Biden approval plummets to near Carter level: Gallup
President Biden faces Jimmy Carter-like approval ratings as he barrels towards the end of his first term and Election Day in November. Biden’s job approval rating stands at 38%, just one point above his all-time low and far below the 50% rating typical of presidents who are re-elected, according to a new Gallup survey. “Biden’s overall job rating has slipped to 38%, and his ratings on immigration, the Israel-Hamas situation, foreign affairs and the economy are even lower,” said Megan Brenan, a research consultant at Gallup. “He has lost some ground among his party in recent months on immigration and the situations in the Middle East and Ukraine, though his overall rating hasn’t dropped among Democrats.” BIDEN FACING ABYSMAL APPROVAL RATING ON IMMIGRATION AS AMERICANS REACT TO SPIRALING BORDER CRISIS Biden’s numbers are reminiscent of modern one-term presidents, including Carter, who averaged a record-low 37.4% after his third year in office. Former President Donald Trump, whom Biden defeated in 2020, left office in January 2021 with a personal all-time low 34% approval rating. A clear majority of Americans, 59%, disapprove of how Biden has performed in office, according to the poll. The president has negative numbers on major issues facing the U.S., but his worst issue by far is immigration. Only 28% of survey respondents approve of how the president has handled the border, while a walloping 67% disapprove. Americans have also soured on the president’s handling of foreign affairs, with 62% disapproval of his leadership amid the Israel-Hamas war; 53% disapproving of Biden’s record on Ukraine; and 62% disapproving of his handling of foreign affairs in general. BIDEN’S RELIANCE ON NOTECARDS TO ANSWER QUESTIONS AT FUNDRAISERS WORRIES SOME DONORS: REPORT “Biden’s approval rating has not risen above 44% since August 2021, and his 39.8% average rating for his third year in office was the second worst among post-World War II presidents elected to their first term,” Brenan observed. If there is a silver lining for the president, it’s that Americans are slightly more upbeat about his handling of the economy. Low unemployment, stabilizing inflation and record-high stock market numbers have contributed to a four-point increase in his approval ratings on the economy to 36%, up from 32% in the last Gallup survey. That incremental increase was buoyed by independents, who moved six points in Biden’s direction to 30% approval on the economy. WHITE HOUSE REPORTERS FEEL HEAT FROM ADMINISTRATION OVER COVERAGE OF BIDEN, TRUMP: ‘NAGGING AND COMPLAINING’ The survey results show Biden has some work to do to recapture support from Democrats on immigration and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While about three-quarters of Democrats approve of his handling of the economy, only 55% approve of Biden’s job on immigration, and 51% rate him positively on situations in the Middle East. Overall, Biden’s approval rating among Democrats stands at 82% but is still lower than the near-unanimous approval Gallup recorded during his first 11 months in office, Brenan said. Republicans unsurprisingly rate Biden poorly, giving him just 3% approval on immigration and 4% on the economy. Independents give Biden a 32% approval rating, which is largely unchanged from previous Gallup surveys. The Gallup survey was conducted by telephone interviews between February 1 and 20, 2024, with a random sample of 1,016 American adults living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Nathan Wade visited Fani Willis’ neighborhood before hiring, cellphone data indicates
Nathan Wade appears to have made far more visits to the neighborhood of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis than previously admitted in court. A Friday filing from the attorney of former President Trump claims to show at least 35 visits by Wade to the Hapeville neighborhood before he was hired. Wade testified last week that he did not visit Willis’s condo more than 10 times before being hired in Nov. 2021. Willis and Wade maintain that their relationship began in early 2022. JUDGE IN TRUMP GEORGIA CASE IN ‘UNENVIABLE POSITION’ AS FINAL ARGUMENTS LOOM Willis hired Wade in 2021 to help prosecute her sweeping racketeering case against Trump. Trump co-defendant Michael Roman alleged in court filings last month that Willis should be disqualified from the case, claiming she financially benefited from hiring Wade because of their personal relationship. The date when the two lawyers’ relationship began is key to the ongoing dispute brought by Trump’s attorneys, who argue that their romantic fling compromised the integrity of the case. The defense is trying to prove the existence and extent of any financial benefit to Willis from Wade from their relationship, which is the crux of their argument that Willis should be disqualified. 5 EXPLOSIVE MOMENTS FROM FANI WILLIS’ HEATED TESTIMONY IN TRUMP FULTON COUNTY CASE: ‘IF THIS HAPPENS AGAIN…’ Cellphone data also seems to show that Wade twice traveled to Willis’s apartment late at night without leaving until the next morning. Wade and Willis have both testified that they did not sleep together at the Hapeville condo. “We are required to respond to the filing via the court, and we are preparing a response now,” a spokesperson for Willis said of the Friday filing, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Friday affidavit asserts that cellphone data shows Willis and Wade sharing more than 2,000 phone calls and just under 12,000 text messages in the first 11 months of 2021. Judge Scott McAfee will now need to decide whether to admit the Friday affidavit and the cellphone data it contains into evidence. Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
Hispanic House Dems accuse Biden of leaving them in dark on possible executive action at border
A key group of Hispanic House Democrats is complaining about being left in the dark over reports that President Biden is looking at taking executive action to crack down on the border crisis. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), led by Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-Calif., released a statement Thursday evening saying it was “unbelievable” that Biden would consider acting unilaterally to limit the number of asylum-seekers trying to cross the border. “We understand how frustrating it is that Republicans in Congress continue to block any funding requested by President Biden to address the Southern Border. But it is unbelievable to hear that the White House would consider Executive Actions to prevent or restrict migrants from seeking asylum,” Barragán said. She compared it to “the same methods as former President Trump.” 7.2M ENTERED THE US UNDER BIDEN ADMIN, AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN POPULATION OF 36 STATES “CHC opposes unilateral attempts by the White House to change our asylum system and put human lives at risk,” her statement continued. Barragán said CHC “has not been briefed or consulted on any executive actions being considered by the Administration.” It is not the first time Biden has angered CHC members by effectively sidelining them in congressional border negotiations. BIDEN ADMIN WEIGHS EXECUTIVE ACTION ON BORDER CRISIS, DRAWING FIRE FROM LEFT AND RIGHT When bipartisan Senate negotiators were working with the White House on a now-defunct border security and supplemental aid package, progressive members of CHC criticized the measures that were being leaked while also demanding meetings to discuss the talks. “Our votes matter. And so sometimes that means withholding votes,” Barragán said at a press conference earlier this month. “It is completely unacceptable that the Hispanic Caucus would not be at the table on the issue that we lead on, which is immigration.” CHC Whip Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, bashed the deal for not including anything for Dreamers, young adults who were brought into the U.S. illegally when they were young and face deportation despite many not having been to their country of origin since fleeing. CHINESE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ON PACE TO BREAK RECORDS AT US SOUTHERN BORDER “The level of anxiety and uncertainty is at a peak right now, particularly when we saw that the Senate bill did not include Dreamers. And of course, for many of us, that’s a nonstarter,” Garcia said. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest statement.
Biden admits ‘broken’ immigration system in meeting with governors as migrants mass-released in California
President Biden admitted on Friday the U.S. immigration is “broken,” just hours after Fox News cameras on the ground in the San Diego area captured a mass release of migrants by the Border Patrol. The Border Patrol bus released approximately 200 migrants onto the streets in San Ysidro, who were then handed over to a nongovernmental organization (NGO) for help. “Congress has had a long, proud history – a bipartisan history — on immigration reform and abiding by our international treaty obligations, which we signed related to immigration. These reforms made America a nation of laws, a nation of immigrants and the strongest economy in the world,” Biden said to members of the National Governors Association at the White House. “But something changed. Over time, our laws and our resources haven’t kept up with our immigration system, and it’s broken. And our politics has failed to fix it.” The White House has called on Republicans to back a bipartisan Senate bill that would have increased staffing and resources at the border while limiting the ability of migrants to claim asylum and providing additional funding to communities and NGOs receiving migrants. However, conservatives have said the bill does not go far enough and would normalize high levels of illegal immigration. FEDERAL JUDGE TORCHES BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FOR ‘COLLUDING’ WITH ACTIVIST GROUP ON ASYLUM RULE Biden described the bill Friday as representing the “most fair and humane reforms in a long time.” “I didn’t get everything I wanted in it. It also included the toughest set of reforms to secure the border ever in history. The Border Patrol chief himself said, ‘we need more people. We need more agents on the line,’” Biden said. “Our bipartisan bill got the Border Patrol the agents they need. It funded and hired 1,500 more agents and officers, 100 more immigration judges, 4,300 more asylum officers to get asylum decisions in months instead of years,” he continued. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WEIGHS EXECUTIVE ACTION ON BORDER CRISIS, DRAWING FIRE FROM LEFT AND RIGHT “But then, as we all know, petty politics intervened. The speaker of the House has refused to vote on the bill, even though, again, there’s significant support,” Biden added. “Talk to your Republican colleagues, there are the votes on that floor to pass that bill. All of a sudden, people started to go silent, but they’re in a tough spot. Tell that to the Border Patrol that we can’t get this done.” Biden concluded his remarks by telling the governors that “doing nothing is not an option.” “So if this matters to you, it matters to your state, tell your members of Congress that are standing in the way — show a little spine,” he said. Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
Kentucky bill would foster cutting-edge research collaboration between universities
Kentucky lawmakers on Thursday started advancing an ambitious measure aimed at stimulating cutting-edge research while promoting teamwork among the state’s public universities. The Senate Education Committee quickly advanced the bill that would create a framework for cross-campus projects pairing up researchers at various schools. The measure is sponsored by Republican Senate President Robert Stivers and is designated as Senate Bill 1, signifying its top-priority status. The proposal goes to the full Senate next and would still need House approval. The legislation is meant to be a catalyst to stimulate far-reaching research capable of attracting lucrative federal grants and other support while raising Kentucky’s research profile. Projects could focus on medical breakthroughs but could build on schools’ existing strengths in other types of research as well. MURRAY STATE AND EASTERN KENTUCKY GET KY HOUSE APPROVAL FOR NEW VETERINARY, MEDICAL PROGRAMS “You can’t catch a fish until you cast something into the water,” Stivers told the committee. “I’ve never seen them jump in my boat. So this is an attempt to go fishing.” The goal is to reel in research projects capable of improving lives across the Bluegrass State. By providing state-backed seed funding, the goal is to help nurture the research projects, with the expectation that the work would prove successful enough to attract outside funding. The bill would establish an endowed research fund administered by the state Council on Postsecondary Education. The council would solicit and review joint funding applications submitted by two or more public universities. It’s meant to enhance collaboration among Kentucky schools often seen as competitors. The council would select five research consortiums to receive funding for an initial five years. Interest earnings from the research fund would be transferred into accounts supporting each project. “This is precisely what Kentucky needs now to catapult us forward in developing premier research consortiums by banding together, pooling our resources to chart a path to success in Kentucky’s future,” Stivers said in a news release after the committee hearing. The council would review the performance of each research team to determine whether its funding support should be renewed for up to five more years. If a research team’s funding is discontinued, the council would review other applications to fill the vacancy. Details about state funding for the initiative would be decided in coming weeks. The Senate is currently working on its version of the next two-year state budget. The final version will ultimately be hashed out by Senate and House negotiators next month. Stivers will be a key participant in those negotiations. The state’s research reputation got a boost last year when the University of Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center achieved the highest level of recognition from the National Cancer Institute. Its elevated status — putting it among several dozen cancer centers nationally to attain the designation — will bolster research and patient care in a state plagued by some of the nation’s highest cancer rates.
Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Congress hopeful of finalising seat-sharing with TMC, AAP soon
TMC has sought two seats in Assam and one in Meghalaya.
Biden admin scraps eco-friendly fuel rules as gas prices remain high
The Biden administration is scrapping environmental rules regulating the quantity of ethanol that refiners are able to mix into gasoline, which are designed to reduce smog during the summer. In a final rule published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the agency granted a 2022 request from eight Midwestern governors, led by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, to allow gas stations in their states to sell 15% ethanol blend fuel year-round. So-called E15 fuel is generally less expensive than regular blend fuel with less ethanol content, but it is prohibited from being sold during the summer months because it produces higher amounts of smog. An EPA official confirmed in a statement to Fox News Digital that it is removing a federal waiver that has for years required gasoline-ethanol blends containing 10% ethanol to be used in the summer in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The action will take effect in 2025, a timeline that was criticized by refiners as too soon and by renewable fuel proponents as too late. “After continuous delays by the EPA to allow year-round sales of E15 fuel, consumers across the country can finally look forward to lower-cost, cleaner-burning year-round E15 in 2025,” Reynolds said in a statement. “Nearly two years ago, I organized a bipartisan coalition of eight Midwest governors to join me in challenging the EPA’s refusal to allow E15 sales during summer months.” BIDEN-APPOINTED JUDGE DELIVERS BLOW TO CLIMATE LAWSUIT TARGETING GAS STOVES “Finally, our request is approved, however, the EPA’s unjustified delays come at a cost for drivers and the environment,” the Iowa governor continued. “As governor of the nation’s top ethanol producing state, I’m pursuing a waiver to continue offering drivers the option to purchase lower-cost, cleaner-burning E15 in Iowa this summer, and I won’t stop fighting for year-round E15 until it’s available nationwide.” 130+ HOUSE, SENATE REPUBLICANS JOIN FORCES IN OPPOSITION OF BIDEN’S UPCOMING EV MANDATE In April 2022, Reynolds led a bipartisan coalition of governors — including Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois; Laura Kelly of Kansas; Tim Walz of Minnesota; Doug Burgum of North Dakota; Kristi Noem of South Dakota; and Tony Evers of Wisconsin, and former Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts — in formally requesting that EPA Administrator Michael Regan allow year-round sales of E15 fuel in their states. The coalition, whose state economies account for more than 10% of U.S. gasoline sales, invoked the federal Clean Air Act that gives governors the authority to make such a request. They argue that renewable fuels are the “immediate solution to high gas prices, lower emissions, and restoring our energy independence.” “While we are pleased to see EPA has finally approved year-round E15 in these eight states, we are extremely disappointed by the Agency’s needless decision to delay implementation until 2025,” Renewable Fuels Association CEO and President Geoff Cooper said Thursday. “It’s helpful to finally have some certainty about 2025 and beyond, but what happens this summer?” “The Biden administration missed its statutory deadline to finalize the governors’ petition by more than 500 days, and now it claims there just isn’t enough time to implement the rule in time for summer 2024,” he added. “Why should ethanol producers, farmers, fuel retailers, and consumers in these states be penalized for EPA’s foot-dragging and failure to meet a clear deadline?” BIDEN ADMIN REPORTEDLY DOUBLING DOWN ON GAS CAR CRACKDOWN The Renewable Fuels Association and bipartisan lawmakers have called on the federal government to permanently allow year-round sales of E15 fuel, arguing such an action would help ease gas prices nationwide. President Biden acknowledged as much in April 2022 when he issued a nationwide waiver allowing summer E15 sales in response to the Ukraine war, which roiled global energy markets, saying at an event in Iowa that, as a result, Americans are “not going to show up at your local gas station and see a bag over the pump that has the cheapest gas.” However, the action was only temporarily effective in 2022. The EPA’s actions Thursday, though, received criticism from the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), the nation’s largest industry association representing petroleum refiners. The group said the rule change could impact overall fuel supplies and lead to higher costs. “We’ve made clear to the administration that it’s too late for 2024 implementation and even 2025 would be problematic,” said AFPM Senior Director of Fuels and Vehicle Policy Patrick Kelly. “Refiners start making the switch to summer production very early in the year and to minimize costs, there must be a reasonable transition to producing summer gas according to a different specification.” “Studies show that even with at least a two-year lead time, the RVP change will reduce overall supply, increase costs and make the region more vulnerable to supply disruptions. With less time, costs to produce and supply fuel and risks of supply disruptions could be greater.” Meanwhile, gasoline prices across the country have remained stubbornly high, hitting $3.27 per gallon as of Friday, according to AAA data. Those prices represent a 6% month-over-month increase and are nearly 37% higher than pump prices when Biden first took office.
