President Joe Biden’s first big legislative package sped through Congress. The next one could take at least half a year to pass — if it can get to his desk. Biden and Hill Democrats on Wednesday began a months-long sprint to pass a $2.5 trillion bill to shore up the nation’s physical infrastructure, paid for by hiking taxes on corporations.

Republicans are already balking, dismissing Biden’s attempted outreach as disingenuous, and preparing a messaging campaign against the package that will almost certainly force Democrats to go it alone as they juggle competing wish lists from their members across the ideological spectrum.

Absent a seismic political shift, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will have to draft a sprawling bill that can only afford to lose three Democratic votes in the House and zero in the Senate. (Politico - Continue Reading)

Republicans in Congress say they’re willing to work with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to counter China’s economic clout and address a global shortage of semiconductors, but the price tag of a Democratic-led proposal may drive away GOP support.

Schumer and Republicans have been discussing proposals to fund semiconductor research and development, as well as science and technology to compete with the government subsidies that Beijing offers its companies. Yet Republicans have been wary that the final proposal could end up costing a lot more than anticipated.

President Joe Biden included the China-related proposals in a sweeping $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan he unveiled in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, even though the bigger package has been broadly rejected by Republicans. (BBG - Continue Reading)

If a jobs report falls on a holiday, does it make a sound? That may be the question some equity traders are pondering as March non-farm payrolls data arrives on Good Friday, a day when many of the world’s major stock markets are closed for the holiday.

But traders dealing on debt and currency markets on the last day of the work week will be eying the US labour picture, which is poised to improve significantly yet again.

Non-farm payrolls for March are expected to surge by 650,000, according to economists, a noteworthy rise following the unexpectedly strong increase of 370,000 in February. Analysts predict that the jobless rate will shed two-tenths of a percentage point and fall to 6.0% from the previous month’s level. (LiveSquawk - Continue Reading)