DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ House G.O.P. Eyes Rescinding Unspent Covid Money as Part of Its Fiscal Plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Catie Edmondson | Madeleine Ngo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Their focus on the idea reflects how, after toiling unsuccessfully for months to unite their rank and file around a fiscal blueprint, G.O.P. leaders have become acutely aware that they have few options for doing so that could actually pass the House. On Wednesday, Speaker Kevin McCarthy highlighted the measure when he finally unveiled House Republicans’ proposal to raise the debt limit for one year in exchange for a series of spending cuts and policy changes. “The American people are tired of politicians who use Covid as an excuse for more extreme inflationary spending,” Mr. McCarthy said in a speech on the House floor. “If the money was authorized to fight the pandemic, what was not spent during the pandemic should not be spent after the pandemic is over.”

Failure to raise the debt ceiling would lead to default that would shake the U.S. and world economies. McCarthy said the package would lower spending by $4.5 trillion over the coming 10 years. Biden reiterated his position that Congress should raise the $31.4 trillion debt limit without conditions, as it did three times under his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump. POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCESThe nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget praised McCarthy's plan as a "realistic and extremely welcome first step." A lengthy 2011 standoff over the debt ceiling led to a first-ever downgrade of the federal government's credit rating, which rattled markets and raised borrowing costs.

☆ Factbox: What's in Republican McCarthy's debt-limit spending cut package
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

At that point, Congress would have to address the issue again, as the 2024 presidential campaign heats up. Those caps would effectively serve as spending cuts, as they would not keep up with projected inflation and population growth. Congress agreed to similar spending caps in 2011 during another debt-ceiling standoff, though it often did not adhere to them in the following years. CLAW BACK UNSPENT COVID-19 FUNDSThe plan would cancel the remaining pots of money from the $5.2 trillion Congress approved between 2020 and 2022 to fight COVID-19. According to the White House, the remaining money amounted to less than $80 billion in January and is likely lower now.

☆ House Republicans want to ban student-loan forgiveness and immediately end the payment pause in their new debt ceiling bill
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

House Republicans unveiled their bill to raise the debt ceiling on Wednesday. On Wednesday, House Republicans unveiled a bill to raise the debt ceiling through March 2024, and alongside increasing the limit, they have 320 pages worth of proposed spending cuts alongside it. Since Biden took office, many GOP lawmakers have slammed the president's debt relief plans, saying they are an overreach of authority and costly to taxpayers. In the meantime, Democratic lawmakers and advocates have been urging Congress to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a financially catastrophic default. "Everyone in the House and Senate must reject the Speakers and GOP efforts to repeal student loan relief, changes to PSLF + IDR, and preventing future relief," she said.

☆ McCarthy unveils debt ceiling bill that aims to cut big parts of Biden's agenda
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks at a rally marking the 100th day of Republican control of the House in Washington D.C. on April 17, 2023. WASHINGTON — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Wednesday released his plan to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion for about a year while attempting to repeal major components of President Joe Biden's agenda. "Now that we've introduced a clear plan for a responsible debt limit increase, they have no more excuse and refuse to negotiate," McCarthy said. McCarthy's announcement comes after days of speculation about the GOP proposal to temporarily raise the debt limit for certain cutbacks, such as a stall on non-defense discretionary spending. Justices are expected to rule on the student loan program by early summer.

☆ Factbox: What's in Republican McCarthy's debt-limit spending cut package?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

SPENDING RESTRAINTSThe plan would cut a wide swath of government spending to last year's levels, a decrease of about 9%. It is not clear how the spending caps would affect specific government operations, from air traffic control to housing to the military. The caps would reduce spending in real terms as they would not keep up with projected inflation and population growth. CLAW BACK UNSPENT COVID-19 FUNDSThe plan would cancel the remaining funds from the $5.2 trillion Congress approved between 2020 and 2022 to fight COVID-19. TIGHTEN WORK REQUIREMENTSThe plan would stiffen work requirements for participants in some antipoverty programs.

☆ Americans could see their student debt, car, and mortgage payments surge because of Republicans' 'flirtation with the default,' top Democrat Hakeem Jeffries says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said a default on the US debt could cause student debt, car, and mortgage payments to surge. Republicans plan to bring a debt ceiling bill to the House floor next week, but it's unclear if it will get enough support. Biden has refused to meet with Republicans over debt ceiling negotiations. "Even the flirtation with the default is going to hurt everyday Americans," Jeffries said. "It risks raising car payments, it risks raising home mortgage payments, it risks raising student loan debt payments," he continued.

WASHINGTON — The top Democrat in the House slammed Republicans' plan to pass a bill later this month to suspend the debt ceiling for a year and impose broad federal spending cuts, rather than simply raise the $31.4 trillion limit and avoid any risk of potential U.S. debt default. "Even the flirtation with the default is going to hurt everyday Americans," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday. "It risks raising car payments, it risks raising home mortgage payments, it risks raising student loan debt payments," he said. The New York Democrat said refusing to raise the debt ceiling for the first time in history would have "catastrophic" consequences. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler echoed Jeffries' concerns Tuesday, telling lawmakers that the debt ceiling fight has already affected the markets.

☆ Rome foot-dragging can help EU kick bad aid habits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Rebecca Christie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is trying to pry out 19 billion euros in EU pandemic aid. Economic conditions have changed a lot since it launched its 800 billion euro pandemic recovery plan in 2020. With 191.5 billion euros requested in grants and loans, it is in line to receive more EU pandemic aid money than any of its peers, and 67 billion euros has already changed hands. EU member states approved public borrowing of about 800 billion euros to fund the aid programme. Total commitments come to only about 508 billion euros, according to a dataset maintained by the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank.

☆ Republicans reportedly want to ban student loan forgiveness and make it harder to get food stamps in a debt ceiling deal — and they seem to want to do it all over again next year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Republicans are finally reportedly ready to share their debt ceiling demands as a package. Their package would only raise the debt ceiling for a year, setting up another fight in the middle of the next election. The US is potentially mere months away from breaching the debt ceiling, meaning it'll be unable to pay for the spending that Congress has already authorized. Congress passed a clean debt ceiling raise three times under former President Donald Trump. "I'm very concerned about the debt ceiling," he said.

☆ US House speaker weighs Republican-only debt ceiling move as Biden proves immovable
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"We should not be negotiating on the debt ceiling. Congress has the authority to raise the debt ceiling without conditions. He has also called on House Republicans to produce their own fiscal 2024 budget, which remains weeks - if not months - away. Polling shows Americans support using the debt ceiling talks to address the deficit - but prefer Biden's path of higher taxes. Close to 60% of respondents said the debt ceiling provides a good opportunity to push the tough issues of spending cuts or tax hikes.

☆ US House speaker says Republicans could act on their own on debt ceiling
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Thursday that he and other Republican lawmakers could act on their own to address the $31.4 trillion U.S. government debt ceiling, if Democratic President Joe Biden keeps rejecting negotiations on spending. Biden, a Democrat, has insisted that he will not negotiate with Republicans who control the House of Representatives until they produce their own fiscal 2024 spending plan and raise the government borrowing limit without conditions. McCarthy said his Republican majority in the House of Representatives was close to agreement on a plan that would tackle the debt ceiling and address their priorities for lowering spending. "If the president doesn't act, we will," McCarthy told reporters at a news conference. Reporting by David Morgan; Writing by Rami Ayyub and David Morgan; Editing by Tim Ahmann and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden pushes for Republican proposal in U.S. debt-ceiling standoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Biden urged the top congressional Republican to spell out his proposals before lawmakers leave Washington for a two-week recess set to start on Thursday. McCarthy told CNBC earlier that he was prepared to lay out $4 trillion in spending cuts for Biden, if he would agree to meet. Republicans have not yet produced a budget plan of their own and could be weeks or months away from doing so. McCarthy's proposals, though lacking detail, paralleled the demands of hard-right House Republicans far more closely than ideas put forward by moderate Republicans. Republicans have sought to blame Biden, but only Congress has the authority to raise the debt ceiling.

