Biden targets big corporations and billionaires

Biden goes on the offensive

President Biden aimed to jump-start his re-election campaign with a lively and nearly gaffe-free State of the Union address that put the economy and business at the forefront.

He used his prime-time slot to tout Bidennomics as something that will help Americans, a policy that may appeal to progressive voters and some in the party but could put it at odds with big business. I outlined my wish list.

Ahead of his rematch with Donald Trump in November, Biden sought to frame his presidential campaign with tough language for democracy while holding business accountable.

Areas that can frustrate business leaders include: It has called for raising the minimum tax rate on multinational companies to 21%, which appears to be particularly targeted at pharmaceutical companies. He also cited “big oil, private jets, and huge executive pay” as areas ripe for increased tax revenue in his speech.

Biden’s proposal goes against some of the core policies of the Trump administration and is unpopular with some business groups. Neil Bradley, chief policy officer for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the Biden plan would “actually result in lower economic growth, fewer new business starts, fewer job creation, and fewer choices for American families.” Deaf,” he said.

Mr. Biden emphasized the stark contrast with Mr. Trump. The president has struggled to convince Americans that Bidennomics is helping the country, despite key industrial policy decisions like the Inflation Control Act and measures to contain last year’s local banking crisis.

Although Biden is behind in some polls, he is improving the situation with the help of donors and said in 2021 that he “inherited an economy on the brink” and is currently facing various The country is outperforming most developed countries in most developed countries.

Here are some key moments from Biden’s speech.

• Biden boosted employment, wage growth and investment performance. He pointed to the impact of his signature legislation, including anti-inflation, infrastructure, CHIPS, and science legislation. “My policies have attracted $650 billion in private sector investment in clean energy and advanced manufacturing, creating tens of thousands of jobs here in America,” he said. (Fact checkers say this number needs some context.)

• He tackled the Achilles’ heel problem of inflation. Biden reiterated his promise to go after companies for price gouging, shrinkflation and junk fees, noting that price increases are on the decline. (And it is happening, albeit at a slower pace in recent months.)

• Biden wants to raise taxes on big corporations and billionaires. With Republicans in control of the House, such a measure is highly likely. Biden added that getting the wealthy to pay more taxes would help reduce the deficit.

• He showed union solidarity. Biden mentioned his “great friend” UAW President Sean Fein, who attended the joint session of the House and Senate. Both Biden and Trump are courting unions, key voting districts in battleground states like Michigan.

• Biden also made a big pitch to women.. Biden, a Catholic, supported reproductive rights and the availability of in vitro fertilization. He predicted that overturning Roe v. Wade would encourage women to vote.

Trump fired back at his “Truth Social” platform. An outage on social media sites during the event hampered the former president’s efforts to provide commentary. But he made some broad remarks about inflation and border security.

The State of the Union is usually Rating winner. And judging by the reaction on social media, last night’s nearly 67-minute speech was another high-profile event.

what’s happening here

Wall Street will be watching Friday’s jobs report. Economists predict that employers added 200,000 jobs last month. This would be down from January’s blockbuster report, but would still indicate a healthy labor market. The Fed will be looking at wage growth data as it considers its next policy decision. Central bank chairman Jay Powell said Thursday the central bank is “not far off” from cutting rates.

Bank and corporate lobby groups are at odds with the government over credit card fee rules. In the latest clash between the banking industry and financial watchdogs, industry groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over new rules capping late fees at $8 a month.

Chinese tech giants reportedly rely on US technology to manufacture advanced chips. with Huawei Semiconductor Manufacturing International Inc. has been able to acquire equipment to manufacture 7-nanometer chips from two US tech companies, according to Bloomberg. The report suggests that Chinese companies may still be able to circumvent the US government’s ban on high-tech exports to Beijing. Meanwhile, China is reportedly building a $27 billion chip fund.

Are you running out of time for TikTok?

A House bill that would force TikTok to do more to sever ties with China is moving toward a vote despite the social media giant’s campaign to encourage users to fight back.

This sets off a battle that could have ramifications for U.S.-China relations, the presidential election and the U.S. investment firm that holds a large stake in TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers approved the bill on a 50-0 vote. The influential House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday passed a bill that seeks to ban TikTok from U.S. app stores unless ByteDance sells it. The majority leader, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, said the bill will be brought to the House for a vote next week.

The battle between Washington and TikTok may be reaching its climax. U.S. officials have long warned that TikTok is a national security threat, and the vote followed a confidential briefing on the risks the app poses to Americans. Even though President Biden recently joined TikTok to reach younger voters, the White House also appears to support the effort, with National Security Council officials helping draft the bill. I admit that.

I haven’t given up on TikTok. The company urged users to contact their representatives in Washington to block the bill ahead of Thursday’s vote, and its congressional offices were flooded with calls. They argue that TikTok has become economically important, creating jobs and wealth for Americans. The company also dispatched American users and spent millions of dollars on lobbyists to spread its message, but some analysts say the lobbyists appear to have been blindsided by this week’s events. ing).

The company has taken pains to demonstrate its independence from ByteDance. TikTok is based in Singapore and is not available in China. The company is also proposing to partner with Oracle to build data servers in Texas for U.S. users.

The move may worry some U.S. investors. ByteDance’s biggest backers include Carlyle, General Atlantic, Susquehanna Investment Group, and Coatue Management. Several executives have joined ByteDance’s board of directors, including General Atlantic’s Bill Ford, Susquehanna’s Arthur Danczyk and Cotu’s Philippe Lafont.

TikTok claims this is proof that ByteDance is not actually made in China. But few U.S. lawmakers are convinced.

Ray Dalio, Swifty

Add Ray Dalio to the list of Taylor Swift fans who called her Elas tour revelatory. The billionaire Bridgewater Associates founder, who usually uses social media to share book reviews rather than selfies, posted a photo of himself on Thursday when he saw the singer perform in Singapore. After. His post said she is running for the White House and “she can unite the American people and most of the country far better than either candidate.” “@taylorswift13 for president!”

By the way, Murati?

A week after Elon Musk filed a bombshell lawsuit against OpenAI, more details emerge about the conspiracy behind the attempted coup against CEO Sam Altman that disrupted the startup three months ago It is becoming. A very important character appeared in Shakespeare’s plays. His CTO at OpenAI, Mira Murati, temporarily replaced Altman at the helm of the company, but the Times’ Mike Isaac, Tripp Mickle and Cade Metz write: be.

Altman’s leadership style worried Murati. She expressed her concerns in her personal memo to Mr. Altman and addressed her concerns to some members of the board in October.. This influenced the decision to fire him, according to a person with knowledge of the board’s discussions.

Altman was portrayed as manipulative and unhappy with being challenged. Mr. Murati said Mr. Altman’s strategy is to win over people and gain their support, only to turn them against him if he disagrees with them. (In a message to OpenAI staff after the Times article was published, she said Altman “has had a strong and productive partnership, and I have not been shy about sharing feedback directly with him.”) (mentioned)

Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and chief scientist at OpenAI, raised a similar issue. Around the same time as Murati’s memo, Sutskever raised concerns with the board, according to people familiar with the matter. He informed Altman of his resignation in a video call with other board members in November. Unbeknownst to Altman, Sutskever and some board members had been discussing Altman’s actions for several months.

Murati and Sutskever are important to OpenAI. Mr. Murati joined the company after working at Tesla and is effectively the company’s operations manager. Sutskever is one of the world’s top AI researchers (he is a disciple of AI pioneer Jeff Hinton, who left Google last year to warn of the dangers of AI). Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, helped hire Sutskever.

Altman’s control of OpenAI’s venture fund was also a red flag. OpenAI Startup Fund was owned by Altman, rather than a typical formation as a legal extension of a company. Some board members say he is using the fund to avoid oversight from OpenAI’s nonprofit governance structure at a time when the company was seeking billions of dollars to advance its commercial ambitions. I was worried that this might happen.

OpenAI downplayed the rift. Company spokeswoman Hannah Wong told the Times that Murati and CEO Sutskever declined to comment, but publicly supported Altman’s return, and Murati and senior management unanimously agreed that Altman would He said he requested his reinstatement.

What’s next? OpenAI hired law firm WilmerHale to investigate the incident. The report is expected to be released within the next few days.

(The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft in December for copyright infringement of news content related to AI systems.)

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