Federal Reserve official says fighting inflation likely to be ‘painful’ Associated Press · Sept. 21, 2026
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said persistent inflation pressures from supply shocks, including higher oil prices and tariffs, could require additional rate increases and create a tougher trade-off between inflation and employment.
ANMP Insights
Grocery costs were the sharpest economic pain point in ANMP’s February survey: 78% said grocery costs were on the wrong track. (link)
60% ranked grocery prices among the two economic indicators that mattered most personally. (link)
35% said falling grocery prices would do more than anything else tested to convince them the economy was moving in the right direction. (link)
Trump announces all 50 states joining Medicaid drug pricing model Associated Press · Sept. 18, 2026
The administration says all 50 states will participate in a Medicaid model designed to lower the net prices of selected prescription drugs, while outside experts say the eventual savings remain uncertain because the underlying deals are not public.
ANMP Insights
Premiums are voters’ top health-care concern: 31% name premiums as their greatest overall concern, rising to 37% when the question focuses specifically on health-care costs. (link)
34% say insurance companies are the part of the health-care system most in need of fixing; 58% hold insurers more responsible for premiums and 53% for out-of-pocket costs. (link)
39% call requiring insurers to pass 100% of medicine discounts directly to patients a top reform priority, and 37% say the same about stopping PBMs from profiting by steering patients toward higher-priced drugs. (link)
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warns US over escalation, and other Mideast developments
Associated Press · Sept. 21, 2026
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned of further escalation as fighting continued and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remained disrupted, keeping military, diplomatic, and energy risks in focus.
ANMP Insights
In ANMP’s September Occam survey, diplomatic negotiations were the most-supported U.S. option on Iran at 44%, followed by continued economic sanctions at 38% and naval action to keep the Strait of Hormuz open at 36%. (link)
Ground troops were the least-supported option, at 13%. (link)
The nuclear-threat argument was most often selected as the single most convincing argument for U.S. action, at 17%; intelligence warnings that Iran or its proxies could strike inside the United States ranked second, at 13%. (link)
The Strait of Hormuz and gas-price argument drew the highest “very convincing” rating, but it also produced the strongest backlash among respondents who said an argument made them less supportive of U.S. action. (link)
I believe that We, that is the nation, and for that matter, the world, are approaching a point quite beyond "the Devil is in the details". The Devil, apparently, is in our perception of the entire circumstance of mankind. Once again, (first, it was the League of Nations), our grand vision of World Unity has turned into a bickering little squabble, because "people" in general can't grasp the idea that there is not one solution for everyone, nor is everyone on the same page at the same time, and that these two situations are not conflicting problems that need to be solved, but characteristics of the human condition. They are qualities, aspects, facets. They are differences to be celebrated. This is why we have different nations, different languages, different art and music. It's why your neighbor doesn't look or act like you; because he, (or she), is NOT you, and that is just fine.
I'm going to illuminate some of the worst offenders. It is infinitely wrong to "Kill the Infidel." Get your House in order. I don't care what Name you give to God. You are not allowed to "Kill the Infidel". And we really should look at the fact that some of our pollutants, like estrogen-based chemicals, are having much more serious effects than we previously thought. And while "Winning" may be a team effort, "Leaders" are a rare and valuable breed.