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☆ The Biden administration is offering to pay Colorado River farmers to let fields go dry during a devastating drought. They're worried it's just the first step in losing their way of life.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Ethan Dodd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Biden administration is paying Colorado River farmers and ranchers to let their fields run dry. Climate change has made the Colorado River the dryest it's been in more than a thousand years. Knowing they have to do something, Grand Valley farmers and ranchers want better compensation to make fallowing worth their while. At this better price they received enough applications from agricultural producers to cover the thousand acres Grand Valley offered, he said. Are you a farmer, rancher, or resident of the Colorado River basin concerned about water conservation?

☆ CFPB: What it does and why its future is in question
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The CFPB’s missionThe agency was created after the 2008 financial meltdown, as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The broad purpose of the CFPB is to protect consumers from financial abuses and to serve as the central agency for consumer financial protection authorities. It is charged with implementing and enforcing consumer protection laws, making rules and issuing guidance for consumer financial institutions. And it is the place consumers can go to lodge complaints about financial products and services. “It has completely changed the consumer financial marketplace.

☆ How China is helping to prop up the Russian economy through the war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

China has been buying more energy from Russia since the Ukraine war started. Total trade between China and Russia hit a new record high in 2022, up 30% to $190 billion, according to Chinese customs figures. In particular, the energy trade has risen markedly since the onset of the war. Russian companies have been using more yuan to facilitate the increased trade with China. UnionPay, the Chinese payments system, has reportedly stopped accepting cards issued by Russian banks over fears of international sanctions, according to Russian paper Kommersant.

☆ Factbox: FACTBOX Possible U.S. debt-ceiling workarounds to avoid default
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Historians say that aimed to ensure the federal government would not repudiate its debts, as some ex-Confederate states had done. Some experts have suggested that Biden could invoke this amendment to raise the debt ceiling on his own if Congress does not act. Analysts say this would leave Treasury on the hook for higher interest payments and unsettle the market for Treasury bonds, which serve as a bedrock for the global financial system. GET RID OF ITCongress could vote to abolish the debt ceiling entirely, which would eliminate the need to vote on the issue periodically but also erode Congress's authority on fiscal matters. Attempts to abolish the debt ceiling have gotten no traction in Congress in recent years.

☆ The US promised the Cherokee Nation a seat in Congress in a treaty that fueled the Trail of Tears. 188 years later, the Cherokee say lawmakers may finally fulfill that promise.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The Cherokee Nation was promised a seat in Congress in the 1835 Treaty of New Echota. The Cherokee Nation appears closer than ever to finally seating a delegate. She said lawmakers asked tough questions, but she felt "very optimistic" the Cherokee delegate was something the committee ultimately supported. The Cherokee Nation is continuing to galvanize support and encourages US citizens to reach out to their representatives in Congress and tell them to fulfill the treaty promise. "I think the stars are aligned for a Cherokee Nation delegate to be seated," she said.

☆ Factbox: Possible U.S. debt-ceiling workarounds to avoid default
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Historians say that aimed to ensure the federal government would not repudiate its debts, as some ex-Confederate states had done. Some experts have suggested that Biden could invoke this amendment to raise the debt ceiling on his own if Congress does not act. That leaves only three possible dates for action in the first half of this year: March 27, May 22 and June 12. Analysts say this would leave Treasury on the hook for higher interest payments and unsettle the market for Treasury bonds, which serve as a bedrock for the global financial system. Attempts to abolish the debt ceiling have gotten no traction in Congress in recent years.

☆ Factbox: U.S. debt ceiling: A straightforward vote is not the usual path
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

CREATION OF THE DEBT CEILINGCongress has always placed restrictions on federal debt as part of its U.S. Congress paired a debt-ceiling hike with broader bipartisan spending packages in 2018 and 2019, for example. The recession-fighting stimulus package of 2009 also included a debt-ceiling hike. Republicans unsuccessfully tried to pair a debt-ceiling hike with spending cuts in 1995 and 1996, leading to two partial government shutdowns. That deal also reversed the usual calculus by allowing the president to raise the debt ceiling unless a majority of Congress voted against it, which they conveniently failed to do.

☆ Piper Sandler initiates Albemarle at overweight, says lithium miner's earnings power underestimated
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Albemarle is a "lithium pure play," with strong earnings power to match, according to Piper Sandler. Piper analyst Charles Neivert began research coverage of Albemarle with an overweight rating, saying investors are underestimating the miner's earnings growth outlook. Lithium is one of five critical minerals required in electrical vehicle batteries, according to the Congressional Research Service. Nievert expects that strong lithium prices will continue to boost earnings as Albemarle expands its capacity — even if lithium pricing eases off from 2022 levels. "Despite the cooling, we still see significant increases in earnings in 2023 as 1H23 earnings comps will be substantially above year ago levels.

☆ Explainer: Shutdown? Default? Washington's risky new debt ceiling standoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Andy Sullivan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the 2018-2019 shutdown reduced economic activity by about $11 billion while it was underway, but much of that lost growth was recovered when government activity resumed. WHAT IS THE DEBT CEILING? This year could see a repeat of 2011, as Republicans who control the House of Representatives say they will not raise the debt ceiling unless Democratic President Joe Biden agrees to limit spending. WHAT HAPPENS IF THE DEBT CEILING IS NOT RAISED? Sources: Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Government Accountability Office, Congressional Research Service, Office of Management and Budget, Social Security AdministrationReporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fact Check-Financial disclosures do not show Rep. Lauren Boebert is worth $12 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

There is no public evidence to show that Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert has a net worth “of over $12 million” as claimed online. A tweet with over 13,500 retweets reads: “Lauren Boebert has a net worth of over $12 million. In her 2021 financial disclosure report, filed on August 2022 and the latest available, (here), Boebert listed 12 entries of “assets and ‘unearned’ income”. As liabilities for 2021, Boebert reported a home mortgage of “$250,001-$500,000.”Boebert’s financial disclosures for 2020 (here) and 2019 (here) also do not support the claims that her net worth is $12 million. Financial disclosure reports of Rep. Lauren Boebert do not indicate that she is worth $12 million.

☆ Putin deploys new Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles to Atlantic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"This time the ship is equipped with the latest hypersonic missile system - 'Zircon'," said Putin. The weapons, Putin said, had "no analogues in any country in the world". Along with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle which entered combat duty in 2019, the Zircon forms the centrepiece of Russia's hypersonic arsenal. Shoigu said the hypersonic missiles could overcome any missile defence system. A U.S. Congressional Research Service report on hypersonic weapons says that Russian and Chinese hypersonic missiles are designed to be used with nuclear warheads.

While the majority party has elected their nominee on the first ballot over the past century, this year could be different. Members vote "viva voice," meaning they stand when their names are called by a reading clerk and verbally announce who they are voting for. Members can vote for anyone (even people who are not members of the House), vote present, or not vote at all. If every member doesn't show up, or if some vote present instead of supporting a candidate, that decreases what the majority vote needs to be. Political parties are much stronger now than they were then, when House members were often more loyal to their region.

☆ Conservatives vying to derail Kevin McCarthy's speaker bid may not be able to stop him. But forcing multiple votes — the record is 133 — could still make for a historic fight.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Kevin McCarthy is working to clinch the votes needed to become House speaker in 2023. Around a dozen House Republicans currently have issues with giving him the job. Should getting a promotion require more than five dozen ballots, McCarthy would move into Howell Cobb territory (63 ballots; 1849). In order to push McCarthy past Banks in terms of all-time ballots, blockers would have to keep McCarthy at bay at least 134 times. "We may see the cherry blossoms before we have a Speaker," the Trump-aligned Floridian said, citing DC's seasonal spectacle.

The agency did not respond to requests for comment on its record monitoring animal research experiments nationally. The USDA inspector general has published at least three reports since 2014 critical of the agency’s lax oversight, though its criticism dates back to the 1990s. Neuralink says on its website that it champions animal welfare and tries to reduce animal testing where possible. Two academic studies conducted in 2009 and 2012 found that animal research committees approved between 98% and 99% of experiments proposed by researchers. Envigo was made to sign the consent decree giving up the beagles only after the USDA inspector general and the Justice Department investigated and found evidence of inhumane treatment.

Attorney General Merrick Garland issued new guidance on Friday essentially eliminating the disparity in federal sentencing for the distribution of crack cocaine versus powder cocaine, a policy that has long punished crack offenders, and people of color, more severely. Offenses involving 500 grams of powder cocaine carried the same 5-year mandatory minimum prison time as offenses involving 28 grams of crack cocaine, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan public policy research institute. Crack cocaine became prevalent in the 1980s, sparking a nationwide “war on drugs” and leading to the passage of two federal sentencing laws concerning crack cocaine in 1986 and 1988 that created the discrepancies, according to The Sentencing Project, which advocated for overhauling the sentencing guidelines. The road to sentencing reform for crack offenders was partly put into motion in 2018 with the First Step Act, which, in part, shortened mandatory federal prison sentences, including for those in prison for pre-2010 crack cocaine offenses. The new guidance was applauded by several groups, including the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, which called it "a big win and a historic step in the right direction toward eliminating the unjust disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing."

☆ House speaker elections and floor fights, explained
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Congress can’t really function until it has a House speaker; the position is filled on the first day of a new Congress, January 3, even before members-elect take the oath of office. What’s standing between McCarthy and the speaker of the House position is a handful of conservative lawmakers. This is what people are talking about when they refer to a “floor fight.” It’s when House members require multiple ballots, or votes, to elect their speaker. The process stretched over more than a month and included a sort of inquisition on the House floor of the three contenders. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was elected with 216 votes in 2021 to kick off the current Congress.

Come next year, Democrats will have unilateral subpoena power in many committees to compel investigative targets to provide documents and testimony — without needing GOP support. “Our committees will have greater oversight ability, subpoena power. Subpoena power can deal with corporate corruption and inequities, and other problems throughout the country,” he said. “And if using subpoena power becomes necessary, then that’s something we can do.”Other Democrats floated industries that could be the targets of the party's subpoena powers. “But having subpoena power for CEOs and billionaires who think they don’t have to come to Congress to explain themselves will be very valuable.”

☆ Maxwell Frost: Gen Z congressman-elect says he was denied DC apartment over bad credit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Sonnet Swire | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The congressman-elect set to become the first member of Generation Z to serve in Congress said Thursday his rental application for an apartment in Washington, DC, was denied because of his “really bad” credit. “Just applied to an apartment in DC where I told the guy that my credit was really bad. This ain’t meant for people who don’t already have money,” Maxwell Frost said in a tweet. Frost is not the only incoming member of Congress to have struggled to find housing in DC. Frost pointed out that once his congressional salary kicks in, he’ll be fine, adding that “we have to do better” for others.

☆ McCarthy says ultra-conservative GOP holdouts are 'squandering this majority' by opposing his bid for House Speaker
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

California Rep. Kevin McCarthy is the Republican nominee for the next Speaker of the House. In order to win the seat, he needs almost all 222 GOP House members to vote for him on Jan. 3. McCarthy faces holdouts in his party, who he says would "squander" a GOP majority by opposing him. McCarthy, in an interview with Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," said those GOP holdouts, by opposing his bid, would be "squandering" the Republican majority set to take control of the House of Representatives in the next congressional session. The 118th Congress, which convenes on January 3, 2023, will have 222 Republican members, compared to 212 Democrats.

☆ The federal government is losing $98 billion a year on small businesses and wealthy Americans either making mistakes or dodging taxes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

From 2014 through 2016, the tax gap, which measures taxes owed versus paid, grew to nearly $500 billion. That's largely due to people underreporting how much they owe, including for capital gains and small business taxes owed. For instance, there's a tax gap of $18 billion on capital gains, which taxes the sales of major assets. Meanwhile, nonfarm proprietor income — which tracks income for small businesses that aren't incorporated — saw a tax gap of $80 billion. Rettig previously said that "it would not be outlandish to believe that the actual tax gap could approach and possibly exceed $1 trillion per year."

☆ Here's why a new $40,000 electric vehicle tax credit for business owners may be relatively easy to get
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"I think it's going to be a lot more straightforward and easy to take advantage of than the light-duty-vehicle tax credit," Ingrid Malmgren, policy director at Plug In America, said of the tax credit for commercial EVs. "It's really a great opportunity for business owners to reduce emissions in a cost-effective way." Business owners can get the tax credit for new vehicles purchased on or after Jan. 1, 2023. Because the financial benefit is structured as a tax credit, business owners must have a tax liability to benefit. A tax credit isn't available to single individuals with modified adjusted gross income of $150,000 and above.

☆ Putin's nuclear threats are stirring fears of a nightmare scenario. Here's what's in his arsenal and what could happen if he orders the unthinkable.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( John Haltiwanger | Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

The use of a nuclear weapon is "directly tied to Russia's fate on the battlefield," one expert recently told Insider. Putin, who claimed to have placed Russia's nuclear deterrent forces on high alert just days later, has continued to remind the world of Russia's nuclear might in the months since. There are tactical nuclear weapons that are more than four times as powerful. At best, a single tactical nuclear weapon could destroy about a dozen tanks, Podvig said. Kristensen said during the ACA webinar on Tuesday that he believes it's unlikely that Russia employs nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

☆ Explainer: What makes a nuclear weapon 'tactical'?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Josh Smith | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Here are the characteristics of tactical nuclear weapons and why they have drawn so much attention. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterWHAT IS A TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPON? Tactical nuclear weapons are often characterized by their size, their range, or their use for limited military targets. Russia has 1,000 to 2,000 warheads for non-strategic nuclear weapons in its arsenal, the CRS report says. "I don't think there's any such thing as the ability to easily (use) a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon," he said last week.

☆ Take a look at China's fleet of destroyers, including the Type 055, which cost $920 million to build and is considered one of the country's most powerful warships
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Marielle Descalsota | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

China has the world's largest navy, with more than 355 vessels in its fleet, according to a 2021 report by the United States Naval Institute. Officers and soldiers of the Chinese naval fleet for escort mission line up on the deck at a port in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, April 28, 2020. The report stated that "increasing capabilities of Chinese warships" like destroyers is crucial to the country's military plans. In addition to China's newest class, the Type 055, there are six other locally made active destroyer classes: Type 052A, Type 051B, Type 051C, Type 052B, Type 052C, and Type 052D(L), per a 2018 report by CRS. Keep reading for a look at all eight of China's destroyer classes.

☆ Ukraine's troops have been highly effective with the M777 howitzer, but US troops can turn it into a 'giant sniper rifle'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Alex Hollings | Sandboxx News | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

US troops also have a new targeting system that makes the M777 even more precise. LCpl Samantha L. Jones/USMCIn 1979, the M198 155mm medium-towed howitzer entered service for the United States. While it would take two C-130s to deliver an M198 artillery system to the battlefield, the entire M777 setup could arrive in just one. That's more than all of the 155mm artillery rounds fired by the entire US military in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. US soldiers with the Joint Effects Targeting System Target Laser Designation System at Fort Greely in Alaska.

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