THE SHOW NOTES: Sluggish Growth, Undecided Turn Decided, & Democrats Redeploy Cash
BREAKING: The U.S. economy grew at 2.6% in the third quarter as recession concerns persist.
NEW: New York Post website hacked, with racist and sexist headlines targeting politicians - CNBC
HEADLINE: Another Rail Union Rejects Biden-Backed Tentative Labor Agreement - ZeroHedge
Quote of the day: "I have never seen, in my 18 years, this much support from Washington for nuclear energy on a bipartisan basis." - CNN
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Clip of the day: MSNBC thinks you are dumb for worrying about the border.
Tweet of the day:
Undecided Voters Are More Decided
A USA Today poll shows voters backing Republican congressional candidates by a 49% to 45% margin thanks to undecided voters breaking heavily for Republicans. The same poll done in July had Democrats in the lead by a 44% to 40% margin.
Why: Undecided voters are increasingly worried about inflation and less concerned about abortion rights as consumer confidence continues to wane.
Impact: The poll was released the same day Democrats announced a $6.3 million ad buy as a last-ditch effort to save three congressional seats in New York and New Jersey. The districts all went for Biden by 8 points in 2020 and serve as an enlightening benchmark for Democrats’ pessimism about the midterms.
To make matters worse: The First Lady was dispatched to a congressional district in Rhode Island that Biden won by 14 points to attempt to save a floundering Democratic congressional candidate in a bright blue district.
To make matters even worse: Democrats have abandoned Portland’s bright blue 5th district in favor of redeploying resources to an LA suburb Biden won by 13 points.
Trump to hold rally in Florida with Rubio — but not DeSantis
From Politico:
“Former President Donald Trump is coming to Miami just two days before Election Day. But one Republican won’t be there — Gov. Ron DeSantis. Not yet anyway.
Trump on Wednesday said he’ll hold a rally with Sen. Marco Rubio on Nov. 6. DeSantis was left off the announcement and an adviser to the former president said the Florida governor is not attending.”
Free Fall
META stock is in free fall this morning as Apple announced significant changes to the fee structure of its app store. Apple will now require apps like Facebook to use its In-App Purchases tool for promoted posts done directly on Facebook or Instagram which levies a 30% fee. Facebook ads purchased through a third-party app will not be impacted.
Why does this matter: Apple’s new tax on Facebook’s sagging revenue is viewed as another hurdle for Facebook to overcome after seeing its stock price fall 65% year-to-date.
Hatch Act
Ron Klain violated the Hatch Act by retweeting a message urging his followers to purchase merchandise supporting Democrat causes. The Office of Special Counsel sent a letter to Klain addressing the violation and warning him not to do it again. While the issue is not that big of a deal and received little media coverage, one can only assume every newspaper would cover the story if it happened to a Republican.
Americans For Prosperity
My friends at Americans for Prosperity hate dysfunctional government almost as much as I do. Unlike think tanks that produce esoteric term papers, Americans for Prosperity is focused on policy solutions that will directly improve people’s lives. They have the largest network of community activists in the country and need your help. Learn more at AmericansForProsperity.org/Erick
The rest of the news:
The biggest unknown this election: Can Democrats outrun Joe Biden? - CNN
ECB hikes rates by 75 basis points and scales back support for European banks - CNBC
DOJ antitrust probe into PGA Tour includes Augusta National Golf Club, USGA and PGA of America: report - Fox News
How Maloney got here: The suddenly tough race rattling Dems at the finish - Politico
Trump Was Right On TikTok, Top Democrat Senator Admits - ZeroHedge
Air Force takes 'full responsibility' for Jennifer-Ruth Green sexual assault leak, GOP congressmen say - Fox News
Why Hispanic voters will have more power this year than ever before - CNN
DOJ’s Kristen Clarke: A Pro-Abortion Activist Enforcing the Law Against Pro-Lifers - Daily Signal
Perspective: Bad policy, not COVID-19, made children’s test scores decline - Deseret
U.S. Officials Had a Secret Oil Deal With the Saudis. Or So They Thought. - NYT (paywall)
Europe, Once Fearing Gas Rationing This Winter, Has a Glut - WSJ (paywall)
Tweets that caught my eye:
Market snapshot:
So, the Biden Administration doesn't want to talk with the Russians about Ukraine, thought they had a deal (that no one knew about) with the Saudi's about Saudi's oil while throttling our oil companies, and had yet another deal with the Rail Unions (which evidently are not paying enough dues to the Democrat Party to make everyone happy) that really wasn't a deal... It is amazing how bad Democrats are at negotiating anything. I'm positive that their foreign policy is tarnished because they think the US is the problem of everything in the world and start with an apology and a check to whomever they are negotiating. Just not sure about the amazingly stupid ability to not see the basic economic realities. Have none of the administration folks every balanced a checkbook or actually had to perform well enough at work to get a raise or take a second job to cover expenses?
I'm sure I over simplify but I do feel a bit better after venting a little.
Grandpa Dementia might as well be telling me to buy 30 boxes of the dollar cheaper generic cereal so I can put $30 in my gas tank.