Biden accuses oil companies of “war profiteering”, threatens windfall tax – National & International News – TUE 1Nov2022

Biden threatens windfall tax on price-gouging oil firms. FCC official wants TikTok banned in US. Israel holds fifth election since 2019. Brazil: Bolsonaro doesn’t concede defeat; supporters set up blockades.

NATIONAL NEWS

Biden accuses oil companies of “war profiteering”, threatens windfall tax

Yesterday, President Biden accused oil companies of using Russia’s war with Ukraine to price gouge their customers. In just the last two quarters, oil giants ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, and TotalEnergy earned $100 billion more in profits than they did in all of 2021. Exxon and Chevron, both American-based companies, each saw record-setting quarterly earnings this year. In most cases, those profits are going to investor dividends and stock buybacks that artificially increase companies’ share price. Biden wants to push these companies to invest their profits into developing new technologies rather than enriching their shareholders.

“Oil companies’ record profits today are not because of doing something new or innovative,” Biden said. “Their profits are a windfall of war, a windfall for the brutal conflict that’s ravaging Ukraine and hurting tens of millions of people around the globe.”

Biden has long complained that oil companies are artificially inflating gas prices by choosing not to exploit gas exploration leases they already hold in the US. The companies have claimed that they lack the capacity to increase production, but have done little to invest in greater capacity. Biden raised the possibility of imposing a windfall tax on oil firms’ record-breaking profits if they do not increase production.

Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) first proposed a 95% windfall tax on price gouging Big Oil firms in March of this year, shortly after the Ukraine war began.

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FCC official wants video-sharing app TikTok banned in US

The popular and fast-growing video-sharing app TikTok is in ongoing negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to determine whether the app will be allowed to operate in the US. TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has been downloaded over 200 million times in the US, according to marketing company Wallaroo Media. National security experts have raised concerns about the implications of a Chinese-owned company potentially having access to the personal data of hundreds of millions of Americans. The talks with CFIUS are exploring the possibility of allowing TikTok to continue to operate in the US if it sells to an American company. 

In an interview published today by Axios, Brendan Carr, one of five commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission, called on CFIUS to ban TikTok from operating in the US entirely. Carr argued there is simply no way TikTok can guarantee the security of its users’ information or prevent it from falling into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

India banned TikTok and dozens of other Chinese apps last year for similar reasons. This raised an outcry from millions of Indian TikTok users, some of whom were making their living as influencers on the app. The same would be true for thousands of users in the US.

A spokesperson for TikTok says Carr seems to have given his opinion in a personal capacity rather than in his official capacity. The FCC so far has not commented on Carr’s remarks, nor has it taken a public position on TikTok’s operation in the US.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Israel holds fifth election in three and a half years

Israelis headed to the polls today for the fifth round of parliamentary elections since 2019. In July, a fragile ruling coalition of far-right, centrist, left and Arab parties finally collapsed after just over a year in power. The coalition outlasted many expectations, given that the one governing priority all the parties shared was to keep former right-wing PM Benjamin Netanyahu out of power. In 2019, Netanyahu was hit with bribery and corruption charges. Court proceedings in those matters remain ongoing.

Despite these allegations, exit polls from today’s election predict that Netanyahu may be about to take the prime minister’s seat once again. This time, Netanyahu aligned his right-wing Likud party with an even further right ultra-nationalist agenda. 

It may be days or even weeks before we know what Israel’s new government will look like.

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Brazil elections: Bolsonaro does not concede defeat; supporters set up blockades

Brazil’s sitting right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro addressed the country for the first time today since his narrow defeat in this weekend’s election. Former leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (or Lula) unseated Bolsonaro by less than 2 percentage points (a margin of about 2 million votes). However, Bolsonaro’s party gained more seats in congress and claimed more governorships in different regions across the country. Unwilling to accept defeat, Bolsonaro’s supporters have set up hundreds of roadblocks on major routeways throughout Brazil. Police have broken up about 300 blockades already but over 260 still remain. The roadblocks have already been a major disruption to commerce and travel.

In his remarks today, Bolsonaro said “I have always been labeled as anti-democratic and, unlike my accusers, I have always played within the four lines of the constitution”. However, he did not concede defeat or even mention the election results. His chief of staff did follow up saying that the “process of transition” would get underway. 

Bolsonaro has actively courted the support of right-wing militants in Brazil as well as fanatical religious groups.  The close results of the election are an indication of how polarized the country has become, and many fear continued disruption from Bolsonaro’s supporters.

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