Maryland property tax assessment error could cost $250M
Maryland lawmakers are looking at a legislative solution to address a missed mailing deadline for property tax assessments, a mistake that affected about 107,000 notices and could cost local governments roughly $250 million over three years if nothing is done, a state official said Thursday. Maryland reassesses the value of one-third of all property in each county every year. The State Department of Assessments and Taxation must send the notices by Jan. 30. This year, however, the agency learned of an error that resulted in notices not being sent, according to Michael Higgs, the agency’s director. That has interfered with the timeline for property owners to appeal the new assessments. MARYLAND GOV. MOORE ENDORSES BILLS AIMED AT MITIGATING HOUSING CRISIS State Sen. Guy Guzzone, who chairs the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, said attorneys are working to find the best solution that will be fair. “We’re trying to resolve a mistake, and what it will essentially look like would give the department the ability to get the mail out now, which they are in the process of doing, and from the time period that people receive it, that they then continue to get every bit of an opportunity, the full, same opportunity, to appeal assessments,” Guzzone said in an interview Thursday. Guzzone, a Howard County Democrat, said lawmakers are considering a provision that would extend the expired mailing deadline. The error in the mailing process was first reported by Maryland Matters. Higgs said the agency uses the state’s preferred vendor, the League of People with Disabilities, to print and mail reassessment notices. In a statement, he said the vendor has since resolved an error, and the missed recipients will receive notices in the coming weeks. Higgs said the agency has been working with the General Assembly to draft legislation that will enable a temporary timeline adjustment to distribute the reassessment notices. “The legislation will ensure that the State reassessment can be completed fairly and accurately and that all appropriate revenues are collected,” Higgs said. “Every account in this group will receive a notice in the coming weeks and will be provided with the full 45-day time frame for appealing the reassessment.” David Greenberg, the president of the League for People with Disabilities in Baltimore, said a social enterprise division of the group has been processing, printing and mailing the notices with timeliness, proficiency and integrity for more than 10 years. “In Fall of 2023, SDAT made significant changes to the format of the assessment,” Greenberg wrote in an email. “SDAT later discovered duplicate and missing notices. Since then, The League has been working closely with SDAT staff to fix the issues.” In December, the department announced there was an overall average increase in value of nearly 26% for all residential property in the state’s 23 counties and the city of Baltimore.
Mexico’s teachers seek relief from pandemic-era spike in school robberies
Guadalajara, Mexico – In Maria Soto’s classroom, nearly half of the fourth-graders have not yet learned how to read. The rest are at least a year behind. For these kids, the pandemic era continues, even if no one wears a mask anymore. But as Soto sees it, the problem lies not just in learning delays accumulated during months of remote education. It stems equally from an ongoing trend of classroom crime. The Eduardo O’Gorman elementary school, in Guadalajara’s impoverished Chulavista neighbourhood, has been the victim of near-constant robberies since 2020, Soto said. The latest occurred this past October. Bit by bit, furniture, electrical equipment and plumbing infrastructure — down to the toilets and sinks in the bathrooms — have disappeared from the campus, which features a pair of skeletal two-storey buildings linked by a square patch of asphalt, decorated with hopscotch squares. The school has become a buffet for local criminals who resell stolen goods, at the expense of the community’s children. Many of the thefts occurred in broad daylight, with multiple witnesses and security camera footage as evidence. But police investigations have not yielded any answers or any change, Soto said. “They stole everything little by little, the cables, the windows, the sinks,” she explained. “The neighbours had to have seen who was doing it, but no one admitted that they saw anything.” What is happening at O’Gorman elementary is part of a nationwide trend. In the year after the COVID-19 pandemic began, the National Union of Educational Workers (SNTE), Mexico’s largest teachers’ union, estimated that 40 to 50 percent of the nation’s schools had faced robbery or vandalism. Teachers and education advocates like Soto say that heightened risk has yet to subside. And they fear that the continued threat of theft will exacerbate the education setbacks wrought by the pandemic. “We couldn’t return to school for two years, so we did online class, and now 35 percent of the kids can’t read,” Soto said. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in educational setbacks, including lower reading scores [File: Gustavo Graf/Reuters] Fernando Ruíz, an investigator at Mexicanos Primero, a non-profit involved in improving the Mexican public education system, told Al Jazeera that school robberies continued throughout 2023 at high levels, affecting 11,000 of the schools his organisation worked with last fall. The damage can end up shuttering educational facilities indefinitely, he added. “There are schools that remain pretty much abandoned.” Ruíz and other advocates suspect the number of schools affected is likely much higher. But the Mexican government has not collected data on the subject since 2022. In a press conference in July 2023, Daniel Covarrubias Lopez, the SNTE’s secretary general, remarked on the frequency of school robberies by saying, “This is our daily bread.” For Soto — a short teacher with tall, block heels whose firm, measured tone lays bare her decades of experience — the constant repairs and replacements required at her school have left classrooms with few resources. Midway through the pandemic, the school was able to gather money from state government grants, allowing it to make the minimum necessary repairs. “When we were able to raise money, the first thing we did was replace the electricity, so workmen could come do construction,” Soto said. “But the next day, the new cables were gone.” Because the school could not afford further fixes, students continued online classes well after the risk of COVID-19 abated in the community. In-person classes only resumed in 2022, thanks to further government assistance and a private donation. Nearly four years after the start of the ordeal, the school is still struggling to keep afloat. Some days, students are turned away at the school gate because the water tank has malfunctioned, rendering the bathrooms unusable. The school does not have the funds to repair the issue. “We started just telling the kids to hold it in,” Soto said. Every time she leaves for a weekend or holiday break, Soto fears she will return to a school in tatters. “One time [in April 2023], I opened the door to my classroom, and it had been completely vandalised as well,” Soto said. “On the wall there was a message addressed to me, and I realised the person who did it had likely been my former student.” Advocates say schools are struggling to replace stolen items amid an ongoing wave of thefts [File: Daniel Becerril/Reuters] While drug lords like Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and his four sons, Los Chapitos, have gained a kind of celebrity status in Mexico, the everyday reality of organised crime intersects more often with poverty than with riches and fame. The most recent government statistics, from 2022, indicate that 43.5 percent of the Mexican population grapples with poverty. Slightly more than 7 percent — or 9.1 million people — face extreme poverty. Those numbers were even higher during the pandemic. Extreme poverty touched nearly 11 million people in 2020 alone, as businesses shuttered and residents self-isolated to reduce infection. In low-income urban areas, the economic drought that characterised the pandemic years lingers. Advocates like Ruíz say already-vulnerable public schools are paying the price. “What we’ve seen is the formation of groups dedicated to stealing electrical wiring. They’ve found the weak spots,” Ruíz said. “The minute [the schools] replace something, they come and take it again.” Ruíz explained that the schools best able to recover from theft are the rare examples of community cooperation: institutions where parents, teachers and local officials all pitch in. But most schools struggle to keep parents engaged, much less local officials. Ruíz added that law enforcement likewise devotes little time to the schools’ protection and upkeep. “Most schools make police reports just to receive government aid if it is available,” Ruíz said. The police “almost never actually follow up with the cases”. Teachers and education advocates are hoping school thefts will subside as the economy recovers [File: Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters] Even some of the schools that face only one or two robberies are left in precarious financial situations.
Crisis in eastern DR Congo
NewsFeed Heavy fighting between Congolese armed forces and the M23 rebel group have forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes in east Democratic Republic of the Congo. Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi explains what’s caused the crisis. Published On 23 Feb 202423 Feb 2024 Adblock test (Why?)