The President's Daily Brief - November 3rd, 2022. A Few Things to Remember Going Into Election Season

Episode Date: November 3, 2022

It’s November 3rd. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. Your morning intel starts now. ------ It’s election time, but not just here in America. There’s one country in Europe where voters just put back into power a prime minister who slaughtered 15 million animals over COVID fears. We’re going to talk about the lessons that leaves for voters here in America. As always, I’m keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put these two on your radar. First, America’s college freshmen and sophomores are struggling this year with the basics — like reading and math — all because of COVID policies when they were in high school. I’ll share what school administrators are finding.  Second, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates yesterday to reverse inflation. But they also put a report out saying it might take a long, long time to do that.  And as always, we’ve got a listener question. Today it’s about why I don’t discuss social issues much on the PDB. ------ Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's November 3rd. You're listening to the President's Daily Brief. I'm your host with a cold that's getting a little bit better. Brian Dean Wright. Your morning intel starts now. First up, it's election time, but not just here in America. There is one country in Europe where voters just put back into power a prime minister who slaughtered 15 million animals over COVID fears. We're going to talk about the lessons that that leaves for voters here in America. As always, I'm keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put these two on your radar. First, America's college freshman and sophomores are struggling this year with the basics like reading and math, all because of COVID policies when they were in high school. I'll share what school administrators are finding. Second, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates yesterday to reverse inflation, but they also put out a report saying that it might take a long, long time to do that.

And as always, I've got a listener question. Today, it's about why I generally don't discuss social issues here on the PDB. But first, let's get started with today's main brief. It is election time. You probably have noticed on your TVs and in your mailbox. But it's not just here in America. We've got some big elections all around the world that are very important to America. So, for instance, in Brazil, a country that is a major trade partner of ours.

We send them about $10 billion in machinery every year, in fact. and about 600 million or so in agricultural products. So this country is very important for our farmers, ranchers, and blue-collar workers. So in Brazil, they just got done with their election and they had a choice between the conservative president, a man named Bolsonaro, and a liberal or leftist former president, a guy named Lula. He was a deeply divided and controversial vote. The final split was 51 to 49, all in favor of Lula.

despite the fact that he was actually thrown in prison for corruption and money laundering back in 2018. It's unclear how this transition of power and the new president could affect our trade relationship, maybe that factory floor that your friends or family work on, but regardless, I will be keeping a very close eye on this country and that relationship. Meanwhile, let's leave Brazil for a moment and go to the country of Israel. It's a very important ally of ours in the Middle East. And like in Brazil, we have another former leader with legal troubles, and he actually just won the election.

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his party look like that he will once again become the Prime Minister, despite facing corruption charges. And for what it's worth, he has a poor relationship with Joe Biden and Democrats, generally speaking. So we'll see how that affects America's counterterrorism operations and our fight against Iran. I'll keep you posted. Finally, I want to focus most of our attention this morning on one country that you're probably not following, and that is the country of Denmark, because what's happening in that northern

European country is pretty remarkable, frightening even, and it may have some important lessons for us here, especially for my farmers and ranchers listening this morning. So let me tell you what's going on. If you're not familiar with Denmark, don't worry. It is a fairly small country, about 6 million people, very lovely people, by the way. and it sits between Germany to the south and Sweden and Norway to the north. Now, odds are that if you do know something about Denmark, it's because you probably know one of three things.

First, the old Vikings from history were from this area. And second, if you like dairy, you might know about Denmark's Holstein cows. Those originate from Denmark. Although, my friends in Germany and the Netherlands probably disagree, they claim that the Holsteins are theirs. but that debate aside. There is another reason that you might have known about Denmark this past year, and that is this. They have a lot of mink.

Yes, the fluffy animals that are used to make those fancy mink coats. Up until the COVID pandemic, Denmark was the world's leading grower of mink, an industry worth nearly $1 billion in sales. But in November of 2020, Danish health authorities discovered something worrisome. There was a new strain of COVID in the country. Mink population. And then they discovered a group of 12 people, officials called it cluster number five, who tested positive with this mink strain of COVID.

Well, the Danish prime minister decided to act. With the stroke of a pen, she eliminated Denmark's entire mink industry. Nearly a billion dollars worth of mink each year, the entire industry, the jobs, the family supported by it, all gone. And just to make sure that you're all tracking, and I mean every last mink was killed. There were so many dead animals that, according to local press, the millions of rotting carcasses, about 15 million mink and all,

they were buried so fast and so thoughtlessly that the government workers actually had to dig them back up and burn them instead because it was feared that their rotting bodies would contaminate the water supply. So if you think that's bad, oh, it gets worse. Because as it turns out, the Danish Prime Minister, her name is Ms. Met Fredrickson. She did not have the legal authority to do what she did, to slaughter all the mink and murder the nearly $1 billion mink industry. So the parliament

conducted an inquiry into what she did, found her negligent, but didn't remove her. Instead, it led to an election this week, a referendum, as it were, on her leadership and, as critics say, her lawlessness. So what happened? What did the voters of Denmark decide, to do. Well, she and her party, they won. Voters gave her the best results for that party in over 20 years. She is set to form a new government folks in the coming weeks. So those are the facts and the data this morning from Brazil to Israel and Denmark. And with that, we pivot to analysis and opinion. And I want to start with this. These elections abroad in Brazil, Israel, Israel, and Denmark all have one thing in common. all leaders, all three of them, were or are under pretty serious clouds of corruption or illegality.

But voters chose them anyway, at least their base. And while all three countries are important, the case in Denmark is really important to me anyway, because there are shades of what happened there that we should really think about here. That prime minister unlawfully destroyed an entire industry, an ag industry, mink in this case, and she faces no consequence for it. Voters just give her job back and then some. And I think that that serves as a cautionary tale for us. In less than a week, you will go to the polls and have lots of things on your mind

as you choose whom to give your vote. And some of those people are politicians who advocated for some pretty horrific things during the COVID pandemic, like shutting down schools, firing people from jobs. Some even suggested that we should deny. non-vaccinated Americans hospital care or prevent them from crossing state lines if they didn't get the jab. Let's refresh our memories with a few examples. The governor of Michigan, a woman named Gretchen Whitmer. Well, back in April of 2020, she banned stores from selling gardening seeds

because she wanted to restrict what people could buy and do. And apparently buying seeds and gardening outside in fresh air well apparently those were not on her government-approved list so she banned them and you from doing any of it and folks if you find that hard to believe look it up because it sounds outrageous but it happened two years ago and now she is up for re-election meanwhile there's another example in new york state where they fired workers if they refused to get vaccinated lives of folks were ruined because of that policy and why it's true that thankfully the state Supreme Court ruled just days ago that the state acted unlawfully and has to reimburse all those victims, well, that's great. But now a defender of that policy,

a woman named Kathy Hochel, is up for re-election for governor. And so folks, in less than a week, you all have a chance to decide if that kind of leadership should be rewarded or punished, just like the voters did in Denmark. So if that's not motivation to get out and vote next week. Well, my goodness, I don't know what is, but I will give you one final bit of motivation, and this one is for my farmers and ranchers, most especially. On August 3rd and August 30th, I briefed you all on how political leaders in New Zealand, Ireland, and the Netherlands all want to slaughter cows in those countries because of climate change. The cows belch too much, they say, and pass too much gas. So cows need to die upwards of half or so of the herds. And like in Denmark, that means

that farmers and ranchers will be put out of business. Now, in August, I also flagged for you how there are American politicians advocating for these same policies to slaughter America's cows to fight climate change, like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Now, at the time, I got a few emails from listeners saying that I was being perhaps a bit over the top on this. They asked, how could any leader ever do such a thing, kill off an entire industry and their businesses and those families that it supports? How could any country and its voters really ever allow such a thing? It's just absurd, Brian. Well, ladies and gentlemen, it just happened in Denmark just this week.

and that means there's an important message, I think, for all of us. But most especially my farmers and ranchers and the businesses and communities that support them. And here's the message. Your political leaders will care about you only if you demand it. They will respond to you and your interests only if it affects theirs. Otherwise, you are expendable, and so are your cows and your mink. So as Election Day approaches and thinking about future, election days, my counsel to everyone is this. Get organized, folks. Get loud. Stay peaceful,

but my goodness, vote. Because I promise you that there are folks in Denmark this morning wishing that they had done so a long time ago. But now it's too late. Coming up, ladies and gentlemen, a closer look at what's on my radar. Two quick briefs for you, one on our kids in college and the other on rising interest rates. We'll be right back. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars.

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Shop Ultima on Amazon or in store at Target and Whole Foods Market. Welcome back to the PDB as always. I'm watching a few other stories this morning. Put these two on your radar. First, some of America's kids are struggling this morning, most especially our college freshman and sophomores. And it's all because of COVID pandemic policies that locked them out of schools and degraded their ability to learn back in high school. That is the finding by reporters at the New York Times, which interviewed college and university administrators all around the country. And they asked them how the first. freshman and sophomore classes were doing with the basics, math especially, given that these kids were in high school during the pandemic and those high schools largely shut their doors and

moved classes online. Now to be clear, this group of kids is different than what we've talked about before here on the PDB on the state of K through 12 school kids and their learning. Now that's captured in what's called the nation's report card. So to refresh our memories on that brief, that data show that students K through 12 have dramatically lower reading and math scores in virtually all grade levels and in virtually every state in the country and it's all directly connected to pandemic policies of remote learning but now this radar brief is different this is about a different set of kids those who attended high school during the pandemic and are now at college so what the times found was that across the country school administrator

are reporting that freshman and sophomore students are struggling with the basics, especially math. To give you but one example, officials at Benedict College in South Carolina said that they have seen a dramatic drop in math scores with increasing numbers of Ds and Fs and even kids dropping out. University officials are also saying that the pandemic shaped these kids in other ways too, most especially in their social skills and how to handle anxiety. Again, at Benedict College, the school's president relayed stories about kids being fearful of socializing because they didn't want to get COVID. So here's a quote, we have had students for the first time in my 10 years as a college president say to me, do we have to attend parties? There's an anxiety associated with coming back into a social setting, end quote.

