A watchdog group has raised a red flag over a promise — from President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a>’s choice to head up the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nih" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Institute of Health</a> — to not take any money or work for a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/big-pharma" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Big Pharma</a> company for four years after leaving her position. 
Monica Bertagnolli, Biden’s pick to head up the NIH, made the promise in a <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Bertagnolli%20Letter%20to%20Senator%20Warren%2008.2023.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> sent earlier this month to Massachusetts Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elizabeth-warren" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elizabeth Warren</a>. The promise, though, is “bogus” because it would still allow her research to be funded by pharmaceutical companies, according to the American Accountability Foundation. 
&#8220;Monica Bertagnolli is one of the worst nominees Biden has chosen. Her history of incompetence as a doctor and her tight relationship with Big Pharma make her unqualified for this position. Her attempts now to fool Congress with this bogus &#8216;ethics pledge&#8217; just reinforces this. Sen. Warren needs to reject this ploy and make Dr. Bertagnolli answer for her past,” said AAF President Tom Jones in a statement to The Daily Wire. 
Bertagnolli has faced opposition after her appointment three months ago, including from Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who has been using her nomination <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/29/biden-elizabeth-warren-concession-nih-director-00113307" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to pressure</a> the White House over drug prices. 
“In response to our conversation, I am willing to voluntarily extend the recusal period from two years to four years for all particular matters involving companies with which I have a previous working relationship,” Bertagnolli wrote. “If confirmed as NIH Director, I will also further commit for four years following my tenure to not seek employment with or compensation from, including as a result of board service, any pharmaceutical company with annual revenues at or above $10 billion.”
Research associated with Bertagnolli, has brought in hundreds of millions of dollars, including tens of millions from COVID vaccine manufacturer Pfizer, <a href="https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/physician/114497" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service&#8217;s Open Payments site. 
According to Open Payments, Pfizer gave over $30 million to research associated with Bertagnolli in 2022 and biotech company Seagen Inc. gave over $22 million that same year. Associated research is defined as funding “for a research project of study where the physician is named as a principal investigator.”
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A <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-nih-biden-pfizer-cancer-882296155977" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fact-check</a> from the Associated Press on a social media posting about Bertagnolli’s ties to Pfizer said that the funding was not directly to her, but that much of the funding went toward a clinical trial for cancer treatment. 
“That may be accurate, but it misses the point. Monica Bertagnolli is profiting handsomely off of the pharmaceutical industry’s support for her research. Funds have flowed through to her salary at Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Dana Farber Cancer Institute where she is a researcher,” a memo from the AAF said. 
The AAF has also pointed to Bertagnolli’s previous ties to Natera, where she earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock and was on the board, before she joined the National Cancer Institute. Natera has been scrutinized in the media, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/01/upshot/pregnancy-birth-genetic-testing.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">including</a> the New York Times, who reported that Natera’s genetic testing products can often lead to false positives or negatives.

President Joe Biden Signs PACT Act

Watchdog Says Elizabeth Warren Being Fooled By ‘Bogus’ Pledge From Biden Nominee On Big Pharma Payments

Big Pharma

Elizabeth Warren

Joe Biden

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elizabeth-warren" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elizabeth Warren</a> (D-MA) and Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> (D-NY) sent letters to large depositors of collapsed <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/banks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">financial</a> institution <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/silicon-valley-bank?_gl=1*1k8vnbd*_ga*NzUzNDA5ODIxLjE2NzkzMjkzNzM.*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTY4MTE1MTI2Ni44MC4xLjE2ODExNTcxMDYuNDkuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Silicon Valley Bank</a> to ask about their approaches to risk management.
The implosion of Silicon Valley Bank, where the vast majority of account balances exceeded the $250,000 threshold backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, prompted the government-backed company to secure all accounts at the firm last month in order to prevent additional bank runs. Some $13.3 billion of the $18 billion taken from the Deposit Insurance Fund to protect Silicon Valley Bank were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/13-billion-in-silicon-valley-bank-bailout-money-went-to-just-10-accounts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used</a> to back deposits for only 10 accounts.
Warren and Ocasio-Cortez, both of whom have been critical of bank management in the weeks after the firm’s demise, contended in <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/combinepdf%20(3).pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letters</a> to the 14 largest depositors that Silicon Valley Bank “did not function like a normal bank” because the firm catered almost entirely to technology companies, producing an undue degree of exposure to the recently volatile sector.
The conditions enabled a handful of venture capital firms, who controlled many of the companies which held accounts at the bank, to suddenly encourage withdrawals amid signs of distress at Silicon Valley Bank.
“Congress, bank regulators, and the public are owed an explanation for the bank’s hyper-reliance on tech industry firms and investors,” the lawmakers wrote, “the extent to which this resulted in an abnormally high percentage of deposits that were not insured by FDIC, and the role that companies like yours might have played in precipitating the $42 billion single-day run.”
Reports indicated that Silicon Valley Bank maintained “white glove” treatment of some venture capital customers, provided lower-rate mortgages for startup founders, and sponsored multiple industry conferences. Silicon Valley Bank also required companies to deposit their money in exchange for venture debt agreements, then offered the deals to founders and executives.
“If the reports are accurate, these mutual backscratching arrangements could help explain why some customers placed massive, uninsured deposits,” Warren and Ocasio-Cortez continued. “And if these deposits were made by company executives and allowed by corporate boards in exchange for personal perks, that behavior raises potential concerns about whether they were meeting their fiduciary duties.”
The lawmakers asked the depositors, which included firms such as digital hardware manufacturer Roku, bankrupt cryptocurrency lender BlockFi, and gaming platform Roblox, to provide complete timelines of their relationships with Silicon Valley Bank and information about their decisions to deposit large amounts of assets with the firm.
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The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which also had a majority of depositors with account balances exceeding the $250,000 threshold, provoked calls from some officials to introduce more regulations in the financial sector. The White House recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-calls-for-crackdown-on-senior-bank-executives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> lawmakers to introduce regulations that would “hold senior management accountable when their banks fail” or enter into the control of the FDIC, while House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) <a href="https://financialservices.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=408652" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that he has “confidence in our financial regulators and the protections already in place to ensure the safety and soundness of our financial system.”
Warren has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-democrats-say-fdic-should-reexamine-250000-deposit-insurance-threshold" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggested</a> that the $250,000 deposit insurance limit should be re-examined. The FDIC funds deposit insurance through fees on covered banks rather than taxpayer dollars.

AOC, Warren Press Large Companies With Deposits At Silicon Valley Bank Over Risk Management Concerns

AOC, Warren Press Large Companies With Deposits At Silicon Valley Bank

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Banks

Business

Economy

Silicon Valley Bank

Remember when the price of eggs soared, and providers said it was inflation and higher transportation costs and a sudden drop in production and some kind of avian flu?
Pepperidge Farm remembers.
But it turns out that Cal-Maine Foods, the largest U.S. producer, more than doubled its revenue last quarter to nearly a billion dollars because of sharply higher egg prices &#8212; and profits surged 718%. And production wasn&#8217;t down. Cal-Maine, which controls about 20% of the domestic egg market, said the total number of eggs it sold rose by 1%, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/29/business/egg-profits-cal-maine/index.html">reported</a>.
The company said the average selling price for a dozen eggs in the quarter ending February 25 was $3.30. That&#8217;s more than twice what a dozen cost a year earlier, when its average price was $1.61, Cal-Maine said. Thus, net income soared to $323.2 million from just $39.5 million a year ago, CNN reported.
In January, the cost of a dozen eggs surpassed the price of a pound of beef, marking the first time that’s happened since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began keeping <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000708111">data</a> in 1980. The average price of a dozen large Grade A eggs ran at $4.82 in January 2023, while a pound of ground beef was $4.64, the BLS said. In January 2022, eggs were $1.93, and beef was $4.77, but egg prices have soared by 70% in the last year alone, according to the bureau.
Farm Action, a farmer-led advocacy group, says the “real culprit” behind sky-high prices is a “collusive scheme” among top U.S. egg producers to fix prices to gouge consumers. In a January letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Farm Action <a href="https://farmaction.us/2023/01/19/farm-action-calls-for-ftc-to-investigate-record-high-egg-prices/?utm_source=substack&amp;amp;amp;amp;utm_medium=email">said</a> the alleged collusion has helped egg producers to “extract egregious profits reaching as high as 40%.”
The letter said avian flu is not to blame. “Examining publicly-available financial data from the egg industry, the letter determines that the supply disruption caused by the avian flu outbreak had an ‘apparently mild impact on the industry,&#8217;” the group said in a press release.
The group also said egg producers are making money hand over fist. “For the 26-week period ending on November 26, 2022, Cal-Maine reported a ten-fold year-over-year increase in gross profits — from $50.392 million to $535.339 million — and a five-fold increase in its gross margins,” the letter said.
Some lawmakers have criticized egg producers’ pricing, accusing them of price gouging.
“American families working to put food on the table deserve to know whether the increased prices they are paying for eggs represent a legitimate response to reduced supply or out-of-control corporate greed,” said a letter sent by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) to Cal-Maine and other large egg producers last month.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

Egg Prices Soar in California

Eggs-Tortion? Profits For Largest U.S. Egg Producer Soar 718%

Food

Price Gouging

Massachusetts Democratic Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elizabeth-warren" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elizabeth Warren</a> called for a new Federal Reserve Chairman on Sunday as she lashed out at Jerome Powell&#8217;s job performance.
Appearing on several Sunday talk shows, Warren accused Powell of taking a &#8220;flamethrower&#8221; to regulations on big banks and failing to control inflation. In the wake of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/silicon-valley-bank" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Silicon Valley Bank</a> collapse, Warren called for the Federal Reserve and Congress to impose more regulations. She also said that Powell should not be chairman of the Fed.
&#8220;Donald Trump ran for president saying he would lighten the regulations on these banks,&#8221; Warren said on CBS News&#8217;s &#8220;Face the Nation.&#8221; &#8220;And then Jerome Powell just literally took a flamethrower to these regulations in order to make them less and less effective.&#8221;
&#8220;Jerome Powell has said that all he wants to do is lighten regulations on the banks,&#8221; she added. &#8220;I opposed him as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank precisely for that reason. I said he was a dangerous man to have in this position.&#8221;
Warren went on to call for &#8220;accountability&#8221; from Powell and the financial regulators who &#8220;clearly fell down on the job&#8221;; and from financial executives who she says enabled the SVB collapse with risky investments.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“We need accountability for our regulators who clearly fell down on the job,” <a href="https://twitter.com/SenWarren?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenWarren</a> tells <a href="https://twitter.com/margbrennan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@margbrennan</a> on the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, adding that it “starts with” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who she says “was a dangerous man to have in this position.” <a href="https://t.co/B2VYr0uZYM">pic.twitter.com/B2VYr0uZYM</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1637447666903777281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2023</a></blockquote>
Warren echoed similar sentiments on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/full-warren-calling-data-privacy-a-tiktok-issue-by-itself-misses-the-elephant-in-the-room-165659205854" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meet the Press</a>.&#8221;
“He has a dual mandate,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Yes he is responsible for dealing with inflation, but he is also responsible for employment. And what Chair Powell is trying to do– and he has said fairly explicitly– is that they are trying to, in effect, slow down the economy so that – this is, by the Fed’s own estimate – two million people will lose their jobs. And I believe that is not what the chair of the Federal Reserve should be doing.”
NBC&#8217;s Chuck Todd then asked Warren whether Powell should be fired.
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&#8220;My views on Jay Powell are well known at this point,&#8221; Warren responded. &#8220;He has had two jobs. One is to deal with monetary policy. One is to deal with regulation. He has failed at both.&#8221;
&#8220;Look, I don&#8217;t think he should be chairman of the Federal Reserve,&#8221; she concluded. &#8220;I have said it as publicly as I know how to say it. I&#8217;ve said it to everyone.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-VOTE-WARREN

‘I Don’t Think He Should Be Chairman’: Elizabeth Warren Blows Up At Jerome Powell Over Inflation, Bank Failures

Elizabeth Warren Blasts Jerome Powell Over Inflation, Bank Failures

Congress

Face The Nation

Federal Reserve

Inflation

Interest Rates

Meet the Press

Politics

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elizabeth-warren" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elizabeth Warren</a> (D-MA) and Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/maxine-waters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maxine Waters</a> (D-CA) asserted that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation should “reexamine” the $250,000 deposit insurance threshold on <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/banks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bank</a> accounts.
The vast majority of deposits at <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/silicon-valley-bank" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Silicon Valley Bank</a>, which offered services to nearly half of the venture-backed technology and healthcare firms in the United States before its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/parent-company-of-silicon-valley-bank-explores-bankruptcy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">collapse</a> last week, exceeded the $250,000 threshold insured by the FDIC. Regulators scrambled to guarantee all deposits at Silicon Valley Bank such that the remainder of the financial system, in which roughly half of deposits surpass $250,000, would remain safeguarded against bank runs.
Waters, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, said in an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/business/maxine-waters-fdic.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with The New York Times that lawmakers should contemplate increasing the deposit insurance threshold. “When you have something like Silicon Valley Bank with over 90% of its depositors uninsured,” she remarked, “do we increase the amount of premiums that banks will pay in order to have a bigger insurance fund or do we just remain the way that we are and take it on a one-by-one basis for consideration?”
The current threshold of $250,000 is suitable for most individuals, yet businesses such as the ones served by Silicon Valley Bank often retain larger sums to conduct operations and pay employees. The FDIC now directs holdings maintained by Silicon Valley Bank, while the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve vowed that depositors both above and below the $250,000 limit will have their assets insured. Signature Bank was likewise closed by regulators on Sunday.
Waters said that any acquisition deal involving Silicon Valley Bank should avoid consolidation with major financial institutions. “I’m not interested in mergers so much,” she added. “I don’t want this country to become a country where we rely on just four or five big banks.”
Warren, a member of the Senate Banking Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, meanwhile remarked that lawmakers should “reexamine, just overall, about why we have limits” at the $250,000 threshold. “Some small business, some nonprofit, needs a place to manage its money,” she said in an interview with CNBC, according to a <a href="https://thehill.com/business/banking-financial-institutions/3901205-warren-says-250000-cap-in-deposit-insurance-for-banks-should-be-reexamined/#:~:text=Sen.%20Elizabeth%20Warren%20(D%2DMass.)%20on%20Wednesday,on%20CNBC's%20%E2%80%9CSquawk%20Street.%E2%80%9D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from The Hill. “They need to be able to make payroll, they need to be able to pay the utility bills, and they need a safe place to have that money where somebody’s going to keep it safe.”
The lawmaker has <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/icymi-warren-delivers-speech-on-bank-failures-and-new-bill-to-reverse-trump-era-deregulation-of-banking-rules" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contended</a> that portions of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which was signed by former President Donald Trump to ease oversight for banks between $50 billion and $250 billion in assets, should be repealed. She submitted legislation alongside Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) meant to implement “stronger oversight” which would “help protect our economy from heightened risk.”
“Last week the FDIC was forced to rush in to take over two failing banks, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and then take extraordinary actions to protect those banks’ customers and prevent the contagion from spreading throughout the economy,” Warren said on the Senate floor. “If Congress and the Federal Reserve had not rolled back key provisions of Dodd-Frank, these banks would have been subject to stronger liquidity and capital requirements to help withstand financial shocks.”

