Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Biden and his allies have noted that Congress granted a similar waiver to James Mattis four years ago when Trump nominated him for the same job. But that comparison is awkward at best. Mattis drew broad bipartisan support because lawmakers at the time expected that he would serve as a potential check on Trumps worst impulses, and because Mattis would have the stature to defy an illegal order if Trump gave one. For obvious reasons, members of Congress didnt quite say this out loud at the time, and those factors arent at play for Biden or Austin. Biden may yet see Austin confirmed, but hell have to expend some political capital to get it done.

Some in Bidenworld have argued that the president-elect is prioritizing experience over other factors. But Bidens hiring moves on Thursday seem to undercut those claims. Denis McDonough, who is reportedly his pick to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, is a former White House chief of staff who also served as a member of the National Security Council in the Obama years. Its unclear how that background will translate to the massive health care bureaucracy that is the V.A. (Most V.A. leaders were also veterans; McDonough is not.) Bidens announcement that Susan Rice, Obamas former national security adviser, will lead the White House Domestic Policy Council is equally puzzling. Rice is one of the most prominent foreign policy experts in Democratic circles and was once considered for secretary of state; her experience with domestic policy issues appears to be minimal at best.

And then theres Rahm Emanuel. The controversial mayor of Chicagos name keeps coming up as a potential contender for Cabinet slots, including secretary of transportation or other prominent administration roles. Emanuel, like many other Biden picks, is a familiar face from the Obama years. But he brings no apparent qualifications for running the Department of Transportation. His own handling of transit and environmental justice issues in Chicago is middling at best, and his role in covering up the Chicago Police Departments killing of Laquan McDonald in 2014 makes him radioactive for progressives and civil rights activists.

I dont want to give short shrift to the challenges Biden is facing. He could be the first Democratic president since 1885 to enter the White House without full control of Congress. The House Democratic majority hinges on fewer than a dozen seats, and any members who resign might not be replaced for months. To capture the Senate, Democrats would also need to win both of Georgias Senate seats in the runoff elections next month to secure a 50-member majority with Vice Presidentelect Kamala Harriss tie-breaking vote. This outcome isnt impossible, of course. But Biden would be foolish to assume that it will happen when building his Cabinet.

Read this article:
Biden Is Finding New and Inexplicable Ways to Screw Up His Cabinet Picks - The New Republic

When the White House welcomes a new first family it gets a thorough cleaning in the five hours allotted for the turnover. But with a global pandemic raging and an outgoing President whose orbit is rife with people shunning public health guidelines and coming down with Covid-19 this Jan. 20 is expected to include a deeper, more exhaustive cleaning, according to a White House official.

It's one of many changes expected around how the White House operates when President-elect Joe Biden takes over. His campaign has diligently modeled public health guidelines with mask wearing and social distancing even as he campaigned against outgoing President Trump, who instead held large rallies packed with people, many of whom did not wear masks.

While there are not "firm plans" for execution, the agency in charge of things, the General Services Administration, is handling what will be a "thorough disinfecting and cleansing" of every surface in the 55,000 square foot mansion.

Here's what else to expect:

In November, after at least two outbreaks of Covid-19 occurred in the White House, one affecting the first family, GSA contracted a company to regularly "mist" disinfectant cleaner throughout the interior.

Press have witnessed some of the current cleaning, which involve staff in full hazmat-looking suits misting widely used areas such as the briefing room.

These misters are now a frequent and welcome presence to those who work in the building, as science has determined the highly contagious coronavirus can linger on surfaces, as well as be passed through air.

The misters and the cleaners will have to tackle the White House's 132 rooms, which consist of 16 bedrooms, 35 bathrooms, six levels of the residence, 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases and at least three elevators.

See the article here:
Latest news on the Trump-Biden transition: Live updates - CNN

By John Baer

This is more of a political stretch than a likelihood, but modern American politics teaches us that all things are possible.

And yes, U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr., Scranton-born hometown pal and ally of President-Elect Joe Biden, says he wants to stay in the Senate. But he also says if Biden offers an administration post, hed be honored to talk about it.

So its at least worth some political fun to consider just in case being honored turns in to being hired who Gov. Tom Wolf would choose as Caseys replacement. Because thats how it works: the governor fills a Senate vacancy.

Would Wolf look to make history by naming a Black, Latino or woman? Boost a political pal who wants to be a senator? Or pick a placeholder who wont seek the job come next election?

For starters, Wolf could name himself, but that would never happen. Hes made clear his current office is his last. And Im reliably told he wants to remain in his 45-year marriage to wife Frances. Which is to say, she wouldnt like it.

Then who?

An obvious pick is Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. He ran for Senate in the 2016 Democratic primary (won by Katie McGinty) and is expected to run for Senate or governor in 2022.

Whoever Wolf would pick serves until the next general election in November 2021. The winner of that election serves out Caseys term through 2024.

But Fetterman might take a pass. He could be leaning more toward a run for governor. Still, there are Sheetz stores in the D.C. area. And certainly Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a likely 2022 gubernatorial candidate himself, would happily help Fetterman out with any move.

Or Wolf could tap state Treasurer Joe Torsella.

The Berwick-born, Ivy-educated Rhodes scholar already has a senator-like resume, and a karmic case for his selection.

Hes a former U.S. Representative to the United Nations, a former president and CEO of the National Constitution Center and a former chairman of the state Board of Education.

Torsella narrowly lost reelection as Treasurer to Republican Stacy Garrity last month in a race all but invisible compared to the presidential race.

A case could be made, with no disrespect to Garrity, that Torsellas loss was due to the state no longer having straight-party voting. It went away as part of 2019 legislation backed and signed by Gov. Wolf giving us mail-in voting.

Did that hurt down-ballot Dems? Well, in Torsellas case, the drop-off between Biden and Torsella was more than 200,000 votes. Torsella lost to Garrity by 52,500 votes. Would he have lost with straight-party voting? Maybe. Maybe not. And maybe the political fates will make his loss up to him.

