US Politics

Publix heiress faces criticism for helping finance 6 January rallyJulie Fancelli, the largest publicly known donor of the rally, gave $650,000 to three organizations that helped stage and promote it A low-profile American heiress living in Italy has come under fire for donating $650,000 to three organizations that helped stage and promote the political rally on 6 January that was followed by the insurrection at the US Capitol by extremist supporters of Donald Trump. Julie Fancelli, 72, who is the daughter of the founder of the Florida-based Publix supermarket chain, is facing criticism after new investigations revealed that she is the largest publicly known donor of the 6 January rally, the Washington Post reported.Congressman Jamie Raskin: ‘I’ll never forget the terrible sound of them trying to barrel into the chamber’Read moreAt the rally held near the White House, Donald Trump urged supporters to go to the Capitol in an attempt to stop the 2020 presidential election victory by his Democratic rival Joe Biden from being officially certified by Congress.Rioters then broke into the Capitol, although after hours of chaos and danger during which lawmakers and staff hid in fear of their lives, the election result was certified in the early hours the following day.Worried relatives and those close to Fancelli say that her support of far-right groups could be prompted by Fancelli’s interest in conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.On 29 December, eight days before the rally, Fancelli wired $300,000 to Women for America First, a non-profit that helped organize the 6 January rally, and $150,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association’s non-profit arm, which covered robocalls promoting the march to “call on Congress to stop the steal”, reported the Washington Post last December, referring to Trump’s campaign to overturn the election result.Fancelli also gave $200,000 to State Tea Party Express, a rightwing group, according to Sal Russo, a top consultant for the group. Russo told the Post that records of Fancelli’s donation have been provided to the House committee investigating the insurrection and that the money was used to pay for ads on the radio and social media, encouraging supporters of Donald Trump to participate in the rally. Russo said to the Post that he does not support the violence that happened at the Capitol.Information on how expenses such as travel and hotel stays were covered for the thousands of Trump supporters who attended the rally and march on the Capitol is still being investigated, but details, including Fancelli’s substantial , financial support, continue to emerge.Democratic representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the chair of the House committee investigating the events that led to the 6 January insurrection, told the Post that he believes Fancelli “played a strong role” in financially backing the rally. “We’re trying to follow the money,” said Thompson.While Fancelli has not responded to requests for comment from the Post since August, she has addressed her involvement in the 6 January rally.“I am a proud conservative and have real concerns associated with election integrity, yet I would never support any violence, particularly the tragic and horrific events that unfolded on January 6,” said Fancelli via a statement released 10 months ago.Previously, after an initial report about the $300,000 Fancelli donated before the rally, Publix Super Markets released a statement via social media, saying that Publix would not comment on Fancelli’s actions as she was not an employee of Publix or involved in the business. Following an inquiry from the Post last week about Fancelli’s total contributions, Publix said that the company “cannot control the actions of individual stockholders” and issued a rebuke of her actions.“We are deeply troubled by Ms Fancelli’s involvement in the events that led to the tragic attack on the Capitol on January 6,” said Publix in a statement to the Post.Fancelli had planned to attend the rally herself, even booking a room at the upscale Willard hotel, but decided not to travel due to the pandemic, according to a Republican who was familiar with her donation, the Post reported.TopicsUS Capitol attackUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

Hillary Clinton’s victory speech – and others that were never heard The defeated 2016 candidate has read aloud what she would have said in victory – joining a cast of thwarted speechmakers It was one of the most significant branching points in recent history – and at least one artefact of the way things might have been still exists.On Wednesday the Today show in the US released a video of Hillary Clinton reading the speech she would have given if she had beaten Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Clinton, who is giving a course in “the power of resilience” with the online education company Masterclass, teared up as she read aloud from her speech. She said reading it entailed “facing one of my most public defeats head-on”.To those who viewed the election of Trump as an epoch-defining catastrophe, the excerpt was an agonising glimpse of an alternative future. Clinton said: “Fundamentally, this election challenged us to decide what it means to be an American in the 21st century. And by reaching for unity, decency and what President Lincoln called ‘the better angels of our nature’, we met that challenge.”She reflected on the significance of