okay? we had this discussion in the break. if there's no on onblossom at this restaurant, which i'm told -- onion blossom -- jamb blooming onion. outback steakhouse. >> ooh even if it was outback, i possibly wouldn't go, but there's a better chance if they had an onion blossom -- jackie: that you would go. i've got to go, as riveting as this conversation is. >> very riveting. jackie: that does it for us. don't miss "the big money show" later this afternoon, i will be hosting beginning at 1 p.m. eastern time on fox business. i want to thank you, adam johnson and todd piro,-one of the most fun mornings i've had in a a long time. >> will there be an onion blossom on "the big money show? jackie: there will not be. ashley webster, over to you. ashley: yeah. 'd todd's a little focused on the onion bloom with, and i understand it because i'm right there with him.

i'm a bit of a fuddy-duddy too. you can forget times square on new year's eve. anyway, thank you, jackie. good morning, even -- everyone, i'm ashley webster in for stuart varney if today. let's begin with this, blink and you will miss it. president biden just returned to the white house from camp david and now he's develop, on his way to ring in the new year on the beach in the caribbean. how lovely. the by -- by the way, the president has reportedly spent at least 411 days of his presidency on vacation, 411. by comparison, former president trump spent 381 days on vacation in his entire first term and president obama spent if 328 days on vacation over two full terms. president biden, by the way, also skipping the traditional year-end press conference again this year. we're going to have fun with all of this. meanwhile, migrants continue to cross the border in record numbers. there were over 35,000 migrant encounters over the christmas weekend. it actually brings the total to

250,000 since just december 1st. secretaries blinken and mayorkas meeting with the president of mexico today. we're going to see if that changes anything. don't hold your breath. all right, or let's go to the markets, three trading days left in the year. it's been a good year for the markets. the dow, the s&p and the nasdaq today essentially flat, although the s&p is flirting with record high territory. we'll get into this throughout the day and, of course, the markets opening in less than 30 minutes. let's take a look at the 10-year treasury yield, well below 4%. nowhere near 5 president. down at3.84 on the 10-year. of the 2- year yield, that too also down more than3 basis points at 4.27 president. bitcoin -- 4.37 -- 27%. get coyne is gaining, up most deathsly, $42,000 -- modestly, just under $43,000 for bitcoin. guess what?

it's a rainy day, wednesday, many new york city. it's december the 27th. it could be snowing, but it's not. it's warming -- warmer. "varney & company" about to begin. ♪ ♪ ♪ it's always a getting hotter. ♪ save is, let's party like we're on vacation ♪ ashley: there's a lovely look down sixth avenue. the great tree outside fox headquarters looking beautiful as a ever. a little bit of activity. many people off this week, but we are not. we're here to tell you what's going on. let's start the morning with this. president bidening already off on another vacation. isn't he a lucky guy? he's on his way right now to the island of st. croix to ring in the new year, this after a spending christmas at a camp david. and as i just said moments ago, biden far outpaces his predecessors in i vacation days.

the president's vacation coming as we know he's struggling in the polls. the real clear politics polling average has him rail thing donald trump now -- trailing donald trump by over 2 points. by the way, this time in 2020 biden was ahead of trump by 4.5 points. not anymore. david avella joins me now this morning. david, great to have you here. look, we have record numbers of people at the border, tensions in the middle east heating up, ukraine-russia, u.s. bases, by the way, coming under attack in the middle east, and and off the president goes to enjoy the beach. not a good look, would you agree? >> ashley, americans have watched this president make america less secure economically and in their perm security. -- personal security. you mentioned it with the border. we don't know who is coming over. not only the southern border, but also the northern border which is over the last few months has increasingly seen crossings occur.

and you forgot the fact that inflation has taken more money out of people's pockets, credit card debt is back on the rise, and americans see this and they say, you know, we've got to start looking for somebody else. ashley: yeah. and i also mentioned that he's skipping out again on the traditional year-end press conference. this was a president who promised, you know, full transparency when he came into office, but that's hardly been the case. >> ashley, if you had to defend bidenomics and where america is, you wouldn't want to do an end of the year press conference either. it's pretty clear the the messaging coming out of this white house, nothing has moved the needle towards more americans believing that the he's doing a good job. ashley: all right. i want to move on. this is an interesting subject, david. take a look at this op-ed from "the new york times". the headline reads: a trump conviction could cost him enough voters to tip the election. now, so far as we know trump's

charges haved had very little effect in the polls. if anything, they've lit a fire under his base. if there is a conviction in any of these charges, does it change the way things play out according to -- as per "the new york times"? >> it could. independent voters may view it unfavorably. the same could be said though, ashley, for if hunter biden gets convicted. and it is shown that president biden was far more involved than he has indicated. we already have seen a few times where he has said things that aren't there true about a his involvement with his son's business dealings. so there are going to be a lot of twists and turns in this 2024 election. let me just say this, if you're looking for an inspiring, uplifting election, 2024's not going to be your year. [laughter] ashley: all right. well, let me can you about a this. "the new york times" and cnn claiming that desantis' campaign just about dead in the

water. listen to this, i'll e get your comments. >> "the new york times" had a pretty devastating i won't call it postmortem, i guess premortem story in which they quote one long time pollster saying at this point they, quote, need to make the patience comfortable. that's the part of the campaign they're in right now. it's hard to see unless de. sanities pulls a rabbit out of his hat and really pulls manager incredible off, it's hard to see where the campaign goes from here. ashley: well, is all of this being overstated, david? we, i think perhaps if thought ron desantis would have a bug -- bigger impact on the national stage. for whatever reason, he hasn't gained the traction i think he thought he would with. the iowa caucuses critical for him. he's put a lot of effort into iowa. does ron desantis need a miracle here? >> ron desantis put all of his chips in iowa and said i'm going

to win iowa, or i'm out. the whole campaign has foxed on iowa. he -- focused on iowa. he went out and hired strategists who had deep roots in iowa as his national campaign strategists. he has made it clear that's where he's going to campaign, and he's working on a message that i would say not only has ron desantis not found, but none of the candidates have found a message that is clear and tells republican voters where they will take the country as clear as president trump has taken it. and that's why you see this commanding lead that he has in the polls. that is just fact and reality. and we'll see what happens in iowa here in three weeks, but unless someone can defeat the president in a few of these early states, the nomination will be his. alabama a ash it will. -- ashley: it will. we have yet to see him on the debate stage and, you know, obviously the strategy is working. he says no one's close to me, so why should i, you know, bother

to debate? it would be nice to see the former president debate whoever it might be on the republican side if that happens or with the president himself prior to the election. what are the chances, do you think, of that? >> zero. you stated it. there is no reason for former president trump to get on the debate stage. and let's be clear, one does not if need to see donald trump on the debate stage to know where he stands on the issues. ashley: that is for sure. he makes them all a very clear. fascinating stuff and so much further to go and, david, i'm sure we'll be talking to you again many times before people go to the ballot. so thank you so much is, david, for for joining us today. let's take a look at these markets, if we can. thank you, david. michael lee joining me now. look, it's been a good year for the markets. i was looking at the nasdaq, michael, up 44% in 2023. how do you think things play out in 2024? >> yeah, you know, it'd be hard

to have another year where the equity indices top what they did this year. the s&p 500 is up 15% since the end of october, and a lot of that has to do with the fed pivoting. so, look, the government is going to spend an credible amount -- incredible amount of money next year, and tax revenue continues to decline, okay? if that continues to be inflationary and the fed can't cut or doesn't cut as fast as the market thinks, you know, we could be in for a choppy if session. i like to call this a bull market for if stocks but a bear market for the economy. but right now the -- the same way you don't want to catch a falling knife, you don't want to get in front of a raging bull. and all the technicals are saying this market's headed higher in the short term. ashley: so where are you puttinw money into the market and where? >> look, i am overweight

technology, and i'm overweight the communications sector. right now what i love are still these a.i. stocks in that i don't -- i think people are a little bit negative on them just temporarily in that they've run so much -- so far so fast, and there's skepticism around these names and how much money's going to be spent on investing in artificial intelligence for companies going forward. you know, we heard this argument with cybersecurity, we heard this a argument with the cloud. you know, tech spend has never dropped from there, and and a.i. as a percentage of global tech spend is less than 3%. so for them to go from 3 to 5 or 3 to 6, a meaningful upside for those names. ashley: fascinating stuff. of we'll see how it all place out. thank you, michael lee, for joining us today. really appreciate it. >> thank you very much. ashley: all right, coming up -- thank you -- the mayor of new york city, eric adams, says he just can't get a meeting with the white house over the migrant

crisis e plaguing his city. listen to this. >> the federal government said to new york city, we're not going to do our job, you do our job. i am not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel from the federal government. it baffles me. ashley: it baffles him. he's not seeing the height at the end of the tunnel. the question is, is anyone in washington seeing what's happening in new york city? we'll get into it. then to the mideast, israel's military chief says his forces are close to destroying hamas, but he warned the war will last many months. we'll have the very latest right after this. ♪ (sfx: stone wheel crafting) ♪

