China sets 5 percent growth target for 2024 amid economic headwinds
Beijing sets one of its lowest targets in decades amid property crisis, slowing exports and population decline. China will set an economic growth target of about 5 percent for 2024, one of its lowest in decades. China’s rubber-stamp National People’s Congress (NPC) is set to officially unveil the target on Tuesday as the world’s second-largest economy is facing serious headwinds. Chinese Premier Li Qiang will deliver his maiden work report outlining policy goals for the year as the Chinese economy grapples with multiple challenges including a property crisis, slowing exports, geopolitical tensions with the United States, population decline, huge debt and record youth unemployment Beijing’s growth target, outlined in official documents seen by multiple media outlets, matches last year’s target of about 5 percent. China’s economy officially grew 5.2 percent in 2023, its weakest performance in decades excluding the COVID-19 pandemic downturn. The annual gathering is being closely watched by investors for announcements to shore up confidence in the economy. International investors have been pulling out of China at record rates, with $68.7bn worth of corporate and household capital flowing out of the country last year. Analysts have tempered expectations of sweeping measures to boost the economy due to Beijing’s aversion to broad-based social spending. Li’s speech on Tuesday comes after officials announced that the premier would not hold a news conference at the end of the legislature’s annual session for the first time since 1993. The move has been seen as a further example of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s efforts to concentrate control in the hands of the ruling Communist Party. Adblock test (Why?)
Electoral Bonds: SBI moves SC seeking extension of time till June 30 to submit details
The State Bank of India (SBI) has moved the Supreme Court seeking an extension of time till June 30 to submit details of Electoral Bonds to the Election Commission of India.
Speaker slams House Dems after report they’ll act after SCOTUS allows Trump to stay on CO ballot: ‘get a grip’
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., slammed reports that Democrats are ginning up legislation in reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision Monday to keep former President Donald Trump off the 2024 ballot. “We conclude that States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office. But States have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency,” the Court wrote, adding that “the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates. According to a report published in Axios Monday, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a former member of the Jan. 6 select committee, said he is already crafting federal legislation that would force Trump of the ballot. But a spokesperson for Speaker Johnson told Fox News Digital on Monday night that his Democrat colleagues should “get a grip.” SUPREME COURT RULES UNANIMOUSLY FOR TRUMP IN COLORADO BALLOT DISQUALIFICATION DISPUTE “Democrats need to get a grip. In this country, the American people decide the next president—not the courts and not the Congress,” the spokesperson said. According to the Axios report, Raskin referenced legislation he introduced in 2022 with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. that would allow the Justice Department to sue to keep candidates off the ballot under the 14th Amendment. “We are going to revise it in light of the Supreme Court’s decision,” Raskin told the outlet. He suggested that the bill would be paired with a resolution declaring Jan. 6 an “insurrection” and that those involved “engaged in insurrection.” Trump is facing a number of federal charges related to the 2020 election, but he has not been charged with insurrection. LEGAL EXPERTS RALLY AROUND SUPREME COURT RULING KEEPING TRUMP ON BALLOT: ‘STERN WARNING’ TO ‘RADICALS’ In the Supreme Court’s ruling Monday, the nine justices unanimously agreed that states don’t have Section 3 enforcement authority. But Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson said that the majority went two far when it said Congress has sole enforcement authority. “The majority announces that a disqualification for insurrection can occur only when Congress enacts a particular kind of legislation pursuant to Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. In doing so, the majority shuts the door on other potential means of federal enforcement,” The trio said. ‘THE VIEW’ CO-HOSTS GRUDGINGLY ADMIT SCOTUS COLORADO RULING WAS ‘RIGHT DECISION,’ BUT BLAST ‘PARTISAN’ COURT “The Court today needed to resolve only a single question: whether an individual State may keep a Presidential candidate found to have engaged in insurrection off its ballot. The majority resolves much more than the case before us. Although federal enforcement of Section 3 is in no way at issue, the majority announces novel rules for how that enforcement must operate,” the three wrote. “It reaches out to decide Section 3 questions not before us, and to foreclose future efforts to disqualify a Presidential candidate under that provision,” the three said. Rep. Raskin’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
SCOTUS stays Texas law that allows police to arrest, detain illegal migrants
