Veep Debate Day

Jimmy Carter, 39^th president of the United States, celebrates his 100^th birthday Tuesday.

MONDAY 10/1/24

It's War -- Iran launched missiles toward Israel about 7:30 pm local time Tuesday, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari confirmed, according to The Hill. Iran's attack came just after the US warned that one was imminent.

•••

Israel’s Incursion – It’s not all-out war in Southern Lebanon yet, as the Israeli military pushed its ground incursion there to target Hezbollah militants that it says pose an immediate threat to Northern Israeli communities, NPR’s Morning Edition reports.

Meanwhile … The US has expressed support for Israel’s “limited operation” and continued to push for a diplomatic resolution, Haaretz reports. At the same time, Russia has strengthened ties with Hamas, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

While Blinken and the US are determined to prevent all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, some analysts believe it is too late for that, especially because of the positive effect last Friday’s airstrike killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has had on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s popularity among Israelis.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 9/30/24

Friends, Enemies, Interests

By Todd Lassa

America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests. – Henry Kissinger

If Israel is not a permanent “friend” of the United States, it has been a close interest for a very long time, 76 years, and in turn it has been dealing with the same enemies in its region for much of that time.

Last Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations he had intended on staying home where he had a war to fight rather than attend the annual General Assembly, but “after I heard the lies and slanders leveled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight. I have decided to come here to speak for my people. …

“The truth is, Israel seeks peace. Israel yearns for peace. Israel has made peace and will make peace again,” he continued. Shortly after, the Israeli Defense Force began dropping bombs on Lebanon. The next day one of those bombs killed Hassan Nasrallah, feared and much-hated leader since 1992 of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia group backed by Israel’s greatest enemy, Iran.

Nasrallah’s death will not be lamented by anyone who shared that UN podium with Netanyahu. A terrorist in the eyes of Israelis, and not just the hardliners to Netanyahu’s right, Nasrallah wanted every Muslim to join in the struggle to destroy Israel as a nation, according to his obituary in The New York Times. Already, his death at the hand of Israel has boosted Netanyahu’s standing and popularity there, according to NPR’s Morning Edition, which points out that two weeks ago, Hezbollah had a stronger army than Lebanon’s.

Escalation of Israel’s attacks on Southern Lebanon to all-out war is, explicitly, what the Biden administration does not want, as these bombings distract from Israel’s relentless bombing of Gaza. Although Iran is said to prefer to avoid direct conflict with Israel, its leaders have pledged revenge on Nasrallah’s death.

Realpolitik dictates it is not in the Biden administration’s interests to sanction its friend/interest Israel with any meaningful withholding of arms deliveries. Netanyahu knows he will not see change whether the next administration is led by Donald J. Trump or Kamala Harris.

Elsewhere in New York last Friday … Ukraine does not enjoy such a luxury. At Trump Tower Friday, the ex-president, with an uncomfortable-looking President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his side, said if he wins the November 5 election, repeated the campaign pledge that he will quickly negotiate a solution that is “good for both sides.”

Trump spoke to the press at his tower before the two entered a private meeting where the Ukrainian president outlined his plan for ending the war with Russia.

“We have a very good relationship,” Trump continued. “I also have a very good relationship with President Putin, and you know, I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly.”

Zelenskyy tried to assert that Trump’s relationship with Ukraine is better than Trump’s relationship with Russia, but the Republican president let it be known where his interests — his friendships? — lie: “Ah, I see. But it takes two to tango.”

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MONDAY 9/30/24
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Advantage: Intellectual Arteriosclerosis?

By Stephen Macaulay

Right for America, a super PAC backing Donald Trump for president, is running a $37.2-million TV ad buy concentrating on Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona, according to Axios.

A focus of the ads is on how Kamala Harris has changed her views on things, like fracking, since she ran for president for the 2020 election.

The 2020 Harris campaign officially began on January 21, 2019.

The 2020 Harris campaign officially ended on December 3, 2019.

Not much of a campaign.

But here’s the thing: Harris is doing what most of us do when we get additional information about something:

She changed her opinion about it.

Certainly part of her action is predicated on political considerations.

But let’s say it is 50-50: a changed opinion/playing for votes.

Now let’s compare this with Donald Trump who has made claims about things—lots of things—and then simply ignores them when they don’t come to be.

Arguably his most famous has to do with immigration at the southern border.

More specifically, the Wall that not only was he going to build, but that he was going to have Mexico pay for.

The amount of Wall that he built was, well, not much in the grand scheme of things.

And as for the Mexican government putting up even recycled rebar. . .well, that didn’t happen, either.

Unquestionably the number of illegal immigrants from below the southern border was a fraction under Trump than Biden, but it had little to do with the Wall, which was in effect nothing more than a political symbol. (The existing walls and fencing that were there when he took office undoubtedly helped reduce some of the illegal border crossings, but that was something already in place and far more comprehensive than anything than happened under his watch.)

Then there is the issue of tariffs.

Trump announced at a rally in Michigan recently, “Tariffs are the greatest thing ever invented.”

He has long supported tariffs.

Yet economists—pretty much across the political spectrum—realize that tariffs are taxes on consumers.

Trump looks at it as though it some somehow the tariffs are paid for by the exporting country.

Which is simply not the case.

So rather than protecting the consumer or the domestic producers of whatever it is that tariffs are applied to (and apparently, he’d like them to be applied to everything), tariffs simply increase costs at the local cash register.

It sounds good.

But rather than a surefire way to increase economic well being for American citizens, it is a Three Card Monte: no way you can’t pick the queen.

So given all of the information available about the essential ineffectiveness of tariffs, did he change his mind about them?

Of course not.

Does he change his mind about anything, or does he exhibit mental arteriosclerosis?

What’s better: someone with the mental aptitude to change her mind or someone who is set in their ways, something not uncommon for those pushing 80.

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MONDAY 9/30/24
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Write to Us

There’s lots to discuss in the left and right columns, including the House’s apparently popular attempt to keep the federal government solvent past next Monday, September 30. We also are eager to hear from you on …

•The Federal Reserve’s half-point interest rate cut. Is it enough? Too much? Too little? Too late?

•Will Donald J. Trump’s so-far unwavering support of gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson lose the ex-president the state of North Carolina this November?

•How badly will the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ refusal to endorse a presidential candidate hurt the Harris/Walz ticket?

Hit the Comments section in this or the right column, appropriate to your political leanings. Or, email editors@thehustings.newsand please indicate your political leanings in the subject line, so we post them in the appropriate (left or right0 column.

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MON 9/23/24

…meanwhile…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with President Biden at the White House Thursday after Biden announced a new slate of military weapons and $8 billion in additional aid (NYT).

FRIDAY 9/26/24

NYC Mayor Charged – Federal prosecutors have charged New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) with bribery, fraud and campaign finance offenses in what they say was a scheme to solicit illegal contributions from foreign donors, The Wall Street Journal reports.

•••

Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets, separately in Washington with President Biden and with Vice President Kamala Harris Thursday, following his address to the United Nations General Assembly. His “Peace Formula” presented to the General Assembly Wednesday calls for upholding the UN Charter guaranteeing Ukraine’s right to sovereignty, for the withdrawal of Russian occupiers and to hold those responsible for war crimes accountable, prevent “ecocide” and prevent a second and third phase of the Russian invasion.

“If someone in the world seeks alternatives to any of these points or tries to ignore any of them,” Zelenskyy said, “it likely means they themselves want to do a part of what Putin is doing – the point they ignore reveals the desire they are hiding.”

•••

Federal Funding Extended – The House, then the Senate, Wednesday passed a mostly clean extension of current spending levels to December 20, sending the federal budget to President Biden’s desk for spending and sending Congress members home to their campaigns. Roll Call described it as “rapid-fire votes in both chambers” and it extends the budget until after the winner of the November 5 presidential campaign presumably, hopefully, is named.

The House passed the extension, 341-82 under suspension of rules, then the Senate passed it 78-18. Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) called the bill a “straight-forward, bipartisan compromise.”

--TL

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Biden's Final UN Address

WEDNESDAY 9/25/24

‘There is so much more I want to get done,’ President Biden told the United Nations in his final address to its General Assembly, Tuesday.

Biden Out – In his ultimate address to the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, President Biden said the world is better off now than four years ago with a more engaged United States (per Politico). He called on Israel and Hamas to reach a long-negotiated ceasefire agreement.

But that prospect continues to dim as Israel continues its bombing campaign on Hezbollah in Lebanon, where the death toll has topped 560, according to The Associated Press. Israeli forces Wednesday shot down a Hezbollah missile launched over Tel Aviv, NPR reports.

Meanwhile, back in New York … “Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than those pulling us apart, that the principles of partnership that we come here each year to uphold can withstand the challenges, that the center holds once again,” Biden said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the UN General Assembly Wednesday.

•••

Haitian Group Files Charges Against Trump/Vance – The Haitian Bridge Alliance has filed charges against Donald J. Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) for repeatedly claiming without evidence that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were capturing and eating their neighbors’ pets, The Columbus Dispatch reports. Ohio law allows private citizens seeking an arrest of prosecution to file an affidavit with a prosecutor or judge for their review.

“Trump and Vance falsely claim Haitians are a danger to Springfield,” Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridges Alliance said in court documents, the Dispatch reports. “Now, many in Springfield face actual harm from threats that have even resulted in closures and lockdowns of government buildings, hospitals, schools and colleges. Trump and Vance caused a massive disruption to a community and city that deserved better.”

The Haitian Bridge Alliance asked the court to either issue Trump and Vance arrest warrants or refer the matter to the prosecutor’s office. The alliance’s attorneys said the behavior of the GOP nominees for president and vice president meets the threshold for probable cause and that police and prosecutors would have filed charges against anyone else for such behavior by now.

•••

Tightest Race Since ’76? – Since 1876, that is. 538 said Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris has a 57-in-100 chance of winning the November 5 election (down from 62-in-100 last Sunday) to ex-President Donald J. Trump’s 42-in-100. Hold your celebration, Democrats – 538 calls that “essentially a toss-up,” and potentially the tightest presidential race in 148 years. In that earlier election, Democrat Samuel J. Tilden led Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote but lost the Electoral College 185 to 184.

--TL

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TUESDAY 9/24/24

Biden’s Last Address – President Biden addresses the United Nations General Assembly at its annual meeting in Manhattan for his final time Tuesday, where he will try to “assuage” world leaders nervous about the implications of isolationist Donald J. Trump winning the November 5 election, Roll Call reports.

What will Washington’s role be in addressing multiple world conflicts under a second Trump presidency? The former and would-be future president insists these conflicts wouldn’t have begun in the first place if he had won the 2020 presidential election he insists he actually won.

Zelenskyy’s next address … Amidst fears that a successful Trump administration would apply The Art of the Deal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, where he will ask to use long-range missiles to strike deeper into Russia. Tuesday morning on ABC’s Good Morning America he said Russia’s war on Ukraine is “closer to an end” than many believe.

•••

War With Hezbollah in Lebanon – Whatever the Israeli government wants to call it, since pagers and two-way radios Hezbollah leaders were carrying started exploding last week, the skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanese border has become a full-blown war. The Israeli Army has begun striking Beirut, targeting a senior Hezbollah commander, Haaretz reports, while Hezbollah says it fired at several military facilities, including an explosives factory, in Northern Israel. Most of about 50 rockets fired from Lebanon into Northern Israel were intercepted, according to the report.

•••

Two Debates, or Not Two Debates – Donald J. Trump has declined a second debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, despite claiming he won the first one on September 10. Harris “gladly” accepted CNN’s invitation for a debate on October 23, which Trump says is “too late” because early voting has already begun in several states. But pundits on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins Monday said they believe Trump, whom is widely considered to have lost that September 10 debate, eventually will capitulate in part because he improved in his second debate with Joe Biden four years ago and because the vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance on October 1 would leave his running mate with the last word.

•••

Truth Social Watch – Stock price of the Trump Media & Technology Company, owner of the ex-president’s social media site Truth Social, dropped to $14 per share last Thursday as investors feared he would sell his shares as soon as allowed, Axios reports. The week earlier, Trump tried to assure investors he would not sell his shares, even though that could net about $3 billion to help pay $355 million in fines in his New York civil fraud case (which his attorneys are appealing) plus $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll for her successful civil defamation lawsuit.

On Monday, however, Trump Media fell another $1.40 per share, or 10.33%, to $12.15. That’s off by 30.37% year-to-date leaving a $2.432 billion market cap, of which the ex-prez holds about 60%.

--TL

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MONDAY 9/23/24

Diverting a Shutdown – Congress wants to go home for its election year break by Friday, and has until next Monday to pass a budget, or rather a budget extension, before the end of the fiscal year to avoid a federal government (partial) shutdown. We were predicting Congress would have to work through next weekend, and now that prediction appears to have been overly pessimistic.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that House Republicans have introduced a 12-week, 49-page extension that both parties, in both chambers, like – or at least they like it enough to push it through and pass it this week, with a House vote by Wednesday and a Senate vote shortly thereafter, according to Roll Call. The House Rules Committee is to begin the process at its meeting Monday at 4 pm.

Last week the House sunk by 220-202 vote Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) six-month continuing resolution, which had included the superfluous SAVE Act, requiring voters in federal elections to be US citizens.

This latest, more promising CR extends the budget only to December 12, into President Biden’s full-press lame duck period, but it also includes a $231 million in new appropriations for the Secret Service, to provide additional protection for presidential candidates.

•••

Robinson Staffers Quit – Four key staffers for Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s campaign for governor of North Carolina have quit over a CNN KFile investigation that the candidate called himself a “black Nazi” on pornography website “Nude Africa,” where he also supported reinstation of slavery. CNN reported the posts were made between 2008 and 2012.

The resignations were from Robinson campaign manager Chris Rodriguez, general consultant Conrad Pogorzelski III, finance director Heather Whillier and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk, according to The Washington Post.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news
MON 9/23/24

Where Have You Gone, Edward Gibbon?

Our nation turns its lonely thoughts to you. . .

By Stephen Macaulay

A caution about polling. No, this has nothing to do with the missed call in the 2016 presidential election, the one where Hillary Clinton was days away from measuring the drapes for the Oval Office.

Although Donald Trump hasn’t heard of (“people tell me. . .”) a poll that he’s not winning in and Kamala Harris supporters are absolutely chuffed to see her leading by mainly the margin of error, polls really need to be taken with a grain of salt approximately the size of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Why?

Consider this:

According to a recent YouGov poll, 9% of US adults think about the Roman Empire “at least weekly.”

You know, that political structure that was done and dusted after some 500 years in 476.

Men, perhaps not surprisingly, think about the Roman Empire more than women do:

13% to 6%.

Presumably they think of Viva Bianca or Katrina Law from the Spartacus TV show, although technically, Spartacus was under the Roman Republic, not yet an empire.

Still, the YouGov poll found that 52% say they learned about the Roman Empire from movies or TV shows, neither of which is particularly precise about dates and the differences between emperors and consuls.

One might argue that Donald Trump is more interested in becoming the former rather than the later, a distinction with a big difference. But not if you’re someone spending a percentage of each week thinking about the Roman Empire.

However — and I must confess that I am incredulous about this — there could be some good news out of the poll’s findings:

Athens is generally considered to be the cradle of democracy, and it tops the list of historic regions with 54% considering Ancient Athens as “very or somewhat favorable,” besting the Roman Empire by 5%.

The Visigoths and the Huns tie for last, at 14%. There is no indication about the amount of time spent thinking about them.

What do Americans “who know at least a little about the Roman Empire” most admire about it?

Roman buildings and roads top the list at 75%.

In other words, “infrastructure.”

Given that the Trump Administration had plenty of “infrastructure weeks” and little in the way of infrastructure execution, and given that the Biden Administration’s $891-billion Inflation Reduction Act and $280-billion CHIPS Act are putting fresh concrete on the roads and facilitating the construction of chip foundries, if people like infrastructure, this could be advantageous to Harris.

And there is a cautionary finding: 61% of the respondents believe the cause of the fall of the Roman Empire was infighting among Romans.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news
MON 9/23/24

Is the Fed’s Rate Cut Enough?

The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee went for a half-point interest rate cut, the maximum expected by economists. Is it enough? Too much? A talking point for the Harris/Walz campaign? What would Donald J. Trump, who wants to wrestle control of the Fed from the Fed, do? Discuss.

Email your comments to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line. Or enter your comments in this column or the one on the right, if you lean conservative.

Meanwhile, why not sign up for our free Substack newsletter? At The Hustings substack site you will find commentary by Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay and others. You will also find exclusive content, including these columns…

•“Normalizing Orbán”

•“Harris Will Have to Own Bidenomics”

• “Three Social Media Billionaires Walk Into a Crowded Theater and Yell, Fire!”

•“Of Fluoride, Precious Bodily Fluids and Whale Juice”

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WEDNESDAY 9/17/24

…meanwhile…

“In light of the progress on inflation and the balance of risks, at today’s meeting the committee decided to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by ½ percentage point, to 4-¾ % to 5%,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.

Go Vote – … if you are registered in Minnesota, South Dakota or Virginia, where early voting starts Friday, per Ballotpedia.

•••

About North Carolina – Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein, North Carolina’s attorney general, has been well ahead of the Republican candidate, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in the polls for quite some time, leading some pundits to argue the key swing states in the presidential election are Pennsylvania-Georgia-North Carolina and not Pennsylvania-Michigan-Wisconsin.

Now comes an investigative scoop by CNN’s KFile that Robinson, whom ex-President Trump has called “Martin Luther King on steroids” called himself a “black NAZI” on a pornography website, “Nude Africa,” between 2008 and 2012. Robinson also has expressed support for restoring some form of slavery to the US. According to the thoroughly researched report, Robinson often used the pseudonym “minisoldr” “all over the internet,” including the pornography website. CNN says the gubernatorial candidate, a strict cultural Christian conservative regarding LGBTQ+ issues “liked to watch transgender pornography.”

The sober anti-Trump argument is that Trump’s popularity among his faithful is never jarred by other candidates that lose badly in their campaigns – think 2022 Republican candidate for senator from Georgia, Herschel Walker. The flip side of the argument is that North Carolina Republicans will avoid the polls November 5, so they won’t be there to vote for Trump, either. The Bulwark’s Marc A. Caputo argues that Republican North Carolinians avoiding the polls because of Robinson will be enough for Vice President Harris to win the state, and thus the Electoral College.

Of course, that still leaves Pennsylvania and Georgia.

What do you think?... Will Robinson’s scandal be enough to sink Trump’s chances? Is it really Pennsylvania-Georgia-North Carolina, or Pennsylvania-Michigan-Wisconsin? Leave your comments in the left- or right-column, or here, or email editors@thehustings.news.

--TL

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THURSDAY 9/19/24

Haitian Leader; 'We Can Do Better' – These words by Haitian community leader Viles Dorsainvil about the made-up stories by Donald J. Trump and JD Vance about neighbors' pets in Springfield, Ohio, to Leila Fadel on NPR’s Morning Edition Thursday bear repeating …

“I would say to them that they think that they are leaders. Leaders have to have the behavior of a leader. Through the rhetoric that they are putting out … please, before they say anything, try to check the veracity of it. … Stop dividing a community or a nation. Stop dividing the country that all of us love. We can do better. We can keep moving forward together with words of unity and encouragement. We are here to work. We are here to contribute to boost up the economy. Words matter.”

Trump and Vance have put people “in a very difficult situation in the past week,” he added.

At a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina Wednesday, vice presidential candidate and senator from Ohio JD Vance said that Vice President Harris’ “blanket immunity” giving Haitian refugees temporary legal status in the US is not legal, and suggested that Trump will deport them if he wins in November.

•••

Not Truckin’ for Harris – The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, known for a long time as the union for long-haul truck drivers but now including an Amazon Division, has declined to endorse Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (per Newsweek). The Teamsters have declined to endorse Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump as well, though it has released internal poll results from July 24 to September 15 that show Trump leads Harris 59.6% to 34% among its rank & file. Its April 19-July 3 poll showed President Biden leading Trump, 44.3% to 36.3%.

