The Federal Reserve is under more pressure to hold interest rates steady, or even raise rates, given recent indications that the labor market is strong. The Fed last cut rates in 2025 and, given the recent uptick in inflation, appears unlikely to revise them down again this year. And while inflation has been trending up, […]
Even a month ago, monetary policy sailing looked smooth for incoming Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh. One possible flare-up for Warsh, who became Fed chairman on May 22, succeeding Jerome Powell after an eight-year tenure, was the threat of the Iran conflict temporarily pushing oil prices higher. Yet in Warsh’s early days heading the nation’s […]
If you hadn’t noticed, Trump is failing. Iran is more dangerous today than it was when went to war on it, and energy prices are far higher. Trump’s brutal efforts to crackdown on undocumented people in the United States have generated a huge backlash, including among Latinos who voted for him in 2024 but are moving into the Democratic camp. His attempt to cover up the Epstein files continues to rankle MAGA voters. His $1.8 billion “slush” fund and family immunization from future IRS audits, in “settlement” of his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, has drawn widespread bipartisan scorn and hit judicial roadblocks. I could go on, but you get the point. Trump’s failures are mounting. Why? I’ve worked for three presidents and advised a fourth. All of them solicited honest feedback, including criticism. Trump solicits only praise. He relishes compliments. He needs everyone around him to pander to his egomaniacal need for admiration. He punishes the bearers of bad news. He promotes people who kiss his assets, such as Bill Pulte, the home-building heir Trump put in charge of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and who Trump is now making acting director of national intelligence.And Todd Blanche, the lawyer who represented him in his multiple lawsuits and who Trump now wants to become Attorney General. Pulte, with no known experience in national security, got the job because he told Trump what Trump wanted to hear. He weaponized the housing agency and tried to dig up dirt on Trump enemies — specifically, the Fed’s Lisa Cook, Senator Adam Schiff, and New York Attorney General Letitia James. As the person in charge of national intelligence, Pulte will continue to tell Trump whatever he wants to hear. Trump won’t get national intelligence; he’ll get national stupidity.Trump has so many people “he could be listening to,” said a former Trump official, “and he listens to Pulte, who just continually f---- things up.”Blanche got the nod for Attorney General because he went even further than his predecessor, Pam Bondi, was willing to go in throwing integrity and principles odown the toilet in favor of going after Trump’s enemies. He secured a second felony indictment against the former FBI Director James Comey, alleging Comey threatened Trump ia a social media post that arranged seashells to spell “86 47.” Blanche also commenced a bonkers criminal investigation of Fed chief Jerome Powell, and tried to establish a $1.8 billion slush fund for Trump as well as immunity from I.R.S. audits as a fake “settlement” of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the I.R.S.So how does Trump make decisions if he doesn’t have people telling him the truth? He relies, he has said, on his gut. “My gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.” He told The Washington Post that he reaches decisions “with very little knowledge other than the knowledge I [already have], plus the words ‘common sense,’ because I have a lot of common sense.”In other words, he doesn’t listen to anyone — especially not anyone who tells him anything he doesn’t want to hear. Presto. He makes colossal mistakes. Even normal people don’t like to get negative feedback. And most people don’t want to give it. Yet receiving and giving truthful feedback are absolutely essential in a complex world. If you have power over other people, it’s even more important to get negative feedback, because your mistakes could harm many others. Yet the more power you have, the less willing people are to give you negative feedback, since they have more reason to fear your reaction to it. Which means you have to go out of your way to solicit it. The best leaders I’ve had the privilege of serving during my nearly 60 years of working life have been people who have actively sought and rewarded negative feedback. Trump does just the opposite. Small wonder he’s one of the worst leaders the nation has ever endured. Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/.
