Masks are reappearing everywhere. We’re told that hospitals are overflowing again. The flu is supposedly at a record high. Fauci is showing up again on Sunday news shows spreading more fear.
Here’s the reality.
First, COVID infections are very low, according to the latest New York Times tracker.
Second, flu season did arrive about 6 weeks earlier than is typical, but there is no indication that an earlier flu season will be more severe, and hospitalizations are still low in most areas.
How worried should we be about an early flu season? If you look at the dashed green line from the last time we had an early flu season (the swine flu year of 2009-2010) you'll see the peak was unusually low and the rest of flu season that year was near zero.
Third, fears of RSV are overblown too. RSV peaked weeks ago.
These viruses compete for the same hosts, making the idea of a "tripledemic" highly dubious.
We've posted a deeper look at the data on the CTUP website:
2) Lee Zeldin Saved The Day For GOP House Majority
It’s official: all the undecided House races have been called, and Republicans will hold 222 seats. That’s just above the 218 they need for a majority.
For the first time in decades, New York was the deciding factor in a midterm election. Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin pushed the GOP over the goal line. In this deep blue state Zeldin garnered 47% of the vote (in a state where Democrats usually win by 20 points), but he pushed up GOP turnout in battleground congressional districts. Republicans won four Democratic congressional seats: two on Long Island and two in the Hudson Valley. They also held on to an open Syracuse seat that voted for Joe Biden by nine points. Those five victories are the difference between a GOP takeover of the House and Nancy Pelosi’s likely continuing on as speaker.
New York proves that when Republicans run an effective campaign without flawed candidates, they can make a difference even in Blue States.
Republicans had a potent set of issues – led by crime, inflation, and taxes – to use against Democrats in the Empire State. But few pundits thought that even those would work in New York, where so many of the voters who once supported George Pataki, Rudy Giuliani, or Michael Bloomberg have passed on or moved to other, redder states. After all, Biden carried New York State by 61 to 38 percent in 2020.
3) State Legislatures Still Red, But A Little Less So After November Midterms
Finally, all the ballots are counted in state legislative races as well. In state legislative races this year, Democrats surprisingly flipped majority control of four legislative bodies. The Republicans had control of 61 of the 99 chambers and now they have 57 to 41 for Democrats. Democrats gained control of the Michigan House, Michigan Senate, Minnesota House, and Pennsylvania House. For Republicans, this was a disappointing result as the GOP hoped to pick up two more chambers. But in a normal election, an average of 12 chambers flip party, so this was a mostly status quo election on the state level.
The one state where Republicans suffered major losses was Michigan. For the first time in many years, Democrats have the trifecta of both legislative chambers and the governorship. We fear that the highest priority for Governor Gretchen Whitmer will be to repeal the state’s right-to-work law.
Below is a map of the latest red versus blue control of state legislatures.
Below is a not-entirely up-to-date map of state legislative districts controlled by Repubs (red) and Democrats (blue). It’s a useful picture of where geographically each party has strongholds.
4) In San Francisco, There May Be A Right To Vote, But Not To Count Them If You're White
San Francisco elections used to be a running joke and the city competed with Chicago for election fraud. So John Arntz, a veteran city bureaucrat, was appointed 20 years ago as Elections Director to clean up the mess and by all accounts has done so.
But last week the city's Elections Commission voted that because he was a white male they were not renewing his contract. Instead, they are hiring a search firm to find a possible replacement who will be in line with the Commission’s “racial equity plan."
Commission President Chris Jerdonek wrote to him: “Our decision wasn’t about your performance, but after twenty years we wanted to take action on the City’s racial equity plan and give people an opportunity to compete for a leadership position.”
“Some folks have forgotten the history of this department,” City Attorney David Chiu says. “Before Director Arntz we had five directors in as many years, ballot boxes floating in the bay and an intense lack of confidence in city elections. Many of us are mystified.”
Just two years ago, the Elections Commission wrote Arntz a commendation “for his incredible leadership .”
The demise of our great American cities is an ongoing tragedy made worse by an epidemic of woke politics and policies.
5) Calvin Coolidge: “Taxes And Government Spending Take From Everyone”
This message warning of government excess from one of our greatest presidents is as pertinent today as it was 100 years ago. We encourage you to view this video and send it around to friends, family, and colleagues.
And for more information about Coolidge please visit the Coolidge Foundation website founded and maintained by our friends Amity Shlaes and John Childs.
