President Joe Biden, eager to get more tax money to pay for the faults of others along with his own disastrously irresponsible, inflationary overspending, has said that American billionaires have a tax rate of just 8%. Here, then, is a great excuse to hit this relatively small group of 700 or maybe 1,000 people with a fiscal fist as big as the Treasury Department without worrying about losing millions of votes.

A difficulty for Biden, however, is that the tax rate is more than three times bigger than he said, 25.6%, either demonstrating that he made a major mistake or qualifies to be called a political trickster. I endorse the second possibility, seeing as how the tiny-tax assertion could confuse the public enough for him to seem a hero catching cheapskate billionaires even though the top 1% of taxpayers deliver something like 43% of all federal taxes.

The way Biden arrives at his deception is by saying the billionaires and still other super-rich tax targets pay nothing for the unrealized gains they have in their stock portfolios. In fact, nobody does. The Constitution limits the personal income tax to actual income a person has received, not something that might be converted into income someday. Understand, too, that when stocks are finally exchanged for money, the money is in fact taxed, and, as any investor knows, a gain one day could be a loss the next.

But there is this to be said for taxes: If they are fair and honest, they are the best way to finance our government and, if they become egregious, the government should find ways to reduce the costs to what is affordable. Tax receipts and governmental costs should be as equal as is workable and policy makers should absolutely avoid what President Donald Trump did: cut taxes while increasing spending.

The worst and most common fiscal threat these days is something else: over-borrowing. Our debt has grown to an unbelievable $31.4 trillion with an ever-increasing expense of borrowing having sky-high consequences, a yearly cost of $352 billion in 2021, $475 billion in 2022 and a predicted $640 billion in 2023.

As far back as 1960, Congress decided that the federal government should establish a debt limit keeping spending and taxing within reasonable bounds by allowing no borrowing beyond cautious calculation. Knowing things could still go wrong, Congress also gave itself permission to vote to end the borrowing limit if a majority concurred. Guess what? The limit has been raised 68 times since then.

In 2006, a smart U.S. senator named Barack Obama explained it was a “leadership failure” when the government couldn’t pay its own bills from tax revenue but had to borrow and pay loads of interest. The interest paid that year, the senator said, was more than the costs of Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, education, homeland security, transportation and veterans benefits, all combined.

One of Biden’s biggest mistakes was to spend unneeded trillions on COVID-19 recovery on top of the trillions enacted under Trump that did the job by themselves. Various other factors helped initiate a recent debt-limit crisis that would have led to a ruinous default if we had not paid owed interest to foreign countries.

The catastrophe was averted because the debt limit was dropped by way of a compromise between Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy who persuaded Biden to reduce some significant costs. What we need now is compromises that adjust taxes and spending in accordance with reason and reality on both sides of the aisle and a new president in 2024 unlike Biden, Trump or the previously cited sagacious senator who broke spending records as a president.

Jay Ambrose is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Email him at [email protected].

Norfolk police have charged a man with murder in the death of his 84-year-old grandmother.

Officers found Liu-Chih Howell suffering from life-threatening injuries at a home in the 2700 block of Dominion Avenue following a report of an unresponsive woman Tuesday at 11:45 a.m. Howell died at the scene, police said.

An autopsy determined her death was a homicide, and investigators subsequently charged 34-year-old David M. Macronald with second-degree murder in connection to her death. He is being held at the Norfolk City Jail without bond.

Gavin Stone, 757-712-4806, [email protected]

By DEREK GATOPOULOS and NICHOLAS PAPHITIS (Associated Press)

KALAMATA, Greece (AP) — A fishing boat crammed to the gunwales with migrants trying to reach Europe capsized and sank Wednesday off the coast of Greece, authorities said, leaving at least 79 dead and many more missing in one of the worst disasters of its kind this year.

Coast guard, navy and merchant vessels and aircraft fanned out for a vast search-and-rescue operation set to continue overnight. It was unclear how many passengers were missing, but some initial reports suggested hundreds of people may have been aboard when the boat went down far from shore.

