What, Me Worry?:President Trump’s biggest fear appears to be that a recession will hit while he’s running for re-election, depriving him of  the argument that the economy is great because he’s President.

  Trump and his aides deny that they see a recession coming at the same time they’re making moves to ward it off. In a tweet in which he described Fed Chairman Jerome Powell as having “horrendous lack of vision,” Trump argued that, “The Fed Rate, (interest rates) over a fairly short period of time, should be reduced by at least 100 basis points, with perhaps some quantitative easing as well. If that happened, our Economy would be even better, and the World Economy would be greatly and quickly enhanced-good for everyone!”

    Quantitative easing, we should explain, is the tool by which the Federal Reserve creates money out of thin air and buys government debt, thereby lowering interest rates and stimulating the economy. This was last done in a major way under President Obama in the Great Recession that started in 2008. So President Trump is suggesting an action to fight a recession that he says isn’t coming. 

  The administration is also considering cutting what’s called the “payroll tax,” the Social Security tax, which was last trimmed temporarily during the Obama administration, again, to dig out of recession.   

  Nevertheless, blame it on the press. Vice President Mike Pence said in Detroit, “Despite the irresponsible rhetoric of many in the mainstream media, the American economy is strong.” 

  What the press and financial analysts have done is look at the trends and numbers and said this is what it has looked like heading into previous recessions.

Frog Went a Courtin’:Britain’s Prince Andrew, former spouse of Sarah Ferguson, is battling devastating news coverage about his friendship with the late Jeffrey Epstein and his trafficking of teenage girls.

  A British newspaper obtained video shot in 2010 that shows Andrew at the door of Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse waving goodbye to a pretty young woman much his junior. We are grateful not to have seen him in boxer shorts.

   The video also shows Epstein leaving with a very young woman.

   A Buckingham Palace statement, released after the footage went public, said, “His Royal Highness deplores the exploitation of any human being and the suggestion he would condone, participate in or encourage any such behaviour is abhorrent.”

  Epstein committed suicide in the Manhattan Correctional Center while waiting for trial on sex-trafficking charges. In his first step of bureaucratic punishment, Attorney Gen. William Barr yesterday forced out the temporary chief of the Bureau of Prisons who was ultimately responsible for keeping Epstein alive to face trial. 

The Withdrawal Method:Planned Parenthood announced that it will refuse federal money from a family planning program that provides birth control and other health services to poor women rather than comply with the new Trump rule that forbids referrals to doctors who perform abortions.

  Planned Parenthood gets about $60 million a year from the federal program known as Title X. The money has been used to provide poor women with birth control, pregnancy tests,  as well as screenings for sexually transmitted diseases and breast and cervical cancer.

You’re Fired:The New York Police Department has finally fired Off. Daniel Pantaleo, the cop who put a man named Eric Garner in a choke hold and killed him.

   New York City’s police commissioner, James O’Neill, a former beat cop, admitted the firing will not win him favor in the ranks. “I’ve been a cop a long time,” he said at a news conference at Police Headquarters. “And if I was still a cop, I’d probably be mad at me — ‘You’re not looking out for us.’ But I am.”

  Back in 2014 on Staten Island officers were trying to arrest Garner for illegally selling cigarettes when Pantaleo put him in the fatal choke hold. Garner’s last words, “I can’t breathe,” became a chant of the Black Lives Matter movement.

  Sadly, and predictably, the police union is unable to admit that one of its members did something hideously wrong. Police Benevolent Association  President Patrick Lynch said, “We are urging all New York City police officers to proceed with the utmost caution in this new reality, in which they may be deemed ‘reckless’ just for doing their job.”

 Amazingly, California has passed a law requiring that the police use fatal force “only when necessary.” You’d think that would be an assumption.

The News Roundup:Computer systems in 23 small Texas towns have been hacked, frozen, and held for ransom in what appears to be a coordinated cyberattack. There’s been a lot of this in recent years. — A Memphis convenience store clerk was convicted of second-degree murder for fatally shooting an unarmed 17-year-old running off with a $2 can of Spiked Watermelon beer. — Construction has resumed at the fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral after a delay caused by concerns over lead contamination. About 400 tons of lead roofing burning in the April fire.

Social Notes:After six years of dating, actor Jamie Foxx has split from Tom Cruz’s ex, Katie Holmes. The 51-year-old Foxx is dating a 20-something aspiring model, actress, singer — so that’s what that’s all about.

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