Beltway Insider: Biden/Fairer Tax Codes, Bankman-Fried Sentenced, Baltimore Bridge, Joe Liberman, Trump Legal Drama

Details: Category: Beltway Insider; Published on Sunday, 31 March 2024 12:50; Written by Janet Walker

With tax filing deadline quickly approaching, reviewing what the Biden Administration’s Build Back Better campaign has completed to make the tax system more equitable for all Americans, should highlight his commitment to the American people.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com, for the period ending March 31, 2024 decreased by 1.03% to 39.1% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness increased by 1.03% to 55.3% of those polled who disapprove of his effectiveness. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

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Biden Administration Makes Tax Code Fairer

As the Biden Administration devoted a whole of government effort to negotiating with Medicare and Big Pharma to cap the cost of insulin and lower the cost of fifty additional prescription drugs, they are working to keep more money in the pockets of the average American by attacking unfair tax practices.

With the tax filing deadline is right around the corner, reviewing what the Biden Administration's Build Back Better campaign has completed to make the tax system more equitable for all Americans should highlight his commitment to the American middle class.

According to a White House press statement, "Economists estimate that the wealthiest 400 billionaire families in America paid an average of just 8.2 percent of their income—including income from their wealth that goes largely untaxed—in Federal individual income taxes between 2010 and 2018. That's a lower rate than many ordinary Americans pay." This means that millions of Americans are forced into higher tax brackets through no fault of their own while big corporations and billionaires are paying less in taxes than a schoolteacher or firefighter.

The Biden-Harris Administration has made it a priority that billion-dollar corporations pay a minimum of 15 percent tax. They have also taxed the loopholes on the wealthy who earn money on their invested wealth, which is different than the dollar-for-dollar tax bracket the average American who earns a weekly paycheck is taxed. The Biden Administration has also initiated a 1 percent tax surcharge on stock buybacks.

The Biden-Harris Administration is working to lower the cost of family expenses of the average American, and thus help build long-term savings or retirement plans, and help fund the individual dreams for a brighter tomorrow for every American.

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Cryptocurrency King Sam Bankman-Fried Dethroned

Cryptocurrency King Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced this week to 25 years in prison for orchestrating a crypto scam that bilked investors out of 11 billion dollars, in what prosecutors are saying in the largest financial scam in American history.

With a lottery winner's mentality, Bankman-Fried hypnotize gig economy investors with the skill of an expert charlatan, gathering Silicon Valley investors to fund his scam which, aided by a slick PR campaign, managed to destroy the life savings of the common investor, leaving dreams shattered with no hope of recovery, while he spent lavishly on big ticket homes, real estate, living the big life on a big lie.

Silicon Valley is known for "The Life," mentality and no one exhibited it to a greater degree than Bankman-Fried. He was a titan of the industry, with an aw-shucks altruistic image, he bought people like money does, and his stated intent to leave the world a better place by returning his money to charities, became a calling card.

Bankman-Fried never showed contrition for his actions, no remorse for the economic destruction he brought upon investors, his attitude was simply poor choices and bad decisions, not criminality, not bilking investors, certainly not fraud, essentially telling U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who passed down the sentence, and the world, if he had been a better con artist, maybe less lavish in his spending, he could have lived under the radar longer, at least long enough to implement an exit strategy.

"The 25-year sentence is longer than most sentences for high-profile white-collar crimes, although Bernie Madoff received a 150-year sentence in 2009 for running a Ponzi scheme that cost victims an estimated $20 billion or more; he died in prison 12 years later. Elizabeth Holmes, who took in hundreds of millions from investors for blood-testing start-up Theranos, was sentenced in 2022 to more than 11 years in prison," The Washington Post reported. Bankman-Fried will serve at minimum of 22 years at a low to medium security prison before he is eligible for parole.

Baltimore Bridge Collapse

Stunning videos highlight the moment a Singapore cargo container ship lost power and plowed into the Francis Key Scott Bridge which spans the Port of Baltimore causing several sections of the massive steel structure to buckle and fall like matchsticks.

"President Biden pledged that the federal government would foot the bill to repair the bridge and reopen the Port of Baltimore, but officials said it was too soon to say how long that would take. Maryland transportation officials said drivers could expect major delays in the area. State officials said more than 30,000 vehicles a day use the bridge," reported The Washington Post. The Port of Baltimore is the eighth largest port in the United States, and a major delivery point for automobiles.

With the 1.5 miles collapse, the local communities, business owners and merchants who depended on the estimated 30,000 vehicles that use the Francis Key Scott bridge traffic are now confronting the possibility of serious financial hardship, even loss of businesses, as the estimated repairs which the government has not yet provided, could take up to four years based on the construction on the Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, that spans the Charles River in Boston Massachusetts, which began in late 1998 and was completed in 2002.

