Stephen A Smith has final say on US Presidential bid
Stephen A. Smith announced on The Daily Show that he has "no desire" to run for political office, including president in 2028, citing a reluctance to "give up a lot of money" and be beholden to special interests.
The ESPN star stated he prefers to be a "hell raiser" and a voice for change rather than holding office, criticising the divisive actions of politicians.
He expressed a desire to hold people accountable and stop the "BS" in politics, aiming to make those in power uncomfortable.
The 57-year-old had previously hinted at a possible political run, with Donald Trump even saying he'd "love" to see Smith run for office.
Stephen A. Smith has criticised both Donald Trump and the Democratic Party, accusing politicians of dividing the country for their own selfish gains.
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The Guardian
37 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Americans don't see US supreme court as politically neutral, poll finds
Americans are divided on major issues that the US supreme court is due to rule on in the coming weeks, but most agree on one thing: neither Republicans nor Democrats see the nation's top judicial body as politically neutral, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Just 20% of respondents to the poll agreed that the supreme court is politically neutral while 58% disagreed – and the rest either said they did not know or did not respond. Among people who described themselves as Democrats, only 10% agreed it was politically neutral and 74% disagreed, while among Republicans 29% agreed and 54% disagreed. The two-day poll, which closed on Thursday, was based on responses from 1,136 US adults. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The court has issued major rulings in recent years including in cases rolling back abortion rights, expanding gun rights, recognizing presidential immunity from prosecution for official acts, rejecting race-conscious collegiate admissions and curbing the power of federal agencies. Its 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Donald Trump during his first presidency. In the poll, a minority of respondents – 44% – expressed a favorable view of the court, including 67% of Republicans and 26% of Democrats. The supreme court's popularity has declined since its June 2022 decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that had legalized abortion nationwide. Fifty-seven per cent of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted at the end of 2021 expressed a favorable opinion of the court. By the end of June 2022, that figure had fallen to 43%. The justices are expected to issue rulings in major cases in the coming weeks as they near the end of their current term that began in October. Among these cases are one on the legality of Tennessee's Republican-backed law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors and one involving Trump's executive order restricting automatic birthright citizenship, part of his hardline approach to immigration. Fifty-three per cent of respondents in the new poll said they supported 'laws that prevent transgender children under the age of 18 from getting medical treatment related to gender identity and gender transitioning'. Another 28% opposed such laws and the rest were unsure or did not answer the question. Among Republicans, support for such laws was at 57% and opposition at 28%, while among Democrats support was at 23% and opposition at 54%. During December arguments in the case, the court's conservative justices signaled their willingness to uphold the law. After Trump signed his birthright citizenship directive in January, 22 states as well as immigrant rights advocates and pregnant immigrants sued, arguing that it was a violation of citizenship language in the US constitution's 14th amendment. In the poll, only 24% of all respondents supported ending birthright citizenship and 52% – most – opposed Trump on the issue. Among Democrats, 5% supported ending it, with 84% opposed. Among Republicans, 43% supported ending it, with 24% opposed. The rest said they were unsure or did not respond to the question. The court also by the end of June is expected to issue a ruling on the legality of a Texas law that requires people to verify their age online before accessing pornographic websites. The poll found strong support for such laws. Among all respondents, 70% were in support and 14% opposed. Among Democrats, 65% supported and 18% opposed, while among Republicans 80% supported and 7% opposed. During January arguments in the case, the justices seemed to agree that states can try to keep adult material from minors but also voiced concern over burdens imposed on adults to view constitutionally protected material.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Congestion pricing is ‘thriving' in New York City — but can it survive Trump?
