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Trump Tax Law Squeezes Poor, Boosts Income for Wealthy, CBO Says

Trump Tax Law Squeezes Poor, Boosts Income for Wealthy, CBO Says

Yahoo19 hours ago
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump's tax and spending law will deal a financial blow to the poorest Americans while boosting the income of wealthier households, according to a new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office.
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The poorest 10% of households would lose an average of about $1,200 in resources per year, amounting to a 3.1% cut in their income, according to the analysis released Monday of the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act.' Households in the highest 10% of incomes would see about a $13,600 boost in resources on average, amounting to a 2.7% increase in their incomes.
The hit to poorer families would largely result from the loss of benefits from social spending programs, while much of the benefit to the wealthy would come from tax benefits and cash transfers, according to the CBO.
The analysis clashes with messaging from the Trump administration that the signature legislation offers the largest tax cut in history for 'working- and middle-class Americans.' Trump and his allies have in recent weeks blasted independent agencies for releasing numbers with which the administration disagrees. The nonpartisan CBO, led by Phillip Swagel — who served in Republican President George W. Bush's administration — has repeatedly come under fire over its growth forecasts.
The tax and spending bill, enacted last month, includes much of Trump's economic agenda. It extends his 2017 income tax cuts while implementing a number of new and expanded breaks, including a higher cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes, an enhanced child tax credit and no taxes on tips and overtime pay. To offset some of the cost, the law includes a number of cuts for clean energy initiatives and social spending programs, including Medicaid and food stamps.
Deficit Impact
The CBO last month said the bill would add $3.4 trillion to US deficits over the next 10 years, not accounting for dynamic effects such as the potential growth impact.
Democrats and other critics have denounced the legislation as benefiting wealthier individuals at the cost of low-income families. The scaling back of the social safety net comes alongside an economic slowdown and weakening in the job market that would enhance the importance of those benefits.
Economists have warned price increases due to tariffs would disproportionately impact lower-income Americans who spend a larger share of their income on necessities, such as food.
Recent polls show a majority of voters disapprove of the tax law, with 55% of voters against it in a Quinnipiac University poll and 61% of voters in opposition in a CNN/SSRS poll.
The loss of resources for lower-income families will likely be delayed because Republicans wrote the law so that many of the cuts to social spending programs don't take effect until after the 2026 midterm elections, while the tax cuts will be noticeable early next year.
The law imposes new work requirements for able-bodied Medicaid recipients, limits states' ability to tax healthcare providers to help fund the program and creates new cost-sharing rules for beneficiaries who are covered under the Affordable Care Act expansion. CBO estimates that 10 million people could be left without health insurance by 2034 due to the law's changes to Medicaid.
The legislation also creates new work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, with exceptions for Alaska and Hawaii. The CBO estimates that those requirements would reduce participation in the program by about 2.4 million people in an average month over the next decade.
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The most popular stocks and funds investors bought in July
The most popular stocks and funds investors bought in July

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The most popular stocks and funds investors bought in July

Stock markets pushed higher in July, fuelled by progress on tariff negotiations and strong earnings, boosting investor sentiment. In early July, US president Donald Trump announced a further extension onto the 90-day delay of Washington imposing higher tariffs, that were unveiled on "Liberation Day" on 2 April. This pushed back the date for implementing higher tariffs on a number of trading partners from 9 July to 1 August, a deadline that was later extended to 7 August. Tariff deals were announced with the likes of Vietnam, Japan and the European Union over the course of the month. However, Trump then announced additional higher levies on India and Brazil at the end of July, shortly before his 1 August deadline. Stocks: Create your watchlist and portfolio Meanwhile, the second-quarter earnings season got into swing in July, with Wall Street banks and major companies globally reporting results. In late July, the "Magnificent 7" drew much of the market attention, with six of this group of tech giants having reported by the end of the month. While the companies delivered earnings beats, market reaction to the results was mixed, as investor expectations remain high around their performance. As for economic developments, data released in July showed that inflation in the US and UK had risen, with continued concerns that Trump's tariffs could add further to pricing pressures. And despite repeated calls from Trump to lower interest rates, the US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady for the fifth meeting in a row at the end of July. But investors didn't appear too deterred by this mixed backdrop as major markets ticked higher in July, with the US S&P 500 (^GSPC) now up 8.4% year-to-date, while the UK's FTSE 100 (^FTSE) has gained 11.8% so far in 2025. Most popular stocks in July Despite a number of tariff updates, Dan Lane lead analyst at Robinhood UK, said that this "didn't stand in the way of a taste for AI, crypto and tech in general in July, with space for fresh blood amid some familiar popular stocks" on the trading platform. He said that the "rupture in the Magnificent 7 is starting to look more pronounced". "Case in point is Nvidia (NVDA) becoming the first public company to reach a $4tn (£2.96tn) market capitalisation in July," said Lane. "The emergence of DeepSeek unsettled the market early in 2025 but, with the best performers in the Magnificent 7 evidencing clear AI strategies and the relative laggards' plans still woolly, the taste for AI is back." With that in mind, here's which stocks and funds proved most popular with investors in July: Tesla (TSLA) Tesla (TSLA) featured on both the most popular stocks lists of Robinhood UK and Interactive Investor, despite continued weak performance. The company was the first of the Mag 7 to report in the latest earnings season, getting the group off to a downbeat start, as it slightly missed Wall Street estimates. Tesla (TSLA) posted second-quarter revenue of $22.5bn (£16.6bn) compared with $22.64bn expected by Bloomberg consensus. This is a 12% drop compared with the $25.05bn reported a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.40 compared with expectations of $0.42, while operating income of $923m was also lower than the expected $1.23bn. Read more: Over 3.6 million UK investors to pay dividend tax "We continue to expand our vehicle offering, including first builds of a more affordable model in June, with volume production planned for the second half of 2025," the company said in a statement. Tesla (TSLA) also said its purpose-built robotaxi was still scheduled for volume production starting in 2026. In an earnings call, Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said the company could experience "a few rough quarters", when asked about the expiration of EV tax credits, with the Trump administration set to cut these incentives. Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said Tesla (TSLA) shares have had a "rocky ride", as they are down 16% year-to-date. "Nonetheless, some remain convinced by the company's recovery and longer-term potential," he said. Nvidia (NVDA) As Tesla shares have continued to come under pressure, chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) has notched fresh highs, highlighting that divergence in performance among the Mag 7. While Nvidia (NVDA) hasn't yet reported its latest quarterly earnings, investor enthusiasm for the artificial intelligence (AI) propelled shares higher last month, seeing it become the first company to hit a $4tn market capitalisation. News that the US government u-turned on its curbs of sales of the company's AI chips to China offered a further boost to the stock last month, with shares now up nearly 36% year-to-date. However, it was reported on Monday that Nvidia (NVDA) and fellow chipmaker AMD (AMD) had agreed to give the US government 15% of their revenues from chip sales in China. Read more: Stocks that are trending today This deal is likely to be in focus for investors going into Nvidia's (NVDA) second-quarter earnings, which are due to be released on 27 August. Commenting on the news of the chipmakers' deal with the US government, Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Nvidia's (NVDA) Q1 revenue took at $2.5bn hit due to restrictions on H20 sales to China, but it clearly believes the 15% contribution is well worth it, to keep access to the vast and fast developing market. The unusual arrangement is another example of a mega tech company acquiescing to the US administration's demands, to gain an upper hand as trade relations are redrawn." For the second quarter, Nvidia (NVDA) had previously guided to revenue of $45bn, plus or minus 2%. Metals One (MET1.L) London-listed minerals exploration company Metals One (MET1.L) emerged as the most-bought stock on Interactive Investor's July list, with shares up nearly 63% year-to-date. Interactive Investor's Hunt said: "Somewhere towards the top of the risk spectrum are small exploration companies and one in particular has caught the eye of the most determined II customers" Read more: Should you invest in gold? The company currently has a market cap of £34.63m and a share price of 7.08p, at the time of writing. "Unknown in February when the shares traded at 2.4p, feverish speculation in May around a potential acquisition in Norway which would give the company access to gold, copper and nickel deposits, was followed by unsubstantiated claims from outside the company of a massive uranium find," said Hunter. Rolls-Royce (RR.L) Defence has remained a popular theme with investors, with FTSE 100-listed (^FTSE) Rolls-Royce (RR.L) appearing once more on Interactive Investor's most bought list. Shares are up 91% year-to-date, lifting the company to a market cap of $90.8bn, though Hunter said this "has not been enough to deter followers of the stock because of valuation concerns". The stock is now up 1069% on a five-year basis, with the most recent jump coming on the back of the company's half-year results, released in late July. Read more: Defence companies post strong results as UK investors back the sector over AI The aero-engineer reported an underlying operating profit of £1.76bn in the first half of the year, versus £1.15bn a year ago. Underlying revenue of £9.06bn was also up on the £8.18bn Rolls-Royce (RR.L) reported in the first half of last year. Hunter said that Rolls-Royce (RR.L) reported "strong progress across each of its divisions. With flying hours on the increase and with no signs of defence spending wavering, the story may yet have further to run". Palantir (PLTR) Combining both the themes of defence and AI is data software company Palantir (PLTR), which was among the top-traded stocks on the Robinhood UK platform in July. Robinhood UK's Lane said that Palantir (PLTR) "rallied to new all-time highs in July, with a $100m government contract making the headlines, along with news of a new product in the works, designed to plan, build and review applications on the Palantir platform". Shares are up 141% year-to-date, with the stock having risen on the back of its second-quarter earnings, released in early August. Palantir (PLTR) posted earnings per share of $0.16 for the quarter, beating consensus estimates of $0.14 and up 77% from the same period last year. Revenue came in at $1.004bn, Palantir's first quarter surpassing the billion-dollar mark on a quarterly basis. The company's top line also beat analyst forecasts for $939.25bn and was up 48% year-over-year. Most popular funds in July As buoyant sentiment drove markets higher last month, investors continued to put money into US and global passive funds in June, giving them exposure to some of the world's biggest companies, such as the "Magnificent 7" tech behemoths. Sam Benstead, fixed income lead at Interactive Investor, said: "Looking at passives, low-cost, global funds were popular in July's top 10, including Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index and HSBC FTSE All-World Index. It's always sensible to take a quick look at the country allocation in the fund factsheet before investing, so that you can get the right fit for your portfolio. For example, some global funds invest in developing markets and some don't." The active fund that appeared in both Interactive Investor and Hargreaves Lansdown's top 10 lists was Artemis Global Income (0P0000W36K.L). According to a fund update, published at the end of last month, the fund rose 11.7% in the second quarter, compared with gains of 5.0% from its MSCI AC World benchmark and 2.8% from its IA Global Equity Income sector average. The biggest contributor to outperformance was the fund's some 20% exposure to aerospace and defence, which includes holdings in Germany's Rheinmetall ( and BAE Systems (BA.L). Read more: What having children later in life means for your money UK high street footfall suffers as consumers spend on leisure instead Rachel Reeves is under pressure to balance the books. 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Longtime NBA Player Begs Trump For A Pardon Right Before Prison Stint
Longtime NBA Player Begs Trump For A Pardon Right Before Prison Stint

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Trump's Assault on D.C. Is a Grave Threat to the District and Democracy
Trump's Assault on D.C. Is a Grave Threat to the District and Democracy

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President Donald Trump is federalizing control of the local police and deploying the National Guard in Washington, D.C., to further his authoritarian and anti-democratic agenda. As autocrats commonly do, Trump is seeking control over the national capital in order to intimidate and squelch dissent. Like despots around the world and throughout history, Trump is also relying on the pretextual deployment of military force to intimidate and project power, to suppress protest and undercut democracy. Across the nation, Americans should protest this move and what it means for our democracy. They should worry that Trump will misuse claims of national emergency to block peaceful protest and that he will deploy troops to deter demonstrators, or worse. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters after signing an executive order in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Aug. 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters after signing an executive order in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Aug. 5, 2025, in Washington, is a move of dubious legality and no necessity. The Home Rule Act governing the District of Columbia gives the president authority to take control of the metropolitan police force when there are "special conditions of an emergency nature." There are no special conditions and there is no emergency. Like everyone, Washingtonians want to be secure in their person, but everyday street crime does not constitute an emergency—especially when the Justice Department's own statistics show the violent crime rate in the District is at its lowest point in decades. There is a major crime problem in Washington, D.C., but it's not the one Trump is talking about—and it's one the administration is making that far worse. Corporate crime and wrongdoing—pollution, dangerous products, financial fraud and scams, unsafe workplaces, and more—inflicts far more damage on people than street crime, whether measured by dollars, injuries, or lives. But Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi are epically weak on corporate crime enforcement—probably the weakest in American history. They are ending investigations and prosecutions into corporations, announcing no-prosecute policies against whole areas of corporate wrongdoing, and redirecting law enforcement resources away from corporate crime and toward its mass deportation agenda. Trump is also complaining about homelessness in D.C. There is, in fact, a significant housing problem in Washington, D.C., like there is throughout the nation. But on this score, Trump is doing nothing to help—and actively making things worse. Telling people without housing that they have to "move out" of the District, as Trump has done, does nothing to actually address that problem. Investing more in housing would help, but there were no such investments in Trump's tax and budget reconciliation bill—he was too busy conferring giant tax breaks on the super rich and corporations and stripping health care coverage from everyday Americans. Those health care cuts will significantly worsen homelessness—both because health care is key to help people without housing and because Medicaid is often used for supportive housing. Providing support to people with addiction issues would also help address the homelessness challenge; instead, the administration is considering withholding already appropriated funding for responding to fentanyl overdoses. Trump's actions have nothing to do with anything happening in Washington, D.C. Trump is motivated instead to advance his authoritarian agenda and to distract from his political weakness. This aligns perfectly with his other despotic tendencies, for example his enemies lists, his mantra of "loyalists only"—particularly those who support his election denialism—to key appointments, and Pam Biondi's recent move to deputize Ed Martin to investigate perceived opponents like Adam Schiff and Tish James. Washington, D.C. does not need National Guard members—who signed up to address genuine national security threats and actual emergencies, not to be political pawns—on our streets. Instead, what we in D.C. need is representation in Congress and more federal funding to mitigate the restrictions on the District's power of taxation. But this is an issue of import that goes far beyond the interests of the people of Washington, D.C.—and not just because D.C. is our nation's capital. Trump is now broadcasting that he hopes to militarize law enforcement in cities across the country. Whether the nation tolerates—or rises up to oppose—Trump's actions in Washington will very meaningfully impact whether the country goes down a democratic or authoritarian path. Robert Weissman and Lisa Gilbert are Public Citizen co-presidents. The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.

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