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Politics

Professional-tax millionaires launching protests in entrance of Jeff Bezos’ dwelling

Pro-tax millionaires launching protests in front of Jeff Bezos' home

A mobile billboard demanding higher taxes for the ultra-rich displays a picture of billionaire Jeff Bezos near the U.S. Capitol on May 17, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Drew Angerer | Getty Images

Millionaires who urged the rich to pay more taxes started on Monday, Tax Day, protests in New York and Washington – including in front of the homes of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

The effort is organized by the Patriotic Millionaires, whose members have an annual income of over $ 1 million or net worth over $ 5 million. The details of the effort were first shared with CNBC.

The group plans to launch its Tax Day campaign on Monday. These include mobile billboards that stop in front of Bezos’ homes in New York and Washington. Patriotic Millionaires leaders told CNBC they are organizing a group of up to 30 protesters to walk to Bezos’ New York residence with a billboard reading “Cut the bull —-. Tax the rich”.

Members of the Patriotic Millionaires hold a protest outside the home of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on May 17, 2021 in New York City on tax return day to demand that he pay his fair share of taxes.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

The move to blow up Bezos in front of his home comes as President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers attempt to levy taxes on businesses and corporations making over $ 400,000 to support their $ 2 trillion infrastructure proposal -Dollars to pay.

Biden recently announced that he would like corporate tax to increase by 25% to 28% while proposing to raise the highest income tax rate from 37% to 39.6%. Republicans have said they don’t want to levy taxes to pay for the infrastructure. The two parties are trying to work out a bipartisan bill and have said they are making progress.

But progressives desperately want billionaires to pay more.

“Jeff Bezos is the figurehead for the utter idiocy of the country’s tax laws,” Group founder and president Erica Payne told CNBC on Friday. She said Bezos’ extreme wealth meant he should pay more taxes. She noted that the tech tycoon is reportedly in the process of building a nearly 400-meter-long yacht that is likely to cost over $ 500 million.

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon

Elif Ozturk | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Bezos, who has a net worth of over $ 185 billion, according to Forbes, has been a target by progressives for the need to levy taxes on the rich.

An Amazon spokesman hasn’t returned a request for comment, but Bezos has said he supports the corporate tax increase.

The New York Post reported in 2019 that Bezos spent $ 80 million on three apartments in the same New York building to create a mega home. A year later, the Post reported that Bezos had bought a $ 16 million home within the same apartment complex.

The Patriotic Millionaires are advocating Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Ultra Millionaire Tax Plan, the one 2% annual tax on assets over $ 50 million, 3% on assets over $ 1 billion.

Morris Pearl, the group’s chairman and former BlackRock executive, told CNBC that the organization will push for a wealth tax, among other things, throughout the tax day. Other members of the Patriotic Millionaires Advisory Board include Abigail and Tim Disney, two children of longtime Disney CEO Roy Disney.

The mobile billboards will also be displayed in front of the residence of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in Washington, the offices of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in New York City, as well as in DC locations including the Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, Heritage Foundation and the Democratic National, Committee, Americans for Tax Reform, IRS and the Old Post Office Hotel of former President Donald Trump appear.

Bezos’ $ 23 million DC mansion was once the old textile museum.

The other billboard featured in the one-day campaign features the smiling faces of Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. One of the billboards reads, “Control the rich. Save America. Yes, it really is that simple.” Another makes the three business leaders laugh and reads “Tax me if you can”.

Categories
Health

Astronauts Launching to Area Are Vaccinated In opposition to Covid-19

Astronauts Launching to Space Are Vaccinated Against Covid-19

With no hospitals or medical specialists in space, NASA and other space agencies have always been concerned about astronauts getting sick while on a mission. To minimize the likelihood of this, they usually spend the two weeks prior to launch in quarantine.

A Covid-19 superspreader event on the space station would disrupt operations.

The interior of the space station has a volume equivalent to a Boeing 747 jetliner, so infected crew members have room to isolate themselves. But space station managers certainly don’t want to worry about the spread of the virus in the station’s constantly filtered and recycled air.

During a press conference last week, Shane Kimbrough, the NASA astronaut in command of Crew-2, said that all four astronauts had received Covid vaccinations. “I think it went well,” he said. “We all have slightly different reactions, just like most people. So in that respect we are no different. But we are grateful that we have the vaccines. “

The three astronauts who launched a Soyuz rocket to the station earlier this month – Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov from the Russian space agency and Mark Vande Hei from NASA – were also vaccinated.

The four astronauts on the Crew 1 mission are not, as no vaccines were available when it launched last November. When they return to Earth, everyone who is not on the planet will be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Categories
Politics

Democrats criticize Biden launching airstrikes in Syria with out asking Congress

Democrats criticize Biden launching airstrikes in Syria without asking Congress

The U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter jets fly in formation during a military aircraft flyover along the Hudson River and New York Harbor, past York City and New Jersey, the United States, on July 4, 2020.

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Some Senate Democrats on Friday criticized President Joe Biden’s decision to launch an air strike in Syria on Thursday evening without speaking to Congress as a whole.

According to a spokesman for the National Security Council, the Pentagon informed the congressional leadership before the action. House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi was notified prior to the strike, according to a Democratic adviser.

Senator Tim Kaine, D-Va., On Friday requested the Biden government for a briefing on the decision-making behind the airstrikes.

“The American people deserve to hear the government’s reasons for these strikes and their legal justification for acting without coming to Congress. Offensive military action without the approval of Congress is unconstitutional without exceptional circumstances,” a statement said from Caine’s office. Kaine is a member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee.

There will be a fully classified briefing early next week, the NSC spokesman said.

Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Chair of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee, also called for transparency.

“Congress should keep this government on par with previous administrations and require clear legal justifications for military action, especially in theaters like Syria where Congress has not specifically approved American military action,” Murphy said in a statement Friday.

A representative from New York City Senator Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Biden on Thursday directed US military air strikes in eastern Syria against facilities that the Pentagon said were Iran-backed militias in response to recent missile strikes on US targets in Iraq.

In a February 15 attack, missiles struck the US military base in Irbil in the Kurdish-led region, killing a non-US contractor and injuring a number of US contractors and a US service member. Another volley days later hit a base where US forces were stationed north of Baghdad, injuring at least one contractor. On Monday, missiles hit the Baghdad Green Zone, where the US embassy and other diplomatic missions are located.

“It’s hard to say for sure if there is some strategic computation driving this … recent surge in attacks, or if this is just a continuation of the kind of attacks we have seen in the past,” said John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary gave a briefing Monday.

“We will hold Iran responsible for the attacks and the provocations of its deputies,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price said in a separate briefing on Monday. The missile attack in Irbil “continues to be actively investigated,” he said.

Thursday’s US air strikes earned Biden rare praise from across the aisle. Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., thanked Biden for moving.

In 2018, then President Donald Trump ordered military strikes in Syria. The move also sparked criticism from Democrats.

“The president needs to come to Congress and secure authorization to use military force by proposing a comprehensive strategy with clear objectives that will protect our military,” Pelosi tweeted at the time.

– Reuters contributed to this report.

Categories
Health

Israel is launching Covid immunity passports for vaccinated residents

Israel's Covid vaccine rollout is the fastest in the world

A health care worker administers a Covid-19 vaccine at Clalit Health Services in the ultra-Orthodox Israeli city of Bnei Brak on January 6, 2021.

JACK GUEZ | AFP | Getty Images

Israel was praised for deploying what is currently the fastest Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the world.

Less than a month after receiving the first shipment of the Pfizer BioNTech jab, the 9 million country has vaccinated around 20% of its population, and more than 72% of those over 60 have already received their first dose of the shot. The Israeli Ministry of Health aims to have 5.2 million of its citizens vaccinated by March.

The vaccinations, say the authorities, will help the country gradually end its strict lockdown, and soon with the help of a new document: a Covid-19 vaccination certificate or the so-called “green brochure”.

Essentially an immunity pass announced by the Ministry of Health earlier this week. The “green leaflet” is given to people who have received two doses of the vaccine.

“The Ministry of Health will issue the vaccine certificate after receiving the second dose,” the Israel Ministry of Health said on its website. “It will take effect 7 days later, without the day the vaccine is given.”

The brochure would offer vaccinated individuals significant freedom from Covid-19 security restrictions. People who keep it would no longer have to do the following:

  • Go into isolation after coming into contact with an infected person.
  • After international trips, go to a Covid “red zone” or to countries with very high infection rates.
  • Must be tested before entering certain tourist areas known as “green islands”.

However, they would still need to wear a mask in public and maintain social distance, stay two meters away from others and avoid social gatherings.

Vaccinated people holding the booklet would be “entitled to loose restrictions in travel destinations around the world,” the ministry website said.

Evidence of vaccination data would be registered in the Department of Health’s database and recovered patients who have not been vaccinated are not eligible for the brochure, according to the website.

In this aerial photo, taken in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Monday January 4, 2020, people are queuing outside a Covid-19 mass vaccination center in Rabin Sqaure. Israel plans to vaccinate 70% to 80% of its population by April or May. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein has said.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Israel’s lockdown is due to be lifted January 21, but an increase in cases over the past few weeks means it may be extended. The country hit a record high of 9,997 cases on Wednesday, about twice as many as at the end of December. Israel had 523,885 confirmed cases of the virus and 3,846 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The vaccination campaign encountered further obstacles in the Arab and Orthodox Jewish communities in the country, where there is a higher degree of vaccination skepticism. Israel has also been targeted by human rights groups for failing to expand its vaccination campaign to Palestinian territories.

The Palestinian Authority has reached an agreement with AstraZeneca and expects to receive its first doses of this vaccine in March. However, she has sharply criticized Israel for shirking its responsibility for providing aid. Israeli officials have said that this should be left to the Palestinian Authority.

According to local Israeli news reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with officials on Tuesday about how to gradually lift the lockdown and introduce the green brochure. No start date was given.