--:-- [Upbeat music fades out]
--:-- Host (John Bickley): This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. Between two-factor authentication, strong passwords, and a VPN, you try to be in control of how your info is protected. But many other places also have it, and they might not be as careful. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it. Guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit LifeLock.com slash podcast for 40% off. Terms apply.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Inflation rose again in September at a higher rate than expected. I think the reality is that December could see another 75 basis points depending on what next month's CPI says. A Wall Street economist breaks down the numbers and what it means for Americans. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, October 13th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): The Biden administration is spearheading a diversity, equity and inclusion initiative at the government level that it hopes will become a model for the rest of the nation. What's in the plan and what's the long term goal?
--:-- Host (John Bickley): And new evidence reveals that the White House and Homeland Security knew that border agents did not whip migrants at the border. They withheld facts. And any time that you withhold facts from the American people, you should be willing to step down from your job. Better men would step down. We speak to the man who uncovered the evidence.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): You buy homeowner's insurance to protect your house and auto insurance to protect your car. But what measures have you taken to protect the future of your children? Start with a will from Epic Will. A will gives you the power to decide who will raise your kids should something happen to you and your spouse. Without one, the state decides. It only costs $119 for a single person to create a will. And when you use promo code WIRE, you'll save 10%. Go to EpicWill.com and use promo code WIRE to save 10%.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): The Labor Department released new inflation numbers Wednesday, and it's bad news for the economy. Inflation remained higher than economists had predicted. We talked with Kenny Polcari, founder and CEO of Case Capital Advisors, to discuss the data and what it could mean going forward.
--:-- Kenny Polcari: So, we got the new numbers. Inflation rose a total of 8.5 percent, and the producer price index rose 0.4 percent last month. That's higher than economists were expecting, correct?
--:-- Kenny Polcari: Yep. It was higher than the estimate, but it is lower than last month. So they're going to play on that, that it was lower than last month. But the fact is, it was higher than the estimate and the month-over-month number was higher than the estimate and higher than last month, which suggests that inflation is not responding at the moment.
--:-- Kenny Polcari: The Fed has been raising rates really aggressively, more aggressively than we've seen in decades. Why isn't the economy slowing?
--:-- Kenny Polcari: Listen, that's a long conversation, but you have to remember that the Fed started stimulating during the great financial crisis, which started in 2008 by the time they started stimulating. and they never stopped. They stimulated for 13 years. Now, they should have stopped in between somewhere around 2015, 2016. They should have started to pull back, but they did not.
--:-- Kenny Polcari: And then COVID hit. They kept rates at zero. They kept stimulating. And then when the signal came in April of 2021, when CPI shot from 1.6 to 3.1 in one month, clearly up and through their 2% target that they told everybody was the number. They refused to see it in April of 2021. And they continued to stimulate through the end of the year even in the face of rising inflation.
--:-- Kenny Polcari: Every month from April we saw inflation go up go up go up And they kept telling us don worry don worry don worry It transitory We got it It all good They stimulated right till 2022. And then they recognized this isn't what we thought. And maybe it's not as transitory. And so now we are backed into a position where inflation is now at 40-year highs and they're going to have to get more aggressive.
--:-- Kenny Polcari: But look, they stimulated for so long, It's going to take time for this to pull back. And don't forget, energy prices just went up 22% in the month of October. So next month's PPI and CPI is going to be even stronger. Quite honestly, they should have raised rates a full percentage point probably three meetings ago, but inflation is not responding because they waited too long.
--:-- Kenny Polcari: What do you see coming next, including from the federal government? The rumor, the whisper, is that they're going to go another 75 basis points in December, which is a complete change of the narrative. They've been telling us for months now that November's gonna be the last 75 and then they're going to 50 basis points and then they're gonna see about slowing into 2023.
--:-- Kenny Polcari: I don't think that's happening at all. I think the federal government is blind to it until there's a change of leadership. And listen, that might come too because the midterm elections are only four weeks away. I think right now we're thinking about a split Congress. So maybe the Republicans take the House, the Democrats remain in control of the Senate, but that creates gridlock. That will actually be good for the market. it will also be good for the federal government because they'll be gridlocked. They won't be able to pass any more ridiculous spending bills, right?
