Category Archives: Fiscal Freedom

Come February 1, the Union Budget 2021-22 will be presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

For the first time in Indian history, it will be paperless in view of COVID-19. Given that the pandemic brought the economy to its knees last year, there are a host of expectations from this budget, the third one to be tabled by the Narendra Modi government 2.0, to provide succour to people as well as sectors that are under duress.

Sitharaman has promised a Budget like never before and it is expected that investment in health, medical research and development, as well as telemedicine will take precedence. However, challenges related to livelihood and job creation will be equally crucial to address.

While it is hoped that the basic tax exemption limit will be revised from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, a COVID cess or surcharge on those in the high-income bracket may also apply to boost revenues for the government. This may come handy for the increased spending in view of the ongoing countrywide COVID vaccination programme.

The countrys growth rate is anticipated to shrink by nearly 7.7%, in contrast to the 4.2% growth in the previous fiscal.

On the other hand, the fiscal deficit is projected to shoot up. India has already exceeded 135% of the fiscal deficit targets for FY21 last December, reported PTI.

That apart, many are pinning hoped that the government eases Foreign Direct Investment rules in the construction sector to give a boost to home-buyers.

Industry experts agree that the government, apart from focussing on employment generation, must lay more emphasis on bringing about governance reforms freedom in the banking sector, which is still facing asset quality issues, and giving more independence to bank boards.

They also hope that the government is exploring and designing solutions to help ease the burden of compliance. In September 2020, there were reports of the Prime Minister batting for lower fees as well as extended validity of permissions and licences instead of frequent renewals on businesses, especially the small and medium enterprises.

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Union Budget 2021: Jobs, tax benefits on Indias wish-list like never before - CNBCTV18

Cloe Poisson :: CTMirror.org

A protester and counter-protester: At left, a man who identified himself using what is likely a right-wing alias, Duncan Lemp, talks with Joanna Iovino of Hartford at the State Capitol.

The first to arrive was a masked young man who used the name of a dead anarchist to identify himself. He carried a first-aid kit and tree-of-liberty flag as he trudged up the hill to the state Capitol on Sunday, the advance guard of a protest that never materialized at least not in Hartford.

On a day when police stood on alert in every state capital, ready for protests promised in the wake of the stunning assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Hartford was quiet. No one came to cry that the election was stolen from Donald J. Trump.

Reporters and photographers outnumbered protesters, counter-protesters and onlookers. Police outnumbered them all.

In and around the Capitol complex waited 200 police officers, one dog, a National Guard contingent armed with assault rifles, and armored police and military vehicles, some painted in desert tan. One was an MRAP, a mine-resistant assault vehicle.

Cloe Poisson :: CTMirror.org

A group of Connecticut National Guardsmen patrol in front of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford in anticipation of a protest at the state Capitol Sunday, Jan. 17. The planned protest ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday never materialized.

We believe what we were doing was appropriate based on the intel we had, said Brian Foley, a spokesman for the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. That being said, Id much rather next Thursday be talking to you about over-preparation than under-preparation. And the fact that no one showed up is just fine with us.

Next Thursday will be President-elect Joe Bidens first full day as the 46th president of the United States. Police expect to remain watchful over government buildings and other potential targets of protest or violence.

But if there are insurrectionists in Connecticut interested in keeping Donald J. Trump in power past Bidens inauguration at noon on Wednesday, they did not show themselves on Sunday.

The self-described anarchist with the tree-of-liberty flag identified himself as Duncan Lemp, 17, of Norwich. The name is an alias adopted by some right-wing groups as a nod to a 21-year-old anti-government boogaloo boi killed in a police raid in Maryland last year.

The young man with the flag was accompanied by an older man of uncertain years who was identified by gold stitching on his cap as a Marine: Once a Marine, Always a Marine. He walked with a cane and pleasantly announced his mission: Keeping an eye on his grandson, the family anarchist.

Hes a good boy, said the grandfather.

Cloe Poisson :: CTMirror.org

A group of photographers take pictures of a man who identified himself as Duncan Lemp likely an alias of Norwich at a protest at the state Capitol Sunday, Jan. 17. The man, a self-described Libertarian/anarchist, was there to protest for gun rights and against COVID-19 restrictions and police brutality. I want to protest for freedom, he said.

The pair arrived before noon, the young man assuring the waiting press that more people were coming. The older man seemed skeptical. He laughed and said, This is it?

While the grandson used an alias, the grandfather declined to use any name. Keeping his name out of the news was a practice developed decades ago on Teamster picket lines, he said. He smiled and said, I was a trouble-maker then.

The younger of the pair said he learned of the protest on a bulletin board maintained online by The Tree of Liberty, which he described as generally freedom-loving and anti-government.

What I know is from official statements from the organizers via the website, Tree of Liberty, he said. Its goal is anything that stands for freedom. Anybody who has any single issue with the government, whether it be taxes or legalizing marijuana, anything.

As he chatted, Joanna Iovino of Hartford arrived with a pink bullhorn that needed batteries and a hand-written sign disapproving of Trump, the KKK and fascists. She described herself as a counter-protester and said there were others on the way, even if there was nothing to counter.

