Another Measure Finds Prices Falling, 2024 Optimism, Republicans Side With Russia and Iran, Liz Cheney on GOP's Future

Let's Help Tom Keen Have A Big Weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Friday all! A few things today:

Another Inflation Measure Finds Prices Falling, More Encouraging Economic News - For the second time this month one of the ways we measure inflation found prices *falling.* From Reuters:

WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - U.S. producer prices unexpectedly fell in December amid declining costs for goods such as diesel fuel and food, suggesting inflation would continue to subside and allow the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates this year.

The report from the Labor Department on Friday also showed prices for services were unchanged for the third straight month, another boost in the U.S. central bank's fight against inflation. With supply chains mostly normalized after severe disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, services are now at the core of the inflation battle. Services inflation, partly driven by a tight labor market, is less responsive to rate hikes.

"The inflation pipeline is clearing and consumer prices will gradually get to the Fed's 2% target," said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Upcoming Events

• Wed, Jan 17th, 7pm EST - Monthly Hopium Paid Subscriber Gathering With Simon - Paid subscribers can register here, and subscribe if you’d like to be included in our paid subscriber activities. Your financial support keeps the Hopium flowing!!!!!!!

• Fri, Jan 19th, 1pm EST - With Democrats, Things Get Better - Will be presenting an updated version of With Dems, my 30-minute meditation on the most important, least understood story in American politics today - that when Democrats are in power, things get better; when Rs come to power, we get recessions, higher deficits and American struggle and decline. Register here. If you can’t join me live a recording will be available here.

• Wed, Jan 24th, 8pm EST - Our monthly gathering of the whole Hopium Chronicles community, now more than 30,000 people strong. Will kick it off with a discussion with Tom Suozzi about his critical effort to take back NY-3, and then I will do an overview of the current national political landscape. Register here. If you can’t join us live a recording will be available here.

Why I Am Optimistic About 2024 - Recapping my core take on the election:

• My Appearance on Lawrence O’Donnell, and Why Trump’s Awfulness Matters

• Another Really Good Jobs Report - The American Economy Remains Remarkably Strong

• My MSNBC Op-Ed and Morning Joe Appearance, “Biden’s 2024 Chances Are Much Stronger Than People Realize”

Tom Keen Needs Our Help - So this morning I reviewed the early vote in Tom Keen’s important election, and while we are ahead, we need to have a big weekend this weekend to win this thing on Tuesday. Be sure to watch my interview with Tom from earlier this week, and please grab a shift of calls today, tomorrow, Sunday. The campaign is no longer able to accept donations, so volunteering is the only way to help in these final days. Here’s how:

Phone Bank - Text Bank - Phone Bank w/Maxwell Frost

Learn More - Orlando Sentinel Endorsement

And thanks to all of you who already donated or volunteered! Let’s do this people!

Liz Cheney On The Need for A New Conservative Party to Replace/Challenge The Party of Trump - Via the Republican Accountability Project, Liz Cheney suggests that a new conservative party will need to be launched after the 2024 election. Listen, fascinating stuff. I’ve often wondered about this, for the party of Lincoln and Reagan will forever now be also the party of insurrection….

Adam Kinzinger Reminds Us That The Most Important Third Party/Splinter Party Movement in America Today Is With Us - From CNN last night, here’s former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger talking about why he will vote for and work for Biden if it’s a Biden-Trump rematch:

The GOP’s Stalling of Aid to Ukraine/Israel Is Emboldening Iran-Russia - Iran is in a military alliance with Russia, and is backing Russia’s genocidal invasion of Ukraine. Iran supports Hamas and Hizbollah’s genocidal ambitions, and provided the backing that has made Hamas’ ongoing attack on Israel possible. Iran is a leader of OPEC, which has continually raised oil prices, helping fuel global inflation. Iran backs the Houthi rebels, who have been attempting to disrupt global shipping traffic, with the goal of re-igniting global inflation and distracting the US and the West from defending Ukraine on behalf of its partner Russia. Republicans are blocking funding to Ukraine and Israel, who are on the front lines of these conflicts, signaling American weakness, and encouraging Russian-Iranian escalation. It’s almost as if Republicans want Russia-Iran to prevail against the US, the West, Ukraine and Israel; as if they are not on America’s side any more.

From CNN this morning:

The US and UK militaries launched strikes against multiple Houthi targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Thursday, marking a significant response after the Biden administration and its allies warned that the Iran-backed militant group would bear the consequences of repeated drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

US President Joe Biden said he ordered the strikes “in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea.”

“Today, at my direction, U.S. military forces — together with the United Kingdom and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands—successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways,” the president said in a statement released by the White House.

Biden added that he will “not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”

US and coalition forces struck over 60 targets at 16 Iranian-backed Houthi militant locations, US Air Forces Central Commander Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich said. The Houthi assets included command and control nodes, munitions, depots, launching systems, production facilities, and air defense radar systems, he added.

The strikes killed five and wounded six others, according to the rebels’ military spokesperson, Yahya Sare’e, who said the airstrikes would not deter further Houthi attacks on shipping.

The strikes are a sign of the growing international alarm over the threat to one of the world’s most critical waterways. For weeks, the US had sought to avoid direct strikes on Yemen because of the risk of escalation in a region already simmering with tension as the Israel-Hamas war continues, but the ongoing Houthi attacks on international shipping compelled the coalition to act.

Though the US has carried out strikes against Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, this marks the first known strike against the Houthis in Yemen.

Keep working hard all - Simon