Tag: CPI

Iran War, Week 17

The Consumer Price Index slipped to +3.5% in June, from +4.2% in May, the Labor Department reports Tuesday morning. Month-over-month CPI was -0.4% in June (from +0.5% in May) largely from the energy index’s 5.7% drop. But that energy index drop follows a 3.9% hike in May, 3.8% in April and 10.9% in March. The June index for food was 0.2%. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]

Full-On War – There seems to have been some question in recent days about whether what’s going on with Iran amounts to the war being back on. A 60-day ceasefire fell apart last week after a couple of weeks negotiating over an MOU that gave Iran serious advantages [the fifth paragraph essentially put Iran in charge of restoring shipping through the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, with a pledge Iran would ensure safe passage and remove military obstacles such as its mines, The Wall Street Journal noted].

Meanwhile, the US has reimposed a naval blockade and is upping airstrikes after Iran attacked ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, The Associated Press reports Wednesday. 

Iran has attacked Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain with drones and missiles, NPR’s Morning Edition reports.

US Central Command says it’s striking Iran during daylight hours after days of attacking only at night, The Guardian reports, with hits “designed to further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping” in the Strait. Seven Iranian Army personnel were reported killed, prompting the army to vow a “decisive response.” 

•••

Trump Pays – Author and former “Ask E. Jean” Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll has been paid the $5.6 million awarded her in her 2023 defamation case against Donald J. Trump, The New York Times reports, citing a note added to the court’s online docket last week. Damages awarded in E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump in 2023 were held in escrow while Trump exhausted his appeals, all the way up to the US Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case. 

Carroll accused the president of sexual assault and defaming her when he called her accusations “a Hoax and a lie” on social media. 

Her attorney, Robert Kaplan said he was “pleased to report that she has received the damages payment the jury awarded her as a result of that verdict.”

•••

Let’s Get This Strait – A gallon of unleaded regular Wednesday is up 3.1 cents over Tuesday to $3.89, according to AAA’s national average. That’s up $1.088 from February 27. Diesel is $4.938 Wednesday, up 5.6 cents from Tuesday for a $1.164 premium over late February. –TL

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TUESDAY 7/14/26

Another ICE Shooting – Six days after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Houston fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, a Mexican immigrant, for allegedly using his vehicle as a “weapon” as he drove a work crew to a construction site, it has happened again. This time in Biddeford, Maine, a small town about half an hour south of Portland.

There, an ICE agent Monday fatally shot Joan Sebastian Guerrero, 26, a Colombian man whom immigration advocates say was authorized to work in the US. An ICE agent fired four shots into the windshield of Guerrero’s white Kia. Witnesses described seeing Guerrero bleeding from the head as he was being pulled from the car, telling agents “I tried to stop,” the Portland Press Herald reports. Bystanders shouted at agents as people believed to be family members, including a pre-school girl thought to be Guerrero’s daughter, watched. 

A spokesperson for Sen. Angus King (I-ME) told NPR that Guerrero was “not the target of the warrant” connected to a house under ICE surveillance in connection with an alleged illegal alien facing a final order of removal. 

King told Morning Edition that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullen told him that Guerrero allegedly “weaponized” his car, then claimed the ICE officer worried Guerrero’s car “posed a threat to public safety” by potentially driving into a crowd. 

“Police officers are trained all over the country not to shoot into cars,” King said.

Stephen Miller’s secret police? … There is no body camera footage of ICE’s fatal shooting of Guerrero, King said. As an independent, King voted with Senate Democrats against a bill that funds ICE through the end of President Trump’s term. But the Republican majority passed the funding while rejecting Democrats’ demands that it include requirements that ICE agents carry badges, identification and body cameras. 

It took ICE nearly 12 hours to issue a statement, to just before 7 p.m. Monday confirming Guerrero’s shooting, according to the Press Herald. There has been no comment from DHS. 

A Biddeford police officer’s involvement at the scene was limited to providing security at the scene, according to the newspaper’s report, and the unnamed officer has been placed on leave.

“This has to be a clear and transparent investigation,” King said.

•••

Trump Can’t Sue Himself – US District Judge Kathleen Williams accused President Trump and his attorneys of having manipulated the court system when Trump sued his own Internal Revenue Service for $1.776 billion, thus bypassing the requirement that parties in a lawsuit must have adverse interests, The Associated Press reports. 