what her election as the first female US president would have meant. “I’ve met women who were born before women had the right to vote. They’ve been waiting a hundred years for tonight. I’ve met little boys and girls who didn’t understand why a woman has never been president before. Now they know, and the world knows, that in America every boy and every girl can grow up to be whatever they dream – even president of the United States.”Clinton grew emotional as she read a passage about her mother, who died in 2011. She said: “I dream of going up to her, and sitting down next to her, taking her into my arms and saying: ‘Look at me. Listen to me. You will survive. You will have a good family of your own. And three children. And as hard as it might be to imagine, your daughter will grow up and become the president of the United States.”Clinton’s speech, which she said she had never previously read aloud, enters a canon of speeches never given – for reasons that were variously a relief, a disappointment or a matter of ongoing political dispute. Here are some other examples of the genre.‘Whatever terrors lie in wait for us all’: Queen Elizabeth II’s speech for the outbreak of nuclear war, 1983Written by civil servants during one of the most tense periods of the cold war, and released in 2013 under the 30-year rule.“The horrors of war could not have seemed more remote as my family and I shared our Christmas joy with the growing family of the Commonwealth. Now, this madness of war is once more spreading through the world and our brave country must again prepare itself to survive against great odds …“I have never forgotten the sorrow and the pride I felt as my sister and I huddled around the nursery wireless set listening to my father’s [George VI’s] inspiring words on that fateful day in 1939 [at the start of the second world war]. Not for a single moment did I imagine that this solemn and awful duty would one day fall to me.“But whatever terrors lie in wait for us all, the qualities that have helped to keep our freedom intact twice already during this sad century will once more be our strength … As we strive together to fight off this new evil, let us pray for our country and men of goodwill wherever they may be. God bless you all.”‘Epic men of flesh and blood’: Richard Nixon’s ‘in event of moon disaster’ speech, 1969Written by the speechwriter William Safire in case the crew of Apollo 11 were marooned on the surface of the moon, and unearthed in the Nixon archive in 1999. The document directs Nixon to telephone “the widows-to-be” before making the speech and suggests that a clergyman should “adopt the same procedure as a burial at sea, commending their souls to ‘the deepest of the deep’”.“Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace. These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice …“In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.“Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man’s search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts. For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.”‘A nation reborn’: Alex Salmond’s speech for a yes vote in the Scottish independence referendum, 2014Released by the former SNP leader to a university for research in 2015.“In the early hours of this morning, Scotland voted yes. We are a nation reborn. The community of this realm has spoken. Scotland shall be independent once again. To those who voted no, I extend an immediate hand of friendship …“To our friends and families across these isles waking to our new democracy, we say this: know that, in Scotland, you will always have your closest friend, greatest ally and most steadfast partner …“This morning, I want every person – yes voters, no voters, everyone in this proud and ancient nation – to pause, reflect upon and remember this greatest day in Scotland’s history.“We did this. We made it happen. We believed. We trusted ourselves and trusted each other. A country reborn. A democracy reclaimed. We reach towards the future.”‘We are not waiting to lose before we get our act together’: David Miliband’s speech for the Labour leadership election, 2010Obtained by the Guardian in 2011. Miliband is said to have recited the text to his wife in the back of the car on their drive home from party conference, where his brother Ed had prevailed.“My parents devoted themselves to building a family on unconditional love and support. It was a warm household in which we were encouraged to think for ourselves; to argue; to make up our own minds. Haven’t I learned that in the last few months? …“Only four Labour leaders have ever been elected prime minister. Out of 14. Reflect on that. Many good men … lots of hard work … but only four have led us to victory …“This leadership election, the new members, the new councillors, shows something is stirring. Something inspiring. We are not waiting to lose three times before we get our act together.”‘He’s no longer Alaska’s “first dude”’: Sarah Palin’s victory speech, 2008Written by the Republican vice-presidential candidate’s speechwriter Matthew Scully, and leaked in 2009. Palin also prepared a concession speech for the event of defeat but was stopped from delivering it by the presidential candidate John McCain’s team.“It’s been just 68 days since that afternoon in Dayton, Ohio, when Senator McCain introduced me as his running mate. He is truly the maverick. He took a chance on me. I will always be grateful for that.