Latest news with #JoshMeyer
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Fintech Digital Launches Subscription Based Web3 and Blockchain Marketing Service Amid Shifting U.S. Regulatory Climate
Fintech Digital, a Chicago-based financial marketing agency, has launched a subscription-based web3 and blockchain marketing service to meet the rising demand in blockchain and digital assets. The service includes access to senior strategists, AI agents for compliance messaging, and is tailored for web3 and blockchain brands seeking scalable growth. CHICAGO - June 2, 2025 ( NEWMEDIAWIRE ) - Fintech Digital, a leading financial marketing agency known for its strategic campaign work with traditional banks and fintech innovators, has officially launched a first of its kind subscription based web3 and blockchain marketing service. This move signals a strategic evolution for the Chicago-based firm, long recognized for its results driven work across regulated financial sectors. After a decade of serving blockchain pioneers like Polygon and regulated Swiss crypto banks, Fintech Digital is leveraging its existing institutional grade capabilities to meet a rising demand in the growing blockchain, AI and digital asset space. With U.S. sentiment shifting (evidenced by actions from financial giants like BlackRock), the firm now views the intersection of blockchain and banking not as a gamble, but as a mission. 'Having already served some of the largest blockchains and banks, the intersection of the two is the thing that really started to get us even more excited in a space that was a natural progression of the use of our resources, skills and talent,' said Josh Meyer, CEO and Founder of Fintech Digital. 'We look forward to serving the industry with the same level of excellence that we've applied to fintech and modern finance.' The subscription offering is built around a flexible pricing model and includes access to senior strategists, multi channel content execution, SEO and compliance conscious brand storytelling. Notably, each engagement includes a marketing trained, regulation aware AI agent developed by Fintech Digital to ensure consistent, compliant messaging at scale. Built to be used by internal marketing teams at crypto firms to add efficiency and capacity expansion to their marketing team. This is more than a pivot; it's an operational realignment. The firm has been restrained in previous years due to political and legal uncertainty. But with increasing regulatory clarity, and the U.S. poised to lead in tokenization and blockchain infrastructure, Fintech Digital is doubling down. 'Both our operational structure, the talent and resources at our agency make our commitment to serving the crypto industry both exciting and challenging,' said Alicia Palmer, Chief Operating Officer and Talent Director. 'In a world where AI, crypto and banking are converging, we just can't wait to see what the next chapter brings and how we can be there to help the industry tell its story and bring them to market with clarity.' Fintech Digital's new crypto marketing subscriptions reflect a matured market approach: high impact marketing built for today's agile, compliance first world. It's a tailored answer for blockchain brands seeking more, they want scalable growth, institutional grade messaging, and a partner who's been in the trenches. With over ten years of experience in crypto, from emerging DeFi startups to global financial institutions, Fintech Digital isn't entering the space. It's claiming the role it's already been playing, now, at full capacity. About Fintech Digital Fintech Digital is a full service marketing agency specializing in regulated finance and crypto marketing. Based in Chicago, IL, the firm supports banks, fintechs, and blockchain projects with growth marketing, web development, brand strategy, and go-to-market execution. Clients have included Polygon, Amina Bank, Opploans, and other pioneers at the intersection of money and technology. Learn more on Social Media: Linkedin Media Contact: Alicia Palmer Chief Operating Officer and Talent Director Fintech Digital [email protected] 312-348-7245 View the original release on
USA Today
02-04-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Democrats win Wisconsin, Republican margins sag in Florida
Democrats win Wisconsin, Republican margins sag in Florida | The Excerpt On Wednesday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: A liberal won Wisconsin's Supreme Court election Tuesday, while two Florida Republicans won their special elections to fill U.S. House vacancies. USA TODAY Domestic Security Correspondent Josh Meyer discusses cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services. Cory Booker breaks the record for the longest known Senate speech. The Trump administration acknowledges an 'administrative error' led to one deportation to El Salvador. USA TODAY National News Reporter Jeanine Santucci explains how cuts to the Department of Agriculture are hitting food banks. Val Kilmer dies at 65. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to podcasts@ Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Taylor Wilson: Good morning, I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025. This is The Excerpt. Today, we recap elections in Wisconsin and Florida, plus mass layoffs hit the Department of Health and Human Services, and how Department of Agriculture cuts are impacting food banks. ♦ Wisconsin voters elected Susan Crawford to the State Supreme Court yesterday, maintaining the court's four-three liberal majority. The election was widely seen as an early referendum on President Donald Trump's presidency, and the campaign became the most expensive judicial contest in US history, with more than $90 million spent by the candidates, the state parties and outside groups, according to New York University's Brennan Center. But in another test of Trump's presidency, two Florida Republicans won their special elections to fill US House vacancies created by Trump's cabinet picks, though the GOP's margin in the solidly red districts was slashed compared with just five months ago. Republicans had been expected to easily hold both seats. Republican State Senator Randy Fine, defeated Democrat Josh Weil, a public school educator, and Republican state chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis defeated Democrat Gary Valimont, a gun violence prevention activist. Margins of victory in those same districts were essentially cut in half for Republicans compared with results there from November. Republicans now have a House majority of 220 to 213. ♦ Mass layoffs began yesterday at the Department of Health