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      Beautiful Things review: Hunter Biden as prodigal son and the Trumpists' target

      by

      Robert Hunter Biden is not a rock star. Instead, the sole surviving son of Joe Biden – senator, vice-president, president – is a lawyer by training and a princeling by happenstance. Regardless, life on the edge comes with consequences.As Hunter Biden grudgingly acknowledges in his memoir, comparisons to Billy Carter, Roger Clinton or the Trump boys, appendages to power who sought to capitalize on proximity, may be apt. Indeed, Biden cops to the possibility that his name might have had something to do with his winding up on third base without hitting a triple.“I’m not a curio or a sideshow to a moment in history,” he writes, defensively, channeling the mantra of those with parents in high places: “I’ve worked for someone other than my father, rose and fell on my own.”But Biden is not content to leave well alone. Instead, he announces: “Having a Biden on Burisma’s board was a loud and unmistakable ‘fuck you’ to Putin.” He protests too much.Glossed over by Beautiful Things is that while his overseas venture may have ended up at the heart of Donald Trump’s first impeachment, it also discomforted Barack Obama’s White House. Confronted with Hunter’s foray into Ukraine and the energy business, the 44th president’s spokesman, Jay Carney, declined to express support.“Hunter Biden and other members of the Biden family are obviously private citizens, and where they work does not reflect an endorsement by the administration or by the vice-president or president,” said Carney, back in 2014.Hunter possesses little filter. His craving for absolution is hardwiredBiden also portrays the relationship between his father and the Obama crowd as uneven to say the least. He points a finger at David Axelrod, an Obama counselor who played naysayer to Joe Biden’s chances in 2020, on CNN.Hunter recounts the aftermath of a conversation between his father and then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton, about Afghanistan: “Goddamnit … Axelrod’s gotten in her ear!”As for Clinton, Biden elides the tension that existed between his father and the 2016 nominee. It wasn’t just about Obama encouraging Clinton. Back then, Joe Biden was scared of running against her.In Chasing Hillary, written by Amy Chozick in 2018, Joe Biden is paraphrased as saying to the press, off the record: “You guys don’t understand these people. The Clintons will try to destroy me.” Hell hath no fury like a Clinton crossed.The younger Biden’s book shows flashes of his grasp of power politics. But he also demonstrates a continuous blind spot for his own predicament. Confession should not be conflated with self-awareness.Biden recounts a conversation with Kathleen, his first wife, after the funeral in 2015 of Beau, his brother. He goes so far as to muse about running for office – despite his multiple addictions, all now detailed extensively on the page, and the ups-and-downs of his marriage.She responds: “Are you serious?”That Biden even went there is beyond puzzling. Or as he puts it, “I underestimated how much the wreckage of my past and all that I put my family through still weighed on Kathleen.”This was before Biden commenced an affair with his late brother’s wife.Hunter possesses little filter. His craving for absolution is hardwired.Describing a series of interviews he granted to the New Yorker’s Adam Entous, regarding Burisma, Ukraine and all that, he writes that he “didn’t know how cathartic the experience would be”. For good measure, he adds: “It was my opportunity to tell everyone out there, ‘This is who I am, you motherfuckers, and I ain’t changing!’”The italics are his.Through it all, Joe Biden is shown as a loving and caring father, like the dad in the story of the prodigal son. Biden depicts his father’s efforts to intervene in his personal nightmare and the times he rebuffed such entreaties. The family’s Catholicism is present throughout his book.The empathy and emotion Joe Biden conveys on television are part of who he is. His own setbacks and suffering helped elect him amid a terrible pandemic. Whatever facade exists is thin – and transparent.That said, the president’s capacity to forgive his son’s trespasses makes recent stories of his low tolerance for prior marijuana use among political appointees hard to comprehend.Beautiful Things is smoothly written and quickly paced. We know how and where the story ends. Hunter Biden appears to have found happiness in his second marriage. His father is now president.Still, the son cannot hide his bitterness in being turned into the whipping boy of the Trump campaign. The ex-president is “a vile man with a vile mission” who sank to “unprecedented depths” in his bid to retain power. The 6 January insurrection was vintage Trump. Charlottesville was prelude.Recent events offer Hunter Biden some measure of personal vindication and schadenfreude. A report by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) assessed that he and his father were targeted by Russia as part of campaign to swing the election in favor of Trump.According to the NIC, Moscow used “proxies linked to Russian intelligence” –including “some close to former President Trump and his administration” – “to push influence narratives including misleading or unsubstantiated allegations against President Biden”. Rudy Giuliani looks like a Kremlin dupe.But it doesn’t end there. In December 2019, the Florida congressman Matt Gaetz belittled Hunter Biden for his substance abuse. It was a no-holds barred takedown, unleavened by Gaetz’s own history of drinking and driving.Timing is everything. Biden returns the favor in his book, calling Gaetz a “troll”. On Tuesday night, Gaetz admitted to being under justice department investigation “regarding sexual conduct with women” and allegedly trafficking a 17-year-old girl. More

