Category: Politics

Categories
Politics

Black Democrats, Conflicted on a Voting Rights Push, Concern It’s Too Late

Black Democrats, Conflicted on a Voting Rights Push, Fear It’s Too Late

To Jackson’s close-knit constituency, whose members consider themselves torchbearers in the form of Mr. Figgers and Mr. Evers, all of this is evidence of the continued absence of urgency.

“If the people who were most affected were whites, the Democrats would have done something about it a long time ago,” said Rukia Lumumba, executive director of the People’s Advocacy Institute in Jackson. Her brother is the Mayor of Jackson and her late father also played that role. “They thought, ‘Oh, this is just the South,’ and not that what we saw here was going to the rest of the country.”

Mr Holder, who now leads a group focused on redistribution and access to ballot papers, said he would encourage senators to eliminate the filibuster in order to pass the For the People Act if necessary. His group and partners plan to spend $ 30 million to introduce the legislation to voters in states with key senators, including Arizona, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

“The missions are the condition of our democracy,” said Holder. “This is more than a partisan who wins and who loses?” Game. If we are unsuccessful in HR 1 or HR 4, I am really concerned that our democracy will be fundamentally and irreparably damaged. “

He added: “We will still hold elections every two or four years, but they could become almost meaningless.”

Mr. Holder was also something of a suffrage ambassador among the Democrats: last month, he was brought in on a virtual call to the Black Caucus of Congress because some of the older members of the caucus had deep reservations about the For the People, according to those involved with the Planning the call, there is a rare gap between the democratic leadership and the group that is often referred to as “the conscience of Congress”.

In fact, Rep. Thompson was the only Democrat who voted against the bill in the House of Representatives and reversed his stance as a former co-sponsor. In the weeks since then, Mr Thompson has turned down several requests from the New York Times to explain his vote or respond to voters who say it goes against the Southern Democrats’ rich history of defending black voting rights.

Categories
Politics

Biden pressured to launch political appointees’ ethics agreements

Biden pressured to release political appointees' ethics agreements

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks on April 21, 2021 in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, on the COVID-19 response and vaccination status.

Alex Wong | Getty Images

Several watchdog and activist groups are pressuring President Joe Biden to publicly publish ethics agreements signed by political officials in his administration that are not subject to Senate endorsement.

In a letter to Biden sent exclusively to CNBC on Thursday, over a dozen organizations asked the administration to publish the agreements reached by its political advisers and others.

The groups sent the letter the day after CNBC reported that Jeff Ricchetti, the brother of Steve Ricchetti, White House adviser in Biden, hired the White House on behalf of health companies this year.

These political officers are not required to make their ethics agreements public. This may also include references to rejection of certain political matters that may affect previous customers or business relationships.

“You have an opportunity to remedy this lack of transparency immediately by demanding that every White House employee, in addition to other high-level political figures across the executive branch, agree to have their ethical documents made public. We, the undersigned, demand On you to make this commitment immediately, “the letter said.

Groups that have signed the letter include the Revolving Door Project, the Government Accountability Project, and the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health.

The letter comes after several reports that show that many of Biden’s non-Senate advisors have been paid millions in their previous jobs and that some have connections with Wall Street and Big Tech.

Categories
Politics

Federal Help to Renters Strikes Slowly, Leaving Many at Danger

Federal Aid to Renters Moves Slowly, Leaving Many at Risk

WASHINGTON – Vier Monate, nachdem der Kongress zig Milliarden Dollar an Notmiethilfe bewilligt hatte, hat nur ein kleiner Teil Vermieter und Mieter erreicht, und an vielen Orten ist es unmöglich, überhaupt einen Antrag zu stellen.

Das Programm erfordert, dass Hunderte von staatlichen und lokalen Regierungen ihre eigenen Pläne ausarbeiten und umsetzen, und einige haben nur langsam begonnen. Das Tempo wird jedoch hauptsächlich durch die Komplexität der Aufgabe behindert: Das Starten eines riesigen Popup-Programms, das Millionen von Mietern erreicht, ihre Schulden überprüft und Vermieter gewinnt, deren Interessen nicht immer mit denen ihrer Mieter übereinstimmen.

Das Geld, um das es geht, ist riesig. Der Kongress genehmigte im Dezember 25 Milliarden US-Dollar und fügte im März mehr als 20 Milliarden US-Dollar hinzu. Die Summe, die die Bundesregierung jetzt für die Nothilfe in Höhe von 46,5 Milliarden US-Dollar zur Verfügung hat, entspricht dem Jahresbudget des Ministeriums für Wohnungsbau und Stadtentwicklung.

Experten sagen, dass eine sorgfältige Vorbereitung die Ergebnisse verbessern kann; Es braucht Zeit, um die bedürftigsten Mieter zu finden und die Zahlungsgenauigkeit sicherzustellen. Da jedoch jeder siebte Mieter angibt, dass er mit den Zahlungen im Rückstand ist, erleiden die Vermieter destabilisierende Verluste, je länger die Verteilung des Geldes dauert, und die Mieter riskieren die Räumung.

Millionen von Mietern sind nur durch ein dürftiges Bundesmoratorium vor Räumung geschützt, das mehreren gerichtlichen Herausforderungen gegenübersteht, viele Haushalte auslässt und voraussichtlich im Juni ausläuft.