and Human Services. I spoke with USA TODAY Domestic Security Correspondent, Josh Meyer, for more. Thanks for joining me, Josh. Josh Meyer: As always, a pleasure. Taylor Wilson: So Josh, we saw mass layoffs yesterday, Tuesday, at the Department of Health and Human Services, which positions, which sectors, were really slashed in particular? Josh Meyer: Taylor, it's hard for us to keep track of all this, as one person from the Food and Drug Administration said, it's a bloodbath. So we're talking about thousands of people across HHS, we're talking about the Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control. The HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Did say that he wanted to, quote, "Eliminate sprawl and cut costs there." But even if people were expecting something like this, they never really envisioned it to be something of this magnitude. And I think that there's a lot of criticism and complaints about the way this was handled. A lot of people showed up for work, and because everybody was ordered to show up for work, there was waits of sometimes one or two hours and people didn't know that their jobs have been cut, or at least that they've been put on administrative leave, until they tried to check in for the day and their badges didn't work. Taylor Wilson: Well, in terms of criticisms, I know we heard a lot from even Capitol Hill, just in general, how was this landing in Washington yesterday, Josh? Josh Meyer: A lot of the lawmakers, especially House of Representatives members who have to get elected every two years, they're facing a lot of feedback at home. There was a memo that went out to them saying, "Don't even hold town hall meetings, because you're just going to get an earful from people." But I think the way the cuts are coming down and some of the programs affected are really going to be hard for them to sell to the public. You're even talking about research for brain cancer, for making sure that our food supply and our drugs are safe, pharmaceutical drugs. This really goes across the board, and it reminds you of how sweeping the government is when it comes to protecting health and human services for people. Taylor Wilson: In terms of the Trump administration view on these cuts, Josh, are they holding a similar line to previous job slashing in recent weeks? Just what are we hearing from them? Josh Meyer: Yeah. They're saying that this is part of the effort by Trump and billionaire, Elon Musk, to shrink staffing levels in federal government and say that this is exactly what we were elected to do. But there's one thing, I think this is what critics are saying, and the public is speaking out too, and a lot of people that were laid off... And again, what happens is these people are not technically laid off, they're put on administrative leave, and then after a certain period of time, then they can be laid off, according to federal government rules, so that's what's happening here. But it's one thing to lay off a lot of people, but I think that there's a sense that this is not being done strategically, certainly not being done surgically, and that they're just wiping out massive programs and nobody can really understand how they're deciding what stays and what goes. So I think that they're going to probably end up having to explain at least some of this to the public. Elon Musk just did an interview on Tuesday, and he said that DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, is the most transparent in government, and I think that that's not exactly the case. But whether it is or not, they're going to have to articulate these decisions and show why they made them. Taylor Wilson: Amid all this, Josh, House Democrats have launched a probe into HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s response to the bird flu. Is there anything you can tell us here? Josh Meyer: Kennedy has been a long-time vaccine skeptic. He has said that he doesn't support a bird flu vaccine for poultry, and has instead suggested that the virus be allowed to spread among chickens to identify those with natural resistance. And not only have health experts said that this approach wouldn't work, but it could be potentially catastrophic and trigger a pandemic. And so, I think these House members just want to know what's going on here, they want to know what exactly he's doing, and they say that allowing avian flu to ravage flocks around the country is both dangerous and reckless. So they want to know what's going on, and I think they're trying to put the brakes on this. Taylor Wilson: All right. Josh Meyer covers domestic security for USA TODAY. Thanks, Josh. Josh Meyer: My pleasure. Thanks, Taylor. ♦ Democratic Senator Cory Booker yesterday delivered the longest recorded floor speech in Senate history, breaking the record set by segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond in 1957. Booker said that he decided to undertake the marathon speech because Democrats have a responsibility to do something different in the face of the unprecedented changes taking place in the first few months of Trump's second term as president. Senator Cory Booker: These are not normal times in America, and they should not be treated as such. Taylor Wilson: The Trump administration this week acknowledged an administrative error led to the deportation of a native of El Salvador, but the government has no interest in returning him to his wife and child with a disability, according to court documents. Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a resident of Beltsville, Maryland, was among the hundreds of alleged members of crime gangs, MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, the government expelled from the US to El Salvador last month. But he had won a court order from an immigration judge in 2019 that was supposed to prevent his removal. His wife and child, who are both US citizens, filed a lawsuit calling for his return. In filings earlier this week, government officials acknowledged the administrative mistake that sent Garcia to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Still, government lawyers said he has been found to be a danger to the community, so the public interest is against ordering the government to orchestrate his return to the United States. Abrego Garcia was ordered deported in 2019 after a confidential informant testified that he was an active member of the MS-13 gang, according to government lawyers. He then applied for asylum, asking for protections under the UN Convention against Torture if he were returned to El Salvador. An immigration judge found he was deportable, but withheld his removal. You can read more with the link in today's show notes. ♦ Cuts to Department of Agriculture programs that provide food for schools and food banks have communities across the country worried about hunger. I spoke with USA TODAY National News Reporter, Jeanine Santucci, to learn more. Jeanine, thanks for hopping on today. Jeanine Santucci: Thanks for having me. Taylor Wilson: So starting here, Jeanine, just tell us about the cuts to government funding for programs that help food banks. What sorts of slashing have we seen here in recent weeks? Jeanine Santucci: There have been cuts to a couple of US Department of Agriculture programs that help food banks. The first one is the Emergency Food Assistance Program, and that involves the USDA purchasing food from farmers and food producers and sending it to food banks so that they can be distributed in low-income areas. Some of those organizations have told the USA TODAY network that they're expecting fewer food shipments under that program going forward. The other program, which is called the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement, and yes, that is a mouthful, works by creating non-competitive agreements for the purchasing of fresh food from local farmers to go to food banks. So they both essentially are working to get food from farmers into the food banks so that they can be distributed to people who are hungry, and together, that's over $1 billion in funds that was cut. Taylor Wilson: So how is this really functionally impacting food banks, as some already strapped banks turn to their local communities for help? And really, Jeanine, can you help us understand where food banks expect to get their food from typically? Jeanine Santucci: Food banks typically get the food that they give out in one of three ways, generally. The first is through donations from people in their communities, from individuals, or donations from grocery stores, companies, et cetera. The second is through food that's purchased using USDA funding, like the programs we're talking about. And the third way is food that they purchase themselves with pretty limited resources, and that's a minority of the food that they give out. That's according to Vince Hall of the nonprofit Feeding America. He says that food banks right now are facing record high demand because of inflation making the bills that people are paying difficult across the country. Organizations that give out food and the farmers who grow it and have benefited from these programs have told the newspapers within the USA TODAY network all over the country, from Arizona to Iowa to Delaware, that the cuts are going to impact them, and one of the things that they'll just have to do is hope that community members will step up their donations, because otherwise, there's just going to be less food. Taylor Wilson: Well, as you said, Jeanine, this is really a nationwide conversation, but how does this hit rural communities in particular? Jeanine Santucci: Rural communities are more spread out, and Hall said it's harder for them to make up the difference because it's not as easy to divert the extra food that would otherwise be thrown away from grocery stores, warehouses, food producers, that will sometimes end up in food banks. But rural food banks can sometimes count on USDA programs for half the food they distribute. Taylor Wilson: And what is the impact here when it comes to access to healthier food specifically? Jeanine Santucci: The main point of these programs to begin with is to provide a source of fresh, healthy, more nutritious options to people who need them, so they'll have access to fresh produce, meat and dairy products that they might not otherwise. And the other thing is that locally grown food is fresher and keeps its nutritional value, so the program specifically that partners food banks with local food producers and farmers, those people might not be able to see locally grown food. Now, Kelly Saxon, who's the farm head at Agritopia Farm in Arizona, told the Arizona Republic that donated food, while still obviously welcome in food banks, might be sitting longer in transit before it's donated, and therefore would lose some of its nutritional value. Taylor Wilson: Well, I'm happy you brought up farmers and food producers here because they're a big part of this conversation, what do we hear from them, what does the shakeup of funding sources mean for them? Jeanine Santucci: It's really a source of income from them. The LFPA programs, those were introduced as a way to counter the disruption to the food supply chain that we saw at the start of the COVID pandemic and bolster farmers and really give them that source of income that they can depend on and don't have to necessarily worry about competing for contracts and things like that. Taylor Wilson: Wow, all right. So on the government side here, Jeanine, how do they argue or defend these cuts? Jeanine Santucci: So one of the main things that the USDA has said and told to us is that they believe that these cuts are, quote, "A return to long-term fiscally-responsible initiatives." So they say that they're focusing on long-term programs, and that these programs didn't provide long-term solutions, and that they're looking past the pandemic now. And Hall said that the USDA does intend to shore up other types of funding to help food banks, but it's not going to fill the $1 billion gap created by these cuts, so he's hoping that Congress can step in with funding in a farm bill in the future. Taylor Wilson: All right. Jeanine Santucci covers national news for USA TODAY. Thank you, Jeanine. Jeanine Santucci: Thank you. ♦ Taylor Wilson: Val Kilmer has died. The actor was known for roles in everything from Top Gun to Batman. He also starred as rockstar Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's 1991 drama, The Doors. Kilmer died from pneumonia. He had publicly battled throat cancer for much of the past decade, permanently losing his voice to a tracheotomy, but continuing to act and write. Val Kilmer was 65. ♦ Author Laurie Woolever, who worked with celebrity chefs Anthony Bourdain and Mario Batali, found herself doing damage control when Batali was accused of assault. Laurie Woolever: It felt a little jarring and slightly unfair to have to take any responsibility for harassment and alleged abuse and things that I didn't really feel that I had any part in. Taylor Wilson: My colleague, Dana Taylor, sat down with Laurie to discuss her new memoir, Care and Feeding. Hear that conversation right here on The Excerpt today, beginning at 4:00 PM Eastern Time. And thanks for listening to The Excerpt, you can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.
