Cuomo’s supporters put the fundraiser on maintain throughout the sexual harassment scandal

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during a press conference ahead of the opening of a Covid-19 mass vaccination site in the New York borough of Queens on February 24, 2021.

Seth Little | AFP | Getty Images

Andrew Cuomo’s top funders pause and reassess their support for the New York governor who was accused of sexual harassment by two former aides, according to two people directly involved in the fundraising process.

Some of these people refused, fearing retaliation from the governor, who will be the subject of an independent state investigation. Cuomo is running for a fourth term in next year’s elections.

“Nobody gives him anything now. Everything is on hold,” said a finance manager.

Others expressed confusion about the crisis Cuomo is facing.

“I think people who like him and have been with him for a long time are scratching their heads asking how he got himself into that position,” said Bernard Schwartz, a New York businessman who has supported Cuomo for years, on Monday opposite CNBC.

“If he does not present himself fully and openly and honestly, he does not deserve a fourth term, although I like him very much,” said Schwartz, who has donated $ 70,000 for Cuomo’s campaign since 2019. Schwartz said he planned to call Cuomo in the coming days.

Cuomo is a moderate democrat who has built a huge and powerful network of donors. As of July, his campaign has raised over $ 4 million, government records show. His campaign started the new year with a war chest of over $ 16 million.

The fundraiser and donors are the latest group to push Cuomo back after the allegations became public. Federal and state Democratic lawmakers, including the administration of President Joe Biden, have supported an independent investigation into the claims made against Cuomo.

New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office will select an independent outside attorney to conduct the investigation. A Cuomo press representative did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Former Cuomo adviser Charlotte Bennett, 25, accused the governor of asking questions about her personal life, such as whether she was monogamous in relationships and whether she was “with an older man”.

The 63-year-old Cuomo admitted that he had conversations with aides who “were misunderstood as undesirable flirtation”. He has denied ever touching or suggesting anyone inappropriately.

Another former adjutant, Lindsey Boylan, 36, has accused Cuomo of kissing her without consent, among other things. He has denied their claims.

The relationships Cuomo has built with his financial network were evident in the early stages of the presidential primaries when he signaled his donors to support Biden.

John Catsimatidis, founder of the New York-based supermarket chain Gristedes, is another donor who weighed on the controversy. Catsimatidis, who is expected to run for a second Republican run for Mayor of New York, didn’t rule out walking away from Cuomo.

“Let’s see what the investigation shows,” Catsimatidis told CNBC on Monday. Catsimatidis gave Cuomo’s campaign $ 10,000 in 2018, records show.

Several Wall Street executives close to Cuomo donors and trustees told CNBC, on condition of anonymity, that fund-raising efforts have either been interrupted or will be reassessed in the wake of the allegations.

“They’re more of a wait and see. When this is over, they don’t want to get on the wrong side of the governor,” said one person. “So you’re in a wait and see mode, which means you’re not writing a check now, but you’re not ready to cut it off completely either.”

A longtime Cuomo employee who has regularly contributed to his campaigns told CNBC that the sexual harassment allegations could force New York voters to seek another leader for their state. Cuomo has been implicated in other scandals, including the state’s underreporting of nursing home deaths from Covid-19.

Meanwhile, companies that funded Cuomo’s most recent inauguration in 2018, and in some cases supported him throughout the past year, are silent on the allegations.

AT&T, Comcast, the United Health Group, Ernst and Young, Citigroup, JPMorgan, and Bank of America are among the major companies that have contributed to Cuomo’s political work. JPMorgan and Citi officials declined to comment. The other companies did not respond to requests for comment. Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which is owned by CNBC.

After the deadly January 6 riot on Capitol Hill, these companies decided to either pause contributions to Republican and Democratic lawmakers, stop donations to lawmakers who questioned election results, and their general policies regarding campaign contributions to lawmakers on both sides of the government to review gear, or to suspend its political donations altogether.

Veteran Democratic political strategist Hank Sheinkopf stated that most corporations will not push Cuomo back, at least not yet, as many are headquartered in New York and do much of their business in the state.

