State of the Race: How House Republican impeachment inquiry could impact Biden in 2024 election

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

This week's vote entirely along party lines by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to formally launch an impeachment inquiry into President Biden immediately impacted the president's 2024 re-election campaign.

A fundraising email sent hours later by Vice President Kamala Harris instantly caught fire.

A source familiar with the Biden re-election team's thinking told Fox News that the email was the most lucrative that has been sent so far this month.

"It was the best performing fundraising email the vice president has signed this cycle," the source added.

HOUSE VOTES TO AUTHORIZE BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

The impeachment vote formalized an inquiry that began in September to investigate whether the president financially benefited from some of his family's business dealings.

POLL: SUPPORT FOR BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY GROWS

Three Republican-led House committees are looking into connections between the president and his son Hunter Biden's business dealings from 2014-2017, during the elder Biden's final three years as vice president, and after he left office.

Hunter Biden reiterated this week that his father was not involved in his dealings as a board member of Ukrainian energy company Burisma, or in his partnership with a Chinese private businessman.

Republican investigators have so far not found any solid evidence that Biden personally benefited, but they argue there's more to uncover.

While the vote to formalize the inquiry is apparently boosting Biden's 2024 re-election fundraising, it may also pay dividends in other ways.

It could energize the base of a party that polls suggest is anything but energized by the president's re-election drive. 

The Biden campaign launched a blistering broadside against House Republicans early this week, ahead of Wednesday's vote, accusing them of doing the bidding of Biden's likely GOP challenger next November - former President Donald Trump, the commanding front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination.

"The only, single fact in this entire sham impeachment exercise is that it’s a nakedly transparent ploy by House MAGA Republicans to boost Donald Trump’s presidential campaign," Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler charged in a memo.

The memo spotlights a quote that went viral from Republican Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, who said the impeachment inquiry would give the former president "a little bit of ammo to fire back."

But the impeachment inquiry also provides plenty of downsides for Biden's re-election effort. 

Republicans for years have viewed Hunter Biden's controversies as a political liability for his father. And now, a formal impeachment investigation - with public hearings - could give the Biden campaign lots of headaches.

"It keeps the negative story about his family in the news," longtime Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams told Fox News. "The impeachment inquiry highlights potential wrongdoing on the part of the president’s son and brother and tries to link it directly to him."

Republicans can also leverage the impeachment proceedings - as well as Hunter Biden's legal cases - to deflect attention away from Trump's extremely serious court cases.

Trump made history earlier this year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime, but his four indictments — including in federal court in Washington, D.C., and in Fulton County court in Georgia — on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss.

"It tries to distract from the serious legal issues Trump is facing and basically at the end of the day," said Ryan, a veteran of multiple GOP presidential campaigns.

He emphasized that inquiry "shows voters both candidates are facing investigations. It muddies the waters. It tries to make things murky even though the criminal trials that President Trump is facing are much different than the Republican-led inquiry in the House."

Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who's running a long-shot Democratic primary challenge against the president, made a similar argument.

"I don’t see the evidence of it, but yes, when your own son and your own brother are clearly, at the very least unethical and at worst, doing illegal things — my goodness, of course the country pays attention to it," Phillips said in an interview with the news website Semafor. "People do believe that it perhaps makes him unelectable — somehow, it conflates him with the Trump family’s indiscretions." 

But Democratic strategist Chris Moyer, who served on a handful of presidential campaigns, disagreed.

"No one is Donald Trump when it comes to corruption, breaking the law, and violating his oath of office," he argued, when asked if the inquiry lessens the sting of Trump’s own legal controversies.

Biden became the second straight president to face an impeachment inquiry as his re-election was underway, following Trump.

Veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance spotlighted that "perhaps the biggest casualty of the recent vote is the impeachment process itself. Long gone are the days when impeachment was a last resort for members of Congress who have exhausted all other options of holding the President accountable."

Lesperance, the president of New Hampshire-based New England College, said that "the frequency with which impeachment has occurred in recent years has reduced the process to yet another partisan tool for whichever party is in power. The real loser in these processes has become the American people, who continue to lose faith in their beleaguered system of government."

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Brooks and Marcus on the House’s impeachment inquiry and its impact on Biden

Posted on by Amna Nawaz
New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus join Amna Nawaz to discuss the week in politics, including the $148 million verdict against Rudy Giuliani, the debate in Congress over Ukraine aid and border security, the House's formal step toward impeaching President Biden and where the GOP race stand with the Iowa caucus less than 30 days away.
Posted in Uncategorized

Why Hunter Biden stood in the Senate ‘swamp’ as he defied the House subpoena

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Detractors refer to Washington, D.C., as "the swamp."

But this is about another swamp – specifically, the Senate "swamp."

The Senate swamp is a geographic location on Capitol Hill. It’s just across from the Senate steps and where some Senate officials park their cars. Those who work and operate on Capitol Hill have referred to this spot as the Senate swamp for decades.

DOJ'S HANDLING OF HUNTER BIDEN CASE IS ‘INEXPLICABLE,' SAYS TURLEY, AS EX-PROSECUTR FACES QUESTIONING

They started calling the locale the Senate swamp in 1964.

Legendary congressional correspondent Roger Mudd covered the filibuster of the Civil Rights Act for CBS. Mudd often did his TV standups from the Senate steps with a large clock behind him to show how much time had elapsed (eventually two months) during the filibuster.

Southern senators complained about Mudd standing on the Senate steps. The U.S. Capitol Police moved Mudd and his compadres in the press corps across the plaza to a grassy area. Well, one day it rained. And the correspondent was named "Mudd." So, they started referring to the area as the "Senate swamp."

However, that site is anything but a swamp.

The area is paved. A panel of permanent, stainless steel TV jacks for networks to do live shots lines a narrow concrete façade. Reporters can face one direction and talk about Congress with the Capitol behind them. If reporters turn around, they can talk about legal opinions with the Supreme Court serving as a backdrop.

Or, someone like Hunter Biden can use the spot for a press conference, as he did Wednesday morning, publicly defying a House subpoena for a closed-door deposition.

The entrance to the Rayburn House Office Building is more than an eighth of a mile from the Senate swamp. A phalanx of reporters and photographers swarmed the halls of Rayburn, awaiting Hunter Biden’s anticipated arrival for a closed-door deposition. Another horde of journalists roamed the Rayburn "horseshoe," a semi-circular driveway which curves up to a side entrance across from the Longworth House Office Building.

No one was 100% sure whether Hunter Biden would show up.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., issued a subpoena for Hunter Biden to "testify at a deposition touching matters of inquiry," at 9:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday in the Rayburn Building. The subpoena added that "you are not to depart without leave of said committee or subcommittee."

HOUSE VOTES TO AUTHORIZE IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

In late November, Abbe Lowell — who is Hunter Biden’s attorney — countered Comer’s demand for a deposition with a demand of his own.

"We have seen you use closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinform the public," wrote Lowell to Comer. "We therefore propose opening the door."

The ultimatum appeared to catch Comer and Republicans on the Oversight Committee off guard. Comer said he would grant Hunter Biden the chance to testify at an open hearing, but a closed-door deposition must come first. Comer cited how Democrats conducted multiple, private depositions in their impeachment investigation of former President Trump in the fall of 2019, ahead of public hearings a couple of months later.

So, Hunter Biden indeed showed up on Capitol Hill around 9:30 am Wednesday — but not anywhere near the Rayburn House Office Building.

Hunter Biden materialized an eighth of a mile away at the Senate swamp — that same locale where the Capitol Police banished Roger Mudd to report on the Civil Rights Act filibuster.

Hunter Biden’s Senate swamp maneuver was a filibuster unto itself when it came to ignoring James Comer’s subpoena. But his appearance was both political stagecraft and legal scheme bundled into one.

Hunter Biden showed up on Capitol Hill at the assigned time. But he wasn’t going anywhere close to the room where Comer planned a multi-hour deposition. Materializing at the Senate swamp site with the Capitol dome glimmering behind him was an effort by Hunter Biden to demonstrate he was willing to appear — just on his terms.

ANDY BIGGS CALLS FOR CONTEMPT CHARGES AGAINST ERIC SWALWELL FOR AIDING HUNTER BIDEN

After a brief statement, Hunter Biden left the Senate swamp site, climbed into a van and departed.

Reporters and scribes were panting. Out of breath. Bent over. Hands holding their legs just above their knees like a gassed NBA shooting guard in the fourth quarter. They received word that Hunter Biden was coming to Capitol Hill. But most were over in the Rayburn House Office Building — nowhere near the spot where the news of the day unfolded.

So how and why did the Senate swamp become the hot venue for the story of the day?

It starts with Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.

Lawmakers are permitted to use the Senate swamp site and a similar location called the "House triangle" for press conferences and other events. The same with studios in the House and Senate Radio/TV Galleries inside the Capitol complex. However, the indoor locations generally require rank-and-file members to secure an invitation from a credentialed member of the congressional press corps.

It’s rare, but not unprecedented, for a House member to book an event on the Senate side. The same with a senator on the House side.

So Swalwell reserved the Senate swamp for a vague press event on Wednesday morning at 9:30. Only Swalwell had no intention of speaking to the press. This was Hunter Biden’s forum.

Those are the logistics.

But that doesn’t tell the full story.

There’s a reason why Hunter Biden showed up on the Senate side of Capitol Hill and not the House side.

Let’s say Hunter Biden ventured into the sea of reporters awaiting his prospective arrival at the Rayburn House Office Building, had his say and left. Or imagine if he had even done the same at the House triangle. The president’s son was already out of compliance with Comer’s subpoena by not attending the deposition. But showing up anywhere on the House side of the Capitol could have triggered a host of legal, constitutional and parliamentary issues for him.

JOE BIDEN FRUSTRATED AND ANXIOUS ABOUT HUNTER, SNAPS AT AIDES WHEN ASKED ABOUT INVESTIGATION: REPORT

You see, the House Sergeant at Arms has jurisdiction over the House side of the Capitol. Yes. The House and Senate meet in the same building. But constitutionally, they are distinct institutions. It’s conceivable that Comer could have argued to the Sergeant at Arms or the Capitol Police that his witness flaunted a subpoena if he showed up on House grounds — yet failed to testify.

It’s unlikely that congressional security officials truly would have done anything about it had Comer — or more specifically, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., demanded action for a witness defying a subpoena. The House does hold certain "inherent" enforcement powers when it comes to contempt of Congress. Congress used to arrest and hold people for contempt of Congress in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The last such action where Congress exercised its "inherent" contempt powers was with a Department of Commerce official in the 1930s.

But Abbe Lowell is no fool.

He knew that his client could earn the media attention he wanted by coming to Capitol Hill at the precise time dictated by the subpoena — yet not setting foot anywhere near the House of Representatives. Hence, the Senate swamp.

And being on the Senate side provided something of a legal shield to inoculate Hunter Biden, which he would not have enjoyed on House turf.

Yes, Hunter Biden defied a subpoena and failed to appear for a deposition. It’s possible the House will vote to hold President Biden’s son in contempt of Congress. Such a referral could go to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution.

But in resisting the subpoena, Hunter Biden showed up at the Senate swamp.

It may be a swamp. But in this case, the terra firma of the Senate offered firmer legal footing to Hunter Biden than the marble floors of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Biden scrambles to win over swing state Black voters as support from the traditionally blue bloc falters

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

President Biden's re-election campaign is launching a targeted effort to shore up support from Black voters in two swing states as his backing from the traditionally blue voting bloc continues to falter.

The effort, centered around an ad that will run in Georgia and North Carolina, comes after a bad month for Biden that saw his likely general election opponent, former President Trump, make significant gains among Black voters. Democratic strategists and liberal political pundits have also warned that Black enthusiasm for Biden's re-election was waning.

The ad, titled "Compete," shows Patrick Brown, a Black farmer from North Carolina, praising Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for what he said was the administration's investment in Black farming communities.

DEMOCRATS BLEEDING THE NON-WHITE, WORKING CLASS VOTE, BOOK SAYS: ‘LOOK IN THE MIRROR’

"Joe Biden gets it. He is invested in us, getting us access to land, broadband, capital and infrastructure, so we can compete. It means a lot to have a president that listens. The laws the Biden-Harris administration has passed directly address our community," Brown said.

According to a CNN poll released last month, Biden and Harris face significantly weaker support from Black voters despite winning the group by a large margin in 2020. It found that just 73% of Black voters favor Biden in the 2024 election, compared to the 92% he received in the last election.

The poll also found that 23% of Black voters favor Trump, a huge jump from the 8% support he received in 2020.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE BLOWS UP WHEN PRESSED ON BIDEN CONNECTION TO HUNTER'S BUSINESS DEALINGS: ‘NO EVIDENCE!’

