Latest news with #AngieCraig
CNN
23-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
Millions could lose food assistance under GOP's ‘big, beautiful bill,' CBO says
Millions of low-income Americans, including families with children, could lose their food stamp benefits under House Republicans' newly passed tax and spending cuts package, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis released Thursday. Others could see smaller monthly assistance. The analysis is the latest to show the impact of the historic cuts to the nation's safety net programs contained in the package, which aims to fulfill President Donald Trump's agenda. The legislation would provide trillions of dollars in tax cuts while slashing federal support for food stamps and Medicaid to help offset the cost. The package, however, is expected to undergo multiple changes in the Senate, where some lawmakers have already expressed concerns about the safety net provisions. As written, the bill would reduce federal spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, the official name for food stamps, by roughly $286 billion over the next decade, according to the CBO analysis, which was requested by Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Angie Craig, ranking members of the Senate and House agriculture committees, respectively. House Republicans have said the measures are intended to 'restore integrity' to the program, which provides aid to roughly 42 million Americans. Among the most consequential and controversial provisions are expanding the program's existing work requirements to many older Americans, and, for the first time, to many parents. Also, states would have less flexibility in waiving these requirements during tough economic times. These measures would strip roughly 3.2 million people of their food stamp benefits in an average month over the next decade, CBO estimates. This includes 800,000 people who live with children ages 7 and older. States would have to share in the cost of the benefits for the first time, shouldering between 5% and 25% of the cost depending on their payment error rate. State responses would vary, but some 'would modify benefits or eligibility and possibly leave the program altogether because of the increased costs,' CBO projects. The provision would lead states to reduce or eliminate food stamp benefits for about 1.3 million people in an average month over the decade, CBO estimates. Also, subsidies for child nutrition programs would decrease for about 420,000 children during that period. Other measures in the bill, including capping annual increases in benefits, would also reduce monthly assistance. And a provision tightening eligibility for noncitizens would leave between 120,000 and 250,000 people without aid. CBO noted that the coverage loss projections are for each set of provisions individually and do not account for overlap in the people who could be affected. Its analysis does not provide an overall figure for how many people would lose access to food stamps. The House bill also calls for introducing the first-ever work requirement to Medicaid, which could leave millions of low-income Americans without health coverage, according to experts.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House Democrats Criticize Donald Trump's "Corrupt" Connections to Cryptocurrency. Should Investors Be Worried?
The president has been accused of corruption relating to his meme coin. He has also been accused of conflicts of interest related to other crypto investments. Do not take any risks with your money here. 10 stocks we like better than Official Trump › It's no secret that President Donald Trump is heavily invested in cryptocurrencies ranging from Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) to his Official Trump (CRYPTO: TRUMP) meme coin on Solana, among many others. It's also no secret that the president's focus on cryptocurrency regulation reforms has been a major pillar of his administration's efforts so far. But when those two things combine, political clashes are bound to happen, and at least so far, they aren't frivolous or trivial in nature. On May 6, a hearing on cryptocurrency legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives got contentious, with Democratic Rep. Angie Craig from Minnesota saying: "It's legitimate to call out the self-dealing from the Trump administration related to hawking meme coins from the White House. It's corrupt." Rep. Maxine Waters from California also accused the president and his family of corruption, and Rep. Stephen Lynch from Massachusetts voiced similar concerns. Are these allegations a concern? How should investors be approaching these issues? There are many aspects of the president's cryptocurrency investments that are worth considering in terms of risk to investors; in total his crypto holdings are estimated to be worth about $2.9 billion. The majority of that value is from the president's stake in the Official Trump meme coin, which has a market cap of $2.7 billion currently. An estimated 80% of the supply of that coin is held by companies or individuals closely affiliated with the president or his family, which means that increases to its price disproportionately benefit them rather than other holders. Furthermore, those entities gather transaction fees with every trade, which resulted in about $100 million in proceeds during the coin's first two weeks of trading, according to Reuters. In other words, trading the coin puts money in the president's pocket, and he has encouraged his followers to buy it using his social media accounts. The president is also supposedly hosting a dinner for the 220 largest holders of the coin on May 22 at one of his golf courses. Therefore, it is explicitly part of the president's plan to enable those who buy enough of the coin to also simultaneously buy access to the president. Per an analysis conducted by Bloomberg, more than half of the coin's largest holders conducted their purchases on foreign cryptocurrency exchanges that are banned in the U.S., suggesting that the holders are themselves most likely foreign citizens. Thus, foreign citizens are purchasing assets that directly increase the value of the president's portfolio while also generating money for him via trading fees. These already wealthy individuals would probably not waste their funds on buying a highly risky meme coin unless they stood to gain something far more valuable, like influence with the U.S. president. Aside from the coin, there's the cryptocurrency exchange called World Liberty Financial, which is run by two of the president's sons. It holds large quantities of many different coins, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Recently, a company based in the United Arab Emirates called MGX announced that it would buy $2 billion of World Liberty Financial's stablecoin offering. That means the business exchanged dollars for digital assets, increasing the value of the Trump family's company significantly. Consider why a buyer might prefer to use World Liberty Financial's stablecoin rather than one of the cryptocurrency industry's other interchangeable stablecoins, many of which are vastly more liquid and have longer histories of use. In late March, a handful of Senate Democrats on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and the Senate Finance and Banking Committees flagged the president's relationship with World Liberty Financial and its stablecoins as being "extraordinary conflicts of interest and unprecedented risks to our financial system," which makes sense given that he has a direct ability to regulate that category of assets and stands to gain from any new or adjusted rules. So it is very reasonable to be concerned about self-serving new policies or statements that might affect the value of Trump's holdings disproportionately. Don't buy the president's meme coin. It isn't intended for you. Remember, if the president wants to actually spend the money "invested" by foreign investors seeking influence, he'll need to sell some of his coins. Given his ownership of the majority of the supply, he can sell a vast amount and smash the price down along the way. If that happens, you will be hit with severe losses. Keep in mind that this does not actually prevent the coin's future use as a vehicle for other actors to "invest" once more; they can and will invest $100 million into the asset whether its price per coin is at a penny or at a dollar. On the bright side, the president and his family don't own nearly enough Bitcoin, Solana, or Ethereum to have much of an impact on the price with their purchases or sales. Nor is there as much of an opportunity for presidential corruption with those assets, at least not as transparently as with the official meme coin or World Liberty Financial. Don't be discouraged from buying them because Trump holds them, even if he implements policies that affect them directly. Before you buy stock in Official Trump, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Official Trump wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $598,613!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $753,878!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 922% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 169% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 12, 2025 Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. House Democrats Criticize Donald Trump's "Corrupt" Connections to Cryptocurrency. Should Investors Be Worried? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
USA Today
14-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Trump's plan to eliminate Social Security taxes: What it means for retirees
Trump's plan to eliminate Social Security taxes: What it means for retirees Show Caption Hide Caption Biden-signed law triggers Social Security increases for retirees Many are seeing an increase in their Social Security payments, thanks to a law aimed at correcting long-standing benefit reductions for public sector workers. unbranded - Newsworthy President Trump during his campaign proposed exempting Social Security from federal income tax. Several lawmakers in Congress have recently introduced legislation that aims to accomplish the same goal. Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) in January announced the You Earned It, You Keep It Act. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) in January announced the No Tax on Social Security Act. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky) in February announced the Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act. Additionally, President Trump last month pushed Congress to approve a "big, beautiful" tax and spending bill that fulfills several other campaign promises. "In the coming weeks and months, we will pass the largest tax cuts in American history — and that will include no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, and no tax on overtime," he said. However, those major changes to tax law would likely hurt retired workers on Social Security. Here's why. Social Security benefits could be cut 23% in 2035 under current tax law Social Security is primarily financed by taxes, but there are three revenue sources: 91% comes from payroll taxes, 4% from taxes collected on benefits, and 5% from interest earned on trust fund assets. The program is regularly running deficits, meaning it's spending more money than it brings in, because the retired population that draws benefits is growing more quickly than the taxpaying population that supports the program. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the Social Security Trust Fund — the financial account that pays benefits to retirees, spouses, survivors and disabled workers — will be exhausted by 2034. At that point, one funding source would disappear because the trust fund would no longer earn interest. The remaining tax revenues would cover only 77% of scheduled payments in 2035. That means benefits could be cut 23% in 10 years unless lawmakers find a solution. Ending taxes on Social Security means benefit cuts would happen sooner The CBO estimates Social Security will run a $3.3 trillion deficit over the next decade. Taxes on benefits will contribute $1.1 trillion to revenue during that period. So, eliminating that income would make an already-substantial deficit much larger. In turn, the trust fund would be exhausted sooner than CBO anticipates under current law, meaning Congress would have less time to avoid substantial benefit cuts. More for retirees: 2026 Social Security COLA estimated at 2.4% after latest inflation report Importantly, while the precise time to trust fund depletion depends on the discrepancy between cash inflows and outflows, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CFRB) says ending taxes on Social Security would move trust fund depletion forward by one year. Alternatively, a budget model from Ivy League business school Penn Wharton estimates it would hasten trust fund depletion by two years. More broadly, CRFB estimates ending taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security — changes President Trump wants included in the "big, beautiful bill" currently being debated in Congress — would collectively bring trust fund depletion forward by three years. In that scenario, benefits would be cut in 2032 unless lawmakers fix the financing problem. Additionally, because those tax law modifications could reduce Social Security's revenue by as much as $2 trillion over the next decade, the resultant benefit cuts would be even larger than expected. CRFB estimates payments would be slashed 33% by 2035, up from the 23% cut projected by CBO under current tax law. Here's the bottom line: Representatives from both political parties have proposed eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits. President Trump has gone even further in suggesting tips and overtime should be exempt from federal income tax. Those changes may ultimately be a bad thing for retired workers, despite increasing benefits for individuals that currently owe tax on their Social Security checks. Nancy Altman, President of nonprofit group Social Security Works, recently told Kiplinger, "[Trump's] talking about getting rid of taxation, which increases benefits, but the very benefits that are subject to taxation will be much reduced. So basically, it's not an honest proposal." The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The Motley Fool is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news, analysis and commentary designed to help people take control of their financial lives. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY. The $ 22,924 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook Offer from the Motley Fool: If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets"could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. One easy trick could pay you as much as $22,924 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. JoinStock Advisorto learn more about these strategies. View the "Social Security secrets" »
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Labor fights to preserve recent gains at Minnesota Legislature — and other labor news
Thousands march from the Minnesota State Capitol for the May Day Rally For Immigrant and Workers' Rights Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) Take a seat in the Break Room, our weekly round-up of labor news in Minnesota and beyond. This week: Labor fights to preserve gains at the Capitol; U.S. Rep. Angie Craig racks up labor endorsements; truckers brace for tariff slowdown; Macalester staff file for union election; and Pope Leo XIV's pro-labor predecessor. Two years ago, Minnesota Democrats were basking in the national spotlight after passing a sweeping progressive agenda — with a one-seat Senate majority no less — that created a paid family leave program; guaranteed all workers paid sick leave; banned noncompete agreements; and extended government health insurance to undocumented residents. Now, labor unions and their Democratic allies are just trying to hold the line after a bruising election ended their unified control of government and will force them to make concessions to Republicans to pass a two-year budget. But even some Senate Democrats in swing districts are pushing to sand down policies they previously voted for as they face ongoing pressure from the business groups to ease up on regulations. Six Senate Democrats voted with Republicans on Tuesday to pass a bill that exempts small farms and micro-businesses from the 2023 law requiring employers to provide paid sick and safe leave per year. Sen. Nick Frentz, DFL-North Mankato, an author of the sick leave bill, also introduced a bill with Republicans to water down the paid family leave program slated to start next year. The bill would exempt businesses with 15 or fewer employees and reduce the total number of weeks employees could take off in a year from 20 to 14. 'We have a saying down in Mankato that you can't have good jobs without good employers,' Frentz said in an interview. 'Small businesses are clamoring for us to revisit those two programs.' The paid leave bill didn't get a committee hearing, showing there's little appetite among his Democratic colleagues to discuss changing the program, but it could find new life in last minute budget negotiations. In the evenly divided House, Democrats have remained largely unified, though that isn't enough to pass bills. The House labor bill, which will be debated on Friday, includes a provision that would exempt workers who make more than $200,000 a year from the ban on noncompete agreements passed in 2023. Rep. Emma Greenman, DFL-Minneapolis, said Democrats resoundingly rejected changes to paid family leave, sick leave and a proposal to weaken the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board. But they had to give up something to reach a budget deal. 'This year Republicans have spent all their time working to take away protections and benefits that Minnesota workers won last session, while DFLers have been fighting to pass a budget that protects them,' Greenman said. House Democratic leaders also agreed to roll back unemployment insurance for bus drivers, teachers' aids and other hourly school workers in 2029 as part of an education budget deal. But rank-and-file Democrats refused to send the bill to the floor with that provision, forcing more negotiations. And a final sticking point will be over whether to continue allowing undocumented residents to buy into MinnesotaCare, the state's health insurance for low-income working people. U.S. Rep. Angie Craig had a chummy conversation with Teamster President Sean O'Brien on his podcast 'Better Bad Ideas' on Wednesday as she courts labor unions in her campaign for U.S. Senate. Craig gave her assessment of the 2024 election. Like many moderate Democrats and O'Brien, she says the party suffered because they stopped focusing on pocketbook issues. O'Brien is both cause and effect of the Republican Party seeking to win over working class voters, which President Donald Trump has done to great effect and in the process transformed America's politics during the past decade. O'Brien was the first Teamster president to speak at the Republican National Convention in 2024, and the international union declined to endorse a presidential ticket after releasing polling showing nearly 60% of their members supported Trump. (Still smarting from Gov. Tim Walz's jab that union leaders who didn't endorse in the race lacked courage, O'Brien said on the episode that Walz looks like a 'creepy wrestling coach for junior high.') Craig committed to winning support from these Trump-supporting workers, which means sometimes alienating party loyalists by supporting some of Trump's policies. 'If you take the opposite position every time the administration acts, you lose the ability to reach back and win the people (Trump) won the national election with,' Craig told O'Brien. And she checked the boxes on O'Brien's agenda: reining in Big Tech; going after Amazon; banning autonomous vehicles; supporting energy infrastructure projects; and implementing 'strategic' tariffs. Craig has already won the endorsement of the Teamsters Local 32 in Minnesota, along with nine other local labor unions representing more than 150,000 workers. The endorsements landed just two days after she launched her campaign and included the more moderate building trades — carpenters, operating engineers, painters and sheet metal workers — but also the local union of federal employees, whom Craig has defended against indiscriminate cuts by the Trump administration. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, the other major contender in the Senate race, hasn't announced any labor endorsements yet, but the far larger, more progressive unions like SEIU and Education Minnesota haven't weighed in. Truckers in Minnesota are bracing for a massing slowdown in work as businesses suspend orders from overseas because of Trump's tariffs. Ocean carriers have canceled trips at a faster rate than during the COVID-19 pandemic, and cargo at the massive Port of Los Angeles is down 35% in early May. New Brighton-based shipping company Big Blue Box Vice President Ted Longbella said truckers in Minnesota will feel the effects of the tariffs around June, when the surge of goods that were panic-ordered before Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs announcement turns into a trickle. There are more than 56,000 semi-truck drivers and another 18,000 light truck drivers in Minnesota, according to the state Department of Employment and Economic Development, meaning widespread layoffs and reductions in income could ripple throughout the greater economy. More than 270 Macalester College employees could unionize with the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, the largest union of state employees. Workers filed a petition on Monday with the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees private sector unions, to hold an election after the college declined to voluntarily recognize their union. If successful, the union would represent non-managerial staff across campus, from athletics to alumni relations and library services. 'Macalester staff built a thoughtful, disciplined organizing effort and they didn't back down when management refused recognition,' said MAPE President Megan Dayton in a statement announcing the union filing. 'Now, we're ready to win this election.' The union drive is more than two years in the making, according to the Mac Weekly, and comes on the heels of undergraduate student workers voting to unionize, the first effort of its kind in Minnesota. Macalester spokesman Joe Linstroth said the scope of the union is 'yet to be determined.' 'Should there be an election, we plan to encourage all eligible employees to vote so that they are able to have a say in whether they wish to be represented by a bargaining unit,' he wrote in an email. In taking the name Leo on Thursday, the new pope signaled his intention to continue his predecessor Pope Francis' zealous advocacy for the poor. Pope Leo XIV's name honors the previous Pope Leo, who led the Catholic Church from 1878 to 1903, when workers were fighting back against ruthless industrial capitalism of the Gilded Age. Pope Leo XIII wrote the encyclical Rerum Novarum — sometimes titled 'On the Condition of the Working Classes' — in 1891, in which he praised unions and sharply criticized unchecked greed and the exploitation of the working poor. 'A small number of very rich men have been able to lay upon the teeming masses of the laboring poor a yoke little better than that of slavery itself,' he wrote. 'To misuse men as though they were things in the pursuit of gain, or to value them solely for their physical powers — that is truly shameful and inhuman.' He also shunned the socialist aim to eliminate private property altogether, saying it would unjustly deprive workers of the 'liberty of disposing of his wages, and thereby of all hope and possibility of increasing his resources and of bettering his condition in life.'
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DFL Sen. Matt Klein announces run for Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District
Minnesota Sen. Matt Klein, DFL-Mendota Heights, a Mayo doctor first elected to the Legislature in 2016, announced Tuesday he's running for Rep. Angie Craig's congressional seat in the 2nd District. 'As a senator, I've worked across the aisle to pass common sense laws that protect Minnesotans from financial fraud and predatory lending, lower prescription drug costs by holding Big Pharma accountable, defend reproductive freedom, and make life more affordable for working families,' Klein said in a statement. The 2nd Congressional District is Minnesota's most competitive, but Craig's centrist politics has helped her win four consecutive elections in the purple south metro district. In 2024, she won by double digit percentage points despite Republicans' nationwide success. She recently announced her candidacy for U.S. Senate. Klein currently serves as the chair of the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee. More: Former state Sen. Matt Little announces U.S. House campaign to replace Angie Craig Most recently, Klein has championed legislation to legalize online sports betting in Minnesota, but that effort has stalled again this year. He's also a vocal proponent of passing a revolving door ban, which would bar lawmakers from becoming lobbyists immediately after leaving office. More: Republican candidate wins Minnesota Senate special election Tuesday night Klein, a married father of five, grew up in the east metro and attended the Mayo Medical School. Klein helped Gov. Tim Walz during his 2022 reelection by sharply calling out Walz's GOP opponent, fellow physician Scott Jensen, who had raised doubts about the severity of the pandemic and the necessity of universal vaccination. Former DFL Sen. Matt Little is also running for the 2nd Congressional District seat. Businessman and internet poster Mike Norton is exploring a run. Other potential candidates include GOP state Sen. Eric Pratt; 2024 GOP nominee Joe Teirab; and 2020 and 2022 GOP nominee Tyler Kistner. Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, the nation's largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Minn. Sen. Matt Klein to run for Congress, 2nd Congressional District
