Tuesday, June 7, 2022

THE FOOL IN THE WHITE HOUSE - Biden: The Economy Isn’t Bad, You Just Can’t See How Good It Is - It takes someone in the tank, if not brain-dead, to call this a 'Goldilocks econony'

 

Biden: The Economy Isn’t Bad, You Just Can’t See How Good It Is

Maybe if we tilt our heads and squint.


Old Joe Biden has been a liar his entire public life, from his plagiarism in law school and on the presidential campaign trail to his lies about the accident that killed his first wife and the innumerable lies he has told while pretending to be president. It is no exaggeration to say that Joe Biden is one of the most untrustworthy men on the planet. On Friday he reinforced that reputation with a major speech on the May jobs report, in which he had the breathtaking audacity to say that the smoking ruin of an economy over which he is presiding, and which his far-Left policies created, is actually doing great. Maybe if we tilt our heads and squint, we’ll be able to see it.

Speaking on his home turf in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Biden touted “today’s excellent jobs report and unemployment remaining at a near-historic low of 3.6 percent.” He admitted, however, that “even with today’s good news, a lot of Americans remain anxious,” and “high prices, particularly around gasoline and food, are a real problem for people.” However, because of his ace leadership, all is really well: “Because of the enormous progress we’ve made on the economy, the Americans can tackle inflation from a position of strength. Still a problem, but we can tackle it from a position of strength.”

Biden claimed, with a straight face, that “today, thanks to the economic plan and the vaccination plan that my administration put into action, America has achieved the most robust recovery in modern history just two years removed from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.” You thought Old Joe was heading us into another Great Depression, but he’s here to tell you that he has just led us out of one, and he wouldn’t lie to us, now, would he?

The putative economic wizard added disingenuously that “the job market is the strongest it’s been since just after World War Two. We’ve got more evidence of that today. We learned that in May the economy added another 390,000 new jobs, bringing the total since I took office to 8.7 million new jobs — an all-time record.” He did not acknowledge, and has never acknowledged, that these new jobs his policies have supposedly created are for the most part people returning to work after the COVID hysteria, and nothing to do with his policies at all.

Biden’s lying didn’t stop there. “Since I took office,” he claimed, “families are carrying less debt; their average savings are up. A recent survey from the Federal Reserve found that more Americans feel financially comfortable than at any time since the survey began in 2013.” Really? More Americans feel financially comfortable with gas prices through the roof, food prices not far behind, baby formula nearly impossible to find and more food shortages coming, and dire warnings that much, much worse is coming soon?

Directly contrary to Biden’s soothing lies, CNBC reported on May 18 that “Americans are more stressed about money than they’ve ever been, according to the American Psychological Association’s latest Stress In America Survey.” That stress is because of Old Joe’s inflationary policies: “‘Eighty-seven percent of Americans said that inflation and the rising costs of everyday goods is what’s driving their stress,’ said Vaile Wright, senior director of health care innovation at the American Psychological Association.”

But Old Joe is oblivious to all this, or hopes that we are. In his world, the U.S. is an unmatched economic powerhouse: “In fact, America is stronger economic — in a stronger economic position today than just about any other country in the world. Independent experts have projected that the U.S. economy could grow faster than China’s economy this year.  That hasn’t happened since 1976, nearly one half century ago.” And it’s all because of his wise, capable, steady leadership: “The point is this: We’ve laid an economic foundation that’s historically strong.  And now, we’re moving forward to a new moment where we can build on that foundation, build a future of stable, steady growth so we can bring down inflation without sacrificing all the historic gains we’ve made.  And that’s what we’re beginning to see in today’s jobs report.”

So why is everyone feeling anxious, as even Biden admitted? Well, Biden said, it’s all because of the “Putin price hike.” Of course! The Democrats have been blaming the Russians for nearly everything, real and imagined, since 2016. Why stop now? Clearer heads than Old Joe’s would counsel caution in that, not wanting to get us embroiled in a world war. But clearly Joe has no worries. Our booming economy will overwhelm those Russkis in no time! If only we could all live inside Joe’s head, where everything is swell. But there is so very, very little space there.

Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is author of 23 books including many bestsellers, such as The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)The Truth About Muhammad and The History of Jihad. His latest book is The Critical Qur’an. Follow him on Twitter here. Like him on Facebook here.

Yes, Biden Deserves Blame for Inflation

From top to bottom, the administration is as wrong as any could be.



President Joe Biden has written an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal detailing his plan to fight inflation.

Well, perhaps the word "detailing" is too generous. The preponderance of the column features Biden taking credit for economic growth that can be attributed to the reopening of the economy that was shuttered by the governing class during COVID. Biden, of course, not only championed those closings but was critical of Republican governors who opened their states before he deemed it appropriate.

But with midterms approaching, there's been a concerted effort underway to exonerate the president, and thus Democrats, of any culpability for rising prices. Biden sycophant "Morning Joe," for example, contends that anyone who blames the president for more than a "passing impact" on inflation is a "lying hack or an ignorant rube." One wonders if that group includes former Obama adviser Steve Rattner, who argues that inflation has been driven by government putting "too much money in people's pockets"? Or Obama's onetime Director of the National Economic Council Larry Summers, who had been warning for more than a year that cash infusions would exacerbate inflation? Or Jeff Bezos, who correctly pointed out that the "administration tried hard to inject even more stimulus into an already over-heated, inflationary economy"?

Even if we were to concede that there is no good way to quantify exactly how much recent spending helped propel inflation — which is outpacing other Western nations — it's clear that the Biden administration completely mismanaged what should have been a slam-dunk recovery.

The Federal Reserve's easy monetary policy may not be the president's fault, but what about Washington's showering the economy with cash during a recovering economy? Democrats threw $2 trillion in "stimulus" into the economy and continued expanding the terms of unemployment benefits (even as the job market was recovering). All of this after the $3 trillion bipartisan "COVID relief" bill had passed.

With an assist from some Republicans, Democrats then approved another trillion-plus-dollar infrastructure bill. The president says that "tackling inflation" is his top domestic priority, but for more than a year most of his efforts, witnessed in the near-constant media coverage, were used to try to pass progressive reforms. It was Republicans — with help of two often-vilified, moderate Democrats — who stood in the way of Biden pushing through another nearly $5 trillion in social spending. The president still wants more "relief."

Biden can blame Vladimir Putin for creating disruptions in the energy market, but price spikes predate Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And surely one of the jobs of the president is to put the United States in a stronger position for economic shocks. Instead, Biden signed a slew of executive orders pausing government leases on public lands, shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline, and stymieing drilling in the Gulf of Mexico over concocted "social cost of carbon" externalities. Despite the (extra) uncertainty that came with a post-pandemic economy, all of this was done in the first weeks of his administration.

Biden is now calling these energy spikes, embedded in essentially all economic activity, a needed "transition." Virtually every action Biden has taken is conceived to make fossil fuels more expensive. That's the president's fault. Concerns over the availability of future energy production are baked into today's prices.

As a political matter, Democrats, obsessed with the idea of historic expansion of the welfare state, spent a year dismissing and mocking apprehensions over spiking prices. "There's nobody suggesting there's unchecked inflation on the way — no serious economist," Biden famously claimed.

As prices spiked and poll numbers dropped, Biden officials began to cynically use rising prices as a justification for more spending. Biden and his National Economic Council Director Brian Deese argued that Build Back Better — which you might recall costs "zero" dollars — would help combat inflation. The entire administration pushed the notion that the best prescription for alleviating inflation was more spending. Even today, as the president is poised to "forgive" student loans, pumping hundreds of billions into the economy to bail out rich kids, Deese maintains the impact "on inflation, in the near term, is likely to be quite small." Sure.

In any event, I assume Ron Klain isn't laughing off inflation as a "high class problem" anymore.

So, while it's true that inflation is a complex, multifaceted problem that isn't entirely any one person's or administration's or event's fault, it is fair to say that the Biden administration, from top to bottom, was as wrong as an administration could be on the issue. They ignored it. They weren't prepared. They exacerbated it. At the very least, Biden deserves a lot more credit for inflation than he does economic growth. If you're going to take credit for the latter, you deserve blame for the former.

David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist. Harsanyi is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of five books — the most recent, "Eurotrash: Why America Must Reject the Failed Ideas of a Dying Continent."


SHOCKING VIDEO:

If Joe Biden is the answer….what’s the question?


Banks Preparing for 2022 Recession (NO MORE LOANS)




THE NEXT HOUSING CORRECTION WILL NOT BE PRETTY! MIDDLE CLASS GOING BROKE, BUYERS WILL BE THE WEALTHY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRqfdbJOVrg


It takes someone in the tank, if not brain-dead, to call this a 'Goldilocks econony'

Because of a decent jobs report and a lot of job openings, Catherine Rampell, a de facto Democrat campaign worker at the Washington Post posing as a journalist, believes we are close to a "Goldilocks economy" (not too hot, not too cold, as is said in the markets) when most of us know the economy is pretty darn cold. 
 
Rampell also says that the consumer is in great shape, but many economic statistics show that is not true.
 
Here are some of the economic statistics that Joe Biden and his sycophants significantly ignore when they are bragging about how good the economy is because of their great policies:
 
Inflation is over 8%, a 40 year high, while after-tax earnings are going up around half that level. For consumers, that's losing ground.
 
Crude oil is up over 200% from under $40 per barrel to around $120 today since the day Biden was elected. That is what you get when one of the main Democrat policies is to destroy the fossil fuel industry. They certainly don't care about the massive harm to the poor, middle class, and small businesses. 
 
The retail gas price was around $2.20 when Biden was elected. and is around $5 today, up around 130%.
 
The inflation rate for the poor and middle class is clearly much higher than 8% when one of their major necessities is up 130% in 19 months.
 
Productivity is as bad as it has been in around 80 years, at negative 7%.
 
Besides inflation being at a 40-year high, productivity is in the biggest slide in almost 80 years.  This has led to unit labor costs going up more than 11%.
 
Nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased 7.3 percent in the first quarter of 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, as output decreased 2.3 percent and hours worked increased 5.4 percent. This is the largest decline in quarterly productivity since the third quarter of 1947, when the measure decreased 11.7 percent. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annual rates.) From the same quarter a year ago, nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased 0.6 percent, reflecting a 4.2-percent increase in output that was outpaced by a 4.8-percent increase in hours worked.  
 
Consumer confidence rating when Biden took office 79. Today, 58.4.
 
Small business owners are at the lowest confidence level in 36 years.
 
The net share of owners expecting better business conditions in the next six months plunged to minus 49%, the lowest in monthly data back to 1986.
 
The housing affordability index is rapidly dropping.
 
The savings rate is at a 14-year low:
CEOs warn that US households are burning through savings at an alarming rate, and could run out within months
 
Consumer credit is rising rapidly because consumers' cash flow does not cover the higher prices. This puts the lie to the talking points that consumer balance sheets are in great shape.
Consumer credit card debt and annual percentage rates are heading to an all-time high
The spokespuppet for Biden says the administration has been working on the baby food shortage since February. The problem is not solved.
 
The president said he heard about the problem in early April but never said a word about it until mid-May. 
 
The fact that the shelves are mostly empty in June is symbolic of the pure incompetence of the entire Biden administration.
 
We are also being told that there will be rolling blackouts throughout the country this year, not because of climate, but because of the intentional destruction of fossil fuel power-generating facilities.
 
As for the great jobs record. In February 2020, before COVID hit, total jobs were 153 million. Today they are 152 million. The economy was growing rapidly before Biden took office because of reopening and the vaccines which Biden had nothing to do with.
 
