"Democrats have many problems, not the least of which is an inability to understand, and for some the refusal to accept, basic economics. If they did, there wouldn't be proposals to raise the federal minimum wage to a preposterous $25 an hour.

House Resolution 8555 would 'place the federal minimum wage on a durable path toward a living wage,' requiring 'large, highly profitable corporations to lead the transition.' Under its yoke, large employers would have to raise their lowest wage from the current $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour on Jan. 1, 2027, a more-than-double spike that would shock the market.

Large companies, defined as those with annual gross revenues in excess of $1 billion (there are more than 6,000 of them) or with 500 or more employees nationwide, will have to ramp up their minimum wage every Jan. 1 thereafter until the minimum hits $25 an hour on Jan. 1, 2031. Smaller companies will have to boost their hourly minimum to $14 next New Year's Day and will have to meet the $25-an-hour standard by 2038."

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"Most Americans are well aware that living in debt -- consuming beyond what one can afford -- without a sustainable budget plan is haphazard; those who do so are often deemed to lack foresight. Collectively, Americans carry roughly $18.8 trillion in household debt. America's national debt, meanwhile, is more than double that amount.

"The amount owed by the U.S. government exceeds $290,000 per household. There was a brief period between 1998 and 2001 that the federal budget was technically balanced. Now, running trillion-dollar deficits, the federal government abandoned the goal of returning to a balanced federal budget. In fact, to achieve a balanced budget a decade from now, programs would have to be cut by 36% -- an inconceivable endeavor. The two major entitlement programs that are already largely responsible for budget deficits -- Social Security and Medicare -- already account for 37% of all federal spending, costing the equivalent of more than $12,300 and $7,800 per household, respectively. However, a more difficult dilemma is looming over Washington.

"The 2026 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports, released in June, reiterated what fiscal policy experts outside government have long warned about: The retirement trust fund for Social Security is running out of funds. While Social Security's insolvency date is late 2032, Medicare's Hospital Insurance trust fund will follow in 2033. After those dates, incoming revenue would cover only 78% and 89% of scheduled benefits, respectively."

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"The Justice Department's top election enforcement official has sent a pointed warning to all 50 states that election administrators can be criminally prosecuted if they knowingly allow noncitizens to vote in the upcoming 2026 election.

"Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon sent the letters Tuesday after the U.S. government conducted reviews that found tens of thousands of noncitizens have made it onto state voter rolls, and DOJ prosecuted a handful of foreigners who voted in federal elections illegally, including an Australian citizen earlier this week."

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"President Trump said Wednesday that he believes his memorandum of understanding with Iran is dead after he ordered overnight airstrikes on 80 targets in response to Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

"'I don't like them at all. And frankly, I think we wasted a lot of time with them, I think we should just do our business,' Trump said in his first public remarks after ordering the airstrikes.

"When asked by a reporter if the preliminary peace deal, which Trump signed at the Palace of Versailles in France June 17, was dead, the president replied: 'To me, I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore. They're scum.'"

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"A woman who previously dated Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner said he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop, according to a Politico report, leading prominent supporters to pull their endorsements and throwing a must-win race for the party into turmoil.

"Platner denied the allegation on Monday, but said he would be considering next steps for his campaign. ...

"'Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins,' Kirsten Gillibrand, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said in a joint statement.

"The Democratic National Committee sent out an email soliciting money for Senate races hours after the Politico report posted, but Maine was not one of them. Ken Martin, the party chair, said, 'Maine Democrats should select a new nominee.'"

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"On Tuesday night, Democrats in Colorado's First Congressional District nominated Melat Kiros -- a socialist who cheered the departure of employers like Palantir and Lockheed Martin from her state and suggested the 9/11 terrorist attacks were the 'inevitable' consequence of American foreign policy -- over 15-term incumbent Diana DeGette, a mainstream progressive. Kiros's victory came just one week after similarly radical socialist firebrands Darializa Avila Chevalier, Claire Valdez, and Brad Lander defeated more traditional Democrats in New York's congressional primaries.

"Together, these results should end the comforting fiction that democratic socialism is merely a slogan, a protest movement, or the product of a few charismatic candidates. The Democratic Socialists of America have built out a disciplined political infrastructure that appears poised to continue its gradual capture of the Democratic Party."

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Remember and Reflect: USA 250

"American climatologist Dr. Judith Curry on Tuesday announced that she would no longer maintain her influential blog, 'Climate Etc.'

'It's time to declare victory against climate stupidity and move on,' said in her final post. The reelection of President Donald Trump came with an overall shift in the political landscape regarding climate and energy issues. Since then, major media outlets shut down their climate desks, corporations are easing back on emission-reduction targets, and polls consistently show the public rates climate change low on their list of priorities.

Some figures like Curry who disputed the 'climate crisis' narrative -- often in the face of vitriol from those who support it -- are now saying their efforts paid off and an era of climate hysteria is coming to an end."

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"This is the age of the YOLO candidate. Are you a terrible person with a clear record of awfulness? You would be perfect for the U.S. Senate! Democrats have found just that sort of guy in Maine; Republicans have found one in Texas. Both would be perfect additions to the large and growing cast of bloviators, morons, and preening hacks that constitute what was once known as the world's most deliberative body.

"Both sides justify these candidates along similar lines: '[Institution or policy] has failed [interest or faction that sees its demands as indistinguishable from the national interest]. Our only response is to elect [person of bad character that we like]. And anyway, the other side has done worse!'

"These arguments often have a ring of partial truth to them. Lots of policies are not working, our system of government stubbornly resists change, and people are unhappy about the status quo. Still, a little perspective is called for. Our current state of the union could certainly be better, but it is not like it is 1929, or 1941, or even 1968, for that matter. Inflation is still running a little hot. Education and healthcare in particular are too expensive. But the wheels are not coming off.

"And even if they were, do we the people really have the right to elect any random jackass to office? Sure, we have the power, in the sense that our system of government is premised on the principle of majority rule. If half plus one of Maine voters elect the guy with the Nazi tattoo to the Senate, he gets to go. But we the people have a duty to at least try to elect good people to government."

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"An investigation by the House Oversight and Accountability Committee has found that 571,000 federal employees and retirees have failed to pay their share of income taxes, depriving the U.S. Treasury of more than $6.3 billion in revenues.

The number of tax scofflaws working for Uncle Sam is continuing to surge, with tax debt among federal workers growing 32% since 2021.

And the number of current and former government employees who aren't paying taxes has increased by 43% in three years, according to House Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who serves as chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The committee announced its investigation launch on Wednesday."

Read the entire article here.