Morning Wire XX
[0] A politically charged trip to Taiwan planned by Speaker Nancy Pelosi has sparked debate on Capitol Hill.
[1] She cannot allow the Chinese communist dictatorship to think that it can bully an American speaker of the House.
[2] And frankly, she ought to tell the Pentagon and the State Department to shut up.
[3] What's at stake in the high -profile trip?
[4] And what actions are the federal government taking to keep China in check?
[5] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor -in -chief John Bickley.
[6] It's Tuesday, July 26th, and this is Morning Wire.
[7] Americans' trust in the federal government has collapsed, with a majority on both the left and the right, now saying it's not only corrupt, but rigged against them.
[8] And has the housing market finally cooled off?
[9] We lay out the rising and falling numbers of mortgage rates and demand.
[10] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
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[20] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has raised eyebrows in recent days with a planned trip to Taiwan next month.
[21] At a time when tensions with China are high over a range of issues, such as China's military buildup in the Pacific region, the origin of the coronavirus, and disagreements over trade, experts and politicians have mixed feelings about the wisdom of the visit to this controversial territory.
[22] Here to discuss is columnist David Marcus.
[23] So, David, what are the main concerns about this potential trip?
[24] Good morning.
[25] So Taiwan, which is technically called the Republic of China, has existed in a strong.
[26] limbo since the communist revolution in 1949 established the People's Republic of China.
[27] The PRC has claimed Taiwan as part of its territory since then, but the nation has operated independently.
[28] It has its own government, currency, passports, and national identity.
[29] Communist China views Pelosi's potential visit as the United States supporting something like Taiwanese independence.
[30] Now, what is the official position of the United States on the of Taiwan?
[31] Officially, the U .S. has recognized Taiwan as part of communist China since 1979.
[32] But it's more complicated than that.
[33] While the U .S. adheres to this one -China policy, it also supports the far more democratic government of Taiwan and even supplies military aid to help the nation maintain its security.
[34] You might recall back in May when President Biden shocked the planet by saying the U .S. would fight China if they invaded Taiwan.
[35] Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if it comes to that?
[36] Yes.
[37] The idea that it can be taken by force, is taken by force, is just not appropriate.
[38] It'll dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine.
[39] That statement got walked back to our traditional strategic ambiguity, which neither promises to fight for Taiwan or not.
[40] Now, who supports Pelosi taking this trip and who has voiced concerns?
[41] Is this a partisan issue?
[42] So according to the president, the U .S. military is against this, presumably on the grounds that China clearly sees it as escalatory.
[43] And some Democrats with foreign policy expertise agree, but others don't.
[44] Some Republicans have been urging Pelosi to go, including former Speaker Newt Gingrich.
[45] So this isn't a purely partisan debate, especially at a time when the GOP has an emerging non -interventionist faction.
[46] Now, obviously, there's a parallel situation happening right now in Ukraine, and the U .S. has been very supportive there.
[47] Could we see a similar situation play out in Taiwan?
[48] Absolutely.
[49] And that's the nightmare scenario.
[50] Even operating to proxy wars against such powers as Russia and China would be a huge lift, let alone a hot war as Biden threatened in Taiwan.
[51] But if you look back at the justifications for our involvement in Ukraine, one thing that came up a lot was sending a message to President Gio, of China, that these kinds of aggressions, as George H .W. Bush once put it, will not stand.
[52] So in the context of Pelosi's visit, the question really is whether it's another show of strength that will stay Xi's hand or an insult that may provoke an angry reaction.
[53] Now, this is tangentially related, but the Senate is looking to pass a bill that would reduce our reliance on China for computer chips.
[54] Is that also seen as a potential provocation of China?
[55] And then secondly, is that bill expected to pass?
[56] I mean, yeah, China's going to see it as a shot at them.
[57] It's a little dicey as to if it can pass.
[58] It has some bipartisan support.
[59] GOP Senator John Corning co -sponsored the initial legislation, but it's not clear that there are 10 Republicans needed to pass what's a pretty watered down bill.
[60] Even Democrat Senator Bob Menendez has complained about how small and insufficient it is.
