The Show Notes: Inflation Reduction Act, IRS Audits, & Texas vs New York
Welcome! The Inflation Reduction Act passed the Senate and heads to the House.
NEW: Personal credit card debt surges 13% year-over-year.
Headline: Florida’s Democratic Senate Frontrunner Said These Radical Activists Would Dismantle Police in ‘Very Thoughtful’ Way - Washington Free Beacon
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Clip of the day:
Senate Passes Inflation Reduction Act
Senate Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act along party lines with Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote in the 50-50 chamber. The bill now heads to the U.S. House where it is expected to pass without issue.
What’s in it? The bill imposes a 15% minimum tax on corporations, 1% tax on corporate stock buybacks, allows for direct negotiations on drug prices, hikes IRS funding, and earmarks $369 billion to fight climate change.
The concern: The bill is essentially a tax increase on the middle class that empowers the IRS with $80 billion in new funding to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to scrutinize more taxpayers. Plus, according to Bernie Sanders, the bill does nothing to fight inflation.
Democrats promise that additional IRS funding will not result in the investigation of poor and middle-class people. The data says otherwise. Headline from CBS:
IRS audits the poor at 5 times the rate of everyone else, analysis finds
Danger ahead: The U.S. economy has yet to face its biggest recession challenge
Go read this story from CNBC. Here’s an excerpt.
You’d be hard-pressed now to find a recession in the rearview mirror. What’s down the road, though, is another story.
There is no historical precedent to indicate that an economy in recession can produce 528,000 jobs in a month, as the U.S. did during July. A 3.5% unemployment rate, tied for the lowest since 1969, is not consistent with contraction.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a recession ahead, and, ironically enough, it is the labor market’s phenomenal resiliency that could pose the broader economy’s biggest long-run danger. The Federal Reserve is trying to ease pressures on a historically tight jobs situation and its rapid wage gains in an effort to control inflation running at its highest level in more than 40 years.
Mayor Adams VS Governor Abbott
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is livid with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for sending busloads of (trigger warning) illegal aliens to New York City. Adams claims that 4,000 immigrants have been sent to New York City from Texas since May. Here’s what Abbott had to say according to Politico:
“In addition to Washington, D.C., New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city,” the statement said. “I hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief.”
The rest of the news:
Strong jobs report has Larry Summers ‘more worried’ about inflation - NY Post
‘Nobody wants a runoff’: Georgia braces for chance of overtime — again - Politico
Nikki Haley sees 2022 as a make-or-break election - Politico
Sunken jewels, buried treasure uncovered in the Bahamas from iconic 17th century Spanish shipwreck - NY Post
China extends invasion rehearsal drills to intimidate Taiwan - Washington Examiner
Who will pay for all the electric car chargers? Pretty much everyone - Axios
SoftBank posts a $21.6 billion quarterly loss on its Vision Fund, one of the highest in its history - CNBC
Biden's BFD - Axios
FOMO Is Back And It's Driving This Stock Rally - Zero Hedge
RNC names Milwaukee as 2024 GOP convention host city - Fox News
Amazon’s Roomba Deal Is Really About Mapping Your Home - Bloomberg (paywall)
Manchin’s Donors Include Pipeline Giants That Win in His Climate Deal - NYT (paywall)
Biden Schedule Is Heavy on Delaware, Light on Press Interviews and Golf - WSJ (paywall)
Tweets that caught my eye: