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Happy Sunday 🇺🇸,
First things first: what do you think of the rebrand? New look, new shop, new podcast, new everything. Love it, hate it, think the font is too smug? Hit reply. We read every one.
And has anyone tried their state's audio roast yet? Every state gets one, and nobody is safe. Hear yours here. Then send it to the cousin who never shuts up about your state.
Meanwhile in New York, people keep climbing into manholes in the middle of the night. Five people climbed out of one on the Upper East Side around 2 a.m., then drove off and left shovels behind. Two nights later, three more men went down one in Hamilton Heights. That's at least the eighth sewer-diving incident since May. Police think they're treasure hunters looking for valuables and scrap metal.
Rent in Manhattan got so high, even the sewer has tenants.
Grab your strong coffee. It's been a week.
THE SUNDAY SCORECARD
How America did this week:
S&P 500 7,659.44 @ Fridays's close | 30-YR MORTGAGE 7.40% ▲ from 6.27% a yr ago |
BITCOIN $81,564 * As of Friday PM | NATIONAL GAS AVERAGE $4.33 vs $3.07 same time last yr |
GOLD $4,185 /oz ▼ Down 0.2% from last week | NATIONAL DEBT $40.33T ▲ and counting |
* Numbers not real time.
IN A HURRY?
The 60-second version.
Inflation is back on the menu. Prices rose 3.7% over the past year, and gas alone jumped 9.1% in one month.
Your raise is already spent. Social Security gets 3.6% next year. Inflation is running at 3.7%. You do the math.
The robots are coming for the cubicles. Kroger is cutting 3,000 corporate jobs, Netflix about 1,000, and the IMF calls AI a "slow-moving tsunami."
VOTE · YOUR OPINION MATTERS
Do Good Guys With Guns Matter More?
Thursday, a 16-year-old shot his way into Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, killing three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher. A community member saw him go in, followed him, and shot him before police got inside, about two minutes after the first 911 call. Our hearts are with Bend.
One side says this is the proof: when seconds matter, police are minutes away, and an armed citizen was all that stood between a gunman and more kids.
The other side says one hero isn’t a policy. A 16-year-old should never have had a long gun, and a country that needs a passerby with a rifle to protect a first grader has already failed.
So be honest. What does Bend prove?
What does this prove?
One tap. Results next Sunday.
01 · WASHINGTON
Politics & Policy
Inflation ran hot again. Prices rose 0.6% in September and 3.7% over the past year, up from 3.4% in August and above the 3.6% economists expected. Gasoline jumped 9.1% in a single month and drove about half of the increase. The good news is you're not imagining it. That's also the bad news.
Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar's D.C. home early Monday under a court-approved warrant. The Justice Department calls it part of an ongoing criminal investigation, which reports tie to her childhood immigration paperwork. Border czar Tom Homan first confirmed the probe in September. Supporters call it accountability, critics call it three-weeks-before-the-midterms timing. Either way, nobody in Washington is getting a quiet October.
A federal judge ordered the administration to cancel its remaining taxpayer-funded TV ads featuring President Trump. They were paid for with Homeland Security money set aside for border security. The White House says the campaign was ending anyway. Both parties love a good commercial, especially when you're paying for it.
More than half of the top bidders for Trump's next meme coin dinner used crypto exchanges that ban U.S. customers, according to a CBS News analysis. At least 52 of the top 100 holders, to be exact. The gala is Nov. 22 at Trump National Golf Club. Fishy? Let's just say the guest list has an international flavor.
Remember the $5,000 checks? Treasury counselor David Zervos says there's no funding plan yet: "we'll cross that bridge when we get there." Sending $5,000 to about 245 million adult citizens comes to about $1.2 trillion. The check's in the mail. The mail just hasn't been funded.
02 · YOUR WALLET
Markets & Money
China's central bank bought gold for the 23rd straight month. It added about 23 tonnes in September, its biggest monthly purchase in almost three years, and the country is importing more gold than ever. When the world's biggest saver keeps buying the same thing every month, it might be worth asking why.
Social Security gets a 3.6% raise in 2027. That's about $75 a month for the average retiree, starting in January for nearly 72 million beneficiaries. With inflation at 3.7%, the raise is losing before it even shows up. Congrats?
The American Dream now costs $5.32 million. That's a house, two cars, two kids through college, a wedding, healthcare, pets and a yearly vacation, per an Investopedia analysis. It's up 4.1% in a year while wages rose 3.1%. A full-time worker with a bachelor's degree earns about $3.6 million from 25 to 64. Dream big. Then get a second job.
03 · MAIN STREET
Business & Society
Oprah-backed True Food Kitchen filed for Chapter 11 with roughly $42 million in debt and closed 12 restaurants, leaving 34 in 14 states. Turns out kale doesn't cover the rent.
The head of the IMF says AI is hitting jobs like a "slow-moving tsunami," and young graduates are first in line. Meanwhile, the CEO of tech company Bird cut his staff from over 1,000 to 120 and says AI rewards "high-agency" generalists. Translation: learn to do everything, or learn to look busy.
Crumbl has closed 57 locations this year and cut corporate jobs after August sales came in 70% below two years ago. Also this week, Starbucks shut down the takeover rumors: "Starbucks is not buying Chipotle." Cookies are down, burritos are safe, and your latte still costs eight bucks.
Kroger plans to cut about 3,000 corporate jobs over three years, roughly a third of its corporate staff, as it leans into AI. Netflix is cutting about 1,000, about 6% of its workforce and its biggest round since 2022. "Are you still watching?" now applies to the employees.
PARTNERED WITH: GOLDENCREST METALS
China, India and Poland have added gold every quarter since 2022, through the run-up and the pullback. Bank of America sees a path to $6,000. Wells Fargo is telling clients to buy.
Meanwhile, the average American portfolio holds less than 1% in gold.
GoldenCrest Metals' free guide covers why the biggest buyers keep buying, and the straightforward way to add gold to your IRA or 401(k) without taxes or penalties.
Translation: the folks with the biggest vaults aren't waiting for permission.
Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing in gold involves risk. Not financial advice.
04 · RESULTS
Last Weeks Poll:
Last Week's Poll: Trump's $5K Promise Is...
Most of you said B) A bribe with a bow on it. "Cute. I'll believe it when it clears my bank" came in a close second. Skeptical bunch. We like that.
Best Reader Comment:
“Country cannot afford something like this. Too good to be true.”
And this week, the Treasury Department basically agreed. See Politics & Policy above.
05 · WINNERS & LOSERS
Winners:
Elon Musk. First he called rival Waymo's driverless cars "pet destroyers" while touting a Tesla robotaxi update that spots animals at night: "we don't want to run over the pets." Then on Thursday night he rolled out the new Roadster, which flipped off a ramp and floated back down on SpaceX thrusters. Watch Tesla's demo. It was first promised in 2017. Nine years late, but it showed up flying.
Coca-Cola. KFC is dropping Pepsi for Coke at its roughly 3,600 U.S. restaurants, starting in January 2027, after nearly four decades with Pepsi. Pepsi just got dumped over a bucket of chicken.
Losers:
Big Banks. A federal regulator's review of the nine largest national banks found all nine had policies that could deny service over political or religious views or lawful businesses like oil and gas and firearms. The Comptroller called it "irrefutable evidence." One example: in February 2021, a bank-owned payment processor closed the account of a merchant selling Trump and MAGA merchandise. Your bank can find your T-shirt shop. Billions in suspicious transfers, not so much (see Weekly Common Sense).
CVS. It agreed to pay $315 million to settle Justice Department claims that it filled unlawful opioid prescriptions and billed many of them to Medicare and other federal programs. CVS admits no wrongdoing and "strongly disagrees." Its checkbook apparently doesn't.
06 · WORTH YOUR WATCH
Budgeting in 2026: you used to have a plan. Now you have a prayer. Twenty-five seconds that'll feel a little too familiar at the checkout line.
Like it? Follow Red State Finance on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X for more short ones every week.
