Tag: Fight

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Business

Biden’s Pupil Mortgage Plan Might Face a Protracted Authorized Battle

Biden’s Student Loan Plan Could Face a Protracted Legal Fight

WASHINGTON – Die Initiative der Biden-Regierung zur Vergebung von Studentendarlehen steht vor einer Reihe rechtlicher Herausforderungen, die den Plan einfrieren könnten, bevor er in Betrieb genommen wird, und eine Politik bedrohen, die heftige parteiübergreifende Debatten und Machtkämpfe unter den Demokraten ausgelöst hat.

Der letzte Woche vom Weißen Haus angekündigte Plan würde erhebliche Schuldenberge für Millionen von Amerikanern tilgen. Diejenigen, die weniger als 125.000 US-Dollar pro Jahr verdienen, würden 10.000 US-Dollar Schulden erlassen, und diejenigen, die Pell-Zuschüsse erhalten, würden 20.000 US-Dollar Schuldenerlass erhalten.

Während es eines der Wahlversprechen von Präsident Biden erfüllt, Absolventen zu helfen, die mit ihren Zahlungen in Verzug geraten sind, verursacht der Plan erhebliche Kosten – voraussichtlich zwischen 300 und 500 Milliarden US-Dollar – für die Bundesregierung, die keine Rückzahlungen erhalten wird aktuell geschuldet.

Die Verabschiedung einer so großen Steuerausgabe durch Exekutivbefugnisse im Notfall hat Fragen darüber aufgeworfen, ob Herr Biden befugt ist, eine solche Politik selbst durchzuführen, und viele erwarten Klagen und einen langwierigen Rechtsstreit, auch von denen, die finanzielle Verluste erleiden werden der Plan. Diejenigen, die versuchen könnten, solche Schäden geltend zu machen, könnten Kreditdienstleister sein, denen Bearbeitungsgebühren entgehen, oder Gesetzgeber, die die Richtlinie als Verstoß gegen die Haushaltsbefugnis des Kongresses ansehen.

Handelsgruppen für Finanzdienstleistungen, Gelehrte und Think-Tank-Experten haben die letzten Tage damit verbracht, festzustellen, ob die Initiative des Weißen Hauses auf einer soliden rechtlichen Grundlage steht oder ob sie reif für gerichtliche Anfechtungen sein könnte.

Einige Kritiker haben Herrn Bidens Schritt mit ähnlichen Exekutivmaßnahmen des ehemaligen Präsidenten Donald J. Trump verglichen, einschließlich seines Einsatzes von Notstandsbefugnissen zur Finanzierung einer Grenzmauer im Jahr 2019. Obwohl dies etwas anderes war als der Erlass von Bundesschulden, argumentierten Gegner der Entscheidung Mr. Trump missbrauchte seine Autorität, indem er Pentagon-Gelder überwies, um den Mauerbau ohne Zustimmung des Kongresses zu bezahlen. Der Oberste Gerichtshof erlaubte die Fortsetzung des Baus, während der Fall seinen Weg durch die unteren Gerichte fand, aber Herr Biden stoppte die Arbeit an der Barriere bei seinem Amtsantritt.

Aufgrund der Erwartung eines Rechtsstreits haben einige davor gewarnt, dass Kreditnehmer, die auf Vergebung hoffen, ihre Hoffnungen noch nicht zu groß machen sollten.

„Der pauschale Erlass von Studentendarlehen ist zweifellos ein Akt von wirtschaftlicher und politischer Bedeutung, und die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass er innerhalb der Autorität des Präsidenten aufrechterhalten wird, ist zweifelhaft“, sagte Lanae Erickson, Senior Vice President für Sozialpolitik, Bildung und Politik bei The Third Way, einem Zentrum – Linkspolitische Denkfabrik. „Es obliegt den Befürwortern und politischen Entscheidungsträgern, die auf diesen beispiellosen Schritt gedrängt haben, den Kreditnehmern auch mitzuteilen, dass es sehr wahrscheinlich ist, dass er niemals zum Tragen kommt.“

Frühere Bemühungen der Biden-Regierung, Schulden zu erlassen, sind bereits auf rechtliche Hindernisse gestoßen. Ein Schuldenerlassprogramm in Höhe von 4 Milliarden US-Dollar für „sozial benachteiligte“ Landwirte wurde letztes Jahr angesichts von Herausforderungen eingefroren, was den Kongress dazu veranlasste, das Programm letztendlich in späteren Gesetzen, die letzten Monat verabschiedet wurden, neu zu schreiben.

Eine der Hauptfragen rund um das Studentendarlehensprogramm ist, wer – wenn überhaupt – die rechtliche „Stellungnahme“ hat, um zu behaupten, dass er durch die Police geschädigt wurde, und berechtigt ist, eine Klage einzureichen. Das wahrscheinlichste Ergebnis, sagen Rechtsexperten, ist, dass Banken oder Kreditdienstleister, die Geld durch Gebühren verlieren würden, für die sie geplant gewesen wären, Klagen einzureichen. Da viele Kreditnehmer insgesamt weniger Geld schulden würden, würde auch der Betrag schrumpfen, den sie monatlich an Unternehmen zahlen, die Kreditzahlungen verwalten.

