Businesses Connected To Politicians And Political Donors
Businesses owned by the president, senior government officials, and their immediate families are ineligible for funds distributed through the $500 billion Economic Stabilization Fund. A business falls into this category if it is at least 20% owned or controlled by a person in the restricted group. Such businesses may nonetheless still be eligible for funds distributed through the $669 billion Paycheck Protection Program or through the $15 billion change to the tax code.
Jared Kushnerâs businesses may generally be eligible for relief under the Economic Stabilization Fund because, according to The New York Times, he usually owns less than 20% of his familyâs real estate projects.
On April 21, the Trump Organization said it would not seek a Small Business Administration federal loan. â rel=ânofollowâ> federal building in Washington, D.C. Eric Trump said he hoped the General Services Administration would treat the Trump Organization âthe sameâ as its other tenants.)
Clay Lacy Aviation, a California-based private jet charter company that serves business executives and celebrities, received a government grant of nearly $27 million that it does not have to repay. In 2016, the companyâs founder, Clay Lacy, donated $47,000 to the Republican Party after it officially nominated Trump and also donated the maximum allowable $2,700 directly to the Trump campaign.
The Blueprint Progressives Hope Will Move Democrats Beyond The Trump Era
Ali Vitali
WASHINGTON While the top issue to many Democratic voters is ousting President Donald Trump at the ballot box in November, key groups in the partys left flank are out with a new report Monday, presenting a long term vision for the progressive movement while also pressing the need to prioritize key issues.
We all agree the top priority is getting Trump out, Leah Hunt-Hendrix, a co-founder of the progressive group Way to Win, told NBC News. Trump was not just an aberration he was a symptom, so its imperative we use the next four years to address the roots of those problems.
The report from Way To Win, in tandem with Data For Progress and input from pollsters, activists, and staffers across politics, makes the case for the popularity of progressive policies like Medicare For All, while also calling for better donor structures and apparatuses to better fund progressive candidates. Its a reminder that while the Democratic party appears to have coalesced behind Biden to win in November, hell have intraparty policy battles to contend with if elected.
The purpose of this report is to say the work doesnt stop, Hunt-Hendrix added. Were all fighting for November and the work doesnt stop thereWhat Dems do when theyre in power is just as important as electing Democrats to power.
Dem Group American Bridge Launches $20 Million Battleground State Ad Buy
Ben Kamisar
WASHINGTON American Bridge is rolling out a $20 million ad campaign over 10 weeks in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the hopes of softening up President Trump in the blue wall states he flipped to secure his 2016 victory.
The first spots feature voters who backed Trump in 2016 explaining why they are now backing former Vice President Joe Biden.
In one Wisconsin spot, a Vietnam veteran named John argues that the “Trump economy” isn’t working for the working class.
“This time, I’m voting for Joe Biden because I think that Joe Biden has the good of the country in his heart,” he says.
“To compare Donald Trump with Joe Biden I can bet my life on most of what Joe Biden has to say. I wouldn’t bet my life on the next three things that come out of Donald Trump’s mouth, because one of them will probably be a lie.”
In another spot airing in Pennsylvania, a Westmoreland County voter named Janie said that she’s “disappointed” in Trump, while “Joe Biden understands how the government works, and I trust him.”
The new buy runs through the end of August, and will include TV, radio and digital ads. The group is targeting a smattering of markets across the state, including many of the Trump-leaning areas that the president’s campaign recently targeted with its recent ad buy.
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Mj Hegar Outspends Royce West On Airwaves 102
Ben Kamisar
WASHINGTON As Air Force veteran MJ Hegar and state Sen. Royce West face off in Texas’ Democratic Senate primary runoff today, it’s worth noting the massive spending discrepancy between the two candidates.
Hegar and her allies have flooded the airwaves in recent months, leaving West in the dust. Hegars campaign, Women Vote! and the DSCC have combined to spend $2.2 million on behalf of Hegar on TV and radio, according to Advertising Analytics.
Wests campaign has spent a paltry $22,000 since the two advanced to the runoff, for an ad-spending ratio between the two campaigns of about 102:1.
That spending disparity, plus Hegars big-name backers and significant fundraising advantage, has given her an advantage going into the runoff as she runs a race reminiscent of the strategy that helped win Democrats many pivotal House seats in 2018, leaning in on health care issues and her military experience.
But West, a longtime state senator, has bristled at Hegars support from outside groups like the DSCC, and has played up his legislative career and work on issues like police reform amid the national upheaval on policing and racial injustice.
And he may have received a bit of a boost from an ad launched by Republican Sen. John Cornyn last week, which frames West as a “liberal politician,” highlighting his positions on abortion, guns and taxes. The campaign has spent more than $100,000 on the ad, according to Advertising Analytics.
Steve Bannon Former Top Trump Aide Applauds Biden Buy American Event
Kristen Welker and Mike Memoli
DUNMORE, Pa. A former top adviser to President Donald Trump is warning that Joe Bidens bid Thursday to wrest away one of his few remaining advantages in the 2020 race the economy could prove a success.
Steve Bannon, who played a lead role in the closing months of Trumps 2016 campaign and then in the early stages of his presidency, told NBC News that the former vice president appeared to be stealing notes from 2016 playbook.
Biden on Thursday, near his hometown of Scranton, rolled out the first plank of his Build Back Better economy plan, focused on attempting to revive American manufacturing through a significant infusion of federal dollars to buy American-made products, while also investing heavily in domestic research and development.
In a blistering speech, Biden said that the president had failed to live up to the promises he made to working-class voters in communities like the ones near his hometown of Scranton, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The truth is: Throughout this crisis, Donald Trump has been almost singularly focused on the stock market, the Dow and NASDAQ. Not you, not your families, he said. “If I’m fortunate enough to be elected president, I’ll be laser-focused on working families, the middle-class families that I came from here in Scranton, not the wealthy investor class.
To Bannon, it was an effective approach run as a populist and economic nationalist to keep Bernie voters.
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Insurance Company Profits Have Soared While Families Pay More
Across all lines of business, insurance companiesprofit margin has increased in recent years, shooting up from about 1 percent in 2016 to 3 percent in 2019. Insurance company profits have been boosted by a number of factors, including the expansion of companies business in Medicare Advantage and Medicaid and the benefits of relatively unchecked vertical consolidation with other firms in the health care industry. In years to come, insurance companies stand to benefit if Trump follows through on his executive order to shift more Medicare beneficiaries into private plans, to the detriment of beneficiaries access to providers.
Figure 2
While the pandemic has depressed economic activity this year in most industries, insurance companies profitability to date has topped last years. Medical spending is down dramatically in 2020 due to deferred care during the pandemic, boosting companies net income above expectations. Thanks to the ACAs medical loss ratio requirement, insurers will be required to return excess premiums to consumers if medical spending for the year is below what they anticipated. Meanwhile, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and state regulators have encouraged or required insurers to waive or discount premiums and cost sharing in order to assist consumers and meet medical loss requirements.
Dnc Spotlight’s Trump’s Pandemic Leadership In New Digital Video
Gary Grumbach
WASHINGTON As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States passes the five million mark, the Democratic National Committees rapid response arm is out with a new digital video highlighting President Donald Trumps oft-repeated contention that the coronavirus pandemic will disappear and go away.
The video features the president’s comments juxtaposed against the cautionary words of the White House Coronavirus Task Forces Dr. Deborah Birx.
The ad, which will appear unpaid on DNC social media platforms, is part of the larger push the committee is making to contrast Trumps record with the plans presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden says he will offer when it comes to the coronavirus. As we reach this horrible milestone of 5 million cases, were holding him accountable for still not having a plan to control the virus, even as more than 160,000 Americans have died and millions have lost their jobs, Lily Adams, DNC War Room senior spokesperson told NBC News.
In July, the DNC began its first TV ad campaign of the 2020 cycle, marking the five year anniversary of the announcement Trumps 2016 candidacy and his now-famous ride down that Trump Tower escalator. That ad, titled Descent, focuses on the decline of American jobs, health care, race relations, and immigrant rights.
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New Biden Digital Ad Hits Trump For Reaction To Protests
WASHINGTON For the second time in the past month, Joe Biden’s campaign is accusing President Donald Trump for acting like a deer in the headlights as he’s tries to deal with two major crises.
The campaigns latest digital ad focuses on the use of force used on protestors in Washington last week to clear the way for Trumps walk across the street from the White House for a photo-op in front of St. Johns Church.
The nation marches for justice and like a deer in the headlights, hes paralyzed with fear. He doesnt know what to do so he hides in his bunker, the narrator says in between images of peaceful protestors chanting George Floyds name.
Then, hes afraid he looks too weak so he has tear gas and flash grenades used on peaceful protestors, just for a photo-op, the narrator continues. Where is Donald Trump? Too scared to face the people. Too small to meet the moment. Too weak to lead.
The Biden campaign has tried to define the two major crises of the year the pandemic and nationwide protests against police mistreatment of African Americans as moments that show stark contrasts between the president and the presumptive Democratic nominee. In the past week alone the campaign has released two digital ads using Bidens civil unrest speech in a Philadelphia that highlight his promise not to fan the flames of hate like Trump and commitment to support protestors urging progress towards a more equal America.
Growing Number Of Black And Latino Americans Are Optimistic For Future Generations
Carrie Dann
WASHINGTON Amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic, a suddenly uncertain economy and mass protests against racial injustice in the United States, dissatisfaction about the current state of the country has reached record highs. But according to a new Pew Research Center poll, a key group Black and Latino Americans are also significantly more optimistic than they were last year that life will be better for future generations than it is now.
The Pew survey, which was conducted between June 16 and 22, found that a third of Black Americans 33 percent now say that future generations will be better off. While thats far from a majority, its almost double the share who said the same in September 2019.
There was a smaller jump in optimism among Latinos, with 26 percent saying that future generations will be better off, compared with just 16 percent who said the same last fall.
The shifts come after the death of George Floyd sparked mass protests against police violence, racial profiling and injustice in law enforcement. Other public surveys since the protests began have found that some of the core messages of the demonstrations including the belief that police are more likely to use deadly force in encounters with Black suspects have quickly gained traction with the American electorate at large.
The online panel poll was conducted June 16-22 and has an overall margin of error of +/- 1.8 percentage points.
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Learn More About Medicare And Compare Medicare Supplement Plans
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1 Pear, R., and Haberman, M. Trump Retreats on Health Care After McConnell Warns It Wont Happen. . New York Times. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com/2019/04/02/us/politics/obamacare-donald-trump.html.
2 Congressional Budget Office. American Health Care Act of 2017. . Retrieved from https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52752.
Christian Worstell is a health care and policy writer for MedicareSupplement.com. He has written hundreds of articles helping people better understand their Medicare coverage options.
Isan Gap In Coronavirus Fears Grows
Carrie Dann
WASHINGTON As the country marks its highest single day of new coronavirus cases to date, a new poll from the Pew Research Center shows wide and growing partisan gaps in how Americans view the risks of transmitting the virus and the steps they are taking to prevent its spread.
The poll, which was conducted between June 16 and 22, found that Republicans are significantly more likely than their Democratic counterparts to believe the worst of the pandemic is behind us, to feel comfortable attending social events and dining out, and to say theyre not worried about contracting the virus or spreading it unknowingly. They are also more likely to say that face masks should rarely or never be worn in public.
While a similar Pew poll in April found some partisan differences in how Republicans and Democrats viewed the evolving crisis, the new survey demonstrates how much larger the gaps have grown as states grapple with the economic reopening and in many parts of the country a new surge in cases.
Among Republicans, just 35 percent said they are very or somewhat concerned about contracting the virus and requiring hospitalization, down from 47 percent in April. But among Democrats, 64 percent are very or somewhat concerned, virtually unchanged from two months ago.
The gap is even wider when it comes to Americans worries about spreading the virus unknowingly to others, with 77 percent of Democrats but just 45 percent of Republicans voicing their concern.
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Trump Campaign Off Tv Airwaves This Week With Convention In Spotlight
Ben Kamisar
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump’s campaign isn’t running any television ads this week in key battleground states, as the Republican National Convention takes center stage.
The only television ads Trump has booked from Tuesday through Friday are in Washington D.C., to the tune of about $171,000, according to Advertising Analytics.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden’s campaign has more than $9 million booked on the TV and radio airwaves during that time including $3 million in Florida, $1.5 million in Pennsylvania, $1.3 million in North Carolina, $1.1 million in Wisconsin and almost $1 million in both Michigan and Arizona.
It’s not like the Trump campaign will be absent from the airwaves this week the Republican National Convention will likely draw millions of eyeballs in primetime, and the coronavirus-related restrictions allow for the party to control its message.
But the decision to go dark on TV outside of it means that if Trump doesn’t go back up on the air through Friday, then the Biden campaign will have outspent him $28.4 million to $4.5 million on TV and radio from the start of the Democratic convention through this coming Friday.
Lincoln Project Hits Sen Susan Collins As Trump ‘stooge’ As Part Of New $4 Million Ad Buy
Liz Brown-Kaiser
WASHINGTON The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump super PAC founded by disaffected Republican strategists and known for its viral ads, is out with a new TV spot targeting Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins, who is up for re-election in November.
Great, independent leaders rise from Maines hard soil. Always have and always will, the ad begins over images of the state’s past political leaders.
The narrator then pivots to criticizing Collins, labelling her a Trump stooge.
Collins isnt an independent. Shes a fraud, the one-minute spot continues. Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump control her voice. She makes excuses for corruption, for criminality, for cruelty, all while pretending shes worried.
Susan Collins doesnt work for Maine, she works for them. And Maine deserves a leader, not a Trump stooge, the ad concludes.
The Lincoln Projects latest spot is part of a broader $4 million buy focused on Maine, Alaska, and Montana with the Alaska and Montana ads backing Democratic challengers to the states GOP incumbent senators. Its the groups largest buy to date according to communications director Keith Edwards, with at least $1 million dedicated to each of the three states.
The ads will air on both broadcast and cable television in their respective states for seven to 10 days, the super PAC confirmed to NBC News.
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