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♪ ♪ if. ashley: well, smoke rising again from gaza this morning as a israel expands its offensive deeper into palestinian communities. as he has been from the begin, trey yingst joins me from tel aviv with the latest developments. trey, good morning to you. hey, ashley, good morning. or concern is growing about the possibility of a broader regional conflict between israel, the united states, iran and its proxies. there's been a lot of developments, but just yesterday we know that 12 attack drones, 3 anti-ship ballistic missiles and 2 cruise missiles were actually shot down by the american eisenhower carrier strike group in the red sea. we also understand that the attack was launched by iran-backed houthi rebels in yemen and lasted for 10 is hours. it comes as an american service member remains in critical condition following a drone

attack against the irbil air base that that drew an american response against hezbollah. e is ailly's chief of staff announced tuesday the idf is expanding operations in central and southern gaza while forces continue to go after hamas leadership. the idf says three additional soldiers were killed overnight bringing the total to 164 since the invasion began as israeli prime minister benjamin if netanyahu issuing a new warning to that has. >> translator: we say to the hamas terrorists, we see you and we will reach you. we are continuing the war and are intensifying the fighting in the in gaza strip and other places -- southern gaza trip. >> reporter: israel's northern front also remains active, at least 18 rockets fired into northern israel drawing a new israeli response. ashley? ashley: all right. trey, thank you very much is, as always, for the latest developments there. james carafano joins me now.

james, as we've been hearing now, israel's military chief has warned that the war to end hamas is going to last, quote, many months. u.s. support for this, there's already been pressure to perhaps scale back. israel is going the to do what it's going to do, but if this does drag out for many months, how does that impact u.s. support, do you think? >> well, i don't think u.s. support is the driving factor here. the u.s. is really trapped. it can't not support israel. the last thing this president can afford to do is see a defeat in israel. the driving factor is going to be internal israeli domestic support for the war. that's going to determine how long they fight. and i think the month thing, it's a statement. i think it could be as much a negotiating tactic as a prognosis. ash a ash -- ashley: realistically, james, they can't eliminate hamas, right? there'll always be a vacuum, and there's always going to be

someone to fill it. >> well, the reality is, is unless you deal with iran, the hamas problem will always come back. you know, in the short term the quickest way to deescalate this conflict is for the united states to aggressively attack attack the houthis and the surrogates, and then iran will get the message, it will back a off, and hamas will cut a deal and release the hostages and we'll move on to the next phase. ashley: i'm glad you said that, because there have been a hundred attacks op our troops in the middle east since october. three military service members injured in that recent one at our base in iraq are. we had responded with a strike of our own, but i guess the question to you, james, is are these responses strong enough? is tehran getting any message? >> yeah. well, i think the tit for tat thing is a huge mistake because what's going to happen is eventually something really horrible is going to happen. a lot of american service members are going to die. look, i don't want this to -- i

mean, this is a terrible thing. or an american ship is going to get sank, something really, really bad, and then the u.s. will be forced to respond. and that's the problem. you want to drive the competition. you want to be ahead of the other guy. so by letting the oh guy set the pace of this, or you're always reacting. and so the right answer for the u.s -- and, look, i know the administration knows this -- it's just this is not how they do business. the right answer would be to whack these guys and send a really strong message. but they know it's the one thing we won't do until we're backed into a corner e. ashley: yeah. it's interesting, isn't it? because the line always out of the white house is, well, we just don't want to escalate this war and allow it to spread. but without actually taking decisive of action to combat this, nothing changes, right? >> yeah, look, i don't mean to be critical of our administration, but here's the root of the problem. these are the same people that were in the obama administration

