US Republican Senator Susan Collins on Tuesday slammed news coverage of her decision to vote for the Republican tax-cut bill as “unbelievably sexist.”
“I cannot believe that the press would have treated another senator with 20 years of experience as they have treated me,” she told reporters at the Capitol.
“They’ve ignored everything that I’ve gotten, and there have been stories after stories about how I’ve been duped,” she said. “How are you duped when all of your amendments get accepted? And when the majority leader — and I confirmed it again today with him — will be offering the two insurance bills that I care about as well as the provision waiving the automatic cut in Medicare that could be triggered by this bill?”
Photo: AP
The moderate Republican has often won praise from liberals for backing Planned Parenthood and especially for her crucial vote in July to block a repeal of Obamacare.
Yet, she has taken heat for deciding to back the Republican tax-cut plan, which contains a provision eliminating Obamacare’s requirement that most Americans get health insurance or pay a penalty.
Collins criticized a reporter, whom she did not identify, who covered her meeting with people suffering from serious health conditions.
“The reporter actually wrote that I didn’t cry,” Collins said.
The same group met with Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake, Collins said, but there was no mention of his lack of tears.
“I can’t imagine a reporter writing that about a male senator,” she said.
“It’s been extremely discouraging to see the press coverage on this given the significant impact that I’ve had on this bill,” she said.
Collins said the media has not given her enough credit for her victories in negotiating revisions to the tax-cut plan.
“I think I got more in this tax bill than any other member of the Senate,” Collins said, when asked by a reporter about accusations she had gotten rolled or was naive in the deal she struck.
Collins said her three amendments — retaining some state and local tax deductions, restoring a more generous medical expense deduction for two years and retaining retirement account tax breaks — were all maintained or improved in the conference report.
Collins also pointed to a number of House provisions she helped kill — including taxes on graduate student tuition assistance, private activity bonds, student loans and other issues.
“The list goes on and on,” she said.
“It doesn’t mean I like every provision of the final bill, but I clearly had an impact,” she said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of