Pew Research has found that 85 percent of the content served to them by the Chinese Communist Party’s TikTok app and its “For You” recommendations are “at least somewhat interesting,” with just 14 percent responding that the content is “not too or not at all interesting.”
The disturbing revelation means a vast majority of the app’s 900 million users are entrusting their digital and cultural guidance to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its algorithms.
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Younger users are especially interested in the content, Pew explains, adding: “Some 47% of users ages 18 to 34 say they find the videos on their “For You” page either extremely or very interesting, compared with 36% of users ages 35 to 49 and 31% of those 50 or older.”
“There are only modest differences on this question based on other demographic factors like gender, political affiliation, or educational attainment. Similar shares of posters and non-posters find the “For You” page at least very interesting.”
The National Pulse has been reporting for years on the malign influence of TikTok and its CCP-linked parent company, ByteDance.
Donald Trump has described migrant crime as a dangerous “new category of crime.” Last week, Chairman of the House National Security, Border, and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Rep. Glenn Grothman confirmed that authorities are monitoring at least 617,000 illegal aliens with criminal convictions or pending charges. The National Pulse found this criminal element continued to absorb public resources over the past week, including the examples below.
THE SEX ATTACKING STRANGLER.
On Thursday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed the apprehension of a Guatemalan illegal alien, aged 53, arrested for first-degree sexual assault in Hartford, Connecticut.
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The illegal turns out to have a long history of victimizing U.S. residents dating back to 2008, having previously been convicted of offenses including second-degree strangulation, domestic assault, and driving while intoxicated.
ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) team in Boston described him as a “serious risk to the community.” He was first issued a deportation order in January 2016 but remained at large for years regardless.
RELEASED REPEATEDLY.
Also on Thursday, ICE confirmed it had finally detained a dangerous Salvadoran illegal who was repeatedly left at large by local authorities in Baltimore in defiance of ICE detainer requests.
He was first arrested for theft in 2015. His criminality dramatically escalated the following year, and he was hit with a vast array of charges: “attempted first-degree murder, con-attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, assault first degree, assault second-degree, firearm use/felony violent crime, handgun on person, possession of firearm minor, conspiracy first-degree murder, con-assault first degree, murder first degree, and accessory after the fact murder 1st.”
ICE issued a detainer request against him, but, as with an alarming number of the subjects featured in The National Pulse’s migrant crime round-ups, local authorities refused to honor it and let him loose among the public again.
He was convicted of “accessory after the fact murder 1st” in 2017 and “dangerous weapon-conceal” in 2019. After an arrest for theft in 2023, ICE once again lodged a detainer request with local authorities, and they once again refused to honor it. ICE did not manage to apprehend him until this month.
“This is exactly the type of dangerous noncitizen offender that we need to keep off of our streets,” said an ICE spokesman. “Unfortunately two of our local jurisdictions refused to honor our requests and released him from custody,” he lamented.
VIOLENT VENEZUELAN.
ICE reported it was able to detain another criminal illegal, Brayan Freites-Macias, in New York. Like the Salvadoran above, Freites-Macias had to be tracked down after local authorities ignored detainer requests and let him loose — despite a history of assaulting New York police officers.
The Venezuelan quickly amassed a string of charges after crossing the southern border illegally in December 2023, including petit larceny, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, second-degree robbery, and a range of assault charges, some against law enforcement officers.
However, the New York City Department of Corrections at Rikers Island refused to honor a detainer request against him. He was released on April 22. The same day, he acquired another charge for grand larceny and another ICE detainer request, which was also ignored. An ICE Fugitive Operations Team had to apprehend him in New York City themselves.
“Brayan Freites-Macias has displayed a history of violence and represented a threat to the residents of New York City,” said an ICE spokesman. “Any time local jurisdictions refuse to honor ICE detainers, they put the public at risk.”
‘SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN RELEASED.’
Yet another criminal migrant left at large among the public was confirmed to have been apprehended by ICE on Wednesday. The unnamed Ecuadoran was convicted of second-degree assault and indecent assault of a child in Connecticut. Still, local authorities refused to honor an ICE detainer request and released the pedophile in 2022 without telling ICE they had done so.
In January, he was convicted of third-degree assault and violating his probation but was again released without ICE being notified, despite a second detainer request being issued against him. ICE did not manage to detain him until April.
“This convicted sex offender presented a significant threat to the children of our Connecticut communities,” said an ICE spokesman. “This individual should never have been released back on the streets.”
WANTED RAPIST.
ICE also reported it had detained an Ecuadoran wanted for rape on Wednesday. The unnamed 30-year-old entered the U.S. lawfully on August 31, 2022, but was supposed to leave by September 13, 2022, and never did so.
It later transpired he had been wanted for rape in his home country since February 2022. ICE tracked him down in Worcester, Massachusetts, this month.
“Every minute he was walking free represented a threat to the residents of our communities,” said an ICE spokesman.
ANOTHER RELEASED PEDOPHILE.
ICE deportation officers also apprehended a Honduran pedophile, aged 30, in Maryland this month. The agency issued a detainer request against him after he was charged with “felony carnal knowledge of child” aged 13-14 in July 2023, but the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center ignored the detainer and released him on a $10,000 bond later the same month.
He was charged with two additional counts of felony carnal knowledge of a child and two counts of felony indecent liberties with a child in February 2024. He was again released, this time before a detainer request could even be issued. ICE did not track him down until April.
“This Honduran noncitizen stands accused of some very serious crimes and represented a threat to the children of the Washington, D.C. area,” said an ICE spokeswoman.
“When local jurisdictions have policies in place which prohibit them from cooperating with ICE ERO and from honoring our lawfully issued detainers and administrative warrants, they put the suspects, law enforcement officers, and most importantly, the members of our local communities at risk,” she continued.
"We have a new category of crime. It's called migrant crime, and it's going to be worse than any other form of crime," @realDonaldTrump told Laura Ingraham. pic.twitter.com/FrdQLSFKPB
Read The National Pulse’s previous migrant crime round-up here.
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Donald Trump has described migrant crime as a dangerous “new category of crime.” Last week, Chairman of the House National Security, Border, and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Rep. Glenn Grothman confirmed that authorities are monitoring at least 617,000 illegal aliens with criminal convictions or pending charges. The National Pulse found this criminal element continued to absorb public resources over the past week, including the examples below.
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Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) says the taxpayer-funded international news outlet Voice of America (VOA) is promoting disinformation against publicly elected U.S. officials—including himself—through its “fact-checking” site Polygraph.info. In a letter to the Biden government-backed news outlet’s acting director, John Lippman, the Florida Republican details how VOA broke their own “Journalistic Code” in publishing their attack on him.
“The VOA has a clear ‘Journalistic Code,’ a public statement of its alleged principles, which were clearly violated in this case, and I ask you to take down this demonstrably false “fact check” by Polygraph.info,” Rep. Gaetz wrote to Lippman. He continued: “In fact, the sources you do cite in the piece, contrary to your Journalistic Code, clearly do not have firsthand knowledge of the facts on the ground, and worse, you don’t report any disagreement here.”
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Last week, Rep. Gaetz published a detailed report on the current status of American troops in the African country of Niger. The Congressman conducted multiple interviews with U.S. active-duty personnel stationed in the county who outlined the deteriorating state of equipment and resources.
“Since the U.S.-trained Nigerien coup leaders took control of the country in mid-2023, there has been a cessation of diplomatic overflights. This has left the Department of Defense unable to execute planned troop rotations, in addition to being unable to deliver critical medical supplies, equipment, and other routine materials,” Gaetz reported in his investigation into the matter.
According to the Congressman, Polygraph.info‘s published “fact check” claims there are “continuing talks” between U.S. and Niger officials, which Gaetz details as categorically false. Additionally, Gaetz informs Lippman that no one from Polygraph.info ever contacted his office regarding the “fact check.”
“At root, I find it amazing that the U.S. government is paying an entity to put out misinformation about U.S. policy and labeling that propaganda outfit as a “fact checking” organization. Do better,” Gaetz concludes. The Congressman asks Lippman to respond by May 1, 2024, and remove the false Polygraph.info “fact check.”
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Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) says the taxpayer-funded international news outlet Voice of America (VOA) is promoting disinformation against publicly elected U.S. officials—including himself—through its "fact-checking" site Polygraph.info. In a letter to the Biden government-backed news outlet's acting director, John Lippman, the Florida Republican details how VOA broke their own "Journalistic Code" in publishing their attack on him.
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Sources claim the Secret Service agent who attacked her commanding officer while working on Vice President Kamala Harris’s security detail is Michelle Herczeg. Herczeg, who previously lodged a $1 million discrimination lawsuit against the city of Dallas, is said to have hurled items, including menstrual pads, at agents during the altercation at Joint Base Andrews, which hosts Air Force One and Air Force Two.
