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Harris vows to take action to eliminate tip taxes for service workers

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris pledged Saturday to take action to eliminate taxes on suggestions paid to workers in restaurants and other service industries, echoing a promise made by her opponent, Republican Donald Trump, and marking a rare instance of political overlap between the 2 sides.

Harris made the announcement at a rally on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where the economy relies heavily on hotels, restaurants and entertainment. Trump promised essentially the identical thing at his own rally in town in June — though neither he nor Harris likely will have the opportunity to fully follow through without action from Congress.

“I promise everyone here that when I become president, we will continue our fight for America’s working families,” Harris said. “That includes raising the minimum wage and eliminating tip taxes for service and hospitality workers.”

Trump responded on social media shortly afterward, writing that Harris “simply copied my NO TAX ON TIPS Policy.”

“The difference is she won’t do it, she just wants it for political purposes!” the previous president wrote. “It was TRUMP’s idea – she has no ideas, she can only rob me.”

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae Hong)

Harris’ campaign later said that as president, she would work with Congress to develop a proposal that features an income limit and other provisions to stop hedge fund managers and lawyers from structuring their pay to take advantage of the policy. She would also press the proposal together with a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage.

Harris and her vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, arrived in Nevada as the newest stop in a five-state battleground where their party has shown renewed energy after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris. The vice chairman is holding a fundraiser in San Francisco on Sunday that has already raised greater than $12 million, her campaign said, and retiring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is amongst those scheduled to speak.

More than 12,000 people were on campus Saturday, and before the event began, local law enforcement closed the event because people got sick waiting outside in 109-degree heat to get through security. About 4,000 people were in line when the entrances were closed.

Walz alluded to this in his speech, but turned it into applause, telling Nevadans, “don’t worry, we’ll be back often.”

As a part of the trip, Harris hopes to construct more support amongst Latino voters. In 2020, Biden defeated Trump by a slim 2.4 percentage points in Nevada.

The 60,000-member food service workers union announced its support for Harris. About 54% of union members are Latino, 55% women and 60% immigrants. The union also issued a press release supporting Harris’ call for a better minimum wage and “ensuring no tip taxes for service and hospitality workers.”

Harris made her promise to repeal the tip tax as a part of a broader call to strengthen the country’s middle class, echoing a theme that has been at the middle of Biden’s now-unsuccessful re-election campaign.

“We believe in a future in which we lower the cost of living for American families so they have a chance not only to survive but to thrive,” she said.

AP VoteCast present in 2020 that 14% of Nevada voters were Latino, and Biden won 54% of their votes. His lead amongst Latino voters was barely higher nationally, an indication that Democrats can’t take this group of voters for granted.

“There is an incredible energy among college students and community members coming together to support and listen to our next president, Kamala Harris,” said Imer Cespedes-Alvarado, 21. A political science major at UNLV, Cespedes-Alvarado is a first-generation American citizen who spent his childhood in Costa Rica before making the difficult decision at age 16 to return to the U.S. to seek higher opportunities.

The vice chairman also promised to address immigration, emphasizing the subject as she did the previous night at a rally in Arizona.

“We know our immigration system is broken, and we know what it takes to fix it,” Harris said in Las Vegas. She also backed a “pathway to citizenship” for some people within the country illegally and criticized Trump, who she said “talks a lot about border security but doesn’t do what he says.”

Supporters carry signs as Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

The vice chairman has tried in recent weeks to take the political offensive on a problem that Trump and top Republicans have ceaselessly used to criticize her and the Biden administration, a move Harris hopes will drive a wedge into Republicans.

Because the vice chairman’s portfolio within the Biden administration has included addressing the basis causes of migration, and since of a few of her comments before the 2020 election, many leading Republican voices have sought to portray her as weak on the southern border and enabling illegal immigration.

Trump himself said of Harris, “As border czar, she was the worst border czar in history, in the history of the world.”

The former president has proposed mass deportations if he returns to the White House, but nearly 7 in 10 Nevada voters said immigrants living within the United States illegally should have the opportunity to apply for legal status, according to a 2020 AP VoteCast report.

But politics aside, many Las Vegas rally attendees said they were thrilled by the brand new energy Harris and Walz brought to the race.

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Krista Hall, 60, and her husband Thaddeus Hager, 58, admit that they have not been as enthusiastic about an election since Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.

“This is just as electrifying, if not more so,” Hall said, noting that they’d attended several Obama rallies during that point. Hager said he was confident Harris and Walz would “win in a landslide.”

The Democratic ticket also made inroads into key Midwestern “blue wall” states over the past week: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. Along with Nevada and Arizona, those states represent 61 electoral votes that might be obligatory to reach the 270-vote threshold needed to win on Election Day.

Brian Shaw, a Republican from northern Nevada, said Harris’ arrival at the highest of the ticket could make it harder for Trump to win because Biden was a “pathetic candidate” and there’s little time to expose the vice chairman’s “incompetence.” He said he attended a July 30 rally for Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance in Reno and located him “likable, capable, polished as a politician but not polished.”

