São Paulo – Economist Eduardo Gianetti da Fonseca outlined three possible scenarios for Brazil’s economy following the presidential elections due in October this year. A professor at the Brazilian Capital Markets Institute (Ibmec, in the Portuguese acronym) and presidential campaign advisory team member for the political party PSB, which should confirm the former minister Marina Silva as its candidate, Fonseca delivered a lecture at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce’s offices in São Paulo last Tuesday (19th).
Sérgio Tomisaki/Arab Chamber
Fonseca (R) discussed the past, present and future of the economy
He foresaw similar macro- and microeconomic scenarios in case either opposition candidate wins, Silva or Aécio Neves (PSDB), and two possibilities in case president Dilma Rousseff (PT) is re-elected.
Gianetti said Brazil’s macroeconomic tripod – floating exchange rate, inflation targeting and primary surplus – is extremely fragile and the opposition will need to carry out corrective actions early on in their term in office, should they be elected, so as to reconnect with the economic scenario seen in Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s second term (1999-2002) and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s first term (2003-2006).
“We will have adjustments for two or three quarters,” he said, referring to actions required in order for economic tripod to regain strength.
In the case Rousseff is re-elected, Fonseca said one possibility would be a learning curve, whereby the president would acknowledge her administrative mistakes and work on correcting them, moving back towards the tripod and creating the conditions for private sector investment in infrastructure. Another scenario would be the prevalence of a “I did so well they re-elected me” line of thinking and the ensuing “Argentinization” of Brazil, culminating in a financial crisis.
Fonseca gave an overview of the status of Brazil’s economy and explained the events that led to the current conjuncture. He remarked that the country remained virtually unscathed throughout the 2008/2009 crisis, after a period of growth, social inclusion, rising income, full employment and stable macroeconomics. “This illusion lasted until 2010,” he said.
According to him, the Brazilian economy is now faced with a worrisome combination of three issues: low growth rate, inflation near the top end of the target range and a current account deficit. “Whenever you have low growth, inflation should be well-behaved,” he said.
Sérgio Tomisaki/Arab Chamber
Fonseca and Sallum at the event
How has Brazil come to this situation? One factor, he said, was the change in external environment. “Global winds were blowing in our favour,” said Fonseca, citing high prices of the commodities sold by Brazil (like agricultural products and ores) in relation to the cost of products the country imports and the low interest-based monetary policy of developed countries, which caused an influx of capital to the country. Commodities prices have not plummeted, but have not kept rising either, and foreign money is now taking the opposite route.
Another factor he mentioned is Brazil’s fiscal situation, which harks back to the Constitution of 1988, when the State went from centralized to federative and states and municipalities became endowed with public sector attributions. Nonetheless, federal government spending increased instead of declining, and taxes were created under the guise of “contributions,” a gap left open by the Constitution. Brazil’s gross tax burden went from 24% to 25% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in 1988, to a current 36%. “The gross tax burden grew linearly in every administration that followed,” he said.
A large portion of spending goes to Social Security, which currently soaks up 12% of the GDP, according to the economist. “This is an astronomical amount for a country that is still young.” This, according to him, explains Brazil’s low capacity for investing in both physical and human capital. According to him, the country cannot solve the Social Security issue without productivity gains. Each Brazilian needs to be more productive.
Another factor that has caused the economy to deteriorate, according to Fonseca, was the quality of economic policy. According to him, the transition from the FHC administration into Lula’s was conducted in utterly competent fashion. “It was a great, welcome surprise,” he says, noting that the economic tripod was maintained, with a floating exchange rate, an inflation targeting system and fiscal targets. “This pact would only be broken later on, in Lula’s second term, but more so during Rousseff’s administration,” said Fonseca.
Sérgio Tomisaki/Arab Chamber
Gianetti spoke to a packed audience
Other factors which undermined the tripod, according to the economist, include a reduced primary surplus, as the government resorted to “creative accounting” such as delaying payments to meet the target, contracting debt on one end to transfer funds to another; the top end of the inflation target, which became the new mid-range, and government-controlled collective transport and fuel prices; and finally, intervention in the foreign exchange market to stave off price hikes.
According to him, the government started micromanaging, taking the place of the market and picking out sectors to be the “victors.” The economist believes this is a mistaken philosophy. Government measures must be horizontal, i.e. benefit the business environment across the board. This, says Fonseca, causes the market to become distrustful of regulation.
The event was presented and hosted by the Arab Chamber president Marcelo Sallum and former director Mário Rizkallah. It is part of the lecture cycle held by the organization on economics, culture, careers and other subjects.
“MURIENDO POR CRUZAR,” AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INCREASING NUMBER OF IMMIGRANT DEATHS ALONG THE BORDER, THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 AT 6 P.M./5 C
Carmen Dominicci and Neida Sandoval present the Telemundo and The Weather Channel co-production
Miami – July 31, 2014 –Telemundo presents “Muriendo por Cruzar”, a documentary that investigates why increasing numbers of immigrants are dying while trying to cross the US-Mexican border near the city of Falfurrias, Texas, this Sunday, August 3 at 6PM/5 C. The Telemundo and The Weather Channel co-production, presented by Noticias Telemundo journalists Carmen Dominicci and Neida Sandoval, reveals the obstacles immigrants face once they cross into US territory, including extreme weather conditions, as they try to evade the border patrol. “Muriendo por Cruzar” is part of Noticias Telemundo’s special coverage of the crisis on the border and immigration reform.