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      Trump and Carlson lead backlash as MLB pulls All-Star Game from Georgia

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      Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson led rightwing backlash after Major League Baseball said it would not play its All-Star game in Georgia because of a new law that restricts voting rights in the state.The former president and the Fox News host some say is his Republican political heir thereby ranged themselves against current president Joe Biden and the Democrat he served as vice-president, Barack Obama.“Baseball is already losing tremendous numbers of fans,” Trump said in a statement, “and now they leave Atlanta with their All-Star Game because they are afraid of the radical left Democrats.“… Boycott baseball and all of the woke companies that are interfering with free and fair elections. Are you listening Coke, Delta and all?”Coke and Delta are among companies which have expressed concern over the Georgia law, which restricts early and mail-in voting, measures seen to target minority voters likely to back Democrats.Laws under consideration in other Republican-run states have attracted criticism from corporate America. The Georgia law was passed by Republicans after Biden won the state against Trump and Democrats won both Senate runoff elections in January.Referring to the segregation of the post-civil war south, Biden called the law: “Jim Crow in the 21st century.”In his own statement on Saturday, Obama congratulated MLB “for taking a stand on behalf of voting rights for all citizens”.He also said: “There’s no better way for America’s pastime to honor the great Hank Aaron, who always led by example.”Aaron, known as the Hammer, was a long-time MLB home-run record holder who played for the Atlanta Braves and endured racist abuse throughout his life in the sport. He died in January, aged 86.MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he had “decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB draft” from the home of the Atlanta Braves.“Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.”The move was not without precedent. In 2016 North Carolina lost the right to host high-profile NCAA college events over a bill which restricted rights for transgender people.On Friday night Carlson, who some say could be a contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 if Trump does not run again, claimed MLB “believes it has veto power over the democratic process”.Before MLB acted, Biden said he would support moving events from Atlanta. Carlson said that showed the president was “willing to destroy even something as wholesome as the country’s traditional game purely to increase the power of his political party”.The chief of the MLB players union has indicated support for the move. In a statement on Friday, the New York Yankees great and Miami Marlins chief executive Derek Jeter said: “We should promote increasing voter turnout as opposed to any measures that adversely impact the ability to cast a ballot … We support the commissioner’s decision to stand up for the values of our game.”Georgia governor Brian Kemp – a bête noire for Trump over his refusal to overturn Biden’s win – said MLB had “caved to fear, political opportunism and liberal lies”. He also decried “cancel culture”, a key Republican talking point.Stacey Abrams, who Kemp beat in a 2018 election he ran as Georgia secretary of state, said she was “disappointed” the All-Star game would not be played in the state.But Abrams, who campaigns for voting rights and has become an influential figure in the national Democratic party, also said she was “proud of [MLB’s] stance on voting rights” and “urged events and productions to come and speak out or stay and fight”.Also on Friday, nearly 200 companies signed a statement expressing concern at moves to restrict voting rights in Republican-run states.Many observers pointed out that the political ramifications of MLB’s decision to move the All-Star Game will be stronger than the economic fallout, given that coronavirus-related restrictions would have placed limits on capacity at the event this year.A leading professor of sports economics warned that MLB could risk losing the support of conservatives in a fanbase which skews right.“After the country’s top professional basketball and football leagues embraced the Black Lives Matter movement last year,” Andrew Zimbalist of Smith College told the New York Times, “they faced organised boycotts from conservatives, though the effort ultimately had little effect. And baseball’s fanbase is older and whiter than basketball’s or football’s.” More

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      in US Politics

      US Capitol: police officer and suspect dead after vehicle rams barrier – live

      by

      Key events

      Show

      5.07pm EDT
      17:07

      Biden orders White House flags at half staff

      5.01pm EDT
      17:01

      Today so far

      4.41pm EDT
      16:41

      Major League Baseball pulls All-Star Game from Georgia over voting law

      4.26pm EDT
      16:26

      Pelosi mourns killed USCP officer as ‘a martyr for our democracy’

