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With the pandemic-induced elder vulnerability bringing to the forefront the urgency to provide relief and address systemic inequities, organisations working for the welfare of senior citizens have demanded an increase in <keyword id="7848122" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="social-pension" source="Orion">social pension</keyword> to Rs 3,000 among other demands ahead of the Union Budget 2022-23, to be tabled in the Parliament on February 1. There are an estimated 140 million elderly people in India. The demands touch the sectors of income and social security, health and geriatric care, and creating an enabling environment for elders with recommendations such as provisions for setting up of skill training and retooling centres for the elderly people; providing GST exemption on services and products commonly used by the elderly, such as adult diapers, medicines and healthcare equipment like wheelchairs, walkers etc. "As admirably done in the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) to bring minimum health security for the disadvantaged, we hope the Centre will take leadership in setting a basic minimum social pension floor of Rs 3,000 per month for the poor elderly across the country and revise the Central contribution from a meagre Rs 200 (unchanged for 14 years) to at least Rs 1,000 per month. "Accelerated implementation of the National Programme for Healthcare of Elderly (NPHCE) with dedicated funds is another key step needed to bring in comprehensive geriatric care," said Rohit Prasad, CEO, HelpAge India. Echoing the demand for increasing the old-age pension, Agewell Foundation suggested a scheme to re-engage the seniors to tap the unexplored potential of elderly people, who have experience, knowledge, wisdom, resources, time and above all zeal to work in old age to keep themselves engaged and connected with the mainstream. It even suggested a name for the proposed scheme -- Prime Minister's Self-Employment Scheme for Retired and Senior Citizens (PM SSRSC). Founder-chairman of Agewell Foundation, Himanshu Rath, said, "Today, elderly persons are facing different kinds of challenges. Making elderly-friendly budgetary provisions would certainly play an important role in ensuring the welfare and well-being of the ever-increasing population of older persons in the country. The elderly persons need opportunities and greater participation in the mainstream so that they can remain gainfully engaged as long as they can." The two organisations also raised a volley of demands quoting fresh surveys/studies. On the basis of its January 2022 survey conducted among 5,000 elderly persons across the country, Agewell Foundation found that the budgetary provisions can address the issues concerning older persons to a larger extent. As many as 81 per cent of the elderly respondents believed that the government would consider issues concerning the older people. HelpAge India said the recently published findings of the Longitudinal Study of Ageing in India (LASI) has highlighted the facts of income and health security: Around 70 per cent of the elderly are faced with chronic diseases, while only about 30 per cent of the rural elderly from BPL households are recipients of old-age pension benefits. Just 26 per cent of households are covered by some form of health insurance in India. As many as 36 per cent of the elderly are working -- much higher in rural areas (40 per cent) than in urban areas (26 per cent), and mostly in the unorganised sector. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/tax-cuts-extension-of-pli-scheme-will-benefit-consumer-durables-industry/articleshow/89152735.cms">Tax cuts, extension of PLI scheme will benefit consumer durables industry</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/widening-tax-base-should-be-a-focus-area-in-the-union-budget-says-primus-research/articleshow/89093457.cms">Widening tax base should be a focus area in the Union Budget, says Primus Research</a>

Increase in social pension, GST exemption for medicines, wheelchairs among major demands by welfare organisations

<ul class="summary-list"><li>McConnell derided the <keyword id="12088567" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="biden-child-tax-credit" source="Orion">Biden child tax credit</keyword> as a new form of welfare assistance.</li><li>Most families earning below $150,000 qualify for up to $300 monthly checks, depending on the kid's age.</li></ul>Senate Minority Leader <keyword id="11977287" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mitch-mcconnell" source="Orion">Mitch McConnell</keyword> assailed the expanded child tax credit payments on Tuesday, deriding the Democratic measure as welfare assistance."Their next reckless spending spree proposes to double down on <keyword id="11896865" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="democrats" source="Orion">Democrats</keyword>' new monthly welfare deposits that can flow directly to people who are here illegally," he said in a floor speech on Tuesday, referring to the Democratic party-line safety net bill and apparently unauthorized immigrants.<keyword id="11899267" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="republicans" source="Orion">Republicans</keyword> have struggled to counterprogram against the child tax credit payments, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/child-tax-credit-monthly-payment_n_60f709eee4b0ca689fa34278">HuffPost reported in July,</a> since direct payments are broadly popular with the public. The beefed-up child tax credit payments were a key part of President <keyword id="99719" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="joe-biden" source="Orion">Joe Biden</keyword>'s stimulus law which passed in March without any Republican votes. Most families earning under $150,000 annually qualify for up to $300 monthly payments per child, depending on their age.Some GOP senators are starting to line up behind McConnell. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a close McConnell ally, told Insider that "it is" welfare, adding: "In particular, it doesn't discriminate between citizens and non-citizens.""This is basically a check in the mail," Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida told Insider in a brief interview, adding that he favored linking the assistance to payroll tax liability, so people continue working.Others were more careful. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah unveiled a plan earlier this year to send monthly checks to families, a measure aimed at replacing the child tax credit, along with other safety net programs, so it didn't add to the deficit. Rubio and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah slammed Romney's proposal as "welfare" <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/romney-proposes-350-monthly-benefits-for-children-2021-2">earlier this year</a>."I can't comment on what [McConnell] said," Romney told Insider.Democrats and Biden want to extend the child tax credit in their social spending bill, though the length of the renewal remains in flux. Senior Democrats strongly criticized a Biden suggestion for it to last one year.Early research indicates the first month of payments in July <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/child-tax-credit-expansion-reduce-child-poverty-rate-research-2021-8">kept 3 million children</a> out of poverty and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bidens-child-tax-credit-helped-feed-2-million-kids-july-2021-8">helped feed 2 million kids</a> in July. A recent analysis <a href="https://www.povertycenter.columbia.edu/publication/2021/expanded-child-tax-credit-impact-on-employment">from researchers</a> at the Center on Poverty and Social <keyword id="11896048" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="policy" source="Orion">Policy</keyword> at Columbia University, Barnard College, and Bocconi University found "very small" impacts from the payments on employment.

Mitch McConnell rips the Biden child tax credit as a 'monthly welfare deposit'

<ul><li>India is sitting on a demographic time bomb. People over the age of 60 are expected to account for 25% of India’s <keyword id="48933" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="population">population</keyword> by 2050.</li><li>The concept of <keyword id="2995734" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="senior-living">senior living</keyword> has been gaining traction in recent years owing to the migration of Indians and the breakdown of the joint family model. </li><li>However, most senior care options are mostly geared towards the upper-middle class. The low-cost options leave a lot to be desired. </li></ul> My father was 64 when he had his first heart attack in September 2015. He downplayed the pain and told my brother and I, who were 23 years old at the time, that it was just acidity. We didn’t know better. Four days later, on his 65th birthday, the heart attack led to a stroke, which affected a small part of his brain that dealt with his speech and comprehension. Following his discharge from the hospital, my brother and I worked out an arrangement with our respective employers wherein we worked from home on alternative days so we could take care of him. My father slowly regained his verve and became somewhat self-sufficient by the end of 2015. However, he suffered another stroke and an epileptic seizure in April 2016. After my father suffered a third stroke in February 2017, the idea of putting him in an assisted living facility was floated by my uncle. My brother was living in Bombay by this point and I was spending more time at work so it seemed like the sensible thing to do. The concept of senior living, while relatively new to India, has been gaining traction in recent years and with good reason. There were 103.8 million citizens above the age of 60 in India in 2011, according to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and the number is expected to reach 143 million by 2021 and 173 million by 2026. Concurrently, as nuclear families are in vogue, the safety net afforded to old people by the joint family model is disintegrating. India has also seen a wave of migration in the last few decades as young people have gone to big metros as well as foreign countries in search of better opportunities, leaving their parents behind. More and more old people are living alone- which makes them vulnerable to <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/india/increase-in-crimes-against-senior-citizens-in-chennai-forces-them-to-shift-to-retirement-homes-3109622.html">crime</a> and depression. And the problem will only get worse. People over the age of 60 are expected to account for 25% of India’s population by 2050. India’s emerging market counterparts like Brazil and China are also sitting on a similar demographic time-bomb resulting from decades of exponential economic growth, improved health outcomes and stretched budgets. While Western countries like the US and UK started laying the foundational groundwork for their senior care industries in the latter half of the 20th century, BRIC countries only began developing an industrial framework to address the problem in the recent past - that too, by encouraging foreign participation and co-opting the western model of senior living which marries real estate development with at-home care. The Senior Care Act The Indian government has made some noticeable interventions but they haven’t produced the desired results. For example, in 2007, there government of India passed the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and <keyword id="20566" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="senior-citizens">Senior Citizens</keyword> Act. The act requires children to take care of their parents in <keyword id="6378960" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="old-age">old age</keyword>. It also mandates the establishment of old age homes by state governments. The act has failed on both fronts. Senior citizens neither have the knowledge of their rights or the will to take their children to court. As of mid-2017, only 360 homes had been built by state governments with central funding under the Integrated Programme for Older Persons (IPOP), according to data from the social justice ministry. India’s private sector takes the lead However, India’s private sector has spotted the gap in the market, taking inspiration from the US’s $300 billion senior living industry. By 2013, India had 30 assisted living projects in India, with another 30 in the pipeline, according to Jones Lang Lasalle, a commercial real estate firm. There are a number of developers building “retirement resorts” in North India to cater to the high-end segment. Max India, a <keyword id="6354525" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="healthcare">healthcare</keyword> giant, has a 200-block senior living facility called Antara on the outskirts of the city of Dehradun. Pitched as the confluence of lifestyle and life care, the community boasts state-of-the-art medical facilities with in-house doctors as well as a a fitness centre, which includes a gym, spa and a swimming pool. Prices for a property here start at a cool $300,000. However, the senior living trend actually took flight in south Indian states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, where a large number of non-resident Indians (NRI) hail from, before spreading to the North. In recognition of their high purchasing power, Covai Care, a Coimbatore-based developer, launched S3 Retirement Homes, one of India’s first retirement projects, according to its general manager, S Prabhakar, in 2007 to cater to this market. While the senior living market has doubled since then, says Prabhakar, it is still in a nascent stage. Covai Care primarily offers three forms of care facilities for its residents- assisted care for senior residents, palliative care for terminally ill patients and memory care for patients with dementia or Alzheimer's with properties in Bangalore, Mysore, Coimbatore and Pondicherry. The properties don’t come cheap either. With prices ranging from $60,000 to $150,000 depending on size, residents also have to pay around $270-$300 a month for medical and maintenance fees. Prabhakar maintains that these costs are in line with the average cost of living for these patients anyway. He also expects the demand for these properties to be robust, citing the increase in life expectancy and growing trend of senior citizens who crave independence. The middle ground India is striving to create cheaper offerings for the middle class too. Arun Gupta, the chief executive of Age Ventures India (AVI), a non-profit organisation that petitions builders to develop properties, echoes Mr Prabhakar’s beliefs about the industry’s prospects. “The senior citizen population is growing at a rate of 3.8% per annum, while the overall population of India is growing at 1.8%” he says. For a small consulting fee, AVI works with developers to build elder care homes and communities by sharing best practices and identifying project locations. These homes are modestly priced, with a 1BHK unit starting at $22,500 at the organisation’s first project in Bangalore. Ashiana Housing, a Delhi-based real estate developer, pitches its retirement communities to the middle class in tier-1 and tier-2 cities . The price ranges between $45,000 million and $100,000 for the units, and that demand for them follows the same pattern as the housing market. Amit Dogra, the sales manager for Ashiana's senior living segment, doesn’t think much of India’s cultural aversion to old age homes. “98% of our residents chose senior living independently. They were not forced by their children.” Abhishek Mohanty, a facility design and marketing consultant at Epoch Elder Care, feels otherwise. “Social stigma, especially from relatives, is more of a problem than affordability”, he says. “This is why we target higher-net-worth individuals and NRIs as they are more open to the idea of senior living and are willing to spend the money”. Founded in 2011, Epoch Elder Care originally started as a provider of home care services and personnel before transitioning into the assisted living space. It follows a rental model, entailing a one-time deposit and monthly rental fee, which is better suited to middle class customers. Epoch has three retirement homes with monthly fees of $1,800 for short-term single occupancy guests and $1,350 for long-term guests, which excludes the rather-high 18% GST rate on senior living. Around 60% of Epoch’s residents are dementia patients, which limits the amount of residents per facility. Mohanty is optimistic about his company’s prospects given the country’s increasing awareness about dementia and the growing number of senior citizens. By 2022, Epoch plans to have as many as 12 facilities, with an average of around 50 guests each, operating all over India. The sense of stigma attached to senior living, while declining, is still a consideration for the relatively well-off. Rachna (name changed), a corporate lawyer in her 40s, says that the decision to send her father to a retirement home outside Gurgaon last year was not an easy one. “My friends felt that I was relinquishing my sense of duty,” she said, “and my father likened the experience to being sent to jail”. However, she feels that it was the best option since she and her husband had full-time jobs and two teenage children to take care off. Now, her father, a former stroke victim and arthritis patient, benefits from round-the-clock care and companionship in the facility. No respite at the bottom Senior living seems to be an effective solution for people who can afford it, but for the hundreds of millions that can’t, their options are few and far between. At the lower end of the spectrum, the government-operated old age homes, which feature dormitories instead of rooms, are understaffed and in a deplorable condition, according to Matthew Cherian, the chief executive of HelpAge India. There are a number of cheaper nursing homes that are run by private owners, however quality is still an issue given the lack of government-imposed industry standards. And some of these also operate without licenses and accreditation. In 2012, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/68-nursing-homes-dont-have-licences/articleshow/13238672.cms">68 nursing homes </a>were found to be operating illegally in Pune. A variety of non-profit organisations like HelpAge India also run and support old age homes, but the supply of beds in such homes is drastically outweighed by the number of people that need them. As I write this, it’s been more than 13 months since my father’s last stroke. He’s in good spirits. He’s been eating well and going for walks every evening with other senior citizens in our gated community in Gurgaon. He has moved past his initial resistance and softened his stance towards senior living facilities, in anticipation of my eventual departure from home. “If I have to go one day, I’ll go”, he says. “Maybe I can get my friends to come with me too”. If only other Indians like him had the same option.

Here's what the future of the senior living industry looks like for 25% of India’s population

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6354908" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="maldives">Maldives</keyword>' resorts are often considered paradise on earth.</li><li>But for staffers, who live tucked away from guests' sight in the middle of the island, <keyword id="21459" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Resort">resort</keyword> life can come with hard realities.</li><li>Pontiac Land Group is trying to change that by creating a staff campus on an island of its own.</li></ul>Kevin Willis has worked at three different Maldives resorts. Currently, he's a learning and development manager at Patina Maldives, a new luxury resort that's replete with all the usual trappings - overwater villas, a marina with 20 berths for yachts up to 80 feet long, spa center, you name it. And yet, this is the first time in five years of work that he, a staffer, has ever had a room with a sea view.While the Maldives is paradise for guests, it isn't necessarily a dream for resort staff. Many employees face hard realities - among them isolation, cultural clashes, and feeling like second-class citizens - as they work on an island in the middle of the ocean for months on end.Singapore's luxury hotel owner Pontiac Land Group wants to change that. It's launching three new resorts in a string of four islands called the Fari Islands in the Maldives' north Male atoll. All four islands are a quick water-taxi ride away from each other. Three of those islands boast Pontiac resorts - a Ritz-Carlton, a Capella, and a Patina. The fourth island, called Fari Campus, is dedicated to housing and creating a sense of community for staff members of those three resorts.Pontiac is expected to have around 1,200-plus staff members when its Fari Islands is fully operational. The Patina hotel opened in May, followed by the Ritz-Carlton in June. Capella is slated to open in the next 18 to 24 months. Currently about 750 staff from the Ritz-Carlton and Patina live in the Fari Campus, Willis among them."It provides a sense of community and life away from work," Willis told Insider of life on campus, adding that it gives staff a positive opportunity to meet new people who work at different resorts.<div type="image" title="screenshot of Maldives' map shows the Fari Islands on the north eastern side of the atoll" height="1008" width="1344" msid="84813042" hostid="261"></div><h2>Hidden from sight along with the laundry facilities</h2>Many Maldives resorts are designed to optimize the amount of beachfront space available for guests' villas. That means staffers are made as invisible to guests as possible and packed into the middle of the island along with things like generators, waste storage, water treatment installations, and laundry.So even if a developer wants to allocate more land to staff facilities, space is limited - and it often comes at the cost of staffers' wellbeing."A lot of times what happens is staff really don't have [social] engagement," said Gaurang Khemka, founder and design director of URBNarc, the Singapore-based firm that designed the Fari Campus. "They are on an island in the middle of nowhere, living in the center, which is the least prime land, and screened off as if they are something to hide."Nicholas Clayton is the CEO of Capella Hotel Group. He told Insider that at Maldives projects he has previously worked on, worker facilities were always hidden away from sight. "It sends a really wrong message that you're a second-class citizen in a way," Clayton said."Because of space limitations, there has to be a compromise between staff facilities and the equipment planned for the center. So, as much as other [developers] try, colleagues' facilities generally are somewhat landlocked and constricted, versus a blank canvas that we have to create a wholesome village," he added.The blank canvas at the Fari Campus, meanwhile, spans 12 hectares, an area that can fit 16 football fields.<div type="image" title="An ariel drone shot of Fari Campus shows staff buildings with seaviews." height="2533" width="3378" msid="84813044" hostid="261"></div><h2>Creating private spaces for workers</h2>The Kwee family, who owns Pontiac, bought Capella Hotel Group in 2017.It's a third-generation Kwee, Evan Kwee, vice chairman of Capella Hotel Group and head of design and <keyword id="29913" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="hospitality">hospitality</keyword> at Pontiac, who had the vision to build a staff island with a community of its own. At Fari Campus, staff accommodation is spread out on the island in five clusters. Each cluster comprises four three-story buildings and has a courtyard.Khemka, the design director, said it's all about creating private spaces for people."We may want to be in a courtyard to read a book, or just hang out with two staff and not 1,200," Khemka said. "Or, find a spot to make a phone call to loved ones because all the time we are always surrounded by other staff. Staff stay dorm-style, four to a room, or two to a room [for the more senior staff]."Facilities include a jogging track along the beach, the largest soccer field in soccer-crazy Maldives, basketball and volleyball courts, a communal plaza, library, clinic, beauty salon, and retail store. And of course, two other key facilities: a mosque and a staff canteen that "isn't your regular staff mess," said Khemka. It seats 450 people but was designed to create intimate sections, just as in a restaurant. <div type="image" title="Staff canteen can house 450 people but is designed with aesthetic nooks that make it feel intimate." height="1080" width="1920" msid="84813048" hostid="261"></div>"Staff can feel psychologically comfortable and create their own little communities. It's just like housing planning, the idea being to create sub-communities by having clusters of courtyards and smaller spaces," said Khemka.Mausool Abdulla is an essentialist (concierge or butler) at Patina. Patina is the seventh Maldives resort he's worked at. He told Insider he's overjoyed by the "space away from work" and the exclusivity of Fari Campus.Best of all, staff have their own beach. How often can you see an off-duty staff sun-tanning on the beach in the Maldives when guests have been promised a private beach?<h2>Trapped in more ways than one</h2>In the Maldives, staff are often trapped not just by constrained living conditions but by geography, cultural differences, and religious taboos. Fifty percent of staff, by <a href="https://edition.mv/news/1150">law</a>, must be locals - but not all locals work in resorts that are near the capital, Male, or their atoll's capital island, where staff ferries can take them home every day. Many do what their foreign colleagues do: stay at the resort, work during off-days to accumulate more leave on top of their 30-day annual leave, then go home once a year."The staff are very trapped. They have nowhere to go. A 10-minute speedboat ride can cost $100, one way," said a former hotel general manager of a resort in north Male atoll, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "Staff must stay inside their compound. They hang out at the staff jetty. There is limited space to hang out elsewhere."He said the walls are so thin that people can hear private phone conversations from two rooms away."The pressure and stress of having no escape, no privacy, can turn little conflicts between staff into big dramas. As a GM, a major part of my job in the resort was managing people's lives 24-7," he said.The isolation that comes with the job has also led to <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/opinion-why-is-maldives-emerging-as-hub-illicit-drug-trade-28848">drug issues at some resorts</a>. On some local islands, he said, there's a black market for alcohol and drugs. The going price for a bottle of beer or a small piece of heroin is said to be $7. "If you have a gram of heroin or a bottle of beer on you, which is easier to pocket? So any staff could be sitting here with a month's supply of drugs," said the GM, noting that he experienced two or three cases in the three years he worked for the hotel.There's also the matter of cultural clashes. The GM said he oversaw a team of 15 foreign nationalities, a cultural diversity that puts to test even the most tolerant and accepting of staff working in a constrained environment.<div type="image" title="Recreation Building at Fari Campus, with a gym and library upstairs and cafeteria and games room below" height="1080" width="1920" msid="84813049" hostid="261"></div><h2>A game-changing vision</h2>Pontiac's Fari Campus stands to be a test of whether a dedicated staff island, effective design and facilities, and the right "programming" can create a harmonious and thriving community for staff. Proposed ideas on staff programs include organizing a bazaar or hosting friendly soccer matches between, say, Ritz-Carlton staff and Patina staff.While it's a step in the right direction, it's not perfect."One improvement [would be] for us to have a training facility on Patina island, as this would save teammates a lot of time in commuting to attend training," Willis, the development manager, said.It's also not the only hospitality chain paying ever more attention to the welfare of its workers."Maldives tourism has evolved over 30 years and living conditions for staff have improved with the entry of more <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> chains and the tourism ministry's regulations on staff welfare," said Ibrahim Nizam, CEO of The Grand Associates, a firm that helps investors invest in the Maldives. "A few resorts even have a pool for staff." Capella's Clayton declined to reveal the cost of developing Fari Campus but said "it's consistent with the investment to build and run a luxury resort in the Maldives." In other words, it wasn't cheap."The strategy behind the campus is about creating a healthy, productive environment for colleagues," Clayton said."But from a cold business standpoint, we are looking for a competitive advantage," Clayton said. We want our three hotels there to provide superior service over the competition." Editor's note: If you're an APAC-based freelancer who wants to write stories like this one about hospitality and tourism, email me your pitches at lbatarags@insider.com.

Maldives resorts are paradise for guests, but some staff say they feel like second-class citizens. One hotel giant is trying to change that.

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">David Dettmann/Netflix</div></div></div>Warning: This post contains slight spoilers for the first episode of "Black Mirror" season 3.In the third season of popular British television series "Black Mirror," the first episode features an eye-embedded app that lets people rate their interactions with one another and share status updates. It's like Facebook, Instagram, and Yelp combined - with serious stakes.Characters who act nice and don't appear smarmy can get five stars. But if they act negatively, they'll face one-star reviews. If someone drops too low, they become a kind of second-class citizen - they're socially shunned, shuttered out of workplaces, forced to pay a premium on leases, and penalized in myriad other ways.Like many "Black Mirror" episodes, this one takes a present tech-related paranoia to its extreme. But in China, a similar system could soon become a reality.The Chinese government is planning on implementing a system that connects citizens' financial, social, political, and legal credit ratings into <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-to-use-big-data-to-rate-citizens-in-new-social-credit-system-2015-4">one big social trustability score</a>. The idea would be that if someone breaks trust in one area, they'd be adversely affected everywhere.Proponents of the plan, like Chinese blogger <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34592186">Wenquan Xin</a>, say the system is needed because many of China's 1.3 billion citizens don't own a credit card, and the country lacks an equivalent system to the US' FICO credit score. That means bankers and loan providers don't have much to go on.According to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinas-plan-to-organize-its-whole-society-around-big-data-a-rating-for-everyone/2016/10/20/1cd0dd9c-9516-11e6-ae9d-0030ac1899cd_story.html">the Washington Post,</a> eight private companies have created pilot "credit databases" that compile information about individuals.Sesame Credit, a subsidiary of e-commerce giant Alibaba, is already running a social credit system. <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34592186">According to the BBC</a>, the company determines people's scores by incorporating a number of factors into its algorithms, including whether someone has gotten traffic tickets, if they've paid their taxes, and what they buy online. If you're constantly buying video games, for instance, you'll be seen as idle. If you're buying diapers, you could be considered a responsible parent.Those with high rankings can rent bikes or cars without leaving a deposit, and skip lines at hospitals by paying after they leave, according to the Post. 15% of users on Chinese dating site Baihe choose to display their Sesame Credit score, and that some weed out potential dates based on that measure of trustability.This preferential treatment for higher-rated people is very similar to the scenario depicted on "Black Mirror."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">David Dettmann/Netflix</div></div></div>The Chinese plan for a more widespread scoring system <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/china-to-use-big-data-to-rate-citizens-in-new-social-credit-system-2015-4">has been in the works since 2015</a>. But in September, the government released bullet points of proposed penalties for those who "breaks social trust" (which could be done by defaulting on a loan, for example, or voicing a dissenting opinion against the government online).<a href="https://www.instapaper.com/text?u=https%3A%2F%2Fchinacopyrightandmedia.wordpress.com%2F2016%2F09%2F25%2Fopinions-concerning-accelerating-the-construction-of-credit-supervision-warning-and-punishment-mechanisms-for-persons-subject-to-enforcement-for-trust-breaking%2F">According to the policy documents</a>, here's what could happen if you're a low scorer:<ul><li>You won't be considered for public office</li><li>You'll lose access to social security and welfare</li><li>You'll be frisked more thoroughly when passing through Chinese customs</li><li>You'll be shut out of senior level positions in the food and drug sector</li><li>You won't get a bed in overnight trains</li><li>You'll be shut out higher-starred hotels and restaurants and will be rejected by travel agents</li><li>Your children won't be allowed into more expensive private schools</li></ul>In the "Black Mirror" episode, titled "Nosedive," the purpose of a universal ratings system is ostensibly to incentivize untrustworthy individuals in a society to shape up to what other members consider good. But the irony in the episode is that the system ends up creating a culture of disingenuity - a "numbers game" where people kiss up to popular folks to raise their social standing, rather than simply striving to be a better person. Even though the technology in "Nosedive" isn't here yet, China's social credit scores could one day contribute to the sort of culture we saw in "Black Mirror." And if the episode's finale is any good predictor of the outcome, the system might not end happily for those who step out of line with popular opinion. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/richest-village-china-mysterious-international-huaxi-2016-10">The richest village in China is one of the most mysterious places on earth </a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="13bjdrNjE6Tg8f368O5gQ13VZiJ-euV-" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

China might create a Black Mirror-like score for each citizen based on how trustworthy they are

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been tasked with cutting spending and red tape.</li><li>Past presidents have created commissions with the same goals, and they've had mixed results.</li></ul>Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are promising to tame the federal government. They aren't the first. But unlike Reagan and Clinton, who both largely failed attempts at taming federal spending and sprawl, their Department of Government Efficiency has a crucial advantage: Republican control of both chambers of Congress.That political reality means their ambitious goal of cutting $2 trillion in spending through budget reconciliation could need just 51 Senate votes — and Republicans are projected to hold 52 seats.Despite its name, Musk and Ramaswamy's panel, the Department of Government Efficiency, won't be a government department. Substantial changes to the federal budget would most likely require action from legislators, though Trump transition officials are reportedly looking for ways to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/11/13/elon-musk-government-efficiency-congress-budget-law/">short-circuit Congress' power</a> over spending.But the two men appear to be well positioned to advise Trump on how to make the deepest cuts to the federal government in generations.<h2 id="f17bde88-48d2-4aed-ae9d-cead1ffcb9b5">Past presidents have tried to cut the federal budget with mixed success</h2>The federal government isn't a business. Decisions about which agencies get which money for which purpose and how the money is raised are hashed out in Congress. Lacking the awesome power of a corporate CEO, past presidents, including Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, have struggled to tame the beast."There are a lot more restrictions on what you can and can't do," said David Walker, a fiscal watchdog who led the Government Accountability Office from 1998 through 2008. "There's a lot of cultural barriers."In 1982, Reagan tasked J. Peter Grace, a chemicals executive, with creating a team of private-sector "bloodhounds" to root through the government, looking for waste and inefficiency.Two years later, his crew of about 160 senior corporate executives, later known as the Grace Commission, published over 2,000 recommendations they said would save more than $424 billion over three years.The government's in-house budget experts, however, didn't think the changes would be as impactful as the Grace Commission did. Most of the proposals required acts of Congress that never materialized. Some changes, like improving the government's debt-collection efforts and reducing head count among certain groups of federal employees, were made by the executive branch, bypassing Democrats in Congress.The nonprofit Citizens Against Government Waste, which carried on the mission of the Grace Commission, said last year that the US government had cut spending by a cumulative total of $2.4 trillion since the 1980s by implementing recommendations from the Grace Commission and from the nonprofit itself. Musk has claimed his committee could cut nearly that much spending in one year.Clinton took another stab at cutting federal spending and improving government processes with his National Performance Review, which was led and staffed by federal employees instead of the private sector.The initiative succeeded in shrinking the federal workforce by more than 300,000 workers during Clinton's term, though the groundwork for some of those reductions was laid under Reagan. But <a target="_blank" href="https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/papers/bkgrd/brief.html">only about a quarter of its proposals</a> that required legislative action managed to clear Congress.In 1999, the Clinton administration claimed that it had saved $137 billion. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/ggd-99-120.pdf">Government Accountability Office said</a> that figure included some double counting and nearly $25 billion that was merely "consistent with" the initiative's focus on "reinventing government."Musk and Trump's efforts could go further. Trump said the DOGE commission would have until July 4, 2026, to deliver a plan, but Musk said in a post on X that it would "be done much faster."<h2 id="94b4d06c-a556-4a4b-879d-8a7ebc8faa8b">What's different this time</h2>Any proposals from Musk and Ramaswamy that Trump accepts would have a much better chance of getting through Congress than those from Reagan's or Clinton's commissions because Republicans are on track to control both chambers of Congress.Reagan's and Clinton's commissions came up against a Congress at least partly controlled by the other party. While contentious bills often can't clear the Senate because 60 votes are required to overcome the filibuster, many spending-related proposals can pass with a 51-vote majority through a process called budget reconciliation. Republicans are set to hold 52 seats starting next year.Thomas Schatz, the president of Citizens Against Government Waste, said Trump would likely have at least two opportunities to pass a budget through reconciliation. The fact that Musk and Ramaswamy will have had a two-month head start before Trump is sworn in also helps, he said.This government-efficiency effort "can be set up faster," he said. "It depends on how many members the president would like on the commission, and I have no idea. They haven't asked me. My suggestion is to keep it smaller."In the past, Musk has said the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has sued him twice, is "broken" and accused the Federal Aviation Administration of delaying SpaceX launches with "kafkaesque paperwork."In recent posts on X, he has floated the idea of rewarding government employees who spend wisely and firing those who waste money. Congress hasn't figured in recent posts, though in 2022 Musk <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1589714533345812480">tweeted</a> that he preferred when the presidency and Congress were controlled by different parties.In a September appearance on Lex Fridman's podcast, Ramaswamy outlined a thought experiment for shrinking the federal workforce: Fire all nonelected federal workers whose Social Security numbers end in odd numbers, then fire half of the remaining employees, those whose numbers start with odd digits.He argued that this arbitrary 75% reduction — about 2.2 million workers — would avoid discrimination lawsuits while barely affecting government services.Veronique de Rugy, an economist at the libertarian think tank Mercatus Center, has said Musk and Ramaswamy could save $2 trillion if they embraced what many other economists would consider radical reforms. She said that ending aid to states — which the Cato Institute estimated amounted to $697 billion in 2018 and $721 billion in 2019 — could go a long way, as could hacking away at corporate welfare for sectors like pharmaceuticals and electric cars.But she also expressed skepticism about the Trump administration's ability to build the bridges that could be necessary for big changes. "They're going to piss off everyone for stupid reasons," she said.There are also third rails of political spending that some are doubtful Trump will be able or eager to tackle, even if Musk and Ramaswamy advised him to do so.Social Security and Medicare are the two single biggest areas of federal spending, and changing them could be politically unpopular. Trump has generally said he won't touch them — except for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tax-cuts-social-security-boomers-benefit-fund-depletion-2024-11">eliminating taxes on Social Security</a> payments, which would mean fewer benefits for retirees in the future.Earmarks, which allow members of Congress to send money back to their home districts and states, are another significant source of federal waste, and even a GOP-led House and Senate may be leery of getting rid of them."The incentive in politics is to make friends," de Rugy said. Everyone, she added, likes a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Why Elon Musk's push to cut federal waste might succeed where others failed

<keyword id="19955368" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="budget-2024" source="keywords">Budget 2024</keyword>, which is set to be presented on July 22nd, is set to accelerate the growth of <keyword id="20459350" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-stock-markets" source="keywords">Indian stock markets</keyword> by as much as 20%, a recent survey by <keyword id="19897999" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bloomberg" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Bloomberg" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Bloomberg">Bloomberg</keyword> noted. While some respondents hope that the <keyword id="20983733" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NSE-Nifty50" source="keywords">NSE Nifty50</keyword>, which is currently trading at 24,273.35 points, might reach 26,000 points by the end of this year, others estimate the index to inch up even higher. The budget is likely to boost consumer spending, accelerate consumption, and support infrastructure development, noted half of the 24 experts Bloomberg surveyed. Data by Bloomberg Intelligence predicted that the estimated earnings per share (EPS) of companies on the MSCI India Index is set to rise by 15.6% on year basis, for the calendar year 2024. In contrast, Chinese firms are expected to grow at about 10%. One-fourth of surveyed analysts noted that pushing capital expenditure would be the government's top priority, while the other half thought the focus would be on boosting consumer demand. Naturally, analysts see potential growth in consumer discretionary stocks in the months to come, followed by financial services. <h2>Focus on Women, Capex</h2>Many are expecting the government to raise the standard deduction threshold from the current Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000. The government is also thinking of raising the limits of the <keyword id="19930663" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Public-Provident-Fund" source="keywords">Public Provident Fund</keyword> (PPF) from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000. As per Ashwajit Singh, Founder and Managing Director of IPE Global, "the budget is expected to be tilted towards adopting a strategy for the underprivileged, youth, farmers, and women. The budget is expected to reflect the government’s tried and tested formula of ‘guarantees’ by opting for income transfer policies and spending more on welfare schemes in government campaigns in India. Allocations for existing schemes such as 'Housing for All’, MGNREGA, and health insurance for these sections of society are likely to increase while new schemes may be introduced". According to Badal Yagnik, CEO of Colliers India, the real estate segment is optimistic regarding this budget: "Housing, infrastructure development, sustainability, and digitization will remain at the core of the budget, which will go a long way in supporting real estate growth across segments in the long term. EV infrastructure, renewable energy, and green financing will continue to remain in focus, creating a strong base for a sustainable future. Incentivization of green buildings through minimum alternate tax or tax breaks similar to the infrastructure sector will be particularly beneficial. Meanwhile, retail investors are calling for additional rationalizing of the capital gains tax structure. The Union Budget 2024–25 should explore initiatives to boost greater retail engagement in REITs and InvITs". Anooshka Soham Bathwal, founder of Dhanvesttor, a financial management platform, expects that the government's focus is likely to keep driving the increased participation of women in the workforce in the upcoming full budget, where it can attain the same by incentivising higher education for women. "To promote entrepreneurship, the government can introduce special benefits for the businesses started by women. Further steps towards a stable policy environment and ease of doing business are also desirable. Incentives on tax, funding, and growth for women-centric organizations can help to further attain the inclusive growth objective of government". Bathwal also emphasized that the budget should promote entrepreneurs and the country's startup system. "Entrepreneurs are advocating for additional tax breaks for investors and promoters to attract more domestic capital. As India progresses towards becoming a global hub for entrepreneurship and innovation, fostering both technological and process innovations is crucial. Significant improvements in ongoing training and skill upgrades are vital, particularly given the rapid growth in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. Additionally, the government needs to address the credit challenges faced by SMEs", she continued Also read <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/budget-2024-heres-what-indias-elderlies-want/articleshow/111486023.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Budget 2024: FM might delight India's senior citizens this time around</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/union-budget-2024-25-when-will-it-be-presented-what-to-expect-and-more/articleshow/111014203.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Union budget 2024-25 : When will it be presented, what to expect and more</a>

Budget 2024 to fuel stock markets: Bloomberg Survey

<ul class="summary-list"><li>China's post-pandemic rebound hasn't materialized and it faces mounting economic obstacles.</li><li>Beijing is grappling with declining trade and foreign investment, a shaky housing market, and deflation. </li></ul>The world's second-largest economy isn't growing, producing, or trading as much as it usually does. The pandemic rebound that China and the rest of the world were anticipating has yet to materialize, and official data suggests there's a long road ahead before the economy is back on its feet. China's National Bureau of Statistics announced Wednesday that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-economy-recession-inflation-deflation-xi-jinping-stimulus-cpi-ppi-2023-8">consumer prices dropped annually in July</a> for the first time in two years, dipping 0.3%, just slightly better than median estimates for a 0.4% decrease. The People's Bank of China is now facing the opposite problem of the Federal Reserve, which has tightened policy for 18 months in a bid to tame soaring prices. Deflation — the trend of prices falling throughout the economy — presents a particularly dangerous trajectory for China, which carries a massive amount of debt. "Deflation means the real value of debt goes up," David Dollar, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute's China center, told Insider. "High inflation we know is bad, but it does help manage debt burdens over time. Deflation does the opposite."<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-27/china-s-debt-ratio-hits-record-masking-slowdown-in-borrowing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a> estimates total household, business, and government debt at about 282% of annual economic output. The latest figures add to the anxiety that's already been swirling about what growth could look like for the rest of the year, and JPMorgan strategists cautioned that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-housing-market-economy-japan-jpmorgan-financial-investors-geopolitics-demographics-2023-8">China risks a 1990s-style "Japanification"</a> if policymakers don't address the housing market, financial imbalances, and aging demographics. Officials in Beijing have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-economy-recession-inflation-deflation-fdi-growth-beijing-xi-jinping-2023-8">urged experts not to portray data unfavorably</a>, according to the Financial Times, asking economists to "interpret bad news from a positive light."The numbers make this difficult:<ul><li>Year-to-date, China's exports are down 5% compared to last year, while imports have dipped 7.6%</li><li>Manufacturing activity has contracted for four straight months</li><li>July exports declined at the sharpest rate in three years, at 14.5% annually</li></ul>"Before the pandemic, China was growing at about 6%, and now it's struggling to recover," Dollar said. "Consumption really didn't hold up coming out of the lockdown. The main components of GDP on the demand side — consumption, investment, net exports — they all have serious problems right now."<h3>Politicization of the economy</h3>Increasingly, China's US-led Western trade partners have turned elsewhere. Global demand for Chinese goods has cooled, even as <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/russia-economy-china-beijing-trade-imports-ukraine-war-putin-markets-2023-7">Russia ramps up trade with Asia</a> amid its war in Ukraine. The US Census Bureau reported Chinese exports to the US dropped 23.7% in June, hitting a six-month low of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-trade-exports-inflation-economy-456e8dc91682d3cd0c1f16132cacfb99" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$42.7 billion</a>. That reflects both the Biden Administration's "de-risking efforts," as well as a general pullback in spending as central banks around the world <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/federal-reserve-rate-hikes-investors-markets-stocks-finance-powell-inflation-2023-7">raise interest rates</a>. Near-shoring trends have also picked up since the pandemic. Mexico, for example, has emerged as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-mexico-china-trade-world-economy-changing-2023-7">America's new biggest trade partner</a>, blowing past China with US bilateral trade totaling $263 billion through the first four months of the year.Dexter Roberts, author of "<a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?amazonTrackingID=biauto-61357-20&amp;h=07ab15216f69921ad32b915e3a2e08d7600200a4254ad0dc33fe62cbe25fcdd2&amp;postID=64d3ddff8e16d4f2bfc68438&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fdp%2F1250089379%3Fpsc%3D1%26smid%3DA3CPF34RXD60YO%26ref_%3Dchk_typ_imgToDp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Myth of Chinese Capitalism"</a> and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told Insider that much of Beijing's troubles stem from its politicization of its economy. Embedding Communist Party members in corporations and prioritizing state-run firms, he said, has dragged on domestic productivity, spooked the private sector, and made the country less attractive for foreign investment."A lot of companies now feel China isn't the market of the future," Roberts said. To that point, China's foreign investment gauge plummeted to a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-07/china-foreign-investment-gauge-at-25-year-low-amid-high-tensions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">25-year low</a> in the second quarter. <h3>A shaky property market</h3>Most of China's economic troubles tie directly into its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/country-garden-china-real-estate-problems-explainer-evergrande-2023-8">property market</a>. China was able to skirt deflation in 2009 and 2012 on the heels of the global financial crisis, but today's housing market complicates policymakers' current battle. Notwithstanding recent price declines, property values have appreciated dramatically since 2009, and fiscal stimulus measures may not have the same impact as before. China's allowed developers to over-build, and now the inventory glut has crippled major developers.Last week, Country Garden Holdings — once China's largest developer by sales — <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/bonds/chinese-property-crisis-missed-bond-payments-economy-real-estate-2023-8?_gl=1*noo23d*_ga*MjA5NTAyMzYyOS4xNjYyNDcwMDc5*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY5MTU5NTcxMS4xMTM1LjEuMTY5MTYwNDg1Mi41OC4wLjA.">failed to make millions of dollars' worth of coupon payments</a> on its bonds, and it anticipates reporting enormous <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-property-company-country-garden-holdings-default-risk-22b3bd64?mod=hp_lead_pos1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first-half losses</a>. Similarly in July, Chinese developer Evergrande, which made headlines in 2021 with a massive debt default, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/china-property-crisis-evergrande-81-billion-loss-housing-economic-slowdown-2023-7?_gl=1*rsznn6*_ga*MzE2MjY1NjEwLjE2ODgxMTM0MjM.*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY5MTQ4OTM4Ni4xNjMuMS4xNjkxNDg5OTYyLjM0LjAuMA..&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">recorded a two-year $81 billion loss</a>.Real estate accounts for about one-fifth of the country's economy, and the sector's headwinds include hefty debt and weak demand from homebuyers. Home transaction volumes across 330 cities in China cratered 19.2% year-over-year in June, according to a <a href="https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3227996/beijing-talks-ailing-property-market-upbeat-assessment-after-data-shows-housing-demand-remains-weak" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Beike Research Institute study</a>, and values have dropped 23.4%. The slump helps explain China's weak second-quarter GDP, which came in lower than expected at 6.3%. "Housing prices are going down, so people aren't making purchases," Roberts said. "So much of people's wealth is tied up in the property sector, so when they see values go down, they decide to save for the future and not spend. The Chinese government won't be able to lift the property sector without that confidence."<h3>The long tail of China's one-child policy</h3>Even if Beijing could somehow remedy its other issues, years of a one-child policy may have long ago crippled its economy for decades. In 2022, the population shrank for the first time since 1961, and the consulting firm Terry Group said the country is on pace to lose nearly half its population by 2100. But it's not just population decline that weakens China. It's the climbing proportion of elderly people. In 1990, 5% of Chinese people were 65 or older. That's at 14% today, and could surge to 30% by 2050, per Terry Group. By their estimate, China could lose an average of 7 million working-age adults each year by the next decade. Already, working-age couples have to support aging parents, education costs for children are climbing, and confidence in the economy is low. For China to have a shot at improving demographic conditions, experts say Beijing will have to unwind its long-standing household registration system. The policy, which dates back to the 1950s, makes rural-to-urban migration unfavorable and difficult, as it ties social welfare benefits to where people are born. Roughly a quarter of China's population works in agriculture — well above the 3% mark in the US — and that presents its own productivity limitations. "I'm skeptical they'll do it, but if Beijing did away with household registration, it would mean a large portion of the Chinese population that's treated as second-class citizens would start to spend more, have more confidence in the future, and drive more productivity across the economy," Roberts said.<h3>Rocky decade ahead</h3>China's laundry list of issues point to a rocky decade ahead. From an unstable, debt-ridden property market to anti-business policies and demographic issues, Beijing has plenty to tackle if it hopes to match the same growth as decades past. Geopolitical hurdles involving the US, Russia, and other trade partners present further headaches for President Xi Jinping, but experts say the focus should be on domestic issues. For Dollar, he expects China to eke out 5% growth this year, as Beijing forecasts, but without financial or demographic reforms, growth could hover closer to 3% for the next decade.

China's economy is showing signs of serious trouble — and the problems are still mounting

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A Florida private school that drew controversy after saying vaccinated students must stay home for 30 days after each dose has reversed its stance.</li><li>The policy was based on a myth that's been debunked.</li></ul>A Miami private school that's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/02/us/miami-centner-academy-coronavirus-vaccine.html">been called</a> a "beacon" for anti-vaxxers is reversing its controversial and unscientific <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-school-says-vaxxed-kids-quarantine-30-days-each-dose-2021-10?amp">30-day quarantine policy for vaccinated students</a>.Centner Academy reversed its policy on Thursday, according to <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21091950-centner-academy-response-dtd-10222021?responsive=1&amp;title=1le=1">documents obtained by MedPage Today</a>.That was after the <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21091952-letter-to-centner-academy-october-21-2021?responsive=1&amp;title=1le=1">Florida Department of Education sent a letter to the school</a>, threatening to terminate state scholarships that allow the school to "receive considerable sums of money," Jacob Oliva, senior chancellor of the Florida Department of Education, said in the department's letter to Centner."Recently, it has come to our attention that your schools may employ attendance policies which require parents of recently vaccinated students to quarantine their children for an unreasonable, unnecessary, and unduly burdensome amount of time," Oliva said in the letter. "Although we at the Department are still investigating the matter, let me take this opportunity to remind you of your various obligations under the law - specifically, both attendance and health, safety and welfare requirements."Oliva cited two separate Florida state statutes "meant to protect the rights of our citizens and the safety of our students," and said "your compliance is, put bluntly, mandatory."<h2>Centner has bizarre policies on vaccines, masks, and 5G</h2><div type="image" title="picture of the Centner Academy building" height="1400" width="2100" msid="87290956" hostid="261"></div>This isn't the first time Centner Academy has instituted vaccine politics that go against established scientific facts. In the spring, Centner <a href="https://www.insider.com/a-miami-private-school-said-it-wont-employ-vaccinated-staff-2021-4">said it wouldn't employ vaccinated staff</a>, citing the same false claims it used more recently against vaccinated kids.The COVID-19 vaccines <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-school-says-vaxxed-kids-quarantine-30-days-each-dose-2021-10?amp">cannot make people sick with COVID-19, and the vaccine also cannot be inhaled</a> via shedding. These are claims which have been <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-225957174726">thoroughly debunked</a> before.<div type="image" title="David and Leila Centner pictured in a club, dressed up" height="1349" width="1799" msid="87290958" hostid="261"></div>Leila Centner, co-founder of the academy, has said that she's allowing for "medical freedom" at the school, even though vaccines have been a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/imz-managers/coverage/schoolvaxview/data-reports/importance.html">routine part of keeping kids safe</a> from infectious diseases at school for <a href="https://theconversation.com/parents-were-fine-with-sweeping-school-vaccination-mandates-five-decades-ago-but-covid-19-may-be-a-different-story-168899">more than 100 years</a>. According to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/02/us/miami-centner-academy-coronavirus-vaccine.html">The New York Times</a>, Centner has also installed electromagnetic frequency "shielding blockers" in the preschool, because of concerns about baseless 5G radiation conspiracy theories. She has also discouraged masks at school during the pandemic.In his letter to the school, Oliva reminded Centner that "lawful school policies" are those that allow parents to make sound decisions about the health and safety of their children and families.The <keyword id="11893194" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus" source="Orion">coronavirus</keyword> has been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/at-least-1000-schools-closed-covid-19-2021-9">spreading quickly in schools</a>, while <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#rates-by-vaccine-status">vaccines and masks remain people's best defense</a> against severe illness and death. Recent research has also shown that <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2785141">having more vaccinated family members</a> helps protect kids who are too young to get shots. David Centner, Leila's husband and co-founder of Centner Academy, later told MedPage Today that the decision not to enact the quarantine policy in the end "was an easy one" because "no parents expressed interest in getting the COVID vaccine" for their children.

Florida school reverses 30-day stay-at-home order for vaccinated kids - a policy based on false claims about the COVID-19 shot

<ul class="summary-list"><li>GOP Reps. <keyword id="9740457" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="marjorie-taylor-greene">Marjorie Taylor Greene</keyword> and <keyword id="3051005" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Paul-Gosar">Paul Gosar</keyword> formed the "America First Caucus," Punchbowl <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">News</keyword> reported.</li><li>The group will reportedly emphasize "common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions."</li><li>It will also push racist lies about immigration and foreign aid and parrot Trump's conspiracy theories about the election.</li><li>Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is facing a federal sex-trafficking investigation, said he'll join the caucus.</li></ul>Two Republican lawmakers worked together to create an "America First Caucus" that emphasizes "common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions" and infrastructure that "befits the progeny of European architecture," Punchbowl News <a href="https://twitter.com/PunchbowlNews/status/1383104228256837637" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported on Friday</a>.Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar collaborated to form the far-right caucus, whose aim is to "follow in President Trump's footsteps, and potentially step on some toes and sacrifice sacred cows for the good of the American nation," according to a document <a href="https://punchbowl.news/wp-content/uploads/America-First-Caucus-Policy-Platform-FINAL-2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">obtained by Punchbowl News</a>.GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is currently <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prosecutors-doj-veterans-react-joel-greenberg-plea-deal-matt-gaetz-2021-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">facing a federal sex-trafficking probe</a>, announced his "proud" support for the group, <a href="https://twitter.com/mattgaetz/status/1383137540249636868" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeting</a>, "We will end wars, stop illegal immigration &amp; promote trade that is fair to American workers." Other Trump loyalists on Capitol Hill, like Reps. Barry Moore and Louie Gohmert, have also agreed to join the caucus, Punchbowl News reported."America is a nation with a border, and a culture, strengthened by a common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions," the document said in a section outlining its views on immigration.It went on to say, without citing any evidence, that "societal trust and political unity are threatened when foreign citizens are imported en-masse into a country, particularly without institutional support for assimilation and an expansive welfare state to bail them out should they fail to contribute positively to the country."The document also pushed the lie that immigrants who came to the US before 1965 were "more educated, earned higher wages, and did not have an expansive welfare state to fall back on when they could not make it in America and thus did not stay in the country at the expense of the native-born."<ul><li>Fact check: The Pew Research Center <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/14/education-levels-of-u-s-immigrants-are-on-the-rise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> in a 2018 study that "the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2018/09/14/facts-on-u-s-immigrants/">estimated 44 million immigrants</a> in the United States are better educated than ever, due in part to rising levels of schooling in many of the countries they came from and an influx of high-skilled workers to the U.S. in recent years, especially from Asia."</li></ul>The document's section on infrastructure said the caucus will "work towards an infrastructure that reflects the architectural, engineering and aesthetic value that befits the progeny of European architecture," and criticized the US government for "sending trillions of dollars out the door to support the infrastructure of other nations - even to countries that hate the United - with nothing to show for it."On foreign aid, the document said it would be "unwise" for the US to send financial and military support to other countries because it represents an "entanglement that rarely provides any benefit to our citizens."<ul><li>Fact check: This view stands in stark contrast to what experts in the field say. As George Ingram, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/votervital/what-every-american-should-know-about-us-foreign-aid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote in 2019</a>, "there is hard evidence that development and humanitarian programs produce considerable results," including a sharp decline in extreme poverty over the last three decades; a significant decrease in maternal, infant, and child mortality rates; an increase in global life expectancy; and the eradication of diseases like smallpox and a steep drop in cases of polio and malaria.</li><li>Sending foreign assistance also bolsters US national security "by supporting allies in promoting regional and global stability and peace," Ingram wrote, and it shores up "national economic progress and stability, which can make it more viable for citizens to remain at home rather than migrate to other countries."</li></ul>The America First Caucus' mission statement also parroted many of Trump's lies about the 2020 election and voter fraud, saying, "Recent election results demonstrate a compromised integrity of our elections and made our election system a subject of global mockery."It went on to falsely claim that "federal elections have been undermined by using voting machines that are readily compromised and illegally accessed whereby results appear manipulated, voters are disenfranchised, and faith in our system eroded." The document added: "Mail-in voting, long recognized as subject to fraud, has become normalized."<ul><li>Fact check: As Business Insider <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2020-election-administration-was-successful-not-a-disaster-2020-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has reported</a>, the 2020 election was the safest and most secure in US history. Trump and Republicans filed dozens of lawsuits challenging the election results in battleground states that President Joe Biden won, and the GOP either lost every case or it was dismissed for a lack of standing. The Department of Homeland Security under Trump also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dhs-breaks-from-trump-2020-election-most-secure-in-history-2020-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">publicly refuted his conspiracy theories</a> and confirmed that the 2020 election was the "most secure in American history."</li></ul>Punchbowl News said that Gosar's office did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Greene accused "dirty backstabbing swamp creatures" of leaking "gossip to borderline tabloids," and added: "Be on the look out for a public release for the America First Caucus platform when it's released publicly very soon."

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