Biden one term pledge

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Inflation is up 8.5% since this time last year according to this morning’s CPI report . Economists expected the CPI to increase by 8.7% . Continued high inflation is lowering real earnings and undermining consumer confidence . The Federal Reserve has the biggest role to play in combatting high inflation, but better economic policies from President Biden and Congress would help. Inflation is fundamentally a problem of too much money chasing too few goods. The Federal Reserve controls the money supply, so it is ultimately responsible for the long-term path of inflation. Right now the economy is sending the Fed mixed signals: The latest jobs report shows the economy created 528,000 new jobs in July, but real GDP declined the last two quarters, which typically signals a recession. Labor productivity also fell each of the past two quarters, which is another sign of slower economic growth. The declines in real GDP … [Read more...] about Inflation Still High And Biden’s Policies Are Not Helping

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin While Congress is getting ready to raise federal taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), it hasn’t gone unnoticed that lawmakers in many state capitals are doing the opposite, enacting tax relief. “Widespread tax breaks in the nation’s statehouses stands in contrast to what’s happening in Washington,” Bloomberg reported on August 9, adding that nearly “two dozen states slashed personal or corporate income-tax rates in the past two years and more than a dozen enacted temporary relief in 2022.” In addition to cutting income tax burdens, there has been a recent trend of states moving from progressive to flat personal income tax rates. Georgia was among the states where legislation was enacted in 2022 to go to a flat tax. The income tax cut signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) in April, which will move Georgia from a progressive income tax code with a top rate of 5.75% … [Read more...] about Georgia Shows Contrasting Direction Of Federal & State Tax Burdens

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Federal statutes in the U.S. Code and agency rules in the Code of Federal Regulations are easy to locate online. This is not the case , however, for the thousands of sub-regulatory guidance documents and “interpretative rules,” notices, bulletins, circulars, memoranda and so forth . But then again, these were never easy to locate offline either. Guidance documents are ostensibly non-binding, meant to inform or provide clarity, but guidance can be inapprorpriately leveraged to influence policy and public behavior, according to the Administrative Conference of the United States . This is a concern especially in presidential administrations inclined to deploy the “pen and phone,” as Obama did; or to “act without Congress,” as Biden’s spokespeople often declare he can do. So it was a good thing back in 2019 when Donald Trump issued “ Promoting the Rule of Law through Improved Agency Guidance Documents ” … [Read more...] about Good News On Red Tape? Some Trump-Era Federal Agency Guidance Document Portals Remain Intact

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries secretary-general Haitham Al-Ghais - A + A VIENNA (Aug 17): Global oil markets face a high risk of a supply squeeze this year as demand remains resilient and spare production capacity dwindles, the new head of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said. Fears over slowing consumption in China and the wider world — which have pushed crude prices 16% lower this month — have been exaggerated, OPEC secretary-general Haitham Al-Ghais said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. At the same time, producers in OPEC and beyond are running out of extra supplies they can bring to market, Al-Ghais said at OPEC's Vienna headquarters. The Kuwaiti oil executive was appointed as the group's top diplomat this month. "We are running on thin ice, if I may use that term, because spare capacity is becoming scarce," Al-Ghais said. "The likelihood of a squeeze is there." International oil prices have retreated to … [Read more...] about OPEC chief sees high risk of oil squeeze amid bullish demand