US billionaire Elon Musk backed Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a guest opinion piece for Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper published online that prompted the commentary editor to resign in protest. In the commentary, published in German by the flagship paper of the Axel Springer media group, Musk expanded on his post on social media platform X last week claiming that "only the AfD can save Germany." "The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing extremist is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party's leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!" Musk said in the piece. Germany's domestic intelligence agency has classified the AfD at the national level as a suspected extremism case since 2021. Shortly after the piece was published online, the editor of the opinion section, Eva Marie Kogel, wrote on X that she had submitted her resignation, with a link to the commentary. "Democracy and journalism thrive on freedom of expression. This includes dealing with polarising positions and classifying them journalistically," the newspaper's editor-in-chief designate Jan Philipp Burgard and Ulf Poschardt, who takes over as publisher on January 1, told Reuters. They said discussion about Musk's piece, which had around 340 comments several hours after it was published, was "very revealing." Underneath Musk's commentary, the newspaper published a response by Burgard. "Musk's diagnosis is correct, but his therapeutic approach, that only the AfD can save Germany, is fatally false," he wrote, referencing the AfD's desire to leave the European Union and seek rapprochement with Russia as well as appease China. The AfD backing from Musk, who also defended his right to weigh in on German politics due to his "significant investments", comes as Germans are set to vote on February 23 after a coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed. The AfD is running second in opinion polls and might be able to thwart either a centre-right or centre-left majority, but Germany's mainstream, more centrist parties have pledged to shun any support from the AfD at national level.The Latest: Suspect in United Healthcare CEO's killing charged with weapons, forgery, other charges
Turkish FM Discusses with Blinken Need to Cooperate with New Syrian AdministrationGovernor Alex Otti has stressed the need for the creation of more Local Government Areas in Abia State, saying some Local Government Areas are too large to be made into two councils. Consequently, the Governor is working towards the creation of more Local Government Areas to alter the present 17 Council structure for administrative convenience and better service delivery to the people. Otti revealed, during a civic reception organized by Awomukwu Think Tank Forum in honour of two of their illustrious sons, Dr Monday Ubani, who was recently conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Chief Davidson Alaribe, who was earlier in the year inaugurated as the 60th (Diamond) President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), that the creation of additional Local Government Areas was not intended to divide the people but to bring governance closer to them. “When you look at some Local Governments, they are so big to even be two local Governments. And, if you know the geographical structure of this State, you will know that Ikwuano is one of those Local Governments that should not be one. “I would also like to State immediately that that is not an attempt to divide you people; it’s just for administrative convenience. So, we are going to do everything possible to ensure that the right thing is done.” While responding to a request by the people of Ikwuano to fix the Ariam-Usaka and other important roads in the LGA, Otti reiterated his stance that once elections were over, governance begins, hence, the need to work with all elected political leaders and parties to fix the State. “Distinguish Senator Austin Akobundu had also whispered to me that Ariam-Usaka Road made it into the proposed 2025 Federal Budget. I am going to work with him to ensure that if the money in the budget is not enough, we will put more money in the budget and get it done this year.” Governor Otti further disclosed that part of his administration’s major project in 2025 would be to provide potable water to Abians, which would be delivered through the direct Labour policy of his administration as was already the case with road construction and maintenance. “I want to assure you that Ikwuano will benefit a great deal from our 2025 water project. It is, therefore, our decision to put pipe-borne water in the different communities in Abia State by direct Labour. “To that extent, we have acquired a massive industrial drilling rig, which arrived in the State a few days ago and we will deploy them to all parts of the State. It can drill like 200 metres in an hour”. Using the story of his humble beginning and that of the ICAN Diamond President, Chief Alaribe, the Governor encouraged the young people to work hard, believe in God, believe in themselves, and pursue their dreams, saying that they are the only ones who can stop themselves from achieving greatness. While the celebrants thanked Governor Otti for honouring them with his presence, not just at the Civic reception, but also when the main events for which they were being celebrated at home happened, the Chairman of the occasion, Sen. Austin Akobundu (Abia Central ) pledged collaboration with the Governor for the development of the State. “He declared support with the Governor that Abians were not interested in the rhetorics of political parties but in the dividends of democracy. He also thanked Otti for his leadership style in reaching out and meeting with those of them in the National Assembly for the overall development of the State.
