Given the nature of our current political dynamic, some may find this interesting; I did.
Because it is rather lengthy, I have prompted the video to begin at a certain place pertinent to our current conversation. Just hit play and then exit when you find yourself no longer interested; but try to stick with it at least through to the Senator Mark Warner and Adam Waldman stuff. WATCH:
Part of the successful negotiations amid the 21 congressional holdouts to the McCarthy speakership, was a pledge to create a subcommittee styled after the Frank Church committee. The purpose of the subcommittee would be to investigate the intelligence apparatus of the U.S. government and the conflicting intersections created by the unconstitutional surveillance state.
It appears from a review of the 6-page framework [See Proposal HERE], the subcommittee will fall under the jurisdiction of the House Judiciary Committee which will likely be chaired by Jim Jordan (R-OH). The framework of the committee as it is surfacing would be structured to have investigative authorities into U.S. intelligence operations, Homeland Security, FBI and DOJ-NSD activity. Thomas Massie will likely be a member of the committee and appeared with Tucker Carlson to discuss. {Direct Rumble Link} – WATCH:
Readers here are very familiar with how the intelligence and national security interests have risen to control almost every institution of government. CTH has deeply outlined how these intelligence departments and homeland security systems have enmeshed to control the executive, legislative and judicial branch of government.
What this committee appears to be motivated toward, and what Massie is outlining in that interview, is the process of going into each of the purposefully created information silos (CIA, DHS, ODNI, FBI, DOJ-NSD etc), reviewing their operational missions, extracting the evidence of their activity and then cross-referencing with unconstitutional outcomes.
The subcommittee has a noble goal; however, the success or lack thereof will ultimately come down to the personnel choices on and in the committee itself. Additionally, and this is a major hurdle, the subcommittee is going to run head-first into the Senate Intelligence Committee obstruction and disinformation system.
The operational mission of the current Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), is entirely to stop any government action that might impede, investigate or attempt to remove the Fourth Branch of Government the Senate has created. The SSCI, the U.S. Intelligence Community and the Dept of Homeland Security will target this House Subcommittee, the members, the staffers and their families, with extreme prejudice.
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.
The management and branding team behind Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continue to track a transparent path toward a 2024 nomination run. Florida Governor DeSantis was sworn into office today at Noon eastern, complete with Jeb Bush as a special on-stage guest of honor.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is one of the primary organizers and influencers for DeSantis ’24 presidential bid. Former governors Rick Scott (R) and Charlie Crist (R/D) did not participate in the ceremony. Additionally, despite the early hour and not appearing to be coincidental, it appeared the political branding team decided to have Casey DeSantis take a page from First Lady Melania Trump’s wardrobe style. WATCH:
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They are going to recreate Camelot whether you want it or not. However, once you see the strings on the marionettes, it’s impossible not to watch the performance and not see them.
Ron DeSantis is the counterfeit $100 bill on a fishing string being dragged through the MAGAhood by the professional political class and Bush family revenge operations.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “No man has a good enough memory to make him a successful liar.” Lincoln somewhat underestimated the Mike Morell types of the world, who have become liars as a profession. {Direct Rumble Link}
Mike Morell was the former acting CIA director in the aftermath of Benghazi when General David Petraeus was removed from the position. Morell is a Clinton crony who not only constructed the infamously fabricated talking points used by Susan Rice to blame the Benghazi attack on a YouTube video, Morell was also the guy moved into position to protect Clinton in the aftermath of the terrorist attack, and then years later in July 2016 the same Mike Morell penned the first Trump-Russia thesis in the New York Times.
After successfully doing his job to protect Clinton in the aftermath of Benghazi, Mike Morell was hired by CBS President David Rhodes. Obama’s Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes is David’s brother. Mike Morell now continues to work for CBS and today he declared a likelihood that a “U.S. or western interest” is likely to be attacked by an al-Qaeda affiliate in 2023.
The New Year brings a look of forward-looking economic perspectives from major financial institutions. Unfortunately, if the perspective of Bank of America Chief Economist Michael Gapen is reflective of the larger institutional analysis, the financial pretending is anticipated to continue.
[Side Note: Notice how they will all start talking about ‘deglobalization’ in 2023. There’s a reason for that that I will touch on in the IMF interview to follow]
Appearing on Face the Nation Gapen accurately indicates the U.S. housing market is already in a steep economic recession, housing prices falling rapidly with a considerable amount of distance to go (-30% range), and the overall housing market will likely be in this situation for around two years. On a macro level the Bank of America indicators line up with the general housing trajectory. From a lending standpoint, Gapen would have specific insight.
Beyond the housing sector, Mr. Gapen starts to get sketchy. He anticipates inflation taking 24 to 36 months to lower to the norm 2% range. That is generally in line with CTH expectations; however, nowhere in the analysis does Gapen even mention energy costs and the overall impact to the economy from energy policy. You will note this absence will be present in almost all financial punditries. Mentioning “energy policy’ as a cause of economic pain is a third rail amid his peer group; it is simply not permitted.
Astute readers will note the great financial and economic pretending that surrounds the Build Back Better and Green New Deal climate change agenda will not be discussed by anyone, ever. The massive price impacts, the supply side inflation pressures, are baked into the western global economic outlooks. It is strictly verboten to talk about climate change policy being stopped, modified, reversed or even, well, gasp, removed. WATCH:
[TRANSCRIPT] – […] BANK OF AMERICA CHIEF ECONOMIST MICHAEL GAPEN: Happy New Year as well. Thank you for having me on.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You know, a majority of voters polled by The Wall Street Journal say that the economy is going to look and feel worse in 2023. What is your forecast?
GAPEN: So I think that’s probably true. I think we’re in a situation where the risk of recession is high, may not be a deep and prolonged one. But we’re in a situation where the economy has recovered very rapidly from- from COVID, and it’s come with a lot of inflation. And the Federal Reserve is trying to slow down the economy, to bring inflation down. And in the past, more often than not, that’s coincided with some sort of recession in the US economy and the U.S. labor market. It’s not baked in. It’s not for certain. We may be able to avoid it, but I would agree that the outlook by most people who sit in the position that I do think 2023 could be a difficult year for the U.S..
MARGARET BRENNAN: So we may be able to avoid recession?
If 2022 was not the apex year for the era of great pretending, then we remain sitting in a handbasket – destination, full speed ahead.
When asked for the topic of a ‘big picture‘ podcast this 2022-year ending, the obvious answer from me was We Need to Quit Pretending.
For the past two years I can only encapsulate the entire social, political and socioeconomic dynamic that surrounds us by saying we are living in an era of great pretending. Why? Because nothing else adequately explains it.
A recession is no longer two negative quarters of economic growth. Elections are no longer defined by votes cast, but by ballots counted. Meanwhile, women are claimed to have penises and people will argue -strenuously and with commitment- that men can give birth to babies.
Simultaneously, vaccines are no longer about medicines to avoid viruses, and Americans have some moral obligation to fund the administrative salaries, pensions and expense accounts for a nation of European politicians, in a country that few taxpayers could find on a map.
We must pretend the occupant of the oval office is not a dementia patient, at the same time we must pretend the Dept of Homeland Security and FBI is not telling online speech platforms that identifying the dementia patient, as a dementia patient, means you are a domestic violent extremist. The absurdity of the pretenses are off-the-charts.
However, on the upside, we now see even blissfully ignorant people starting to realize something is wrong when their electricity and heating bills quadruple, while the same system of governmental caretakers are telling us to embrace a new earth friendly normal of $12 dollar eggs. We been knew, but more are now knowing – thank God.
Neil Oliver looks at the current media headlines as the New Year approaches, noticing it’s Groundhog Day all over again. The video is available on the GB News Website Here and the transcript is below:
[Transcript] – New Year incoming – and still we are being beaten around the head with the same old stories.
In a few hours, we welcome 2023, but as far as our leaders and their lackeys are concerned it might as well be Groundhog Day.
I look at the headlines on this last day of 2022 and what do I see? Covid, Ukraine and Climate Change. Folk nuttier than anything found in a selection box are talking about bringing back face masks. God help us. Let’s remind everyone for the umpteenth time that Covid is now no more dangerous to most than the common cold. But still, the talk is of the pandemic, same old, same old.
I speak to people every day and hear real stories about real struggles. At first, when asked, “How’re things?” most smile and say they’re fine. Spend a few minutes in conversation though and the stories come.
The ideology of these elitist minded control officers is really remarkable. The president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, has given several statements to media saying policy measures must be put into place in order to stop wage growth from fueling inflation.
Think about this in the most practical of terms. Western politicians have created massive inflation through their collective ‘Build Back Better’ energy policy. The central banks have raised interest rates, an effort to shrink the economy by lowering energy demand, to offset the skyrocketing costs of the energy problem the politicians created.
With workers demanding pay raises to help afford the skyrocketing costs of energy, the central EU bank is now worried that wage increases will fuel inflation.
There’s a truckload of pretending needed to avoid seeing the insufferable dynamic of reality.
Political policy drives up energy costs. Central banks try to drive down energy demand. Workers unable to afford the energy prices created by politicians, are then blamed for the inflation the political policy creates.
Sooner or later ordinary people are going to figure out this abusive cycle.
(Via Reuters) – Euro zone wages are growing quicker than earlier thought and the European Central Bank must prevent this from adding to already high inflation, ECB President Christine Lagarde told a Croatian newspaper.
Ms. Walters is credited with blazing the trail for women in media. Walters legacy includes many facets, including the modern era launch of the most transparently biased interview technique in opinion journalism. Barbara Walters never let the details of a good story get in the way of her opinion of it.
For the past two years I can only encapsulate the entire social, political and socioeconomic dynamic that surrounds us by saying we are living in an era of great pretending. Why? Because nothing else adequately explains it.
With workers demanding pay raises to help afford the skyrocketing costs of energy, the central EU bank is now worried that wage increases will fuel inflation.