Morning Wire - Musk’s First Day at Twitter & PA Gubernatorial Race | 10.28.22

Episode Date: October 28, 2022

Musk starts his first day at Twitter with moxie, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals shoots down a powerful government agency’s funding arrangement, and the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race tightens as midterms inch closer. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elon Musk made a dramatic entrance on his first day at Twitter on Wednesday, hinting that a major overhaul of the company is coming soon. What do we know about Musk's first orders of business as Chief Twit? And how are Twitter employees responding? I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, October 28th, and this is Morning Wire. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals shoots down a powerful government agency's funding arrangement. I mean, it is an unconstitutional structure.

It is truly unique. What could this mean for not just the progressive pushed agency, but other government groups as well? And the race for Pennsylvania's governorship is tightening. We look at the candidates, their platforms, and the controversies on each side. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. What are some of the things that keep getting better as you use them? A leather jacket, a cast iron skillet?

What if I told you that your bed sheets could be on that list? Bull and branch sheets aren't just soft, breathable, and incredibly comfortable. They'll actually get softer with every wash. And I can speak to this personally because I have a set of Bullen Branch sheet as well as a comforter. And man, they are phenomenal. Get 15% off your first set of sheets and free shipping when you use promo code wire at Bollandbranch.com. That's Bullen Branch, B-O-L-L-A-N-D-B-D-B-O-N-D-B-Ranch.com promo code wire. After months of legal wrangling, Elon Musk has finalized his purchase of Twitter,

for his original offer of $44 billion. The Tesla CEO lost no time making clear that there's a new sheriff in town. On Wednesday, he changed his Twitter bio to read Chief Twit. He also posted a video of himself carrying a sink into Twitter headquarters, which many took as a reference to kitchen sinking. In the business world, the term means radical changes are coming. Daily Wire Culture Reporter, Megan Basham, joins us now to tell us what the world can expect from Twitter in the Musk era.

So, Megan, this has been a winding. road, but Elon is finally taking over at Twitter. I think the first thing everyone is wondering is what kind of changes is Elon going to make? Yes, and I will say that as an avid Twitter user myself, I have been keeping close tabs on that. And the first change is a major shakeup at the top. Now, there are conflicting reports about whether Musk fired several key executives or they simply resigned. But what we do know is that CEO Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Ombudsman, Officer Ned Siegel, head of policy Vigiegade, and General Counsel Sean Edgit are all out. And it's important to note that these were the people who decided to kick former President Donald

Trump off the platform. And that's something Musk has called a mistake. Now, in terms of how the platform itself will change, I'd say there are really two big areas. One is monetization. Twitter is currently not profitable, and it really hasn't been for years. And second, and loosening ideological censorship. We all remember, of course, that what seemed to initiate this entire roller coaster was Twitter banning the Babylon B.

That's a conservative satire site that Musk is a big fan of. And then, at several points while the deal was pending, he talked about the importance of free speech and made it clear that he disagreed with some of Twitter's censorship decisions. This was Musk addressing the issue back in May

shortly after his initial offer to buy Twitter. I don't think people that they're necessarily intent or at least perhaps some of them don't intend to have a left bias. They're just, from their perspective, it seems moderate, but they're just coming out of

from an environment that is very far left. So this fails to build trust in the rest of the United States and also in perhaps in other parts of the world. So Musk stuck with that theme this week as he officially took the reins. On Wednesday, he tweeted,

a beautiful thing about Twitter is how it empowers citizen journalism. People are able to disseminate news without an establishment bias. And then in another post, he criticized traditional news media, saying that it fuels and caters to polarized extremes on both the left and the right. Now, I know there's been some concern from investors that if Musk scales back content moderation too much, then offensive material might flood everywhere on the platform, and that's going to scare off advertisers.

