Photos of Britain's Starmer and India's Modi sealing a major trade agreement
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
42 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
New study reveals crippling impact of California's minimum wage hike
California 's dramatic fast food wage hike may have backfired, according to a new economic study – wiping out an estimated 18,000 jobs across the state in just one year. The research, published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), analyzed the impact of Assembly Bill 1228, which mandated a $20 hourly minimum wage for fast food workers at large chains starting April 1, 2024. According to the economists behind the study, fast food employment in California dropped by 3.2 percent, while jobs in the same sector grew slightly across the rest of the U.S. 'Our median estimate translates into a loss of 18,000 jobs in California's fast–food sector relative to the counterfactual,' wrote researchers Jeffrey Clemens, Olivia Edwards, and Jonathan Meer. Before the law took effect, California's fast food industry was tracking the same employment trend as the rest of the country, the study found. But after AB 1228 was passed, the sector began to shrink. 'Following AB 1228's enactment, employment in the fast food sector in California fell substantially,' the paper states, citing declines 'even as employment in other sectors of the California economy tracked national trends'. Critics say the figures confirm what many feared: that a massive one–size–fits–all pay hike would push jobs out of reach for the workers it was meant to help. 'When it comes to central planning, history keeps the receipts: Wage controls never work,' wrote Heritage Foundation economist Rachel Greszler in a column reacting to the findings. 'That's because policymakers can set wage laws, but they can't outlaw the consequences.' She warned the law should serve as a wake–up call for other cities – especially Los Angeles, which recently voted to raise wages for hotel and airport workers to $30 an hour by 2028. 'The consequences of that wage hike on the fast–food industry should be a warning sign,' she said. The Wall Street Journal editorial board echoed that message, slamming politicians for 'magical thinking' around wage hikes. 'The Democratic Party's socialist nominee for New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has called for increasing the city's minimum wage to $30. Andrew Cuomo, his supposedly more moderate competitor, wants a $20 minimum,' the board wrote. 'These guys will never learn because they don't want to see the world as it really is.' But Governor Gavin Newsom's office has pushed back hard – questioning the integrity of the NBER paper and insisting California's wage law is working as intended. Tara Gallegos, Newsom's deputy director of communications, dismissed the study as politically motivated, telling Fox News Digital that it was 'linked to the Hoover Institution,' which she claimed had previously published 'false or misleading information' about the state's wage policies. She pointed to an October 2024 report in the San Francisco Chronicle, which said the early effects of AB 1228, 'defy a lot of the doom–and–gloom predictions' made when the bill was signed. Gallegos also cited a February 2025 study by a UC Berkeley professor, which looked at fast food employment trends through December and found 'no negative effects.' 'Workers covered by the policy saw wage increases of 8 to 9 percent, with no negative wage or employment effects on non–covered workers,' she said. 'No negative effects on fast–food employment.' She added: 'The number of fast–food establishments grew faster in California than in the rest of the U.S.' As for prices, the Berkeley study claimed menu costs rose by only 1.5 percent - about six cents on a $4 hamburger. The NBER paper also looked at whether the law had a knock-on effect in full-service restaurants, which weren't subject to the $20 mandate but compete for the same workers. The authors found smaller but still negative employment effects - a median drop of 2.12 percent. And while critics were quick to blame the law for economic pain, the researchers warned against cherry-picking isolated data.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Americans encouraged to Venmo and Paypal the government to pay off national debt
As the US national debt nears $38trillion, the government has proposed a novel way for citizens to help pay off the tab. Americans are being encouraged to make donations with their Venmo and Paypal accounts. The option for a 'gift to reduce the Public Debt' was added to the US Department of the Treasury website a few months ago. It means that philanthropic residents with a burning desire to pay off Uncle Sam's debt will now have the option to use those methods, alongside traditional ones such as account transfers and credit and debit card payments. Allowing citizens to pay off the national debt - among other tabs - is nothing new, as the US Treasury, run by Scott Bessent, has long offered the option since 1996. But it seems they are now tapping into more popular payment systems, like Gen-Z favorite Venmo, to make it more easily accessible for those hesitant to attach their card and bank details. The current national debt stands at $36,721,531,033,602, as of Friday. As the US national debt nears $38trillion, Americans are now being encouraged to help pay off the tab with their Venmo and PayPal accounts Allowing citizens to pay off the national debt - among other tabs - is nothing new, as the US Treasury, run by Scott Bessent, has long offered the option since 1996. But it seems they are now tapping into more popular payment systems, like Gen-Z favorite Venmo It's up $34.5billion from the previous day, Treasury Department numbers show. The debt has grown each year since 2001, where it was at $10.3trillion and it doesn't appear the US will downsize its growing bill anytime soon after passing the Big Beautiful Bill. President Donald Trump's prized bill will add $3.4trillion to the debt over 10 years. The federal government also spent nearly $7trillion in the 2024 fiscal year, but collected approximately $5trillion. The US Treasury Department has burned through cash at a historic rate in March - an alarming signal that may require lawmakers to intervene to prevent the country from defaulting on the national debt. The agency burned through $286billion in the month of March alone. This is the largest single-month drawdown in American history, and it's only rivaled by the Treasury spending $279billion in August 2021 during the height of the pandemic. The change to payment methods was first spotted by NPR's Jack Corbett on X. Though it may seem unlikely that any American citizens would willingly hand the government more money, the feds have garnered $67.3million through the donation program since its inception. Although it may seem like a large amount, the government burns through that it less than a half an hour.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
John Bolton slams Tulsi Gabbard over ‘treasonous' Obama report: ‘She's imagined evidence that doesn't exist'
John Bolton, Trump's former national security advisor, slammed Tulsi Gabbard's report accusing former President Barack Obama of engaging in a 'years-long coup' against President Donald Trump. Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, last week declassified evidence that she said revealed a 'treasonous conspiracy' committed by Obama and his government over the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Bolton, a frequent Trump critic, called Gabbard's findings 'exaggerated' and lacking in substance. 'She's strung together a series of things that aren't necessarily related, she's exaggerated what actual congressional reports have said, she's imagined evidence that doesn't exist,' Bolton said Friday on NewsNation. 'So, if anybody really gets into it, it collapses pretty quickly. But as a campaign to save her job, I think it actually worked out pretty successfully for her,' he continued. Last month, Politico reported that the president was 'down on her.' 'Whether it succeeded in distracting from the Jeffrey Epstein affair, I don't know,' he added, alluding to the media firestorm over Trump's ties to the late sex offender that has plagued the administration for weeks. 'But there is, in substance, nothing to it and certainly no justification for the Justice Department to launch a criminal investigation.' Gabbard's report accuses Obama and the former intelligence community of leaking false information to the media and using 'politicized intelligence' to subvert Trump's 2016 election victory. She addressed the report from the White House this week. The report uses an investigation by Republicans in the House of Representatives, and go against CIA reports that Russia tried to help Trump in 2016. 'The information we are releasing today clearly shows there was a treasonous conspiracy in 2016 committed by officials at the highest level of our government,' the director of national intelligence said in a statement. 'Their goal was to subvert the will of the American people and enact what was essentially a years-long coup with the objective of trying to usurp the President from fulfilling the mandate bestowed upon him by the American people.' In the wake of the report's release, Democrats — including Obama — have accused the Trump administration of trying to use it to distract from the uproar over the so-called Epstein files. "These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,' a spokesperson for the office of the former president said. Trump has been trying to distance himself from Epstein. He even went so far as to claim the Epstein files were a 'hoax' cooked up by Democrats, including Obama, former President Biden, and former FBI Director James Comey. The Epstein files have dominated the news cycle ever since the Justice Department released a July 6 memo that stated there would be no further disclosures and that there was no evidence to support the existence of a client list, putting a decisive end to months-long anticipation for more information on the case. Outrage ensued, with members of Congress and Trump's MAGA base alike calling for heightened transparency. Attorney General Pam Bondi released 'Phase 1' of the Epstein files in February; that same month, she said the 'client list' was sitting on her desk.
