Bits ’n’ Pieces

From east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling:

According to a Department of Energy study, the U.S. has enough geothermal energy in shallow locations to heat every U.S. home and commercial building “for at least 8,500 years.” Advocates of clean geothermal energy believe it could move forward with government plans to incentivize construction.

After the cartel deaths of two Americans traveling to Mexico for cosmetic treatment, the BBC shared why Mexico is a destination for “tens of thousands” of U.S. citizens seeking medical care. It’s more affordable (a co-pay under insurance in the U.S. can cost more than treatment in Mexico) and, typically, quality of care is equal to that in the U.S., though maybe not for surgical procedures, which run the risk of infection. The U.S. Department of State warns against travel to some areas of Mexico, while some Mexican border states also have travel warnings.

The second-largest bank failure in America occurred March 10, when Silicon Valley Bank was shut down. That followed bankers’ half-million dollar investment in lobbyists pushing for less scrutiny of “low risk” banks, The Lever reported. Under scrutiny: SVB’s CEO pulled out “millions” weeks before. The bank closure has been linked to a bank deregulation bill signed in 2018. The FDIC took over SVB during the following weekend, where more than 90% of deposits were not insured. By March 12, measures were announced to fully protect fund owners, with no burden to “be borne by the taxpayer.”

Bloomberg noted that the SVB scenario included a gamble with deposits: bankers speculated the Federal Reserve would not raise interest rates, so they invested in long-term Treasury bonds. But those declined in value when the Fed pushed up interest rates. Two crypto-friendly banks also recently failed.

President Joe Biden introduced his $6.9 trillion 2024 budget proposal last week, which The Wall Street Journal said would “save hundreds of billions of dollars” by lowering drug prices, raising some business taxes, cracking down on fraud and cutting spending that Biden sees as “wasteful.” Biden asked for a larger defense budget in light of the Russia-Ukraine ordeal and tensions with China.

Various media reported that Biden’s budget proposal includes measures to protect Social Security and Medicare,

By Lorraine H. Marie Reader Columnist

lower prescription drug prices for current and future retirees, cap older Americans’ generic drugs at a low cost for chronic conditions, and improve and expand home and community care services for seniors and the disabled.

Funds for those projects would come via lifting the cap on Social Security pay-ins for those with incomes more than $400,000. The latter is expected to reduce the deficit by close to $3 trillion over the next decade. Incomes under $400,000 would see no increase in federal taxes.

Biden’s plan includes changing the Trump-era tax break for corporations from 21% to 28%. The rate was 35% before Trump’s 2017 cuts. The proposal would also raise the tax on capital gains for those earning at least $1 million annually from 20% to 39.6%.

The wealthiest 0.01% would pay a minimum 25% income tax rate, as opposed to the current 8%. Biden’s budget posed a sharp contrast to “supply-side economics,” used since the 1980s, that exploded deficits and upped the national debt, historian Heather Cox Richardson stated. A 2020 Rand Corporation study found that $50 trillion “moved” from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1% between 1975 and 2018.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called Biden’s budget “completely unserious.” So far, House Republicans have not submitted their own budget, but are working on the Default Prevention Act, which would allow the federal government to continue to borrow money for existing debts and prioritize some debts over others, The Washington Post reported. The plan could cut $150 billion from the federal budget in the upcoming fiscal year. The White House said the DPA puts “wealthy foreign bondholders over working Americans.” According to Mark Zandi, of Moody’s Analytics, Republicans’ cuts will be “so extreme” they will trigger a recession and cost as many as 2.6 million jobs.

Some 56% of Americans define “woke” as being aware of social justice, not being overly politically correct, according to a USA Today/Ipsos poll.

CNN reported the International Criminal Court plans to investigate accusations that Russia unlawfully acted in Ukraine by abducting Ukrainian children and targeting infrastructure.

Blast from the past: “The price of apathy is to be ruled by evil men.” — Plato, Greek philosopher (427-347 BCE).