A separate New York Times poll, also released last month, found similar views from Black voters, including 22% support for Trump.

"Black voters are more disconnected from the Democratic Party than they have been in decades, frustrated with what many see as inaction on their political priorities and unhappy with President Biden, a candidate they helped lift to the White House just three years ago," Times reporters Maya King and Lisa Lerer wrote in another report.

They were not alone in their assessment. 

SUPPORT FOR BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY GROWS WITH A NOTABLE LEVEL OF DEMOCRAT BACKING: POLL

Just weeks later, MSNBC host and liberal Black activist Al Sharpton warned, "There is a lack of enthusiasm among young voters, particularly young Black voters, the Biden campaign needs to take seriously. You need to really build a ground game movement from the bottom-up, rather than poo-poo it and be in denial."

In a Politico report published after Thanksgiving, Democratic strategists warned that Black voters were questioning their loyalty to the Democrat Party, including one who told the outlet that some Black business owners were frustrated over its focus on racial issues. 

"We’re treating them like their only issue is racial issues, and not all of us, but to some extent some of us have moved past that," said Marcurius Byrd, who founded Young Democrats of the Central Midlands in South Carolina, and worked on Marianne Williamson's campaign. He also said Black people were becoming "more educated."

McKenzie Watson, a strategist who does advocacy for people with disabilities, said people were having a hard time and suggested the party should focus on fixing their home, and less so on other countries. 

BIDEN FACES GRIM RE-ELECTION ODDS AS HE TRAILS LEADING GOP CANDIDATES IN TWO KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES: POLL

"We have people here who are suffering, who are struggling to keep a roof over their head," she said. "We have people that are struggling to have food on the table for their kids, to buy a house. It’s a lot of struggling that is going on here in the nation.… I support Ukraine and my heart goes out to the people of Ukraine. But it’s kind of like you need to fix your home. Your people here are suffering here as well."

In a statement, Biden campaign manager Quentin Fulks said the president's administration was "delivering for Black Americans and rural communities" through investment in things like infrastructure, internet access, health care and pathways to land ownership.

"We are ensuring every voter understands the choice in front of them: While MAGA Republicans push an extreme agenda that would harm Black and rural communities and take our country backward, a second term for President Biden and Vice President Harris would build on the work they’ve already accomplished for Black Americans and continue to deliver on the issues that matter most to our community," he added.

Fox News Digital asked the Biden campaign whether the push targeting Black voters was related to his flailing poll numbers among the voting bloc, but did not immediately receive a response.

Fox News' Hanna Panreck and Brian Flood contributed to this report.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

In new display of incompetence, Trump promises a Biden depression on the Dow’s best day ever

Posted on by Aldous J Pennyfarthing

As inflation continues to ebb and we begin to see truly gaudy economic numbers (a 3.7% unemployment rate, an almost unheard of 5.2% GDP growth rate, and a surging stock market!), President Joe Biden has a great story to tell. Trump also has a story to tell, but it’s not based on economic metrics so much as the pornographic Plinko game in his head. 

When America expectorated Donald Trump from its quavering corpus in November 2020, he left office as the worst jobs president since the Great Depression. So when he talks about President Joe Biden potentially leading us into a new depression, he kind of—in a weird way—knows what he’s talking about.

And so on Wednesday, the same day the Dow reached an all-time high, Trump warned Iowa rallygoers that Biden’s economic stewardship will soon plunge us into another Great Depression. And it's possible that Trump knows something economists don’t and we’ll soon be standing in bread lines and scooping up Trump NFTs at bargain-basement prices. It’s also possible Matt Gaetz will win the Nobel Prize for beach. 

In other words, don’t hold your breath.

RELATED STORY: Even Fox News is having trouble trashing Biden's economy

Watch:

Trump says if he’s not elected we’ll have a depression pic.twitter.com/Cbc9EShjzI

— Acyn (@Acyn) December 14, 2023

But as Rolling Stone reports:

Trump, who accomplished the feat of becoming the first president since Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression to leave the country with fewer jobs by the end of his one-term presidency, claimed that the “Biden administration is running on the fumes of the great success of the Trump Administration.” He added, addressing his supporters: “Without us this thing would have crashed to levels never seen before, and if we’re not elected we’ll have a depression the likes of which I don’t believe anybody has ever seen… maybe 1929?”

