Signs That The Economy Is Losing Steam
Worrying outlook.Amid persistently high inflation, rising consumer prices and declining spending, the American economy is showing clear signs of slowing down, fueling concerns about a potential recession. Here are other eight measures signaling trouble ahead:
Retail sales.The latest report from the Commerce Department showed that retail sales fell 0.3 percent in May, and rose less in April than initially believed.
Consumer confidence.In June, the University of Michigans survey of consumer sentiment hit its lowest level in its 70-year history, with nearly half of respondents saying inflation is eroding their standard of living.
The housing market.Demand for real estate has decreased, and construction of new homes is slowing. These trends could continue as interest rates rise, and real estate companies, including Compass and Redfin, have laid off employees in anticipation of a downturn in the housing market.
Start-up funding.Investments in start-ups have declined to their lowest level since 2019, dropping 23 percent over the last three months, to $62.3 billion.
The stock market.The S& P 500 had its worst first half of a year since 1970, and it is down nearly 19 percent since January. Every sector of the index beyond energy is down from the beginning of the year.
Oil.Crude prices are up this year, in part because of supply constraints resulting from Russias invasion of Ukraine, but they have recently started to waver as investors worry about growth.
Here Are President Trump’s Past And Present Views On How Best To Fix Social Security
In case you haven’t heard, America’s most important social program, Social Security, is in a bit of trouble. A number of ongoing demographic changes have Social Security on track to completely exhaust its $2.9 trillion in asset reserves by 2035. Should this happen, Social Security wouldn’t be bankrupt, but it would mean sweeping benefit cuts to then-current and future retired workers of up to 23%.
Social Security needs a fix, and it’s lawmakers on Capitol Hill who will have to deliver that resolution. That’s why it’s more important now than ever to know where the leading 2020 presidential candidates stand on Social Security. Today, we’ll take a closer look at incumbent Republican Donald Trump’s viewpoints on Social Security.
Trump Suggests He May Be Open To Entitlement Cuts In Future
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump appeared to suggest in a television interview Wednesday that hes willing to consider entitlement cuts in the future, a move that would mark a tectonic shift from his stance during his 2016 run for the White House.
Trump suggested he was open to a cut in social safety net benefits, such as Medicare and Social Security, in comments during a CNBC interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
While Trump has repeatedly talked up strong economic growth, the federal budget deficit has swollen as his administration has pressed for tax cuts and increased government spending.
Asked if entitlement cuts would ever be on his agenda, Trump responded, At some point they will be.
As a candidate for the White House, Trump stood apart from much of the GOP primary field as he vowed to oppose cuts to Social Security and Medicare, while also ensuring every American had health coverage.
In the CNBC interview, Trump called tackling entitlement spending the easiest of all things and suggested higher economic growth would make it easier to reduce spending on the programs.
Well, were going were going to look, Trump said. We also have assets that weve never had. I mean weve never had growth like this.
The budget deficit is expected to reach $1 trillion this year, according to projections by the Congressional Budget Office.
More recently, Trumps 2020 budget called for deep cuts in Medicare payments to hospitals.
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Trump’s Cuts To Medicare Hospital Payments Trigger An Outcry
Candidate Trump promised not to cut Medicare but his payment cuts to hospitals prompt an outcry
WASHINGTON — Democrats are accusing President Donald Trump of going back on his campaign promise to protect Medicare after he introduced a 2020 budget that calls for steep cuts in Medicare payments to hospitals.
The budget embodies long-standing Republican ambitions “to make Medicare wither on the vine,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday.
“After exploding the deficit with his GOP tax scam for the rich, President Trump is once again trying to ransack Medicare, Medicaid and the health care of seniors and families across America,” Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement.
“This budget says ‘promises kept,'” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. “Balderdash.”
The administration argues that the budget doesn’t cut Medicare benefits to seniors but makes better use of taxpayers’ dollars and helps reduce Medicare spending by lowering prescription drug costs.
“On Medicare, we are actually putting it on a sounder footing,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told House lawmakers Tuesday at a budget hearing.
As outlined in White House documents, the budget calls for $845 billion in total, or gross, spending reductions to Medicare over 10 years, mainly by cutting future payments to hospitals and other service providers.
As a candidate early in the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump held himself out as a different kind of Republican.
What Seniors Need To Know About Trumps 2021 Federal Budget
Trump’s proposed budget reduces Medicare spending by 7% over the next ten years, among other cuts to … senior programs.
Getty
Today, President Donald Trump and the White House Office of Management and Budget released a proposed 2021 budget. Trumps budget includes cuts to key senior programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security Disability Insurance. While the proposed budget would slash funding for many programs that seniors rely on, other important areas for seniors, like veterans healthcare, would get a boost.
Seniors should think of the proposed budget as President Trumps wish list: not all of his proposals will take effect. Most, but not all, of his proposals would require the cooperation of the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and the Republican-controlled Senate.
Here are the line items from Trumps 2021 budget that would have the greatest impact on seniors.
The Budget Would Reduce Medicare Spending
President Trumps budgetwould reduce Medicare spending by a total of $756 billion between 2021 and 2030, a decrease of 7%.
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Trump With White House As Literal Backdrop Talks About Its History As Critics Say Hes Violating The Law
Dartunorro Clark
Trump embedded references to the countrys past presidents, such as Lincoln, Grant and Eisenhower, and the work they did in the White House as he gives a speech from the Peoples House.
Gathered here at our beautiful and majestic White House known all over the world as the People’s House we cannot help but marvel at the miracle that is our Great American Story, Trump said. This has been the home of larger-than-life figures like Teddy Roosevelt and Andrew Jackson who rallied Americans to bold visions of a bigger and brighter future. Within these walls lived tenacious generals like Presidents Grant and Eisenhower who led our soldiers in the cause of freedom.
Critics and ethics experts have routinely hammered the president for hosting a political convention that included the performance of official duties at the White House, which they say is a violation of federal law that prohibits government employees from participating in political activities.
White House advisor Kellyanne Conway, who gave a speech, was excoriated by a government watchdog for repeatedly violating the federal law called the Hatch Act by engaging in partisan politics. Ivanka Trump, a senior aide, also gave a speech at the White House, raising similar issues.
Trump Opens Door To Cuts To Medicare And Other Entitlement Programs
The president signaled a willingness to scale back Medicare, a shift from his 2016 platform of protecting entitlement programs.
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By Alan Rappeport and Maggie Haberman
WASHINGTON President Trump suggested on Wednesday that he would be willing to consider cuts to social safety-net programs like Medicare to reduce the federal deficit if he wins a second term, an apparent shift from his 2016 campaign promise to protect funding for such entitlements.
The president made the comments on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Despite promises to reduce the federal budget deficit, it has ballooned under Mr. Trumps watch as a result of sweeping tax cuts and additional government spending.
Asked in an interview with CNBC if cuts to entitlements would ever be on his plate, Mr. Trump answered yes.
At some point they will be, Mr. Trump said, before pointing to United States economic growth. At the right time, we will take a look at that.
Mr. Trump suggested that curbing spending on Medicare, the government health care program for the elderly, was a possibility.
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How Trump Wants To Whack Medicare And Medicaid Spending
When he first ran for president, Donald Trump blasted the Obama administration for hurting senior citizens by slashing billions from Medicare.
Now, the tables have turned. Democrats are piling on Trump, accusing him of breaking his campaign promise not to touch the federal health care program for the elderly.
The Trump administration unveiled a budget Monday that would reduce spending in Medicare as well as Medicaid, which provides coverage for low-income Americans, by hundreds of billions of dollars compared to current law.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, who is considering a run for the 2020 Democratic nomination, told a crowd Tuesday that Trump is curtailing spending to pay for the tax cut he gave the super wealthy, a reference to the 2017 GOP tax law.
Trading Medicare and Medicaid for tax breaks?, he said in a speech before the International Association of Fire Fighters. How is that going to help the people in this room or most of the people you live with? How is that going to help this country?
Its notable that Trump is proposing even larger spending reductions for Medicare than he has over the past two years. In fact, his first budget barely touched the program at all.
Factoring in this change, Medicare spending would be $575 billion lower, said Marc Goldwein, senior vice president at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a think tank.
Democrats Have Already Signaled Trumps Budget Is Going Nowhere
While Trump tries to have it both ways by proposing entitlement cuts while claiming hes not really doing that, Treasury Department spokesperson Monica Crowley was somewhat more straightforward during a Monday morning appearance on Fox Business.
Asked by host Stuart Varney if she agrees that the new budget hits the safety net, Crowley said the president understands that Washingtons habit of out of control spending without consequence has to be stopped.
Treasury Secretary Assistant Sec. Monica Crowley defends cuts to entitlements in Trump’s new 2021 budget proposal: “The president also understands that Washington’s habit of out of control spending without consequence has to be stopped.”
Aaron Rupar
But for Trump, not all spending is bad. While his budget cuts non-defense spending by 5 percent, he actually slates defense spending for an increase to $740.5 billion for fiscal year 2021.
Budget proposals are just that proposals. And while Trump insists that Republicans are the ones trying to save entitlements from destruction, the irony is that the truth is exactly the opposite: Entitlement cuts are dead on arrival as long as Democrats control a chamber of Congress.
Related
The viral video of Mike Pence being grilled by an ER doctor about Medicaid cuts, explained
House Budget Committee Chair John Yarmuth alluded to this reality in a statement he released on Sunday blasting Trump for proposing deep cuts to critical programs that help American families.
