PANEL: Infrastructure Law Creating A “Gold Rush” for Tribal Energy Projects

Former U.S. Dept of Energy Indian Energy Director Kenny Frost (Center) speaks on a panel highlighting current energy development opportunities available for Tribes during the inaugural Indigenous Biz Con in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

(Photo: Darren Thompson for Native News Online) 

BY DARREN THOMPSON OCTOBER 15, 2022

MILWAUKEE—With the passage of a “once-in-a-generation” infrastructure law last fall, funding opportunities for tribal energy projects have increased to unprecedented levels. That’s according to industry experts who spoke at an Indigenous business conference in Milwaukee this week.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), enacted last November, includes $13 billion in infrastructure funding, including energy projects, for Indian Country. That is spurring record levels of interest and activity in new energy projects, panelists said on Tuesday at the inaugural Indigenous Biz Con event at the Potawatomi Hotel.
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“No matter what region of the country you’re in, there is something going on from A to Z,” former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) James Campos said during the panel discussion. “From nuclear modules to gas and oil, electricity, renewable energy, organic based energy, oceanic energy, money is available in all of these areas.”

Campos is currently a principal partner with Right Energy Group, a consulting agency that helps tribes and businesses take advantage of energy opportunities that are available. Campos and another business partner, Kenny Frost, were among those who spoke to conference attendees about the opportunities — as well as the challenges — that come with using federal funds for energy projects.

For starters, navigating the DOE can be daunting and takes a tremendous investment of time, said Frost, a citizen of the Southern Ute Tribe and the DOE’s former Indian Energy Director.

“Right now, Indian Country, we’re seeing a ‘gold rush’ for energy,” he said. “The idea is to make sure Tribes know what endeavor they’re getting into to ensure they get the full value of their assets.”

One resource mentioned during the panel is the Tribal Playbook, which The White House released to help Tribal governments take advantage of the historic investments in infrastructure.

Frost also spoke about how his Tribe in southwestern Colorado transitioned from being energy assimilationists to energy leaders. “We went from being a poor, destitute Tribe in the 1990s, to being the largest employer in the four corners region,” he said. “Now, we have more jobs than citizens.”

The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe was awarded $9 million in the early 1990s from a water-rights settlement and started investing in energy infrastructure that allowed the Tribe to transition from “being royalty receivers to generating direct revenue,” Frost said.

Because it had developed revenue streams from assets outside of Indian gaming, the Tribe wasn't affected as much as others during the Covid-19 pandemic, Frost said. Today, the Tribe has bargaining power to “pick and choose” who they work with, or how they invest in other projects that are beneficial for the Tribe and its citizens.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates that Tribal lands compose 5% of land area in the United States, but contains an estimated 10% of all energy resources in the country. According to the Dept. of Energy, the Office of Indian Energy has invested over $114 million to more than 200 Tribal energy projects across 48 contiguous states and Alaska between 2010 and 2021.

Many energy projects, though, have stalled or failed for a variety of reasons, including turnover in tribal government and changes in the White House.

“A lot of energy projects die because of transitions of Tribal leadership,” Frost said. “The goal is to find energy champions that are not elected officials.”

Frost also advised Tribes to build relationships with “career Feds,” or federal employees that are not appointed by the President. “The most important question any Tribe should be asking is, ‘who are the career feds in these areas?’” Frost said. “During [administration] transition changes, these people are still there.”

Once you establish relationships with the career feds, “projects move a lot quicker,” Frost said, adding that two departments within the Dept. of Interior that are helpful for Tribes: the Division of Energy Mineral Development (DEMD) and Indian Energy Service Center.

Pentagon Grapples With How To Defend Military Women From Tucker Carlson's Insults

The Fox News host, who has never served in the armed forces, can't stand women in the military, even though they're often praised by its leaders.

By Mary Papenfuss
Oct 15, 2022

Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth on Friday called for military leaders to “stand up for women” amid a roiling Defense Department controversy over how to respond to vicious criticism of female soldiers by Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

A fierce debate was triggered after Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe was recently scolded by the Army — and his retirement put on hold — for defending female soldiers, with one of his tweets last year calling out Carlson.

Retired Col. Yevgeny Vindman — the twin brother of retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified at Donald Trump’s first impeachment investigation during his presidency — lashed out last month at the treatment of Donahoe by an Army cowed by the political right because he “stood up to Fox/ Tucky.”

The Pentagon and the Army “are lost. They fear the right,” Yevgeny Vindman tweeted. “They are losing their moral compass and service-members will vote with their feet.”

Carlson has repeatedly bashed women in the military with misogynistic insults, as he denigrates an increasingly “feminine” U.S. armed forces — and hails the brutish “masculine” militaries of Russia and China. Carlson has never served in the military.

Wormuth warned at a conference earlier this week that Army leaders need to stay “out of the culture wars” — and out of politics.

“We have got to ... have a broad appeal,” she cautioned. “When only 9% of kids are interested in serving” in the military, “we have got to make sure that we are careful about not alienating wide swaths of the American public to the Army,” Wormuth added.

But on Friday, she clarified her comments amid a furious backlash.

“Let me be clear: I expect @USArmy leaders to stand up for women—and all Soldiers—who are unduly attacked or disrespected,” she tweeted.

She added in another tweet: “Use good judgment online. Keep it professional.”

Several top military leaders have angrily responded to Carlson’s insults — without referring to him by name — and issued statements supporting women in the armed forces.

Donahoe had named Carlson in a tame retort in March 2021, saying the right-wing Fox host “couldnt be more wrong” with his insults against women in the military.

That’s when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) fired off a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, accusing Donahoe and other military leaders of partisanship for sticking up for soldiers and other service members.

A report on the issue by the Army’s Office of the Inspector General, obtained last week by the website Task & Purpose, stated that “while potentially admirable,” Donahoe’s post “brought a measurable amount of negative publicity to the Army.”

A headline on a Washington Post opinion column early this month asked: “Why is the Army punishing a general for calling out MAGA lies?”

The military is “rightly eager to stay out of politics, but this laudable instinct can lead it to run away from controversy even at the cost of ceding the information battlefield to the far-right forces trying to subvert American democracy,” warned writer Max Boot.

Donahoe’s “only offense was to champion on social media the very values the Army claims to stand for,” Boot added.

New York Candidate for Congress Releases Sex Tape He Says Shows His ‘Sex Positive Approach'

Mike Itkis is running a long shot bid to unseat political powerhouse Rep. Jerry Nadler on a platform that includes sex positivity as one of his keystone issues, and says he supports legalizing sex work

Published October 14, 2022


As the 2022 election season nears its conclusion, one Manhattan candidate is hoping his latest raunchy stunt will help him come out on top — or at least get his name out there.

Mike Itkis is running in New York's 12th district, where he is mounting a long shot bid to unseat Rep. Jerry Nadler, the longtime Democrat who won a June primary over fellow NYC political bastion Carolyn Maloney. Itkis, an independent, is running on a platform that includes sex positivity as one of his keystone issues, and supports legalizing sex work.

To prove he's more than just talk, Itkis was willing to bare all — and no, not in an interview. The candidate filmed and released a sex tape he made with an adult film star in hopes of pumping up support and getting his name into the race.

The cybersecurity specialist and major in the U.S. Army Reserves called his video posted to a pornographic website a "conversation piece," in an interview with City & State.

"If I would just talk about it, it wouldn’t demonstrate my commitment to the issue. And the fact I actually did it was a huge learning experience, and it actually influenced items on my platform," he told the outlet.

On his campaign website, Itkis describes himself as a "liberal independent candidate" who is "not married. No kids. Not celibate. Atheist."

Aside from cybersecurity, sex positivity appears to be one of his top issues he addresses on his website, though he doesn't go into great detail about some of his positions. A pro-choice candidate, his website says he would like to "redefine abortion debate as a right to unplanned sex."

