This is what our politicians are doing instead of many the country better.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that the California lawmaker would join other celebrity guest judges including actor Tituss Burgess, actresses Kristen Chenoweth and Vanessa Hudgens, and singer Emma Bunton for the show’s upcoming third season.
Pelosi tweeted Thursday that she had a “fabulous” time filming her cameo for the show.
All I can say is, you betta werk! Had a fabulous time with @RuPaul and good luck to all the queens. #DragRacehttps://twitter.com/RuPaul/status/954074895247466497 …
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Drag Race All-Stars is a spin-off of the popular, long-running series RuPaul’s Drag Race, in which contestants from the original show vie to become the season’s top drag performer.
A representative for Pelosi told the Post that the 77-year-old lawmaker agreed to participate in the show as a way to stand against what she called President Donald Trump’s anti-LGBT policies.
The paper further reported that Pelosi was a fan of the show and its message of being proud of who you are.
RuPaul has been a vocal critic of Trump, telling the Hollywood Reporter in an August interview that the president’s administration represents a “resistance to moving forward.”
“That’s what the code words ‘make America great again’ are really saying,” the drag icon said. “Let’s go back in time to when we didn’t have to evolve and that we could just languish in our ignorance.”
RuPaul was also a featured speaker at last year’s Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade, which re-named itself the Resist March following Trump’s victory.
The third season of Drag Race All-Stars premieres Jan. 25 on VH1.
Apple recently said it had $252 billion in cash or cash equivalents abroad
Apple Inc. AAPL 1.65% said it would pay a one-time tax of $38 billion on its overseas cash holdings and ramp up spending in the U.S., as it seeks to emphasize its contributions to the American economy after years of taking criticism for outsourcing manufacturing to China.
The world’s most valuable publicly traded company laid out its plans Wednesday in a statement that was full of big-dollar figures, though it said that much of the money reflected Apple’s current pace of spending.
Taxing Foreign Profits
Companies have long sheltered foreign profits offshore. Now the tax bill is coming due. How much will they pay?
Apple said it would invest $30 billion in capital spending in the U.S. over five years that would create more than 20,000 jobs. The total includes a new campus, which initially will house technical support for customers, and $10 billion toward data centers across the country. It also will expand from $1 billion to $5 billion a fund it established last year for investing in advanced manufacturing in the U.S.
All told, Apple said it would directly contribute $350 billion to the U.S. economy over the next five years, with the bulk—about $55 billion this year, for example—coming from ongoing spending on parts and services from U.S. suppliers. That number also includes the federal tax payment and capital spending.
Chief Executive Tim Cook touted the plans as building on Apple’s support for the nation’s economy. “We have a deep sense of responsibility to give back to our country and the people who help make our success possible,” he said in a statement.
The announcement comes after President Donald Trump late last year signed into law a major overhaul of the U.S. tax code, under which companies must pay a one-time tax of 15.5% on overseas profits held in cash and other liquid assets. Apple cited those changes as the reason for its giant tax payment, which it said would likely be the largest of its kind, but didn’t say how much of its $252.3 billion in overseas cash holdings it plans to bring home.
The company said in November that it had earmarked $36 billion to cover deferred taxes on that money, assuming that it would eventually pay U.S. taxes on a portion of it by bringing it home.
Mr. Trump praised Apple’s announcement on Twitter, saying his policies allowed the tech giant “to bring massive amounts of money back to the United States.” He added, “Huge win for American workers and the USA!”
Apple didn’t provide historical comparisons for some of the figures it gave Wednesday. The company previously said it planned $16 billion in capital expenditures world-wide in the fiscal year that ends this September, up from $14.9 billion the previous year. However, Apple doesn’t break out its spending in the U.S., making it difficult to gauge how much of the $30 billion over five years it announced Wednesday is new.
Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said Apple’s plans are in line with Trump administration goals, but it isn’t clear how many of the commitments are new. And he said the company could deliver on those commitments with existing cash flow—without needing to tap cash holdings.
“It’s a nice number and puts a foot forward in line with where the administration wants to go with adding jobs and building in the U.S.,” he said. But “it’s not clear these investments were impacted in any way by tax reform.”
Apple has faced criticism over the past decade for overseas manufacturing of its iPhones, of which it has sold more than one billion, rather than making them domestically. Mr. Trump during the presidential campaign blasted the company for outsourcing. He later called on Apple to build a factory in the U.S. and last year said Mr. Cook promised to build three plants in the U.S.
Apple has responded over the past year by pointing to its spending on procurement in the U.S. and to the size of the so-called app economy spawned by the iPhone, which the company says has created more than 1.6 million U.S. jobs.
The tax overhaul’s one-time levy on overseas cash is often referred to as a repatriation tax, although it applies whether companies leave their foreign profits overseas or bring them to the U.S. It is intended as a transition from the previous tax system, under which the U.S. taxed all world-wide profits of an American company except those kept overseas, to the new system, in which the U.S. won’t tax most foreign profits at all. Companies may choose to pay the one-time tax over eight years.
The $38 billion in taxes Apple owes reflects its growth in the decade since Congress last reduced taxes on overseas holdings. In 2006, Apple recorded a tax charge of $51 million as it repatriated $1.6 billion in cash held overseas for the fiscal year.
Winners and Losers of the GOP Tax Bill
Christmas may be over but WSJ’s Richard Rubin keeps the holiday spirit alive by explaining who’s getting presents and who’s getting coal with the GOP tax bill.
Apple’s accumulated foreign profits of $252.3 billion amount to just over a quarter of the U.S. tech industry’s total, a Wall Street Journal analysis of 311 large public companies found, and about 9.5% of the $2.65 trillion in foreign profits reported by all companies in the analysis.
A tax obligation of $38 billion would work out to about 15% of the S&P 500’s total obligation under the repatriation tax, based on figures from the Journal analysis and a separate analysis by Zion Research Group. Altogether, the Joint Tax Committee estimated last month, the tax should raise about $339 billion over 10 years from all companies—meaning Apple could account for 11% of the total.
The changes in U.S. tax law triggering Apple’s $38 billion tax obligation don’t affect the company’s responsibility to repay Ireland €13 billion ($15.9 billion) in unpaid taxes in Europe, according to a spokesman for Ireland’s Department of Finance. Apple has challenged the ruling.
Apple also told employees Wednesday it is issuing each of them a bonus of $2,500 in restricted stock, according to a person familiar with the matter. The planned bonus, reported earlier by Bloomberg, adds Apple to the growing list of companies that are rewarding employees due to the new tax law, including AT&T Inc. and ComcastCorp.
If Apple brings home a large share of its overseas cash it could decide to apply some of it to more buybacks and dividends. Apple has returned $233.9 billion to investors since fiscal 2012.
Mr. Sacconaghi expects Apple to provide an update on potential increases to those programs when it reports quarterly results in April or May, when it typically announces such plans. That would give it a chance to see how much cash other companies plan to return to shareholders from overseas holdings—moves that could please investors but aren’t as helpful to public perception as investments in jobs. “No company with that much cash wants to be the first to do a significant buyback,” he said.
Apple’s announcement said it currently employs 84,000 people in the U.S., 4,000 more than it said a year ago.
The company said it would offer more information later this year on its planned new campus. The facility is expected to be located outside of California and Texas, where the company already operates campuses: in Austin, Texas, and its new $5 billion headquarters, Apple Park, in Cupertino, Calif.
—Theo Francis, Richard Rubin and Natalia Drozdiak contributed to this article.
Corrections & Amplifications
Apple had $252.3 billion in cash and marketable securities held overseas as of the end of November. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated it had $246 billion overseas.
Liberals Just Keep Spreading Fake News Even When They Lose.
2017 was a year of unrelenting bias, unfair news coverage, and even downright fake news. Studies have shown that over 90% of the media’s coverage of President Trump is negative.
Below are the winners of the 2017 Fake News Awards.
1. The New York Times’ Paul Krugman claimed on the day of President Trump’s historic, landslide victory that the economy would never recover.
2. ABC News’ Brian Ross CHOKES and sends markets in a downward spiral with false report.
3. CNN FALSELY reported that candidate Donald Trump and his son Donald J. Trump, Jr. had access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks.
(via Fox News)
4. TIME FALSELY reported that President Trump removed a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Oval Office.
5. Washington Post FALSELY reported the President’s massive sold-out rally in Pensacola, Florida was empty. Dishonest reporter showed picture of empty arena HOURS before crowd started pouring in.
.@DaveWeigel@WashingtonPost put out a phony photo of an empty arena hours before I arrived @ the venue, w/ thousands of people outside, on their way in. Real photos now shown as I spoke. Packed house, many people unable to get in. Demand apology & retraction from FAKE NEWS WaPo!
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6. CNN FALSELY edited a video to make it appear President Trump defiantly overfed fish during a visit with the Japanese prime minister. Japanese prime minister actually led the way with the feeding.
7. CNN FALSELY reported about Anthony Scaramucci’s meeting with a Russian, but retracted it due to a “significant breakdown in process.”
(via washingtonpost.com)
8. Newsweek FALSELY reported that Polish First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda did not shake President Trump’s hand.
9. CNN FALSELY reported that former FBI Director James Comey would dispute President Trump’s claim that he was told he is not under investigation.
10. The New York Times FALSELY claimed on the front page that the Trump administration had hidden a climate report.
(via WashingtonPost.com)
11. And last, but not least: “RUSSIA COLLUSION!” Russian collusion is perhaps the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people. THERE IS NO COLLUSION!
Well, now that collusion with Russia is proving to be a total hoax and the only collusion is with Hillary Clinton and the FBI/Russia, the Fake News Media (Mainstream) and this phony new book are hitting out at every new front imaginable. They should try winning an election. Sad!
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While the media spent 90% of the time focused on negative coverage or fake news, the President has been getting results:
1. The economy has created nearly 2 million jobs and gained over $8 trillion in wealth since the President’s inauguration.
2. African Americans and Hispanics are enjoying the lowest unemployment rate in recorded history.
3. The President signed historic tax cuts and relief for hardworking Americans not seen since President Reagan.
4. President Trump’s plan to cut regulations has exceeded “2 out for every 1 in” mandate, issuing 22 deregulatory actions for every one new regulatory action.
5. The President has unleashed an American energy boom by ending Obama-era regulations, approving the Keystone pipeline, auctioning off millions of new acres for energy exploration, and opening up ANWR.
6. ISIS is in retreat, having been crushed in Iraq and Syria.
7. President Trump followed through on his promise to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel and instructed the State Department to begin to relocate the Embassy.
8. With President Trump’s encouragement, more member nations are paying their fair share for the common defense in the NATO alliance.
9. Signed the Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to allow senior officials in the VA to fire failing employees and establishes safeguards to protect whistleblowers.
10. President Trump kept his promise and appointed Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Dumb ass “Dick” Durbin says he is working full time for the DACA recipients. Liberals and the vile left seem to have forgotten who they are suppose to be working for. Look at Dick Durbin’s state which is Illinois and it is not doing so damn well right now. Look at the damn violence in Illinois and tell me should “Tricky Dick” Durbin be working harder for Illegal Immigrants or Americans in his own state?
(1) “The violent crime rate for that northwest Illinois town of 150,000 stands at 1,374 per 100,000 residents. Violent crime includes murders, rapes, robberies and property crimes, like burglary and car theft.
There were 19 reported murders in Rockford, ranking No. 1 outside of Chicago (414 murders). Peoria reported 16 murders.
South suburban Harvey, with a population of only about 25,500, had an alarmingly high 10 murders.
For suburban Chicago, Aurora is ranked No. 1 with a crime rate of about 300 per 100,000 residents.
The study compiled FBI violent crime statistics to determine the rankings.
According to the FBI report, Chicago is not included because the FBI believes crime in the city is under-reported and specifically doesn’t properly classify the number of rapes. Not surprisingly, even without those numbers, the city has the highest crime rate in the state, considering its size and population density.
Without including rapes and aggravated assaults, there were about 12,229 violent crimes and 95,908 property crimes in Chicago in 2013 — a total of 108,137 crimes. There were 414 murders, and more than 11,000 robberies. The property offenses include crimes like burglary and arson.
Not including Chicago, here are the 10 Illinois cities with the most violent crime:
I hate to sound like a damn broke record but it does bare repeating. We have Sen. Dick Durbin, Sen Tammy Duckworth, former President Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama, Fake preacher Jesse Jackson, Oprah Winfrey was there for a while, and Louis Louis Farrakhan. Then if you look at the Representatives there are 13 democrats and 5 republicans, plus we did not even start on the Mayors and Teachers Unions. To add insult to injury many believe they were on the verge of filing bankruptcy.
So my question to all of the race baiting mentally challenged liberals who have been elected to represent people in their respected districts. Why are you not working for the American People this damn hard? See some people would like to think you can negotiate with these demon filled liberals who say it is their job to protect the folks who broke the law. But these are the same morons that will have an aneurysm if you talk about tax-cuts on your money.
These are the same do-gooders who think that if a man decides to call himself a woman then, abracadabra Bruce Jenner you are a man. If I think I’m a lion does that make me one? If I say I’m a bird and I jump off a building will I be able to fly? We must stop thinking that liberals who are technically socialist, and communist, will be rational. Dick Durbin, Democrats and many liberals republicans like “The Cat Man” Lindsey “Queer” Graham will never do what is best for America. Why in the hell are we 20 trillion dollars in debt? Could some one please tell me how in is it great for America that we keep bringing people from “ShitHole” Countries to America? Stop with the bullshit that we where built on immigration. Yes we were built on immigration, but that means “LEGAL IMMIGRATION” IDIOTS.
By ET Williams aka The Doctor Of Common Sense
Hell No It Is Not Our Job To Bring People From Every Damn Shithole Country Out There.
An illegal alien accused of murdering two California police officers told the courtroom during his trial Tuesday that he “wished” he had killed more officers.
“I wish I had killed more of the motherf*ckers,” the illegal alien said, according to the video.
“I will break out soon, and I will kill more, kill whoever gets in front of me. … There’s no need for a f*cking trial,” the illegal alien said as he flashed a grin.
