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☆ We asked CPAC attendees what they think 'woke' means. Their answers were all over the place.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The word "woke" has quickly shot to the forefront of Republican politics in recent years. We asked CPAC attendees what they thought the word means. The word "woke" originally emerged from African American vernacular English, signifying a general awareness of systems of injustice. For Francis, who said he homeschools his own children, the word "woke" invokes the idea of a system of education that's stoking divisions between groups. "Political correctness" appeared to be the most popular short-hand among attendees.

Biden's private lawyer disclosed on Saturday that DOJ officials turned up classified documents related both to Biden's vice presidency and even his time in the US Senate. Garland's swift announcement came after earlier news that a second batch of classified documents was found on Biden's property. Here, a timeline lays out Biden's involvement with the classified documents — and how it sometimes overlapped with the turmoil around Trump's classified documents probe. January 14: White House says more classified documents were found in Biden's homeAdditional pages of classified documents were found in Biden's Wilmington home in a storage room next to the garage, The New York Times reported. January 21: DOJ finds 6 more pages of classified documents in Biden's homeFederal investigators searched Biden's Wilmington home on Friday and found half a dozen classified documents, according to Biden's personal attorney, Bob Bauer.

☆ Republican senators want Mitch McConnell and Rick Scott to stop their 'petty bickering': 'Can't we all just get along?'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Mitch McConnell and Rick Scott are feuding over the Florida Republican's "12 point plan" yet again. "I don't think we need petty bickering within the Republican conference," said Sen. Cruz of Texas. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images"They're good at that," observed Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana, referring to Biden's use of the plan. mused Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah on Twitter over the weekend. "If you want to go out and say that you want to change Social Security and Medicare, go right ahead," said Hawley.

☆ A subsidy arms race is kicking off between Europe and America
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

This premium is expected to shrink as clean energy technologies become more advanced and infrastructure to produce them is scaled up. Most of the money the IRA has earmarked for clean energy initiatives comes in the form of tax credits. In the meantime, government officials are lobbying the United States to rethink parts of the IRA. “Europe and other allied countries have nothing to fear from the Inflation Reduction Act and quite a bit to gain,” said Brian Deese, Biden’s top economic adviser. The fight over green subsidies also comes as geopolitical tensions are pushing countries to focus on greater localization of production — not just for green energy, but also for sensitive technologies like computer chips.

☆ A style expert said Kyrsten Sinema's yellow dress at the State of the Union 'reflects her independent spirit,' but that it 'missed the mark'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A style expert said Kyrsten Sinema's yellow State of the Union dress "missed the mark." She said the dress could have been "jarring" to members of Congress who are used to "sameness." "Her dress missed the mark and appeared ill-fitting," Lauren Rothberg, an image consultant, author of "Style Bible," and founder of fashion firm Styleauteur, said. Rothberg told Insider she thinks Sinema's dress made the Senator — who recently stepped away from the Democratic party and now identifies as an Independent — feel "unstoppable," adding that she was "definitely seen last night." Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images"The bright, saturated yellow reflects her independent spirit — and party," Rothberg said, adding that she admires Sinema for making a "bold statement."

☆ George Santos' first House race took days to call in 2020. So he came to DC for new member orientation and had a blast before finding out he lost.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In 2020, Santos ran his first campaign and lost — but still went to DC for new member orientation. 'He seemed nice'In cases where a congressional election takes more than a few days to fully determine, both candidates are sometimes invited to take part in new member orientation. Adam Frisch, a Democrat who almost unseated Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert this past year, attended the orientation sessions in November as the vote-counting in Colorado dragged on. In 2018, current Republican Rep. Young Kim of California attended as well, despite ultimately losing her race that year. Santos at 2020 new member orientation, seated near Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas and Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs of California.

☆ Many of tech's power-players are alumni of Peter Thiel's controversial fellowship, which pays entrepreneurs to drop out of college. See how they made their millions.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

What is the Thiel Fellowship? PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel speaks during a discussion at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, in 2011. After co-founding PayPal with Elon Musk and Max Levchin, Thiel went on to found Palantir. In fact, Thiel created a fellowship in 2011 that encourages entrepreneurs to choose the path less traveled and skip college altogether. The Thiel Fellowship, which started in 2011, "gives $100,000 to young people who want to build new things instead of sitting in a classroom," according to the fellowship's website.

Insider obtained recordings of the Google all-hands meeting, along with screenshots of employee comments, questions, and other reactions. Why weren't Google managers warned? During Monday's townhall meeting, employees asked why so many managers were left in the dark about the job cuts. Read more about Google's responses here: Google employees pressed leadership about why managers weren't informed before announcing layoffs of 12,000 workersWas a big activist hedge fund involved? Do you work at another Big Tech company?

This year, women will hold all four of the top positions on the House and Senate Appropriations committees for the first time in history. “Oftentimes people say, you know, ‘We need to have women at the table.’ Well, women are the table.”Spending and debt fights loomOver the decades, these women have seen their share of spending fights. But I’m absolutely convinced that we have to stand together,” said Granger, who last week became the first female Republican to chair the House Appropriations Committee. Women, Murray said, are good communicators, and she and her colleagues can translate a big, complicated appropriations bill for everyday Americans. But as a 14-year House Appropriations staffer, she also intimately knows each of the top appropriators and recognizes the significance of this glass-ceiling-shattering moment.

☆ We could soon be facing the biggest financial crisis in history as Republicans threaten to stop paying America's bills
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Republicans are using the debt ceiling as leverage to achieve spending cuts on Democratic priorities. But failing to raise the debt ceiling by the summer could cause the US to default on its debt. Consequences of default are dire, and Biden has urged the GOP to not bargain with the debt limit. "Failure to raise the debt limit will not reduce our debt, but it would wreck the economy if it led to a default. "When you talk about the trillion dollar platinum coin, it sounds very silly — and it is really silly!"

☆ We asked House lawmakers about scandal-plagued Rep. George Santos. Most Republicans want nothing to do with him.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

But Santos is clearly a problem for House Republicans. But three days later, Miller — who actually represents Ohio's 7th district — became the eighth House Republican to publicly call for Santos to resign. said Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, who said that Santos "seems nice" even as he appeared unaware of the extent of his controversies. At a press conference on Thursday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pointedly declared that Santos was "an issue that Republicans need to handle." Santos and Ocasio-Cortez briefly spoke on the sidelines of a gaggle of GOP lawmakers on the House floor on Wednesday, January 4.

What are credit card and bank rewards points worth? One great feature of the program is that all points are equal, so any account that earns Membership Rewards points has access to transfer partners. If you're a Bank of America Preferred Rewards customer, you'll earn 25% to 75% more points, depending on how much you have on deposit, but your rewards points are still worth 1 cent apiece. You can transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, and Citi ThankYou to JetBlue, but the ratio varies depending on the rewards program. However, those miles expire after 36 months regardless of your account activity, so only transfer miles when you have immediate plans to redeem them.

☆ Apple’s first US labor union reaches new milestone for tech industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Workers at Apple’s first unionized retail store began collectively bargaining with management on Wednesday, in a milestone moment not only for the iPhone company but for all of Big Tech. The worker group, based out of a mall near Baltimore, is organized with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) union. “Other Apple workers will be watching this,” she said. Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesThe success of the Towson Apple store workers’ unionization bid came amid a broader wave of workplace organizing. David DiMaria, the lead organizer of the Towson Apple store union campaign with the IAMAW, said excitement was high among the Apple store workers ahead of Wednesday’s first meeting.

☆ GOP Rep. blasts 'backroom' deals to get Kevin McCarthy the speakership: 'Matt Gaetz is a fraud'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Kevin McCarthy became House Speaker Saturday morning after conceding to far-right lawmakers. On CBS's "Face The Nation," Rep. Nancy Mace condemned Rep. Matt Gaetz for capitalizing on the vote. "I ran out of things I could even imagine to ask for," Gaetz told CNN after the 15th vote. "We don't know what they got or didn't get," Mace told Brennan, condemning the "backroom" deals. Representatives for Mace, Gaetz, and McCarthy did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ How Anti-Abortion Activists Bought Access to the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Katherine Long | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

In exchange for as little as a few thousand dollars in contributions to the nonprofit, these people received easy access to events where Supreme Court justices would be. Supreme Court Historical society trustee Jay Sekulow, center, represented President Trump during the latter's impeachment trial in 2020. Anti-abortion advocates cheer in front of the Supreme Court after the decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores was announced in 2014. Alito did not respond to a request for comment on his involvement in the Supreme Court Historical Society. Supreme Court justices, though, aren't even required to stay within those weak guardrails because no code of ethics governs justices' behavior.

☆ Chaos in the House: McCarthy's plea, and begging for votes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Mary Clare Jalonick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

It was nearing midnight, and he had already lost 13 votes for speaker over four long days. U.S. Rep.-elect Matt Gaetz (R-FL) (L) talks to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in the House Chamber during the fourth day of elections for Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 06, 2023 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesGaetz, who had hurled personal insults at McCarthy just hours earlier on the House floor, said no. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images NewsThe chaos on the House floor came exactly two years after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. US Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks to US Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) in the House Chamber at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2023.

☆ It's still not clear what the Senate Ethics Committee is doing with a 2-year-old January 6 probe into Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Democrats lodged an ethics complaint against Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz nearly two years ago. No one's heard anything since from the Senate Ethics Committee, which one advocate calls a "black hole." Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island led the complaint against Cruz and Hawley. Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware and Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, the chairman and vice-chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee. Little has emerged in the last two years to suggest that Cruz and Hawley were intimately involved in the assault on the Capitol.

☆ All the Times the House Failed to Elect a New Speaker So Far
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

McCarthy Falls Short of Majority in Three Rounds of Vote for Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy failed to secure a majority in three rounds of voting for Speaker of the House on Tuesday. In the third round, McCarthy received 202 of the 218 votes he needed. The House has adjourned until noon on Wednesday. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

☆ Joe Biden's biggest successes and failures in his second year in office
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

His second year in office was marked by historic legislative achievements despite Democrats' razor-thin majority in Congress. Here are some of the highs and lows from Biden's second year:Success: UkrainePresident Joe Biden talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outside the White House. Conservative New York Times columnist Bret Stephens in September called the "staggering gains" by Ukrainian forces "a victory for Joe Biden, too." Universal pre-K was included in a sweeping spending plan passed by House Democrats until their Senate colleagues cut that out too. Failure: InflationPresident Joe Biden arrives for an event focused on inflation and the supply chain at the Port of Los Angeles in June.

☆ Barbie's creator wanted Ken to have more of a 'bulge' — but Mattel refused to give the doll a prominent crotch
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Barbie creator Ruth Handler wanted the Ken doll to have a "bulge," she wrote in her autobiography. "Both the all-male design and marketing staffs, however, disagreed, so the groin on the first Ken doll was as smooth as Barbie's." "Ruth felt the design team lacked 'the guts' to give the Ken doll even the suggestion of male sex organs," Gerber wrote. "But Ruth was not political or prone to dwell on the root of cultural standards," Gerber wrote. A range of Barbie dolls for sale during the 2015 National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention.

He promises not to let that happen again, insisting he will “actively look for quality candidates” to promote in the 2024 primaries. “In the other states, Trump’s support was so significant — we could have spent a lot of money, maybe trying to come up with a different candidate and maybe not succeeding,” he said. And yet, it's Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — not McConnell — who's radiating confidence about winning the majority in 2024. He also spent large parts of 2022 feuding over strategy with Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, the GOP Senate campaign chief. Then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and then President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol, on Oct. 24, 2017.

☆ 5 symbolic moments you may have missed from Zelenskyy's White House visit and historic address to Congress, from his green sweatshirt to quoting FDR
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a historic address to Congress on Wednesday. Zelenskyy made multiple comparisons to World War II and American history during the speech. There were also a few symbolic aspects to Zelenskyy's visit, as well as similarities to historic events. Pelosi also gifted Zelenskyy with a flag — an American flag that flew over the Capitol on Wednesday — in honor of his visit. Comparison to the Battle of the Bulge and Battle of SaratogaZelenskyy again made a comparison to America's role in World War II, invoking the Battle of the Bulge.

☆ Jan. 6 committee highlights: Panel votes on criminal referrals for Trump and others
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Rebecca Shabad | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Jonathan-Allen-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +48 min

“By the time President Trump was preparing to give his speech, he and his advisors knew enough to cancel the rally. “Some have suggested that President Trump gave an order to have 10,000 troops ready for January 6th. On far-right groups drawing inspiration from Trump: Trump has not denied that he helped inspire far-right groups, including the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, to violently attempt to obstruct the official certification proceedings on Jan. 6. "There is no question from all the evidence assembled that President Trump did have that intent." Share this -Link copiedInside the final Jan. 6 committee meeting The Jan. 6 committee met for what’s likely its final public meeting, with many of the usual faces present.

☆ Jan. 6 committee live updates: Panel votes on criminal referrals for Trump and others
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Summer Concepcion | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +42 min

Committee details Trump allies' efforts to obstruct its investigation In its report summary, the committee detailed some of the efforts to obstruct its investigation. On far-right groups drawing inspiration from Trump: Trump has not denied that he helped inspire far-right groups, including the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, to violently attempt to obstruct the official certification proceedings on Jan. 6. "There is no question from all the evidence assembled that President Trump did have that intent." Share this -Link copiedInside the final Jan. 6 committee meeting The Jan. 6 committee met for what’s likely its final public meeting, with many of the usual faces present. The committee will likely reveal Eastman’s referrals during Monday’s meeting, in addition to expected criminal referrals for Trump.

☆ Expert on White House chiefs of staff says Mark Meadows 'absolutely owns' the title of 'worst' chief in history after ex-aide's damning testimony
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The historian Chris Whipple said Mark Meadows was the worst White House chief of staff in history. The author Chris Whipple, who has interviewed dozens of White House chiefs of staff, said that Cassidy Hutchinson's shocking testimony before the House January 6 committee has made it abundantly clear that Mark Meadows is by far the "worst" White House chief of staff in history. On December 19, the panel released an executive summary of its findings that was harshly critical of Meadows' book "The Chief's Chief." Whipple wrote the literal book on White House chiefs of staffABC's George Stephanopoulos interviews the author Chris Whipple in 2017. "I've said oftentimes that being White House chief of staff is perhaps the second most powerful job in Washington, D.C.

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