THE SHOW NOTES: Biden's Oil Problem, The Political Hurricane, & News From Georgia
BREAKING: Prime Minister Liz Truss steps down after 45 days on the job.
MUST READ: I don’t do this often, but my morning piece on Mitt Romney and Mike Lee is your must-read of the day.
NEW: The Left Faces a Reckoning on Criminal Justice - City Journal
POLL: Republicans lead Democrats in 9 out of 10 generic congressional ballot polls.
Ron DeSantis Wins: Charlie Crist campaign manager departs with less than three weeks until election - JTN
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Biden’s Oil Problem
Joe Biden announced an additional release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves on Wednesday to combat rising gas prices with less than three weeks to go before election day. The release drops the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the lowest level since 1984. Biden also demanded more oil production despite this moment in a debate with Bernie Sanders back in 2020.
What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve? Created in the 1970s, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an American reserve capable of holding 700 million barrels of oil in case of a major international emergency.
Why does it matter: The SPR is down 34% under Biden to roughly 409 million barrels after multiple releases.
Momentum Shifts Away From Democrats
Democrats had serious momentum following a summer of falling gas prices and SCOTUS rulings that fired up their base. All of that appears to be dissipating as inflation, crime, and economic concerns dominate voters’ minds. Here are a few media quotes on polling from this week:
CNBC: “Republicans have a double-digit lead on the questions of which party would do a better job bringing down inflation, handling taxes, dealing with deficits and creating jobs.”
Politico: “Seventy percent of voters believe the country is on the wrong track.”
CBS: “By double digits, Democrats are still losing independents who report their personal financial situation is bad.”
NYT: “With elections next month, independents, especially women, are swinging to the G.O.P. despite Democrats’ focus on abortion rights.”
The general assessment: “I think this is probably a Category 2 or 3 hurricane headed Democrats’ way, just not a Category 4 or 5.” - Dave Wasserman interview at NY Magazine
Early Voting Surges in Georgia
From GPB:
“More than 134,000 voters cast early ballots across the Peach State on Tuesday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger reported. That’s a 3.3% increase over the second day of early voting two years ago. Historically, voting in midterm elections falls off substantially from voting in presidential elections.”
Brand New Herschel Walker Ad
The rest of the news:
With Crucial Elections Looming, Biden Breaks Tradition of Big Campaign Rallies - NYT
Existing home sales fall to a 10-year low in September, as mortgage rates soar - CNBC
Global Housing Market Pain Has Echoes of a Crash 30 Years Ago - Bloomberg
US heating worries mount amid growing costs, uncertainty - AP News
Pence says of a Trump run in 2024: 'There might be somebody else I'd prefer more' - NBC
Times Square May Get One of the Few Spectacles It Lacks: A Casino - NYT (paywall)
Dan Snyder Is the NFL’s Trump - Politico
Biden, Newsom and the pain at the pump - Politico
Please, someone: hit the brakes on Biden’s gas and energy nonsense - NY Post
Cortez Masto and Laxalt neck and neck in Nevada Senate race — CBS News Battleground Tracker poll - CBS
Tweets that caught my eye:
Market snapshot:
Debt to income ratio is above 150% here and in Europe. We have a fool and court of jesters running the show here, the Labor party is poised to take control in the UK, liberals still run amok in Europe, Putin is vying to top Stalin for the number of people killed.
I am supposed to trust the world's politicians and power brokers to do exactly the right things, now?
The great recession was just a preview for the coming depression, almost 100 years after the last.
Ask the anti oil people how plastics will be made without oil. Plastics are everywhere .