After rumors swirling for weeks, the Walt Disney Company announced Tuesday they're intending to lay off 28,000 workers at both Disneyland Resort in Anaheim and Walt Disney World in Orlando, due to the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing requirements, said in a statement.
Crash Course:
Disney closed its theme parks in March to slow the spread if the Coronavirus, Walt Disney World in Florida was able to open, but under limited capacity due to social distancing requirements and Disneyland Resort has remained closed. Chairman of Disney Parks, Josh D'Amaro, partially blames Sacramento saying, California's "unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen – we have made the very difficult decision to begin the process of reducing our workforce at our Parks."
Of the 28,000 employees set to be affected, about 67% are part-time workers.
Disney employs more than 100,000 at its U.S. theme parks — 32,000 at Disneyland and 77,000 at Disney World, per the OC Register.
Shares of the company fell less than 2% after the closing bell on Tuesday.
Disney also announced the postponement of the D23 Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center until 2022.
What they're saying:
Chairman of Disney Parks, Josh D'Amaro, wrote, "Over the past several months, we've been forced to make a number of necessary adjustments to our business, and as difficult as this decision is today, we believe that the steps we are taking will enable us to emerge a more effective and efficient operation when we return to normal."
Former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Bidne, released their joint 2019 tax returns.
Why it matters:
The Biden campaign's planned release comes days after the bombshell New York Times report that detailed President Trump's tax avoidance and hours before tonight's presidential debate in Cleveland.
Takeaways from Biden's 2019 tax return:
The Biden's reported a taxable income of $944,737 and paid $299,346 in federal taxes in 2019
The Biden's also paid $288,000 in personal income taxes, according to financial disclosure forms published n the campaign's website.
Joe Biden lists occupation as an "executive," and Dr. Jill Biden listed her profession as a "teacher."
Takeaways from Sen. Harris' 2019 tax returns:
Senator Kamala Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, jointly reported an income of $3,018,127 for last year.
Harris and Emhoff paid federal income taxes of $1,185,628.
Harris released 15 years' worth of income tax during the democratic presidential primaries, per Politico.
The Bidens' tax returns:
Kamala Harris 2019 tax returns:
In a bombshell report by the New York Times, they reveal a radically different image of President Trump as a fledgling businessman with a habitual avoidance to paying taxes, personal business dealings that are hemorrhaging cash, and as a debtor who owns hundreds of millions of dollars.
Here are the takeaways:
One startling discovery is before ascending to the presidency, Mr.Trump "paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years — largely because he reported losing much more money than he made," The Times wrote.
The Times alleges that President Trump only paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and another $750 in 2017. And, Trump has technically paid more in taxes to foreign governments than to the US.
Trump made $427.4 million from his time at "The Apprentice," from licensing and endorsement deals, then spent most of his earnings on a "collection of businesses, mostly golf courses, that in the years since have steadily devoured cash."
To lower his tax liabilities, Mr.Trump hires family members as consultants. When the Times cross-checked documents, they found that Ivanka Trump was receiving "consultants' fee."
Within 2010 and 2018, "Mr. Trump wrote off some $26 million in unexplained "consulting fees" as a business expense across nearly all of his projects."
Trump is personally responsible for loans and debts totaling $421 million, nearly all due within the next four years. "Should he win re-election, his lenders could be placed in the unprecedented position of weighing whether to foreclose on a sitting president."
Another revelation from the article is that President Trump is in a legal fight with the IRS over a $72.9 million tax refund that he received in 2010; if Trump loses the case, he could pay up to $100 million.
What they're saying: