Follow #MagaFirstNews via Social Media
Support Us!


Follow #MagaFirstNews via Social Media


FILE PHOTO: United Conservative Leader Jason Kenney details the “UCP Fight Back Strategy” against foreign anti-oil special interests, in front of the Trans Mountain Edmonton Terminal in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, March 22, 2019. REUTERS/Candace Elliott/File Photo
April 17, 2019
By Julie Gordon
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s already shaky bid to persuade Canadians to fight climate change will get even tougher after the election on Tuesday of conservative Jason Kenney as premier of the energy-rich province of Alberta.
Kenney and his United Conservative Party easily trounced left-leaning incumbent Premier Rachel Notley of the New Democratic Party in the provincial vote, where climate actions were made the scapegoat for Alberta’s economic woes.
The province’s economy has struggled to recover since oil prices plummeted in 2014 and spurred an exodus of major energy firms from Alberta.
Kenney, who opposes much of Trudeau’s green agenda, had pledged to repeal a provincial carbon tax that Notley introduced. Such a move would automatically trigger a federal carbon tax in Alberta that is aimed at provinces that do not have their own plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Alberta will become the fifth out of Canada’s 10 provinces to oppose a carbon tax, indicating the scale of the challenge for Trudeau’s Liberals ahead of the October general election. Three provinces are suing the federal government over the levy.
“The carbon tax is all economic pain and no environmental gain. (Albertans) want to scrap the carbon tax cash grab,” Kenney told cheering supporters late on Tuesday.
In Alberta, Canada’s most traditionally conservative province, the Liberals face an uphill battle to hold on to their three seats. Kenney’s antagonism, particularly on climate matters and pipeline construction, is unlikely to help.
Trudeau, who was leading in polls at the start of the year, is trailing his Conservative Party rival Andrew Scheer because of a scandal over his alleged interference in a corporate corruption case.
“Even losing three seats in Alberta is really a big problem,” said Ipsos pollster Darrell Bricker.
Notley has been an occasional Trudeau ally, and she introduced Alberta’s own carbon tax in 2015 as part of a wide-ranging effort to make the province’s oil and gas sector more environment-friendly.
CARBON CLASH
Despite the challenges, Trudeau has no intention of changing his mind.
“There are premiers right across the country right now that have gotten elected … and have made it very, very clear they do not think doing anything to fight climate change is a priority. And I disagree with them,” he told a town hall on Tuesday.
In Ontario, the most populous of the provinces, Premier Doug Ford killed a provincial cap-and-trade system after his election last year, forcing Trudeau’s government to fully impose its carbon tax on April 1.
Prices at the pump jumped immediately, which could hurt Trudeau’s chances in auto-dependant suburban swing ridings around Toronto. The Liberals need to win as many seats as they can in the vote-rich province.
“Ontario has another strong partner that will fight for Canadian families against the job-killing federal carbon tax!” Ford tweeted late on Tuesday, referring to Kenney’s win.
The provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick, which have conservative governments, have not implemented their own emission plans and are now paying the federal tax.
Federal Conservative leader Scheer has pledged to kill the carbon tax if elected, though he has yet to outline a climate plan of his own.
“I think it’s really unfortunate,” Catherine McKenna, Canada’s environment minister, told Reuters of the push to kill the federal carbon levy. “It seems to be part of a movement by this generation of conservative politicians to not make decisions based on science, evidence and facts.”
McKenna noted that Canada’s carbon tax effort was being closely watched around the world as momentum builds in other nations to tackle climate change.
And support is growing at home as well. An Angus Reid poll in November showed that a majority of Canadians, 54 percent, supported the carbon tax.
This result was bolstered by the Trudeau government’s pledge that most revenues from the tax would be returned to consumers in the form of a rebate worth hundreds of dollars a year for a typical family.
Kenney, meanwhile, told the rally that Albertans took the challenge of climate change seriously, adding without elaborating, “we are world leaders in innovating to reduce emissions.”
(Additional reporting by Nia Williams in Calgary, Alberta and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; editing by David Ljunggren)
Source: OANN


