THE SHOW NOTES: 'I don’t trust a single piece of paper in this organization'
Welcome! Expect the Federal Reserve to increase rates by 50 basis points today.
MUST READ: How to Gain an Audience and Lose Your Soul - The Gospel Coalition
IMMINENT INVASION? Taiwan reports record incursion by Chinese bomber aircraft - CNN
STAT: 97% of boys play video games for an average of 2 hours and 20 minutes a day.
ABSURD HEADLINE OF THE DAY: Science proves kids are bad for Earth. Morality suggests we stop having them.
HEADLINE: 9 million people received emails that mistakenly said their student loan forgiveness was approved - CNN
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Clip of the day:
Speakerless McCarthy?
Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene are just two of the McCarthy allies who are lobbying their conservative allies to make sure Kevin McCarthy prevails as Speaker in a narrowly controlled Republican majority. McCarthy won over Greene’s support by offering her a posh seat on the Oversight Committee. However, there aren’t enough committee assignments for McCarthy to buy all of the votes he needs. For McCarthy to win the Speaker’s chair, the vast majority of the 36 House Republicans who voted against him in the nomination process will need to support him on January 3rd.
Russ Vought told The New York Times: “I don’t think he has a plan, other than to hope that conservatives fold… and this is not the part of the Republican conference that folds.”
The problem: Despite conservative lawmakers’ agitation directed at the McCarthy camp, they clearly don’t have a viable alternative for Speaker.
The other problem: McCarthy is in the midst of picking a fight with Mitch McConnell on cutting a year-end spending deal with Democrats to avert a government shutdown. McCarthy went on TV last night blinding siding McConnell by claiming Republicans are wrong if they want to cut a deal with Democrats.
Why this matters: McConnell is negotiating a spending bill that will avert a government shutdown before the new congress is sworn in. McCarthy claims he wants to be part of the negotiation as Speaker but in reality, a spending deal that is already reached allows the new GOP House majority to symbolically hoist their opposition while avoiding the headache of a government funding fight.
Sources: CNN, New York Times, Politico
'I don’t trust a single piece of paper in this organization'
Shocking details emerged yesterday from FTX CEO John Ray’s four-hour testimony to the Financial Services Committee. John Ray - a bankruptcy specialist who led Enron after its collapse - said the amount of missing funds “exceeds $7 billion” and there was “literally no record keeping whatsoever.”
Trump vs DeSantis
This is from The Wall Street Journal:
In a hypothetical contest between the two, Mr. DeSantis beats Mr. Trump, 52% to 38%, among likely GOP primary voters contemplating a race in which the first nomination votes will be cast in just over a year.
The poll found that Mr. DeSantis is both well-known and well-liked among Republicans who say they are likely to vote in a party primary or nominating contest, with 86% viewing the Florida governor favorably, compared with 74% who hold a favorable view of Mr. Trump. One in 10 likely GOP primary voters said they didn’t know enough about Mr. DeSantis to venture an opinion of him.
Progressives: Stop Having Kids
YESTERDAY: I made the point on radio (and published the corresponding clip) that the pro-transgender crowd and climate crowd are all Malthusians who want to do whatever they can to stop procreation.
TODAY: NBC published a story today with the headline Science proves kids are bad for Earth. Morality suggests we stop having them.
The rest of the news:
Lawmakers unveil bipartisan bill to ban TikTok nationwide - NBC
Biden braces for potentially 14,000 migrants a day - Axios
DeSantis wants grand jury probe into COVID vaccine ‘wrongdoing’ - NY Post
GM recalls 740,000 U.S. trucks, SUVs over headlight issue - CNBC
Was the inflation report leaked? - NY Post
Tesla shares have fallen 28% since Elon Musk took over Twitter, lagging other carmakers - CNBC
Ohio State Is Reportedly Getting Outbid On Recruits By As Much As A Million Dollars - Barstool
Bari Weiss reveals business plan for buzzy new media startup - Axios
The supply chain that keeps tech flowing to Russia - Reuters
SEC Charges Eight Influencers in $100 Million Securities Fraud - WSJ (paywall)
Xi Jinping Doubles Down on His Putin Bet. ‘I Have a Similar Personality to Yours.’ - WSJ (paywall)
Tweets that caught my eye:
Market snapshot:
