The closer it gets to November, the more Americans hear about tariffs, which are on the agendas of both presidential candidates vying for their vote. But is tariff just a fancy word for tax? And who ends up paying? The answer may depend on whether you ask an economist or a politician.

Tariffs were a cornerstone of former President Donald Trump’s economic policy. Since taking office, President Joe Biden has not only kept Trump’s import tariffs in place, he’s added on, particularly with targeted tariffs on China.

The right-of-center Tax Foundation recently tallied up that more trade-war tariffs have been collected under Biden than Trump, with the vast majority of revenue coming from Chinese imports.

Meanwhile, Trump is pitching expanding his tariffs if elected to a second term. One of those proposals is a “ring around the collar,” universal tariff of 10%.

“When companies come in and they dump their products in the United States, they should pay automatically, let’s say a 10% tax. That money would be used to pay off debt, it’s a massive amount of money,” Trump said on Fox Business.

It is definitely a tax and the fact is that it raises the cost of living for everyone when we have more tariffs.

Chris Towner, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

In a closed-door meeting with Republican lawmakers in June, Trump reportedly proposed replacing the income tax with tariffs. 

According to Investopedia, a tariff is a tax imposed by one country on the goods and services imported from another country. Governments impose tariffs to raise revenue, protect domestic industries, or exert political leverage over another country.

Both Biden and Trump insist tariffs are not a tax on Americans. When the Biden administration introduced new tariffs and a White House reporter asked about concern over tariffs causing increased prices for U.S. consumers, this was the administration’s response.

“I think that link, in terms of tariffs to prices, has been largely debunked,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said.

Meanwhile, a Republican National Committee spokesperson told Bloomberg, “The notion that tariffs are a tax on U.S. consumers is a lie pushed by outsourcers and the Chinese Communist Party.”

Straight Arrow News interviewed three analysts from three think tanks across the political spectrum. Each of them agreed that tariffs are a tax and Americans pay for the increased cost of imported goods.

“The truth of it is that it is a tax,” said Preston Brashers, a research fellow on tax policy at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “It is something that gets passed along to consumers, and in some cases, it’s going to be something that’s passed along to producers here in the United States when they’re buying products from overseas.”

“By the most technical basis, it is a tax on imports, right? It is to try to discourage buying imports or to raise the cost of imports,” said Chris Towner, the policy director at the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “It is definitely a tax and the fact is that it raises the cost of living for everyone when we have more tariffs.”

The progressive Center for American Progress (CAP) recently did analysis on Trump’s 10% flat tariff proposal.

“I crunched the numbers and calculated that this would raise taxes for a typical family by about $1,500 a year, so every year, they would pay that tax,” said Brendan Duke, CAP’s senior director on economic policy. “I think a really key thing is that they would pay that tax on imported products that we don’t produce in the United States.”

The centrist Peterson Institute for International Economics placed an even higher price tag on Trump’s 10% tariff proposal, saying it would cost the typical American family $1,700 per year. 

Of course, economic policies don’t happen in a vacuum. Trump is also planning to extend his 2017 tax cuts if reelected. The Peterson Institute combined the income benefits from extending the tax cuts with two of Trump’s tariff proposals, the 10% flat tax and 60% tariffs on China. The equation showed the bottom 80% of households would experience a net loss in income. 

“We have these taxes that are based on people’s incomes,” Duke said. “[Tariffs are] based on people’s spending and we know that low- and middle-income people spend a larger share of their income, while higher-income people actually spend a very small share.”

“There are folks on the left who are really trying to make [tariffs] about a cost of living increase,” Towner said. “It does raise significant revenue. So on the one hand, yes, it raises prices. But really, it’s a flat, across-the-board tax increase.”

“Anytime you’re going to be adding to taxes, as an organization that believes in lower taxes and free trade, it is a question mark as to exactly how we’re going to go about doing that,” Brashers said.

