opinion | ‘Brainstorming’ for Biden

These days, as well as discrediting business to profit on a commodity made scarce by federal policies, the current White House is also considering various tricks to manage the politics of high prices. According to Jeff Stein and Tyler Pager, “brainstorming” continues at the White House. they report for the Washington Post,

Senior White House aides have explored new ideas for responding to high gas prices in recent days and revisited some they had previously discarded, desperate to show that the administration is increasingly at the pump. Trying to allay voter frustration about cost.

Biden officials are taking a second look at whether the federal government can send discount cards to millions of American drivers to help them pay at gas stations – an idea they investigated months ago, before dismissing it. The aide found that a reduction in the US chip industry would make it difficult to produce enough discount cards, two people familiar with the matter said. White House officials also fear there will be no way to prevent consumers from using them for purchases other than gasoline, according to another person familiar with the discussion. Even if the administration accepts the proposal, it will probably need Congressional approval and face long odds among lawmakers wary of spending more money.

probably? Does this mean that the White House is unclear about whether Congress has a role in federal appropriations? Posties reports that Team Biden is considering further intervention in energy markets:

Two people familiar with the matter said Biden allies have looked in recent days to invoke the Defense Production Act to move diesel and other refined products. Diesel prices have risen significantly, posing a major threat to the country’s trucking and shipping industries, though experts say the chances of a reduction are slim.

experts should Saying the obvious answer is to stop discouraging energy production. For example, the president might tell the person he appointed to run the Securities and Exchange Commission to distance it from climate politics. Republicans this week on the Senate Banking Committee requested Information on pending regulation from SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and in doing so he thoroughly explained why he should abandon the entire misguided project:

We are writing to request information about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s … on the “Promotion and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors” … which requires publicly traded companies to Global warming data will need to be collected and reported, almost none of which is critical to a business’s finances. This sweeping, close to 500-page proposed rule is unnecessary and unfair, exceeds the mission and expertise of the SEC, will harm consumers, workers, and the entire US economy at a time when energy prices are skyrocketing, and set the US In doing so hijack the democratic process. climate policy.

It is neither necessary nor appropriate for the SEC to enact securities regulations to address global warming. Federal securities laws already require publicly traded companies to make comprehensive disclosures about their businesses, assets, legal proceedings and risk factors. These disclosures must include any physical climate change information and may not be misleading under the circumstances. In other words, as far as climate change will have a material impact in any of these areas, companies are already legally required to disclose this information.

While some investors and proponents of greater global warming disclosure claim that this information will be valuable for investment purposes, non-material disclosure is unlikely to have any impact on investment decisions. Instead, climate activists without a fiduciary duty to a company and its shareholders want this information to be passed on to publicly traded companies (and the nation at large) after failing to implement these changes through the legislative process. ) but assist them in their efforts to implement their policy priorities. , Activists would then use this information to launch political pressure campaigns against the companies to the detriment of shareholders. This activism is incidentally aided by some Wall Street asset managers, who claim to act on behalf of retail investors. However, it is important to note that the business models of some of these firms rely on developing and selling new climate-oriented investment products with high fees under the guise of “doing good for the climate”, even though such products are very will reduce, if anything, to reduce overall global greenhouse gas emissions.

Steven Lofchi in Fried Frank believe in,

Even though the SEC declines to respond to Republican senators in this request for information, the letter should be viewed only as a first step. If Republicans gain control of the House or Senate in the next election, they will make an enforceable demand for information. Separately, should the SEC proceed, it is likely that litigation will follow.

Either way, the process may reveal how the SEC conducts its cost-benefit analysis. that would be good.

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low expectations
The Journal’s Alex Haring and the Chip Cutter report good,

More than 60% of CEOs expect a recession in their geographic region over the next 12 to 18 months, according to a survey of 750 CEOs and other C-suite executives released Friday by the business research firm Conference Board.

High energy prices are a particular concern, with some officials saying the goods have become more expensive to produce with rising transportation costs.

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Speaking of Biden, Carter and Reagan

It is particularly strange that Mr. Biden favored Carternomics over Reaganomics, and not just because he was able to take a closer look at the empirical results. Mr Biden was more than an observer. Not only did he vote for Reagan tax reforms in both 1981 and 1986, but he understood the problems of Carter’s economic agenda long before many of his fellow Democrats.

In April of 1977, Spencer Rich reported in the Washington Post:

Senate Democrats rallied behind President Carter yesterday and crushed a Republican plan for permanent income tax cuts, 59 to 40.

sense. John C. Danforth (R-Mo.) and Jacob K. The amendments to the tax bill sponsored by Javits (R.N.Y.) were seen by Republicans as a major alternative to Carter’s tax proposals…

The five Democrats who voted for the amendment and against the president were Joe Biden Jr. (Del.), John A. Durkin (NH), Thomas J. McIntyre (NH), William Proxmire (Wis.) and Donald W. Regal Jr. (Mitch).

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Surprising misbehavior of taxpayers in the era of covid lockdown
Joe Maher and Dan Petrella report good For the Chicago Tribune:

According to a state audit released Thursday, fraudsters stole more than half of the money paid by the state from a special pandemic unemployment fund, stealing nearly $2 billion in federal money meant to help Illinois workers. Was about to

The audit presents the first estimates for the share of Illinois’ huge fraud, which swept the country during the pandemic as the states flooded with unemployment claims. The audit covers most of the period of use of the program from July 2020 to June 2021…

The audit may not cover the full scope of pandemic-related fraud.

The state paid an additional $3.8 billion under another federally funded program, which increased the claims investigation to $600, initially, then to $300. The audit did not provide any data on fraud associated with that program.

On top of that, the Tribune reports how thieves hijacked legitimate claims to pay into the thieves’ accounts.

The audit also does not address the dismay of those in Illinois whose names or accounts were improperly used by fraudsters. Victims of fraud have reported frightening experiences with the unemployment agency, especially at the height of the pandemic: struggling to get a phone call or return a message to someone in the department, and – after reporting the fraud – to the state. Actually withholding payments to thieves, which became, in essence, slow-motion theft.

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James Freeman is co-authored “The Cost: Trump, China and the American Revival.”

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