The Brexiteer ex-leader previously wrote "The Perils Of Pushy Parents."
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Wednesday 18 January 2023
Germany’s Scholz changes defense ministers — but not yet his tank reluctance
The chancellor’s political allies said the switch should not be read as an indication Berlin is shifting toward supplying Ukraine with tanks.
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Sinema says midterms show Dem push to abolish filibuster 'overreaching'
Sinema and Manchin opposed efforts by Senate Democrats to change the rules of the filibuster during the last Congress.
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Tuesday 17 January 2023
White House to McCarthy: ‘Come clean’ on your backroom speaker deals
The White House is escalating its fight with newly empowered congressional Republicans, with officials Tuesday calling on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to “come clean” about secretive deals he made with hardline members that helped him eventually land the top job.
“An unprecedented tax hike on the middle class and a national abortion ban are just a glimpse of the secret, backroom deals Speaker McCarthy made with extreme MAGA members to end this month’s chaotic elections and claim the gavel,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement shared first with POLITICO. “It is well past time for Speaker McCarthy and the ultra MAGA Republican House members to come out of the dark and tell the American people, in-full, what they decided in secret.”
While McCarthy has insisted he made no formal agreements in exchange for getting conservative holdouts to vote for him, conservative members have said they received certain promises from the new speaker. They have also pointed to action on their priority legislation as a direct result of the recent House leadership negotiations.
The White House had long been gearing up to paint the incoming House Republican caucus as beholden to their most conservative members. But President Joe Biden has tried to turn the policy implications of Republicans’ priority bills, including legislation to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and replace more progressive income taxes with a national sales tax, into a political cudgel. White House officials also said the Republican leadership talks laid the groundwork for the House to vote on a national abortion ban and argue the GOP will use the debt limit standoff to try to force cuts to Medicare and Social Security.
“The few agreements we know about would fundamentally reshape our economy in a devastating way for working families and criminalize women for making their own health care decisions,” Bates said. “They’re also planning to plunge the economy into chaos and take millions of American jobs and 401k plans hostage unless they can cut Medicare.”
“What other hidden bargains did Speaker McCarthy make behind closed doors with the most extreme, ultra MAGA members of the House Republican conference?” he added. “The American people have a right to know – now – which is why we are calling on him to make every single one of them public immediately.”
McCarthy’s office did not immediately comment, though he’d said when asked about any backroom deals last week: “There’s not a side deal to anything.”
The White House’s more aggressive posture toward McCarthy personally and House Republicans’ policy goals generally comes amid GOP attacks on the president over his handling of classified documents from his time as vice president.
Republicans spent the weekend demanding more transparency from Biden and aides over the discovery of documents and even who had access to his Wilmington home, where some of them were found.
The White House countered by accusing GOP members of hypocrisy, noting that they have pledged to rigorously investigate Biden’s records while not making similar demands of former President Donald Trump.
Biden, for his part, has left the counterpunching to aides while personally attacking Republicans on policy grounds. On Thursday, he ridiculed the GOP for, among other things, trying to raise taxes on working people while working to cut them for the wealthiest Americans.
“It also would totally eliminate the IRS,” Biden said, referring to a bill House Republicans passed last week. “It feels good, except it's all going to be sales tax. Go home and tell your moms. They’re going to be really excited about that.”
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Biden administration imposes visa restrictions on 25 Belarusian officials
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The Biden administration on Tuesday announced new visa restrictions for 25 individuals in Belarus amid that nation's move to put an opposition leader and other activists on trial for treason charges.
“These politically motivated trials are the latest examples of the Lukashenka regime’s efforts to intimidate and repress those who seek justice, respect for human rights, and a democratic Belarus,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement.
The new order targets “regime officials,” including members of the National Assembly of Belarus, who took part in authorizing the death penalty for people convicted of supposed “attempted acts of terrorism” — a charge the State Department said has been used to intimidate the democratic opposition. Some of the individuals targeted have also supported legislation revoking citizenship for people outside the country charged with “extremism” and confiscating property for “unfriendly actions towards Belarus,” the State Department said.
The move to impose visa restrictions comes as the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko has put exiled democratic opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on trial in absentia on treason charges and “conspiracy to seize power." Tsikhanouskaya challenged the results of the 2020 presidential election that she ran in against Lukashenko, who declared himself the winner. She fled the country following a deadly crackdown on mass protests against alleged election fraud, and now faces a possible jail term of up to 15 years.
The Biden administration has eagerly embraced visa bans as a means to punish bad actors overseas in the last few years — announcing visa penalties more than a dozen times in the president's first six months in office alone. Biden has targeted foreign oligarchs and officials for everything from alleged corruption to human rights abuses in countries ranging from Guatemala to Belarus.
Tuesday’s action adds to the United States’ tally of visa restrictions against individuals who have undermined democracy in Belarus since the 2020 presidential election, bringing the number up to 322 individuals.
“We will continue to use all appropriate tools to hold to account those in Belarus standing in the way of their fellow citizens' democratic aspirations,” Blinken said.
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‘Succession’ has nothing on Davos: Elite conclave mulls next leader
Klaus Schwab will stay in office until he dies, insiders say of World Economic Forum founder.
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