including the president. they follow the exact same playbook which is minimal response until things are completely out of control, and then try try to deal with it and take credit if world war iii doesn't start. and and so the problem is-you go into a game and the other guy has your playbook ahead of time and you follow your playbook to the letter, it allows them to decide how and when to escalate and when to call it off. and this is the problem because the more restraint we show, the more likelihood things could spin out of control. ashley: how do you think this will play out, james? it's a difficult question, who knows, but does this escalate? do we see more conflict in other areas in the middle east many how do you see it playing out? >> well, i mean, the one thing that would, is the most dangerous, of course, is the explosion of a second front. and, you know, we've been in this for many, many weeks. we see no signs of that. there's very little likelihood that iran is going to blow this into a big regional war. that's true. having said that,s they're going

to -- they're kind of eking out everything they can the before they -- and then while this is going on, and this is the one thing nobody's really paying attention torque they could well declare a nuclear breakout. and then here's president biden walking into an election with a declared iran nuclear state saying, oh, the region's so terrible, we have to do this to defend ourselves, what is he going to do? it's the worst with possible scenario for the white house. ashley: right. well, on that happy note, james care fan kno -- carafano, thank you so much. we appreciate it. let's take a quick look at the futures, if we can. we're about flat is what we're expecting. the opening bell, though, is ringing next. don't go away. ♪ ♪, and and os, they haunt me. ♪ like a ghost they want me -- ♪ they won't let ego, xs and

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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. ashley: three trading days left in 2023, and right now with the market opening in less than three minutes, about a flat start. it's been a great year for the

markets, no doubt about that. shah ghailani joins me now. great to see you with, my friend. i was reading your notes. you say it's always important to look back to where you came from to see where you're going, and you say the markets are no different. what are you looking for ahead in 2024, shah? >> good morning, ashley. nice to see you, as always, thank you. looking for more of the same, you know? we've got momentum at our backs here. i think the markets can continue higher. we've got rates look like they're certainly going to come down. whether or not we see the fed cut rates, i'm not as sanguine as the fed cutting two, three, four times in 2024, but i do think there may be one or two cuts ahead. i think that'll be positive. and inflation is trending lower which is another positive. all of the things we were afraid of in 2022322 including a recession that we never saw, that may be somewhere in the wigs, but until it happens, i think you just carry on and move on. move higher. ashley: yeah. move higher. well, look, you make the point

and it's true, you say buy the dips and keep on buying. there's a ton of cash on the sidelines. and fewer stocks every day for a variety of reasons are. so the money comes in, the stocks go higher, i mean, it's a pretty, you know, simple formula, right? >> it could -- i don't think it could be any easier this time around because we've got close to $6 trillion on the sidelines in money market funds, really about $# # # -- 5.899 trillion. and if the fed does cut a few times, that money is going to look like -- cash is going to start to look like trash a little bit, and money's going to come out of those lower and lower yielding money market funds. that's an equation, again, for higher markets. ashley: we add had a guest on earlier with, michael lee, who said, look, we have a bull market on wall street but a bear if market in the economy. would you agree with that? enter not entirely.

think the economy is better than muddling along, it's moving along quite nicely. you look at some of the with gdp numbers, ashley, and they're astonishing. i don't know that it feels that way for a lot of folks. i think a lot of folks are still hurting because higher prices have impacted everyone, but i think we probably dodge a recession barring some exogenous impact from something. it could be a middle east blow-up, something like that. but i think right now investors are happy with interest rates coming down, happy that inflation is coming down and happy that a stocks are performing exceptionally well. ashley: yeah, you can look at your 401(k) again. all right, we're heading up to the opening bell. by the way, the dow up 13% this year, the s&p up 24. and i mentioned this earlier, the nasdaq up a whopping 44 president on the year. -- 44% on the year. certainly a good performance for the major with exchangings. we are off and running on this wednesday, december the 27th.

three trading days left, and we are up and running and right out of the gate, eh, we're essentially flat. just down 10 points or so on the dow. you can see intel up at the top there, at at the bottom, travelers and verizon. but certainly a little more red than green. socially flat. let's call it that a -- essentially flat. let's take a look at the s&p, flirting with record closing high area. i think we're about half of a percent off of that. i think it was 479996 -- 4796, but we're close to a high on the s&p. and the nasdaq, as we said, a tenth of a percent, 15,097. again, the nasdaq up 44%. the only other year, it was up 50% in 2003, 20 years ago. there you have it. take a look at the big tech names, meta, alphabet, amazon, microsoft, they're all i moving higher, some modestly so, and apple just down a tick. all right, talking of apple, it's appealing a ban that halted some of its watch sales.

