World
Biden Asks CEOs How To Further Boost The Economy While Trump Says Business Is On His Side
Washington — On the campaign road, President Joe Biden likes to take a firm stance against corporate America.
The Democrat urges people that companies should pay more taxes, and he criticizes many businesses for driving up prices by inciting “greedflation” and “shrinkflation.”
However, during the past several months, top Biden administration officials have increased their outreach to CEOs and other corporate leaders, inquiring about their needs. Former President Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee, believes the business community to be his home turf.
Both candidates want to message voters heading into November that they can work with employers, even if the deeply divided electorate has made many businesses hesitant of overtly picking sides politically.
The Biden team’s pitch to business executives goes like this: We believe the economy is doing well, but we’d like to hear from you about how we might encourage investment.
Biden | AP News Image
Biden Asks CEOs How To Further Boost The Economy While Trump Says Business Is On His Side
“They know that they will always be heard,” said Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council. “We are pragmatic. “We solve problems for them.”
On Thursday, Trump will make his case to the Business Roundtable, an organization of more than 200 CEOs, about why the economy would benefit if he returned to the presidency.
Biden was also invited to appear, but he will be in Italy for a Group of Seven conference of world leaders. White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, a former CEO, will present the president’s vision to the group.
Biden has consistently worked to strike a balance between business and labor interests. He mitigates his criticism of corporations by noting that, as a former senator from Delaware, he hails from the “corporate capital of the world.”
Trump, for his part, has built his reputation as a millionaire property developer by marketing everything from educational courses to steaks and neckties. He also has his eponymous Trump Media & Technology Group listed on the stock market.
Trump, who lowered corporate taxes throughout his reign and promised to reduce regulations, has gathered backing from Wall Street billionaires such as Stephen Schwarzman, who described him as a “vote for change.”
The Washington Post reported that Trump had encouraged oil business executives to assist in funding his campaign in exchange for the profits his administration would generate for them, a claim that the Trump campaign denied.
Despite this year’s growing stock market and low 4% unemployment rate, Trump has branded the US economy as “horrible.” His message resonates with voters because of the 2022 inflation rise, which has left many Americans gloomy about the economy.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt stated that “business leaders and working families alike are eager for the return of these common-sense policies” such as tax reduction, deregulation, and greater oil and natural gas production.
During their business outreach, Biden’s top advisers heard a different economic perspective than what Trump is proposing. According to administration officials, the CEOs they’ve spoken with are largely pleased with the performance of the stock market and the overall economy, as inflation has dropped without the recession that some had predicted.
According to the Biden team, American business leaders are seeking strategies to prolong growth. There aren’t enough skilled workers to fill the offered positions. Government permitting should be expedited. They also generally support the administration’s push to prolong a business tax benefit for R&D costs.
Biden | AP News Image
Biden Asks CEOs How To Further Boost The Economy While Trump Says Business Is On His Side
According to many Biden administration officials, corporate leaders have raised concerns about Trump, despite the fact that the White House-CEO discussions have not expressly addressed the November election. Trump’s tariff increases risk disrupting trade partnerships and harming company profitability. Stocks and bonds might plummet if Trump attempts to seize control of politically independent bodies like the Federal Reserve or undermines the rule of law, which has long been a pillar of American capitalism.
Biden’s staff extended its outreach at the request of Zients. The chief of staff invited six other top officials to a February dinner with the purpose of developing a plan to communicate more with CEOs and their predecessors.
Each official pledged to speak to ten CEOs. By the end of April, the group had spoken with over 100 people. In May, Biden met with eight CEOs, including those of United Airlines, Marriott, Xerox, Corning, and Citigroup, as a result of his outreach.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said he left the discussions with a better understanding of how issues overlapped. Renewable energy measures implemented by the administration, for example, were critical in the development of artificial intelligence data centers.
Adeyemo stated that the government has had some progress in decreasing the federal paperwork required for permitting, resulting in shorter processing periods that could otherwise take two years. And, with certain employment initiatives losing funds linked to pandemic-era federal aid, the administration is examining if businesses can take over the financing.
