Democrats controlled congress under bush

close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for August 19 Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain is putting the spin on the Biden administration's performance ahead of the November midterm elections in hopes of shoring up support for Democrats, who are in danger of losing control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In a Thursday interview with Politico , Klain touted what he described as "historic achievements" by President Biden, and argued Democrats were the "clearer" choice for voters despite persistent decades-high inflation, high gas prices and a spiraling crisis at the southern border. "We now have a presidency where the president has delivered the largest economic recovery plan since Roosevelt, the largest infrastructure plan since Eisenhower, the most judges confirmed since Kennedy, the … [Read more...] about WH Chief of Staff Ron Klain claims Biden’s ‘historic achievements’ will help Democrats in November midterms

SAN FRANCISCO — Snapchat, the ephemeral messaging app, introduced its first parental controls on Tuesday, as social media platforms face increasing scrutiny for exposing young users to potentially harmful content. Snap, Snapchat’s parent company, said in a blog post that its new tools would let parents see whom their teenagers were friends with on the app and whom they had communicated with in the previous seven days. Parents will also be able to report accounts that their children are friends with if they violate Snapchat’s policies. Parents will not be able to see their children’s conversations on the app. To gain access to the controls, people have to create Snapchat accounts and be friends with their children, who have to agree to the controls. The company said it would introduce additional features later, including one that lets parents see whom their children recently became friends with. Teenagers will also be able to notify their parents if they report accounts or … [Read more...] about Snapchat Introduces Its First Parental Controls

WASHINGTON — He promised a new social safety net. He pledged to develop a robust plan to fight global warming. He vowed to reduce the gap between rich and poor by making the wealthy “pay their fair share.” And along the way, Joseph R. Biden Jr. often said as he battled Donald J. Trump for the White House in 2020, he would prove that democracy still works in America. With final House passage of the Inflation Reduction Act on Friday, President Biden is poised to deliver the latest in a series of legislative victories that will ripple across the country for decades — lowering the cost of prescription drugs, extending subsidies to help people pay for health insurance, reducing the deficit and investing more than $370 billion into climate and energy programs. “The choice we face as Americans is whether to protect the already-powerful or find the courage to build a future where everybody has a shot,” Mr. Biden said on Twitter . “Today, I proudly watched as House Democrats … [Read more...] about A Victory for Biden, and a Bet on America’s Future

WASHINGTON — If you’re a well-paid lawyer eyeing an electric Rivian sport-utility vehicle, you might want to buy it before New Year’s Day. If you’re a middle-class nurse saving up for a compact Chevrolet Bolt, you might want to wait until January. Those calculations — and a host of others pertaining to the red-hot electric vehicle market — come courtesy of an energy, tax and health care law that President Biden signed on Tuesday. It includes more than $370 billion in spending and tax incentives meant to address climate change, largely by encouraging people, businesses and electric utilities to reduce their use of fossil fuels. One incentive is the extension of a tax credit for the purchase of electric cars and trucks that can be worth up to $7,500. But that extension is complicated . The new law, passed with only Democratic votes in the House and Senate, contains lots of new rules that do not all take effect at the same time. Many of those new conditions were added to win over … [Read more...] about Why Buying an Electric Car Just Became More Complicated

The climate and tax deal announced by Senate Democrats on Wednesday would pump hundreds of billions of dollars into programs designed to speed the country’s transition away from an economy based largely on fossil fuels and toward cleaner energy sources. The legislation, called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, is a far cry from the ambitious multi-trillion-dollar domestic policy and tax proposal that President Biden sought and that Democrats in Congress spent more than a year laboring to pass. What remains is a downsized but still significant package, born of compromise between Democratic Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York. Here’s a quick look at what’s in the bill, which Democrats hope to muscle past Republican opposition in the Senate as early as next week. Tax credits for zero-carbon power plants The deal would provide billions of dollars in tax credits over 10 years for companies that … [Read more...] about Seven Key Provisions in the Climate Deal

