December, 01 2020, 11:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Chris Fleming, Red Horse Strategies, chris@redhorsestrategies.com
Kindred Motes, Wallace Global Fund, kmotes@wgf.org
Sam Quigley, Patriotic Millionaires, sam@patrioticmillionaires.org
Bob Keener, Institute for Policy Studies, bobk@ips-dc.org
Coalition Calls on Senate to Include $200 Billion for Charities in Relief Package - at No Cost to Taxpayers
Emergency Charity Stimulus Proposal Would Unlock Charitable Funds with Simple Change to Federal Tax Laws
WASHINGTON
A coalition of nonprofit groups is calling on the U.S. Senate to include a temporary emergency stimulus in its next pandemic relief package. The proposal would unlock $200 billion in charitable funds to assist charities overwhelmed by the pandemic, with updates to the laws governing private foundations and donor-advised funds (DAFs). The proposal would release more of the estimated $1.2 trillion they currently hold by increasing required distributions to 10 percent annually for three years.
"Nonprofits need emergency help right now. Millions of nonprofit jobs have been lost, one-third of them in health care. Up to 120,000 nonprofits are shutting down completely," said Scott Wallace, co-chair of the Wallace Global Fund, a private foundation that committed to spend 20 percent of its own endowment in 2020."We urge Congress to enact an Emergency Charity Stimulus to force philanthropies to increase their support for nonprofit organizations - immediately, urgently, and temporarily, to allow time for deployment of a vaccine and economic recovery."
"We are collectively facing the most dire moment that many of us have seen in our lifetimes, and it is likely the tip of the iceberg in terms of the challenges that await us as a society and a planet," said Aileen Getty, founder and president of the Aileen Getty Foundation and granddaughter of billionaire J. Paul Getty.
"While some foundations and donors are stepping up at this moment, others continue to treat the five percent payout as a ceiling not a floor," said Chuck Collins, director of the Charity Reform Initiative at the Institute for Policy Studies. "Donors have already taken the tax break for these contributions. Congress needs to raise the bar for those donors who haven't figured out this is no time to sit on your treasure."
Led by the Charity Reform Initiative of the Institute for Policy Studies, Patriotic Millionaires, and the Wallace Global Fund, the groups first proposed the idea in May with a letter to Congress. The letter has now been signed by almost 800 philanthropists and leaders of foundations as well as several thousand nonprofit leaders and staff.
The proposal calls for a temporary doubling of private foundation payout from 5 percent to 10 percent for three years and would establish a similar 10 percent payout for donor-advised funds (DAFs) that currently have no mandate.
Researchers at the Institute for Policy Studies estimate these policies would unleash an estimated $200 billion in additional charity funds over three years, with no additional cost to taxpayers. The independent nonprofit sector is part of the front-line response to the pandemic and other natural disasters. The sector employs 12 million workers or more than 10 percent of the private workforce.
Prominent signers of the letter include: Scott Wallace, Wallace Global Fund (PA); Abigail Disney (NY); Aileen Getty, Aileen Getty Foundation (CA), Sara Miller, Miranda Family Fund (NY), Rory Kennedy (CA), Ning Mosberger-Tang (CO); Catherine Gund, George Gund Foundation (NY); Mary Mountcastle, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation (NC); Anna Fink, Amalgamated Charitable; Ellen Friedman, Compton Fund (CA); Jerry Hirsch, Lodestar Foundation (AZ); Morris Pearl (NY); and Stephen Prince (TN).
The Patriotic Millionaires is a group of high-net worth Americans who share a profound concern about the destabilizing level of inequality in America. Our work centers on the two things that matter most in a capitalist democracy: power and money. Our goal is to ensure that the country's political economy is structured to meet the needs of regular Americans, rather than just millionaires. We focus on three "first" principles: a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens.
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Warning of Poisonous Impacts, Omar and Garcia Lead Call for Moratorium on CO2 Pipelines
"CO2 spewing from a ruptured pipeline can suffocate humans and animals without notice," more than a dozen House Democrats wrote to President Joe Biden.
Oct 04, 2023
Reps. Ilhan Omar and Chuy Garcia led a group of House Democrats on Tuesday in urging President Joe Biden to put a moratorium on federal permitting for new CO2 pipelines—infrastructure at the center of unproven carbon capture efforts—until robust safety regulations are finalized, warning that the current regulatory vacuum is a serious threat to public health.