“Many of these companies are based in New York and have interests in New York. They will likely stand with the governor because it is in their best interest to do so,” Sheinkopf said.

Zoom, Roku, Novavax & extra

A trader working in New York City after the Nasdaq opening ceremony on April 18, 2019.

I have Betancur | Getty Images

Check out the companies that hit the headlines on Monday after the bell:

Zoom Video – The video communications company’s shares fell 8.5% on better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year. Zoom made $ 1.22 per share on revenue of $ 882 million. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected earnings of 79 cents per share on sales of $ 812 million. This sales figure corresponds to an increase of 369% over the previous year. Zoom also expects revenue to grow 175% for the first quarter of the fiscal year and 42% for the full fiscal year.

Roku – Roku’s stock rose 2.8% when it was announced that the company will acquire Nielsen’s video advertising business. “By combining Nielsen’s AVA technology with Roku’s innovative advertising technology and scale, we can take advantage of streaming TV advertising for traditional television,” said Louqman Parampath, vice president of product management at Roku, in a statement.

Novavax – The vaccine developer’s shares were down 4.2% after the company reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Novavax lost $ 2.70 per share on revenue of $ 279.7 million. Analysts surveyed by Refinitv expected a loss per share of $ 1.49 on sales of $ 304.9 million. CEO Stanley Erck told CNBC that the company was expecting government approval of the Covid-19 vaccine as early as May.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals – Inovio shares were down more than 6% after the company released its latest quarterly results. The company lost 14 cents per share, while analysts polled by FactSet expected a loss of 22 cents per share. Inovio also published the results of the phase 3 study for a drug to treat HPV.

JT claps again on Lil Uzi Vert’s ex Brittany Boyd on Twitter

You never know what kind of reaction you will get on Twitter when it comes to Lil Uzi Vert and JT. However, yesterday things changed for the better between them. The way to the hearts of many people is through food, and JT seems to fall into that category. She tweeted, “I love crab legs,” and Uzi replied, “You’re on the way.” JT responded with a couple of laughing emojis and replied, “You raised her. Thank you.”

The roommates were all here to get Uzi food for JT. Supa Cent stepped into the shadow room and commented: “I love cowboy ribeyes, medium-sized, topped with crab meat and one side of Brussels sprouts and asparagus … * waiting. * “A few hours later, Uzi made another tweet about JT. He tweeted, “JT is the one.” The fans of the two like to see that, but unfortunately not everyone was here for them because of their exclamation. His ex-Brittany Boyd reportedly shared a message between her and Uzi that she shared on her Instagram story, which quickly hit Twitter.

The text messages were pretty one-sided, but they were very long and it seemed like she didn’t get over the situation she was having with him. JT wasn’t here for the news and was quick to clap again on Twitter. She tweeted, “Well, I tried to tell you a year ago that he lied! You called me mad Now you want to post a nick-a-nick. You really come out of character! Do not be silent, Frau Friede. I know how it moves. I tried to say. “She continued to tweet the text message and replied,” He’s asking me worse, but like in real life. He says the same thing about her. I’m not delusional anymore, I bet! “

Now the message remains in Brittany’s IG history, but so far it has not responded to JT. Meanwhile, Uzi continues to express his love for this “Dark Queen” on Twitter. Phew roommates, we’ll keep you updated as the saga between JT and Lil Uzi Vert continues!

Self-employed gig employees are nonetheless ready for the bigger mortgage PPP guidelines

Virojt Changyencham | Moment | Getty Images

The self-employed and gig staff are eagerly awaiting the Small Business Association’s update of guidelines for their paycheck protection program, which could mean bigger credit for the group.

The Biden administration last week announced changes to how the SBA will calculate forgivable loans for sole proprietorships and other small businesses with no employees. The updated formula, which is likely to result in larger loan amounts for non-employer businesses, including sole proprietorships and independent contractors, will be announced this week.

