The previous first quarter productivity drop of 7.4% was the largest quarterly drop in 74 years.  Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports the second quarter productivity dropped another 4.6% [Data Here].

For July, companies are paying 5.7% higher wages and getting a 4.6% drop in output, resulting in a total unit labor cost increase of 10.8%.  That increase in final output cost will either result in higher prices or lower profits.

With weak consumer purchasing (low demand) already creating an inventory surplus, hence lower outputs, lower profit leads to cutbacks.  The largest company expenses are generally labor and energy costs. The more variable and controllable of those two expenses is labor.  You know what comes next.

(WSJ) – […] Rising productivity is the key to improving living standards; it allows companies to raise wages without raising prices and fueling inflation. Instead, businesses appear to be paying workers more to produce less. The higher unit labor costs suggest companies will either endure lower profits or pass on higher costs to consumers.

“The trend in productivity growth has worsened compared to prior to the pandemic, and the surge in unit labor costs makes the Fed’s challenge of getting inflation back down to its 2% target all the more challenging,” Wells Fargo economist Sarah House said in a research note.

(more…)

It’s not very often that you get to watch a DeceptiCon evolve in real time.  Usually, with history as a guide, DeceptiCon extremists hibernate in the evolutionary process for years, only leaving a minuscule trail from which to find them until they detonate like stealth terror cells.   However, Tim Scott has prematurely detonated himself.

Appearing on CBS news to kickstart his 2024 presidential ambitions, and react/respond to the FBI raid on President Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, Senator Tim Scott advances the DeceptiCon narrative, “we need to let this play out” etc.  WATCH, prompted:

.

Tim Scott will eat the bugs while funding support for the pensions and benefits in Ukraine.

We are in a time of great consequence, the greatest in several generations.  This is a political street fight to save the nation.  Those who demand we “wait for referees” while team USA gets beaten senseless are, quite frankly, worse than useless.  They are on the other side.

(more…)

Harmeet Dhillon responded to the raid on President Trump’s home with this quote: “If you still have respect for the DOJ and the FBI at this point, particularly the FBI, you are not paying attention.” {Direct Rumble Link} – WATCH:

It is important to keep the current political context and timing of the illicit FBI raid in mind.

It was only two weeks ago when Senator Chuck Grassley sent a letter [pdf HERE] to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Chris Wray, notifying them of whistleblower allegations from within the FBI that senior leadership in both Main Justice and FBI are involved in a coordinated effort to cover-up criminal activity related to Hunter Biden.

The whistleblower allegations, in combination with the documented history of DOJ and FBI misconduct, culminate in Senator Grassley stating:

“If these allegations are true and accurate, the Justice Department and FBI are – and have been – institutionally corrupted to their very core to the point in which the United States Congress and the American people will have no confidence in the equal application of the law. Attorney General Garland and Director Wray, simply put, based on the allegations that I’ve received from numerous whistleblowers, you have systemic and existential problems within your agencies.” (LINK)

(more…)

At times of greatest consequence, the legacy of leadership becomes important.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis doesn’t use his official office account to release a statement on the FBI raid in Mar-a-Lago, that likely required a joint cooperative task force response from the state, as customary for fulfilment of a federal warrant upon a Florida citizen.  Instead, Florida Governor DeSantis issues a tweet from his personal account noting the action was yet “another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies.”   Oh well, that’s a relief, heavy sigh, as long as it’s just “another escalation”….

Quick pivot right to the whataboutism politics DC is famous for… “while people like Hunter Biden get treated with kid gloves”, and “IRS agents,” etc.

You see, this is what DC does to bang the pots and pans loudly in the UniParty kitchen.  As a congressional representative, Ron DeSantis learned the chaff and countermeasures well.  Actually challenge the federal government?  No way.  Not gonna happen.

Meanwhile, compare the response from future Arizona Governor Kari Lake:

(more…)

Joe Kent beats Jaime Herrera Beutler in Washington State, Congressional District 03. [LINK]

[ New York Times – Election Results LINK ]

(more…)

CTH phone lines are burning up with reaction to the FBI raid on the home of former President Donald Trump. I will have much more to say on this national escalation of weaponized justice department tactics later. Keep in mind that former President Obama removed every single document related to his administration from the office to a warehouse in Chicago and then his team selected the material for the national archives.

