Hunter biden

On Feb. 1, Rep. James Comer’s (R-KY) House Committee on Oversight and Accountability will hold its first hearing of the year. The committee’s posture and tone in this first meeting will prove consequential for the Republican cause. With party power split among the two congressional chambers, Republican members won’t find many opportunities to legislate this year. What they will find, however, is the opportunity to change minds and policies through their investigatory powers. And for the GOP, no committee holds more keys in this important respect than Comer’s committee. Comer knows it, which is why he promised the “most exciting committee” in congressional history on Friday. With firebrands of the likes of Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and Paul Gosar serving with Comer, and given that the Oversight Committee can hold hearings on all the made-for-TV issues, like Hunter Biden corruption and President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, it … [Read more...] about LANGER: Here’s The GOP’s Best Bet For Achieving Its Agenda In A Divided Congress

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin President Biden announced that the national emergency related to the Covid-19 pandemic will end on May 11, over three years after it first began. The official end of the pandemic emergency will impact a wide array of policies — including, potentially, student loan programs. Several student loan debt relief programs, including the ongoing student loan payment pause and Biden’s one-time student loan forgiveness program , have been directly linked to the ongoing national emergency. Here’s what the change may mean for student loan borrowers. Student Loan Payment Pause Extension In response to the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic in March 2020, President Trump used emergency executive authority to pause all payments, freeze interest, and suspend collections for government-held federal student loans. Congress subsequently codified the debt relief through passage of the CARES Act, which provided for six months of … [Read more...] about What Biden’s Latest Covid Move Means For Student Loan Programs, Including Loan Forgiveness

The Biden administration is moving toward cutting off major Chinese telecommunications company Huawei from U.S. suppliers, citing national security concerns, according to The Wall Street Journal. The administration is considering stopping Trump-era license grants allowing American companies to sell technology to Huawei that they don’t believe poses a national security risk, according to the WSJ. The potential move comes as the U.S. aims to counter Chinese commerce amid increased diplomatic tensions between the two nations. In 2019, the Trump Department of Commerce added Huawei to the department’s “Entity List,” a list of foreign companies considered national security threats, according to a department press release at the time. Huawei’s placement on the Entity List had an impact as the company failed to crack the top five handset phone providers in China in 2022, according to International Data Corp. The Biden State Department has built off of the previous … [Read more...] about Biden Admin May Cut Off Chinese Telecom Giant Over National Security Concerns

The Biden administration will attempt to end Title 42, a Trump-era border order used to expel certain illegal migrants to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, May 11, according to a Monday White House memorandum. The White House will end the national and public health emergency for COVID-19 and thus attempt to end the border order, according to the memo. The decision comes after the highest month on record for migrant encounters in December, when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recorded more than 250,000 migrant encounters. (RELATED: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Appoints State’s First ‘Border Czar’) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced in April that the public health order would end May 23, 2022. Republican states subsequently brought legal battles and the fate of the order remains uncertain as a result of those efforts. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images) “The end of the public health emergency will end the Title 42 … [Read more...] about Biden Admin Could End Trump-Era Border Expulsion Order In May

The Biden Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final determination that will block the mining of necessary material for electric vehicles (EV) despite pushing automakers to ensure that EVs make up 50% of all vehicles sold in the country by 2030. The determination will prevent the further mining of 1.4 billion tons of copper, gold, molybdenum, silver and rhenium from the area, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. A standard vehicle uses 18 to 50 pounds of copper and an EV powered by a battery requires 85 to 183 pounds of copper, with copper demand expected to increase by 1,700 kilotons by 2027, according to the Copper Development Association. The Biden administration is pushing automakers to ensure that electric vehicles (EV) make up 50% of all vehicles sold in the country by 2030, but on Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final determination that will block the mining of necessary material for EV batteries in one of … [Read more...] about Biden Admin Blocks Mining Of ‘World’s Largest Undeveloped’ Ore Deposit As It Pushes Copper-Heavy EVs, Wind Turbines