“Ich bin beeindruckt von der Menge an Arbeit, die unbesungene Beamte leisten, um diese Programme einzurichten, aber es ist problematisch, dass nicht mehr Geld aus der Tür kommt”, sagte Ingrid Gould Ellen, Professorin an der New York University studiert die Anstrengung. “Es gibt nachgelagerte Effekte, wenn kleine Vermieter ihre Gebäude nicht aufrechterhalten können, und Sie möchten Familien erreichen, wenn sie zum ersten Mal in eine Krise geraten, damit sich ihre Probleme nicht verschärfen.”

Die Schätzungen der unbezahlten Mieten variieren stark zwischen 8 und 53 Milliarden US-Dollar, wobei die vom Kongress genehmigten Beträge am oberen Ende des Bereichs liegen.

Die Situation zeigt den Patchwork-Charakter des amerikanischen Sicherheitsnetzes. Lebensmittel, Bargeld, Gesundheitsversorgung und andere Arten von Hilfe fließen durch separate Programme. Jedes hat seine eigene Mischung aus Bundes-, Landes- und lokaler Kontrolle, was zu großen geografischen Unterschieden führt.

Während einige Pandemiehilfen durch etablierte Programme geflossen sind, ist die Miethilfe sowohl dezentral als auch neu, was die Abweichung besonders ausgeprägt macht.

Unter den Hilfesuchenden befindet sich Saundra Broughton, 48, eine Logistikarbeiterin außerhalb von Charleston, SC, die sich im Herbst als sichere Mittelklasse betrachtete, als sie eine Wohnung mit Fitnesscenter und Salzwasserpool mietete. Zu ihrem Schock wurde sie bald entlassen; Nachdem sich ihre Arbeitslosenunterstützung verzögert hatte, erhielt sie einen Räumungsbescheid.

“Ich habe immer gearbeitet und auf mich selbst aufgepasst”, sagte sie. “Ich war noch nie in öffentlicher Unterstützung.”

Ein Richter gab Frau Broughton 10 Tage Zeit, um ihre Wohnung zu verlassen. Nur ein Anruf in letzter Minute zur Prozesskostenhilfe brachte die Nachricht vom Bundesmoratorium, wonach sich die Mieter bewerben müssen. Sie eilte in die Bibliothek, um das Formular innerhalb von 24 Stunden auszudrucken. “Aber ich schulde immer noch das Geld”, sagte sie, ungefähr 4.600 Dollar und zählte.

Wenn Frau Broughton im nahe gelegenen Berkeley County gelebt hätte, hätte sie bereits am 29. März Hilfe suchen können. Im ein paar Meilen entfernten Charleston County hätte sie sich am 12. April bewerben können. Als Einwohnerin des Dorchester County muss sie sich jedoch durch bewerben Der Staat, der 272 Millionen US-Dollar an Bundesgeldern hat, aber noch keine Anträge entgegennimmt.

“Warum halten sie das Geld?” Sie sagte. „Ich habe Tausende von Dollar Schulden und könnte jederzeit rausgeschmissen werden. Es ist ein sehr beängstigendes Gefühl. “

Die enormen Hilfsmaßnahmen, die zu Beginn der Pandemie ergriffen wurden, enthielten keine spezifischen Bestimmungen zur Unterstützung der Mieter, obwohl sie den meisten Haushalten Bargeld gaben. Aber Hunderte von staatlichen und lokalen Regierungen haben Programme mit diskretionärem Geld aus dem CARES-Gesetz gestartet, das im März 2020 verabschiedet wurde. Diese Bemühungen zahlten 4,5 Milliarden US-Dollar aus, was einem Übungslauf für die derzeit laufenden Bemühungen mit dem Zehnfachen des Geldes entsprach.

Zu den genannten Lektionen gehört die Notwendigkeit, die ärmsten Mieter zu erreichen, um ihnen mitzuteilen, dass Hilfe verfügbar ist. Technologie war oft ein Hindernis: Mieter mussten sich online bewerben, und vielen fehlten Computer oder Internetzugang.

Die Forderung nach Unterlagen verhinderte auch die Hilfe, da viele Personen ohne Nachweis von Mietverträgen oder Einkommensverlusten die Anträge nicht abschließen konnten. Einige Vermieter lehnten eine Teilnahme ab und zogen es möglicherweise vor, neue Mieter zu suchen.

Trotz des steigenden Bedarfs gaben Programme in Florida und New York, die durch den CARES Act finanziert wurden, zig Millionen nicht ausgegebener Dollar an die Staaten zurück. Als der Kongress im Dezember das neue Programm verabschiedete, gab fast jeder fünfte Mieterhaushalt an, mit den Zahlungen im Rückstand zu sein.

Die nationalen Bemühungen, das Emergency Rental Assistance Program, werden von der Finanzabteilung durchgeführt. Es verteilt Geld an Staaten sowie an Städte und Landkreise mit mindestens 200.000 Einwohnern, die ihre eigenen Programme durchführen möchten. Etwa 110 Städte und 227 Landkreise haben sich dafür entschieden.

Das Programm bietet Mietern mit niedrigem Einkommen, die durch die Pandemie wirtschaftlich geschädigt wurden, bis zu 12 Monate Miete und Nebenkosten, wobei Haushalte mit weniger als der Hälfte des Durchschnittseinkommens der Region Vorrang haben – in der Regel etwa 34.000 USD pro Jahr. Das Bundesgesetz verweigert die Hilfe für Einwanderer ohne Papiere nicht, obwohl dies in einigen Bundesstaaten und Landkreisen der Fall ist.

Moderne Hilfe scheint eine Mischung aus Jacob Riis und Bill Gates zu erfordern – Kontakt zu den Ausgegrenzten und Hilfe bei der Software. Die Fortschritte verlangsamten sich einen Monat lang, als die Biden-Regierung die unter Präsident Donald J. Trump herausgegebenen Leitlinien annullierte und Regeln entwickelte, die weniger Dokumentation erfordern.

Andere Gründe für langsame Starts variieren. Progressive Gesetzgeber in New York diskutierten monatelang darüber, wie die bedürftigsten Mieter am besten geschützt werden können. Die konservativen Gesetzgeber in South Carolina konzentrierten sich weniger auf das Thema. Das Ergebnis war jedoch weitgehend dasselbe: Keiner der Gesetzgeber hat sein Programm bis April verabschiedet, und keiner der Staaten nimmt noch Anträge an.

“Ich weiß nur nicht, warum es nicht dringender war”, sagte Sue Berkowitz, die Direktorin des South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center. “Wir haben ununterbrochen von Leuten gehört, die sich Sorgen um die Räumung machen.”

Es gibt keine vollständigen Daten darüber, wie vielen Mietern geholfen wurde. Aber von den 17,6 Milliarden US-Dollar, die an die Regierungen der Bundesstaaten vergeben werden, gehen 20 Prozent an Bundesstaaten, die noch keine Anträge stellen, obwohl einige lokale Programme in diesen Bundesstaaten dies tun. Florida (mit 871 Millionen US-Dollar), Illinois (566 Millionen US-Dollar) und North Carolina (547 Millionen US-Dollar) gehören zu denen, die noch nicht begonnen haben.

“Das Tempo ist langsam”, sagte Greg Brown von der National Apartment Association, der betonte, dass die Vermieter Hypotheken, Steuern und Unterhalt zu zahlen haben.

In einem kürzlich in der Brookings Institution gehaltenen Vortrag lobte Erika Poethig, eine Immobilienexpertin im Innenpolitischen Rat des Weißen Hauses, die „beispiellose Menge an Mietunterstützung“ und sagte, „die Bundesregierung hat nur so viel Fähigkeit“, schnellere Maßnahmen zu fördern.

Das Akzeptieren von Bewerbungen ist nur der Anfang. Mit 1,5 Milliarden US-Dollar hat Kalifornien 150.000 Anfragen nach Hilfe angezogen. Von den beantragten 355 Millionen US-Dollar wurden jedoch nur 20 Millionen US-Dollar genehmigt und 1 Million US-Dollar ausgezahlt.

Texas, mit 1,3 Milliarden US-Dollar, begann schnell, aber das Unternehmen, das es mit der Ausführung des Programms beauftragte, hatte Softwarefehler und Personalmangel. Ein Ausschuss im Repräsentantenhaus stellte fest, dass das Programm nach 45 Tagen nur 250 Haushalte bezahlt hatte.

Im Gegensatz dazu hatte ein Programm, das von der Stadt Houston und Harris County gemeinsam durchgeführt wurde, etwa ein Viertel seines Geldes ausgegeben und fast 10.000 Haushalte unterstützt.

Nicht jeder ist von dem Tempo betroffen. “Das Geld schnell rauszuholen ist hier nicht unbedingt das Ziel, insbesondere wenn wir uns darauf konzentrieren, sicherzustellen, dass das Geld die am stärksten gefährdeten Menschen erreicht”, sagte Diane Yentel, die Direktorin der National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Angesichts der Herausforderung sagte sie: “Ich denke, es geht in Ordnung.”

Sie weist auf ein Programm in Santa Clara County, Kalifornien, hin, das letztes Jahr für seine Reichweite gelobt wurde. Viele der Leute, denen es diente, sprachen wenig Englisch oder es fehlten formelle Mietverträge, um sie einzureichen. Jetzt, da 36 Millionen US-Dollar im Rahmen des neuen Programms ausgegeben werden sollten, entschied man sich für wochenlange zusätzliche Planungen, um 50 gemeinnützige Gruppen auszubilden, um die ärmsten Haushalte zu finden

“Geld zu verschenken ist eigentlich ziemlich schwierig”, sagte Jen Loving, die Destination: Home leitet, eine Wohnungsgruppe, die die Kampagne leitet. “Das ganze Geld der Welt spielt keine Rolle, wenn es nicht an die Menschen geht, die es brauchen.”

In Charleston, SC, wurde der Wohnungsbau zu einem Problem, nachdem eine Studie aus dem Jahr 2018 ergab, dass das Gebiet die höchste Räumungsrate des Landes aufweist. Charleston County führte drei Runden Mietentlastung mit CARES Act-Geldern durch, und der Staat führte zwei Runden durch.

Das zweite staatliche Programm, das im Februar mit 25 Millionen US-Dollar begann, zog so viele Anträge an, dass es innerhalb von sechs Tagen abgeschlossen wurde. Aber South Carolina bearbeitet diese Anfragen immer noch, während es entscheidet, wie die neuen Bundesmittel verteilt werden sollen.

Antonette Worke gehört zu den Bewerbern, die auf eine Antwort warten. Sie zog letztes Jahr von Denver nach Charleston, angezogen von günstigeren Mieten, wärmerem Wetter und einem Jobangebot. Aber der Job scheiterte und ihr Vermieter beantragte die Räumung.

