Morning Wire XX
[0] Will interest rates go up again?
[1] The Federal Reserve decides today.
[2] Pausing and then having an uptick in inflation and getting behind again is not the best scenario.
[3] What will their decision signal to investors on the health of the economy and the banking industry?
[4] I'm Daily Wire editor -in -chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
[5] It's Wednesday, March 22nd, and this is Morningwire.
[6] A brand -new political party inspired by farmers is reshaping the parliament in the Netherlands.
[7] What does the Farmer Citizen Movement stand for, and what does it mean for Europe's Green Agenda?
[8] And thousands of employees in the nation's second largest school district are on strike, forcing closures at 1 ,000 schools.
[9] Enough of the disrespect.
[10] We refuse to be invisible.
[11] We refuse to be silenced.
[12] What are the workers' demands?
[13] And how long will students be out of school?
[14] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[15] Stay tuned.
[16] We have the news you need to know.
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[26] The Federal Reserve will announce their rate decision later today.
[27] Many expect a 25 basis point hike, but others say the Fed could decide to hold steady as economic uncertainty in banking continues.
[28] Here with more on all the factors playing into the decision and how it could impact your finances as Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
[29] Tim, another closely watched Fed decision set the scene here for us.
[30] Sure.
[31] Up until two weeks ago, there really was.
[32] a question if the Fed would keep raising rates.
[33] Remember, they're trying to cool the economy and bring inflation down, and their number one tool for doing so is raising rates.
[34] But last week's banking turmoil, the worst we've seen since the 08 financial crisis, makes their decision much harder.
[35] Here's former New York Fed President William Dudley.
[36] The real question is zero or 25.
[37] The case for zero is do no harm.
[38] We know that the banking system's under stress.
[39] The case for 25 basis points is to say, look, we still have an inflation problem.
[40] I guess I I would probably recommend just taking a pause, but you have to do it in a way that doesn't alarm people.
[41] One of the problems of pausing is people are going to say, gee, why is the Fed pausing?
[42] Things must be worse in the banking system than we think.
[43] So a lot of mass psychology at play here.
[44] Exactly.
[45] Now, typically, the Fed has given a pretty clear indication of their intention as a way of avoiding a surprise and preventing volatile market swings when the news comes out.
[46] But this time, they're staying quiet.
[47] We should have their final decision later this afternoon when their two -day meeting concludes.
[48] What does all this turmoil mean for the average American family?
[49] Well, most Americans have already felt the impact over the past year.
[50] Buying a home is out of the question for many families right now, as mortgage rates have skyrocketed at their fastest rate since the 1980s.
[51] Those rate hikes have also made it far more expensive to carry debt on a credit card, as the average APR in a new credit card is now almost 24%, the highest rate we've seen in decades.
[52] But according to experts, the latest turmoil in the banking industry could impact even more people, especially those using regional banks.
[53] Essentially, banks are going to be on high alert when it comes to risk management and will likely become stingier when it comes to giving out new loans because they're going to be facing greater scrutiny from regulators and internal risk assessment supervisors.
[54] To put it another way, banks are spooked by what happened to Silicon Valley and signature banks, and they want to avoid anything that could overextend them and lead them down the same path.
[55] And that means less access to capital for depositors.
[56] Exactly.
[57] Now, last week, Treasury Secretary Yellen made waves with some comments.
[58] She spoke publicly again on Tuesday.
[59] What did we learn?
[60] Last week, Yellen basically said it was an anomaly that the federal government had stepped in to guarantee the deposits of people with money in Silicon Valley Bank.
[61] She testified to Congress that unless officials invoked emergency powers or there were other extraordinary circumstances, that would not be the norm going forward.
[62] But on Tuesday, she walked those comments back a bit and said the government could once again intervene to protect depositors if federal regulators were fearful of another run on the banking system.
[63] system.
[64] She said, quote, our intervention was necessary to protect the broader U .S. banking system, and similar actions could be warranted if smaller institutions suffered deposit runs that pose the risk of contagion.
[65] So coming into this week, the big question for many was whether the federal government would back banks if there were further collapses.
[66] And it seems we have our answer.
[67] Yeah, it does.
[68] And it's worth noting the Fed response to the Silicon Valley Bank Rescue Plan has sparked some outrage in Washington.
[69] Yeah, and that backlash has come from both sides of the aisle, as members in each party say the Fed bears much of the blame not only for the response to the collapse, but for the collapse itself.
[70] Republicans have criticized the Fed's failure to recognize the inflation problem fast enough, scrambling to address it with rate hikes.
[71] And now they argue that the bail out of depositors and rich investors was unnecessary and sets a dangerous precedent.
[72] We heard similar comments from another former FDIC chair, Bill Isaac.
[73] The FDIC was supposed to protect ordinary depositors.
[74] And it wasn't supposed to protect Fat Cat investors at Silicon Valley Bank.
[75] Well, we'll see how the Fed responds later today.
[76] Tim, thanks for reporting.
[77] Anytime.
[78] That's Daily Wire reporter, Tim Pierce.
[79] Coming up, a new party representing Dutch farmers wins big in the Netherlands Parliament.
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[88] A new populist political party in the Netherlands formed out of backlash to the government's plans to seize farms saw a massive win last week.
[89] The Farmer Citizen Movement shocked the EU by becoming the third largest political party in the Dutch provincial elections.
[90] Here to explain how this new party achieved such success and what it tells us about the state of European politics more broadly is Daily Wire Culture reporter Megan Basham.
[91] So Megan, a brand new, hastily formed political party just won the most seats in the Dutch Senate.
[92] How did they manage to gain so much momentum so fast.
[93] So in English, this party is known as the farmer citizen movement, as John said, and it was just formed in 2019 as a direct response to the environmental regulations that Dutch officials are attempting to enact against these farmers.
[94] As part of an effort to curb nitrogen oxide emissions and meet EU regulations, the government announced it would be forcibly buying out 3 ,000 Dutch farms.
[95] And it had also ordered the farmers to reduce their livestock by about, 30 % in order for the country to meet the EU's climate goals.
[96] Well, on March 11th, three days before the election, mass demonstrations converged in the Hague as a reaction to all of this.
[97] And this was a protester from the activist group, Farmers Defense Force, talking to independent journalist Peter Emanielsen.
[98] Our government is trying to shut down farms on false grounds.
[99] We are here today with a lot of farmers, but also with a lot of civilians.
[100] The population of the Netherlands needs to be fat, and we can do this only by import if this is what our government is talking about and they want to preserve the Netherlands for some emissions, agriculture is emitting, but it's a farce because of course we emit but we also take in nitrogen.
[101] So the story is not correct.
[102] They're bashing farmers now and farmers are sick and tired of this.
[103] Now, the EU says the large number of livestock and the fertilizer are required to maintain all these farms are polluting the soil and water and leading to unacceptable.
[104] levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
[105] But the farmer citizen movement says the problem has been exaggerated and the agricultural sector is bearing an unfair amount of burden for all of these regulations.
[106] And they also say that Dutch farming practices are already among the most efficient in the world to begin with.
[107] This was the party's first time taking part in the provincial elections and it won 17 of 75 Senate seats, the most of any major Dutch political parties.
[108] In the parliamentary structure that the Netherlands has, they'll have to form coalitions to push new policies, but they've grabbed real power here to block legislation.
[109] Now, aside from the farming issues, what does the farmer citizen movement stand for?
[110] Well, those farming issues are certainly what sparked its formation, and I would say that it's pretty emblematic of the division that's taking place all over Europe in reaction to these environmental regulations that the EU is handing down.
[111] We have also seen farmer protests in Belgium, Germany, and Ireland.
[112] But it does share some non -agricultural goals with right -wing populist parties seizing power in places like Italy and Hungary in recent years.
[113] Party leaders often highlight traditional Dutch identity and morals.
[114] They've expressed some skepticism toward immigration.
[115] So it's pretty similar to the political debates kind of happening all over the Western world.
[116] Now, does this party have enough sway at this point in Parliament to actually?
[117] actually affect these farming policies?
[118] You know, that is the big question.