President Joe Biden took to Twitter Monday to promote his administration’s new electric vehicle tax credits, posing in a car which is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions on average than smaller gas-powered cars. Roughly 60% of power generated in the U.S. is generated by burning fossil fuels, the Hummer EV Pickup that Biden was photographed in is responsible for, on average, 341 grams of carbon dioxide per mile, according to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). However, the Hummer EV Pickup is responsible for roughly 50 more grams per mile of carbon dioxide emissions than the Toyota RAV4 SUV and BMW 3 sedan, and roughly 70 grams more than the Toyota Corolla, according to Quartz. The Hummer EV Pickup costs roughly $110,000, well in excess of the $80,000 limit for pickups, SUVs and vans to qualify for the $7,500 tax credit for purchasing an electric vehicle provided by the Inflation Reduction Act , according to the IRS. “President … [Read more...] about Biden Poses In Electric Car That Has A Higher Carbon Footprint Than A Gas-Powered SUV

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Kevin McCarthy's quest to become Speaker of the House ended after 15 votes with many concessions granted to the hardline, America first, Freedom Caucus within the GOP House delegation that prevented his unchallenged ascent. The extent of these concessions took weeks to emerge and drew controversy. Notably, Marjorie “Jewish space lasers” Taylor Greene received seats on the powerful Homeland Security and Oversight committees . Some of the extremists who prevented McCarthy's smooth election and embarrassed the GOP have now arrived at the House’s Energy and Commerce Committee and its subcommittees, and everyone should be worried. The Energy and Commerce Committee is at the forefront of all policy issues powering America’s economy including energy, technology, and Healthcare . The new 118th Congress also marks the change of the Subcommittee on Energy to the Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security … [Read more...] about McCarthy’s Concessions May Endanger Biden’s Energy Policy

President Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is considering declaring a public health emergency to promote abortion access, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra told Axios Monday. The HHS believes it has the authority to declare a public emergency, but it is only one of many options on the table, according to Becerra, who argued there was an ongoing “reproductive health crisis” since Roe v. Wade was overturned. The agency has not completed a full assessment on a declaration, its conditions and whether it’s merited, he told Axios. (RELATED: Dems Melt Down Over Bill Protecting Babies Born Alive After Botched Abortions) “There are discussions on a wide range of measures … that we can take to try to protect people’s rights,” he said. “There are certain criteria that you look for to be able to declare a public health emergency. That’s typically done by scientists and those that are professionals in those fields who will tell us whether we are in a state of … [Read more...] about Biden Admin Considers Declaring A Public Health Emergency Over Abortion

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The White House is planning to end COVID-19 emergency declarations on May 11, 2023, marking the end of various programs including one that allowed federal prisoners to serve a portion of their prison term on home confinement. Starting in early 2020, COVID-19 changed our lives. For those who were prisoners during the pandemic, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was given the authority by Attorney General William Barr to manage prison populations to prevent contagion and to move more vulnerable prisoners to home confinement. The initial priorities were to target prisons where COVID-19 was ravaging prisoners and staff. The program began in April 2022 with mostly minimum security prisoners, who had underlying health conditions, being transferred to serve their prison term on home confinement. That program continues but the end of the emergency declaration means that the program will be coming to end shortly after the May 11th … [Read more...] about Federal Bureau Of Prisons Set To End Home Confinement Under CARES Act

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin I wrote two articles over the weekend researching the impact of AI on the Music Industry as one of the art domains being impacted by AI. You can read both of these blogs here: The first article focuses on Google’s recent MusicLM announcement and the risks without increased copyright law in place. The second article continues this discussion but broadens it with other examples. The more I dug into this area, I realized how much is at stake and the risks to our Arts Community and to all the musicians who bring so much joy to our lives. However, there is trouble afoot and it’s increasing. Why do a career in music and spend years mastering a craft when an AI model will eventually be able to consistently produce an award winning master piece? It’s simply a matter of time. Yes, I appreciate that creative capabilities of an AI model is not close to reality as Meta Chief Data Scientist, Yann Lecun, said to … [Read more...] about AI Ethical Risks In the Music Industry Are Accelerating And We Are Not Ready For What Is Coming Our Way