Bill Owens

It was reported last Friday that inflation rose slightly in August, but not enough to suggest that it was impacted by US tariffs that are either here or on the way. What affect that will have on the Fed and interest rate changes seems to be under discussion with no clear indication of how the Fed intends to proceed.

The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel after the action taken against Mr. Colbert raises significant 1st Amendment issues, as well as issues related when coupled with the threats from AG Bondi to prosecute people who make, in effect, “unfavorable comments or pose difficult questions” to the President.

Mr. Trump managed by alienating India with a ridiculous level of tariffs to bring together Putin, Modi, and Xi in a demonstration of their unity.

The so-called de minimis shipping rules changed on Friday, August 29th. A number of foreign post offices, including the Deutsche Post and Nordic countries, have stopped shipping to the US these small packages as the rules are unclear in terms of how these packages will now have to be identified and processed by US Customs since they will each be subject to tariffs and individual processing as opposed to bulk processing.

A recent event in Plattsburgh found Congresswoman Stefanik confronted by a significant number of constituents who were seeking to compel her to hold a Town Hall, which she has not held in many years.

Inflation for consumers increased 2.7% over the prior year, and July showed prices increasing at the fastest annual pace in five months which is indicative of the fact that businesses are passing along the increased costs of tariffs which Mr. Trump said would never happen. More importantly, wholesale prices surged by 9/10ths of 1%, which is an advanced indicator of what customers will feel down the road.

Mr. Trump has reneged on another promise – that is to promote IVF. He has now said he will take no steps to support that program which is invaluable to many families.

Mr. Trump has successfully secured a deal with the EU and assuming it holds as they work out the details, it is, in fact, significant. How will this deal impact foreign policy?

Congresswoman Stefanik has ignored her constituents’ needs by being silent on the tariffs that are hurting her District, on Mr. Trump’s stated desire to annex Canada, both of which has caused a 30% decline in tourism in her District, on the impact of Medicaid cuts on her constituents and healthcare providers in her District, and fails to produce any evidence of waste, fraud or abuse in the healthcare industry.

It has been reported by ProPublica that the IRS is building a huge database of ALL taxpayers to share with DHS for immigration enforcement purposes. This begins to sound like J. Edgar Hoover, Richard Nixon and others who have abused government data, and given the proclivities of the Trump administration, there is great likelihood that data will be abused and used for other than immigration enforcement.