The screamingly high rate of pricing inflation is catastrophic to the American working middle class; however, there is one small benefit.  More and more people are waking up to the reality that free market principles have been destroyed; what we have now are markets controlled by massive multinationals.

This isn’t news for CTH readers.  Long before prices started to rise, we stood up against pressure from so-called ‘conservative’ pundits to outline that free markets were a joke in the modern economic era.  The truth inside the economic argument is precisely why we stood up to support candidate Donald J Trump in 2015; and the truth inside that economic argument is exactly why we will stand again to support him if he runs again in 2024.  Everything, e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g… every scintilla of a thing, centers around the economics of it.  Economic security on every scale is what keeps YOU free.

In a brilliant outline of how the beef and cattle industry is now trying to fight back against the multinationals of Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargill and National Beef, Matt Stoller uses the cattle industry to talk about what we have outlined on these pages for ten years.   The distance from the red line (steer price) to the blue bar (beef price) is the scale of the multinational profits inside this controlled commodity:

MATT STOLLER – […] Despite high consumer prices, independent ranchers are losing money, and going out of business. “If we don’t get some of these problems fixed quickly, we won’t have any independent ranchers in this country,” explained Oklahoma Farmers Union president Scott Blubaugh.

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Appearing with Maria Bartiromo this morning, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis discussed how commonsense approaches to COVID-19 can keep economic growth continuing while taking simple precautions.  As noted by the Florida governor, his policies at a state level generated almost half of all national job gains in September.

DeSantis noted the Florida ports are able to handle additional capacity to off-load any transcontinental shipments and keep products flowing further into the U.S. mainland.  Several shipping companies have already diverted ships into Florida ports to take advantage of the state opportunity.  Additionally, DeSantis outlines his intent for a recently announced special legislative session to pass state laws protecting workers from getting fired as a result of their vaccine status.

As the national media continue to attack DeSantis in an effort to support a national agenda promoted by the Biden administration, the influential Florida governor vows to push back against overreaching federal mandates and keep the principal of individual liberty at the center of his policy.  WATCH:

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Recently the Florida Governor also unveiled his own version of the Gadsden Flag specific to his state.

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the third quarter review of average weekly wages [Main Data Here].  The results of the year-over-year comparison should alarm everyone.  This is a very serious data point that likely means we are in a recession, it just has not been quantified yet.

By now, everyone knows the term “stagflation”, which means a stagnant economy and large inflation (price increases), the easiest comparison is Jimmy Carter economic program in the 1970’s.  However, let me assure you what this latest BLS release foretells is not that.  This is far more serious than stagflation.  I am not an alarmist, but I am encouraging everyone to take this economic data seriously.

In this graphic I have modified the spread sheet to focus attention on the part that really matters. [Original Data Table 2 Here]  What you are seeing here is a comparison of weekly wages for the third quarter (July, Aug, Sept) of this year, compared to the weekly average wages in 2020:

Weekly wages went up a sum total of seven bucks [$7/1,000 = 0.7%] year over year.  THAT is ridiculously low.  However, worse yet look at all the categories of workers who saw an actual decline in wages.   This is not a decline in wage value, this is an actual decline in net wages earned.  WAGES HAVE DROPPED !

This is not only saying wages are failing to keep up with inflation, that part is beyond obvious, the data shows actual declines in wages for full time workers.  This is far more concerning, check that…. this is four alarm fire – running around the neighborhood naked and panicked level concerning… when you take actual declines in wages and factor in the September inflation numbers [Main Data Here].

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Often on Sundays, we take snippets of media political discussion and deconstruct the false premise while overlaying the reality ignored by the propaganda.  This is not that.

In this short Sunday talk, we share the voice of a nurse who is very centered in the issues we face and share her wisdom, advice and encouragement.  “Patriot Nurse discusses the nature of compliance and human servitude. When you’re looking around and everyone else seems to be complying, don’t feel bad for being the lone man standing.”  WATCH:

Expanding on the outlook to overlay the issues surrounding forced vaccines in the workplace and all the propaganda therein.  Allow me to share some insight about YOUR value and YOUR worth from the perspective of a person who spent a lifetime engaged in complex systems with large numbers of people.