The administration makes a big-picture argument that its plans are better for overall growth, which in turn is good for profits.
“One of the things we don’t do is pretend we’re going to agree with the business community on everything,” Adeyemo stated. “We want feedback and we’re going to continue to talk to you.”
According to those familiar with the discussions at the Biden meeting, Brendan Bechtel, CEO of the Bechtel Group, a major construction company, emphasized the shortage of trained labor. Because corporations cannot hire everyone they require, some are forced to forego business in ways that reduce their revenues.
Biden | AP News Image
Biden Asks CEOs How To Further Boost The Economy While Trump Says Business Is On His Side
According to Labor Department estimates, there are currently 1.5 million more job vacancies than unemployed persons looking for work. And, as job positions have gone unfilled over the last year due to a labor shortage, employers have reduced their postings. Manufacturing companies, for example, have 516,000 unfilled positions, compared to 647,000 a year ago.
The shortfall is a result of both a strong employment market and decades of education systems that promoted universities while sometimes overlooking the need for tradesmen like electricians, plumbers, and welders. The ratio of males aged 25 to 54 in the work force has been declining for decades, and reversing that trend might bring millions back into the labor force.
“In the U.S., we got into a college-for-all mentality and other forms of skill development were demoted,” said Harry Holzer, a Georgetown University economist.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has made it a mission to bring more women into construction, and the success of her department’s funding efforts to resuscitate domestic computer chip production may be dependent on a huge pool of qualified workers. She stated that fixing the problem will require better collaboration with the employing industry.
“You need to start with the employers — which might sound not intuitive,” Raimondo stated. “You go to the company and figure out who they’re going to hire at what wages and what skills.”
Raimondo saw the problem from an economic standpoint, since companies would experience slower growth if they lacked skilled people. However, she also sees it as a cultural and political issue. One of Biden’s promises as he pursues a second term is that voters should feel positive about their chances of entering the middle class.
SOURCE – (AP)
France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has said more than 50 candidates and activists nationwide have faced violent attacks in the run-up to Sunday’s tense final round of legislative elections.
He announced the amount following the horrific assault of government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot, her deputy Virginie Lanlo, and a party worker while putting up election posters in Meudon, southwest of Paris.
The cause for the attack is unknown, but Ms Thevenot returned to Meudon on Thursday with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who condemned “attacks of intolerable cowardice”.
The recent rash of assaults around France mirrors the combustible environment on the penultimate day of campaigning in an election that the right-wing National Rally is expected to win.
Although National Rally leads in the polls, 217 candidates have dropped out of local run-off races, giving another candidate a better chance of preventing them from gaining an outright majority in the National Assembly.
National Rally leader Marine Le Pen says there is still a chance of outright victory on Sunday.
Mr Darmanin has declared that 30,000 police officers will be deployed across France for Sunday’s vote in an effort to keep “the ultra-left or ultra-right” from causing trouble.
The National Rally party, which gained 33.2% of the vote in the first round of President Macron’s unexpected snap election, is now aiming for an absolute majority in the 577-seat National Assembly.
However according to Reuters, the progressive left’s opponents have promised to do everything they can to prevent the extreme right from getting enough seats to establish a government.
In the first round, candidates who received more than half of the local vote in their constituency, including 39 National Rally candidates and their supporters, won all 76 seats.
The remaining 501 seats will be decided in runoff elections, and 217 third-place candidates have dropped out of the contest, giving a challenger a stronger chance of defeating National Rally. Of the 217 withdrawals, 130 were from the left-wing New Popular Front and 81 from the Macron alliance.
Marine Le Pen has complained bitterly about the operation to ensure “mass withdrawals” and criticized those who sought to “stay in power against the will of the people”.
She did, however, believe that if voters turned out in large numbers, National Rally could still gain an absolute majority.
BBC reports the most recent Ifop poll predicts that National Rally will receive 210-240 seats, falling short of the 289 required to establish a government. This is down from the expected 240-270 seats won in the first round.
