Monthly Archives: جولای 2020

Rep. David Schweikert must now convince Arizona’s 6th Congressional District that he is worthy of reelection after receiving a congressional reprimand for 11 ethics violations over campaign finance manipulations.

The Arizona Republican, who agreed to pay a $50,000 fine after the House Ethics Committee Thursday found that he “erroneously disclosed or failed to disclose” $305,000 in loans or repayment of loans “made or obtained for the benefit of his congressional campaigns” from July 2010 to December 2017, is struggling to raise money for his reelection efforts.

Schweikert’s current money troubles could damage his chances in the Cook Political Report-rated Republican-leaning district, which has sent him to Congress him since 2010.

The latest Federal Election Commission campaign filings show that the Arizona Republican has just over $230,000 cash on hand, while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee-endorsed candidate in the race, Hiiral Vyas Tiperneni, has eclipsed the incumbent by ending the last fundraising quarter with nearly $1.3 million cash on hand. The Republican incumbent spent $272,000 on attorneys’ fees during the House Ethics probe.

However, the Arizona Republican still has party registration numbers on his side the district, which encompasses parts of Maricopa County and takes in the northeastern suburbs of Phoenix.

The district, which is among five districts that center around Phoenix, has thousands more registered Republican voters than registered Democrats, according to the latest statistics from Arizona’s secretary of state office.

If voters in the district feel strongly about Schweikert’s campaign finance violations, which included his former chief of staff overbilling his congressional office for inappropriate expenses such as flights to the Super Bowl, the Democratic nominee must convince disenchanted Republicans to crossover.

Fox Business host Lou Dobbs blames Republicans for the treatment of Attorney General William Barr during a contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.

He told Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, on Thursday that his “takeaway” from the oversight hearing, in which Democrats constantly interrupted Barr, was that he was “angry” with Republicans.

“I was really very angry with you Republicans and with Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House, who actually sacrificed 40 seats and turned over control to a left wing that is as obnoxious and inept as one could imagine and corrupt,” he said, referring to the so-called “blue wave” during the 2018 midterm elections in which Democrats flipped 41 seats.

“This is disgusting, what the Republican Party did to good people like Attorney General Barr. And I don’t, by the way, I don’t see the fire amongst you Republicans,” He added. “A handful of you, yes. But it looks to me like the same just — sordid nonchalance about critical issues and a fight for the soul of this country in November. It’s as if much of your party doesn’t give a damn how it comes out. Am I wrong about that?”

Biggs, one GOP lawmaker who has the Fox Business host’s approval, said he hopes Dobbs is wrong and claimed there are “plenty of people fighting with me.”

Last week, Dobbs said he expects the Republicans to lose control of the Senate in the 2020 election, but he anticipates President Trump to be reelected.

The Trump administration reportedly said it will recover $200 million from a failed Nevada solar project that received a loan guarantee from the Obama administration.

“This project has consistently faced technical failures that have proven difficult to overcome,” a Department of Energy spokeswoman said about the failed project, according to Fox Business. “The Department’s decision was made after years of exhausting options within our authority to get the project back on track given the significant taxpayer investment the prior administration committed to this project.”

The Obama administration approved a $737 million loan guarantee in 2011 for the $1 billion “Crescent Dunes” solar plant project that began operating in 2015 but was mired by outages, shutdowns, and other tech problems that prevented it from meeting the necessary power generation requirements.

The Energy Department said the government was owed just north of $420 million but settled for $200 million in an agreement that is pending approval from a bankruptcy court.

“President Trump will always stand with the hardworking taxpayers of America, and today’s massive $200 million settlement agreement by the Department of Energy secures taxpayer money that was squandered by the previous administration’s failed energy pet projects,” a senior Trump official said to Fox News.

Former President Barack Obama was widely criticized by Republicans during his time in office for his taxpayer-subsidized green energy ambitions, some of which failed to materialize ⁠— most notably his massive investment into green energy company Solyndra that cost taxpayers as much as $849 million.

Kanye West ripped into critics of his emotional anti-abortion speech at a campaign rally in South Carolina earlier in July.

West, who announced that he is running for president on July 4, defended openly discussing the personal decision he made with his wife, Kim Kardashian West, to forgo aborting their child North following the couple learning she was pregnant in 2013.

“I cried at the thought of aborting my first born and everyone was so concerned about me… I’m concerned for the world that feels you shouldn’t cry about this subject,” West tweeted Friday.

During the viral speech at the rally on July 19, West broke into tears while telling the crowd about how he “almost killed” his daughter. West recounted how his ideas about abortion had changed upon learning that his father wanted to abort him because he was “too busy.”

In a follow-up tweet, West said efforts had been made to “discredit” his message after a flurry of media outlets suggested he was suffering from mental issues that prompted his emotional speech.

“There is a tactic of 4 D’s Distract Discredit Dismiss To Destroy,” West tweeted.

“I am quite alright,” he continued. “Take a second and think about what is being projected here.”

Kardashian West published a letter on Instagram last week that talked about her husband’s bipolar disorder and called on the media and public to show him “compassion and empathy.” This weekend, the two were spotted arguing in a Wendy’s parking lot on the outskirts of Cody, Wyoming, where West bought a ranch after he publicly accused his wife of committing adultery with rapper Meek Mill.

West’s bid for the White House continues apace after his campaign team filed petitions to appear on the New Jersey and Missouri presidential ballots this November. West has already qualified to appear on the Oklahoma presidential ballot.

A bill that adds a 2.5 percent tax on health insurance premiums in New Jersey is headed for Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk.

The bill passed after a heated debate between Republicans and the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman John McKeon, D-Essex/Morris, who said the bill was needed to protect New Jerseyans if the Affordable Care Act is rescinded by Congress.

The money collected from the tax will create a $300 million “Health Insurance Affordability Fund” which will be allocated to New Jersey’s state-based exchange.

“As the Trump administration has worked to dismantle the ACA, in New Jersey we moved to mirror what was available to people at the federal level, largely implementing it within our own state-based exchange,” McKeon said in a statement. “By replacing what stood at the federal level, this legislation simply serves as a state level continuation of a soon-to-expire assessment that insurers were already paying.”

Assemblyman Hal Wirths, R-Sussex, said the bill was a “devastating” move for working middle class families who will “be paying the bill.” Republicans estimate the bill will add $600 in health insurance costs to families.

“We are punishing the people who are doing things right,” Wirths said

A similar federal tax was rescinded by Congress with bipartisan support, he added.

“If they think it’s wrong on a federal level, how can it be right to increase taxes during the worst time?” Wirths said.

The New Jersey Business & Industry Association was similarly opposed to the bill, saying it “represents yet another cost to business at the worst possible time.”

“Raising taxes does not make healthcare more affordable,” the NJBIA said in a statement. “It’s unfortunate that our policymakers continue to seek ways to inflict financial pain on New Jersey employers as they struggle during these unprecedented challenges.”

The bill has Murphy’s support, and he held a roundtable discussion with state administrators and lawmakers on the topic last week.

Assuming it is indeed signed, it will take effect Jan. 1, 2021.