--:-- Kenny Polcari: So hopefully that'll take some of the pressure off. Now, the stock market really is about confidence in the direction of the country and the health of the economy. We've been tracking the polling numbers on those issues, and we've consistently seen that around 70 percent of Americans feel the country is going in the wrong direction. On the top of the list of Americans' concerns every time, every poll, is the economy and inflation.
--:-- Kenny Polcari: What are you seeing in the economic world in terms of confidence in the economy and direction of the country? Well, I think it's clear that, you know, there is sentiment. It is starting to wane. I think people are much more concerned now about the pace of inflation, how entrenched it is, whether or not they're ever going to catch up.
--:-- Kenny Polcari: Because, look, don't forget, even though wages are up 5 percent, inflation is up 8.5 percent. So you're behind the eight ball 3.5 percent every month, right? There are people out now with two and three jobs just trying to put food on the table and keep up. And so therefore, the sense is that it's more of a struggle. And I think people are going to start to express that the longer this goes on. And I think part of that's going to be next month in the elections.
--:-- Kenny Polcari: I think that's going to be the first expression of frustration amongst the electorate. So my sense is, you know, as people really start to digest what does this PPI mean, today's strong PPI, what's it mean for tomorrow? What's it mean for prices going down the road? Oil's up again today. The Saudis made it very clear last week. They're not letting oil come in. And so therefore, that's going to continue to put pressure on inflation.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Well, Kenny, thanks so much for talking with us. Thanks for the time.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): That was Case Capital's Kenny Pocari.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Coming up, the Biden administration spearheads a new diversity, equity and inclusion plan at the federal level. In an economy as volatile as this one, it's important to have control when you're making a big purchase, like a new car. Carzing is an online shopping website with millions of listed vehicles. By partnering with credit agencies, lenders, and dealerships, Carzing provides you with everything you need before stepping foot into a dealership.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Once you find your dream car at your ideal budget, all you have to do is bring your save deal voucher with you to the dealership to finalize your next ride. All you got to do is visit carzing.com slash wire today to skip the guesswork and find the best deals near you.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): The Biden administration announced last week that they intend to make the federal government the country's gold standard when it comes to diversity equity and inclusion. Biden officials are working on a national strategy for DEI policies for the government, which they hope private companies will copy.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Daily Wire investigative reporter Mairead Alordi is here with the details for us. So Mairead, tell us about the administration's DEI plan.
--:-- Mairead Alordi: Hi, Georgia. So last week, Biden's Office of Personnel Management, or OPM, convened the first meeting of what they call the Chief Diversity Officers Executive Council. This council is a group of diversity officers from different federal agencies, and they're working on a massive plan for encouraging DEI policies in hiring and employment across the entire federal government.
--:-- Mairead Alordi: OPM said the council will set clear benchmarks and metrics for DEI policies and will also work with, quote, public and private stakeholders on DEI policies. The hope is that companies will use the Biden administration's DEI plan as a template for their own DEI policies. In fact, the OPM said it wants the federal government to be, quote, our country's model of excellence.
--:-- Mairead Alordi: Now, what do we know so far about the actual plan? Not much, but Dr. Janice Underwood is OPM's DEI director, which essentially makes her the federal government's chief diversity officer. And she talked a little bit about how the goal is to expand the DEI influence from government into society.
--:-- Mairead Alordi: Earlier this year, Underwood said in an interview that we need more people who, quote, respect and affirm DEI to run for political office on both the local and federal levels. So a core component may include hiring and promoting people who are outspoken proponents of DEI. She also said we need common sense, reasonable people to speak up about DEI at school board meetings, in the media, in the town square, YMCA, grocery store, and on the campaign trail.
--:-- Mairead Alordi: Now, we actually reported earlier this year that chief diversity officer was the fastest growing C-suite job title on at least one of the big job sites in 2020 and 2021. So this is really gaining a lot of steam in the private sector already.
--:-- Mairead Alordi: Right. So most people will be familiar with diversity and inclusion trainings in the workplace, and that's been around for years. But a lot of companies created entire new departments and management positions to implement DEI after the death of George Floyd in 2020. And there are signs that that trend could be here to stay.
--:-- Mairead Alordi: UPenn's Wharton Business School, which consistently ranks as the nation's top business school, recently moved to designate DEI and ESG as official academic concentrations this month. It's not clear if this move was purposefully coordinated with this DEI push from the White House, but it's likely that we'll see other business schools following suit, especially if the business community keeps demanding these types of jobs.
--:-- Mairead Alordi: Right. And it sounds like that's the administration's goal.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Maraid, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Thanks, Georgia.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): New information revealed from a FOIA request shows that the Homeland Security Secretary knew hours before a famous press briefing, one that sparked outrage and launched an investigation, that Border Patrol agents were not in fact guilty of whipping Haitian migrants.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Joining us to discuss is the man whose organization filed the FOIA request, Mike Howell, director of the Oversight Project at Heritage Foundation. So, Mike, we have a significant update on a story that dates back a year, back to September 2021. First, remind us about the sequence of events this all hinges on.
--:-- Mike Howell: So it was an incident in Del Rio, Texas, where a large group of Haitian migrants were illegally crossing our border, and they were being in the process of apprehended by Border Patrol agents, some of whom were on horseback. Images came out and quickly those on the left said, oh my gosh, these horseback agents are whipping the migrants. And you know a lie spread very quickly and went all the way to the White House and Secretary Mayorkas where they spread that fake news from the White House podium
--:-- Mike Howell: An investigation occurred found no whipping regardless they held the agents responsible and it just been a whole mess of throwing the Border Patrol under the bus
--:-- Mike Howell: You're referencing statements from President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas. Here's some clips from those statements.
--:-- Mike Howell: But it was horrible what to see, as you saw. To see people treated like they did, horses barely running them over, people being strapped, it's outrageous. I promise you those people will pay.
--:-- Mike Howell: We were indeed horrified by the images. That does not reflect our policies, our training, nor our values. And it is for that reason that we commenced immediately a fulsome and swift investigation to determine what exactly occurred and why those officers depicted in the images are no longer performing their law enforcement duties during the pendency of the investigation.
--:-- Mike Howell: All right, so the months-long investigation finds no wrongdoing. And now we have an email that informed Secretary Mayorkas over two hours before he talked to the public in that press briefing that the allegation of whipping against the agents was actually false. Is that correct?
--:-- Mike Howell: That's absolutely correct. There was no need for an investigation. He knew it at the time he called for an investigation. He knew it at the time that he said it conjured up the worst images of systemic racism in America. It was all lie, all farce.
--:-- Mike Howell: And now who was it that informed Mayorkas that this was actually a false narrative? It was his top press staffer, Marsha Espinosa, who let him know a couple hours before he went to the podium and called out the Border Patrol and said that they were going to be punished.
--:-- Mike Howell: Has Mayorkas or the Biden administration responded at all to this new revelation?
--:-- Mike Howell: No. Bill Malusian over at Fox News had reached out to them two days ago and no response. Reached out to him again this morning, no response. The only reason we're getting a response from a FOIA we issued several months ago is because we're suing them in federal court and the judge is saying they have to respond. They're hiding.
--:-- Mike Howell: But this is unfortunately how it works now. This is the least transparent administration in history. We all have right of access to information under the Freedom of Information Act. They just ignore it. Unless you can get lawyers, and these things cost money, resources, and attention, and that's why we at the Heritage Foundation stood up the oversight projects, you've got to sue to get stuff out.
--:-- Mike Howell: And so we filed suit several months ago, and just a couple weeks ago, we started to get documents. It's been a long process.
--:-- Mike Howell: All right, what are the next steps? Is there any recourse for any of the agents that were implicated in this investigation?
--:-- Mike Howell: Yeah, so legally speaking, they're lawyers and they're represented by their union in the Border Patrol should take this into account, because this shows there's no need for an investigation in the first place. It was all farce from the get-go and highly politicized.
--:-- Mike Howell: Secondly, we're calling on Congress and the incoming majorities that the House and Senate flip to reinstate these agents, you know, lost pay as a result of the investigation and punishment and also to clear their record. And then when we're done with that, impeach Mayorkas for this.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): All right, Mike, thank you so much for joining us.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): That was Mike Howell, director of the Oversight Project at Heritage.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Other stories we're tracking this week. There's an increased risk of radiation disaster in Ukraine after Russian missile attacks caused a crippled nuclear plant to lose all external power for the second time in five days. According to Ukraine's state nuclear energy operator, several critical safety systems were offline for nearly eight hours.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): The Treasury Department inspector general confirmed in a letter to Democratic lawmakers that the agency is planning to audit whether spending by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on migrant flights improperly used American Rescue Plan funds.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, please consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.
