CD07 covers portions of heavily Democrat Nashville, which gave Democrats hope to make a flip of this House seat.
(VIA AP) – […] A military veteran and former state general services commissioner from Nashville, Van Epps defeated Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn to represent the 7th Congressional District.
In a victory statement, Van Epps said he will be “all-in” with Trump in Congress.
“Running from Trump is how you lose. Running with Trump is how you win,” he said. “Our victory was powered by a movement of Tennesseans that are ready for change. We are grateful to the President for his unwavering support that charted this movement and catapulted us to victory.
Trump congratulated Van Epps, saying in a social media post: “The Radical Left Democrats threw everything at him, including Millions of Dollars. Another great night for the Republican Party!!!” (more)
Posted originally on CTH on November 20, 2025 | Sundance
As noted last week, the Senate included a provision in the government reopening bill to allow Republican Senators to sue the DOJ and data providers who comply with subpoenas for senator’s telephone and email records.
Nine senators who previously were targeted by Jack Smith and Arctic Frost subpoenas likely stand to make millions from lawsuits under the legislation.
In the latest round of DC pretending, the House voted 426-0 to repeal that specific law and terminate the Senate payday. Is the Senate going to take up the bill, of course not. However, the House now has another useless talking point (strong in the pearl clutching is this one) to campaign and fundraise with.
House members are great actors, very upset – very, and their level of pretense is excellent on this repeal bill. The unanimous vote really gives both wings of the uniparty, that reach across the aisle, a selling feature for the next election.
WASHINGTON DC – The House unanimously voted 426-0 Wednesday night to claw back language in last week’s government funding bill that could award some GOP senators hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages for having their phone records unknowingly obtained by former special counsel Jack Smith.
The language, which was quietly slipped into the shutdown-ending package last week by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, drove bipartisan outrage in the House. Even outspoken critics of Smith — including House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who is leading an investigation into the Biden-era probe — supported the effort to repeal a politically toxic measure that was quickly branded as a taxpayer-funded windfall for a select few.
“That policy, in my opinion — in the opinion I think of all the members of this institution — is unacceptable,” said House Administration Committee chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), during floor debate. “No one should be able to enrich themselves because the federal government wronged them, no elected official should be able to.”
The provision would allow senators to sue the federal government for $500,000 or more if their electronic data was subpoenaed without proper notification. But there are concerns over the language’s retroactivity — which would extend protections to at least eight Republican senators whose records were obtained as part of Smith’s investigation into Donald Trump’s attempts to subvert the 2020 election results.
There are no guarantees the bill to repeal the language will get a vote in the Senate. (read more)
Posted originally on CTH on November 17, 2025 | Sundance
President Trump has continually said he’s sick and tired of this Epstein nonsense, from his perspective “a hoax’, taking attention away from priorities to make the U.S. economy thrive, energy independence and structural changes to the global economy putting America-First.
However, those who seek to retain control over the global wealth system (and maintain the status quo) continuing manipulating the American psyche back to this ‘shiny thing’ in an effort to undermine the Trump agenda.
Large numbers of people, perhaps some with good intentions, just cannot see through this ruse and keep falling into this Epstein trap.
Keep in mind Epstein said multiple times there just wasn’t anything he could provide anyone who was trying to target Donald Trump; Epstein had nothing.
And once again, President Trump is dragged back into this nonsense narrative by foolish sheeple on the MAGA side who have the insufferable pre-programmed disposition to fall for the professionally republican psyops every time.
PRESIDENT TRUMP – “As I said on Friday night aboard Air Force One to the Fake News Media, House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat “Shutdown.”
The Department of Justice has already turned over tens of thousands of pages to the Public on “Epstein,” are looking at various Democrat operatives (Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, Larry Summers, etc.) and their relationship to Epstein, and the House Oversight Committee can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE!
All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT, which is the Economy, “Affordability” (where we are winning BIG!), our Victory on reducing Inflation from the highest level in History to practically nothing, bringing down prices for the American People, delivering Historic Tax Cuts, gaining Trillions of Dollars of Investment into America (A RECORD!), the rebuilding of our Military, securing our Border, deporting Criminal Illegal Aliens, ending Men in Women’s Sports, stopping Transgender for Everyone, and so much more! Nobody cared about Jeffrey Epstein when he was alive and, if the Democrats had anything, they would have released it before our Landslide Election Victory.
