Jumpin’ ju-ju bones, this is rather remarkable.  Two video segments from CNN today highlight just how horrible things are for Democrats this mid-term election year.  No amount of J6 leverage is going to offset the way Americans feel about Joe Biden.

Delivering a summary of the last four most recent and consecutive polls, even CNN had to report that President Joe Biden’s approval is the lowest ever for any president at this point in any presidency.  According to the CNN presentation, Joe Biden is “in a lot of trouble,” as outlined during a segment on CNN’s “New Day” with Brianna Keilar and John Berman.  WATCH:

The second segment is even worse news than the first.  In the second segment they take a look at all modern presidential polling and discover that Joe Biden has a lower approval rating than even Jimmy Carter in 1978.

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Appearing on Stage in Vancouver earlier today with the head of TED Chris Anderson, Elon Musk discusses why he has made a financial bid to purchase the social media platform Twitter.  The video is prompted to 11:40 when Musk takes the stage, the first part of the conversation surrounds the Twitter announcement that had made global headlines only a few hours earlier.  WATCH:

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Late last month Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a legislative redistricting proposal for the state’s new expanded districts.  Florida is gaining a congressional seat as an outcome of the last census and a rapid growth in population.

The concern DeSantis expressed last month was not with the state house or state senate districts, but rather with the new congressional district mapping. {Background} Attorneys for the governor’s office and state saw a conflict between the legislative map and the constitutional provisions for district assignment.  The Governor’s office wrote a new map eliminating the gerrymandering which ultimately, based on the 2020 election outcome, would appear to give 20 districts to Republican areas and 8 districts to Democrat areas

Of course, the professional activists within the Democrat apparatus are apoplectic. “If this map is enacted, Florida will be sued.,” tweeted Marc Elias, a Democratic Party elections lawyer.  However, the Republican state legislature has indicated their full support in advance of a special session to affirm the new redistricting map.

FLORIDA – A Republican-favorable congressional redistricting plan that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office released Wednesday landed quick support from the leader of the Senate’s reapportionment efforts.

Democrats, meanwhile, said the once-a-decade redistricting process has gone “extreme partisan” and threatened legal challenges.

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The U.S. Census Bureau {LINK} reports the March retail sales data {pdf LINK} showing a contraction in sales overall (excluding gasoline) and a massive contraction in on-line sales.  As we expected, we are seeing the continued demand side contraction for non-essential purchases.

First, when you review the data, keep in mind all of the statistics are based on dollars.  Currently the BLS calculates the rate of inflation at 8.5 percent year over year. So, when we look at retail sales figures, we must remember the items being sold cost more.  Any reported sales figures in a sector that do not exceed the inflation in that sector, indicates decline in units sold.

The top-line for March retail sales is 0.5% growth; however, the rate of inflation is 8.5%, so the amount of goods sold is substantially less than the 0.5% dollar increase would indicate.  Subtract the sales of gasoline (w/ massive price increases), and retail sales are negative (-0.3%) in March.  SEE TABLE-2

A good category to note the contraction in non-essential purchases is electronics and appliances.  Again, CORE inflation in that segment is around 6%, and yet total sales were only 3.3% higher, meaning less actual units sold.  Compared to 2021, electronics and appliance sales dropped 9.7%.

Showing how much people are pinched, gasoline prices are around 60% higher than this time last year, yet gas station sales only increased by 8.9%.  This means people are buying a lot less fuel at much higher prices.  People have shifted their transportation habits because gas costs so much.

Two more very interesting notes:

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Yesterday in Iowa, Joe Biden called the Russian military operation in Ukraine a “genocide,” which has a very specific set of legal definitions to it.

When asked if he had seen enough evidence to support that statement Biden responded:

“Yes, I called it genocide.  It has become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being — being able to be Ukrainian.  And the amount — the evidence is mounting.  It’s different than it was last week.  The — more evidence is coming out of the — literally, the horrible things that the Russians have done in Ukraine.  And we’re going to only learn more and more about the devastation. And we’ll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me.”  (link)

Several ground reports from European journalists indicate the U.S. military is running all of the combat operations inside Ukraine. A French reporter said on Euro News, “I thought I was with the international brigades, and instead I was facing the Pentagon.”  Now today, Joe Biden announces he is arbitrarily sending U.S. combat helicopters into the conflict.

[Tweet Link]

(WHITE HOUSE) – I just spoke with President Zelenskyy and shared with him that my Administration is authorizing an additional $800 million in weapons, ammunition, and other security assistance to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military has used the weapons we are providing to devastating effect. As Russia prepares to intensify its attack in the Donbas region, the United States will continue to provide Ukraine with the capabilities to defend itself.

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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen delivered a remarkable speech today outlining “the future of the international order,” in the aftermath of the global pandemic and the current conflict in Ukraine.  Within the speech, Yellen outlines the priorities of the United States according to the current administration and the international financial mechanisms that she controls.

The speech is quite jaw-dropping when you consider the nature of her position, and the fact that she is an unelected bureaucrat within government.

As you read the speech {Transcript Here}, keep in mind she is not the President of the United States, or the commissioner of the New World Order, yet she presents herself as authorized to control the geopolitical constructs of the Biden administration.  The hubris is astounding.

Secretary Yellen: outlines the goals and objectives of the international order, predicts a concerning global famine, warns against the cleaving of financial mechanisms for international trade as an outcome of the Ukraine conflict, threatens any nation who does not support the western political alliance and outlines the need for decarbonization of the global economy.

Yellen expresses all of these powers from the position of a U.S. Treasury Secretary – the equivalent of a government financial minister.  Speech highlights with emphasis mine:

(Transcript) – […] “Russia’s horrific conduct has violated international law, including core tenets of the UN Charter—challenging countries to demonstrate where they stand with respect to the international order that has been built since World War II.  Therefore, when I speak about a changed global outlook, I’m not just talking about growth forecasts.  I’m also referring to our conception of international cooperation going forward.  

I will focus my remarks today on the significance of international cooperation in this current environment and for our future.

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I want to be very careful here, because multiple people have sent me a version of this outline asking for opinion. Basically, is David Friedberg correct?

The discussion in this video surrounds farming as a construct of global caloric creation.  Meaning, with all that is taking place in the farming system on a global scale, will there be dramatic food shortages?  It is a complex issue.  In the larger picture what Friedberg, a former scientist within the Monsanto organization, explains is accurate; however, I would inject some nuanced dissension as it relates to U.S. farm production specifically.

The first four and a half minutes of the video are an accurate representation of the global state of farming, albeit with a little too much weight on the Ukraine-Russia aspect.  There was a preexisting issue long before Russia entered the picture. The price of fertilizer was already skyrocketing, Russia-Ukraine has made that already looming issue, worse.  WATCH First 04:30 minutes:

https://youtu.be/1xtGTVWrw-M

The problem described, about farmers deciding not to plant, is weighted more heavily in less developed countries where access to the financing for a future crop is not stable {AP Article Here}.  For most of the developed world farming will continue; it is the end product where prices will reflect the additional costs of bringing a harvest to market.  Bottom line, as the futures market is showing, crops will be more expensive.

There is going to be a problem in the same areas of the world where food stability and dependency is already an issue.  Yes, the convergence of current farm challenges will make those areas more vulnerable.  We do not know, to what extent.

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She did it again. Just like in February, when Psaki (seemingly out of the blue) gave a weird proactive statement about bad economic data that was going to be released the following day {LINK}. Earlier this afternoon White House spokesperson Jen Psaki gives another proactive justification for even worse inflation data that is about to be released from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics tomorrow.

In this brief soundbite, Psaki says the March inflation data that is going to be released tomorrow is going to show “Putin’s price hikes” on U.S. consumers.  However, even within the framework of her false justification, she attempts to blame Putin for gas price increases in January, when the Russian military operations did not start until February 24th.  The inflation news is going to be really bad tomorrow. How bad?  WATCH:

https://youtu.be/tNBvUq8e2Ko

None of this will come as a surprise to CTH readers.  We noted in the February inflation data (released in March), that things were going to be much worse in the April release.  The reason was simple, the massive gas price increases were not yet matriculated in the February data, and the massive food inflation was not yet captured by the USDA component. All of that preceded Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  None of it has anything to do with Vladimir Putin.

The inflation data that will be released tomorrow is the first visible data assembly of the second inflation wave now upon us.  Remember, inflation data lags behind the reality of the price increases. What the BLS will show tomorrow is the price results from the last half of Feb through the half of the month of March.  It will likely show the largest single month inflation increase in modern history.

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Against the backdrop of increased Russia-India trade {link}, and the BRICS discussions about new trade payment mechanisms to avoid being shackled to the dollar {link}, it would appear the people behind the White House operation to create/maintain conflict with Russia are scheduling a stern conversation with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

WHITE HOUSE – ” President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will meet virtually with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India on Monday, April 11 to further deepen ties between our governments, economies, and our people. President Biden and Prime Minister Modi will discuss cooperation on a range of issues.” …

“President Biden will continue our close consultations on the consequences of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine and mitigating its destabilizing impact on global food supply and commodity markets.” (read more)

The message from the White House will likely be akin to: ‘Nice country of 1.5 billion hungry people you got there Modi.  With all this talk of global famine going around, it’d be a shame if you couldn’t feed them.’ Oh, and by the way, did you happen to catch what just rolled out in Pakistan?  Imagine that – what with common borders and such… 

For those unfamiliar, it appears the DoS/CIA were up to their old tricks again, because Pakistan was favorable to the position of China and Russia in the Ukraine conflict and would not take sides with NATO and western allied leaders.

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CBS has released their latest YouGov Poll [DATA HERE], again showing the top priorities of the American people are not even on the radar of the American government.  The DC beltway disconnect is stark.

Interestingly, the recent survey of Pennsylvania voters done by Reuters, turned up this almost identical priority list, only Rusia/Ukraine did not even appear in the top five.  The economy, inflation, gas prices, crime and immigration are the top five issues across the board, in almost every poll.

Russia/Ukraine is a non-existent issue. Yet, that is the actionable priority -with questionable importance for U.S. security interests- for a totally out of touch government and media to focus on.  Sending $14 billion to help Ukraine’s border fight, while our borders are crushed with illegal aliens, is a sharp stick in the eye for every American.

Unfortunately, our opinion doesn’t matter, and frustratingly, the people using Biden as a tool to achieve their goals do not have any concern whatsoever about political fallout.  Biden is a disposable tool for a program of rapid single-term advancement of the democrat-communist agenda.

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