USA Today
25-03-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Trump officials shared secret war plans in chat that included journalist
Trump officials shared secret war plans in chat that included journalist | The Excerpt On Tuesday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY Domestic Security Correspondent Josh Meyer breaks down what happened when officials shared detailed secret plans for a U.S. strike on Iran-backed militants in Yemen with a group chat of top Trump administration officials that accidentally included a magazine editor. President Donald Trump says countries that buy oil and gas from Venezuela must pay a 25% tariff to the U.S. Postal workers rally nationwide over Trump's plan to dismantle USPS. USA TODAY Personal Finance Reporter Daniel de Visé explains how Democrats and Republicans seem to occupy separate realities when it comes to inflation. Hear more about what your fellow Americans think about the economy on this week's edition of Forum, a new initiative from the USA TODAY Opinion team. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to podcasts@ Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Taylor Wilson: Good morning, I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Tuesday, March 25th, 2025. This is The Excerpt. Today, the search for answers after Trump's top officials shared secret war plans in a chat that included a journalist. Plus a new tariff is on the way, this one pertaining to Venezuela. And when it comes to inflation, Democrats and Republicans seem to occupy separate realities. ♦ President Donald Trump's top officials shared secret war plans in a chat on the Signal application that included a journalist. I caught up with USA TODAY domestic security correspondent Josh Meyer to discuss the ramifications. Hello, Josh. Josh Meyer: Hey Taylor. Taylor Wilson: Interesting story here, Josh. So what exactly happened here with government officials and this Signal chat? Josh Meyer: So as far as we can tell, Jeffrey Goldberg, who is the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic Magazine, was added to a Signal chat, which is a commercially available but encrypted app, by Mike Waltz, who's the National Security Advisor at the White House for President Trump. And then after that he watched all this back and forth between somebody identifying themselves as JD Vance, somebody identifying themselves as Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, of course, the defense secretary, and all of these people, Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, all talking about whether and when we should be bombing the Houthi militia in Yemen. And so, he wrote in his Atlantic piece about this. I wasn't sure; I didn't believe that it could possibly be real. And then the bombs started falling. And what he meant by that was they said they were going to do it at a specific time and place, and then he watched on social media and found out that that's exactly what they did, which raises, of course, a lot of issues about discussing classified information in a potentially public setting and all sorts of other issues. Taylor Wilson: So we firmly can say, Josh, that this editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, saw classified information. Is that fair to say? Josh Meyer: That's what he says, yes. In fact, he said that he did not include a lot of it because it certainly indicated that it was classified. Goldberg said that there was information, very specific war planning information, in the chat that he kept out of the article for security reasons. And it does indicate that that's the case. I talked to several former national security officials, including one in the Trump administration who said that this is flat-out illegal. If it is as portrayed by Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor, you can't discuss war plans; you can't discuss operational details via a commercial messaging application. There are very specific government-approved channels that you can and that you have to use to do that. And that these very, very top Trump administration officials did not use them. Taylor Wilson: All right, so what sort of questions, Josh, does this now raise about this administration's handling of, I would say not just national security information, but also just how this administration is operating writ large? Josh Meyer: That's a good question, Taylor. You know, Trump in the past has really, really criticized Hillary Clinton's use of a private server for her emails when she served as Barack Obama's Secretary of State; that sparked an FBI investigation. And some people even say that that's what lost her the presidential election. But you know, this just shows that these people are being, if anything, less careful about that. They accidentally invited a journalist, somebody that they didn't know, to this top-secret chat, and then were discussing all of these war plans. And then, as Goldberg notes, once he dropped out of the chat after he realized that it was real, nobody even followed up to see who he was and why he was on the chat. So it raises a lot of issues. Jim Himes, who's the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he was horrified, "By reports that our most senior national security officials, including the heads of multiple agencies, shared sensitive and almost certainly classified information via a commercial messaging application, including imminent war plans." You really can't express it better than that. And what Himes said, continuing, he said, "If true, these actions are a brazen violation of laws and regulations that exist to protect the national security, including the safety of Americans serving in harm's way." So he's one of several people that's demanding an investigation into this. It just so happens that on Wednesday is the Worldwide Threats Hearing, in which all of these people, the heads of these departments, appear before the House and Senate Intel Committee, at least the House Committee on Wednesday, to answer questions. And Himes said he plans to raise that with them. So that should be pretty interesting. Taylor Wilson: Fascinating timing on that one, Josh. So how did the Pentagon defend or explain what happened here, at least in the comments we heard from yesterday? Monday? Josh Meyer: We don't have specific comments from the Pentagon yet as far as I can tell, but the White House itself, I mean, people are referring calls to the White House. Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, did confirm that the chat appears to be an authentic messaging chain. And he said, "We are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain." But then he said, "This thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials." I think that that's not really addressing the more serious underlying issue of the national security implications of this. But we'll see if they have any further comment. And I think there's going to be a lot of questions. There's already been people calling for Hegseth's resignation because of this. Taylor Wilson: So Josh, what is next here? Will there be any consequences? Just where do we go from here? Josh Meyer: One thing that's important to note is the Pentagon just last week announced a zero tolerance policy for leaks of national security information and promised an aggressive investigation including the use of lie detectors and referrals to the appropriate criminal law enforcement entity for any leaks. And they were going after a New York Times report about the planned briefing on war with China that they were going to invite Elon Musk to. The briefing didn't happen, and the Trump administration lashed out at the reporting even though it might have been the reporting that resulted in them not doing the briefing. But these guys at the Pentagon and throughout the Trump administration are very, very serious about finding leaks and prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law. So we'll see if they investigate and potentially prosecute some of their own top officials. I'm a bit doubtful that that'll happen, but