Cross-Examination

• Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act isn’t working: The unchecked deficit spending of Joe Biden and his Democrat pals has served only to fuel America’s 40-year-high inflation rate, currently at 8.2%. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Biden’s erroneously named Inflation Reduction Act, which expanded government spending primarily on Democrat pet agenda items like climate change and equity, has failed to reduce inflation. As inflation was climbing last summer, Biden brushed it off as “transitory” and claimed: “My administration understands that, were we ever to experience unchecked inflation in the long term, that would pose a real challenge for our economy. While we’re confident that isn’t what we’re seeing today, we’re going to remain vigilant about any response that is needed.” After more than a year of unchecked inflation, he’s now warning, “If Republicans win, inflation’s going to get worse.” Really? With Democrats in control of both chambers of Congress and the executive branch, who’s at fault for the sky-high inflation over the last year? We know Biden’s mental acuity has diminished considerably, but talk about cognitive dissonance. The solution to tackling inflation begins with the federal government stopping its massive spending sprees and unshackling the economy from a bureaucratic regulatory state that stifles growth. In other words, follow the model that Donald Trump laid out to juice the American economy.

• FCC to ban Huawei and ZTE equipment sales: Chinese-owned telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE may soon be banned from selling equipment within the U.S. given that the Federal Communications Commission has marked them as “national security concerns.” The FCC’s possible ban would apply to other Chinese video surveillance companies as well. In order to go into effect, the ban would need congressional approval, and with concerns over Chinese espionage related to these telecom companies being a bipartisan issue, it is likely that it will get the needed votes. Back in 2020, Republican Senator Ben Sasse (NE) argued, “China’s main export is espionage, and the distinction between the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese ‘private-sector’ businesses like Huawei is imaginary.” It appears that his perspective has only gained greater consensus in Washington, especially since China unleashed the global COVID pandemic. With the passage of the Secure Equipment Act last year, the FCC will be able to close what Commissioner Brendan Carr called the “Huawei loophole” that allowed private companies to buy Chinese technology.

• FBI mum on firebombed pro-life clinic investigation: Following the unprecedented leak of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, several pro-life pregnancy centers were attacked and vandalized. One of those pregnancy centers was Wisconsin Family Action, a clinic in Madison that was firebombed early on Mother’s Day. Additionally, a graffiti message was painted on the building that read, “If abortions aren’t safe, then you aren’t either.” The abortion activist group Jane’s Revenge claimed responsibility and issued the following warning: “We demand the disbanding of all anti-choice establishments, fake clinics and violent anti-choice groups within the next 30 days.” The blatant terrorist act even got Joe Biden’s White House to respond with a rather weak rebuke: “Americans have the fundamental right to express themselves under the Constitution. … But that expression must be peaceful and free of violence, vandalism, or attempts to intimidate.” The FBI and ATF showed up to assess the damage on the day of the attack, though the clinic hasn’t heard from either agency since. When a Freedom of Information Act request was made as to the status of the investigation, the Madison Police Department responded that the investigation’s status as “ongoing” prevented sharing any communications between the MPD and the FBI. Since the SCOTUS leak, 73 pro-life pregnancy centers or organizations and 83 Catholic churches have been attacked, and the FBI has yet to make an arrest related to any of these attacks. Meanwhile, the FBI has taken the time to arrest a few pro-life activists who have been charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.

Headlines

• Parkland families express disappointment, heartbreak after jury recommends life in prison for school shooter (WPTV) | Florida prosecutors file motion to interview juror after alleged threat from co-juror (NBC News)

• It sure looks like Joe Biden is trying to blackmail Saudi Arabia to interfere in the 2022 election (RedState)

• J6 Committee votes to subpoena former President Donald Trump (NBC News) | Trump responds to final J6 hearing, calling committee “highly partisan political Hacks and Thugs” (Washington Examiner)

• Supreme Court rejects Trump’s special-master request (National Review)

• Joe “The Pandemic Is Over” Biden renews COVID “emergency” for another 90 days (Hot Air)

• Pandemic side effect? Kids bombing college admissions tests at “particularly alarming” rate (Free Beacon)

• Biden slammed for claiming 8.2% inflation shows “progress” (Fox News)

• “Pessimistic” voters: Crushed by gas prices and fading personal finances (Washington Examiner)

• Chase Bank allegedly shutters bank account of religious freedom nonprofit, demands donor list (Fox Business)

• PayPal polices “intolerance” even after free speech backlash (Washington Examiner)

• Virginia Democrat to introduce bill to prosecute parents who refuse to treat child as opposite sex (National Review)

• Ecofascists vandalize one of world’s most iconic art masterpieces (Daily Wire)

• Policy: Empowering Mexican cartels with Biden’s open border is even worse than you think (The Federalist)

• Satire: J6 panel continues to hold hearings for stuffed animals and action figures it arranged in chairs (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.