WHITE HOUSE ADMITS THINGS COULD BE ABOUT TO GET WORSE… WH Economic Advisor Brian Deese Won’t Rule Out A Recession (VIDEO)
National Economic Council Director Brian Deese would not rule out a possible recession during a Sunday interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Host Dana Bash asked whether the U.S. is at risk of falling into a recession.
“There are always risks,” Deese admitted. “Our economy is in a transition from what has been the strongest recovery in modern American history to what can be a period of more stable and resilient growth that works better for families. There’s no doubt we face serious global challenges, inflation first and foremost among them, and it’s hitting families hard. But there’s also no doubt that the United States is in a better position than any other major country around the world to address inflation without giving up all the economic gains that we’ve had.” […]
“So, given all of that, are you confident that the U.S. can avoid a recession?” Bash pressed.
Deese said the U.S. was in a “better place than any other country” and that the administration was focused on bringing inflation down before Bash interjected.
“But you’re not saying no,” Bash said.
“Look, there are always risks, but we feel very good about where the United States is, particularly when you look on the global landscape.”
MILLIONAIRE CNN REPORTER DOWNPLAYS INFLATION… SAYS GOV’T SPENDING IS GREAT, ACTUALLY… JOHN HARWOOD: in Washington debate, inflation is “crushing” families … in real life, pandemic relief has eased the pain … Moody’s economist: “excess saving cushioned the impact, even for lower-income households … “households are for the most part in a good financial place”
OBAMA ECONOMIST SAYS DEM ‘ANTI-PRICE GOUGING’ BILLS WOULD EXACERBATE SHORTAGES… RNC: Obama economist Jason Furman: “I don’t think, though, that [Democrats’] anti-price gouging bills would do much to bring inflation down. It’d just increase the type of shortages that consumers probably hate even more than the high prices.” (VIDEO)
FDA HAS BEEN SEIZING & DESTROYING IMPORTED BABY FORMULA… SCOTT LINCICOME & EMILY EKINS, IN WSJ: Why Is the FDA Seizing Baby Formula During a Baby Formula Shortage?
[S]ome parents prefer the variety that European brands offer, reporting that their babies seem to like the taste better and have gained more weight. While these brands won’t work for everyone, having the choice allows parents to experiment until they find the right fit.
Parental demand led to American mom-and-pop vendors selling European formula because the manufacturers wouldn’t make the effort. They even provided translated instructions. But the FDA in the past year has cracked down on these sellers. Without notice, thousands of families were left scrambling to find more formula. Parents who tried to purchase directly from Europe had hundreds of dollars of formula seized by U.S. customs agents. One parent reported that she had nearly $700 of formula destroyed at the border—in the middle of a national formula shortage.
AND NOW BIDEN IS BRAGGING ABOUT BRINGING BABY FORMULA IN FROM EUROPE… REUTERS: Biden says first shipments of baby formula flying in from Europe this weekend
The first shipments of infant formula from Europe to address a critical shortage in the United States should begin arriving this weekend, President Joe Biden said on Friday amid criticism of his administration’s handling of the issue.
Biden said on Twitter the initial military cargo plane flights under “Operation Fly Formula” meant that “up to 1.5 million bottles of safe Nestlé infant formula will be coming to U.S. shelves as soon as possible.”
THIS DIDN’T HAVE TO HAPPEN… ERIC BOEHM, REASON: Biden’s Baby Formula Airlift Stunt Should Never Have Been Necessary
The baby formula shortage isn’t the result of there not being enough planes to transport baby formula from Europe to the U.S.; it’s the result of the federal government making it nearly impossible to transport baby formula from Europe to the U.S.
As Reason’s Elizabeth Nolan Brown explained earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) rules that prohibit many baby formulas made in Europe from being imported to the U.S. have nothing to do with health or nutritional safety issues. Often, those brands are banned because they fail to meet the FDA’s labeling requirements.
In addition, the U.S. imposes huge tariffs—technically tariff-rate quotas, which are designed to make it completely unprofitable to import more than a small amount of a certain product—on imported formula. Those tariffs exist for no reason other than to protect domestic formula manufacturers and the American dairy industry that supplies them. As a result, about 98 percent of the formula sold in the United States is produced here as well.
JESSE KELLY: The government causing a baby formula bottleneck with ridiculous regulations and then causing a baby formula shortage with incompetence and then acting like a hero for flying in baby formula is the most government thing in the history of government things.
