Americans aren't on board with ‘Alligator Alcatraz', new survey shows
Only 33 percent of respondents supported the facility, with independent voters showing significant opposition, and 47 percent believing detainees are treated too severely by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The facility, announced by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, is located on a disused airport site, can hold up to 5,000 people, and costs an estimated $450m annually to operate.
Trump visited the site, accompanied by Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, remarking on the natural security provided by the local wildlife, including alligators.
During his visit, Trump made several controversial statements, including threats of arrest and hints that 'Alligator Alcatraz' could be the first of many such detention centers, while the facility has also drawn extreme commentary from some conservative figures.
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Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Fury as popular tax break set to end in the fall: 'Hypocritical and short-sighted'
A well-used tax credit is being put out to pasture. Car analysts are not happy. The Republican sweeping Big, Beautiful Bill will eliminate the $7,500 tax credit for new EV and plug-in hybrid purchases — a key incentive created under the Inflation Reduction Act. A $4,000 credit for buyers of used electric vehicles will also get the axe on September 30. Critics of the credit argue it reins in spending on programs that haven't lived up to expectations. 'Following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, there have been significant concerns about the cost of these tax credits,' Bernie Moreno, a Republican Senator from Ohio and former car dealership manager, wrote in an open letter. But supporters of the tax break see a missed opportunity. 'It's almost hilariously hypocritical and short-sighted — but that's the Trump Administration,' Robby DeGraff, the manager of consumer insights at AutoPacific, told 'It's really all a shame, especially from a paranoid administration so hellbent on ensuring "consumer choice."' Buyers can still qualify for credits on eligible vehicles purchased before September 30. Republicans have long criticized the EV credits, arguing the incentives were out of step with consumer demand and too generous to an industry they see as premature. EV adoption has steadily grown since the program launched. But the vehicles still make up just around 10 percent of the overall new car market — falling short of the rapid transition lawmakers envisioned. The credit was designed with two main goals in mind: supercharge domestic manufacturing and encourage Americans to transition to lower-emission vehicles. DeGraff outlined three key ways he believes the removal of the credit under Trump's bill will backfire. First, he said the bill will push car prices even higher. In June, it cost around $49,000 to drive a new set of wheels off a dealership lot. That pushed the average monthly payment above $700. Right now, Americans are paying a premium for electric vehicles, in part due to the costs of ramping up domestic production. The now-expiring credit helped offset those investment costs for consumers, but only for vehicles built largely in the US. Second, DeGraf said the tax bill will crush American manufacturing. 'Slower sales and demand will lead to production pauses at plants and consequently layoffs,' he said. 'Perhaps the comical thing to consider, is that many of these states that do build EVs and have received massive investments and had automakers employ massive amounts of workers are Republican states.' Finally, DeGraff said it makes it harder for US automakers to compete globally. Major Chinese automakers have received huge subsidies for their vehicles. Companies like BYD, Nio, XPeng, and Zeekr have built competitive, low cost vehicles in highly automated factories. The cars typically have higher build quality, electric range, and technology, all for a cheaper price. And they're coming to global markets, where American manufacturers want to be competitive. China and EU officials are currently negotiating how to bring the cheap EVs to the European market without crushing the continent's local carmakers. American delegates are reportedly not involved in that negotiation. Detroit's big three carmakers likely aren't having their voices heard in the market, which is the largest in the world. Meanwhile, some of America's biggest carmaking employers — including GM, Ford, Stellantis, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and their parts suppliers — are already under pressure. Carmakers are paying 25 percent tariffs on some of their vehicles and parts shipped to the US.
The Guardian
18 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Emil Bove's confirmation hearing was a travesty
In The Godfather, a Mafia turncoat appears before a Senate committee in order to testify as a protected witness about its operations. Frank Pentangeli, 'Frankie Five Angels', a capo allied with the old godfather, Vito Corleone, has had a falling out with the new one, his son Michael Corleone, who attempted to assassinate him. As Pentangeli is about to speak at the hearing, he notices his brother Vincenzo, a mafioso from Sicily, seated behind him. Michael has arranged his grim looming presence. Pentangeli is suddenly reminded of his oath of omerta, the code of silence. He recants on the spot, saying that he just told the FBI 'what they wanted to hear'. On 25 June, Emil Bove, Donald Trump's former personal attorney, whom he had named associate deputy attorney general, and now after five months seeks to elevate as a federal judge on the US third circuit court of appeals, appeared before the Senate judiciary committee for his confirmation hearing. He faced, at least potentially, a far-ranging inquiry into his checkered career. There were charges of abusive behavior as an assistant US attorney. There was his role as enforcer of the alleged extortion of New York City Mayor Eric Adams to cooperate in the Trump administration's migrant roundups in exchange for dropping the federal corruption case against him. There was Bove's dismissal of FBI agents and prosecutors who investigated the January 6 insurrection. And there was more. On the eve of the hearing, the committee received a shocking letter from a whistleblower, a Department of Justice attorney, who claimed that Bove said, in response to a federal court ruling against the administration's immigration deportation policy: 'DoJ would need to consider telling the courts 'fuck you' and ignore any such order.' Senator Charles Grassley, Republican of Iowa, the committee chairperson, the ancient mariner of the right wing at 91 years old, gaveled the session to order by invoking new rules never before used with a nominee in a confirmation hearing. Instead of opening the questioning to examine the nominee's past, he would thwart it. Grassley announced that Bove would be shielded by the 'deliberative-process privilege and attorney-client privilege' from 'an intense opposition campaign by my Democratic colleagues and by their media allies'. This was the unique imposition of a code of omerta. 'My understanding is that Congress has never accepted the constitutional validity of either such privilege,' objected Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island. 'This witness has no right to invoke that privilege,' said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut. But Grassley stonewalled. Prominently seated in the audience behind Bove were the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, and the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche. Never before had such top officials been present at a confirmation hearing for a judicial nominee. The federal government through the justice department would inevitably appear in cases before his court. The attorney general and her deputy created an immediate perception of conflict of interest, an ethical travesty. But Bondi and Blanche were not there to silence Bove. They were there to intimidate the Republican senators. If there were any dissenters among them, they knew that they would suffer retribution. 'Their being here is for one reason – to whip the Republicans into shape,' said Blumenthal. 'To make sure that they toe the line. They are watching.' The rise of Emil Bove is the story of how a lawyer from the ranks associated himself with Donald Trump, proved his unswerving loyalty to become a made man, and has been richly rewarded with a nomination for a lifetime federal judgeship, presumably to continue his service. In his opening statement, Bove said: 'I want to be clear about one thing up front: there is a wildly inaccurate caricature of me in the mainstream media. I'm not anybody's henchman. I'm not an enforcer.' Bove began his career as a paralegal and then a prosecutor in the US attorney's office for the southern district of New York. He was known for his attention to detail, relentlessness and sharp elbows. Seeking a promotion to supervisor, a group of defense attorneys including some who had been prosecutors in his office wrote a letter claiming he had 'deployed questionable tactics, including threatening defendants with increasingly severe charges the lawyers believed he couldn't prove', according to Politico. Bove posted the letter in his office to display his contempt. He was denied the promotion, but eventually received it. As a supervisor, Bove was known as angry, belittling and difficult. He developed an abrasive relationship with FBI agents. After complaints, an executive committee in the US attorney's office investigated and suggested he be demoted. He pleaded he would exercise more self-control and was allowed to remain in his post. 