Had the pleasure ysd to meet Father Gary Wegner, who runs a Detroit soup kitchen

Wegner says demand is up ~80% over last yr w/ hunger rising nationally

“Jesus said blessed are the poor,” Wegner said. “Only in America do we put the modifier, ‘Blessed are the *deserving* poor’” Johneka Austin, 42, a banquet server with 5 sons, saw her food stamps cut from $843 to $400-$500 as covid aid expiration hit ~1M Michiganders

She’s torn bw buying good groceries & Internet for her sons

Austin laughed when I asked whether the economy is good. “Nobody says that!”

Due largely to an unexpected surge in immigration, the U.S. economy will be about $7 trillion larger - & federal revenues about $1T bigger - the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday That impact is over 10 years, to be clear. It does not take into account any legislation that Congress may or may not approve

New: Trump advisers looking at push to lower corporate tax rate to *15%,* per multiple sources

Strong interest in further lowering corporate rate

GOP's 2017 tax law lowered it from 35% to 21%

Ds see corporate tax cuts as Trump political kryptonite

washingtonpost.com/business/2023/… Fueling the discussion here is Trump has proposed massively raising tariffs, w/ 10% duty on all imports

Debate they're having: Then what to do with potentially trillions in new revenue?

Discussions center on tax cuts, potentially corporate + individual

washingtonpost.com/business/2023/…

Summary of deal as I understand it:
— Debt ceiling raised 2 years
— Domestic programs frozen next year, up 1% ‘25. Inflation-adjusted cut
— Boosts defense, VA $
— Some tightening of work requirements on TANF, SNAP
— Energy permitting (details tbd)
— Claw back some new IRS $ Work requirement for food stamps moves from 50 to 54

Trying to get more clarity on tanf sorry I’m not sure will update when I learn more details

SCOOP: Treasury asks US agencies if payments can made at a later date as deadline nears

Internal memo obtained by WaPo shows Treasury putting agencies on alert

Biden aides search for new ways to prolong X Date beyond existing measures, sources say

washingtonpost.com/business/2023/… If Biden aides can find just a few days’ worth of extra cash, it is possible they can make it to June 15

Critical here: If they make it to June 15, a whole bunch of new tax revenue comes in — & they may be able to punt the deadline to July

Obviously not the preferred outcome

UPDATE: Negotiators have failed to make progress on debt ceiling talks despite looming June 3 wedding for reporter Jeff Stein’s wedding, per sources. (The impasse also threatens the stability of the global economy) @POTUS @SecYellen @SpeakerMcCarthy @LeaderMcConnell @SenSchumer @RepJeffries ^^ you guys seeing this?

Pretty remarkable that America temporarily constructed a safety net during Covid — including major health care coverage, food benefits, anti poverty funding for families & kids, etc — and then just systematically and slowly demolished it The latest via @goldsteinamy: 15 million poor Americans set to be tossed off of Medicaid washingtonpost.com/health/2023/03…

Breaking - Treasury announces •ALL* depositors protected by FDIC. Says no costs will be borne by taxpayers

https://twitter.com/jstein_wapo/status/1634985507427057665

Treasury official says Biden was consulted before the action was taken. Follows recommendation from FDIC

One question financial experts are asking right now: If you’re the CFO of a mid-sized company with your money socked away at a regional bank, isn’t the first thing you do Monday morning is pull your money out and put it in a top Wall Street firm instead? And how small does the SVB clients’ haircut have to be to prevent that kind of reaction?

