Conservative Blogger
Monday, April 22, 2019
Ben Carson explains benefits of investing in 'Opportunity Zones' for areas facing economic challenges
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson spoke on “The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton” in
an interview that aired Sunday about proposed new regulations aimed at
making it easier for investors to take advantage of tax breaks for
investing in “Opportunity Zones” in low-income areas.
“Policies have been pretty much aimed at putting people into programs,” Carson said, and now the Trump administration is trying to get poor Americans “out of the programs and self-sufficient.”
President Trump said last week that 8,700 neighborhoods across all 50 states and U.S. territories have received the Opportunity Zone designation and would be eligible for the federal tax incentives he's proposed.
“The entire island of Puerto Rico is an opportunity zone,” Carson said.
“We are very concerned about the rural areas, too,” he added.
Trump’s proposed regulations were issued by the Treasury Department. They sought to clear up questions that were keeping some investors from using the incentives.
The program was included in the $1.5 trillion tax cut legislation that Trump pushed through Congress in 2017.
The new Opportunity Zones were set up to enable private investors to re-invest profits into designated areas.
“They are going to invest that money somewhere,” Carson said.
He noted private investors would do what they do because they “want to be successful.”
As White House officials have explained, investors in Opportunity Zones could get tax benefits by deferring their capital gains taxes invested in the zones until 2026. They also could receive discounts of up to 15 percent on capital-gains profits invested in the zones and would pay no capital-gains taxes on investments in the zones held for at least 10 years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
“Policies have been pretty much aimed at putting people into programs,” Carson said, and now the Trump administration is trying to get poor Americans “out of the programs and self-sufficient.”
President Trump said last week that 8,700 neighborhoods across all 50 states and U.S. territories have received the Opportunity Zone designation and would be eligible for the federal tax incentives he's proposed.
“The entire island of Puerto Rico is an opportunity zone,” Carson said.
“We are very concerned about the rural areas, too,” he added.
Trump’s proposed regulations were issued by the Treasury Department. They sought to clear up questions that were keeping some investors from using the incentives.
The program was included in the $1.5 trillion tax cut legislation that Trump pushed through Congress in 2017.
The new Opportunity Zones were set up to enable private investors to re-invest profits into designated areas.
“They are going to invest that money somewhere,” Carson said.
He noted private investors would do what they do because they “want to be successful.”
As White House officials have explained, investors in Opportunity Zones could get tax benefits by deferring their capital gains taxes invested in the zones until 2026. They also could receive discounts of up to 15 percent on capital-gains profits invested in the zones and would pay no capital-gains taxes on investments in the zones held for at least 10 years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trump administration set to end sanction exemptions for nations importing Iranian oil: report
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a news conference to
announce the Trump administration's plan to designate Iran's
Revolutionary Guard a "foreign terrorist organization." (AP
Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
The Trump administration is set to inform five nations that they will no longer be exempt from U.S. sanctions if they continue to import oil from Iran, reports said Sunday.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to announce the policy move on Monday, which would no longer renew sanctions waivers for allies Japan, South Korea, and Turkey. The other countries no longer exempt are China and India.
The waivers for sanctions will expire on May 2. The Washington Post first reported on the move, and three sources confirmed the report to the Associated Press.
President Trump finalized the measure on Friday, according to the Post, in an effort to apply “maximum economic pressure” by cutting off its oil exports and reducing its main revenue source to zero.
In reaction to the administration’s move and expectations of tightening supply, early trading on Monday indicated Benchmark Brent crude oil futures rose by as much as 3.2 percent to $74.31 a barrel, the highest since Nov. 1, Reuters reports.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mark Levin blasts Mueller report as ‘impeachment’ manual for House Dems and media
The Mueller report
is a 400-page, $35 million op-ed that amounts to an “impeachment
report” for the liberal media and House Democrats, argued Mark Levin on
his Sunday program, “Life, Liberty & Levin." '
The Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election found “no collusion” between President Trump and Russia. The Department of Justice released a redacted version of the report in two volumes on Thursday.
Levin called the result a "pathetic joke of a report" that established nothing the general public didn't already know and its findings didn't warrant a "special investigation."
“There’s no collusion, says the Special Counsel. That takes one sentence. It doesn’t take 200 damn pages. It doesn’t take $35 million dollars,” Levin said, referring to Vol. 2 of the report.
Despite the Democrats warning of a "Saturday Night Massacre" like President Nixon during Watergate, President Trump never asserted executive privilege to prevent documents or people around him from talking to Mueller. He was an open book," Levin argued.
But after the report found no evidence of collusion, the Democrats, who had been discussing impeachment since the day after Trump was elected, pivoted to pinning obstruction of justice charges on the president, Levin said.
"This is an abuse of power by a prosecutor. This is the only prosecutor in the entire country who writes a report under justice department regulations, a report that is only supposed to go to the Attorney General, who then makes decisions about whether to release any of it. Or all of it, because there’s no requirement for this to be released at all," Levin said.
The Mueller report is, essentially, Levin argued, "an impeachment report" that was written for the "media and the "Democrats in the House of Representatives."
“They wrote it for CNN, they wrote it for MSNBC. They wrote it for Nadler and Schiff and all the other reprobates. They wrote the report for them,” Levin said.
Levin said the investigation "runs completely contrary to a civilized society" and a "constitutional system," yet there is not a single Democrat member of the House of Representatives or "so-called news person" at any major outlet that appears to be concerned.
The Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election found “no collusion” between President Trump and Russia. The Department of Justice released a redacted version of the report in two volumes on Thursday.
Levin called the result a "pathetic joke of a report" that established nothing the general public didn't already know and its findings didn't warrant a "special investigation."
“There’s no collusion, says the Special Counsel. That takes one sentence. It doesn’t take 200 damn pages. It doesn’t take $35 million dollars,” Levin said, referring to Vol. 2 of the report.
Despite the Democrats warning of a "Saturday Night Massacre" like President Nixon during Watergate, President Trump never asserted executive privilege to prevent documents or people around him from talking to Mueller. He was an open book," Levin argued.
But after the report found no evidence of collusion, the Democrats, who had been discussing impeachment since the day after Trump was elected, pivoted to pinning obstruction of justice charges on the president, Levin said.
"This is an abuse of power by a prosecutor. This is the only prosecutor in the entire country who writes a report under justice department regulations, a report that is only supposed to go to the Attorney General, who then makes decisions about whether to release any of it. Or all of it, because there’s no requirement for this to be released at all," Levin said.
The Mueller report is, essentially, Levin argued, "an impeachment report" that was written for the "media and the "Democrats in the House of Representatives."
“They wrote it for CNN, they wrote it for MSNBC. They wrote it for Nadler and Schiff and all the other reprobates. They wrote the report for them,” Levin said.
Levin said the investigation "runs completely contrary to a civilized society" and a "constitutional system," yet there is not a single Democrat member of the House of Representatives or "so-called news person" at any major outlet that appears to be concerned.
Pete Buttigieg draws parallels between Trump fans and Bernie Sanders supporters: report
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg
on Friday said that President Trump’s supporters were similar to Bernie
Sanders’ supporters because they both feel marginalized and want to
tear down the system.
The comments came during a campaign stop in downtown Nashua, N.H. before a crowd of mostly high school students, according to The Washington Examiner.
The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind. said that a sense of “anger and disaffection” grows from neighborhoods and families who are struggling to get by despite reports of a healthy economy.
“It just kind of turns you against the system in general and then you’re more likely to want to vote to blow up the system, which could lead you to somebody like Bernie and it could lead you to somebody like Trump. That’s how we got where we are,” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg drew a distinction between himself and the 77-year-old Vermont Senator, saying that although he greatly admires Sanders, “I don’t have the same views on everything that he does.”
The comments came during a campaign stop in downtown Nashua, N.H. before a crowd of mostly high school students, according to The Washington Examiner.
