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Hillary Clinton And Melania Trump Among Honorary Chairs Of Women https://digitalarkansasnews.com/hillary-clinton-and-melania-trump-among-honorary-chairs-of-women/ October 17, 2022 05:49 PM Former first ladies Melania Trump and Hillary Clinton were among those selected to be honorary chairs of the Women’s Suffrage National Monument Foundation, along with first lady Jill Biden and fellow former first ladies Rosalynn Carter, Michelle Obama, and Laura Bush. “The Foundation is one of only two organizations to hold the extraordinary distinction of being chaired by all six living First Ladies,” wrote the foundation in a post. WATCH: THE VIEW THANKS CHELSEA MANNING FOR LGBT ACTIVISM, PROMOTES NEW MEMOIR ON LEAK Authorized by Congress in 2020, the foundation will establish a monument to “commemorate women’s fight for the vote and honor the pioneers of the early American movement for women’s equality” in Washington, D.C. “Every little girl who visits our Nation’s Capital is led to believe that she has had no role in building our democracy,” said Executive Director Anna Laymon in a press release. “It was a privilege to join President Trump in the Oval Office when he signed the legislation authorizing this vital and overdue monument and to lead the 19th Amendment Project, which called on young Americans to celebrate 100 years of Women’s Suffrage through artwork. I am honored to support the Women’s Suffrage National Monument Foundation to secure a monument of enduring inspiration for women and future female leaders,” Trump said. Clinton added that “the suffragists fought to ensure women would have an equal voice in our democracy. They paved the way for the strides women have made over the last century, and theirs is one of the most important stories in our nation’s journey toward a more perfect union.” The foundation, which notes that less than 5% of statues in the nation’s capital depict women, explained that the monument will be solely funded by private donations. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER As honorary chairs, the group of first ladies “will spearhead the Foundation’s efforts to ensure that the 36 million people who visit our National Mall each year experience a deeper and more inclusive American story.” Read More Here

‘He Did Not Have A Great Reputation’: Maggie Haberman Details Trump’s Toddler Years In New Memoir https://digitalarkansasnews.com/he-did-not-have-a-great-reputation-maggie-haberman-details-trumps-toddler-years-in-new-memoir/ In her new book, New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman offers a meticulously detailed account of the life and career of former president Donald Trump, which — yes — includes reporting on his days as a child terror. “He did not have a great reputation in the neighborhood as a kid,” Haberman said on GBH’s Boston Public Radio. One of several accounts from Trump’s early childhood included the story of a mother who found the would-be president pelting rocks at her son’s crib in her Queens backyard. “She starts hearing the baby screaming, and she comes outside and a roughly five year-old Donald Trump is throwing rocks at the crib,” she said. “I guess you can allow that, maybe, initially he didn’t realize that there was a baby there, I don’t know.” Haberman’s new book is “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America,” which was released on Oct. 4 and leapt to the top of the New York Times’ nonfiction bestseller list. It includes interviews Trump gave specifically for the book, despite derisions of Haberman as “not legit” and “a third-rate reporter.” “He frankly can’t quit the mainstream media, as much time as he spends complaining about all of us,” Haberman said, adding that Trump is “uniquely focused on the [New York] Times.” “He interacts with media and processes media unlike anyone else I have ever covered, probably unlike anyone else any of us have ever covered,” she went on. “He so badly wants attention, and so badly wants news coverage, and it’s just a narcotic. It’s the attention he craves on some cellular level.” The Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter also spoke with hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan about the moment she first realized Trump had a serious shot at the White House, at a rally in Dubuque, Iowa in 2016. “I was going up to people asking a pretty leading question, which was basically ‘Are you here because the spectacle is going to end?’ And one after another, people told me they were going to caucus for him. One guy looked at me like I had eight heads. … When I asked him ‘Why are you gonna caucus for him?’ he said, ‘I watched him run his business.’” “He meant ‘The Apprentice,’” she noted. “That was something of a lightning-bolt moment for me, of really the degree to which this divide [between how New Yorkers viewed Trump] versus elsewhere — it was so pronounced.” Beyond the borders of New York City, where he was often mocked by peers, Haberman said those who knew Trump through newspaper coverage and “The Apprentice” had a starkly different perception of the real estate developer-turned-TV host. “People who either tracked him in the 1980s when he made himself as a brand synonymous with wealth, or who watched ‘The Apprentice,’ they viewed him as this hyper success,” she said. “That was obviously not true, but that really solidified the view of him outside.” That perception, Haberman said, is what allowed Trump to morph into the political force he would become in 2016. What those supporters wouldn’t see, however, is a Trump she described as “confusing” and “lonely.” “[Trump] believes in dominance and intimidation, and yet he is: there is this side of him that is a people pleaser, and that is afraid of one-on-one interpersonal conflict. And that is lonely,” she said. “It is just a fundamentally strange and often disorienting thing for people around him to experience.” Read More Here

Hochul Slams Zeldin’s Pre-2020 Election Texts To Trump White House With His Ideas On Discrediting Voting Results | AmNewYork https://digitalarkansasnews.com/hochul-slams-zeldins-pre-2020-election-texts-to-trump-white-house-with-his-ideas-on-discrediting-voting-results-amnewyork/ The campaign of Governor Kathy Hochul hit her Republican challenger, Lee Zeldin, hard on Monday for text messages the Long Island Congress member sent to a Trump administration official nearly three years ago regarding plans to discredit the 2020 presidential election.  The texts between Zeldin and former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, obtained from the House January 6 Committee, consist of two comprehensive plans or ideas sent from Zeldin to Meadows, indicating intentions to discredit the 2020 presidential election results ahead of the contest. “Mark, [two] ideas: 1) upload vetted voting irregularities (videos, etc) onto one narrowly focused, credible microsite with a donation link for the President’s legal fund for all of us to reference,” according to the text sent from Zeldin to Meadows sometime in November of 2020. “Needs to be done instantly. 2) The President should have one lead spokesperson organizing daily public press briefings that credibly lays out the facts communicated in an effective way to separate it from the opinions which also need to be shared. That person needs to give an update of the state of play state by state, including a top line summary of where each battleground state stands with the count, projections possible recounts, legal actions, vetted voting irregularities, unvetted alleged voting irregularities, (make clear that the campaign is intensively reviewing those claims for vetting purposes).” Trump lost the election to Joe Biden, but nonetheless claimed without valid evidence that the contest had been “stolen” from him through unfounded election fraud. Trump continued to propagate this “Big Lie” over the following three months, ultimately culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack by a mob of his supporters upon the U.S. Capitol as the House and Senate convened to certify the election results in Biden’s favor. Hours after the failed insurrection, Zeldin was one of 149 Republican House members who later voted against certifying the electoral votes of six swing states that Trump lost. Zeldin later voted against Trump’s impeachment on an incitement of insurrection charge, and also voted against the creation of an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack. As recently as June of this year, Zeldin insisted, without evidence, that there was wrongdoing in the 2020 presidential election that Biden won and Trump lost. These texts between Zeldin and Meadows were leaked a day after Zeldin received an endorsement from former President Trump on the Truth social media website. “I have watched and known Congressman Lee Zeldin for many years,” the former President said on Oct. 16. “He is a great and brilliant lawyer who was a ‘must see’ for others in Congress when they had a complex legal problem that was holding up legislation.” Hochul’s campaign said the text underscored their belief that Zeldin’s alliance with Trump makes him “dangerous and disqualifying.” “Lee Zeldin’s aspirations to be Donald Trump’s number one ally are never ending. Zeldin’s text messages with Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows reveal that he played a central role in the former president’s concerted effort to throw out the 2020 presidential election results,” said Governor Hochul’s Campaign Spokesman, Jerrel Harvey on Monday. “Zeldin’s record is already dangerous and disqualifying, and these new revelations show the extent of his involvement in pushing Donald Trump’s baseless conspiracy theories.” The Zeldin campaign, meanwhile, dismissed the revelation as a cynical campaign stunt, arguing that Hochul was more focused on highlighting the effort to undermine the 2020 presidential election rather than prioritizing the needs of her constituents. “You know Kathy Hochul is desperate when she’d rather obsess over a text message sent at the beginning of November before the election was even called, rather than focusing on the issues most important to New Yorkers, including rising crime on our streets and a skyrocketing cost of living,” said Zeldin spokesperson Katie Valdez to amNewYork Metro on Oct. 17. “Where is her statement calling for a special session on cashless bail? Where’s her statement announcing she’s refunding the campaign donations she solicited in exchange for New Yorkers’ tax dollars? The fact that Kathy Hochul spends all her time pathetically grasping at straws like this instead of making life easier, safer and more affordable for New Yorkers tells you everything you’ll ever need to know about Kathy Hochul.” Read More Here

Trump Hotels Charged Secret Service Far Above Government Rate, Records Show https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-hotels-charged-secret-service-far-above-government-rate-records-show/ Woman walks in front of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images Records released Monday by the House Oversight Committee reveal how the Trump Organization charged the Secret Service well above the normal government rate to stay at company hotels while protecting former President Donald Trump and his family, multiple outlets have reported. The records are at odds with claims made by Eric Trump, the former president’s son and head of the company while his father was in office, who said the Trump Organization often provided the Secret Service with “at cost” or even free hotel rooms, per The Washington Post. Rather, the records indicate that in multiple instances, “the Trump Organization billed the Secret Service far higher amounts than the approved government rate — in one case charging agents $1,185 a night to stay at the Trump International Hotel in [Washington, D.C.],” the Post writes. Such “exorbitant rates … raise significant concerns about the former president’s self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump’s struggling businesses,” Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) wrote to Kimberly Cheatle, director of the Secret Service. “This raises concerns that the Trump Organization was profiting off the presidency,” Maloney added in an interview with The New York Times. In a statement, Eric Trump doubled down on claims that “[a]ny services rendered to the United States Secret Service or other government agencies at Trump owned properties, were at their request and were either provided at cost, heavily discounted or for free,” adding that the Trump Organization would have been “substantially better off” serving “full-paying guests,” but wanted to support the government. Maloney noted in her letter to Cheatle that the committee is still awaiting more information, and has asked the Secret Service for additional documents on the matter, per The Wall Street Journal. The Oversight Committee obtained records from Trump’s four-year presidency through September 2021, but lacks those concerning agency visits to Trump’s private club at Mar-a-Lago, his resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, or any of his international properties, the Post adds. You may also like 5 cartoons about Alex Jones’ billion-dollar penalty Holiday season airfare could be among most expensive ever, report says Harvard’s record endowment shrinks for 1st time since 2016 Read More Here