The Tax Foundation said despite higher costs to Americans, both the Trump campaign and Biden administration continue to defend trade war tariffs. They said it’s a gap between the economic reality – tariffs are a tax passed on to American producers and consumers – and political messaging – that tariffs hurt foreign nations and help the U.S. economy.

Instagram is recommending sexual videos to kids as young as 13, according to a new Wall Street Journal study released Thursday, June 20. The Journal created new accounts and set the ages to 13 years old to see what kind of content would be recommended. 

Researchers said right off the bat, the accounts were recommended “moderately racy” videos like women dancing sensually or showing off their bodies. The Journal reported it took as little as three minutes after the accounts were created to start getting sexual reels. 

The study also found accounts that watched those videos and skipped over other reels started getting more explicit suggestions, including videos of women pantomiming sex acts or promising to send nude images.

In January, Instagram owner Meta said it was giving teens a more age-appropriate experience by restricting “sensitive content,” including sexually suggestive material. 

For comparison, the Journal did the same test on TikTok and Snapchat. The report said neither recommended sexual videos to the accounts created as “teens.”

In fact, researchers even used those accounts to search age-inappropriate videos and follow accounts that produced them. They said the TikTok and Snapchat accounts still did not get age-inappropriate recommendations, even after that. 

The Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari commented during a broadcast interview with Israel’s Channel 13 on Wednesday, June 19. His statement appeared to show a rift between the army and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his goal to destroy Hamas. Hagari said the idea “to make Hamas vanish” is like “throwing sand in the eyes of public.”

“Hamas is an idea,” Hagari said. “Anyone who thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong.”

Netanyahu’s office responded to Hagari’s remarks saying, “The Israeli cabinet had set the destruction of Hamas’ military and governing” as one of the goals of the war and that “the IDF is of course committed to this.”

In a statement, the Israeli military replied that Hagari was addressing the elimination of Hamas as “an idea and ideology.” The IDF said it has acted “tirelessly” to achieve the war’s goals and will continue to do so.

Hamas, meanwhile, took Hagari’s comments as an “admission” of defeat.

In his interview, Hagari pointed to the need for Israeli leadership to come up with a plan after the war. He asserted that there is no path to weaken Hamas without an alternative.

Netanyahu’s lack of a post-war plan has been at the crux of several internal conflicts within Israel’s ranks.

On June 9, Netanyahu political rival Benny Gantz resigned from Israel’s war cabinet after issuing a deadline for the prime minister to create a post-war plan for Gaza — one Netanyahu did not meet.

In May, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused Netanyahu of “indecision” and leading Israel down a “dangerous course.”

Tension continues to build between Israel and its ally America. The Biden administration has denied allegations made by Netanyahu on a social media video that the U.S. is withholding military support.

The White House clarified a high-level meeting between the two countries on Iran scheduled for Thursday, June 20, was not canceled because of the video but for other reasons.   

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to questions on Netanyahu’s accusations during a press briefing on Tuesday, June 18, saying, “We genuinely do not know what he’s talking about.”

The Biden administration has acknowledged the pause of one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel over concerns it would be used in an operation in the densely populated Gaza city of Rafah.  

Generation X, formerly the “slacker generation,” is getting older and reaching retirement age. As of June 2024, the oldest Gen Xers will be 59 and a half — the youngest that a person can be to draw retirement assets without penalties. However, many say they are far from prepared.

In fact, almost half of them, 41%, say it would take a “miracle” for them to be able to retire, according to a new survey. While many Gen Xers say they plan to retire someday, nearly 1 in 4 say they won’t. 

More than a quarter, 30%, of Gen Xers also said they’ll have to go back to work after they retire because they don’t think they’ll have enough savings to last the whole time. 

Another recent study found the average Gen X household with a private retirement plan only has about $40,000 in savings, while 40% said they don’t have retirement savings at all. 

Gen Xers are also worried public benefits will keep shrinking. More than 75% say increased public debt will impact their retirement benefits. 

Meanwhile, about 1 in 3 are worried they’ll run out of money trying to cover health care costs in retirement.