I would challenge any of Biden’s supporters to give a list of Biden’s policies that helped replace the jobs lost when the virus hit. I can’t think of any.
 
Less than 30% of the public believe the country is heading in the right direction.
 
All this bad economic data is occurring when the Federal Reserve hasn't yet raised interest rates above 1% to address inflation and is continuing to punish savers 
 
A "Goldilocks economy" occurred during the Trump years as journalists and other Democrats sought to destroy him every day.
 
We had record low unemployment for all races and people of all education levels, record low poverty, rapidly rising wages for those at the bottom, energy independence and low inflation. 
 
 
The share of Americans in poverty in 2019 declined and median incomes were the highest on record, a Census Bureau report showed.
 
Democrats clearly don't care about results, or they would have supported Trump's policies. Think how much better it could have been if the media and other Democrats really believed in unity and helping the poor and middle class.
 
Biden and his ruling leftists must stop caving in to the radical green agenda. We should drill. Begging countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela for more oil is not a solution. 
 
It is no wonder that so many young people are depressed and angry when they have been indoctrinated for decades by made-up predictions that we are destroying the planet and we only have a few years left to solve the problem. Of course, the fake doomsday date keeps rolling forward because it is just made up.
 
After decades of indoctrination, you may get a skull full of mush that wears a t-shirt saying we only have 1,028 days left from someone who ties and glues herself to a tennis net. She must have to buy a new t-shirt every day to change the number of days left.
 
French Open semi-final halted as protester ties herself to net
 
The bureaucrats and politicians can't control:
 
The border, crime, a virus, the price of gas, the price of food, the price of medical care, Putin, and other tyrants. 
 
They can't even make sure we have an adequate supply of baby food, and they can't teach children so they can pass standardized math and reading tests. 
 
They didn’t keep their promise that we could keep our doctor, keep our health plan, or see our costs drop substantially if they passed Obamacare.
 
Yet, after billions of years where the climate changed cyclically and naturally, these same people say they can control temperatures, sea levels, and storm activity forever if we hand them trillions of dollars and give up our quality of life. 
 
Isn't it naive to believe these people and arrogant to claim that we can control the climate? 
 
It looks like a pure power grab to transfer money and freedom from common people and hand it to the powerful.
 
Biden and his supporters live in a fantasy world, so it is no surprise when they compare a bad economy to a "Goldilocks economy."

VIDEO

If it’s illegal…..they won’t do it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiuhA84ut-8


THE ECONOMIC DECLINE IS BEGINNING TO WAKE UP THE MASSES! THE FINANCIAL STORM GETS DARKER, PRICE PAIN



So, while we in America are getting a fair number of sex traffickers; mountains of fentanyl; low skilled, illegal workers who drive down wages; and more welfare mouths to feed, the Latin Americans who come here mostly want to work and mostly hew to traditional western, Christian values.                  ANDREA WIDBURG

 VIDEO

20 Signs Of The Staggering Decline Of The American Middle Class Family


We just got more evidence that the middle class is being systematically destroyed in America. At this point, millions of people out there have already grown accustomed to barely scraping by from month to month. But that is not what being “middle class” is supposed to be about. Middle-class families should be able to make more money than they have to spend on everyday necessities because is only by doing so that they can build long-term wealth. Unfortunately, income growth has not kept up with the pace of the rising cost of living, and millions of households have taken massive amounts of debt. At the same time, the labor market doesn't offer good-paying jobs that support middle-class life, and the lack of these positions has been contributing to the decline of this income group all across the country. In the early 1970s, the middle class accounted for around 60 percent of the population, but now middle-income households are rapidly becoming a minority in the United States. And as economic conditions continue to deteriorate, millions of hard-working families all over America are being stretched financially like never before. “In America, the middle class can no longer afford retirement. Middle-class Americans face sharp economic inequality, with ownership of financial assets highly concentrated among the wealthy,” explained Tyler Bond, NIRS research manager. “Now that we have a retirement system largely built around the individual ownership of financial assets in 401(k) accounts, middle-class Americans are struggling to accumulate sufficient financial assets during their working years. This means the retirement outlook for many in the middle class is bleak at best.” Since the onset of the health crisis, the U.S. economy has been decaying at an alarming pace. Over the past two years, the middle class has gotten smaller and smaller in this country, and now it seems that another economic downturn is upon us once again. So many families are already living on the edge right now. Recent surveys have exposed that well over 50% of the population is living paycheck to paycheck and that most Americans don't have emergency savings or a financial cushion to fall back on. When you are living on the edge, there is always a danger that you could fall over. Since 2020, we have never seen so many middle-class Americans falling straight into poverty. In other words, unless dramatic changes happen in America, the middle class is going to be absolutely eviscerated in the next decade. We must wake up now. The middle class is dying right before our eyes, and if we want to save it, we must take action now. Today, we compiled a series of new numbers that expose the rapid downfall of the U.S. middle-class.

 

Economic Gloom Hits Worst Level in 50 Years

US President Joe Biden addresses a press conference at the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow on November 2, 2021. - World leaders meeting at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow will issue a multibillion-dollar pledge to end deforestation by 2030 but that date is too distant for campaigners …
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
2:25

A severe pessimism grips the U.S. economy and Americans report the highest level of dissatisfaction with their financial situation in at least half a century, poll results released Monday show.

Eighty-three percent of Americans describe the state of the economy as poor or not so good, according to a Wall Street Journal-NORC Poll. Only one percent describe the economy as “excellent.”

The poll results show just how much inflation has damaged the U.S. economy and the perceptions of Americans about their own financial well-being. The Consumer Price Index in March was up the most in 40 years and the April inflation rate was close behind it. The government will release figures for May’s price level on Friday.

Thirty-five percent said they are not at all satisfied with their financial condition, the highest level of dissatisfaction since NORC began asking the question every few years starting in 1972.

Sixty-three percent of Americans say they are extremely or very concerned about the price of gas. Fifty-four percent say they are extremely or very concerned about the impact of high grocery prices on their household’s financial situation. Just 13 percent say they not very or not at all concerned about gas prices and 19 percent about grocery prices.

The share of Americans who think they can improve their standard of living has plunged. Just 27 percent now say they have a good chance of improving, down from 47 percent a year ago. Forty-six percent say they don’t have a good chance of improving their standard of living.

 

Only 38 percent of Americans say they are generally optimistic about the opportunity for most people to achieve the American dream. Sixty-eight percent say they are generally pessimistic.

President Joe Biden is reportedly “seething” over his failing presidency as his approval numbers have tanked due to the overwhelming pessimism over the economy. A separate poll by ABC/ISPOS showed that 61 percent of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy, 71 percent disapprove of his handling of inflation, and 72 percent disapprove of his handling of gas prices. Sixty-one percent also disapprove of Biden’s tax policies. Twenty-one percent say inflation will be their single most important issue when they vote in the midterms.

Migrant enclaves already are at the top of the U.S. lists for bad places to live - 10 of the 50 worst places in America to live according to this list are in California, and all of them are famous for their illegal populations. 

                                        MONICA SHOWALTER

THE NEXT HOUSING CORRECTION WILL NOT BE PRETTY! MIDDLE CLASS GOING BROKE, BUYERS WILL BE THE WEALTHY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRqfdbJOVrg


With Biden in office, America’s southern border

has vanished entirely.

https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2022/06/is-joe-bidens-open-borders-destroying.html

 

So, while we in America are getting a fair number of sex traffickers; mountains of fentanyl; low skilled, illegal workers who drive down wages; and more welfare mouths to feed, the Latin Americans who come here mostly want to work and mostly hew to traditional western, Christian values.       ANDREA WIDBURG