It’s still unclear during the week when the SBA will update its guidelines, which means those who would benefit from the change should still wait to submit their applications for the program.

More of Invest in you:
Smallest businesses can get additional PPP help. What you should know before applying
Surveys suggest that black small business owners are being left behind in a pandemic
Black leaders offer several important steps to fill the racial wealth gap

“Loans submitted before the official rule changes are subject to the rules in force at the time of application,” said Carol Wilkerson, an SBA spokeswoman.

This has frustrated some who want to take advantage of the two-week priority application window for the smallest businesses, which went into effect on February 24th and ends the second week of March. It goes without saying that sole proprietorships can continue to apply for PPP loans until the end of the program at the end of the month. As soon as the 14-day exclusivity window is closed, they will simply no longer be given priority.

Lenders are currently working to help borrowers prepare for the updated guidelines.

“We’ve always taken the approach, ‘hey, we don’t have all the answers, but let’s go as far as we can without the answers,” said Ed Barry, CEO of Capital Bank, based in Rockville, Maryland.

Barry added that the bank is also working to raise awareness among small businesses that may not realize they are now eligible for a PPP loan.

What is known about the formula change so far?

For companies with employees, the maximum PPP loan is 2.5 times the average monthly wage cost per SBA. As a substitute for single wage billing, the SBA used net income information from tax returns, although payroll are different measures.

In addition, the net profit line includes deductions that reduced or eliminated the winning numbers, added small loans, or made them ineligible for the program for some.

The updated formula instead uses gross income as a substitute for labor costs, a larger number than net income, which means many businesses are getting more money on forgivable loans.

Loans submitted prior to the official rule changes are subject to the rules in effect at the time of application.

Carol Wilkerson

SBA spokesman

“It’s a huge change,” said Keith Hall, president and CEO of the National Association for the Self-Employed.

The change is important because sole proprietorship is the most common business structure in the United States. There are around 41 million self-employed people in the country, according to the IRS, and in 2018 more than 27 million had submitted feedback with an IRS 1040 schedule C-Form for sole proprietorships, according to the agency.

Many of these companies are particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. About 70% of these without employees are owned by women and black people, and 95% of black-owned and 91% of Latino-owned companies are sole proprietorships, according to SBA.

So far, however, very little forgivable funding has gone from the SBA to sole proprietorship. According to a recent poll by NASE, nearly two-thirds of its members said they had not received any money from the program.

Much of this was due to the confusion in the early days of the program about eligibility and forgiveness, which hopefully is clearer today, Hall said.

“Many of the reasons these small business owners didn’t apply for or approve a PPP loan – I think a lot of those barriers have been removed,” he said.

Questions remain

Of course, today, March 1st, other changes to the PPP program that the Biden government announced last week will come into effect. Some student loan borrowers, lawful foreigners, and individuals with certain criminal records can now apply for unsuccessful loans.

Still, there are more questions for sole proprietorships at the time of application, especially those who have already approved a loan but would get more under the new formula. As of now, there is no procedure to change a loan that has been distributed or to withhold a currently pending application.

“All the unknowns right now,” said Alex Cohen, CEO of Liberty SBF.

If you’re a small business with a history about PPP, send an email to Carmen Reinicke at carmen.reinicke@nbcuni.com

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Delta is giving bonuses to managers whose pay has been lower because of the pandemic

Delta Air Lines Bombardier Boeing 757-200 aircraft as they arrive on final approach to New York’s JFK John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Nicolas Economou | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Delta Air Lines, which received billions of dollars in federal aid last year, is paying managers anywhere from a few thousand dollars to more than $ 100,000 to offset wage cuts at the start of the pandemic last year.

Frontline workers such as flight attendants, pilots and others in non-managerial positions do not receive any bonuses.

Last year, Delta cut managerial salaries and cut the hours of thousands of workers by 25% to weather the pandemic’s drop in travel requirements, a policy criticized by some lawmakers. The Atlanta-based airline avoided involuntary vacations or job cuts, thanks in part to the 18,000 employees, roughly 20% of Delta’s pre-pandemic workforce, who accepted takeovers and early retirement packages last year. The airline posted a record loss of $ 12.4 billion in 2020.

