August 09 2024

1 ELECTION DIGEST
2 Decline in Support for Childhood Vaccinations
3 U.S. Oil Production Hits Record High
4 IMPERIAL OVERSTRETCH U.S. Forces Fight Cheap Drones with Expensive Armaments
5 China's Nuclear Ambitions Lead Global Shift
8/9/1975 First NFL game in Louisiana Superdome; Houston Oilers defeat New Orleans Saints 13-7

See the new Ad Astra Podcast! Released on Apple and Spotify around 8a CST.

Olympics Update

The Summer Olympics near the finish line on Day 14. On Thursday, Noah Lyles finished a surprising third in the 200 meters before announcing he had tested positive for the coronavirus and indicating his Paris Games are over. In other track and field events, hurdlers Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Grant Holloway and long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall won gold for Team USA. And Stephen Curry powered the U.S. men’s basketball team to a comeback win over Serbia in a tense semifinal.

1 ELECTION DIGEST

* Dueling press strategies
* Trump hints at plans to influence the Federal Reserve
* Trump proposes ending taxes on Social Security benefits, tips, and cutting corporate tax rates

Harris stays scripted

The press has questions for Vice President Kamala Harris. She isn’t giving a whole lot of answers. In the nearly three weeks since President Biden withdrew his candidacy, catapulting Ms. Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket, the vice president has shown little eagerness to meet journalists in unscripted settings. She has not granted an interview or held a news conference. On Thursday, after a rally in Michigan, she held her first “gaggle” — an impromptu Q.-and-A. session — with reporters covering her campaign. It lasted 70 seconds.
NYT

Trump gives 1 hour, freewheeling press conference

Donald Trump called for three debates against Kamala Harris, said presidents should have influence over the Federal Reserve and conceded he might be losing support among Black women during a news conference meant to recapture the spotlight after his rival picked up momentum. The former president and 2024 GOP nominee said he agreed to a Sept. 4 debate on Fox News, a Sept. 10 debate on ABC, and a third on NBC on Sept. 25. The ABC debate was previously agreed upon when President Biden was in the race. Trump had called into question whether he would face off on ABC with the vice president now at the top of the Democratic ticket.

Trump’s press conference was meant, in part, to draw a contrast with Harris, whom Trump cast as dodging the news media. “She hasn’t done an interview,” Trump said, echoing a line of attack from his campaign in recent days.
WSJ

No Fox debate

Vice Pres. Kamala Harris will not be joining former Pres. Donald Trump on Fox News' debate stage on Sept. 4, a Harris campaign official told ABC News.
@ABC

Trump hints at Fed reform, stirring controversy

Trump’s comments during a Thursday press conference were the former president’s most direct acknowledgment of his longstanding desire to chip away at the central bank’s independence. If he wins the election and follows through on his pledge to directly influence monetary policy, Trump would break with decades of precedent.
WSJ

Trumps tax changes

First it was a tax cut for hotel and restaurant workers in Nevada, a swing state where Donald J. Trump proposed exempting tips from taxes. Then, in front of powerful chief executives gathered in Washington, Mr. Trump floated cutting the corporate tax rate, helping to ease concerns in the business community about his candidacy. Now Mr. Trump is calling for an end to taxing Social Security benefits, which could be a boon for retirees, one of the most politically important groups in the United States.
Repeatedly during the campaign, Mr. Trump and Republicans have embraced new, sometimes novel tax cuts in an attempt to shore up support with major constituencies. In a series of social-media posts, at political rallies, and without formal policy proposals, Mr. Trump has casually suggested reducing federal revenue by trillions of dollars. While policy experts have taken issue with the ideas, Mr. Trump’s pronouncements have real political appeal, at times putting Democrats on their back foot. Nevada’s two Democratic senators and its powerful culinary union have endorsed ending taxes on tips. The AARP supports tax relief for seniors receiving Social Security benefits, though it has not taken a position on Mr. Trump’s proposal.

Article Source: NYT, WSJ, X

2 Decline in Support for Childhood Vaccinations

Only 40% of Americans now consider childhood vaccinations extremely important, down significantly from previous years.

Fewer Americans today consider childhood vaccines important, with 40% saying it is extremely important for parents to have their children vaccinated, down from 58% in 2019 and 64% in 2001. There has been a similar decline in the combined “extremely” and “very important” percentage, which was 94% in 2001 but sits at 69% today.

Article Source: Gallup

3 U.S. Oil Production Hits Record High

U.S. oil producers set a new record, pumping 13.4 million barrels per day, solidifying the country's position as the top oil and gas producer.

U.S. oil producers pumped record high levels of crude last week, according to government data released Wednesday, extending the upswing in output that has made the United States the biggest oil and gas producer in history.

Preliminary data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed oil companies pumped an average of 13.4 million barrels a day from U.S. oil fields during the week ended Aug. 2, surpassing the previous record of 13.3 million the industry has hit several times this year. U.S. oil production began a long climb upward starting in 2008, setting an annual record peak in 2023 that is likely to be broken this year.

Article Source: Politico

4 IMPERIAL OVERSTRETCH U.S. Forces Fight Cheap Drones with Expensive Armaments

Extended military operations against Iran-backed Houthi rebels strain U.S. forces and budget.

U.S. forces have launched roughly 800 missiles and seven rounds of air strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels menacing Red Sea shipping lanes.  If Iran attacks Israel using proxies in Lebanon and Yemen as expected, U.S. ships in the region will get caught in the middle. The campaign to defend against Houthi attacks has already required the U.S. to deploy warships to the Red Sea for months.  Rep. Joe Courtney of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Seapower panel, said extended operations could force an increase in the Pentagon budget beyond the Biden administration’s request

Article Source: Cipher Brief

5 China's Nuclear Ambitions Lead Global Shift

China's rapid expansion in nuclear power, including the world's first commercial small modular reactor, positions the country as a leader in the global nuclear industry.

Within sight of mango and pineapple fields on the Chinese holiday island of Hainan, workers at Linglong One are finishing what will become the world’s first small modular nuclear reactor built for commercial purposes. It’s part of a national fleet of atom-­splitting plants that aim to wean the country off coal and imported fuel. “There are probably not more than seven countries that have the capability to design, manufacture and operate nuclear power plants,” Cui Jianchun, the Chinese foreign ministry’s envoy in nearby Hong Kong, said during an official visit to the plant. “We used to be a follower, but now China is a leader.”  The scale and speed of Beijing’s crusade is hard to overstate. China approved its first nuclear power station in 1981. BloombergNEF now expects the country to leapfrog France and the US by 2030. In an age when few new reactors are built at all, China has 30 under construction. Beijing has spent billions on research and experiments such as Linglong One, operated by China National Nuclear Power Co. and the only small modular reactor approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency to date. It’s due to be completed by the end of next year. On key hoped-for advances like fusion—combining rather than breaking apart atoms—Beijing far outspends the US on research and development. There’s no great industrial secret to what China is doing. It’s largely a matter of vast scale, state support and relatively simple, replicable construction. It’s a success that could also be transferred abroad, because the appetite for nuclear power is growing thanks to energy security and climate imperatives. That’s especially true in the developing world. Along with Russia and South Korea, China is one of only a small handful of nations supplying the technology as US and French stalwarts are weakened, raising both diplomatic and, in some quarters, safety concerns.

Article Source: Bloomberg

8/9/1975 First NFL game in Louisiana Superdome; Houston Oilers defeat New Orleans Saints 13-7

Sources

1. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/08/business/media/kamala-harris-press-interviews.html; https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/trump-calls-for-three-debates-against-harris-1b0bf56a?st=a08ilm5p8u9pubx&reflink=article_copyURL_share; https://x.com/abc/status/1821706349064925369?s=46&t=nVb-5uC_WM3Cp0R0dGiqHQ; https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/trumps-plans-stir-fears-for-fed-independence-inflation-689bc113?mod=hp_lead_pos1; https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/07/business/economy/trump-tax-cuts.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

2. https://news.gallup.com/poll/648308/far-fewer-regard-childhood-vaccinations-important.aspx

3. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/07/us-oil-output-august-record-00173065

4. Cipher Brief

5. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-07/what-china-can-teach-the-world-about-nuclear-power