The Full Belmonte, 12/1/2022
What is the railroad strike of 2022?
“Rail unions are headed toward a strike over pay and grievances from members that working conditions are grueling and not conducive to a life off the job. With a Dec. 9 deadline looming, Congress reluctantly inserted itself in the dispute this week to stave off a strike that would cost the economy $2 billion per day. But some of the unions have rejected the deal and the disagreement is poised to escalate.
What this means: Much of the country's goods still travel by freight train. Ahead of the holiday season, a halt in the shipment of food products and other critical goods could debilitate the economy.
•What rail workers want: The railroad unions are asking freight and railway companies for a pay increase, as well as better working conditions, including paid time off and a more flexible schedule.
•Congress took "urgent action" to quell a strike: At Biden's urging, the House overwhelmingly passed legislation this week that would adopt a tentative deal reached in September between union leaders and freight operators. Unions representing rail workers have since rejected the deal, setting up the impending work stoppage.” Read more at USA Today
Four of the 12 unions representing rail workers have voted to reject the five-year agreement, which was intended to avoid a shutdown of the nation's freight rail system.Danny Karnik, AP
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrats’ new House leader.Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times
“House Democrats picked Hakeem Jeffries of New York as their leader for the next term, making him the first Black person to lead a party in Congress.” Read more at New York Times
Biden's first state dinner
“French President Emmanuel Macron, in a three-day state visit to the U.S., will hold a bilateral meeting Thursday with President Joe Biden. The meeting will be followed by a joint press conference. Later today, Biden and first lady Jill Biden will host Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, for the Biden administration’s first state dinner – a black-tie event that will feature a live performance from singer Jon Batiste. The French leader has raised concerns with U.S. lawmakers about the administration's climate policies giving American companies an unfair advantage in the budding green energy sector.” Read more at USA Today
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Vice President Kamala Harris speak during a meeting to highlight space cooperation between the two countries, at NASA headquarters in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) ORG XMIT: DCAB112Alex Brandon, AP
Student loans
“The Biden administration was dealt another setback in court Wednesday that will further complicate the revival of its student loan forgiveness plan. A second federal appeals court rejected the administration's bid to put on hold a ruling blocking President Biden's student debt relief policy. The move sets the stage for the Justice Department to take the case to the Supreme Court, which is already considering a separate request from the administration that it reverse another order blocking the program. Nearly two weeks ago, the Department of Education began emailing borrowers who have been approved for federal student loan relief -- but acknowledged recent legal challenges have halted the plan from moving forward.” Read more at CNN
Trump's taxes
“The House Ways and Means Committee has received six years of Donald Trump's federal tax returns from the IRS, ending a yearslong pursuit by Democrats to dig into the former president's financial records. The handover had been on hold until the Supreme Court declined last week to intervene. Federal courts had decided the House could request Trump's returns -- primarily from the time he served as president. Trump's legal team had continuously sought to keep his returns secret. During his 2016 campaign, Trump broke with presidential election norms and refused to release his tax returns for public review and they remained private after he took office. The House committee is expected to meet today but Democrats are not expected to review the tax returns during this session -- and the documents are not expected to be immediately released to the public.” Read more at CNN
Immigration
“Between 9,000 and 14,000 migrants may attempt to cross the US southern border each day when the border policy known as Title 42 ends in three weeks, the Department of Homeland Security projects. That would be more than double the current number of people crossing. Since March 2020, border authorities have been able to turn away migrants encountered along the border under Title 42. However, that will no longer be the case later this month when authorities return to traditional protocols under which migrants are either removed from the country, detained or released into the US while their cases make their way through immigration court.” Read more at CNN
Indiana Attorney General Asks Medical Board to Discipline Abortion Doctor
Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an OB-GYN who provided an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim, was at the center of the nation’s abortion debate.
By Ava Sasani and Sheryl Gay Stolberg
Nov. 30, 2022
“Indiana’s attorney general, Todd Rokita, asked a state medical board on Wednesday to discipline the doctor who provided an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim this summer.
Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist, treated the girl, who had traveled from Ohio when the state enacted a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
The case became a focus of the national abortion debate after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion. It also put a focus on childhood pregnancies and the emerging legal risks to doctors who provide abortions. Mr. Rotika began an investigation into Dr. Bernard; she sued in an effort to stop him from obtaining medical records of her patients as part of that investigation.
Mr. Rokita’s office said in a statement on Wednesday that he was asking the board to discipline Dr. Bernard because she had ‘failed to uphold legal and Hippocratic responsibilities by exploiting a 10-year-old little girl’s traumatic medical story to the press for her own interests.’” Read more at New York Times
McCarthy Warns Jan. 6 Committee Republicans Will Investigate Its Work
The letter demanding that the panel preserve its records — a step already required — was the latest indication that the G.O.P. is planning its own counter-investigation into the Jan. 6 attack.
Nov. 30, 2022
“WASHINGTON — Representative Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican who is attempting to become the next House speaker, on Wednesday warned the special committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol that members of his party planned to launch an inquiry of their own into the panel’s work next year when Republicans assume control of the chamber.
In a letter sent to the committee’s chairman, Mr. McCarthy instructed the panel to preserve its records — an action already required under House rules — including any recorded transcripts of its more than 1,000 interviews. The missive was the first official indication that newly empowered House Republicans plan not only to end the inquiry at the start of the new Congress, but also to attempt to dismantle and discredit its findings — the latest piece of a broader effort the party has undertaken over the past two years to deny, downplay or shift blame for the deadly attack by a pro-Trump mob.
It comes as Mr. McCarthy toils to shore up his position with hard-right Republicans in his conference who have refused to support his bid for speaker, imperiling his chances of being elected in January.
Mr. McCarthy pledged in the letter that he would hold public hearings scrutinizing the security breakdowns that occurred during the assault, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, disrupting Congress’s formal count of electoral votes to confirm Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s election as president.” Read more at New York Times
Uvalde
“Survivors of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, have filed a $27 billion class action lawsuit against multiple law enforcement agencies in Texas. The plaintiffs include parents, teachers and staff members who were at the school on May 24 when 19 students and two teachers were killed. At least 17 others were wounded. Officers waited 77 minutes after the shooter entered two adjoining classrooms before storming in and killing the 18-year-old gunman. According to the lawsuit, despite active shooter training, law enforcement ‘fundamentally strayed from conducting themselves in conformity with what they knew to be the well-established protocols and standards for responding to an active shooter.’ The suit also alleges the victims and survivors ‘sustained emotional and psychological damages.’” Read more at CNN
Obama heads to Ga. as Warnock seeks big early vote advantage
By BILL BARROW and JEFF AMY
“ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia voters have cast more than 1 million ballots ahead of the Dec. 6 U.S. Senate runoff between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker, with Warnock looking to juice an apparent Democratic head start in early voting with a visit Thursday from Barack Obama.
The former president will campaign with Warnock on the eve of the final day of early voting. The rally, which promises to be the largest event of Warnock’s four-week runoff blitz, underscores the two parties’ different approaches to early voting in the final contest of the 2022 election.
Democrats have employed an all-hands-on-deck push to bank as many votes as possible while Republicans, especially Walker, have taken a less aggressive approach that could leave the GOP nominee heavily dependent on runoff Election Day turnout.” Read more at AP News
At least 2 killed as tornadoes, wild storms march across Southeast
‘More than 20 possible tornadoes slashed through the Southeast, killing at least two people Wednesday and damaging homes as a line of intense weather rolled from Texas to Georgia and as far north as Indiana. The National Weather Service issued more than 70 tornado warnings across a swath of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana on Tuesday and Wednesday as storms slammed the region with heavy rains, high winds and large hail.” Read more at USA Today
Eutaw Police Chief Tommy Johnson surveys the damage to one of the buildings in the Sagewood Apartments complex in Eutaw, Ala. on Nov. 30, 2022, the day after a small tornado hit the town located in Greene County. No injuries were reported from the storm.Gary Cosby Jr., Tuscaloosa News via USA TODAY NETWORK
EU Proposes Special Tribunal Over Ukraine
“The European Union has called for the creation of a special tribunal to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable over his invasion of Ukraine, as more than nine months of war inflict a devastating humanitarian toll on the country’s civilian population.
