As we have watched the economic conditions for Main Street businesses and blue-collar workers continue to worsen, the horizon grows ever more dark.  Last month when we reviewed the inflation data we noted as follows:

“The rapid increases in the price of food and gasoline are hitting the middle-class hard. This will have a downstream effect on more luxury items and durable goods. Spend more on food/gas and you might not be able to purchase that new table you wanted. Durable good inventories increase and layoffs in those sectors begin.

It will be very interesting to watch how the housing market responds over the next few months. If the trendline continues we should see a considerable softening in home sales, again depending on region, as the inflation hits the working class” (link)

Today we get the first set of housing data to accompany the inflation forecast: “New home sales dropped 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 863,000 units last month, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. March’s sales pace was revised lower to 917,000 units from the previously reported 1.021 million units. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales, which account for a small share of U.S. home sales, at a rate of 970,000 units in April.”

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If one was conspiracy minded….  A major gasoline pipeline is shutdown due to an unknown computer hack.  Two days later, the Mississippi River (I-40) is closed to cargo barges after a major bridge fracture is discovered.  And now yesterday:

Train In Iowa Carrying Hazardous Materials Derails and Catches Fire

(Via Reuters) –  “A Union Pacific train hauling hazardous materials derailed and then caught fire in the city of Sibley, Iowa, authorities said on Sunday, leading to the evacuation of dozens of people although there were no reports of injuries or fatalities.

The derailment, involving 47 rail cars, took place in the afternoon in Sibley, Union Pacific said, adding the cause of the incident was under investigation.

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Angela Merkel is essentially the de-facto global head of modern political liberalism. The central tenet, almost religious-based in its importance, is the lunacy within “climate change”. However, as most reasonable people have concluded, the ‘climate discussions’ are more about controlled global economics than any actual concerns about planetary climatology. Bottom line, it’s the economics that really matter beyond all else.

CTH has pointed out for several years that Germany’s Angela Merkel, a beloved leader amid the political left, was never going to put her economy in a position of weakness just to appease the environmental lobby.   Chancellor Merkel is a nationalist at heart and within that outlook progressive causes can be advocated but only to the extent that Germany can retain a superior economic condition.

Despite her being heralded by the progressive movement in the U.S, it is all a farce.  Angela Merkel is a political case study in what leftists refuse to admit and even more leftists deny; that is the reality behind the hypocrisy.  The narrative fraud was evident when President Trump pulled out of the Paris climate treaty and immediately Merkel said Germany would also not comply with the treaty demands. From Merkel’s position Germany must always retain a superior position within the EU, no matter what.

The most recent example of this comes from Merkel rejecting carbon emission reduction requirements from her own government.  Merkel knows the environmental wing is full of moonbat policy that runs counter to the economic need of her nation.  Despite the ‘greens’ gaining legislative seats, she will not support carbon dictates that are against the interests of manufacturing and multinational corporations in Germany:

(Via Reuters) German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday rejected demands to bring forward an exit date for ending coal generation in Germany, currently set at 2038. {SEE HERE}

“Those affected need some reliability on the path to climate neutrality,” Merkel said. “I don’t want to unravel this again after one year.”

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is a rising star in the republican party mostly for his MAGA alignment and steadfast approach toward common sense governance. DeSantis has been a great leader for the state of Florida and has nationwide recognition for his leadership style and fearless approach toward confronting the bias in media.

At 42-years-old with three kids DeSantis really does work tirelessly on behalf of his state. He is well known for traveling almost every day to meet people in every area of the state while conducting official state business. Grounded in pragmatic conservative principles the Florida governor has a firm commitment to individual reliance, freedom and liberty; this outlook has been clear in his approach toward the COVID crisis.

Yesterday Governor DeSantis held a townhall event at The Villages, and went into more details about both his personal perspectives and his outlook on current political issues that concern the voting electorate. The townhall event hosted by Newsmax is a great opportunity to get to know DeSantis.

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Considering: gas lines, massive increases in gas prices, rapidly rising U.S inflation, rising unemployment and generally worsening economic conditions (ie. “Malaise”); in combination with a new Israeli war in the middle-east; many people are now comparing Joe Biden to the failed administration of Jimmy Carter.

From the desk of President Donald J Trump:

“I see that everybody is comparing Joe Biden to Jimmy Carter. It would seem to me that is very unfair to Jimmy Carter. Jimmy mishandled crisis after crisis, but Biden has CREATED crisis after crisis. First there was the Biden Border Crisis (that he refuses to call a Crisis), then the Biden Economic Crisis, then the Biden Israel Crisis, and now the Biden Gas Crisis. Joe Biden has had the worst start of any president in United States history, and someday, they will compare future disasters to the Biden Administration—but no, Jimmy was better!”

Transportation Secretary Alfred E Newman took center stage today to outline the White House response to the gas crisis as people up and down the East coast are unable to find fuel.  We are so screwed with these professional political idiots, who have never held a real private sector job, in charge of U.S. policy.

