Officer Shane Garrison — described by Stasi as a “farm boy” with animal-handling experience — figured it out after following Irwin down an alley and into a backyard.
Bessent said Walmart on its earnings call on Thursday had been obligated under federal regulations “to give the worst-case scenario so that they’re not sued,” suggesting in an NBC interview that the price increases would not be severe in his view.But Walmart executives said last week that higher prices began to appear on their shelves in late April and accelerated this month.
“We’re wired to keep prices low, but there’s a limit to what we can bear, or any retailer for that matter,” Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told The Associated Press on Thursday.Bessent maintained that the ratings downgrade was a “lagging indicator” as the financial markets had already priced in the costs of a total federal debt of roughly $36 trillion. Still, the tax plan beingwould add more roughly $3.3 trillion to deficits over the next decade, including a $600 billion increase in 2027 alone, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
The treasury secretary maintained that deficits would not be a problem because the economy would grow faster than the debt accumulation, reducing its increase as a size of the overall economy.Most independent analyses are skeptical of the administration’s claims that it can achieve 3% average growth as Trump’s 2018 tax cuts failed to do so. Those tax cuts from Trump’s first term did boost economic growth before the pandemic, but they also raised the budget deficit relative to previous estimates by the Congressional Budget Office.
On tariffs, the Trump administration is still trying to determine rates with roughly 40 major trading partners before a July deadline. It’s also in the early stages of a 90-day negotiation with China, after agreed a week ago to reset tariffs on that country from 145% to 30% so that talks can proceed.
Bessent said any worries about tariffs by small business owners most likely reflected the higher rate previously being charged on China. Still, the uncertainty has been a major drag for consumers and businesses trying to make spending plans in the weeks, months and years ahead.Even as Morales continued to insist on the legitimacy of his candidacy, a divisive ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal that bans citizens from running for more than two presidential terms also complicates his path back to the presidency.
Some analysts see that ruling — made by Arce-allied judges that— as emblematic of how the judiciary in Bolivia has been undermined by political wrangling.
“Arce benefited from the rapid deterioration of the already weak justice system, failed to enact desperately needed reforms and manipulated the courts to his advantage,” said Kathryn Ledebur, director of the Andean Information Network, a Bolivian research group.“This lack of due process and rule of law make the upcoming elections a free-for-all with an unpredictable, unsustainable outcome.”