Show Notes: SOTU, Ukraine Update, & No More Baseball
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Psaki Steps In It
State of the Union
Joe Biden gave his first official state of the union address to Congressmen and Senators who could pass a COVID test. Six legislators tested positive and were not allowed to attend. Ukrainian flags, pins, and dresses littered the audience with the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States in attendance. While the backdrop of the Russian invasion offered a galvanizing moment for the President, Biden failed to capitalize.
The Editorial Board at The Wall Street Journal summarized it perfectly:
President Biden is no Olaf Scholz. The new Chancellor upended decades of center-left German defense and energy policy this week after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, and Mr. Biden had a similar opportunity in his State of the Union address Tuesday. He missed the moment. The President remained on the same policy course of his first year, albeit dressed up in new anti-inflation packaging.
More defense spending to meet the threats from autocrats? No. A new appreciation for the contribution of fossil fuels to American and European security? Not a word. A note that government spending contributed to the highest inflation in 40 years? Nope. A word of praise for the private Pharma innovation that developed Covid therapies and vaccines? He proposed government price controls instead.
…
But his self-congratulation ignored the failure to deter the Russian autocrat. “We were ready” if Mr. Putin invaded, Mr. Biden said. But if the U.S. had been ready, Mr. Putin wouldn’t have invaded. The Russian invaded because he thought the West would do little. And Mr. Putin finds himself in a struggle now because of the bravery of 41 million Ukrainians, not the strength of Europe or the United States.
Tough but fair. Here’s my morning piece in case you missed it.
Ukraine Update
An assassination plot against the Ukrainian President was foiled last night by Ukrainian forces. The plot appears to be perpetrated by Chechen forces. Here’s what else happened in the past 24 hours in Ukraine.
Ukraine estimates 2,000 civilians have been killed since the invasion began.
Ukraine’s Kharkiv frontline holds despite Russian bombardment.
Second round of peace talks to take place today.
The invasion has forced oil over $100/barrel for the first time in 7 years.
The European natural gas problem is getting worse. Prices shot up 60% in the past week alone as a result of the Ukraine situation.
Collapsing Russia’s Economy
The response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by the West is to collapse the Russian economy with a multiprong approach. You should read this from CNN.
Never before has an economy with the global importance of Russia's been targeted with sanctions at this level, according to analysts, who say there is now a high risk that Russia will face a financial crisis that pushes its largest banks to the brink of collapse.
Western officials have described their campaign as an economic war meant to punish President Vladimir Putin and turn the country he leads into an international pariah — even if it takes years for sanctions to destroy the defenses of Russia's "fortress economy."
To make matters worse for Russia, Biden says that energy sanctions are still on the table to help punish the Russian economy.
The Rest of the News
Jerome Powell plans to propose a quarter-point rate increase at the next central bank meeting. - WSJ
Ron DeSantis just booted two Florida Democrats through redistricting. - Politico
MLB cancels the start of the season. - Reuters
Wheel of Fortune was a disaster last night. - NY Post
Cooper Kupp accidentally ignored Peyton Manning for years. - Yahoo
"Joe Biden gave his first official state of the union address to Congressmen and Senators who could pass a COVID test. Six legislators tested positive and were not allowed to attend."
Did anyone notice all 6 were Dems, including lockdown states Cali, Wash, and Pa? And another Dem rep from IL tested positive earlier so would not attend. The NPR article reporting the positive COVID test-ers failed to correlate the irony of these Reps' political leaning and their apparent inability to prevent COVID in themselves (let alone anyone else).
Love the notes! Collapsing Russia’s economy on the surface seems fine, but the impact this will have on the dollar as the world’s reserve currency could be extremely negative.