Meanwhile, the state never has had a woman senator, or a Black senator, or a Latino senator. Wolf could tilt in that direction.

And if he leans to gender, you might think the aforementioned McGinty, who lost the 2016 Senate race to incumbent Republican Pat Toomey by just 1.5% of the vote, would be a logical choice. Dont. She was briefly Wolfs chief of staff. Didnt work out. No reward is in the offing.

How about University of Pennsylvania Prez Amy Gutman? Pals with Biden. Great fundraiser. And while she takes some flak for her reported $3.6 million salary, she and her husband, Columbia University Prof Michael Doyle, donated $2 million this fall to Penns nursing school. Theres speculation Biden might ask her to serve in his cabinet. There was similar speculation in 2016, if Hillary Clinton was elected.

Or Wolf could tap Pedro Rivera, his former secretary of education, now president of Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, whos currently working on Bidens transition team.

Or Dwight Evans, a Philadelphia political force, a former long-time state House power, elected to Congress in 2016. Evans, who is Black, was among the first name Democrats to endorse then-little-known Wolf for governor in 2014.

Of course, many others could be considered. And, as noted, the likelihood of the need arising is, at best, slim.

Yet its still 2020. So almost any political musing enters the realm of the possible.

John Baer may be reached at baer.columnist@gmail.com

See the rest here:
If Bob Casey joins the Biden cabinet, who replaces him in the Senate? | Opinion - lehighvalleylive.com

United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

*The views expressed here are my own and not those of the American Action Forum. I thank Thomas Wade for his insight and assistance.

Chairman Rubio, Ranking Member Cardin, and members of the Committee, thank you for the privilege of appearing today to share my views at this hearing titled Small Business in Crisis: The 2020 Paycheck Protection Program and its Future. I wish to make three main points:

The Status of the Paycheck Protection Program

Title IV of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed into law on March 27, 2020, set aside $349 billion for the relief of small businesses, to be administered by the SSBA in the form of the P PPPP[1]. The SBA commenced the PPP on April 3, 2020, and closed the program on April 16, 2020, on the exhaustion of the $349 billion appropriated by Congress. Congress later provided an additional $310 billion for the PPP in H.R. 266, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act.[2] This supplement brought the total funds available to the SBA and the PPP to $659 billion.

Per the original drafting of the CARES Act, the PPP program was due to expire at midnight on June 30 regardless of funds remaining. Just hours before the expiration of the program, Congress authorized an extension through August 8. This date passed without a second extension to the program, with the result that the SBA ceased taking applications to the program.

As a result, the PPP remains frozen in time as of August 8. As of that date, the SBA has disbursed $525 billion of the $659 billion so far appropriated by Congress to this program, with $134 billion, or 20 percent of PPP funds remaining available to the program.[3] Figures A through D (below) illustrate the total number and value of PPP loans disbursed to date in addition to the average value of a PPP loan and the total number of SBA-approved lenders across the entire life of the program. All data in Figures A through G come from the SBA website, as interpolated by the American Action Forum.[4]

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

Figure D

The SBA also made available data on the top 15 lenders by value disbursed, a breakdown of all lenders in the program by asset size, and a breakdown by loan size, as can be seen in Figures E through G below.

Figure E

Figure F

Figure G

Strengths of the Paycheck Protection Program

In June I noted in my writings that the PPP has been an enormous success; nothing has occurred since that time to change my opinion.[5] The data presented above are testament to what the SBA and Treasury have achieved in coordination with our nations banks distributing $525 billion in financial assistance to small businesses in a time of crisis. In the first two weeks of April and the first two weeks of May, the PPP distributed a combined $513 billion, a testament to hard work at the SBA, which is used to handling fractions of this volume. The $525 billion distributed stands in stark relief to emergency aid to companies as provided by the Federal Reserves s13(3) emergency loan facilities, including the Main Street Lending Program, which to date has provided about $2 billion of the $600 billion it is authorized to back.[6] The total $669 billion authorized by Congress represents the single-largest component of the policy response to COVID-19 and alone is not far short of the estimated $840 billion cost of the 2009 Recovery Act.[7]

Injecting billions of dollars into a supply and therefore liquidity shock economic environment could be deemed a success in and of itself. The PPP went further, however, and recent research by Hubbard and Strain shows that the PPP substantially increased the employment, financial health, and survival of small businesses.[8]

Figure C shows that across the entire life of the PPP the average dollar size of each loan only decreased. This decline means that new loans were steadily smaller; the average loan size fell from $239,00 in the first week to $100,000 by the end of the program. The PPP is well beyond serving only big firms andreached increasingly smaller ventures. At the end of the program, loans under $50,000 represented 69 percent of total PPP loans, and 12 percent by value. Loans over $5 million represent less than 1 percent of total PPP loans, and only 6 percent by value. These proportions remained largely unchanged toward the end of the program.

Figure E demonstrates the vital role of our nations banks in providing the loans backed by the PPP and the SBA. While credit is of course due to JP Morgan Chase and the other financial titans that provided such a significant percentage of total PPP authority, the list of top 15 lenders demonstrates a considerable effort by smaller and regional banks, demonstrating that the program was created to engage the banking industry as a whole.

Weaknesses of the Paycheck Protection Program

Program Structure

The PPP was created as a forgivable loan program where loans effectively acted as grants. The SBA delegated significant authority to banks to allow borrowers to borrow up to 2.5 times their average monthly payroll costs, capped at $10 million.[9] This fairly unique structure capitalized on existing relationships between small businesses and their lenders and the capital available within the banking system to disburse large amounts of funds very quickly. In this the PPP succeeded. Initial criticisms of the programs structure focused on the unusual necessity for the involvement of the banking industry and the incentives that would be required. The PPP was also criticized for the initial $349 billion being too low, a problem that was corrected.

It is tempting to see the remaining $134 billion unused by the PPP as a failing or a weakness, and indeed some commentators attempted to pin the blame on confusing program terms or a lack of clarity on forgiveness (see below). This assertion is refuted somewhat by the staggering news from the U.S. Census Bureau that nearly three-quarters of all small businesses in the United States received a PPP loan.[10] One of the most common criticisms of the PPP is that the program limited aid to a single application, and thus that the program was clearly geared toward a much shorter lockdown period. While this made sense at the time (particularly when the program was only authorized for $349 billion), nine months into a pandemic it is likely that businesses will require a second loan or source of support. This simple change would likely exhaust remaining PPP funds in short order.

If Congress has an appetite for more significant restructuring, the most effective reform could be to change the PPPs focus from payroll to revenue. While a useful goal, payroll is not the most reflective metric of the costs and challenges small businesses face. A revenue-replacement program would capture the universe of expenses facing small businesses and would be easier to certify. Such a program would likely be expensive, however, with Strain and Hubbard estimating that replacing 80 percent of revenue for 12 weeks for eligible service-sector businesses would cost $1.2 trillion[11].

Allegations of Fraud and Inappropriate Recipients

In the first two weeks of April, publicly traded companies received $365 million in PPP loans, leading to considerable condemnatory media coverage.[12] Some of these recipients, including Shake Shack and the L.A. Lakers, subsequently chose to return the proceeds. It is worth noting that none of these firms had acted inappropriately, and any funds they might have received would have aided them in retaining payroll, the entire point to this program. Nonetheless, the SBA responded to these criticisms by indicating that any business with access to capital markets would be unlikely to make a good-faith certification that it was in need of aid, and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin committed to a review of every loan provided in excess of $2 million. Figure C above demonstrates that PPP loans only decreased in size, targeting increasingly smaller businesses.

In addition to singling out individual recipients of aid, the PPP has been criticized for not targeting industries most impacted by COVID-19, states most impacted by COVID-19, or minority groups disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.[13] The PPP as drafted was not designed to discriminate on any of these factors. That the program still had funds available when the PPP expired indicates that less deserving recipients did not prevent more deserving recipients from obtaining aid, however those terms are defined. Some potential recipients of aid may have been prevented from obtaining a PPP loan by virtue of a lack of relationships with banks and lenders, however.

The SBA inspector generals office reported that it found tens of thousands of PPP loans disbursed for borrowers in amounts that exceeded what the borrower could claim.[14] In order to expedite the disbursement of aid to small businesses, the CARES Act removed usual bank requirements to validate and verify loan recipients (with the exception of anti-money laundering and financing of terrorism checks). Fraud in any government program is possible, doubly so when some of the safety rails are removed. That tens of thousands of cases of PPP fraud is, at maximum, two percent of all PPP loans provided should be considered a success. Again, if the program is functioning exactly as intended, it is difficult to brand this rate of fraud a failure although if the PPP is reinstated, Treasury and the SBA can and should do more to reinforce the decision to hold harmless banks involved in borrower fraud lest banks stop offering PPP loans.

Administration

The unprecedented size of the relief and speed at which aid needed to be deployed to save jobs would be a challenge for even the largest agency. But the SBA is tiny by the standards of other cabinet agencies. It had less than 4,000 full-time equivalent employees in fiscal year (FY) 2019; in comparison, the Department of Commerce had about 52,000 for the same year, according to its FY 2020 budget request.[15] [16]

The SBAs capacity presented a major potential implementation challenge. Across its lending platforms, SBA approved $28.2 billion in loans in FY 2019 8 percent of what it is being asked to distribute in short order[17]. In order to overcome these challenges, the process will have to be streamlined to an extraordinary degree. In addition, the agencys budget request for 2020 was $820 million, of which less than half would support direct-lending assistance.[18] $349 billion effectively equals roughly one thousand times the usual annual guaranty amount, delivered in only two months.

The SBA and Treasurys administrative challenges were not simply limited to personnel, and the PPP called attention to ageing government and agency IT systems, seen by Strain and Hubbard as the key factor preventing the U.S. government from having lent directly to small businesses themselves[19].

Forgiveness, Verification, and Validation

In subsequent months, media attention and the force of criticism of the PPP has shifted to the final piece of the PPP term sheet: forgiveness. Initial SBA and Treasury information was extremely thin on the ground regarding the eventual forgiveness of PPP loans, the last part of the process and the step that turns PPP loans effectively into grants.

Subsequent FAQ releases have done some but not enough to explicate the process of forgiveness and leave lenders lost as to the process.[20] Confusion around the terms of the PPP was not (and is not) limited to the banks involved in the program, with some studies noting that 3 in 4 PPP borrowers were confused by loan terms.[21]

As noted above, as drafted, the CARES Act did not provide sufficient guidance on how the information flowing from borrower to lender to SBA should be verified and validated. A strict interpretation of the Act implied that significant portions of the usual underwriting process should be taken on good faith, with what little testing that the Act requires (for instance, that a business seeking relief be in operation on February 15, 2020) placed the burden of verification on lenders. This, combined with confusion about the forgiveness regime, may have made many lenders reluctant to participate in the program.[22]

Conclusions

The PPP was the single-largest source of support for the economy for the month of April. In that same month the economy shed 20 million jobs. It is painful to imagine how much worse this may have been without the prompt intervention of the SBA, although one MIT paper estimates that as of the first week of June the PPP had saved 2.3 million jobs.[23] It speaks volumes, to my mind, that one of the most pressing criticisms of the PPP was that it only allowed for businesses to receive one loan. How significant can all other criticisms of the PPP be if its biggest flaw is preventing businesses from accessing it again?

It does not seem a stretch to say both that the PPP has done much good and that, given the length of COVID-19 lockdowns, it may be time to reinstate and refund the program. If Congress does so without making any program changes this would still likely be an enormous success. If the appetite for change exists, I would strongly recommend that Congress consider a revenue rather than payroll-retention structure and allow for multiple applications as the pandemic continues. In addition, Treasury and the SBA must make the terms and forgiveness of PPP loans as clear as possible while improving program oversight and resources at both agencies.

Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.

[1] https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/press/cares-act-title-iv-summary

[2] https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/266

[3] https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/tracker-paycheck-protection-program-loans/

[4] https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/tracker-paycheck-protection-program-loans/

[5] https://www.americanactionforum.org/daily-dish/fixing-the-ppp/

[6] https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/assessing-financial-support-for-businesses-during-the-pandemic-the-state-of-play/

[7] https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2017/may/which-bigger-2009-recovery-act-fdr-new-deal

[8] http://ftp.iza.org/dp13808.pdf

[9] https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/financial-services-provisions-in-the-coronavirus-aid-relief-and-economic-security-cares-act-final-version/

[10] https://portal.census.gov/pulse/data/

[11] http://ftp.iza.org/dp13808.pdf

[12] https://apnews.com/article/6c5942eec36cc43b25ad5df5afebcfbd

[13] https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2020/08/did-the-paycheck-protection-program-work-the-way-it-was-supposed-to

[14] https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/oversight-advocacy/office-inspector-general

[15] https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2019-12/SBA_FY_2019_AFR-508.pdf

[16] https://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/2019-03/FY_2020_DOC_BiB-032019.pdf

[17] https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2019-12/SBA_FY_2019_AFR-508.pdf

[18] https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2019-04/SBA%20FY%202020%20Congressional%20Justification_final%20508%20%204%2023%202019.pdf

[19] http://ftp.iza.org/dp13808.pdf

[20] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/business/small-business-ppp-loans-forgiveness.html

[21] https://www.bankingdive.com/news/borrowers-paycheck-protection-program-confusion-loan-terms/578577/

[22] https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-why-banks-dont-want-to-help-small-businesses/

[23] http://economics.mit.edu/files/20094

Read more:
Testimony on: Small Business in Crisis: The 2020 Paycheck Protection Program and Its Future - American Action Forum

President-elect Joe Bidens selection of a running mate was front-page news with Kamala Harris becoming the first Black woman and first South Asian to hold the job. Her boss, Joe Biden, also gained stature when he was vice president for President Obama, with an unusually active role that far exceeded what was accomplished by previous vice presidents. In fact, the evolution of the vice presidency, in the Constitution and in practice, is one of the most fascinating, bizarre elements of the U.S. government.

On Dec. 19, 1793, Vice President John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, my Country has in its Wisdom contrived for me, the most insignificant Office that ever the Invention of Man contrived or his Imagination conceived. Most vice presidents in American history have agreed with Adams assessment of the No. 2 office in the country. Despite being a heartbeat away from the presidency, the office of the vice president has often been relegated to obsolescence.

The original Constitution mentioned the vice president three times. Article II, Section 1 specifies that the vice president shall hold a term of four years and the top two candidates will be elected president and vice president. The end of Section 1 states that the vice president takes over the responsibilities of the president should the president be removed from office by death or resignation. Finally, Article II, Section 4 states that the vice president can be removed from office by impeachment.

In 1789, the first federal Congress certified the votes of the first presidential election. George Washington received 69 votes, a unanimous vote from all electors. John Adams was the clear second choice with 34 votes. John Jay came in third with nine votes. But the Constitution was silent about the relationship between the president and the vice president.

President Washington initially solicited Adams advice, especially as Washington established a social calendar and customs. But Adams and Washington never had a particularly warm relationship and the president didnt invite the vice president to join a single Cabinet meeting, establishing a precedent that held for almost two centuries.

The relationship between the president and vice president didnt improve during the second administration. In 1796, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson competed in the presidential election. Adams won with 71 electoral votes to Jeffersons 68 electoral votes. Under the terms of Article II, Jeffersons second-place finish bagged him the vice presidency. As political rivals and opponents, Adams naturally didnt include Jefferson in his Cabinet meetings either.

This odd arrangement came to a head during the next election. Each party selected two candidates, one for president and one for vice president in theory, but they were all listed on the same ballot. In the election of 1800, President John Adams came in third with 65 votes, but Democratic-Republican candidates Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied with 73 apiece. The election then went to the House of Representatives, and Jefferson fully expected Burr to step aside. When Burr eagerly competed for the presidency, the House cast 36 ballots before finally selecting Jefferson as the third president of the United States. Jefferson never trusted Burr again and replaced him after the first term.

Congress quickly realized that it needed a more predictable process for selecting presidential and vice presidential candidates to avoid the awkward electoral tie that had occurred between Burr and Jefferson. In December 1803, Congress passed the 12th Amendment, which specified that electors would cast separate votes for president and vice presidential candidates in elections going forward.

Despite the revisions contained in the 12th Amendment, there was still a pretty sizable hole in the vice presidential selection process. When Andrew Johnson assumed the presidency after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, there was no established process to select Johnsons replacement, so the vice presidency was left vacant for three years and 323 days. A new vice president didnt fill the office until after the election of 1868.

The position was so inconsequential that Johnson was not the last president to serve without a vice president, nor was the vacancy the longest! On April 4, 1841, John Tyler took over the presidency when William Henry Harrison died unexpectedly in office. The vice president remained open for three years and 334 days, until the election of 1844. President John F. Kennedys death and Lyndon B. Johnsons assumption of the presidency again emphasized the need for a clear process to select a new vice president, as LBJ didnt have a vice president for one year and 59 days.

The 25th Amendment, passed by Congress in July 1965 and ratified in February 1967, finally addressed this situation by declaring that Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Even after the vice president received more constitutional definition, most presidents have kept their vice presidents at arms length. President Franklin D. Roosevelt shared so little information and responsibility with Harry S. Truman that Truman didnt learn of the existence of the atomic bomb until after Roosevelt died in 1945. In 1960, when reporters asked President Dwight D. Eisenhower to list Vice President Richard Nixons major contributions, Eisenhower replied, Well, if you give me a week I might think of one.

Since the passage of the 12th Amendment, presidents mostly selected candidates that served an Electoral College purpose. Only recently have presidential candidates considered who might make the best governing partner. For example, Ronald Reagan selected Bush for electoral reasons, and while Bush proved to be an effective and persistent lieutenant, the relationship between the first and second families remained frosty. Reagan only offered a tepid endorsement of Bushs candidacy and then refused to be seen with the president when Bush was running for re-election. President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore reportedly worked well together during Clintons first term, but the Monica Lewinsky scandal drove a wedge between the two.

Dick Cheney started a new chapter in vice presidential history by operating with more authority than any vice president before him. Bush selected Cheney as a veteran politician to provide seasoned, but blunt advice. They worked well together because Cheney had no plans to run for president himself and always deferred to the president. At the same time, he had more influence with the president than anyone else and was frequently characterized as the man behind the curtain pulling the strings. In Bushs second term, however, the relationship changed as Bush increasingly consulted with Condoleezza Rice and fired Donald Rumsfeld (Cheneys mentor). By the time they left office, they disagreed on more issues than they agreed.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden might be the first president and vice president that were actually friends. Before accepting the position, Biden demanded a more substantive role than the one most vice presidents had enjoyed. Obama promised that he would be the last person in the room and a partner on critical foreign policy and domestic issues. The president kept his word. Biden frequently traveled abroad on behalf of the administration and managed the economic reconstruction efforts in the wake of the 2008 recession. Their warm relationship inspired countless memes and articles about their bromance and by the end of Obamas term, they both referred to each other as family.

All evidence suggests that President-elect Bidens relationship with Obama served as one of the high-water marks of his decades-long public service career, and he seeks to emulate this relationship with his own vice president selection. He has promised Vice President-elect Harris the same access Obama provided to him she will be the last person in the room before every big decision. If so, she will inherit a vice presidency that has evolved significantly from the one created by the Constitution in 1787.

Excerpt from:
The Strange History of the Office of the Vice President - Governing

Published 10 December 2020

The Scottish Government has published a consultation intoproposed rules requiring zero emissions heating systems in all new build homes.

The New Build Heat Standardwould mean all new build homes must have heating that produces zero direct greenhouse gas emissions, helping to meet climate change targets.

The measures aim to ensure that heating systems in all new buildings given consent from 2024 are zero-emissions, in line with the recommendation from the UK Committee on Climate Change that this is achieved from 2025 at the latest.

The consultation sets out a range of outcomes for the standard to achieve, including ensuring new homes and non-residential buildings are affordable to heat, supporting the delivery of a continued supply of high quality homes, and offer opportunities for retraining and upskilling workers to install zero emissions heating systems.

Housing minister Kevin Stewart said: The pace of decarbonising Scotlands domestic and non-domestic buildings has to increase significantly to achieve our targets on climate change. The New Build Heat Standard will be an important contribution to this to ensure emissions from heating and cooling our buildings fall close to zero.

We want to combine the action we need to meet the challenge of the climate emergency with our ambition to provide affordable, warm homes. We are seeking views from stakeholders on the most effective way to introduce this Standard to ensure it is deliverable and fit for purpose.

To support the development of the New Build Heat Standard, an external working group was established to provide advice and expertise to the Scottish Government and this was instrumental during the drafting of the scoping consultation. The group, which features representation across a wide variety of interests and areas, is co-chaired by respected zero carbon buildings expert, Professor Lynne Sullivan OBE.

Professor Sullivan, chair of the Good Homes Alliance, said: We recognised the priority for new buildings to achieve higher efficiency and be ready for zero emissions heating sources, in line with Scotlands world-leading climate commitments.

We welcome the consultation on new homes, and believe the targets are achievable with existing technologies at scale. Delivery will unlock long-term economic benefits as well as future-proof Scottish homes.

The Scottish Greens said Scotland must show more urgency to catch up with many European countries when it comes to warm and efficient housing.

Housing spokesperson Andy Wightman said: The housing minister is right to say that the pace of decarbonising homes needs to increase, but the fact is that Scotland lags well behind many normal European nations on this. New homes should be required to meet passivhaus or other net-zero standards, and public funding should no longer be used to subsidise high-carbon heating systems.

Meanwhile, if we recognise the pace of change needed we have to also recognise that a quarter of homes in Scotland face fuel poverty every year. We need a target on all homes with a programme of deep-retrofits of fuel poor households and social housing, which would create thousands of jobs in the process.

Excerpt from:
New Build Heat Standard proposals open for consultation - Scottish Construction Now

December 9th, 2020 by Jennifer Sensiba

Today, Aptera hosted an online Q&A session, covering a variety of topics about the vehicle. In addition to its announcements from a few days ago, the company also now has a video giving us some much better views of the vehicle (more information below the video).

Pre-Orders Still Going

Pre-orders are still available, but the first versions of the vehicle are sold out. You can get yours here, and save $30 on the reservation fee. CleanTechnica gets a referral, and that helps us get a long-term independent test vehicle. International orders are being accepted (see more toward the bottom of this article).

Grid Charging

We finally got a lot more information about the vehicles charging. First off, Aptera is still selecting components and vendors for the onboard charger, DC fast charging, etc..

Weve seen images (including in the above video) depicting the vehicle with a Tesla plug. When I reached out to Aptera directly, they told me that which plug the vehicle will have is still an open question, so its possible that the Aptera will use Teslas technology and infrastructure. Its also possible that it will go with standard J1772 and/or CCS plugs. During the Q&A, Aptera did say that it may Supercharge, but they also mentioned a 50 kW rate, which is far below what a Tesla Supercharger would give us, so they may have been using that term generically. Either way, its safe to say that the question of Tesla tech is still not decided.

Its apparent that the vehicle is supposed to get about 10 miles per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity used from the battery pack. Thus, a 25 kWh pack can go 250 miles, a 40 kWh pack goes 400 miles, etc.. Its simple math to figure out the rest.

On a wall plug, Aptera said it could add about 150 miles of range overnight on a normal 120V wall plug. That works out to about 12 hours of charging, not accounting for losses. In 8 hours, and after charging losses of 10%, it works out to about 100 miles. For nearly all drivers, a wall plug will be enough even without solar charging.

