Month: September 2020

Less than eight weeks ahead of the midterms, House Democrats are riding high and feeling the wind at their backs. Heading into a weeklong Yom Kippur recess, the party has an enormous lead in the generic poll, President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE’s approval rating is ticking downward, and Republicans are scrambling to protect dozens of vulnerable seats in order to fend off a blue wave in November. The confluence of factors has jolted the Democrats with a fresh burst of confidence, and they are growing increasingly confident that the House is theirs for the taking after eight years in the minority. “The mood is: we wish the elections were Tuesday,” said Rep. Dan KildeeDaniel (Dan) Timothy KildeePelosi makes fans as Democrat who gets under Trump’s skin House to consider amendment blocking warrantless web browsing surveillance Bipartisan bill aims to help smallest businesses weather the coronavirus crisis MORE (D-Mich.). “The Republicans are in political quicksand, and the more they struggle the harder it is for them. “Getting out of town is probably a good thing for them.” Democrats need to pick up 23 seats to capture the Speaker’s gavel — a seemingly heavy lift — but they have history on their side. The party controlling the White House has lost seats in 36 of the 39 midterm cycles going back to the Civil War. The average loss, according to the analysts at Sabato’s Crystal Ball, an election handicapper at the University of Virginia, is a whopping 33 seats. Democrats, though, see signals well outside of civics textbooks that are fueling the optimistic sense that they’ll control the chamber next year for the first time since they were clobbered at the polls in 2010. The most recent generic poll, a gauge of how voters feel about the parties without naming individual candidates, found the Democrats with a 14 point advantage — an enormous gap predicting the House would likely flip. “There’s clear energy and momentum on our side,” Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (N.M.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), told reporters Thursday. Democrats also have a fundraising advantage heading into the final stretch. At the end of the second quarter, the DCCC had out-raised its GOP counterpart by almost $43 million. The figure reflects a remarkable show of support for Democratic newcomers challenging Republican incumbents: by mid-summer, more than 50 Democratic challengers had out-raised the sitting Republicans they’re hoping to oust. “It feels like no other election cycle — very different from just two years ago,” said Rep. Cheri BustosCheryl (Cheri) Lea BustosGOP pulls support from California House candidate over ‘unacceptable’ social media posts Republican flips House seat in California special election GOP’s Don Bacon and challenger neck and neck in Democratic poll MORE (D-Ill.), one of the three leaders of the Democrats’ messaging arm. Bustos said she raised a total of $2.1 million during her first election to Congress in 2012. This year, she said, some Democratic candidates are raising that much in a quarter. “I feel great. We’ve got great candidates, the best candidates I’ve ever seen in my political lifetime,” Bustos said. “You can feel the enthusiasm in every district where we go.” Republicans are quick to dismiss the notion that a Democratic wave is in the making. They’re touting the booming economy as a product of their making — and a reason voters will keep them in the majority. They’re also trumpeting the message that Democrats — particularly their leader, Rep. Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiTrump on collision course with Congress over bases with Confederate names Black lawmakers unveil bill to remove Confederate statues from Capitol Pelosi: Georgia primary ‘disgrace’ could preview an election debacle in November MORE (D-Calif.) — are simply too liberal to appeal to voters in the purple districts in play. That attack has taken off since June, when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a self labeled Democratic Socialist, defeated Democratic Caucus Chairman Joseph Crowley (D) in a shocking primary contest in New York. Ocasio-Cortez ran on a populist platform in the mold of Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersThe Hill’s 12:30 Report: Milley apologizes for church photo-op Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness MORE (I-Vt.), which included vows to eliminate the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and fight for a Medicare-for-all-style health care system. “Democrats nominated the most progressive group of candidates we’ve ever seen in battleground districts,” Jesse Hunt, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Friday in an email. “Mainstream voters have no appetite for Nancy Pelosi regaining control of the House to pass a progressive agenda centered around abolishing ICE and single-payer health care.” The attacks on Pelosi are hardly new, but they’ve been escalated this year as Republicans have sought to link virtually every Democratic candidate to the veteran leader — a San Francisco liberal and a household name loathed by many conservative voters. The strategy has clear limitations: Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.) shrugged off such attacks to win a deeply conservative district in a special election in March. And Pelosi on Friday brushed aside the notion that the strategy will be effective. “I’m OK with it,” she said Unavoidably, President Trump will play an outsized role in the midterms. And if recent polls are any indication, Democrats have another reason to be feeling bullish. One much-watched gauge is the RealClearPolitics polling average, which has seen Trump’s approval rating fall more than 2 points in recent weeks, while his disapproval numbers have increased by almost the same amount. One new poll, from CNN, put his approval rating at 36 percent. Perhaps the surest sign of the Democrats’ increasing confidence is this: no longer are they talking about what they might do if they win the House; they’re talking about what they will do. House Minority Whip Steny HoyerSteny Hamilton HoyerOvernight Health Care: US showing signs of retreat in battle against COVID-19 | Regeneron begins clinical trials of potential coronavirus antibody treatment | CMS warns nursing homes against seizing residents’ stimulus checks Hoyer: House will vote soon on bill to improve ObamaCare Hoyer: Infrastructure package to hit floor this month MORE (D-Md.) this week delivered a major policy speech laying out specific policy proposals the Democrats would prioritize in the majority next year. Meanwhile Pelosi, in a letter to her troops earlier this month, revealed that the senior Democrats on all the committees are already drafting legislation to get a jump on 2019. The heading of the letter sent a clear message: “Be Ready!” “As we approach the end of this Congress, we must Be Ready for the prospect that we will be in the Majority in January,” the letter reads. Despite the surge of optimism, Democrats say they’re also well aware that, in electoral politics, nothing is a slam dunk. There are still more than seven weeks to go before Election Day, and the pace of the news cycle all but ensures the political landscape will shift over that span. With that in mind, Democrats have a singular goal ahead of November: Just win the House. “If this environment remains, this is obviously a favorable environment for us,” Kildee said. “But we can’t assume it will.” Click Here: camiseta rosario central