When the Philadelphia 76ers signed Paul George this offseason, they signed him believing he would be the top-notch isolation scorer he’s been throughout his career. More than that, George's addition was supposed to replace what James Harden once brought to the Sixers as an iso scorer. Thus far, the results have not been promising when comparing the two. Harden may not be the same player he was at the peak of his powers with the Houston Rockets, but he's still lethal enough in that department to still be considered one of the best isolation scorers in the NBA. In fact, Harden leads all NBA players in points scored in isolation with 131 points, according to NBA.com. With Kawhi Leonard out, the Los Angeles Clippers have asked Harden to shoulder the scoring load, and he's risen to the challenge. In that same respect, compare that to George, Harden's former teammate, and the results are not pretty. Paul George’s isolation scoring has also been putrid Again, George came to the Sixers with the reputation of a wing scorer. He has that reputation because he’s earned it from his time with the Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Clippers. However, he has not started the season well in isolation. George has scored 27 points in isolation in the eight games he’s played for the Sixers. It's, of course, worth noting Harden has played in 18 games, but the trends do not point to George matching Harden's impressive total with additional appearances. That is well short of what the Sixers wanted to see from George when they signed him. Seeing how much better Harden has been in that department makes it harder to stomach how underwhelming George has been as a player. The Sixers may have other scorers around him, like Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, but George was supposed to take the pressure off them and vice versa. At age 34 and with his injury history, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that George has declined a bit. However, his numbers tumbling to this extent is a major red flag that the Sixers may be unable to ignore if things don’t pick up soon. Harden thriving in this particular category may make George’s struggles even more painful to watch. MORE SIXERS NEWS: 76ers loss to Clippers goes from bad to worse with viral social media slipup
The left’s continued pursuit of so-called “social justice” has now taken an interesting turn: It has led to an all-out war on women. It has done so with an agenda so detached from reality that it threatens to undermine the very foundation of what womanhood even means. Last week, the lunacy of gender ideology hit a new low when over two dozen radical trans activists stormed a women’s restroom in the US Capitol. The stunt was meant to protest my efforts to protect women’s private spaces . Among those arrested was Chelsea Manning — a biological male who made headlines for leaking classified military secrets . These activists were not out to just disrupt the legislative process; they were making a public spectacle out of putting men in women’s bathrooms so as to intimidate women and make a political statement. This isn’t progress — it’s an assault on the dignity, privacy and safety of women. The entire transgender movement collapses under one simple question: What is a woman? And absolutely no one on the left can seem to define what a woman is with any sense of reality. Being a woman isn’t an abstract concept. It’s not a feeling, or a checkbox on a form. It’s real. It’s biological. It’s science . The truth is, the Democratic Party can’t be the party of women when it is constantly selling us out to placate the loudest, most extreme and most violent voices in its ranks. Progressive campaigns, when grounded in reality and aimed at addressing real injustices, has been some of the greatest forces for good in history. The women’s suffrage movement, the fight to end segregation, and the civil rights movement proved what sincere activists can achieve when their work is rooted in truth and common sense. But in 2024, the left’s relentless push for so-called “progress” has gone off the rails. It’s been hijacked by a radical egalitarianism that rejects biology, science and basic truth, tearing apart societal norms and insisting that a man can become a woman just by saying it. This isn’t progress — it’s a dangerous rejection of reality threatening everything women have fought for. In their pursuit of endless change, everything is up for grabs — as evidenced by their quest to conquer women’s restrooms, changing rooms and locker rooms. Tomorrow, who knows what they’ll push? It’s not progress to erase women. It’s not equality to make women less safe. And it’s certainly not feminism to force women to take a back seat to mentally ill men. Real advocacy for women is about action to protect them from real harm, not virtue-signaling. It’s about ensuring every woman has access to the tools and protections she needs to live, work, and attain the American Dream. It’s about addressing the real challenges women face — not redefining what a woman is . Advocating for women means fighting for access to contraception, ensuring couples struggling with infertility can afford IVF, and eliminating the rape kit backlog so survivors aren’t left waiting years for justice. It means safeguarding the privacy and safety of