Day: August 21, 2017

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says there is “zero chance” Congress will allow the country to default on its debts by voting to not increase the borrowing limit.

McConnell’s comments came Monday during a joint appearance in his home state of Kentucky with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. It was one of McConnell’s first public appearances since President Donald Trump publicly criticized him for failing to pass a repeal and replacement of former President Barack Obama’s health care law.

McConnell did not mention Trump in his remarks, and he did not take questions from reporters after the event. But in response to a question about where he gets his news, McConnell said he reads a variety of sources, including The New York Times.

“My view is most news is not fake,” McConnell said, which appeared to be a subtle rebuke of one of Trump’s favorite phrases. “I try not to fall in love with any particular source.”

The government has enough money to pay its bills until Sept. 29. After that, Congress would have to give permission for the government to borrow more money to meet its obligations, including Social Security and interest payments.

McConnell sought to calm a crowd of nervous business leaders by interjecting at the end of Mnuchin’s answer to a question about what would happen if lawmakers did not increase the borrowing limit.

“Let me just add, there is zero chance, no chance, we won’t raise the debt ceiling,” McConnell said. “America is not going to default.”

Addressing the country’s borrowing limit will be the most pressing issue when lawmakers return to Washington following their August recess. After that, Republicans will likely turn their attention to overhauling the nation’s tax code.

McConnell said Congress is unlikely to repeal a pair of Obama-era laws most hated by conservatives. While negotiations about health care are ongoing, McConnell said the path forward is “somewhat murky.” And he said it would be “challenging” to lift the restrictions placed on banks following the 2008 financial crisis, known as “Dodd-Frank.”

On tax reform, McConnell said the only thing lawmakers won’t consider eliminating are deductions on mortgage interest and charitable deductions.
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Wisconsin Assembly Democratic Leader Peter Barca was branded as failing “on all accounts” by a fellow Democrat who was “incredibly frustrated and concerned” with his actions after Barca joined Republicans in voting for a $3 billion tax incentive package for Foxconn Technology Group.

Emails obtained by The Associated Press show that Democratic state Rep. Lisa Subeck of Madison spelled out her grievances to Barca on Friday, the day after the Assembly passed the incentive package backed by Republicans designed to attract Foxconn to build a massive display panel factory in the state.

Barca was one of three Democrats to vote for the measure Thursday, with 28 Democrats against. Barca, of Kenosha, and the other Democrats who voted for it represent southeast Wisconsin, near where Foxconn plans to build a factory that could employ thousands. Reps. Cory Mason of Racine and Tod Ohnstad of Kenosha joined Barca and 56 Republicans in voting for the bill; two Republicans joined all other Democrats in opposition.

Most Democrats were outspoken in their opposition to the measure, branding it as a corporate welfare giveaway that also puts Wisconsin’s environment in jeopardy because of requirements that would be waived to speed construction of the plant that could open as soon as 2020.

Barca tried to walk a line, criticizing the process of quickly acting on the bill and saying that more improvements could be made to protect taxpayers, Wisconsin businesses and the environment. But ultimately he said he supported the incentive package because of the backing it has from people in his district.

Subeck, in an email sent to all Assembly Democrats obtained by the AP, accused Barca of failing “on all accounts” to differentiate his views on Foxconn with that of the rest of Democrats who voted against the measure. She was particularly upset with Barca for holding an impromptu news conference in the Assembly parlor, right around the corner from his office, shortly after the evening vote Thursday.

“I am also concerned that the message you conveyed,” Subeck wrote. “It seems you were trying to justify your own vote rather than share the caucus perspective consistent with our agreed upon message.”

She said that Barca’s public comments “have not been consistent with the majority position of the caucus and have served counter to our interest.”

Barca wrote in response that he hadn’t planned to have a news conference but after the Thursday vote “we had one outlet in particular that was very aggressive and several others that wanted to talk.” Barca said his staff asked the reporters to move to the nearby parlor, where he and Assistant Majority Leader Dianne Hesselbein of Middleton and Rep. Mark Spreitzer of Beloit answered questions.

Barca did not address her concerns about what he actually said.

