“When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One,” Donald Trump said on the campaign trail.

Americans, 408 days later, are still waiting. What’s worse, instead things are increasingly more expensive.

New data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that electricity costs have risen 14.4% in Pennsylvania. It didn’t help that there was a 71% increase in natural gas prices during Trump’s first year, so of course utility bills are soaring.

Have you been to the gas station lately to fill your tank? Prices are up nearly 7% in 2026. And now that Trump launched his reckless war in Iran, prices just spiked and likely will continue to climb at a faster clip, as The Associated Press reports.

Because Trump and his Republican Congress let Affordable Care Act subsidies expire, Pennsylvanians who enroll in health insurance through the state’s official marketplace Pennie faced “an average price increase of 102% to remain in their plan for 2026.” Never mind the “nearly 1 in 5 enrollees were unable to keep their health plan for 2026.”

“From rising electric bills to wholesale natural gas prices surging 71% in 2025, it’s clear that Donald Trump’s cost-raising economic policies have been a total disaster for Pennsylvanians,” said DNC Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta. “Donald Trump promised to lower costs on Day One. Instead, they’ve skyrocketed.”

Kenyatta pointed to Trump’s promise to lower energy costs as one glaring example. Trump claimed at a September 2024 ‘Protecting America Initiative’ roundtable in Pennsylvania that “your energy bill within 12 months will be cut in half, and that’s my pledge all over the country.”

Promise made, promise broken.

https://buckscountybeacon.com/2026/03/thanks-to-trump-and-his-republican-enablers-in-congress-the-affordability-crisis-in-pennsylvania-worsens/

>Advocacy group reports commanders giving similar messages at more than 30 installations in every branch of the military

https://asiatimes.com/2026/03/us-troops-were-told-iran-war-is-for-armageddon-return-of-jesus/

>A combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers at a briefing Monday that the Iran war is part of God’s plan and that President Donald Trump was “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,” according to a complaint by a non-commissioned officer.

>From Saturday morning through Monday night, more than 110 similar complaints about commanders in every branch of the military had been logged by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).

>The complaints came from more than 40 different units spread across at least 30 military installations, the MRFF told me Monday night.

>The MRFF is keeping the complainants anonymous to prevent retribution by the Defense Department. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to my request for comment.

>One complainant identified themselves as a non-commissioned officer (NCO) in a unit currently outside the Iran combat zone but in Ready-Support status, deployable at any time. The NCO said they were Christian and emailed the MRFF on behalf of 15 troops, including at least 11 Christians, one Muslim and one Jew. (Full email printed below.)

>The NCO wrote to the MRFF that their commander “urged us to tell our troops that this was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’ and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ.”

>Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has enshrined evangelical Christianity at the uppermost levels of the US military, airing monthly prayer meetings throughout the Pentagon. Last year, the Pentagon confirmed to me that Hegseth attends a weekly White House Bible study. It’s led by a preacher who says God commands America to support Israel.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/california-supreme-court-transgender-students-schools-b2930652.html

This order temporarily blocks a law stopping automatic parental notice of students’ pronouns or gender expression

The Supreme Court has cleared the way for California schools to inform parents if their children identify as transgender without student approval, granting an emergency appeal from a conservative legal group.

This order temporarily blocks a state law that prohibited automatic parental notification when students change their pronouns or gender expression at school.

The ruling follows challenges from religious parents and educators against California school policies preventing schools from outing students to their families. Catholic parents, represented by the Thomas More Society, claimed schools misled them and secretly facilitated their children's social transition despite their objections.

California officials countered that students have a right to privacy regarding their gender expression, especially if they fear family rejection, and that school policies aimed to balance this with parental rights.

Applications for jobless aid for the week ending Jan. 31 rose by 22,000 to 231,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s significantly more than the 211,000 new applications that analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet had forecast.

Applications for unemployment benefits are seen as representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

A number of high-profile companies have announced job cuts in the past year, including UPS, Amazon and Dow just last week.

