Dems Plan To Use Wisconsin’s Supreme Court Election To Rig The 2026 Midterms

 Little has enraged football fans quite like the most recent AFC Championship game, in which a pair of questionable calls propelled the Kansas City Chiefs to their third straight Super Bowl. Conspiracy theories and jokes about a rigged NFL abound after years of suspicion that the league orders its referees to give the Chiefs every call.

This is nonsense, of course, but imagine if an email inviting high-profile Chiefs fans to a secret meeting with head coach Andy Reid, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, his head of officiating, and Taylor Swift was uncovered. And imagine if the subject line of that email was “Chance to put the Super Bowl in play in 2025.”

Now imagine that email was real, and it wasn’t about rigging football games, but congressional elections. That’s exactly what’s going on in Wisconsin, where the state Democrat Party is brazenly using this April’s State Supreme Court race to gerrymander Republican Wisconsin Representatives Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden right out of their seats in the 2026 midterms.

With a razor-thin 218-215 GOP majority, this plot could hand Democrats the House and with it the ability to stop President Trump’s agenda and impeach him for a third time.

Last week, The New York Times inadvertently dropped a bombshell as it covered April’s Wisconsin Supreme Court race between conservative Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford — a race that will determine ideological control of the court in a pivotal swing state.

Crawford, a far-left circuit court judge, and Wisconsin Democrat Party Chairman Ben Wikler (who just finished second in the contest for national Dem chair) invited high-profile supporters to a “donor advisers briefing” with the subject line “Chance to put two more House seats in play for 2026.”

As if that weren’t clear enough, the email laid out their intentions clearly:

After Janet Protasiewicz was elected to the WI Supreme Court in an April 2023 election, the new pro-democracy majority struck down Wisconsin’s super-gerrymandered state legislative districts. Democrats then gained 14 state legislative seats in 2024, creating the potential to win chamber control in 2026. Now one of the judges who make up the pro-democracy majority is retiring, putting control of the WI Supreme Court up for grabs again. …

[W]inning this race could also result in Democrats being able to win two additional US House seats, half the seats needed to win control of the House in 2026.

 In addition, the briefing was arranged by aides for megadonor Reid Hoffman, who has given nearly $15 million to Wisconsin Democrats in recent years. Former Attorney General Eric Holder, who now chairs the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, will also be campaigning for Crawford in Wisconsin.

If Crawford wins and replaces retiring leftist Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, then she will vote to strike down Wisconsin’s congressional maps and force the creation of new ones that will draw more Democrats into the two most hotly contested districts, resulting in Steil and Van Orden losses next year.

Those maps, drawn following the 2020 census and signed into law by Democrat Gov. Tony Evers, were approved by both the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court, but that doesn’t matter much to Democrats.

As they boasted in their email, they used 2023’s Supreme Court election, which gave leftists control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for the first time in 15 years, to strike down the state’s legislative maps. The day after Protasiewicz was sworn in, leftist groups filed a lawsuit challenging those maps, and the new leftist majority dutifully struck them down that December.

The Republican-controlled legislature, fearing that the court would draw its own, reluctantly agreed to adopt Evers’ maps. The impact was immediate and devastating: Republicans lost 10 seats in the Wisconsin Assembly and four in the Senate in 2024 despite Donald Trump carrying the state.

Now Democrats are planning to do the same thing to Wisconsin’s GOP congressional coalition. Only two of the state’s eight districts are considered competitive, and both just happen to be represented by Republicans. Steil, the chairman of the House Administrative Committee, won reelection in both 2022 and 2024 with identical 54 percent vote shares. Van Orden, an outspoken firebrand who ended over 25 years of Democrat control of his district in 2022, received 51 percent of the vote in both of his reelection bids.