An aerial photograph of the battered blue vessel released by the Greek coast guard showed scores of people covering practically every inch of deck.

Greece’s caretaker prime minister, Ioannis Sarmas, declared three days of national mourning, “with our thoughts on all the victims of the ruthless smugglers who exploit human unhappiness.

Coast guard spokesman Nikos Alexiou told state ERT TV that it was impossible to accurately estimate the number of passengers. He said it appeared that the 25- to 30-meter (80- to 100-foot) vessel capsized after people abruptly moved to one side.

“The outer deck was full of people, and we presume that the interior (of the vessel) would also have been full,” he said. “It looks as if there was a shift among the people who were crammed on board, and it capsized.”

A coast guard statement said efforts by its own ships and merchant vessels to assist the boat were repeatedly rebuffed, with people on board insisting they wanted to continue to Italy. Coast guard officials said the trawler’s engines broke down around 1:40 a.m. Wednesday, and just under an hour later, the ship started to list abruptly from side to side before capsizing.

The ship sank 10 to 15 minutes later, the statement said.

Ioannis Zafiropoulos, deputy mayor of the southern port city of Kalamata, where survivors were taken, said that his information indicated there were “more than 500 people” on board.

Authorities said 104 people were rescued after the sinking in international waters about 75 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Greece’s southern Peloponnese peninsula. The spot is close to the deepest part of the Mediterranean Sea, and depths of up to 17,000 feet (5,200 meters) could hamper any effort to locate a sunken vessel.

Twenty-five survivors ranging in age from 16 to 49 were hospitalized with hypothermia or fever.

At the port of Kalamata, around 70 exhausted survivors bedded down in sleeping bags and blankets provided by rescuers in a large warehouse, while paramedics set up tents outside for anyone who needed first aid.

Katerina Tsata, head of a Red Cross volunteer group in Kalamata, said the migrants were also given psychological support.

“They suffered a very heavy blow, both physical and mental,” she said.

Rescue volunteer Constantinos Vlachonikolos said nearly all the survivors were men.

“They were very worn out. How could they not be?” he said. Rescuers said many of the people pulled from the water couldn’t swim and were clutching debris. The coast guard said none had life jackets.

The Greek coast guard said 79 bodies have been recovered so far. Survivors included 30 people from Egypt, 10 from Pakistan, 35 from Syria and two Palestinians, the agency said.

The Italy-bound boat was believed to have left the Tobruk area in eastern Libya — a country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Human traffickers have benefited from the instability, and made Libya one of the main departure points for people attempting to reach Europe on smuggler’s boats.

The route from North Africa to Italy through the central Mediterranean is the deadliest in the world, according to the U.N. migration agency, known as IOM, which has recorded more than 21,000 deaths and disappearances there since 2014.

Smugglers use unseaworthy boats and cram as many migrants as possible inside — sometimes inside locked holds — for journeys that can take days. They head for Italy, which is directly across the Mediterranean from Libya and Tunisia, and much closer than Greece to the Western European countries that most migrants hope to eventually reach.

In February, at least 94 people died when a wooden boat from Turkey sank off Cutro, in southern Italy, in the worst Mediterranean sinking so far this year.

The Italian coast guard first alerted Greek authorities and the European Union border protection agency, Frontex, about an approaching vessel on Tuesday.

The IOM said initial reports suggested up to 400 people were on board. A network of activists said it received a distress call from a boat in the same area whose passengers said it carried 750 people. But it wasn’t clear if that was the vessel that sank.

After that first alert, Frontex aircraft and two merchant ships spotted the boat heading north at high speed, according to the Greek coast guard, and more aircraft and ships were sent to the area.

But repeated calls to the vessel offering help were declined, the coast guard said in a statement.

“In the afternoon, a merchant vessel approached the ship and provided it with food and supplies, while the (passengers) refused any further assistance,” the coast guard said. A second merchant ship later offered more supplies and assistance, which were turned down, the agency added.

In the evening, a coast guard patrol boat reached the vessel “and confirmed the presence of a large number of migrants on the deck,” the statement said. “But they refused any assistance and said they wanted to continue to Italy.”

The coast guard boat accompanied the migrant vessel and later headed a major rescue operation by all the ships in the area.

Alarm Phone, a network of activists that provides a hotline for migrants in trouble, said it was contacted by people on a boat in distress on Tuesday afternoon. That boat was in the same general area as the one that sank, but it was not clear if it was the same vessel.

The organization notified Greek authorities and Frontex. In one communication with Alarm Phone, migrants reported the vessel was overcrowded and that the captain had abandoned the ship on a small boat, according to the group. They asked for food and water, which were provided by a merchant ship.

“We fear that hundreds of people have drowned,” Alarm Phone said in a statement.

The Mediterranean’s deadliest shipwreck in living memory occurred on April 18, 2015, when an overcrowded fishing boat collided off Libya with a freighter trying to come to its rescue. Only 28 people survived. Forensic experts concluded that there were originally 1,100 people on board.

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Paphitis reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press writers Sam Magdy in Cairo and Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain, contributed to this report.

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Follow AP stories on global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER (AP Economics Writer)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday after having raised it 10 straight times to combat high inflation. But in a surprise move, the Fed signaled that it may raise rates twice more this year, beginning as soon as next month.

The Fed’s move to leave its benchmark rate at about 5.1%, its highest level in 16 years, suggests that it believes the much higher borrowing rates it’s engineered have made some progress in taming inflation. But top Fed officials want to take time to more fully assess how their rate hikes have affected inflation and the economy.

“Holding the target rate steady at this meeting allows the committee to assess additional information and its implications” for the Fed’s policies, the central bank said in a statement.

The central bank’s 18 policymakers envision raising their key rate by an additional half-point this year, to about 5.6%, according to economic forecasts they issued Wednesday.

The economic projections revealed a more hawkish Fed than many analysts had expected. Twelve of the 18 policymakers forecast at least two more quarter-point rate increases. Four supported a quarter-point increase. Only two envisioned keeping rates unchanged. The policymakers also predicted that their benchmark rate will stay higher for longer than they envisioned three months ago.

“We understand the hardship that high inflation is causing, and we remain strongly committed to bring inflation back down to our 2% goal,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a news conference.

One reason why the officials may be predicting additional rate hikes is that they foresee a modestly healthier economy and more persistent inflation that might require higher rates to cool. Their updated forecasts show them predicting economic growth of 1% for 2023, an upgrade from their meager 0.4% forecast in March. And the officials expect “core” inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, of 3.9% by year’s end, higher than they expected three months ago.

Immediately after the Fed’s announcement, which followed its latest policy meeting, stocks sank and Treasury yields surged. The yield on the two-year Treasury note, which tends to track market expectations for future Fed actions, jumped from 4.62% to 4.77%.

The Fed’s aggressive streak of rate hikes, which have made mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and business borrowing costlier, have been intended to slow spending and defeat the worst bout of inflation in four decades. Mortgage rates have surged, and average credit card rates have surpassed 20% to a record high.

The central bank’s rate hikes have coincided with a steady drop in consumer inflation, from a peak of 9.1% last June to 4% as of May. But excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core inflation remains chronically high. Core inflation was 5.3% in May compared with 12 months earlier, well above the Fed’s 2% target.

Powell and other top policymakers have also indicated that they want to assess how much a pullback in bank lending might be weakening the economy. Banks have been slowing their lending — and demand for loans has fallen — as interest rates have risen. Some analysts have expressed concern that the collapse of three large banks last spring could cause nervous lenders to sharply tighten their loan qualifications.

The Fed has raised its benchmark rate by a substantial 5 percentage points since March of last year — the fastest pace of increases in 40 years. “Skipping” a rate hike at this week’s meeting might have been the most effective way for Powell to unite a fractious policymaking committee.

The 18 members of the committee have appeared divided between those who favor one or two more rate hikes and those who would like to leave the Fed’s key rate where it is for at least a few months and see whether inflation further moderates. This group is concerned that hiking too aggressively would heighten the risk of causing a deep recession.

