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Russia, U.S., and Ukraine Plan Abu Dhabi Security Talks as Moscow Stresses Territorial Demands 
Haiti Transitional Council Pushes to Remove Prime Minister Despite U.S. Warnings 
Trump Reverses Course on Greenland After Diplomatic Backlash 
Colombia Suspends Electricity Exports to Ecuador as Trade and Security Dispute Escalates 
Russian Drone Attack Hits Kyiv and Kharkiv Amid Ongoing Peace Talks 
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NATO Chief Says Greenland Sovereignty Not Discussed as Trump Backs Off Tariff and Force Threats 
Trump Pushes Back on 401(k) Homebuyer Plan Amid Housing Affordability Debate 
U.S. Vice President JD Vance to Visit Azerbaijan and Armenia Following Historic Peace Deal 
Keir Starmer Condemns Trump’s Afghanistan Remarks as European Allies Push Back 
United States Officially Exits World Health Organization, Raising Global Public Health Concerns 
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U.S. Backs Iraq’s Move to Detain ISIS Fighters, Urges Global Repatriation 
One of the concerns Republican lawmakers have expressed towards Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan was the rise in corporate taxes and its economic effects. However, Biden maintained that there has been no evidence that an increase in corporate taxes would prove to harm the economy and drive businesses overseas.
Speaking to the press upon returning from the Camp David presidential retreat over the weekend, Biden defended his proposal to raise corporate taxes back to 28 percent.
Biden noted that there are 50-51 corporations on the Fortune 500 list that did not pay taxes for the past three years and said that it was time that they pay their share. When pressed regarding the claim that the corporate tax increase would drive away corporations to go overseas, Biden said there is no proof of such a scenario happening so far.
Back in 2017, Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Senate cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Trump also kept insisting that his administration would work on improving the country’s infrastructure, but no plans have been proposed or implemented.
Aside from Republicans, Biden’s proposal has also drawn the ire of West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin, whose support is crucial in an evenly-divided Senate despite Democratic control.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told the press that Biden was open to discussions with lawmakers from both parties on how to fund the investments. Manchin has said he would accept 25 percent being the highest the corporate tax rate would get, and when pressed regarding the rate, Psaki noted that the 28 percent would already be lower than it was at any time since World War II.
In other news, State Department spokesman Ned Price suggested the possibility that the United States and its allies would boycott the 2022 Olympics that are scheduled to be held in Beijing. The boycott would be due to the country’s human rights violations. Price said that a coordinated boycott is something the administration would hope to discuss, noting the sanctions the US, Canada, the UK, and the European Union placed upon China for its human rights violations in Xinjiang.
