Cross-Examination

• Good economic news for Biden? In a classic example of pollaganda, The Wall Street Journal is touting a recent poll from the University of Michigan showing that consumer sentiment about the state of the U.S. economy rose by some 14% last month. See, Bidenomics is working! But is it? Digging deeper, the poll shows that while consumer views on the state of the economy have risen from the lows of 2022, when inflation hit 40-year highs, they are still only now just matching 2009 recession-era numbers. Furthermore, actual economic numbers from last month showed inflation going back up again, as consumers are continuing to have to shell out more for necessities like food and housing. It becomes clear midway through the WSJ article that the primary focus is the 2024 election and not the actual state of the economy. Sure, if people believe the economy is getting better, that will presumably help Joe Biden. But reports like this amount to economic wish projection in the hopes of moving political opinion. And biased reporting like this is no surprise given the fact that 96% of journalists vote Democrat.

• House kicks the budget can again: On Thursday, the House passed a bipartisan resolution on another short-term spending bill that avoids a government shutdown for another month and a half. With a vote of 314-108, the House approved the Senate’s previously passed stopgap spending bill. Republican members of the House Freedom Caucus pressed Speaker Mike Johnson and fellow GOP lawmakers to include border security policy changes and to “uphold commitments to end inflationary spending,” but to no avail, as 107 Republicans joined with 207 Democrats to pass the continuing resolution. Johnson, along with congressional leaders, met with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden on Wednesday to focus on national security funding. “I told President Biden: it’s on you,” Johnson stated following the meeting. “Your policies created the border crisis. Your executive action can end it. House Republicans will continue to demand transformative policy change and hold this administration accountable until the border is secure.”

• Hunter agrees to be deposed: The president’s wastrel son, who somehow has avoided being clapped in cuffs and hauled off to the hoosegow in the same way that subpoena-defying Trump supporters such as Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro were, has finally ended his circus-like defiance of congressional oversight and agreed to be deposed. “The president’s son is a key witness in this investigation,” said House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, “and he’s gonna be able to come in now and sit down and answer questions in a substantive, orderly manner.” Comer added that The Artist Otherwise Known As Hunter will be able to testify publicly at some point after his February 28 deposition. He could simply be pulling another stunt, buying more time to avoid a contempt of Congress citation. Meanwhile, Herr Doktor Jill Biden, Ed.D., was in Utah on Tuesday speaking at a high school just outside of Salt Lake City about the importance of educator well-being. This wasn’t just any high school, though; it was Hunter High School, or “Hunter High,” as it’s known. As can be imagined, the signage on the lectern lent itself to a humorous moment. As X-poster William Smith observed: “As someone who’s done a lot of ‘advance’ work in politics, I’m really curious who screwed up and approved this podium sign for FLOTUS. Either that or they’re trolling us.” Clearly, it’s the former. Democrats don’t have a sense of humor.

• DOJ’s damning Uvalde report: Occasionally, the Justice Department gets something right, even during the administrations of Barack Obama and Joe Biden. During Obama’s years, it was the report that while there were problems in the Ferguson Police Department, Officer Darren Wilson’s deadly encounter with Michael Brown — which kicked off the “hands up, don’t shoot” fake narrative — was not one of them. This time, it’s the DOJ 600-page report on the mass murder at the school in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022. At the time, our Mark Alexander provided an extensive timeline of the attack and response, noting the many failures of responding law enforcement officers. Among what the DOJ called “cascading failures,” it took 77 minutes for officers to enter the school and confront the killer, during which time he slaughtered 21 people, including 19 third- and fourth-grade children. That delay also affected the medical response for victims, which may have cost lives. Most of the officials overseeing the response that day have been fired or retired. The only thing to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. In this case, the good guys with guns waited outside while the bad guy took his time. As a result, we lost 21 innocents.

• They’re still crossing the border: Back in October, we reported on CBP One, Team Brandon’s mobile phone app for illegal aliens. At the time, we also noted that the Biden administration was turning loose 96% of illegals who use the app. CBP One is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play, and it allows “inadmissible aliens to make an appointment to fly directly to airports in the interior of the United States, bypassing the border altogether,” said Todd Bensman of the Center for Immigration Studies. It sounds to us like one more dereliction, one more impeachable offense. But now, those crossing our southern border illegally aren’t even bothering with Joe Biden’s app. As The Washington Free Beacon reports: “For months, the Biden administration blew past its self-imposed cap on asylum applications through the CBP One app. And then in December, applications plummeted. That’s because migrants are finding it easier to enter the country illegally.” And why might that be? Because, as it turns out, using the app is entirely unnecessary. “Why wait to be scheduled for an interview to come over when you can immediately cross, surrender to Border Patrol, and get stamped with a court date in the next decade?” asked one anonymous and obviously frustrated senior Department of Homeland Security official. Indeed, why bother? Just come on over.

• Democrat racism erupts in Iowa: There was a moment on Monday, MLK Day, that took place at an obscure caucusing site in Iowa but speaks powerfully to two of the animating principles of today’s Democrat Party: Trump hatred and racism. While Texas Republican Congressman and West Point grad Wesley Hunt was speaking at the Timberline Caucus on behalf of Trump, a heckler walked in through the gymnasium doors and tried shouting down the congressman. “How can a black man stand here and talk to us about racists?” he yelled. “How can a black man do this on Martin Luther King Day?” If there’s one thing Democrats hate, it’s a black Republican — because black Republicans threaten to undo the Democrats’ base of political power. Indeed, if the black vote ever spread itself out more evenly, the Democrats would never win another presidential election. As soon as they hauled this heckler out of the gym, Hunt noted that he was elected in a majority white district and that he won by 30 points, “because on days like this, I’ve realized, I’m literally being judged not by the color of my skin but by the content of my character.” He reiterated that sentiment later, via a post on X, adding: “He shouted Trump was ‘racist.’ You know, the same tired trope we’ve heard over and over again. … The anti-Trump movement is in full blown meltdown.” Powerful stuff from a Patriot who seems to have a bright future in Republican politics.

• NYC E-bikes are a growing fire hazard: In an effort to appease climate alarmists, New York City’s Democrat leadership has increasingly embraced and pushed for the expanded use of electric bicycles or E-bikes. Yet this expansion of “green” transportation resulted in a significant number of fires, as last year alone the New York City Fire Department noted that E-bikes caused 267 fires that killed 18 people and injured another 150. Those numbers are the highest levels yet for E-bikes and represent a 200% increase in deaths, a 21% increase in fires, and a 2% increase in injuries in the city over the previous year. The biggest culprit for these fires are the bikes’ lithium-ion batteries. Just earlier this month, a fire sparked by an E-bike battery caused an explosion in a Bronx housing complex that left one person dead and six others injured. Last July, National Fire Protection Association vice president of outreach and advocacy Lorraine Carli observed: “As the use of lithium-ion-powered products is growing, the challenges with their associated hazards are on full display every day and in communities all across the globe. Lithium-ion batteries are one of the newer and emerging fire threats in our communities.”

• NBC sacks Jesus Christ: Football is a religious experience. Evidence of this can be seen before and after games all across the country and at all levels, from youth football to the NFL. We see it not only when entire teams pray to their Creator beforehand, such as when the now-national champion Michigan Wolverines took a knee prior to their College Football Playoff game against Alabama, but we also see it afterward, when God-fearing, Jesus-loving individuals such as C.J. Stroud, the wildly successful rookie quarterback of the NFL’s Houston Texans, give praise to their Lord and Savior during postgame interviews. All of this is deeply grating to the largely leftist types who run our nation’s TV networks, but they’re rather powerless to stop it, aren’t they? Unless, of course, they edit out a player’s comments after the fact — which is precisely what NBC did to Stroud after his outstanding playoff performance and postgame interview last weekend. Check out this editing job by the network. What we missed was Stroud immediately thanking his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Good on CJ, and shame on NBC.

• China’s population decline: Thanks to China’s infamous one-child policy, in place from 1979 through 2015, the communist nation is now threatened by a precipitous population decline. In 2022, for the first time in 60 years, China’s population shrank. Last year, the Chinese population continued its decline as India surpassed it, becoming the most populated nation on the planet. While China still boasts a population of more than 1.4 billion, it declined by two million last year, which might not seem like much given the size of its overall population, but it presents an ominous reality. China’s population decline is accelerating. Furthermore, China has an aging population that has continued to witness a birthrate decline year over year for the past seven years in a row. A total of 9.02 million babies were born in China in 2023, down from 9.56 million the year before. To make matters worse, China’s young people are putting off marriage until later as they seek to get educated and into a career. In response to this population decline, Beijing has engaged in a propaganda campaign to encourage Chinese women to have multiple babies, calling it patriotic and promising them tax benefits and cheaper housing. But so far the propaganda hasn’t worked.

Headlines

• The March for Life rallies against abortion with an eye toward the November elections (AP)

• “Bait and switch”: Biden decision to water down Houthi terror designation draws outrage (Free Beacon) | Biden Houthi sanctions include carveout allowing lucrative energy deals with terror group (Free Beacon)

• Are the airstrikes on the Houthis working? “No,” Biden says. Will they continue? “Yes.” (Daily Caller)

• Indicted Senator Menendez attends classified State Department briefing (Free Beacon)

• Tax extenders package would cut the child tax credit’s annual work requirement in half (AEI)

• White House cancels $5 billion in student debt for 74K borrowers (NBC News)

• Court dismisses Jordan Peterson’s request to challenge order he undergo media training (CBC)

• Amid homeless and drug crises, San Francisco’s budget deficit could reach $1.4 billion (Daily Wire)

• Netanyahu: Israel opposes Palestinian state in any postwar scenario (Daily Wire)

• Humor: Trump offers DeSantis coveted administration position spinning Trump sign on street corner (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.