"As an invisible and odorless asphyxiant, CO2 spewing from a ruptured pipeline can suffocate humans and animals without notice," Omar (D-Minn.), Garcia (D-Ill.), and 11 other lawmakers wrote in a letter to Biden. "Transporting CO2 under the extremely high pressure required to maintain a supercritical fluid state can cause ruptures that 'unzip' a pipeline over long distances, allowing CO2 to escapebefore the flow can be stopped."
The House Democrats called on the president to use his executive authority to place a moratorium on federal CO2 pipeline permits until the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) completes work on safety regulations that the agency announced last year.
The lawmakers noted that "current regulations do not cover pipelines transporting CO2 as a gas or subcritical liquid, and are tailored to address the transport of hydrocarbon hazardous liquids, such as crude oil and refined petroleum products, which carry vastly different safety risks."
"New pipeline infrastructure will invariably put more communities in danger given the complexity of transporting CO2 thousands of miles."
There are currently around 5,000 miles of carbon dioxide pipelines in the U.S., according to the PHMSA, and analysts say that most of the existing pipelines are used for enhanced oil recovery—a process that involves pumping captured CO2 into oil wells in an effort to produce more oil.
But the Biden administration is pushing for an expansion of CO2 pipelines as part of what climate advocates say is a misguided and irresponsible buildout of carbon capture and storage infrastructure that's supported by the fossil fuel industry.
The bipartisan infrastructure law that Biden signed in 2021 boosts a tax credit that will incentivize the proliferation of CO2 pipelines, which have prompted major safety concerns and opposition from local communities. Jesse Jenkins, a professor of engineering at Princeton University, toldNPR that the U.S. could have more than 65,000 miles of CO2 pipelines within the next few decades.
The Democratic lawmakers point to NPR's reporting in their letter, writing that their concerns about the safety of the carbon dioxide infrastructure "are exemplified by the 2020 rupture of a pipeline, operated by Denbury Gulf Coast Pipelines, transporting CO2 in Satartia, Mississippi."
Earlier this year, NPRdocumented the harrowing experience of Satartia residents impacted by the rupture. One emergency worker said the terrifying scene "looked like you were going through the zombie apocalypse."
On Feb. 22, 2020, a clear Saturday after weeks of rain, Deemmeris Debra'e Burns, his brother and cousin decided to go fishing. They were headed home in a red Cadillac when they heard a boom and saw a big white cloud shooting into the evening sky.
Burns' first thought was a pipeline explosion. He didn't know what was filling the air, but he called his mom, Thelma Brown, to warn her to get inside. He told her he was coming.
Brown gathered her young grandchild and great-grandchildren she was watching, took them into her back bedroom, and got under the quilt with them. And waited...
Little did she know, her sons and nephew were just down the road in the Cadillac, unconscious, victims of a mass poisoning from a carbon dioxide pipeline rupture. As the carbon dioxide moved through the rural community, more than 200 people evacuated and at least 45 people were hospitalized. Cars stopped working, hobbling emergency response. People lay on the ground, shaking and unable to breathe.
The lawmakers warned that "new pipeline infrastructure will invariably put more communities in danger given the complexity of transporting CO2 thousands of miles with what could create dozens of points of entry and exit for CO2."
"Since PHMSA has authority over the safety of CO2 pipelines, states confront preemption issues, restricting their ability to protect residents from the dangers CO2 pipelines pose," the lawmakers wrote. "The absence of strong regulations leaves urban and frontline communities at greater risk, as carbon capture and storage, which depends on CO2 pipelines to function, rises in prominence."
The PHMSA is expected to release its updated regulations next year.
Jim Walsh, policy director of Food & Water Watch (FWW), applauded the lawmakers' call for a moratorium, saying that "communities across the country are opposing these carbon capture pipelines because they understand the risks they pose to their health and safety." FWW is one of the more than 150 environmental justice groups that demanded a moratorium in May.
"President Biden needs to use his authority to immediately enact a moratorium on permits for these dangerous projects," Walsh said Tuesday.
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Judge in Trump's New York Fraud Trial Issues 'Gag Order' After Former President's Attacks
"Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate, and I will not tolerate them in any circumstances," said Justice Arthur Engoron.
Oct 03, 2023
In a New York on Tuesday afternoon, Justice Arthur Engoron issued a gag order against former President Donald Trump and said he would face further "serious sanctions" if he issues any more threats or public comments against the judge, his staff, or the court where Trump is on trial for civil fraud.
Engoron, who sits on the New York City Civil and State Supreme Court, issued the order shortly after the Republican 2024 presidential candidate's claimed on social media that Engoron's clerk is "running this case against" him.
"Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing, or speaking publicly about any of my staff," he said. "Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate, and I will not tolerate them in any circumstances."
