Inflation Is Still Running Way Too Hot, Idiots And Fools Are Running Our Country, Thune Stuffs Trump On SAVE

A campaign to force Witkoff and Kushner from government must be waged now......

Morning all. We got that third gauge of inflation this morning, the Consumer Price Index, and February came in hot, at 0.3%, 3.6%+ on annualized basis. Food increased 0.4%, or close to 5% annualized. Energy came in at 0.6%, over 7% annualized. We are still running almost two times above the Fed’s monthly target of 2% annualized - not good.

Here’s a chart I threw together with Claude this morning showing how in the months prior to the May Liberation Day tariffs inflation was at the Fed’s target rate. Since May CPI has increased by an average of 0.3%, or 3.6% on annualized basis - again, way above the Fed target.

All the bad economic data we’ve been getting recently - slowing GDP, job losses, inflation coming into too hot - comes from before the war took a wrecking ball to the US and global economies. We cannot for one moment forget that Trump and his advisors looked at all this bad data and decided to 1) illegally reinstate global tariffs, ensuring prices stayed high; 2) launched a war that almost certainly would see gas and other commodity prices explode, fueling even more inflation, and slowing an economy that was already losing jobs.

Gas prices are now up 65 cents since the start of the war, and climbing:

Idiocy, recklessness, Mad King arrogance, oligarchical not giving a shit about people - choose your description of what we are experiencing now. Every day is a reminder of why our Founders put the power to go to war in Congress, not the Presidency. For it is far less likely that thoughtful deliberation would allow mistakes of this magnitude to be made.

The NYT has some incredible reporting this morning on the impulsive idiocy and recklessness of Trump and his ridiculous quislings. Here’s the NYT’s home page right now:

Let’s drill down on that lead story, How Trump and His Advisers Miscalculated Iran’s Response To War (gift link). Vainglorious idiots and fools are running our country:

On Feb. 18, as President Trump weighed whether to launch military attacks on Iran, Chris Wright, the energy secretary, told an interviewer he was not concerned that the looming war might disrupt oil supplies in the Middle East and wreak havoc in energy markets.

Even during the Israeli and U.S. strikes against Iran last June, Mr. Wright said, there had been little disruption in the markets. “Oil prices blipped up and then went back down,” he said. Some of Mr. Trump’s other advisers shared similar views in private, dismissing warnings that — the second time around — Iran might wage economic warfare by closing shipping lanes carrying roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply.

The extent of that miscalculation was laid bare in recent days, as Iran threatened to fire at commercial oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic choke point through which all ships must pass on their way out of the Persian Gulf. In response to the Iranian threats, commercial shipping has come to a standstill in the Gulf, oil prices have spiked, and the Trump administration has scrambled to find ways to tamp down an economic crisis that has triggered higher gasoline prices for Americans.

The episode is emblematic of how much Mr. Trump and his advisers misjudged how Iran would respond to a conflict that the government in Tehran sees as an existential threat. Iran has responded far more aggressively than it did during last June’s 12-day war, firing barrages of missiles and drones at U.S. military bases, cities in Arab nations across the Middle East, and on Israeli population centers.

And……

Inside the administration, some officials are growing pessimistic about the lack of a clear strategy to finish the war. But they have been careful not to express that directly to the president, who has repeatedly declared that the military operation is a complete success.

And…..

The confidence that White House officials had that the shipping lanes could stay open is surprising given that Mr. Trump authorized a military campaign last year against the Houthis, a Yemeni group backed by Iran, that had used missile and drone attacks to bring maritime commerce in the Red Sea to a halt.

In a social media post last March announcing he had authorized military strikes against the Houthis, Mr. Trump said that the attacks had cost the global economy billions of dollars, and that “no terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World.”

Here’s a thread Senator Chris Murphy posted on social media last night that has gotten many, many millions of views:

I was in a 2 hour briefing today on the Iran War. All the briefings are closed, because Trump can't defend this war in public. I obviously can't disclose classified info, but you deserve to know how incoherent and incomplete these war plans are. Here's what I can share:

Maybe the lead is that the war goals DO NOT involve destroying Iran’s nuclear weapons program. This is, uh...surprising...since Trump says over and over this is a key goal.

But then of course we already know air strikes can't wipe out their nuclear material.

Second, they confirmed "regime change" is also NOT on the list. So, they are going to spend hundreds of billions of your taxpayer dollars, get a whole bunch of Americans killed, and a hardline regime - probably a MORE anti-American hardline regime - will still be in charge.

Ok, so what ARE the goals? It seems, primarily, destroying lots of missiles and boats and drone factories. But the question that stumped them: what happens when you stop bombing and they restart production? They hinted at more bombing. Which is, of course, endless war.

And on the Strait of Hormuz, they had NO PLAN. I can't go into more detail about how Iran gums up the Strait, but suffice it say, right now, they don't know how to get it safely back open. Which is unforgiveable, because this part of the disaster was 100% foreseeable.

How could the US have been so stupid here? Trump and his team dismissed the intelligence community’s determination that a war like this would not cause the Iranian regime to fall; we dismissed the possibility Iran would strike back and close the Strait of Hormuz; we launched the attack in the middle of negotiations with Iran on their nuclear program being led by…..the ridiculous dilettantes Witkoff and Kushner.

We are now getting reporting that Witkoff and Kushner told the President on the day before Trump launched his war that Iran was not serious about negotiating over their nuclear program, and it was time to launch the war. The New Republic has a new story that Witkoff and Kushner, who operate outside of the expertise and counsel of our vast national security apparatus, misunderstood Iran’s last offer to them, and made the recommendation to go to war based on a lack of understanding of nuclear technology.

Yesterday Witkoff told CNBC that he believes Putin is not helping the Iranian government attack Americans. Just watch this video. It’s shocking stuff:

In our discussion a few weeks ago Dr. Phillips O’Brien called Witkoff and Kushner the Laurel and Hardy of global diplomacy. But what they are doing - the incomprehensibly corrupt “Board of Peace” and occupation of Gaza; the appeasement of Putin, and siding with Russia against Ukraine; the ignorant counsel to launch this reckless war; the outrageous invasion of Venezuela and stealing of their oil - cannot be tolerated any more. They must go. Them leaving government, and forcing Trump to let the diplomats and national security experts do their thing, has to become part of our agenda now.

For their little adventure here has cost the world at least $8 trillion, or 8% of global GDP. And it could be much, much more if the war and disruption last for much longer.

This titanic idiocy is weakening Trump at home and abroad. Yesterday Senate Leader Thune declared Trump’s SAVE Act dead in the Senate. Today, in the middle of this extraordinary mess, Trump is taking the time to campaign against a member of his own party, Rep. Tom Massie, who has lead the charge to get the Epstein files released. It looks petty and small, and also deeply corrupt and malevolent. But we are here, and it’s why we need to keep working hard everyone……

Now, Let’s Get To Work People!!!!!

Hopium paid subscribers gather tonight at 7pm EST - register here. Look forward to seeing folks!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $299,900 raised, $400,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Learn More | Enjoy our new conversations with Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Mayor Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), and Janelle Stelson (PA-10) and learn more about the eight candidates we just added to our campaign here.

We will be meeting the rest of our newly expanded slate of intrepid House candidates in the coming weeks. It’s a great crew! This fundraising total includes funds already raised with our friends at FridayAction for a joint event we’re doing later this month.

James Talarico For Texas - $26,300 raised, $100,000 March 31st goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Watch my recent interview with Rep. Talarico

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $44,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More. Amazing start everyone!

Winning Ohio - $70,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party. Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue!

Watch my conversation with David Pepper, who provides a great overview of the opportunities we have in Ohio this year. Note a generous donor has sent $21,000 worth of Hopium-infused contributions directly to the candidates which are not included in our on-line goal tracker.

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $84,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my conversation with Gov. Cooper

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $138,300 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $404,100 raised, $500,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our new campaign to expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, and catch interviews with 5 intrepid state party chairs leading us into battle this year.

Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $10,000 to each of our five state parties.

Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Four Speeches To Study/Sign Up For No Kings on March 28th

There are a few more ways to go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government; sign up for a No Kings event and watch my new interview with Indivisible’s Ezra Levin, a driving force behind No Kings.

Here’s our working Post-Iran Hopium Agenda:

• Work To End This New Gulf War, And Trump’s Global Imperial Ambitions

• Make Clear We Support Ukraine and Europe, Not Russia

• Roll Back The New, Illegal Tariffs

• Rescind The Trump Tax Cuts, Claw Back The Extra ICE Funding

• Make The US A Clean Energy Superpower, Fight For True Energy Independence, And Lower Energy Prices For The American People

• Keep Fighting To Rein In ICE, End Mass Deportation

This week our calls should clearly focus on reining in both the illegal war in the Middle East and ICE here at home.

I also strongly advise studying four recent speeches. All have new, pioneering narratives and language that feels like where we need to be heading this year:

• Governor Abigail Spanberger State Of The Union Response

• Senator Alex Padilla State Of The Union Response

• Leader Hakeem Jeffries War Powers Speech (3/4/26)

• James Talarico General Election Kickoff (3/4/26)

Keep working hard all. We are entering a dangerous place, and we need to be very, very loud now - Simon