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With the COVID-19 public health emergency now officially concluded, congressional Democrats are pushing to revive pandemic-related powers that allowed the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand support services for homeless veterans.

At a news conference Friday at the Washington, D.C., chapter of a nonprofit that provides housing and employment assistance to veterans, Democrats on the House Veterans Affairs Committee and advocates for homeless veterans warned that fewer veterans will be able to find help now that emergency authorities have ended and called on Republicans to move forward with a bill to renew the aid.

"The rate that we receive for servicing a homeless veteran went from, last night, $164.67 to $64.52," said Clifton Lewis, executive director of U.S. Vets D.C., where the press conference was held. "How can you provide services to a veteran with just $64.52? Housing, food, case management services -- all the things that we do to service homeless veterans."

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Organizations that help homeless veterans nationwide are now "stuck with the decision [of] what resources do I cut," Lewis added.

First declared 1,195 days ago, the COVID-19 public health emergency in the United States formally ended just before midnight Thursday. While the virus continues to circulate -- the VA reported 2,200 active cases at its facilities as of Friday morning -- the Biden administration has said the crisis phase of the pandemic is over and allowed the emergency declaration to expire amid GOP pressure to end it.

For the VA, the public health emergency allowed the agency to provide homeless veterans with free rides from services such as Uber and Lyft so they could get to medical appointments, jobs or support programs. The pandemic authorities also gave the VA flexibility to redirect funding aimed at other programs to food, shelter, clothing, hygiene products, communications devices and other necessities for homeless veterans, as well as the ability to provide larger grants to community groups caring for homeless veterans in transitional housing.

Those extra authorities have been credited as one of the reasons veterans homelessness dropped 11% during the pandemic despite the economic hardships that most of the country faced.

The VA has pleaded with Congress to extend the pandemic authorities, but there has been little progress on doing so.

Bills have been introduced in both the House and the Senate that would extend the VA's pandemic authorities, but the House bill was voted down in committee along party lines last month.

The Senate bill, which is sponsored by Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was just introduced last week, not enough time for the infamously slow upper chamber to act before the emergency expired.

In voting against the House bill, Republicans said they supported the underlying goal of extending the ability for the VA to provide more aid to homeless veterans. But they insisted the measure ran afoul of House rules prohibiting increases in so-called mandatory spending without some form of offset because of accounting complications caused by the sweeping toxic exposure bill passed last year.

"I support providing this type of assistance to homeless veterans," House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., said at the April 28 committee meeting. "I will say it again, I support the assistance for homeless veterans. My concern is how this proposal would be funded. Unfortunately, this proposal is impacted by the toxic exposure fund that was created by the passage of the PACT Act."

In a brief interview with Military.com after Friday's press conference, Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, rejected Republicans' arguments that the math on the bill, which Democrats offered as an amendment to an unrelated measure, would not work. The bill costs an estimated $6 million, and the measure Democrats sought to attach it to had an extra $3 million in offsets to work with, Takano said, adding that he's "sure we could have found the other $3 million someplace."

"Americans care a lot about homeless veterans," Takano said. "They find it abhorrent, the idea that anyone who wore a uniform is on the streets. How can we call ourselves a decent nation if we allow that to happen? I just know that if enough of the American people knew about this situation, that the Republicans would come back to the table and say we have to do something."

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.

Related: Free Uber, Lyft Rides for Vets Program Will End in May. The VA Is Pleading with Congress to Extend It.

More:
Homeless Veterans Will Receive Less Help as Pandemic Aid Dries Up, Democrats and Veterans Groups Warn - Military.com

Dozens of Democrats in the House and Senate proposed legislation this week that would give all students from pre-school through high school three free meals a day plus a snack regardless of income, a move they said is needed to cope with the "record numbers" of American kids who are struggling with hunger.

The bill makes no mention of how the program would be funded or what it would cost. Many bills include language saying that Congress will appropriate whatever money is needed to fund a new program, or that funding will come from spending offsets or higher taxes.

