Tuesday, March 12, 2024

3/12 WAKE-UP CALL: Biden Budget Calls For Taxes, Taxes, Taxes


President Biden’s budget seeks more aid for families and higher taxes on wealthy households and corporations. The proposal would boost federal spending to $7.3 trillion next fiscal year, and raise taxes on the two groups in an attempt to cut the deficit while lowering the costs of prescription drugs, child care and housing. The policy vision isn’t expected to gain momentum in Congress—where lawmakers are straining to approve funding plans for the current fiscal year—but it will be a cornerstone of Biden’s re-election campaign. 


The blueprint also kicks off a fight over Medicare and Social Security, as the president and his presumed Republican opponent, Donald Trump, scramble to lock down the support of older voters. The budget forecasts somewhat higher interest rates for 2024.

➤TENSIONS RISE AT START OF MUSLIM HOLY MONTH: Thousands of Muslim worshipers attended Ramadan prayers at Jerusalem’s most sensitive religious site. A day earlier, visitors and Israeli police had clashed at the Al Aqsa Mosque amid heightened tensions at the start of the Islamic holy month, after talks for a cease-fire in Gaza ran aground. Israel gave Hamas a deadline of the start of Ramadan to strike a deal or face a ground offensive in the southern Gazan city of Rafah. The looming invasion of Rafah also stoked tensions between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s conduct in the war. Biden warned on Saturday that an Israeli attack on Rafah would cross a “red line” if it caused extensive civilian casualties. In an interview on Fox News today, Netanyahu said that if the president meant “we should first enable the safe departure of the civilian population from Rafah before we go in, we agree with that.”

➤ISRAEL RISKING WORLD SUPPORT:  Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was undermining Israel with his approach to the war in Gaza and urged the country to change course or lose even more international support. U.S. President Biden said on Saturday that Netanyahu was "hurting Israel more than helping" by conducting the war in a way contrary to the country's values. Asked about his comments on Tuesday, Wong agreed and said international support for Israel would continue to fray unless it addressed the "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza. "October 7th was a terrorist attack and the world was rightly very sympathetic to and in solidarity with Israel at that time," Wong said at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit on Tuesday. "I think the world is horrified with the current situation ... and I would say that unless Israel changes its course it will continue to lose support."

The war was triggered by the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, in which 1,200 people were killed and 253 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's air and ground assault on Gaza has now killed 31,000 Palestinians, Gaza officials say.

➤HAITI P-M RESIGNS: Haiti's unelected prime minister, Ariel Henry, will step down once a transition council and temporary replacement have been appointed, he said on Monday, after leading the Caribbean country since the 2021 assassination of its last president. Armed gangs massively grew their wealth, influence and territory under his administration, prompting Henry to travel to Kenya in late February to secure its support for a United Nations-backed security mission to help police. However, the conflict dramatically escalated in his absence and left the 74-year-old neurosurgeon stranded in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico while regional leaders called for a swift transition.

"The government that I am leading will resign immediately after the installation of (a transition) council," Henry said in a video address. "I want to thank the Haitian people for the opportunity I had been granted."

➤IN-FLIGHT INCIDENT INJURES 50: Dozens were injured on a Latam Airlines flight after a “technical event” with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Roughly 50 people were treated by first responders after what the airline called “a technical event during the flight which caused a strong movement.” The plane landed in Auckland, New Zealand, as scheduled, it said. 


“We are working to gather more information about the flight and will provide any support needed by our customers,” Boeing said in an emailed statement. The manufacturer’s reputation has suffered after a pair of fatal 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 and the Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines MAX 9 door-plug blowout.

🕇BOEING WHISTLEBLOWER FOUND DEAD:  A Boeing whistleblower was found dead in his truck in the parking lot of his South Carolina hotel after he failed to show up for the second part of his testimony for a bombshell lawsuit against the company, a report said Monday. John Barnett, 62, had raised safety concerns at the airline’s factories and provided his first testimony just days before he was found dead from an apparent “self-inflicted” gunshot wound, the Charleston County coroner told the BBC. Barnett’s attorney, Brian Knowles, told TMZ that he had explicit doubt about the circumstances of his death, and called the self-inflicted gunshot “alleged.” 


➤U-S FACING DANGERS: Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., warned Monday at the Senate Intelligence Committee’s annual worldwide threats hearing. Such attacks, he said, are “increasingly deployed cheaply by an array of adversarial actors,” including hostile foreign nations.Warner, the intel committee chairman, and ranking Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, heard testimony on a broad away of threats from Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and the leaders of the nation’s intelligence agencies, including the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency.

Among the top concerns stated by lawmakers and intelligence officials Monday:

  • China and Russia are increasingly targeting the U.S. as part of their geopolitical power plays via various means including military aggression and cyberattacks.
  • Terrorist groups are exploiting the chaos in Afghanistan following the U.S. withdrawal in August 2021 to launch attacks in the region, including against pro-U.S. forces.
  • Iran and its many proxies, like the Lebanon-based Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen, continue to pose a grave threat to U.S. interests overseas, with Rubio saying Hezbollah continues to target U.S. officials for assassination. 
  • Transnational criminal organizations are exploiting the immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border to import illicit drugs. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified that the FBI alone seized enough fentanyl in the last two years "to kill 270 million people."

➤TEEN ARESTED AFTER SLAMMING GIRL'S HEAD ON CONCRETE: Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has called on the state’s juvenile justice system to be reformed after a teen slammed a girl’s head into the pavement near a high school last Friday during a violent brawl that was caught on video.  Bailey was interviewed on the local radio program Wake Up Mid-Missouri Monday morning to discuss the brutal assault that sent a teen girl to the hospital in critical condition. 

"Well this is horrific, and we’re seeing this happen more and more across the state where juveniles are committing violent crimes," the Republican Attorney General said, noting that two juveniles were also charged in a shooting at last month’s Kansas City Chiefs parade, resulting in a woman’s death and nearly two dozen others injured. 

 

⚾STRAWBERRY RECOVERING: Former Mets and Yankees outfielder Darryl Strawberry, who celebrates his 62nd birthday Tuesday, announced late Monday night via an Instagram post that he is recovering from a heart attack. “Praising God for His amazing grace and loving mercy in saving my life this evening from a heart attack. I am so happy and honored to report that all is well,” he wrote. “So thankful for the medical team and staff at St. Joseph West in Lake St. Louis for responding so quickly and bringing me through a stent-procedure that has brought my heart to total restoration!!! Your prayers are so absolutely appreciated as I continue to recover, in Jesus Name!”

🏈PATS TO SIGN BRISSETT: Patriots to sign quarterback Jacoby Brissett to one-year deal. Regardless of what the Patriots decide to do with the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, they have some insurance at their most important position. A day after trading away quarterback Mac Jones, whose tenure as a starter began with a Pro Bowl season and ended with him riding the bench, New England is signing one of their former draft picks: Jacoby Brissett.

🏀BASKETBALL FANS SPEND 36 HOURS WATCHING MARCH MADNESS: Basketball lovers will spend about 36 hours this year watching March Madness games, a survey of 2,000 fans ages 21 and over found. They'll also spend about five hours watching online content and another five hours reviewing game highlights. 26% have admitted to skipping work so they don't miss out on any game action. 76% of respondents have a favorite team they're rooting for. However, the average fan begins to give up if their team is down by 19 points in the second half.  "March Madness is a cultural phenomenon unlike any other because anyone can be a hero," Brian Becker of Tipico Sportsbook said. "Every year, new storylines captivate a diverse audience and define the fabric of the college basketball world."

➤TUESDAY'S WEATHER MAP:



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