The second debate between Sen. Ted CruzRafael (Ted) Edward CruzSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote The Hill’s Morning Report – Trump’s public standing sags after Floyd protests GOP senators introduce resolution opposing calls to defund the police MORE (R-Texas) and Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) has been postponed amid the Senate’s consideration of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, according to The Associated Press.

Click Here: cheap all stars rugby jerseyADVERTISEMENTOrganizers told AP that they are looking into other dates to reschedule the debate that initially was slated for Sunday night in Houston.

The news comes after a day of emotional testimonies from Kavanaugh and the first woman to accuse him of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford, who both appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Ford, speaking publicly about the allegations for the first time, detailed a gripping account alleging that Kavanaugh assaulted her at a party when the two were in high school in the early 1980s. Kavanaugh, once again, vehemently denied her allegations, calling the confirmation process a “national disgrace.”

The committee is set to vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination Friday. If the Senate approves Kavanaugh’s nomination on Friday, the Senate will set up a rare procedural vote on Saturday. 

Cruz and O’Rourke squared off in a fiery and contentious debate last week in Dallas, clashing over differences on immigration policy, police shootings and gun safety.

Both candidates are also scheduled to debate in San Antonio on Oct. 16.

The Texas Senate debate has gotten a groundswell of attention as polls show a tightening race in the deep-red state. Republicans are looking to protect their slim 51-49 seat majority in the Senate.

O’Rourke, a three-term congressman in an El Paso-based district, has ignited strong enthusiasm among Democrats. He’s also been a prolific fundraiser that has matched that of the Republican incumbent.

The Cook Political Report has moved the race to the “toss-up” column in a state in which Democrats haven’t won a Senate seat since 1988.

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LESVOS, Greece — On the surface, Europe appears to have woken up to the urgent humanitarian crisis on Greece’s islands.

In the aftermath of the fire that burned Moria — Europe’s biggest refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos — to the ground last week, the European Union said it was willing to take a more direct role in running a new reception facility on the island and promised to reform its flawed asylum system. A long-awaited migration pact is set to be unveiled at the end of the month.

But if Europe is sending all the right signals, locals are skeptical of the new promises. They see them as a continuation of the same policies that led to the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Moria: some 12,000 people out on the street, without access to water, food or shelter, following the fire that ravaged an overcrowded, unhygienic camp built for 3,000 people.

Faced with EU-backed plans to build a new facility for migrants, many are wondering: Why should this new camp be any different to the last?

“The only solution for these people is to get off the island,” said Caroline Willeman, a coordinator for Doctors Without Borders (MSF). “If they make a new camp, any issues that existed in Moria will be recreated. It will lead to the same disaster.”

In the week since the fire tore down their makeshift homes, migrants have protested efforts to take them to the new temporary facility and demanded to be released from the island. Some protests turned violent, with police using tear gas to break up a gathering.

Only 1,200 people — just 10 percent of those who now find themselves out on the streets of the island — have so far moved into the new temporary facility, which was built by the Greek military with the help of UNHCR on a former artillery range beside the sea.

The site was constructed almost overnight, and every day since, more tents have been added in bright white rows right up to the shoreline. There is little space between the tents, which are each meant to house six people. A wooden shelter had been built in which to carry out COVID-19 tests.

To incentivize people to enter the camp, Greek authorities announced that the country’s asylum service would only process claims from those inside and distributed leaflets printed in several languages with additional information about the camp.

But rumors spread quickly, and many fear their phones will be confiscated on entry, that conditions inside are bad, and that they will be detained there indefinitely.

“We came [to Greece] for a better situation,” said Madina, an Afghan woman living under a bamboo shelter along the highway with her 18-year-old daughter Rehana. “I’d rather die than go back to a camp.” As we spoke, women and children marched up and down the road, chanting “No camp, freedom.”

Currently, those inside the camp are not permitted to leave under any circumstance, according to Alexandros Ragavas, the spokesperson for the Greek Ministry for Migration and Asylum, who said he could not clarify how long the camp would be locked down.

It is also unclear how long the site will be in use, local NGOs said. Greek authorities have called it a temporary measure until a new permanent facility is built, but according to a report by local news site Stonisi, the Ministry for Migration and Asylum paid €2.9 million to secure the site until 2025.

Conditions at the new facility are less than ideal, according to Stephan Oberreti, MSF’s head of mission, who said there is no water or electricity yet at the camp. “If this is another Moria with better tents, with people kept for months on end in bad conditions, that’s not good enough,” he said.

Opposition to the new facility is also strong among locals and NGOs. Stratis Kytelis, the mayor of Mytilini, a town near Moria, said his constituents were dead set against keeping migrants on the island indefinitely. “We cannot hold the burden anymore,” he said. “This is the will of the people of Mytilini, but also of the refugees and migrants. They want to leave.”

Thomas von der Osten-Sacken of Stand by Me Lesbos, a local NGO, said the idea of a permanent structure to handle asylum claims is not a bad one in itself. But the facility would need to have functioning amenities and ensure migrants are not stuck there for months on end, something many don’t trust the Greek government to be able to guarantee.

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Ultimately, the future of Lesvos and its neighboring islands depends on whether a permanent relocation mechanism can be negotiated at an EU level to distribute new arrivals among EU countries, said Angeliki Dimitriadi, a senior research fellow specializing in migration at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP).

The issue has been the greatest sticking point within the bloc since the 2015 migrant crisis, with some EU governments fiercely opposed to so-called quotas on how many migrants to take in.

Even if Greek authorities succeed in getting migrants off the islands — the government has said 6,000 of the migrants on Lesvos would be transferred to the mainland by Christmas, and the rest by Easter — the one-off solution would not solve the underlying problem, which is a lack of a streamlined system to deal with new arrivals, according to Dimitriadi. As that is not something that is necessarily in the EU’s interest, NGOs aren’t hopeful this will happen, she said.

“The hotspots in Greece have evolved because of mismanagement, but also as a message of deterrence that was backed by the EU and its member states,” said Dimitriadi. “And this is a message the EU does not want to shift away from.”

WestJet is offering refunds to customers with European flights cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Travellers with flights to or from Europe and scheduled to depart between March 1 and Oct. 31 of this year can be reimbursed within four weeks, according to an update sent by WestJet to travel agents this month and obtained by The Canadian Press.

The policy marks a shift from the airline’s previous stance that offered flight credit or no-fee rebooking rather than reimbursement for trips that were cancelled as airlines halted the majority of their flights amid border shutdowns, quarantines and a collapse in travel demand.