FILE PHOTO: A Wells Fargo logo is seen in New York City, U.S. January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith
April 23, 2019
By Imani Moise
DALLAS (Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co shareholders voted to elect all of the company-nominated directors during a rowdy meeting on Tuesday in which more than a dozen attendees were kicked out for heckling executives and board members.
The majority of the San Francisco-based bank’s 12 board members joined Wells Fargo after the bank became mired in scandal in late 2016 for opening potentially millions of unauthorized accounts. Board Chair Betsy Duke and interim Chief Executive Allen Parker faced questions about why investors should vote for the five directors who were at the bank at the time of the wrongdoing.
All the directors were elected with no less than 95% approval, according to the preliminary tally.
Last month, proxy research firm Institutional Shareholder Services advised “cautionary support” of directors who were at the bank prior to 2017.
About 15 activists were kicked out of the meeting for interrupting Parker’s remarks. He had repeatedly asked them to wait for the question-and-answer segment before having security evict them.
“One of the wonderful things about shareholder democracy is that we have meetings like this,” said Parker as the activists were escorted out.
The activists had spoken out about various issues, including fair lending practices, African American homeownership and fake accounts. Some called Wells Fargo executives “frauds” and said the bank could not be trusted.
Shareholders also approved executive pay and other management proposals. Two shareholder proposals that were rejected called for transparency about incentive pay and closing of the median gender pay gap.
(Reporting by Imani Moise; Editing by Richard Chang)
Source: OANN
U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., defended Joe Biden from allegations of misconduct, saying it’s “not for others to judge” and agreed that the stories of inappropriate conduct “distract” Democrats from beating President Trump in the 2020 election.
Jones, a vulnerable Democrat in a deep-red state, appeared on a Mother Jones podcast that was posted Wednesday, where he effectively endorsed Biden amid his expected candidacy announcement Thursday and offered a defense of the latest allegations of inappropriate behavior by Biden toward women.
“I’ve been very candid about this in the past — my closest friend in this field of candidates has been someone I’ve known for 40 years. And that’s former Vice President Biden,” Jones said during the interview.
“And despite the issues that he’s faced, I still think that he has the ability to reach people from all ends of the political spectrum and govern this country.”
Jones defended Biden despite having voted against the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh last year on the grounds that it would send a negative message on sexual harassment, even as allegations against Kavanaugh weren’t corroborated.
“You know, it’s funny, I think he’s said some of the right things, I think he’s said some wrong things. I think the thing that people need to remember that it’s not for others to judge.”
In the interview, Jones was pressed on the allegations concerning Biden, where numerous women came forward in recent months detailing incidents of the former vice president touching them inappropriately over the years. Biden didn’t deny the allegations and said in a video released last month that he’ll “be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future.”
“You know, it’s funny, I think he’s said some of the right things, I think he’s said some wrong things. I think the thing that people need to remember that it’s not for others to judge,” Jones said, noting that “it’s really for the people who are at the receiving end of that.”
“I won’t use the term ‘innocent’ because that’s probably not appropriate, but I don’t think Joe Biden ever had the kind of intention you had that in a harassing kind of way or an assaulting kind of way,” he continued.
BIDEN ALLEGATIONS REVIVE SCRUTINY OVER HISTORY OF ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’ INTERACTIONS WITH WOMEN
“I won’t use the term ‘innocent’ because that’s probably not appropriate, but I don’t think Joe Biden ever had the kind of intention you had that in a harassing kind of way or an assaulting kind of way.”
“And I’ve said that for years anyway. I’ve said it about civil rights, I’ve said it about other things. It goes back to Atticus Finch, you gotta walk around in someone else’s shoes to see things from their point of view. And I think this is a very, very significant moment where more and more people are taking a look at that.”
But Jones’ tone seemed entirely different during last year’s hearings on Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, during which several women alleged sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh.
“What message will we send to our daughters & sons, let alone sexual assault victims?” Jones tweeted as he announced his “no” vote on Kavanaugh. “The message I will send is this—I vote no. #RightSideofHistory”
Later in the recent interview, Jones also agreed that debates about Biden and allegations against him “sort of distract from the ultimate goal that Democrats have of beating Donald Trump.”
“Oh, absolutely, I think a lot of things, I mean, I think, you know, President Obama this weekend in Berlin at the Obama Foundation was talking about Democrats having a circular firing squad over things that are important but not something that can win the election.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“I think that we have to not be so rigid, I think we have to not be so judgmental on every issue that comes up but I think we will do that,” he added.
Source: Fox News Politics


