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It's 5.06 and welcome in to a Tuesday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you.
Well, we are continuing our coverage of major meetings taking place in western North Carolina as the world's finance ministers have been gathering in Asheville over the last couple of days for a G20 meeting.
However, one of the most consequential issues on U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson's agenda is not simply economic growth, it is the ongoing war with Iran. The G20 or the Group of 20 is an international forum that brings together the world's major advanced and emerging economies to discuss and coordinate economic policy. Its participants represent about 85% of the global GDP and two-thirds of the world's population, according to its website. The G twenty was established back in 1999 in response to financial crises with the goal of promoting international financial stability.
The Treasury Secretary Invesant is using the gathering to press other countries to cut financial ties with Iran as the Trump administration escalates its economic campaign against Tehran. The meeting also comes as the administration pushes a broader growth agenda centered on energy, manufacturing, technology, artificial intelligence as well as debt and financial regulation. For Western North Carolina, as we have talked about, the international meeting also provides a high profile showcase less than two years after Hurricane Helene impacted communities across the region.
Now that we are in the month of September, we will be approaching that two year mark coming up here very soon. The Treasury Secretary announced the new Iranian campaign called Operation Economic Outcast back on August the 24th, just days ahead of the meetings in western North Carolina. He described it as an effort to cut off the financial networks that allow Iran to generate revenue, evade sanctions and support its military and security apparatuses. According to the Treasury Secretary during the announcement on the 24th, he said, in the Second World War, D-Day marked the historic beginning of a campaign with our allies to target and drive the enemy from its positions, including those in third world countries. In that same spirit, we are launching an economic onslaught against Iran's financial connections around the globe.
The objective, he says, is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone on the international stage. This announcement is particularly significant as the Treasury Secretary and other high-ranking U.S. officials have been meeting with foreign counterparts in Asheville over the last couple of days. The G20 meetings kicking off on Saturday. They are expected to wrap up throughout the day today.
The Secretary says that the operation targets financial channels and other networks that the Iranian government uses to move money internationally. The department said that the campaign includes increased sanction risks involving things like digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping. Bessett also warned that foreign financial institutions that continue to facilitate Iranian transactions could jeopardize their access to U.S. financial systems, telling the group in a press release, any entity that facilitates money laundering on behalf of Iran will be removed from the U.S. dollar system, the clock just started ticking.
The Treasury Secretary also said that the United States was allowing other countries to change course before facing additional penalties, saying in part, We believe that it is important to level set and give people a cure period, but they should know that we will be moving quickly and that we are very serious. The timing places Iran directly into the financial discussions taking place in Asheville at the Omni Grove Park Inn, where those G20 meetings have been held over the last couple of days. Bessett told reporters that the United States is communicating with foreign governments about what Washington expects them to do while declining to identify all of the countries that are involved or all the countries in which the conversations have taken place. He said, we know who they are, they know who they are, so when the hammer of the United States Treasury's actions falls upon them, they will have nobody to blame but themselves. This is not the first time that world leaders have gathered in Asheville to discuss international relations.
The administration's approach is intended to m to make economic pressure an extension of national security policy. The Treasury Secretary said that the United States wants to prevent Iran from using international financial networks to fund activities that Washington considers threats, including things dealing with their military program, missiles, and, of course, their ongoing program to spin centrifuges and refine uranium. The Treasury's August the 24th actions include sanctions against more than 60 entities, individuals, and vessels connected to the Iranian nuclear and missile technology procurement, cyber operations, and oil revenue. According to the department, the campaign has continued since the initial announcement back just a couple of weeks ago. On august twenty eighth, just ahead of these meetings kicking off in Western North Carolina, the Treasury proposed cutting off the United Arab Emirates' operations of what is called its bank mis Financial institution, which links up portions of the UAE and the United States financial network.
