President Biden’s 2025 budget proposal provides a salient reminder that he is no moderate, despite his attempts to position himself as one.
Read MoreCommentary: Biden’s Punitive, Anti-Growth Tax Proposals
Category: Policy
Taxpayer-Funded Research Investigated How ‘Populist’ Politicians Spread ‘Misinformation’ During COVID-19 Pandemic
The federal government funded a multilateral research project investigating how “populist” politicians allegedly sowed disinformation and eroded public trust during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) paid out a grant to support research investigating “how populist politicians distorted COVID-19 pandemic health communication to encourage polarized attitudes and distrust among citizens,” which made the public “more vulnerable to misinformation generally,” according to federal spending records. The project, titled “Pandemic Communication in Times of Populism,” received just over $160,000 from the NSF and is focused on how leaders in the United States, Brazil, Serbia and Poland approached the pandemic, stressing the importance of elevating public health experts over “populist” politicians, according to a presentation produced by the researchers.
Read MoreThe 2024 Sunset of the Trump Tax Cuts Becoming Election Year Issue as Inflation, Cost of Living Climbs
The sweeping Trump-era tax cuts in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 are set to expire next year, setting up the tax debate as a potentially key political issue this election year.
While illegal immigration and inflation top Americans’ list of concerns, both parties are increasingly talking about the Trump-era tax cuts, which President Joe Biden has said he will allow to expire next year.
Read MoreCombined Social Security Trust Fund Projected to Deplete Reserves by 2035
Two reports released Monday show that the U.S. combined Social Security trust fund is projected to deplete its reserves by 2035.
The Trustees for Social Security and Medicare released annual reports on Monday. The Trustees projected the Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund will exhaust its reserves in 2036. The Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund was projected to be insolvent by 2033.
Read MoreCommentary: DHS’ Secrecy About ‘Disinformation’ Regulation Docs
Nearly two years after Nina Jankowicz briefly led the Disinformation Governance Board at the Department of Homeland Security, she’s launched an organization demanding transparency and the public release of documents about the public debate on disinformation. An interesting move, likely without true transparency in mind.
My organization, Americans for Prosperity Foundation, has spent the same two years fighting DHS for documents on the federal board Jankowicz managed. We’re filing a second lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act to fight continued government stonewalling of our requests. Thus far, DHS has refused to provide unredacted versions of documents that outline its purported authorities to regulate disinformation. Nor will the agency release more information about its work on misinformation related to “irregular migration” and “Ukraine” before the board was disbanded in August 2022.
Read MoreGovernment Sets Rules for Spy Agencies Buying Commercial Data on Americans
The government has put together new rules to guide how U.S. spy agencies buy and use mounds of highly personal information from smartphone apps, automobiles and other connected devices.
The new framework policy, from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, does not require agencies to get a warrant before buying or searching commercially available information, or CAI.
Read MorePolice Union Pushes Back over Claims About University of Connecticut Protesters
The union representing University of Connecticut police is pushing back on claims officers injured pro-Palestinian protesters when they broke up an encampment last month and arrested more than two dozen people.
The Connecticut Police & Fire Union, which represents UConn police, said the claims about the April 30 encounter made by another union in a letter to school leaders was an “unconscionable attack” on the officers who were just “doing their jobs” by shutting down the “unauthorized” encampment on school grounds.
Read MoreCommentary: A Bill to Ensure Fair Representation for American Citizens
The House of Representatives finally acted Wednesday to remedy an injustice that has been getting worse as the number of illegal aliens coming into the United States has skyrocketed: the distortion caused by including noncitizens when determining how many House members each state gets.
The House passed HR 7109, the Equal Representation Act, to mandate a citizenship question on the census form and use of only the citizen population in the apportionment formula for representation applied after every census.
Read MoreU.S. Fails to Counter Threat of Chinese Land Ownership, Report Finds
The United States government is not appropriately addressing the threat posed by growing Chinese ownership of American land, according to a report released by the Heritage Foundation Thursday.
The federal government is woefully ill-equipped to track Chinese-owned real estate in the country, despite the serious threat these Chinese Communist Party-affiliated entities can pose to critical U.S. infrastructure, according to the report. The report calls on federal and state leaders to take action, such as increasing transparency and conducting more critical reviews of land purchases.
Read MoreFord Shareholders Reject Proposal to Audit Child Labor in Electric Vehicle Supply Chain
Shareholders at auto manufacturing giant Ford Motor Co. voted down a proposal Thursday requiring that a report be compiled on the use of child labor in its electric vehicle (EV) line.
The proposal, which was presented by the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) at Ford’s annual shareholder meeting, called for Ford to report to shareholders the extent to which the company’s EV supply chain involves, depends or relies on child labor outside of the U.S., according to Ford’s proxy statement. The NCPPR called for the report due to the prevalence of child labor in the harvesting of the components used to craft EVs, particularly cobalt, which is commonly sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Read MoreCommentary: Polls Showing Trump Behind Are Off the Mark
For the past several months, the public has been inundated by polls. national polls, state polls, issue polls. Yet, the 64-dollar question remains: Who is winning for President, Trump or Biden?
Over the past two months, the two presumptive nominees have swapped first place multiple times with Trump mostly in the advantage. So, the short answer is that the race is so close that neither is really ahead, at least we cannot say who is ahead in that national ballot test with high certainty. Trump is probably ahead very narrowly and has been since February.
Read MoreTrump Civil Fraud Judge’s Talks with Attorney Under Investigation by Ethics Commission: Report
The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct is investigating an alleged interaction between a New York real estate lawyer and the judge who issued a $454 million judgement against former President Donald Trump, according to NBC New York.
Real estate lawyer Adam Leitman Bailey said he had a conversation with Judge Arthur Engoron a few weeks before the judge’s decision was due, NBC New York reported. Democratic Attorney General Letitia James of New York sued Trump in September 2022, alleging he overstated the value of real estate holdings in order to obtain loans.
Read MoreJordan Demands Nathan Wade Testify over Fani Willis Prosecution of Trump
Wade served as a special prosecutor on Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s prosecution of Trump and 18 codefendants over his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results in the Peach State.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan asked that former special prosecutor Nathan Wade testify before the panel as to his role in an ongoing criminal case against former President Donald Trump.
Read MoreBiden Administration to Make Changes to Asylum System
On Thursday, the Biden Administration will allegedly propose new changes to the American asylum system, with a primary focus on changing the rules by which an illegal alien is ineligible for asylum.
Read MoreSenate Bill Would Ban Student Loan Forgiveness for Protestors Convicted of a Crime
Republican U.S. senators introduced a bill that would ban student loan forgiveness for protestors convicted of a crime while protesting on U.S. college campuses.
Read MoreCalifornia Mayor Cites Surge in Border Encounters as Evidence of Federal Enforcement Failure
Republican El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells cited a surge in border encounters as proof of federal enforcement failures, Newsweek reported.
Wells pointed out the concerning surge in border encounters within San Diego County, noting a major shift in migration patterns and federal border enforcement efforts. He stated that San Diego County experienced an unprecedented 37,370 border encounters in April, exceeding the figures in sectors like Tucson, El Paso, and Del Rio for the first time in over two decades. Wells expressed astonishment and concern over the escalating border encounter numbers, according to Newsweek.
Read MoreCNN’s Elie Honig Says Stormy Daniels’ Responses Were ‘Disastrous’ for Alvin Bragg’s Case
CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said porn star Stormy Daniels’ responses to attorneys for former President Donald Trump were “disastrous” for the prosecution’s case.
Daniels testified Tuesday about her alleged relationship with Trump, providing salacious and irrelevant details that prompted Trump’s attorneys to move for a mistrial, which New York Judge Juan Merchan rejected. Honig said that the cross-examination of Daniels by Trump’s attorneys “went poorly” for Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Read MoreCommentary: If Republicans Want Better Legislative Outcomes, Trump Needs to Win Greater Majorities by Playing for the Popular Vote
Since 1960, Democrats have won the popular vote in 10 out of the last 16 presidential elections, and thanks to a combination of historical realignment (beginning during the 1930s), presidential coattails and the incumbency advantage, have also won U.S. House majorities in 11 out of those 16 contests, oftentimes with super majorities.
The modern story over U.S. House control, and therefore legislatively shaping the society of laws we live in presently, begins in 1932 when Franklin Roosevelt and Democrats utterly crushed Herbert Hoover’s reelection bid, winning 57.4 percent of the popular vote and 42 states to Hoover’s meager 39.6 percent and 6 states.
Read MoreJudge in Trump Classified Docs Case Indefinitely Postpones Trial Date
The judge presiding over the case against former President Donald Trump involving allegations surrounding classified documents indefinitely postponed the trial date Tuesday.
Read MoreReport: Biden White House Trying to Force New Regulations to Hinder Second Trump Presidency
A new report claims that the Biden Administration is attempting to implement federal regulations that will be difficult to reverse by a future president, as polls increasingly suggest that Joe Biden will lose the November election to former President Donald Trump.
According to the Daily Caller, the report says that President Trump plans to sign multiple resolutions under the 1996 Congressional Review Act if he wins a second term, aimed at reversing many of Biden’s regulations. In response, officials in the Biden White House are examining methods to make regulations more permanent or harder to undo.
Read MoreMIT Becomes First Elite School to Eliminate Diversity and Inclusion Hiring Requirement
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology became the first elite university to get rid of its “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” criteria in its hiring requirements, after the university’s president claimed that it does not work.
MIT previously required candidates hoping to join its faculty to provide a statement that shows they understand the “challenges related to diversity, equity, and inclusion,” and describe their “track record of working with diverse groups of people.” They were also required to demonstrate how they plan to advance DEI in their position at the school. But a 2023 poll found that a large majority of the school’s faculty and students were afraid to express their views, according to Fox News.
Read MoreAlvin Bragg’s Team Produced Docs at Center of Case Against Trump But Fail to Establish Direct Link
Prosecutors finally displayed the documents at the heart of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against former President Donald Trump on Monday, but have yet to establish a direct link to demonstrate Trump’s culpability.
Until Monday, prosecutors had been focused on setting up other pieces of their case: the context for the $130,000 payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about claims of a sexual encounter and the broader “conspiracy” to influence the 2016 election they allege Trump was involved in. Monday’s witnesses — former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney and Trump Organization accounts payable supervisor Deborah Tarasoff — offered starkly different testimony than earlier witnesses like David Pecker and Keith Davidson, providing no salacious celebrity stories and an almost exclusive focus on accounting.
Read MoreCommentary: A Government Unrepresentative of the People
We are in the midst of a presidential campaign year. It’s supposed to be the Super Bowl for political junkies like me. But it feels strange and muted, and, so far, its vibe is uncomfortably similar to 2020.
The 2020 election was strange because of COVID, which became a pretext to change the rules in order to rig the outcome. This time, there is no such excuse for a “basement campaign.” It’s true that Biden is old, feeble, and unpopular. And Trump has been sidelined, quite deliberately, by a malicious New York judge who won’t allow him to travel and conduct his signature rallies. The problem, however, now infects all electoral politics.
Read MoreChairman Jordan Presses Wray for Data on FBI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Hiring Practices
“We understand that the FBI has struggled with attracting enough qualified applicants from all desired target groups to sustain its mission This is likely due to the FBI re-focusing its recruitment efforts on DEI statistics,” Jordan wrote in the letter to Wray.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is pressing Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray for more information surrounding the bureau’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) hiring practices and other initiatives.
Read MoreFormer Biden DOJ Official Prosecuting Trump Received Thousands of Dollars From DNC
The lead prosecutor for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against former President Donald Trump received thousands of dollars from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in 2018, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show.
Matthew Colangelo, who was President Joe Biden’s acting associate attorney general and spent two years in the current president’s Department of Justice (DOJ), joined the Manhattan District Attorney’s office as senior counsel in December 2022. The lawyer received $12,000 from the DNC in 2018 for “political consulting” in two payments of $6,000 on Jan. 31 of that year, FEC records show.
Read MoreHouse Republicans Seek Transparency on Number of Foreign Nationals in U.S. Illegally
A group of 17 Congressional Republicans led by U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is calling on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to provide information on “the total number of illegal aliens currently residing within the United States.”
In a letter to Mayorkas, whom they voted to impeach in February, the Republican lawmakers argue, “The American people deserve an exact accounting of the number of illegal aliens residing in the country, especially if the federal government’s policies have caused that number to surge since the previous estimate.”
Read More‘May Be Problematic’: New Study Highlights Another Potential Roadblock for Biden’s Offshore Wind Push
A new study has identified a potentially massive problem for offshore wind developments that could further hinder the Biden administration’s push for the technology.
The study, published in a scientific journal called Wind Energy Science and authored by researchers from the University of Colorado and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), focuses on what happens when the presence of nearby wind turbines reduces wind speeds for other turbines and their ability to produce power. The researchers project that the “wake effect,” the technical name for the phenomenon, could lead to a loss of up to 38 percent of power generation at one East Coast offshore wind development.
Read MoreHakeem Jeffries Boasts About Dems ‘Effectively’ Running House — Despite GOP Majority
Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York claimed that Democrats were “governing as a majority” in the House of Representatives even with nominal Republican control during an interview that aired Sunday.
Jeffries noted that Democrats provided over twice as many votes than Republicans in passing HR 8035, the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act in April during the interview with Norah O’Donnell of CBS News that aired on “60 Minutes.” Jeffries boasted of Democratic successes in the GOP-controlled House during the interview, saying that Dems “get things done.”
Read MoreFederal Government Working With Left-Wing Groups to Implement ‘Bidenbucks:’ Public Records Show
The federal government is working with left-wing organizations to implement “Bidenbucks,” which is President Biden’s executive order to turn as many federal agencies as possible into get-out-the-vote (GOTV) centers across all states.
The Department of Justice worked with left-wing organizations to determine how to implement Biden’s executive order to use the federal government to register voters, which began after one of those groups aided the Biden administration with creating the executive order.
Read MoreCongress to Leverage ‘Power of the Purse,’ Taking Aim at Big Education Amid Ugly Campus Riots
The debate in Congress over federal funding of education dates to the days of Thomas Jefferson, but for the first time since Jimmy Carter created the U.S. Education Department a large number of lawmakers are now openly discussing cutting funding and changing the tax code to punish universities that have failed to quell anti-Israel riots and force a shift from the far-left ideologies that have taken root on most campuses.
“I think that the American people are pretty outraged about this, and they expect the Republicans in Congress to respond in kind with the power of the purse,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer told the “Just the News, No Noise” television show last week after visiting the protest-wracked George Washington University campus.
Read MoreBiden Admin Unveils $3 Billion for Push to Replace All Lead Pipes in 10 Years
The Biden administration announced $3 billion in funding for its initiative to get rid of every lead pipe in the U.S. over the next ten years on Thursday.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled the funding, which comes from the bipartisan infrastructure package of 2021 and is part of a larger $15 billion push to replace every lead pipe in the U.S. within a decade. President Joe Biden will tout his administration’s lead pipe removal spending at a Thursday event in North Carolina, according to the White House.
Read MoreBidenomics Tips More Stressed U.S. Banks Into Danger Zone as Economy Slows
With inflation, high-interest rates and slowing economic growth already stressing Americans heading into the 2024 election, another reason to worry about the Biden economy has cropped up: distressed banks in danger of failing.
Last month U.S. regulators seized a bank known as Republic First Bancorp and agreed to sell it to Fulton Bank.
Read MoreRepublican States to Ignore Biden’s Title IX Rewrite Recognizing Gender Identity, File Lawsuits: ‘We Will Not Comply’
Calling the Biden administration’s recent decision to include gender identity in Title IX “election-year pandering” and a threat to women — and the “truth” — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order telling schools in her state to ignore the guidance.
“The educational institutions of Arkansas will continue to enforce state law guaranteeing the right of students to maintain their privacy. Students must not be forced to shower or undress with members of the opposite sex,” states the executive order, signed Thursday by the Republican governor.
Read MoreBiden Administration Defends Treatment of Veterans Despite IG Report
The U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs pledged to protect veterans and address any problems identified by federal watchdogs after an Inspector General report raised concerns about the physicians employed by the VA.
Press Secretary Terrence Hayes responded to an inquiry from The Center Square about recent IG reports. The reports in question said that the healthcare wing of the VA was paying doctors to care for veterans even after those doctors had been disqualified for safety reasons.
Read MoreHouses Passes Bill to Protect Domestic Oil Production, Protect Iñupiat Community
The U.S. House passed another a bill to advance domestic energy production, this time in response to cries for help from an indigenous community living in the Alaska North Slope.
The bill’s cosponsor, a Democrat from Alaska, did not vote for her own bill. It passed with the support of five Democrats, including two from Texas who are strong supporters of the U.S. oil and natural gas industry.
Read MoreAstraZeneca Admits in Court Documents That COVID-19 Vaccine Could Cause Serious Rare Side Effect
British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca admitted in court documents for the first time that its COVID-19 vaccine could cause a rare blood-clotting side effect.
The company is facing accusations that its vaccine contributed to the deaths or impairments of more than 50 people in the United Kingdom whose family are suing the pharmaceutical company. One claimant named Jamie Scott alleged the vaccine caused a permanent brain injury after a blood clot traveled to his brain. Scott claims he can no longer work because of the injury.
Read MoreHiring of Police Officers Increased in 2023 After Years of Decline
The year 2023 saw an increase in the number of police officers hired for the first time in several years, after widespread anti-police sentiment as a result of the race riots in the summer of 2020.
According to ABC News, more sworn officers were hired in 2023 than in any of the preceding four years. At the same time, fewer officers resigned or retired than in recent previous years. The information comes from 214 different law enforcement agencies responding to a study conducted by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF).
Read MoreBiden Administration Finalizes Rule That will Open Up ObamaCare to Illegal Immigrants
The Biden administration published a new rule Friday that will allow tens of thousands of illegal immigrants to receive health care through ObamaCare.
The new rule, according to a White House statement, removes a prohibition on illegal immigrants protected from deportation under the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program from accessing healthcare through the Affordable Care Act.
Read MoreBill Would Alert Immigration When Non-Citizen Tries to Buy Guns
Nearly 15 million people living in or entering the country illegally are on an FBI list prohibiting purchase of firearms.
However, the National Instant Criminal Background Check system isn’t required to let immigration authorities know if one of those 14.8 million is an applicant and in America. Legislation is proposed to change it.
Read MoreSwing States Using Taxpayer Dollars to Turn Out Democratic Voters
Election officials in two key swing states are using taxpayer money to register and turn out voters who will most likely vote for Democrats in the November election.
As reported by The Federalist, Democratic officials in the states of Arizona and Nevada have announced initiatives to turn out younger voters, who overwhelmingly lean Democratic, with roughly 6 months to go before the election in the fall. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D-Ariz.) announced that his office will partner with the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge to promote the “Arizona Campus Voting Challenge,” which Fontes falsely claims is a “nonpartisan initiative.”
Read MoreEmails Show Facebook Chafed at Biden White House Pressure to Suppress COVID-19 Lab Leak Story
The preliminary staff report is the result of a months-long investigation into the alleged coercion, where President Joe Biden’s White House reportedly pushed social media platforms such as Facebook, Amazon, and YouTube, to censor books, videos, and posts.
Emails released Wednesday show Facebook officials chafed at the Biden White House pressure campaign to censor reports that the COVID-19 pandemic came from a lab leak in China.
