Morning Wire - Inflation Hits Thanksgiving & Leadership Battle in Congress | 11.19.22

Episode Date: November 19, 2022

The annual Thanksgiving feast is getting more expensive, Nancy Pelosi steps down as speaker, and Tennessee moves to criminalize the inclusion of children in drag queen shows. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Black Rifle Coffee Get 10% off your first order or Coffee Club subscription with code WIRE: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Epic Will Use Promo Code 'WIRE' for 10% off your Will: https://www.epicwill.com/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You might want to skip the home-cooked Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing this year. I don't. Inflation is making dining out a cheaper option for the holiday feast. We have the numbers. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire, Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's November 19th, and this is your Saturday edition of Morning Wire. Control of Congress is settled, but the fight over leadership of both parties is just beginning. For me, the hours come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so do.

deeply respect. And one state is cracking down on so-called child-friendly drag shows, but activists say this is an attack on free expression. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Do you have a coffee lover on your holiday shopping list?

Well, Black Rifle has all the best brewing gear, thermoses, mugs, and apparel designed for folks who love country and coffee. Right now, you can go to Black Riflecoffee.com and use promo code Wire for 10% off coffee merchandise, apparel, or when you sign up for a coffee club subscription. Imagine the joy of a pre-scheduled coffee delivery,

your favorite roast at your door when you need them. It's a gift that keeps on giving. Go to black rifle coffee.com with promo code wire for 10% off, Black Rifle Coffee supporting veterans and America's coffee. Dining out, while usually more expensive than eating at home, may be cheaper this Thanksgiving due to sky-high inflation at the grocery store. While prices everywhere have increased, the cost of food at restaurants hasn't risen as much as at grocery stores,

that's according to a report from analysts at Wells Fargo. Here to discuss the holiday situation is Daily Wire Senior Editor Ash Short. So, Ash, how bad does it look for families this year? It's definitely not good. The Wells Fargo report said that the cost of food for restaurants and other vendors rose 5.8% between November 2021 and August 2022. But during that same time, the food at grocery stores rose nearly 10% And items necessary for Thanksgiving dinner like fruits and vegetables, eggs and flour, all rose nearly 15%.

So why is there such a significant discrepancy between restaurants and grocery stores? Because restaurants factor in overhead and labor costs into their menu prices. So the price of food is just a small percentage of total costs, whereas grocery store prices are tied more directly to commodity prices. So if the supply is limited, the price goes up because companies need to make a profit. Now, you'd think the same would apply to restaurants, but since they buy their ingredients in bulk, they usually get better deals and don't have to increase prices as much or as quickly. Now, how much could a family save by dining out for Thanksgiving instead of cooking at home? The analysis didn't include a hard number, but at worst, dining out would cost about the same as cooking at home,

minus all the time it takes to prepare the meal. The price of nearly every aspect of a Thanksgiving dinner has increased dramatic. with turkey expected to cost 23% more than it did last year. There was also a crop shortage, which drove up the cost of potatoes, onions, celery, and carrots, and cranberry sauce has also become more expensive. Now, I've heard some stores are trying to help consumers manage these costs. Can you tell us about some of the stores that are doing that? So Walmart said it would keep prices of ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes, pumpkin pie, and mac and cheese at last year's prices, while selling whole turkeys for about half the national

average. Aldi, a low-price grocery chain, also said it would keep prices of particular holiday foods at 2019 costs. Now, a food isn't the only thing that's eating up our paychecks, sorry about the pun, what other price increases are people facing this holiday season? Inflation continues to hurt most sectors of the economy. In October, the Consumer Price Index rose 0.4%. But that still means the annual increase was just under 8%. Gasoline prices are still high, though lower than they were several months ago, and the Federal Reserve increased interest rates for the fourth consecutive time, making it even more difficult for people to buy a home. So it sounds like we're in for a very expensive holiday season. Ash, thanks for keeping us informed.

You're welcome. That's Daily Wire senior editor, Ash Short. Coming up, the congressional leadership battle heats up. Your children look to you to define their values and perspectives on the world. But what if you weren't here to do that for them? In the event that you die, who will ensure the values you hold deer are upheld by your kids? Epicwill can help with that. A will lets you determine who will raise your kids in the event you die before you're done raising them. It's your responsibility as a parent, and it's why we here at the Daily Wire have partnered with Epicwill.

Take five minutes today. Go to Epicwill.com and use promo code wire to save 10% on Epicwill's complete will package. That's epicwill.com and use promo code wire. After two decades as the leader of the House Democrats, Nancy Pelosi announced that she's stepping down from party leadership after the 2022 elections. The GOP has also begun voting on their leadership choices in the House and Senate. Joining us with the details is DailyWire's Michael Whitaker.

All right, Michael, let's start first with the Democrats. What brought about Pelosi's decision first to leave a speaker? Well, John, there are a number of factors, but the simplest one might be age. Nancy Pelosi is 82 years old, which is elderly, even by congressional standards. She's headed the Democratic Caucus since 2003, and has been serving in Congress since 1987. Pelosi says that the recent attack on our husband, Paul Pelosi, at their San Francisco home, also affected into her decision. Losing the House majority, it might have just been the nail in the coffin.

Pelosi announced even before the midterms that she was considering stepping down. She's been center stage in negative political ads and is viewed unfavorably by most voters. She was the second most-mentioned Democrat behind Biden in Republicans' attack ads. Her stepping down now could signal a strategic realignment for the party. Political reported that after Democrats had a stronger showing than expected, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Biden both called for Pelosi to stay on, but Pelosi ultimately decided against it. During a farewell speech, Pelosi highlighted how much more diverse the Democratic caucus has become

in the years since she was first elected. When I came to the Congress in 1987, there were 12 Democratic women. Now they're over 90, and we want more. The new members of our Democratic caucus will be about 75% women, people of color, and LGBTQ. It's important to note that Pelosi will be stepping down from leadership, not Congress. So she'll still be in the House for another two years or so. Right. So the big question, of course, who will replace her as leader of the House Democrats and as Speaker?

