Francisco native, mention the doom loop. But treating San Francisco as some sort of outlier, a sui generis example of urban decay, is wrong, too. After I washed out back there I washed up on the Embarcadero, a typical San Francisco story. Because here's my one crazy trick to fix San Francisco: homes. To revive the city, San Francisco needs to get back to its freak-flag-flying roots.

☆ Biden's labor secretary pick may not have the votes. She also may not need them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Liz Brown-Kaiser | Sahil Kapur | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The Senate is stalled on President Joe Biden's pick for secretary of labor, Julie Su, and Democrats face a conundrum on how to proceed. But Su, who currently serves as the acting labor secretary, could just keep running the department anyway. Federal law places no limits on how long Su can serve as acting labor secretary without being confirmed. He said he wants a voice for "both labor and industry" in the labor secretary role. Any Senator who voted to confirm Secretary [Marty] Walsh should vote to confirm Acting Secretary Su, too.

Persons: Julie Su, Joe Biden's, Su, Biden, Sen, Bernie Sanders, Kyrsten Sinema, Jon Tester, Joe Manchin, pushback, there's, Mazie Hirono, haven't, She's, she'll, she's, Mark Kelly, John Hickenlooper, I'm, Su aren't, Tester, you've, Manchin, Bill Cassidy of, Sinema, Tammy Duckworth, Marty, Walsh, We're, Sherrod Brown, Elizabeth Warren of, Chuck Schumer Organizations: Health, Education, Labor, Capitol, Labor Department —, Pensions, Su's, Democrats, HELP, Su's Democratic, White, Department, Democratic Locations: Washington, American, Sens, Hawaii, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts

ZURICH, July 11 (Reuters) - A rare Swiss parliamentary investigation due to start this week aims to establish what went wrong before the dramatic fall of Credit Suisse, once Switzerland's second biggest bank. It was apparent that Credit Suisse was in difficulties over the last two years after a string of scandals, with customers withdrawing money on a massive scale at the end of 2022. Could the central bank have done more, for example by promising Credit Suisse unlimited liquidity to reassure customers and stem the outflow of funds? It is unclear whether Credit Suisse and UBS executives are obliged to appear if asked, but they are expected to do so due to intense political and public pressure. POSSIBLE OUTCOMESWhile some experts have said the inquiry offers the Swiss authorities an opportunity to redeem themselves, others have warned it could simply become political theatre.

Persons: Peter V Kunz, Isabelle Chassot, Franziska Ryser, John Revill, Tomasz Janowski, Alexander Smith Organizations: Credit Suisse, UBS, Bern University, Swiss, Swiss National Bank, Suisse, Swiss People's Party, Social Democrats, Greens, Green Liberals Party, Thomson Locations: ZURICH, Swiss, Switzerland, Mitte

☆ Opinion | The Case of the Disappearing Debt Disaster
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Paul Krugman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

That doomsday machine, in turn, seemed to give Republicans far more power than a party narrowly controlling one house of Congress should possess. In the spring Republicans seemed to be converging on demands for harsh spending cuts, especially to Medicaid. The Biden administration was counting on self-proclaimed centrists and business groups to lean on Republicans to back off; they didn’t. And publicly at least, Biden officials repeatedly rejected all possible end runs around the debt ceiling. Yet in the end we got some spending caps that would probably have happened even without the attempt to take the economy hostage, since “discretionary” spending would have had to pass the House in any case.

Persons: Biden, they’ll Organizations: U.S, Biden Locations: U.S

☆ Mayor Adams Improvises His Way Through an Impossible Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Ginia Bellafante | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Last weekend, several Brooklyn principals were told that their schools would immediately be sheltering hundreds of asylum seekers, by way of mayoral fiat. The schools themselves were not in affluent neighborhoods but rather served working-class families of color, who were now livid. Parents, many immigrants themselves, were concerned about safety and felt cheated that their children would be denied gym in schools that were hardly abundant with amenities. They began lining up as early as 3 in the morning on Tuesday in protest; some brought their children, others refused to send them to school at all. By the next day, after frantic meetings between administrators and parents, Mayor Eric Adams seemed to have reversed course, removing asylum seekers from a school gym in Coney Island and sending them to a vacant office in Midtown.

