Update 745 — Hope for Tax Package Amid Unresolved FY24 Budget Issues The congressional budget-making process for fiscal year 2024 (FY24), now in its fourth month with no plan in place, seems to have two gears: slow and reverse. This week, …
Update 744 — January Preview, Part II:Supplemental, FY24 Crowd Hill Agenda Congress confronts a full agenda of must-pass-quickly items upon returning from recess in January. Members will have to complete work on the long-delayed national security supplemental package before seeking to resolve months-long impasses in the FY24 appropriations process. Watch out for a full-year CR, …
Update 743 — January Preview, Part I:What SCOTUS, Regulators Will Return To The Senate remains in session, having abandoned until January negotiations on the foreign assistance supplemental requests and having extended the Federal Aviation Authorization for three months. What remains is a possible override vote on the President’s veto of a resolution passed by Congress …
What SCOTUS, Regulators Will Return To In January Read More »
Update 742 — NDAA Passed, Sent to Biden;House Out; Senate Stays for Supplemental The 2023 legislative year is all but done, with Congress reaching agreement on an $886 billion defense authorization bill (NDAA) yesterday, which the President is expected to sign forthwith. The whole of Congress will not be in session until January 8, but …
NDAA Passed, Sent to Biden; House Out; Senate Stays for Supplemental Read More »
The Fed’s almost two year campaign of high interest rates, painful medicine to fight the worst bout of inflation in 40 years, is proving out, impelling the Fed to hold interest rates at its current 5.25-5.50 percent range. Price increases fell again in November, led by moderation in the key energy sector — where the …
Update 741 — Fed Holds Rates; CPI 3.1%: (When) Can Fed Pivot from Long Pause? Read More »
From the Middle East to Eastern Europe, Asia, and Central America, the world awaits Congressional action on the administration’s emergency supplemental request submitted two months ago. This week, an unanticipated set of GOP demands on comprehensive immigration reform and a separate one on conditions regarding aid to Israel have forced a legislative recalibration and another …
Update 740 — A Supplemental Surprise: Political Timelines vs. Actual Emergencies Read More »
Shockwaves hit the tax policy world in late June when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Moore v. U.S., a case with broad implications regarding Congress’ authority to tax unrealized income. The Court rarely grants cert. on cases brought under the 16th Amendment, which grants Congress the right to levy a federal income tax. …
Update 739 — SCOTUS Seems Moore Unsure: Re Congress’ Authority to Tax Certain Income Read More »
Despite popular perception, statistics bear out the signs that the U.S. economy is not just withstanding the shock and duration of the Fed’s campaign to combat inflation. Unemployment at the lowest levels seen in decades, this week’s revised third quarter GDP gain of 5.2 percent, as well as the October data on prices, which we …
Update 738 — Immaculate Disinflation: Felt or Not, Prices Nearer Fed’s Target Read More »
The slumping U.S. housing market wallows in a 13-year-low in existing-home sales amid record high prices due to constrained supply and mortgage rates, now at a 22-year high. The Wall Street Journal reported today that home prices hit a record level in September, pushing homeownership further out of reach for an increasing number of Americans …
Update 737 — Undersupply and Costs: Problems Besetting the Housing Market Read More »
Now that Congress has passed and the President has signed the Continuing Resolution (CR) funding the government at current levels into early 2024, the opportunity arises for Congress to take up the many issues unaddressed during the House leadership elections and CR negotiations. We will leave these for consideration here until after the Thanksgiving break. …
Update 736 — Thanksgiving Leftovers: CR Signed; Room for December Items? Read More »
