California Representative Kevin McCarthy finally succeeded on the 15th ballot during the overnight hours of Friday to Saturday. Mr McCarthy ultimately prevailed with 216 votes after six conservatives switched their votes to present. This lowered the threshold for a majority vote and essentially reversed their prior opposition. Their change followed 14 other holdout Republicans who flipped their votes to McCarthy during the 12th ballot and Andy Harris (R-Md.), switching to McCarthy on the 13th.

After Speaker Kevin McCarthy was sworn into office, he delivered a speech to the entire House.

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How many months ago did CTH start saying ‘watch Mexico’? Having said that, what is unfolding right now in the battle between the Sinaloa cartel and the Mexican military is fraught with unknown variables and hidden U.S. interests.

Use the example of the U.S. manipulating Ukraine as the reference point for what is happening in Mexico right now with Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau scheduled to visit Mexico City in four days for the North American Summit.

It’s all sketchy. Do not formulate opinions because we have no idea how many peas and shells are being maneuvered by U.S. intelligence and national security state interests.

We are told the Mexican military arrested Ovidio Guzman-Lopez, the son of El Chapo, who it is claimed to be running the drug cartel Culiacan, Sinaloa state. Some form of Mexican or U.S. military unit, contractor or federal office with guns and big juice then transferred Ovidio Guzman-Lopez to Mexico City where the summit is supposed to take place.

The Sinaloa cartel has now begun a rampage of revenge across the Sinaloa state attacking, police, government buildings, transportation, airports and planes, setting vehicles ablaze and setting up roadblocks. At least seven Mexican security force personnel are reported to have been killed in clashes where the government was trying to retake control.  Eight civilians are also reported dead.

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The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) released the December jobs report today [DATA HERE] showing 223,000 jobs gained in December ’22.

Most of the job growth was in the “leisure and hospitality” sector (+67,000), healthcare (+55,000), construction (+28,000) and social assistance (+20,000).  Additionally, average hourly earnings rose by 0.3%, with a year-over-year measure of wage growth at 4.6%.

At this point in the history of our economic pretending game, we are well aware the employment numbers are heavily manipulated in order to support the government policymaking that is destroying the same workforce they claim to represent.   It’s all a ruse, just look around your community and you will see what I am talking about.

The financial pundits, Wall Street, government policy makers and various individuals and economic gaslighters are concerned that worker wage growth could drive inflation.  This is one of the most aggravating aspects to reviewing the majority of economic punditry. [Example:]

This knuckleheaded narrative engineer from the New York Times/Atlantic even has the audacity to say, “let prices continue to fall to target,” as if there is a single item at any price that is dropping.  His spin is a good example of gaslighting just from the use of the statement “price inflation is falling back towards where we want it.”

Price inflation is not price.  ‘Price inflation’ is the rate of increase.  There’s a BIG DIFFERENCE between “inflation falling back” and prices dropping. Inflation falling back is merely a lessening of the rate of price increase.  The price does not drop, and never will.

This reality is why it is infuriating to see government policymakers and pundits decry wage growth as a bad thing that might cause inflation.

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Our dear friend Sharon always reminds us, “Those whose motives are based on deception, will always find an audience willing to be deceived.”  That, my friends, is the current status of the Republican party watchers and one of the primary reasons this little corner of the internet, The Last Refuge, was formed.

We accept things as they are, not as we would wish them to be and never as we would pretend them to be.   Pretending is an endless quest akin to convincing. Those who operate in the world of political pretense expend an exhaustive amount of energy in constant vigilance against those who speak plain truths.

The House of Representatives has adjourned until 10pm tonight, when another vote will be taken, as outlined by the design of the Kevin McCarthy supporters.

Why adjourn?  Why return at 10:00pm on a Friday evening?  Simply, because the McCarthy team is counting on several House members (mostly Democrats) not being in attendance for the quorum, facilitating a lower threshold of the vote to achieve a majority.

435/434 members present = 218 votes needed
433/432 members present = 217 votes needed
431/430 members present = 216 votes needed
429/428 members present = 215 votes needed
etc.