The $369 billion climate and tax package Democrats in the Senate proposed this week could have far-reaching effects on the kinds of cars that Americans drive, where those cars are made and how the country produces its energy. The legislation also aims to break China’s hold on battery supply chains. The bill , which came back from the dead after Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia unexpectedly dropped his opposition, could greatly accelerate changes already underway in the automotive and energy industries. The proposal aims to simultaneously fight climate change and energize domestic manufacturing. For the most part, it would do so through tax breaks and other incentives — a carrot, rather than stick, approach that is likely to go down easier in corporate boardrooms and with voters. Democrats are proposing to expand cash incentives for buyers of electric vehicles, along with billions of dollars for automakers, battery manufacturers and suppliers to build or retool … [Read more...] about Climate Bill ‘Transformative’ for Auto and Energy Industries

Joan Steinau Lester is the author of six books, most recently " Loving Before Loving: A Marriage in Black and White ." The opinions in this commentary are her own. Read more opinion at CNN. (CNN) In 1981, long before the legalization of same-sex marriage , I committed to living for the rest of my life with Carole, the woman I loved. But when Carole and I introduced each other to friends, we had no language to describe our relationship. If I referred to her as my "partner," many assumed business partner. "Lover" felt too intimate, "life-partner" too clunky, "special friend" an abhorred remnant of a closeted era. "Wife" would have made our relationship absolutely clear, but it was a word denied to us at the time. Read More The penalties for this extra-legal union were severe: Carole's adored father, who was Catholic, refused to speak to her because of his faith-based objections. We both faced potential job losses … [Read more...] about Opinion: I will never live in the marital shadows again

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s highest court opened the door Friday to nullifying a voter ID mandate approved by citizens in 2018 because the lawmakers who put it on the ballot were elected from districts tainted by illegal racial bias. However, the North Carolina Supreme Court stopped short of striking down the voter ID requirement and another constitutional amendment that limited income tax rates, ruling that a lower court must gather more evidence on the measures before tossing them out. Voter identification is not currently required in North Carolina, because it's held up in separate litigation regarding state voter laws. Friday's ruling doesn't alter that situation. The long-awaited ruling, decided 4-3 by the court's Democratic majority, is a victory for the state NAACP, which sued Republican legislative leaders. It undoes a state appeals court ruling that upheld the amendments, and it sends the case back to Wake County Judge G. Bryan Collins, Jr., who previously … [Read more...] about Court opens door to voiding N. Carolina Voter ID amendment

When President Trump used the prime-time debate last week to urge his supporters to “go into the polls and watch very carefully,” he wasn’t just issuing a call for a grass-roots movement or raising the prospect of intimidation tactics at voting sites. He was also nodding to an extensive behind-the-scenes effort led by the lawyers and operatives on his campaign. Over the summer, Mr. Trump named a new campaign manager, Bill Stepien, who was once a top aide to former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey before being fired amid the “ Bridgegate ” scandal. Mr. Stepien swiftly elevated a group of lieutenants focused on using aggressive electoral tactics, moves that led Marc E. Elias, the leading election lawyer for the Democratic Party, to tweet that Mr. Trump was “tripling down” on “opposing voting rights.” One of the main architects of the effort is Justin Clark, whom Mr. Stepien promoted to deputy campaign manager. He has been viewed with suspicion among Democrats since he was … [Read more...] about Trump Told Supporters to ‘Watch’ Voting. His Staff Is More Than Watching.

WASHINGTON — Born amid made-up crowd size claims and “ alternative facts, ” the Trump presidency has been a factory of falsehood from the start, churning out distortions, conspiracy theories and brazen lies at an assembly-line pace that has challenged fact-checkers and defied historical analogy. But now, with the election two days away, the consequences of four years of fabulism are coming into focus as President Trump argues that the vote itself is inherently “rigged,” tearing at the credibility of the system. Should the contest go into extra innings through legal challenges after Tuesday, it may leave a public with little faith in the outcome — and in its own democracy. During his final weekend of campaign rallies, Mr. Trump continued to sow doubt about the validity of the election, making clear that he would deem any outcome other than victory for him to be corrupt. At a rally in Philadelphia, which has a sizable nonwhite population and a Democratic-led government, he … [Read more...] about Dishonesty Has Defined the Trump Presidency. The Consequences Could Be Lasting.