2020 Democratic presidential frontrunner Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., told voters and Fox News viewers why they should vote him into the White House in a special town hall event Monday night.
Sanders spent an hour answering questions from potential voters and Fox News hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, before thanking the audience and viewers.
WATCH: FOX NATION’S BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK AT BERNIE SANDERS’ TOWN HALL
The senator defended his wealth, outlined his health care plan, and critiqued President Trump in what was the most watched town hall event so-far this election season.
But that wasn’t the whole story…
HOW BERNIE WENT FROM SOCIALIST GADFLY TO FRONTRUNNER
Fox Nation took a behind the scenes look at Monday’s Town Hall as Fox News crews worked tirelessly setting up the event and reaching out to the local community about the important issues that Sanders needed to address.
The crew even dealt with a weather situation that threatened the event.
“Due to the weather conditions in the area they’re worried about a power cut from the local utility,” Roger Germinder, Coordinator Operations and Engineering for Fox News revealed in the Fox Nation special.
To see how the Town Hall was put together, how the anchors prepared and more go to FoxNation.com.
Source: Fox News Politics


LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 19: The Ambassador of France to the United States Gerard Araud attends the l’Ordre National des Arts et Lettres Awards Ceremony at the Consulate General of France on April 19, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/WireImage)
Outgoing French ambassador Gerard Araud tore into President Trump in a series of exit interviews, calling the U.S. president a “big mouth” who reads “basically nothing or nearly nothing” — and even comparing him to the “uninformed” French King Louis XIV.
Araud, in an interview with Foreign Policy, drew a stark contrast between the presidencies of Barack Obama and the current White House occupant.
TRUMP SLAMS MACRON FOR LOW APPROVAL RATINGS, FRENCH SURRENDER TO THE NAZIS
“On one side, you had this ultimate bureaucrat, an introvert, basically a bit aloof, a restrained president. A bit arrogant also but basically somebody who every night was going to bed with 60-page briefings and the next day they were sent back annotated by the president,” he said, referring to Obama.
“And suddenly you have this president who is an extrovert, really a big mouth, who reads basically nothing or nearly nothing, with the interagency process totally broken and decisions taken from the hip basically.”
He told the magazine that often decisions or statements come from the White House, and even administration officials are surprised by them or don’t know what they mean.
In particular, he cited the Dec. 19 announcement of a U.S. withdrawal from Syria as well as the recent decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights — where he said “what I understand was the secretary of state [Mike Pompeo] was not informed.”
Still, his advice to the Elysee Palace for dealing with Trump when he went on the attack against President Emmanuel Macron was that officials do nothing
“He once criticized the French president [Emmanuel Macron], and people called me from Paris to say, ‘What should we do?’ My answer was clear: ‘Nothing.’ Do nothing because he will always outbid you. Because he can’t accept appearing to lose. You have restraint on your side, and he has no restraint on his side, so you lose. It is escalation dominance.”
HUNGARY’S TOP DIPLOMAT PRAISES TRUMP ON NATO PUSH, CONTRASTS AGAINST OBAMA-ERA ‘LECTURING’
In another interview with The Guardian, Araud compared Trump to the French King Louis XIV, who reigned in France in the 17th and 18th centuries.
“It’s like [trying] to analyse the court of Louis XIV,” Araud said. “You have an old king, a bit whimsical, unpredictable, uninformed, but he wants to be the one deciding.”
Araud’s anti-Trump views are well known. On Election Night 2016, he tweeted, “A world is collapsing before our eyes. Vertigo,” before deleting it.
That bleak view of the post-2016 world continued in his interview with Foreign Policy where he struggled to find optimism about a Trump re-election, or the prospects for Britain’s departure from the European Union.
“I don’t know if it will be a disaster,” he said, asked about his thoughts on a Trump 2020 win. “I’m sure it won’t be a good thing. But at the same time it’s too easy to say Trump is responsible. Because on the European side, the crisis is on both sides of the Atlantic. You see the incredible soap opera [over Brexit] offered up by the British. Whatever the result, it’s a lose-lose situation for Europe. It’s a disaster that we are losing the British, all the capabilities they are bringing to us.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
Asked about his election night tweet by The Guardian, he said that in retrospect, he believed the tweet to be right.
“My world, our world of certainties, really was collapsing and we were facing a real, substantial, dangerous crisis, which could basically really overwhelm my own country,” he said. “I believe we are entering a new era. I just don’t know what this era will be.”
Source: Fox News Politics













































