Lawmakers Respond to Zawahiri Killing

Plus, the Senate will take another crack at a veteran health care bill.

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Good morning. Defying threats by the Chinese government, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has landed in Taiwan, becoming the highest-ranking American official to visit the self-governing island in more than two decades. She’s getting a warm welcome:

 

“We cannot stand by as the CCP proceeds to threaten Taiwan—and democracy itself,” Pelosi wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece published as she landed Tuesday. “Indeed, we take this trip at a time when the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy.”

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  1. Avatar photo
    Mary

    Thank you again this week. I have learned that it’s not worth getting worked up about legislation until I can read the Uphill coverage regarding what the bills do and say.

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  2. Very Old Grumpy Guy

    I think the fine people at The Dispatch are not owning up to how wrong they were about the Afghanistan pull out, no matter how in artfully it was done. We have just shown the world that we have an outrageous intelligence ability within a country in which we have ZERO official presence. We were able to bring a precision strike down upon the head of an enemy purely for revenge - a target that probably had no remaining strategic value. The strike was simply a huge flex to those that would vex us. To suggest, as The Dispatch has, that the anti- and pro- Afghanistan factions are both correct is disingenuous. Our intelligence gathering and technical abilities are super human. We are provoked at your peril.

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    PJ

    Where do I find the news on your site?

    Saying the "Biden administration carried out a calamitous U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan" is partisan drivel I do not care to pay for.

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    1. Avatar photocircle-angle-nib
      Haley Byrd Wilt vertical-nib Author

      I don’t see how that’s an unfair description of the withdrawal—during which the Taliban took power, the U.S. government made a rushed and incomplete evacuation of Afghan allies, and 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members were killed by a terrorist attack at the airport. It was calamitous.

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      1. GregS

        Come now, "calamitous" is clearly an opinion, not fact. If 13 dead American soldiers is a calamity, 2017, 2018, and 2019 were "calamitous occupations of Afghanistan."
        Lets stick to fact instead of opinion.

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          Chuckgold

          It was as calamitous as Trump's sellout to the Taliban, and his exclusion of the legit Afghan government from input on that agreement. Both Presidents favored the exit and both felt fine with blaming the other. And our Afghan Allies suffered for having helped us all of those years.

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    JohnM.

    I really appreciate these Congressional news digests, Haley. Thank you.

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    Dave K

    That opinion piece from Peter Meijer should be plastered across the media, but I'm sure CNN, MSNBC and others will not provide any critical analysis of it. The hypocrisy and utter moral failing of the DCCC just shows they really aren't any better than a lot of MAGA world, they just like to think they are.

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      PJ

      I am not sure the DCCC has any other choice. The republicans have not been playing by any reasonable rules for some time now. Ultimately the problem goes to "the government", as in the people and how they elect and supervise their representatives. All seriously hindered by the fact "you can't talk politics".

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        Dave K

        Didn't have any other choice???? Democrats: "Trump, MAGA World and the insurrectionists are an existential threat to our country and need to be stopped at any cost!!!!" as they funnel millions of dollars into the campaigns of those existential threats, including candidates opposed to those sane Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. They had a choice and they chose to dance with the devil in hopes their own prospects would be improved. NOT the good of the country which, by their own description, is existentially threatened by the very people they poured millions of dollars into. If Mastriano or Gibbs win office, the Democrats will bear significant responsibility for that. Its a dangerous game they play and the fact they think it is worth it tells you all you need to know about their leadership.

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          Chuckgold

          Like!

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    Patrick

    Interesting, based on this reporting I’ll admit to being more wrong than right on the PACT act. I thought Toomey flipped after the changes, I didn’t realize he was a No all along.

    That said, it sounds like in the interim Toomey convinced other R’s to flip to No. Some I believe recognized the concern he had been raising all along and came around to his view honestly, and others (Cruz, cough) may have flipped more out of spite than principle. We’ll never know.

    But Toomey did have a legit objection. And still does have a legit objection. That part was largely ignored in the criticism. I hope they find a compromise that can pass.

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    1. Acre00

      I suspect that it's a combination of both for most of them. Like, they didn't like the language but were going to let the democrats have it in the spirit of cooperation? bipartisanship? whatever the Senate was running on the past few months. But after they had the rug pulled out from under them with this new bill, they changed their minds.

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    Earl King

    Sadly I keep saying it. Giving incentives to people to buy E vehicles which are in short supply will cause new and used car prices to rise. Creating more demand on a product in short supply will not be anti inflationary.
    As for the 15% minimum Corporate Tax. One of the biggest positive effects of the 2017 Tax Bill was to allow business deductions to taken in the year they occur rather than spreading it out over years. Business Deductions are not a simple lunch at the Morton’s. They generally are for new business services and equipment. In particular they tend to be for new equipment. These are large expenditures. I reject the notion they are “loopholes”. Encouraging modernization is a good thing. These companies Biden and Manchin are talking about took legitimate business deductions or charges against their profits. We did collect taxes on this money as sales and income for the companies that sold their equipment.

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      PJ

      I am good with the E vehicle incentives. Let the fools fund the development and excessive profits, just as they have in the past for pellet stoves and other government incentivized products. As for me, I will wait until the incentives are gone and the good clearance bargains are available.

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        Earl King

        Going to be a while....its like people have no idea how markets work. Make borrowing any amount of money for college available and all it did was drove up college pricing....Way beyond inflation....Give people money to buy cars? the result will be the same especially when there are shortages. My CA friend waited 6 mos for a Tesla. oh well

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    2. Brilliantly Oblivious

      My objection is that the bill regarding minimum tax starts with "adjusted financial statement income" rather than taxable income as in previous incarnations of the corporate minimum tax. This creates a whole raft of problems as GAAP and IFRS standards can vary significantly in timing and definition from US taxable income. But hey, I'm sure the bill proposers understand this well.

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    3. Acre00

      The word "loophole" needs to be retired completely. The way it's used now just means "following the law as written"

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        Earl King

        exactly, as if it is smarmy.

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    Bill B

    Good for Pelosi. China's threats on the Pelosi visit made it almost necessary she go.

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      Angie

      Yeah, we can't be seen to allow ourselves to be bullied by China, and I am guessing Taiwan is happy

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        Dave Conant - MO

        Taiwan will be even happier if we politely and respectfully make it clear to the PRC that we will accept no incursions on the Taiwanese territory.

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          Angie

          True, I am sure that is what they want

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