🚨🚨Results from biggest study on 4 day workweek:

— 73% of workers report being happier w/ their lives
— 40% reported fewer sleep problems
— 64% drop in quitting, 71%
drop in reported burnout
— 92% of firms say they’ll continue 4 day week after trial
— No drop in wages in trial Nearly 3,000 employees took part in the pilot, which was organized by the advocacy group, 4 Day Week Global, in collaboration with the research group, Autonomy, and researchers at Boston College and the University of Cambridge

@BelleTimsit reports:

washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/…

New: Trump’s OMB director, proving influential in GOP debt talks, wants to avoid Medicare/SS but is pushing to pulverize programs for the poor

His budget calls for:
- $2T cuts to Medicaid
- $600B cuts to ACA
- $400B food stamps cut
- Halve head start

washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2023… If you want to balance the budget, rule out tax hikes, mostly keep the defense budget, and avoid Medicare/SS, your only option is to eviscerate the relatively small portion of the budget devoted to anti-poverty

Vought calls this ending “woke and weaponized” government

New: Biden aides see huge downsides to 1) negotiating policy w/ GOP over debt limit; & 2) all unilateral options

For now, they’re focused on pressing the GOP to releasing a plan - which they’re optimistic will prove so divisive their brinkmanship softens

washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2023… Thinking behind 1 is obvious:
— Can’t reward GOP for taking US economy hostage. Bad precedent
— Ds actually did well in midterms (Senate gains, eg)
— Substantive opposition to spending cuts
— Belief in political upside for hammering GOP for wanting Social Security/Medicare cuts

I asked @rohangrey & @NathanTankus — 2 of the leading theorists behind the “Mint the $1 Trillion Coin” idea — about some of the concerns I’d been hearing from those close to the White House about their plan Their responses, shared w/ permission, are worth reading .@NathanTankus adds:

Scoop: House GOP preparing emergency plan telling Treasury how to spend $ if borrowing limit breached

Likely to call on preserving: Interest payments, DOD, Medicare, Social Security, VA benefits. (This leaves out ... many things)

Part of deal b/w McCarthy & conservatives Idea is for Rs to say Treasury can make interest payments even w/o borrowing

Senior D: “Any plan to pay bondholders but not fund school lunches or the FAA or food safety or XYZ is just target practice for us"

Chip Roy says McCarthy agreed to do by Q1

washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2023…

Here's the one-page document striking down Biden's student debt relief program, reported earlier by @mstratford Yes, a Trump appointee

Scoop: Biden will nominate Daniel Werfel to be the next commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, 3 sources familiar with the matter tell The Washington Post

Comes at a pivotal juncture for IRS

W/ @TonyRomm

washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022… @TonyRomm Sources say @jdcmedlock may be in line to be the commissioner of IRS memes in 2023

New CBO report: The poorest *half* of America -- ~150 million people -- hold only *2 percent* of the country's total wealth

Wealth of top 10 percent has grown markedly since 1989

That tiny little line at the bottom of this chart is half the country Statement from @SenSanders, who requested the report:

NEW: White House under mounting pressure - from Dems & Rs - to grant Puerto Rico a waiver for shipment of diesel just off island

4 PR officials went to WH today to press case

Huge danger w/ water & sewage plants not operational

Biden aides noncommittal
washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/… Puerto Rico's speaker of the house told me after going to WH:

"We have a ship full of diesel waiting to enter the island. It's right there, waiting for us"

"A lot of ppl need oxygen; a lot of ppl need water; a lot of ppl need help -- it's really scary"

Bafflement on island

CBO says Biden's student debt cancelation plan costs ... about $420 billion

https://twitter.com/USCBO/status/1574459277292478464

Some experts such as @Econ_Marshall have said many estimates of the cost of student debt relief are overstated, bc the debt burden is so high for many that borrowers were unlikely to pay back the debt in any event

New -- Bernie Sanders to object to GOP effort to have Congress intervene to end rail showdown, per ppl familiar

GOP bill would codify presidential board's contract recommendations rejected by workers

Sanders to highlight demand for worker sick time left out of that proposal It was widely expected Dems would block GOP efforts to pass this bill via "unanimous consent" but move tees up an interesting debate with pressure on negotiations mounting

SCOOP: White House expected to provide up to ***$20,000*** in student debt relief 4 ***Pell Grant*** recipients, sources tell @DaniDougPost & me

Would have to be under $125K ($250K jointly) to qualify.

Other recipients believed @ $10K

Final details TBD
washingtonpost.com/education/2022… UPDATE: Student debt payment moratorium now extended through Dec. 31, or past the midterms, per people familiar