Luis Bracamontes, 37, of Mexico allegedly shot and killed Sacramento-area sheriff’s deputies in 2014 and admitted to the crime in several court appearances.
He is also accused of shooting a driver in the head to steal his vehicle and wounding another deputy.
Judge Steve White told the jury to leave the courtroom as it became clear that Bracamontes planned to continue his expletive-laced tirade.
“I don’t f***ing regret that s***. Only thing that I f***ing regret is that I f***ing just killed two. I wish I killed more of those motherf***ers. … I will break out soon, and I will kill more–whoever f***ing get in front of me, just like that. There’s no need for a f***ing trial,” Bracamontes said.
Judge White warned Bracamontes that he would remove him from the courtroom if he continued his tirade. Then, he invited the jury back inside the court.
Bracamontes is facing the death penalty and life in prison for his role in the alleged killings, although his defense is trying to convince jurors that he should receive a lighter sentence.
In February 2017, Breitbart News reported that President Trump invited Jessica Davis and Susan Oliver, the widows of the two slain officers, to his joint address before Congress.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is confident that Democrats will take the blame if the government shuts down this weekend or Congress fails to find a fix to prevent DACA recipients from being deported. But Republicans on Capitol Hill aren’t so sure.
Many of them fear that voters will fault the GOP after looking at Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, his past flirtation with letting federal funding expire and the fact that Republicans are in control of the White House, the Senate and the House.
“When there are shutdowns, our side usually takes the hit,” said Republican Rep. Charlie Dent, who is retiring from the competitive Allentown, Penn.,-based district he’s represented for nearly a dozen years.
“It will be difficult for us to deflect the blame — whether we deserve it or not,” he added.
Trump blames Democrats for looming government shutdown 2:08
And with Democrats showing unexpected strength in recent elections — the latest a victory Tuesday in a Wisconsin state Senate district that Trump carried easily in 2016 — Republicans know they don’t have much margin for error heading into this year’s midterm elections.
On Tuesday, Trump laid out his argument that Democrats “don’t really want” to extend protections to DACA recipients and that they would be to blame for a shutdown.
The Democrats want to shut down the Government over Amnesty for all and Border Security. The biggest loser will be our rapidly rebuilding Military, at a time we need it more than ever. We need a merit based system of immigration, and we need it now! No more dangerous Lottery.
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But it was the Justice Department that announced in September that DACA would be canceled in March, creating a six-month window for Congress to write legislation protecting immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children or allow them to face deportation. In essence, Trump hung a sword over lawmakers and lit the cord holding it in place.
Negotiations between a bipartisan Senate group and the White House broke down last week in an acrimonious meeting at which Trump reportedly expressed his preference for immigrants from Norway over those who hail from Haiti and African nations. Trump has responded that the media accounts are inaccurate and on Tuesday the president said he wanted immigrants to come to America from everywhere.
The House Homeland Security chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, one of the authors of a bill that would allow DACA recipients to apply for legal status for three years at a time, said Tuesday that the GOP would suffer greatly if no solution is found and the administration begins deporting the roughly 800,000 people who were shielded by President Barack Obama’s executive order creating DACA.
“That would not play well for Republicans,” McCaul said.
Democrats have tied the issues together by threatening to vote against any spending bill that doesn’t include a DACA fix. Republican leaders say that should be dealt with separately, noting that the government’s authority to spend expires Friday while DACA remains in effect until early March, allowing for more time to take up that issue.
McCaul and some other Republicans contend that Democrats will watch their strategy backfire politically if they are perceived to have held government funding hostage for DACA recipients.
“If it’s shut down over immigration, the Democrats take the brunt of that,” said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
But if House Republican leaders can’t find enough votes for a temporary spending bill, it will be because a combination of Democrats and Republican spending hawks wouldn’t support it — complicating efforts to point fingers across the partisan aisle.
The House GOP unveiled legislation Tuesday night that would authorize government funding for another four weeks, while suspending several taxes that fund Obamacare and extending the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years. The bill doesn’t deal with DACA, and its anti-Obamacare provisions seem likely to both unify rank-and-file Republicans behind it, while further tempting Democrats to vote “no.”
Putting government operations at risk is a political gamble for both sides, but it’s clear that Republicans think the stakes — possibly their control of Congress — are too high to chance a shutdown or the possible deportation of DACA recipients.
If they were as certain as Trump that Democrats would take the fall, GOP campaign operatives would be working overtime to ensure Congress failed.
But Ohio Rep. Steve Stivers, chairman of the House Republicans’ campaign arm, refused to entertain the possibility of inaction.
“I feel confident that we will not shut the government down and that there will be a DACA fix before March,” he told NBC News. “I feel confident enough that both are going to happen that I don’t even consider the other option” — a shutdown or DACA deportations.
Nancy Pelosi
