Economy Archives - Page 2 of 19

Solar Developments Are Spreading Across America, Threatening Farmers and Local Communities

September 26, 2024 Just the News

Fueled by massive federal subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), solar developers are looking to the wide open spaces of rural lands as the best places to site their projects. This is also where much of America’s farm and range land is located, as well as communities that like the existing look and character of their neighborhoods.

Last week, President Biden said of the IRA, “I’m proud to announce that my, uh, my investments, that through my investments, the most significant climate change law ever. And by the way, it is a $369 billion bill. It’s called the — uh, we, we should have named it what it was.”

U.S. House Moves Forward with Stopgap Spending Bill that Doesn’t Include Election Integrity Law

September 23, 2024 American Greatness

The Republican majority in the United States House of Representatives is now planning to vote on a stopgap spending bill that will not include a critical election integrity measure that conservatives have been desperately trying to pass.

Automakers Hit Reverse on Idealistic Electric Vehicle Targets Despite Billions in Biden-Harris Subsidies

September 23, 2024 Admin

Automakers have continued to backpedal on electric vehicle (EV) targets over the last year as a slackening of consumer demand has hampered growth despite the billions in subsidies lavished on the industry by the Biden-Harris administration.

A wide array of auto manufacturers have abandoned key EV goals since February, with Volvo, Ford and Mercedes-Benz all dialing back electric quotas or dropping previously planned product lines. The shifts in corporate strategy suggest the EV transition — once touted by auto executives like Ford CEO Jim Farley as the industry’s future — may not be as feasible as once thought due to consumer aversion to lower mileage ranges, a lack of charging infrastructure and higher prices, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Loudoun County Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Voted Down

September 22, 2024September 21, 2024 The Center Square

After months of discussion and the adoption of similar programs by some of its neighbors, Loudoun County leadership voted down a guaranteed income pilot program.

In a surprising turn of events, Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors abandoned the pursuit of a new economic mobility pilot in a 3-5-1 vote. Months earlier, in May, the board had voted 6-2-1 in favor of appropriating $2 million of county fund balance dollars to the program’s development.

Existing Home Sales Slip 2.5 Percent in August as Prices Climb

September 22, 2024September 21, 2024 The Center Square

Existing home sales fell in August, while sale prices continued to climb, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors.

Existing home sales fell 2.5% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.86 million. That’s down 4.2% from one year ago.

Commentary: An Economy That Serves Nobody Except Those in Charge

September 21, 2024 American Greatness

As we outlined in Part One, here in California, we have an economy that would be the fifth largest in the world if it were to be separated as a standing nation. Home to Silicon Valley, Hollywood, world-class agriculture, and medical schools, California is an economic powerhouse.

Yet we, in California, have the highest poverty rate in the nation. We have a majority of the nation’s homeless people. We have the highest overall tax rates in the nation. Our energy costs are double that of the national average. Our per-student spending in schools is well above the national average, yet our students consistently have below-average grade-level test scores. Our major cities are crime-ridden, our power grid is woefully vulnerable, and our beaches are regularly closed due to raw sewage contamination.

Trump Vows to Tax Mexican Auto Imports by 200 Percent

September 20, 2024 American Greatness

On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump promised to implement a 200% tariff on all Chinese auto imports from Mexico, with the goal making them “unsellable” in the United States and thus forcing a return to American manufacturing.

As reported by Fox News, the former president made his pledge during a campaign event in Flint, Michigan.

Fed Chairman Suggests ‘Influx’ of Migrants Are Contributing to Rising Unemployment

September 19, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested migrants are helping drive rising unemployment during a press conference on Wednesday.

Powell spoke to reporters after the Fed announced it would lower its federal funds rate by 0.50% following disappointing job growth in both July and August. Unemployment currently sits at 4.2% — up from 3.4% in April 2023 — in what Powell suggested was largely a product of migrants crossing into the United States.

Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates by Half-Point, Stocks Surge

September 18, 2024 Just the News

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. Many observers of Fed activity had predicted a quarter-point reduction but the central bank wound up cutting rates by a half-point.

FBI Report Estimates $5.6 Billion in Cryptocurrency Fraud Losses

September 17, 2024 The Center Square

Cryptocurrency scams and fraud in 2023 contributed to an estimated $5.6 billion in losses, a report from one of the federal government’s top law enforcement agencies says.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cryptocurrency Fraud Report for 2023 found that the vast majority of losses – about $3.9 million – were related to cryptocurrency investment scams.

Billions Gone and Little to Show for It Years After Rampant COVID Fraud

September 16, 2024 The Center Square

Years after the passage of federal COVID-era relief and the subsequent loss of likely hundreds of billions of those taxpayer dollars, lawmakers are still unsure where that money went, how to get it back, and seemingly have done little to prevent it from happening again.

Federal watchdog and other reports estimate anywhere from $200 billion to half a trillion was lost to waste, fraud and abuse across various federal and state COVID-era programs.

U.S. Borrowing Tops $1.9 Trillion So Far This Year

September 16, 2024 The Center Square

The federal government borrowed $1.9 trillion in the first eleven months of fiscal year 2024, including $380 billion in August, a startling amount as federal watchdogs sound the alarm on spending.

Those borrowing figures come from the latest Monthly Treasury Statement from the Treasury Department.

Portion of World Electricity Generated by Fossil Fuels Has Fallen Two Percentage Points in 30 Years

September 14, 2024September 13, 2024 Just the News

Reports in the legacy media regularly claim that we are rapidly eliminating fossil fuels, and the energy transition is steamrolling its way to success. Data, however, appears to show a different picture.

According to the Energy Policy Research Foundation, fossil fuels remain critical to keeping the lights on. In 2023, coal, natural gas and oil-fired power plants produced 18 terawatt hours of electricity, which was 60% of the total. This was a decline of 62% in 1993.

Virginia County Continues to Pursue Guaranteed Income Pilot Project

September 13, 2024September 13, 2024 The Center Square

A select group of Loudoun County residents may soon receive an extra “no strings attached” $500 per month from the county.

Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors voted in its most recent finance committee meeting to move forward with plans to establish a guaranteed income pilot project, as several other Virginia localities have done — along with more than 150 other localities across the country, according to Mayors for a Guaranteed Income.

Trump Pledges to Eliminate Taxes on Overtime

September 13, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday pledged to eliminate taxes on overtime wages if he is elected back to the White House in November.

Commentary: Kamala Harris’ War on Housing

September 12, 2024 American Greatness

As Kamala Harris campaigns to become the most powerful person in the world, her detractors claim, among other things, that she has no idea how to manage the economy. She has certainly demonstrated that with her recent pronouncements. Even her usual supporters have been critical of her economic policy suggestions. Price controls on groceries. $25,000 grants for first-time homebuyers. A tax on unrealized capital gains. But while Harris backpedals from some of her most economically illiterate schemes, it’s only to attract more votes. Don’t be fooled. She hasn’t changed.

To demonstrate Harris’s long-standing record of waging economic war on productive citizens, consider her actions while serving as California’s Attorney General. She used that office to support policies that made homes unaffordable. Those policies roll out from California and infect the rest of the country.

Generous Benefit Plans Leading Government Employees to Be Nearly 40 Percent More Expensive than Private Sector

September 12, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

State and local government workers were roughly 40% more expensive to employ than private sector employees in the second quarter of 2024, largely due to generous benefit plans, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released Tuesday.

Total compensation costs, including wages, salaries and benefits, averaged $43.94 per hour for private sector employees, approximately 40% less than the $61.37 average hourly compensation cost for state and local government workers, according to the BLS data. The disparity was primarily driven by pricey government benefit plans, with costs averaging $13.04 per hour for private industry workers, over 80% less than the $23.57 per hour in benefit costs for their state and local government counterparts.

Inflation Rate Inches Down as Economy Continues to Slow

September 11, 2024September 11, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

Inflation fell in August amid fears of an economic slowdown following two straight months of disappointing job gains, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) release on Wednesday.

The consumer price index (CPI), a broad measure of the price of everyday goods, increased 2.5% on an annual basis in August and rose 0.2% month-over-month, compared to a 2.9% year-over-year rate in July, according to the BLS. Core CPI, which excludes the volatile categories of energy and food, rose 3.2% year-over-year in August, compared with 3.2% in July.

Commentary: Trump Has a Plan to Finally Fix the U.S. Electric Grid

September 11, 2024September 11, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

Citing the need for more electricity to continue growing the artificial intelligence (AI) sector and keep the U.S. tech industry ahead of China, former President Donald Trump on Sept. 5 vowed in a second term to issue a “national emergency declaration to achieve a massive increase in domestic energy supply.”

The Far-Left Confession That Kamala Harris May Not Be Able to Escape, Even After Debate

September 11, 2024 RealClearWire

Candidate questionnaires have long been a part of American politics, locking in politicians to certain policies, pledges and positions. But it has been decades since one has threatened to roil a presidential race, or undercut a major party nominee’s carefully crafted image.

