Latest news with #JasonSmith
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
US 50 bridges construction hours change Sunday
MONTROSE AND GUNNISON COUNTIES, Colo. (KREX) — On Wednesday, the Colorado Department of Transportation and Kiewit Infrastructure Co. announced that they are altering the work hours for crews applying the final coat of paint to repaired steel on the US Highway 50 Middle Bridge and Lake Fork Bridge. On Sunday, June 8, construction crews will work from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. Sunday through Friday. Flaggers will direct single-lane traffic over each bridge. This is the final phase of the emergency repair project, scheduled for completion by the end of July. The emergency repair project began in April 2024, when several steel weld cracks were detected in the US 50 Middle Bridge and similar defects were found in the US 50 Lake Fork Bridge. Both bridges had partial closures after the cracks were detected for public safety. 'Because the paint adheres better in warmer temperatures, we're moving up our work hours slightly to take advantage of more daylight as we enter the homestretch of this repair project,' said CDOT Regional Transportation Director Jason Smith. 'We appreciate the community's continued support as we close out this critical safety project.' The travel impacts of the scheduled maintenance include: Nighttime work hours from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. Sunday through Friday. Travel over each bridge is reduced to a single lane. The speed limit is reduced to 35 mph in the work zones. . Overnight painting work will not take place over the Fourth of July weekend. For more information on the project, individuals can contact the project team by emailing us50bridge@ or visiting the project webpage at Individuals can learn more about the statewide road conditions at Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Medscape
2 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Up to 44% of Dementia Cases Preventable
Maintaining optimal vascular health throughout late life can significantly lower the risk of developing dementia before age 80 years, new research showed. Investigators estimated the proportion of new dementia cases linked to modifiable vascular risk factors. The results suggested that 22%-44% of dementia cases by age 80 years could be attributed to poor vascular health through age 74 years. The findings highlighted the 'potentially immense value of early detection of vascular risk factors and primordial prevention (eg, vis-à-vis promotion of physical activity and healthy body weight management) beginning in midlife,' wrote the study team, led by Jason Smith, PhD, with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. The study was published online on June 2 in JAMA Neurology . Vascular Health Equals Brain Health Hypertension, diabetes, and smoking are widely recognized modifiable vascular risk factors for dementia. While their roles have been studied individually, the cumulative impact of these risk factors across the lifespan — and how this varies by genetic background, race, and sex — has been less clear. Smith and colleagues used data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Neurocognitive Study, with 33 years of follow-up, to assess the fraction of dementia attributable to hypertension, diabetes, and smoking measured at different life stages. A total of 7731 participants were included in the analysis of risk factors measured at age 45-54 years (58% women, 71% White, 29% Black); 12,274 contributed data at age 55-64 years (55% women, 76% White, 24% Black); and 6787 contributed data at age 65-74 years (56% women, 80% White, 20% Black). Overall, a total of 2218 people developed dementia by their 80th birthday. By age 80 years, the population attributable fraction of dementia attributable to at least one vascular risk factor measured at age 45-54 years was 22%; at 55-64 years, it was 26%, and at 65-74 years, it was 44%. Only 2%-8% of dementia cases occurring after age 80 years were attributable to these vascular risk factors. Subgroup differences emerged. For example, the attributable fractions for the vascular risk factors were higher in APOE-ε4 noncarriers aged 55 years or older (range, 33%-61%). 'This reflects the fact that in populations with lower genetic Alzheimer risk, the extent of the relative contribution of vascular disease to dementia risk is greater,' the study team explained. Attributable fractions for the vascular risk factors were also higher in Black individuals aged 45 years or older (range, 26%-53%) and women aged 55 years or older (range, 29%-51%). Risk factor clusters such as hypertension plus diabetes and smoking plus diabetes significantly increased dementia risk, with hazard ratios ranging from 2.00 to 3.54, depending on age and risk factor combination. The importance of hypertension and diabetes increased with age, whereas the importance of smoking decreased with age. 'Given the contribution of vascular disease to dementia and the overlap in risk factors between CVD and dementia, interventions that address these underlying risk factors have the potential to reduce the risk of both outcomes,' the co-authors of a linked editorial said. These results also suggest that 'to be optimally effective, interventions to reduce dementia risk by addressing vascular risk factors may need to be individualized and targeted based on factors such as age, genetics, race, and sex,' Roch A. Nianogo, MD, PhD, with University of California, Los Angeles, and Deborah E. Barnes, PhD, MPH, with University of California, San Francisco, wrote.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump tax bill would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over a decade: CBO
President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' would add $2.4 trillion to the nation's deficit over roughly the next decade, a new cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) shows. The agency estimated the proposed tax cuts in the plan — which seek to lock in expiring provisions in Trump signature 2017 tax law, along with a host of other add-ons — would decrease revenues by more than $3.6 trillion over that time frame. Meanwhile, accompanying measures to cut federal spending, including reforms to Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, would reduce outlays by $1.2 trillion over the same period, the CBO estimated. House Republicans have been shooting for a minimum goal of $1.5 trillion for spending cuts to ride alongside the tax component of the plan. Wednesday's analysis includes more than $174 billion in other deficit additions due to interactive effects of different parts of the legislation that previous estimates hadn't accounted for. The estimate comes as Trump and other Republicans have ramped up attacks on the nonpartisan budget scorekeeper, while claiming the proposed tax cuts are costless. 'I would love for CBO to put out a report showing how they were off by $1.7 trillion on the 2017 tax cuts,' House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said Wednesday morning, referring to the last round of GOP tax cuts. But the accounting criticisms haven't stopped fiscal hawks from raising questions about the cost of the package, while pressing for more aggressive cuts to spending. Some have suggested the scope of the tax portion of the bill could be narrowed in the Senate to reduce the package's costs. However, other GOP senators have expressed concerns about proposed reforms to Medicaid, which also include work requirements, accounting for a chunk of the savings Republicans hope to generate on the spending side. The CBO estimated Wednesday that the bill in its current form would 'increase by 10.9 million the number of people without health insurance in 2034.' 'That total includes an estimated 1.4 million people without verified citizenship, nationality, or satisfactory immigration status who would no longer be covered in state-only funded programs in 2034,' it continued. The CBO found the bill would also 'lower gross benchmark premiums, on average, in marketplace plans established by the Affordable Care Act by an estimated 12.2 percent in 2034.' The Senate is expected to make changes to the legislation soon, with hopes of pushing the bill out of Congress by early July. The national debt ballooned after the federal government sent out trillions in fiscal rescue measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as various parts of the global economy were shut down. The overall debt jumped from a plateau of around 100 percent of annual gross domestic product (GDP) up to 120 percent, where it has hovered since 2021. Total U.S. debt is about $36 trillion dollars. The $2.4 trillion addition would be about 6.7 percent of that amount, spread out over the nine-year accounting window. 'This package would leave federal budget deficits as a share of GDP between 6.5 to 7 percent over the next several years, representing no progress on reducing the deficit,' Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a June 2 note to investors. Republicans were jazzed Wednesday about the current outlook for second-quarter GDP, which the Atlanta Fed is now forecasting to grow by a sizable 4.6 percent after a contraction in the first quarter spurred by increased imports. Updated at 10:51 a.m. EDT Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Republicans Try to Discredit Experts Warning About the Cost of Tax Cuts
Even before House Republicans learned the full price of their tax package on Wednesday, one of the bill's chief authors, Representative Jason Smith of Missouri, was sowing doubt about the accuracy of the estimate. 'I'm skeptical,' Mr. Smith said at an event last month when asked about the coming analysis of the legislation's cost. 'Unless I like the number, I'm against the number.' In the bitter war over the nation's fiscal future, President Trump and his Republican allies have united around a new foe: the economists and budget experts who have warned about the costs of the party's tax ambitions. Republican leaders have set about trying to discredit any hint of unfavorable accounting on their signature legislation as they race to enact it before the president's self-imposed July 4 deadline. The latest estimate arrived on Wednesday, projecting that the sprawling bill endorsed by Mr. Trump could add about $2.4 trillion to the federal debt over the next decade. By then, though, the package of tax, spending and welfare cuts had already ignited an intense wave of political attacks and recriminations. While Republicans scrambled to cast their proposal as fiscally responsible, Wall Street was getting the jitters about the nation's growing debt burden. The tech executive Elon Musk, having left behind his role seeking to slash government spending for Mr. Trump, savaged the bill on social media on Tuesday, saying it would 'massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit.' Most economists — from nonpartisan government watchdogs as well as outside tax analysts across the political spectrum — have concluded that the bill passed by House Republicans, which is now being considered by the Senate, could exacerbate the nation's fiscal imbalance while contributing less in economic growth than Mr. Trump forecasts. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How the latest US tax bill increases uncertainty for foreign businesses
The US' latest tax bill, officially named the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, contains a section that could drastically change the business environment for foreign companies and investors in the US. Section 899 says that the US could increase taxes on foreign investments (such as subsidiaries from non-US multinationals) if these come from countries that the US deems to have unfair trade policies. House Ways and Means Committee chair and Missouri Representative Jason Smith told Axios: 'This is a way to help put them in check, so that they understand that if they do that to our businesses, there will be consequences for their actions. Hopefully it will never take effect.' Under this provision, foreign companies operating in the US, US companies with foreign owners, multinationals and individual foreign investors from "discriminatory foreign countries" could face higher US taxes. This would enable the government to retaliate against countries that have imposed digital services taxes (DSTs) on US tech companies by targeting foreign investments from these countries in the US. It comes a few months after US Vice-President JD Vance visited France for the AI Summit, where he warned Europe against increasing tech regulations. US President Donald Trump has also criticised antitrust and privacy cases being pursued by the EU against big tech companies. Already, the US' dizzying tariff regime was hurting foreign investor confidence in the US. Delegates at the SelectUSA Investment Summit told Investment Monitor that many foreign businesses were delaying plans until they could have a more certain outlook. 'The measure risks detonating investor confidence and could set off a damaging pullback of foreign capital just as the US needs it the most,' Nigel Green, deVere Group's CEO, tells Investment Monitor in a note. 'It punishes the very people whose capital keeps American businesses growing, whose investments fund US debt and whose companies are employing millions of US workers.' 'Other countries won't sit idle while their firms and funds are penalised. They will respond. This means potential tax retaliation, trade frictions and further fragmentation of an already fragile global economic order,' Green says. He also emphasised that US workers would suffer the most severe consequences from this law if it came into effect. Ashley Akin, a tax consultant at RKO Tax and former KPMG manager, tells Investment Monitor over email that this provision 'introduces a real pricing risk for foreign investors and multinational firms'. 'If a country enforces digital taxes that the US finds discriminatory, their businesses operating in the US can face extra taxes starting at 5%, climbing up to 20%. These surcharges can override tax treaties,' Akin outlines. 'Companies doing everything by the book could still get hit, purely because of the tax policy in their home country." Already, the Trump administration has suggested that countries regulating US tech companies abroad could provoke more tariffs. These threats were seemingly aimed at Europe, where regulators have begun cracking down on major tech companies for what they view as privacy breaches and anti-competitive behaviour. Trump's senior trade adviser, Peter Navarro, has accused the EU of using "lawfare [...] to target America's largest tech firms". 'Section 899 is designed to protect US tech giants from what Washington views as targeted digital taxes. It gives the US leverage to push back against European digital services taxes, and it can help these companies negotiate better terms abroad,' Akin says. There is, she adds, a risk of backlash. 'If European countries respond with their own countermeasures, we could see a patchwork of retaliatory rules. That would just create more friction for everyone, not just tech. It is not a clean win [for US tech companies], but it does shift the power dynamic back towards the US,' she notes. The One Big Beautiful Bill passed in the House with 215 votes for and 214 against. Two Republicans joined Democrats in opposing it. It will now be debated in the Senate, where officials will have the opportunity to amend provisions. "How the latest US tax bill increases uncertainty for foreign businesses" was originally created and published by Investment Monitor, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
