stuart: good morning, everyone, and welcome to "varney & company." fail failure. house republicans could not even pass a procedural vote on funding for the defense department. the "wall street journal" says the gop is wasting its majority

on foolish shutdown threats. a government shutdown now looks almost inevitable, and speaker mccarthy's position looks threatened. where's the one for republicans? i don't see it. the white house says their team will not be going to detroit. they may do a zoom meeting unstead. attention now focuses on which factuallies will be struck if there's no serious progress by man friday. the speculation is that -- plan by friday. on the markets,s it's the day we hear from jay powell. the betting is in rate hike today, but you'll have to read the fed's tea leaves to figure out if there are any rate cuts -- rate cuts, that is -- on the distant horizon. the dow right now up over 100 points, the s&p 15 higher. nasdaq up 5 the 2. that's premarket. interest rates, they're staying at what i'm going to call elevated levels. the yield on the 10-year is 4.34, and the 2-year still firmly above the a 5% level at

5.06, to be precise. oil, $90 a daryl. 90.432 a barrel. but gas still not moving. regular holding at $3.if 87 a gallon. oh, look at a california. it's the reached $5.79 for regular there. what will governor newsom do about that? more checks for consumers maybe? after all, he's at least looking at the presidency. and then we go to diesel. $4.58 per gallon. politics, the president addresses the u.n. china, russia, india, britain, france not there, and he never mentioned taiwan. but he was big on climate. iran's president attacked america on american soil. the israeli ambassador protested and was inexplicably dethe town thed. on the show today, new fox power rankings. there's drama here. republicans favor populists over conservatives, and trump maintains a 38-point lead over

desantis. a few minutes from now presidential hopeful nikki haley,ing who is moving up9 mt. power rankings. the governor will outline a new policy on gas taxes. yes, big show today. wednesday, september the 20th, 2023. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪ things could change, things could go your way -- ♪ if you hold on for one more day ♪ stuart: hold on. wilson phillips. i don't know that name -- lauren: i know the song. stuart: now, come on, lauren, you're back in new york city. you wouldn't call that crowded. lauren: well,s when the cam are was -- camera was focused uptown, it looked crowded, but no, not in front of of the building. that's just regular. go further east, however, you have the u.n. general assembly.

stuart: thanks, lauren. let's start with the autoworkers' strike which is now in day six. jeff flock is in ohio near the picket lines. biden officials were supposed to head out there the for if talks. do we know why they're not going, jeff? >> reporter: they don't want 'em here, that's about as simple as i can put it. it was to be gene sperling, the president's economic adviser, as well as the acting labor secretary, julie su, the president said he wanted to send them out to help facilitate the talks. union says, we don't need you. so they have decided to stay in touch by phone but not come to the location. they also say, the union does -- [background sounds] as you hear support for the strike, perhaps, in the background, the union also says it doesn't want former president trump here either. i quote now the president of the uaw, shawn fein. he said yesterday e, quote, every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class in an economy that enriches people like donald

trump at the, expense of the worker. i don't know if everybody supports that statement, but i think they do support their union president. i got the strike captain here. this is todd gibson. he's been an autoworker for 38 years. >> yes, sir. stuart: >> reporter: first strike you've before been in. do you support your union you leadership? >> i absolutely do. we have a diversified group, we have people from belvedere joining us in toledo, and we are all here united to support our local and support our international and try and get this done. >> reporter: you're the captain. this is a paint shop largely? >> yes, it is. all these guys are on our team right now, and we're proud to be out here and stand firm. >> reporter: he says you guys support the union leadership. is that true? yes? [inaudible conversations] >> reporter: so far so good, stuart. six e days and counting. these folks are now making strike pay, not their regular pay.

$500 a week. that's a pretty big hit for some spoke toes. stuart: sure is. >> reporter: been a long time since you made $500 a week. [laughter] stuart: perhaps the truckers were honking because of the fox mic there. that's just speculation. thanks very much, jeff. fox just released its latest power rankings. good morning, lauren. lauren: good morning. stuart: welcome back. give me the full picture. lauren: breaking down the republican party into two factions, if you will. there's the populists, and you have donald trump, ron desantis and vivek ramaswamy. they have this america first distrust in federal institutions mentality, and the trio commands 84% of the likely republican primary votes. then on the right you have the conservatives, mike pence, nikki haley and tim scott. they garner 11% of the vote meaning voters clearly prefer the populist message. donald trump is their standard bearer. but look at the challenges here -- or the challengers, i should say. who can break out and become the

standard bearer for the conservative wing of the republican party, nikki haley, tim scott or make pencesome chris christie is the wild card, he's the non-trump lane where one-quarter of voters or are, that's why he's basically making it or breaking it in the state of new hampshire. the debate two one week from today, and nikki haley e will join you in a few minutes from now. stuart: yes, she will. she's going to be sitting right there. karl rove is with us this morning. karl, the preference is for populist candidates. i don't think you're happy with that, are you in. >> well, i'm a conservative, and i distrust the populism which is more a sentiment than it is an ideology. but, yes, it's -- i'm a traditional republican conservative and not a populist. stuart: is the the party -- i would think of ronald reagan as the traditional conservative. it seems like the party's moving away from ronald reagan. >> well, you know what's interesting, henry olson has an interesting piece out today where he says we're all

populists, and there is a bit of populism in any winning republican presidential campaign. for example, in 19800 ronald reagan was, you know, the government is not your friend, it's the adversary. if the the worst, the the most scary words in the english language are i'm from the government, i'm here to help you. so there was a little bit of populism in his message as there was in every winning republican presidential campaign in the modern era. but the question is, do you strike a populist note, that is to say a distrust of big government and and washington, or are you a populist in the sense you think the relationship between the ordinary man and ordinary woman and their government is seriously out of whack and you need to seriously redo the economic system and the political system in order to give an a advantage to the people who are on the outs. and we see this on the left and the right. bernie sanders and others in the republican party on the right who approach it from a different angle but end up having the same critique which is our society's basically broken, our government is basically broken, and we've

got to have significant changes to put power in the hands of people who will act on our behalf. stuart: listen to what one democrat i la maker said to the -- law maker said to the washington post, and i'm quoting now. the worst with case she e far you is we get past the nominating process with president biden as the nominee and then he's no longer to continue on as the nominee. that's the nightmare scenario for democrats. all right, karl, do the democrats have the time or the ability to avoid this nightmare situation? >> well, they would if the president of the united states faced reality. think about this, ap national opinion research, 77% of americans say joe biden is too old to be president including 69% of democrats. 68% say he lacks the necessary mental and physical health to be president. that's an nbc poll in june. and then a new poll, 34% in a cbs news poll say they don't think joe biden, if reelected to

a second term, will live through his second term. i mean, this is a disaster for democrats. and i can't believe that the biden white house isn't aware of the grave difficulties they face in a general election. if the democrats put a new face up, all of these concerns would go away, and they would have the upper advantage in the november election. stuart: yes. >> similarly, if the republican republicans put up a fresh face, they have an advantage. otherwise we're going to see the two most unpopular candidates, front-runners in the history of american politics battle it out in an election which nobody really wants either one of them to win. stuart: all right. i'll leave it there. karl, or thanks very much for being here. karl rove, thanks. >> you bet. stuart: 20 minutes away from the opening bell, and i see some green. up 130 on the dow industrials. eddie ghabour with us. eddie, it's fed day. here's what i think happens. no rate hike today, they leave the door open for rate hikes later but give no sign of rate cuts in the future.

what do you say to that, and if i'm right, what will the markets do? >> stuart, i agree with you 100%. and and, look, the markets may have a pop today with the the no rate hikes, but i think when we digest this info, we're going to come into the reality that rates are going to stay higher for much longer than everyone is anticipating and pricing in. 9 and the number one problem, in our opinion, that we have is the cost of capital is going to stay high for the foreseeable future. so carrying costs for small businesses and families are going to be higher over the next 6-12 months than they were the past 6-12 months. it's simple math, and that's why you're seeing these small banks, their index is down about 30% thus far year to date. small caps are still down 20 the plus percent from their highs, so these areas are struggling because of the cost of capital, and we have to recalibrate. and investors need to be prepared for this environment or they could be in for some

surprises ahead. stuart: eddie, till not quite a believer. i've got to leave it right from the. thanks for being with us, as usual. during his u.n. address, president biden said the u.s. doesn't want a conflict with china, or but he didn't mention taiwan not even once. i'm going to ask former u.n. ambassador and 2024 hopeful nikki haley if she would have mentioned taiwan if she were president. she's here in the studio, and she's going to join me on the set moments from now. we'll be back. ♪ american woman, listen what i say. ♪ ♪

♪ explore endless design possibilities. to find your personal style. endless hardie® siding colors. textures and styles. it's possible. with james hardie™. ♪ is it possible to fall in love with your home... ...before you even step inside? ♪ discover the magnolia home james hardie collection. available now in siding colors, styles and textures. curated by joanna gaines. ♪ tourists tourists that turn into scientists. tourists photographing thousands of miles of remote coral reefs. that can be analyzed by ai in real time. ♪ so researchers can identify which areas are at risk. and help life underwater flourish. ♪

ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com.

the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network.

municipal bonds don't usually get the media coverage the stock market does. in fact, most people don't find them all that exciting. but, if you're looking for the potential for consistent income that's federally tax-free, now is an excellent time to consider municipal bonds from hennion & walsh. if you have at least 10,000 dollars to invest, call and talk with one of our bond specialists at 1-800-217-3217. we'll send you our exclusive bond guide, free. with details about how bonds can be an important part of your portfolio. hennion & walsh has specialized in fixed income and growth solutions for 30 years, and offers high-quality municipal bonds from across the country. they provide the potential for regular income... are federally tax-free... and have historically low risk. call today to request your free bond guide. 1-800-217-3217. that's 1-800-217-3217.

♪ ♪ so if i'm going to go at all -- ♪ go big or go home ♪ stuart: that was predictable. go big or go home. does that have something to do with the election? [laughter] i guess it does. good production choice of music there, producers. by the way, that is south carolina. 72 degrees, looks like a beautiful day. we're playing the song because the former governor of south carolina and 2024 presidential candidate and hopeful is nikki haley who's sitting right next to me here in new york. hanks for is joining us, governor. >> it's the great to be with you. stuart: would you like to roll out your new policy on gas taxes for us? i think you're going to scrap federal gas taxes, is that right? >> we're coming out with an economic plan this week, but, yes, we want to eliminate the federal gas tax. stuart: completely? if. >> look, we have to get more money in our taxpayers' pockets.

families spend over $1,000 a day to fill up their gas tanks. let's get rid of it. it's a small portion of what actually goes to pave roads, and of that portion, a lot of it goes to bike trails and hiking trails and things like that. and the highway trust fund hasn't been solvent in years. let's go back and make sure that we do that not with the highway trust fund, but that we do it out of the general fund in a way that we're looking at a infrastructure, roads, bridges, ports for 20, 30 years out and not just keep piecemealing it the way we are. and you also help families who are suffering from inflation. stuart: your critics would say you're simply buying votes with government money. >> no. i'm acknowledging a system that doesn't work anymore. you can ask any state in the country whether that money works. what they do is they go and they take forever. by the time you decide you want to pave ad road, by the time it goes through all the federal bureaucracy, the permits, it has gotten much more expensive to pave it. it would be better if you had

that money in the states allowing them to do the permitting, them to do what they need to do. we'd save money for the taxpayers, we'd get roads faster, we'd modernize and get ready for the future. stuart: governor, the latest power rankings, which we've been focusing on here on fox, show the preference for voters is by far and away for populist e candidates on the left-hand side of the screen. on the right-hand side, the preference for conservatives, all the way down to 11%. you, i i think, are labeled in this poll as a conservative. are a reagan conservative. >> you know, look, i don't believe in labels. i know the media loves to do baseballs -- labels. is it conservative or populist to want term limits, to say i'm not going to give foreign aid to countries who hate america? is it conservative or populist to say we want mental health competency tests for anyone over the age of 75? is it populist or conservative to say i think every state in the country should have voter id?

there are things that uh-uh say that are populist, things that i say that are conservative. when the media decides to label you, they get it wrong every time. the only thing i care about is what the american people want, and that's what we're going to give to them. stuart: it's not all our fault, government, surely. you're a populist if you don't want any changes in social security, medicare, medicaid. you're a conservative if you want some kind of reform of social security, medicare and medicaid. are you in that camp? >> i think i'm a realist. stuart: but do you want reform of -- >> absolutely. stuart: -- social security? >> absolutely. anyone that tells you they're not going to reform any of those entitlement ares means they're going to go into office and leave it bankrupt when they leave. social security will go bankrupt in ten years, medicare will go bankrupt in eight. we don't have to hurt people in their 40s, 50s and 60s to do this. we go to people like my kids who are just entering the system, and you change the terms for them. we have to acknowledge there's an issue. and if we want our kids to have anything, we have to start

changing entitlements. and anyone that says they're not going to do it is not being serious. stuart: the only politician the i can remember who actually did something about social security was ronald reagan. i think i'm right on that one. >> get ready for a new one. stuart: it is the third rail -- [laughter] of american politics. >> look, and it's one we have to be honest with. we're now $33 trillion in debt. they're spending like drunken sailors, both republicans and democrats. we have to acknowledge some real truths if we're going to deal with the debt and spending. we've got a lot of lawyers out there. it's time for an accountant in the white house. stuart: chaos in the house of representatives. you can't cut -- very difficult to cut spending, and it's the absolute chaos there. are you with the freedom caucus on this? >> it's not difficult to cut spending, you have to want to do it. congress has been lazy for a long time. biden has sent us down the socialism creek, but our republicans have tone this to us too. -- done this to us too. they need to get in a room, they need to figure it out. as president, i will stop the spending, i will eliminate the

earmarks and veto any spending bill that doesn't take us back to precovid levels. taxpayers don't want to hear about whether you're going to shut down government or not shut down government. they want to hear you're going to get in a room and fix it. cut spending. do you mean to tell me you can't find anything to stop spending? instead of saying we're going to take this budget and add to it every year, what about if we went and said what do we have to have and you did zero-based budgeting up? what if you started there? stuart: o.k.. we've got -- looks almost certain we're going to shut this government down. republicans will get the blame. are you prepare to accept the blame for shutting down the government in the interest of lowering spending? >> i am prepared to blame all of congress if that happens because you -- what we expect of them is do your job. and let me tell you this, if government shuts down, congress should not get paid. you don't pay any single congressional member if you're going to go and allow this embarrassment the happen and do this to the taxpayers.

taxpayers seven you to dee -- send you to d.c. to do your job. that's balancing the budget. they don't do that. spend taxpayer dollars in a way you'ding spend your own. they don't do that. doing your job is paying down the debt because our kids are never going to forgive us for this. doing your job is getting inflation down and making sure we're energy dominant and that people can afford homes and rent again. doing your job is making sure we can buy groceries for our families and fill up our cars like we need it. congress has failed, all of them, and they need to fix this. stuart: you were ambassador to the united nations. president biden addressed the u.n. yesterday. he did not mention taiwan. if you were president, would you mention taiwan? and address the united nationsesome. >> not only would i mention taiwan, i would mention the fact that china had a spy balloon going over us, the fact that they've killed more americans than the iraq, afghanistan or vietnam wars combined. i would mention the fact that they steal $600 billion of

intellectual property from us. i'd mention the fact that they're putting a spy center off our coast in cuba. there's a lot you would mention. climate change, can't say that would be a top priority. and if you want to know why the leaders around the world didn't come to the u.n. year, they don't respect joe biden. stuart: i get the impression you're enjoying yourself. >> i'm having a great time. go to nikki haley.com and join us. we have a country to save. stuart: appreciate it. thanks very much. do not miss the second republican debate, the second republican primary debate, september the 27th, is it's here on fox business. quick check of the futureses and we'll leave you. the dow industrials looking for a gain, solid gain. 120 points up. we'll be back.

this is your season to smile with new dentures from aspen dental -- to gather together and discover the moments that matter, to jump into the fun and join in the celebration. to help get you ready, your aspen dental denture team is celebrating 25 years of affordable care with an epic anniversary savings event. don't miss enjoying a moment with fast repairs in our onsite labs and 20% off your custom dentures. plus, we have a denture money back guarantee so you can smile with confidence. aspen dental. book today. i've spent centuries evolving with the world. that's the nature of being the economy. observing investors choose assets to balance risk and reward.

with one element securing portfolios, time after time. gold. agile and liquid. a proven protector. an ever-evolving enabler of bold decisions. an asset more relevant than ever before. gold. your strategic advantage.

stuart: look at those markets -- i'm sorry -- [laughter] we're going to introshahgy handny, we've got to concern introduce shah gilani. first of all, arm. it's now below its first trading price on day one of its ipo. are you buying? >> i'm looking to buy lore, stuart. i think in the case of arm and also cart, i think investors will have an opportunity to buy lower. i think cart's looking a little weak this morning. both of these ipos got priced at the top end of their trading

range, and they exploded at the open. cart was up something like 40 plus percent yesterday, ended up around 12%, so that's a lot of giveback. so the enthusiasm seems to have waned fairly quickly. i like both of the companies, and i think they can be had a little lower, maybe a good bit lower, 5-10 is %, if the market starts to dip. stuart: clavio, they a debut today. are you buying? i'm not sure what they do. [laughter] >> i don't really -- i tend not to to buy on ipos. a lot of times retail bids them the up, and i want to see after the fact how they trade when the professional traders go in there and take their stance and commit or not commit and then options start trading and we can get some perhaps shorting going on, then you can figure out where the levels are. as far as cart and arm, i think they're both great companies. stuart: is the old shah gilani back, the great dip buyer?

