House Democrats promise 'meaningful' relief for state and local tax deduction cap

Source: CNBC

House Democrats have said they will pursue “meaningful” change to the $10,000 cap on the federal deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT.

The controversial measure is part of former President Donald Trump’s signature 2017 tax overhaul and has been a pain point for Americans in high tax states.

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However, the proposed repeal has received pushback from lawmakers who argue the tax cut may primarily benefit the wealthy.

The top 20% of taxpayers may receive more than 96% of the benefit of a SALT cap repeal, according to a Tax Policy Center report, and only 9% of American households may be affected.

Moreover, the top 1% of households may receive 54% of the benefit, with an average tax break of $34,000.

The cap on the SALT deduction brought in $77.4 billion the first year it was instated, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. Removing the limit for 2021 may cost $88.7 billion, and more in future years.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/15/democrats-vow-meaningful-relief-for-state-and-local-tax-deduction-.html

Top Democrat threatens to subpoena Biden officials as Blinken testifies on Afghanistan

Source: Axios

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is testifying Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he'll face a second day of interrogation from Republican lawmakers highly critical of the Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The latest: The committee's chair, hawkish New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez, pulled no punches in his opening statement, threatening to subpoena Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other Biden officials who decline to voluntarily appear before the committee.

Mr. Secretary, the execution of the U.S. withdrawal was clearly and fatally flawed," Menendez told Blinken.

Menendez promised accountability for the multiple administrations who "lied" about the stability of the Afghan government, and she aid Austin's refusal to testify "will affect my personal judgment on Department of Defense nominees."

Read more: https://www.axios.com/blinken-senate-testimony-afghanistan-f49c16e1-7093-49ab-8c47-af4e9dee8789.html

Producer inflation accelerated in August, as wholesale prices rose record 8.3% from a year ago

Source: CNBC

Prices that producers get for final demand goods and services surged in August at their highest annual rate since at least 2010, the Labor Department reported Friday.

The producer price index rose 0.7% for the month, above the 0.6% Dow Jones estimate, though below the 1% increase in July.

On a year-over-year basis, the gauge rose 8.3%, which is the biggest annual increase since records have been kept going back to November 2010. That came following a 7.8% move higher in July, which also set a record.

The data comes amid heightened inflation fears fed by supply chain issues, a shortage of various consumer and producer goods and heightened demand related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Federal Reserve officials expect inflationary pressures to ease through the year, but they have remained stubbornly persistent, with Friday’s numbers indicating that the trend likely will continue.

Excluding food, energy and trade services, final demand prices increased 0.3% for the month, below the 0.5% Dow Jones estimate. Still, that left core PPI up 6.3% from a year ago, also the largest record increase for data going back to August 2014.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/10/august-wholesale-prices-rise-8point3percent-on-an-annual-basis-biggest-advance-on-record.html

Lenox Square in Buckhead to require youths be accompanied by adults

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In the wake of several shootings, including one involving two teens, Lenox Square will begin requiring visitors under 18 to be accompanied at all times by an adult.

A Wednesday afternoon news release detailed the new policy, which is called the “youth supervision program.” Any youth will have to be accompanied by their parent or an adult who is 21 or older after 3 p.m. each day, starting September 21.

The change comes after a violent two years for the mall, a premier retail destination in the heart of Buckhead. Lenox has struggled to maintain its reputation for posh shopping despite a string of headline-grabbing shootings and assaults.

Two shootings took place on Lenox Square property over the summer after 3 p.m., one of which involved two 15-year-olds. Rising crime in Atlanta’s richest neighborhood has reinvigorated an effort to make Buckhead its own city.

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Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who has faced criticisms over the city’s rising crime rate since 2020, lauded the mall’s actions in a statement.

“The engagement and care of young people remains a top priority for our Administration. We welcome responsible efforts by the business community to ensure the wellbeing of Atlanta’s residents and visitors — especially our young people,” Bottoms said.

Read more: https://www.ajc.com/neighborhoods/dekalb/breaking-lenox-square-in-buckhead-to-require-youths-be-accompanied-by-adults-after-3-pm/U5GLNXGIAFDKHO6UMQSKPIIKUE/

Top Dems leave door open to trimming Biden's $3.5T price tag

Source: Associated Press

Congress’ two top Democrats seemed to leave the door open Wednesday to ultimately reducing the $3.5 trillion price tag of President Joe Biden’s plan to boost social and environment programs, illustrating party divisions they will spend weeks trying to resolve.

The leaders seemed to suggest what many lawmakers and analysts have long predicted and progressives fear — satisfying moderates may well require shrinking the measure, perhaps by hundreds of billions of dollars. They spoke as 13 House committees have begun writing pieces of the bill, an initial step leaders hope to complete by next week.