AS IN MOST CITIES OF AMERICA, MOST CRIME IN CALIFORNIA IS PERPEATRATED BY BLACKS

California's Crime Wave - What's the Problem? | Full Documentary




LOS ANGELES: MEXICO'S SECOND LARGEST CITY

Lost Angeles: City of Homeless

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJt3xuTPRVU


We Are Witnessing A Last Minute Mass Exodus Before The Final Collapse Of Our Major Cities



The United States is facing another mass exodus as social and economic conditions continue to deteriorate in our major cities. In recent weeks, we’ve also witnessed several tragedies taking place in America. At his point, the truth is that almost all of our major cities are coming apart at the seams, and this is motivating more people than ever to look for a fresh start somewhere else. Over the past two years, millions of people have relocated to smaller, safer, more affordable areas across the country, and as the summer begins, migration trends are accelerating once again. Recent surveys show that millions more Americans are planning to move this year. Families are seeking regions with more modest costs of living where they can run away from the chaos of large urban areas and raise their children peacefully. However, instead of finding the comfort that they were looking for, many are being shocked about just how expensive everything has become virtually everywhere in the U.S. In modern American history, we have never seen such a persistent mass exodus away from our major cities. Government officials and the media try to reduce this phenomenon by saying that this is all temporary. They’ve been also blaming the health crisis for this surge in mass migration, but now that cases have been put under control, it is clear that the pandemic wasn’t the main nor the only catalyst for this change. Americans are still moving in large numbers. The events of the past two years have only accelerated an already existing trend in which people smaller towns and suburbs with warmer climates, cheaper homes, less density of population, lower offense rates, and lower taxes. But with so many families looking to move, this trend is helping to push prices in desirable areas to insane heights. That goes against the primary goal of many of these families, who have been financially strained by soaring living expenses for over 24 months. Right now, more and more Americans are desperately looking for more affordable places to live in. Americans are desperately seeking more affordable places to live in. But whenever they go, they end up sparking new inflation hotspots. Put it simply, inflation is still so high that nobody is able to away from rising prices in the U.S. According to truck rental company Penske, amongst the top moving destinations are Phoenix, Houston, Charlotte, Denver, San Antonio, and Austin. “The relationship between migration and inflation has strengthened significantly as more people relocate from expensive cities to more affordable areas,” Redfin analysts wrote in a recent report.  In some parts of the country, it has become almost impossible to find a decent affordable home to either rent or buy. The United States doesn’t have enough homes families can afford, and we’re still in the middle of a historic housing shortage. If you currently live in an urban area and you are planning about relocating, you should probably make a decision rapidly. Summer is almost here, economic conditions are going to continue to worsen, and much more social turbulence is coming. It is clear now that the U.S. economy is a complete and total disaster, and countless Americans are getting deeply alarmed about the near future of our country because they can see that our society is literally melting down all around us, and they want to get somewhere safe while they still can. Times are changing fast. Soon, life in the United States will never be the same again.

California County Sees Average Gas Price Soar Above $7 per Gallon

MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA - MAY 25: Gas prices over $7.00 a gallon are displayed at a Chevron gas station on May 25, 2022 in Menlo Park, California. As gas prices surge to record highs across the United States, the San Francisco Bay Area has the highest prices in the country …
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
2:44

California is maintaining its status of having the highest gas prices in the nation, with one county in particular seeing prices soar above $7.00 per gallon for regular fuel.

The nationwide average price for gas jumped yet again on Monday, breaking another record of $4.865 per gallon. That reflects a nearly $0.25 cent jump in the last week, a nearly $0.59 rise in the last month, and a $1.81 rise in the last year.

Mid-grade gas has hit a national average of $5.218, and premium is now $5.510. Diesel also hit another record on Monday, reaching $5.645. 

No state in the nation is seeing an average price below $4.00, and several states have an average of $5.00 or more. Those states now include Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Hawaii, Alaska, and California, the last of which has the highest gas price average in the nation — $6.341, which is more than $1.47 higher than the average price nationwide. San Francisco County, for instance, is seeing an average of $6.590 per gallon. Mono County is experiencing the highest gas price average in the country, with prices soaring over $7.00, standing at $7.044.

According to AAA, the demand for domestic gas rose last week in the midst of Memorial Day weekend, despite one-third stating that the price of gas affected their Memorial Day plans. 

“People are still fueling up, despite these high prices,” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said in a statement. “At some point, drivers may change their daily driving habits or lifestyle due to these high prices, but we are not there yet.

In this Friday, June 26, 2015 photo, drivers head into downtown Honolulu from the island's West side. On an island that many people think of as paradise, the struggle to get to school or to work in crushing traffic gridlock is a daily part of life. The amount of time it takes Oahu commuters to get to work is higher than the national average. (AP Photo/Cathy Bussewitz)

AP Photo/Cathy Bussewitz

West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down .14 percent following this news, reaching $118.73. Brent crude, the global benchmark that U.S. prices tend to trend with, was up .15 percent to $119.87 at the time of this writing.

A recent ABC News/Ipsos poll found that 72 percent disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of gas prices, and 90 percent say gas prices will be either extremely important, very important, or somewhat important when they vote in the midterm election. Among those, 48 percent state it will be “extremely” important.

 
DEMOCRAT-CONTROLLED SANCTUARY CITIES IN MELTDOWN

Oakland neighborhood plagued by brazen crimes




San Francisco jeweler closes shop after multiple burglaries



California: No. 1 in Gun Control, No. 1 in ‘Active Shooter Incidents’
A mourner cries as she looks a a memorial for the nine Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light rail yard shooting victims during a vigil at San Jose City Hall on May 27, 2021 in San Jose, California. Hundreds attended a vigil for the nine people were killed when …
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
1:50

An FBI report on ‘Active Shooter Incidents’ in 2021 shows that California was the number one state for such incidents, with six incidents total.

California is also number one for gun law strength, the Mike Bloomberg-affiliated Everytown for Gun Safety noted.

According to the FBI, there were 61 “active shooter incidents” across the country in 2021 and 12 of the incidents met the definition of a “mass killing.”

California led the nation with six “active shooter incidents.”

California has universal background checks, an “assault weapons” ban, a “high capacity” magazine ban, a 10-day waiting period on gun purchases, a red flag law, gun registration requirements, a “good cause” requirement for concealed carry permit issuance, a ban on carrying a gun on a college campus for self-defense, a ban on K-12 teachers being armed on campus for classroom defense, a background check requirement for ammunition purchases, and a limit on the number of guns a law-abiding citizen can purchase in a given month, among other controls.

Additionally, ammunition purchases are only allowed if made through a state-approved vendor.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkinsa weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.


VIDEOS

THE ECONOMIC DECLINE IS BEGINNING TO WAKE UP THE MASSES! THE FINANCIAL STORM GETS DARKER, PRICE PAIN




20 Signs Of The Staggering Decline Of The American Middle Class Family


We just got more evidence that the middle class is being systematically destroyed in America. At this point, millions of people out there have already grown accustomed to barely scraping by from month to month. But that is not what being “middle class” is supposed to be about. Middle-class families should be able to make more money than they have to spend on everyday necessities because is only by doing so that they can build long-term wealth. Unfortunately, income growth has not kept up with the pace of the rising cost of living, and millions of households have taken massive amounts of debt. At the same time, the labor market doesn't offer good-paying jobs that support middle-class life, and the lack of these positions has been contributing to the decline of this income group all across the country. In the early 1970s, the middle class accounted for around 60 percent of the population, but now middle-income households are rapidly becoming a minority in the United States. And as economic conditions continue to deteriorate, millions of hard-working families all over America are being stretched financially like never before. “In America, the middle class can no longer afford retirement. Middle-class Americans face sharp economic inequality, with ownership of financial assets highly concentrated among the wealthy,” explained Tyler Bond, NIRS research manager. “Now that we have a retirement system largely built around the individual ownership of financial assets in 401(k) accounts, middle-class Americans are struggling to accumulate sufficient financial assets during their working years. This means the retirement outlook for many in the middle class is bleak at best.” Since the onset of the health crisis, the U.S. economy has been decaying at an alarming pace. Over the past two years, the middle class has gotten smaller and smaller in this country, and now it seems that another economic downturn is upon us once again. So many families are already living on the edge right now. Recent surveys have exposed that well over 50% of the population is living paycheck to paycheck and that most Americans don't have emergency savings or a financial cushion to fall back on. When you are living on the edge, there is always a danger that you could fall over. Since 2020, we have never seen so many middle-class Americans falling straight into poverty. In other words, unless dramatic changes happen in America, the middle class is going to be absolutely eviscerated in the next decade. We must wake up now. The middle class is dying right before our eyes, and if we want to save it, we must take action now. Today, we compiled a series of new numbers that expose the rapid downfall of the U.S. middle-class.


