Latest news with #EyepixGroup
New York Post
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Post
GOP lawmakers push to jack up proposed tax on money migrants send home after threat by Mexico
GOP lawmakers are pushing to jack up a proposed new tax on money migrants earn in the US and send back home to family — after being threatened by Mexico's president. Nestled in the proposed One Big Beautiful Bill Act making its way through the Senate is a 3.5% tax on 'remittances' from noncitizens in the US, or money transferred back to relatives and family in the migrants' home country. Over the weekend, footage of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum blasting the planned tax during a speech last month went viral. 'If necessary, we'll mobilize. We don't want taxes on remittances from our fellow countrymen. From the US to Mexico,' Sheinbaum warned in the clip. It is not entirely clear what she meant by 'mobilize.' 4 Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is griping about the impact a new US tax on money Mexico's migrants send home would have on her country. Carlos Santiago/Eyepix Group / Shutterstock 4 GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri proposed now imposing a tax on of 15% instead of 3.5% because of Sheinbaum's comments. Getty Images But her salvo was enough to prompt several Republican lawmakers to promptly call on the Senate to jack up the proposed tax on remittances. 'The House's Big Beautiful Bill addressed the urgent need for a remittance tax. But we can go further. I'm introducing legislation to quadruple the proposed remittance tax — from 3.5% to 15%,' Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) seethed on X. 'America is not the world's piggy bank. And we don't take kindly to threats.' The tax on remittance is estimated to haul in about $26 billion over the next decade, according to an estimate from the Joint Committee on Taxation. Remittances are generally a huge revenue stream for developing countries. Mexico is the second largest receiver of remittances in the world behind India thanks to cash flows from the US, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 4 Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, backed the idea of raising the tax on remittances in response to the Mexican leader's threat. Getty Images Some estimates indicate that Mexico received about $64.7 billion in remittances last year, although transfers to Mexico have begun to wane in recent months amid President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. 'New reason to amend the Senate bill to tax remittances at a lot higher rate…' Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) wrote on X in response to the clip of Sheinbaum. 4 Mexico has been grappling with economic fallout from President Trump's tariffs. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) added, 'Raise the remittances!!' Mexico is the largest US trading partner, according to recent data from the US Census Bureau. Earlier this year, Trump slapped 25% tariffs on imports from both Mexico and Canada that are not subject to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Trump claimed the new tariffs were necessary to leverage Canada and Mexico to crack down on the flow of fentanyl and illegal immigration into the US. The president has since fired off a flurry of tariffs on other countries as well.
Extra.ie
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Revealed: Nicky Byrne to return to Eurovision
Nicky Byrne is set to make a return to RTE this week as he delivers the nation's vote for Eurovision. Westlife singer Nicky is a Eurovision fan and he even previously represented Ireland at the competition in Stockholm in 2016 with his song Sunlight. While Nicky didn't qualify for the final and only scored 46 points with his self-penned track, his affection for the annual song fest certainly hasn't dimmed. Pic: Luis Marin/Eyepix Group/Shutterstock For the past couple of years, Nicky has taken on the all-important role of announcing the Irish jury's votes to the watching public during the Grand Final. The Westlife man first took on the role of Ireland's Eurovision spokesperson in 2013 and continued in 2014, and 2015. Pic:Following his participation as a contestant, Byrne returned to his vote deliverer role with great aplomb in 2017 and has continued for the past few years. He is set to return to viewers' screens again on Saturday night to announce Ireland's all-important scores. Emmy. Pic: Corinne Cumming/EBU Ireland's Eurovision act Emmy takes to the semi-final stage on Thursday night hoping to reignite the nation's former Eurovision glory.
Miami Herald
07-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Amid Trump's tariffs attack, Mexican leader weakens democracy, backs Cuba
Andres Oppenheimer Amid Trump's tariffs attack, Mexican leader weakens democracy, backs Cuba | Opinion Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during a briefing where she delivers a message to Mexican children as part of Children's Day celebrations at the National Palace on April 30 in Mexico City. / Eyepix Group/Sipa USA Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum owes a strange debt of gratitude to President Trump: His attacks on Mexico have rallied the country behind her, diverting attention from her moves to undermine democratic institutions and cozy up to Cuba. Sheinbaum's popularity has soared to 80% or more since Trump took office and announced his massive tariffs on foreign goods, according to new polls by El Financiero, Latinus and others. Trump's tariffs, his stated desire to deploy U.S. troops against Mexican drug cartels and his decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the 'Gulf of America' have eclipsed concerns about Sheinbaum's judicial reform, which critics argue is transforming Mexico into an autocracy. Under the judicial reform launched by former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador — Sheinbaum's predecessor and political mentor, and continued by her — Mexican judges will be elected by popular vote. That sounds great in theory, but the current rules will effectively allow Sheinbaum's Morena party to select candidates, get loyalists elected and control Mexico's judiciary. Just a few months ago, Mexican newspapers carried front-page stories warning of the country's drift toward authoritarian rule. But now, with Trump's attacks dominating the news, those headlines have all but disappeared. Mexico depends on the U.S. market for 83% of its exports. In that context, concerns about democracy have fallen by the wayside. One of the few voices that has managed to draw public attention about the erosion of democratic institutions is that of former President Ernesto Zedillo. In an interview this week with León Krauze's podcast Ciberdiálogos, the former president, a pro-business economist who ruled from 1994 to 2000, warned that Mexico's judicial reform is a 'frontal attack' to democracy. With the Mexican Congress already controlled by the ruling party, Zedillo warned that the judiciary's takeover would dismantle Mexico's system of checks and balances, granting the president 'absolute powers.' To safeguard democracy, Zedillo suggested that Sheinbaum should urge her party to propose a constitutional amendment delaying the judicial reform for two years, so that it can be properly debated. But Zedillo's statements and Sheinbaum's subsequent attacks on him have been overshadowed by the constant coverage of Trump's back-and-forth tariff announcements. Meanwhile, another story that is getting buried in the midst of Trump's trade war is Sheinbaum's ongoing support, along with that of her ruling party, for Cuba's dictatorship. On May 1, Mexico's Morena party leader, Carolina Rangel, visited Cuba and signed a cooperation agreement with Cuba's Communist Party leaders. Rangel met with Cuban ruler Miguel Diaz-Canel, and conveyed to him the 'affection and solidarity of the Mexican people,' she said in her official social media accounts. Diaz-Canel, in turn, expressed his 'admiration' for Sheinbaum for her defense of Mexico in the face of Trump's attacks, and 'her support for Cuba.' In her April 9 speech to the left-leaning Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Honduras, Sheinbaum called for an end to the U.S. trade sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela. 'No to the blockade of Cuba!. No to the blockade of Venezuela!' Sheinbaum declared. However, she didn't mention the fact that Cuba has not held a free election in more than six decades, and that Venezuela's dictatorship has rigged elections and killed many peaceful protesters in recent years. Earlier this year, Sheinbaum defended the arrival of Cuban doctors in Mexico, despite critics arguing that they are treated as virtual slaves under bilateral government agreements. Additionally, in November, the Mexican president gave Mexico's state-owned Pemex oil company a green light to deliver 400,000 barrels of oil to Cuba, calling it 'humanitarian' assistance. Notably, while the Trump administration has criticized Mexico on various fronts, it has been relatively silent about Mexico's ties with Cuba. Trump recently called Sheinbaum 'a wonderful woman,' and said he has a 'very good' relationship with her. All of which brings me back to my original point: Mexico is silently sliding into an authoritarian democracy or — worse — into a camouflaged authoritarian state, while nobody is paying much attention. The Trump administration doesn't seem to care about it, which Sheinbaum surely appreciates a lot. Don't miss the 'Oppenheimer Presenta' TV show on Sundays at 9 pm E.T. on CNN en Español. Blog:
