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Sen. Schumer Plans To Introduce ‘No PR Act’ To Keep Trump From History

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has announced his plan to introduce legislation that would prohibit President Donald Trump from signing his name on future stimulus checks.

It’s legislation that some Republican lawmakers call petty.

The legislation, titled the ‘No Politics in Pandemic Recovery Act,’ or ‘No PR Act,’ would prevent taxpayer money from being used for any “promotional activity” including President Trump or Vice President Pence’s name, likeness or signature. According to a Politico report, Sen. Schumer’s goal is to add this legislation to the next coronavirus stimulus package.

The Senate Minority Leader is planning to introduce this legislation following the Treasury Department’s decision to print President Trump’s name on the $1,200 stimulus checks for millions of Americans impacted by the economic devastation of the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent shutdowns.

Despite calling out the President for his signatures, labeling them as a PR stunt, Sen. Schumer has never been one to shy away from the media spotlight. An old joke in Washington goes, “The most dangerous place in Washington is between Chuck Schumer and a TV camera.” There is arguably no bigger “publicity hound” in Congress than the Democrat from Brooklyn, who has been on television dozens of times in the last six weeks.

Senator Schumer elaborated on his idea in a statement to The Hill. “Trump unfortunately appears to see the pandemic as just another opportunity to promote his own political interests,” said Schumer. “The No PR Act puts an end to the president’s exploitation of taxpayer money for promotional material that only benefits his re-election campaign.”

He added that “delaying the release of stimulus checks so his signature could be added is a waste of time and money.”

Moreover, Schumer’s colleague, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last week, in which he asked for “details about how you made this decision to benefit the president politically, which may delay delivery of critical funds to millions of Americans struggling to pay the rent and put food on the table.”

Last week, Congress passed a $484 billion coronavirus aid bill to provide $380 billion to small businesses, $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for testing.

The Senate is set to return to Washington on Monday, May 4.

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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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