Category: Politics

Categories
Politics

Biden infrastructure plan consists of company tax hike, transportation cash

Biden infrastructure plan includes corporate tax hike, transportation money

President Joe Biden unveiled more than $ 2 trillion in infrastructure on Wednesday as his administration shifts its focus to strengthening the post-pandemic economy.

The plan, which Biden outlined Wednesday, calls for around $ 2 trillion in spending over eight years and would raise the corporate tax rate to 28% to fund it. At a union hall in Pittsburgh, the president called it a vision of creating “the strongest, resilient, and innovative economy in the world” – and millions of “well-paying jobs” along the way.

The White House said the tax hike, combined with measures to prevent profit shifting, would fund the infrastructure plan within 15 years.

The suggestion would be:

  • Invest $ 621 billion in transportation infrastructures such as bridges, roads, public transportation, ports, airports and the development of electric vehicles
  • Directly $ 400 billion to care for elderly and disabled Americans
  • Spend more than $ 300 billion on improving drinking water infrastructure, expanding broadband access and modernizing power grids
  • Spend more than $ 300 billion building and retrofitting affordable housing, and building and upgrading schools
  • Invest $ 580 billion in American manufacturing, research and development, and training efforts

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

The announcement kicks off Biden’s second major initiative after passing a $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan earlier this month. With the new move, the government aims to approve an initial proposal to create jobs, upgrade U.S. infrastructure, and combat climate change before adopting a second plan to improve education and expand paid vacation and health insurance.

Biden said he would reveal the second part of his recovery package “in a couple of weeks”.

“These are investments that we need to make,” said Biden of the overhaul of the US infrastructure. “We can afford to make them. In other words, we can’t afford not to make them.”

While the Democrats closely control both houses of Congress, the party faces challenges as it passes the infrastructure plan. The GOP largely supports efforts to rebuild roads, bridges and airports and to expand broadband access. The Republicans, however, oppose tax increases as part of the process.

Senate Minority Chairman Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Said Wednesday that he “probably won’t” endorse the proposal because of the tax hikes. Biden called McConnell Tuesday to inform him of the plan.

McConnell’s Democratic counterpart, New York Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, extolled the bill as a means of creating jobs while promoting clean energy and transportation. In a statement on Wednesday, he said, “I look forward to working with President Biden to adopt a great, bold plan that will propel America forward for decades to come.”

CNBC policy

Read more about CNBC’s political coverage:

Responding to criticism of proposed tax increases, the president said he would not increase the burden on anyone making less than $ 400,000 a year. He said he had no intention of punishing the rich.

“This is not intended to target those who made it. Not seeking retaliation,” he said. “This is about opening up opportunities for everyone else.”

The administration’s goals include renovating 20,000 miles of roads and highways and repairing 10,000 bridges. The proposal envisages building a national network of 500,000 chargers for electric vehicles by 2030 and replacing 50,000 diesel vehicles in local public transport.

The government hopes to build or renovate 500,000 homes for low- and middle-income Americans and replace all lead pipes in drinking water systems. The plan also aims to provide universal, affordable broadband service.

The White House wants to ensure the public transportation revitalization reaches color communities that have been harmed by previous projects such as highways built through neighborhoods. The administration also aims to focus efforts to increase the resilience of homes, schools, transportation and utilities in marginalized communities, which are more likely to bear the brunt of severe weather events.

Biden plans to fund the expenses by increasing the corporate tax rate to 28%. Republicans cut the tax under their 2017 tax bill from 35% to 21%.

The administration also wants to increase the global minimum tax for multinational companies and ensure that they pay at least 21% tax in each country. The White House wants to discourage companies from listing tax havens as an address and, among other things, writing off the costs associated with offshoring.

Biden hopes the package will create manufacturing jobs and save flawed American infrastructure as the country tries to get out of the shadow of Covid-19. He and the Congress Democrats also plan to tackle climate change and begin a transition to cleaner energy sources.

The president announced his plans in Pittsburgh, a city where the organized labor force is strong and the economy has transitioned from traditional manufacturing and mining to healthcare and technology. Biden, who has pledged to create union jobs as part of the infrastructure plan, launched his 2019 presidential campaign in a union hall in Pittsburgh.

Biden said he hoped to win Republican support for an infrastructure bill. If Democrats can’t get 10 GOP Senators on board, they’ll have to try to get the bill passed through a budget vote, which wouldn’t force Republicans to back the plan in a chamber 50-50 split by party.

Biden said he would hear GOP ideas on infrastructure.

“We will negotiate in good faith with any Republican who wants to help,” said Biden on Wednesday. “But we have to do it.”

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

Democrats also need to consider combining the physical infrastructure plans with other recovery efforts, including universal pre-K and extended paid vacation days. Republicans would likely stop supporting spending to bolster the social safety net, especially if Democrats try to raise taxes on the rich to fund programs.

Schumer also anticipated a possible sticking point within his party on Wednesday.

He said he wanted the infrastructure plan to lift the cap on state and local tax deductions – a change that would disproportionately help higher-income people in high-tax countries like New Jersey, Connecticut, and Schumer’s home state of New York.

Democrats want to pass the package this summer. House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi told the Democratic caucus in the chamber that she would like it passed by July 4th, according to a source familiar with the matter. The source, who refused to be named because the comment was made private, added that it was not intended as a deadline.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday night, an administrative official did not say whether Biden would attempt to pass the plan with the support of both parties.

“We will begin, and will have already begun, to fully reach our colleagues in Congress,” said the official.

When asked how the bill could be passed, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would “hand over the mechanism of the bill to Leader Schumer and other congressional leaders.”

As of now, Democrats will have two more shots on the budget vote before halfway through 2022. According to NBC News, Schumer hopes to convince the House MP to allow the Democrats to use the process at least one more time beyond these two options.

The party passed its $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package without a Republican vote.

– CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger and Ylan Mui contributed to this report

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.

Categories
Politics

Army Closes Failing Facility at Guantánamo Bay to Consolidate Prisoners

Military Closes Failing Facility at Guantánamo Bay to Consolidate Prisoners

Major McElwain declined to say how much the consolidation cost. Over time, he said, the move would most likely mean a reduction in the troops of the 1,500 mostly National Guard members, who are mainly on nine-month missions during the detention operation, which is estimated to cost an estimated $ 13 million per prisoner per year.

