Today in Politics, Bulletin 322. 3/6/26 Ron Filipkowski Mar 6 ∙ … CNBC: “The US economy lost 92,000 jobs in February. Feb marked the third time in the past five months that payrolls declined, following a sharp revision showing a drop of 17,000 in December. At the same time, the unemployment rate edged higher to 4.4% as jobs declined across key areas.” … Economist Heather Long: “Yikes! Almost every major industry group shed jobs in February: Private sector overall: -86,000 Hospitality -27,000 Healthcare -28,000 Manufacturing -12,000 Transport/warehouse -11,000 Construction -11,000 Information -11,000 Federal gov’t -10,000 Professional/biz -5,000 Mining -2,000 Social assistance +9,000 Finance +10,000 … Financial analyst SwanDesk: “For the first time in history, BlackRock is halting the amount people can withdraw. This is a major red flag. Something big is coming. BlackRock’s $26B private credit fund is limiting how much investors can pull out, capping withdrawals at 5% even though investors asked for 9.3%. Blackstone processed a record 7.9% shares of withdrawal requests this week.” … Trump economic advisor Kevin Hassett did his normal routine on CNBC trying to spin the numbers: “With 4% growth this year, which is about what I expect we’re going to see, then there will be so much activity that everybody is gonna be able to find a job that wants one.” … CNBC: “US crude oil on Friday posted its biggest weekly gain in futures trading history, as the escalating war in the Middle East has triggered a major disruption to global fuel supplies. West Texas Intermediate futures surged 12.21%, or $9.89, to close at $90.90 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent rallied 8.52%, or $7.28, to settle at $92.69 per barrel.” … “US crude soared 35.63% for the biggest weekly gain in the history of the futures contract dating back to 1983. Brent jumped about 28% for its biggest weekly gain since April 2020.” … NYT: “Gas prices in the US jumped 7 cents to $3.32 a gallon on Friday. That was the highest since Sept 2024, and could become a political problem for Trump, who has frequently boasted about how gasoline prices have fallen during his second term, and exaggerated the extent of the decline. After the recent gains, prices are now higher than when this term began. The price of gas has risen by 34 cents, or about 11%, over the past week.” … Bloomberg: “US gasoline retail prices are now higher than at any point since Trump has been president (including both the 1st and 2nd term). AAA data puts US nationwide average at $3.32 per gallon. The WH will start to feel political pressure above $3.5 a gallon.” … Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) on spiking gas prices: “I think we all know that when you have a kinetic conflict like this - whether you want to call it a war or not - it is going to take a little bit of sacrifice on the part of Americans.” … I don’t remember Trump campaigning on Americans making financial sacrifices for foreign wars. … Trump was asked by CNN about rising gas prices: “That’s alright. It’ll be short term. It’ll go way down very quickly.” … Financial Times: Qatar’s energy minister Saad al-Kaabi warns the price of a barrel of oil could double to more than $150, dragging down global economies. Qatar expects all Gulf energy producers to shut ​down exports within weeks and drive ‌oil to $150 a barrel. … Kaabi: “Everybody that has ​not called for force majeure (putting maximum pressure on) we expect ⁠will do so in the next ​few days that this continues. All exporters in ​the Gulf region will have to call force majeure. This will bring down the economies of the world. If this war continues for a few weeks, GDP growth around the world will be impacted. Everybody’s energy price is going to go higher. There will be shortages of some products and there will be a chain reaction of factories that cannot supply.” … Financial Times: The US Development Finance Corp is $200 billion short of the capacity needed to underwrite insurance policies for ships going through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump ordered DFC to insure vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. DFC reportedly has $154B of the $352B needed to underwrite insurance policies. Raising the total liability cap for DFC would require an act of Congress. Traffic in the Strait is now down by 92%. Nearly 20 million barrels per day of oil supply are currently frozen.” … Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA): “So he is using YOUR Tax Dollars to protect oil tankers from attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, which will cause gas prices to go up - because he started a war using YOUR Tax Dollars.” … Anton Gerashchenko: “Over the past 24 hours, only two commercial vessels have passed through the Strait of Hormuz, and not a single oil tanker. This is a key energy artery of the world: normally, about 20% of all oil passes through it. If tanker traffic stops, the world could lose up to 15-20 million barrels per day. In the event of a protracted crisis, oil prices could soar to $120-150 per barrel, leading to higher fuel prices, inflation, a decline in production, and the risk of a global recession.” … “Europe and Asia, which are critically dependent on oil from the Persian Gulf, are already feeling the biggest impact. Fuel flows from the Middle East have fallen by about 90%, and in Singapore, bunker fuel prices have already risen by more than 40%. In fact, the energy crisis has already begun in Asia.” … “More and more experts are pointing out that the Strait of Hormuz is blocked not only by war but also by insurance companies that have canceled insurance for global ocean commercial tonnage due to military risks in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and all Iranian territorial waters.” … Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) to Meidas: Himes: “I have a theory on how this ends. You’re going to see oil go across $100. Projections for economic growth are going to go down, because that happens when you can’t get oil. And at some point in 3 or 4 or 5 weeks, the president is going to look at the numbers - and he’s going to say this is really not tenable. And he’s going to declare victory and walk away.” … “And maybe the attention of the American public will fade, but what will have been achieved is that you will have replaced a very bad Supreme Leader with his son, who is more radical than he is, and, by the way, committed to the creation of a nuclear weapon.” … Kevin Hassett: “At the WH, we’ve got our eyes on the prize and we believe we’re gonna have a world with a much more stable Venezuela, a much more stable Iran that is a very reliable and safe supplier of energy, which will reduce risk premiums around the world and be cause for celebration.” … We will bomb our way to prosperity for everyone! … Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: “To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the Treasury Dept is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil. India is an essential partner of the US, and we fully anticipate that New Delhi will ramp up purchases of US oil.” … Sir William Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital: “Massive short term win for Putin. The longer the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the more money Putin gets to replenish his war chest.” … NBC: “Trump admin officials told lawmakers in closed-door briefings this week that the US was targeting the area in Iran where an elementary school was struck and scores of children were killed. The US knows the strike on the school was not by the Israelis, Trump admin officials told lawmakers. The admin officials acknowledged that the US was operating in that section of Iran and did not offer a likely alternative theory to the idea that the strike could have been the US.” … WaPo previously reported that AI was used for the targeting of the bombings in Iran. Was AI used for the targeting that likely resulted in the bombing of the girls school? We must have answers to that question and there is ZERO reason for delay because the Pentagon damn well already knows the answer. … Trump was asked by Time whether Americans should be worried about retaliatory terrorist attacks in the US by Iran: “I guess. But I think they’re worried about that all the time. We think about it all the time. We plan for it. But yeah, you know, we expect some things. Like I said, some people will die. When you go to war, some people will die.” … Trump posted: “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER! After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. IRAN WILL HAVE A GREAT FUTURE. ‘MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!).” … Karoline Leavitt was asked what Trump means by ‘unconditional surrender’: "When he as commander-in-chief determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the US and the goals of Operation Epic Fury have been fully realized, then Iran will essentially be in a place of unconditional surrender whether they say it themselves or not." … So even if they don’t surrender, Trump will call it an unconditional surrender and declare victory. Got it. … Trump to CNN’s Dana Bash on Iran’s next leader: “It’s going to work like it did in Venezuela. We have a wonderful leader there. She’s doing a fantastic job, and it’s gonna work like that.” … Trump then said Cuba is next: “Cuba is going to fall pretty soon.’” … General Sir Richard Shirreff, NATO’s former Dep. Supreme Allied Commander: “The UK should not, in any way, shape or form be involved with the Americans because they are being led by a couple of gung-ho nutters like Trump and Hegseth without a proper strategy and without serious thought about what the end state for this war is.” … “Yet again we have an American president who has gone to war, a war of choice, a war of hubris frankly, without ANY clear idea of how the war ends and without any clear strategy. This thing is going to go south very, very quickly.” … “The idea of assassinating the Ayatollah Khamenei who was not just Iran’s head of state but he was the religious symbol for Shiites worldwide. Assassinating him during the month of Ramadan is about as subtle as murdering the Pope on the steps of St Peter’s in Holy Week. It will inflame the Shiite world and what you’re doing by doing that is probably pushing large numbers of Iranians who might have been reconcilable, who might have thought about rising up, back into the fold of the irreconcilable.” … WaPo: “Russia is providing Iran with targeting information to attack American forces in the Middle East, the first indication that another major US adversary is participating - even indirectly - in the war. The assistance signals that the rapidly expanding conflict now features one of America’s chief nuclear-armed competitors with exquisite intelligence capabilities. Since the war began, Russia has passed Iran the locations of US military assets, including warships and aircraft, said 3 intel officials.” … Karoline Leavitt was asked on Fox about the reports of Russia sharing intelligence with Iran to help them target US troops: "Whether or not this happened, frankly, it does not really matter." … No matter what Putin does, the Trump admin will never condemn him. Even while he is trying to help Iran kill our troops. I said in the Sunday Bulletin that I expected this to be a long and crazy week, and it most certainly was. Looking forward to my day off tomorrow where I am just going to do some cooking and binge a show. I know many of you comment from time to time your concern for me given the subject matter and the amount of hours it takes each day to put this together. You are right that this is a grueling experience. I do this for 12 hours straight (6AM-6 PM) and it is very fast-paced. I have to keep up with news as it is happening in a wide variety of areas while continuing to plug it in here, write and edit. I also have other duties with Meidas at the same time as well as making social media posts throughout the day. That is really why I split up my days off to Weds and Sats. 3 days in a row of this is the most I can do. Thank you again to everyone who reads, shares and subscribes to my work. Over 467,000 people have read yesterday’s Bulletin so far, so our movement here of the hyper-informed continues to grow! If you missed that last Bulletin, you can find it here. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. … G. Elliott Morris: “Charting all the polls on the US war in Iran so far: The big takeaway from these numbers is that the new war in Iran is very unpopular. Not merely negative-number-so-what unpopular, but worst-ever-support-for-war-when-it-started unpopular. With just 38% of Americans in favor, support for bombing Iran is lower than retrospective support for the war in Iraq was in 2014.” … “Here’s another potential framing of this data: The Trump admin is now justifying their bombing - including of an all-girls elementary school - as both a preemptive strike against a nuclear Iran and a necessary response to an imminent threat against Israel. But at 38%, the public isn’t buying it.” … “Across every major nonpartisan poll conducted since the strikes began, more Americans oppose the military action than support it. No president in modern polling history has launched a major military operation with the public already against him.” … WaPo security analyst Josh Rogin on CNN: “Remember this is the regime that fought a war against the Iraqis for many, many years. That was way way worse. And they didn’t give up. And their ability to allow their people to suffer pain is terrible for the people, but it’s an advantage that they have over us militarily.” … “Is Trump going to head into the midterms as the economy goes down, energy prices go up, gas prices go up, inflation goes up. The entire region is inflamed. Americans are trapped everywhere in countries all over the world, and business grinds to a halt and the Iranians, yeah their regime is willing to let its people suffer that pain.” … “Is Trump willing to let the American people suffer that all the way to Nov? I think that’s really the question is when will Trump blink? Because I don’t think the Iranians are going to blink. They’re not the Venezuelans. It’s a different regime. It’s a different country. And Trump doesn’t seem to realize that, but he’s learning it pretty quick, actually.” … Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) to Meidas: “We all need to be clear-eyed that the Trump admin doesn’t give a shit about the Iranian people. They are literally deporting people back to Iran who fled the brutal Iranian regime. This is not about making a better future for the Iranian people. This is because Trump likes dropping bombs and thinks it makes himself feel powerful. He doesn’t care about human rights anywhere - not here in the US, not in Iran, not anywhere else.” … Bloomberg: “As drones and missiles target cities and critical infrastructure in Ukraine and the Gulf, the world is scrambling to secure supplies of the air defense interceptors needed to stop them. Several EU states warned at a closed-door meeting in Brussels this week that there is a shortage of interceptors across the world. Some of the officials noted that interceptor missiles could become more scarce if the war in the Middle East drags on.” … “Kyiv still faces constant bombardment from Russian missiles, and needs a steady flow of interceptors. Sending European supplies to allies in the Gulf also risks diverting resources away from Ukraine. It is a scenario officials in Moscow believe will come to pass. The fears of an interceptor shortage come as years of warnings from Kyiv have become reality this week: cheap drones can cause colossal damage far beyond Ukraine.” … “Alongside hundreds of ballistic missiles, waves of drone attacks by Iran have been putting pressure on the defenses of the US and its partners in the region. More than 1,000 Shahed-136 one-way strike drones - small, rudimentary cruise missiles - have pounded targets across the Middle East, hitting US bases, oil infrastructure and civilian buildings.” … Politico: “Asked how much the Iran offensive would cost, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) didn’t sugarcoat it. ‘A lot,’ he replied. Senior Republicans privately expect Trump’s admin to request tens of billions of dollars for the Middle East conflict and other military needs from Congress in the coming days, with some GOP lawmakers hearing estimates that the Pentagon is spending as much as $2 billion a day on the war.” … “Three F-15 jets shot down by friendly fire in Kuwait are estimated to cost $100 million alone. But Trump officials in private briefings have declined to give lawmakers any specific numbers. A WH request for supplemental funding could further balloon once it hits Capitol Hill. Farm-state Republicans want an additional $15 billion in tariff relief for farmers.” … Karoline Leavitt on CEOs from weapons manufacturers at the WH today: “The US military has more than enough munitions, ammo, and weapons stockpiles to continue demolishing the Iranian regime and finish Operation Epic Fury, no matter how long it lasts. Nevertheless, President Trump has always been intensely focused on strengthening our military, which is why this meeting with defense contractors was scheduled weeks ago.” … NOTUS spoke to some key Senate Dems about their stance on Trump seeking a massive amount of money ($50 billion) to fund his Iran War, since he needs 7 Dems to vote for it to overcome the filibuster. Trump will need even more than that if Rand Paul or other Republicans join Dems to vote against the package. … Sen. Dick Durbin: “We’re gonna have to wait and see.” … Sen. Tim Kaine: “I don’t need to decide until they send something to us.” … Sen. Chris Coons said he had questions that needed to be answered first, “but I want to make sure our warfighters have resources they need.” … WaPo: “Trump is preparing to endorse a longtime Senate incumbent over a loyal ally in a closely watched Republican primary - a decision that would put him at odds with parts of the MAGA base that have rallied behind the challenger. Trump has said he intends to endorse Sen. John Cornyn over his Republican opponent Ken Paxton. The Republican primary race heads to a runoff in May.” … Trump said that he plans to make an endorsement soon and declared that the candidate he doesn’t endorse should drop out. Paxton has expressed defiance, signaling Thursday that he intends to remain in the race, and Paxton allies expect he will stay in the race. Trump’s looming decision reflects a pragmatic calculation by the president that Cornyn would be a stronger general-election candidate than Paxton.” … “From prominent MAGA voices to lesser-known grassroots activists, many in Trump’s die-hard base say they are befuddled that the president is heeding the calls of establishment GOP operatives over his most loyal backers, adding to frustrations among supporters who warn that waning enthusiasm could threaten Republican turnout in the midterms.” … NPR: “DOJ has published additional Epstein files related to allegations that Trump sexually abused a minor after an NPR investigation found dozens of pages were withheld. They include 16 new pages that cover 3 additional FBI interview summaries with a woman who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago when she was a minor.” … “NPR’s investigation previously found 53 pages that appeared to be missing from the public database. Now that these documents are published, there are still 37 pages of records missing from the public database, including notes from the interviews, a law enforcement report and license records.” … Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) on Newsmax explaining why she introduced a motion (which passed) to subpoena Pam Bondi to appear before House Oversight on Epstein: “I believe Bondi has been less than truthful with the American people and Congress on the Epstein files. I want to know where the files are that were on her desk, because they’re not in the hands of Congress. I want to know why this is continuing to be covered up.” … Politico: “Republicans from rural America are warning that one of their key voter bases could sit out this election year, a blow for a party already facing stiff political headwinds. GOP lawmakers from food-producing states are pushing for more farm aid and expanded access to foreign markets in 2026, updated agriculture policy and increased ethanol sales, with the aim of shoring up rural support in swing states like NC, WI and MI.” … Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS): “The anxiety, the anxiousness, the angst, the timing is all something that is really weighing on producers. It’s the most difficult time for farmers that I’ve seen in my time as an elected official.” … Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV): “We have got to do more now. If Republicans are not worried about the midterms, then they’re living in a cave.” … Republican rural policy consultant Brian Reisinger: “The question is not, are they going to suddenly flip to Democrat. The question is, are they going to be as motivated and as moved by the direction of our policy agenda now as they were in 2016 or in 2024?” … “Purdue’s farmer sentiment barometer showed that farmers’ future expectations worsened in Feb, reaching their lowest level since Sept 2024. 44% of the farmers said their operations were worse off in Feb 2026 than a year ago. Democrats are already sensing an opening. The DNC has highlighted how the admin’s policies are affecting farmers, including blasting out farm bankruptcy reports to journalists in major swing states like WI, MI and PA.” … CNBC: “US Customs and Border Protection told a Court of International Trade judge on Friday that it is not currently able to comply with his order to begin refunding reciprocal tariffs imposed last year by Trump, which the Supreme Court recently ruled are illegal. CPB in a court filing cited its existing technology, processes and manpower requirements as the reasons it could not immediately comply with the conditions of Judge Richard Eaton’s order.” … “CBP told Eaton in the same filing that the total amount of so-called IEEPA tariffs collected by the agency and estimated duty deposits related to such tariffs ‘is approximately $166 billion.” … Trump admin source told Fox that Kristi Noem was fired for several things that angered Trump: 1. The fallout in MN. The $200 million ad campaign. 3. The allegations of infidelity. 4. The mismanagement of her staff. 5. Her constant feuding with the heads of other agencies including CBP and ICE. Trump felt the negative publicity surrounding Noem on these things was hurting his approval rating on deportations. … Mike Johnson on Fox after Noem was fired: “Secretary Noem should be congratulated for carrying out the president’s agenda and helping to make the country safer. Markwayne Mullin will be an extraordinary secretary, he’s a tough guy, smart, pragmatic. Congrats to both of them. Kristi will have a great role to play in that special envoy position.” … NBC: “Democrats met news of Noem’s ouster with a cascade of calls for accountability. They ranged from a potential probe into the legality of contracts cut during her tenure to a perjury investigation after her congressional testimony to even a push for impeachment to keep her from holding public office in the future. Dems vowed to probe Noem’s time as DHS secretary if they took back power in the midterm elections.” … Rep. Jamie Raskin, who would be Chair of House Judiciary if Dems win: “We need a reckoning with the fact that there were murders that took place under her watch. There was mass violence and violation of people’s civil rights and civil liberties. There’s been intense corruption, and there’s been rampant lying in the courts and disobeying of court orders.” … Raskin: “We need to have a cleaning of house at DHS, and a repudiation of all of these terrible policies of corruption, cover-up, lying and authoritarian violence against citizens and immigrants.” … Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA): “She abused her power. She engaged in corruption. She spent millions of taxpayer funds on a luxury jet fleet with beautiful bedrooms, and her masked federal agents killed Americans. We’ll definitely investigate anyone within DHS who violated criminal law.”