The Treasury said that the bank processed approximately $1.8 billion between January of 2024 and June 2026 for companies that have potential connection to Iranian shadow banking networks. The actions illustrate the kind of financial pressure that the Treasury Secretary is talking about as those meetings continue in Western North Carolina. Iran is only one part of the G20 agenda. The Treasury Secretary said in a news conference on August the 20th that he wants the United States to use its leadership of the G20 to promote economic growth, including energy production, manufacturing, technology, and financial reforms. The broader strategy is important because the countries represented in Asheville account, as I already noted, for about 85% of the world's GDP, a very large share there of the global economy and global economic activity.
Besson has also connected economic growth with America's ability to manage debt. The U.S. national debt recently passed $40 trillion, a milestone that Besson acknowledged in remarks outside the White House, saying in part, the $40 trillion is a big number.
However, he argued that the long-term answer is economic growth combined with efforts to reduce the federal deficit, noting, and we're going to do that. We have to grow our way out of this issue. Besson also said that he and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Voigt have been tasked with developing a financial consolidation plan as the economic discussions come as the administration continues to defend its tariff policies, and questions remain about the effects of tariffs, refunds, and trade disputes on federal revenues and international relationships. Of course, with these meetings taking place in an area in North Carolina that was so heavily hit by Hurricane Helene just two short years ago, the location itself is part of the administration's message. With the Treasury Secretary saying the selection of historic Asheville reflects the Trump administration's commitment to revitalizing and resilience of western North Carolina, which continues to rebuild after the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene.
The meeting brings financial ministers, central bank officials, and other international economic leaders to a region as well as private business leaders. Local officials and tourism leaders have said that the meeting is expected to produce significant spending while giving Asheville international exposure at a time when communities are still rebuilding from Hurricane Helene. The Treasury Secretary himself, a South Carolina native, has also highlighted his personal ties to Western North Carolina. He has a home in Jackson County and grew up visiting areas in and around Polk County, North Carolina. The administration has characterized the Asheville meeting as both an international economic gathering and an opportunity to showcase the resiliency and the area's recovery.
The event also puts Western North Carolina at the center of discussion that could affect everything from international banking and energy prices to manufacturing and technological investments and advancements. The immediate question is whether Besant can pursue other G20 members to align with the United States' campaign against Iran. That may be complicated by competing economic interests as China remains one of Iran's major economic partners, while other countries have significant commercial relationships in large part as it relates to oil and gas with Tehran. Besant has made it clear that he intends to use the leverage of the United States financial system saying, quote, no one is above the reach of U.S. sanctions.
That message is now being delivered. As financial ministers continue to sit down in Asheville as these G20 meetings wrap up in the early part of this week, we are keeping a very close eye as this major international meeting is taking place in Western North Carolina. There will be some other G20 meetings as it relates to technology, as some members of that group and others will be making their way to the Chapel Hill area starting as early as tomorrow for some technology and advancement discussions there within the G20 structure. We are keeping a very close eye on that. Major impacts potentially here for North Carolina.
We have continuing coverage over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Look for the story with the headline: Besant Brings Iran Pressure to Asheville. When life gets busy, it's important to reach for the things that help keep you grounded. Enhance your focus with the new G2 Edge gel pens from Pilot. Designed to help you regulate restless energy, it features a unique laser-textured barrel and tactile sensory zones that help channel fidgety energy directly into productive flow.
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Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT, as we talk about the G20 meetings out in western North Carolina as we approach getting ever closer to the two-year mark of Hurricane Helene and the devastation felt in the western half of North Carolina. FEMA has approved an additional $137 million for recovery and mitigation projects in the western half of our state, pushing federal support for Hurricane Helene above $7.5 billion at this point in time. The latest round, $137 million, covers 114 projects, including $102 million through FEMA's public assistance program for debris removal, infrastructure repairs, and emergency protective measures, and more than $34 million for projects aimed at reducing damage from future events. U.S. Senator Ted Budd, one of our senators here in North Carolina, said that the latest approvals are part of an effort by the Trump administration to accelerate federal reimbursements to communities still rebuilding from Hurricane Helene.
Budd saying in a recent statement: By empowering FEMA to reimburse state and local governments for public assistance projects quickly, President Trump and Secretary Mullen are delivering on their promise to rebuild western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. I am grateful to Administrator Hamilton for his efforts to ensure this funding can restore our communities and tourism industry through Western North Carolina. and that individuals will soon be able to access additional funds under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to help rebuild and relocate their damaged properties. The public assistance funding includes $23.4 million for the North Carolina Department of Transportation to repair roads, bridges, and buildings damaged by Hurricane Helene, $16.8 million for the Henderson Affordable Housing Cooperation to repair housing units at the Lincoln Circle and Robinson Terrace properties, and $10 million for North Carolina's Emergency Management Department for debris removal. Other projects receiving funding include $3.9 million for the Mountain Electric Cooperative, $3.3 million for the Asheville Christian Academy, $3.2 million for Avery County, and $3.1 million to repair the Armstrong State Fish Hatchery.
The remaining funding will focus largely on reducing the risk of future flooding from other events in western North Carolina. As FEMA is providing more than $34 million to the state through its hazard mitigation grant program to acquire nearly 80 flood-prone properties in Bunkham, Mecklenburg, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey counties, along with properties in towns of Bellehaven and Bolton. Once purchased, the properties will be converted into permanent open spaces to reduce the risk of future disaster damage, with FEMA saying it is now providing funding for North Carolina to acquire more than 500 properties. FEMA Administrator in Cameron Hamilton said in a statement, this additional funding supports community efforts to restore the critical infrastructure and invest in mitigation projects that will protect North Carolinians from future storms. FEMA's continued commitment in partnership with Senator Budd is to move recovery forward at the pace that North Carolina needs.
The announcement is the latest in a series of major FEMA approvals that have taken place over the summer months. In June, FEMA approved nearly $300 million for roughly 70 North Carolina recovery and mitigation projects, including $129 million for debris removal through the North Carolina Department of Emergency Management and $23 million for NCDOT. At the time, FEMA said that public assistance funding for Helene projects in the state had surpassed $2 billion. Less than a month later, the agency approved an additional $197 million for more than 30 projects, including $162.1 million for North Carolina emergency management and $7.2 million for road and bridge repairs through the North Carolina Department of Transportation. With so many of these federal dollars pouring in, the state has also continued putting money towards recovery.
The state budget that was approved by lawmakers this summer and signed by Governor Josh Stein includes more than $700 million in nonrecurring funding for Helene recovery during the 26-27 fiscal year. The funding covers the state and local share for requirement for federal disaster recovery programs, as well as local government capital needs, volunteer fire departments, housing recovery programs, private road and bridge repairs, temporary relocation assistance, and other rebuilding efforts in the western half of North Carolina. The latest FEMA funding comes as North Carolina continues to seek additional federal support for more long-term recovery. Governor Stein asked Congress in June for more than $10 billion in additional Haleen recovery funding from housing to infrastructure to water systems and other unmet needs.
However, Congress has not set a timeline for acting on that request. Budd has also pressed Congress for additional funding, saying in June that he would oppose a supplemental spending package that did not include money for Western North Carolina recovery. Bud renewed that push before the Senate appropriations back on July the 21st, saying in part: Nearly two years since Hurricane Helene ravaged our state, debris still clogs waterways. Roads, bridges, and dams require repair or replacement. Homeowners are paying mortgage payments on properties that were wiped away.
Quite simply, the need continues to outweigh what the state and local communities can bear. In April, officials estimated that Helene caused roughly $60 billion worth of damage throughout western North Carolina. More than $7 billion to this point in federal funding has been awarded. Although officials told lawmakers that much of the money remained tied up in the federal approval process or restricted to particular programs, as we get ready to approach the two-year mark of Hurricane Helene here in the month of September, we will continue to track the federal and state dollars that continue to pour into western North Carolina to continue recovery efforts in here in North Carolina. You can read extensive coverage of everything since the day one of Hurricane Helene.
We've got that coverage over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Our most recent story has the headline, FEMA approves in a Additional $137 million for Halle recovery. When life gets busy, it's important to reach for the things that help keep you grounded. Enhance your focus with the new G2 Edge gel pens from Pilot. Designed to help you regulate restless energy, it features a unique laser-textured barrel and tactile sensory zones that help channel fidgety energy directly into productive flow.
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If you know, you Verbo. It's 5.38. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9F. I'm WBT. I'm Nick Craig.
A good Tuesday morning to you. Just last week here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, we introduced our audience to the prediction markets that have grown across the United States of America, Polymarket and Calci. You've probably seen the ads for them on social media, maybe on terrestrial television or radio streaming services. It's become a very hot business here across the United States and in large part the rest of the world. You can bet on everything from sports to what the high temperature is going to be and into politics, which is our topic of discussion here on the Carolina Journal News.
hour we've got some interesting news out of North Carolina's first congressional district to bring us up to date on the latest Andrew Pomerant's CarolinaJournal.com. Andrew, when we chatted last week, one of the big discussions with these prediction markets is insider trading. Lori Buckout, the Republican candidate in North Carolina's first congressional district, has been banned by Calchie for putting a prediction on her own race. Pretty eerie after we just had this conversation last week. What's the latest that you're following out of NC1 in northeastern North Carolina?
Yeah, hey Nick, good morning. I feel like I was predicting the future, right? I mean, just last week, we were talking about the risks associated with these political markets that pop up in terms of insider training, right? How do you stop campaign staff, or in this case, right, elect those actually on the ballot from betting for themselves or even against themselves, right? And luckily, in this case, we had the former there with her betting for herself in this race, but came out Monday morning that she was banned from Caul She for the next three years, was assessed about a $2,600 fine for her bet, but placed around just under $1,000 worth of bets on her own race in favor of herself.
And so Caul She came out and said, you are not allowed to do this. This breaks our terms and conditions, which we talked about a lot last week, right? Where they're trying to be strict about who can actually participate in these predictive markets when there's so much information on a yes-no outcome. And so she went in and bet on herself in this race. And she came out with the statement.
She told us Monday morning that I bet on myself literally. It was a dumb mistake. And as soon as I knew there was an issue, I worked to make it right. Safe to say my career as a Kalashi trader was short-lived. And so I think she takes full responsibility for her actions here.
Like I said, it's only a small sum of money that she ended up betting on the entire market.
So not too much harm done here, but just another example of kind of the risk associated with these predictive markets. You know, and we talked about insider trading last week, and we've seen this, Andrew, in professional sports over the decades, where individuals, whether it's managers of teams or high-profile players, are not necessarily betting against themselves, but could very easily be throwing a line on a number of free throws or a variety of other things as it relates to professional sports. We've seen people literally go to federal prison for some of this stuff. It is interesting in this case, going to the statement from Lori Buchout, she puts about $1,000 on herself to win the race, which presumably she would want to do, as she and her team have dedicated a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of effort to flip that NC1 seat. It's kind of interesting.
I could see if she had bet against herself in the race. You might say, oh, you're throwing it, and so you win that money. But when you're betting against or betting for yourself or predicting that you're going to win, it's kind of that interesting line between insider trading. And as she noted, putting money back on yourself that you're going to run a good campaign and win.
Well, and it's only $1,000, right?
So, I mean, if you thought you were going to throw this race in a particular manner, you know, you wouldn't do it to win $300 or $400, right? And so I think, you know, it's really important to keep in note the size and scale of this bet was not something that, you know, would force her life-changing money necessarily, right, to determine the election outcome. But at the same time, right, we talk about internal polling all the time with campaigns. We talk about fundraisers and potential money that she may be aware her campaign will be receiving over the next couple months that could be coming in. And so things like that that are not public knowledge are the things that call she really looks through and says, you know, because of those type of sider information, you can't do this as a candidate or even as a campaign manager or a campaign official.
And Don Davis came out with a statement Monday afternoon. And kind of, you know, really reiterated this point. He called it disqualifying, breach of public trust. You know, this is a coalition, he said, of Democrats, Republicans, and depends who put Eastern North Carolina first, and this is not an action that did so. And so condemnment from him on this topic of her taking this step forward.
And, you know, I think it'll be interesting to see how she responds going forward and the criticism she receives for doing so. You know, well, every mentioned, not a large sum, you know, betting for herself, not against herself, but still, you know, something that does not scream transparency in a time where she is in a really competitive seat that if Republicans want to hold the House come November is really important to their numbers. Yeah, no question about that. We'll, of course, be keeping a very close eye on that congressional race in northeastern North Carolina. Andrew, the impetus of our story last week over at CarolinaJournal.com is that part of the state budget actually puts North Carolina first in the nation as it relates to dealing with some of these prediction markets across the United States.
Can you walk us through some of those details as to what North Carolina is the first in? Yeah, so we are the first state in our state budget to regulate and tax predictive markets, right?
So about three years ago, we implemented sports betting here in the state of North Carolina. Those carry about a 18 to 23 percent tax on those activities. And so a large tax base there. This year in this budget, we added this predictive markets line and we really brought that down to a 6% tax rate. It's based on net fees, not net revenues, which are about 1% of all bets that Caul Sheet collects.
And so a small revenue portion for the state and funds that will come in forms of a tax revenue. But a lot of people have raised concerns about this because it is so much lower. We talk about on these predictive markets, you can still bet on sports. You can still bet on the outcomes of games or money, different lines, what the spread is. Apologize to the NC State fans this week who had to go through that this weekend as a farmer of Virginia.
But I bet on the Virginia game, right? And so you can still bet on. on sports on these markets. And so the question really raises, what is the difference between sports books and Caul Shi? And Caul She would tell you that their revenue is from collecting those fees and not necessarily whether betters win or lose.
And so That prompted that lower tax rate, something that we saw got a lot of criticism in the state budget. But as North Carolina becomes the first state to do this, you know, Colstre said. Other states can look to North Carolina as a model about how to regulate this as this market continues to grow going forward. And it is important to note that a lot of the regulation as it relates to this insider trading discussion, Andrew, which I suspect is probably going to be a lot of the debate that takes place in a variety of state legislatures over the next couple of years. The state of North Carolina itself is not involved in that process.
As I understand it, as you told us last week, the folks over at Calci, they've got a large team of people that are looking at transactions, looking at the timing of transactions, the dollar amounts, and the potential conflict of interest that could exist in a variety of these prediction markets. Yeah, they told me that they are looking at a number of data points when it comes to determining insider trading and how this is done, right? And this is all regulated by the federal regulations, whether that be the FTCC or some of the NASDAQ regulations on predictive market trading, which is just swaps, acts more like stocks, right?
So they are regulated under those stock market conditions. But yes, they do a number of things, including looking at campaign donations, looking at campaign staff, looking at times of bets, like you mentioned, looking at odds as they go. And they noted that the system is not perfect. There are going to be cases like this that slip through and take a while to identify. But then there are also cases like this where it took them just a couple of weeks from when that bet was placed to have this punishment be handed down.
They mentioned in their release that Lori Buchout was open to this investigation. She worked with them to come to this conclusion and she accepted their findings. And so in this case, I think it highlights that they do have this type of system. In place that is designed to regulate and make sure that this doesn't happen going forward. And it's important to note, Andrew, that we have seen some other candidates not here in North Carolina over the last couple of months that have found themselves in similar situations in a variety of races across the country, same situation.
They say, hey, I'm standing up here. I'm going to run for this political office, win, lose, or draw. They put money on themselves, and there's been similar penalties and restrictions put in place by Calche. Yeah, a number of elected officials over the past, you know, just six months now have been found guilty of doing this. And today, with the indictment of Laura Buckhout and this finding by Caul Shi, former Congressman George Soros also, or sorry, yeah, George Sora was also banned for life on Caulchy, you know, saying that he was had been abusing the system in the past.