Congressional Candidate Stars in Porn Video to Show He’s ‘Sex Positive’

By BRITTANY BERNSTEIN
October 15, 2022 9:25 AM

A “liberal independent” congressional candidate in New York recently starred in a porn video to demonstrate his “commitment” to sex positivity.

Mike Itkis, who is running against Representative Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.), uploaded the 13-minute video, “Bucket List Bonanza,” to Pornhub over the summer.

He told City & State he made the sex tape with porn performer Nicole Sage in 2021 as a “conversation piece.”

“If I would just talk about it, it wouldn’t demonstrate my commitment to the issue,” he told the outlet. “And the fact I actually did it was a huge learning experience, and it actually influenced items on my platform.”

He said he had never had sex on camera before making the video and described himself as an introvert.

“I’m kind of a nerd who doesn’t like to be the center of attention if I can avoid it. But I thought the issues I’m trying to address are so important . . . I wanted to have my issues talked about in some way,” said Itkis, who is running in New York’s newly redrawn 12th Congressional District.

Itkis, a registered Democrat whose bio describes him as “Not married. No kids. Not celibate. Atheist,” said in a statement that making the sex tape was “one of the most meaningful experiences of my life.”

“One of my three primary goals is to advance sex positivity, including several proposals for legislation designed to explicitly protect sexual rights by ending government involvement in marriage, the right to not become a parent in case of pregnancy, a right for women to terminate an abortion, decriminalization of sex between consenting adults, a nation-wide definition of consent, and legalization of sex work,” Itkis said.

He writes on his website that men should not be required to support biological children without prior agreement and that he plans to work to “redefine [the] abortion debate as a right to unplanned sex.”

Itkis, an Army cyber operations officer, said he decided to run for office because “our freedom of expression is under threat from all ends of the political spectrum.”

“The far right, led by the Supreme Court, has a negative view of sexual rights, pursuing the position that sex should only happen between a married man and woman, clearly leaving out multiple demographics such as single individuals, and people whom the ‘traditional’ marriage arrangement doesn’t work,” he said. “With this worldview in mind, modern conservatives are clearly opposed to sexually-explicit speech as well as research that doesn’t comply with their views.”

He added: “Unfortunately, many Democrats have also opposed freedom of speech, contributing to ‘cancel culture’ and political correctness. Being born in the Soviet Union, I’m well aware of the consequences for people who deviate from the party line, and am strongly opposed to restrictions on speech because someone may be offended.”

Mike Zumbluskas, the Republican candidate running in NY-12, said of the sex tape stunt: “You gotta do what you gotta do.”

“The media ignores everybody that’s not a Democrat in the city,” he told City & State.

Why environmentalists went after Canada's biggest bank for alleged greenwashing

Jaela Bernstien - CBC

Standing in the rain in downtown Montreal, Kukpi7 (Chief) Judy Wilson lifts her fist in defiance outside a branch of the Royal Bank of Canada. Wilson's gesture goes largely unnoticed by the shoppers who hurry past, but her efforts to hold banks accountable on financing fossil fuels have certainly caught the attention of Canadian regulators.

Wilson, based in south central British Columbia, is the chief of the Skat'sin te Secwepemc-Neskonlith Indian Band and the secretary-treasurer for the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC).

She's also one of six applicants who filed a complaint to Canada's Competition Bureau, accusing RBC of greenwashing — something that prompted the regulator to open an inquiry into whether Canada's biggest bank misled customers about its climate action.

"It's time to be truthful," said Wilson, who spoke with CBC News while in Montreal for a meeting.

"[Climate change] is real, it's here and we have to deal with it."


Wilson says there's no time to waste in cutting emissions as Indigenous people are disproportionately affected by climate change.© Jaela Bernstien/CBC

The allegations, filed with the help of environmental law non-profit Ecojustice, suggest the bank has been marketing itself as being aligned with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement, all while continuing to finance the fossil fuel industry


It's not the first time RBC has been called out over its support of the oil and gas sector.