More than halfway through the decade, Democrats believe that they can strike down the current congressional maps and replace them with ones that will make it impossible for either Van Orden or Steil (or any other Republican in their districts) to win another race. All they need to do is get their big-money donors like Hoffman to buy another Supreme Court election and install a justice who will rubber-stamp gerrymandered maps drawn by Holder’s redistricting group.

This would give Democrats two of the four seats they need to retake control of the House in 2026, and it makes Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race the country’s most important by far in 2025.

Leftists won control two years ago by nationalizing the race as a referendum on abortion and bringing in so much out-of-state money that the election was by far the most expensive judicial contest in American history. This year, they are promising that a Crawford win would guarantee a House win in 2026.

This is as shameless as it is corrupt, and conservatives need to recognize it for what it is and stop it before it’s too late.

Dan O’Donnell is a talk show host with News/Talk 1130 WISN in Milwaukee, Wis. and 1310 WIBA in Madison, Wis., and a columnist for the John K. MacIver Institute.

https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/04/how-democrats-plan-to-use-wisconsins-supreme-court-election-to-rig-the-2026-midterms/

FAA to slow arrivals at Reagan National Airport to reduce risks after crash

 The Federal Aviation Administration plans to announce it is reducing arrivals at Washington Reagan National Airport to address safety concerns, after a deadly collision between a helicopter and American Airlines regional jet killed 67 people, according to an email seen by Reuters.

The FAA told airlines late Wednesday that the reduction from a maximum of 28 to 26 arrivals per hour would reduce risk but also increase average delays from 40 minutes to 50 minutes. The email said investigators from the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board "have expressed concern for our tower personnel on duty, who have an increased level of stress while also having a front row view of the accident recovery."

The email added that reducing the rate from 28 to 26 "will reduce risk and allow a little space for extra coordination."

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/latest/Exclusive-US-FAA-to-slow-arrivals-at-Reagan-National-Airport-to-reduce-risks-after-crash-48983324/

Southern California Edison probing possible link to Los Angeles fires

 Southern California Edison (SCE), a subsidiary of Edison International, said on Thursday that it was probing whether its equipment was associated with the ignition of two Los Angeles-area wildfires this year.

In what is expected to be the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, several wildfires tore across Los Angeles starting on January 7, leading to dozens of deaths and destroying thousands of homes.

The Eaton Fire was among the most destructive of the blazes, and burned in areas served by SCE power infrastructure, which has been a focus in ongoing investigations into the cause of that wildfire.

"Information and data have come to light, such as videos from external parties of the fire's early stages, suggesting a possible link to SCE's equipment, which the company takes seriously," SCE said in a statement.

"SCE has not identified typical or obvious indications that would support this association, such as broken conductors, fresh arc marks in the preliminary origin area, or evidence of faults on the energized lines running through that area."

SCE is planning to lower transmission lines in the Altadena area to be physically inspected for any possible link to the Eaton Fire's start. The company said it expects its investigation to last several months.

SCE also provided an update on its probe into the smaller Hurst Fire.

The company has a transmission tower, Tower 6, located north of Saddle Ridge Road, where the Hurst Fire reportedly originated, SCE said in a statement.

"The damage to SCE facilities has not yet been tabulated," the company said. "The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and SCE will continue to cooperate with fire investigators," the company said in a separate statement.

The fire, which was reported on January 7, was contained by January 16, after burning about 799 acres (323.34 hectares).

SCE, among other electric utilities, has come under increasing scrutiny after multiple wildfires consumed tens of thousands of acres across Los Angeles, in what is expected to be the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history.

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/latest/Southern-California-Edison-probing-possible-link-to-Los-Angeles-fires-48983243/

Hims & Hers tackles pharma industry drug pricing in Super Bowl ad for compounded GLP-1s

 Telehealth company Hims & Hers is playing offense in a new commercial slated to air during the Super Bowl next month.

The minute-long ad, which debuted online Tuesday, is titled “Sick of the System” and takes aim at the American weight loss industry—“a $160 billion industry that feeds on our failure,” according to the commercial.