And so a number of these cases will continue to be handed out. I assume we will begin to see, you know, candidates who may are not elected officials, you know, being held to this standard and maybe betting on themselves in manners that are found to be against these regulations. And so, you know, as we continue to move forward, it'll be interesting to see if Congress passes some sort of regulations on what their members can do and take a formal stance on this. I know groups across North Carolina are already talking about that in the legislature. And the governor came out earlier this year and said, you know, state employees are not allowed to.
Bet in these predictive markets on a lot of these different topics. And so it'll be curious to continue to see how Congress handles this and how this issue moves forward.
Well, and Andrew, let's close on this because I think that's the real interesting point here and where myself and I would assume a lot of other people are hearing this news. Let's go to the regulation here in North Carolina or the dictation there from Governor Stein. If you are a state government employee, you're not supposed to be using these markets if you have what is deemed insider information. I think that's where my big holdup is, is what is truly considered insider information when you're looking at some of these races? Because you work for state government, does that mean you inherently have access to this inside information?
If it's something that you're not necessarily involved in, that's where things are a little blurry for me. Yeah, Nick, and I think it's a blur for a lot of individuals, right? I think that's a conversation that across the state and really across the country will continue to have. You know, there's not a really great answer at this point. You know, as we get into these markets that are new, betting on elections, betting on the weather, right?
Betting on, you know, we heard stories abroad where people go and breathe on temperature gauges to try to raise the temperature in that manner, right?
So we start to begin to have these conversations that are going to be really complicated. And, you know, the difference between current stock markets and swap markets is that this information is much clearer there, right? You have information on the company, up, down, left, right. In these cases, you can have a lot of different pieces of information. And just because you are well educated doesn't mean it's insider information, right?
Just because you follow North Carolina politics on Twitter does not mean that you are now trading on insider information. But also, if you have some information that was designed for a close circle of individuals and you trade on that, now is that You know, does that become insider information because of maybe your relationship with the state government or state employees? And so I think an issue we continue to see that we continue to have to work through. You know, the state of North Carolina, the way they have it regulated in the state budget, passes a lot of that responsibility back to the federal government to say, hey, this is on you, this is on you, Caul Shi and Polymarket. to regulate these in your market, you are being punished if you don't do so just by loss of revenues, right, and paying out these large sums.
And so I think something North Carolina will continue to punt on and look to the federal government. But an interesting conversation, I think, for legal scholars and politicos across the country that we'll continue to have to have. Yep, it's going to be a fascinating one. We will keep a very close eye on this as we approach the November midterm election. You can read more coverage initially on Andrew's story about these predictive markets and what's going on there.
And then this big news with Lori Buckout, the Republican in North Carolina's first congressional district getting popped by Calci, placing a bet on herself to win that congressional race. All those details over on our website this morning. CarolinaJournal.com. We appreciate the update. Andrew Pomerance joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
Uh Good morning again. It's 5:56. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM, WBT. You may be seeing some news floating around social media indicating that the North Carolina General Assembly is slated to take up votes tomorrow. That is Wednesday, September the 2nd.
However, due to their House calendar, there is going to be a skeleton session in both the North Carolina House and Senate. We have it on very good authority here at the Carolina Journal News Hour and over at CarolinaJournal.com that no votes will be taking place in the legislature until lawmakers reconvene after the November midterm election. We'll be keeping a close eye on that short session coming up here in just a couple of months over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. That's going to do it for a Tuesday edition. WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning BT.
We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk, 107.9 FM, WBT. When life gets busy, it's important to reach for the things that help keep you grounded. Enhance your focus with the new G2 Edge gel pens from Pilot. Designed to help you regulate restless energy, it features a unique laser-textured barrel and tactile sensory zones that help channel fidgety energy directly into productive flow. Keep your mind calm and your daily routines organized.
Find G2Edge at Walmart today. G2 Edge, sensory by design.
