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Thursday, September 14, 2023

9/14 WAKE-UP CALL: Pump Pain Driving U-S Inflation


U.S. inflation accelerated in August due to a jump in energy prices. The consumer-price index, a measure of goods and services prices, rose 0.6% in August from the prior month, the fastest pace in more than a year, the Labor Department said. More than half of that was due to higher gasoline prices. So-called core prices, which strip out volatile food and energy, rose by 0.3% last month after even lower readings in June and July. The August increase reflected higher costs for items such as airfare and vehicle insurance. The upshot? The Fed will likely hold interest rates steady at their meeting next week. U.S. stocks edged higher after the no-surprises inflation report.

💸AMERICANS NOT BUYING BIDENOMICS: Biden is selling an improving economy, but Americans aren't buying. Groceries. Housing. Gas. The cost of living is going up, and Americans say all of these things are pushing them further into debt. As President Joe Biden tries to sell the country on an economic rebound, most Americans aren't buying it, according to an exclusive poll from the Suffolk University Sawyer Business School and USA TODAY.

  • The findings: The poll reveals a major disconnect between the way Biden describes the economy and how a majority of Americans feel about it. Nearly 70% of Americans said the economy is getting worse, while only 22% said it is improving. Nearly half said food and grocery prices were the main driver.
  • How are people coping? Many say they're cutting spending on meals out, new clothes and home improvements. At least 53% said they've slashed their grocery budget. And more people say they trust Donald Trump over Biden to fix things.

➤TRUMP TRUSTED MORE THAN BIDEN ON ECONOMY: More Americans said they trust Trump, the 2024 Republican primary front-runner, than Biden to improve the economy by a 47%-36% margin. The spread is 46%-26% in Trump's favor among independent voters. Nearly all Republicans surveyed expressed pessimism about the economy, according to the poll: 96% said it is getting worse, not better. But 76% of independents and even 34% of Democrats also said the economy is getting worse.


➤NOT A GOOD DAY FOR KJP: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ended her regular briefing Wednesday without offering a defense of President Biden’s many interactions with his son Hunter’s foreign business associates. Jean-Pierre paused as The Post asked: “Can you explain why the president interacted with so many of his son’s foreign business associates?” “Have a great day,” the press secretary replied as she walked off the briefing room stage — one day after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) launched a rare impeachment inquiry into Biden’s conduct.

“More than half of voters told CNN they believe the president was involved and he lied,” The Post pressed. “You can’t have a response to that, Karine?” Jean-Pierre did not offer further audible reaction to the query, which referenced a CNN poll released last week finding 61% of Americans believe Joe Biden was involved in Hunter’s overseas ventures. Earlier in the briefing, Jean-Pierre deflected questions from journalists about whether House Republicans are likely to find any “incriminating” evidence and whether the White House plans to comply with House requests for documents. Jean-Pierre repeatedly called the inquiry “baseless” and said the president has done “nothing wrong.”

➤LEFT MEDIA OP-EDS STATE AGE PROBLEM FOR BIDEN: Both the New York Times and Washington Post published op-eds Wednesday branding 80-year-old President Joe Biden as too old to run for re-election in 2024. It comes as Biden faces an impeachment inquiry and recent polling numbers show most consider the president at too advanced an age to serve again. Ross Douthat, a conservative op-ed writer for the liberal Times, penned a piece titled '2024's Field of Nightmares,' a reference to the 1989 film Field of Dreams. He said while his concerns with Biden come down to run-of-the-mill political disagreements during his first term, Democrats are playing with fire in allowing the oldest president in American history to run again. David Ignatius wrote a similar column in the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post with a more direct headline: 'President Biden should not run again in 2024.'