Images of the massive container ship approaching the bridge repeatedly show the lights going off, and as attempts to restore power are made, they would return, and then finally the loss of power was complete, and the captain was unable to control the ship. A mayday message provided first responders with two minutes to clear the bridge.

A road crew had been working on the bridge at the time of the accident, all went into the water, which is about 50 foot deep, six people were unaccounted for and as the recovery efforts have been suspended, are presumed dead.

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Coronavirus Totals

According to the World Health Organization the increase in cases resulting from the variant JN.1 have migrated in a similar pattern as the original Covid-19 virus. The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens, should receive at least one shot of an updated covid vaccine. Vaccines and boosters are still considered the most effective agents against contracting the Coronavirus.

For the 7-day period ending March 31, 2024, the total of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by The World Health Organization remained at 774,954,393 confirmed cases, increasing by 120,142 confirmed cases. The total worldwide death toll increased by 3,257 to 7,040,264 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated March 17, 2024, from The World Health Organization).

COVID U.S. Totals

As hospitalizations and infection rates continue to rise in the United States, some jurisdictions are suggesting new mask mandates. For the 7-day period ending March 31, 2024, new Covid hospitalizations in the U.S. increased by 9.571 to 6,901,176. The coronavirus has claimed 1,186,671 total U.S. deaths, adding 1,258 deaths, over the past 7 days. (Data updated March 23, 2024, posted March 29, 2024, from the CDC).

Joseph Liberman, Former VP Candidate, Senator, Dead at 82

Joseph Liberman, former Vice-President candidate, long-term Connecticut senator, and first Jewish candidate to secure a major party presidential ticket, died this week after a fall in his home. He was 82.

Part of the northeast's democratic stronghold along the east coast corridor, Liberman held his seat from 1989 to 2013, and surprised Washingtonians, his fellow senators, and democrats in his home state, when he lost the democratic primary as he sought a fourth term. The determined Liberman rallied back, switched parties, ran a find another way campaign as an Independent and won an historic victory. He retired from the senate six years later.

In 2000, Liberman made history becoming the first Jewish politician to ever lead a major party when he was tapped by then Democratic Presidential candidate Al Gore, to be his running mate. The pair seemed assured the victory, when a glitch in Broward County, Florida, and the "hanging chard," scandal, followed by political wrangling, leading to an emergency intervention by the Supreme Court, which eventually handed the victory to Republican George Bush.

An accomplished author, Liberman began his writing career in college which led to the publication of nine books ranging from the importance of highlighting the axis of power and nuclear proliferation and his senior thesis, "The Power Broker," to those on religion, expounding on his Jewish faith.

Liberman's legacy is different depending on the lens in which he is viewed.

His determined find another way senate campaign has fueled many to continue when confronting the impossible and to find another way. His understanding of the simplicity of good and evil which he explained, "Like it or not, we live in an imperfect world, so, like it or not, you've got to stand up and fight," he told the New York Times in 1991. "If I can be simplistic about it: If good people stand by while bad things are being done, evil will triumph," The Washington Post reported,

To be remembered is a great honor, a testament, a validation, whether large or small, those who remember Joseph Lieberman, will see the contributions, the honorable moments, the legacy left behind, and for others one event, a few words, his dedication, will be what is remembered from his lifetime of service.

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Road to the White House – Trump's Legal Troubles Continue

Trump's Bond Reduced

Presumptive 2024 Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump is knee deep in the political swamp of his previous presidency as he attended dual hearings this week, in Manhattan. Winning a small victory as New York State Appeals court lowered his bond to $175 million, which must be paid in ten days, or the State Attorney General Leticia James will begin seizing property can seize his assets to cover the entire $450 million penalty incurred after the former president was found guilty of misstating the value of his properties and assets to secure low interest loans.

"New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who heard the case, in February issued a written decision that assailed Trump and the other defendants, saying they showed a staggering "lack of contrition and remorse." He ordered that Trump pay the hefty judgment, which with interest comes out to more than $450 million," The Washington Post reported. While the lesser amount is a reprieve Trump is still confronted with financial challenges in meeting the required bond.

Although his Truth Social messaging platform received NASDEQ approval to begin trading, he is barred from selling share for six months, although the merger terms do not bar the sale of shares through any other member of Trump's family.

Hush Money Trail Date Set

Also on Monday, the former president was denied his motion to stop the historic Hush Money trial, f which he is accused of paying a porn star, Stormy Daniels, so to not interfere with his 2016 presidential campaign.

"Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen's $130,000 payment to silence adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she says they had a decade earlier - an encounter Trump denies," Reuters reported. His denial of the encounter could set the stage for an additional defamation trial should Ms. Daniels seek to move forward.

The presiding Judge, Justice Juan Merchan, also issued a gag order barring the president from his usual contentious outbursts and running commentary denigrating the witnesses or employees of the court, family members of the court staff, or jurors.

Jury selection is scheduled for April 15, 2024.

For more information on President Joe Biden w ww.whitehouse.gov.