[61] But look, it's part of a broader recognition that we may be way too reliant on China for all sorts of things, including medicine, which the Trump administration tried to address late in its term.
[62] The need for Chinese goods is just another one of those eggshells that U .S.-China policy has to very carefully walk on.
[63] All right.
[64] Well, thanks so much for joining us today, David.
[65] Thanks for having me. That was Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus.
[66] Coming up, a majority of Americans now say the government is corrupt.
[67] Hey, everyone.
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[75] A new poll shows that a majority of Americans on both the left and right believe the U .S. government is corrupt and rigged against them.
[76] The poll from the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics also measured Americans' feelings on taking up arms against the government and found that just over a quarter believe a revolt may be necessary sometime soon.
[77] Here to discuss the poll's results and its implications is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
[78] So, Tim, some notable findings here.
[79] What's driving these negative numbers?
[80] Hey, John.
[81] Well, it's coming from both Republicans and Democrats and a lot of independence.
[82] so all over the political spectrum.
[83] That a lot of negative poll results are coming from people on the right is probably unsurprising, considering that the White House and Congress are solidly in democratic hands at the moment.
[84] But people in the middle are pretty much in agreement with Republicans about the character of American government.
[85] According to the poll, two -thirds of Republican and independent voters agree that the government is corrupt and rigged against them.
[86] More surprisingly, though, and this may be one of the most telling stats of the poll, even with Democrats running Washington, just over half of Democratic voters, 51 % believe that the government is corrupt and rigged against them.
[87] Yeah, many will probably find that surprising.
[88] Now, the poll also surveyed feelings on taking up arms against the government, actual physical revolt.
[89] What did it find there?
[90] Yeah, 28 % of voters believe that, according to the language of the poll, quote, it may be necessary at some point soon for citizens to take up arms against the government.
[91] Republicans and independents are driving that sentiment more than Democrats.
[92] Roughly a third of those voters answered yes to that question.
[93] But Democratic voters aren't far behind as one in five answered the same way.
[94] Now, while those results seem dire, there is maybe some hope that voters' confidence in the American system hasn't completely collapsed.
[95] A majority of Americans still believe in the integrity of elections.
[96] 56 % of respondents said they, quote, generally trust elections to be conducted fairly and counted accurately.
[97] Now, those results were some of the most polarized of the poll, with 78 % of Democrats saying they trusted elections, and only 33 % of Republicans saying the same.
[98] independents were pretty evenly split on the question, 51 % saying they trust elections.
[99] Still, it seems like only 56 % of Americans trusting elections is really low.
[100] It is.
[101] Now, we're seeing some strong pushback against governments of other countries like the Netherlands and Canada.
[102] Are there any lessons from other countries that the U .S. could learn?
[103] Well, obviously, there are concerns when you see widespread discontent like this and more people expecting some type of large -scale violence.
[104] The reality is, though, that life in the U .S. is probably still too good to see anything close to a government collapse, like we've seen in Sri Lanka, where the median income is a little over $2 ,000 a year.
[105] But wide -scale protests, like we've seen in the Netherlands, which has a comparable median income in GDP per capita to the U .S., are a different story.
[106] As we've reported on the show before, farmers in the Netherlands have staged some pretty disruptive protests over the country's strict climate regulations, which were threatening to drive the country's agricultural sector into the ground.
[107] Now, Biden has made addressing climate change a quarterstone of his agenda and has argued that carbon -based fuels are to blame.
[108] He's been pretty hostile to new oil and gas projects already, so we'll see if he wants to take any more action like that, as his progressive base seems to want.
[109] That would obviously have ramifications for millions of Americans at the gas pump, though.
[110] And with midterms coming up and Biden having to think about a second term, the public pressure may overcome his desire to cut fossil fuels for the moment.
[111] That's certainly something to keep an eye on.
[112] Tim, thanks for coming on.
[113] Thanks for having me. That was Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
[114] Following a year of record -setting home prices on a red -hot housing market, more evidence continues to point to relief for homebuyers, as mortgage demand has hit a 22 -year low.
[115] Here with more on what's driving the housing market cool down and what it could mean for homebuyers and homeowners is Daily Wire's senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
[116] So, Cabot, walk us through these new numbers.
