Former Senator Jim Inhofe, the Oklahoma Republican who once threw a snowball onto the Senate floor to make a point about climate change, has died. Inhofe passed away on Tuesday, July 9, after suffering a stroke. He was 89. Inhofe’s death was confirmed by former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former Inhofe staffer. “Former Sen Jim Inhofe passed away this morning. He was a devout Christian and family man. He was also devoted to his former staff who he considered his extended family,” Wheeler wrote on X. Inhofe called climate change a “hoax” and frequently sounded off against the global warming narrative, at one point even bringing a snowball onto the Senate floor to argue that human activity does not cause global warming. “In case we have forgotten, because we keep hearing that 2014 has been the warmest year on record, I ask the chair, you know what this is?” Inhofe said during a floor speech in February 2015 as he produced a snowball from a bag beside his podium. Senator James Inhofe famously throws a snowball in the Senate to discredit "climate change"#JamesInhofe #Inhofe #JimInhofe #Snowball #ClimageChange #ClimageChangeHoax pic.twitter.com/sta5G4gFgi — Mister Montgomery (@MAGA_Montgomery) July 9, 2024 “It’s a snowball,” he said. “From outside here. So it’s very, very cold out.” “So here, Mr. President, catch this,” Inhofe added as he tossed the snowball. As chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Inhofe was a vocal critic of over-the-top environmental regulation. Some of his staffers went on to be influential in environmental policy in the Trump administration’s EPA. Inhofe was friendly with former California Sen. Barbara Boxer, a staunch liberal Democrat, despite their differences. The two worked together on several major highway and water infrastructure bills. Inhofe was the longest-serving senator from Oklahoma and was in office from 1994 to 2023. He retired last year after 29 years in the Senate. Prior to his Senate career, he was a congressman from Oklahoma from 1987 to 1994. Before being elected to the federal government, he was mayor of Tulsa for six years and a member of the state House and then the state Senate. In his 20s, Inhofe was drafted into the Army and served about a year.

Americans are facing a new housing crisis, one that makes the crisis of 2008 look like a mere economic blip. The housing crisis of 2008 was driven by sub-prime mortgages being approved for people who had no financial means to pay for their homes. Many people had variable rate mortgages, and when those rates froze, or increased, people could no longer afford their monthly mortgage payments. Housing prices collapsed, and many people, myself included, had mortgages that were “underwater,” meaning we owed more than the home was worth. As a result, approximately $3.4 billion in real estate wealth was destroyed. Today, we have the opposite problem. There is a dearth of homes on the market, those homes that are for sale are priced at a level that excludes the middle class and young Americans from purchasing their first home. Rents are also sky high. The 2024 housing crisis was infinitely preventable. It is the direct result of President Biden’s failed economic policies, which pumped trillions of dollars into the economy, driving inflation. As a result, the Federal Reserve was forced to raise interest rates, effectively pricing millions of Americans out of the market. In the first 20 years of the 21st century, there were approximately 5.5 million fewer homes built than were needed, according to the National Association of Realtors. In addition, high interest mortgage rates are causing people who want to sell their homes, and move, to sit on their house, as they do not want to lose their low mortgage interest rate, refinanced during COVID. As a result, the price of homes has increased. By August of 2023, the median home price in the United States was at $435,450, up from a median sales price of $260,345 at the end of 2019, according to Rocket Homes. Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Biden’s kowtowing to the green mafia has also driven the price of housing up by $31,000, according to the Heritage Foundation. It is nearly impossible for all but the richest Americans to afford to purchase a home. More than 75% of the nation’s households are unable to purchase a home — which is more than 103 million households. This is why the profile of people living in their parents’ basement has changed. Those living “downstairs” are no longer the high school drop-outs, smoking weed, and playing video games while eating pizza. In fact, more than 50% of “Gen Zers,” those people 18- to 25-years-old, are now forced to live at home, because they cannot afford either rent or a mortgage. And that shouldn’t be a shock. To afford a median-priced home, Americans need an annual income of more than $110,000, up 46% since 2020. That means that only 18% of individuals or 34% of households can now afford to pay the mortgage on a home, let alone save the money for downpayment. Building new homes may help inventory, but the cost will be high. The cost of construction materials are up more than 35% since the pandemic, according to ABC. And even if you can afford a home, you may not be able to afford to insure it, as insurance premiums are up 23% since January 2023. So, why not rent? From January 2021, when Biden took office, to June 2022, there was a nearly 25% increase in rental rates in the United States. And the trend has only continued. So, the American housing market is in a death spiral. People such as myself are sitting on cheap mortgages. In fact, nearly 80% of Americans have a rate below 5%. Why would they sell in this market? We won’t sell and we won’t move. This reduces the inventory of homes available for sale, driving the cost of housing up for everyone. When you also factor in that more than 12 million illegals are now in the United States, demanding housing, rental prices will not come down anytime soon. The next administration must pursue pro-growth, anti-inflation policies. Eliminate regulations that drive the price of housing up and encourage investment. Grow the economy, not by government spending, but via pro-growth policies, which will result in lower interest rates, thereby increasing the inventory of housing on the market. The solutions to the housing crisis of 2024 are simple. The question is, will the next president have the courage to implement them. * * * Jim Nelles is a Navy veteran and supply chain consultant based in Chicago. His articles have appeared in the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Foxnews.com, and the Daily Wire. He has served as a chief procurement officer, chief supply chain officer, and chief operations officer for multiple companies. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Just two days after Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) reportedly pushed for President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee has reversed course and is now supporting Biden’s re-election effort. Nadler told reporters on Tuesday morning that Biden “is going to remain in” the race, adding, “He’s our candidate, and we’re all going to support him.” Asked if he thinks Biden is the best candidate to run against former President Donald Trump, Nadler was quiet for a few moments before saying, “Yes, at this point, he’s the best candidate. He’s the only candidate.” Rep. Jerry Nadler – who previously vented in a private call Sunday he was against Biden – is now seemingly for him ahead of Democrats meeting this morning. pic.twitter.com/QfHkrr8zvu — Jon Michael Raasch (@JMRaasch) July 9, 2024 “As the president said, something like 90% of Democrats voted for him in the primaries, he won the nomination,” the congressman told another reporter. Democrat Jerry Nadler says he’s getting in line behind Biden despite his concerns over Biden’s obvious cognitive decline. Yikes! pic.twitter.com/kkmjSvtPBb — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 9, 2024 During a private call on Sunday with other Democratic lawmakers, Nadler reportedly joined three colleagues in calling on Biden to step out of the race. According to POLITICO, which cited two people familiar with the private call, Nadler, along with Reps. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), and Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) said they wanted Biden to end his campaign, while other Democrats expressed concerns about Biden’s chances against Trump. Multiple Democratic House members have publicly called for Biden to end his 2024 campaign, including Smith, Angie Craig (D-MN), Lloyd Daggett (D-TX), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Seth Moulton (D-MA), and Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ). Nadler’s apparent shift back to supporting Biden comes after the president sent a letter to Congressional Democrats on Monday saying he is “firmly committed to staying in this race.” In the letter, he also called on his fellow Democrats to unite behind his effort to win re-election. “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us,” Biden wrote. “It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.”

