Governor Chris Sununu has written to United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken about the crisis in Afghanistan and asked for information about New Hampshire residents who may be impacted by the Taliban’s seizure of power.
Specifically, Sununu asked how many New Hampshire residents have reached out to the State Department for assistance; what plans are in place to evacuate “any and all” New Hampshire residents from the country; and whether the Granite State can do anything to assist.
“We all agree this is a matter of the utmost importance, and I look forward to your prompt reply,” Sununu closed the letter.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force is investigating the chaotic departure that resulted in human remains being found in the wheel well of one of its C-17s. The Air Force noted that the aircraft was surrounded by hundreds of Afghan civilians after it landed at Kabul’s airport.
“Faced with a rapidly deteriorating security situation around the aircraft, the C-17 crew decided to depart the airfield as quickly as possible,” the statement said.
President Joe Biden placed a call to United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday to discuss the need for “continued close coordination among allies and democratic partners” on Afghanistan policy, including ways to provide humanitarian assistance and support for refugees and other vulnerable Afghans. They agreed to hold a virtual G7 leaders’ meeting next week to discuss a common strategy and approach to the developing situation.
Enriching The Wealthy
ProPublica’s continuing series that looks into how the wealthiest Americans have avoided paying taxes has found that former President Donald Trump’s tax overhaul channeled more than $1 billion in savings to 82 ultra-wealthy households, based on an analysis of the confidential tax records the organization obtained.
Two families received the greatest benefit from the Trump tax policy: Dick and Liz Uihlein of packaging giant Uline and roofing magnate Diane Hendricks were able to claim $215 million in deductions in 2018 alone, and could net more than half a billion in tax savings over the eight-year life of the tax plan.
Those two families had contributed more than $20 million to groups backing the 2016 reelection campaign of Sen. Ron Johnson, who had held back his support of the tax plan until Trump gave in to Johnson’s request to extend the tax break to a class of companies that are known as pass-throughs — companies whose profits pass through to their owners. In this case, those owners were Hendricks and the Uihleins.
ProPublica reports: “The drafting of the Trump law offers a unique opportunity to examine how the billionaire class is able to shape the code to its advantage, building in new ways to sidestep taxes.
“The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was the biggest rewrite of the code in decades and arguably the most consequential legislative achievement of the one-term president. Crafted largely in secret by a handful of Trump administration officials and members of Congress, the bill was rushed through the legislative process.”
Johnson responded to the article by saying, “My support for ‘pass-through’ entities — that represent over 90% of all businesses — was guided by the necessity to keep them competitive with C-corporations and had nothing to do with any donor or discussions with them.”
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