Still, though, the survey also found Gen Xers want to retire at 60, which is notably earlier than their predecessors, the baby boomers —who want to retire at 68. However, they only expect their retirement period to last about 20 years, which is shorter than what many retirees actually have. 

The fin whale, the second largest animal on Earth, faces renewed threats from whaling, despite being listed as endangered for over half a century. Iceland and Japan, two of the three countries that still permit whaling, recently added this species to their approved whaling quotas.

“The thing that’s really interesting to me is how the two announcements, one from Japan and one from Iceland, came within hours of each other,” Kate O’Connell, the senior policy consultant for the Animal Welfare Institute’s Marine Wildlife Program, said. “I’m not sure if I’m a person that believes in coincidence or not, but I’ll just say that was a very interesting coincidence.”

Japan authorized the hunting of 59 fin whales, while Iceland approved the hunting of 128. This marks a significant shift for both nations. Japan had not allowed commercial fin whale hunts for decades. Iceland paused all whaling activities last year after the practice underwent an animal welfare investigation.

“They put video cameras on whaling vessels and veterinarians were analyzing the results of the hunt,” O’Connell said regarding Iceland’s whaling investigation. “And they found really disturbing times to death for a number of the whales, so very clearly showing that this is not a welfare-friendly hunt.”

These new whaling permits come amid record low demand for whale meat. A 2018 poll found that 84% of Icelanders have never eaten whale meat. The country has approximately 2,000 tons of unused whale meat in storage. Similarly, Japan recently reported the smallest domestic market for whale meat in its history.

“They’re trying to find ways to promote whale meat consumption in their own countries,” O’Connell said. “And it’s just failing, completely failing. And all three of the whaling countries, there’s just no domestic demand.”

Most of the world banned whaling, and the renewed hunts by Iceland and Japan have already drawn international criticism. The controversy is expected to be a topic of discussion at the upcoming annual International Whaling Committee meeting in September.

Boeing is delaying the return of two NASA astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS), following problems with helium leaks and thrusters. NASA announced on Tuesday, June 18, that the efforts to get them home may have the two astronauts in space longer than anticipated.

The initial plan was for astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams to spend around eight days in space. The Wall Street Journal reported that the latest delay will put them at closer to 20 days in space. The astronauts were originally slated to return between June 18 and June 22.

The Starliner faces two main problems. First, there is a series of helium leaks in the propulsion system, one of which was known of before the flight. The second problem is with five thrusters that temporarily failed as the vehicle made its approach toward the ISS.

Four of the thrusters are now back online, but one thruster will be turned off for the remainder of the mission, according to NASA. Starliner needs around seven hours of helium on board to finish the flight; the vehicle currently has approximately 70 hours of helium remaining.

NASA and Boeing also said that they will not let the crew return to Earth in the vehicle if there is any risk to their safety. The astronauts will need to be able to reenter Earth’s atmosphere and land under parachutes to get home safely.

If necessary, the ISS reportedly has at least four months’ worth of food and NASA said that the Starliner is capable of staying docked for 45 days. Eventually, the Starliner plans to have missions where it stays for six months at a time.

However, the Starliner delay is another setback for Boeing, which had planned for the mission to happen years ago. Boeing is under contract with NASA for six more crewed flights to the ISS.

Meanwhile, SpaceX has flown cargo to the ISS for years and successfully completed its first astronaut mission for NASA in 2020.

Former launch director for the space shuttle at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Mike Leinbach, who is not involved in the mission, told the Journal that the problems with Starliner are a bit of surprise to him.

“This one has a few more issues than I would have expected,” Leinbach said. “We hoped for a clean fight, but we didn’t get one, and we’re dealing with it. They’ll figure this out.”

The Starliner crew has reportedly reached 77 of 87 test objectives so far, according to Mark Nappi, a Boeing vice president overseeing the Starliner mission.