      4.20pm EDT
      16:20

      USCP identifies killed officer as William ‘Billy’ Evans

      3.20pm EDT
      15:20

      USCP lifts Capitol lockdown after car attack

      2.53pm EDT
      14:53

      Police: ‘It does not appear to be terrorism related’

      Live feed

      Show

      5.49pm EDT
      17:49

      Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of the homeland security, has released a statement in response to the attack at the Capitol this afternoon.
      “My thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends, and colleagues of the U.S. Capitol Police Officer who lost his life today protecting the very symbol of our democracy,” Mayorkas said.
      “There is still much to be determined about this attack and DHS offers its full support to Capitol Police and DC Mayor Bowser.”
      USCP has identified the officer killed in the attack as William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force.

      5.44pm EDT
      17:44

      After two deadly attacks on the US Capitol mere months apart, questions are being raised about whether security measures, which were enhanced after Jan. 6, are extensive enough, Vox reports.
      A review of the security released last month found that the Capitol Police are “understaffed, insufficiently equipped, and inadequately trained” to defend the nation’s seat of government from future attacks.
      In a 15-page draft report, commissioned by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, retired Army Lt. Gen Russel Honoré called for adding 854 officers, including 424 to specialize in intelligence, dignitary protection, and operational planning.
      He also recommended additional fencing, specifically barriers that are “easily erected and deconstructed.”

      Scott Taylor 7 News I-Team
      (@ScottTaylorTV)
      More of my interview with former @FBI agent Brad Garrett about today’s attack at the U.S. Capitol. @BradInvestigate tells me the current threat is too high not to add more security at the Capitol. @7NewsDC pic.twitter.com/xQSQFoW56n

      April 2, 2021

      Roughly 4-miles of 7-foot-high “non-scalable” metal fencing was set up around the Capitol complex following the Jan. 6 riot but it was taken down in March, according to Vox.
      Rep. Tim Ryan told reporters today that new permanent additions to security are being considered by lawmakers. “We’ll be reviewing everything, at this point, including the fencing,” he said, emphasizing that there are still many unknowns about today’s incident
      “We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves without knowing that we have the ability to protect the Capitol, to harden the Capitol,” he added.

      5.07pm EDT
      17:07

      Biden orders White House flags at half staff

      Gabrielle Canon here, signing in from the west coast to take you through the Friday afternoon news.
      President Biden has issued a statement on today’s violent attack at the US Capitol that resulted in the death of Officer William Evens and left another US Capitol police officer injured.
      “We know what a difficult time this has been for the Capitol, everyone who works there, and those who protect it,” Biden said in the statement, after expressing his condolences to Evans’ family. His death is the second line-of-duty death this year for the Capitol police, who also lost an officer during the Jan. 6 attack, and the 7th in the agency’s history, according to the Associated Press.
      Here is Biden’s full statement:

      Jill and I were heartbroken to learn of the violent attack at a security checkpoint on the U.S. Capitol grounds, which killed Officer William Evans of the U.S. Capitol Police, and left a fellow officer fighting for his life. We send our heartfelt condolences to Officer Evans’ family, and everyone grieving his loss. We know what a difficult time this has been for the Capitol, everyone who works there, and those who protect it.
      I have been receiving ongoing briefings from my Homeland Security Advisor, and will be getting further updates as the investigation proceeds.
      I want to express the nation’s gratitude to the Capitol Police, the National Guard Immediate Response Force, and others who quickly responded to this attack. As we mourn the loss of yet another courageous Capitol Police officer, I have ordered that the White House flags be lowered to half-mast.

      Updated
      at 5.16pm EDT

      5.01pm EDT
      17:01

      Today so far

      That’s it from me on this sad day in Washington. My west coast colleague, Gabrielle Canon, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
      Here’s where the day stands so far:

      US Capitol Police officer William “Billy” Evans was killed after a car rammed through a security barrier at the Capitol this afternoon. The acting USCP chief, Yogananda Pittman, said a suspect attempted to drive through the barrier and then exited his car wielding a knife. The suspect lunged at the two officers present, and at least one of the officers opened fire on the man, who later died of his injuries.
      The Capitol attack did not appear to be terrorism-related, the acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of DC said. At an afternoon press conference, acting MPD chief Robert Contee said it did not appear the Capitol was under active threat. The lockdown at the Capitol was lifted soon afterwards.
      Nancy Pelosi mourned Evans as “a martyr for our democracy”. The House speaker said in a statement, “Today, once again, these heroes risked their lives to protect our Capitol and our Country, with the same extraordinary selflessness and spirit of service seen on January 6. On behalf of the entire House, we are profoundly grateful.” A spokesperson for Pelosi also said the Capitol flags will be lowered to half-staff in honor of Evans.
      The Major League Baseball All-Star Game is being moved out of Georgia over the state’s new voting law. The law, which Republican Governor Brian Kemp signed late last month, restricts access to voting, and it has been widely criticized by Democrats and voting rights activists.
      Fully vaccinated Americans can travel without quarantining, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. According to the CDC’s newest guidelines, vaccinated individuals can travel without getting tested for coronavirus or quarantining after their return. The agency said such travel is low-risk for those who have been vaccinated.