[117] What are we seeing?
[118] So we've talked on the show over the last few months about how the housing market appears to be cooling off.
[119] Well, we're starting to get the strongest evidence yet of how true that is.
[120] New data this week shows that fewer Americans are applying for mortgages than at any point since the year 2000.
[121] At the same time, we saw another week of decreasing home purchases, and mortgage refinancing hit a 22 -year low as well.
[122] Now, keep in mind, because home purchases take a bit of time to be finalized, a lot of this data actually reflects where the market was a month earlier.
[123] So this is actually a lot of data coming in from May, and there's a good chance that it's even cooler than it appears.
[124] So even though average home prices are are still sitting at all -time highs.
[125] The broader housing market itself is without a doubt starting to slow down.
[126] So housing prices are still up, but fewer people are jumping into the market.
[127] Yeah, exactly.
[128] Now, is that due to inflation, mortgage rates?
[129] Yeah, as always, it's a combination of a few things.
[130] Inflation is definitely playing a role here, though.
[131] People just don't have as much money saved up as they used to, and as monthly expenses continue to go up, more and more people are hesitant to sign on for a big mortgage payment.
[132] And high inflation also means that builders are holding off on new construction because costs are still through the roof.
[133] Home builders broke ground on just 980 ,000 homes in June, and that may sound like a lot, but that's actually down 19 % since February.
[134] And to that broader point, general economic uncertainty does seem to be playing a big role here.
[135] Remember, consumer sentiment right now is at an all -time low with more than 8 and 10 Americans saying they're pessimistic about the future of the economy and 70 % saying a recession is coming.
[136] And I imagine the rising, interest rate also has to be playing a role here.
[137] Yeah, that's actually the biggest factor here without a doubt.
[138] As rates have gone up from 3 % to now 5 .5%, millions of people have been priced out of the house search because they just can't afford to borrow money.
[139] And it's important to note that's actually an intentional step being taken by the Federal Reserve.
[140] They want to make it more difficult to borrow money right now because they want to slow down the economy.
[141] And in turn, they're hoping it'll slow down inflation.
[142] So we recently did a segment about this.
[143] And at that time, you said there was not a ton of concern about a housing crash.
[144] Has that changed at all with these new numbers?
[145] Not really.
[146] There's definitely growing concern over a broader economic recession, and that certainly would impact the housing market.
[147] But as far as an outright crash like we saw in 0809, it still seems unlikely.
[148] Homeowners are just in a much stronger place this go -round because of massive increases in home equity over the last year.
[149] And more importantly, demand for housing is still incredibly high.
[150] On that note, I talked to Mitch Rochelle.
[151] He's the founder of MacroTrens Advisors, a real estate investment firm.
[152] One might think that higher mortgage costs would lead to a crash in the housing market, but I don't believe so.
[153] The demand for housing greatly exceeds the supply, and inflation has become an impediment to building new homes.
[154] So as long as the demand for housing remains strong, the housing market will have a floor.
[155] I do not.
[156] I do not.
[157] I do predict a crash in the housing market anytime soon.
[158] So yet another aspect of the economy that's being impacted by inflation.
[159] And as prices on virtually everything continue to go up, it's more expensive than ever to build new homes, meaning supplying the housing market is going to stay low for the near future.
[160] All right.
[161] Cabot, thanks for reporting.
[162] Anytime.
[163] That's Daily Wire's Senior Editor, Cabot Phillips.
[164] Other stories we're tracking this week, President Biden's COVID -19 symptoms are, quote, almost completely resolved.
[165] his doctor announced on Monday.
[166] Pope Francis is in Canada this week to apologize for the Catholic Church's assimilation policy, which indigenous Canadians say destroyed their culture.
[167] The U .S. Department of Defense announced Friday that it will send another 270 million in foreign aid to Ukraine to assist their war effort against Russia.
[168] Galane Maxwell has been transferred to a low -security prison in Tallahassee, Florida, where she is serving a 20 -year sentence.
[169] The World Health Organization has activated its highest, level for monkey pox, declaring it an international public health emergency.
[170] Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
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[173] That's all the time we've got this morning.
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