Read MoreCommentary: Unredactions Reveal Early White House Involvement in Trump Documents Case
Top Biden administration officials worked with the National Archives to develop Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case against Donald Trump involving the former president’s alleged mishandling of classified material, according to recently unsealed court documents in the case pending in southern Florida.
More than 300 pages of newly unredacted exhibits, containing emails and other correspondence related to the early stages of the hunt for presidential papers, challenge public statements by Joe Biden about what he knew and when he knew it regarding the case against his political rival.
Read MoreCongressional Republicans’ Bill Seeks to Crack Down on DEI in Med Schools
Bills that seeks to block med schools from receiving federal funds if they maintain diversity equity and inclusion mandates are winding their way through Congress.
“Embracing anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curricula, and Advancing Truth in Education,” or the EDUCATE Act, would limit the availability of funds for medical schools that “adopt certain policies and requirements relating to” DEI, it states.
Read MoreRecords Show Archives Official Met With Biden White House Counsel Day of Indictment Against Trump
On June 8, 2023, Gary Stern, the General Counsel of the National Archives arrived at the White House for a meeting with Special Counsel to President Biden Richard Sauber. The meeting reportedly took place in the Navy Mess, a “nautical” themed dining room run by the seafaring military branch, according to White House records.
It is not known what Stern and Sauber discussed, but the very same day, the Justice Department filed its indictment against former President Donald Trump alleging he “unlawfully” retained classified documents.
Read MoreCommentary: Biden FCC Threatens Free Speech by Restoring Internet Regulations
The Federal Communications Commission has revived regulations for “net neutrality.” According to FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, “the action we take here is good for consumers, public safety, national security and network investment.” The people have room for doubt and the “neutrality” concept requires some explanation.
The internet developed in fine style long before any such regulation appeared, but in 2015, the FCC reclassified Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from “information services,” to “common carrier services.” The government treated an innovative new technology like a public utility monopoly, in effect turning back the clock to the Communications Act of 1934.
Read MoreArizona Governor Signs Repeal of 1864 Ban on Abortion
Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed the repeal of the state’s Civil War-era near-total ban on abortion Thursday, a day after the legislation passed the state Senate.
Read MoreTennessee U.S. Rep. Mark Green Introduces Bill to Prohibit New Firearm Export Rule from Being Implemented
Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) introduced a bill this week that would prohibit federal funds from being used to finalize, implement, or enforce the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) interim final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations.
Read MoreFlight Docs Reveal Which Cities are Receiving Migrants Under Biden’s Parole Program
Nearly 200,000 migrants from four countries have flown into America’s biggest airports under a Biden administration parole program, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents reveal.
The House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday publicized documents, obtained through a subpoena to DHS, that identifies over 50 airport locations used by the federal government to process hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals via a parole program between January-August 2023. About 200,000 foreign nationals were processed under the program — known as the Humanitarian Parole for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, or CHNV — which was initially launched in October 2022 and grants a two-year parole period as well as work authorization eligibility.
Read MoreWind Energy Industry Produced Less Power in 2023, Despite Having Increased Total Generation Capacity
The wind industry produce 2.1 percent less electricity in 2023 compared to the previous year. Total wind capacity in the U.S. has tripled from 47 gigawatts in 2010 to 147.5 gigawatts by the end of 2023.
The wind energy industry managed to increase total generation capacity by 6.2 gigawatts in 2023, but the actual electricity generation decreased.
Read MoreCompanies are Slashing Away at Debt as Surging Inflation Casts Shadow over Interest Rate Cuts
Many companies are looking to cut down on their debts as recent high inflation reports have made borrowing more expensive as the prospect of interest rate cuts by central banks diminishes, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Even companies with already high credit outlooks are deleveraging to boost their rating with top agencies and reduce debt costs that have increased along with interest rates, while firms with lower ratings are needing to cut debt to maintain profitable operations, according to the WSJ. Investors have had to adjust their view about when interest rates might decline in recent weeks as persistently high levels of inflation have made it less likely that central banks around the world, including in the U.S., will cut interest rates, reducing the cost of holding debt.
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