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Re: Business & Politics News and Discussions

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weatheriscool
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Infrastructure Deal Puts Cryptocurrencies in Washington's Cross Hairs
Source: MSN/NY Times

WASHINGTON — In a hunt for funds to help pay for the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure package, lawmakers have turned to the cryptocurrency industry as a potential source of tax revenue and are proposing tougher scrutiny of digital transactions.

A provision of the package would require cryptocurrency brokers and investors to provide more disclosure about their transactions to the Internal Revenue Service. The aim is to bring more transparency to an opaque sector, which critics argue is a haven for money laundering and tax evasion. But the provision also underscores the realization in Washington that the $2 trillion industry is here to stay and offers a new opportunity to generate federal tax revenue.

By strengthening tax enforcement on such digital assets, the federal government could raise $28 billion over a decade, according to an estimate by the Joint Committee on Taxation, which analyzed the plan. While that would be just a small fraction of the $550 billion that lawmakers have proposed in new federal spending on infrastructure, it is among the few fresh sources of revenue included in the plan.

The potential for more federal scrutiny of crypto transactions is rattling nerves in the nascent financial technology industry, which has so far escaped the kind of rigorous oversight applied to traditional financial services.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/taxes/i ... d=msedgntp
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Yuli Ban
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Will the Delta variant halt global economic recovery?
The hopes for recovery from the pandemic fell flat with the resurgence of the new Delta variant. As the new Covid-19 cases rise across the globe, market investors and economists fear sloppy economic growth.

First identified in India, Delta is now dominant in the U.K. and several other countries, including Germany, Italy, and France. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the variant is detected in 96 countries. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified it as a variant ‘of concern’ and said delta accounts for 20% of all covid cases in the U.S.

There has been uncertainty and doubts over the economic recuperation ever since the delta made its way.

A week ago, IHS Markit survey of American businesses reported that the new variant played a part in weighing on June factory output, particularly “in various emerging Asian economies.”

Chris Williamson, the chief business economist at IHS Markit, says, “The Delta variant poses a major risk to the outlook. Not only have rising case numbers led to a slide in business optimism to the lowest since February, but further Covid waves around the world could also lead to further global supply-chain delays.”
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
weatheriscool
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Re: Business & Politics News and Discussions

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Amazon union election results should be scrapped over improprieties, NLRB officer recommends
Source: Washington Post
SEATTLE — Amazon improperly pressured Alabama warehouse workers to vote against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and should hold a new union election, according to recommendations from National Labor Relations Board hearing officer. The NLRB hasn’t released the decision, but the union put out a statement saying the recommendation went in its favor. The NLRB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The recommendation stems from the fiercely contested election at a warehouse that ended in April with a resounding defeat for the union. Workers rejected unionization by more than 2-to-1, a loss for both the RWDSU and labor groups broadly. During the nearly two-month mail-in balloting, the union drew support from leaders at the AFL-CIO as well as progressive politicians nationally including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate and voting-rights advocate Stacey Abrams.

The recommendation will now move to the NLRB’s regional director in Atlanta, which oversaw the election, to issue a ruling. That decision could take several weeks, according to the agency. “Throughout the NLRB hearing, we heard compelling evidence how Amazon tried to illegally interfere with and intimidate workers as they sought to exercise their right to form a union,” union president Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement. “We support the hearing officer’s recommendation that the NLRB set aside the election results and direct a new election.”

Ten days after the votes were counted, the RWDSU filed objections to the agency, alleging that Amazon’s tactics “constitute conduct which prevented a free and uncoerced exercise of choice by the employees.” It argued those actions “constitute grounds to set the election aside.” That filing led to a nearly three-week hearing in May at the agency’s Atlanta regional office, which oversaw the election. Several workers appeared via video on the union’s behalf, testifying that Amazon’s tactics created an atmosphere of election surveillance. The union argued that perception tainted the election.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technolo ... tion-redo/
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House Dem campaign chief warns the majority at risk without message reboot
Source: Politico

During a closed-door lunch last week with some of his most vulnerable incumbents, House Democrats’ campaign chief delivered a blunt warning: If the midterms were held now, they would lose the majority.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) followed that bleak forecast, which was confirmed by multiple people familiar with the conversation, with new polling that showed Democrats falling behind Republicans by a half-dozen points on a generic ballot in battleground districts. Maloney advised the party to course-correct ahead of 2022 by doing more to promote President Joe Biden’s agenda, which remains popular with swing voters.