women in restrooms, locker rooms, prisons and shelters. It means guaranteeing women’s constitutional rights under Article IV, giving them equal protection under the law. But Democrats don’t care about these issues. Instead, they care about prioritizing policies that blur the lines between the sexes and force women to compete with biological men in sports , share their private spaces and forfeit their opportunities. They’re unapologetically erasing women right in front of us. These aren’t abstract fears. They’re happening in real time, and women are losing out because of it. If it were up to the left, women would have nowhere to go. If Democrats want to claim they’re for women, they need to start acting like it. Until then, the gender-ideology crusade will be a winning issue for Republicans as women see the leftist progressive agenda for what it is: An erasure of everything we as women have ever fought to achieve. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace represents South Carolina’s 1st District in Congress.RADFORD, Va. (AP) — Jarvis Moss scored 15 points and Jonas Sirtautas had a go-ahead three-point play in overtime to help Radford hold off Bucknell 74-70 on Sunday night. Sirtautas gave the Highlanders the lead for good with 2:38 left in the extra period. Moss shot 4 of 13 from the field, including 2 for 7 from 3-point range, and went 5 for 6 from the line for the Highlanders (9-2). Josiah Harris scored 12 points and added five rebounds. Achile Spadone led the Bison (4-7) in scoring, finishing with 22 points and two steals. Bucknell also got 19 points and four assists from Josh Bascoe. Noah Williamson had nine points. Bascoe's layup with 12 seconds left forced overtime tied at 59. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
《TAIPEI TIMES》 Examination Yuan waives police height requirements
MILAN (Reuters) - Meta and Serie A sealed a deal to cooperate against illegal live streaming of soccer matches, they said on Friday, as Italy's top flight league steps up efforts to protect the value of its broadcast rights. Under the deal, Serie A will obtain access to some Meta tools for real-time monitoring, reporting and fast removal of any Serie A games illegally streamed on the U.S. giant's social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. "In particular, we are helping the league to develop a software which would make the reporting process easier and faster," said Luca Colombo, country director for Meta in Italy. TV rights make up the bulk of revenue for Serie A teams including champions Inter, AC Milan, Napoli and Juventus. Online search giants and social media platforms have often been blamed by right holders for facilitating access to illegal live-streaming services. Under five-year contracts to show games in its home market until 2029, Serie A has pocketed some 4.5 billion euros ($4.7 billion) from sports streaming platform DAZN and Comcast's pay-TV unit Sky. "The cooperation with Meta is a first step, and I hope that other platforms will join our efforts," said Serie A Chief Executive Luigi De Siervo. Italian authorities have intensified efforts to counter online piracy, which is costing billion of euros to broadcasters and sports leagues globally. Rome last year approved a law which enabled the country's communication watchdog (AGCOM) to swiftly suppress pirate streaming channels with a focus on live events, including sports. This month Italian police dismantled a video piracy network which had over 22 million users across Europe, with an alleged turnover of 3 billion euros a year. ($1 = 0.9521 euros) (Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Keith Weir)LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville has approved a five-year contract extension through June 2030 for athletic director Josh Heird, whose 2 1/2-year tenure has included the hirings of two men’s basketball coaches and football coach Jeff Brohm. The university’s Board of Trustees on Thursday authorized President Kim Schatzel to execute the deal, three days after the University of Louisville Athletic Association board approved the agreement. Heird was named interim AD in December 2021 before being elevated to the full-time job the following June. Schatzel said in a release that the extension signals the school’s faith in Heird and added, “He is the right person and right leader” to take the athletic program forward to a bright future. Several significant personnel moves marked Heird’s initial tenure. He fired basketball coach Chris Mack in January 2022 and subsequently hired former Cardinals player Kenny Payne two months later. Heird fired Payne last March after two historically bad seasons and replaced him with Pat Kelsey on March 28. Heird also hired ex-Louisville quarterback and assistant Brohm in December 2022. The Cardinals won 10 games to reach the ACC championship game for the first time last season and are headed for a second consecutive postseason under the Louisville native with a berth in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas. Heird has also extended contracts for women’s basketball coach Jeff Walz, volleyball coach Dani Busboom-Kelly and baseball coach Dan McDonnell. The AD’s other achievements include a $41 million naming rights deal for the Cardinal Stadium football field along with a $4 million club renovation. He also secured a $1 million donation to enhance Louisville's Jim Patterson Stadium baseball field. Heird also serves on the NCAA women’s basketball selection committee. AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports'As open as it has ever been' - is this the tightest Premier League?Tata Power 0.53% as Sensex
WASHINGTON (AP) — After several weeks working mostly behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role: Helping Donald Trump try to get his most contentious Cabinet picks to confirmation in the Senate, where Vance has served for the last two years. Vance arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday with former Rep. Matt Gaetz and spent the morning sitting in on meetings between Trump’s choice for attorney general and key Republicans, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The effort was for naught: Gaetz announced a day later that he was withdrawing his name amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations and the reality that he was unlikely to be confirmed. Thursday morning Vance was back, this time accompanying Pete Hegseth, the “Fox & Friends Weekend” host whom Trump has tapped to be the next secretary of defense. Hegseth also has faced allegations of sexual assault that he denies. Vance is expected to accompany other nominees for meetings in coming weeks as he tries to leverage the two years he has spent in the Senate to help push through Trump's picks. The role of introducing nominees around Capitol Hill is an unusual one for a vice president-elect. Usually the job goes to a former senator who has close relationships on the Hill, or a more junior aide. But this time the role fits Vance, said Marc Short, who served as Trump’s first director of legislative affairs as well as chief of staff to Trump’s first vice president, Mike Pence, who spent more than a decade in Congress and led the former president’s transition ahead of his first term. ”JD probably has a lot of current allies in the Senate and so it makes sense to have him utilized in that capacity,” Short said. Unlike the first Trump transition, which played out before cameras at Trump Tower in New York and at the president-elect's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, this one has largely happened behind closed doors in Palm Beach, Florida. There, a small group of officials and aides meet daily at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort to run through possible contenders and interview job candidates. The group includes Elon Musk, the billionaire who has spent so much time at the club that Trump has joked he can’t get rid of him. Vance has been a constant presence, even as he’s kept a lower profile. The Ohio senator has spent much of the last two weeks in Palm Beach, according to people familiar with his plans, playing an active role in the transition, on which he serves as honorary chair. Vance has been staying at a cottage on the property of the gilded club, where rooms are adorned with cherubs, oriental rugs and intricate golden inlays. It's a world away from the famously hardscrabble upbringing that Vance documented in the memoir that made him famous, “Hillbilly Elegy.” His young children have also joined him at Mar-a-Lago, at times. Vance was photographed in shorts and a polo shirt playing with his kids on the seawall of the property with a large palm frond, a U.S. Secret Service robotic security dog in the distance. On the rare days when he is not in Palm Beach, Vance has been joining the sessions remotely via Zoom. Though he has taken a break from TV interviews after months of constant appearances, Vance has been active in the meetings, which began immediately after the election and include interviews and as well as presentations on candidates’ pluses and minuses. Among those interviewed: Contenders to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray , as Vance wrote in a since-deleted social media post. Defending himself from criticism that he’d missed a Senate vote in which one of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees was confirmed, Vance wrote that he was meeting at the time "with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI Director.” “I tend to think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45,” Vance added on X. “But that’s just me.” While Vance did not come in to the transition with a list of people he wanted to see in specific roles, he and his friend, Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is also a member of the transition team, were eager to see former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. find roles in the administration. Trump ended up selecting Gabbard as the next director of national intelligence , a powerful position that sits atop the nation’s spy agencies and acts as the president’s top intelligence adviser. And he chose Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services , a massive agency that oversees everything from drug and food safety to Medicare and Medicaid. Vance was also a big booster of Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who will serve as Trump's “border czar.” In another sign of Vance's influence, James Braid, a top aide to the senator, is expected to serve as Trump’s legislative affairs director. Allies say it’s too early to discuss what portfolio Vance might take on in the White House. While he gravitates to issues like trade, immigration and tech policy, Vance sees his role as doing whatever Trump needs. Vance was spotted days after the election giving his son’s Boy Scout troop a tour of the Capitol and was there the day of leadership elections. He returned in earnest this week, first with Gaetz — arguably Trump’s most divisive pick — and then Hegseth, who has was been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017, according to an investigative report made public this week. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing. Vance hosted Hegseth in his Senate office as GOP senators, including those who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, filtered in to meet with the nominee for defense secretary. While a president’s nominees usually visit individual senators’ offices, meeting them on their own turf, the freshman senator — who is accompanied everywhere by a large Secret Service detail that makes moving around more unwieldy — instead brought Gaetz to a room in the Capitol on Wednesday and Hegseth to his office on Thursday. Senators came to them. Vance made it to votes Wednesday and Thursday, but missed others on Thursday afternoon. Vance is expected to continue to leverage his relationships in the Senate after Trump takes office. But many Republicans there have longer relationships with Trump himself. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said that Trump was often the first person to call him back when he was trying to reach high-level White House officials during Trump's first term. “He has the most active Rolodex of just about anybody I’ve ever known,” Cramer said, adding that Vance would make a good addition. “They’ll divide names up by who has the most persuasion here,” Cramer said, but added, “Whoever his liaison is will not work as hard at it as he will.” Cramer was complimentary of the Ohio senator, saying he was “pleasant” and ” interesting” to be around. ′′He doesn’t have the long relationships," he said. "But we all like people that have done what we’ve done. I mean, that’s sort of a natural kinship, just probably not as personally tied.” Under the Constitution, Vance will also have a role presiding over the Senate and breaking tie votes. But he's not likely to be needed for that as often as was Kamala Harris, who broke a record number of ties for Democrats as vice president, since Republicans will have a bigger cushion in the chamber next year. Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
Former Portugal, Manchester United and Melbourne Victory winger Nani has announced his retirement at the age of 38. Nani joined United in 2007 and went on to make 230 appearances for the English Premier League club, scoring 41 goals. He won the Champions League in his first season and went on to win four EPL titles and two League Cups in eight seasons. Nani later played 10 games for A-League Men side Melbourne Victory in the 2022-23 season. "The time has come to say goodbye, I have decided to finish my career as a professional player," Nani wrote on social media. "It's been an amazing ride and I wanted to thank every single person who has helped me and supported me through the highs and lows during a career which lasted over 20 years and gave me so many unforgettable memories. Time to turn a new leaf and focus on new goals and dreams. See you soon!" Nani, who has been playing in the Portuguese top flight this season for his hometown club Estrela Amadora, played his last game against his former club Sporting last month. He also played for Valencia, Lazio, Orlando City, Venezia and Adana Demirspor. Nani scored 24 goals in 112 caps for Portugal, winning the European Championship in 2016.
'Magnificent Seven' Review: Nvidia soars 183% YTD to lead US tech pack in 2024; Meta ranks second; Full list
Seattle Seahawks receiver is DK Metcalf is just fine when he doesn’t have the the ball because it means he gets to showcase his blocking skills. “I just look at it as a sign of respect that I’ve gained from other defensive coordinators and just continue to do my job with it as blocking or being a decoy,” the two-time Pro Bowler said. While opposing defenses have keyed in on Metcalf, other aspects of Seattle’s offense have surfaced during its four-game winning streak. The run has the Seahawks (8-5) sitting atop the NFC West heading into Sunday night’s game against the visiting Green Bay Packers (9-4). Geno Smith’s new top target is second-year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who needs 89 receiving yards for his first career 1,000-yard season. Smith-Njigba has 75 catches for 911 yards and five touchdowns, while Metcalf, often dealing with double coverage, has 54 catches for 812 yards and two scores. Metcalf says he feels the pride of a “proud parent or a big brother” when it comes to Smith-Njigba’s success. Seattle’s offense also got a boost from the ground game in a 30-18 victory over the Arizona Cardinals last weekend . Zach Charbonnet, filling in for the injured Kenneth Walker III, ran for a career-best 134 yards and two touchdowns. RELATED COVERAGE 49ers LB De’Vondre Campbell refuses to enter game after losing his starting spot The Rams get 4 field goals to beat the 49ers 12-6 in a sloppy game Saints choose Jake Haener to start in Derek