Tuesday, May 13, 2025

May 13, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Trump gets wish list in House GOP tax bill, with some exceptions . . . The bill — which the House tax-writing committee will take up Tuesday — not only delivers on his promise to make a slew of his expiring 2017 tax cuts permanent, but also includes tax relief for tips, seniors and overtime work. Trump also got his request to give taxpayers a deduction for the interest they pay on auto loans, and to limit deductions for the purchase of sports teams. The breaks for tips, seniors and overtime pay would only last four years and include income restrictions for qualifying. But the draft also delivers another key Trump demand — a $4 trillion debt ceiling hike. Politico

Politics

House Panel Plans to Raise SALT Deduction Cap for Members in Blue States . . . House Republicans are proposing to raise the state and local tax deduction cap to $30,000, up from its current rate of $10,000. The move was announced on Monday by the House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo. The deduction would apply to single and joint filers who make $400,000 or less per year. The move would be a huge win for Republican members of Congress in blue states, who stand to benefit the most from the raise, given that blue states usually have higher state income tax rates. Daily Signal

House GOP bill requires states to share food benefit costs, strengthens SNAP work requirements

House Republicans propose $5 billion for private school vouchers . . . House Republicans want to set aside up to $5 billion a year for scholarships to help families send their children to private and religious schools, an unprecedented effort to use public money to pay for private education. The proposal, part of a budget reconciliation bill released Monday, would advance President Donald Trump's agenda of establishing "universal school choice" by providing families nationwide the option to give their children an education different from the one offered in their local public school. Nearly all households would qualify. Associated Press

Saudi Crown Prince MBS courts Trump with lavish royal welcome as president seeks $1T in investments . . . President Donald Trump received a lavish royal welcome in Saudi Arabia on the first major overseas trip of his second term. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud gave Trump the kind of reception the president adores - an elaborate ceremony featuring military might, escorts on horseback for the Beast, and a royal purple carpet. The national anthems of both nations played. Trump, in a purple tie for the occasion, chatted amiably with MBS, as the Saudi Crown Prince is known. Daily Mail

Free the Gas Stoves: Trump's Energy Department Axes Dozens of Biden Appliance, Energy Regulations . . . Gone are rules banning a wide swath of gas stoves. Gone are the strict water standards governing dishwashers and shower heads. And gone is the government-wide effort to force electrification of the economy through appliance regulations. It is all part of a historic action the Trump administration announced Monday, reversing dozens of energy regulations, saving consumers more than $11 billion, and cutting more than 125,000 words from the United States Code of Regulations. Washington Free Beacon

Rejecting Calls for Medicaid Cuts, Hawley Castigates GOP's 'Wall Street Wing' . . . Sen. Josh Hawley is sounding the alarm that Republicans should avoid deep cuts to Medicaid in the budget reconciliation process. In an op-ed published in The New York Times on Monday, the Missouri Republican senator took aim at what he called the "party's Wall Street wing" for advocating to have the federal program face deep cuts. Daily Signal

Culture

Planned Parenthood annual report shows record taxpayer funding, abortions . . . Planned Parenthood took in nearly $800 million in taxpayer funding as the number of abortions increased and the number of patients remained flat, according to the organization's annual report released Monday. It saw the nation's largest abortion provider increase its revenue by 13% from the previous year even though the number of patients rose by less than 2%. The organization took in $792.2 million in government grants, contracts and Medicaid reimbursements, up $92.9 million from the previous report. Washington Times

Trump Administration Is Exposing the Hubris of Institutional DEI . . . Harvard University was likely in violation of civil rights law in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the school practically said so, proudly, on its public website. Now it is under federal investigation. The Washington Free Beacon's Aaron Sibarium reported Monday that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency created to enforce civil rights law, launched an investigation into Harvard in late April over whether the school was (or continues to be) unlawfully hiring based on race and sex. Daily Signal