Trump had said the $1.776 billion would create a fund to compensate allies who believed they had been unjustly persecuted, including possibly those charged in the January 6th attack on the US Capitol. 

This comes just as Acting Attorney Gen. Todd Blanche testifies before the Senate Appropriations committee Tuesday in his quest to become Trump’s permanent AG.

Williams stopped short of voiding the part of the deal that would shield Trump from IRS scrutiny in perpetuity, but she referred Alejandro Brito, the attorney who filed the case for the president in Florida, for possible disciplinary action before the state bar. Williams also said attorney Daniel Epstein will not be granted permission to file cases within the Southern District of Florida for up to one year.

•••

About that Gas – Relief at the pump comes Tuesday for the first time since the 60-day Memorandum of Understanding ceasefire fell apart late last week. National average for a gallon of unleaded regular is $3.859 Tuesday, AAA reports, down 1.3 cents from Monday and up $1.057 from February 27. Diesel is up 0.7 cents, however, to $4.882 over Monday and $1.108 from late February. --TL

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MONDAY 7/13/26

UPDATE: South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has appointed Lindsey Graham's sister, Darline Graham Norton, to finish his fourth term ending January 3, 2027, The Hill reports. President Trump had recommended McMaster appoint Graham's sister.

In the meantime South Carolina will hold a GOP primary for US Senate, with filing for the primary opening July 21 and closing July 28, according to the Post and Courier. If a runoff is necessary it will be held August 25.

Graham Dies -- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a traditional Republican military/foreign relations hawk who somehow became one of President Trump’s staunchest allies after initially rejecting his MAGA politics, died Saturday evening after returning from Ukraine earlier that day. The Washington, D.C. medical examiner’s office says in a preliminary report that Graham, 71, died of an aortic dissection tear in his main artery, caused by arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, The New York Times reports.  

Graham was scheduled to appear Sunday morning on Meet the Press for what NBC News said would have been his 64thappearance.

Graham had convinced President Trump to back a bipartisan bill to impose “scorching” tariffs and sanctions on Russian oil that has been paying for dictator/President Vladimir Putin’s war scheme against Ukraine, said Graham’s co-sponsor on the bill, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). 

“In my last conversation with Sen. Graham, he was absolutely exultant calling from Kyiv,” Blumenthal told NPR’s Morning Edition Monday, “seeking final approval from the White House for our Russia sanctions bill, which he was going to discuss with President Zelenskyy.”

Graham briefly ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2016. In 2015 told CNN; “You know how to make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”

That changed quickly as Trump claimed primary election victories leading up to his first win in November 2016, and particularly after Trump’s second win eight years later, Graham had become his closest ally in the Senate.

Trump on Sunday called Graham “one of the greatest people and senators I have ever known.” … “He was always working and was a true American patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed.”

Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster now must choose a temporary replacement to serve the remainder of Graham’s current term, to January. Graham was running for a fifth Senate term with Annie Andrews his Democratic Party challenger. 

•••

Gas Update – The national average for a gallon of unleaded regular on Monday came down from Sunday’s prices, according to the AAA, though at $3.872 still higher by 2.6 cents over last Thursday, the most recent day we chronicled. That’s $1.07 costlier than unleaded regular prices on February 27. Diesel was up 6.5 cents over last Thursday to $4.875 per gallon. That’s $1.101 over late February.

•••

Plane Intimidation? – FBI agents knocked on the doors of New York Times reporters late Friday with subpoenas to investigate leaks about President Trump flying on his old Air Force One to return from the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, last week. That flight left behind Trump’s Qatari-gifted Boeing 747, which he used as Air Force One to fly to the summit.

The FBI subpoenas demanded that reporters give evidence of leaks about the Qatari jet to a grand jury.

According to The New York Times’ report on the story Sunday, FBI Director Kash Patel cancelled a trip to Chicago last Friday and spent “roughly eight hours” at the White House to run the investigation instead of doing so at his agency’s Washington headquarters. MS NOW as well as the NYT broke the story last week that Trump switched airplanes for his return to the US after the Secret Service voiced concerns to the administration that the über-luxurious 747 Qatar gave to Trump lacks the advanced anti-missile capabilities and other defensive countermeasures of the quotidian Air Force One.

Iranians loyal to the governing regime last week called for the death of President Trump during the funeral procession of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in the first US attacks on Tehran last February (New York Post), apparently prompting the Secret Service to have the president change airplanes for his return. Trump switched back to the Qatari 747 at Mildenhall Air Force Base in England for the final leg of his return to the US last week.

