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Groton Daily Independent
Friday, Oct. 27, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 110 ~ 35 of 48
is successful in getting at least a modest tax cut measure through Congress, growth in 2018 could ac- celerate to 2.5 percent. But he said continued increases in interest rates by the Federal Reserve will likely trim growth to just 1.5 percent in 2019.
Harvey made initial landfall in Texas on Aug. 25, and Irma hit Florida on Sept. 10. The government said while various activities from oil and gas re neries in Texas to farming in Florida were affected, it could not break out an estimate of how much the hurricanes had decreased growth.
However, private economists have estimated that the storms sapped anywhere from one-half percent- age point to 1 percentage point from growth. Analysts believe much of the lost output will recover as rebuilding begins.
The 3 percent growth rate for third quarter GDP and the 3.1 percent increase in the second quarter followed a much weaker 1.2 percent increase in the rst quarter.
In the third quarter, consumer spending slowed slightly to 2.4 percent from a sizzling 3.3 percent in the second quarter. The slowdown was offset to some extent by a strong 8.6 percent gain in business invest- ment in equipment and an increase in business rebuilding of inventories, which added 0.7 percentage point to third quarter growth.
Other areas of the report showed weakness. Government spending fell for a third straight quarter, drop- ping 0.1 percent. Residential construction fell at a 6 percent rate following a 7.3 percent rate of decline in the second quarter. But trade added 0.4 percentage point to growth as exports grew at a 2.3 percent rate while imports fell 0.8 percent.
Many analysts believe growth in the current quarter will come in around 2.7 percent.
The House on Thursday gave approval to a Republican-proposed budget that would provide for $1.5 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade. Administration of cials have said the tax cuts will spur faster growth and the faster growth will erase much of the cost of the tax cuts. Democrats and many private economists have challenged that forecast.
AP Interview: SEAL wants Bergdahl dishonorably discharged By JONATHAN DREW, Associated Press
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — Former Navy SEAL James Hatch, whose career as a commando ended when he was shot while searching for Bowe Bergdahl, said his feelings toward the Army sergeant have gone from “I would like to kill him” to thanking the soldier’s lead attorney for working so hard to defend him.
Hatch, who testi ed this week at Bergdahl’s sentencing hearing on charges he endangered comrades by leaving his post in Afghanistan in 2009, has had eight years to think about the nighttime raid that ended with insurgent AK-47 spray ripping through his leg.
Sent home, he sank into a depression he nearly didn’t survive. Through therapy, charity work with dogs and a cathartic book-writing process, his thinking has evolved on more than a few things — including Bergdahl’s fate.
In an interview with The Associated Press, the retired senior chief petty of cer said he’s still angry at Bergdahl but doesn’t envy the military judge who must decide his punishment after sentencing resumes Monday.
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FROM RAGE TO PEACE
“It has gone from ‘I would like to kill him’ to ‘he should go to jail forever,’ to where I’m at now, which is
far more peaceful. Having spoken to others who are aware of more of the details of his walking off, and his treatment once he was captured, I am very happy that I do not have to choose what happens to him,” Hatch said.
Still, he said, it’s important that Bergdahl not receive an honorable discharge.
“The most important thing to me personally is that I would hope that he would be dishonorably dis- charged, and therefore ineligible for the bene ts that veterans that have served with honor are eligible for,” Hatch said.