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Small Business Lifestyle

Biden holds back on intervention in dockworkers strike [Video]

The Biden administration is urging dockworkers and port owners to reach an independent deal as a nationwide strike threatens to upend dozens of U.S. ports and commerce.The strike, which began Tuesday, involves 45,000 dockworkers demanding better wages. Workers argue their workload has increased due to growth in commerce in the aftermath of the pandemic, while inflation has eroded pay.The economic impact of the strike could hit sometime in the next few weeks, potentially disrupting supply chains and increasing the cost of goods. Still, President Biden says he wants all parties involved to reach a deal on their own.”The owners are making tens of millions of dollars in this. The last thing they need is to profit off of this,” Biden said Wednesday. “It’s time for them to sit at the table and get this strike done.”In a one-on-one interview with Hearst Television, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg echoed the administration’s stance.”We …

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Small Business Lifestyle

Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead new 'Department of Government Efficiency' [Video]

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new Department of Government Efficiency" which is not, despite the name, a government agency.The acronym DOGE is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said in a statement that Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House advice and guidance and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before. He added that the move would shock government systems.It's not clear how the organization will operate. It could come under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which dictates how external groups that advise the government must operate and be accountable to the public.Federal employees are generally required to disclose their assets and entanglements to ward off any potential conflicts of interest, and to divest significant holdings relating to their work. Because Musk and Ramaswamy would not be formal federal workers, they would not face those requirements or ethical limitations.Musk posted on X: Department of Government Efficiency. The merch will be (fire emojis). Later he added: Threat to democracy? Nope, threat to BUREAUCRACY!!!Musk has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election.The president-elect has often said he would give Musk a formal role overseeing a group akin to a blue-ribbon commission that would recommend ways to slash spending and make the federal government more efficient. Musk at one point suggested he could find more than $2 trillion in savings nearly a third of total annual government spending.Trump had made clear that Musk would likely not hold any kind of full-time position, given his other commitments.I dont think I can get him full-time because hes a little bit busy sending rockets up and all the things he does, Trump said at a rally in Michigan in September. He said the waste in this country is crazy. And were going to get Elon Musk to be our cost cutter.Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump.Trump said in his statement the two will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies."