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President Biden signs $1.2 trillion US spending bill

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President Biden signs $1.2 trillion US spending bill
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A general view of the U.S. Capitol after United States Vice President Kamala Harris, voted on the Senate floor to break the 50-50 tie to proceed to the Inflation Reduction Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. August 6, 2022. REUTERS/K

By Richard Cowan, David Morgan and Makini Brice

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a $1.2 trillion spending package, keeping the U.S. government funded through a fiscal year that began six months ago.

Biden described the package, which Congress overwhelmingly passed in the early hours of Saturday, as investing in Americans as well as strengthening the economy and national security. The Democratic president urged Congress to pass other bills stuck in the legislative chambers.

“The House must pass the bipartisan national security supplemental to advance our national security interests,” Biden said in a statement. “And Congress must pass the bipartisan border security agreement, the toughest and fairest reforms in decades, to ensure we have the policies and funding needed to secure the border. It’s time to get this done.”

The Democratic-majority Senate passed the spending bill with a 74-24 vote. Key federal agencies including the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, State and Treasury, which houses the Internal Revenue Service, will remain funded through Sept. 30.

But the measure did not include funding for mostly military aid to Ukraine, Taiwan or Israel, which are included in a different Senate-passed bill that the Republican-led House of Representatives has ignored.

The business community welcomed the passage of the spending bill and committed to continue working with policymakers to advance legislation that would enhance tax breaks for businesses and low-income families.

“A fully operational U.S. government provides important stability for American businesses, workers and families,” Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolten said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with Members of Congress to advance sound policies, including the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act.”

Senate leaders spent hours on Friday negotiating a number of amendments to the budget bill that ultimately were defeated. The delay pushed passage beyond a Friday midnight deadline.

But the White House Office of Management and Budget issued a statement saying agencies would not be ordered to shut, expressing confidence the Senate would promptly pass the bill, which it did.

While Congress got the job done, deep partisan divides were on display again, as well as bitter disagreement within the House’s narrow and fractious Republican majority. Conservative firebrand Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene threatened to force a vote to remove Speaker Mike Johnson, a fellow Republican, for allowing the measure to pass.

The 1,012-page bill provides $886 billion in funding for the Defense Department, including a raise for U.S. troops.

Johnson, as he has done more than 60 times since succeeding his ousted predecessor Kevin McCarthy in October, relied on a parliamentary maneuver on Friday to bypass hardliners within his own party, allowing the measure to pass by a 286-134 vote that had substantially more Democratic support than Republican.

For most of the past six months, the government was funded with four short-term stopgap measures, a sign of the repeated brinkmanship that ratings agencies have warned could hurt the creditworthiness of a federal government that has nearly $34.6 trillion in debt.

“This legislation is truly a national security bill — 70% of the funding in this package is for our national defense, including investments that strengthen our military readiness and industrial base, provide pay and benefit increases for our brave servicemembers and support our closest allies,” said Republican Senator Susan Collins, one of the main negotiators.

Opponents cast the bill as too expensive.

“It’s reckless. It leads to inflation. It’s a direct vote to steal your paycheck,” said Senator Rand Paul, part of a band of Republicans who generally oppose most spending bills.

The last partial federal government shutdown occurred during Donald Trump’s presidency, from Dec. 22, 2018, until Jan. 25, 2019. The record-long interruption in government services came as the Republican insisted on money to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and was unable to broker a deal with Democrats.

GREENE LASHES OUT

The new budget bill passed the House with 185 Democratic and 101 Republican votes, which led Greene, a hardline conservative, to introduce her measure to oust Johnson.

That move had echoes of October, when a small band of hardliners engineered a vote that removed McCarthy for relying on Democrats to pass a stopgap measure to avert another partial government shutdown. They had been angry at McCarthy since June, when he agreed with Biden on the outlines of the fiscal 2024 spending that were passed on Friday.

McCarthy’s ouster brought the House to a halt for three weeks as Republicans struggled to agree on a new leader, an experience many in the party said they did not want to repeat as the November election draws nearer.

And Greene said she would not push for an immediate vote on her move to force Johnson out.

“I filed a motion to vacate today. But it’s more of a warning than a pink slip,” the Georgia Republican told reporters on Friday.

