RINGSIDE POLITICS – APRIL 6, 2021

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Welcome to another edition of Ringside Politics with Jeff Crouere

Today’s Hot Topics:

1) U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is signaling it currently has no plans to bar American athletes’ participation in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, despite mounting calls for the Games to be moved over China’s human rights record.

Rights advocacy groups and politicians have made demands for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to take the event out of China, casting a pall on Beijing’s efforts to highlight the Games as Thursday marks one year from opening day.

A group of U.S. Republican senators on Tuesday introduced a resolution with a similar call to move the Games after the United States’ designation that the Chinese government was perpetrating genocide against Uighur Muslims in its Xinjiang region. That decision was made in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency.

2) President Joe Biden on Monday defended his proposal to raise corporate taxes to help pay for his infrastructure spending plans, saying he was not worried the hike would harm the economy and that there was no evidence it would drive business abroad.

Speaking to reporters in Washington after spending Easter weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, Biden again took aim at the 50 or 51 corporations on the Fortune 500 list that paid no taxes at all for three years, saying it was time for them to pay their share.

Asked if raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% would drive away corporations, Biden said: “Not at all … there’s no evidence of that.”

3) It’s hard to estimate the amount of money that Cobb County and metro Atlanta will lose after MLB’s decision to move the All-Star Game.

Cobb County estimates it will lose around $100 million. The July event hoped to draw people to restaurants, hotels and businesses near the Battery and across metro Atlanta. In 2019, Major League Baseball estimated the All-Star Game gave a $65 million boost for the local economy in Cleveland.

Channel 2′s Matt Johnson talked to Thomas Smith, an economics professor with Emory University, who said the lost dollars would affect businesses outside of Cobb County as well.

4) President Biden on Monday pledged to fight as hard as possible to pass an infrastructure package as he defended his $2.25 trillion proposal amid Republican criticism that it contains provisions unrelated to infrastructure.

Speaking to reporters at the White House upon returning from Camp David, where he spent Easter weekend, Biden suggested Republican lawmakers are acting hypocritically in criticizing his plan.

“It’s kind of interesting that when the Republicans put forward an infrastructure plan, they thought everything from broadband from dealing with other things was in the range of infrastructure. Now they’re saying that only a small portion of what I am saying is infrastructure,” Biden told reporters. “It’s interesting to see how their definition of infrastructure has changed. They know we need it.”

Today’s Guests:

1) Rick Manning, President of Americans for Limited Government – joins the show to discuss the recent events surrounding the 2nd Amendment and the importance of protecting it.

2) Michelle Hirstius; Ringside All-Star – calls in to talk about the latest political developments and opine with callers.

3) Dr. Peter Breggin, Author of “COVID -19 and the Global Predators: We are the Prey” – helps wrap up the show by opining with Jeff about the state of the COVID pandemic and discussing his book.