During a lunch break on Tuesday, Trump posted a photo of the clerk, attorney Allison Greenfield, with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and called her "Schumer's girlfriend."
"How disgraceful! This case should be dismissed immediately," he wrote on Truth Social in a post that Engoron ordered him to delete.
On Monday as the trial opened, Trump called the proceedings a "scam," "a continuation of the single greatest witch hunt of all time," and "an attempt to hurt me in an election."
The judge noted on Tuesday that he had "warned counsel off the record about the former president's comments yesterday, but the warning went unheeded," according toThe Hill.
The case is one of four pending civil and criminal cases against the former president and centers on allegations that Trump inflated the value of his assets in New York.
As Common Dreamsreported on Monday, advocates are expressing concern for the safety of jurors in the four trials due to Trump's repeated claims that he will not "get a fair trial" and comments he's made regarding his legal troubles including, "If you go after me, I will come after you."
He has also targeted U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over a case in Washington regarding Trump's alleged 2020 election interference, on social media.
Katie Phang, host of "The Katie Phang Show" on MSNBC, predicted that "this is the first of many gag orders against Trump that will be issued by Justice Engoron in this case."
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GOP 'Political Arsonists' Get Their Man: McCarthy Ousted in Historic House Vote
"In less than a year, Kevin McCarthy has proven himself to be the weakest House speaker in modern history," said Rep. Bill Pascrell.
Oct 03, 2023
For the first time in U.S. history, the House of Representatives voted to oust its own leader Tuesday after a motion by far-right Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to vacate the appointment of Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy's speakership passed with eight GOP votes and the support of every Democrat present.
The 216-210 vote to remove McCarthy (R-Calif.) came after his allies failed to come up with enough votes to table the motion to vacate.
In addition to Gaetz, the Republicans who voted for the motion to vacate were: Reps. Andy Biggs (Az.), Ken Buck (Col.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Eli Crane (Az.), Bob Good (La.), Nancy Mace (S.C.), and Matt Rosendale (Mt.).
"All Americans should watch this latest spectacle and know House Republicans have no business running a lemonade stand let alone the Congress."
Those lawmakers have accused McCarthy of being insufficiently conservative. They were incensed by his deal with the White House to raise the debt limit earlier this year and have demanded the House make even deeper cuts to social safety net programs than the deal contained.
The pro-democracy group Stand Up America said in a statement that "today’s vote to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker shows how intent ultra-MAGA Republicans are on sowing chaos and dysfunction, rather than actually governing on behalf of the American people."
"It's clear who is really in charge of the GOP Conference: Matt Gaetz and his band of political arsonists," the group added. "MAGA Republicans' sole agenda is to grind the federal government to a halt, use their power to exact political revenge, and attack our democracy and basic freedoms. We can't expect the same election deniers who tried to overthrow the will of voters on January 6th to legislate for the American people now."
On Monday, Gaetz accused McCarthy of making a "secret side deal" with President Joe Biden to provide more funding for Ukraine.
"It is going to be difficult for my Republican friends to keep calling President Biden 'feeble' while he continues to take Speaker McCarthy's lunch money in every negotiation," Gaetz said.
McCarthy's chances of remaining in the speaker's chair took a big hit earlier Tuesday when House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) signaled that Democrats woulddo nothing to help salvage the speaker's chair, vowing instead to vote in favor of his ouster.
"Given their unwillingness to break from MAGA extremism in an authentic and comprehensive manner, House Democratic leadership will vote yes on the pending Republican motion to vacate the chair," Jeffries wrote in a Dear Colleague letter.
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told reporters Tuesday that "we are not voting in any way that will help Republicans."
"There is reason after reason to just let Republicans deal with their own problems," she added. "Let them wallow in their pigsty of incompetence and inability to govern."
A new acting speaker pro tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), will now take the gavel until someone is elected to take McCarthy's place.
Responding to McCarthy's pending ouster in a statement ahead of the final vote, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) said that "in less than a year, Kevin McCarthy has proven himself to be the weakest House speaker in modern history."
"Every decision Mr. McCarthy has made was with eyes only on the speaker's gavel," he continued. "Governance and trust have been secondary. Mr. McCarthy made corrupt bargains with right-wing extremists to seize power. He handed these misfits the tools they now wield against him so let him negotiate with these wolves."
"All Americans should watch this latest spectacle and know House Republicans have no business running a lemonade stand let alone the Congress," Pascrell said. "The House Republican majority can decide who they want to be speaker of the House. But the speaker cannot count on me to save him from the inmates he empowered in the Republican asylum."
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