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Massie announces he has enough signatures for discharge petition for Epstein Files part 2
WASHINGTON (TNND) — Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie announced Wednesday that he got enough signatures for his discharge petition for the Epstein Files Transparency Act II.
“This mornibg we reached the required 218 signatures on my discharge petition for Epstein Files Transparency Act II!” he wrote on X.
He said he was working with Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna (California), Teresa Leger Fernandez (New Mexico) and Pramila Jayapal (Washington) to get the discharge petition to the floor for a vote. Click here to read more.
Mayor wants to raise Chicago’s rental tax to 20%
While Mayor Brandon Johnson wants to raise what’s often called the “cloud tax,” the charge in fact applies to a broad range of rented products.
Johnson proposes increasing Chicago’s Personal Property Lease Tax to 20%, up from 15%, a move that a majority of aldermen said in a letter dated Nov. 10 they won’t support.
The tax applies to all personal property rented within Chicago city limits and rented outside the city but used within. That includes tangible assets like construction equipment and intangible goods like digital software services.
The city’s municipal code defines taxable personal property broadly as “any and all property other than real property,” with real property generally being real estate, including land and permanent structures. Click here to read more.
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New Dem Congressman Suggests America Is Just As Bad As Iran
An incoming Democrat congressman repeatedly refused to say whether he considered the Islamic Republic of Iran an enemy of the United States during a CNN interview.
New Jersey Democratic Rep.-elect Adam Hamawy, a U.S. Army veteran, observant Muslim, and outspoken critic of Israel, won his race last Tuesday in the state’s deep-blue 12th Congressional District.
Appearing on CNN’s The Situation Room, Hamawy was repeatedly pressed by co-host Pamela Brown about his views on the Iranian regime after calling for the United States to end all military funding to Israel.
“Do you see Iran as the adversary?” Brown asked.
“We pushed them into a fight,” Hamawy insisted. “I think we both have to step back and ask: Is this helping either one of us?” Click here to read more.
United Airlines attempted hijacker is twice-deported illegal immigrant from Honduras, says DHS
Immigration officials said the man who tried to hijack a United Airlines flight Monday and claimed to have a bomb is a Honduran national who has been deported twice.
The Department of Homeland Security said Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, 34, crossed into Texas in 2011 and into New Mexico in 2014, but was quickly caught and removed both times.
That changed when Mr. Gomez-Alberto hopped the border into California in 2019. A judge allowed him to be released into the country as his immigration case played out in court, Homeland Security said. Click here to read more.
Surprise House passage of veterans bill sparks ‘trickery’ accusation
The House floor is frozen as Republicans and Democrats trade accusations about a controversial veterans bill that unexpectedly passed by voice vote Wednesday afternoon.
Republicans say Democrats simply neglected to ask for a roll-call vote, allowing the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act to immediately move to the Senate.
But a top Democrat accused GOP leaders of “trickery” in passing the bill, which had previously been pulled from the floor back in July due to bipartisan opposition.
A controversial provision in the bill would expand benefits for some individuals by paying for it with cuts to some future disability claims — something Democrats have largely opposed. Click here to read more.