Maxine Waters

Top Democrats Say FDIC Should ‘Reexamine’ $250,000 Deposit Insurance Threshold

Top Democrats Say FDIC Should ‘Reexamine’ Current FDIC Threshold

One high-profile Democratic lawmaker abstained from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for re-election less than two years out from the 2024 contest.
During a recent interview, Sen. Liz Warren (D-MA) said she wants to wait on President Joe Biden, who has not formally declared another campaign.
“I really want to defer to what makes Biden comfortable on his team,” <a href="https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2023/01/27/warren-stops-short-of-backing-harris-for-vp-in-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Warren told Boston Public Radio (BPR)</a>. “I’ve known Kamala for a long time. I like Kamala. I knew her back when she was an attorney general and I was still teaching and we worked on the housing crisis together, so we go way back. But they need — they have to be a team, and my sense is they are — I don’t mean that by suggesting I think there are any problems. I think they are.”
So far, Biden has only said he intends to run again. According to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-prepares-2024-re-election-launch-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">multiple</a> <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-reelection-bid-announcement-after-state-of-the-union-address/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a>, he is expected to make an announcement shortly after his State of the Union address on February 7. As for his plans for a running mate, a little more than one year ago, Biden said he was <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/19/biden-commits-to-harris-as-his-running-mate-2024-527418" target="_blank" rel="noopener">committed to Harris</a> in 2024 if he sought a second term.
“She’s going to be my running mate, number one,” he said at the time, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/19/biden-commits-to-harris-as-his-running-mate-2024-527418" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to POLITICO</a>. “And number two, I did put her in charge. I think she’s doing a good job,&#8221; he added of Harris&#8217; role in voting rights policies.
Approval ratings tell a different story for Harris and her boss. Biden sits at 41.6% while Harris is at 38.4%, <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/approval/kamala-harris/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to FiveThirtyEight</a>. During the past two years, Harris has dealt with constant negative headlines detailing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/another-kamala-harris-staffer-leaving-post" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high turnover in her office</a>. The vice president&#8217;s critics have also piled on for what they say is her failure to take her lead role in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/busloads-of-migrants-dropped-off-at-kamala-harris-home-on-christmas-eve" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tackling the migration challenges at the U.S.-Mexico border</a> seriously.
Warren, like Harris, was a senator who competed for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2020 contest before rallying behind Biden. Warren says she is <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/08/warren-will-run-for-reelection-2024-486024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seeking re-election</a> as senator in 2024 and joined another leftist who previously ran for president, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/14/bernie-sanders-2024-primary-joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)</a>, in voicing support for Biden if he does vie for a second term in the White House.
&#8220;Yes. He should run again. And he is running again,&#8221; Warren told BPR. The senator insisted Biden has &#8220;gotten a tremendous amount done&#8221; and described some accomplishments during his administration, including the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and an increase in funding for science.
Questions posed to Warren about Biden stressed the president&#8217;s age, which has become a point of concern among critics and allies alike. At 80, Biden is already the oldest person to be president. He would be 82 for a second inauguration and 86 at the end of a second term.
If Biden does run again, he might find himself in a general election rematch against former President Donald Trump, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-launches-third-bid-for-white-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced another bid for the White House in November</a>.

Elizabeth Warren Says She Will ‘Defer’ On Supporting Kamala Harris For Re-Election

Elizabeth Warren Says She Will 'Defer' On Supporting Kamala Harris For Re-Election