Was Sie über den Schuldenerlass für Studentendarlehen wissen sollten

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Was Sie über den Schuldenerlass für Studentendarlehen wissen sollten

Viele werden profitieren. Die Exekutivverordnung von Präsident Biden bedeutet, dass die Studiendarlehenssalden des Bundes von Millionen von Menschen um bis zu 20.000 US-Dollar sinken könnten. Hier finden Sie Antworten auf einige häufig gestellte Fragen zur Funktionsweise:

Was Sie über den Schuldenerlass für Studentendarlehen wissen sollten

Wer kommt für die Kreditkündigung infrage? Einzelpersonen, die ledig sind und 125.000 $ oder weniger verdienen, qualifizieren sich für den Schuldenerlass von 10.000 $. Wenn Sie verheiratet sind und Ihre Steuern gemeinsam einreichen oder ein Haushaltsvorstand sind, kommen Sie in Frage, wenn Ihr Einkommen 250.000 $ oder weniger beträgt. Wenn Sie einen Pell-Zuschuss erhalten haben und diese Einkommensvoraussetzungen erfüllen, könnten Sie sich für einen zusätzlichen Schuldenerlass in Höhe von 10.000 USD qualifizieren.

Was Sie über den Schuldenerlass für Studentendarlehen wissen sollten

Was muss ich als Erstes tun, wenn ich mich qualifiziere? Wenden Sie sich an Ihren Kreditdienstleister, um sicherzustellen, dass Ihre Postanschrift, Ihre E-Mail-Adresse und Ihre Mobiltelefonnummer korrekt aufgeführt sind, damit Sie Hilfestellung erhalten können. Befolgen Sie diese Anweisungen. Wenn Sie nicht wissen, wer Ihr Kreditverwalter ist, konsultieren Sie die Seite „Wer ist mein Kreditverwalter?“ des Bildungsministeriums. Webseite für Anleitungen.

Was Sie über den Schuldenerlass für Studentendarlehen wissen sollten

Wie weise ich nach, dass ich qualifiziert bin? Wenn Sie bereits in einem einkommensorientierten Rückzahlungsplan angemeldet sind und Ihre letzte Steuererklärung eingereicht haben, um dieses Einkommen zu bescheinigen, sollten Sie nichts weiter tun müssen. Halten Sie dennoch Ausschau nach Anleitungen von Ihrem Dienstleister. Für alle anderen wird das Bildungsministerium voraussichtlich bis Ende des Jahres ein Bewerbungsverfahren einrichten.

Was Sie über den Schuldenerlass für Studentendarlehen wissen sollten

Wann werden die Zahlungen für den ausstehenden Betrag wieder aufgenommen? Präsident Biden verlängerte eine Zahlungspause in der Trump-Ära, die nun nicht vor mindestens Januar fällig ist. Sie sollten mindestens drei Wochen vor Fälligkeit Ihrer ersten Zahlung eine Zahlungsmitteilung erhalten, aber Sie können sich vorher an Ihren Kreditdienstleister wenden, um Einzelheiten darüber zu erfahren, was Sie schulden und wann die Zahlung fällig ist.

„Alles ist Gegenstand von Rechtsstreitigkeiten, daher bin ich sicher, dass es hier einige Schwankungen geben wird“, sagte Jayne Conroy, Anwältin des Klägers bei der Anwaltskanzlei Simmons Hanly Conroy.

Frau Conroy sagte, dass Kreditdienstleister Verträge mit Verpflichtungen zur Langlebigkeit von Krediten haben könnten, die durch den Schuldenerlass verletzt werden könnten. Einige Dienstleister, schlug sie vor, könnten behaupten, dass ihre Konkurrenten von der Politik der Biden-Regierung profitierten.

Die Banken haben bisher wenig über die Richtlinie gesagt, da sie weitere Einzelheiten des Bildungsministeriums darüber erwarten, wie der Krediterlass funktionieren wird. Aber ein Beamter einer Gruppe der Finanzdienstleistungsbranche, der darum bat, bei der Erörterung interner Beratungen anonym zu bleiben, sagte, private Kreditgeber würden die Umsetzung des Schuldenerlasses mit ihren Rechtsteams überwachen, um festzustellen, ob Klagen die angemessene Vorgehensweise seien.

Von Republikanern geführte Staaten könnten ebenfalls versuchen einzugreifen, wobei weniger klar ist, auf welcher Grundlage sie Einspruch erheben müssten. Einige Generalstaatsanwälte haben gewarnt, dass sie eine rechtliche Anfechtung planen.

„Ich bin bereit, mich anderen Generalstaatsanwälten anzuschließen oder, wenn ich alleine gehen muss, gegen Präsident Bidens neueste Exekutivverordnung in Bezug auf Studentendarlehensschulden vorzugehen“, sagte Leslie Rutledge, die Generalstaatsanwältin von Arkansas, gegenüber dem Fox Business Network .

Wenn die Republikaner nächstes Jahr das Repräsentantenhaus zurückerobern, könnten sie auch versuchen, das Programm zu blockieren. Der Abgeordnete Kevin Brady aus Texas, der oberste Republikaner des Ways and Means Committee, sagte diese Woche, er glaube, dass der Umzug von Herrn Biden illegal sei.