NOW BLACKOUTS COULD BE IMMINENT… BIDEN ADMIN KNOWS… ARE THEY PREPARED?… CBS: Facing a sizzling summer, large parts of the U.S. risk blackouts, government agency warns
With the Eastern U.S. already facing a possible heat wave this weekend, the nation’s power grid regulator has a dire warning: Large swaths of the country are at risk of blackouts this summer as climbing temperatures cause surging demand for energy.
In its annual summer assessment released this week, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation noted that the Upper Midwest is facing a capacity shortfall leading to a “high risk of energy emergencies.” The entire Western U.S. also could face a power outage emergency in the event of spikes in energy use.
“We’ve been doing this for close to 30 years. This is probably one of the grimmest pictures we’ve painted in a while,” John Moura, NERC’s director of reliability assessment and performance analysis, told CBS MoneyWatch. […]
MORE… GREEN ENERGY PUSH IS TAKING FOSSIL FUEL ENERGY OFFLINE WITHOUT REPLACING IT…
But the most affected parts of the country might be the Midwest, NERC warned. In a large swath of the grid stretching from Illinois to Minnesota, the summer’s power demands are projected to exceed the grid’s capacity. That’s because this area of the grid — known as the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO — has lost about 2% of its generation capacity since last year as plants have retired; a key transmission line is also down for maintenance.
Moura said that while more capacity was being added to the grid, largely in the form of wind and solar, older fossil fuel plants were being retired faster than they could be replaced. Meanwhile, blistering summers are pushing up peak energy demand ever higher.
‘COMPLETELY RANDOM,’ DAYLIGHT EXECUTION ON NYC SUBWAY… MEDIA SHRUG… NY POST: Man shot and killed on NYC subway in ‘random’ broad-daylight attack, cops say
A deranged gunman shot and killed a 48-year-old Goldman Sachs employee “without provocation” on Sunday while the straphanger was riding a Manhattan subway train to brunch, cops said.
The shooter, who was still on the loose Sunday evening, was seen pacing back and forth in the last car of the northbound Q train around 11:42 a.m. before he pulled out a gun and opened fire on the unsuspecting victim, police and sources said.
“Completely random,” one police source said.
The victim, identified as Daniel Enriquez, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.
“According to witnesses, the suspect was walking back and forth in the same train car and, without provocation, pulled out a gun and fired at the victim at close range as the trains [were] crossing the Manhattan Bridge,” NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said at a briefing.
When the train pulled into the Canal Street station, the gunman — described as a dark-skinned, heavyset man with a beard — fled the station by running up to Centre Street, Corey said.
BIDEN BLURTS OUT MAJOR US POLICY DECLARATION… WHITE HOUSE WALKS IT BACK — AGAIN… WSJ: Biden Says U.S. Would Intervene Militarily if China Invaded Taiwan
Mr. Biden spoke Monday alongside the Japanese prime minister in Tokyo during his first trip to Asia as commander-in-chief.
The president was asked if the U.S. would get involved militarily in response to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan after declining to send American troops to Ukraine to fight Russia’s invasion.
“Yes. That’s the commitment we made,” he said. […]
Mr. Biden, in his Monday remarks, stressed that the U.S. remains committed to the bedrock “One China policy,” which recognizes the present rulers as the only legitimate government and acknowledges—but doesn’t endorse—Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is a part of the nation. But the president said that policy doesn’t give China the right to forcefully take over the island.
“We agree with the One China policy and all the attendant agreements we made. But the idea that it can be taken by force, just taken by force, would just not be appropriate,” Mr. Biden said. “It would dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine. So, it’s a burden that is even stronger.” […]
Responding to Mr. Biden’s comment, a White House official underscored the president’s assertion that American policy toward Taiwan hasn’t changed. The official said Mr. Biden was referring to the U.S. obligation to bolster Taipei’s ability to defend itself, which is enshrined in the Taiwan Relations Act. […]
Mr. Biden has committed the U.S. to protecting Taiwan in the event of an invasion on previous occasions. In an August interview with ABC News about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Mr. Biden included Taiwan on a list of allies he said the U.S. was duty bound to defend.
At a CNN Town Hall event in October, he responded to a question about the U.S. defending Taiwan by saying, “Yes, we have a commitment to do that.” In both instances, White House officials later said U.S. policy on Taiwan hadn’t changed.
HERE’S THE PHRASING, PER NBC…
“You didn’t want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons,” a reporter asked. “Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if it comes to that?”