we'll have to wait and see. Taylor Wilson: All right, Josh Meyer covers domestic security for USA TODAY. Thank you, Josh. Josh Meyer: Thanks, Taylor. Taylor Wilson: Hegseth, speaking to reporters, denied sharing war plans in the group chat, while Goldberg responded to Hegseth's denial in an interview on CNN yesterday by saying that he was texting war plans. ♦ President Trump yesterday said the US will impose a 25% tariff on imports from any country that purchases oil or gasoline from Venezuela, targeting the South American nation for what he called purposefully and deceitfully sending criminals into the United States. He announced the tariff in retaliation to what he characterized as Venezuela intentionally flooding the US with migrants who commit crimes as gang members. He provided no evidence to support the claim. Trump said the tariff will go into effect on April 2nd, when his long-promised reciprocal tariffs affecting all countries will also begin. ♦ Thousands of postal workers and their supporters rallied across the country in recent days to protest proposals to dismantle the US Postal Service over the long term and a USPS agreement to trim 10,000 jobs in the next few weeks. The rallies came after President Donald Trump said he was considering a plan to merge the independent agency with the Commerce Department, and Elon Musk suggested the agency be privatized. National Association of Letter Carriers President Brian Renfroe, speaking at a rally in Los Angeles, angrily rejected plans to privatize or slash jobs at the agency. He said, "We had an election in November, and some people voted for President Trump and some people voted for Vice President Harris. Some people voted for other candidates, but you know what? None of them voted for, to dismantle the postal service." Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has led a dramatic effort to restructure USPS in recent years, cutting forecasted cumulative losses over a decade in half from $160 billion to $80 billion. Last week, he notified Congress he has signed an agreement with Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to eliminate the jobs and otherwise address big problems USPS faces. You can read more with a link in today's show notes. ♦ When it comes to inflation, Democrats and Republicans seem to occupy separate realities. I spoke with USA TODAY personal finance reporter Daniel de Visé about findings from a University of Michigan consumer survey out this month. And for a closer look at the broader conversation around inflation and the economy. Hello sir, how are you this week? Daniel de Visé: I'm well, how are you? Taylor Wilson: Pretty good, Daniel. So let's just start here. I mean, what did we learn about consumer confidence here in this survey and really what kind of partisan divide are we seeing when it comes to views on inflation? Daniel de Visé: Well, I think this is fascinating that the Republicans and Democrats always see things different when their guy is or woman is, or is not in office. But in the last few months, the Democrats have gone bananas over inflation. Right now the Democrats expect prices to rise by 6.5% over the next year, which is a lot. That would be like almost 2022 level inflation. Republicans, and get this, expect prices to increase by 0.1%, which is basically bubkus. It's no inflation at all. Taylor Wilson: Yeah, well, you know we hear about this magic number a lot, Daniel, when it comes to inflation. What is that? And what is the number? Daniel de Visé: Everybody talks about where's inflation so that you don't think about it, so you don't feel it at all. Jerome Powell, the Fed chair talks about this. Their inflationary goal is 2% a year. Anything around 2% or thereabouts, you're not going to think about it. Economists would say that when you tip up toward 3%, 4%, certainly 5%, 6% inflation, the media starts writing about it, people start chatting about. It becomes a thing. And maybe even more important is individual products. You think about what people buy most regularly, gasoline, eggs, milk, bread, the hurricane supplies and all that. When prices go up on those things, everybody notices. And so maybe that's the most important thing is, where are prices on milk right now? Where are prices on eggs? Taylor Wilson: Well, we're talking Daniel amid this ongoing wave of tariffs. What's the latest there? How do they enter this conversation and kind of consumer confidence around inflation? Daniel de Visé: It's very complicated. So last year on the campaign trail, candidate Donald Trump was big on tariffs. He campaigned on a pledge to end inflation. And at rallies, he said things like tariffs, "It's not going to be a cost to you. It's going to be a cost to another country." So I think many Republicans maybe understandably still believe that Donald Trump will reduce inflation literally to zero and that whatever tariffs are coming aren't going to be a cost to American consumers. Democrats are obviously much more skeptical of this just as they're more skeptical of many things that the Trump administration has said and done. But as you know, tariffs are a huge part of the new administration this year. You almost need a tariff tracker to keep up with them all. Taylor Wilson: Absolutely. It's a good idea, Daniel. So know this big buzzword recession. Are we hearing anything further about recession forecasts for the rest of the year at this point? Daniel de Visé: That it's more likely. Jerome Powell said that maybe anytime there's always maybe a one in four chance of recession hitting this year or soonish, but right now those recession fears are elevated partly because of the tariffs. Maybe at 40%, maybe at one in three. Maybe it's higher than that. But there's certainly a lot of talk about recessions. I would bet you that right now, like today, people are searching on Google the word recession. Taylor Wilson: Well, I know you have another piece out on this, Daniel. How should folks be preparing fiscally right now as everyone gets set for, whether it's a recession or something else, whatever is coming down the pike for the economy? Daniel de Visé: Well, I don't want to get into advice fatigue here, but it's a good time to remind people always work on debt. If you have really high-rate debt, which would be like credit card debt, this certainly would be a good time to think about it. Think about increasing how much of it you pay off every month. Think about increasing how often you don't use the card. Just hide the card; put it in a block of ice. One of the experts I interviewed made this really good point, which is interest rates. You can stack them all up, from lowest interest rate to highest. This includes your savings accounts, anything that you have invested or borrowed; look at the highest overall rate. If it's a credit card, now is the time to really work on that because you're paying way more for that credit card at the 21% interest than you're getting from your high-interest 4% savings account. So it's a really good time to think about debt. Taylor Wilson: We'll have links to a couple of these great recent Daniel pieces in today's show notes. Daniel de Visé covers personal finance for USA TODAY. Thanks, Daniel. Daniel de Visé: Always a pleasure. Taylor Wilson: Hear more about what your fellow Americans think about the economy on this week's edition of Forum, a new initiative from the USA TODAY opinion team. We have a link for this week's episode in today's show notes. ♦ 60 years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr. and thousands of nonviolent protesters completed their 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. To fight for voting rights for African-Americans. The march gained national attention due to brutal attacks by state troopers and local law enforcement, especially on March 7th, known as Bloody Sunday. This violence and the media coverage helped to rally support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. ♦ Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. And if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.