Frau Worke, die an Nieren- und Lebererkrankungen leidet, ist vorübergehend durch das föderale Räumungsmoratorium geschützt. Es gilt jedoch nicht für Mieter, deren Mietverträge ablaufen, wie dies Ende nächsten Monats der Fall sein wird. Ihr Vermieter sagte, er würde sie zum Umzug zwingen, selbst wenn der Staat die überfälligen 5.000 Dollar Miete zahlen würde.

Trotzdem sagte sie, die Hilfe sei wichtig: Eine saubere Tafel würde es einfacher machen, eine neue Wohnung zu mieten und sie von einer unmöglichen Schuld zu befreien. “Ich bin so gestresst, dass ich mich krank gemacht habe”, sagte sie.

Charleston County bewegte sich schneller als der Staat und startete vor zwei Wochen sein 12-Millionen-Dollar-Programm. Die Arbeiter haben Computer zu Bauernmarkierungen, Gemeindezentren und einem Parkplatz in einem Einkaufszentrum gebracht. Christine DuRant, eine stellvertretende Bezirksverwalterin, sagte, die Hilfe sei notwendig, um Zwangsvollstreckungen zu verhindern, die den Wohnungsbestand verringern könnten. Kritiker würden sich jedoch stürzen, wenn das Programm Zahlungen an Personen senden würde, die sich nicht qualifizieren. Sie sagte: „Wir werden geprüft“, möglicherweise dreimal.

Latoya Green ist dort gefangen, wo der Wunsch nach Geschwindigkeit und Buchhaltung aufeinander treffen. Als Angestellte, die durch die Pandemie Stunden verloren hat, schuldet sie 3.700 US-Dollar an Miete und Nebenkosten und ist nur bis zum Ablauf ihres Mietvertrags im nächsten Monat durch das Räumungsmoratorium geschützt.

Sie beantragte an dem Tag, an dem das County-Programm begann, Hilfe, hat den Antrag jedoch noch nicht ausgefüllt. Sie sagte, sie sei verunsichert über die E-Mails, in denen sie um ihren Mietvertrag gebeten werde, der ihr fehlt, und über den Nachweis von Einkommensverlusten.

Dennoch kritisiert Frau Green keine Beamten des Charleston County. “Ich denke, sie versuchen ihr Bestes”, sagte sie. “Viele Leute machen Betrug.”

Mit der Zeit fügte sie hinzu: „Ich hoffe nur und bete zu Gott, dass sie mir helfen können.“

Categories
Politics

Biden job approval hits 53%, majority assist infrastructure plan: NBC Information ballot

Biden job approval hits 53%, majority support infrastructure plan: NBC News poll

United States President Joe Biden speaks about his $ 2 trillion infrastructure plan during an event at Carpenters Pittsburgh Training Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 31, 2021.

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

More than half of Americans say they support President Joe Biden’s performance to date and agree with his sweeping proposal for an infrastructure, according to a new NBC News poll.

Poll results, released on Sunday, showed that 53% of respondents approve of Biden’s inauguration, including 90% Democrats, 61% of Independents and 9% of Republicans, while 39% of respondents disapprove of Biden’s performance.

The president also received support for his coronavirus bailout package, approved in March, and his $ 2 trillion infrastructure proposal, which is designed to help boost the post-pandemic economy.

The poll found that 46% of Americans thought the president’s $ 1.9 trillion Covid relief bill, which included direct payments to Americans and expanded unemployment insurance, was a good idea. while 25% thought it was a bad idea and 26% had no opinion.

Additionally, 61% of respondents said the worst of the U.S. pandemic is over, while only 19% think the worst is yet to come.

Biden’s infrastructure plan, which aims to revitalize U.S. transportation infrastructure, water systems, broadband, manufacturing, and combat climate change, was also popular with respondents. 59% said the plan was a good idea, 21% disagreed, and 19% disagreed.

Reactions varied across party lines: 87% of Democrats, 68% of Independents and 21% of Republicans said they supported the infrastructure plan.

CNBC policy

Read more about CNBC’s political coverage:

“What we don’t know is whether this is part of a 100-day honeymoon or something that is more permanent and permanent for the Biden-Harris administration,” said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the poll with the Republican pollster Bill McInturff conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, NBC News told.

“What we do know is that Joe Biden’s presidency is timely,” said Horwitt.

The president also received high marks for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which received 69% approval, as well as his handling of the economy, which received 52% approval.

Regarding the unification of the country and dealing with racial relations, 52% and 49% of respondents agreed.

Participants were less satisfied with Biden’s handling of relations with China, arms issues, and border security and immigration. The poll also found that 80% of people still believe the US is largely divided, despite Biden’s promises to unite the country.

The survey polled 1,000 adults across the country from April 17th to 20th. The error rate is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Categories
Politics

Biden’s Sky-Excessive Guarantees on Racial Justice

Biden’s Sky-High Promises on Racial Justice

“Biden is actually Biden in empathizing with all of the ways the current landscape is sending him messages,” said Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, a racial justice organization that was skeptical of Mr Biden during the Democrats’ primary race , but now praised some achievements and believed that much more needs to be done. “That’s good, but I don’t want to relegate this to some kind of radical leadership from the start. That really wouldn’t be all that would be possible if we leaned into it more. “

The democratic choice to deal with race issues is not without political danger, however, as these issues have been deeply defined by party political divisions. While the country’s views on race have changed, it is an open question to what extent white liberals and independents would support efforts to really dismantle some of the broader systems – like segregated schools and neighborhoods – that add to racial inequality.