Mr. Mohammed and the other high-quality inmates were held in classified Camp 7 after they were transferred to Guantánamo in September 2006. They had spent three to four years in the George W. Bush administration’s secret overseas prison network known as Black Places, where the CIA subjected prisoners to sleep deprivation, forced nudity, waterboarding, and other physical and mental abuse.

By separating the prisoners under the supervision of a special guard called Task Force Platinum, the secret services were able to closely monitor and control their communications and prevent them from revealing what had happened to them. Criminal defense lawyers who were eventually granted access to the men were tied to security clearances to keep their conversations secret, including on court files accusing government agents of state sponsored torture.

Camp 7 has long been one of the most secret sites in Guantánamo. The Pentagon refused to disclose its costs, which contractor built it and when. Reporters were not allowed to see it, lawyers were required to obtain a court order to visit, and its location was deemed classified, despite sources pointing to it on a base satellite map.

In the short term, said Major McElwain, Camp 7 will be “renovated, closed and locked”.

“A plan for its final disposition has yet to be established,” he said.

The former CIA prisoners were largely kept in isolation in Camp 7 in their early years. Each was allowed to talk to only one other prisoner about a tarpaulin during leisure time, in conversations recorded for intelligence purposes.

Her lawyers described the conditions as numbing until the last few years, when commanders allowed prisoners to eat and pray together under strict surveillance. They also had a cell where they could prepare food to pass the time.

Categories
Politics

GOP Sen. Roy Blunt calls on Biden to slash plan to $615 billion

GOP Sen. Roy Blunt calls on Biden to slash plan to $615 billion

Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) asks questions during a joint Senate hearing on homeland security and government affairs, and Senate rules and administration, related to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on March 3, 2021 in Washington, DC, to discuss.

Greg Nash | Getty Images

Missouri Republican Senator Roy Blunt on Sunday called on the Biden government to cut its $ 2 trillion infrastructure plan to around $ 615 billion and focus on rebuilding physical infrastructure like roads and bridges.

In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Blunt – the fourth-largest Republican in the Senate – argued that only 30% of the president’s proposal focuses on traditional infrastructure, saying that a price cut would allow the White House to pass the bill through both houses to direct from Congress.

“I think there’s an easy win here for the White House if they got that win, which makes this an infrastructure package that’s about 30% – even if you expand the definition of infrastructure a little – it’s about 30% of the $ 2.25 trillion we’re talking about spending, “said Blunt.

“If we were to look at roads and bridges, ports and airports, and maybe even underground water systems and broadband, you would still be talking about less than 30% of that entire package,” he added.

“I think 30% is about $ 615 billion,” said Blunt. “I think you can do that and with some innovative things like looking at how we’re going to deal with the use of the freeway system by electric vehicles, what we can do with public-private partnerships.”

The comments from the top Republicans follow Biden’s launch of the infrastructure package last week, which focused on rebuilding roads, bridges and airports, expanding broadband access and tackling climate change by increasing the use of electric vehicles and upgrading the power grid of the country concentrated. The proposal also envisages an increase in the corporate tax rate to 28% to offset expenses.

Biden has said he wants bipartisan support for the plan, but the odds are slim. Republicans have strongly opposed tax hikes, arguing that they could hamper economic recovery. Republicans also criticized the package for including initiatives that go beyond traditional infrastructure problems.

Senate Minority Chairman Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Said last week that the $ 2 trillion package would not receive Republican support and vowed to defy the broader Democratic agenda.

CNBC policy

Read more about CNBC’s political coverage:

“I will fight them at every step because I think this is the wrong recipe for America,” McConnell said at a press conference Thursday.

Democrats would have to use the budget vote process to get the bill through on their own unless the White House amends the proposal to please Republicans or 10 Senate Republicans break with McConnell.

The Biden administration passed the $ 1.9 pandemic relief package in March without a Republican vote through budget vote and could take a similar approach with infrastructure.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Sunday she hoped the proposal would be adopted with bilateral support, but added that Biden was ready to take advantage of Republican-free reconciliation.

“So much of this includes priorities that Republicans backed and I hope that Democrats and Republicans can vote ‘yes’ in the final vote on this package,” Granholm said during an interview on CNN.

Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, said Sunday that Biden’s infrastructure plan is key to fueling job growth as the country recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

“Let’s also think more long-term about where these investments that we can make not only result in more job growth, but also better job growth,” Deese said in an interview with Fox News. “Not just short-term but also long-term employment growth through investments in our infrastructure.”

Categories
Politics

Biden Steps Up Federal Efforts to Fight Home Extremism

Biden Steps Up Federal Efforts to Combat Domestic Extremism

WASHINGTON – Die Regierung von Biden verstärkt ihre Bemühungen zur Bekämpfung des innerstaatlichen Extremismus, erhöht die Mittel zur Verhinderung von Angriffen, wägt Strategien ab, die in der Vergangenheit gegen ausländische Terroristengruppen angewendet wurden, und warnt die Öffentlichkeit offener vor der Bedrohung.

Die Versuche, das Gewaltpotential weißer Supremacisten und Milizen selbstbewusster zu bekämpfen, sind eine Abkehr vom Druck von Präsident Donald J. Trump auf Bundesbehörden, Ressourcen umzuleiten, um die Antifa-Bewegung und linke Gruppen ins Visier zu nehmen, obwohl die Strafverfolgungsbehörden bisher zu dem Schluss gekommen sind. Rechts- und Milizgewalt war eine ernstere Bedrohung.

Präsident Bidens Ansatz setzt auch eine langsame Erkenntnis fort, dass die Bundesregierung insbesondere nach dem Aufstand im Capitol am 6. Januar nach zwei Jahrzehnten, in denen sie ausländischen Terrorismus begangen hat, mehr Aufmerksamkeit und Geld in die Verfolgung und Abwehr von Bedrohungen aus den Vereinigten Staaten investieren muss die Sicherheitspriorität.

In einem Geheimdienstbericht, der im letzten Monat an den Kongress übermittelt wurde, bezeichnete die Regierung weiße Supremacisten und Milizgruppen als größte nationale Sicherheitsbedrohungen. Das Weiße Haus diskutiert auch mit Mitgliedern des Kongresses die Möglichkeit neuer innerstaatlicher Terrorismusgesetze und Durchführungsverordnungen, um die Kriterien der Terrorismus-Beobachtungslisten zu aktualisieren und möglicherweise mehr einheimische Extremisten einzubeziehen.

Das Heimatschutzministerium hat eine Überprüfung des Umgangs mit häuslichem Extremismus begonnen. Zum ersten Mal in diesem Jahr hat das Ministerium den innerstaatlichen Extremismus als „nationalen Prioritätsbereich“ ausgewiesen, in dem 7,5 Prozent der Milliarden an Zuschussmitteln für die Bekämpfung des Extremismus aufgewendet werden müssen.

Herr Biden verstärkte im Nationalen Sicherheitsrat ein Team, das sich mit innerstaatlichem Extremismus befasste und in den letzten vier Jahren erschöpft war, und beauftragte Beamte des Justizministeriums, des FBI und des Nationalen Zentrums für Terrorismusbekämpfung, so hochrangige Verwaltungsbeamte.

Generalstaatsanwalt Merrick B. Garland, der 1995 bei der Untersuchung des Bombenanschlags auf Oklahoma City behilflich war, sagte, das Justizministerium werde auch dem häuslichen Extremismus Priorität einräumen.

FBI-Agenten haben jahrelang Fälle von häuslichem Extremismus bearbeitet. Der erneute Fokus von den höchsten Regierungsebenen ist jedoch eine große Verschiebung, insbesondere da sich die Verwaltung damit auseinandersetzt, ob aktuelle Taktiken und Ressourcen ausreichen, um zukünftige Angriffe zu verhindern.

Die Entscheidung, das Problem direkter anzugehen, steht im Gegensatz zu den Ansätzen der Trump- und Obama-Regierung. Im Jahr 2009 hob die Obama-Regierung eine nachrichtendienstliche Bewertung auf, nachdem sie erwähnt hatte, dass Veteranen für die Rekrutierung durch inländische extremistische Gruppen anfällig sein könnten, was zu politischen Rückschlägen führte.

Die Verantwortlichen der nationalen Sicherheit treffen sich jetzt mit Vertretern der Abteilung für Veteranenangelegenheiten sowie der Abteilungen für Bildung, Gesundheit und menschliche Dienste, um das Problem nach Angaben von Verwaltungsbeamten direkt anzugehen.

Forscher sagen, dass die Vereinigten Staaten Jahre hinter europäischen Ländern wie Deutschland und Norwegen zurückliegen, um die Bedrohung durch Rechtsextremismus zu verstehen. Daniel Koehler, ein Forscher in Deutschland, der anderen Ländern bei der Durchführung von Deradikalisierungsprogrammen geholfen hat, sagte, die Vereinigten Staaten hätten immer noch kein System für Familien aufgebaut, die bemerken, dass ein Mitglied eine bedrohliche Sprache verwendet oder auf andere Weise signalisiert, dass sie sich an Gewalt beteiligen könnten.

“Ich habe Eltern, die mir schreiben:” Ich weiß nicht, was ich tun soll “, sagte Herr Koehler und fügte hinzu, dass viele amerikanische Familien ihn nach dem Aufstand im Kapitol kontaktiert hatten und sich nirgendwo anders wenden konnten.

Die Betonung der Biden-Regierung auf das Thema ist ein willkommenes Zeichen für viele aktuelle und ehemalige Regierungsbeamte, die gesagt haben, dass solche Bemühungen unter der Trump-Regierung gebremst wurden.

Im September reichte Brian Murphy, ein ehemaliger Leiter der Geheimdienstabteilung des Heimatschutzministeriums, eine Whistleblower-Beschwerde ein, in der er die Leitung des Ministeriums beschuldigte, die Änderung von Geheimdienstbewertungen angeordnet zu haben, um die Bedrohung durch die Vorherrschaft der Weißen „weniger schwerwiegend“ erscheinen zu lassen und Informationen zu enthalten linke Gruppen, um sich mit Mr. Trumps Nachrichten abzustimmen. Die Führung der Heimatschutzbehörde unter der Trump-Regierung bestritt die Anschuldigungen.

Die Obama-Regierung ging in dieser Angelegenheit auch aus politischen Gründen vorsichtig vor. Bevor Herr Biden 2019 seine Präsidentschaftskandidatur ankündigte, fragte er Janet Napolitano, die zu Beginn der Obama-Regierung als Heimatschutzministerin fungierte, nach der Entscheidung im Jahr 2009, einen Bericht aufzuheben, in dem darauf hingewiesen wurde, dass US-Militärveteranen für die Rekrutierung durch Extremisten anfällig seien Gruppen.

“Ich dachte, Sie sprachen vorausschauend über Rechtsextremismus und Gewalt in Amerika und waren von weißen Supremacisten motiviert”, sagte Herr Biden Frau Napolitano während einer Veranstaltung in der New York Public Library.

Die Vertreterin Elissa Slotkin, Demokratin von Michigan, hat mit Vertretern des Weißen Hauses Gespräche über die Ernennung eines Zaren für inländischen Terrorismus im Büro des Direktors des Nationalen Geheimdienstes geführt. Sie hat auch eine mögliche Exekutivverordnung erörtert, die aktualisieren soll, wie die Bundesregierung Personen, die der terroristischen Aktivität verdächtigt werden, zu Listen hinzufügt, die zur Überprüfung von Personen verwendet werden, die versuchen, in das Land einzureisen oder Flugzeuge zu betreten. Solche Beobachtungslisten sind eher für ihre Verwendung gegen ausländische Terroristen bekannt, sagte Frau Slotkin.

“Ich glaube nicht, dass wir einen guten Überblick darüber haben, wie wir über häuslichen Extremismus und diese Datenbanken denken sollen”, sagte sie.

Während einer Anhörung des House Homeland Security Committee im vergangenen Monat stellte der Republikaner Michael McCaul, Republikaner von Texas, fest, dass die Vereinigten Staaten kein Gesetz hätten, das es den Staatsanwälten ermöglichen würde, einheimische Extremisten mit denselben Instrumenten anzuklagen und zu untersuchen, die auch gegen Terrorverdächtige aus dem Ausland eingesetzt werden.

Die Kampagnenplattform von Herrn Biden sagte, er werde daran arbeiten, ein solches Gesetz zu etablieren, “das die Redefreiheit und die bürgerlichen Freiheiten respektiert und gleichzeitig die gleiche Verpflichtung eingeht, den inländischen Terrorismus auszurotten, wie wir den internationalen Terrorismus stoppen müssen”.

Auf die Frage nach der aktuellen Position des Präsidenten zum Statut verwies Jen Psaki, Pressesprecherin des Weißen Hauses, auf eine Überprüfung, die Herr Biden der Bundesregierung anwies, gegen Extremismus vorzugehen, „weil es im ganzen Land so weitreichende Auswirkungen und Bedrohungen gibt . ”

Das Fehlen eines Gesetzes hindert das FBI nicht daran, solche Bedrohungen zu untersuchen, aber die Staatsanwälte sind gezwungen, sich auf ein Flickenteppich anderer Anklagen wegen häuslichen Extremismus zu stützen, einschließlich des Angriffs auf das Kapitol.

Das Justizministerium hat Strafanzeigen gegen mehr als 300 Personen wegen ihrer Rolle bei den Aufständen im Kapitol aufgehoben. Die Anklage reicht weit und umfasst den Angriff auf Polizisten, das illegale Betreten des Kapitolgebäudes und die Verschwörung, sich in den Prozess der Wahlbescheinigung einzumischen. Die Anführer der Oath Keepers-Miliz und der rechtsextremen Proud Boys-Gruppe gehören zu den wichtigsten Zielen der umfassenden Untersuchung.

Kritiker eines inländischen Terrorismusgesetzes sagen, es könnte die Überwachungsbehörden der Regierung zu sehr erweitern und gegen Minderheitengemeinschaften eingesetzt werden.

In einem von den Vertretern Rashida Tlaib aus Michigan, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez aus New York und acht weiteren Demokraten unterzeichneten Brief hieß es, das Versagen des Geheimdienstes im Zusammenhang mit der Verletzung des Kapitols spiegelte die Zurückhaltung der Strafverfolgungsbehörden wider, gegen weiße nationalistische Gruppen vorzugehen, und nicht den Mangel an Regierungsinstrumenten überwachen sie.

Ein Beamter der Heimatschutzbehörde, der an der Überprüfung des Ministeriums zur Bekämpfung des inländischen Terrorismus beteiligt war, sagte, die Agentur brauche keine neuen Gesetze, sondern sollte stattdessen die Instrumente einsetzen, die seit langem gegen den ausländischen Terrorismus eingesetzt werden.

Eine Strategie besteht darin, die Reisedaten des Bundes zu analysieren, um die Muster möglicher Milizionäre und Extremisten zu verfolgen, insbesondere da amerikanische Gruppen zunehmend Verbindungen nach Europa herstellen, sagte der Beamte. Mitglieder der Gruppen können dann zu sogenannten Flugverbotslisten hinzugefügt werden, sagte er.

Die Überprüfung der Abteilung konzentriert sich nicht nur auf eindeutige Terrorakte, sondern auch auf diejenigen, die aufgrund einer Kombination aus psychischen Gesundheitsproblemen, Beschwerden und Ideologien, die eine wahrgenommene Rechtfertigung für Gewalt darstellen, zu Angriffen gedrängt werden. Beamte prüfen auch, wie Angriffe verhindert werden können, die denen am Freitag im Capitol ähneln, bei denen ein Mann sein Fahrzeug an einer Barrikade außerhalb des Gebäudes gegen zwei Beamte prallte, bevor er ausstieg und sie mit einem Messer angriff.

Der Verdächtige, der nach dem Angriff von der Polizei erschossen wurde, wurde von Polizeibeamten als Noah Green (25) aus Covington, Virginia, identifiziert. Freunde und Familie sagen, er habe mit Isolations- und psychischen Problemen zu kämpfen. Die Polizei hat den Angriff nicht als “terroristisch” eingestuft, und die Ermittler durchsuchen weiterhin die Social-Media-Beiträge von Herrn Green, die ein verstärktes Interesse an der Nation of Islam zeigten.

Das Heimatschutzministerium ist auch bestrebt, enger mit privaten Social-Media-Unternehmen wie Facebook und Twitter zusammenzuarbeiten, um Indikatoren für potenzielle Gewalt zu erkennen. Die Agentur hatte eine scharfe Gegenreaktion, weil sie vor dem 6. Januar keine Warnung herausgegeben hatte, trotz einer Reihe von Social-Media-Posts, die bewaffnete Gruppen beabsichtigten, nach Washington zu kommen, um gegen die Ergebnisse der Wahlen von 2020 zu protestieren.

Das Heimatschutzministerium stellte in diesem Jahr 77 Millionen US-Dollar für staatliche und lokale Regierungen bereit, um Polizisten auszubilden und den Informationsaustausch zwischen Staaten zu verbessern.

Unabhängig davon verdoppelte die Agentur die Anzahl der Zuschüsse für Organisationen, die Projekte zur Erforschung von Präventionsstrategien entwickeln, einschließlich des „Off-Boarding“ von Radikalisierungsgefährdeten. Die Zuweisung von 20 Millionen US-Dollar, die noch nicht vergeben wurde, erfolgt, nachdem die Trump-Administration die Zuschüsse entkernt hat, bevor sie im letzten Jahr seiner Amtszeit 10 Millionen US-Dollar wiederhergestellt hat.

Die Aufstockung der Mittel und die Anerkennung des Problems sind jedoch nur erste Schritte. Die Arbeit, Menschen zu identifizieren, die mit häuslichem Extremismus in Verbindung stehen, und ihnen zu helfen, sich von Gewalt zu lösen, bleibt entmutigend.

