The Political Thread

[Chris]

Honda and Nissan reportedly in merger talks to bolster automakers for EV future

Honda and Nissan are reportedly in talks to merge to better compete with other automakers such as Tesla and Toyota in electronic vehicle development.

www.usatoday.com

Two of Japan's biggest automakers, Honda and Nissan, have reportedly begun merger talks, according to a report in Japan's financial Nikkei Asia newspaper.

The two Japanese-headquartered automakers are looking to join forces as a way to contend in an ever-challenging industry increasingly focused on electric vehicles, the newspaper reported.

Both companies responded to a question about the report from USA TODAY with identical statements, which did not deny merger talks were underway.

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

C A P I T A L I S M

 

[Chris]

Congressional Leaders Unveil Short-Term Spending Bill Tied to Disaster Aid

What started out as a simple stopgap measure to avert a shutdown for a few months became a magnet for more than $100 billion in emergency disaster and farm aid, plus a host of unrelated policy measures.

www.nytimes.com

Congressional leaders on Tuesday unveiled legislation that would keep government funding flowing through the middle of March and provide nearly $100 billion in aid for communities ravaged by hurricanes and other disasters.

Negotiators in both parties had been toiling to reach a deal ahead of a Friday deadline to avert a shutdown. The sprawling bill, more than 1,500 pages, includes $10 billion in direct economic assistance for farmers and another $21 billion in disaster relief for farmers. It would keep government funding at current levels, and would punt another funding fight until March 14, when the Republican-controlled Congress will have to come to another spending agreement.

It is also stuffed with an array of unrelated policy measures on health, energy, digital privacy and other matters that lawmakers quietly agreed to slip in as part of a final round of haggling in the last days of the Congress, powered by billions in federal money and a collective desire to clear the legislative decks before the new year.

 

[Chris]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/18/politics/matt-gaetz-ethics-report-committee/index.html

The House Ethics Committee secretly voted earlier this month to release its report into the conduct of former Rep. Matt Gaetz before the end of this Congress, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.

The report is now expected to be made public after the House’s final day of votes this year as lawmakers leave Washington for the holidays, those sources said.

The vote, which has not previously been reported, amounts to a stark reversal for the panel after it had voted along party lines in late November not to release the results of the investigation. The decision to release the report suggests that some Republicans ultimately decided to side with Democrats on the matter, and it is unclear if the committee will once again change course now that it has voted.

 

[Chris]

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/18/tiktok-ban-supreme-court-will-hear-arguments.html

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear arguments by TikTok seeking to block a law that could lead to a ban of the popular social media app pending the company’s appeal of a lower-court ruling upholding the law.

The Supreme Court scheduled oral arguments in the case for Jan. 10, nine days before the law is set to take effect.

The high court’s order came two days after TikTok filed its petition seeking an injunction against the law.

 

[Chris]

Fed Cuts Interest Rates for Third Time This Year: Live Updates

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter point and published a forecast suggesting only two rate cuts next year.

www.nytimes.com

Federal Reserve officials made their third and final rate cut of 2024 at their meeting on Wednesday. They also forecast two fewer rate cuts in 2025 than they had previously expected, as inflation lingers and the economy remains robust.

The Fed has come a long way from just a few years ago: In 2022, inflation was more than twice its current rate and many economists thought that the central bank’s decisions might cause economic pain — and even a recession — as it rapidly lifted interest rates to slow demand and wrestle price increases back under control.

That didn’t happen. The job market slowed without falling apart, and inflation cooled so substantially that the Fed was able to begin cutting interest rates in September. Policymakers are now trying to bring inflation the rest of the way down without tanking the economy in the process.

 

[Chris]

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/pelicot-rape-trial-verdict-sentences-12-19-24-intl/index.html

Dominique Pelicot has been found guilty in a mass rape trial that stunned France. He was handed a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for repeatedly raping, and enlisting strangers to abuse his then-wife Gisèle Pelicot over the course of a decade.

• Fifty other men were also found guilty of taking part in abuse, but many have been handed shorter sentences than those asked for by prosecutors. Several walked free having already served prison time.

• Gisèle Pelicot waived her anonymity in an effort to help other women and force a change in society. After the sentencing, she said “never regretted” that decision, having previously said she wanted to make the horrors of her case known to give other people affected by sexual violence the courage to speak up.

 

[Chris]

Amazon workers to strike at 7 US sites. Retailer says it won't slow holiday deliveries

The Teamsters said the strike at seven facilities is the largest ever against Amazon. But the retailer doesn't anticipated a slowdown to deliveries.

www.usatoday.com

Workers at seven Amazon facilities will begin a strike Thursday morning in the final days of the Christmas shopping season.

The labor strike represents an attempt by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to put pressure on the online shopping retailer by threatening to delay some of Amazon's package deliveries during one of its busiest times of the year. The move comes after Teamsters officials accused Amazon of failing to come to the bargaining table to negotiate contracts by ignoring a Dec. 15 deadline the union set.

“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed," Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in a statement. “These greedy executives had every chance to show decency and respect for the people who make their obscene profits possible. Instead, they’ve pushed workers to the limit and now they’re paying the price."

 

[Chris]

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5048455-fani-willis-disqualified-trump-georgia/

A Georgia appeals court on Thursday booted Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D)’s office from the 2020 election interference case against President-elect Trump over her relationship with a top prosecutor on the case.

The panel described Willis’s relationship with ex-special prosecutor Nathan Wade as a “significant appearance of impropriety.”

The court declined to outright dismiss Trump’s indictment, but disqualifying Willis’s office throws the future of the case further into doubt, which was already complicated by Trump’s impending return to the White House.

 

[Chris]

Live updates: House rejects Trump-backed plan on government shutdown, leaving next steps uncertain

President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to fund the government was rejected by the House. Democrats refused to support the bill after Trump and Elon Musk helped to tank its predecessor.

apnews.com

The House has rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s new plan to fund federal operations and suspend the debt ceiling a day before a government shutdown. Democrats refused to accommodate his sudden demands and the quick-fix cobbled together by Republican leaders.

In a hastily convened evening vote punctuated by angry outbursts over the self-made crisis, the lawmakers failed to reach the two-thirds threshold needed or passage — but House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared determined to try again before Friday’s midnight deadline, saying, “We’re going to do the right thing here” ahead of the vote.

 

[Chris]

https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/starbucks-workers-union-strike-friday-la-chicago-seattle-2024-12-20/

The workers' union representing over 10,000 baristas at Starbucks (SBUX.O)
, opens new tab said its members will strike at stores in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle for five days starting Friday, citing unresolved issues over wages, staffing and schedules.
This is the latest in a series of labor actions that have picked up pace across service industries following a period when workers at manufacturers in the automotive, aerospace and rail industries won substantial concessions from employers.

 

[Samoa Looch]

Suspect arrested on suspicion of bias-motivated assault of Grand Junction man: “This is Trump’s America now”

The victim told police that Egan rolled down his window and said, “Are you even a U.S. citizen? This is Trump’s America now! I’m a Marine, and I took an oath to protect this country from people lik…

www.denverpost.com

A man chased down and choked a journalist working for Grand Junction broadcasters KKCO and KJCT in front of the news stations’ offices after berating them about their nationality, police say.

Patrick Egan, 39, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of second-degree assault and bias-motivated crimes, both felonies, as well as harassment, a misdemeanor.

Egan began following the victim earlier in the day near Delta and confronted them at a stoplight, according to Egan’s arrest affidavit. The victim told police, according to the affidavit, that Egan rolled down his window and said, “Are you even a U.S. citizen? This is Trump’s America now! I’m a Marine, and I took an oath to protect this country from people like you!”

The victim called the director of the news station, who told them to drive to the office, located about a mile away. When they arrived, Egan got out of his vehicle and continued to badger them, demanding to see their ID.

The victim tried to run inside the building, and Egan tackled and choked them until he was restrained by other KKCO/KJCT employees.

Police said in a news release that the victim was medically evaluated at the scene.

 

[Chris]

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/12/20/us/government-shutdown-trump-news

The House approved legislation on Friday to avert a federal government shutdown that was just hours away, with lawmakers extending funding into mid-March and approving disaster relief for parts of the nation still recovering from storms.

The vote came after Republicans stripped out a provision sought by President-elect Donald J. Trump to suspend the federal debt limit and spare him the usually politically difficult task of doing so when he takes office. The debt measure incited a revolt by Republicans on Thursday and led to the defeat of Speaker Mike Johnson’s first attempt to extend government funding.

The measure that passed on Friday, by a vote of 366 to 34, must still be approved by the Senate and sent to President Biden to keep dollars flowing to federal agencies. Otherwise, funding will lapse at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

 

[Samoa Looch]

Backlash builds as Elon Musk endorses Germany’s far right

“Only the AfD can save Germany,” said the key Donald Trump ally.

www.politico.eu

Elon Musk is backing the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), triggering an outcry in Berlin in the run-up to a critical snap election.

“Only the AfD can save Germany,” the billionaire X owner wrote on the platform on Friday in the latest of a series of endorsements of European far-right parties.

Musk has recently supported European populist-right politicians in increasingly clear terms, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. Earlier this week, Farage boasted that Musk is “right behind” him — and raised the prospect that the tech tycoon would financially back his Reform UK party.

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

Oh man, a Fascist backing literal neo-Nazis? I'm shocked!