News and Issues

"The Fed has been assigned two goals for monetary policy — maximum employment and stable prices. Our success in delivering on these goals matters a great deal to all Americans. To support our pursuit of those goals, Congress granted the Fed a substantial degree of independence in our conduct of monetary policy. Fed policymakers serve long terms that are not synchronized with election cycles. Our decisions are not subject to reversal by other parts of the government, other than through legislation. This independence both enables and requires us to make our monetary policy decisions without consideration of short-term political matters. Such independence for a federal agency is and should be rare. In the case of the Fed, independence is essential to our ability to serve the public. The record shows that independent central banks deliver better economic outcomes." more »

Dirty Dozen: "The Internal Revenue Service today warned taxpayers to watch out for promoters who push improper Fuel Tax Credits claims in the fourth day of the 2024 Dirty Dozen list of tax scams. The Fuel Tax Credit is available only for off-highway business and farming use and not for most taxpayers. But the IRS continues to see instances where unscrupulous promoters or return preparers mislead taxpayers about fuel use and create fictitious documents or receipts for fuel. The IRS has seen an increased number of fictitious claims for fuel tax credits on Form 4136, Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels. By claiming the fuel tax, these promoters are looking out for their own financial interests by charging the taxpayers inflated fees. But taxpayers should realize the IRS has heightened scrutiny on this scam, and people claiming it improperly risk future compliance action by the IRS." more »

"Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) –– A bill to authorize a grant program to increase capacity for providing abortion services and other sexual and reproductive health care. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) –– A bill to direct the Attorney General to study issues relating to human trafficking. Sen. Thomas Tillis -- A resolution to protect the Iranian political refugees, including female foreign political prisoners, in Ashraf-3 in Albania. Sen. Lindsey Graham –– A resolution to demand that the international community hold accountable those who perpetrated acts of sexual violence and sexual torture during and after the attack on the state of Israel on October 7, 2023. S. 3983––Sen. Mazie Hirono –– A bill to authorize a grant program to increase capacity for providing abortion services and other sexual and reproductive health care."   more »

"What I’d like to do this afternoon is spend a few minutes focusing on one longstanding problem that’s become increasingly complicated and increasingly consequential, and that’s the challenge of disinformation – of material deliberately meant to deceive and divide – as well as other forms of false and misleading content. We all know that a world in which reliable information is readily accessible is pretty much foundational to every issue, in every country. It empowers us to understand and engage with the world around us. To make decisions that shape our lives, that shape our communities, that shape our countries. But we also know the information space has become more crowded, more complex, more confusing, more contested than ever. That, in turn, creates an enabling environment for disinformation – an environment in which state and non-state actors are undermining the objective truths on which open societies depend." more »