A WORLD GONE MAD
A Progressive Liberal News Podcast
Veteran Television, and Radio Broadcaster Jeff Alan Wolf offers his Observations on the issues (many issues) of the week with a fearless liberal bent. His solid delivery, and dry common sense approach sets him apart from other liberals that populate Talk and Commentary Podcasts”
Jeff Does NOT Pull Punches.
He does NOT Make comments that are “SAFE”.
He tells the Truth.
(He Tells It As He Sees It)
He Is Very OPINIONATED!
He says the things Out Loud YOU’RE
already thinking.
Jeff is Unfiltered, Unspun, A little Unhinged, but offers a lot of Common Sense.
This Podcast could make you MAD.
This Podcast could make you SMILE.
Regardless, it WILL make you THINK!
A WORLD GONE MAD
Stocks Plunge, Unions Sue Trump, Tik Tok Ban Delayed, More Firings, Casual Dining Chains In Crisis
Democracy faces multiple threats as Trump's second term policies cause economic turmoil and constitutional concerns. Rising tariffs trigger market plunges while federal workers lose collective bargaining rights and the NSA leadership gets fired at the recommendation of a far-right activist.
• Trade war escalation as China imposes reciprocal 34% tariffs on US imports, sending stocks tumbling amid recession fears
• Trump administration attempts to end collective bargaining rights for federal employees through executive order
• Despite court orders, TikTok ban deadline extended as negotiations continue behind the scenes
• Obama and Harris break silence, criticizing Trump's threats against universities and legal establishments
• NSA Director and Deputy Director fired after far-right activist Laura Loomer urged Trump to remove them
• Judge considering contempt charges against Trump officials for violating deportation flight orders
• Casual dining chains facing crisis as Americans abandon sit-down restaurants for fast food options due to economic pressures
I'd love to hear from you about how economic pressures are affecting your dining habits. Are you choosing fast food over casual dining restaurants? Email me at wolfpacklistener@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at 833-399-9653. Also Check out my Substack under Jeff Alan Wolf From The Wolf’s Den
AWorldGoneMadPodcast@gmail.com
This is a World Gone Mad. This is a World Gone Mad, mad, mad, mad, mad. This is a World Gone Mad. Welcome to the Resistance. I'm Jeff Allen Wolfe. I give my commentary on national and world news and politics, so let's get right to it.
Speaker 1:Trade war escalation over Trump's tariffs sends stocks tumbling. Inflation could be here to stay. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that inflation is likely to pick up because of President Donald Trump's new tariffs, and those higher prices could be persistent Recession fears. Trump vowed this morning to continue his economic policies, even as us stocks opened sharply lower. And then stocks hit lows of the day as the dow plunged to 2231 points, while us job growth beat expectations. Month tariff angst continues to drive market sentiment amid fears of global recession. Now trade war escalation. China said it will impose reciprocal 34% tariffs on all imports from the US starting April 10th In retaliation to Trump's tariffs against Beijing, ratcheting up the trade war between the world's two largest economies. Trump said China played it wrong in their response. No, trump played it wrong and this is having destructive ramifications across our country and the world. Other countries are not backing down with reciprocal tariffs against America and I don't see Trump stopping and he'll come back with even more tariffs. This is a dangerous game of chicken and Donald the delusional one is going to destroy everything.
Speaker 1:Unions sue to stop Trump from ending collective bargaining rights from any federal employees. Now a coalition of unions representing nearly 1 million federal workers filed a lawsuit in US District Court in San Francisco late Thursday seeking to stop the Trump administration from ending the collective bargaining rights for many federal employees. President Donald Trump last week signed an unprecedented executive order that seeks to from ending the collective bargaining rights for many federal employees. President Donald Trump last week signed an unprecedented executive order that seeks to abolish multiple agencies' union contracts in the name of so-called national security. The order is aimed at stopping federal unions who have declared war on President Trump's agenda, according to a White House fact sheet. War on President Trump's agenda, according to a White House fact sheet. Now it claimed the American Federation of Government Employees has filed many grievances to block Trump policies. The administration is also suing multiple AFGE locals in federal court in Texas, seeking to release several agencies from their collective bargaining agreements. The union's lawsuit, which is led by AFGE, argues Trump's actions are retaliation, violate the right to engage in constitutionally protected speech. Also, the suit alleges the administration is attempting to apply the national security exemption to eliminate the rights of workers whose primary duties are not related to national security, and the unions want the government to continue employees' payroll deductions for union dues. Relatedly, the National Treasury Employees Union asked a federal judge today to halt the administration from moving ahead with the executive order while a lawsuit is filed in US District Court in the District of Columbia early in the week. And let it play out in court.
Speaker 1:Look, not a lot to be said about this. Workers' rights are being taken away, plain and simple Again. More rights taken away by the Trump administration with no regards to the ramifications. And if the other people would wake up, see what Trump is doing, how dangerous his policies are, then we'd have some checks and balances. But I don't see anything changing. I'm sorry. There are no indications anywhere of this happening to put a stop to Trump's maniacal, idiotic executive orders.
Speaker 1:Trump extends the TikTok ban deadline to continue work on the deal to save the app in the US. Now President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will again delay enforcement of the TikTok sale or ban law for 75 days as his staff continues to work on a deal to preserve access to the app in the United States. My administration has been working very hard on a deal to save TikTok and we have made tremendous progress. The deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, trump said in a post on True Social. The announcement comes just one day before that ban was set to go into effect, after Trump delayed it by an initial 75 days when he took office in January. We don't know the details of what's going on behind the scenes and we'll probably never know, but I can speculate that this is all about money, of course, and the parties who are involved in the purchase of TikTok probably don't like what Trump's offering, or Trump's trying to milk them for even more money.
Speaker 1:Former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday each delivered remarks on the state of the country under President Donald Trump's second term and criticized the administration's recent actions. Obama, who preceded Trump's first term, sharply criticized Trump's efforts to reshape the federal government, crack down on immigration and dissent and intimidate news outlets and the legal establishment. So this is the first time I've been speaking publicly for a while, obama said during an on-stage interview at Hamilton College I've been watching for a little bit. Imagine if I had done any of this. Obama said later adding Obama said later adding it's unimaginable that the same parties that are silent now would have tolerated behavior like that from me or a whole bunch of my predecessors. Obama went on to say that he doesn't think Trump's new tariff announcement is going to be good for America. However, he said that he is more concerned with what he described as the White House's infringement of rights. I'm more deeply concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don't give up students who are exercising their right to free speech. Obama told the crowd of college students, the idea that a White House can say to law firms if you represent parties that we don't like, and we're going to pull out all our businesses or bar you from representing people effectively, those kinds of that kind of behavior is contrary to the basic compact we have as Americans.
Speaker 1:Obama had previously warned of the dangers facing the country if Trump were reelectelected while campaigning for Harris during the final stretch of the 2024 presidential race. Now, just because Trump acts goofy, the former president said at the time, doesn't mean his presidency wouldn't be dangerous. In separate remarks, harris on Thursday said Trump's moves since he's returned to office were largely predictable. There are many things. We knew what happened, harris said in a video of her remarks at the Leading Women Defined Summit. I'm not here to say I told you so, she added, before laughing.
Speaker 1:Harris said she recognizes that Trump's return to the Oval Office created a great sense of fear. We are seeing organizations stay quiet, we are seeing those who are capitulating to clearly unconstitutional threats and these are the things that we are witnessing each day in the last few months in our country, and it understandably creates a great sense of fear. Harris said it's good to hear Obama and Harris speak out against Trump, but let me be very honest here, with no disrespect towards President Obama or Vice President Harris, their words don't have any effect on anything that Trump is doing. It just tells us, the Democratic side, that, hey, obama and Harris are on our side and what Donald is doing is wrong. We need more than just words and to help you know, stop this tearing down of America by Trump. Words alone are not going to do it.
Speaker 1:Trump administration fires director of National Security Agency. The Trump administration has fired the director and deputy director of the National Security Agency, the United States powerful cyber intelligence bureau, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation, members of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees and two former officials familiar with the matter. Now, the dismissal of General Timothy Hogue, who also leads US Cyber Command, the military's offensive and defensive cyber unit, is a major shakeup of the US Cyber Command. The military's offensive and defensive cyber unit is a major shakeup of the US intelligence community, which is navigating significant changes in the first two months of the Trump administration. Wendy Noble, haug's deputy at NSA, was also removed, according to the former officials and lawmakers. The top Democrats on the Senate and House Intelligence Committee, senator Mark Warner and Representative Jim Himes, denounced the firing of Hogue, who served in the role since February 2024, in statements on Thursday night. Lieutenant General William Hartman, an experienced military officer and the deputy of Cyber Command, is expected to serve as acting head of the command and NSA. The two former officials said the news of the dismissals comes as the White House also fired multiple staff members on the NSA on Thursday, or rather the National Security Council on Thursday.
Speaker 1:After get this guys, laura Loomer she's a far-right activist who once claimed 9-11 was an inside job urged President Donald Trump during a Wednesday meeting to do these firings, arguing that these people were disloyal she deemed insufficient. In their support of Trump also advocated for the firing of Hogg and Noble. Two sources familiar with the meeting told CNN this is absolutely ridiculous. A far-right activist, loomer, tells Trump here's what you should do, and he listens to her. I'm at a loss for words. That a far-right activist can influence Trump appeals to his ego. So imagine, think about this what is Putin saying to Trump and what he's trying to get Trump to do now with Ukraine and Greenland. This is disgusting.
Speaker 1:Judge considering whether to hold Trump officials in contempt for violating court orders on deportation flights Now US District Judge James Bromberg of Boesberg said Thursday that he is looking at whether probable cause exists to hold the Trump administration officials in contempt for violating his orders halting the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members. The comments from Boesberg mark a significant escalation in a standoff between the administration and the chief judge of the trial-level court in Washington DC over deportation flights. It allowed to continue last month, despite his orders that the government turn the planes around immediately, pending a legal challenge to Trump's use of the sweeping wartime authority. Now the case has emerged as one of the highest profile and most contentious court battles of President Donald Trump's second term, with the president calling for Boesberg's impeachment. He loves doing that with judges, right? He doesn't like what they're doing, impeach him. So he didn't like the handling of the matter, so leading to a rare rebuke of the rhetoric from Chief Justice John Roberts. Boesberg signaled repeatedly during a hearing Thursday afternoon that he was inclined to move forward with contempt proceedings, including potentially with witness testimony from government officials, though the judge added that he won't make a decision Ensign that there was a fair likelihood that the government didn't comply with his orders, but that he was open to being persuaded otherwise. You know this bothers me. The judge is inclined to move forward towards his decision of contempt, rebuking the Trump administration. You know, definite contempt. But delaying that decision Now he could just be laying the groundwork to show how thorough he was in this. But we really need harsher decisions than considering my actions or inclined to move forward. That's not strong enough.
Speaker 1:Everyone, and finally America, has lost its appetite for casual dining chains. Restaurant industry icons, where Americans went out for decades for wings, dinner and celebrations, are facing a crisis. Hooters filed for bankruptcy this week. The latest casual dining chain to go belly up Red Lobster, tgi Fridays and Buca di Beppo, also fired for bankruptcy in the last year. Meanwhile, sales at Denny's, applebee's Outback Steakhouse we talked about last episode, bonefish Grill, red Robin and Cracker Barrels are dropping and they are shuttering hundreds of restaurants.
Speaker 1:Casual dining chains typically cater to lower and middle income families looking for a sit-down meal, but diners are abandoning these companies as their disposable income shrinks. These restaurants have been hiking menu prices. At the same time, their customer base has been squeezed by the rising cost of living. Since 2019, restaurant prices have increased 34%, outpacing the overall growth of inflation during that same period, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. They're trying to aim at the average middle consumer, said Ernest Baskin, an associate professor of food marketing at St Joseph's University. When consumers start watching their budget, the middle shrinks. Instead, diners are choosing to cook dinner at home and are finding a cheaper option to grab a meal. These options include frequenting fast food chains such as Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane's, and fast casual restaurants like Chipotle and Cava. In 2024, sales across the casual dining sector dropped by 0.9%, while growing 0.6% at fast casual chains and 1% at fast food chains, according to data from Black Box Intelligence.
Speaker 1:In a time-starved world, people want something to be quick at an affordable price, said Brian Vaccaro, an analyst at Raymond James, another sign of the consumer shift from sitting down for dinner at a restaurant to picking up a meal from a fast food or a fast casual spot. When casual dining chains close, fast food and fast casual restaurants have been replacing them, usually with drive-thru stores. Chick-fil-a, for example, is taking over a shuttered Red Lobster in Naples, florida. Fast casual is also more profitable to operate than sit-down restaurants. Chipotle and other fast casual chain locations are smaller. They require fewer workers and less maintenance to run them than full-service restaurants.
Speaker 1:But there are some bright spots in casual dining. Chili's, texas Roadhouse and Olive Garden have bucked the slowdown. These chains kept prices lower than rivals, invested heavily in labor and restaurant improvements and they are currently reaping the payoffs from their investments. Brinker, the parent company of Chili's, has poured more than $400 million into simplifying Chili's menu, adding more servers and bussesusters and renovating their restaurants. That investment has allowed Chili's to upgrade its French fry and chicken tender recipes and offer fast food like prices. It's subsequently gone viral on TikTok for videos of customers pulling apart its gooey mozzarella sticks. There's a widening gap between winners and losers in the casual dining category. Brian Vaccaro said Brands that are investing in labor and the quality of guest experience are winning.
Speaker 1:So dare I ask you, the Wolfpack listener, a question? Because in the last eight episodes of A World Gone Mad, I've asked a lot of questions and I've had very little to almost none feedback from you. So I'm going to try again. Are you going to this bigger restaurant, the bigger you know known restaurants, or are you going to smaller fast food places for your lunches and dinners? What has been your way of doing things for meals for yourself or for you and your family in the last year or two? If you care to comment on this question that I asked you, or anything in this episode, or even just to say hello, jeff, would be nice to hear from some of you Again. The email is wolfpacklistener at gmailcom Toll-free voicemail box 24-7-833-399-9653. Leave me a comment on Blue Sky. If you're over there, please check out my sub stack that I just started Again. You can find it on sub stack under Jeff Allen Wolf, the Wolf Sten, or you could contact me through email and I'll send you a direct link to the Substack to make it easier for you.
Speaker 1:Hopefully a lot of you are going out to protest Saturday, depending on when you listen to this episode tonight, tomorrow or when you hear this tomorrow, you're protesting now because a couple of thousand people protesting are not going to make a statement. We need hundreds of thousands of people to protest across this country Saturday. I'll be back again Monday. This is A World Gone Mad. I'm Jeff Allen Wolfe and without your comments, your feedback, your engagement, I'm sitting in a room talking to myself. Stay hopeful, democracy. This is a world gone mad. This is a world gone mad.