Some “members” of the Republican Party are being “used,” and we can’t let that happen. Let’s start talking about the Republican Party’s Record Setting Achievements, and not fall into the Epstein “TRAP,” which is actually a curse on the Democrats, not us. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! {Source}
Posted originally on CTH on November 12, 2025 | Sundance
House members returned to Washington after a 54-day recess to vote on the shutdown-ending bill from the Senate. The representatives voted 222-209 to support the Senate bill and reopen government.
“Two Republicans joined Democrats in opposition to the measure, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Greg Steube of Florida. Otherwise, Speaker Mike Johnson’s conference stuck together to back the funding package endorsed by the president.” ~Politico
President Trump is expected to sign the bill at 9:45pm ET. RSBN has a livestream in case the oval office is open for the signing. UPDATE: Video Added
Posted originally on CTH on November 12, 2025 | Sundance
Buried on page 217 of the Senate Continuing Resolution Bill [TEXT HERE], Republican Senators have inserted legislation to “retroactively” pay themselves $500,000 each for every line of communication, telephone record, email or other electronic communication, subpoenaed by the Jack Smith Special Counsel during the Arctic Frost investigation.
The payment is a penalty for retroactive subpoenas going back to January 1, 2022. The payment is at least $500,000 per phone line or email account. That means each Republican Senator is going to make millions from the subpoenas that Jack Smith previously used.
House Representative Austin Scott is not happy the Republican Senators slipped this into the bill. WATCH:
Posted originally on CTH on November 10, 2025 | Sundance
The U.S. Senate has finally voted on a deal to end the government shutdown. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives. Eight Democrats voted with all but one Republican.
WASHINGTON DC – The Senate passed a government funding package Monday night that paves the way for ending the longest shutdown in history.
The 60-40 vote came roughly 24 hours after a bipartisan group of rank-and-file senators, in tandem with Majority Leader John Thune, reached an agreement that officially broke a weeks-long partisan stalemate.
[…] The package includes a three-bill “minibus” that would fund the Department of Agriculture and the FDA, the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction projects, and the operations of Congress for all of the current fiscal year — the product of months of bipartisan, bicameral negotiations between top appropriators. All other agencies would be funded through Jan. 30.
The shutdown-ending agreement brokered in the Senate guarantees that federal employees laid off during the shutdown are rehired and gives federal employees back pay. It would require agencies to give written notice to Congress about the withdrawal of the layoff notices issued during the funding lapse, plus details on the amount of back pay owed.
It also would prevent some future firings with a blanket prohibition on reductions in force in any department or agency at least until the Jan. 30 end date of the continuing resolution. Democrats will also get a vote by mid-December on a bill to extend the enhanced ACA subsidies that are set to sunset at the end of the year.
Negotiators for the Senate Democratic Caucus — led by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Angus King of Maine — said the ability to vote on the subsidies constituted a major win. Negotiators made the case privately to their colleagues that the framework agreement was the best offer they were going to get from the GOP, who did not budge during the private talks on their refusal to get an ACA deal while the government was shuttered.
But Democrats in both chambers, including members of leadership, questioned why they would support an agreement when Republicans didn’t come to the table on their one key demand — negotiating on the Obamacare credits.
Some House progressives and outside groups were seething Monday and searching for someone to blame, with some calling on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to resign from his leadership position even though he, too, voted against the deal. (read more)
Posted originally on CTH on November 10, 2025 | Sundance
This is so perfectly Republican.
Republican senators have slipped a provision into the Continuing Resolution bill to re-open government, that forbids the DOJ or Judicial branch from subpoenas targeting their phone records. The Senate will be protected from abuses to the 4th amendment, but you and me – no such luck.
Additionally, as further evidence to the structural priorities of the professional Republicans, if the legislative provision is violated, each instance of violation will result in a $500,000 payment to the senator. Go figure.
WASHINGTON DC – Senate Republicans secured a provision in the bipartisan, shutdown-ending government funding package that could award senators hundreds of thousands of dollars for having their phone records collected without their knowledge as part of a Biden-era investigation.
[…] It was tucked into the legislative branch spending measure for fiscal year 2026, part of a three-bill “minibus” of appropriations measures that Senators were set to vote on Monday night alongside a continuing resolution to fund the government through Jan. 30. The House is expected to clear the package for President Donald Trump’s signature as early as Wednesday.
