The unserious new Republican budget plan

• February 20, 2025

Serious problems should be met with serious solutions. We have serious problems, namely a fast-growing debt and a need to extend some tax cuts in an unforgiving environment where interest rates are high and inflation is rising again. Unfortunately, despite a new mandate, House Republicans have yet to rise to the occasion. Their latest budget blueprint shows that fiscal responsibility vanishes the moment real choices arise.

As a reminder, government debt stands at 100% of GDP. It will grow to 117% by 2034 if the tax cuts are allowed to expire as scheduled this year. It was 76.5% when the cuts were first passed in 2017.

For those wondering why deficits and debt have accumulated so much, here are some more numbers. According to Center for a Free Economy President Ryan Ellis, since 2017, tax revenues have grown by 58%, while spending has grown by 75%. These hikes weren’t driven by inflation alone, which increased by 31% cumulatively over the period. As Ellis rightly notes, we can’t blame taxpayers. The fault lies squarely with politicians’ spending incontinence.

Enter the House Republican budget blueprint for a “big beautiful bill” as requested by the president. As the Committee for a Responsible Budget explains, “the budget resolution’s instructions include a net $3.3 trillion in allowable deficit increases — or nearly $4 trillion including interest in additional debt by 2034.” It also raises the debt ceiling by $4 trillion.

Basically, we’re talking about offsetting as much as $4.8 trillion — mostly for tax-cut extensions — with only $1.5 trillion in supposed spending reductions. The plan projects that additional tax revenue from economic growth will temper the debt impact.

While I’ve touted the potential for some tax-cut extensions to boost economic growth, this is a case of wishful thinking by Republicans. In part, it’s because the plan relies on the same kinds of budget gimmicks and unrealistic assumptions we’ve seen before, like counting on Congress to deliver on large future spending cuts to discretionary spending and Medicaid.

It’s not as if there isn’t lots to cut — there is, especially considering the unhinged government expansions of the last four years — but it remains politically tough. As the Manhattan Institute’s Jessica Riedl notes, achieving the assumed level of cuts in the plan would require Congress to deliver the lowest discretionary spending share of GDP since the 1930s while simultaneously increasing defense and border-security spending. Why would we expect Congress to have the stomach for that?

Many Republicans are putting their faith in Elon Musk’s cost cutting, but it’s not enough. Much of what needs to happen requires Congress, which apparently prefers to once again kick the can down the road.

The blueprint makes other questionable assumptions. I doubt we’ll find $2.6 trillion in extra revenue from a highly improbable 2.8% annual GDP growth rate, considering the approximately 1.8% growth baseline.

Yes, extending the provision allowing businesses to quickly and fully deduct the cost of their investments would have a powerful, positive impact on growth. However, many of the other tax provisions have little growth oomph.

In addition, there are plenty of headwinds that will hamper growth, such as the increase of the debt itself and the uncertainty created by a president who spends his time threatening trading partners with ever more tariffs.

There’s real risk that inflation may pick up again, in part because previous fiscal decadence has led to enormous interest payments on the debt, which has serious ripple effects. If Republicans decide to extend taxes without any concern for adding to the debt, they will contribute to the problem.

And indeed, it looks like that’s what they are setting out to do. The saddest part is that this version of the plan will be better than whatever bargained budget congressional Republicans can get across the finish line — especially after caving to those who want to eliminate revenue-savers from the 2017 tax reform, such as the limits put on the state and local tax deduction.

I get it: Governing is hard, so legislators tout savings and revenue that may never materialize. But glossy narratives do nothing to fix the nation’s daunting debt trajectory, and budgets like this latest one push us closer to crisis. Without difficult structural reforms, debt will continue to mount, forcing harsher choices later.

To capitalize on their opportunity, Republicans must confront reality. So stop the charade and cut both discretionary spending and the growth of runaway entitlement spending. And cut any unfair tax loopholes that prevent us from paying for a slightly more modest government.

Veronique de Rugy is the George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy and a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

​ Orange County Register 

Alexander: USC’s JuJu Watkins is hard to keep down

• February 20, 2025

LOS ANGELES — Hearts were in throats throughout Galen Center for a while Wednesday night.

JuJu Watkins – the franchise, as far as the USC women’s basketball team is concerned – lay on the floor at one free-throw line as the play went to the other end. She’d had a layup blocked by Michigan State’s Jocelyn Tate, who grabbed the rebound, pushed it downcourt and ultimately scored on a layup.

It was only after that play, with 3:46 left in the second quarter, that Watkins got to her feet and went to the Trojans’ bench, holding the back of her head, and from there proceeded up the tunnel to the locker room.

You can’t actually hear people holding their breaths, of course. But you could have detected a lot of relieved exhaling a few minutes later when JuJu came back through the tunnel and took a seat on the bench. She worked her neck back and forth for a few moments, and then got up and went to the scorer’s table to check back into the game with 2:53 left in the half.

Crisis averted.

And oh, by the way, Watkins missed just those 53 seconds of playing time, finishing with a 28-point, eight-rebound performance – with three assists, three steals, three blocked shots and a couple of critical plays at the end – in fourth-ranked USC’s 83-75 victory over the No. 22 Spartans.

You can argue all day long whether Watkins or Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers is the most transcendent player in women’s college basketball this season, the inheritor of the mantle passed down by Caitlin Clark. But at USC there is no argument.

JuJu makes things happen on the court – I mean, who else can fake a drive and a stepback 3-pointer not only on the same possession but with the same move?

JuJu also fills seats and lures celebrities; actor Jason Sudeikis was courtside Wednesday night, as was the usual collection of USC women’s basketball alumni headed by the queen, Cheryl Miller.

There are also all of the little girls inspired by the star who stayed home, such as the young girl who held up this sign during a timeout: “I wear No. 12 to be like you, JuJu.”

JuJu has a lot to do with the 24-2 record and No. 4 ranking in both the AP and USA Today polls that the Women of Troy possess, although she has had plenty of help. Wednesday night, Kiki Iriafen added 24 points, 13 of them in the second half, along with 10 rebounds and three blocks, while Rayah Marshall grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked two shots.

Still, you’d have held your breath too when JuJu went down. But, as noted above, it was just a blip.

“I got my neck tied up a little bit,” she said. “But I was fine. It just – I was in a little bit of shock.”

And what was going through Coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s mind when her best player – yes, we said it, the franchise – was lying at the free-throw line?

“I mean, obviously you don’t want to ever see anyone down,” Gottlieb began, then added: “But I think JuJu takes too much contact. You know, I’ll leave it at that so I don’t get myself in trouble.

“But there’s been a lot of times I’ve seen her on the ground and pop right back up. She’s obviously really tough, wants to play through anything. Going to always make sure she’s okay and get the okay from the training staff. But whenever she came back, she said, I’m good to go. And that was that.”

After returning to the game – encompassing the final 2:53 of the first half and the entire second half – Watkins had 14 points, was 4 for 10 from the field, 0 for 2 from 3-point range, 6 for 9 from the foul line, and had four rebounds, three assists, three steals and one block. In other words, all of the assists, all of the steals, half of her rebounds and one of those blocks came after she returned to the game.

And on an evening when Michigan State (19-7 overall, 9-6 in the Big Ten) trailed by 21 late in the third quarter but cut the USC lead to six with 4:01 left, Watkins saved some of her best for when it was needed most. A driving layup interrupted a 17-4 Spartans run, though Watkins missed the and-one opportunity.

And with the Spartans within 76-68 and 2:51 to play, Watkins took a rebound of a Julia Ayarault miss, took it the length of the court and scored with a Eurostep to make it 78-68. Then she put this one to bed when she took the ball to the rim with 1:14 to play, for a layup that made it 80-71.

To digress slightly, the idea that the L.A. schools sit at the top of the Big Ten women’s standings with a week and a half left – with first-place USC (14-1) having clinched a double bye in the 15-team conference tournament and UCLA (12-1) also in a position to do so – might be a surprise to those in the conference’s traditional outposts. But it shouldn’t be to anyone who has watched the growth of the USC and UCLA programs.

Michigan State coach Robyn Fralick – while referencing, of course, the 70-degree temperatures and sunshine that greeted the refugees from the snow belt in L.A. – also made note of just how much of a beast playing UCLA and USC back to back can be.

“It’s a huge challenge,” Fralick said. “They’re the two best teams in the league right now. And you got to play them on the same trip. But that’s the league. That’s the reality of what we got to do.”

Gottlieb called her team’s success to this point a testament to her players.

“I think conference play is the best test of the consistency of excellence,” she said. “You’ve got to win when you don’t have it some nights. You’ve got to win when you’re on the road, when you know someone’s in a slump. You gotta win when the officiating goes a certain way.

“And so to to get this far and with two games to go, to have earned a top-four seed is something that I’m proud of them for. But our goals are bigger than that. And, you know, we have an opportunity here in these next two games to compete for a championship. And that’s even more special than just the double bye.”

As long as JuJu is in position to lead the way, it’s all good.

[email protected]

​ Orange County Register 

Senate committee advances ex-wrestling CEO Linda McMahon as Trump’s nominee for education secretary

• February 20, 2025

By COLLIN BINKLEY, AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate committee voted Thursday to advance Linda McMahon’s nomination to serve as President Donald Trump’s education secretary, bringing her closer to leading an agency the Republican president wants to shut down.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted 12-11 along party lines to send her nomination to be considered by the full Senate.

At her confirmation hearing, McMahon said she wants to “reorient” the Education Department. Since his campaign, Trump has called for the department to be abolished, but McMahon acknowledged that only Congress could shut it down completely.

“We’d like to make sure that we are presenting a plan that I think our senators could get on board with,” she said.

Pressed on the fate of the agency’s core initiatives, McMahon said Trump wants them to be more efficient but isn’t out to defund them. She suggested certain roles could be moved to other agencies, saying the department’s civil rights arm could go to the Justice Department.

She pledged to preserve federal Title I money for low-income schools, Pell grants for low-income college students and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, all of which were created by Congress.

At the same time, McMahon promised to cut off federal money from schools that defy Trump’s orders against transgender athletes in women’s sports, campus antisemitism and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the country.

Democrats were alarmed by McMahon’s response to questions about Trump’s order to ban DEI programs in schools. Asked if African American history classes could trigger a loss of federal money, McMahon said she wasn’t certain and needed to look into it.

McMahon, a billionaire Trump ally and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, brings less experience in education than many others in the role. She was a member of the Connecticut board of education for about a year in 2009, and she’s a longtime trustee at Sacred Heart University. She left the WWE in 2009 and led two unsuccessful bids for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut.

Republicans were mostly unified behind McMahon at the hearing, though Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska raised concerns that Trump would ask McMahon to overstep her authority and interfere with local control of schools.

The White House is considering an order that would direct the education secretary to dismantle the Education Department while urging Congress to fully abolish it.

Even without the order, the Trump administration has fired or suspended more than 100 Education Department employees. Dozens of contracts have been canceled by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

The latest cuts, announced late Wednesday, involve grants totaling $226 million for a program designed to help schools improve outcomes and the quality of instruction, particularly for students with the greatest need. An Education Department news release said the program has been promoting “race-based discrimination and gender identity ideology.”

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

​ Orange County Register 

How California is leading the way to address concerns over ultra-processed food

• February 20, 2025

In 2025, California is making significant steps to address the growing concerns over ultra-processed foods, taking a stance to improve public health nutrition.

Known for its forward-thinking policies on health and the environment, California is once again leading the way with new regulations aimed at reducing the consumption of ultra-processed foods, which have been linked to a range of chronic health issues such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Ultra-processed foods are products that have undergone significant industrial processing, often involving artificial ingredients, preservatives, sweeteners and flavor enhancers. These foods, which include sugary snacks, ready-to-eat meals and sodas, have become staples in the American diet, contributing to both rising rates of chronic diseases and health care costs. Plus, evidence suggests that diets with large amounts of ultra-processed foods negatively impact mental health as well.