The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind. said that a sense of “anger and disaffection” grows from neighborhoods and families who are struggling to get by despite reports of a healthy economy.
“It just kind of turns you against the system in general and then you’re more likely to want to vote to blow up the system, which could lead you to somebody like Bernie and it could lead you to somebody like Trump. That’s how we got where we are,” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg drew a distinction between himself and the 77-year-old Vermont Senator, saying that although he greatly admires Sanders, “I don’t have the same views on everything that he does.”
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez faces questions after her boyfriend gets congressional email account
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is facing ethics questions after revelations the freshman lawmaker's office gave her boyfriend a congressional email account.
The democratic socialist waded into the issue in response to a tweet alleging boyfriend Riley Roberts had been put on staff. The tweet included a screenshot of an official House email address. Ocasio-Cortez insisted that he was only given the email account so he could access her calendar.
“Actually this calendar designation is a permission so he can have access to my Google Calendar. Congressional spouses get Gcal access all the time,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote, after political consultant Luke Thompson tweeted the picture showing Roberts having an official account like other staffers on the Hill. "Next time check your facts before you tweet nonsense."
Asked about the arrangement, David O'Boyle, the spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, told Fox News: "From time to time, at the request of members, spouses and partners are provided House email accounts for the purposes of viewing the member’s calendar."
But Jason Chaffetz, former chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Ocasio-Cortez' claims don’t stack up.
"It’s totally naïve and inappropriate – you wouldn’t allow it in most companies, let alone the House of Representatives. There should be real consequences,” Chaffetz told Fox News.
"It’s totally naïve and inappropriate – you wouldn’t allow it in most companies, let alone the House of Representatives."“When I was in the House, my scheduler would forward my wife my schedule once a week. But you’re not allowed unfettered access. And he isn’t even her spouse,” he added. “... It should be referred to the ethics committee for further investigation.”
— Jason Chaffetz
Meanwhile, Thompson's tweet touched off a Twitter battle with the congresswoman's staff.
Saikat Chakrabarti, the congresswoman’s chief of staff, insisted that the boyfriend isn’t on the payroll and that he’s not doing any work related to the government.
“He's not paid. We have no volunteers in the office. He's not doing any government work. He can see her calendar just like spouses/partners/family members in other congressional office,” he wrote, adding in another tweet, “Spouses and partners normally get http://mail.house.gov e-mail addresses for the purpose of getting calendar access.”
House IT rules generally prohibit the use of “the House’s electronic mail systems and resources” by unauthorized members, and only “U.S. House of Representative Members, Officers, Employees, Fellows, Interns and Contractors” with appropriate permission can use the system. Still, O'Boyle cited the practice of sometimes allowing spouses access.
Chaffetz said that Roberts having email access could also create other security issues and the matter should be referred to the Capitol Police for further investigation.
“Being given a password to get into the House computer system has other potentially problematic issues,” he said.
Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not respond to Fox News’ requests for comment.
 |
| Angry Young White Guy Riley Roberts :-) |
AOC Will Join Impeachment Resolution
Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., says she will add her name to an impeachment resolution aimed at President Donald Trump following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report.
The proposal, put forward by lawmaker Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., calls on the House Judiciary Committee to probe whether or not the president committed any offenses that rise to the level of impeachment.
Mueller did not charge Trump for obstruction, but detailed numerous examples in his 448-page report released Thursday in which Trump asked his aides to take actions that would have obstructed the Russia probe.
Elizabeth Warren Calls for Start of Impeachment Proceedings Against Trump
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is running for
the Democratic presidential nomination, on Friday said Congress should
begin the process of removing President Donald Trump from office over
findings in U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report.
"The severity of this misconduct demands that elected officials in
both parties set aside political considerations and do their
constitutional duty," Warren said on Twitter. "That means the House
should initiate impeachment proceedings against the President of the
United States."
Warren is the first of the major contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination to call for impeachment, a day after the release of Mueller's report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Mueller did not establish that the Trump campaign coordinated with
Russians but did find “multiple acts by the President that were capable
of exerting undue influence over law enforcement investigations.”
While Mueller ultimately decided not to charge Trump with a crime
such as obstruction of justice, he also said that the investigation did
not exonerate the president.
Warren, a Senator from Massachusetts, said that "to ignore a President’s repeated efforts to obstruct an investigation into his own disloyal behavior would inflict great and lasting damage on this country."
Other Democratic leaders have played down talk of impeachment of Trump just 18 months before the 2020 presidential election.
Trump's lawyers said in a statement that the "results of the investigation are a total victory for the President" and that "it is clear there was no criminal wrongdoing."
Warren is the first of the major contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination to call for impeachment, a day after the release of Mueller's report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Warren, a Senator from Massachusetts, said that "to ignore a President’s repeated efforts to obstruct an investigation into his own disloyal behavior would inflict great and lasting damage on this country."
Trump's lawyers said in a statement that the "results of the investigation are a total victory for the President" and that "it is clear there was no criminal wrongdoing."
Dems plan conference call Monday to debate Mueller report's implications
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
D-Calif., is scheduled to hold a private conference call Monday with
fellow Democrats in which the topic of the potential impeachment of President Trump will be raised.
The planned call comes as the issue continues to divide progressive Democrats -- who want Trump to face impeachment proceedings -- and party leaders who warn of its political risks and backlash going into the 2020 presidential election, Bloomberg reported. The renewed push comes on the heels of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Pelosi last month said she opposed impeachment, calling the process divisive and saying of Trump, “He’s just not worth it."
But in tweets this week, following the release of the Mueller report, Pelosi seemed to show a change in tone.
"As we continue to review the report, one thing is clear," Pelosi wrote Thursday, "AG Barr presented a conclusion that @realDonaldTrump did not obstruct justice while the #MuellerReport appears to undercut that finding."
Also Thursday: "The #MuellerReport paints a disturbing picture of a president who has been weaving a web of deceit, lies and improper behavior and acting as if the law doesn’t apply to him," Pelosi wrote.
Mueller's report cleared Trump and his associates of collusion with Russia but did not determine whether the president committed obstruction of justice during the investigation.
The report outlined 10 instances of potential obstruction, reviving impeachment calls by some Democrats. Among them, the report said Trump directed then-White House Counsel Don McGahn in June 2017 to tell the acting attorney general that Mueller “must be removed.” McGahn refused.
“The Special Counsel made clear that he did not exonerate the President. The responsibility now falls to Congress to hold the President accountable for his actions,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. said in an April 18 written statement just after the report was released.
President Trump, however, maintains that the Mueller report has cleared him of wrongdoing, and has underscored that view in Twitter messages.
"The end result of the greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. political history is No Collusion with Russia (and No Obstruction). Pretty Amazing!" the president wrote Saturday.
Another tweet was titled, "Mueller Investigation By the Numbers":
Those calling for impeachment proceedings include 2020 presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who said she would endorse an impeachment resolution introduced by fellow freshman lawmaker, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.
"Many know I take no pleasure in discussions of impeachment. I didn’t campaign on it, & rarely discuss it unprompted. We all prefer working on our priorities: pushing Medicare for All, tackling student loans, & a Green New Deal. But the report squarely puts this on our doorstep," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Thursday.
On Saturday, Warren -- who has been struggling to gain traction with voters -- doubled down on her call for the House to begin impeachment proceedings.
"I know people say this is politically charged and we shouldn’t go there, and that there is an election coming up, but there are some things that are bigger than politics,” she told an audience at Keene College in New Hampshire.
Pelosi and other Democratic leaders have tried tamping down talks of impeachment, arguing that Senate Republicans would not vote to remove Trump from office.
Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., told Bloomberg he agrees with Pelosi that a case for impeachment should be built carefully and out of a complete record.
“Maybe we get one shot at it. Why not wait to get all of the information we can?” he said. “It doesn’t help to just keep talking about impeachment. It makes it look like you are obsessed with it.”