➤PELOSI ADMITS BIDEN MAY NOT RUN: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi conceded Joe Biden may drop out of the 2024 race - then smirked, laughed and dodged the question when asked if she thinks Kamala Harris should run to be re-elected as vice president. Worryingly for the president, Pelosi gave an evasive answer when pressed about whether his career willl continue until 2024 and beyond. Asked if she thought 'there's any chance (Biden) does not continue running,' Pelosi gave a less-than-definitive: 'I hope not, I hope not.' The 80 year-old president - who is the oldest ever elected - has faced growing questions over his cognitive abilities - with more of the criticism coming from his own party. Pelosi, 83, also gave a classic non-answer to Anderson Cooper on his show Wednesday night when asked if Harris was 'the best running mate for this president.'

➤TAX CUTS, DEFICITS TO REMAIN: Federal tax cuts are here to stay—and so are exploding budget deficits. President Biden and the GOP are gearing up for an election-year battle over extending the 2017 law that lowered taxes for individuals and businesses. Ignore the noise. Republicans promise to continue all tax provisions scheduled to expire after 2025, while Biden has proposed extending them for almost all households. He also wants sharp tax increases on roughly the top 2% of U.S.income-earners, but it is doubtful he could achieve much of that even if Democrats control Congress. The two parties tacitly agree that income taxes on the vast majority of Americans can never go up, which means a permanent budget imbalance that both bemoan but don’t seem eager to change.

➤SUSPECT GUARDED: Murderer Danelo Cavalcante was led out of a Pennsylvania State Police station Wednesday with blood drips visible across his hospital gown — while new images emerged showing the heroic K-9 that finally captured him hours before. 

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Cavalcante, who led police on a dramatic two-week chase after crab-walking up walls and out of Chester County Prison on Aug. 31, was escorted out of the Pottstown station in the hands of heavily armed cops, who loaded him into an armored car and took him away. The 34-year-old Brazilian’s face was still battered and bloodied after being routed out from a woodpile this morning, and he walked with his wrists and ankles cuffed and his feet bare on the pavement. Citizens stood by, filming and cheering as the killer was led away. Cavalcante was captured Wednesday morning after K9 units sniffed him out and discovered him lying in hiding with a stolen .22 caliber rifle at his side. He tried to crawl away from police, Lt. Colonel George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said in a press conference, but was stopped after the police dog bit him.

➤UN, PUTIN PLEDGE MUTUAL SUPPORT: Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin pledged deeper relations on on military, economic and security issues. The burgeoning friendship between the North Korean leader and the Russian president has the West nervous that Pyongyang will provide munitions to support Moscow in the Ukraine war. At a meeting at Russia’s main spaceport,, Kim declared confidence in Putin’s ability to win the war, without mentioning adversaries by name, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS. This was Kim’s first international trip in more than four years.


➤MITT ROMNEY WILL RETIRE FROM THE SENATE: Utah Senator Mitt Romney announced yesterday that he’ll retire from the U.S. Senate at the end of his current term. He said he’ll be too old for the job by the end of another term. Now 76, the Republican senator criticized both former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden, saying neither were leading their parties on critical issues such as the rising national debt and the climate crisis.

➤FLOODING KILLS THOUSANDS IN LIBYA: More than 5,000 are known to be dead and thousands more are missing after the catastrophic collapse of two dams during torrential rains in Libya. The storm in northeast Libya washed entire neighborhoods into the Mediterranean in and around the coastal city of Derna. Storm Daniel drenched parts of Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria before inundating Libya over the weekend.


➤COLORFUL CHEMICALS BANNED FROM FOODS: The California legislature has voted to ban certain chemicals used to make food products more colorful, but a widely feared ban on Skittles candies has been narrowly averted. The bill outlaws four common additives that are known to be ingredients in Yoo-Hoo strawberry drinks and Brach’s Candy Corn. But the current version of the bill removes a fifth chemical, used to color Skittles, from the banned list.

➤FAST FOOD WORKERS GET A RAISE: People who work in fast food and healthcare jobs in California are getting a raise next year. A minimum wage of $20 an hour for workers in chain restaurants has been approved. A separate bill increases salaries of healthcare workers to at least $25 an hour over the next 10 years. The current minimum wage in California is $15.50, topped only by Washington state’s $15.74.


