THE SHOW NOTES: The Speakerless House, A Historic Strike, & New Vehicle Prices
Welcome! Kevin McCarthy’s nine-month tenure as Speaker of the House is over but the chaos has only just begun.
DON’T PANIC: Why everyone’s phone will alarm at 2:20 pm today.
MONEY: Average monthly payments for new vehicles just hit an all-time high of $736 per month.
OUTRAGE: Father of three, on way to high school reunion, is killed by career criminal, cops say - NY Post
NEW: Army-Navy football fans are livid at the Massachusetts Governor for giving all of the hotels around Gillette Stadium to illegal immigrants. - Twitter
HEADLINE: Transgender World Cup swimming category CANCELLED after not a single trans swimmer entered. - Twitter
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Speakerless House
The House of Representatives voted to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker last night by a 216-210 margin following a motion to vacate filed by Republican Matt Gaetz. Every House Democrat sided with a small handful of Republicans providing the majority needed to oust McCarthy.
Payback: House Republicans are livid with Democratic leadership for siding with Matt Gaetz and have evicted Reps. Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi from their posh Capitol hideaway offices as revenge. Additionally, Republicans are threatening to quit the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus as added retribution.
What happens next: Nothing immediately. Rep. Patrick McHenry, the temporary Speaker of the House, said Speaker candidates would make their case to the full congress next Tuesday and would be voted on the following Wednesday.
Who will be Speaker? Following last night’s announcement that McCarthy would not seek the Speaker’s chair again, the race for Speaker is now wide open. While Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise are the odds-on favorites, Tom Emmer’s name has been floated by some of the anti-McCarthy members.
Newt Gingrich: Republicans must expel Matt Gaetz - Washington Post (paywall)
Read my full take here.
Another Strike
The largest-ever healthcare strike has begun today with 75,000 workers walking off the job for the next three days. The affected hospitals will remain open with contingency workers
What happening: Kaiser Permanente, a nonprofit healthcare provider that spans the US, failed to reach a labor agreement with union representatives prompting the historic strike. Doctors, nurses, technicians, clerical workers, and administrative staff are all participating in the strike.
Context: The healthcare worker strike is more than three times the size of the highly publicized United Auto Workers strike that sent nearly 25,000 workers to the picket lines.
Big picture: Following major strikes in critical industries across the US, 309,700 workers have gone on strike at some point this year.
America’s High EV Costs Are Driving Buyers to Hybrids
More than a quarter-century ago, Toyota Motor Corp. introduced the Prius, a car with a new technology—a small gasoline engine paired with a relatively large battery—that would become a darling of the green movement. But in recent years those hybrids fell out of favor as automakers raced to develop fully electric vehicles, which captured generous government incentives and sparked the imaginations of forward-thinking drivers. Now hybrids are making a comeback as would-be electric vehicle buyers are increasingly put off by stiff sticker prices and spotty charging infrastructure.
US sales of hybrids have more than doubled since 2020 and are heading toward a 35% increase this year, according to researcher GlobalData. “The auto industry doesn’t function in a mode where you just flip a switch and everything’s different,” says Jeff Schuster, GlobalData’s executive vice president for automotive. Hybrids are “a way for the mass market to start edging into electric vehicles.”
Get the full story at Bloomberg (paywall)
🔥 Trending news:
Nikki Haley vaults to second place in New Hampshire in new GOP primary poll - USA Today
Prices are high and rising faster than normal — that’s why people are unhappy - Washington Examiner
Leonard Leo says he will not cooperate with D.C. Attorney General tax probe - Politico
Judge Gags Trump After Ex-President Attacks His Law Clerk - The Messenger
US will transfer weapons seized from Iran to Ukraine - CNN
Planned Parenthood is Helping Teenagers Transition After a 30 Minute Consult. Parents and Doctors are Sounding the Alarm. - WFB
Travis Kelce thinks NFL ‘overdoing it’ with Taylor Swift coverage - NY Post
Support for Third U.S. Political Party Up to 63% - Gallup
Texas Warns Illinois to Brace for 25 Buses of Migrants Per Day this Fall - The Messenger
Chicago is close to eliminating subminimum wages for tipped employees - Morning Brew
America’s High EV Costs Are Driving Buyers to Hybrids - Bloomberg (paywall)
How ‘Preapproved Narratives’ Corrupt Science - WSJ (paywall)
Market snapshot:
Transgender World Cup swimming category CANCELLED after not a single trans swimmer entered...
Why would a mediocre male athlete want to compete against other men when they can compete against actual women and win?
309,700 workers have gone on strike at some point this year...
High interest rates are responsible for more civil unrest and violence than any other factor.
High interest rates are the result of decades of political malfeasance. What we have today is the result of the success of liberal policies.