ECON 101: The Federal Reserve for the fifth time in a row yesterday left interest rates as they are in the face of President Trump’s demand that they be lowered by a dramatic 1 percent. Two members of the Federal Reserve board, both appointed by Trump, dissented.

  The Fed is keeping interest rates at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent, a level reached in December.

  Trump has been insulting Fed Chairman Jerome Powell for months over the Fed’s refusal to drop rates, calling him a “fool,” a “numbskull,” and a “stupid person.” The President claims current interest rates are costing the Treasury trillions of dollars in interest on the debt while the Fed holds fast on a fight against inflation.

  The economy posted a strong second quarter with 3 percent growth but first thing this morning Trump posted on his Truth Social that, Powell is “TOO ANGRY, TOO STUPID, & TOO POLITICAL, to have the job of Fed Chair. He is costing our Country TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS.”

MAGNITUDE: The earthquake in eastern Russia that set off tsunami waves across the Pacific was a magnitude 8.8, the biggest recorded since the 9.0 quake and tsunami off northeastern Japan that destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power plant in March 2011.

  Yesterday’s quake was about 21 miles deep and 75 miles off the coast of Kamchatka. Russia’s Oceanology Institute said tsunami waves might have been as high as 30 to 50 feet in some sections of the Kamchatka coast. Some coastal buildings were destroyed and only a few injuries were reported. 

JUST TARRIFIC: President Trump is expected to sign executive orders today imposing stiff tariffs on countries that have yet to reach a trade deal with his administration. His deadline is tomorrow, August 1^st. While most major trading partners have made agreements, Canada, Mexico, and Taiwan are still on the outs. 

  The full impact of Trump’s tariffs has yet to be felt. Automobile makers so far have been eating the cost themselves, but that can’t go on forever. The conglomerate Proctor & Gamble, which makes everything from paper towels to Dawn dish soap, announced that the tariffs have forced them to raise prices.

  Nevertheless, at the crack of dawn Trump posted the following tariff rant:

“Tariffs are making America GREAT & RICH Again. They were successfully used against the USA for decades and, coupled with really dumb, pathetic, and crooked politicians, we’re having a devastating impact on the future, and even the survival, of our country. Now the tide has completely turned, and America has successfully countered this onslaught of Tariffs used against it. ONE YEAR AGO, AMERICA WAS A DEAD COUNTRY, NOW IT IS THE “HOTTEST”COUNTRY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!”

THE WAR ROOM: Several Arab and Muslim states including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt for the first issued a joint call demanding that Hamas militants must disarm and relinquish power in the Gaza Strip. The declaration was signed at a UN conference by the 22-member Arab League, as well as the entire European Union and another 17 countries. 

  With international pressure building on Israel to stop starving out Gaza and end the war, Canada joined France and Britain in announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vehemently opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.  

REGIME NEWS: 

— Brown University in Providence agreed to pay $50 million to Rhode Island workforce development organizations in a deal to restore federal research funding and end investigations into alleged discrimination. 

  The agreement clearly exposes that this is not about antisemitism or discrimination on campus, but about Trump controlling ideas and ideology. Brown also agreed to adopt the government’s definition of “male” and “female” and must remove any consideration of race from the admissions process.

— The federal government is paying more than 154,000 employees not to work as part of the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program, The Washington Post reports.

IT’S POLITICAL:

— Former Vice President Kalama Harris announced that she will not run for governor of California to replace Gavin Newsom. That leaves her open to run for president in 2028. She would carry the Biden baggage if she runs.

— The Republican-dominated Texas legislature yesterday revealed their redrawn congressional district map that is unabashedly designed to legislate Democrats out of power. The map, drawn between the normal 10-year census period, would carve up five Democratic congressional districts to likely turn them Republican in 2026.  

  Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat called the map “outrageously gerrymandered” to make  his district a “Trump rigged district.”

THE SPIN RACK:  Colorado Dentist James Craig was found guilty of poisoning his wife with protein shakes laced with arsenic before he gave her a fatal dose of cyanide. He was sentenced to life in prison. Craig claimed that his wife was depressed and suicidal. The couple was married for 23 years and had six children. Less than three weeks before his wife’s death, Craig did a  Google search asking, “How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human.”  — Laura Dahlmeier, 31, a two-time Olympic gold medal biathlete, died Monday in Pakistan in a mountaineering accident. She was hit by falling rocks. 

BELOW THE FOLD:  Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, 53, has been seen lately in the company of pop star Katy Perry, 40. She went to space and he’s over the moon. 

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