Frühere Bemühungen der Strafverfolgungsbehörden, die Hilfe von Gemeindemitgliedern in Anspruch zu nehmen, hatten zu Besorgnis geführt, dass die Bundesregierung versuchte, Minderheitengemeinschaften auszuspionieren.

Die neue Herangehensweise der Biden-Regierung an das Problem wirkt sich auf diejenigen aus, die an vorderster Front mit innerstaatlichen Extremisten zu tun haben.

Während der Obama-Regierung hatte Mohamed Amin Ahmed, der in Minneapolis eine gemeinnützige Organisation gegen Extremismus betreibt, erwogen, Zuschüsse des Bundes zu beantragen, um seine Bemühungen zu unterstützen, Comic-Videos zu erstellen, mit denen die Appelle des Islamischen Staates an Kinder entlarvt werden sollen.

Er entschied sich jedoch, sich nicht zu bewerben, nachdem er erfahren hatte, dass die Finanzierung an die Verpflichtung gebunden war, verdächtige Aktivitäten den Strafverfolgungsbehörden zu melden.

Herr Ahmed erstellt jetzt Videos für Anhänger von QAnon, der Pro-Trump-Verschwörungstheorie. Er sagte, er plane, die neue Runde der staatlichen Zuschüsse zu beantragen, die nicht mehr mit der Strafverfolgung verbunden sind.

“Wir versuchen zu helfen und nicht Teil des Überwachungsstaates zu sein”, sagte Ahmed.

Nach dem Aufstand im Kapitol sind die Bemühungen zur Bekämpfung des Extremismus in einem Dickicht schwieriger politischer und First-Amendment-Fragen gefangen. Interventionen, die darauf abzielen, politische Überzeugungen zu ändern oder mit Demokraten in Einklang zu stehen, könnten ineffektiv sein, um Rechtsextremisten zur Teilnahme zu bewegen, sagten Experten.

Ein Programm in New York City, das kürzlich ein Bundesstipendium von mehr als 740.000 US-Dollar erhalten hat, soll Menschen davon abhalten, politisch motivierte Gewalt auszuüben, ohne zu versuchen, ihre Überzeugungen zu ändern.

Richard Aborn, der Präsident der gemeinnützigen Organisation, die das Programm überwacht, sagte, dass er Teilnehmer durch Überweisungen von Strafverfolgungsbehörden akzeptieren würde, auch für Personen, die bereits wegen Verbrechen angeklagt wurden.

Personen, die sich nach einer psychologischen Untersuchung qualifizieren, würden dann mehrere Monate lang an einer Einzeltherapie teilnehmen. Der Erfolg des Programms würde an Veränderungen des emotionalen Zustands des Einzelnen gemessen.

Herr Aborn sagte, er erwarte, dass der Teilnehmerpool weiße Supremacisten, Dschihadisten und Menschen umfasst, die mit Massenerschießungen drohen.

Um Personen zu identifizieren, die nicht auf dem Radar der Strafverfolgungsbehörden stehen, plant Herr Aborn, gezielte Werbung zu entwickeln, die von Personen gesehen werden soll, die beispielsweise online antisemitische Suchanfragen durchgeführt haben. Durch Klicken auf die Anzeigen werden diese an das Eins-zu-Eins-Interventionsprogramm weitergeleitet.

“Dies ist alles ein neuer Raum”, sagte Herr Aborn. “Keiner von uns weiß mit Sicherheit, wie viel Fortschritt wir machen werden.”

Categories
Politics

MLB discussing choices for Atlanta All-Star recreation following Georgia voting legislation

MLB pulls 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta due to Georgia's new restrictive voting law

The Battery is a bustling venue with shops, bars, and restaurants from local chefs in Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves MLB team, as the facility is currently closed during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Atlanta, Georgia , Sports will be quarantined on April 18, 2020.

David J. Griffin | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Major League Baseball is discussing the status of its 2021 All-Star Game in Atlanta as more companies publicly oppose a new electoral law recently passed in Georgia.

The league gathers feedback from teams and executives on the matter before making a decision to move the game. The baseball midsummer event is scheduled for July 13th at Truist Park, home of Braves.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told The Associated Press the league was expecting “substantial talks” with MLB Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark about relocating the game. But Manfred didn’t go into detail about MLB’s plan or his stance on the new law.

“I speak to different constituencies within the game and I just don’t go beyond what I would or would not consider,” said Manfred.

The Georgian legislature has passed a law that will revise the state elections. The new law adds guidelines for postal ballot papers and voter registration, and gives state officials more authority in conducting elections. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed the amendments on March 25th.

Critics of Georgia’s new electoral laws say it will suppress votes, especially among people of color in underserved areas. In an interview with ESPN, President Joe Biden criticized the changes, calling them “Jim Crow on Steroids”. The president added that he would support the relocation of the MLB All-Star game.

Kemp was defending the law when he appeared on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Wednesday, saying it gave more people the opportunity to vote on weekends. Kemp also said calls to postpone the all-star game were “ridiculous” in an interview with Fox News.

On Wednesday, top Wall Street executives including Ken Frazier, CEO of Merck, Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, and Ken Chenault, former CEO of American Express, expressed displeasure with the new law.

“Companies have to stand up. There is no middle ground,” said Chenault, who appeared with Frazier on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”. Executives urged more companies to publicly oppose elements of Gregoria’s revised electoral laws.

Economic impact

Should the city lose the game, it could suffer financially.

According to the Atlanta Journal constitution, local taxpayers would pay $ 2 million to spend to host the MLB event but get a great return on that investment. The 2019 All-Star Game should gross Cleveland $ 65 million. According to the baseball almanac, the last Atlanta location for the game generated $ 49 million in 2000.

“There is an economic impact,” said Bill Squires, sports facilities and event management expert. “People will be traveling there on the weekend. Check out the home run contest and game on Monday. There are hotels, Uber, restaurants, airfares, and rental cars – there is no doubt the economic impact.”