“‘Muriendo por Cruzar’” dares to ask questions that reveal the actual conditions undocumented immigrants face as they try to start a new life in the United States,” said Alina Falcón, Telemundo’s Executive Vice President for News and Alternative Programming. “Our collaboration with The Weather Channel was very productive. They have a unique expertise in covering the impact of weather on people’s lives, as we do in covering immigration reform and the border crisis. The result is a compelling documentary that exposes a harrowing reality.”
“Muriendo por Cruzar” is the first co-production by Telemundo and The Weather Channel. Both networks are part of NBCUniversal.
Some attending the rally in the Wisconsin city wore “back the blue” shirts. Others carried American flags. They applauded when law enforcement vehicles rolled by.
“With the things that they face on a daily basis, they need that little extra push of love and to show that they are needed,” said Jennifer Peyton, 44, who attended the rally. “I mean, if you went in to work every day, and you were told that you were bad or had things thrown at you, I think it would weigh on your psyche a little bit, too.”
A Kenosha police officer shot Blake in the back Aug. 23, leaving the 29-year-old Black man paralyzed.
Protesters have marched in Kenosha every night since Blake’s shooting, with some protests devolving into unrest that damaged buildings and vehicles. Authorities say a teenager from northern Illinois shot and killed two protesters in Kenosha on Tuesday night.
An unidentified man participating in a Blue Lives Matter rally Sunday in Kenosha, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
A 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. state of emergency curfew that was set to expire Sunday has been extended through 7 a.m. Wednesday, the Kenosha County sheriff’s office said.
Blake’s shooting sparked renewed protests against racial injustice and police brutality several months after George Floyd’s May 25 death touched off a wider reckoning on race.
Floyd, another Black man, was handcuffed and died after a Minneapolis officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck.
Blake was shot after three Kenosha officers responded to a domestic dispute call.
In cellphone video recorded by a bystander, Blake walks from the sidewalk around the front of an SUV to his driver-side door as officers follow him with their guns drawn and shout at him. As Blake opens the door and leans into the SUV, an officer grabs his shirt from behind and opens fire. Three of Blake’s children were in the vehicle.
City officials have identified Rusten Sheskey as the officer who shot Blake.
The Kenosha police union said Blake had a knife and fought with officers. State investigators have said only that officers found a knife on the floor of the car.
Blue Lives Matter supporters listening to Black Lives Matter supporter Nick Dennis during the rally in Kenosha. (REUTERS/Jim Vondruska)
Blake is being treated in a hospital. His father, Jacob Blake Sr., said he’s paralyzed from the waist down.
Ben Crump, an attorney for the family, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the younger Blake suffered “catastrophic injuries” that include a pierced spinal cord and shattered vertebrae. He has lost his colon and most of his intestine, Crump said.
Like Floyd’s death, Blake’s shooting has fueled a national movement against police brutality and the slayings of Black people by law enforcement officers.
The movement has further exposed deep divisions in the country.
Some people at Sunday’s rally signed petitions urging the recall of Gov. Tony Evers and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, both Democrats, and added messages of support on handwritten posters thanking police as heroes.
About 1,000 people attended a rally to protest police violence Saturday.
Jennifer Payton participating in the Blue Lives Matter rally Sunday in Kenosha. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
The city’s mayor, John Antaramian, said Sunday that he will ask the state for $30 million to rebuild parts of Kenosha destroyed or damaged by the violence, according to the Kenosha News.
President Donald Trump has spoken out against the summer-long protests. He is expected to visit Kenosha on Tuesday to meet with law enforcement and survey damage from the demonstrations.
Evers wrote to Trump on Sunday, urging the president to reconsider his plans to visit Kenosha.
“I, along with other community leaders who have reached out, are concerned about what your presence will mean for Kenosha and our state. I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together,” Evers wrote.
Barnes indicated that Trump may not be welcome.
“I don’t know how, given any of the previous statements that the president made, that he intends to come here to be helpful and we absolutely don’t need that right now,” Barnes told CNN on Sunday.
Crump said the Blake family “has not been contacted at this time” by Trump.
On Sunday, some Kenosha residents gathered around a Family Dollar as volunteers passed out donations and painted messages of peace on boarded up buildings. A DJ played house music and hip-hop while volunteers danced, wearing masks to protect against the coronavirus.
“I needed this today,” said David Sanchez, 66, who is retired. “I went to church this morning and it was all about Jacob Blake and his family. It’s 100% positive.”
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm suggested that climate change could have played a role in the deadly collapse of a Florida condo tower — and was ripped by experts and online critics alike for the “ghoulish” opinion.
During an interview Tuesday on CNN, Granholm was asked whether climate change may have contributed to the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, where 149 people remain missing and 12 deaths have been confirmed, Fox News reported.
“Obviously, we don’t know fully, but we do know that the seas are rising. We know that we’re losing inches and inches of beaches, not just in Florida but all around,” Granholm said.
“Michigan, where I’m from, we’ve seen the loss of beaches because the waters are rising, so this is a phenomenon that will continue,” she added.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was ripped by experts and critics for suggesting climate change played a role in the Champlain Towers South collapse.CNN
“We’ll have to wait to see what the analysis is for this building, but the issue about resiliency and making sure we adapt to this changing climate, that’s going to mean levees need to be built, sea walls need to be built, infrastructure needs to be built,” Granholm said.
“Obviously, we don’t know fully, but we do know that the seas are rising,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm pointed out.AFP via Getty Images
“There’s so much investment that we need to do to protect ourselves from climate change but also to address it and mitigate it,” she continued. “Hopefully these infrastructure bills, when taken together, will make a huge step and allow America to lead again.”
The sea level has risen some 8 inches around the world since 1900, and especially during the 40 years since the Surfside tower was built, Zhong-Ren Peng, director of iAdapt — the International Center for Adaptation Planning and Design at the University of Florida — wrote in a piece for USA Today.
By 2100, the sea level along Florida’s southeastern coast will rise between 2.6 and 6.8 feet, Peng wrote, citing the state’s projections.
But a professor who researches the beaches in South Florida said it is unlikely that climate change alone was behind the collapse.
Stephen Leatherman, a Florida International University professor, said there’s no evidence yet that the phenomenon played a role in the collapse.
Florida International University professor Stephen Leatherman suggested a lack of structural reinforcement played more of a role in the collapse than climate change.ZUMAPRESS.com
“I doubt that that was an issue here,” he told Agence France-Presse during an interview in his Miami home.
Rather, a lack of reinforcement in the doomed structure’s construction, or perhaps water damage that eventually compromised its foundations, are more likely culprits, Leatherman told the news outlet.
“Big thing they worry about here are hurricanes, beach erosion, flooding, all those issues. But the collapse of a building is new. We haven’t ever seen this before, particularly a high-rise building,” he said.
A 2018 inspection survey reported cracking and spalling on parking garage columns.
Leatherman also questioned whether contractors installed enough rebar to support the concrete tower, and also the quality of the sand needed to make the concrete.
A 2018 engineer’s report found “major structural damage” in the complex, extending to the concrete slab under the pool deck and the concrete beams and columns in the underground garage.
Meanwhile, Granholm’s comments elicited rebuke in social media.
“There’s nothing that can’t be blamed on climate change,” National Review editor Rich Lowry said in a tweet.
“MURIENDO POR CRUZAR,” AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INCREASING NUMBER OF IMMIGRANT DEATHS ALONG THE BORDER, THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 AT 6 P.M./5 C
Carmen Dominicci and Neida Sandoval present the Telemundo and The Weather Channel co-production
Miami – July 31, 2014 –Telemundo presents “Muriendo por Cruzar”, a documentary that investigates why increasing numbers of immigrants are dying while trying to cross the US-Mexican border near the city of Falfurrias, Texas, this Sunday, August 3 at 6PM/5 C. The Telemundo and The Weather Channel co-production, presented by Noticias Telemundo journalists Carmen Dominicci and Neida Sandoval, reveals the obstacles immigrants face once they cross into US territory, including extreme weather conditions, as they try to evade the border patrol. “Muriendo por Cruzar” is part of Noticias Telemundo’s special coverage of the crisis on the border and immigration reform.
“‘Muriendo por Cruzar’” dares to ask questions that reveal the actual conditions undocumented immigrants face as they try to start a new life in the United States,” said Alina Falcón, Telemundo’s Executive Vice President for News and Alternative Programming. “Our collaboration with The Weather Channel was very productive. They have a unique expertise in covering the impact of weather on people’s lives, as we do in covering immigration reform and the border crisis. The result is a compelling documentary that exposes a harrowing reality.”
“Muriendo por Cruzar” is the first co-production by Telemundo and The Weather Channel. Both networks are part of NBCUniversal.
North Carolina sheriff’s deputies were “justified” in their fatal shooting of a Black man in April because the man ignored their commands and drove his car directly at one of them before they fired any shots, a prosecutor said Tuesday. District Attorney Andrew Womble said none of the deputies involved would be criminally charged in the fatal shooting of Andrew Brown Jr.
“The officers’ actions were consistent with their training and fully supported under the law in protecting their lives and this community,” Womble said during a press conference.
The district attorney said that Brown used his car as a “deadly weapon,” causing Pasquotank County deputies to believe it was necessary to use deadly force. Womble acknowledged Brown wasn’t armed with guns or other weapons as deputies were trying to take him into custody while serving drug-related warrants at his house in Elizabeth City on April 21.
In a statement, the Brown family’s attorneys said Womble was making an “attempt to whitewash this unjustified killing.”
“The bottom line is that Andrew was killed by a shot to the back of the head,” the attorneys said. “Interestingly, none of these issues were appropriately addressed in today’s press conference.”
The prosecutor said he would not release bodycam video of the confrontation between Brown and the law enforcement officers, but he played portions of the video during the news conference. The video came from four body cameras worn by deputies during the shooting.
An image capture from police body camera video shows Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies during the fatal shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, April 21, 2021.
In the footage played to reporters, the deputies are seen jumping out of the back of a sheriff’s office pickup truck as it pulls up to Brown’s house. The deputies then rush toward Brown, who was in his car.
As the deputies surround the car, one of them, who Womble identified as Deputy Joel Lunsford, tried to open the driver’s side door.
Womble said Brown was holding his phone when the deputies approached the vehicle and that Brown threw the phone down and began to rapidly back the car away from the deputies. As the car backed away, the door handle came out of Lunsford’s hand, Womble said.
Brown then drove the car forward and to the left between two deputies as he was told to stop the vehicle. As the car was moving, Lunsford appeared to briefly brace his left hand against the passenger side of the hood.
“It was at this moment that the first shot is fired,” Womble said. He said the first shot fired at Brown’s car went through the front windshield, not the back as was previously reported.
As Brown drove away, the deputies opened fire with bullets entering the car through the passenger side of the car, the rear windshield and the trunk, according to Womble. He said the incident lasted a total of 44 seconds.
The three deputies involved in the shooting — Investigator Daniel Meads, Deputy Robert Morgan and Corporal Aaron Lewellyn — have been on leave since it happened. The sheriff’s office said Morgan is Black while Meads and Lewellyn are White.
Four others who were at the scene were reinstated after the sheriff said they didn’t fire their weapons.
“Clearly they did not feel that their lives were endangered,” the Brown family’s attorneys said of the four deputies who didn’t shoot.
