1) Scott Bessent Drops Truth Bomb on Senate Democrats
Soon-to-be Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave a bravura performance yesterday in front of the Senate Finance Committee, making a persuasive case for urgently extending the expiring Trump tax cuts.
Our favorite highlight was this one minute take down of Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, who claimed that we have to plow more money into the Green New Deal because the U.S. is in an "arms race with China for clean energy."
Watch the exchange by clicking the image below:
Bessent calmly pointed out that China is racing all right... to build coal plants. And he added that the real " race" is who will dominate all energy sources. He's right: fossil fuels are still over 80% of our energy sources. Wind and solar, for all their hype, are just a small fraction of a fraction.
On the subject of leaving behind a mess, no president has ever regulated like Joe Biden. In 2024 alone, his new regulations have cost the economy an estimated $1.4 trillion. His auto emission rules - which are nearly impossible for the auto industry to meet - were the most costly.
Trump can and should reverse these regulations and do it immediately. This would have a disinflationary effect on the economy as everything from cars to household appliances to lawnmowers to plane trips would cost less.
3) Inflation Is Going To Blow Past 4% in Next the CPI Report
We don't like to be killjoys, but is anyone else paying attention to the huge spike in commodity prices over the past two months?
The CPI is back at 3% according to the latest government report, and investors cheered that it wasn't worse. But we feel confident in predicting it's going to get worse quickly.
In just the past two weeks, commodities like gold, silver, oil, and corn have spurted by more than 5% - coincident with the ongoing Biden spending spree in the first three months of fy2025. Oil hit $78 a barrel, which will mean $3 or $3.50 a gallon in a town near you.
Just another mess Trump is inheriting from Biden.
We're surprised some on Wall Street believe the Fed will continue to lower rates later this year. Perhaps investors understand that Trump's supply side energy, tax, and regulatory policies will bring prices down. But for the short term, inflation is headed in the wrong direction.
Speaking of green energy, New York is now backtracking from its absurd scheme to tax fossil fuel companies for carbon emissions, then use the revenue to fund the state's "transition to green." The cost of this green scam: $15 billion a year.
This so-called "cap and invest" plan has failed elsewhere. The programs in California and Washington have raised gasoline prices about 27 cents per gallon. Other prices went up too, as steeper energy costs trickled through the supply chain.
In her "State of the State" speech this week, NY Governor Hochul said "we don't have the data" to move ahead, and climate groups bitterly noted there was no mention of climate change - or specifically "cap and invest."
Sounds to us that the data she HAS been reading are the November election results, which saw the Democratic victory margin in New York's presidential race shift towards Trump by 10 points - the most of any state. New York is also near the most bankrupt of any state.
