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1 Former President Trump Floats "Cutting" Social Security, Medicare, And Medicaid
The election-year back-and-forth picked up between the two presumptive candidates over entitlement programs. Talking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box” yesterday, former President Donald Trump was asked how he planned to deal with solvency problems with Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and his response that there was “a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting” immediately drew attention. Trump didn’t give any specifics, and a spokesman for his campaign glorified later that Trump was only referring to “cutting waste and fraud.” That explanation made no difference to President Joe Biden. During a speech in New Hampshire yesterday afternoon, Biden told the crowd, “If anyone tries to cut Social Security or Medicare, or raise the retirement age again, I will stop them,” before adding that “This morning, Donald Trump said cuts to Social Security and Medicare are on the table again.” Social Security is projected to remain solvent through 2034, and Medicare is solvent through 2028.
2 Fifty Passengers Injured By "Strong Movement" On Boeing Plane Flying To New Zealand
The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the Alaska Airlines flight incident in January where a door plug blew off the plane shortly after takeoff, and yet another airline mishap yesterday resulted in injuries. At least 50 people were injured on a Chilean plane traveling from Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand by what officials called a “strong movement” in the plane. LATAM Airlines said in a statement that the movement was caused by “a technical event during the flight,” but gave no other details. Of the 50 people injured, 13 were taken to a hospital with one believed to be in serious condition. Passengers said that several people on the plane weren’t wearing seatbelts when the flight suddenly dropped. The plane was a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, adding to the recent problems for Boeing. An audit by the Federal Aviation Authority found that Boeing had failed to follow its own quality control guidelines, and FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said yesterday that the agency is “demanding that they come up with a very detailed plan in the next 90 days” to address their quality control issues.
3 Kevin O'Leary Interested In Buying TikTok
We told you yesterday about the continuing talk in Washington about the dangers of TikTok, and yesterday “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary weighed in on “Fox & Friends.” When asked about TikTok being banned, O’Leary interrupted to say, “Not gonna get banned, because I’m going to buy it.” If the legislation currently moving through Congress passes into law, forcing Chinese company ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok or see it become illegal in the US, O’Leary said he’ll form a consortium of investors to purchase the app and turn it into an American company.