If You Hate Ads:
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07 · WEEKLY COMMON SENSE
Bank of America Hit With $1.2 Billion in Money-Laundering Penalties
The Treasury Department announced about $1.21 billion in penalties against Bank of America, including the largest penalty in the history of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Regulators say the bank failed to report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions on time, including over $1 billion tied to national security risks like Chinese money-laundering networks. The bank admitted to willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
Translation: Deposit $9,000 cash and they'll ask questions. Trillions of dollars of transactions? Slipped right through.
Patient Disputes an $85,000 Hospital Bill. AI Finds $20,000 More.
A social worker on TikTok says a patient who challenged her $85,000 hospital bill got a response she didn't expect. The hospital ran an "AI sweep" of her visit, found nearly $20,000 in charges it says were left off, and sent a revised bill for $102,000. The patient already couldn't afford the first one.
Translation: Question your medical bill, win a bigger medical bill. Always ask for an itemized one anyway.
Americans Over 75 Are Now the Richest Group in the Country
The median net worth of families 75 and older jumped 37% to $505,000 between 2022 and 2025, according to the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances. Families under 35 saw theirs fall 23% to $33,000. The overall median rose just 2%. Homes bought decades ago and a rising stock market did most of the work.
Translation: The Bank of Mom and Dad is now the Bank of Grandma. Be nice at Thanksgiving.
Power Grid Emergency Declared for 13 States in October
The Energy Department issued an emergency order letting grid operator PJM run plants past normal pollution limits to prevent blackouts for more than 60 million people across 13 states and D.C. during an unseasonable heat wave. Energy Secretary Chris Wright blamed past policies that leaned on wind and solar. PJM pointed to plants and power lines taken offline for routine fall maintenance.
Translation: Whoever's fault it is, the bill lands in the same mailbox: yours.
Jeff Bezos: "Success Is Not Villainy"
The world's second-richest man, worth about $372 billion, told Fox News that people have been taught "incorrectly" that success is villainy. "You can be a billionaire if you started a hamburger stand." He also wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero federal income tax. A 2025 Pew study found about a third of Gen Z adults see being extremely rich as "morally wrong."
Translation: A billionaire says start a burger stand and stop taxing the nurse. Both parties suddenly found something else to talk about.
08 · LATEST PODCAST
Six Figures and Still Broke: Inflation or Corporate Greed?
Episode 22 · 13 minutes
COMMON SENSE - RED STATE FINANCE
Six Figures and Still Broke: Inflation or Corporate Greed?
A McChicken was $1 in 2014 and $2.99 a decade later. Cole and Savannah pull out the receipts: why six figures doesn't stretch like it used to, why one in five families is behind on a bill, and whether it's inflation or corporate greed. Washington's fingerprints are on it too. Listen, then you decide.
09 · MERCH
Your State Made the Front Page.
All 50 states plus D.C. get their own Roast Your State tee: a mock front-page headline on the front, State Facts on the back. Find yours, then find one for your in-laws. Use code ROAST10 for 10% off.
Haven't heard your state's roast yet? Listen free here.
10 · FROM THE VAULT
Speaking of claiming to be something you're not: the two parties have been doing it for 150 years. Our guide The Real History of the Two Political Parties (And How They Switched Places) walks through how they swapped voters, issues and whole regions of the map. 39 sources cited. No scoreboard, no bumper stickers.
$4.99, or included with every other guide in the Common Sense Club.
11 · WHY SO SERIOUS?
Man Uses AI Songs and 10,000 Bots to Out-Stream Taylor Swift
A North Carolina man got 18 months in prison for using AI-generated songs and up to 10,000 bot accounts to collect more than $8 million in streaming royalties, prosecutors say. In April 2023, his bots racked up 80.9 million YouTube Music family-plan streams. Taylor Swift's entire catalog got 9.3 million.
Translation: His fans weren't real. His $8,091,843.64 forfeiture is very real.
Microsoft's President: Your Milk Has More Rules Than AI
Microsoft president Brad Smith told the BBC that "every carton of milk that you see in the grocery store is subject to safety rules and inspection" and that "your washing machine is subject to more safety rules than AI." He wants global rules, including emergency "kill switches."
Translation: The milk has an expiration date. The robot that might take your job doesn't.