USA Today
12-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Cancer can't keep down Ohio State football fan Josh Meyer, who gained hope from Buckeyes
Cancer can't keep down Ohio State football fan Josh Meyer, who gained hope from Buckeyes Cancer figured that attending one national championship game was enough. Josh Meyer figured differently. Ten years ago, Meyer was on site in Arlington, Texas, when Ohio State defeated Oregon 42-20 in the first College Football Playoff national championship. Five months prior, he had been diagnosed with stage 4 appendiceal cancer, a rare form of the disease that annually affects one person in a million in the United States. Doctors gave the 2002 OSU graduate two years to live. Meyer was 35 and single. His bucket list needed a quick fill-up, so he and friend Jay Warner bought tickets to the 2015 title game against the Ducks. Texas. It was glorious. Fast forward a decade, to Jan. 20, 2025, when Meyer and Warner attended Ohio State's 34-23 win against Notre Dame in the CFP championship game in Atlanta. More joy. Take that, you insidious disease. Cancer cares nothing about Ohio State football. Jack Sawyer's scoop-and-score meant nothing to it. Ryan Day can't beat Michigan? Yawn. Cancer shows no interest in recruiting rankings or who the Buckeyes hire as their next defensive coordinator. Its only concern is making sure our bodies don't beat the spread … of bad cells from appendix to abdomen. From kidneys to lungs. To anywhere it can cause more damage. In that way only, cancer gets it right: Ohio State football is not life and death. Difficult life circumstances bring different perspectives Tragedy, heartbreak and health scares all have a way of providing perspective, of redefining importance. Suddenly, losing to Michigan does not seem as life-threatening as the lunatic fringe makes it out to be, as they turn fun into a fun-eral. 'Personally, I was kind of appalled with all the Ryan Day stuff,' Meyer said, addressing how Day and his family were targeted by Buckeyes Nation extremists after the 13-10 loss to Michigan. 'Obviously there is going to be criticism, but outside of that game, his record is impeccable.' Meyer went on, connecting OSU's positive outlook to his own. 'As far as my overall perspective, it's about resiliency and hope,' he said, referencing this year's team that rebounded from the Michigan loss by winning four playoff games against top-10 opponents. 'They never counted themselves out. Those are the things magnified in my life.' Meyer, now 45 and married with a family – wife Jenna and 6-year-old daughter Elliana – wishes Ohio State had collected a few more national titles since 2014, but the resident of Lewis Center is grateful he was around to see what many describe as the good, bad and ugly. To him it is all beautiful, considering what he has gone through. 'From a health standpoint, I still have stage 4 cancer,' he said, explaining how tumors continue to grow in his gut. 'They think a lot of cancer cells are still there. The last 10 years have been a three-year cycle of progress followed by a 10- to 12-hour procedure.' The last surgery, in 2021, led to doctors removing three-quarters of his intestine, and that has created digestive issues. 'The first time it was diagnosed, the doctor's direct words were, 'This is going to be what kills you. Whether in two weeks, two months or two years. You won't die from anything else.' Basically, a death sentence.' That was 10 years ago. Bleep you, cancer. Through it all, and especially this season, the Buckeyes modeled for Meyer what it looks like to persevere. 'Interesting how life and football seasons mirror one another,' he said. 'One of the big things (Ohio State) provides is something to look forward to. The spring game. A new season. For a long time I dreaded what I would find out from the scans, which are every 90 days.' Ohio State put faith, trust and hope into practice in playoff Those three-month windows now offer a chance to put faith, trust and hope into practice. Similarly, after the Buckeyes lost to Michigan, they viewed the next 50 days as a chance to not only stay alive but thrive, by winning a national championship. 'It is kind of parallel thinking (to OSU's),' Meyer said of his perspective. 'It's looking toward something positive … and it's resilience. Don't believe you're ever really out of anything.' Meyer, who grew up in Rocky River, Ohio, returned to Columbus two years ago after living 19 years in Florida. The move back allowed him to bond more closely with family. Jenna's parents last year bought him a brick paver outside Ohio Stadium that reads, 'Buckeye Strong.' This year, he took Elliana to the Indiana game – just father and daughter. 'When (Caleb) Downs returned the punt for a touchdown, she screamed and pumped her fist in the air. I had tears in my eyes,' he said. Meyer, who owns his own legacy-planning business in Columbus and Florida, also attended the Dec. 20 Tennessee playoff game. This is where things shift into signs and wonders. As Meyer's brother-in-law in North Carolina attempted to find two tickets to the game, Meyer's brother in Hilliard was doing the same in Columbus. Feelers went out and tickets were purchased independently, seat locations left to chance. You can probably guess what happened. All four seats ended up being together. 'Four directly in a row,' Meyer said. With luck like that – or maybe providence? – no wonder Meyer believes everything happens for a reason. 'I try not to get caught up in the negative,' he said, adding that things tend to fall in place when good influences combine with the right people at the right place. 'And I think coach Day is one of those people,' he said, pausing. 'I would love it if this (column) could include some aspect of faith, belief and hope.' Consider it done. Now a requested favor in return – keep fighting so you can watch in person as OSU wins a few more nattys. roller@ @rollerCD Get more Ohio State football news by listening to our podcasts
USA Today
10-02-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Judges are pausing Trump policy changes. But for how long?