>> yes, i am back, stuart. listen, wert in the first leg of a -- we are in the first leg of a new bull market. doesn't mean we can't see a correction, so i would look for any correction to be an absolute buying opportunity. i'm in buy the dip modes, and i hate to say it, but i want to be bearish so i can see the market dip so i can buy a lot more positions that have escaped me to the upside. stuart: to repeat, you think beer in the first phase of a new bull market, correct? >> absolutely are, yes. we have a lot higher to go. stuart: whoa, that's interesting. welcome back, shah gilani. we like the old shah gilani. all good. they're about to open the market. a lots of cheering at the market. they're all pressing the button, and why not? the market is now open. i can see the dow is up about a quarter of 1% right from the get go. let's have a look -- oh, clavio. let's have a look at the dow 30.

they're excited, aren't they? having a grand old time. well, when they open, we'll show you how they're doing. move on. let's go to the s&p 500. how's that doing in the very early going? up a quarter of 1%. the nasdaq composite, that is up almost a quarter of 1%. big tech, where are they this morning? they opened mostly i higher. amazon, apple, microsoft up. meta, down just 27 the cents, alphabet down 28 cents, that's not much of a loss. arm, let's look at that. now below, it's now trading below its first trading price. that was 56, it's it's now at 55. cathie wood, she famously loves technology long shots and start-ups. she says she avoided the arm ip- lauren: she did. stuart: dud she say why? lauren: she says it's overvalued, and investors are focusing too much on the a.i. potential and not enough on the here and now, the current competition in data center. arm's down for four days in a

row. now it's unchanged, it could rise for the first time in four days. stuart: look what you kid. lauren: there you go. she said the cost of a.i. is going down, so if interest rateses are cut some point next year, all this is good for tech. and maybe we'll see a bounceback. stuart: okay, we like that. look at microsoft. where did they open this morning? i believe they're a little bit lower. virtually unchanged, down 20 cents. what are they saying about future growth? lauren: it comes from gaming, and that's one of the reasons they want activision blizzard. we know this because of documents that were leaked in the court from the ftc versus microsoft trial for their purchase of act but e decision. it shows how they plan to monetize mobile games through advertising in the game itself. also hardware, we're expecting an xbox conceal refresh next fall and a completely new xbox in 2028. microsoft is completely flat, but bernstein came out and said

their cloud services -- this is a.i -- will be more period of time bl than first thought. for every one nvidia chip, microsoft can generate $1,000 a month. for every one gpu from nvidia, they can generate $1,000 a month or $1.50 every single hour. stuart: i think the market is in a wait and see mode -- lauren: on the fed. stuart: on microsoft, i think. anyway, general mills, i believe they reported this morning -- lauren: yes. stuart: they're up -- lauren: it's a flat market today. the takeaway is cereal is really expensive. [laughter] stuart: that's true. lauren: it is. we have absorbed the higher prices for the most part, but demand is slowing. general mills also sells pet food, and sales there were pleat9ly flat. they notice -- completely flat. pet owners are shifting to value brands, and i said are we feed fido less because we're buying small orer portions of things? other than that, profits and

revenues were stronger than expected. the stock is up 14%. stuart: what's the morality of downgrading your dog's food? don't answer that. [laughter] lauren: he's scared of my answer. stuart: welcome back. lauren: oh, here's a gainer -- stuart: pinterest, yes, it's up 5%. i call them the ideas board site. does that gain have anything to do with a.i.? lauren: and a buyback. the ceo rolled out new ad tools that also integrate artificial intelligence at their investor day yesterday with. they see growth in the mid to high teens and announced a $1 million share buyback. wall street is loving it. citigroup says they're a buy, gives them a $36 price target, jpmorgan going to 32. stuart: eli lilly makes a very popular weight loss drug. why are they suing -- lauren: so the clarification would be it's a diabetes drug that people use for weight loss. they're suing ten clinics, spas, wellness centers for trademark

infringement by sharing the fake version. so they used one of the compounds in it, made their own version of it and then sold that for a cheaper or price. stuart: that's not right. lauren: yeah. and it could be dangerous which is exactly what a eli lilly is saying. they're seeking injunctive orders and undisclosed damages. stuart: okay, next case. instacart, they ipo'd yesterday. they zoomed, and they were up 12% by the close. they're now down $1.87. lauren: they ipo field at 30 -- ipo'd opened at 30 and and went to 42. their enthusiasm is being challenged by, a, the competition and the difficulty of expanding their margins at a time when food prices are so high. food inflation, lots of competition. investors are evaluating that huge pop that they saw on day one, coming back down to earth. stuart: i see a downgrade for

dollar general. lauren: yep. jpmorgan. susan. stuart: when we say downgrade, does that mean the analyst says sell it? lauren: yep. they cut them to underweight, which is the equivalent of a sell. they say their poor shopperrer is grappling with high inflations -- inflation and dwindling savings. that makes the dollar store unaffordable. i know richer people have traded down, but the core shopper is still that lower income consumer, and they're in tight straits. stuart: all right, lauren, thanks a lot. let's move back to the overall picture on the market. the dow industrial average is up 100 points, 34,600. dow winners, top of that list we have right will the on your screens, there it is. ibm. old it can the. that's been -- old tech. that's been recommended by a lot of people on this show. it's god a -- can got a good dividend. boston scientific, i don't see any other huge, big names there

will there. nasdaq winners, astrazeneca, lululemon's on the list up 1.5 percent, and csx up 1% right there. where's the 10-year treasure i yield? -- treasury e yield? 4.32. the price of gold, it really hasn't done much lately, has it? it's the at $1957 per ounce right now. bitcoin, here's the first quote of the day from us, $27,000 right on the button. the price of oil, you've got to watch this because it's the -- do okay, back down to $90, almost $91. watch out, if that thing goes up some more, gas will follow. lauren: goldman says 100 in 12 months' time meaning up inflation stays in the supply chain for a year. stuart: nat gas, who cares, is down 4%. the average price for a gallon of regular holding at $3.87. diesel, $4.58. i don't think that lasts for long. coming up, progressive congresswoman pramila jayapal

blames the republicans for the migrant crisis. watch this. >> what we need is for republicans to stop talking about open borders that facilitate smugglers and to actually get to work passing comprehensive, humane immigration reform instead of vilifying immigrants constantly. institute tooth i'm surprised she didn't say it was trump's fault. look at these headlines on your screen, concerns over biden's age growing. this is a real pop for the president, and really it's not going away. the freedom caucus derailed the short-term spending bill. they even stopped the defense bill going through. where's the win? economist art laffer will answer that question next. ♪ ♪ ♪

stuart: the federal reserve expected to hold interest rates steady today. come on in, edward lawrence. will the door is still be open to future rate hikes? >> reporter: you know, and that is exactly what we'll be listening for. is so overwhelmingly the the market believes the federal reserve will hold the line on rates. we'll get a lot of clues out of the fed chairman's comments and the projection data that they're going to release. we have seen overwhere all inflation increase in the -- overall inflation increases in the past two reports. that concerns the federal reserve. hiring has been strong, another concern. on the argument to hold rates, the fed sees a record amount of credit card debt, that being serviced at about 25% interest. they will wonder how long the consumer can keep this up. the federal can debt now reached $23 trillion, and the cost -- 3 trillion, and the cost to service that debt increases as interest rate hikes go up. plus, the housing market is slowing with the first-time home buy writers struggling to find anything affordable to buy. here's a new spin on the economy from the vice president is

yesterday. listen. >> you know, i've a heard young leaders talk with me about a term they've coined called climate anxiety. right? which is fear of the future and the unknown, whether it makes sense for you to think about having children, whether it makes sense for you to think about aspiring to buy a home because what will this climate be? >> reporter: not buying a home because of fear of climate change. so not that the 30-year fixed standard mortgage sits about 7.3%, the highest rate in about 25% years -- 25 years, or that hourly earnings are down 3 president prosecute -- 3% from the day president biden took office. we need to pay attention to how the federal ree serve chairman characterizes this going forward. stu? stuart: we'll be all ears, edward, like the rest of the financial word. thanks, edward. the vote to advance the republican defense spending bill failed in the house yesterday. art laffer's with me. all right, around, the freedom caucus has stopped even a

