The column examines several claims in the 2026 midterm campaign. It notes Sen. Tom Cotton's argument that inflation has fallen from a record 9.1% in June 2022 to 3.4% in August, but stresses that the rate was 3.0% in January 2025 when Trump returned to office and is now moving in the wrong direction, with September's rate rising to 3.7%. It argues that Republican claims about Iran's hostility toward America dating from 1979 overlook the 1953 coup that overthrew Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, which the U.S. government acknowledged in 2013. The author also quotes Rep. French Hill saying a data center energy bill that never became law would only have required states to “consider” making utilities cover data center energy costs. The author adds that emails to Little Rock city directors, several of whom share one email address, have gone largely unanswered.
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