The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) originally calculated the first quarter economy at a scale of -1.4% growth. The BEA revises that figure downward today with more data showing a contracted level of consumer spending [DATA HERE].  The economy contracted by -1.5% in the revised numbers.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the dollar value of all goods and services produced in the economy, minus the dollar value of goods and services we import. The percentages discussed are percentages of change over time.

♦ What changed in this revision to make the economy worse?

(1) U.S. inflation was revised upward (prices increased); (2) the estimate of calculated inventories was lowered; (3) the estimate of consumer spending was raised (inflation issue); which leads to (4) a massive drop in the calculation of disposable incomes.  [See the Change Table]

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Tucker Carlson used his monologue today in response to the politicization of the Texas school shooting in Ulvade.

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This has been one of the odd aspects to the special counsel investigation deployed under the nameplate of Robert Mueller.   However, with the trial of Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann bringing more curious minds to the backstories, here’s one that few people understand.

You will remember the massive media debate in early 2018 about the FISA application deployed against former short-time Trump campaign aide Carter Page.  The DOJ, at the time under the control of the Mueller special counsel for all things Trump-Russia related, wouldn’t let congress see the FISA application. Devin Nunes complained to House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Eventually a deal was struck and two members from the House Intelligence committee (democrats and republicans) and two members from the House Judiciary Committee, were allowed to go to Main Justice and read the FISA application, but not copy it.  Four congressmen were allowed to go read and take notes. Trey Gowdy and John Ratcliffe represented the two republicans, and their notes formed the basis for what later was called “The Nunes Memo.”

The Democrats were not happy with the claims in the Nunes memo, and subsequently HPSCI ranking member Adam Schiff wrote the democrat version.

Both of those sets of memos then needed to be declassified, more delays, before they could be made public.  For weeks and weeks, the Nunes -vs- Schiff memos were debated by both sides, with each saying their version was the truth and the other party’s version was spin and/or false.   All of this was happening in January, February and March 2018.

Then, later in the summer, something really weird happened.  Main Justice completely reversed position on keeping the FISA application secret, and for the first time in U.S. history a top secret classified Title-1 FISA application was released to the public (with redactions).

People were so filled with curiosity about the Carter Page FISA application that few, heck, almost no one, stopped to ask why it was released?  Why the sudden secrecy reversal by the DOJ?

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The last question from the assembled press pool in Tokyo, Japan, brought about the most serious foreign policy response from the installed occupant of the White House.  Joe Biden said he is willing to use military force against China if Beijing decides to take over Taiwan.

[Transcript] – Q    Very quickly: You didn’t want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons.  Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan, if it comes to that?

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Yes.

Q    You are?

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  That’s the commitment we made.  That’s the commitment we made.  We are not — Look, here’s the situation: We agree with the One China policy; we’ve signed on to it and all the attendant agreements made from there.  But the idea that — that it can be taken by force — just taken by force — is just not a — is just not appropriate.  It will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in — in Ukraine.  And so, it’s a burden that is even stronger.

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During a joint press conference held in Tokyo, Japan, held by Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden was asked about the financial pain Americans are feeling with massive increases in gasoline prices.

Outlining how his energy policy is directly related to the gasoline price, Joe Biden said: “Here’s the situation. And when it comes to the gas prices, we’re going through an incredible transition that is taking place that, God willing, when it’s over, we’ll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over.” Yet again proving the intent of the administration is to implement the ‘Green New Deal’ through executive action.  WATCH:

https://youtu.be/s3mtbvZdpEA

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This admission is akin to former President Obama saying, “energy prices would necessarily skyrocket” in order to achieve the goals of the administration.

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Heh, it’s almost as if Team Zelenskyy read the tea leaves inside the New York Times editorial opinion recently [SEE HERE] that warned Joe Biden he better get to a negotiated peace deal quickly or the administration will look even worse than it already does.

Two days after the New York Times editorial board says, “it is still not in America’s best interest to plunge into an all-out war with Russia, even if a negotiated peace may require Ukraine to make some hard decisions; and the U.S. aims and strategy in this war have become harder to discern, as the parameters of the mission appear to have changed,” now Zelenskyy is saying he needs to enter diplomatic talks with Russia.