Carr’s place against Washington, AP source says The Seahawks face another hot team in the Packers (9-4), who have won seven of nine. Green Bay’s two losses over that stretch have come against NFC-best Detroit (12-1), including a 34-31 victory by the Lions on Dec. 5, which means the NFC North title is likely out of reach for the Packers. The Packers are well-positioned for a playoff berth, but that almost certainly won’t come this weekend. They would need a win, a loss or tie by the Atlanta Falcons and a tie between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers. The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . Metcalf, who learned to block from his father, former Chicago Bears offensive lineman Terrence Metcalf, says he tries to take blocking seriously to set himself apart from other receivers. His priorities are simple when he’s getting double-teamed and the ball goes elsewhere. “Trying to block my (butt) off and trying to get pancakes on defensive backs,” he said. Love heats up When the Packers surged their way into the playoffs last season, quarterback Jordan Love was a major reason why. He had 18 touchdown passes and one interception during Green Bay’s final eight games. During the last four games of this season, Love ranks third in the NFL with a 118.9 passer rating with six touchdowns, one interception and a league-best 10.3 yards per attempt. “I always feel like I can put the ball where I want to — and that’s part of it, too, having that confidence to be able to throw those passes,” Love said. “There’s always like I said a handful of plays that might not come off or be in the exact spot that you wanted it to or the throw might be a little bit off. So, that’s where you’ve just got to try to be at your best every play, be consistent and accurate as possible.” Passing fancy Green Bay’s pass defense has been picked apart the last two weeks. First, it was torched by Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins in a Packers win. Next, it allowed Jared Goff to complete his final 13 passes as the Lions rallied to victory. It won’t get any easier this week. Smith is second in the NFL in attempts, completions and passing yards and is fifth in completion percentage. “It’s been a remarkable turnaround for him in terms of just where he started,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “It’s not always where you start, but where you finish. And it tells me a lot about the person in terms of his resiliency and ability to fight through some adversity. He’s a dangerous quarterback.” The potential return of former All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander (knee) could help the Packers. Fashion forward Will the Packers break out their head-to-toe white uniforms? The last time Green Bay wore the winter white look was in a 24-22 win over Houston in October. The Packers asked fans to weigh in on social media . As for the Seahawks, they’ll be sporting their “Action Green” uniforms. Metcalf is a fan. “I would say this about the Action Green, I love them personally in my opinion, but the big guys hate them. I don’t know why, don’t ask me,” he said. “Hopefully, the Packers wear all white, so it’ll be a fun-looking game.” ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflPenn State kicks off Sunshine Slam by cruising past Fordham
Relay Therapeutics to Present Updated Clinical Data on RLY-2608 in HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer at ...WASHINGTON: Donald Trump’s Republicans are promising to hit the gas next year when they assume full control of the US Congress, with little to stop them from executing the president-elect’s promises to slash taxes and reorder the global trade landscape. But the $28 trillion Treasury debt market is flashing a red warning light against adding excessively to a debt load already expanding at a pace of $2 trillion a year. What is yet to be seen is whether these concerns will be enough to slow Republican lawmakers’ ambitions or push them to find offsetting savings on a tax break agenda estimated to cost nearly $8 trillion over 10 years. Markets are betting that Trump’s tax cuts and tariffs will fuel inflation as investors demand stronger returns on longer-term Treasuries. Yields on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note have risen to 4.4 percent, up about 75 basis points since “Trump trades” began dominating Wall Street in late September. That trend is driving higher interest rates for mortgages, car loans and credit card debt, counteracting Federal Reserve rate cuts and potentially putting US growth at risk. It is also raising the cost of financing US deficits and eating up the federal budget. Interest on the public debt topped $1 trillion for the first time during the fiscal year ended Sept 30, making it the second-largest single expenditure after the Social Security retirement program. “In a weird way, the bond market is now on the verge of running this country,” said Republican Representative David Schweikert, who sits on the House of Representatives’ tax- and trade-focused Ways and Means Committee. The market signals mean there are no “blank checks” for Congress and the tax cuts will need to be paired with spending cuts, he said in an interview. “It is a hurdle in the financing of the US government.” Managing that hurdle will fall to