2024 Election

Kamala Harris

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/house-republicans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republican</a> lawmakers proposed a bill to replace the income, payroll, and estate <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/taxes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taxes</a> with a national sales tax while abolishing the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/internal-revenue-service-irs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IRS</a>.
The Fair Tax Act, introduced by Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), is an attempt to simplify the tax code and the tax collection system. Similar legislation was first proposed in 1999 by former Rep. John Linder (R-GA); the <a href="https://buddycarter.house.gov/uploadedfiles/text_fairtax_act_118th.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">current iteration</a> of the bill is also sponsored by House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-PA), as well as lawmakers such as Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), and Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL).
“As a former small business owner, I understand the unnecessary burden our failing income tax system has on Americans,” Duncan said in a <a href="https://buddycarter.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=10824" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. “The Fair Tax Act eliminates the tax code, replaces the income tax with a sales tax, and abolishes the abusive Internal Revenue Service. If enacted, this will invigorate the American taxpayer and help more Americans achieve the American Dream.”
The 23% national sales tax established by the bill would enter into effect by 2025. The federal income tax, created by the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913, currently accounts for 49% of total federal revenues, according to <a href="https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/government-revenue/#:~:text=Sources%20of%20Federal%20Revenue&amp;text=Additional%20sources%20of%20tax%20revenue,taxes%20made%20up%20another%2035%25." target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the Treasury Department. Social Security and Medicare taxes constitute 35% of revenues, while corporate taxes provide 10% of revenues.
The Fair Tax Act would attempt to repeal the Sixteenth Amendment and sunset the national sales tax if the repeal is unsuccessful within a seven-year period.
The new legislation comes after President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act approved $80 billion for the IRS. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the funding will enable staff to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/janet-yellen-a-strong-irs-is-critical-to-the-economic-success-of-this-country" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more easily assist</a> individuals and businesses seeking to file their taxes; a <a href="https://www.tigta.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2023-01/2023ier003fr.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, however, indicated that the agency has not yet <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/irs-has-not-yet-finalized-how-middle-class-will-be-affected-by-80-billion-windfall" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decided</a> how the funds will impact audit rates for middle-income taxpayers.
Critics of the national sales tax note the regressive nature of the policy. While the current federal income tax system is progressive, meaning that individuals tend to pay more as their income rises, sales taxes take a larger share of low-income households’ salaries since they utilize a larger portion of their wages for expenses, according to an <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/who-bears-burden-national-retail-sales-tax" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> from the Tax Policy Center.
Biden <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1617265849986949124?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1617265849986949124%7Ctwgr%5Ee5373506b4fcd5c42f3ac94d5174ba4d0ace5789%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenationalnews.com%2Fworld%2Fus-news%2F2023%2F01%2F23%2Fwhat-is-the-30-sales-tax-republicans-are-pushing%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> to the proposal by asserting that the national sales tax would increase prices on “everything from groceries and gas to food and medicine.” His post neglected to mention that the bill would also repeal the income, payroll, and estate taxes while offering a number of refunds and rebates to families. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) likewise failed to mention the repeal of the current tax regime when she <a href="https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status/1616449771975151616" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on social media that “it’s not fair to impose taxes on working people, while giving massive tax breaks to the ultra-rich.”
Republicans have often called for the abolition of the IRS and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-republican-house-votes-to-repeal-the-democrats-army-of-87000-irs-agents" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> earlier this month to reverse the windfall offered to the agency by the Inflation Reduction Act. “This bill will eliminate the need for the department entirely by simplifying the tax code with provisions that work for the American people and encourage growth and innovation,” Carter said in the press release. “Armed, unelected bureaucrats should not have more power over your paycheck than you do.”

Rep. Buddy Carter

Republicans Propose Bill To Replace Income, Payroll Taxes With National Sales Tax, Abolish IRS

Republicans Propose Tax System Overhaul

House Republicans

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Taxes

U.S.

Senator <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/elizabeth-warren" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elizabeth Warren</a> (D-MA) warned board members of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/tesla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tesla</a> that the recent acquisition of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a> by <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> could present conflicts of interest for the electric automaker.
Musk purchased the social media company in a $44 billion deal that followed months of court battles about the number of true accounts on the platform. Among other challenges posed to the company has been leftist ire over the billionaire entrepreneur’s claims to prioritize freedom of speech and publicize the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-responds-to-latest-release-of-the-twitter-files" target="_blank" rel="noopener">censorious actions</a> from former management.
Warren told Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm in a <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2022.12.18%20Letter%20to%20Tesla%20Board%20on%20Musk%20Concerns.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> that the board has a responsibility to ensure that Musk “fulfills his legal obligation to act in the best interests of Tesla and all of its shareholders, not just himself,” as well as guarantee that he “does not treat the company as a private plaything.” She asked about specific oversight measures board members have created to determine whether Musk is adequately leading the automaker.
“Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and his simultaneous management of both Twitter and Tesla raise significant legal questions about conflicts of interest, compliance with labor laws, and misappropriation of corporate resources,” she wrote.
The lawmaker, who has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-torches-elizabeth-warren-please-dont-call-the-manager-on-me-senator-karen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously clashed</a> with Musk over his supposed failure to pay a fair share of taxes, referenced his reported use of Tesla engineers to assume control of the social media company’s code immediately following the acquisition. Though Musk has said that the employees volunteered to help him take over the platform, Warren cited one anonymous report claiming that “most would also feel it was impossible to turn down a direct request from Musk without later facing poor performance reviews or other consequences.” Warren also said that using Tesla employees at Twitter could violate Musk’s legal “duty of loyalty to Tesla” and “trigger questions” about the board’s responsibility to prevent such actions.
Musk has <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1600964083913588736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarked</a> that he still oversees Tesla and SpaceX, where he says the teams “are so good that often little is needed” from him. The serial entrepreneur <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/11/16/spacex-tesla-twitter-ceo-elon-musk-i-frankly-dont-want-to-be-ceo-of-any-company/?sh=2e8350b47848" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in court last month that he holds no desire to be a chief executive “of any company.”
Warren also expressed concern that Twitter could artificially suppress advertising traffic for Chevrolet, Ford, Audi, and other automakers that compete with Tesla. On the other hand, she claimed that Musk could harm Tesla by promoting competitors in order to raise “badly-needed revenue” for his acquisition, which was partially financed by debt.
She cited statistics that found “hate speech” impressions have risen after the buyout while providing a larger platform for “Nazis, virulent sexism, and climate misinformation” in a way that could harm the Tesla brand image, claims which Musk has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-fires-back-at-schiff-over-hate-speech-on-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">directly contested</a>. The billionaire recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/extremely-messed-up-elon-musk-blasts-activist-groups-for-pushing-advertisers-to-ditch-twitter-destroy-free-speech-in-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slammed activist groups</a> for pressuring advertisers to abandon the platform over the purported rise in undesirable speech.
“Musk and Tesla are inextricably intertwined, and while this close relationship has benefited the company in the past, recent developments may have brought a series of negatives to the forefront,” Warren concluded.
Net favorability of Tesla among Democrats has indeed fallen 20.3 percentage points between October and November, the time frame of Musk’s Twitter purchase, according to a <a href="https://morningconsult.com/2022/11/17/elon-musks-politically-polarizing-effect/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> from Morning Consult. On the other hand, net favorability among Republicans increased by 3.9 points over the same period. SpaceX, the reusable rocket venture founded by Musk, likewise fell 4.5 percentage points in net favorability among Democrats and rose 1 point among Republicans.

Elon Musk Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren Browbeats Tesla Board Over Elon Musk’s Work With Twitter

Warren Appeals To Tesla Board Over Musk Twitter Acquisition

Big Tech

Elon Musk

Tesla

Twitter

Sen. <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/elizabeth-warren" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elizabeth Warren</a> (D-MA) and celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary clashed during a Wednesday hearing of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-senate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senate</a> Banking Committee discussing new federal regulations on <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/cryptocurrency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cryptocurrency</a> following the collapse of digital asset exchange FTX.
The company filed for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/30-year-old-billionaire-loses-entire-fortune-overnight-as-his-bahamas-based-cryptocurrency-empire-implodes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bankruptcy</a> last month after users learned that the venture’s assets were commingled with sister firm Alameda Research; both were controlled by Sam Bankman-Fried, who was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-democrat-megadonor-sam-bankman-fried-arrested-in-bahamas-faces-criminal-charges-in-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> this week in his luxury apartment in the Bahamas and charged by American officials with various types of fraud.
Warren, a longtime skeptic of the nascent cryptocurrency industry, remarked that criminals and state sponsors of terror use the tokens for money laundering. She <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/icymi-at-hearing-warren-warns-about-cryptos-use-for-money-laundering-by-rogue-states-terrorists-and-criminals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> O’Leary whether “the potential benefits of crypto are so promising that we should accept weaker anti-money laundering rules and weaker compliance from crypto firms than we require from banks,” causing the “Shark Tank” personality to balk.
“No, I think we should apply the same regulatory structure that we apply to existing trading of stocks and bonds. An exchange is tied to broker-dealers,” he replied. “That is not complicated; it’s already been implemented in other countries. And so and I take issue, senator, with your concept that it makes it easier to do money laundering. Currencies have been used for drug trafficking schemes since the sixties and the American dollar when it was thrown out of a Piper aircraft in a duffel bag. The American dollar is also used by bad actors all the time.”
Warren stressed that she believes “the same rules against money laundering” should apply to “crypto in the way that they apply to banks, to stockbrokers, to credit card companies.” O’Leary responded that investors can solve the problem of money laundering “overnight” if they know “client rules on both sides of the transaction and use a crypto such as USDC that is regulated.”
O’Leary was paid more than $15 million in equity and digital assets to serve as a celebrity brand ambassador for FTX; the entrepreneur lamented during a recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kevin-oleary-says-he-fell-victim-to-groupthink-lost-all-of-his-15-million-payout-as-ftx-ambassador" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> that he succumbed to “groupthink.” He <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kevin-oleary-testifies-before-congress-after-endorsing-defunct-crypto-exchange-ftx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> before members of the Senate that he expects to lose the entire compensation package, even though he believes the industry has upside potential.
“The collapse of FTX is nothing new. While this situation is painful for shareholders, employees, and account holders, in the long run, it does not change this industry’s promise,” asserted the entrepreneur, who still has investments in other cryptocurrency companies. “Enron came and went and had no impact on the energy markets. Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers’ demise had no impact on the long-term potential of American debt and equity markets.”
O’Leary is one of several celebrities who were hired by Bankman-Fried in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/attorney-overseeing-ftx-bankruptcy-testifies-before-congress-grossly-inexperienced-people-ran-company-went-on-5-billion-spending-binge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">marketing blitz</a> that occurred as the company became increasingly strapped for cash. The would-be cryptocurrency wunderkind solicited multiple cultural icons, including Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and his supermodel ex-wife Gisele Bündchen, to work as brand ambassadors; many of the influencers are now defendants in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tom-brady-steph-curry-other-celebrities-sued-for-pushing-ponzi-scheme-ftx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawsuit</a> asserting that they participated in a “fraudulent scheme” designed to fool unsophisticated investors.
A complaint from the Securities and Exchange Commission against Bankman-Fried alleges that he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/officials-charge-sam-bankman-fried-of-using-customer-funds-for-lavish-real-estate-and-large-political-donations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used</a> commingled funds for “undisclosed venture investments, lavish real estate purchases, and large political donations.” The disgraced startup founder, who has been denied bail due to the flight risk he poses, could <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/criminal-charges-against-democrat-megadonor-sam-bankman-fried-unsealed-faces-life-in-prison-denied-bail" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spend</a> more than a century in prison if convicted on all counts.

Collage Maker-16-Dec-2022-01.21-AM

Elizabeth Warren And Kevin O’Leary Clash On Regulating Crypto

Elizabeth Warren Presses Kevin O'Leary On Crypto Regulation

Cryptocurrency

Sam Bankman-Fried

U.S. Senate

Sen. <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/elizabeth-warren" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elizabeth Warren</a> (D-MA) and Sen. Tina Smith (D-NM) asked the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/federal-reserve" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Federal Reserve</a> to examine the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/banks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banking</a> system’s exposure to <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/cryptocurrency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cryptocurrencies</a> amid continued fallout from defunct company FTX.
In a <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Letter%20to%20Regulators%20re%20Banking%20System%20Exposure%20to%20Crypto.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> addressed to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, the lawmakers noted that cryptocurrency firms have desired the “benefits that come with federal recognition from bank regulators” but have not thus far generated a salient degree of partnerships with major financial institutions. The Democrats asked for information about the central bank’s process for evaluating relationships between banks and cryptocurrency companies.
“Banks’ relationships with crypto firms raise questions about the safety and soundness of our banking system and highlight potential loopholes that crypto firms may try to exploit to gain further access to banks,” Warren and Smith wrote. “While the banking system has so far been relatively unscathed by the latest crypto crash, FTX’s collapse shows that crypto may be more integrated into the banking system than regulators are aware.”
The letter noted that other cryptocurrency companies, such as BlockFi, have also filed for bankruptcy as a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/crypto-company-blockfi-files-for-bankruptcy-after-ftx-collapse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">liquidity crisis</a> continues to upend the nascent sector. Voyager and Celsius declared bankruptcy earlier this year, while other cryptocurrency firms such as Genesis have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/second-major-cryptocurrency-exchange-could-be-poised-to-go-bankrupt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indicated</a> the looming possibility of insolvency.
A number of smaller banks, including Silvergate Capital, Provident Bancorp, Metropolitan Commercial Bank, Signature Bank, and Customers Bancorp, have ties to cryptocurrency ventures. Alameda Research, the company controlled by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried which allegedly pulled customers’ funds from the exchange to make investments, poured $11.5 million into Moonstone Bank, more than doubling its value. The institution has connections with other offshore digital asset ventures.
“Many of these small banks relied heavily on their crypto customers and are now experiencing heightened volatility,” continued Warren and Smith, both of whom serve as members of the Senate Banking Committee. An adjacent letter addressed to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Acting Chair Martin Gruenberg likewise inquired whether the agency is prepared to conduct a review of the banking system’s ties with cryptocurrency companies.
Among other data points, the letters requested the names of banks currently providing cryptocurrency services, holding dollar deposits for cryptocurrency-related firms, or facilitating transactions via stablecoin. With respect to Moonstone Bank and Alameda Research, the lawmakers asked whether the latter’s investment constituted “control” of the former under the Bank Holding Company Act.
The House Financial Services Committee is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bipartisan-committee-to-hear-from-sam-bankman-fried-and-crypto-allies-next-month" target="_blank" rel="noopener">preparing to hold</a> hearings regarding the collapse of FTX, which is based in the Bahamas; members of the Senate Agriculture Committee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-commodities-regulator-tells-senators-he-met-with-sam-bankman-fried-10-times" target="_blank" rel="noopener">held a hearing</a> last week with Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Rostin Behnam on increasing federal oversight of the cryptocurrency sector. Officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission have opened a criminal investigation into Bankman-Fried to determine whether the entrepreneur broke the law by transferring FTX customer funds to Alameda Research, according to a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-prosecutors-open-criminal-investigation-into-disgraced-ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-report-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from The New York Times.
Cryptocurrency, a form of decentralized <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/what-exactly-is-bitcoin-heres-how-the-worlds-largest-cryptocurrency-actually-works" target="_blank" rel="noopener">digital money</a> that can be transferred between users’ virtual wallets, has garnered the skepticism of many regulators. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, comparing the assets to “pet rocks” during an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-complete-sideshow-jpmorgan-chase-ceo-jamie-dimon-says-cryptocurrencies-are-like-pet-rocks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with CNBC this week, has raised concerns about “terrorism financing, tax avoidance, sex trafficking,” and other ways in which cryptocurrencies enable illicit activities.

Treasury Secretary Yellen And Fed Chair Powell Testify Before Senate Banking Committee On CARES Act

Elizabeth Warren Asks Federal Reserve To Investigate Banking System’s Exposure To Crypto