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Representative Matt Rosendale (R-MT) railed against Congress’s “broken system” as he nominated Byron Donalds for the 9th round of voting in the race for Speaker of the House on Thursday.

During his remarks, Rosendale outlined the power dynamic and rules system, what he calls “the nasty little secret, put into place by prior leadership that has corrupted the institution and made the voices of individual members irrelevant to the activity within the lower chamber.  Rosendale outlines how changing these rules and the power dynamic of the few is what the protest against Kevin McCarthy is all about.  WATCH:

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That slow grinding creak you hear in the background; that’s the U.S. economic engine running without oil and beginning that slowdown phase just before it stutters and stalls completely.  Alas, the pretending continues…

As noted by the Wall Street Journal, an economic gaslighting institution with a central mission to maintain pretenses, “business surveys show U.S. factory activity declined in December, the Institute for Supply Management and S&P Global both said this week. Separately, S&P Global said Thursday that U.S. services-sector businesses reported a decline in output for the third month running in December.” This comes as “U.S. imports dropped more, by 6.4% on the month, as Americans cut back on holiday-related purchases, including items from other countries such as computers and autos.”

Keep in mind, November retail sales—which included consumer spending at stores, online and at restaurants—fell 0.6% from the prior month for their biggest decline of 2022, according to the Commerce Department. Manufacturing output declined in November as well, the Fed reported, while U.S. home sales fell for a record 10th straight month.

Into this mix of economic metrics, driven by a collapse in disposable consumer income and high energy prices, now we begin to see the number one business expense being curtailed.

(Market Watch) […] Amazon.com Inc layoffs will affect more than 18,000 employees, the highest reduction tally revealed in the past year at a major technology company as the industry pares back amid economic uncertainty.

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Interesting timing here as the North American Summit is scheduled to take place in Mexico City, Mexico, on January 10th.  Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador (AMLO) are scheduled to have several meetings to discuss trade, economic and energy policies.

President Trump releases a video {Direct Rumble Link} and outline for a proposal to eliminate drug Cartels.

Mar-a-Lago, FL – As Joe Biden prepares to make his first-ever trip to the southern border that he deliberately erased, President Trump announced that when he is president again, it will be the official policy of the United States to take down the drug cartels just as we took down ISIS.

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Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is one of the primary voices against Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for the House speaker role. Gaetz appeared on Fox News to discuss the background issues with Kevin McCarthy and the lack of trust held by the group opposing him.

Additionally, Gaetz refuses to accept the criticism from former House republicans who created the crisis of confidence within the American electorate.  When challenged about the specific criticism, Gaetz does a good job putting context to the failed republican efforts over the past 15 years.  The video is a good encapsulation of the current status.  WATCH (prompted to 02:29):

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The House will reconvene at Noon Thursday to continue the process of trying to nominate a speaker.

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The previously insufferable Hannitus Interruptus has been on a downward spiral ever since his wife caught him in an affair with Ainsley Earhardt and divorced him.  Immediately thereafter, with Fox News holding leverage over his ability to pay the support needed, he has been unwatchable in the extreme.   However, that said, even at the lowest possible threshold of credibility, Hannity finds a way to go even deeper into the hole of irrelevance with this interview.

Sean Hannity invites Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert onto his television show so that she can listen to him tell her what her position is regarding his good friend Kevin McCarthy.  This is peak moonbattery from the ridiculous pundit.  {Direct Rumble Link} – WATCH (if possible):

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During a floor speech earlier today, Pennsylvania Republican Representative Scott Perry nominates Florida Republican Representative Byron Donalds to become Speaker of the House.  WATCH:

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Meanwhile, Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) mounted his one-eyed high horse to slam the 20 House Republicans who oppose Kevin McCarthy’s bid for the speakership.

“I’m tired of your stupid platitudes that some consultant told you to say on the campaign trail, alright. Behind closed doors tell us what you actually want, or shut the f*** up,” he said of the holdouts, according to the Washington Post’s Dylan Wells. (link)

Crenshaw’s comments come after McCarthy failed to win the House speakership in a fourth, fifth and sixth vote. Representative Victoria Spartz (R-Indiana) voted “present,” moving her support of McCarthy away from her position in prior ballots.

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