About 73% of Americans Do at Least OK Financially in Fed Survey
Americans were mostly financially stable and had a slightly less pessimistic view of the economy at the end of last year, according to an annual survey by the Federal Reserve.
The report showed how consumers' personal financial well-being was holding up ahead of the presidential election. Some 73% of adults were 'doing okay or living comfortably financially' as of October 2024, little changed from 72% in 2023 but still below the high of 78% seen in 2021, according to the central bank's Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking published Wednesday.
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17 minutes ago
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Who is organizing 'No Kings' day protests? See Florida locations, what to expect
The number of planned "No Kings" protests across Florida and the United States is growing. The events are scheduled to take place Saturday, June 14, and coincide with Flag Day, President Trump's 79th birthday and the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary celebration and military parade taking place in Washington, D.C. About 2,000 protests and rallies have registered at the website across the US, with more than 80 in Florida. The "No Kings" day protests were planned before riots erupted in Los Angeles over immigration enforcement raids. Trump called in the California National Guard and a few days later ordered Marines to the city. California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit over the president's move to deploy members of the Guard without Newsom's authorization. ➤ Live updates: Court sides with Trump over control of National Guard in California Here's who is organizing the events, the purpose behind them and how to stay safe if you'll be attending or be in the area. "'No Kings' is expected to be the largest single-day mobilization since Trump returned to office — a mass, nationwide protest rejecting authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarization of our democracy," according to "They've defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services. The corruption has gone too. far. No thrones. No crowns. No kings. "We're standing together against the abuses of power, cruelty, and corruption. On June 14, we gather to remind President Trump and his enablers: America has No King! "The 'No Kings' theme was orchestrated by the 50501 Movement, a national movement made up of everyday Americans who stand for democracy and against what they call the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration," according to the Associated Press. "The name 50501 stands for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement." Another event organizer is Indivisible, which calls itself "a grassroots movement of thousands of local Indivisible groups with a mission to elect progressive leaders, rebuild our democracy, and defeat the Trump agenda." Formed in 2016, Indivisible said it "rejects all forms of political violence and intimidation, no matter the source or the target." "I think we will see the largest peaceful single day protests that this country has seen certainly since the first Trump term," said Indivisible cofounder Ezra Levin, one of the organizers. Levin previously served as associate director of federal policy for Prosperity Now. According to the No Kings website, more than 80 protests (including several in some cities) are planned across Florida as of June 13, including a No Kings Caravan March to Mar a Lago and Meyer Rally near Trump's residence in West Palm Beach. ➤ Find an event near you Organizers were urged to "prioritize landmarks or other public sites with high-visibility, like state capitols or city halls, major parks, or in other high traffic outdoor areas in your community." Authorities are urging both protesters and residents to stay informed and prioritize safety. "All No Kings events adhere to a shared commitment to nonviolent protest and community safety. Organizers are trained in de-escalation and are working closely with local partners to ensure peaceful and powerful actions nationwide," said. ➤ Protesting on 'No Kings Day'? Here's how you can stay safe and protect your rights Among the items experts at Physicians for Human Rights suggest bringing are: Backpack, fanny pack to keep your hands free Face mask or bandanna to shield your eyes from pepper spray or tear gas Water Avoid wearing contact lenses, which can trap irritating chemicals Comfortable clothes and closed shoes. Cover as much skin as possible and consider bringing a spare set of clothes Identification, contact information According to the ACLU of Florida, the First Amendment generally prohibits restrictions based on speech content. However, this does not mean the Constitution completely protects all types of speech in every circumstance. "For example, threatening someone with violence is not protected," the organization writes on its website. "Additionally, government officials are allowed to place certain reasonable, nondiscriminatory, and narrowly drawn 'time, place, and manner' restrictions on the exercise of First Amendment rights." Florida Statutes 871.015 state that a person may not "knowingly engage in protest activities or knowingly cause protest activities to occur within 500 feet of the property line of a residence, cemetery, funeral home, house of worship, or other location during or within 1 hour before or 1 hour after the conducting of a funeral or burial at that place." Contributing: Sarah D. Wire, USA Today This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: No Kings day organizers, Florida locations. Violence expected?
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
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Baby Boomers' Luck Is Running Out
The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. At the core of every joke about Baby Boomers lies a seed of jealousy. Unlike younger generations, they have largely been able to walk a straightforward path toward prosperity, security, and power. They were born in an era of unprecedented economic growth and stability. College was affordable, and they graduated in a thriving job market. They were the first generation to reap the full benefits of a golden age of medical innovations: birth control, robotic surgery, the mapping of the human genome, effective cancer treatments, Ozempic. But recent policy changes are poised to make life significantly harder for Baby Boomers. 'If you're in your 60s or 70s, what the Trump administration has done means more insecurity for your assets in your 401(k), more insecurity about sources of long-term care, and, for the first time, insecurity about your Social Security benefits,' Teresa Ghilarducci, a labor economist at the New School, told me. 'It's a triple threat.' After more than half a century of aging into political and economic trends that worked to their benefit, the generation has become particularly vulnerable at exactly the wrong moment in history. Perhaps the biggest threat to Boomers in the second Trump administration is an overhaul of Social Security, which provides benefits to nearly nine out of 10 Americans ages 65 and older. In an emailed statement, Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano wrote, 'I am fully committed to upholding President Trump's promise to protect and strengthen Social Security. Beneficiaries can be confident that their benefits are secure.' But in February, DOGE announced plans to cut Social Security staff by about 12 percent and close six of its 10 regional offices; a quarter of the agency's IT staff has quit or been fired. Social Security's long-term outlook was already troubled before Trump, and these drastic reductions make the understaffed agency even less equipped to support those who rely on it. Shutting down field offices means seniors can't get help in person; less staffing means longer wait times when they call and more frequent website crashes. 'When you add hurdles, or cause a slowdown in terms of processing claims, you see losses in terms of benefits,' Monique Morrissey, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told me. In fact, shutdowns of field offices during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic corresponded with decreased enrollment in both Social Security and Social Security Disability Insurance, which is available to Americans under 65 who can no longer work for physical or mental reasons. Social Security cuts will most hurt low-income Boomers, who are the likeliest to rely on benefits to cover their whole cost of living. But even those with more financial assets may depend on Social Security as a safety net. 'It's important to understand that many seniors, even upper-income seniors, are just one shock away from falling into poverty,' says Nancy J. Altman, the president of Social Security Works, an organization that advocates for expanding the program. As a whole, seniors have more medical needs and less income than the general population, so they're much more financially vulnerable. If you're comfortably middle-class in your early 60s, at the height of your earning potential, that's no guarantee that you'll remain comfortably middle-class into your 70s. In the next few years, Boomers who face more medical bills as they stop working might find, for the first time in their life, that they can't easily afford them. Middle-income seniors are also likely to feel the impact of a volatile market. 'They tend to have modest investments and fixed incomes rather than equities, so the type of wealth that will erode over a high-inflation period,' Laura D. Quinby, who studies benefits and labor markets at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, told me. After Trump announced 10 percent tariffs on all imported goods in April, the three major stock indexes dropped 4 percent or more. They've since recovered, but the erratic market—whipped around by Trump's shifting proclamations about tariffs—scares many middle-class Boomers, who are watching their retirement savings shrink. In the near future, older Americans might find themselves paying more for medical care too. Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' which has passed in the House but awaits a vote in the Senate, would substantially limit Medicare access for many documented immigrants, including seniors who have paid taxes in the United States for years. The bill would also reduce Medicaid enrollment by about 10.3 million people. Although Medicaid is for people with limited incomes of all ages, it supports many older Americans and pays for more than half of long-term care in the U.S. Most seniors require some sort of nursing home or at-home medical care; one study found that 70 percent of adults who live to 65 will require long-term services and support. [Read: The GOP's new Medicaid denialism ] That support may soon be not only more expensive, but harder to come by. The long-term-care workforce is disproportionately made up of immigrants, so the Trump administration's immigration crackdown is likely to reduce the number of people available to take care of seniors—and increase how much it costs to hire them. 'If you have no money, you'll be on Medicaid in a nursing home, and that's that. But if you're trying to avoid that fate, you're now going to run through your money more quickly and be more vulnerable,' Morrissey said. Seniors with some financial security are more likely to live long enough to contend with the diseases of old age, such as Alzheimer's and dementia. The Trump administration has cut funding for promising research on these diseases. 'Going forward, you'll find less treatments reaching fruition,' Thomas Grabowski, who directs the Memory and Brain Wellness Center at the University of Washington, told me. For now, the UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center, where Grabowski works on therapies for Alzheimer's, has stopped bringing in new participants; as time goes on, he said, they'll have to tighten more. (Kush Desai, a White House spokesperson, told me in an email that the cuts to research funded by the National Institutes of Health are 'better positioning' the agency 'to deliver on medical breakthroughs that actually improve Americans' health and wellbeing.') Changes at the UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center could have dramatic effects on current patients, including Bob Pringle, a 76-year-old who lives in Woodinville, Washington. In April, he started getting infusions of donanemab, an anti-amyloid medication approved by the FDA last year. The drug doesn't cure Alzheimer's; it's designed to slow the disease's progression, though the utility of donanemab and other Alzheimer's drugs remains controversial among experts. Pringle, for one, has found donanemab helpful. 'With the medication, my decline is a gentle slope, rather than a rapid decline,' says Pringle, whose mother died of Alzheimer's and whose sister lives in a memory-care facility. 'You're always hopeful that somebody with a bigger brain than you have is working on a cure, and the medication gives us some time until then,' Bob's wife and caretaker, Tina Pringle, told me. 'But right now, because of the funding cuts, our outlook is grim.' [Read: The NIH's most reckless cuts yet] The unknowability of the future has always been a scary part of getting older. The enormous upheaval that the Trump administration has created will only magnify that uncertainty for Boomers. After a historical arc of good fortune, their golden generation has to contend with bad timing. Younger generations, including my own, shouldn't gloat, though: Cuts to Social Security and a halt to medical research could well worsen the experience of aging for generations to come. Younger Americans will likely grow old under challenging conditions too. Unlike the Boomers, we'll have plenty of time to get used to the idea. Article originally published at The Atlantic
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
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Trump allowed to keep National Guard in Los Angeles as more protests planned
By Brad Brooks LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump can keep his deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles, according to a court ruling, as protests against immigration raids look set to enter their second week in the strongest backlash since his return to power in January. Trump on Friday welcomed the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision that temporarily paused a lower court ruling that blocked the mobilization, although it does not mean that the court will ultimately agree to side with him. "We saved L.A. Thank you for the Decision!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Cities across the United States were bracing for more demonstrations especially on Saturday, when those also opposed to a weekend military parade in Washington marking the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary are expected to take to the streets. "They've defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services," the group No Kings, which is behind the day of action, wrote on its website. A battalion of 700 U.S. Marines was expected to arrive on Friday in Los Angeles, marking an extraordinary use of military forces to support civilian police operations within the United States. Troops have stood guard at a federal detention center in the city's downtown where many of the protests have taken place in a show of solidarity for immigrants detained inside. The protests so far have been mostly peaceful, punctuated by incidents of violence, and restricted to a few city blocks. Demonstrations have also taken place in other U.S. cities this week including New York and Chicago. The guard had also accompanied Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on operations to detain immigrants. Democratic leaders in California have strongly opposed the ramping up of immigration enforcement since it began last Friday. "Peace begins with ICE leaving Los Angeles," Mayor Karen Bass, who has imposed a nighttime curfew over one square mile (2.5 square km) of downtown Los Angeles, said on Thursday. Trump is carrying out a campaign promise to deport immigrants, employing forceful tactics consistent with the norm-breaking political style that got him elected twice. Democrats have said that the use of military force was unnecessary and an example of Trump's authoritarianism. Americans are divided over Trump's decision to activate the military. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday showed that 48% of respondents agreed with a statement that the president should "deploy the military to bring order to the streets" when protests turned violent, while 41% disagreed. (Writing by Costas Pitas; Editing by Mary Milliken and Mark Porter)