A separate report published this year by a group of environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club and the Indigenous Environmental Network, ranked RBC fifth globally among major banks financing the fossil fuel industry.

But in marketing materials, RBC states that it is "fully committed" to supporting drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

"The claims and RBC's actual action don't stack up," said Matt Hulse, the Ecojustice lawyer who helped draft and file the complaint to the Competition Bureau.

In response to the Competition Bureau's investigation, the bank denied it has been misleading clients.

"RBC strongly disagrees with the allegations in the complaint, and believes the complaint to be unfounded and not in line with Canada's climate plan," RBC spokesperson Andrew Block said in an email.

"It's critically important that we get the transition to net zero right in order to address climate change and we have taken a measured, thoughtful, and deliberate approach in our climate strategy."

In the past, RBC has said its transition to net zero must be gradual in order to succeed.

A Royal Bank of Canada logo is seen on Bay Street in the heart of the financial district in Toronto on January 22, 2015. The bank has been accused of misrepresenting its climate actions.© Mark Blinch/Reuters

Time is a luxury that Wilson doesn't have, as her community is already experiencing the impacts of climate change.

"Many of our people still hunt and fish and harvest on the land … so they can firsthand see what climate change is doing. The rivers are low, warmer. The forests are tinder dry," she said.

"With climate-destroying fossil fuels and climate change disproportionately impacting Indigenous peoples around the world, as well in Canada, we have to make the right decision."

Holding companies accountable via the Competition Bureau has worked in the past. Earlier this year, Keurig Canada was ordered to pay a $3-million penalty for falsely claiming its single-use K-Cup pods can be recycled.

An inquiry could take more than a year, but environmental advocates hope that if they're successful, other banks will take note.

"RBC is a market leader. What they do, other banks — particularly in Canada — follow," Hulse said. "We thought that going after the biggest, if our complaint is upheld, would send a message across the industry."

Dror Etzion, a professor specializing on sustainability at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University, said it's become popular for banks to project an image of sustainable finance.

"The key really is, how serious, how honest is self-reporting on these topics?" Etzion said.

He said regulators can play an important role in holding companies accountable on climate promises, rather than leaving it to individuals.

"It's very tough for consumers to shoulder and also it's a bit of guilt-tripping us as individuals to try to force corporations to change their behaviour."

While the bureau's findings could create ripple effects within the financial industry at large, Etzion said they may not lead to the kind of outcome that environmentalists are hoping for.

"It wouldn't be good if the outcome is that the legal teams and these banks just become more careful in how they express themselves," Etzion said.

"What would be very good is if the policies and strategies underlying these banks' activities do change in a meaningful way."

Wilson hopes it's the latter, but regardless of the outcome said she will keep pushing for climate action.

"There's going to be continued pressure like this, people aren't just going to give up," she said.

Wilson, who will be attending the UN Climate Change Conference in Egypt next month, said she's learned issues must be tackled holistically.

Political, legal and technical — it was the three-pronged approach that she learned from her late Uncle George Manuel, an internationally-renowned Indigenous activist and founder of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples.

Wilson said she now adds spiritual and international as important components to that formula.

"What we're doing is important not just for the planetary crisis, it's for the well-being of our children and our grandchildren," she said.

"I'm going to do everything I can to keep my children and my grandson well, so that they can survive. Our ancestors did that for us, otherwise we wouldn't be here."

Speed limits in the ocean? 

Massive ships are killing endangered 

whales each year.

Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

Sun, October 16, 2022 

OFF THE FARALLON ISLANDS, Calif. – Twenty-eight miles off San Francisco Bay, the sea is alive with whales. Spout after spout shoot from the water as more than two dozen humpbacks feast on glittering schools of anchovies.

From the prow of a small boat, Bekah Lane, program coordinator for the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California, scrambles to track them all.

"There's a group of five over there, and another three over there, and at least four moms with calves," she said, binoculars scanning back and forth over the water. "We're just surrounded by whales here."

Unfortunately, the abundant fish that draw humpbacks here mean these whales are effectively having a picnic on a freeway – and they don't know they're in danger. These rich feeding grounds are smack in the middle of the path to the fourth-busiest ports on the West Coast. Ships the size of the Empire State Building power through daily to reach docks in Oakland and San Francisco.

Bekah Lane of the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, CA takes photos of whale flukes to help identify the whales feeding more than 20 miles offshore of San Franciso Calif. Each year, more than 80 whales die after being struck by ships off the West coast. She is uploading whale data to Whale Safe, a computer system that went live on September 21, 2022 that notifies ships when whales are present so they can slow down and hopefully avoid such ship strikes.

More than 80 whales are struck and killed each year in West Coast shipping lanes, the roadkill of robust international trade. So far, 2018, 2019 and 2021 have been the worst years on record for whale-ship collisions.

Lane and other scientists are part of a recently launched tool called Whale Safe that's working to give the mammals a fighting chance by getting ships to slow down when whales are present, just as cars slow down in school zones.

Attired in a wetsuit, marine biologist Douglas McCauley sits on the deck below Lane, his eyes picking out mothers and their calves in the roiling waters. He helped construct the system. Now he's about to jump in the water to do some adjustments to the acoustic buoy that's busy listening for whales even when they're deep underwater, invisible to the humans above.

As intelligent as they are, he explained, whales haven't yet learned how to avoid ships in part because so many interactions result in death.

In late August, a humpback mother with a calf that had been tracked by whale watchers for years had her skull knocked off her spine in a ship strike. She was known as Fran, and her body washed ashore near San Francisco. Researchers are still looking for her calf.

MORE: Fran, California's 'most popular' whale, likely killed by ship collision

Whale Safe was first launched off the Southern California coast two years ago. In September, San Francisco was added, which scientists hope "can help protect whales like Fran all along the California coast," McCauley said.

Eventually, they want to add Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, to protect these enormous creatures as they travel the West Coast between their winter feeding grounds near Alaska and their breeding grounds near Mexico.

Douglas McCauley inspects an acoustical buoy that helps track whale activity offshore of San Francisco. Each year, more than 80 whales die after being struck by ships off the West Coast.

Telling ships how 'whaley' it is

Working with scientists at universities and research groups around the world, Whale Safe hinges on an acoustical buoy that listens for whales.

The bright yellow beacon, designed and built by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, doesn't look like much in the water. But it's a half-million-dollar piece of equipment that carries a high-tech hydrophone that constantly listens for whale songs, translating them into a count of whales and species using an onboard computer.

Taking a deep breath, McCauley falls backward into the 55-degree water, then dives to the bottom of the buoy.

The system uses information from the buoy, sightings logged by trained researchers such as Lane, and a predictive model of blue whale habitat preferences and oceanographic data.

Combined and posted online, these give passing ships an hourly "whale presence" rating of low, medium, high or very high. In the past month 126 humpbacks have been sighted and the buoy has heard blue and fin whales in the vicinity, giving most days a "very high" rating.

Whale Safe can't give exact locations for individual whales, but captains don't need that, McCauley said.

"What we're giving the shipping industry is a risk index," McCauley said. "We're telling them how 'whaley' it is on any given day and how important it is that they slow down then."

That, at least, gives them a chance.

Even a 330,000-pound blue whale is no match for a 300-ton ship.

“It’s not like a deer and a car. It’s more like a deer and a skyscraper,” McCauley said.

OFF FLORIDA COAST: NOAA wants boats to slow for right whales

Asking nicely hasn't helped whales

For years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has asked the enormous ships that ply the shipping lanes heading into San Francisco Bay to voluntarily cut their speed during whale migration season.

Some do, but many don't.

The scientists behind Whale Safe hope that by giving ships – and the companies that run them – near-real-time updates on when whales are present, they'll be more inclined to slow down.