Federal prosecutors said that four suspects turned themselves in after an investigation into a $30 million Medicaid fraud scheme.Two Ohio state employees and two co-conspirators were indicted in the scheme that fraudulently billed the federal government for children's behavioral health services, according to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.'These initial suspensions mark a critical step forward in ensuring accountability and deterring abuse within the Medicaid system.'Two of the defendants falsely claimed to provide the medical services through behavioral health organizations that they owned and operated, according to Blanche.The four suspects were hit with 32 counts in the indictment.The fake services provided included behavioral therapy and psychotherapy for young people who attended summer camps, church groups, and recreational programs. They allegedly diagnosed the kids with a behavioral adjustment disorder, but no tests were performed, and the children received no actual care.Among the 14 luxury vehicles seized in the investigation were a Maserati, six Mercedes Benz, a Jaguar, a Bentley, and a McLaren.Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel added that $600,000 was seized through seven bank accounts.The investigation was a part of the administration's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, led by Vice President JD Vance."It is disgusting that fraudsters were allowed to deprive essential developmental services from American children in need," a spokesperson for Vance said to CBS News."Countless lives could have been made better by the millions of tax dollars stolen, but instead they were used to purchase luxury cars," the spokesperson added. "This is another example of the type of fraud the vice president's task force is putting a stop to."RELATED: Newsom lashes out at report of MASSIVE fraud in California Also on Thursday, Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's administration announced the suspension of Medicaid payments to 49 businesses providing home health care that were flagged for waste, fraud, or abuse. "These initial suspensions mark a critical step forward in ensuring accountability and deterring abuse within the Medicaid system," said the Ohio Department of Medicaid Director Scott Partika. "We will continue using advanced analytics and enforceable action to protect Ohioans and preserve program integrity."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
The Justice Department on Thursday announced a statewide crackdown on fraud in Ohio and unsealed indictments against 14 people accused of stealing more than $50 million in government funds. The charges were unveiled by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in a news conference at the Defense Supply Center Columbus alongside FBI Director Kash Patel and…
The US slapped sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and members of his family, further ratcheting up pressure on the communist-run Caribbean island.
The actions by federal and state prosecutors are targeting as much as $50 million in defrauded taxpayer money, Blanche noted.
Deputy White House chief of staff Dan Scavino predicted Wednesday that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s Senate confirmation would move “very quickly,” offering the clearest indication yet that the administration intends to seek Senate approval for one of President Donald Trump’s closest legal allies. Scavino announced Wednesday that the president plans to nominate Blanche to […]
The 1970s oil-shock playbook needs an update: The inflation costs remain, but the employment risks appear far smaller than they did 50 years ago.Why it matters: As the Iran war continues, there are early signs of renewed strength in the labor market.If energy disruptions pose less of a risk to jobs, the challenge for central banks shifts from managing stagflation risks to guarding against renewed price pressures.That's the takeaway from new Federal Reserve Bank of Boston research that finds an oil shock the size of what the Iran war has produced would push inflation materially higher while having essentially no effect on national employment.What they're saying: "The U.S. economy's vulnerability to oil shocks has not been eliminated, but rather reconfigured," economists wrote in the report. "Oil shocks may now pose less of a challenge for monetary policy, allowing policymakers to focus more on the greater risk to inflation."Driving the news: The researchers estimate that the U.S.-Iran conflict generated a 33% oil price shock — a magnitude that is historically significant, though not unprecedented.The U.S. economy is now structured differently than past energy crises, allowing it to absorb a shock of that magnitude with far less damage to national employment.But with a smaller hit to growth and employment, there is less downward pressure on prices to counteract rising energy costs.The Boston Fed estimates that if an oil disruption like today's hit during the mid-1970s, it would lift the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index by 2.2 percentage points and reduce national employment by 1.8 percentage point.What to watch: The oil shock is estimated to create relative winners and losers across the country, with oil-producing states faring better than oil-importing regions — differences that can leave an economic mark for as long as two years after the initial hit.The Boston Fed estimates that employment growth in Texas would be roughly 1.7 percentage point higher than in the average state 12 months after the shock. Massachusetts, meanwhile, would see employment growth run about 0.4 percentage point below average.Those effects extend beyond jobs: Home price growth in Texas would outpace the average state by roughly 1.8 percentage point, while Massachusetts would trail by about 0.4 percentage point.The intrigue: The inflation effects of the shock are already evident in economic data, as well as in anecdotes gathered across Fed districts.The Beige Book, a collection of anecdotes from the 12 Fed regional banks, described energy costs tied to the Middle East conflict as the "primary driver of inflationary pressures," with spillovers into shipping, groceries and fertilizer.Yet employment showed little change across 11 of the Fed's 12 districts, and most described a "low-hire, low-fire" labor market.The bottom line: Energy producers don't appear to view the price spike as durable, potentially limiting one of the channels through which oil-producing states benefit from higher energy prices.Dallas Fed contacts reported "limited appetite to increase activity even amid sharply higher oil prices," reflecting a view that the impact of the conflict is "likely to be too short-lived to spur new capital investment," according to the Beige Book. Emily Peck contributed reporting.