☆ Secret negotiations and a 'hostage' situation: Republicans and Democrats still can't agree on a plan to save Americans from a debt ceiling catastrophe in just a few months
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US could default on its debt this summer if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling. But Democrats are accusing the GOP of holding the debt ceiling "hostage," as they have yet to put forth a concrete plan. Republicans have floated a range of areas in which they would support cutting spending to raise the debt ceiling. "Republicans are STILL holding the debt ceiling hostage," Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal wrote on Twitter. Democratic lawmakers have previously highlighted the catastrophe for Americans that will likely result should Congress fail to raise the debt ceiling.

☆ Macron’s Government Survives No Confidence Vote in National Assembly
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Noemie Bisserbe | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS—French President Emmanuel Macron ’s government narrowly survived a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly on Monday, fending off an effort to kill his contentious pension overhaul and topple his administration. The no-confidence motion spearheaded by a group of centrists won the support of 278 lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, a mere nine votes short of a majority.

WASHINGTON — Conservative hard-liners are consolidating power in the narrow new House majority, presenting early challenges for Republicans in swing districts ahead of the 2024 election as Democrats seek to paint the entire party as beholden to extremists. Twenty House GOP hard-liners have set the tone, extracting a series of concessions from Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to change House rules while securing plum committee assignments and winning assurances about advancing their legislative priorities. “If you can’t win independent voters, you can’t win elections.”Democrats are targeting 25 districts to win back the House majority next year, including 18 Republican-held seats that Biden carried in 2020. In the narrow Republican majority, McCarthy has only four votes to spare before he requires Democratic support to pass measures. Lance, the former congressman, argued that renominating former President Donald Trump could cost Republicans the House.

☆ Rep. Ruben Gallego launches bid for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's Arizona seat
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Representative Ruben Gallego, a Democrat from Arizona, speaks during a House Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S, on Thursday, July 9, 2020. Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona on Monday launched a 2024 campaign for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who recently left the Democratic Party and faces an uncertain political future. "I will be challenging Kyrsten Sinema for the United States Senate, and I need all of your support," the 43-year-old Gallego said in a video posted Monday morning. In an interview with the Associated Press, Gallego said Sinema "clearly has forgotten where she came from." Arizona was one of the battleground states that helped Biden secure his 2020 presidential win over former President Donald Trump.

☆ Lawmakers call on 8 states to pass wealth taxes to help pay for childcare, affordable housing, and ending homelessness
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Lawmakers and advocates are pushing to pass wealth taxes in eight states, after a federal plan failed to pass. The taxes would target both realized and unrealized capital gains, assets like stocks and bonds. "Funding our future means using the revenue generated from the Washington state wealth tax to expand access to affordable homes for working Washingtonians," Frame said. In California, a wealth tax on the unrealized capital gains of the top 0.1% would yield nearly $22 billion, according to California assembly member Alex Lee. Targeting capital gains and unrealized gains are not a new idea, but haven't been able to pick up the federal traction they need to be implemented across the country.

“It’s critically important that the Rules Committee reflect the body and reflect the will of the people. “What we’re seeing is the incredibly shrinking speakership,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview Friday. “The reason these people want to be on the Rules Committee is they want to screw things up for McCarthy. The message the leader received from his deal-making centrists: We can live with giving Freedom Caucus members committee slots but committee gavels are a “nonstarter.”“Nobody should get a chairmanship without earning it,” Bacon said. That pisses us off.”Díaz-Balart said he had received assurances that “there are no deals cut about chairmanships” to committees as part of swaying votes to make McCarthy speaker.

On Thursday, the House enters its third day of the new Congress without a speaker under the new GOP majority. Until Republicans have enough votes for a candidate, all other House business remains at a standstill. During the six speaker votes this week, 20 conservatives have stuck together to deny GOP leader Kevin McCarthy of California the 218 votes needed to win the speaker's gavel. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., leaves the House Chamber following a day of votes for the new Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Kevin Dietsch / Getty ImagesAfter the sixth failed vote, McCarthy and his must trusted allies huddled with his most fervent opponents for more than two hours in the first-floor Capitol office of Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn.