"It is an international embarrassment that today, in the richest country in the history of the world, we are seeing record numbers of children and youth struggling with hunger on a daily basis,"said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the sponsor of the Senate legislation.

"Universal school meals is not just commonsense policy; it is also extremely popular," said Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., the lead sponsor of the bill in the House. "Nearly 75% of Americans support permanent universal school meals including the majority of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Its time to listen to the demands of our constituents and at long last make school meals free and universal for all kids."

HOUSE DEMS PUSH LEGISLATION TO KEEP SERVING SCHOOL LUNCH EVEN WHEN SCHOOLS CLOSE

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., are proposing free school meals for all students.

Democrats say their bill, the Universal School Meals Program Act, would help put an end to the "school lunch shaming" that is seen under the current program, which requires kids to show they are eligible for a free meal.

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"Children have been publicly shamed for not being able to afford lunch, and as USDA reported, lunch shaming is a problem throughout the country, including withholding grades for school meal debt," according to a description of the bill. "Some schools resorted to heinous scare tactics to collect school meal debt; one school threatened to take away parents children and another school marked childrens skin with an I Need Lunch Money stamp."

Story continues

USDA HOPES $50M CAN MAKE SCHOOL LUNCH MORE APPETIZING, APPEALING

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has also proposed legislation to ensure school meals are served even when schools are closed.

The bill also reimburses all schools for any delinquent school lunch debt that has accrued under the current system.

Democrats argue that by providing universal free meals to all students, the cost of providing these meals would fall. "Our bill puts an end to the burdensome application paperwork by no longer requiring a Free and Reduced Lunch Program application in order to participate in the program," according to the summary of the bill.

BIDEN ADMIN HOLDING SCHOOL LUNCH MONEY HOSTAGE TO FORCE TRANSGENDER POLICIES, ACTIVIST PARENT SAYS

Democrats say COVID showed that universal and free school meal programs are possible and should be made permanent.

Staff for both Omar and Sanders did not reply to questions about funding from Fox News Digital.

Democrats said the COVID-19 pandemic showed it makes sense to create a universal program that feeds all children, regardless of their economic circumstances. A statement from sponsors of the bill said offering schools the flexibility to deliver school meals to a wider range of kids helped tens of millions of kids stay fed and warned that the end of pandemic threatens that increased access.

"What weve seen during this pandemic is that a universal approach to school meals works," Sanders said. "We cannot go backwards. It is time for Congress to pass this legislation to ensure no student goes hungry again."

Read more here:
Democrats demand universal free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack for kids in school - Yahoo News

I think that appetite has turned more into a raging starvation, said a Democrat who worked for multiple campaigns in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas last cycle.

But taking aim at a 10-term incumbent is a massive gamble for progressives. The Democratic establishment is trying to conserve resources for the larger battle to seize the House from Republicans. Democratic officials are exasperated by yet another attempt to find a challenger from the left particularly since Cuellar has defeated one twice before.

Progressive activists in the Rio Grande Valley say the desire to get Cuellar out of office hasnt waned. Cuellar is often the only Democrat to vote with Republicans on abortion in the House an affront to activists who think the issue is a winner for Democrats. They see him as being in the pocket of the oil and gas industry. And he has been highly critical of President Joe Bidens border enforcement policies.

Cuellar beat Jessica Cisneros, an immigrant lawyer, by fewer than 300 votes in a runoff election last cycle. And there is a sense on the ground that grassroots progressive organizing in the district is even stronger now.

There is a vibrant progressive scene. Its just less visible, said Tory Gavito, president of Way to Win, an up-and-coming hub of progressive groups, and an experienced Texas strategist. She said that younger Latinos in particular have effectively been organizing in the region.

Cuellar didnt comment for this story, but in an interview about immigration with POLITICOs Playbook Deep Dive podcast, he defended his centrist instincts. We need to have centrist policies, especially when it comes to border security, but still be respectful of immigrants rights, he said.

The lawmaker hasnt drawn a primary challenger yet, and Cisneros did not respond to POLITICOs inquiries about whether she was planning to run again. (The deadline for primary candidates to file is in December.) Cuellar is not on the Republican target list for 2024, but POLITICO ranked the district as competitive last year.

Hes not the only member at risk in South Texas. When it comes to the general election, both parties are looking to make gains.

Republicans want to oust four-term Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, and Democrats think they can take out first-term Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz.

The three Rio Grande Valley districts, Texas 28th, 15th and 34th, are majority Hispanic, have an immediate proximity to border policies and are majority working class, with about one in five people living in poverty. Both parties are working to campaign authentically and more effectively in these districts, especially when it comes to voters who prefer to speak Spanish.

Youre seeing a transformation among the Republican voters, particularly folks in the Rio Grande Valley, who share Republican values: faith, family, hard work, said National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson (R-N.C.). The Republican electorate has changed, and its going to continue to grow.

Democrats think they can take out first-term Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz.|Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo

Gavito said she didnt see Republican gains in the Valley in the most recent cycle, but she also added that the GOPs plans for long-term investment to win over these voters shouldnt be underestimated.

Both parties have spent heavily in the three South Texas districts. Cuellar received the fourth highest independent expenditure investment from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in his general election race. And $18 million was spent by outside groups making it the ninth most expensive House race when comparing outside spending, according to Open Secrets.

Gonzalezs race was not far behind, drawing in more than $13 million from outside groups.

De La Cruzs race attracted $4 million from outside groups, according to Open Secrets. But more than $3.3 million of that benefitted the Republican side, mostly with negative spending against Democratic first-time candidate Michelle Vallejo.

Our party did not make the financial commitment to Michelle that they should have and until theyre willing to make that commitment, its very difficult for us to take back that seat, said Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa. That seat is winnable.

Hinojosa said national Democrats need to make the serious investment needed to keep the Rio Grande Valley safe for Democrats. There are several potential Democrats eyeing a run against De La Cruz, he said, including a potential second run from Vallejo, but no one has officially declared yet.

In last cycles match up, Vallejo won the counties closest to the U.S.-Mexico border. Meanwhile, De La Cruz won the others, including the more rural parts of the district. Former President Donald Trump won it by nearly 3 points in 2020.

Republicans see an opportunity to build on trend lines among voters in rural areas in South Texas.

Look, if youre a Hispanic guy and you drive a pickup truck, and you work in the oil field and you go bird hunting on the weekends, you voted for Donald Trump, said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is up for reelection next year. And so I think South Texas is headed red.

Cruz donated to and campaigned with the Republican candidates in the Valley last cycle, and he said he plans to do so again next year, when hes running for reelection. Cruz won about 30 percent of the Hispanic vote in his last election in 2018 against former Democratic Rep. Beto ORourke, according to AP Vote Cast.

Gavito, the Democratic Texas strategist, said that Cuellar and Gonzalez won reelection last year because of their authentic connections with their districts and more conservative-leaning voters. Cuellar, in particular, gets bipartisan recognition for his ubiquitous presence in his district.

But his positions butt up against Democrats strategy of appealing to the growing liberal vote.

Henry Cuellars voting record is so close to Republicans hes aiding momentum around Republicans. And eventually those voters are going to want the real deal, not coca lite, Gavito said.

Continue reading here:
The nastiest Democratic primary of 2022 may be heading for another round - POLITICO

Opinion

Ask the public: do you want more jobs and higher wages, or huge companies making fatter profits by raising prices?

Fri 12 May 2023 06.12 EDT

The economic goal should be more jobs at higher wages. Right?

Yet the Federal Reserve, corporate economists and the Republican party have turned the goal upside down into fewer jobs and lower wages. Otherwise, they say, well face more inflation.

Rubbish.

This upside-down logic is pushing the United States economy toward a recession, which could hit about the same time as the next presidential election which will make Joe Biden a one-term president, just as Fed-induced recessions made Jimmy Carter and George HW Bush one-term presidents.

None of this is necessary.

The Fed has raised borrowing costs at 10 consecutive meetings, pushing its benchmark rate to over 5%. Yet inflation has barely budged. In April, it dropped to 4.9% (year-over-year) from 5% in March according to Wednesdays Labor Bureau data.

Why are the Feds rate hikes having so little effect?

Because inflation is not being propelled by an overheated economy. Its being propelled by overheated profits.

Wage gains still lag behind price increases. Average hourly earnings grew by just 0.3% in March, with year-over-year growth of only 4.2%. Wages and salaries in the Employment Cost Index, a broader measure of worker compensation, have been trending downward for a year.

Supply chains have returned to normal. Freight-trucking prices peaked in spring 2022 and since then have tumbled close to pre-pandemic levels. In March, the Federal Reserve Bank of New Yorks global supply-chain-pressure index fell to its lowest level since 2008, and it has been dropping since December 2021. Prices for raw goods have also dropped from mid-2022 highs.

Meanwhile, consumers have used up whatever extra money they accumulated during the pandemic.

So, whats causing inflation? Corporations with enough monopoly power to raise their prices and fatten their profits which the Feds rate hikes barely affect.

Even the Wall Street Journal (in a lead article last week headlined Why Is Inflation So Sticky? It Could Be Corporate Profits) spotlights corporations boosting profit margins.

Corporate profit margins were around 10% in 2019. Last year, they reached over 15% their highest level since 1950 rising 6.6% year over year. By the end of 2022, profits were still near 14%.

Prices remain sky-high because corporations got hooked on price-gouging and wont give it up.

Corporate economists argue that businesses couldnt possibly be padding their profits; if they could, they would have done it before the inflation of the last two years.

Baloney. Businesses have been using the cover of inflation to justify price increases, so consumers accept them.

According to Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, businesses are betting that consumers will go along with the price hikes because they assume prices are being driven by supply bottlenecks and higher energy prices. Corporations are confident that they can convince consumers that it isnt their fault, and it wont damage their brand.

Last month, Procter & Gamble said in an earnings call that it had boosted its profit margins in the first three months of the year by raising its prices.

Last Thursday, Budweiser-owner Anheuser-Busch reported a jump in profit margins for the first quarter by raising its prices.

Chipotles chief financial and administrative officer, Jack Hartung, said in the firms first-quarter earnings call that menu prices have risen by about 10%, and chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said they were staying the course on pricing despite the fact profits were up 17% for the quarter. Were in a really strong position that when were ready and we believe its necessary to pull that pricing lever, we can.

Big corporations have enough monopoly power to raise prices. With just a handful of companies dominating each market, its easy to implicitly agree theyll all raise their prices.

What to do about this? Put the burden of fighting inflation on corporations rather than on workers and consumers.

Instead of relying on the Fed to tame inflation via fewer jobs and lower wages, Congress should pass legislation that:

Allows the justice department to bust up monopolies (and prevent further consolidation through mergers and acquisitions) when three or fewer corporations have more than half the sales of a particular market.

Directs the Federal Trade Commission to find that any such corporation has engaged in unlawful price gouging whenever it has raised prices higher than the rate of inflation and impose a fine that would claw back those unlawful gains.

Permits the treasury department to impose a windfall profits tax on large corporations, above a specific reasonable rate of return or profit margin.

Republicans wont go along with any of this, of course.

Which presents Biden and the Democrats with a clear opportunity.

Make this a major campaign theme for 2024. Ask the public: do you want more jobs and higher wages, or do you want large corporations making fatter profits by raising prices?

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The Democrats have a powerful campaign issue: price-gouging corporations - The Guardian

The latest allegations from House Republicans have put more pressure on a growing scandal surrounding the Biden family.

While many Republicans have long questioned Hunter Biden's financial dealings, Democrats and independents are also voicing concerns about President Biden's involvement in his son's overseas business affairs.

"It's completely unethical," independent voter Mary Josephine Generoso said Thursday during a "Fox & Friends" discussion with a bipartisan group of voters.

"You have foreign nationals funneling money into an LLC, then being disbursed to the Biden family. I mean, it's basically unethical. It's a national security threat. It could be treasonous, as far as I'm concerned."

COMER SAYS BIDEN INVOLVED IN FAMILY BIZ DEALINGS; BROTHER, GRANDKIDS, HUNTER AND HIS WIVES ALL GOT PAID

During a press conference Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and a panel of other members said they believe President Biden "has been involved" in his familys foreign business dealings "from the very beginning," telling reporters that lawmakers are only "in the beginning stages" of their investigation.

Comer listed the Biden family members who received funds, including Hunter Biden, Jim Biden, "Joe Bidens brother's wife, Hunter Biden's girlfriend or Beau Biden's widow however you want to write that Hunter Biden's ex-wife, Hunter Biden's current wife and three children of the president's son and the president's brother."

"I'm not surprised that the family is receiving money. I'm really just disappointed that politicians continue to come into office and leave extremely rich. And we really need to get back to basics and make America first and people coming into office need to really represent America and do things for America, not for themselves," independent voter Dominick Ciccarelli said.

Just before the press conference, Comer and Republican lawmakers released a more-than-30-page memo Wednesday morning revealing newly-subpoenaed bank records that they say show that the Biden family and its business associates created more than 20 companies and received more than $10 million from foreign nationals while Joe Biden served as vice president and that some of the payments could indicate attempts by the Biden family to "peddle influence."

The memo said the Biden family "used business associates companies to receive millions of dollars from foreign companies," including from those with links to the Chinese Communist Party and a corrupt individual in Romania, and "received incremental payments over time to different bank accounts."

The memo states that the "complicated and seemingly unnecessary financial transactions appear to be a concerted effort to conceal the source and total amount received from the foreign companies."

BIDEN FAMILY RECEIVED MILLIONS FROM FOREIGN NATIONALS, TRIED TO CONCEAL SOURCE OF FUNDS: HOUSE OVERSIGHT

Democrat Marissa Caro-Cortese said she was concerned the Biden family had broken that law, but also questioned why so much corruption is present in the government.

"I've had this conversation numerous times with my friends about both sides of the political spectrum. You have such corruption. When is it going to end?" she said.

"I don't think that you rise to that level of power without having skeletons in your closet on either side. But why is America okay? Why is that an okay narrative that we just get to go along with that, oh, this person's corrupt. We're going to spend taxpayer dollars to investigate them and nothing's going to change."

Comer said the panel will continue to investigate and has only subpoenaed four banks, at this point in the probe, but said lawmakers have identified 12 more they will seek records from.

"Right now, you could say that we're in the beginning stages of this investigation," Comer said.

President Biden speaks during a visit to Wolfspeed, a semiconductor manufacturer as he kicks off his Investing in America Tour in Durham, North Carolina, on March 28, 2023. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

"We've seen this since before the election, and we continue on. We don't see the consequences that it should be when you break the law," Democrat Francisco "Frank" Marte said.

The White House fired back at Comer on Wednesday, accusing him of leading an "evidence-free, politically-motivated" investigation.

"House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is loudly and proudly broadcasting a press conference today to continue his long pattern of making absurd claims that President Biden has made governing decisions not in the interest of America, but of the Chinese Communist Party, using baseless claims, personal attacks, and innuendo to try to score political points," spokesperson Ian Sams told Fox News Digital.

Khayyam Payton, another Democrat, said he is also concerned about how the White House and other entities try to keep the focus off the president.

"[Biden's] a walking contradiction. And it seems like they always try to take the focus off of what he's doing at the moment," Payton said.

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"They make Trump seem like he's the worst villain in the world and he's broken every law. But there's no evidence of anything, but with him, it's something that they're trying to sweep under the rug."

Payton also added he will "absolutely not" vote to re-elect Biden in 2024.

Trump pleaded not guilty last month in a Manhattan federal court on charges related to alleged hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

See the rest here:
Democrats and independent voters alarmed over new allegations against Biden family: 'Could be treasonous' - Fox News