CNBC coverage of Georgian electoral law

Also, check out these CNBC stories on Georgia’s new voting move:

While moving the game around could be logistically difficult, Squires, who formerly ran Yankee Stadium, said he would be shocked if MLB didn’t have a contingency plan yet, especially if there was a pandemic. He used the National Football League as an example.

“If you know how sport works, think about the NFL with the situation with the San Francisco 49ers who couldn’t play at Levi Stadium and quickly moved to State Farm Stadium in Arizona,” said Squires, who also Is a lecturer at Columbia University. “The contingency plans are always in place. They have to be. I would be shocked if every league didn’t have a backup plan for the primary location as it depends on what is going on in the world.”

Robert D. Manfred Jr., Major League Baseball Commissioner, presents the Commissioner’s Trophy to Houston Astros owner Jim Crane after the Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday November 1, 2017 in Los Angeles had defeated California.

Alex Trautwig | Getty Images

Does MLB have an attitude?

Should MLB postpone its competition, it would not be the first time a professional league has postponed a significant event due to a controversial law.

In 2016, the National Basketball Association removed its 2017 All-Star Competition from North Carolina after House Bill 2, also known as the “Bathroom Bill”, restricted rights in the LGBT community. The NCAA also suspended its championship events in the state. The bill was eventually overturned and the NBA returned the event to Charlotte in 2019.

“It has damaged our reputation, discriminated against our people, and wreaked economic harm in many of our communities,” said Roy Cooper, governor of North Carolina in 2017 after the bill was repealed.

However, with MLB remaining calm in its stance, it could damage baseball’s image. Patrick Rishe, director of the sports business program at Washington University in St. Louis, said the lack of action from MLB could alienate younger fans.

“If MLB is serious about targeting younger audiences, and that has been a major goal, their actions on the matter will say a lot,” Rishe said. “These younger fans want the brands they use to be synonymous with something, and they also want their teams and their leagues to be synonymous with something.”

MLB opens its 2021 regular season on Thursday, reverting to a 162-game format after only 60 games were played last season due to the pandemic.

Categories
Politics

U.S. Faucets Johnson & Johnson to Run Troubled Vaccine Plant

U.S. Taps Johnson & Johnson to Run Troubled Vaccine Plant

WASHINGTON – The Biden government on Saturday hired Johnson & Johnson to manage a troubled Baltimore manufacturing facility that ruined 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine and prevented the facility from producing another vaccine from AstraZeneca manufacture.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ extraordinary move came just days after officials learned that Emergent BioSolutions, a contract manufacturer that makes both Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca’s vaccines, was mixing the ingredients in the two, which regulators did delayed the approval of the plant’s production lines.

By outsourcing the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to two senior federal health officials, the facility can be dedicated solely to Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine to avoid future breakdowns.

The Department of Health and Human Services directed Johnson & Johnson to establish a new leadership team to oversee all aspects of manufacturing and manufacturing at the Emergent Baltimore facility. The company said in a statement that it took “full responsibility” for the vaccine manufactured at the Emergent facility.

Given President Biden’s aggressive efforts to have enough doses for every adult by the end of May, federal officials fear the mix-up will undermine public confidence in Covid-19 vaccines. The AstraZeneca vaccine in particular has raised safety concerns. Germany, France and other European nations have temporarily discontinued use in some vaccine recipients after reports of rare cerebral blood clots.

The ingredient mix-up and the government move on Saturday is a major setback and PR debacle for Emergent, a Maryland-based biotech company that has built a profitable business by working with the federal government, largely selling its own Anthrax vaccines against the Strategic National Stockpile.

An Emergent spokesman declined to comment, except that the company will continue to manufacture AstraZeneca cans until it receives a contract amendment from the federal government.

Unlike Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca does not yet have an emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its vaccine. With three federally approved vaccines (the other two are from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna), it’s not clear whether the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has had regulatory issues in the past, could even get approved in time to meet U.S. needs .

However, one of the federal officials said the Department of Health and Human Services is discussing working with AstraZeneca to adapt its vaccine to fight new coronavirus variants. AstraZeneca said in a statement that it would work with the Biden administration to find a new location to manufacture its vaccine.

To date, none of the Johnson & Johnson cans manufactured by Emergent have been cleared for distribution by the FDA. Officials have stated that it could take weeks to find out if other batches of vaccine were contaminated and that FDA inspectors are determining if the emergent facility can be cleared to release the doses it made.

Updated

April 3, 2021, 9:22 p.m. ET

Acting FDA commissioner, Dr. Janet Woodcock said in a statement on Saturday that the agency “takes its responsibility for ensuring the quality of manufacturing of vaccines and other medical products for use during this pandemic very seriously”.

However, she made it clear that the ultimate responsibility would rest with Johnson & Johnson, saying, “It is important to note that even if companies employ contract manufacturing companies, the ultimate responsibility lies with the company that has the emergency use authorization to do so ensure FDA quality standards are met. “

In another agreement brokered by the Biden administration last month, Johnson & Johnson is now working with Merck, one of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturers. Officials said Merck would help manage the Baltimore facility.

Emergent’s Baltimore facility is one of two federally designated “Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing” and was built with taxpayer support. Last June, the Emergent government paid $ 628 million to reserve space as part of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s rapid initiative to develop coronavirus vaccines.

Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca both signed a contract with Emergent to use the space. Both vaccines are called live virus vector vaccines, which means they use a modified, harmless version of another virus as a vector or carrier to deliver instructions to the body’s immune system. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is given in one dose, AstraZeneca in two doses.

Experts in vaccine manufacturing said the FDA has historically had a policy of preventing such mishaps by not allowing a plant to make two live viral vector vaccines as it can lead to mix-ups and contamination.

Last month, Mr Biden canceled a visit to the Emergent Baltimore plant, and his spokeswoman announced that the administration would conduct an audit of the Strategic National Stockpile, the country’s emergency medical reserve. Both measures came after an investigation by the New York Times that looked at how the company had gained oversized influence on the repository.

Categories
Politics

Supreme Court docket sides with Fb in robocall case

Supreme Court sides with Facebook in robocall case

The Supreme Court turned to its grammar books on Thursday to give Facebook a win. It was about whether the internet giant had violated a three-decade-old federal law that curbs abusive telemarketing practices.

