Latest news with #JosephBiden
New York Times
a day ago
- Business
- New York Times
Biden's I.R.S. Doubled Audits on the Wealthy, Data Shows
It was a promise repeated many times by President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s administration: The Internal Revenue Service would conduct more audits of wealthy Americans, but audit rates would not rise for households earning less than $400,000 per year. Mr. Biden and the Democrats made that pledge as they bolstered funding for the I.R.S., hoping that more enforcement aimed at wealthy tax evaders would generate revenue to pay for climate and health care programs. Republican lawmakers warned that more money for the I.R.S. would lead to more audits across the board, and that middle-class taxpayers would be targeted. But new data released by the I.R.S. last week suggests that the agency upheld Mr. Biden's promise in 2024. With an audit rate of 0.8 percent, people making over $500,000 on their latest return were more than twice as likely to be audited compared with the same point in the audit cycle in previous years. Audit Rate of Returns Filed the Previous Year Calculations based on the I.R.S. audit rate of returns filed the previous year. The overall audit rate for recent years could change in the future, since the I.R.S. has three years to open audits. Source: I.R.S. Data Books By The New York Times Meanwhile, the matching audit rate for taxpayers making under $500,000 declined slightly. The figures covered 2022 tax returns that were filed in 2023 and audited during the 2024 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. Note: Estimates are based on the 2019 tax year and reflect only closed audits. Numbers may change as more audits are completed. Tax rounded to the nearest hundred dollars. Includes both field and correspondence audits. Source: I.R.S. Annual Databook The New York Times Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
a day ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Trump Orders Investigation of Biden and His Aides
President Trump ordered his White House counsel and the attorney general on Wednesday to investigate former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his staff in Mr. Trump's latest attempt to stoke outlandish conspiracy theories about his predecessor. In an executive order, Mr. Trump put the power and resources of the federal government to work examining whether some of Mr. Biden's presidential actions are legally invalid because his aides had enacted those policies without his knowledge. The executive order came after Mr. Trump shared a social media post over the weekend that claimed Mr. Biden had been 'executed in 2020' and replaced by a robotic clone, following a pattern of suggestions by the president and his allies that Mr. Biden was a mentally incapacitated puppet of his aides. 'The White House issued over 1,200 presidential documents, appointed 235 judges to the federal bench, and issued more pardons and commutations than any administration in United States history,' the executive order said, after asserting that 'former President Biden's aides abused the power' of his office. A central claim of the conspiracy theory, as described by Mr. Trump himself, is that Mr. Biden's use of the autopen system — which reproduces a person's signature to be affixed to official documents — can legally invalidate those documents. Mr. Trump has claimed, for example, that some pardons Mr. Biden had made during his time in office were invalid because they were signed using an autopen. (There is no power in the Constitution or case law to undo a pardon.) Mr. Trump has acknowledged that his administration uses the autopen system on occasion. But his executive order asserts without evidence that the Biden administration's own use of the system may have 'implications for the legality and validity' of some of Mr. Biden's actions as president. The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel had weighed in on this issue at the request of President George W. Bush in 2005. Howard C. Nielson Jr., the top official at the Office of Legal Counsel, concluded that 'the president need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign in order for the bill to become law.' He added that the president instead could direct 'a subordinate to affix the president's signature to such a bill, for example by autopen.' Mr. Nielson is now a Federal District Court judge in Utah, nominated to the position by Mr. Trump during his first term.
New York Times
5 days ago
- General
- New York Times
Trump Amplifies Outlandish Robot Biden Conspiracy Theory
President Trump shared an outlandish conspiracy theory on social media on Saturday night saying former President Joseph R. Biden had been 'executed in 2020' and replaced by a robotic clone, the latest in a string of dark, fringe material amplified by the president to his millions of followers. Mr. Trump reposted a false rant that another user had made on the president's social media platform, Truth Social, just after 10 p.m. on Saturday. The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the post about Mr. Biden, whom Mr. Trump has targeted for criticism almost daily since the start of his second term. The president has blamed Mr. Biden for all manner of societal ills and assailed his mental acuity, including with the specious theory that Mr. Biden's aides used an autopen to enact policies and issue pardons without Mr. Biden's knowledge. (Mr. Trump has acknowledged that his administration uses the autopen system on occasion.) Mr. Trump has long had a penchant for sharing debunked or baseless theories online, but his embrace of conspiracies is not limited to social media. He has also elevated false claims inside the White House and surrounded himself with cabinet officials promoting such theories. Last month, while sitting next to the president of South Africa in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump claimed that white South African farmers were victims of mass killings and displayed an image intended to back up his assertion; the image was actually of the conflict in eastern Congo. Mr. Trump has falsely asserted that white South Africans are victims of genocide, even though police statistics do not show that white people in the nation are any more vulnerable than other groups. Mr. Trump's first four years in the White House were filled with false or misleading statements — according to one tally, he made 30,573 of them, or 21 a day on average — and he repeatedly shared conspiracy theories in the lead-up to the 2024 election. A New York Times analysis of thousands of Mr. Trump's social media posts and reposts over a six-month period in 2024 found that at least 330 of them described both a false, secretive plot against Mr. Trump or the American people and a specific entity supposedly responsible for it. They included suggestions that the F.B.I. had ordered his assassination and accusations that government officials had orchestrated the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Mr. Trump's repost of the robot conspiracy theory came a day after Mr. Biden told reporters that he was feeling good after beginning treatment for an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Mr. Trump has suggested that Mr. Biden's diagnosis last month was not new and had been concealed from the public.