While California is cracking down on ultra-processed foods, it is not banning them outright. The main goal is to create a healthier food environment for residents while aiming to reduce healthcare costs over the long term. State officials have recognized the need to regulate and provide clearer labeling for foods that contribute to poor health outcomes.

One of the most notable actions introduced earlier this year orders the California Department of Public Health to provide recommendations to the governor’s office by April 1, 2025, to help limit the harms associated with ultra-processed foods. This may very well include warning labels on the packages of ultra-processed foods, aiming to empower consumers to make informed choices when grocery shopping.

California is also working to incentivize food manufacturers to shift towards healthier, more sustainable alternatives. The state is offering tax breaks and grants to companies that invest in producing minimally processed foods, with a focus on plant-based options and nutrient-rich products. By promoting healthier foods, California hopes to encourage businesses to rethink the way they approach food production, ultimately making healthier choices more accessible to consumers.

These recent steps to reduce the consumption of ultra-processed foods in California build upon state legislation passed in 2024 focused on food safety, food security and nutrition interventions including banning the sale of foods and beverages containing certain food dyes in public schools.

Plus, California is implementing educational programs across schools and communities to raise awareness about the importance of a balanced diet and the risks associated with ultra-processed foods. These initiatives aim to empower residents to make healthier food choices, whether cooking at home or dining out. By fostering a culture of nutrition education, California is working to prevent the long-term health consequences that come with a diet dominated by processed foods.

Ultimately, California’s 2025 crackdown on ultra-processed foods represents a significant step in the state’s ongoing efforts to improve public health and nutrition. While these actions may be seen by some as controversial, they do align with the public’s overall growing interest in transparency in food product information and “cleaner” food labels. California is creating an environment that encourages healthier eating habits while holding food manufacturers accountable for the products they create. As the nation watches California’s innovative approach unfold, it serves as a hopeful example of what can be achieved when policymakers prioritize the health and well-being of their citizens.

LeeAnn Weintraub, MPH, RD is a registered dietitian, providing nutrition counseling and consulting to individuals, families and organizations. She can be reached by email at [email protected].

​ Orange County Register 

What Southern California city attracts the fewest millennials?

• February 20, 2025

By Jaclyn DeJohn

In just one year, 5.49 million millennials moved to large U.S. cities. While about 73% of these transplants moved to a big city within their current state of residence, another 19% traversed states to start new—and nearly 8% came to these cities from abroad.

Millennials are often in their prime earning years, and many have young families, which may significantly impact the communities they join and leave. With this in mind, SmartAsset ranked 271 of the largest U.S. cities based on the percentage of people between the ages of 25 and 44 who recently moved in.

Key Findings

These California cities were least attractive to millennials. Jurupa Valley ranked last with 2.35% of its population comprising new millennial transplants. Other cities that were among the 10 least popular include Santa Ana (2.58%), Elk Grove (2.60%), San Bernardino (2.78%), Oxnard (2.78%), Ontario (2.96%), El Monte (3.08%), Garden Grove (3.11%) and Modesto (3.12%).

Alexandria, Virginia, saw the highest influx of millennials relative to its population, with 12.67% — or 19,486 — moving in during 2023, approximately 46% of whom came from out of state. Cambridge, Massachusetts, ranked second, with millennials making up 12.15% of new residents, or 14,197 people, 39% of whom relocated from outside the state.

Two California cities ranked high for attracting millennials. No. 6 Sunnyvale, 11.2% of population represented by new millennial transplants:, and No. 7 Santa Clara, 10.9%.

New York City had the most millennials move in. Not accounting for its population size, New York City had the most millennials join its perimeters at 362,649 move-ins in one year—accounting for 4.44% of the population. This number of move-ins was double that of Los Angeles, which had the second highest nominal move-ins at 187,210.

