 Happy Tuesday and welcome back to On The Money. I'm Sylvan Lane, and here's your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. See something I missed? Let me know at slane@thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N. Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@thehill.com, vneedham@thehill.com, njagoda@thehill.com and nelis@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane, @VickofTheHill, @NJagoda and @NivElis. THE BIG DEAL--McConnell says deficits 'not a Republican problem' Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said the nation's rising debts were something for both parties to address. Treasury data released Monday showed that the federal deficit increased some 17 percent in 2018 to $779 billion, President Trump's first full fiscal year in office. Republicans, traditionally a party that advocated fiscal conservatism, hold control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. "It's disappointing but it's not a Republican problem," McConnell told Bloomberg News. "It's a bipartisan problem." McConnell said the true culprit behind the rising deficits was mandatory spending. "The three big entitlement programs that are very popular, Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid, that's 70 percent of what we spend every year," he said in a separate interview with Bloomberg TV. "There's been a bipartisan reluctance to tackle entitlement changes because of the popularity of those programs." The Hill's Niv Elis has more here. What's going on? - Mandatory spending, which does not require new approval by Congress each year, is most of annual federal spending and has been projected to drive deficits higher well into the future.
- But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the 2018 deficit soared above projections because of recent legislation, specifically the GOP tax bill, which cut revenues, and a bipartisan spending deal, which increased discretionary spending, the portion of federal expenditures approved each year by Congress.
- Legislation passed by Congress during fiscal 2018 increased the deficit nearly 50 percent in 2018, according to an analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a watchdog.
LEADING THE DAY Trump says Fed is his 'biggest threat,' blasting own appointees: President Trump on Tuesday called the Federal Reserve his "biggest threat" and said he was unhappy with several of his additions to the independent central bank. Trump kept up his criticism of the Fed and its chairman, Jerome Powell, in a Fox Business Network (FBN) interview scheduled to air Tuesday evening. The president said the Fed was raising interest rates too quickly and he saw no reason to break from stimulative monetary policy. "The Fed is raising rates too fast and it's independent so I don't speak to them but I'm not happy with what he's doing because it's going too fast because you looked at the last inflation numbers they are very low," Trump told FBN's Trish Regan, according to excerpts shared by the network. Trump also said that he might have made a mistake in elevating Powell to chair the Fed in 2017. "Can I be honest? I'm not blaming anybody. I put him there and maybe it's right maybe it's wrong, but I put him there," Trump said. I've got more on the latest presidential swipe at the Fed here. Who's under the gun? We know Trump is peeved at Powell, who the president thought would keep interest rates low despite the overwhelming consensus at the Fed leaning toward hiking rates. But Trump said Tuesday that he's also irritated with "a couple of other" people he added to the Fed. So far, Trump has only made two additions to the Fed board: Vice Chairman Richard Clarida and Vice Chairman of Supervision Randal Quarles. Both are closely aligned with Powell, which raises questions about what Trump thought he was getting out of his nominees. US to open trade talks with Japan, EU, UK: The Trump administration on Tuesday kicked off a fast-track process for three separate trade deals with Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom. In three letters, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer notified Congress of the intent to open the trade talks. Trade in goods and services with the three tops $1.5 trillion. "Under President Trump's leadership, we will continue to expand U.S. trade and investment by negotiating trade agreements with Japan, the EU and the United Kingdom," Lighthizer said. The announcement allows talks to formally open after a 90-day period, but Lighthizer said the UK negotiations would only begin after Britain finalizes its extrication from the EU. The deadline for the so-called "Brexit" is March 29. Niv tells us more here.
GOOD TO KNOW - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that the updated North American trade pact won't get consideration in Congress this year.
- U.S. employers had over seven million unfilled jobs on the last business day in August for the first time on record, according to numbers the Labor Department released Tuesday.
- Businesses and trade groups on Tuesday urged the IRS to make clarifications and changes to its proposed rules on a new deduction created by President Trump's tax law, so that more taxpayers can have certainty they can use the tax break.
- A federal judge on Tuesday approved a settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk.
- Uber received valuations from Wall Street banks that could put the value of the company at up to $120 billion for an initial public offering that could happen as soon as early next year, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- A senior Treasury department official warned that a hard Brexit could hurt global financial stability and said the U.S. is working with officials in the U.K. and EU to limit risks of Britain's withdrawal from the bloc.
ODDS AND ENDS
| 
沒有留言:
張貼留言