      Gabrielle will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

      4.41pm EDT
      16:41

      Major League Baseball pulls All-Star Game from Georgia over voting law

      The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports:
      Major League Baseball will not hold the annual All-Star Game in Atlanta this year after Georgia passed a new law that makes it significantly harder to vote.
      The announcement is perhaps the most consequential action taken since Georgia governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed the measure into law. Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola spoke out against the bill this week, but faced criticism for not doing so earlier, when their influence could have had a significant impact on the legislation.
      “I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB draft,” Rob Manfred, the league’s commissioner, said in a statement. “Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.”
      The Georgia law implements new requirements for mail-in voting, a process voters in the state used in record numbers without evidence of fraud in 2020.

      4.26pm EDT
      16:26

      Pelosi mourns killed USCP officer as ‘a martyr for our democracy’

      House speaker Nancy Pelosi has released a statement mourning the loss of US Capitol Police Officer William “Billy” Evans in this afternoon’s attack.
      “Today, America’s heart has been broken by the tragic and heroic death of one of our Capitol Police heroes: Officer William Evans. He is a martyr for our democracy,” the Democratic speaker said.
      “Members of Congress, staff and Capitol workers, and indeed all Americans are united in appreciation for the courage of the U.S. Capitol Police. Today, once again, these heroes risked their lives to protect our Capitol and our Country, with the same extraordinary selflessness and spirit of service seen on January 6. On behalf of the entire House, we are profoundly grateful.”
      Pelosi pledged that Congress was ready to “assist law enforcement with a swift and comprehensive investigation into this heinous attack”.
      “May we always remember the heroism of those who have given their lives to defend our Democracy,” the speaker said. “May it be a comfort to the family of Officer Evans that so many mourn with them and pray for them at this sad time.”

      4.20pm EDT
      16:20

      USCP identifies killed officer as William ‘Billy’ Evans

      The US Capitol Police has identified the officer who was killed in the attack this afternoon as William “Billy” Evans.
      “It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the passing of Officer William ‘Billy’ Evans this afternoon from injuries he sustained following an attack at the North Barricade by a lone assailant,” USCP acting chief Yogananda Pittman said in a statement.

      U.S. Capitol Police
      (@CapitolPolice)
      Statement on the Loss of USCP Colleague Officer William “Billy” Evans: https://t.co/JMAEbTcbAp pic.twitter.com/DPvkAv5ptO

      April 2, 2021

      Pittman noted Evans, who succumbed to his injuries after being struck by a car that rammed through a security barrier, had been a member of the USCP force for 18 years.
      “He began his USCP service on March 7, 2003, and was a member of the Capitol Division’s First Responder’s Unit,” Pittman said. “Please keep Officer Evans and his family in your thoughts and prayers.”

      4.17pm EDT
      16:17

      Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat of Hawaii, offered his thoughts to the US Capitol Police, after an officer died in the attack this afternoon.
      “Being a Capitol Police officer has never been more difficult or more stressful. All the love and comfort in the world to them and their family members,” Schatz said on Twitter.

      Brian Schatz
      (@brianschatz)
      Being a Capitol Police officer has never been more difficult or more stressful. All the love and comfort in the world to them and their family members.

      April 2, 2021

      This is the second line-of-duty death for the USCP since January, when Officer Brian Sicknick succumbed to his injuries from the Capitol insurrection.
      Prior to 2021, a total of four USCP officers had died in the line of duty in the entire history of the force, according to the USCP website.

      4.06pm EDT
      16:06

      Martin Pengelly

      The House and Senate are not in session but some elected officials and staff were in the building on Friday, as a car rammed a security barrier on the grounds.
      Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative from California, spoke to CNN from his car, where he said officers had told him to go after he came back to the Capitol from going out for lunch.
      “It’s really sad,” he said. “Once the barriers were removed we were moving back to some sense of normalcy, but this just shows the level of risk there still is.
      “I can’t imagine saying that going to the United States Capitol to represent your constituents is actually a dangerous thing.”

