1) America Producing Record Amounts of Oil and Gas

Drill baby drill is working.

Under Biden, US oil and gas production were driven not by pro-energy policies but by high crude prices. Crude was over $100 in 2022 and generally ranged between $70 and $85 for the rest of Biden's term. As we demonstrated, the barrel price would have pushed production much higher had it not been for Biden's anti-fossil fuels climate policies.

In just six months, Donald Trump has brought America’s oil and gas production to its highest levels ever, not driven by high prices but by pro-production policies.  Now, the price is closer to $60 a barrel and yet domestic production is at an all-time high.

The Energy Information Administration reports forecasts that gas prices will keep falling to below $3 a gallon by next year.  

The big story here, of course, is fracking and horizontal drilling which has roughly tripled American production in the last 15 years or so.

Here are two amazing headlines based on the latest numbers:

What a difference a president makes. Biden’s first executive order was to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline to slow oil and gas delivery across the country. The first day executive order from Trump was to make oil and gas production a national security and economic priority.

2) No One Trusts the Government Statistics Anymore

A new Rasmussen poll shows two of three voters think the government numbers are biased and untrustworthy. After the scandal of the miscount of the Census (by their own admission) and jobs numbers that are pointing in all different directions, we don't believe the numbers either.

Unreliable Statistics

This is yet another reason why the Senate MUST confirm EJ Antoni to head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and give us honest numbers.

3) Most Chicago Teachers Contribute Just 2% of Their Salary to Their Fat Pensions

We hate to always pick on Chicago, but the incompetence and the wild spending is becoming legendary. This chart is one of those UH-OH revelations that politicians try to hide.

What is even more disturbing is that teachers only pay a minuscule contribution to their munificent pensions. According to Conor Durkin, a leading watchdog on Chicago finances:

Beginning in 1981 CPS agreed to a 'pension pick-up' of 7 percentage points of the 9% for employees, leaving the employees themselves to contribute just 2% of their actual salaries into the fund. Under the terms of the CTU's current collective bargaining agreement, this continues today for any teachers hired prior to 2017, while teachers hired after them contribute the full 9 points.

This mind-blowingly sweet deal to the teacher unions cost the school system another $135 million last year.

These pensions cost $1 billion a year and eat up more than 10% of the school budget.

Did we mention the CPS has $9 billion in debt? That's more than the entire school budget for virtually every school district in America.  

No wonder Johnny can't read.

4) Everything Is Faster Now, Except Airline Travel

You aren't imagining it if you think air travel has gotten less reliable over time. Even though official on-time stats haven't changed much, both scheduled travel times and the duration of delays have been getting longer.

New data show a three-hour delay in 2024 was 4.5 times more likely compared to 1990.  Delays of between one and one and a half hours are around twice as common as they were in the 1990s.

What’s the problem? Airport and air traffic control capacity hasn't grown.

Earlier this year, President Trump promised a "great, computerized system" of air traffic control, something "brand new ... done by two or three companies.”

We desperately need to enlist SpaceX and DOGE to help improve air safety and reduce flight delays. It's the only way we will be able to Make Air Travel Great Again.

5) Schumer Says He Feels Safe in DC - But He Has a Security Detail

When he was asked about Trump adding federal police protection in DC, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer snarled: "We'll fight him tooth and nail."

He went on to dismiss claims that Washington D.C. has a crime problem: "I walk around all the time. I feel perfectly safe. They're full of it."

Well. It's easy for Schumer to say that.  His leadership position affords him a 24/7 security detail provided by the U.S. Capitol Police. If he wants to test his theory about how crime free Washington is, we'd be happy to give him a list of neighborhoods he could stroll through alone after dark.

6) End of an Era!  

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