[…] The provision states that electronic services providers must notify a Senate office if the provider receives a request to disclose the data from that senator, or senator’s office. Moreover, the legislative language stipulates that the provider cannot be barred from notifying the senate office under a court order, though that notification may be delayed in the event the senator in question is under criminal investigation.
[…] This portion of the legislative branch appropriations bill also appears to provide a cash bonus for those Senators who were targeted by Smith’s probe. If the provision included in the bill is violated, the Senator can sue the federal government, and if the lawmaker succeeds in the case, the person will be awarded $500,000 or more for each violation by the government. (read more)
Don’t forget, in the last FISA-702 reauthorization, Congress also forbade any member of the legislative branch from being subject to the illegal use of the NSA surveillance system.
Congress is exempt from the FISA abuse they authorize on Americans, and Congress is exempt from subpoenas against their phone records that are authorized against Americans.
Seriously folks, we just cannot make this stuff up.
The AP is reporting on information from the Senate. A deal has been reached.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is voting on the first steps to end the 40-day government shutdown Sunday after a group of moderate Democrats agreed to proceed without a guaranteed extension of health care subsidies, angering many in their caucus who wanted to continue the fight.
The group of three former governors — New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine — said they would vote to reopen if the Senate passed three annual spending bills and extend the rest of government funding until late January. Senate Majority Leader John Thune endorsed the deal Sunday night and called an immediate vote to begin the process of approving it.
“The time to act is now,” Thune said.
The deal would also include a future vote on the health care subsidies, which would not have a guaranteed outcome, and a reversal of the mass firings of federal workers that have happened since the shutdown began on Oct. 1. The full text of the deal has not yet been released.
[…] Republicans need five Democratic votes to reopen the government. In addition to Shaheen, King and Hassan, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, home to millions of federal workers, also said he would support the agreement.
After Democrats met for over two hours to discuss the proposal, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he could not “in good faith” support it. (read more)
Posted originally on CTH on November 9, 2025 | Sundance
CEO of Truth Social Devin Nunes appears on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo to discuss how the Trump Media Group was targeted by the Jack Smith operation and FBI Operation Arctic Frost. In combination with the Arctic Frost targeting, JPMorgan Chase debanked the Trump Media Group (Truth Social) after receiving a subpoena from Jack Smith.
Devin Nunes is demanding answers into the collaboration between JPMorgan and the FBI specifically to target Truth Social at the time the larger tech industry was deplatforming, cancelling and targeting anyone -including us- who represented a counter information network to the 2020 election outcome. This was part of a larger coordinated effort.
Nunes then follows up with a discussion of how former FBI Director James Comey specifically targeted Donald Trump in the 2016 election by aligning the FBI interests with the objectives of the Hillary Clinton campaign. Additionally, Nunes and Bartiromo then extend the discussion to how the CIA led by John Brennan and the DNI led by James Clapper joined in collaboration with the FBI and Clinton campaign. WATCH:
Thankfully, people in Washington DC are finally starting to realize the full scale of the Obama surveillance system. All of the evidence and datapoints -released and yet to surface- flow in one direction. Even the professionally reluctant are starting to admit.
What Obama, Biden, Comey, Crossfire Hurricane, Robert Mueller, Arctic Frost and Jack Smith were doing, was using their offices -and govt systems- to watch their opposition, spy on them, then take action based on the results.
From the perspective of Obama, Comey and Brennan, expanding Hillary Clinton’s Trump-Russia collusion narrative was the key element to hide the activity of the administration prior to the November 2016 election. That’s the motive for the FBI and CIA to collaborate on the agenda after the shocking outcome of the 2016 election result; but pay close attention to the activity of the primary “at risk” official, James Comey.
From a risk management perspective, initially the surveillance and spying operation was a low-risk endeavor. Obama held power and was going to hand off operations to Hillary. The Clinton administration would retain the officials who were doing the surveillance/spying, and no one would ever know.
Donald Trump was not expected to win the election. When he did, all of the participants were suddenly at risk. President Obama and every member of his cabinet involved in the spying operations, then used Clinton’s “Russiagate” smear to cover up Obama’s “Spygate” activity.
The IRS was used to identify targets 2010 through 2012, until discovered in April ’12. Suddenly, President Obama has a problem. President Obama then sends his Chief of Staff, Jack Lew, to run the IRS and block discoveries around the IRS weaponization.
♦ From 2012 through April 2016, the Obama administration was spying on their political opposition using the FBI to conduct surveillance through their access to the NSA database.
♦ In April 2016, NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers was alerted by the NSA compliance officer who noted the uptick in database access activity by the FBI searching the Republican primary candidate field.
♦ Post April 2016, the Obama administration had a problem. Enter FBI operation “Crossfire Hurricane,” July 2016, in an effort to remove the political risk.
♦ October 2016, the FBI rushes a FISA application through the FISC, circumventing the missing ‘Woods File’, with the Chris Steele dossier as evidence.
♦ October 2016, NSA Director Rogers sends the first official notification of the FBI using the NSA database to the oversight body, the FISA Court.
♦ December 2016, worried about Trump now discovering the NSA database spying, the Obama administration wraps the Clinton smear into official policy, blaming the Russians and validating Crossfire Hurricane. That’s where the Intelligence Community Assessment becomes critical.
♦ May 2017, needing to extend the coverup of the FBI activity, special counsel Robert Mueller then takes over Crossfire Hurricane. All FBI evidence and personnel transfers to Mueller.
♦ April 2019, Robert Mueller operation wraps up, prior activity coverup shifts to Impeachment process.
♦ July 2019, John Durham kicks in extending DOJ/FBI control through 2020 election.
♦ Fall 2020, mail-in ballots triggered to facilitate 2020 election outcome.
♦ January 2021, FBI triggers unofficial Operation Arctic Frost, targeting Trump supporters and 2020 election researchers. FBI again using NSA database search queries to identify targeting.
♦ March 2021, unofficial FBI Arctic Frost results fed to J6 Committee and DHS. TSA trigger “Quiet Skies” targeting via results from Arctic Frost.
♦ August 2022, FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago to retrieve any evidence Donald Trump might have of FBI spying and surveillance activity.
♦ September 2023, Jack Smith targets congressional members who had contact with President Trump.
It’s one long continuum of coverup activity within Main Justice and the FBI, supported by all other various agencies who operate in support.
What are they covering up? The 2012 through 2016 political spying operation within the Obama administration, as carried out by the same Main Justice and FBI operations.
Posted originally on CTH on November 9, 2025 | Sundance
White House Economic Council Director, Kevin Hassett, is a straight shooter; he calls things as they are, not as many would pretend them to be.
On the issue of court orders demanding various cabinet secretaries spend money to fund the government, Director Hassett correctly reframes the issue around the law of federal spending that says money not appropriated for that expenditure cannot be spent. The Supreme Court will strike down, as they already have, any order not grounded in the law around government spending.
Hassett correctly warns that any cabinet agency who attempts to comply with a district or circuit court order, is running the risk of having a lawsuit filed against them for spending non-appropriated funds. This could be part of the reason why Democrats are purposefully not reopening government, to force the Trump administration into a catch-22 legally where they are going to violate the law either way.
Margaret Brennan stands jaw agape at the Machiavellian approach that Director Hassett outlines, “surely they would never do that” she proclaims. In response Hassett reminds Brennan that such Lawfare strategies are indeed part of the larger stop Trump movement. Video and Transcript Below.
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We begin this morning with the Director of the White House National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett. This is now the longest shutdown in American history. The treasury secretary told us two weeks ago November 15 was the hard stop for any paychecks going to US troops. Does that remain the point of exhaustion?
KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Right, I think that- that’s about the right number. And the problem is that under the law, we’re not allowed to spend money that hasn’t been appropriated. And there is a law, the Antideficiency Act, that says that if a government official spends money that isn’t appropriated by Congress, which will only happen if the Democrats vote to open up the government, then you could even have criminal penalties. And so people are very carefully studying the law and trying to get as much money out the door as is legal. And we’re very glad that we found a way to get a lot of the SNAP money out, but it’s really pushing the boundaries of the law, which is why the Supreme Court had to take that ruling from Rhode Island and put it on hold.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Until the lower court rules–
HASSETT: Until the lower court goes back and comes up with a legal justification for what they said, because there probably isn’t one, sadly, which is why we have to get this government open. I mean, the fact is Goldman Sachs, they have a top economic team, and they’re estimating that we’ve already knocked about 1.5% off of GDP. I think that number is probably low if we keep going even a couple more weeks, because there’s going to be a massive amount of air disruption, especially around the holidays. And one of these things every now and then when we’re talking economics, you and I, we talk about seasonal adjustments and things like that. But the fact is that Thanksgiving, that Thanksgiving time, is one of the hottest times of the year for the economy. It’s Black Friday, you know, and all that kind of stuff. And if people aren’t traveling at that moment, then we really could be looking at a negative quarter for the fourth quarter.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Which is significantly disruptive to the president’s agenda. But to the point you were just making about food stamps, and we saw this Friday, a temporary stay by the Supreme Court that would block full food stamp benefits pending the lower court decision. The administration’s argument, as you just referenced there, was that it would be illegal to move around funding and to tap the Section 32 account at the USDA. But why not do this as a short term patchwork solution? Because you have found ways with the military pay to stretch things out. Why prioritize in that case and not do so with food?
HASSETT: Well, the president’s job, and all of our jobs, is to uphold the law. And when- I’m not a lawyer, but when the lawyers tell us–
[CROSSTALK STARTS]
MARGARET BRENNAN: But are–
HASSETT: what we can do–
MARGARET BRENNAN: — that wasn’t done with the military.
HASSETT: But, but, but yeah, I think that the military is different because of the commander-in-chief stuff. But the legal analysis suggests that we’re doing everything by the book, and then stretching things as much as we can, and basically trying to keep people from committing crimes. Which you know, you know about- in the season of lawfare, if you are a cabinet secretary and you spend money that’s not appropriated for that purpose in your cabinet, then they can come back and they can take you to court.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But you’re also making a political bet that Democrats aren’t going to challenge paying the military. Do you really think Democrats would challenge and take to court paying people for their food stamp benefits?
HASSETT: Let’s just say that we’ve seen Democrats–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –if, if Congress is going to fund it, when the shut- shutdown ends?
HASSETT: We- we’ve seen Democrats take to court people that- on really, really poor charges, and so I think they’re likely to do anything.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, it seems a political calculation is the point.
HASSETT: Well, we, we don’t have a political calculation. Our calculation is to get the government open, to get the food stamps to people, and to get people to be paid, 750,000 government workers aren’t getting paid right now. I know you’re talking to the Governor of Maryland in a minute. I’m sure his people are really hurting. Let’s just get the government open, and then let’s talk about things like the healthcare premiums, but do that through regular order.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, it sounds like you are saying the position is the same, open the government, then we’ll talk about healthcare. But the president, just in the past 36 hours, has put out a number of social media posts. It sounds sort of like he’s proposing something in regard to health insurance payments. He said, I’m recommended- to Senate Republicans that hundreds of billions of dollars currently being sent to money-sucking insurance companies to save bad healthcare provided by Obamacare now be sent to the people so they can purchase their own much better healthcare. He also said they should terminate Obamacare. What does this alternative system look like? Because the entire standoff is about healthcare right now.
HASSETT: Right. Well, the president is, you know, a beautiful tactician, a beautiful negotiator–
MARGARET BRENNAN: This is an off–
HASSETT: –And this is- you know, what he said, he’s brainstorming and trying to help the Senate come up with a deal that can get the government open. And one of the things you could do is conservatives believe that they don’t want the government to micromanage people’s lives. And you know, everybody believes that people should have healthcare, and so why not take the people who have higher healthcare premiums and just mail them a check and let them decide? The reason why it could have an effect is that there are multiple tiers under the Affordable Care Act of different types of insurance, and it could be that people would rather have the money and go from like, you know, this kind of plan to that kind of plan and save themselves a little bit. And so that’s, that’s, you know, basically giving the people an opportunity to make more choices than the government usually lets them.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Is this the Senator Cassidy proposal?
HASSETT: I’m sure that Senator Cassidy and President Trump talked about it, but whether he agrees with everything that Cassidy- I haven’t talked to him about it yet.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, does the Republican leader in the Senate accept–
HASSETT: –The president–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –this proposal?–
HASSETT: — the president started this idea yesterday, I don’t think that it’s been discussed widely in the Senate yet.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So the president–
HASSETT: It’s the weekend.
MARGARET BRENNAN: –The Senate’s in session this weekend–
HASSETT: –Yes, the Senate is in session this weekend and we are–
MARGARET BRENNAN: because they’re trying to end the shutdown–
HASSETT: –And here I am.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But this is not the Republican Party’s position.
HASSETT: As of right now, it’s not the Senate position, but the president thought it was something they should think about.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, he seems to be negotiating before the government’s open.
HASSETT: He’s talking to his colleagues in the Senate on the Republican side.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But you would agree that there does need to be a deal on healthcare, that healthcare costs are too high.
HASSETT: Well, I think that if you look at the Affordable Care Act, these premiums weren’t made permanent by the Democrats during the COVID emergency because they’re worried about the budgetary costs. And so if you look at the premium increases, they don’t affect most people below two times the poverty line, three times the poverty line. But there are a lot of senior citizens that are above, like, around four times the poverty level, which with a husband and wife team would be about 120,000, that are seeing really big premium increases. And I think that everybody’s going to want to think about what the next step for that would be, because are seeing- again most people aren’t seeing much of an increase at all, but the maximum increases you’re seeing could be up to about $500 a month for seniors who have really costly plans.
MARGARET BRENNAN: The president has also been talking about affordability, and our CBS polling shows the president’s approval rating on the economy has dipped to 38%, the lowest of this term. 75% of those polled say he’s not focusing enough on lowering prices, but the president said this week Democrats are making it up and quote, “every price is down.” I’m sure you know the Consumer Price Index showed grocery prices are up nearly 3%, in September from a year ago.
HASSETT: –well–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Do you dispute that?
HASSETT: Well, actually, let’s go through the facts, right? Inflation went up about 5% under President Biden. In President Trump’s first eight or nine months, depending where we get the last number, it’s up 2.7%. One of the big things that’s hurting affordability is mortgages. The interest rate went up by about 4%.
MARGARET BRENNAN: This is grocery prices–
HASSETT: –No, grocery prices are actually down significantly under Trump. But here’s the thing–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –but depends on which–
HASSETT: Let me– I’ll just make a point.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.
HASSETT: That if you look at the real reduction in spending power for Americans under Joe Biden, then it went down about $3,000 because we had up to 9% inflation, and then they went to the grocery store, they couldn’t buy the things they’re used to buying. The real spending power, adjusted for inflation, under President Trump has gone up about $1,200 so far this year. $1,200 is not $3,000, and so people are right to feel stretched, but we’re making progress. And if you look at all the positive things about the economy, industrial production just about at an all time high, capital spending about at an all time high, GDP growth right now about 4%, then that shows that the income growth that we need to get more affordability is on the path to happening. And the bottom line is that the last Consumer Price Index surprised down. It was lower than expected, and it would have been even lower because there was a refinery shutdown that caused it to go slightly higher. So we see inflation under control and the economy booming, but we understand 100% why people are still hurting, because we haven’t made up all the room that was lost under Joe Biden.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So are you comfortable with 3% inflation?
HASSETT: I’m comfortable with 2% inflation.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So no, you’re not happy where things are now.
HASSETT: Well, they got to go down a little bit more, but there- but the point is that inflation is like the Queen Mary, my friend Alan Greenspan used to say, so when you go from almost 4% that we had in January down to the mid twos, then that’s a trajectory that usually has momentum.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So the St. Louis Fed found tariffs account for half a percentage point of the annual inflation rate. How much do you think the tariffs are hiking prices?
HASSETT: You know, there’s a couple of papers out there that say that prices went up by between two tenths and five tenths. And the thing to remember, if those papers are true, is that that’s a level adjust, because the tariff goes in, and then the tariff is just there, so it doesn’t affect inflation in the future. It would be a one time level adjust. Our estimates at CEA are much closer to zero, and it’s all based on modeling and assumptions about elasticities and things. But for the most part, the one way you can see it is you could look at the price of imported goods, and the price of imported goods, CEA put a report out, has actually been declining under tariffs. Because what happens is that the Chinese want to sell us lots of stuff, and there’s a tariff, so they cut their prices so that they can still have a larger market share in the US.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Kevin Hassett, always good to have you here. Of course, we have to leave it there for now. We’ll be right back in a minute. Stay with us.
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This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
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