“Yes,” Biden responded.
JERRY DUNLEAVY: This is now third time that Biden has said this (today, in October, and in August) and it is the third time that the White House immediately walked it back and said there has been no change in U.S. policy.
CHINA SWINGS BACK… AFP: China Hits Back After Biden’s “Flirting With Danger” Warning Over Taiwan
The comments were met with defiance in Beijing, with foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin telling reporters that “Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory”.
“The Taiwan issue is a purely internal affair for China,” he said. “On issues touching on China’s core interests of sovereignty and territorial integrity, China has no room for compromise or concession.” […]
Wang said China would always defend its interests with the force of its 1.4 billion population.
“No one should underestimate the firm resolve, staunch will and strong ability of the Chinese people in defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.
KARINE NEEDS BACKUP… WHITE HOUSE PULLS JOHN KIRBY IN TO EXPLAIN FOREIGN POLICY… NYT: Pentagon Press Secretary Named to White House Communications Post
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon press secretary, John F. Kirby, the voluble public face of the Defense Department for the past year and a half, is moving to the White House in a new role as President Biden’s national security voice, the White House announced on Friday.
Mr. Kirby will work alongside the new White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, who started in her position on Monday, administration officials said. He will serve as the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications and will report directly to Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser.
“John understands the complexities of U.S. foreign and defense policy, and he will ably represent the administration on important national security issues,” Mr. Biden said in a statement on Friday. The White House said Mr. Kirby will coordinate efforts to “explain United States policy and will serve as a senior administration voice on related matters, including as appropriate at the White House podium.”
THE REPUBLICAN RESTRAINT COALITION IS GROWING… LACHLAN MARKAY: Republicans plot foreign intervention pullback
Republican lawmakers — following former President Trump’s lead — are working with a wide range of conservative groups to pull back American support for Ukraine, the Middle East and Europe, officials tell us. […]
Eleven Senate GOP “no” votes on a $40 billion Ukraine aid package last week was the clearest sign the new coalition’s influence is expanding.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who led the Senate opposition, huddled in his office with several of the coalition’s key players before the House voted on the measure earlier this month.
They included representatives from the Koch political network, Cato Institute, populist-oriented group American Moment and the American Conservative magazine, according to a person who attended.
DEM LIES FALL APART… GEORGIA ALREADY HAS HIGHER IN-PERSON VOTING THAN IN 2020… WAPO: Voting is surging in Georgia despite controversial new election law
GRIFFIN, Ga. — When the Spalding County Board of Elections eliminated early voting on Sundays, Democrats blamed a new state law and accused the Republican-controlled board of intentionally thwarting “Souls to the Polls,” a get-out-the-vote program among Black churches to urge their congregations to cast ballots after religious services.
But after three weeks of early voting ahead of Tuesday’s primary, record-breaking turnout is undercutting predictions that the Georgia Election Integrity Act of 2021 would lead to a falloff in voting. By the end of Friday, the final day of early in-person voting, nearly 800,000 Georgians had cast ballots — more than three times the number in 2018, and higher even than in 2020, a presidential year.
FLASHBACK… JANUARY… Democrats Whip Up Fear Of ‘Rigged’ Midterm Elections
With Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona refusing to eliminate the filibuster and pass a pair of election reform bills, Democratic politicians are claiming that Republicans will prevent fair midterm elections in November.
The two bills, the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, would effectively nationalize elections by preventing states and locales from setting limits on absentee ballots, prohibiting ballot harvesting and changing polling locations without federal approval, among other changes. Democrats claim that these changes are necessary to prevent local Republicans from engaging in voter suppression and throwing out validly cast ballots.
President Joe Biden cast opponents of the bills as the heirs of segregationists, and laws requiring voter ID and banning line-warming as “Jim Crow 2.0.” He also claimed that individuals who support the stricter ID standards “plan to subvert the election.”
“History has never been kind to those who’ve sided with voter suppression over voters’ rights, and it will be even less kind for those who side with election subversion,” the commander-in-chief said. “Do you want to be on the side of Dr. King or George Wallace? The side of John Lewis or Bull Connor? The side of Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis?” he asked.
OOPS… STACEY ABRAMS CALLS GEORGIA ‘THE WORST STATE’… THEN IMMEDIATELY TRIES TO EXPLAIN… THIS WEEKEND… Stacey Abrams says Georgia ‘the worst state in the country to live,’ despite owning multiple houses there (VIDEO)
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams declared Saturday that Georgia is “the worst state in the country to live,” despite owning at least two houses there.