A new paper from political scientists at Yale found that support for progressive policies – like the minimum wage hike, student loan debt relief, and the Green New Deal – actually diminishes when Democrats put forward their arguments despite the shift in public opinion the race racially formulate topic.

“Democrats’ use of racial frameworks in describing their progressive policies could inadvertently make it difficult for them to adopt public policies that promote racial justice,” the Yale researchers write.

Mr Biden is far from the only Democrat who speaks more explicitly about race. After George Floyd, many Democratic voters and politicians have crashed into racial inequality. Some of the solidarity efforts have been ham at best: when the Democrats released policing revision laws in June last year, they wrapped themselves in horrific kente-cloth stoles. As recently as last week, spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi reacted numbly to the guilty verdict against Derek Chauvin by thanking Mr Floyd for “sacrificing” his life, suggesting that the victim of police violence had a choice in the matter.

But during the campaign, Mr. Biden “did the job,” as liberal activists would say, despite the occasional gawk when he talked about race and black Americans. He apologized for portions of the 1994 Crime Act. His campaign published a comprehensive plan to eradicate racial differences in issues from health to policing, with a particular focus on promoting economic equality, improving access to affordable housing and education, and reforming the Criminal justice system.

Since taking office, Mr Biden has vowed to put racial justice at the center of every element of his agenda – from his response to the coronavirus pandemic to building infrastructure and shaping climate policy.

Categories
Politics

Derek Chauvin sentencing date set for June after homicide conviction

Derek Chauvin sentencing date set for June after murder conviction

Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin is shown in a combination of police booking photos after a jury found him guilty on all counts in his trial for second degree murder, third degree murder and second degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis , Minnesota, April 20, 2021.

Minnesota Department of Corrections | via Reuters

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes. The video of the incident sparked a nationwide protest movement against police brutality and systemic racism.

The most serious charges against Chauvin have a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, although the guidelines for the conviction often call for much less prison than the maximum sentence.

Chauvin’s sentencing date is expected to be more than eight weeks after the verdict was pronounced by the anonymous 12-person jury after approximately ten hours of deliberation at the end of the three-week Minnesota trial.

Categories
Politics

Biden Declares Mass Killings of Armenians a Genocide

Biden Declares Mass Killings of Armenians a Genocide

WASHINGTON – President Biden on Saturday recognized the mass murders of Armenians more than a century ago as genocide, signaling a willingness to test an increasingly frayed relationship with Turkey, which has long been a key regional ally and partner within NATO.

“Every year on that day we remember the lives of all those who were killed in the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman era, and we re-commit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever happening again,” said Biden in a statement marking the 106th anniversary of the start of a brutal campaign by the former Ottoman Empire that killed 1.5 million people. “And we remember that we always remain vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.”

Mr Biden’s statement reflected his government’s commitment to human rights, a pillar of its foreign policy. It is also a pause from Mr Biden’s predecessors, who refused to anger a country of strategic importance and are careful not to advance their leadership against American opponents such as Russia or Iran.

The Turkish government, as well as human rights activists and ethnic Armenians, reacted subdued to the news that became known days in advance, describing the move as largely symbolic. Later on Saturday, the country’s foreign minister called the US ambassador to protest the statement, state media reported.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has repeatedly denied the killings constituted genocide, had worked hard to prevent the announcement and held a conference and media campaigns ahead of the anniversary on Saturday.

In a phone call on Friday, however, Mr Biden told Mr Erdogan directly that he would declare the massacre as genocide, according to a person familiar with the discussion who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal details of the conversation.

A summary of the White House appeal merely stated that the couple had consented to “effective management of disagreements.” The Turkish presidency stated in a statement that both heads of state and government agreed on the “importance of cooperation”. They are due to meet in June at a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In his statement on Saturday, Mr. Biden paid tribute to the Armenians who were forced to rebuild their lives.

“We confirm the story,” he said. “We’re not doing this to blame, but to make sure what happened is never repeated.”

Since taking office, Mr Biden has kept Mr Erdogan at a distance, called other world leaders – and kept his Turkish counterpart, who was on friendly terms with President Donald J. Trump, waiting for months.

After the news of the impending announcement became known on Wednesday, Erdogan said in a statement that Turkey would “defend the truth against the lie of the so-called” genocide of the Armenians “.”

Mr Erdogan is widely expected to use the term to increase support at home, where he is increasingly adopting a nationalist-Islamist stance in order to maintain his electoral base. But political analysts said he will likely be careful with the United States.

Relations between the countries have reached their lowest point in decades as Mr Erdogan has become increasingly combative in his dealings with Washington, especially after a failed coup in 2016. Mr Erdogan has blamed a Turkish clergyman for ousting him from power Living in self-imposed exile in rural Pennsylvania and, more broadly, the United States.

Tensions escalated with Turkey’s deal to buy a missile system from Russia in 2017, prompting the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Turkey in December. Syria was also a focal point. Mr Erdogan has bitterly criticized the U.S. military’s support for Kurdish forces in Syria, part of a group that led a decades-long uprising against Turkey, and his own operations there have further tested the Atlantic alliance.

Mr Erdogan sees Turkey, a country with 80 million inhabitants and a member of the 20-strong group, as a regional power that deserves more respect on the world stage. This view has led to greater geopolitical enforcement, as demonstrated by military interventions in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Azerbaijan, as well as exploration of energy in disputed waters in the Eastern Mediterranean over the past year.

European heads of state and government and members of the Biden government continue to campaign for Mr Erdogan’s government, as Turkey is home to millions of Syrian refugees who would otherwise be able to travel to Europe. They also point to Turkey’s support for Ukraine and Afghanistan, where it will maintain a small force to train Afghan army and police personnel while the United States and other coalition forces withdraw through September 11.

The White House’s continued silence on Mr Erdogan had been seen as a sign that Mr Biden did not see Turkey as a priority and intended to manage relations at lower levels of administration.

“You don’t want to have a conflict with him, but you don’t want to be too comfortable with him either,” said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, the director of the Ankara office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Nor would Mr Erdogan attempt to further damage relations via the genocide label, said Asli Aydintasbas, a senior official on the European Council on Foreign Relations. According to a census, at least 29 other countries have taken similar steps.

“Turkey has issued all kinds of threats in the past, but recently the policy of allied recognition of genocide has been to shake them off,” she said. “They will issue denunciations, but will not go so far as to create a crisis.”

Mr. Unluhisarcikli, like other analysts and human rights defenders, questioned the timing and purpose of the announcement.

“The Turkish government will feel obliged to respond in a way that is relevant to the US and US-Turkey relations,” he said.

The Turkish public will see it as evidence of American double standards, and anti-Western forces in Turkey will use it to stir up anger, he said.

Both opposition and pro-government leaders attacked the expected designation.

“This is an inappropriate, unfair attitude,” said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the largest opposition party, the Republican People’s Party.

Dogu Perincek, the leader of the ultra-nationalist Patriotic Party, questioned his authority to make such a statement in an open letter to Mr. Biden. “As is well known, the genocide of the Jews was decided by an authorized court,” he wrote, “but there is no court decision regarding the incidents of 1915.”

The killings of Armenians occurred at the end of World War I during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of modern Turkey. Concerned that the Christian Armenian population would ally themselves with Russia, a major enemy of the Ottoman Turks, officials ordered mass deportations in what many historians consider to be the first genocide of the 20th century: nearly 1.5 million Armenians were killed, some in the case of massacres by soldiers and the police, others in forced exodus into the Syrian desert, who starved to death.

Turkey has recognized that widespread atrocities took place during this period, but its leaders have adamantly denied that the killings were genocide.

In the days leading up to Mr Biden’s announcement, Armenians and human rights activists in Turkey expressed caution, also because of years of political debate on the subject.

“Personally, it won’t upset me,” said Yetvart Danzikyan, editor-in-chief of Agos, an Armenian-Turkish weekly newspaper in Istanbul, citing a 1981 statement by President Ronald Reagan on the Holocaust that mentioned the issue of “genocide.” the Armenians “in passing.

Murat Celikkan, journalist and longtime human rights activist, said the statement was good for American-Armenian citizens, but he didn’t expect it to change attitudes in Turkey or promote reconciliation between Turks and Armenians.

“It hasn’t changed as more than 20 countries have officially recognized it, including Germany,” he said.

In the United States, some Armenian activists hailed the declaration as a step forward.

“The genocide rejection was such a painful chapter,” said Bryan Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America. “This is a really critical moment in the history of the defense of human rights.”

“The president is firmly against a century of denial and is embarking on a new course,” he said.

Katie Rogers reported from Washington and Carlotta Gall from Istanbul. Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio contributed to coverage from New York.

Categories
Politics

Biden acknowledges atrocities in opposition to Armenians as genocide

Biden recognizes atrocities against Armenians as genocide

President Joe Biden makes remarks and attends the virtual leaders’ summit on Climate Change Session 5: The Economic Opportunities of White House Climate Action in Washington, DC, on April 23, 2021.

Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images

President Joe Biden on Saturday recognized the murder of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces at the beginning of the 20th century as genocide, a historic, if largely symbolic, move that is likely to weigh on already strained relations with Turkey.

Biden’s statement is a major break with previous US administrations who avoided calling the atrocities genocide because of concerns about alienating Turkey, a key NATO ally and influential power in the Middle East. Turkey has denied that the murders were genocide.

“Every year on that day we remember the lives of all those who died during the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman era, and we re-commit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever occurring again,” Biden said in one Declaration on the Remembrance Day of the Armenian Genocide.

As a candidate, Biden vowed last year to make this declaration, which is widely supported by human rights groups and Armenians. The Trump administration failed to recognize the events as genocide and instead labeled them “mass atrocities”.

People lay flowers in the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex on Tsitsernakaberd Hill on the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, which commemorates the victims of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

Hayk Baghdasaryan | TASS | Getty Images

After the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople – now known as Istanbul – by Ottoman authorities, around 1.5 million Armenians were killed in the events known as Meds Yeghern from 1915 to 1923.

“A world that is not tainted by the daily evils of bigotry and intolerance, where human rights are respected and where all people are able to live their lives in dignity and safety,” said Biden. “Let us renew our common determination to prevent future atrocities from occurring anywhere in the world. And let us seek healing and reconciliation for all people of the world.”

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Saturday that the Biden government’s statement would “open a deep wound that is undermining our mutual trust and friendship”.

Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed in a phone call on Friday to hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in June.

“It is an important day for all Armenians. Following the resolutions of the US Congress of 2019, President Biden honored the memory of the victims of the Armenian genocide,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote in a tweet on Saturday.

“The US has again demonstrated its unwavering commitment to the protection of human rights and universal values,” Pashinyan wrote.