Cloe Poisson :: CTMirror.org

Joanna Iovino, of Hartford, walks along police barricades while attending a protest at the state Capitol Sunday, Jan. 17. Iovino was one of a handful of people who attended what was billed as a protest ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday. Iovino was there to protest the protestors and described herself as an anti-fascist. Im here to stand up against fascism, she said.

A young anarchist using a dead mans name did not concern her.

Maybe theres not enough fascists in Connecticut, you know? Iovino said. But yeah, were out here to counter-protest against fascism.

Others drifted by. A trio of serious-looking men approached from Bushnell Park and watched. One dropped his mask and lit a cigar. He said they were just curious. He was polite but disinterested in further discussion about politics or current events with a reporter.

Cloe Poisson :: CTMirror.org

A state Capitol police officer stands guard inside a barricade in anticipation of a protest that didnt happen.

A man with a shaggy beard strolled along the blaze-orange bicycle-rack fencing around the Capitol. As he passed the old man with the Marines cap, he said, Thank you for your service.

He was asked if he was press, protester or tourist.

The bearded man replied, Just interested.

A tall man who would only give his name as Will walked by with a bullhorn, amplifying a profane rap from his iPhone. It was FDT by Nipsey Hussle. DT stands for Donald Trump.

The Marine grandfather of the boy using a dead boogaloos name said he was mildly offended by the language.

When the song concluded, Will joined Iovino by the perimeter fence.

Im from Hartford. I have to be here. Its basically Im here against fascism, plain and simple, always will be, he said. So this is what I do. And we came up here with one or two people, even if we were surrounded, weve been surrounded by Trump supporters before.

Cloe Poisson :: CTMirror.org

A man who identified himself only as Will plays a hip-hop song by Nipsey Hussle titled FDT through a megaphone while attending a protest at the state Capitol Sunday, Jan. 17. Will was one of a handful of people who attended what was billed as a protest ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday. Every person needs to be out here speaking up for their rights, said Will. I dont hate Trump supporters, I just hate their ideology.

There was no chance of being surrounded.

A tall, thin male jogger in shorts and knee-high black socks glided by, showing no sign of noticing anything amiss on a Sunday afternoon at the Connecticut Capitol.

Capitol police stood inside the perimeter. Near the north steps, a State Police truck was parked, watched by a K-9 officer. His dog lay flat, disinterested.

Overhead, a State Police helicopter circled in ever-widening orbits over the Capitol, the Legislative Office Building, the State Office Building, State Armory, Supreme Court and the neighborhoods beyond.

There was nothing to see. No marchers staging, ready to move on the Capitol.

Mark Pazniokas :: CT Mirror

The entire state Capitol complex, which includes the Legislative Office building seen here, was heavily guarded on Sunday in anticipation of a protest.

In the wake of what we saw in the nations capital last week, it was important we be prepared for anything that might present this weekend, said Luke Bronin, the mayor of Hartford, who lives a block from the Capitol.

Gov. Ned Lamont, who had hip-replacement surgery on Wednesday, was at his home in Greenwich. His spokesman, Max Reiss, echoed Bronin and Foley in saying that it was better to be over-prepared.

Authorities had no immediate estimate of the cost of having so many troopers massed around the Capitol.

What was spent today will be tracked, coded through our fiscal people at the state separately, and we should hopefully, once its settled down in the coming days,have an idea of what the cost was, Foley said. Certainly I would say the cost is much less than having some sort of violent outbreak occur.

He said state officials learned on a 50-state conference call Friday that every state capital was using the same template. One challenge for law enforcement was the decision by technology firms to crack down on the uses of social-media platforms by those deemed to be extremists.

It made a source of intelligence go dark, complicating efforts to judge how big a protest to expect.

When social media started shutting down Parler and a lot of the talk and many of the advertisements about any sort of organized protests, we lost an arm of our intelligence, Foley said. Not all of our intelligence, but an arm of it. And the ability to estimate what was going to happen became cloudy.

Cloe Poisson :: CTMirror.org

A Connecticut state police helicopter flies over the state Capitol Sunday, Jan. 17.

At precisely 1 p.m., the protest that never transpired was deemed a non-event. Police opened Capitol Avenue to traffic, too late for a small group of women seeking food at Emanuel Lutheran Church, across from the Armory and Legislative Office Building.

A sign at the church door said the church food bank was closed at the request of Capitol police.The women, who didnt want to give their fullnames, said they come to the food bank every weekend.

Iwasnt expecting anything like this, a woman named Grace said. Two cops stopped us just walking to the church. Were just trying to get some food.

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Sunday in Hartford: Massive show of police, not protesters - The CT Mirror

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Jan. 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DENSO, a leading mobility supplier, is recognizing Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the importance of his teachings with events and activities across North America. His message of freedom, love and justice is as relevant as ever as society continues to grapple with the deeply rooted issues of division and inequality.

Highlights of how DENSO employees are bringing Dr. Kings values to life include participating in a Driving for Justice Parade in Southfield, organized by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Task Force, Inc., and supporting the MLK Celebration Committee in Blount County, Tennessee, which awarded a sponsorship to Blount County Schools.