Justice Department Director of Public Affairs Emily Covington “sought to downplay” the unusual nature of the subpoenas, the NYT reported Sunday.

“Every administration has addressed the crime of leaking national security information,” Covington’s statement read. “To the extent that we have to investigate breaches of national security, that’s something that we will continue to do.”

But the investigation smacks of the same sort of Capt. Queegian White House crackdown on Trump’s embarrassing, at least, no-bid contract attempt to “clean up” the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington – a pet project, like the East Wing ballroom that could not legally be made fun of, in a totalitarian regime such as China, Russia or North Korea. – Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 7/13/26

Peace Deal Number 39, CPI 4.2%

The Consumer Price Index was up 0.5% month-over-month in May, for an annual rate of 4.2%, highest in three years and up from 3.8% in April, the Labor Department reports. [Bureau of Labor Statistics] 

•Scroll down this column for President Trump’s reaction.

Trump Goes to 39 – CNN counts 39 times President Trump has announced an impending peace deal with Iran since the beginning of the war at the end of February. As with many of the previous 38 such presidential announcements, Thursday’s was a reversal of Trump’s threat to invade Iran by land and take over energy facilities including Kharg Island.

In the face of Trump’s most strident pronouncement to date, the punditocracy was more dubious than ever and Iran’s leadership denied any impending deal. 

This deal is another Memorandum of Understanding, and the art of Trump’s dealmaking apparently relies on his administration’s making new demands just as a deal is about to be signed. 

Weekend diversions … Not to say President Trump won’t Truth Social another coming bombing campaign and MOU or two over the weekend, but he turns 80 on Flag Day, Sunday, and he has bigger plans. The president celebrates his 80th with UFC Freedom 250, the Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White House lawn beginning 8 p.m. Eastern time Sunday (watch live on Paramount!).

It will be a big night for the Trump family in many ways – The Athletic reported in May that on March 25, the president purchased between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of TKO Holding Group, according to his required May 8 stock trading disclosure with the US Office of Government Ethics. 

TKO is parent of the UFC and World Wrestling Entertainment. Trump says his family handles stock trades for him.

Not related to Flag Day/Trump’s birthday party, but related to the war on Iran, The New York Times, owner of The Athletic, reports that in February, Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million in stock in the Texas computer company, Dell. In last May, the Pentagon announced a $9.7 billion contract with Dell.

•••

De-NATO’d? – The US plans to significantly cut the number of aircraft and warships made available in Europe for North Atlantic Treaty Organization operations, two senior officials have told The New York Times. Planned cuts include:

•F-16 and F-15E fighter jets from 150 currently down to 100.

•Fewer maritime reconnaissance aircraft, from 26 down to 15, and a cut of all eight aerial refueling tanker jets previously available to Europe.

•Relocating a missile-launching submarine and an aircraft carrier, plus several warships and “scores” of jets.

•Reallocation of one of two groups of bombers previously assigned for Europe’s defense.

Germany’s Die Welt previously had published some of these details, according to the NYT.

•••

More Qualified than Pulte – Amidst widespread bipartisan opposition to Tulsi Gabbard fill-in and shopping mall scion Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, President Trump Truth Socialed Thursday that Manhattan US Attorney Jay Clayton is his nominee to take the position permanently (Politico). Trump’s social media post came in after the House and Senate left the Capitol for the weekend, so the confirmation process certainly will not come soon enough. 

Senate leaders did get their early takes in, with Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) praising former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Clayton for having  “a great reputation as being an incredibly competent manager.” 

What greater praise could there be?

Conversely, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the notion of Clayton replacing fill-in Pulte would not move quickly on reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. 

“It doesn’t matter what they do,” Schumer said. “Pulte has got to be gone.” –TL

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THURSDAY 6/11/26

UPDATE: Negotiations On Again, Again? – President Trump has called off Thursday’s strikes on Iran, again, claiming on social media progress made in negotiations with the Islamic Republic, The New York Times reports. Iran did not immediately confirm, however, Trump’s post that discussions “have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved.”

Venezuelaing Iran – Makes sense that the foreign intervention the Trump administration figures is its most successful to date remains the model for all foreign interventions to follow.

