I KEEP REMINDING PEOPLE THERE’S PLENTY MORE BIDENFLATION STIL BAKED INTO THE SYSTEM: Inflation Heats Up in January as Powell’s Disastrous Interest Rate Policy Is Exposed.

Related:

I'm gonna try to talk about this a little more.
This week, the idiot with $7 Trillion of Government bonds he bought with printed money, told us we're not doing well on inflation.
He literally chose to finance all the spending that caused inflation. No one even got to vote for it. pic.twitter.com/y0WOPC5f0r

— Frog Capital (@FrogNews) February 13, 2025

More: “Treasury market yields and auctions telling the story. Problem: Treasuries translate to residential and commercial credit pricing. As of today, 30 yr hangs around 7. We need to see 5% to reintroduce activity in the home market.”

MR. TAIBBI GOES TO WASHINGTON:

Yesterday Matt Taibbi gave his opening statement at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on the “censorship-industrial complex.” He posted the text of his remarks here (with links) at his Racket News site and added a brief note on the hearing as well. I have posted video below. This is the text.

Two years ago, when Michael [Shellenberger] and I first testified before your Weaponization of Government Subcommittee, Democratic members called us “so-called journalists,” suggested we were bought-off “scribes,” and questioned our ethics and loyalties. When we tried to answer, we were told to shut up, take off our tinfoil hats, and remember two things: one, there is no digital censorship, two, if there is digital censorship, it’s for our own good.

I was shocked. I thought the whole thing had to be a mistake. No way the party I gave votes to all my life was now pro-censorship. Then last year I listened to John Kerry, whom I voted for, talk to the World Economic Forum. Speaking about disinformation, he said “our First Amendment stands as a major block” to our ability to “hammer it out of existence.”

He complained that “it’s really hard to govern” because “people self-select where they go for their news,” which makes it “much harder to build consensus…”

I defended Kerry when people said he “looks French,” but Marie Antoinette would have been embarrassed by this speech. He was essentially complaining that the peasants are “self-selecting” their own media. What’s next, letting them make up their own minds?

These days, the establishment left may actually hate the First Amendment more than they hate the Second: NPR boss Katherine Maher once called the First Amendment a ‘challenge’ and ‘reverence for the truth’ a distraction.

AMERICANS: Do you think the Democrats learned anything from their historic losses in November?

Democrats:

A Democrat rep just claimed "manufacturing" is a sexist term because it has "man" in it.

We just might win the next few elections if they keep this dumb sht up. pic.twitter.com/mqoeow1FYj

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) February 12, 2025

Also Democrats:

This is the person Congressional Democrats just put in charge of their rapid response task force.

No, I'm not kidding. pic.twitter.com/eFb9qj1uDo

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) February 12, 2025

I hope you went long on popcorn futures.

RFK JR. CONFIRMED AS HHS SECRETARY: Here’s how pharma might be impacted.

Breaking! RFK Jr. has been officially confirmed as the HHS Secretary! pic.twitter.com/BFaIxf66ho

— Media Research Center (@theMRC) February 13, 2025

Related:

JUST IN: The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12 to 10 to advance Kash Patel's nomination to be FBI director to the Senate floor. https://t.co/fI2Zxd2yM7

— ABC News (@ABC) February 13, 2025

UPDATE: McConnell lone GOP dissenter on RFK Jr. confirmation.

MUST-SEE TV: Karoline Leavitt Is My Political Valentine After Smacking Down CNN Hack Kaitlan Collins. “The always prepared Leavitt will continue to remind the Dem lapdogs in the press pool that she’s the cheerful buzzsaw that they might want to be more careful around.”

I’VE GOT MORE THAN YOU’LL EVER WANT TO KNOW: About federal civil service retirement programs in this exclusive on the details other media won’t or can’t report about Trump’s buyout offer wrapped up at 75,000 takers.

10 BILLS IN CONGRESS TO MAKE TRUMP REFORMS PERMANENT: Bet you didn’t know there are already 10 legislative proposals in Congress that if approved and signed into law would institutionalize the most important Trump Executive Orders for posterity. Ben Johnson of The Washington Stand knows.

IT TAKES GUTS TO TELL THESE STORIES IN A COUNTRY WHERE THE ANTISEMITES ARE EMPOWERED:

They knew. A healthcare worker tried to warn about antisemitism in Sydney hospitals shortly after October 7 over a year ago. You won't believe what happened to her. pic.twitter.com/hMsF0at9aD

— Daniel (@VoteLewko) February 12, 2025

Background: “Sharon Stoliar is an Australian midwife, author, and academic known for her work in maternal health and advocacy against birth trauma. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing (2006) and a Graduate Diploma in Midwifery (2008) from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Furthering her education, she earned a Master of Public Health and a Master of International Public Health from the University of New South Wales in 2013. Currently, she is pursuing a PhD at Western Sydney University, focusing on the personal pregnancy and birthing experiences of midwives.”

