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RINGSIDE POLITICS – MAY 7, 2021

Written by on May 7, 2021

Welcome to another edition of Ringside Politics with Jeff Crouere

Today’s Hot Topics:

1) President Joe Biden will formally unveil his new tax plan during his first presidential address on Wednesday that includes a key campaign promise — no one making $400,000 or less should see increased taxes.

Some experts wonder whether his sweeping plan can keep to that pledge.

“I challenge you to find an economist who will say that is even possible,” said William McBride, vice president for federal tax and economic policy at the Tax Foundation.

The reason, according to McBride, is that everyone in the economy is connected.

2) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez praised the work of Planned Parenthood while chasisting those who support what she sees as life-threatening policies during a meeting of the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Thursday.\

“First and foremost, I don’t want to hear a single person on this committee or outside of this committee talk about valuing life when they continue to uphold the death penalty, when they continue to support policies that disproportionally incarerate and lead to the deaths of Black men and people throughout this country and uphold an absolutely unjust medical system that exists for profit that allows people to die because they can’t afford to live.”

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who represents New York’s 14th Congressional District, discussed her and family’s involvement with the healthcare provider in the discussion about America’s Black maternal health crisis.

“If we want to talk about Planned Parenthood, let’s talk about how many lives Planned Parenthood has saved and how many babies have been because of the prenatal care provided by Planned Parenthood,” she said in a virtual committee meeting.

“If you don’t believe it, and if you’ve never met a Planned Parenthood baby, I’m happy to let you know that I am one and that my mother received and relied on prenatal care from Planned Parenthood when she was pregnant with me,” she announced.

3) Gov. Ron DeSantis expects late this month to reinstate a requirement that people in the unemployment system submit weekly “work search” updates.

Referring to some businesses saying they are unable to find new employees as they regroup from the COVID-19 pandemic, DeSantis said Wednesday unemployment claimants will likely have to start showing how they looked for work once an executive order waiving a work-search requirement ends May 29.

“We suspended that last year at this time because, quite frankly, there weren’t jobs,” DeSantis said during an appearance at the Satellite Beach Police Department.

Florida’s unemployment rate stood at 4.7% in March, representing 475,000 people out of work from a workforce of 10.17 million. The state Department of Economic Opportunity will release an April report on May 21. The rate was 13.8% in April 2020, after the pandemic forced businesses to shut down or dramatically scale back.

4) President Biden visited Lake Charles, Louisiana, on Thursday as part of his nationwide tour to promote his sweeping $2.3 trillion proposal the American Jobs Plan.

Mr. Biden’s visit to the deep-red state of Louisiana was the latest stop on his “Getting America Back on Track” tour, as he tries to persuade not just Republican lawmakers but everyday Americans that his ideas are worth the massive price tag. Louisiana hasn’t voted for a Democrat for president since Bill Clinton in 1996.

The president first spoke with the 70-year-old Calcasieu River Bridge in the background in Lake Charles.

Today’s Guests:

1) Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform 

2) Chris Holton, Vice President of Outreach, Center for Security Policy, Ringside Politics All-Star

3) Pierre McGraw, President of Monumental Task Committee

4) Doug Schexnayder, Conservative Crawgator