Read the full White House statement:

Every year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman era, and we re-commit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever occurring again. From April 24, 1915, with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople by the Ottoman authorities, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred or marched to their deaths in an extermination campaign. We honor the victims of the Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost in history. And we remember that we are always vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.

Most of the survivors were forced to find new homes and new lives around the world, including the United States. With strength and resilience, the Armenian people survived and rebuilt their community. Over the decades, Armenian immigrants have enriched the United States in countless ways, but they have never forgotten the tragic story that brought so many of their ancestors to our coast. We honor their story. We see this pain. We confirm the story. We’re not doing this to blame, but to make sure what happened is never repeated.

When we mourn today for what has been lost, we also turn to the future – the world we want to build for our children. A world that is not tainted by the daily evils of bigotry and intolerance, where human rights are respected and where all people are able to live their lives in dignity and safety. Let’s renew our shared resolve to prevent future atrocities from occurring anywhere in the world. And let us seek healing and reconciliation for all people in the world.

The American people honor all those Armenians who were killed in the genocide that began 106 years ago today.

Categories
Politics

Texas Republicans Concentrating on Voting Entry Discover Their Bull’s-Eye: Cities

Texas Republicans Targeting Voting Access Find Their Bull’s-Eye: Cities

HOUSTON – Voting in the 2020 election presented Zoe Douglas with a tough choice: As a therapist who met with patients through Zoom late into the evening, she simply couldn’t complete before the polls closed during the early voting.

Then Harris County introduced 24-hour voting for a single day. On the Thursday before the 11pm election, Ms. Douglas met with fast food workers, nurses, construction workers, night owls and other late shift workers at the NRG Arena, one of eight 24-hour polling stations in the county where more than 10,000 people were voting cast their ballots in a single night.

“I can clearly remember people who still wear uniforms. You can tell that they have just left work or maybe go to work. It’s a very varied mix, ”said Ms. Douglas, 27, a native of Houston.

The 24-hour voting was one of the numerous options Harris County had introduced to help residents cast their votes, along with drive-through voting and proactive sending of ballot requests. The new alternatives, tailored to cater to a diverse workforce struggling amid a pandemic in Texas’ largest county, helped increase voter turnout by nearly 10 percent compared to 2016. Nearly 70 percent of registered voters cast ballots, and a task force found that there was no evidence of fraud.

However, Republicans are pushing for action through state law to target the very process that led to such a large turnout. Two bulk bills, including one the house is slated to tackle in the coming week, aim to undo virtually any expansion of the county for 2020.

The bills would make Texas one of the toughest states in the country to pass. And they’re a prime example of Republican-led efforts to roll back access to elections in Democratic cities and populous regions like Atlanta and Maricopa Counties, Arizona, while having far less control over voting in rural areas that tend to be Republicans lean.

Bills in several states indeed create a two-pronged approach to urban and rural areas, raising questions about the different treatment of cities and the large numbers of color voters who live in them. This gap helps fuel opposition from companies that are based in or have a workforce in these locations.

In Texas, Republicans have taken the rare approach of sketching restrictions that only apply to counties over a million residents and target the booming and increasingly diverse metropolitan areas of Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas.

Republicans’ focus on different urban areas, electoral activists say, is reminiscent of the state’s history of racially discriminatory electoral laws – including election taxes and “white primary laws” during the Jim Crow era – that essentially excluded black voters from the electoral process.

Most early Harris County voters were white, according to a study by the Texas Civil Rights Project, a nonprofit group. But the majority of those who used drive-through or 24-hour voting – the early voting methods that Republican bills would ban – were people of color, the group noted.

“It is clear that they are trying to make it harder for people to choose who are exposed to everyday circumstances, particularly things like poverty and other situations,” said Chris Hollins, a Democrat and former Harris County interim clerk who advised many of them overseen and implemented policies during the November elections. “With a 24-hour vote, there weren’t even any claims or legal challenges during the elections.”

Efforts to further restrict voting in Texas come against the backdrop of an increasingly tense showdown between lawmakers and Texas-based companies. Republicans in the House of Representatives are proposing financial retaliation for companies that speak out.

American Airlines and Dell Technologies both strongly opposed the bill, and AT&T issued a statement in support of “electoral laws that make it easier for more Americans to vote,” despite no explicit mention of Texas.

American Airlines also dispatched Jack McCain, son of former Senator John McCain, to the Republican lobby in Austin to help lift some of the more stringent restrictions.

Republicans in state legislature appear to be unbowed. In amendments tabled to the state budget this week, House Republicans suggested that “a company that publicly threatened negative reactions related to” electoral integrity “would be ineligible for some state funding.

While these changes did not end up in the final budget, a broader proposal was added to the state’s “wish list,” a compilation of Longshot proposals, threatening companies who comment on “legislative or executive action”. Even if the likelihood of existence is unlikely, the mere inclusion of the proposals on files is viewed by Austin lobbyists and activists as a thinly veiled warning to corporations to keep quiet on voting bills.

The Perryman Group, an economic research and analysis firm based in Waco, said in a recent study that implementing controversial voting measures could result in conferences or events being taken out of the state and causing companies or workers to avoid them. The group estimated that restrictive new laws would cause a huge decline in business activity in the state by 2025 and cost tens of thousands of jobs.

