🚀 Social Security in Crisis

In partnership with

Take a demo, get a Blackstone Griddle

Financial operations heating up? BILL Spend & Expense can help you take control. Automate expense reports, set budgets across teams, and get real-time insights into company spend. Take a demo to learn how and we'll give you a 28" Blackstone Omnivore Griddle—so you can take control of your next barbecue, too.

Request a demo

Market Overview
Read time 1.4 minutes

Year To Date Performances:

As we will see in my second point below, we are getting to the point in the election cycle where it will be increasingly difficult not to engage with political/politics adjacent topics. I will do my best to be 100% impartial and present the data and facts as objectively as I can.

1. The Social Security Administration (SSA) is grappling with a record-breaking backlog of 5.2 million open cases, leading to an estimated $1.1 billion in improper payments, according to the SSA Office of the Inspector General. These improper payments, including both overpayments and underpayments, have been exacerbated by delays, with some cases taking an average of 698 days to process. The backlog and inaccurate payments are attributed to staffing shortages, increased workloads, and insufficient overtime funding. While the SSA has implemented new policies to ease overpayment recovery, its ability to address the backlog and improve accuracy hinges on receiving sustained adequate funding.

2. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio has proposed increasing the child tax credit to $5,000 per child, but policy experts say it could be difficult to enact. The current credit is $2,000 per child for 2024, and it’s set to drop to $1,000 after 2025 unless Congress extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. President Trump’s 2020 child tax credit expansion temporarily increased the maximum benefit to $3,000 or $3,600 per child, depending on age, and was credited with reducing child poverty to a historic low of 5.2% in 2021. Despite the success of the policy under Trump’s previous administration, Vance’s proposal faces challenges. Democrats haven’t had inconsistent support for child tax credits, viewing it as a financial incentive for families to have children. Financially, a permanent increase to $5,000 would create a potential $3 trillion in costs over ten years. Finally, within the Republican party, there is a lack of consensus about how to implement an increase, with some Republicans wanting work requirements and income phase-outs.

3. Raise Venture Capital in 2024. Get the course helping top founders raise venture capital. The materials in this course are used by founders pitching a16z, Sequoia, YC and more while raising tens of millions! Get the course now for just $199. *

4. Headlines

   1. Susan Wojcicki, an early employee at Google and former YouTube CEO, passed away last weekend at 56.

   2. Ukraine has started to push an invasion into Russian territory, causing evacuations of Russian cities.

   _{* This is sponsored content.}

Struggling to find the right talent for your business?

Express Employment Professionals is here to help, with local teams deeply connected to your community. They understand your needs and have access to global resources, making hiring a breeze.

Connect with Your Local Team

Are you looking to grow your business? Here is how I can help:

📢Promote your startup to 2,000+ VCs including investors from a16z, YC, Techstars, Rarebreed, Sequoia and more.

📱Book a Strategy Call to get 1:1 feedback on your pitch, pitch deck and/or fundraising strategy. (If you need general startup advice, then reply to this email, and I’ll let you know if/how I can help.)

📺 Access FundraiseOS, the ultimate fundraising course with video lessons and practical worksheets helping with everything from deciding how much to raise to understanding a term sheet.

💸Promote your product or service to 100,000+ entrepreneurs.

🌐 Connect with me on LinkedIn or X (formerly Twitter) to get access to new content about startups, fundraising, venture capital, and more every day.

Onwards and Upwards,

Liam Gill