Saturday, July 2, 2022

GAS PRICES SOAR BUT JOE BIDEN'S PAYMASTER BLACKROCK SAY NOT HIGH ENOUGH!!! - One-Third Have Changed Fourth of July Plans Due to High Gas Prices

 

Biden Adviser Sperling: It Wasn’t a Mistake for Biden to Block Oil Leases on Federal Land

1:56

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” Senior Adviser to President Joe Biden Gene Sperling stated that the Biden administration’s plan to allow some more drilling on federal land is “not at all” an admission that previous blocking of drilling leases was a mistake.

Host Martha MacCallum asked, [relevant remarks begin around 3:40] “The oil industry has made it clear that they feel like the administration has basically condemned their industry and doesn’t want them to grow, wants them to shrink over time. … I could put up a whole litany of soundbites that back that up. But I think it’s interesting because now the administration is saying that they’re going to make new leases available to drill on federal land, which is something that the president ran against. He said that he wouldn’t do that. He stopped them. So, — and I know that there’s mixed reaction to this decision about whether or not it’s being done in a way that will actually make a difference in lowering gas prices, but is that an admission that that was a mistake back then?”

Sperling responded, “No, not at all. There are many things we need to do that this period chose we need to do to have energy independence.”

He added, “One of the other things the president did is put 180 million more barrels of oil supply on the market. That was a major thing we’ve done to increase the supply of oil and ask our other countries to put another 60 million on themselves. In terms of the oil industry, we are, next year, projected to be at record production. Natural gas is at record production. We’ve always thought — known that was part of the mix in having energy independence along with things like encouraging more electric cars, encouraging more energy efficiency. And we also believe that you could do more at this time to give consumers relief across the board.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

The Biden White House caters to the rich just as Obama's did

BlackRock has $10 trillion under management and holds great power with  Biden's White House.  It is a big pusher of the green agenda.  The green agenda is destroying America with rampant inflation, especially the poor, the middle class, and small businesses, but BlackRock has done great.

BlackRock avers:

We believe that the transition to a net zero world is the shared responsibility of every citizen, corporation, and government. Learn about the steps we're taking to mitigate the risks of climate change and help the world transition to net zero.

From the Heartland Institute:

The White House's Secret Meetings With BlackRock Are a Major Threat to Freedom

BlackRock controls more assets than any other investment management firm on Wall Street, with about $10 trillion now under management. (Yes, that's "trillion" with a "t.")

BlackRock has used much of this wealth to seize control of sizeable minority stakes in numerous publicly traded companies, making BlackRock and its CEO, Larry Fink, the most powerful forces in corporate America. When BlackRock and Fink speak, Wall Street listens.

There is emerging evidence, however, that BlackRock's influence is not limited to the corporate and financial spheres. After years of building political alliances and making a laundry list of strategic hires, BlackRock has managed to amass huge amounts of political clout within the Biden administration and U.S. Federal Reserve, allowing them to develop unprecedented strategic partnerships and, according to our new research, gain access to officials in the White House.

According to an investigation of White House visitors logs, Thomas E. Donilon — chairman of the BlackRock Investment Institute (BII), BlackRock's personal think tank dedicated to assessing geopolitical investment risk — met with Biden administration officials at least eight times from March 2021 to November 2021, and perhaps on other occasions as well. White House logs show a "Thomas N. Donilon" visited with Biden administration officials at least twice, and a review of that name suggests it is likely the same person as Thomas E. Donilon. 

Donilon has been an important figure in U.S. foreign policy for many years. Most recently, he served under President Barack Obama as his national security advisor. He also worked for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and was reportedly on Biden's short list of nominees to become the next CIA director

Obama gave Google great access to the white House and in return Obama gave Google, Netflix, Facebook, Twitter and other big users of the internet a great kickback with net neutrality.


YouTube screengrab.

 

Eric Schmidt: Obama's Chief Corporate Ally

Google's chairman has acted as Obama's chief corporate supporter. He has also received unrivaled access to top policymakers

Eric Schmidt: Obama's chief corporate supporter

Eric Schmidt has enjoyed virtual open-door access to the White House during the Obama administration, records show, meeting with the US president and top White House officials on at least 18 separate occasions from 2009 to 2015, not counting large meetings and social events like state dinners.

The meetings include four with President Obama, one of which appears to have been a private meeting in the Oval Office.

Schmidt played an important role in President Obama's two election victories, and his visits to the White House coincided with the government's decision-making on a wide range of issues central to Google's business interests. Those included an antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, the US government's rapprochement with Cuba and potential legislation governing piracy and copyright, which posed grave threats to Google's core advertising business.

At the same time, Schmidt has been appointed to numerous White House advisory positions, giving him privileged insight into the administration's policies in technology, science and military defense, as well as unusual access to top policymakers.

After Biden and Michelle got out of the White House, they got a huge kickback from Netflix despite having no product or experience.  I wonder why Netflix is having financial trouble today!

Barack and Michelle Obama Sign Netflix Production Deal

Most of the media have never given a damn about the Clinton, Obama, or Biden corruption, which is massive.

There is more evidence every day of the connections of Joe with Hunter's kickbacks from China, Russia, and Ukraine, yet the media are virtually silent.  It is no wonder that there are so much corruption and such deep economic problems throughout the country when the media have been complicit in infecting the public with the pandemic of the Biden administration.

We learn new information every day about the sewer of despicable and corrupt behavior of Joe and Hunter, and it's as if almost all of the media have buried their heads in the sand, so the public doesn't see it.  Can anyone imagine the interest if Trump had wired thousands of dollars to Don Jr. or Eric so they could support their Russian hooker habit?

They don't even care about the massive payments to NIH scientists from industries they supposedly monitor.  They still treat Fauci as an infallible expert, no matter how wrong he intentionally or unintentionally has been.

Nope.  The media are beating the dead horse about the armed insurrection where there were no arms.

We have learned massive new information about Trump today.  He wanted to go to the Capitol and the Secret Service prevented him from going.  That appears to be it.


 15 Signs That America Is In Much Worse Trouble Than We All Thought

https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2022/06/millions-of-americans-face-eviction-as.html

One-Third Have Changed Fourth of July Plans Due to High Gas Prices

electric biden car
Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
2:42

One-third of Americans have changed their Fourth of July plans due to high gas prices, an Emerson College Poll released Friday found.

The survey, taken June 28-29 among 1,271 registered voters, found that 33 percent have actively changed their travel plans this holiday weekend due to consistently high gas prices.

“Regarding airfare, 18% have changed plans because of issues with plane travel,” the survey found.

The results come as gas prices remain high, standing at an average of $4.842 on Friday after reaching an all-time high of $5.016 on June 14. Even so, gas prices are still well over $2.40 higher than on former President Donald Trump’s last full day in office on January 19, 2021. At the time, the gas price average stood at $2.38.

Not only that, but the cost of throwing a Fourth of July weekend cookout has jumped drastically, up 17 percent from last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF):

Survey results showed the retail price for 2 pounds of ground beef at $11.12, up 36% from last year. Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department’s Producer Price Index indicates that compared to a year ago, farm-level cattle prices are up 17.5%, but wholesale beef prices are down 14%. This serves to highlight the differences between farm-level, wholesale and retail beef prices and how the events of the last few years have had significant impacts on the beef production and cattle pricing cycles, making them all hard to predict.

Several other foods in the survey, including chicken breasts, pork chops, homemade potato salad, fresh-squeezed lemonade, pork & beans, hamburger buns and cookies, also increased in price.

Joe Biden works the grill at the Polk County Democrats’ Steak Fry on September 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A recent YouGov/CBS News Poll showed a majority of Americans indicated that the rising cost of food is affecting them “a lot.”

“Fireworks are not the only thing exploding this holiday, as prices are soaring higher than any bottle rocket,” Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.

“Joe Biden’s reckless agenda has made it more difficult for Americans to spend time with family, friends, and celebrate Independence Day. The American dream is slipping away because of Biden’s reckless agenda,” she added.

 BLACKROCK PUMPED $30 MILLION AND COUNTING INTO THEIR BOY OBIDEN!


Biden Economic Adviser (BLACROCK'S BRIAN DEESE) Americans Need To Pay More for Gas To Defend ‘Liberal World Order’

National Economic Council director Brian Deese interviewed on CNN on Thursday, June 30, 2022. / Twitter
 • July 1, 2022 2:25 pm

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Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese took to CNN on Thursday to tell Americans they’re going to have to put up with high gas prices for as long as it takes to back the Ukrainian war effort.

