WASHINGTON: Republicans spent much of the last decade firing up their base with a vow to repeal President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. But when it came to doing the deed, they found promises much easier than execution.
Democrats may be starting down the same path on taxes.
From New Mexico to New York, high-profile liberals are calling for the repeal of the Republican tax plan that President Donald Trump signed into law just two months ago. They're betting big that the message will resonate with voters in the midterm elections in November and provide the sort of clear, populist economic message some Democrats worry has been missing. But others, including red-state Democrats, are clearly queasy about the strategy, mindful that repealing a government benefit once it takes hold is far easier said than done — and not always popular.
When pressed, some leading Democrats conceded that they'd repeal only certain portions of the tax law despite the implication that they'd go further.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a 2016 presidential candidate who appeared last weekend in Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan as part of the "Repeal the Trump Tax" national tour, said "No" three times in an AP interview when asked whether he backed full repeal.
"I think what we have got to do is sit down and take a look at what kind of tax benefits would work best for small business, for working families and the middle class," Sanders said. "But what we must repeal completely is tax breaks that go to billionaires and to profitable large corporations that are in some cases are paying very little in taxes right now."
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who may seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 and was also featured on the repeal tour, offered a more aggressive position.
"Repeal this tax bill," Garcetti said. "It was passed by, and for, the Washington crowd and their rich friends. Corporations and billionaires are doing just fine."
The messaging challenge comes as the Republican tax overhaul emerges as a central issue in this year's midterm elections. More than health care, guns, or immigration, Republicans and Democrats both have embraced the tax debate. Each side believes it has the winning argument in a battle that will decide the balance of power in Washington for the last two years of Trump's first term.
The conservative Koch brothers' political network has already begun spending millions of dollars on TV ads and grassroots events to help improve the plan's popularity.
While Trump and many conservative leaders cheered the tax overhaul, it was among the least popular pieces of legislation in modern history when it became law in December. Not a single Democrat in the House or Senate voted for the tax plan, which overwhelmingly benefited the wealthy, but included modest savings for many middle-class and lower-income Americans.
"I would urge Democrats to embrace repeal. It is a simple clean message. It also captures essentially what most Democrats feel about this bill: It's bad," said Nicole Gill, whose liberal group, Tax March, coordinated the ongoing "Repeal the Trump Tax" national tour, which in addition to Sanders and Garcetti has already featured appearances from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic National Committee Deputy Chairman Keith Ellison and at least 16 other members of Congress in recent weeks. The tour runs through mid-April.
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who leads Senate Democrats' 2018 campaign efforts, encouraged all of his party's candidates, even the most vulnerable, to embrace their opposition to the tax law.
"Our members will be talking to these issues," Van Hollen said. "It doesn't matter if you're a red state or a blue state, the idea of running up the debt by $1.5 trillion and cutting Medicare and Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for big corporations and the wealthy is not popular."
So far, at least, red-state Democrats are quick to say they would not repeal the law if given the chance, in what is a far more cautious approach than some party strategists and blue-state officials would like.
"I think there's a lot of good things in the tax bill. I just think they went a little too far on some things," said West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who is running for re-election this fall in a state Trump won by 42 points.
Manchin, for example, said he wanted the corporate tax rate placed at 25 percent and he would not have voted to repeal the health coverage mandate.
"No, I wouldn't vote to repeal it. I'm not that type of a person," he said in an interview, adding that he had a similar philosophy on Obama's health care overhaul: Fix it, rather than repeal.
Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, a state Trump won by 20 points, said he understands that some constituents will benefit from the tax law. He said headlines about bonuses are "all positive" as far as he's concerned.
"There's portions of the tax bill that actually made sense," he said in an interview. "But the thing is, who pays for it? And it's our kids."