Eight-term Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, began calling for impeachment even before Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib, according to Bloomberg. He twice forced procedural votes on articles of impeachment when Republicans controlled the House. He said would press the issue again regardless of what party leaders think.
“I will bring it to the floor for a vote if the committees do not act," said Green. “"If we don’t step up and do our job, if we engage in some sort of analysis and debate and refuse to say the word, ‘impeachment,’ we will engage in what Dr. King called the paralysis of analysis.
"We will do this until such time someone will say it’s too late to get into impeachment, it will appear to be political, and as a result we will then decide that this must be taken to the polls on Election Day."
The planned call comes as the issue continues to divide progressive Democrats -- who want Trump to face impeachment proceedings -- and party leaders who warn of its political risks and backlash going into the 2020 presidential election, Bloomberg reported. The renewed push comes on the heels of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Pelosi last month said she opposed impeachment, calling the process divisive and saying of Trump, “He’s just not worth it."
But in tweets this week, following the release of the Mueller report, Pelosi seemed to show a change in tone.
"As we continue to review the report, one thing is clear," Pelosi wrote Thursday, "AG Barr presented a conclusion that @realDonaldTrump did not obstruct justice while the #MuellerReport appears to undercut that finding."
Also Thursday: "The #MuellerReport paints a disturbing picture of a president who has been weaving a web of deceit, lies and improper behavior and acting as if the law doesn’t apply to him," Pelosi wrote.
Mueller's report cleared Trump and his associates of collusion with Russia but did not determine whether the president committed obstruction of justice during the investigation.
The report outlined 10 instances of potential obstruction, reviving impeachment calls by some Democrats. Among them, the report said Trump directed then-White House Counsel Don McGahn in June 2017 to tell the acting attorney general that Mueller “must be removed.” McGahn refused.
“The Special Counsel made clear that he did not exonerate the President. The responsibility now falls to Congress to hold the President accountable for his actions,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. said in an April 18 written statement just after the report was released.
President Trump, however, maintains that the Mueller report has cleared him of wrongdoing, and has underscored that view in Twitter messages.
"The end result of the greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. political history is No Collusion with Russia (and No Obstruction). Pretty Amazing!" the president wrote Saturday.
Another tweet was titled, "Mueller Investigation By the Numbers":
Those calling for impeachment proceedings include 2020 presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who said she would endorse an impeachment resolution introduced by fellow freshman lawmaker, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.
"Many know I take no pleasure in discussions of impeachment. I didn’t campaign on it, & rarely discuss it unprompted. We all prefer working on our priorities: pushing Medicare for All, tackling student loans, & a Green New Deal. But the report squarely puts this on our doorstep," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Thursday.
On Saturday, Warren -- who has been struggling to gain traction with voters -- doubled down on her call for the House to begin impeachment proceedings.
"I know people say this is politically charged and we shouldn’t go there, and that there is an election coming up, but there are some things that are bigger than politics,” she told an audience at Keene College in New Hampshire.
Pelosi and other Democratic leaders have tried tamping down talks of impeachment, arguing that Senate Republicans would not vote to remove Trump from office.
Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., told Bloomberg he agrees with Pelosi that a case for impeachment should be built carefully and out of a complete record.
“Maybe we get one shot at it. Why not wait to get all of the information we can?” he said. “It doesn’t help to just keep talking about impeachment. It makes it look like you are obsessed with it.”
Eight-term Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, began calling for impeachment even before Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib, according to Bloomberg. He twice forced procedural votes on articles of impeachment when Republicans controlled the House. He said would press the issue again regardless of what party leaders think.
“I will bring it to the floor for a vote if the committees do not act," said Green. “"If we don’t step up and do our job, if we engage in some sort of analysis and debate and refuse to say the word, ‘impeachment,’ we will engage in what Dr. King called the paralysis of analysis.
"We will do this until such time someone will say it’s too late to get into impeachment, it will appear to be political, and as a result we will then decide that this must be taken to the polls on Election Day."
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