In the interim, here’s the immediate reaction from Dan Bongino {Direct Rumble Link} WATCH:

.

(more…)

The Joe Biden administration has turned the United States into a banana republic.

According to statements released by President Donald Trump, the Biden Dept of Justice sent dozens of FBI agents to conduct a surprise raid the Mar-a-Lago estate of President Trump in Florida.

This is a historic level of political targeting by a Democrat president against his political opposition. “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before,” Trump wrote in the statement. “After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate.”

The statement by President Trump is below:

(more…)

U.S. taxpayers are now responsible for financially supporting the lifestyle of Ukrainian citizens directly.  Earlier today the Biden administration sent $4.5 billion to the Ukraine government to pay for their “salaries, pensions, welfare and healthcare costs“; with an additional $1 billion in weapons.  Total package $5.5 billion for Ukraine.  Meanwhile, congressional members are doubling the size of the IRS enforcement to keep Americans paying for these expenditures.

Europe is not paying to support the lifestyle of their neighbors, we are.  Somehow, I doubt that Germany would be willing to pay the expenses of the Mexican government – yet it is perfectly justified (in their mind) for the U.S. to carry the financial burden of Ukraine.  The more you think about it, the more infuriating it becomes.

(Reuters) -The United States will send an additional $5.5 billion in aid to Ukraine, made up of $4.5 billion in budgetary support and $1 billion in military assistance, to help it come to grips with the turmoil of this year’s Russian invasion.

The $4.5 billion budgetary grant will fund urgent government needs including payments for pensions, social welfare and healthcare costs, bringing total U.S. fiscal aid for Ukraine to $8.5 billion since Russia’s February invasion, the U.S. Agency for International Development said.

(more…)

The officials who count votes in Washington State do not work weekends, they paused ballot counting last Friday but should have continued again this morning.

It sounds bizarre to even say this, but that is the status of current elections in Washington State – and the residents appear to be okay with it.  The election was six days ago, and the counting of the votes is still not completed.

There should be an update tonight and we are cautiously hopeful that republican primary challenger Joe Kent might take the lead over Decepticon incumbent Jaime Herrera Beutler.

When they stopped counting votes last Friday, Joe Kent had pulled within 257 votes of defeating Herrera-Beutler.

According to People’s Pundit [SEE HERE] most of the outstanding votes yet to be counted come from election day voting.   Mr. Kent was winning on election day voting in every county within Washington State’s third congressional district (WA, CD-03).

The link to Washington State Vote Totals – IS HERE

Washington State has a jungle primary voting system where the top two candidate’s face-off in the general election.

(more…)

Prior to the 51-50 passage of the massive $700+ billion democrat spending bill, they called it the “inflation reduction act.”  However, after Senate passage they are now calling it the climate change bill.  Funny how that happens.

The bill itself contains absolutely nothing that will lower inflation; in fact, the bill itself will raise supply-side inflation in direct proportion to the energy production it reduces. To offset the contracted revenue caused by a much smaller economy, the Democrats have doubled the IRS tax army that will enforce personal income tax compliance.

The income tax compliance portion of the bill is very significant on two fronts.  First, it literally doubles the size of the IRS, giving them much more power to conduct audits and capture taxes from income earned.  As a review of tax audits has shown, the ordinary U.S. taxpayer is the target of this increase enforcement mechanism, not corporate tax review.

WASHINGTON – […] The bill, a product of 18 months of intense wrangling, passed by a margin of 51 to 50 on Sunday with Vice-President Kamala Harris casting the deciding vote. It was previously blocked by two Democrat senators who shared Republican concerns about its cost.

The Senate bill includes $369bn for climate action, the second largest investment on Green New Deal spending in US history.  The largest bill on climate change was the previous Obama-era American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (AARA), that paid billions of dollars to solar groups (ex. now bankrupt Solyndra) and climate energy companies connected to Democrat donors.

(more…)