„Ich glaube nicht, dass es die Musterung übersteht, aber ich mache mir Sorgen, dass das Geld im Wesentlichen aus der Tür fließen wird“, sagte Mr. Brady gegenüber CNBC. „Ich weiß nicht, wie ein Präsident eine halbe Billion Dollar bekommen kann, indem er einfach seine Unterschrift auf einer Exekutivverordnung unterschreibt.“

Die Biden-Regierung hat ein Memo des Rechtsberaters des Justizministeriums herausgegeben, in dem es heißt, dass die Schulden des Studentendarlehens unter der Autorität des Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act von 2003 gekündigt werden könnten. Dieses Gesetz verleiht dem Bildungsminister die Befugnis, „ Härten lindern“, die Kreditnehmer von Bundesstudentendarlehen aufgrund eines nationalen Notfalls wie der Pandemie erleben. Es wurde auch geltend gemacht, um dem Bildungsministerium zu erlauben, die Rückzahlung von Studentendarlehen seit 2020 auszusetzen, eine Aktion, auf die Beamte der Biden-Verwaltung hinweisen, die nicht rechtlich angefochten wurden.

Einige Rechtswissenschaftler warnen jedoch davor, dass es zu weit hergeholt sein könnte, einen breiten Schuldenerlass für Studenten auf die Pandemie zu stützen, und die Möglichkeit offen zu lassen, dass Gerichte die Politik niederschlagen könnten.

Jed Shugerman, Professor an der Fordham Law School, sagte, er sei besorgt, dass die Anwälte der Biden-Regierung „nachlässig“ seien, wenn sie das Gesetz von 2003 als Grundlage für einen solch umfassenden Schuldenerlass verwendeten. Er sagte voraus, dass die Politik eingefroren würde.

„Meine Vermutung ist, dass eine dieser Privatbanken mit einem günstigen Richter vor ein Bundesbezirksgericht gehen wird, und es wird eine landesweite einstweilige Verfügung geben, die verhindert, dass dieses Programm in Kraft tritt“, sagte Herr Shugerman.

Herr Shugerman fügte hinzu, dass es, obwohl er den Ehrgeiz der Politik für bewundernswert halte, heuchlerisch von den Demokraten sei, sich auf Notstandsbefugnisse zu berufen, um eine Politik zu erlassen, die denen ähnelt, die die Trump-Regierung für Maßnahmen zur Einwanderung verwendet hat.

„Wenn die Demokraten über den Missbrauch von Notstandsbefugnissen durch die Trump-Administration empört waren, warum tolerieren sie ihn dann grundsätzlich?“ er sagte.

Initiativen der Biden-Administration hatten im letzten Jahr vor Gericht Schwierigkeiten.

Ein Schuldenerlassprogramm in Höhe von 4 Milliarden US-Dollar für „sozial benachteiligte“ Landwirte wurde letztes Jahr aufgrund rechtlicher Anfechtungen eingefroren und schließlich im sogenannten Inflation Reduction Act, den der Kongress letzten Monat verabschiedete, neu geschrieben.

Anforderungen des amerikanischen Rettungsplans, den der Kongress im vergangenen Jahr verabschiedet hatte und die Staaten untersagten, Hilfsgelder zur Subventionierung von Steuersenkungen zu verwenden, wurden von Staaten und Gerichten mit Klagen konfrontiert, die die Biden-Regierung daran hinderten, diese Bestimmung des Gesetzes durchzusetzen.

Und der Oberste Gerichtshof beendete letztes Jahr das Räumungsmoratorium der Biden-Regierung und entschied, dass sie sich zu Unrecht auf ein altes Gesetz stützte, um den Centers for Disease Control mehr Macht zu geben, als der Kongress beabsichtigt hatte.

Herr Biden selbst hat zuvor Vorbehalte darüber geäußert, wie weit er gehen könnte, um Studentenschulden einseitig zu beseitigen.

Während einer Veranstaltung, die letztes Jahr von CNN veranstaltet wurde, sagte er, dass er glaube, er könne 10.000 Dollar Schulden abschreiben, aber dass 50.000 Dollar zu weit gehen würden.

„Ich glaube nicht, dass ich dazu befugt bin, indem ich den Stift unterschreibe“, sagte Biden.

Ein Sprecher des Weißen Hauses, Abdullah Hasan, sagte, jeder Versuch der Republikaner, den Schuldenerlass für Studenten zu stoppen, würde der Mittelschicht schaden.

„Lassen Sie uns klarstellen, was sie hier versuchen würden: Dieselben Leute, die für ein Steuergeschenk in Höhe von 2 Billionen Dollar für die Reichen gestimmt haben und Hunderttausende von Dollar ihrer eigenen Darlehensschulden für Kleinunternehmen erlassen haben, würden versuchen, Millionen zu behalten der arbeitenden Mittelklasse-Amerikaner in Schuldenbergen“, sagte Herr Hasan.

Bei einem Briefing letzte Woche sagte Bharat Ramamurti, ein stellvertretender Direktor des Nationalen Wirtschaftsrates des Weißen Hauses, er glaube, dass die Biden-Administration auf einer „sehr starken rechtlichen Grundlage“ stehe.

„Natürlich können Menschen Klagen vor Gericht anfechten“, sagte Herr Ramamurti. „Es wird Sache der Gerichte sein, zu entscheiden, ob dies gültige Ansprüche sind oder nicht.“

Categories
World News

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin shedding high expertise throughout NASA lander struggle

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin losing top talent during NASA lander fight

Jeff Bezos, owner of Blue Origin, introduces a new lunar landing module called Blue Moon during an event at the Washington Convention Center, May 9, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Mark Wilson | Getty Images

Jeff Bezos flew to space late last month, but his company has lost top talent since the billionaire space founder came back to Earth.

At least 17 key leaders and senior engineers have left Blue Origin this summer, CNBC has learned, with many moving on in the weeks after Bezos’ spaceflight.

