John,

Good afternoon and welcome to our Weekend Update.

This week, one of the top stories dominating the news continues to be the spy balloons and other unidentified flying objects that our military has intercepted. Many questions have been generated, and most have been left unanswered. We need maximum transparency regarding objects appearing over U.S. airspace, especially regarding our sensitive military installations. Unfortunately, there's been a breakdown in the decision-making process, and it feels like a boat without a captain. Click here or below to watch my interview on “Mornings with Maria” on Fox Business.

Additionally, the Williamsport Sun-Gazette ran a story detailing my call for openness and transparency about the spy balloon and other unidentified airborne objects that have been taken down by U.S. military fighter jets. The reality is that China is spying on us in broad daylight. Unfortunately, the Biden administration has responded with indecision. Click here to read the story.

This week, part two of my interview with Chuck Volpe aired on FOX56 WOLF TV. We talk about the border crisis, the debt ceiling and how the energy policies of the Biden Administration and Democrats have been disastrous for Americans. Click here or below to watch.

Regarding my commentary about Biden’s recent State of the Union Address, I want to share a recent editorial by the Williamsport Sun-Gazette supporting my comments that Biden failed to address the most significant issues facing our nation. Click here to read.

This week, I was invited to the Lackawanna College School of Petroleum and Natural Gas in Tunkhannock. I got to tour their school and see the great resources they offer to students looking to enter the natural gas industry. At the school, students can get a valuable education that has a 96% placement rate in their field after graduation. Lackawanna College has created great partnerships with private industry to provide the best experience for their students.

After touring the college, I then headed to one of Coterra‘s natural gas wells sites located in Susquehanna County. Here I got to see firsthand what happens on location. Susquehanna County has found great success with the natural gas boom, and I’m glad to have this industry in my district.

I hosted a small business zoom round table with over 20 businesses from the 9th Congressional District. We discussed real issues impacting them and how my role on the Small Business Committee can help benefit these businesses. Small businesses employ 70% of people in my district, and we must do everything we can to support them.

Later that evening, I hosted a teletown hall and had over 8,000 constituents on the phone while we discussed issues ranging from the economy to the southern border to our energy crisis. During our call, I conducted a poll and asked, “are you happier with the U.S. economy and national security today vs. in 2019?” And the poll came back 88%-12% in favor of 2019. This tells an incredible story that the American people are feeling the real impacts of the failures of the Biden administration and the far-left agenda.

We had a great meeting with the Central PA Chamber of Commerce Legislative Event. I had the opportunity to speak to this group of business leaders about legislative priorities, the economy, and the ongoing situation on our southern border. I then hosted a question-and-answer session with those in the audience. Also attending were State Sen. Lynda Schlegel Culver, State Rep. Robert Leadbeter, State Rep. David Rowe, and USDA State Director Bob Morgan. Thanks for the invite from Chamber President and CEO Tea Jay Aikey.

IN NEWS YOU WON’T HEAR IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: American families are being crushed by Bidenflation, and a record number of Americans are saying they are worse off under the Biden administration.

HIGHER PRICES AND LOWER WAGES FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES 

• Biden and the Democrats’ failed policies are squeezing Americans’ wallets and robbing them of their hard-earned money.
• January’s Consumer Price Index soared by 6.4 percent compared to last year, exceeding economists’ expectations and remaining excessively high.
  • Core consumer prices – excluding food and energy – rose 5.6 percent compared to last year.
  • Real average hourly earnings fell 1.8 percent since last year, marking the 22^nd month in a row under Biden in which inflation has outpaced wages.
  • Real wages have fallen every month since Biden and Democrats passed their wasteful $1.9 trillion “stimulus.”
• January’s Producer Price Index rose by 6 percent since last year, coming in above economists’ expectations.
  • This marks the 22^nd straight month that wholesale inflation has been above 5 percent year-over-year. 
  • Core producer prices – which takes out food, energy, and trade – increased by 4.5 percent from last year.
• As inflation continues to destroy Americans’ finances, Biden promises “nothing” will change.
  
  

DEMOCRATS’ RESPONSE TO THE CRISIS THEY CREATED: MORE INFLATIONARY SPENDING

• As working-class families struggle to make ends meet thanks to inflation, voters know Democrats are to blame for rising prices.
• In 2021, Biden and Democrats passed their inflation-fueling $1.9 trillion “stimulus,” which even liberal economists admit fueled inflation.  
• In August, every single Democrat voted to pass the Bidenflation Scam, which experts say will worsen inflation and raise taxes on working-class Americans.
  • Studies from the Tax Foundation, Penn Wharton Budget Model, Moody’s, and the Congressional Budget Office all found that the bill will either make inflation worse or do basically nothing to bring down inflation.
  • The Tax Foundation concluded that the Bidenflation Scam Act will “worsen inflation, especially in the first four” years.
• To top this off, Biden is now pushing his student debt bailout, which experts warn will cost taxpayers billions and worsen inflation.

The Congressional Budget Office has predicted that inflation will remain above the target rate of 2% until 2026. Meanwhile, Biden says his plan is working. Unfortunately, that is only true if he defines “working” as fueling historically-high multi-year inflation. We need this administration to put their big-government policy agendas aside and join the House Republicans' attempts to rein in wasteful big-government spending and get serious about reducing our national debt.

Until next week, God bless, and see you soon,

Dan Meuser
http://www.meuserforcongress.com/