An independent autopsy released by the family found that Brown was hit by bullets five times, including once in the back of the head. Lawyers for Brown’s family who watched body camera footage say that it shows Brown was not armed and that he didn’t drive toward deputies or pose a threat to them. Womble has previously disagreed in court, saying that Brown struck deputies twice with his car before any shots were fired.
The sheriff has said his deputies weren’t injured.
The Brown family’s attorneys called for the release of the full bodycam video and the State Bureau of Investigation’s report on the shooting. The attorneys also called for the U.S. Department of Justice to “intervene immediately.”
The shooting sparked protests over multiple weeks by demonstrators calling for the public release of the footage. While authorities have shown footage to Brown’s family, a judge refused to release the video publicly pending the state investigation.
The misdemeanor charge of illegally possessing a dangerous weapon as a minor was the least serious one Mr. Rittenhouse faced and carried a relatively short sentence. But jurors might have settled on the charge, said Steven Wright, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, if they balked at the more serious counts but wanted to convict Mr. Rittenhouse of something.
“A jury, perhaps inclined toward compromise, won’t have the gun charge as an option,” Mr. Wright wrote in an email.
Michael O’Hear, a law professor at Marquette University Law School, wrote in an email that the dismissal of the gun possession charge could make the jury perceive that the prosecution had generally overreached with its charges.
Judge Schroeder told jurors on Monday that they could consider some less serious charges than the ones Mr. Rittenhouse has faced all along. For instance, jurors could opt to convict him of second-degree intentional homicide instead of the higher charge of first-degree intentional homicide.
It is legal for adults to openly carry firearms in Wisconsin, but state law prohibits minors from possessing firearms except in limited circumstances.
Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat and former candidate for governor of the state who built a national profile as a voting rights advocate, announced on Wednesday that she would run again for governor in 2022, setting up a high-profile clash in next year’s elections.
“I’m running for Governor because opportunity in our state shouldn’t be determined by ZIP code, background or access to power,” Ms. Abrams said in a tweet, which was accompanied by an announcement video with the slogan “One Georgia.”
If her campaign is successful, Ms. Abrams would become the first Black governor of Georgia and the first Black woman to serve as governor of any state. In 2018, Ms. Abrams, a former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, lost to Brian Kemp, a Republican, by about 55,000 votes.
The decision from Ms. Abrams, who has come to embody the state’s changing racial and political makeup and was previously considered to be President Biden’s running mate, sets up a likely rematch with Governor Kemp, who has already announced his campaign for a second term.
US Attorney General William Barr has some explaining to do.
In the more than two weeks since Barr sent Congress his summary of the more than 400-page Mueller report it seems increasingly clear that the attorney general is doing political spadework for President Trump.
In the process he’s needlessly sullied his reputation on behalf of an increasingly unhinged and chronically dishonest president.
Not only did Barr endorse Trump’s “no collusion” talking point, but on the question of obstruction of justice, Barr concluded there was no criminal behavior on the president’s part.
However, it remains frustratingly unclear as to why Barr was offering an opinion on Trump’s criminal liability in the first place. Department of Justice guidelines state that a sitting president cannot be indicted — so the attorney general’s views are not necessarily germane. Even if Barr concluded that Trump broke the law there’s not much he could do about if. It’s Congress’s job to hold the president accountable for potentially criminal acts. By weighing in on the question, Barr was, in effect, usurping Congress’s constitutionally mandated role in making such determinations.
All of this raised legitimate concerns that Barr was putting his finger on the scale to help the president.
Last week, confirmation of those fears began rolling in. In quick succession, stories appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post in which the once leak-allergic Mueller team made clear it’s displeasure with Barr’s conduct.
According to the Times, Mueller’s investigators were angry about Barr’s characterizations of their inquiry, which they said “were more troubling for President Trump than Mr. Barr indicated.” The Post said the evidence gathered by Mueller on obstruction of justice “was alarming and significant,” and “there was immediate displeasure from the [Mueller] team when they saw how the attorney general had characterized their work.”
But the most troubling detail was the revelation in the Post story that Mueller’s team had prepared summaries from each section of the report, with minimum redactions, that “could have been released immediately — or very quickly.”
Why didn’t Barr simply release the summaries prepared by Mueller’s team? Why put his spin on their conclusion — spin that now seems inaccurate?
Moreover, why has the report still not been released?
The answer, unfortunately, feels increasingly obvious: Barr is protecting the president. Barr’s summary quickly created a public narrative on the report that provided huge political benefits to Trump. Barr now appears to be purposely dragging his feet on releasing the full report, for fear that it will embarrass the president.
Far too many in the media took the bait, immediately trumpeting Barr’s summary of the report and some even castigating reporters and pundits for allegedly getting the Russia story wrong.
But did they? There is no reason, at this point, to take Barr’s summary of the Mueller report seriously. This attorney general not only was nominated by Trump — after he fired his predecessor, in part, for not doing enough to protect him from Mueller’s investigation — but before taking the job Barr also wrote an unsolicited 19-page memo to the Department of Justice that criticized the investigation. Now he’s stonewalling on releasing the report and — if Mueller’s prosecutors are to be believed — has baldly mischaracterized it to the public.
If he has skewed the report, he’s yet one more Trump administration figure openly surrendering his integrity and ethical core to a man utterly devoid of either. That’s not quite a surprise at this point. Such obsequiousness is the defining characteristic of this administration and its retinue of hangers-on and enablers.
One only had to watch Kirstjen Nielsen humiliatingly resign her position as secretary of Homeland Security this weekend to marvel at the blind loyalty shown by members of this administration to a president who has done not one thing to merit such devotion.