Seattle has the largest segment of millennials relative to its population. Just over 42% of Seattle residents are between the ages of 25 and 44. Seattle also ranked fifth overall for most popular places for millennials to move to, with 11.51% of its population made up of millennials who moved in in 2023.

Data comes from the Census Bureau 1-Year American Community Survey for 2023. This SmartAsset study included 271 cities that had available data and 100,000 or more people aged 1 or over. Millennials were defined as those aged 25 to 44. Cities were ranked by the percentage of the total population represented by millennials who moved into the city in 2023.

This story was produced by SmartAsset and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

​ Orange County Register 

Trump says Ukraine started the war that’s killing its citizens. What are the facts?

• February 20, 2025

By JUSTIN SPIKE, Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Donald Trump this week falsely blamed Ukraine for starting the war that has cost tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives, causing outrage and alarm in a country that has spent nearly three years fighting back a much larger Russian military.

Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “ a dictator without elections” and claimed his support among voters was near rock-bottom.

Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the disinformation is coming from Russia, and some of what Trump has said does echo Russia’s own narrative of the conflict.

Here’s a look at some of Trump’s statements:

Ukraine ‘should have never started it’

WHAT TRUMP SAID: “You’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it … You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”

THE FACTS: Russia’s army crossed the border on Feb. 24, 2022, in an all-out invasion that Putin sought to justify by falsely saying it was needed to protect Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO.

But Russia’s aggression against Ukraine didn’t start then. In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin saw signs that Ukraine was pulling away from Russia’s sphere of influence, seeking alliances with western European nations.

Putin illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula and started an armed aggression in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas that grew into a long-running conflict that left thousands dead.

That conflict simmered until 2022, when Putin ordered what he called military exercises along Ukraine’s borders. He told the world that the roughly 150,000 soldiers that he had amassed would not be used to invade Ukraine. But in the early hours of Feb. 24, Russia launched widespread airstrikes and soldiers began pouring over the border.

Ukraine should hold elections

WHAT TRUMP SAID: “We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law,” Trump said in Mar-a-Lago, adding on Wednesday in a post on social media: “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”

THE FACTS: Zelenskyy was elected to a five-year term in 2019, and the next presidential elections had been scheduled for spring 2024. But Ukrainian law prohibits parliamentary or presidential elections during a state of martial law, so Zelenskyy has remained in office. He has said he believes elections will be held in Ukraine after martial law is lifted. The country would need to amend the law if it decided to hold a vote.

There are numerous factors that, according to Ukraine’s government, “would render it literally impossible to ensure a fair electoral process in the circumstances of a total war.”

According to the United Nations’ refugee agency, some 6.9 million Ukrainian refugees have been registered worldwide since February 2022. Of those, millions remain outside the country due to the war. It would be nearly impossible for all of those who have been displaced to participate in an election, potentially robbing millions of their right to vote.

Furthermore, around 800,000 soldiers are currently serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces as they struggle to contain Russian advances. An election would necessitate pulling soldiers off the front lines to vote, weakening Ukraine’s military position. Additionally, those fighting would be unable to run for office, a right that is guaranteed to them by Ukrainian law.

Many Ukrainians are living in areas under Russian occupation, essentially precluding their participation in any electoral process. And since Russia continues to regularly strike both military and civilian targets across the country, packing millions of citizens into crowded polling places could create additional danger.

Zelenskyy’s support at rock bottom?

WHAT TRUMP SAID: “The leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down at 4% approval rating.”

THE FACTS: Zelenskyy “retains a fairly high level of public trust” — about 57 percent – according to a report released Wednesday by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.

Speaking in Kyiv on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said the number given by Trump, for which the president cited no sources, was “disinformation” that originated in Russia, and that the president “unfortunately lives in this disinformation space.”

Zelenskyy said he will ask pollsters in the coming weeks to conduct surveys on the public’s trust in him and share the results with the Trump administration.