WestJet is contacting guests with eligible flights who had already accepted travel credit to alert them to the new option, spokeswoman Lauren Stewart said in an email.

In June, WestJet adopted a similar approach to refunds for cancelled flights to or from the United States or United Kingdom.

The carrier’s policy stands in contrast to that of Air Canada, which has announced refund offers for travellers with flights departing from Europe but not for customers whose trips originated in Canada.

Air Canada is also disputing formal refund complaints its customers made to the U.S. Department of Transportation. There have been more than 1,700 of them, the second-highest number of any airline in May (the last month for which figures are available).

WestJet did not say what prompted the policy change.

Passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs said the reimbursement pledge is a welcome about-face, but one that should have come months ago.

“European law has been and remains that airlines that cancel flights for whatever reason must refund the entire ticket in the original form of payment to passengers,” Lukacs said.

Some travellers resorted to asking banks for credit card chargebacks, with mixed results, he said.

“Many people have been successful in getting chargebacks. But it’s a profoundly wrong situation when you have to go to such a length in order to get simply what you are owed.”

Clients with cancelled domestic flights or trips to Mexico or the Caribbean will receive information on refunds “at a later date,” WestJet’s note to travel agents says.

The Calgary-based carrier made a push into European markets last year, launching routes to London, Paris, Dublin, Glasgow and Rome in a bid to challenge Air Canada by offering transatlantic flights that target business passengers and the jet set.

Of those, only the Calgary-London and Calgary-Paris routes remain in operation, and “on an extremely reduced schedule,” Stewart said. The Paris route will be removed from the flight schedule by the end of September.

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Domestic and U.S. flights make up the bulk of WestJet’s business in a typical year.

WestJet’s pivot follows months of backlash against Canadian airlines’ decision to offer credit or vouchers rather than refunds for most of the flights cancelled due to fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

A handful of passenger groups have proposed class-action lawsuits against airlines and complaints to the Canada Transportation Agency have soared in recent months.

The U.S. Department of Transportation and the European Commission, which have offered billions of dollars in financial aid to airlines, require carriers to offer reimbursement to passengers who paid for services that were never rendered.

Unlike countries including France, Germany and the United States, Canada has held off on sector-specific support for carriers. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instead rolled out financial aid available across industries, including the wage subsidy and loans starting at $60 million for large firms, that were available to airlines.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2020.

OTTAWA — The annual pace of inflation held steady in August as lower gasoline and air travel costs helped offset rising prices in other areas as businesses passed on costs related to operating during the pandemic.

Statistics Canada said Wednesday the consumer price index in August rose 0.1 per cent compared with a year ago, matching the 0.1 per cent year-over-year increase recorded in July.

The average economist estimate had been for a year-over-year increase of 0.4 per cent for August, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.

Gasoline prices were down 11.1 per cent compared with August 2019, following a 14.9 per cent decline recorded in July. Excluding gasoline from the inflation calculations, the consumer price index rose by 0.6 per cent in August, Statistics Canada said.

The monthly inflation report noted that air travel costs fell 16 per cent compared with August 2019, following a decline of 8.6 per cent in July as demand has fallen during the pandemic and airlines have offered discounts in response.

However, prices were up in other categories such as personal care services like haircuts, which had a year-over-year increase of 7.2 per cent. 

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Statistics Canada said the increased prices in the category could be attributed to businesses passing on additional costs related to safety measures needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Royal Bank senior economist Nathan Janzen said consumer demand has held up better than expected over the summer, which has allowed for price growth in some categories as well as letting businesses pass on additional costs.

“The overarching question is how long can that last with unemployment still very high and the economy still running below capacity?”

The country has recouped about two-thirds of the three million jobs lost over March and April. The unemployment rate in August was 10.2 per cent.

A key pillar propping up spending has been government aid, including the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) that has paid out over $76.4 billion to 8.75 million people since its introduction.

All that aid will mean that the pace of price growth until the end of the year won’t be as slow as may be expected under the economic circumstances, Janzen said.

The CERB will start winding down at the end of the month, and the federal Liberals have promised a $37-billion replacement package of changes to employment insurance and a trio of benefits.

An analysis published Tuesday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives estimated 2.7 million people receiving CERB payments will receive less when the new system kicks in.

“Income supports are critical to individuals but, also, to our country’s economic stability and positioning for a recovery,” the centre’s senior economist, David Macdonald, wrote in his analysis. 

“Consumer spending, largely due to the rapid roll out of the CERB, has been mostly responsible for keeping the economy afloat since March.”

The Bank of Canada intends to keep its key policy interest rate at 0.25 per cent, which is as low as it will go, until inflation is back at the central bank’s two per cent target.

The hope is that by keeping its rate low, the central bank can drive down rates on mortgages and loans to make it easier for people to borrow and spend to aid the economy as it recuperates from the COVID-19 crisis.

Experts suggest the Bank of Canada’s key rate could stay where it is until late 2022 or even into 2023.

In August, the average of Canada’s three measures for core inflation, which are considered better gauges of underlying price pressures and closely tracked by the Bank of Canada, was 1.7 per cent.

Regionally, prices rose the fastest in Prince Edward Island in August, where Statistics Canada said consumers paid more for cigarettes – which registered an annualized increase of 7.8 per cent – after the province instated a special tax in mid-July.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2020.

Canada posted record home sales and prices in August, but the increase was uneven, as the housing market levelled off in some regions. 

Home sales in August climbed 6.2 per cent compared with July to hit a record for the month, with gains led by the Greater Toronto Area and B.C.’s Lower Mainland, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) said on Tuesday.

Compared with a year ago, sales in August were up 33.5 per cent. CREA noted, however, unlike the countrywide home sales spike in June and July, sales in August were up in about 60 per cent of local markets.

“One change in August is that some regional disparity is starting to show again, after all markets were rebounding in unison in recent months,” wrote Robert Kavcic, BMO senior economist, in a note to clients. 

″[Sales] were driven by gains in Toronto and surrounding markets, as well as Vancouver/Victoria, but others like Calgary and Regina have ebbed … We suspect this regional split will re-establish itself as the dust settles.”

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The national average home price also set another record in August at more than $586,000, up 18.5 per cent compared with a year ago. Excluding Greater Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area, two of Canada’s most active and expensive housing markets, the national average price was lower by about $122,000.

Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton saw some of the biggest surges in home prices last month, but prices were nearly flat in Calgary, Edmonton and St. John’s, CREA said.

Royal LePage CEO Phil Soper attributed the climbing prices with a housing shortage, calling the 18.5 per cent uptick “unhealthy.” 

CREA said that it would only take 2.6 months to sell the houses currently on the market, as housing inventory fell to a record low, especially in Ontario.

“Both number of homes people are buying and the number of newly listed homes are rising significantly. This cannot hide the fact that August 2020 was the worst on record for available housing,” Soper said. 

After fears about listing their houses during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, more sellers are returning to the market. CREA said that in August, new supply outpaced the rise in sales for the first time since May.

Home sales in Canada came to a near halt in the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but have surged through the summer, helped by pent up demand and low mortgage rates. CREA said in addition to a record for August, it was the sixth-highest monthly sales figure of any month.

Watch: A “hobbit house” went up for sale in Alberta. Story continues below.

 

The record-busting sales activity means the housing market has caught up to last year’s levels, despite weeks of inactivity this spring. Year-to-date, sales in August were up 0.8 per cent from the first eight months of 2019, CREA said.

But Shaun Cathcart, CREA’s senior economist, said comparing 2020 with 2019 sets a “low bar.” 

“[The] first half of 2019 wasn’t really anything to write home about,” said Cathcart.

“[With] eight months now in the books and activity showing signs of moderating in September, 2020 is looking like it will go down as a fairly middling year overall – weaker than in a non-COVID world but quite a bit better than we would have given it back in April.”

Soper agreed that 2020’s sales numbers look strong, in part, because the 2019 market was “unusually slow” amid a set of new laws that pressured housing for about 18 months, ending last August. Now, 2020 is set to be another extraordinary year, as banks begin collecting deferred mortgage payments and jobless rates threaten to languish for the rest of the year.

“The residual impact of rising unemployment and the end of mortgage deferrals should have a dampening affect demand overall, and bring some balance to the market by the end of the year. The real question is what happens in the spring of 2021,” Soper said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2020.