The Washington Post - 20.08.2019

A16 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, AUGUST 20 , 2019

singled out. “We do not believe there is an active stabber on the loose,” Lt. Jon Radus of the Fullerton Police Department said. Law-enforcement officers found a backpack underneath Chan’s car, Radus said, and a bomb squad from the sheriff ’s office in Orange County, Calif., found an incendiary device and “numerous items that could be used to conduct a kidnapping.” Radus declined to describe the latter items in more detail but said the incendiary device was a bottle of flammable liquid with matches taped to it. He said au- thorities believe the backpack was left unintentionally by the suspect and was a further indica- tion of a targeted attack. University police received a 911 call shortly before 8:30 a.m. about a man bleeding from the head, said Radus, whose agency is

assisting campus police. When officers responded minutes later to a parking lot near an adminis- trative building on campus, they found a man in his late 50s sitting in a silver Infiniti sedan and bearing stab wounds across his body. Despite efforts by city and campus police to save his life, Chan was pronounced dead by Fuller- ton Fire Department workers when they arrived, Radus said. “I did not have the honor of knowing Steven personally or working with him directly,” Virjee wrote, “but over the past few hours, in providing a shoulder to lean on for those who were close to him, it is clear that he was beloved for his commitment to and passion for both Cal State Fullerton and our Titan Family.” The witness who called 911 saw the assailant running away and described him as a man in his 20s. Bloodhounds from the Orange County Sheriff ’s Office were deployed to try to find him, Radus said at a news conference. He said they were not aware of threats made against any faculty mem- bers. The public university has about 40,000 students and more than 4,000 faculty and staff mem- bers. “Given the nature of the inci- dent and in light of our continued number one concern — the safety of our faculty, staff, and students — police presence will continue to be greater in both numbers and visibility over the coming days and weeks,” Virjee said. [email protected]

State Fullerton, wrote in a statement to the campus. Chan served as director of budget and finance and student services for the school’s Univer- sity Extended Education division from 2009 until retiring in 2017, and returned to campus as a special consultant in early 2019, according to Virjee’s statement. Police said they did not know why Chan might have been

police said he appeared to have been targeted. “It is with such a heavy heart and a deep and profound sense of sadness that I inform you that our colleague and friend, Steven Chan, a beloved and long-serving member of the Titan Family, passed away this morning after a tragic and senseless attack in the parking lot behind College Park,” Framroze Virjee, president of Cal

BY SUSAN SVRLUGA

A retired administrator was
fatally stabbed Monday on the
first day of the school year at
California State University at Ful-
lerton, with the assailant seen
fleeing the scene, police said.
Steven Shek Keung Chan, 57, of
Hacienda Heights, Calif., had re-
turned to work in international
student affairs at the school, and

discussions over the payroll tax
cut are part of a rapidly evolving
effort by the White House to ex-
ude confidence about the econo-
my’s strength while simulta-
neously hunting for ways to bol-
ster business and consumer confi-
dence. Business spending already
has pulled back, in part because of
fears about the trade war, but
consumer spending has remained
robust. If Americans begin to
tighten their belts later this year,
the economy could suffer new
strain.
Millions of Americans pay a
payroll tax on their earnings, a
6.2 percent levy that is used to
finance Social Security programs.
The payroll tax was last cut in 2011
and 2012, to 4.2 percent, during
the Obama administration as a
way to encourage more consumer
spending during the most recent
economic downturn. But the cut
was allowed to reset back up to
6.2 percent in 2013.
Workers pay payroll taxes on
income up to $132,900, so cutting
the tax has remained a popular
idea for many lawmakers, espe-
cially Democrats seeking to deliv-
er savings for middle-income
earners and not the wealthiest
Americans. But payroll tax cuts
can also add dramatically to the
deficit and — depending on how
they are designed — pull billions
of dollars away from Social Secu-
rity.
The payroll tax cuts during the
Obama administration reduced
taxes by more than $100 billion
each year, but the administration
directed revenue to Social Secu-

ECONOMY FROM A

ed state-backed operation.” About 448,000 people in Hong Kong use Twitter, according to the market research firm eMarketer. About 4.7 million people there log in to Facebook at least once a month. Graham Brookie, director of the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, said he sees the Twitter and Facebook campaigns as “a test case” for China as they prepare for major events over the next year — such as the elections in Taiwan — for which information operations will be key. Data released by Twitter on the deleted accounts revealed a number of users with large fol- lower counts and a sometime- tenuous grasp of American cul- ture and the English language. The fake accounts showed sup- posed locations in Las Vegas, Houston and Moscow. One account with more than 181,000 followers, LibertyLion- News, advertised itself as: “Con- servative News from the USA and Abroad. #Catholic Defender of the Constitution of the United States. #Qanon #MAGA #BUILD- THEWALL #TRUMP #2A #1A.” Another account said it was a Columbus, Ohio-based “coupon clipping, money saving, low key hustling super mom” who lives “in the suburbs” but is “from the hood.” Others were more ab- stract: “I want a satrawberrie!” the account ReStrawberries ex- claimed. The disinformation campaign pushed narratives praising the police, criticizing the protesters and blaming the unrest on West- ern forces, said Lee Foster, head of the intelligence team investi- gating information operations for FireEye, a cybersecurity firm based in California. He said that many of the accounts were rela- tively new and that at least some had previously been used for other online influence efforts. “I wouldn’t call this sophisti- cated,” said Foster, who has been tracking the online campaign since protests started in June. “Anybody actively looking for it would quickly find it.” Several social media accounts appeared to mimic those of news organizations, possibly in hopes of having the tweets be seen as authentic reports on a fast-moving international story. The use of English-language accounts is significant, said Lau- ra Rosenberger, director of the German Marshall Fund’s Alli- ance for Securing Democracy, which aims to expose foreign actors’ efforts to undermine democracy. While it has long been known that the Chinese government has manipulated the information space within its borders, Monday’s announcements show that the state is increasingly seeking to control information flow outside the country as well, she added, including potentially with those of Chinese descent in foreign countries. “The question now is, who was this targeting?” Rosenberger asked. [email protected] [email protected]

Craig Timberg and Drew Harwell contributed to this report.

amplify accounts with ties to state news organizations. Google did not immediately respond to a request for com- ment. Hundreds of thousands of protesters have been demon- strating for an autonomous Hong Kong over the past two months, including a peaceful march Sunday. Hong Kong police have deployed force, including in residential neighbor- hoods, and made more than 700 arrests to discourage further unrest. Protesters and pro-es- tablishment groups have clashed violently. And Beijing has ramped up pressure. Facebook said that the pages it removed had about 15, accounts following one or more, while 2,200 accounts joined at least one of the groups. The company said its investigation had found “links to individuals associated with the Chinese government.” Though Facebook is not considering a ban of advertising from state-sponsored media, the company said it is working on additional transpar- ency measures. Twitter said that the new advertising policy released Mon- day was something that had been previously discussed inter- nally. The company said in its blog post that state-backed news media accounts “will be free to continue to use Twitter to en- gage in public conversation,” just not its advertising products. Twitter confronted a similar issue in 2016 after discovering that Russia Today, or RT, which the U.S. government has labeled a propaganda arm of the Krem- lin, had purchased roughly $1.9 million in ads over an eight-year period. In late 2017, Twitter said it decided to cut advertising from all those accounts. The accounts were part of a larger network of roughly 200,000 accounts that were pro- actively deleted before they were substantially active, Twit- ter said in a blog post. That’s despite Twitter being blocked in China, the company added. Twitter said that the accounts it suspended were accessed from virtual private networks, or VPNs, or unblocked Internet protocol addresses originating from China. “Overall, these accounts were deliberately and specifically at- tempting to sow political dis- cord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement on the ground,” Twit- ter said in the blog post. “Based on our intensive investigations, we have reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinat-

TWITTER FROM A

rity programs so those initiatives did not lose money. The cuts added to the deficit, however. If Washington implemented a similarly sized reduction, the tax cut could equate to a bigger tax break for many families than the 2017 tax law. The Trump administration’s discussions about whether to pur- sue a new payroll tax cut began in recent days, the three people said, and specific details about the de- sign were not reached. Trump and top aides have spent the past few days trying to convince the public that the economy is strong and that fears about a recession are misguided. But White House officials have begun scrambling for new ideas to re- verse public concerns and boost business confidence. Some administration officials have felt that planning for an