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We All Saw This One Coming
Washington PostGOP eyes post-tax-cut changes to welfare, Medicare and Social SecurityHigh-ranking Republicans are hinting that, after their tax overhaul, the party intends to look at cutting spending on welfare, entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare,Wall Street JournalAfter Push on Taxes, Republicans Line Up Welfare Revamp NextMr.Trump has repeatedly said he is interested in kick-starting a debate around means-tested social programsA draft executive order has been prepared during the past two months for Mr. Trump to sign, at the presidents requestNewsweekRepublicans Will Cut Social Security And Medicare After Tax Plan Passes, Says Marco Rubiowill require cuts to Social Security and Medicare to pay for itTo address the federal deficit, which will grow by at least $1 trillion if the tax plan passes, Congress will need to cut entitlement programs such as Social Security,most analyses of the plan shows that it increases taxes on low-income Americans and significantly aids wealthy business owners. Cuts to welfare and safety net programs would directly affect the poorest and most vulnerable Americans
Some In White House Audience For Trump’s Speech Already Waiting To Get In
NBC News
President Trump isnt expected to speak for another five hours, but theres already a line of nicely-dressed folks on 15th St. waiting to get into the White House to be part of the audience.
Garrett Haake
About 17.3 million people tuned in for Night 3 of the RNC, a decline compared to the second night of the convention and about the same as the first night, according to data released by media measurement company Nielsen.
Night 3 of the Democratic convention drew about 22.8 million viewers.
The downtick happened during a busy news day an NBA player walkout, a hurricane barreling toward Louisiana, and the ongoing unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin that partially drowned out the convention, which Vice President Mike Pence headlined.
The Nielsen data does not take into account people who watched some or all of the convention online. Most major broadcast networks and many other media companies have livestreamed the conventions on various platforms.
But the viewership is still a significant drop off compared to 2016, when Night 3 drew 23.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
A Joe Biden administration would address systemic racism and tackle police reform, Sen. Kamala Harris said Thursday, invoking the sickening shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin as further evidence of the need to address racial injustice in the U.S.
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Fact Check: Ivanka Trump Claims Trump Built ‘most Robust Testing System In The World’ That’s Inaccurate
President Trump built the most robust testing system in the world, daughter and White House adviser Ivanka Trump claimed Thursday night.
This is inaccurate. Experts say U.S. testing is far too limited to gauge the true size of the countrys uncontrolled and fast-moving outbreak, as high rates of positive tests indicate that many milder cases are going undetected. Meanwhile, manufacturers continue to report shortages of supplies and lab backups leave people waiting weeks for test results. The U.S. has actually begun conducting fewer tests than it was in July, even as the outbreak spreads rapidly.
Covid Tests Masks Not Required For Trump Speech
Hallie Jackson and Winston Wilde
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Thursday that “a number of” GOP convention guests at the White House tonight will have been tested for COVID-19 but that “you make choices individually.”
“I think it’s a pretty safe environment, given the circumstances,” Meadows said. “I’m not worried about that based on the protocols that we have in place.”
Chairs set up on the lawn ahead of the speech were well under 6 feet apart, flouting local social distancing guidelines. With a crowd of more than 1,000 people, tonight’s speech appears to be the largest non-socially-distanced White House event in the COVID era. The crowd is made up of a mix of GOP lawmakers, delegates, friends, family and donors from all over the country some of whom have flown in.
Masks were not required.
Joe Biden said Thursday that he plans on returning to the real-life campaign trail after Labor Day.
At a virtual fundraiser with Illinois attorneys, Biden was asked if he planned to resume physical campaigning in battleground states.
Biden said he plans to do so, but “without jeopardizing or violating state rules about how many people can in fact assemble. One of the things were thinking about is Im going to be going up into Wisconsin, and Minnesota, spending time in Pennsylvania, out in Arizona.”
He added that he’s missed being on the trail and acknowledged he has to make changes to his style.
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Do Republicans In Congress Want To Take Away Social Security Medicare Medicaid
Its been a time-tested Democratic attack line: Republicans are going to take away your Medicare, or maybe your Social Security. We gave a variant of the line our 2011 Lie of the Year.
Now the talking point has re-emerged, in a , from Oregons Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee:
“#TrumpTax was only the beginning. After giving massive tax giveaways to wealthy & powerful shareholders, Republicans in Congress are plotting to take away Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.”
#TrumpTax was only the beginning. After giving massive tax giveaways to wealthy & powerful shareholders, Republicans in Congress are plotting to take away Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Ron Wyden
In reality, the notion that congressional Republicans are scheming to “take away” Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security is inaccurate.
The Democratic news release
The first piece of evidence undercutting the tweets message is actually linked in the tweet itself.
An accompanying Senate Democratic press release, dated March 27, starts by saying, “Its only been a few months since Republicans jammed through their massive giveaway to corporate executives and wealthy shareholders. Now theyre planning on paying for it with huge cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, despite President Trumps promises that he wouldnt do so.”
These quotes suggest the Republican in charge of the House continues to seek overhauls of the entitlement system.
