Latest news with #bipartisan
Bloomberg
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Trump's Trade School Idea Is a $3 Billion Winner
The president recently expressed his support for a great idea: investing an additional $3 billion in trade schools. That he suggested taking the money from scientific and medical research grants allocated to Harvard University — a counterproductive move unlikely to survive a court challenge — should not detract from the idea's merit. Nor should it obscure the issue's strong bipartisan appeal. To be clear, the administration's fight with Harvard and its Ivy League peers is a bad idea. One can criticize those schools for many things — in particular, their thoroughgoing failure to combat anti-Semitism in recent years — without obliterating research budgets at some of America's most important academic institutions. One hopes the provocation was the point.
ABC News
12 hours ago
- Automotive
- ABC News
Australia resisted America's gun culture — but couldn't help importing its obsession with oversized cars - ABC Religion & Ethics
Australia is rightly proud of having stood firm against one of America's deadliest exports — gun culture. After the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, our leaders acted with moral clarity and urgency. It was a bipartisan moment that has saved countless lives. While the United States doubled down on its right to bear arms, we said no. But there's another American export which we couldn't resist. In fact, we embraced it. It didn't come with bullets. It came with torque. Today, the vehicles dominating Australian roads are those dreamed up in Detroit and built to American scale. America has long held individual freedom as its highest virtue — often, it's placed above collective safety and social cohesion. Their idea of freedom is shaped less by care for others, and more by the logic of competition: survival of the fittest, the richest, and now, the biggest. Why Australia? The rise of oversized SUVs and utes in Australia is no accident. It's the result of a decades-long campaign by American car manufacturers to sell not just vehicles, but a story and a culture: that bigger is better; that personal dominance matters more than collective comfort; and that power is something to display. American car makers have exported more than vehicles — they've exported a value system. They've invested heavily in the Australian market and spent billions on advertising over the past decade to reshape what it means to 'drive'. They're turning it from an act of mobility into an assertion of identity. Their ads drip with masculinity, entitlement and conquest. Cars are no longer tools; they're statements. This American culture is embedded in the physical form of these cars: long, unapologetically flat hoods; lifted bodies; oversized ground clearance. And we bought it — not just the vehicles, but the idea behind them too. Australia resisted the guns; but we bought the trucks. When resistance to US-style excess emerged in Europe or Japan where space is tight and fuel expensive, car makers adapted. In Australia, with its car-loving culture and softer emissions rules, the American model found fertile ground. The marketing blitz followed — touting their 'utility' or 'sport' appeal (whatever that means), even though most people never tow a trailer or leave the suburbs. Ford spends over USD $2.5 billion annually on global advertising. RAM has flooded YouTube and sports broadcasts with testosterone-drenched imagery. Their campaigns lean heavily on rural imagery, regardless of whether the vehicle is driven by a tradie or an urban dad doing the school drop-off. Who bears the cost? The rise of massive vehicles on Australian roads is often framed as consumer preference. But that framing ignores the external costs borne not by the driver, but by everyone else, especially vulnerable road users: pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists. The evidence is unambiguous: large SUVs and utes are more likely to kill vulnerable road users. The pedestrian fatality crisis in the United States is the biggest testament to this. Pedestrian deaths were steadily declining for over two decades until 2009, when large vehicles began to dominate US roads. By 2022, annual pedestrian deaths had surged from around 4,100 to over 7,500 — a jump of nearly 80 per cent. This surge in pedestrian deaths has been directly linked to the growing popularity of these giant cars. And Australia is now on a similar path. We're trailing this trend. Pedestrians and motorcyclists are the only road users in Australia showing a consistent rise in fatalities for four years straight. No such pattern exists for drivers or passengers. And most vulnerable of all are children. In the United States, around 110 children are hit by vehicles each week in parking lots and driveways. The numbers have been climbing for years. Car hoods were once designed to slope downwards, giving drivers a clearer field of view. But today's boxy SUVs jut straight out before dropping off, creating large blind zones where small children simply disappear. You could line up a dozen children sitting in front of some of these vehicles, and the driver wouldn't see the first eight or nine. With certain models, you'd need more than twelve children in a row before one even appears in your view. Why car size is a moral issue We barely talk about car size as a moral issue. But maybe we should. The thing is, for many of us this is a subconscious choice. Nobody walks into a dealership and says, 'I'd like to endanger others.' But when you see enough of the same vehicle on the road it stops feeling like a choice. It starts feeling like self-defence. Especially when you're told that you need one of these to protect your family from all the other giant cars already out there. This imposes real — if marginal — risk on those who can't, or choose not to, participate in the vehicle size race: children walking to school or pedestrians crossing the road. And let's not forget all of us are pedestrians, at least some of the time. Driving tank-sized vehicles through residential streets, with bonnets at eye-level for most adults and towering above children, is a cultural export. And it's unmistakably American in posture — in-your-face, unapologetic, and indifferent to who gets left out. And this means, we're caught in a cycle of reactive consumerism: we buy big because others are big. We tell ourselves it's a personal choice, but how much of it was ever really ours to begin with? Milad Haghani is an Associate Professor of Urban Mobility at the University of Melbourne.
Washington Post
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
North Carolina lawmakers finalize bill that would scrap 2030 carbon reduction goal
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina legislators finalized a bill Thursday that would eliminate an interim greenhouse gas reduction mandate set in a landmark 2021 law, while still directing regulators to aim to cancel out power plant carbon emissions in the state within the next 25 years. With some bipartisan support, the state Senate voted to accept the House version that would repeal the 2021 law's requirement that electric regulators take 'all reasonable steps to achieve' reducing carbon dioxide output 70% from 2005 levels by 2030. The law's directive to take similar steps to meet a carbon neutrality standard by 2050 would remain in place.
Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
U.S. Senate Has Advanced Stablecoin Legislation, Now What?
A vote of the full Senate Chamber on Tuesday green-lighted stablecoin legislation for the next phase, which is a vote on the House floor. 'Today marks the first time the Senate has ever passed comprehensive legislation to address digital assets. I am excited by this emerging technology and will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to keep America and Americans at the forefront,' said Senator Angela Alsobrooks (MD), who is an original cosponsor of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act. Senate proceedings were relatively drama free, compared to previous markups and committee deliberations. It was heralded as significant that 18 Democrats joined Republicans to clinch the win. 'With the GENIUS Act's passage, we are meaningfully closer to a stablecoin regulatory landscape in the U.S. that provides clear rules of the road, protects consumers, and holds bad actors accountable. I look forward to seeing this bill pass the House with equally strong bipartisan support and get signed into law,' touted Senator Ruben Gallego (AZ), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Digital Assets Subcommittee. The passage is largely viewed as a major victory, but it is just one of the many steps in the journey of how a bill becomes a law. A key point of friction in ongoing policy negotiations has been the Trump family's crypto business dealings. The GENIUS Act includes a measure prohibiting Members of Congress and their families from profiting from stablecoins, but that ban does not extend to President Trump and his family. All eyes will be on the House voting schedule when they are back in session next week. In April, the Financial Services Committee passed their version of the bill, the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy Act. The fastest track to the President's desk would be to amend that bill to mirror the Senate. Interestingly, there has been rumblings about a push to fold the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act into the House stablecoin proposal as a twofer. The Agriculture and Financial Services Committees both advanced the market structure bill last week. And a reconciled package is expected to be ready for a House for a vote soon. But in a surprise twist, President Trump last night fired off a missive over social media calling for a clean bill with 'no delays, no add ons,' essentially throwing an Executive Branch wrench into the bipartisan Congressional debate. These are lofty and complex goals, considering the spending bill is still languishing in Congress and is a time sensitive priority. Additionally, stablecoin legislation is far from settled. It will not only be the crypto industry advocating for provisions to be added to a final legislative package. In response to the passage of the GENIUS Act, American Bankers Association President and CEO Rob Nichols remarked, 'we will continue to work with lawmakers to pursue a final stablecoin bill that embraces innovation without undermining our nation's resilient and trusted financial system and the critical role banks play in the economy.' It is clear that the path forward will continue to have challenges beyond getting time on the House schedule before the August recess. As Congress gets closer to a framework for the crypto industry that fosters global competitiveness, policymakers will need to find ways to reconcile accelerating innovation, prioritizing ethics, with mitigating risk to market participants.
