This interview is nothing but gaslighting crazy talk from an insufferable ideologue who is responsible for managing the insane policy driven consequences of transitioning from oil, gas and coal into an era where windmills and solar panels provide U.S. electricity.  Janet Yellen is the decline manager.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen begins the interview by denying the U.S. economy is shrinking.  Literally in the first answer Yellen says the economy “has been growing at a very rapid rate as the labor rate has reached full employment, it’s natural now that we expect a transition to steady and stable growth.”  Obviously, in order to say the economy has been growing, Yellen needs to pretend not to know the first quarter GDP was -1.5% as measured.  But wait… it gets more ridiculous….

At 06:30 of the interview, Yellen claims with a straight face that U.S. energy policy, which includes massive amounts of new crushing regulations from Biden, is not responsible for U.S. oil and gasoline prices.   WATCH (prompted):

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Loretta Mester is the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and appeared on CBS Face the Nation to give her opinion/analysis of the US. economic condition.  The disconnect in her viewpoint is alarming and should signal to everyone how the Federal Reserve Board, just like every institution of government, has become a political agency.

In her mind Ms. Mester appears to believe what she is saying, but the disconnect between her view of our status and the reality on Main Street is alarming.  In this interview Mester says emphatically that current inflation is being driven by consumer demand that is outpacing supply.  Not only is this view of inflation origination wrong, and has been wrong for well over a year, it is dangerous.

Inflation has been driven by spending (dollar devaluation & artificial stimulus), and by massive input changes in the supply side which are predominately being caused by energy policy.  Our U.S. inflation is a self-inflicted supply side wound.  Inflation was not caused by demand side pressure, other than from the injection of COVID cash into consumer spending – which hid the natural contraction that was going to take place in Q2, Q3 and Q4 2021.  WATCH:

Ms. Mester says the Fed will watch the month-to-month inflation change, to determine monetary policy success.  Given the nature of the Biden energy policy, that type of success definition is inherently political.  It’s akin to saying, as the victim’s bones and muscles get used to the constant blows during the beating, the severity of the pain will be less than the initial shock… therefore, the continued beating is less damaging to the victim.   Madness.

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The sanctions against Russia have essentially been futile.  The Russian economy continues growing, oil sales continue taking place, imports and exports continue unabated, albeit with some inconveniences for the people inside Russia – but without impact on the Russian government.  However, what the western sanctions against Russia were successful in speeding up, was an alternative global trading system for 70 percent of the world economies who continue trading with Russia.

That’s the background for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to state yesterday, “rapid changes are taking place in the global monetary system that may affect the international role of the dollar.”  Additionally, as the proverbial ‘west’ follows the corporate instructions from the World Economic Forum, Powell now expands his points to note the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is also being reviewed.  WATCH:

https://youtu.be/BEyVVinT_4I

This is not some grand conspiracy, ‘out there‘ deep geopolitical possibility, or foreboding likelihood as an outcome of short-sighted western emotion.  No, this is just a predictable outcome from western created events that pushed specific countries to a natural conclusion based on their best interests.

You can debate the motives of the western leaders who structured the sanctions against Russia, and whether they knew the outcome would happen as a consequence of their effort, but the outcome was never really in doubt.  Personally, I believe this outcome is what the west intended. The people inside the World Economic Forum are not stupid – ideological, yes, but not stupid. They knew this would happen.

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Mohamed El-Erian, a Blooomberg Opinion contributor, cracks me up in his efforts to avoid speaking directly.  Generally, El-Erian knows the situation, he was one of the first to identify the issue with inflation in March 2021.   However, he continues avoiding any mention that the U.S. economy is already in a negative position for growth.

Consider this…. In this interview El-Erian says he believes the Fed will flip-flop and lower rates in reaction to what is happening in the economy.  Keep in mind, the only reason for the Fed to reverse rates so quickly is if the economy is already in a demand side contraction and the latest .75% increase in rate is being done into a negative GDP environment.

Of course, the reality is exactly that.  The U.S. economy is already contracting, mostly because of inflation chewing up the supply side, and the Fed is factually raising interest rates into an economy already in a demand side recession.  But everyone must pretend that’s not the case, so here’s El-Erian saying Jerome Powell is going to end up reversing himself, flip-flopping, which doesn’t make sense if you don’t first establish that the economy is right now shrinking as he speaks.  WATCH:

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Apparently, the U.K. courts were sympathetic to the claims by Julian Assange lawyers that U.S. government assassins would kill him.  However, after the DOJ assured the Brits that Assange would be imprisoned in Australia, not the U.S. after trial, the U.K. are ok with extraditing him.   However, Assange still has six appeals and three courts left who will hear his appeals, so don’t expect anything to actually happen soon.

LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) – The wife of Julian Assange vowed to fight using every possible legal avenue after British Home Secretary Priti Patel on Friday approved the WikiLeaks’ founder’s extradition to the United States to face criminal charges.

Assange is wanted by U.S. authorities on 18 counts, including a spying charge, relating to WikiLeaks’ release of vast troves of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables which Washington said had put lives in danger.

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A contracted mercenary has no legal recognition or protection as a prisoner of war.  Two American mercenary soldiers have been captured by Russian forces and now present a rather unique issue for the Biden administration.   The traditional end result for captured mercenaries is execution; however, Russian President Vladimir Putin may not want to hang these two State Dept. conscripts.

(Via Telegraph) – Two former US servicemen have been captured during fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine, The Telegraph has been told. The pair were taken prisoner during a fierce battle outside the north-east city of Kharkiv last week, according to comrades who were fighting alongside them.

Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27, had been serving as volunteers with a regular Ukrainian army unit. They are believed to be the first US servicemen to end up as Russian prisoners of war. They join a growing number of Western military volunteers captured by Russian forces, including at least two Britons.

Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner have already been told they face the death penalty as “mercenaries”. The capture of the two Americans will be diplomatically sensitive as the Kremlin may seek to use it as proof that America is becoming directly involved in the war. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, is likely to demand significant concessions to release them. (read more)

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The South Carolina republican club keeps an open primary election so they can coordinate with Democrats on key races.  The larger goal is to retain power.  As planned, democrats in/around Charleston voted to support Club candidate Nancy Mace as part of the power control.   However, at least Tom Rice was eliminated in district 07.

(Via Politico) […] Rep. Tom Rice, one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach the former president, lost his primary to Trump-endorsed state Rep. Russell Fry. It’s the first time this year that a Republican impeachment backer has faced a challenger backed by Trump — and the results were emphatic, with Rice’s party support crashing to just a quarter of the vote. (read more)

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Economic security is the foundation of national security.  When the government takes action that destabilizes our economy, every element of national security is put at risk.  We are experiencing that right now as we suffer through Joe Biden’s intentionally flawed energy policy that is destroying the U.S. economy and everyone within it.

“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.”

~ Niccolo Machiavelli

Never has that Machiavelli quote been more apropos than when considering the MAGA movement and the rise of Donald Trump.

Thankfully, we are now in an era when the largest coalition of American voters have awakened to the reality that, to quote the former president: “Economic Security is National Security.”

As we live through the economic mess of a Biden administration hell bent on eroding the middle class of the United States, there are numerous pundits contemplating 2024 Republican presidential candidates other than Donald Trump; consider this group the lukewarm defenders Machiavelli noted.

At the same time the leftist coalition, writ large, are apoplectic about the base of the Republican Party now belonging to Donald Trump.  This group consists of those affluent Wall Street agents and politicians set on retaining the profits derived from decades of institutional objectives.

Institutional Democrats hate Trump, and institutional Republicans are lukewarm, at best, in defending Trump.  Both wings of the DC UniParty fear Trump.  Extreme efforts at control are a reaction to fear.  In this outline, I rise to explain why Donald Trump is the only option for the America First MAGA coalition; and I make my case not on supposition, but on empirical reference points that most should understand.

Everything, is about the economics of it.

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Today there are primary elections in Nevada, South Carolina, Maine, North Dakota and Texas’ 34th congressional district.

South Carolina, polls close at 7pm ET. Maine polls close at 8pm ET. Texas’ 34th CD polls close at 8pm ET. North Dakota, polls close at 8pm and 9pm ET. Nevada, polls close at 10pm ET.

Many people will be watching South Carolina to see if anti-MAGA Nancy Mace and Tom Rice will be removed by primary challenge.

New York Times – Election Results Here

Politico – Election Results Here

CNN – Election Results Here

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The “Producer Price Index” (PPI) is essentially the tracking of wholesale prices at three stages: Origination (commodity), Intermediate (processing), and then Final (to wholesale). Today, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) released the May 2022 price data [Available Here] showing another 10.8% increase year-over-year in Final Demand products at the wholesale level.

The inflation within the total goods supply chain continues to accumulate at a more significant rate than the finished goods on the store shelves.  This means replacement goods will continue arriving with higher prices than current.   Final demand goods in May were 1.4% higher than April (16.8% annualized).  And the May year-over-year prices show a 10.8% increase [See Table A].  However, there’s more trouble ahead:

More troubling than the final demand price increases (wholesale finished goods), are the price increases in the intermediate goods and unprocessed raw materials.

Intermediate processed goods increased 2.3% in May (27.6% annualized).  The intermediate unprocessed goods, raw materials, jumped even higher in price at 6.3% for May (that’s a whopping 75.6% annualized increase).   It would appear the raw materials coming into the goods sector are coming in with even higher built-in energy costs than most people anticipated.

Once those intermediate products reach the final demand stage (wholesale), the cumulative price increase will mean even higher consumer prices.

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