Aptera said it also expects to have 3 kilowatt (kW) and 6 kW onboard chargers, which would give far more range added per hour. With the efficiency, a 6 kW charger would add 60 miles per hour, so even level 2 plugs that are available in more places than level 3 will be far more useful.

A 50 kW station (which is the minimum the company seems to be wanting, but it may have faster onboard chargers) would add 500 miles per hour. Thus, youd get way more range in a 20-30 minute charging session than you get with other vehicles charging at that rate. This makes road trips far more feasible and far less painful than other EVs, and thats with current charging infrastructure.

If Aptera supports faster chargers, this would be even greater for road trips, but we do need to consider that there will be tapering. We dont know what those tapering numbers will look like yet. However, given the efficiency and range, youll probably not need to charge the pack over 60-80% in most cases and will be able to spend more time at peak charging speeds on trips.

An educated guess is that on a 250 kW Supercharger with the 100 kWh pack, you could add 600 miles in 15 minutes or the whole 1000 in about 45 minutes. If you get peak speeds until 60%, that would take the car from almost dead to there in about 15 minutes, and then take another half hour to add the rest (assuming you even need that). A 350 kW charger (like at Electrify America) could probably do the 600 miles in 10 minutes and the whole pack in 35 minutes or so.

In reality, those speeds are probably overkill for this vehicle, but theyd sure be nice for road trips.

Solar Charging

Aptera told us today that with the solar cells covering the back hatch (thats optional), youd end up with a peak of 700 watts, but thats something you wont see much. The company did test the cells in a fake roof for a year before claiming that it adds 40 miles per day, but keep in mind that this testing happened in San Diego.

40 miles per day assumes the system adds 4 kWh of power to the pack. If you take that 700W of panels to places that see more clouds, get less direct sunlight (further north), etc., then you may get a lot less. At the peak of 700 watts, people living in sunny parts further south (especially the southwest), you may even get more than the 40 miles.

Either way, it would take almost a month of charging all day and no driving to fill a 100 kWh pack up. While that sounds very slow, its actually quite useful.

If you drive the car less than the solar cells can add, you can expect to almost never charge it. On good sunny days, youd accumulate rollover miles, while on bad sun days, youd eat into them a bit.

If you drive more than the solar can cover, then theyre still helpful. Youd just have to plug it in less often. Assuming you can park it out in the sun most days, you could watch the charge level, and maybe fill it back up when it gets to 50%, that way you always have some reserve in the tank for emergencies.

When it comes to the solar cells themselves, Aptera hasnt announced who is going to supply the cells yet. It did seem like the company probably has a supplier picked, though. Hopefully soon we can learn more about how efficient the cells are, etc..

Other cool things are that Aptera is aiming for a 10 to 20 year design life, and the system itself weighs very little. After all, theyre mounting the cells to the cars body and not to big glass panels like youd see on a house roof.

The Cooling System Has No Radiator

This one is actually quite cool. On older Aptera designs, they tried to mimic aircraft radiator systems to keep the drag low. That wasnt enough for them, so Aptera found a way to eliminate the radiators completely, which initially sounds absolutely insane for a liquid-cooled battery pack.

Aptera does have a plan to dissipate the heat, though. They told us today that the plan is to have small biologically-inspired channels throughout the cars skin that the coolant gets pumped through. This allows most of the cars exterior to serve as a radiator and allows the cooling system to produce zero drag and no wasted electricity on fans.

Another cool thing about the system is that when the cars exterior frosts, we are likely to see cool fractal patterns on the cars exterior where the heat melts the frost a bit.

How this would work in really hot places is probably an open question at this point, but with that much surface area to dissipate the heat, the cars body could be enough to dissipate heat.

Performance & Versatility

The cars efficiency doesnt mean it will be slow. The 3-motor version will have 150 kW of output, which is close to what the Chevy Bolt puts out. The difference is that the car is half the weight and has far less drag, so it will have much better acceleration. Every time we see numbers on a vehicle like the Aptera, we have to keep in mind that theyre not directly comparable to other manufacturers.

With all this in mind, one of the presenters (jokingly) said, It almost needs a weapons permit.

Another cool thing is that the vehicles design gives it a lot of clearance. Aptera wanted to take advantage of this, so it is also going to offer an off-roading package with sturdier wheel fairings and a higher suspension. One of the cool things about lifting an Aptera is that it is likely to incur little to no drag penalty from doing so. The only thing that may give an off-roading Aptera a range hit would be the extra drag from off-road tires.

Aptera also told us that the vehicle will have a subframe in the rear near the back tire for both towing and being towed. Tow hooks will be available for front and rear to pull you out of the mud or pull a malfunctioning Aptera onto a tow truck. The vehicle will be able to tow a small trailer, but expect a huge range hit unless its a small, light, and aerodynamic trailer.

Safety & Repairs

For crash safety, the vehicle also seems to be very good. Previous versions of the Aptera did undergo federal safety testing (FMVSS), and its improved since then with better materials and design. While very strong, the composites are also able to flex a bit. Even a sledgehammer cant get through, because the materials compress a bit and spring back to shape. In other words, you wont be riding in a cheap plastic egg that youd get smashed up in.

When asked about changing tires, they told us that removing the fender/fairing around a tire will be straightforward, and that once removed, youll get full access to the tire to change it yourself if you need to do so in a hurry.

Because the body has an ability to bounce back, most damage to the car will be skin-deep and can be repaired in pretty standard ways. However, if a wreck gives enough force to actually crack the shell, you can probably expect to replace the vehicle (as it would be totaled).

Infotainment System

Aptera told us today that the infotainment system is going to be powered by Crank Software, based in Canada. The biggest goal is to use the infotainment systems to drive vehicle efficiency, but that doesnt mean the company wants an unprofessional and/or unfriendly user experience. They want all information to be easily available, and to make sure surprises that users may face will be minimized.

While the usual information will be available up front, in-depth vehicle information including diagnostics, repair data, BMS details, etc., will all be available in the menus. The right to repair is a big deal to Aptera, so it is being transparent in ways nobody else is.

Its also worth noting that the infotainment systems will be on an isolated network to protect critical systems, like BMS and drive. The information will be available from those systems, but they wont be wide open to any hacker who gets into the vehicles infotainment system.

Life Support

While its clear that things are still up in the air supplier-wise, we do know that it is working to come up with the most efficient systems it can for heat and A/C, and that it will be an ongoing process even after the first vehicles are delivered.

Resistive heating may be part of the equation, and that could cost a lot of range, but the company is experimenting with heat pumps, directly heating/cooling the driver and passenger, integrating it with the battery cooling system, and various other things to maximize efficiency.

Aptera said that the first year may come with only resistive heating, but that its something it will continue to improve as much as possible.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is a big deal to Aptera. One thing it has done is work with Munro and Associates to make sure it isnt learning by making mistakes other automakers have already made. Design, manufacturing, supply chains, and a good mix of in-house/supplier work are all things Munro is helping it with.

The goal is to have some sub-assemblies ready to install from suppliers, and do the major assembly at its first plant in southern California. Apteras final plant wont be filled with large tooling and big robots like many other automakers. The largest components are all liftable by two people, and it plans on using a smart mix of automation and human labor to get things right. Many pieces are self-aligning with the piece they fit onto, which saves a lot of need for specialized alignment tools.

The bodys four large pieces are the pan, the roof (spider), and the two side panels. Theyre easily bonded together (this sounds like a glue-like process), and then other pre-built sub-assemblies. Between this and what Munro has helped it figure out, Aptera should be able to scale manufacturing relatively easily.

Miscellaneous Other Things

International orders can be made today. While orders coming from outside the US will take more time, the company encourages international customers to go ahead and put in preorders. (You can do that here and get $30 off, and help CleanTechnica get a long-term test vehicle). The company does point out that Polaris was able to get the Slingshot (a three-wheeler of similar size/weight) to most global markets, so it should also be able to do this in a reasonable time frame.

Front-wheel drive vehicles will be available from the beginning, while all-wheel drive (adding a motor to the rear wheel) will be available soon after. Aptera plans to offer the 400-mile version first, followed by the 600-mile version. Finally, it will offer the 250- and 1000-mile packs. They may be upgradeable later.

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Tags: Aptera, Never Charge, solar, Tesla

Jennifer Sensiba Jennifer Sensiba is a long time efficient vehicle enthusiast, writer, and photographer. She grew up around a transmission shop, and has been experimenting with vehicle efficiency since she was 16 and drove a Pontiac Fiero. She likes to explore the Southwest US with her partner, kids, and animals.Follow her on Twitter for her latest articles and other random things: https://twitter.com/JenniferSensibaDo you think I've been helpful in your understanding of Tesla, clean energy, etc? Feel free to use my Tesla referral code to get yourself (and me) some small perks and discounts on their cars and solar products. https://www.tesla.com/referral/jennifer90562

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We Learned A LOT About The Aptera Today - CleanTechnica

Opinion / Leila Molana-Allen

Yemen has been at war for 50 years, my guard Ahmad says, looking over his shoulder as our driver wrestles the pickup trucks front wheel out of yet another pothole. When is it our turn for some peace? In fact, the Shabwa region, linking the mountains of south-central Yemen to the Arabian Sea, has been a comparatively conflict-free spot in the war-torn Arab nation.

Since the civil war began in 2014 the province has in turn played host to government forces and the Iran-backed Houthi militia, as well as al-Qaeda, armed southern separatists and Emirati-backed mercenaries. But since late 2019, when government forces regained control of Shabwa and its capital Ataq, locals have begun to hope that better security could lead to increased prosperity.

Almost everyone I meet during the week-long trip through the areas half-built streets and lush desert valleys speaks in hushed tones of new work opportunities and even the hope that foreign investment might return. New buildings are popping up and the resurrection of public services is planned if not quite under way yet. But those living close to the provinces borders fear as much as they hope. In neighbouring governorates to the north and west, the multi-front, multi-party war that has killed more than 120,000 people rages on and the prospect of the fighting creeping back south is never far away.

Indeed, later the same day we receive word that a car bomb has exploded on the sea road, bringing violence back to an area that had been calm for months. Ahmad might have to wait a little longer for peace sadly there are still plenty of potholes ahead.

Leila Molana-Allen is Monocles Beirut correspondent and reports from throughout the region.

Here is the original post:
Monday 7 December 2020 - The Monocle Minute - Monocle

SO PAULO, Brazil It is eerie to see Oscar Niemeyers whitewashed monolith in Ibirapuera Park stand so empty. The building traditionally hosts the So Paulo Biennial, now postponed to September 2021, due to the pandemic. In the meantime, a number of smaller shows take place, starting with the exhibition, Vento (Wind). As curators Jacopo Crivelli Visconti and Paulo Miyada note, while they didnt originally envision this deathly aura the space is usually teeming with works and people its proved fortuitous. It reminds visitors that Brazilian modernisms claim to transparency, embodied in Brutalist architectures clean lines, obscured that movements entanglement with nationalist politics of its time, and the latters oppression of Black and Indigenous Brazilians. The exhibitions underlying impulse is to evoke these obscured histories and reclaim whats been repressed.

Vento takes its name from Joan Jonass video, Wind (1968), installed on the ground floor. In it, performers sway, buffeted by ghastly winds in a mesmeric dance of physical resistance. Its striking to see such bodily pliancy within these solid concrete walls. And yet, theres resonance: Niemeyers sinuous ramps testify that the modernists too conceived of organic forms. Picking up from Jonas, a spirit of resiliency blows through the show. It echoes the theme of obscurity, that which cant be easily absorbed into the hegemonic culture.

