close Video Ratcliffe: China aims to 'test Biden's leadership,' level of 'pushback' Former Director of National Intelligence joins 'Life, Liberty & Levin' to discuss the Biden administration's foreign policy approach Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for more equitable management of global affairs and, in an implicit rejection of U.S. dominance, said governments shouldn’t impose rules on others. Xi’s speech at an economic forum comes amid rising tension with China’s neighbors and Washington over its strategic ambitions and demands for a bigger role in making trade and other rules. Without mentioning the United States, Xi criticized "unilateralism of individual countries" and warned against decoupling, a reference to fears U.S.-Chinese tension over technology and security will split industries and markets into separate, less productive spheres with incompatible standards. Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech via video for the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, in Beijing, on Tuesday. (AP/Xinhua) CHINA ACCUSES US, JAPAN OF ‘GANGING’ UP ON THEM "International affairs should be handled by everyone through consultation," Xi said by video link to the Boao Forum for Asia on the southern island of Hainan. "Rules made by one or more countries should not be forced upon others." Xi called for stronger cooperation in research on coronavirus vaccines and steps to make them available to developing countries. Xi’s comments reflected the ruling Communist Party’s desire for global influence to match China’s status as the second-largest economy and frustration at what party leaders see as U.S. efforts to block its ambitions. Those sentiments have been fueled by sanctions imposed by former President Donald Trump that block access to U.S. processor chips and other technology for Chinese tech giant Huawei and some other companies. US, ...
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Press: GOP making big mistake on infrastructure
Please! Will somebody explain to me how Republicans, who always boasted about their support for infrastructure, are now suddenly against it — and think this is good politics? Infrastructure’s a magic word. It stands for government actually doing something real to improve people’s lives. Something you can actually touch, experience, or drive across. It’s the one issue that always united Republicans and Democrats. In 2016, Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie Sanders Overnight Energy: Treasury creates hub to fight climate change through finance | Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez introduce 'Green New Deal for Public Housing' | Don't attack Zoom for its Bernie Sanders federal tax bill Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez introduce 'Green New Deal for Public Housing' MORE (I-Vt.) promised to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure . So did candidate Donald Trump Donald Trump House votes to condemn Chinese government over Hong Kong Former Vice President Walter Mondale dies at age 93 White House readies for Chauvin verdict MORE . So now that President Biden Joe Biden Obama, Clinton reflect on Mondale's legacy Biden, Harris commend Mondale in paving the way for female VP Mondale in last message to staff: 'Joe in the White House certainly helps' MORE ’s actually trying to do something about infrastructure, sending Congress a $2 trillion “American Jobs Plan” packed with infrastructure projects, you’d think Democrats and Republicans would both rush to embrace it. ADVERTISEMENT Don’t hold your breath. Instead, Republican senators, led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnell House votes to condemn Chinese government over Hong Kong 15 Senate Republicans pledge to oppose lifting earmark ban It's not 'woketivism,' it's good business MORE (R-Ky.), have united in opposition over how to define infrastructure and how to pay for it. “There isn’t much appetite for using the word ...
Geico customers’ driver’s license numbers exposed in breach
A Geico data breach that lasted over a month earlier this year exposed customers’ driver’s license numbers to hackers, according to a notice filed with California’s attorney general earlier this month. The filing , first obtained and reported by online newspaper TechCrunch on Monday , included a message sent to an unspecified number of Geico customers, stating that “ between January 21, 2021 and March 1, 2021, fraudsters used information about you — which they acquired elsewhere — to obtain unauthorized access to your driver’s license number through the online sales system on our website.” “We have reason to believe that this information could be used to fraudulently apply for unemployment benefits in your name,” added Geico, the second-largest auto insurer in the country. ADVERTISEMENT The notice stated that Geico “has secured the affected website and worked to identify the root cause of the incident.” “While we regularly maintain high security and privacy standards, we have also implemented—and continue to implement — additional security enhancements to help prevent future fraud and illegal activities on our website,” the data breach notice continued. The company informed customers that the breach was limited to their driver’s license numbers and offered them a one-year subscription to the theft protection software IdentityForce. “In addition to enrolling in the IdentityForce services, we encourage you to be vigilant for incidents of fraud or identity theft by reviewing your account statements and credit reports for any unauthorized activity,” Geico added. While it is not clear how many people were impacted by the breach, California law notes that “any person or business that is required to issue a security breach notification to more than 500 California residents as a result of a single breach” must also file a copy of the notice with the state attorney general’s office. The Hill has reached out to Geico for ...
Left-leaning group: SALT cap repeal would worsen racial income disparities
Repealing the cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction would exacerbate racial income and wealth disparities, according to an analysis released Tuesday from the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). The think tank's report comes as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers are pushing for the SALT cap to be repealed in forthcoming infrastructure legislation. "Repealing the SALT cap would worsen the racial income and wealth divides by primarily benefiting wealthy white households," ITEP wrote in its report. "It would also likely crowd out other, much more progressive policies and programs from the upcoming infrastructure package while doing comparatively little to encourage progressive revenue raising at the state and local levels." ADVERTISEMENT Republicans' 2017 tax law capped the SALT deduction at $10,000 in an effort to help offset the cost of tax cuts in the measure. A number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle from high-tax states such as New York, New Jersey, California and Illinois oppose the cap, arguing that it hurts their residents and their states. Some House Democrats from high-tax states are threatening to oppose an infrastructure bill if it doesn't remove the cap. But tax policy experts across the ideological spectrum have criticized the push to repeal the cap, saying that doing so would largely benefit wealthy households. ITEP previously estimated that 85 percent of the tax cuts linked to repeal of the cap would go to the richest 5 percent of taxpayers. "Because years of policy advantage and privilege have led to a significant overconcentration of white families among the nation’s highest-income and highest-wealth families, this means that an outsized share of the total tax cuts would flow to white households," the group said in its new report. ITEP estimated that more than 72 percent of the benefits of a repeal of the SALT deduction limit would go to white families, though white families make up ...
Furious UN Says UK Govt Report Denying Systemic Racism ‘Normalises White Supremacy’
The United Nations has slammed a black-led report on British race relations which found that “institutional” or “systemic” racism does not in fact exist, claiming it normalised “white supremacy”. “In 2021, it is stunning to read a report on race and ethnicity that repackages racist tropes and stereotypes into fact, twisting data and misapplying statistics and studies into conclusory findings and ad hominem attacks on people of African descent,” read the astonishing intervention by the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, attached to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights), against the findings of Britain’s Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities. “The report cites dubious evidence to make claims that rationalize white supremacy by using the familiar arguments that have always justified racial hierarchy,” the so-called experts alleged of the “reprehensible” British report — which was led by black academic Dr Tony Sewell. “This attempt to normalize white supremacy despite considerable research and evidence of institutional racism is an unfortunate sidestepping of the opportunity to acknowledge the atrocities of the past and the contributions of all in order to move forward,” the UN officials railed. They further alleged that the British report was “normalizing atrocity, in which the British state and institutions played a significant role” and referenced reparations for slavery. Woke Cambridge Professor Compares Black Race Report Author to Goebbels https://t.co/aAmfaMmdqv — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 3, 2021 The Boris Johnson administration, which has hitherto not been especially strong in defending Dr Sewell’s team and their report from left-wing attacks, actually put up some fight against the UN officials, with the Prime Minister’s spokesman saying: “Our view is that [the UN] misrepresents the [British] findings. We remain proud of the UK’s long history as a human rights ...