“While all Delta employees were affected by the worst year in our history, after a comprehensive salary review of all levels in our organization below the executive level, we identified levels that were disproportionately affected as a result of last year’s events and created a one . ” -Time adjustment payment, “Delta said in a statement.

Delta received $ 5.6 billion in federal aid last year under a $ 25 billion program passed under the CARES Act in March that banned airlines from downsizing. The airline expects to receive $ 2.9 billion this quarter as part of an expansion of the program passed by Congress late last year, Delta said in a release last month.

Criticized the move, first reported on Sunday by the View from the Wing travel blog, the pilots union said it was against the spirit of the CARES law to support federal payroll that airlines received last year in return for that they had not involuntarily cut workers.

“While we are confident that Delta will recover quickly from the country’s pandemic, paying special bonuses to management while the airline is still burning cash is premature and inappropriate,” said Chris Riggins, spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association. in a statement. “We also believe that paying bonuses that are limited to management is inconsistent with the spirit of the CARES Act. This was an unfortunate and short-sighted decision.”

Delta says it follows provisions of the CARES Act that have limited executive compensation. Managers’ remuneration may vary based on company performance. Delta says it continued to pay rewards to Frontline and other employees for achieving operational goals, but those amounts are lower than the bonuses.

The airline and its U.S. competitors are on track to receive additional federal payroll allowances.

On Friday, the House passed a $ 1.9 billion coronavirus relief package that includes a third round of federal payroll for airlines. If the bill passes the Senate, U.S. airlines will receive $ 14 billion in exchange for paying workers through September 30th. U.S. airlines have already received $ 40 billion in payroll support for two more coronavirus relief packages.

Bye child: Catherine O’Hara on her Schitt’s Creek journey

As the show wrapped up production, O’Hara was offered a few souvenirs, including some from Moira’s wardrobe and wigs. She said she wanted to clear up the idea that she had stolen something: she was offered anything that she took home. The wigs have not yet been on display, however, which does not mean that O’Hara does not appreciate these memorabilia. In 2019, during a particularly stressful evacuation by the Getty Fire in Los Angeles, O’Hara took essential items: passports, documents, baby photos, and some of Moira’s closets.

“I kept running to it and thought, ‘No, I can’t. No, I can’t – yes!’ I took some of it, “she revealed. “We took it to a hotel – luckily we got to a hotel here – and then I realized, ‘Wait a minute, [Moira] was evacuated. The roses have been evacuated from their lives. ‘And it’s strangely appropriate, the aftermath, the show is strangely appropriate right now, because while the roses are glued together in a building, they’re learning to be family. And I think a lot of people, if they are lucky enough to have a home and be together … It’s a test for all families right now. “

Dr. Scott Gottlieb says knowledge exhibits Covid vaccines cut back transmission

Dr. Scott Gottlieb said Monday he saw promising signs that Covid vaccines, in addition to their well-documented ability to protect against serious illness, are effective in reducing the spread of the virus from person to person.

In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner warned that while the early data looks positive, there are still some uncertainties. “I think there is a reduction in transmission. The question is, how big is that?” said Gottlieb, a member of the Pfizer board of directors.

The company’s vaccine, developed jointly with German drug maker BioNTech, is one of three vaccines that have received FDA approval for emergencies. The other two are made by Moderna and most recently Johnson & Johnson, which received limited approval from U.S. regulators on Saturday.

The FDA granted emergency approval to the trio of vaccines after individually determining that they were safe and effective in preventing recipients from developing symptomatic Covid disease, particularly severe cases and deaths. What has been less clear since the US began administering vaccines against Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna in December is specific data aimed at limiting the spread of the virus. This is one of the reasons doctors have urged even those who have been vaccinated to continue to take precautions.

For example, in its press release announcing that the vaccine had received emergency approval from J&J, the FDA stated that there was no “evidence that the vaccine could transmit SARS-CoV-2 represents person to person “.

However, Gottlieb said there was reason to be optimistic that the vaccines would do just that, even though “the final study” proves it has not yet done so. “The evidence gathered is very convincing that transmission will be reduced,” said Gottlieb, who headed the FDA in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019.

He pointed to two studies done in Israel, one of the world’s leading countries for vaccinating its population, that suggest the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine reduces virus transmission. Gottlieb also said that J&J in his study found a 74% reduction in participants who developed asymptomatic infection. This finding from J&J, Gottlieb said, “is a pretty good indication that transmission is reduced.”

“I think most people will agree … people who are vaccinated are less likely to transmit the infection if they infect themselves,” said Gottlieb, adding he expects a more definitive answer “within the next one or two two months”.

J&J Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky said Monday on Squawk Box that the company’s initial findings on preventing asymptomatic infection were encouraging and signaled the possibility of “heavily denting” the Covid pandemic. “But we need to collect more. We would expect to literally collect that in the coming months if we continue to track these patients in the study,” he said.

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC employee and a member of the boards of directors of Pfizer, genetic testing startup Tempus, healthcare technology company Aetion, and Illumina biotech. He is also co-chair of the Healthy Sail Panel for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean.

Rocket Lab goes public through SPAC with neutron rocket growth

Peter Beck, CEO of Rocket Lab, stands with his company’s electron rocket.

Missile laboratory

Rocket Lab, the leader among companies that build small rockets to launch satellites, is going public through a SPAC merger that valued the company at more than $ 4 billion at the time of the deal.

The company works with Vector Acquisition, a special-purpose acquisition company. Rocket Lab will be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker RKLB when the deal closes, which is expected in the second quarter.

“This milestone accelerates Rocket Lab’s ability to realize the full potential of space through our launch and spacecraft platforms and catalyzes our drive to create a new multi-billion dollar space application business,” said Peter Beck, CEO of Rocket Lab. in a press release.

Vector’s SPAC is currently traded under the ticker VACQ. The SPAC’s shares were up more than 20% in premarket trading from the previous closing price of $ 10.25 per share.

The SPAC deal values ​​Rocket Lab at an enterprise value of $ 4.1 billion. The company expects cash around $ 750 million after the merger is complete. That money includes up to $ 320 million from the Vector acquisition and a $ 470 million PIPE round led by Vector Capital, BlackRock and Neuberger Berman, among others.

PIPE, or private investment in public equity, enables private investors to buy public shares at below market prices. A SPAC is a special-purpose acquisition company where investors essentially give a company a blank check for the purpose of unspecified acquisitions of other companies.

Beck will continue to lead Rocket Lab as CEO. Alex Slusky, Vector Capital’s Chief Investment Officer, will join the company’s board of directors, alongside Sven Strohband from Khosla Ventures, David Cowan from Bessemer Venture Partner, Matt Ocko from DCVC and independent director Mike Griffin.

Rocket Lab’s announcement comes on the same day that satellite data company Spire Global announced that it will also merge with a SPAC to go public. Both Rocket Lab and Spire Global count Bessemer as investors, with partners Cowan and Tess Hatch being represented on the respective boards of the companies.

Unveiling of the larger neutron rocket

Rocket Lab also revealed plans for a second, larger rocket called the Neutron to lift even more payloads than the current Electron rocket. The company has so far launched 97 satellites on 18 electron missions.

The electron rockets cost about $ 7 million per launch, are about 60 feet high, and can lift up to 300 kilograms into orbit.

Neutron, which is expected to launch for the first time in 2024, will have a height of 30 meters and be able to carry up to 8,000 kilograms into low-earth orbit, the company said. Rocket Lab did not disclose how much Neutron is expected to cost per launch, and noted that the company will need to build a new launchpad at NASA’s Wallops facility in Virginia on initial launch.

Rocket Lab said Neutron will have a reusable first stage, also known as a booster, that will “land on an ocean platform”. The company also determined that Neutron will be able to take astronauts to the International Space Station, adding another role to the company’s repertoire.

Rocket Lab in pole position

Rocket Lab’s electron rocket launches on July 4, 2020.

Missile laboratory

Rocket Lab was founded by Beck in New Zealand in 2006 and is based in Long Beach, California and employs 530 people. The company is starting from a private complex on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula and has built a launchpad for electron launches at Wallops.

Rocket Lab has a strong position in the launch market alongside SpaceX. Currently, the two leading companies regularly launch privately developed rockets into orbit. However, the starting market, which is generally divided into the three sections for small, medium and heavy lifts, is growing steadily. Rocket Lab’s Electron faces increasing competition from rockets being built by Astra and Virgin Orbit, while Neutron will face the medium-lift rockets being developed by Firefly Aerospace, ABL Space, Relativity Space, and others.

Beck’s company recently tested a method of recovering its electron amplifiers – the rocket’s most expensive part – for reuse, a practice SpaceX has made routine. Unlike SpaceX, given the small size of its rockets, Rocket Lab tested a new approach: the company uses the atmosphere to slow the rocket, then parachutes and uses a helicopter to pluck the booster from the sky.

In addition to Electron, last year the company expanded its business into building spacecraft that are combined with its rockets. Rocket Lab is called Photon and is building the spaceship as a new versatile platform for companies and organizations on which technologies in space can be tested and operated.

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By refusing to lift the minimal wage, Republicans are defrauding taxpayers and selling poverty

Last November, the bipartisan Government Accountability Office released a report confirming what was already well known: The American taxpayer is effectively paying the bill for the work that enables many of the country’s largest corporations to generate billions in profits.

Workers in many of America’s richest companies, including Walmart and McDonald’s, are among the primary beneficiaries of federal aid programs like Medicaid and grocery stamps.

In fact, it means that American taxpayers need to supplement so that workers in these companies can feed themselves – enough to eat, have access to medical care to keep themselves physically and mentally functional, to meet their basic needs in order to survive to stay The inadequate wages these companies pay while their profits rise and economic inequality in the US continues to worsen dramatically.

Yet Republicans would lead us to believe that raising the minimum wage will damage the economy by placing undue burden on companies like Walmart, McDonald’s, Kroger, Amazon, and Dollar General – some of the worst offenders when it comes to American taxpayers relieve their employees’ ability to subsidize their lives and work – somehow it is perfectly affordable for the average American to take the bill for these companies and their shareholders, but not receive any part of their profits.

Indeed, it is clear that the Republican opposition to raising the minimum wage to livable standards is part of their long-standing overall strategy to continue to transfer the nation’s wealth to the richest among us and to attack American workers.

Republicans cheat American taxpayers and workers.

And let’s be clear that the lion’s share of federal aid recipients – 70% of the 21 million – work full-time.

The party of so-called personal responsibility means that quite literally. People have to be responsible for themselves, but companies don’t seem to be.

And to be fair, we should acknowledge that part of the Republican opposition to the minimum wage increase is that it would really hurt small businesses.

In many ways this argument, which is a projection rather than a topicality, is refuted by empirical reality. Since 2009, 24 states and the District of Columbia have adopted minimum wage increases, and fears that the prospect of significant job losses is likely to be unfounded have proven unfounded. In some cases, jobs have actually been created because rising wages stimulate the economy; and where there was job loss, it was minimal.

And if they’re that concerned about small businesses, Republicans could suggest what they did in 2007, when the minimum wage was last raised: add small business tax credits.

But even this discussion doesn’t really get to the heart of the matter.

Instead, we need to look at what is really being said when it is argued that legislation that workers earn a living wage would harm small businesses and, consequently, the economy.

Is this really an economy that we want to support? One that depends on people who live in poverty?

Should we really be looking at a successful company whose survival depends on workers living in poverty?

Republicans really say that.

It’s like they’re saying, “Well, we’re going to really hurt these little plantations if we take slave labor away from them.”