When asked what the Biden administration had to say to families who can't afford skyrocketing fuel costs, Deese replied, "This is about the future of the Liberal World Order and we have to stand firm." He said, however, that gas prices are "unacceptably high." His comments mirrored sentiments expressed at a recent NATO summit by President Joe Biden, who said in a speech Americans will have to endure inflated gas prices for "as long as it takes" to resolve the conflict with Russia.

Biden’s historically low approval ratings may be a sign his administration’s priorities are out of step with the American people’s. Domestic oil production has declined under Biden, which has been a factor in numerous gas price records being broken during the president’s tenure. On Friday, the average price for a gallon of gas in the United States was $4.84.

A majority of Americans believe the nation’s economy should be prioritized over sanctioning Russia, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted in May. Support for combating Russian aggression relative to achieving economic growth has also been declining over time.

BLACKROCK IS BIDEN'S BIGGEST PAYMASTER!

BlackRock has used much of this wealth to seize control of sizeable minority stakes in numerous publicly traded companies, making BlackRock and its CEO, Larry Fink, the most powerful forces in corporate America. When BlackRock and Fink speak, Wall Street listens.

DEESE IS AN EMPLOYEE OF BLACKROCK.


CRONY CAPITALISM AND THEIR CRONY KLEPTOCRACY

THE DEMOCRAT PARTY OF BRIBES SUCKERS.. destroying America as fast as they destroyed America’s borders.

 

https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-democrat-party-of-corruption-and.html

 

American Corporate Community and its major players — BlackRock (JOE BIDEN’S BIGGEST BRIBSTER), Goldman Sachs, Bridgewater, Google, Microsoft, Intel, Twitter, and Musk — and, of course, Gates — that draws them to a plutocracy that would never hesitate to betray America for a financial advantage or an opportunity to be a part of a global powerhouse oligarchy complicit with and colluding with malefactor government tyrannies. (avarice, cupidity, and rapaciousness) JOHN DALE DUNN

“Our entire crony capitalist system, Democrat and Republican alike, has become a kleptocracy approaching par with third-world hell-holes.  This is the way a great country is raided by its elite.” ----                                                             Karen McQuillan  

 THE DEMOCRAT PARTY OF BRIBES SUCKERS AND THEIR PARASITE BANKSTERS

https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2022/06/joe-bidens-paymasters-at-blackrock.html

 

Jesse Watters: The Biden family business

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjCflVde7Gs

 

VIDEO

Ralph Nader: Biden's First Year Proves He Is Still a "Corporate Socialist" Beholden to Big Business

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jTIUtjkDss&t=28s

Hauser also didn’t like the prevalence of Big Law

 talent on the Department of Justice team, which

 signaled to him that the Biden administration could

 go soft on corporate malefactors. Alexander Nazaryan 

A NATION RULED AND LOOTED BY BLACKROCK

https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2022/06/joe-bidens-paymasters-at-blackrock.html

Deese, the Global Head of Sustainable Investment at BlackRock, would be the second executive chosen by the incoming administration from the world’s largest asset manager, which controls $7 trillion in assets and is a major shareholder in Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo, Apple, Microsoft and other global corporate giants.

GAMER LAWYER BRIAN DEESE

 

After working on Obama’s 2008 election campaign, Deese was appointed Special Assistant to the President for economic policy and served on the National Economic Council as Obama took over the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) from the outgoing George Bush administration, and pumped massive resources into the same banks and financial institutions whose criminal activities had crashed the economy.

The selection of Deese and Adeyemo—who both  previously served in the Obama administration

—exemplifies the revolving door between Wall  Street and Washington, DC, which operates

 constantly, regardless of which party controls  the White House.

 

It is a further signal to the financial oligarchy that a Biden  administration will dispense with its rhetoric about raising taxes  on the wealthy and continue funneling trillions into the stock  markets. “By picking folks with deep ties to large asset  managers,” Tyler Gellasch, executive director of investor trade  group Healthy Markets Association, told the Journal, the administration can help assuage financial executives’ concerns.

It sends a clear signal to the industry to breathe easier: They can  plan for stability without likely facing massive new regulatory or tax risks.”

/////

WH’s National Economic Council Director Deese: Paying High Gas Prices ‘About the Future of the Liberal World Order’

2:08

Thursday, during an appearance on CNN’s “Newsroom,” National Economic Council Director Brian Deese defended President Joe Biden’s remarks earlier in the day, claiming Americans may have to deal with higher prices as the world grapples with an aggressive Russian President Vladimir Putin setting his sights on Ukraine.

