October 10, 2022

9-30-22 Hurricane Ian, Bizarro CFIUS, Collapsing Housing Market, a Big Lawsuit, Mojo Steak, and More Polls

WTF Happened This Week?

A newsletter from Win the Future Strategies, LLC, on politics, policy & pairings (Food & Drink) Sign up today!

See below for:

1. what’s going on with us,

2. the top political stories we’re following,

3. the top policy and business developments we’re watching,

4. the recipe and drink of the week, and

5. the “WTF Moment of the Week"

Don’t hesitate to contact us with questions, comments, or content suggestions by visiting our website or by emailing us at Victory@wtfstrategies.com.

(1) Top WTF News

We’re continuing to promote our new book, Vignettes & Vino: Dinner Table Stories from the Trump White House with Recipes and Cocktail Pairings!

This week, Brian was back on the media circuit

He appeared on American Sunrise with Ed Henry, and
The Rich Zeoli Show in the Philadelphia market

This adds to our progress last week, when we reached "Best Seller" status on Amazon as the:

#1 book in the wine pairing category
#1 new release in the cocktails and mixed drinks category
#1 new release in the wine and spirits category

That coincided with last week's coverage of the book in several big outlets:

This adds to our prior coverage from:

SiriusXM Radio with Tim Young on The David Webb Show
Fox News, which featured our Citrus Sangria
Daily Mail, which discussed several of our stories, including the very short-lived consideration of the Tiger King pardon
Real America's Voice where we chatted with Ed Henry and Karyn Turk while they were live from Benny’s in Palm Beach, and
The Sam Malone Show where Brian discussed the book back in July

The book is available for pre-sale in the biggest retailers in America! Order your copy today at one of these fine choices:

(2) Top Political News of the Week

Hurricane Ian

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and President Joe Biden appear to be putting partisanship aside to help the people of Florida cope with the effects of Hurricane Ian. DeSantis told Sean Hannity, "It's my sense that the Administration wants to help ... that they realize that this is a really significant storm," and Biden announced at FEMA headquarters that "we're going to pull together as one team, as one America."

Government Funding / Permitting Reform

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) agreed to strip his permitting reform language from a continuing resolution to keep the government funded until December 16 after his left and right flanks pushed back on it. The CR is expected to pass and be signed by the president today.

Midterm Elections

Some more interesting polling data came out this week:

Wisconsin Republican candidates appear to be surging with messaging about crime and inflation with Sen. Ron Johnson up by 5 points in the race for Senate and Tim Michels up 3 points in the Governor's race. The poll was conducted by Fabrizio/Anzalone.
Pennsylvania Dems appear to have the lead in the Senate race with John Fetterman leading Dr. Oz by 4 points.

Note: However, Franklin and Marshall did this poll, and they underpolled Republicans in 2020 in Pennsylvania by quite a bit. They had Biden leading Trump by 6 points, but the actual margin was only 1 point. So if they're off by a similar amount, Oz may actually be in pretty good shape.

Georgia continues to show some split ticket voting. Gov. Brian Kemp leads Stacey Abrams by 7, but Sen. Raphael Warnock leads Herschel Walker by 4 points according to Fox News.
Arizona also continues to show some split ticket voting, according to Marist. GOP candidate Kari Lake leads the governor's race by 3, but Dem Sen. Mark Kelly leads the GOP's Blake Masters by 5 points.

(3) Top Policy & Business News of the Week

Outbound CFIUS?

While the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) screens foreign investments in the U.S. for national security risks, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing this week to discuss creating an interagency panel to screen U.S. persons' investments outside the country with an eye firmly trained on China.

Friend of WTF and former Assistant Treasury Secretary Tommy Feddo provided thoughtful testimony at the hearing.

Inflation & Interest Rates

Unfortunately, our predictions regarding tough economic sledding are continuing to come true.

Stocks continue to wallow in bear market territory
The bottom is falling out of the housing market.

Crypto / Digital Asset Legislation

The House Financial Services Committee has been working on bipartisan stablecoin legislation, but it is becoming increasingly unlikely to move in this congress.

Business Groups Sue CFPB

The Chamber of Commerce, American Bankers Association and others are suing the CFPB for abusing its authority by imposing disparate impact tests for discrimination on bank examinations via fiat (a.k.a. its practice manual) rather than legislation or administrative rulemaking.

(4) Recipe & Drink Pairing of the Week

Mojo Steak and Coconut Mojito

This is another favorite from Vignettes & Vino! It was also mentioned in the NY Post and fits well with a Tex-Mex-packed trip to Texas this week for your authors.

To EAT: Mojo Steak

Serves 6

2 lbs. thin, boneless flank steak

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups orange juice

1 cup lime juice

3 cups mojo marinade (available in the international section of most grocery stores)

1 Tbsp. salt

2 tsp. black pepper

Cut several lines in the meat so that the sauce will sink in when you marinate it.

Mix all of the ingredients except the meat into a sealable plastic bag, seal it, and shake it up.

Put the meat in the bag and reseal it. Put the bag in the refrigerator and let it sit overnight if you can, but for at least 2 hours.

Heat a grill to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Put the meat on the grill and close the lid. Cook for about 4 minutes. Flip the meat and cook for another 4 minutes. If using a meat thermometer, the meat should be about 135 degrees Fahrenheit.

Take the meat off the grill and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Slice into thin pieces and serve.

This can be served as is, or over a light, summery salad.

To Drink: Coconut Mojito

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

4 sprigs fresh mint, divided

2 oz. coconut rum

1 oz. lime juice

3 oz. coconut water

In a pot, add the water, sugar, and 3 sprigs of mint, and bring to a boil. Let cool. You should now have a minty simple syrup.

Put ice in a shaker. Pour in the coconut rum, lime juice, and coconut water. Add 1 oz. of the minty simple syrup. (The rest can be saved for future use.)

Shake well. Pour into a glass and garnish with a mint sprig. Optional: You can top this off with soda water for some additional fizz.

(5) WTF Moment of the Week

A Florida Man, and apparent super patriot, marched an American Flag into hurricane-force winds as Ian wreaked havoc this week. We always appreciate moments of levity like this even in difficult circumstances and send our best wishes to those coping with this natural disaster.

As always, you can reach us by visiting www.winthefuturestrategies.com or by emailing us at Victory@wtfstrategies.com. Have a great week!