Nonetheless, certain minorities in France are concerned about what National Rally will do if elected.
The National Rally intends to give French people “national preference” over immigrants for jobs and housing, as well as to repeal the right to automatic French citizenship for children of foreign parents who have spent five years in France between the ages of 11 and 18.
Law and order is one of the National Rally’s top goals, along with immigration and tax cuts to address the cost-of-living crisis.
Source: BBC, Reuters
France’s Right-Wing National Rally Party Poised to Win in France
France’s Right-Wing National Rally Party Poised to Win in France
World
Court Says Social Media Influencer Andrew Tate Can Leave Romania But Remain In EU As He Awaits Trial
BUCHAREST, Romania — A court in Romania’s capital ruled Friday that social media celebrity Andrew Tate may leave Romania but must remain in the European Union while awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking, rape, and creating a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
Mateea Petrescu, Tate’s spokesman, described the Bucharest Tribunal’s decision to allow the 37-year-old to leave the country as a “significant victory and a major step forward” in the case. It’s unclear whether prosecutors can or will appeal the court’s judgment.
Tate, a former professional kickboxer and dual British-American citizen, was detained in December 2022 near Bucharest with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women. Romanian authorities formally accused all four in June of last year, and they have all disputed the claims.
Andrew Tate | AP News Image
Court Says Social Media Influencer Andrew Tate Can Leave Romania But Remain In EU As He Awaits Trial
Following Friday’s decision, Tate tweeted on the social networking platform X, “I AM FREE. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 YEARS, I WILL BE ABLE TO LEAVE ROMANIA. THE SCAM CASE IS FALLING APART.”
“We embrace and applaud the court’s decision today, I consider it a reflection of the exemplary behavior and assistance of my clients,” said Eugen Vidineac, one of Tate’s lawyers, adding that the Tates are “still determined to clear their name and reputation.”
On April 26, the Bucharest Tribunal determined that the prosecutors’ case file against Tate met the legal conditions and that a trial could commence, but no date was established. That decision came after the legal matter had been argued for months in the preliminary chamber stages, which allow defendants to contest prosecutors’ evidence and case files.
Following their arrest, the Tate brothers were detained in police custody for three months before being released to house arrest. They were then restricted to Bucharest municipality, the neighboring Ilfov county, and then to Romania.
Vidineac stated that the option to travel inside the 27-nation EU bloc will enable the Tates to “pursue professional opportunities without restriction.”
Andrew Tate, who has 9.5 million followers on the social networking platform X, has consistently stated that authorities have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. He has already been banned from several social media networks for allegedly expressing misogynistic views and engaging in hate speech.
In a separate matter, Andrew Tate was served with a civil complaint filed by four British women after a claim was issued by the High Court in London, according to a May statement from McCue Jury & Partners, the law firm representing the four women.
Andrew Tate | AP News Image
Court Says Social Media Influencer Andrew Tate Can Leave Romania But Remain In EU As He Awaits Trial
Tate allegedly sexually and physically assaulted the four, and they denounced him to British police in 2014 and 2015. Following a four-year inquiry, the Crown Prosecution Service declined prosecuting him in 2019. The alleged victims then used crowdfunding to file a civil action against him.
In a separate third case, the Tate brothers appeared in March at the Bucharest Court of Appeal after British authorities issued arrest warrants for alleged sexual aggression in a 2012-2015 U.K. case.
The appeals court granted the British request to extradite the Tates to the United Kingdom, but only after the legal proceedings in Romania were completed.
SOURCE – (AP)
World
Hurricane Beryl Roars Toward Jamaica After Killing At Least 6 People In The Southeast Caribbean
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Hurricane Beryl roared toward Jamaica on Wednesday, leaving islanders rushing to prepare after the devastating Category 4 storm killed at least six people and inflicted substantial damage in the southeast Caribbean.
People in Kingston boarded up their windows, fishermen withdrew their boats from the sea, and workers demolished roadside advertising boards to safeguard them from the fierce winds.
Pauline Lynch, a Kingston resident, said she had prepared for the storm by stockpiling food and water. With the wind already whipping up a light rain, Lynch stated, “I have no control over what is coming, so all I can do is pray that all Jamaicans are safe and that there are no deaths or losses.”
Beryl | AP News Image
Hurricane Beryl Roars Toward Jamaica After Killing At Least 6 People In The Southeast Caribbean
A hurricane warning was issued for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac. Beryl was expected to decrease slightly over the next day or two but remain at or near major hurricane strength when it passes near or over Jamaica on Wednesday, near the Cayman Islands on Thursday, and into Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced that the disaster zone declaration will stay in effect for seven days. He also declared an island-wide curfew from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Security personnel “will be fully mobilized to maintain public order and aid in disaster relief.” As soon as the cyclone passed, the security forces devised strategic preparations to prevent any potential threat of looting or other opportunistic crimes,” Holness stated.
An evacuation order was also issued for Jamaica villages vulnerable to flooding and landslides. Holness warned Jamaicans to avoid low-lying regions.
A hurricane watch was issued for Haiti’s southern and Yucatan east coast. Belize issued a tropical storm watch extending south from its Mexico border to Belize City.
Late Monday, Beryl became the Atlantic’s first Category 5 hurricane, reaching 165 mph (270 kph) on Tuesday before falling to a still-destructive Category 4. On Wednesday, the storm was approximately 75 miles (125 kilometers) southeast of Kingston. It had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230 kph) and was traveling west-northwest at 18 mph (30 kph).
Michael Brennan, Director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, stated that Jamaica appears in Beryl’s direct path. He asked citizens to locate a secure shelter and stay there until Wednesday.
“We are most concerned about Jamaica, where we are expecting the core of a major hurricane to pass near or over the island,” according to a briefing he gave online.
Jamaica is expected to see a storm surge of 6-9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 meters) over normal tidal levels and severe rains.
On Wednesday, Mexico’s Caribbean coast prepared for Beryl. The government has issued a hurricane warning for the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, from Puerto Costa Maya to Cancun.
The head of Mexico’s civil defense agency stated that Beryl is expected to launch a rare twin blow on the country. According to Laura Velázquez, the hurricane is forecast to land between late Thursday and early Friday on a rather unpopulated stretch of the Caribbean coast between Tulum and the inland town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto. Because the coast is primarily made up of lagoons and mangroves, there are few resorts or hotels south of Tulum.
As it traverses the Yucatan peninsula, the hurricane is anticipated to diminish to a tropical storm before reemerging as a storm in the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend. According to Velázquez, Beryl is likely to impact Mexican territory again, this time on the Gulf Coast states of Veracruz or Tamaulipas, close to the Texas border.
As Beryl plowed into the Caribbean Sea, rescue personnel in the southeastern islands spread out to assess the extent of the hurricane’s destruction to Carriacou, Grenada.
Officials confirmed three deaths in Grenada and Carriacou, as well as one in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Two further deaths were confirmed in northern Venezuela, while five people are missing, officials said. Beryl’s torrential downpour also affected approximately 25,000 people in the area.
Beryl | AP News Image
Hurricane Beryl Roars Toward Jamaica After Killing At Least 6 People In The Southeast Caribbean
The environment minister, Kerryne James, told The Associated Press that a tree fell on a house in Grenada, killing one. She claimed that Carriacou and Petit Martinique suffered the worst damage, with Carriacou losing hundreds of homes and businesses.
Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell stated on Tuesday that there is no power, roads are impassable, and the possibility of an increase in the death toll “remains a grim reality.”
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has pledged to reconstruct the archipelago. He stated that 90% of homes on Union Island had been demolished and that “similar levels of devastation” were expected on the islands of Myreau and Canouan.
The most recent powerful hurricane to reach the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan, which killed scores of people in Grenada 20 years ago.
Grenada nicknamed the “spice isle,” is a major supplier of nutmeg. Mitchell stated that most of the spices are planted in the northern portion of the island, which Beryl most damaged.
SOURCE – (AP)
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