Business & Economy

Why Bill Gates Is Investing Big Time In Farmland Across Washington And The Country

By NWPB News
File photo. Washington state's richest residents, including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, would pay a wealth tax on certain financial assets worth more than $1 billion under a 2021 proposed bill whose sponsor says she is seeking a fair and equitable tax code. Under the bill, starting Jan. 1, 2022, for taxes due in 2023, a 1% tax would be levied not on income, but on "extraordinary" assets ranging from cash, publicly traded options, futures contracts, and stocks and bonds. CREDIT: Elains Thompson/AP
Seattle’s technology billionaires are many things: innovators, visionaries, philanthropists and some less polite descriptors, depending on whom you ask. But thanks to some scrupulous digging by industry journal The Land Report, which tracks land ownership across the country, we now know that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has another feather in his multi hyphenated career Read More

‘The Game Is Rigged’: How Fury Over The Great Recession Fueled The Reddit Trade

By NPR News
Occupy Wall Street march in 2012
WallStreetBets started as an investment forum — and its moderators continue to insist it is just that as the group has now grown to boast nearly 9 million members. But interviews with some of its members and an examination of its threads also show something else — that it's morphed into a movement of sorts, riding a giant wave of unresolved anger from the Great Recession. Read More

Tax A Billionaire, Raise Some Cash? It’s An Idea Washington State Democrats Are Floating

By Austin Jenkins
Forbes tracks the world's billionaires in almost real time. Now, a group of Washington House Democrats want to impose a wealth tax on Washington's billionaires.
Washington billionaires would pay a “wealth tax” under a proposal in the state House that will get a public hearing on Tuesday. The bill is sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Noel Frame, who chairs the House Finance Committee, and would impose a one percent tax on intangible financial property, such as stocks and bonds, futures contracts and publicly traded options. A Read More

President Trump Signs COVID-19 Relief Deal After His Criticism Threatened To Derail It

By NPR News
President Trump, seen here at the White House on Dec. 12, has signed the coronavirus relief package. CREDIT: Al Drago/Getty Images
President Trump on Sunday night signed a massive coronavirus relief and spending package, relenting on a measure he had called a "disgrace" days earlier. The legislation, which combines $900 billion in COVID-19 aid with government funding through September 2021, was passed by large majorities in both houses of Congress on Dec. 21 — only to see Trump blindside legislators Read More

Here Is What’s In Congress’ COVID-19 Relief Package

By NPR News
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speak Sunday following a press conference on Capitol Hill after Republicans and Democrats finally came to an agreement on the coronavirus relief bill. CREDIT: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Congress plans to pass on Monday a bipartisan $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill after intense negotiations over its final details. Leaders of both parties are lauding the agreement, claiming victory for provisions they were able to get in — and keep out. The measure includes up to a $600 relief check for many Americans as well as an assortment of aid for small businesses Read More

He Made A Minor Mistake On An Unemployment Form. Now Washington Wants $15,000 From Him

By NWPB News
Ahmad Ghabboun on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, in Everett, Wash. CREDIT: Jovelle Tamayo for ProPublica
Ahmad Ghabboun, 31, and his wife, who was laid off from the beauty department of Nordstrom’s, relied on their combined unemployment benefits to cover their $1,800 rent, the $200 monthly payment on Ghabboun’s car, and various bills, not to mention the costs of preparing for their first child: Ghabboun’s wife was six months pregnant when he received the alert claiming he Read More
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