THE SHOW NOTES: A Recession is Coming, The Intel Leaker, & The Left Turns Violent
Welcome! We’re mad at Elon Musk today because Twitter turned off the ability for Substack to embed tweets. Seriously, Elon?
REJECTED: Anheuser-Busch loses more than $5 billion in value amid Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light controversy.
WHAT: Environmentalist are openly suggesting their followers should blow up pipelines.
NEW: Shorter MLB games are killing beer sales.
DATA: The national deficit topped $1 trillion in the previous six months.
CBS: Starting next year, a new IRS rule will require anyone earning over $600 on payment apps, like Venmo, in 2023 to receive a 1099-K form. The old threshold was earning $20,000 over 200 transactions.
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Leaker Found?
The Washington Post claims they have found the person behind the most significant top-secret security breach since Edward Snowden. A gun enthusiast known by the acronym OG formed and led a closed Discord group at the height of the pandemic comprised of isolated young men. OG claimed to have insider information on the interworkings of the US military and began uploading cryptic messages to the group late last year that most members largely ignored. The messages changed from cryptic transcripts to outright copies of highly classified intel. The Washington Post was able to interview others in the group on the condition of anonymity. Go read the full story at The Washington Post. CNN has a free version.
Context: The leak revealed the United States is actively spying on its allies, Ukraine’s counteroffensive is expected to be underwhelming, and Russia has ties with Egypt and the UAE that were previously unknown.
BREAKING: Tech Exec Killer Found
Police have arrested a suspect in connection to the gruesome murder of CashApp founder Bob Lee. The suspect in custody is a fellow tech executive who Lee knew personally. Details are scarce but the full story is here.
Economic Woes Ahead?
The Federal Reserve is projecting a mild recession in the back half of 2023 thanks to the fallout from the banking crisis that brought down Silicon Valley Bank and others. Additionally, a surprisingly large number of Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week while new job openings hit a three-year low. The job-related issues are projected to force 50,000 retail locations to close over the next five years according to a UBS analyst. In a parallel story, commercial office space has reached an unprecedented vacancy rate of 20.2%. The issue is so dire that famed investor Kyle Bass claims the excessive glut of commercial office space should simply be torn down.
The Mind Virus
In 1984, a KGB defector explained in a Canadian interview the four-stage psychological war the Soviets planned to wage against American society. Again, Elon took our ability to embed tweets away from us but you can watch the clip here.
GOP Budget News
House Republican leaders have begun informally putting together a debt-limit package they intend to socialize with their rank-and-file members when Congress returns to Washington next week.
The legislation would lift the debt limit until May 2024. Leadership is considering either a cap on non-defense discretionary spending or a cap on overall discretionary spending after reducing it to FY 2022 levels. One cap being considered is $584 billion for non-defense discretionary spending — excluding Veterans Affairs programs.
They’re aiming to limit budget growth to 1% annually for the next 10 years. The House GOP proposal would rescind unspent Covid money, prohibit student loan forgiveness, repeal some green tax credits, institute work requirements for social programs and implement the House Republican energy plan (H.R. 1) and regulation-cutting REINS Act.
Go read the full story at Punchbowl.