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Energy Secretary: US Will Remain Energy Independent After Coronavirus

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US Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette assured the public Monday that the country will remain energy independent after the coronavirus pandemic passes, he said during an interview with Fox Business host Stuart Varney on Monday.

“I have to remind you and the viewers we are in fact in a different position than we were just 10 or 15, 20 years ago, certainly. Imagine if this pandemic had happened in 1973 or in 1974 when we were wholly dependent upon nations for the importation of oil,” Brouillette explained.

He added, “The fact that we are able to produce the amounts that we are able to produce today, place the United States of America, place this President at a position of strength in order to bring this deal together.”

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries member countries reached a deal over the weekend to cut oil production to nearly 10 million barrels per day in response to low demand amid the coronavirus global economic crisis. However, Brouillette said the cutback is “only half the story” siding with President Donald Trump who earlier tweeted that OPEC+ is cutting “20 million barrels a day, not the 10 Million that is generally being reported.”

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1249691642975727616

“There are over 100 countries that produce oil all around the world and what we will see is production declining over the next few months as the world deals with this COVID-19 pandemic. So when you add up all of the production cuts around the world, we’re gonna be much closer to 20 million barrels per day coming off the market, which represents roughly 20 percent of the production just a month or a month and a half ago,” the Secretary said.

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Economy

House inquiry opened as to whether IRS is using artificial intelligence to invade Americans’ financial privacy

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Screen Shot 2022 09 09 at 11.23.59 AM

An inquiry has been opened by the House Judiciary Committee as to whether the IRS is using artificial intelligence to invade Americans’ financial privacy. The inquiry comes after an agency employee was captured in an undercover tape suggesting there was a widespread surveillance operation underway that might not be constitutional, reports Just the News.

The inquiry was opened by Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., who sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen demanding documents, and answers as to how the agency is currently employing artificial intelligence to comb through bank records to look for possible tax cheats.

The House Judiciary Committee has been investigating why the FBI was obtaining Americans’ bank records, including those who partook in the January 6 Capitol riots, without using search warrants or subpoenas.

Jordan’s and Hageman’s letter said lawmakers have evidence and reason to believe that the IRS and Department of Justice (DOJ) are actively monitoring millions of Americans’ private transactions, bank accounts, and related financial information—without any legal process—using the AI-powered system.

“This kind of pervasive financial surveillance, carried out in coordination with federal law enforcement, into Americans’ private financial records raises serious doubts about the IRS’s—and the federal government’s—respect for Americans’ fundamental civil liberties,” the letter said.

“So one of the things that I have learned since I’ve been in Congress is that there are quite a few people in government who do not recognize our constitutional protections,” Hageman told Just the News. “They’ve kind of forgotten or at least ignored our Bill of Rights.”

Just the News also reported that the Treasury Department has since acknowledged it has “implemented an enhanced process using AI to mitigate check fraud in near real-time by strengthening and expediting processes to recover potentially fraudulent payments from financial institutions’ since late 2022.”

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