The Indigenous artist Jaider Esbells The War of Kanaims (2020) a series of eleven acrylic and pen paintings, composed mostly for the Biennial is a luminous example of such thematic confluence. In various Amerindian cultures, kanaims are complex dark forces. As Esbell pointed out in a Biennial talk, they are protective, albeit violent, spirits. Ebsells works blend dark and luminous qualities perfectly. Their vibrant colors stand out against the uniformly black backgrounds. Humans, spirits, and nature appear in dense configurations, whose minute patterns give them the luxurious feel of handwoven tapestries. While the animals are easily identifiable (e.g. snakes, a frog, birds), the representations are neither entirely figurative nor abstract. In one painting, a group of tribesmen, perhaps mounted by kanaims, with their red glowing eyes, crowd the works lower edge. The raised yellow spears echo in the forests green and purple vertical lines. The composition pulses with mesmerizing energy a bodys thrall in natures war/dance tug, evocative of the Jonas video, menacing yet sublime.

The ground floor also includes a sound installation by the Colombian artist Gala Porras-Kim, Whistling and Language Transfiguration (WaLT) (2012). The whistles are tonal translations of the Indigenous Zapotec language, historically used to evade the Spanish in what is now Southern Mexico. Such secret tonality also figures into Carla Zaccagninis From Bell To Fate (2017), a sound installation on the upper floor, with a bell from the Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Homens Brancos (Our Lady of the Rosary of White Men) Chapel, in the colonial town of Ouro Preto. In the Biennials educational publication, Primeiros ensaios (First rehearsals), Zaccagnini discusses her belief that the tolling connects to the repressed tonal signals of enslaved Africans, though such a metaphoric leap somewhat occludes the historical resistance of the Catholic Church to racial inclusion in its ranks.

More direct is another installation: a sound loop of the Maxakali shamanic chants, which point back to the insistence of Indigenous tribes emphasized by both Esbell and Ailton Krenak, an Indigenous activist, writer, and founder of the ForestPeoplesAlliance, in his interview for Primeiros ensaios on memory being preserved not in things but beings, reinforcing the importance of sacral, tribal, familial continuity.

The oneiric quality of Jonass and Esbells works resonate in the paintings of the still little-known Brazilian modernist Eleonore Koch. Her exquisite renditions of Rio de Janeiro emptied squares and parks with rudimentary architectural forms la de Chirico posses an instinctual lyricism. Same goes for the light installations of Clara Iani, Education by Night (2020), in which geometric blocks are lit up to project transfigured shapes on the walls. Theres something about the way these spectral evocations which distort matter yet capture its essence that perfectly encapsulates the mythical power of Esbells entrancing fabulations.

Ventos insistence on centering the poetics of the repressed is a welcome gesture after the last biennial all but sidestepped urgency and historical perspective, in favor of often tepid formalism. And while its still too early to glean this editions full ambition, one would hope that after Vento it will prove more of a gale than a passing zephyr, potent enough to raise some dust in Niemeyers drafty halls.

Vento (Wind) continues through December 13 as part of the 34th So Paulo Biennial, Though its dark, still I sing (Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion, Ibirapuera Park, So Paulo, Brazil). The exhibition is curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti and Paulo Miyada.

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Winds of Change at the So Paulo Biennial's Introductory Show - Hyperallergic

GREENWICH Greenwich Communities has completed a $1.6 million project to refurbish all the kitchens in 110 housing units at the Wilbur Peck Court apartment complex.

In any size home, no matter if its a multimillion-dollar home or its a public housing unit, what are people most proud of? Greenwich Communities Director Anthony Johnson said. Its the kitchen and how it looks. It sets the tone for the rest of the house. That was our thinking here.

The kitchens now all have stainless steel appliances, beautiful cabinetry and new microwaves and ventilation systems. This goes along with fresh paint and new bathrooms as well as stained wood flooring in the 110 apartment units.

Families spend a lot of time in the kitchen, cooking and preparing meals, Johnson said. It has its own panache depending on how it looks. This is a good thing and needed.

The downtown housing complex was built in 1953, and the kitchens have not been collectively improved in 40 years, Johnson said.

This was something we had wanted to get done as part of the five-year plan, and we saved enough money to be able to do it, he said.

The project took a year to plan, and the work has been underway for several months, Johnson said. Only a few final touch-ups remain, he said.

The coronavirus pandemic delayed the work, because of slower delivery of the appliances from China, Johnson said. They are still waiting for the final few refrigerators, he said.

Greenwich Communities is the new name for the Housing Authority of the town of Greenwich, which oversees all the town-owned public housing. Renovations, improvements and new construction have been its priority in recent years.

It is important that our residents and their children live with dignity and feel like they fit in, Johnson said in a statement. We have worked diligently through fiscally responsible asset management of our resources and strong partnerships with state and local agencies to help strengthen family life, foster stable home environments, and promote self-sufficiency.

Greenwich Communities is part of the town government structure, but it operates independently and is responsible for financing all the projects.

Overall, Greenwich Communities oversees 837 units in town spread over 15 properties. It also assists 343 families through the Section 8 subsidized housing program. Through all its efforts, Greenwich Communities serves 2,574 residents.

With the five-year plan for Wilbur Peck Court nearly finished, the focus will move to Agnes Morley Heights, a downtown complex with 150 units for seniors, Johnson said. Plans are still under discussions, but they want to start off with new windows to improve energy efficiency.

Work is also continuing at Armstrong Court in Chickahominy. In June, Greenwich Communities cut the ribbon on 18 new townhouse units there. Next up, the old buildings will undergo a full rehabilitation, with one- and two-bedroom units combined into three-bedroom units, which are in high demand.

Johnson said Greenwich Communities hopes to begin the construction work in January.

Sam Romeo, chair of the Board of Commissioners, said in June that over the next five to seven years, Greenwich Communities would bring forward plans to build nearly 300 units to increase the towns housing stock.

This is an all-new Housing Authority for the 21st century. Stay tuned the best is yet to come, Romeo said.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com

Excerpt from:
It sets the tone: New kitchens installed at Wilbur Peck Court in Greenwich - Greenwich Time