Two of the engineers, Nitin Arora and Lauren Lyons, this week announced jobs at other space companies: Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Firefly Aerospace, respectively.

Others quietly updated their LinkedIn pages over the past few weeks.

Each unannounced departure was confirmed to CNBC by people familiar with the matter. Those departures include: New Shepard senior vice president Steve Bennett, chief of mission assurance Jeff Ashby (who retired), national security sales director Scott Jacobs, New Glenn senior director Bob Ess, New Glenn first stage senior director Tod Byquist, New Glenn senior finance manager Bill Scammell, senior manager of production testing Christopher Payne, New Shepard technical project manager Nate Chapman, senior propulsion design engineer Dave Sanderson, senior HLS human factors engineer Rachel Forman, BE-4 controller lead integration and testing engineer Jack Nelson, New Shepard lead avionics software engineer Huong Vo, BE-7 avionics hardware engineer Aaron Wang, propulsion engineer Rex Gu, and rocket engine development engineer Gerry Hudak.

Those who announced they were leaving Blue Origin did not specify why, but frustration with executive management and a slow, bureaucratic structure is often cited in employee reviews on job site Glassdoor.

A company spokesperson emphasized Blue Origin’s growth in a statement to CNBC.

“Blue Origin grew by 850 people in 2020 and we have grown by another 650 so far in 2021. In fact, we’ve grown by nearly a factor of four over the past three years. We continue to fill out major leadership roles in manufacturing, quality, engine design, and vehicle design. It’s a team we’re building and we have great talent,” the spokesperson said.

Some of the engineers who left were part of Blue Origin’s astronaut lunar lander program. Bezos’ company lost its bid for a valuable NASA development contract in April when SpaceX was announced as the sole awardee under the space agency’s Human Landing System program, winning a $2.9 billion contract.

But, despite the Government Accountability Office last month denying Blue Origin’s protest of NASA’s decision, the company has continued to escalate its fight to be a part of the HLS program. Blue Origin first launched a public relations offensive against SpaceX’s Starship rocket and then, on Monday, sued NASA in federal court.

A $10,000 bonus

Jeff Bezos pops champagne after emerging from the New Shepard capsule after his spaceflight on July 20, 2021.

Blue Origin

The company has nearly 4,000 employees around the U.S., with its headquarters in Kent, Washington, near Seattle, as well as facilities in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Van Horn, Texas, and Huntsville, Alabama.

Ten days after Bezos’ July 20 spaceflight, Blue Origin gave all its full-time employees a $10,000, no-strings-attached cash bonus, multiple people familiar with the situation told CNBC. None of Blue Origin’s contractors received it. The company confirmed the bonus, with a spokesperson noting that it was intended as a “thank you” for achieving the milestone of launching people to space.

Two people told CNBC that internally the bonus was perceived as the company’s leadership attempting to entice talent to stay, in response to the number of employees filing notices to leave after the launch.

A look at Glassdoor reveals a sharp disparity in employee satisfaction with Blue Origin’s leadership when compared with that of other top space companies. According to Glassdoor, just 15% of Blue Origin employees approve of CEO Bob Smith — versus 91% for Elon Musk at SpaceX or 77% for Tory Bruno at United Launch Alliance.

The HLS fight

A mockup of the crew lander vehicle at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in August 2020.

Blue Origin

NASA’s Human Landing System program is one of the critical pieces of the agency’s plan, known as Artemis, to return U.S. astronauts to the surface of the moon.

Last year, NASA handed out nearly $1 billion in concept development contracts for HLS — with SpaceX receiving $135 million, Leidos’ subsidiary Dynetics receiving $253 million and Blue Origin receiving $579 million. The space agency then expected to award two of those three companies hardware development contracts this year. However, following a shortfall in requested funding for HLS from Congress, NASA decided to give only SpaceX a contract, worth about $2.9 billion.

Blue Origin and Dynetics each quickly filed protests with the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which halted NASA’s work on the program until the protests could be resolved. The GAO on July 30 upheld NASA’s decision. On Aug. 16, Blue Origin took its battle a step further, suing NASA in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

NASA has paid $300 million of its SpaceX contract so far, with the payment made on the day the GAO denied the protests. However, the space agency’s work on HLS has once again halted — this time due to the Blue Origin lawsuit, according to court filings Thursday — and will not resume until Nov. 1.

Major delays

Billionaire businessman Jeff Bezos is launched with three crew members aboard a New Shepard rocket on the world’s first unpiloted suborbital flight from Blue Origin’s Launch Site 1 near Van Horn, Texas, July 20, 2021.

Joe Skipper | Reuters

Blue Origin has struggled to deliver on multiple major programs since Bezos hired Smith as CEO in 2017. Bezos founded the company in 2000, with the goal of creating “a future where millions of people are living and working in space to benefit Earth.” Delays — although common in the industry, in which the adage “space is hard” is persistently heard — have pushed back Bezos’ vision, highlighted by the departure of Blue Origin’s chief operating officer late last year.

Bezos launched to the edge of space as one of the members of the first crew onboard Blue Origin’s reusable New Shepard rocket. While the company has not disclosed pricing, New Shepard competes with Virgin Galactic in the realm of suborbital space tourism, with Blue Origin having sold nearly $100 million worth of tickets for future passenger flights. Although the first crewed New Shepard launch was a smooth success, Blue Origin’s leadership had previously expected the rocket to begin launching people by the end of 2017.

An artist’s illustration of a New Glenn rocket standing on the launchpad in Florida.

Blue Origin

BE-4 engine test at Blue Origin’s West Texas launch facility.

Blue Origin

Blue Origin’s third major program is its stable of rocket engines, headlined by the BE-4, which will power its New Glenn rocket. The company previously said that its BE-4 engines would be “ready for flight in 2017.”

However, four years later, development issues and a lack of hardware for testing quickly mean Blue Origin has yet to deliver its first flight engines, ArsTechnica reported earlier this month. The company is pushing to have two BE-4 engines ready by the end of this year. Notably, BE-4s are important beyond Blue Origin, as ULA signed a deal to use the engines to power its Vulcan rockets, choosing Blue Origin over Aerojet Rocketdyne as its supplier. ULA is pushing to have its first Vulcan rocket ready to launch by the end of this year, and Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines are expected to be a — if not the — final piece added before launch.

Bezos has spent the majority of his time in the past two decades focused on Amazon, but along the way has steadily sold pieces of his stake in the tech giant to fund Blue Origin’s development — to the tune of $1 billion a year, or possibly more. Last month, Bezos stepped down as Amazon CEO, with many in the space industry expecting him to spend more time focusing on his space company.

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Categories
Politics

U.S. Asks Taliban to Spare Its Kabul Embassy in Coming Struggle for Capital

U.S. Asks Taliban to Spare Its Kabul Embassy in Coming Fight for Capital

Mr Khalilzad hopes to convince Taliban leaders that if the group hopes to receive US financial and other aid as part of a future Afghan government, the message must remain open and secure. The Taliban leadership has declared that it wants to be seen as the legitimate administrator of the country and is seeking relationships with other world powers, including Russia and China, in order to obtain economic support.

Two officials confirmed Mr. Khalilzad’s efforts, which had not yet been reported, to discuss the delicate negotiations on condition of anonymity. A third official said Thursday that the Taliban would lose all legitimacy – including development aid – if they attack Kabul or forcibly take over the Afghan government.

Other governments are also warning the Taliban that, given the rampage their fighters have carried out across the country in recent days, they will not receive any help if they overrun the Afghan government. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Thursday that Berlin would not give the Taliban any financial support if they ultimately rule Afghanistan with an Islamic hardline law.

In other posts around the world, US diplomats said they would be closely monitoring the dangerous situation in Kabul to see how the State Department weighs its long-standing commitment to stabilizing Afghanistan against protecting the Americans who stay there if the odds change Withdraw forces.

Ronald E. Neumann, who was the American ambassador to Afghanistan from 2005 to 2007, described a push-and-pull between the Pentagon and the State Department in similar situations in view of the military’s responsibility for conducting evacuations and the duty of diplomats to act on the American Help maintain and influence even in danger zones.

“If the military goes too early, it may be unnecessary and it can cost you a lot politically,” said Neumann, who is now president of the American Academy of Diplomacy in Washington. “If the diplomats wait too late, it looks like Saigon from the roof or leaving Mogadishu after everything has been lost, and it endangers the military. So there is no guaranteed right-hand side. “

Another senior US official this week voiced alarm over the fall of provincial capitals across Afghanistan, saying the situation could fall apart quickly if other cities follow suit, notably Mazar-i-Sharif, the only major city in the north that remains is under the control of the government.

Categories
Politics

Biden says Afghans ‘should combat for themselves’ as Taliban advances

Biden says Afghans 'must fight for themselves' as Taliban advances

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy from the White House in Washington, U.S. July 19, 2021.

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said Tuesday he does not regret his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan, a move that effectively ends America’s longest war.

“Look, we spent over a trillion dollars over twenty years, we trained and equipped with modern equipment over 300,000 Afghan forces,” Biden told reporters at the White House.

“Afghan leaders have to come together,” Biden said. “They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation.”

In April, Biden ordered the full withdrawal of approximately 3,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11.

The Pentagon’s massive task of removing servicemembers and equipment out of Afghanistan is nearly complete, with the U.S. military mission slated to end by Aug. 31.

As the U.S. withdrawals from Afghanistan, the Taliban has made stunning battlefield advances despite being vastly outnumbered by the Afghan military. Over the weekend, the Taliban swiftly seized five provincial Afghan capitals, taking three in one day alone.

Afghans inspect damaged shops after fighting between Taliban and Afghan security forces in Kunduz city, northern Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021.

Abdullah Sahil | AP

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday that while the Biden administration plans to continue to provide air support, there was not much else the U.S. military could do.

“We will certainly support from the air, where and when feasible, but that’s no substitute for leadership on the ground, it’s no substitute for political leadership in Kabul, it’s no substitute for using the capabilities and capacity that we know they have,” Kirby said.

Kirby added that while the Pentagon is concerned to see such advances by the Taliban, the Afghan military must now leverage the years of training from U.S. and NATO coalition forces.

“They have an Air Force, the Taliban doesn’t. They have modern weaponry and organizational skills, the Taliban doesn’t. They have superior numbers to the Taliban,” Kirby said. “They have the advantages, and it’s really now their time to use those advantages.”

As the security situation in Afghanistan worsens, the State Department is looking at ways in which to downsize the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

“Obviously it is a challenging security environment and were we able, were we confident and were we comfortable having a larger staffing presence there we would,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Tuesday when asked about the reduction in staff in Kabul.

“We are evaluating the threat environment on a daily basis. The Embassy is in regular contact with Washington with the most senior people in this building, who in turn are in regular contact with our colleagues at the [National Security Council] in the White House,” Price added.