“Something’s broken, and it’s not our bodies,” a voice-over says. “There are medications that work, but they’re priced for profits, not patients. This system wasn’t built to help us. It was built to keep us sick and stuck.”

Meanwhile, the ad flashes through headlines and statistics about the obesity epidemic and high drug prices, close-up shots of junk food and off-putting imagery of a monkey hoarding money and animals attacking one another, all while Childish Gambino’s “This Is America”—initially written as an anthem about systemic racism in the U.S.—plays in the background.

A shot from the "Sick of the System" commercial (Hims & Hers)

The commercial then shifts tone to highlight Hims & Hers’ own offering of “life-changing weight-loss medications,” which are “affordable, doctor-trusted and formulated in the USA,” per the voice-over, amid shots of oral and injectable medications and of the company’s smartphone app.

The commercial goes on to describe how the company’s weight loss program includes doctor-designed treatment plans to go along with obesity medications, concluding, “This is the future of healthcare. This is Hims & Hers. Join us in the fight for a healthier America.”

An accompanying website further claims, “Junk food giants, diet industry’s quick fixes, Big Pharma’s price-gouging, and regulations that favor special interests have created a system that leaves us with limited options, skyrocketing costs, and a cycle of failure.”

On the Big Pharma front, Hims & Hers appears to be going head-to-head with makers of weight loss drugs like Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide—sold as Wegovy for obesity—and Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide, branded as Zepbound for obesity.

The list price of Wegovy clocks in at $1,349 for a monthly supply, sans insurance coverage or Novo’s own savings plan. Hims & Hers, meanwhile, began offering compounded semaglutide injections to its customers last May with prices starting at $199 per month.

As noted across the telehealth provider’s website and in the commercial’s fine print, compounded versions of drugs are not subject to FDA approval or evaluations of safety and quality.

Criticism of marketing 'loophole'

That also means they’re not subject to the same FDA marketing rules that apply to approved drugs—a “loophole” that has roused concern among advocacy groups worried about the lack of information in the Hims & Hers commercial about potential side effects or adverse events linked to GLP-1 drugs. Among the ad’s critics are trade group the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and public health nonprofit The Partnership for Safe Medicines.

In a Feb. 3 statement, Shabbir Safdar, executive director of the latter group, claimed the Super Bowl spot “recklessly misleads and potentially endangers” viewers by not making it overtly clear that the drugs distributed by the telehealth company are not subject to stringent FDA oversight and by omitting any information about adverse effects.

“Typical pharmaceutical ads must follow strict guidelines about sharing a drug’s side effects and risks to inform and protect patients," Safdar said. "Compounders operate on the outskirts of drug safety regulations and don’t face the same stringent requirements. This ad exploits the loophole in existing law, prioritizing shock value and sales targets.”

Compounding pharmacies began making their lower-cost copycat versions of both semaglutide and tirzepatide in the second half of 2022, when both drugs were added to the FDA’s shortage list within the span of a few months. When tirzepatide was removed from the list last fall—a move that sent Hims & Hers’ stock price down—compounders sued the FDA for what they called a “reckless and arbitrary decision.” The compounders’ outrage inspired the regulator to take a second look at the decision, which it ultimately upheld in December.

Though semaglutide remains on the shortage list, Novo has made moves to block compounders from making their own versions, including by nominating semaglutide for inclusion on the FDA’s Demonstrable Difficulties for Compounding lists in October. In a response at the time, Scott Brunner, CEO of the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding, said the move looked “more like desperation and an attempt by Novo to protect its revenue stream than a serious scientific argument.”

https://www.fiercepharma.com/marketing/hims-hers-tackles-pharma-industry-drug-pricing-super-bowl-ad-compounded-glp-1s

BMS extends its cost-cutting drive by another $2bn

 Bristol Myers Squibb said in its fourth-quarter results update this morning that it will double down on an ongoing cost-cutting programme announced last year.

The company still intends to slash $1.5 billion off its costs this year, a measure first announced in April 2024, but now wants to make a further $2 billion in savings by the end of 2027, raising fears of additional job cuts above the 2,200 layoffs from the initial round.

In its results statement, the company said that the savings will be "driven by changes in organizational design and efforts to enhance operational efficiency" and would make BMS "a leaner, more efficient company while investing behind growth brands and promising areas of science."

Shares in the company were down almost 5% in pre-market trading after BMS revealed the cutbacks, as well as a weaker-than-expected revenue prediction for 2025 of $45.5 billion, almost $2 billion below consensus forecasts.

BMS is preparing for the loss of patent protection on some of its top-selling medicines, including cancer immunotherapy Opdivo (nivolumab) and anticoagulant Eliquis (apixaban), adding to the pressure already on the company due to generic competition for drugs like Revlimid (lenalidomide) and Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel).

Its cost-reduction programme follows similar moves by other big pharma groups, including Sanofi, Pfizer, and Bayer.

Despite that pressure, BMS reported revenue of $12.3 billion in the fourth quarter, up 9% and ahead of analyst expectations, which was largely thanks to solid performances for Opdivo and Eliquis, which climbed 4% to $2.5 billion and 11% to $3.2 billion, respectively.

Both Opdivo and Eliquis could lose patent protection in the US in or around 2028. Meanwhile, Pfizer-partnered Eliquis could come under pressure even earlier as it was among the first group of medicines undergoing Medicare price negotiations that are due to come into effect at the start of 2026.

Chief executive Chris Boerner said the company had made "good progress" in 2024, particularly with regard to the recent approval by the FDA of its new schizophrenia therapy Cobenfy (xanomeline tartrate/trospium chloride), which he expects to "have a meaningful impact on patients and the company as a new growth driver."

BMS acquired Cobenfy as part of its $14 billion takeover of Karuna Therapeutics towards the end of 2023, and analysts at Stifel have suggested it could become a $10 billion-a-year blockbuster at its peak.

https://pharmaphorum.com/news/bms-extends-its-cost-cutting-drive-another-2bn

Trump To 'Force' Zelensky To Agree On Ceasefire By Easter According To Alleged Leaked Peace Plan

 As of the start of this week, the Kremlin said 'no progress' had been made in arranging peace talks on Ukraine between Moscow and Washington. Rumors and speculation abound, given that US diplomats under Trump are without doubt working behind-the-scenes to arrange something, with the possibility that talks could be hosted in a 'neutral' location like Saudi Arabia or the UAE.

A Thursday Daily Mail report has just added immense fuel to the fire of speculation, presenting the allegedly leaked Trump ceasefire plan which he intends to present for Russia's consideration. The report says Trump will try to 'force' Ukraine's President Zelensky to agree to a ceasefire by Easter, which is on April 20 this year.

The Trump administration is seeking to end the war within 100 days. "The unconfirmed plans, reported by Ukrainian outlet Strana, have been doing the rounds in 'political and diplomatic circles' in Ukraine, and will include a ceasefire by April 20 that would freeze Russia's steady advance, a ban on Ukraine from joining NATO, and a demand for Kyiv to accept Russian sovereignty on annexed land."

While still very much unconfirmed, the headline is having an immediate impact on oil prices. Zelensky's office has vehemently denied the legitimacy of reports of the peace plans being reported and floated.

On top of these alleged key aspects of a ban on NATO admission, freezing the front lines, and agreeing to Russian sovereignty over the four annexed territories in the east, the leaked report says the following is also included in the proposal:

• On top of this, Ukrainian troops will be made to leave Russia's Kursk region, where it launched a counteroffensive in August, while a contingent of European soldiers, which could include British troops, would be asked to police a demilitarised zone. American troops will not be involved in this contingent. 
• The EU will reportedly be asked to assist Ukraine in its reconstruction efforts, which may cost as much as $486billion (£392billion) over the next decade according to the German Marshall Fund thinktank. 
• The plans will reportedly begin with a phone call between Zelensky and Vladimir Putin in early February, a meeting between the two warring leaders in late February to early March and an official ceasefire declaration of a ceasefire by April 20. 
• A declaration on the agreed parameters for ending the war would then be released by May 9, after which Kyiv would be asked not to extend martial law or mobilize troops.