More details of the Monday fight, reported on Wednesday, are emerging, with sources claiming Herczeg first grabbed another agent’s phone and began deleting apps from it after arriving at the base terminal. He recovered his phone and attempted to continue working without further incident, but Herczeg is said to have become increasingly erratic. She allegedly mumbled to herself, hid behind curtains, and pelted colleagues with various items, including menstrual pads, while telling them they were “going to burn in hell and needed to listen to God.”
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She chest-bumped, tackled, and punched the special agent in charge when he attempted to relieve her of duty, ultimately having to be physically restrained, handcuffed, and deprived of her firearm.
The agent has prompted “concerns” about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the Secret Service, with agents “asking questions” about her hiring.
DUBIOUS RECORD.
In 2016, Herczeg lodged a gender discrimination lawsuit against the city of Dallas, where she was then serving as a police officer. She sought $1 million in damages, claiming she was “targeted for being a female officer and treated less favorably.” However, The court dismissed the case, and an appeal in 2021 was unsuccessful.
Ronald Kessler, an investigative reporter with specialist knowledge of the Secret Service, says the failed lawsuits “should have been enough to exclude her,” with the Secret Service typically restricting hires to candidates with “a pristine record.”
“Certainly, this has been true in the past. There’s tremendous competition, and she never should have been hired,” he added.
The Secret Service is a signatory to the 30×30 initiative, which aims to increase the number of women across all ranks to 30 percent by 2030.
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Sources claim the Secret Service agent who attacked her commanding officer while working on Vice President Kamala Harris's security detail is Michelle Herczeg. Herczeg, who previously lodged a $1 million discrimination lawsuit against the city of Dallas, is said to have hurled items, including menstrual pads, at agents during the altercation at Joint Base Andrews, which hosts Air Force One and Air Force Two.
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Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) wants answers from the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) and Manhattan District Attorney AlvinBragg‘s office regarding the circumstances of Michael Colangelo’s departure from the former and subsequent employment with the latter. The Texas Republican contends that Colangelo could be a go-between, facilitating the DOJ‘s oversight and control of Bragg’s prosecution of former President DonaldTrump.
“The politicized persecution of former President Trump and the collusion between the Biden Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Manhattan District Attorney (DA) General’s Office have raised several concerns among the public,” Rep. Gooden wrote to Biden‘s Attorney General MerrickGarland and Bragg earlier this week. He continued, zeroing in on Bragg’s hiring of Colangelo: “The fact that Colangelo stepped down from a senior DOJ role to join a prosecution team in a city DA office raises some pressing concerns.”
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“To ensure transparency and accountability are upheld in this case, I request immediate access to all records and communication in relation to the Department of Justice and the Manhattan District Attorney General’s Office process of hiring Matthew Colangelo,” the TexasRepublican added.
Colangelo formerly served as the Acting Associate Attorney General in the BidenDOJ. This highly coveted position is viewed as a stepping stone to lucrative private sector jobs such as general counsel with a Fortune 500 company. However, as Gooden notes in his letter to Garland and Bragg, Colangelo effectively took a demotion in leaving the DOJ and joining Bragg’s team as senior counsel.
Gooden specifically asks both Garland and Bragg: “Was Mr. Colangelo asked to leave by the DOJ, or did he accept a position in a lower office voluntarily? ” He also asks both men for details regarding continued communication between Colangelo and his former DOJ colleagues.
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Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) wants answers from the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) and Manhattan District Attorney AlvinBragg's office regarding the circumstances of Michael Colangelo's departure from the former and subsequent employment with the latter. The Texas Republican contends that Colangelo could be a go-between, facilitating the DOJ's oversight and control of Bragg's prosecution of former President DonaldTrump.
U.S. forces are being pushed out of yet another African nation in the Sahel region, with some of its already small force of around 100 troops in Chad to be reduced. Like many other African states, Chad has turned away from the U.S. and towards Russia for security assistance.
The Biden regime is attempting to downplay the withdrawal. “USAFRICOM (United States Africa Command) is currently planning to reposition some U.S. military forces from Chad, a portion of which were already scheduled to depart,” said Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder.
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Maj. Gen. Ryder has suggested this is a “temporary step.” However, Chad is strongly signaling its hostility to the U.S. presence. Earlier this month, Air Force Chief of Staff Idriss Amine Ahmed told the U.S. attache U.S. forces should cease their activities on Adji Kossei Air Base. He argues they have failed to justify their presence.
