Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some very intriguing stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.
The poll results are in regarding this week’s vice presidential debate, a major box store wants to sell you some platinum, and a federal agency responds to rumors questioning its response to the devastation in North Carolina.
Also, the IRS announced a big change in the way some Americans file their taxes, and there’s good news in last month’s housing numbers if you’re selling a home.
Post VP Debate Poll Results
Four major polls were taken shortly after Tuesday night’s debate, and when the polls were combined, an average of 48 percent favored Vance’s performance, and 46 percent thought Walz did the better job.One particular poll taken by CNN using text messages was nearly split down the middle: 51 percent of the viewers who watched the debate thought that Vance did the better job, while 49 percent of the viewers picked Walz.
Now this is interesting: the people who were polled by CNN before the debate expected Walz to outperform Vance, and 54 percent of these voters thought that Walz held a distinct advantage heading into the discussion.
You should know that a different poll run by DailyMail.com shows that Vance won the debate by a decent margin, and another survey taken by CBS News revealed that each candidate significantly increased their favorability rating following the one and only vice presidential debate.
Yet another poll commissioned by the media organization Politico revealed that voters were heavily split along partisan lines. However, that poll also showed that independent voters chose Walz over Vance when they were asked about debate performance and which candidate is a better fit for the office of vice president.
More than 43 million people watched the debate, according to the Nielsen ratings, making it the highest-rated vice presidential debate since Joe Biden and Sarah Palin squared off in 2008.
Just a reminder, the big election is less than a month away, and in some states, early voting has already begun.
Costco Is Now Selling Platinum Bars: 5 Things You Should Know
This week, Costco began selling the highly valuable metal platinum on its website, adding to the company’s ongoing trade in gold and silver.The retail giant is now selling both Canadian Platinum Maple Leaf coins and Swiss-made platinum bars. The Swiss bars are nearly 100 percent pure, and they feature an image of the Roman goddess of prosperity on them.
You should know that these items weigh 1 ounce each, cost nearly $1,100 apiece, and require a paid Costco membership if you want to make the purchase.
Right now, Costco is limiting its members to one platinum transaction each. They say you can only buy up to five platinum pieces, and you cannot return any of the items once they’ve been purchased.
You should know that Costco first began selling 1-ounce gold bars last year for around $2,000 each, and that ever since then, the company has been earning up to $200 million a month from these particular transactions. Earlier this year, the big box chain began selling silver coins to its members as well.
If you didn’t already know, the market price for platinum has remained steady throughout this year, while the prices for gold and silver have each gone up dramatically.
Last month, Costco executives said that the retail giant’s very low grocery prices are still bringing in customers, but that consumer spending on home goods and furniture has been choppy, hurting sales at the company’s warehouses.
FEMA Issues Warning on False Helene ‘Rumors,’ Launches Response Page
The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says that the agency is not diverting any funds away from its response to the Hurricane Helene disaster in North Carolina in order to help illegal immigrants.FEMA made the comments after a number of online statements questioned whether the agency was running out of money due to efforts made to fly illegal immigrants into other parts of the United States.
Earlier this week, the agency created an online rumor response page to address the issue, and FEMA says that right now it has enough money to immediately help those impacted by the hurricane.
FEMA has also denied another claim that accused the agency of asking for cash donations and turning away volunteers in North Carolina.
Earlier this week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and FEMA should “immediately stop spending money on illegal immigration resettlement and redirect those funds to areas hit by the hurricane.”
You should know that the DHS oversees FEMA, and that recently, Mayorkas said that the agency doesn’t have enough money to make it through the end of this year’s hurricane season.
Sadly, the death toll from Helene is at least 215, making it the deadliest storm to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
24 States Will Adopt the IRS’s Free Filing Program for the 2025 Tax Season
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) say that next year, more than 30 million people in 24 states will be eligible to use a free e-filing service to complete their tax returns.The service is called Direct File, and it’s already being used in a number of states, including California and Florida.
Earlier this week, the IRS announced that the list of eligible states will expand to include Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and more.
The Treasury Department says that the program offers a “free, easy, and secure option” for filing federal taxes, and that it can be used on both a smartphone and a computer. The program also helps integrate with state tax filing systems as well.
The IRS says that over 140,000 taxpayers used the program during its trial phase, and that these people were overwhelmingly positive in their reviews of the program. The Treasury Department also says that Direct File has the potential to save Americans tens of millions of dollars in filing fees.
However, not all taxpayers are eligible for Direct File, and some tax situations are not covered under the program.
You should also know that earlier this year, a group of 13 Republican attorneys general criticized Direct File, saying that the program would harm low-income Americans, and that there are a number of questions regarding how much it will cost.
Nationwide Decline in Pending Home Sales Halts for First Time Since January
Pending home sales transactions stopped declining last month, breaking away from a recent trend.You should know that a pending sale is logged when a contract for buying a home has been signed, but the transaction hasn’t closed yet.
The real estate brokerage firm Redfin says that last month, pending U.S. home sales did not go down from the same period a year earlier, and that this is the first time that’s happened since January.
Redfin also says that pending sales increased year over year in over half of the 50 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas, which is also the highest number since January.
In a report released earlier this week, Redfin also noted that even though home buying demand is beginning to improve, pending sales still remain far below pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.
Redfin also points out numbers indicate that buyer interest is rising and mortgage applications are on the way up, and the agency says that a drop in housing costs is the reason why.
Now this is really interesting. The typical homebuyer’s mortgage payment has decreased following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s move to cut its benchmark interest rates last month.
Redfin says that these declining mortgage rates are encouraging property owners to sell their homes as well.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Saturday edition, the weekend edition, of The Epoch Times News Brief.
*(Don’t forget the News Brief Motto): We’re portable, affordable, and always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from British entrepreneur and adventurer Richard Branson, who said: “Fun is one of the most important—and underrated—ingredients in any successful venture. If you’re not having fun, then it’s probably time to call it quits and try something else.”
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program was written today by David Ross.
Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased daily synopsis of many of the news stories you need to know about.
Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here next time for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, let’s all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
