News & Brews December 3, 2024
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Soros-backed DAs on notice?
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner was among multiple progressive district attorneys who rode a George Soros funding wave to victory. And their soft-on-crime approach has (not surprisingly) delivered higher crime rates. Now, Elon Musk may want his America PAC to fund challenges to these progressive DAs. The Inquirer (no fan of Musk, by the way) reports, “Musk promoted a post on X last month that listed six district attorneys, including Krasner, who were ‘Soros-Backed’ and facing reelection in 2025 or 2026. The billionaire owner of X said the list was ‘Interesting’ and tagged America PAC’s X account.”
Longest strike in the U.S. is happening in Pa.
Did you know that reporters at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are on strike and have been since October 2022? If you answered, “No,” don’t worry—you’re not alone. I’d wager most people have no idea the strike is ongoing, particularly given the Post-Gazette continues to do what it’s been doing for years: report the news. This is because, as the progressive Pennsylvania Capital-Star tells us, “enough employees kept working to keep the paper publishing.” But per the International Communication Workers of America, the strike of the Pittsburgh Newspaper Guild is now the longest ongoing strike in the U.S. (If you’re asking if the Post-Gazette really needs the striking union workers, given that it’s continued to operate without them—well, you’re also not alone.)
Trump pledges to block Nippon-U.S. Steel deal
Yesterday, President-elect Trump pledged to use tax incentives and tariffs as tools to block the sale of U.S. Steel to Japan-based Nippon Steel. Fox Business notes, however, that “Nippon Steel seeks to close the deal before Trump is sworn in as president again on January 20, although President Biden and a powerful U.S. labor union also oppose the takeover. Nippon Steel is confident the deal can be finished by the end of the year.” Elected officials are split on the deal, with some, like Trump, coming out against it and others, like Pa. Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, noting that the deal is necessary to save Pennsylvania jobs and keep U.S. Steel from moving operations out of state.
SEPTA: Fare increases & possible tax increases
Even as Gov. Shapiro announced last month that he would take more than $150 million away from infrastructure projects across the commonwealth to temporarily bail out the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), that announcement is not saving passengers from a fare increase or some local taxpayers from a potential tax increase. The Inquirer reports that amid Shapiro’s announcement, “it was easy to miss the fine print: a scheduled 7.5% fare increase still went into effect on Dec. 1.” And another fare increase could happen as early as next year. Meanwhile, Montgomery County taxpayers are facing a possible 9% tax increase even as the county intends to increase its SEPTA funding from $8.3 million to $9.4 million. And through it all, SEPTA remains a mess, with ridership dropping by nearly 40% since 2019 as its operating budget has risen by 9.3%, also since 2019.
Trump assassination attempt task force set to hold final hearing
The Post-Gazette reports that the bipartisan U.S. House task force investigating the assassination attempts against President-elect Trump “is poised to hear from acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe [at] its final hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, with the panel aiming to wrap up its inquiry and release a report in the coming weeks detailing deadly security failures that rocked the country amid a tumultuous election season.“ Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, who chairs the task force and whose district includes Butler, Pa., ”said the task force’s findings suggest the Secret Service should perhaps be its own agency no longer under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security.”