| | | | | | | Presented By American Bankers Association | | | | Axios AM | | By Mike Allen ·Mar 31, 2021 | | 🐪 Happy Wednesday. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,136 words ... 4½ minutes. 🇨🇭 Home invasion at Swiss embassy: "A 30-year-old man has been charged with breaking into the Northwest Washington residence of Switzerland's ambassador and assaulting him," the WashPost reports. 💻 Happening today: Join Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva and Dan Primack at 12:30 p.m. ET for a virtual event on tech M&A, with Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, and Merus Capital founding partners Sean Dempsey and Salman Ullah. Sign up here. | | | | | | 1 big thing: Trust in tech craters |  Data: Edelman Trust Barometer. Chart: Axios Visuals Exclusive: Trust in tech — including companies specializing in AI, VR, 5G and the internet of things — fell all around the world last year, the Edelman Trust Barometer found in a massive survey of 31,000 people in 27 countries. - The study, provided first to Axios, is a special tech edition of data collected for the annual Trust Barometer.
- All-time lows, going back to comparable Edelman polling in 2012, were hit in 17 of 27 countries, including the U.S., U.K., France, China, Japan, Thailand, Brazil and Mexico.
Why it matters: High public esteem has helped protect the tech industry from critics and regulators, but that shield is weakening, Axios chief tech correspondent Ina Fried writes from San Francisco. Edelman said the main reason for the trust fall is the increasingly "complicated" relationship between the public and technology — including the spread of misinformation, rising privacy alarm and bias in artificial intelligence. - In the U.S., tech fell from the "most trusted" sector in the 2020 study, to ninth in the latest survey (taken in October and November).
Globally, look at the wipeout: - Trust in artificial-intelligence companies, and also internet-of-things businesses, fell in 25 of 27 countries.
- Trust in "cleantech" firms fell in 23 of 27 countries.
- Trust in the virtual-reality industry fell in 22 of 27 countries.
- Trust in the 5G sector fell in 21 of 27 countries.
As a "roadmap for restoring trust," Edelman urges businesses to embrace a mandate to lead: "CEOs must lead on issues from responsible AI and automation to upskilling. Act first, talk after." ⚡ NEW: Facebook will provide users with new controls to directly personalize what items show up in their news feeds, Axios' Sara Fischer writes from an announcement today by Nick Clegg, V.P. of global policy. |     | | | | | | 2. Biden's big build |  | | | Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images | | | | In Pittsburgh this afternoon, President Biden will ask Congress to spend $2 trillion on infrastructure over eight years, and pay for it by increasing taxes on corporations for 15 years. Highlights from Biden's American Jobs Plan, from Axios' Sarah Mucha, Ben Geman and Andrew Freedman: - $213 billion for addressing economic inequality by modernizing buildings such as schools and VA hospitals. That spending would mobilize union trade workers to upgrade buildings, with a specific focus on underserved communities.
- Ramp up use of electric vehicles and charging stations for civilians and the government, including electrifying school buses. Plan aims to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations by 2030, and expand consumer tax incentives to purchase EVs.
- $400 billion in "care infrastructure" that would expand access to home or community care for people with aging relatives, or those with disabilities.
Between the lines: The plan signals support for a wide range of energy technologies, including sources that GOP lawmakers often emphasize, like carbon capture and advanced nuclear power efforts. | | | | | | | | 3. What Matt Gaetz told Axios |  | | | Fox News | | | | In a 13-minute phone interview with Jonathan Swan, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a fiery Trump ally, told Axios he's under federal investigation for sexual activity with women, and fears being criminally charged. - Asked what the charges could relate to, Gaetz said: "I have definitely, in my single days, provided for women I've dated. You know, I've paid for flights, for hotel rooms. I've been, you know, generous as a partner. I think someone is trying to make that look criminal when it is not."
- "The allegations against me are as searing as they are false," Gaetz said. "I believe that there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to criminalize my sexual conduct, you know when I was a single guy."
The N.Y. Times reported that the Justice Department is investigating Gaetz "over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him." - Gaetz, 38, told us: "The allegations of sexual misconduct against me ... are rooted in an extortion effort against my family for $25 million."
- Gaetz sent Swan screenshots of text messages, emails and documents outlining the alleged extortion scheme.
