THE SHOW NOTES: The Inflation Problem, China's Military Advantage, & The Most Watched Program Ever
Welcome! Super Bowl LVIII was the most-watched program in television history.
SUPER BOWL: Despite the ratings boom on CBS, Paramount is laying off 800 people today.
GEORGIA: Fani Willis could be disqualified from prosecuting the Trump case.
NEW: Biden met with chairman of Chinese energy firm Hunter did business with in 2017, ex-associate testifies - Fox News
HEADLINE: Secret Partnership Fueling Climate Hawk Journalism - RCP
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Inflation Won’t Go Away
A May interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve is doubtful as inflation jumped more than analysts expected in January sending markets tumbling.
Details: The Consumer Price Index - the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge - rose 0.3% month over month but fell notably to 3.1% on an annual basis. While the inflation reading only moderately outpaced expectations, concern over individual price jumps and the perceived stubbornness of inflation has experts worried. Here’s the data Heather Long at The Washington Post highlighted:
Auto insurance is up 20%, the largest increase since 1976.
Nonprescription drugs jumped 9.2%, the largest increase ever.
Repairs on household items jumped 18.2%, the largest increase ever.
Shelter prices rose 6% year over year driving much of the top-line number.
Here’s the quote that stood out to me from economist Simon White at Bloomberg:
One data point doesn’t make a trend, but when you combine the slowing disinflation trends with the raft of leading indicators pointing to rising price pressures, it’s getting tricky to argue — as several already have — that inflation is yesterday’s problem.
The Dead Security Package
House Speaker Mike Johnson preemptively killed the Senate’s security bill passed last night that allocated $95 billion in security funding to Israel, Ukraine, and other US allies.
Why: Johnson said, “In the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters… America deserves better than the Senate’s status quo.”
Trump Asks Supreme Court to Intervene on Immunity Claim
Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Monday to block a recent ruling that denied him blanket immunity for alleged crimes he committed as president, a move that could further delay proceedings on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election results.
Trump’s lawyers argued in a 39-page filing that the absence of such immunity “threatens the very ability of the president to function properly,” and said allowing a trial at the height of the election season “will radically disrupt President Trump’s ability to campaign against President Biden.”
Full story at The Wall Street Journal (paywall).
Plane Crash
A small jet crashed on Interstate 75 in Naples, Florida. Both pilots were killed but the three passengers survived.
China’s Shipyards Are Ready for a Protracted War. America’s Aren’t.
China emerged as a global power by turning itself into the world’s factory floor. It is expanding that power, and its military might, with another striking industrial feat: becoming the world’s shipyard.
More than half of the world’s commercial shipbuilding output came from China last year—making it the top global shipmaker by a wide margin. The once-prolific shipyards of the West that helped forge empires, expand trade and win wars have shriveled. Europe accounts for just 5% of the world’s output, while the U.S. contributes next to nothing. Most of what China doesn’t build comes from South Korea and Japan.
“The scale [of China’s shipbuilding] is just almost hard to fathom,” said Thomas Shugart, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security whose research focuses on maritime competition. “The degree to which it dwarfs American shipbuilding is just unbelievable.”
Full story at The Wall Street Journal (paywall).
Trending news:
How Much Are Celebrities Paid for Super Bowl Commercials? - Barstool
Shooter at Houston megachurch had lengthy criminal history including weapons charges, police say - CNN
DUMBEST HEADLINE OF THE DAY: Musk and far-right figures seize on Iowa shooter’s possible LGBTQ identity - NBC
SECOND DUMBEST HEADLINE OF THE DAY: Biden’s Age Is a Campaign Problem, Not a Governing One - NYT (paywall)
What’s Behind This $10 Chicken Over Rice? An $18,000 Permit. - NYT (paywall)
Stone Age megastructure found submerged in the Baltic Sea wasn’t formed by nature, scientists say - CNN
Get Used to It: Biden Isn’t Going Anywhere - Politico
‘A horrible, perfect storm’: Frustrations rise as shortage of Adderall, other ADHD medication continues - MSN
Squatters Are Taking Over Homes All Over The Nation On An Industrial Scale And Turning Them Into Dens Of Crime - Zero Hedge
Market snapshot:
Speaker Johnson (R-LA) should tell Schumer, "When you pass HB 2 and President Biden signs it, we'll pass this bill. "
I am reasonably sure I would end up in jail if a squatter took over a property I owned. The laws have to change on this issue. No property owner should have to go through a long, drawn out eviction process when someone takes over a property. Fani should be prosecuted, and the entire case against Trump, et al should be ended. And, now that we see just how badly Biden handled classified documents he shouldn't even have had, that case against Trump should go away too. The other cases are simply absurd in the first place. Good for Mike Johnson. The senate wants aid for foreign countries, pass the bill the House sent over months ago to secure our border. And then take out the poison pill in the senate bill on aid that prevents a new president from making changes to future aid for Ukraine.