Biden Administration to Announce Largest Permanent Increase in Food Stamps

Pelosi takes step to quell moderates’ budget rebellion
 

In Today’s Digital Newspaper

Note: Today’s format is abbreviated due to a speaking assignment early this morning in Minnesota.

— Largest permanent boost to SNAP/food stamp benefits. The Biden administration has revised the nutrition standards of the food stamp program and prompted the largest permanent increase to benefits in the program’s history, a move that billions of dollars to the cost of a program that feeds one in eight Americans. The announcement is expected today and was first reported by the New York Times. The rules will be put in place in October, with average benefits rising more than 2% from prepandemic levels. All 42 million people in the program will receive additional aid. The move does not require congressional approval, and unlike the large pandemic-era expansions, which are starting to expire, the changes are intended to last.

— Pelosi makes her move. In a “Dear Colleague” letter to House Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)  said she “requested that the Rules Committee explore the possibility of a rule that advances both the budget resolution and the bipartisan infrastructure package.” A vote to adopt a rule, which sets terms for floor debate, wouldn’t clear the $550 billion physical infrastructure bill for President Joe Biden’s signature. But it would set up floor consideration of the package later this year. The move is being made to deal with nine centrist House Democrats demanding a timely vote on the infrastructure package to get their support. “Our goal is to pass the budget resolution the week of Aug. 23 so that we may pass Democrats’ Build Back Better agenda” as fast as possible, Pelosi wrote, using the name for Biden’s overall economic plans. She said the initial procedural vote she wants the House to take “will put us on a path to advance” both the infrastructure and the social and environment measures. The $3.5-trillion measure is the top priority for progressive Democrats. Passing the budget resolution is pivotal because it would shield the $3.5-trillion bill from Republican Senate filibusters, or delays, that would kill it.

— NWS weather: Tropical Storm Fred should make landfall in the western Florida Panhandle Monday afternoon or night. Heavy rainfall from Fred through Tuesday, could lead to flash, urban, small stream, and isolated river flooding impacts from western Florida into the Mid-Atlantic. Excessive heat and critical fire weather persists in parts of the Western U.S. through Monday.

— WHIP+ Plus: U.S. farmers and ranchers are getting way ahead of themselves, expecting this program to be approved and announced soon for 2020 and 2021 crop disasters and some funding for livestock producers. It has not even gone through the political process and there are different versions of the bill in the House and Senate. It is expected to be included in a must-pass measure by the end of this year. Thus, no details are known and obviously signup dates cannot be even guessed at this time.

— Global cases of Covid-19 are at 207,245,091 with 4,363,151 deaths, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. case count is at 36,678,972 with 621,635 deaths. The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center said that there have been 356,433,665 doses administered, 163,362,058 have been fully vaccinated, or 51.3% of the U.S. population.

— U.S. considers Covid vaccine boosters for elderly people as early as fall. Warning of tough days ahead with surging Covid-19 infections, the director of the National Institutes of Health said Sunday the U.S. could soon decide whether to offer coronavirus booster shots to more Americans this fall.

— Federal court set to rule on eviction moratorium this week. A three-judge panel with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is expected to rule this week on whether a moratorium against evictions imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will stand.

— Concerns over U.S. terror threats rising as Taliban hold grows. America’s top general said Sunday that the United States could now face a rise in terrorist threats from a Taliban-run Afghanistan. The Taliban entered the capital city of Kabul, effectively sealing the insurgency’s swift takeover of Afghanistan two decades after the U.S. invaded. Meanwhile, President Biden authorized an additional 1,000 U.S. troops for deployment to Afghanistan, raising to roughly 5,000 the number of U.S. troops to ensure what Biden called an “orderly and safe drawdown” of American and allied personnel. The U.S. State Department said that it was working to secure control of the airport, with core employees moved to a military-controlled section there. Thousands of other U.S. citizens and Afghans who aided the U.S. military are still in the country.

— Canada will hold an early election next month. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hopes it will give his Liberal Party a majority in Parliament.

— Futures are pointing to muted losses for major U.S. equities that closed at record highs last week, after data showed a slowdown in China’s economy as the highly infectious Delta variant has taken a toll on China's recovery. Monthly indicators of industrial, consumption and investment activity all showed growth decelerating from June’s yearly rates, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics. The latest data included two key contributors to the headline gross domestic product figure: industrial production, which rose 6.4% from a year earlier, and fixed-asset investment, up 10.3% during the first seven months of the year from the year-ago period. Both rates of increase fell short of expectations, and marked a slowdown from June.

— Markets: The U.S. dollar index is slightly higher with most rival currencies lower against the greenback. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note is weaker, trading around 1.27%, with a mixed tone in global government bond yields. Gold and silver futures are weaker despite unease in equity markets. Gold is trading around $1,777 per troy ounce and silver around $23.52 per troy ounce.

— Crude oil is under pressure ahead of the U.S. trading start, with U.S. crude around $67.50 per barrel and Brent around $69.65 per barrel. Futures were lower in Asian action, with U.S. crude down 80 cents at $67.64 per barrel and Brent down 80 cents at $69.79 per barrel.       

— U.S. companies are sitting on a record amount of cash amid lingering uncertainty about disruptions from Covid-19, defying expectations earlier this year that a waning pandemic would unleash a spending spree.

— Small investors are piling back into the cryptocurrency market, helping drive prices higher even as traders face uncertainty over proposed tax regulations in Washington.

— Federal Reserve officials are nearing agreement to begin scaling back their easy money policies in about three months if the economic recovery continues, with some pushing to end their asset-purchase program by the middle of next year, the Wall Street Journal reports. It says that in recent interviews and public statements, several have advocated for this timetable, which would enable them to raise interest rates sooner than currently anticipated if the economy makes rapid progress toward their goals. Officials at their July 27-28 meeting deliberated on two important questions: when to start paring their monthly purchases of $80 billion in Treasury securities and $40 billion in mortgage securities, and how quickly to reduce, or taper, them. The Fed is set to release on Wednesday minutes of the meeting that could provide further clues about those discussions.

— ITC votes to continue investigation into UAN from Russia, Trinidad and Tobago. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) voted unanimously Friday (Aug. 13) to continue its investigation into imports of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) fertilizer from Russian and Trinidad and Tobago that are allegedly subsidized and sold into the US at less than fair value. The determination means that the U.S. Dept. of Commerce (DOC) will continue the investigation into imports of UAN from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago with a preliminary countervailing duty determination due on or about Sept. 23 and the antidumping determinations due about Dec. 7. The ITC will notify DOC of its determination today.