The Supreme Court issued a stay against the Texas law that expands police officers’ powers to detain migrants, temporarily halting enforcement. The order, which was decided on Monday, was signed by Associate Justice Samuel Alito. The stay prevents the Texas law, which is called SB 4, from going into effect until 5 p.m. on Mar. 12, at the earliest. The move from the Supreme Court came after the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the court to temporarily block enforcement of the state law. The agency had filed an emergency appeal. SB 4 gives Texas authorities the ability to arrest anyone they believe has crossed into the U.S. illegally. It was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in December. SCOTUS RULES UNANIMOUSLY FOR TRUMP IN CO BALLOT DISPUTE Last week, Abbott said that he will refuse to “back down in our fight to protect our state” after a federal judge had temporarily blocked the law through a preliminary injunction. Back in February, over 40 politicians endorsed an amicus brief that supported the law. TRUMP CALLS OUT BIDEN AFTER SCOTUS RULING, SAYS ‘FIGHT YOUR FIGHT YOURSELF’ Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital that the intention of the law is to “stop the chaos, secure the border, and protect Texans.” “It is clear to any honest and objective person living in this country that President Biden has willfully disregarded the laws of the land, abdicated his constitutional duty to provide for a common defense, and unilaterally surrendered control of our border to terrorist drug cartels,” Arrington said. The State of Texas has until Mar. 11 to file a response to the DOJ appeal for emergency action. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News Digital reached out to Abbott for comment. Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee, Louis Casiano and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
Medically-assisted suicide bill dies in Virginia Legislature
Virginia lawmakers on Monday defeated for another year legislation that would allow certain adults facing terminal illness to end their own lives with a self-administered controlled substance prescribed by a health care provider. A House committee voted to carry the medically assisted suicide bill sponsored by Democratic Sen. Ghazala Hashmi over to the 2025 session, ending its chances this year. Similar legislation failed in previous years. But Hashmi’s bill passed the Senate in February on a party-line vote after receiving an endorsement from U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat and former state senator who has been diagnosed with a terminal neurological disease. VA LAWMAKERS DEFEAT RESTRICTIONS ON PERSONAL USE OF CAMPAIGN FINANCES Wexton and other supporters said the bill would extend compassion to people who are dying by giving them control over how their life ends. The bill limited eligibility to mentally competent individuals 18 or older who have received a diagnosis that they have six months or less to live. Ten other states and the District of Columbia have passed similar legislation, Hashmi said Monday. “This legislation allows an eligible individual the autonomy to decide when suffering becomes too great and to alleviate that suffering on their own terms by dying peacefully in their sleep should they choose,” she said in an earlier subcommittee hearing. Religious and socially conservative groups opposed the measure. “Assisted suicide facilitates tragedies and makes the most vulnerable even more vulnerable,” Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington and Bishop Barry Knestout of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond said in a joint statement issued last month. “Legalizing it would place the lives of people with disabilities, people with mental illnesses, the elderly, and those unable to afford healthcare — among others — at heightened risk of deadly harm.” Some medical providers also opposed the measure, arguing that contributing to a suicide is antithetical to the profession’s standards. A companion bill was introduced by Del. Patrick Hope in the House of Delegates but failed to make it out of the chamber. Monday’s decision to carry the bill over was made with an unrecorded voice vote. Several Democrats on the committee expressed support for the legislation in concept and said they hoped or expected it could pass in the future. “I’m confident that there will be a day when this moves forward,” Hope said.
Voting sites expected to open in Panhandle on Tuesday, despite wildfires
Candidates continued their campaigns at a subdued pace, as they focused on getting resources for fire victims.
Congress back on track for government shutdown
Congress couldn’t quite get its act together to pass four spending bills and avert a partial government shutdown last week. So it tries again this week. But here’s the catch. Only in Congress-logic would you add two bills to the mix and give yourself one less day to complete everything. Lawmakers must now approve six spending packages before Friday. But neither the House nor Senate return to session until Tuesday night. So, here we go again. POWERLESS OVER POWER: AFTER SHIFTS IN GOP LANDSCAPE, MCCONNELL’S LEADERSHIP DRAWS TO A CLOSE “Watching House Republicans is like watching a football team whose best play is the punt and block,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. “We blocked the (Senate Minority Leader Mitch) McConnell, R-Ky., supplemental. But we punt yet again on needed spending cuts.” That said, there is brimming optimism among bipartisan, House and Senate leaders that Congress will avoid a shutdown early Saturday morning. The sides released a universal plan over the weekend to lump together funding bills for Military Construction/Veterans Affairs, Transportation/Housing, Agriculture, Energy & Water – plus two new bills: a measure to fund Commerce, Justice and Science programs, plus Interior. The plan is for the House to advance this package on Wednesday. The Senate on Thursday or Friday – just under the wire before the 11:59:59 pm et deadline. These bills represent less than a third of all government funding. The bigger problem emerges on March 22. That’s when the rest of the spending bills come due. And the calisthenics required to pass those bills is expected to be exponentially more challenging. First of all, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., long pledged that he wouldn’t support any more Band-Aid spending bills. Congress has now approved four interim spending measures to prevent government shutdowns since fall. Johnson has presided over three of them. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., pushed through the initial one at the end of last September. Just doing that interim spending bill last autumn is exactly what cost McCarthy his job. Yet Johnson is still here with nary a challenge to his leadership. Make sense? Not really. But this is where we are. Johnson found himself on the defensive several days ago when he and other leaders announced the latest punt. Some angry Republicans say they found out about the latest mulligan via Twitter or X. But Johnson called the fourth stopgap bill a “process CR.” That’s short for “Continuing Resolution,” an emergency bill which simply renews all funding at current levels to avoid a shutdown. But no one had ever heard the term “process CR” before Johnson deployed it. Johnson said that Republicans would have “72 hours to review” the tranche of six bills which they welded together. That’s true. But the House voted in the early afternoon Thursday to simply re-up the old funding – even though that bill had not been posted for three days. House Republicans usually insist they have a three-day grace period before voting on a bill. But Johnson ditched that provision – although one could argue there wasn’t much to read since it simply greenlighted the old funding. But a CR is a CR is a CR. It’s still parliamentary putty. Johnson swore he wouldn’t tangle with interim bills again. Hence the new term a “process CR.” “We have continued with the CRs and the same policies that I voted against on September 30, the last act of the previous Speaker,” complained Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. “I’ve described it as a failure. I think it was another terrible decision.” REPUBLICANS SAY HUNTER BIDEN DEPOSITION REVEALS INCONSISTENCIES IN WITNESS TESTIMONY The House voted to avert a shutdown 320-99 Thursday afternoon. But as has become de rigueur in the Republican-controlled House, way more Democrats supported the plan than GOPers. 207 Democrats voted yes. Only 113 Republicans voted yea. That’s a delta of 94 votes. Ninety-seven Republicans voted no. Only two Democrats voted nay. Johnson was prescient earlier in the day about putting yet another CR on the floor. “The appropriations process is ugly. Democracy is ugly,” said Johnson. “It’s been a long road to get here.” Johnson’s homily failed to move Good. “I actually had a Democrat member tell me this morning ‘We like it when you’re in charge because nothing changes, but you guys get all the blame,’” said Good. But some Republicans argued this was all they could do, considering their meager 219-213 majority. “The American people gave us a slim majority in the House,” said Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., who chairs the Energy & Water Appropriations Subcommittee. “This negotiation has been difficult. But to close the government down at a time like this would hurt people who should not be hurt.” There were a myriad of reasons why Republicans might oppose the bridge spending bill. There was just the fact that it wasn’t a new bill. Others noted that it reauthorized spending approved when former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wielded the gavel and recognized many of her spending priorities. And then there was the southern border. “Any continuing resolution has got to have border control,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. “So if you’re so scared to shut the government down, and won’t take a risk on shutting the border down, there is a problem.” SEN. FETTERMAN CONDITIONALLY EMBRACES GOP BORDER BILL Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., joined Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., as the only two Democrats to oppose the most recent CR. Quigley says he’s opposing CRs until lawmakers pass a bill to aid Ukraine. “There’s no other way for me to draw attention (to Ukraine) other than to travel there,” said Quigley. And so over the weekend, the six-bill combo measure for this week hit the in-boxes of lawmakers. The House will consider all of those bills together at once. House Republicans have been loathe to pass anything characterized as an “omnibus.” That’s where Congressional leaders glue all 12 appropriations bills together. Six bills is conceivably a “mini-bus”
GOP Wisconsin lawmaker announces run for Mike Gallagher’s House seat
A Republican state senator announced Monday that he will run for an open congressional seat representing northeastern Wisconsin. Andre Jacque of De Pere announced Monday that he will run for the 8th Congressional District seat being vacated by Mike Gallagher. Gallagher abruptly announced last month he won’t seek re-election after he angered his fellow Republicans by refusing to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. SHIRTLESS GOP US SENATE CANDIDATE TAKES COLD PLUNGE IN WISCONSIN LAKE, CHALLENGES DEMOCRATIC OPPONENT Former state Sen. Roger Roth of Appleton announced his candidacy just hours after Gallagher said he won’t run again. The 8th Congressional District includes the cities of Green Bay, Appleton and Oshkosh and leans heavily Republican. Republican consultant Alex Bruesewitz also is considering a run. Jacque was first elected to the state Assembly in 2010. He has served in the state Senate representing northeastern Wisconsin’s 1st District since 2018 and has built a reputation as a staunch conservative. He doesn’t face re-election in the state Senate until 2026. If he wins the congressional seat he would have to vacate his Senate position next January when he’s sworn into Congress. Gallagher abruptly announced last month he won’t seek re-election after he angered his fellow Republicans by refusing to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Former state Sen. Roger Roth of Appleton announced his candidacy just hours after Gallagher said he won’t run again. The 8th Congressional District includes the cities of Green Bay, Appleton and Oshkosh and leans heavily Republican.
