I’m not confident that Joe Manchin will ultimately hold the line on more spending; however, it is interesting that on the same day Manchin is reported to be casting doubt on more Joe Biden social spending {LINK}, the Washington Post published a hitjob on him around his family finances {LINK}.

Accepting there are no coincidences in politics, it would appear the intelligence agencies are firing a warning shot against Senator Manchin based on his financial connections to the West Virginia coal industry.

(New York Times) – WASHINGTON — Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, the most prominent Democratic holdout on President Biden’s $2.2 trillion social safety net, climate and tax bill, cast fresh doubt on Monday on his party’s plans to speed the measure through the Senate before Christmas, saying he still had grave concerns about how it would affect the economy.

Mr. Manchin outlined his skepticism before speaking by telephone about the bill with Mr. Biden, a discussion that aides to both later characterized as positive. After the call, Mr. Manchin, who represents West Virginia, did not rule out the possibility of supporting the measure this month. He said that “anything is possible here” when asked about a vote before Christmas, and that he was still “engaged” in conversations with the White House.

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Well, there’s another “economist” who can be set into the folder of ‘no longer useful’.  During his appearance today on CBS Face The Nation, Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser for Allianz, finishes his segment by revealing his underlying precept: Climate Change policy is now the economic policy driver of all his investment advice.

Within the interview, El-Erian said the “characterization of inflation as transitory is probably the worst inflation call in the history of the Federal Reserve.”  Additionally, El-Erian said inflation is likely to remain high into the next year and perhaps beyond.  Unfortunately, other than those two points of generally well educated accuracy, everything else is wrapped up in the political correctness of climate change…. which, you don’t really discover until the very end of the interview. WATCH:

The baseline for El-Erian saying the Build Back Better spending fiasco is a good thing, is based on accepting the pretense that massive amounts of federal spending will be needed to structurally change the U.S. economy from fossil fuel use to the Green New Deal.   If you do not believe in this transformation, there is no merit to any component of the BBB spending proposal. It really is that simple.

As a consequence, El-Erian is staking the position that climate change agenda politics is now the focal point from which all other economic policy will be determined.  He has conceded in his mind and worldview, perhaps based on his associations and peer discussions, that any forward economic analysis must therefore establish itself from the alternative fuel position.

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President Trump economic policy -vs- Joe Biden economic policy

When wages (blue line) are above inflation (red line) our income is growing, life is good and the working class has more disposable income to enjoy life.  However, when wages (blue line) are lower than inflation (red line) our income is shrinking, life is a struggle and the working class has less disposable income to enjoy life.

♦ Point One – Nothing happens accidentally. The road to a “service-driven economy” is paved with a great disparity between financial classes. The wealth gap is directly related to the inability of the middle class to thrive.

♦ Point Two – There is nothing of value behind the obtuse term “service-driven economy.” The multinationals are paying for this administration, just like they paid the Obama administration; paying for economic policy that advances their interests.  Congress goes along with the K-Street demands, because Wall Street is now the primary benefactor of legislative intent. Nothing about their effort is done with American interests in mind.

To go deep, keep reading.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk was seemingly channeling his inner Galt during a video interview with Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal at the CEO Council Summit.  Apparently Mr. Musk can see what’s on the other side of this spending horizon and doesn’t want to experience it.  WATCH:

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The Full Interview is below:

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Two Democrats joined with Republicans yesterday in passing a bill that would eliminate any federal vaccine mandate.  It seems silly that Congress would have to pass a law saying the unlawful and unilateral act of the executive branch, which has been blocked by separate federal courts, is unlawful…. but that’s where we are.

Democrats Joe Manchin (West Va.) and Jon Tester (Montana) joined all the Republicans present in the 52-48 vote.  The bill now goes to the House, where it is going to be put on ice by Nancy Pelosi in order to save Joe Biden from an embarrassing rebuke of his overreach.  However, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked today if the House were to vote on the bill, would Joe Biden veto it.

The White House spokesperson affirmed that Joe Biden would veto any bill, created by the representatives of the people, that declared his authority null. WATCH:

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Yesterday, Rachael Rollins was confirmed by the Senate as Joe Biden’s selection to be the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts {LINK}.  Watch the former District Attorney Rachael Rollins previously respond to a local Boston media crew.

