Cockroaches, Rats and Mice: These Are the Country’s Most Infested Cities
New York really is the most infested city in the country, at least according to a Bloomberg analysis of Census Bureau data on cockroach, mouse and rat sightings.
The Big Apple doesn’t lead in any of those individual categories. Homes in Tampa, Fla., have the most roaches, and those in Seattle may have the most rats. Philadelphia houses had the most mouse sightings in the country. But when Bloomberg combined all three categories, New York came out with the highest cumulative score.
Perhaps surprising given the economic state of the city, Detroit residents were the least likely to report seeing a mouse, rat or roach.
Related: The Top 9 Summer Insects to Avoid and How
The data covered only 25 metro areas, so some large cities like Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco don’t appear on the list.
Roaches appear to enjoy nice weather. Nearly 40 percent of homes in Tampa had evidence in roaches in the past year, followed by Houston and Austin. Cities with the fewest roach sightings were Seattle, Minneapolis and Detroit.
Mice, on the other, hand, seem to prefer the northeast. Nearly 20 percent of Philly homes had evidence of mice, followed by Baltimore and Boston. Tampa, Jacksonville, and Las Vegas had the lowest percentage of mouse sightings.
More than 20 percent of homes in Seattle and Austin had rats, with Miami rounding out the top three. Richmond, Va., Hartford, Conn., and Minneapolis had the lowest level of rat sightings.
All those vermin lead to big business. Last year, the U.S. pest control industry generated nearly $7.5 billion in revenue, a 3.5 percent increase year-over-year.
Bloomberg reported that the data also showed a difference in infestation levels of homes with families living below the poverty line and minority families, which were more likely to report evidence of rats and roaches.
Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
- Cecil the Lion Gives Voice to a Growing List of Illegal Slaughters
- How the Media and You Are Misled by False Data
- America’s 10 Top Selling Medications
Trump and Schumer Will Try to Scrap the Debt Ceiling
The president and the Senate Democratic leader agreed to seek out a more permanent debt ceiling solution that would end the perpetual cycle of fiscal standoffs. “There are a lot of good reasons to do that, so certainly that’s something that will be discussed," Trump said Thursday. It might not be easy, though, as conservatives see the borrowing limit as a way to keep government spending in check. Paul Ryan said Thursday he opposes doing away with the debt ceiling.
Is a Fix for Obamacare Taking Shape?
Senators on the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions heard from governors Thursday in the second of four scheduled hearings on stabilizing Obamacare. The common theme emerging from the testimony was flexibility: "Returning control to the states is prudent policy but also prudent politics," said Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican. He was joined by Democrat John Hickenlooper of Colorado, who said that states need room to innovate and learn from their mistakes. Much of what the governors said was in line with what the Senate panel is already considering, including the continuation of cost-sharing subsidies to insurance companies. (CBS News, Axios)
Senate Approves Trump's Deal with Dems. Will the House Go Along?
The Senate on Thursday voted to fund the government and increase the federal borrowing limit through December 8 as part of a deal that also included $15.25 billion in hurricane disaster relief funding and a short-term extension of the National Flood Insurance Program. The bill passed by a vote of 80-to-17, with only Republicans voting against the bill.
The package now goes back to the House, where it likely faces more strenuous resistance. The Republican Study Committee, a conservative caucus with more than 155 members, on Thursday announced it opposed the deal because it does not include spending cuts. Rep. Mark Walker, the group's chairman, sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan listing 19 policy changes to "address the growing debt burden" or "begin draining the swamp" that could win conservative support for raising the debt ceiling. Some Democrats may also vote against the deal to signal their frustration with an agreement that they say weakened their hand in trying to protect undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as children.
White House Backs Off Shutdown Threat…for Now
“Believe me, if we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall,” President Trump said of his planned border wall with Mexico 10 days ago. Just two days later, though, White House officials told Congress that a short-term spending bill to fund the government into December wouldn’t have to include $1.6 billion for the wall, The Washington Post reports.
Trump still wants money for the wall to be included in a December budget bill, and he could follow through on his shutdown threat at that point. For now, though, an agreement on a “continuing resolution” to keep the government running after September 30 seems likelier, allowing Congress to deal with some of the other pressing issues it faces this month.
Which Trump Agenda Items Are Companies Talking About With Wall Street?
Hamilton Place Strategies, a public affairs consulting firm, analyzed transcripts of earnings calls by publicly traded U.S. companies over the last three quarters. They found that tax reform was the policy issue companies discussed most on those calls with Wall Street analysts — but that mentions of the subject dropped by 38 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016 to the second quarter of 2017. Overall, the percentage of earnings calls mentioning government or policy issues fell from 41 percent to 16 percent. Health-care reform saw the largest increase.
Does this mean that businesses have given up on tax reform this year? Perhaps. More likely, it's simply the result of a lack of action on the tax overhaul. Hamilton Place notes that mentions of tax policy peaked in February just after the Senate Finance Committee advanced Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's nomination and have spiked after other tax-related announcements. So mentions of tax reform on earnings calls could surge again the fall.
One other note about what businesses have been discussing: Calls mentioning President Trump fell by 84 percent from January to late August.
08312017_HPS_Chart_of_the_day.PNG