Restrictions in two bulk acts in Texas law include a ban on 24-hour voting, a ban on drive-through voting, and harsh criminal penalties for local election officials who provide support to voters. There are also new limits on the distribution of voting machines, which could lead to a reduction in the number of districts and a ban on the promotion of postal voting.

The bills also include a measure that would make it much more difficult to remove an election observer for inappropriate behavior. Partisan poll observers trained and empowered to observe elections on behalf of a candidate or party have occasionally crossed the line into voter intimidation or other types of misconduct. Harris County election officials said they had received several complaints about Republican election observers over the past year.

Mr. Hollins, a former Harris County employee, said Republicans have recognized that “blacks and browns and the poor and youth” are more likely than others to use flexible choices. “You’re scared of it,” he said.

As Republican-controlled legislatures in Georgia and Arizona pass new electoral bills after November’s Democratic victories, Texas pushes for new restrictions despite the support of former President Donald J. Trump with more than 600,000 votes. The effort reflects the dual reality that Republicans are facing in state lawmaking: a base that is intent on voting changes following the loss of Mr Trump in 2020, and a booming population that is becoming increasingly diverse.

Senator Bryan Hughes, a Northeast Texas Republican who sponsored the Senate bill, defended it as part of a long effort to strengthen “electoral security” in Texas.

“I know there is a big national debate going on now and we may get drawn into this, but this is nothing new to Texas,” said Hughes in an interview. He said lawmakers had tried to reset access to email voting as the process was more prone to fraud. He offered no evidence, and numerous studies have shown that electoral fraud is exceptionally rare in the United States.

Mr Hughes said the proposed ban on thoroughfare was due to the difficulty of gaining access to partisan election observers at the sites and that a 24-hour vote was problematic as it was difficult to find election observers to work night shifts.

But many voters in Harris County, with its 4.7 million population ranks third in the country and larger than 25 states, see a different motive.

Kristie Osi-Shackelford, a Houston costume designer who worked on temporary contracts to support her family during the pandemic, was voting 24/7 because it gave her the flexibility she needed when juggling work and her three Raised children. She said it took her less than 10 minutes.

“I’m sure there are people who may not have voted in the last election but got the chance to do so at night, and it’s kind of sad that the powers that be who feel that way have to be taken away for the integrity of the elections to protect, ”said Ms. Osi-Shackelford. “And I struggled to find words because it’s so irritating and I’m tired. I’m tired of hearing the same stuff and seeing the same stuff so blatantly over and over for years. “

Brittany Hyman, 35, was eight months pregnant by the time election day approached and was also raising a 4-year-old. For fear of Covid-19, but also of the mere logistics of navigating a line in the surveys, Ms. Hyman voted at one of the transit locations.

“The opportunity to go through the set-up was a savior for me,” said Ms. Hyman. She added that because she would have been pregnant, she likely would not have risked waiting in a long line to vote.

The Harris County’s drive-through vote, which was used by more than 127,000 voters in the general election, immediately caught the attention of Republicans, who sued Mr. Hollins and the county to outlaw the practice and overturn all votes cast -through process. The Texas Supreme Court ruled against the Republicans in late October.

Other provisions in the GOP bill, while not targeting Harris County as directly, will most likely still have the greatest impact on the state’s largest county. A proposal to provide a uniform number of voting machines in each district could affect the ability to deploy additional machines in densely populated areas.

This month, in another escalation of public pressure on lawmakers, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, gathered more than a dozen speakers, including business leaders, civil rights activists and former athletes, for a 90-minute press conference in which he denounced the bill.

“What is happening here in Texas is a warning shot for the rest of the country,” said Lina Hidalgo, Harris County judge and Democrat, who is campaigning for more electoral access in the county. “First Georgia, then Texas, then more and more states, and soon we will take the biggest step back since Jim Crow. And it’s up to all of us to stop that. “

Categories
Politics

White Home shrugs off inventory dip after report Biden pushing capital positive aspects tax hike

White House shrugs off stock dip after report Biden pushing capital gains tax hike

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press conference in the James S. Brady press briefing room at the White House in Washington, DC, United States on Friday, April 23, 2021.

Jim Lo Scalzo | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The plan reported by President Joe Biden to increase capital gains taxes for millionaires may have terrified Wall Street, but Thursday’s sudden stock slide didn’t seem to rock the White House.

Press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday brushed aside a question about whether the Biden government is concerned that investors appear not to support the proposal to raise taxes for the rich.

“I’ve done this long enough not to comment on movements in the stock market,” said Psaki during a press conference.

“But I actually saw data going back up this morning,” she added before continuing.

The plan, which aims to increase the tax on capital gains from 20% for Americans who earn more than $ 1 million to 39.6%, was reported by outlets such as Bloomberg News and The New York Times.

US stocks reversed gains on Thursday and fell sharply on the reports. The stock indices closed the trading session on Thursday with a loss of around 1%.

But on Friday afternoon, stocks appeared poised to offset their losses as analysts predicted such tax hikes would likely be scaled back before they pass Congress.

“We expect Congress to pass a scaled-down version of this tax hike,” Goldman Sachs economists wrote in a note. “We expect Congress to agree on a more modest increase, possibly 28%.”

The reported tax hike plan would be in line with Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign platform, on which he pledged to raise tariffs on businesses and the richest Americans. The president has repeatedly promised that people who earn less than $ 400,000 a year will not raise their taxes.

The White House’s nonchalant reaction to recent stock volatility is in stark contrast to the stance of former President Donald Trump, who frequently denounced market gains as an indicator of his administration’s success.