“It will be the honour of a lifetime to work him as vice-president of the United States. And I pledge to govern with integrity, and goodwill, and clear conviction, and a servant’s heart …“It’s been quite a journey these past 69 days. We were ready, in defeat, to return to a place and a life we love. And I said to my husband, Todd, that it’s not a step down when he’s no longer Alaska’s ‘first dude’. He will now be the first guy ever to become the ‘second dude’.”‘Our landings have failed’: Dwight Eisenhower’s D-day defeat speech, 1944Handwritten by the Supreme Allied Commander the night before the Normandy invasion and then put in his wallet. Now in the Eisenhower Library.“Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops.“My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available.“The troops, the air and the navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.”TopicsHillary ClintonUS elections 2016US politicsfeaturesReuse this content More

‘Frustrating’ White House meeting escalates fears Biden is failing on voting rightsLeaders of major groups pushing for voting reform expected to hear about a strategy to move forward – but they didn’t hear any kind of plan at all Get the latest updates on voting rights in the Guardian’s Fight to vote newsletterHello, and Happy Thursday,Around Thanksgiving, I spoke with a few people who had recently attended a meeting at the White House to discuss voting rights. They were frustrated.They had gone into the meeting quite hopeful. After spending months watching Senate Republicans use the filibuster to block two major federal voting rights bills, there were signs things were moving in the right direction. In late October, Joe Biden gave his public blessing to changing the filibuster, the Senate rule Republicans have relied on to block the voting rights bills. So when hundreds of leaders of groups pushing for voting reform gathered on a 15 November teleconference meeting with White House officials, they expected to hear more details about a plan to move forward.But the people I spoke with said they didn’t hear any kind of plan at all. “They did not lay out a strategy for getting this done,” one person I spoke with said. Cliff Albright, a co-founder of Black Voters Matter, told me it was “very frustrating” and it felt like a “check-the-box kind of call”. Kamala Harris, tapped to lead the White House’s voting rights work, stopped by the meeting briefly, read from prepared remarks that one person described as the “same old, same old” and then left. White House staff answered three questions from participants on the call.The frustration with Biden’s handling of voting rights is not new. For months, activists have said that the president has failed to put muscle behind it. “He’s phoning it in,” Ezra Levin, a co-founder of the grassroots group Indivisible, told me in June. Biden has since given a speech on voting rights.“Nothing comes without a fight, which is why the president and vice-president are working with Speaker Pelosi, leader Schumer, and advocates to protect our democracy and the fundamental right to vote,” Sabrina Singh, a White House spokesperson, told me.In recent weeks, I’ve noticed that frustration is increasingly turning into alarm. State lawmakers across the country are rapidly enacting distorted political maps that will help cement Republican majorities in many places for the next decade. Those districts may well help Republicans retake control of the US House next year. Candidates are already filing for office to run in those districts in Texas and North Carolina. There are rapidly approaching primary elections set to take place in the spring. (The first day of early voting in the Texas primary is 14 February.) And yet, the Senate appears likely to end the year without passing a voting rights bill.Helen Butler, a longtime organizer in Georgia who helped turn out record numbers of Black voters last year, said she thought passing new voting protections would be one of the first things Biden did after he was inaugurated. “It is disheartening, I can tell you, out of all the work we’ve put in to have fair elections, to get people engaged, and to have the Senate that will not act to protect the most sacred right, the right to vote, is unheard of,” she told me.Now, Senate Democrats are looking to January as the earliest point at which they might be able to make changes to the filibuster and pass voting legislation, Politico reported Wednesday. The small group of Democratic senators tasked with finding a way forward on the filibuster is projecting optimism that they’ll be able to get Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, both staunch defenders of the filibuster, to support changes, according to Politico. We’ll see what happens in January, but when Levin and I spoke a few weeks ago, he wasn’t particularly optimistic.“If Congress doesn’t get this done by the end of the year, it’s hard to see why the political will will be there later. What will have changed in January, in February?” he said.Reader questionsPlease continue to write to me each week with your questions about elections and voting at [email protected] or DM me on Twitter at @srl and I’ll try to answer as many as I can.Also worth watching …
The justice department filed its first redistricting lawsuit this year on Monday, challenging Texas’ new congressional and state House maps. Texas Republicans drew districts, in some cases intentionally, to make it harder for Latino and Black voters to elect the candidate of their choice.