In an encouraging sign, inflation data that the government issued this week showed that most of the rise in core prices reflected high rents and used car prices. Those costs are expected to ease later this year.

Wholesale used car prices, for example, fell in May, raising the prospect that retail prices will follow suit. And rents are expected to ease in the coming months as new leases are signed with milder price increases. Those lower prices, though, will take time to feed into the government’s measure.

The economy has so far fared better than the central bank and most economists had expected at the beginning of the year. Companies are still hiring at a robust pace, which has helped encourage many people to keep spending, particularly on travel, dining out and entertainment.

Ozempic, a medication used to treat Type 2 diabetes, has gone viral as a weight loss drug.

The #ozempic hashtag has over a billion views on TikTok, and more people are searching the web for Ozempic than for insulin, Viagra or Tylenol, according to Google Trends data for May 2023.

Medicare beneficiaries interested in the drug might be surprised to see that it’s often covered by Medicare Part D. It’s one of the prescription drugs on which Medicare, the federal health care program for people age 65 and older and for younger people with certain disabilities, spends the most money each year.

But Medicare doesn’t cover Ozempic for weight loss — only for diabetes. Nor does Medicare cover Wegovy, a weight loss drug that uses the same active ingredient as Ozempic.

In fact, Medicare doesn’t cover any prescription drugs for weight loss. And because of legal barriers and cost concerns, that might not change any time soon.

Here’s what to know about Medicare coverage of Ozempic and other weight loss drugs.

What is Ozempic?

Ozempic is a brand name for semaglutide, a prescription medication manufactured and sold by Novo Nordisk. As an injection, it can help control blood sugar in people with Type 2 diabetes.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Ozempic to treat Type 2 diabetes in December 2017. Currently, there isn’t a generic version of the drug, and there might not be for some time — Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic patents expire as late as December 2031, according to data from the FDA.

In June 2021, the FDA approved a semaglutide product for another purpose: weight loss. Novo Nordisk sells semaglutide for weight loss under the brand name, Wegovy.

Medicare covers Ozempic for Type 2 diabetes

Medicare prescription drug plans might cover Ozempic, but only to treat diabetes. In 2021, Medicare spent over $2.6 billion to cover Ozempic prescriptions. Because it’s an outpatient prescription drug, Ozempic falls under Medicare Part D. Original Medicare (Part A and/or Part B) won’t cover it.

Ozempic is No. 10 for the highest total Medicare Part D spending in 2021, according to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). About 459,000 Medicare beneficiaries were covered for Ozempic in 2021, according to CMS data.

If you have Original Medicare, you can buy a stand-alone Medicare Part D plan to get prescription drug coverage. If you have Medicare Advantage, most plans include prescription drug coverage. With Medicare Advantage, you cannot buy a separate Part D plan.

You’ll need to check your plan’s formulary to confirm if and how the plan covers Ozempic.

Medicare doesn’t cover Ozempic (or Wegovy) for weight loss

Over 40% of U.S. adults age 60 and older are considered obese, according to 2017-2020 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Despite the prevalence of obesity among older adults, Medicare won’t cover weight loss drugs, including Wegovy. Medicare Part D plans are prohibited from covering drugs “used for anorexia, weight loss or weight gain (even if used for a non-cosmetic purpose (i.e., morbid obesity)),” according to the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Manual.

That means unless you have another source of coverage, you’d need to pay out of pocket for a semaglutide prescription for weight loss, whether it’s branded Ozempic or Wegovy.

What you’d pay out of pocket for Ozempic or Wegovy

Novo Nordisk’s list price for Ozempic is $935.77 per four weekly doses. For a full year, that would be nearly $12,200.

The list price for Wegovy is $1,349.02 per four weekly doses. For a full year, that would be slightly more than $17,500.

Because Ozempic and Wegovy are still under patent protection, there’s no option to buy a cheaper generic version.

Covering weight loss drugs would be costly for Medicare

Policy change would be required for Medicare to start covering weight loss drugs. Legislation to allow coverage has been introduced in each of the past six congressional terms but never passed.