In a unanimous decision by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the court supported a narrow definition of automated dialing systems, which are largely banned under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. The 8-0 opinion and an assent written by Justice Samuel Alito contained a lively debate about the benefits of using language textbooks to understand the importance of legal texts.

The case was brought by Noah Duguid, who said he had received login notifications from Facebook on his phone since 2014 and was unable to stop them even though he had never created an account. For about 10 months, Duguid said, he tried unsuccessfully to break free of the messages, text the company and send an email. Duguid said the news continued even after being told “Facebook texts are now off”.

Duguid attempted a class action lawsuit for himself and others exposed to the same alleged abuse. However, Facebook asked a federal district court to dismiss Duguid’s lawsuit, referring to Congress’ definition of automated dialers as systems that “store or produce phone numbers to be called using a random or sequence number generator.”

Given that definition, Facebook argued, Duguid would have to prove that Facebook used a number generator to store or produce its phone number. He couldn’t do that, the company argued, for the simple reason that Facebook didn’t use a number generator at all.

According to Facebook, if the court had accepted Duguid’s argument, it could make using a smartphone to make a normal phone call illegal – given the ability to automatically store and call numbers.

However, Duguid argued that “using a random or sequence number generator” only applies to the production of its number, not the way the company stored it. And he argued that Facebook clearly stored his number.

The district court ruled Facebook and dismissed Duguid’s lawsuit, but the U.S. 9th appeals court overturned that decision in 2019, allowing Duguid’s case to move forward. The appeals court cited a case that it had ruled a year earlier, Marks v Crunch San Diego.

The TCPA defines an automatic telephone dialing system as “a device having the capacity to – (A) store telephone numbers to be stored or called using a random or sequence number generator, and (B) dial such numbers”.

“In Marks, we made it clear that the adverbial phrase ‘using a random or sequence number generator’ only modifies the verb ‘produce’ and not the preceding verb ‘save’,” wrote Judge Mary McKeown.

On appeal, the Supreme Court ruled that this was not entirely correct. Citing the so-called “serial qualification canon”, Sotomayor wrote that the most natural reading of the definition would apply the number generator requirement to both the storage and the production of telephone numbers.

“As several leading papers explain,” wrote Sotomayor, “a qualifying sentence separated by a comma from the antecedents is evidence that the qualifier should apply to all antecedents, not just the one immediately preceding it.”

To illustrate this, Sotomayor looked at a teacher who announced that students are “not allowed to do or review homework intended for a class using online homework help websites”.

“It would be strange to read this rule to prohibit students from doing homework with or without online assistance,” Sotomayor wrote.

Sotomayor cited a number of legal and grammatical heavyweights to support her, including a 2012 book written by the late Judge Antonin Scalia and grammarian Bryan Garner.

“According to conventional grammar rules”[w]If there is a simple, parallel construction that includes all nouns or verbs in a series, “a modifier at the end of the list” usually applies to the entire series, “wrote Sotomayor, citing Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts. “

Garner was one of the lawyers for Duguid on the case.

In court records, he and other attorneys argued that the Supreme Court should eschew the serial qualification canon in favor of the “distribution phrasing canon” which would apply the modifier to the verbs most appropriate based on context, or to the “last”. preceding canon, “which would apply the modifier to the verb it immediately follows.

Garner also denied Facebook’s claim that the comma in the definition after the word “named” settled the matter.

“The comma prompts the reader to look further back to see what to do with a number generator, but doesn’t tell the reader how far back,” wrote Garner and the other lawyers, including Sergei Lemberg.

Garner declined to comment on the court’s decision.

Alito, largely in agreement with Sotomayor’s opinion, refused to join her. In his approval, he cited the majority’s “strong confidence” in the serial qualification canon, which in his opinion had “played a prominent role in our cases of legal interpretation”.

After all, wrote Alito, grammar rules are not really rules.

“Even grammar, according to Garner, is usually just an attempt to describe the English language as it is actually used,” wrote Alito, citing another book by the author, “The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage and Punctuation.” “

Alito wrote that he agreed with Sotomayor’s interpretation of the teacher’s comment, who advised her students not to use homework help websites. However, he wrote that understanding was not based on the syntax of the sentence but on the “general understanding that teachers do not want to forbid students from doing homework”.

He noted what would happen if Teacher used the word “destroy” or “burn” instead of “completely”.

“The concept of using ‘online homework help websites’ to do all of these things would be nonsensical and no reader would interpret the phrase to mean that – even if suggested in the canon for series qualifiers”, he added.

Alito suggested empirically testing the strength of the various canons by analyzing text combinations from English-language databases and examining how people use so-called series modifiers in practice. In the vast majority of cases, he suggested, “the point of the matter” would likely reveal a meaning.

In a footnote, Sotomayor wrote that she agreed with Alito that speech cannons are not inflexible rules. But, she wrote, she disagreed with him insofar as he advocated judges who relied primarily on their own linguistic sense when interpreting ambiguous laws.

“Despite the legislature’s best efforts to write in ‘English prose’, there will inevitably be difficult ambiguities in the legal text,” wrote Sotomayor. “Courts should approach these problems of interpretation methodically, using traditional instruments of legal interpretation to confirm their beliefs about the ‘common understanding’ of words.”

The case is Facebook vs. Noah Duguid, nos. 19-511.

Categories
Politics

Noah Inexperienced, Capitol Suspect, Struggled Earlier than Assault

Noah Green, Capitol Suspect, Struggled Before Attack

Mr. Green’s compliance will likely increase control of the group as investigators attempt to determine if his beliefs played a role in Friday’s attack. The relationship between violence and the nation of Islam has been debated since it began some 90 years ago, especially since outsiders and insiders disagreed on its teachings.

“From the earliest times in the nation’s history, people have taken these texts and said it is about killing white people,” said Michael Muhammad Knight, an assistant professor of religion and cultural studies at the University of Central Florida, who said Islam specializes in American.

“The nation has a very strong anti-violence discourse that goes back to the very beginning,” he said. “When you look at the nation, you consistently fail to see the number of bodies white supremacist organizations have.”