(BBC News) – The war in Ukraine can only be resolved through “diplomacy”, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. Speaking on national TV, he suggested his country could be victorious against Russia on the battlefield. However, he added that the war could only come to a conclusive halt “at the negotiating table”.

Meanwhile, heavy fighting is taking place in and around Severodonetsk, as Russian forces step up efforts to seize the whole of the Luhansk region.

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Kash Patel, a well-known figure in the background of ‘Spygate’, is usually a little bit too heavily invested in the rose-colored glass business for my tastes.  However, that said, if you need a shot of hopium to help get you through next week, Kash has the stash.

Appearing with Maria Bartiromo, Kash Patel gives his opinion of the Sussmann trial so far, while selling the trusty planner narrative in the second segment.  {Direct Rumble Link 1} and {Direct Rumble Link 2}  – WATCH:

Part II Below:

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We often talk about the disconnect between Wall Street (globalists) and Main Street (nationalists), and their influence in economic policy.  Today, Jason Furman, a former Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, appears on CBS News to discuss his Harvard-Kennedy School impression of the U.S. economy.

There’s a particular point in the interview [Transcript Here] that encapsulates the moonbat perspective of the globalists.  Listen at 01:20 and you will hear this:

FURMAN:  “Look, we’ve seen a remarkable thing. Consumers, if you survey them, are very pessimistic and negative about the economy. When they vote with their wallets, we saw- we got the consumer spending data for April and it was way up. Consumer spending on just about everything has been booming. Over the next 6 to 12 months, I’m not super worried about a recession. After that is where I start to get worried because that’s where the Fed’s policy will start having more of an effect.”

Put another way: Our policies have made prices skyrocket (inflation). Consumers are forced to spend more money to sustain themselves (food, housing, fuel, energy); ergo consumer spending is booming. Brilliant, our plan to increase consumer spending by raising their prices is working.  That’s the way these people think. WATCH:

We force you to pay more, then turn around and claim economic victory because you are paying more…. “consumer spending is booming.”

By the way, he’s at the World Economic Forum where this perspective is actually cheered inside the echo-chamber.

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CBS conducted an extensive YouGov poll [pdf DATA HERE] on wide ranging topics connected to the overall Joe Biden agenda.  The first page of the poll gives a good idea of just how badly the broad spectrum of Americans view the current status:

In addition to the Biden administration being upside down on every issue; the result of doing exactly the wrong thing on every aspect of White House policy; overall, a big indicator within the poll is that 61% of Americans polled describe the Democrat party as “out of touch.”  [DATA HERE]

Keep in mind this is a YouGov poll, which generally skews in favor of DNC policy and doesn’t filter to just registered voters.  So the actual percentages are much higher.

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One of the public revelations created by the trial of Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann is that Hillary Clinton’s campaign, Hillary Clinton’s lawyers, and Hillary Clinton’s contracted opposition research firm, Fusion GPS, manufactured the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.  How did Robert Muller not find this?

The Clinton hoax is the key takeaway within the testimony of Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook, during the Sussman trial.  Of course, every intellectually honest person who watched events unfold already knew that.  However, the DC politicians, institutions of the DOJ and FBI, and the entire corporate media world have been pretending not to know the truth for almost six years.  Now they are in a pretending pickle.

Mr. Mook was legally forced to put the truth into the official record, ironically because the Clinton lawyers needed him to in order to save themselves.  A stunned Jonathan Turley writes about the revelation HERE.  Meanwhile the journalists who received Pulitzer Prizes, for pushing the manufactured Clinton lies that Mook now admits, must avoid any mention of the testimony in order to maintain their ‘pretending not to know things‘ position.

Special Prosecutor John Durham found the truth behind the creation of the Trump-Russia hoax, and through the trial of Sussmann is now diligently passing out the bitter pill ‘I toldyaso’s’ to the small group of rebellious researchers who found this exact trail of evidence years ago.

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