Musk: Biden’s tax plans will ‘upset a lot of donors’
A little over an hour after President Biden tweets:
It’s about time the super-wealthy start paying their fair share.
Musk responds:
I agree that we should make elaborate tax-avoidance schemes illegal, but acting upon that would upset a lot of donors, so we will see words, but no action. Those who will actually be forced to carry the burden of excess government spending are lower to middle income wage earners, as they cannot escape payroll tax.
In all seriousness, I agree that we should make elaborate tax-avoidance schemes illegal, but acting upon that would upset a lot of donors, so we will see words, but no action.
Those who will actually be forced to carry the burden of excess government spending are lower to…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 18, 2023
Biden: Musk’s foreign ties ‘worthy of being looked at’
At a news conference at the White House, when Biden is asked if Musk is a ‘threat to national security’ and whether his acquisition of Twitter with the help of foreign governments, notably Saudi Arabia, should be investigated, the President says:
I think that Elon Musk’s cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at. Whether or not he is doing anything inappropriate — I’m not suggesting that — I’m suggesting it’s worth being looked at. And that’s all I’ll say.
Recently, Musk has given opinions on the Russia-Ukraine war and China-Taiwan relations, while Senator Chris Murphy has called for an investigation into the national security implications of Saudi Arabia’s stake in Twitter.
Visits Belgrade amid protest
Biden arrives in Belgrade for a one-day visit. He expresses his condolences for NATO military action, before walking with Prime Minister Vucic in a picturesque borough of Belgrade, under high security.
I’d like to express my condolences to the families of those whose lives were lost in the wars of the 1990s, including those killed as a consequence of the NATO air strikes.
Hundreds of Serbian ultra-nationalists protest the visit by chanting their support for Donald Trump, as they gather near the Serbian presidency building. Protestor:
Trump is the alternative to globalisation. He will destroy old centres of power in the United States and he is a supporter of Russia.
After visiting Serbia, Biden will travel to Kosovo to encourage both countries to do more to normalize their relations.
‘I couldn’t win’
In an interview with 60 Minutes, Biden says he dropped out of the presidential race because he could not win.
I’ll be very blunt. If I thought we could’ve put together the campaign … that our supporters deserve and our contributors deserved, … I would have done it.
He also says he has nothing against Clinton.
I’ve said from the beginning, ‘Look, I like Hillary. Hillary and I get along together. The only reason to run is because … I still think I could do a better job than anybody else could do.
He also says there was no ‘Hollywood moment’ where his dying son asked him to run.
Nothing like that ever, ever happened. Beau all along thought that I should run and I could win. But there was not what was sort of made out as kind of this Hollywood-esque thing that, at the last minute, Beau grabbed my hand and said, ‘Dad, you’ve got to run,’ like win one for the Gipper’.
Will not run for president
In a statement made from the White House Rose Garden with his wife Jill and President Obama, Biden says he will not run for president, ending months of speculation.
I believe we’re out of time — the time necessary to mount a winning campaign…As my family and I have worked through the grieving process, I’ve said all along — what I’ve said time and again to others — that it may very well be that process, by the time we get through it, closes the window on mounting a realistic campaign for president – that it might close….While I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent. I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully, to influence as much as I can.
Arrives in U.S.
Pope Francis arrives for his first visit to the U.S. and is greeted by President Obama, Vice President Biden and their families at Joint Base Andrews, outside Washington. On the plane from Cuba Francis dismisses suggestions that he is a socialist, saying that despite his warnings of the inequities in the global economic system, his beliefs are consistent with the established social doctrine of the Church. After a brief private meeting with Obama in a VIP suite, the pope leaves for the residence of the Vatican ambassador to the United States in a black Fiat hatchback car with the number plate SCV 1.
Announces photonics initiative
Biden and Cuomo announce a photonics initiative in Rochester, that will hire about 100 scientists and other experts and get to work on a handful of research projects within about five months. The $600 million initiative includes $110 million in federal funding, $250 million from New York state, and the rest from private companies. Supporters say the project could mean thousands of jobs for the region as it brings together government, industry and academia to advance photonics research and its use commercially.
You’ve gone from making Brownie cameras to lenses that are now mapping the far side of Pluto…AIM Photonics is going to act as a central hub and will give Rochester photonics businesses the space and the capacity they need to generate the next generation breakthroughs and secure American leadership in the manufacturing of integrated photonics.
Delivers eulogy
President Obama delivers the eulogy at Biden’s funeral, speaking for 25 minutes at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church to about 1,000 mourners, including former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary.
He did in 46 years what most of us could not do in 146. He left nothing in the tank…He lived a life where the means were as important as the ends. He made you want to be a better daughter or son or a better brother or sister. And better at your job, a better soldier. He made you want to be a better person…Isn’t that finally the measure of a man, the way he lives, how he treats others no matter what life may throw at him? We do not know how long we’ve got here. We don’t know when fate will intervene. We cannot discern God’s plan.
About 200 people inside the parish gymnasium watch Obama and others speak on two monitors, while several hundred people listened to the service from loudspeakers outside on the church property. Joe Biden did not speak during the two-hour ceremony.
Laid in honor
Beau Biden is laid in honor in the Delaware Senate Chamber, attended by politicians and local officials, as well as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power. Governor Markell:
[He] was a model for what a public servant should be as well as a model husband, father and son…He cared deeply about the people of Delaware. We, the people of Delaware, loved Beau, if possible, even more.