During the bill signing in December, Trump highlighted the corporate tax cut in particular, which was dropped from 35 percent to 21 percent. Companies such as Apple, Walmart, Cisco and Pepsi will save hundreds of millions of dollars and sent some of the savings to workers in the form of bonuses and pay increases, but much more went to corporate executives and other shareholders. The bill also lowered the tax rates for each income level and doubled the standard deduction.
Most Americans, but not all, will save money on their tax bills in the coming years, with wealthier taxpayers saving the most. The individual tax cuts will expire in 2025, while the business cuts are permanent.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat elected three months ago, suggested that it didn't matter much whether Democrats promised outright repeal or major improvements as they campaign against the Republican tax law this fall.
"Whether you take an approach of repealing or taking a piece of legislation that you can improve upon — it's the same thing (with) the Affordable Care Act — nothing's perfect," Northam said.
Echo of Obamacare: Democrats divided over vow to repeal tax law
Echo of Obamacare: Democrats divided over vow to repeal tax law
Trump says urged Apple to manufacture in US not India
- Apple CEO said in May majority of iPhones in sold in US would have India as country of origin
- India, hit by US tariffs, has threatened to retaliate response to increased duties on steel, aluminum
DOHA: US President Donald Trump said Thursday he urged Apple to manufacture its products in the United States instead of India, where the US tech giant has said it would be shifting production after US tariffs on China.
“I had a little problem with Tim Cook,” Trump said, referring to Apple’s CEO, during a multi-day tour of the Gulf. “I said, Tim, we treated you really good. We put up with all the plants that you built in China for years now.”
The president said he told Cook: “We’re not interested in you building in India... we want you to build here and they’re going to be upping their production in the United States.”
On Monday, the US and China announced an agreement to suspend tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, de-escalating a trade war that has spooked financial markets and raised fears of a global economic downturn.
Prior to the agreement between Beijing and Washington, Cook said Apple was “not able to precisely estimate the impact of tariffs.”
When presenting the tech company’s first-quarter profits in early May, Cook said he expected “a majority of iPhones sold in the US will have India as their country of origin.”
He warned of the uncertain impact of the 145 percent US tariffs on products from China — the company’s long-time manufacturing hub — despite a temporary reprieve for high-end tech goods such as smartphones and computers.
Although completed smartphones are exempted from Trump’s tariffs for now, not all components that go into Apple devices are spared.
Apple expects US tariffs to cost $900 million in the current quarter, even though their impact was “limited” at the start of this year, according to Cook.
India, also hit by US tariffs, threatened on Tuesday to take retaliatory measures in response to the increased duties on steel and aluminum.
India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Thursday trade negotiations between India and the United States are ongoing, and any agreement should be mutually beneficial.
Apple announced in February it would invest more than $500 billion in the United States over the next four years and promised to hire 20,000 people in the country.
“Apple’s already in for 500 billion but they’re going to be upping their production, so it’ll be great,” Trump said in Qatar.
That ‘tourist’ in the forest might be a Russian spy, Latvia warns
- MIDD offered advice on how to identify possible reconnaissance and sabotage operatives
- It also warned that Russian saboteurs might also attempt to incite unrest or assassinate “socially significant individuals”
WARSAW: They might look like lost tourists — unkempt and overloaded with gear — or hikers with military haircuts, survival gear and no clue how to behave in the woods.
But Latvia’s intelligence agency said Thursday that they might actually be Russian saboteurs and spies.
In its annual report, Latvia’s Defense Intelligence and Security Service, known by Latvian acronym MIDD, offered advice on how to identify possible reconnaissance and sabotage operatives.
It’s an increasingly relevant concern given regional tensions and a string of arson and other acts of sabotage, which Western governments blame on Russia — allegations that Moscow has repeatedly denied.
The list of telltale signs is striking: slovenly appearance, mismatched military or sportswear, and a knack for asking locals suspicious questions. According to the security service, such groups may linger near military or critical infrastructure sites, pose as humanitarian workers or stay in remote areas without showing any interest in nature.
Some may carry specialized medical kits, maps or radios — items better suited for clandestine operations than camping trips.
The Latvian guidance comes as countries across the region, including new NATO members Sweden and Finland, have been issuing booklets with advice on how to survive war or a natural disaster.
Nearby Poland is now preparing its guidelines, while Norway recently published a book with advice on how to survive for one week.
“We live in an increasingly turbulent world,” it says. “Even though in Norway most things generally function as they normally would, we must remain aware that extreme weather, pandemics, accidents, sabotage — and in the worst case acts of war — can impact us.”
MIDD, one of Latvia’s three security services, alongside the State Security Service and the Constitution Protection Bureau, warned that Russian saboteurs might also attempt to incite unrest or assassinate “socially significant individuals.”
Their activities might also be focused on “studying the position of the target country’s society and inciting unrest directed against the existing government.”
The agency cautioned that appearances can deceive.
“The Ukrainian experience shows that Russian special services are able to adapt,” the report says. Not all spies will fit the mold, and suspicions must be judged in context.
It also warns that if a sabotage group is spotted, leave the James Bond heroics to the professionals.
“If you do think you might have spotted a sabotage group on Latvian soil, MIDD does not recommend tackling them yourself,” it said. “Instead report your suspicions to the State Police, special services, or the nearest armed forces unit.”
Uganda army chief threatens voters who don't choose his father
- The east African country is due to hold a general election in January
- The commander of the army also said that all serving women would from now on march in skirts
Nairobi: The Ugandan president’s son said Thursday that any citizen who voted against his father in upcoming polls would be deported, while also banning women in the army from wearing trousers.
The east African country is due to hold a general election in January, and there has been a mounting crackdown on the opposition in recent months.
General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son and heir-apparent of long-ruling President Yoweri Museveni, is infamous for his colorful tweets that touch on everything from military matters to his social life.
On Thursday, he posted on X that individuals who “who do not support Mzee wholeheartedly better be very careful!,” using an honorific for his father.
“We will deport all the traitors in public view!!,” he added.
Earlier this month Kainerugaba claimed to have captured and tortured opposition leader Bobi Wine’s bodyguard Eddie Mutwe, who later appeared in court showing signs of torture, according to Justice Minister Norbert Mao.
In another post, Kainerugaba wrote that he took “FULL responsibility” for the actions of his soldiers, “including the long overdue beating of Eddie Mutwe.”
He added: “That was an appetizer!“
Rounding out his string of posts, the commander of the army also said that all serving women would from now on march in skirts.
“Trousers are for men not for women. Anyone who forces our sisters to put on trousers on parade again will have a very bad day,” he explained.
Only a fraction of the Ugandan People’s Defense Force (UPDF) is made up of women, and they are issued the same daily uniform as their male counterparts. They are permitted to wear skirts on formal occasions, according to local media.
UK PM says in talks over third country ‘return hubs’ for migrants
- “We are in talks with a number of countries about return hubs,” Starmer told a joint news conference with his newly reelected Albanian counterpart Edi Rama
- Starmer declined to explain how the hubs would work in practice or say with which countries he was in talks
TIRANA: The UK is in talks with different countries about setting up “return hubs” for failed asylum seekers, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Thursday on a visit to Albania seeking to bring down immigration.
The UK leader is under pressure to reduce immigration and cut the number of irregular migrants arriving on UK shores, many in small boats, amid the rising popularity of the hard-right, anti-immigrant Reform Party.
“We are in talks with a number of countries about return hubs,” Starmer told a joint news conference with his newly reelected Albanian counterpart Edi Rama.
Starmer declined to explain how the hubs would work in practice or say with which countries he was in talks.
But he said his new Labour government had been left a “mess” by the previous Conservative leadership, which he said had failed to process asylum claims.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “This will basically apply to people who have exhausted all legal routes to remain in the UK but are attempting to stall, using various tactics — whether it’s losing their paperwork or using other tactics to frustrate their removal.”
Last July, Starmer’s Labour government abandoned a scheme put in place by the Conservatives to deport undocumented migrants to Rwanda.
Rama said hosting a new UK return hub in Albania was not on the table, adding that an earlier deal with Italy had been a “one-off.”
The scheme by Italy for Italian-run facilities to process migrants to be based in Albania is currently bogged down in the courts.
“The model that we’ve brought to Albania in cooperation with Italy ... is a model that takes its time to be tested,” said Rama.
“If it works, it can be replicated, but not in Albania, in other countries of the region.”
In March, the European Commission unveiled a planned reform of the 27-nation bloc’s return system, opening the way for member states to set up migrant return centers outside the EU.
Earlier this week Starmer unveiled tough new immigration policies that included cutting the number of overseas care workers, doubling the length of time before migrants can qualify for settlement in the country and new powers to deport foreign criminals.
The announcement was widely seen as an attempt to fend off rising support for anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform UK party.
Labour vowed in its general election manifesto last year to significantly reduce net migration, which stood at 728,000 in the 12 months to last June.
It peaked at 906,000 in 2023 after averaging 200,000 for most of the 2010s.
In addition to high levels of legal migration, the UK has also seen unprecedented numbers of irregular migrants. And the numbers of asylum seekers has tripled to 84,200 in 2024, compared to 27,500 between 2010 and 2011.
More than 12,500 migrants have made the perilous Channel crossing so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on figures from the UK’s interior ministry.
Under a deal between the previous Conservative government and Tirana in 2022, Albanians arriving in the UK on small boats across the Channel can be sent back immediately.
Starmer’s Downing Street office said in a statement there had been a 95 percent reduction in Albanian small boat arrivals in the last three years, while the number of Albanians returned to the country had doubled in the past two years.
Some 5,294 Albanians were sent back in 2024, more than double the 2,035 Albanian nationals returned two years earlier.
Starmer also announced an expansion of the Joint Migration Taskforce in the Western Balkans, set up with Albania and Kosovo, to include North Macedonia and Montenegro.
The expansion would allow greater intelligence sharing to intercept smuggling gangs and deploy UK funded drones to snare gangsters funnelling migrants through the Western Balkans corridor to the UK.
Rama has vowed to integrate the Balkan nation into the European Union, and was also set to meet EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa on Thursday in Tirana.
Spain busts lucrative Chinese-Arab money laundering ring
- Police said the investigation began after the dismantling of a migrant-trafficking gang
- Police arrested 17 mostly Chinese and Syrian suspects in January
MADRID: Spanish police on Thursday said they had broken up a Chinese-Arab ring that laundered $21 million of proceeds from people and drug trafficking through the informal “hawala” money transfer system.
Police said the investigation began after the dismantling of a migrant-trafficking gang transporting mostly Syrians between Algeria and Spain, which led to a probe into their finances.
An Arab branch of the network “took charge of the reception of money in any part of the world,” while a separate Chinese branch supplied the cash in Spain in exchange for cryptocurrencies.
Police arrested 17 mostly Chinese and Syrian suspects in January — 15 in Spain, one in Austria and another in Belgium — said EU law enforcement agency Europol which supported the operation.
The network’s Belgium-based leader had “Jordanian-Palestinian nationality” and facilitated contacts within Spain, police chief inspector Encarna Ortega told a press conference in Madrid.
He is suspected of coordinating a litany of operations, mainly laundering money from the proceeds of trafficking humans and drugs, she added.
In total, the suspects moved $21 million between June 2022 and September 2024, Spanish police said.
Authorities seized from them 205,000 euros ($229,000) in cash, more than 183,000 euros in cryptocurrency, 18 vehicles, real estate property and illegal cigars worth more than 600,000 euros destined for sale in China.
Hawala is traditional system of moving money between countries based on confidence and a network of intermediaries with minimal paperwork which is popular in parts of Asia and Africa.
The method is especially common among migrant workers who send remittances to their families, but it has also been linked with financing terrorism.
