This is Mother’s Day.

Here’s Will Rogers in 1930, “My own mother died when I was ten years old.  My folks have told me that what little humor I have comes from her.  I can’t remember her humor but I can remember her love and her understanding of me. 

“Of course, the mother I know the most about is the mother of our little group.  She has been for twenty-two years trying to raise to maturity four children, three by birth and one by marriage. You know, there ought to be some kind of a star given to any woman that can live with a comedian.  Now, that little compliment ought to repay for the flowers that I forgot to get today.” (Radio, Mother’s Day, 1930)

The Federal Reserve Board met and raised its official rate by half a percent to a target of one percent. That is still far, far below the rate needed to tamp down inflation which is over 8%. The Dow has been on a roller coaster this year with a lot more downs than ups.

Will Rogers wrote often about the Federal Reserve Board, “If a 1 percent raise in rate [from 5% to 6%] can upset the whole of Wall Street, then they are working on a mighty slim margin.” (DT #881, May 23, 1929) A few weeks earlier he wrote, “There is two things that can disrupt business in this country. One is war and the other is a meeting of the Federal Reserve.”  (DT #837, April 2, 1929) You will recall that a few months later, in October 1929, the stock market crashed, starting the Great Depression.

The Federal Reserve by itself can’t control inflation. The President and Congress need to act. So far, the Biden Administration has been adding fuel to the flaming inflation rate. They may know how to cool inflation, but refuse to do it.

For the first time in over 200 years, someone in the inner circle of the Supreme Court broke a sacred trust by printing a 100-page first draft of an opinion and sneaking it out of the building months before a final version will be announced. This is shameful. I hope they catch the culprit soon before they do more damage to the Supreme Court.

Putin’s war on Ukraine has reached 75 days. He thought it would be over in 3 or 4 days. We celebrate V-E Day today (Victory in Europe, May 8, 1945) while Russia celebrates on May 9. Since Putin can’t claim a great victory over Ukraine, there is speculation he may ramp up attacks. He could order the slaughter of thousands more civilians, destroy more industries, and wipe out wheat harvest and the planting of other crops. All of our aid in the future, even more than the $33 Billion being considered in Congress, must be for direct military aid to help Ukraine defeat Putin and restore their original border.

The Kentucky Derby win yesterday by Rich Strike, an 80-1 long shot, will be talked about for decades. That horse was not even in the field until the day before. Rich Strike winning could only be topped by a Model T Ford winning the Indy 500.  As Will Rogers said, “Money, horse racing and women are three things the boys just can’t figure out.”  (DT #2679, March 7, 1935)

[Correction from last week: on Twitter I’m @WillRogersToday]