"It can also be made available directly to the captain of the ship; they can get it on their phone as well," said Kathi George, director of field operations and response at the Marine Mammal Center.

Whale Safe also assigns a letter grade based on safe speed to companies running large ships in the area. An "A" means whale-saving speeds. An "F" means too many ships barreling through.

Most people have never heard of the shipping companies, but they carry the things Americans buy every day, McCauley said.

"I don't think people realize there's an opportunity for saving whales every time they go into a store," he said. By pushing retailers to use only shippers that are whale-safe, "consumers can have some leverage."

The Whale Safe tool makes report cards for companies running ships of more than 300,000 tons.

Together with other efforts by NOAA, the Southern California Whale Safe program is seeing success. Compliance with the voluntary speed reductions has increased each year, from 47% in 2019 to 62% this year, said Callie Steffen, Whale Safe project scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

That system, together with other initiatives – such as Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies, a program that incentivizes companies to slow their ships – has helped make a difference, said Sean Hastings, policy and information officer at NOAA's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary off the Santa Barbara coast.

NOAA scientists calculate that if 90% of the large ships cooperated with the Vessel Speed Reduction Program, the risk of lethal ship strikes would be reduced by as much as 30%.

Preliminary figures show that this year the cooperation rate in Southern California is just shy of 70%, Hastings said.

It's not enough. "We really do need 100% cooperation," he said.

Whales and ships sharing the sea

Lacking mandates, Whale Safe hopes information and public shaming will encourage companies to slow down.

This year, the world's largest shipper, MSC, got an A. It has incorporated the data stream directly into its ships' navigation software and is setting the standard for others, Hastings said.

"They're slowing their ships down over 90% of the time," he said. "It's a beautiful thing."

Other companies say they can't.

Matson, a Honolulu-based company that mainly ships to Alaska, Hawaii and Guam, said it's not able to slow down because of the urgency of its cargo. It slows its ships "to the greatest extent possible" but can't always because "when a ship is late, our communities see empty shelves," said spokesman Keoni Wagner.

Whale Safe data for Matson ships entering or exiting Los Angeles and Long Beach ports found that 57.5% of Matson ships traveled 12 to 15 knots in the go-slow area.

A NOAA study showed that because slower speeds result in fuel efficiency, slowing to 10 knots in shipping lanes during the months whales are present in Southern California would result in only a 2% increase in total costs for shippers.

Conservationists have also strongly advocated for shifting sea lanes slightly to avoid areas where whales tend to congregate. The NOAA study found this decreased ship transit times, so doing so plus slowing in ship lanes actually lowered costs by 1.6%.

The problem is only going to get worse, said John Calambokidis, a cetacean expert with Cascadia Research, a nonprofit organization in in Olympia, Washington, that focuses on whale research. Whale populations are recovering just as international shipping is increasing. Today there are more whales and more large ships in the oceans, and those ships are bigger and moving faster than ever before.

Though Whale Safe isn't a total solution, it is a valuable piece of the puzzle, said Cotton Rockwood, a senior marine ecologist with Point Blue Conservation Science, a nonprofit that contracts with NOAA to study whale populations.

Companies really do want to end ship strikes. "Nobody wants to kill a whale. It's heartbreaking when it happens," he said.

Without mandatory speed restrictions, it's hard to get industry buy-in because voluntary slowdowns put companies doing the right thing at a disadvantage. "It's got to be a level playing field," he said.

That's part of Whale Safe's secret weapon. By making speeds public, consumers can pressure businesses they buy from to pressure shippers.

At the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary office, Hastings thinks most Americans would be glad to factor the value of whale's life into the timing of their next purchase.

"I'm pretty confident," he said, "that you and I could wait an extra minute for our iPhone to hit the shelf."

Elizabeth Weise covers climate and environment issues for USA TODAY. She can be reached at eweise@usatoday.com.