      3.50pm EDT
      15:50

      Noah Green, a 25-year-old man from Indiana, is the suspect who rammed through a Capitol security checkpoint in his car this afternoon, according to NBC News.

      Tom Winter
      (@Tom_Winter)
      BREAKING / NBC News: Multiple senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation say Noah Green, 25 year old male, from Indiana is the person who attacked the Capitol today. Reported by @PeteWilliamsNBC @jonathan4ny and myself.

      April 2, 2021

      US Capitol Police has said the suspect exited the vehicle wielding a knife and was then shot by at least one of the officers present. He later succumbed to his injuries and died.

      3.45pm EDT
      15:45

      The US Capitol Police has provided the latest information on the attack that occurred this afternoon.
      According to USCP, a man in a blue sedan charged a security barrier at the Capitol, striking two officers. The man then exited the vehicle with a knife and ran toward the officers.
      At least one of the officers drew their weapon and shot the suspect, who succumbed to his injuries about 30 minutes later. One of the USCP officers who was hit by the car also died of his injuries.

      U.S. Capitol Police
      (@CapitolPolice)
      UPDATE: Here is the latest information. pic.twitter.com/GOVaMv8EXk

      April 2, 2021

      3.31pm EDT
      15:31

      Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said he was “heartbroken” for the US Capitol Police officer who was killed today, after a car rammed through a security barrier.
      “I’m praying for the officer injured and his family. We’re in their debt,” the Democratic leader said on Twitter. “We thank the Capitol Police, National Guard, & first responders for all they do to protect the Capitol and those inside.”

      Chuck Schumer
      (@SenSchumer)
      I’m heartbroken for the officer killed today defending our Capitol and for his family. I’m praying for the officer injured and his family.We’re in their debtWe thank the Capitol Police, National Guard, & first responders for all they do to protect the Capitol and those inside

      April 2, 2021

      3.20pm EDT
      15:20

      USCP lifts Capitol lockdown after car attack

      The US Capitol Police has lifted the lockdown on the Capitol grounds, about two hours after a car rammed a security barrier and injured two USCP officers, killing one of them.
      But the police force noted the area immediately surrounding the attack site is still under restricted access as officials continue to process the scene.

      U.S. Capitol Police
      (@CapitolPolice)
      The USCP has cleared the external security threat incident located at all of the U.S. Capitol Campus buildings, however the area around the crime scene will continue to be restricted and individuals should follow police direction. pic.twitter.com/6SXr5WJmcE

      April 2, 2021

      Updated
      at 3.21pm EDT More

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      in US Politics

      Democratic senator Tina Smith: 'I'd vote to get rid of the filibuster hook, line and sinker'