PAID PROPAGANDA: Justice Department spent $100 million pushing DEI in schools, watchdog finds.

SPORTSMANSHIP: Taylor Swift Fans Threaten Eagles Star’s Parents’ Business.

MAKE THEM PAY: Olivia Krolczyk files Title IX complaint after protesters disrupt her speech on women’s rights in sports.

Olivia Krolczyk, ambassador with the Riley Gaines Center, has filed a Tiltle IX complaint University of Washington after disruptive protesters forced the cancellation of her on-campus event discussing the harms of gender ideology.

Krolczyk filed a complaint on Tuesday with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, accusing the University of Washington of “illegal discrimination” under Title IX because of the university’s “failure to take reasonable and necessary measures to address the hostile environment that Ms. Krolczyk experienced,” the document states.

The event in question, during which Krolczyk was meant to address the ways that gender ideology hurts women, took place on Jan. 21. During Krolczyk’s lecture, “[r]oughly 200 protesters showed up at the event, broke windows, blocked the exits, pulled the fire alarms, and disrupted the event to the point where the event had to be cancelled,” as the complaint states.

“As the event started, the protestors’ actions became increasingly aggressive. Police officers were stationed at each door, as protesters began banging on the doors, shouting insults, and calling Ms. Krolczyk names such as ‘Nazi’ and ‘fascist.’ Ms. Krolczyk felt trapped. She was being held hostage in the room, with no safe way to exit due to the violent actions of the protesters,” the complaint relates.

Following the event’s cancellation, the university released a statement that falsely blamed Krolczyk of trying to provoke community members with her event, as the complaint document states.

Like I said, make them pay.

THEY’RE FLAILING: House Dems reintroduce reparations legislation: ‘We refuse to be silent.’

House Democrats on Wednesday reintroduced legislation that aims to find ways to deliver reparations to Black Americans who are descendants of slaves.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., is co-leading the reintroduction of H.R.40, or the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act, to Congress with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.

Pressley, a progressive member of the Squad, said during a news conference that “reparations are a necessary step in achieving justice.”

“We are in a moment of anti-Blackness on steroids and we refuse to be silent,” Pressley said. “We will not back down in our pursuit of racial justice.”

That’s a strange way to say “other people’s money.”

Democrats had four years’ worth of opportunities to pursue reparations, 2009 through 2010 and 2021 through 2022. They didn’t because they know it’s political suicide. This news is just a desperate attempt to change the subject from Trump’s early successes.

But one day the Crazy/Back-in-Power circles might overlap enough that they’ll finally go and do it — and break the country.

IT’S ALWAYS SUSPICIOUS WHEN SJP HOLDS A JEWISH HOLIDAY EVENT: Wesleyan SJP group hosts “Anti-Zionist” Tu Bishvat, Israeli Arbor Day.

As Toni says, “how do you divorce a holiday from its roots?”

ICYMI: Swamp Apocalypse. Yesterday was a terrible, no-good, very bad day for the Swamp. Trump struck back in a coordinated assault on all fronts. He’s not waiting for the courts to do the right thing—nor is he defying them.”

IF YOU’RE THE VICTIM OF AGENCY CRIMINALITY AND WANT TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT, THAT’S “RETRIBUTION.” Stunning Evidence of FBI Weaponization Undermines Dem Narrative of Trump ‘Retribution’ in Firings.

We don’t really care, Margaret.

IF THIS KEEPS UP WE MAY ALL GET A TAX REFUND: Lee Zeldin Just Discovered $20 Billion Laundered by the Biden Admin.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Strap In Dems — Republican Women Are Here to Manhandle You. “Letitia James is soon going find out that she’s way out of her league after baiting Pam Bondi into a legal street fight. I can’t pinpoint what James is thinking here. Even she can’t be stupid enough to think that the Department of Justice was bluffing about how it would go about dealing with Democrats who tried to interfere with Trump’s immigration agenda. She’s probably just so used to being able to play mini-tyrant in New York that she’s begun to think that she is untouchable. This isn’t going to go well for her.”

MY FIRST SUBSTACK COLUMN IS UP: Okay, my friends, I’m taking the plunge into the world of Substack authorship with an initial column entitled “An Astonished ‘Reagan Revolution’ Veteran Assesses the Trump Revolution.” Enjoy! And, as I know you will, tell me what you really think about it.

UPDATE: Not sure what the problem is. I clicked publish before, just did it again for those who say Substack not taking you to the column. FIXED, I THINK.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Trump’s Greenland Gambit Is a Masterclass in Statecraft.

Donald Trump is serious about boxing China out of the Arctic. A month before assuming the U.S. presidency for the second time, Trump notched another geopolitical win in the Arctic competition space and set the tone for the next four years. On December 29th, Trump revived his 2019 proposal to purchase Greenland from Denmark, saying U.S. ownership of the largest island in the world “is an absolute necessity.” A week before the inauguration, Trump’s son Don. Jr. traveled to Nuuk, Greenland to discuss Trump’s interest, leading to further speculation about the incoming President’s intent. In 2019, few supported Trump by publicly describing Greenland’s strategic importance – and reminding that the U.S. twice attempted to purchase Greenland from Denmark. Others warned about China’s expanding presence and influence in Arctic affairs, highlighting Beijing’s desire to build airports in Greenland. Still, during Trump’s first term, most claimed his interest in acquiring Greenland was “absurd.”

Not much has changed today with pundits casting Trump as impulsive – as they did in 2019 – and lacking knowledge of geopolitics. This time even the Danish Prime Minister chimed in saying “Greenland is not for sale” tacitly hinting at Trump’s perceived neocolonial provocation. Weeks later, Denmark reversed the message and indicated interest in discussing Greenland’s future with Trump. While Greenland’s future is yet to be determined, the mainstream narrative is naïve – Trump’s masterclass in statecraft is now in session – and Beijing is taking note.

Where the media focuses on Trump’s claim to use the military to acquire the island, they miss the effect of the rhetoric. The reality is this was a deliberate strategic provocation few will see or acknowledge. In poking Denmark about his intent to purchase, or even forcefully acquire the island, Trump gave a masterclass in geostrategic chess, saving the U.S. billions, furthering deterring China from staking a claim on Greenland, and improving U.S. national security in the process. As the dialogue progresses, the stakes could evolve further.

The “crazy talk” act also sows confusion in Beijing as an added benefit.

PICKING THE 20 SIDE OF THE 80/20 ISSUE: Democrats lose touch with voters over Musk, Trump, DOGE.

The crude and insulting attacks Democratic lawmakers have leveled at President Donald Trump and Elon Musk threaten to drive away voters who want the party to work with the new president to cut wasteful spending.

In two Rasmussen Reports surveys shared with Secrets, voters by a wide margin of 19 points prefer the opposition party to work with Republican Trump.

What’s more, they generally have a positive view of Musk and approve of him leading the new Department of Government Efficiency.

The two polls revealed just how dangerous Democratic opposition to Trump and Musk could be, especially if support for the president’s efficiency movement continues to be supported by the country heading into the upcoming mid term elections.

Over the past two weeks, Democrats have protested the president’s moves to close USAID and the Department of Education, charging that he is threatening democracy.

Remember, “threatening democracy” means “threatening bureaucracy.”

IT’S THE GULF OF AMERICA: You Won’t Believe Why the White House Banned an AP Reporter…

CHANGE: Trump Admin Formally Ends Biden’s War on Gas Stoves.

LIMITED TIME DEAL: Ninja Blender, Kitchen System. #CommissionEarned

FLASHBACK: The Next POTUS Should Reclaim The Constitutional Spending Power Congress Stole.

Enacted in 1974, the ICA made it unlawful for the president not to spend every dollar Congress appropriated regardless of whether he needed to use all the funds. This law went against 200 years of history in which both Congress and the president agreed he was not required to spend every dollar of an appropriation if he could carry out a program for less money and even, in many cases, if he disagreed with the program itself.

Appropriation laws were always meant as a ceiling, not a floor. Stretching back to our English forebears, the British Parliament used the legislative power of the purse to make it unlawful for the king to incur obligations that exceeded the appropriations provided. No one wants to incur debts they can’t pay. Parliament worried about the king spending more money than provided, not less.

That was the case in our new republic, and our founding era is replete with examples of presidents not spending the full amount of appropriated funding. The most famous early impoundment precedent came in 1803 when President Jefferson impounded a congressional appropriation of $50,000 for 15 gunboats for use on the Mississippi. The impoundment was on pure policy grounds: Jefferson did not want to provoke France during the secret negotiations over access to New Orleans and the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. Once the purchase was completed, Jefferson spent the funds.

Today:

The Impoundment Control Act is an unconstitutional roadblock that limits President Trump’s authority to reject wasteful spending and tame our ballooning national debt.

That’s why I’m fighting to repeal the ICA. pic.twitter.com/ZNItgCUl75

— Rep. Andrew Clyde (@Rep_Clyde) February 11, 2025

Endorsed.

‘DURING GOOD BEHAVIOR:’ That phrase may not instantly come to mind when federal court rulings are the topic of discussion, but in another must-read analysis, the mysterious “EKO” points out that issuing rulings that protect corruption in government just might not constitute “good behavior.” And Congress has on occasion impeached corrupt federal judges.