Judges are pausing Trump policy changes. But for how long? | The Excerpt On Saturday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY Domestic Security Correspondent Josh Meyer takes a look at some of the pushback in the courts to the Trump administration's early moves. President Donald Trump says Elon Musk's next DOGE targets are the Pentagon and Education Department. The Coast Guard finds the missing plane in Alaska and all 10 on board are believed dead. The New York governor shuts down poultry markets after several cases of bird flu were detected in New York City. USA TODAY Sports Video Executive Producer Christine Conetta gives us a look at her team's coverage of the build-up to the Super Bowl in this week's edition of Editor's Note. Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Taylor Wilson: Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and today is Saturday, February 8th, 2025. This is the Excerpt. Today, how some of Trump's early moves have hit snags in the courts, plus Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency will be coming for the Pentagon and Department of Education. And we take a look at how USA TODAY Sports has covered the build up to tomorrow's Super Bowl. ♦ President Donald Trump's rapid-fire efforts to remake and downsize the federal government have hit a bit of a speed bump in the courts. I caught up with USA TODAY domestic security correspondent, Josh Meyer, for more. Howdy, Josh. Josh Meyer: Hey, Taylor. Taylor Wilson: So, Josh, let's just start with this. What have we seen, especially in recent days, when it comes to some of Trump's policy changes really hitting snags in the courts? Josh Meyer: Trump has come out fast and furious in his efforts to remake and downsize the federal government, especially with the help of Elon Musk, and they've hit a bit of a speed bump. He did issue a fairly stunning number of executive orders and other actions in his first weeks in office, but those have generated more than 30 lawsuits now. And some of them have hit the courts, and the judges are not reacting perhaps in the way Trump wants it. Some of them are issuing injunctions saying they need to take a closer look at it. We have to wait and see what happens next. Taylor Wilson: Well, you mentioned Elon Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency and Musk himself have been really at the heart of a lot of this legal pushback, right, Josh? What's the latest here specifically? Josh Meyer: Well, the judges have pumped the brakes on a couple of things. One was Trump's efforts to freeze spending, government spending, another was to cull the federal workforce or eliminate thousands of jobs, a third was to end automatic citizenship, otherwise known as birthright citizenship for children born in the US, and a fourth was to send transgender women to men's prisons. So, these have really prompted a barrage of lawsuits. A lot of government watchdog groups have filed suit, and even just plaintiffs and employee unions have all pushed back pretty hard. Taylor Wilson: Josh, maybe stating the obvious here, but why are the courts a particularly important lever for Trump critics or opponents to lean on considering this full Republican control on Capitol Hill? Josh Meyer: Well, yeah, that's a good point, Taylor. I mean, I think that you might be looking at the only part of the government that's pushing back. I mean, there's a system of checks and balances, as we all learned in school, that each branch of government is supposed to be a check on the others. And at this point, because the legislature is basically controlled by the Republicans who are supporting Trump, the court system is the one that's really going to be a check and balance on this stuff. A lot of these cases are expected to go up to the Supreme Court, which has a pro-Trump majority, but some of them could be decided on a lower case basis. One judge out in Seattle, Judge John Coughenour, said Thursday that he issued a two-week stay for birthright citizenship saying that it could continue, but also then made it permanent at least until this has been adjudicated. Coughenour was appointed by Reagan, so this doesn't necessarily fall on partisan lines. Taylor Wilson: How does the Trump administration itself use some of these recent judge decisions, Josh, and do they feel they'll still ultimately be successful in the courts? Josh Meyer: Yeah. I mean, I talked to the White House about it and the response I got from them, this is from Harrison Fields who's the principal deputy White House press secretary, and he said every action taken by the Trump-Vance administration is fully legal and compliant with federal law. And then when it came to DOGE and some of the other efforts, he said, "Any legal challenge against it is nothing more than an attempt to undermine the will of the American people who overwhelmingly elected President Trump to secure the border, revitalize the economy, and restore common-sense policies." So, mind you though that that doesn't have anything to do with whether they're illegal or not. Just because Trump was elected by a majority of the American people doesn't mean that whatever he does is necessarily legal. So, that's what the courts are there for, to interpret this and see where we go from here. Taylor Wilson: Let's backtrack a few years, Josh. What was Trump's record really like through the courts during his first term? Josh Meyer: He had a mixed record his first time around, especially at the Supreme Court. But although the court's makeup was a little different then, it wasn't as much of a majority, but it took the president three times, for example, three tries, for example, before the court approved a version of his ban on travel from specific nations, including five mainly Muslim countries. You might recall that was known as the Muslim ban. And despite appointing three justices to the Supreme Court during his first term, Trump's administration had the worst record at the Supreme Court of any administration since at least the Roosevelt administration, according to data developed by law professors in an article published in Presidential Studies Quarterly. Taylor Wilson: All right. So, just in terms of what's next here, Josh, I know a lot of this is moving through the courts. Are we just in kind of wait in see mode? I mean, where do you see this going from here? Josh Meyer: So, there was a hearing late Friday on the USAID injunction where Trump and Musk are essentially trying to shut down the US Agency for International Development. But this is going to be on a rolling basis. I believe there's going to be more hearings next week, and we'll just have to sort of take each one and see what happens. Taylor Wilson: All right. Josh Meyer covers domestic security for USA TODAY. Thank you, Josh. Josh Meyer: My pleasure. ♦ Taylor Wilson: After dismantling the US Foreign Aid Office, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency will be coming for the Pentagon and