economic downturn would send a negative perception to the public and make things worse, but Trump has spent much of the past week conferring with business ex- ecutives and other confidants seeking input on what they are seeing in the economy. There are signs the U.S. economy is slowing, and economists fear that Germany and Britain already are tipping toward a recession. So far, consumer spending has remained one of the U.S. economy’s bright spots, and White House officials are aware that Trump’s reelection chances could hinge on the economy stay- ing strong into next year. Payroll tax cuts have remained popular with Democrats largely because they are seen as targeting working Americans and the money is often immediately spent by consumers and not saved. That

way, the money gives consumers more spending power but also helps businesses that rely on the income. The White House talks are at such an early stage that aides have not begun consulting with key lawmakers yet. A spokesman for Senate Fi- nance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said that the lawmaker had not discussed a payroll tax cut with the White House and that “at this point, recession seems to be more of a political wish by Democrats than an economic reality.” Democrats, meanwhile, have become skeptical about the White House’s propensity to swing from one idea to the next, particularly when it comes to the trade war in recent weeks. “Their panicking and flailing is palpable and adding more uncer- tainly to the economy and making a possible Trump recession more likely,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.). “They’re flying by the seat of their pants and don’t seem to have any real plan. So let’s see the fine print first.” White House officials have become acutely focused on protect- ing strong levels of consumer spending, which is one reason they are eyeing new tax cuts. That is because one of the biggest causes of economic downturns is a pullback in consumer spending. That hurts businesses, which then lay off workers, who then cut back on spending — a painful economic loop. In the past, Democrats have strongly supported payroll tax cuts, while Republicans have

been more resistant. Republicans have complained that such cuts do not help the economy and disproportionately worsen the deficit. White House officials have shifted wildly in recent days, with varying assessments about the economy. Kudlow has sought to convey optimism, but Trump has been less consistent. The president on Monday sought to play down the risk of a recession while also pinning the blame for a potential economic downturn on the Federal Reserve, chastising the central bank’s chairman, Jerome H. Powell, for a “horrendous lack of vision.” In a tweet, Trump also called for the Fed to reduce interest rates by at least 100 basis points, mark- ing an escalation of his demands on the central bank. Trump has frequently lashed out at Powell but had never used the phrase “basis points” in a tweet or made such a specific demand. “Our Economy is very strong, despite the horrendous lack of vision by Jay Powell and the Fed, but the Democrats are trying to ‘will’ the Economy to be bad for purposes of the 2020 Election,” Trump tweeted. “Very Selfish! Our dollar is so strong that it is sadly hurting other parts of the world.” He then declared that interest rates, “over a fairly short period of time, should be reduced by at least 100 basis points, with per- haps some quantitative easing as well.” The federal funds rate, which Trump is trying to persuade central bankers to cut, is set at 2.25 percent. Slashing it 100 basis

points would lower this rate to 1.25 percent, giving them little additional wiggle room to maneu- ver if a full-fledged recession began. The president’s plea to launch a new phase of “quantitative easing” is shorthand for asking the Fed to pump more money into the economy, a step that could weak- en the U.S. dollar. This also is seen as an extreme step that central bankers take when they are trying to urgently address a slumping economy, not a tactic that is em- ployed when the economy is still growing. After a tumultuous week in the markets suggested that the economy is heading onto shaky ground, Trump and his top officials have touted what they say are the economy’s strengths, particularly consumer spending, and predicted that a recession will not occur. But even as the White House has dismissed the notion that the country may be headed toward a recession, Trump has sent mixed messages. In an exchange with reporters in Morristown, N.J., shortly before taking off for Washington on Sunday evening, Trump brushed aside the possibility of a downturn, saying, “I don’t see a recession.” “I mean, the world is in a recession right now — although that’s too big a statement,” he added, in a remark that appeared to under- cut his effort to calm fears. [email protected]

Felicia Sonmez and Isaac Stanley- Becker contributed to this report.

Payroll tax cuts offer stimulus but also fuel surging deficits

Facebook,

Twitter cut

fake China

accounts

OLIVER CONTRERAS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow has indicated that additional tax cuts are on the table in White House deliberations.

Retired administrator slain on Cal State campus

“It is clear that he was

beloved for his

commitment to and

passion for both Cal

State Fullerton and our

Titan Family.” Framroze Virjee, president, California State University at Fullerton

S0629 3x10.

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