ANOTHER DOMINO.
These developments in Chad follow confirmation the U.S. will be forced out of Niger. A much larger force of over a thousand troops and recently finished two new drone bases are currently hosted there.
Like neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger has been taken over by a military junta. They are essential to U.S. interests in the Sahel, which spans the southern Sahara from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. However, all have now realigned with Russia.
The steady stream of geopolitical losses in Africa is a major embarrassment to Joe Biden and his national security team. The U.S. has long sought hegemony in the Sahel. It was expected that diplomatic and economic sanctions against Russia following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine would weaken Moscow’s regional influence. Instead, it has grown, while that of the U.S. and its regional allies, particularly France, has waned.
Niger’s realignment also poses significant challenges to Europe, facilitating an increase in illegal immigration from sub-Saharan Africa.
U.S. forces are being pushed out of yet another African nation in the Sahel region, with some of its already small force of around 100 troops in Chad to be reduced. Like many other African states, Chad has turned away from the U.S. and towards Russia for security assistance.
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The prosecutors behind the ‘hush money’ lawfare trial against former President Donald Trump are emphasizing an obscure term — “catch and kill” — in an attempt to sway the jury and portray Michael Cohen‘s payments to Stormy Daniels as some grand conspiratorial scheme orchestrated by Trump himself.
The corporate media continues to parrot the phrase as if it were some well-known tactic deployed by Trump and his allies to cover something up. That’s entirely the point of the repetition, especially in front of the jury. “Catch and kill” — sounds bad. Catch? Fine. Kill? Sounds illegal. It’s not, of course. But there are two sides to the “catch and kill” industry that emanates out of Hollywood and features several regular, unsavory characters who have made their names and fortunes off the practice, often at the expense of celebrity figures.
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LEXICON.
Its first Wikipedia entry was only in 2018, when the original page appears to have been created to malign Donald Trump and farcically connect him with Harvey Weinstein. Part of the reason why a fair jury has been so impossible in New York is the long-standing tainting of the jury pool via internet artifacts like these, alongside the ongoing hoaxes peddled by the corporate media.
The term has almost no internet search history.
“Catch and kill” appears to have been introduced into the political lexicon by Trump opponents just as the 45th President was first taking office. The Wall Street Journal was the first major publication to mention it in 2016, followed almost immediately by the Washington Post. For two unrelated newspapers to repeat such a phrase in close succession suggests they were fed the line. Murdoch’s WSJuses anonymized sources under the euphemism “people familiar with the matter” a journalistically bizarre seven times in their 2016 story.
BETTER CALL… KEITH?
One regular character in the saga is Keith M. Davidson, a Beverly Hills lawyer and frequent Democrat donor. At the time, Davidson was representing Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal in their attempts to strong-arm Trump out of cash. Davidson has represented a number of unsavory characters in the same vein – portrayed by the Hollywood Smoking Gun blog as a Saul Goodman-style grifter who has been on the receiving end of numerous complaints from clients and critics alike, suggesting immoral behavior bordering on the unlawful.
The Smoking Gun noted of Davidson in a massive 2018 story that he is “the attorney to hire if you are seeking to monetize a celebrity sex tape or compromising information about public figures like Trump, Charlie Sheen, Tiger Woods, and Kanye West. Davidson specializes in extracting payments in exchange for the quashing of incriminating videos and/or details about sexual indiscretions, STDs, and all manner of regrettable behavior.”
In other words, “catch and kill” shakedowns appear to be the modus operandi, finding its way into the political press after representatives for Daniels and McDougal briefed D.C. and New York reporters.
“The Smoking Gun has revealed that the attorney–who has practiced since 2000–has also apparently engaged in the kind of activities that result in severe disciplinary sanctions, such as directing clients to lie, splitting legal fees with non-lawyers, defying a judicial injunction, and practicing law while under suspension.”
The Los Angeles Times had similar reporting in 2018, noting: “Most Beverly Hills lawyers are seldom accused of extortion. For Keith M. Davidson, however, it’s not so rare: He is fighting three civil suits by television personalities alleging extortion. Davidson is the attorney who negotiated payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal during the 2016 presidential race to keep them quiet about their alleged affairs with Donald Trump. Both wound up firing Davidson and hiring new lawyers to get their nondisclosure deals voided.”
A fairly scornful start to another story which shed some light on the Hollywood shakedown industry. The Times went on:
In 2012, Davidson was caught up in an FBI sting operation for trying to get Hulk Hogan to pay a client $300,000 for a secretly taped video of the wrestling star having sex, law enforcement records show. Davidson met Hogan in a Florida hotel room — unaware it was wired with recording devices monitored by FBI agents in an adjacent room.
As soon as Hogan’s lawyer, David Houston, handed Davidson the first installment, a phony check for $150,000, FBI agents stormed in and detained him, according to the law enforcement records.
“I was amazed that there was a lawyer actually making a living doing this,” Houston said.
…
Davidson’s law license was suspended for three months in 2010 after he admitted to professional misconduct — failing to keep a client informed of important matters in a medical malpractice case and not showing up for a court hearing, among other things.
“Catch and kill,” in fact, was not a phrase used by AMI, the National Enquirer, or “star” prosecution witness David Pecker, according to his own testimony on Thursday.
Instead, it’s a little-known Hollywood industry term further popularized by journalist Ronan Farrow’s 2019 book of the same name, which details his efforts to cover the allegations of sexual abuse and rape against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
“The first time you heard the phrase was from a prosecutor, correct?” asked Trump attorney Emil Bove.
“That’s right,” Pecker responded.
Pecker also mentioned he believed Michael Cohen was acting in a personal capacity — not on behalf of the Trump campaign — and implied that Trump was personally unaware of Cohen’s activities.
In other words – much like most of the hoaxes peddled against President Trump – almost all of it has happened without his involvement, knowledge, or even awareness of the fringe figures in his life attempting to make a quick buck off his name.
Ed Kozak, Will Upton, and Jack Montgomery contributed to this report.
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The prosecutors behind the 'hush money' lawfare trial against former President Donald Trump are emphasizing an obscure term — "catch and kill" — in an attempt to sway the jury and portray Michael Cohen's payments to Stormy Daniels as some grand conspiratorial scheme orchestrated by Trump himself.
show more
War Roomhost and former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon has predicted Brexit leader Nigel Farage will return to frontline politics and become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after the governing Conservative Party loses the next British general election to Labour.
“I’ve been a huge supporter of Nigel’s to get back in this thing in some official capacity. I think Nigel Farage will be Prime Minister after Sir Keir [Starmer],” Bannon said, referring to the Labour leader. Labour is on course for a landslide victory in the next election.
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“My advice to [Farage] is after the slaughter [the Conservatives] are going to have at the polls [due to] not really standing for anything, that’s time for Nigel,” Bannon continued. However, he suggested Farage should not seek high office via the Reform Party, his current affiliation, but instead take over the Conservatives.
‘GRASSROOTS UPWARDS.’
“I was a big advocate of not starting a third party after the 2020 election was stolen,” Bannon explained. He highlighted the MAGA movement’s “precinct strategy” of taking over the Republican Party from the grassroots upwards.
“In the last four months, we essentially removed Mitch McConnell as the minority leader in the Senate,” said Bannon. We took out the Republican Party senior apparatus, all of them gone,” he said, referring to what National Pulse editor-in-chief Raheem Kassam called the “McLeadership.”
“And we fired a sitting Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, for the first time in the history of the Republic, and right now, we have a second Speaker in our gunsights,” he added, referring to Speaker Mike Johnson. Johnson faces criticism for allowing aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan to go through without meaningful border security measures. He also faces criticism for drawing fire away from Joe Biden over Gaza.
“I would tell our brothers and sisters in the United Kingdom, you can do this at the grassroots level,” Bannon stressed. “Nigel Farage is a populist; Nigel Farage is a nationalist. You need to put Great Britain first, the United Kingdom first, and you need, particularly, to put your citizens first,” he said.
War Room host and former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon has predicted Brexit leader Nigel Farage will return to frontline politics and become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after the governing Conservative Party loses the next British general election to Labour.
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Joe Biden‘s 2025 budget proposal could raise the federal capital gains tax to as high as 44.6 percent for many Americans. When combined with state-level capital gains taxes, the rate could exceed 50 percent in some of America’s most populous states. Two provisions in the budget are responsible for the increase: one that raises the tax rate across the board and another that bumps the rate further on high-income earners.
A footnote in the Biden budget details the rate hike: “A separate proposal would first raise the top ordinary rate to 39.6 percent … An additional proposal would increase the net investment income tax rate by 1.2 percentage points above $400,000.” The footnote continues: “Together, the proposals would increase the top marginal rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends to 44.6 percent.”
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Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)’s analysis of Biden’s budget further notes that “California will face a combined federal-state rate of 59 [percent], New Jersey 55.3 [percent], Oregon at 54.5 [percent], Minnesota at 54.4 [percent], and New York state at 53.4 [percent].” According to the tax group, if Biden‘s budget were enacted, the effective capital gains rate would be more than double that of CommunistChina.
The Biden capital gains plan would result in the highest rate ever enacted in the United States, exceeding the 40 percent rate under President Jimmy Carter. Additionally, ATR notes the budget proposal would also remove “stepped-up basis” when a parent dies, effectively enacting a second Death Tax. This would result in a mandatory capital gains tax realized at death. When Congress attempted to end the “stepped-up basis” in 1976, they had to reverse the decision before the law took effect as it was completely unworkable.
Joe Biden's 2025 budget proposal could raise the federal capital gains tax to as high as 44.6 percent for many Americans. When combined with state-level capital gains taxes, the rate could exceed 50 percent in some of America's most populous states. Two provisions in the budget are responsible for the increase: one that raises the tax rate across the board and another that bumps the rate further on high-income earners.
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Several American luminaries in tech and finance are preparing bids to acquire TikTok, following recently introduced legislation mandating that its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divest from the app or see it banned in the U.S. Key figures involved in potential bids comprise Steven Mnuchin, former U.S. treasury secretary; Bobby Kotick, ex-CEO of Activision Blizzard, who is potentially partnering with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman; Bill Ackman, chief of Pershing Square hedge fund; and Kevin O’Leary, the well-known ‘Shark Tank’ investor.
The attempted acquisition of TikTok faces significant hurdles. ByteDance must still secure approval from the Chinese Commerce Ministry, which previously expressed strong opposition to a sale. Another challenge is the app’s core algorithm, which is unlikely to be part of the sale, meaning successful buyers would inherit just the brand and user base, necessitating a complete technological overhaul. ByteDance has reportedly said it would rather see the app banned than give up control due to concerns over its algorithm.
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Based on analyst valuations, the potential purchasing party would also need to inject upwards of $100 billion into the deal. Furthermore, the acquisition must withstand regulatory scrutiny, predominantly from the Federal Trade Commission. Due to existing antitrust concerns, this effectively eliminates big tech players like Meta and Apple from the acquisition race.
On Wednesday, Joe Biden signed into law legislation mandating that ByteDance divest from TikTok within one year or else downloads and updates of the app will be banned in the U.S. TikTok also faces controversy in Europe, where regulators have launched an investigation into the app’s age-verification process and its “addictive features.”
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Several American luminaries in tech and finance are preparing bids to acquire TikTok, following recently introduced legislation mandating that its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divest from the app or see it banned in the U.S. Key figures involved in potential bids comprise Steven Mnuchin, former U.S. treasury secretary; Bobby Kotick, ex-CEO of Activision Blizzard, who is potentially partnering with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman; Bill Ackman, chief of Pershing Square hedge fund; and Kevin O’Leary, the well-known 'Shark Tank' investor.
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The U.S. birthrate and fertility rate continue to decline significantly, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2023, the number of births decreased by two percent to about 3.6 million, while the general fertility rate saw a three percent drop to 54.4 births per 1,000 females aged 15 to 44.
The data reveals that the 2o23 birth rate is even lower than that recorded in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sharpest decline in births occurred among women in their 20s. Conversely, women over 40 were the only demographic to experience an increase in births, albeit at a low rate of 12.6 percent.
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These declining rates coincide with data showing that new mothers continue to get older — a trend linked to higher educational achievements, increased workforce participation, and delayed marriages. Moreover, cesarean deliveries represented nearly a third of all births in 2023, even becoming more prevalent in low-risk births.
The trend of declining birthrates in the U.S. mirrors similar patterns in other affluent nations worldwide, potentially due to factors like economic instability, ongoing pandemic uncertainties, rising healthcare costs, and the influence of radical, anti-family feminism. Extremist proponents of ‘overpopulation theory’ have praised declining birthrates in Western nations. Last year it was reported that not a single EU nation has “self-sustaining birthrates.”
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The U.S. birthrate and fertility rate continue to decline significantly, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2023, the number of births decreased by two percent to about 3.6 million, while the general fertility rate saw a three percent drop to 54.4 births per 1,000 females aged 15 to 44.
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