Posted originally on the CTH on January 17, 2023 | sundance
There has always been a general shaping and interpretation surrounding economic news, specifically as it relates to the impact of pricing on consumers and corporations. However, against the backdrop of supply side inflation, the financial gaslighting from the Wall Street Journal stands out at the top.
Without pretending, and looking directly at the Main Street reality, CTH has outlined inflation as a matter of monetary and energy policy. From that standpoint the timing and scale of price increases (inflation measured over time) was predictable. Our current status is an inflationary plateau, where prices remain high but stabilize for likely two quarters.
What the Wall Street Journal outlines as a “shopper rebellion against high prices” is complete hogwash. Notice in the construct of the narrative, the demand side (consumers) is identified as the cause of diminished revenue & profits for corporations. They continue pretending that inflation was not driven by energy costs.
(WSJ) – […] Many companies raised their prices substantially last year to offset higher fuel costs and higher prices for ingredients, parts and labor. As fuel prices have dropped and pandemic supply-chain snarls have eased, some of those costs have come down.
That is a good sign for the economy. It suggests that some inflation in the past year resulted from extreme supply-demand imbalances brought on by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine and which are now fading.
Notice the transparent lack of mentioning ‘energy policy’ as the inflation driver.
[…] The study, by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, found that higher markups—the gap between what a firm charges and what it costs to produce an item—were a major driver of inflation in 2021.
They concluded that companies in some cases were raising prices in 2021 in anticipation of future cost pressures, rather than because of market power or outsize demand. Andrew Glover, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City who was involved in the study, doesn’t expect prices to fall this year, he said, but he anticipates that the pace of increase will continue to slow.
Inflation is the rate of increase over time. We have experienced two years of massive price increases. Yes, the rate of those increases will moderate, this is the plateau, but the price will never drop. The current prices are a direct result of fixed energy policy.
[…] Unit sales of food and beverages fell 3% last year, but on a dollar basis they rose 10%. That showed consumers were willing to pay higher prices for groceries but bought fewer items.
[…] “People need to eat,” said Krishnakumar Davey, a president at IRI. Shoppers are nonetheless buying less when possible and, in many cases, buying less expensive versions of necessities such as toilet paper and laundry detergent. (read more)
Meanwhile the Fed is worried that wages will be forced to increase. Here is the real worry for the Wall Street Journal, “If consumers believe high prices will persist, they could seek bigger raises, and businesses, seeing higher labor costs, could continue raising prices.” Yes, workers, forward inflation is your fault.
Government policy drives up prices, but workers needing wage increases to pay for those higher prices… well, that is not acceptable to the government, comrade proles.
Posted originally on the CTH on January 16, 2023 | sundance
According to the White House, there are no visitor logs for the Biden stash house in Wilmington, Delaware where three sets of classified documents were discovered.
The Delaware residence is considered Biden’s private residence and no logs of visitors are maintained.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -No visitor logs exist for President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, where classified documents from his vice presidential days were found, as it is a private residence, the White House Counsel and Secret Service said on Monday.
“Like every President across decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal,” the White House Counsel’s office said in a statement.
The Secret Service, which is tasked with protecting current and past presidents and their families, does not “independently maintain our own visitor logs because it’s a private residence,” agency spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
The Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, James Comer, on Sunday demanded visitor logs for Democrat Biden’s house in Wilmington after classified documents were found in his office and garage there. (read more)
Posted originally on the CTH on January 15, 2023 | sundance
U.K political commentator Neil Oliver uses his weekly monologue on GB News to note the recently forbidden conversation about vaccine injuries and potential deaths therein.
Curiously, though the monologue was broadcast, and captured by a viewer, this specific outline (and transcript) is absent from the official site record. Regardless, as noted by Mr. Oliver, until recently it was imperative that questions about vaccine status were demanded in order to participate in society. However, now that attention is being cast upon various seemingly healthy young people collapsing from heart ailments, suddenly inquiring about their vaccinated status is verboten.
Asking questions is now a social taboo, even as increasingly obvious issues begin to surface. WATCH:
Posted originally on the CTH on January 15, 2023 | sundance
There’s no politics here. Washington DC is comprised of magnanimous institutions filled with exceptionally moral people who commit their lives to a career of public service on behalf of this nation. So sayeth Rod Rosenstein as he takes up a defensive position against the vulgarian horde who do not cherish their rulers with enough reverence, or something like that.
As the story is told, there are only honorable and altruistic officials within the institutions of the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation. The examples of Robert Mueller, Christopher Wray, Merrick Garland and both special counsels Smith and Hur are presented as evidence to highlight the great fortune of an ungrateful nation.
If Washington DC is a bubble, the great pretending Bubble Boy is Rod Rosenstein. WATCH (or, transcript Below):
[Transcript] – CHUCK TODD: And joining me now is the former Deputy Attorney General under President Trump, Rod Rosenstein. The newly-appointed special counsel looking into Biden, Robert Hur, served as Rosenstein’s top aide in the Justice Department, overseeing the special counsel investigation into the Russian election interference. Mr. Rosenstein, welcome to Meet the Press.
ROD ROSENSTEIN: Thank you. Glad to be here, Chuck.
CHUCK TODD: In December, after the appointment of the Trump special counsel, when asked whether you would’ve done it, you said you probably wouldn’t have. How about this Biden special counsel?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: Yeah, I think, Chuck, having made the appointment in the Trump case, Merrick Garland put himself in a position where he really had no choice when this matter came along, unless the preliminary inquiry were to establish that there was no chance that a crime had been committed. And according to what we’ve heard, John Lausch did not make that decision.
CHUCK TODD: Do you believe that appointing a special counsel strengthens the Trump special counsel, and strengthens their ability to come to different conclusions? Or does it muddy the waters?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: I think, Chuck, you have to differentiate between the political consequences and the practical consequences for the special counsel. For Jack Smith and Rob Hur, they’re conducting independent investigations. They’re going to go evaluate the facts and the law, make their recommendation based upon what they find. So I don’t anticipate that the existence of two special counsels is going to influence the way either one of them goes about their jobs.
CHUCK TODD: To the public it appears – I had somebody use this metaphor with me, and I want to use it, there are two car wrecks: one clearly is an accident, one appears to be intentional. Is that a fair way to look at these two classified document situations?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: I think, Chuck, we should wait until we know the facts. You know, the key fact with regard to the Biden documents, of course, is what did the president know about those documents? Was he aware that they’d been moved? Did he, in any case, in the past five years, has he handled those documents? Was he aware of them? We just don’t know that yet. So I think even that we really can’t speculate, just based on what’s been public record.
CHUCK TODD: Tell me your confidence level in Jack Smith and in Robert Hur.
ROD ROSENSTEIN: Well, these are two professionals who spent extended amounts of time in the Department of Justice. They understand that their goal is to focus on the facts, and law, and apply department policy. And both of these men are not going to be influenced by political pressure.
CHUCK TODD: You feel that they’re both – you said something intriguing to me. You said, “You know, every special counsel starts with sterling credentials, and then the public gets a hold of them.” But would you say that’s the case with both of these gentlemen?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: It’s certainly true of these gentlemen, as it was with people like Ken Starr and and Bob Mueller, that you pick people with sterling reputations who are known for being nonpartisan. But you’re in the political arena where it’s inevitable you’re going to be attacked.
CHUCK TODD: There’s two sort of unique defenses in each of these cases that I’m curious your take on. One is Donald Trump’s claim that he could declassify anything he wanted. Now, he’s not made a legal claim that he did that. And the second is, Joe Biden’s currently president. So is it currently illegal for him to have classified documents in his possession, even if it’s at his home, next to his Corvette?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: Well, that’s one of the questions the special counsel will have to look into. And in addition, you know, the legal status of the vice president, whether or not he has authority to make any declassification decisions. But the key question, the threshold question here is going to be: was President Biden aware of those classified documents?
CHUCK TODD: And how does that get proven? Do you think he’s going to have to sit for an interview?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: Well, that would be a logical step if I were conducting this investigation. I want to go right to the source and ask the president directly whether or not he was aware of those documents.
CHUCK TODD: A sitting president can’t be indicted, according to the Justice Department. So let’s say something is found, what would happen?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: You know, Chuck, I think what should happen in a special counsel investigation is that the special counsel should evaluate the facts and the law, look at Department of Justice policies, and make a recommendation to the attorney general about whether or not prosecution is warranted. Then it’s up to the attorney general to make the decision whether to apply that DOJ policy.
CHUCK TODD: Alright. If you were – you had been in this similar situation. It’s November 4th, it’s four days before the elections. The National Archives informs you that, “Hey, you know, President Biden has just turned over some classified documents that he had in his possession.” Is it too close to the election to tell people? Is that why the Justice Department didn’t inform folks publicly? Is it too soon? Are there questions that should be raised about this or not?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: Chuck, it’s not the Justice Department’s job to make public announcements like that. The decision about whether or not to go public would be left to the president and the White House. So I would not anticipate the Justice Department under any circumstances to make a public announcement about something like that.
CHUCK TODD: You wouldn’t have done that in that similar situation?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: In the Justice Department I would not have publicized it, no.
CHUCK TODD: I am curious. There’s a lot of new committees on the Hill that want to investigate some Justice Department practices. And some of these are for current investigations. You essentially said, you know, no, when you were there and others, you didn’t turn stuff over to Congress in active investigations. Do you expect Merrick Garland to do the same?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: I think the bright line, Chuck, is not to turn over anything that’s going to in any way interfere with the investigation. And so that’s a decision the department needs to make in addressing each request as it comes along. There are legitimate congressional oversight requirements that the department can accommodate. But there really is a bright line when it comes to anything that might interfere with the investigation.
CHUCK TODD: So the fact that they have already sent letters demanding certain things now, in your mind there’s nothing Justice can do until they’re done with this investigation, correct?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: I wouldn’t say that. I mean, there are, as I said, legitimate oversight issues that can be resolved without interfering with the investigation. So for example, one bright line would be investigating the prosecutor while the case is ongoing. I think that’s a place where the department would need to draw a line.
CHUCK TODD: Let’s go back in time. In hindsight, doing special counsels, is this the slippery slope that many previous attorneys generals have always feared, that once you appoint one you essentially can’t stop appointing them? Once you claim there’s a rationale of a perception of unfairness, aren’t you stuck, basically, appointing them throughout the rest of the term?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: Yeah, that was true, Chuck, under the independent counsel statute, where there was actually a statutory obligation to appoint an independent counsel. It’s not true under the special counsel guidelines. It’s always left to the discretion of the Attorney General to decide whether the public interest warrants it in that particular case. So I do think when you have a similar case, as you do with the Trump and Biden documents, that you have established a precedent. But I don’t know that you need to apply that universally.
CHUCK TODD: I ask that because a decision was made last year not to appoint a special counsel on the Hunter Biden investigation. But now he has appointed a special counsel to look into Joe Biden and these classified documents. Merrick Garland made the decision to put both January 6 and the classified documents under the umbrella of one special counsel. Is he going to be forced to do the same thing with Hunter Biden?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: Well, I think you need to distinguish Hunter Biden from President Biden. We don’t know whether that Hunter Biden implicates the president in any wrongdoing. If it did, I think Merrick Garland would need to make that decision. But as long as it’s just about Hunter Biden, I don’t think that decision point will be reached.
CHUCK TODD: There’s a lot of criticism on Capitol Hill of the FBI. You worked pretty closely with Christopher Wray. What say you about Christopher Wray?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: I think Christopher Wray is doing a superb job under very challenging circumstances. You know, this criticism of the FBI has been ongoing for some time. But if you look at the work the Bureau is doing on a day-to-day basis, I think the American people should have confidence in what they’re doing. And I think Chris Wray is the right person to be in that job now.
CHUCK TODD: Judging by our political climate of the last decade, do we have to figure out another way to politically appoint members of the Justice Department? Or do you think we can get through this moment?
ROD ROSENSTEIN: I don’t think there’s any reason to mess with the appointment process, Chuck. You know, the majority of employees of the department are career employees. The leadership is subject to political appointment, and I think that that’s an appropriate way to manage the department.
CHUCK TODD: All right, Rod Rosenstein, former Deputy Attorney General who’s seen his share of special counsels, and has been through this. Appreciate you coming on–
Posted originally on the CTH on January 14, 2023 | Sundance
Back in the Wilmington, Delaware, stash house where Hunter Biden used to bring his hookers and dope dealing friends; what is also described as the home of Joe Biden, where the alarm system was so dysfunctional the Secret Service apparently turned it off; according to the Biden lawyers today, they have found a fourth set of classified documents.
This brings the total in the Delaware stash house to three sets. One batch in the garage, next to the corvette; another set in an adjacent room; and apparently in yet a third location in the same home where needles, bongs and useful heroine tools were customary tableware, they have found more.
Go figure.
Wall Street Journal – Additional pages marked as classified were found at President Biden’s Wilmington, Del., residence and have been given to the Justice Department, the White House counsel said Saturday, the latest revelation over the handling of classified information that has emerged this week.
The documents were discovered after Mr. Biden’s attorneys said earlier that some classified material, likely dating from his time as vice president, had been found in his garage at the residence in December.
One document marked as classified also was found at his residence earlier this week, the White House had said. In addition, documents marked as classified were found at his office at a Washington think tank in November.
In a statement Saturday, Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said he accompanied Justice Department officials to Wilmington on Thursday to retrieve the initial document from the residence—and during that process “five additional pages with classification markings” were found among the material, bringing the total to six pages discovered this week.
All material was immediately taken into possession by the Justice Department, Mr. Sauber said. The Justice Department declined to comment Saturday. (read more)
It sure seems odd that the FBI were tasked with investigating everything back on November 9, 2022, according to AG Merrick Garland; yet here we are two months later, and it is not the FBI finding these documents, it’s Biden’s legal housekeeping crew. Odd that.
♦ Nov 4, 2022 – National Archives notifies DOJ of classified documents located at Penn-Biden Center ♦ Nov 9, 2022 – Garland instructs FBI to conduct assessment of classified documents and investigate ♦ Nov 14, 2022 – Garland instructs USAO Laush to conduct investigation of events and documents ♦ Dec 20, 2022 – Biden Lawyers tell USAO Laush of additional classified documents in Delaware ♦ Jan 5, 2023 – USAO Lausch briefs AG Garland and recommends a special counsel be appointed ♦ Jan 12, 2023 – Biden Lawyers inform Lausch/Garland additional documents found in Delaware ♦ Jan 12, 2023 – Garland appoints Special Counsel Robert Hur
If the FBI began investigating on November 9th, and USAO Lausch began investigating on November 14th, then why was it Joe Biden lawyers informing Laush of additional classified documents found in Delaware on December 20th and again on January 12th? Why did the FBI and Lausch not find them?
Why are Joe Biden Lawyers informing the DOJ about the second, third and now fourth batch of classified documents?
Posted originally on the CTH on January 13, 2023 | Sundance
You know things are squirrely when you find yourself listening to a rather unorthodox presentation of political events and agreeing with Russell Brand.
Someone shared this with me asking for my opinion. The presentation is a little over-the-top, but the message conveyed is ultimately accurate; remarkably so. WATCH:
Posted originally on the conservative tree house on January 13, 2023 | sundance
Fox News host Tucker Carlson asks the obvious question, why are Joe Biden people telling the DOJ about Biden having classified documents? Under normal corrupt and easy to handle circumstances the documents would be destroyed, hidden and never revealed; yet here they are being exposed by people in the Biden orbit.
In corrupt DC circles, the Biden revelations show there is some entity and motive behind the discoveries. Tucker Carlson ponders what that agenda is all about. WATCH:
Posted originally on the CTH on January 12, 2023 | sundance
Unlike the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith, the appointment order for special counsel Robert Hur was not available at the time the press release of the special counsel appointment was made. The appointment order was released tonight, a two-page pdf, which is essentially the initiating scope of authorization for the special counsel to follow. [Link to pdf]
The Robert Hur appointment order is interestingly worded to encompass the origination of the John Lausch “initial investigation”, we have not seen any documents associated with that initial appointment on November 14, 2022.
Additionally, the appointment order seems to limit the investigation to only records discovered in two locations, “the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement and the Wilmington, Delaware, private residence of President Joseph R Biden, Jr.” The next part “any matters that arose from the initial investigation,” again puts the emphasis on the John Laush original investigative authority as given by AG Merrick Garland.
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