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Biden pushes his economic populism in battleground Pennsylvania as Trump is stuck in a New York courtroom – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

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Biden pushes his economic populism in battleground Pennsylvania as Trump is stuck in a New York courtroom – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News


Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden is seeking to make a sharp economic argument against former President Donald Trump during a three-day swing through Pennsylvania with campaign officials framing the election as a debate between his “kitchen table” Scranton outlook and Trump’s “Mar-a-Lago vision.”

The trip, which kicks off Tuesday in Biden’s hometown of Scranton, also will set up a stark split screen as the president is on the campaign trail while Trump spends most of the week in a New York City courtroom for his criminal trial.

“No matter where Donald Trump is, whether it’s in Mar-a-Lago, a courtroom or anywhere else, he’ll be focused on himself, his toxic agenda, his campaign of revenge and retribution. That’s going to be a continuation of the contrast the American people have been able to see since this campaign began,” said Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler.

Biden’s Pennsylvania push comes as he’s also seeking to move the needle with voters who continue to hold sour views about the president’s handling of the economy. Recent polling has also shown a close contest between Biden and Trump fewer than seven months from Election Day.

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Biden’s speech on Tuesday is expected to be heavy on economic populism as he seeks to portray Trump as out of touch with Americans’ concerns. He will zero-in on the two candidates’ differing plans on tax policy as the president outlines “how Trump’s tax plan is a handout to the rich and leaves the middle class holding the bag,” Tyler said.

The president is expected to take aim at Trump’s pledge to extend the sweeping tax cuts that congressional Republicans approved in 2017 – a measure that reduced taxes for most Americans, but from which the rich benefited far more than others. Meanwhile, Biden is campaigning on raising taxes on the wealthy to fund his social and other priorities while protecting those who earn less than $400,000 a year from tax hikes.

In 2020, Biden used his hometown to frame the election as a “Scranton vs. Park Avenue” choice for voters. Ahead of the president’s trip this week, campaign officials sought to cast the election as a debate between Scranton and Trump’s Mar-a-Lago country club.

“You got Joe Biden, a candidate who sees the world from the kitchen table where he grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Donald Trump, who sees the world from his country club down at Mar-a-Lago. Nowhere is that contrast of world views on display more clearly, than when it comes to who each candidate believes should be paying more in taxes and who they believe should be paying less,” said Tyler.

The president will also travel to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, where he will speak at the United Steelworkers Headquarters, and Philadelphia for a campaign event on Thursday where he will continue to push his economic message.

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Differing views on taxes

Biden’s tax plans contain a variety of tax increases on the wealthy and big corporations, which he wants to use to shore up Medicare’s finances, create two new tax breaks for buying homes, temporarily extend the enhanced child tax credit, reduce child care costs and permanently extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, among other initiatives.

His most recent budget proposal, which outlines the policies that he will also campaign on, calls for a 25% minimum tax on all the income of the wealthiest .01% of Americans, including their appreciated assets, which are not currently taxed. It would hit those with a net worth of more than $100 million.

Biden also proposes taxing capital gains at the same rate as wage income for those earning more than $1 million and increasing the net investment income tax rate on earned and unearned income above $400,000 to 5%, up from 3.8%.

The president wants to increase the corporate tax rate to 28%, up from the 21% rate set by the GOP tax cut package in 2017, and raise the corporate minimum tax rate on billion-dollar corporations to 21%, from 15%. Also, he would reduce incentives for multinational businesses to book profits in low-tax jurisdictions and raise the tax rate on their foreign earnings to 21% from 10.5%. Plus, he would quadruple the tax on companies that buy back their own stock instead of investing in workers or lowering prices.

Trump sought to preempt Biden’s speech with a social media post Monday touting the 2017 tax cuts and criticizing Biden’s plans to raise taxes for the wealthy and corporations.

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“If Joe Biden gets his way you will soon be facing colossal tax hikes, the likes of which no one has ever seen before,” Trump said in a video on Truth Social.

The former president has told supporters – including wealthy donors – that extending the 2017 tax cuts will be one of his main goals for a second term. The law reduced individual and corporate income tax rates, changed international tax rules, repealed personal exemptions, increased the standard deduction and child tax credit, limited or restricted certain itemized deductions and doubled the estate tax exemption, among other provisions.

Most Americans benefited from the tax law, but the wealthy benefited the most.

Nearly all the individual income and estate tax provisions expire at the end of 2025, while most of the corporate measures are permanent. The next president and Congress will have to deal with the expiring provisions next year.

Biden’s tax returns

Ahead of the trip, Biden used Tax Day to tee up another contrast with his predecessor by releasing his tax 2023 return. Trump declined to voluntarily release his tax returns as president.

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“President Biden believes that all occupants of the Oval Office should be open and honest with the American people,” the White House said in a statement on Monday, “and that the longstanding tradition of annually releasing presidential tax returns should continue unbroken.”

The president’s events this week come as his campaign continues to build out its infrastructure Pennsylvania, where recent polling has shown no clear leader in a two-way race between Biden and Trump.

Biden campaign battleground states director Dan Kanninen told reporters on a call Monday that the Biden campaign is investing heavily in the commonwealth with a particular focus on driving turnout in Philadelphia. The Biden campaign has opened 14 new offices in Pennsylvania in March as they work to train volunteers and hire campaign staff.

“We’re obviously looking at Pennsylvania right now where the president is spending the week campaigning, and it’s a textbook example of how we’re going to run those votes,” said Kanninen.

Campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez also released a campaign strategy memo ahead of the visit, pointing to the coordinated campaign’s early investments in Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, as well as in the central part of the state in York and Lancaster counties – two counties Trump won in 2020 where the team sees “opportunities for Democratic growth as shown by gains made at the local level.”

