Jul 10
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Israel
seen from Germany
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Japan
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Australia
seen from Israel
seen from Russia
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. died on Wednesday after 14 terms in the House and a career in New Jersey Democratic politics.
Paul V. Fontelo at Roll Call:
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., a New Jersey Democrat first elected to the House in 1996, died on Wednesday, his office announced on X. He was 87 and would have been the oldest member of the House if reelected in November. “Bill fought to his last breath to return to the job he cherished and the people he loved,” the post said. “Bill lived his entire life in Paterson and had an unwavering love for the city he grew up in and served. He is now at peace after a life time devoted to our great nation America.” A veteran of New Jersey’s brand of politics who dominated his home Passaic County, Pascrell was known for his pugnacious demeanor in promoting tax enforcement and ensuring “tax fairness” for all income levels. To achieve that, “everybody’s got to pull on the rope the same,” he said.
An Army veteran and one-time semi-professional baseball player, Pascrell was a teenager when his uncle took him to his first ward meeting in the city of Paterson, then a factory town with a thriving textile business. The rough-and-tumble political arena left an impression on Pascrell. “There’s a lot of fist fights … I’m gonna like this,” he recalled in an interview. “I did. I stayed with it since I was 16 years old.” While he saw far fewer physical melees between parties in Congress, Pascrell said he stuck by the lessons he learned from his first exposure to politics. “See it through or else don’t start it,” he said. And when you are in a fight, “never yield.” In the 118th Congress, Pascrell was the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee, having previously spent more than two years as the panel’s chairman. He and fellow Ways and Means Democrats scored several victories in the final months of the previous Congress, including enacting a major tax and social spending budget reconciliation law and, after years of legal battles, acquiring six years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns in the lame duck session after the 2022.
Pascrell waged a long campaign to tax “carried interest,” a form of compensation for investment fund managers that is not taxed like ordinary income, a situation he called a loophole that allows rich individuals to avoid fair taxation. He repeatedly introduced legislation to change inheritance rules as well. His bill on the so-called stepped-up basis would have changed existing tax law so that when someone dies and passes on property, the inheritor would pay capital gains taxes based on the fair market rate of the inherited assets, with a few exceptions. Pascrell’s position on the Ways and Means Committee also gave him a platform to fight to restore deductions for state and local tax payments, which Republicans capped in their 2017 tax law. The cap on the SALT deduction hit people in the top income brackets hardest, but in states with high local property and income taxes such as New Jersey, it was also felt by less wealthy families. As a result, Pascrell framed his tax proposals as benefiting the middle class.
Representing a manufacturing-heavy district, he was a close ally of labor unions and focused on ensuring that countries trading with the U.S. complied with international labor standards. One recurring bipartisan cause for Pascrell was research on and treatment of brain injuries. Inspired by the plight of a constituent, he co-founded the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force in 2001. The issue took on added importance after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks because of a spike in veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with wounds from improvised explosive devices. Pascrell was born in Paterson, N.J., where his Italian immigrant grandparents settled. His father worked for the railroad. The first member of his family to go to high school, Pascrell was an all-state third baseman, played semi-professional baseball for a team in Clifton and tried out for the Philadelphia Phillies after finishing his schooling in the early 1960s.
New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) died today at the age of 87.
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Bill Pascrell (9th May, 2023)
Bill Pascrell
Israel's Hypocritical Objections to Abu Akleh Investigation
Israel’s Hypocritical Objections to Abu Akleh Investigation
In a surprise announcement, the U.S. Department of Justice said the FBI was launching an investigation into Israel’s killing of Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh. What was not a surprise was Isarel’s reaction. Outgoing Defense Minister Benny Gantz and outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid both blasted the American decision, as did Ted Cruz, who said, that “everyone involved in this…
View On WordPress
Following Pascrell Complaint, Special Counsel Confirms Hatch Act Investigation of Trump Campaign Action involves illegal use of White House, OEOB as an Election Day campaign command center PATERSON, NJ – After U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) filed a letter of complaint on Election Night, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel has informed Pascrell[...]
The Trump administration has willfully violated the Hatch Act. Again.
As a reminder, it is a violation of federal law to use any government resources (“anything of value”) for “any political purpose.” (5 U.S.C. §§ 7322(3)(A), 7323(a)(2).) It is also illegal for any federal employee to engage in political activity “in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by an individual employed or holding office in the Government of the United States or any agency or instrumentality thereof.” (5 U.S.C. § 7324(a)(2).)
Despite this, the Trump campaign repeatedly used the White House--including the Oval Office itself--and the old Eisenhower Executive Office Building for campaign activity on Election Day. The campaign claimed that “The arrangement has been approved by White House counsel.” In reality, however, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel “was not consulted,” and is now investigating Trump’s apparent violation of the Hatch Act.
If a violation is found, Special Counsel will notify the Trump administration and recommend the imposition of appropriate penalties. Which Trump will completely ignore, just as he has done consistently for the past four years. It’s a bit of a problem when the only entity that can enforce the Hatch Act is the same entity that keeps violating it.