Wednesday, June 15th, 2022
Trump’s Election Influence, Airfare Skyrocketing & Stanley Cup Finals
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Zocdoc.com/newsworthy and bollandbranch.com (Listen for the discount code)
Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want reading about the latest happenings…
Biden’s Message on the Economy
President Biden is defending his economic record and his recovery plans. Biden spoke in front of the largest federation of labor unions. He said he’s trying to rebuild the U.S. economy around workers, once again making it clear he’s pro-union. Many times in that speech, he made it clear how his ideas are different from Republicans. For example, GOP lawmakers have blamed the president’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package for causing inflation to start rising last year. To that, Biden said, “I don’t want to hear any more of these lies about reckless spending. We’re changing people’s lives.”
Read More: Reuters, Fox News, AP, Politico, White House
Fed Interest Rate Meeting Today
The Federal Reserve is meeting today intending to tackle inflation. Reports say Fed officials are talking about raising interest rates by three-quarters of a point since smaller rate hikes haven’t done much to tame stubborn inflation so far. Larger hikes are more likely to help. However, over time, they could cause economic pain in other areas. They’ll make mortgages and business loans more expensive, cut into corporate expansion plans, and make higher unemployment more likely.
Read More: Bloomberg, WSJ, CNBC, NY Times, AP
Police Protection for SCOTUS Justices
Supreme Court justices could start getting more security, thanks to a bill that overwhelmingly passed Congress this week. This comes days after an armed man was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home and charged with attempted murder. Law enforcement agencies have also warned that controversial rulings could incite more violence. The new bill would authorize police protection for families of Supreme Court justices. If a court marshal decides it’s necessary, it will be available for staff, too. The measure now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature.
Read More: WaPo, NBC News, Bloomberg, Axios
Next Jan. 6th Hearing Postponed
Today, Americans were supposed to hear testimony from former Justice Department officials at the latest January 6th committee hearing. They were expected to say former President Trump pressured them to pursue his theories of election fraud. However, the committee decided to delay that hearing to next week because of scheduling issues. Another hearing about the Capitol riot is still scheduled for tomorrow. The top Republican on that committee, Congresswoman Liz Cheney, says that the hearing will spotlight former President Trump’s efforts to convince then-Vice President Pence to refuse to count electoral votes.
Read More: NY Times, Axios, CNN, Fox News, NPR, Jan. 6th Cmte
Trump’s Influence on Primaries
Former President Trump may not be on the ballots, but he’s still scoring some notable victories in the primaries. For example, a Republican in South Carolina lost his seat in the House after 10 years. Congressman Tom Rice is one of the ten Republicans who supported impeaching Trump last year. Trump endorsed his challenger, who ended up winning. Also overnight, Nevada’s Attorney General Adam Laxalt won the Republican nomination for Senate. Not only does he have the backing of Trump, but he’s also been campaigning on the idea that the presidential election was stolen. Overall, the former president has endorsed 173 candidates this election season.
Read More: Politico, AP, Axios, Fox News
FDA Advisers Back Moderna Shots for Older Kids
Parents who want to get their kids vaccinated against Covid-19 could soon have two options to choose from. A key panel of vaccine experts recommended the FDA authorize Moderna’s vaccine for kids ages six and up. So far, the only vaccine available for children has been the one from Pfizer. Assuming the FDA and CDC sign off as expected, the Moderna shots could become available for kids as soon as next week. Also today, the same advisory committee is meeting to discuss Covid-19 vaccines for kids as young as six months old.
Read More: ABC News, AP, WSJ, USA Today
Flight Prices Rise/Bookings Dip
The cost to fly continues to go up. New data shows fares for flights within the U.S. last month went up 47% since the start of 2022. The fares are up 30% compared to 2019. Adobe Analytics found that May was the fourth month in a row that airfares were higher than before the pandemic. The lead analyst for Adobe said some people are okay with the rising prices, but others are rethinking their travel plans. The number of bookings for flights in the U.S. dropped 2.3% in May compared to April. That said, the value of sales still went up because of the higher ticket prices.
Read More: Fox Business, CNBC, NY Post, AP, Adobe Analytics
Coinbase Layoffs
One of the largest and most valuable crypto exchanges is laying off 18% of its employees. It means more than 1,000 workers are losing their jobs at Coinbase Global. The Coinbase CEO says the company hired too many people and grew too fast when things were going well. Now, he says a so-called crypto winter could be coming. That means the value of cryptocurrencies could persistently fall over many months. Two other prominent crypto companies, Crypto.com and BlockFi have also announced layoffs.
Read More: CNBC, Axios, CNN, WSJ, Coinbase
Compass and Redfin Layoffs
Two big real estate companies are planning to cut their workforces, too. Redfin is planning to fire 6% of its employees, and Compass will lay off about 10%. Compass told CNBC that “slowing economic growth” is to blame. Redfin’s CEO pointed to dropping demand for homes that could lead to fewer home sales for years.
Read More: WSJ, TechCrunch, CNBC, The Hill, Redfin
Meta’s New Parental Controls
Meta is rolling out new features for Instagram and its virtual reality headset. They allow parents to be the ones to send invitations to their teens to initiate the supervision tools. Also, guardians can now set specific times during the day or week when they want to limit their teens’ Instagram usage. For teens, they may start to see “nudges” encouraging them to switch to a different topic if they’re looking at one for too long. The company has released other, similar tools in recent months after facing a lot of criticism about the impact of Instagram on teens’ mental health.
Read More: NPR, TechCrunch, CNET, The Verge, Meta
Microsoft Retires Internet Explorer
Today is the day we say goodbye to Internet Explorer. The internet browser used to be the revolutionary way to surf the web for Windows PCs. Microsoft introduced Internet Explorer in 1995. Later, faster competition came around, like Mozilla’s Firefox and Google’s Chrome. Now, nearly three decades later, Internet Explorer will retire. As of today, if you try to open the application, you’ll be redirected to the company’s more recent browser, Microsoft Edge.
Read More: USA Today, WSJ, Engadget, Newsweek, Microsoft
Stanley Cup Finals Begin
It’s a big day for hockey fans. The Stanley Cup Final kicks off tonight, pitting the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Colorado Avalanche. If the Lightning wins, this will be their third championship in a row, something that hasn’t been done since the 1980s. On the flip side, if the Avalanche takes it, this will be their first championship in 21 years. The Avs are expected to come out on top since they’ve been dominant all season. Game one starts at 8 p.m. ET. You can watch it on either ABC or ESPN+.
Read More: ESPN, NY Times, USA Today, NBC Sports
Work Wednesday: Pets Not Ready for RTO
As more people return to work and school, pets are having a tough time adjusting. The ASPCA says more than 23 million American households added a cat or dog during the pandemic. Many of those animals have never known what it’s like to be left alone all day, so vets and trainers have been busy. The online pet pharmacy PetMeds says the prescriptions it’s filled for anxiety medicines increased 26% between 2019 and 2021. However, not every animal needs medication. Experts suggest practicing gradually before you have to be gone all day and keeping things at home as normal as possible. That means making sure dogs still have scheduled walks and feeding times.
Read More: NY Times, WSJ, WaPo