Deese called Biden’s remarks a claim about what was at stake, which he called the “future of the liberal world order.”

“What you heard from the president today was about the stakes,” he said. “This is about the future of the liberal world order, and we have to stand firm. But at the same time, what I’d say to that family, to Americans across the country is, you have a present administration that is going to do everything in its power to blunt those price increases and bring those prices down. Good news, over the last two weeks, we’ve seen the price at the pump come down about 20 cents, but it is still unacceptably high.”

“That’s why the president, before he was at NATO and the G7 earlier this week, was working to bring the G7 allies together around, exploring something around a price cap to cap the price that can be paid for Russian oil. Which will actually target the pain more directly on Vladimir Putin and not on the rest of the world,” Deese continued. “It’s why you have the president calling for hear at home a temporary gas tax holiday, not only at the federal level but for states to follow the lead and take equivalent actions, as well. And it is why we are engaged with the industry, encouraging them to increase supply, increase supply of oil right now.”

“And also increase that refinery capacity that we know those companies took offline during the pandemic,” he added. “We need to get more of that online, so we get more gas into the system. All of these steps, none of them is a silver bullet alone. But you’ve got an administration working on every angle we can to keep this price reduction we are seeing going.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor


The Biden White House caters to the rich just as Obama's did

BlackRock has $10 trillion under management and holds great power with  Biden's White House.  It is a big pusher of the green agenda.  The green agenda is destroying America with rampant inflation, especially the poor, the middle class, and small businesses, but BlackRock has done great.

BlackRock avers:

We believe that the transition to a net zero world is the shared responsibility of every citizen, corporation, and government. Learn about the steps we're taking to mitigate the risks of climate change and help the world transition to net zero.

From the Heartland Institute:

The White House's Secret Meetings With BlackRock Are a Major Threat to Freedom

BlackRock controls more assets than any other investment management firm on Wall Street, with about $10 trillion now under management. (Yes, that's "trillion" with a "t.")

BlackRock has used much of this wealth to seize control of sizeable minority stakes in numerous publicly traded companies, making BlackRock and its CEO, Larry Fink, the most powerful forces in corporate America. When BlackRock and Fink speak, Wall Street listens.

There is emerging evidence, however, that BlackRock's influence is not limited to the corporate and financial spheres. After years of building political alliances and making a laundry list of strategic hires, BlackRock has managed to amass huge amounts of political clout within the Biden administration and U.S. Federal Reserve, allowing them to develop unprecedented strategic partnerships and, according to our new research, gain access to officials in the White House.

According to an investigation of White House visitors logs, Thomas E. Donilon — chairman of the BlackRock Investment Institute (BII), BlackRock's personal think tank dedicated to assessing geopolitical investment risk — met with Biden administration officials at least eight times from March 2021 to November 2021, and perhaps on other occasions as well. White House logs show a "Thomas N. Donilon" visited with Biden administration officials at least twice, and a review of that name suggests it is likely the same person as Thomas E. Donilon. 

Donilon has been an important figure in U.S. foreign policy for many years. Most recently, he served under President Barack Obama as his national security advisor. He also worked for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and was reportedly on Biden's short list of nominees to become the next CIA director

Obama gave Google great access to the white House and in return Obama gave Google, Netflix, Facebook, Twitter and other big users of the internet a great kickback with net neutrality.


YouTube screengrab.

 

Eric Schmidt: Obama's Chief Corporate Ally

Google's chairman has acted as Obama's chief corporate supporter. He has also received unrivaled access to top policymakers

Eric Schmidt: Obama's chief corporate supporter

Eric Schmidt has enjoyed virtual open-door access to the White House during the Obama administration, records show, meeting with the US president and top White House officials on at least 18 separate occasions from 2009 to 2015, not counting large meetings and social events like state dinners.

The meetings include four with President Obama, one of which appears to have been a private meeting in the Oval Office.

Schmidt played an important role in President Obama's two election victories, and his visits to the White House coincided with the government's decision-making on a wide range of issues central to Google's business interests. Those included an antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, the US government's rapprochement with Cuba and potential legislation governing piracy and copyright, which posed grave threats to Google's core advertising business.

At the same time, Schmidt has been appointed to numerous White House advisory positions, giving him privileged insight into the administration's policies in technology, science and military defense, as well as unusual access to top policymakers.

After Biden and Michelle got out of the White House, they got a huge kickback from Netflix despite having no product or experience.  I wonder why Netflix is having financial trouble today!

Barack and Michelle Obama Sign Netflix Production Deal

Most of the media have never given a damn about the Clinton, Obama, or Biden corruption, which is massive.

There is more evidence every day of the connections of Joe with Hunter's kickbacks from China, Russia, and Ukraine, yet the media are virtually silent.  It is no wonder that there are so much corruption and such deep economic problems throughout the country when the media have been complicit in infecting the public with the pandemic of the Biden administration.

We learn new information every day about the sewer of despicable and corrupt behavior of Joe and Hunter, and it's as if almost all of the media have buried their heads in the sand, so the public doesn't see it.  Can anyone imagine the interest if Trump had wired thousands of dollars to Don Jr. or Eric so they could support their Russian hooker habit?

They don't even care about the massive payments to NIH scientists from industries they supposedly monitor.  They still treat Fauci as an infallible expert, no matter how wrong he intentionally or unintentionally has been.

Nope.  The media are beating the dead horse about the armed insurrection where there were no arms.

We have learned massive new information about Trump today.  He wanted to go to the Capitol and the Secret Service prevented him from going.  That appears to be it.


Five Reasons to Impeach Joe Biden

American has a two-tiered justice system. If you are liberal and vote Democratic, you can get away with anything. Hillary Clinton is proof of that. If you are conservative, Republican, and a Trump supporter, you can’t even get away with scratching your own behind. But for argument’s sake, let’s suppose we have a single standard for justice. In that case, here are five unassailable reasons that justify impeaching President Biden. This is not meant to be a complete list, but it will do for starters.

1. Biden’s corrupt activities constitute treason.

Evidence exists that during Joe Biden’s tenure as vice president, access to his office was sold by Biden’s son Hunter to China, Russia, Ukraine, and others willing to cough up huge sums of money. American foreign policy was impacted by those transactions. Biden himself bragged openly that he stopped Ukraine from investigating Hunter in return for a billion dollars in U.S. aid.

Where is the evidence of Biden’s corruption? First there is the New York Post article that broke the story. Then there is Peter Schweizer’s well-researched book, Secret Empires, that traces the Biden Crime Family’s complicity with the corrupt Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Next, we have the incriminating emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop. Let’s not forget the video where Biden brags about extorting favors from Ukraine. And finally, there is the testimony of former Biden business partner, Tony Bobulinski.

Bobulinski’s testimony refuted Joe Biden’s denial that he was aware of Hunter’s slimy business ventures. Joe knew about his son’s dealings, participated in them, profited from them, and lied to the American people about it.

2. Biden’s violation of U.S. immigration law constitutes treason.

Biden has abused his office by violating the laws he has sworn to defend. He has undermined national security by opening the southern border to millions of unvetted, low-skilled, uneducated, third-world economic migrants, many of whom are known terrorists, criminals, and people infected with COVID.

The open border policy “is an inside attack on our democracy,” said former Trump policy adviser Stephen Miller. “The president is working systematically to allow people to invade our country against our laws to consume public benefits, to take American jobs, and to threaten public safety.”

Adding insult to injury, Biden is shipping hordes of illegals to secret destinations without informing the American public. The Pentagon has confirmed that it is using Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas to fly illegal immigrants to undisclosed parts of the country. We don’t know where they are going or what happens to them when they get there.

If millions of aliens are allowed to enter the U.S. illegally, and sanctuary cities and states can openly disregard federal statutes, we no longer have a country. The economic and social costs of Biden’s policy will tear the country apart.

Article III of the U.S. Constitution states: “Treason against the United States shall consist... in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.” By supporting sanctuary jurisdictions and refusing to pay for the wall, Biden is giving aid and comfort to aliens who show contempt for our laws and sovereignty and who, by definition, are enemies of the United States.

3. Biden is waging war on the energy sector to deliberately destroy the American economy.

Under Trump, the U.S. became energy independent. Biden reversed Trump’s sensible energy policies, causing the worst inflation in 40 years, runaway gas, food, and heating prices, and looming recession. As far back as the 2020 election, Biden has boasted about his intention to destroy our reliance on fossil fuels.

“Harvesting of fuel was cut back drastically,” said Bill O’Reilly, “and that caused the price of gas at the pump to rise, and that lit inflation, as all other goods went up in price as well because they are trucked to the stores and businesses. That is all on President Biden.” Now millions of Americans can’t afford to put food on the table.

Biden’s decisions are informed by his surrender to the extreme left wing of the Democratic Party. Their plan is to destroy the American economy in order to bring about a Marxist, socialist tyranny controlled by the unaccountable bureaucrats of the Deep State. We cannot tolerate a president who seeks the transformation of America into another Venezuela.

4. Biden is directing the enforcement branches of the federal government against his political enemies.

Biden believes that “domestic political extremism” is “the most urgent terrorism threat” facing the U.S. “The Biden administration declared that the ‘most lethal elements’ of today’s domestic terror threat are political conservatives,” said Tucker Carlson. Biden has compared Americans who disagree with him -- at least half the country -- to racists and terrorists.

Consequently, Biden is empowering the DoJ and FBI to go after Republicans. “The FBI is now an organization solely focused on destroying the domestic enemies of the Democratic Party,” said talk show host Jesse Kelly.

Biden is also enlisting the media in his war against political opponents. “What Joe Biden is telling media companies to do today is to censor their content so it doesn’t contradict his decrees,” said Tucker Carlson. “[Biden is calling for] censorship of political opinions. What you’re seeing here is far more dangerous than the domestic terror threat they’ve been bloviating about. It contravenes the First Amendment.”

5. Biden is violating the equal protection clause.

Biden is presiding over an inquisition against white Americans. He has expressed his support for Critical Race Theory, which argues that the U.S. is inherently racist, that minorities are oppressed by whites and especially white men, and that white people achieve their economic and political objectives at the expense of people of color. CRT is in direct opposition to the aims of the Civil Rights movement and Martin Luther King’s emphasis on judging people based on the quality of their character rather than the color of their skin.

Blaming white supremacy has become the new national sport. Under the guise of ending oppression, Biden and the Democratic Party want to remake whites into the new underclass. Giving special treatment to any one group is in violation of the equal protection clause. It is also the worst kind of racism. Blaming current social problems on alleged white oppression heightens racial tensions and keeps the country divided. Division seems to be Biden’s objective. For that reason alone, he should be impeached.

Ed Brodow is a conservative political commentator and author of nine books including his new #1 Amazon Best Seller, AMERICA ON ITS KNEES: The Cost of Replacing Trump with Biden. His website is www.edbrodowpolitics.com.


Breitbart Business Digest: The Incredible Shrinking Biden Economy

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 17: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a virtual Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF) at the South Court Auditorium at Eisenhower Executive Office Building June 17, 2022 in Washington, DC. President Biden hosted the forum to discuss energy security, global food security and …
Alex Wong/Getty Images
6:10

We have put to rest the first half of 2022, and we cannot say we’ll miss it.

The stock market suffered its worst first half since 1970, with the S&P 5000 falling nearly 20 percent since the start of the year. The broad index is down 21 percent from its high in early January and has been in bear market territory since early June.

There are some who will take comfort in the fact that the 1970 first quarter bear market was followed by a solid rebound. We are not so confident. The effective Fed Funds rate at that time was dropping from 9.25 percent in December of 1969 to 4.74 percent in December of 1970. In other words, the Fed was loosening the stance of monetary policy. Today, we have the opposite, with the Fed rapidly tightening to get inflation under control.

So, we are in an unusual situation in which the economy is very likely shrinking for a second consecutive quarter while the Fed is raising rates.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at a news conference on June 15, 2022, in Washington, DC, after the Fed announced a three-quarters of a percentage interest rate hike. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Household spending slowed in May to advance just 0.2 percent, the smallest monthly gain this year. Economists had forecast a bigger 0.5 percent gain. The previous month’s gain was revised down from 0.9 percent to 0.6 percent, indicating that the U.S. consumer spending was already weaker than previously thought.

Those figures do not account for inflation. Once you account for inflation, consumer spending actually fell 0.4 percent compared with a month ago. As we’ve pointed out a number of times, many of the prices of the economic data points that are published in nominal dollars have been largely concealing a real contraction. Americans are spending more but getting less.

Following the publication of the weak spending figures, economists across Wall Street began to scramble to bring down their estimates for Gross Domestic Product in the second quarter. S&P Global Market Intelligence, which had been expecting slight growth, now expects a 0.7 percent contraction. We expect we’ll be hearing from all the big banks in the days ahead. With growth projections already quite low, there are good odds that the revised forecasts will be negative.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on June 27, 2022, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow model has the economy shrinking one percent in the first quarter, which ends today. Note, though, that the GDP Now tracker is not a forecast of inflation but an estimate based on publicly available data already released. It doesn’t try to guess at what the data yet to be released might tell us about the economy. As a result, this is a volatile series; so it could be yanked back up to positive territory as we get more data on the economy in the April through June period in the month of July.

