S15 EP186: Hour 2 - Inflation Roars Back

It is Open Line Friday on the Erick Erickson Show, and the hour opens with a trucker named Lewis explaining diesel surcharges before CNN's Matt Egan delivers a sizzling Producer Price Index report: 1.3% monthly and 6.3% annual wholesale inflation, with the Iran war, Saudi and Houthi strikes on refineries, and Ukraine all in the mix. Erick breaks down why he still expects Republicans to hold the Senate, weighs in on James Talarico's CNN town hall with undecided Catholic voters, and reacts to the new federal lawsuit against Matt Gaetz. He then makes the case, through the late pastor Tim Keller, that politics has become an idol on both the left and the right.

• Open Line Friday: a trucker named Lewis on diesel prices, fuel surcharges and the 60 to 90 day pay cycle squeezing small trucking companies
• CNN's Matt Egan on the Producer Price Index report: 1.3% monthly, 6.3% annual, the biggest jump since 2022, plus Iran, the Saudi and Houthi fighting, Russia sanctions, Ukraine and Zelensky
• Midterm outlook: why Erick thinks Republicans keep the Senate, Ken Paxton in Texas, and James Talarico's CNN exchange with an undecided Catholic voter on abortion and the Bible
• The new federal lawsuit against Matt Gaetz, the House Ethics Committee report, and why you should judge people by their friends and not only their critics
• Tim Keller, Christian nationalists and Abdul El-Sayed: why the gospel is not a category error, why politics can become an idol, and Erick's case against Michigan's Senate Democrat
• Georgia wins at the 11th Circuit on the Protect Georgia's Children on Social Media Act, and Erick's take on parental responsibility and Snapchat