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Politics and Current

Jasmine Crockett blasts Republicans for so-called white “oppression” over anti-DEI bill

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Jasmine Crockett, theGrio.com

On Wednesday, during a passionate speech before the committee, Sen. Jasmine Crockett, R-Texas, chided her Republican colleagues for the content of an anti-DEI bill that calls for eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion programs and offices within the federal government.

Crockett, a 43-year-old congressional student who has change into a star within the Democratic Party because of her quite a few viral committee appearances, condemned the Dismantle DEI Act of 2024. The bill, H.R. 8706 – first introduced by Republican Vice President-elect J.D. Vance – essentially prohibit all DEI-related activities within the federal government, including all related positions, offices, training, and funding. Strikingly, the bill also prohibits federal employees working in DEI positions from transferring to a different federal position.

During a House Oversight Committee hearing wherein she responded to Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., who repeatedly called DEI policies “oppression” — seemingly aimed toward white people, as many Republicans suggested — Crockett used the committee’s speaking time to criticize the suggestion that white individuals are oppressed in consequence of efforts to shut racial disparities in sectors resembling business, education, and health.

“You don’t understand the definition of oppression… I would ask you to just Google it,” said Crockett, who moments later read the dictionary definition of the word, adding: “Oppression is long-term cruel or unfair treatment or control, that’s the definition of oppression.” The congresswoman emphasized: “There was no oppression of the white man in this country.”

Referring to the history of chattel slavery and racial segregation within the US, the Texas lawmaker said: “Tell me which white men were dragged from their homes. Tell me which one was dragged across the ocean and that you will go to work. We will steal your wives. We will rape your wives. It didn’t happen. This is oppression.”

Attempting to further explain the importance of DEI, Crockett noted that she is barely the fifty fifth Black woman elected to Congress in its 235-year history, unlike the 1000’s of white men who’ve served on Capitol Hill.

“So if you want to talk about history and pretend it was that long ago, it wasn’t,” Crockett said, citing data showing that corporations perform higher and are more profitable after they are more diversified.

The anti-DEI movement, championed exclusively by Republicans, has led to several lawsuits invalidating federal programs, including debt forgiveness for Black farmers and business loans to Black and other disadvantaged businesses. Many states led by Republican governors have indicated that DEI – especially teaching about slavery and racism – is harmful to students, namely white students. In response, they banned such topics from public classrooms.

Jamarr Brown, executive director of Color of Change PAC, the political arm of the civil rights organization, said Congresswoman Crockett’s statements on DEI were “poignant and necessary.”

Jordan Brand amplifies Black storytelling with StoryCorps'

While the Dismantling DEI Act actually won’t be passed while Democrats control the Senate and President Joe Biden stays in office, it signals what may very well be a priority for Republicans next yr, as outlined within the pro-Trump “Project 2025” political manifesto “.

“According to Project 2025, diversity, equity and inclusion is synonymous with ‘White lives don’t matter,’” Brown noted. “Now more than ever, we at Color Of Change PAC, as well as advocates and activists across the country, must work to protect Black people and other people of color from harm resulting from anti-DEI attacks.”

Brown continued, “Civil rights protections have helped reduce mortgage discrimination, increase the number of Black physicians to counter problems such as Black maternal mortality, and provide financing for Black-owned businesses.”

He added: “Our country thrives and everyone benefits when diversity, equality and inclusion are valued rather than stifled.”

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Politics and Current

Why is Trump delaying signing the ethics agreement?

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Trump, election, Vanity Fair, cover


The campaign’s legal department reports that President-elect Donald Trump is stalling the presidential transition process by refusing to sign an ethics pledge that is legally required of each sitting president

Under the Presidential Transition Act, Trump and his transition team must sign a document ensuring he avoids any conflicts of interest once he takes office. Only after the document is signed and sent to the General Services Administration (GSA) can the incoming administration gain access to federal agencies.

The transition, which President Joe Biden has promised will likely be “orderly and peaceful,” sets the tone for the Trump-Vance administration’s approach to transparency, accountability and earning the trust of Americans, all of that are seen as essential to making sure the administration fulfills its responsibilities to the U.S. people mean .

The reasons for withholding Trump’s documents are unknown, but some speculate it has to do along with his latest financial disclosure reports and for one reason particularly. Many of his holdings might be considered conflict of interest red flags, equivalent to his latest cryptocurrency business, a majority stake in his social media platform Truth Social, real estate, books and licensing deals.

It’s not only the GSA that the president-elect is avoiding. According to , Trump also refused to make use of the State Department’s secure phone lines and interpreters and kept away from using the FBI’s security clearance system. That’s why House Democrats issued latest laws on November 19 requiring Executive Office employees to have FBI security clearances. If not, Congress will likely be warned.

Democratic lawmakers and powerful Trump opponents like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are baffled by his transition team’s refusal to sign an ethics agreement.

