Newsletter Jun 9, 2021

President Joe Biden sent his second-in-command Kamala Harris south of the border to address immigration issues, but the solutions may take time.

3 Things

Order on the border: Vice President Kamala Harris continued her tour south of the border Tuesday in an effort to get control of a wave of immigrants flooding to the U.S. and a broken American system.
Harris met with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador about issues including security, migration and drug-smuggling -- all identified as contributing factors to the current disorder at the border.
Harris also spoke with leaders of Central American countries with a tough but clear message for their fleeing citizens -- "Don't come."
"Most people don't want to leave home and when they do it is usually for one of two reasons: either they are fleeing harm or to stay home means that they cannot satisfy their basic needs to sustain and take care of their families," Harris said of the influx of immigrants. "We know that if we give them a sense of hope that help is on the way that they will follow their first preference, which is to stay at home."
Harris also laid out plans to help make it easier for Central American families to stay home and stay together. The U.S. vowed to work with the nations to offer opportunities to younger residents to build a better life in their home countries rather than fleeing to the U.S.
FIND OUT WHAT HARRIS HOPES WILL COME FROM HER VISIT

Weeding out the unvaccinated: Some states are so determined to hit the magic number of a 70% vaccination rate that they've allowing the vaccine hesitant to literally hit a number just for getting the shot.
Washington is the latest to pull put a "Joints for Jabs" program that entitles those receiving the vaccine to receive one marijuana cigarette through the state's Liquor and Cannabis Board. It's a high incentive for those still on the fence about whether to get vaccinated.
Weed isn't the only mind-altering substance being used to increase vaccination rates after the U.S. fellow below its 1 million shots a day schedule this week. Those getting inoculated can also enjoy a free beer from Anheuser-Busch and a free doughnut from Krispy Kreme.
Still not tempted. How about a free cruise for two, tickets to the World Series and Super Bowl, and lottery drawing for over $1 million.
SEE THE FREEBIES AVAILABLE JUST FOR GETTING A SHOT

Speaker Trump?: While the political world is waiting to see if former president Donald Trump will get back into the game in 2024, the latest curveball looks like he may run for Congress in 2022 instead.
Conservative talk show host Wayne Allyn Root floated the idea of Trump running for the new House seat Florida picked up from the latest census. Rather than vie for a return to the White House in 2024, Trump could decide to seek a seat in Congress, and perhaps even be House Speaker if the GOP reclaims a majority in the House.
â€œYou know, itâ€™s very interesting. Thatâ€™s so interesting,â€ Trump told Root on Tuesday. â€œAnd people have said, run for the Senate, okay, run for the Senate, but you know what? Your idea might be better.â€
It's hard to imagine Trump settling for any job but his old one, but the chance to take the gavel from Nancy Pelosi's hand is motivation.
FIND OUT IF TRUMP IS SERIOUS ABOUT A 2022 HOUSE RUN

Markets

DJIA	34,599.82	-0.09%
S&P 500	4,227.26	0.02%
Nasdaq Composite	13,924.91	0.31%
Japan: Nikkei 225	28,868.29	-0.33%
UK: FTSE 100	7,095.09	0.25%
Crude Oil Futures	70.54	0.70%
Gold Futures	1,896.70	0.12%
Yen	109.43	-0.05%
Euro	1.22	0.09%
* As of market close

Read my lips: No taxes

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk are the two wealthiest men in the world with a combined net worth of over $360 billion. It requires less math to add up their combined tax bills -- $0.

That's right, two men whose holdings add up to more than half of the world nations' GDP got off scot-free when it came time to pay their personal taxes. A new bombshell report shows that Bezos paid no personal taxes in 2007 and 2011, while Musk got a free pass in 2018.

The news comes as the U.S. grapples over fair taxation practices for millionaires and billionaires. President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill calls for a higher tax rate for the wealthiest Americans and corporations.

"Our tax system is rigged for billionaires who don't make their fortunes through income, like working families do," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, tweeted about the report from ProPublica. "It is time for a #WealthTax in America to make the ultra-rich finally pay their fair share."

WHAT ARE DEMS DOING TO GET THE RICH TO PAY THEIR SHARE

Not-so Fastly

People around the world awoke to slow or no internet service Tuesday, immediately leading to fears of another cyberattack. However, the brief interruption appeared to be more of a glitch than a ransomware assault.

Everything from government agencies to media companies saw their websites crawl to a halt, and even social media apps were effected. The culprit turned out to be a cloud issue with the San Francisco-based content delivery network Fastly -- ironic title given the snail-pace service.

Designed to help high-traffic websites with audiovisual content speed up loading times and present their content to users, Fastly had the the opposite for a few frantic hours. Fastly pinned the problem on "a service configuration that triggered disruptions," not an external attack.

Among the victims were CNN, BBC, The Guardian and other major European newspapers, as well as The White House's official site, social and entertainment site Reddit, and various apps. The outage was temporary and those sites and apps were up and running early Tuesday.

FIND OUT HOW A CLOUD GLITCH CAN CAUSE A MASS SHUTDOWN

Chicken stock

The quirky Reddit WallStreetBets group that has been driving up stock prices on companies like AMC and GameStop found another winner to back Tuesday based solely on the members' love of chicken nuggets.

This time Wendy's was the beneficiary of the Reddit bump after the group snapped up stock and praised the fast-food chain's "chicken tendies" -- a reference to the profits the group has gleaned by backing losing stocks.

Wendy's almost immediately saw a 20% increase in stock prices as the group jumped on chicken nugget bandwagon and spread the word. They even took some shots at rivals McDonald's and Burger King for their offerings in the chicken sandwich war, declaring Wendy's the winner.

FIND OUT IF WENDY'S STOCK IS STILL RIDING THE REDDIT WAVE