The GDPNOW tracker is intended to show what recent data implies for current economic growth. It does not attempt to forecast growth based on unreleased data. So today’s negative reading could be supplanted by a positive reading in the future if incoming data is consistent with economic growth.

The question of whether we’re in a recession is everywhere. According to a very common rule-of-thumb, two consecutive quarters of economic contraction indicate that the economy is in a recession. We shrank 1.6 percent in the first quarter, so a further contraction in the second quarter would meet this definition.

Officially, however, we might not be in a recession. The official arbiters of when recessions begin and end is a committee formed by a private outfit called the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). The NBER says that “a recession involves a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.” This is both more complex and more subjective than the two-quarter contraction rule. And it is a great deal more flexible. The last downturn in 2020 did not last more than a few months, but it was so deep and widely spread that the NBER declared it a recession.

To be sure, if we are already in a recession, it is a weird one. Unemployment is at the near-record low rate of 3.6 percent. Layoffs, as measured by new applications for unemployment benefits, are at levels we would normally associate with a growing economy. Continuing jobless claims are at levels not seen since the late 1960s. Job vacancies remain at historically high levels, and employers are still saying they cannot hire enough workers.

Does a strong labor market mean a recession is impossible? Not necessarily. Just as we experienced a jobless recovery, with very weak employment gains, in the aftermath of the Great Recession and the financial crisis, we could now be undergoing a unemployment-less recession, with very weak growth but not many layoffs. That probably will not last unless the downturn is short-lived. If growth stays negative for long enough, and consumer spending keeps declining, eventually jobs will likely suffer.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration continues to blame Putin for our economic woes.

President Joe Biden speaks at a press conference on June 30, 2022, at the NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain. (Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

During his press conference today at the NATO Summit in Madrid, President Joe Biden declared that “the reason why gas prices are up is because of Russia. Russia. Russia. Russia.” The incantation is unlikely to work because he forgot to spin around three-times and touch his nose while casting the spell.

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As we’ve pointed out previously, only 11 percent of Americans blame Putin for high prices, and repeating Russia over and over again will not change that. The displacement of Russian supply from the global market is a contributing factor to oil’s high price, but it hardly explains most of the increase.

In any case, reasonable people may wonder why a country that could once brag about energy independence now has a market for gasoline so fragile that it can be disrupted by a fight between Russia and Ukraine. It’s precisely this sort of the international turbulence that plentiful domestic fuel production should protect us from. So, it is the Biden administration and his allies in both government and the financial sector (we’re talking about you, ESG investors and fund managers) who have left us at the mercy of Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy.

Immoral Democrats Make Excuses, Blame Others, and Divide

With the approval ratings of Congress and President Biden dropping to historic lows and the number of Americans reporting that the country is heading in the wrong direction spiking to record highs, now would be an ideal time for elected officials in Washington, D.C. to assess honestly their job performances.  Are they causing Americans more harm than good?  Have they prioritized or abandoned their constituents' top concerns?  Has their obsession with the events of January 6, 2021 done anything to alleviate today's skyrocketing inflation making food and fuel unaffordable?  Has pushing the contentious issue of "transgenderism" in classrooms, businesses, and women's sports helped unite or divide the American people?  Has runaway illegal immigration at the Southern border made Americans more or less safe?  These are all good questions for any "public servant" seeking honest self-reflection.

Alas, "honesty" and "capacity for self-reflection" are not qualities usually attributed to politicians.  Consistently high numbers of Americans believe that elected officials put their own interests ahead of the country's, and a record number of Americans believe that the United States has "poor moral values."  The idea of a "moral politician" in D.C. would strike most Americans as laughable.

If we do not have "moral politicians" in charge, then what kind of people "represent" us?  Eighteenth-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant provides a good answer when he distinguishes the moral politician from the unscrupulous, power-hungry politician in Appendix 1 of his treatise, "Perpetual Peace."  Whereas the former seeks to protect the natural rights of citizens and pursues policies that promote objective and universal moral truths, the latter rejects the inviolability of individual rights and subjectively twists moral-sounding principles to justify the pursuit of raw power.  In practice, Kant argues, immoral politicians manipulate citizens in three well known ways: 

1. They act first and then make excuses.

Does that sound familiar?  That's the Democrats' notorious "never let a crisis go to waste" mantra.