House Votes to Ban Chinese-Based Company’s EV Batteries from Homeland Security

September 11, 2024September 10, 2024 The Center Square

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would prohibit electric-vehicle batteries from Gotion and several other foreign companies from being used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Commentary: Watch Out for Rent-Control Madness

September 10, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

For the latest example of why “local control” is no kind of governing principle, I present readers with the example of Proposition 33 — a rent-control measure that Californians will consider on the November ballot. Its supporters — a who’s who of left-wing activist groups and mainstream progressive organizations such as the California Democratic Party — claim that the measure merely allows local governments to impose rent controls tailored to local conditions.

Indeed, the so-called Justice for Renters Act features this simple text: “The state may not limit the right of any city, county, or city and county to maintain, enact or expand residential rent control.” If voters approve the initiative, it would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Control Act. That 1995 law responded to concerns by landlords at the growing movement by local governments to impose some of the strictest rent-setting laws in the nation.

U.S. Toolmaker Stanley Black and Decker Under Fire for DEI Hiring and LGBTQ Lobbying, Faces Boycott

September 9, 2024 Just the News

U.S. toolmaker Stanley Black and Decker is under fire for embracing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies that conservatives describe as “woke,” which could lead to a boycott of the company’s products.

Discount Retailer Big Lots Announces Doors Will Stay Open Through Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Sale to Nexus Capital Management

September 9, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

Big Lots said Monday the retail discount chain is filing for bankruptcy, citing such factors as high inflation and interest rates.

Commentary: Kamala Harris Would Shatter America’s Labor Market Already Showing Cracks

September 7, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

Friday’s jobs report reveals accelerating weakness in the American economy. Only 142,000 jobs were created last month, below expectations. Half of new positions were created in the unproductive government or quasi-government healthcare and social services sectors.

A record 8.2 million Americans have second jobs. So far this year, the number of unemployed Americans has increased by one million.

Economy Added Fewer Jobs than Expected in August as Unemployment Falls

September 6, 2024September 6, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

Economists anticipated that the country would add 161,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in August compared to the 114,000 added in initial estimates for July, and that the unemployment rate would fall to 4.2%, according to MarketWatch. The job gains follow a disappointing July report and a downward revision of over 800,000 jobs that the Biden administration had claimed to create between April 2023 and March 2024.

Meanwhile, previously reported job gains for July were revised down from 114,000 to 89,000 while gains for June were lowered from 179,000 too 118,000.

As Prices Soar, Americans Forced to Choose Between Food and Energy

September 6, 2024September 5, 2024 American Greatness

With inflation remaining stubbornly high, many Americans have been forced to choose whether to pay for more groceries to feed their families, or to pay their energy bills to keep their families cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

According to CBS News, this new trend has been referred to as “energy poverty,” when Americans are unable to pay their energy bills or otherwise afford utilities. On average, households that spend 6 percent of their income or more on energy bills alone are considered to be in “energy poverty.” Currently, 1 in 7 American households spend approximately 14 percent of their income on energy.

Analysis: Job Openings Collapse to Lowest Level Since 2021

September 5, 2024 The Daily Torch

U.S. labor markets continued showing signs of weakening as job openings fell to 7.6 million in July, the lowest level since Feb. 2021. Job openings are now 4.6 million below their March 2022 high of 12.2 million, a more than 37 percent drop.

Major Automaker Abandons 2030 Electric Vehicle Target as Market Woes Continue

September 5, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

Swedish automaker Volvo Cars said on Wednesday that it is scrapping its goal of going fully electric by 2030 as the electric vehicle (EV) market continues to struggle.

The company announced it now aims for between 90 percent and 100 percent of its cars to be fully electric or plug-in hybrids by the end of the decade, with the remainder being “mild,” non-plug-in hybrids, a company press release stated. Volvo’s backpedaling comes amid lower-than-expected consumer demand for EVs and a recent industry shift away from electrification.

Nationwide Education Effort Touts Increasing Public Union Opt-Outs

September 3, 2024 The Center Square

August ended on a high note for a free market conservative think tank that helps public employees opt out of their unions.

New Poll Finds 90 Percent Say Home Ownership is Out of Reach

September 3, 2024 The Center Square

Only 10 percent of those surveyed in a new poll said the “American dream” of homeownership is affordable, with others citing 40-year high inflationary costs, 23-year-high interest rates, limited supply of affordable housing and earnings that have eroded because of inflation.

According to a Wall Street Journal/NORC poll of 1,502 U.S. adults, the sentiment was consistent across gender and party lines, with young Americans expressing the greatest despair, saying they’ve “been priced out of homeownership.”