“We will have our negotiations,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters, saying her chamber would produce “a great bill that honors the values of the president.” She added, “I don’t know what the number will be.”

Asked separately if he would back a less costly measure, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, “We’re going to all come together to get something big done. And second, it’s our intention to have every part of the Biden plan in a big and robust way.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-nancy-pelosi-520ab7773adb68c6df4ac559c94c3687

The James Webb telescope has a bona fide launch date

Source: ARS Technica

NASA announced in August that the James Webb Space Telescope had passed its final ground-based tests and was being prepared for shipment to its launch site in Kourou, French Guiana. Now, the oft-delayed $10 billion telescope has an official launch date: December 18, 2021.

The date was announced on Wednesday by NASA, the European Space Agency, and the launch provider, Arianespace. The space telescope will launch on an Ariane 5 rocket.

Why is NASA's most expensive scientific instrument ever launching on a European rocket? Because the European Space Agency is conducting the launch for NASA in return for a share of observation time using the infrared telescope. Webb will observe wavelengths of light longer than those of the Hubble Space telescope, and this should allow the new instrument to see the earliest galaxies of the Universe.

To the frustration of scientists and policymakers, myriad technical problems have delayed Webb's development over the last decade, leading to enormous cost overruns. Some of this is understandable, as unfurling the 20-meter-long telescope in deep space requires 50 major deployments and 178 major release mechanisms. All of these systems must work or the instrument will fail. There is no easy means of servicing the telescope at its location near a Sun-Earth LaGrange point 1.5 million km from Earth, or four times the distance to the Moon.

Read more: https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/09/the-james-webb-telescope-has-a-bona-fide-launch-date/

Scoop: Manchin backs as little as $1 trillion of Biden's $3.5 trillion plan

Source: Axios

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) has privately warned the White House and congressional leaders that he has specific policy concerns with President Biden's $3.5 trillion social spending dream — and he'll support as little as $1 trillion of it.

At most, he's open to supporting $1.5 trillion, sources familiar with the discussions say.

Why it matters: In a 50-50 Senate, that could mean the ceiling for Biden's "Build Back Better" agenda — and that many progressive priorities, from universal preschool to free community college, are in danger of dying this Congress.

Manchin also has committed to paying for any new spending with new revenue, which will limit the ultimate size of any final package.

This amount would be on top of a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal passed by the Senate and awaiting House action.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/scoop-manchin-backs-as-little-as-1-trillion-of-bidens-35-trillion-plan-91d079e0-84a7-4f8f-94d4-212827a61339.html

Cool rendition of the Oval Office through the last 15ish Presidents

FTC investigates why McDonald's ice cream machines are always broken

Source: AJC

The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly investigating why the ice cream machines at McDonald’s restaurants across the country always seem to be out of order.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Biden administration sent a letter to franchisees over the summer, requesting information about the ubiquitous machines that are supposed to serve up milkshakes, soft cones and the fast-food chain’s popular McFlurry on demand.

Instead, frustrated customers typically find the appliances either malfunctioning or broken, with the restaurant’s managers everywhere struggling to explain why.

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The widespread conundrum has the FTC questioning whether big manufacturers have been purposely preventing franchisees from hiring local-level, independent repairmen to fix the machines, the Journal reports.



Read more: https://www.ajc.com/news/ftc-investigates-why-mcdonalds-ice-cream-machines-are-always-broken/K6NKWB42KJD5XM3XE3OW6L3XBM/

Key inflation gauge rises 3.6% from a year ago to tie biggest jump since the early 1990s

Source: CNBC

An inflation measure the Federal Reserve uses to set policy rose 3.6% in July from a year ago, meeting Wall Street expectations but also tying the highest level in about 30 years.

The core personal consumption expenditures price index, which the Fed sees as the broadest measure of inflation, was unchanged from June, which was revised up one-tenth of a percentage point, the Commerce Department reported Friday. That 3.6% reading equaled the Dow Jones estimate and appeared to be the highest level since May 1991.

Including volatile food and energy prices, the index rose 4.2% year over year, up from 4% in June and the highest reading since January 1991.

Personal income also surged for the month, jumping 1.1%, well ahead of the 0.3% Dow Jones estimate.

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Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told CNBC on Friday that business contacts in his region have told him they see inflation persisting beyond the near-term time frame.

“We don’t want and we really can’t afford to have inflation that is too high, because people at the lower end of the spectrum are going to be hurt pretty significantly,” he told CNBC’s Steve Liesman during a “Squawk Box” interview.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/27/key-inflation-gauge-rises-3point6percent-from-a-year-ago-to-tie-biggest-jump-since-the-early-1990s.html