EARLIER THIS YEAR: Dead fish are piling up on San Francisco Bay Area shores. A toxic algae bloom is likely cause.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pacific Ocean speed limits? Ships kill endangered whales each year

Joe Biden brands Liz Truss’ shelved tax-cut plan a ‘mistake’

Rare criticism of an ally’s domestic agenda comes after market turmoil.

US President Joe Biden | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

BY MATT HONEYCOMBE-FOSTER
OCTOBER 16, 2022 9:28 AM

U.S. President Joe Biden laid into beleaguered U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss’ tax-cutting agenda Saturday, calling it a “mistake” and warning that a lack of “sound policy in other countries” could hold back the United States.

Truss, just weeks into the job, is fighting for her political life after proposing — and then being forced to abandon — debt-funded tax reductions for Britain’s top earners and businesses that roiled the markets.

The U.K. leader on Friday sacked her top finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, and junked a totemic commitment to reduce corporation tax.

Speaking on a campaign stop in Oregon, Biden claimed it was “predictable” that Truss would have to row back on her agenda, which was also openly criticized by the International Monetary Fund.

“I wasn’t the only one that thought it was a mistake,” the U.S. president said of Truss’ plans. “I think that the idea of cutting taxes on the super-wealthy at a time when […] I disagree with the policy, but that’s up to Great Britain.”

With inflation expected to play a major part in the upcoming U.S. mid-term elections, Biden said the American economy remained “strong as hell,” but that he is “concerned about the rest of the world.”

And he added: “The problem is the lack of economic growth and sound policy in other countries. It’s worldwide inflation, that’s consequential.”

Biden’s swipe at the Truss agenda is an unusual move, given that presidents tend to avoid commenting on the domestic policy of allies.

It came as Truss’ newly-appointed chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, signalled further fiscal U-turns could be on the cards.

“We have to be honest with people and we are going to have to take some very difficult decisions both on spending and on tax to get debt falling but the top of our minds when making these decisions will be how to protect and help struggling families, businesses and people,” Hunt said in a statement issued overnight.

Truss and Hunt will on Sunday hold talks at the prime minister’s country retreat, Chequers, the BBC reported, ahead of a fresh economic plan due to be unveiled October 31.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has attacked “grotesque chaos” surrounding Liz Truss after the sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor.

Liz Truss ‘clinging to power’ amid ‘grotesque chaos’ of Kwarteng sacking, Starmer says

Sir Keir said there was “no historical precedent” for the current situation facing Ms Truss and her Government 

Giving a speech in Barnsley after a day of upheaval in Westminster, Sir Keir said the damage caused by last month’s mini-Budget was "unprecedented" as he repeated calls for a general election.

He pointed to the "grotesque chaos of a Tory prime minister handing out redundancy notices to her own chancellor" as he accused Ms Truss of putting “party first and country second”.

Sir Keir said there was “no historical precedent” for the current situation facing Ms Truss and her Government.

The Labour leader said: “There are no historical precedents for what they have done to our economy. Britain has faced financial crises before but the prime ministers and chancellors who wrestled with them all acted fast.

“When their policies ran against the rocks of reality, they took decisive action.

“But this lot, they didn’t just tank the British economy, they also clung on as they made the pound sink. Clung on as they took our pensions to the brink of collapse.

“Clung on as they pushed the mortgages and bills of the British public through the roof.

“They did all of this – all the pain our country faces now is down to them.”

He accused Ms Truss of clinging to power amid the most serious crisis to hit her still-new administration yet.

“There is still one person clinging on, the prime minister,” Sir Keir said in a speech in Barnsley.

“No doubt we will hear plenty of laughable excuses in the coming days. After 12 years of stagnation, that’s all her party has left but even they know she can’t fix the mess she has created.

“And deep down, her MPs know something else. They no longer have a mandate from the British people.”

But Sir Keir also had a sobering message for his own party as the Government attempts to rebuild credibility ahead of the next election with new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

“It won’t be easy,” he said. “I would love to stand here and say to you that Labour will fix everything. But the damage that they’ve done to our finances and public services means things are going to be really tough.

