Cross-Examination

• GDP grows and Fed raises rates: U.S. gross domestic product for the second quarter bested the anticipated 2% growth, coming in at a 2.4% annualized increase. This signaled a continued stronger-than-expected economy, with a widely predicted coming recession yet to be realized. With the strong economic news, the Federal Reserve once again raised the interest rate another quarter percentage point to 5.5%, the highest it has been in over two decades. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the slowing rate of inflation is a good thing, but there’s still “a long way to go” to meet the goal of 2%. In fact, he warned that more rate hikes are coming, and it could be 2025 before inflation slows to 2%. Remember when rampant inflation was “transitory”?

• More prime-age Americans working than pre-pandemic: The number of Americans age 25 to 54 working or seeking jobs has hit a 20-year high, which is helping to make up for the growing number of Baby Boomers retiring. The number of prime-age Americans currently employed now exceeds pre-pandemic numbers by nearly 2.2 million. Leading this surge are increasing numbers of women taking jobs. Now 77.8% of prime-age women are employed, which is the highest on record. Meanwhile, the percentage of prime-age men now working has hit its highest level since 2002 at 83.5%. One of the negative consequences for the increasing number of prime-age women in the workforce is a decreasing birth rate, as 2022 saw 655,000 fewer births than the peak numbers set in 2007.

• Republicans grill Mayorkas: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas once again appeared before Congress, this time the House Judiciary Committee, to explain the disaster that is the U.S. southern border. It was clear that Republican lawmakers have grown tired of Mayorkas’s vacuous claims that the border is under control. Representative Jim Jordan charged the Biden administration with violating “the law under the guise of instituting safe, orderly, and humane policies.” Noting that more than two million illegal aliens have been released into the U.S. interior since Joe Biden took office, Representative Tom McClintock asked, “What is the limit, or is there one?” In typical fashion, Mayorkas ignored the question by claiming, “Last year, we expelled or removed approximately 1.4 million people who did not have a legal basis to remain in the United States, the largest number in recent history." Representative Chip Roy accused Mayorkas of lying under oath when he told the committee last year that the administration had operational control of the border. Mayorkas claimed that he was not afforded an opportunity to give a complete answer at the time. Mayorkas is currently under investigation led by House Republicans for "dereliction of duty.”

• Good news: Senate seeks to end Chinese land buys: The Senate on Tuesday added an important amendment to the current national defense bill being negotiated. Agreed upon by the vast majority of senators, the amendment would ban China from purchasing agricultural land in the U.S. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst defended the amendment: “America is not for sale. There is no ignoring that China is in our own backyard and buying up land near our critical military installations.” She further noted: “I have worked to close the loopholes that have allowed the Chinese Communist Party to encroach on our farmland, and today I am proud to see those efforts are helping to strengthen our national security and combat our foreign adversaries. As Iowa farmers know, food security is national security.”

• It’s the Daughters of the American Revolution: Just a decade ago this story would have been regarded as a satirical joke, but it’s 2023, and the fringe gender-bending craziness has become mainstream. Now the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) find themselves in the midst of the rainbow mayhem. At issue is a new bylaw passed at the recent DAR Continental Congress that could effectively allow for the entry of males into the all-female organization. Apparently, the greater cultural confusion over defining a woman is now confusing the Daughters.

Headlines

• Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal on gun, tax charges torpedoed by judge in sensational court room dust-up (NY Post)

• Conditions of Hunter pre-trial release have been announced, and hoo boy! (RedState)

• Mitch McConnell blanks out during presser (Daily Mail)

• UFO whistleblower alleges “multi-decade” cover-up in congressional testimony (National Review)

• Mom who let child play at a park finally removed from unfit parent registry (Reason)

• Hawaii Health Department trains future therapists to conceal conversations with LGBT youth from parents (Fox News)

• Christian coach fired for stating views on obvious sex differences (The Federalist)

• Anheuser Busch lays off nearly 400 corporate workers as Bud Light backlash continues (National Review)

• AP curriculum touted by progressives also includes section on slaves learning skills (National Review)

• Satire: Hunter Biden plea deal falls through after bribery check bounces (Babylon Bee)

• Humor: Transgender women’s soccer player outed on free kick (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.