The announcement of the latest delay comes the same week that Boeing CEO David Calhoun testified before Congress over plane safety. Before he testified, Calhoun stood up and apologized to the families killed in two Boeing crashes that killed hundreds in 2018 and 2019, as they prepared to watch his testimony.

Power has been almost fully restored in Ecuador after a nationwide blackout left millions in the dark Wednesday, June 19. The blackout affected hospitals, homes and a major subway system. 

ACTUALIZACIÓN RESTABLECIMIENTO DE ENERGÍA

A las 15h17 hubo una falla de la Línea de Transmisión Milagro Zhoray que generó un "blackout" al sistema nacional.

Este evento es UN FIEL REFLEJO DE LA CRISIS ENERGÉTICA que vivimos, con falta de inversión en generación (lo que sucedió… pic.twitter.com/CQ5xsrc7T7

— Roberto Luque (@RobertoLuqueN) June 19, 2024

Roberto Luque, the country’s public infrastructure minister, said in a post on X Wednesday, June 19, that 95% of service was restored by 7 p.m. local time. Luque said the outage was caused by maintenance and transmission issues in the country’s electrical system, which he stressed could have been avoided if the country had invested more in its infrastructure. 

“This event is A TRUE REFLECTION OF THE ENERGY CRISIS that we are experiencing, with lack of investment in generation (what happened in April), lack of investment in transmission (what happened today) and in distribution,” Luque’s post read.

#BREAKING : A nationwide blackout in Ecuador caused the subway to collapse, leading to a dangerous situation for passengers.

The power outage forced people to evacuate and walk through subway tunnels in complete darkness.

🇪🇨 #Quito #Ecuador #Blackout #Subway pic.twitter.com/kz06dLZaUO

— upuknews (@upuknews1) June 19, 2024

Ecuador has been struggling with an energy crisis for years. In April, the president declared an energy emergency, ordering eight-hour nationwide electricity cuts. 

Climate activists with the group “Just Stop Oil” targeted the private jets of Taylor Swift and Stonehenge in back-to-back days. The activist focused their attention at a British airport Thursday, June 20, spraying Swift’s jets with orange paint as the pop superstar is set to perform in London. Swift has been criticized in the past for her use of private jets. 

🚨 JUST STOP OIL PAINT PRIVATE JETS HOURS AFTER TAYLOR SWIFT'S LANDS

🔥 Jennifer and Cole cut the fence into the private airfield at Stansted where @taylorswift13's jet is parked, demanding an emergency treaty to end fossil fuels by 2030.

💸 Donate — https://t.co/UwALfVtRmR pic.twitter.com/aORdvUuQmU

— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) June 20, 2024

The two activists were arrested, just a day after a similar protest by the group at Britain’s iconic landmark Stonehenge, where visitors to the site jumped in to try to stop them. 

The protesters in both instances are calling on the British government to take action on climate change. Just Stop Oil, the group claiming responsibility, demanded Britain’s next government phase out fossil fuels by 2030. 

The group said the paint used was made of an “orange cornflour” and washes away in the rain. 

English Heritage, the charity that manages Stonehenge, told The BBC Thursday morning the paint has been cleaned off and there appears to be no lasting damage.

The protest came as thousands were expected to visit the site to witness the sunrise on the first day of summer. 

Louisiana becomes the first state to require the Ten Commandments be displayed in public classrooms. And the prehistoric landmark Stonehenge was defaced by climate activists. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Thursday, June 20, 2024.

Louisiana law requires public classrooms to display Ten Commandments

Louisiana’s governor has signed a law that makes the state the first in the nation to require all public classrooms to display a copy of the Ten Commandments. That legislation is already getting pushback from several civil rights groups. 

BREAKING: We’re suing Louisiana for requiring all public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

Public schools are not Sunday schools.

— ACLU (@ACLU) June 19, 2024

The law says all public classrooms from kindergarten to college must display the Ten Commandments on a poster or framed document by the start of 2025. The displays must also feature a statement on how the Ten Commandments have been a “prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries.” 