Nielsen was the administration point person for a policy of tearing children away from their parents. That decision should haunt her for the rest of her days. But there she was on Sunday, thrown under the bus for not being cruel enough to immigrants, and yet, as the tires bounced over her body, she was still playing the role of the loyal soldier.
With Barr it’s more of a head-scratcher, unless the inclination of Republicans to bend a knee to power has been so ritualistically ingrained on party lifers that they seemingly know no other path.
Back when he testified to Congress in his confirmation hearings earlier this year, Barr reassured members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that he could “truly be independent.” As he said at the time, “I feel I’m in a position in life where I can do the right thing and not really care about the consequences.”
But as is so often the case with anyone deluded and morally deficient enough to work for this administration, doing the wrong thing is something of a default position, even when the consequence is one’s own honor.
Michael A. Cohen’s column appears regularly in the Globe. Follow him on Twitter @speechboy71.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shakes hands with Vice President Mike Pence, in Warsaw, Poland on Sept. 1, 2019.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shakes hands with Vice President Mike Pence, in Warsaw, Poland on Sept. 1, 2019.
Petr David Josek/AP
Until Ambassador Gordon Sondland’s public testimony on Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence had managed to keep out of the center of the impeachment inquiry.
For the first time during the public phase of the impeachment hearings, a witness connected Pence to a possible quid pro quo. Sondland said that just ahead of a Sept. 1 meeting with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he conferred with Pence about a link between U.S. military aid for Ukraine and the investigation that President Trump sought into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
“I mentioned to Vice President Pence before the meetings with the Ukrainians that I had concerns that the delay in aid had become tied to the issue of investigations,” Sondland testified.
Pence responded later that day.
“I made no comments in my meeting with President Zelenskiy concerning any investigations or tying investigations to U.S. aid to Ukraine, and I have no recollection of any discussion with Ambassador Sondland before that meeting,” Pence said.
With his role in the Ukraine story under increased scrutiny, Pence finds himself suddenly ensnared in a scandal that threatens to end with just the third ever impeachment in U.S. history. For those who know and have studied Pence, his path through the crisis is likely to feature the mix of religion and politics that he learned to synthesize decades ago.
Political calculus, faith calculus
To understand Pence, it’s instructive to read his 1980 Hanover College senior thesis, says journalist Tom LoBianco, author of Piety & Power: Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House.
“It’s all about Abraham Lincoln’s ambivalence towards organized religion, his own agnosticism and how that played to his own political peril in his career,” LoBianco said. “And I’m reading this and I’m like, this isn’t about Abe Lincoln. This is about Mike Pence. You can see him reasoning through the political calculus with the faith calculus.”
Even at 21 years old, Pence understood how politics and religion work together.
Pence grew up in a conservative Catholic family sort of going through the motions of his faith, but in 1978 he went to a Christian music festival in Kentucky. It was a turning point for Pence — the moment, he says, when he found Jesus.
His political career, however, was less linear. He ran for Congress twice — in 1988 and 1990 — and lost both times. Then he decided to try his hand at something else: a daily talk radio show.
LoBianco said the radio show was about more than just getting Pence’s name out there.
“I think people take the wrong lesson from that when they say that, ‘Oh, he built his name I.D. That’s what you need to win.’ I think you’re missing the bigger point, which is: This is where he gets his antenna from,” he said.
His political antenna pointed him to the kinds of cultural and social issues that revved up a religious audience. It helped Pence start to find his political niche.
A purpose and a calling
Pence won a congressional seat in 2000 — a seat he held until 2013, when he became the governor of Indiana. LoBianco said it wasn’t a good fit.
“He didn’t like being governor. As a manager, he was not good at it. And this is where he got himself into trouble in that time,” he said. “He was detached. He spent too much time fundraising for his own long-term presidential goals and not enough time being in the job and living the role of governor.”
Which is why, LoBianco said, the battle over a controversial religious liberty law in Indiana caught Pence off guard. The so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act was popular among social conservatives, but it led some national companies to boycott the state in 2015 due to concerns that it discriminated against the LGBTQ community.
The controversy left the governor stunned, according to Jim Atterholt, Pence’s former chief of staff. After the law was amended, Atterholt said, Pence met directly with members of the LGBTQ community.
Mike Pence greets the crowd before introducing Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Aug. 5, 2016 in Green Bay, Wisc.
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Mike Pence greets the crowd before introducing Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Aug. 5, 2016 in Green Bay, Wisc.
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“He began to meet and establish relationships with folks that just weren’t regularly in our office and maybe they should have been more regular in our office,” Atterholt said.
But through all that dialogue, Pence never wavered on core issues that are often used as a litmus test in conservative circles. He still believes that marriage should happen only between a man and a woman and that abortion is wrong.
“He likes to say ‘I’m a conservative, but I’m not angry about it.’ He loves talking to people that disagree with him and listening, and you’ll never hear him say an unkind word. You’ll never hear him react in a way that’s unkind,” Atterholt said.
It’s a style that stands in stark contrast to Trump.
“His purpose as vice president is to be a partner and to provide godly counsel, to be prayerful and to give him the best counsel he can and to also be ready, God forbid, if something were to happen,” said Atterholt. “He is a very loyal person and he understands that everyone’s flawed in different ways. And he’s very forgiving of those flaws.”
In 2016, with Trump locked in a tight race for the White House with Hillary Clinton, Pence was even able to forgive Trump for the now infamous Access Hollywood tape where Trump bragged about groping and kissing women.
“Was he pleased about that? Of course not. But at the same time, he’s a very loyal person and he wasn’t going anywhere,” Atterholt said. “I mean, he’d made a pledge. He’d made a promise and he was going to keep that promise.”