back in october the international trade commission ruled that apple violated patents related to the blood oxygen sensor on the series 9 and ultra 2 watches. apple says they will suffer or irreparable harm if this ban stays in mace. so, shah, come back in here. in place. how big of a problem is this for apple, or is it just a minor glitch? >> i think ultimately it's going to be a minor glutch. i don't think they'll prevail in this, but i think they'll find a resolution in terms of future watches and what they do to replace that, the oxygen sensor. apple, i think, is in a great position right now. really 2024's going to be about subscription revenue, ashley. i don't think sales are going to do anything spectacular, so it's really about consistent subscription earnings and revenue. i don't know how much higher the stock has got to go, i think it looks -- starting to look a little bit tired up here. ashley: interesting. now, talking of interesting, shah, this is a headline that i

think we've perhaps feared. a tesla edge floor in austin -- engineer in austin reportedly attacked by a robot. the robot apparently was designed to move aluminum car parts but malfunctioned and ended up pinning the engineer, sinking its metal claws hard enough into his back and arm hard enough that he was bleeding. it's out of a horror movie. shah, is this what we have to look forward to with a.i.? i have a feeling there's going to be an issue with this technology as we move forward. >> i think it's going to be the story of 2024. it was pretty much of 2023, but i think 2024 especially with the election, i think what we're going to find out that a.i. is capable of, that we're not necessarily going to understand, trust, believe is going to be problematic e on a lot of different levels including for a lot of comeabs. i think the -- companies. i think the election's going to be a problem with a.i.. good and bad, ashley. there's going to be some companies that are going to

benefit extraordinarily from a.i. development, production is going to be better, cheaper. i think profits are going to be better for a lot of companies that employ a.i., but it does have its downside, and i think we're going to see that in 2024. ashley: including those rogue robots. hopefully, there won't be too much of those. listen up, stu varney. no, costco's $1.50 hot dog and soda is not changing, that's the good news, but there's speculation that the $111.49 churros -- 1.49 churros are going to be discounted next yea. they could be replaced by with cook keys. shah, do you own costco? it's at $662. >> no, we don't own it. i wish we had. it's obviously had a spectacular 2023. like a lot of companies, it's done spectacularly. we do not own it. i think right here i wouldn't chase it, ashley. it looks more than a little bit overbought here, and think it's

due for a little bit of maybe sideways a action. but i think maybe the best is behind it. a stock that has this kind of parabolick move and given what costco's numbers are, their metrics as far as their profit margins, i think it's a little bit overdone. ashley: all right, very good. all right, let's get to this one, bitcoin, shah. it's been happening around, well, the low $40,000 range i guess for a little while now. it was the crypto winter the year before. maybe we're behind that. are you a crypto buyer or -- buyer? >> i am am not, ashley. i have not every billion. i'm on the sidelines watching it with great interest like a lot of folks, but it's just not my cup of tea. in my mind, great speculative instruments. you can trade them up and down, sideways and make a lot of money on them, but just not my cup of tea. i'm more interested in companies that make profits, have earnings and things i understand. that being said, i think 2024

could be a great year for the industry if we get the etf, and i think that he's -- that's why the price has risen so dramatically, hopes, i should say, of an etf. i think that would be a feather in the cap of the crypto industry that legit hiss crypto and bitcoin. i think ipso facto, crypto in general. that's what they're looking for. ashley: yeah. i think it would be a landmark moment, and it could be just with around the corner. all right. that said, shah, give us your biggest losers or you think for the next year. >> well, you tills certainly underperformed -- utilities -- i don't think they're going to do much better in 202024 even with rates coming down. i think the utility sector's still going to be a problem. moderna got hit really hard. we don't own that, thank goodness. pfizer's another one. we are starting to buy pfizer down here, ashley. the yield on pfizer's about 5.75%, that's a great dividend yield down here, and i think

