USA OUTLOOK DECEMBER 04 TO 08, 2023

USA OUTLOOK WEEKLY NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 04 TO 8 10001111NOVEMBER 00

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DECEMBER 04, 2023

DECEMBER 05, 2023

US to award $6.1 billion to Las Vegas, California high-speed rail projects The U.S. Transportation Department is awarding $3 billion for a $12 billion Las Vegas to Southern California high-speed rail project and $3.07 billion to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles.

The Las Vegas to Los Angeles project aims to finish before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, while the California high-speed rail authority program aims to ultimately move travelers from San Francisco to the Los Angeles basin at speeds above 200 miles per hour in under three hours, with initial service starting as early as 2030.

Photo REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

US crop insurance provides billions in profit for insurers -gov't agency Roughly one-third of U.S. government spending to insure the nation's crops since 2011 has gone to insurance companies that derive more than $1 billion in profit from the program each year, according to a government watchdog's report released on Monday.

"This historic high-speed rail project will be a game changer for Nevada’s tourism economy and transportation," Senator Jacky Rosen, a Nevada Democrat, said in a statement Tuesday. Rosen has pushed for the Las Vegas project, which had sought $3.75 billion.

The 218-mile (350km) "Brightline West" project is expected to have speeds of at least 186 miles per hour, resulting in a proposed trip time of 2 hours and 10 minutes.

The federal crop insurance program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is meant to protect farmers from financial losses after natural disasters or other events that result in crop losses or price declines.

The USDA worked with 13 privately held insurance companies to provide 1.2 million crop insurance policies at a cost of $17.3 billion in 2022, said the report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

From 2011 through 2022, the federal government paid about $36.6 billion to the insurance companies, about a third of the program's total cost of $107.7 billion, the GAO said.

Photo REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights Souce: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-crop-insurance-provides-billionsprofit-insurers-govt-agency-2023-12-04/

Souce: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-award-3-billion-las-vegas-high-speed-railproject-2023-12-05/

DECEMBER 06, 2023

DECEMBER 07, 2023

Congress poised to extend domestic surveillance law by four months

Congress is preparing to extend the domestic surveillance authority that allows law enforcement to spy on Americans without a warrant by another four months, giving lawmakers more time to either reform or keep the disputed program.

Photo: REUTERS/Callaghan O’Hare/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

Biden administration forgives $4.8 bln in student debt

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday his administration had approved $4.8 billion in student debt cancellation for 80,300 people.

The extension of the surveillance provision known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) - was tucked into the 2,353rd page of the more than 3,000-page National Defense Authorization Act, a must-pass piece of legislation lawmakers hope to send to President Joe Biden's desk before the end of the year.

The delay follows more than a decade of debate over post-Sept. 11, 2001, surveillance powers that allow domestic law enforcement to scan the vast mountains of data gathered by U.S. foreign surveillance apparatus without warrants.

"This brings the total debt cancellation my administration has approved to $132 billion for over 3.6 million Americans through various actions," Biden said in a statement.

Reporting by Katharine Jackson; writing by Jasper Ward; Editing by Doina Chiacu

Photo REUTERS/Kevin Wurm/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights Souce: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-administration-forgives-48-bln-studentdebt-2023-12-06/

Souce: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/congress-poised-extend-domesticsurveillance-law-by-four-months-2023-12-07/

DECEMBER 08, 2023

Photo: REUTERS/Hannah Beier/ File photo Acquire Licensing Rights)

US sets policy to seize patents of government-funded drugs if price deemed too high The Biden Administration on Thursday announced it is setting new policy that will allow it to seize patents for medicines developed with government funding if it believes their prices are too high.

The policy creates a roadmap for the government's so-called march-in rights, which have never been used before. They would allow the government to grant additional licenses to third parties for products developed using federal funds if the original patent holder does not make them available to the public on reasonable terms.

Under the draft roadmap, seen by Reuters, the government will consider factors including whether only a narrow set of patients can afford the drug, and whether drugmakers are exploiting a health or safety issue by hiking prices.

Souce: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-sets-policyseize-government-funded-drug-patents-if-price-deemed-too-high-2023-12-07/