'The US economy isn't just good; it's the envy of the world'
'It's time for the Fed to cut interest rates'
Heather Long in The Washington Post
Economists predicted Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell would spark a recession with aggressive interest rate hikes, says Heather Long in The Washington Post. Instead, "he's presiding over an economic boom," with strong hiring and economic growth. Consumers are still on a "spending spree." Inflation has dropped near the Fed's 2% target. What Powell needs to do now is "cut interest rates." Leaving them near 5.5% would be like "slamming the brakes on the economy."
'Our indefensible Mideast military outposts'
Michael Brendan Dougherty at National Review
The United States must strike back against whoever killed three Americans at a U.S. military outpost in Jordan, near the Syrian and Iraqi borders, writes Michael Brendan Dougherty at National Review. Washington blames Iran-backed militias, but the Pentagon needs to explain why the Trump and Biden administrations put soldiers "deep and poorly defended among hostiles" in the Middle East. If the justifications "won't fly," we should "bring those troops home and out of harm's way."
'The border crisis is real. That's why Trump is blocking solutions.'
LZ Granderson in the Los Angeles Times
Former President Donald Trump promised to "drain the swamp," but now he's enlisting the help of "an unauthorized network of individuals embedded in and around government" to "kill a border deal," says LZ Granderson in the Los Angeles Times. "Its passage would hurt his campaign claim that President Joe Biden is neglecting the border." To defeat it, Trump and his cohorts have become the "deep state" he warned about, "redirecting power for their own purposes."
'Will Congress finally act to protect kids from the harms of social media?'
Kristin Bride and Maurine Molak in the Chicago Tribune
Tech CEOs face questions Wednesday from the Senate Judiciary Committee "about how their addictive products have failed to keep minors safe," say Kristin Bride and Maurine Molak in the Chicago Tribune. "As moms who have lost children" to "online harms that these CEOs failed to prevent," we want action, not "sound bites." Social media platforms, fueled by ads aimed at teenaged users, "turbocharge addictive features that wreak havoc on impressionable brains." Congress must pass real "safeguards."