And while it’s still possible that some other modest pieces of legislation can be brought to a vote and passed in the House, the political dynamics inside the House GOP will make even the most milquetoast bipartisan and nonideological issues difficult to pass. Just for context — it’s been 100 years since an incoming House has failed to elect a speaker on its first roll call. It’s one that may, in fact, match the former president in malevolency and outpace him in ineptitude. Just look at what has taken place over the last several weeks in the lead-up to this week as Freedom Caucus members have been jockeying for power. To win enough votes for speaker, McCarthy has been hard at work horse-trading with the extreme right wing of his party to secure his speakership.

☆ MTG tears into the 19 Republicans who voted against McCarthy, calls their rebellion 'the worst thing that could possibly happen'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene addressed Kevin McCarthy's ailing bid to become House Speaker. "If the base only understood that 19 Republicans voting against McCarthy are playing Russian roulette with our hard earned Republican majority right now. This is the worst thing that could possibly happen," Greene, a Georgia Republican, wrote on Twitter. McCarthy is opposed by 19 Republicans from the hard right of the party, who are seeking sweeping concessions in return for their backing. The battle over the Speaker role has exposed deep divisions between Republican moderates who back McCarthy and the party's hard right.

☆ Kyrsten Sinema was doing the GOP a favor by blocking Democrats' taxes on the wealthy. Now a Republican-controlled House will have to fight that battle.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema repeatedly threw cold water on Democrats' plans to raise taxes on the wealthy. Now that Sinema is officially becoming an independent, Democrats still likely won't be able to pass anything. However, the House — which has to pass any legislation that would include hikes — will soon be controlled by Republicans. Raphael Warnock's reelection in the Georgia runoff also gave Democrats an opening to work around Sinema. Republicans are very tax averse, already mounting opposition to a 15% minimum tax on big multinational corporations like Amazon and Facebook.

WASHINGTON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski and Democratic Representative Mary Peltola of Alaska both won reelection against opponents backed by Donald Trump on Wednesday, the latest high-profile defeats of candidates supported by the former president. Murkowski, 65, has represented Alaska in the Senate since 2002 and built an independent profile as one of the chamber's few centrists. Peltola, the first Alaska Native elected to Congress, beat two Republicans: former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and businessman Nick Begich. Tea Party era of politics and helped pave the way for Trump to win the White House. Murkowski and Peltola would have won even under Alaska's old election rules, as they had each won a plurality of votes.

☆ Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski wins re-election to U.S. Senate
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has won reelection, defeating Kelly Tshibaka, a former Republican state official who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, a tabulation carried out by state officials showed on Wednesday. Murkowski, 65, has represented Alaska in the Senate since 2002 and has built an independent profile as one of the chamber's few centrists. Murkowski defeated Tshibaka after Alaska finished tabulating all ballots in a publicly broadcast session using its new "ranked choice" system, which allows voters to list candidates in order of preference. The candidate with a majority of votes after all ballots have been counted wins. She won reelection as a write-in candidate in 2010 after her party nominated a more right-wing contender.

Several Biden aides and advisers, speaking on condition of anonymity, gave their assessment of how the president and his team view Trump's entry into the race. Trump made his announcement on Tuesday night as he sought to get a jump on potential rivals for the Republican nomination. Biden, who defeated Trump in the contentious 2020 election, thus far is remaining mum publicly. Biden defeated Trump by more than 7 million in the nationwide popular vote tally and by a margin of 306 to 232 in the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the outcome of presidential elections. A few hours before Trump's announcement, the White House launched a new webpage highlighting the Biden administration's achievements from creating manufacturing jobs and lowering drug prices for seniors to gun reform.

“Senate Democrats have been committed to restoring balance to the federal judiciary with professionally and personally diverse judges,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told NBC News on Saturday night. Senate Republican leaders told NBC News before the election that if they took the majority, they would use their power over the floor to compel Biden to send more centrist judges that GOP senators could support. He said Democrats keeping control means that if a Supreme Court vacancy were to open up, Biden’s nominee would be assured a vote. While the current 50-member Democratic caucus has been unified behind Biden’s judicial nominees, a 51st seat for the party could further embolden it. As a practical matter, that means Democrats currently need Republican sign-off to confirm judges in red states.

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