Recession
In just 18 months, Joe Biden took an economy growing at 6% and put the country into a recession. On Thursday the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy shrank for a second quarter in a row, which is typically the definition of a recession. What followed was one of the weirdest briefings that Joe Biden ever gave. Biden insisted that it wasn't a recession. He added, somewhat incoherently, that "significant banking personnel and economists say we're not in a recession. Let me just give you what the facts are, in terms of the state of the economy, number 1, we have a record job market, ah, ah a record unemployment of 3.6% today...and the inflation reduction act (at that point looking at his notes) will add another $370 Billion dollars in clean energy tax credits..in reconciliation."
He then walked off the stage!
For those who missed it, Joe Manchin just caved in on a reconciliation bill that is built around $369 Billion in green energy subsidies for the democratic party's green energy fanatics. We can only hope that Kyrsten Sinema will stand tall one more time. As with all of these Bills, the devil is in the details. The Bill also contains $313 Billion in corporate tax increases, along with an increased tax rate on carried interest and increased tax-audit funding. The 725-page monstrosity is called "The Inflation Reduction Act." Democrats are famous for labelling something as the opposite of what it is and that is the case with this horrible tax and spend bill. George Orwell would be so proud.
Yesterday's report has added another chapter to the enormous political crisis Biden and congressional democrats are facing. The dire news also puts pressure on the Fed to take drastic action.
The Week:
China warns Biden: Yesterday Joe Biden had a phone conversation with CCP Chairman Xi. It didn't go well. Does anyone think that Biden raised the issue of Fentanyl from China coming across the US border? Does anyone think Biden addressed China using strawmen to purchase thousands of acres of US farmland?
What we do know is that Xi told him in very blunt terms that "Those who play by fire will perish by it!" That was in reference to Taiwan. The harsh warning comes because Xi doesn't want Nancy Pelosi going to Taiwan. Will she actually go? All we know is that Joe Biden came out of the phone conversation with nothing - nothing but a threat from Xi.
Biden's business dealings: "Records show Joe Biden met with his son’s business associates from the U.S., Mexico, Ukraine, China, and Kazakhstan during his vice presidency, according to Fox News. The president has repeatedly denied having any knowledge of his son’s “overseas business dealings.” In February of 2014, two of Hunter Biden’s business associates from Mexico, Miguel Aleman Velasco and Miguel Aleman Magnani, visited the White House. Joe Biden was captured on camera giving them a tour of the White House Brady Press Briefing room, according to the outlet."
https://news.yahoo.com/least-14-hunter-biden-business-123916913.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
Bowser now wants the National Guard: The DC Mayor (no relation to Bowser of Sha Na Na ) finally found a reason to call for the National Guard. It's the illegal migrants that were shipped into her little bastion of leftist elites. She didn't want the Guard during the riots of 2020, nor did she want them when Trump suggested it in January of 2021. So maybe the migrants are a lot to care for? Have democrat mayors finally realized that the country is swamped with migrants?
More leniency for the violent in NYC: "New York City prosecutor Alvin Bragg defended his office's decision to go easy on a 16-year-old caught on video viciously assaulting a cop who confronted him for not paying the subway fare – the teen's third felony arrest in less than four months. The teen, whose name is being withheld due to his age, was charged with second-degree assault Saturday after he was captured on a 54-second clip throwing more than 20 punches at an NYPD officer, slamming him into a metal gate and putting him in a chokehold at a subway station in Harlem. At his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court, prosecutors recommended the teen's release without bail and diversion to family court – where he'll be tried as a child and face rehabilitation rather than prison."
https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-york-city-prosecutor-defends-going-easy-teen-brutally-attacked-cop
Climate protesters were arrested during the Congressional Baseball Game on Thursday evening after blocking one of the entrances to Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. After all Biden has done for them they still have to disrupt American life.
What have we learned?
America is getting poorer and weaker. We are in a recession and it is of the worst kind. If the Schumer-Manchin Bill passes it will lead to even deeper drops in real wages and family income. Remember Corporations pass on taxes. It is estimated that 70% of the corporate tax burden falls on the consumer, which means middle income working folks. The time of the gut check is only 4 months away. Democrats are relying on the suffering to vote on abortion or Jan 6th.
We also learned this week is that there were whistleblowers, including top senior officials within the Department of Justice, who sounded the alarm that there was political manipulation of the investigation into Hunter Biden. FBI Agent Timothy Thibault is now the agent in charge of going after half the country. People like Thibault are the reason why the FBI has lost all of its credibility. Incidents such as these at a heavily politicized FBI led to the June 2017 ascension of Christopher Wray to the bureau’s directorship, but Wray has done little to fix them in the five years since. Wray must be fired by the next President.
Cartoon of the week:
Honorable Mention:
Michigan GOP Candidate Tudor Dixon. (The woman that Gretchen Whitmer fears.)
Tags
Who is online
537 visitors
Just another nail in the coffin for the democrats. The midterm election is only 4 months away.
Biden took ZERO questions on the day that Q2 GDP showed that America has entered a recession.
They couldn’t let him take questions, no telling how bad that would have turned out.
It's far too dangerous.
"After 11 years, students at George Washington University Law School will register for courses this fall with one notable difference: They will no longer be able to take a seminar with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas ."
I'm very disappointed in Justice Thomas decision. The example should have been that you never let cancel culture win.
— God willing —
THAT phrase so despised by progressives? That's the economic plan? Shithouse luck?
Does God know about Joe Biden?
I still haven't figured out why in the HAYULL Pelosi feels the need to go to Taiwan in the first place. Speaker of the House. Big fucking deal. What is she hoping to accomplish? It's total bullshit.
I'm assuming that Pelosi hasn't been bought and paid for by China the way Hunter & Joe were. She should go.
We need to stand up to our main enemy in the world.
Speaking of the Speaker, it is very likely her "last hurrah."
It won't be much longer, Nancy.
PotUS I can see. And while some of our friends think this woman is relevant, I just don't see ANYONE or any country in the world shaking in their shoes because the ice cream queen is "comin' to town".
I never like to give her credit for anything. She has done tremendous damage to this country. In this case, we cannot expect a president who is so indebted to China to do the right thing for this country. Therefore, though her visit would only be symbolic, I think it's needed.
Convinced me............now, about those "security concerns"...................
Take the fact that China is acting like a crime organization, sending tons of Fentanyl into the US. To add insult to injury, they are laundering the money by purchasing thousands of acres of US farmland, which will also divert US food products to China in the distant future when all sorts of resources will become scarce. That's something an American president would be concerned about.
Bottom line:
China has their man in the White House.
Gadzooks! She needs to be put out to pasture.
And who leaked that info in the first place? According to Pelosi, her travel plans are NEVER divulged ahead of time. I'm betting on the WH itself ... Biden and his handlers don't want her to go to Taiwan. Why? It would interfere with the Joe/Hunter/China business deals and make Xi angry.
Hum....
Biden and his handlers don't want her to go to Taiwan. Why?
Because the Biden's took all that money from China.
BTW, for our climate fanatics:
THE PROBLEM LIES HERE:
Welcome to the latest right wing version of Fantasy Island, otherwise known as Vics weekly recap.
Thanks JR, your extension of welcome always makes me feel warm and wanted.
“…otherwise known as Vics weekly recap.”
Full of stale accolades, misinformed accusations, and purely puerile partisan polemics.
Entertaining, nonetheless…if only to scoff at the mental gymnastics it must take to post as one’s own the iterated idiotic ideology…so readily regurgitated.
See you next weak, vic.
Ahh, but I had a partisan close to me die of a deadly disease....How dare you!
You are on the right side to get away with blatant insults.
See you next weak, vic.
Don't bother.
[deleted]
I'll stick with Hallux's new review for the week. I prefer that to the dark side.
[deleted]
Is it up?
That comment was intended to be a COC violation…
The preceding comment was only a violation of showing no compassion…meaningless on this venue, but oh so telling for the weakest amongst us.
Had your wife succumbed to cancer, vic…know for a fact this individual would never…ever… make light of it.
That being said, try to have a good day, knowing your comments have an impact. You’ve made mine worse.
Nor would this individual ever use such a thing to lampoon a seed!
[deleted]
Is the TDS waning? One can hope.
No shoutout to Sen Pat Toomey? I'm shocked ...
At least I was nice enough to mention you.
And I am nice enough to confront balderdash with balderdash. Level partisan playing fields and all that sort of thing.
We'll let guess who decide how nice you are.
Do so, run a poll. If 50% agree with you I will delete myself. I promise not to filibuster.
A poll of whom?
The 'guess who' of course. I love a masquerade.
You of all people should have known - OUR READERS, of course!
Yes you do.
You seem to have one going on in your avatar.
Again prove it.