‘Russia must pay for its horrific crimes, including for its crime of aggression against a sovereign state,’ European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. ‘We are proposing to set up a specialized court, backed by the United Nations, to investigate and prosecute Russia’s crime of aggression.’
The costs of that aggression have become increasingly clear in Ukrainian cities like Bucha and Izyum, where retreating Russian forces have left behind a trail of mass graves and extensive evidence of torture, executions, and rape.
That has left world leaders wrestling with a difficult question: how to best seek justice and punish Putin for invading Ukraine, especially given the legal and jurisdictional challenges in prosecuting international crime?
The International Criminal Court (ICC), for example, has started investigating charges of war crimes committed during the war. But the Kremlin hasn’t recognized the court’s jurisdiction, and the ICC can’t take action against top Russian officials—or Putin—for the ‘crime of aggression’ in invading Ukraine.
Given these limitations, the European Commission put forward two possibilities on Wednesday: either a ‘special independent international court based on a multilateral treaty’ or a ‘specialized court integrated in a national justice system with international judges—a hybrid court.’
No matter what the court looks like, U.N. support would be key. ‘For both options, strong backing of the United Nations would be essential,’ the Commission said.
Within Ukraine, Kyiv has also held domestic trials to prosecute war crimes, including one that convicted and then sentenced 21-year-old Vadim Shishimarin to life in prison after he killed an unarmed civilian.” Read more at Foreign Policy
Chinese users play cat-and-mouse with censors amid protests
By ZEN SOO
“HONG KONG (AP) — Videos of hundreds protesting in Shanghai started to appear on WeChat Saturday night. Showing chants about removing COVID-19 restrictions and demanding freedom, they would only stay up for only minutes before being censored.
Elliot Wang, a 26-year-old in Beijing, was amazed.
‘I started refreshing constantly, and saving videos, and taking screenshots of what I could before it got censored,’ said Wang, who only agreed to be quoted using his English name, in fear of government retaliation. ‘A lot of my friends were sharing the videos of the protests in Shanghai. I shared them too, but they would get taken down quickly.’
That Wang was able to glimpse the extraordinary outpouring of grievances highlights the cat-and-mouse game that goes on between millions of Chinese internet users and the country’s gargantuan censorship machine.
Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the country’s internet via a complex, multi-layered censorship operation that blocks access to almost all foreign news and social media, and blocks topics and keywords considered politically sensitive or detrimental to the Chinese Communist Party’s rule. Videos of or calls to protest are usually deleted immediately.” Read more at AP News
Ukraine
“The US is considering a dramatic expansion in the training it provides to Ukrainian forces, including instructing as many as 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers a month at a US military base in Germany, according to multiple US officials. Since the start of the conflict in February, the US has trained only a few thousand Ukrainian soldiers on specific weapons systems. But to combat Russia's ongoing aggression, officials say that a new regimen with "much more intense and comprehensive" training would benefit Ukraine as the onset of winter is expected to slow military operations. Separately, Russia's new expanded law on "foreign agents" comes into force today amid an intensifying crackdown on free speech and opposition under President Vladimir Putin.” Read more at CNN
“Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy challenged Elon Musk to come see the destruction Russia’s war has wrought firsthand after the world’s richest man, parroting some Kremlin talking points, suggested Ukraine should make significant concessions to Moscow. The European Union proposed creating a special international court to probe Russian actions in Ukraine and using frozen Russian assets to help rebuild the nation.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Death of the Islamic State’s leader. Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the head of the Islamic State, has been killed in combat, the group announced on Wednesday without offering more information. According to the U.S. military, he died in October. Al-Qurayshi succeeded Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who was killed in a U.S. raid in Syria in February.
In response, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that ‘we certainly welcome the news of the death of another ISIS leader.’” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Afghanistan’s school bombing. At least 10 students were killed in a bombing attack at a religious school in Afghanistan’s Samangan province on Wednesday. No group has taken responsibility for the attack, although it resembles ones that the Islamic State’s Afghan affiliate has previously launched, the Washington Post reported.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Syria’s cholera outbreak. UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, have shipped two million cholera vaccine doses to Syria as it grapples with an outbreak that has killed at least 49 people. Since September, Syrian health officials have recorded 1,556 cholera cases.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Hot chips | Taiwan-based TSMC, the world’s go-to supplier of semiconductors for electric vehicles to smartphones, will offer to produce chips that are more advanced than previously announced at its US plant when it opens in 2024, sources say. President Joe Biden, who made $50 billion available for domestic chip production to reduce American dependence on overseas manufacturers, is due to visit the factory site in Arizona next week.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Stunning decline | Three years ago the World Bank classified Sri Lanka as upper middle-income, in the same category as Brazil and Turkey. Today a third of its 22 million people require urgent humanitarian assistance. For all but about five years since 2005, Matt Campbell writes, the country has been ruled by the Rajapaksas, a clan that ushered in what critics say was an era of operatic corruption, with billions of dollars in public funds siphoned off and secreted abroad.” Read more at Bloomberg
“The Qatar World Cup could be the last sporting event of its kind. While the Gulf nation reportedly shelled out $200 billion to host the tournament, other nations and cities have become increasingly unwilling to spend a fraction of that on money-losing mega-events. Here’s a closer look at theeconomics behind big sports, and how they’re about to change.” Read more at Bloomberg
The Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg
“There were more signs of turbulence in crypto today as the exchange Kraken slashed 30% of its workforce. BlackRock’s chief Larry Fink said the fallout from FTX’s collapse would force many other crypto companies shutter in its wake. On Wednesday, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried denied trying to perpetrate a fraud while admitting to making errors at the helm of the company. ‘I made a lot of mistakes,’ the 30-year-old said.” Read more at Bloomberg
“In just a few days, Disney will find out if the $71 billion it paid for 21st Century Fox three years ago will pay off. The Avatar sequel Way of Wateris likely to be one of the most expensive movies ever made. Now shareholders and analysts want to know whether the sequel top the$2.9 billion the original made.” Read more at Bloomberg
GOP's new media mogul: Musk
Photo illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios. Photo: Philip Pacheco/AFP via Getty Images
“Elon Musk's public musings over the past six months have cemented an unmistakable new reality:
The world's richest man, and owner of the de facto public square, has become more and more Republican, Axios' Zachary Basu writes.
Why it matters: It's a stunning transformation for the Obama-, Clinton- and Biden-voting CEO of the most successful electric-vehicle company on Earth. And it's one with major real-world implications, given the influence Musk now wields in shaping the rules of online public debate.
Musk revealed last week that he would vote for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis if he runs for president in 2024.
The day before the midterms, Musk urged ‘independent-minded voters’ to vote for Republicans, citing the need to ‘balance’ a Democratic presidency.
The billionaire insists he is ‘neither conventionally right nor left’ — but he also says the threat to free speech allegedly posed by Democrats has triggered a ‘battle for the future of civilization.’
COVID restrictions, high taxes and regulations in California also spurred an ideological shift right, and a physical move to Texas, now the home of Tesla's headquarters.
Between the lines: Over the last several months, Musk has frequently trolled Democrats and engaged with right-wing commentators who view him as a like-minded culture warrior.
‘The woke mind virus has thoroughly penetrated entertainment and is pushing civilization towards suicide,’ Musk tweeted last week. ‘There needs to be a counter-narrative.’
The intrigue: High-profile Republicans gained tens of thousands of followers in the weeks after Musk acquired Twitter, while their Democratic counterparts lost followers, according to a Washington Post analysis.
It's unclear what's driving the fluctuations. But ‘the pattern suggests that tens of thousands of liberals may be leaving the site while conservatives are joining or becoming more active,’ the Post writes.
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy demanded Tuesday that the Biden administration ‘stop picking on Elon Musk,’ after the White House suggested it was ‘keeping a close eye’ on changes to Twitter's misinformation and hate-speech policies.” Read more at Axios
PGA Tour taps top McCarthy confidant in LIV fight
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
“The PGA Tour is enlisting one of House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy's closest friends and confidants to help it beat back a new competitor that's in business with Donald Trump, Axios' Jonathan Swan and Lachlan Markay report.
Why it matters: This fight between professional sports leagues is about politics as much as business or athletics.