Categories
Politics

Greg Abbott Calls Texas Particular Session, in New Voting Rights Struggle

Greg Abbott Calls Texas Special Session, in New Voting Rights Fight

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas on Thursday called a new special session of the Legislature that is set to begin on Saturday, renewing Republican efforts to overhaul the state’s elections and putting pressure on Democratic lawmakers who left the state for Washington last month to block the legislation.

Mr. Abbott, a Republican, stuck to his pledge “to call special session after special session,” releasing a 17-item agenda for the Republican-controlled Legislature with a new voting bill at the top. The list also included a host of other conservative goals, like restricting abortion access, limiting the ways that students are taught about racism and tightening border security.

His announcement sent national attention swinging back to a hotel in downtown Washington, where several dozen Democrats from the Texas House of Representatives are grappling with a familiar question: Stay or go back?

The Texas Democrats are torn over how much is left for them to accomplish in Washington, with some moderate members of the caucus believing that their point has been made. But more progressive members are pushing to stay in Washington and continue to call attention to voting rights, at least while the U.S. Senate remains in session.

“I’ve been very clear, as it relates to me, that as long as Congress is in town, working on voting rights, I will be here in Washington, D.C., advocating for voting rights,” said State Representative Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democrat who was one of the organizers of the initial flight from Austin.

President Biden’s administration, by contrast, appeared to suggest that it would support a return to Texas by the state lawmakers.

“Certainly, the president believes that, one, they’ve been outspoken advocates and champions of voting rights,” Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said at a news conference, adding that if the legislative calendar “required them to be there, we would support that.”

The lawmakers’ stay in Washington has amounted to a prolonged period of limbo; their trip has delayed Republicans’ attempt to pass an election bill, but it remains unlikely that it will be a fatal blow.

Federal officials celebrated their arrival in Washington, with Vice President Kamala Harris likening their departure from Texas to the voting rights march in Selma, Ala., and other famous civil rights protests of the 1960s. But the group lost momentum when several vaccinated legislators tested positive for the coronavirus.

In video chats, the Texas Democrats did their best to maintain pressure on both the White House and Democratic senators to find a path forward for federal voting legislation, and eventually coaxed more than 100 state legislators from other states to join them in Washington.

And the lawmakers’ visit to Washington has coincided with the renewal of talks toward a compromise voting bill. Eight Democratic senators, including Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, have been moving closer to a final draft to be introduced later this year. What prompted the end of congressional inertia, however, is unclear, and any federal voting bill would remain unlikely to move quickly through the chambers of Congress.

So now, with the Texas Democrats confronting an uncertain future, they are debating their next moves.

If they return, they could be subject to the as-yet-untested powers of the Republican Statehouse leadership to arrest and detain any lawmakers who do not show up for a legislative session while in the state of Texas.

While Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican, can issue arrest warrants during a session that has been gaveled in, there has never been a test of that authority when a session has been called by the governor but cannot start because enough lawmakers have declined to show up. Mr. Phelan’s office believes he has the authority to request arrest warrants and send law enforcement officers to retrieve absentee lawmakers even if the session has not started.

Back in Austin, Republican members said they had been maintaining informal discussions with their Democratic colleagues in an attempt to re-establish a quorum and get back to work. The partisan strictures in the Texas Legislature are far less rigid than those in Congress, with no dividing aisle between Republicans and Democrats. Members of the opposing parties intermingle more on the House floor and often form working friendships.

“I can tell you they’ve been going on since they left three weeks ago,” State Representative Jim Murphy of Houston, the chairman of the 83-member House Republican Caucus, said of the largely ad hoc discussions. Most of the conversations were “just personal — largely people want to know if they’re going to return,” he added. “How committed are they? Are there some that are willing to come back? Are there things that need to happen to encourage them to return?”

“I’ve done some texting, some phone calling,” he said, though “not a whole lot.”

At least nine Democrats have remained in Austin for varying reasons, though most, if not all, have embraced their colleagues’ opposition to the voting bill.

But as Democrats consider their immediate future, Mr. Abbott did add a surprise item to the agenda that, while unclear in its scope or likelihood of success, could further complicate their calculations: “Legislation relating to legislative quorum requirements.”

Katie Rogers contributed reporting.

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Politics

To Combat Vaccine Lies, Authorities Recruit an ‘Influencer Military’

To Fight Vaccine Lies, Authorities Recruit an ‘Influencer Army’

In March, the White House also orchestrated an Instagram Live chat between Dr. Fauci and Eugenio Derbez, a Mexican actor with over 16.6 million Instagram followers who had been openly doubtful of the vaccines. During their 37-minute discussion, Mr. Derbez was upfront about his concerns.

“What if I get the vaccine, but it doesn’t protect me against the new variant?” he asked. Dr. Fauci acknowledged that the vaccines might not completely shield people from variants, but said, “It’s very, very good at protecting you from getting seriously ill.”

Understand the State of Vaccine Mandates in the U.S.

Mr. Flaherty said the whole point of the campaign was to be “a positive information effort.”

State and local governments have taken the same approach, though on a smaller scale and sometimes with financial incentives.

In February, Colorado awarded a contract worth up to $16.4 million to the Denver-based Idea Marketing, which includes a program to pay creators in the state $400 to $1,000 a month to promote the vaccines.

Jessica Bralish, the communications director at Colorado’s public health department, said influencers were being paid because “all too often, diverse communities are asked to reach out to their communities for free. And to be equitable, we know we must compensate people for their work.”

