Comment on Average tax refund down 8% so far this season

“A group of House members from both parties succeeded Thursday in deploying a rarely executed method to bypass GOP leadership and force a vote on a bill to expand access to Social Security benefits,” Axios reports. “It’s the second time this year that a bipartisan group of lawmakers has sidestepped House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) with the tool, called a discharge petition.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Donald Trump lacks the “sanity” to be president of the United States, The Atlantic reports. Said Pelosi: “It takes vision, knowledge, judgment, strategic thinking, a heart full of love for the American people, and sanity to be president of the United States.” She added: “To be sane is probably an important characteristic to have if you’re going to have control over our nuclear weapons.

Donald Trump told a largely Jewish audience in New York on Thursday that Israel will be “wiped off the face of the ” if he doesn’t win in November, ABC News reports. He pointed out that Harris was leading in polls among Jewish voters “only because of the Democrat hold or curse on you.”

“Vice President Kamala Harris joined Oprah Winfrey for a conversation in front of a live studio audience made up of more than 400 mainly supporters on Thursday night for a campaign event that was reminiscent of the host’s long-running, award-winning talk show,” ABC News reports. Associated Press: Harris looks for boost from Oprah as part of digital-first media strategy.

Expect Colorado’s upcoming state tax refund to be the last big one for a while. Forecasts by legislative economists released on Thursday predict a softening of economic conditions, tighter budget forecasts and recent changes to state law. Together, those are expected to decrease state refunds due under Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, from recent historic highs. Projections put TABOR refunds for individual filers at between $181 and $571 this upcoming tax season, depending on household income.

Ukraine struck the supposedly unassailable ammunition depot by besting air defenses with a reported 100-drone assault. The resulting explosion/s could be felt hundreds of kilometres away and created an earthquake measuring 2.8. An estimated 30,000 tons of munitions were stored there, including missiles for the S300 and s400 missile defense systems.