A Trump-aligned group is looking for a way around Wisconsin’s Democratic governor to enact new voting restrictions.
Lawyers for Crystal Mason, the Texas woman appealing a five-year prison sentence for illegal voting in 2016, filed an appellate brief arguing that Texas’ new voting law contains a provision that bolsters her argument for why her conviction should be overturned.
TopicsUS voting rightsFight to voteUS politicsJoe BidenfeaturesReuse this content More

‘Killing the middle class’: millions in US brace for student loan payments after Covid pauseStudent debt in America has become a crisis for millions of citizens that often feels like it will last for people’s whole lives Jennifer Rae Wilson, a social worker and single mother of three children in Richland, Washington, has struggled with student loan debt since she went back to school and graduated in 2000 – more than two decades ago.Struggling to raise three boys with very little child support, Wilson decided to attend college 10 years after graduating high school to improve her career prospects. She was eventually able to move out of low-income assistance housing and off government assistance programs.“But then the school loans hit,” said Wilson. “I couldn’t afford the payments on top of rent and all of the other things, there was no way that I could make those payments.”She is not alone, as student debt in America has become a crisis for millions of citizens that often feels like it will last for people’s whole lives, or at least blight them for many years to come after graduation. Around 44.7 million Americans have outstanding student loan debt totaling over $1.86tn, with 42.3 million Americans holding federal student loan debt.The US Department of Education paused repayment, collections and interest on federal student loans in response to the Covid-19 pandemic under Trump, with the final extension on the pause set to expire on 31 January 2022.But now millions of Americans are bracing for resuming payments on federal student loans after nearly two years of relief – and the crisis is set to roll on again.Between rent, bills and daycare costs, Wilson went into default after not being able to keep up with student loan payments. Then her paychecks started being garnished in 2010 to pay off the student loans of around $1,000 per month, which was just paying off the interest on her principal.The pause on student loan repayments during the pandemic allowed Wilson to catch up on other bills and purchase a home, but she worries about the payments restarting.“It kind of concerns me a little bit with it coming back with what they’re going to be able to offer us in terms of payment plans,” added Wilson. “I’ve been making payments for 20 years and my balance has only gone up. That doesn’t make any sense. If I made a $1,000 per month payment on my car, or on my house, I would be paid off and I would not have a home loan or would not have a car loan. But with this, it doesn’t seem to make a difference.”A recent survey of more than 33,000 student loan borrowers conducted by the Student Debt Crisis Center found 89% of borrowers are not financially secure enough to resume payments on 1 February. Prior to the pandemic, over half of all student loan borrowers were either in default, forbearance, deferment, or otherwise not currently making payments on their student debt.PJ Rivera of Texas is one of the borrowers not prepared to resume student loan payments. His initial student debt was around $80,000, but has increased with interest to $110,000, despite making payments of $1,000 a month.“Student loans have crippled my ability to have personal savings but the inability to help my family who are struggling with hospital bills and other medical bills,” said Rivera. “The system doesn’t work. It’s not the students’ fault because you need money to pay for your career. Maybe tuition shouldn’t be so high to start with. Everyone should be able to study and learn about whatever they are passionate about without going broke or living to pay and nothing else.”The average student loan debt for new college graduates is around $30,000. Joe Biden campaigned on cancelling $10,000 in student loan debt per person and cancelling student debt for Americans who attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities and public colleges, but the Biden Administration has yet to cancel debt for these AmericansBeverly Dunker Brown of New York City completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees in the 1980s and 90’s, but with high interest rates and taking on parent plus loans for her son, her student loan debt has increased from around $43,000 in loans to over $150,000.“I will be in my late 80s paying student loans off of social security income,” said Dunker Brown. “I have Federal Family Education Loan Program loans which were not paused. I can’t afford to pay them and continue to request forbearances on them.”Despite making a six-figure salary in business administration, she is unable to properly save for retirement, save for home, and cares for her disabled husband who is a cancer survivor and regularly requires dialysis. Her own student loans are $862 monthly and the parent plus loans for her son will add another $362 a month when the federal student loan pause ends.“The interest and penalties are just crazy. My student loan balance increases each month. Black and Brown people can’t get ahead,” added Dunker Brown. “I have no generational wealth, retirement savings or savings for an emergency, yet I have an MBA that I earned in 1996. Having a fancy degree wasn’t the answer it was supposed to be.”Black college graduates owe an average of $7,400 more in student loans than white college graduates, and that gap more than triples to nearly $25,000 after four years from graduation.Sabrina Elliott of Charlotte, North Carolina, couldn’t afford to make payments toward her student loans for the first eight years after graduating law school. By the time she could afford to start making payments, with the debt ballooned from over $72,000 to more than $166,000.For the past seven years, Elliott has made monthly minimum payments of nearly $1,400 a month, but still owes more than the original loans despite paying over $90,000 toward the debt in that time.“Student loans should not impair a person from being a homeowner, starting a family or a badge of shame,” said Elliott. “I have made payment for over seven years and the balance is the same. As you can see, I have repaid the original loan. The minimum payment is a mortgage payment but not high enough to reduce the debt.”Kaida Flowers, a family and child therapist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has struggled to try to pay her student loans from her undergraduate and master’s degree, and only makes around $50,000 a year working a job she pursued to try to help people and emphasized student debt is causing her and others who pursued similar career paths to struggle to get by.She has struggled to try to pay her student loans from her undergraduate and master’s degree, and only makes around $50,000 a year working a job she pursued to try to help people and emphasized student debt is causing her and others who pursued similar career paths to struggle to get by.When the payments resume, she will be forced to pay $300 a month again toward her student debt, most of which goes toward interest.“They’re killing the middle class,” added Flowers. “Part of the American dream is you go to school, you try to do something to have a better life, but it’s just not what it is.”TopicsBiden administrationUS student financeUS student debtJoe BidenUS politicsfeaturesReuse this content More

Instagram CEO testifies before Congress over platform’s impact on kidsAdam Mosseri defends platform and calls for creation of body to determine best practices to help keep young people safe online The head of Instagram began testimony before US lawmakers on Wednesday afternoon about protecting children online, in the latest congressional hearing scrutinizing the social media platform’s impact on young users.Adam Mosseri defended the platform and called for the creation of an industry body to determine best practices to help keep young people safe online. Mosseri said in written testimony before the Senate commerce consumer protection panel the industry body should address “how to verify age, how to design age-appropriate experiences, and how to build parental controls”.“We all want teens to be safe online,” Mosseri said in opening statements. “The internet isn’t going away, and I believe there’s important work that we can do together – industry and policymakers – to raise the standards across the internet to better serve and protect young people.”Instagram and its parent company, Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook), have been facing global criticism over the ways their services affect the mental health, body image and online safety of younger users.In opening statements, Senator Richard Blumenthal promised to be “ruthless” in the hearing, saying “the time for self-policing and self-regulation is over”.“Self policing depends on trust, and the trust is gone,” he said. “The magnitude of these problems requires both and broad solutions and accountability which has been lacking so far.”In November, a bipartisan coalition of US state attorneys general said it had opened an inquiry into Meta for promoting Instagram to children despite potential harms. And in September, US lawmakers grilled Facebook’s head of safety, Antigone Davis, about the impacts of the company’s products on children.The scrutiny follows the release of internal Facebook documents by a former employee turned whistleblower, which revealed the company’s own internal research showed Instagram negatively affected the mental health of teens, particularly regarding body image issues.Ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, Instagram said it will be stricter about the types of content it recommends to teens and will nudge young users toward different areas if they dwell on one topic for a long time.In a blogpost published on Tuesday, the social media service announced it was switching off the ability for people to tag or mention teens who do not follow them on the app and would enable teen users to to bulk delete their content and previous likes and comments.In the blogpost, Mosseri also said Instagram was exploring controls to limit potentially harmful or sensitive material, was working on parental control tools and was launching a “Take a Break” feature, which reminds people to take a brief pause from the app after using it for a certain amount of time, in certain countries.Democratic senator and chair of the panel, Richard Blumenthal called the company’s product announcement “baby steps”.“They are more a PR gambit than real action done within hours of the CEO testifying that are more to distract than really solve the problem,” he told Politico.Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn criticized the company’s product announcement as “hollow”, saying in a statement: “Meta is attempting to shift attention from their mistakes by rolling out parental guides, use timers and content control features that consumers should have had all along.”An Instagram spokeswoman said the company would continue its pause on plans for a version of Instagram for kids. Instagram suspended plans for that project in September amid growing opposition to the project.TopicsInstagramUS CongressUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

Biden signs order for government to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050US will ‘lead by example in tackling the climate crisis,’ says White House, by eliminating greenhouse gases from its activities The US government will be a net zero contributor to the climate crisis by 2050 by slashing the planet-heating emissions from its operations and transitioning to an all-electric fleet of cars and trucks, according to a new executive order signed by Joe Biden.The federal government is the largest land owner, energy consumer and employer in the US and it will “lead by example in tackling the climate crisis”, the White House said, by eliminating greenhouse gases from its activities.Under the order signed by Biden on Wednesday, the government will cut its emissions by 65% by the end of this decade, before reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.The government’s fleet of 600,000 cars and trucks will be transformed, with all acquisitions of vehicles from 2035 being zero emission versions. For light duty vehicles, this deadline will come earlier, starting in six years’ time.The order also demands that the 300,000 federally-owned buildings produce no net emissions by 2045, with a 50% cut in emissions by 2032. All electricity procured by the government will be from clean sources such as solar and wind by 2030, while all procurement decisions made by the hefty government bureaucracy will be net zero emissions by 2050.“Through a whole-of-government approach, we will demonstrate how innovation and environmental stewardship can protect our planet, safeguard federal investments against the effects of climate change, respond to the needs of all of America’s communities, and expand American technologies, industries, and jobs,” the president’s order reads.The executive order will tackle around 15% of all carbon emissions in the US, according to RMI, a non-profit clean energy organization.“Decarbonizing buildings, ensuring federal investments for infrastructure are targeted for clean, sustainable projects, and driving and informing private investment for clean technology to slash greenhouse gas emissions showcase this administration’s climate priorities,” said Sarah Ladislaw, managing director of RMI’s US program.“This series of investments takes much-needed steps to capitalize on what we already know: the clean energy transition is critical in tackling climate change and stimulating our economy.”The commitment is the biggest yet by Biden towards his goal of cutting the US’s overall emissions to net zero by 2050. The president has set other related goals, such as making America’s electricity grid entirely run on renewable energy by 2035 and for half of all car sales in the country to be electric by 2030.Biden has set out the most ambitious climate agenda of any US president to date, although he has come under criticism from environmental groups recently for calling for an increase in oil production to lower gasoline prices and for offering up vast tracts of land and ocean to oil and gas producers.Much of the president’s climate agenda rests upon an enormous spending bill that faces a tricky path through the senate.The Build Back Better Act has around half a trillion dollars in climate change measures, such as incentives for electric cars, tax credits for renewable energy production and funding to make vulnerable communities more resilient to climate change impacts such as flooding. Analysts have said it will become much harder to avoid disastrous global heating without the sweeping legislation.TopicsBiden administrationJoe BidenGreenhouse gas emissionsUS politicsnewsReuse this content More