Chet Collins

A Recession by Any Other Name - WSJ Opinion

The president’s economic team should think twice before discounting the risk of a recession. After all, they stumbled into the current inflationary crisis after a year of trying to manipulate the language: Inflation was “transitory” and therefore of little concern until it eventually topped an annualized 9%. Let’s not stumble into a recession because the White House has political priorities that conflict with economic reality.

Let’s all have a good night. It’ll be a long news cycle tomorrow.

Senate Bill Takes Aim at Visa, Mastercard Credit-Card Fees - WSJ

Mr. Durbin spearheaded a similar rule for debit cards over a decade ago. The Durbin amendment, part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, requires that merchants have the ability to choose from at least two unaffiliated debit-card networks when routing transactions.

And it worked great for debit card users! All debit card rewards, points, and cash back programs were cancelled.

All this time since “tabs everywhere!” and Microsoft Office for Mac still doesn’t support tabs.

The worst!

Democrats Campaign for the Trump Guy - WSJ Opinion

One of the strangest themes of the 2022 elections is that Democrats say President Trump is a grave threat to democracy, even as they’re also trying to help Mr. Trump’s acolytes win Republican primaries.

This is a perverse, cynical, and disgusting strategy. The two-party system should filter out the extremes and put the two strongest candidates on the ballot.

We all lose when weak candidates make it to the final round… double if they win.

Joe Biden Signs ‘Don’t Say Recession’ Bill - Babylon Bee

According to sources, those who break the law and use the word “recession” will face up to 10 years in prison, which after inflation, amounts to 17 years.

Student Loan Servicers Told to Hold Off on Sending Billing Statements - WSJ

“The situation is that we’re almost 30 days away from the planned resumption and the department has been telling servicers to hold off on resumption communications for the last few months,” said Mr. Buchanan, the executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance. “Maybe the department expects that the White House will yet again kick the can down the road.”

Insightful.

‘Full Frontal with Samantha Bee’ Is Canceled After Seven Seasons - WSJ

The decision to pull the plug on “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” a critically acclaimed weekly political humor show that had been running for seven seasons, is part of a broader overhaul of the Warner Bros. Discovery cable networks, which include TBS and TNT.

I join my fellow Americans in expressing shock that this TV show still existed.

I had no idea, let alone the fact that it has aired every year since 2015.

How Do Economists Determine Whether the Economy Is in a Recession? - The White House

What is a recession? While some maintain that two consecutive quarters of falling real GDP constitute a recession, that is neither the official definition nor the way economists evaluate the state of the business cycle.

Translation: they’ve seen Q2 GDP number, it’s negative, and we’re in a recession.

In Maryland, Democrats Traduce Democracy - WSJ Opinion

The Democrats’ hypocrisy will continue to erode what remaining trust the public has in our political processes. The DGA presents itself as leading “the fight to defend our democracy” as it spends tens of millions of dollars promoting candidates it claims are an active threat to our republic. No wonder so many Americans tune out warnings of our supposedly imperiled democracy when the very people who issue them are willing to fan the flames as soon as it’s politically convenient. By giving fringe candidates legitimacy, Democrats provide them with significant platforms from which to spread conspiracy theories and lies. Nothing good can come from bringing these ideas into the mainstream. Many of the same people who warn about misinformation on social media seem to have no problem amplifying it through paid political ads that suit their short-term partisan ends.