May 25, 2023 — Steven Hayward

The Daily Chart: Behind the Debt-Ceiling Fight

Featured image I suppose we could excuse John Fetterman, who is not firing on all cylinders, for this kind of ignorance, except that it is rampant in the Democratic Party today: Move over Equal Protection Clause! Raising the debt ceiling was the whole reason the post-Civil War Congress passed the 14th Amendment. Who knew? “Responsible people” like to say that being able to hold the debt ceiling “hostage” is irresponsible and a »
May 25, 2023 — Steven Hayward

Podcast: The Woke War in Hollywood, with Christian Toto

Featured imageThe hiatus in Hollywood brought on by the current writers strike seemed a good occasion to check in with Christian Toto with a classic format one-on-one conversation. Christian, a previous guest on our podcast, is proprietor of the indispensable HollywoodInToto website, as well as a podcast, and a terrific recent book, Virtue Bombs: How Hollywood Got Woke and Lost Its Soul. Our conversation ranges widely from the problems of streaming »
May 25, 2023 — Elizabeth Stauffer

FBI complains search terms in House subpoena for Biden doc too broad, Comer narrows it down: ‘$5 million’

Featured imageHouse Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) issued a subpoena to the FBI on May 3 to obtain an unclassified FD-1023 which allegedly details a bribery scheme between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national. As I reported on Tuesday, the FBI refused to hand over the document by the original compliance date and continues to obstruct Comer’s efforts. Comer fired off a new letter to FBI Director Christopher »
May 25, 2023 — Scott Johnson

Geraldine Tyler’s (good) day in court

Featured imageI covered the Supreme Court oral argument in Geraldine Tyler v. Hennepin County last month in “Geraldine Tyler’s day in court.” The following week I stepped back for a broader view of the case in “Argumentum interruptum — live on FOX News!” In the latter post I wrote (link omitted): Ms. Tyler lost in the district court and on appeal because the courts felt bound to apply the 1956 Supreme »
May 25, 2023 — Scott Johnson

Thought for the day: Top secret

Featured imageAndrew McCarthy considers the transformation of the Department of Justice’s investigation of President Trump for mishandling classified investigation into an obstruction of justice probe. He traces the transformation our having “suddenly learned…drumroll…that Joe Biden had been illegally hoarding classified information for decades, from his time in the Senate through his time as Obama administration vice president” in locations ranging from his private office to his private den to his private »
May 25, 2023 — Scott Johnson

Don’t shoot Matt Taibbi either, take 2

Featured imageFollowing up on “Don’t shoot Matt Taibbi either,” I want to note Matt Taibbi’s subscribers-only post “My crazy IRS case.” Taibbi has of course been a key contributor to the Twitter Files. In his Twitter Files reporting Taibbi has documented the government/social media censorship industrial complex led by the FBI. See, for example, his December 24, 2022 Twitter Files thread “Twitter and ‘other government agencies.'” The FBI disapproved of Taibbi’s »
May 24, 2023 — Steven Hayward

The Daily Chart: Bud Lighter

Featured imageMost consumer boycotts don’t get much traction, but the consumer revolt against Bud Light has traction because Trannheuser-Busch managed to anger both sides of the issue. And consumers have clearly swung their light beer purchases to Bud’s competitors: Meanwhile, Fox News is reporting that Target has gone to DefCon1 in fears a decision to market trans-friendly clothing may pitch them into a “Bud Light situation.” Some southern Target stores were forced »
May 24, 2023 — Steven Hayward

A New Low for the Left

Featured imageWhen I first saw this headline appear on Twitter, I assumed it was fake. But no—it is real. Take a bow, Vanity Fair: The author of this trenchant piece is Bess Levin, whom I have never heard of either, but Vanity Fair describes her as “An essential voice of our current tragicomedy, she is an incisive, hilarious daily narrator of the horrors that never seem to stop. If you need »
May 24, 2023 — Scott Johnson