On this day, we honor Dr. Kings commitment to service by asking ourselves what we can do for others, said Denise Carlson, vice president of DENSOs North American Production Innovation Center and the companys executive lead for Diversity & Inclusion (D&I). That commitment, of course, extends beyond just one day, and we actively work to give back to our communities throughout the year. Within DENSOs own walls, were making changes to ensure our workplaces are more inclusive and that people feel welcomed, valued, respected and heard.

Some of those changes have already occurred. Two years ago, DENSO appointed Carlson as the companys first-ever executive lead for D&I. Employees in Battle Creek and Maryville, Tennessee, launched internal groups focused on supporting diverse employee populations like women and veterans. Within the last year, those groups were foundational in helping DENSO launch a North America-wide business resource group policy that gives employees new pathways to foster more welcoming work environments. That policy then sprouted new groups, such as the DENSO African Ancestry Network, the DENSO Association for Latin Experience and the DENSO Womens Partnership, at the companys North American headquarters.

All of DENSOs business resource groups work to expand opportunities for employees of unique and varied backgrounds, and provide new forums for professional and personal development, community engagement, networking and mentorship.

While D&I efforts are underway, there is more to be done. DENSO is committed to continuing to listen, improve, grow and ultimately help shape a better workplace and world for everyone.

About DENSODENSO is a $47.6 billion global mobility supplier that develops advanced technology and components for nearly every vehicle make and model on the road today. With manufacturing at its core, DENSO invests in its 200 facilities to produce thermal, powertrain, mobility, electrification, & electronic systems, to create jobs that directly change how the world moves. The companys 170,000+ employees are paving the way to a mobility future that improves lives, eliminates traffic accidents, and preserves the environment. Globally headquartered in Kariya, Japan, DENSO spent 9.9 percent of its global consolidated sales on research and development in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020. For more information about global DENSO, visithttps://www.denso.com/global.

In North America, DENSO is headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, and employs 27,000+ engineers, researchers and skilled workers across 51 sites in the U.S, Canada and Mexico. In the United States alone, DENSO employs 17,700+ employees across 14 states (and the District of Columbia) and 41 sites. In fiscal year ending March 31, 2020, DENSO in North America generated $10.9 billion in consolidated sales. DENSO is committed to advancing diversity and inclusion inside the company and beyond a principle that brings unique perspectives together, bolsters innovation and pushes DENSO forward. Join us, and craft not only how the world moves, but also your career:densocareers.com. For more information, go tohttps://www.denso.com/us-ca/en/.

Contact:Andrew RickermanDENSO International America, Inc.(734) 560-8752andrew_rickerman@denso-diam.com

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DENSO Honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Supporting Local Communities and Fostering a More Inclusive Company Culture - GlobeNewswire

Rendering of USS Constellation (FFG-62). Fincantieri Image

The first hull in a new Navy ship class in more than a decade is set to start construction later this year, the services program manager said this week.

Fincantieri Marinette Marine plans to start fabrication of the future USS Constellation (FFG-62) in late summer or early fall following the completion of the final design review of the plans for the ship, Capt. Kevin Smith, who oversees the program for the Navy, said on Tuesday. The ship is estimated to be completed in Fiscal Year 2026.

After we awarded the contract in April, we got going on functional design, the detailed design, with Fincantieri, Smith said.We had an initial delivery of the build specifications that were worked in during the conceptual design phase. Those are still being refined as we get ready for a critical design review later this fall.

The Navy has stressed the multi-mission character of the new class rather than the modular mission package system of the Littoral Combat Ship. Estimated to displace about 7,300 tons fully loaded, the Connies will feature a derivative of the AN/SPY-6 radar being installed on the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, a 32-cell vertical launch system, Aegis Baseline 10 combat system and 16 anti-ship Naval Strike Missiles, with a crew of about 200.

The design of the new frigate is based on the FREMM multi-mission frigate in use with the French and Italian navies. Even with using the FREMM as a parent design, the Navy and designers Gibbs & Cox are making extensive revisions to accommodate not only American survivability standards, but also the margins the ship will need to accommodate new weapons and sensors over the life of the hull.

Right now, the vast majority of the work going on for frigate is the detailed design. The engineers are sitting down and doing drawings, Fincantieri Marinette Marine president and former U.S. Surface Force Pacific commander Rick Hunt told reporters in December.

In terms of margin, the hull should be able to add another 500 tons of weight and have excess cooling and electricity capacity for new equipment, Hunt said.

Smith acknowledged the room for the platform to grow over the life of the class.

We have ample margin for this hull form. We also have in our requirements [the] space, weight, power and cooling margin to accommodate upgrades down the road over the service life of the ship, he said.Some of those could lead to direct energy type projects and other capabilities.

Fincantieri and the Navy are also working under a congressional mandate to ensure the components in the class, based on an Italian design, are all American.

This is a U.S. warship thats 96 percent American products right now in the design that we produce. Weve touched almost every drawing from the parent design, Hunt said.By the time we complete ship two, well be at a hundred percent American.

