During a recent event in Florida of approximately 1,000 audience members, Kari Lake asked the crowd if anyone supports Ron DeSantis?  The response from the audience is reflective of the typical Floridian response now that DeSantis has shown his political ambitions and dispatched Florida voters.  WATCH:

https://youtu.be/1mfgnvE_mU0

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PALM BEACH, FL – […] At one point in her remarks to about 1,000 people who attended the event, Lake named each of the Republican candidates challenging Trump, who was indicted a second time last week.

When Lake mentioned Gov. Ron DeSantis, three people put up their hands but brought them down quickly amid a cascade of boos.  The good news for DeSantis, however, is that former Vice President Mike Pence drew an even louder chorus of disapproving cat calls. (more)

The audience reaction is reflective of a much wider view held by most Florida GOP voters.  The backlash is two-fold.  One part of it is driven by the stunning increase in cost of living for the working-class and folks on fixed incomes.  The second part is driven by people who just feel conned by the entire DeSantis operation.  All the DeSantis ‘influencers’ are working desperately to hide the reality on the ground.

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As customary in this era of a great awakening, there are a lot more Republican masks dropping this week.  There is a great deal of sunlight upon the professional and institutional Republican politicians that hold office, when contrast against the indictment of Donald Trump.  As we bear witness to the establishment opposition of candidate Donald Trump, once again it is valuable to understand the motive at the heart of this opposition.

CTH can get down in the weeds of each specific issue to discuss the motives and intents (we will, and do), but the big picture MUST remain at the forefront of understanding. If we lose track of the big picture, the weeds are overwhelming.

…“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.”

~ Niccolò Machiavelli

♦POTUS Trump was disrupting the global order of things in order to protect and preserve the shrinking interests of the U.S.  He was fighting, almost single-handed, at the threshold of the abyss. Our interests, our position, is zero-sum. His DC opposition seeks to repel and retain the status-quo. They want to return to full economic control.

In these economic endeavors, President Trump was disrupting decades of financial schemes established to use the U.S. as a host for their endeavors. President Trump was confronting multinational corporations and the global constructs of economic systems that were put in place to the detriment of us.

There are trillions at stake. The need for control is a reaction to fear. The billionaire donor class fear losing control over economic policy and finance. They are funding every candidate, media resource, influencer operation, RNC, RGA, and every institution possible to retain their equity position. Opposition is based on economics; everything else is chaff and countermeasures.

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There is a strong divergence within the May jobs report as released by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) [DATA HERE].  Payrolls increased 339,000 in May from April and previous months were revised up by 93,000. That is good news.  However, the household survey, from which the unemployment rate is derived, showed employment down 310,000 jobs and the unemployment rate increased to 3.7%.

One of the aspects driving higher payroll starts are the number of people taking on additional part-time jobs.  This aspect is noted in a decline for the number of hours in the average workweek. As more PT jobs are added, the number of hours in a workweek declines. As noted in the BLS data, “the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged down by 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours in May.”

There were 161.0 million people working in April.  There are 160.7 million people working in May.

There were 5.7 million people unemployed in April.  There are 6.1 million unemployed people in May.

The unemployment rate increased from 3.4% to 3.7%.

There are 310,000 fewer people working in May than were working in April.  However, payrolls increased by 339,000 over the same timeframe. See graph above for where those jobs were gained.

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As the geography narrows before us, it is important to remember the stakes and avoid the distractions.  As a consequence, the baseline must be reaffirmed. It is critical to understand that both the DNC and RNC are private corporations with no affiliation to government.

It is a difficult shift in thinking, but the party system in U.S. politics revolves around two distinct private corporations – two clubs that feed from the same corporate trough and position for influence and affluence within a political dynamic they control.

The priority for both clubs, Republican and Democrat, is NOT politically or culturally ideological.  In the modern era, the corporate priority first begins with a battle over who controls each corporation.

As long as there is no challenge, the clubs operate without issue.  However, when there is a battle for control of the corporation, a battle that will ultimately determine the financial outcome, the internal battle becomes the priority.

2024 is going to be the election season when we see this corporate battle explode inside in the Republican group.  Decades of entrenched power are at stake, and there has been four years of counter positioning and backroom discussion leading up to this moment.

As a consequence, and I know this might sound odd to many people – but winning and/or losing elections becomes a secondary issue.  The RNC is not focused on winning elections. The RNC corporation is focused on retaining control.