Former Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) died Tuesday morning after a long career in government, becoming one of the most vocal critics of heavy-handed environmental regulation. The Oklahoma Republican is perhaps best remembered for the time he brought a snowball onto the Senate floor to mock global warming. “In case we have forgotten, because we keep hearing that 2014 has been the warmest year on record, I ask the chair, you know what this is?” Inhofe said during a floor speech in February 2015 as he produced a snowball from a bag beside his podium. Senator James Inhofe famously throws a snowball in the Senate to discredit "climate change"#JamesInhofe #Inhofe #JimInhofe #Snowball #ClimageChange #ClimageChangeHoax pic.twitter.com/sta5G4gFgi — Mister Montgomery (@MAGA_Montgomery) July 9, 2024 “It’s a snowball,” he said. “From outside here. So it’s very, very cold out. Very unseasonable.” “So here, Mr. President, catch this,” Inhofe added as he tossed the snowball. At the time, temperatures in the nation’s capital had sunk below freezing. Inhofe called climate change a “hoax” and frequently sounded off against the global warming narrative, arguing that human activity does not cause major temperature changes. He chaired the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for two years, during which time he challenged the climate change narrative in favor of what he called “sound science.” Inhofe fiercely criticized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), at one point comparing the agency to a “Gestapo bureaucracy.” During a floor speech in 2003, Inhofe promised to “expose the most powerful, most highly financed lobby in Washington, the far left environmental extremists.” “Wake up, America. With all the hysteria, all the fear, all the phony science, could it be that manmade global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people? I believe it is,” Inhofe said during his remarks, which lasted for two hours. “And if we allow these detractors of everything that has made America great, those ranging from the liberal Hollywood elitists to those who are in it for the money, if we allow them to destroy the foundation, the greatness of the most highly industrialized nation in the history of the world, then we don’t deserve to live in this one nation under God,” he said. Some of Inhofe’s staffers went on to serve in the EPA during the Trump administration, where they continued to work to roll back excessive environmental regulations. Inhofe was reviled by climate change activists and others, many of whom celebrated his death on social media on Tuesday, making jokes about snowballs in hell. “I hope he has fun finding out how fast snowballs melt in hell,” one X user wrote. “Jim Inhofe is dead. Hope he kept that snowball for where he’s going,” posted another. Inhofe was the longest-serving senator from Oklahoma and was in office for 29 years from 1994 until he retired last year.

I'm looking at you, Bailey Zimmerman

A man was arrested in Detroit, Michigan, after allegedly dropping bags of cocaine onto the roofs of Texas Roadhouse and Red Lobster restaurants while evading cops. Eric Talton, 29, was apprehended on July 3 following the alleged incident, CBS News reported, citing officials. The St. Clair County Drug Task Force team reportedly attempted to arrest […]

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