First, some context:  ♦ A trillion dollars is one-thousand billions. ♦ A trillion seconds is 31,709 years. ♦ The last federal budget that went through regular order was signed into law in September of 2007. ♦ Today is December 23rd. ♦ Obamacare was passed in the Senate December 23, 2009.

Today, the Democrat controlled House of Representatives has just passed the Senate constructed $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill.  The massive spending bill now blocks the incoming Republican congress from impeding the Biden agenda and heads directly to the installed occupant of the White House for signature.

Most of the House republicans who voted to approve the spending bill are retiring, they include: Liz Cheney (WY), Rodney Davis (IL),  Brian Fitzpatrick (AL), Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA), Chris Jacobs (NY), John Katko (NY), Adam Kinzinger (IL), Fred Upton (MI), and Steve Womack (AR).

The 2022 Omnibus bill includes $45 billion for Ukraine in addition to changes in election laws intended to block the American people from interfering in the legislative business of Washington DC in the future.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi celebrated the House passage calling the bill “truly a package for the people,” where people are defined as those who live and congregate in Washington DC to indulge themselves at taxpayers’ expense.  There is no larger disconnect.

Speaker Pelosi continued by saying, “members have planes to catch, gifts to wrap, carols to sing, religious services to attend to,” she said, adding that the time reminded her of an English song: “Christmas is coming, goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man’s hat.” No, I’m not making that up – she said that.

(more…)

For seven years the media have walked the American people through a journey to publicize President Donald J Trump’s tax returns, using phrases like “bigger than Watergate.” Promising, almost daily, the results of their quest would be “the beginning of the end” of Trump.

Thousands of hours of media punditry shouting about the holy grail paper trail sure to culminate in a result “devastating beyond all imaginings.”

Meanwhile, millions of column inches were filled with “bombshell” promises of deep expose’s, certain to highlight how the universal villain of all things universally villainous would be crushed under the weight of financial nakedness.

This moment, they promised, would be second only in political consequence to origin of our constellation.  The quest for Trump’s taxes was the culmination of thousands of hours of deep Lawfare expertise, an epic battle worthy of Homer.

A horrible human would explode in shame they said. Yes, Trump was about to be exposed by professionals, DC experts who build careers understanding the complex system of tax filings, financial schemes and arcane laws.  WATCH:

These were the Gandolfian wizards, heroes as proclaimed by the pretorian guard media, the gatekeepers who would finally gain access to the epicenter of the one true financial enlightenment that would forever destroy Godzilla Trump and crush the empire beneath him.

Breaths were held as “soon” they swore.  Pearls were clutched as ticks were tocked.  ‘Any moment now’, the masses began to shout.  Busses and trains stopped.  Swarms of people rushed home to watch television.  Flights were being cancelled as the moment drew near.  The economy came to a halt as thrills were pronounced to be running up legs.

The world’s most investigated human in all humanity was on the cusp of the abyss. The moment had finally arrived.  The culmination of years of baited anticipation.  This was THE moment; this was THEIR moment….

Boxes were spotted passing through the halls of congress. “That’s them,” people muttered clamoring for a glimpse.  MSNBC finally, after years of anticipation, triggered the countdown clock – as a visibly climaxing Rachel Maddow could no longer contain the spontaneous ecstasy.

And then…

(more…)

The price for a dozen eggs continues climbing as explanations turn toward blaming bird flu.  However, the avian influenza may explain a recent spike, but the longer duration of escalating food price commodities is much deeper than momentary fluctuations.  These are energy dependent products.

As CTH noted last year, watch egg prices as a general gauge for overall food inflation (eggs hit almost every process in the supply chain), and watch potato availability to gauge overall row crop stability (staple commodity on every plate, venue).

Additionally, as previously noted, as energy prices continue rising pay attention to the prices on ‘organic’ products.  Rising energy prices drive up costs for large commercially processed food supplies at a much higher rate than smaller organic production.  People are starting to notice the ‘organic’ option is almost at price parity.

Wall Street Journal – […] Wholesale prices of Midwest large eggs hit a record $5.36 a dozen in December, according to the research firm Urner Barry. Retail egg prices have increased more than any other supermarket item so far this year, climbing more than 30% from January to early December compared with the same period a year earlier, and outpacing overall food and beverage prices, according to the data firm Information Resources Inc.

For supermarkets, eggs are a staple product that most consumers pick up on trips to the grocery store, similar to milk and butter. To maintain store traffic, grocers said they have been sacrificing some profits on eggs to keep prices for consumers competitive. Some suppliers are projecting potential relief in price by February or March, but cold weather could hamper production in the near term, executives said.

(more…)

Nope, it’s not the border crisis and millions of people unlawfully flowing into the United States.  Nope, it’s not the collapsing economy or massive inflation that crushing the working class.  Nope, it’s not the skyrocketing cost of fuel, energy, oil and gasoline as the direct result of catastrophic energy policy….

…”Providing assistance for the Ukrainians to defeat the Russians, that’s the #1 priority for the United States right now, according to most Republicans.  That’s sort of how we see the challenges confronting the country at the moment.”… 

Those are the direct words of Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell.  WATCH:

.

Tell me again how the Republican party is salvageable?

(more…)

One might think the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act would be constructed in such a manner as to help Americans by reducing inflation.  However, not only does the Inflation Reduction Act not help reduce inflation, but the climate change bill carrying the name The Inflation Reduction Act is now the cause for complaints by Europe and Asia because the falsely named spending bill doesn’t help their economy.

The issue stems from the part of the climate change bill that provides a $7,5000 federal tax credit for electric vehicles.  As the bill was written the vehicles needed to be assembled in the USA with battery components mostly sourced from the U.S.A.   Europe and Asian automakers are not happy because they want their vehicles, made in Europe and Asia to benefit from the tax credit.

Of course, the first thing Joe Biden does is tell Europe and Asia he will modify the rules to permit vehicles made outside the USA to benefit.  The exact opposite of the intended construct of the bill in the first place.

But,… that’s multinational corporate globalism in action.

WASHINGTON—The Biden administration on Monday delayed proposing detailed rules for new tax incentives for electric vehicles, following strong pushback from European and Asian allies that the subsidy program discriminated against their companies.

The Treasury Department said details on the battery-sourcing requirements that electric vehicles must meet to qualify for up to $7,500 in tax credit will be released in March, instead of by the end of this year as earlier planned.

(more…)

The G7 leaders have been debating the problem of African farming for quite a while. The issue surrounds the conflicts between the G7 climate change agenda and the need for Africa to develop fertilizer production to enhance their farming and crop yields.

As noted in a Reuters article from June, “the European Union is divided on how to help poorer nations fight a growing food crisis and address shortages of fertilisers caused by the war in Ukraine, with some fearing a plan to invest in plants in Africa would clash with EU green goals.”  As the argument unfolded, “the EU Commission explicitly opposed” any effort to enhance African fertilizer development, “warning that supporting fertilizer production in developing nations would be inconsistent with the EU energy and environment policies.”  

The energy development corporations, the source industry needed to create the components for nitrogen-based fertilizer, have been waiting to invest in African energy production pending the approval of western government decisions.  Addressing the issue today, Joe Biden told the African Union the United States would send an emergency $2.5 billion in food crisis aid to offset the inability of Africa to feed itself.

In essence, instead of Western government policy supporting energy production in Africa that would lead to a greater farm yield, and by extension a greater level of food independence, the Biden administration would rather restrict energy/food development in Africa and send them food subsidies; because, climate change.

(White House) – […]  President Biden announced an additional $2.5 billion in emergency aid and medium to long-term food security assistance for resilient African food systems and supply markets, which builds upon over $11 billion in U.S. humanitarian and food security assistance for this year alone.  President Biden also launched a new strategic partnership on food security between the United States and the African Union.  