Atterholt said it made sense when Pence joined the Trump ticket.
“Then-Gov. Mike Pence and currently Vice President Pence sees public service as a calling, and when that invitation came for him to be considered, he prayed about it and he thought about it, talked a lot of people, but really in his heart, he said whatever happens, happens,” Atterholt said. “If that’s how I’m to be used, if that’s how I can best help our country, I’m willing to do that.”
‘Plans to give you hope and a future’
A couple months after the inauguration, Pence appeared on stage with David Hughes, the lead pastor of Church by the Glades, an evangelical megachurch in South Florida. Without mentioning Trump by name, Hughes made it clear that some of Pence’s most loyal supporters were still coming to grips with the vicious GOP primary and Pence’s new partnership with the president.
“I thought you did a brilliant job having respectful discourse with people who politically had different points of views,” Hughes said. “How would you guide us? How can the church help bring unity to a country where convictions are so polarized?”
Pence didn’t miss a beat. “It’s just the greatest privilege of my life to be vice president to President Donald Trump,” he said.
Pence knows why he was put on the ticket and how important moments like his appearance at Church by the Glades are to keeping the evangelical vote in Trump’s column.
“What the president really personifies is I think the pathway forward here. He’s got broad shoulders, but he’s got a big heart,” he said. “I tell people sometimes he’s bigger than life, you know? Always memorable, charismatic. And then there’s me. You know, it’s like I guess he wanted to balance the ticket.”
Then, he walked through the door that had been opened in this conversation, and separated himself from Trump.
“For me, for my house, it all really does come down to just wanting to treat others the way you want to be treated,” he said.
Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump listen during a conference call with the International Space Station on Oct. 18, 2019.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
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Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump listen during a conference call with the International Space Station on Oct. 18, 2019.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
It’s a small reminder that yes, he has been called to serve and he will. But he is not Donald J. Trump. He is Michael Richard Pence, a man with his own ambitions. And if he can move past the impeachment inquiry, if he can defend the president but keep his distance, he could find his own path to the White House.
Pence keeps a Bible verse on his mantle in his home. Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
But as the impeachment inquiry draws Pence further inside, the calling for Pence now — the work — is to survive the present.
This story was produced for broadcast by Catherine Whelan and edited by Shannon Rhoades. Heidi Glenn adapted it for the Web.
Judy Nguyen is frustrated that anyone with enough money or the right connections can run as a candidate in an election. She’s disappointed she hasn’t seen immediate, tangible change under President Biden. And she feels for Americans who are trying to survive in an era when gas prices are skyrocketing and baby formula is scarce.
But she realizes she’s also part of the problem.
“I’m one of those people who talk like, oh, I want change, but then I don’t always vote,” Nguyen said as stood in the shade with her baby in a Brea shopping plaza. “I know I’m in a way at fault, but sometimes it’s just so hard to know who to believe” and who to vote for, she said.
The 40-year-old Democrat from Fullerton voted for Donald Trump, then for President Biden, and for Gov. Gavin Newsom. She isn’t happy with any of them.
“I’m just really sad,” she said, and she’s still deciding whether to cast a ballot in California’s primary election on Tuesday.
Across the shopping center, a handful of poll workers waited for voters to arrive. Over the course of an hour, one person showed up; it was another poll worker arriving to start her shift. It was much the same at a half dozen vote centers in L.A. and Orange counties the last few days. Turnout is dismal so far for California’s primary election Tuesday, with about 14% of registered voters having cast a ballot as of Monday afternoon, according to election data received by the consulting firm Political Data Intelligence.
California’s 2022 primary election is Tuesday. Here’s how to cast a ballot.
The returns are a major drop off from the same period in last year’s gubernatorial recall election, as well as the last midterm election in 2018, according to data tracked by political analysts.
Election experts say the lackluster participation by Californians stems from a dearth of excitement over this year’s contests, which largely lack competitive races at the top of the ticket. It’s a stark contrast with other parts of the nation where voter turnout is exceeding expectations.
“It’s a boring election,” said Paul Mitchell, vice president of PDI. “It’s clear from what we’re seeing that we’re going to have a low turnout election despite the fact the state has made it easier than ever to vote.”
In addition to sending every registered voter a mail ballot, a permanent move spurred by the pandemic, Mitchell noted that the state eliminated the need for postage stamps, allows neighbors and others to collect ballots, and that election officials will reach out to voters who fail to sign their ballots.
The Democratic consultant predicts primary turnout is likely to be under 30%. “Nothing puts this in better contrast than looking at Georgia right now: They’re doing everything they can, it seems, to make it harder to vote, yet they are having record turnout because voters there feel the future of the country is at stake.”
California’s 14% turnout so far contrasts with nearly 38% of voters who had voted as of the Monday before last year’s gubernatorial recall, and 22% of voters at the same point before the 2018 midterm election — the last congressional election in a year that did not feature a presidential race at the top of the ticket.
In 2018, when ballots were not yet mailed to all California voters, the midterm offered enraged Democrats their first opportunity to rebuke then-President Trump. More than 37% of voters turned out — the highest for a midterm primary in two decades. About 58% of voters cast ballots in the recall, a race that presented a sharp contrast between Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and the leading GOP challenger, radio host Larry Elder.
California’s 2022 primary election ballot includes races for governor, attorney general, the Legislature and Congress, as well as local contests.
“Election fatigue is definitely part of it, since the recall was so blustery. It was in everyone’s face,” said GOP strategist Beth Miller. “Because the recall election was last year, voters feel like they’ve already voted or had an election.”
Voters may be biding their time and turn in their ballots or vote on election day, she added. (Mail ballots postmarked by Tuesday will be counted as long as they are received by June 14.)
“We don’t know,” said Miller, who has been working in California politics for decades. “I’ve never seen it this slow in terms of ballots remaining out. Clearly voters are either completely disinterested or just now focused as election day nears.”
Some voters who haven’t cast ballots this year said they had simply lost trust in elected officials.
“They’re all the same. They say what they need to say to get you to vote,” said Kimela Ezechukwu, a Democrat who lives in the northern Los Angeles County district represented by GOP Rep. Mike Garcia that will be among the most contested congressional districts in the nation this year.
The 54-year-old psychologist said she was more passionate about politics when she was younger. Now, she believes the system has turned into something akin to “Game of Thrones.” Once politicians “get inside that political machine, that just somehow sucks their soul out.”
Ezechukwu makes it a point to vote in presidential elections, but hasn’t decided whether to vote in the midterm primary, she said as she sat with her son at a park in Lancaster. “I’ve found peace not watching TV or following politics. I’m trying to live a healthy life; be at peace. Shouldn’t that be the goal?”
Political experts said voter apathy, which typically increases during non-presidential elections, may be compounded by anxiety — over issues ranging from mass shootings to high gas prices.
“There seems to be an endless, ongoing barrage of really bad things that everyone in this country and state is having to deal with,” said Darry Sragow, a veteran Democratic strategist and publisher of the nonpartisan California Target Book, which handicaps races. “Voters are very much at loose ends.”
Far lower turnout for younger voters
Election turnout is traditionally highest during presidential contests and drops during the midterms, especially among young and minority voters. In this primary, 17% of white registered voters had cast ballots as of midday Monday, according to data received by PDI, compared with 8% of Latinos, 15% of Asian Americans and 14% of Black voters. While 30% of voters 65 and older had returned their ballots, roughly 6% of those between 18 and 34 had, according to the PDI data.
“Either you’re super involved being a young person … or honestly, it’s stressful and it’s kind of overwhelming to get into all of this,” said Ana Andrade, 19, as she ate a breakfast sandwich at Grand Central Market with fellow student Melina Deinum-Buck, 20.
Andrade, a USC student from Dana Point, and Manhattan Beach resident Deinum-Buck, who attends George Washington University, said gun control, abortion rights, climate change and drug decriminalization are issues of deep personal importance, but they also said they had not heard much about the primary election because they’d been studying abroad.Neither had voted, but both said they planned to.
“I need to do more research,” Deinum-Buck said.
Andrade added, “I’m not that educated on it yet.”
Uncompetitive top races dampen turnout
Newsom and Sen. Alex Padilla face little-known and underfunded competitors, and the most interesting statewide contests appear to be for insurance commissioner and controller, contests that do not generally elicit passion from voters.
“The thing that guarantees you’re voting is the top of the ticket,” said Raphael J. Sonenshein, executive director of the Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State L.A. “And there’s like zero here. The governor’s race is a complete afterthought.”
Republicans are widely expected to retake control of Congress in November — President Biden’s approval ratings are low, and economic concerns such as inflation are at the top of voters’ minds. That’s on top of the historic trend of the party in the White House traditionally losing seats in Congress in the first midterm election in its tenure.
The top two vote getters — regardless of party — in the June primary will move on to the November election.
California is unlikely to determine control of the House, but it is expected to influence the margin of the GOP’s power because of the number of competitive races in the state. The voter turnout in most of the scrutinized races largely mirrors the paltry turnout across the state, with a few exceptions.
In the newly drawn open 3rd Congressional District, which includes South Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes and has a hotly contested race for its open seat, 17% of voters have cast ballots. Another district with notable participation is Democratic Rep. Mike Levin’s, which straddles Orange and San Diego counties and is being contested by multiple GOP candidates; 20% of voters had weighed in there as of Sunday.
Some in Levin’s district, even those who had not yet cast their ballots, said they were gravely concerned about the direction of the nation.
“It’s a really confusing time,” said Robert Claypool, a Greek Orthodox priest, after he finished his daily walk on the beach path in San Clemente.
The 69-year-old lamented how it now takes about $100 to fill up his small car and wished Newsom would temporarily waive the state’s gas tax. Groceries are now more expensive when he shops for his wife and five children. And the registered Republican worries about formula shortages for newborns.
“I’m willing to stand by extreme oil or gasoline prices, but what about kids? That’s just terrible,” Claypool said, adding that he and his family plan to gather Tuesday and decide who to vote for.
“Everybody should vote,” he said. “If you stop voting, that apathy hurts everybody.”
Nearly $33 million has been spent on advertising in the race — more than three-quarters of which came from one billionaire candidate — making it one of this year’s most expensive contests in the nation, according to AdImpact, which tracks political spending.
But despite the onslaught of television ads, mailers and texts, some 287,200 Angelenos had voted as of Monday — about 14% of the city’s registered voters, according to PDI.
Billionaire developer Rick Caruso and Rep. Karen Bass are the top contenders in the race, with City Councilman Kevin de León trailing.
Sonenshein said a problem among L.A. voters may be a lack of understanding that if a mayoral candidate receives more than 50% of the vote on Tuesday — unlike in most state or federal elections — he or she wins and there is no run-off.
“I think we’re on the cusp of a huge election in November, both in California and nationwide,” he said. “The problem in Los Angeles is that people don’t always realize you might not get a choice in November.”
Polls show there are three leading contenders in the race to succeed Eric Garcetti as mayor of Los Angeles. Here’s a guide to the top contenders.
This is the first open mayor’s race since city leaders decided to consolidate municipal elections with state contests in hopes of increasing voter turnout. The last contest without an incumbent — in 2013 – drew nearly 21% of voters in the primary and a little more than 23% in the run-off.
Cashmier Cloud, a 34-year-old employee of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, was among the voters who had already cast her ballot for Rep. Karen Bass for mayor. She recently ran into the congresswoman at a grocery store but said, “I was always going to vote for her.”
Cloud was taking a break from a poll-working shift last week at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Jefferson Park neighborhood. There was plenty of time — the polling place had nearly a dozen volunteers and hardly any voters.
Cloud, 34, has concerns about the record of Bass’ main rival, billionaire developer Rick Caruso.
“He’s had the finances to assist L.A. years ago,” she said, noting the shopping centers Caruso owns. “You’re at the Grove with all this money and influence but you haven’t done anything in the past, so what’s different now?”
Zack Tomas, 77, had a different view as he sat at an outdoor table at the Grove.
“He’s a good man. Is he a good politician? I don’t know. I hope he is, and I wish him the best,” said the limousine driver, a registered Democrat. Tomas was unsure if he would vote.
Recall in San Francisco motivates voters
Turnout is higher in San Francisco, where 21% of the city’s registered voters had cast ballots as of Sunday. A divisive attempted recall of the city’s progressive Dist. Atty. Chesa Boudin is helping drive turnout. The city has experienced high-profile smash-and-grab robberies at flagship department stores in tourist areas as well as daunting homelessness and open-air drug use.
Edward Samonte, 63, is among those frustrated by Boudin’s performance since the Democrat was sworn in in 2020. “I’m sure he does some good for the city,” the Muni worker said near a Garfield Square bus stop, “but I’m hearing more negativity than good, so I voted for the recall.”
Cindy Mendoza, 50, said she planned to vote against the recall. “We need to give elected officials the chance to do their job. The work that they do doesn’t happen overnight or rest on one case,” she said from a Potrero Hill garden where she volunteers.
Mendoza added that she feels overwhelmed by the number of recent elections. San Francisco had a contentious school board recall earlier this year, on top of last fall’s gubernatorial recall.
“It’s too much,” she said.
Times staff writer Anabel Sosa contributed to this report from San Francisco.
Rural usually means Republican. But this county is a Democratic speck in California’s sea of red.
São Paulo –Flora Néctar, Brazilian honey producer, plans to resume exporting to the Arab market. The company already exported to Saudi Arabia around three years ago and is scheduled to take part in food sector trade fair, Sial Middle East, next year, with the intention to resume sales to the Arabs. The fair is held annually in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The previous export to Jeddah was 35 tonnes large, according to Flora Néctar’s director and owner, José Eduardo Anibal.
Press release
Flora Néctar: partnership with beekeepers
“The Arab market is very interesting. During Ramadan, they consume a lot of honey. There is a large consumption,” says Anibal. The difficulty with selling to the region, according to the Brazilian businessman, is the competition with China. He says the Asian country usually exports honey to Germany and from there the product is sold to the Arab market. The competition against Chinese honey is not a hindrance to sell only to the Arabs, but to other countries in general. “But the quality of the Chinese honey is quite inferior”, says Flora Néctar’s owner.
The plant is in Barretos, São Paulo’s countryside, and it focuses on exporting. Currently 82% of the production is intended to the foreign markets. There are seven countries purchasing from the company, the United States and Canada are the largest buyers. And perspectives for exporting are bright. In the first five months of this year alone, Flora Néctar has already matched 2013’s total sales, driven by the good sales both domestically and abroad. Last year production stood at 2.5 million tonnes of honey.
Press release
Pure honey is sold in a variety of packages
In Brazil Flora Néctar sells honey in several sizes and packages, ranging from sachets to packages of over one kilo. Abroad the product is usually sent in 280-kilo barrels. The choice of sending the product in bulk is to make the price more appealing. The company from Barretos sells both pure and compound honey, i.e. mixed to propolis, eucalyptus, guaco other extracts. They even produce honey in packages aimed at children.
Flora Néctar processes all the honey in its Barretos unit. The raw material, however, comes from virtually all Brazil, from beekeepers associated to the company. The company also has one of the largest projects for the production of organic honey in the country. Currently, around 80% of the honey sold by the company is organic.
“MURIENDO POR CRUZAR,” AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INCREASING NUMBER OF IMMIGRANT DEATHS ALONG THE BORDER, THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 AT 6 P.M./5 C
Carmen Dominicci and Neida Sandoval present the Telemundo and The Weather Channel co-production
Miami – July 31, 2014 –Telemundo presents “Muriendo por Cruzar”, a documentary that investigates why increasing numbers of immigrants are dying while trying to cross the US-Mexican border near the city of Falfurrias, Texas, this Sunday, August 3 at 6PM/5 C. The Telemundo and The Weather Channel co-production, presented by Noticias Telemundo journalists Carmen Dominicci and Neida Sandoval, reveals the obstacles immigrants face once they cross into US territory, including extreme weather conditions, as they try to evade the border patrol. “Muriendo por Cruzar” is part of Noticias Telemundo’s special coverage of the crisis on the border and immigration reform.
“‘Muriendo por Cruzar’” dares to ask questions that reveal the actual conditions undocumented immigrants face as they try to start a new life in the United States,” said Alina Falcón, Telemundo’s Executive Vice President for News and Alternative Programming. “Our collaboration with The Weather Channel was very productive. They have a unique expertise in covering the impact of weather on people’s lives, as we do in covering immigration reform and the border crisis. The result is a compelling documentary that exposes a harrowing reality.”
“Muriendo por Cruzar” is the first co-production by Telemundo and The Weather Channel. Both networks are part of NBCUniversal.
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