GOP Senator Rand Paul declared Wednesday that Joe Biden’s vow to veto a House bill to strip funding from the IRS and redirect it to Israel is a complete bluff.
While the GOP wants a standalone $14.3 billion package for Israel, the Democrats want to combine that funding into a mammoth spending bill tied to Ukraine aid and spending on the Southern border.
Biden claimed that the GOP proposal, which would cut the same amount in IRS funding that was included in the much maligned Inflation Reduction Act, “inserts partisanship into support for Israel.”
[ZH: The House just voted to advance a bill to provide supplemental funding to Israel amid its war with the Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups, with all 203 Democrats voting in opposition.
The supplemental funding advanced 213–203, a possible indicator of what the tally will be upon expected passage in the afternoon of Nov. 2.
The measure allocates the $14.3 billion requested by the Biden administration, but offsets that amount with the same number in cuts to IRS funding under the Inflation Reduction Act—a nonstarter for Democrats.]
Appearing on “Fox and Friends,” Paul noted “I think President Biden’s bluffing. I don’t think he’ll veto aid to Israel.”
“You really think he’s going to stand up in front of the world and say, ‘Oh, we’re not sending aid to Israel just because it’s paid for’?” Paul added.
Paul said that redirecting spending from elsewhere rather than adding to the deficit is “the conservative thing to do.”
“Friend or foe, whoever we’re giving the money to, it ought to be paid for because our national debt is threatening our national security. Can we give Israel some money? Yeah, but it ought to be paid for. It ought to be paid for by taking it away from something that is harmful to our economy, and that’s more IRS agents,” Paul said, adding “So I think this is a win-win if we get it done.”
The Senator continued, “I think McConnell, Biden and Schumer are going to lose on this ultimately, or if they forced their way, they could potentially topple the Speaker of the House, which I think is a terrible idea.”
Paul added “I think there may be trying to bundle together other parts of aid. But I’ll insist the same, whether it’s Ukraine or Israel that it’s paid for. And so there’s $44 billion in our money. I’m more than happy to rescind all of that if necessary.”
Republican senators have sounded the alarm on the Biden administration's border policies after Border Patrol agents caught illegal border crossers who were carrying explosive devices that Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said were "tailor-made for terrorism."
Mr. Barrasso, who is the Senate Republican Conference Chairman, made the startling revelation at a press conference on Oct. 31, alongside Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), following their recent visit to the U.S.–Mexico border.
The senators said that over 8 million illegal border crossings have taken place under President Joe Biden's watch, while asserting that explosive devices found on some border crossers in recent days represent an elevated risk of terror acts against the homeland.
"We have just returned from our southern border, and it is painfully clear that with Joe Biden's open border policy, our country is really at an increased threat for a terrorist attack," Mr. Barrasso said at Tuesday's press conference.
Several days ago, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents seized illegal immigrants carrying with them improvised explosive devices that Mr. Barrasso said were the "size of cannonballs" and were "tailor-made for terrorism."
Speaking at the press conference, Mr. Ricketts said that, due to what he said were President Biden's "failed" border policies, there were 18 people on the terrorist watchlist caught entering the United States illegally in September—and 172 last year.
"To put this in perspective, in years past, that number was single digits," Mr. Ricketts said.
"We're opening ourselves up for a terrorist attack."
Terror Threat Rises
An elevated terror threat against the United States and its citizens has also been flagged by FBI Director Christopher Wray, who issued a stark warning while testifying before Congress on Oct. 31.
Mr. Wray told lawmakers that, since the Oct. 7 attack by the Hamas terror group against Israeli civilians and soldiers, there have been multiple foreign terrorist organizations calling for attacks against Americans and the West, significantly raising the threat posed by what he described as "homegrown extremists."
"The actions of Hamas and its allies will serve as an inspiration the likes of which we haven't seen since ISIS launched its so-called caliphate several years ago," Mr. Wray said, referring to the terrorist organization that captured swathes of Iraq and Syria about a decade ago before the United States deployed troops in the region to battle the group.
