Jan 2, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Michael Bennet releases $6 trillion "Real Deal" plan

Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) has released his "Real Deal" — a $6 trillion plan that addresses universal pre-K, housing and Medicare, AP reports.

The big picture: Other 2020 candidates, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have released sweeping plans and continue to poll at the top while Bennet has failed to qualify for a primary debate since July.

Bennet has argued large proposals about free college or single-payer health care would never pass Congress.

How it works: Bennet said he would pay for his plan by repealing many of President Trump's tax cuts and by increasing taxes with his "smart wealth tax."

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect the fact that Bennet's plan focuses on Medicare (not Medicaid) and that he has previously criticized single-payer health care (not universal).

Go deeper: Michael Bennet on the issues, in under 500 words

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Ben Geman, author of Generate

29 mins ago - Energy & Environment

Tallying Trump's climate changes

Reproduced from Rhodium Climate Service; Chart: Axios Visuals

The Trump administration's scuttling or weakening of key Obama-era climate policies could together add 1.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent to the atmosphere by 2035, a Rhodium Group analysis concludes.

Why it matters: The 1.8 gigatons is "more than the combined energy emissions of Germany, Britain and Canada in one year," per the New York Times, which first reported on the study.

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Courtenay Brown

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Boeing's one-two punch

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

The grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX was the worst crisis in the plane-maker’s century-long history. At least until the global pandemic hit.

Why it matters: Wall Street expects it will be cleared to fly again before year-end. Orders for what was once the company’s biggest moneymaker were expected to rebound after the ungrounding, but now the unprecedented slump in travel will dash airlines’ appetite for the MAX and any other new planes, analysts say — putting more pressure on the hard-hit company.

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Ursula Perano

2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

New downloads of TikTok, WeChat to be blocked in U.S. on Sunday

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

The Commerce Department issued Friday an order blocking new downloads of WeChat and TikTok in the U.S. as of Sept. 20.

The state of play: President Trump has been in a standoff with TikTok, threatening to ban the app if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, does not relinquish control to a U.S. company. A deal is in the works with the American tech company Oracle, but would need to go through before Sunday to prevent TikTok from being ousted from app stores.