The Navy is estimating the first-in-class Constellation is set to cost about $1.28 billion $795 million for the hull and the rest for government-furnished equipment, Smith said. The follow-on ships must have a price range of $800 to $950 million. Smith said that current cost estimates for the follow-on hulls to the first ship were around $781 million per ship about $8.7 billion for the first ten ships.

In October, the Congressional Budget Office said the Navy might have underestimated the cost by up to 40 percent and the cost could be as high as $12.3 billion for the first ten frigates.The start of fabrication comes as the yard in Wisconsin is in the midst of a $200 million capital expansion to accommodate the construction of the frigate program that will include a syncrolift, which will lower ships into the water more gently than the side-launch method Marinette Marine uses for the Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships.

Were also putting together a new erection building final assembly building large enough to handle two frigates at a time, Hunt said.Thats huge for being able to deliver and complete the ship for the right cost in the right timeframe.

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Navy: First Constellation Frigate Will Start Fabrication This Year as Shipyard Expands - USNI News

(Tribune News Service) Global events have a way of forcing presidents to focus on defense even when theyre reluctant to do so. President-elect Joe Biden is unlikely to be an exception, despite his pledge to zero in on fighting the coronavirus and healing the battered U.S. economy.

Here are defense issues likely to confront Biden and Lloyd Austin, his nominee for defense secretary, if the retired Army general wins Senate confirmation and a congressional waiver from a law that restricts former military officers from taking the top civilian post.

North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un may stage missile tests to compel the new presidents attention to his expanding nuclear arsenal, as he did early in Donald Trumps term.

In an initial sign that Kim is determined to force his way onto Bidens agenda, his regime appeared to stage a military parade this month as part of a party congress that declared the U.S. its biggest main enemy and predicted that Washingtons hostile policy toward Pyongyang would continue.

President Donald Trump lavished Kim with the attention he craved, veering between threats of unleashing fire and fury, imposing maximum pressure sanctions and claiming that a love affair developed in two unsuccessful summit meetings and one brief handshake along the North Korea-South Korea border. Yet the entire time, Kim was building up his nations nuclear arsenal and improving on its missile technology.

Biden has criticized Trumps made-for-TV summits and promised a sustained, coordinated campaign with our allies and others including China to advance our shared objective of a denuclearized North Korea.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran are also high as the Trump era ends. Critics had expressed concern that Trump could order a military strike against Iran, and Iran has made so-far unfulfilled pledges to retaliate for the U.S. killing last year of a top general, Qassem Suleimani.

Biden has pledged to return the U.S. to the multinational nuclear accord with Iran that Trump renounced, and then press to expand its reach. But that wont be easy, as Iran has been breaching limits in the agreement. Israel is also determined to dissuade the U.S. from returning to the deal.

Trumps 2017 National Defense Strategy identified great power competition with China and Russia as the defining theme for Americas defense policies, supplanting the concentration on international terrorism that followed the Sept. 11 attacks. That focus is unlikely to change under Biden.

Although the new administration will seek to work with China on issues such as climate change, it also will continue efforts to counter the countrys expanding military presence in the contested South China Sea, as well as its frequent military maneuvers around Taiwan. The new administration is likely to continue freedom of navigation operations at sea, which carry a risk of direct confrontation, as well as close cooperation with U.S. allies such as South Korea and Japan.

Tensions with Russia are also likely to be an early focus after U.S. officials unearthed a sweeping cyberattack on U.S. government and private sector networks for which it holds Russia responsible. U.S. Cyber Command will be central to the militarys efforts to respond to the threat, together with possible sanctions and other retaliatory measures available to Biden.

Although Trump promised to bring American troops home from endless wars, Biden will have to weigh the risks involved in extracting remaining U.S. forces from combat zones.

Thats especially true in Afghanistan where, despite a fragile peace accord, an American departure would risk a return to militant rule by the Taliban and potentially a safe haven for terrorist groups including al-Qaida and Islamic State.

Christopher Miller, Trumps acting defense secretary, announced Friday that U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq have been drawn down to 2,500 in each country.

While Biden has ruled out calls for major reductions in the military budget, defense spending is nevertheless likely to be flat at best under his administration. Progressive Democrats favor defense cuts in areas such as the U.S. nuclear arsenal to help fund a progressive agenda at home, while fiscal hawks may look to keep spending tight after successive rounds of fiscal stimulus during the pandemic.

Speaking at a virtual event in December, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Pentagons desired real growth in spending of 3% to 5% isnt likely. He said the Defense Department needs a reality check on its likely budgets.

Flat spending will mean tough choices over U.S. military deployments overseas, as well whether to cut back spending on older legacy weapons which have entrenched congressional cheering sections for the hometown jobs they create in order to pursue more innovative alternatives such as autonomous vessels and robots. It also will raise doubts about the Trump administrations plan to add 82 new Navy ships over the next five years, 37 more than previously projected.

The military also will continue to play a major role in the fight against Covid-19.

The next secretary of defense will need to immediately quarterback an enormous logistics operation to help distribute COVID-19 vaccines widely and equitably, Biden wrote in a December opinion piece in The Atlantic. He said Austin is especially well-suited to the task because he oversaw the largest logistical operation undertaken by the Army in six decades the Iraq drawdown.

Controversy surrounding Austins appointment, and the waiver hed need, highlights another thorny challenge for Biden: the need to heal civilian-military relations, which are arguably more contentious than at any time since the Vietnam War.

During the last year, military leaders resisted Trumps efforts to call in active-duty troops to quell sometimes violent protests over racial injustice. But National Guard units played a major role in strife-torn cities.

The militarys role in domestic turmoil remains far from settled. Critics said the Pentagon was too slow to mobilize the National Guard to end the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and other Americans may be unnerved by the massive show of force mobilized to head off disruption of Bidens inauguration.

Within the military, the next secretary of defense will face unresolved social justice questions, from the congressionally approved effort to rename military bases named after Confederate heroes to evidence of far-right extremists among the troops and persistent cases of sexual abuse.

2021 Bloomberg L.P.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Defense challenges await Biden, from Kim Jong Un to the budget - Stars and Stripes

Growing up on the outskirts of Baltimore, I personally learned the meaning of "the calm before the storm" early. You knew hurricanes were in the forecast, and my first, Agnes, caused massive destruction. The next one could, too. The anxiety was worse than the fear, and the calm with no wind and clear skies heightened the tension. The same is true today as relates to our immigration system. It is flawed, but factors both within and without could soon make it so much worse.

It does not have to be that way, and ideally it would not. Immigration policy is crafted by our elected representatives to serve the interests of the American people. The key difference among Americans is what exactly that national interest is.

We all agree, I hope, with the words of Barbara Jordan, civil rights icon and then-chairwoman of President Clinton's Commission on Immigration Reform in June 1995: "Immigration policy must protect U.S. workers against unfair competition from foreign workers, with an appropriately higher level of protection to the most vulnerable in our society".

The problem is found on the margins, and in the definitions. What constitutes "unfair competition"? Who are the "most vulnerable"?

Well, the poor, first and foremost. That immigration currently adversely impacts them is admitted even by its staunch proponents. Here, for example, is what an article captioned "Benefits of Immigration Outweigh the Costs" from the pro-amnesty (but also pro-merit-based immigration) George W. Bush Presidential Center has to say:

Immigration changes factor prices it lowers the wages of competing workers, while raising the return to capital and the wages of complementary workers. In other words, the immigration surplus does not accrue equally to everyone. It goes primarily to the owners of capital, which includes business and land-owners and investors.

. . .

Research also suggests any negative wage effects are concentrated among low-skilled and not high-skilled workers. Perhaps that is because high-skilled U.S.-born workers are complementary to immigrants to a greater extent than native low-skilled workers, who hold jobs that require less education and fewer language skills. [Emphasis added.]

That is the researcher's way of saying that with more immigration, the rich get richer, and the poor get the shaft. At least the way we are doing it right now.

We also all agree, I hope, that we should remain a refuge for the persecuted. In his farewell address, President Ronald Reagan told the story of sailors from the carrier Midway who were rescuing refugees from a leaky boat in the South China Sea. One called out: "Hello, American sailor Hello, Freedom Man." Our nation should strive to be that lone sailor, that "Freedom Man".

But our asylum system at the present time just does not work, or at least not very well. I wrote last monththat as of June 30, there were 549,724 asylum claims pending before the nation's 520 immigration judges (IJs), or 43 percent of their current case backlog. That was on top of 598,692 asylum claims that were pending before asylum officers at USCIS on August 31. Combined, it equals out to more than 1.1 million pending claims three-tenths of 1 percent of the total population of the United States.

Most will be denied. In FY 2020, IJs granted fewer than one in five. But the long wait times created by that backlog and the guarantee that those applicants will not be removed while their claims are pending just encourages aliens to file more worthless claims to the detriment of meritorious asylum seekers.

Given everything that is going on in our country today, it is almost difficult to describe the current period as the "calm". But as a former congressional staffer and DOJ employee, I can assure you it is.

The 117th Congress has convened, but not much will get done for a while. Control of the Senate will pass from the Republicans to the Democrats on inauguration day (by the slimmest of margins), while the House calendar shows only 14 floor days between now and March 5. When I was a staffer, this was a time of long lunches and office cleaning.

On inauguration day, all of those left in political positions in the executive branch will leave, and new ones will arrive. Many of those new, Democratic, appointees have been there before and know their way around, but policy shifts take time.

Storms are in the forecast, however, that will likely make the problems above worse.

It is difficult to think of two more different immigration agendas than that of incumbent President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden, as I have explained many times previously. There will be significant disruptions between the two administrations, with the career staffcaught in the swell.

There are already clouds on the horizon. My colleague Todd Bensman has written about migrant caravans that are forming in hopes of taking advantage of what they perceive to be the less stringent border policies of the Biden administration. The dire nature of the situation is best encapsulated by a single quote in a recent of his, from 51-year-old Honduran national Martha Saldivar: "It has been heard that Biden is going to remove the wall ... and we will have to fight to get there."

Given this, it is no wonder that, as I reported on December 23, Biden has vowed to "keep his pledge to roll back the Trump administration's restrictive asylum policies", but will do so "at a slower pace than he initially promised, to avoid winding up with '2 million people on our border.'"

I seriously doubt, however, that will impede Saldivar and others in illegally migrating.

Then, there is amnesty. Biden said on January 8 that he will introduce immigration legislation "immediately" after taking office.

He didn't offer any details, but during the October 22 presidential debate, Biden stated that within his first 100 days, he would "send to the United States Congress a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million undocumented people."

Even if that "immediate" legislation does not include legalizing the entire (untold) number of aliens here unlawfully, it would probably include amnesty for those in Temporary Protected Status (TPS), aliens with Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.

Biden promised the former two populations "a path to citizenship" on his campaign website, and although he did not do the same for the DACA population, he used the acronym six times on that site, so it's clear they are on his radar.

The problems with amnesties are two-fold.

One, thanks to chain migration, once those amnestied aliens get green cards and later citizenship, they are able to petition for their family members to come here, too. But there is no guarantee that those aliens will arrive with much education or many skills, placing them in direct competition with low-skilled workers already here (the "negative wage effects" that the Bush Center referenced). Most likely won't.

Two, amnesties just encourage more illegal immigration. There are two reasons for that. First, an amnesty reveals that the INA does not mean what it says, or at least that legislators have a certain permissive attitude when it comes to unlawful entry. Second, amnesties prompt foreign nationals to leave home to take advantage of the next amnesty.

Saldivar obviously does not need much impetus, but there are likely many of her fellow nationals who would make the perilous trek to the United States if they had just a little more reason to think it would ultimately allow them to live and work in the United States permanently.

Not to mention the effect that an amnesty would have on the efforts of our neighbors to the south to enforce their borders. They likely do not want the crime and corruption that are the handmaids of illicit smuggling, but if the United States is opening its doors, why should they go through the exertion of closing their gates?

Speaking of doors, Reagan's farewell is often cited by immigration advocates with respect to the president's portrayal of the United States as a "shining city upon a hill", a reference to a 1630 sermon by pilgrim John Winthrop. In describing his vision of that city, Reagan stated that, "if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors, and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here."

Reagan signed the 1986 amnesty, but he was plainly not an open-borders proponent. Here is what he said in the signing statement for that bill: "Our objective is ... to establish a reasonable, fair, orderly, and secure system of immigration into this country." (Emphasis added.)

Like the Gipper, I wish that there were no walls along our borders, either. But given the fact that illegal immigration, drug smuggling, and human trafficking are real things, barriers along the Southwest border are necessary.

But not to Joe Biden, who averred in August: "There will not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration".

That is another omen, metaphorically, of bad weather ahead. Border Patrol drug seizures were down in December, but don't expect it to last. Especially if there is a surge of migrants entering illegally to take advantage of what they view as Biden's more permissive border policies.

As a bipartisan federal panel noted in April 2019, a wave of illegal entrants that fiscal year strained Border Patrol's resources at the Southwest border to such a degree that it was "not able to effectively manage its other border security missions", including "monitoring the border for drug smuggling and other contraband."

A larger wave of illegal entrants, drawn by the president-elect's campaign promises, will swamp Border Patrol's effectiveness, and clear the way for cartel activity. Border barriers would slow those smugglers, better enabling agents to respond. But not if they aren't there.

I learned at a young age that forecasters were sometimes wrong, and that the Category 2 hurricane headed for the Chesapeake Bay would veer off, harmlessly, into the ocean. The storm I described above may not come to pass, either. But the cone of probability is getting narrower every day.

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The Calm Before the Immigration Storm - Immigration Blog

WASHINGTON Three faith-based resettlement agencies say it will be easier to welcome refugees after a federal appeals judge ruled in their favor to block President Donald Trumps executive order allowing local and state officials to refuse refugees.

On Jan. 8, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the 2019 executive order, which required state and local governments consult with the federal government before acting on refugee resettlement, violated the 1980 Refugee Act. This decision upholds a preliminary injunction granted a year ago.

The three refugee resettlement agencies that filed the lawsuit Church World Service, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service are pleased that they will no longer need permission from localities to resettle refugees.

There was an outpouring of relief and excitement that we are entering a new era and returning to the U.S. being a beacon of hope and freedom, Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, told Sojourners

Vignarajah said her agency filed the lawsuit because they believed the executive order was an unconstitutional, illegal, and politically motivated move by the Trump administration to turn refugees into political pawns. The president does not have the legal authority to block refugees from resettling and receiving vital services in their new communities, Vignarajah said.

At a time when local government faces significant fiscal constraints, refugees represent a way to grow and rebuild our economy," she said."So I think it is such an important moment for us to reopen the gates and welcome those who are fleeing desperate circumstances from around the world.

Jen Smyers, director of policy and advocacy at Church World Service, told Sojourners she was sad the agency had to resort to suing the federal government in order to continue helping refugees.

You cannot discriminate against someone based on where they're from, she said.

Despite the executive order, 43 governors and over 100 local leaders had continued to allow refugees to resettledespite the executive order, Naomi Steinberg, vice president of policy and advocacy at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, told Sojourners.

The refugee resettlement program survived, Steinberg said. And so now we get to rebuild.

Not only will refugees be able to resettle because of the ruling, but they can apply for family members to join them. Also, more than 100 local resettlement offices that had to close because of Trump's refugee policies might be able to operate again, Smyers said.

President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to raise the annual refugee cap to 125,000, much higher than the historic low of 15,000 that the Trump administration set for fiscal year 2021. Still, the agencies say theres much work to be done to reverse course on the hundreds of actions that the Trump administration undertook to dismantle the refugee resettlement program.

We know that there are thousands of people who have been vetted who have gone through every single security check, have been medically checked, and have been cleared to come to the United States through the resettlement program that have been unable to do so, Steinberg said.

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'The Refugee Resettlement Program Survived. And So Now We Get to Rebuild' - Sojourners

At long last, the Scottish Government have admitted our heroic NHS workers will be getting this money [the 500 thank-you payment] thanks to the UK Governments huge increases in spending,"Scottish Conservative shadow health spokesperson Donald Cameron.

To pay these well-deserved bonuses, the Scottish Government is using a contingency fund supplied as a result of Barnett consequentials derived from English spending increases. However, the payment was created by the Scottish Government, using funds that the UK Government has borrowed. An independent Scotland with its own borrowing powers could still makethese payments. The Tories in London are not to thank.

At the SNP conference in November, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a 500 "thank-you"payment to NHS and adult social care workers, as a Christmas bonus in appreciation of their work during the pandemic emergency. She asked the UK Treasury to exempt this bonus from taxation but the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, refused.

Recently, former Labour MSP and GP Dr Richard Simpson OBE used the Freedom of Information legislation to ask where in the Holyrood budget the bonus cash was coming from? He also asked which services would be cut as a result?

According to subsequent reports: Nicola Sturgeons 500 bonus for NHS workers is being funded from an emergency extra health grant provided by the UK Government to tackle Covid-19. The First Minister unveiled the 180 million pledge at the SNPs virtual party conference in November but has faced a backlash.

READ MORE:FACT CHECK: Tory excuses over 500 NHS bonus simply don't add up

Under FOI rules, the Scottish Government is obliged to publish replies on its website. Thereply was actually published on the ScotGov website on December 18, 2020.

The actual ScotGov reply reads in part: The Scottish Government has been provided with 8.2 billion of Covid consequential support, which is allocated in Scotland according to need. The non-consolidated bonus has been funded from these consequentials via the overarching health allocation. Necessary funding is being made available to NHS Boards.

The reply goes on: Circa 330 million of funding has been allocated as contingency... The bonus is covered by this contingency.

In other words, nothing has been cut from existing services and nothing has been diverted from fighting the Covid-19 emergency.

Should the bonus money have been spent on something else, as Dr Simpson implies?

Health is a labour-intensive sector. As a result, in 2018-19, wages represented 53 per cent of all Scottish NHS revenue expenditure. As such, any increase in spending for the Scottish NHS (via normal or emergency Treasury grants) is bound to go in large measure to salaries.

The exact distribution of the increase in the salary bill (though wage rises, overtime payments, bigger staffing compliment, bonuses, or all four) is a political decision. But it is nonsense to argue that extra funding for the Scottish NHS during the pandemic going to salaries is somehow unusual or a misappropriation.

In response to the FOI, Scottish Conservative shadow health spokesperson Donald Cameron (educated at Harrow and Oxford), said: Nicola Sturgeon tried to play politics with this payment and her stunt completely backfired.

"At long last, the Scottish Government have admitted our heroic NHS workers will be getting this money thanks to the UK Governments huge increases in spending.

Cameron (below)is open to the charge of being hypocritical by claiming that the NHS bonus is only thanks to UK Government spending while simultaneously denouncing the bonus as a stunt.

He is also being misleading by implying the cash is somehow a beneficial gift from the UK Treasury.

On June 16, 2015, SNP MPs at Westminster put down amendments to the Budget Bill demanding that the Scottish Government at Holyrood be given full fiscal freedom to raise taxes and set spending. These amendments were both voted down by 309 votes to 60. The Westminster Tories cannot refuse fiscal autonomy to Holyrood and then claim credit for funding Scottish public spending as ifthey were making a gift.

Next, Scottish Government funding is partly based on home-generated income and partly on an annual Treasury grant. The latter is based on the so-called Barnett Formula whereby spending increases allected to England are passed on automatically to Scotland according to a formula based on population.

READ MORE:Jeane Freeman hits out at UK Governments 'political game' over Covid vaccine roll-out

Latterly, after devolution, these Barnett consequentials are governed by a complex formula that deducts earned income tax revenues generated in Scotland. Nevertheless, the substance of the Barnett system remains: if English ministers decree an increase in English departmental spending, a similar proportion by population is allocated to Scotland.

Any subvention to Scotland under the Barnett Formula (as per the increase in NHS spending under discussion here) is not a gift nor is it decided by Westminster for Scotland. It is an automatic consequence of an English spending decision.

