U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

President Biden @POTUS

The CHIPS and Science Act means we are going to build the future in America.

With American workers.
In American factories.
Using American made products.

The middle class built America and unions built the middle class.

The work of my presidency is to build an America that is more prosperous, free, and just. It’s a mission I believe in with my whole soul.



https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1567158185731002368

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1566943593847296001

[Rick Plant]

Senator Joe Manchin @Sen_JoeManchin

The Inflation Reduction Act represents a historic opportunity to lower healthcare costs for Americans and hold drug companies accountable for outrageous price hikes. By allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, we will save taxpayers $100 billion.



https://twitter.com/Sen_JoeManchin/status/1567525668673429506

[Rick Plant]

It's interesting to look at what GOP polls are saying about 2022 (via 538):

These 4 polls have Democrats up 4.5 points:

Americans for Prosperity   42-39 (+3)
Echelon Insights                  48-44 (+4)
Chamber of Commerce      46-41 (+5)
Winning The Issues              47-41 (+6)

[Rick Plant]

President Biden will head to JFK Library in Boston next week to discuss the progress the US is making on the goal of ending cancer as we know it.

Coincides with the 60th anniversary of JFK’s Moonshot speech.

[Rick Plant]

President Biden @POTUS

Working people built America. I’m fighting like hell to make this nation work for them.



https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1567515201855004674

[Rick Plant]

GOP senator cited COVID when he dumped shares ahead of stock market crash, according to FBI records



After Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., told his broker to sell off more than a million dollars in stock a week before the 2020 coronavirus market crash, he called his brother-in-law, Gerald Fauth. Immediately after, Fauth called his wealth manager to sell off almost $160,000 in stock.

Fauth sounded “hurried,” according to a witness cited by the FBI in newly released documents. In explaining why he wanted to dump the stock, Fauth suggested he had special knowledge.

I know a senator, he said.

That appears to contradict what Burr’s lawyer told ProPublica, when we broke the news that the senator and his brother-in-law sold stock on the same day. In that story, the lawmaker’s attorney denied Burr and Fauth had coordinated.

That detail and others were revealed this week, after a judge ordered the Justice Department to further unredact documents related to its insider trading investigation into Burr. Federal prosecutors closed that investigation without filing charges last year, but as of earlier this year, a civil investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission remained ongoing.

Burr and Fauth could not immediately be reached for comment about the latest document release. In the past, Burr has denied trading on material nonpublic information, and Fauth has repeatedly hung up on ProPublica when asked about his trades.

Here’s a rundown of what’s new from the filing:

A Previous Transaction

Before Burr’s big stock dump on Feb. 13, 2020, the senator engaged in another transaction that suggested he anticipated investor concerns.

The day before his big stock sell-off, Burr purchased $1,189,000 in the Federated U.S. Treasury Cash Reserves Fund, about three-quarters of all the money he and his wife had in their joint account. That purchase had not been previously reported. “Investors often purchase U.S. Treasury funds to hedge against a potential market downturn,” an FBI agent noted.

Why Did Burr Trade?

When the scandal first broke, Burr denied his trades were motivated by inside information he learned as a member of the health and intelligence committees, but rather by news reports from CNBC.

Though this section remains lightly redacted, the FBI appears to have interviewed someone involved in executing Burr’s stock sell-off. That person did not recall Burr mentioning CNBC.

The person said Burr cited the coronavirus, saying it could affect the stock market and cause problems with the supply chain, since American companies rely on Chinese suppliers. (Burr also apparently mentioned that the surge in support for Sen. Bernie Sanders as the Democratic presidential nominee was a risk to the market.)

Did Burr Have a Source?

The FBI’s application for a warrant to search Burr’s phone remains heavily redacted in places, but it cites extensive texts and phone calls with someone about the impending coronavirus crisis.

“In total, between January 31, 2020, and April 7, 2020, (redacted) and Senator Burr exchanged approximately 32 text messages, nearly all of which concerned, in one way or another, the COVID-19 pandemic,” an FBI agent wrote.

That person’s identity remains unknown.

But the exchanges Burr had with this person are part of the reason the FBI was alleging there was probable cause to believe “Burr used material, non-public information regarding the impact that COVID-19 would have on the economy, and that he gained that information by virtue of his position as a Member of Congress.”

One More Call

The day the scandal first broke, Burr was facing demands that he resign from left and right, including from liberal Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and conservative Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

One of his first calls that evening? His brother-in-law.

According to the FBI, at 7:31 p.m. a call was placed from Burr’s cellphone to Fauth’s cellphone.

It lasted four and a half minutes. What was discussed is unclear.

At that point, it wasn’t yet publicly known that Fauth had dumped stock the same day as Burr. ProPublica broke that story two months later.

A week later the FBI asked a judge for a warrant to search Burr’s phone, news of which prompted Burr to step down as chair of the intelligence committee.

Read More Here: 

https://www.propublica.org/article/richard-burr-steps-down-from-chairmanship-of-senate-intelligence-committee

[Rick Plant]

President Biden to give 'Cancer Moonshot' speech at JFK Library

BOSTON - President Joe Biden is planning to give a speech at the John F. Kennedy Library on his ambitious goal to cut cancer deaths in health.

The White House said Biden will be at the JFK Library on Monday "to deliver remarks on the Cancer Moonshot and the goal of ending cancer as we know it."

Biden's remarks, which will take place on the 60th anniversary of Kennedy's famous "We choose to go to the moon" speech, will draw parallels between the former President's goal of landing a man on the moon and Biden's own "vision for another American moonshot -- a future where we end cancer as we know it," a White House official previewing the speech first to CNN said.

"When President Kennedy committed to putting a man on the moon and bringing him back, the United States had the building blocks to know that was possible. There were major scientific and societal advances that needed to happen. As a nation, we needed to fully commit to a future in which traveling to the moon was possible -- and we did just that," the official said.

"Today, we have many of the building blocks needed to make significant progress treating cancer, but we must come together to deliver on the promise. And because of incredible advances in science, technology, and medicine, we can already begin to see what is possible," the official added.

Earlier this year, Biden relaunched the government's $1.8 billion initiative to dramatically bring down the cancer death rate. The "moonshot" was first announced when Biden was vice president in 2016, not long after losing his son Beau to brain cancer.

The President has appointed a Cancer Cabinet, featuring representatives from 20 departments, agencies and the White House, including Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough and Dr. Alondra Nelson, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

This summer, the group unveiled five key priorities, including "(1) close the screening gap, (2) understand and address environmental exposure, (3) decrease the impact of preventable cancers, (4) bring cutting edge research through the pipeline to patients and communities, and (5) support patients and caregivers," according to the White House.

Cancer is the nation's second highest cause of death, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. But the American Cancer Society earlier this year noted progress has been made as cancer mortality rates have fallen.

The overall cancer death rate dropped by about a third (32%) from its peak in 1991 to 2019, from about 215 deaths for every 100,000 people to about 146, averting about 3.5 million deaths during that time, according to an annual report on cancer statistics from the American Cancer Society. Most of that decline can be attributed to a drop in mortality among lung cancer patients.

Biden will also promote his recently passed infrastructure law while in Boston.

Vice President Kamala Harris was in Boston on Labor Day to show support for unions.

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/biden-jfk-library-cancer-moonshot-speech-boston/