The Democrat tax strategy that will tighten the noose around the middle class's neck

Current Treasury secretary Janet Yellen laid a colossal rotten egg when she floated the trial balloon of imposing a tax on unrealized capital gains.  Not only would the gain be subject to possibly losing some of its value after the tax is collected, but the taxpayer still hasn't collected the actual proceeds usually necessary for paying the tax.

The bad news is that this really bad idea is still slithering around the fetid catacombs of D.C.  The lipstick being put on this pig is the tried-and-true exploitation of envy and resentment for the rich.  The late, great Walter E. Williams often opined that he wished there was some humane way to just plain get rid of the rich...so we could finally have an honest discussion about tax policy.  It so happens that we are already in the throes of the severe consequences coming from years of punishing success and rewarding failure.

That such an evil idea would emanate and continue to be pursued is rather disturbing.  Another problem is the overwhelming lack of economic and financial sophistication of the usual media.  When Mr. Trump's 1995 tax return was illegally leaked to the press, a writer for the Associated Press stated that Trump wrote off (oy, vey!) depreciation on his income properties.  The writer stated that only billionaires get to do such things.  Actually, there are literally millions of Mom-and-Pop landlords in the U.S. who do exactly the same thing.

Before Mr. Trump was unceremoniously escorted out of office, he suggested indexing the tax on capital gains to inflation.  After all, a significant portion of the bump up in price between buying and selling an asset is the result of the continuous devaluation of money.  The rest is the actual increase in value...typically from increases in demand or decreases in supply.

Bottom line: Unflation is a poison pill in the upcoming midterm election.  The politically opportunistic antidote is, as usual, the increased screwing of the taxpayers.  After all, they can be expected to be fairly docile in their cooperation.  Seems like a good path to pursue in paying off one's political supporters.  (William Hogarth, who may be considered the father of illustrated political satire, is best known for his painting "Canvassing for Votes," which shows two rival campaigners...both bribing a citizen.)

The twisted logic behind the push to increase taxes as a remedy for inflation relies on reduction of the deficit.  After all, it supposedly does not add to the increase in the money supply.  We fiscal conservatives, however, focus on spending.  Not only is spending excessive, but it's fairly non-productive, except when it comes to getting the votes of targeted constituencies.  Can you say "student loan forgiveness"?  Absent from the calculation is that having government suck more wealth out of the public milieu further pushes us toward recession.

Taxing capital gains also has subliminal consequences, particularly when it comes to real estate.  Elderly long-term landlords face an enormous tax burden after years of inflation and appreciation.  Some just let the property decay while expecting their heirs to get the adjustment in the tax basis when they inherit, and they can then sell while paying little if any tax.  This is also known as allowing blight to fester.

Now we're starting to hear forecasts of recession.  Paul Volcker stepped in back around 1981 and deliberately triggered a recession, while simultaneously putting the brakes on inflation, since Gerald Ford's "Whip Inflation Now" lapel button didn't seem to work.

There's a pretty good joke about economists: "this guy is such a great economist that he's predicted twelve of the last three recessions."

Image via Pixabay.


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