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Government Policies Cost Americans as Consumer Price Inflation Hits 30-Year High: The cost of living increased at the steepest rate in more than three decades this past year. Consumer prices jumped another 0.9%in October—an astounding 11.3%rate compounded annually. That’s a 6.2%increase compared to last October. The causes are rooted in supply chain bottlenecks caused by continued COVID vaccine mandates, union resistance to expediting port operations, and tightening environmental regulations on the trucking industry. Labor market problems—driven largely by government policies such as generous COVID relief benefits, sporadic school closures, and now vaccine mandates—also contribute to rising costs. Expert: Joel Griffith

 ‘Build Back Better’ Bill Would Build a Bigger, but Not Better, IRS Bureaucracy: Over the past month, Democrats and the IRS have faced public rebuke for a proposal that would require banks and other financial institutions to report to the IRS their customers’ transactions information, possibly even for accounts as small as $600. Yet, House Democrats’ massive tax-and-spending package would reward the unpopular tax-collecting agency by increasing its current budget by more than 70%. Expert: Preston Brashers

Cash to Illegal Immigrants Is the New Low in Biden’s Open-Borders Push: When Biden was initially asked about paying illegal aliens, he gave a refreshingly honest answer: He called the reports “garbage” and waved the topic off. The rare moment of honesty with the American people did not last long. White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later said the Biden administration might be open to it. Then, on Saturday, Biden said such illegal immigrants “deserve some kind of compensation.” Events like this show how beholden Biden is to the far-left open-borders lobby and his own staff. It’s not a common thing in American politics for a president to contradict himself so plainly and openly. Experts: Mike Howell or Lora Ries

John Durham advances the cause of justice: Last week, we learned that a federal grand jury has charged Russian national Igor Danchenko with five counts of lying to the FBI. The development has produced a greater implication of the Clinton campaign's culpability in the Russia-Trump collusion hoax. Although Danchenko is presumed innocent until proven otherwise, the indictment, signed by special counsel John Durham, doesn’t paint a pretty picture for anyone involved in the sourcing and production of the Steele dossier. That dossier was formed by a former British intelligence officer, Christopher Steele. But those involved in the dossier's development now appear to be either dupes or liars. Expert: Zack Smith