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said the law is aimed to bring “drastic reform” to the education system and “common sense back” to the classroom. 

“This bill mandates the display of the Ten Commandments in every classroom in public, elementary, secondary, and post education schools in the state of Louisiana,” Landry said. “Because if you want to respect the rule of law, you got to start from the original lawgiver, which was Moses.” 

Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, have vowed to sue, calling the law “unconstitutional.” 

In its criticism of the law, the ACLU cited a 1980 Supreme Court decision where the justices ruled a similar law in Kansas violated the First Amendment’s “establishment clause.” That clause is intended to prevent government from preferring one religion over others. 

3 dead in Mexico; Texas issues disaster declaration due to tropical storm

The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season has already turned deadly. Mexican authorities reported three deaths from Tropical Storm Alberto’s rains. 

Alberto — which is bringing strong winds, heavy rainfall and some flooding along the coasts of Texas and Mexico — is expected to make landfall in northern Mexico early Thursday. Once it does, forecasters expect it to weaken rapidly before moving inland. 

#AHORA | Suman ya 3 victimas por el paso de la #TormentaTropical #Alberto en #NuevoLeón

🔴 En el municipio de #Monterrey, un menor perdió la vida tras ser arrastrado por la corriente del Río la Silla, aparentemente jugaba futbol en los márgenes del rio con familia y amigos.… pic.twitter.com/OGn9c03oBg

— Alejandro Gonzalez (@AleGon_27) June 20, 2024

Parts of Mexico are expected to see up to 20 inches of rain with this storm and Texas’ coast could see up to 15 inches. Flooding has already become a problem for coastal areas like Corpus Christi. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R, has issued a disaster declaration in 51 counties to ensure “at-risk regions have the resources and personnel needed to respond to this storm.” 

95% of power restored in Ecuador after nationwide blackout

Power has been almost fully restored in Ecuador after a nationwide blackout left millions in the dark Wednesday, June 19. The blackout affected hospitals, homes and a major subway system. 

#BREAKING : A nationwide blackout in Ecuador caused the subway to collapse, leading to a dangerous situation for passengers.

The power outage forced people to evacuate and walk through subway tunnels in complete darkness.

🇪🇨 #Quito #Ecuador #Blackout #Subway pic.twitter.com/kz06dLZaUO

— upuknews (@upuknews1) June 19, 2024

The country’s public infrastructure minister said in a post on X Wednesday, June 19, the outage was caused by maintenance and transmission issues in the country’s electrical system. The minister stressed the outage could have been avoided if the country had invested more in its infrastructure. 

Ecuador has been struggling with an energy crisis for years. In April, the president declared an energy emergency, ordering eight-hour nationwide electricity cuts. 

Deal reached to allow Dali crew members to go home

A deal has been reached with the City of Baltimore and the owner of the Dali cargo ship that would allow crew members who remain on the ship to leave the U.S. and go home, according to court documents. They’ve been stuck on the ship since March 26, when it lost power leaving Baltimore Harbor and crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse and killing six people. 

Eight of the crew members, all from India and Sri Lanka, had been cleared to go home as early as Thursday, June 20. But on Tuesday, June 18, attorneys for the City of Baltimore filed a lawsuit looking to keep them in the U.S. amid ongoing investigations into what led up to the deadly collapse. 

A hearing on the matter had been scheduled for Thursday morning, but Wednesday night, June 19, the city’s attorneys sent a letter to the judge saying all sides reached a compromise and the Dali’s owner and managing company have agreed to make sure the crew members return for deposition if needed. 

Climate activists target Taylor Swift’s private jets Stonehenge

Climate activists with the group “Just Stop Oil” targeted the private jets of Taylor Swift in a British airport Thursday, June 20, spraying them with orange paint as the pop superstar is set to perform in London this weekend. Swift has been criticized in the past for her use of private jets. 