Barca spokeswoman Olivia Hwang said in an email that it was known Democrats had different opinions on the Foxconn bill and he supports efforts to oppose legislation they believe is wrong for their district or the state.

Barca does not plan to testify at a public hearing Tuesday in Racine on the bill, she said. Subeck raised concerns in her email about Barca testifying at the hearing scheduled for near where the plant may locate.
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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro says new measures will be rolled out this week to combat economic speculation in the crisis-ridden country.

In an interview distributed via state-run media Sunday, Maduro said he was working with a “special commission” of the new, pro-government Constituent Assembly to clamp down on price gouging.

The commission is “going to announce a set of actions so that the maximum price of the products is respected,” Maduro said, without providing details. He also warned that “very severe justice” would “shake the society.”

​Venezuelans constantly complain of scarcity of food, medicine and personal hygiene products — and of outrageous prices amid soaring inflation.

The currency has shriveled in value, down from eight bolivars to the dollar in 2010 to more than 8,000 bolivars last month, as CNN Money recently pointed out. A single-serve bottle of water can cost about 1,200 bolivars.

Maduro previously declared a war on speculation in 2013, according to the Washington Office on Latin America. 

Carlos Larrazabal, president of Fedecamaras, a union representing Venezuela’s business sector, accused the socialist administration of trying to smother private enterprise.

“The government has a political agenda. Instead of correcting problems of supply and production,” the Constituent Assembly has “deepened” Venezuela’s crisis, Larrazabal said in an interview Sunday with Caracas television station Televen.

The assembly declared on Friday that it would wrest legislative power from the opposition-led National Assembly, a move denounced by many in Venezuela and beyond. The United States does not recognize the Constituent Assembly as valid.

Larrazabal said Venezuela is suffering “the consequences of bad economic policy, with an exchange mechanism that is not transparent, which does not allow raw materials” into the country. He also complained of price controls.

The archbishop of Caracas, Jorge Urosa Savino, recently reiterated his call to the Maduro government to ease Venezuelans’ suffering. He said the Roman Catholic Church has repeatedly urged the opposition “to defend the rights of the Venezuelan people.”

This article originated with VOA’s Spanish service.

 
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An increasing number of Native American tribes are looking to the marijuana business to break the poverty on reservations, but they are treading quietly over uncertainties in federal policy, which could shift under President Donald Trump.

Cannabis is big business in states that have legalized its medical or recreational use. Arcview, a California cannabis investor network, says the U.S. marijuana market earned $6.7 billion in 2016.

Apart from its medical and euphoric properties, proponents of cannabis cite the industrial potential of hemp, which is derived from the male cannabis plant. It is used globally in more than 25,000 products, from fabrics to food to pharmaceuticals. Because of its association with marijuana, hemp cultivation is strictly controlled in the U.S., and manufacturers must import hemp fiber, seed and oil.

Environmental, financial benefits

“Let’s just look at one small piece of what hemp can do,” said Leslie Bocskor, founder of Electrum Partners, which works with states and tribes looking to enter the cannabis industry. Hemp, Bocskor said, can be used to manufacture plastics that are more environmentally friendly than plastics made from oil and gas, which aren’t biodegradable.

“When you put hemp plastic into landfill, it will break down into things that are not damaging, at worst, and, at best, it can be additive to the soil it’s put into,” he said. “It also causes far less pollution to produce hemp plastics.”

Tribes stand to realize even greater profits than states due to their tax advantage.

State cannabis producers and retailers can’t deduct business expenses on their federal tax bills and end up paying a larger part of their gross earnings to the government.

But recognized tribes and tribal corporations don’t pay federal income tax on earnings gained on reservations.

“This effectively creates a profit margin — versus non-tribally owned cannabis businesses — of what could be up to 85 percent,” said Bocskor.

So why aren’t tribes leaping at the opportunity?

Conflicting laws

The federal government regulates drugs through the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, which bans the use of marijuana.

“But states have been going ahead with legal marijuana programs ever since 1996, when California was the first to legalize a medical cannabis program,” said Vincent Sliwoski, a Portland attorney who represents cannabis companies. “States have been defying federal law for a long time, and there have been sporadic enforcement and non-enforcement periods.”