pfizer's due for a turn around. i think it can do another 25% in 2024. so certain wily with the appreciation if and the dividend, i think that looks to be a good play for 2024. so those two, you know, one loser i think is going to remain a loser, moderna doesn't have enough juice for me ors doesn't have yield for me, but, yeah, we're starting to accumulate a position in pfizer. ashley: very good, shah. you covered a lot of ground. thank you for your time today, the really appreciate it. as always. >> thank you, ashley. happy new year. ashley: all right. same to you, sir. let's check the big board if welcome. it's all very muted. the dow down 8 points, essentially flat at this time. let's take a look at some of the winners on the dow if we can, see what some of the stocks -- there you go. intel, walmart p caterpillar, unitedhealth is among the win ors. intel with, by the way, up 11.5%, the biggest gainer there -- 1.5. the s&p 500, the tesla, meta

platforms up more than 1%, vf corp. also up more than 1%. and let's take a look at the s&p finish we've already done those. let's do the nasdaq wincer, why don't we? tesla up 1.5%, intel again. astra astrazeneca, they're up 2% and meta again up 1%. all right, coming up, an op-ed on m msnbc.com begs republicans to impeach president biden. the author argues that any impeachment process will only help biden in 2024. so does "the wall street journal"'s allysia finley agree? if she's here, i'm going to ask her. also a massive migrant caravan is heading to our border or. it's the largest group in over a year, could grow to 15,000 people. how does law enforcement prepare for something like this? we're going to talk to the sheriff of riverside county out in california. and the new year will bring more pay for nearly 10 million americans thanks to states raising their minimum wage. economist stephen moore are take

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with a partner that always puts you first. start for free at godaddy.com ashley: well, the market's been open for 10, 15 minutes now. as you can see, relatively flat, just on the upside for the dow, the s&p and the nasdaq although it's been a big week, big month, big year, actually, for the markets. all right, we got an early look at a holiday sales numbers, and they are a bit of a letdown, just a bit. mastercard reporting retail sales overall rose just 3.1% compared to last year, well below the predicted 3.7% and less than half of last year's 7.6% jump. it appears as though inflation

cutting into holiday spending as shoppers focused on the big deals and avoided big ticket, luxury items. that's e what we get out of that. not only did holiday sales lag this year, but retailers preparing for record or returns. at report reveals they expect 14.5% of all holiday purchases to be returned. take 'em back. stephen moore joins me now. steve, great to see you. okay, slow sales, record returns. what does this mean for the economy? >> well, ashley, remember that those sales numbers that you compared last year with this year don't take account of the fact that last year we had 9% inflation and this year we've had, you know, closer to 4% inflation. so actually those retail numbers may actually be better than those numbers that you're reporting. look, the economy right now is certainly improved over where it was last year. inflation has come down, no question about it. and the jobs market is still

pretty strong. what worries me is that the prices today, ashley, are still 20% higher than they were 3 years ago when biden came into office, and that's why i think you're feeling, you're seeing so many americans feeling financial stress. incidentally, you've reported this but it's worth repeating, ashley, $1.1 trillion credit card debt out there. at some point those bills have to be repaid. [laughter] ashley: yeah. you have to pay the piper. with interest. next one, steve, i want to get into this, nearly 10 million americans will see a boost in their pay in the new year because 22 states will be raising their minimum wage. what's the impact on the worker, the economy? what about small business? can they afford it? >> yeah. small businesses are the ones that get hit hardest by the minimum wage increases. i've been, you know, i think we should have, you know, a fair minimum wage, but you got some

states, ashley, as you guys have reported 12, 15 and. >> some cases $20 the an hour, and that's going to price a lot of lower skilled workers out of the job market. i think it's a problem for small businesses and also the least skilled workers. incidentally, the average worker in america is only six months on a minimum wage, you know, contract. after six months they either lose their job or get a pay raise. so it's really just a starter wage, and i don't want to block people's entry if into the work force. as you know, we have 5 million americans who are missing from the labor force and maybe some of the reason for that a is the minimum wage prices them out. ashley: well, but does the raise in minimum wage help workers catch up with inflation? what does it do? >> well, that's a great point, is that the minimum wage is, has fallen behind inflation because when you have a 20% increase in inflation 3 years, workers fall if further behind. you know, what i'd like to see