Biden Launches Student Loan Forgiveness Application | CNN Politics https://digitalarkansasnews.com/biden-launches-student-loan-forgiveness-application-cnn-politics/ CNN  —  President Joe Biden on Monday announced the formal launch of the federal application for Americans seeking student loan forgiveness, the latest phase of his plan that is expected to provide debt relief to as many as 43 million borrowers. “Today, I’m announcing millions of people working and middle-class folks can apply and get this relief. And it’s simple and it’s now. It’s easy,” Biden said in remarks from the White House alongside Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. “This is a game changer for millions of Americans … and it took an incredible amount of effort to get this website done in such a short time.” Individuals seeking to apply for student debt relief can now fill out the form in English or Spanish at Studentaid.gov. The form includes information on the debt relief, who qualifies for it and how it works. It asks applicants for information including their full name, Social Security number, date of birth, phone number and an email address. Borrowers have until December 31, 2023, to submit an application. Biden in August announced his decision to cancel up to $10,000 in student loan debt for individuals making less than $125,000 a year or as much as $20,000 for eligible borrowers who were also Pell Grant recipients. Borrowers must have federally held student loans to qualify. In addition to federal Direct Loans used to pay for an undergraduate degree, federal PLUS loans borrowed by graduate students and parents may also be eligible if the borrower meets the income requirements. The Biden administration has said that applicants who are “more likely to exceed the income cutoff” will be required to submit additional information, like a tax transcript. And while borrowers will not have to pay federal income tax on the student loan debt forgiveness, it’s possible that some borrowers may have to pay state income tax on the amount of debt forgiven. The Department of Education has also said it already had income information for nearly 8 million borrowers, likely because of financial aid forms or previously submitted income-driven repayment plan applications. Those borrowers will automatically receive the debt relief if they meet the income requirement, unless they choose to opt out. The department has said it will email borrowers who will be considered for debt relief but don’t need to apply. The formal launch of the application marks the next phase of a massive technical undertaking for federal agencies and student loan servicers to provide broad relief to tens of millions of borrowers. A beta version of the website was launched on Friday evening and Biden said over 8 million Americans used the website over the weekend to fill out their applications. The President credited “a talented group of data scientists and engineers across the federal government” who “built and tested and launched this new application in just weeks.” In the few days of beta testing the application, Biden said, the website “handled more than 8 million applications without a glitch or difficulty.” “As millions of people fill out the application, we’re going to make sure the system continues to work as smoothly as possible so that we can deliver student loan relief for millions of Americans as quickly and as efficiently as possible,” he added. The Department of Education is facing several lawsuits challenging the student loan forgiveness policy. A US district judge could soon decide whether to temporarily block the program from taking effect after hearing a motion for a preliminary injunction last week. That could put student loan cancellation on hold until the judge issues a final ruling on the case. Asked at the end of his remarks about litigation challenging the plan, Biden said he thinks the administration’s plan will hold up in court. He also took aim at Republican critics of his student debt relief plan, calling their outrage “wrong” and “hypocritical.” “I will never apologize for helping working Americans and middle-class people as they recover from the pandemic. Especially not the same Republicans who voted for a $2 trillion tax cut in the last administration, mainly benefited the wealthiest Americans and the largest corporations and didn’t pay for a penny of it and racked up the deficit,” he added. Borrowers whose federal student loans are guaranteed by the government but held by private lenders, many of which were made under the former Federal Family Education Loan program and Federal Perkins Loan program, are currently excluded – unless a borrower applied to consolidate those loans into Direct loans by September 29. The Education Department initially said these privately held loans would be eligible for the one-time forgiveness action – but reversed course in September when six Republican-led states sued the Biden administration, arguing that forgiving the privately held loans would financially hurt states and student loan servicers. Asked by CNN’s MJ Lee about those with privately held loans being ineligible for the mass relief, Cardona said the administration is “moving as quickly as possible to provide relief to as many people as possible.” This story has been updated with additional reporting. Read More Here

Abortion, Ukraine, Inflation Included In 3rd Congressional District Debate – Talk Business & Politics https://digitalarkansasnews.com/abortion-ukraine-inflation-included-in-3rd-congressional-district-debate-talk-business-politics/ Issues ranging from abortion to wastewater systems were part of a 3rd Congressional District debate Monday (Oct. 17) in which U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, said he would support a nationwide abortion ban if it included “certain exemptions.” Womack, the incumbent in the race who is seeking his seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives, faced Libertarian Michael Kalagias and Democrat Lauren Mallett-Hays in Monday’s debate televised by Arkansas PBS and moderated by Steve Barnes. The first question to the candidates was about infrastructure spending in the 3rd District. Womack, noting that about 30 people a day are moving into Northwest Arkansas, said regions in the district have passed taxes and taken other actions to address such needs, but “a federal partner is going to be necessary” for big projects like a bridge across the Arkansas River in the Fort Smith metro to help complete Interstate 49 in the state. Mallett-Hays proposed a big idea for transportation infrastructure. “One key piece that we’re missing is public transportation in the form of commuter rail. I think connecting the Northwest Arkansas corridor to Fort Smith and then on down to Little Rock will be a significant improvement for our area as far as the rapid growth we are going to see,” she said. Kalagias said taxes are already in place to meet infrastructure demand, and the housing supply is largely a problem of too much government regulation on developers and builders. He also said there is no demand for mass transit, and any money spent on it is a waste. According to Womack, a “hidden” issue that could be a “real growth inhibitor” is managing wastewater and how it is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “We have to spend a little time talking about that as well because that could cause us to have to stop growth completely,” he said. ECONOMY, INFLATION On the economy, Mallett-Hays said if elected, she would push for an “OT40” bill to eliminate taxes on overtime pay and some commission pay. She also said legislation is needed to reduce taxes on businesses. Kalagias said the best way to improve the economy is with tax breaks. He said 50% of his household revenue is spent on paying taxes and fees. “It’s overwhelming how much money you have to give up from what you earn,” Kalagais said. “We have to lower that tax burden, not just in income taxes, but across the board, in all taxes.” He said lower taxes must come with reduced government spending. Womack keyed on inflation, noting that Congressional spending is what has driven inflation to record levels. He said another inflation driver is energy costs and volatile global politics, and the U.S. must do more to promote energy independence. Kalagias responded by saying Republicans and Democrats have overseen the rise in spending, and Congress needs representatives who will recognize the problem and do something about it. Mallet-Hays said the global pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and higher corporate profits are also inflation drivers. As to government spending and supporting entitlement programs like Social Security, Kalagais and Mallett-Hays agreed that sending Womack and other incumbents back to Washington isn’t working. Mallett-Hays said voters shouldn’t keep sending the same people to Congress to fix the system who have not done anything to fix it. Kalagias called the existing Social Security system a “Ponzi scheme,” and it should be changed to a defined contribution plan to protect money paid in by each individual. ABORTION On the divisive issue of abortion, Mallet-Hays was the only candidate with a pro-choice position. The U.S. Supreme Court on June 24 upheld a Mississippi law banning abortion and, in doing so, overturned the right to abortion in Roe v. Wade, and also overturned Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which also provides national abortion access. The ruling (Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization) is the first time it has reversed a ruling granting a constitutional right in the Court’s history. At least 13 U.S. states, including Arkansas, had trigger laws that make abortion illegal if the court were to reverse Roe. The ruling does not outlaw abortion but effectively pushed legislation on the issue to the states. Mallett-Hays said it’s wrong for state and federal governments to tell half of the American population they are not capable of making informed decisions for themselves. She said abortion is a medical procedure that is warranted at times, and it should be a decision between a woman and her medical providers. Kalagias said he believes in life at the moment of conception and abortion neglects the right of a “unique” person. Womack said the Dobbs decision did push the decision back to the states, but he could support a national ban. “I believe that on issues like this that are so close and so emotional, and so emotionally charged, that the best place for those issues to be decided is closest to the people. That’s the way our Constitution was formed. But that said, I support a federal ban on abortions with certain exceptions. I’ve been very clear about that,” Womack said. Following are notes on other issues discussed. • Climate change Womack stressed he is not a “climate change denier” but said the U.S. should produce more fossil fuels because it can do it cleaner and in a more environmentally responsible manner than other countries. He also advocated nuclear energy. “I think we need more of that kind of energy to reduce the carbon footprint and bring about a sustainable grid.” Mallett-Hays pushed for a broad policy that includes fossil fuels but creates a transition away from fossil fuels. Kalagais said more Americans should “act locally” to reduce carbon emissions and suggested using trash instead of coal to produce electricity. • Russian invasion of Ukraine Kalagias said the U.S. is $31 trillion in debt and doesn’t have the money to help Ukraine, adding that “at a certain point, Europe is going to have to solve its own problems.” Womack and Mallett-Hays agreed that supporting Ukraine is necessary. “We cannot afford for Eastern Europe to be overrun by an unchecked Vladimir Putin,” Womack said. • Online voter registration All three candidates supported the idea of online voter registration, with Womack saying it would need to be a “fail-safe” system before he could support it. Mallett-Hays noted, “We are in the 21st century, and we should absolutely be able to register online.” Kalagias said, “There is absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t have online voter registration.” Read More Here

Kanye West To Buy Crypto-Friendly Social Media Platform Parler – Decrypt https://digitalarkansasnews.com/kanye-west-to-buy-crypto-friendly-social-media-platform-parler-decrypt/ Move over, Elon. Ye is getting his own social media platform. Kanye West, the controversial entertainer and supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump, has agreed in principle to purchase the right-leaning social media platform Parler, according to Parler. Parlement Technologies is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement in principle for Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to acquire the Parler platform. The acquisition ensures Parler a future role in creating an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome. pic.twitter.com/KXdhV71prl — Parler (@parler_app) October 17, 2022 No stranger to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, Ye sang the praises of the technology during an October 2020 appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. “The bitcoin guys have a perspective on what the true liberation of America and humanity will be,” he said. More recently, a photo of Ye wearing a “Satoshi Nakamoto” hat made the rounds on social media. The move to purchase Parler comes in the wake of West’s Twitter and Instagram accounts being suspended for what the platforms called “antisemitic comments” earlier this month—something he won’t have to worry about with his own platform.  According to Parler, the agreement is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2022. It will include ongoing technical support from Parler’s parent company, Parlement Technologies. Launched in September 2018, Parler has long touted itself as a free-speech Twitter alternative. Following the January 6 capital riot, Parler was removed from the Google Play and Apple App stores. Parler was also removed from Amazon Web Services (AWS) for what the tech giant called its lack of policing of questionable and violent content. Parler resumed service on February 15, 2021, with added content filters. The app returned to the Apple App Store on May 17 and Google Play on September 2, 2022. That same month, Parler announced the raise of $16 million in Series B funding. Parler had 1.3 million visitors to its website in August, according to analytics website SimilarWeb. In contrast, there were 9 million monthly visitors on Trump’s Truth Social, 6.8 billion on Twitter, and 18.2 billion to Facebook. In March, Parler launched its NFT marketplace DeepRedSky. The first launch featured a line of digital art, “CryptoTRUMP Club,” featuring Trump’s image. Later collections include the Babylon Bee, Brandon Tatum, and the POTUS TRUMP NFT collection headed by former first lady Melania Trump, Melania Trump made waves of her own after launching a separate series of NFT collections on the Solana blockchain. The Solana foundation quickly distanced itself from the project. “I wanted to inform you, to avoid any confusion, that her choice to use the Solana blockchain was completely organic, and this project is not part of any Solana-led initiative,” a representative told Decrypt. Non-fungible tokens, better known as NFTs, are cryptographically unique tokens linked to digital and physical content or memberships that provide proof of ownership. Parlement Technologies is optimistic about the prospect of West’s ownership. “This deal will change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech,” Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer said in a blog post. “Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again. “Once again, Ye proves that he is one step ahead of the legacy media narrative,” Farmer continued. “Parlement will be honored to help him achieve his goals.” Representatives for West and Parler have not yet responded to requests for comment from Decrypt. Stay on top of crypto news, get daily updates in your inbox. Read More Here

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Rex Nelson https://digitalarkansasnews.com/high-school-football-rex-nelson/ Bentonville junior CJ Brown runs to the end zone for a touchdown Friday during the Tigers’ 31-30 overtime victory over the Fayetteville Bulldogs at Tiger Stadium in Bentonville. (Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette/Brent Soule) As expected, our top two teams had no problem last week. No. 1 Bryant rolled to a 35-8 victory over Little Rock Southwest, and Cabot beat Little Rock Central by a final score of 49-13. They play each other this week. The game of the week came in northwest Arkansas as Bentonville edged Fayetteville 31-30 after a successful two-point conversion play in overtime. Our No. 1 teams in each classification remained the same: Bryant in 7A, Pulaski Academy in 6A, Joe T. Robinson in 5A, Arkadelphia in 4A, Prescott in 3A and Hazen in 2A. Here are the updated rankings with just three weeks remaining in the regular season: OVERALL Bryant Cabot Pulaski Academy Bentonville Conway Greenwood Little Rock Catholic Joe T. Robinson Shiloh Christian Arkadelphia CLASS 7A Bryant Cabot Bentonville Conway Fayetteville CLASS 6A Pulaski Academy Greenwood Little Rock Catholic Benton Lake Hamilton CLASS 5A Joe T. Robinson Shiloh Christian Little Rock Mills Little Rock Parkview Camden Fairview CLASS 4A Arkadelphia Malvern Warren Harding Academy Star City CLASS 3A Prescott Rison Charleston Booneville Melbourne CLASS 2A Hazen Carlisle Bigelow Mount Ida Marked Tree Read More…

Tesla Could Be A https://digitalarkansasnews.com/tesla-could-be-a/ This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers visit http://www.djreprints.com. https://www.barrons.com/articles/tesla-stock-interest-rates-valuation-51666019082 Updated Oct. 17, 2022 4:24 pm ET / Original Oct. 17, 2022 11:06 am ET Order Reprints Print Article A longtime pessimist about Tesla says the shares could be headed for what he calls “zombie stock” territory. David Trainer, CEO of stock research firm New Constructs, who wrote in August 2013 that Tesla stock was “way overvalued” at $11 a share, said in a research note Monday that the shares have a long way to fall. The company’s spectacular sales growth could be the problem, he wrote. Read More Here

U.S. Condemns 'war Crimes' After Russia Drone Attack Hits Kyiv Apartment Block https://digitalarkansasnews.com/u-s-condemns-war-crimes-after-russia-drone-attack-hits-kyiv-apartment-block/ Centre of Kyiv hit by Russian drones, at least four dead Ukrainian cities hit again week after missile strikes In Russia, fighter jet crashes into residential building KYIV/WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) – The United States will hold Russia accountable for “war crimes”, the White House said on Monday, hours after Russia attacked Ukrainian cities with drones during morning rush hour, killing at least four people in an apartment building in Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his Monday evening video address, said there had been more attacks. “Right now, there is a new Russian drone attack. There are (drones) that have been shot down.” Interfax Ukraine news agency said Telegram users had reported blasts in the town of Fastiv just outside Kyiv, as well as in the southern port of Odesa. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Russian forces also targeted infrastructure across Ukraine in the second wave of air strikes in a week, like the first coming in the morning with people going to work and school. Ukrainian soldiers fired into the air trying to shoot down the drones after blasts rocked the capital Kyiv on Monday morning. An anti-aircraft rocket could be seen streaking into the morning sky, followed by an explosion and orange flames, as residents raced for shelter. U.S. President Joe Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the White House “strongly condemns Russia’s missile strikes today” and said the attack “continues to demonstrate (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s brutality”. Mentioning a new, $725 million military aid package announced for Ukraine last Friday, she said: “We will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes. “… We will continue to impose costs on Russia, hold them accountable for its war crimes.” A pregnant woman was among four people killed in the attack on the residential building, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi said there had been deaths in other cities but did not provide a full toll. Black smoke poured out of the windows of the Kyiv apartment building and emergency service workers toiled to douse flames. “I have never been so afraid … It is murder, it is simply murder,” said Vitalii Dushevskiy, 29, a food delivery courier who rents an apartment in the building. His flatmate, who gave his name only as Nazar, said they had tried to leave only to find the staircase “all gone”. Nearby, Elena Mazur, 52, was searching for her mother, who had managed to call her to say she was buried under rubble. “She is not picking up the phone,” Mazur said, hoping her mother been rescued and taken to hospital. ‘SUICIDE’ DRONES Ukraine said the attacks were carried out by Iran-made “suicide drones”, which fly to their target and detonate. The United States, Britain and France agreed that Iran supplying drones to Russia would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six powers. Iran on Monday stuck to its denial that it is supplying the drones to Russia, while the Kremlin has not commented. Firefighters help a local woman evacuate from a residential building destroyed by a Russian drone strike, which local authorities consider to be Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) Shahed-136, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 17, 2022. REUTERS/Vladyslav Musiienko The White House accused Iran of lying when it says Iranian drones were not being used by Russia in Ukraine. Asked for comment, the Iranian mission to the United Nations repeated a statement issued by the government on Friday that said it supports upholding the U.N. Charter and the U.N.’s attempts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine. Several EU foreign ministers on Monday called for sanctions against Iran over the transfer of drones to Russia. Russia’s defence ministry said it had carried out a “massive” attack on military targets and energy infrastructure across Ukraine using high-precision weapons. Reuters saw pieces of a drone used in the attack that bore the words: “For Belgorod” – an apparent reference to Ukrainian shelling of a Russian border region. “This is already a tradition: to wake Ukrainians with missiles on Mondays,” said Alla Voloshko, a 47-year-old lawyer who took shelter in the basement of her apartment block. Ukraine’s military said it had destroyed 37 Russian drones since Sunday evening, or around 85% of those used in attacks. Reuters was not able to independently verify that tally. A drone attack hit the Everi marine terminal in the southern port of Mykolaiv on Sunday night, officials said, damaging sunflower storage tanks and setting leaking oil aflame. Russia denies targeting civilians in what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, launched on Feb. 24 and including the biggest annexation of territory in Europe since World War Two. RUSSIAN FIGHTER CRASH In Russia itself, a Russian fighter plane crashed into a residential building in the southern city of Yeysk, engulfing apartments in flames, the regional governor said. At least four people were reported killed, according to Interfax. RIA news agency said the crash took place during a training flight. It quoted the defence ministry as saying the pilots, who ejected, had reported an engine caught fire on takeoff, and that the plane’s fuel had ignited when it struck the building. Russia’s state Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal case. Yeysk is separated from occupied Russian territory in southern Ukraine by a narrow stretch of the Sea of Azov. Elsewhere, Russian shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, caused it to be disconnected again from Ukraine’s power grid, Ukrainian state energy firm Energoatom said. It was soon connected to a backup system, the International Atomic Energy Agency (AEA) said. The plant, which has been shelled during the war, is occupied by Russian forces but operated by Ukrainian staff. Its reactors need power to keep the fuel inside cool and prevent a meltdown. Russia has long blamed Kyiv for shelling at the plant. Moscow and Kyiv on Monday meanwhile carried out one of the biggest prisoner swaps of the war so far, exchanging a total of 218 detainees, including 108 Ukrainian women, officials from both sides said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Gareth Jones, Nick Macfie and Grant McCool; Editing by Peter Graff and Bill Berkrot Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

‘Antisemitic And Insulting’: White House Denounces Trump’s Attack On US Jews https://digitalarkansasnews.com/antisemitic-and-insulting-white-house-denounces-trumps-attack-on-us-jews/ The White House on Monday condemned former US president Donald Trump’s “antisemitic” criticism of American Jews, who he charged were not sufficiently appreciative of his policies toward Israel. In a statement Sunday, Trump called on Jews in the United States to “get their act together” while claiming he would cruise to victory if he ran for prime minister in Israel. The comments were denounced by the Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee, among others. “Donald Trump’s comments were antisemitic and insulting both to Jews and to our Israeli allies,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during the daily briefing. “Let’s be clear, for years now, Donald Trump has aligned with extremist and antisemitic figures. It should be called out,” she added. “We need to root out antisemitism everywhere it rears its ugly head.” She also said US-Israel ties are “ironclad” and “rooted in shared values and interests. Donald Trump clearly doesn’t understand that either.” Get The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories By signing up, you agree to the terms Trump’s statement, which was posted to his social media platform Truth Social, argued that “no President has done more for Israel” and said Evangelical Christians “are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the US.” Citing his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights and role in brokering the Abraham Accords between Israel and regional states, Trump said it was “a different story” in the Jewish state, where he said he had “the highest approval rate in the world” and “could easily be PM [prime minister].” Trump urged Jews in the US to “get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel – Before it is too late!” He did not elaborate. Then-US president Donald Trump speaks at the Israeli American Council National Summit in Hollywood, Florida, December 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) Trump has frequently castigated US Jews for their perceived lack of gratitude and support and often conflated Israeli interests with those of American Jews. A poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute in November 2020 found that 70 percent of Jewish Israelis considered a victory for Trump over Joe Biden in the US presidential election to be preferable for Israeli interests. While many US Jews are generally supportive of Israel, they have consistently rejected accusations of dual loyalty toward the Jewish state, typically seen as an antisemitic canard. Trump’s posting came days after the right-wing Zionist Organization of America announced that it would bestow on Trump a rare honor, listing his multiple initiatives that aligned US policy more with Israel’s hawks, including moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, cutting funding to the Palestinians, exiting the Iran deal and recognizing Israelis sovereignty in the Golan Heights. Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, condemned Trump’s words on Sunday. “We don’t need the former president, who curries favor with extremists and antisemites, to lecture us about the US-Israel relationship. It is not about a quid-pro-quo; it rests on shared values and security interests. This ‘Jewsplaining’ is insulting and disgusting,” he said. We don’t need the former president, who curries favor with extremists and antisemites, to lecture us about the US-Israel relationship. It is not about a quid pro quo; it rests on shared values and security interests. This “Jewsplaining” is insulting and disgusting. pic.twitter.com/5XihxQGmLT — Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) October 16, 2022 The American Jewish Committee also hit back at the former president: “Support for the Jewish state never gives one license to lecture American Jews, nor does it ever give the right to draw baseless judgments about the ties between U.S. Jews and Israel,” it tweeted. “And to be clear, those ties are strong and enduring. JTA contributed to this report. Read More Here

White House Sharply Condemns Trump, Kanye West For Antisemitic Remarks – Haaretz https://digitalarkansasnews.com/white-house-sharply-condemns-trump-kanye-west-for-antisemitic-remarks-haaretz/ White House sharply condemns Trump, Kanye West for antisemitic remarks  Haaretz Read More Here

Trump Hotels Charged Secret Service https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-hotels-charged-secret-service/ October 17, 2022 02:50 PM The Secret Service paid as much as five times the government rate for agents staying at former President Donald Trump’s properties to protect the president and his family, reaching upwards of $1.4 million over four years, new billing records show. Trump’s company billed agents up to $1,185 a night to stay at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., one of dozens of cases in which the Secret Service paid above the government-approved range. BIDEN HAS SPENT MORE THAN ONE-FOURTH OF HIS TIME IN OFFICE IN DELAWARE The records obtained by Congress indicate a cost to U.S. taxpayers of at least $1.4 million, according to figures first reported by the Washington Post. Secret Service supervisors frequently requested waivers to allow the agency to pay more than the government-approved rate for stays at Washington, D.C., hotels, the Washington Post reported. The documents cover Trump’s four years in office and through September 2021. They do not include all payments to Trump’s companies. “The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents’ frequent stays at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former President’s self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump’s struggling businesses,” House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) wrote in a letter to the agency director on Monday. Trump frequently traveled to hotel properties operated by his company while in office, including Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, and the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Not all officers stayed at his properties. The records call into question a claim by Trump’s son Eric Trump that the Trump Organization often provided the Secret Service hotel rooms at cost, at a steep discount, or free. In 2019, Eric Trump said that when Trump travels, agents “stay at our properties free.” CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER He said in 2020 that rooms were provided to the government at below-market rates. “We provide the rooms at cost and could make far more money renting them to members or guests,” Eric Trump said. Read More Here

Trump Charged Secret Service ‘exorbitant’ Rates At His Hotels, Records Show https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-charged-secret-service-exorbitant-rates-at-his-hotels-records-show/ Former president Donald Trump’s company charged the Secret Service as much as five times more than the government rate for agents to stay overnight at Trump hotels while protecting him and his family, according to expense records newly obtained by Congress. The records show that in 40 cases the Trump Organization billed the Secret Service far higher amounts than the approved government rate — in one case charging agents $1,185 a night to stay at the Trump International Hotel in D.C. The new billing documents, according to a congressional committee’s review, show that U.S. taxpayers paid the president’s company at least $1.4 million for Secret Service agents’ stays at Trump properties for his and his family’s protection. “The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents’ frequent stays at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former President’s self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump’s struggling businesses,” Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) wrote to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. The records contradict the repeated claim made by Eric Trump, the president’s son and the Trump Organization’s executive vice president, that the family’s company often gave the Secret Service agents the hotel rooms “at cost” or sometimes free, providing steep discounts for the security team to stay at Trump properties. Eric Trump disputed that the Trump Organization profited off Secret Service stays at his family’s properties. “Any services rendered to the United States Secret Service or other government agencies at Trump owned properties, were at their request and were either provided at cost, heavily discounted or for free,” he said in a statement. “The company would have been substantially better off if hospitality services were sold to full-paying guests, however, the company did whatever it took to accommodate the agencies to ensure they were able to do their jobs at the highest levels.” While the documents do not cover all Secret Service expenses at Trump properties during his presidency and reflect only a fraction of those expenses since he left office, they offer a more detailed financial accounting than previously known of what taxpayers paid for Trump’s frequent choice to stay at his properties. Trump visited his properties more than 500 times during his presidency. Documents obtained in February 2020 under the Freedom of Information Act revealed the rates the Secret Service paid at then-President Donald Trump’s properties. (Video: Zach Purser Brown/The Washington Post) Maloney, chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, obtained the records as part of her investigation into how Trump may have profited off his security agents’ duty to follow him wherever he traveled. She wrote a letter Monday to Cheatle demanding a complete accounting of what taxpayers have paid — and continue to pay — the Trump Organization. “Given the long-standing concerns surrounding the former President’s conflicts of interest and efforts to profit off the presidency, the committee has a strong interest in obtaining a complete accounting of federal government spending at Trump properties,” Maloney wrote. “The Committee continues to examine potential legislation to prevent presidential self-dealing and profiteering, as well as to curb conflicts of interest by ensuring that future presidents are prevented from exercising undue influence on Secret Service spending. ” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the agency is aware of Maloney’s request for a fuller account. “We received the letter and we are reviewing it and we aim to respond to the committee by their deadline,” he said. “While we don’t comment on any protective operations, agents must be within arms’ reach of their protectees 24 hours a day.” In 2019, Eric Trump said the Trump Organization was saving the Secret Service agents — and taxpayers who paid the bill — huge sums. “If my father travels, they stay at our properties free,” he said. “So everywhere that he goes, if he stays at one of his places, the government actually spends, meaning it saves a fortune because if they were to go to a hotel across the street, they’d be charging them $500 a night, whereas, you know we charge them, like $50.” In 2020, Eric Trump reiterated that Trump Organization was giving these public servants — and ultimately taxpayers — discounted rates. “We provide the rooms at cost and could make far more money renting them to members or guests,” he said. But the reality was different, the records reveal. During Trump’s presidency, Secret Service supervisors frequently asked for special waivers to let the agency pay far more than the government-approved nightly rate for a hotel in D.C. — usually $195 to $240. Instead, they paid the higher costs the Trump Organization was charging. In April 2017, when Eric Trump and his wife, Lara, were staying at the Trump International Hotel in D.C., the president’s company charged the Secret Service agents $1,160 — more than four times the government rate at the time — the records show. In November 2017, when Donald Trump, Jr., stayed at the same hotel, the government was charged $1,185 a night for his security detail staying overnight at the hotel to protect him — almost six times the government rate, which varies based on time and location. Maloney stressed that the Secret Service continues to pay the Trump Organization while protecting Trump since he left office, and she is concerned by reports of excessive fees the agency is charged for the former president’s travels. Her committee obtained records that stretch over his four-year presidency and continue from President Biden’s inauguration to September 2021. Maloney noted in her letter to the Secret Service director that records turned over to her committee do not include the agency’s payments for a series of visits to Trump’s private club at Mar-a-Lago; some visits to his property at Bedminster, N.J.; and for stays at Trump properties outside the United States during frequent foreign travel by Trump and his family. Read More Here

