Wicked Blue
Wicked Blue's JournalFed Stresses Its Commitment to Low Rates for the Long Run
Source: NBCWashington
By Christopher Rugaber
The Federal Reserve pledged on Wednesday to keep its low interest rate policies in place even well after the economy has sustained a recovery from the viral pandemic.
The Fed said in a statement after its latest policy meeting that the improvement in the economy and job market has slowed in recent months, particularly in industries affected by the raging pandemic. The officials kept their benchmark short-term rate pegged near zero and said they would keep buying Treasury and mortgage bonds to restrain longer-term borrowing rates and support the economy.
The policymakers also warned that the virus poses risks to the economy and removed phrases from their previous statement that had said the pandemic was weighing on the economy in the “near term” and that it posed risks “over the medium term." The removal of these phrases suggests that Fed officials aren't sure how long the uncertainty will last.
For now, the job market, in particular, is faltering, with nearly 10 million jobs still lost to the pandemic, which erupted 10 months ago. Hiring has slowed for six straight months, and employers shed jobs in December for the first time since April. The job market has sputtered as the pandemic and colder weather have discouraged Americans from traveling, shopping, dining out or visiting entertainment venues. Retail sales have declined for three straight months.
Read more: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/fed-stresses-its-commitment-to-low-rates-for-the-long-run/2553314/
House opens investigation of pandemic ventilator purchases overseen by White House
Washington Post
By Reed Albergotti and Aaron Gregg
Jan. 27, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. EST
A House subcommittee is investigating a government deal to buy $70 million worth of ventilators for the coronavirus pandemic response that a Washington Post investigation found were inadequate for treating most covid-19 patients.
Last spring, as part of its effort to increase the number of ventilators amid the crisis, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Defense Logistics Agency purchased 11,200 AutoMedx SAVe II+ ventilators from Combat Medical Systems, which distributes the devices. But the ventilators were inadequate for treating covid-19 patients and remain in warehouses, according to Stephanie Bialek, a spokeswoman for the Strategic National Stockpile.
“AutoMedx appears to be the beneficiary of a potentially tainted procurement process,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the chairman of the House subcommittee on economic and consumer policy, which is in charge of the investigation, wrote in letters sent to the companies on Wednesday.
The Post previously reported that Adrian Urias, AutoMedx’s co-founder and current shareholder, advised the Trump administration’s covid-19 task force on ventilator purchases. In March, when the government posted the minimum specifications that ventilator manufacturers had to meet to sell devices for the pandemic response, those specifications were nearly identical to a spec sheet listed on AutoMedx’s website at the time.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/27/automedx-combat-medical-ventilator-investigation-contracts/
Rebekah Mercer Raised Specter of "Armed Conflict" in 2019 Book
The Intercept
Matthew Cunningham-Cook
January 27 2021, 6:00 a.m.
Joe Biden has been sworn in as president, but the divisions exemplified by the January 6 assault on the Capitol are here to stay, if billionaire heir and far-right financier Rebekah Mercer has any say in the matter. That’s according to her little-publicized 2019 book “What I Believe,” a transcription of a speech she gave in 2018 to the right-wing publishing house Encounter Books.
“[W]hat is the state of [the American] experiment today?” Mercer asked. “‘Now we are engaged in a great civil war,’ said Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg in 1863. One hundred and fifty-five years later, it is barely hyperbolic to echo the Great Emancipator.” Raising the specter of violence, Mercer writes, “We are not yet in armed conflict, but we are facing an ever more belligerent, frantic, and absurd group of radicals in a struggle for the soul of our country,” referring to antifa specifically and casting her opposition to progressives more broadly in existential terms.
Mercer has been financing a host of right-wing individuals and groups involved in the storming of the Capitol, The Intercept reported earlier this month, from Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward to “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander, in addition to her role as a financier of news website Breitbart and the social network Parler. In 2020, Mercer’s father, Robert Mercer, donated $1.5 million to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, and the Mercers donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Republican National Committee.
The far right has used extensive “civil war” rhetoric, including on January 6. “How we got to this point is that fascist billionaires like Rebekah Mercer have bankrolled and fueled the rise of violent white supremacist and authoritarian forces in this country,” said Saqib Bhatti, the co-executive director of the Action Center on Race & the Economy. “Mercer co-founded Parler, the app that fascists used to plan violent demonstrations before it was shut down. She and her family have helped fund reactionary causes and candidates, including one of the patron saints of the insurrection at the Capitol, Ted Cruz. Mercer is not warning us against armed conflict, she is threatening us with it.”
https://theintercept.com/2021/01/27/rebekah-mercer-book-capitol-riot/
Palm Beach Conducting 'Legal Review' Of Trump's Use Of Mar-A-Lago As A Residence
HuffPost
By S.V. Date
The town of Palm Beach, Florida, is reviewing Donald Trump’s use of his Mar-a-Lago Club as a residence, even as the former president is set to once again violate a length-of-stay provision he himself agreed to three decades ago.
At 11:32 a.m. Wednesday, Trump will have been at his property for more than seven consecutive days in 2021, having arrived a week earlier, half an hour before his successor, Joe Biden, was sworn in at the U.S. Capitol.
A 1993 “special exception use” permit that Trump signed, allowing him to convert the mansion into a for-profit social club, stipulated that only 10 guest accommodations were allowed, and that no one would stay there longer than seven days, and not more than three times a year.
Palm Beach Mayor Kirk Blouin told HuffPost that Trump’s apparent decision to live there permanently is being examined by the town’s lawyer. “This matter is under legal review by our Town Attorney, John ‘Skip’ Randolph,” Blouin said, adding that the matter may come before the town council at its Feb. 8 meeting.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-maralago-palm-beach-legal-review_n_60108813c5b61cb9534f3f76
Pressure builds on Biden, Democrats to revive net neutrality rules
Washington Post
By Tony Romm
Jan. 27, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. EST
More than three years ago, Jessica Rosenworcel could only react in horror as her Republican counterparts on the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal the U.S. government’s net neutrality rules.
“There is no shortage of people who believe Washington is not listening to their concerns, their fears and their desires,” Rosenworcel, a Democratic member of the FCC, said in a speech at the time. “Add this agency to the list.”
Now, Rosenworcel controls the very commission she once criticized for failing to heed the public’s outcry. And her stewardship — along with Democrats’ broader resurgence in Washington — has brought new, sky-high expectations that the party deliver on its past promises, restore open-Internet protections and resolve one of the most intractable policy battles in the digital age.
For more than two decades, Democrats and Republicans have warred over net neutrality, the idea that Internet providers should treat all Web traffic equally. At a time when the pandemic has forced Americans to learn and work online, Democrats see the Internet as an indispensable utility and stress that in some cases, it should be regulated like one. Republicans generally balk at that approach, siding with telecom giants including AT&T, Comcast and Verizon that say they believe in the principles of Internet openness — but oppose stiff federal rules to enforce them.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/27/net-neutrality-biden-fcc/
Coronavirus updates: E.U. feud with vaccine maker bursts into the open as Biden promises more doses
Source: Washington Post
By
Erin Cunningham, Paul Schemm and Marisa Iati
Jan. 27, 2021 at 9:15 a.m. EST
As the global number of coronavirus cases passed 100 million — a quarter of them in the United States alone — an increasingly acrimonious battle between the European Union and British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca over delays in delivering supplies burst into the open Wednesday.
A suspicious package also sent a plant in Wales where the AstraZeneca vaccine is produced into lockdown. Pharmaceutical company Wockhardt UK, which operates the site, said it had partially evacuated the area while authorities investigate, according to the BBC.
The high-stakes clash between the E.U. and vaccine maker AstraZeneca intensified Wednesday when E.U. officials accused the firm of withdrawing from a planned meeting to discuss cuts to its supply.
Dana Spinant, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, said that AstraZeneca had canceled the Wednesday meeting with the health steering group. A company spokesperson later denied that AstraZeneca pulled out of the talks.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/27/coronavirus-covid-live-updates-us/
California Man Texted Chilling Threats to Family of Lawmaker, Journalist: Feds
Daily Beast
Arya Hodjat
A California man has been arrested and charged with sending chilling text messages to the brother of a congressman, as well as ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos, according to unsealed court documents. Robert Lemke allegedly texted the brother of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Jan. 6, the day of the Capitol riot, “your brother is putting your entire family at risk with his lies and other words. We are armed and nearby your house... We are not white supremacists. Most of us are active/retired law enforcement or military.” In a statement, Jeffries's office confirmed that he was the unnamed congressman mentioned in the complaint. The New York Times reported that Stephanopoulos was the unnamed journalist.
The Jeffries text message was allegedly accompanied by a photo of home in the brother’s neighborhood. Lemke allegedly made similar threats to a relative of Stephanopoulos, writing, “we are nearby armed and ready.” The complaint notes that Lemke’s cover photo on Facebook was a photo of the McCloskeys, the St. Louis couple accused of brandishing a gun at Black Lives Matter protesters.
While Lemke identified himself on Facebook as a former U.S. Air Force captain and a retired sergeant with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office in California, according to his criminal complaint, both departments confirmed he had never worked for them.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-sheriffs-sergeant-robert-lemke-texted-chilling-threats-to-congressmans-family-doj-alleges
Coronavirus vaccination appointments canceled in D.C. region as health officials confront scarce sup
Coronavirus vaccination appointments canceled in D.C. region as health officials confront scarce supply
Washington Post
By Jenna Portnoy, Rachel Chason, Rebecca Tan and Hannah Natanson
Prince George’s County closed coronavirus vaccination appointments to nonresidents on Monday, and Inova Health System canceled thousands of appointments for Fairfax County teachers as providers across the Washington region scrambled to compensate for a limited supply of vaccine doses.
Prince George’s halted vaccination appointments for nonresidents who were eager to get the shot wherever it was available. County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) said the county canceled the appointments after hearing from residents who were unable to secure a time slot amid growing competition for doses.
The situation underscored the difficulty that localities and health departments face in balancing the ballooning eligibility pools while not having enough vaccine to go around. Local governments began the week pleading for more doses to meet the demand.
Inova late Monday said it canceled scheduled vaccinations for teachers and staff members in Fairfax County Public Schools “for the foreseeable future.” The decision affects at least 15,000 school district employees — roughly 60 percent of its workforce — all of whom registered for doses under the 1B phase of Virginia’s vaccine rollout.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/coronavirus-virginia-maryland-dc/2021/01/25/a33931d0-5f11-11eb-afbe-9a11a127d146_story.html
Goya Foods moves to muzzle its Trump-supporting CEO
New York Post
By Josh Kosman
Goya Foods has voted to silence its pro-Trump CEO Robert Unanue following his recent television appearances questioning the results of the presidential election, The Post has learned.
The Hispanic foods giant on Friday agreed to censure Unanue, 67, for controversial remarks in the wake of the deadly Jan. 6 invasion of the US Capitol building, including on Jan. 20 when he called Biden’s election “unverified” during an appearance on Fox Business.
The vote by a majority of Goya’s nine-member board means Unanue must now obtain board permission before making any more media appearances, sources close to the situation said.
“Bob does not speak for Goya Foods when he speaks on TV,” Goya board member and third-generation owner Andy Unanue told The Post last week leading up to the vote. “The family has diverse views on politics, but politics is not part of our business. Our political point of views are irrelevant.”
https://nypost.com/2021/01/25/goya-foods-votes-to-silence-pro-trump-ceo-robert-unanue/?utm_medium=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter
Protesters across Russia hold marches for jailed opposition leader Navalny
Washington Post
By Robyn Dixon and Isabelle Khurshudyan
Jan. 23, 2021 at 9:13 a.m. EST
MOSCOW — More than 1,000 people were arrested Saturday as protesters took to the streets across Russia calling for the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny — a broad show of defiance against President Vladimir Putin and his widening crackdowns against critics. Navalny's wife Yulia was among those detained.
The rallies — in nearly 100 cities and towns from Russia's Far East to central Moscow — came less than a week after Navalny returned from Germany, where he recovered from a nerve agent poisoning in August during a trip to Siberia. Navalny was arrested shortly after stepping off the plane.
Some 40,000 people participated in the Moscow protest, the Reuters news agency reported, while police said 4,000 people took part. Tens of thousands of others joined protests across the country.
According to human rights monitoring group OVD-Info, at least 1,090 people were arrested around Russia.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russia-navaly-protests-putin/2021/01/23/0c2ddbbe-5b57-11eb-a849-6f9423a75ffd_story.html
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