Friday Edition: Corporate Kamala?
Plus: Is Trump regretting his VP pick?
Bubba
02 Aug
Golf is underway at the Olympics in Paris. Hideki Matsuyama of Japan led the way with a 63, while Americans Xander Schauffele (65) and Scottie Scheffler (pictured, 67) got off to nice starts.
1. Maybe Just Enforce the Law
Fare evasion is driving a nearly billion dollar deficit for New York City's transit system. (Bloomberg)
The latest: The city’s Metropolitan Transit Authority is projecting a $900 million combined deficit in 2027 and 2028.
Roughly 50% of bus riders and 14% of subway users evade fares.
NYC now estimates they’ll be getting $811 million less in farebox revenue through 2027.
Related: Cities like New York, Portland, and (until recently) Washington, D.C., have eased fare evasion policies in response to concerns over racial disparities in arrests and citations.
Pirate Wires staff writer Sanjana Friedman’s take on MTA’s budget shortfall:
Politicians are looking for creative ways to bridge the deficit with real estate tax receipts and toll revenue. But what if we just made people pay?
A stark contrast: Earlier this month, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said the enactment of a “tap to exit” program at the North Hollywood station has been a runaway success.
Not only has the program ensured riders pay for their fares, but crime and other quality of life incidents have dropped 40%.
Bubba’s Two Cents
Here’s crazy idea — maybe just enforce the law. Sure, some issues aren’t so straightforward. But declining to crack down on people who are skirting the rules and helping to bankrupt your transit system seems downright suicidal.
2. Looking Back on Foreign Policy
Ahead of the 2024 election, here are two opposing takes on the recent foreign policy tenures of Donald Trump and President Biden. (Goodfellows)
H.R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser, in a recent Goodfellows podcast episode:
I think the value or the success of Trump’s foreign policies and approaches to national security only became apparent to many Americans after Biden reversed them. What does it look like when you don’t secure the border? Well, we’ve got that. What does it look like when you supplicate to the Iranians and allow them to fill their coffers with $80 billion to $100 billion of unenforced sanctions—revenue that came because of unenforced sanctions? Well, you get much more intense wars across the Middle East and you get Oct. 7.
Former Washington Post editor Steven Levingston in an essay for the Miller Center:
President Biden faced a number of challenges in foreign affairs. After years of erratic policy decisions under President Trump, Biden aimed to bring a state of normalcy to US foreign policy, rejoin treaties and alliances the previous administration abandoned, and restore the county’s standing in the world. The Biden approach jettisoned Trump’s “America First” nationalism in favor of rebuilding relationships with US allies and bolstering international institutions that Trump denigrated such as NATO and the World Health Organization. President Biden planned for the United States to return to the Paris climate agreement, focus on repairing the damage done to the Iran nuclear deal, and try to tame China’s widening international influence.
3. Corporate Kamala?
President Biden’s been pretty openly hostile toward corporations — does Vice President Kamala Harris plan to reverse course? (Bloomberg)
The latest: LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who recently donated millions to a pro-Harris PAC, has called on the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee to fire Lina Khan, who’s been a thorn in the side of corporations throughout her tenure as FTC chair.
Related: Harris has been meeting regularly with corporate executives as part of a business outreach effort, The New York Times reported last week.
Times reporter Sydney Ember:
Some of her backers in the business world said she was approachable and open to listening to their points of view — something they said was not always the case with Mr. Biden.
Big picture: Americans on both sides of the aisle are concerned about corporate involvement in society…
…and politics.
4. Checking In on Small Business
Small businesses are cutting jobs. (MishTalk)
New ADP data: Year-over-year payrolls for businesses with 20-49 employees are down by 88,000.
Small businesses are seeing a decline in employment, while large corporations are experiencing strong job growth.
Mid-sized corporations (250-499 employees) have slightly positive growth.
Related: In the first half of 2024, 346 companies, many of them small and mid-sized businesses, filed for bankruptcy, the highest number since 2010.
Big picture: Small businesses (with 500 or fewer employees) make up 99.9% of U.S. firms.
Small businesses account for 46% of total private sector employment.
5. Is Trump Regretting His VP Pick?
Sen J.D. Vance’s favorability has plummeted since he was announced as Donald Trump’s running mate.
Screenshot/CNN
Related: Speaking to the National Association of Black Journalists on Wednesday, Trump downplayed the importance of vice presidential picks on election results.
Trump:
Historically, the vice president, in terms of the election, does not have any impact — I mean, virtually no impact. You have two or three days where there’s a lot of commotion as to who — like you’re having it on the Democrats’ side — who it’s gonna be; and then that dies down and it’s all about the presidential pick.
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