Deaths After Fighter Jet Crashes Into Russian Building In Yeysk https://digitalarkansasnews.com/deaths-after-fighter-jet-crashes-into-russian-building-in-yeysk/ At least four killed after a large blaze engulfed the building and witnesses said multiple floors were on fire. Published On 17 Oct 202217 Oct 2022 A supersonic military aircraft crashed into a residential building in the southern Russian city of Yeysk, engulfing the structure in flames and collapsing several upper floors. Footage on social media showed a large fireball erupting from the multistory building on Monday. Initial reports said four people were killed, 19 injured – four in serious condition – and six missing in the port city on the Sea of Azov. The aircraft was identified as a Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jet. The crew managed to eject before the plane crashed, according to the defence ministry. A large blaze engulfed the building, stoked by jet fuel, and witnesses were quoted by Russia’s Tass news agency as saying it was on fire from the first to the ninth floors. Firefighters battled the blaze as loud bangs from the apparent detonation of the warplane’s weapons were heard. “While climbing to perform a training flight from the military airfield of the southern military district, a Su-34 aircraft crashed,” a ministry statement said. “The cause of the crash of the aircraft was a fire in one of the engines during takeoff.” The Interfax news agency quoted emergency services as saying five floors of the apartment building were on fire, the upper floors had collapsed, and about 45 apartments were damaged. The blaze spread over 2,000sq m (21,500sq feet), it said. Yeysk, a city of about 90,000 people, is home to a large Russian air base. About 600 people usually live in the building, the local Krasnodar administration said on Telegram. “The governor ordered the whereabouts of each resident to be established,” it said. ‘Establishing the circumstances’ The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was immediately informed about the crash, and he ordered ministers of health and emergency services along with the local governor to head to the site. Hours after the crash, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said emergency services managed to contain the fire. “Information about the dead and injured is being clarified. Ambulance crews are on the scene,” he said. Russia’s Investigative Committee, which deals with serious crimes, later announced it launched a criminal probe into the crash. “Military investigators are establishing the circumstances and causes of the incident,” it said. Yeysk is located on the Tangarog Gulf in the Sea of Azov, which separates southern Ukraine and southern Russia. Yeysk lies directly across the sea from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which is under Russian control after Moscow launched its invasion in February. The Su-34 is a supersonic twin-engine bomber equipped with sophisticated sensors and weapons that has been a key component of the Russian air force. The aircraft has seen wide use during the war in Syria and the fighting in Ukraine. Monday’s incident marked the 10th reported non-combat crash of a Russian warplane since Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine. Source : Al Jazeera and news agencies Read More Here

These 11 Stocks Can Lead Your Portfolio's Rebound After The S&P 500 'earnings Recession' And A Market Bottom Next Year https://digitalarkansasnews.com/these-11-stocks-can-lead-your-portfolios-rebound-after-the-searnings-recession-and-a-market-bottom-next-year/ This may surprise you: Wall Street analysts expect earnings for the S&P 500 to increase 8% during 2023, despite all the buzz about a possible recession as the Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy to quell inflation. Ken Laudan, a portfolio manager at Kornitzer Capital Management in Mission, Kan., isn’t buying it. He expects an “earnings recession” for the S&P 500 SPX, — that is, a decline in profits of around 10%. But he also expects that decline to set up a bottom for the stock market. Laudan’s predictions for the S&P 500 ‘earnings recession’ and bottom Laudan, who manages the $83 million Buffalo Large Cap Fund BUFEX, and co-manages the $905 million Buffalo Discovery Fund BUFTX, , said during an interview: “It is not unusual to see a 20% hit [to earnings] in a modest recession. Margins have peaked.” The consensus among analysts polled by FactSet is for weighted aggregate earnings for the S&P 500 to total $238.23 a share in 2023, which would be an 8% increase from the current 2022 EPS estimate of $220.63. Laudan said his base case for 2023 is for earnings of about $195 to $200 a share and for that decline in earnings (about 9% to 12% from the current consensus estimate for 2022) to be “coupled with an economic recession of some sort.” He expects the Wall Street estimates to come down, and said that “once Street estimates get to $205 or $210, I think stocks will take off.” He went further, saying “things get really interesting at 3200 or 3300 on the S&P.” The S&P 500 closed at 3583.07 on Oct. 14, a decline of 24.8% for 2022, excluding dividends. Laudan said the Buffalo Large Cap Fund was about 7% in cash, as he was keeping some powder dry for stock purchases at lower prices, adding that he has been “fairly defensive” since October 2021 and was continuing to focus on “steady dividend-paying companies with strong balance sheets.” Leaders for the stock market’s recovery After the market hits bottom, Laudan expects a recovery for stocks to begin next year, as “valuations will discount and respond more quickly than the earnings will.” He expects “long-duration technology growth stocks” to lead the rally, because “they got hit first.” When asked if Nvidia Corp. NVDA, and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, were good examples, in light of the broad decline for semiconductor stocks and because both are held by the Buffalo Large Cap Fund, Laudan said: “They led us down and they will bounce first.” Laudan said his “largest tech holding” is ASML Holding N.V. ASML, , which provides equipment and systems used to fabricate computer chips. Among the largest tech-oriented companies, the Buffalo Large Cap fund also holds shares of Apple Inc. AAPL, , Microsoft Corp. MSFT, , Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, and Alphabet Inc. GOOG, GOOGL, . Laudan also said he had been “overweight’ in UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH, , Danaher Corp. DHR, and Linde PLC LIN, recently and had taken advantage of the decline in Adobe Inc.’s ADBE, price following the announcement of its $20 billion acquisition of Figma, by scooping up more shares. Summarizing the declines To illustrate what a brutal year it has been for semiconductor stocks, the iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX, , which tracks the PHLX Semiconductor Index SOX, of 30 U.S.-listed chip makers and related equipment manufacturers, has dropped 44% this year. Then again, SOXX had risen 38% over the past three years and 81% for five years, underlining the importance of long-term thinking for stock investors, even during this terrible bear market for this particular tech space. Here’s a summary of changes in stock prices (again, excluding dividends) and forward price-to-forward-earnings valuations during 2022 through Oct. 14 for every stock mentioned in this article. The stocks are sorted alphabetically: Company Ticker 2022 price change Forward P/E Forward P/E as of Dec. 31, 2021 Apple Inc. AAPL, -22% 22.2 30.2 Adobe Inc. ADBE, -49% 19.4 40.5 Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -36% 62.1 64.9 Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, -61% 14.7 43.1 ASML Holding N.V. ADR ASML, -52% 22.7 41.2 Danaher Corp. DHR, -23% 24.3 32.1 Alphabet Inc. Class C GOOG, -33% 17.5 25.3 Linde PLC LIN, -21% 22.2 29.6 Microsoft Corp. MSFT, -32% 22.5 34.0 Nvidia Corp. NVDA, -62% 28.9 58.0 UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH, 2% 21.5 23.2 Source: FactSet You can click on the tickers for more about each company. Click here for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available free on the MarketWatch quote page. The forward P/E ratio for the S&P 500 declined to 16.9 as of the close on Oct. 14 from 24.5 at the end of 2021, while the forward P/E for SOXX declined to 13.2 from 27.1. Don’t miss: This is how high interest rates might rise, and what could scare the Federal Reserve into a policy pivot Read More Here

Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary Comes Back To Little Rock https://digitalarkansasnews.com/salvation-army-womens-auxiliary-comes-back-to-little-rock/ by: Miriam Battles Posted: Oct 17, 2022 / 12:50 PM CDT Updated: Oct 17, 2022 / 01:33 PM CDT LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A Central Arkansas Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary fundraiser is coming back to Little Rock. After being postponed for two years due to COVID-19, the Autumn Runway fundraiser will be held Tuesday at the City Center on North Shackleford Road. The event will include a luncheon, a fashion show by Dillard’s, and a silent auction. Event officials said that there will be around 90 silent auction items, including jewelry, home decor, restaurant gift certificates, trampoline park passes and birthday parties. All proceeds from the event will go directly to the needs of the Salvation Army’s shelter for women, children and families. For more information on tickets, contact the Salvation Army at 501-374-9296. There are options to pay over the phone or to have tickets held in your name and pay at the door. Read More…

Donald Trump Wishes To Distance Himself From Kanye West, Claims He's 'Crazy' And Needs 'Help' https://digitalarkansasnews.com/donald-trump-wishes-to-distance-himself-from-kanye-west-claims-hes-crazy-and-needs-help/ From antisemitic comments like wishing to go “death con 3” on “JEWISH PEOPLE” to theorizing that there are fake children being planted in his home to “manipulate” his own kids, Kanye West has seemingly gone off the rails with his freedom of speech — and former President Donald Trump has taken notice. Trump has recently told sources that West is too extreme for even the likes of him.  Why Donald Trump wants to distance himself from Kanye West: Rolling Stone reported that sources close to Trump revealed the former president thinks West is “crazy” and he needs “help.” According to Rolling Stone, “Former President Donald Trump has told multiple people that West is acting too ‘crazy’ and that he needs some professional ‘help,’ according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.” RELATED: 11 Harsh Rules Kanye West Made Kim Kardashian Follow During Their Marriage This might come as a surprise to many people since, in the past, Trump has shown his love and support for the rapper.  Over the course of many years, West has also been public about his support for the former president.  In November 2016 it started small with West proclaiming at a concert that he didn’t vote, but if he had he would’ve voted for Trump — he, of course, was booed by his adoring fans. The first of other soon-to-be meetings also took place in November, with West meeting with Trump in New York to discuss what he describes as “multicultural issues.” Then, of course, the infamous of them all — West’s tweets.  RELATED: It’s No Coincidence That Kanye West Unleashed His Antisemitism After Gaining Republican Support West shared his support over Twitter, sharing one of the now infamous Tweets in pop culture history.  “You don’t have to agree with trump but the mob can’t make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don’t agree with everything anyone does. That’s what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought,” the tweet read.  Trump commented under the tweet, “Thank you Kanye, very cool.” RELATED: 8 Times Kanye West Was Controlling, Unfaithful & Possessive Over Kim Kardashian Before Their Divorce Then, West solidified his stance with the former president by visiting him in the Oval Office in 2018, even donning a MAGA hat.  But it seems despite their colorful history, Trump is going to distance himself from West.  According to sources, “Trump has also privately signaled that it’s best if he keeps his mouth shut about West for now.”  Related Stories From YourTango: This is somewhat surprising due to how Trump typically voices his opinion on many things, one of the more recent incidents being his comments on the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp trial.  It seems Trump isn’t the only one who thinks West is ‘losing it.’  “Darrell Scott, an Ohio pastor and staunch Trump ally who once counted West as an ‘acquaintance’ in the days of the Trump administration, has since blasted the rapper as a ‘clown’ who is spewing ‘some bullcrap’ these days,” Rolling Stone reported.  It’s unclear if the two have shared private communication.  RELATED: Kim Kardashian Is Paying For Extra Security At Her Kids’ School Because Of Kanye West, Claims Source Victoria Soliz is a writer with YourTango who covers news and entertainment content. Her work explores pop culture trends, film and TV, and celebrity news Sign up for YourTango’s free newsletter! Read More Here

