Morning Wire - Inflation Jumps Again & NM Gun Hearing | 9.14.23

Episode Date: September 14, 2023

After months of remaining steady inflation jumps, a federal judge freezes the New Mexico Governor’s executive order suspending the 2nd amendment amid backlash, and one of the highest paid coaches in all of college football is suspended for alleged sexual harassment. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. Balance of Nature: Start your journey to better health! For a limited time, get 35% off your first order as a preferred customer. Use promo code WIRE at checkout: https://www.balanceofnature.com/ Birch Gold: Text "WIRE" to 989898 for your no-cost, no-obligation information kit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a month's long slowdown, inflation has again leapt upwards. Meanwhile, a new report shows household income fell for the third consecutive year. What's behind the latest spike and how is it affecting regular Americans? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, September 14th, and this is Morning Wire. Amid massive backlash, including calls for impeachment, a federal judge freezes the New Mexico governor's executive order suspending citizens' right to bear arms. The Supreme Court has made clear that the violation of a constitutional right,

even for minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes a reputable injury. And one of the highest paid coaches in all of college football has been suspended over allegations of sexual harassment. It could be a monumental fall for somebody who had breached the operationalon of college sports coaches. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. you need to know. After months of cooling, America's inflation rate jumped up last month,

driven by skyrocketing gas prices. The news comes as a separate report shows that household income fell in 2022 for the third straight year. Here with more on what's behind the latest surge and what it means for the average family is Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips. So Cabot, tell us about this latest inflation report. Well, on Wednesday, the Labor Department released their highly anticipated inflation report, and it showed that in August, the all-important, consumer price index, which tracks the basic costs of goods and services throughout the country rose 0.6% last month to 3.7%. Now, while that may not sound like much of a jump, it's actually the largest single month increase since inflation peaked back in June of 2022. So heading in the

wrong direction again? Exactly. And look, not to be a dead horse, but it is always important to remember when discussing inflation, that 3.7% inflation rate means there was a 3.7% increase this August compared to last. But remember, we were sitting at 8.3% 12 months ago. So it's essentially building on top of itself. So while rates may not be rising in the double digits anymore, the reality now is that inflation has ingrained itself in our economy, meaning basic goods are considerably higher than they were two years ago, which again drives purchasing power down. It is a new and very unwelcome normal. Now, what are the main reasons for this most recent increase? So a number of goods and services went up in August, notably airfare, which jumped five

percent month to month. Car insurance was also up 2.5 percent, and car maintenance costs ticked up another percent. But the main factor by far was gasoline, which jumped nearly 11 percent in August. That's the single largest increase in 14 months. For context, a gallon of gas is now 384 nationwide. That's 50 percent higher than gas prices in January of 2021. Those prices have been driven up by a variety of factors, including record global demand in the month of August, refinery disruptions caused by hurricanes and decreased oil production in Saudi Arabia. And there's also the fact that the Biden administration is no longer able to tap into the nation's emergency oil reserve, which had been used in the last few years to increase supply and lower prices at the pump. Our emergency reserves are now at their

lowest levels since the 80s, so there's simply not much left to pull from. Now, this latest inflation news comes just a day after another concerning report. That one was regarding household income. Tell us about that. Yeah, this one went under the radar, but very concerning to say the least. So on Tuesday, the Census Bureau released new data showing that when adjusted for inflation, median household income in America fell 2.3% last year. That is the largest annual drop in over a decade and now the third straight year of decline. Back in 2019, household income hit a record high of $78,250. Last year, it fell to $74,580.

And when you look closer, the numbers get even worse. When taxes are taken into account, real median income levels fell 8.8% to 64. thousand. And there's even more concerning data with regard to poverty rates. Last year, the after-tax poverty rate jumped 59% compared to the year before. It's now at 12.4% after sitting around 7% in 2021. So very concerning numbers there. What's to blame? So first and foremost, throughout the last two years, while wages have gone up, they simply have not kept pace with inflation, meaning a $70,000 salary is not what it used to be. We've also seen a number of Trump-era tax cuts expire in the last year or so, as well as the expiration of COVID-era stimulus payments and other federal benefits that were not available in 2022.

So bottom line, inflation may have cooled a bit in the last few months, but its impacts are still being felt across the country as Americans are earning less and paying more. Well, it can't help but think that this is sort of the other shoe dropping for all that COVID spending. Seems that way. Cabot, thanks for reporting. Anytime. A federal judge has frozen the controversial gun order New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued last week. opponents of the order have brought multiple legal challenges against the September 8th order, saying the temporary ban on open and concealed carry violates the Second Amendment.

Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about the Lujan Grisham legal troubles and the backlash against the governor that's still growing. Tim, first off, what happened in court on Wednesday? The governor lost, at least for now. U.S. District Judge David Urius, appointed by President Biden in 2021, sided with the plaintiffs and froze the governor. gun order. He found reason to believe that the defendants faced potentially irreparable harm because of the governor's order. Here's what he said. After reviewing the motions before the court, the arguments made

by the parties at this hearing, the public health order signed by the Secretary of New Mexico Department of Health, the executive order 23-130, and the applicable law regarding restrictions on the public carrying of firearms, the court will grant the plaintiff's motion for a temporary restraining order. Urius interviewed the two sides for about an hour before making his decision. The judge seemed to lean toward the plaintiffs and told the government that it had a hard road to prove their case. Here's a bit from the hearing. The status quo is more guns, not less, right? That's the argument that I keep hearing from the folks on my left.

More guns, not less. And at this point... And I don't hear that from them. Sure. What I hear from them is they just want the right to carry their guns. They don't want necessarily more guns on the street. they just want the right to carry the guns. Where are you getting this idea that they want more guns?

This is just the latest blow against Lujan Grisham since she signed the order last week. On Tuesday, New Mexico's Attorney General, a fellow elected Democrat and a Lujan Grisham ally, broke from her on the gun order and said his office would not defend it in court. Now, why did the state attorney general break with the governor? He believes she's overreached.

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres wrote the governor a letter on Tuesday laying out his case. He said he recognizes that his statutory obligation is to defend the government in legal cases against the state, but, quote, my duty to uphold and defend the constitutional rights of every citizen takes precedence. Torres said he believes the governor's order neither protects the public nor passes constitutional muster. Now, where did law enforcement stand on this? Was it actually being enforced? No. A pretty remarkable thing has happened in New Mexico. Over the past few days, every level of law enforcement refused to work with the governor on this.

Albuquerque's local police wouldn't enforce it. The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office refused to enforce it. The Attorney General's office won't prosecute it or defend it in court. Even the state police, the same state police, by the way, that were the lone enforcers in some instances of the governor's shutdown orders during the pandemic. They haven't ticketed a single person over this despite the clear violations that took place in Albuquerque this week. It's been a total rejection of the governor by law enforcement and by many other public officials. Here's what Lujan Grisham told CNN about the situation on Tuesday. My question to law enforcement is, where are you? Where are you?

In that young 11-year-old, Croylan Villegas, 17 rounds were fired into that gun. 35,000 rounds are fired at least annually in Albuquerque alone. You are not safe going to work, getting your prescription drugs, or going to a public park. The governor is alone on this. and Republicans are trying to use it to remove her from office through impeachment. It's hard to see how a legislature dominated roughly two to one by Democrats would oust a Democratic governor, but the clear lack of support for Lujan Grisham's order has to make the governor a little nervous. Right. It sounds like all the momentum is against her right now.

Tim, thanks for reporting. Great to be on. Michigan State University has suspended head football coach Mel Tucker without pay while it investigates allegations of sexual harassment. The case has shaken up the color. football world. Here to tell us more, sports writer David Cohn, co-host of the Craning Company podcast. So Dave, the story seemed to come out of nowhere this weekend. First, can you walk us through the timeline of these events? Sure. So the origins of this story date back two years when Michigan

State head coach Mel Tucker teamed up with Brenda Tracy, a rape survivor who has made educating athletes about sexual violence, her life's work for over a decade now. Coach Tucker invited Tracy to campus three different times. That was twice to speak with his team about sexual assault and once actually to be an honorary captain during Michigan State Spring football game, and that was in 2022. Then in December of that same year, Tracy filed a complaint with Michigan State's Title IX office claiming Mel Tucker made sexual comments and masturbated during a phone call. Now, Tucker, who is married with children, was interviewed by an attorney in March and admitted to those sexual acts while on the phone with Tracy, but claimed it was consensual. Tracy denies that last point.

The investigation conducted by an outside third party was concluded in July with a recommendation for a formal hearing, which has been scheduled for October 5th and 6, and that's Michigan State's by week in football. Now, Michigan State, AD, Alan Haller, suspended Coach Tucker without pay until this hearing is complete. So the university has known about this matter for, for nine months and has known about the investigators' recommendations for a couple of months, but waited until after football season started to suspend Tucker. What's the reasoning there? That is the question everyone wants to know.

There seems to be a lack of communication all the way up the ranks. And this is particularly troubling for a university that is still dealing with the aftermath of Larry Nassar, the gymnastics team doctor, who was convicted of sexually assaulting at least 265 young women when he was involved with that university. Right. Now, how has Tucker responded to these allegations? Coach Tucker is saying that Tracy's twisting the facts. Her phone bills indicate that she spoke with Mel Tucker at least 27 times over the course of a year, an average of once every two weeks for about a half hour. Tucker has not argued this point, but did tell investigators on March 22nd that, and I'm quoting here, Ms. Tracy's distortion of our mutually consensual and intimate relationship

into allegations of sexual exploitation has really affected me. I'm not proud of my judgment, and I am having difficulty for giving myself for getting into this situation, but I did not engage in misconduct by any definition, unquote. All right, so dozens of lengthy calls between the two of them, and he's saying this is consensual. Correct. Now, Tucker has a really lucrative contract, right? That's right. He signed one of the highest paying coaching contracts in the country back in November of

That deal was 10 years for a fully guaranteed $95 million. That money can be voided, however, via a moral turpitude clause, which allows Michigan State to fire Tucker if he engages in immoral or deviant behavior or conduct that embarrasses the university. Now, as for the team, Michigan State, what's their interim solution while he's suspended? They've named secondary coach Harlan Barnett as the interim head coach for now. He's been on staff for the past four seasons, so there won't be any lack of familiarity. It's also been announced that former Spartan head coach Mark Dantonio will assist in an undefined role. On a purely sports level, Michigan State is heading into the weekend facing a major opponent in the eighth ranked Washington Huskies at home in East Lansing this Saturday. So it'll be interesting to see how the community responds amid all this turmoil.

Yeah, we'll be. Dave, thanks for joining us. Thank you for having me. That was Crane & Company co-host, David Cohn. Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, please consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating,

and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.