Month: December 2021

Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl A. Racine announced on Tuesday that his office is suing two far-right groups over their involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Racine’s office is suing both the ​​Proud Boys and Oath Keepers over the attack, alleging both groups were responsible for the violence that left one Capitol Police officer dead.

Racine is seeking millions of dollars in damages from the two groups, alleging both conspired to send members to the city on that day. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.  Said Racine on Twitter : “Today, we’re holding these insurrectionists accountable for conspiring to terrorize the District by planning, promoting, and participating in the deadly attack on the Capitol. I’m seeking damages in this case and will keep working to ensure such an assault never happens again.”

Racine said the money outlined in the lawsuit would go toward paying for the costs associated with the event, including medical expenses for the more than 140 officers who were injured during the attack, some of whom required extensive medical leave. It would also help cover costs incurred by the Metropolitan Police Department in responding to the attack.

The Justice Department has already filed criminal charges against a number of people who were at the attack. The new lawsuit also accuses both groups of training members and providing them with weapons and tactical equipment ahead of the rally.

Editorial credit: Thomas Hengge / Shutterstock.com

The Senate voted on Tuesday to raise the national debt limit by $2.5 trillion and extend it into 2023.  The House will next have to approve the legislation before it can be sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. The final tally for the Senate vote, which fell along party lines, was 50 to 49.

Lawmakers raced to avert a catastrophic default ahead of a critical midweek deadline. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the debt limit could be reached on December 15, leaving Congress little time left to resolve the issue. A first-ever default would spark economic disaster and party leaders on both sides of the aisle have made clear it must be prevented.

It had been expected that Democrats would raise the limit by an amount sufficient to ensure that the issue will not need to be addressed again until after the 2022 midterm elections. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier on Tuesday that the Senate would vote to raise the debt ceiling to a level that will extend the limit into 2023. The newly created and temporary one-time process that lawmakers approved allowed Senate Democrats to take up and pass a bill to increase the debt limit by a specific dollar amount and a simple majority vote.

Editorial credit: Mark Roddis / Shutterstock.com

On Monday, Time Magazine announced Elon Musk as its 2021 ‘Person of the Year,’ citing his vast “influence on life on Earth, and potentially life off Earth too.” Musk, deemed the second-richest man in world by Forbes Magazine with an estimated net worth of $270 billion, is the founder and CEO of rocket producer SpaceX and CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla, among his many other enterprises.

Time Editor-in-Chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal said the choice of Musk for Person of the Year recognizes his emergence “not just as the world’s richest person but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society” in which momentum to create progress is moving from “traditional institutions” such as governments to individuals. Felsenthal added that Musk’s “ambitions on the scale of interplanetary travel” marks him as someone whose influence goes beyond life on Earth to “potentially life off Earth too.”  He concluded: “For creating solutions to an existential crisis, for embodying the possibilities and the perils of the age of tech titans, for driving society’s most daring and disruptive transformations, Elon Musk is Time’s 2021 Person of the Year.”

Editorial credit: Naresh111 / Shutterstock.com

On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris announced $1.2 billion in investments from private companies to address the root causes of immigration from Central America. Harris said the investments came from seven companies and will go toward boosting the economies and social infrastructure in countries where immigration is most pronounced.  The announcement comes one month after the United States recorded Southwest border land encounters with 164,303 migrants in October, more than double the 71,939 encounters from a year prior.  Harris has been put in charge of the White House’s strategy on migration, and said the Biden administration seeks to focus on addressing the root causes of migration to stem the flow of people crossing the southern border.

Harris issued a call to action in May to assist El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.  She said during a meeting on Monday with executives: “Six months ago, we had a commitment of $750 million. Today, we have a commitment of over $1.2 billion. This is not about us coming in and telling anyone what they should do. It is about being partners and assisting and helping to facilitate the natural desire of the people in these nations. This is important work. This is good work. I think it reflects the best of who we are as the United States recognizing our responsibility as neighbors to these countries in the Western Hemisphere.”

The seven companies include PepsiCo, Mastercard, Parkdale Mills and Cargill. PepsiCo said it plans to designate $190 million for investments in Central America, including improving manufacturing plants. Cargill, meanwhile, plans to invest $150 million in farming operations in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Parkdale Mills said it will build a $150 million yarn spinning site in Honduras, and Mastercard said it will invest $100 million to boost e-commerce in Central America.

Editorial credit: Sheila Fitzgerald / Shutterstock.com