Warren Asks Fed To Look Into Bank-Crypto Alliances

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elizabeth-warren" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elizabeth Warren</a> (D-MA) doesn&#8217;t have &#8220;any doubt&#8221; that President Joe Biden has the authority to cancel student debt.
Appearing on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; on Sunday, Warren told host Chuck Todd that Biden had the authority since former Presidents <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/education/higher-education/ensuring-that-student-loans-are-affordable" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barack Obama</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamminsky/2020/10/11/trump-includes-student-loan-forgiveness-in-latest-stimulus-proposal-signaling-its-broad-appeal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> forgave some debt during their tenure. Warren then lashed out at the Texas judge who ruled that canceling debts was illegal, claiming that loan forgiveness was evidence that Democrats fight for working Americans.
&#8220;Look, I&#8217;d be delighted to codify what the president is doing, but here&#8217;s the key: I don&#8217;t have any doubt that the president has the legal authority to cancel this student loan debt,&#8221; said Warren. &#8220;President Trump did it, President Obama did it, and President Biden has actually done it up to now on student loan debt payments. But, we have a court down in Texas, and if they&#8217;re gonna play politics instead of actually following the law, they do put the program at risk.&#8221;
&#8220;This is one of the clearest differences between Democrats and Republicans,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Democrats, led by Joe Biden, are out there saying, &#8216;we hear you on what it&#8217;s like to get crushed by student loan debt. We know what that means and so we&#8217;re here to try to help.&#8217; The Republicans? They got nothin&#8217;. They say, &#8216;nope,&#8217; the only people that they&#8217;re willing to fight for are billionaires and billionaire corporations and conspiracy theorists. Democrats fight for working people and when we fight for working people, we win.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WATCH: <a href="https://twitter.com/SenWarren?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenWarren</a> (D-Mass.) says she has no doubt President Biden has the authority to carry out his student debt forgiveness plan.
&quot;If [the Texas court is] going to play politics instead of following the law, they&#39;re going to put the program at risk.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/1tpaNhHuHs">pic.twitter.com/1tpaNhHuHs</a>
&mdash; Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) <a href="https://twitter.com/MeetThePress/status/1591823293941796867?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-federal-court-declares-bidens-student-loan-bailout-is-illegal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared Biden&#8217;s student loan bailout unlawful</a> and vacated Biden&#8217;s plan to cancel up to $10,000 in debt for people making less than $125,000 a year or families that earn less than $250,000.
“Whether the Program constitutes good public policy is not the role of this Court to determine,&#8221; Pittman wrote in his ruling. &#8220;Still, no one can plausibly deny that it is either one of the largest delegations of legislative power to the executive branch, or one of the largest exercises of legislative power without congressional authority in the history of the United States.”
“In this country, we are not ruled by an all-powerful executive with a pen and a phone,” Pittman continued. “Instead, we are ruled by a Constitution that provides for three distinct and independent branches of government. As President James Madison warned, ‘[t]he accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.’&#8221;
The Biden administration has since <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-doubles-down-on-student-loan-cancellation-despite-federal-ruling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appealed</a> that ruling.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-federal-court-declares-bidens-student-loan-bailout-is-illegal">Federal Court Declares Biden&#8217;s Student Loan Bailout Is Illegal</a>

Congress Negotiating Omnibus Spending Bill With Friday Deadline

Elizabeth Warren: ‘I Don’t Have Any Doubt’ Biden Has Authority To Cancel Student Loan Debt

Elizabeth Warren Has 'No Doubt' Biden Has Authority To Cancel Student Loan Debt

Courts

Executive

Student Loan Cancellation

Student Loans

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/visa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visa</a> announced Saturday that the world’s largest payment processing corporation will begin separately categorizing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/guns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">firearm</a> purchases at gun stores.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gun-control" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gun control</a> activists have encouraged the decision, claiming it will allow for easier tracking of gun sales and help prevent mass shootings, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gun-violence-shootings-new-york-city-politics-4aae50c67e40f9683f604a8683acc391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Second Amendment proponents, however, see the move as a dangerous encroachment on legal firearm sales.
“The (industry&#8217;s) decision to create a firearm specific code is nothing more than a capitulation to anti-gun politicians and activists bent on eroding the rights of law-abiding Americans one transaction at a time,” said National Rifle Association spokesman Lars Dalseide.
Visa’s decision will allow banks to make decisions with enhanced information on whether they will allow purchases at gun shops on their cards. The move could also cause other corporations like Mastercard and American Express to adopt a similar policy, the AP reported. The payment processing company, however, claimed that it will continue to “protect” the legal selling and purchasing of goods on its network.
“Following ISO’s decision to establish a new merchant category code, Visa will proceed with next steps, while ensuring we protect all legal commerce on the Visa network in accordance with our long-standing rules,” Visa said in a statement.
Earlier this week leftist Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said credit card companies have an obligation to work harder toward stopping mass shootings.
“Credit card companies like @Visa, @Mastercard, and @AmericanExpress can and should do more to help stop mass shootings,” Warren tweeted. “[Rep. Madeleine Dean] and I are urging these companies to step up and help identify suspicious purchases to prevent gun violence.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Credit card companies like <a href="https://twitter.com/Visa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Visa</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Mastercard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Mastercard</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/AmericanExpress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AmericanExpress</a> can and should do more to help stop mass shootings.<a href="https://twitter.com/RepDean?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepDean</a> and I are urging these companies to step up and help identify suspicious purchases to prevent gun violence.<a href="https://t.co/kkqsYxpmzd">https://t.co/kkqsYxpmzd</a>
&mdash; Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status/1567214955690135552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The two lawmakers authored a letter, which was signed by more than 12 other Democrats, urging credit card companies to more closely track gun sales. &#8220;The creation of a new [merchant category code] for gun and ammunition retail stores would be the first step towards facilitating the collection of valuable financial data that could help law enforcement in countering the financing of terrorism efforts,&#8221; the letter read.

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