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Biden Cuts Asian Trip Short To Deal With Republicans On Debt And Budget

Biden Cuts Asian Trip Short To Deal With Republicans On Debt And Budget

Washington (AFP) - President Joe Biden's departure Wednesday to the G7 in Japan was meant to launch a geostrategic masterclass on rallying the world's democracies against China. Instead, he will limp into an abruptly truncated journey facing concerns that the US debt ceiling row is about to tear up the global economy.

Biden arrives Thursday in Hiroshima, one of the two cities hit by US atomic bombs in 1945 -- a closing chapter to World War II and the start of an era of US leadership across the Pacific that Beijing now seeks to supplant.

He will meet leaders from the rest of the G7 club -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan -- that has been so crucial in the US-led drive to enforce unprecedented economic sanctions on China-ally Russia for invading Ukraine.

However, visits next week to Papua New Guinea and to a Sydney summit of the Quad, comprising Australia, India, Japan and the United States, were canceled so that Biden can rush back Sunday and negotiate with Republican opponents on the debt ceiling.

For a president who often warns that democracies are in an existential fight to prove their viability against the world's autocracies, it's a sobering moment.

"It's extraordinarily hard... to go to the G7 and talk about economic unity against Russia, economic unity against China, when the dysfunction is coming from inside the house," Josh Lipsky, at the Atlantic Council, said.

Biden downplayed the reshuffling of his schedule, saying, "the nature of the presidency is addressing many critical matters all at once."

But Evan Feigenbaum, a former US diplomat with the Carnegie Endowment, was brutal.

"It's tough to 'compete with China' in the Pacific when you're busy sinking your own boat," he tweeted. "How do we think we look to the rest of the world?"

Candidate Biden Enters Furnace

For Biden, 80, the trip and the debt ceiling mess come at a crucial time. He has just launched his re-election campaign and Americans wary about his age are watching how he copes in the furnace of the presidency at home and abroad.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Biden can multi-task.

"He can travel overseas, and manage our foreign policy and our defense policy and look after our national security commitments in an important region like the Indo-Pacific, and also work with congressional leaders to do the right thing -- raise the debt ceiling, avoid default so that the United States credibility here at home and overseas is preserved," Kirby said.

The risks over the debt ceiling, however, are so huge -- global market panic would be just the beginning of the fallout from a default -- that Biden may spend much of his time trying to reassure fellow world leaders on the state of the US economy, rather than planning how to manage China.

Biden doesn't know whether the increasingly hard-right Republican Party will allow an increase to the debt in time to prevent default. And he also doesn't know whether the left of his own Democratic party will forgive him for the compromises he may have to make to save the situation.

Quad Consolation Prizes

Canceling the Papua New Guinea and Australia stops is a bitter pill for a president who has reinvigorated US diplomacy after the isolationist Trump years.

The Quad, an informal grouping of large democracies interested in restraining aggressive Chinese economic and military expansion across the Pacific, is one of Biden's priorities.

The White House was quick to point out that Biden will already be meeting in Japan on the sidelines of the G7 with his other Quad counterparts.

And a consolation prize for Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was extended in the form of an invitation to a state visit at the White House. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is already booked in for a state visit this June.

But Washington is likely to rue the missed opportunity in Papua New Guinea, where Biden would have been the first serving US president to visit. The symbolism, at a time when remote Pacific island territories and countries have become chess pieces in the geostrategic contest with China, would have been powerful

While Cowardly Republicans Punt, Romney Plays The Long Game

While Cowardly Republicans Punt, Romney Plays The Long Game

Don’t you just hate it when someone uses a sports metaphor to teach a life lesson? So do I, usually. But with the Super Bowl not a week in the rearview mirror, it would be impossible to ignore the concept of the punt — getting out of a tough situation by moving the ball as far as possible toward the opponent’s end zone.

If you’re playing against a Patrick Mahomes-led Kansas City Chiefs, you’re merely buying some time before the inevitable score. But senators using that tactic in an impeached President Donald Trump’s trial are no doubt hoping any payback comes late, or not at all.

For them, it’s a way to satisfy both their consciences and a Trump-supporting voting base.

Playing it safe

It’s a safe play for Republicans such as Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, clear in her disapproval of Trump’s actions — his asking a foreign government to investigate a political rival before a presidential election, and holding up congressionally approved, much-needed military aid as well as a possible White House visit as leverage.

The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office has said the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, at the president’s direction, violated the law when it withheld military assistance. Transcripts of the president’s call to Ukraine has Trump asking for a favor — acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney belligerently confirmed the attempted transaction and the president himself asked Ukraine and China for more of the same. And that is just a hint of the case laid out by House impeachment managers to the Senate.

Murkowski has never described the Ukraine call, as the president has, as “perfect.” She called his behavior “shameful and wrong,” adding that he did not always act “with the respect and dignity that the office demands.” But then, after her “no” vote on witnesses, she said it would be “no” on removing Trump from office.

She punted.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, on his way out, came to a similar conclusion. “I think he shouldn’t have done it. I think it was wrong. Inappropriate was the way I’d say, improper, crossing the line,” the Tennessee Republican told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He said he didn’t need more witnesses because he’s pretty much convinced that the Democrats have already proved Trump did everything he’s accused of doing.

But Alexander punted, leaving it up to the voters, though the Constitution gives that job to the Senate.

That would make a little bit of sense if there were some guarantee that the president would be chastened enough to cease and desist his efforts to game the 2020 election by any means he deems necessary. (Though his lawyer Alan Dershowitz floated the monarchical theory that cheating on his own behalf would leave Trump in the clear.)

Yet that’s the route Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins ran when she laughably suggested that impeachment itself was enough to scare Trump into walking the straight and narrow from now on. “I believe that he will be much more cautious in the future,” Collins, who is up for reelection this year, told CBS News. Has she ever met this president? Even he reportedly brushed away that rationale.

His own drum

Trump is nothing if not brazen. World G-7 leaders would be planning to meet in June at Trump National Doral in Miami if not for howls from members of both parties about the obvious conflicts.

Expect more from an emboldened Trump. Though dudes named Lev and Igor are otherwise occupied, he can count on personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, looking after his own interests and the interests of clients not named Trump in his globe-trotting schemes. In an NPR interview, Giuliani said he has no intention of halting his quest to dig up dirt in Ukraine or anywhere else, and said (wink, wink) the president has not held him back.

Also expect Trump-style retribution trained on Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican standard-bearer, soon-to-be pariah. He voted to hear from witnesses and to convict the president on abuse of power, calling his actions “an appalling abuse of public trust.”

Romney is playing the long game — history.

On the Democratic side, Alabama Sen. Doug Jones, facing an uphill reelection battle in a Trump-loving state, said Wednesday, “After many sleepless nights, I have reluctantly concluded that the evidence is sufficient to convict the President for both abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.”

No game-playing there, in a decision that will probably cost him power but may help him catch up on that sleep, uninterrupted by bad dreams.

You have to give it to Trump. He is a high-risk, high-reward player, going for it all on fourth down, even when yardage and the odds are long. But he can depend on a compliant GOP Congress blocking for him and occasionally shoving an opponent or making a late tackle, no matter the evidence that is sure to continue to surface.

To hear Trump tell it, as in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, he wins every time. Well, that is if you don’t notice how he takes credit for the recovery that began under President Barack Obama; how he highlights more black people in the audience than he has appointed to the judiciary or his Cabinet; and how he praises the military whose members he calls “dopes and babies” behind closed doors, according to revelations in the book “A Very Stable Genius.”

When the president who trashes the Affordable Care Act in words and in court promises to protect those with preexisting conditions, when he name-checks Harriet Tubman after his administration has put a hold on a stamp honoring her, you get the feeling he actually believes his own hype and forgets what he said or did the day before.

The president flaunts his power, which he believes is unlimited, and that is more than you can say for timid senators, tasked with maintaining a balance of power between the legislative and executive co-equal branches of government — and failing.

Faced with an admittedly tough choice, but one that their oath compels them to make, so many senators have combined disapproval with looking the other way.

They have punted that responsibility to hold the president to account to the American people, who may be too exhausted to care. In February, it’s working, especially considering Trump is riding pretty high in the latest polls and Democratic 2020 contenders look as confused as, well, Democrats.

And it may be a winning strategy. But then, the 49ers looked like champions after the third quarter.

Mary C. Curtis has worked at The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Charlotte Observer, as national correspondent for Politics Daily, and is a senior facilitator with The OpEd Project. Follow her on Twitter @mcurtisnc3.

Former Intel Chief: Trump’s Ukraine Move Is ‘A Gift’ To Putin

Former Intel Chief: Trump’s Ukraine Move Is ‘A Gift’ To Putin

At every turn, Trump likes to ingratiate himself to Vladimir Putin, so it isn’t entirely unsurprising that Trump has indicated he may block military aid to Ukraine, as part of why Ukraine needs that money is to push back against Russia.

Trump has indicated he wants to review whether to send the $250 million in military aid Ukraine is slated to receive. Senior officials have said this is in keeping with Trump’s overall desire that foreign aid is given to those countries which pay their “fair share.”

There’s something a bit darker at work here, however. Ukraine receives military aid because the Pentagon has assessed that the separatists in the east of Ukraine are backed and armed by Russia. So, Trump’s desire to harm Ukraine’s efforts in that arena can easily be seen as an attempt to cement his ties with Putin further. It’s likely no coincidence that this comes at the same time Trump has been agitating to let Russia back in the G-7, a body it was expelled from for annexing Crimea from Ukraine. What better way for Trump to show he’s backing Putin than to undermine Ukraine?

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is sounding the alarm too. When asked by CNN host Jim Sciutto if the move was a “gift” to Russia, Clapper said, “Absolutely.” He went on to say that this issue is “particularly sensitive” in light of Trump’s relationship with Russia. Further, Clapper noted, it’s difficult not to connect this move with the push by Trump to bring Russia back into the G-7.

At least one Russian official has already applauded Trump’s move. Leonid Slutsky, the head of the Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, praised Trump for doing his “due diligence” and then pivoted to saying the Ukrainian government was corrupt and it is “important for the US administration to make sure that the funds are used for their intended purpose and are not just stolen.”

It isn’t like this is an entirely new move for Trump. While running for president, he may have participated in altering the platform of the GOP campaign to weaken support for U.S. aid to Ukraine. It was a move that Trump’s now-disgraced former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, worked toward for years.

Now, thanks to Trump’s willingness to harm Ukraine in order to cater to Russia, it looks like Manafort and Putin both might see their wishes come true.

Published with permission of The American Independent.

G7 United Against Brexit But Can Only Hope For An ‘In’ Vote

G7 United Against Brexit But Can Only Hope For An ‘In’ Vote

By Stanley White and Megumi Lim

SENDAI, Japan (Reuters) – Finance leaders of the Group of Seven industrial powers united over the weekend in wishing that Britain stays in the European Union, but acknowledged they could do little more than hope.

“The G7 did not talk about a Plan B to respond to what would happen if Britain left the European Union,” French Finance Minister Michel Sapin told Reuters on Saturday. “We talked about ways to help Britain stay in the EU.”

Britain’s momentous referendum on whether to stay in the EU has been a prime issue for global markets and policymakers, who can largely only wait and see what Britons will say at the polls on June 23.

The ups and downs of polling data have swayed financial markets for months. Concern over the looming vote is a major risk for the Federal Reserve, which has indicated it may raise U.S. interest rates at its mid-June meeting but expressed concern about a “Brexit.”

Sapin did not elaborate on any steps the G7 discussed to keep Britain in the EU, during an interview on the sidelines of their meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in Sendai, northeast Japan.

“A Brexit would have heavy consequences,” Sapin said. “It would be bad for Britain and bad for Europe, because investors would have doubts and this would affect capital flows.”

But G7 ministers were able to do little but rally around Prime Minister David Cameron’s call for the EU’s second-largest economy to remain in the union.

“We clearly are concerned, collectively, at the risk of Brexit and do believe that could potentially have some economic impacts,” Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau told Reuters in Sendai. But he added, “We haven’t spoken of specific measures that might be taken in that regard.”

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the G7 members “agreed that (a Brexit) would be the wrong decision.”

Cameron’s aggressive campaign to woo a eurosceptic public to vote “In” appears to be working for now. The pound this week touched its highest level against the euro in three and a half months as polls showed EU support strong and rising.

An Ipsos-MORI poll on Friday found 55 percent favoured remaining in the EU versus 37 percent wanting “Out.”

Economic arguments appear to be having some pull on the British public as “In” proponents argue a Brexit would cause financial market turmoil and hurt the $2.9 trillion UK economy.

A vote to leave would hammer British house prices by 10-18 percent, sending mortgage rates higher and hurting Britons trying to get onto the property ladder, finance minister George Osborne told the BBC on Friday.

Still, the topic can be delicate for politicians from other countries, as their comments could be counterproductive if they are seen in Britain as meddling.

The G7’s Japanese host, Finance Minister Taro Aso, said on Friday that some of his counterparts supported a British exit – a remark quickly retracted by his staff.

“What the minister meant was that it would be good if Britain remained in the EU,” a Finance Ministry official said.

President Barack Obama stirred debate in April when he warned on a visit that Britain would be “in the back of the queue” for a trade deal with the United States if it dropped out of the EU.

Obama’s Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, summarizing the Sendai G7 meeting, did not mention a Brexit.

The European Commission has largely stayed out of the campaign.

“We have no Plan B for Brexit,” European Union Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told reporters in Sendai on Friday. “Our only plan is for Britain to remain in a united Europe.”

Reporting by Stanley White and Megumi Lim; Additional reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto, Gernot Heller and Leika Kihara; Writing by William Mallard; Editing by Kim Coghill

Photo: A banner encouraging people to support a local Brexit campaign hangs on the side of a building in Altrincham, Britain May 3, 2016. REUTERS/Phil Noble