June 2, 2021: Cyberattack Closes Beef Plants; Trump Back to Rallies; Biden Pitches Global Tax Hike

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TODAY'S HEADLINES:


Last time it was an oil pipeline, this time it’s meat processors.
Another cyberattack has thrown global commerce into chaos.


Meanwhile, Donald Trump is getting ready to make
his return to the rally circuit, on behalf of loyal Republican
candidates in several states. We knew this day would come, but
for decency’s sake, we wish it could’ve waited a while longer.


And lastly, President Joe Biden is on the
diplomatic circuit trying to persuade other countries to raise
taxes on multinational corporations. The basic idea is, if
everyone does it at once, there will be nowhere for the tax
dodgers to hide.


THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:


Hold the beef. No, really. The beef is on hold until further
notice. Bloomberg News reports that a cyberattack on JBS, the
largest meat producer globally, has forced the shutdown of some
of world’s largest slaughterhouses. There are signs that the
closures are spreading. JBS’s five biggest beef plants in the US
– which handle twenty three thousand cattle a day – have halted
processing following a weekend attack on the company’s networks.
Those outages alone have wiped out nearly a fifth of America’s
production. Slaughter operations across Australia were also down.
One of Canada’s largest beef plants was idled. But it’s unclear
exactly how many plants globally have been affected by the
attack. The prospect of more extensive shutdowns is already
upending agricultural markets and raising concerns about food
security as hackers increasingly target critical infrastructure.


Bloomberg says the White House has offered assistance to JBS. The
company notified the Biden administration on Sunday of a
cyberattack from a criminal organization likely based in Russia.
Biden has directed the administration to mitigate the impact on
the meat supply. Any substantial disruption in meat processing
would further stoke mounting political concerns about the
concentration of the meat industry. Four giant companies control
more than eighty percent of US beef processing. Rural lawmakers
recently pressed the Justice Department for action on an
anti-trust investigation of the beef industry launched last year.
There’s nothing like a massive ransomware attack to bring home
the dangers of unchecked corporate consolidation! At least some
cows are happy.


Trump To Hold Rallies Again


Did you miss him? Neither did we. NBC News reports that Donald
Trump returns to the electoral battlefield Saturday as the
marquee speaker at the North Carolina Republican Party’s state
convention. He plans to follow up with several more rallies in
June and July to keep his base engaged in the 2022 midterms and
give him the option of seeking the presidency again in 2024.
While his schedule isn't set, his coming stops are likely to
include efforts to help Ohio congressional candidate Max Miller,
a former White House aide looking to win a primary against
Representative Anthony Gonzales, who voted to impeach Trump; Jody
Hice, who is trying to unseat fellow Republican Brad
Raffensperger as Georgia secretary of state, after Raffensperger
defied Trump; and Alabama Senate candidate Mo Brooks.


Democrats are also looking ahead to the midterms. Politico
reports that with their fragile House majority on the line, many
Democrats are imploring their colleagues not to take the bait
after last November’s referendum on Trump ended up costing their
party a dozen seats. Instead, those Democrats are eager to deploy
a policy-heavy playbook to help stave off a potential midterm
whipping. Some in the party are contending that their midterm
strategy should resemble that of 2018 – when their party netted
forty seats to wrest back the majority. That year, Democratic
candidates pummeled their GOP opponents on health care, rather
than Trump, and it worked. Besides, Donald Trump won’t be the
ballot – and Joe Biden’s honeymoon will be long over.


Biden Pitches Global Tax Hike


This look at a possible global corporate tax crackdown comes from
the Washington Post. Finance ministers from Group of Seven
nations meeting in London on Friday are expected to back
President Biden’s call for a global minimum tax on corporate
profits. The new minimum tax is designed to halt a cycle of
corporate tax-cutting that has sapped government revenue around
the globe. Biden catalyzed the debate in late May by proposing a
worldwide minimum tax of at least fifteen percent, which was
lower than many tax specialists had expected. If he can secure
agreement from the world’s leading democracies, it could produce
the most significant global tax shift in decades. Putting a floor
beneath multinationals’ tax bills in other countries would help
the president raise the corporate rate at home to twenty eight
percent.


The Post says that along with opposition from corporate
lobbyists, additional obstacles loom, including objections from
low-tax countries such as Ireland, as well as likely
noncompliance from China and Russia. Deputy Treasury Secretary
Wally Adeyemo said the goal is to make sure multinationals are
paying their fair share. The president also aims to shrink the
role that tax calculations play in corporate investment
decisions. Even without action by other nations, the Biden
administration expects to reap more than $533 billion over the
next decade by reducing incentives for US corporations to shift
assets abroad. Corporate taxes could always be higher, but it
took generations for them to get so low. This is welcome news.


AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:


The New York Times reports that the the Biden administration
yesterday suspended oil drilling leases in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge that were issued in the waning days of the Trump
administration. Arctic tribal leaders who have protested oil
drilling praised the move. Let’s hope the new rule sticks around
longer than the next presidential election.


Politico reports that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis yesterday
signed into law a policy banning transgender athletes from
playing girls and women’s sports. Democrats disavow the policy,
claiming it’s unwarranted, fuels transphobia and discriminates
against transgender students. Of course, for Republicans like
DeSantis, those are the selling points.


According to the Jerusalem Post, the state of Arizona is
preparing to execute inmates on death row using Zyklon B, the
same gas used by the Nazis in death camp gas chambers. The
Arizona corrections department has spent more than $2,000 on the
ingredients required to make the deadly gas. The
Republican-controlled state has not carried out any executions
since 2014, but they are now working towards reinstating capital
punishment. Yikes.


CNN reports that Nike and other major sponsors have come out in
support of tennis star Naomi Osaka following her decision to
withdraw from the French Open. Announcing her decision to
withdraw, she revealed that she has suffered long bouts of
depression since winning her first Grand Slam title in 2018. It’s
quite a moment of visibility and acceptance for everyone
suffering from mental illness. Which, in pandemic times, is
pretty much everyone.


AM QUICKIE - JUNE 2, 2021


HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner


WRITER - Corey Pein


PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw


EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn