529 changes under new tax plan

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin President Biden’s recent infrastructure proposal has a $2 trillion plus price tag and he’s looking for a way to pay for at least some it. During his campaign, President Biden said he would not raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000 per year. Since direct tax increases on most people would break his campaign promise, Biden is looking elsewhere. One piece of his current plan is to raise the federal corporate income tax rate from 21% to 28%. While this does not directly violate his pledge, there is plenty of evidence that raising corporate income taxes affects all workers by reducing wages, slowing employment growth, and impeding innovation. Federal corporate income tax changes are relatively rare, but with 50 states there is a lot of change and variation at the state level. Rates vary from a high of 11.5% in New Jersey to a low of 2.5% in North Carolina. Economists have studied state corporate tax changes for … [Read more...] about Higher Corporate Taxes Affect Everyone

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin What a waste. On Thursday, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) announced that they had found poliovirus in wastewater samples from two counties, Orange County and Rockland County, in June and July. This water polio announcement came two weeks after the NYSDOH had announced on July 21 that an unvaccinated adult in Rockland County had gotten infected with the poliovirus and as a result became paralyzed. If you are wondering, “hmmm, polio, I don’t get it,” that’s because the U.S. was declared polio-free in 1979. That declaration came after years of public health efforts to get the U.S. population vaccinated against this dangerous and potentially deadly virus. Yet, such reappearance of the poliovirus in New York raises more concerns that continuing anti-vaccination campaigns may be setting our country back many decades and laying to waste all the hard work that had gotten the U.S. polio-free in the first place. … [Read more...] about New York Polio Update: Hundreds May Be Infected, Based On Wastewater Findings In 2 Counties

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Federico J. González, CEO of Radisson Hotel Group, believes the company is entering a new phase of growth with the recent, pre-pandemic launch of Radisson Collection, a new luxury segment for the hospitality company. Paired with the announcement that Radisson Hotel Group Americas and Choice Hotels are combining forces, he sees a bright future for the growing number and reach of its brands. Radisson Collection is the newest brand for Radisson, which in its own right, is growing by leaps and bounds. The combination of Radisson’s North and Latin American hotels and Choice Hotels gives loyalty program members more opportunity to redeem their points around the world . González shares details of the new luxury brand for Radisson, its new hotel openings and what loyalty program members and guests can expect when they visit. When and why did you launch Radisson Collection? The brand launched in March 2018, but is really … [Read more...] about Radisson Hotel Group CEO Outlines Plans For Luxury, Sustainability And 2022 Growth

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin In June the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released four new drinking water health advisories related to PFAS contamination. The soundness of these advisories has since been called into question and in late July a lawsuit was filed seeking to overturn two of them. PFAS is the acronym referring to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances, which the EPA describes as “a group of manufactured chemicals that have been used in industry and consumer products since the 1940s because of their useful properties.” The EPA notes there “are thousands of different PFAS, some of which have been more widely used and studied than others.” “These advisories indicate the level of drinking water contamination below which adverse health effects are not expected to occur,” the EPA said in a statement. “Health advisories provide technical information that federal, state, and local officials can use to inform the development of monitoring … [Read more...] about New Lawsuit Would Overturn EPA Advisories Seen As Precursor To More State & Federal Regulation

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin CVS Health plans to grow its business of selling individual coverage under the Affordable Care Act for 2023 to four new states. The disclosure during the company’s second quarter earnings call Wednesday morning comes a year after CVS Health’s Aetna health insurance unit announced a return to the business of selling individual coverage, also known as Obamacare, under the ACA. CVS left the ACA’s public exchanges five years ago along with other insurers that were unable to manage rising costs of uninsured patients signing up for such coverage. But the Biden administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress have made moves to bolster the health law and expand health insurance options to more Americans. Thus, health insurers like Aetna and others are expanding into new markets, boosting Obamacare enrollment to record numbers of Americans. “As we continue to build our Individual exchange business, we're on track to … [Read more...] about CVS Health Will Expand Obamacare Plans To 12 States

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Senators Joe Manchin (WV) and Chuck Schumer (NY) recently agreed to a slimmed down version of the failed Build Back Better plan they are calling the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Manchin and other proponents of the IRA argue it will boost economic growth and reduce inflation, but this is unlikely, especially in states like West Virginia that face problems unaddressed by the IRA. The IRA spends nearly $400 billion on energy tax credits and about $100 billion on health care subsidies, primarily for people who buy Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance plans. This proposed spending would be paid for by increasing corporate income taxes, “better” IRS enforcement, increasing taxes on investment returns, and savings from implementing price controls on certain drugs purchased by the government via Medicare and other programs. The tax increases and costs savings are projected to generate $305 billion more than the spending, and … [Read more...] about Inflation Reduction Act Won’t Help West Virginia

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline Summer 2022 continues to burn through the record books–Boston broke a daily record high set in 1928 Thursday—and here’s a real-time tracker of the most noteworthy, daily record-breaking high temperatures in major U.S. cities so far, according to data from the National Weather Service. Timeline June 10 Phoenix reaches 113 degrees (daily record high). June 14 Chicago hits 100 degrees, breaking a daily record set on the same day in 1987. June 15 Atlanta hits 99 (daily record high). June 21 Oakland hits 98 degrees (breaks 1954 daily record high by seven degrees). June 21 San Francisco hits 98 degrees (daily record high). June 22 Louisville reached 100 degrees (daily record high). July 8 Memphis records 103 degrees (daily record high). July 9 Dallas breaks the almost 70-year-old record when it reaches 107 degrees. July 9 Salt Lake City … [Read more...] about Historically Hot: Boston Breaks 1928 Daily Record High – These Are The Key Record-Breaking Temperatures For Summer 2022

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin As part of the legendary Grateful Dead, drummer Mickey Hart has built his more than 50-year career on uplifting others through music. And now, at a time when there has never been a greater need for healing, Hart is as busy as ever, knowing his music is necessary. Having just wrapped up a tour with Dead & Company, where he got to witness tens of thousands of fans joined together on a nightly basis, he has immediately turned his attention to rhythmic unity through a new Planet Drum album. Into The Groove finds Hart uniting with Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hidalgo and Sikiru Adepoju to showcase the power of the rhythm. The album leads off with the single "King Clave," which Planet Drum shared in a special video with charity organization Playing For Change. I spoke with Hart about how Tito Puente changed his life, the recent Dead & Company tour, the power of music and much more. Steve Baltin: When you listen … [Read more...] about Sunday Conversation: Mickey Hart On Dead & Company, Tito Puente And Why He’ll Never Retire

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Almost everyone who grew up in the United States after the end of World War II understood that an indicator of economic success if not the indicator was owning “your own home.” Homeownership attained mythic status representing not just climbing a rung up an economic ladder but a social and psychological one; owning a home meant being a full member of society. But is it really a good idea? While there are real, measurable economic gains that can be attributed to owning a home – or rather borrowing for one – has it had deleterious effects? Is it time to ask this question more seriously along with the essential one: “Is there an alternative and do we even need one?” A film by The Economist a couple years ago sets the stage for this conversation. The film’s title, “How an obsession with home ownership can ruin the economy,” might overstate the case just a bit, but it lays out in 12 minutes some of the most compelling challenges … [Read more...] about Is Home Ownership Still A Good Idea?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Most of the countries at the top of a new list of the wealthiest in the world are not among the biggest or the mightiest. Many, in fact, are among the smallest: Consider Luxembourg , which tops the list published by Global Finance. Singapore, Ireland, Qatar, Macao and Switzerland follow the world’s only grand duchy. The indicators of a nation’s wealth can vary from one ranking to another — thus the differences among them — but often include a country’s Gross Domestic Product, or GDP (goods and services produced by a country during one year), the GDP per capita (the average amount of money that each person in a country earns in a year) or the gross national income, or GNI. MORE FROM FORBES Ready To Move To Europe? These 6 Countries Are The Best For American Expats To Enjoy Life By Cecilia Rodriguez Examining the per capita GDP of each country around the globe is a frequent parameter because it … [Read more...] about The Richest Countries In The World: Tiny Luxembourg At The Top