“We can’t take irresponsible risks with the country’s finances. We must be the party of sound money. You can’t build a fairer, greener Britain without first restoring economic stability.”

Speaking on Friday, Liz Truss announced the Government would go ahead with the planned rise to corporation tax after previously vowing to reverse the decision.

Despite questions over her position, she refused calls to resign and remained steadfast in the belief that her economic plan would deliver growth.

“It is clear that parts of our mini-budget went further and faster than markets were expecting, so the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change,” she said.

“We will do whatever is necessary to ensure debt is falling as a share of the economy in the medium term.”

Despite claiming the administration had made mistakes, new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said the prime minister’s overall pursuit for growth was correct on Saturday.

He did add, however, there will be “difficult decisions” ahead on tax and spending.

Read More

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Kwasi Kwarteng ‘believes Liz Truss will be gone in a few weeks’

Tom SandersSaturday 15 Oct 2022 

Kwasi Kwarteng thinks Liz Truss will be out of a job herself soon following his sacking as chancellor (Picture: Getty)

Kwasi Kwarteng believes Liz Truss is doomed as prime minister and has bought herself just ‘a few more weeks’ by sacking him and reversing key parts of his budget.

Mr Kwarteng, a close ideological ally of Ms Truss, became the second shortest-serving chancellor in history having held the position for just 38 days prior to his dismissal on Friday.

He was replaced by former foreign secretary and Rishi Sunak supporter Jeremy Hunt in an attempt to calm the markets and reverse the government’s economic plans.

Mr Hunt signalled a total change in policy direction in his first interviews this morning and signalled tax rises and cuts are on the way. 

‘KBut an unnamed source close to the former chancellor thinks the decision to sack him is unlikely to be enough to save her premiership

wasi thinks it only buys her a few more weeks,’ the Times reports, ‘His view is that the wagons are still going to circle.’

The PM’s critics were unimpressed by her performance at yesterday’s press conference (Picture: Getty)

He is far from alone in sharing that view, with reports emerging that senior Downing Street officials now believe it is a matter of time before she is forced out of office.

‘Senior civil servants are now openly talking about her going’, one Whitehall source told The Times. ‘They think she’s had it.’

Next week, Tory rebels could push 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady to change the rules and allow them to remove the PM from office, although it is unknown whether they have the numbers.

There has been rumours of talks around putting forward a ‘unity candidate’ to replace Truss, but there appears to be little agreement on who it should be.

Ms Truss has continued to defy calls for her resignation and gave an eight-minute press conference on Friday, in which she took just four questions.

Jeremy Hunt was brought in as a ‘safe pair of hands’ to calm the markets but his appointment has done little to appease rebel bakbenchers (Picture: PA)

She said she was ‘incredibly sorry’ to lose Kwarteng, a ‘great friend’ and someone who ‘shares my vision to set this country on the path to growth.’

But in an attempt to heal the divide in the party, she also claimed Mr Hunt, who was excluded from her cabinet, ‘shares my convictions and ambitions for our country.’

Her speech did not go down well with some Tories though, with one reportedly describing it as ‘agony’ and another ‘shockingly bad’.

One former minister told The Independent: ‘She made Theresa May look like Barack Obama. She can’t communicate. She’s just not up to it.’

Another said: ‘She looked like she had been dragged there like a reluctant child being forced to explain itself. There was no contrition.’

Mr Kwarteng reportedly believes his sacking will not save her premiership (Picture: Shutterstock)

According to a new snap poll by YouGov, over half of Britons (49%) think the Prime Minster was right to sack Kwasi Kwarteng.

That includes just over half of those who voted for the Conservatives at the 2019 general election and just 16% of Brits say that they decision was the wrong one.

Meanwhile, two in five people (39%) think that Mr Hunt will do a bad job as Chancellor, with just 14% expecting him to do well.