[119] The EU so far has given no signal that it plans to shift its stance.
[120] And Johann Bolandbroke, the head of the Dutch environmental nonprofit that successfully lobbied for these regulations, has gone on record saying, quote, farmers all over Europe will have to go through a transition.
[121] And he says these regulations, these farmers are fighting, are really just the beginning.
[122] But Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Routé, has called the farmer's massive victory a, quote, very clear, relevant signal from voters.
[123] Right, it's hard to ignore a win like that.
[124] Megan, thanks for reporting.
[125] Yeah, anytime.
[126] That was Daily Wire Culture reporter, Megan Basham.
[127] Tens of thousands of Los Angeles school workers went on strike on Tuesday, demanding higher pay.
[128] Classes came to a halt for nearly half a million Los Angeles public school students.
[129] Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Allorty, is here with the details for us.
[130] So Marade, tell us about the strike.
[131] Hi, Georgia.
[132] So a Los Angeles school worker union began a three -day strike on Tuesday demanding higher pay, among other items.
[133] The union is called Service Employees International Union Local 99 and represents about 30 ,000 school custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and other school support staff.
[134] Even though this is a school worker strike, not a teacher strike, L .A.'s major teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles, is participating in the strike in side.
[135] solidarity.
[136] That meant that the superintendent of LAUSD had to cancel classes on Tuesday after last -minute negotiations on Monday fell through.
[137] School workers marched in the rain Tuesday morning carrying signs demanding that LAUSD respect them.
[138] Now, what are the union -specific demands?
[139] Well, essentially, they want higher pay.
[140] The union is demanding a 30 % pay raise plus another $2 an hour over the next four years.
[141] They're also demanding more work hours for part -time workers.
[142] workers say they struggle to feed their children on what L -A -USD pays them, and many live in poverty, which has been exacerbated by inflation.
[143] The union said school workers earn about $25 ,000 a year on average, but that number is a little bit misleading because it's an average that includes part -time workers.
[144] Here's what some of the striking workers said.
[145] Where are the people nobody sees?
[146] But we're the back one of L -A -U -SD.
[147] I can make more money working out of fast food chain than I do here.
[148] And how has the school district responded to the union?
[149] On Monday, before negotiations failed, L -A -USD offered the school workers a 23 % recurring pay increase as well as a 3 % cash -in -hand bonus.
[150] The school district also offered the union a $20 an hour minimum wage as well as full health care benefits for those working at least four hours a day.
[151] That wasn't enough for the union, though, and they went ahead with the strike the next day.
[152] Here's Superintendent Alberto Carvalo talking about the district's offer to the union.
[153] That's a very compelling package.
[154] and why?
[155] Because it is needed.
[156] These are individuals who have historically been underpaid.
[157] The superintendent also claimed that if LAUSD gave the union everything at once, the school district would be in debt, which is not legal under California law.
[158] He urged workers not to go on strike and deprive students of the chance to learn.
[159] The school district has been negotiating with both the school worker union and the teacher union for over a year.
[160] The school worker union has filed dozens of unfair labor grievances against LAUSD.
[161] Last year, the teachers' union that is striking with the school workers demanded higher pay, lower standardized test requirements, less pressure in the work environment, solar panels at schools, and electric school buses.
[162] So a wide variety of demands there.
[163] Marade, thanks for reporting.
[164] Thanks, Georgia.
[165] That was Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Allorty.
[166] Other stories we're tracking this week.
[167] Axios reports that inventories for drugs to treat everything from ADHD to cancer are hitting a 10 -year low.
[168] Industry experts say that supply chain disruptions are to blame.
[169] And four people were on a three -week sailboat trip crossing from the Galapagos to French Polynesia when their boat was struck by a whale, eventually causing the vessel to sink last week.
[170] People on board say they heard a loud bang as the 44 -foot sailboat lifted violently.
[171] The crew spent about 10 hours in a lifeboat floating about nine miles before a civilian ship plucked them from the Pacific Ocean.
[172] That's all the time we've got this morning.
[173] Thanks for waking up with us.
[174] We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.
[175] Hey guys, producer Brandon here.
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