Department of Education, President Trump said yesterday. The education department has long been a target for conservatives who want to see it abolished, and it was clear before Trump's comments that Musk was going after the agency. A top official at the department told staffers in a meeting earlier this week that DOGE was examining its operations. Cutting military spending could face more GOP resistance, but about 13% of the federal budget, or $872 billion, goes toward defense spending according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. That makes it a prime target for potential cost savings. ♦ Search crews found a downed plane carrying 10 people that went missing along Alaska's western coast after rapidly losing altitude and speed, authorities said yesterday. Lieutenant Commander Mike Salerno, a spokesperson for the US Coast Guard, said everyone aboard the plane is presumed to be dead. Salerno told reporters that a Coast Guard helicopter located the wreckage and lowered two rescue swimmers to investigate. The plane was found about 34 miles from the city of Nome where it was headed. The turboprop Cessna Caravan operated by Bering Air was reported missing Thursday afternoon, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety. The incident comes as US air travel and aviation faces increased scrutiny following the collision of a passenger plane and a military helicopter outside Washington DC that killed 67 people, and the crash of a medevac jet in Philadelphia that killed seven people and injured more than 20 others. ♦ New York Governor Kathy Hochul yesterday announced the closure of live poultry markets in New York City and three counties after seven cases of bird flu were detected at markets in the city during routine inspections. The shutdown to prevent the spread of the highly pathogenic avian influenza is set to remain in effect through February 14th. Hochul said markets must disinfect and undergo a state health inspection before they can reopen. Experts say there's low risk to the general public, with a few exceptions. ♦ America turns its attention to the Super Bowl tomorrow as the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs, and it's one of the biggest days of the year for our colleagues from USA TODAY Sports. For more on the week leading up to the game and how our editors and reporters covered it, I spoke with USA TODAY Sports video executive producer, Christine Conetta. Christine, thank you for joining me today. Christine Conetta: Hey, no problem. Excited to be here. Taylor Wilson: So, Radio Row for the Super Bowl is really the tent pole media event leading up to the actual game. Tell us what this is for folks maybe not in the sports or football world, not familiar here, and how big of an event really, Christine, this represents in your coverage leading up to the game. Christine Conetta: Yeah. So, at almost every sports tent pole, there's always some kind of media day, but nothing is to the scale of Radio Row at the Super Bowl for the NFL every year. With the NFL, it typically lasts about four days, and it's an opportunity for just about any athlete to speak with almost every sports media outlet out there about anything happening in sports. And just to give some more perspective on how big this is, we prepared for 48 interviews this year across the span of four days. So it is huge, it is an insane event, and it takes a lot of coordination to be able to pull it off. Taylor Wilson: Wow. 48 interviews, that sounds like a ton. How do you prepare, really, Christine for that many conversations so quickly? Christine Conetta: So, a lot of prep goes into this for sure. So, we usually try to break it up by creating a list of topics and questions that can be applied to almost everyone that we've booked, and then we'll go back and then we'll tailor questions to each guest and we'll try to nail down two or three that apply to just them or their teams or their career specifically. Taylor Wilson: And who stood out from Radio Row this year? Was it about the current Eagles or Chiefs, or were the interviews with NFL alums or other non-sports folks kind of the most interesting? Christine Conetta: I always think that the most fun tends to come from other athletes who are, they're playing in the NFL, but they're not actually playing in the Super Bowl. These are the big names that we see every Sunday, but this time they're just showing up as guests. So, it's usually pretty fun. I would say one of my favorites for this year was talking to Bengals quarterback, Joe Burrow. He was very honest with us about his season, his stats for the season, and if he deserved the MVP award. Taylor Wilson: And where did he land? I'm assuming he felt like he did deserve it. Yeah. Christine Conetta: He felt like he did. And he also was not afraid to say he did not think he was going to get it. So, spoiler alert, if anybody who has not seen the NFL Honors yet. Taylor Wilson: Yes, Josh Allen. So, Christine tomorrow, will you be in New Orleans for the game in person and just what stay of coverage look like for you and your team overall? Christine Conetta: Yeah. So, unfortunately I will not be there. We will have a small crew on the ground at Caesars Superdome. They're the lucky ones. They get to be on site for all the spectacular coverage. So, they'll be able to sit in the press box to watch all the National Anthem, all the way down to halftime show. And then of course they'll be providing the post-game coverage and NFL off season look ahead coverage. That always performs really well for us. And the Super Bowl has just become such a big event for USA TODAY. It doesn't just fan sports anymore. There's a lot of life, news, entertainment coverage that's all intertwined into this one major event. So my job, I'll be at home, but my job is going to be to make sure that I'm coordinating with all the other teams on Sunday night. Taylor Wilson: All right. Christine Conetta is an executive producer with USA TODAY Sports Video. Thank you so much, Christine. Looking forward to the coverage. Christine Conetta: Oh, thank you. ♦ Taylor Wilson: Our forests are home to some of the oldest living organisms on earth, but they're facing a variety of threats from climate change to wildfires. Ethan Tapper: The fact is that our ecosystems are dealing with these profound legacies of the way they've been managed in the past, these profound threats and stressors in the present, and then this future that promises challenges like never before. Taylor Wilson: That's forester and author, Ethan Tapper. In his recent book, How to Love a Forest, Ethan shares his passion for woodlands while calling on all of us to become better guardians. You can hear his conversation with my colleague, Dana Taylor, right here beginning at 5:00 AM Eastern Time tomorrow. ♦ And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your pods. And if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back Monday with more of the Excerpt from USA TODAY.
