Big businesses have been vocal in supporting various progressive political causes, but have consistently stopped short of policies that would cut into profits. “Big businesses are capitulating, they’re making an educated gamble that they’re going to side with the left,” Alfredo Ortiz, president of small business group Job Creators Network, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Corporations came out in droves to announce their opposition to recently-passed voting legislation in Georgia, have pulled their advertisements from conservative shows and podcasts and were quick to endorse Black Lives Matter during the 2020 protests. Big businesses have been vocal in supporting various progressive political causes, but have consistently stopped short of policies that would cut into profits. U.S. corporations came out in droves to announce their opposition to recently-passed voting legislation in Georgia, have pulled their advertisements from conservative shows and podcasts , were quick to endorse Black Lives Matter during the 2020 protests and have signed multiple climate change pledges. But while big business has eagerly supported these progressive policies, they refuse to support the policies, like a higher minimum wage or a corporate tax increase to fund infrastructure, that would result in smaller profits. “The right to vote is the essence of a democratic society, and the voice of every voter should be heard in fair elections that are conducted with integrity,” the Business Roundtable (BR), an association of hundreds of corporate executives, said in a March statement , addressing Georgia’s voting law. “Unnecessary restrictions on the right to vote strike at the heart of representative government.” Dozens of corporations including General Motors, Ford, Coca-Cola and Major League Baseball (MLB) signed a statement opposing the Georgia law last week. The statement was published in The New York Times in advertisement. (RELATED: Hundreds ...
15 dollar minimum wage
Reconciliation May Not Solve Democrats’ Immigration Woes
Comprehensive reform has been a long time coming. Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP/Shutterstock The long drive to enact comprehensive immigration-reform legislation, which has gone through more stops and starts than a city bus, has reached another crossroads. President Joe Biden has offered legislation to create a path to citizenship for roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants, and two smaller bills (one providing permanent relief for so-called Dreamers, and another giving seasonal farm workers a path to citizenship) have already passed the House . House Democrats are still tinkering with a comprehensive reform bill with the understanding that they can only afford to lose a handful of votes. And at present, there are no real prospects for enacting such legislation in the Senate via normal legislation. Even the steadily dwindling number of Republicans who are open to immigration reform (typically stigmatized as “amnesty” by hardcore conservatives even before Trump weaponized immigration policy) can be expected to use the current “border crisis” as an excuse to do nothing pending harsh enforcement measures against refugees. So, unsurprisingly, immigration-reform proponents are hoping Biden’s legislation can be nestled into a budget-reconciliation bill that short-circuits the Senate filibuster. And Biden himself appears to have encouraged them, reports Politico: President Joe Biden promised Hispanic lawmakers on Tuesday that he would make a more proactive case for the economic benefits of immigration. In the process, he left the impression that it would not just be a portion of his upcoming address to a joint session of Congress, but that he’d support moving immigration measures through budget rules allowing a simple majority vote in the Senate. That’s easier said than done, of course. It’s up to the Senate parliamentarian, not Joe Biden, to decide what can and cannot be included in a reconciliation bill, according to the Senate’s arcane ...
Report: Joe Biden Supports Passing Amnesty Through Budget Reconciliation with Simple Majority
President Joe Biden told Hispanic members of Congress on Tuesday he supported the idea of moving legislation on immigration reform using budget reconciliation and a simple Democrat majority. “He said he was committed to making those statements publicly,” Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL) told Politico, detailing the meeting. Biden met with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Tuesday at the White House. Soto said Biden would include rhetoric supporting the idea in his address to Congress later this month. U.S. President Joe Biden (4th L) speaks during a meeting with the leadership of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, (L-R) Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Vice President Kamala Harris, Chair Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA) and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), in the Oval Office of the White House April 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images) Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA) also told Politico Biden would support “a pathway to citizenship through the budget reconciliation.” The White House said in a readout of the meeting Biden discussed “immigration reform and a humanitarian response at the border.” Any budget reconciliation bill would have to win approval from the Senate parliamentarian, which might be difficult. The Senate parliamentarian ruled against the proposed $15 an hour minimum wage in the budget reconciliation process that helped Democrats pass the $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package without Republican support. That would likely narrow any amnesty options for any future budget reconciliation package. ...
Ricchetti, brother of Biden counselor, lobbied the White House on health care issues in first quarter
Lobbyist Jeff Ricchetti, the brother of President Biden Joe Biden Biden overruled Blinken, top officials on initial refugee cap decision: report Suicide bombing hits Afghan security forces Jim Jordan, Val Demings get in shouting match about police during hearing MORE ’s counselor Steve Ricchetti Steve Ricchetti White House meets little resistance in hiring former lobbyists Biden expands on Obama ethics pledge Brother of Biden adviser Ricchetti hired as lobbyist at Amazon MORE , lobbied the Executive Office of the President (EOP) for health care clients during the first quarter of the year. Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) reports showed that Ricchetti lobbied the EOP, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services, between January and March. He also lobbied other agencies and the House and Senate. Ricchetti, through his firm Ricchetti Incorporated, was registered to lobby EOP for Vaxart Inc., Glaxosmithkline, Inc., and Horizon Therapeutics USA, Inc. ADVERTISEMENT Vaxart, a biotechnology company focused on oral vaccines, hired Ricchetti to lobby for policies on “oral vaccine development and funding,” according to disclosures. It paid Ricchetti $80,000 for the first quarter of 2021. Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline hired him for “issues related to drug pricing and Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement,” as well as COVID-19 antibody treatment approval. It paid Ricchetti $60,000. And, Horizon Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company focused on medicines for rare diseases, hired him for drug pricing, manufacturing of thyroid eye disease, and general pharmaceutical industry issues. It paid Ricchetti $80,000. Ricchetti Incorporated overall made $820,000 for the first quarter of 2021, which is about five times more than he earned in the first quarter of 2020, the Center for Responsive Politics reported . Richetti also lobbied EOP for natural gas company, TC Energy Corporation, on “legislative issues ...
Suicide Blast Rips Through Parking Lot of Pakistan Hotel
ISLAMABAD - Authorities in southwestern Pakistan said Wednesday that a powerful bomb had ripped through the parking area of a five-star hotel, killing at least four people and wounding about a dozen others. The outlawed Pakistani Taliban militant group through its social media outlets claimed responsibility for the late-night suicide bombing at Serena Hotel in Quetta, capital of Baluchistan province. In a prepared statement, the militants identified a meeting of local and Chinese foreign officials as the intended target. Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed condemned the attack as a terrorist act. He told a local television channel that the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan and his delegation were staying in the hotel, but he said the foreigners were attending an event elsewhere in the city at the time of the blast. Ahmed said the bombing was a “major security breach” and a high-level investigation would be ordered to hold those responsible to account. Police official Azhar Akram told reporters a “vehicle-borne” bomb was used to carry out the attack and the ensuing blast set ablaze several vehicles. A provincial police spokesperson said evidence collected at the scene indicated a suicide detonation. Television footage showed burning cars at the city’s only upscale hotel, which is frequented by high-profile local and international delegations. The facility is located in a high-security zone of Quetta. Hospital officials said several of those injured were listed in “critical condition” and feared the death toll could increase. Ethnic Baluch secessionist groups also are waging an insurgency in Baluchistan, Pakistan’s natural resource-rich and largest province. The separatists routinely claim credit for plotting attacks against security forces and other installations. Militants linked to a regional affiliate of the Islamic State terrorist group also operate in the province, which is at the center of a multibillion-dollar infrastructure ...