Flip-Flop: 'The View' Host Approves Of New Pope After Learning He Has Black Ancestry . . . "The View" host Sunny Hostin, who criticized the newly-elected Pope Leo XIV on Friday because his views on marriage and the LGBTQ+ community aligned with the Catholic Church's traditional teachings, appeared to reverse course after learning that he had black heritage. Hostin said it was a "chef's kiss" moment when she'd learned that Pope Leo XIV — formerly known as Cardinal Robert Prevost from Chicago — had "Haitian and black roots." Daily Wire

National Security

Trump Surprised and Sidelined Israel Ahead of Landmark Middle East Trip . . . As President Trump takes his first trip to the Middle East after getting re-elected, he's planning on skipping over America's closest ally in the region: Israel. It follows a series of announcements by the Trump administration that either sidelined or surprised the Israelis, raising questions in Israel about whether the two sides are fully in sync on some of the biggest challenges in the region. Wall Street Journal

International

Gérard Depardieu found guilty in sexual assault trial . . . French film star Gérard Depardieu has been found guilty of sexual assaulting two women on a film set at a trial in Paris and given a suspended jail term of 18 months. The 76-year-old actor was accused by the two women of groping them during work on a film in 2021. Depardieu had denied the allegations against him and his lawyer said he would appeal. The court in Paris found that one of the women, a set designer named Amélie, had given consistent evidence while the actor's accounts had changed over time. BBC

Money

These Investors Cashed In by Holding Firm When Markets Slumped . . . Some traders sought to make the most of the volatile stretch, moving in and out of the market. Others, concerned that the trade conflict would lead the U.S. economy into a recession, took the opportunity to sell stocks and other riskier assets. This year, though, the biggest winners might have been those who did nothing at all. Those investors who took a hands-off approach to the markets' tariff turmoil say they have made back all of their losses since Trump unveiled steep levies on imported goods—and held on to their sanity in the process. Wall Street Journal

You should also know

New pope raises concern about AI overhaul of life . . . The pope told the College of Cardinals that he selected the papal name Leo XIV "mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic encyclical, 'Rerum Novarum,' addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution." He said Saturday that he sees a similar challenge emerging from AI. "In our own day, the church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor," the pope said. Washington Times

AI contains major opportunities but aslo major challenges for mankind, including existential one. If the pope can become a spokesman on these issues, advocating for mankind, it would be an historic achievement.

Dozens of white South Africans arrive in US under Trump refugee plan . . . A group of 59 white South Africans has arrived in the US, where they are to be granted refugee status. President Donald Trump has said the refugee applications for the country's Afrikaner minority had been expedited as they were victims of "racial discrimination". The South African government said the group were not suffering any such persecution that would merit refugee status. BBC

When Tomatoes Became Veggies: 19th-Century SCOTUS Tariff Ruling Hints at the Questions Court May Faces . . . An importer of tomatoes from the West Indies sued to recover a 10% tariff paid under protest. The 10% tariff applied to "vegetables in their natural state." The importer claimed because tomatoes are a fruit, he should not have to pay the tariff since no tariff was applied to "Fruits, green, ripe, or dried." The court said it would apply the "ordinary meaning" of "fruit" and "vegetables." "Botanically speaking, tomatoes are the fruit of a vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas," said the court. But "in the common language of the people … all these are vegetables which are grown in kitchen gardens, and which, whether eaten cooked or raw. Daily Signal

Guilty Pleasures

Cannes makes it official: No nudity on the red carpet . . . While nudity was never previously endorsed at the festival, Cannes updated its dress policy on the eve of its 78th edition to read that "nudity is prohibited on the red carpet, as well as in any other area of the festival." While a no-shirt-no-service policy is standard in places far less glamorous than Cannes, the policy tweak sparked widespread attention Monday because of the recent trend of sheer and "nude dresses, " such as Bianca Censori's Grammys appearance. Associated Press

Seems like a reasonable request. Also, no murdering people red carpet.

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