defeints bill going through. the government shutdown looks inevitable. identify asked this question to a lot of people, where's the win for republicans in all of this? can you tell me? >> no, i can't, because there isn't one, frankly. but when you have, when you have a house so closely divided, stuart, you've got to expect that these types of bills can be held up by three or four or five congressmen. and, you know, that's not all bad. i mean, you do want your congress people to vote that they believe to be true and do their own work. you don't want marching military orders where one party votes 100% one way and one party votes 100% the other way and there's no rubicon to cross there. this is not what you want. you want really independent votes by congress people. now, the democrats are 100% always one way following the pelosi rule. i don't want the republicans to become a pelosi conservative party. i really don't account. stuart: you see speaker matt gaetz? i'm being serious here. they want mccarthy concern.

>> no, i know that. stuart: a freedom can caucus guy. >> that's ridiculous. >> welsh, it's not ridiculous, but, i mean, matt gaetz as a representative shows a view of the world, etc. i don't think it's the right thing to do, to be honest. i like mcthink as the leader. -- mccarthy as the leader. i think he's doing a fairly good job. but other people have a right to express their will. we're not going to get an a answer to these questions, stuart, until there's a definitive election, the until there's a large majority one way or the other way, and then we'll get it like we did with reagan. all the democrats then joined us, and it became a wonderful bipartisan rout on tack cuts and pro-growth things -- tax cuts. stuart: i'm not sure i can wait that long. let's have a look at the strike, day six. to who do you support, art? >> yes. stuart: who do you support? >> well, i don't support either side. i support tennessee. we're a right to work state. what these guys are doing to michigan, to ohio, to missouri,

that's where the strikes are beginning, is make it so unpleasant to be in those states as a producer of goods that they're all moving to tennessee. we love 'em here in tennessee. i mean, you think they've got a border problem in texas is and mexico, you should see the onslaught of people pouring boo tennessee. thank god, we have laws that allow them to come into tennessee so they're not illegal immigrants. tennessee is doing really well because of what the disasters happening in michigan, missouri and ohio. it's just catastrophic. they should be right to work states with no income tax just like we are, and then you would find really good labor relations and good economic growth. stuart: but the workers immediate to catch up -- need to catch up, because they've been left behind a because of biden's inflation. what to you say to that? >> it's the true. that's exactly true. they had a contract before. they didn't anticipate this type ofly kick the louse inflation number. now you've got that number and they've been damaged enormously,

is so they want to catch up. but the companies don't want to have them catch up because then the companies bear all the costs of this. it's a natural, real big conflict. frankly, i don't think there's an easy answer to any of in that doesn't entail losing the auto industry in the united states or the unionized companies. stuart: ouch. not good. >> ouch. that's really true, by the way. my pleasure, stuart, thank you for having me. start stuart yes, sir. see you again soon. senate majority lead -- minority leader, mitch mitch mcconnell, what's he saying? lauren: he's saying the gop will be the face of the shutdown. watch here. >> we're waiting to see what the house is going to do on a continuing resolution. i think all of you know i'm not a fan of government shutdowns. i've seen a few of them over the years. they never have produced a policy change, or and they've alls been a loser for republicans -- always been a loser for republicans politically. lauren: yeah. plain and simple.

the worry is because of some of the hard-liners on the right, the house speaker, kevin mccarthy, might need to cut a deal with democrats. met me quote "the wall street journal." this battle shows the house majority imploding. politico, a hostage situation yesterday when five republicans joined democrats to take a procedural vote. stuart: ridiculous. that's my personal opinion. thanks, lauren. coming up, on how many levels can this administration fail? afghanistan, crime, migrants, inflation, energy, failures all. that will be my take, top of the hour. new york city faces budget cuts, but that's not stopping local lawmakers from pushing reparations. a report on that coming to you next. ♪ ♪ -- don't survive, i was born free. ♪ i was born free ♪

♪ explore endless design possibilities. to find your personal style. endless hardie® siding colors. textures and styles. it's possible. with james hardie™. ♪ is it possible to fall in love with your home... ...before you even step inside? ♪ discover the magnolia home james hardie collection. available now in siding colors, styles and textures. curated by joanna gaines. blackrock silver is bringing new life to one of the great american mining camps in the silver state of nevada. with a new resource estimate imminent, one of the highest grade silver projects in america is about to get bigger. blackrock silver. ♪ (upbeat music) ♪