With negotiations for a permanent deal apparently falling apart, President Trump says the US will strike Iran “VERY HARD” Thursday night, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The two sides have been trading strikes since a US Army Apache attack helicopter was downed Monday (with both crew members escaping unscathed), ending the ceasefire. On Wednesday, the US military apparently destroyed a drinking water facility on Iran’s southern coast, according to a New York Times analysis. US Central Command posted on X-Twitter that it has conducted attacks near the Strait of Hormuz “with precision munitions from US Air Force and Navy fighter jets.”

Trump’s Sisyphean quest to sign a deal with Iran, announced ad infinitum these past 14 or 15 weeks remains allusive. The US “in the not too distant future” will be taking Kharg Island, the main export hub off Iran’s southern coast, he said, “and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have in Venezuela, which is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America.”

•••

He Loves It – When a reporter asked President Trump in the Oval Office for a reaction to May’s 4.2% CPI, the president said this: “You know what I really love? I really love the inflation.”

Perhaps Americans have become too accustomed to the president’s eccentric syntax as he attempts to shift the conversation from reporters’ probing questions to MAGA-friendlier subjects. That would explain Trump’s expansion on loving inflation he had promised as a candidate to bring down to nothing, in an exclusive interview with the New York Post: “I love the inflation number because of what I’m talking about. The numbers are going to be phenomenal because of what’s showing is that despite the fact we’re in a war, the numbers are much lower than anticipated, and when we’re out of that war, the numbers will be at lower numbers than they were before it started.”

Economist Claudia Sahm told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition Thursday, “’It could be worse’ is a really tough sell.”

•••

A Bit More Gas Relief – Will fuel prices “drop like a rock” if President Trump carries through with his threatened takeover of Iran’s oil and gas markets? We may soon find out. Meanwhile, the national average price for a gallon of unleaded regular continues to click down, according to AAA, at $4.129 Thursday, down 2.2 cents from Wednesday. That’s $1.156 less affordable than on February 26. Diesel came down 2.4 cents to $5.279, up $1.491 since the beginning of the war. –TL

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WEDNESDAY 6/10/26

It’s Not Over – That peace deal Iran has been on the brink of signing with the US is unlikely soon, as President Trump Truth Socials his anger over the shooting down of a US Army Apache attack helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.

“They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them. Now they have to pay the price!!!” Trump TS’d Wednesday morning, hours after the US Military said it hit targets in Iran in a “proportional response” to the attack on the Apache, The New York Times reports.

Iran has not accepted blame for the Apache’s downing, in which its two crew members were saved, unscathed, by a drone boat. 

•••

Platner to Take on Collins – Big news was Maine Democrats choosing Graham Platner, even though his one serious competitor, Gov. Janet Mills, backed out of the race earlier this year because she had a hard time raising sufficient funds, according to The New York Times. Despite the lack of competition, Platner took just 72% of the vote according to The Associated Press, with Mills, who has not yet congratulated the former oyster farmer, grabbing 20%.

Platner faces incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who occasionally casts an anti-Trump vote though it appears only when Senate passage of Trump’s agenda is guaranteed anyway. In his victory speech Tuesday, Platner said Collins has voted in Trump’s favor 95% of the time. An upset of Collins’ campaign for a sixth Senate term (she’s also chair of its Appropriations Committee) is considered crucial to the Democratic Party overturning its majority.

Writing in The Bulwark May 5, Jonathan V. Last called Platner “the post-Trump figure” and said he has a one-in-three chance of nabbing the 2028 Democratic nomination for president.

This was before the latest revelations that several of Platner’s girlfriends said he has a “toxic” personality.

Perhaps this latest in a series of revelations is Platner’s Access Hollywood tape moment, of sorts. Maine’s Democratic Senate candidate also has faced reports that he had a Nazi-esque skull & crossbones tattoo, since covered by a benign tattoo, and allegations that he sent sexually explicit text messages while married.

A Marine Corps veteran who served three tours in Iraq, Platner speaks of redemption and said in his victory speech he tries “to be a little bit better and a little bit kinder than the day before.” Certainly not Trump-like.

But Platner, a progressive who has had the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) since early in his campaign, does have a two-word name for whom he is fighting for the voters of Maine, much like Trump has used the two-word term “deep state.”

Platner's "deep state" is the “ruling class.” –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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WEDNESDAY 6/10/26

…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 119th 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 20th’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

…meanwhile…

CPI Falls to 4.0% -- The Consumer Price Index fell to an annual rate of 4.0% in May, down from 4.9% in April, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. Prices were up 0.1% on a monthly basis, with highest increase for shelter, followed by used cars and trucks, according to the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Food prices were up 6.7% on an annual level, offset in part by an 11.7% drop in energy prices. The CPI for all items less food and energy was +5.3% in May.

Most economists believe the Federal Reserve, which holds its latest regular meeting Tuesday through Thursday will forego an interest rate increase for the first time in about two years. 

•••

Truce for McCarthy and Freedom Caucus – Last week’s disagreement between Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and “conservatives” dominated by the Freedom Caucus, which clogged up legislation in the House is over for now, Roll Call reports. “Members of the rebel bloc made it clear” Monday “it may not be the end of trouble” for McCarthy. 

There were even whispers last week of the possibility of a motion to vacate, in which one representative can call for a vote that would recall the speaker. The brouhaha stemmed from Freedom Caucus members who objected to what they saw as a debt ceiling deal favoring President Biden. Last week, the hard-right bloc blocked votes on bills otherwise favorable to them, including one that would prevent regulation or banning of gas stoves. 

Trouble ahead: The MAGA/Freedom Caucus bloc reopened the House floor to action this week in exchange for renegotiating the “power-sharing” agreement they worked out with McCarthy to give him the speaker’s gavel, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told reporters Monday. Short of unspecified “progress” Gaetz said, “perhaps we’ll be back here next week.”

Why the quote marks?: We put “conservatives” in quotes, above, because we presume most, if not all, 222 House Republicans consider themselves leaning right. The Freedom Caucus currently counts 46 members, a bit more than one-tenth the size of the House membership.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Downgrade Imminent?

Fitch Ratings placed U.S. credit on a negative watch Wednesday, in case the White House and Republican lawmakers fail to reach a deal on the debt ceiling, The Hill reports.

Become a citizen pundit and help us advance our quest for civil discussion over real news stories. Hit the Comment section below, or in the right column if more appropriate for your politics or email us at editors@thehustings.news.

Among debate issues; 

• Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), a close ally of President Biden (who was senior senator from Delaware when his first term began in 2001) has announced he will not seek a fifth term next year. Carper is the fourth incumbent Democratic senator choosing not to run in 2024, after Diane Feinstein of California, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Ben Cardin of Maryland.

•Will debt-ceiling discussions put the kibosh on President Biden’s agenda, and on his legacy as well?

•Should Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) resign early and potentially hand the 2024 Democratic primary for her seat to Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)?

•The Consumer Price Index was up 4.9% in April, still too high for the Federal Reserve, but reflecting a slow and continuing improvement over last year. Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported a week earlier that the U.S. economy added 253,000 jobs in April, higher than most economists had predicted. This comes after the Fed indicated its latest quarter-point interest rate hike might be its last for a while. All these high numbers could be fond memories of our 2023 economy if Congress fails to pass a debt ceiling increase in coming weeks.

•A Manhattan court awarded E. Jean Carroll $5 million in her sexual abuse and defamation case against Donald J. Trump, who of course, will appeal.

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Inflation Eases Slightly to 7.7%

The Consumer Price Index dropped to 7.7% in October compared to an 8.2% annual rate in September, the Labor Department announced Thursday. The October rate was slightly better than the 7.9% level Marketplace reported economists had expected. 

Used car and truck prices have eased to a CPI of 2%, while new vehicles are up 8.4% year-over-year. CPI for shelter is 6.9%, with food up 10.9% and food at home up 12.4%. 

The month-over-month CPI rate was 0.4%.

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Trump Loses, Again

By Todd Lassa

As expected, on The Day After, the U.S. Senate is still up for grabs. With Democrat John Fetterman (pictured) beating Trump-backed Dr. Mehmet Oz and picking up the Pennsylvania Senate seat made open by the retirement of never-Trumper Republican John Toomey, Republicans must win at least two of three undecided races currently held by Democrats, among Nevada, Georgia and Arizona. The Georgia race between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Trump-backed challenger Herschel Walker is likely to go to a December 6 runoff.

Donald J. Trump’s Senate victories Tuesday came in Ohio, where J.D. Vance beat U.S. Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan for the seat of another retiring moderate Republican, Rob Portman, and in Wisconsin, where incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson held off Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes.

The House of Representatives is still up for grabs too, with the GOP having gained just two of the five seats needed to flip the majority. NPR’s Domenico Montenaro told Morning Edition Wednesday that Republicans are likely to end up with a seven- to nine-seat gain. The resulting slim majority could pose a problem for Republican Speaker-in-Waiting Kevin McCarthy, who bent a knee for ex-President Trump shortly after the Senate voted to acquit him after his impeachment for inciting the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

McCarthy’s own vague plans for impeaching President Biden may be tougher than he had expected.

One surprising race that could flip a House seat to the Democrats: In Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, pro-Trump Republican incumbent Lauren Boebert trails Democrat Adam Frisch in her re-election bid.

What the GOP had come to expect was this: Republicans lost 41 House seats in 2018 with Trump in the White House, and Democrats lost 63 seats in 2010 under President Barack Obama. 

It seems the same problem polling organizations had tracking Donald J. Trump v. Hillary Clinton in 2016 afflicted those organizations in 2022. Perhaps some of the intended voters who counted inflation and the economy as top concerns did not blame Biden for high inflation and the wobbly economy. 

Clearest indication that Trump is done as head of the GOP is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ trouncing of Democratic candidate Charlie Crist for re-election, by nearly 20 percentage points, a day after the ex-prez warned “DeSanctimonious” he could “hurt himself very badly” if he launches a run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Florida is now a deep-red state, with DeSantis having flipped formerly blue Miami-Dade Tuesday. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio also easily won re-election Tuesday.

Trump apparently still plans to make his “big announcement” next Tuesday to run again in 2024.

We have seen the GOP ready to “move on” before, from the time he lost the 2020 presidential election to the the January 6thCapitol insurrection and last August 8 when the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago for confidential government files. Is it for real this time? An article on FoxNews.com Wednesday contained the whole story in the headline, “Conservatives point finger at Trump after GOP’s underwhelming election results: ‘He’s never been weaker.’ Many conservatives say Tuesday’s election results show it’s ‘time to move on’ from Trump.”

After two years enduring Trump’s Big Lie, we may have taken a step back toward democracy.

(WED 11/9/22)

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

…meanwhile…

(MON 9/12/22)

Ukrainian Momentum: Ukrainian troops on Saturday recaptured the eastern city of Izium, a strategically important railway hub that Russian troops have held since last spring, The New York Times reported Sunday. Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, confirmed on CBS News that her country has pushed fleeing Russian troops out of 1,200 square miles of the northeast region of Kharkiv in the last eight days, more than the invading forces had captured since April. 

“We have to win, and this counter-offensive shows we can win,” Marakova told CBS’ Face the Nation. She agreed with military assessments that Ukrainian forces can push Russia back to the borders before the end of the year “because of the resolve of the armed forces.”

•••

Better Call Saul: From Sunday’s New York Times’ story about myriad Trump lawyers who have to lawyer-up themselves after working for the former president, this “dark joke”: “MAGA actually stands for ‘making attorneys get attorneys.’”

•••

THIS WEEK ...

The White House: President Biden visits Boston Monday, where he will deliver remarks on Bipartisan Infrastructure already underway and “tangible results for communities and the country.” Biden announces his “Cancer Moonshot” goal of finding a cure, to be held at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum on the 60th anniversary of President Kennedy’s announcement of his goal to put an American on the moon before the end of the 1960s.

On Tuesday Biden visits the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

On Saturday the president and Jill Biden travel to the United Kingdom for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, to be held next Monday.

Congress: The Senate is in session Monday, with both chambers in session Tuesday through Friday.

Inflation Rate: The Labor Department publishes the August Consumer Price Index Tuesday. Expectations are the rate will fall somewhat from the annual rate reported for July of 8.5%, which itself decreased from June's annual rate of 9.1%.

--TL

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Inflation Rate Eases to 8.5%

(WED 8/10/22)

Inflation rate is 8.5% … The Consumer Price Index was unchanged in July, after a 1.3% increase in June, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics Reports. The annual rate fell slightly to 8.5% from a record 9.1% the previous month. 

Gasoline prices fell 7.7%, while all energy was down 4.6%, the BLS says. Food was up 1.1% and food at home was up 1.3%, leaving the monthly inflation rate for all items except food and energy at 0.3%.

AAA gas prices: The national average is $4.01 per gallon as of Wednesday, AAA reports, down from a record average of $5.016 per gallon on June 14.

•••

Tuesday’s primaries … See Left- and Right-columns for Democratic and Republican primary highlights from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont and Connecticut.

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news