➤ALIEN MUMMIES APPEAR IN MEXICO CONGRESS: Mexico’s Congress heard from a hunter of extraterrestrials yesterday, and he brought along a couple of specimens to show them. Jaime (HI-may) Maussan brought two coffins into the Congressional chamber and opened them to reveal what he said were the corpses of two extraterrestrials found in Peru in 2017. The bodies, which looked suspiciously like 1950s sci-fi movie extras, have been dismissed by others as Peruvian mummies.

⚾MLB PADRES 6 DODGERS 1: Juan Soto and Luis Campusano hit home runs, Blake Snell bolstered his Cy Young Award case and the visiting San Diego Padres pulled off a late-season series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 6-1 victory on Wednesday. Snell (14-9) gave up one hit over six scoreless innings, adding to his resume in a crowded National League Cy Young field as he lowered his ERA to 2.43. It was the 21st consecutive start Snell gave up three runs or fewer and the 11th time in that stretch he did not give up an earned run. He struck out eight and walked one.

⚾MLB REDS 4 TIGERS 3: TJ Friedl hit a two-run triple and the visiting Cincinnati Reds used eight pitchers to secure a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night. Harrison Bader scored two runs for the Reds, who have won the first two games of the three-game series. Daniel Duarte (2-0) picked up the win with a scoreless inning of relief. Alexis Diaz pitched a hitless ninth for his 36th save. Cincinnati starter Connor Phillips gave up three runs, four hits and four walks in four-plus innings. He struck out three. The Reds (76-71) climbed into a tie with the Arizona Diamondbacks (76-71) for the third and final National League wild-card spot.


⚾MLB SCORES:

  • Rays 5 Twins 4
  • Braves 4 Phillies 1
  • Yankees-Red Sox PP
  • Rockies 7 Cubs 3
  • Giants 6 Guardians 5
  • Mariners 3 Angels 2
  • Cardinals 1 Orioles 0
  • Pirates 7 Nationals 6
  • Rangers 10 Blue Jays 0
  • Astros 6 Athletics 2
  • Mets 7 D-Backs 1
  • Royals 7 White Sox 1
  • Marlins 2 Brewers 0

⚾ATLANTA BRAVES CLINCH NL EAST TITLE: The Atlanta Braves took the NL East title for a sixth straight year yesterday, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1. With a best-in-league 95-50 record going into the game, the Braves are the first team to clinch a playoff berth this season.

🏈AARON RODGERS IS IN FOR A LONG RECOVERY: New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers will probably need nine to 12 months to recover from the torn Achilles tendon that he suffered on Monday. But three orthopedic surgeons told Yahoo Sports that the injury is probably not a career-ender. They expressed optimism that more advanced surgical techniques and more aggressive rehab strategies will allow him to fully recover. The Jets expect Zach Wilson to start at quarterback for the rest of this season. Rodgers is determined to return, judging by his Instagram post: “The night is darkest before the dawn,” he wrote, “and I shall rise yet again.”

⚾RANGERS’ SCHERZER IS OUT FOR THE SEASON: Texas Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer is probably out for the rest of the season after straining a shoulder muscle. The injury occurred during the game against the Toronto Blue Jays earlier in the week.

🎾ALL EYES ON COCO GAUFF: Coco Gauff’s first Grand Slam title match at the US Open last weekend drew an audience of 3.4 million on ESPN. The match, in which Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka in three sets, was the most-viewed women’s singles final ever on ESPN. In fact, the women’s match drew a million more viewers than watched Novak Djokovic defeat Daniil Medvedev for his record-tying 24th Grand Slam title.

➤LEE NOW CAT 2, REMAINS LARGE STORM: Hurricane Lee remained a “very large” Category 2 storm Wednesday as it began to move away from the northern Caribbean and toward New England and Atlantic Canada with maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour, the National Weather Service National Hurricane Center said. Lee is expected to turn toward the north by Wednesday night, “followed by an increase in speed on Thursday and Friday,” the weather service said. The center of the storm is expected to pass west of Bermuda Thursday and approach the coast of New England or Atlantic Canada Friday and Saturday.



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