It may be an uncomfortable or politically incorrect thing to say in modern times; however, twenty percent of the workers in your system of employment deliver eighty percent of the productivity.  Yes, 20% of the workforce around you delivers 80% of the result.  This natural truth has been consistent for decades, and within that truism is the nature of man.

What you need to remember is.. If you are reading this, YOU are almost certain to be part of that twenty percentile that your employer or system operator depends on.  You are a doer.

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Before getting into the weeds on a CBS article warning of a “Looming Showdown” amid large numbers of critical workers who are refusing the mandated vaccination, it is worth setting up the accurate context for the details inside the discussion.

There are 205 million legally eligible U.S. workers between 15 and 74-years-old (census figures) with a workforce participation rate of 61% (BLS figures) which would equal 125 million legally eligible workers.   However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the number of working Americans at 161 million workers (BLS figures).  The majority of the difference between the two figures are most likely illegal alien workers (yeah, lots of them).

Approximately 40 percent of the eligible population are not working.  Some people are single family income (wives or husbands who don’t work), and some are just people who choose not to work, cannot work or have not yet started to work (college etc).  With somewhere between 125 million and 161 million workers doing the jobs that keep the country functioning, there are also approximately 10 million unfilled job openings.

According to the most recent statement from Joe Biden on October 14th: “We’re down to 66 million — it’s still an unacceptably high number — of unvaccinated people from almost 100 million in July.”  Approximately 60 million of those are within the current U.S. workforce.

If we split the difference (census -vs- BLS) and take the mid-point at 140 million workers, then 60 million workers refusing the vaccine mandate represents about 40 percent of the entire population of eligible workers.  Put another way, in the best case scenario, if 60 million people quit working or were fired, the national unemployment rate would be at least 35% !

What we call the United States doesn’t function with 35% unemployment; systems of commerce start to collapse, then government, then civil society.

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Economic Security is National Security….

The Trump Doctrine

The only person in my lifetime to inherently understand how to change a national economic program to benefit the middle-class was Donald J. Trump.  And I don’t even think he knew it on a scholarly basis – he just knew in his gut what steps to take to benefit the American worker on Main Street.

Only Donald Trump had the mind to see downstream consequences of economic policy and then re-engineer those programs; along with a keen ability to apply a  level of strategic policy to protect our interests {EXAMPLE}.  All other potential candidates are politicians by nature and incapable of reversing our decay.

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If you are wonder whether the White House is concerned about the middle-class being impacted by massive increases in gasoline, high home heating costs, extreme food inflation and empty shelves…   Well, the message from White House chief of staff Ron Klain is very telling:

Apparently feeding your family and making ends meet is a “high class problem.”

The elitism and disconnect from the average American always shows up when you look at DC democrats writ large.   They always talk down to those they view as ‘the help’.

Hundreds of requests for details on the specifics of the container shipping backlog.  So, I spent 3 days calling sources, digging for details and gathering information on the substantive issue at hand.  The epicenter of the problem is not what is being outlined by financial media, corporate media and politicians who have a specific interest in distracting from the issues at hand.  This has nothing to do with COVID-19.

The issues being discussed today relate to events that happened a long time ago.  As a matter of fact, it was so predictable that Amazon, Walmart, UPS, FedEx, Samsung, The Home Depot and Target all had taken actions years ago -long before COVID- because they knew this day would come.  It was not accidental that those companies showed up at the White House to discuss the issue, because there’s now a full court press to hide it.

There is one very specific regional issue driving the problem.  Read on:

The trucking issue with California LA ports, ie the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) and the Port of Long Beach (POLB), is that all semi tractors have to be current with new California emissions standards.  As a consequence, that mean trucks cannot be older than 3 years if they are to pick up or deliver containers at those ports.  This issue wipes out approximately half of the fleet trucks used to move containers in/out of the port.  Operating the port 24/7 will not cure the issue, because all it does is pile up more containers that sit idle as they await a limited number of trucks to pick them up.  THIS is the central issue.

On October 16, 2020, the EPA reached a settlement agreement [DATA HERE] with California Air Resource Board (CARB) to shut down semi tractor rigs that were non-compliant with new California emission standards:

2020 SAN FRANCISCO – “Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced settlements with three interstate trucking companies imposing $417,000 in penalties for violating the California Air Resources Board’s federally enforceable Truck and Bus Regulation, Drayage Truck Regulation and Transport Refrigeration Unit Regulation.

“As trucks are one of the largest sources of air pollution in California, EPA will continue to ensure these heavy-duty vehicles have the needed pollution-control equipment and operate in compliance with the rules,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator John Busterud. “These companies have agreed to bring their trucks into compliance and operate more cleanly in all communities they serve.”

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I do not expect White House Spokesperson Jennifer Psaki to understand how her bosses policies are driving massive price increases; nor do I expect Psaki to understand economics and inflationary impacts.  However, the scale of her false statements surrounding inflation are not just false, they are now dangerous.

Following the release of the consumer price index [SEE table 2], in her press briefing today, Jen Psaki outlined the White House perspective on inflation, and specifically the Fed claims surrounding “transitory inflation.”

In her statements today, Psaki referenced people comparing the prices of 2021 consumable goods to 2020 and 2019.  [Video prompted below] Within the statements, the scale of falsity is off the charts.  WATCH [Video at 19:00 to 22:42, prompted]

There is not one single thing about that three minute verbal exchange that is accurate.  Fast turn consumable goods, groceries etc., did not drop in 2020 during the first year of the pandemic.  Factually, all goods but especially consumable goods increased in price throughout the pandemic, because demand actually increased and the supply chains were unable to keep up.

Example.  A loaf of bread at $2.50 in 2019, climbed to $3.00 in 2020.  That price jumped again to $3.75 this year (2021) and will likely continue rising as monetary policy driven inflation continues devaluing our currency.

Even if, as Psaki claims, inflation slows down  (not likely) – “decelerating inflation” does not mean declining prices; it means a slower rate of price increase.   Stuff still costs more, it just costs more at a slower rate.  Consumable goods will cost more in 2022 than they do this year.  The 2022 loaf of bread likely to climb to $4.00; it will never return to the 2019 price of $2.50 because the dollar is worth less.

♦ Ask the White House: Why did Joe Biden increase food assistance benefits by 25% if inflation was transitory?

[The Consumer Price Index was released today.  The producer price index for Sept will be released tomorrow]

This massive inflation is a direct result of the multinational agenda of the Biden administration in combination with the spending spree.  Inflation is a feature not a flaw, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with COVID. The first group to admit what was obvious were banks, specifically Bank of America, because the monetary policy is the primary cause.

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Several news outlets (Bloomberg below) are noting the Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), has submitted the worker vaccine rule to the White House for review prior to publishing as an ’emergency temporary standard’.

While this may be seen as disappointing by many, the moment the rule hits the federal register, it will be subject to lawsuits before implementation.  Until the DoL/OSHA rule hits the books, the mandate is nothing except a statement of intent.

Once the emergency rule is put into the register, then various state attorneys general and private sector employers or employees will be able to seek injunctions and challenge the legality. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated yesterday his legal team is awaiting the rule to be published to trigger his state’s legal challenge.

(Bloomberg) […] The standard implements the president’s Sept. 9 order for a regulation requiring businesses with at least 100 employees to mandate workers get fully vaccinated or be tested weekly for Covid-19. Biden also asked for the rule to provide paid time off for workers to get vaccinated and to recover from any side effects.

An emergency standard bypasses what is normally a years-long regulatory process. To do so, OSHA must establish that the vaccination or testing requirement was necessary to protect workers from a “grave danger.”

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