“The Teamsters carry a lot of weight,” Trump told Fox News Wednesday. “The Democrats cannot believe … it was always automatic that Democrats get the Teamsters, and they said we won’t endorse the Democrats this year, so that was an honor for me.”

For the record, the last Republican candidate the Teamsters endorsed was George H.W. Bush in 1988. The union backed Bill Clinton in 1992, did not endorse anyone in 1996 then backed every Democratic candidate – including Hilary Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020 – until now.

•••

Johnson’s CR Fails – Slings and arrows for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) from both sides of the House aisle after his continuing resolution to fund the government six months past September 30 was defeated, as was widely predicted, 220-202 Wednesday.

Johnson “succeeded in spending a week dividing his party and leveraging his already miniscule leverage with the Senate,” said Punchbowl News. The House and the Senate have targeted Friday, September 27 as the deadline to leave for home, which means they no doubt will have to work that weekend to prevent a federal government partial shutdown on the following Monday.

Three Democrats voted for the bill, which contained the redundant SAVE Act rider that would require voters in federal elections to be US citizens, but 14 Republicans voted against it, Roll Call reports.

No matter which party takes the House majority after the November 5 election, it’s a good bet that Johnson will not be speaker for the 119^th Congress next January.

--TL

Fed Lowers Interest Rate by ½%

WEDNESDAY 9/18/24

UPDATE -- The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) has cut its target interest rate by ½% to the 4¾% to 5% range, while reiterating it continues to seek a 2% Consumer Price Index "over the long run." The August CPI was 2.5%, fueled by lower energy prices.

"The Committee has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%, and judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance," the FOMC said in its press release. It said it also "will continue reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities."

It’s Rate Cut Day! – The Federal Reserve will announce an interest rate cut by late this afternoon. The question everyone has been waiting to have answered is “by how much?” A quarter point or a half point?

•••

No Question – Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) short-term funding bill, with SAVE Act attached will not pass the House when introduced Wednesday. The SAVE Act would redundantly require proof of US citizenship for voter registration.

The question now is, what will Johnson do next? Punchbowl News reports; the Speaker has been so cagey about his plans that even his Republican allies have no idea. The hope of Republicans and Democrats is, the next continuing resolution, which must pass both chambers before the end of September to avoid a federal government shutdown, will extend funding until after next January 20^th’s presidential inauguration.

•••

Florida Charges – Gov. Ron DeSantis has launched a state investigation into an apparent assassination attempt on ex-President Trump at his Florida golf course near Mar-a-Lago. DeSantis, who you might remember challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination early this year, raised the possibility the state of Florida could charge suspect Ryan Routh with attempted murder, according to Politico.

Routh faces Justice Department charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, though the DOJ is expected to issue further charges against him.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news
WEDNESDAY 9/17/24

The Art of the Fraud

By Stephen Macaulay

Reality is hard. Fiction is easy.

“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do, Dana, because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast.” — JD Vance to Dana Bash, 9/15/24

So there you have it.

He makes stuff up.

Oh, he claims he’s doing it on behalf of the Americans who are suffering.

But are they really?

Or is he making that up, as well?

Bash called him on the lack of substantive evidence regarding the consumption of pets in Springfield, Ohio.

She cited authorities who said it was bunk.

He claimed he’d gotten some phone calls.

But when asked to provide proof, he pushed back and went back to decrying “illegal aliens,” even though Bash pointed out some of them are in the US legally under what is known as “Temporary Protected Status.”

Vance referred to it as “a magic amnesty wand” wielded by Kamala Harris.

One could imagine that Vance might know that TPS is part of the Immigration Act of 1990 — passed by Congress.

What’s more, Harris has nothing to do with deciding who gets it.

The Department of Homeland Security makes the determination whether a country receives a TPS designation for a number of factors, including on-going armed conflicts, environmental disaster, or extraordinary and temporary conditions in the country.

The countries with the TPS designation are: Afghanistan, Burma, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, Yemen.

You may recognize some of them from the “shit-hole countries” then-President Trump described in 2018.

Of course, it is easier for Vance to make things up than actually do the work of understanding laws.

If he isn’t creating his own version of reality, then he’s saying things that he later claims are “jokes.” And he won’t take back his jokes. Is this because he is a frustrated comedian? Does he actually think anyone finds them funny?

Vance and his ticket-mate have demonstrated, time and time again, not only their unwillingness to take responsibility for the things they say, but apparently revel in their ability to flat out lie.

Yes, the sort of people that we want to be role models for our children.

Read Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s commentaries at Substack on The Hustings.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news
WEDNESDAY 9/17/24

Debate Afterglow Rages On

Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay suggests we watch, again, last Tuesday night’s ABC News debate between presidential candidates Donald J. Trump and Kamala Harris, this time with the sound turned off.

The Hustings comes with no sound -- just words -- in our week-long coverage and commentary on the debate. [Be sure to read our free Substack newsletter.]

In the center column, read Charles Dervarics’ coverage and analysis of the debate under the headline “The Gloves Came Off in a Combative Debate.” Use the trackbar on the far right to scroll down to that page.

In this, the left column, read “No Debate Inflation” by Kate McLeod, “MVP Performance from Harris and Team” by Ken Zino, and “Undecideds Were Waiting for This Debate?” by Hugh Hansen.

In the right column, read Rich Corbett’s “Preparation Matters” and Macaulay’s “There’s Reality. Then There’s Trump.”

You’ll notice that Corbett is a pro-MAGA conservative while Macaulay is a never-Trump conservative.

Both conservatives are welcome to comment for our right column, just as progressives and moderate are welcome to comment for our left column.

This means you. Email your civil, fact-based comments to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate which side of the political horseshoe best describes you, in the subject line.

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MONDAY 9/16/24

…meanwhile…

NOT a Swiftie

TUESDAY 9/17/24

Fed Watch – It’s here, finally. The Federal Open Market Committee meets Tuesday and Wednesday, with a much-anticipated – by home- and car-buyers, and the Harris/Walz campaign – interest rate cut expected at its scheduled press conference, 4:15 pm Eastern time Wednesday. Fed-watchers are expecting either an 0.25-point or an 0.5-point rate cut, based on a 2.5% Consumer Price Index and cooling jobs market.

•••

Meanwhile, on The Hill – As of Tuesday, Congress has just 14 days to pass a budget, or more likely a continuing resolution to avoid federal government shutdown at the end of the month, Punchbowl News notes. Adding to the pressure is President Biden’s call for more Secret Service funds after an apparent second assassination attempt on Donald J. Trump.

•••

Swift v. Trump – Pop superstar Taylor Swift’s endorsement of the Harris/Walz ticket coming immediately after last Tuesday’s presidential candidates’ debate continues to grab headlines, as pundits try to figure out what effect, if any, it will have on the November 5 election.

It will, if Trump’s reaction is any indication. On Sunday, Trump posted “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” in a post on Truth Social between his “screed” about capital gains and a video clip from a rally, according to The Atlantic.

--TL

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Trump Targeted Again -- MONDAY 9/16/24

UPDATE -- Ryan Wesley Routh, suspect in what appears to be the second assassination attempt of Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump, appeared briefly in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, in shackles and with a public defender, where he was charged with possession of a firearm despite a previous felony conviction, and of possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number, the AP reports. Meanwhile, President Biden called on Congress to provide more resources to Secret Service, which he said, "needs more help."

Golf Hazard – Conspiracy theories and misinformation ran wild Sunday, predictably, on such social media outlets as Elon Musk’s X-Twitter after the FBI arrested Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, in connection with an apparent assassination attempt at one of the former president’s golf clubs, near Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Those conspiracy theories and the misinformation seems to have been tamped down by Monday, at least when considering only respectable news outlets.

Trump issued an email via his presidential campaign (per NPR’s Morning Edition) after the incident that reads; “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I want you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL.”

Routh’s own posts on X in 2022 “revealed a penchant for violent rhetoric” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to The New York Times, whose reporter, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, interviewed the suspect for a 2023 article about foreign fighters and volunteers in Ukraine.

Routh has had “numerous” run-ins with law enforcement, and The Associated Press cites a 2002 news story in the Greensboro, North Carolina News & Record that says a man with the same name was arrested in a three-hour standoff with police after he was pulled over during a traffic stop and barricaded himself inside a roofing company he had owned at the time.

Routh was registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012 and most recently voted in last March’s Democratic Party primary there, according to The Guardian, and he made 19 small donations totaling $140 since 2019 to the pro-Democratic political action committee ActBlue, using a Hawaii address. Routh voted for Trump in 2016 according to Morning Edition and he has indicated support for both former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Gun's serial number... The serial number of the gun found in the alleged assassination attempt, earlier identified as an AK-47, has been partially scratched off (per The Wall Street Journal).

Musk tweet… Elon Musk posted, then removed, a tweet on his X social media site wondering why Donald J. Trump has been targeted twice while the former and current Democratic candidates have not, CNN reports: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.”

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About the Haitian Immigrant Falsehood – CNN’s Dana Bash pressed GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (OH) on his promotion of fake stories of Haitian immigrants capturing and eating pet dogs and cats, and geese captured from a local pond in Springfield, Ohio, on State of the Union Sunday. Bash noted that nearly 20 Springfield institutions, including government buildings, have been searched and/or closed due to multiple bomb threats called in.

“The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes,” Vance replied. “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do, Dana, because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast.”

In a separate interview with Bash, Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said of Trump/Vance, “They’re hurting our city and their words are doing it.” Rue said Springfield has the support of Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to handle the an influx of Haitian immigrants, who are legal, under temporary protected status.

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Austin’s Ruling – Was Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin’s decision to rescind plea deals with alleged 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other men legal? A Guantánamo judge will consider the issue beginning this week, NPR’s Morning Editionreports. Some families of victims of the attacks want to see the defendants face the death penalty, but others believe the men will never come before the court because torture of them has tainted evidence in the case.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news
MONDAY 9/16/24

First Impressions

By Stephen Macaulay

Although it would be surprising if anyone who is reading this has actually met Kamala Harris or Donald Trump in person, it would be more surprising if all of us don’t have some notions about both of them from having seen and heard tape from them over the years. It may be hard to remember the first time (the former skewering Biden during a debate; the latter on Saturday Night Live?), and subsequently our impressions of them are regularly refreshed as there is a veritable flood of coverage of both.

But here’s a little experiment that you can run for yourself and see whether it might not affect how you think of them:

Watch all or at least part of the September 10 debate with the sound off.

That’s right, no audio, just visual. A few minutes will do.

Now you might say that that is absurd. What is important is what they’re saying, not their appearances, right?

But given that according to CNN’s Daniel Dale, Trump lied more than 30 times (no, there is no baby execution after birth; illegal aliens are not eating pets in Ohio; global jails are not being emptied; China will not pay the tariffs for goods (just like Mexico didn’t pay for the Wall) etc., etc., etc.), what at least one of them was saying was by and large unsubstantiated nonsense, so what is the point of listening to that again?

Look at their demeanors on the split screen.

Trump is hunched and staring at some point in space that he seems angry to have in his vision. There is very little physical animation, almost as though he is gripping the podium sufficiently to leave fingermarks in its surface.

Harris runs through a range of looks, at one point smiling and at another point appearing empathetic.

Where he is stiff, she is fluid.

Where she has a smile, he exhibits rictus.

He appears to be an angry old man, increasingly incensed by what he is hearing but through some incredible force of will or chiropractic concern unable to face the person who is making him agitated.

She appears to be, well, normal.

And here’s a question to ask yourself:

Which of the two would you want to be your doctor: some guy who seems as though what he learned in medical school was the final word on the subject and he’ll be goddamned if he’s going to change his opinion about that, regardless of what evidence shows (“I smoke two packs a day and I’m still kickin’!”), or someone who evinces an intelligence and openness to both the patient as a person as well as new medical findings?

The difference couldn’t be much clearer.

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MONDAY 9/16/24

No Debate Inflation

By Kate McLeod

It’s true. The cost of four ounces of cream cheese in New York City was $10 the last time I checked. Do we blame Biden, the supply chain/pandemic or corporate greed?

Among the calculated 33 lies told by wannabe King Donny, the inflation for food, housing and fuel is apparent. The exit from Afghanistan should have been planned and it did result in chaos. Now, may I continue?

A very rich man who didn’t pay workers wants to destroy the Constitution, wants complete immunity as president. Take a moment here and think about this person in a powerful position in the world with no guardrails.

Example: when the Democrats put a bill forward to protect the border –- one of his favorite screeds because frankly, he does not have a platform –- he got on the phone to the sycophants in Congress and told them to veto it, which, being the sycophants they are, did his bidding.

I felt outrage when he accused my side of executing babies and favoring abortion in the ninth month. What kind of monster would come up with that? He said, and I quote, “execute the baby.” That is what he said.

And does he not understand rape and incest? I think he knows what rape is, but the deeper problem here is that this person has no capacity for empathy. If you are going to lead a country as diverse as America, you have to feel something for someone other than yourself. He can’t.

I have another question for Donald Trump: could you explain what IVF is?

Trump stood up in front of the country and said he had not read Project 2025. OK, we know he doesn’t read. So does Melania read to him at night? And do the tenants of Project 2025 give him so much comfort that it puts him to sleep? Out with DEI. Out with gender difference, critical race theory.

What about his support of a national sales tax? Protect the billionaires; burden low- and middle-income families.

Harris landed on her feet last night. The commentators began their analysis with the fact that Harris baited him at every turn and at every turn he took the bait. But when she was answering questions, I never felt her strategy. I felt like she was honestly trying to answer our questions about how the government is running the country, how working class and middle-income families are going to survive and what role we play in keeping the world a safer place.

Inflation: Trump lied. Fact: the year-over-year inflation rate has fallen since its 2022 peak under Biden. It was at 2.9% in July, and fell again, to 2.5%, in August. I’ll check the cost of cream cheese today.

Do you want to talk about immigrants eating cats and dogs? Do you? This is what you get if you are going to vote for a disturbed, self-involved person. Also, crime is down and immigrants, fearful of being deported, are not the ones committing most crimes.

Fave Donald phrase: “in the history of our country”. Could Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham and Donald Trump have a fireside chat on national television to see what he truly knows about the history of our country?

To my nephew the gun owner: Both Harris and Walz are gun owners. They’re not about to “take your guns away”. What needs to happen, is getting guns out of the hands of mentally disturbed individuals so that children in grade school aren’t gunned down. Are you OK with not having any more school shootings? You’re OK with that, right?

Other topics: NATO, Ukraine, concepts of a plan (Is that like infrastructure week?), 60 attempts to kill the Affordable Care Act (thank you john McCain), why don’t I invite the Taliban to Camp David, Victor Orbán, like Putin, is a bestie.

It is so clear that he can’t manage the fact that he lost the election – folks, it’s been 3 1/2 years, that he can’t listen to any criticism about his over-the-top mouthing of insanities at his rallies.

I don’t know a diagnosis. Is it narcissism? You cannot be diagnosed by a psychiatrist unless you are evaluated in-person. But what I do know is that I don’t want this fragile democracy turned into an autocracy where the only people that count are white Christians.

I live in New York City. I come from Massachusetts, but I have known for a long time that this is where I belong. Know why? Every day, I walk out on the street and I look around and up at the sky and feel a thrill.

“I live here,” I say to myself. And in the three-block walk to the subway, I see several different colors of skin, maybe hear four different languages. I live near celebrities and don’t really care. I get on the MTA and in ten minutes I can be 80 blocks south and on my way to a play or a meeting. I can cross town in three stops and get to my doctor’s appointment. I can enjoy countless cuisines. And I can walk to Zabar’s where sometimes I get to talk to Saul Zabar. What’s not to like about diversity? Are you kidding me?

McLeod is a playwright and a frequent contributor to the left column of The Hustings.

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FRIDAY 9/13/24

…meanwhile…

FRIDAY 9/13/24

Biden and Starmer – Should Ukraine be allowed to use weapons from the West deeper into Russia? Predictably, Russian leader/dictator Vladimir Putin is playing the “nuke” card and warns this would put NATO at direct conflict with Moscow.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (above) meets with President Biden in Washington Friday to discuss Kyiv’s request (per AP). Ukraine renewed its plea during a visit to Kyiv by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

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African Nations to UN Security Council? – The United States supports creation of two new seats for African nations on the United Nations’ powerful Security Council, Linda Thomas Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN told NPR’s Morning EditionFriday.

Under the proposal, which UN leaders will consider during High Level Week in New York next week, one of the seats will be rotated among Africa’s small island developing states and would give the two nations power to vote on economic sanctions, arms embargoes and approval of use of force. The two African states would join the US, Great Britain, France, China and Russia on the Security Council.

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No Third Debate – By now you’ve heard that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has called for another debate with Republican nominee Donald J. Trump, who insists he “won” last Tuesday’s matchup on ABC and will not participate.

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Your Pets are Safe – As ex-President Trump repeated the false story while he was on the campaign trail in Nevada, about Haitian immigrants eating Springfield citizens’ pets, the Ohio town’s mayor, Rob Rue told The New York Times in an interview, “We are hurting.”

Bomb threats following Trump’s initial repeat of the anti-immigration conspiracy theory caused Springfield to evacuate its city hall, two schools and the state motor vehicle agency’s local office, according to the NYT. Rue said the email threats were a “hateful response to immigration in our town.” One Haitian immigrant in Springfield told NPR Thursday that her country’s culture treats pets as family members.

•••

Not the Best Person – Republican supporters including Sen. Lindsey Graham (SC) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) are trying to warn presidential candidate Donald J. Trump about his association with racist provocateur Laura Loomer.

Loomer was spotted disembarking off Trump’s airplane in Philadelphia ahead of last Tuesday’s Harris-Trump debate.

Loomer accompanied Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, at a 9/11 ceremony Wednesday before heading to Shanksville, Pennsylvania with Trump on his plane afterward. This is significant because in 2023, Loomer posted a video on X-Twitter calling the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks “an inside job,” according to The Washington Post.

Racist? A few days ago, Loomer wrote that if Vice President Harris wins the November 5 election, the White House “will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center.”

Graham, one of the first Republican senators to become a fervid Trump supporter, said Thursday in an interview; “The history of statements by Ms. Loomer are beyond disturbing. I hope this problem gets resolved. I think we should be talking about things that people are concerned about, and this issue, I think, doesn’t help the cause.”

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

For the Right

A YouGov poll conducted Wednesday shows more than 53% of Americans think pop superstar Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris after Tuesday night’s debate will benefit the Democratic presidential candidate, FiveThirtyEight reports Friday, and that includes 31% of Republicans surveyed. Just 4% believe Swift’s endorsement will hurt Harris.

This follows Donald J. Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, telling Fox News apparently without irony that Americans will not be “influenced by a billionaire celebrity.”

What do you think? Whether you are a never-Trumper or a pro-MAGA conservative, we humbly seek your comments on this question for this column. If you lean liberal, anywhere from center-left to hard-progressive, we want to hear from you, too, for posting in the left column.

We also seek your opinions on Trump's association with racist/conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer.

You are also invited to comment on whether the US and UK should approve Ukraine’s request to continue and intensify its missile attacks on Russia and whether or not we should take Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threat against NATO seriously.

To submit your comments, use the Comment section in this column or the column on the left, or email editors@thehustings.newsand please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

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FRIDAY 9/13/24

Debate Tonight!

Vice President Kamala Harris meets former President Donald J. Trump for the first time, at the National Constitutional Center in Philadelphia Tuesday night for what looks like their only debate before the November 5 presidential election.

The debate begins 9 pm Eastern/6 pm Pacific time on ABC TV with moderators Linsey Davis and David Muir, and NPR will simulcast the debate on radio.

An NPR/Marist poll says 70% of all Americans say they'll watch all or most of the debate, Morning Edition reports Tuesday. The poll results break down 72% of Democrats, 74% of Republicans and 67% of independents.

You know what’s coming. We would like you to participate in a civil discussion about the debate. Who won the night? Did either candidate convince you, or change your mind, about who to vote for?

Whether you are progressive or pro-MAGA, center-left or center-right, we want to foster fair and civil discourse in these columns.

To submit your comments, use the Comment section in this column or the column on the right, or email editors@thehustings.newsand please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

And don’t forget our FREE Substack newsletter.

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