While Trump’s economic legacy has been hotly debated, under his administration the unemployment rate surged to 14.7 percent in April [2020] and by the time he left office the following January, the rate had receded to 6.3 percent. Many economists have pointed to the former president’s disastrous leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic as having exacerbated the country’s economic downturn at the time.

By now, we should all be keenly aware that Trump just says stuff. Whether it’s true or not hardly concerns him. For instance, anyone who criticizes him—even a little—is automatically the worst person ever. Just ask super-overrated 21-time Oscar nominee—and three-time winner—Meryl Streep. 

Case in point: In 2020, Trump predicted Biden would crash the economy if he won. (Narrator: He didn’t.)

Now that the Dow Jones just broke 37,000 for the first time in HISTORY, let's remember what Trump predicted would happen to the stock market if Biden were elected. pic.twitter.com/rCpZJQ1cYC

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) December 13, 2023

But Trump’s latest statement is particularly risible given the current state of our economy, which has shown steady growth and improvement—despite those unavoidable spikes in inflation—since Biden fumigated the Oval Office nearly three years ago.

Furthermore? If we took Trump’s timeless advice, the House would definitely not be launching an impeachment inquiry into Biden for the high crime of being a Democrat in the White House. Consider this 2019 tweet (there’s always a tweet):

You mean the Stock Market hit an all-time record high today and they’re actually talking impeachment!? Will I ever be given credit for anything by the Fake News Media or Radical Liberal Dems? NO COLLUSION!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 23, 2019

Of course, many Americans are only too happy to excuse Pervert Hoover’s awful economic legacy in light of the pandemic-related disruptions we experienced, which would have almost certainly challenged anyone in office at the time. Which is fair. It’s also fair to ask how much the Trump administration’s botched COVID-19 response led to our Great Depression-like economic numbers.

What’s clearly unfair, though, is blaming Biden for post-pandemic-related inflation while giving Trump a pass for the truly awful economy he left behind—especially since Biden has handled post-COVID price surges better than almost every other wealthy countries’ leaders. 

RELATED STORY: 'I would vote for Biden even if he was dead': PA Republican weighs in on possible Trump nomination

Meanwhile, in case you still doubt that Trump just regurgitates whatever barmy bits bedevil his brain from one moment to the next, he’s also still obsessed with the fact that he’s inferior to former President Barack Obama in every way. So much so that he feels the need to say outrageously untrue things in order to soothe his creaky ego.

At the same Iowa rally, Trump cited the professional—and very weird—opinion of Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, a former White House doctor, to claim he’s in better physical shape than Obama. Shocker: He couched this assertion in a signature “sir” story.

The Guardian:

“He was Obama’s doctor, too, by the way,” the ex-real estate tycoon reminded the crowd at the Hyatt Hotel.

“I said, ‘Who’s healthier?’ He said, ‘Sir, there’s no contest.’ I won’t tell you the answer, but you know the answer, okay? It was me.”

He went even further, quoting his old physician as saying: “‘If he didn’t eat junk food, he’d live to 200 years old.’ That’s my kind of a doctor.”

On whether he believed his advanced years could become an issue – as he has repeatedly insisted is the case for 81-year-old Mr Biden – Mr Trump said: “I’ll be the first to know. But I feel that right now I’m sharper than I was 20 years ago, and I don’t know why.

That’s a mystery for the ages. And is it really possible he can spot the difference between a lion and a rhinoceros even faster than he could 20 years ago? Because that would be scary. Before you know it, he’ll be Bradley Cooper in “Limitless.” Or maybe the lab mouse in “Flowers for Algernon.”

Come to think of it, that seems slightly more on-brand.

RELATED STORY: Biden's off-camera zingers give a glimpse at attacks on Trump to come

Campaign Action

Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.

Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: The important poll question: ‘What if Trump is convicted?’

Posted on by Greg Dworkin

Joyce Vance/”Civil Discourse” on Substack:

Jack Smith's Bold Move

The issue comes down to this: Is Trump immune from criminal prosecution for the rest of his life for any acts he committed while president? In other words, is he above the law? Or can he be, as Jack Smith argues, prosecuted once he leaves the White House.

The Supreme Court has never decided this issue before. And it has to be decided, because if it goes in Trump’s favor, the case is dismissed and there will be no trial. I don’t think anyone expects that will be the outcome here, although you never know with the Supreme Court. But Smith is asking them to tell Trump that immunity (and double jeopardy, an argument with even less merit than immunity) is off the table so the case can proceed to trial.

It’s too early to do horse race polling, but if you want to look at a poll, look at the ones that ask about convictions.

Would you vote for Donald Trump for president in 2024 if he is/has been - Convicted of a felony crime by a jury? Yes 25% No 59% .@Reuters/@Ipsos, 4,411 Adults, 12/5-11https://t.co/HKnYKcWUAy pic.twitter.com/mUaqD9K8xR

— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) December 14, 2023

CNN:

NY appeals court hands Trump another defeat over gag order

A New York appellate court rejected Donald Trump’s challenge of the gag order in his civil fraud trial Thursday. Trump’s attorneys petitioned the court over the gag order that bars him and the attorneys from speaking publicly about Judge Arthur Engoron’s court staff.

In rejecting the challenge Thursday, the appeals court said Trump didn’t use the proper legal vehicle to challenge the gag order and sanctions.

The appellate court in another order Thursday also rejected a Trump request to allow his legal team to seek a review of the gag order by the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court.

Trial testimony ended Wednesday after 11 weeks in court.

The parties are scheduled to file supplemental briefs in the case January 5 and return to court for oral arguments January 11 before Engoron renders a final verdict.

And on that note, keep in mind how often Trump is losing in court, except for some delay moves.

In what may be a historic hat trick, Trump lost his 3d presidential immunity case in 2 weeks yesterday--this one in E. Jean Carroll's original defamation suit against him, which goes to trial 1/15/24. 2d Cir rules he waived prez immunity. ... https://t.co/gS5KEntI3R /1

— Roger Parloff (@rparloff) December 14, 2023

On the “vibes vs. the economy” debate, Nate Cohn/The New York Times:

Vibes, the Economy and the Election

Recent positive news may put two theories on economic disenchantment to the test.

Yes, voters are upset about high prices, and prices are indeed high. This easily and even completely explains why voters think this economy is mediocre: In the era of consumer sentiment data, inflation has never risen so high without pushing consumer sentiment below average and usually well below average. This part is not complicated.

But it’s harder to argue that voters should believe the economy is outright terrible, even after accounting for inflation. Back in early 2022, I estimated that consumer confidence was running at least 10 to 15 percentage points worse than one would expect historically, after accounting for prices and real disposable income.

In that regard, consider the following headlines:

  • CNN: Dow surges to new record as Fed signals three rate cuts in 2024
  • New York Times: Is Jerome Powell’s Fed Pulling Off a Soft Landing?
  • New York Times: The Markets Are Getting Ahead of the Fed
  • CNBC: Dow rises to fresh record after more strong economic data, falling rates
  • Reuters: US economy still resilient as retail sales beat expectations, layoffs stay low

Consider also that weak Chinese economic growth is likely to depress oil demand for some time.

This is another piece of evidence to file in "election results aren't matching the assumptions people are drawing from pessimism in the polls." I'll change my tune really fast if Dems stop overperforming in specials, but I mean, even in rural Oklahoma ... something is happening. https://t.co/2LidIwdedN

— Natalie Jackson (@nataliemj10) December 13, 2023

Jill Lawrence/The Bulwark:

Impeachment Is Just Another Word for Getting Even. Thanks, GOP.

Accountability is on life support and even Jack Smith may not save it.

No facts? No problem. House Republicans plan to launch an official Biden impeachment inquiry this week—if they can wrangle enough votes from their minuscule, divided majority. Greene predicted two months before the 2022 midterms that there would be “a lot of investigations” if the GOP won the House. It’s the Democrats’ fault, she told author Robert Draper, because they started it with their “witch hunts” against Trump. She introduced an impeachment resolution against Biden the day after he took office.

House Republicans are going to impeach Biden for the high crime of many people saying they should

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 13, 2023

The Associated Press:

The Republican leading the probe of Hunter Biden has his own shell company and complicated friends

Interviews and records reviewed by The Associated Press provide new insights into the financial deal, which risks undercutting the force of some of [GOP Rep. James] Comer’s central arguments in his impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden. For months, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee and his Republican colleagues have been pounding Biden, a Democrat, for how his relatives traded on their famous name to secure business deals.