Trump To Rally In South Texas As Early Voting Begins https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-to-rally-in-south-texas-as-early-voting-begins/ Rally comes as a trio of South Texas Republicans have raised millions as they try flip congressional districts in the longtime Democratic stronghold. Benjamin Wermund, Washington Bureau Oct. 17, 2022Updated: Oct. 17, 2022 12:47 p.m. Former President Donald Trump takes the stage during a Save America rally in Conroe. By lying about a stolen election, he has worked tirelessly to undermine confidence in the civic virtue of voting. Jon Shapley /Staff photographer WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump is headed to South Texas this weekend to rally voters a few days before early voting begins in the midterms.  The rally in Robstown, just west of Corpus Christi, comes as Republicans seek to flip a handful of congressional races in South Texas, which has long been a stronghold for Democrats. Trump’s relatively strong showing there in 2020 gave the GOP hope that it could gain more ground in the midterms.  IN-DEPTH: Texas Democrats say national groups are giving up on South Texas congressional race Robstown is not in one of the contested districts, but the city is not far from two districts that Republicans are targeting, where GOP candidates have outpaced Democrats in fundraising. Monica De La Cruz, a Republican who came within 3 percentage points of winning a district just west of there in 2020, had raised nearly $4 million by the end of September. Michelle Vallejo, a progressive Democrat, had raised about $1.6 million by that time.  The district, a long sliver of mostly rural Texas that stretches all the way from McAllen to just east of San Marcos, was redrawn by the legislature to give Republicans an edge: Trump won 51 percent of the vote in the new district, according to Texas Legislative Council data. Texas Democrats have complained recently that the national party appeared to be pulling resources from the district as most national Democratic campaign groups have prioritized the re-election bids of incumbents in South Texas, U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen.  TEXAS MAGA RALLY: Trump diehards turn out in force for first Texas MAGA rally since he lost White House Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, a Republican who won a special election in a district south of Robstown earlier this year, had raised nearly $3.4 million. Gonzalez, a Democrat who switched districts after narrowly defeating De La Cruz in 2020, had raised more than $2.7 million.  Flores, the first Mexican-born woman elected to Congress, flipped the district that Republicans had not held for more than 100 years. She is serving the remainder of former U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela’s term, which expires in January. Vela, a Democrat, resigned from the seat in March to take a job at a lobbying firm earlier this year. But the district, which stretches south to Brownsville, was redrawn from the boundaries in which Flores won, and is expected to be much more favorable to Democrats. More than 57 percent of voters in the new district, which now only reaches as far north as Kleberg County, voted for President Joe Biden, according to TLC data. Cuellar was the only South Texas Democrat who still held a fundraising edge on Republican challengers, raising $4.3 million by the end of September. Cassy Garcia, a former staffer for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, had raised nearly $2.4 million in that race.  ben.wermund@chron.com Read More Here

GOP Wants To Push To Extend Trump Tax Cuts After Midterm Elections https://digitalarkansasnews.com/gop-wants-to-push-to-extend-trump-tax-cuts-after-midterm-elections/ House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), right, in his office with former House speaker Newt Gingrich on Sept. 22, 2022. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) Republicans plan to push to extend key parts of President Donald Trump’s tax cuts if they take control of Congress in this fall’s elections, aiming to force President Joe Biden to codify trillions of dollars worth of lower taxes touted by his predecessor. With Democrats likely to lose control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate, Republicans are preparing to advance legislation that would make permanent the GOP’s 2017 changes to the tax rates paid by individuals. Republican officials will also push for scrapping some of the law’s specific tax increases on corporations that were designed to offset the cost of their enormous overall cut to the corporate tax rate. Many economists say the GOP’s plans to expand the tax cuts flies against their promises to fight inflation and reduce the federal deficit, which have emerged as central themes of their 2022 midterm campaign rhetoric. Tax cuts boost inflation just like new spending, because they increase economic demand and throw it out of balance with supply. But Republicans say they believe these efforts would put Biden in a political bind, requiring him to choose between vetoing the tax cuts — giving the GOP an attack line in the 2024 presidential election — or allowing Republicans to win on one of their central legislative agenda items. Newt Gingrich, who served as the speaker of the House in the 1990s and is in communication with senior Republican leaders, said a similar strategy was successful at forcing both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to enact tax cuts that they would not have otherwise supported, after both of those Democratic presidents lost control of Congress. Biden is likely to find himself in a similar position, Gingrich said. “The trick is to put the president in a position of either getting defeated in 2024 or signing your stuff into law,” Gingrich said. “Republicans will make it a priority to continue the Trump tax cuts, because it puts the Democrats in a position of being for tax increases and against economic growth.” Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), one of the contenders to lead the Ways and Means Committee in a GOP House, told C-SPAN last month that the first legislation he would aim to advance would be to extend the 2017 GOP tax cuts for individual taxpayers. Without a filibuster-proof majority, Republicans would likely have to peel off several Democrats to pass such measures through the Senate to force Biden’s hand. “We have temporary tax policies that have been good for the middle class — we need to make those permanent,” Smith said. The White House said a statement that it was undaunted by the GOP’s plans to push for extension of the Trump tax cuts and was prepared to resist efforts to expand the law. “While President Biden and congressional Democrats are fighting to make middle class families the heart of our economy … Republicans want to sell those families out to rich special interests and by doubling down on their 2017 tax giveaway to the ultrawealthy and corporations,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said. The fight over Trump’s tax cuts could become a key feature of divided government should Republicans take control of one or both branches of Congress. Congressional lawmakers and the White House will have to come to agreements over funding the government, averting a breach of the debt ceiling and other spending bills — negotiations that will give the GOP an opportunity to press their policy demands. Democrats used control of the House after the 2018 midterm elections to push Trump into accepting many of their priorities, such as expanded domestic spending and paid leave for federal workers. The GOP’s plans to push hard on the tax cuts have come into fuller view in recent weeks. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last month released an economic blueprint that said the party backs legislation spearheaded by Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) that would make permanent much of the 2017 tax law — including doubling the standard deduction claimed by most taxpayers and reducing the top rate paid by most taxpayers from 39.6 percent to 37 percent. McCarthy’s blueprint also calls for enacting the plan by Rep. Jason T. Smith (R-Mo.) to make permanent a 20 percent deduction claimed by firms operated as pass-through entities, as well as a half-dozen other GOP bills aimed at tax incentives for start-up businesses, tax breaks on intellectual property transferred to the U.S., deductions on business interest, and other measures aimed at making permanent or enacting new business tax breaks. Senate Republicans also largely support those efforts, according to interviews with a half-dozen congressional aides and outside policy experts. “It’ll be a battle royale in Washington over the next year over which of Trump’s tax cuts get extended,” said Stephen Moore, an economic adviser to Trump and many leading congressional Republicans. “This will be a central, driving theme of the Republican Congress — making those tax cuts permanent.” The legislative battles could start before the end of this year. Republicans are already pushing extension of three corporate tax breaks — including two that expired at the end of last year and a third that starts to expire next year. Collectively, these three measures would add roughly $600 billion to the federal deficit over 10 years if extended, according to nonpartisan estimates, outstripping the cost of Biden’s student debt relief program (the cost of which many Republicans have criticized) and increasing federal spending at a time of surging inflation. The 2017 GOP tax cut centered on a massive cut to the rate corporations pay, the cost of which was partially offset by ending corporate tax breaks with the expectation that lawmakers would later prevent them from actually being eliminated. Democrats tried to increase the corporate tax rate as part of their economic legislation this year, but failed in large part because of opposition from Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). They instead passed a minimum tax only on very large corporations. “The Republicans did not want to look like they were giving too much away to businesses, so they had some of the business relief expire and had some offset by business tax increases,” said Steve Rosenthal, a policy analyst at the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank. “Now to come back and extend business relief and reverse the increases would mean further tilting our tax system toward the rich and the powerful.” Republicans are also planning to push for reductions in government spending, although the exact contours of that policy appear less clear. Bloomberg Government reported Tuesday that the four House Republicans seeking to lead the House budget committee are all exploring changes to Social Security and Medicare to reduce costs to the federal budget, seeking to use the debt ceiling or government shutdown to force the issue. But analysts say it may be more likely that the extension of the tax cuts is paired with spending increases sought by Democrats. Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in a statement, for instance, that additional business tax relief should only pass if Democrats secure funding for one of their policy priorities, such as Biden’s Child Tax Credit. That combination would increase the deficit even more than only adding spending or only cutting taxes would. “What I worry about is the kind of horse trading where Republicans get tax cuts, Democrats get expanded tax credits, and the American people are stuck with the bill,” said Marc Goldwein, senior vice president at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan think tank that advocates for lower deficits. Still, the GOP’s push for tax cuts could also undermine their claims to be determined to bring down inflation. Jason Furman, a former Obama administration economist who has been critical of Biden’s spending record, said the GOP plans would increase inflation at a time of the fastest price hikes in decades. “The corporate tax cuts the Republicans are pushing would add to inflation, add to the deficit, and do little or nothing for economic growth,” said Furman, now a professor at Harvard. “They were a budget gimmick to start with. Extending them without paying for them now would be doubling down on the original gimmick.” But Republicans say they are committed to extending the cuts. “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has been providing real, substantial relief to families and businesses,” said Rep. Jason T. Smith (R-Mo.), of the House Budget Committee, in a statement. “We need to build on that success by making permanent those policies that are supporting families and workers while looking at what more needs to be done to the tax code.” The Washington Post’s Jacob Bogage contributed to this report. Read More Here

Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine To Open In OKC In February – Arkansas Catholic – October 17, 2022 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/blessed-stanley-rother-shrine-to-open-in-okc-in-february-arkansas-catholic-october-17-2022/ Shrine staff make five-stop tour of Arkansas churches to provide construction updates Published: October 17, 2022       By Chris Price Arkansas Catholic Staff Chris Price Jason Spoolstra, director of pilgrimages for the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine in Oklahoma City, provides a construction update on the exterior of the shrine at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Benton Oct. 8. Representatives from the shrine toured Arkansas in October to discuss Rother and the new church, which will be dedicated Feb. 17. In seminary, he struggled with Latin, had to repeat a year of philosophy and failed theology. One of his brother priests thought he was too “dumb” to have been ordained. Yet, he may be one of the Church’s next to be canonized a saint. Over first two weekends of October, Arkansans in Barling, Bentonville, Little Rock, Benton and Jonesboro had the opportunity to learn about Blessed Stanley Rother, as representatives toured the state from the Oklahoma City shrine, pilgrimage center and museum being built in his honor. Attendees learned about the life of the Oklahoma priest and martyr and got construction updates on the new facility, which will be dedicated Feb. 17.  The $40 million, 60-acre campus will feature a 2,000-seat church designed in the Spanish mission style, recalling Father Rother’s church in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, St. James the Apostle Church. A 6,000-square-foot museum and pilgrim center will feature artifacts from his life, martyrdom and beatification; and a two-story event and education building will offer classrooms, administrative offices and space for receptions and retreats for pilgrims visiting the shrine. Jason Spoolstra, director of pilgrimages for the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine in Oklahoma City, said his team received a great reception in Arkansas, with as many as 80 people coming to hear their presentation at each stop . “What I hope is achieved is that people realize he was just an everyday guy,” Spoolstra said. “He didn’t come from a family of affluence. He was just a salt-of-the-earth guy. He struggled. He failed. But he got back up and said, ‘I’m not gonna let this deter me. I’m gonna keep pushing through.’ And that’s a great example for us all. Saints are among us.” “What I hope is achieved is that people realize he was just an everyday guy,” Spoolstra said. “He didn’t come from a family of affluence. He was just a salt-of-the-earth guy. He struggled. He failed. But he got back up and said, ‘I’m not gonna let this deter me. I’m gonna keep pushing through.’ And that’s a great example for us all. Saints are among us.”  Spoolstra said the shrine hit its original fundraising goals, but COVID-related building issues drove costs up unexpectedly.  “The cost of everything has gone up, beyond even what we had budgeted, so while we met the goal, we’re still short because expenses have gone up,” he said.  Father Rother was born to a Catholic farming family on March 27, 1935, in Okarche, Okla. The summer after he graduated high school, he felt called to the seminary. In 1953, at 18, he began two years of preparatory work at St. John Seminary in San Antonio before transferring across town to Assumption Seminary. While Assumption asked him to leave after he failed a theology class, his bishop, Bishop Victor Reed, sent him to Immaculate Conception Seminary in Missouri to study Latin for a summer before he transferred to Mount St. Mary Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. On May 25, 1963, Bishop Reed ordained Father Rother.  After serving as a priest for five years, Father Rother, 33, volunteered to serve the Diocese of Oklahoma City and Tulsa’s four-year-old mission in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, a parish founded by Franciscans in 1547.  According to the book “Blessed Stanley Rother, The First American Martyr,” by Bishop Anthony B. Taylor, by the mid-70s the military government was suspicious of Catholics like Father Rother, who started a hospital, school, co-op farm to help poor farmers and a radio station to preach and educate. Father Rother learned Spanish and the local unwritten indigenous language, Tz’utujil, and soon was preaching without an interpreter.  Priests and catechists were targeted by terrorist groups, and many left. Bishop Taylor wrote that “between 1979 and 1981 Guatemala lost half of its priests, 80 percent of whom were foreign missionaries.” Father Rother, who was by then was the leader of the Oklahoma mission in Guatemala, was first included on a “death list” in May 1979. He stayed in Guatemala until Jan. 28, 1981, when he came home to Oklahoma for six weeks but returned on Palm Sunday, April 11, in order to celebrate Easter with his flock of 22,000.  He returned to Oklahoma to attend his cousin’s ordination on May 16, 1981. It was the last time his family would see him alive. At 1:25 a.m. on July 28, three men attacked Father Rother in his church and shot him twice in the head.  In 2007, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City opened the canonization cause for Father Rother. Pope Francis declared him a martyr Dec. 1, 2016, making him the first martyr from the United States. He was beatified in Oklahoma City Sept. 23, 2017, becoming the first U.S.-born priest to be beatified.  The next day, Blessed Stanley Rother Mission in Decatur (Benton County) became the first Catholic church in the world to be named for him. Now, if a miracle can be attributed to Blessed Stanley, he can be canonized a saint.    Cynthia Aranda, the shrine’s executive assistant who gave the Spanish presentations, said many are already claiming Blessed Stanley’s intervention. “I receive those phone calls,” she said. “The first time I got one I was just jumping up and down. So I went to the deacon who is collecting all of the information, and he goes, ‘Calm down, Cynthia. We get these phone calls all the time.’ Now it’s just the process of proving that they are truly miracles and getting the Vatican’s approval, but I think it’s just a matter of time. He only needs one.” For more information on the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine, construction updates or to make a donation, visit rothershrine.org. Please read our Comments Policy before posting. Article comments powered by Read More…

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Says He's Considering A Run For President In 2024 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/miami-mayor-francis-suarez-says-hes-considering-a-run-for-president-in-2024/ Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said he would consider running for president in 2024. “It’s something that I would consider given the right circumstances and given the right mood of the country,” he said. Suarez made the comments during an event hosted by Punchbowl News.  Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you’re on the go. MIAMI, Florida — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said Monday that he’s considering joining the crowded field of prospective 2024 Republican presidential candidates.  “It’s something that I would consider given the right circumstances and given the right mood of the country,” Suarez said Monday at a Punchbowl News event.  Suarez has been getting national attention given the surge of people and tech companies moving to Florida, particularly to Miami. Suarez didn’t vote for former President Donald Trump during the 2020 election and in the 2018 gubernatorial race in Florida he voted for Democrat Andrew Gillum rather than Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.  Suaez is a 45-year-old Cuban American who’s head of the National Conference of Mayors. During his tenure he has actively worked to recruit Silicon Valley companies to Miami.  When asked about how he might stand out in a presidential race, he pointed to his age difference from some of the other potential condenders.  “I’m someone who is from the next generation,” Suarez said at the event, held at Miami Ironside. “I’m not a boomer, obviously. I’m someone who believes in a positive aspirational message. I’m someone who has a track record of success and a formula for success.” There’s no shortage of Floridians considering a presidential bid. Trump continues to tease a presidential run, and there’s a lot of chatter surrounding Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Other possible contenders could include Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, who ran for the ticket in 2016.  Trump would be 78 if he were to run for president in 2024. DeSantis is a year younger than Suarez.  Suarez said he might be able to speak to “a variety of minority communities that are going to be important if Republicans want to grow their base for a generation.”  Florida’s battleground status will be tested during the November midterms, in which both DeSantis and Rubio are up for reelection. Republicans have out-registered Democrats in the state by 270,000 people, and Florida — including Trump’s Mar-a-Lago — is a major destination for fundraisers.  Suarez said he’d evaluate the “mood” of US voters before making a determination. In 2016, he said, the mood had been “angry” and in 2020 voters “wanted anything but Trump.” “It remains to be seen what the country is going to want in ’24,” he said.  If Trump and DeSantis were both to enter the race, Suarez predicted, then they’d be similar candidates who’d attract the same type of voters. He predicted Trump would be “definitive” whether he decides to enter the race or whether he decides to be a GOP kingmaker.  But Suarez said Trump also has been kind to him. The two spoke at a wedding recently, he said, and Trump told him he was the “hottest politician in America after him.” “I don’t know if he meant physically hot or if he meant I was getting a lot of buzz,” Suarez said. “But he was very nice.”  Read More Here

Fact Check: False Claim Kamala Harris Resigned As Vice President https://digitalarkansasnews.com/fact-check-false-claim-kamala-harris-resigned-as-vice-president/ The claim: Kamala Harris resigned as vice president It’s been less than two years since Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president, but some social media users claimed the executive branch’s second-in-command suddenly left her position in October.  “Kamala Harris Resigns In SH0CK after Biden’s ‘Mandatory’ Border Trip…Trump JAILS ‘Corrupt’ VP,” reads the title of an Oct. 11 Facebook post that includes a nearly 28-minute long video from Newsmax, a conservative cable network. The post received more than 38,000 views and 1,000 shares in three days. But the attached video clip says no such thing – it refers to Harris as the current vice president. There have been no announcements that she resigned or intends to do so.  Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the claim for comment. Harris made appearances as vice president after purported resignation The Newsmax video included in the Facebook post references Harris as the vice president and makes no assertion that she resigned.  One of its segments includes a conversation between Rob Schmitt, host of Newsmax’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” and Mark Morgan, the former acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.  Schmitt refers to Harris as the vice president when introducing a clip from her Oct. 10 appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” In the interview with Meyers, Harris called Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to send busloads of migrants to various places around the country, including her home in Washington, D.C., an “absolute dereliction of duty.” In the Oct. 11 segment on “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” Schmitt and Morgan criticize Harris’ comments and the Biden administration’s border policy – and both refer to Harris as the vice president. The White House website still identifies Harris as the current vice president. It has not published any news releases about a resignation. More: VP Kamala Harris talks midterms, marijuana and abortion on ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’ Harris made several appearances in the days after she purportedly left office, including an interview with WDIV-Local 4 News in Detroit and a speech at the White House Accelerating Infrastructure Summit. In both cases, Harris was introduced as the vice president. The second aspect of the Facebook post, which claims former President Donald Trump jailed Harris, is also baseless. Trump does not have the legal authority to jail anyone. PolitiFact and Lead Stories also debunked the claim.  Our rating: False Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim Harris resigned as vice president. The video clip attached to the Facebook post refers to Harris as the current vice president. There have been no announcements that she resigned or intends to do so. Our fact-check sources:  The White House, accessed Oct. 14, Kamala Harris – The Vice President The White House, accessed Oct. 14, Statements and Releases WDIV-Local 4 News, Oct. 14, Full interview: Vice President Kamala Harris speaks 1-on-1 with Local 4′s Rhonda Walker Lead Stories, Oct. 13, Fact Check: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris Did NOT Resign On October 12, 2022 PolitiFact, Oct. 13, Kamala Harris didn’t resign or get jailed by Trump The White House via YouTube, Oct. 13, White House Accelerating Infrastructure Summit Newsmax, Oct. 11, Rob Schmitt Tonight (10/11/2022) Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.  Read More Here

January 6 Committee Finale Was Just The Beginning https://digitalarkansasnews.com/january-6-committee-finale-was-just-the-beginning/ In its last scheduled public hearing before the midterms, the bipartisan House January 6 Committee summarized its most damning evidence. The violent mob attempt to overthrow the government of the United States on Jan. 6, 2021, wasn’t just planned, incited and inflamed by President Trump, but he did nothing to stop the rampage for hours, hoping to retain the presidency through violence after his defeat by the American people. There are lots of other issues in the midterm elections on Nov. 8 including rising prices, abortion rights, gun violence, voting rights and a climate crisis threatening life on earth, but American democracy will also be on the ballot. In an ideal world, both parties would be working together to make sure our democracy is never again threatened by violent, homegrown, unAmerican terrorists. Sadly, that’s not yet true. The January 6 Committee has laid out a compelling case to hold accountable those who devised that historic assault on America as well as the riotous mob that publicly participated in the mayhem and destruction. The committee will issue a final report before the current session ends recommending steps Congress should take to prevent another violent attack on democracy. Republican Obstruction But no one really expects any legislation to try to prevent another violent insurrection to pass until Republicans join Democrats in protecting the outcomes of elections in our democracy. Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger were the only two House Republicans out of 212 willing to join the January 6 Committee to recommend ways to protect the results of free and fair elections in America. As a result, it has ended their Republican political careers. But that doesn’t mean the January 6 Committee hasn’t already made an invaluable contribution to the future of democracy. The measure of the committee’s success was never whether it changed the minds of Republicans who believed Trump’s preposterous lies that a nonexistent landslide victory was stolen from him. They simply stuck their fingers in their ears and recited nursery rhymes during months of compelling public testimony. Friends of the Shepherd Help support Milwaukee’s locally owned free weekly newspaper. LEARN MORE But here’s something the committee has changed. When the committee’s televised hearings began in June, there was widespread commentary by legal experts Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland might be reluctant to criminally indict Trump because taking such an action against a president would be unprecedented. It’s no longer considered unlikely. Multiple crimes involving Trump are under active investigation by the U.S. Justice Department because January 6 itself was unprecedented. Stone: ‘Claim Victory’ In a documentary film interview shown by the committee, Roger Stone, Trump’s crude, unethical political advisor, revealed months before the election Trump intended to claim he won and remain in office if he was defeated. “The key thing to do is to claim victory,” Stone said. “Possession is nine-tenths of the law. ‘No, we won. Fuck you.’ We’ll have to start smashing pumpkins if you know what I mean.” Jason Miller, another political advisor, bragged in a text on January 6 to Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows: “I got the base fired up.” As proof, he proudly forwarded violent online comments from Trump supporters including “Our ‘lawmakers’ in Congress can leave in one of two ways: 1. In a bodybag. 2. After rightfully certifying Trump the winner.” Here’s another one: “Keep your guns hidden. Don’t fuck around, full kits, 180 rounds minimum.” The detailed revelations of what was going on in the White House from Election Day through January 6, mostly provided by Republican appointees and staff, have been shocking. Just as shocking has been the reluctance of elected Republicans to distance themselves from it out of fear of losing votes or possibly their lives from Trump’s most dangerous supporters. Think About Your Vote When we vote for major state and national candidates in the midterms, we can’t escape thinking about which party represents the country we want to live in. That determines how elected officials approach every issue directly affecting our lives.  Wisconsin voters continue to be frustrated by their inability to have any control over their radically gerrymandered Republican state legislature still fighting over how to sabotage Biden’s election victory two years ago. Statewide elections for Gov. Tony Evers, U.S. Senator Mandela Barnes and Atty. Gen. Josh Kaul are among the few elections Republicans can’t corruptly gerrymander allowing voters to make their voices heard. There is nothing recognizably conservative about the Republican Party that has been remade in Trump’s angry, hateful image. Its major candidates in Wisconsin and across the country are loyal Trumpians. Republican leaders clearly won’t have the political courage to rid their party of all those who attempted to destroy democracy on January 6 until it starts costing them elections.  If it doesn’t happen in the midterms, we’ll have to fight for our democracy again in two years. We’ve had two national elections in a row with record turnouts supporting American democracy. We need to make it three. Joel McNally Joel McNally is a national-award-winning newspaper columnist and a longtime political commentator on Milwaukee radio and television. Since 1997, Joel has written a column for the Shepherd Express where he also was editor for two years. Read more by Joel McNally Oct. 17, 2022 10:49 a.m. Read More Here

