Economy

• Inflation is down, but still grinding away at us: By our count, Donald Trump mentioned inflation nine times during last night’s debate. Kamala Harris mentioned it only twice. But had she known about today’s inflation report, Harris might have mentioned it a few more times. That’s because, according to a monthly Labor Department report, inflation declined in August to its lowest level since February 2021. As CNBC reports, “The consumer price index, a broad measure of goods and services costs across the U.S. economy, increased 0.2% for the month, in line with the Dow Jones consensus,” adding, “That put the 12-month inflation rate at 2.5%, down 0.4 percentage point from the July level and compared to the estimate for 2.6%.” That’s good news, to be sure, especially for the Harris campaign. But here’s the big picture: The BLS also reports that cumulative inflation is at 20.34% since January 2021. And that’s the number we all feel when we head to the grocery store.

• Inflation-adjusted incomes rebounded to pre-pandemic levels last year (More)

• Big Lots files for bankruptcy citing inflation (More)

• A recession indicator with a perfect track record has started flashing (More)

Government & Politics

• Johnson vows to move forward on stopgap: Despite resistance from several Republican lawmakers, House Speaker Mike Johnson is pressing forward on a short-term government funding measure. Should Congress fail to pass a funding bill, the federal government faces a shutdown on September 30. The short-term stopgap, which would fund the government for six months, passed a procedural vote on Tuesday primarily along party lines, 209-206. Republicans want to include the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act in the bill, which would require people to provide proof of American citizenship when registering to vote. Democrats object to this provision, noting that it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote. Republicans who favor the SAVE Act contend that its passage would not impact the current election. They oppose the spending measure because it’s simply an effort to continue allowing Washington to spend money without addressing the growing national debt problem. Johnson contends that passing the SAVE Act would be an important step in securing future elections, given the massive influx of illegal immigrants under Joe Biden. The House is expected to vote on the stopgap bill today.

• Wisconsin’s absentee ballot loophole: Four years ago, the Dairy State was one of three narrowly decided states, along with Arizona and Georgia, that tipped the presidential election in Joe Biden’s favor. And if a particular loophole in Wisconsin’s election system isn’t fixed, we might see that state go narrowly to Kamala Harris. “Election Integrity deniers often complain that Wisconsin has one of the more stringent voter ID laws in the country. That’s a good thing,” The Federalist reports. “But there’s a voter ID-related loophole cheaters can drive a semi truckload of fraud through. In Wisconsin, voters may claim ‘Indefinitely Confined’ status, which allows them to receive an absentee ballot without presenting proof that they are who they claim to be.” This “indefinitely confined” loophole is a remnant from the COVID days, and it allows anyone to receive an absentee ballot without having to show a photo ID. Thus, it’s a recipe for bulk-mail ballot fraud, and Republicans would be wise to fix it. Otherwise, some 144,000 Wisconsin voters are still eligible to vote without showing ID.

• Taylor Swift endorses Harris: Whew. An anxious world no longer awaits the most thoughtful and important of all presidential endorsements. To no one’s surprise, superstar Taylor Swift has thrown her considerable appeal behind Kamala Harris for president. She did so last night, just minutes after the Democrat nominee debated Donald Trump. Writing to her 283 million Instagram followers, Swift said she’ll be voting for Harris because “she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.” Swift added: “I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered!” So Swift is not only telling her low-information minions to vote for Harris, but she’s urging them to make sure they’re registered to do so.

• Jill Stein could serve as a spoiler candidate in swing states thanks to Muslim voters (More)

• Check out this 1995 video where Kamala Harris is asked if she is Willie Brown’s daughter (More)

Security

• Threat of another terrorist attack “is higher now” than in months before 9/11 (More)

• Illegal alien rapist, again: When people talk about our open borders, they often throw out a big number of illegal crossers without considering the very real downstream effects of this Biden/Harris-enabled invasion. But we were recently reminded of the damage that even a tiny fraction of such an influx can do. A 24-year-old illegal was indicted on five counts of child rape on Martha’s Vineyard, that desirable left-wing hideaway that is anything but welcoming to migrants. In fairness to Team Biden/Harris, however, we’d note that this particular Brazilian national came across our southern border in March 2018, during Donald Trump’s administration. This just goes to show that any illegal immigration is too much illegal immigration.

• Tren de Aragua isn’t just in Aurora: In El Paso, Texas, the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TDA) has been putting down roots. Like Aurora, Colorado, where the gang has taken over an apartment complex, TDA has taken up residence in the Gateway Hotel, which has been condemned since 2015. Last month, city fire code inspectors reported 20 violations on the property, stating that the “building has no current certification of occupancy.” Yet since 2022, police have received almost 700 calls regarding illegal activity at the building. The county attorney noted that there is video footage from the hotel that depicts “people partying, drinking, smoking and dancing provocatively while children are present … at least one gun being shot … men holding knives and another man with a hatchet assaulting people and causing damage to the hotel in front of a security guard.” An El Paso police officer warned, “There should be concern due to the establishment and rise of the Venezuelan criminal organization ‘Tren de Aragua’ at the Gateway Hotel. We discovered several Venezuelans have the tattoo identifiers of Tren de Aragua.” This is what results from open borders and unchecked illegal immigration.

• Mexican cartel assassins operating in U.S., sheriff testifies to Congress (More)

Culture

• Tyreek Hill, the Miami Dolphins, and the media are really leaning into the “racist cops” narrative (More)

• DC riot following police shooting: A violent mob smashed and looted several businesses in downtown Washington, DC, on Monday night after authorities released video footage of a fatal police shooting that occurred last week. Five people were arrested in connection to the rioting. In the video footage, police officers approached a car that had crashed into a McDonald’s restaurant, wherein they found 26-year-old Justin Robinson — a convicted felon who worked for the city as a “violence interrupter” — unconscious in the driver seat with a gun in his lap. Approximately 10 minutes passed before Robinson woke up, at which point the officers instructed him to put his hands up. One officer stated, “Sir, don’t touch the gun,” as he moved with the gun drawn to open the driver-side door. At that point, Robinson attempted to grab the officer’s gun, and police opened fire, killing him. Predictably, the race hustlers are claiming this is another instance of “racist cops.”

• Missouri abortion: On Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that an initiative to legalize abortion in the Show Me State can be included on the ballot in November. This decision reverses a lower court’s ruling rejecting the initiative’s inclusion on the ballot. Known as Amendment 3, Missourians will now decide whether or not to overturn the state’s ban on abortion and codify the freedom to kill pre-born children as a state constitutional right under the euphemism of “reproductive freedom.” Democrats see “abortion rights” as an effective get-out-the-vote motivator that will benefit Kamala Harris’s election prospects.

• Under Governor Tim Walz, babies born alive in botched abortions were left to die. Then he removed reporting requirements. (More)

Misc.

• Hurricane Francine charges toward Louisiana (More)

• Israel kills three senior Hamas commanders hidden in Gaza humanitarian zone (More)

• Apple must pay 13 billion euros in back taxes (More)

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