Mounting layoff announcements in the past year, combined with the government’s own sluggish labor market reports, has left Americans increasingly pessimistic about the economy.

Last month, the government reported that hiring remained subdued in December, capping a year of weak employment gains that have frustrated job seekers. Employers added just 50,000 jobs last month, nearly unchanged from a downwardly revised figure of 56,000 in November, according to the Labor Department.

The 2025 numbers represent the smallest annual job gains since the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the job market in 2020. Outside of recessions, it’s the slimmest annual increase since 2003.

The Labor Department also recently reported that businesses posted far fewer jobs in November than the previous month, a sign that employers aren’t yet ramping up hiring.

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/us-applications-jobless-benefits-jump-22000-231000-week-129880470

https://www.nbcsports.com/pressbox/press-releases/super-bowl-lx-is-second-most-watched-all-time-with-nearly-125-million-viewers-peaking-at-all-time-u-s-record-137-8-million-viewers-across-nbc-peacock-and-telemundo

Seahawks-Patriots is Most-Watched Show in History of NBC, Which Celebrates 100 Years in 2026

Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Featuring Global Superstar Bad Bunny Generates Over 4 Billion Social Views in First 24 Hours – up 137% - the Most-Consumed Halftime Show of All-Time on NFL Social Platforms

Telemundo Delivers Largest Spanish-Language NFL Game Audience Ever; Peacock Achieves Best Day Ever on Sunday

Sunday’s Milan Cortina Olympics Presentation Averages 42 Million Viewers, Marking Largest Winter Games Audience since Day 2 of 2014 Sochi Olympics

STAMFORD, Conn. – February 10, 2026 – NBC Sports’ presentation of Super Bowl LX set an all-time media record as 137.8 million viewers watched in the second quarter as the Seattle Seahawks led 6-0 over the New England Patriots – marking the highest peak viewership in U.S. TV history.

The Seahawks’ 29-13 victory over the Patriots averaged 124.9 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, Telemundo, NBC Sports Digital, and NFL+, based on official live + same day Nielsen Big Data + Panel, ranking as the second-most watched show in U.S. history (behind Super Bowl LIX on FOX in Feb. 2025).

Super Bowl LX is the most-watched show in the history of NBCUniversal, which celebrates 100 years of NBC in 2026.

“The Super Bowl and the NFL once again delivered a blockbuster audience across the NBC broadcast network, Peacock, and Telemundo, and provided an unprecedented lead-in to our Primetime in Milan coverage,” said Rick Cordella, President, NBC Sports. “The Super Bowl and the Olympics are the two most powerful events in the world, and we salute our talented production, tech, and announce teams who delivered best-in-class presentations for our viewers, stations, and partners.”

Oh goody, another empty deadline! How much does that make for Trump now - 6?!?

> https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/07/volodymyr-zelenskyy-us-june-deadline-ukraine-russia-peace-deal

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/top-border-patrol-official-other-federal-agents-being-investigated-by-2026-03-02/
March 2 (Reuters) - A Minnesota prosecutor on Monday said her office is investigating the "potentially unlawful behavior" of federal agents during a crackdown earlier this year on undocumented immigrants that met widespread resistance and in which agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens, sparking nationwide outrage.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, whose jurisdiction includes Minneapolis, said at a press conference that her office had created a portal that would allow the public to send in videos and other evidence of incidents they witnessed in which they think Gregory Bovino, who once called himself the "commander at large" of the U.S. Border Patrol, and other federal agents committed a crime.

"We will investigate and pursue charging where appropriate, and we’ll seek collaboration with local law enforcement wherever and whenever needed," Moriarty said. "Make no mistake, we are not afraid of any legal fight."
While acknowledging the difficulty of successfully prosecuting federal agents, who enjoy strong legal protections against being charged for their actions, and saying that the federal government had not provided any information to her office, Moriarty added: "There is no absolute immunity for federal agents."