🚨 JUST STOP OIL PAINT PRIVATE JETS HOURS AFTER TAYLOR SWIFT'S LANDS

🔥 Jennifer and Cole cut the fence into the private airfield at Stansted where @taylorswift13's jet is parked, demanding an emergency treaty to end fossil fuels by 2030.

💸 Donate — https://t.co/UwALfVtRmR pic.twitter.com/aORdvUuQmU

— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) June 20, 2024

The two activists were arrested — just a day after a similar protest by the group at Britain’s iconic landmark Stonehenge, where visitors to the site jumped in to try to stop them. 

The protesters in both instances are calling on the British government to take action on climate change. They’re demanding Britain’s next government phase out fossil fuels by 2030. 

The group said the paint used was made of an “orange cornflour” and washes away in the rain. 

English Heritage, the charity that manages Stonehenge, told The BBC the paint has been cleaned off and there appears to be no lasting damage.

The protest came as thousands were expected to visit the site to witness the sunrise on the first day of summer. 

Snapchat Inc. agrees to pay $15M to settle discrimination lawsuit 

The parent company of the popular social media app Snapchat has agreed to pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit claiming it discriminated against female employees. A three-year investigation by the California Civil Rights Department found Snapchat discouraged women from applying for promotions, failed to prevent sexual harassment in the office and retaliated against those who spoke out through negative performance reviews and termination. 

NEW: We’ve reached a $15M settlement with Snapchat over allegations of discrimination against its female staff, including unfair pay, sexual harassment, & retaliation. Women are entitled to equality in every job, workplace, & industry.

Learn more below ⬇️https://t.co/6OiezFFAAx pic.twitter.com/I5xqz2gxXg

— California Civil Rights Department (@calcivilrights) June 19, 2024

The settlement covers employees who worked for the California company from 2014 to this year. 

Snapchat said while it disagrees with the claims, it decided to settle to avoid costly and lengthy litigation. 

Netflix to open brick-and-mortar entertainment venues

Netflix is moving away from the digital space for its next venture. The company has announced it is planning to open two brick-and-mortar entertainment destinations in the U.S. 

Called Netflix House, the venues will feature various in-person experiences catered to fans of the streaming platform. Netflix says visitors will be able to walk through a replica of the “Bridgerton” set, compete in a challenge from “Squid Game,” and eat at a restaurant with food inspired by its shows. 

The two Netflix houses will be located at shopping malls in Dallas, Texas and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. 

Everything you love about Netflix under one (literal) roof.

Explore your favorite stories and characters beyond the screen year-round at Netflix House — coming in 2025 to King of Prussia in Pennsylvania and Galleria Dallas. https://t.co/LVRQUzfIjI pic.twitter.com/c5cI47qcCW

— Netflix (@netflix) June 18, 2024

Netflix is just the latest digital brand to open a physical property, following the likes of Amazon, Wayfair and Meta. 

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has confirmed that Iran is expanding its activity at the subterranean Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant by installing hundreds of new centrifuges. This move could potentially triple Iran’s production of enriched uranium, which could be quickly refined to weapons-grade material.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran already possesses a major stockpile of uranium. Eric Brewer, the deputy vice president of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, told The Associated Press that this stockpile is sufficient to produce the equivalent of at least three nuclear bombs.

The U.S. State Department expressed concern, asserting that Iran aims to continue expanding its nuclear program without credible peaceful purposes. These planned actions further undermine Iran’s claims to the contrary, and the U.S. has indicated it will respond accordingly if Iran implements these plans.

Iran has denied any intention of bolstering its uranium production for nuclear weapons. However, Axios reported that new U.S. and Israeli intelligence suggests Iranian scientists may be using computer modeling to research and develop nuclear capabilities.

Despite this backdrop, U.S. and Israeli officials were scheduled to meet at the White House to discuss Iran’s nuclear capabilities. The current status of the meeting remains unknown, as sources indicated to Fox News, it may have been canceled after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the U.S. of withholding military aid. The White House, however, maintains that the meeting is still moving forward, although the final plans are yet to be confirmed.