Of course, that’s not that far-fetched. Let’s not forget that Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton’s legislative efforts to ban the New York Times 1619 Project from teaching in schools were based on his worldview that the series basically gave slavery a bad name and need a brutal enslavement of people unrecognized to build the richest economy in the world.

This thinking, as I have pointed out elsewhere on the PoliticusUsa pages assessing Cotton’s perspective, is only wrong if one believes we have to choose between a humane and a prosperous economy. History shows that a humane economy is indeed the most efficient and productive economy.

And this historical truth also applies to the increase in the minimum wage.

For example, a study by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute shows how raising the minimum wage would significantly improve the Illinois economy. The study went on to say, “By raising the minimum wage, Illinois can increase workers’ incomes, reduce income inequality, increase consumer spending, boost the economy, generate tax revenue, and reduce tax costs on government aid programs.”

In short, raising the minimum wage to $ 15 would save taxpayers money by reducing the need for public support for the working poor ($ 87 million in food stamp spending, according to the study alone) and revenue for the state increase income and sales taxes ($ 380 million in new state tax revenue, according to study) and $ 19 billion in total economic activity.

With such a scenario, the state could actually cut taxes, put money in the pockets of working taxpayers and still increase state revenues.

While Republicans like to falsely claim that tax cuts for the rich will be amortized by increased economic activity, in fact, if the minimum wage is increased, they will.

From a cultural point of view, doesn’t capitalism pretend to want self-sufficient people and to reduce the scope of the welfare state?

What we see here is that the alignment of resources through public policy, not as with Trump’s tax cuts on the rich, but on workers, is more than likely contributing more to the health of the economy and society as a whole.

Of course, Republicans don’t really want that. Despite their efforts to present themselves as a party of the working class, their real agenda is simply to make the rich richer and the rest of us as poor as possible.

Tim Libretti is a professor of American literature and culture at a Chicago state university. A longtime progressive voice, he has published numerous academic and journalistic articles on culture, class, race, gender, and politics, for which he has received awards from the Working Class Studies Association, the International Labor Communications Association, and the National Federation of Press Women and the Illinois Woman’s Press Association.

China’s R&D spending hits a report $ 378 billion

Workers at Foxconn’s Shenzhen, China factory.

AFP | Getty Images

China’s research and development spending rose 10.3% to 2.44 trillion Chinese yuan ($ 378 billion) in 2020, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics.

The office said in a press release on Sunday that R&D spending aimed at developing new services or products represents 2.4% of China’s gross domestic product.

It’s a new record for China, but it’s also the slowest incremental growth in five years, down 12.5% ​​in 2019.

The bureau said that by the end of 2020, China had 522 “national key laboratories” and 350 “national technical research centers” in operation.

It added that around 457,000 projects were funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and 3.6 million patents were granted last year, up from 40% in 2019.

In contrast, the U.S. planned to spend around $ 134 billion on research and development in 2020, according to a report by the Federation of American Scientists last March. Official figures on R&D spending are yet to be released by the US

The UK, home to far fewer people, spent £ 11.4 billion (US $ 15.9 billion) on research and development in 2020 but plans to more than £ 22 billion by 2024 or 2025 double.

Tech sovereignty boost

Washington has introduced several policies in recent years designed to curb China’s rapid growth.

It blacklisted dozens of Chinese companies and last year blocked global shipments of chips to blacklisted telecommunications equipment giant Huawei, citing national security concerns. Huawei has repeatedly denied that its equipment contains backdoors that the Chinese government can use for espionage purposes.

As the world’s supply chains have become more unstable, China and other nations have taken steps to strengthen their “technology sovereignty” and rely more heavily on critical core technologies like 5G and semiconductor chips.

“Growing geopolitical uncertainties and the risk of global trade conflicts call into question the optimism of the past decades with regard to the interdependence of our economies,” said the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research in a report last July.

China’s National People’s Congress is set to announce more new measures this week that will further advance China’s ability to innovate on its own.