Happy New Year 2025

Tag: nationwide

  • Academic unions plan nationwide demonstration to protest Trump NIH research cuts

    Academic unions plan nationwide demonstration to protest Trump NIH research cuts

    The science community is clapping back at President Donald Trump’s efforts to cut facilities and administrative costs that go out to institutions when the federal government disperses money for publicly funded research projects.

    A cohort of academic unions around the country has called on scientists, researchers, clinicians, academics and “allies” to protest in front of the Health and Human Services Department building and at different universities across the country on Wednesday, calling it a “National Day of Action.” The Feb. 19 event follows protests outside the HHS building Friday, during which demonstrators locked arms in front of the building and chanted, “We are not leaving!”  

    Trump’s move to cap these costs at 15% has garnered criticism from both Republicans and Democrats, who argue the spending limit will severely impact the country’s world-leading research apparatus. But, while much of that criticism has been online and in the media, it is starting to spill over into the streets.

    INDEPENDENT VOTERS SHOW SIGNIFICANT DISAPPROVAL OF DEMOCRATIC ANTICS AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP

    Protesters demonstrate in support of federal workers outside the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Feb. 4, 2025 in Washington, DC. Organizers held the protest to speak about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts. (Getty Images)

    “We are joining academic unions across the country in a National Day of Action,” the RSVP form for the event reads. “We are demanding the administration stop the attack on science, medicine, and public health research by rescinding the cuts and restrictions.” 

    The form says that Trump’s directive is “restrict[ing] and censor[ing]” critical research and subsequently preventing “potential treatments and cures” from coming to fruition, while also reducing the nation’s global competitiveness when it comes to “scientific world power.”

    Union members from Johns Hopkins, George Washington University and the University of Maryland are slated to attend, according to the RSVP form. A separate online advertisement for the event indicated that additional protests would take place on Wednesday at Rutgers, the University of Washington, Oregon Health & Science University, the University of Illinois – Chicago, and other places. Fox News Digital reached out to organizers of the Feb. 19 demonstrations to glean more details about expected numbers, but did not receive a response. 

    TRUMP NOMINEES DEBUT NEW SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL AIMED AT SPURRING SCIENTIFIC DISCOURSE, INCREASING TRANSPARENCY 

    Valentines greetings for hhs workers

    During a protest outside HHS offices in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 14, 2025, demonstrators deliver Valentine’s Day greetings with messages of support for federal workers. (Bryan Dozier/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

    A “Feb. 19 toolkit,” included with the second online advertisement, also implored interested demonstrators to protest outside congressional offices and at public meetings where legislators are present. It included messaging prompts on how demonstrators should respond to push back as well, and implored them to take a lot of pictures and videos.

    Fox News Digital reached out to the Metropolitan Police Department to determine whether any safety or security measures would be put in place, but the department declined to share specifics regarding operations, tactics or staffing. The department did iterate that it recognizes the importance of “upholding the First Amendment rights of individuals to peacefully express their views” and is committed to facilitating these events while also protecting public safety. The department added that there was no known threat to the D.C. area at that time.

    A federal judge last week put a temporary restraining order on Trump’s directive, halting it nationwide. An in-person hearing date is scheduled for later this month. 

    JUDGE ORDERS TEMPORARY REVERSAL OF TRUMP ADMIN’S FREEZE ON FOREIGN AID 

    The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and President Donald Trump.

    The National Institutes of Health announced a $9 billion spending cut in response to a new mandate from the Trump administration. (Alamy/Getty Images)

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was confirmed as HHS secretary by the Senate last week, shared a NIH social media post explaining how much will be saved under Trump’s new spending limit, signaling that he potentially supports Trump’s cap on indirect facilities and administrative costs going to research institutions from the NIH.

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    In addition to the protests on Wednesday, a “Stand Up For Science 2025” protest is also being planned for early March. Furthermore, a nationwide protest movement against Trump’s actions has also been attempting to organize protesters to show up at every major state capital on Presidents Day.

    A recent survey of Independent voters showed the unaffiliated group is largely getting tired of the Democratic Party’s sometimes profanity-laced attacks on the president.

  • Will hurricanes and wildfires cause insurance prices to rise nationwide?

    Will hurricanes and wildfires cause insurance prices to rise nationwide?

    Former Million Dollar Listing star and Los Angeles real estate agent Josh Altman provides an update on wildfire recovery and rebuilding efforts, and previews President Donald Trumps visit to disaster sites.

    Property insurance rates have been soaring in the U.S. for years, and a number of factors are contributing to the problem, including inflation, building expansion into high-risk areas, and record natural disaster losses.

    The devastation from ongoing wildfires in California and last year’s hurricanes in the Southeast are fueling fears that the enormous hit insurance companies will take in those states will be recouped – at least in part – by national carriers jacking up rates in other states that were not impacted.

    An aerial view of the sun rising beyond homes which burned in the Eaton Fire on January 21, 2025 in Altadena, California. Multiple wildfires which were fueled by intense Santa Ana Winds have burned across Los Angeles County leaving at least 27 dead w (Mario Tama/Getty Images / Getty Images)

    One source supporting this concern comes from a 2022 study from Harvard Business School, titled “Pricing of Climate Risk Insurance: Regulation and Cross-Subsidies,” that concluded “households in low friction [risk] states are disproportionately bearing the risks of households in high friction states.”

    The insurance industry says that is not true.

    STATE FARM DROPS SUPER BOWL AD PLANS AFTER WILDFIRES

    Robert Gordon, SVP of policy research at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), says he does not challenge some of the data the study uses, but argues its conclusion is wrong.

    He explained in an interview that insurance is state-regulated, and every state prohibits rates that are discriminatory or excessive. So, regulators don’t allow companies to arbitrarily charge excessive rates. 

    florida homeowner assesses damage after hurricane helene

    A homeowners inspects damages of his house after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, on September 28, 2024. At least 44 people died across five US states battered by powerful storm Helene, authorities said on September 27, aft (CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

    Beyond such regulations, insurance is one of the most competitive industries, he noted. There are thousands of insurance companies, with hundreds in every state, and many of those are not national companies, but rather, state-only companies or regional insurers.

    WEST COAST WILL HAVE ‘LONG-TERM’ INSURANCE CHALLENGES IN WAKE OF FIRE DESTRUCTION

    “So, if a national insurer is losing money in California, that doesn’t mean it can increase its rate in Iowa or Vermont or any other state, because it’s competing with all these carriers, many of whom aren’t even doing business in California, so they’re not raising their rates because of California losses,” Gordon told FOX Business.

    He compared the situation to gas stations. Where, if Chevron, for instance, had losses in California, the company wouldn’t raise prices by 50% in Oklahoma, because everyone in The Sooner State would then go to a different gas station. 

    Southern California wildfires

    Plumes of smoke are seen as a brush fire burns in Pacific Palisades, California on January 7, 2025.  (DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

    Any time insurance rates increase significantly, companies see a surge of policyholders shopping around and switching companies. That is what the industry is seeing right now. 

    While the Harvard study’s authors and the insurance industry disagree on the study’s conclusion, they do agree on multiple points, including what is happening in California, which has sent insurers fleeing in recent years because regulators will not allow carriers to raise rates to meet the market.

    WHICH INSURANCE COMPANIES HAVE THE MOST EXPOSURE IN CALIFORNIA?

    “What we see in a lot of states with rate suppression is that you have these exploding residual markets – essentially government-run insurance programs,” Gordon said. “And those government insurance programs subsidize rates, particularly the highest risk properties – which ironically, then eliminates the very socially important environmental risk signals like: don’t build in the forested areas or don’t build in the hurricane prone areas, and if you do, make sure there’s appropriate risk mitigation, [like] better building codes and so forth.”

    San Diego County supervisor Jim Desmond criticizes California’s insurance regulations implemented prior to the Los Angeles County wildfires on ‘The Bottom Line.’

    He added that when states suppress insurance rates and subsidize building in disaster-prone areas with government insurance programs like California’s FAIR Plan, it appears as though such programs are lowering rates in the market. But all that really does is mask those signals.

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    The Harvard authors, Sangmin Oh, Ishita Sen, and Ana-Maria Tenekedjieva, wrote in their conclusion that, “When rates no longer reflect risks, the informational role of insurance rates breaks down.”

    They added, “[O]ver the long-run, rate-setting frictions could make insurers less prepared to deal with large losses and insurers may respond by exiting markets altogether or dropping important product features.”