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Chavez Rodriguez argued Biden’s support for unions, abortion rights, and protecting democracy will play with Pennsylvania voters in November.

“With all of these issues remaining salient for voters and Trump and MAGA Republicans only becoming more extreme, they continue to alienate the voters that decide elections in Pennsylvania – and show no signs of being able to win them back,” she wrote.

(Copyright (c) 2024 CNN. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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Pennsylvania

Neighbors welcome man home to Downingtown, Pennsylvania, after months in ICE detention

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Neighbors welcome man home to Downingtown, Pennsylvania, after months in ICE detention


A Chester County, Pennsylvania, man is back home with his family after spending more than eight months in ICE detention.

Supporters of Carlos Della Valle spent months rallying and writing letters to immigration officials, urging them to release him. Now the Downingtown resident is sharing what it feels like to finally be home and why uncertainty still hangs over his future.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Carlos Della Valle said about being home. “You know, it’s so many months and it just didn’t seem like it was going to happen.”

Supporters lined the street outside his Downingtown home on Wednesday, cheering as he returned from a detention center in Louisiana. The 49-year-old said it still feels surreal to be back in Chester County after 258 days in ICE custody.

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Della Valle, whose wife and son are U.S. citizens, has lived in Chester County for nearly 30 years. He said he came to the United States from Guerrero, Mexico, at age 20 after fleeing cartel violence.

“I was afraid for my life,” he said.

At age 21, Della Valle said, he was detained and sent back to the Mexican border, but he was never formally deported.

During a trial in August 2025, a jury acquitted him of illegally re-entering the country. Despite the verdict, he was taken into ICE custody because he does not have legal status in the United States.

Carlos Della Valle was released from ICE custody last week but said he still worries about what comes next.

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“They tried to deport me twice, so what’s to stop that from happening again?” he said.

Carlos Della Valle said he now has weekly check-ins with ICE and is working with an attorney to get a work permit so he can return to his job as a plant manager at a small adhesive company.

His wife, Angela Della Valle, said the family’s experience pushed her to become more involved in immigration reform efforts.

“The Dignity Act that’s been authored by Congresswoman Maria Salazar is a very, very powerful piece of legislation,” Angela Della Valle said. “It would allow Carlos to stay since he’s linked to a U.S. citizen wife. It would allow him to work.”

For now, Angela Della Valle said she’s focused on appreciating the moments they missed during his time in detention.

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“It’s amazing being together again and even more powerful to be able to come back together home,” Angela Della Valle said.

Since returning home, Carlos Della Valle said he has been reconnecting with friends and recently attended a Phillies game with his family.

“We loved being there,” he said.

Central Presbyterian Church in Downingtown is hosting a “Welcome Home Carlos” open house Saturday night to celebrate Carlos Della Valle’s release.

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Pennsylvania mom wins $1 million from lottery scratch-off:

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Pennsylvania mom wins  million from lottery scratch-off:



When 32-year-old Beth Dudley, a mom of two, walked into a convenience store in Salem Township, Westmoreland County, last month, she was stressed out about her flat tire. 

Now, after winning $1 million from a scratch-off ticket, not only is Dudley getting a new tire, but she’s thinking about getting an entirely new car. 

The Pennsylvania Lottery celebrated Dudley on Friday ahead of Mother’s Day, presenting her with a commemorative $1 million check. 

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Luck didn’t seem to be on Dudley’s side when she visited the Crabtree Gas and Go on Roosevelt Way in April. But she said she decided to treat herself to a lottery ticket anyway. 

“I thought, ‘What’s it going to hurt?’” Dudley said. “I play occasionally. Before I won, my brother said, ‘You’re going to get the tire changed and your whole world will turn around.’”  

And turn around it did. Dudley scratched the ticket and learned that she had won $1 million.

“I thought, ‘Am I seeing this right?’ Then I just started to cry,” said Dudley.

She said she was crying so much that when she called her mom, her mom thought something was wrong. She called her husband next, and she said he didn’t quite believe her at first. 

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Now she plans on buying a new car and investing the rest of her winnings. One thing’s for sure: she’ll be celebrating Mother’s Day this year with a little more money in the bank. 

“It’s great to see a hardworking mom who juggles so much have some luck come her way,” Pennsylvania Secretary of Revenue Pat Browne said. 



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Former Pennsylvania 911 director sentenced to decades in prison for child sex crimes

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Former Pennsylvania 911 director sentenced to decades in prison for child sex crimes



Former Somerset County 911 director Bradley Lavan has been sentenced to as long as 120 years behind bars for sex crimes he committed against five children. 

Late last year, Bradley Lavan pleaded guilty late last year to dozens of charges stemming from a 2023 arrest where police alleged he sexually abused five young children.

Lavan was ordered Thursday to serve 60 to 120 years in state prison, a sentence that Somerset County District Attorney Tom Leiden called “appropriate,” citing the seriousness of the crimes he committed.

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“Today, justice was served,” Leiden said, adding that “the sentence should assure that Mr. Lavan is never able to prey on innocent children again.”

At the time of his arrest, then District Attorney Molly Metzgar said that it was alleged that Lavan groomed children in ages from 3 to 6 years old and forced them into performing various sex acts on him while they were in his home. 

Police at the time said that Lavan’s time as the 911 director in Somerset County ended before he was arrested and the charges and his work with the county weren’t connected.

“This successful prosecution and sentence are the result of the District Attorney’s Office’s commitment to seeking justice for victims and for protecting the children of Somerset County,” Leiden said. “We will continue to work tirelessly to make Somerset County a safe place to live, work, and raise a family.”

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