The high costs of weight loss drugs might be one barrier to change. For example, if 10% of Medicare beneficiaries with obesity took Wegovy, it would cost Medicare Part D about $26.8 billion per year, according to estimates published by researchers at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and the University of Chicago Department of Medicine in the New England Journal of Medicine in March 2023.

For reference, the prescription drug with the highest total Medicare Part D spending is Eliquis, an anti-stroke drug. Total Medicare Part D spending for Eliquis was nearly $12.6 billion in 2021, according to the most recent annual data available from CMS.

The estimated $26.8 billion to cover Wegovy would be more than twice that amount, or about one-eighth of the approximately $216 billion spent for all covered Medicare Part D drugs in 2021.

More From NerdWallet

As graduation began for Warhill High School’s Class of 2023, several students searched the sea of people in the audience for the familiar faces of friends and family.

The Warhill choir and orchestra performed the song “You Will Be Found,” and the band played “Sine Nomine.”

Student speaker Elijah Ruben Dominguez told his fellow classmates that the sky was never the limit.

Nothing can deter this graduating class from achieving success, said Dominguez, who compared the nervous excitement of navigating the high school experience at Warhill to a roller coaster on fire with no seatbelts.

“Hats off to us, because we deserve to be here,” Dominguez said.

Warhill Principal Michele Newcomb announced Arvin Xander De Guzman Picardo as Warhill High School’s valedictorian and Xavier Eugene Wills as salutatorian. In total, 308 graduates received diplomas. Over $4.6 million in scholarship money was given to 60 graduating Warhill students.

In his speech, “There is an ‘I’ in Team,” Picardo explained that the “I” in team stands for “individual.”

Although high school is filled with collaboration and teamwork, Picardo said, it’s also about personal experiences.

“In order to truly thrive, you must not only build strong relationships with others,” he said, “but hold strong to your own self, ideas and goals.”

Picardo then urged his fellow graduates to remember the people who helped them get to where they are today, but also keep in mind that each step taken in life is their own.

Standing on stage and looking out at the graduating Class of 2023, Newcomb praised Warhill students for continuing to move forward, even in the face of obstacles and challenges.

“Setbacks are not failures,” Newcomb said, “but stepping stones on the path to success.”

Newcomb also said true success is measured by the character and values that one demonstrates in life. She urged Warhill graduates to carry their empathy forward and use it to bridge gaps and break down barriers in life.

Evelyn Davidson, [email protected]

Police in Newport News have arrested a man in connection with a deadly shooting in April.

On April 29, police responded to the intersection of 17th Street and Terminal Avenue at 2:15 a.m. and found Larry Leroy Wallace, 40, of Newport News, with gunshot wounds. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:50 a.m.

Dontreal Mattocks, 38, of Newport News, has been charged with second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a violent convicted felon. Police say he was arrested June 9, and details about what may have led to the shooting have not been released.

Chick N Roll has opened its second location, in Chesapeake.

It serves Korean fried chicken wings and chicken bites, sandwiches and wraps. It also has a beef bulgogi panini and a burrito wrap. Specialty coffee drinks, lemonades and milk teas are also available.

There’s one thing missing from the menu: sushi rolls. This Chick N Roll, which opened last month, doesn’t sell them because another establishment in the same strip mall does. The Portsmouth site still has them.

But don’t chicken out from visiting; this place is cozy and offers fantastic poultry.

The floor-to-ceiling windows bring in enough light to make the matte black chairs, tables and walls look bright and modern. The light bulbs dangling from the ceiling have a warm glow, providing comfort for people dining in.

The restaurant has two kiosks for customers to place orders; they sit on a gray and white counter in the back. Staff can assist if something goes wrong or can ring up the order at the register.

Hyon LeRoy, who owns Chick N Roll with Alex Joo, said the chicken is marinated for 24 hours and cooked fresh daily.

That must be the secret to the spicy and regular soy garlic chicken wings; they’re delicious. The skin is crispy but not fried hard. The sweet, savory and sometimes spicy flavor is succulent and leaves the fingers sticky.