Mr Cameron is wrong to imply that somehow the Westminster Tories were being kind to Scotland or Scottish NHS workers.

Finally, the extra money being spent by the UK Treasury does not come from borrowing. It is actually being created electronically by the Bank of England.

Inferring that the resulting Barnett consequentials represent some generous sacrifice towards Scotland on behalf of the Chancellor is absurd. If anything, the Chancellor could easily use the same method to fund wage increases for all frontline workers across the UK.

The Tories are at once trying to attack the payment and take credit for it, but any claims Scottish workers are getting a 500 gift "thanks to the UK Government" is misleading.

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Are the Tories in London to thank for the 500 Scottish NHS and carers payment? - The National

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 03: Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) questions Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta as he testifies during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on the Labor Budget for Fiscal Year 2020, on Capitol Hill on April 3, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)

Washington, DC. Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-03) today released the following statement regarding the Article of Impeachment slated to be voted on by the U.S. House of Representatives tomorrow:

The President of the United States incited a riot aiming to halt the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next.That riot led to five deaths.People everywhere watched in disbelief as the center of American democracy was assaulted.The violent mob bludgeoned to death a Capitol police officer as they defaced symbols of our freedom.These terrorists roamed the Capitol, hunting the Vice President and the Speaker of the House.

Hours went by before the President did anything meaningful to stop the attack.Instead, he and his lawyer were busy making calls to senators who were still in lockdown, seeking their support to further delay the Electoral College certification.House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy describes pleading with the President to go on television and call for an end to the mayhem, to no avail.The President attacked Vice President Mike Pence on Twitter while Pence was in a secure room having fled from the mob that had breached the Senate floor threatening to hang him. Finally, the President released a pathetic denouncement of the violence that also served as a wink and a nod to those who perpetrated it: I love you, he said to them, you are special. More hours of destruction and violence ensued before law enforcement officials were finally able to clear the Capitol.

The Presidents offenses, in my reading of the Constitution, were impeachable based on the indisputable evidence we already have.I understand the argument that the best course is not to further inflame the country or alienate Republican voters.But I am also a Republican voter. I believe in our Constitution, individual liberty, free markets, charity, life, justice, peace and this exceptional country. I see that my own party will be best served when those among us choose truth.

I believe President Trump acted against his oath of office, so I will vote to impeach him.

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Herrera Beutler To Vote Yes On Impeachment - 750 KXL

On January 1, 2021, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which includes the Corporate Transparency Act (the CTA).1 The CTA requires all U.S. businesses to file beneficial ownership information with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). In sum, the CTA is designed to ban the anonymous shell companies that criminals and certain foreign officials use to hide and move corrupt proceeds and other illicit financing.

The CTA is the first significant update to the U.S. anti-money laundering laws in 20 years and gives FinCEN significant authority to adopt necessary regulations to implement the provisions of the CTA.

The CTA requires companies in the U.S. to file a report that provides the name, date of birth, current address, and unique identification number (from a passport or drivers license, for example) of the companys beneficial owner(s) to FinCEN, a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. This information must be updated every year to reflect any changes.

For purposes of the CTA, the reporting requirements are broad and apply to existing corporations, LLCs, and other similar entities as well as to new entities when they are formed. The CTA, however, provides exemptions for larger companies, heavily regulated companies, and companies that already provide information to a relevant government agency. The CTA explicitly exempts:

Under the CTA, a beneficial owner is an individual who, directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship, or otherwise:

There are five exceptions from the term beneficial owner:

The CTA defines applicant broadly as an individual who files an application to form an entity in the U.S. or, for a foreign entity, an individual who registers or files an application for the foreign entity to do business in the U.S. The terms file and register are not defined in the CTA, and this is an area where FinCEN is expected to provide relevant guidance.

The CTA contemplates different timing requirements for compliance based on the stage of entity formation and changes in beneficial ownership. The timing requirements are as follows:

The CTA contains numerous provisions regarding FinCENs data protection. FinCEN must store the information received in a private database not accessible to the public. Under the CTA, this information may only be released to:

The information is not available to the general public, nor can it be queried under the Freedom of Information Act. The information may only be used for law enforcement, national security, or intelligence purposes.

Violations of the CTA carry civil penalties of up to $500 for every day the violation continues and criminal fines up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment for up to two years. The unauthorized disclosure of information collected under the Act carries the same $500-per-day civil penalty but includes a higher criminal penalty of up to $250,000 and/or a higher maximum term of imprisonment of five years. Unauthorized disclosure includes both a disclosure by a government employee and disclosure by a third-party recipient of information under the CTA.

The CTA will impose new burdens on many entities operating in the U.S and is likely to have significant implications for foreign and domestic businesses. Clients should be aware of these new requirements and continue to monitor FinCENs regulations to further understand the full extent of their reporting obligations. Required compliance with the CTA does not start until January 2022, the deadline for Congress to enact the regulations. All companies potentially subject to the CTA should assess their application and, where appropriate, enhance their compliance processes to verify that the required information is being collected and reported to FinCEN in accordance with the CTA.

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1 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6395.

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What You Need to Know about the Corporate Transparency Act - JD Supra