This essentially gives Moscow most everything it wants - particularly the ban on NATO admission - and so if true the plan is likely to be entertained positively by Putin.

Zelensky has been complaining that talks about Ukraine between the US and Russia must never happen without Kiev's representation and input, but Zelensky it seems is being left behind. He'll likely reject the above 'leaked' plan, but for Moscow and Washington that probably won't matter too much.

The most immediate reactions are in gold (lower) and oil (lower)...

Below is a further breakdown on the alleged leaked plan...

* * *

Ceasefire by Easter: 

NATO Membership: Ukraine would be barred from joining NATO under the plan.

Territorial Concessions: Kyiv would recognize Russian sovereignty over annexed lands and withdraw troops from Kursk.

Demilitarized Zone: European, possibly British, troops would police it; no U.S. involvement.

Reconstruction: EU assistance sought for Ukraine, estimated at $486 billion over a decade.

Timeline:

1) Early February: Zelensky-Putin phone call.

2) Late February to early March: Leaders' meeting.

3) April 20: Ceasefire declaration.

4) By May 9: Agreement terms released, no further martial law or mobilization.

5) Additional Support: Continued U.S. military aid for Ukraine, with a pathway to EU membership by 2030.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-force-zelensky-agree-ceasefire-easter-according-alleged-leaked-peace-plan

Bessent-ing The Facts Of Life

 By Michael Every of Rabobank

As the whirlwind of the US political, geopolitical, and geoeconomic (counter?) revolution plays out, it’s getting harder for even the most committed bean counter and econometricians to ignore.

Secretary of State Rubio will not be attending the upcoming G20 in South Africa to protest its policies. It remains to be seen if the G20 now joins the growing list of acronymic institutions that the US no longer has time for. If the latter, how long until we get to the holy of holies, the IMF? After all, is there any US strategic logic in supporting a multilateral institution whose neoliberal economic policies have been largely opposed to its own for the last eight years, and which will be even more counter to its stance for the next four?

The prospect of the US ‘owning’ Gaza has been floated, then sunk by all other parties, yet the US says this a starting point for new thinking, challenging others to come up with ideas that must, by design, shake things up. There’s not any oil involved here, but the key Suez Canal is very close, and the ‘if lines on maps can move --and peoples-- so can lines on screens’ and “This is America too” elements are worth noting for those who think about volatility and term premia.  

President Trump is also again talking about a deal with Iran if it will drop its potentially accelerated efforts to build a nuclear bomb and work with the US. So far, the track record in flipping members of the Axis of Resistance to Team Trump is poor, and the threat of being “smashed to smithereens” is still out there, even if markets once again jumped on the ‘Trump is all about the deal, not dealing with things’ bandwagon.

Panama now allows the US Navy to use its Canal for free, may cancel the contracts of the Hong Kong firm operating the ports of Balboa and Cristobal at either end, and has agreed to “safeguard the canal” and “increase military collaboration” with the US. Guess which of the two will be sending more collaborating forces to the other? Defence Secretary Hegseth also stressed the US commitment to its mutual defence pact with the Philippines and offered increased defence aid to it - which will not please China.  

Major US tech firms with one foot in the US and the other in China seem on the shakiest of ground; that’s as the US postal service has reinstated parcel service from China and Hong Kong after briefly suspending it, a warning to those assuming goods must flow.

Of course, there are also tariffs, which bean counters and econometricians understand ‘best’. As one headline has it, ‘Chicago Fed's Goolsbee Shifts From Dove To Hawk, Says Tariffs Impact On Inflation 'Might Be Much Larger This Time'’

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Bessent says US tariffs will be back (not just vs Canada, Mexico, and China): the long game globally is “to squeeze trading partners now to create a self-sufficient industrial base later.” ‘Goolsbees’ will have to get buzzy with that in their modelling from now on, as will market observers bravely saying, “Trump is a trade paper tiger.” Indeed, India is already sending out signals that it is not a “tariff king”, happy to yield that metaphorical crown in the hope of some upcoming noblesse oblige on trade from the White House – an outcome which may depend on geopolitics as much as comparative advantage.

Bessent then ‘clarified’ that President Trump is not leaning on the Fed to lower rates – he would just like to see them lowered. See the difference? More importantly, the key focus is not Fed Funds but the US 10-year yield. So, Treasury ‘focus’, not an official target. See the difference?

Notably, Bessent thinks 10-year yields can decline as a result of his “3, 3, 3” economic policy targets – 3% real GDP growth, a 3% fiscal deficit, and a 3m barrels per day (bpd) increase in oil production. Yet they are not going to be possible without economic statecraft. To join the dots for you here:

• A 3% fiscal deficit might see some inroads made by DOGE’s ferreting efforts and the 1% voluntary shrinkage in the federal civil service already achieved, but with permanent tax cuts also lobbied for by Bessent --and a 15% corporate tax rate by the president-- it would need a lot of new revenue from tariffs, which he also floated;
• A 3% rate of real GDP growth needs help from the Fed and the long end of the curve, which won’t do so voluntarily while they worry about tariff inflation;
• The 3m bpd US oil equivalent increase won’t happen via market forces, even if Energy Secretary Wright just announced "Net-zero policies raise energy costs for American families and businesses, threaten the reliability of our energy system, and undermine our energy and national security… the Department's goal will be to unleash the great abundance of American energy required to power modern life and to achieve a durable state of American energy dominance." While our energy analyst Joe DeLaura expects oil prices to drift lower, to get cheap oil the US may have to use the Defence Production Act to force firms to “Drill, baby, drill”; or subsidies – paid for by tariffs(?); or get help from Venezuela --not in the US camp-- or Iran --under “maximum pressure”-- or Saudi Arabia, who at current oil prices already can’t afford their megaprojects like the first (and last?) linear city, Neom.

One perhaps starts to see how the Middle East, and the Americas and the US Monroe Doctrine, and White House economic, political, and even military statecraft are all in the complex mix here. Or perhaps once doesn’t and just counts beans. But it’s all going to play out anyway.

On which note, gold continues to flood out of the Bank of England’s vaults, as the French government survived a no-confidence vote, avoiding chaos. Europe plans more customs checks and fees to stem the flood of low-value parcels from China. This time it’s only acting a few days behind the US on economic statecraft rather than the customary few years; however, the headline that ‘We need a Draghi report for banking, say EU’s three biggest countries’ underlines that in key respects Europe is centuries behind the US, which doesn’t help with its statecraft, and hence its economic policy targets or competitiveness compasses, in any shape or form.

Elsewhere, the BOJ’s Tamura today, the bank’s most hawkish member, suggested there could be two or more 25bps rate hikes in the fiscal year starting in April, and that the BOJ’s key rate should be back at 1% by H2 2025. Obviously, this pushed JPY higher.

It will be interesting to see if/how Washington, D.C. and Tokyo, and the BOJ and the Fed, can coordinate not just their monetary policies but their statecraft together going forwards. Markets will need to know the same if even they don’t focus on that bigger picture.

The same is of course also true for D.C. and London and Mexico City, and the Fed and the BOE and the Bank of Mexico, both of which meet on rates today.

There are lots of uncomfortable thoughts in all this for some: but I am just Bessent-ing the facts of life.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/bessent-ing-facts-life