Is there any merit to that? Yeah, there is. That is definitely a concern, and Musk already seems to be trying to assuage those fears. On Thursday, he posted an open letter to advertisers, and in it he affirmed his commitment to open dialogue. He said that the reason he acquired Twitter is because it's important to the future of civilization

to have a common digital square where a wide range of beliefs can be debated. But he tempered that by assuring companies that doesn't mean the platform is going to become a free, for all hellscape. Those are his words, where anything can be said with no consequences. And he added that Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world and that it's going to allow companies to strengthen their brands and grow their enterprises. Now, what about monetization for users? Is Twitter going to be following that trend? Yeah, it definitely looks like it. To give you one

example, when conservative rapper Zubi tweeted that Twitter should find a way for top creators to make money off their accounts, as you tend to see on Instagram and TikTok, Musk replied absolutely. And then a huge change that happened this week, but that Musk has actually been hinting at for a while, Twitter finally added an edit button for premium subscribers. So now to the elephant in the room, how are Twitter employees responding to their new boss? Well, I think you have to say that they don't seem very excited about the change in leadership. So the Washington Post reported last. week that Musk was planning to lay off 75% of Twitter's workforce. Now, he denied that,

but a group of Twitter employees published an open letter that, you have to say, was fairly aggressive in tone. It accused Musk of trying to intimidate workers and demanding he drop any threats of layoffs. They also demanded, and I want to be clear, that was their word, we demand, that they be able to continue working remotely. And they demanded that Musk not discriminate against them on the basis of political beliefs. Now, Twitter has faced serious financial difficulties in the past, but the office is famous for offering some pretty posh perks, including pet insurance, free chef-prepared lunches and dinners, a bar with alcohol on tap, and five months of paid maternity and paternity leave. So this is despite the fact that the company has rarely

turned a profit. So good chance that some of those things are going to fall by the wayside. Right. Well, Megan, thanks so much for reporting. That was Daily Wire Culture reporter, Megan Basham. Coming up, the funding scheme for a progressive-backed federal bureau is ruled unconstitutional. The American economy is still feeling the traumatic effects of a two-year pandemic and lockdown-induced recession. Polls show that 94% of Americans are upset or concerned about the impact of rising prices. 95% believe the soaring inflation is very serious or somewhat serious. The bottom line is that impending recession has Americans worried,

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A recent ruling in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a powerful Obama-era agency that was championed by progressive lawmakers as a means of protecting consumers is unconstitutional. The decision is facing criticism from proponents of the agency such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, who created the group. After the ruling, she tweeted that it was lawless and reckless calling the judge's extreme and right wing.

Here to discuss is DeLewire's Charlotte Pence-Bahn. So, Charlotte, what did the court take issue with here? Well, essentially the very existence of the Bureau, at least in how it's funded. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB was, as you mentioned, created in 2010 by Elizabeth Warren before she was a senator. It was passed as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, and it gets its funding from the Federal Reserve, not from bills passed by Congress. It was essentially formed after the financial crisis, and it's supposed to safeguard Americans for being mistreated by financial companies. Originally, the president also couldn't get rid of the head of the CFPB, even though it's a government agent's but the Supreme Court ruled against that in 2020.

A payday lending group brought this case to the court. Three judges on the panel sided with them regarding a 2017 regulation, but they made a more significant decision too. They said that the way the CFPB is funded violates the Constitution. The judges wrote, quote, Congress's decision to abdicate its appropriations power under the Constitution, i.e. to cede its power of purse to the Bureau, violates the Constitution's structural separation of powers.

So this Bureau did not have proper accountability to Congress in terms of financially. Right. Now, some listeners might have some degree of knowledge about the CFPB, but can you remind us what exactly the agency does? Yes, it describes itself as designed to, quoting here, protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices, and take action against companies that break the law. So a pretty sweeping and open-ended mandate there. I spoke to Giancarlo Canaparo, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage. Foundation about the CFPB. And he explained it this way. It was given broad regulatory and enforcement

power over not only the financial industry, but industries touching on the financial industry, payments, credit cards, and a lot of other things that are related to what's broadly referred to as consumer protection issues. And how it's financially structured is the main thing at issue here in this ruling. Canaparo pointed out that it gets its money directly from the Federal Reserve, and the Fed has to give it up to 12% of the Fed's entire operating budget. So Congress and taxpayers have no say in how much it actually gets, only the upward cap. And how is the CFPB responding to this ruling? Unsurprisingly, it's defending itself. It said in a statement that there is nothing novel or unusual about Congress's decision to fund the CFPB outside of annual spending

