Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden
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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
Listen very carefully to the very end! Why would foreign leaders be asking about democracy in America? Because under the political party current in power it is being destroyed.
Biden Yells: Every World Leader Is Asking Me ‘Is America Going To Be All Right’Comment
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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
Kamala Harris interview with Charlamagne Tha God gets heated after 'real' president questionComment
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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
Dominion Voting wins key decision in lawsuit against Fox News
By Katelyn Polantz, CNN Reporter, Crime and Justice
Updated 10:13 PM EST, Thu December 16, 2021
(CNN Business)A judge in Delaware has found that Fox News' coverage of election fraud after the 2020 election may have been inaccurate, and is allowing a major defamation case against the right-wing TV network to move forward.Comment
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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
Car prices are surging. Elizabeth Warren blames corporate greed
New car prices are skyrocketing at the fastest pace on record. And Senator Elizabeth Warren says a lack of competition in the semiconductor industry is at least partially to blame.
The world is in the midst of an epic computer chip shortage, one largely driven by Covid outbreaks and skyrocketing demand.
The chip shortage has forced Ford (F), General Motors and other auto companies to slash their production. Car dealerships don't have enough new vehicles to meet demand, setting off a wave of new and used car sticker shock.
Warren argues that the chip shortage, along with its aftermath, is a prime example of how real people can get hurt when a few companies become too dominant in their fields. The Massachusetts Democrat points out that just five firms control 54% of global semiconductor manufacturing, giving the biggest players "immense market power."
"This market concentration has reduced competition, allowing giant corporations to deliver massive returns for shareholders," Warren wrote in a letter sent Thursday to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. "But it has harmed consumers by enabling these dominant companies to increase prices and underinvest in key capabilities, which has the effect of also reducing product innovation and product quality.
The Semiconductor Industry Association responded in a statement to CNN by saying the trade group agrees with Warren that America needs to encourage greater domestic chip making, but it pushed back on the senator's other points.
"Some of the Senator's other assertions are simply wide of the mark," said John Neuffer, CEO of the trade group. "The semiconductor industry is one of the world's most fiercely competitive, innovative, and economically impactful sectors, revolutionizing entire segments of the economy and dramatically improving our way of life."
'Consumers are harmed
The pressure from Warren is the latest example of progressives arguing corporate greed is amplifying historic levels of inflation.
Last week, Warren blasted Hertz for binging on share buybacks instead of investing in new supply that could ease skyrocketing car rental rates.
Similarly, White House economists published a blog post last week that said "dominant" meat processors "use their market power to extract bigger and bigger profit margins for themselves," contributing to the recent spike in meat prices.
To make her point on computer chips, Warren singled out Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., a supplier to Apple, Nvidia and other tech companies, as one of the companies that has grown too powerful. She also said ASML, a Dutch company that trades on the Nasdaq, is the only company making machines required for cutting-edge chips, and it can't keep up with demand.
"So while dominant semiconductor companies like TSMC and ASML post massive profits and reward shareholders," Warren wrote, "consumers are harmed by shortages and higher prices."
The Semiconductor Industry Association noted the industry has innovated rapidly over the years, and that evolution required significant investment.
"Today's semiconductors are magical, containing tens of billions of transistors on a chip the size of a quarter," the trade group said in the statement."Unmatched by any other industry, the semiconductor industry has delivered breathtaking value to consumers. Fifty years ago, transistors were a billion times more expensive than they are today."
Price spikes
Covid, not corporate concentration, is viewed by many as the near-term driver of the computer chip shortage. Consolidation took place over many years. There was no chip shortage prior to Covid.
The price spikes on cars are the most glaring example of how the computer chip shortage, and supply chain problems in general, have affected everyday people. New car prices spiked by a record 11.1% in November from a year earlier.
But it's not just about cars. Computer chips are critical components for TVs, exercise machines and appliances -- pretty much anything with an on-off switch. And that has contributed to the biggest jump in consumer prices in nearly 40 years.
"These semiconductor manufacturers are putting stock price, profits, and growth ahead of the needs of American consumers and workers," Warren wrote. "As the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated, this behavior can lead to terrible consequences and shortages for our country.
Billions in funding could be on the way to chip makers
That's why Warren is calling on the Commerce Department to use its power in doling out tens of billions of dollars in funding from legislation currently being debated by Congress, and to push back against industry consolidation.
To address the chip shortage and bolster domestic supply chains, Congress last year passed the CHIPS Act, which encourages domestic semiconductor production and research. Just 12% of the world's computer chips were made in the United States in 2020, down from 37% in 1990.
The Senate has passed legislation that would fund the CHIPS for America Act. Raimondo, the Commerce secretary, has implored the House to do the same.
If that funding gets through Congress, it would open the door to a vast amount of grant funding from the federal government aimed at revitalizing the US semiconductor industry, including $19 billion in fiscal year 2022 alone.
Under the CHIPS Act, the Commerce Department would be in charge of distributing the funds to projects that the Commerce secretary deems are "in the interest of the United States."
"It is clearly in the national interest of the United States to use this funding to push back against industry consolidation," Warren wrote to Raimondo. "I encourage you to seize this opportunity through proper utilization and appropriation of these funds, ensuring that American consumers and workers see the full benefits of domestic investment."
Buyback scrutiny, antitrust action
Warren's letter included a series of questions to Raimondo over how the Commerce Department plans to choose projects that receive financial assistance, and how the funds will reduce the impact of layoffs and price hikes.
The Massachusetts Democrat also asked how Raimondo will make sure the funds "are not used to pad corporate profits, increase executive compensation and reward shareholders through stock buybacks."
A spokesperson for agency said the Commerce Department had "received the letter and we plan to respond to Sen. Warren directly. Secretary Raimondo agrees with Senator Warren about the urgent need to diversify the semiconductor supply chain."
Concerns about corporate concentration in the chip industry prompted regulators to move to quash what would be the biggest semiconductor acquisition in history. Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission launched a lawsuit aimed at blocking Nvidia's $40 billion takeover of UK chip design firm Arm.
Warren hailed that FTC lawsuit and suggested more action should be just a starting point.
"Although the Trump administration did virtually nothing to stop this harmful consolidation, under President Biden the federal government is beginning to step up to challenge industry consolidation that could harm supply-chain resiliency," Warren wrote.
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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
While Senator Manchin has temporarily stopped President Biden's signature "Build Back Better" plan, plans have already been made to resume talks in early Jan 2022.
While the media has framed the attention on one man's vote, Joe Manchin's vote, the real attention needs to be focused on the 50 Republican Senators who practice what they decry everyday "cancel culture". The Republicans who oppose lower drugs costs, child tax credits, climate change action and family health benefits need to explain why.
Senator Majority Leader Schumer plans to make every Senator who opposes the Build Back Better plan to stand up on the Senate floor and declare allowed their vote.Comment
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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
Unplanned pregnancies cost the U.S. over $5.5 billion in 2018 but sex education still leaves students with questions. Here’s why.
The majority of U.S. students report they’ve had sex before graduation, which means the type of sex education they receive can be a big deal, for themselves personally and for the economy.
″[There’s an] absurd and huge burden we put on sex ed that we don’t put on other subjects,” said Jonathan Zimmerman, author of the book Too Hot to Handle: A Global History of Sex Education and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “The algebra teacher is enjoined to teach them more algebra. Only in sex ed is the sex ed teacher enjoined to actually change how the kids behave out of school. And this may be an impossible burden.”
Direct medical costs of unintended pregnancy in the United States totaled at least $5.5 billion in 2018, a rise from the 2011 estimate of $4.6 billion. Additionally, teenagers who unintentionally become pregnant tend to receive less education and are less likely to have a spouse with whom they can share the financial support of raising a child. The high cost of teen pregnancy may have even pushed Mississippi into legislating sex education requirements.
There’s been a debate spanning decades about what information to include in the curriculum. Some argue adolescents should have access to comprehensive information around sexual health to make their own decisions, while others feel abstinence should be stressed so as not to encourage teenagers to engage in sexual activity.
A little more than half of states require students to receive some kind of sex education as well as HIV education, according to sex education advocacy group SIECUS. Only 18 states require plans to be medically accurate and 16 states require instruction on contraception.
The federal government doesn’t have any official regulations for what schools must include in sex education curriculum. Instead, the government has enforced de facto policies through funding requirements. Federal funding for abstinence-only education increased in 2016. In 2015, the federal government provided about $55 million. In 2021, that number was up to $110 million.Comment
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