In his Facebook posts, Mr. Green sometimes used apocalyptic language, suggesting that he believed in an impending conflict at the end of the world. He was referring to the “mother wheel,” which in the nation’s teachings is a spaceship that will descend to America in an apocalyptic battle, Knight explained.

In his last Facebook post on March 21st, Mr. Green wrote about a “divine warning” that these were the “last days of our world as we know it”.

Court records in Indiana, where he lived briefly, show that Mr. Green filed a motion in December to legally change his name to Noah Zaeem Muhammad. However, when he failed to appear for a hearing in the final days of March, the case was dismissed.

At this point he was back in Virginia and living with his brother. Only a few days later he would be driving to the Capitol.

Elizabeth Dias, Ben Decker and Robyn Sidersky contributed to the coverage. Jack Begg contributed to the research.

Categories
Politics

Russia-Ukraine tensions develop once more on the border

Russia-Ukraine tensions grow again on the border

LONDON – A sharp rise in tensions between Russia and Ukraine in recent weeks raises fears of a revival of the military conflict.

Since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, there has been ongoing clashes between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists in Donbass, a region in eastern Ukraine. It is believed that around 14,000 people were killed in the fighting, interrupted by ceasefire periods (which both sides have accused of injuring the other).

Last week, Ukraine said four of its soldiers were killed in shelling by Russian forces in Donbass.

In early March, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ruslan Khomchak, said that Russia’s “armed aggression” in Donbass posed a “great threat” not only to the national security of Ukraine, but to all NATO allies. Earlier this week, he said that Russian troops had been gathering near the border.

Russia’s actions in the US have not gone unnoticed On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken reiterated Washington’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity “in the face of ongoing Russian aggression,” the State Department said in a statement.

Speaking to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Blinken expressed “concerns about the security situation in eastern Ukraine and expressed condolences to the recent loss of four Ukrainian soldiers,” the statement added.

The Kremlin on Wednesday said it was concerned about mounting tensions in eastern Ukraine and feared that Kiev armed forces could do something to resume conflict.

“We are concerned about the growing tension and that the Ukrainian side could, in one way or another, take provocative measures that could lead to war. We really don’t want to see that,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Reuters.

“I mean a civil war that has already been going on,” said Peskov when asked to clear a conference call with reporters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, who have tried to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, about “serious concerns about the escalation of armed confrontation on the Ukraine-provoked contact line “. and, according to Russia, Ukraine’s “refusal” to honor agreements that were part of the last ceasefire coordinated in July.

Timothy Ash, chief emerging markets strategist at BlueBay Asset Management, commented on Wednesday: “It seems like Putin is trying to test and investigate the West’s defenses and decide to confront him – maybe this is the prelude to one new military offensive in Ukraine. “

“It feels like Putin is preparing for a big step – perhaps a distraction to his own problems at home with Navalny and focusing on … State Duma elections. A victory in Ukraine would benefit the nationalist crowd in Russia and Russia throw some red meat again. ” expose the weakness of the West, “he added, referring to the imprisoned Russian dissident Alexei Navalny.

Ash advised Russian observers to keep an eye on the water shortage in the Crimea. The roots were laid seven years ago when Ukraine blocked the North Crimean Canal, cutting off most of the region’s freshwater supplies.

“If I were to look somewhere south and to the water problems in Crimea. The risk is that Russia will try diversionary tactics in Donbass if the bigger price is a military advance into Ukraine to conquer watercourses that water Crimea supply.” Said Ash.

“Perhaps Putin believes the West is weak and divided and unable to react,” continued Ash, citing inadequate sanctions by the Joe Biden administration, for example on the North Stream gas pipeline, because of the SolarWinds hack that was launched against US Failed government networks, and the 2016 election meddling “as a signal that the US is only petrified to act for fear of what Russia might do.”

Categories
Politics

Georgia’s Election Legislation, and Why Turnout Isn’t Simple to Flip Off

Georgia’s Election Law, and Why Turnout Isn’t Easy to Turn Off

A simple answer is that convenience isn’t as important as is often thought. Almost anyone who cares enough about voting will face the inconvenience of personal voting, whether because the inconvenience is not really that great or because they worry enough to suffer it.

This, of course, requires a degree of convenience: six-hour lines would change the calculation for many voters. Indeed, long lines affect voter turnout. A certain amount of interest is also assumed. Someone might think: there is no way I am waiting in line for half an hour to vote for the dog catcher. Similarly, as the importance of a race declines, the importance of a convenient set-up option is likely to grow.

The implication, however, is that if enough convenient options are available, almost anyone can vote, even if the most preferred option does not exist. That makes the Georgian electoral law’s efforts to stem long lines potentially quite significant. Not only could this mitigate the already limited effect of restricting email reconciliation, but even outweigh it.

Another reason is that convenience voting may not be as convenient for lower turnout voters who essentially decide the overall turnout. Low turnout voters are unlikely to think about how they will vote a month before the election if they have to request a postal vote. Someone to think about it is likely a high turnout voter. Low turnout voters may not know who they will be supporting until election day. And that makes them less likely to use pre-voting options like a no-excuse early vote, which requires them to think about the choice early and often: submit a motion, fill out a ballot, and send it back.

As a result, convenience voting methods tend to reinforce socio-economic biases in favor of voters with high turnout. The methods ensure that every highly interesting voter has many choices without doing quite so much to attract less engaged voters to the election.

A final reason is that electoral restrictions can backfire by annoying and energizing democratic voters. For example, this law’s restrictions on the distribution of water in a line can do more to mobilize democrats than keep them from voting. A recent study even theorized that the Supreme Court’s decision to withdraw elements of the electoral law did not reduce black voter turnout as subsequent efforts to restrict voting were quickly thwarted by efforts to mobilize black voters.

This does not mean that Georgian law or other so-called voter suppression laws have no consequences. Many make voting difficult enough to intimidate or discourage some voters. Many eligible voters are completely disenfranchised, even if only in small numbers. Perhaps the disenfranchisement of a single voter deserves outrage and opposition, especially when the law is passed for dubious or even contrived reasons and the mass disenfranchisement of Jim Crow serves as a historical backdrop.