Millions of deaths

WHAT TRUMP SAID: “When you see what’s taken place in Ukraine with millions of people killed, including the soldiers, millions of people killed, a big percentage of their cities knocked down to the ground, I don’t know how anybody even lives there.”

THE FACTS: No estimates by any reputable analysis place deaths near the millions.

While exact figures of the number of deaths are unknown, Zelenskyy said earlier this month that over 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since the start of the full-scale war in February 2022. He has also said that “tens of thousands of civilians” had been killed in occupied areas of Ukraine, but that no exact figures would be available until the war was over. The most recent data from the Russian Defense Ministry, published in January 2023, pointed to just over 6,000 military deaths, although reports from U.S. and U.K. officials put that number significantly higher.

​ Orange County Register 

Here, try this: Shatteringly crisp egg rolls in Westminster

• February 20, 2025

Kim Hong Egg Rolls? Noted for their snap-crisp texture and savory filings? Forget about simply walking in and ordering on the fly. Ever since appearances on food influencer Joyce Marcellus and Entrepreneur Queen’s popular platforms, they’ve become a hot commodity in Westminster.

The key to getting your hands on these chả giò (fried egg rolls) is by calling at least in advance, ideally one day prior, with a minimum order of 10.

During a recent visit to the eatery, found on the backside of a building along Goldenwest Street, with only a few available parking spots, I found a handful of people already waiting in their cars for their lunchtime orders. The menu, pared down to nine chả giò iterations, include crab, pork and shrimp, fish, chicken, vegetarian, chicken taro and more. Price per roll ranges from 90 cents to $1.50.

The owner, who politely declined an interview request, said she’s seen steady stream business ever since her egg rolls took off in the viral stratosphere. Operated by two women, the kitchen makes egg rolls from scratch daily and, more often than not, they sell out.

In addition to the egg rolls that have gained traction care of the digital realm, Kim Hong also prepares bánh bèo tôm tuoi (an appetizer tray of steamed rice cakes with shrimp) for $20 and suong sam la dua (a grass jelly dessert) for $2, as well as offering more than a dozen beverages, ranging from sodas and coffees to milk tea and jasmine tea.

Should you want to sit for a spell, Kim Hong Egg Rolls offers a bench table with seating and an umbrella for shade, allowing you to hang out while you enjoy some of Westminster’s finest egg rolls.

Again, it bears repeating: Don’t forget to pre-order your rolls.

Open seven days a week, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Find it: 14115 Goldenwest St. (in the back), Westminster; 714-902-5819

Bryan Doan contributed to this report. 

​ Orange County Register 

Average US rate on a 30-year mortgage slips to 8-week low after fifth-straight weekly decline

• February 20, 2025

By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. eased for the fifth week in a row to its lowest level since late December, a welcome boost for prospective homebuyers in what’s traditionally the busiest time of the year for home sales.

The average rate fell to 6.85% from 6.87% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, it averaged 6.9%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners seeking to refinance their home loan to a lower rate, also eased this week. The average rate fell to 6.04% from 6.09% last week. A year ago, it averaged 6.29%, Freddie Mac said.

Rising home prices and elevated mortgage rates, which can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, have kept many prospective home shoppers on the sidelines, especially first-time buyers who don’t have equity from an existing home to put toward a new home purchase.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years, extending a national home sales slump that began in 2022 as mortgage rates began to climb from their pandemic-era lows.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage is now at its lowest level since Dec. 26, when it was also 6.85%. It briefly fell to a 2-year low last September, but has been mostly hovering around 7% this year.

“This stability continues to bode well for potential buyers and sellers as we approach the spring homebuying season,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including how the bond market reacts to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions.

The latest pullback in rates echoes a decline in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide for pricing home loans.

The yield was at 4.79% just a few weeks ago, reflecting fears that inflation may remain stubbornly higher amid a solid U.S. economy and the potential impact of tariffs and other policies proposed by the Trump administration.

The 10-year yield was at 4.5% in midday trading Thursday, following a report showing that more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected.

​ Orange County Register