Credit Suisse Pays $495 Mln To Settle Legacy U.S. Case https://digitalarkansasnews.com/credit-suisse-pays-495-mln-to-settle-legacy-u-s-case/ Settlement ends bank’s largest outstanding RMBS case Credit Suisse says settlement is fully covered by provisions Bank still has five cases to resolve Expects to resolve outstanding cases in next six months ZURICH, Oct 17 (Reuters) – Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) has agreed to pay $495 million to settle a case related to mortgage-linked investments in the United States, the latest pay-out related to past blunders that have battered the Swiss bank’s reputation. The lender has been paying out billions of dollars to resolve legal cases linked to its residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) business in the run up to the 2008 financial crisis. The decline in mortgage payments reduced the value of the assets, leading to huge losses for investors. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Switzerland’s second biggest bank is trying to move on from these legacy issues which have dogged its performance and cost it billions of dollars. The bank is also trying to recover from other missteps, including losing more than $5 billion from the collapse of investment firm Archegos last year, when it also had to suspend client funds linked to defunct financier Greensill Capital. The latest RMBS case, brought by the New Jersey Attorney General, alleged Credit Suisse had “misled investors and engaged in fraud or deceit in connection with the offer and sale of RMBS.” The attorney general’s office had claimed more than $3 billion in damages in a case filed in 2013. “Credit Suisse is pleased to have reached an agreement that allows the bank to resolve the only remaining RMBS matter involving claims by a regulator,” the bank said in a statement. “The settlement, for which Credit Suisse is fully provisioned, marks another important step in the bank’s efforts to pro-actively resolve litigation and legacy issues.” The logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen at its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland February 22, 2022. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann The New Jersey case was the largest of its remaining exposure on its legacy RMBS business, Credit Suisse said, with five remaining cases at various stages of litigation. These are expected to be resolved in the next six months, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The total cost likely to be much less than $100 million, the source added. RMBS are a debt-based securities, seen as similar to bonds, which are backed by the interest paid on home loans packaged together to sell to investors. But poorly constructed RMBS’s contributed to the financial crisis in 2008 – when wider groups of mortgages defaulted leading to big losses. Credit Suisse, whose share price has more than halved in the last 12 months, has already paid out huge sums to resolve claims related to the products, including a $5.3 billion deal with the Department of Justice in 2017. It said at that time products it sold did not meet underwriting guidelines. It also paid $600 million to MBIA Inc last year after the New York based-municipal bond insurer paid out hundreds of millions to compensate investors. The bank, one of the largest in Europe and one of Switzerland’s global systemically important banks, is scheduled to release details of a much anticipated strategic review alongside third-quarter results on Oct. 27. In June, the bank was convicted of failing to prevent money laundering by a Bulgarian cocaine trafficking gang, while a Bermuda court ruled that a former Georgian Prime Minister and his family were due damages of more than half a billion dollars from Credit Suisse’s local life insurance arm. The U.S. Justice Department is also investigating whether Credit Suisse continued helping U.S. clients hide assets from authorities, eight years after the Swiss bank paid a $2.6-billion tax evasion settlement. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by John Revill and Oliver Hirt; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Mark Potter and Jane Merriman Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

Walker Acknowledges Sending $700 Check To Woman Who Alleges He Paid For Abortion But Denies It Was For That Purpose | CNN Politics https://digitalarkansasnews.com/walker-acknowledges-sending-700-check-to-woman-who-alleges-he-paid-for-abortion-but-denies-it-was-for-that-purpose-cnn-politics/ CNN  —  Republican Georgia Senate nominee Herschel Walker acknowledged in a new interview that he sent a $700 check to a woman who alleges the money was provided to reimburse her for an abortion, though Walker denies the check was for that purpose. In an interview with NBC News that aired Monday morning, Walker was presented with a copy of the check, along with a receipt from the medical center in Georgia where the woman had the procedure. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s my signature or not,” Walker said, before examining the document with reading glasses on and concluding, “Yes, that’s my check.” When first shown the check, Walker said it wasn’t relevant and suggested that, because he and the woman had a child together, the money wasn’t necessarily meant for what she is alleging. “This is still a lie, because she’s the mother of my child,” Walker said. “I have no idea what that could be for.” The mother of one of Walker’s children came forward initially to The Daily Beast and later to other outlets alleging that Walker paid for her abortion in 2009 and urged her to have a second one, which she declined. Walker has vehemently denied the allegations from the woman, who has remained anonymous. CNN has not independently confirmed the woman’s allegations. Walker’s bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is one of the closest and most critical Senate races in the country, as Republicans seek to win back control of the body, which is currently split 50-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the deciding vote. The Georgia campaign has been dominated for two weeks by allegations that Walker paid for a woman’s abortion and encouraged her to have another one. Early voting begins on Monday in Georgia. A survey released by Quinnipiac University earlier this month, and conducted after the allegations emerged, found Warnock with 52% support among likely voters to 45% for Walker, about the same as in a poll from mid-September. Walker also told NBC News that former President Donald Trump called him after the candidate’s debate with Warnock. Asked whether Trump would come to Georgia to campaign with him ahead of the November election, Walker demurred. “Oh, if I needed him, he’ll come,” Walker said. Read More Here

Jeremy Hunt: We Will Reverse Almost All Mini-Budget Tax Cuts https://digitalarkansasnews.com/jeremy-hunt-we-will-reverse-almost-all-mini-budget-tax-cuts/ Media caption, The lower rate of 20p tax will remain “until economic circumstances allow for it to be cut” says the chancellor. By Becky Morton BBC political reporter The government will reverse almost all the tax cuts it announced last month, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said. Mr Hunt said economic growth required “confidence and stability”, adding that the UK “will always pay its way”. But the announcement means that the chancellor has unwound almost all of Liz Truss’s key measures announced in September’s mini-budget. The BBC’s political editor Chris Mason said the statement shredded nearly every element of the prime minister’s prospectus, and showed “the Truss programme for government is dead”. One former cabinet minister told the BBC: “She is a goner. [The chancellor’s statement] put it beyond any doubt. “What is the point of Liz Truss? That is the question… there is literally no point,” they added. A Downing Street spokesman said the PM and chancellor were working closely together, and sidestepped questions on whether Ms Truss would be resigning. Ms Truss rejected a Labour request that she comes beforehand to explain the U-turns herself, and sent Commons leader Penny Mordaunt instead. Among the measures to be reversed are plans to cut the basic rate of income tax from 20p to 19p from April. Mr Hunt said the rate would remain at 20p “indefinitely until economic circumstances allow for it to be cut”. The chancellor said it was “a deeply held Conservative value” that people should keep more of the money they earn. “But at a time when markets are rightly demanding commitments to sustainable public finances, it is not right to borrow to fund this tax cut,” he added. However, Mr Hunt said the cuts to stamp duty paid on house purchases and the scrapping of the National Insurance rise would continue. Other measures to be axed include: Cuts to dividend tax rates The reversal of off-payroll working reforms introduced in 2018 and 2021 VAT-free shopping for international tourists The freeze on alcohol duty rates Mr Hunt said the measures, including the previously announced freeze on corporation tax and keeping the top rate of income tax, would raise around £32bn a year. Last month, the government announced it would cap the typical household energy bill at £2,500 for two years. However, Mr Hunt said this pledge would now only last until April and beyond then there would be a new approach “that will cost the taxpayer significantly less than planned”. The prime minister has repeatedly highlighted how the government’s energy support package lasted longer than the six months promised by Labour. Mr Hunt said there would be “more difficult decisions” on tax and spending. “All departments will need to redouble their efforts to find savings and some areas of spending will need to be cut,” he said. Image source, Reuters Image caption, The prime minister held crisis talks with her chancellor at her official country retreat over the weekend Meanwhile, Angela Richardson has become the fourth Conservative MP to publicly call for Ms Truss to stand down. Ms Richardson, who backed Ms Truss’s rival Rishi Sunak during the leadership campaign, told Times Radio problems with the public finances were “100% down to the prime minister” and it was not “tenable” for her to stay on any longer. She joins Tory MPs Crispin Blunt, Andrew Bridgen and Jamie Wallis in openly calling for the PM to go. Many others are privately saying Ms Truss cannot remain prime minister. Under current Conservative Party rules, Ms Truss is safe from a no confidence vote by Tory MPs to oust her for a year. The rules could be changed, however sources suggested to the BBC that the 1922 committee of backbench MPs, who set the rules, would prefer the prime minister to jump before she is pushed. Some Tories have suggested putting forward just one candidate to replace her, with MPs choosing their next leader in a couple of days without consulting members, as would normally happen. The three names being widely discussed are Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, Commons leader Ms Mordaunt and former Chancellor Mr Sunak. However, there is little agreement over who should take over from Ms Truss if she is removed. Tory MP Ben Bradley said the chancellor’s statement effectively rendered the political fallout of the government’s mini-budget and the slump in polls for the Conservatives “entirely pointless”. “Right back where we started, just far less popular than before,” he added. Labour said the Conservatives had “lost all credibility”. “The chancellor said that growth requires ‘confidence and stability’ yet it’s clear that the Tories can’t provide this,” shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said. The Liberal Democrats’ Treasury spokeswoman Sarah Olney called for a general election to ensure “stability”. SNP Treasury spokeswoman Alison Thewlis said the now virtually scrapped mini-budget had caused “huge economic pain”, adding that she was worried about suggestions of a further “tightening to purse strings”. The financial markets appeared to respond positively to the chancellor’s announcement, with government borrowing costs falling and the pound rising against the dollar. What is your reaction to the chancellor’s announcement? Do you have any questions for our experts? Please get in touch by emailing: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways: If you are reading this page and can’t see the form you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. Read More Here

