Uncertain future for Medicare and Social Security
Monday
The annual Social Security Trustees Report stated that the cost of Social Security will exceed its income in 2020 for the first time since 1982. The program is predicted to be insolvent (unable to pay the money owed) by 2035, along with Medicare by 2026. This problem doesn’t appear to be on the top of the government’s “to do” list, with both President Trump and Capital Hill continuously failing to acknowledge a solution. In 2018, Social Security and Medicare represented 45 percent of federal program expenditures. The two together are set to cost a projected 8.7 percent of the gross domestic product next year. On a more positive note, the disability fund has gained 20 more years of funding than what was expected last year, when it was set to run out of funds in 2052.
Trump ends waivers allowing foreign Iranian oil sales
All Week
President Trump continued his hard-line stance towards Iran by announcing that he was ending waivers that allowed eight countries— China, India, South Korea, Japan, Turkey, Greece, Taiwan and Italy— to continue purchasing oil from Iran despite renewed U.S. sanctions after Trump pulled out of the Iranian Nuclear Deal. Greece, Taiwan and Italy declined to use the waiver and ended their oil imports from Iran immediately after the sanctions were re-imposed; however, the sanctions still pose an issue for the other five who continued importing oil from Iran. Both China and Turkey have already spoken out against the sanctions. If Iran were to export less oil the overall global supply would shrink, therefore driving already rising gasoline costs up just before the busy summer season.
Terrorist attacks throughout Sri Lanka kill hundreds
All Week
On Easter Sunday, multiple suicide bombers targeted parts of Sri Lanka, killing 253 people as of Thursday and injuring hundreds more. Churches, hotels and other public places were targeted by the bombers. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks, however the only evidence for their claim is online support for the bombers. Sri Lankan authorities have arrested more than 70 people in connection to the attacks. On Saturday, there was a shootout between suspected organizers of the Easter attacks and Sri Lankan police, killing 16 civilians and six suspected terrorists.
Joe Biden announces presidential run
Thursday
In a three-and-a-half minute video released on YouTube, former Vice President Joe Biden announced that he would be running for president in the 2020 election -- joining a diverse group of Democrats seeking to oppose President Donald Trump. The video challenged Trump’s controversial remark on the Charlottesville, VA white supremacist protest in 2017, with Biden stating that Trump was the biggest threat to the nation he’s seen thus far. Unhappy with the way Trump had been handling his presidency, he stated that “...if we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation — who we are — and I cannot stand by and watch that happen." On Monday he will host his first campaign event in Pittsburgh, where he will talk about reforming the middle class.
Shooting at California synagogue
Saturday
A deadly shooting occurred at a Southern California synagogue in which one person was killed and three people were injured. The shooting took place at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, CA during a Passover celebration. Poway Mayor Steve Vaus and the local police department have said that the event is being treated as a hate crime, based on statements that the shooter said upon entering the synagogue with a semiautomatic rifle. According to a statement from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department suspect John T. Earnest was booked into custody on one count of murder in the first degree and three counts of attempted murder in the first degree.
Credits:
Wikimedia Commons, Chabad of Poway