But the terror threat has been on the rise for some time. Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a terror alert, saying that the United States is in a "heightened threat environment," citing in part individuals with links to foreign terrorist organizations who may target schools, government facilities, or critical infrastructure.
In September, over 269,000 people were caught crossing the U.S.–Mexico border illegally, a record high for a single month.
Mr. Barrasso said that the number of illegal border crossings has "gotten so bad that Homeland Security has raised the terror threat because so many people are coming in illegally and there are so many gotaways—people that run and hide in an effort to not be detected."
There have been 1.7 million "gotaways" since President Biden assumed office, according to the House Committee on Homeland Security.
Gotaways In Focus
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who testified alongside Mr. Wray on Capitol Hill, told lawmakers that over 600,000 illegal immigrants evaded capture during the 2023 fiscal year, although he argued that "the phenomenon of gotaways is something that has been a challenge for the Department of Homeland Security for decades."
"In fact, it is a powerful example of a broken immigration system," he added.
But Mr. Ricketts argued that the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the Biden administration.
"Joe Biden has created this crisis," he said.
Speaking at the press conference, Mr. Cornyn said that a key problem is that the Biden administration doesn't know who the gotaways are, yet they likely "have a good reason for running away from law enforcement."
Mr. Ricketts said the "single biggest thing" that the president could do is restore the Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy.
"You would have consequences for coming here illegally and you would end the waves of people coming here," he said.
The Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), dubbed the “Remain in Mexico" program, was a Trump-era policy under which asylum-seekers were made to wait in Mexico for their U.S. court hearings.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment on statements blaming the president for the border crisis.
In response to the latest illegal immigration data from September, CBP said that it has deployed more resources and will "remain vigilant."
“CBP will continue to remain vigilant, making operational adjustments as necessary and enforcing consequences under U.S. immigration law," CPB official Troy Miller said, adding that President Joe Biden's supplemental funding request includes money for "critically needed" additional resources to help with the border crisis.
President Biden on Oct. 20 called on Congress to approve another $105 billion in funding, with the bulk going to bolster U.S. support for Israel and Ukraine as they fight separate wars.
For the first time of the Israel-Gaza war, which is fast approaching the one month mark, President Joe Biden has expressed support for a stoppage in fighting. He is calling for a proposedhumanitarian "pause" at a moment Washington is still trying to evacuate all US passport holders from the Gaza Strip.
Starting yesterday, the Rafah border crossing into Egypt was open to foreigners and wounded Palestinians for the first time of the war. This was described as the result of a delicate deal between Israel, Egypt, Qatar - and involving US pressure. Dual nationals from many countries have been seeking to escape the bombings and fighting.
CBS describes in a fresh report, "Hundreds of Americans who were trapped in Gaza appeared set to leave the war-torn territory on Thursday as foreign nationals continued to cross over the Rafah border crossing into Egypt after it opened to them for the first time since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel."
"A list released by Gaza's Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry had the names of 400 American nationals who were approved to cross over the border on Thursday," according to the report. The U.S. State Department estimates that there are around 400 Americans stuck in Gaza.
President Biden had said in a campaign speech on Wednesday, "I think we need a pause" as it is "time to get the prisoners out" – these latter words being a reference to the some 240 hostages held by Hamas (Israel has on multiple times updated this estimate as more information was confirmed).
His speech at the event in Minnesota had been briefly interrupted by a Jewish activist calling for ceasefire...
Thus far the White House has resisted international calls for pressuring Israel to agree to a ceasefire. Biden is still rejecting a full-on ceasefire. Last week White House national security council spokesman John Kirby made this clear. But Biden's top diplomat Antony Blinken is expected to push for the humanitarian pause in meetings with Israeli officials...
BLINKEN TO PRESS ISRAEL FOR PAUSES IN WAR AGAINST HAMAS: NYT
US TO URGE ISRAEL TO AGREE TO SERIES OF BRIEF CESSATIONS: NYT
"We’re not drawing red lines for Israel," he had said at the time. "We’re going to continue to support them." Last Friday the US was among only 14 "no" votes on a UN General Assembly resolution which formally called for a ceasefire. As of Thursday, the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 9,000 killed, mostly civilians.
