Biden homes in on GOP extremism messaging as he eyes 2024 campaign

President Joe Biden is fine-tuning his argument for reelection in an intensive stretch of travel and fundraising, homing in on the newly powerful House GOP as a threat to the rebounding economy as the pieces of his expected campaign come together.

Inflation? Recession? How Fed rate hikes and economy’s outlook compares with soft landings of past

This post was originally published on this siteThe next Fed meeting begins Tuesday, and the committee is expected to raise interest rates again. Two other eras may offer clues to outcomes.     

Inflation cools further ahead of key Federal Reserve meeting

This post was originally published on this siteInflation showed more signs of cooling Friday, according to data released by the Commerce Department, keeping the Federal Reserve on track to slow down its interest rate hikes next week. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation, was up 5 percent annually […]

Chevron Rides High Oil Prices to Record $35.5 Billion Annual Profit

This post was originally published on this siteThe oil company’s profit milestone is about one-third higher than its prior peak.

Dow to Cut 2,000 Jobs Globally

This post was originally published on this siteThe Michigan-based chemicals company is also shutting down certain assets as it seeks to cut costs by $1 billion this year.

Vice President Harris pushes for tougher gun laws at Monterey Park memorial: ‘Congress must act’

This post was originally published on this siteAfter arriving at the Monterey Park shooting site, Vice President Harris advocated for stricter gun laws, telling reporters “Congress must act.”     

Former U.S. generals explain how 100 U.S. Abrams and German Leopard 2 tanks can help Ukraine beat Russia

President Biden on Wednesday announced that the U.S. will send Ukraine 31 advanced M1 Abrams battle tanks, following Germany’s decision to supply Kyiv with at least 14 Leopard 2 tanks and Britain 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks. 
Retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, a former tank commander and head of U.S. forces in Europe, told CNN that once you add in other donated Leopard tanks from Europe, Ukraine will probably get 100 to 150 German-made battle tanks within two to three months, followed by the 31 Abrams in six to eight months. Will that really help Ukraine?
Ukraine had requested more Western tanks, and quicker, but even dozens of Leopards and Abrams tanks could make a difference on the battlefield, Hertling said. “Tanks are used primarily for tactical offensive operations: shock action, rapid maneuver, lethal firepower,” and serious intimidation.
“These tanks are not suddenly going to turn up overnight and radically change the battlefield,” Nick Paton Walsh told CNN. But this announcement by the U.S. and Germany “does do one important thing: It tells those in Moscow planning the months ahead that they have a very small window until Ukraine’s weaponry gets incrementally and enormously better in its quality, and that is something I’m sure what will be weighing on the morale of those in Russia’s military.”
The commitment of Western tanks is “hugely significant,” both “symbolically” and “substantively,” former CIA director and retired Gen. David Petraeus told CNN. “On the battlefield, the tank is the centerpiece of combined arms operations, which is what will be necessary to have successful offensives” and reclaim territory, he explained. “That tank is the piece around which everything else will be built” — infantry fighting vehicles, artillery, air defense, engineers, electronic warfare, mine-sweepers, drones — and combined, these Ukrainian formations can pack “a very powerful punch, and it could enable them to break through in some key areas,” like severing the supply lines from Russia to Crimea. 
Russia knows this is coming, but “I don’t really expect them to try to counter it,” retired U.S. Gen. Philip Breedlove, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, told NBC News. The Russians are stuck in their old artillery-heavy, infantry-sacrificing “ground-and-pound” warfare, and “I don’t really expect that they’ll make a lot of changes” at this point. “Russia sent an awful lot of tanks into northern Ukraine, and a bunch of them got killed, and they didn’t change the shape of the battlefield because they weren’t employed well,” he added. With the Leopards and Abrams tanks, plus the more agile Bradley and Stryker armored infantry carriers, “what we’re putting together is an armored team that can survive on the battlefield” and change “the shape and nature of the battlefield.”

Following Trump, Biden, Pence disclosures, here’s who else might be holding classified docs

This post was originally published on this siteSome classified materials, as property of the U.S. government, pose a serious threat to national security if they fall into the wrong hands.     

Five ways federal government can try to avoid default  

This post was originally published on this sitePresident Biden and Congress have roughly four months to avoid a self-inflicted economic catastrophe. After reaching the debt limit last week, the federal government can no longer issue any new bonds to pay for spending already approved by lawmakers and presidents. A bipartisan agreement is the most likely […]

Western allies urge Ukraine to shift tactics away from grinding war of attrition in Bakhmut

US and Western officials are urging Ukraine to shift its focus from the brutal, months-long fight in the eastern city of Bakhmut and prioritize instead a potential offensive in the south, using a different style of fighting that takes advantage of the billions of dollars in new military hardware recently committed by Western allies, US and Ukrainian officials tell CNN.

Tagged RussiaRussia-Ukraine WarUkraine