      by

      It’s rare a federal lawmaker makes a complete about-face on an issue with major legislative consequences.But for Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota, the need to shift her position on one of the most crucial issues facing the Biden administration – reform of the filibuster rule – has become too strong to ignore.She now believes that without reform, the filibuster – a rule by which the minority party in the Senate can block legislation – will do serious “damage” to American democracy, she told the Guardian.Smith’s move is crucial. Behind the loud voices of the Senate Democratic caucus calling to either dramatically scale back or gut entirely a tool used to obstruct legislation, there’s a usually quieter set of senators, like Smith, who are finally speaking out. They’ve had enough, these senators say, and want to see a substantial change to the filibuster – either workarounds for certain legislative proposals like voting rights, or modifications so the threat of a filibuster doesn’t bring Congress to a standstill.Senator Angus King of Maine, in a recent op-ed, laid out his shift on the filibuster. Similarly, Smith laid out her own rationale for coming around on some kind of major change on the filibuster. Smith, a former lieutenant governor of Minnesota who came to the Senate via an appointment from then governor Mark Dayton in 2018, initially saw value in it. That has changed.In an interview with the Guardian, Smith argued that contrary to how the filibuster is portrayed by its advocates – as a tool to make the minority heard – it simply gives a minority of lawmakers outsized power.“I often thought that it’s important that the minority view is heard in the Senate, and that there should be an opportunity for people to come together across lines of difference to get things done. But that wasn’t happening either,” Smith said.“The filibuster wasn’t encouraging compromise. The filibuster was making it easy for any member of the Senate to say no. And the more I looked at that, the more I looked at the damage it was doing to our democracy.”She added: “The more I realized this is so undemocratic, and [that] every other governing body I’ve ever worked with has fundamentally operated on the rule that the majority gets to decide, I came to the conclusion that the filibuster was contributing to a broken Senate.”Smith’s comments come as Republican senators go in the opposite direction from Democrats on the filibuster.Top Senate Republicans have argued that the Democrats’ move to change the legislative tool is simply a grab to snatch power from lawmakers in the minority. The former senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, a firebrand conservative Republican, recently wrote his own op-ed arguing that the importance of the filibuster for small states.“The people who want to get rid of the filibuster are precisely the people the Founders wanted to protect us from!” DeMint wrote.But even as support for doing something about the filibuster is growing, Democrats haven’t decided on exactly what yet.Smith said: “Well, I think that decisions about what we need to do, and how we need to change the rules – if we need to change the rules – are decisions that need to happen in their own way. But it happens in a particular place and time. So I’ve come to the conclusion that I would vote to get rid of the filibuster hook, line and sinker.“Others in my caucus haven’t come to that position. If we got to a point where somebody were to say, ‘We should get rid of the filibuster for this issue’, I would, of course, consider that. Of course I would.”Whatever they decide, if Democrats do make a drastic change to the filibuster, they could come to rue it if Republicans regain power in the Senate in the 2022 midterms. Then, they would be the minority party facing the prospect of little input into legislation.Asked about that prospect, Smith paused.“Well,” Smith said. “I thought long and hard about that. And I thought about the issues that I care so much about that I’d be concerned that Republicans could overturn, like women’s reproductive choice, or issues that they could turn the clock back on, like labor, [or] people’s rights to organize.”“But fundamentally, I believe that the core value in a democracy, in a republic … a majority of the people need to be able to decide, and we need to be able to make sure that that happens. If the Republicans were to take steps to roll back values and steps and rights Americans really cherish, then that is going to be a big problem for them.” More

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      Biden promises 'historic' $2tn spending in infrastructure – but Capitol Hill fight awaits

      by

      Joe Biden will unveil an expansive $2tn proposal to rebuild the country’s infrastructure, confront climate change and curb wealth inequality, part of a sweeping spending package that could define the president’s economic legacy.Biden’s plan, which he will lay out at a speech in Pittsburgh on Wednesday afternoon, includes “historic and galvanizing” investments in traditional infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges and highways, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars to fortify the electricity grid, expand high-speed broadband and rebuild water systems to ensure access to clean drinking water, an administration official said on Tuesday. It also seeks to expand access to community care facilities for seniors and people with disabilities and invest in research and development and workplace training.He will propose paying for the new spending with a substantial increase on corporate taxes that would offset eight years of spending over the course of 15 years, officials said. Among the changes, Biden will call for a rise in the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% and measures to force multinational corporations to pay more taxes in the US on profits earned abroad. The tax plan would unwind major pieces of Donald Trump’s tax-cut law, which lowered the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.The package, known as the American jobs plan, is only the first part of the president’s sprawling infrastructure agenda. Aides say he will present a second legislative package next month that will focus on investments in healthcare, childcare and education. That package is expected to be paid for, at least in part, by raising taxes on the nation’s highest earners.As a candidate, Biden promised not to raise individual taxes on those earning less than $400,000.The scale of the proposals, together expected to cost as much as $4tn, has been compared to Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal or Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. A memo outlining its ambition states: “Like great projects of the past, the president’s plan will unify and mobilize the country to meet the great challenges of our time: the climate crisis and the ambitions of an autocratic China.”Biden’s allies on Capitol Hill are gearing up for a fight over the infrastructure legislation that will likely prove to be significantly more contentious than the swift passage of Biden’s $1.9tn economic aid bill, which was enacted earlier this month with only Democratic votes.While the urgency of the pandemic helped Democrats overcome a handful of objections to pass Biden’s coronavirus relief plan, there is infighting over what belongs in the package – and whether the administration should spend time attempting to forge a bipartisan consensus.Both Democrats and Republicans share a goal of fixing the nation’s ageing roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure. Yet they disagree sharply on the details – how much to spend, what constitutes “infrastructure” and how to pay for the investments. This chasm was too big for either Barack Obama or Trump to overcome and both failed to make progress after promising to rebuild the country’s infrastructure.In a briefing with reporters on Tuesday night, the administration official said Biden believed the current moment offered a rare opportunity “to demonstrate that the United States and democracies can deliver for the people that they serve”.“The stakes of this moment are high,” the official continued, adding that the president was confident this package would prove once again that massive public investment programs have the ability to not only create millions of new jobs but “revive and revitalize our national imagination”.“We think that these are investments that as a country we cannot afford not to make,” the official said.But congressional Republicans are already balking at the scope of the project, warning that the tax rises will hurt American competitiveness and slow the nation’s economic growth as it struggles to rebound from the pandemic. Their opposition could force Democrats to pass the bill through reconciliation, a parliamentary process that would allow them to bypass Republicans in the Senate.Even then, rank-and-file Democrats are far from aligned. With a narrow majority in the House and an evenly divided Senate, Biden has little room for error and the jockeying is already well underway as Democrats push an array of competing policy demands and ultimatums.On Tuesday, congressman Josh Gottheimer, a centrist Democrat from New Jersey, said he would oppose any tax proposals that did not include a repeal of the cap on state and local tax deductions implemented as part of the Republican’s 2017 GOP tax-cut plan.Meanwhile, liberal lawmakers want to see Biden go even bigger. On Monday, senator Edward Markey and congresswoman Debbie Dingell proposed a climate and infrastructure plan that would spend $10tn over the next decade.There is also an internal debate over how to proceed. Moderate Democrats say the package should be targeted to attract Republicans, fulfilling a campaign promise Biden made to work with members of both parties. But many progressives see little value in compromise.Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, urged the administration not to waste precious time attempting to woo Republicans.“We can’t wait for Republicans to have some awakening on climate change here – we’ll be waiting forever if we do that,” she said on Tuesday “We’ve got a window to get this done and we have to move with the urgency and the boldness that this moment calls for.” More