“We are not afraid of this data ... We’re not trying to hide this,” Tim Persico, executive director of the Maloney-chaired Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in an interview.

“If [Democrats] use it, we’re going to hold the House. That’s what this data tells us, but we gotta get in action,” he added.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/0 ... ity-502265
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Yuli Ban
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The Dems can't reboot their message because they're the boring corporate party that just happens to have liberal social ideas. If they swing towards Bernie's end, their donors will get upset. What the Dems need is a Teddy Roosevelt-like strongman.
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weatheriscool
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Re: Business & Politics News and Discussions

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Budget office: Infrastructure bill adds $256B to deficits
Source: AP

By KEVIN FREKING and LISA MASCARO
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearing decision time, senators are wrapping up work on the bipartisan infrastructure plan and talks were underway late Thursday to expedite consideration and voting on the nearly $1 trillion proposal.

The package appeared on track for eventual Senate passage, a rare accord between Republicans and Democrats joining on a shared priority that also is essential to President Joe Biden’s agenda. But the schedule was not set as senators were working into the evening, and voting could still push into the weekend.

A much anticipated analysis of the bill from the Congressional Budget Office concluded that the legislation would increase deficits by about $256 billion over the next decade. Senators wanted that information before voting.

As senators proposed more changes to the package, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said those amendments would need to be considered, and then “we’ll be able to begin to wind things down.”




Read more: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-bu ... 41c1debd85
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The Chip Shortage Is Getting Worse
by Rebecca Heilweil
August 5, 2021

https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/8/5/226 ... ation-xbox

Introduction:
(Vox) Starting next week, General Motors is again halting the assembly lines of several pickup truck plants because the company doesn’t have enough computer chips. The plants had been back up and running for just a week following a shutdown in July, which was also caused by the chip shortage.

These production halts may not stop anytime soon. “I do think we’ll continue to see impact this year, and it will have a tail into next year,” warned CEO Mary Barra on Wednesday. And Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger similarly predicted last month that things won’t get back to normal for at least a year or two.

Now, the impact of the supply crunch is spreading to consumer tech. Apple CEO Tim Cook warned last week that a limited supply of semiconductors would hurt sales of iPhones. Microsoft is struggling to make enough Xbox consoles and Surface laptops. Elon Musk told a court last month that the chip shortage meant Tesla would only be able to manufacture about half as many Powerwall home batteries as it thinks it can sell. One San Francisco sex toy company even stockpiled microcontrollers to fend off future supply chain problems.

It’s clear that the global chip shortage shows no sign of abating anytime soon. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. While the White House is racing to expand chip manufacturing in the US to avoid future shortages, it could be years before that government investment actually pays off for consumers. So for now, the chip industry will continue to be hampered by the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, as products ship with missing features and higher prices — often after long delays.
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weatheriscool
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Biden administration plans tougher action to rein in meat prices
Source: Reuters

By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration plans to take a tougher stance toward meatpacking companies it says are causing sticker shock at grocery stores.

Four companies control much of the U.S. meat processing market, and top aides to President Joe Biden blamed those companies for rising food prices in a blog on Wednesday.

As part of a set of initiatives, the administration will funnel $1.4 billion in COVID-19 pandemic stimulus money to small meat producers and workers, administration aides said in the blog post. They also promised action to "crack down on illegal price fixing," White House aides said in the blog post.

Four companies slaughtered about 85% of U.S. grain-fattened cattle that are made into steaks, beef roasts and other cuts of meat for consumers in 2018, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biden-ad ... 49279.html
weatheriscool
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Feds fine Wells Fargo $250 million for 'unsafe or unsound' home lending practices
Source: AP

Wells Fargo has been fined $250 million by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for “unsafe or unsound practices” related to the bank’s home lending business, according to the bank and the agency Thursday.

The OCC, Wells Fargo’s top federal banking regulator, imposed the penalty on the bank for misconduct “related to material deficiencies regarding the bank’s loss mitigation activities” and violations of a 2018 consent order issued by the agency, according to OCC documents.

The 2018 order required the bank to take a variety of actions to account for deficiencies in its risk management program, including creating a new risk management plan and forming an independent committee to evaluate its progress. The order addressed misconduct related to mortgage and auto loans, among other violations.

“Building an appropriate risk and control infrastructure has been and remains Wells Fargo’s top priority,” Charlie Scharf, Wells Fargo’s CEO, said in a statement. “The OCC’s actions today point to work we must continue to do to address significant, longstanding deficiencies.”
Read more: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/ ... tage_card2
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