What college costs — and what it's worth
With tuition costs rising and student debt weighing many Americans down, how valuable is higher education in this day and age? The answer is complicated. On average, people with a college degree earn much more, and there's social benefits, too. But it doesn't pay off for everybody, and with AI encroaching on white-collar work, the decision becomes even trickier. Drew Goins, Molly Roberts and Heather Long talk about college's true value and which alternatives deserve more investment.
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Business Wire
a few seconds ago
- Business Wire
PublicSquare Grateful for Closure of Politically Motivated CFPB Investigation into Credova
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PSQ Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PSQH) ('PublicSquare' or the 'Company') was pleased to receive notification from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ('CFPB') that it had formally closed the investigation into Credova Financial, LLC ('Credova'), a wholly owned subsidiary of PublicSquare. As the Bureau confirmed to Credova, it was closing the investigation because it 'has determined that this investigation exemplifies the type of weaponization against disfavored industries and individuals that President Trump and Acting Director Vought are committed to ending,' and that 'the record of this investigation clearly demonstrates that it was conducted in a biased manner that targeted Credova's exercise of its constitutional rights and facilitation of others' exercise of their constitutional rights.' The Bureau determined that its investigation of Credova 'was not aimed at protecting consumers, but at suppressing activities protected by the First and Second Amendment.' 'The conclusion of the CFPB's investigation confirms the strength and integrity of our company and validates the trust our merchants and consumers place in us,' commented Michael Seifert, Chairman and CEO of PublicSquare. 'This outcome is a win for our entire company, our board, our customers, and a 2nd Amendment community that has seen years of government attempts to regulate businesses like ours out of existence. We would like to thank President Trump, Acting Director Vought, CFPB Chief Legal Officer Mark Paoletta, CFPB Senior Adviser Jeff Clark, and the CFPB staff for their internal review of this investigation and commitment to ensuring the Bureau operates free from political bias and suppression of constitutional rights. PublicSquare remains committed to scaling responsibly, delivering long-term value to our shareholders, and advancing our mission to build an economy rooted in liberty.' 'For more than four years, Credova was forced to defend itself from what we always believed was a politically motivated investigation that was less about consumer protection and more about targeting lawful commerce tied to the Second Amendment,' stated Dusty Wunderlich, Chief Strategy Officer & Board Member of PublicSquare and former President of Credova. 'From our view, this was the most recent in a line of attempts to weaponize government against businesses that refuse to conform to a specific political agenda. We did not yield. We stood firm in defense of our mission, our merchants, and the constitutional rights of the Americans we serve. The conclusion of this investigation is a victory not just for our company, but for every business and citizen who believes that freedom must never be compromised.' Blake Masters, PublicSquare Board Member and leader in the 2nd Amendment Community, commented, 'The closure of this investigation is a strong reminder that when businesses stand firm against government intimidation, freedom wins. This victory affirms that the right to commerce, like the right to self-defense, is fundamental to our liberty.' About Credova Credova (a subsidiary of PublicSquare) was founded to fill a critical gap in the marketplace, providing modern, point-of-sale financing solutions to merchants and consumers in underserved sectors such as outdoor recreation and the firearms industry. For many merchants, Credova and PublicSquare are their only access to the kinds of financial tools that other industries take for granted. About PublicSquare PublicSquare is a Financial Technology Company that protects life, family, and liberty. PublicSquare operates under three segments: Financial Technology, Marketplace, and Brands. PublicSquare's Financial Technology segment includes Credova, a consumer financing service, and PSQ Payments, a 'cancel-proof' payments company. The primary mission of the Marketplace segment is to help consumers 'shop their values' and put purpose behind their purchases. PublicSquare leverages data and insights from the Marketplace to assess its customers' needs and provide high-quality, wholly owned financial products and brands. PublicSquare's Brands segment comprises EveryLife, a premium D2C life-affirming baby products company. The PublicSquare Marketplace is free to join for both consumers and business owners. Download the app on the App Store or Google Play, or visit to learn more.
The Hill
a few seconds ago
- The Hill
IRS broke rules in firing probationary employees, Treasury Department watchdog finds
The IRS broke its own rules when it fired thousands of employees earlier this year on the orders of the Trump administration, the Treasury Department's internal watchdog agency found last week. The terminated employees were not given proper notice, nor was their performance taken into account when getting rid of them, the office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) concluded in a report released on Thursday. 'Internal procedures were not followed when sending the termination notices. Policies and procedures require the IRS to give probationary employees a 30-day notice and consider their performance prior to terminating them,' TIGTA found. In February, the IRS fired 6,700 employees designated as probationary, meaning they were working for the agency on a trial basis prior to becoming full staff members. The hires were part of a large-scale overhaul of the agency initiated by Democrats in 2022 as part of their Inflation Reduction Act. That legislation awarded the agency an initial $80 billion funding boost to be spent over the subsequent decade. More than half of the initial money — $45 billion — was earmarked for extra tax enforcement, specifically increased audits for wealthy Americans. The IRS even set up a new division to go after complex partnerships, or nested legal entities that can shelter funds that are owed to the government. Auditing sophisticated companies requires skilled staff, and the IRS had just started hiring a first tranche of personnel to make that happen, many of whom were in their trial period at the agency when they got canned by the Trump administration. When they got fired, they were told it was for performance reasons, but TIGTA found on Thursday that the agency didn't take performance into account when issuing pink slips. 'Termination letters cited performance as a reason for termination; however, the IRS did not consider individual performance when deciding which employees to terminate,' TIGTA concluded. The Trump administration has declared an all-out bureaucratic war on public sector unions, firing employees at many different government agencies through a special cost-cutting panel. Last week, courts gave the go-ahead to the administration's plan to do away with collective bargaining rights at a number of agencies. It's not clear whether TIGTA's report presents a legal vulnerability for the Trump administration, but public sector unions are showing the resolve to fight for their jobs. 'Our friends with the VA have had their union contract terminated. They've had their rights to collective bargaining stripped. This is, we think, an illegal action,' Daniel Scharpenburg, vice president of the National Treasury Employee Union Chapter 66, said in a social media video posted last week, encouraging fellow union members to rally. Republicans worked throughout the back half of the Biden administration to kill the IRS funding boost, clawing back an initial $20 billion before eventually freezing the rest of the audit funding through what was likely a stealth negotiating maneuver. Biden administration officials told The Hill last year they had known about that loophole in the appropriations process and worked to prevent rescissions with requests to Congress. House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Richard Neal (D-Mass.) told The Hill last year that the freeze was likely due to a mistake.
CNBC
2 minutes ago
- CNBC
Americans fear AI permanently displacing workers, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds
Americans are deeply concerned over the prospect that advances in artificial intelligence could put swaths of the country out of work permanently, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. The six-day poll, which concluded on Monday, showed 71% of respondents said they were concerned that AI will be "putting too many people out of work permanently." The new technology burst into the national conversation in late 2022 when OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot launched and became the fastest-growing application of all time, with tech heavyweights like Facebook owner Meta Platforms, Google owner Alphabet and Microsoft offering their own AI products. While at present there are few signs of mass unemployment - the U.S. jobless rate was just 4.2% in July - artificial intelligence is stirring concerns as it reshapes jobs, industries and day-to-day life. Some 77% of respondents to the Reuters/Ipsos poll said they worried the technology could be used to stir up political chaos, a sign of unease over the now-common use of AI technology to create realistic videos of imaginary events. President Donald Trump last month posted on social media an AI-generated video of former Democratic president Barack Obama being arrested, an event that never happened. Americans are also leery about military applications for AI, the Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. Some 48% of respondents said the government should never use AI to determine the target of a military strike, compared with 24% who said the government should allow that sort of use of the technology. Another 28% said they were not sure. The general enthusiasm for AI shown by many people and companies has fueled further investments, such as Foxconn and SoftBank's planned data center equipment factory in Ohio. It has also upended national security policies as the United States and China vie for AI dominance. More than half of Americans - some 61% - said they were concerned about the amount of electricity needed to power the fast-growing technology. Google said earlier this month it had signed agreements with two U.S. electric utilities to reduce its AI data center power consumption during times of surging demand on the grid, as energy-intensive AI use outpaces power supplies. The new technology has also come under criticism for applications that have let AI bots hold romantic conversations with children, generate false medical information and help people make racist arguments. Two-thirds of respondents in the Reuters/Ipsos poll said they worried that people would ditch relationships with other people in favor of AI companions. People were split on whether AI technology will improve education. Some 36% of respondents thought it would help, while 40% disagreed and the rest were not sure. The Reuters/Ipsos survey gathered responses online from 4,446 U.S. adults nationwide and had a margin of error of about 2 percentage points.