Indeed, some Democrats said on Friday that they would vote to keep Johnson, if he were to call a vote on a $95 billion security assistance package already approved by the Senate for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

That measure is unlikely to come up anytime soon, as lawmakers will now leave Washington for a two-week break.

Pockets of Republican opposition to more funding for Ukraine have led to fears that Russia could seriously erode Kyiv’s ability to continue defending itself.

Life is unlikely to become easier for Johnson anytime soon, with the looming departure of two members of his caucus – Ken Buck and Mike Gallagher – set to whittle his majority to a mere 217-213 in a month’s time. At that point, Johnson could afford to lose only one vote from his party on any measure that Democrats unite to oppose.

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Dillard’s, Inc. Announces $0.25 Cash Dividend

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MODULAR ATP Study of the mCRM™ System Meets Primary Safety and Efficacy Endpoints

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Additional data from APPRAISE ATP trial reinforce modular therapy approach with EMBLEM™ Subcutaneous Implantable Defibrillator and EMPOWER™ Leadless Pacemaker

MARLBOROUGH, Mass., May 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: NYSE:) today announced positive six-month results from the ongoing pivotal MODULAR ATP clinical trial of the mCRM™ System, the first modular cardiac rhythm management (CRM) system that consists of the EMBLEM™ Subcutaneous Implantable Defibrillator (S-ICD) System and the EMPOWER™ Leadless Pacemaker (LP). As components of the mCRM System, the devices are designed to work together wirelessly to coordinate painless intracardiac anti-tachycardia pacing (ATP) therapy, provide rate-responsive bradycardia pacing support and to prevent sudden cardiac death without the risk of leads in the heart or under the sternum. Findings were presented at Heart Rhythm 2024, the annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society, and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

In addition to evaluating the safety and performance of the EMPOWER LP as a standalone pacemaker, the trial evaluated the ability of the EMBLEM S-ICD System to successfully communicate a wireless request to the LP to deliver ATP therapy. Findings from the trial met all pre-specified six-month safety and effectiveness endpoints, and demonstrated:

  • A major complication-free rate of 97.5% after implantation of the EMPOWER LP.1
  • A communication success rate of 98.8% from the EMBLEM S-ICD System to the EMPOWER LP.2
  • An ATP success rate of 61.3%,3 and no patient requests for deactivation of ATP or bradycardia pacing due to pain or discomfort.
  • Pacing capture thresholds, which indicate stable device fixation within the heart, of ‰¤ 2.0 V at 0.4 ms in 97.4% of patients.

“We saw excellent overall clinical performance of the mCRM System in this study, including a high rate of communication success from the S-ICD to the leadless pacemaker, and a low rate of major leadless pacemaker complications,” said Prof. Reinoud Knops, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Cardiology and Electrophysiology, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, Netherlands. “These findings are noteworthy, as high percentages of communication success and pain-free termination of spontaneous arrhythmia episodes indicate a potential upgrade pathway for patients currently implanted with an S-ICD who develop a need for ATP or pacing.”

Also presented at Heart Rhythm 2024 were results from the APPRAISE ATP clinical trial “ a prospective, randomized, multicenter study evaluating ATP as a primary strategy for terminating ventricular tachycardias in primary prevention (PP) patients (i.e., those without a history of spontaneous sustained ventricular arrhythmias). The trial enrolled 2,626 PP patients indicated to receive an ICD at 134 centers globally and is the largest head-to-head trial of ATP in this patient group. In the study, patients were randomized 1:1 to standard transvenous-ICD therapy “ ATP plus an ICD-delivered shock to terminate a ventricular tachycardia “ versus shock only. Across five years of follow up, data demonstrated a statistically significant, but small absolute first all-cause shock reduction in only 1% of patients per year. Shock burden, or the number of shocks experienced by a patient, was not significantly different between the two arms, and the vast majority of patients in the ATP-plus-shock arm did not require ATP therapy.