So obviously, folks, this is a really important story, not just the National Report Card of Kids' Case. through 12, but it's these kids too who have graduated during the time of the COVID pandemic and are now in college or out there going to trade school. We're talking about a generation of our kids, the country's future, having been so deeply affected by pandemic policies. Again, set by politicians that in some cases you will be voting for next week. So as ever, keep that in mind. And as ever, I will keep you posted with more on this as I learn it. And that takes us to our next radar story. Yesterday, the Federal Reserve bumped up the interest rate in this country, up another three quarters of a point. It'll now cost you more to borrow, like for a new car or house, and also

to carry balances on your credit card. As a reminder, the Fed is raising these rates because they say inflation is too high around 8%. They want it to be at 2%. So to get that kind of reduction, well, they say that we have to reduce the economy, basically. Get people like you. You. You're and me to spend less money by making it more expensive to, say, get loans, for instance. But based on a new report from these same folks at the Federal Reserve, it's going to take a while to do that. Because as it turns out, some American consumers are sitting on a pile of cash that in some cases they were given by the government during the pandemic.

And that, they say, helps explain why people keep buying despite a cooling economy, despite them throwing more interest rates and sand in the economic gears to slow things down. These folks are saying that we have what are called excess savings. That all came from a research paper from some pretty fancy people at the Federal Reserve, which discovered in total that Americans are sitting on $1.7 trillion in excess savings. Although one caveat here, depending on which Americans you're talking about, the sources of that extra money are different. So, for instance, wealthier Americans sold a lot of stock for the past couple of years and made some pretty good money.

Meanwhile, for middle class and poorer Americans, their extra savings, whatever they might have left these days, well, that came from government stimulus checks and unemployment. So all of this suggests that inflation, frankly, is going to be pretty tough to tame for a while, even as interest rates go higher. Because, well, because we are going to keep spending all these extra funds, that we're sitting on. Although it's not all bad news, the researchers are saying. With that extra pile of money, some Americans, if they still have it, and if they use it sparingly, well, they can weather the recession that we are in or will be in, depending on which economist you believe.

Either way, and as always, I'll keep you posted, folks. And with that, one more thing before I let you go, a listener question this morning. We'll be right back. Save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usaa.com slash bundle. Restrictions apply. Picture this. Me, Reese Witherspoon, in London. Ordering fish and chips so often, they might start wrapping me in paper.

I'm traveling with my Wells Fargo autographed journey card, so I earn rewards wherever I book travel. Five times points with hotels, four times with airlines, three times on restaurants, and other travel and one point on other purchases. Imagine getting rewarded for eating a toad in the hole. Wait, what is a toad in a hole? Visit wellsfargo.com slash autographed journey. Terms apply. Welcome back to the PDB, ladies and gentlemen.

One more thing before I let you go. Catherine in Alabama wrote in asking, Brian, I've noticed that you don't talk a lot about social issues, like abortion or drag queens in our schools. So why is that? Well, Catherine, that's a great question. And I love that you noticed. It means you got a good set of ears and a smart mind. And it's true. I do tend to shy away from cultural issues. And for a couple of reasons. The main one is that the

actual President's Daily Brief is largely about foreign affairs, some domestic and heavy on data and informed analysis. So I'm trying to stay faithful to that idea, to the name of the podcast. And if I were to talk about social issues more, and I'll be honest with you, I have opinions on those drag queens in your kids' classrooms. Well, when we have those conversations and I start emphasizing them, we start crossing pretty firmly into opinion. And I'm trying really hard not to do that, or at least make it very clear to you all when I'm starting to offer up my opinion or analysis after the facts and data. Because that way, either you can take it or leave it. But regardless, you're leaving with at least those upfront facts. So, Catherine, that's why you won't hear me talk a lot

about social issues here on the PDB. Now, I may from time to time, but when I do, I will work very hard to, well, bring you hard facts and data so that when we're having this elevated conversation about things, well, it's a smart conversation. It's not just a food fight with our feelings. And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes your morning brief. As always, we close out the show, reminding each other of why we are here, talking about our country and our world.

It's the creed of every good spy and every smart American. It's from John chapter 8, verse 32. And you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free. Good day.