Wisconsin Gov. Evers signs off on massive child tax credit expansion
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed a Republican-authored bill Monday that dramatically expands the state child care tax credit, days after vetoing three other GOP bills that would have delivered $800 million in tax cuts. The governor posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that he signed the child care measure because “the cost of child care is too darn high.” The median child care cost last year in Milwaukee County, the state’s most populous county, was $19,096, equivalent to about 26% of the median family income of $62,314, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The cost last year in Dane County, the state’s second-most populous county, was $19,586, equivalent to about 17.6% of the $94,813 median family income. WISCONSIN GOV. EVERS SIGNS DEER HUNT LICENSE PRICE HIKE INTO LAW The bill expands the state child care tax credit to 100% of the claimants’ federal child care tax credit. Currently filers can claim only 50% of the federal credit on state taxes. The amount of maximum eligible expenses under the state credit would grow from $3,000 to $10,000 for one qualifying dependent and from $6,000 to $20,000 for two or more dependents. The move is expected to cost the state about $73 million in annual revenue, according to the state Department of Revenue. The measure was part of a package of tax cuts Republicans introduced in January. The legislation included the child care tax credit expansion; a bill that would have expanded the state’s second income tax bracket to cover higher earners, resulting in at least $750 million in income tax savings annually, according to legislative fiscal analysts; a bill that would have increased the marriage tax credit; and a bill that would have increased income exemptions for retirees. Fiscal analysts projected that taken together the four bills reduced state tax revenue by $2 billion in 2024-25 and about $1.4 billion every year thereafter. Evers vetoed all the bills except the child care tax credit expansion on Friday, saying the cuts would drain the state’s reserves. Evers vetoed a similar GOP tax cut plan in November. Republicans lumped all the proposals into a sweeping omnibus bill during that go-around. This time they broke the plans into separate legislation. The governor also used his partial veto powers in July to reduce a $3.5 billion income tax cut plan the GOP included in the state budget to just $175 million, which equated to a $3- per-month reduction for the average taxpayer.
Texas lawmakers hammer Biden for ‘never’ speaking to ex-border chief during his tenure
FIRST ON FOX: Republican members of Texas’ Congressional delegation are hammering President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris after the former border patrol chief said he never heard from them while helming the government agency on the front lines of the migrant crisis. “If they had called Chief Ortiz — or listened to any of our brave officers on the front lines — they would have heard what every Texan knows: This administration is directly responsible for the chaos and devastation plaguing our border states and the entire nation,” House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. Raul Ortiz served as chief of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) from August 2021 through May 2023, during which time the situation at the southern border first became a particularly thorny issue for the Biden administration. HOUSE REPUBLICANS SEEK ANSWERS ON DNA TESTING BACKLOG OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” program that aired Sunday, Ortiz accused the Biden administration of “most definitely” sending mixed messages to migrants and said of his own relationship with Biden and Harris: “I’ve never had one conversation with the president or vice president.” “I was the chief of the Border Patrol. I commanded 21,000 people. That’s a problem,” he said. Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, said Biden should’ve had Ortiz “on speed dial.” “It’s common sense — talk to the ones with boots on the ground, dealing with the crisis day in and day out. Now, it is clear to the American people that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have never cared about the crisis they have created at the southern border,” Weber told Fox News Digital. US BORDER PATROL SHOOTS, KILLS BANDIT ROBBING MIGRANTS IN CALIFORNIA The number of illegal crossings at the southern border has risen to new highs year over year since 2021, when Biden took office. The president has called for reform to the U.S. immigration system, which he labeled “broken,” and has called on Congress to pass comprehensive legislation. Republican lawmakers, however, have insisted that Biden has the power to solve the border crisis through executive action, arguing his policies have led to its current state. Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, called his lack of communication with his former border patrol chief “disappointing but not surprising.” WHICH CITIES, COUNTIES AND STATES IN THE US ARE ‘SANCTUARY’ JURISDICTIONS? “This failure illustrates the Biden Administration’s lack of respect for our border patrol heroes and an unserious attitude about the national security risk at the southern border,” Pfluger told Fox News Digital. House Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital, “This is just another example of the Biden administration ignoring the deadly invasion at our southern border and lying to the public. Instead of working with those on the frontlines, Biden continues to push open border amnesty policies that put America last.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Ortiz’s claims and the resulting House GOP criticism.