Did the American people ever get a chance to vote on mask or vaccine mandates?  Were they permitted an opportunity to weigh their personal risks of dying from COVID-19 against the severe economic costs of losing their jobs while large sectors of the nation's economy remained locked down?  Did parents have a choice as to whether their children's schools would be closed and their educations forestalled?  Of course not.

Without even the pretense of consulting American citizens or respecting their constitutional rights, bureaucrats and elected officials closed churches, broke up protests, urged social media companies to censor dissenting points of view, and coerced Americans to take an experimental vaccine before it had undergone normal long-term testing.

All these imperious actions were done for "our own good" and to "save lives" because "we're all in this together."  Yet two-plus years of health mandates have given officials extraordinary powers to control Americans' lives and livelihoods at the expense of Americans' free will.  At a time when politicians warn incessantly about the dangers to "democracy," life in the United States has hardly been "democratic." 

2. When they cause harm, they blame others.

America's economy is on the brink of recession.  Inflation is through the roof.  Americans are struggling with the worst price increases in their lifetimes at the gas pump and in the supermarket.  Parents are desperate to find baby formula.

Could it be that printing and spending trillions of dollars during the pandemic was shortsighted?  Is it possible that out-of-control U.S. debt and central bank "quantitative easing" devalue the dollar over time?  Is it likely that President Biden's Green New Deal policies have had their intended effect: to make it more difficult for energy companies to drill and refine hydrocarbon energy in the United States?  Is it possible that the administrative state's often-mindless issuance of regulations and rules for private businesses has inadvertently produced a nationwide infant formula shortage?  

That would make too much sense.  Inflation is "Putin's price hike" or the unavoidable costs of "climate change" or all COVID-19's doing.  High energy costs don't have anything to do with the president's oft-touted preference for transitioning the economy to a system based on wind and solar energy.  Americans' economic woes aren't the predictable fallout from Democrats' Build Back Better and Modern Monetary Theory spending proclivities.  Pain at the pump is all "Putin's fault."  

Of course, locking down much of the economy for a virus arguably not much more lethal than a bad seasonal flu was a choice.  Squandering America's hard-won energy independence and forcing the country to go "green" were a choice.  Spending money we don't have and sinking the United States deeper into debt was a choice.  Marching NATO up to Russia's borders without expecting war was a choice.  Using the "rules-based international order" to block Russia's energy exports into Europe and not planning for the grain shortages or fertilizer price spikes naturally resulting from war in Ukraine were choices, too.  Just because all these choices have created harm for Americans doesn't mean someone else is to blame.

3. To keep power, they divide and conquer.

A Biden presidency was sold as a victory for American unity.  Eighteen months into his term, does it feel as if the American people are united in common cause?

Surely the first act of any government truly dedicated to "unity" would have been to treat the events of January 6 with a light touch.  Whether seen as a political protest or a bit of naughty rioting, it certainly was not a "threat to democracy" comparable to 9/11 or the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, as Vice President Harris ludicrously claims.  Were MAGA Americans forgiven for their trespasses similarly to the way Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters were forgiven for their 2020 summer of rioting across the country?  No, they were not. 

Between Congress's show trials attempting to punish President Trump for the exercise of his free speech that day and the FBI's concerted efforts to paint anyone near the Capitol as an "insurrectionist" or "terrorist," it is clear that forgiveness and unity are far from the government's priorities.  Rather than extending any kind of olive branch to his political adversaries, President Biden continues to vilify Trump voters as extremists and racists.  

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice targets parents for objecting to the teaching of Marxist race theories and "transgenderism" in public schools, and the Biden administration insists that a "disinformation board" is necessary to regulate free speech.  These burn-and-pillage strategies have one thing in common: they heighten discord and divide Americans.  

Would you not agree that Kant seems to have described today's Democrats quite aptly all the way back in 1795?  Making excuses, blaming others, and destroying American unity almost seem like official government policies.  When immoral politicians seek only power, achieving any kind of peace (foreign or domestic) remains impossible.

Prayers answered: Thank the Lord and all His warriors here on Earth who helped overturn the moral abomination of Roe v. Wade.

Image via Pexels.

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