In 2013, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a guidance memo essentially giving states permission to grow and sell marijuana without fear of federal prosecution — with some restrictions: States may not allow it to grow on public land, for example, be sold to minors, distributed in states where it is illegal or channel profits into drug cartels. DOJ issued similar guidance to tribal governments a few months later.

“Now this is just paper; it isn’t a law,” said Sliwoski, who also teaches cannabis law. “It’s the attorney general telling states, ‘Don’t waste federal funds right now, but maybe our minds will change later.’”

Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized some form of marijuana use. Several tribes have attempted to enter the market; most have been shut down by the government.

In July 2015, federal agents raided two reservations in northern California, alleging they were producing unlawful quantities of marijuana, which the tribes denied.Three months later, agents seized industrial hemp plants from Wisconsin’s Menominee Nation,charging that non-Natives with ties to the Colorado marijuana industry were managing the operation and that the plants contained higher levels of THC than permitted. The Menominee said they had invited the government to test the plants and had offered to destroy any plants that tested too high.

In the wake of these raids, South Dakota’s Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe burned its crop and shut down operations, fearing a similar crackdown.

But others, such as the Squaxin Island Tribe in Washington state, where marijuana is legal, have successful retail businesses. Still other tribes, including South Dakota’s Oglala Sioux, have banned marijuana altogether.

It’s not clear why authorities have pressured tribal marijuana operations. Sliwoski said it’s possible some police agencies are interpreting the DOJ memo incorrectly. “It’s also possible that certain local U.S. attorneys have been more zealous than their counterparts in other areas, and that enforcement has fallen disproportionately upon tribes for that reason,” he said.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions openly opposes marijuana. And a presidential spokesman said Trump sees a big difference between medical and recreational marijuana. The president understands the use of medical marijuana to ease suffering, the spokesman said, and he suggested that crackdowns on recreational marijuana could be coming.

Bocskor continues to advise tribes and predicts the government will hold back from stricter marijuana enforcement.

“The federal government is in a very difficult position here,” he said, noting that Colorado has received more than $500 million in tax revenue from marijuana sales since it legalized the drug in 2014.

Taking that revenue away from states, he said, “would be a very, very unpopular” move.
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China expressed “strong dissatisfaction” on Monday with the U.S. launch of an investigation into China’s alleged theft of U.S. intellectual property, calling it “irresponsible.”

The U.S. Trade Representative formally announced the investigation on Friday, a widely expected move following a call from President Donald Trump earlier last week to determine whether a probe was needed.

The investigation is the administration’s first direct measure against Chinese trade practices, which the White House and U.S. business groups say are damaging American industry.

China’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement that the move sent the wrong signal to the world, and would be condemned by the international community.

“The United States’ disregard of World Trade Organization rules and use of domestic law to initiate a trade investigation against China is irresponsible, and its criticism of China is not objective,” an unnamed ministry spokesman said.

“China expresses strong dissatisfaction with the United States’ unilateral protectionist action. We urge the U.S. side to respect the facts, … respect multilateral principles, and act prudently,” the official said, adding that Beijing would take “all appropriate measures, and resolutely defend China’s lawful interests.”

The United States should instead work with China to find consensus and promote healthy trade relations, the ministry said.

Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a popular trade tool in the 1980s that has been rarely used in the past decade, allows the U.S. president to unilaterally impose tariffs or

other trade restrictions to protect U.S. industries from “unfair trade practices” of foreign countries.

Beijing would almost certainly challenge any such measures at the WTO.

But China’s policy of forcing foreign companies to turn over technology to Chinese joint venture partners and failure to crack down on intellectual property theft have been longstanding problems for several U.S. administrations.

Administration officials have said that Chinese theft could amount to as much as $600 million, though Chinese officials deny that such forced technology transfers exist. They say the country is continuously improving intellectual property protection.

The probe will likely further complicate the U.S. relationship with China, the country’s largest trading partner.

The Trump administration has been pressing Beijing to take steps to encourage North Korea to curb its nuclear and missile programs.
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