We have conservatives coming out the wazoo on this forum constantly telling us that no one cares about Trumps effort to overthrow the US government because "inflation" and "illegal migrants" , and "wokeism", and the ever popular crime scare, yet, just about every week this "recap" tells us to be incensed about Hunter Biden. So transparent.
Transparency is good, no? Do you prefer liberal opaqueness? Like calling increased government spending, a Inflation Reduction Act. Or passing a Budget Authorization Act with an amendment requiring a twice a year report on white supremacists in the military and calling anyone that didn't vote for it a neo-Nazi supporter.
[Deleted]
Do you use terms like ilk in your real conversations or just here?
Oh you know the answer to that
Ilk is a fun word to use online, it is appropriately insulting, and yet mild.
Well your ilk put the Human Fuck Up Machine in the White House that is destroying this country.
Yet all we get out of the leftists is "But Trruuummmmppppp!!!!!"
It is beyond pathetic.
Trump isn't in charge got that? How about worrying about what the Democrats, who are in charge of both the WH and Congress, are doing for a fucking change!
So no sense crying over spilled ilk?...
Tough room!
The Hunter Biden story is enormous. It is really a testimony to the radical left media that they could not report on it for so long. It's an even bigger achievement for the radical regime in power that they could somehow run an investigation of the president's son. How do Republicans not call for a special Counsel investigation?
Next we'll hear from you that the Hunter Biden story is bigger than the Jan 6 insurrection.
An insurrection (to use Pelosi's description) vs a president & his son selling influence to foreign countries, including China.
You tell us: Which is more serious?
Enormous? To you all maybe. To rational and sane people it's a big nothingberder, a deflection from your hero's attempted coup on 1/6/21.
Thanks for clearing all that up
Or maybe it's a way for democrats to dump Joe. They could indict Joe for treason and move on to Harris. Is she more popular than Joe?
Well that's going be a conundrum for democrats. They can't run either one of them in 2024.
How do they get out of this mess?
"The passage of time" says no.
Well ... they have Mayor Pete and Gavin waiting in the wings.
It won't be cleared up for me until I know what a "nothingberder" is.
Then democrats have a big problem.
Both of them promise more of the same. It will be like running directly against Susan Rice.
The article claims the US is getting poorer and weaker.
Gee, last I saw corporate profits are at an all time high, which is one reason the new proposed tax on corporations is welcome news. Of course, as Vic says the corporations "dont pay taxes" and pass the cost onto their customers and clients. Its hard to find a conservative who objects to this, because, well corporations are gods to the deep thinkers on the right. It never occurs to them that maybe profits increasing every year is contributing to making many Americans "poorer",while the rich get richer. But dont you dare tax the wealthy. They will take their revenge on the rest of us.
As far as the US being "weak", we are currently leading the effort to have Ukraine stand up against Russia. That is not weakness. We also spend more on defense than many other nations combined, and have such a mighty military that Putin is always whining about how unfair it is for the US to side with Ukraine.
Give me a break.
You're the master of misinformation..
Any time you want to debate me on a topic Greg, step up to the plate. You are the master of vague , completely inaccurate, comments that put everyone to sleep.
As is the Democrat's way, we're throwing money and weapons at it. And that is it. With no accountability as to where it is going and what it is funding. Sitting on the sidelines is NOT strength John. It is, as we have learned of late, nothing but virtue signaling. We ought to be knocking on putin's door with negotiations teams. Reminds me of that old commercial for Shake-n-Bake. "And I helped".
And your jealousy of Vic's ability to put more than 10 words together and sum up the week through the eyes of millions is noted.
Let's not get carried away. Exaggeration was last seen molesting reality.
I thought that was Brandon and Harris with their word salads and redefining what a recession is that were molesting reality?
You have company, you should be happy.
Brandon at least honored the Holocaust!
LOL, true, true, and true...
Wah wah wah that's not funny. Using Brandon is childish, but it's OK if I call Trump stupid assed names.
Democrats love certain Nazis and Fascists- so long as they are killing those nasty Russians that is.
No, that is the same fucked up foreign policy as always. Human Fuck Up Machine at his finest.
Yes John, we need that massive military to aid our fucking weak and pathetic allies; who refuse to pull their damn weight. Trump actually forced them to increase their military budgets. You can thank Putin for actually showing our allies how pathetic and unready they are. Brandon didn't have shit to do with it. But he is bailing them out by sending whatever forces they request so they feel safe and secure. All at the US taxpayer expense- at a time when spending is already out of control.
What do you want broken? If it is something you own and ask really nice I am sure someone will be glad to break it for you. Of course legal paperwork will be signed in advanced removing all liability from the breaker.
How do corporations reflect the wealth of the ordinary citizens?
But dont you dare tax the wealthy. They will take their revenge on the rest of us.
I'm all for taxing the wealthy. How far do we go?
As far as the US being "weak", we are currently leading the effort to have Ukraine stand up against Russia.
We are tossing Billions over there that we don't have, that leads to higher inflation.
We also spend more on defense than many other nations combined,
Oh well, that's the consequence of allowing every major Communist regime to have nuclear weapons. Cut the domestic spending by about 4 fifths and we'll be just fine.
Give me a break.
I wish I could.
Those profits are already taxed. More profit really does provide more revenue for the government.
Consumers really do provide the money for everything in our economy with the exception of taxes on income and property. Banks really do create money out of thin air but consumers end up paying for that, too. Taxes on corporate earnings (and profits) work the same way as a sales tax. Retailers don't pay sales taxes; consumers do.
Ummm... No. Just stop. The only thing the United States is doing is sending a few guns and missiles while placing the burden of keeping the Ukrainian economy afloat onto the American people. France and Turkey have been more engaged and involved than has the United States.
What Biden is doing with Ukrainian war is the same thing the House committee is doing with the Jan. 6th investigation. Lots of political posturing and finger pointing while actually accomplishing nothing.
Perhaps you ought to keep up then.
Is it your contention that corporations should not make a profit? How then would they re-invest and grow to meet demand and provide jobs along the way?
Did it ever occur to you that perhaps profits increasing every year is also contributing to the growth of the economy and rising GDP and even lower unemployment figures? If companies aren't growing, how does the economy grow along with population growth? How do you think the "poorer" would fair if the economy were to stagnate?
I have no problem with corporate tax reform, as long as it takes the form of reducing or eliminating loop-holes that distort the the landscape of the free market and fair competition. For many years lobbyists have worked politicians from both parties to set up tax-loopholes that favor an industry, or in many cases specific companies, that allows them to avoid much of the 35% statutory corporate tax rate. Many have enjoyed paying no taxes at all or even collected subsidies in excess of the tax burden. Before you blame that all on Republicans, I suggest you do some research on that and look closely at the corporate tax data and the corporate political contribution data over time.
Just want to make sure I understand what you mean....so in your mind military spending, as monstrous as the US spending is, is a good thing?
Must be, the Dem led House just passed their 2023 National Defense Authorization Act for $839B, which is $37B more than Biden asked for. Vote was 329-101.
Left out of this fantasy island version of the week that was -
The Secret Service says all Jan 6 2021 text messages by their personnel were deleted.
Donald Trump welcomed a Saudi backed golf tournament to his flagship course to the utter consternation of the 9-11 families, who say Trump is lying about Saudi involvement in the Sep 11, 2001 attacks.
The Republicans in the Senate voted down legislation that would help veterans deal with the effect on their bodies of exposure to the toxic fumes of "burn pits".
Polling shows at least three GOP senate candidates are in deep trouble, in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Georgia, indicating just how difficult if not unlikely it will be for Republicans to retake the Senate. They nominated extremist or incompetent candidates and will now pay the price.
Marjorie Taylor Greene is still in good graces with GOP House leadership. LOL.
Write your own fucking article then if you feel this one doesn't cover what you want it to. Pissed because your "offerings" don't garner the attention his do?
I will give it thought. But then Vic would try and mock me and I dont know if my fragile ego could take it.
Amazingly, President Joe Biden, earlier this month said in regards to the Director of the Secret Service, "Jim embodies the meaning of service over self, and protected the families of U.S. Presidents like they were part of his own. We are incredibly grateful for his service to our country and our family.”
We will see what the new Director or what the Secretary of Homeland Security does to punish those guilty.
I couldn't include every news story. I have to prioritize.
The Secret Service says all Jan 6 2021 text messages by their personnel were deleted.
If I had a page 10, I'd include it.
Donald Trump welcomed a Saudi backed golf tournament to his flagship course to the utter consternation of the 9-11 families, who say Trump is lying about Saudi involvement in the Sep 11, 2001 attacks.
I have no space for anti-Trump rumors. Didn't we do all that from 2017 - 2020?
The Republicans in the Senate voted down legislation that would help veterans deal with the effect on their bodies of exposure to the toxic fumes of "burn pits".