Every week, Stan Avedon drives across lower Manhattan, moving bikes between the two NYC Velo shops he's managed for the last 15 years. What used to be a grinding crawl through some of the world's worst traffic is noticeably less painful lately. 'It's like night and day,' he said. Avedon's transformed commute is the result of the most ambitious policy to hit New York in recent memory. Starting 5 January, drivers entering lower Manhattan began paying a $9 congestiontoll aimed at deterring drivers and raise desperately needed funds for the city's deteriorating public transit system. Avedon doesn't mind being charged for his newly gained time. 'As a motorist, it's like the price of gas goes up. The cost to be in the city goes up.' For decades, New York lawmakers have proposed plans for a congestion zone where drivers would have to pay a fee to enter the busiest parts of Manhattan as a means of funding public transit. The idea was first floated in 1952, but it wasn't until 2007 that then-mayor Michael Bloomberg took a plan to Albany, where it was rejected by state legislators. At every turn, the attempts to introduce congestion pricing have been met with acrimony both sweeping and strange: accusations that congestion pricing is a 'plumber's tax' on blue-collar workers that wasn't democratically decided, a cynical cash grab by a mismanaged Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), or a scheme that will flood outer-borough streets with displaced traffic. Critics have warned of economic fallout, calling the toll elitist. Despite these objections, the program finally received federal approval in 2023 under the New York governor, Kathy Hochul. It seemed as though congestion pricing might finally happen. However, just days before the program was set to begin in June 2024, Hochul paused implementation, fearing a political fallout. She quickly reinstated the policy after the November 2024 election, with the toll reduced from $15 to $9. Six months since the tolls switched on, the early results suggest congestion pricing works. Yet the policy, 75 years in the making, almost never happened and is still being threatened by a Trump administration eager to terminate the program and to exert control over the president's home town. The aim of congestion pricing is twofold: to reduce the number of cars on the road, easing traffic and pollution, and to raise sorely needed funds for the city's ailing public transit network. Manhattan boasts the densest transit network in the western hemisphere, but its subway signals are nearly a century old and its dedicated bus lanes relatively scarce. Millions rely on public transit daily, yet over 25% of trains and buses are delayed, and the system remains short of legally mandated elevators at dozens of stations. The congestion toll is expected to raise $500m annually – funds earmarked for long overdue upgrades. So far, revenue is on target. While it will take time for these investments to reach riders, they are expected to make daily commutes faster and more reliable for residents across the city. And in the long term, easing congestion on Manhattan's streets could pave the way for new bike lanes, expanded pedestrian zones, and dedicated bus corridors that could transform how New Yorkers get around. In the meantime, public transit ridership has reached its highest level since the pandemic. Buses are moving up to 20 percent faster on routes through Manhattan. 'We campaigned for congestion pricing to fix the subway,' said Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director at the grassroots organization Riders Alliance. 'But what it's doing right now, most notably, is speeding up some of the worst and slowest and least reliable bus commutes in the United States.' 'People taking very long distance commuter buses, getting up at 5 in the morning, spending a couple hours on the bus, some of them are shaving off 10 or 15 minutes in each direction every day,' Pearlstein said. 'That's incredibly precious time back in their lives, and they're paying nothing for it.' So are more people just paying to drive, or is congestion actually down? Since January, an average of 70,000 fewer vehicles have entered the congestion zone each day, according to the MTA. That translates to roughly 2m fewer cars on the road every month. Traffic is down moderately; vehicles are moving between 5 and 10% faster during peak hours in 2025 compared with the same period last year. While it's still too early to draw firm conclusions about the policy's environmental impact, early comparisons with London offer a hint of what may be in store. Within the first year of implementing congestion pricing, CO2 emissions fell by 15.7%, according to an estimation by Transport for London. Even without hard local data yet, Sam Schwartz, a traffic engineer and former city traffic commissioner, argues the logic is clear: 'If you have fewer vehicles moving at a faster speed, idling less, then there's less pollution.' There have been other immediate effects. Noise complaints along Manhattan's busiest streets have dropped by 70%. 'There's less frenetic energy on the streets than there was before,' noticed Stan Avedon, the manager from NYC Velo. Perhaps the most dramatic transformation has occurred outside the toll zone. In Queens, traffic crashes in Astoria and Long Island City have fallen by 27%, with injuries down 31.4%. The reason, Schwartz says, is geographical. 'It's no surprise to me that Long Island City and Astoria would be the biggest beneficiaries of congestion pricing,' he said. That part of Queens is served by three crossings into Manhattan within a short distance but previously, only one, the Queensboro Bridge, was toll-free. Now, with tolls applied regardless of the entry point, more drivers are staying on the highway instead of diverting through local streets to avoid charges. While new to the US, congestion pricing has worked for decades in cities like London, Stockholm and Singapore. The policy faces early opposition everywhere, but quickly blends into the urban fabric and gains support as its benefits become visible. New York is following a similar path. As implementation neared post-pandemic, suburban politicians began to push back, arguing the new toll would hit working class commuters hardest amid steep inflation and anxiety over the cost of living. That line of attack was familiar to those who had long followed the debate. '[The opposition's] argument boiled down to: poorer drivers are going to be affected by this,' said Gersh Kuntzman, the editor-in-chief of Streetsblog NYC, a local outlet dedicated to covering mobility in the city. 'That's a classic political misdirect that we at Streetsblog are constantly pushing back on, because it's an inherent lie that opponents of congestion pricing are speaking on behalf of the working man, the working woman of New York City. All of the studies of census data and mobility data show that the vast majority of people who are subject to the toll are significantly wealthier than their transit-using neighbors.' The numbers bear that out. For every low-income driver forced to pay the toll, 50 low-income New Yorkers will benefit from the toll through improved public transit, according to an analysis by the Community Service Society. And many of the fears surrounding congestion pricing's unintended consequences have not materialized. Preliminary data shows no increase in truck traffic in the Bronx, where advocates worried about spillover congestion and pollution if drivers sought to skirt the tolled zone. Concerns that riders would abandon taxis to avoid the added $0.75 congestion fee have also proven unfounded. January was the most prosperous month for taxis since the pandemic began, with trips up 19% within the toll zone. Uber and Lyft trips have held steady. Fears about wider economic impacts haven't come to pass either. 'Restaurants and Broadway ticket sales are up. Business is up. Commercial leasing is up. All of these things that people were concerned about really haven't come to pass, and all of the benefits that people were hoping would appear have, in fact, come to pass,' said Ben Furnas, executive director of advocacy nonprofit Transportation Alternatives. Though experts generally agree the program is an early success, plenty of hostility toward the toll remains. A daily driver from New Jersey expressed her discontent as she exited her vehicle on the way to work downtown: 'I hate it. I hate having to pay, and traffic is exactly the same.' A number of other drivers told the Guardian they felt traffic hadn't changed. For a policy this ambitious, it's not surprising that the response is not unanimous. But what was once enormously contentious has largely been accepted as a fact of life. Public sentiment has greatly improved since it was installed – jumping 10 points in approval ratings in one Sienna College Research Institute poll to 42% in March. Now, some of the strongest support comes from the very drivers most affected, with 66% of those entering the toll multiple times a week backing the toll, according to a poll by Morning Consult. 'What was surprising to people who hadn't been paying attention was how quickly it worked. And that's why everyone I know has a story, or many stories, of people who said 'I didn't think it would make a difference, or I outright opposed it, but now I support it,'' said Pearlstein. Despite its success, the program has drawn fierce opposition from conservatives. President Trump and his Department of Transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, are leading efforts to revoke the federal approval granted in 2023 under Joe Biden. 'CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD,' Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social back in February. 'Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!' The federal government's sudden pivot is less about policy than politics. 'Federal bureaucrats have trashed the program because they don't want to see Democratic leaders succeed in adopting a policy that works,' said Pearlstein. The feeling from Washington to Wall Street is that Trump has already lost the fight. 'Everything we've seen suggests that congestive pricing is here to stay. From the fact that the federal attorneys leaked accidentally an internal memo explaining how weak their case was because it's based on outlandish arguments, and most recently, that the MTA was able to sell half a billion dollars in bonds backed by toll revenue because the bond market is confident that the fee is here to stay.' If the program is pulled, it would leave a $15bn hole in the MTA's capital budget, potentially forcing alternatives like a new business payroll tax or a broader sales tax. But the stakes go beyond funding, to a battle over states' rights and the limits of federal power. 'A really big issue is at stake that is so much bigger than congestion pricing: can the federal government, after giving approval to something that was undertaken under one set of rules, suddenly, upon a change of administration, withdraw that approval?' noted Kuntzman. 'If that becomes a precedent, there's a potential for a real logjam of stuff getting done in this country.' The Trump administration's most recent salvo to gut the program has been blocked by a court's temporary injunction. In the meantime, New York still faces a slew of lawsuits from outside the city and in New Jersey. For now, the MTA is successfully fighting them off. 'Congestion pricing isn't just surviving, it's thriving. We're pleased that Judge Liman has put a stop to threats by Washington intended to deprive New Yorkers of the benefits of the program–less traffic, safer streets, cleaner air, and better transit,' said the MTA's chair and CEO, Janno Lieber, in a statement. 'It's been a success. It's not going to be taken out without a lot of people complaining. There are lives that have been saved and people who didn't get injured, there's property that didn't get damaged, there are lungs that didn't get polluted. All of those things are benefits that we're reaping from this,' said Schwartz.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Man suspected of shooting 2 Minnesota lawmakers is in custody after surrendering to police