As part of the effort, influencers have showed off where on their arms they were injected, using emojis and selfies to punctuate the achievement. “I joined the Pfizer club,” Ashley Cummins, a fashion and style influencer in Boulder, Colo., recently announced in a smiling selfie while holding her vaccine card. She added a mask emoji and an applause emoji.

“Woohoo! This is so exciting!” one fan commented.

Posts by creators in the campaign carry a disclosure that reads “paid partnership with Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment.”

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Health

Purnell Choppin, 91, Dies; Researcher Laid Groundwork for Pandemic Struggle

Purnell Choppin, 91, Dies; Researcher Laid Groundwork for Pandemic Fight

In addition to his daughter, his wife Joan also survived.

After taking over the Hughes Institute, Dr. Choppin likes to tell his colleagues a story about meeting their famous reclusive benefactor. In 1938, Hughes, an accomplished aviator and industrialist, stopped at Baton Rouge to refuel, and Arthur Choppin took 9-year-old Purnell and his brother Arthur Jr. to see him. They shook hands, but his main memory was that Hughes was “very tall.”

Dr. Choppin graduated from high school at the age of 16 and went to LSU, where he also attended medical school. He received his PhD in 1953 and completed his residency at Washington University. From 1954 to 1955 he served in the Air Force in Japan.

He began as a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University and was promoted to professor in 1959. He later moved into administration and was vice president and dean of studies when he was hired by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Howard Hughes founded the institute in 1953 and later transferred all of his shares in the Hughes Aircraft Company to it for tax reasons.

Just a few weeks before Dr. Choppin, the institute sold the company to General Motors for $ 5.2 billion, immediately making it one of the richest philanthropists in the country.

In 1987 the president of the institute had to resign after a financial scandal and was replaced by Dr. Chopin replaced. Over the next decade, he built it into a premier source of funding for biomedical research, distributing approximately $ 4.5 billion to hundreds of scientists and elementary and high school science education.

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Politics

Texas will get concerned in Israel’s combat with Ben & Jerry’s over West Financial institution boycott

Texas gets involved in Israel's fight with Ben & Jerry's over West Bank boycott

A family is enjoying the visitor attractions at the Ben & Jerrys factory in Waterbury, Vermont on June 24, 2021.

Christiana Botic | Boston Globe | Getty Images

The struggle between Israel and Palestinians spills over to 30 US states whose laws prevent pension funds from investing in companies that refuse to do business with the Jewish state.

The most recent example concerns the socially conscious ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s, the West Bank and Texas.

Earlier this week, Ben & Jerry’s board of directors said it would no longer allow sales in areas it believes Israel should not control. The company issued a statement stating, “We believe it is inconsistent with our values ​​for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

The company, now owned by global consumer giant Unilever, has been selling its brand in Israel through a local Israeli distributor for decades. Unilever said it would seek a new deal to sell ice cream in Israel, but not in territories claimed by Palestinians for their own state.

In Israel, companies are prevented from treating customers and subsidiaries differently in what Israel calls “disputed territory” from what much of the world recognizes as Israeli territory. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett this week promised to act “aggressively” on the ice cream company founded in 1978 by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who are Jewish and progressive.

The American flag and the Texas State Flag flutter over the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas.

Brian Snyder | Reuters

Now Texas is getting involved.

A spokesman for Republican Governor Greg Abbott told CNBC on Tuesday evening: “Ben and Jerry’s decision to boycott parts of Israel is a shame and an insult to America’s closest allies in the Middle East.” The statement went on to say, “Unilever, the parent company of Ben and Jerry, must reverse this ill-conceived decision.”

Abbott signed a bill four years ago that would force Texas pension funds to part ways with companies boycotting Israel.

State auditor Glenn Hegar, who controls billions of dollars in assets for Texas public pension funds, has already urged his office to take action. In a statement to CNBC, he said, “I have directed my employees to determine if certain actions by Ben & Jerry’s or Unilever would trigger listing under Chapter 808 of the Texas Government Code,” the law passed in 2017.

It is also possible that sales in states with anti-boycott laws could be affected. If Ben & Jerry’s or Unilever bid for a contract with a public agency, they could be disqualified if the boycott becomes a reality.

Florida State CFO Jimmy Patronis, who controls the public pension funds, told CNBC that his office began discussing the issue Tuesday morning. “I find what is happening very worrying,” he said in a text. But he wasn’t ready to say what action could be taken.

Airbnb was the last company involved in a similar problem. In 2018, the rental site said it bans the listing of Israeli property in the West Bank, territory that the Palestinians claim they should be part of their state.

An Airbnb listing in Israel

Airbnb

But the company turned around a few months later and was now looking at listings on a “case-by-case” basis, according to a statement on its website.

Ben & Jerry’s board of directors, who have a unique agreement with parent company Unilever that allows for an oversized role in decision-making on social issues, initiated the withdrawal from Israel this week.

Following the Ben & Jerry statement, Unilever released its own on Monday saying, “We remain fully committed to our presence in Israel, where we have invested in our people, brands and business for several decades.” In addition, the company’s CEO spoke to Bennett this week. Following the interview, Israel’s new Prime Minister said: “This is an action with grave consequences, including legal consequences, and it (Israel) will take vigorous action against any boycott directed against its citizens.”

Ben & Jerry chairman Anuradha Mittal has not responded to CNBC about the implications of the decision and the possibility of divesting Unilever’s state pension funds. In a telephone interview on Thursday, Ben & Jerry’s spokesman Sean Greenwood said, “The company has nothing to add beyond the original statement,” which was released Monday.

Speaking to NBC News earlier this week, Mittal went after Unilever for making its own statement on the subject, calling it a “deception”. She added, “I can’t stop thinking this is what happens when you have a board with all the women and people of color pushing to do the right thing.”

Unilever did not respond to CNBC calls or emails asking for a response to the possibility of a sale by state pension funds.

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Health

In an ICU, a Photographer’s View of a Determined Covid Struggle

In an ICU, a Photographer's View of a Desperate Covid Fight

Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and gives a behind-the-scenes look at how our journalism comes together.

When I photographed people in Covid-19 intensive care units earlier this year, I was protected by four plastic sets: glasses, safety glasses, face shield and viewfinder. But there is no protection for the pain that you take.

I recently took pictures for a Times article about Covid treatment as a last resort called ECMO that documented coronavirus patients and the health professionals who care for them at the Providence Saint John Health Center in Santa Monica, California. The families have allowed me to share the darkest moments of their lives.

I felt privileged to be let into these sacred spaces. As a journalist, I see it as my responsibility to have the emotional bandwidth to be with people in moments that most of society cannot deal with. Despite safety guidelines that discouraged long periods of time in the intensive care unit, I would spend hours with each patient and linger for extended periods of time to get a feel for the person and bring out an emotional spectrum of moments.

The verbal interaction helps me connect with those I photograph. During this task, some people were either awake or unable to speak, and the strongest connection was often silent.

I stood next to Alfred Sablan’s bed, 25, imagining the sound of his voice and trying to feel the gentle way his mother had described. I leaned over Dr. David Gutierrez, 62, a doctor who had become a patient himself, and reminded him of who I was. He looked back, unable to answer with words, but I felt our connection through classic rock playing on his iPad.

From time to time a member of staff would come in to look for Mr. Sablan or Dr. See Gutierrez. “Are you all right?” asked a nurse when she opened the door from Dr. Gutierrez’s room opened. He nodded “yes”.

In the midst of all the pain, there were memories of grace.

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Politics

Supreme Court docket guidelines in opposition to NCAA in compensation struggle with faculty athletes

Supreme Court rules against NCAA in compensation fight with college athletes

The Supreme Court handed a unanimous victory Monday to Division I college athletes in their fight against the National Collegiate Athletic Association over caps it sought to impose on compensation related to education.

The court voted 9-0 to affirm lower court rulings that found that antitrust law prevented the NCAA from restricting payments to athletes for items such as musical instruments or as compensation for internships. The justices rejected the NCAA’s argument that its players’ amateur status would be impossible to maintain if they could receive pay, even for education-related expenses.

“Put simply, this suit involves admitted horizontal price fixing in a market where the defendants exercise monopoly control,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the court.

The conservative justice, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, wrote that it was “unclear exactly what the NCAA seeks.”

“To the extent it means to propose a sort of judicially ordained immunity from the terms of the Sherman Act for its restraints of trade — that we should overlook its restrictions because they happen to fall at the intersection of higher education, sports, and money — we cannot agree,” Gorsuch wrote.

The outcome was largely expected following oral argument in March. The decision upheld an injunction imposed by a federal district court that barred the NCAA from limiting “compensation and benefits related to education.” The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier approved of the injunction.

In allowing the injunction, Gorsuch wrote that the NCAA can ask lawmakers to carve out an exception for it.

“The NCAA is free to argue that, ‘because of the special characteristics of [its] particular industry,’ it should be exempt from the usual operation of the antitrust laws — but that appeal is ‘properly addressed to Congress,'” Gorsuch wrote.

“Nor has Congress been insensitive to such requests. It has modified the antitrust laws for certain industries in the past, and it may do so again in the future,” Gorsuch wrote. “But until Congress says otherwise, the only law it has asked us to enforce is the Sherman Act, and that law is predicated on one assumption alone — ‘competition is the best method of allocating resources’ in the Nation’s economy.”

The case was originally brought by Shawne Alston, a former West Virginia running back, and other student athletes. The dispute, known as National Collegiate Athletic Assn. v. Alston, No. 20-512, is separate from the ongoing controversy over NCAA rules that restrict athletes from being paid to play or for doing endorsement deals.

The latter rules have not yet come before the Supreme Court, and the court’s opinion did not weigh on their legality.

However, Trump appointee Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested in a blistering concurrence to Monday’s opinion that those rules may also run afoul of antitrust law. He wrote that “The NCAA is not above the law” and that “The NCAA’s business model would be flatly illegal in almost any other industry in America.”

“Everyone agrees that the NCAA can require student athletes to be enrolled students in good standing. But the NCAA’s business model of using unpaid student athletes to generate billions of dollars in revenue for the colleges raises serious questions under the antitrust laws,” Kavanaugh wrote.

He added that it was “highly questionable whether the NCAA and its member colleges can justify not paying student athletes a fair share of the revenues on the circular theory that the defining characteristic of college sports is that the colleges do not pay student athletes.”

“And if that asserted justification is unavailing, it is not clear how the NCAA can legally defend its remaining compensation rules,” Kavanaugh wrote.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said Monday that the White House was supportive of the Supreme Court’s decison, which she said recognized that athletes’ “hard work should not be exploited.”

“The president believes that everyone should be compensated fairly for his or her labor,” Psaki said.