Ah, If only we still had 35 cents on the dollar left!
Polling shows at least three GOP senate candidates are in deep trouble, in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Georgia, indicating just how difficult if not unlikely it will be for Republicans to retake the Senate. They nominated extremist or incompetent candidates and will now pay the price.
Remember what some of our liberal friends have said about recent polling? They are just the opinions of those willing to partake in a poll. What you should worry about is democrats supporting extreme GOP candidates. It's a wave election. They could win. Then democrats will get a good taste of their own medicine.
Marjorie Taylor Greene is still in good graces with GOP House leadership. LOL
Will the wave carry her in?
They seem to think the elections are going to be a shoe-in for them.
Exactly, the gaming industry, entertainment, and recreation industries, even the hospitality industry is starting to come back strong. I see delivery service trucks all day long in my neighborhood and no one here takes care of their own lawn. We are flush with money.
Michigan GOP Candidate Tudor Dixon. (The woman that Gretchen Whitmer fears.)
I wouldn't get my hopes up too soon, I'll wait and see who the democrats will saddle the republicans with, sigh, again. As with all incumbent democrats in Michigan, the democrats will vote in the primary the easiest republican that the incumbent democrat can beat.
Have to love the Democrat attack adds in Michigan. They try to paint Republican candidates as both pro and anti Trump. Too conservative and not nearly conservative enough. A Democrat stooge and threat to Democracy.
Republicans don't even need to run attack adds against each other- the Democrats have it all covered already.
The RNC really needs to urge the states that allow open primaries to end the practice.
It is rare that you see an incumbent Governor spend so much on an opposition candidate who has yet to win a primary.
I'd love to see the internal polling.
Nothing to worry about. It's all transitory:
An inflation gauge that is closely tracked by the Federal Reserve jumped 6.8% in June from a year ago, the biggest increase in four decades, and leaving Americans with no relief from surging costs.
Trump to Arizona:
It's time for Kari Lake!
I wonder why, her abilities as a soothsayer? /S
She's a hardliner on election reform.
I know, a little light in the leg perhaps, but nobody is perfect.
Her legs look fine. Perhaps you meant a little light in the head. She could do with a dimmer switch to replace the dumber switch.
What makes her so?
We expect big things from you. Don't let us down. Tell us all about Ms Lake.
Sure, seeing as you are not a fan of her legs she's a good lookin' loon and as I am not a fan of her brain she's a good lookin' lunatic. She and Boebert should make for a fine fake flower arrangement.
As compared to the squad and the faux native American the Republicans are still several members short in the looney toon category.
In that case I'll do the honors:
Lake is a self described Conservative, who once said that she considers abortion "the ultimate sin." She praised the Court for overturning the wronfuly decided Roe v Wade. She wrote an op-ed stating that as governor she would deport the illegal immigrants that enter Arizona without seeking federal approval and complete unfinished portions of Trump's border wall. She is a bit of a maverick on "transgender rights" and has switched parties in the past. She is the Trump backed candidate. Democrats & the media are going to make her look like a nut case.
How's that?
She's either nuts or depraved, take your pick.
Then why would democrats back her?
Manchin: I was "ostracized," "victimized" after nuking BBB
https:// trib.al/DathJXV
He's a corrupt DINO. Fuck him.
He may have just fucked himself. West Virginia is wed to American energy. This may be Manchin's Swan song.
I don't know. If I was a WV resident I'd want a beautiful clean coal Senator!
Damn it, Trump did have a way with words!
Anyone catch the score of the game between the dems and Republicans last night?
Sure did. Republicans 10, Democrats 0
Hmmmm a prediction of the upcoming mid terms??????
It's just not the democrats year!
Current polls indicate it's no one's year. More on this next Tuesday.
LMAO! Where did you find those polls?
Where everyone else hopefully finds them, at sites that aggregate them and even include Miranda Devine's 'Laptop from Hell' in their calculations.
I hope you cover your mouth when you LYAO.
"Barr Calls for Special Counsel in Probe of Bidens"
"F ormer Trump attorney general Bill Barr is publicly urging incumbent Biden attorney general Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel in the ongoing Biden investigation, which is said to focus on the president’s son Hunter.
The investigation has been ongoing since 2018 and has scrutinized shady foreign financial transactions that stretch back to at least 2014 (when Joe Biden was vice president and steering Obama administration policy in Ukraine, where Burisma, a corrupt energy company tied to the corrupt government, suddenly decided it was a fine idea to put Biden’s drug-addled son with no relevant experience on its board of directors ...
FINALLY, SOMEONE HAD THE GUTS TO SAY IT!
Barr might as well be preaching to the wall. Garland is bought and paid for. He won't take any action against Democrats. He is the most Partisan DOJ since Holder.
I'm afraid so.
What we're seeing is the Washington elite trying to revive status quo politics. In fact, both the Democrat and Republican elite are so desperate to revive the status quo that they aren't letting reality interfere.
Manchin didn't cave. Manchin may be a more fiscally conservative Democrat but nonetheless a Democrat. What's interesting is that the reconciliation package has changed so much that the old name of Build Back Better no longer fits. How Democrats continue the charade of 'reconciliation' only illustrates that both parties are desperate to revive the status quo.
As the reality of the immigration kerfuffle, crime weirdness, protest lunacy, and overall looney tunes news cycle shows, the Washington elite will simply ignore anything that threatens revival of the status quo. For the Washington elite nothing is more important than doing nothing. That is the status quo, after all.
My latest knee jerk reaction is to give that assessment a vote up.
Congrats on giving a thumbs up with your knee you're pretty limber there Vic.
I hear that's more your thing.
If you mean "limber", yes I'm pretty flexible for my age. Takes exercise and a healthy diet.
I'm more concerned with what you meant. I see that it has drawn a flag.
I get those from time to time.
It's the tickets that matter. That's why it's so important to be creative, so those that have to decide can say I don't know what she meant.
Well if someone's offended by that comment then by all means give it a ticket. Woo hoo.
I can't give tickets here, nor would I ticket a woman who goes to so much trouble.
No trouble, it comes naturally.
You said it, not I.
You don't "revive" the status quo. The "status quo" by it's very definition is the existing state of affairs.
Let's not forget the quid pro quo that William F Buckley always spoke of.
Your mixing idioms, to what effect I don't know.
Using that definitionally debatable argument, Trump became the status quo and cannot be characterized as an aberration.
Biden's 'not Trump' campaign with promises of undoing what Trump had done was, in reality, a promise to revive the status quo. Biden claimed his election was a mandate to lead the revival of the status quo.
Nice try.
I just loved hearing him say it. You seldom hear it used anymore.
I think he did more than try.
That was perfect analysis.
The reality of what happened isn't a 'try'. Just because Biden's revival of the status quo ain't working out too well doesn't mean it can be ignored by choosing a dictionary citation that fits wishful thinking.
If pretzel logic could be described as "perfect".
Insults aren't good enough. It was Biden who restored the status quo.
Have to get back to work but thanks for the morning amusement !
And good luck with whatever it is you do.
Biden admin quietly approves construction of Trump's border barrier in Arizona
As SEN Kelly (D, AZ) runs for reelection, he has been pressing the WH to close the border barrier gaps.
I think he just got the nod
House GOP ready to subpoena Hunter and James Biden, force FBI to address integrity issues
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen: "We've entered a new phase in our recovery."
Where the recovery goes flatline; and the economy dies?
The one we call Recession.
The Dem-led House is about to recess for 45 days—just 1 day after we entered a recession:
They have no plan to stop inflation.
They have no plan to bring down gas prices.
They have no plan to secure our border or reduce crime.
Join me live in a few:
"Five states hold closely watched primaries on Tuesday, several of which are seen as the latest tests of former President Trump’s hold over the GOP.
Voters in Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington will decide Senate, House and gubernatorial nominees, along with a key secretary of state’s race and a ballot measure on abortion.
The races feature everything from a proxy battle between Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence to an incumbent-on-incumbent primary to lawmakers who voted to impeach Trump fighting for their political lives.
Here are 11 races we’ll be watching:
Arizona gubernatorial GOP primary
One of the most high-profile contests Tuesday is the Republican primary in the Arizona governor race.
Former local news anchor Kari Lake, who has pushed dubious claims about the 2020 election, and developer Karrin Taylor Robson, considered more of an establishment Republican, are considered the front-runners in the race.
The primary has turned into a proxy war between Trump and Pence — with Trump backing Lake while Pence has endorsed Robson — becoming the latest test of how powerful the former president’s endorsement is.
An OH Predictive Insights poll released in July found 40 percent of likely Republican primary voters backed Lake, while 35 percent supported Robson when former Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), who dropped his own gubernatorial bid to endorse Robson, was removed.