Howard Root waves goodbye

Featured imageMy friend Howard Root is the founder of Vascular Solutions and the author of Cardiac Arrest. He announced his departure from corporate America in the Wall Street Journal column “Sally Yates’s legacy of injustice.” Howard now waves goodbye to Minnesota in a Star Tribune column. Howard’s criticisms of the local scene focus on the doings of the DFL in the legislative session that concluded earlier this week and make for »
May 24, 2023 — Scott Johnson

Don’t shoot Matt Taibbi either

Featured imageMatt Taibbi writes from the perspective of the ever shrinking political left supportive of civil liberties and, well, the truth. I turned to him on a regular basis for his unerring commentary on the Russia hoax. More recently, he has been a key contributor to the Twitter Files. In his subscribers-only post “The McCarthy reboot” at his Racket News site, Taibbi reviewed the performance of the Democrats at the House »
May 23, 2023 — Elizabeth Stauffer

FBI to James Comer: Pound Sand

Featured imageDuring a Monday meeting with House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY), the FBI refused once again to turn over an FD-1023 (a report from an informant) that allegedly details a bribery scheme between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national. Comer issued a subpoena for this document three weeks ago. In a May 3 letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Sen. Chuck Grassley »
May 24, 2023 — John Hinderaker

Woke Capitalism Gone Wild

Featured imageOf all the strange phenomena of our strange era, the most inexplicable to me is woke capitalism. We see it all around us: Major League Baseball moving the All-star Game out of Atlanta (does anyone remember why?), Delta Airlines aligning itself with the Democratic Party, the Bud Light fiasco. Along with Budweiser, a number of other companies have driven off the “pride” cliff. This is only a partial list, but »
May 24, 2023 — Steven Hayward

Feel Good Story of the Day

Featured imageActually, I’ve got two news stories that will bring a smile to your face and a bounce in your step. • The Sierra Club is facing significant layoffs: Sierra Club, the largest anti-nuclear environmental group in America, appears to be coming apart at the seams. Last month, Ben Jealous, the 130 year-old organization’s new Executive Director, announced major layoffs. The Sierra Club, he told employees, was restructuring and needed to »
May 24, 2023 — Scott Johnson

Heart of darkness, DFL style: The list

Featured imageAlpha News editor Anthony Gockowski has compiled this list of the Democrats’ “accomplishments” in the legislative session that concluded earlier this week. Anthony introduces the list with the observation that “Democrats returned to St. Paul in January with a $17.5 billion surplus and total control of state government, which hinges on their one-seat majority in the Senate that was decided by just a few hundred votes.” In just 120 legislative »
May 24, 2023 — Scott Johnson

Cable news ratings update

Featured imageThe Daily Beast’s Confider newsletter provides an interesting update on Fox News viewership in the wake of Tucker Carlson’s departure. I have no comments of my own other than that I thought readers might share my interest in the numbers. Confider first notes “the negative impact” of the Trump town hall on CNN’s ratings: “Last week, the cable news pioneer suffered its lowest-rated week since June 2015, averaging just 429,000 »
May 23, 2023 — John Hinderaker

Americans: Right About Some Things, Wrong About Others

Featured imageTwo sets of current poll data are of interest. First, Americans hate the news media. Nothing new here, but if anything the feeling has intensified. Good. Rasmussen reports: The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that just 30% of Likely U.S. voters say they trust the political news they’re getting – down from 37% in July 2021 – while 52% say they don’t trust political news, and »
May 23, 2023 — John Hinderaker

What Does Google Think Of You? [Updated]

Featured imageI have no idea what Google thinks of you, but I know what it thinks of Power Line, and of me. Because I asked Google Bard, the company’s new artificial intelligence application. Google Bard is described by ZDNet here. I did this because a friend emailed me a disparaging description of Alpha News generated by Google Bard. So I asked, “Is Power Line a reliable news source?” This is the »