Top of the Fold

• Inflation metric hits 9.7%: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the year-over-year producer price index rose to 9.7% in January, hitting a near-record high. This report comes after consumer prices increased 7.5% in 2021, with inflation soaring to a 40-year high. The PPI being 2% higher than the CPI is an indicator that high inflation is here to stay for some time. This further undercuts the White House claim that corporations — such as Big Meat and its efforts at consolidation — are the primary culprit behind consumer price hikes. Job Creators Network President and CEO Alfred Ortiz observed, “Higher borrowing costs also hurt consumers and small businesses, but Democrats’ inflationary spending spree in the name of COVID-19 has left the Fed with no other choice.” This inflation problem was not caused by businesses but by a government spending spree. Cutting government spending and raising interest rates may be the only real way to bring inflation back down, something Democrats are loathe to do.

• Growing parade of Democrats leaving Congress: On Tuesday, New York Representative Kathleen Rice became the 30th House Democrat to announce retirement at the end of the current term. Obviously, this further dims Democrat prospects for holding their narrow majority. As National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Berg contends, “Thirty House Democrats have called it quits because they know their majority is doomed.” Recent polling may be motivating this Democrat exodus — a Trafalgar Group survey found that voters favor Republicans 54.4% to Democrats at just 41.9%, setting up November as a proverbial blood bath for Democrats in Congress.

• GOP senators want Democrats on the record on COVID vax mandates: Several Senate Republicans announced their opposition to a government stopgap spending measure unless there’s a vote on defunding COVID vaccine mandates. “We will continue to stand against these mandates until they are discontinued in ambition, design, and practice,” wrote Senators Mike Lee (UT), Roger Marshall (KS), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Mike Braun (IN), Rand Paul (KY), and Ted Cruz (TX). When the last stopgap measure passed in December, Republicans included a similar amendment to defund vaccine mandates, but it failed 48-50.

• Socialist gun-control activist arrested for attempted murder of Louisville mayoral candidate: Louisville Democrat mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg was recently shot at while in his campaign headquarters by a young man who happens to be a socialist anti-gun activist. Greenberg is himself a gun-control advocate and took the opportunity to stump for his anti-firearm platform: “Too many Louisville families have experienced the trauma of gun violence. Too many aren’t as blessed as me.” Ironically, Greenberg’s attacker, Quintet Brown, appears to have fully embraced such sentiments, as his social media history is littered with both pro-socialism and anti-gun comments such as “Kentucky’s concealed carry law shows your life doesn’t matter to gun-loving Republicans.”

Government & Politics

• Biden’s DOJ ignores Trump’s Crossfire Hurricane declassification order (Fox News)

• Republicans rescue Biden FDA commissioner nominee Robert Califf (Fox News)

• Allison Gollust out at CNN after investigation reveals “violations” by top execs (Daily Wire)

• Military spent six million hours on climate, diversity, and “extremism” under Biden (Washington Examiner)

• Republicans have a double-digit lead in generic congressional ballot (Daily Wire)

• Welfare babies: 40.5% of kids born in 2020 had unmarried mothers; 42% born on Medicaid (CNSNews)

Economy

• The pandemic-era small business boom: 5.4 million applications to start companies in 2021 (Axios)

• Key indicator hints America is headed for its worst real estate crash in history (The Federalist)

Culture

• Parents flex their muscles: San Francisco recalls three members of city’s leftist school board (NY Post)

• Levi’s forces out top exec for prioritizing children’s well-being over corporate wokeness (PJ Media)

• Royal privilege: Prince Andrew settles sex abuse suit with Virginia Giuffre for estimated $12 million (NY Post)

Odds & Ends

• Novak Djokovic willing to miss tournaments over vaccine (BBC)

• GiveSendGo running again after cyberattack (Daily Wire)

• Ottawa police chief resigns in wake of Canadian pro-liberty protests (NY Post)

• China takes steps to cut down on abortions amid low birth rate (Daily Wire)

Closing Arguments

• Policy: The FDA needs reform. Biden’s pick is not the person to do it. (Issues & Insights)

• Satire: To prepare for war, Ukrainian troops undergo emergency Critical Race Theory training (Genesius Times)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit Headline Report.

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