Arizona Senate GOP primary
Another Arizona race putting Trump’s endorsement to the test is the Senate GOP primary to take on Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).
The former astronaut won his seat in a 2020 special election against Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) by just over 2 percentage points, one of a handful of critical Senate races that helped flip the upper chamber blue that year.
Trump has backed venture capitalist Blake Masters, who has ties to tech billionaire Peter Thiel. Masters has received the backing of other major Republicans and conservatives like Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and he previously served on Trump’s 2016 presidential transition team.
Others in the race include businessman Jim Lamon, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, former state Rep. Justin Olson and retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Mick McGuire.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Brnovich for not doing enough to investigate the former president’s baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election. The former president called him a “disappointment” when issuing his endorsement of Masters in June.
An OH Predictive Insights poll released on Friday surveying Arizona residents qualified as likely GOP primary voters showed Masters in the lead with 25 percent, followed by Lamon at 18 percent and Brnovich at 14 percent.
Missouri Senate GOP Primary
The Missouri Senate GOP primary has attracted a crowded field of candidates as Republicans vie for retiring Sen. Roy Blunt’s (R-Mo.) seat.
Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens initially held the lead, but he has been embroiled in scandal and fighting allegations by his ex-wife that he abused her and their child. He denies the allegations.
Adding to the controversy, Greitens released an ad in June in which he pressed viewers to go “RINO hunting,” in a nod to the acronym “Republicans in name only” and featured firearms.
Republicans fear a Greitens victory could put an otherwise safe Republican seat in jeopardy and big names, including Blunt, have lined up against him.
A recent survey from Emerson College Polling and The Hill found the effort may be working. State Attorney General Eric Schmitt had pulled into the lead in the poll, with the support of 33 percent of very likely Republican primary voters, while Greitens had fallen to third at 16 percent.
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), who earned the endorsement of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), had 21 percent support.
Other candidates include Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.), attorney Mark McCloskey and state Sen. Dave Schatz. Trump has not issued an endorsement in the race.
Kansas’s ballot measure on abortion
Residents in the Sunflower State will be the first since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the opportunity to vote on an abortion-related ballot measure when they weigh in on a state constitutional amendment regarding abortion access.
The ballot measure seeks to overturn a 2019 state Supreme Court decision that said abortion rights were protected under the state constitution. It would give the state legislature greater control over access to the medical procedure.
The Supreme Court’s Roe ruling kicked decisions on abortion access to the states and has created a patchwork of laws that ban or will soon ban access to the procedure.
Michigan’s Republican gubernatorial primary
The Republican primary in Michigan’s gubernatorial race initially attracted a crowded field of candidates, but it later narrowed down to five after several contenders were booted off the ballot for submitting fraudulent petition signatures.
One of the candidates remaining, conservative commentator Tudor Dixon, got a boost Friday when she was endorsed by Trump.
Other candidates in the race include real estate broker Ryan Kelley, who was charged in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot; retired Pastor Ralph Rebandt; businessman Kevin Rinke; and chiropractor Garrett Soldano.
A Detroit News/WDIV (Channel 4) poll, which was conducted by Glengariff Group and released last month , showed 19 percent of likely GOP primary voters polled supporting Dixon, followed next by Rinke at 15 percent, Kelley at 13 percent and Soldano at 12 percent. Rebandt received 2 percent. However, the polling falls within the margin of error of 4.4 percentage points, effectively tying Dixon and Rinke.
Michigan’s GOP primary in the 3rd Congressional District
Freshman Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) is fighting for his political life on Tuesday as he tries to ward off a challenge from former Housing and Urban Development official John Gibbs in the state’s Republican primary for the 3rd Congressional District.
Gibbs received an endorsement from Trump as a part of the former president’s revenge tour against the Republicans who have criticized him or voted in favor of impeaching him following the Capitol riot.
Meijer was one of 10 House Republicans to buck his party and vote in favor of impeaching Trump.
Democrats have gotten involved in the primary in an effort to boost Gibbs, who has used part of his campaign platform to baselessly allege “widespread irregularities and statistical anomalies in the 2020 election,” in hopes of facing what they consider the weaker candidate in November.
Cook Political Report rates Meijer’s seat as a “toss-up.”
Michigan’s Democratic primary in the 11th Congressional District
Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) is facing off against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) in one of this cycle’s incumbent-on-incumbent primaries.
Levin opted to run in the redrawn 11th Congressional District after the decennial redistricting process changed the makeup of his current seat.