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      Hunter Biden calls Trump 'vile' in new book and denies Ukraine allegations

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      In a keenly awaited memoir, Joe Biden’s son Hunter attacks Donald Trump as “a vile man with a vile mission” who plumbed “unprecedented depths” in last year’s US presidential election.Hunter, 51, is a lawyer and businessman who has been the focus of Republican bile ever since Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani sought information on his business dealings in Ukraine to use in the 2020 campaign.On the page, Biden insists he did nothing wrong in joining in April 2014 the board of Burisma, the gas company at the heart of the Ukraine affair. He dismisses the controversy as “remarkable for its epic banality”. But he says he would not do so again.He found the company’s role as a bulwark against Russian aggression under Vladimir Putin “inspiring”, though the five-figures a month fee was also a factor. Biden acknowledges that his famous surname was considered “gold” by Burisma. “To put it more bluntly,” he writes, “having a Biden on Burisma’s board was a loud and unmistakable fuck-you to Putin.”Giuliani’s search for dirt saw Trump impeached – and acquitted – for the first time. Republican attacks on Hunter Biden have continued, focusing on his business dealings and also his troubled personal life, including well-known struggles with drink and drug addiction and recently a decision to purchase a gun which became part of a domestic dispute.Biden’s memoir, Beautiful Things, deals with such personal issues as well as the deaths of his mother and sister in a car crash in 1973 and that of his older brother, Delaware attorney general Beau Biden, from brain cancer in 2015. The book will be published next week. The Guardian obtained a copy.Describing what it felt like to be in the eye of a political storm over business interests he says “sometimes” unavoidably coincided with his father’s work as vice-president to Barack Obama, Biden writes: “I became a proxy for Donald Trump’s fear that he wouldn’t be re-elected.“He pushed debunked conspiracy theories about work I did in Ukraine and China, even as his own children had pocketed millions in China and Russia and his former campaign manager [Paul Manafort] sat in a jail cell for laundering millions more from Ukraine.”He adds: “None of that matters in an up-is-down Orwellian political climate. Trump believed that if he could destroy me, and by extension my father, he could dispatch any candidate of decency from either party, all while diverting attention from his own corrupt behavior.”Insisting he is “not Billy Carter or Roger Clinton” – relations of previous presidents who proved magnets for media and opposition attention – Biden writes that he knows his surname has helped him in business. But, he adds, “I am not Eric Trump or Donald Trump Jr. I’ve worked for someone other than my father. I rose and fell on my own.”Biden criticises Trump for his efforts to attack his father on the debate stage last October, writing that Trump showed “trademark callousness” in playing “the only card he ever plays: attack”.Joe Biden defended Hunter then, saying he was proud of how he handled his struggles with addiction and telling viewers: “There’s a reason why [Trump is] bringing up all this malarkey. He doesn’t want to talk about the substantive issues. It’s not about his family and my family. It’s about your family.”Hunter Biden also criticises Trump allies, calling the Florida congressman Matt Gaetz a “troll”.The South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, he writes, is a family friend from Joe Biden’s long service in the Senate who nonetheless “morph[ed] into a Trump lapdog right before my eyes, slandering me and my father in the coldest, most cynical, most self-serving ways.”In the book, Hunter offers some insights into the Biden family, including an occasion when his father sought to intervene in his addictions by bringing two counselors from a rehab centre to the family home in Delaware. When Hunter refused, Joe Biden “suddenly looked terrified” and chased him down the driveway, then grabbed him, hugged him and “cried for the longest time”.Hunter had a brief romantic relationship with Beau’s widow, Hallie, after Beau’s death. “Our relationship had begun as a mutually desperate grasping for love we both had lost, and its dissolution only deepened that tragedy,” he recalls. More

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      Republicans and Democrats send dueling delegations to US border

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      Republicans and Democrats sent dueling delegations to the southern US border on Friday, in an attempt to frame perceptions of the Biden administration’s immigration policy amid an uptick in recent weeks in border crossings by undocumented migrants.A group of Republican senators led by Ted Cruz of Texas presented their trip as an exposé of dire circumstances, with Cruz sharing video of himself on Thursday night standing in darkness next to the Rio Grande river and falsely warning about a “flood” of human smuggling.A group of Democratic members of the House of Representatives led by Joaquín Castro of Texas described a different vulnerability at the border, that of unaccompanied children held by the US government.The Democratic delegation planned on Friday to visit children at a Department of Health and Human Services facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, to ensure “that they’re treated humanely”, Castro said.Beto O’Rourke, the former representative from El Paso, Texas, blasted Cruz on Twitter on Friday for what O’Rourke implied was a political charade designed to slow the momentum of Joe Biden, who has presided over a successful coronavirus vaccine rollout, signed an $1.9tn economic relief package and announced plans for a similar big spend on infrastructure.“The truth is, the number of individual asylum seekers and immigrants seeking to come to this country is the SAME or LOWER than it was in 2019 when [Donald] Trump was President (and you were, apparently, Senator),” O’Rourke sniped at Cruz. “This isn’t any more of a crisis today than it was then.”After two election cycles in which the former president’s strategy of fearmongering about supposed pressure on the border produced a Republican rout in midterm elections and then his own defeat, Cruz and colleagues returned to the strategy once again with a two-day, high-profile tour of border areas that included almost one quarter of the party’s senators.One member of the delegation, Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, tweeted video from a visibly crowded border detention facility on Friday, claiming the facility was holding almost 10 times its intended capacity.Cruz was trying on Friday to get the hashtag “#Bidenbordercrisis” going on Twitter.Biden said in a news conference on Thursday: “I’m ready to work with any Republican who wants to help solve the problem. Or make the situation better.”But the president sought to draw a sharp line between his border policies and those of his predecessor.“The idea that I’m going to say, which I would never do, ‘If an unaccompanied child ends up at the border, we’re just going to let him starve to death and stay on the other side’ – no previous administration did that either, except Trump,” Biden said. “I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to do it.”Trump enacted a policy of family separation at the border, taking more than 5,500 children from their parents and then failing to keep track of the separated families, ultimately stranding hundreds of children whose parents could not be found, according to court documents.Biden has placed Kamala Harris in charge of addressing the situation on the border. In an interview earlier this week the vice-president said that she and Biden would “absolutely” visit the border in person.“They should all be going back. All be going back,” Biden said of people crossing the border. “The only people we are not going to leave sitting there on the other side of the Rio Grande with no help are children.”Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said a nine-year-old child from Mexico died last week while trying to reach the US border.“US border patrol agents assigned to Del Rio sector’s marine unit rescued two migrants attempting to cross the Rio Grande, March 20,” the agency said in a statement released on Thursday. “US border patrol marine unit agents responded to assist three individuals stranded on an island on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande River.”Border agents administered first aid to the three migrants. Two of them, a woman from Guatemala and her three-year-old child, regained consciousness, but the third, a child from Mexico, did not and was later pronounced dead by medical officials.“We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of this small child,” the Del Rio sector chief patrol agent, Austin L Skero II, said in the statement.A member of the Democratic border delegation, Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, spotlighted the plight of children held in US border detention facilities.“Heading to the southern border with 7 year old Jakelin Caal on my mind,” Tlaib tweeted on Friday morning. “She died in detention, in our care, in 2018. I want to make sure no child dies like this, with conditions that we control.” More