“I’m running for governor because I know that we have to have a conversation about who we are in this state and what we want for each other and from each other,” Abrams said during a speech at the Gwinnett Democrats’ Bluetopia Gala in Norcross, according to audio posted by the Gwinnett Daily Post.
“I am tired of hearing about how we’re the best state in the country to do business when we are the worst state in the country to live,” she said.
Abrams acknowledged such a statement would be “politicized” and further explained that her state has lots of room for improvement on issues like mental health and incarceration.
“Let me contextualize,” she said. “When you’re No. 48 for mental health, when we’re No. 1 for maternal mortality, when you have an incarceration rate that’s on the rise and wages that are on the decline, then you are not the No. 1 place to live.”
CNN HOST SAYS DYING OF ABORTION IS PREFERABLE TO POVERTY… KEVIN TOBER:.@DanaBashCNN: “Arkansas already struggles to support vulnerable children. Nearly 1 in 4 children in Arkansas lives in poverty….Do you really think that your state is prepared to protect and care for even more children if abortion does become illegal there?” (VIDEO)
SAN FRAN ARCHBISHOP BARS PELOSI FROM COMMUNION… FOX: San Francisco archbishop bars Pelosi from receiving Holy Communion due to abortion support
San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone announced Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is barred from receiving Holy Communion due to her pro-abortion stance — marking an escalation in a decades-long tension between the Roman Catholic Church and liberal Democratic politicians on abortion.
Cordileone has written to the California Democrat, informing her that she should not present herself for Holy Communion at Mass, and that priests will not distribute communion to her if she does present herself.
“A Catholic legislator who supports procured abortion, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others. Therefore, universal Church law provides that such persons ‘are not to be admitted to Holy Communion,'” he says in the letter.
POPE FRANCIS CAUTIONED ABORTION-PUSHING POLS AGAINST TAKING COMMUNION… JD FLYNN, IN WSJ: Pelosi’s Abortion Stance Is Out of Communion
At their annual meeting last year, U.S. bishops debated how to handle pro-abortion Catholic politicians. Most agreed with Archbishop Cordileone that at a certain point the scandal of abortion advocacy requires a concrete sacramental response. Some theologically liberal bishops consider Archbishop Cordileone’s position to be “anti-Francis.” But Pope Francis himself said last year that while bishops should work as pastors with pro-abortion politicians for a change of heart, such lawmakers “cannot take communion, because they are out of the community.”
‘MRS. CLINTON… DID ENORMOUS HARM TO THE COUNTRY’ … WSJ EDITORIAL BOARD: Hillary Clinton Did It
The Russia-Trump collusion narrative of 2016 and beyond was a dirty trick for the ages, and now we know it came from the top—candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. That was the testimony Friday by 2016 Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook in federal court, and while this news is hardly a surprise, it’s still bracing to find her fingerprints on the political weapon. […]
Most of the press will ignore this news, but the Russia-Trump narrative that Mrs. Clinton sanctioned did enormous harm to the country. It disgraced the FBI, humiliated the press, and sent the country on a three-year investigation to nowhere. Vladimir Putin never came close to doing as much disinformation damage.
MORE… HILLARY’S SABOTAGE CAMPAIGN CONTINUED AFTER TRUMP TOOK OFFICE… NY POST: ‘Frustrated’ Clinton lawyer shopped phony Trump-Russia data to CIA in ’17: witnesses
WASHINGTON, DC — Former Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann denied he was “representing a client” when he gave the CIA faulty data linking Donald Trump to Russia — and appeared “frustrated” that officials weren’t taking the information seriously, two former agency employees testified Friday.
One ex-spy — identified in court only as “Kevin P.” — recalled that he and a colleague met with Sussmann at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., in February 2017, shortly after Trump took office.
Sussmann gave the men two thumb drives that he said came from unidentified “contacts” and showed a secret, cyber back channel between a Trump Organization server and Russia’s Alfa Bank, Kevin P. said.
“He said he was not representing a client,” the witness testified, adding that Sussmann also said he’d previously given “similar but unrelated” information to the FBI.