Levin, once a synagogue president and co-founder of the Detroit Jews for Justice, has gotten the backing of the pro-Israel group J Street Action Fund, which has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the race, while the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC is spending big money to boost Stevens.
Levin has touted his personal work on climate change, jobs and workers’ wages, and his family includes several recognizable political names, including his father, former Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), and uncle, the late Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.).
Levin last year unveiled legislation along with his colleagues that would “accelerate progress towards a two-state solution and discourage steps that push one out of reach,” according to a press release from his office.
Haley has touted her time as the former chief of staff for the U.S. Auto Rescue Task Force during the Obama administration and showcased her support on legislation related to paid family leave and raising the federal minimum wage.
Washington’s secretary of state race
Washington’s secretary of state race has attracted a number of candidates as Secretary of State Steve Hobbs (D), whose appointment by Gov. Jay Inslee (D) last year marked the first time in decades that a Democrat served in the role, fights to keep his seat.
Hobbs was tapped to fill former Secretary of State Kim Wyman’s (R) position after she left her spot to serve on the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency under the Biden administration.
Among those vying for the spot of state’s top elections official are Tamborine Borrelli, a former supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) turned Republican; state Sen. Keith Wagoner (R); former state Sen. Mark Miloscia (R), once a Democrat; and Pierce County auditor Julie Anderson, listed as nonpartisan, among others.
Washington uses what’s known as a jungle primary, in which the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation.
Washington’s 3rd Congressional District primary
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) is fighting to retain her seat after she drew Trump’s ire as one of 10 House Republicans to vote in favor of impeaching the former president.
Herrera Beutler made headlines following the Capitol riot when she described the contents of a conversation told to her by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) that involved him and Trump.
She said the president had told McCarthy, according to the House GOP leader, “I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are” on the day of the riot.
Trump last year endorsed Army Special Forces veteran Joe Kent as a part of his revenge tour to take swipes at the Republicans who sought to impeach him or his critics. Other candidates seeking the seat include podcaster and author Heidi St. John (R), small business owner Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D) and state Rep. Vicki Kraft (R).
Washington’s 4th Congressional District primary
The former president has also waded into Washington’s 4th Congressional District race, backing former police chief Loren Culp (R) to take on incumbent Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.).
Newhouse also voted in favor of impeaching the former president following the violent Capitol riot, saying in a statement days after the riot that it was a “vote to condone President Trump’s inaction” and added that “our country needed a leader, and President Trump failed to fulfill his oath of office.”
The campaign platform for Culp, who was the 2020 Republican gubernatorial nominee, has included bread-and-butter Republican issues like his anti-abortion stance, limited government and border security.
One Democrat and five other Republicans have also thrown their hats into the ring, including former NASCAR driver Jerrod Sessler (R), businessman Doug White (D), Army veteran Benancio Garcia III (R), Jacek Kobiesa (R) and businessman Corey Gibson (R).
Washington’s 8th Congressional District primary
Rep. Kim Schrier’s (D-Wash.) seat is considered one of the most vulnerable for House Democrats this November and she faces several others candidates eager to advance to the general election.
Army veteran Jesse Jensen (R) is trying to stage a comeback after losing a bid in 2020 for the seat against the Democratic incumbent in addition to several others such as attorney Matt Larkin (R) and King County Council Member Reagan Dunn (R).
Kristof returns to New York Times after failed Oregon governor bid Kirby on reported Pelosi trip to Taiwan: We shouldn’t be intimidated by China’s rhetoricSchrier, who flipped her district blue in 2018, has won her last two elections by close margins, including by less than 5 percentage points in 2018 and more than 3 percentage points in 2020.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has used the issue of inflation to target Schrier and other vulnerable Democrats earlier this year, one of several headwinds for Democrats ahead of the November midterms.
Cook Political Report rates the House seat as a “toss-up.”
A deal reached last week by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., after months of party in-fighting is being billed as the "Inflation Reduction Act," but studies suggest it will have little impact on reducing inflation while bringing tax hikes to middle- and working-class Americans.
The Inflation Reduction Act, a slimmed down version of President Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) Act, will cost an estimated $433 billion, most of which will be invested in climate provisions, while increasing tax revenue by $739 billion. The bill will require large corporations to pay at least 15% in taxes, which is projected to raise tax revenue by $313 billion, as well as boost IRS enforcement, estimated to raise tax revenue by another $124 billion, and it will close the carried interest loophole, estimated to raise $14 billion.
Democrats insist on calling it The Inflation Reduction Act