( ♪ ) woah. ( ♪ ) ( ♪ ) ( ♪ ) ( ♪ ) constant contact delivers the marketing tools your small business needs to keep up, excel, and grow. constant contact. helping the small stand tall.

municipal bonds don't usually get the media coverage the stock market does. in fact, most people don't find them all that exciting. but, if you're looking for the potential for consistent income that's federally tax-free, now is an excellent time to consider municipal bonds from hennion & walsh. if you have at least 10,000 dollars to invest, call and talk with one of our bond specialists

at 1-800-217-3217. we'll send you our exclusive bond guide, free. with details about how bonds can be an important part of your portfolio. hennion & walsh has specialized in fixed income and growth solutions for 30 years, and offers high-quality municipal bonds from across the country. they provide the potential for regular income... are federally tax-free... and have historically low risk. call today to request your free bond guide. 1-800-217-3217. that's 1-800-217-3217. stuart: new york city's in the middle of a migrant crisis, but the city council has another focus, reparations. madison alworth joins us. are voters for this, madison? >> reporter: well, stuart, we

are in new york city, the mostly democrat city, so, yeah. every single person that i spoke to was in support. talk a listen. >> the more educated, the better, of course. that's my political answer. >> i haven't seen the bill, but reparations sound great. >> reporter: and so tell me why do they sound great? >> i think a lot of what we have in this country is built on the backs of what people, you know, slaves that were a part of the building of the country, and they haven't been acknowledged. >> i think they deserve it, basically. >> reporter: so governor kathy hochul has not yet signed a bill that would create this rep e rations task force, but there are already many states and cities considering reparations and even some handing them out. evenston, illinois -- evanston,

$1.1 million and counting. this decision coming at a time when new york city is in a budget crisis. mayor eric adams saying all city agency budgets must be cut by 15% by next spring because of the cost of the migrant crisis. the orr bill making bigaways here in new york city is one that would remove works of art that depict people who benefit from slavery. under the bill the art would qualify if it meets one of the four criteria including participating in slavery, benefited financially from slavery, negative interaction with indigenous people or promoted crimes against humanity. there are 2,500 public works of art in new york city. when asked how many would qualify under this bill, the response was, quote, a lot. if those against the bill say you can't and shouldn't erase the past and doubt that there is the real public disthe may over these works. those in support say it's a way to right wrongs. >> this isn't meant to erase anything, this is meant to more fully tell the story. we in new york city should

really take the lead in modeling what it means to have truth in reconciliation in our public space. >> reporter: so is christopher columbus, his statue behind me, would be on the chopping block if this bill passed. doesn't have to be remove. under this bill you could put a plaque next to the statue to explain their a past, but this doesn't deal with names, and we're in columbus circle, named after christopher columbus so, yeah, a lot to consider and work through here. stu? stuart: you know what, madison? i'm going to leave it right there without any further comment. that's my best position to take. thank you, madison. great stuff. still ahead, liz peek responds to the fetterman rule. florida congresswoman kat cammack on getting the house back in order. kamala harris saying young people have climate anxiety, and riley gaines. the 10:00 hour of "varney & company" is next. ♪ ♪ if. ♪ ♪

you got this. let's go. gobble gobble. i've seen bigger legs on a turkey! .. i'm an investor in a fund that helps advance innovative sports tech like this smart fitness mirror. i'm also mr. leg day...1989! anyone can become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq, a fund that gives you access to nasdaq-100 innovations. i go through a lot of pants. before investing carefully read and consider fund investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and more in prospectus at invesco.com. ♪ ♪ every day, businesses everywhere are asking: is it possible? with comcast business... it is. is it possible to help keep our online platform safe from cyberthreats? absolutely. can we provide health care virtually anywhere? we can help with that. is it possible to use predictive monitoring to address operations issues?

we can help with that, too. with the advanced connectivity and intelligence of global secure networking from comcast business. it's not just possible. it's happening. my name is caron and i'm from brooklyn. i work for the city of new york as a police administrator. i oversee approximately 20 people and my memory just has to be sharp. i always hear people say, you know, when you get older, you know, people lose memory. i didn't want to be that person. i decided to give prevagen a try. my memory became much sharper. i remembered more! i've been taking prevagen for four years now. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription.

stuart: james brown.