BILL MAHER CONTINUES HIS TREND OF MAINSTREAMING THINGS CONSERVATIVES SAID TWO YEARS AGO… A CAREFUL 9-MINUTE MONOLOGUE ON THE RAMPANT TRANSGENDER SPIKE AMONG KIDS… BILL MAHER: If this spike in trans children is all biological, why is it regional? Either Ohio is shaming them or California is creating them. (VIDEO)
FLASHBACK… MARCH… LEFTIST DISNEY EXEC HAS TWO LGBTQ+ KIDS… STRANGE COINCIDENCE? OR STRANGE MOTHER? … CHRIS RUFO: SCOOP:Disney corporate president Karey Burke says, “as the mother [of] one transgender child and one pansexual child,” she supports having “many, many, many LGBTQIA characters in our stories” and wants a minimum of 50 percent of characters to be LGBTQIA and racial minorities. (VIDEO)
FLASHBACK… FEB… 20 PERCENT OF GEN Z IDs AS LGBTQ… AXIOS: The number of LGBTQ-identifying adults is soaring
One in five Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ — and that number is only expected to go up, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday. […]
Gen Z adults who identify as LGBTQ has increased from 10.5% in 2017 to 20.8% in 2021. […]
57% of LGBTQ Americans identify as bisexual, the most common identification among adults surveyed.
LEFTIES SEETHE OVER MAHER SEGMENT… Maher Faces Blowback For Questioning Chemical ‘Experimentation’ On Children In Puberty
“Reno 911!” actor Carlos Alazraqui called out Maher, stating that his personal experience as a parent tells a different story, saying his daughters are “both into boys & love being girls.”
Hollywood writer and director Jessica Ellis called Maher “mean,” and described him as “not a smart guy.”
Staff from The Daily Beast and The Atlantic took aim at Maher’s monologue as well.
BIDEN ADMIN CONSIDERS SOFTENING SOLDIERS… DAILY WIRE: U.S. Army Considering Letting Soldiers Change Base If Local Laws Offend Their Choice Of Gender
The U.S. Army, apparently interested in furthering its recent journey into wokeness, is considering a policy called a “compassionate reassignment” permitting soldiers to request a transfer to a different area if they feel state or local laws discriminate against them because of their gender.
In addition to gender, sex, religion, race or pregnancy could be cited as discriminatory by the service member looking to move.
“The policy would ostensibly sanction soldiers to declare that certain states are too racist, too homophobic, too sexist or otherwise discriminatory to be able to live there safely and comfortably,” Military.com reported.
The guidance under consideration would need approval from Army Secretary Christine Wormuth.
CHAPPELLE’S ASSAILANT ATTACKED HIM OVER TRANS JOKES… BENNY JOHNSON:Dave Chappelle attacker Isaiah Lee breaks his silence and reveals he was ‘triggered’ by jokes about the LGBTQ community and homelessness when he tackled comedian on stage (LINK)
MORE… NY POST: Accused Dave Chappelle attacker Isaiah Lee reveals why he tackled comedian
The Los Angeles man accused of attacking Dave Chappellesaid he was “triggered” by the comedian’s jokes about the LGBTQ community and homelessness — as he insisted he never wanted to harm the funnyman.
In an exclusive jailhouse interview, Isaiah Lee told The Post that Chappelle should be more “sensitive” when it comes to the jokes he cracks.
“I identify as bisexual … and I wanted him to know what he said was triggering,” Lee said Saturday at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, dressed in brown jail garb and sporting a sling on his broken right arm.
“I wanted him to know that next time, he should consider first running his material by people it could affect.”
THIS WEEKEND… LIBS FREAK WHEN CHAPPELLE OPENS FOR COMEDIAN FRIEND… BUZZFEED NEWS: Fans At John Mulaney’s Show Said They Felt “Ambushed” When Dave Chappelle Opened It With Anti-Trans Jokes
Some attendees who were looking forward to watch John Mulaney’s stand-up show in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday night were taken aback when Dave Chappelle opened the show with an anti-trans and anti-gay joke during a 15-minute surprise performance.
Many fans took to social media to express their anger at being “ambushed” by Chappelle, who has a history of mocking the LGBTQ community. Attendees told BuzzFeed News they were also disappointed with Mulaney for giving Chappelle another platform to malign an ”already marginalized” community.
“I’m just a little disappointed in [Mulaney],” Morgan, 21, who attended Friday night’s show, told BuzzFeed News. To protect her privacy, she did not want to provide her last name.
“It hurts to know that Chappelle’s transphobia wasn’t enough of a deterrent to keep him off the show,” Morgan said. “I probably wouldn’t have gone, or I would’ve at least skipped the openers, if I knew Chappelle would be there.”
