Update 611 — 2022 Cong. Endorsements Primary Winners in GA, NC, OH, PA, TX This is the first part of a regular Update series covering 20/20 Vision’s endorsements for the 2022 midterm elections. We begin with congressional candidates nominated in states that held their primaries in March and May. Most of our candidates are in …
Update 608 — Fiscal Policy Landscape:Supps, Reconciliation, Payfors on Horizon Congress’s fiscal debate is currently being dominated by responses to a series of crises at home and abroad. Over the next few weeks, Congress will actively consider a range of supplemental spending bills from a Ukraine aid package, to bills addressing the baby formula shortage, restaurant aid, …
Update 607 — Inflation Eases an InchBut Hits Home(s): Prices, Sales, Rents The main takeaway from yesterday’s CPI report: inflation remains high, though decelerating marginally. CPI increased for consumer goods by 0.3 percent in April, down from the 1.2 percent increase in March. Increases in prices for food, airline fares, new vehicles, and shelter contributed …
Update 604 — Legislative High Season:100-Day Roadmap for Econ. Policy Bills Congress settles back after recess this week, facing a packed to-do list and a ticking clock. The appropriations process for FY2023 is under way. Again, Democrats’ immediate priority is reconciliation. Negotiations with Sen. Manchin focus now on climate and health provisions, but we saw …
Update 602 — Symptom vs. Disease:Fighting Inflation by Relieving Costs There is a difference between battling inflation, which is the Fed’s errand, and battling its effects, which is more of a fool’s errand. With prices up 8.5 percent from a year ago and midterm primary season starting next month, the temptation is to focus on easing costs …
Update 601 — Degrees of Debt:Decision Ahead on Student Loans The CPI Report for March, released yesterday, showed prices rose by 8.5 percent during the last 12 months. Energy prices moderated markedly during March. Some predict this will represent the high-water mark of an inflation rate that will remain elevated through the fall. The Biden …
Update 599 — Eyes on the Pump Price:Energy Costs and Biden’s Inflation Fight Hearings on the Hill this week focused on elevated gas prices Americans are facing at the pump, causing and affecting elevated energy prices amounting to a third of headline inflation. President Biden has taken up the battle against inflation. Some responses he has …
Update 597— Biden FY 23 Budget:Balance, Parity in Appeal to Center President Biden submitted his FY23 budget saying that budgets are statements of values. The statement here is muted, with an increase in domestic spending and an increase in military spending by about 10 percent, a puzzling nod to austerity of all things, investments in …
Update 594 — Beyond Voting Rights:Bills So We Don’t Get Trumped Again Since January 6, 2021, Democrats have been clamoring to protect democratic practices and institutions with federal legislation. Eager to whitewash themselves of the shame of that date, some Republicans are supporting the Electoral Count Act. The bill’s reforms propose a narrow set of fixes, insufficient for …
Update 593 — Fed Hikes Rates 25 bps:Brakes on Inflation, and Recovery Too? After fostering and assisting economic recovery in manifold ways, the Fed is reversing course. Today, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell announced the Fed will be raising interest rates by 25 basis points (or 0.25 percentage points). This is the first rate hike since December 2018 …
