The Show Notes: Biden's Failed PPP Attack, Powell's Warning, & Zuckerberg's Rogan Interview
Welcome! Washington and Massachusetts will join California in banning gas-powered cars.
Headline: The IRS just isn’t prepared for the Inflation Reduction Act - CNBC
Marco Rubio Editorial: President Biden, your student loan handout plan is the opposite of the Paycheck Protection Program - Fox
Clip of the day: The White House is claiming Republicans are hypocrites who accepted PPP loans but oppose student loan forgiveness. Here’s the problem.
More:
More Student Loan Backlash
An independent swing-state pollster told NBC that Biden’s student loan decision made little political sense:
Quote of the day: “Why forgive debt on a group that never turns out to vote in the first place? The people who vote are the ones who paid their loans back or never had loans to begin with.”
Seriously, go read this from NBC.
More: A surprising number of vulnerable Democrats refuse to say if they support or oppose Biden’s student loan plan. Only six of the most vulnerable House and Senate Democrats support the executive order.
Powell: Pain is ahead
Jerome Powell delivered a speech this morning in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the Fed’s economic summit stating the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates and hold them at higher levels until inflation is under control. Powell warned the process could “also bring some pain to households and businesses.” At the same conference last year Powell brushed off surging inflation reports as transitory and is criticized by many for not raising rates soon enough.
Bonus: Why is the Federal Reserve meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming? Fly fishing. The Kansas City Fed wanted Paul Volcker to be their speaker in 1982. Volker was an avid fly fisherman so they enticed him by locating the conference in a fly fishing hotspot. The conference has been there ever since.
Putin Orders a Sharp Expansion of Russia’s Hard-Hit Armed Forces
This is from The New York Times (paywall):
“President Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday ordered a sharp increase in the size of Russia’s armed forces, a reversal of years of efforts by the Kremlin to slim down a bloated military and the latest sign that he is bracing for a long war in Ukraine, where Russia has suffered heavy losses.
The decree, stamped by the president’s office and posted on the Kremlin website, raised the target number of active-duty service members by about 137,000, to 1.15 million, as of January of next year, and ordered the government to set aside money to pay for the increase.”
Biden: Drill Baby Drill
In a hilarious turn of events, the Biden administration is begging oil companies to produce more oil as national supplies have reached critically low levels.
The rest of the news:
Canadian climber found dead after falling off Mount Rainier - Fox
Judge orders redacted release of Mar-a-Lago affidavit - Politico
Fetterman Opposes School Vouchers for the Poor. He Sends His Kids To One Of PA’s Priciest Prep Schools. - Washington Free Beacon
The iceman cometh: Biden creates an Arctic ambassador - Politico
GOP senators want FBI to answer for 2020 Hunter Biden briefing - NY Post
Biden's Job Rating Rises to 44%, Highest in a Year - Gallup
At least 5 riders injured on El Toro coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure - NY Post
FCC commissioner slams the agency for rejecting Elon Musk's bid for $886 million in funding to SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet - BI
Taiwan Proposes Big Jump in Military Spending Amid Chinese Pressure - WSJ (paywall)
Is Harvard no longer the wealthiest university? - Bloomberg (paywall)
Tweets that caught my eye: