The Israeli Supreme Court recently ruled that ultra-Orthodox Jews are not exempt from military service. This poses a significant political issue for Mr. Netanyahu as that group makes up a significant portion of his support in the Knesset, and has threatened numerous times to withdraw from the government if the exemption was terminated. This is just another issue for Mr. Netanyahu to deal with as he tries to preserve his government while moving forward with the war in Gaza and now potentially with Hezbollah. Of course, the obvious question is who comes next.
It bears repeating that the Israeli military and Mr. Netanyahu are at odds as to whether Hamas can be defeated or not, as I mentioned in last week’s commentary. This appears to be a growing concern among military leaders and certainly will be heightened if, in fact, the war continues with no end in sight only confirming the military’s view.
Mixed economic stats from last week: jobless claims fell 6,000 to 233,000; continuing claims increased by 18,000 to 1.839 million; capital goods orders dropped 0.6%; and the trade deficit widened 2.7% as inventories rose which creates a truly mixed message for the Fed.
The GOP is now proposing deep cuts to federal law enforcement, not just DOJ with whom they have their pretend dispute over weaponization, but all police including the capital police and other specialized police units. The only ones spared apparently are Customs and Border Patrol. I commented recently that there was also a downturn in funding for police departments throughout the United States. These both constitute a major change in philosophy, even though, if you listen to Republicans talk, they are still strong on law enforcement. I guess you don’t need to provide people funds, you just need to tell them that you are behind them.
Planetary science reports that samples from an asteroid known as Bennu has provided rocks that are 4.5 billion years old, and were recovered by a space craft in 2020 as the asteroid was in a near earth trajectory. The space craft recovered the largest sample to date a whopping 121.6 grams of pristine material. This material showed that millions of years ago Bennu was part of a water-soaked world, one with a beating geological heart and an abundance of prebiotic organic material, and in many ways resembled the early lifeless earth. This is going to give us some tremendous insights into our universe, and the entire process brings forward scientific achievement and discovery.
The presidential candidates performed as their opponents predicted. Joe Biden appeared tottering and unable to collect his thoughts to rebut Mr. Trump in a rational fashion. Mr. Trump lied, misrepresented and generally acted as he always does in an unprofessional manner. Unfortunately, for Mr. Biden and his advisors’ serious thought has to be given to his withdrawing from the race as it is hard to believe this will get better as we get deeper into the contest.
The far-right seems poised to win a significant number of seats in the French Parliament with Mr. McCombs party trailing creating a likelihood for a right-wing government or at least a coalition government that at least leans right. While at the same time, Britian seems to be leaning towards labor as the conservatives are falling further and further behind. We, on the other hand, are unsure if we’re going right or left while the rest of the world also teeters between right and left. Seems to me that we are going through a period of entrenchment in terms of liberal thought which is also something that has happened periodically in our history as the pendulum swings back and forth as can be clearly seen in many of the Supreme Court decisions, particularly the recent Chevron reversal which I think is one of the most significant cases in terms of it’s reach into how our government functions.
Bill Owens is a former member of Congress representing the New York 21st, a partner in Stafford, Owens, Piller, Murnane, Kelleher and Trombley in Plattsburgh, NY and a Strategic Advisor at Dentons to Washington, DC.
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