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Boeing Reaches Deal With U.S. to Avoid Guilty Plea Over 737 Max Crashes
Boeing reached a deal with the Justice Department on Friday that would spare the company from taking criminal responsibility for a pair of deadly 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019. Under the deal, which was staunchly opposed by many families of the victims of the fatal crashes, Boeing would admit to obstructing the Federal Aviation Administration and pay a fine, contribute to a fund for the families and invest in safety and quality programs. The deal reverses another one reached last summer in which Boeing had agreed with the Justice Department under President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to plead guilty to a felony charge. The judge overseeing the case asked the parties to revise the deal in December. Boeing's admission that it obstructed the F.A.A. would not constitute a guilty plea under the new deal. 'Ultimately, in applying the facts, the law, and department policy, we are confident that this resolution is the most just outcome with practical benefits,' the Justice Department said in a statement. 'Nothing will diminish the victims' losses, but this resolution holds Boeing financially accountable, provides finality and compensation for the families and makes an impact for the safety of future air travelers.' The Justice Department floated the possibility of such a deal in a call with the families of victims of the crashes last week, and their lawyers dismissed it as a miscarriage of justice. 'This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history,' Paul Cassell, a lawyer representing many of the families, said in a statement on Friday. 'My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it.' Under the deal, Boeing would be required to invest about $455 million in quality and safety programs, and pay about $445 million into a compensation fund for beneficiaries of the 346 people who died in the pair of crashes. The company would also be fined $487 million, half of which it will receive credit for after an earlier fine payment. A legal filing describing the deal in general terms did not include details about how the investments would be carried out. Boeing has already made investments in safety and quality programs since a panel blew off one of its planes mid-flight in January 2024, raising concerns about the quality of its planes. Boeing would also agree to retain a 'compliance consultant' who would issue recommendations to the company and report findings to the government. Companies are sometimes required to be overseen by federal monitors, for which there is a history of legal precedent, but Mr. Cassell raised questions about what powers a consultant would have. The company's board would also be required to meet with the families of the victims.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
I'm an oncologist. Here's my biggest piece of advice for Biden right now.
The revelation of former President Joseph Biden's prostate cancer diagnosis left me on unfamiliar footing. As a medical oncologist, I find most celebrity disclosures humbling yet rarely moving. But for someone whose uncle is in the midst of a very similar cancer journey, the particulars of Biden's disease are inescapable. In a statement released Sunday, Biden's office disclosed that he had Stage 4 prostate cancer with 'metastasis to the bone.' The disease was noted to be an 'aggressive form' with a Gleason score of 9 (on a scale of 6 to 10), which reflects the heightened abnormality of the cells. The former president is now exploring treatment options with his doctors. Not long ago, my 74-year-old uncle found himself in the same place. In 2023, his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test — which measures a protein produced by both normal and cancerous cells of the prostate gland — was 1.5, well below the age-appropriate normal of 4.0. But within a year, despite only vague urinary symptoms, his level spiked to 104. An MRI of the prostate and biopsy duly followed, and confirmed cancer with a high Gleason score. Shortly after, a PET scan showed that the disease had already spread to various bones and lymph nodes. Like Biden, in other words, my uncle's malady was Stage 4 at the time of diagnosis — controllable but incurable. Because prostate cancers are often slow-growing and assessed regularly with PSA levels, the vast majority (70%, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) are first detected at an early stage, still localized to the prostate. But while such advanced presentations are unlikely at the time of initial detection, they are not impossible. According to the CDC, 8% of prostate cancers are first diagnosed when the cancer has already spread so widely. After my uncle's unexpected diagnosis, I had to provide space for him and his immediate family to absorb the news. And though I would not be the primary doctor for his treatment, I did reassure him that regardless of the advanced cancer, an effective treatment plan did exist. The former president will receive the same treatment plan my uncle has: an individualized strategy that accounts for his disease specifics, physical ability, co-morbidities and quality of life. And crucially, my uncle could start this journey with optimism, thanks not only to his personal faith but to the burgeoning potential of current prostate cancer treatments — hormone therapy, chemotherapy, radiation and others. 'Over the past decade, treatment for advanced prostate cancer has evolved significantly,' said Bilawal Ahmed, an oncologist at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and a panel contributor on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's guidelines for prostate cancer. 'While Stage 4 prostate cancer is not curable, it is very often treatable and manageable as a chronic disease. This helps shift the focus from fear to a long-term care plan rooted in hope and ongoing support.' This is where Biden, and others like my uncle, stand to potentially benefit from the bounties of the former president's own 'moonshot' mission to reduce cancer deaths through significant investment in research. Such efforts, which are threatened by the Trump administration's ongoing budget cuts, are the mainspring to expand our arsenal against a disease whose incidence and death toll remain substantial. 'Cancer touches us all,' Biden posted Monday on social media. For me, this holds true both personally and professionally. My uncle has made incredible progress on his cancer journey: His PSA has cratered on treatment and scans show no active disease. While no two cancers are ever alike, I hope the former president's path meets equal success. This article was originally published on