Expect more stories like this now that the hypocrisy is on full display.

so many people on here who haven't owned up to: a) how wrong they were, and b) how sneeringly dismissive they were of those who ended up being right https://t.co/0xNrxuzs4B

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) December 13, 2023

Great point:

Two end-of-year pins in the House: 1) The NDAA passed with majority Dem votes. Once again the big vote is carried by the Democratic minority, just like both CRs, the debt limit, the Santos expulsion, McCarthy's removal. Jeffries wielded more power in 2023 than McCarthy or Johnson

— Aaron Fritschner (@Fritschner) December 14, 2023

He’s right about Leader Jeffries. Then again:

Both sides more than willing to play their part here. Ds reluctantly accept what's going to happen and declare victory because a) it could have been worse and b) it denies Rs any satisfaction. Meanwhile marginal Rs are eager to embrace the L because it suits their purposes. https://t.co/6ryYqhZW3n

— Liam Donovan (@LPDonovan) December 14, 2023

Tony Michaels and Cliff Schecter on a Trump dictatorship:

YouTube Video

Kentucky Supreme Court upholds congressional boundaries passed by GOP-led legislature

Posted on by By Associated Press

Kentucky’s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld Republican-drawn boundaries for state House and congressional districts, rejecting Democratic claims that the majority party’s mapmaking amounted to gerrymandering in violation of the state’s constitution.

The court noted that an alternative proposal would have resulted in nearly the same lopsided advantage for Republicans in Kentucky House elections and would not have altered the GOP’s 5-1 advantage in U.S. House seats from the Bluegrass State.

The new district boundaries were passed by the GOP-dominated legislature over Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s vetoes in early 2022. The new maps were used in last year’s election.

The justices referred to redistricting as an “inherently political process” assigned to the legislature.

“An expectation that apportionment will be free of partisan considerations would thus not only be unrealistic, but also inconsistent with our constitution’s assignment of responsibility for that process to an elected political body,” Justice Angela McCormick Bisig wrote in the majority opinion.

The court concluded that the once-a-decade mapmaking did not violate Kentucky’s constitution. It upheld a lower court ruling that had concluded the new boundaries amounted to “partisan gerrymanders,” but said the constitution doesn’t explicitly forbid the consideration of partisan interests during redistricting.

The new maps were challenged by the state Democratic Party and several individuals, including Democratic state Rep. Derrick Graham. Their lawsuit contended the new boundaries reflected “extreme partisan gerrymandering” in violation of the state constitution. It claimed the state House map divided some counties into multiple districts to “dilute the influence” of Democratic voters.

With the new districts in effect in last November’s midterm election, Republicans increased their legislative supermajorities. Several Democratic state House members lost their reelection bids after having Republican-friendlier territory tacked onto their districts.

Democrats’ biggest objection to the redrawn congressional boundaries focused on an extension of the sprawling 1st Congressional District, situated mostly in western Kentucky, to include Franklin County, home of the capital city of Frankfort in central Kentucky.

The 1st District is represented by powerful Republican Rep. James Comer. Comer has been at the center of the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden as chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

Comer and his wife have homes in Monroe and Franklin counties in Kentucky. They purchased the Franklin County home when he was state agriculture commissioner, when his work was based in Frankfort.

For decades, Democrats wielded complete control in setting legislative boundaries, and then shared that power once the GOP took control of the state Senate. Last year was the first time the legislature had redrawn districts since Republicans consolidated their control of the legislature. The GOP took control of the state House after the 2016 election.

In last year’s election, the GOP won 80 of the 100 state House seats. Under an alternative plan relied upon by the plaintiffs, Republicans were projected to win at least 77 seats, the Supreme Court said.

“We note that every seat is important,” Bisig wrote. The court concluded that a difference of three seats in the 100-seat Kentucky House didn’t rise to the level of a “clear, flagrant and unwarranted” violation of constitutional rights.

State GOP spokesperson Sean Southard said the high court rightfully rejected “a pathetic attempt” by Democrats to throw out Kentucky’s congressional and state House maps.

Kentucky House Democratic leaders said they disagreed with the ruling. “It gives legislative majorities much more authority to protect themselves at the expense of many voters while guaranteeing more political polarization for decades to come,” they said in a statement.

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