“Donald Trump and his transition team are already breaking the law. I would know because I wrote the law myself,” Warren wrote in X on November 11. “Future presidents are obliged to prevent conflicts of interest and sign an ethics agreement. This is what illegal corruption looks like.”

Skepticism towards the bill, presented by Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA)persists. The upcoming GOP-controlled Congress is seemingly leaning toward Trump. Once back in office, Trump will give you the chance to issue security clearances to anyone he wants, no matter the FBI’s objections or whether the person faces legal charges. This latest situation involves two of Trump’s Cabinet picks – Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, each of whom have faced allegations of sexual misconduct.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Social media reacts to video of Susan Smith’s tearful plea for parole 30 years after she killed her two sons and blamed their disappearance on a black man

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Susan Smith pleads for mercy during parole hearing

Parole was denied Wednesday for notorious South Carolina mother Susan Smith, who drowned her two young children after initially claiming a black man had kidnapped them.

“I wish I could take it back, I really do,” Smith, now 53, said. “I didn’t lie to get away with it. … I used to be just afraid. I didn’t know the way to tell the individuals who loved them that they might never see them again.

Smith said she found peace because of her Christian faith. God is a vital part of her life testified on Wednesday, “and I know he has forgiven me.”

Susan Smith pleads for mercy at her parole hearing
Susan Smith cries openly during her emotional parole hearing. (Source: ABC News live video screenshot)

It was her first appearance before the state parole board, which voted unanimously to keep her in prison for the remaining of her life. After serving 30 years, Smith is eligible for parole every two years.

“I know what I did was terrible,” she said in her testimony given via Zoom. “And I would give anything if I could go back and change it.”

“I love Michael and Alex with all my heart,” she said openly, crying and wiping away tears.

The disappearance of 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex made national headlines after their mother told the chilling story of how a black man stopped her automotive and took her children. She appeared incessantly on television, playing every bit the role of a distraught mother, and the search for her boys lasted nine grueling days.

It was then that Susan Smith, questioned by police who began to doubt her story, truthfully confessed what really happened on October 25, 1994.

Smith, then 23, strapped her sons into their automotive seats and drove the automotive into a lake near her home in Union, South Carolina.

Smith’s pleas fell on the ears of not only the parole board but in addition many on social media. As videos of her interrogation began circulating online, a whole bunch of comments condemned the mother for not seeming sufficiently remorseful about her actions.

“☠️MONSTERS should be kept in CAGES☠️”, one person wrote on Xformerly Twitter.

Another added: “I remember it when it happened. She claimed that her children were kidnapped by black people. And people believed her, unfortunately. She should be sentenced to death. He must remain behind bars until the very end.”

“I’m sure her children, strapped in their automotive seats, screamed and cried as they drowned in their own mother’s hands for her lustful pleasures. Shameful,” – wrote one other commentator.

Sixteenth Judicial District Solicitor Kevin Brackett recalled pulling Susan Smith’s automotive out of the water with her children inside. She added that these crimes shocked not only the family but your complete country.

“On behalf of the community I now represent, I do not believe she should ever be released from prison until the last living person who remembers Michael and Alex dies, and that will not happen in her lifetime. She should never have been released,” Brackett said Wednesday.

Defense lawyer Susan Smith argued that she planned to die with her sons, but jumped out of the automotive on the last minute.

Lead prosecutor Tommy Pope noted that Smith was not wet or injured when she ran for help after the automotive disappeared beneath the lake.

“Susan’s focus was always on Susan,” said Pope, who presented evidence during Smith’s murder trial that she was distraught over her breakup with one other man. Prosecutors say the connection ended because Smith had children.

“Susan made a terrible, terrible decision, choosing a man over her family,” Pope said. “If she could have put David in the car, he would have been there too.”

David Smith, Michael and Alexander’s father, who was captured entering the constructing, told the board that his ex-wife had never shown any remorse for their murder.

“It wasn’t a tragic mistake. (…) She deliberately wanted to end their lives,” he said.

David Smith testified that his grief over the loss of his sons “came close to taking my own life.”

His current wife, Tiffany Smith, says there are still days when her husband cannot get out of bed because of the pain.

“Michael and Alex didn’t get a chance at life,” she said. “They were given the death penalty.”

He said his ex-wife served just 15 years for each child. “It’s just not enough.”

Susan Smith’s attorney, Tommy Thomas, told the parole board his client’s case shows “the dangers of untreated mental health.” He said Susan Smith was not diagnosed with depression after the birth of her second child.

Her stepfather testified that he had sexually abused her for years.

Susan Smith was not a model prisoner. She was convicted multiple times, once for sex with a prison officer and one other time for drug possession. She was also threatened with punishment for providing documents with her ex-husband’s contact details.

Her lawyer said that if she was released on parole, she would live with her brother.

David Smith said if his wife applied for parole again, he could be there for the sake of his sons.

(*30*) he told the board.


This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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