Biden Admin Gives Millions to High-Speed Rail Project That Has Been Stalled for Years

September 3, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

The Biden administration granted over $60 million to Amtrak for a stalling Texas high-speed rail project that has been failing to acquire private investment, according to grant records.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) granted $63.9 million on August 2 to Amtrak for the Texas High-Speed Rail Corridor project, which has been mired by delays since 2022 under private railroad company Texas Central, with top executives resigning as the initial private funding ran dry. The grant comes after a long line of funding from the federal government to Amtrak in pursuit of high-speed rail, with the FRA last granting $500,000 for the Texas project in December 2023 to study a Dallas-Houston high-speed rail connection.

Commentary: Employment Flatlines and Recession Warning Signs Intensify as 2024 Election Nears

September 3, 2024 The Daily Torch

The U.S. employment level in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ household survey has barely grown the past year, only increasing at 0.03 percent since July 2023, from 161.2 million to 161.26 million, with just 57,000 more people saying they’re employed today than a year ago.

Pushback on VP Kamala Harris’ Tax Proposal Plan Grows as Costs Are Counted

August 31, 2024 Just the News

Vice President Kamala Harris’s tax proposal plan is getting significant pushback from Congress members and others as the costs of tax hikes on the American people across the political spectrum are being examined.

Upon a closer look at Harris’s tax proposals, an economist, a New York Times reporter, a small business owner advocate, and members of Congress all voiced their concerns over what the plan entails. Most of them note how the economy will be negatively impacted by her plan and the real-world implications for everyday Americans.

China Poised to Cut Off US Military from Key Mineral as America’s Own Reserves Lay Buried Under Red Tape

August 27, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

China is planning to restrict exports of a key mineral needed to make weapons while a U.S. company that could be reducing America’s reliance on foreign suppliers is languishing in red tape, energy experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Chinese government announced on August 15 that it will restrict exports of antimony, a critical mineral that dominates the production of weapons globally and is essential for producing equipment like munitions, night vision goggles and bullets that are essential to national security, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Perpetua Resources, an American mining company, has been navigating red tape for years to develop a mine in Valley County, Idaho, that could decrease reliance on the Chinese supply of antimony, but the slow permitting process is getting in the way, energy experts told the DCNF.

Credit Card Debt Hits Record $1.14 Trillion

August 26, 2024 The Center Square

More Americans are struggling financially as savings are significantly down and debt and delinquencies are up compared to four years ago.

Savings and disposable income are significantly down when comparing federal data under the Trump and Biden-Harris administrations.

One in Three Jobs Biden Admin Announced over Course of a Year Didn’t Actually Exist, Revisions Show

August 25, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

Over a third of the more than 3 million jobs the Biden administration announced were added in initial reports between April 2023 and March 2024 did not actually exist, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Including monthly revisions, the Biden administration overstated the number of jobs in the U.S. economy by 1.18 million in the year through March, accounting for approximately 36% of the 3.24 million jobs initially claimed, according to data from the BLS calculated by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The massive revision, along with a disappointing July jobs report that showed the U.S. economy adding 61,000 fewer nonfarm payroll jobs than economists anticipated, has heightened fears of a recession.

Taxpayer-Funded Group Offers $30,000 to Illegal Aliens to Buy Homes

August 25, 2024 American Greatness

A far-left organization that has received funding from taxpayer dollars is offering up to $30,000 to illegal aliens so that they can purchase homes in the United States.

As the Daily Caller reports, the Hacienda Community Development Corp. (Hacienda CDC) is participating in a down payment assistance program in Oregon called “Camino a Casa.” The initiative is explicitly only available for non-citizens, while American citizens are ineligible. The $30,000 handouts are branded as down payment assistance for illegals who are attempting to purchase new homes.

Commentary: Solar Company Benefiting from IRA Has Forced Labor Problem

August 25, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

Vice President Kamala Harris was “proud to cast the tie-breaking vote” for the Inflation Reduction Act. Would she be proud if her administration’s solar subsidies fund supported forced labor in China?

That may be the case with Hanwha Qcells, a South Korean solar company operating in Georgia. Bloomberg recently reported that two Chinese suppliers of the company obtained polysilicon for solar panel components from companies sanctioned by the U.S. government for employing forced Uyghur labor. Hanwha and their Qcells plant leadership deny these allegations, but Bloomberg reports “that the company offers assurances but no public details of its polysilicon sourcing.”

Report Challenges Harris’ Assertion That Higher Food Prices Equal Corporate Greed

August 25, 2024 The Center Square

Rising grocery store prices over the last few years aren’t the fault of farmers or “greedy” corporations, a conservative North Carolina research organization concludes in a new documentary series and report.

Instead, higher energy prices and more regulations are the culprit, according to the John Locke Foundation documentary series Sowing Resilience.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Says Suspending His Independent Presidential Campaign, Supporting Trump

August 23, 2024August 23, 2024 Just the News

Democrat-turned-Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy announced Friday that he suspending his 2024 presidential campaign.

Fed Chair Powell Indicates Bank Ready to Start Cutting Its Key Interest Rate

August 23, 2024 Just the News

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday indicated the bank is prepared to start cutting its key interest rate from its 23-year high, as inflation falls to more historic rates and the job market cools.

Biden Admin Overcounted Job Growth Estimates by Nearly a Million

August 22, 2024August 21, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

The federal government overestimated the number of jobs in the U.S. economy by 818,000 between April 2023 and March 2024, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday, stoking fears of a slowdown in the U.S. economy.

Economists at Goldman Sachs (GS) and Wells Fargo anticipated the government had overestimated job growth by at least 600,000 in that span, while economists at JPMorgan Chase had predicted a lesser decline of 360,000, according to Bloomberg. The downward revision follows a trend of the BLS overestimating the number of nonfarm payroll jobs added, with the cumulative number of new jobs reported in 2023 roughly 1.3 million less than previously thought as of February 2024.

Ford Ditching Plans for Electric Vehicle SUV as Market Struggles Continue

August 22, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

Ford said Wednesday that it is canceling its plans to build a three-row electric SUV as the wider U.S. electric vehicle (EV) market continues to struggle.

The company announced that it expects to take up to $1.9 billion in write downs and other special charges related to its decision after losing billions of dollars on its EV product line in 2023. In addition to canceling its three-row electric SUV, Ford is also pushing back its plans to roll out an electric pickup truck model until 2027, a one-year setback.

Commentary: Two Years On, the IRA Is Exactly What Its Critics Said It Would Become

August 20, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

In a recent interview, World Energy Council Secretary General Angela Wilkinson told me that one of the main impediments to the energy transition today is a lack of what she calls “systems thinking.”

“Energy transitions are a change in the organization of society,” she pointed out. “They’re not a simple case of swapping out one technology for another and everything else stays the same. Yet, we have this very simplistic narrative that we can take the oil system, we can put renewables in, it’s going to happen immediately, and nothing else will change. It’s like saying we’re going to take your thighbone out, but we’d like you to run a marathon.”

Commentary: With Food Costs and Price Controls Bread Lines May Be Ahead

August 20, 2024August 19, 2024 RealClearWire

Even the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post could not stomach the new proposal from Kamala Harris to place price controls on food. The headline of the opinion piece from Catherine Rampell read:

“When your opponent calls you a ‘communist,’ maybe don’t try price controls?”

Food Stamp Costs Are on the Way Down but Still Far Higher than Pre-Pandemic Days

August 18, 2024 The Center Square

The cost of food assistance in the U.S. has dropped from its peak during the pandemic, but is still 23% higher than it was during pre-pandemic times, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, what used to be called food stamps, peaked in costs December 2022 at $11.07 billion that month. That monthly cost dropped to $7.51 billion as of April 2024. There were about 41.6 million people collecting SNAP benefits as of April 2024.

Tim Walz Gave Almost $100K in COVID-19 Funds to ‘Abortion Doula’ Trainers

August 18, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

Presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz directed almost $100,000 in COVID-19 relief funds to an organization specializing in “abortion doula” services, state contracts show.

Walz, the governor of Minnesota, spent almost $2 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds without the approval of the state Legislature, using his emergency powers, according to the Minnesota-based outlet Alpha News.

Dominion Ups Investments in Offshore Wind Energy as Virginia Industry Surges Forward

August 17, 2024August 16, 2024 The Center Square

As President Joe Biden’s presidential term comes to a close, the administration is bearing down on its goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy and 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind by 2035.

As of 2021, the administration had approved two commercial-scale offshore wind projects, and seven have been approved within the past year.

Housing Costs Surge in July, Accounting for 90 Percent of Total Inflation

August 16, 2024August 15, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

The cost of housing surged in July, accounting for nearly 90 percent of total inflation, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released Wednesday.

Shelter costs rose 5.1 percent year-over-year and 0.4 percent month-over-month, after rising 0.2 percent in June, the BLS showed. The 0.4 percent monthly increase was greater than Bank of America economists’ expectations of 0.3 percent, according to investment research firm Morningstar.