Newsletter Archive

May 2024

Trump Woos Wealthy Donors With Promises of Huge Tax Cuts

Happy Tuesday! We hope you had a good holiday weekend. We welcome you back this evening with the news that Ángel Hernández, who for years has been Major League Baseball’s most controversial umpire, known for a long history of bad calls, is…

Plus: Plus: An IRS whistleblower's accusation

Biden Cancels Billions More in Student Loan Debt

Good Wednesday evening. On this date 60 years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson detailed his “Great Society” agenda in a commencement address at the University of Michigan. Johnson proposed the largest expansion of the social safety net…

Plus: Plus: How food stamps fall short

‘A Large and Costly Mistake’: Unions Slam Trump Tax Cuts

Happy Tuesday! Day 20 of the Trump election interference trial saw the defense rest without calling the former president to testify. Closing arguments are scheduled for next week. Here’s what else is happening.

Plus: Plus: Biden to release 1 million gallons of gas

Senate Tees Up Another Doomed Vote on Border Bill

Happy Monday! Congratulations to Manchester City F.C. on a fourth straight Premier League championship, and our condolences to the city of Kyle, Texas, which reportedly gathered 706 people named Kyle in one place Saturday but fell well…

Plus: Plus: Yellen rejects global billionaire tax

Supreme Court Slaps Down Challenge to Consumer Watchdog

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a constitutional challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded, delivering a blow to the agency’s right-wing critics and handing a win to the Biden administration.

Plus: Plus: The cost of Biden's 2025 tax plan

Inflation Eases in April, Lifting Hopes for a Soft Landing

Happy Wednesday! The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average all jumped today to close at record highs, fueled in part by data on inflation and retail sales that raised expectations that the Federal Reserve might cut…

Plus: Plus: House sends $105 billion FAA reauthorization to Biden

Biden Jacks Up Tariffs on $18 Billion in Chinese Imports

The House and Senate were in session today, but Speaker Mike Johnson visited New York City to criticize the election-interference case against former President Donald Trump. The speaker joins a lengthy list of Republicans who have flocked…

Plus: Plus: Powell talks inflation

Trump Promises New Tax Cuts for Everyone

Happy Monday! Congressional lawmakers are back tomorrow, with the House facing a Friday deadline to pass the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization that the Senate approved last week. We’ve got details on that and much more, so…

Plus: Plus: Biden admin celebrates infrastructure progress

Biden White House Lays Out Plan for Coming Tax Showdown

Good evening and welcome to the weekend! The most severe solar storm to hit the United States since 2005 is underway and is expected to last through Sunday. It could potentially disrupt communications, the electric power grid, navigation,…

Plus: Plus: American use of weight-loss drugs

Trump Tax Cut Extension Would Cost $4.6 Trillion: CBO

Happy Thursday! Today we learned that Hawaii is poised to make the "shaka" — you may know it as the "hang loose" sign, in which the thumb and pinky finger are extended while the others are curled down — its official state gesture, the…

Plus: Plus: $11 million in improper VA bonuses

House Kills Greene Motion to Oust Speaker Johnson

Good evening! In an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote supported by large majorities of both Republicans and Democrats, the House just killed GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to oust Speaker Mike Johnson. We’ve got details.

Plus: Plus: Biden trolls Trump in Wisconsin

Greene Backs Off Johnson Threat, but Issues Four Demands

Good evening. In a speech today at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Days of Remembrance ceremony, President Joe Biden decried a “ferocious surge of antisemitism in American and around the world” after the October 7 attack on Israel by…

Plus: Plus: Your Tuesday fiscal roundup

Social Security, Medicare Get Boost From Strong Economy

Happy Monday! We’ve got an upbeat update on Social Security’s finances, but first, you might want to know that French bakers made a 461-foot baguette on Sunday, reclaiming the Guinness World Record for France by topping a 435-foot baguette…

Plus: Plus: Johnson and Greene meet amid ouster threat

Biden and Trump Joust Over Jobs Report

Happy Friday! Actor Mark Hamill joined the White House press briefing today sporting a pair of President Joe Biden’s trademark aviator sunglasses. Hamill, known for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies, said he asked the…

Plus: Plus: Biden admin loosens rules on EV tax credits

IRS Unveils Plan to Crack Down on the Rich

Happy Thursday. The first home run in National League history was swatted on this day in 1876 by the great Charles Roscoe Barnes, playing for the Chicago White Stockings. The blast in a victory against the Cincinnati Reds was “the finest…

Plus: Plus, Baltimore bridge cost

April 2024

Democrats Say They’re Ready to Rescue Mike Johnson

Congress may be done funding the government for the rest of the fiscal year and pushing through a major foreign aid package, but the fallout from those contentious spending bills isn’t over yet.

Plus: Plus: Yellen talks taxes

‘A Good Day for America’: Biden Signs $95 Billion Foreign Aid Bill

President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed into law a $95.3 billion foreign aid package after the Senate approved it on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis Tuesday night, ending a months-long legislative saga and enabling fresh funding for…

Plus: Plus: Millions of Medicare enrollees could be eligible for Wegovy coverage