Fox News
2 days ago
- Health
- Fox News
Senators Ricketts, Fetterman unite against China's quiet invasion of US farmland
EXCLUSIVE: Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts is leading the charge with Democrat Sen. John Fetterman to codify oversight on foreign countries buying American farmland. The bipartisan Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure (AFIDA) Improvements Act seeks to implement recommendations published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in January 2024, which found the AFIDA was ill-equipped to combat foreign ownership of American agricultural land. "Communist China is our greatest geopolitical threat," Ricketts told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview, adding, "This is a way for us to improve the disclosure that's going on with regard to the purchase of this agricultural land, so we can take other action if necessary to make sure we're not giving Communist China the opportunity to buy agricultural land." The bill's proposal comes as two Chinese nationals – a University of Michigan post-doctoral research fellow, Yunqing Jian, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology student Chengxuan Han – were held in federal custody after they were accused of smuggling biological materials into the United States. The suspects have been charged with "smuggling a fungus that has been described as a "potential agroterrorism weapon" into the heartland of America, where they apparently intended to use a University of Michigan laboratory to further their scheme," interm U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Jerome Gorgon said in a statement. The fungus causes a "head blight," described as a disease of wheat, maize, rice and barley, and is responsible for billions of dollars of economic losses throughout the world each year, according to the Department of Justice. If ingested by humans, the substance can cause vomiting, liver damage and "reproductive defects in humans and livestock." Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration is focused on "keeping our homeland secure" through enhanced border screenings. "Protecting America's food supply and national security remains a top priority. Last week's smuggling attempt by Chinese nationals of Fusarium graminearum, a dangerous crop-destroying fungus, posing a significant bioterrorism threat, only highlights this imperative to combat this threat," McLaughlin said. "That could potentially be very damaging to agriculture," Ricketts told Fox News Digital. "We also know that Chinese nationals have been trying to steal our biotechnology with regard to agriculture. They've also been crashing gates of bases. Supposed Chinese tourists have been flying drones around bases. Of course, the Chinese flew a surveillance balloon over our country when the Biden administration just let that happen." Ricketts said China has been aggressively buying American agriculture, "which is why we need to have a heightened sense of vigilance around protecting our homeland." Foreign investors own over 40 million acres of agricultural land in the United States, and between 2010 and 2021, Chinese ownership of American agricultural land increased from 13,720 acres to 383,935 acres, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). "It's not just about the number of acres that they own, but the fact that they own it around Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota or Fort Liberty in North Carolina. They're buying it around sensitive military installations," Ricketts said. The bill, also co-sponsored by Sens. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, John Cornyn of Texas, Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, requires AFIDA reporting for foreign persons holding more than 1% interest in American agricultural land. The AFIDA Improvements Act aims to increase information-sharing between the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the USDA. It also requires updates to the AFIDA's handbook and establishes a deadline for USDA to set up an online AFIDA system. Based on the GAO's recommendations, the bill seeks to update the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 to better equip the USDA to combat foreign adversaries' ownership of American agricultural land. "We are at the most dangerous point in our history right now since World War II," Ricketts said. "We have to be investing in our military. We have to be supporting our friends around the world that are pushing back on these dictators. Communist China is one of them." Additionally, the bill comes as conflict in the Middle East reaches a boiling point between Iran and Israel, reigniting concerns about national security. Israel successfully coordinated attacks against Iran from inside the country, and Ricketts pointed to Ukraine's success in targeting a Russian air base. "What Ukraine was able to do against Russia with their operation that destroyed some of their strategic bombers, and they placed trucks with drones close to an air base and had those drones attack their squadrons. We could be vulnerable to the same thing if China did that here. They've owned farmland close enough to our air bases to be able to launch a drone strike. That should be very concerning to us," Ricketts said. Ricketts added that American farmland should not be a "tool that our adversaries, like Communist China, can use to attack us from inside our own country." There has been little movement on the bill since it was just recently introduced. That is largely because Senate Republicans are narrowly focused on advancing Trump's "big, beautiful bill" ahead of a self-imposed July 4 deadline.