bills. But Kanaparo says that misses the entire point. If there are other agencies, as the CFPB director contends, that have this same funding mechanism or something substantially similar, the answer is not that that renders the CFPB's action of the CFPB's structure constitutionally. It throws doubt on whether there's other agencies funding structure is constitutional. Conabro says he thinks the CFPB pretty much has to appeal the ruling, but that could go badly for them if it goes to the Supreme Court. In the other case, they went before the High Court, five justices also had their doubts about how it was funded. So it sounds like this could have a lot

of implications moving forward. Charlotte, thanks for reporting. Thanks for having me. That was Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond. The state of Pennsylvania is ground zero for the midterm elections. The Senate race is at the forefront of the national news, but the gubernatorial contest could be just as important. Joining us to discuss the unexpectedly heated race for governor of Pennsylvania is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce. So Tim, first off, tell us about the different candidates. Sure. Pennsylvania's governor's seat is open as the current governor, Democrat Tom Wolfe, his term limited out. State Attorney General Josh Shapiro is the Democratic nominee to replace him. Shapiro ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, but that wasn't the case on the Republican side.

State Senator Doug Mastriano won the GOP primary against former Congressman Lou Barletta and a crowd of other candidates by more than 20%. Mastriano inter politics three years ago with a seat in the Pennsylvania legislature. He spent most of the past four decades in the U.S. Army, where he reached the rank of colonel. Okay, so those are the candidates. How's the race shaping up right now? A lot of grassroots conservatives are backing Mastriano. Establishment Republicans have been more hesitant because Mastriano was at the U.S. Capitol

during the January 6th riots. And the Republican Governor's Association hasn't supported Mastriano financially. On the other hand, Shapiro is the best-funded gubernatorial candidate in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania history. He spent over $40 million so far and has $11 million in the bank. In comparison, Masteriano has spent just $3 million and has $2.6 million left. So a huge financial edge for Shapiro. Right. And it appears to be paying off. Rasmussen has Shapiro up three and insider advantage has him up seven. That said, like a lot of Republicans over the past few weeks, Masteriano is gaining ground. A recent survey from the market research company Wick found that Shapiro's

lead had shrunk to just two points, well within the margin of error. Interesting. So what are the campaign platforms on each side? Mastriano is not shy about his social conservatism. One of his campaign ads is a three-minute dive into Shapiro's ties to groups that promote radical gender theory in the classroom. Masteriano then uses that as a springboard to push school choice. The ad, which is pretty graphic, portrays Mastriano as the candidate for parents of young kids. After the ad dropped, Shapiro actually added language to his campaign website in support of a piece of school choice legislation. That was a pretty significant pivot, especially given he's backed by

progressives and teachers' unions. School choice is pretty popular. Nearly three quarters of registered voters support it. That's probably why we're seeing a similar pivot from other progressive Democrats, such as Illinois's governor, J.B. Pritzker. Okay, so what about Shapiro? What are his main issues? Shapiro was focused on abortion access. Like many Democrats, he's relying on the backlash to the overturning of Roe v. Wade this summer. Most of his ads highlight Mastriano's pro-life position. Masteriano wrote Pennsylvania's heartbeat bill, which would regulate abortion after six weeks. Now, earlier this year, there was also some controversy about the fact that Shapiro actually donated to Masriano during the GOP primary. What was the strategy there? Yeah, this was a controversial

strategy that Democrats tried in several races across the country. They propped up MAGA Republicans thinking they would be the easiest to beat. If Masteriano wins, it will be a bitter pill for progressives in the state. That's becoming more likely. A lot of lot of activists on the ground have warned that as more Pennsylvanians are pinched by the economy, the better Masteriano's chances become. Well, it's definitely a race we're going to keep an eye on. Tim, thanks for reporting. Thanks for having me.

That was Daily Wires, Tim Pierce. Another story we're tracking this week. After shrinking for two quarters in a row, the U.S. economy grew last quarter. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that in the third quarter, the GDP increased at a 2.6 percent annualized pace, topping the Dow Jones forecast of 2.3 percent. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.