Economy & Tech

• Fed cuts rates: For the first time since the global COVID pandemic hit, the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates. Fed Chair Jerome Powell explained, “We’ve waited, and I think that that patience has really paid dividends in the form of our confidence that inflation is moving sustainably under 2%, so I think that is what enables us to take this strong move.” However, Powell added, “I do not think that anyone should look at this and say, ‘Oh, this is the new pace.’” The Fed cut the interest rate by half a percentage point, moving the headline interest rate down to a range of 4.75% to 5%, and noted an eventual target rate of 2.75%-3.00% in 2026. The move sent the markets soaring. It didn’t take the White House long to tout this development as a “moment of progress” just 50 days out from the presidential election. Donald Trump responded to the news by suggesting that it showed a weakening rather than a strengthening economy, saying, “It was a big cut. To cut it by that much, assuming they’re not just playing politics, the economy would be very bad.”

• Gavin Newsom signs election “deepfake” ban in rebuke to Elon Musk (More) | Humor: Here are nine AI-generated deepfakes of Newsom that are illegal to share in California (More)

• Musk says SpaceX will sue FAA for “regulatory overreach” (More)

Government & Politics

• Trump now opposes SALT cap: During his first presidential term, Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which included a $10,000 cap on state and local taxes (SALT) that could be deducted from federal taxes. High-tax Democrat-run states like New York and California loudly objected to the measure because they like having low-tax states subsidize their high taxes and spending. Republicans support the cap because it prevents the wealthy within these blue states from avoiding the high taxes they vote for. However, Trump now appears to be flip-flopping on the issue, arguing for eliminating the SALT cap. On Truth Social, Trump posted, “I will turn it around, get SALT back, lower your Taxes, and so much more.” Beyond the post, there has been no further clarification of Trump’s position on the issue. The apparent motive for the flip-flop may be in response to a number of Republican representatives in New York who have been calling for restoring SALT. The problem is that restoring SALT would negatively impact the national debt.

• Kamala’s polling woes: National polls show a tight race, and Kamala Harris did get a gentle post-debate bump. And why wouldn’t she, given the rigged nature of it? Indeed, a new Fox News poll shows Harris leading Donald Trump nationally by two points, which represents a three-point shift since the network’s August poll. However, the undemocratically selected Democrat is in trouble with independents and blacks. According to Gallup, Harris “enjoys” a 35% approval rating among independent voters and a 60% disapproval rating, meaning she’s 25 points under water with indies. Elsewhere, according to an NAACP poll, an astonishingly low 56% of black voters aged 18-49 back her candidacy. The energy also seems to be with Trump. CBS reporter Adriana Diaz, for example, could find just three Harris supporters after visiting multiple restaurants. Said Diaz: “What was really incredible is, in every single restaurant, of the people willing to talk to us, we could only find one Harris supporter in every restaurant. And we left no stone unturned. … People are really excited about Trump.”

• FL election chief hits DHS on voter roll cleanup: We no longer tend to think of Florida as a swing state, but every vote counts. And just because the state is solidly under Republican control doesn’t mean that it’s immune from electoral mischief. As the Washington Examiner reports, “Florida’s top election official is accusing the Biden administration of not being cooperative enough as states attempt to remove noncitizens from their voter rolls ahead of the 2024 election.” Why is it that one particular party is always found to be dragging its feet when it comes to cleaning up the voter rolls? The question answers itself: Because one particular party is more inclined to cheat. Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd says that his state “is one of a handful of states that uses the DHS dataset, known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, database, to see if immigrants have been naturalized.” Which would be fine if that system were reliable. But it isn’t reliable because the Biden-Harris DHS is refusing to provide Florida with updated data. Let that be a lesson to free states everywhere: Don’t rely on a Democrat administration for honest voter rolls.

Security

• Israel did not intercept Hezbollah pagers that exploded — it made them (More)

• Did Biden-Harris use Trump campaign info hacked by the Iranians? Imagine that: A rogue foreign regime is trying to help Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump. Why might they seek to do that, unless they think Harris will be an easier adversary than Trump? And if indeed Iran has hacked the Trump campaign and shared that info with the Harris campaign, then why hasn’t the FBI ordered another Crossfire Hurricane investigation to spy on the Iranian agents within the Biden-Harris administration? As Politico reports: “Iranian hackers sent sensitive information stolen from the Trump campaign to President Joe Biden’s campaign earlier this summer, U.S. investigators said Wednesday. The emails were sent in June and July to individuals ‘associated with the Biden campaign’ and ‘contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign,’ the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and CISA said in a statement.” As Trump campaign senior advisor Tim Murtaugh told Fox News this morning, “It’s election interference, plain and simple, and there’s no mystery why that would be. When Donald Trump was president, Iran was weak and broke. And under Biden and Harris, they are strong and rich.” What did Kamala Harris know, and when did she know it? That’s a great question. But never fear: The FBI is “leading” the “investigation.”

• House passes bill requiring deportation of sex offender illegals: On Wednesday, the House passed the Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, introduced by Nancy Mace (R-SC). The bill passed 266-158, with 51 Democrats joining all the Republicans. The law amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make “aliens” who have a record of sex offenses or domestic assaults “inadmissible and deportable.” In stumping for this legislation, Mace blasted “weak-kneed politicians pointing at dubious data and making excuses for illegal immigrants who come into our country and rape and murder women and children.” She noted, “The legislation makes sure those who pose a threat are kicked out before they can cause more harm.” She added, “It’s time to stop coddling criminals and start standing up for the innocent victims who deserve justice and families who deserve peace of mind.”

• Kentucky highway shooter: How YouTube sleuths found body while live-streaming search (More)

Culture

• Media, Democrats blame pro-lifers after the abortion pill they promote killed a woman and her babies (More)

• 28% of Democrats believe we’d be better off if Trump had been killed: Democrat politicians have so far refrained from outwardly wishing that the next would-be Trump assassin succeeds, but perhaps it’s only a matter of time. After all, their friends among the glitterati, from Depp to DeNiro to Madonna, have long since made public their fantasies about seeing harm come to Donald Trump. And, according to a new poll, it appears that they’re not alone. As Just the News reports, “In a shocking display of how vitriolic U.S. politics has become, more than a quarter of Democrats believe America would be better off if GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump had been killed during one of the two assassination attempts on his life.” That poll of 1,000 registered voters showed that 17% of respondents believe we’d be better off if Trump had been murdered, and that sickening finding includes a whopping 28% of Democrats. Trump Derangement Syndrome: It’s a thing.

• KY governor bans “conversation therapy”: On Wednesday, Kentucky Democrat Governor Andy Beshear signed an executive order banning so-called “conversion therapy” on minors. Beshear took this radical action because Kentucky’s Republican-dominated legislature refused to pass legislation banning the practice. Asserting that he could no longer wait for others to “do what’s right,” he took the matter into his own hands, even claiming that his “faith” motivated him because these “practices are endangering and even harming those children.” He argued, “The practice of so-called ‘conversion therapy’ hurts our children.” Does it? What Beshear’s order does not do is ban the grooming of minors into the gender-bending cult of “transgenderism,” which actually does hurt children. Beshear’s action is, however, a violation of religious liberty and freedom of speech. He aims to ban parents from seeking help for children if they are experiencing same-sex attraction. As Family Foundation Executive Director David Walls correctly observes, “This order, like previous failed legislative efforts, is designed to promote false LGBTQ ideologies and muzzle Christian counselors, therapists and pastors from helping children struggling with sexual orientation or gender identity confusion.”

• State Department paying for play where God is bisexual and communists are good in bid to push LGBTQ rights abroad (More)

For the Executive Summary archive, click here.