The katsu chicken sandwich is tasty and crunchy, too. It’s thick and juicy breast meat with Japanese style demi-glace sauce on a kaiser bun, topped with pickles, cabbage, red onions and American cheese.

Clucking good.

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If you go

Chick N Roll, 1426 N. Battlefield Blvd., Chesapeake

757-410-3025

facebook.com/chicknrollva

Rekaya Gibson, [email protected], 757-295-8809, on Twitter @gibsonrekaya

A teacher for Williamsburg-James City Schools is one of four winners in the state-wide “Thank a Teacher” campaign sponsored by the Virginia Lottery.

Amy M. Hertzler, a German teacher at Berkeley Middle School, won a $2,500 Virginia-themed vacation — either a winery and brewery vacation or a health and wellness vacation — along with a gift card for either luggage or technology. Her school will receive $2,500 in supplies.

During Teacher Appreciation Week in May this year, thousands of Virginia educators received thank you notes from their students. With each thank you, teachers could enter for a chance to be a grand prize winner. The winners’ names were drawn from nearly 7,000 entries.

Hertzler said getting thank you notes “reminds me why I am teaching.”

“When students write to me, thanking me, it is incredibly kind and makes me very happy,” she said . “Often the notes make me tear up; they are so sweet.”

The German teacher explained she tries “to make learning German fun and the students do say that they enjoy it. German has a reputation of being difficult, but the students do say that they enjoy it … I’m really excited that Berkeley Middle will get extra money for supplies” thanks to her selection.

All Virginia Lottery profits go to K-12 public education in Virginia. In fiscal year 2022, the lottery raised more than $779 million in profits, which made up about 10% of Virginia’s total K-12 school budget, a news release said.

The teacher campaign, also co-sponsored by The Supply Room, IGT and NeoPollard Interactive, has recognized 14 educators across the state in the past seven years. Hertzler was recognized June 7.

Panagiotis Tsigaridas, Berkeley’s principal, called Hertzler “a gem and a prime example of a top-notch teacher.”

She is “a valuable asset to Berkeley Middle and WJCC Schools, and she is a wonderful human being,” Tsigaridas said. “She is building an inclusive German program, and she is preparing students for the high school level.”

Wilford Kale, [email protected]

COLLEGE BASEBALL

Virginia will open play in the College World Series against Florida at 7 p.m. Friday, which is the tournament’s opening day.

ESPN will televise the contest.

The Gators (50-15) are the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, while the Cavaliers (50-13) are the No. 7 seed.

TCU will take on Oral Roberts in the tournament’s first game at 2 p.m. Friday.

The Cavaliers’ second game in the double-elimination tournament will be Sunday.

Three UVA players are all-region

Three Virginia players — catcher Kyle Teel, third baseman Jake Gelof and shortstop Griff O’Ferrall — each made the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region first team.

William & Mary third baseman Ben Williamson and Virginia Tech outfielder Jack Hurley were on the second team.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Maury’s Floyd commits to Duke

Maury football defensive back/wideout Da’Vontae Floyd has committed to Duke, he announced on social media.

The 5-11, 170-pounder was a first-team all-state selection as a defensive back the past two seasons.

A three-star recruit according to 247Sports, he also had 31 receptions for 489 yards and eight touchdowns last season.

Floyd was also considering East Carolina, Liberty and Appalachian State among other schools.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

ODU adds Bulgarian player

Old Dominion has signed Ivana Nikolova, a 6-2 guard/forward from Bulgaria.

Nikolova played at Chipola College in Marianna, Florida, last season, averaging 8.4 points in 23 games. She made eight starts and scored in double figures eight times.

She also played for Bulgaria’s U-16, U-18 and U-20 national teams at the FIBA European Championships. She averaged 25.8 points and 14.4 rebounds at the U-18 Games and won a gold medal with the U-20 team.

Briefly

* Christopher Newport finished a program-best seventh in the annual LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup standings with 902.5 points. The annual survey is used to determine the top collegiate athletic programs in the country. Six CNU teams made deep postseason runs, including the national champion men’s basketball team and the NCAA runner-up women’s basketball team.