Saudi-backed LIV Golf has established Republican bona fides by virtue of its relationship with Trump, whose courses have hosted multiple LIV tournaments.
With Republicans set to assume the majority in January, the PGA Tour is bringing on its own GOP muscle — Jeff Miller, principal of lobbying firm Miller Strategies and a close McCarthy ally.
Miller played a key role in House GOP fundraising efforts throughout the 2022 cycle, and also was a significant fundraiser for Trump's 2020 campaign.
Miller's charge will be to promote the PGA Tour and its interests in Washington, including ‘shining a light on the competition,’ a source familiar with Miller's hiring told Axios.
That could entail amplifying criticism among lawmakers, the press and the public over LIV's ties to the Saudi government.
Context: LIV has poached top golfers from the PGA Tour since it launched last year. But it also has drawn intense scrutiny — in the golfing and political worlds — over its backing from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.
Critics call it a ‘sportswashing’ operation designed to boost the Kingdom's image amid human rights scandals, including the 2018 execution of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
LIV leadership got a cool reception during a meeting with the House GOP Conference earlier this year. One prominent Republican, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, has called for a federal investigation into the league.
Between the lines: Miller's relationship with McCarthy was surely seen as a critical asset for the Tour, given the near-universal presumption before the midterm elections that McCarthy would be the next House speaker.
Miller has known McCarthy for three decades and is known to be his closest ally on K Street.
After Republicans underperformed in the midterms, McCarthy is suddenly facing an intra-party insurgency that threatens his ascendance. But if McCarthy does make it, Miller could become, as Politico speculated before the midterms, the ‘most powerful unelected man in DC.’
The other side: LIV portrays itself as a scrappy upstart taking on an entrenched, corrupt incumbent.
The new league has brought on notable names in the political world, including former Bush White House spokesman Ari Fleischer and Ben Quayle, a former Republican congressman from Arizona and son of a former U.S. vice president.” Read more at Axios
Elon reignites debate over Apple power
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
“Elon Musk yesterday tweeted that he had a ‘good conversation’ with Apple CEO Tim Cook, and said that ‘we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.’
Axios hasn't independently confirmed the meeting, and Apple hasn't responded to requests for comment.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is visiting Capitol Hill this week, as some Republican lawmakers rally behind Musk's earlier attacks, Axios' Ashley Gold and Sara Fischer report.
Cook, who visits Washington regularly, is meeting with both Republicans and Democrats, per Bloomberg.
Reality check: The worst Apple faces from Congress is hearings. Congress has struggled and failed under Democratic control to pass any major restrictions on Big Tech firms or revisions to antitrust laws.
Split control of Congress in the new year makes action even less likely.” Read more at Axios
Christine McVie, Hitmaker for Fleetwood Mac, Is Dead at 79
As a singer, songwriter and keyboardist, she was a prolific force behind one of the most popular rock bands of the last 50 years.
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By Jim Farber
Nov. 30, 2022
“Christine McVie, the singer, songwriter and keyboardist who became the biggest hitmaker for Fleetwood Mac, one of music’s most popular bands, died on Wednesday. She was 79.
Her family announced her death on Facebook. The statement said she died at a hospital but did not specify its location or give the cause of death. In June, Ms. McVie told Rolling Stone that she was in ‘quite bad health’ and that she had endured debilitating problems with her back.
Ms. McVie’s commercial potency, which hit a high point in the 1970s and ’80s, was on full display on Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Greatest Hits’ anthology, released in 1988, which sold more than eight million copies: She either wrote or co-wrote half of its 16 tracks. Her tally doubled that of the next most prolific member of the band’s trio of singer-songwriters, Stevie Nicks. (The third, Lindsey Buckingham, scored three major Billboard chart-makers on that collection.)
The most popular songs Ms. McVie wrote favored bouncing beats and lively melodies, numbers like “Say You Love Me” (which grazed Billboard’s Top 10), “You Make Loving Fun” (which just broke it), “Hold Me” (No. 4) and “Don’t Stop” (her top smash, which crested at No. 3). But she could also connect with elegant ballads, like “Over My Head” (No. 20) and “Little Lies” (which cracked the publication’s Top Five in 1987).” Read more at New York Times