Trump’s pick to lead the Treasury Department, hedge fund manager Scott Bessent. Bessent has argued that Trump’s economic agenda will unleash stronger economic growth that will in turn drive up revenue and boost market confidence. His appointment could also reduce the chance of severe tariffs. The budget math is daunting. Trump has promised to extend the tax cuts passed in 2017, during his first term in the White House, for individuals and small businesses that are due to expire next year, which tax experts say will add $4 trillion to the current $36 trillion in total US debt over 10 years. That’s on top of debt already forecast by the Congressional Budget Office to grow by $22 trillion over the same period, based on current laws. Trump also promised voters generous new tax breaks, including ending taxes on Social Security, overtime and tip income and restoring deductions for car loan interest. The tab is likely to reach $7.75 trillion above the CBO baseline over 10 years, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-partisan fiscal watchdog group. Concern over the bond market’s influence on Trump’s agenda is more the exception than the rule among congressional Republicans interviewed some two weeks after he won the Nov 5 presidential election and his party took control of Congress. Some fell back on the party’s long-held view that tax cuts can pay for themselves with stronger growth - a line that was used to sell Trump’s original 2017 tax cuts. Budget forecasters including the Joint Committee on Taxation have estimated that those cuts added more than $1 trillion to deficits over 10 years. An analysis of economic feedback on extending the tax cuts by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found that increased growth would only offset 1 percent to 14 percent of the revenues lost directly by the cuts, leaving the bulk to be financed through borrowing. Still, Republican Senator Mike Rounds said he believed the stability and growth that will come from extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts will allay some market concerns. “What we have to do is show them that we’re going to build an economy so that the ratio between the size of the economy and the debt changes positively in our favor,” Rounds said. Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington said accelerating economic growth to more than 3 percent annually - it’s already on that pace for the third quarter - would increase revenues by $3 trillion over a decade, but that additional spending cuts would be needed. Rising bond market yields were “a motivating factor to rein in deficit spending,” he said. Arrington and fellow Republican Representative Joe Wilson said they were hopeful the non-government panel led by billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy would be able to find ways to cut the budget, including on “mandatory spending” programs other than Social Security and the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly, which Trump has vowed to preserve. “With Elon Musk I think we have a real opportunity to actually identify waste and cut things that can be cut,” Wilson said. A key target is rescinding Democratic President Joe Biden’s clean energy subsidies, estimated by the CBO to cost nearly $800 billion over 10 years, and some $60 billion in funds to modernize the Internal Revenue Service, although that would expand deficits in the long run by curbing audits. Republicans in the new year will likely rely on budget procedures that bypass Senate rules requiring 60 of the 100 members in the chamber to agree on most legislation to pass Trump’s tax agenda with a simple majority. Republican Senator Mike Crapo, the incoming chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said it was too early to determine which tax policies would be included in initial legislation, adding that there was market “misinterpretation of what Trump is doing or going to do.” “A lot of people are saying, well, which tax policies are you going to do?” Crapo said. “And the answer to that is, the ones that we figure out are the right ones.” Former President Bill Clinton’s political strategist James Carville famously said in 1993 that he wanted to be reincarnated as the bond market, because “you can intimidate everybody.” If Congress’ moves signal too big of a deficit hike, some market analysts are concerned that excess debt issuance will cause market indigestion that drives up yields sharply. “One can’t exclude the risk that trust in US economic policymaking might be lost, the bond vigilantes could come out in full force and pressure rates significantly higher, and the US and global economies could be badly shaken,” said Mark Sobel, a former US Treasury official who is now the US chairman at the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, a think tank. Nathan Thooft, chief investment officer and senior portfolio manager for Manulife Investment Management, said Congress and Trump’s administration will likely adjust course based on market reactions. “They will react to incoming feedback as it comes,” Thooft said. “Dollar gets too strong, they’re probably going to back away a little bit. Equity markets act up too much, they might back away a little bit. They care about these things.” — Reuters
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