Tom Donohue, who's led the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for more than two decades, will step down as chief executive in 2022, the trade group announced on Wednesday. In the meantime, Suzanne Clark, the trade group's senior executive vice president, will become its president. "Securing the dynamic leadership of Tom and Suzanne ensures the Chamber can focus on near-term political priorities and long-term sustainability," Tom Wilson of Allstate, the chairman of the Chamber's board of directors, said in a statement. 

Even as he was in the early stages late Tuesday of celebrating an unexpectedly decisive mayoral runoff election victory over challenger Jamie Giellis, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock turned serious when asked if he has major plans for what will be his third and mandatorily last term as the elected head of Colorado's largest city. "We have a plan set for the next four to eight years in the city of Denver that we have got to move on," the mayor said. "You don't want to waste a final term." In fact, Hancock has spent much of the past year putting into place a series of blueprints and wish lists - sometimes to the consternation of his now-former election challengers - that the next four-year term will give him a chance to enact. 

Imagine being charged nearly $50 million a day in taxes. This is exactly what will happen to American businesses and consumers in 2020 if Congress does not act once again to delay the Health Insurance Tax (HIT) this year. The HIT was initially included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA); it is essentially a sales tax on health insurance coverage that would hit employers and consumers with higher premiums. Smartly, Congress has enacted a common sense, bipartisan delay of this tax in recent years. No one should have to worry about getting health care for family members with a preexisting condition. But, it is important to recognize that simply increasing taxes does nothing to improve the overall health care system or address the increasing costs of care. It only adds to the already high cost of care - in this instance, on the backs of employers, families and seniors.