'You are aware of this inquiry and their recommendation?' Senator Mazie Hirono, Democrat of Hawaii, asked Bove about the incident. Bove replied: 'As well as the fact that I was not removed.' In 2021, in the prosecution of an individual accused of evading sanctions on Iran, a team Bove supervised as the unit chief won a jury verdict. But then the US attorney's office discovered the case was 'marred by repeated failures to disclose exculpatory evidence and misuse of search-warrant returns' by the prosecutors handling the case, according to the judge. Declaring that 'errors and ethical lapses in this case are pervasive', she vacated the verdict and dismissed the charges as well as chastising those prosecutors for falling short of their 'constitutional and ethical obligations' in 'this unfortunate chapter' and criticizing Bove for providing sufficient supervision to prevent those failures. Bove became a private attorney, joining the law firm of Todd Blanche, whom Trump hired in 2023 to defend him in the New York case involving his payment of hush-money to the adult film actor Stormy Daniels. Blanche brought Bove along as his second chair. The qualities that made him a black sheep in the US attorney's office recommended him to Blanche and his client. In Bove's questioning of David Pecker, publisher of the National Enquirer, about his payments to women in his 'catch-and-kill' scheme to protect Trump, Bove twice botched the presentation of evidence, was admonished by the judge and apologized. Trump was convicted of 34 felonies of financial fraud to subvert an election. Upon Trump's election, he appointed Bove as acting deputy attorney general and then associate deputy once Todd Blanche was confirmed as deputy, reuniting the law partners, both Trump defense attorneys now resuming that role in an official capacity. On 31 January, Bove sent two memos, the first firing dozens of justice department prosecutors and the second firing FBI agents who had worked on the cases of January 6 insurrectionists, whom Trump pardoned on his inauguration day. Bove quoted Trump that their convictions were 'a grave national injustice'. He also had his own history of conflict with fellow prosecutors and FBI agents. Asked about his actions by Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, Bove presented himself as even-handed. 'I did and continue to condemn unlawful behavior, particularly violence against law enforcement,' he said. 'At the same time, I condemn heavy-handed and unnecessary tactics by prosecutors and agents.' Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion In February, Bove played a principal role in filing criminal charges claiming corruption in the Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The head of the criminal division at the US attorney's office of the District of Columbia, Denise Cheung, believing there was no factual basis to the accusation, resigned with a statement praising those who are 'following the facts and the law and complying with our moral, ethical and legal obligations'. When Whitehouse sought to ask Bove about the episode, Bove replied: 'My answer is limited to: 'I participated in the matter.'' Whitehouse turned to Grassley. 'Do you see my point now?' he said. The code of omerta was working to frustrate questioning. Bove also deflected questions about his central role in the dropping of charges against Eric Adams. The acting US attorney for the southern district of New York, Danielle Sassoon, had resigned in protest, writing in a letter that Bove's memo directing her to dismiss the charges had 'nothing to do with the strength of the case'. She noted that in the meeting to fix 'what amounted to a quid pro quo … Mr Bove admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting's conclusion.' Questioned about the Adams scandal, Bove denied any wrongdoing. Senator John A Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, played his helpmate. He asked Bove to 'swear to your higher being' that there was no quid pro quo. 'Absolutely not,' Bove said. 'Do you swear on your higher being?' 'On every bone in my body,' Bove replied. Hallelujah! Then Bove was asked about the letter sent by former justice department lawyer Erez Reuveni alleging that Bove planned the defiance of court rulings against the administration's deportation policy. 'I have never advised a Department of Justice attorney to violate a court order,' Bove said. Senator Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, repeatedly asked him if it was true he had said 'fuck you' as his suggested plan of action against adverse court decisions. Bove hemmed and hawed, and finally said: 'I don't recall.' Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, remarked: 'I am hoping more evidence is going to come out that shows that you lied before this committee.' Grassley, however, succeeded in protecting Bove. Bondi and Blanche stared down the Republican senators whose majority can put Bove on the bench. He is Trump's model appointment of what he wants in a judge. In announcing his nomination, Trump tweeted: 'Emil Bove will never let you down!' In another scene in The Godfather, Virgil 'The Turk' Sollozzo, another Mafia boss, comes to Vito Corleone, offering a deal to cut him in on the narcotics trade. 'I need, Don Corleone,' he says, 'those judges that you carry in your pockets like so many nickels and dimes.' It was an offer that the Godfather refused. He left the drugs, but kept the judges. Sidney Blumenthal, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, has published three books of a projected five-volume political life of Abraham Lincoln: A Self-Made Man, Wrestling With His Angel and All the Powers of Earth. He is a Guardian US columnist and co-host of The Court of History podcast
Telegraph