is rather than raising the minimum wage, let's bring that inflation rate down back to 20% where it belongs. we're still -- back to 2% where it belongs. the fed still has some work to do, and americans know it. my gosh, don't forget, the price of gas today is even though it's come down a bit is still $1.25 a gallon higher than it was when trump left office. ashley: yeah. people forget that. also do you think we're going to get to that magic 2% mark for the fed in the coming year or not? >> you mean what they're going to do in. ashley: well, are they going to get it down to the 22% if -- 2 mark in 2024? >> i think they may. if you look at what's happening with the tips spread, if you look at the 10-year treasury, i think we could be headed to 2.5% inflation. that's still above their target but, boy, is that a lot better than 9.3%. but it also depends on congress stopping the spending spree in washington. there's going to be a big fight

in the next two weeks over the budget with. we may see a government shutdown. i'm here to tell you, i think the odds are better than 50-50 right now there's going to be a government shutdown in january or february. ashley: washington doesn't know how to stop spending. i want to get to this last one, steve. [laughter] >> okay. ashley: it's a look at the op-ed there from msnbc. it reads: taylor swift could save joe biden in 2024. no, seriously, that's what the headline says. the op-ed claims that swift could use her monster influence to shift the political tide. what do you make of that? >> i, look, i think taylor swift was one of the greatest stimulus to the economy in 2023 -- ashley: yes. >> -- that we saw is. she was an inspired choice for the "time" person of the year. she's an incredible businesswoman. she's incredibly talented. you know what we really need, we need, like, a thousand taylor swifts. i don't know if you went to the movie or her concerts but, boy,

what a phenomenon. she's an amazing, amazing entertainer and businesswoman. she is shrewd. she knows how to market. ashley: she does. and i think, you know, she was an economy, i think she's beating at least 50 countries just to put it in perspective. [laughter] it's remarkable. >> yeah, i think the estimates are that she added $4 billion to the u.s. economy when she did her con sort tour. [laughter] concert tour. ashley: remarkable and congratulations to her. all right. stephen moore, great stuff, as always, stephen. thank you so much. appreciate your time. >> happy new year. ashley: all right. happy new year to you too. coming up, a florida congresswoman tore into the administration's handling of the border i crisis. rolling the tape. >> we have brave men and women of border patrol who are down there ready, willing and and able who want to enforce our laws, and instead as you point out, they're being assigned tasks like passing out blankets and working as travel agents to just bring people into this

country. ashley: travel agents. i don't think she's far wrong on that. we'll get into it. also as colleges face pressure to stop anti-semitism on campus, students are turning to a legal tool that could actually change how much power the schools have. we're going to get that report next. ♪ ♪

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and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. ♪ ashley: jewish students are suing some universities over claims of rampant anti-semitism on campus. lydia hu joins me now on this story. do we know which universities are getting sued? or. >> reporter: yeah, we do, it's the university of pennsylvania, nyu, carnegie mellon and berkeley. and lawyers representing these students say more lawsuits against other schools and colleges are coming. the students claim that these universities have violated title vi of the civil rights act of 1964 which, as you can see here, proprohibits any program that's receiving federal funding, that

includes a public or private university, from excluding, denying or discriminating against a person based on race, color or national origin. now, one of the students suing the university of pennsylvania offered one example to us on how he says the university fosters a hostile environment. watch. >> when there is class happening on campus and there are people with bullhorns chanting intifada which means an armed uprising throughout campus, that is not allowed. when this happened for 8 hours on a monday, it was during midterms. >> reporter: and now that student's lawsuit and others cans the courts to order that the universities enforce their own codes of conduct to protect jewish students. they want professors and students term nateed or kicked out of school and tuition refunds. ash, we reached out to the universities for comment, did not immediately receive replies. but the protests on college campuses are often defended as

exercises of free speech. experts including the former assistant u.s. secretary of education for civil rights say the law does not protect speech that intimidates or harass as jewish -- harasses jewish students. >> there are universities that have a terrible reputation when it comes to free speech. they censor and punish people for saying things that are politically incorrect, and yet when it comes to anti-semitism, suddenly they discover the first amendment. >> reporter: and, ash, the department of education has launched a few dozen of its own title vi investigations into schools and universities. that could potentially lead to the loss of federal funding, ash. ashley: it could. there's free speech and then there's hate speech. thank you very much, lydia, appreciate that. still ahead on the show, dr, alicia fin arely and kentucky congressman andy barr. the 10 a.m. hour of "varney & company" is next. mug. ♪

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