Secretary Newman is skilled in the use of parseltongue: ‘We understand the concerns that need to be understood in order to evaluate the concerns that have been expressed.  Our understanding has led to a larger discussion about the concerns and we understand the need to coordinate with our partner agencies toward the common goal of understanding.  Now that we have the analysis to understand the greater concern, we are evaluating the fastest way to express the understanding of the analysis to a more broad network of partners.  As soon as that network understanding is in place, then we will have a better understanding for the American people about their concern‘.. or something.   Yes, these are the words of wisdom from the Secretary of Transportation.

Think I’m kidding… Well, you try:

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As expected the high-turn consumable goods are starting to rise in price rapidly.  The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) has released the consumer price analysis from April (remember there’s a big lag) [Top Line Data Here – Detailed Sector Data Here]  The trend is rapid inflation continuing with no end in sight.  CORE inflation just jumped the most since 1982.

Overall prices are up 4.2 percent year-over-year, which is three times the rate of inflation under Joe Biden than under President Trump.  Inflation hurts the lower and middle economic class much harder; and the specific inflation sectors show massive increases on the goods and services that blue collar workers use most.

It is specifically the Biden economic policies that are to blame for the scale of these increased prices.  Inflation of this scale is an outcome of policy.

Biden is focused on helping multinationals and Wall Street; President Trump was focused on helping small businesses and Main Street.  We are now seeing the impact from these two differing economic priorities.

Regular unleaded gasoline is up a whooping 51.9 percent from last year [Table 7].  Higher gas prices directly hit the middle class the hardest and also increases the cost of transporting all goods.  Keep in mind this is a snapshot of prices approximately six weeks ago and gasoline prices have been rising even more rapidly recently.  Not good news.

The status of the economy, the employment picture and the stimulus money shows up in the cost of used vehicles rising over 22% last month and 21% compared to last year.  People are holding on to their vehicles and when able purchasing newer used vehicles, reflected in the lower inflation on new cars and trucks (2%).  Paycheck and wage security is becoming an issue again, especially with the cost of gasoline and food.

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In a PRAVDA-esque display of regime defense on behalf of JoeBama the New York Times (state run media) attempted to deny the reality of what many Americans are experiencing. However, after immediate backlash… the proverbial stealth edit, as people started pointing out the absurdity of their claims:

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Obviously this narrative runs in the exact opposite of reality.  So stark was the contrast the NYT quickly re-positioned:

New York Times […] “On Tuesday, hundreds of filling stations in the Southeast either ran out of gasoline or restricted sales as panic buying surged, particularly in Georgia and Tennessee. Nationwide, the price of regular gasoline climbed by nearly 2 cents a gallon, to $2.99, on Tuesday. In Georgia, the daily price rose by nearly 10 cents a gallon.”

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Rising unemployment, massive inflation, “stagflation” and now gas lines…  Looks like that recent meeting with Jimmy Carter was about recreating the 1970s.

The White House responds to fuel shortages appearing in the mid-Atlantic and southeast:

“The President continues to be regularly briefed on the Colonial Pipeline incident.  The Administration is continually assessing the impact of this ongoing incident on fuel supply for the East Coast.

We are monitoring supply shortages in parts of the Southeast and are evaluating every action the Administration can take to mitigate the impact as much as possible.  The President has directed agencies across the Federal Government to bring their resources to bear to help alleviate shortages where they may occur.” (read more)

The statement from the White House is a little obtuse, considering the administration has yet to waive the Jones Act to streamline fuel transportation.

To be fair, the current areas running out of gas are more likely a combination of panic purchasing than an actual fuel supply issue.  However, as seen in regions where hurricanes lead to panic purchasing, the lack of fuel can be an issue that cascades quickly.

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The White House occupant appeared today to deliver remarks on some key issues that are catastrophic to the long-term goals of the leftist administration.

First, let’s be clear; there’s no-way the Chicago control agents would allow the installed occupant to speak on any issue, publicly, that was not a direct and measurable threat to their long-term goals.

The remarks today by Joe Biden are carefully scripted to diffuse political damage that is pending as a direct outcome of the executed policies.

The risks and remarks are in the following order:

(1)  Gas Prices – The JoeBama energy policy is “necessarily” making fuel prices at the pump jump dramatically.  The teleprompter is loaded with disinformation to place the blame for higher gas prices upon a pipeline hack, which JoeBama intentionally points out is a private sector issue – that now needs government intervention as part of his infrastructure program. This nuanced shift is clearly part of the Chicago maneuver toward socialist control of all levels of energy development and distribution.

The political risk is obvious.  Massive increases at the gas pump will hit the middle class extremely hard.  Democrats are to blame for these gas prices and they are worried about the political fallout.  Ergo, JoeBama is told to read his script.

(2) Mass Unemployment  and Terrible Jobs Numbers –  The COVID bailout has created massive incentives for people not to return to work.  It is only not a laziness and comfortable dependency issue, it is also an economic decision.  Low wage workers can make more sitting at home getting unemployment to combine with their COVID bailout money than they can returning to work.

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