On Beau’s relationship with his father:
Your dad beamed with pride and love for you. Never has a son’s love been so genuine and so deep.
Beau Biden dies at 46
Beau Biden dies of brain cancer nearly two years after he was first diagnosed. Joe Biden was at his son’s side when he died:
It is with broken hearts that Hallie, Hunter, Ashley, Jill and I announce the passing of our husband, brother and son, Beau, after he battled brain cancer with the same integrity, courage and strength he demonstrated every day of his life. The entire Biden family is saddened beyond words. We know that Beau’s spirit will live on in all of us-especially through his brave wife, Hallie, and two remarkable children….More than his professional accomplishments, Beau measured himself as a husband, father, son and brothe. His absolute honor made him a role model for our family. Beau embodied my father’s saying that a parent knows success when his child turns out better than he did.
Plays golf
Biden spends a rare weekend in the nation’s capital and joins Obama’s regular weekend golf game at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm, a private golf club in Potomac, Maryland. Two aides round out Obama’s foursome. Obama usually plays with aides at when he’s at the White House. His golf party often includes bigger names when he plays away from home.
Criticizes China
Biden says Beijing’s policies in the South China Sea are adding to tensions and the potential for conflict in the region at a graduation ceremony at a naval academy in Maryland. He says that freedom of navigation and the peaceful resolution of territorial disputes are being tested by Chinese actions in the disputed waters, the source of territorial disputes among several countries, and that the United States’ role is to keep the peace.
They’re building airstrips, the placing of oil rigs, the imposition of unilateral bans on fishing in disputed territories, the declaration of air-defence zones, the reclamation of land, which other countries are doing, but not nearly on the massive scale the Chinese are doing. Tensions run high. As I speak, they run high, but you will be there to keep the peace.
Biden also says that as part of the pivot in US foreign policy towards the Asia-Pacific there would be a significant shift of its military forces into the region.
That’s why 60 per cent of the United States naval forces will be stationed in the Asia Pacific by 2020.
Requires secure treatment facility
A Walter Reed spokesperson says that the eldest son of vice president Biden was hospitalized at a military hospital because it was secure enough to allow regular visits from his father. She will not say whether he remains there, contending that releasing any information would violate his privacy.
[The hospital] often admits individuals as a matter of security precaution. The vice president and Dr. (Jill) Biden’s regular visits to see their son necessitate his treatment in a facility that is more secure than a traditional hospital.
It remains unclear when Biden was admitted.
Proud of middle class focus
At a Center for American Progress event Biden says that he’s proud that he’s spent his career focused on the middle class.
In this town, being referred to as ‘Middle Class Joe’ is meant as an insult. No, I really mean it. Because you’re not sophisticated if you’re middle class. Because even among some of we Democrats, we’re sophisticated jerks lots of times.
He stands by the straightforward comments that have gotten him into trouble:
I got criticized for saying LaGuardia was like a Third World airport. Guess what? The governor and everybody else, including The New York Times, calls it a Third World airport. And they’re changing it. We have to invest.
He advises Democrats making a White House bid:
We should run on what we’ve done. Whoever’s running should also talk about what the resurgence in place in the future is, and talk about in 2016 what we’ve done. Some say this amounts to a third term for President Obama. I call it sticking to what works and expanding on it to restore the middle class.
Hospitalized
Biden’s office says that his son Beau is being treated at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Officials do not specify what he is being treated for, though a source with knowledge of the Biden family calls the situation “serious.”
LGBT progress ‘incomplete’
On the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia Biden promotes equality for homosexuals. He says progress in America:
remains incomplete, but the momentum has shifted in the right direction.
He equates “religious condemnation” of homosexuality with “violence with impunity, mistreatment by police, the denial of health care … and social isolation.”
Progress has also been made in many places around the world. But in too many places, life for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals is actually getting worse. In too many places, LGBT community members face violence with impunity, mistreatment by police, the denial of health care, or religious condemnation and social isolation.
Funeral speach
0 CommentsVice President Biden speaks at the funeral of officer Rafael Ramos about the spirit of the officers murder, Ramos and his partner officer Wenjian Liu.
Being a cop was not what they did, it was who they were. You all joined for essentially the same reason. There was something about you that made you think that you could help. That you had a duty.
Biden warns ISIS
Biden says the U.S. is grieving the deaths of Foley and Sotloff and will bring ISIS to justice:
They should know we will follow them to the gates of hell until they are brought to justice. Because hell is where they will reside. Hell is where they will reside.
He says America will not be intimidated by brutal acts like the beheading by ISIS of the two journalists:
We came back after 9/11. We dusted ourselves off and we made sure that Osama bin Laden would never, ever again threaten the American people. We came back after Boston strong, blaming no one but resolving to be certain that this didn’t happen again. As a nation, we’re united, and when people harm Americans, we don’t retreat. We don’t forget.
Tells governors: ‘We’re looking to you’
0 Comments
Biden tells governors that it is up to them to lead the country out of gridlock. At the National Governors Association meeting, he says Democratic and Republican governors “are the best hope we have.”
You gotta lead us out of this mess we’re in…You’re doing all you can. You’re attracting investment, while the federal government is sitting on its hands. We’re looking to you.
Will live off taxpayer’s money
At the White House Summit on Working Families, Biden claims he has no savings account and plans to live off of taxpayers when he retires. He also claims he has no stocks or investments.
I have no savings account, but I have a great pension and a great salary