Iron Man Versus The Avengers; Who Will Win 1v1? https://digitalarkansasnews.com/iron-man-versus-the-avengers-who-will-win-1v1/ Iron Man against the Avengers is something to think about. The suit has gone through a chain of developments throughout the years and so has Tony. Tony, using his wit, time travel discovery, and suits can easily take on most of the members of the Avengers team in a one-on-one fight. Can Tony Stark beat the members of the Avengers in a one-on-one fight? If so, how? The answer is probably yes. But what if some other avenger is more powerful than him, would we love Tony Stark any lesser? Probably not. So, with a lot of love and respect for Tony Stark, let us start this discussion. Hawk Eye vs The Iron Man  Now, this guy is someone who has never missed a shot right? And the arrow that this guy uses has different types of mechanisms. Most of the arrows are technologically advanced. But at the end of the day, he is just a man with a bow and an arrow up against the most powerful suit of armor ever made, the Iron Man suit. So even the mark 3 or 4 of the Iron Man suit can whoop Hawk Eye’s ass. Black Widow vs The Iron Man  A trained assassin who never received the love and affection of a family is quite dangerous. We know that she is good on the field, fights well, and has extreme manipulative capabilities. But when it comes to Tony Stark, he already has a smart woman in his life, Pepper. So Black Widow’s charming nature as a woman will not work here and Iron man’s suit of armor can crack this widow’s neck at an instance. Doctors Strange vs The Iron Man  Now, this is a tricky one. Because Doctor Strange has the capabilities of a wizard and works wonders with the time stone. But the thing we have to notice here is that our dear Doctor Strange landed on the field way later than the infamous Tony Stark. He was a real Doctor living a lavish life at the beginning, right? What happened? Couldn’t handle a Lamborghini car crash? Now the thing that we have to remember here is, our very own genius stud, Tony Stark, figured out how to time travel. He invented the time machine. So if Doctor Strange was up against Tony Stark, at first Tony will surely whoop Doctor Strange’s ass in a one-on-one fight. Also, if Tony Stark needs to kill Doctor Strange, he can simply go back in time and kill him in the hospital he was working in with just one blast shot from his Iron Man suit. Bye-bye Doctor Strange! Thor vs The Iron Man  Now, taking upon Thor will be a challenge. Because Thor is not human. Thor is a God. And Gods are immortal, right? So, how do you kill an immortal? Well, here I have to be genuine and brutally honest that Thor can’t technically be killed but he will have a tough time fighting, Tony. In one of the scenes from the Avengers, it is seen that Tony Stark’s suit gets charged when Thor hits it with thunder. So the two can keep fighting for a long long time. Here is a flex from Tony’s side. His technologically advanced suits work without him in them. So Tony Stark doesn’t need to fight Thor, he can just send a few of his good Iron Man suits to keep Thor busy. Now moving on to our green buddy. Hulk vs The Iron Man  Now Hulk is a character that just doesn’t die. Dr. Bruce tried killing himself but his other personality, Hulk, just comes out and brings him back to life. But, who remembers the Hulk buster? The suit of armor that Tony built just to fight his dear friend’s monster version. The Hulk. Hulk comes out in anger, right? So all Tony has gotta do, is find a way to sedate Doctor Bruce Banner and keep him sealed somewhere far away underwater while still keeping him alive. Mystery solved. Captain America vs The Iron Man  Steve Rogers was one of the super soldiers created while testing the super soldier serum. To be brutally honest, Captain America was a lab test that went on to be successful. But, if Tony figures out a way to get the super serum out of him, then Captain America is just another soldier with a good heart. So all Tony needs to do, is pin down Captain America with a few of his suits and then drain the super soldier serum out of him. And Captain America will be done. Black Panther vs The Iron Man  You will always be our King. pic.twitter.com/iuN8eGpbXw — Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (@theblackpanther) August 31, 2020 The King of Wakanda, walking around in a suit of armor made of vibranium is quite the guy we have come across in the MCU. But, we have noticed in his films that when under a high magnetic field pressure, his suit doesn’t work properly, and Tony can take rightful advantage of this situation. He can easily build a room or a trick in his suit where a high magnetic field pressure is produced and then attack Black Panther likewise. Black Panther won’t stand a chance against Tony in such a scenario. Wanda the Witch vs The Iron Man  Not a big fan of brain manipulation magic but our little witch here is good at it. No wonder she played with Tony’s mind too. But in the end, Wanda is just a human who is genetically advanced due to a few lab experiments. And Tony being Tony is the genius. Now, all Tony has to do is, build a room where no one can enter and send a few suits to assassinate Wanda. And control the whole operation sitting in that room, Jarvis will take care of the rest. Wanda cannot manipulate or play mind games with an AR intelligence system, can she? So yeah, another win for Tony. Pietro Maximoff ( aka Quicksilver ) vs The Iron Man  Poor me, still waiting for quick silver and wanda vision to show up and fight in this Ukrainian war pic.twitter.com/HEBC0uCg2W — Dagmawi DMF (@Dagmmulu_dmf) February 26, 2022 Wanda’s twin brother’s only capability was that he was very fast. Now for Tony, this should be a piece of cake to handle. All he gotta do is ask Jarvis to analyze this guy’s fight pattern and prepare countermeasures. And this guy will be done in minutes. Vision vs The Iron Man  The super bot with synthesized skin and muscles and the mind stone combined with Jarvis’s matrix was created by Tony Stark and Dr. Bruce Banner. But is vision capable of taking on Tony Stark? Vision can fight Tony but that’s about it. All Tony has to do, is capture Vision, and pull the mind stone off him and Vision will be done. But Thanos already did that for us, didn’t he? Spider-Man vs The Iron Man  tom holland as peter parker spider man’s entrance through the portal in avengers endgame pic.twitter.com/zwhl6oXkcI — mcu reactions & clips (@reactmcu) September 14, 2022 Peter, the chosen son of Stark will never go against him. But for the sake of argument, Tony designed for Peter the Spider-Man suit. So Tony will exactly know how to counter it. There is no debate here. Conclusion It can be said that Iron Man is the only Avenger who can practically take on all the Avengers. Now that is badass. What matters most at the end of the day is intelligence. It can beat anything. Be it our everyday struggles or the Avengers. Tony has always been about keeping people at peace and together but he had the power to destroy almost every other Avenger. Right? But he did not. He used his intelligence and power to rather bring everyone together and fight as one against the enemy. He used his intelligence to save the world. It was his choice. We always have a choice and it is very rightly said,” It is our choices that make us who we are. ” It was Tony’s choices that made him the best Avenger that ever lived. Cheers to Tony Stark. Cheers to the Iron Man. Also Read: The Marvels: Leaks, Release date, and Cast members, Will Goose the Cat return? Make sure you share, subscribe to our push notifications, and never miss an update from the world of video games, cinema, and sports. You can also follow us on Twitter @spieltimes for the latest PS5 restock and drop. Stay Safe and Happy Gaming Read More Here

Justice Wants 6-Month Jail Sentence For Steve Bannon https://digitalarkansasnews.com/justice-wants-6-month-jail-sentence-for-steve-bannon/ (The Hill) — The Justice Department is calling for one-time White House strategist Steve Bannon to serve six months of jail time and pay a $200,000 fine for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The recommendation comes ahead of a Friday sentencing hearing for Bannon, who was among the first four people to be subpoenaed by the panel, claiming executive privilege barred him from testifying before the panel despite their interest in actions he took well after his short stint in the White House. A $200,000 fine is the maximum for the two counts of contempt of Congress – one for refusing to testify, and the other for refusing to produce any of the documents requested in the deposition.  That was a result, DOJ said, of his refusal to participate in a review of his finances that helps determine the extent of a fine a defendant will pay. “For his sustained, bad-faith contempt of Congress, the defendant should be sentenced to six months’ imprisonment—the top end of the Sentencing Guidelines’ range—and fined $200,000—based on his insistence on paying the maximum fine rather than cooperate with the Probation Office’s routine pre-sentencing financial investigation,” DOJ wrote. Bannon was subpoenaed by the panel in September of last year, with the full House voting to hold him in contempt roughly a month later. That subpoena noted Bannon’s presence in the Trump campaign’s “war room” at the Willard Hotel, including involvement in a discussion with Republican lawmakers about objecting to election results. They also sought to ask him about a comment of a Jan. 5 episode of his podcast where he said “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow.” Bannon began his confrontation with the Justice Department with a fiery press conference he live streamed, vowing to fight the charges. “I’m telling you right now, this is going to be the misdemeanor from hell for Merrick Garland, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. … We’re going on the offense,” Bannon said last November. But shortly before trial, Bannon sought to cooperate with the committee, claiming Trump had freed him from the constraint of executive privilege that DOJ had determined did not apply to him. “On the eve of trial, he attempted an about-face, representing to the Committee that former President Donald J. Trump had waived executive privilege and freed the Defendant to cooperate. But this proved a hollow gesture; when he realized that his eleventh-hour stunt would not prevent his trial, the Defendant’s cooperative spirit vanished,” DOJ wrote in Monday’s filing. Ahead of trial a judge rejected most of the arguments Bannon’s defense team could present before the jury, and ultimately his legal team decided to call no witnesses and did not introduce any new evidence at trial. Read More Here

For Biden And Trump, 2022 Is 2020 Sequel — And 2024 Preview? – Fox21Online https://digitalarkansasnews.com/for-biden-and-trump-2022-is-2020-sequel-and-2024-preview-fox21online/ WASHINGTON (AP) — This year’s midterm elections are playing out as a strange continuation of the last presidential race — and a potential preview of the next one. Donald Trump, who refused to exit the stage after his defeat and continues to rally his supporters with lies about voter fraud, has spent months raging against Joe Biden, reshaping down-ballot campaigns that normally function as a straightforward referendum on the incumbent president. The result is an episode of political shadowboxing with little precedent, as the current president and his immediate predecessor — and possible future challenger — crisscross the country in support of their party’s candidates. Even as he faces multiple investigations, including a criminal probe into the handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump has been holding raucous rallies in battleground states, where he alternates between touting his handpicked candidates and denouncing his enemies. He belittles and excoriates Biden while lying, as he did in Ohio last month, that “we didn’t lose” the last election. Biden has so far steered clear of some of the tightest midterm races, instead focusing on fundraisers and official events where he draws contrasts between Democratic and Republican policy agendas. He often avoids direct references to “the last guy,” but on Saturday in Oregon, Biden warned that “Trump controls the Republican Party.” Sometimes the two men travel to the same places, such as when they visited Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, within days of each other, a reflection of the narrow political map that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. “It’s remarkably unusual,” said Jeffrey Engel, founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, who strained to think of any comparison in previous election cycles. “Without exception, since the Great Depression” — Republican Herbert Hoover tried to plot a path back to power despite losing to Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932 — “we have not had a former president who believed they still had a viable political career ahead of them,” he said. Neither Trump nor Biden has formally announced they will run again. Trump has come close to declaring his candidacy, and Biden has said he intends to seek a second term. If they face off again, the competition between them could become one of the longest and impactful political duels in American history, spanning several years and multiple elections. Voters seem to have little appetite for a rematch. A recent AP-NORC poll shows only about 3 in 10 Americans want either Biden or Trump to run for president in two years. Just 5 in 10 Democrats want Biden to seek a second term, while 6 out of 10 Republicans hope to see Trump seek the presidency again. Engel said another battle between Biden and Trump would likely prove dispiriting. “What that fundamentally means is our country is not moving forward,” he said. “I have not met anybody who relishes that campaign.” However, it’s clear that both men see their fortunes tied to the other. When CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Biden whether he’s the only one who could fend off his predecessor in another campaign, the president sidestepped the question but expressed confidence about his chances. “I believe I can beat Donald Trump again,” he said. Trump would take issue with the use of the word “again” — he continues to spread the lie that Biden only took office through voter fraud. It’s an integral part of Trump’s political message, and he never fails to bring it up at rallies for Republican candidates who have endorsed his false views on the last election. Sometimes the rhetoric dives even deeper into conspiracies, a reminder that another campaign could represent an even sharper break with reality. In Arizona, during his most recent rally, Trump darkly suggested that Biden is surrounded by “vicious, very smart people” who are “pulling strings.” “No one thought this could happen in our country, and it all happened because of a rigged and stolen election,” he said. The former president has also tightened his embrace of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which portrays Trump as battling sinister, hidden forces. Using his Truth Social platform, Trump shared an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin overlaid with the words “The Storm is Coming,” referencing his eventual victory over opponents who would be tried — or even executed — on live television. People close to Trump have said they believe a strong performance by Republicans in November will further encourage Trump to run again in two years, as he has been openly teasing for months. In addition to his rallies, which earn candidates local media attention and fire up the Republican base, Trump has been helping candidates in other ways, holding fundraisers and tele-rally calls on their behalf. Most significantly, last week, his new super PAC, MAGA Inc., reserved nearly $5 million in airtime for ads in key states attacking the opponents of his favored candidates. The first round of ads from the group notably do not feature Trump or even mention his name. Republicans have expressed frustration that Trump was hoarding small-dollar donations for himself and refusing to help the candidates he had pushed voters to nominate, despite sitting on an enormous war chest. But Mike DuHaime, a longtime Republican strategist, isn’t sure the outcome of the midterms will make a difference in Trump’s plans for the next presidential race. “He’ll take credit for every win and deflect blame for every loss,” he said. Trump has claimed, as he did in Pennsylvania last month, that the midterms are “a referendum on the corruption and extremism of Joe Biden and the radical Democrat party.” But DuHaime said Trump has prevented that from happening by injecting himself into this year’s races, providing a boost to Biden, whose poll numbers remain underwater as voters express concerns about the economy. “Trump is no ordinary president, nor did he really seem to care about the party,” he said. “He seems to care about himself more than the party that put him in office.” Biden’s circle has a similar view. An adviser, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations, said those around Biden see the midterms as having become more of a choice than a referendum. Trump’s presence on the trail, the adviser said, is seen as helping make Democratic points for them. Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster, said the only thing more helpful would be if Trump announced another presidential campaign. “He’s getting dangerously close to that,” she said. Biden has deferred any announcement about his own candidacy until after Election Day, keeping his focus on the midterms. Like other incumbent presidents in an election year, Biden has blended his political and governmental duties as voting begins. He stopped in Colorado on Wednesday to designate the first national monument of his administration, fulfilling the wishes of the state’s senior Democratic senator, Michael Bennet, who is seeking reelection this year. Although Bennet is favored to win, he’s facing a concerted challenge from Joe O’Dea, a Republican businessman. ___ Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York and Hannah Fingerhut in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow the AP’s coverage of the midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections. ___ This story has been corrected to show the Colorado senator’s surname is Bennet, not Bennett. Read More Here