Right. Let's start with Democrats. Her number two and number three, Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn have both signaled that they are not interested in taking the top job. Hoyer is also stepping down from leadership in time. Adam Schiff of California had reportedly been considering it, but he's supposedly given that up and is instead eyeing a run for the Senate, should Diane Feinstein step down in 2024. Hakeem Jeffries of New York seems to have the support of outgoing leadership,

but he hasn't always got on more of the party's leftmost flank. AOC reportedly made moves to have him primary as recently as 2020, so I'd expect some backstage maneuvering there. All right, then what about the Republican leadership battle? What's the situation there? There's been dissent within the GOP ranks of both houses in Congress. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell fended off a challenge from Rick Scott

of a comfortable 37 to 10 margin, but he hasn't faced a leadership challenge since he took over in 2006, so the attempt is still worth taking note of. In the House, Kevin McCarthy is facing a mutiny that could prove more consequential. On Tuesday, he easily defeated Texas rep Andy Biggs, 188 to 31,

but Republicans are set for a very slim majority in the House, and McCarthy needs 218 votes to become Speaker. Even a few defections could prove disastrous to that. Some Republicans have reportedly courted moderate Democrats, like Texas as Henry Quay are to switch parties and back McCarthy, although those efforts have proven unsuccessful. I'd expect a lot of tense negotiations

with the more conservative Freedom Caucus in the upcoming weeks. Yeah, it sounds like a lot of turmoil at the top. Of good reason. Thanks for having me, John. Thanks, Michael. That was Daily Wire's Michael Whitaker. Republicans in Tennessee are wasting no time after the midterms and have already introduced legislation cracking down on sexualized drag events that include children.

Here to walk us through the bill is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo. So Amanda, what is in this bill and why is it making headlines? Hi, John. SB3 was introduced by Tennessee's Republican Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson on November 9th, just one day after midterms. It would make an offense for, quote, cabaret performers to hold shows on public property or in any location where it could be viewed by minors. Notably, the bill's language defines these performers to include topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, and here's where we get to drag performers. quote, male or female impersonators who provide entertainment that appeals to a prurient interest, otherwise sexual. Effectively, the bill seeks to keep sexual performances away from kids, sort of like how strip clubs have age restrictions.

And to be clear, this bill doesn't ban all performances where a man pretends to be a woman or vice versa. The performance itself has to be sexual in nature. We actually got a Mrs. Doubtfire reference from Senator Johnson when he explained the scope of the bill. Well, I don't want to ban a theater company from doing a production of Mrs. Doubtfire in a public park. We don't have an issue with that. We do have an issue with men dressed as women, simulating sex acts and public parks in front of kids. All right. So an emphasis on the sexualized nature of these performances.

Now, did they specify any punishments for giving a sexual performance in view of children? Yeah, for sure. Any performer who violates the potential law would be facing a Class A misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of about a year in prison and a 2,500. fine. Repeat offenders, though, they'd be facing a classy felony punishable by up to six years behind bars and a $3,000 fine. All right, so some steep punishments there. Now, this bill has unsurprisingly drawn some criticism. What are critics saying about it? Critics are claiming the bill potentially infringes on the first amount of rights of these drag, quote, artists. We can also probably anticipate some disagreement about whether specific performances qualify as sexual.

Critics also say the bill specifically targets the LGBT community. For example, human rights campaign legal director Sarah Warbello called the bill misleading and said it amounts to intimidation of LGBTQ plus people and that it, quote, perpetuates false offensive narratives. Warbello differentiated between drag shows at bars for adults and drag queen's story hours at libraries, where drag queens read books to children, seemingly claiming sexualized drag events already bar children. Drag Queen's story, our events have been increasingly promoted to kids in recent years. They don't necessarily involve direct discussion of sexuality, but they are geared toward fostering discussions about gender identity. Reading the language of the bill, it seems these events would be judged on a case-by-case basis to determine if they're sexualized and therefore in violation.

So that's the criticism. What are supporters saying? Supporters basically agree that these drag shows are inherently sexual and therefore not family-friendly. and they just don't want it in spaces with children. To Warbello's comments, the measure does seem to be a direct backlash to the growing effort by activists to familiarize children with LGBT culture and gender nonconformity and some of the shocking footage that's gone viral from such events. We reached out to Senator Johnson about some of the criticism, and he told us that the bill is about protecting children and called exposure to sexually suggestive drag shows, quote, dangerous. Johnson added that early exposure to sexually explicit content can have harmful effects on children's developing brains,

and he's trying to prevent that with this bill. All right, so final question here. Is the bill expected to pass? Yeah, almost certainly. Since Republicans hold supermajorities in both legislative chambers, and then it's expected to be signed by Republican Governor Bill Lee. The next legislative session begins on January 23rd, so we could see movement on this very soon.

Well, we'll be watching this one closely along with the state's bill banning transgender medical treatment performed on children. Amanda, thanks for reporting. That was Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo. Other stories were tracking this week. According to authorities, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent and suspected smuggler died during a shootout Thursday off the Puerto Rico coast. The incident happened in a major drug smuggling corridor for cocaine known as the Mona Passage.

A ballot measure that would have required Arizona mail-in voters to add more information to their ballot envelopes has failed. Proposition 309 would have also required in-person voters to show federally issued photo ID when voting in person. Actress Denise Richards was involved in a road rage shootout incident in downtown L.A. on Monday. Richards was uninjured in the incident, but bullets hit her car and she appeared shaken to onlookers.

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