Woman Sues Supermarket for $33.5 Million Over a Puddle
A 71-year-old former bus and train cleaner slipped on rainwater leaking through the roof of a Portland Fred Meyer while shopping for bananas and suffered a brain injury. Her lawyer said the parking-deck roof had leaked in that exact spot for decades. Fred Meyer said it had only been dripping a few minutes. She sought $33.5 million and settled for an undisclosed amount.
Translation: Decades of buckets and paper towels. Zero roofers.
Kid Watches 120 YouTube Videos in Four School Days
An Oklahoma dad told his school board his son watched 120 YouTube videos during school hours from Monday to Thursday on his school Chromebook. One assignment got a 17 after six minutes of effort. Oklahoma bans phones from bell to bell, but school laptops are the exception.
Translation: We took away the phones and handed out YouTube machines.
Pickleball Franchisor Files for Bankruptcy: "I Own It"
The Picklr, an indoor pickleball chain with more than 70 U.S. locations, filed for Chapter 11. Its founder says the company guaranteed leases for about 40 early franchise locations. "That's on us. I own it." The clubs stay open, and a franchisee-led group has committed $4.5 million to keep it going.
Translation: Even pickleball players know: never stand in the kitchen. The founder signed a lease on it.
12 · EVENTS TO KNOW ABOUT
Housing Starts
Date: Tuesday, October 20, 8:30 a.m. ET
September numbers on new home construction and building permits.
Why you should care: With mortgages at 7.40%, this shows whether builders still think anyone can afford to buy.
Netflix Earnings
Date: Tuesday, October 20, after the close
Netflix reports third-quarter results, a week after announcing about 1,000 job cuts.
Why you should care: If your subscription went up again, this is where they explain why.
Tesla + Meta Earnings
Date: Wednesday, October 21, after the close
Tesla reports right after its flying Roadster show. Meta reports the same night.
Why you should care: Both are big pieces of the S&P 500, so they move a lot of 401(k)s.
13 · THE RED STATE RANT
When Is a Lawyer Not Actually a Lawyer?
Picture it: you hire a guy to fix your roof. He's got the truck, the ladder, the business card that says "Roofer." Then the ceiling caves in, and you find out he went to roofing school, took the licensing test, failed it, and never took it again. But hey, he's got the business card.
That's roughly where Washington is this week. The now already ex White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, called herself a lawyer. She has a law degree from Pepperdine. She also took the California bar exam, didn't pass, and never retook it. Asked about it, she said the results were "somewhat inconsequential" because she was moving to China, where she worked at a Chinese law firm. Two watchdog groups have now filed complaints with the California bar.
So, can we all just call ourselves whatever we want now?
The case for "relax, it's fine"
She has the degree. She did the three years and paid the tuition. Plenty of law grads never practice, and nobody calls them frauds.
She was the press secretary, not the White House lawyer. She even said it: she was "not hired as White House counsel." Her job is talking, and she's clearly qualified to talk.
And let's be honest, Washington has bigger credential problems. George Santos made up basically his whole résumé and got elected anyway. Elizabeth Warren listed herself as Native American for years before apologizing. Both parties have a closet full of these. A failed bar exam barely makes the top ten.
The case against
Words mean something. "Lawyer" isn't a vibe, it's a license. You can't call yourself a nurse, a CPA or a pilot because you took the class. Try telling the FAA your flight test was "inconsequential."
And it's not just Washington. LinkedIn is full of "CEOs" with zero employees, "thought leaders" with zero thoughts, and "financial experts" whose expertise is a Lamborghini rental. Instagram has "nutritionists" whose only credential is a ring light. We've turned titles into costumes.
When the person whose job is to tell the public the truth can't get her own job title right, that's a problem, whichever party she works for.
The verdict
No, this isn't a scandal that should end a career. Lots of people fail the bar. Lots of good people never retake it.
But just say what you are. "I have a law degree" is true, impressive and honest. "I'm a lawyer" is a claim you have to earn. Common sense says a title is something you get by passing the test, not by putting it in your bio.
If the rest of us need a license to cut hair in most states, Washington can manage to use the right word for its own job titles.
What's the most made-up title you've ever seen? Hit reply. We read every one.
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See you next Sunday.
The Red State Finance team
