Attention to the Unseen

Reuters reports: President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is planning to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Ending the tax credit could have grave implications for an already stalling U.S. EV transition. And yet representatives of Tesla – by far the nation’s largest EV seller – have told a Trump-transition committee they support ending the subsidy, said the two sources, who spoke…

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Marc Fisher writes: The gasp you may have heard on Tuesday evening was the collective sound of America’s generals and admirals reaching for supplemental oxygen, as they discovered that Donald Trump, the President-elect, had chosen Pete Hegseth as the country’s next Secretary of Defense. Hegseth served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Army National Guard and was the executive director of Vets for Freedom, a conservative advocacy group, but he has not held a senior military role or managed a…

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  The New Republic reports: Donald Trump may have secured a second term in the White House, but his Russia problems are far from over—at least according to suspiciously phrased comments by some of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies. Speaking with Russian state media on Monday, Russian presidential aide Nikolay Patrushev noted that while the U.S. election may be over, Trump is still beholden to “certain forces.” “To achieve success in the election, Donald Trump relied on certain forces…

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  Steve Rose writes: [Gabriel] Gatehouse suggests two factors why Trump won. The first and most obvious, speaking to the Cuban Americans in Little Havana [in Miami], was the cost of living. “A lot of them told me, ‘My grocery bills have gone up exponentially.’ It’s not clear to me what policies Donald Trump offers that will solve that, but it’s quite clear that this is a problem the Democrats haven’t adequately addressed.” For the other reason, he points to…

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  President-elect Donald J. Trump won Arizona, flipping the swing state back to red. Younger Latino voters, like José Castro, a former Bernie Sanders supporter, were among those who shifted to the right, turning to older Republicans like Gerry Navarro who were ready and willing to welcome him into the party.

The Times of Israel reports: US President-elect Donald Trump announced his decision on Tuesday to nominate former Arkansas governor and longtime backer of the settlement enterprise Mike Huckabee as the next US ambassador to Israel. “He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!” Trump said in a statement. Huckabee, 69, has been one of the evangelical Christian community’s most ardent…

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