(more…)

Friends, in the late summer and fall of 2021 CTH warned of massive waves of price increases that would push inflation to record highs.  We watched as each wave arrived almost on schedule throughout 2022, and as a direct result of Joe Biden energy and economic policy, prices necessarily skyrocketed.

In essence in 2021 we were warning about the expenditure side of the ledger that all working-class and fixed income families would experience.  We advised to take every proactive measure possible to avoid future price increases.

Now, unfortunately, we begin moving those same warnings to the other side of the ledger; because as a natural consequence of consumer checkbook pain, the financial pressure always transfers to the income and employment side of the economic dynamic.

Keep in mind, retail sales are calculated in dollars spent by consumers.   November 2022 retail sales as reported by the commerce department today [DATA pdf], reflect a 0.6% decrease in spending vs October.  November data includes Thanksgiving, Black Friday and the traditional early holiday shopping.  0.6% less dollars were spent, despite prices being double digits higher than the prior year.

When the prices you are charging for goods and/or services are 10, 20, even as high as 60 percent more than prior year, yet your sales are running flat to negative – that means consumer purchases of those goods/services are substantially lower.

If you were selling 100 widgets for $1 each in 2021, you gross $100.   If your widgets now sell for $1.25 and you gross $94 in 2022 sales, you have sold 75 widgets.

(more…)

As we have often discussed on these pages, inflation would ultimately moderate and plateau not because prices were dropping but rather because of the calendar cycle.

As the economy cycles through a year of large price increases, the current inflation rate cycles through to the period when prices first increased.  This calendar cycle means continued price increases are lower as a percentage and thus the inflation rate appears to modify despite prices continuing to rise. [BLS Report]

This scenario, prices remaining high and continuing to climb – yet lower as a percentage, now provides the justification for the federal reserve to state inflation is moderating.

(Via NBC) – Amid signs that price growth in the U.S. economy is rapidly cooling, the Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it was slowing the pace of its rate-hiking program designed to tackle inflation — but that more hikes were still on the table.

The Federal Open Market Committee said it was increasing its key federal funds rate by 0.5%, after announcing four-straight 0.75% hikes at its most recent meetings. In its Wednesday statement, the Fed said it continues to target an inflation rate of 2% over the long term and would continue to increase the federal funds rate to do so.

“Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher food and energy prices, and broader price pressures,” the committee said.

(more…)

An interesting infographic from Will Geary [SOURCE] that gives context to the amount of money the United States is spending in Ukraine.

Each dot in the video represents $100,000.00 as outlined.

The source for the graphic data is the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  Just hit play:

Visualizing U.S. Aid to Ukraine from Will Geary on Vimeo.

(more…)

It’s subtle like a brick through a window when you have the bigger picture in mind.

Joe Biden and Canada’s Justin Trudeau are in ideological alignment, willing to destroy the entire North American economy as they construct the new climate change energy systems for the U.S and Canada.  However, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador (AMLO) has already indicated -including direct statements to Joe Biden at the White House– that he is not willing to put the Mexican economy into collapse and try to engineer an economic future on solar panels and windmills.

That puts Mexican President AMLO in the crosshairs of a unified climate change agenda as outlined by the World Economic Forum and western leadership under the guise of the Build Back Better agenda.  In essence, AMLO goes from socialist hero of the unionized left to becoming a target.  CTH has been saying we need to watch carefully how this plays out because a great deal of the western economic agenda hangs in the balance.

Now that AMLO has taken a pragmatic position on energy development {Go Deep} his lack of alignment means the apparatus of the United States government, the proverbial Eye of Sauron, will target him.  Not coincidentally, the public relations firm for the deepest part of the interventionist intelligence apparatus, the Washington Post, now outlines AMLO as the specific person responsible for the explosion in fentanyl use.

(Washington Post) – […] A new Mexican leader rejected the $3 billion anti-narcotics agreement that had spanned three U.S. presidencies, known as the Mérida Initiative. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a veteran leftist who took office in December 2018, argued that the drug war strategy had sent homicides spiraling in Mexico while failing to curb U.S. demand.

(more…)