And so it begins — first 2024 GOP presidential debate introduced

NEWS AND OPINION:

Here we go. The countdown is on for the 2024 presidential election. Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has the primary bit of serious information for the GOP relating to the massive occasion.

She revealed Wednesday that Fox News will host the primary Republican presidential major debate. It is scheduled for August in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, although the precise date was not specified.

It might be a really crowded affair. Some 19 potential or declared GOP candidates could also be working, in response to a Fox News on-screen graphic.

The occasion shall be live-streamed on Rumble, and the GOP additionally will associate with Young America’s Foundation for the occasion  — in an effort to achieve out to younger voters, Mrs. McDaniel stated.

INFLATION NATION

Things are nonetheless fragile for Americans’ pocketbooks. The aforementioned Republican National Committee continues to trace this unsettling phenomenon with nice zeal.

“March’s Consumer Price Index soared by 5% compared to last year, remaining excessively high and well above the Federal Reserve’s average target of 2%. Core consumer prices — excluding food and energy — rose 5.6% compared to last year,” the committee stated in a terse however efficient written evaluation launched Wednesday.

“Real average hourly earnings fell 0.7% since last year, marking the 24th month in a row under President Biden in which inflation has outpaced wages. Real wages have fallen every month since President Biden and Democrats passed their wasteful $1.9 trillion ‘stimulus,’” the GOP evaluation stated.

The information media was on the case as properly, full with fancy graphics and hypothesis. A number of headlines of observe from the final 24 hours:

“Inflation, recession and the Fed” (Forbes); “The White House is welcoming the latest inflation numbers, others aren’t so sure” (Politico); “Fears of recession this year from banking crisis, concern inflation remains too high” (U.S. News & World Report); “Stocks erase earlier gains as recession concerns weigh on traders” (CNBC); “Falling inflation may be too late for retirees. Here’s where it’s still hitting hardest” (Barron’s); and “Not enough: Low-wage workers continue to grapple with inflation” (CNN).

A VISIT TO THE MALL

Bill King — creator of the 2018 ebook “Unapologetically Moderate: My Search for the Rational Center in American Politics” — not too long ago paid a go to to the National Mall in Washington.

Here’s what he encountered.

“We saw Americans being unfailingly kind to each other. Laughing, smiling, sharing where they were from, what they had seen, what they planned to see. We saw them volunteering to take families’ pictures for each other so entire families could be included in the shot,” he wrote in an essay for RealClearPolitics.com.

“We saw people stopping military personnel and thanking them for their service. We saw Americans standing at the Vietnam War memorial with tears streaming down their faces. We saw tourists at Arlington stopping and removing their hats or saluting as our funerary procession passed. We saw people poring over the words of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, many I suspect for the first time reading the greatest speech ever written in the English language,” Mr. King continued.

“What we did not see was the toxic polarization that the media constantly tells us is the state of the country. We saw almost no hats or T-shirts with political slogans. There were no protests. There was no one arguing or yelling at each other. All we saw were thousands of our fellow Americans basking in the pride of their remarkable country and its history,” he stated.

THE JUDGE FACTOR

President Biden has saved an in depth eye on the nation’s judges.

The U.S. Senate has confirmed 119 of Mr. Biden’s judicial nominees — probably the most in the identical interval since former President Bill Clinton was within the White House, in response to a rely by Ballotpedia, a web based political useful resource.

“As of April 5, roughly 800 days into his first term, President Biden has nominated 158 individuals to federal judgeships on Article III courts,” the evaluation stated.

“Article III judgeships are those on the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of International Trade, the 13 U.S. courts of appeal, and the 94 U.S. district courts. The president makes these lifetime appointments with U.S. Senate confirmation,” Ballotpedia evaluation famous.

“Biden’s 119 Article III appointments are the second-most among any president at this point in their presidency since [Ronald] Reagan. By April 1 of the third year in their term, only President Bill Clinton had made more appointments at 137,” it stated.

NASA SEEKS ENTREPRENEURS

The nation’s house company is looking for visionary entrepreneurs. No, actually. Know any? If so, move this on.

“At NASA, there is no ambiguity in our mission: we reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind. Doing so, however, doesn’t just require groundbreaking technologies, it requires visionary people — people who are unwilling to quit despite the most difficult of circumstances,” the company stated in a public discover launched Tuesday.

The 2023 NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge is now underway, open to U.S. residents over age 18 and organizations included and sustaining a major workplace within the U.S.

“NASA’s Science Mission Directorate will award up to $1,000,000 in total prizes to participants who can successfully contribute ideas that advance the state-of-the-art in two, broadly-defined areas for 2023: Lunar Payloads and Climate Science,” the discover suggested.

Find the small print at NASAentrepreneurchallenge.org — which incorporates some vital deadline dates for individuals who wish to pitch their concepts to NASA.

POLL DU JOUR

• 83% of U.S. adults say they received’t purchase an electrical car as a result of the price of a brand new one is simply too excessive.

• 77% received’t purchase an electrical car as a result of there are “too few charging stations.”

• 71% received’t purchase an electrical car as a result of battery expertise “isn’t ready yet.”

• 67% received’t purchase one as a result of they “want a gasoline engine car.’

• 60% received’t purchase the car as a result of “it takes too long to charge.”

SOURCE: An Associated Press/NORC Center/Energy Policy Institute on the University of Chicago ballot of 5,408 U.S. adults carried out Jan. 31-Feb. 15 and launched Tuesday.