The man suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another crawled to officers in surrender Sunday after they located him in the woods near his home, bringing an end to a massive, nearly two-day search that put the entire state on edge. Vance Boelter was arrested and charged with two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. Jail records show Boelter was scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon. He is accused of posing as a police officer and fatally shooting former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs. Authorities say he also shot Sen. John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette. They were injured at their residence about 9 miles (about 15 kilometers) away. 'One man's unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota,' Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said at a news conference after Boelter's arrest. The search for Boelter was the 'largest manhunt in the state's history,' Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said. It began when Brooklyn Park officers went to check on Hortman's home and saw her husband gunned down before the shooter fled. Authorities on Sunday located a vehicle Boelter was using abandoned in rural Sibley County, where he lived, and a police officer reported that he believed he saw Boelter running into the woods, Bruley said. Police set up a large perimeter and called in 20 different tactical teams, divvying up the area and searching for him. During the search, police said they received information confirming someone was in the woods and searched for hours, using a helicopter and officers on foot, until they found Boelter. He surrendered to police, crawling out to officers in the woods before he was handcuffed and taken into custody in a field, authorities said. Jail records show Boelter was booked into the Hennepin County Jail at 1:02 a.m. Central Time Monday and include two mug shots, one from the front and one from the side, of Boelter wearing an orange prison shirt. A targeted attack Drew Evans, superintendent of the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said the violence likely would've continued had Brooklyn Park offices not checked on Hortman's home, causing Boelter to flee. The Hoffmans were attacked first at their home in Champin early Saturday. A criminal complaint unsealed after Boelter's arrest indicated their adult daughter called 911 just after 2 a.m. to say a masked person had come to the door and shot her parents. After police in nearby Brooklyn Park learned that a lawmaker had been shot, they sent patrol officers to check on the Hortmans' home. Brooklyn Park police officers arrived just in time to see Boelter shoot Mark Hortman through the open door of the home, the complaint says. It says they exchanged gunfire with Boelter, who fled inside the home before escaping the scene. Melissa Hortman was found dead inside, the complaint said. Authorities said Boelter posed as a police officer, even allegedly altering a vehicle to make it look like a police car. No details on motive Authorities did not give a motive as they announced Boelter's arrest. A list of about 70 names was found in writings recovered from the fake police vehicle that was left at the crime scene, said two law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the ongoing investigation. The writings and list of names included prominent state and federal lawmakers and community leaders, along with abortion rights advocates and information about health care facilities, according to the officials. A Minnesota official told AP lawmakers who had been outspoken in favor of abortion rights were on the list. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. Boelter is a former political appointee who served on the same state workforce development board as Hoffman, records show, though it was not clear if or how well they knew each other. Around 6 a.m. Saturday, Boelter texted friends to apologize for his actions, though he didn't say what he had done. 'I'm going to be gone for a while. May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn't gone this way," he wrote in messages viewed by AP. An escalation in political violence The shootings come as political leaders nationwide have been attacked, harassed and intimidated amid deep political divisions. Lawmakers said they were disturbed by the attacks as Twin Cities residents mourned. 'This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences,' Walz said Sunday. On Sunday evening, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar shared a statement from Yvette Hoffman expressing appreciation for the outpouring of public support. 'John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,' Yvette Hoffman said in a text that Klobuchar posted on social media. 'He took 9 bullet hits. I took 8 and we are both incredibly lucky to be alive. We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark.' Brightly colored flowers and small American flags were placed Sunday on the gray marbled stone of the Minnesota State Capitol along with a photo of the Hortmans. People scrawled messages on small notes including, 'You were our leader through the hardest of times. Rest in Power.' Pam Stein came with flowers and knelt by the memorial. An emotional Stein called Hortman an 'absolute powerhouse' and 'the real unsung hero of Minnesota government.' ___ Karnowski reported from Minneapolis, and Balsamo and Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Michael Biesecker in Washington; Jim Mustian in New York; Sophia Tareen in Chicago and Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.