Axios' Alayna Treene reported earlier in the day that Gaetz has privately told confidants he's seriously considering not seeking re-election, and possibly leaving Congress early for a job at Newsmax. | | | | | | | | A message from American Bankers Association | | Banks of all sizes are lifting the economy during COVID-19 | | |  | | | | Banks of all sizes have been a source of strength for the economy during the pandemic. From providing unprecedented relief to struggling small businesses, to safely delivering millions of economic impact payments, banks in every state are supporting the recovery. | | | | | | 4. Vaccine demand already waning in some states |  Reproduced from Census Bureau. Chart: Axios Visuals Some states are expanding vaccine eligibility partially because of a troubling reason: Not enough people want to get vaccinated, Axios Vitals author Caitlin Owens writes. - In big cities, people remain frustrated with the hurdles to getting a vaccine appointment, even when they're eligible. But in some places, especially rural, supply now outpaces demand.
Keep reading. | | | | | | | | 5. U.S. women won't reach pay equity with men for at least 60 years |  Data: WEF. Chart: Axios Visuals At the current rate, it'd take women in North America 61.5 years to have economic parity with men, Axios' Ivana Saric writes from the World Economic Forum's annual Global Gender Gap Report. - Worldwide, it would take 136 years.
Keep reading. | | | | | | | | 6. 🗳️ House GOP sees Trump embrace as only comeback | | On a flight yesterday from Indianapolis to Fort Wayne, two House Republican leaders discussed a memo that argues their party's future demands they "embrace our new coalition" because "President Trump's gift didn't come with a receipt," Jonathan Swan reports. - Why it matters: The document, "Cementing GOP as the Working Class Party," leaves no doubt that Republicans — at least in the House — will be doubling down on Donald Trump for the foreseeable future.
Behind the scenes: On the afternoon flight between fundraisers, Rep. Jim Banks (Ind.), who leads the largest bloc of House conservatives, the Republican Study Committee, handed his memo to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. - On fundraising, Banks argues that members should effectively embrace their pariah status in corporate America and campaign against corporate fundraising: "Members should use corporations' preference for the Democrat [sic] Party to drive individual donations."
Read the memo. | | | | | | | | 7. Firefighter blocked from helping Floyd |  | | | Minneapolis firefighter Genevieve Hansen. Photo: Court TV via AP | | | | A Minneapolis firefighter testified that cops blocked her from using her EMT training to try to save George Floyd. - Genevieve Hansen cried as she testified in her dress uniform: "There was a man being killed ... I would have been able to provide medical attention to the best of my abilities. And this human was denied that right." (AP)
| | | | | | | | 8. 😱 VW punks press | | Our "smile to go" yesterday was an AP report that VW would change the name of its U.S. subsidiary to "Voltswagen" to promote electric vehicles. Turns out it was a hoax, and a company spokesman foolishly "confirmed" the release's authenticity when reporters called to check. - As Dan Bobkoff, Axios E.P. of podcasts, tweeted: "'A pre-April Fool's Day joke' is not a thing."
| | | | | | | | 9. Remembering G. Gordon Liddy | | Photo: Ron Edmonds/AP G. Gordon Liddy, mastermind of the Watergate burglary, kneels in 1997 next to his red Corvette outside the Fairfax, Va., radio station where he broadcast his syndicated radio talk show. Liddy, 90, died yesterday at his daughter's home in Fairfax County. - "A theatrical personality whose event-filled career included more twists and turns than a fictional potboiler, Mr. Liddy was at various times an FBI agent, jailbird, radio talk-show host, best-selling author, candidate for Congress, actor and promoter of gold investments," the WashPost reports.
| | | | | | | | 10. 🏀 Big Dance: Final Four for men, women |  | | | Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios | | | | Here are your March Madness matchups for Final Four Weekend: - Women (Friday, with championship Sunday in San Antonio): Stanford vs. South Carolina ... Arizona vs. UConn.
- Men (Saturday, with championship Monday in Indy): Baylor vs. Houston ... Gonzaga vs. UCLA.
The line: Gonzaga favored to win it all for men, UConn massive favorite for women. | | | | | | | | A message from American Bankers Association | | America's banks – a source of strength for the economy | | |  | | | | Banks of all sizes are prioritizing the post-pandemic recovery, economic growth, innovation and financial inclusion for all communities. To see our ideas for jumpstarting the recovery and growing a more inclusive economy, read ABA's Blueprint for Growth. | | | | 💡 This newsletter is written in Smart Brevity®. Learn how your team can communicate in the same smart, clear style with Axios HQ. | |
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