☆ McCarthy urges Biden to start debt talks, Democrats say he has no plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In a letter to Biden, McCarthy proposed scaling back domestic spending, clawing back unspent COVID-19 relief funds and other changes that he said would save trillions of dollars. But his Republicans have not yet produced a budget plan of their own and could be weeks or months away from doing so. Biden, a Democrat, has insisted that Republicans who control the House instead raise the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling without conditions and produce a fiscal 2024 spending plan before he will engage in talks about spending. Republicans have sought to blame Biden, but only Congress has the authority to raise the debt ceiling. "The only thing missing is a real plan," Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech.

☆ As McCarthy laments 'no progress,' here's where U.S. debt ceiling talks stand
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday that there has been "no progress" in debt ceiling negotiations between House Republicans and the White House, as the U.S. inches closer to risking a first-ever default. House Republicans have refused to lift the debt ceiling without promises of spending cuts. The U.S. already hit its debt limit, forcing the Treasury to take so-called extraordinary measures to keep paying its bills. It has been nearly two month since McCarthy and Biden met to discuss debt ceiling measures. Not lifting the debt ceiling would have catastrophic effects on the U.S. economy.

☆ Americans could lose $20,000 in retirement savings and private student-loan borrowers could see their payments surge if Republicans don't raise the debt ceiling, a new report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Joint Economic Committee released a report on the consequences of failing to raise the debt ceiling. Republicans have floated a range of spending cuts to raise the debt ceiling that Democrats have rejected. On Thursday, the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) — a congressional group that reviews economic policy — released a report analyzing the consequences of failing to raise the debt ceiling. Republicans are gambling with Americans' savings, benefits, and lives, all to play a political game." That's why Biden and Democratic lawmakers have been insisting that raising the debt ceiling be bipartisan, without any negotiations.

☆ Republicans' plans to cut the budget could mean millions lost in back pay, more dangerous workplaces, and jobs sent overseas, the White House says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The White House is once again attacking the Freedom Caucus for its plan to cut spending. Per a fact sheet, the White House said the Caucus' plan would result in lost wages and harmful working conditions. Through cutting back on investigations and inspections, the White House estimates that the House Freedom Caucus' plans would cost 135,000 workers an average of $1,000 in back pay. Reversing spending in the Inflation Reduction Act – the cutting of which is one of the House Freedom Caucus' core tenets — would move millions of jobs for those projects overseas, the White House said. —House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) March 10, 2023Last week, the Freedom Caucus unveiled their broad plan to address the debt ceiling through major spending cuts.

☆ 5 ways House Republicans' budget plan 'will be a disaster for families,' according to the White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The House Freedom Caucus unveiled a plan to address the debt ceiling through major spending cuts. The White House launched a campaign attacking the plan on Monday, saying it would be disastrous for families. In a release, the White House said that they're joining forces with Congressional Democrats to go on the offense as House Republicans head to Florida for their retreat. Specifically, the White House is hitting out at how the proposal would weaken public safety and national security, according to a White House official. —House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) March 13, 2023"It should shock no one that financially responsible proposals terrify and confuse this administration," it wrote.

But unspent COVID aid is a small target, with less than $80 billion unspent as of January, White House budget figures show. CARPENTERS, VETERANS AND MEDICAL RESEARCHReclaiming unspent COVID funds would have real-world repercussions. A clawback could also affect veterans' healthcare, as the Department of Veterans Affairs has yet to spend $4.6 billion of the money it received for COVID-19 related care. Republican governors of Nebraska and Arkansas last year rejected a second round of aid for people behind on their rent. Republican Senator Rick Scott in January urged governors and mayors to voluntarily return that money to help pay down federal debt.

☆ UK employers feel the strain of missing skilled workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

But past attempts to train up more workers have seen the problem get worse by some measures, and any big improvement to the post-16 skills system is likely to take years. TRAINING REVAMPWithout a rapid overhaul of the training system, Britain's pool of highly skilled adults is likely to shrink further relative to other countries, the OECD has warned. Employers groups are calling on Hunt to tackle a key part of how training is funded in his budget speech. Corporate leaders acknowledge employers also need to do more themselves, and prioritize training even in lean times. "You're slowing down really quite a lot to go at the pace of the education system," he said of his company, which began as a print management firm in 1996.

☆ Republicans are preparing to let some bills go unpaid as the debt ceiling crisis looms. Janet Yellen says their plan is just 'default by another name.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Another debt ceiling crisis is looming, and Republicans and Democrats aren't negotiating. "Prioritization is simply not paying all of the government's bills when they come due. This isn't the first time Yellen has slammed GOP plans to address the debt ceiling. "What's critical is that we maintain our commitment to pay the government's bills — all the government's bills — when they come due," Yellen said on Friday. The clock is ticking for Congress to raise the debt ceiling, with the US expected to run out of measures to keep the government funded as soon as July.

☆ U.S. House Republican hardliners unveil spending demands for raising debt ceiling
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - The hardline U.S. House Freedom Caucus responded to President Joe Biden's $6.8 trillion budget proposal on Friday, with a list of demands including a near freeze on discretionary spending and an end to multiple programs, in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry said the plan would mean a $131 billion spending cut for fiscal 2024, which begins on Oct. 1, and save $3 trillion over a decade. "America will not default on our debts unless President Biden chooses to do so," Perry told reporters at a news conference. "To ensure America does not default on our debts, the House Freedom Caucus is offering a responsible solution." "To president Biden: your budget is dead on arrival," said Representative Byron Donalds, a House Freedom Caucus member.

☆ House GOP Freedom Caucus members want to block student-loan forgiveness in their new proposal to deal with the debt ceiling
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The House Freedom Caucus unveiled a plan to address the debt ceiling on Friday. It includes ending student-debt relief and recouping unspent pandemic relief funds. This is not the first time Republican lawmakers have targeted student-debt relief in a proposal to cut spending. The Caucus' plan comes just a day after Biden unveiled his budget proposal for the upcoming year, which GOP lawmakers assailed as "reckless." House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington told Politico that Republicans have "no timeline" for making that happen.

☆ Check your junk drawer — a new survey shows Americans have unspent gift cards totaling about $21 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

About 60% of Americans have at least one unredeemed gift card, per a Credit Summit survey of 1,200 people. This amounts to about $21 billion in unredeemed gift card credits collectively. Most of those hanging onto unredeemed gift cars are between 18 to 24 years old. Over half, or 55% of survey respondents said their unredeemed gift cards were worth $200 or less. Credit Summit is urging people to use their gift cards — otherwise, they should regift or resell them.

☆ Republicans reportedly want to cut $150 billion in 'woke' spending for things like education and healthcare in a plan engineered by Trump's old budget chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Those spending cuts, according to Reuters, are modeled off budget proposals from Trump's former budget chief. Some Republicans are reportedly taking inspiration from former President Donald Trump's budget chief Russell Vought. Rep. Jodey Arrington, the chair of the House Budget Committee, told Reuters that the GOP is crafting a budget that is "consistent with what's in his budget." Broadly, nondefense spending will be in the crosshairs, and Vought told Reuters that $25 billion would be cut from "woke" policies at the Department of Education. "Of course, these spending cuts will result in significant savings for the taxpayers."

Search resuls for: "unspent"

25 mentions found