RINGSIDE POLITICS – MAY 28, 2021

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Welcome to another edition of Ringside Politics with Jeff Crouere

Today’s Hot Topics:

1) President Joe Biden made a surprise stop on Thursday at Honey Hut Ice Cream in Cleveland.

Reporters at the scene were eager to know how the president felt about congressional Republicans rejecting the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 Capitol attack.

Biden, famous for his love of ice cream, held up his cone and advised his colleagues across the aisle to “eat some chocolate chocolate chip.”

It was a joke, folks.

2) Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday that she expects the current higher inflation rates will last for another several months but will be temporary.

“My judgment right now is that the recent inflation that we have seen will be temporary. It’s not something that’s endemic,” Yellen said at a hearing held by a House Appropriations subcommittee. “I expect it to last, however, for several more months, and to see high annual rates of inflation through the end of this year.”

The consumer price index, a closely watched measure of inflation, increased by 0.8 percent in April and 4.2 percent over a 12-month period, the fastest annual rate since 2008.

3) Jurors in the trial of an illegal immigrant charged with the brutal 2018 murder of Mollie Tibbetts found Cristhian Bahena Rivera guilty of first-degree murder on Friday in a case that drew national attention because of the suspect’s immigration status.

The verdict was announced Friday afternoon after a two-week trial in Davenport, Iowa, in which Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 26, faced the first-degree murder charge for which he was convicted.

Jurors reached their decision after deliberating for just over seven hours.

4) Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., arrived on the Senate floor Friday morning accompanied by a stack of colorful poster boards to rail against “ridiculous” taxpayer-funded research at the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies.

Paul, a fiscal conservative, delivered a 32-minute speech Friday morning to oppose the bipartisan Endless Frontier Act that would expand science and technology research that proponents say will help the U.S. counter China. Paul warned of the $28 trillion national debt and said the U.S. should be reining in wasteful spending and not borrowing more money from China to fund such legislation.

“I don’t think this bill makes us stronger. In fact, I think the Chinese sit back … and laugh at America thinking we’re going to be stronger by borrowing more money from China,” Paul said. “So I just don’t think it makes us any stronger at all. I think it makes us weaker. It would be one thing if it weren’t being so horribly wasted.”

Today’s Guests:

1)  Dr. Andrew Myers, co-author of Simplifying the COVID Puzzle: How Two Essential Vitamins Fortify the Immune System

2) Chris Holton, Vice President of Outreach, Center for Security Policy