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| Presented By Bank of America |
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| Axios AM |
| By Mike Allen ·Apr 23, 2021 |
| ☕ Happy Friday! Smart Brevity™ count: 940 words ... < 4 minutes. Edited by Justin Green. ♻️ We're launching a Get Smart video short course series on climate tech, including electric vehicles. Sign up here, and get it 5/10. |
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| 1 big thing: Biden's tax-the-rich plans |
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| Jen Psaki briefs on April 1. Photo: Tom Brenner/Reuters |
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| President Biden in the next few days will unveil eye-popping new tax rates for the wealthiest Americans — a top marginal income tax rate of 39.6% and a capital gains rate of 43.4%, Axios' Hans Nichols reports. - "For New Yorkers, the combined state and federal capital gains rate could be as high as 52.22%. For Californians, it could be 56.7%," Bloomberg News reported.
Why it matters: The proposal, to be announced ahead of Biden's address to Congress next Wednesday, is an opening bid for Hill negotiations. Between the lines: Democrats close to the White House believe that the amount of revenue that the IRS can collect on capital gains actually decreases past a certain point, probably in the low 30% range. - Officials haven't yet made clear whether the capital gains rate would apply in 2022 — or in 2021.
- Goldman Sachs sent out a research note last evening: "We expect Congress will pass a scaled back version of this tax increase."
What we're watching: Biden also is likely to raise more revenue from the wealthy by making changes to estate taxes. - Biden wants to impose so-called "stepped up basis" for accounting purposes, and value assets when they are passed on to an heir, not at their original cost.
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| 2. Chauvin sentence may surprise community |
| Philonise Floyd, George Floyd's brother, during a funeral in Minneapolis yesterday for Daunte Wright, killed by police in nearby Brooklyn Center. Photo: John Minchillo/AP Legal experts think former police officer Derek Chauvin is likely to be sentenced to between 15 years and 30 years for the death of George Floyd, Axios Twin Cities' Torey Van Oot and Nick Halter tell me. - Many in the community want to see the higher end. But experts think it'll likely be lower than the max, given his lack of priors.
- Aggravating factors include committing the crime in the presence of children.
Although he was found guilty of three counts, under Minnesota law, he'll only be sentenced on the most serious one — second-degree murder. - Go deeper ... AP explainer: Why Chauvin is unlikely to face max sentence.
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| 3. ⚡️ Breaking: SpaceX launches crew of four |
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| The rocket launches from Florida. Photo: NASA TV |
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| Four astronauts safely lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 5:49 a.m. ET aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon en route to the International Space Station, Axios Space author Miriam Kramer reports. - The big picture: This marks the third time SpaceX has launched people to space for NASA, helping the space agency end its reliance on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft and rocket for trips to the space station.
The four crewmembers are expected to dock at 5:10 a.m. ET Saturday, with the hatch opening a couple hours later. - You can watch a live broadcast of their trip through space via NASA TV, which is expected to air continuous coverage through docking.
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| A message from Bank of America |
| A $1 trillion investment in sustainability by 2030 |
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| That's Bank of America's new target in its Environmental Business Initiative in order to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy. Get more details on how this initiative will drive innovation to address climate change. |
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| 4. Biden climate doctrine emerges |
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| Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios |
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| President Biden's virtual climate summit highlights a White House approach that blends diplomacy, executive power, salesmanship — and a few threats, Axios' Ben Geman and Andrew Freedman write. - Here are a few pillars of the emerging Biden doctrine.
1. Convincing the world that executive power can work. The message is that strong progress is possible without Congress. 2. Faith that an underwhelming global diplomatic apparatus can be effective. Special climate envoy John Kerry has been everywhere as the U.S. tries to get countries to toughen their commitments. 3. There are sticks, too — or at least the threat of them. The U.S. message: If your country isn't cracking down on emissions, we'll tax your exports to the U.S. 4. Big finance can be a climate ally. (See today's item 5) 5. Confidence in clean energy technology growth. - In an interview with Axios, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said the company sees itself as a clean-energy accelerator: "Our goal is not just to do it for ourselves, but share the knowledge and the solutions we come up with."
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| 5. Banks find footing at climate summit |
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| Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios |
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| Wall Street got a front seat at President Biden's climate summit, Axios Closer author Courtenay Brown writes. - Why it matters: Banks, as financing gateways for other businesses, could help set the tone for the rest of corporate America.
Financial giants this week signed on to the industry's broadest climate change effort, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). - "This is a good business opportunity," a bank executive involved with the alliance tells Axios.
Read Axios' Felix Salmon on why greed is green ... See yesterday's new climate pledges. |
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| 6. Home prices set record |
 Data: Investing.com, YCharts. Chart: Axios Visuals for Dion Rabouin's Axios MarketsSales of U.S. homes fell in March for the second consecutive month because so few are on the market. For the listings that exist, fierce competition is pushing prices to new highs, AP reports. - Homes typically sold in 18 days — a record low.
- The U.S. median home price surged 17.2% from a year earlier to $329,100, an all-time high.
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| 7. Next-gen vaccines won't come as quickly |
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| Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios |
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| Incentives for competitors to today's COVID vaccines won't be nearly as strong as the flood of Operation Warp Speed cash that coaxed in a slew of biotech companies, Axios Vitals author Caitlin Owens reports. The big picture: Much of the remaining need will be in poorer countries. - "If you're trying to get another vaccine developed at a lower price, that's probably not a good incentive" for drug companies, said Craig Garthwaite, a Northwestern University management professor.
What's next: Pfizer is researching whether its vaccine can be stored at warmer temperatures, which would make it more accessible worldwide. |
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| 8. Biden hits 100 days next week |
| Courtesy Bloomberg Businessweek President Biden marks his 100th day next Thursday — the day after his first address to a joint session of Congress. - "I did not expect him to be as big and as bold as he's been," House Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn, whose 2020 endorsement reinvigorated Biden's campaign, told Bloomberg Businessweek.
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| 9. Justice's book sets record |
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| Judge Amy Coney Barrett looks over at President Trump as he stands behind a teleprompter before her swearing-in on Oct. 26. Photo: Tom Brenner/Reuters |
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| Justice Amy Coney Barrett's $2 million book deal is the largest ever for a Supreme Court justice — topping the $1.5 million Justice Clarence Thomas received for his 2007 memoir, and the $1.175 million advance Justice Sonia Sotomayor got for hers, published in 2013, Bloomberg reports. |
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| 10. 1 fun thing: Seth Rogen's 3-part formula |
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| Photo: Chris Buck for The New York Times |
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| At 39, Seth Rogen — the comedian (and director, writer, ceramist and weed entrepreneur) who made a career out of mining the pitfalls and possibilities of adolescence — remains admirably childlike, Jonah Weiner writes for the N.Y. Times Magazine: A quarter century since he first set foot on a comedy-club stage, he has somehow preserved the openness of that 13-year-old, never quite hardening into a settled form. ... Rogen set out knowing exactly what he wanted to do with his life — make people laugh, smoke weed and hang out with his friends — and somehow managed to turn those three goals into the organizing principles of his whole career. Keep reading (subscription). |
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| A message from Bank of America |
| A low-carbon, sustainable future |
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| "The private sector is well-positioned to ensure that the capital needed – at the scale it is needed – can drive the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy," said Bank of America vice chairman Anne Finucane. Bank of America is investing $1 trillion by 2030 to accelerate the transition. |
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| 💡 Axios AM is written in Smart Brevity®. Learn how your team can communicate in the same smart, clear style with Axios HQ. |
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