The RNC want to give the illusion of support for MAGA conservatism because they need the base voter, and they need to maintain the illusion of choice. However, every move they make on an operational level is exactly in line with their previous outlook toward cocktail class republicanism.  The MAGA base of support cannot trust this corporate group, and we must not be blind or unguarded about the Machiavellian schemes they construct.

When you hear the influence group saying the two priorities for control of the Republican Club involve, (1) eliminating populism in the ranks; and (2) realigning with multinational corporate objectives (vis a vis Wall Street), what they are publicly expressing is their RNC corporate need to get rid of the America First economic agenda – to get rid of the MAGA influence.

How has this historically surfaced?

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For his weekend monologue, British pundit Neil Oliver turns his attention back toward the climate change agenda and the subsequent fear narrative as it is being promoted.  Oliver notes we are approaching a moment when the truthfulness of the climate change debate needs a full and public confrontation.  Either there is truth, or the foundation of the claims are built upon lies.

Oliver has discussed this topic before; however, when contrast against the collapse in trust based on conduct during the pandemic, and when overlaid against the wholesale collapse in trust toward almost all government institutions, perhaps now really is the best time to confront the fraud known as “climate change.”

Does the climate change? Of course, it does. In the short term that’s known as weather and in the longer term, a term much longer than human’s ability to influence it, climate change is why glaciers melted, mountains formed and the topography for a state like Florida rose from under the Gulf of Mexico as water levels declined.  The climate change agenda really isn’t about climate change; in the final analysis, the modern climate change agenda is all about ‘control.’  WATCH:

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The Climate Change agenda is the necessary entry narrative for control mechanisms like carbon trading economics and digital currencies.  At the end of the continuum, we find that control over people is the goal of the people pushing the fraudulent narrative.   The agenda is their holy grail along their road to serfdom.

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Homeowner equity is being erased. As higher interest rates continue to put pressure on borrowers, the ability of the average person to afford a mortgage diminishes.  Higher mortgage rates lead to downward pressure on residential home values as fewer borrowers can afford higher payments.  Simultaneously, commercial real estate is dropping in value as vacancies continue increasing.

Put both of these issues together and already tenuous banks holding mortgage bonds as assets can become more unstable.

This dynamic creates the continual tremors in the background of an economy already suffering from high inflation and low consumer purchasing of durable goods.

A perfect storm starts to realize.

(Wall Street Journal) – Sales of previously owned homes fell in April from the prior month and prices declined from a year earlier by the most in more than 11 years.

U.S. existing home sales, which make up most of the housing market, fell 3.4% in April from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.28 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. April sales fell 23.2% from a year earlier.

The national median existing-home price fell 1.7% in April from a year earlier to $388,800, the biggest year-over-year price decline since January 2012, NAR said. Median prices, which aren’t seasonally adjusted, were down 6% from a record $413,800 in June. Home prices have fallen the most in the western half of the U.S., while prices continue to rise from a year earlier in many eastern markets. (read more) 

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Those of you who are keen financially minded individuals will note exactly what is happening in these recent reports, HOME DEPT HERE – TARGET HERE.  Those of you who are retail investors in the stock market might also see the bigger picture.

Home Depot and Target essentially share the same customer base or market audience. They service a larger segment of the American middle class.  Both companies are reporting negative financial outcomes as a result of low comparable sales, or same store sales comparisons, to last year.   This should not be a surprise, yet Wall Street is seemingly caught off guard.

Right now, we are on the tail end of the massive inflation cycle that took place in 2021 through 2022.  Current inflation, as measured by the rate of price increase over the same period last year, is lower.

Now we are starting to see companies reporting sales comparable without the benefit of massive inflation to assist.

Example – when inflation is running at 10%, a company can report 8% sales growth, and everyone smiles.  However, the sales growth was created by the inflation.  The actual unit sales of goods have declined; the store is reporting higher sales because the prices are higher.  When the sales cycle through to lower inflationary comparisons, the drop in unit sales shows up as drops in topline sales.   This is the cause of both Target and Home Depot now reporting lower than expected comparable sales versus last year.

In real terms, this is why using sales data as a measure of economic growth is less valuable during periods of high inflation.  Significant inflation hides the diminished sales of units, which should be the true measure of sales growth.  I have been tracking unit sales as a measure of economic activity, and the truth is that unit sales have been declining since the fourth quarter of 2021.

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We have talked about the stunning price increases in pet foods during our discussions about food price overall.  However, a remarkable study by Veterinarians Org gives some context to just how much the Joe Biden inflation has driven up the cost of pet foods. [ARTICLE HERE]

Mostly driven by Biden’s created inflation hitting raw farm materials, energy prices, manufacturing and transportation costs, the prices for the most popular wet and dry dog foods have skyrocketed.

One in four pet owners have even contemplated giving their animal up for adoption because they can no longer afford them.   This is terribly sad.

(Veterinarian Org) – […] The largest percentage increase compared to 2020 prices is for a wet dog food product by PEDIGREE, which has increased by 207% compared to its 2020 price.

The largest dollar amount increase compared to 2020 prices is for a dry dog food product by Royal Canin, which is currently $43.99 more expensive per bag than it was in 2020.

In a recent Veterinarians.org survey of 1,000 U.S. pet owners, 50% of respondents indicated having to shop for cheaper alternatives to pet food as a result of rising costs. Pet owners also found themselves shopping for cheaper alternatives to pet treats (41%), pet toys (34%), and pet health supplements (28%).

55% of surveyed pet owners indicated having to cancel pet food subscriptions on Chewy.com, Amazon.com, or through a raw food/pre-cooked meal service as a result of rising costs.

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Recently I went to the supermarket to pick up some general provisions.  Given the nature of previously predicted food price increases, and proactive measures to mitigate the predictable prices, I haven’t needed to purchase basic foodstuffs in a while.   Yikes!  The prices… Wow.

Since we originally warned in ’21 about the waves of food price inflation that were coming, the prices have more than tripled on many food commodities.  That part is not as surprising in current review; however, the prices of processed foodstuffs is, well, quite frankly astounding.

I am left to wonder how working-class people are able to afford the jaw dropping price increases in highly processed food products like condiments (mayo, ketchup, mustard, etc), and even coffee and milk.  I knew the processing costs would drive those prices, but the scale is just astounding.

Beyond the foodstuff, what was truly stunning was the current price of non-food items at the store.  Items like chemical cleaners, soaps, aluminum foil, trash bags, Styrofoam products, ziploc bags, paper goods, etc.   I mean seriously, $8 for a box of trash bags, good grief.

After a review of the non-food item prices, I went back to the recent BLS report [DATA HERE] to look at the producer price index to see if the data reflected the scale of the processing cost that I was reviewing across a broad spectrum of goods.

Are consumers getting gouged by manufacturers who are taking advantage of the price shock inside the ongoing inflation?

Or are the processing costs, mostly driven by energy price increases, really that big a factor in the end product as it is generated?

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Richard Baris from People’s Pundit appears with Steve Bannon to discuss the latest polling data and political data from around the polling world. {Direct Rumble Link Here}

Baris notes some key points in the MAGA movement, the scale of the “only Trump” vote now hovering around 20% in the base of the republican party.  The working-class coalition inside the GOP is exclusively a MAGA phenomenon.   The cocktail class republicans are aligned with DeSantis and Trump, but the biggest portion of the working-class inside the republican party is only with Donald Trump.

Additionally, and in alignment with the larger MAGA economic coalition, the working-class democrats who stand beside us do not align with Ron DeSantis at all.  Without Donald Trump as the republican nominee, a big portion of working-class democrats no longer will vote with the republican party.  WATCH:

2024 is MAGA burning the ships behind us.  This one is for all the marbles. This is not a place where tepid half-measures and gentlemanly pastels will suffice.  Get right with God, put on the armor, accept that you’re fighting like the third monkey on the ramp to Noah’s ark, and get comfy being uncomfy.  When your sword is short, step forward.

Our ally is anyone who stands beside us. Our enemy is anyone who doesn’t.  The new sons and daughters of the revolution are going to look completely different.

The Green Dragon Tavern may be a bar room, a cafeteria, a church gathering, a picnic table or a tailgate.  The assembly is not focused on the labels of the assembled.   The mission is the purpose… The fight is wherever it surfaces…. When you doubt yourself, remember the bloodline you come from – and stand tall.

Protect the kids.  Defend your family and community.  Be smart. Train your brain to be smart, think like an insurgent. Delicate sensibilities need to be dispatched like a feather in a hurricane.

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