Friday, November 19th, 2021
Social Spending Vote, Execution Halted & Nike’s Virtual World
All the news you need in around 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp.com/newsworthy and kiwico.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 the latest happenings...
House Spending Bill Vote Today
After months of negotiating, lawmakers seem ready to vote on Democrats’ social spending and climate bill. This one costs close to $2 trillion. It includes things like universal pre-k, more affordable home care for seniors, tax breaks for cleaner energy, and more. If this passes, it would also raise taxes on some corporations and the richest Americans. The House is scheduled to vote on it this morning, and it’s expected to pass on party lines. If it does, it will go to the Senate where Senators are likely to make changes to the bill and negotiate it for weeks.
Read More: WSJ, AP, The Hill, NBC News
CBO’s Spending Bill Findings
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office put out a report that found the Democrats’ bill will add $367 billion to the U.S. deficit over the next ten years. However, the White House still says it would lower the deficit. That’s because the CBO didn’t take into account that the bill includes more money for the IRS to crack down on tax cheats. The Biden administration says the $80 billion extra dollars for the IRS will end up bringing in another $480 billion in owed tax revenue. For that reason, Democrats are calling the bill “fully paid for.” Republicans are more skeptical and say the bill is too expensive.
Read More: Axios, NY Times, CBS News, Fox Business, CBO
North American Leaders Summit
For the first time in five years, The White House held a summit for the leaders of North America. President Biden met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. They spoke about trade, climate change, Covid-19, and immigration. The leaders agreed to create a group to address supply chain issues and promised to share vaccines. But, tougher questions like what to do about a surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border went unanswered. Still, they promised to keep the dialogue open.
Read More: NY Times, CNN, AP, WaPo, White House
Julius Jones Sentence Commuted
A man who’s been on death row for the past 20 years was hours away from execution when his sentence was changed. This happened after a huge campaign drew in not only lawyers and advocacy groups but celebrities, athletes, politicians, and Christian leaders. Julius Jones was arrested for murder in 1999 but has always insisted he was innocent. Yesterday, Oklahoma’s governor reduced his sentence to life in prison. Many of Jones’ supporters celebrated. However, Oklahoma's attorney general says the governor should have trusted the work of the investigators, prosecutors, jurors, and judges who all decided Jones was guilty.
Read More: ABC News, WSJ, CNN, People, Gov. Stitt
IRS Seizes Billions in Crypto
The IRS is now focusing a lot of effort on cybercrimes. The agency put out a report this week saying it seized $3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency in the last year. The money was linked to scams, tax fraud, money laundering, and other crimes. Cryptocurrency made up 93% of all the assets the IRS tracked down. One top IRS investigator told Bloomberg he expects this trend to continue. Next year, the IRS is launching a new data center in Northern Virginia to specialize in this. The IRS also just got some help from Congress. The bipartisan infrastructure package that just passed requires crypto trading platforms to report transactions to the IRS.
Read More: Markets Insider, Bloomberg, IRS
First U.S. City Requiring Feminine Products
It’s said to be the first U.S. city to require all public bathrooms to provide sanitary products, like tampons and pads, for free. The new ordinance passed in Ann Arbor, Michigan unanimously earlier this week, and it’s set to take effect on January 1st. The mayor said menstrual products are a human necessity. Other cities have passed similar rules that only apply to government buildings or schools, but this one applies to every bathroom open to the public. The ordinance also requires toilet paper, soap, paper towels, and water to be available.
Read More: Detroit Free Press, NPR, The Hill
IG’s Effects on Kids Investigated
A group of bipartisan state attorneys general is investigating how Instagram attracts and affects young people. Prosecutors from at least 10 states are involved, including California, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey, and more. They want to look into whether Instagram’s parent company Meta, violated consumer protection laws and put the public at risk. Remember, leaked internal research showed Instagram made body image issues worse for some teen girls. However, a Meta spokesman said this latest investigation is based on a misunderstanding of the issues that also affect other social media platforms.
Read More: WSJ, Politico, NPR, Reuters
Automakers Get Into Chip Business
Detroit's two biggest automakers are handling a global chip shortage by designing their chips. Ford says it has an agreement with computer chip manufacturer GlobalFoundries that may lead to joint chip production here in the United States. General Motors also says it’s working alongside some of the biggest names in the industry like Qualcomm to co-develop and manufacture computer chips. The chip shortage has been going on for more than a year, and it’s taken a huge toll on the auto industry. However, the demand for chips is only increasing.
Read More: Detroit News, WSJ, Reuters, Fox Business
Apple Self-Driving Car Plans
As Bloomberg reports, Apple wants to launch a self-driving electric vehicle in 2025 with a custom chip designed by its team. The autonomous car reportedly won’t have a steering wheel, and the interior would have a limousine-style seating arrangement. But, Apple hasn’t confirmed the news.
Read More: Bloomberg, The Verge, Reuters, MarketWatch
CR’s Most Reliable Cars
What is the most reliable car in 2022? According to Consumer Reports’ Auto Reliability Report, it’s Toyota's luxury brand, Lexus. Mazda, which had the top spot for 2021, came in second, and Toyota ranked third. But, brands with a lot of the newest tech, like Tesla, landed near the bottom of the list. Specifically, Consumer Reports called Tesla’s Model Y one of the ten least reliable vehicles in 2022, citing issues with its paint, weatherstripping, rear hatchback, climate system, and more. However, the very bottom spot went to Lincoln.
Read More: Consumer Reports, USA Today, CNBC, Fox News, Reuters
CVS Closing 900 Stores
CVS Health is planning to close about 10% of its stores around the country. The drug store chain said 300 stores will close each year for the next three years. CVS points to two main reasons: population changes and customers’ buying habits. However, while CVS is cutting back on the number of stores, it’s also expanding the types of health care services it offers. The stores that are staying put will eventually be grouped into three main models: traditional pharmacies that have some retail products, primary care services, and HealthHubs that offer a variety of things, from therapy sessions to rooms for hot yoga.
Read More: CNN, AP, CNBC, Axios, USA Today, CVS
Nike Building Metaverse in Roblox
Sports giant Nike is the latest company to enter the metaverse. Nike is partnering with Roblox to create a virtual world called Nikeland. Roblox is a popular game-creating platform. Now, it’ll also have Nike buildings, fields, and arenas where users can play a bunch of mini-games. One analyst told CNBC this could help Nike introduce its brand to young kids early. It could also help people test products in the virtual world before bringing them to real life.
Read More: CNBC, Engadget, Reuters, Nike
Feel Good Friday: Teen Creates App to Help Deaf Kids Enjoy Movies
A 17-year-old student is making a difference for deaf people across the country. When Mariella Satow realized how few TV shows and movies offered versions with American Sign Language, she decided to do something about it. She created a new app called SignUp that shows an interpreter appearing in a box in the corner of the screen using American Sign Language once a film starts playing. The SignUp app is available in the U.S. as a Google Chrome extension.
Read More: BBC, Upworthy, SignUp