“Together, data from the MODULAR ATP and APPRAISE ATP trials reinforce the promise of the groundbreaking mCRM System, illustrating a clear path forward for physicians to offer therapies that prevent sudden cardiac death and deliver ATP for the small number of patients who benefit from it,” said Kenneth Stein, M.D., senior vice president and global chief medical officer, Boston Scientific. “Instead of subjecting all patients to the risks of more invasive approaches, such as placing leads in the heart or tunneling them under the sternum to provide therapies they might not require, these data indicate physicians may have the opportunity to tailor therapy to the patient’s individual needs and health.”

The company anticipates U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the mCRM System in 2025. For more information on the mCRM System and MODULAR ATP trial, visit www.bostonscientific.com/mcrm. To learn more about the EMBLEM MRI S-ICD System, visit www.sicdsystem.com.

The EMPOWER LP is an investigational device and limited by U.S. law to investigational use only. It is not available for sale. Some device references are for informational purposes only and are pending CE Mark. Not available in the European Economic Area.

Dr. Reinoud Knops is a paid consultant of Boston Scientific Corporation. He has not been compensated in connection with this press release.

About Boston Scientific
Boston Scientific transforms lives through innovative medical technologies that improve the health of patients around the world. As a global medical technology leader for more than 40 years, we advance science for life by providing a broad range of high-performance solutions that address unmet patient needs and reduce the cost of healthcare. Our portfolio of devices and therapies helps physicians diagnose and treat complex cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, oncological, neurological and urological diseases and conditions. Learn more at www.bostonscientific.com and connect on LinkedIn and X, formerly Twitter.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words like “anticipate,” “expect,” “project,” “believe,” “plan,” “estimate,” “intend” and similar words. These forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and estimates using information available to us at the time and are not intended to be guarantees of future events or performance. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding our business plans and product performance and impact, and new and anticipated product approvals and launches. If our underlying assumptions turn out to be incorrect, or if certain risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. These factors, in some cases, have affected and in the future (together with other factors) could affect our ability to implement our business strategy and may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the statements expressed in this press release. As a result, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of our forward-looking statements.

Factors that may cause such differences include, among other things: future economic, competitive, reimbursement and regulatory conditions; manufacturing, distribution and supply chain disruptions and cost increases; variations in outcomes of ongoing and future clinical trials and market studies; new product introductions; demographic trends; intellectual property; litigation; financial market conditions; and future business decisions made by us and our competitors. All of these factors are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of them are beyond our control. For a further list and description of these and other important risks and uncertainties that may affect our future operations, see Part I, Item 1A “ Risk Factors in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we may update in Part II, Item 1A “ Risk Factors in Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q we have filed or will file hereafter. We disclaim any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in our expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which those expectations may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, except as required by law. This cautionary statement is applicable to all forward-looking statements contained in this document.

CONTACTS:Steve Bailey
Media Relations
(651) 582-4343 (office)
Steve.Bailey@bsci.com

Jon Monson
Investor Relations
(508) 683-5450
BSXInvestorRelations@bsci.com

1 Major complications defined as any complication related to the EMPOWER LP or its implantation procedure that results in system revision, permanent loss of LP function, hospitalization, or death.
2 During communication tests, the S-ICD attempted to command the LP to deliver pacing at a rate approximately 10 beats per minute faster than the patient’s intrinsic rhythm.
3 ATP success rate defined as terminating ventricular arrhythmia.

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Adidas plans cheaper versions of popular shoes

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(Corrects May 16 story to reflect error in live translation, Adidas (OTC:) is making cheaper versions for Deichmann and Intersport, not Foot Locker (NYSE:))

By Linda Pasquini

(Reuters) -Adidas is launching cheaper versions of its three-striped shoes like the white and black suede Samba as it aims to spread the trend, CEO Bjorn Gulden said on Thursday at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Germany.

“It’s important to understand that not everyone can afford to buy a shoe for 120 or 150 [dollars], but everyone wants to take part in the same trends,” Gulden told investors in a presentation in Furth, near Adidas’ headquarters in Herzogenaurach.

Adidas will offer similar versions of the Samba and other shoes for $60 to $80, more affordable entry points than the $100 to $150 price tag for the main shoe lines, according to a presentation slide shown by Gulden.

“What we do at the top, 100 [dollars] and higher, we’re bringing that down,” Gulden said. The cheaper models are aimed at retailers like Deichmann and Intersport, he added.

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