Trump said Lutnick will lead the “tariff and trade agenda,” an important role for president-elect, who has vowed to aggressively wield tariffs. Lutnick is a veteran of Wall Street and current CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services company.

“I am thrilled to announce that Howard Lutnick, Chairman & CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, will join my Administration as the United States Secretary of Commerce,” Trump said in a statement. “In his role as Co-Chair of the Trump-Vance Transition Team, Howard has created the most sophisticated process and system to assist us in creating the greatest Administration America has ever seen.”

Trump has argued that tariffs can be used to bring in major revenue for the U.S., pressure nations around the world to comply with U.S. economic demands, and improve the job market in the U.S.

Lutnick has publicly promoted tariffs in the media, explaining how they can be a tool in negotiations with other countries, many of whom currently tariff U.S. products, pointing out for instance that 100% tariffs in Europe and Japan prevent U.S. automakers from selling in other countries. Many economists question whether higher tariffs will drive elevated inflation in the U.S.

Trump is daily announcing new picks for his administration.

So far, Trump’s choices include:

• Howard Lutnick as Secretary of Commerce.
• Sean Duffy to lead the Department of Transportation.
• Chris Wright for Department of Energy Secretary.
• Brendan Carr to lead the Federal Communications Commission.
• North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior.
• William Owen Scharf as Assistant to the President and White House Staff Secretary.
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as head of U.S. Health and Human Services
• Former Congresswoman and veteran Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence.
• Former Congressman Doug Collins as Secretary of Veterans Affairs
• Jay Clayton as Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
• Former congressman Matt Gaetz for Attorney General.
• Veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense.
• Veteran and former New York congressman Lee Zeldin as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
• U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as Secretary of State.
• Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan as “border czar.”
• Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
• Former Congresswoman and current governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
• Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency.
• William Joseph McGinley as White House Counsel.
• Steven C. Witkoff as Special Envoy to the Middle East.
• Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla. as national security advisor.
• Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel.
• Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. as ambassador to the U.N.
• Dean John Sauer as Solicitor General.
• Todd Blanche as Deputy Attorney General.
• Emil Bove as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General.
• Dan Scavino of the Trump campaign as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff.
• Susie Wiles, co-chair of the Trump campaign, as White House Chief of Staff.
• Stephen Miller as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor.
• James Blair of the Trump campaign as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Political and Public Affairs.
• Taylor Budowich of the Trump campaign as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Personnel.

The libertarian Cato Institute released the report, which graded states by spending, revenue and taxes. The top ten states in the rankings starting at the top are Iowa, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Montana, Hawaii, Georgia, Idaho, and Vermont.

The bottom ten states, according to the analysis, are New Mexico, Missouri, Oregon, Michigan, Wisconsin, Delaware, Washington, Maine, New York and lastly, Minnesota.

The bottom six states received a grade of “F.”

Walz’ poor rating comes just weeks before the presidential election where he and his running mate Vice President Kamala Harris are in a nearly tied race with former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio.

The report explains the reasoning for Walz’ low score, pointing to a series of tax hikes under his leadership as well as spending increasing by 36% since 2022, from from about $52 billion to nearly $71 billion.

From the report:

In 2019, Walz’s budget would have added ‘$2 billion more in new spending and taxes would increase by $1.3 billion to pay for it, with the rest of the money coming from an existing surplus.’ But he compromised with the legislature, and the final tax increase was about $330 million annually. Walz also pushed for higher gas taxes and higher vehicle fees to raise about $1 billion annually for transportation, but those increases were rejected.

Walz pushed for more tax hikes in 2021. He proposed adding a new individual income tax rate of 10.85 percent above the current top rate of 9.85 percent, a surtax on capital gains and dividends, and a hike to the corporate tax rate from 9.8 percent to 11.25 percent. The proposals—which would have raised about $1.6 billion annually—were rejected by the legislature…

Walz hit the middle class with HF 2887, which raised taxes and fees on vehicles and transportation. The increases included indexing the gas tax for inflation, increasing vehicle registration taxes, raising fees on deliveries, and raising sales taxes in the Twin Cities area.

The National Federation of Independent businesses on Monday released the survey, which showed small business uncertainty rose last month to the highest level ever recorded by NFIB.

“Small business owners are feeling more uncertain than ever,” NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said in a statement.

Small businesses have been crushed by inflation in recent years, with prices rising more than 20% since President Joe Biden took office. Pandemic-era shutdowns and supply chain issues also put many businesses in debt or drained their savings.

Many larger businesses had more reserves or access to capital to help them survive COVID while smaller businesses went under.

“Twenty-three percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business (higher input and labor costs), down one point from August but remaining the top issue,” NFIB said.

Inflation has slowed from its feverish pace earlier in Biden’s term, but prices remain elevated.

“A net negative 17% of all owners (seasonally adjusted) reported higher nominal sales in the past three months, down one point from August and the lowest reading of this year,” NFIB said. “The net percent of owners expecting higher real sales volumes rose nine points to a net negative 9% (seasonally adjusted).”

Small business owners have also reported difficulty with the labor market.

“Uncertainty makes owners hesitant to invest in capital spending and inventory, especially as inflation and financing costs continue to put pressure on their bottom lines,” Dunkelberg continued. “Although some hope lies ahead in the holiday sales season, many Main Street owners are left questioning whether future business conditions will improve.”

The major radio company Audacy Inc. fell into financial straits, but through a complex business deal Democratic mega donor and billionaire George Soros has gained control of the stations. Deals of this size require FCC approval, but in this case the FCC expedited the approval process.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr raised concerns about the deal at a Congressional hearing, telling lawmakers that “… the FCC is not following its normal process for reviewing a transaction.”

“We have established over a number of years one way in which you can get approval from the FCC when you have an excess of 25 percent foreign ownership, which this transaction does,” Carr said. ““It seems to me that the FCC is poised to create, for the first time, an entirely new shortcut.”

House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. and Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., sent a letter to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel Friday raising concerns about the deal.

“Despite the unprecedented nature of this action, the FCC majority has apparently decided to approve licenses on an accelerated timeframe for a company in which George Soros has a major ownership stake, and with stations in 40 media markets reaching ‘more than 165 million Americans,’” the letter said. “By all appearances, the FCC majority isn’t just expediting, but is bypassing an established process to do a favor for George Soros and facilitate his influence over hundreds of radio stations before the November election.”

Critics of the deal say it gives too much power to a heavily political, and liberal, billionaire just before the election.

“I have no idea why Soros would do this unless it was to manipulate the thinking of Americans and the information they listen to,” author and former member of the George W. Bush administration Mike Gonzalez told The Center Square.

“Conservative talk radio is huge, and there is no left wing talk radio because it’s just not interesting,” said Gonzalez, who is now at the Heritage Foundation. “Conservative talk radio is one of the few communications that conservatives have not a monopoly on but have a strong handle on, and he has bought stations that have Mark Levin and Sean Hannity and Dana Loesch and Glenn Beck.”

Critics also point out that Soros’ business partners in the deal include significant funding from sources overseas.

“The Audacy, Inc. deal, which will lead to Audacy, Inc. being partially ‘directly or indirectly controlled’ by foreign individuals or entities holding ‘more than one-fourth of the capital stock’ will require FCC approval to determine whether ‘the public interest will be served by the refusal or revocation of such license,’” the letter said. “In carrying out this statutory mandate under the Communications Act, FCC has years-long established processes and procedures for adjudicating broadcast licenses in such situations, most recently updated in 2016.”

Other wealthy media owners have faced scrutiny for potential abuse of their ownership power, such as billionaire Jeff Bezos when he purchased the Washington Post. However, Soros’ influence over so many radio stations may have even more influence over the country than one of the major papers, which Americans usually see as having a certain political leaning.

Soros is one of the most strategic and prolific funders of liberal organizations in the U.S.

“I don’t know why else he would plunk a pile of money this size unless it was to try to have influence over the thinking of Americans,” Gonzalez continued, adding that “this guy is committed to left-wing causes.”

(Article cross-posted from The Center Square)

Gas prices have risen significantly in recent weeks, according to pricing data from AAA. Gas prices hit a record high earlier in the Biden administration, surpassing an average of $5 per gallon nationally, before dropping back down.

Now they are rising again, currently at $3.85 per gallon of regular gas, up from $3.82 a week ago and $3.57 a month ago. In the last month, diesel prices have risen from $3.86 per gallon to $4.13 per gallon.

Food prices have risen as well. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics last week released its Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index, two key markers of inflation that showed prices rose less than half a percentage point last month.

The CPI rose 3.2% in the last 12 months, and the PPI rose 0.8% over the same period, higher than expected. These rates have slowed from the rapid pace earlier in the Biden administration, but some food products have seen price increases that outpace the average inflationary rate.

Overall, grocery prices have risen much faster than the average rate of inflation for years.

The CPI for all urban consumers averages the cost increases for American cities, and many common household food items doubled or tripled the average CPI increase.

For instance, white bread rose 10.7% from July of 2022 to July of 2023.

• Cereal and bakery products rose 7%
• Cookies rose 7.9%
• Breakfast cereal rose 5.1%
• Rice rose 6.1%
• Frozen and refrigerated bakery products, pies, tarts, turnovers rose 8%
• Raw beef steaks rose 7.8%
• Raw roasts rose 6.3%
• Crackers, bread, and cracker products rose 8.2%
• Ice cream and related products rose 6.3%
• Frozen vegetables rose 17.1%
• Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials rose 5.4%
• Margarine rose 11.3%
• Salad dressing rose 9.2%
• Baby food and formula rose 5.9%

Some other products such as pork and chicken decreased in cost, 3.7% and 2.5% respectively in the same 12-month period.

Ryan Young, senior economist, Competitive Enterprise Institute, told The Center Square that some of the price hikes Americans are facing are related to money supply and spending problems while part of it also has to do with regulatory and supply chain issues.

“Inflation is cured by better money supply management,” he said. “The gas and food price hikes we’re seeing can be helped by expanding energy permitting and exploration, and by getting rid of protectionist agricultural policies and trade restrictions.”

Young also pointed to some hopeful indicators.

“Some context is also necessary,” he said. “Gas prices are going up. But they are also about 20 cents per gallon lower than they were this time last year. And the recent increases follow months of declines. As prices go up and down, and people tend to get angry at the ups while ignoring the downs, which colors the media coverage they get. And in last month’s CPI report, food prices went up slower than the overall inflation rate. Overall inflation as 0.2% during June, while food prices went up 0.1%.”

Republicans blasted the Biden administration after the latest pricing data was released, pointing to the soaring federal debt, and the money-printing that helps propel it.

“American families need relief from persistent and painful high prices,” Said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. “Joe Biden signed the Democrats’ reckless tax and spending spree into law one year ago. He claimed more spending would bring down prices. Once again, he was wrong. Prices are still going up. Americans are facing sky-high prices at the grocery store, at the gas pump, and while back-to-school shopping. They’re digging into their dwindling savings just to keep up.”

The Biden administration has pointed to relatively low unemployment and the progress made since the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., also took a shot at Biden after the data was released.

“This week, I have been traveling Florida to hear what issues families are facing, and in each big city or small town I stop in one thing keeps getting mentioned—inflation,” Scott said.

The small business network Alignable released new survey results that found that 35 percent of U.S. small business owners “could not pay their rent in full or on time in June.”

“Most small business owners attribute this worsening situation to record-breaking inflation, which includes escalating gas, labor, and supply costs,” Alignable said. “Simply put, there’s less money available to pay the rent.”

According to the survey, rent increased for 48 percent of small businesses this month. Meanwhile, rent delinquencies have continued to increase all year.

“This is the highest rate of U.S. rent delinquency among SMBs this year,” the group said.

Another key factor hurting small businesses are gas prices, which hit record highs last month, averaging more than $5 per gallon for regular gas, before dipping down slightly. Diesel gas prices also hit record highs in June.

“Even more alarming, 63 percent of transportation SMBs couldn’t afford June rent, up 41 percent from May,” Alignable said. “It’s no shock to learn that 76 percent of this group said gas prices have had a ‘very significant’ negative effect on their businesses.”

Illinois and Texas lead the nation in rent delinquencies.

“States with the highest rent delinquency rates include: Illinois (44 percent), Texas (44 percent), [and] New Jersey (39 percent),” Alignable said. “While they’re still high, rates dropped in Massachusetts, New York, Florida, and California.”

The report comes as other survey data show that soaring inflation is a top concern for small businesses.

As The Center Square previously reported, the survey found 51 percent of small businesses fear that rising prices could “force them to close their businesses within the next six months.” In particular, restaurant owners are concerned with 72 percent saying they are worried.

That concern is not new. An April poll from NEXT Insurance reported that many small businesses have considering shutting down because of inflation.

“According to a new survey by NEXT Insurance, small business owners across the United States are frustrated and stressed about inflation and the state of the economy,” the group said. “More than one-third have considered shutting down in the last 12 months. As prices continue to rise and supply chains continue to falter, many small business owners have been forced to work longer hours, raise prices, and even cut their own salaries just to stay afloat, our survey found. And a majority of small business owners believe the pain isn’t over.”

Image by muntazar mansory from Pixabay. Article cross-posted from The Center Square.