Watch what happened, and remember, this person is now the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts:

https://youtu.be/5cfiCuKFVGc

The severe leftist disposition exhibited in that video was well known to the U.S. Senate prior to her confirmation hearings.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz highlighted and warned his peers about the danger that Mrs. Rollins’ worldview as district attorney represented if she was put into a position of significant authority.  Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton also gave numerous warnings and for a time blocked the nomination.

Alas, eventually the Senate approved of Mrs. Rollins despite all the warnings.   The Senate vote was a 50/50 tie.  No Republicans voted to support Rachael Rollins, and Kamala Harris stepped in to break the tie.

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There’s a lot of convoluted internal stuff, but essentially Mitch McConnell is going to set up a process for Democrats in the Senate to raise the debt ceiling by themselves.

Mitch will enlist the usual Decepticon suspects to change the senate rules, for one-time only, allowing democrats to raise the debt ceiling without having to enter negotiations and concessions for anything republican lawmakers want (like eliminating the Biden spending bill).

McConnell will need nine more republicans to change the process, but it looks like he’s going to be successful.

This will permit Democrats to raise the debt ceiling by approximately $2 trillion, so they can continue debate on Biden’s Build Back Better bill.   Yeah, Uniparty gonna Uniparty.

WASHINGTON DC – […] The Senate minority leader spent Tuesday selling his members on a convoluted strategy that would require at least 10 Republicans to approve legislation that would later allow Senate Democrats to raise the debt ceiling by a simple majority vote. After a leadership meeting and a Senate GOP lunch, McConnell said he’d done enough work to clinch the deal in a vote expected on Thursday. (read more)

So the Senate DeceptiCons will *claim* to be against the multi-trillion ‘Build Back Better’, fundamental change, spending bill.  Yet they will have facilitated the Democrats not having to negotiate or eliminate anything inside the BBB bill, by removing the leverage of the debt ceiling raise.  Yep, Uniparty gotta Uniparty – all courtesy of the DeceptiCon caucus.  I hate them.

President Donald Trump notes the Mitch McConnell nonsense in a statement:

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A federal judge in Georgia has blocked the vaccine mandate for federal contractors nationally.  A previous court order from another judge in Kentucky blocked the contractor vaccine mandate in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee [link].  This latest ruling blocks the contractor mandate nationally [link].

This is the latest defeat for the Biden administration against all three facets of the federal vaccine mandate: (1) Federal Contractors, (2) CMS Healthcare providers, (3) private sector employers with over 100 workers.

All three prongs of the White House federal vaccine mandate are now blocked by federal courts.

(Reuters) – A federal judge in Georgia issued a nationwide injunction that prevents the U.S. government from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on federal contractors, temporarily shutting down the last remaining vaccine requirement by the Biden administration.

U.S. District Judge Stan Baker in Savannah, Georgia, said Congress did not clearly authorize the president to use procurement to impose a vaccine requirement on contractors that will have “vast economic and political significance.” (read more)

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked today about whether the White House would be transparent with the reported divestiture of Hunter Biden and his financial relationships with communist Chinese government officials.  The press secretary refused to answer the question.  WATCH:

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National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins appeared on Fox News today to push the panic button around the latest COVID variant, Omicron.  Dr. Collins was pushing the vaccine hard as he explained why Americans need to be concerned about the latest variant.

Vaccines, and now double and triple booster shots, are the acceptable scientific approach to combating the arriving Omicron variant, which Collins’ protege Dr. Fauci has warned could lead to a new round of lockdowns, mask mandates and social distancing requirements from federal and state officials.

However, in the face of all the panic promotion, NIH Director Collins was asked to reconcile why Florida, the most open and free state in the nation – that does not have any COVID mandates in place, would also have the lowest infection rate in the country.   Dr. Collins refused to answer the question, and instead repeated his rehearsed talking points.

It is very telling -in a weird way- how the NIH Director would not answer the question. In fact, he avoided it completely.  WATCH (Prompted):

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