Greg Sargent/The New Republic:
Trump’s Midnight Rants Face Rude Awakening: Stunning New Jobs Report
Harris has been escaping Biden’s shadow and catching Trump on economic trust—and the huge September jobs gains can only help.
At the time, pundits robotically cited Mitt Romney’s superior economic approval as proof Obama was doomed. But Obama advisers believed economic disapproval of him largely registered dissatisfaction with the status quo and that the “Who’s on your side?” comparison would ultimately enable Obama to neutralize Romney on the issue. And they were right. The comparison between 2012 and 2024 is admittedly imperfect, but in one narrow sense it may prove apt: Then, as now, technical economic approval numbers may not be determinative after all.
Washington Post:
Employers added 254,000 jobs in September, reflecting strong gains as election nears
The U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1 percent.
In September, the service sector industry recorded a surge in hiring, according to the report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But job gains across most sectors added more evidence that the Federal Reserve can stay on track with gradual lowering of interest rates to ensure inflation doesn’t rear back up.
“This was a very encouraging payroll report, with job growth handily beating expectations,” Sonu Varghese, Global Macro Strategist at Carson Group in an analyst note. “The fact that inflation is easing at the same time means productivity growth is strong, and that should keep the Fed on track for more rate cuts — an added tailwind for the economy and markets.”
Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Ports Reopen After Dockworkers End Strike
Companies sweeten contract offer to a 62% wage increase to reopen ports from Maine to Texas
U.S. ports reopened after dockworkers agreed to return to work, ending a three-day strike that threatened to disrupt the American economy just weeks ahead of the presidential election.
The breakthrough Thursday came after port employers offered a 62% increase in wages over six years, according to people familiar with the matter.
The agreement ends a strike that had closed container ports from Maine to Texas and threatened to disrupt everything from the supply of bananas in supermarkets to the flow of cars through America’s factories.
The new offer, up from an earlier proposed raise of 50%, came after the White House privately and publicly pressed the large shipping lines and cargo terminal operators who employ the longshore workers to make a new offer to the union.
Washington Post:
Trump’s Jan. 6 role back in focus as he readies new stolen election claims
The former president has faced fresh scrutiny this week over his attempts to overturn the 2020 vote, with the issue featuring in a debate, a legal filing and a campaign rally.
On Tuesday, running mate JD Vance declined to say during the vice-presidential debate that Trump lost in 2020. On Wednesday, special counsel Jack Smith filed an explosive new pleading in federal court surfacing new details about Trump’s lack of concern about the Capitol riot and his push to reverse his loss even as advisers repeatedly told him Joe Biden had legitimately won.
And on Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris made a campaign appearance in the battleground state of Wisconsin with Liz Cheney, the former Republican congresswoman who lost her seat largely because of her condemnation of Trump’s actions inciting the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
The Trace:
In 2019, Congress Finally Funded Gun Violence Research. Here’s How It’s Changed the Field
A Trace analysis of federal data found that the amount of money going to gun violence studies has soared since lawmakers lifted a de facto federal funding ban.
Finally, in 2019, there was a breakthrough. In the aftermath of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Congress struck a bipartisan deal to begin allocating $25 million each year to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for gun violence research. The surge of federal dollars was cheered by scientists, who quickly began applying for funding and making up for lost time.
September marked four years since most of the first projects received grants. The Trace analyzed federal data to see how much funding has been doled out, how that money has been spent, and which institutions are getting the lion’s share. The data includes money awarded by the NIH, the CDC, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, which account for the vast majority of federal gun violence research funding.
We learned that the federally funded studies over the past five years have primarily focused on youth gun violence, firearm suicide prevention, and community violence intervention, including the systemic inequities and disparities that contribute to a higher burden for communities of color.
Jake Tapper/CNN:
Four prominent previously pro-Trump GOP women to make the case against him in battleground Pennsylvania
Former House GOP conference chair Liz Cheney and former Trump White House aides Alyssa Farah Griffin, Cassidy Hutchinson and Sarah Matthews will make the case against the reelection of former President Donald Trump in a fireside chat in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, next week, CNN has exclusively learned.
The event will follow Cheney’s expected Thursday appearance with Vice President Kamala Harris in Wisconsin, another critical swing state.
Cheney, Hutchinson and Matthews have endorsed Harris. Griffin, a CNN political commentator, has not, though she often uses her platforms on CNN and on “The View” to warn of the peril she sees in a second Trump term.
Well, Connecticut leads the nation with only 2% of its residents embracing Christian nationalism.
The Oklahoman:
'Trump Bible' one of few that meet Walters' criteria for Oklahoma classrooms
Superintendent Ryan Walters isn’t just talking about buying Bibles for schools.
Bids opened Monday for a contract to supply the state Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles. According to the bid documents, vendors must meet certain specifications: Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material.
A salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education searched, and though they carry 2,900 Bibles, none fit the parameters.
But one Bible fits perfectly: Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, endorsed by former President Donald Trump and commonly referred to as the Trump Bible. They cost $60 each online, with Trump receiving fees for his endorsement.