Outlook Therapeutics, Inc.(Nasdaq: OTLK), a biopharmaceutical company working to achieve FDA approval for the first ophthalmic formulation of bevacizumab for the treatment of retinal diseases, today announced that it has completed the requested Type A Meetings with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss the Complete Response Letter (CRL) dated August 29, 2023 regarding the Biologics License Application (BLA) for ONS-5010, an investigational ophthalmic formulation of bevacizumab under development to treat wet AMD.
The FDA informed Outlook Therapeutics that an additional adequate and well-controlled clinical trial would be required for the approval of ONS-5010 for the treatment of wet AMD. During the meetings, Outlook Therapeutics reached an agreement in principle with the FDA on a clinical trial design that would most likely allow for the resubmission of the ONS-5010 BLA as early as the end of calendar year 2024, and subsequent approval around mid-2025, pending final agreement on a clinical trial protocol with the FDA and successful completion of the required additional clinical trial. The FDA and Outlook Therapeutics also agreed on the approaches needed to resolve the CMC comments in the CRL and Outlook Therapeutics believes these efforts should be sufficient to support approval.
“We are confident that we can meet the additional requirements that the FDA is requiring for approval of ONS-5010. The retina community of patients, physicians and payers are all in need of an FDA-approved bevacizumab that meets ophthalmic standards for the treatment of wet AMD, and we remain focused on achieving this critical treatment option,” said Russell Trenary, President and CEO of Outlook Therapeutics.
Grifols shares soared on Thursday after the Spanish drugmaker upgraded its annual profit outlook following a strong quarter.
Grifols, which posted a third-quarter net profit of 60 million euros ($63.64 million) after a loss in the first half of the year, raised its 2023 guidance for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to 1.45 billion euros, from a range of 1.40-1.45 billion previously.
Its shares were up 13.4% in mid-morning trading and were on track for their best day ever, while the local blue-chip index IBEX-35 was up 1.5%. The shares had lost 18% in the three months to Nov. 1.
Investors "were convinced by the results," Renta4's equity analyst Alvaro Aristegui said in an email. "Actually, they were better than what I expected."
The company, which uses blood plasma to make medicines, posted a nine-month net profit of 3.3 million euros, while its adjusted EBITDA reached 1.03 billion euros.
Grifols said it managed to cut the cost of collecting plasma by 22% as of September 2023 from its peak in July 2022 as the company reduced structural costs and the payments it makes to blood donors.
It said it expects to close the $1.5 billion sale of a stake in Shanghai RAAS in the first half of 2024. The deal was announced in July.
The confirmation of the deal contributed to the share price increase as there was "market concern" it might not achieve the sale by the end of this year, JPMorgan said in a note to investors.
Cross Country Healthcare Inc (CCRN) announced earnings for third quarter that decreased from last year and missed the Street estimates.
The company's earnings came in at $12.8 million, or $0.36 per share. This compares with $34.8 million, or $0.93 per share, in last year's third quarter.
Excluding items, Cross Country Healthcare Inc reported adjusted earnings of $13.6 million or $0.39 per share for the period.
Analysts on average had expected the company to earn $0.41 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
The company's revenue for the quarter fell 30.5% to $442.3 million from $636.1 million last year.
Cross Country Healthcare Inc earnings at a glance (GAAP) :
-Earnings (Q3): $12.8 Mln. vs. $34.8 Mln. last year. -EPS (Q3): $0.36 vs. $0.93 last year. -Analyst Estimates: $0.41 -Revenue (Q3): $442.3 Mln vs. $636.1 Mln last year.
-Guidance: Next quarter EPS guidance: $0.25-$0.35 Next quarter revenue guidance: $400-$410 mln
FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for felzartamab in PMN upon positive clinical data from M-PLACE, a Phase 2 study led by I-Mab partner HI-Bio
I-Mab has full development and commercialization rights of felzartamab in Greater China for all indications, with Phase 3 multiple myeloma data expected in 2024, followed by a planned BLA submission