25 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Liberal hypocrisy over immigration has just been brutally laid bare
The Guardian is increasingly worried about a grave threat to British jobs. In an editorial this week, it begged UK firms not to replace university graduates with Artificial Intelligence – because AI 'must not be allowed to eclipse young talent'. It would be awful, the Guardian continued, if graduates' prospects were 'short-sightedly shut down in the name of cost savings'. Quite right, too. I agree with every word. There is, however, just one small thing that puzzles me. Glad as I am to see the Guardian highlighting this threat to middle-class jobs, why does it rarely seem quite so concerned about an equally grave threat to working-class jobs? Over the past couple of decades, any number of working-class people have complained that their livelihoods are under threat from mass immigration. Again and again, however, the Guardian has published articles flatly dismissing these fears. It's run headlines such as, 'The Tory Fallacy: That Migrants Are Taking British Jobs and Driving Down Wages.' And: 'We Keep Hearing About 'Legitimate Concerns' Over Immigration. The Truth Is, There Are None.' And, as recently as May this year: ''Things Could Fall Over': Businesses and Public Services on Starmer's Immigration Crackdown.' Anyone who disagreed was liable to be accused of racism – even if they were children. 'Racist and Anti-Immigration Views Held by Children Revealed in Schools Study,' reported the Guardian in 2015, noting with horror that '60 per cent of the children questioned believed it was true that 'asylum seekers and immigrants are stealing our jobs''. Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall the Guardian thundering that immigrant plumbers and builders 'must not be allowed to eclipse young talent'. Or that working-class people's prospects must not be 'short-sightedly shut down in the name of cost savings' offered by cheap foreign labour. But perhaps it's different, when it's your own children's futures at risk. Slaves to wokery Believe it or not, some MPs are still insisting that our country owes reparations for the transatlantic slave trade. Even in happier times, it would have been difficult to persuade the wider public of their case's merits. But imagine trying to do it right now. 'Good evening, sir, I'm from the Labour party. As you will be all too well aware, these are very tough times for the nation's finances – so I'm afraid that at the next Budget we will have no alternative but to increase your taxes. Oh, and then increase them a bit more, so that we can give away vast sums of your money to countries thousands of miles away in compensation for crimes that took place hundreds of years ago and which you personally had nothing to do with.' Not the easiest sell. None the less, the campaign continues. Last week, the Jamaican government – which is extremely keen on reparations – petitioned the King to seek legal advice on the issue. And this week, Bell Ribeiro-Addy – the Labour MP who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Afrikan Reparations – said: 'I think it's important that people are moving forward with legal remedies, because ultimately enslavement was ended with the law, the reparations to slave owners happened under the law, and so reparations to those affected must happen under legislation.' Reparations to 'those affected'? Very well. If she can find me an 18th-century Caribbean slave, I will be only too happy to compensate him. He can use the money to throw a lavish party for his 250th birthday. Unfortunately, however, I won't be able to make the same offer to anyone born more recently. Because they're no more victims of the slave trade than I'm a victim of the Great Fire of London. Sultana fruitcake Personally I'm delighted that Zarah Sultana, the 31-year-old ex-Labour MP for Coventry South, is about to launch a new Left-wing party. Because it will give us the opportunity to ask her an important question. On January 29, Ms Sultana voiced her furious opposition to the planned expansion of Heathrow airport, denouncing it as 'reckless, short-sighted and indefensible' in the face of the 'climate emergency'. Yet, on March 26, she readily endorsed a campaign for a brand new international airport to be built in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan – on the grounds that it would 'serve the vibrant, worldwide Kashmiri diaspora' (of which Ms Sultana happens to be a member, as her grandfather came to the UK from Kashmir). The question for this exciting new political leader, therefore, is: what changed? In the eight weeks between these two pronouncements, did the 'climate emergency' suddenly end? If so, I'm surprised that the Government hasn't made more of this wonderful news. Think of all the money it can save, now that net zero is no longer required. Alternatively: perhaps the 'climate emergency' is still raging, but a new Pakistani airport wouldn't exacerbate it, because, unlike nasty British planes, Pakistani ones don't emit greenhouse gases. In which case, we must beg Pakistan to share its astonishing aeronautical secrets. When Ms Sultana becomes prime minister, I hope it will be the very first thing she does. Way of the World is a twice-weekly satirical look at the headlines aiming to mock the absurdities of the modern world. It is published at 7am every Tuesday and Saturday
